recipe

Dining Pretty with Debenhams this Christmas

December 5, 2017 by Anne Sweet Leave a Comment

Christmas is coming, the family is popping around and you take a look at your crockery and think that maybe you need a new set? I know I did, I had so many chipped plates, only tiny chips, but I’m really clumsy lately and just knocking them together causes chipping. Now I have a dishwasher, I no longer have to worry about the washing up and clinking my plates together (or even dropping them in the sink, as I have been known to have done.) Even the kids are keen to put their plates in the dishwasher, so now I’m hoping that chips will be thing of the past.

I still needed a new dinner service though and I was given a gift voucher from Debenhams so I decided to look on their website. A lot of Debenhams Dinner Sets are on offer at the moment, so it’s a great place to pick up a bargain.

I decided to go for this Blue Leaf Print Dinner Set.

I also bought some new cutlery and place mats, plus coasters. I was really happy with the choice offered by Debenhams at such reasonable prices.

Now I’m thinking of a nice table cloth for Christmas, I love this Christmas tree one, it’s so classy and would go with any colour of tableware

Silver Tablecloth and napkin set £25

And if you wanted to really spruce up your Christmas table you could always add this gorgeous silver runner. You need a little bling at Christmas time.

Silver beaded runner £24.50

Finally, what about cooking? Do you find yourself eating turkey for days after Christmas? While on the Debenhams site I also treated myself to this Morphy Richards Sear and Stew Slow Cooker.

I’ve found this recipe for turkey leftovers which I’m going to try.

Christmas Casserole

Ingredients

Serves: 6

500g (approx) leftover turkey

2 leeks

50g butter

2 tablespoons red wine

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons cream

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons cranberry sauce

2 bay leaves

Method

Prep:20min › Cook:2hr › Ready in:2hr20min

1. Switch slow cooker onto High. Melt butter in large pan, add sliced leeks, season with salt and freshly grated black pepper and cook gently until softened. Spread evenly across base of slow cooker.

2. Strip turkey of remaining meat and (at last) throw carcass out – unless making soup. Cut turkey into bite-sized pieces. Heat olive oil in same pan, add crushed garlic and cook gently, adding turkey pieces as it starts to sizzle. Stirfry for 10 minutes, add bay leaves and cranberry sauce then place on top of the leeks.

3. Switch slow cooker to auto or low, gently pour over the red wine and leave to cook until needed. I find about 2 hours is fine but will keep for hours on the low setting. Stir in cream just before serving. Perfect, served with potatoes of choice, for a hungry family returning from a winters walk

Are you table ready for Christmas? Do you have special crockery or tableware that you save for Christmas?

Disclosure: I was sent a slow cooker and a gift voucher in return for writing this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Recipe from All Recipies

The Great British Bake Off – Chocolate Molten Puddings

October 2, 2017 by Anne Sweet 6 Comments

This week it was pudding week on The Great British Bake Off. We had steamed puddings for signature bakes, molten chocolate puddings for technical and Trifles for show stopper bakes.
Now my miserable family are not keen on puddings unless they are chocolate so I didn’t have much choice but to go for the molten chocolate puddings for my bake.

The next problem was…there are seven of us and most recipes for individual puddings were for 4 or six. So I had to do some adjusting and my recipe makes seven puddings, made in regular ramekins.

If I’m honest, they were not perfect to look at, but they did pass the taste test.

I added a little white chocolate to the kids puddings, both in the middle and on top. For the adults we had to make do with dark chocolate because the white didn’t go very far (or it may have got eaten by a family member when I left it in the fridge!)

As you can see, the white chocolate in the middle was trying it’s best to escape before I took a photo. This was the best of the batch of three, the others had already oozed out. I didn’t manage to make a neat job of spooning the white chocolate on the top either. Trust me, these puddings are alive, they ooze, they collapse they fall apart, all before you get the chance of a good shot….but they tasted yummy. I give them 10 for taste and 1 for presentation!

I’m not sure if you can tell by this photo but the sponge was light and fluffy and the inside gooey. Isn’t that the objective? Okay, I guess looking nice would be good too.

The other puddings fared even worse for presentation…it’s a minus 4 from me! As soon as I took them out of the ramekins they collapsed as the middle bit oozed out. Too much chocolate maybe? I think they might have needed a little more cooking. I was under the impression that they had to be served straight from the oven, which I’m sure contributed to them breaking up.

Here is my recipe (if you want it!)

Ingredients:

200g butter
200g dark chocolate
100g white chocolate (if adding)
5 eggs
100g caster sugar
75gg self raising flour
tbs of cocoa powder.

Method:

Melt the dark chocolate and butter in bowl over a pan of hot water. (or carefully in the microwave) set aside to cool
in a large bowl whisk together the eggs and sugar until pale and light
fold the chocolate into the egg mixture
add the flour and cocoa powder and fold in
grease 7 ramekin moulds
divide the mixture between the moulds place on a baking tray. If adding white chocolate put a chunk into the top of the mixture, no need to push it in as it will sink while baking.
bake in a pre-heated oven 180C/gas mark 4 for 10 – 12 minutes
when baked, loosen the puddings and turn out carefully onto serving plates.

Serve them with cream or melted white chocolate sauce.

Triple Slow Cooker and Warming Station – Review and Recipe

May 4, 2017 by Anne Sweet Leave a Comment

I’ve never owned a slow cooker, it’s just one of those appliances I’ve never felt the need to buy. When I was given the opportunity to review this Bella Triple Slow Cooker I thought, why not, let’s see what the fuss is about

Now, I’ll admit that initially I thought the purpose of slow cookers were to put your dinner on before going to work and it would be ready when you got home. I had two problems with this,

who has the time to prepare a meal first thing in the morning
I don’t like the idea of leaving something cooking at home when there is no-one there (I’m terrified of fire!)

I prepared a meal for the slow cooker and it involved a little browning of the meat which took 5 mins and the preparation of vegetables (which can be done anytime really.) Then I threw it in the pot with the herbs and spices etc and the whole thing took less than 10 mins. With pre-prep you could have it ready a lot sooner, in fact you could have it ready in the pot the night before and just turn it on in the morning.

I still don’t have an answer for the second one, although they do seem pretty safe. I kept an eye on mine all day and it never got really hot, or the liquid spill over.

Since using a slow cooker I’ve discovered that it’s much more than having a meal ready when you get home from work. It’s a great way of just throwing stuff together and ending up with a great meal with little effort. The meat cooks so slow that it’s always really tender and you can get away with using tougher cuts of meat which are generally cheaper.

Apparently you can cook cakes and desserts too, I might have to try that one day, it would be nice to have desert cooked for eating straight after dinner.

This three pot slow cooker is a little different to your usual slow cooker as it has three pots and most have only one. Each pot can hold 1.3 litres which is pretty good. A lot of the smaller slow cookers only hold 1 to 1.5 litres, although you can buy really big family size ones. It was suggested that one pot holds enough for 2-3 people and I found that about right, although we did get four small servings out of one pot. If you need to cook for more you can cook in two pots!

An advantage of having three pots to cook in is that you can do three different meals. You’d need to be cooking for a large family though. I did try two different curries in two pots and this worked fine. I have a big household of 4 adults and 3 children and we don’t all like the same food so this is going to be handy.

We also often eat at different times which when this slow cooker really comes in handy. It will keep your food warm until ready to serve, so you can you just help yourself whenever you need to. I found that when I did the two curries, I also made some rice and when it was cooked I put it in the third pot on warm. Perfect curry night!

It would also be great for entertaining, you can keep three meals warm and guests can just help themselves.

Bella Triple Slow Cooker and Warming Station

So lets get down to the nitty gritty of the product. The Three Pot Slow Cooker is pretty big so make sure you have room for it.

It is 56.4cm long, 26.5cm wide and 20cm high and it weighs 8kg.

As I said each pot holds 1.3 litres which is enough for 2-3 good servings.

Each pot has it’s own controls, Off, Low, High, Warm.

The pots are good quality stoneware and are easy to wash. (They are stated to be dishwasher safe but I don’t have a dishwasher so I can’t really comment on that.)

They each have a spoon rest too which helps with keeping the area clean and tidy.

The lids of each pot are glass and there is a holder for each lid when you are ready for serving.

It’s ideal for entertaining with buffet style serving and a keep warm option.

The product comes with an instruction manual with five recipes to get you started.

You can purchase the Bella Triple Slow Cooker on Amazon for £54.99 (it’s currently on sale)

Recipe – Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, chopped into chunks

1 medium onion, sliced

1 tbs sugar

1 tbs tomato ketchup

100 ml orange juice

1 tbs cornflour

2 tbs cider vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs fresh grated ginger

1 220g can pineapple chunks

1 green pepper, sliced

rice to serve.

Method:

Fry the chicken until it is browned (about 5 mins)

put all the ingredients into the slow cooker pot

turn to Low and leave for 6-7 hours

stir occasionally after 2 hours

Serve with rice.

So, so easy and incredibly delicious, this is the nicest sweet and sour I’ve ever cooked. It was even nicer than the one I had from the take-away restaurant last week!.

Disclosure: I was sent the Triple Slow Cooker for the purpose of this review, all thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

Toe Nail Dusted Sweet Cakes recipe

November 14, 2016 by Anne Sweet 2 Comments

You asked – I made them…enjoy!

This is a recipe from the Hoxton Street Monster Supplies Cookbook which I am giving away three copies of in my prize draw which ends on 29th November..see widget below for entry.

I asked what my readers would like to me to make from the book and had an overwhelming response for Toe Nail Dusted Sweet Cakes, so here they are.

First though, make sure you have a jar of Truly Disgusting Toe Nail Crumbs in a jar on your kitchen shelf like I do.

Toenail-Dusted Sweet Cakes

“In the past, nose-to-tail -end hunters would source and dismember whole humans – and Toenail Cakes were a great way to use up every last scrap. A full set of fungus-infested toenails was considered a real treat and the original recipe introduced them to the dessert menu. Most tribes now buy pre-packaged joints and cuts, so this updated recipe is for those who don’t have easy access to truly disgusting toenails.”

Ingredients:

125g unsalted soft butter
125g caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
250g self-raising flour, sifted
pinch of salt
4 tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

coating

400g icing sugar
100g cocoa powder
150-175 ml boiling water
200g desiccated coconut

Method:

Grease an 18 x 25cm cake tin and line with nonstick baking paper

Beat together the butter and caster sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy

Gradually incorporate the eggs, adding a little flour to prevent the mixture from curdling

Add the flour and salt and fold in with the milk and vanilla extract.

Turn into prepared tin and level the surface.

Bake in a preheated over for 25-30 minutes until risen and firm to the touch.

Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out to cool further

Sift the icing sugar and the cocoa powder into a bowl.

Make a well in the centre and beat in enough fo the boiling water to form a smooth icing with pouring consistancy.

Dip the top of each cake into the icing and then coat with the coconut.

Leave to set.

The question can be found in the Rafflecopter Gadget and you can answer in the comments. If you answer in the comments you do not have to fill in the gadget but it will give you more entries into the competion.

Rules:

UK only, sorry

Please make sure you leave me your e-mail for contacting the winners

Winners will be chosen at random

The rafflecopter gadget will appear on other posts but you only need to fill it in once

No prize alternative will be offered

Prizes will be sent out by Hoxton Street Monster Supplies

Raisiebay will not be responsible for unreceived prizes

Prizes must be claimed within 28 days after the close of the competition.

Competition will close on November 29th 2016

All entries will be checked

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Night Terror Torte and Competition

November 10, 2016 by Anne Sweet 1 Comment

I’m currently running a competition where you could win one of three copies of the Hoxton Street Monster Supplies Cookbook. fill in you details in the Rafflecopter widget below for your chance of winning.

Here is my first recipe from the book, Night Terror Torte.

hoxton street monster supplies recipe book

The instructions say..”Be sure to think truly appalling thoughts as you make this torte – you will find that the screams of your victims will have an extra edge of misery if you do.”

Well, I didn’t really have appalling thoughts but I did make it while in a lot of pain, so hopefully some of my victims felt the benefit…*insert evil cackle*

Actually, as you can see from this recipe, the torte is incredibly delicious and I would definitely make it again.

Night Terror Torte

Ingredients, serves 8 monsters:

200g caster sugar

4 tbs water

2 oranges, thinly sliced

475g sweet shortcrust pastry

100g butter, soft

100g ground almonds

2 eggs, lightly beaten

100g of dark chocolate

Method:

Put half the sugar and the measured water in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.
Add the orange slices and cook over a low heat for 30 minutes until the oranges are tender and most of the syrup has evaporated. let cool.
Roll out the pasty on a lightly floured surface until a little larger than a greased 9 1/2 inch fluted loose-bottomed tart tin.
line the tin with the pasty and chill for 15 minutes
Line the tart with nonstick baking paper, add baking beans and place on a baking sheet.
bake in a preheated oven, 190C gas mark 5 for 10 minutes
Remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5 minutes until golden and crisp.
Reduce the oven temperature to 180C, gas mark 4
Beat together the butter and the remaining sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy.
Add the ground almonds, then gradually beat in the eggs until smooth. Set Aside
Reserve 10 of the best orange slices, then drain and chop the rest.
Stir the chocolate into the almond mixture, then mix in the chopped oranges.
Spread into the tart case, arrange the reserved orange slices on top and bake for 30 minutes.
Let cool for 30 minutes before removing from the tin.

Slice and Enjoy!

The Hoxton Street Monster Supplies Cookbook comes from the Hoxten Street Shop found in East London (unsurprisingly on Hoxton Street) and is the purveyor off all kinds of everyday items for the living, dead and undead. Due to a curse all profits got to The Ministry of Stories, a creative writing and mentoring charity for young humans. At the shop you will such goodies as Earwax Cubes, Salt Made From Tears of Anger or Banshee Balls as well as the fabulous cookbook.

So if you are looking to treat that monster in your life, you now know where to go.