Soy and Chilli Carrot Soup
31 May 2011 Leave a Comment
in Meals, Recipes, Soup Tags: easy, lunch, recipe, student meal, vegetables, vegetarian
A nice, basic carrot soup. The soy and chilli flakes give it a bit of a kick and make it interesting.
Paella
27 May 2011 Leave a Comment
in Fish, Meals, Meat Tags: cooking, dinner, meal, recipe, rice
Just the ticket to make use of prawns which are often on the reduced pile at your local supermarket. Can be frozen after you’ve made it, just need to make sure you reheat the rice carefully. Takes a while to make as all rice-y risotto dishes do, but the taste makes it worth it! It’s the sort of recipe you can adapt, adding in different meats and spices depending on what you fancy.
Chocolate and Treacle Cake
24 May 2011 Leave a Comment
in Cake, Recipes Tags: afternoon tea, baking, birthday, cake, chocolate, icing, recipe
Plain chocolate cake all the time can get a bit boring. And sometimes there’s treacle begging to be used, and you want to try something new. If this sounds familiar, here’s a yummy cake for you. As long as you like treacle, naturally.
Sunflower Oil Oaty Chocolate Chip Cookies
20 May 2011 1 Comment
in Cookies, Recipes Tags: afternoon tea, baking, chocolate, cookies, recipe
For those days when the butter is gone, or you feel like a substantially oaty snack, or you just feel like making a quick batch of cookies. Actually, I think I might whip some up now*…
*Not actually now, as I’m in an exam (LAST EXAM FOR 6 MONTHS 
[hopefully]). I’m not really here, you see. This is me-as-of-6 days ago, speaking to you… I hope I’ve not died in the meantime; that could be a bit awkward. Anyhoo, you get the picture. Quick and easy and I think I’ll make them some time soon in my endeavours to use up stuff in the kitchen before I say sayonara to my lovely flat and migrate South-East** for the summer.
**Nowhere exotic, just the other side of Glasgow. More
Spicy Minced Beef
18 May 2011 Leave a Comment
in Meals, Recipes Tags: dinner, meal, mince, recipe, student meal, student meals
Not really spicy in the slightest, but that’s what my mum calls it and who am I to quibble? The peas and turmeric work really well, and the lentils thicken it nicely.
Salted Fudge Brownies
16 May 2011 4 Comments
in Desserts, Recipes, Traybakes Tags: afternoon tea, baking, brownies, chocolate, recipe
Also known as the best brownies ever, these are just the right stage of fudgy goodness, don’t require too much chocolate, and are easily customisable with a handful of raspberries (delicious), and/or white or milk chocolate chips. Very good. The Quest for the Perfect Brownie has definitely been won. Either eat cold, or heat up and serve with some whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream.
Strawberry Jam
13 May 2011 Leave a Comment
in Miscellaneous, Recipes Tags: fruit, jam, recipe, strawberries
It is a fact of life that some things (ok, most) are better when you make them yourself… or when a sufficiently adept cook / seamstress / jewellerymaker / carpenter of your acquaintance does. This fact is especially true of jam, and if ever you come across some excess strawberries, this jam is a lovely way to make use of them rather than gorging yourself until you never want to see a strawberry ever again.
Sticky Toffee Pudding
11 May 2011 3 Comments
in Desserts, Recipes Tags: baking, dessert, recipe
Your most basically British dessert… delicious This is quite an easy recipe that includes ingredients commonly found in your store cupboard as a matter of course (and if you’ve not got ‘em, stock up!) rather than the dates and cream often called for. Serve on its own or with some ice-cream.
Citrus Rainbow Cake
09 May 2011 2 Comments
in Cake, Desserts, Recipes Tags: baking, birthday, cake, fruit, recipe
That’s right… Cake! That’s not chocolate! Quite controversial, I’ll concede, but sometimes (rarely) it’s nice to have a bit of a change. The beauty of this adaptation of a basic sponge recipe is that you can chuck in as many flavours as you like – I had lime, lemon, orange, and then raspberry middle icing; none were very strong, as I just used juice rather than pulp or flavouring oil, but it gave it a nice light flavour. Plus, it’s fun to have a lovely white cake with all those colours hidden within.
On a side note, I may have just spent £10 on getting new icing pastes after hearing rave reviews of how strong they were and how little is needed for a vivid colour… they certainly were (I can’t really say “worth it”), but very, very good! And I suppose for 5 of them, that wasn’t too bad a price.
[Scottish] Tablet
03 May 2011 2 Comments
in Miscellaneous, Recipes Tags: baking, confectionary, recipe, sweet
Takes ages… requires a lot of work… tricky to get right… but tastes so good that it’s worth every bit of effort! If you’re not Scottish and don’t have a clue what this is, it tastes a tiny bit like crumbly, hard fudge. But better.
