Blackcurrant Frangipane

I love frangipan! ..and this is a good one.

Not just sweet, but nutty with almonds, and creamy with vanilla- all this mingling with a hint of citrus and booze and finally contrasting with bursts of tart, tangy blackcurrants. 

Upside-down Spiced Plumb and Orange Cake

This is a really decadent, crumbly, yummy cake, best eaten while still slightly warm from the oven.

The inside is fluffy and moist , with the subtle taste of almonds and citrus; pale in colour, The sponge contrasts perfectly with the sticky, warm spiced layer of rich purple plums on top.

Mmmmmmmmm.....

Potato Pizza

I was inspired to make this because of one meal I ate at Uni recently: I had baked a few potatoes, and when they were done I split them, mashed the insides, arranged them together, and topped them with red pepper, chorizo and cheese. It was then grilled in the oven. What I ended up with looked like a pizza-except the base was made of potato- which pretty much sums up what this dish is all about.

Cheese Soufflé.

This was an Easter treat. I haven't had a cheese soufflé since I was little; me, my dad, and my sister used to make them every now and then as a father-daughter activity. I have a clear memory of scooping in to one years ago, and the middle being gooey and sticky with melted cheese, while the outside was light as air.

Prawn and Avocado linguini.

This turned out to be a really creamy pasta dish. I've had trouble with using only cream before: trying to make the pasta creamy, but light, when it just turns out heavy and claggy, even if the flavour is there. It turns out, avocado makes all the difference- and you don't even need as much cream to go with it. The addition of avocado made the linguini creamy and light, moist and delicious. A definite winner and problem solver. Avocados you wonderful things.

Salmon en Croute.

In my family, we love salmon en croute. A few months ago, for some reason, every super market stopped selling it. Only frozen versions were available- and that would be a bad choice; salmon cooked from frozen is usually tough and horrible- nothing like the soft flaky, moist salmon you get when cooking from fresh.

Fortunately, as it turns out, salmon en croute is super easy to make (although I cheated a bit and used ready made pastry) and you get a super tasty, personalised result.

Pork and Apple Dumplings with Roast Onion Purée.

This is the first time I've ever made or eaten dumplings, and quite frankly I think they're weird-a good idea, but weird. Next time I make these (and I will be making them again, cause I like the concept) I will make quite a few adjustments. 

I got the idea to make these from a video on YouTube by The Dumpling Sisters (found at this link:http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qWkvFssMz24 ). The dumplings they made looked perfect, with little golden bottoms-tiny little parcels of yummyness. You can see for yourself how good they look, and why I had to have a go at making them. 

Leek, Potato, Pea and Parmesan Soup.

Well, it's the last week of term, and that means using up everything that's in my fridge and freezer. And that's what leads to soup...

Chicken, leek, and mushroom potato pie.

 I believe that this is the first chicken dish that I've made that's been really successful. It's light but creamy, the chicken is moist and pulls apart easily, and the flavours from the veg and herbs are all there. Pretty darn good if I say so myself.
    I was originally going to attempt to make a short crust pastry topping for this pie....It would have been brave.

Bobotie

For the past month or so my friend and I have been cooking for each other on alternate weeks every Wednesday. This has turned out to be a huge amount of fun- we've even started experimenting with cocktails at the same time. The last time my friend cooked for me she made this South African dish.
She was fairly hesitant to present this food to me, since everyone else she's know who has tried it had gotten freaked out by one of the ingredients. This was such a big issue that she wouldn't tell me what it was until after i'd tried it!

Red Lentil and Spinach Pancake Wraps.

Again, this post is a bit late, but I thought I would share with you a savory recipe for pancakes.

When I think of savory pancakes, what I immediately want, is something with mushrooms, spinach, strong melted, creamy cheese and onions, However, I thought I would do something using the ingredients I had to hand (I am a student after all- and there's always next year, or actually, any day of the year I fancy!)

I've made the lentil part of this dish many times before and it's always turned out tasty, but not necessarily very aesthetically pleasing. So, what better way to show off the flavour and keep it locked up looking (reasonably) pretty, by presenting it in a wrap.

The lentils in this meal don't really have a name, meaning that any time someone asks me what i'm cooking when i'm making this, I just revert to calling it a 'lentil thing'. My flatmates jokingly named it Steve because it was so pathetically nameless. But whatever it's named- Steve, or 'Lentil Thing'- it tastes dandy in this pancake (and with roast potatoes too actually).

Spiced Rum Bananas and Chocolate Layer Pancake Stack.

Okay, so I know this recipe is a bit late in terms of pancake day..but I was busy having fun, as you can see from this huge stack of pancakes (10 layers high!!!)

Chocolate and banana are a world famous combination, and these pancakes are the fluffy American kind, which adds to height and deliciousness.

Peanut Soup.

Me and my Dad were at a restaurant on Saturday that served this soup. My initial reaction to a soup named as the primary ingredient 'Peanut' was "Blegh!": Peanuts are pungent enough on their own, without being pureed in to a soup. However, it actually turned out to be really lovely and different: there was only a hint of peanuts but it gave a really nice nuttiness and richness to the smooth, creamy soup. There was also a hint of spice that livened it up a bit. Me and my Dad decided it was too good for us to leave and not get the recipe, so we asked the waitress what was in it.

Sausage, Pea and Rocket Pasta

Sausage and Squash pasta

I must admit that while making this dish I had a packet of pasta sauce on hand incase what was originally a good idea, turned out to be bland and boring. But alas, the sauce remained in its packet, and I gobbled this down, just as I'd made it.

So, I made gnocchi from scratch...

Home-made gnocchi somehow reminded me of eating marshmallows. They are much softer than the store bought ones, and not as rubbery. They are not a sticky texture either, just soft to the bite..they have a huge air of comfort about them, like you just want to smother them in some kind of cheese or a buttery sauce that just about coats them.

Pesto Pasta

Tasty, easy and nutritious, this is one of my go-to meals during the week.
There's eat least three different vegetables in here (not including the garlic, spinach leaves or sugar snap peas) AND chickpeas, so it's full of goodness. And the pesto means it's full of flavour!

Smokey Chicken drumsticks (and herby ones too)

Over Christmas, I tried some ready-made party food chicken drum sticks at my boyfriend's house. I had never ever had chicken drumsticks before, and apart from them burning my tastebuds off with chili, I was taken aback by how tasty they were.

Ever since tasting them, I've had cravings to re-create those delicious drumsticks- the only problem was, I had no idea what they were marinated in.

Pizza Fold-over

This may be something very simple, but need I remind you how well peas and cheese go together?
And besides that, its something else you can do with the pizza dough you made earlier.

This fold over only went in the oven in order to melt the cheese and warm the whole thing up together- the dough was already cooked.

I quite like this method of cooking pizza dough, it has the opportunity to give rise to all sorts of meals

Eggy spinach pizza!

 'Polpo: a Venetian cookbook of sorts'- a book Waterstones deemed one of the year's best cookbooks in 2012, contains a number of beautiful recipes, and this Spinach and Egg pizza was inspired by one of them.

I made the dough using a recipe from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's  Veg Every Day. 'Magic dough' it is, and from my experience, it gets better with time.

It's been so long!

How long has it been? .....1....2....3...4...5! Weeks!

Well, first of all my camera ran out of battery while I was at home for Christmas, and I did not have the charger with me :( and also...I've just bravely finished the last of my five January exams. Wahooo!

So, one thing you missed over the Christmas period was my Dad's amazing Coulibiac- the centerpiece to my family's Christmas feast!

And here is the beautiful thing...

 Inside this beast are layer upon layer of pancakes, mushrooms in a white wine cream, smoked fish, egg and rice- all wrapped up in a brioche pastry. It is the epitome of flavour accompanied by beautifully crisp roast potatoes, garlicky brussle sprouts, sweet roast parsnips, and all the rest.

There hasn't been a Christmas I remember when we haven't had a coulibiac, so it is throughly a part of family tradition now. The recipe my Dad uses is an adaptation of Anton Mosimann's own coulibiac recipe. Unfortunately i'm not going to provide you with the recipe- that remains my family secret ;)
However, feel free to try it out- it's a beautiful thing. :)