Aubergine and Parmesan Involtini

Aubergines are very much one of those love or hate foods. Some people are not fond of the taste and some of the texture, I must admit that undercooked solid aubergine is one of the most repugnant things I've ever eaten. When done right though I love it, and most often this is sliced thinly, brushed with good olive oil and grilled both sides before being sprinkled with salt, a little garlic oil and something delicious like chopped fresh herbs, a finely chopped red chilli or crumbled feta cheese. This is pretty much the only way I ever eat them aside from in a moussaka, so when I saw them in the veg aisle yesterday I snapped one up and challenged myself to come up with something new.

It was actually while reading that I was inspired to make this recipe when someone mentioned involtini (meaning "little bundles") - thin slices of beef wrapped around a filling usually including parmesan cheese, nuts and breadcrumbs. I'm sure I have seen someone doing it with aubergine slices before, probably my beloved Nigella, but I wanted my filling to be a little different with a slightly sharper taste to contrast the nicely bland wrapping. If I want to add sharpness to something, I inevitably add balsamic vinegar. I have a big thing for its sweet tartness and glug it into most soups I make, and also drizzle it over filled pastas with a little extra virgin olive oil.

This recipe is for one as a main meal or would make a nice starter for two people along with a little baby spinach salad on the side. It is vegetarian, but if you are a determined carnivore like my boyfriend you could always go the traditional way using beef or pork slices rather than the aubergine.


Aubergine and Parmesan Involtini
Serves 1

Ingredients
60g glutinous rice (such as arborio or sushi rice)
200ml hot water
1/2 stock cube of your choice
1 tsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
6 mushrooms, finely diced
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp parmesan, grated
1 aubergine, sliced lengthways about 3/4 cm thick
2 tbsp olive oil

Method
Place the rice, water and stock cube in a saucepan over a medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes until the rice is cooked through and of a risotto like texture. Set aside.

In a seperate saucepan heat the oil, onion, garlic and rosemary until the onion is translucent and softened, then add the mushrooms and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Now add the balsamic vinegar, stir in well and then add the butter, stirring until melted in and combined. Remove from the heat, add the rice and parmesan and mix well before setting aside while you grill the aubergines.

Brush the remaining olive oil over both sides of the aubergine slices and cook pereferably on either a grill pan or on a health grill to get the desired char lines. If you don't have either of these don't worry, just use a frying pan but don't add any more oil. The aubergine is cooked when the flesh has darkened in colour and the slices have become soft and flexible.

When cooked, place a heaped spoonfull of the rice mixture onto one end of an aubergine slice and gently rolls it up. Lay onto your plate join side down and spritz with a squirt of lemon juice just before serving.

Pistachio, Rosemary and Red Onion Pizza

Like many dishes I cook, this was inspired by a tv show. I am an avid Food Network fan, one of my favourite shows being The Best Thing I Ever Ate, wherein famous US tv chefs tell us about their favourite restaurant dishes. There was recently an episode on pizzas broadcast which included the 'Rosa' from Pizzeria Bainco in Phoenix, Arizona. It was a super thin crist topped with red onion, parmigiano reggiano, rosemary and Arizona pistachios and looked superb. Needless to say, I felt a great urge to cook it, and so I did.

I fail to see how anything could fail to be delicious and beautiful with the addition of pistachio nuts. They work so well with the red onion, and my addition of a little mozzarella adds additional creaminess and that cheesy stringiness I find so intrinsic to a good pizza.

The dough recipe I used was by (heaven forbid) Anthony Worral Thompson, and I have to admit is a very good one, but do remember that the dough has to be left for a few hours to prove and then again for a little while to rest before shaping. Also, try and get it as thin as possible and make sure to keep an eye on it while it's cooking. As there is no sauce you need to make sure you don't crisp it up too much or your pizza will be dry and the delicate flavours lost.

Pistachio, Rosemary and Red Onion Pizza
Serves 2

Pizza Dough Ingredients
175 ml water, lukewarm
1 packet (7g) active dried yeast
1 tbsp olive oil
275g strong white flour
pinch of salt

Topping Ingredients
a little extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
75g mozzarella, grated
50g parmesan cheese, grated
50g pistachio nuts, shelled and finely chopped
1-2 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely sliced

Pizza Dough Method
Pour 75ml of the lukewarm water into a jug and mix in the yeast, then place in a warm place for 10 minutes (I put mine next to a radiator. Stir in the olive oil.

Put the flour and salt into a large bowl, make a well in the centre and pour in the yeast mixture. Mix until just combined and then knead together on a floured surface until you get a nice elastic dough. Oil a large bowl lightly and place the dough in it, then cover with cling film and set aside in a warm place for 1-2 hours by which time the dough should have doubled in size.

Remove from the bowl and knead again until smooth, then set aside on a tray to rest for a little while before shaping - about half an hour.

You now want to shape the dough - flatten it with your fingers onto a floured surface, then drape over your fist and gently stretch it from the outside edge. When you have got the required shape place it on an oven tray dusted lightly with semolina or flour.

Finishing The Pizza
Preheat the oven to the hottest temperature it will reach.

Drizzle a little olive oil over the pizza base, then sprinkle over the mozzarella and parmesan. Now evenly strew over the pistachio nuts and rosemary before laying on as many slices of red onion as you desire.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, keeping an eye on it so it doesn't burn. You want the base to be cooked but not to scorch the nuts, cheese or onions.

Serve with a dressed salad or a bowl of good soup.

Chestnut Mushroom and Goats Cheese Quiche with a Cashew Nut Crust

It came as a bit of a shock the other day when I realised how little time we have left before Christmas. I've organised my work Christmas party, I have ordered several new outfit options for said party (one made me look like a shiney bat, that went straight back... ), I even started buying presents in October, but I am still at a loss thinking that there are now only 41 days left.

Being in my early twenties and without any kids I still spend my Christmas Day and Boxing Day with Pete's parents and my parents respectively so I don't tend to do much entertaining at home, but for some reason I still feel the need to fill the flat with company ready foods that I can grab at a moments notice, although it tends to be myself grabbing for a quick snack between baking rather than because we have guests over. Either way, Christmas is definitely a party season and although buying nibbles from the supermarket is far easier, I think you should always serve something homemade to make it extra special - and to gain a few Brownie points with the inlaws and other people you wish to impress!


One staple of the British buffet is a quiche, which can just be put on a plate and cut into wedges and is always a good option for vegetarian guests. I am however quite snobby about quiche, as bought ones tend to have cardboard like pastry and taste like the foil tin in which they arrived. I have made my own pastry for this which does lengthen the cooking time, but if you would prefer you can use some pre-made pastry to speed it up a bit. The filling though requires nothing more than a short bit of veggie frying, a little whisking and then some pouring so will set you back no more than 15 minutes before putting into the oven to bake while you potter off to do something festive.


Chestnut Mushroom and Goats Cheese Quiche with a Cashew Nut Crust
Serves 6-8-10 depending on generosity

Pastry Ingredients
200g plain flour
100g cashew nuts, finely chopped
140g cold butter, in small chunks
40g cold vegetable shortening (or lard if serving to carnivores), in small chunks
a little ice cold water

25cm tart tin - preferable loose bottomed
dried beans / ceramic baking beads
baking parchment

Filling Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, diced small
1 clove garlic, crushed
300g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
125g goats cheese, mashed with a fork
2 large eggs, lightly whisked
250ml double cream
3-4 tbsp grated parmesan
50g cashew nuts, finely chopped

Pastry Method
Preheat the oven to 180C / 360 F.

Place the flour, cashew nuts, butter and shortening/lard into a bowl and rub together with your fingers until it reaches a sand-like consistency. Now add the cold water a tablespoon at a time and then kneading a little until the pastry comes together. Form into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until it is about 30cm in diameter, lift it up using the rolling pin and drape lcarefully over the tart tin. Gently push the pastry down into the edges of the tin, trying not to make any holes - if you do, patch it up with a little of the pastry overhang from the edges. Run your rolling pin over the top of the tin - this should cut off the excess leaving a neat, smooth edged crust. Lightly prick the pastry using a fork and chill for a further 20 minutes.

Cut a large circle from baking parchment and place it over the pastry in your tart tin, then fill with dried beans / baking beads. Blind bake like this for 20 minutes, then take out the beans and parchment and bake for a further 10 minutes.

While your pastry case is cooking, prepare the filling.

Filling Method
Fry the onion in the olive oil over a medium heat until softened, then add the garlic, mushrooms and sage. Season to taste. Fry for a further 5 or so minutes and then add the balsamic vinegar. Stir and fry for another 2-3 minutes then remove from the heat and set aside.

Mix the goats cheese, eggs and double cream, then add the fried mushroom mixture and stir to combine. Pour into your pre-baked pasty case and sprinkle over the parmesan and finely chopped cashew nuts.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until set. The filling may rise while baking but will sink back down when you remove it from the oven.

I think this quiche's flavour improves if left overnight in the fridge and then either reheated or served at room temperature. We ate this as dinner along with some roasted carrots and parsnips and a little vinegar dressed salad.

Nancy's Best Nachos With Mexican Pulled Chicken and Gaucamole

Well I don't know about your part of the world, but in mine it is feeling thoroughly Autumnul. It's dark now when I get up and dusky when I'm leaving work, and there's a sharp chill in the wind, not to mention the onflux of rain we have been hit with.

All these combined mean that now is comfort food season. I want big hot bowls of soup for lunch and carb-tastic tummy warming meals for dinner, and I want them to include some of my favourite fall flavours - pumpkin and squash, ginger, cranberries, apples, carrots and parsnips and nuts of all kinds just to mention a few.

Another of my favourite things to eat when the weather has turned brisk and grey is chilli, it warms you up from the inside out and has even been shown to promote a feeling of wellbeing, which is especially useful in a season where less sun = less vitmain d to keep your spirits up.

Now I can't stand anything too hot, I am a bit of a chilli whuss in all truth - I like the flavour of chilli more than the heat, and I think South American cooking does this the best. Mexican recipes often use dried chillies which are then soaked in hot water and usually blended into sauces or moles (no not the snuffly grey animal) which can have many many ingredients - as is often in foody cultures families have there own recipes which are handed down and are often a closely guarded secret.

Trying to decide what to make from the wide range of Mexican dishes was a tough one, so I tried to think of what I like to do when the weather turns that involve food and then it came to me - I love to cosy up on the sofa with Pete and Cleo eating something delicious and watching movies.

So what do you eat while watching movies, other than popcorn and naughty big bags of chocolates? Nachos! I know the ones at the cinema are foul, drippy plastic cheese and 'salsa' that looks like runny jam (bleugh!) but these babies will knock your socks off and are really not difficult or that time consuming to make. Of course they are pretty calorific (cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips...) but they are the perfect occasional treat for a movie night in with your friends.

Nancy's Best Nachos With Mexican Pulled Chicken and Gaucamole
Serves 4

Mexican Pulled Chicken Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
2 small or 1 large red onion, sliced into thin rings
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 red chilli, seeds removed and diced very small
2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
pinch of salt and ground black pepper
2 large chicken breasts, skin removed
1 x 142g can of tomato puree
the juice of half a lime

Guacamole Ingredients
2 ripe avocados, diced
1/2 red chilli, seeds removed and diced very small
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander
the juice of half a lime

Nacho Ingredients
1 1/2 bags of slightly salted tortilla chips
100g grated mozzarella
100g grated cheddar
1 x 150ml tub sour cream
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander

Mexican Pulled Chicken Method
Fry the onions, garlic and diced chilli in the olive oil in a deep pan over a medium heat for two minutes, then add the paprika, cumin, oregano and s&p and cook for a further few minutes until softened and starting to crisp up slightly.

Add the two chicken breasts and cook until they are coloured all over, then add the tomato puree and pour on enough water to just cover the chicken. Put a lid on the pot and cook on medium high heat for 35-45 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and tender.

Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside for a moment. Turn the heat down to medium and continue to cook the sauce while you pull the chicken. This is done by taking two forks and literally pulling apart the meat so it looks shredded.

When the sauce has reduced by half add the chicken back to the pan and stir until everything is covered. Set aside and start to build your nachos.

Nacho Construction
Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F.

Spread the tortilla chips on a deep sided baking tray and then cover with the pulled chicken. Now take the two cheese and sprinkle them over the top so everything is evenly covered.

Bake the nachos for ten minutes until they are warmed through and the cheese is melted.

Gaucamole Method
Do this while the nachos are baking - just mix all the ingredients together and leave to one side for the flavours to develop for a few minutes.

Final Nacho Construction
Spread the soured cream over the hot nachos and then pour over the guacamole before sprinkling over the spring onions and coriander.

Serve with a cold Mexican beer and a good movie!

Notes
This pulled chicken can be used for many more recipes and is a great weeknight standby. Serve it in buns a la pulled pork sandwiches, roll into flour tortillas like a fajita, stir through some pasta or use in place of mince in a Mexican style lasagna.

The chicken can also be made in advance which would mean making these when guests are coming over would be a doddle - you'd just need the ten minutes of cheese melting and sauce daubing and you're there! Just keep the chicken refirgerated in an air-tight container, but use within a day of cooking - you can't be too careful with poultry.

Feel free to use different cheeses in this recipe too, I just used what I had on hand - the mozzarella is always good as you get the 'stringy' factor and it's nice and creamy against the tomatoey chicken.

Garlic and Lemon Thyme Roasted Chicken and Purple Sprouting Broccoli Calzone

I'm fussy when it comes to pizza. I need a thin crust and good quality toppings, thick doughy bases and too much pizza sauce with a smattering of bad quality mozzarella are not to my liking. We need a good pizza place here ASAP, Loughborough is home to far too many lame take-out dives serving foam based doner kebab topped abominations. But we shall leave such disgusting thoughts behind us and move on to the good stuff...

I find vegetarian toppings much more to my liking on pizzas, lots of light elements rather than strong spicy meats so you can taste each ingredient as well as a light well thrown base. Don't worry, I'm not asking you to throw your pizza bases for this recipe, I'm pretty sure if I had tried we would have ended up with a cat running around the flat in a ghost-like costume made of dough. Never a good thing.

What is a good thing however, is the whole premise of a pasty style pizza. A crisp outer shell with a softer inner edge that gives way to a generous pile of cheesy tomatoey goodness. In this recipe I have used chicken and broccoli, purple stemmed broccoli to be exact - lots of subtle flavours that you make sing with a wonderful herb combination of lemon thyme and oregano. Roasting the chicken and broccoli is also a great flavour intensifier and removes the extra moisture which would produce the awful result of a soggy calzone.

You will get either two very large or four medium calzones from this recipe. Pete and I shared one large calzone and I would suggest serving it with a sharply lemon and oil dressed salad and a smile.

Garlic and Lemon Thyme Roasted Chicken and Purple Sprouting Broccoli Calzone
Serves 4

Pizza Dough Ingredients
325ml water, luke warm
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp caster sugar, preferably golden
1 x 7g sachet of dried yeast
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 tsp salt, finely ground

Creamy Ricotta Pizza Sauce Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium red onions, diced small
2 tsp dried oregano
6 medium-large vine ripened tomatoes, diced small
200g ricotta cheese (one standard size pot)

Filling Ingredients
170g pancetta, diced very small
2 tbsp olive oil
200g purple sprouting broccoli, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
500g chicken breast, cut into 1.5 inch chunks
4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
3 tbsp lemon thyme leaves, freshly pulled from the sprigs
3 tbsp parmesan, finely grated
300g mozzarella, grated

Pizza Dough Method
In a jug or bowl mix the water, olive oil, sugar and yeast well and set to one side for a few minutes to 'come alive' while you place the sifted flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour the yeasty mixture into the well and stir together with a fork gradually incorporating the flour. When it starts to come together place the dough onto a clean and floured surface and knead it until you have a springy, smooth dough - this should only take a minute or so. Place this into a floured bowl, sprinkle the top of the dough ball with more flour and cover with a damp clean tea towel. Set this aside in a warmish place to rise for about an hour, it will pretty much double in size.

Pizza Sauce Method
Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F.

Heat the olive oil in a deep non stick pan and add the diced onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes and then sprinkle over the dried oregano. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, add the diced tomatoes and stir well. Cook on medium high heat for about 10 minutes until the tomatoes have melted down into mush and you have a fairly thick sauce. Turn off the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes before mixing in the ricotta cheese. Leave this off the heat to cool while you roast your fillings.

Filling Method
Place all the ingredients into a roasting tray and mix around so everything is coated with the oil, then cook in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through the cooking time.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool for ten minutes. Pour onto a chopping board and dice everything down into roughly 1cm chunks, cover and leave to cool completely.

Building The Calzone
Remove your risen dough from it's bowl and knead again on a clean floured surface. Give it some welly and punch it about a bit this time to get the elasticity going, then cut into either two or four chunks depending on how many calzone you are making.

Roll the chunks of dough out into rough circles that are about half a cm thick. Place one onto a baking sheet and slather it with a good layer of the creamy tomato sauce. Sprinkle over some of the parmesan and then pile up some of your filling covering only one half of the base. Cover that with a good layer of grated mozzarella and then fold the non-topped side over the top of the fillings and press down around the edges to seal it closed.

Repeat until you have all your calzones made and then bake in the still preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until they are crispy and just starting to go golden. If you have any of the sauce left, heat it up gently in a pan and serve alongside the calzones to dip your crispy crust edges into.

Notes
Please do use purple sprouting broccoli if you can get it, it has a more pronounced flavour and less water content than the bog standard green stuff.

The creamy tomato and ricotta sauce in this recipe is a good staple to have in your repertoire - use it as a sauce for pasta, pour it over chicken breasts and top with cheese and breadcrumbs before baking or even use it cold in a sandwich as an extra spreading of delicious moisture.

I know it seems like a lot of effort, but homemade pizzas are always so much better than any take away or premade thing you could buy. Even if you only make them once a year as a treat you should give these babies a go.

Nancy's Best Macaroni and Cheese

After a work week like last week, I really needed a big plate full of comfort food. Being left to cover three peoples jobs is definitely not fun, and definitely not something I will be repeating after this second week of it is over. Part of me wishes that food didn't make me feel better - I would be a hell of a lot slimmer if it didn't - but sadly I don't earn enough to go on shopping sprees to lift my spirits. Until I win the lottery, I will soothe my soul with delicious but not so nutricious dinners.

This recipe is by far one of the best comforting meals I can think of and involves three of the archetypal warm you up from the inside ingredients - cheese, cream and pasta. Not for the weight watching (or the faint hearted some may say), this oven baked pot of starchy goodness was apparently made popular in the Western world by Thomas Jefferson who brought it back to Virginia, USA after his adventures in Italy, the land of wheaty cheesy goodness. Pasta? Pizza? Cannolis? Boy does that country know how to eat.

Onions cooking with garlic and sage / Milk infusing with bay leaf and nutmeg

So you can imagine my surprise when Pete let slip that he had NEVER EATEN MACARONI CHEESE? What? Is that possible? Not even the crappy boxed stuff or lame pre-packed ready meals? Of course I had to make him try it, and start with the best version possible - baptism by fire I say. My guy is a big time cheese lover, and emmental is one of his favourites so I added that to my recipe and it was a really good choice adding a slightly sharper edge to the rich creamy sauce.

Cooking roux / Finished white sauce

You could really use any cheese combination you like, but I wouldn't advise using any more mozzarella than I have here - I think if you upped the amount below it would be too stringy to mix thoroughly through the macaroni and onions. As you can see below my sauce was very elastic but still viscous enough to coat everything well. A sprinkling of parmesan over the top would add another layer of sharpness to cut through the cream.

Finished cheese sauce / Macaroni, onions and sauce mixed to perfection

Do try to get panko for the topping too, it really is far better than regular breadcrumbs and gives a beautiful crunch to the burnished exterior.

I really would not advise this as a regular meal, one serving probably contains a whole days worth of calories and fat and I don't want to be held responsible for the first death by cheese clogged artories...

Just going into the oven / Just out of the oven

Nancy's Best Macaroni and Cheese
Makes 8 servings - this can be halved or the leftovers can be frozen after they have cooled for up to 1 month

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large white onion, diced
5-6 sage leaves, torn in half
1 large garlic clove, cut in two
500ml milk
2 bay leaves
pinch of nutmeg
30g plain flour
pinch of salt
pinch of ground black pepper
250g grated mozzarella
250g grated mature cheddar
200g grated emmental
250g macaroni
2 cups panko (or regular) breadcrumbs

Method
Preheat the oven to 190 C / 375 F and butter either 2 medium or 1 large deep sided oven pan. Put these to one side out of your way.

Fry the diced onion, garlic halves and torn sage over medium heat until they are soft and caramelised. Remove the garlic halves and sage leaves and set aside - this can be done in advance and refrigerated if needed.

Warm the milk over low heat with the broken bay leaves and nutmeg until it comes to a simmer, then turn off the heat and remove the bay leaves . Melt the butter in another deep sided pan over medium heat and when it starts to bubble mix in the flour, salt and pepper, then cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the hot milk in 4 parts - it may seize up at first but keep whisking and when all the milk is added you should have a smooth sauce. Keep cooking this mixture, stirring often, until it bubbles and thickens - this should take around 10-12 minutes. While this is cooking put the pasta on to boil for aroudn 8 minutes - you want it to be al dente as it will soften more in the oven.

Take the pan off the heat and thoroughly mix in the cheeses, leaving a little of each to use as topping, and set aside. Drain your al dente macaroni and rinse it in cold water to get most the starch off. Add to the cheese sauce with the onions you cooked earlier and stir through so everything is well combined.

Pour into the buttered oven pan(s) and top with the remaining cheese and a good layer of panko breadcrumbs. Put into the oven and bake for 30-45 minutes until the tops are golden, bubbling and crispy. Serve alongside salad with a balsamic and olive oil dressing and eat your way to high calorie heaven.

Cheese and Broccoli Lunch Muffins

Pete and I are super bushed. We spent yesterday in Essex as I was getting more done to my back piece with Tiny Miss Becca. We had an awesome time despite the mega pain and the fact that no pain killers seemed to help me this time but the shop is so much fun the time flew by. Here is the gorgeous result of the five hours of ouchy...

So, needless to say, we needed a very yummy lunch today and warm, savoury muffins are a tasty and substantial lunch that are guaranteed to make you feel more alive from the inside out. Thankfully, they are also very easy to make so I was able to get these done in my zombie-like state without any bundles or mistakes!

These babies taste best at room temperature and you can make them taste even better with a good smear of butter or cream cheese. I promise, they have revival properties that will fix the nastiest of hangovers or in our case, cut through the epic tiredness of a busy week.

Cheese and Broccoli Lunch Muffins
Makes around 18 muffins if cooked in large cupcake cases

Ingredients
50g slightly salted butter
100g broccoli florets, small diced
50g button mushrooms - about 3 medium sized, small diced
50g white onion - about half a medium sized, small diced
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1.8tsp white pepper
good pinch of maldon salt
350g plain flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
250g cheddar or other hard cheese, grated
220ml milk and 1 large egg, whisked together

Method
Preheat the oven to 170 C / 325 F and line two muffin trays with 18 large cupcake or muffin cases.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and cook the chopped brocolli, mushrooms, onions, cayenne, white pepper and salt for around 5 minutes until they are cooked and the onion is translucent. Take off the heat and set aside to cool.

Put the flour, baking powder and cheese into a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon, slowly adding in the milk and egg - the mixture will be pretty stiff so it requires a bit of elbow grease! You'll feel better for it, honest.

Next mix in the slightly cooled cooked veggies until they are evenly distributed through the batter mixture.

Divide this mixture between the cake cases and bake for 30-35 minutes until the tops are golden and spring back when you poke them. If you insert a knife into the muffin, it should come out clean when cooked through.

Allow them to cool in the baking pans for 10 minutes, then remove and leave to cool to room temperature on wire racks.

Notes
You can use any mix of vegetables or types of cheese you fancy in this recipe, just keep the weights roughly the same. You could even throw in some chopped ham or other cold meat.

These are great for picnics and lunch boxes and you can even take them out with you for a breakfast on the go!

I think I'm going to try these with sun dried tomatoes, olives, basil and some parmesan next!

I had an order of my Hot Cocoa Cupcakes to make today too, here they are above being filled with milk chocolate ganache and below when they are finished with vanilla frosting, mini mallows and a nice drizzle of chocolate! If you microwave them the ganache centre melts as do the mallows and frosting on top - dreamy!

Sunday Dinner Cornbread

Cornbread makes me think of long summer days sitting in the garden drinking cider and snuffling because my hayfever has acted up and my nose is blocked with pollen. It may sound unpleasant, but I love those days - we don't get that many of them in the UK so you really have to make the most of our short lived and confusingly spontaneous 'heatwaves'.

I think it must be this lack of warm weather that makes me yearn for a life in the South (of America people, as attractive as it seems I don't wish to become a tractor driving, moonshine swilling farmers wife in Devon). I'm thinking of the South where I could have a lovely big wooden house with a wrap around porch and spend my days drinking iced tea and grilling shrimp by the Bayou while listening to Clutch.

In my opinion, second to gumbo, cornbread is the dish that sums up the Deep South for me. It is a very humble dish using few ingredients, all of which are simple and wholesome and turned into something special with delicious spices key to Southern cuisine. Although I cannot say that this recipe is traditional, it is my reworking of a recipe which I believe is fairly authentic, taken from 'The New Orleans Cookbook' by Rima and Richard Collin. I would highly recommend it having tried several recipes, all of them being delicious, especially the Creole Jambalaya, Stuffed Artichokes and Crabmeat Ravigotte. There are also some wonderful dessert and drink recipes which would be perfect for a barbecue.

I have also made this dish for vegetarian friends replacing the bacon with fried diced onions and peppers and cooking the bread in melted vegetable shortening rather than the fat from the meat. It is just as delicious!

Sunday Dinner Cornbread
Serves 6 or more as a side dish
Adapted from 'The New Orleans Cookbook' by Rima and Richard Collin

Ingredients
120g / 1 cup yellow corn meal
120g / 1 cup plain flour
1 tbsp sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground white pepper
1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 large egg
250ml / 1 cup milk
60g / 1/4 cup vegetable shortening at room temperature (Such as Trex)
175g / 1 1/4 cups sweetcorn kernels (I used tinned)

250g / about 2 cups smoked bacon, fried in 1 tbsp oil and cut into small pieces
250g / about 2 cups grated cheddar or other firm white cheese
3-4 tbsp of the fat leftover from frying the bacon

Method
Place any size deep baking tray half filled with water on the very bottom of your oven and preheat it to 220 C/ 425 F.

Fry the bacon in 1 tablespoon of oil until crisp, remove from the pan and leave to cool, pouring 3-4 tablespoons of the fat left from the frying into an 8" baking pan. Chop the bacon into small pieces and set aside.

Combine the cornmeal, plain flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, allspice, white pepper and cayenne pepper in a large mixing bowl. Next add the egg and milk, beating with a wooden spoon until smooth, then adding the vegetable shortening and mixing again.

When the mixture is thoroughly combined add the bacon, sweetcorn and all but one handful of the grated cheese, mix and then pour into the baking tray smoothing over the top. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and you should have something that looks like this...

Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a knife slid into the centre comes out clean with no raw batter on it. If the top looks ready before the centre is cooked just cover it in tin foil and continue cooking for a few more minutes until done.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool for ten minutes before cutting into generous pieces. Cornbread is best served warm but is also delicious cooled to room temperature.

Notes
The tray half filled with water in the bottom of the oven is an old fashioned trick that helps to crisp the top of baked goods like breads and it really does work!

You could make all manner of additions to this recipe with different vegetables or shredded meats. I think prawns would be lovely fried off with some red and green peppers and onions.

Cornmeal can now be found in most large supermarkets, mostly in the ethnic foods aisle or in Chinese supermarkets. It is basically a medium ground polenta you are looking for.

If you removed the bacon and sweetcorn leaving the recipe a little more plain, it would be lovely used as a topping or crust over a stew or chili - place the cooked stew in an oven proof dish, then spread the cornbread mixture over the top and bake until crisp and golden. Yum!!!