N is for Nutella

Nutella.

Other chocolate spreads are available.

Mmm.

Like Homer in The Simpsons; Mmmmmm.

 

It is the forbidden jar of spreadable yumminess that, when I was a child, was never allowed by my Mother to go in the shopping trolley. And to be honest, now I have children it rarely makes it into the shopping basket as I see it more as a luxury rather than a must have and (if we are being totally honest) The Two Monkeys barely get a look in as they don't have toast for breakfast...Mummy does!

Now I thought about writing about cooking without certain items...like No Wheat or No Gluten or No Fat (not sure I agree with that concept any way) but these topics didn't really strike a chord with me. And whilst I have made the odd gluten free bake, it was always at the request of someone else and not something that I would go for myself. 

In fact for a while this letter of the alphabet had me stumped, I had to turn to my friend (and super duper blogger) Lucy over at The Pie Patch to sound off ideas. In doing so I was reminded of Nutella and to be fair that took less than 5 minutes.  I had (once upon a not so very long ago) baked some delicious cupcakes using this must delicious of ingredients, and as this blog seems to be full of the more chocolatey side of cooking it seemed like a fitting thing to write about. 

But first a confession about why I really don't buy Nutella.

It isn't because of the sugar content or that it is a luxury that I can really do without. It is because I cannot resist it, especially around about 3pm in the afternoon when there is still two hours before my dear husband comes home and I need a little sugar hit to go with my cup of tea. I grab a tea spoon out of the cutlery drawer, open the cupboard where the jar of chocolatey goodness resides, remove the lid and dig out a heaped spoonful before licking the spoon clean.

And its not just my own cupboard either. I will do this when I go to my parents house too...although I just want to say I find the fact they now have chocolate spread hugely unfair. How is it ok for grandchildren to eat but not your own? Anyway, before any of you go eeeewwww, i am never having chocolate spread when I visit your house again. I never go for a second dip with the same spoon! On the rare occasion that one spoon isn't enough, I do actually get a clean spoon and take the jar back out of the cupboard and indulge for a second time.

So there you have it, the truth is out, I am a secret Nutella spread stealer. To my parents I can only apologise, maybe you need to hide the jar when I am around.  To my sister I can say don't worry I have never done this at your house and to my sons...well you're both still too young to understand but I will try and stop so we can have a jar that actually lasts longer.

So back to the cupcakes I mentioned earlier, this was one of the many bakes that I had the where with all to photograph as I went. And looking at the date on the image (March 2012) it can only have been a session of what I like to call naptime baking.  Please excuse the photos aren't as clear as I would like but they were taken on my old HTC sensation and are not a dot on what my Samsung Galaxy now takes.

This recipe uses a very basic chocolate sponge which I haven't copied out here because that is against the rules.

As with all cupcakes I use an scoop to make sure that a) all my cupcakes are the same size which means I wont have to alter the bake time for bigger/smaller ones, and b) that no mess is made on the side of the cases which prevents an even rise.

I always aim to make the amount that the recipe says, if you still have a bit of cake batter left at the end, either use a teaspoon to top up each case or discard it. Don't be tempted to make one extra large cupcake!

 Leave to cool in your tin for about 5 minutes before removing, this will allow any batter that has gone over your case and onto the tin to slightly shrink back and not get stuck. I use a stone muffin pan by Pampered Chef (more about them when I get to P) and it really does produce great results.

 Now here comes the fun bit. Once your cupcakes are completely cooled, cut out a hole in the middle much as you would for fairy cakes, if not a bit smaller. Fill with a chocolate hazelnut spread. Then over the top of the cake and spread filling, add a  chocolate butter cream icing and whole hazelnuts (your own preference as to if they are blanched or not).

As to what to do with the cake bits you cut out...completely your call. I would suggest eating them before someone else does! Or make mini trifles in ramekins for pudding later

So there you are, a tray of  Hazelnut and Chocolate Cupcakes from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, my most favourite cupcake book and it also has the best banana bread recipe too.

A little bit about the Hummingbird Bakery itself; I first discovered their perfectly iced morsels whilst working in South Kensington and fell in love with their red velvets and black bottoms. I even wrote about over here way back in 2009 at my other blog.. In fact, it was the Mary Poppins of cake shops; practically perfect in every way...the only downside was that the venue in question could get quite crowded if you were eating in. When I went on maternity leave and became a stay-at-home-mum it was one of the things I really missed, and now we have moved out of London I miss it even more.

M is for Macaroni Cheese

Now before the giant marrow invaded my kitchen and my blog, I had fully intended on writing about the wonderful comfort food that is macaroni cheese.

Now I am not talking about the stuff out of a can...that I find a bit sickly.

Nor am I talking about the rather orange (but still quite yummy) Kraft Dinner, although if you have never ventured across the Atlantic pond you are unlikely to have ever sampled this delicacy.

I am talking about the home-made kind.

The kind that as a grown-up, it transports me back to my childhood and gives me that warm fuzzy feeling. It comes second only to sausages, smiley face potatoes and spaghetti hoops in evoking such memories

The kind where the sauce is made with a mix of whatever cheeses are lurking in your fridge...the more the better in my opinion.

And The Two Monkeys love it, and whilst it may not be the best meal in terms of nutritional value it tastes good and in moderation...why not? Getting to cook it is always great as it means I get to taste it (obviously) which in turn helps me not scoff the whole lot before anyone gets a look in.  In fact my oldest friend loves this dish and is always delighted if there is any left in the pot once the boys have eaten.

Now I realise that everyone has their own recipe, but for me put the pasta (it doesn't HAVE to be macaroni either) into boiling water and whilst it cooks make up a basic white sauce of butter, flour and milk. I won't give you the weights as I don't measure it out...it's more a chuck it in and see method. Add to that the cheese or cheeses of your choice, a bit of salt, pepper and a pinch of ground nutmeg and....voilà, you have the perfect dinner for a rainy day. 

Well, at least I think so.

M is for Marrow

And this isn't just any old marrow, this is a whopper of vegetable that was gifted to me by my Mother who got it from who knows where. Unfortunately "Olivia and the Giant Marrow" doesn't quite have the same ring to it as "James and the Giant Peach" but there is still a story to tell none-the-less

My problem was, I hadn't a clue what to do with it. Now I don't mean in terms of I didn't know how to cook a marrow as I have vague memories of having baked marrow stuffed with spicy rice as a child and could probably replicate that to one degree or another. But at the same time the same memories also tell me that stuffed marrow gave me really bad gas and that is not at all attractive so that option was quickly crossed off the list.

So whilst I could have cooked it, it was more the sheer size and quantity of said vegetable that put me at a complete loss as to what to do, in fact, I found it quite intimidating having this cucurbita (fancy new word I found) sitting on my worktop glaring at me to use it each time I went in the kitchen.

So I reached out to friends on twitter for some help and the responses ranged from turning it into rum -not helpful, a cake - intriguing but not convincing, or jam - bingo!

So jam it was and after a quick search via Google I came across this simple recipe on the River Cottage website which matched up to the quantities of marrow I had. I wish I could say that I leaped into action there an then, after scribbling a quick shopping list (lemons, preserving sugar and root ginger) but it took another few days before I made it to the supermarket with The Two Monkeys in tow feeling über productive and positive because after a week of having this behemoth of a vegetable glaring at me I was finally going to use it.

On returning home, I got the boys settled The Two Monkeys down to eat their lunch (which I like to think gives me about 15 minutes to do something but in reality its about 5) and returned to the kitchen. Having donned my apron, grabbed my biggest pan and cleared some space I laid out my ingredients to do a "before" shot.

Looks good doesn't it. Very country kitchen. But that was when production came to a screaming halt...and why? Because I had no jam jars. None. Zilch. Because in my infinite wisdom I had the previous evening made tangy plum jam with some of the first fruit off the tree in our garden and used up all the empty jars I had. Talk about school girl error!

So I put my ingredients in the pan which sat on the stove not getting cooked Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I was reluctant to buy brand new jars so had scoured some of the charity shops on Monday but to no avail. Wednesday arrived and so did my Mother along with a hoard of empty jars, this is it, I thought...but no, I ran out of time during the day and I was not going to sacrifice watching Great British Bake Off for an overgrown courgette.

It was Thursday (yesterday) that I finally got to cut into the giant légume. I cut it into slices, scooped out the insides and (leaving the skin on) cooked with a little water but mostly letting it steam in its own juices in the pan.

 Now my thinking behind leaving the skin on was that it would be easier to separate the flesh from the harder skin and on that count at least I was right. The recipe that I referred to above also suggested squeezing the excess water from the marrow which I dutifully did as I removed the skin.

 This however, is where it started to go wrong.

Once I had plonked what remained of the marrow back into the pan it looked rather pitiful, I mean I had expected some reduction but not that much. I added the sugar, lemon zest and juice and the ginger as directed but chose to use fresh ginger over ground or crystallised ginger. I chopped and bruised it to release the oils and then added it to cook with everything else.

But it just didn't look right. Not only did the it just become really pulpy without the natural fluid from the marrow that I had squeezed out, there seemed to be nothing for the sugar to bind with in. It looked lumpy and not at all appetising for spreading on toast or having on a cracker with a really stinky cheese. So either I was meant to end up with more marrow in my pan than the recipe suggested or, and this is my thought, I should have ignored the squeezing instruction.

But what to do now? I am not a chemist and felt, not for the first time with this whole marrow debacle, at a loss.

I did what any normal, sane individual would do.

I added yellow plums.

Now you may be thinking "What?" but my logic went as follows; its similar in colour and these also had a fairly dryish flesh. I had lots of them. As some were still a little under ripe they may add a nice tang to pot which to be quite frank tasted like a zesty ginger stew, the marrow adding bulk but little flavour. And did I mention that I had lots of them?

Yup... please excuse me while I go off topic but I have to tell you about the plums. One of the joys of having a garden is that we now have a plum tree and whilst they are not the sweetest or most flavoursome, I am all about the free fruit and also my Little Giant loves them and will do everything he can to get at the windfalls. So far I had made a crumble, a first pick tangy jam, plum tarts, as well as de-stoning and freezing approximately 4kg and have given various neighbours 500g punnets of them. And there are still more to be picked.

So, back to the jam, why not add them? It couldn't hurt to try right?

Right! After 5 minutes boiling with the plums in the mix I could already see the difference in volume and the consistency looked a lot better too. I continued to cook it at a simmer for another 20 minutes stirring occasionally so the sugar wouldn't catch, but it still did a bit but that's OK because it added a nice bit of colour. I was so pleased to have rescued the jam as I hate waste and I was loath to throw it away.

But now all is said and done I have learnt my lesson, if I am ever offered a marrow in the future I will politely decline and change the subject :)

L is for Leftovers

Leftovers.

Lets not just consign it to bubble and squeak...there are so many things that you can do with your leftovers.

Now I am not talking about eating the same chilli for 3 nights in a row, common sense would dictate that if you make a large chilli freeze at least half in 2 person portion containers for later in the month for an evening when you don't want to cook.  What I am talking about is all those bits and pieces from meals where you made too much that all too often get scraped out of the pan and straight into the bin without a second thought. But what if you were to save the extra pasta or rice or cut of meat for another day or another meal?

Since becoming a mummy I have learnt that even the little bits of what I or my dear husband don't eat are worth keeping - they will often be a perfect sized lunch (or at least part it) for The Two Monkeys the next day and its a time saver too. I can honestly say that when it gets to 5 to midday and the Little Giant has just woken up from his nap and is clamouring for food and I got busy doing other things with The Bug while he was sleeping...it makes me feel like I am winning at being a Mummy if I can just grab and reheat some lasagne or blend all the veggies and potatoes from last nights dinner into an instant soup.

Food waste and the amount of food waste households and supermarkets produce has been big news so far this year, along with various pieces on sell by and use by dates and funny shaped fruit and veg being discarded. But why has it taken so long for mainstream media to catch onto something that most family households already know and have probably known for decades...that often something like meat from a roast chicken on a Sunday will easily go into lunch boxes on Monday and even a stir fry on Tuesday. 

What has made our own food waste more visible is having to separate it out into a separate green caddy bin - we didn't have to do this when we were in Wimbledon, we just recycled our glass and plastics. We have the smaller caddy in the kitchen along with a biodegradable liner that once full gets put in a slightly larger one outside which is then emptied weekly. I think on average I fill the kitchen caddy twice a week  unless we have had a lot of friends over at the weekend in which case there may be more.  It hasn't been too difficult or overly smelly but I do make a point of washing both bins out each week to get rid of any nasty bacteria that may have decided to grow. I have also found since moving here with putting food waste in one bin and recycling in another I find that it takes a lot longer for our general waste bin to get full and is a real visual indicator of exactly how much we throw away in our culture.

So what is the point of this? Well, this year I am aiming to reduce, reuse and recycle more in our house and the kitchen is one of the main places in our house that I can do this.  Quite often with leftovers I just turn them into a stir fry or sandwiches but occasionally I will get quite creative. Lets be honest, if I have made a custard from scratch with egg yolks, the best thing to do with the whites is make meringues the next day and that is always a popular pudding in our house!

If you don't tend to keep food, why not try...especially with things loke stews and curries, as we all know they taste better the next day.  And if you are a food saver specialist do you have favourite recipes for your leftovers? Why not leave me a comment with your ideas as I love to swap kitchen tips!

K is for Kitchen

I love being in the kitchen, it is a place that I associate with fun, friends and (of course) food.

I was incredibly lucky that the kitchen we had in our flat in Wimbledon was not only large but full of light. I had a window to look out of whilst doing the washing up and a second aspect towards the common which not only provided us with a great through draft if I had burnt something but the boys and I could keep a look out for when Daddy would come sweeping round the corner on his bicycle after a day a work. In additon to the two windowns it was, as far as London flats go, palatial. There was a table that seated four comfortably or seven at a push, a slim line dishwasher (which I miss terribly), and a fan oven that was just great at being the right temperature and producing amazing cakes.

When  we first looked at the house we moved to in March one of my concerns wad that the kitchen was TINY. The rest of the house was totally huge in comparison and was going to suit us perfectly so I thought that it was something that I would just have to put to the back of my mind and deal with.

Or so I thought.

Come moving day and the subsequent week spent unpacking boxes my new kitchen just absorbed everything into seemingly endless cupboards. In fact, I would go as far as to say I have more storage space now than I had previously. So what had happened?

I had been deceived by the smaller floorspace and hadn't taken into account that the cupboards went back into the corners. The room is also darker due to the single window which also visually shrinks the space, but the view is lovely and I have been able to watch my roses grow and the yellow plum tree bare fruit.  In fact, despite the lack of dishwasher (something that I am still coming to terms with) there were many other good points to this kitchen, for example, above the oven is a nifty concealed space in which the microwave can hide. The itself oven was higher up which had two really good pluses to it, it was now out of reach of the Two Monkeys (the combined name for our boys) as well as having a very deep drawer underneath to stash all my various baking tins and stoneware. 

And yes, my kitchen may not have the little ikea pine table in it any longer, but instead we have a whopper of a walnut table in the dining/family room which is right next to the kitchen and actually means it gets used as a table for arts and crafts rather than the dumping ground it ended up in the flat.

So all in all, it all came right in the end. The kitchen hasn't been a disappointment at all, if anything it has become more of my own "space" and I even have a bit more freedom in this kitchen as there are no child locks on the doors - instead we put a gate across the doorway which allows us to be in the kitchen and also have the back door open without either of the Two Monkeys escaping into the garden unsupervised or invading the cupboards.

What's more my dear husband has been doing some excellent DIY and put up a floating shelf for all my cookbooks as well as making  me the most beautiful handmade spice rack too.

And who knows...with a bit of shuffling of the cupboards I may even get a dishwasher!