Category: Comforting

For the times when you need the edible equivalent of a hug.
Irish Stew with Dumplings

Irish Stew with Dumplings

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One day I’ll stop doing a themed dish for every post, but today’s not that day. Apparently it’s St Patrick’s day on Saturday so it’s time to start digging out the shamrocks and leprechauns to celebrate. Alongside that a good lamb and potato stew should definitely be on the menu. This one is full of nourishing veg and tender lamb shoulder, which goes really well with the light herby dumplings and warming broth to make a hearty meal all in one pot!

Stews also always taste better a few days after they’re made, so you can make this up to two days in advance without the dumplings, leave it in the fridge and then carry on the recipe from step 7 when you need it.

Recipe

Serves 6

Time: 30 minutes prep, 2 hours cooking

Ingredients

For the Stew

  • 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
  • 1 White onion, roughly chopped
  • 450g Lamb shoulder pieces
  • 2 Large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
  • 1 Leek, Finely sliced
  • 2 Large carrots, peeled an roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp Plain flour
  • 750ml Beef stock
  • Salt and pepper to season

For the Dumplings

  • 150g Butter
  • 250g Self-raising flour
  • 2 tbsp Chopped mixed herbs

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C.
  2. Put the oil into a large frying pan and put over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and fry gently until it starts to caramelise. Tip this into an oven-proof casserole dish.
  3. Add the lamb pieces to the pan you cooked the onions in and fry until the pieces have browned all over. Season the meat and then add the lamb to the dish with the onions.
  4. Cover the lamb and onions with the chopped potatoes, leeks and carrots, and then mix it all together.
  5. Add the flour to the pan you cooked the lamb in and cook it on a gentle heat for about 3 minutes so it soaks up all the juices. Then slowly add the beef stock whilst stirring until you have a smooth, lump-free sauce.
  6. Pour this sauce over the meat and vegetables. Cover the casserole with a lid and then put it into the oven to cook for 90 minutes. Check on this several times to make sure the sauce hasn’t reduced too much, if the meat or vegetables are exposed cover with more water.
  7. Now make the dumplings. Put the butter and flour into a large bowl. Using a knife cut the butter into little pieces in the flour, and then go in with you fingers and rub the butter into the flours to make a mixture like breadcrumbs.
  8. Stir in the herbs, salt and pepper to season. Pour in 150ml water and stir with a round bladed knife to form a dough. Flour your hands and roll the dough into small balls.
  9. Put the dumplings around the edge of the stew and put back into the oven uncovered to bake for another 25-30 minutes.
  10. Serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie

Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie

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My bakes never last very long in my house. Leave something on the kitchen table and it seems to disappear within a day or two, and this cinnamon roll apple pie is no exception! This style of pie crust is becoming a bit of a food trend, flooding every kind of social media. My sister knows I’m a big fan of cinnamon rolls and apple pie so I first saw the idea when my she tagged me in a post on it, and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to make my own!

Instead of making (or buying) a dough for the crust – as you would if you were making cinnamon rolls – I’m using a shop-bought shortcrust here for two reasons, 1) it’s more sturdy and therefore a better container for the apple filling, and 2) it’s a lot quicker and easier to work with, and will therefore help you get a tight roll which should make the pie more aesthetically appealing. This also means that it’s not too tricky or time consuming to make, so if you want to make something that looks cool but doesn’t require too much culinary nous this is a good one to try.

I was experimenting on this one a bit which is why it doesn’t look very neat, but I’ve now worked out how to make it look better. Originally I tried to roll the little rolls together into one sheet (as above) but this didn’t work as the individual rolls didn’t fuse together. Therefore I’d recommend doing what I ended up doing next – roll each little roll out to the thickness you want it to be (about 1/2 the thickness of a pound coin) and then line the tin with these flat discs, overlapping and pressing adjacent rolls together so they fuse when cooking and so there’s no gaps. That said though, even if it doesn’t look completely neat it’s guaranteed to taste good so don’t worry!

Recipe

Serves 8

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

For the crust

  • 2 tbsp Ground cinnamon
  • 80g Light brown sugar
  • 2 packs of ready rolled shortcrust pastry (I used Jus-Rol)
  • 60g Butter
  • Flour for dusting
  • 1 Egg, beaten

For the filling

  • 6 Medium sized Bramley apples
  • 140g Caster sugar
  • ½ tsp Ground cinnamon
  • 3 tbsp Flour

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C.
  2. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and set to one side. Lay out the pastry on your surface. Spread over the butter and then sprinkle over the cinnamon sugar mix so that it covers the whole sheet of pastry in an even layer.
  3. Roll the pastry up from the short end, like a swiss roll, to make a tightly rolled log. Wrap the roll in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile begin to prep the filling. Peel, core and slice the apples and then wrap them in layers of kitchen roll and set to one side, (this will help to take some of the moisture out of the fruit so you don’t end up with soggy bottom pastry).
  5. Put the sugar, cinnamon and flour for the filling into a bowl, mix and set aside for later.
  6. Take the pastry out of the fridge and put it onto a chopping board. Take a sharp knife and slice the roll into discs about the thickness of a pound coin.
  7. Lightly flour a surface. Then take one of the discs and use a rolling pin to flatten it into a thinner disc, about half the thickness it was before. Repeat with 2/3 of the discs.
  8. Take these discs and line the tin with them, starting from the centre of the base and working up the sides of the tin until you have a little overhang. Press the discs together so that they fuse and there’s no gaps.
  9. Put the apples into the bowl of sugar, cinnamon and flour. Mix everything together and then tip this into the pie case.
  10. Cover your work surface with a sheet of clingfilm and arrange the rest of the pastry rolls on it in a round shape, making sure they’re close together. Cover these with another layer of clingfilm (this will make it easier to work with them) and then roll over them with a rolling pin to merge them into a single sheet. You want this sheet to be about 1 cm wider than the pie tin do that it comes into contact with the overhanging pastry.
  11. Brush the edge of the pie with a little water. Then take off one of the layers of clingfilm and flip the pastry sheet onto the top of the pie. Then take the other sheet of clingfilm off the pastry sheet.
  12. Take a knife and use it at a 45˚ angle to cut off the extra pastry around the edge. Then crimp the edge of the pie to seal everything by pinching the pastry between your thumb and first finger on one hand and your first finger on the other.
  13. Brush the top of the pie with the beaten egg to glaze and then bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and crisp.
  14. Leave to cool slightly before serving with cream, custard or ice cream!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake

Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake

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I’m heading towards the end of another term at art school and this one has just flown by. Having the time this year to paint, draw and bake as and when I want is a great experience and it’s sad to think I only have a few more months of it left, not to mention the incredible people I’m going to be leaving behind. Next year I’m going on to Uni and the proper student ‘living on a budget and working in a tiny kitchen’ experience that comes with it. When I get there I won’t have the money, time, or equipment to be knocking up a four tiered celebration cake each week (unfortunately) so I thought I’d start developing some quick, student-friendly meals to get me into the spirit of it all.

From what my friends have been telling me pasta is the main staple food for most students, and so a pasta bake was the first thing that came to mind when I thought of student cooking. Stuffed with cheap vegetables and meat, this pasta bake is a really easy, nutritionally sound meal to indulge on. It’s also easily adaptable for any dietary requirements, and can be frozen, so if you make too much just whop the rest in the freezer for another day. I find that a big bowl of cheesy pasta is sometimes all I need to get through a horrible essay, and this will defo do the job!

Recipe

Serves 6

Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 350g Pasta
  • 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
  • 3 Chicken thigh fillets
  • 8 Bacon rashers
  • 1 White onion
  • 1 Yellow pepper
  • 1 Red pepper
  • 2 Garlic cloves
  • 1 tbsp Tomato puree
  • 1/2 tsp Mixed herbs
  • 800g Chopped tomatoes
  • 100ml Single cream
  • 2 Handfuls of baby spinach
  • 150g Grated cheddar
  • 1 Ball of mozerella
  • 1 Handful fo Basil

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C.
  2. Boil a pan of water over a high heat. Add the pasta and boil until it’s just cooked, but still has a bite. Leave to sit in the water until needed.
  3. Next pour the oil into a large saucepan and put over a medium heat. Cut the chicken into chunks with kitchen scissors and fry in the oil until it’s cooked on all sides. Take the chicken out of the pan and leave on a plate for now.
  4. Then put the grill on full heat and cook the bacon under it. Cook the bacon until it’s nice and crispy, turning it over half way through cooking.
  5. Peel and finely chop the onion and then add it to the pan you cooked the chicken in. Fry the onion until it begins to caramelise.
  6. Meanwhile deseed and chop the pepper, and then chop the garlic. Add these two the pan with the onion and fry for another 2-3 minutes.
  7. Add the tomato puree, herbs, chopped tomatoes, and the cooked chicken to the pan and leave to simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce starts to reduce.
  8. Add the cream and spinach to the pan, mix to combine, and then set to one side. Drain the pasta from the water and then add the pasta to the pan with the tomatoes. Stir everything together and then tip it all into a large oven proof dish.
  9. Sprinkle over the grated cheddar. Then tear the mozzarella into chunks and place this over the top of the pasta bake.
  10. Put the dish in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and then serve with garlic bread and a side salad!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Spiced Plum Creme Brulee

Spiced Plum Creme Brulee

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It’s the middle of the week and so here’s a little comfort food recipe to brighten the day. Call me pretentious, but whatever the weather I can never say no to a well made crème brulee. For me a sweet set custard with a crunchy caramel top is heaven in a ramekin. So, as always when making my own recipe, I’ve decided to take the classic and customise it a bit.

Since I was little fresh fruit and custard has been a staple comfort food dessert. Chop up some bananas/peaches/plums, whop a bit of custard on them and I’m happy. So it makes sense that when some spiced plums are popped into the bottom of a ramekin and then toped with custard and baked, it creates a stunningly tasty pot of goodness that brings back memories of sitting on the sofa with the flu, wrapped in a blanket and watching Disney.

(Note: If you don’t have a blowtorch you can caramelise the sugar under the grill. Be careful with this though as it can burn very easily (as I’ve done a bit in these ones))

Recipe

Serves 5

Time: 30 minutes prep time, 40 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

  • 4 Plums
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp Ginger
  • 350ml Double cream
  • 1 tbsp Vanilla bean paste
  • 70g Caster sugar
  • 4 Egg yolks

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 150˚C.
  2. Begin by preparing the plums. Cut the plums in half and remove the stones. Then cut them into eighths. Pat the segments down with kitchen roll to remove any excess moisture, (this is important as too much moisture from the plums will cause the custard to split).
  3. Then put the segments into a bowl and sprinkle over the cinnamon and ginger. Stir around in the bowl to coat in the spices and then leave to one side for now.
  4. Put the cream and vanilla into a saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Then reduce the heat and simmer for a couple more minutes.
  5. Take a heatproof bowl and put the sugar and egg yolks into it. The whisk them until pale and fluffy (I use a hand whisk, but an electric whisk can also be used here).
  6. Pour the cream slowly over the egg mixture, whisking continuously as you do so until it’s all incorporated.
  7. Put a sieve over a jug and strain the mixture through it.
  8. Share the plums out between 5 ramekins, making a little layer of them in the bottom of each ramekin.
  9. Pour the crème brulee mix over the top so that it comes 2/3 up the sides of the ramekins.
  10. Take a large roasting tin and put the crème brulees into it. Rest this on the middle oven shelf and then pour hot water into the tin so it comes ½ way up the sides of the ramekins.
  11. Push the tin fully into the oven, cover with a baking tray, leaving a gap at one side of the tin to allow steam to escape, and bake for 40-45 minutes. You want them to be mostly set with a little wobble in the middle.
  12. Take the tin out of the oven and remove the ramekins from the water to chill.
  13. You can keep these cooled, set custards in the fridge for up to 3 days, until needed.
  14. When ready to serve sprinkle 1tsp of caster sugar over the each crème brulee. Then take a blowtorch (or put under the grill) and heat lightly to caramelise.
  15. Leave the caramel to set slightly before serving!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Salted Caramel, Raspberry + Chocolate Brownie Pudding

Salted Caramel, Raspberry + Chocolate Brownie Pudding

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When I was younger my favourite dessert was chocolate sponge with custard, and this is a bit of a deluxe adaption on that warming comfort food classic. As usual I’ve gone a bit over the top on the indulgence, but it’s totally worth it. Fudgy chocolate brownie, with a salted caramel sauce underneath, and topped with fruity bursts of raspberries is the ultimate comforting pudding.

For the keen beans out there you’ll also notice that the brownie mix is pretty similar, ney identical to that in my Mississippi mud pie recipe. The is because I’m a) short on time this week and b) it works so well in this that it made sense to rework it into this recipe. So if by chance you made and enjoyed my Mississippi mud pie you’ll probably like this to!

(Note: It’s pretty rich, so a smallish tray will feed more people than you think!)

Recipe

Serves 10

Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 160g Butter
  • 220g Dark chocolate
  • 3 Medium eggs
  • 210g Caster sugar
  • 40g Plain flour
  • 100g White chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 6 tsp Salted caramel (Homemade or shop bought)
  • 100g Raspberries
  • Cream to serve

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a glass, 30x20cm oven-proof dish with butter and set aside for later.
  2. Now make the brownie mix. Put the butter and chocolate into a bowl over a pan of simmering water and leave to melt.
  3. Take another bowl and whisk the eggs until pale and fluffy with an electric whisk. Add the sugar and continue to whisk until it leaves a trail when the whisk is taken out.
  4. Fold the chocolate into the eggs, sieve in the flour and add the chopped white chocolate. Fold everything again until combined.
  5. Take the caramel sauce and pour it over the base of your greased dish. Pour the brownie mix over the top and spread over evenly. Finally sprinkle over the raspberries and push them into the batter slightly.
  6. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the brownie is just cooked. Don’t leave it in the oven for too long, you want it to be gooey and soft in the middle.
  7. Serve with fresh rapberries and cream!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x