Hummus anyone?

After all this hot weather, my friend Ellie decided to host a BBQ. So I thought I would make some dips to bring along. 

They're much quicker than cooking most other things & the recipes make loads! I had at least a jar full of every dip & 2 jars for both the hummus (orange dip) and the green pea dip (the green one)! Personally I think they go best with breadsticks or naan bread, but I guess you can use them for anything.

All the recipes came from the BBC food website, so here are the links, from left to right:

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Green Pea Dip & Cucumber and Mint Raita.

Listening toooo: The Family Jewels album by Marina & The Diamonds

Food Festival

Whilst roaming around the shopping centre before my work, I stumbled upon a bustling Food Festival. Packed with delicious savoury treats, food demonstrations & endless tasters, this was the place to be.

Being a freebie hoarder, I walked past all the edible samples, gobbling them as I went along...

The item highest up on my foodie wishlist was this veggie flatbread, just looking at it makes my mouth water... 

Sadly by this time, I had already bought my lunch, so I had to let it slip...

But I have found a similar recipe which looks a-mazing!! Here's the link, it's definitely a good 'un.

How To Make Sushi

What to do when you have the whole house to yourself for hours & hours? Sushi of course!

I've loved sushi for a while now but I never thought I'd be able to actually make it. But it is sooo easy you'll be surprised.

This is how most of mine looked once I was done, but here is how I began...

The ingredients:

• Sushi Rice
• Seaweed sheets (the only English on the packet said Sushi Nori)
• Filling (I chose tuna & carrot)
• Rice wine if you're lucky, but I used White wine vinegar mixed with some sugar which worked perfectly
• Soy Sauce for flavour

First, I prepared the rice. I followed the instructions on my packet, leaving the rice in water (ratio of 1:1.5 of rice to water) & leaving this to soak for 30 minutes. I then boiled it and left it to simmer for 10 minutes before sprinkling on my replacement of rice wine. Finally, I left the rice to stand for 20 minutes. (That's the long bit over)

I squeezed my rice into balls to make it easier and laid out the seaweed sheet so the rough part was facing up. I then spread out the rice thinly just to cover the seaweed, leaving small gaps at the edges.

Then add the filling of your choice. You're hands are likely to get very sticky with the rice so have a small bowl of water ready.

Then you can roll! Put pressure on it as you roll it, then cut down the edge after you've covered the filling ready to do it again.

Then cut the roll at 1.5 inch intervals and they'll be perfectly sized portions ready to gorge on!

Post-Easter Cooking

Okay, so it might appear to be uber late to start mentioning Easter, but I have good reasoning...

Hopefully, you've all received some delicious Easter eggs to gorge on. But then you're always left with that little bit of extra that you just can't eat or you'll pop. 

What to do? I have an answer.

Cook for yourself & others with it! There are sooo many delightful recipes out there which include chocolate, it would be crazy to ignore them all.

I went for the traditional easter nests you learn to make at Primary school except I added some hazelnuts instead of mini chocolate eggs. (Does that make it healthy? I've persuaded myself it has...)

I've put together a collection of links to recipes which include chocolate & which look scrumptious!

• Millionaire's shortbread - if you have a sweet tooth, this is for you! This was the clearest recipe I could find, but my grandma will always make them best. My advice: include lots of caramel, mmm.

• Mini Chocolate & Ginger brownies - these look very sophisticated & would be great at a dinner party.

• Choc-peanut fondants with chocolate soil & cherries - for those of you who like a challenge, these will be great, you need to cook them perfectly!

• White Chocolate Baba Ghannouj - a savoury dish which includes chocolate, I'm impressed! And paprika is an ingredient - perfection.

• Molten Mug Chocolate Cake - perfect if you're a student or are pressed for time, it's all made in a mug n under 5 minutes - wow.

Supersized Gooey Oreo Cookie

You like cookies & oreos?
I hear you. Here is the perfect way to treat yourself big time, a scrumptious supersized gooey Oreo cookie recipe, mmmmmm.

Ingredients:

• 225g of sugar (I used about half of soft brown & half of white caster)
• 125g margarine
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp vanilla essence
• 225g self raising flour
• Oreos (about 5)

Once your oven is preheated to 180 degrees Celsius, your apron is tied securely & ingredients are ready to go, its time to start baking!

Add your sugar to your margarine & mix until they're one big gooey mess. Then crack & add your egg & vanilla essence.

Once you have once again mixed & created a gooey mixture, its time to add the flour. Your supposed to add it bit by bit as you stir, but I really don't think they taste any less delicious if you don't, plus that method is far too slow. Mix away!

Now its time for the luscious detail. Break your Oreos into eighths & add them to the mixture.

Grease a baking tray & spoon all the mixture out into your preferred shape. 

Then place your heavenly creation into the oven & wait for 10 short minutes until they're ready (the time you leave it in depends on how gooey you like them).

Be warned - this could be the tastiest cookie you ever eat.

Sweet Potato, Haloumi and Greens Puff Pie

This recipe was a result of mine & E's need for something delicious & warm during my Weekend in Cambridge.

And it definitely ticks both of those boxes, along with being quick, easy & oh-so-tasty. Essentially it is a feast wrapped in puff pastry. And here is how to make it...

Ingredients for 3 puff pies:

• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 onion
• 1 bag of greens
• Haloumi cheese
• A roll of puff pastry
• 1 egg wash

First of all, chop your onions into fairly small chunks and fry them so they are soft.

To avoid having tears pouring down your face as I did, I recommend sunglasses to shield the pain of the onions.

Then wash your sweet potatoes & DON'T peel them (the skin adds so much more flavour), then bake them until they are soft (you can do this much quicker in a microwave, but for an oven I recommend about 30-40 minutes).

Wash your greens and steam them to soften them.

At this point you should have your onions, sweet potatoes & greens ready. It is time to roll out the puff pastry. Lay it out and divide it into 3 rectangles (which you will later fold over to make your mini pies).

Chop the Haloumi cheese into small chunks & then add your onions, greens, sweet potato & Haloumi to one side of each rectangle.

Once you've filled each designated side of the pastry, it's time to fold over. Once you have covered it all, pinch the sides of your mini pie so as to not let any of the insides show.

Then grease a baking tray, add the egg wash on top of your pie, and pierce small holes onto the top (not sure why but as that's what they do to pasties - so why not?).

Then wait for around 15-20 minutes with your oven at 200 degrees Celsius. (This time could change according to your oven.)

Once out of the oven they're ready to eat, so dig in & enjoy!

Parisian Brunch

I have created the most scrumptious, speedy & satisfying brunch recipe you will ever find. In my opinion. And here it is...

Ingredients for 3:

• 1 Red Pepper
• 2 Mushrooms
• A packet of ready made croissant dough for 6
• 3 Eggs
• Cherry tomatoes
• Feta cheese

First of all, chop your pepper into very small pieces (approximately 1cm wide, high & thick) & put this into a bowl. Clean your mushrooms, slice them & add them to your bowl.

Fry your chopped peppers & mushrooms in a pan. You could also fry some bacon at this point ready to add in later on.

Then slice your cherry tomatoes, cut your feta into small chunks & put this aside for later. Fry your 3 eggs, trying to keep the rounded shape.

Roll out the croissant dough. Here comes the tricky bit.

Place your fried egg into the centre of a rectangle of dough (or slightly smaller) then add your fried vegetables & feta cheese on / around of your egg.

Wrap the remaining uncovered dough over the sides of the filling & pinch the sides so they stay wrapped.

This is how mine looked before they went into the oven, with two croissants created with my remaining dough. 

 After only 10 minutes in the oven, they will be beautifully golden & after the small addition of your juicy tomatoes, they're ready to devour.

Perfect for a quick & delicious brunch.