Typecast

I'm very much a ''throw it all in and hope for the best" type of cook. I sort of follow recipes but always experiment and attempt to try out adaptations.  I recently had a whole load of vegetables that were about to become past their best and needed to use them up so I had a glance at a recipe online, took note of what I had, threw it all in a pot and kept my fingers crossed.  It was one of the best things I've ever made and has become much-requested in this house. If you have ever followed any of my other recipes , you'll know that I don't do much measuring so everything is adaptable.  This recipe makes six to eight large portions and is ideal for lunch with a crusty loaf or as a starter for a main meal.  Video : How To Make Vegetable Soup in 18 seconds Ingredients 4-6 carrots 2 sweet potatoes 2 peppers (any colour) 2 sticks of celery 1 large leek 6 smallish potatoes 2 small onions (I used red onion) ¼ celeriac 1 litre of ...

Keeping up a monthly series is Hard Work .  With all the good intentions of doing this monthly round-up (which I love pulling together) I didn't bother in November or December so you didn't get the promised learning experiences including: My disappointment when my doppleganger didn't contact me (see October's 'Things I Learnt In...' ) but she was probably too freaked out at the message she received via Facebook. The full rundown (no pun intended) of the two 10k races and a 5k Santa Dash I participated in. A mention for ' Girls Against ' - a group of young women who are campaigning against groping at gigs. The time I learnt that your quiz book won't fend for itself on Amazon. That you can make a London Undergroup map from Quality Street chocolates . Grandchildren will say the best part of Christmas dinner is sitting at the big table and not a separate 'children's table' Getting Danny Boyle and Quentin Tarintino  in an interview t...

I am in a really fortunate position to be able to come home from work and have a freshly cooked meal waiting on the table most evenings, as my husband is at home. We have recently been trying out a recipe box from Riverford  which has been a convenient and enjoyable experience. Using a subscription service, Riverford deliver a box to your door each week which contains three meals for two people and includes all (yes, ALL) the ingredients and three easy-to-follow recipe cards to create these meals. The only store cupboard additions you'll have to supply are salt and pepper for seasoning and oil for cooking.  These boxes are great for a few reasons. All the products are fresh, organic and locally produced or sourced and they come with full unpacking and storage instructions (i.e. a bag of products for the fridge, measured ingredients for the store cupboard, fresh produce either insulated or wrapped in a cool pack). But what impressed me the most was the way in w...

You can watch what happened in this video as I demonstrate how to make Peanut Blondies from the Hungry Student Easy Baking Book .  It's worth it, I promise...  Ingredients Vegetable oil or butter, for greasing 100g white chocolate, broken into squares 60g butter, softened 100g caster sugar 150g light brown soft sugar 2 medium eggs, beaten 1tsp vanilla extract 150g peanut butter (crunchy works best but smooth is fine too) 80g plain flour 1/4tsp baking powder pinch of salt 20cm square cake tin non-stick baking paper Method Preheat the oven to 180C / Gas Mark 6. Grease a 20cm square cake tin and line with non-stick baking paper. Melt the chocolate (traditional or microwave method).  When the chocolate is melted, set it aside to cool for around 10 minutes. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and both types of sugar until pale and fluffy. Combine the beaten eggs and vanilla extract and add to the mixture along with the peanut bu...

I found a hint of a recipe for minestrone soup on the Slimming World website which sounded really easy to pull together. I gave it a shot, tweaked a few of the ingredients and it makes a great lunch or a perfect accompaniment to a salad. Preparation Time : 10 minutes Cooking Time : 30 minutes Serves : 6 large servings Cost Per Serving : 60 pence Ingredients 2 medium sized onions 2 large carrots 3 sticks of celery 2 cloves of garlic (crushed) or 2 teaspoons of garlic granules   2 vegetable stock cubes dissolved in 1.5 pints of boiling water 2 tins of chopped tomatoes 3 handfuls of pasta (conchiglie or fusilli works best) 2 tins of cannellini beans (drained) 10 slices of chopped cooked ham (leave this out if you want a totally vegetarian version)  Method Slice the onions, dice the carrots and chop the celery.  Place them in a large pan with the garlic, vegetable stock and chopped tomatoes Bring to the boil and then sim...

I fancied baking something this week and got out my trusty recipe book but then realised that I hadn't got quite the right ingredients in to make some cookies.  In for a penny, in for a pound, I replaced some of the ingredients and hoped for the best.  My 14 year old chief taster has pronounced them "not bad really" which is high praise indeed.  I love the rustic look of them too so here is the recipe for you to try this weekend. This recipe makes about 12 cookies. Ingredients  125g butter or margarine 75g of brown sugar 1 tsp of vanilla essence 125g of self-raising flour 15 glace cherries (chopped into small pieces) Large baking tray covered with a layer of baking paper. Method Preheat the oven to 180F/Gas Mark 6. Beat the butter/margarine, sugar and vanilla essence until soft. Sift in the flour and mix well. Add in the chopped cherries and mix again until the mixture forms a soft dough.  It will be slightly sticky Wrap the s...

Last week I had some time off work and went to visit my dad.  He showed me some produce from his garden and greenhouse and we discussed how our allotment has been more about renovation rather than cultivation this year.  He presented me with some tomatoes and peppers to take home.  I wanted to try something different with them and I was thinking about lunches for work this week so here is my (experimental but very successful) roasted tomato and pepper pasta sauce . Ingredients 6 tomatoes from my dad's garden (you'll have to find your own dad, or your own garden or your own tomatoes) A handful of cherry tomatoes 2 sweet green peppers from my dad's garden (ditto above) 1 green bell pepper from my dad's garden (you get the drift...) 1 red onion 1 teaspoon of garlic granules (or 2 fresh cloves of garlic, chopped finely) 2 teaspoons of basil 2 teaspoons of oregano a splash of sunflower oil Method Chop everything up!  I sliced the onions and the pe...

I love a good cuppa but The Perfect Brew is a very individual thing, isn't it? A few weeks ago, Tara shared her brew making method and I agreed with her up to the addition of sugar; she was aghast at my "need for three". Our tea tray at work is a smorgasbord of delights as we all have different tastes.  You can pick from your regular tea, green tea, Earl Grey with vanilla (lovely smell, no taste), decaffeinated tea (what's the point?) and a range of flavoured teas (usually about three or four on the go).  There is also a small jar of coffee and sachets to make cappuccino. It's interesting to find out what certain flavours are meant to achieve so the Twinings " Awake " (with ginseng, rooibos and ginger) and " Sleep " (with camomile, lavender and vanilla) teas caught my attention simply because I struggle to sleep a lot and need a good burst of energy in the mornings.   Teas like these are a quick fix in the mornings; no faff...

I brag constantly about how amazing my Yorkshire Puddings are and today I'm sharing the recipe over at  The High Tea Cast .  Find out how to make the perfect Yorkshire Puddings  (it's easy peasy) and let me know how you get on. Find all my articles on The High Tea Cast here 

Recently we have been enjoying a broth that my husband has been making.  His mum gave him the recipe and he has spent a couple of weeks honing and perfecting it.  It is a one pot broth that can be made on the stove or in the slow cooker. We have this sitting in the pan for a couple of days, reheating it when hungry.  It's a great lunch-time meal or evening supper warmer with plenty of crusty bread. We use shin beef but we are going to try this will all different types of meat.  Of course, the veggie version will just omit the meat! Here's the recipe, with my usual style of measuring out ingredients ( i.e. some, a bit, a handful ).  This method makes a really large pot (casserole pot or slow cooker size) and is super-easy for beginners and is idiot-proof for people who profess not to be able to cook very well! Ingredients 1lb of shin beef (or left-over meat from your Sunday roast) 2 packs of vegetable pot herbs/broth base ...

I was drooling over Aly's Union Jack Crock-Pot® a few weeks ago, mainly because of its unusual design (I'm a sucker for a Union Jack) but also because I've been hankering after a new slow cooker for a while now. Well, Aly is a bit of a cool chick and recommended me to Crock-Pot® who sent me this completely lush Crock-Pot® to try out (see the end of this post for the finer details). I already have a slow cooker - it is really  ancient and just has a basic on/off switch. It is enormously heavy as it has a good, old-fashioned ceramic pot but it does the trick, even though I've never really used it for more than chucking meat in to cook  ready for tea or for making a hotpot. I keep reading the 'Slow Cooker Sunday' suggestions ( #scsunday on Twitter) and thinking "I must try that one day" but wondered about the High/Low settings suggested for a lot of the recipes. So, killing two birds with one stone, I thought I'd try out the new slow co...

Sticking to my ethos of attempting recipes and making mistakes so that you don't have to, today's "recipe" is Orange Smoothie .  Now, bearing in mind that I cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom today and found a blender that I forgot I had, this was just a " chuck in what I think is supposed to go in " attempt at a smoothie. Ingredients: A blender (it doesn't have to be new) Some oranges or satsumas (I used five medium sized satsumas) 2 cups of milk ⅔  of a cup of sugar 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract Some ice cubes or 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream Method: Squeeze the living daylights out of the oranges and extract the juice.  Don't do what I did and just pick all the pith off and throw them in the blender because you don't have a juicer as you'll end up with "issues"*.  However, this does give me an opportunity to share this picture with you that hasn't had enough attention over the last two ...

Toad in the Hole is basically just sausages and Yorkshire pudding with a few onions thrown in, isn't it?  What can go wrong?  I'm great at cooking sausages and my Yorkshire puddings are world-renowned (trust me on this one and keep reading) so I thought I'd give it a bash.  Here is my ingredients list and method.  I sort of cooked it 'blind', like I do everything.  It worked for my Nana so there's no reason it shouldn't work for me.  Just make sure you have all ingredients available before starting so you don't have to send one of your children to the corner shop half-way through making your Toad in the Hole. Ingredients: Sausages (I have no idea how many you will need.  I cooked 18 for four people, the dog nicked one during preparation and then had four that were left over.) 1 or 2 large onions (you'll probably need 1 as I always over estimate) 1 tablespoon of sugar per onion 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil per onion Plain f...

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