Chocolate Mousse

This is from a Jackie Magazine recipe from the 80s.

Serves 2 (but quantities increase well)

Melt 4oz of milk chocolate in a bowl (either microwave or over a pan of hot water). Can be cooking or eating chocolate.

Separate two eggs. Beat the yolks and add into the melted chocolate (mix fast and thoroughly).

(Fun way to separate eggs here)

Beat the two egg whites until they are stiff (do the 'upside-down bowl over head test' at your own risk), then fold into the chocolate mixture. (Use a metal spoon to fold: cut and lift it -not stir- to keep it light and fluffy)

Put it into whatever you are serving it in and chill for an hour or two.

Good to serve with some cream on and a bit of grated chocolate, or slices of kiwi fruit

Although it won't set quite as well with, this is also nice with a bit of rum mixed into the chocolate and yolk mix (NB Rum not included in the original recipe aimed at pre and early teens!)


You might also like:

Citrus Cake

For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Citrus Cake

If you already make nice cakes, this isn't the recipe for you!

Baking isn't really my thing, you have to be too precise, and it always seems a lot of time and effort for regrettably disappointing results but this simple recipe for a loaf cake produces consistent and presentable results for even reluctant bakers like me - foolproof! 

Whisk an egg, 4 fl oz of milk and 4 tbsps of vegetable oil in a bowl.

Grate in the zest of an orange or a lemon and whisk in 2 oz of brown sugar and 2 oz of white sugar.

Whisk in half a teaspoon of salt, 2 tsps of baking powder and 8 oz of plain flour and beat to make a batter.

Line a small loaf tin with greaseproof paper and pour in the batter. Put it in the oven heated to about 160c/GM4.

While the cake is cooking, add the juice of the orange or lemon to a pan with about 2 oz of white sugar (if you are using lemon juice, add a couple of tablespoons of water too, you need a total of about 100mls of liquid). Bring gently to the boil then simmer for about 5 minutes to make a syrup.

After about 25 minutes stab it with a thin knife or skewer. If there is wet batter stuck to the knife, put it back in and keep checking every 5 mins or so. (Don't worry about leaving holes in it.)

When the knife comes out clean, take the loaf out of the oven. Prog lots of holes down into it, then pour the syrup over to soak down into the holes and leave to cool.

(If you don't have any citrus fruit, this is still okay without any zest in the batter and using orange or lemon juice for the syrup or using just sugar syrup (100mls of water), or putting a few spoons of marmalade or lemon curd over the top)


You might also like:

Chocolate Mousse

For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Potato Cake

Like a Potato Rosti or Hash Browns

Great with a traditional British Breakfast 

How many potatoes you do really depends on whether you are doing this as a small side for a full breakfast for a few, or as the main staple for one or two with an egg or a bit of bacon or a sausage instead of bread. One decent sized potato (what I would call a medium size for baking) will do this as a guide.

Grate the potato (I use Maris Pipers) and then squeeze the liquid out.

I just squeeze small amounts at a time and use my hand, but you can also put it in a (clean) tea-towel to squeeze. (But I reckon I'll be washing my hands anyway and I don't want bits of potato in my washer! You can use kitchen roll instead of a tea towel, but you may end up picking bits of paper out of your mix.) I would recommend squeezing it over a bowl, otherwise you can clog the sink up (to say nothing of losing half the potato down it if you try to do too much at once). The starch in the water is quite interesting for kids to play with later too

Put the potato in a bowl and sprinkle on a small pinch of salt and grind on some black pepper and mix it in (If you can see the pepper is well distributed, you can assume the salt is too).

Lightly oil a frying pan and then press the potato into the pan. Push it down firmly and go round the edges pushing them in and down.

Cook gently for about 5-10 mins (depending on how thick the potato layer is) pushing it down all over and in and down at the sides again a few times, until you can see no more raw potato on the top. Have a quick check underneath that that side has gone crispy, if it hasn't turn up the heat for a quick blast and keep pressing it down.

Turn over to crisp off the other side. This will only take a few minutes, as the potato is already cooked through. (If you have thicker layer, you might want to quickly turn it back over to the first side to give that another quick recrisp)

This is a basic potato cake, and while good as is, you can add any herbs, seasonings and fillings you fancy. Parsley and/or thyme is good, so is garlic, chillies and/or onion (onion does make it a bit wetter so takes slightly longer to cook and crisp) or chop in some cooked bacon, ham or gammon (probably won't need any salt)

You might also like:

Spicy Chicken Drumsticks

Mushroom Rice

Burgers

For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Barbecue

Here are links to ideas on my blog that are great at barbecues

Spicy Chicken Drumsticks
similar heat to tandoori

Barbecue Marinade/Relish
great as a marinade for ribs or as a sauce or relish

Salsa Salad
With chillies and fresh coriander, this salsa salad is packed with flavour

Chicken Kebabs

quick marinaded chicken, great with pitta bread, peppers and yoghurt

Sticky Onions
caramelised-ish onions

Devilled Sauce

great as a sauce or relish

Spicy Prawn Salad

Burgers

how do you like yours?

Ribbon Salad
Carrot and Cucumber

For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Easy ways to support good causes

Supporting Good Causes

A non-food post, but I just wanted to share some easy ways to support good causes financially without costing you a penny!


everyclick

Use everyclick for your ordinary internet searches (it's powered by Yahoo) and each one you make will raise a small amount for your nominated good cause (there are over 200,000 to choose from), whether it is a small local charity to a national organisation. You can track your contribution and it's quite satisfying to see it add up!

(If it's a small organisation, it may be worth checking that they know about everyclick to access the funds raised for them!)

www.everyclick.com


freerice

Freerice supports the United Nations World Food Programme.

Choose your quiz subject (for example vocab, languages, countries, flags, chemistry, famous paintings, landmarks...) and for each question you get right, grains of rice are donated to help end hunger.

You can track your contribution  - you see a bowl fill up for each session, or your all time contribution if you register.

I often play this when half watching tv, and my daughter quite enjoys it too - educational, worthy and a computer game!

www.freerice.com

lendwithcare

Lendwithcare is an initiative from CARE International UK, an aid and development organisation.

You can support an entrepeneur in the developing world with a mico-loan for their business Choose who you support from their profiles from a range of countries and businesses (for example food production, agriculture...)

Although this one isn't quite  no-cost as you need to make a loan of at least £15, I am including it since you can have it repaid if you don't want to keep loaning it back out to others (through recycling I have made loans totalling about six times the value of the amount I have originally contributed)

www.lendwithcare.org

You might also be interested in Something for Nothing

For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Chilli Beef Stew

A spicy stew that makes a nice change from chilli with mince

Chilli Beef Stew

Serves four

Gently heat a tiny drop of oil and dot of butter/spread in a heavy casserole pan that will go in the oven (if you don't have one, use an ordinary pan and transfer it into a oven dish later or just do on the hob) and lightly brown 1lb of stewing/casserole/shin beef.

Add some crushed cloves of garlic (I usually use about half a bulb) and a couple of onions (I usually chop finely to disappear into the sauce) and soften for a few minutes.

Add (according to how hot you want it to be) a total of three teaspoons of cayenne pepper/paprika (I usually use one-and-a-half teaspoons of each and that is quite spicy), stir through then add a tin of chopped tomatoes, a large pinch of oregano, some black pepper, about a tablespoon of vinegar, about a tablespoon of tomato puree and then add some water (about three-quarters of the empty tin of tomatoes).

(If you like you can add chopped peppers with the onions, or kidney beans when cooking)

Bring it to the boil and let it simmer for about half an hour, before putting it in the oven for a couple of hours, about 130c/GM3.

If you are making it in advance, you can either put it straight in the oven and then just reheat tomorrow, or switch it off and do in oven tomorrow. (Or you can leave the oven off all together and just leave it on a very low heat with the lid on for a couple of hours, stirring every 15-20 mins.)

This is really nice with baked potatoes, crusty bread, garlic bread, pasta or rice.


You might also like

Beef in Beer

Chicken and Bacon Casserole

Loaded Skins

Stuffed Peppers

teaspoon = 5ml
tablespoon = 15ml
1lb is about 450-500g


For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Chilli Prawn Curry

Curry quicker than a takeaway 

Chilli Prawn Curry

Serves four. Lovely with rice or naan bread and natural yoghurt

Chop an onion, a bunch of spring onions, crush three or four cloves of garlic and finely chop one or two green chillies (I usually stick my hand in a sandwich bag, cut the stalk off, cut in half lengthways, scrape the seeds out and then use a rocker-chopper (mezzaluna) to chop without getting covered).

Gently soften for about three minutes in a tiny amount of oil in a big pan, stirring (I use a wok for this).

Add 1tsp turmeric, 1tsp cumin, 1tsp ground coriander and 1.5 tsps of curry powder (I usually use Schawartz 'mild') and cook gently, stirring for a minute then add a tin of (chopped) tomatoes and 1/4 pint of water. Bring to the boil then simmer for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is reduced down to thicker than before you added the water (I wouldn't recommend trying to save time by leaving the water out and missing out the simmering, as the spices will taste gritty and the flavour won't be quite right either).

Add about 1lb of prawns (I usually use half and half big and small prawns, frozen defrosted) and a handful of chopped fresh coriander and gently heat through for three or four minutes. (Try not to have the prawns too wet or the sauce will go too sloppy and the prawns will boil tough if you try to reduce it back down. Also bear in mind frozen prawns can be a bit salty, so you probably won't need to add any salt to the sauce)

Serve with some natural yoghurt for people to stir in to taste.

(If you want to use cream, rather than serve with yoghurt, add about 1/4 pint after you have reduced it and before you add the prawns and fresh coriander, simmering for about five minutes first.)




You might also like:

Things to have with poppadoms

Chicken Kebabs

Spicy Prawn Salad


1tsp = 5ml
1/4 pint = 150mls

1lb = about 450g




For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )