Green tomato and jalapeño jam

The growing season is about done now so we decided to clear out the greenhouse. There were still loads of tomatoes in there so we picked everything and ended up with just over 2kg of green tomatoes. This jam is sweet, sour and spicy all at once and is great in a sandwich or with meat.

Ingredients

450g green tomatoes, chopped

450g sugar

4 garlic cloves, crushed

4 jalapeños, seeded and chopped

1 tsp lazy ginger

110ml cider vinegar

2 tbsp soy sauce

* put all the ingredients in a large pan, bring to the boil and then simmer for around 15 minutes or until the jam is thickened

* pour the jam into sterilised jars

Frying Pan Pizza

When my daughter makes pizza she does it properly with yeast, and kneading, and proving. Sometimes thoug you just need pizza in a hurry and this is a great way to get it. In theory it should serve 2 but I was really hungry so I ate the whole thing!

Ingredients (serves 2)

210g self raising flour

2 tbsp olive oil

Water

* put the flour in a bowl, add the olive oil and enough cold water to mix to a stiff but not sticky dough. I needed about 6 tbsp

* tip the dough onto a floured surface and roll to a circle the size of your frying pan

* heat a little oil in the frying pan and cook the pizza dough for around 5 minutes or until it is golden brown underneath.

* flip the base over and cook the other side whilst assembling the toppings. I spread the base with red pesto the added anchovies, onions, mushrooms and grated cheese.

* once the underside of the base is cooked, put the pizza under the grill to melt the cheese and cook the toppings

Chocolate Mug Cake

Sometimes you just need cake - fast!

This single serving cake is ready to eat in less than 5 minutes and is really simple.

Ingredients

4 tbsp self raising flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder

3 tbsp caster sugar

3 tbsp milk

3 tbsp sunflower oil

* in a regular sized coffee mug, mix all the ingredients together thoroughly. Take special care to incorporate all the flour that might be sitting at the bottom

* microwave on full power for1 minute 45 (700W)

* eat! A spoon might be useful

If you want to be fancy you could also add chocolate chips or top with cream. I like mini marshmallows in mine

Cheesy runner bean cakes

I got the idea for this from Pinterest. The original used broccoli and was a suggestion to get kids to eat their veggies. I'm quite happy to eat my veg and I don't have any broccoli right now but I do have plenty of runner beans in the garden so I thought this might make a nice simple lunch.

Ingredients (serves 1)

6 runner beans, chopped and lightly steamed

1 slice brown bread, blitzed or grated into crumbs

1 egg, beaten

15g grated cheese

Salt and pepper

* heat the oven to 190C

* mix all the ingredients together in a bowl

* shape into 4 cakes and place on a greased baking tray

* bake for around 20 minutes, turning over half way through

I just ate them on their own with some Caesar salad dressing.

Piccalilli

All the veggies I used in this recipe came from our garden and I'm really pleased with the result.

Ingredients (makes 3 or 4 jars)

500g vegetables, washed and peeled - I used onion, cauliflower, French beans, cucumber and carrot
25g salt
15g cornflour
5g ground turmeric
5g English mustard powder
7g mustard seeds
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
300ml cider vinegar
75g sugar
25g honey

* cut the veggies into equal bite-sized pieces. Put into a bowl, sprinkle over the salt and mix well. Cover with a cloth and leave for 24 hours then rinse and drain well

* put the cornflour and spices into a small bowl and mix to a paste with a bit of the vinegar
* put the rest of the vinegar in a pan with the honey and sugar and bring to the boil.
* pour some of the hot vinegar onto the spice mixture and mix well then add back to the pan and bring to the boil.
* cook the sauce for 3 or 4 minutes or until thick
* take the pan off the heat and mix in the vegetables, then put into sterilised jars and seal. Tastes best if left for a few weeks, but we had some the next day and it was really good.

Pickled Jalapeños

Our first year of growing our own food is going very well and the jalapeños are looking great, so I decided to try my hand at preserving some. Good on nachos or burgers, or chopped up in chillies etc.

Ingredients (1 jar)
4 large jalapeños, sliced into rings
70ml white wine vinegar
70ml water
1/4 tsp salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled
6 black peppercorns
1 washed jam jar

* warm the jam jar in the oven
* put the vinegar and water in a pan and heat, but don't allow to boil
* pack the sliced peppers into the jar with the garlic and peppercorns and pour over the hot vinegar then add the salt and seal the jar.

Tofu Red Curry

I turn 40 at the end of this week and about a year ago I drew up a list of 40 things that I wanted to do before I wave goodbye to my 30s. Some were new experiences and others were things I wanted to achieve. I love food, so there were a few eating and cooking tasks on the list, of which one was 'make tofu taste like food'. I've only cooked with tofu once or twice and it's been not great but I gave it another go and was actually very pleased with the results.

I think the key is to have patience when it comes to pressing the tofu before cooking. It makes the tofu former and less likely to disintegrate in the pan.

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 pack cauldron tofu

1 onion, sliced

1 tin coconut milk

4 tbsp Thai red curry paste

2 tbsp oil

Salt/pepper

Any other veg you fancy

* take the tofu out of the packet and drain off the liquid. Wrap the tofu loosely in several layers of kitchen towel, sandwich between 2 chopping boards or similar and weigh down with a couple of heavy cookbooks. Leave of at least 15 minutes

* unwrap the tofu and cut into strips or cubes. Season

* heat the oil in a large pan and fry the tofu in batches making sure it is fairly crispy on all sides

* add the onion and any other veg (I used some sliced green beans) and curry paste and fry for a few more minutes before adding the coconut milk

* simmer for 15-20 minutes and serve with rice

Pearl barley with sardines

This was a bit of an experiment loosely based on a recipe I saw somewhere which called for mackerel. Didn't have any mackerel, but I did have a tin of sardines.

Ingredients (serves 1)

80g pearl barley
1/2 onion, diced
Tin of sardines (mine were in tomato sauce, but I rinsed them)
1 egg
1/2 veg stock cube

* make up the stock cube with 400ml water
* fry the onion for a couple of minutes, then add the barley and stock
* simmer gently for around 35 minutes or until the barley is soft and the stock has mostly been absorbed
* meanwhile, hard boil the egg and if necessary rinse and halve the sardines

Eat!

I 

Tuna with spicy chilli noodles

I fancied something totally different after all the heavy Christmas food and this really hit the spot!

Ingredients (serves 1)
1 tuna steak
1 nest fine egg noodles
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp lazy ginger, finely chopped
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp mirin
1/8 tsp lazy red chilli

* mix together all the ingredients except the noodles and tuna to form a dressing
* cook the noodles and drain
* cook the tuna in a griddle pan for a couple of minutes per side
* mix the noodles with the dressing and serve with the tuna on top

Butternut Squash Chilli

More or less my usual chilli recipe, but I had a butternut squash lurking in the fridge so I thought I'd try using it instead of meat.

Ingredients (serves 4)
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 red onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin beans in chilli sauce
1/2 tsp each of paprika, thyme, coriander, worcestershire sauce, lazy red chilli
1/2 tsp sunflower oil

* fry the onion, garlic and squash in the oil for a few minutes
* chuck in the tinned tomatoes and beans, and the seasonings
* simmer for 45 minutes or until the squash is nice and soft
* serve with rice

Nutritional information
Calories: 133, Fat: 1.2g, Carbs: 23.1g, Protein: 6.9g

Apple and cinnamon jam

Totally experimental this one. I had more apples than I was ever going to eat and I'm just getting into making preserves, so I decided to give it a go.

Ingredients
600g apple, peeled cored and chopped
250g caster sugar
50g brown sugar
1tsp ground cinnamon
200ml water
1 sachet pectin

* chuck all the ingredients into a large pan
* bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for around an hour
* pour into sterilised jars

Cherry and Blackberry Clafoutis

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 tin black cherries, drained and stoned
100g blackberries
80g sugar
2 large eggs
90g flour
150ml milk
Vanilla extract

* lightly butter a shallow 20cm dish and sprinkle with 1tbsp sugar
* tip the cherries and blackberries into the dish
* beat the remaining ingredients together to form a batter
* pour the batter over the fruit and bake for 35 minutes at 180C
* serve warm and dusted with icing sugar

Blackberry and Apple Chutney

The allotment is still yielding plenty of blackberries, and there's only so many pies and cakes I can eat so I decided to make my first foray into the realms of chutney. I got 6 jars of various sizes out of this batch, which will make great gifts this Christmas.

Ingredients
3 bramley apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks
3 eating apples, peeled, cored and cut into small chunks
1 large red onion, chopped
1/2 tsp crushed black peppercorns
1/2 tsp chopped red chillies
25g fresh ginger, finely chopped
220g sugar
150ml white wine vinegar
400g blackberries

* first prepare the jars. Wash them in hot soapy water then place in a roasting tin and put in the oven at 100C to dry out for an hour, or as long as it takes to make the chutney
* put all the ingredients except the blackberries in a big pan and heat whilst stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for half an hour or until the apples and onions have softened and the liquid has reduced and stopped being watery.
* add the blackberries and cook for another 10 minutes so the blackberries soften but still hold their shape
* spoon the chutney into the hot jars and screw the lads on tightly
* store in a cool dark place and refrigerate once opened

Blackberry Vodka

The allotment/field is still yielding plenty of blackberries and there's only so many pies you can eat so I decided to try making something to give as gifts this coming Christmas.

Ingredients
1 bottle of cheap vodka
100g caster sugar
Lots of blackberries

* pour out around a quarter of the vodka and save to drink later
* tip the sugar into the bottle and shake to mix
* add blackberries to the bottle until full
* shake well and store for a few months, shaking occasionally

In December I plan to filter out the blackberries and decant into nice bottles. I might add a bit more sugar if it doesn't seem sweet enough. It's a bit experimental!

Lemon Curd Cupcakes

I got a Hummingbird Bakery cookery book for my birthday, and this recipe is my version of their cupcake recipes

Ingredients (makes 20)

For the cake:
70g unsalted butter, softened
210g plain flour, sifted
250g caster sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
210ml milk
2 eggs
Zest of 1 lemon

For the icing:
250g icing sugar, sifted
160g unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp milk
2 tsp lemon juice

Approx 60g lemon curd for filling

* heat oven to 170C
* put the flour, butter, sugar, baking powder and lemon zest in a big bowl and beat together with an electric mixer until the mixture looks like crumbs
* mix the eggs and milk together, then slowly beat into the flour mixture until it is smooth and free of lumps
* spoon the batter into muffin cases. I use my smallest measuring cup to portion out the mix so the cakes are all evenly sized
* bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown and springy to touch
* leave on a wire rack until completely cool
* put the icing ingredients into a big bowl and whisk together with an electric mixer until well combined, light and fluffy
* with a sharp knife, cut a hole in the top of each cake. Fill the hole with a couple of grammes of lemon curd then replace the plug of cake to seal the hole
* top each cake with the icing

Paprika Chicken and Chickpeas

Ingredients (serves 2)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 chicken breast fillets
1 tin chickpeas, drained
120g baby plum tomatoes

* heat the oven to 180C
* mix together the oil, garlic, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper
* put the chicken in an ovenproof dish and rub 1 tbsp of the oil over them
* put the chickpeas and tomatoes in a bowl, add the rest of the oil mixture and mix together
* pour the chickpeas and tomatoes all around the chicken and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through, but still moist

Nutritional info
Cal: 470, Fat: 11.9g, Carbs: 23.7g, Protein: 48.1g

Blackberry and Apple Pie

My husband and I have decided to start a vegetable plot on a field which his family owns. At the moment it's mostly covered in brambles, so before we started to clear the ground we picked as many ripe blackberries as we could find. It's early in the season, but we ended up with over a kilogram! Time for pie! :-)

Ingredients (makes a 9 inch pie)
150g cold butter, cubed
275g plain flour
30g icing sugar
1 beaten egg
1/2 tbsp cold water
1 cooking apple, cored peeled and chopped
400g blackberries, washed
75g brown sugar
Beaten egg to glaze

* rub the butter into the flour and icing sugar until it looks like breadcrumbs and there are no big lumps of butter left
* add the egg and water and mix by hand until it forms a dough. Shape into a ball and chill for 30 minutes
* heat the oven to 180C and lightly grease a 9inch pie tin. I bought a disposable foil one since I don't currently own a pie tin
* roll out half the dough to line the tin. Try not to handle it more than you need to
* mix the fruit and brown sugar together and fill the pie base, then roll out the remaining pastry to put on top
* cut off any excess pastry and crimp round the edges of the pie with your fingertips. Make a couple of small holes in the lid to allow steam to escape and glaze the top with beaten egg
* bake for 20-30 minutes or until the pastry is golden and crisp

Nutritional info (per 1/8 pie)
Cal: 330, Fat: 16.4g, Carbs: 41.7g, Protein: 4.9g

Gingerbread

Great British Bake off is back on TV tonight, so I felt inspired to do a bit of baking myself.

Ingredients (makes 18)
225g plain flour
2tsp ground ginger
1tsp mixed spice
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
50g soft brown sugar
100g unsalted butter
150g black treacle
75g golden syrup
150ml semi skimmed milk
2 eggs, beaten

* heat oven to 150C and grease a brownie tin
* sieve together the flour, ginger, spice and bicarb and stir in the sugar
* melt together the butter, treacle and syrup, then beat in the milk and allow to cool
* add the eggs to the mixture and beat in well, then beat the treacle mix into the flour
* pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 75 minutes

Nutritional info
Cal: 146, Fat: 5.3g, Carbs: 20.8g, Protein: 2.3g

Vegetable Domoda

Domoda is a Gambian peanut stew, which is awesome with chicken or beef but I decided to go veggie this time. It generally involves sweet potato or pumpkin, but the cauliflower is my own addition just because I love cauliflower!

Ingredients (serves 3)
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
250g (approx) sweet potato, peeled and chopped
250g (approx) cauliflower, broken into florets
2 medium tomatoes, diced
3 tbsp tomato puree
1 or more chopped red chillies, according to taste
100g unsweetened peanut butter
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tsp sunflower oil

* heat the oil in a large pan or wok and fry the onion until golden
* add the garlic and tomato and cook for 2 or 3 more minutes
* add the tomato puree, peanut butter and chilli. Stir in to combine then add about 400ml of water and the stock cube
* bring to the boil then add the sweet potato and cauliflower, then reduce heat and simmer from 45 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked
* serve with rice

Nutritional info:
Cal: 363, Fat: 18.9g, Carbs: 35.5g, Protein: 11.7g

Fish Yassa

I recently spent two weeks in Gambia with the school where I work, and I loved the food so I decided to have a go at a bit of Gambian cooking. I used salmon for this recipe because it's what I had in the freezer, but any firm fish would work and chicken yassa is also good.

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 medium onions, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
4 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tbsp lazy chilli
1 cup water
1 vegetable stock cube
2 salmon fillets

* mix together the onion, garlic, vinegar, lemon, mustard and chilli then add the fish and marinate for at least an hour but preferably longer
* remove the fish from the marinade and grill or griddle until lightly browned
* remove the onions from the marinade and lightly fry until golden brown and softened
* add the marinade to the onions and cook for a couple of minutes, then add the water, stock cube and salmon
* cover and simmer for 20 minutes
* serve with rice

Nutritional info
Cal: 305, Fat: 16.3g, Carbs: 13.0g, Protein: 19.5g