One Giant Crumpet

Whilst flicking through Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course book, given to us for Christmas, this recipe immediately caught my eye. Surely the only thing better than crumpets is a giant crumpet!

Reading through the recipe I was pleased that they seemed to simple to make - had we known this months ago we would have made them from scratch from the start as they taste a million times better.

Ingredients:
175g strong white flour
.25 teaspoon of salt
Small pinch of caster sugar
.5 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon dried yeast
125ml warm milk (not too hot)
150ml warm water (not too hot
Butter

Method:

1. Sift the flour, salt, sugar and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Make a small well in the centre and add the yeast. Gently pour in the warm milk and water, ensure it is not too hot or you'll kill the yeast.
2. Bring the flour from the outside of the bowl into the liquid and mix until you have a batter. It is quite thick  but if too thick you can add upto another 100ml of warm water. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour - it will have almost doubled in size.
   
   

   

   The batter

3. Heat a non-stick frying pan (I use a pancake pan) over a medium heat and add a little butter. Stir the batter and then pour into the pan. Turn down the heat and cook for 10-15 minutes. 

   

   After 10 minutes - almost dry

4. Once the batter is dry on top place a little butter around the edges of the crumpet and then flip over and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

   

   Cooking the other side

5. Finally serve up with your favourite topping. Ours has to be butter and jam.

   

   The giant crumpet in all its glory!

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Summer Fruit Pavlova

Sunday was cheat day. It was also a belated housewarming party for us so we held a BBQ. I was tasked with providing the dessert. There was only one suitable dessert in my eyes; pavlova.

For me there is no better summer dessert than a pavlova. The crisp outer shell of meringue combined with the chewy centre and cool cream balanced by fresh fruit is unbeatable in hot weather. It also take minimal effort and serves a crowd easily. There are a couple of ingredients which may seem a bit strange, such as vinegar, but trust me that this is essential to get the nice chewy centre of the meringue. 

Ingredients:

4 egg whites

250g caster sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

1tsp cornflour

1tsp vinegar (I tend to use white wine or cider vinegar)

Carton of double cream

Fresh fruit (your choice), chopped

1. On a piece of greaseproof paper draw around a large plate. Place this on a flat baking tray and pre-heat your oven to 150c.
2. Beat your egg whites until they form stiff peaks. This can be done with a handheld mixer or a stand mixer, unfortunately you just won't get the best results using sheer human effort with a whisk.
3. Add the caster sugar teaspoonful at a time whilst still beating. The egg whites will increase in volume and become beautifully glossy.
4. In separate bowl mix the vanilla, cornflour and vinegar together. Add the mix to the egg whites and sugar. Beat until incorporated. 
5. Spoon the mix onto your greaseproof paper and push it out to the edges of your circle template. Build the meringue up at the edges to create a 'nest'.
6. Pop it in the oven for an hour. Turn off the oven and allow the meringue to cool whilst in the oven. (I do mine overnight)
7. Whip the double cream and mix in the fruit. Spoon it into the centre of the meringue. Decorate with more fruit.

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Clean & Lean - Roasted Butternut & Broccoli

Well we've made it to day 5 of the Clean & Lean diet. How are we feeling? Not quite full of energy as hoped but I think we've both lost a bit of weight our sugar cravings are now subsiding. We did, however, treat ourselves to a bit of dark chocolate today which tasted phenomenal.

Tonight's dinner was surprisingly easy and tasty. We did modify the recipe from James Duigan's Clean & Lean Cook Book as it called for 1.25 cups of feta cheese! OK, we get some fat is good for us but just couldn't justify that much of it. We also cut back on the seeds too as we'd snacked on them throughout the day. We have to confess that since our butternut squash was quite small we gobbled down the whole meal which was supposedly for four....

Ingredients

1 butternut squash, cut into wedges

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

1 teaspoon of chili flakes

1 large handful of broccoli

1 handful of seeds

Feta, salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Toss the butternut wedges in the oil, cumin seeds and chili flakes. Place in an oven pre-heated to 200c for 35-45 minutes.
2. Boil the broccoli until al dente, about five minutes, and then add to the roasting dish with the butternut. 
3. Add the seeds, feta and season. Serve immediately. 

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