Pumpkin Soup 

Posted on by lotsofbutter

It’s autumn and we love it right? We love the leaves, we love pumpkin lattes and pumpkin spice, pumpkin all things everything!

So I have a really easy and quick pumpkin soup recipe!

 

What you’ll need:

  • Splash of olive oil
  • 1 chopped onion
  • Half of a small pumpkin (chopped, deseeded and peeled) – let’s say about 500g
  • 400ml chicken stock (or vegetable if you’re vegetarian)
  • Double cream to serve

Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan, then gently cook the chopped onions until soft but not coloured. Add the pumpkin to the pan, then carry on cooking stirring occasionally until it starts to soften and turn golden.

Pour the stock into the pan, then season with salt, pepper and some smoked paprika. Bring everything to the boil, then simmer on a low fire until the pumpkin is very soft. Purée the ingredients in a blender and the most important part: push the soup through a fine sieve into another pan for a smooth consistancy!

Once you’re ready to serve, add a tablespoon of double cream! And taaaadaaah! Smooth delicious pumpkin soup!

Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!
Ana X

When in Switzerland

Posted on by lotsofbutter

I haven’t been anywhere this summer, so to treat myself, I decided to go see a friend in Switzerland.

I have to say that the country has stolen a piece of my heart. Cheese and chocolate, what else do I need?  Yesterday, was my last night in Basel and we decided to have cheese fondue at home!

 
I have had a lot of fondues in my life.. Like meat fondue, chocolate fondue or the Chinese fondue. Never really had cheese fondue until last night.

The classic dip for this would be bread, but I went a bit crazy.. I started googling ingridients that would be nice for dipping… No, unfortunately no nachos! On the table we have boiled cauliflower and new baby potatoes. Also have pears, cured sausage, pears and our main guest: bread.

You’ve guessed right, there was no cheese left behind.

We have bought ready grated cheese pack for fondue. I’ve done my research and the simple version seems to be from Neuchâtel, which only uses Emmantel and Gruyere. Add about 200ml of white wine – I cannot stress enough about this, but please use a wine that you would drink. If you wouldn’t drink that wine then why would you use it to cook and eat? To the wine, add two tablespoons of strong white flour or ideally cornstarch, once the mixture is warm, add the cheese and melt it. The consistency should be thick but a bit runny.

It’s the perfect social dish for winter.

Ana xx

Toulouse Sausage Roll 

Posted on by lotsofbutter

Sunday fun day!

Hello my darling readers, today I have made sausage rolls made with Toulouse sausage meat, thy are usually gluten free and quite garlicky.

 

For this recipe, I used left over puff pastry sheet (half a sheet more or less!), finely chopped spring onion, smoked paprika, salt and black pepper. Combine all ingredients and unroll the pastry sheet.

I find it easier to shape the sausage meat in cling film first, make sure the mixture is solid and lay it in a long ‘roll’ just off centre down the pastry length. Brush the edges of the pastry lightly with egg wash and bring the sides up to meet over the filling. Pinch the edges firmly together to form a seal.

Make four slits in one side of the rolls, to allow steam to escape.Brush the pastry with the remaining egg wash and bake for 20-30 minutes or until pastry risen and golden brown on gas mark 7.

You can serve it with some nice mustard or chili sauce. Guess what’s my preferred sauce? 😉

Let me know what you think!
Ana xx

Pastéis de Bacalhau – Salted Cod Cakes. 

Posted on by lotsofbutter

I love my Portuguese roots and I am a bit disappointed that I don’t cook enough Portuguese dishes!

To show my appreciation, I’ve decided to make one of our most popular snacks. To be honest with you, I had left over mash potato from my lamb stew earlier this week, so why the heck not.

 
You can get Bacalhau in any Portuguese food store, or for the cheaper option, you can go to any Afro Caribbean food store, and you will be able find salt fish!

Depending on the thickness of the dry fish, you will have to soak it in water for 1 to 2 days. Don’t forget to change the water every 12 hours. Pinch some of the cod and taste it, it should not taste salty but slightly salty is right. If it doesn’t taste of any salt you will need to adjust the salt in the recipe later.

  • 400g Salted Cod
  • 200g Mash Potatoes
  • 1/2 onion (minced)
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • Handful of finely chopped parsley
  • Vegetable oil for frying

Boil the cod. You can boil the cod without any flavourings. When the cod is cooked it will come apart when probed with a fork. When this is cold, you will need to debone, skin and shred the fish.

If you do not have mash potato laying around like me, you will need to make some. Boil them potatoes and mash them.

Add the cod with the mash, and mix this well, then add the rest of the ingredients. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Mix everything very well again until all is incorporated and homogenized. Make quenelles shaped of any size and take it to refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes.

 
Fry in a very hot and generous amount of oil. At least half of the cakes must be covered when frying. Let it golden and then turn the cakes around and golden the other side. Remove from pan and let the cakes dry in paper towel for few seconds and then serve.

 
It should be deliciously crunchy. Serve it with a lime wedge or some hot sauce!

I’m Mac N’ Cheese Balls 

Posted on by lotsofbutter

If you knew my person, you would know that I absolutely love mac and cheese! I love pasta and I love cheese! 

I had deep friend Mac and Cheese balls before but they were quite big size – not as small as a golf ball but not as big as a tennis ball! In my opinion, this sort of food is good in bite size! 

For this recipe, you will need left over mac and cheese. 

I used ditalini rigati pasta, lots of single cream, butter, Parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese and mozzarella. Make sure you leave the Mac and Cheese in your fridge for over night before using it for the recipe. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the macaroni mixture from the refrigerator, and scoop into balls.

Whisk the bread crumbs with the paprika, chili powder and black pepper  in a shallow dish; set aside. Beat the 1 egg with the 3 tablespoons milk in a small bowl. Coat the balls in the egg wash, and then dredge in breading.

Fry the mac balls in small batches until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain briefly on a paper towel plate; serve hot – I should have made a salsa sauce to go with it. 

I’ve made a quick sauce out of tomato purée, honey, soya sauce and chili. 

  

  Enjoy!

Ana x

Beef Spring Rolls

Posted on by lotsofbutter

I am sorry I have not been posting anything! I have been busy celebrating my birthday and that my foot cast is finally off!

I have been busy trying to walk again.

Two weekends ago, we have made beef spring rolls!

 For the spring roll filling, we used shredded carrots, beansprouts and sliced beef. Stir-fried these until cooked with some pepper and some soya sauce. You might want to drain this on a colander. The more liquid drained the better – you don’t want the spring roll wraps to be soggy when you roll them up

Most wrappers come frozen, so make sure you defrost them beforehand.

Place wrapper like diamond, on a clean, dry surface. Place 1 tablespoon of filling near corner. Fold over the corner, and roll tight.

 
To fry the spring rolls, you’ll to heat up a good amount of oil – if you have a deep fryer that’s even better!

Keep turning them to brown evenly. Once they are golden brown, they are done.

I will try to make more at home but with different fillings, maybe a lobster filling!

Let me know what you think
Ana xx

Churros with Ginger and Cinnamon Sugar

Posted on by lotsofbutter

Hello lovely people.

Today I was inspired to make churros, since I don’t have a lot of desserts on my blog! To be honest, I was watching Come Dine With Me, and a couple on the show were making churros but with chocolate to dip in.

All you will need for this recipe is:

For the churros:

  • 200ml water
  • 2 tablespoons of white sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used coconut oil)
  • 200ml plain flour
  • Extra oil for frying

For the ginger and cinnamon sugar:

  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water, sugar and the 2 tablespoons oil – I used coconut oil because it’s the only oil I really use other than sesame oil or olive oil. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in flour until mixture forms a ball.

Heat oil for frying in a frying pan, or if you have a deep fryer you can use that too, but don’t ask me how because I have never used one before! If you have a piping bag,please use it to pipe the mixture into strips. I have a problem with piping bags and can’t seem to pipe anything right! For the strips, I rolled them into thin strips! Fry until golden and drain on paper towels.

For the sugar, combine all ingredients and roll each churro to make sure they are covered. If there’s any sugar left off, sprinkle some more on top!

You can serve this with ice cream or with melted chocolate!

I believe (according to Wikipedia!) that the Portuguese brought churros to Europe when they returned from China (the grand Portuguese discoveries). Since I am half Portuguese half Chinese, I thought this dessert would represent my heritage the best.

I hope you try this at home and love it!

Ana xx

Chicken Curry and Jollof Rice 

Posted on by lotsofbutter

Hi guys!

So I have turned to foods that I can just leave to slow cook, or that doesn’t require standing for long periods of time.

 
I have had Jollof rice for the first time a couple of days ago, and I love it! Sort of reminds me of the Portuguese tomato and coriander rice, but with a bit of a kick!

For the Jollof rice, I have fried 1 onion until soft, added 2 tablespoons of tomato purée, 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon of paprik, some salt and pepper, a little bit over 1.5 cups of chicken stock and when the chicken stock is bubbling away hot, add one cup of long grain rice, and cook if on minimum fire for about 10-15min – make sure you keep an eye on the rice so it doesn’t burn.

For the curry, I fried some 1 onion, 6 closes of garlic and a bit of minced ginger – once the onions are soft, I have browned the chicken thighs (boneless) in the same pan – I like using chicken thighs because they are so nice and moist.

Once the chicken is brown, add 3 tablespoons of garam masala, 1.5 tablespoons cayenne pepper, 3 tablespoons of tomato purée – you can also use tinned tomatoes if you want – and half a cup of chicken stock. Let it slow cook until the sauce gets thick.

Once the curry is ready, I’ve added a bit of the curry sauce to some plain yoghurt. It is equally delicious without the yoghurt sauce.

I hope you’ll try this and let me know how it turns out!
Ana x

Pecorino and Garlic Ramen Fries 

Posted on by lotsofbutter

Hello guys!

I have seen this recipe on BuzzFeed Food on Facebook and I had to try it!!

Cook two packets of ramen according to directions. If you’ve never cooked ramen before, then please crawl back to the whole you came from… I’m only joking.. But no.. Do follow instructions because you don’t want to overcook it!

After straining ramen in a colander, run cold water over it until noodles are cool. Once they have cooled down, whiskey eggs and seasoning packets together, and add in cold, strained ramen noodles. Mix the egg mixture in to evenly disperse.

Line in baking/foil sheet with plastic wrap, and dump your ramen egg mixture in. Mash the ramen into a tight, even layer and add another sheet of plastic wrap on top. Put something heavy on top to weight it down, this part is critical – it is important that you do this, otherwise the noodles will turn out loose when you fry them. Throw it in the freezer for 2 – 3 hours.

You should have a semi-frozen ramen brick, and now you can start cutting it into long rectangular shapes and fry them until pleasantly crispy and brown.

In a bowl, shave some pecorino cheese, you can use Parmesan if you like. Add some black pepper, garlic powder and dried parsley. Sprinkle this on top of the ramen fries when ready to eat.

I would definitely suggest you to try this at home! At least it would be a new way to cook your instant noodles.

Ana x

Vegan Mocha Mug Cake

Posted on by lotsofbutter

Hi Petals! 

Have had a rough day today dealing with confusion emotions. I must say.. I am not doing this house bound patient thing very well.. Staying in and not having anything to do kills me. 

I have had the proper cast put on on Friday and will have to have this on for the next 4 weeks. Still makes it very hard for me to cook! 

So to cheer myself up, I have made a quick and easy Mocha Vegan Mug cake

  
For this recipe, you will need to add 1/2 teaspoon ground coffee, 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal, 3 tablespoons hot water to a microwaveable mug, mix it all together and let it sit for 2-3 minutes

Then add 3 tablespoon of plain flour, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon of oil and a pinch of sea salt. Mix it all together and microwave it on max for 1 minute. Yes, 1 minute is all it takes for this delicious mug cake! 

I have served this with a coconut milk “yogurt” and sprinkled some cinnamon on top. 

This recipe takes less than 5 minutes to make.. I am not a vegan but sometimes I will try recipes like this! I like to know how alternatives will taste like and how it works. And I must tell you, this recipe it’s pretty good. The cake is moist and fluffy.