UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion

This all your fault. Talk of potato bread, etc. What is more, yesterday my wife bought in a home-made Eccles cake and gave it to my daughter who was sitting next to me!

I feel deprived so please give me some great recipes.

1 x tin of chickpea (dried and rehydrated not so good);
2 x teaspoon Tahini;
4+ Tablespoons Olive oil: (Add enough to make it the right consistency for you.)
1 teaspoon: Lazy Garlic;
3+ Teaspoons: Lemon juice.
Blend until smooth. You now have a huge portion of Hallumi for about 1/2 the price from the shops.

Serve with sliced pitta / french bread, crackers, crudités

Variations:
To HALF the above mixture add:
5 stoned black olives (or green) - blend.

or

1 BIG teaspoon: Lazy Chilli (vary to your taste);
2/3 squirts Chilli Dipping sauce.

All should be covered if prepared early and chilled. Keeps a day or two in the fridge.

Melon & Ginger Slap

4 Portions:

Half any ripe melon you like - deseed and blitz in blender.
Chill in fridge for 1-2 hours.

Add either:
3 oz green ginger wine or

3 oz good ginger beer - vary quantities as you like.

Serve in shot glasses with a chunk of crystallized stem ginger as decoration.

I Love Youuuu
Serves 4:

6-8 Amaretti/Ratafia buiscuits (Sainsbury)
6-8 Cocktail cherries (fresh not so good)
As much whipped double cream as two decent cows can produce (or about 6 oz)

Gently crush bickies and roughly chop cherries. Mix all and chill.

Serve in tiny glasses / ramakins / Espresso cups.

Serve with Espresso or water (Fizzy water makes it taste wonderful)

Option: If no one is on the programme, add 3-4 teaspoons of Amaretto.

Do people still use recipes? As the saying goes, I make things out of me head!

Ingnite wrote: "Do people still use recipes? As the saying goes, I make things out of me head!"

For me it's like Lego - Give me a picture and I'll make something like it with what I have and what I like. But I need the picture to inspire me :)

Ah, but then, young Wombat, you haven't seen the pictures in my head! (I think I've said too much!)

This is a great thread for me, especially once I'm back in Nigeria. No convenience foods there unless I make a double portion of something and freeze it. That's the closest we get to ready meals while on the island!

If anyone has any tips on spices or special ingredients I should pack, please let me know. We'll be starting the packing in the next couple of days.

CW, that is exactly my hummus recipe. I also make homemade pita bread to go with it.

What a great thread. Anyone got a recipe for candy handbag soup?

Love that one Simon, ;o))

Something I frequently make to go with hummus is baba ganoush.

Wash then roast a couple of medium sized aubergine (eggplant) until they're flat and all gooey inside. Be sure to stab them a few times before putting them in the oven or they may explode.

Let them cool a bit then scrape the insides into your food processor. Add a couple of spoons of tahini, lemon juice and a few cloves of garlic then whiz til smooth-ish. Salt to taste. Bit of chili if desired. Serve with warm homemade pita, hummus, Greek salad and a small bowl of best quality olive oil.

My homemade pita is dead easy. I just throw together a batch of pizza dough in my bread machine, roll it out, put it onto a holey pizza pan then lightly brush it all over with olive oil. Sometimes sprinkle it with dried herbs like oregano or basil. Bake it on a very high heat for 5 or 10 minutes but watch it carefully. It can go from golden to hard and dark brown in seconds.

Thanks Patti - I've got a pizza setting on my bread machine but have never tried it out before, thanks for the tip.

I'm drooling at the thought of potato bread - anyone got a recipe that they can share with us please?

:0)

I do but its not been tried an tested yet... I got all the ingredients but havent bothered yet. Still getting through my bought supply of it. Hold on i'll go get it

when i say its not been tried and tested i mean that i havent made it yet but my family has and i hope they wouldnt give me a rubbish recipe.

450g potatoes
30g butter
1tsp salt
100g plain flour

Peel and cut potatoes into small piece and boil for 20 mins.
Mash potatoes (must be no lumps) and add butter and salt
Add flour, not all may be needed depending on potatoes but must make a stiff dough.
Roll out till its 0.5cm thick and cut into slices.
Cook on a hot frying pan sprinkled with flour (to prevent sticking) no oil is needed (cooking not frying)
Turn occassionally and wait for it to turn golden brown

and thats time to go to work :o)

Oh yes, thanks Jud! I want to try making some. This means I can be sure I'll have all the ingredients.

Thought I'd mention that I've discovered vanilla paste from Waitrose. I love the stuff. Bit pricey but so worth it. It's wonderful in homemade ice cream and custard. I found another brand on amazon. Just as pricey but not as good. The paste works out cheaper than pods but gives twice the flavour.
Incidentally, I'm gobsmacked at the price of vanilla pods here. Two or three pods from Waitrose for a fiver! I got packs of 25 pods for about a quid each last time I was in India. Wish I'd filled my backpack with them!

Jud (judder) wrote: "when i say its not been tried and tested i mean that i havent made it yet but my family has and i hope they wouldnt give me a rubbish recipe.

450g potatoes
30g butter
1tsp salt
100g plain flo..."

Thanks Jud - sounds scrumptious!!

:0)

Ohhhh, potato bread - is that also called gnocci?

I love gnocci if it is......

it does! i really want to try it now. I think next time i have the girls over for dinner i'll have to make it along with some soda bread and serve them up a good old Ulster Fry.

Not forgetting my crumble for dessert!

That sounds the same as my gnocchi recipe, I think. Just a different cooking method.
Looking forward to trying the bread. Thanks Jud! Think I'll try cooking them on my Welsh bakestone.

Patti (P E) wrote: "Two or three pods from Waitrose for a fiver! I got packs of 25 pods for about a quid each last time I was in India. Wish I'd filled my backpack with them!
"

You should have - you could have made a fortune! :0)

I bought some organic ones from riverford a couple of weeks ago but can't remember the cost now. I did what my mum used to do and put them in a storage jar with sugar - so that whenever I cook with sugar (I also make crumbles, Jud) it has a nice hint of vanilla.

:0)

I am going to make a crumble tonight.....

Never done it before......

What a great idea, Kew! I'll do that with the pods I have left when I get back to the island.

Speaking of crumble... We don't get much of a variety of fruit on the island. We can get apples but they're expensive and not so nice.
One fruit we can get cheaply and decent quality is fresh pineapple. They're a pain to prepare so I get my house help (His name is Lucky. Lovely guy) to peel and chop them. Fresh pineapple makes a lovely crumble.

I had never made a crumble before i've made 2 now and both were delish! (if i say so myself)

It's super easy Simon and its completely worth it

I only really started making crumbles this year. The first one I made the crumble mixture by hand (rubbing the the fat in the flour) and it took ages! Then I remembered a tip of St Delia's - I put the whole crumble topping mixture in the food processor and zapped it - perfect crumble topping in seconds!

When we bought the bungalow where we live now we inherited 5 apple trees! Last year I made loads of apple wine, but I've found that I enjoy making the wine more than drinking it - so this year I'm making crumbles.

:0)

Anyone got any rhubarb within striking distance of Biggleswade :)

Mine's lush, bosky and - miles away! Shame it won't post.

I've just thought of a recipe to share! It's not mine but belongs to St Delia and is from her Complete Cookery Course. I made this a lot last year too and froze it in batches - will start again soon as the cooking apples are nearly ready to pick! Recipe copied directly from the book:-

CLASSIC APPLE SAUCE
(serves 4-6 people)

This is a very British sauce - probably because Bramling Seedling and Cox's apples are only to be found here. Together they make the very best combination.

8oz/225g Bramley apples
8oz/225g Cox's apples
3/4 oz/20g caster sugar
2 tablespoons water

Peel, core and slice the apples as thinly as possible, straight into a good solid saucepan. Then sprinkle in the sugar, add the water and put a tight-fitting lid on. Stew the apples for about 15 minutes over a very gentle heat or until they are soft and fluffy (the Cox's take the longer time). Stir them once or twice during the cooking, and when they are ready beat to a puree with a large fork, then pour into a warmed sauce boat. This is also excellent with roast duck and lightly smoked cured pork.

:0)

I wish i had a garden so i could grow my own stuff... I do have a jalapeno plant (which i think is dying :o( ) and one of my jalapenos was turning red so i merrily plucked it off the branch and am going to scoff it in my dinner tomorrow night. yum yum yum.

Simon (Highwayman) wrote: "Anyone got any rhubarb within striking distance of Biggleswade :)"

Sorry Simon, the in laws don't do vegetables in their garden. Someone down the Pheasant will know I'm sure.

Someone mentioned they have a load of courgette at the mo...was it Ingnite? I have a lovely (I call it zucchini) bread recipe. I'll post it next week when I'm with my recipe cards again.

Back home in Canada you must be very careful to lock your car this time of year. If you don't, you'll find your neighbours have filled it with zucchini and tomatoes and beans, and, and, and....

Patti (P E) wrote: "Back home in Canada you must be very careful to lock your car this time of year. If you don't, you'll find your neighbours have filled it with zucchini and tomatoes and beans, and, and, and.... "

That would save a trip to the shops - if the cupboard is getting low, just pop out and unlock your car!! :0)

All this talk about crumbles - I'm just about to take one out of the oven, apple and mincemeat (the sweet mince meat - not beef or anything!) I made the mincemeat last year with the apples and am just finishing if off now, one jar left.

:0)

Simon (Highwayman) wrote: "Anyone got any rhubarb within striking distance of Biggleswade :)"

You're living in the wrong place for rhubarb Simon. Have you never heard of the 'Rhubarb Triangle'?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhubarb_...

Aye lad - ooop north here is the best place for the Ruby Stuff.

i'm making rumble tonight!! yay! apple and cherry is the winning flavour.

I love this thread its my favourite

edit: i may be making rumble but i am also making crumble

I'm making total convenience foods tonight! Yay! I resent having to remove the stuff from the packaging and having to twist the dial on the cooker!

I almost bought some spice mixes today, then I read the labels. I already have all the spices they contain. The only extra ingredient was monosodium glutamate. I can get that separately as well, if I want it.

Hahahahahaha

Patti, I can't find the original thread but a pint an half of rum an diet coke later you can't really expect me to find my own feet can you! See how you have influenced the youth of this group!!

Now where is that rum....

Ahh cuba libre then. Good on you! I've hopped on the wagon tonight. I got through the entire bottle of bubbles by myself before I flopped last night!

Trying to convince Dave that as I 'cooked' this evening, he should do the washing up. I miss Lucky!

A quick and easy recipe..

Sponge cake -

Take a bowl and put some Golden Syrup in the bottom (as much as you want).

Take another bowl and add -
1/4 cup of butter
1/4 cup of white sugar
1/3 cup of self raising flour
1 egg
2 tablespoons of milk.

Whisk it together, then add it to the bowl of syrup (dont mix it, just layer it on top).
Stick it in the microwave for around 3 and a half minutes, and serve! (:

Three and a half minutes???

But I want it now!!!!

Trust me, by the time you've licked the rest of the mixture out of the bowl, it's ready! haha. I just made some!

That sounds like the perfect recipe, quick and easy! Although I enjoy the baking part... :o) I'm having girls over next thurs for dinner might have to try it then since i've already made them a crumble

I have everything but the syrup and flour here in the flat. Just as well, too! I can see myself eating the entire thing while it's still painfully hot! I have a lovely Caesar salad waiting for me in the fridge.



Won't mention the Tescos Finest sticky toffee and caramel mousse for pudding....

I used to make a similar sponge pudding with jam or fruit (sultanas) and golden syrup in the microwave.
Now I'm on my own I daren't make them as I'd eat the lot...they're too nice!

I have a chocolate fudge cake recipe for one that is made in the microwave in a coffee cup. So indulgent and only teeny guilt. I'll post it for you next week, Vanessa.

Found it in my email!

The most dangerous cake recipe
5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.  EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

;)

Oh heck Patti. I was trying to stay on the straight and narrow.
I'll have to try them now won't I...it'd be rude not to now you've taken the time to post the recipe!
;0)

Yes, Vanessa. Extremely rude!

oh dear... i just made a carrot cake. It's not microwavable and it takes slightly more than 5 mins but it does taste amazing, its the one thing i make that people request me to make again. Its from the Hummingbird Bakery Recipe book and it is Fi-ine...

I do enjoy cream cheese icing with a bit of carrot cake...

I make my carrot cake in my bread machine these days. I found when I used the conventional method the edges were always dry.

The thing I get the most requests for is my banana bread. I think it's the only thing that is actually EXPORTED from Nigeria!