Hot chocolate

The best thing about the weather being utterly dreadful is that we finally have an excuse to have a proper hot drink. A home-made hot chocolate. With real chocolate you know, not the powder stuff [chocolate curtesy of my mum :-)]

It was dreadful the other day, really cold and windy. This drink is exactly what we needed to pick us up. Utter decadence, a real treat. The secret recipe? Haha, the simplest ever! Fill up a mug with milk, tip the milk in a pan, add good quality chocolate (about 40g), heat gently until the chocolate has melted. Add a dash of ground cinnamon and serve up quick.

Drink up thinking  the world has been made a better place.

Apples from the garden

I mentioned these muffins I made at the weekend in yesterday's post, and to be completely honest, I have to write down the recipe straight away or else I might forget it! The muffins are now all gone... I'm already thinking of making another batch..

The muffins were a bit of an experiment to be fair. Basically, we've got a wonky little apple tree growing in the back garden and the apples looked pretty good and ready to me on Sunday. So I plucked three to see what they were worth. We're pretty sure they're cooking apples, and I didn't feel adventurous enough to bite into one, so I decided to cook with them. "Cook" in the loosest sense of the word. I made muffins for goodness sake.

I used a Nigella Kitchen recipe as a basis and totally adapted it to what I had at hand and the fact that I'm pretty lazy. And don't own a dishwasher, so I did my utmost to only use one bowl. Washing up takes up waaayyyyy too much time in my life right now. Anyway. Here's what I used, and here's what I did.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 100g honey (place your bowl on a scale!)
• 100g vegetable oil (place your bowl on a scale!)
• 125g light brown sugar
• 3 small apples, peeled, cored, chopped
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 140g plain flour
• 110g wholemeal flour

Method:

• Preheat your oven to 160degreesC.
• Line a muffin tray with cases. This makes 12 muffins by the way.
• Mix the sugar and the wet ingredients in a bowl.
• Add the apples.
• Mix.
• Add all the dry ingredients.
• Mix.
• Plonk the mixture into your lined tray.
• Bake for 20min.
• Leave to cool down for 5min in the tray then transfer to a wire rack. Scoff the lot 30min later.

Pancake day!

We started our celebration of pancake day a little early on Sunday morning. I woke up and had a strong urge for some American-style pancakes. Our Good Food magazine cover for March happened to answer my dream. An easy recipe that used simple ingredients.

I made up the batter and looked around the kitchen for some topping options. No blueberries here at this time of year, so I grabbed a banana, some pecan nuts and some golden syrup (the last two being leftovers from the granola making effort) - the winning trio.

All I did was slice the banana and break up the pecans in smaller bits. I put the pecans to toast in a hot pan, then added half of the banana and finally 2 very generous tablespoons of golden syrup. I let it heat up (not boil), until it became rather runny and lovely.

Ended up piling up the pancakes on each plate, with fresh banana slices in between each, then spooned the hot syrupy mix on top. I can't think of a better way to start the day!!!

I love pancakes with all my heart and one lot is simply not enough. We'll be having some more tonight, of the savoury type however. Stay tuned for more details!

Granola part deux

STOP PRESS!!!!!!!! I HAVE FOUND THE YUMMIEST GRANOLA RECIPE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, now I'm sure that may be an exaggeration, but this granola take II is truly amazing. The best part? I would make it again exactly as it is, nothing added, nothing taken away. Yep, it's that good!!

I did buy a couple of new things for this, but carried on using items which had kept each other company at the very back of my breakfast cupboard for a very long time... So don't stick to this, just use what you have at hand, what's cheap at the moment - you get the idea!! One thing I've found making granola is that you don't need to keep to the measurements precisely, it's very forgiving, and adding more oats over nuts for example won't make it go wrong. And if it calls for 150g of nuts, and you only have 80g in the house, it's really not a big deal.

So, this is what I used this time. I must say, the pecans do add a very nice taste, and I don't miss the coconut and poppy seeds in the slightest. There, I've said it!

Ingredients:

• 250g oats
• 150g barley flakes
• 100g rye flakes
• 50g oatbran
• 50g oatmeal
• 30g linseed
• 35g pumpkin seed
• 35g sunflower
• 30g pecans
• 30g hazelnuts
• 50ml oil
• 50ml honey
• 50ml golden syrup
• 1/2tsp Maldon salt
• 3tsp cinnamon

Method:

• Same as before! Link here.

Boozy blackberries

A long, long time ago, blackberry brandy was made in this household. An even longer time ago, blackberries were lingering in the fridge from the first batch of brandy made. Because the batch referred to in the first sentence is indeed the second batch. Any idea where I'm getting at? Well, a second batch meant a whole new load of blackberries in the fridge.

I can never get myself to throw them out, there's nothing wrong with them really, and they're soaked in brandy. It would be criminal. So I keep them there, certain they will be fine for months to come (alcohol is a wonderful preservative), waiting for the perfect recipe to come along.

And along it came in a little booklet of "light recipes" with last month's Olive magazine. So off I went, substituted the frozen mixed berries that were called for, with my lovely brandy-infused blackberries. I adapted the recipe ever so slightly and so here it is. Quite a lot of you have been making fruity booze over the last year or so, and I'm pretty sure this would work a treat with all types of fruit.

Ingredients:

• 200g butter
• 200g golden caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 200g self-raising flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 300g boozy blackberries (or however much fruit you need to cover the bottom of your tin)
• 2 tbsp golden syrup

Method:

• Line a 20cm spring-form cake with paper and grease it.
• Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the eggs.
• Fold in the flour and almonds.
• Add a little water to make the mix spoonable.
• Spread the berries at the bottom of the tin and cover with the golden syrup.
• Spoon the cake mix on top.
• Bake for 1hr, or until cooked at 180degrees C.
• Cool in the tin then turn out and enjoy!

I've kept this for nearly a week (I'm trying to control my cake-eating urges!), and it was still as nice on Day 6 as it was on Day 1. I even froze a quarter and had a sneaky slice last night and it was still delicious. Go on, have a go!!

Granola mamma

One day last week, I ran out of breakfast cereal. I'd got into the habit of eating this famous 'healthy' cereal because, well, it was on offer. And yeah, I'm a little bit of a cheap skate some times. Anyway, the offer is no longer on, and I didn't care for it so much that I was willing to pay full price for it. And then, there was a spark. So many times I'd told myself I should make some homemade granola. I've been inspired by lots of you doing just that in the past, and I thought, this is it! This is my granola making chance! So I grabbed it with both hands, checked out plenty of your recipes online, bought a couple of things and had a look at my kitchen cupboards. This is what I came up with (ie, truly a cupboard emptying effort).

Ingredients:

• 300g porridge oats
• 100g barley flakes
• 100g rye flakes
• 35g pumpkin and flax seeds
• 35g linseeds
• 40g poppy seeds
• 75g walnuts
• 110g dessicated coconut
• 2tsp ground cinnamon
• 50ml sunflower oil
• 50ml honey
• 50ml golden syrup
• 1/2 tsp Maldon salt
• 120g chopped dates
• 120g sultanas

 Method:

• Mix in the dry ingredients except the fruit and coconut
• Add the honey, golden syrup and oil.
• Spread out on a baking tray and bake at 140degrees C for 1 hour, stirring gently every 20min
• Add the coconut for the last 10min of baking.
• Leave to cool in the tray then mix in the fruit.
• Store in an airtight container.

 My verdict? It's a little confused to be completely honest. It's good, but not great.

Good points:

• nice texture
• crunchy
• I'd have it again (which is a bonus since I have a massive jar of this left)

Bad points:

• cinnamon and coconut aren't the best of friends; it should really be one or the other
• poppy seeds... what can i say, they're small, black and get in your teeth - not a good office look

Next time I will:

• only use cinnamon, no coconut allowed
• use less poppy seeds and up the amount of bigger seeds used
• increase the amount of barley and rye flakes
• use my largest roasting tin straight away instead of trying to get it all on a slippery baking sheet - it was never going to work was it?

Alternative ingredients list to keep it simple and leave the cupboard emptying effort to you:

• 500g cereal
• 150g seeds
• 100g nuts
• 250g dried fruit
• ground spices/ vanilla essence, whatever floats your boat
• 50ml oil
• 100ml honey and/ or golden syrup
• 1/2 tsp salt

Right, the bullet point fest is over for today!

French galette

La galette des rois. Hands up who knows about this? I don't suppose many of you do. Somehow, it's one of these great French traditions which hasn't made it to the UK. Probably because France is traditionally a Catholic country and England Protestant. Anyway, here's one you'll want to embrace. I'm about a week late with it, bit it doesn't matter really. This is something which will cheer those of you who're feeling a little under the weather, a little down about what January has to offer. And if you don't have any mincemeat leftover, this is the one for you.

It is associated with the celebration of Epiphany. What it means in practice? You get to eat a lovely cake (scroll down to French King Cake to read more about it), nothing too fancy but very, very tasty. And there's even a fun bit to it. When you make the cake, you hide a ceramic figure in it. Whoever gets the trinket is the king for the day and gets to wear a golden crown (typically provided by the bakery who you buy the galette from!). Only here, there aren't any bakeries (don't get me started on the prices charged by a French bakery chain in London). So last night, when we sampled my first ever home-made galette des rois, there was no crown, and to be completely honest, there was no trinket either.

But what there was was the tastiest galette I have tasted in a while. Actually, the first galette I have tasted in a few years. And it was yum. The best bit? It's dead easy (if you cheat a little tiny bit and buy the pastry). So go on, you won't be disappointed. Try it out, for me, and I promise, you'll be the first making one next year.

Ingredients:

• 375g puff pastry
• 2 eggs
• 100g ground almonds
• 70g soft butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tsp almond essence

Method:

• Beat one egg and the white of the second egg (keep the yolk for later) with the almonds, butter and sugar.
• Add the flour and almond essence. Mix well.
• Split your pastry in half and roll out one half (ideally in a round shape, about 25cm in diameter).
• Spread the frangipane mix on the rolled out pastry, leaving a good 2cm all around.
• Brush the pastry left apparent with a little water.
• Place the trinket in the frangipane.
• Cover with the leftover pastry (that you will have rolled out to a similar shape) and crimp the sides shut.
• Make fine slits (not all the way through the pastry) with a sharp knife and little holes now and then (so some air can escape during cooking).
• Brush with eff yolk.
• Bake for 25min at 190degrees C.

It's simply delicious and is a brilliant tradition. It would typically bring all your close family together again, which is quite nice after the madness of Christmas. I still vividly remember when mum and I used to go spend the day at my grandparents to have some galette des rois. Brings a smile to my face.

Finishing it up

Well hello there!! Today I'm going to give you a little post-Christmas recipe to use up some of that mincemeat you've got leftover in the fridge. What do you mean you don't have any left because you scoffed mincepies down your throat for 2 weeks non-stop?!! Well for those without a ravenous family or who made enough to feed an army, here's a little something to warm your January cockles.

Ingredients

• 400g mincemeat
• a couple of tablespoons of booze, I used apricot brandy (which I'd used to make the mincemeat)
• zest of an orange
• 375g puff pastry
• one medium bramley apple, peeled, cored and chopped finely
• one egg
• a tablespoon of granulated sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

• Mix the mincemeat, the zest, the apple and the booze in a bowl.
• Split your pastry in half and roll out two rectangles about 15x45cm big.
• Place one of the rectangles on a baking tray and place the mincemeat mix on top, leaving a good 2cm margin of pastry.
• Take the other pastry rectangle, roll it out a little bigger. Fold it in half and make slits about 3cm apart, 3cm from the folded edge.
• Back to the baking tray. Brush the pastry left showing with a little water. Place the slit pastry on top (open it up).
• Crimp the edges. Brush the whole thing with beaten egg, then sprinkle the sugar-cinnamon mix on top.
• Bake in the oven at 200degrees C for 30min.

(adapted from a James Martin recipe found in Desserts)

Enjoy as it is, or with a little bit of cream/ custard/ ice cream. It's delicious and really not all that bad for those January hips. Hey, it's still winter so we need a little comfort food right?!

If every month was December...

I would be as fat as a whale. Not because I won that chocolate hamper (which has been dispersed and hidden around the flat, with only a few things kept at hand for late night TV nibbling), but because I have discovered that I make the best mince pies in the world. Right, no no no, I'm not getting big headed!! And it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm so so proud of myself, these taste a million times better than the shop bought version. And a little self satisfaction never hurt anyone right?

I made these on Saturday night, using some of the mincemeat I made a couple of weekends ago. And then I thought, wait there, I haven't gone to the bother of making my own mincemeat, only to buy shop bought pastry?! No no no, this won't do! I'm going to pull my socks up, take a deep breath, and make pastry. For the first. Time. Ever. I'm not even kidding. Oh I've made dough already, bread dough, pasta dough... but pastry? I've always been too scared. Or just too fussy - who likes to get flour and butter mix under their nails right?

So I picked the most simple recipe I could find for shortcrust pastry. Followed all the instructions, even let it rest in the fridge. And it worked perfectly. I think Boyfriend's words might have been close to: "this is the best mince pie ever". Or something close. Honest. Oh, and they're at their best warm, with a drizzle of double cream poured on top. I'm not one to do things half-heartedly, that's all I've got to say!

Suet-free mincemeat

My turn to make mincemeat. Finally. I've finally got round to it. Honestly, it was getting ridiculous. Knowing that this was the only thing I realistically had to do this year, no Christmas cake, no Christmas pudding, just mincemeat. I was feeling the pressure, I mean, a few of you have done and dusted this a few weeks ago already. But I was not one to be defeated and I'm glad to say, it's done! And when I licked the spoon at the end, after filling up about 5 jars, I can say it tasted of heaven.

I don't like the idea of putting suet in my mincemeat, so mine's suet-free. None of that vegetarian suet either, urgh. So here's my real vegetarian super lush version (inspiration from this website). Make it, you won't be disappointed.

Ingredients (to make about 5 jars)

• 250g soft brown sugar
• 250ml cider (I used Westons Organic)
• 1kg cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 900g fruit and nut - I used:
• 400g sultanas
• 75g blanched almonds
• 20g sour cherries, roughly chopped
• 140g prunes, roughly chopped
• 200g glace cherries, roughly chopped
• 75g cranberries
• zest and juice of half a lemon
• 6 tbsp brandy (I used apricot brandy)

Method

• Dissolve the sugar in the cider in a large pan over a medium heat.
• Add the apples and give it a good stir.
• Add the all the other ingredients, except for the brandy. Mix well, cover and simmer for 30min until the apples have collapsed.
• Leave to cool down slightly, then add the brandy. Stir and bottle up!

Spaguetti Squash

I mentioned last Friday that we'd brought back lots of goodies from our short break on the North Norfolk coast. One of those was a spaghetti squash. I was quite intrigued by this average looking squash, seeing what I'd heard about its insides. Because it was indeed a revelation. I can see how it may not be to everybody's taste, but if you do find one to buy, jump on the opportunity and have it like we did, with roasted chicken breasts.

It all started with this. On a bit of foil, pricked all over with a knife.

After an hour in the oven, 180degrees (fan), it looked like this. Not much different really, but wait till you see inside...

Now scoop out those seeds and save for later - please don't throw them away!

And now scrape out the amazingly stringy (in a good way!) flesh... and yes, do call over your significant other to come and have a look, because it is simply amazing!!!

Add a bit of salt, pepper and a knob of butter...

And finally, dish up with roasted chicken breast (I should add, the chicken was roasted with herbes de provence and paprika; an onion and 4 garlic cloves were also added to the dish; the squash was mixed with the juices from the chicken and the garlic at the end to give it some extra oompff).

Totally lush, honestly. Both Boyfriend and I were pleasantly surprised. This was much more tasty than the pumpkin was had last week, which was slightly too watery for us. Anyway, it's not finished!! Remember those seeds? Well, here they are washed, with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika.

They were then roasted in the oven for 30min at 160degrees fan. Totally gorgeous. I may or may not eat the whole lot in one go when I get home tonight. Honestly, I'll need something to cheer me up after having got soaked on my way into work this morning.

And as a side note, my dear train company, it is NOT acceptable for trains to be delayed just because it's raining. Surely it's something we should be used to, living in England and all. Just saying.

Agree to disagree

He tells me I can't have cake for breakfast.

I tell him it's not cake, it's "bread". Banana bread.

He tells me it's not healthy.

I tell him it's healthy because I added poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds and other seeds I had lying around in the cupboard.

Basically, it's just bananas and seeds. What's there to argue about?!

Conclusion: I've had this for breakfast and it's lush. End of story (well not really, scroll down if you want the recipe!)

Banana bread recipe

Ingredients:

• 100g butter
• 150g golden caster sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 250 plain flour
• 100ml milk (I used skimmed and it worked fine)
• 2 tsp bicarb of soda
• 3 super ripe mashed bananas
• optional extras: seeds, nuts, chocolate chips...

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180C and line a loaf tin.
• Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
• Add the eggs and beat it all together.
• Add the flour, bicarb and milk. Mix together well.
• Add mashed bananas, and extras if using.
• Pour mix into lined tin and bang in the oven until cooked (after 25min skewer was still coming out covered in cake goo so I turned the temperature down to 175C for an extra 20min and it worked a treat)

Recipe organisation

This is a really special project for me. Something I've been thinking about for some time. Something which I hope will be in my possession for years to come. Hopefully something which will be treasured by my children and their children. Not that I like to put pressure on myself or anything ;-)

Basically, since my final year at university, it is fair to say I've been obsessed with cooking and all things food-related. I have a massive folder full of printed out recipes and magazine tear outs. It looked neat at first, but I can't say it's aged very well. It barely ever sees the light of day. It's become too massive, too bulky, too messy. I had it organised with alphabet dividers (A to Z), with the main ingredient being used for filing purposes. Only things can get a little complicated when you speak more than one language. It's not all apricot/ abricot you see. What happens to the likes of strawberry/ fraise? What happens there? Do I just put it all under S, or F? Seems a bit of a waste of time to have to trawl through two sections of the folder when I'm only after one ingredient. Anyway, you get the idea, it wasn't working. And then there's the other folder. The one where I've put in lots of random magazine cut outs. Calling this one a mess is the understatement of the century.

So I did a bit of thinking. Quite a bit actually. I think I even enjoyed having my little thinking cap on, made me feel Arty you see. I can't draw to save my life. But in this instance, I've been able to scribble down how I'd like things to look. I've even got a little notebook out of our ridiculously large stationery collection, and declared it The Inspiration Notebook. Somewhere for me to jot things down, make notes of ideas, possibilities, inspirations. But I'm digressing, back to my recipe dilemma and new found solution. I wanted to work with an easy concept, something cute, something easy to use in the kitchen (no point having a great big old folder that takes up all the space on the working surface), something that I would look forward to flicking through.

So, want to see what I came up with?Well, I prepared 5 little notebooks. Why five? One for each season plus one for miscellaneous recipes (those that are season-less) of course! And I've got a rule for those recipes that do make it into the notebooks. They have to be tried, tasted and liked by me. None of those "ooh this looks nice I'll keep it for a rainy day". No no no. It has to have convinced Boyfriend and I that it is indeed yummy, and made it into the I-want-to-eat-this-every-day-for-the-next-month category. Ok I'm exaggerating a little here, but you get the idea!

Off I went to a major supplier of all things stationary, purchased 5 little notebooks (don't you love the little ribbons to tie them up?!) and some photo corner things. I had this idea of making simple paintings of symbols representing the seasons. It soon became obvious that using coloured pencils would be a lot easier. I still managed to preserve the idea of a cycle of the seasons by positioning said symbols in a circle. I'm aware this may not make much sense, so have a look!

These can be removed and changed as I please, and I quite like that. Some I've embelished, others have been left plain. I wasn't too sure what to draw for the miscellaneous book, and I can't say I like what I did very much, but it'll do for the moment, until I come up with something better (maybe you have an idea or two?).

A page in the Inspiration Notebook is currently full of recipes that need to make it into the recipe books. Easy things, it doesn't have to be something fancy. Take for example mackerel pate. My life just wouldn't be the same without it. All you need is a smoked mackerel fillet, some cream cheese and lemon juice and BANG, magic happens. Trust me, it's true. But it's not necessarily obvious you see, fashions come and go, and this is definitely one thing I want my children and grandchildren to be enjoying. I love food, it brings such joy, such happiness. I can't imagine such moments being lost and wasted. Now's the time to get recording.

Lately I have...

Been making waaaayyyy to much of this. Pretty uninspiring photo, I know. And I'm not sure if it's wise of me sharing this recipe with you. Not that it's mine anyway. But it's rather addictive. That is, if you're a crisp munching machine like I am. I've lost count of how many times I've made this over the last few months. Boyfriend said last night that the kitchen constantly smells of coriander. I'm not complaining.

The recipe was found on this US blog (I put my hands up, I got sucked in, I'm a fan - actually I went mental reading the story of how she met her husband - another thing that was addictive! don't say I didn't warn you, once you start, you won't want to stop), so I'm going to be really nice to you and give you the metric equivalent. Actually, forget about that, I'm giving you the easiest recipe in the world.

Tomato salsa

Ingredients

• tinned tomatoes and chili (if you're not so keen on the chili, a plain tin of tomatoes works just as well)
• a generous handful of chopped coriander
• the juice of a lime
• two fat garlic cloves, chopped
• half a medium sized onion, chopped
• a chili, chopped (use however much you want depending on how hot you want it; I like it hot so I use half a home-grown scotch bonnet)
• pinch of salt
• pinch of sugar

Method

• place all the ingredients in a bowl.
• mix with a hand blender.
• place in the fridge for about an hour for the flavours to infuse (or place the tomatoes in the freezer while you get the rest of the ingredients ready so that you can munch on it like a little piglet as soon as it's blended - that's what I do).

I haven't bought ready made salsa from the shops since. It tastes so much better, so much fresher, you can't beat it. Try it and let me know what you think!

Healthy sunday lunch

Hello!! Well thank you for all your lovely messages yesterday, I'm so glad you liked that little hoop too!! It is rather small, but very cute! I put some glue on a spare bit of fabric this morning and will try using nail polish remover to see if that works tonight... fingers crossed! Otherwise I might have to resort to adding a cloud or sun somehow!!!

So, onto today's post. Food. Sunday food. But I'm afraid this isn't a roast. So no recipe for healthy roast potatoes here (is there such a thing anyway?!). Rather an alternative.

And I give you my word this is totally and absolutely delicious. The best thing about it too, it's ridiculously easy to make. Easy ingredients, easy prep. And easily doubled too. Here goes:

Ingredients (for 2):

• tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• large tablespoon of green olives
• large tablespoon of black olives
• tablespoon of capers
• 2 fillets of frozen (or fresh if you have it) haddock

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
• In a baking tin, add a swirl of olive oil, the garlic, tomatoes, olives and capers. Mix everything and put in the oven for 15min.
• When the 15min are up, place the fish on top, add a grind of black pepper and put in the oven for another 15-20min (until the fish is cooked)
• Scatter with fresh basil leaves and serve with brown rice
• Best enjoyed with a lovely crisp white wine ;-)

We had this for lunch last Sunday, but it could easily be done on a school night too. It is a rather stunning dish, although the ingredients are really simple. All the flavours complement each other without taking over, it's just perfect. It certainly made us very happy indeed!! x

Horror pudding

An effort worthy of halloween. Because let me tell you something, had there been children, they would have been scared. Yes I followed the recipe. Yes it was my very first time making a pudding of the sort. Yes I might do things slightly differently next time. Want to see?

It started out so well... lots of berries that were patiently waiting in the freezer for their time to shine.... so many memories of warmer times, picking said berries in local fields and pick-your-own farm.... bliss

Then it all went downhill. Something magical was meant to happen. The bread was meant to soak up the juices. There was meant to be enough juices for the bread to soak up.

Oh dear.

In my defence, it tasted delicious. I was a little ashamed though. And I'm still feeling the shame now... Please, feel free to laugh!

ps: Just in case you haven't been put off by the look of this cake and think you can do better (which let's face it can't be that hard), what you want to do is line a bowl with cling film, then line it with white bread slices (crust removed) dipped in berries that you'll have blended with a little icing sugar (dipped side up). Once your bowl is lined, add whole berries (I used a mix of raspberries, red currants and blackberries), then a layer of clotted cream, and then some more whole berries or some blended berries, whatever you have left. Use some more bread to "close" the bowl and leave in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. Tip out onto a plate and laugh. [There are no measurements in this recipe because it all depends on the size of your bowl. Use as much bread as you need to line it, and as many berries you need to fill it up. I used a tub of cream, just so you know!]

This one's for you

The Girl. Yep, that's right! So listen carefully. Because this post is indeed just for you (my dear other readers, please don't feel offended, read on and you'll understand!!).

Right, here's the story. A while back, I posted about various soups we were making at home because Boyfriend was having teeth problems, so we had to be creative as he was having them every single day. One day after one those posts, The Girl told me she didn't like soup. Actually, these were your exact words The Girl:

"I put nothing in my soup because I DON'T LIKE IT.

I know that doesn't make me normal but I just don't.

I mean I don't hate it I would just rather eat anything else."

I went home that night after work and the conversation went a bit like this:


me: "Hiya!! How are you? Had a good day?"

B: "Hello! Yeah I'm alright thanks, how are you? Got any comments on your blog today?" (hey, don't judge me, getting comments makes me happy alright?!)

me: "Yeah I did, it was really cool. Only you'll never guess what. The Girl said she doesn't like soup"

(and yes, The Girl is referred to as The Girl in my house - what can I say, blogs have taken over my life)

B: having a heart attack on the floor "What do you mean she doesn't like soup???!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

me: "Well yeah, she said she doesn't like soup".


And the conversation went on and on, Boyfriend banging his head against the wall, not understanding how someone could not like soup. Well ok, maybe he didn't bang his head against the wall, but you get the idea. He was in shock. Just. Could. Not. Understand.

And ever since then, I've been constantly reminded about the soup I'm about to give you a recipe for. Well ok, maybe not constantly, but at regular intervals. "Post about this soup, he tells me, and tell her to try it out!!! She can't say she doesn't like soup until she's tried this one!!!"

So here it is. The Girl, you just have to try this. For my sake (well unless you're allergic to lentils or chickpeas of course). To bring this whole thing to an end. Please. And if you say you don't like it, then I promise never to mention this ever again. Cross my heart.

To make this red lentil and chickpea soup you will need:

• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• large pinch chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 140g red lentils
• 850ml vegetable stock
• 400g can tomatoes
• tin of chickpeas
• small bunch coriander, roughly chopped (optional)
• greek yogurt (optional)

Method:

• Heat a large saucepan and dry fry the cumin seeds and chillli flakes for 1min.
• Add the oil and onion, cook for 5min.
• Stir in the stock, tomatoes and lentils.
• Bring to a boil then simmer for 15min.
• Blitz the soup with a stick blender in the saucepan.
• Add the chickpeas to the saucepan and heat gently for 5min.
• Stir in the coriander if using, and serve with a dollop of greek yogurt.

So there. Let me know what the verdict is.