Lemon Tart!

Okay, so I made this about 2 weeks ago, but with the ridiculous backlog of deliciousness to post about, I'm just getting round to it; Lemon Tarts.

I bought ready-made shortcrust pastry by Jus'Rol, which I very much approve of because they actually label vegan products. Yay!

The filling is simple, but delicious. It's the juice of 2 fresh lemons, a couple of tablespoons of sugar, plenty of cornflour and a couple of cups of water, all boiled until it thickens right up. I also find that a a pinch of powdered ginger makes it that little bit more special.

 

Topped with a decorate dark chocolate shape, and generous sprinklings of cocoa powder and vanilla dusting sugar.

Delicious!

Jen x

Spinach & Pine Nut pancakes (& chocolate Walnuts)

As usual, the rate at which I cook things has been far greater than the rate at which I update this, leading to a massive backlog! So, to begin putting things right, I'll start with something that was ridiculously delicious; Spinach and Pine Nut pancakes.
I made my normal pancake batter mix, but with a little more flour for thickness, and some extra baking powder, then mixed in some roughly-chopped pine nuts, a little vegetable bouillon powder and torn baby leaf spinach. I made them about 1cm thick, so i fried them at a lower temperature than normal pancakes, for a longer time.

Delicious!

Also, much like the chocolate-cranberries, I also made chocolate-coated walnuts. Mmm...

 

Jen x

An assortment of goodies :)

Right, it's been a while, so I've got lots of things I've made over the last week or so to update about. So expect plenty of posts today!

Firstly, Banana Maple Nut balls.
Basically, I dried some slices of fresh banana in the microwave, then put them in the blender with some cashew nuts, pecans and currants. Then added a handful of oats, a pinch of cinnamon, a drop of vanilla, a drizzle of maple syrup and a teaspoon of cocoa powder, stirred it all in, then rolled them into balls.

Next up; Chocolate-coated cranberries.
This is pretty much as simple as it sounds, but makes an extra special alternative to chocolate raisins.
I melted some Belgian plain chocolate in a bain mairie-type system, using a metal camping bowl with a rim over a pan of simmering water. I then stirred-in as many cranberries as I could fit, making sure they were all covered, but that there wasn't too much spare chocolate dripping off them. i then using a fork to take them out and place them on a plate covered in greaseproof paper.

I left them to set in the fridge, then scrapped them off into a bowl and sprinkled with cocoa powder and vanilla dusting sugar. Delicious!

And finally, Toasted mixed seeds.
These are one of the simplest possible things to make, but are very much worth it. Just heat a dry frying pan and throw a couple of handfuls of your favourite types of seeds in, then sprinkle with 1-2 teaspoons of soya sauce. Keep stirring them over a medium heat for a minute or two until they're golden and crunchy.

They're fantastic served in liberal heaps on salad, but you can always just snack on them by the handful!

Jen x

French Strawberry Tart!

Next up: Strawberry tart, made the french way, i.e. a crunchy, golden pastry base with a layer of vanilla custard (in this case provamel, with added Madagascan vanilla extract), then a layer of fresh strawberry slices, all topped with a sweet red glaze (for this I used Green's Quick Jel)

This was absolutely huge; about 25cm in diameter so I expected it to last for several days...Instead, just 4 of us ate most of it in about 20 minutes. It was that good!

 

Oh my!

Jen x

Apple Pancakes

These apple pancakes are one of my signature dishes. I've cooked them for breakfasts, deserts, lunches and, of course, on pancake day.

They're basically vanilla & cinnamon sweet pancakes, filled with an apple and cinnamon sauce. It's served with vanilla Swedish Glace, a drizzle of golden syrup and a sprinkle of vanilla sugar and cinnamon.

 

Jen x

Salt & Vinegar potatoes

I found the idea of grilled salt & vinegar potatoes here, but being me, I took the idea and came up with my own recipe! Anyhow, these are ridiculously delicious!

They're essentially thin slices of potato boiled in water & vinegar, sprinkled with more vinegar, salt, a little spray olive oil and a sprinkle of sage, then grilled until crisp and golden.

Jen x