Citrus Biscuits (V)

Wanted to impress people in the office (May have also mentioned I baked in the interview). Came up with this new recipe which went down a storm.

Makes 22-24 Biscuits

150g Butter
100g Caster Sugar
1 Egg Yolk
Rind of 1 Orange
Rind of 1 Lemon
½ teaspoon of baking powder
200g Flour, plus extra for dusting

Icing (Optional)
175g Icing Sugar
Juice of an Orange
Juice of an Lemon

1. Preheat the oven to 200c/180 fan assisted. Take a large mixing bowl and mix the butter with sugar until combined

2. Add the egg yolk and mix. Then add the flour, baking powder and the rinds of the orange and lemon. You should be able to make a ball out of this. Leave in the fridge to cool for about an hour so it doesn't fall apart.

3. You want to flour your rolling pin and surface and place the dough on the surface. You roll out the dough until you get a thickness roughly ½cm thick.

4. Take either circle pastry cutters (if you don't have any using a 125ml wine glass works as well) and cut out the dough. Reroll and repeat from step 3 until you run out of dough.

5. Put some grease proof paper on the baking tray and place the cut out dough on the tray, making sure to leave enough space between the biscuits so they don't stick together. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Put on a wire rack and allow to cool.

6. For the icing put the icing sugar in the bowl and start off with 1 tablespoon of orange and lemon juice and mix. Then add one tablespoon of each alternating between the two fruits until you get the correct consistency. If you added too much juice then add icing sugar. Then you add a tablespoon of icing to biscuit and allow to harden. Keep biscuits in a sealed container when your not serving, otherwise the biscuits will get soft.

Plum Jam (V)

Jam Session.

Been meaning to upload this recipe for a while. For those who froze their plums and need a jam recipe. This is for you :) Makes about 1.25 litre of jam. Also I know I am breaking the rule of 1:1 of sugar to fruit but it doesn't need all that sugar. 

1.25 litres Jam

1.5kg Victoria Plums

900g Sugar (should get sugar for high pectin fruit)

2 tsp Ginger

3 tsp Cinnamon

Lemon Juice

150ml Water

Jars for the Jam







1. This is probably part of the recipe which will take a lot of effort. For the plums you need to cut them in half and de-stone them.

2. Put the oven on a low heat (Just over 100c). Clean the jar with warm soapy water and rinse. Then place the jars in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the jars are dry. This will sterilise the jars so the jam can stay fresh for longer. Make sure you take any metal clips or rubber seals before putting in the oven.

3. Use a large pan or a preserving pan, add about 150ml of water and a bit of lemon juice and add the plums to the pan. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

4. The skin should be falling from the flesh of the fruit. Add the sugar and spices. Allow the sugar to dissolve slowly. Then bring to a boil once the sugar has dissolved and reduce to simmer for about 10 minutes.

5. If you don't have a thermometer, to test if the jam is done, take a bit of jam and place it on a small plate. Leave it 5 minutes and if you poke it and it wobbles, its done. It doesn't leave it for another 10 minutes and test again. If you do the ideal temperature is 105c.

6. Take the pan off the heat and allow to cool. Then spoon the jam into your jars and leave to cool further. The jam is good for toast, Roly Polly or use in a Victoria Sponge.

Lamb Kebab

So I was peckish for a kebab and thought it might be cheaper (maybe healthier) to make my own. So here is my own version. It's fairly quick and easy to make.  Plus you can add what ever salad you want to the kebab.

Serves 2

250g Lamb Mince
2 tsp Ground Coriander
1 tsp Dried Mint
1 tsp Cumin
Onion, cut into quarters
Green Pepper, cut into thick slice

2 Pittas
Lettuce, shredded
Tzatziki

1. Put the lamb mince in a bowl and mix the herbs and spices in a bowl.

2. Wet wooden skewers (this stops them from burning the kebabs).

3. Mould the meat round the skewer so it creates a small sausage shape. then pierce a piece of onion through and a piece of pepper. You should have 2 of lamb, onion and pepper per skewer.

4. Heat a griddle pan with a bit of olive oil. Then place the skewers of the pan. They need roughly about 5 minutes on each side. To check if they are done just cut into the meat to see if its done on the inside. One done remove from the griddle onto a plate.

5. Warm up the pittas in the toaster for about 30 seconds. Cut into the pittas and layer in the lettuce, peppers, onion and the lamb. Then drizzle over the tzatziki. Serve immediately with salad or chips (depending on your mood).

Fish Tacos

So first post in a long while. I love fish and Mexican food. So this was an ideal combination

Serves 2

4 Taco Shells

Lettuce, shredded

Approx 200g Sustainable white fish (Eg Haddock, Cod, Pollack), cut into strips

Salsa

Sour Cream

Guacamole

2 Slices of White Bread, Breadcrumbed (blitzed in the blender)

2 Eggs

3 tablespoons of White Flour

1 Lime cut into wedges

1 tsp Chilli Powder

1 tsp Ground Coriander

1 tsp Cumin

Olive Oil

1. Put the breadcrumbs, flour and eggs onto separate plates.

2. Mix the chilli powder, cumin and ground coriander into the flour with some pepper.

3. With each bit of fish, dip it into the flour, then egg and finally the breadcrumbs. Put onto seperate plate to fry.

4. Heat oil in a pan on a high heat. You know the oil is hot enough when you drop a bit of breadcrumb into the pan and begins to cook straightaway. Place the fish into the pan to cook. I would recommend doing the fish in batches.

5. The times will vary depending on the thickness of the fish. But a rough guide would be 3-5 minutes and then turn to cook the other side, this should be a golden brown colour on the fish (not like the over cooked fish in the picture). Place the fish on kitchen roll to get rid of excess oil. 

6. To assemble the taco; take a shell, place lettuce and spoon on some salsa, guacamole and sour cream. Then place the breaded fish on top. Squeeze a bit of lime. Serve with rice, salad or refried beans.

One fish got out of a taco