Monday 30 March 2015

Easy Sausage Rolls

Easy Sausage Rolls
When buying sausages for the family, I find that one pack is not really enough for the 4 of us and 2 packets are too many. So I decided to use up my left over sausages productively this week by making sausage rolls.

What you need:
  • Some sausages - I had 9 leftover chipolata sausages
  • A packet of ready made frozen puff pastry. Defrost and let it get to room temperature
  • 1 egg, beaten
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Roll out the pastry to about 40cm by 30cm.
Cut it into 3 long strips 3 x 40cm by 10cm
Take the skin off the sausages and lay them along the length of the pastry strips
Egg wash one side of the pastry strips and roll the pastry around the sausages
Cut them into small sausage roll sizes, so about an inch long
Put them into the fridge to let the pastry harden a little, about 20 minutes
I scored my pastry on the top, but that's more for decoration than anything else I think.
Egg wash all the exposed pastry
Cook in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown

Elizabeth had these in her packed lunch the next day!

Friday 20 March 2015

Recipe Recommendation Lemon and Raspberry Cake

I'm sending you elsewhere for this week's update. I follow Richard Burr on twitter. He was a finalist (and my favourite) in the last series of Great British Bake Off. He posted a link on twitter for a fantastic cake to make for Mother's Day. It's a lemon sponge cake with raspberry buttercream icing.

Here's the link: Mother's Day Recipe.

If I was to make it again I would be tempted to use at least one less lemon and I would only make about two thirds of the quantity of icing, because I had enough left over for half a dozen cupcakes.

I found that the lemon in the sponge overpowered the cake and I could not taste the raspberry in the icing.

But it was a gorgeous cake overall and I went back for seconds (and thirds!)

I was delighted to be included in Richard's tweet later in the day about lots of people making his cake.


Friday 13 March 2015

Chicken Satay Skewers

Chicken Satay Skewers
When it was Chinese New Year I bought some ready made Chinese snacks to have with the girls for lunch. One of the snacks was chicken satay skewers. Elizabeth loved them, so I thought I'd make some from scratch.

I started with Annabel Karmel's recipe for chicken satay, and tweaked it a little:

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breasts cut into smallish cubes
  • cocktail sticks

Marinade

  • 2 tbsp peanut butter
  • 4 tbsp chicken stock
  • 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 garlic clove crushed

Sauce

  • leftover marinade sauce
  • 4 tbsp chicken stock
  • about 50ml water
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • Black pepper

Method

  • Mix together the marinade ingredients. Put the chicken in the marinade and leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
  • Thread the chicken onto the skewers. Save what's left of the marinade for the sauce.
  • Cook in the oven at 180°C for about 18 minutes, turning them once.
  • Meanwhile put the leftover marinade sauce in a small saucepan. Add the chicken stock, water, chili powder and pepper. 
  • Bring to the boil to make sure any raw chicken that might have remained gets cooked off. 
  • Let it simmer for 5 minutes or so, until it has reduced a little.
This was so tasty and just the right size for children. Great party food too!

If you tried the chicken satay skewers, let me know what you think. Leave a comment below.
Also, I'm always looking for new ideas for baking/cooking, if you have any suggestions, leave a comment!

Wednesday 4 March 2015

Chocolate Marshmallow Crispy Squares

Chocolate Marshmallow Crispy Squares
This week's sweet treat is a minor adaptation of Nigella's Marshmallow Crispy Squares. I used these before when making the Unikitty Treats. They are great for kids and adults, but incredibly moreish, so beware! These treats would be ideal for cake stalls and fundraising, with Comic Relief coming up...

Ingredients

  • 45g butter
  • 300g mini marshmallows
  • 180g Rice Krispies
  • 300g cooking chocolate, maybe even more
Method
  • Melt the butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a low heat.
  • Add the marshmallows and cook gently until they are completely melted and blended, stirring constantly.
  • Take the pan off the heat and immediately add the cereal, mixing lightly until well coated.
  • Press the mixture into lined 32cm x 23cm tin. I cover it with baking paper and press into the corners as it is very sticky. I also use a rolling pin over the top of the baking paper to make sure it is flat.
  • Then carefully peel off the top layer of baking paper and leave it to cool completely in the tin.
  • Cut it into small squares.
  • Melt the cooking chocolate.
  • Cover the squares in chocolate, let the excess drip off. Then lay them on a piece of baking paper, silicon baking mat, or even in individual cupcake cases to make them a little more special.
I did not manage to cover all of my marshmallow crispy squares with the 300g of chocolate. But the treats are lovely without the chocolate, so I was happy to have a mixture. You might want to use more chocolate if you want them all covered.

The girls were able to help make these treats. Their jobs were to stir the mixture until melted. Then when they were set and cut up, the girls did all the chocolate work. It was a great mess!


If you tried the chocolate marshmallow crispy squares, let me know what you think. Leave a comment below.
Also, I'm always looking for new ideas for baking/cooking, if you have any suggestions, leave a comment!