Category: DIY
Night in, Goulash!
COLD DAY DINNER DATE
Berlin was a trip full of amazing food, but my favourite meal was at the fantasticly rustic
Max & Moritz in the Student District.
(sort of wedged between some trendy bars and Turkish kebab shops was this beautiful little restaurant)
Dinner there was incredible, I had some life changing Goulash and Crispy dumplings
(I never thought I’d call Goulash “life changing”)
and with an awesome 3 piece folk band rocking up half way through it was a night to remember!
Or not, after consuming 3 bottles of red wine….
So here is my take on the rich comfort food of Central Europe, eaten and enjoyed with a glass of red wine for a lazy late afternoon feast!
I N G R E D I E N T S
Diced Beef
Red Onion
Garlic
Chorizo
Beef Stock
Tinned Tomatoes
Paprika
Salt & Pepper
Selection of Veggies:
Celery
Carrots
Courgettes
Cherry Tomatoes
(but basically anything else in your fridge)
Dice all the ingredients up and chuck them in a crock pot with a little oil
brown the meat slightly, and add in the salt, pepper, paprika and let it cook together for a few minutes.
then its a simple as chucking in the tomatoes and your stock,
putting the lid on, and transfer to the oven on a medium heat for an hour or two.
(the longer you leave it the more tender the meat will be and the more delicious your goulash)
To go with the Goulash, it is traditionally noodle dumplings,
but in my version – amazing smashed & roasted baby potatoes in a crispy garlic coating
Simple
Bring Baby potatoes to the boil with a little salt
and when they are semi-soft drain and squash them!
sprinkle them in oil, a little flour and garlic salt
& roast until crispy!
Leave the lid of the goulash for the last 10 minutes to give it a nice colour on the top and serve with glass Red wine.
ENJOY
Comfort Carbonara
Today was a day for comfort food!
After 5 x 14hour working days and battling a summer cold
it was time to regain some appetite and have a cosy meal at home with a glass of wine!
My favourite kind of comfort food is pasta!
nothing is better than a big bowl of CARBS when your feeling like a much deserved treat!
Creamy Prawn Carbonara
served with Chilli, Garlic Butter & Sourdough Bread
& Fresh Mixed Salad
To fill these beautiful vintage coloured glass dishes
First of All
Put the kettle on for your Spaghetti &Put the oven on to warm your bread.
For the Chilli Garlic Butter
(which is so more-ish! – so beware of the GARLIC breath)
CHOPPED GARLIC
MINCED CHILLI
SALT
BLACK PEPPER
PARSLEY
BUTTER
For your Carbanara Pasta:
You’ll need
ONION
GARLIC
SALT, BLACK PEPPER
BACON
MUSHROOMS
SINGLE CREAM
CHEDDAR CHEESE
PRAWNS
so simple
add the first 4 ingredients with a little olive oil
when the onions are soft and the bacon is a little crispy
add the cream, & cheese -until the cheese is melted
then add the prawns
I absolutely love this dish, it’s a good one to impressed with minimal effort too!
PERFECT.
Then add in your cooked spaghetti, mix altogether with some parsley
&DONE!
Enjoyed with a bottle of white wine, in front of a movie!
X
Peach & Meringue
TARTS SELLING TARTS
This weeks Tart
Peach (Nectarine) & Meringue
My fantastic veg man dropped off tonnes and tonnes of perfect nectarines
& I had to use them up!
First of all I sliced up the beautiful nectarines & sprinkled them in sugar and Vanilla
and baked them for 10minutes until gooey and sweet!
THEN
I made a really lovely Sweet French Vanilla Pastry
I used to use Delia’s recipe but now I’m using Eric Lanlard’s it so soft and perfect every time…
sorry Delia…
Anyway i put this in the over for 12-15minutes until golden brown with some baking beads
NEXT
I have been meaning to try making some Meringue ever since I bought
The Meringue Girls book
BUT
I don’t have an electric whisk!
So it did take a little longer but it was worth it!
I will be missing arm day at the gym this week
& LAST
I assembled everything together.
SO CUTE!
& really tasty, sweet, gooey
I had so much meringue left over I decided to make a huge dessert for everyone:
Just finish it off with some really naughty whipped cream
and DONE!
x
Peanut Butter &Nutella
Can you believe it. 27 posts!?
After a long day of Mini DIY Projects
KITCHEN BLACKBOARDS
SEE:
& Collecting amazing Gumtree finds:
70’s Vinyl Player
it was definitely time for some indulgence!
So for you this week, I am sharing this Recipe:
Mainly because of this:
Has anybody see the amazing Range Cookers Give Away:
This is my entry!
Not really a cupcake but blooming DELICIOUS!!
Two of the most decadent, delicious, more-ish, lip-smacking, pound piling ingredients coming together
to create something so good.
so mother-flipping good.
This recipe has taken some inspiration from my 2 favourite things.
TARTS & REESE’S PEANUT BUTTER CUPS.
I’m the type of gal who has 3 different types of frozen homemade pastry in the freezer, ready to go for Tart Experimentation. (you can make easily or you can buy it)
There was some left over sweet pastry, to which I swirled in some Nutella
– because what was about to go in just wasn’t going to be naughty enough.
It created a really lovely marble effect and my pastry actually turned out really buscuit-y
I just blind baked for 10 minutes
&Stuffed this little minx with a dollop of crunchy peanut butter.
Then toasted some hazelnuts, melted in some Nutella on a very low heat and a tiny dash of cream – which was I think UNnecessary because Nutella is already a good thick consistency.
Then poured this mixture over the peanut butter layer
and left them in the fridge for an hour to set.
Then I topped them with a poor-man’s Reese’s Peanut product…
A few slices of a beautiful Starbar
SO
What do you think of that then?
IN FOR THE WIN!?
x
Moroccan Date
MOROCCAN LAMB
&FETA TART
I have been cooking so much lately, but more for family and friends
it’s the hot weather and I’m loving eating outside in these scorching evenings!
Always accompanied by a glass of wine, or a cold beer..or two
The hot weather has made me a bit obsessed with warm colours on my DIY projects,
lanterns, hats and evenings full of Moroccan dishes.
Firstly Tabbouleh Salad,
which is MY MOST FAVOURITE side dishes of all time.
I N G R E D I E N T S
Big Handful of Flat Leaf Parsley
Small Handful of Mint
3 Ripe Vine Tomatos
(De-seeded)
1 Small Red Onion
(Finely Chopped)
Lemon Juice
Bulgar Wheat / Cous Cous
Olive Oil
Maldon Sea Salt
Secondly, Moroccan Lamb!
a dish my dinner date called “Banging”
Little filo tarts filled with fragrant lamb mince, sprinkled with Feta, Pomegranate & Cashew Nuts.
Them Pomegranates Are Real Good Aren’t They
I N G R E D I E N T S
Lamb Mince Meat
1 Small Red Onion
1 Tablespoon Cumin
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
2 Teaspoons Tumeric
+ Some Chopped Dried Apricots
This was so lovely, sitting outside feasting on this Moroccan inspired dish in the HOT evening.
x
CAMPER JAM
Foodie Pen Pal
I was absolutely so relieved to get this beautiful box of presents in the post!
Anna, who makes beautiful homemade Jam, is starting up her own business,
raising her lovely little family and does all this with MS..
What an inspiration!
She has sent me such a wonderful selection of what she does in spectacular fashion.
As well as sending me some smoked cashews, which wow – are blow-your-mind good
and a whole smoke garlic bulb
B E A U T I F U L
This could be my favourite package yet!
they just get better and better!
I will be getting to work over the weekend making a mixture of
TREATS & TARTS
with this beautiful selection of jams
I’ll be making lemon tarts with Anna’s homemade Lemon Curd
The Rose Petal Jam is going to go perfectly with my scones, tea & clotted cream afternoon
& The Rhubard & Ginger Jam is going straight into my miniature Victoria Sponges for a bit of a twist!
SO A BIG THANK YOU TO ANNA’S HOMEMADE CAMPER JAMS
MY LOVELY PRESENTS.
Tarts Selling Tarts
Strawberry Compote & Creme Patisserie
Madagascan Vanilla Shortcrust Tart
I absolutely loved these little sweet vanilla and strawberry tarts!
they were so delicious and I think they are my favorite…
I served them with a nice cold jug of Pimm’s with all the trimmings!
Perfect for Wimbledon season
S T R A W B E R R Y C O M P O T E
Strawberries
Caster Sugar
Teaspoon of Oil
Really simple, just slowly cook the Strawberry’s in a pan in a little oil
& add the sugar,
cook on a low heat until they’re soft, gooey and sweet!
S W E E T V A N I L L A S H O R T C R U S T P A S T R Y
300g Plain Flour
150g Soft Butter
60g Caster Sugar
2 teaspoons Madagascan Vanilla Extract
1 Egg Yolk
Mix and make your pastry as normal, then cover and leave in the fridge for half an hour
then it’ll be nice and easy to roll out and cut for your tart dish(es)
Blind bake for 15 minutes until golden brown and B E A U T I F U L
The smell is so amazing with the Vanilla! Can you tell I loved making these?
So simple bits over:
C R E M E P A T I S S E R I E
4 Egg Yolks
65g Caster Sugar
15g Plain Flour
15g Corn Flour
350ml Whole Milk
½ tsp Vanilla Extract
Icing sugar, for dusting
First
MIX the Egg & Sugar, Flour & Corn Flour together, and leave to one side
Then
HEAT the Milk & Vanilla until boiling in a pan on the hob
Next
SLOWLY pour the Milk mixture into the Egg Mixture
WHISKING THE WHOLE TIME
DO NOT STOP WHISKING…
Then pop the whole mixture back onto the hob and heat gently.
DO NOT STOP WHISKING…
Remove from the heat and place into a clean bowl dust with Icing Sugar
& Leave in the fridge to cool down.
NOW ASSEMBLE
These are amazing little treats!
and will definitely be a best seller
#TartsSellingTarts
Be sure to tell me what you think, either leave a comment or
Tweet Me
I’ll have a second recipe for you later in the week,
it’s savory, it’s sexy, it’s got a touch of Mediterranean exotic-ness about it.
