Untitled

This dish is inspired part by my friend, who in turn took a similar recipe from a Jamie Oliver book, and partly just made up by me. The bacon was a request from my father, who refused to eat something without meat in it.

Basically, it is what it says. BACON. TOMATO. PASTA. yum :)

Ingredients:

Bacon (two slices per person) Tomatoes (for two people use a packet of cherry tomatoes) Olive Oil (several hearty glugs) Garlic (several cloves. about two..but it depends on your love of garlic) Gluten free pasta (any type will do)

Recipe:

Cut up your bacon into strips. fry.

Put a good glug (1-2 tablespoons) of olive oil into a small pan. Crush garlic in and gently heat (do not burn). cut up about half of your cherry tomatoes into quaters and put in with garlic and olive oil. turn heat up.

Cook your pasta.

Stir the tomatoes occasionally. when they start to squish up, add the rest of the tomatoes (in quarters) at intervals. Keep stirring (and deliberately gently squishing) the tomatoes. The  point is that most will be mush at the end.

Drain your pasta. Add bacon to tomatoes. Over the pasta add several more glugs of olive oil (you cannot have too much olive oil in this recipe). Mix pasta and sauce.

DONE!

*Points to add*

Its done when most of the tomatoes are mushed up deliberately by you. this makes up the *sauce* such as it is. I add the rest of the chopped tomatoes at a later stage to give the dish some texture, so its not all mush, but its not all necessary.

Yes, that much olive oil is necessary. and is what makes this dish tasty.

In case you were wondering, here is a picture of mushy tomatoes being made...

Baileys and white chocolate fudge. From the GoodFood (website).

Ingredients:

500g golden granulated sugar 500 ml whipping cream 50ml baileys 150g white chocolate

Recipe:

Butter and line a 22cm x 22cm tin, leaving a small overhang. Put sugar, cream and Baileys in a large pan and, stirring slowly, bring it to a simmer. Make sure the sugar is dissolved (it will stop feeling grainy on the base of pan), then turn the heat up to a rolling boil.

adjust the heat until the mix bubbles without getting too near the top of the pan. keep bubbling, stirring occasionally, until a small amount of mix dropped into a glass of cold water will form a soft ball that you can pick up on the end of a teaspoon.

At this stage, the bubbles will have gone from being large and unruly to smaller and more even. stir in choc and pour mix into tin. cool and cut.

This recipe is from the mother of a good friend of mine, who happened to be my house-mate, and who I met in China, but somehow went to the same university anyway, but more importantly is Harriet's (my best friend's) boyfriend. Its all a bit incestuous really.

Basically its amazing anyway.

Ingredients:

75g margarine (Stork) 100g dark chocolate 175g of caster sugar 2 large eggs 75g of rice flour level tsp of baking powder pinch salt 1/2tsp vanilla essence

Recipe:

set oven at 180 degrees melt margarine and choc in saucepan over gentle heat remove from heat add sugar allow to cool slightly add egg fold in rice, baking powder, vanilla essence and salt pour into baking tray bake for 30 mins

*notes.*

Sweet and Sour chicken. I made this meal for our China themed meal at my student house, and it went down well :)

Its actually a little complex, but worth it. I found the recipe online, but honestly cant remember where :(

Ingredients:

For chicken:

1/2 small pineapple 2 chicken breasts 2 tbsp oil 1 onion 2 peppers 1 tbsp cornflour

For sauce:

1tbsp cornflour pineapple juice 2 crushed garlic cloves 1 inch finely grated ginger 1 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp white wine vinegar 2tbsp soft light brown sugar 3 tbsp of ketchup 1 pinch chilli flakes black pepper

recipe:

Put cornflour in small bowl and stir in 2 tbsp of juice until smooth. put remaining juice in separate bowl and stir in garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, ketchup and chilli flakes until thoroughly combined. Heat the oil in frying pan/wok and stir fry the onion and peppers for 3 mins over high heat. coat chicken in cornflour and add to pan. Stir fry for 4 mins until lightly coloured

Add pineapple and sauce to pan and bring to simmer over medium heat. Cook for 4-5 mins or until everything in cooked

Another of my Best Friend's awesome recipes.

Its curry. And its fruity!

Ingredients:

olive oil chicken fillets (however many fillets there is to each person) 1 oz plain flour 1 tbs of curry powder 1/2 pint of water 1 chicken stock cube 1 tbs mango chutney 1 tbs of blackcurrant jelly/jam 1 oz sultanas 1 desert apple (chopped and peeled)

Recipe:

This is one of my best friend's recipes. It's for an awesome spag bowl, that includes lots of things I don't like, but somehow is just awesome instead :)

*A household meal - including the awesome spag bowl!*

Ingredients:

3 tbsp olive oil 2 cloves of garlic 1 medium onion 1 celery 1 large carrot 1 tsp salt 50g pancetta 200g mince 1 tbsp puree 2 glasses of red wine 200ml chicken stock 2 tbsp unsalted butter 500g spag

Recipe:

Heat oil, add garlic, onion, celery, carrot. fry for one min, then lower heat. Add salt. Cover and leave to sweat for 10 mins. Add pancetta 5 mins later add mince when browned add puree add wine and turn up heat so bubbles. leave for a min then add stock. Let stock come to simmer then lower heat and leave for 1 1/2 hours. add butter to sauce - take off heat.

*Notes*

This is one of my favourite recipes, and one of the first family meals I learnt  to make.

Its yummy :)

Ingredients:

500g mince meat 500-600g pasta 1 egg 25g breadcrumbs 1 tsp oregano 1tsp thyme 50g breadcrumbs salt and pepper cheese 250ml tomato sauce 150ml red wine 1 roasted red pepper

Recipe:

Make meatballs. Mix mince, egg, 25g breadcrumbs, oregano, salt and pepper. Form into meatballs. Fry.

At the same time, cook the pasta.

Once meatballs are cooked through, add tomato sauce, wine and pepper. simmer.

Mix pasta, meatballs and sauce. Pour into dish. Sprinkle cheese (mozzarella or cheddar), thyme and breadcrumbs. and then repeat into layers.

This dish is lovely, and my sister shared it with me, so she is lovely too. :)

Its very simple, and supposedly healthy, but it has so much cream, i doubt that. Still. Its awesome. (And gluten-free)

Ingredients:

3-4 tbs butter 2tbs olive oil 1 spring onion 500g asparagus tips 150ml double cream pancetta Pasta (its supposed to be 100g per person, but I always use more than that per person. I like food. so sue me.)

Recipe:

Melt butter and oil in pan Add spring onions for 2 mins. Add pancetta for another 2 Add asp tips for five mins or until soft Add cream.

Mmmmm...chocolate....mmmm, chocolate cake.

This recipe is from Mary Berry (Baking Bible), and is awesome and chocolately....

This isn't a gluten-free recipe, but works fine if you switch it out for gluten-free flour and baking powder.

Ingredients:

275g plain flour 3 level tbsp bicarbonate of soda 1 1/2 level tsp baking powder 215g caster sugar 3 tbsp golden syrup 3 large eggs 225ml sunflower oil 225ml milk

Icing

450g plain chocolate (39% solids) 200g unsalted butter

To finish:

50g white and plain choc, coarsely grated.

Recipe:

Pre-heat oven 160/140/Gas 3 grease two 20cm deep loose-bottomed tins then line base with baking parchment

sift flour, cocoa powder, bicarb of soda and baking powder into large bowl add sugar and mix well make a well in centre of dry ingredients and add golden syrup, eggs, oil  and milk. beat well, using spoon, until smooth and then pour into tins

bake for 35 mins or until well risen, then spring back when lightly pressed with a finger. leave to cool in tins. When cold, cut each cake in half horizontally.

to make icing, break choc into pieces and gently heat in heatproof bowl set over pan of simmering water for about 10 mins or just until choc has melted, occasionally stirring. remove from heat, add butter, and leave to melt into choc

stand on wire rack on baking tray to catch drips, then sandwich layers together with icing. pour remaining icing over the top of cake, and use a small palette knife to smooth it evenly over the top and around the sides. Leave to set then decorate with grated choc.

*Notes*

As you can see from my (bad) pics of this version of the cake I made, I made this in a heart shaped cake tin. And it only has two level. Mainly because I couldn't be bothered/am so bad at cutting straight that I didn't want to mess it up. But if you can do it/want to do it, then feel free. And also, it clearly doesn't matter what shape the cake is. This cake is very rich, so keep it for special occasions. But it is awesome, so do make it!.

*Notes from Mary Berry*

I LOVE NUTELLA.

That is all.

Well, maybe not all :) Because of my love of Nutella (and my friend's love of nutella) I was super excited to find this recipe of a chocolate muffin in the Hummingbird Bakery 'Cake days' book.

I've made this twice - once with my friend and once by myself. This is actually a hazelnut praline muffin. But whatever its awesome. and chocolatey...mmmmmm.....

*These are not originally gluten-free, but taste just fine when you put in gluten-free flour and baking powder. Just remember to!*

*makes 10-12 muffins*

Ingredients:

300g plain flour 145g caster sugar 1 tbsp baking powder 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1/4 tsp salt 250ml whole milk 1 tsp vanilla essence 2 eggs 85g unsalted butter, melted 150g NUTELLA!!!! (or generic hazelnut spread. or whateves) 30g hazelnuts, finely chopped

Recipe:

Preheat the oven 170/Gas 3.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, 115g of caster sugar, baking powder, bicarb of soda and salt. pour milk and vanilla essence into a jug, break in eggs and whisk together.

Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour in milk and eggs while mixing on a low speed. Remember to scrape down sides of bowl occasionally when mixing and mix till smooth. Add melted butter and whisk a little more.

Add 80g of NUTELLAAAAAA  to muffin batter and mix thoroughly. Next spoon the batter into muffin cases. Fill them quarter full. Spoon about 1 tsp of remaining nutella into middle of each muffin, and then add remaining batter, until each case is 3/4 full.

Sprinkle over the chopped hazelnuts and remaining caster sugar. (The sugar makes a yummy crust, even if it sounds like a lot) Cook for 25-30 mins or until risen and bounce back.

*Notes*

The second to last notes of recipe - 'Fill the muffin tins 1/4 full and then spoon in the rest of the mix until muffin case is 2/3 full.' - I don't actually follow anymore. The nutella sinks down to the bottom anyway, so its actually easier to just fill the cases up 2/3 and then drop a spoon full of nutella in. If you do it AFTER you have sprinkled on nuts and sugar, then you get a mix of nuts down the middle, which is nicer and breaks up these MASSIVE muffins. Also, don't be afraid to add a BIG  spoonful of nutella in the middle. its tasty :)

Also, I'm aware these are cracked at the top. Also if yours are cracked, it probably means your oven is too hot. but who really cares? They taste awesome! (And i never claimed to be an expert at baking/cooking!)

*What Hummingbird Bakery says*

'We never cool our muffins completely. but love to eat them when they're still a little bit warm. They're always devoured in minutes!'

At University last year we had a themed meal for my friend.

We choose the theme 'orange' as it was her favourite colour, and had everyone dress in the colour (the boys didn't actually comply to my insistence on this...so it was mainly just me!) Everyone had a course, and I choose the desert course, because in case you haven't already guessed I love to bake :)

I choose this recipe 'Chocolate orange cupcakes' from the Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days book.

*makes 12-16*

Ingredients:

70g unsalted butter 210g caster sugar 105g soft light brown sugar 2 large eggs 1 tsp vanilla essence 1tbsp of orange zest 255g plain flour 50g coca powder 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 240ml whole milk

Frosting ingredients:

600g icing sugar 100g unsalted butter 250g full-fat cream cheese (Philadelphia) 60g coca powder 3 tsp finely grated orange zest Candied orange peel to decorate

Preheat oven to 190/gas 5

cream together (use mixer/whisk) butter and both types of sugar until pale and fluffy beat in eggs one at a time, and then vanilla and orange zest

sift together remaining ingredients and add to creamed mixture in three batches. once all dry ingredients are in, beat until batter is well mixed and smooth.

divide mix into paper cases, filling 3/4 full. place in oven and bake for 18-20 mins or until sponge bounces when pressed. cool.

make frosting: whisk icing sugar and butter, until crumbly in texture. add cream cheese and cocoa powder, until frosting is smooth and light. mix in orange by hand

swirl onto cold cupcakes with palette knife, or just slather on any old how. it all tastes the same!

*Notes*

This cake is very rich, and cream cheesey. I'm not a big fan of that kind of icing, so if you aren't either, its maybe not the kind of cupcake for you. The recipe calls for it to be made in 'deep muffin tins' rather than cupcake tins, but I found these were much too rich and big, and its better as a cupcake size (bear in mind you will probably come out with more then 12 in that case.) These went down well, and are quite orangey. In the end i made the icing without orange in it, and didn't miss a thing, but my friend said she wouldn't have minded the extra orange (I don't like orange, hence i left it out. Also, i didn't have enough orange at the time. Really, this was not the best kind of cupcake for fussy ole me, but it was her meal, and she loved it!)

*what Hummingbird Bakery said about them*

I made this for my dad, and he like it, so that's a big thumbs up for everyone!

I exchanged the flour in this recipe for gluten-free flour (and baking powder) and it worked out fine. Just use your favourite brand.

Ingredients:

225g softened (unsalted) butter 225g light muscovado sugar 3 large eggs 100g chopped walnuts 100g sultanas 225g self-raising flour 2 level tsp baking powder 400g cooking apples (peeled, cored and grated) 1 level tsp ground cinnamon

To finish: light muscovado sugar for sprinkling extra walnuts to sprinkle icing sugar to..SPRINKLE (it says dust in the recipe, but i think we'd all rather sprinkle!)

Recipe:

Pre-heat over to 180/160/Gas 4 grease 23cm deep round cake tin then line base with baking parchment

measure the butter, sugar, eggs, chopped walnuts, sultanas, flour and baking powder into bowl and beat until thoroughly blended.

spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin then spread the grated apple and ground cinnamon in an even layer on top. Spoon the remaining cake mixture on top. level then SPRINKLE, *like you mean it* the nuts and sugar over the top.

bake in oven for about 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 hours or until cake is well risen and golden brown. leave to cool in tin and turn out. dust with icing sugar to serve.

In case of interest (and you can't actually read the first photo) this is what Mary Berry says about this cake...

'This is the sort of cake that your would expect to find in a first-class coffee cake or tearoom. it's great for school fetes and charity events - sell it in wedges, ideally warmed and with a dollop of clotted cream.'