Squash pizzas

        

I found this recipe whilst searching for squash recipes one day. I often get vegetable boxes from the local farm and, depending on the time of year, I sometimes end up with an abundance of squash. I love squash soup and risotto but I also like to try new things so I enjoy searching for and trying out new recipe ideas.

As soon as I saw this recipe I thought it was worth a try. I only used 3 ingredients for these squash pizzas as my children like plain cheese and tomato pizza but you could add any topping of your choice. It is a fantastic way to get your children eating vegetables as the squash is disguised by the topping. The children enjoyed helping me make this too. I always think getting the children to help prepare food is another good way of getting them interested in it and hopefully eating it! 

I really was pleasantly surprised with the taste as well. It tasted just like pizza! I think it would make a good alternative for those who can't eat bread or for those who are looking for something healthy.

Ingredients

One squash (I used a small acorn squash)

Tin of tomatoes or passata

Cheese

Any other toppings of your choice

        

First, slice the squash and place it on a baking tray.

          

Next, spread the tomatoes or passata over the top. Then cover with cheese and any toppings.

         

Finally, bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese turns golden and squash is soft.

Blueberry scone recipe

              

Scones are the ultimate British teatime snack. I love to eat them mid-morning or mid-afternoon along with a lovely cup of tea. They are really very easy and quick to make and you can adapt them to suit your own taste. I often add currants, which I prefer to raisins. I have also added chocolate chips in the past. This recipe calls for the addition of fresh blueberries which give a delicious fruitiness to the scone. When eating a fruit scone always spread some butter on it. Clotted cream and jam is reserved for plain scones. That's scone etiquette for you! For this recipe, I sprinkled the scones with brown sugar before baking but this is optional. You can leave them plain if you prefer.

Ingredients

2 oz/55g butter

1 lb/450g plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp castor sugar

250 ml milk

100g fresh blueberries

                         

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour mixture until it is a breadcrumb consistency.

            

Add the milk and bring the mixture together to make a dough. Stir in the blueberries.

            

Roll out the dough to 1cm thickness and cut into circles using a cookie cutter or a glass. The amount of scones you make will depend on the size of the cutter. Brush with milk and sprinkle with brown sugar.

            

Bake in the oven at 220 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.

            

Enjoy your scones slathered with butter alongside a hot cup of tea.

Cheese borek recipe

                        

Borek has to be one of my favourite foods ever. I love anything made with pastry but this is not the usual crispy dish that you would assume given the main ingredient. Sheets of pastry layered with an egg mixture and sprinkled with feta cheese make this soft, cheesy Turkish breakfast dish a real winner. Even the children adore it. Afterall, what's not to love?

Ingredients

1 cup natural/greek yoghurt

1 cup milk

1/2 cup oil

4 eggs

packet of yufka pastry

feta cheese

                                 

First you need to make your egg mixture. Place yoghurt, milk, oil and eggs in a jug and whisk until combined.


                     

It should look like this. Set aside.


                               

Next take the yufka. This is the packet I normally buy. Yufka is a thin pastry, slightly thicker than filo pastry.

                   

The pack I buy has 3 circular sheets of yufka. 

                   

These sheets are huge so I cut them in half to fit the baking dish.

                   

In a well oiled baking dish, place one sheet of yufka. Pour a little of the egg mixture on the top and spread it around the pastry sheet.

                   

Place a second layer of pastry and spread around a little of the egg mixture.

                   

Sprinkle some feta cheese on top. Then repeat the previous steps of layering pastry and egg mixture 2 more times. Sprinkle with feta cheese.

                   

Place final 2 sheets and egg mixture on top. Any remaining mixture our over the top. Then, cut the borek into pieces. This is a useful step as not only does it make the borek easy to cut or tear after baking, it also lets more of the egg mixture seep through the layers.

                   

Bake at 180-200 degrees for about 30 minutes.

                   

Let cool slightly and then enjoy with a nice cup of tea.

Spinach and feta pasties

                 

Spinach and feta is a winning combination in my opinion and I love to use these ingredients as a filling for pastries or flat bread. Normally I make spinach and feta pastries with filo pastry but I didn't have any in the fridge so I decided to make some shortcrust pastry and make little pasties instead. The result was delicious and I definitely think I will be making these again!

Ingredients

For the pastry:

250g flour

125g butter

a few tablespoons of water

For the filling:

Bag of spinach

block of feta cheese

onion

salt

pepper

nutmeg (optional)

1) Make the pastry by rubbing the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.

2) Add a few tablespoons of cold water and mix until the mixture forms a dough.

3) Make the filling. Fry the onion in a frying pan.

4) Add the spinach and cook for a few minutes until it has wilted.

5) Take the pan off the heat and stir in the feta and seasonings.

6) Roll the dough, cut out circles and place on a baking tray.

7) Spoon the filling onto half the circle.

                   

8) Fold the pastry in half to cover the filling and pinch the edge together.

9) Brush over some milk and put in the oven to bake for 20-30 minutes.

                    

This is what they looked like when I took them out of the oven...

                    

This is what they look like inside. Yum!

                    

Cupcakes

              

Recently, I managed to acquire an old fashioned set of weighing scales, well-used and slightly rusty, but they still have plenty of life left in them. There's something quite lovely about owning something vintage with all that fascinating history to wonder about. 

              

My mother has a set of these type of scales and it is what I grew up using and learnt to measure ingredients for baking on. I've always wanted some so when I saw them advertised I knew I had to snap them up. I bought them home and the children were as excited as I was to try them out. I asked the children what they would like to make and their immediate response was cupcakes, of course!

My children absolutely adore cupcakes, and not just eating them. I like to get them involved in the whole process; making the batter, filling up the cupcake cases and, best of all, making the icing and spreading it over the slightly cooled cakes and pouring the sprinkles on the top! They love to pour the ingredients into the bowl and stir everything together with their big wooden spoons. We learn about weighing the ingredients, numbers and balancing, which is a lovely introduction to simple mathematics. I just love it when learning can be fun!

Cupcakes

Ingredients for batter:

4 oz (100g) butter

4 oz (100g) castor sugar

4 oz (100g) self raising flour

2 eggs

Ingredients for icing:

Icing sugar

water

food colouring

sprinkles (optional)

1) Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2) add the eggs one at a time.

3) Add the flour and mix.

4) Spoon into cupcake cases.

5) Bake at 180 degrees for about 15 minutes.

6) Ice once cooled.

Wild Garlic

                   

We regularly go to the woods near our home for a walk and play in the muddy stream. I am a firm believer in outdoor play and try to take my children outdoors to play and explore as much as possible. Unfortunately, the grey and wet British weather does not always allow for such outings as much as I would like. It is fine and even fun to go out in the wind and rain some of the time, in fact, the children adore splashing in puddles - just try and stop them! However, I much prefer going out in the sunshine. There's just something about seeing the sunshine that puts a smile on my face.

During a recent trip to the woods, I picked some wild garlic. I had never used wild garlic in cooking before but knew it was edible and was intrigued to try it. I took a bucketful home and set to work searching for some recipes. Here is what I made...

Garlic butter

This was super easy and quick to make. I softened some butter for about 20 seconds in the microwave, chopped up some wild garlic, then combined the two. 

                  

                  

Next, I placed the garlic butter on some grease proof paper (baking parchment), rolled it up into a sausage shape and placed it in the freezer.

                  

Now whenever I want to make garlic bread I can just cut off some slices of garlic butter. You can also cut off a slice and add to other recipes too.

Wild garlic soup

I found a recipe for wild garlic soup on the internet but changed it slightly to use up what I had on the fridge. Here are the ingredients:

Onion

Fennel

Parsnips

Potatoes

Wild garlic

Vegetable stock

1) Fry the onion.

2) Add all the other vegetables and fry for a few minutes.

3) Add the vegetable stock and simmer for about 30 minutes.

4) Blend until smooth.

                   

                   

Chicken, red pepper and wild garlic enchiladas

Fajitas are a favourite of mine that I've only recently started making from scratch. I've made them with many different ingredients before and, since I had an abundance of wild garlic, I decided to add it to the fajitas. The result was delicious!

                   

Ingredients

Chicken breast

Red pepper

Onions

Wild garlic

8 Tortilla wraps

Grated cheese (I used cheddar)

2 cartons of passata

1 or 2 chopped garlic cloves

cumin

To make the filling

1) Fry the onions.

2) Add the chicken and fry for a few minutes.

4) Add a teaspoon or two of cumin and stir.

3) Add the peppers and wild garlic and fry for a few minutes.

                     

To make the sauce

1) Fry the garlic in some oil.

2) Add the passata and stir.

3) Add a teaspoon or two of cumin, stir and simmer for about 5 minutes.

(I have made the sauce with chopped tomatoes before. Once cooked, I blended it to a smooth sauce)

To assemble

1) Place the chicken mixture in the middle of a tortilla.

2) Drizzle with the sauce and add a sprinkling of cheese and roll up.

3) Place in a baking dish that has been covered with a thin layer of the sauce.

4) Repeat with the other tortilla wraps.

5) Finally, spread the remaining sauce over all the tortilla wraps in the baking dish.

6) Sprinkle with more cheese.

7) Bake in the oven for 20-30 mintues.

             

                     

Have you ever cooked with wild garlic? What did you make?

Jam Sandwich Biscuits

Jam Sandwich Biscuits

These delicious biscuits are a slight alternative to Jammie Dodgers. The biscuit is more of a shortbread with the addition of ground almonds. I got the recipe from this book 1001 Cupcakes, Cookies and Tempting Treats - Love Food which I've had for years and I dip into every now and again to satisfy my sweet tooth. I sandwiched them together with raspberry jam but you could use the jam of your choice. The first time I attempted these biscuits they went down a storm so I shall definitely be making them again soon! 

Ingredients

225 g/ 8 oz butter

100 g/3 1/2 oz castor sugar

200 g/7 oz plain flour

pinch of salt

100 g/3 1/2 oz ground almonds

Jam

icing sugar for dusting, optional

Method

1) Beat butter and sugar together in a bowl.

2) Add flour, salt and almonds and combine to form a dough.

3) Wrap the dough in clingfilm and refridgerate for an hour or two.

4) Preheat oven to 150 degrees (300 degrees or gas mark 2).

5) Roll the dough to 5mm think and cut circles using a biscuit cutter or a drinking glass.

6) Cut a smaller circle in the middle of half the biscuits.

7) Bake for 25-30 minutes.

8) Leave to cool.

9) Sandwich together with the jam and dust icing sugar over the top. 

Turkish pancake recipe

Turkish Pancakes

Turkish pancakes are pancakes with vegetables added into the batter before they're cooked. They are a great toddler food and way to get fussy children to eat vegetables without even realising! They're also good to take on a picnic as they taste wonderful eaten hot or cold. I've had them with spinach only and also with other mixtures of vegetables. The key is to slice your vegetables as thinly as possible. The great thing about this recipe is you can vary it according to your own tastes or what you have in the fridge.

Ingredients

For the batter:

125 g plain flour

300 ml milk

1 egg

pinch of salt

Vegetables:

1 tomato halved and thinly sliced

1 onion, halved and thinly sliced

white cabbage, thinly sliced

Method

Whisk ingredients for batter together.

Add thinly sliced vegetables and mix.

                

Shallow fry in oil.

Enjoy!