February 1, 2012 • 22 notes
624. Bhindi Bhaji with 625. Okra I know that a lot of people really don’t like okra, because when cooked it can go pretty slimy. Personally it doesn’t bother me at all and I actually like the flavour - I think it works great with spices, like in this bhindi bhaji with is literally just an okra curry. 625 down, 1171 to go

624. Bhindi Bhaji with 625. Okra

I know that a lot of people really don’t like okra, because when cooked it can go pretty slimy. Personally it doesn’t bother me at all and I actually like the flavour - I think it works great with spices, like in this bhindi bhaji with is literally just an okra curry.

625 down, 1171 to go

February 1, 2012 • 27 notes
623. Black Forest Ham Black forest ham was really not how I expected it to be at all. Having had a few other German hams I was expecting it to be more of a country-style ham; thick cut with a really meaty texture and a smoky flavour. However it’s actually very similar to a prosciutto and I found myself using it pretty much interchangeably with that. I used some to make one of my favourite picnic-style lunches, and had it with hummus, olives, pitta and veggies. 623 down, 1173 to go

623. Black Forest Ham

Black forest ham was really not how I expected it to be at all. Having had a few other German hams I was expecting it to be more of a country-style ham; thick cut with a really meaty texture and a smoky flavour. However it’s actually very similar to a prosciutto and I found myself using it pretty much interchangeably with that. I used some to make one of my favourite picnic-style lunches, and had it with hummus, olives, pitta and veggies.

623 down, 1173 to go

January 31, 2012 • 20 notes
622. Black Pudding Black pudding is one of those foods that can freak some people out a bit. It is after all a sausage made out of pig blood - not the most appealing sounding food. It tastes really pretty good though. The first time I ate it was with roast pork and apple sauce, and I have to say that is still my favourite way to eat it. However this salad was also pretty good. The black pudding was paired with bacon, new potatoes and green salad with a honey mustard dressing and topped off with a poached egg. It was probably just about the least healthy salad in existence (well, except any of the ‘salads’ they sell as McDonalds I suppose), but it sure was a tasty lunch. 622 down, 1174 to go

622. Black Pudding

Black pudding is one of those foods that can freak some people out a bit. It is after all a sausage made out of pig blood - not the most appealing sounding food. It tastes really pretty good though. The first time I ate it was with roast pork and apple sauce, and I have to say that is still my favourite way to eat it. However this salad was also pretty good. The black pudding was paired with bacon, new potatoes and green salad with a honey mustard dressing and topped off with a poached egg. It was probably just about the least healthy salad in existence (well, except any of the ‘salads’ they sell as McDonalds I suppose), but it sure was a tasty lunch.

622 down, 1174 to go

January 31, 2012 • 141 notes
621. Burford Brown Egg Burford Brown eggs are just a variety of chicken eggs. I tried them a few different ways and I found that they were not hugely different to regular chicken eggs; they just have slightly more orangey yolks, and they have a good, pronounced flavour. I love eggs in all kinds of ways but I always like to have them on a pizza. If you haven’t tried it I really recommend that you do (especially with parma ham or prosciutto). If you arrange all of the other toppings on your pizza, then crack the egg on top. I would always use a fork to break the white up a little and drag it out across the pizza as otherwise you can sometimes end up with little pieces of white that are not totally solid, and I’m not ok with that. I normally find that if I do that and bake the pizza for 10-12 minutes then the white will be cooked and the yolk will still be slightly runny. 621 down, 1175 to go

621. Burford Brown Egg

Burford Brown eggs are just a variety of chicken eggs. I tried them a few different ways and I found that they were not hugely different to regular chicken eggs; they just have slightly more orangey yolks, and they have a good, pronounced flavour. I love eggs in all kinds of ways but I always like to have them on a pizza. If you haven’t tried it I really recommend that you do (especially with parma ham or prosciutto). If you arrange all of the other toppings on your pizza, then crack the egg on top. I would always use a fork to break the white up a little and drag it out across the pizza as otherwise you can sometimes end up with little pieces of white that are not totally solid, and I’m not ok with that. I normally find that if I do that and bake the pizza for 10-12 minutes then the white will be cooked and the yolk will still be slightly runny.

621 down, 1175 to go

January 30, 2012 • 25 notes
620. Butter Tarts When I went to my friend’s for Canadian Thanksgiving, there were not one but four different desserts - pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, date squares, and these butter tarts. Of them all these were my favourite and I still absolutely have to get the recipe so that I can make some myself. Basically they are slightly like a pecan pie. They are little pastry tart cases filled with a mixture of chopped pecans with lots of butter and sugar, and they taste fantastic. 620 down, 1176 to go

620. Butter Tarts

When I went to my friend’s for Canadian Thanksgiving, there were not one but four different desserts - pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, date squares, and these butter tarts. Of them all these were my favourite and I still absolutely have to get the recipe so that I can make some myself. Basically they are slightly like a pecan pie. They are little pastry tart cases filled with a mixture of chopped pecans with lots of butter and sugar, and they taste fantastic.

620 down, 1176 to go

January 30, 2012 • 38 notes
619. Carrot Cake As much as I bake I’d never made a carrot cake before. However I decided to make a cake for my friend’s birthday and we found out that carrot cake was her favourite so I gave it a try. I used a recipe I found online for the cake, and topped it with loads of cream cheese icing and some fondant carrots that Pie and I made. The cake turned out much better than I expected and was moist and delicious, and even Pie liked it (usually carrot cake is his second least favourite cake). 619 down, 1177 to go

619. Carrot Cake

As much as I bake I’d never made a carrot cake before. However I decided to make a cake for my friend’s birthday and we found out that carrot cake was her favourite so I gave it a try. I used a recipe I found online for the cake, and topped it with loads of cream cheese icing and some fondant carrots that Pie and I made. The cake turned out much better than I expected and was moist and delicious, and even Pie liked it (usually carrot cake is his second least favourite cake).

619 down, 1177 to go

January 29, 2012 • 18 notes
617. Chicken Divan and 618. Cream of Mushroom Soup I hadn’t heard of chicken divan before so I had to look it up. When I found a recipe for it, it sounded like something that I would love, but with a couple of ingredients that made it sound a little on the weird side. I know that a lot of American casserole dishes are made with mushroom soup, but considering I think that mushroom soup is pretty gross by itself I was never really tempted to try it. Also the recipe contains mayonnaise and I would have never thought to add mayonnaise to a cooked dish like this before; I only ever use it as a condiment, or as a dressing for chicken and salads. A chicken and broccoli bake topped with cheese sounded tasty whatever the ingredients were though, and that turned out to be the case. I served mine with mashed potatoes because everything is always better with mashed potatoes. Fact. 618 down, 1178 to go

617. Chicken Divan and 618. Cream of Mushroom Soup

I hadn’t heard of chicken divan before so I had to look it up. When I found a recipe for it, it sounded like something that I would love, but with a couple of ingredients that made it sound a little on the weird side. I know that a lot of American casserole dishes are made with mushroom soup, but considering I think that mushroom soup is pretty gross by itself I was never really tempted to try it. Also the recipe contains mayonnaise and I would have never thought to add mayonnaise to a cooked dish like this before; I only ever use it as a condiment, or as a dressing for chicken and salads. A chicken and broccoli bake topped with cheese sounded tasty whatever the ingredients were though, and that turned out to be the case. I served mine with mashed potatoes because everything is always better with mashed potatoes. Fact.

618 down, 1178 to go

January 29, 2012 • 23 notes
616. Comice Pear Pears are not one of my favourite fruits; they lack the tanginess that I like in fruits and they also sometimes have a weird grainy texture. They get much better when they’re cooked though, so I decided I would put the comice pears in a crumble. I mixed the pears with raspberries and vanilla and then added my usual crumble topping before baking it. Crumble is one of my specialities - I think it’s one of the best dishes I cook even if I say so myself. This is mostly because I use a much higher ratio of butter and sugar to flour than you find in most recipes. I hate when you have a crumble and the topping is loose and dry. My crumble is chewy and crunchy and caramelly. Basically, if you mix half and half flour and demerara sugar, then blend in butter until it looks like chunky breadcrumbs you will end up with an awesome crumble. 616 down, 1180 to go

616. Comice Pear

Pears are not one of my favourite fruits; they lack the tanginess that I like in fruits and they also sometimes have a weird grainy texture. They get much better when they’re cooked though, so I decided I would put the comice pears in a crumble. I mixed the pears with raspberries and vanilla and then added my usual crumble topping before baking it.

Crumble is one of my specialities - I think it’s one of the best dishes I cook even if I say so myself. This is mostly because I use a much higher ratio of butter and sugar to flour than you find in most recipes. I hate when you have a crumble and the topping is loose and dry. My crumble is chewy and crunchy and caramelly. Basically, if you mix half and half flour and demerara sugar, then blend in butter until it looks like chunky breadcrumbs you will end up with an awesome crumble.

616 down, 1180 to go

January 19, 2012 • 20 notes
614. Confit Duck with Puy Lentils featuring 615. Confit Last Christmas (as in Christmas 2010), we were allowed to choose some foods from work to take home as a Christmas gift. For part of mine I got a can of French confit duck legs, which I then promptly put in the cupboard and totally forgot about for nearly a year. It meant for a nice surprise when I found them though, and for a really rich and luxurious Sunday dinner. The duck comes canned in a lot of duck fat, so I drained all of that off (and kept it to make future roast potatoes with), and roasted the confit legs in the oven to warm them through and crisp the skin. I served it with puy lentils. Personally, I love lentils. I think they’re tasty, not only in themselves but also because they are so willing to soak up any other flavours that you put with them. For these, I sauteed a little onion and celery with a couple of rashers of finely chopped bacon. I then added a pouch of pre-cooked lentils with a splash of chicken stock and left them to cook for about 10 minutes until they were all soft and full of bacony goodness. I maybe could have done without the bacon as I think the lentils are supposed to be a light, refreshing companion to the fatty, salty duck, but everything is always better with bacon. 615 down, 1181 to go

614. Confit Duck with Puy Lentils featuring 615. Confit

Last Christmas (as in Christmas 2010), we were allowed to choose some foods from work to take home as a Christmas gift. For part of mine I got a can of French confit duck legs, which I then promptly put in the cupboard and totally forgot about for nearly a year. It meant for a nice surprise when I found them though, and for a really rich and luxurious Sunday dinner. The duck comes canned in a lot of duck fat, so I drained all of that off (and kept it to make future roast potatoes with), and roasted the confit legs in the oven to warm them through and crisp the skin.

I served it with puy lentils. Personally, I love lentils. I think they’re tasty, not only in themselves but also because they are so willing to soak up any other flavours that you put with them. For these, I sauteed a little onion and celery with a couple of rashers of finely chopped bacon. I then added a pouch of pre-cooked lentils with a splash of chicken stock and left them to cook for about 10 minutes until they were all soft and full of bacony goodness. I maybe could have done without the bacon as I think the lentils are supposed to be a light, refreshing companion to the fatty, salty duck, but everything is always better with bacon.

615 down, 1181 to go

January 19, 2012 • 41 notes
613. Crystallized Ginger I find that ginger is one of those flavours that really divides people - you love it or hate it, and I am firmly in the first group. I adore ginger everything - ginger beer, gingerbread, ginger tea, and this, crystallized ginger. As far as I’m concerned if you combine ginger and sugar you cannot possibly go wrong. This was good ginger as it was nice and sweet on the outside, but it gave way to a super spicy, tongue-tingling centre. Yum. 613 down, 1183 to go

613. Crystallized Ginger

I find that ginger is one of those flavours that really divides people - you love it or hate it, and I am firmly in the first group. I adore ginger everything - ginger beer, gingerbread, ginger tea, and this, crystallized ginger. As far as I’m concerned if you combine ginger and sugar you cannot possibly go wrong. This was good ginger as it was nice and sweet on the outside, but it gave way to a super spicy, tongue-tingling centre. Yum.

613 down, 1183 to go