She Cooks, She Eats

Meal Planning Monday – 15/10/2012

Amy — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Another week, another meal plan! I’m introducing more meat in this week, just because going veggie was driving me crazy. I’ve still got two totally veggie days, though…

Monday
Roast chicken with herby wedges, trimmed green beans and roast carrots

Tuesday
Falafel bites and hummus

Wednesday
Balsamic meatballs

Thursday
Crispy chicken and salad

Friday
Mexican pasta bake

Thursday and Friday’s meals are meals that I was supposed to make in previous plans, but plans changed. I’m looking forward to making healthy hummus for the first time, though!

What are you eating this week?

Love, Amy xx

Sunday Summary

Amy — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 13:18:00 +0000

1. Monday, I spent my entire day working in Hyde Park. As always I got there ridiculously early (I can’t figure out transport times in London) so I got to wander round the park. It was quite atmospheric, me wandering round with my massive red hair in a knee length formal black coat, all misty and lovely. Plus there were lots of cute birds.

2. I also got to have lunch in the Serpentine restaurant, which overlooks that lake. I had the most AMAZING cauliflower soup, but I also stole a few chips off my colleagues and they were probably the nicest chips I’ve ever eaten. The fishfinger sandwiches looked gorgeous, too. I always thought fishfinger sandwiches were for kids, but they’re doing some damn decent adult versions now.

3. Remember my gorgeous, adorable, lovely Dalmatian puppy, Bertie, who I had to leave with my parents when I came to London? Well, he doesn’t like being left alone, as this photo shows. He destroyed almost every cushion in the living room. Minnie, our chocolate lab, was lying on the floor covered in feathers when my dad came home.

4. And later in the week he got the last one, too. And he does not give a solitary damn about it.

5. Talking of my parents….as I slave away down here in London trying to eat veggie because it’s cheaper, my mum is going to a fantastic local butchers she just discovered and buying all this for £50! How is that fair? Why wait until after I leave to start getting all the yummy meat? I’ve made her promise to save me some lamb for when I come back, though.

6. Do you watch Merlin? I do, and I love it. I wrote a review of it for the TV site I edit and you can have a read, if you like.

7. A Tastecard arrived for my landlady, who lives in Australia. It would be bad if I stole it and pretended to be her, right?

8. I’m getting bored of my hair. It’s big and it’s long and it’s messy and I just want to do something to it. Several people are trying to convince me to go for a pixie cut, but I’m too chicken. I have a big fat face, it needs covering up! Mind you, I know exactly what pixie cut I’d get if I were going to get it done. I’m mildly obsessed with this haircut, and I think it’d look good in ginger.

9. I have a normal Kindle. I really, really want a Kindle Paperwhite. Is that bad of me? I know the answer is yes, I just want confirmation, really.

10. This week, I bought my first two Christmas presents and made a Christmas spreadsheet. Therefore I am the coolest.

How was your week?

Love, Amy xxx

Cheesey veggie pasta bake

Amy — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 08:00:00 +0000

So, last week I really wanted to walk to Morrison’s and buy so much junk food I would struggle to carry it all home.

Garry was out working, I’d had a crappy day at work and I was generally feeling a bit sorry for myself. Junk food, I thought, would fix it.

Instead I rummaged in the cupboards and threw a load of colourful vegetables together with some pasta. The results was a big bowl of comfort food, which did a lot more good for me than all the junk food. Lovely veggies in a rich, creamy sauce — which, by the way, will be making various appearances in recipes over the next few weeks, just in different guises.

Ingredients (Serves four)

250g squash (about 1 small one)
1 red onion
1 garlic clove
2 large leeks
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
150g wholemeal pasta shells (or 200g if you like lots of pasta)

For the sauce

2 large eggs
200g 0% Total Greek yogurt
100ml veg stock
180g light cheddar

Preheat the oven to 220C. Peel the squash and chop it into chunks. Cut the onion into wedges and put the squash and the onion in a large roasting tray. Peel and finely dice the garlic. Scatter the garlic over the veggies with some salt and pepper.

Roast for 15 minutes. Whilst roasting, slice the leeks and the peppers. Then add the leeks and peppers to the tin, shake and roast for another 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted boiling water and drain.

Mix the eggs with the Greek yogurt, the stock and 90g of the cheddar. You’ll get a thick sauce like this.

When the veggies are all roasted and delicious looking…

(Let’s get a close up, because that looks good)

…mix the sauce, pasta and veggies together in an ovenproof dish.

Sprinkle over the remaining cheese…

…and bake for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted and as dark as you like.

It will smell amazing – but try not to dive in headfirst, because it’ll also be really, really hot.

You can reheat this, but it tastes better fresh from the oven.

Enjoy!

Tuna Fishcakes

Amy — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 08:30:00 +0000

So. Tuna fishcakes.

These are beasts of fishcakes — I made them quite round, like burgers, but flattened them right out whilst they were cooking to get them hot through because I was worried about burning them. I don’t mind an enormous fishcakes, but if you wanted something more dainty you could split them into two or even three parts.

What these are is absobloodylutely gorgeous. Not fancy or impressive, but really yummy. Proper comfort food, perfect for eating in your PJs and slippers whilst it rains outside and you’re watching bad sitcoms you secretly love. I know that sounds like utter tosh, but it’s true.

Ingredients (Makes four enormous fishcakes)

400g potatoes
2 tablespoons of mayo (plus more to serve)
Two 185g cans of tuna
200g sweetcorn
1 teaspoon of dried parsley
2 eggs
100g breadcrumbs
Salad, to serve

Peel the potatoes, cut into chunks and boil them for 20-30 minutes until they’re really, really tender. Drain them and leave them in the colander to steam dry. Mash them with some salt and pepper before stirring in the mayonnaise, tuna, sweetcorn and parsley. Mix well and shape into four fishcakes.

Pop these cakes in the fridge for at least an hour (but you could make them the night before and leave them in for tea the next day).

Beat the eggs and put them in a shallow dish. Put the breadcrumbs in another shallow dish. Dip each of the fishcakes in first the egg, both sides, and then the breadcrumbs, both sides.

Cook the fishcakes in a hot frying pan over a hot heat for 2-3 minutes on each side. If you can’t do them all at the same time, keep the cooked ones hot in a warm oven.

Then serve with salad and a nice big dollop of mayo.

They are enormous, aren’t they?

Tasty, though.

Mini Brandy Babas

Amy — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 08:30:00 +0000

It took me absolutely ages to get round to doing the second part of my Bake the Bake Off challenge, purely because the idea of babas terrified me. I’ve never made one, never eaten one and genuinely have no idea how they work.

I was also very confused by the fact that I ordered baba tins and ended up with mini tins. Absolutely teeny tiny tins. That involved some serious recipe wrangling.

I also don’t really like rum…so substituted cherry brandy. But still. S’alcohol, right?

But anyway, I got over it and made these. Here’s the recipe. If you want to make normal sized babas just double the recipe.

Ingredients (Makes four mini babas)
To bake

1/2 tbsp caster sugar
1 7g sachet dried yeast
35ml warm milk
60g plain flour
1 egg
35g butter

To soak

60ml water
50g demerrara sugar
25ml brandy

To finish

1 banana
Whipped cream

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Mix the caster sugar, yeast and warm milk together in a large bowl, and leave it in a warm place for 10-15 minutes to activate the yeast.

(In my airing cupboard-less home, that means putting it on a chair in front of the oven with a towel to capture the heat)

Once the yeast is bubbling and lovely, like this…

…sift the flour into the bowl and add the eggs. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Stir in the softened butter and continue mixing until the batter is very smooth and comes away from the side of the bowl.

Butter 4 individual baba moulds and divide the mixture between them, filling each one approximately halfway to the top.

Leave in a warm place for another 30 minutes so the mixture can double in size (Another instance of the chair in front of the oven).

Then bake for 20-25 minutes. Mine were slightly overdone….

Leave to cool in the tins, then remove from their little tins.

Make the syrup by mixing the sugar and water in a saucepan and putting it over a medium heat. Bring it to the boil and let it bubble for two minutes. Then add the brandy.

Prick the babas all over and fill the tins with the syrup. Then put the babas back in their tins. I pricked the tops and spooned the syrup over them, too. Refrigerate for at least two hours.

To serve, fill with cream (I went with squirty) and top with some sliced fruit. Enjoy!

Meal Planning Monday – 8/10/2012

Amy — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Another week, another meal plan. I’m going all veggie this week…

Monday
Sort yourself out — I don’t know what either of us are doing, so…

Tuesday
Cauliflower Cheese

Wednesday
Sausage and bean casserole

Thursday
Mixed pepper and goat cheese Alfredo

Friday
Vegetable soup

What are you eating this week?

Sunday Summary

Amy — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 20:30:00 +0000

1. I’ve decided to give up swearing for the month of October. I have no problem with swearing — in fact, I quite enjoy it — but I’ve started swearing so much that it’s losing its impact and becoming vulgar. I have no desire to be vulgar. This article perfectly describes the kind of swearer I want to be (Be warned, there is some serious swearing in that piece)

2. This week, some random person on Twitter who is “trying to get the Jews to acknowledge (her) as their Messiah” called me humourless. I think that means that I’ve made it, in internet terms at least. Woot!

3. Garry has a very stressful job. Occasionally, him and his workmates will go out and get absolutely ratfaced to blow off steam. I am perfectly fine with this, but he always feels bad about it. Anyway, Tuesday his workmates were going out for a drink and he was insistent he wasn’t joining them because he had a 9am start the next day. Then at 5pm I get a text — “I’ve had my arm twisted, I’m going out for one”

4. He came back at midnight. That’s not bad, I suppose. Although he didn’t just come in. He came in giggling and swaying, telling me repeatedly that he had to have a shower, needed helping negotiating getting in and out of the shower, then needed something to eat. I made him toast and jam (I’m a good girlfriend/way too maternal for my own good) and made him drink a pint of water. He protested the whole time, sitting with his feet up on the chair and his face resting on his bent knees. He’s like a giggly little boy when he’s drunk.

5. He wasn’t giggling the next day with his huge hangover. Mwahahaha.

6. I am in love with a new blog. It’s called Michelin Microwave. He takes celebrity endorsed products, cooks them and eats them. Then he blogs about how good/bad they are. I love it.

7. My parents came down for the weekend! My mum’s 25th wedding anniversary present to my dad was a trip on a boat on the Thames with a four course meal and a live band, and they invited us along. It was quite frankly amazing — both the night itself and seeing them.

8. It was also quite fantastic having them do lots of DIY for me this weekend, like putting blinds up and cleaning carpets. Thanks, Dad!

9. Garry usually eats next to nothing. When I make dinner I can pretty much use a tea plate for him and a dinner plate for me. Then I make a Sunday Roast and he has a plate like this.

10. Being a shy, not particularly fun non-drinker, I’m worried that Garry’s workmates will think I’m rubbish when we meet properly. Therefore I have come across a fiendish plan to make them like me. I am going to bake things and send them over to work for their weekly meetings. So far, I’ve made them banana chocolate cupcakes — and so far, it’s working.

Moroccan Chicken

Amy — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 08:30:00 +0000

Yeah. I know, right?

So, sometimes I like to go through cookbooks, pick out random recipe and drool over them. What a normal person would then do is make the random recipe. What I do is steal the spice combination and make it into something else. This is exactly what happened with this.

But it’s a good system, so I’m going to keep doing it. It throws up delicious things like this.

Ingredients (Serves two)

For the chicken

2 chicken breasts
1 large red onion
Can of chopped tomatoes
Large pinch of ground ginger
One garlic clove
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tbsp of cumin, coriander, and cinnamon
1 small butternut squash
200ml chicken stock

To serve

Lemon zest
Couscous

Slice the chicken breasts and brown them over a medium heat in a large, deep frying pan.

Remove the chicken from the pan and slice the onion. Fry it with the ginger and chopped garlic clove until it’s softened. Then add the rest of the spices.

Chope the squash into chunks — I do this by slicing the squash into rings and then cutting off the skin and removing the seeds.

Add the diced squash to the pan along with the stock and the can of tomatoes. Bring the liquid to a simmer, and then re-add the tomatoes.

Let it simmer for 30 minutes so that the sauce gets thick. Whilst it’s thickening, cook the couscous and stir in the zest of a lemon.

When the sauce is ready, pile the chicken on top of the couscous. I added a little chopped coriander to garnish, too.

UPDATE:
Dan decided to try the recipe and sent me a photo. Doesn’t it look good?!

Chicken and Mushroom Stew

Amy — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 08:30:00 +0000

I have a weird relationship with stews. If someone gives me a stew I’m liable to eat it and not enjoy a single bite. If I get in a stew mood and either make myself a stew or ask someone else to make it, it’s the most delicious thing in the world.

Saturday, I was in a real stew mood. And this is the result.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

2 chicken breasts
125g of button mushrooms, halved
1 large red onion
250ml of chicken stock
140g peas
A pinch of parsley

Cut the chicken into chunks and brown in a hot pan.

Remove the chicken chunks and fry the mushrooms to soften them. Then add the diced onion and cook until they’re translucent.

Add the stock to the pan along with the chicken chunks. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Then add the peas and cook for two minutes more.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with some chopped parsley.

Enjoy, preferably underneath a blanket.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Amy — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 08:30:00 +0000

So, I don’t like bananas.

I wish I did. They’re the perfect fruit, aren’t they? In a handy wrapper, healthy, good for you, very eco-friendly, filling — they’re ideal. However, I hate them. Absolutely hate them, in every way.

Garry loves bananas. They’re the only fruit he eats on a regular basis. Unfortunately his shifts meant that the bananas in the fruit bowl went brown, and we needed to use them up. Enter banana bread.

Turns out that although I can’t stand bananas, I love banana bread. There aren’t many good photos of the bread, and that’s because it didn’t last long enough for me to take decent photos. Moist, gooey, moreish — this tastes best fresh from the oven, just cool enough to manage.

Ingredients

350g peeled ripe bananas
180g plain flour
2½ teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
160g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
4 tablespoons of melted butter
100g chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 170C. Cut the bananas into chunks and mash half until they’re smooth. Roughly mash the other so they’re in smaller chunks, and mix the two together.

Whisk the sugar, eggs and melted butter together. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bananas and pour the egg mix and chocolate chips over the top. Fold everything together until you get a smooth batter.

Grease a loaf tin (or spray it with Fry Light) and sprinkle with flour. Pour in the batter.

Bake this for an hour, until it’s golden brown and a knife stuck into the middle comes out clean. After 15 minutes it should be cool enough to turn out and leave to cool completely.

Not that it will cool completely, because before you know it it will look like this.