BUSY, BUSY, BUSY, CRASH!!! Plus Chutney, Scone and Aubergine tray bake recipes

What a week? A week of two halves. Fantastic from Monday to Wednesday and a complete wipe out from Thursday!  Oh well, such is life.

Monday was full on out and about with Osteopath, Aldi shop and son's trampoline lesson. Needless to say I was a tad wiped out by the evening as it had been 6 weeks rather than my normal 4 weeks since my last osteo appointment and I cracked and creaked like a good 'un, but I felt taller. It does get everything moving though, so I do find that I feel a bit 'dead' afterwards.

Luckily Tuesday I felt pretty good apart from a late start and managed to do everything on my kitchen list plus extra.  Ached like hell afterwards, but felt it was worth it as I made:

Apple Cake - Thanks to the excellent North Wild Kitchen and her excellent book.

I also made 8 jars of green tomato and orange chutney: recipe below. You will need a food processor or plenty of muscle to chop it all up.

A batch of cheese, olive and onion scones: recipe also below.

Soaked my fruits for a chocolate and orange Christmas cake and made a batch of lemon and pesto falafels from the bag of soaked chickpeas and half a jar of pesto I had left in the fridge.

No wonder I was knackered 😂😂 All that standing about (four and a half hours to be exact) played havoc with my tilted pelvis.

Wednesday was a day with my daughter with a trip to B&M to get some bits of furniture for her office and a nose at the Christmas bits and bobs. Needless to say I spent/bought far too much, but I have completed my granddaughter's present.

Now to the crash!!  I literally couldn't get out of bed on Thursday!!  I couldn't keep my eyes open and I ached everywhere.  I literally spent the day dozing, drinking tea, eating chocolate and watching Netflix as I just couldn't do much else.  Still don't know what causes it, but I have since found out that endometriosis can cause fatigue and as mine is fourth stage and I now have a 'stuck' womb, it probably is that that causes it.  Either that or I do suffer from CFS. Friday wasn't much better but I did, at least manage to cook dinner.

Aubergine and potato with feta cheese tray bake

It was quick and easy and pretty damn tasty.  Recipe also below.  This week is a long one. Sorry!

The weekend is now here and I intend to catch up on some bits and bobs; got my Halloween candle holders out and my autumn scented candles. His Nibs has repainted the kitchen ceiling and I'm hoping to get some seeds planted, depending on weather, which will be good for Spring. It's currently blowing a gale and raining.

Anyway, here we go:

GREEN TOMATO AND ORANGE (CLEMENTINE) MARMALADE

4 large sweet oranges or 8-10 clementines (I used 8)

2 lemons

1kg green tomatoes

750ml water

1kg granulated sugar

Cut the oranges and lemons into slices and remove the pips and place the pips into a muslin bag. I didn't have any pips in either so couldn't do this and mine set fine, so I don't think it's absolutely necessary.

Then put the tomatoes, lemons and oranges into a food processor, in batches, and chop into small pieces.  Think small chunks.

Put this into a large preserving pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 45 mins until the orange and lemon peel is soft.

Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

Bring back to the boil and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick and a wooden spoon leaves a clear trail when drawn through the mixture.  It will reduce a lot!! This stage can take anything from 40 mins to an hour and a half depending on how juicy your fruits are. Keep an eye on it, you don't want it to burn or turn into toffee.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly so you can skim off any yucky bits from the top and then ladle into clean, sterilised jars *

Allow to go cold, label and store for up to a year.

* I wash my jars in hot water and detergent, rinse and then place upside down in an oven preheated to 100C/225F/Gas 1/4 and leave them there for a minimum of 10 minutes.

CHEESE, ONION AND OLIVE SCONES - GLUTEN FREE*

175g self raising flour (I use Freee From flour)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1tbsp olive oil

large pinch of salt and black pepper

1/2tsp English mustard powder

25g butter/marg

40g parmesan cheese, finely grated (I use the bags where it's already done for you)

40g cheddar cheese, grated

2-3tbsp milk

1 egg

6-8 pitted black olives, chopped

Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas6

Fry the chopped onion in the olive oil until soft and slightly browned.  Set aside to cool.

Sift the flour, salt, mustard powder and black pepper into a large bowl.

Rub the butter/marg into the flour mix until breadcrumby, then stir in the cooked onion, the chopped olives and the grated cheddar cheese.

Beat the egg and pour into the mixture using your hands to bind along with enough milk to make a soft dough that isn't too sticky. Knead on a floured surface/board until smooth.

Roll out the dough until approx 2cm thick.  Then using whatever size cutter you like (obviously the smaller the cutter, the more you get) and transfer to a lightly greased tray. Brush with milk and sprinkle on that parmesan cheese.

Bake for 10-12 minutes at the top of your oven until browning.  Remove and leave to cool on a wire rack.

*This recipe is based on a Delia Smith recipe from her Christmas book, but I've adapted for gluten free ingredients and my ease.

And finally!!

FETA, POTATO & AUBERGINE BAKE WITH GREEN LENTILS *

1kg potatoes, unpeeled, but washed and cut into chunks

2 aubergines, cut into chunks

1 red onion, chopped in any way you wish

A squirt of garlic puree or 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped.

2 tins of green lentils or a large mug of dried.

1tbsp of Ras-el-hanout(Steenbergs is the one I use)

1tbsp of dried oregano (again Steenbergs)

1 tin of chopped tomatoes plus an empty can of water

1 packet of feta cheese

Olive oil

Large pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas7

Boil your potatoes until a knife goes through, but not until they are mushy. Then drain.

Fry the aubergines in a little olive oil until softened and turning brown. This will take about 8-10 minutes.

Tip both the aubergine and potato into a oven proof dish and season with salt, dried oregano and ras-el-hanout. Turning until coated.

Then fry off the onion and garlic if using fresh until soft and add to the other veg. If using puree, just squeeze some in that dish.

Tip in the green lentils (drained if using tinned), the tin of tomatoes and the empty tin of water. Place this in the oven covered either with a lid of tin foil and cook for about 40 minutes or until lentils are cooked if using dried or for about 30 minutes if using tinned.

Break up the feta on top of the dish and return to the oven, uncovered, for approximately another 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

This can be served with crusty bread or a salad or as it is.

*Loosely based on an Abel & Cole recipe that came as a recipe box. I've missed out ingredients I didn't think it needed and changed the quantities of herb and spice and changed the spice itself as the original recipe is just mixed spice so if you don't have Ras-el-anout, just use normal mixed spice.

STORE CUPBOARD & FREEZER QUICK BLACK BEAN CHILLI

 Wow!! What a week? It's been all over the place on so many levels I ended up thinking it was tomorrow half the time. Think I'm back on track now.  It's Saturday, isn't it???? Well, it is at the time of writing.

Market Monday was brilliant as I managed to get my Christmas meat ordered from my family butchers Bruce's Butchers, another bunch of plants for a winter pot for outside the front door and sampled some street food which was gluten free; one of which was gifted to me.  Thank you HQ Jerk Chicken.  I also picked up my new glasses so I can now see; haha.

Mighty fine Jerk Chicken (not the best photo)

Out and about again on Tuesday to Dobbies (Dobbies Gillingham)with a friend for a quick catch up and coffee plus a bargain cyclamen, reduced price gluten free rolls and some wild flower seeds including Yellow Rattle which will help to control the grass in the wildflower area.

Wednesday onwards it all went a bit Pete Tong! I ached like hell in my hip, legs and back and my son had a meltdown, so I didn't get around to the marmalade making and dinners ended up as 'throw it all together in a pan' type dinners, but that's what normality is, isn't it?? I'm not a chef, I don't work in the food industry, I'm just a mum who cooks gluten free and life often gets in the way of cooking plans. I did manage to plant garlic and onions this week in the veg patch though, along with a bit of digging help from the neighbour's ginger cat; lol

Hopefully next week will be better.

STORE CUPBOARD AND FREEZER QUICK BLACK BEAN CHILLI

A handful or two of frozen chopped onions

A squeeze or two of garlic paste

A squeeze or two of tomato puree

A handful or two of frozen mixed peppers

1-2 tins of black beans, drained

1 tin of tomatoes

1tbsp cajun ragin seasoning (Steenbergs)

1tbsp cocoa powder

Salt and pepper

1 bunch of fresh coriander, chopped (optional)

1) Literally bung the whole lot in a saucepan, apart from the coriander, cover with some water if it isn't covered already and simmer until it's all cooked through and hot.  Believe me, the cocoa powder makes all the difference and helps to thicken the sauce. Season to taste and add the chopped coriander and stir through.

This served 3 people, but you can judge yourself if you need to add more depending on persons and appetite.

You can serve this with rice, potato wedges or jacket potatoes as I did. 

SWEETCORN RELISH/CHOCOLATE AND BANANA BREAD

It's been an odd week or so as His Nibs was off and things are never quite the same when he's around.  I'm so out of kilter, it's untrue.  He went back a week ago and it's taken me this week to crack on and get up to date in the house and garden. But I have managed to sort a fair amount out with regards to seedlings, bulb planting, tidying the shed and prepping for next year.

Kitchen wise, I'd done no baking for about 3 weeks and was beginning to get withdrawal symptoms, so a quick chocolate and banana bread (recipe below) was made on one of the nights I couldn't sleep, which seems to be every other day at the moment (too many things running around in that brain of mine). 

Not me, but definitely how I envision myself
😉

I'll be preserving over the next few weeks and deciding what I'm cooking for Christmas and Halloween.  Both of which are not far away at all.

This week: 

SWEETCORN AND PEPPER RELISH

6 x sweetcorn cobs; stripped and nibs removed.

1 x large onion, finely chopped

3 x sticks of celery, finely chopped

2 x red peppers, also finely chopped

1 pint (0.56 litres) of apple cider vinegar *

0.5lb (250g) granulated sugar

1tbsp mustard powder

0.5tbsp salt

Hot, sterilised jars with good secure lids.  I use kilner type jars, but sterilised jam jars will be fine.

This is such an easy relish to make and the jars will keep for up to a year without heat treating. Great with burgers, hot dogs or just on the side.

1. Prep your veg.

2. Put all the ingredients into a large pan and bring to the boil, ensuring the sugar has dissolved.

3. Simmer for 40-60 mins until the sweetcorn is cooked and the sauce is thick.

4. Pour into your jars, pushing down to ensure there are no air bubbles and seal. I put a piece of greaseproof over mine, but it isn't necessary.

5.  Allow to cool and check seals.  It's ready to use straight away, but it's best left to mature for a while.

* I use cider vinegar as I'm gluten free, but white malt vinegar or any of your choosing will work.

CHOCOLATE AND BANANA BREAD

150g plain flour (I use Doves Gluten Free)

2.25tsp baking powder (again I use gluten free)

0.5tsp salt

0.5tsp ginger powder

50g cocoa powder (not instant hot chocolate)

75g butter or marg

115g caster sugar

3 very ripe bananas (turning black is the best)

2 eggs (beaten)

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas4/350F and grease and line a 21cm x 11cm loaf tin.

1. Mash the bananas in a bowl with either a fork or a potato masher, leaving some larger lumps if you want.

2. In another bowl, tip all the other ingredients in and beat together, either with an electric hand whisk or a wooden spoon and lots of elbow.  Make sure there are no lumps of butter/marg.

3. Stir in the banana until combined and pour into the loaf tin.

4. Bake for 50-60 mins or until wooden skewer comes out clean.

5. Leave to cool for 15mins then turn out and leave to cool completely.

Enjoy!

VEGGIE CRUMBLES AND PASTA SAUCE

Yay!  Finally managed a Saturday post!

Been a week of ups, downs, outs and headaches.  Oh well, par for the course at the moment until the weather decides what it's going to do. 

A couple of years ago, I discovered vegetable crumbles!  Can't remember where I first found it, but I've been slightly addicted ever since. They are a great way of using up vegetables in the fridge, but are also warming and comforting which we need at the moment.

The recipe I use has cheese in the crumble part, but you can always change it to vegan cheese if you wanted. To be honest, don't be scared to change anything up as they are dead easy to adapt.

MY VEGETABLE CRUMBLE

1 small cauliflower, roughly chopped

1 kohl rabi, cubed

6 carrots, peeled and cubed

bunch of flat beans, cut into approximately 2cm pieces

1 white onion sliced

1 vegetable stock cube (I use Kallo)

1tbsp of butter/marg

1tbsp of wholegrain mustard

1tbsp of Doves Freee From plain flour (use whatever flour you have)

300ml of milk or water or water/milk mixed

For the crumble:

250g of Doves Freee From plain flour (see above)

110g butter/marg

2tbsp freshly chopped parsley (or use dried)

30g of grated cheddar cheese

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/350F

2. Take a large pan and gently fry the vegetables in the butter/marg until beginning to soften, but not necessarily brown.

3. Add the flour and stir to coat the veg, crumble in the stock cube and do the same.

4. Slowly add enough milk or water or milk/water to just cover the vegetables and bring to the boil, stirring until it starts to thicken.

5. Stir in the wholegrain mustard and transfer to a tin or tray that can go in the oven.

6. Make the crumble by putting the flour and butter/marg into a bowl and, using your fingers, rub together to form a very lumpy mixture.  It does not have to be fine breadcrumbs!!!

7. Stir in the parsley and grated cheese and sprinkle over the vegetables.

8. Cook for 30mins or until the topping is beginning to brown.

NB: Any combination of vegetables can be used although root vegetables and squashes make the best base.  Add beans, onions, leeks, whatever you have but avoid watery veg like tomatoes. Although you can use a tin of tomatoes and reduce the stock/milk. 

Swap up your mustard to whatever you like and your herbs to go with whatever your vegetables suit.  It really is up to you. Enjoy!!

..............

I'm getting a glut of tomatoes at the moment; too many to use up quickly.  Tomatoes should also be fairly cheap to obtain from shops too.  If you fancy making your own pasta sauce, try this:

HOME MADE ROASTED TOMATO PASTA SAUCE

You'll need a large pan for this.  I'm lucky in the fact that I have a large jam pan and a couple of large saucepans. You'll need them for the heat treatment afterwards. Also a few kilner jars or large pickle jars are a good idea. Oh and a blender or food processor or big muscles and a masher 😄.

1kg of ripe tomatoes, halved or quartered depending on size

1 red pepper, coarsely chopped

1 red onion, coarsely chopped.

1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (optional)

Salt and Pepper

Basil (either fresh or dried; I used dried)

1tbsp olive oil

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/350F

2. Take a roasting tin and tumble in the chopped tomatoes, red pepper, red onion and chilli.

3. Sprinkle on the dried basil (miss this step if using fresh)

4. Pour over the olive oil, get your hands in and toss until everything is coated.  Add a little more oil if you think you need it.

5. Roast in the oven for 20-30mins until the tomatoes are squishy and the red pepper and onion are soft.

6. While this is happening prepare your jars. I used 3 IKEA kilner jars (medium size).  Wash in soapy water, rinse through and then place in the cooling oven once you've removed your tomatoes. You need the jars to be hot!! As in hot that you cannot touch with bare hands.  10 mins on 100C/Gas 1/250F should be enough, but if you put them in the oven when the tomatoes come out, turn the oven off and let them sit until you are ready to use them; at least 10 minutes.

7. Blitz your tomato mixture either in a food processor, blender or by mashing the hell out of it (this will give a chunkier sauce).

8. Taste and season.  This is when you would put your fresh chopped basil in. Stir.

9. Take a large pan and put either a grill in the bottom or a folded tea-towel.

10. Remove the jars from the oven carefully and fill almost to the top.  Seal.

11. Wrap each jar in either layers of newspaper if you have it or another tea-towel each as I did.  Place in the pan and fill with water until the jars are covered.

12. Bring the water to boil and boil for approximately 20-30 mins.

13. Remove the jars. If using kilners you can test the seal by removing the clip and gently lifting the lid.  The lid should NOT OPEN!!!!!!! Jars with tin lids should dent in the top as they cool.

NB: You do not have to heat treat, but the sauce will only last 1-2 weeks in the fridge. If heat treated, it should last a year, so make sure you put a date on the label.

Good Luck!!!

BIT LATE!!!!

Sorry a bit late; was a busy weekend. We've been clearing the back bed in the garden which has, basically, been left for a few years because of the complete change round in the garden since my son has grown up and I've decided what I want.

We've removed the Dogwood completely as it was never looked after properly, outgrew itself and was slap bang in the middle of the bed.  We salvaged the 99p honeysuckle which had managed to survive even though it was buried under a load of weeds and lavatera and found two tiny oak saplings which we have also rescued and put in a pot until we can decide where to put them. Also cut back the buddleia, pond plants and lavender.  Now got lots to burn, which we started on on the Sunday just so we could sit outside and celebrate our hard work.

So, back to last week. Quiet week at home, pottering about, catching up on household bits including finally getting around to spray painting a brown metal lamp into a silver metal lamp which goes much better in the room it's now in. Plus I got round to planting up a metal basket in the garden which my daughter bought me and had found itself buried under a pile of stuff in the shed after taking the old shed down.

Lined with carrier bags

Cooking wise it's been a bit of a play with spices as I bought a jar of Fajita seasoning from the wonderful Steenburgs spice company. So a meatball recipe and seasoned wedges:

FAJITA SPICED MEATBALLS

500g British minced beef

3-4 spring onions

2-3 cloves of garlic

400g tin of kidney beans, drained

Squirt of tomato puree

1 egg

1tbsp fajita seasoning

Salt and pepper

Dip: 1tbsp sweet chilli sauce, 2tbsp mayo

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/350F

Mash the kidney beans roughly leaving some slightly chunky.

Finely chop the spring onions and the garlic and add to the beans along with the minced beef, tomato puree and seasonings.

Get your hands in and squidge together or use a wooden spoon 😂 and then add the egg and do the same until combined.

Make golf ball sized balls and brown off in a frying pan before placing in a roasting tin and cooking for approximately 15-20mins until cooked through.

Mix 1tbsp of sweet chilli sauce with 2tbsp mayo and use as a dip.

Serve with salad and potato wedges which have been seasoned with salt, pepper and more fajita seasoning.

This week it'll be more gardening and getting ready for Spring!!!!!  Bulb planting, wildflower seed sowing and generally tidying up.

Cooking experimentation will have to wait for a while. 

BACK TO NORMALITY WITH A JOLT!!

Hello, anyone else not quite ready for normality yet?  I feel like I'm wandering around in a bit of a fog if I'm honest. I was happily pootling along every day doing whatever I fancied and now it's "BANG" we're back to appointments and shopping and haircuts. I'M NOT READY!!!! 😄

Anyway, this week was second trampoline lesson for my son, osteopath for me and haircut for him. I seem to have spent half my time up the high street shopping and had to rearrange mine and his prescriptions as our chemist is closing down at the end of the month. Good thing is I finally got my parcel delivered which has taken 3 re-deliveries booked, 2 phone calls to office, 1 to post office, multiple non deliveries and a moan on facebook page. It turned up on the day before I had re-booked it, so it was lucky, once again, that I was in.  People moan about Hermes; Parcelforce has been a whole lot worse.

Cooking has been a bit same old, same old and I've been dragging out old favourites just because my poor lockdown brain hasn't wanted to resurface into anything even remotely creative.

The garden has been worked on a fair bit with dead veg plants removed, unused beds composted and covered, and new seedlings thinned. A general tidy up has been done and a fair amount of clearing and burning of garden rubbish (not actual rubbish). It's bulbs and wildflower sowing next week.  And buddleia pruning - job and a half on it's own.

Tomato harvest

Heritage carrots

Chillies

Anyway, I'm going to be meal planning for next week in a minute so I'm going to quickly do my favourite cooking from this week which isn't much to be fair.

I'm going to have to admit to preferring my rehash of corned beef hash (see what I did there?) It tasted a lot better than normal, went further and was incredibly quick and easy.  Perfect for Friday's fast food friday.

REHASHED CORNED BEEF HASH

A couple of onions, sliced

Approx 6 potatoes (or more if you need to); I had Pink Fir Apple Potatoes and used them all, cubed.

1 tin of corned beef; chopped

1 tin of baked beans

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

Handful of frozen mushrooms

I heated some olive oil in a roasting tin and placed this onto the gas hob. Oven was heated to 180C/Gas mark 4

Chuck in the onions and potatoes and cook, occasionally stirring, until the onions are translucent and the potatoes are beginning to brown.

Then the really easy bit: chuck in the corned beef, the tomatoes (I added a few chopped fresh ones as well), baked beans and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and any other spice you fancy. Then cook until it's bubbling.

Put the roasting tin into the oven and cook for approximately 25 minutes. You could add grated cheese on top if you really wanted to, but I seriously couldn't be bothered to grate any so my mice of men went without.

NB: You can add anything you like really to this.  Maybe a handful or two of frozen peppers or sweetcorn; as long as it's already cooked it can go in.  The point of this is that it's quick; little or no prep and it's mainly shove it in the oven and let it do it's thing.  No faffing allowed.

I'M BACK!!!!!!

It's been a while, so bear with me.  Totally forgotten how to use this thing, haha. But I need to get back on it so I can link it in my Instagram and Facebook page.

So, I'm going to start off with a weekly blog.  Quick rundown of what's been happening with some photos and then write out one or two favourite recipes of the week.  Hopefully one sweet and one savoury.  Hmmm!

So last week was the first week of things being sort of back to normal. We had my son's telephone assessment for his ESA, my oven was cleaned and my son's trampolining lessons started again.

In the garden we've dug over and replanted the front of the wildlife pond area and removed dead or old fruit bushes from another plot which I'm hoping to use for more veggie growing next year; maybe a smallish polytunnel/greenhouse. Lost two feverfew plants, so out they came and were replaced with a lemon balm.  No big deal, obviously didn't like their new bed. Tomatoes are still doing well and starting to go red, but if not done by the end of the month, it'll be green tomato chutney and green tomato and orange marmalade making. Nothing's going to waste.  The spinach, beetroot, radish and kohl rabi seeds have started growing.  The kale is doing well as is the leeks.

On the kitchen front it was a week of winging it dinners as I didn't recipe plan and the veg box had a strange combination of veggies that wasn't easy to just thrown things together quickly.  But I managed. 

Favourite recipes this week!

Has to be Chocolate and Ginger Brownies; these are adapted from a Nigella Lawson recipe:

150g marg/butter

300g caster sugar

75g of cocoa powder

150g gluten free Dove's Farm plain flour

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

pinch of salt

4 eggs

1tsp vanilla extract

100g plain chocolate chopped into smallish chunks

50g stem ginger in syrup also chopped into smallish chunks

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5.  Grease and line a 10 inch square baking tin or use a tin foil tray if you're transporting (works just as well).

2. Melt the marg/butter and then stir in the caster sugar until it's dissolved and blended.

3. Sift together in a bowl the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and the salt then tip it into the pan with the sugar/fat mixture. Stir; it will be dryish and not necessarily combined.  Remove from the heat.

4. In another bowl which the eggs and the vanilla exract together and mix into the brownie mixture in the pan.

5. Stir in the chocolate chunks and the ginger pieces and quickly pour into the prepared tin/tray.

6. Bake for 20-25 mins. The top will be set and slightly cracked but the brownie will be slightly wobbly and gungy, but not too much.  I've allowed my to fully cook with no issues.

7.  Allow to cool and dust with icing sugar and/or edible glitter if for a special occasion.  Hide from everyone so you can munch on them yourselves 😁

NB: The original recipe asks for 150g of chocolate.  I use plain, but you can use anything you like.  Swap out 50g for stem ginger as I have here or glace cherries. Swap out 50g of marg/butter for peanut butter/hazelnut butter and add a handful or two of nuts.  It's an easy basic recipe that can be altered as you like it, which is why it's my go to when I'm stuck for ideas.