Category: Comforting

For the times when you need the edible equivalent of a hug.
Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

By | | Comments 0 Comment

During my time in Canada this summer I was surprised to find myself being more sociable than I’d ever been in my 19 years living in the UK. As my sister used to live out there she had loads of people to catch up with, and as all of them were so lovely and hospitable we were invited to more BBQs and picnics than I can count! It was so amazing to be in a culture where everyone is so welcoming. Maybe it’s because I’m English, or maybe it’s because I’m more specifically a Southerner, but until then I’d never experienced so many strangers being so hospitable and kind to me. A few plates of ribs, wings and chicken breasts and it felt like you were slipping into a community you were already apart of, sitting around with friends you’d known for years.

On the evening’s we were lucky enough to have a BBQ to go to we’d always take some food to add to the table, and being a keen baker it was often a dessert that I contributed. I made these particular bad boys to take to a BBQ at my sister’s old work friends Bonnie and Wanda’s house. They were super quick to make, really easy to transport and perfect for sharing as we could cut them up into as many pieces as we needed. For these I made my own caramel because I happened to have to ingredients for it lying around, but you could use a pre-made caramel to make these super easy!

Recipe

Makes 16 squares

Time: 20 minutes, plus cooking time

Ingredients

For the caramel

  • 125g Light brown sugar
  • 350ml Double cream
  • 50g Unsalted butter

For the cookie dough

  • 300g Plain flour
  • A pinch of salt
  • ½ tsp Bicarbonate of soda
  • 180g Unsalted butter, melted
  • 130g Light brown sugar
  • 100g Granulated sugar
  • 1 Large egg
  • 1 Large egg yolk
  • 2 tsp Vanilla extract
  • 100g Milk chocolate, chopped roughly
  • 100g Dark chocolate, chopped roughly

Method

  1. Begin by making the caramel. Put the butter, sugar and half the cream into a pan and bring to the boil whilst stirring. Leave to boil for 5 minutes, until starting to thicken and turning golden, and then take off the heat. Stir in the rest of the cream and set aside to cool until needed later.
  2. Preheat oven to 170˚C and then line an 19x19cm square tin with baking paper.
  3. In a bowl whisk together flour, salt and bicarb.
  4. In another bowl mix together the melted butter and the sugars. Then add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and beat until smooth.
  5. Slowly add dry ingredients, mixing as you do, and then the chopped chocolate. Mix together until combined.
  6. Divide the dough into two and put half the cookie dough in the lined tin. Smooth over with a spatula to make an even layer.
  7. Pour the cooled caramel over the cookie layer. Then spread the rest of the cookie dough over the top. (Spooning it on first can help here as the caramel will make it hard to spread out. If you can’t cover all the caramel don’t worry as they dough will spread itself out during baking).
  8. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown and the edges have started to crisp. Leave to cool and then cut into 16 bars.

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Peach Crumble Slices

Peach Crumble Slices

By | | Comments 0 Comment

Is it too ott to say that my favourite thing about autumn are the crumbles? I mean yeah the leaves and the wooly jumpers are great, but there’s something so intrinsically comforting and autumnal about a crumble. It’s like an edible hug that makes use of all the beautifully plump fruit getting ripe at this time of year, and at the same time warms you up at the end of a long day when you went outside dressed in shorts and a strapy top because it was sunny and you forgot that as of 1st September the world is cold. I normally make apple crumbles because I’m English and apples are everywhere at this time of year, however this year the peaches have been so plump and delicious that I’ve turned to making peach crumbles.

The one thing, in my opinion, that crumbles lack is the ability to be eaten on the move. They’re amazing but they can’t really be sliced up, popped into a pot and eaten with your packed lunch. That’s why these little crumble bars are a bit of a hallelujah moment! They’re easy to make, just as tasty as a regular crumble, and they can be cut into squares and taken anywhere. You can even spread some custard over the base before topping with the peaches and the crumble if you want the full shebang in a bar to go.

Recipes

Makes 9-12 Squares

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the crumble

  • 115g Unsalted butter
  • 225g Plain flour
  • 90g Rolled oats
  • 100g Caster sugar
  • 50g Light brown sugar
  • A pinch of salt
  • 1 Egg

For the filling

  • 2 Large peaches
  • 65g Caster sugar
  • 8g Cornflour
  • ¼ tsp Ground cinnamon

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C and then line a 20x20cm tin with butter and baking paper.
  2. Put the butter into a small pan and melt gently, then set to one side to cool.
  3. Put the flour, oats, sugars and salt into a bowl and mix together.
  4. Pour the butter into the dry ingredients, followed by the egg, and mix everything together until a crumbly dough forms.
  5. Put 2/3 of the dough into the lined tin and then press it down to make an even layer covering the bottom of the tin. Bake this layer in the oven for 10 minutes, until starting to harden.
  6. Meanwhile de-stone and peel the peaches. Then cut the peaches into thin slices.
  7. Put the peach slices, sugar, cornflour and cinnamon into a large bowl and mix together until fully combined.
  8. When the base has cooked, spread the peach mix out all over the base so that they form a layer. Then take the rest of the crumble mix and crumble it over the peaches so it covers as much as possible.
  9. Bake the slices in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the peaches are soft.
  10. Leave the traybake to cool a little before slicing it into 9 squares or 12 rectangles.

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Chilli Con Carne  

Chilli Con Carne  

By | | Comments 0 Comment

I’m a big believer in eating when and what you’re body tells you to eat. By that I don’t mean stuffing your face every time you feel peckish or get a craving, which admittedly I do a lot anyway, but I also don’t believe in not eating when you’re body’s telling you you need to. A few months ago I was craving peanuts. Now, I had never had much of an interest in peanuts before this time and so I basically took this as a sign that my body was in need of whatever nutrients peanuts are particularly rich in. I’m not a nutritionist so I’m not saying this is something anyone else should necessarily live by, but it works for me. So, bringing this back to topic, this week I’ve turned into a carnivore and have been really craving meat.

Unlike the rest of my family, I’m not normally a very meaty person. I used to be a vegetarian and as a result I often find myself slipping back into a veg-based diet. But this week I was in need of hard meat and so chilli con carne – the mothership of meat dishes – flew onto the menu pretty fast. Whilst I’m a food blogger and I a love trying new foods, I have to admit that I have the palette of a young child. I love gently spiced, relatively mild comfort food and anything with any oomph of chilli will blow my head off. Therefore I’ve spiced this ironically named chilli pretty gently, so if you’re cooking for kids or others with a palette like mine this will be perfect. If, however, you like your food hot you can add as much cayenne pepper as you like. I’d recommend adding another 1/2 tsp at a time once everything’s cooked, mixing it in and then tasting it. Don’t just triple the amount straight away as it might blow your head off and then you’re dinner will become a painful torture experience.

Recipe

Serves 6

Time: 20 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking

Ingredients

  • 1 White onion
  • 1 Clove of garlic
  • 1 tbsp Sunflower oil
  • 2 Medium sized carrots
  • 1 Red pepper
  • ½ tsp Smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp Cayenne pepper
  • ½ tsp Medium curry powder
  • 500g Minced beef
  • 400g Chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp Tomato puree
  • 1 Beef stock cube
  • 400g Kidney beans
  • Rice and salad to serve (optional)

Method

  1. Begin by peeling and then finely chopping the onion and garlic. Put the oil into a large pan and put over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and garlic and fry gently until caramelised.
  2. Peel and dice the carrot and then de-seed and dice the red pepper. Add the vegetables to the pan and fry for another 2-3 minutes to soften.
  3. Add the mince to the pan and fry for 5-10 minutes until the meat is browned all over. Break up the meat with a wooden spoon as you stir the mixture.
  4. Add the paprika, cayenne pepper and curry powder and fry for another 2-3 minutes to cook off the spices.
  5. Then add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, stock cube and 150ml boiling water to the pan. Stir to combine and then leave to simmer for 10 minutes, until the sauce has reduced and the carrots are no longer crunchy.
  6. Drain the kidney beans through a sieve and rinse under cold water. Then add them to the chilli and stir them through. Season with lots of salt and pepper and leave to simmer for another 10 minutes.
  7. Serve the chilli with rice and fresh salad!

 

Why not try…

Adding a little dark chocolate to the top of the chilli. It sounds weird, but is actually becoming a pretty common addition to chilli. It’ll add a delicious bitter, roasted flavour to the dish!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
French Toast with Maple Syrup and Summer Berry Compote

French Toast with Maple Syrup and Summer Berry Compote

By | | Comments 0 Comment

With term over now I’m getting into full holiday mode, and a big part of that requires making breakfast at midday in m’ PJs, dancing crazily round the kitchen to Panic at the Disco. Pancakes would probably be my go-to brunch dish, but I’ve made a lot of them recently so I thought I’d branch out. There’s a tonne of different names for this, but whether you call it egg bread, gypsy toast or French toast, it all tastes insane. For those of you who’re as unfamiliar with French toast as I was about a week ago I’ll explain what it is. Basically you take some bread, or brioche in my case because the concept of dieting has flown from my mind, then you soak it in a gently spiced egg/milk mixture, before frying it in a pan with some butter to get a beautifully crispy, spongy piece of bread. You can then serve it with a good drizzle of maple syrup and some stewed red fruits to make an irresistible, comforting brunch dish.

The egg/milk mixture you soak the bread in isn’t sweetened, so you could easily make this into a savoury breakfast if that’s more your thing. To do this use some thick white bread instead of the brioche and don’t add the spices to the milk mix. Then top it all off with bacon and maple syrup, cheese and tomatoes, or scrambled egg!

Recipe

Serves 4

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 Large eggs
  • 120ml Milk
  • 1 tsp Vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp Ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp Ground ginger
  • 4 Thick slices of brioche
  • 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp Butter
  • 2 tbsp Maple syrup
  • Fresh berries to serve

For the compote

  • 100g Mixed frozen berries (e.g strawberries, blackberries and raspberries)
  • 1 tbsp Lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp Caster sugar

Method

  1. Whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and ginger.
  2. Cut the brioche slices in half to make triangles, then lay them out in a single layer in a shallow dish. Then pour the milk mixture over them and leave to soak for 5 minutes, turning the slices over half way through.
  3. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil and butter in a non-stick frying pan until melted and bubbling.
  4. Carefully pick up two of the bread slices and fry in the pan for 3 minutes on each side till golden and crisp. Repeat with the rest of the bread.
  5. Serve with the berry compote, a drizzle of maple syrup and some fresh berries!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Cauliflower Cheese Fish Pie

Cauliflower Cheese Fish Pie

By | | Comments 0 Comment

Recently my family have been really enjoying these supermarket cod fishcakes with a oozy cheddar centre. I’d never of thought of putting cheese and fish together, but like this it works insanely well. So, inspired by this as always, I decided to do something fishy on the blog. Then the other day we had cauliflower cheese for dinner as it’s my Dad’s favourite, and we ended up with a big tub of it leftover in the fridge. It then occurred to me that most fish pies have a white sauce base with vegetables and fish mixed in, kinda like the fishcakes we like. So rather than go to all the effort of re-making a cheese sauce for a new fish dish I just mixed a bit of cod into the cauliflower cheese, then added bit more veg, whopped some mash on the top and bunged it in the oven. Hey presto, quick, tasty cauliflower cheese fish pie!

So this is great if you have leftover cauliflower cheese, but I’m also aware that it’s not a staple food in everyone’s home, and in order to make it in the first place you’re gonna need a recipe. Therefore the recipe below starts from scratch with making the cheese sauce and prepping the cauliflower, so you could make this as a thing without the need to make it from leftovers. You could also add prawns or a more oily fish like salmon if you want a bit more fish variety in there, but I’ve gone for just cod as it’s pretty easy to cook in a pie and pairs really well with the cheesy sauce.

Recipe

Serves 8

Time: 45 minutes (plus cooking time)

Ingredients

  • 1kg Potatoes, peeled and halved
  • 25g Butter
  • 20ml Milk

For the filling

  • 25g Butter
  • 25g Plain flour
  • 400ml Milk
  • 400g Cod
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 100g Frozen peas
  • ½ Cauliflower
  • A handful of grated cheddar

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C.
  2. Fill a pan with water and bring to the boil. Add the peeled potatoes and boil until soft and starting to flake.
  3. Drain them and then mash them. Add the milk, butter and some salt and pepper to season, and then mix until fully combined. Set aside for later.
  4. Now make the sauce. In another pan put the butter and leave to melt. Add the flour and mix until a paste forms. Then keep stirring the paste for 1-2 minutes to cook the flour.
  5. Then slowly add the milk, whisking constantly, until a smooth sauce forms. Continue to heat whilst whisking for 3-4 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken.
  6. Take the mixture off the heat and stir in the cod, mustard, peas, cauliflower and half the cheese. Spoon the mixture into an oven-proof dish. Top with the mash potato and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.
  7. Put the pie into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the topping starts to brown. Serve warm with a side salad!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x