A sauce for pretty much anything!

This is a recipe from my Dad. He makes it every time we stay with him (that's a good thing!) and when I made it last week Eliza's instant reaction was "Isn't this Grandpa Shays food Mummy?".  

When my Dad was working, part of his training included attended various cookery courses and quite a few with Tanta Marie. In some way this recipe is connected with attending a course there, although he cannot remember exactly how! He's not sure if he made it there or created it later but in some way he connects the two.

It's a sauce that can go with so many things, chicken, fish, veg, tofu etc. Eliza, Jude and Rufus all love it, especially with chicken or fish. Give it a try. It is so simple to make and uses ingredients you are likely to have in the cupboard

Ingredients

2 tbsp Olive or Rapeseed Oil
4 Chicken Breats, cut in to large chunks or strips
1 Onion, chopped
1 Clove Garlic, crushed
A few (about 6 or 7) Mushrooms, sliced (optional)
1 tsp Dried Rosemary
1/2 tsp Fenugreek
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 Pint of Chicken or Veg Stock. If you are using a normal stock cube try using just half (I find it is too salty if you use the whole thing). If you are using low salt then use 1 whole stock cube.  
Pepper and Salt (depending on which stock cube you use)
2 tbsp Passata
3 tbsp Creme Fraiche

Method
Heat the oil in a large frying pan and brown the Chicken. This should only take a few minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. If you are using fish, veg or tofu you can just skip this and add it in after the spices (below). Then vary the cooking time at the end if you need to.

Add the onion to the pan and fry for a few minutes until soft. Add the garlic and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the spices, stir and fry for one minute. Add the mushrooms, if using (add a splash of oil if you need to).

Pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and add the passata and creme fraiche. Mix well and return the chicken to the pan. Simmer on a low heat until the chicken is cooked through. This should be about 10 minutes but check the chicken before you serve.   

If you want a bit more sauce or like it to taste the creme fraiche or passata more you can be flexible with how much you ad. Just taste it as you go along and add more if you like.  

 

Books for 11 and 12 year olds (Year 7)

I have been doing the rounds, looking at secondary schools for Eliza and at one school visit we received this list of recommended reading from the school children (I didn't think to ask for permission to publish the list so have taken off the students names. I'm hoping that's ok!). 

It's a great list and each recommendation has comments from the children about why they liked the book. I thought it might be useful if you are thinking of buying books for Christmas. If you have some to add, let me know x

I'm thinking of reading Blood Ties. It's described as 'scary, disgusting in some places and very intense'. Sounds gripping!

Artichoke Hearts – Sita Brahmachar

It’s a very emotional story about a girl who is turning twelve. It’s about someone my age, which makes it easier to understand.

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins 
It's an amazing book and you wil be hooked as soon as you start reading it. Everyone will enjoy it. It's really funny but sad as well. I'd say it is a book with mixed emotions and it has lots of killing.

The Spooks - Joseph Delaney
I would recommend this for readers who like books which are scary, a bit of fantasy and action packed. 

Diary of a Chav series - Grace Dent
I would recommend this series maninly to girls. It's about daily life but hilariously funny. It's about a girl called Shiraz Bailey Wood who's always "keeping it real". When I read the books I couldn't stop laughing.

The Simpsons comic extravaganza - Matt Groening and others
I recommend this book to boys and girls with a sense of humour.

The Freedom Writers Diary - Erin Gruwell
This book is based on a true story. There was a new teacher starting at a school and the school was rounded up in gangs. At first the teacher cannot handle it. You will have to read the book to find out the rest.  

Blood Ties - Sophie McKenzie
This book is about a boy and a girl who were cloned by an evil man and lived thier whole lives separately, until one day they find out everything. This book is scary, disgusting in some places and intense!

There are more to add, but I have not had the chance to add them in (I will do soon).

Peaches in juice - Nature'e Finest

Is it just me or when you are asked "what's for pudding"? do you hear yourself say "yoghurt or fruit" almost every day of the week? I get bored of saying it and I know the children get bored of eating it. 

I could try and make more of an effort to produce some interesting puddings and I know there are some very quick options (we love this fastest ever Lemon Sponge) but making even more effort on a school night is often something I just don't have time to do (or just don't want to!).

So we have reverted to a childhood favourite, peaches in juice. I know it's technically still fruit, but I really am trying hard here to find an easy alternative and it is still an addition to the yoghurt and fruit repertoire!

As a child I remember eating peaches and ice cream for pudding (a lot). Usually the tinned kind, accompanied by sugar loaded syrup and all sorts of other nasties to change the flavour and make sure the sell by date was at least 100 years away. These are still available in abundance but in the same section of the supermarket you will also find Nature's Finest, fruit slices in juice (just juice, no added sugar). Give them a try, they really are delicious x

p.s This is not a sponsored post. I didn't even get sent any freebies (maybe I will now!), it's just another quick idea for a pudding. If you have any others to share I would love to hear them?  

Cauliflower Cheese with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

This is a little twist on the more classic Cauliflower Cheese. I suppose it's obvious to put cheese with tomatoes, but only when I opened the fridge last week and found a lonely cauliflower and half a jar of sun-dried tomatoes did I try this. It's good comfort food and totally delicious.

Ingredients
1 Cauliflower, broken in to florets
1 Pint Milk
50g Plain Flour
50g Unsalted Butter
1 tsp Paprika
100g Mature Cheddar Cheese
Salt and Black Pepper
10 Sun Dried Tomatoes, sliced
Fresh Parsley, chopped

Method

Heat oven to 220C.
In a large pan of water, boil the cauliflower for about 5 minutes or until just tender. Once cooked and drained, arrange in a oven-proof dish.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat. Once it's all melted, take off the heat and stir in the flour. When it becomes a smooth paste, return to the heat and gradually pour in the milk, a little at a time. The sauce will gradually thicken so keep whisking every time you add milk. Add the milk slowly as you may find you don't use the whole pint and you don't want the sauce too runny.

Once all the milk is in, add the paprika, season and stir for a couple of minutes until smooth. Add the sun dried tomatoes and stir for another minute.

Remove from the heat and stir in most of the cheese (leave enough to sprinkle over the top).

 

Pour the sauce over the cauliflower and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.  
Put in the oevn and bake for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is browning on top. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with Parsley and serve. We usually have ours with Veggie Sausages and / or Garlic Bread.

Marshmallow and Matchstick Bonfires

We are having bonfire night at the in-laws and the original Mrs Tinks (my mother in-law, Judy) has just produced 5 scrummy ingredients for the children to make delicious bonfires. This entertained 7 grandchildren, ranging from 21months to 13 years for at least half an hour, which I would say was pretty good going.

 
To make the Marshmallow and Matchstick Bonfires you will need:

Marshmallows
Chocolate Matchsticks (when I was little, having a box of these in the house was the first sign of Christmas)
Milk or Dark Chocolate (to melt)
Glacier Cherries
Marzipan

Melt the chocolate either in the microwave or in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water.

Stack the marshmallows in to a small pile, sticking them together with the melted chocolate.

Brush more chocolate around the sides of your marshmallow stack and attach broken matchsticks. If you are buying these bits from your local shop, it might be easier to get chocolate fingers.

Chop up some gracier cherries and stick around the edges to look like flames are starting to appear.

Shape a 'guy' for the bonfire and attach to the top, again using the chocolate or just pushing his squidgy body in to a stick.

Eat them and then send the children outside to run off the sugar rush!

Lamb Burgers

The idea with these burgers is that you can use dried of fresh herbs, whichever you happen to have. I rarely buy fresh mint but I do always have dried mint in the cupboard and mint sauce in the fridge! They are great for children or adults and if you are making them just for adults you could spice them up with a bit of finely chopped Red Chilli.

I made them in the food processor as I just found that a bit quicker and easier to do yesterday. Of course you could mix them by hand if you prefer. The processor means the consistency is less coarse so I suppose it just depends on how you like them. 

As I made them yesterday morning with 6 children running around, then fed those 6 children at speed so we could go back to the park, the serving was a bit 'rough and ready'. Thrown on a plate with Oven Chips and Beans!

This fed 6 children and 1 adult. So I would say it is enough for a family of 5.


Ingredients
400g Lamb Mince
Fresh Bread Crumbs. About one and a half slices / 90g
1 Red Onion, quartered (if mixing by hand then it should be chopped finely)
2 Cloves Garlic, sliced (as above, it should be crushed)
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp Mint Sauce (use 2 tbsp Fresh Mint if you have it or 2 tsp dried mint)
2 tsp Dried Parsley (use fresh if you have it)
2 tsp Dried Oregano
1/2 tsp Cinnamon (optional)
Salt and Black Pepper

Method
Put the bread in a food processor and whizz in to breadcrumbs. Add the onion and garlic until they are all finely chopped. 

Add in the parsley, oregano and cinnamon (if using), then season and mix.

Add the mint sauce, egg and lamb and whizz up (not too long) until it is all thoroughly mixed.


Remove from the processor and roll in to balls, before flattening each one out slightly.   

Heat some oil in a frying pan and gently cook the burgers until browned on both sides. It will take about 10 minutes.

Serve in a burger bun (with a few rings of fried red onion) or with big fat chips!  

River Cottage Ten-minute Chocolate Chip Cookies

Another really quick cookie recipe and one that both my boys cannot get enough of. Rufus loves to help make them and once they are made Jude loves to eat them. I sometimes struggle with Jude and his addiction to a biscuit that's name begins with a bog 'O' and an 'unnamed' brand of chocolate chip cookies but he would actually choose these over both of them. I'm not sure I should be boasting about feeding my child cookies, but I say most things in moderation are ok!   

 

Ingredients

125g Unsalted Butter
100g Caster Sugar
75g Soft Light Brown Sugar
1 Medium Egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
150g Plain Flour
½ teaspoon Baking Powder
A pinch of Sea Salt
100g Dark Chocolate, chopped into smallish chunks (or use Milk Chocolate, if you prefer)

Method
Gently melt the butter in a small saucepan. 

Put both sugars into a mixing bowl, pour in the melted butter and beat well with a wooden spoon. 

Beat in the egg and vanilla. 

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl and stir them in, then add the chocolate. You should have a pretty sloppy sort of mixture.

Dot heaped dessertspoonfuls of the mixture on to 2 baking sheets lined with baking parchment, leaving a good 4cm in between each one as they really spread out. 

Place in an oven preheated to 190C/Gas Mark 5 and bake for 8–10 minutes, until the cookies are turning pale golden brown.

Remove from the oven and leave on the baking sheets for a couple of minutes to firm up. Then carefully lift the baking parchment on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Inevitably they will be eaten as soon as they are cool enough not to burn fingers.