Halloween Gingerbread Biscuits

Despite that Halloween is almost upon us, there's still time to knock up a batch of spooky Halloween gingerbread biscuits. 
I decided to make mine as simple as possible, and didn't want to do any elaborate designs. I like the effect the white icing has; I think it just looks more chic. Haha. 

These biccies would be perfect for a Halloween party, or even simpler, as a snack whilst watching scary movies in front of the telly. 

There's nothing special about this recipe; it's just a very simple gingerbread recipe - no alternatives, just what you would imagine. But there's no doubting that they're gooooood!


You can also just use this gingerbread recipe to make any type of biscuits - doesn't need to be a Halloween design! 

I used Dr Oetker's White designer icing for quickness and ease of piping. 

I also used Cake Angel's Halloween sprinkles to decorate some of the biscuits. They're so cute - especially the little ghosts and bats!

Ingredients

175g dark muscovado sugar

85g golden syrup

100g salted butter

350g plain flour

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 egg, beaten

Dr Oetker's white icing

Cake Angel's sprinkles

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 200c/180 fan/ gas 6. In a small pan, put the butter, sugar and golden syrup. Bring to a simmer and then stir until well combined and everything has melted. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.

2. Into a large bowl, tip the flour, bicarb and spices - combine. 

3. Once cool, pour in the warm syrup mixture and the beaten egg. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined and then knead until a dough has formed. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes. The dough will harden once cooled.

4. Line two baking trays with baking parchment. Remove dough from the fridge and leave to soften for a few mins. Cut the dough in half to make it easier to work with.

5. Dust the surface with some flour and then roll one half of the dough to the thickness of a £1 coin. Using some halloween-shaped cutters, cut out your shapes. Place on the baking tray and bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown - they should appear slightly darker than the dough. They will be soft - just leave to cool slightly on the tray and when hardened, remove and cool on a wire rack. 

6. Roll out the other half of the dough and do the same process. 

7. Now to ice them: once cooled, use either the Dr Oetker's designer icing, or make some really thick icing and place in a piping bag, and ice around the edges of the biscuits. You can do any patterns you like; I have done a variety just to give you some inspiration.

You could write Happy Halloween and decorate the stems with the black and orange sprinkles

You could do something similar to this one; just draw around the edge and then do zig zag lines inside and fill with sprinkles.

This one is just a really happy pumpkin! I added the green crystal sprinkles to make it look like it had a nice, green stem.

For these ones, I just wanted to draw simple lines for the bat and with, adding the orange balls for eyes and to add definition to the broom. I decided to make the owl into a bit a dracula owl, by adding fangs. 

What other ways could we make this biscuits stand-out? Do you have any brilliant ideas? Let me know in the comments!

Learning with Larousse: Washing at the table?

A formal table setting at the Waldorf Astoria, New York

This is the beginning of my new series of things that I have learnt from the amazing book that is Larousse Gastronomique. 
Every week I will be posting either a fact, a definition (probably a French one!) or even trying out a difficult French recipe- I've seen some of them in the book and I swear they take five hours to make (sort of looking forward to that in a weird way!)

Today I will be talking about table ablutions; the act of washing oneself at the table. 

The word originally comes from the Church Latin ablutio. This reminds that the term comes from being a ritual practise, often from sacrifice. The hands would have needed to have been purified before doing the act of sacrificing. 

It first came about in Ancient Greece and Rome, where it was popular to eat with the hands. This is still popular in the East, especially in the Islam faith, where muslims will perform an ablution before eating: washing hands and blessing the food in the name of Allah before eating. 

However in the West, we have no need to perform these rituals anymore due to the use of cutlery. Although, we know that is important to wash our hands before touching food with our hands, but this comes down to hygiene, rather than a religious ritual. Before this, in Europe, a basin called an 'ewer' was used to wash ones hands. On the other hand, you can still find finger bowls on tables in restaurants, especially when eating Indian cuisine. But this is now becoming rarer. 

In the Far East, it is common to be handed a perfumed towel between meals. In Japanese, this is called oshibori. An oshibori is used to clean your hands between meals.


I hope you have found this new type of post interesting. Please let me know if you enjoy these kinds of posts - there will be more next week! 

Do you know of any other places where there are rituals to be performed before eating? If so, let me know! 

Hearty Cabbage Soup (Zuppa Valpellinese)

It's Wednesday and it's getting cold outside. Like, really cold. This soup can and will solve all your cold-related problems! That's a big statement, I hear you say! Well this soup is of the Italian origin and is everything you would look for on a cold, wintery evening:

Cheese. Cheese. And more cheese! Plus some cabbage and leftover bread. It's a really economical dish as well. The original is a lot thicker, however mine is slightly thinner, but still as tasty. 

It takes little time to make, and is really satisfyingly buttery, cheesy and comforting. 

It originally comes from the village of Valpelline in the North of Aosta and is a typical alpine dish; the alpine workers would have needed a hearty dish to keep them going in the harsh winter months.

Here's how to make it:

Serves 2

Ingredients

115g savoy cabbage, sliced

1 slices of leftover bread, cubed

45g of fontina cheese, cubed

200ml of chicken stock

1 tbsp of butter

Method

1. Into a large pan full of boiling, salted water, add the sliced cabbage. Boil until tender and drain well. 

2. Rinse pan and place over a low heat. Place a layer of cabbage in the bottom, followed by a layer of bread and then cheese. Continue these layers until it they are all gone.

3. Boil your stock (either use a cube or heat some fresh stock on the hob) and pour over the layered ingredients and leave to soak for a few minutes.

4. In the meantime, heat the butter over a low heat until foamy, and pour over the soup. Stir in and serve.

This warming soup is true of the Italian Alps. What are your favourite dishes that keep you warm on a wintery evening?

Gluten-free Coconut Cake

I've been on a bit of a roll lately, with another post today! Aren't you lucky!! Anyways..
So this coconut cake is something a little bit different to the normal, fatty foods that I post. Ahem. This cake is not only gluten free but it also free from milk. It is not however, free from eggs. 

One thing to note about this is cake, is the texture. It's quite dense and very milky (that is, coconut milk-y). Please let me know in the comments if you happen to try it, what you think about the texture! 

It's basically a coconut overload: coconut flour, coconut milk, coconut oil! So if you love coconut, this one is for you. 
The added lime zest gives it a slight zing, which is nice. And the sweetness come from the maple syrup...yum!

Also, side-note... my images are better today because I realised that my Husband didn't sent them to me in 'large' format, which is why I had the problem yesterday with the image being so small! I just assumed it was the iphone camera.

Now for the recipe....

Ingredients

6 eggs
3 tbsp maple syrup
100g coconut oil, melted
100g coconut milk
100g coconut flour
1/2 tsp of gluten-free baking powder (most baking powder is gluten free)
1/2 lime, zest + one thin slice cut in half
Icing sugar to decorate

900g loaf tin

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180c/160c fan, gas mark 4. 

2. Line a 900g loaf tin with baking parchment. 

3. Beat the eggs, maple syrup, oil and milk. 

4. Mix the flour, baking powder and lime zest in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and stir in the wet ingredients. 

5. Pour into the tin and bake for 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

6. Once cool, dust with icing sugar and top with the two slices of lime. 

What are your favourite gluten-free recipes? Do you have to eat gluten-free, or do you choose to? Why?

I'm linking this post up with Cook Blog Share - you should check them out; we're a friendly bunch! 

Baked Sweet Potato with Smoky Kidney and Butter Beans

Autumn is finally, well and truly here. I thought that this week I would make a dinner that all of us can make to give us those Autumn-feels, yet also not take too long. 

I love sweet potato, all year-round. However I do think it fits in well as an Autumn vegetable, mainly because of its colour but also the sweetness it brings to the dish, mimicking toffee apples and candy. The smokiness of the beans works well with the sweetness and the sour cream balances it all out with a sour, creamy edge. 

This dish is perfect for a quick after work dinner, whilst remaining healthy and also meat-free. This dish would work well for vegans, if you just omit the sour cream and use a vegan alternative such as this cashew nut sour cream recipe from the Wholefoods website: www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/cashew-sour-cream

A few things to note about this and the next few posts is that my camera recently stopped working, so I had to take the photos on my Husband's Iphone, which hasn't really come out very well, especially when it comes down to the size of the image. Just bear with me for the next few posts. The good thing is that it's all fixed now, so gradually you'll start seeing the usual quality of images appear. 

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes

1 small onion

Olive oil

2 tsp red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp of smoked paprika

200g tin chopped tomates

100g kidney beans

100g butter beans

2 tbsp sour cream

Salt

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200c/180c fan. Prick the potatoes, coat in a pinch of salt and rub in a small amount of oil. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, or until soft. Alternatively, cook in the microwave.

2. Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a pan and cook the onions until soft. 

3. Stir in the vinegar, paprika, tomatoes and simmer until thickened. 

4. Add the beans and simmer for 5 minutes. 

5. Once the potatoes are soft, split it in half and divide the beans between the two. Pour on some sour cream and sprinkle and pinch of paprika. Serve. 

How do you like your jacket potatoes? Do you prefer sweet potato or normal, plain potato?

The BEST Homemade Chicken Nuggets

So, recently I've been a little bit lazy when it comes to posting. So I decided last week to make a plan for my posts, which has been helping greatly... so far! I will perhaps a do post soon on how I do this, once I have tested it for a few weeks and know it works! Because of said plan, you will hopefully be seeing a lot more posts from me next week (along with a few surprises)! Happy days!(I am aware of how I've promised this before in the past, but THIS TIME IT WILL HAPPEN AS I HAVE A PLAN! 

Phew.

Anyways, I made these yummy chicken nuggets last weekend and they went down a treat; I wish I'd made more!! 

They were succulent, crispy and also a lot healthier than the usual frozen or deep-fried nuggets. 

Here's how I made them...

Ingredients

500g chicken breast, cut into pieces

1/4 tsp of salt

1/4 tsp of black pepper

200g plain flour

200g corn flakes

1 tbsp parmesan, grated

1/4 tsp of paprika

1/4 tsp of granulated garlic

100ml buttermilk

Olive oil

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200c/180c fan.

2. In a bowl, add the chicken, salt and pepper. Mix together and leave aside.

3. Add your flour to a bowl. Add your cornflakes, parmesan, paprika, salt, black pepper and garlic into a food processor. I used my Nutri Bullet. Mix until crushed, but not a fine powder. You can add some more crushed cornflakes after, to make it more chunky, if you accidentally mixed it to a powder. Pour into a bowl and set aside.

4. Mix your chicken into the flour. Drizzle over the buttermilk and use your fingers to mix in.

5. In stages, put the chicken pieces into the bowl with the corn flake mix, and coat evenly. 

6. Add each piece to a foil-lined tray. Drizzle over some olive oil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until cooked-through. 

7. Serve with the condiment of your choice! Mine tasted great with a good ol'dollop of Ketchup, and also sweet chilli sauce. 

Do you prefer your chicken nuggets oven'd or fried??

Test: Abel and Cole Recipe Boxes

Last week I decided to try out Abel and Cole's recipe boxes as there was a pretty good deal to get the boxes half price! I'd ordered from A & C before but never their veg, fruit or recipe boxes. I however have discovered that I will definitely be able to rely on them for easy, healthy meals in the future, if ever in need of some recipe inspiration! It's so easy to order from them, and there's so much choice, from 'foodie', 'veggie', 'light' and 'Simple', you can really mix and match. You can swap out recipes you don't want, and add in others at sometimes a cheaper price. 

Here's what I cooked:

Pork Meatballs, Aubergine and Parmesan

This dish took a long hour and 20 minutes, unfortunately, so not great for mid-week meals. I decided to make this on the weekend, so I wasn't bothered by this. Good to bare in mind though that some of A & C's meals are a tad long. 

It was a treat to eat homemade meatballs, and the pasta was so silky! 

French Bean and Green Lentil Jambalaya

From the 'light' box, this jambalaya was quite quick and better for a mid-week meal. I decided to add some lamb pieces to it though, as I had some in the fridge! The husband didn't love it though-  I think it needed more flavour! 

Warm Squash, Lentils, Swiss Chard and Halloumi

This dish was from the 'Florence' box, one that I don't think they are doing anymore - it was a limited thing they were doing with Times chef and columnist, Florence Knight. However, despite how salad-like it looks, it was rather filling! It was fresh and lemony, and the fattiness of the halloumi really goes well with it, giving it that meaty-eque taste. The red onion squash was so nice roasted, and you could even eat the skin! It only took 30 minutes and was one of my fave meals from the box.

So there were have it - my 3 meals from last week. I liked it so much that i've got the delivery again for this week. Luckily I'm getting the boxes for £25ish, when usually it's £42.

https://www.abelandcole.co.uk/recipe-boxes

Have you ever tried an Abel and Cole recipe box? 

If you would like me to give you any recipes from this post, feel free to ask! 

Sheep on Sheep Street

I recently decided that I would try and do more restaurant reviews on this blog because 1, I love eating out; 2, an excuse to try new places, and 3, I love eating out! 

This weekend we decided to try Sheep on Sheep Street, a pub in the Cotswold village, Stow-on-the-Wold. 

Here's some info on the place:

1. Chain or independent: Chain (Brakspear) - although you'd never know!

2. Modern or traditional: Modern

3. Price range: £8-20 for one main course

4. Family-friendly? Yes, there was a family there with their baby when we visited

5. Cool features: Wood-fired oven, open kitchen.

6. Recommended dish: Peri Peri Chicken Fillet in a Pretzel Bun, Lemon and Garlic Mayo, Avocado and Gem Lettuce + Halloumi Chips with Jalapeno Ketchup

Fabio had the Grilled Halloumi Burger with Gem Lettuce, Spiced Aubergine, Slow Roasted Tomatoes + Halloumi Chips (£11.50 + £4 for the chips, which we shared). It was nice that they let us take the fries, which usually comes with the burgers, and let us change it to the Halloumi fries.. omg these were so moorish and just YUM! 

I had the Peri Peri Chicken Fillet Burger - see recommendation above (£12.50). I then finished off my meal with a hot chocolate because it was a bit of rainy day outside. This one was really frothy and milky; just how how I like it! (£2.80).

Anything I would change? 

Nope, everything was wonderful! Down to the service, the food and the interiors, it was all lovely. Would definitely recommend if you're in the area.

Sheep on Sheep Street

Stow-on-the-Wold

Gloucestershire

GL54 1AG

www.thesheepstow.co.uk

Have you visited here before? What did you think?