Aubergine parmigano

So heres my recipe for this week! As it was a savoury dish last week and then again this week I'm planning on doing a sweet for next time (involving toffee, bannanas & cream - can anybody say banoffee pie?!) totes lush! anyway we actually had this as well as other things (pizza, garlic bread, chips & salad) as my brother and his fiancee joined us for dinner. It was seriously yummy if I do say so myself and even my brother said he'd eat it again and he doesn't even like aubergines!

So you will have to have in your fridge..

3 Aubergines

2 tbsp Salt

400g Mozzarella, ripped into pieces

a Jar of tomato passata

a Pinch of pepper

1 Bunch fresh basil, chopped

80g Flaked parmesan

2 tbsp olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 180c/gas mark 5

This recipe takes about an hour and a half.

1. cut the Aubergines into slices about half an inch thick and sprinkle with salt.

2. place the Aubergines on a plate with another plate on top with a weight ontop (I used the tomato passata jar) and leave for half an hour.

3. rince the slices and dry on some kitchen roll.

4. heat the oil in a pan and fry the Aubergine (in batches if you have too).

5. blot the Aubergine to get rid of excess oil then put a third of the slices in a casserole/baking dish.

6. layer the rest of the ingredients: Mozerella, Passata, Salt & Pepper & Parmesan untill you get back to Aubergine, you should be able to make about 3 layers of each.

7. Put the lid on your dish and bake for an hour or in an AGA (as I have) put the dish in the roasting oven for 30 minutes then transfer to the baking oven for a further 30 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown.

Serve with crusty bread and a salad or as a side dish!

p.s. I have a new tag 'ROTW' (Recipe of the Week)

Cheesy potato & fish pie

I've started cooking at least once a week for my family (me, my mum, my dad & mammar) and when my mum was ordering the food shopping on Ocado - most people think it's more expensive but a lot of it is Tesco price matched! I decided to see what recipes they had in their recipe section and I found the 'Recipe of the day' which was 'Creamy Fish Pie with Cheese and Potato Topping' - yum!

 So lets give it a go..

To make this fish pie you will need..

1½ kg Potatoes, peeled

75g Butter (split into 25g & 50g)

50g Mature Cheddar Cheese, grated

1 handful fresh Breadcrumbs or crunched up Plain Crisps (optional)

2 x 320g Ocado Fish Pie Mix (If you just want to use a certain fish I'd say 2-3 fillets)

450ml Semi-Skimmed Milk & 4tbsp for the mash

50g Plain Four

2 Free Range Eggs, hard-boiled & roughly chopped

200g Fresh Shelled Garden Peas (fresh garden are better than frozen in this case)

Pinch Salt

Pinch Pepper

1. Cook the potatoes in lightly salted boiling water until soft.

2. drain & then return to the hot saucepan, Mash together with 25g butter and 4 tbsp milk until smooth.

3. heat 450ml milk in a saucepan, add the fish, cover with a lid and poach gently for 4-5 minutes.

4.use a slotted spoon to strain the fish from the milk and transfer the fish to a 1.5L ovenproof dish.

5. melt 50g butter into the hot milk then sprinkle in the flour to make the sauce.

6. whisk continuously until the sauce thickens and becomes smooth. 

7. season then stir in the peas and chopped eggs & pour over the cooked fish.

8. spread the mashed potato evenly over the fish & sauce.

9. Scatter on the cheese mixed with the breadcrumbs.

10. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until piping hot with a golden brown potato topping.

Serve on it's own or with some steamed vegetables then thats it - easy as pie!

Cookies & cream chocolate fudge brownies

I know this isn't going to help our new years diets! *sorry girls* but I just couldn't resist (I figure if I blog about it then I won't want to eat it, hmm..) so this recipe is off Baking Made Easy on BBC 2 with Lorraine Pascale and eventhough she's one of those tv chefs that really quite annoys me anything involving crumbled Oreo's is good enough for me!

So heres the ingredients and how to make these yummy Cookies and Cream Chocolate Fudge Brownies..

You will need:

165g Butter

200g Dark Chocolate

5 eggs (3 full, 2 yolks)

A vanilla pod

160g Soft brown sugar

2 Tablespoons plain flour

1 Tablespoon cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

100g/1 Pack of Oreo's

Now, lets get on with the baking!

1. Melt the butter over a low heat, when melted turn the heat off.

2. Grate or finely chop the dark chocolate and add to the melted butter.

3. Add the 3 eggs and 2 egg yolks to a bowl or mixer

4. slice a vanilla pod down the centre and scrape out the seeds with the back of the knife and add to the eggs.

5. Start to whisk the eggs until mixed together and you can see small air bubbles, then add half of the soft brown sugar

 6. mix again until blended together, add the other half of the sugar and give it another whisk until it's slightly frothed up and has some slight bubbles.

7. Add the butter and chocolate mixture into the egg and sugar mixture (pour down the side - not in the middle to avoid knocking the bubbles out.)

8. add 2 tbsp flour, 1 tbsp cocoa powder and a pinch of salt before folding the ingredients together, you can do this by creating a figure of 8 with your spatula or spoon until everything is mixed together!

9. Now crumble 3/4 of the Oreo's into the mixture and give it a good stir.

10. Pour the mixture into a greased and lined tin, crumble the remaining oreos on top.

11. place in an oven for about 25-30 minutes (but check them after 20!) at 180ºC

Once they're cooked they should look cooked on the outside but slightly gooey on the inside. Let them cool, cut into squares, place them on a serving plate and dust with icing sugar and voila! And they're yummy if I do say so myself, I'm eating one as you read this watching Big Fat Gypsy Wedding (twitter is going mad!)

D.I.Y: Baking With Betty!

Most sundays I nip round to Betty's (my mammars) to do some baking & this week it was Ashbourne Gingers. If you want to make these yummy, crumbily, gingery biscuits for yourself you will need:

8oz soft marg/butter

12oz plain flour

8oz caster sugar (depending on how sweet you want them)

2 tsp ground ginger powder (I would have put a little more in as I like them quite gingery)

then you will need to:

1. put all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl (sieving the flour to avoid lumps)

2. mix with your mixer (you could use a hand mixer) 'till all the ingredients stick together in a ball

3. take the ball of your ingredients out of the mixing bowl and roll into a sausage shape on a floured surface (approx. 2 ½ inches thick)

4. cut into circles about 1 inch thick

5. press down the flat side with two fingers to make it flatter

6. place on a baking tray covered in greaseproof paper

7. cook for approx. 20-30 mins (you'll just have to keep checking on them!)

8. as I cooked mine in an aga baking oven I'm not 100% on the ºC temp but I'm guessing it's about 180ºC/gas mark 4!

9. when they're golden brown, leave them to cool.

10. you can top them with a mixture of caster sugar & ground ginger powder like I did (again depending on how gingery you want them)

hope you enjoy them as much as I did, let me know if anybody tries them out! 

D.I.Y: Winter warmer

Looks yummy, doesn't it?!

I got the recipe for the Peanut Perfection Hot Chocolate from Cellardoor's blog, you can also find them on twitter! It just hit the spot after a long day of darkness & drizzle outside (luckily I was inside in the warm but still..)

if you want to make this for yourself you will need:

1 and 1/2 cups of milk

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 heaped tablespoon of smooth peanut butter,

and an optional swirl of whipped cream to finish.

and then you'll need to:

Heat the milk in a saucepan until it's hot through. Add in the cocoa powder and mix well. Then stir in the peanut butter until melted. Serve and top with whipped cream.

and voila!  you have yourself a yummy, nutty, hot chocolate to warm you up on those chilly winter nights.