Blackberry Muffins

It's the last week of the Summer Holidays and the sunshine is back, so Luca & I are enjoying a rare day alone and decided to go Blackberry picking. We returned with a fair sized haul, covered in scratches and a few nettle stings and with purple fingers and mouths we looked forward to making something nice.

We Googled blackberries to see what came up, hoping to find a good muffin recipe and maybe even a sneaky Schnapps one.

We were in luck and have found both. We are off to Sainsburys later to buy Vodka for the Schnapps, but below is our muffin recipe. It's delicious, we ate ours whilst they were still warm in the garden with a cup of Earl Grey for me and a cup of mint tea for Luca. I am sure the others will enjoy the rest when they get home. If there are any left !!!!!!!!

Buon appetito

• Makes 12
• 250g butter
• 200g sugar
• 5 eggs
• 250g plain flour,
• 20g baking powder
• 70g blackberries

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/Gas 6.

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until well-blended.

Add the eggs, one by one, mixing thoroughly with each addition. We only had goose eggs !!! But it worked.

Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and lightly fold into the egg mixture.

Divide the muffin mixture among the muffin cases, filling each case no more than two-thirds full. Press a blackberry into each filled muffin case. I decided that one blackberry per case was not enough, so I added about 100g or so to the mixture & gently folded through. It worked so well and the colour was amazing.

Place the muffin cases on baking sheets. Bake each batch for 15-20 minutes until risen and golden.

I must admit that I didn't entirely follow the recipe exactly as I did mine all in the Artisan, but it worked out just as well and saved me a lot of arm aching work. The muffins were soft, moist and very seasonal. Its nice to have something other than crumble to make with the blackberries and the kids will love helping pick them, make them, licking the bowl, (Luca did) and will love eating them. Have fun, we did.

• 
  
• 
  

Paprika rice with prawns

Well last night we viewed yet another house, I fell in love with it, but unfortunately Hubby didn't !!!

So when we got home I must admit I was not very happy, my eldest Son Simon had come to stay and was in the pub with his Brother Stephen, so I decided to join them for a glass of wine to cheer me up. I never see enough of Simon and I miss him so much, so any time with him is always quality time.

Well rather begrudgingly, whilst we were out, Hubby cooked dinner and the recipe is below. It was so yummy, so much so that Simon and I warmed the left-overs up for lunch today. Thanks Hubby for cooking, I love you loads.

Buon appetito

Serves 4

good pinch saffron

1 litre hot chicken stock

100g sliced chorizo

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large Spanish onion, finely chopped

250g risotto rice

1 tsp paprika

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 glass dry white wine

1 large red pepper, peeled & diced

100g French beans, trimmed & halved

12 - 16 large raw prawns (recipe says to leave the tails on, but we removed ours)

chopped flat-leaf parsley & lemon wedges to serve

Drop the saffron into the hot chicken stock.

Fry the chorizo in the oil in a lidded pan until crisp, then lift out with a slotted spoon. Tip away all but 1 tbsp of the oil, add the onion to the pan and cook, stirring often, until soft. Now add the rice, paprika and garlic. Briefly stir over the heat, then pour in the wine and let it bubble away.

Tip in three-quarters of the stock, stir well, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add the pepper and beans. If the rice is a little dry, add the remaining stock, then cover and cook for 8 minutes more. Stir in the prawns and chorizo, cook until the prawns are pink, then scatter with parsley and serve with lemon wedges and crusty bread.

Braised chicken with chorizo & butter beans

I'm slowly getting back into the kitchen, still haven't got a confirmed moving date and I have decided that I now dislike Estate Agents with a passion, they seem to just love to mess you around, but I am on top of the packing, garden is sorted ready to go and I am now feeling better. So at least we are getting somewhere.

Summer appears to be over for another year and the weather is now feeling distinctly autumnal and I feel the urge to make comforting warming food for the family to come home to.

This dish is in the September edition of Olive Magazine and fits the bill perfectly.

Buon appetito.

Serves 2

Olive Oil

4 chicken thighs (bone & skin on)

1 onion, halved & sliced

100g cooking Chorizo, chopped into pieces

1 x 400g butter beans

200ml chicken stock

1/2 a small bunch flat-leafed parsley, chopped

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Heat a little oil in a wide, shallow pan. Season the thighs all over, then put in the pan skin-side down and cook until crisp and golden. Turn and cook on the other side for a couple of minutes.

Take the thighs out of the pan and add the onions. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the chorizo and cook for a couple of minutes. Tip in the butter beans and stock, then sit the chicken back on top. Transfer to the oven for 30 minutes to finish cooking the chicken. Stir the parsley through the butter beans. Serve the chicken and beans in shallow bowls with crusty bread, if you like.

This is just lovely, a little bit of spice from the Chorizo, creamy butter beans and a lovely juice to be mopped up by the crusty bread, just yummy.

Rocky Road

I must apologise firstly for the lack of attention to my much loved Blog, I know that recipes have been few and far between as late but as usual, well more than usual life has become pretty manic. Firstly we went on holiday, then decided to move in September, so loads of packing, I have been pretty ill with one thing and another and then the icing on the cake was Stephen having a nasty accident involving a bonfire and many trips to hospital !!!! So I am afraid no time for cooking let alone blogging.

Life seems to be settling a little more now, packing under control, Stephen on the mend, I'm slowly starting to feel better, so hopefully once settled in my new kitchen I will feel inspired to get back to cooking.

In the meantime Hubby has decided to take over and has made his famous Rocky Road for the kids whilst they are on holiday. He always makes it in bulk and always with toppings to suit each child. The recipe below is with mini eggs, which is Hubby's favourite, but he also makes it with Maltesers, Crunchie's and Minstrels.

This is a great recipe for fun with the kids in the Summer Holidays as no cooking is involved. The only part that they will need a little supervision with is the melting of the chocolate.

Boun appetito

Serves: 16

Cooling Time: In the refrigerator and leave

200g Belgian dark chocolate

100g unsalted butter

100g golden syrup

100g Marshmallows, halved

100g pink wafers, crushed, you can use chocolate or normal digestives as well

125g mini speckled eggs or topping of your choice

Line a 20 x 20cm square tin with greaseproof paper. Place the chocolate, butter and syrup in a saucepan and heat gently until melted together. Stir in the marshmallows and crushed wafers. Spoon the mixture into the tin and spread it out evenly before decorating with the mini eggs or your chosen topping. Place in the refrigerator and leave overnight to set. Cut into squares and serve.

dotBBQ - Watermelon, Feta & Black Olive Salad

On Friday I decided to take on the task of entertaining the guys in Hubby's dotCommerce team, a great idea we thought, a nice relaxing evening and a chance for me to get to know Hubby's colleagues. What I didn't know was that I would come back from holiday with a horrific cold, Tunisian tummy bug and oh yeah the fact that I would be moving a in few weeks time. Now I like a challenge but this was a challenge to far, it was all I could do to get out of bed, let alone cook for two days !!!

I spent Thursday cleaning and making desserts, Friday more cleaning, preparing the house and garden and making the salads. By the time everyone arrived everything was perfect, I was showered and dressed and drugged up to the max on pain killers and cold remedies, which went down wonderfully with a few glasses of red wine. I had grand ideas about what I was going to cook and how I was going to decorate the house, but due to feeling so rough I played safe and stuck to recipes I knew and just chucked up a little bunting. Also lucky for me Hubby is a whizz in the kitchen and once he was home I handed over to him.

I must say that I totally enjoyed the evening, the guys were great and I can not wait to do it again in the new house. So here's to dotBBQ part II and me being well so I can be a better hostess next time.

(Everything I made is already on the Blog apart from this salad and it's gorgeous)

http://www.dotcommerce.co.uk/

Serves 8 1 small red onion

2–4 limes, depending on juiciness

1.5 kg sweet, ripe watermelon

250g feta cheese

bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley

bunch fresh mint, chopped

3–4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

100g pitted black olives

black pepper Peel and halve the red onion and cut into very fine half moons and put in a small bowl to steep with the lime juice. Remove the rind and pips from the watermelon, and cut into approximately 4cm triangular chunks. Cut the feta into similar sized pieces and put them both into a large, wide shallow bowl. Tear off sprigs of parsley so that it is used like a salad leaf, rather than a garnish, and add to the bowl along with the chopped mint. Tip the onions, along with their pink juices over the salad in the bowl; add the oil and olives, then using your hands toss the salad very gently so that the feta and melon don't lose their shape. Add a good grinding of black pepper and taste to see whether the dressing needs more lime.

Tunisia August 2010 - Mint Tea

Hubby & I have just returned from a week in Tunisia, not my choice I will add, I wanted to go to a lovely little Greek Island, but it was a good deal and we just wanted some sunshine, to be able to relax and no cooking for a whole week, and it fitted the bill.

We had a lovely lazy time on the beach and round the pool and met a lovely couple who we went out and about with, safety in numbers we decided, as the taxi drivers are such rogues!!! Plus it made it much more fun and they were such great company.

Anyway we were very lucky to have a Sheesha Bar in our hotel and every evening we would end up lounging there, chatting about our day and drinking lovely mint tea. Now I know mint tea is not really a recipe as such, but we enjoyed it so much that I just wanted to share it with you.

By the way, since we have come back, Luca has become an addict.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients
1 Tblsp of green tea (or 1 tea bag!)
1/2 bunch of fresh mint
3-4 Tblsp sugar
570ml /1 pint boiling water

Pine nuts & toasted almonds to serve.

Method:
Boil water
Add remaining ingredients.
Allow to brew for 2-3 minutes.
Serve with the pine nuts and almonds in separate bowls if you wish as not everyone likes them in their tea, but if you do like them pop quite a few in, allow to warm & drink, truly refreshing.

Adjust:
The tea should be sweet and fresh.
Too bitter add more sugar
Too vibrant, add a little more green tea.

Or cheat like I do, use Mint Tea Bags, My Friend Fem that I met whilst in Tunisia recommends Lipton Tea and they are yummy, but any good Mint Tea would do.