How to Cook Stew and How Not to Woo a Man

I was talking with Mr Ellie the other day about people who tell me that they "aren't a natural cook/baker" (having had 2 people say that to me this week alone!) and I'm never really sure what to say in return - to me, cooking is a very natural thing, its just a process and if you use a recipe, follow the instructions then what can go wrong...?! Then I remembered how many times I have completely ruined something that I've been cooking.... Mr Ellie jokes that I cook everything on the maximum possible gas setting and that everything done in the microwave takes exactly 5 minutes (doesn't it?!?!).  Needless to say, I am regularly setting off the smoke alarm and have been known to set fire to a jacket potato in the microwave (although on that occasion I had put it on for 15 minutes so I'm blaming deviating from my principals of microwave cooking on that one!).

Of course, Mr Ellie doesn't have much room for criticism - when I met him, he told me that he didn't cook at all, with the exception of omelettes (which to be fair he does do very well) so I knew it was up to me to do the cooking.  The first meal we had together was a takeaway and then the next meal was one of his omelettes.  So, as the 'cook' in the partnership, I was lagging behind - so I offered to cook for him... what happened next has gone down in the history of our relationship as "the meal we don't EVER cook again" and really shows Mr Ellie's devotion to me.  I did what you should NEVER do for the first meal you cook a prospective boyfriend - I tried a new recipe.  Worse, I decided to do a diet-friendly recipe and something that I'm not all that keen on - fish pie. Said fish pie also included Mr Ellie's nightmare - vegetables - and our mutual nightmare food - mackerel. Why, oh why, oh why??!?  To this day, I cannot fathom my reasons for making this vile concoction and yes, I know that many people enjoy fish pie and to be fair, I have had one or two really lovely fish pies since.  However, none of them included low fat creme fraiche (which split) or mackerel (which is just disgusting).  Amazingly, Mr Ellie and I are still together despite this abomination, although I'm pretty sure the wedding vows will have to include a promise to never cook fish pie ever again!

Anyway, disasters aside, I believe that cooking isn't something that should be seen as difficult and so after hearing the "I'm not a natural cook" statement again, I promised that I would post up a recipe.  I was asked for a recipe for a stew and one of my favourites is goulash - a lovely smoky, meaty stew/soup from Hungary. The key to goulash is the smoked paprika - if you can find a really good quality one it will make all the difference.  I have to say that most supermarket brands just don't cut it, you might as well stick to using regular paprika.  I have some oak smoked paprika that I bought at the Harrogate Good Food Show a couple of months ago and its by Fox's Spices (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Foxs-Spices-Ltd/281218831923640 no website, but they do mail order).  It is the most delicious, smoky paprika and I am currently a little obsessed with it!

So, on with the recipe -

Ingredients:
3lb beef*
oil for frying
1 large onion (red or white), diced as fine as you can
2 carrots, diced as small or large as you like
2 red peppers, diced (keep them reasonably chunky)
2 large garlic cloves
2 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon caraway seeds - I keep these whole but you can grind them if you like
1 generous tablespoon tomato puree
Stock or water (around 1-2 pints) - I use homemade chicken stock and a beef stock pot (one of the Knorr ones) but if you don't have pints of chicken stock hanging around like me, then water and a beef stock cube is fine.
2 large Potatoes
Sour cream and chunks of crusty bread to serve

*I use 2lb beef skirt and 1 lb braising steak, both of which I get from my butcher.  Skirt is the belly meat and needs quite a bit of cooking, but will break down beautifully in this stew to give a real depth of flavour.  It is probably one of the cheapest cuts of beef so makes this a very economical dish.  Shin works as well but if you can't get either, just get braising steak.  I tend to use some braising steak in this recipe as it keeps its shape, so helps with the textures.

1. First off, dice your beef into chunks around 2cm square (but go bigger if you like) and get a couple tablespoons oil heating up in a large casserole pan.  You want to get it nice and hot.  Then fry off your beef.  It will stick but don't be afraid, this is good - it helps with the caramelisation process and will loosen. You want to see some nice dark brown bits on the meat and on the pan.  It will likely get a bit smoky but keep going, trust me!  Its best to do the meat in small batches so that the meat browns (too much in the pan causes a build up of liquid and the meat steams, this doesn't give it the best flavour or texture).

2. As each batch of meat is browned, take it out and put it in a bowl to one side.  Then heat a tablespoon more oil and add your onions to the pan...

 3. ...followed by the carrots...

 4. ...and the red peppers...

 5. Stir these around, scraping up all the stuck-on bits of meat from the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat down after a few minutes to prevent the vegetables burning. You need to cook this for around 5-10 minutes to get the vegetables softened.

6.  Now crush two cloves of garlic and add to the pan - adding the garlic now, rather than when you start cooking the vegetables, ensures that it won't burn (which makes it bitter).  You can crush your garlic or just slice it/chop it finely.  Technically, the way you chop the garlic affects the flavour but as its cooked for so long here, I find it doesn't make a massive amount of difference to the overall dish.

7.  Next you want to add in two tablespoons of smoked paprika and one of caraway seeds - this is my amazing oak smoked paprika from Fox's Spices and also a couple of shots of my little measuring cup and my spice container that I keep the paprika in, just because I love them both and want to show them off!

8.  Cook the spices for a couple minutes, stirring continuously to make sure they don't burn.  Then add in a good dollop/squeeze of tomato puree (around about a tablespoon but accuracy isn't too important here)...

9.  ...followed by the stock.  You want to add enough stock to cover the meat and vegetables.

10.  Stir this all around and leave to stew gently for about 2-3 hours.  Keep checking it and stirring it occasionally.  Top up the liquid if it looks like its getting low.  Once the meat is beautifully tender, add in the diced potatoes and cook for around 30 minutes or until they are soft.  The goulash is ready to serve - traditionally it is served with a dollop of sour cream and some crusty bread.

I don't have a picture with the potatoes or a beautifully staged bowl with cream, parsley and bread etc. because a) this was still cooking at 9pm last night so we didn't have it for tea and b) because this makes such a big batch of stew, I actually don't cook the potatoes in it at this point.  When we are going to eat the stew, I take enough for us and then add the potatoes and cook them up - I find that if the potatoes are reheated in the stew, they break down too much.

So, instead of a picture of the finished stew, you can have pictures of the three terrors who were running around my feet whilst I was cooking this (ever hopeful that a bit of meat gets 'accidentally' dropped!)

Po aka Po Monster, Po The Tank

Brooke aka Brooky, Boss

Twinkle aka Twinks, Twinkle Toes

Enjoy! 

Miss E xxx

New tins, be still my beating heart

New tin 1 - mini loaf tin

My cake brain is in full swing today - which is not great as I'm at work and supposed to be thinking about engineering-y things.  All I can think of is a) playing with my new cake tins from Lakeland (www.lakeland.co.uk) and b) what flavour of cake to do next.  I'm currently debating the various merits of a chocolate cake, lemon poppy seed or a good old Victoria sandwich...

These new tins are fantastic (Lakeland scores again!) - each 'pocket' in the tin has a loose base so getting the cakes out is easy as anything. Plus they are heavy-duty and non-stick, so you feel like the heat is going to transfer well.  They offer a perfect alternative to the cupcake - which let's face it, whilst lovely, is rather overdone these days.  These tins make cakes which are probably a bit of a generous cupcake size but still not so large that you can't reasonably have a whole cake to yourself without looking completely greedy! The cakes come out nice and deep as well, which means plenty scope for slicing and filling.  I'm also thinking that I might have to try doing some 'hidden surprise' cakes in these tins as I think they'd be perfect...watch this space!

New tin 2 - mini sandwich tin

So, what flavour cake to bake?
Mr Ellie, I know, will be entirely biased on this matter and will call for a Victoria Sandwich - with jam only in the middle and a scattering of caster sugar on the top (he's every WI lady's dream) but I have to admit that my fingers are always twitching to add some buttercream or whipped cream to the filling - not a traditional Victoria sandwich then, I know, but just so tasty!  Mr Ellie is partial to my Victoria Sandwich, mainly due to my heavy-handed use of vanilla bean paste.

If we're talking my bias - then it has to be the good ol' carrot cake. Would you believe, I have never made one myself!?! I've always been so fearful of making a rubbish carrot cake and ruining my favourite cakey treat for ever more that I've refused to bake them.  However, tonight could be the night where all that changes...if I'm brave....and assuming Mr Ellie doesn't read this and immediately text me to give me one of his 101 reasons why carrots should never be put in cakes (Mr Ellie doesn't 'do' rabbit food!).

If I'm entirely honest, what I'd like to do is go home and make all the above cakes - one of those days where a good bout of baking is what's needed.  Mr Ellie is out at a corporate do (sounds posh, really isn't!) so I have the house to myself tonight. I also have a packed weekend ahead of ferret rescue activities so a spot of baking might be useful to take along to keep the troops going!

Miss E xxx

Cake Development

I spent yesterday afternoon in my cake development kitchen...well ok, so its my normal kitchen and its normal baking, just with a more chaotic feel.

I've been thinking for a while about developing a cake in tribute to my Granny, Iris.  She passed away 5 years ago and I have found myself missing her more recently than ever.  I think it was triggered because I was driving to work one day and I just suddenly got the real strong smell of perfume and soap and it was exactly the same combination as she wore.  For a few minutes, the smell lingered in my car and I had an overwhelming sense that she was letting me know that she was there. I don't use the same soap or wear the same perfume as her, it was only me in the car and the only other person who'd been in my car up to that point was Mr Ellie (who definitely doesn't use the same soap or perfume!) so i have no other explanation for where the smell came from.  For the rest of the day, and whenever I think of that experience, I feel calm and content.

My Granny was fantastic, she was a perfect granny - gave us sweets and boasted about us to all her friends! She was very fond of 'Elevenses' and every time we went to stay, she would bring out the teapot and a plate of biscuits at about 10:30/11am.  My sister always loved getting the Tunnocks caramel wafers, whilst i loved the M&S teacakes (always had to be M&S, nothing but the best for Granny!) and there would always be florentine biscuits that she had made herself. Sometimes, if she wanted to treat us, she'd make rice crispie cakes - only Granny didn't just use regular chocolate, oh no, she used Mars Bars which made the crispie cakes extra chewy and gooey.  I remember helping her make them once, standing and stirring the pot at the cooker, watching the Mars Bars melt.

As well as the florentines and crispy cakes, Granny would always have cake of one sort or another - Victoria sandwich cakes, chocolate cakes - and she always kept them in the freezer and would defrost them when people were coming to visit, so she was always prepared for visitors!  She was also fond of providing a nice pudding for us - my favourite being gooseberry pie...

She had loads of gooseberry bushes in the garden and every year they would be laden with fruit.  She would stew them down with a little sugar, keeping them still slightly tart and then bake them in a traditional pie with a lard pastry.  This was served with lashings of custard or sometimes ice cream (I always preferred the custard!).

I got my love of baking from my Granny for sure.

So, when I was thinking about making a cake to honour her memory, I knew that it had to include gooseberries and florentine biscuits in one form or the other.  Last week I had made the amaretto cupcakes and so I used the same almond cake recipe for the base, which is a lovely all-in-one recipe that comes out beautifully light.  So that ticks off the almonds from the florentines.  Then the other component of the florentine - the chocolate base.  I decided on white chocolate, as I felt it's subtle flavour would sit better and not overwhelm the other flavours.  I made a ganache as this was better for a frosting and I didn't want a buttercream for this cake.  The filling was the next decision and this is where the gooseberries had to come in - gooseberry fool seemed the best choice.

Unfortunately, its not the right time of year for gooseberries yet so I had to go with a shop bought gooseberry fool - and in honour of my Granny, I bought it from M&S!  The flavour was a bit subtle for the cake so it got a bit lost - homemade would have definitely been better. I felt that the ganache was a bit messy on the top, a better application would have made a prettier finish and I think I'll probably drizzle with dark chocolate to emulate the lines on the base of a florentine. The cakes were baked in a mini sandwich tin from Lakeland (my favourite shop) and came out just the right size.

My Granny Iris Cakes

I think Granny would approve of these, just right for elevenses or afternoon tea!

Miss Ellie xxx

Cocktails in cake form - is there anything better?

I am always thinking about cake projects - developing new flavours, looking for inspiration and generally dreaming of mounds of sweet, buttery confections.  I am currently on a mission to develop a cake in honour of my Granny. My current ideas include gooseberries and tastes/textures of florentines - but I'll save that for another blog post.

Instead, I shall concentrate today's efforts on the cocktail inspired cupcakes I made last night for my friend at work - Cosmopolitan cupcakes and amaretto cupcakes.

The cosmo cupcakes involve cranberries soaked in vodka & Cointreau, mixed into a fairly basic vanilla sponge which is drizzled with more cointreau once cooked.  The icing is pink and fluffy, contains more vodka & Cointreau as well as lime zest and the whole thing is decorated with gold balls and edible glitter.  I got the recipe from a magazine, which in turn had got the recipe from a book called Caketails (see what they did there?!).  Now, me being me, I have to look at how to make these things better and this is no exception. Now a cosmo cocktail is vodka, triple sec or cointreau, lime and cranberry juice with a twist of orange at the end - this is where these cupcakes are lacking in my opinion.  I love the alcohol soaked dried cranberries, but I think that the cake should also contain some orange zest and/or lime zest.  The buttercream icing is fairly alcoholic to the point where the lime flavour gets lost.  I think that this is a recipe that needs some development and probably some testing and frankly, I think the only place to start is with a cosmo cocktail! Mr Ellie, take note...

Cosmo cupcakes (top) and Amaretto cupcakes (bottom)

So the other cupcakes I made were amaretto cupcakes - yes, technically not a cocktail but amaretto is soooo nice that you don't want to lose it in amongst anything else. These cakes were an almond cake with an amaretto buttercream.  The recipe I used just had a plain vanilla buttercream but I figure that you can't have enough of an almondy taste so put the amaretto and a dash of almond extract in the buttercream. Mr Ellie tried an uniced cake last night and declared them to be "delicious" so I'll take that to mean that I'd best be making some more.

Happy baking!

Miss E xxx

Musings on the various merits of Felis catus

Every day I get home from work to find my cats lounging either on blanket box next to the radiator in the lounge, or on our bed. Every day I mentally curse them as I cuddle them - I curse them for having the luck of being born a cat!  There is an ability which is inbuilt into the cat genetic code which has allowed them to perfect the art of pure, unadulterated, sloth.  The seven deadly sins clearly do not apply to cats.

Of course, when challenged about what their day has been like, our cats simply raise their head, yawn and then fix us with a penetrating stare as if to say "Cats were worshipped in Egypt once, we have not forgotten". Simply said, I am completely, 100% jealous of my cats. I also absolutely, unconditionally 100% love them. My two cats are called Binks (aka Binksy-pie, Stinkity-Binkity and Binkity-puss) and Yoda (aka Yodi, Yodipuss and Tiger).  They are sisters but couldn't be more different in both looks and personality.

Binksy (being camera shy) and Yodi (doing her best 'Supercat')
lounging on the blanket box & enjoying the hot radiator!

Binksy is black and white, of a 'curvaceous' build (a bit like her mammy!) and has the most independent spirit - she doesn't like to be picked up because she likes to always be in control and she very much chooses when we are to give her cuddles.  She is only really vocal when she is telling us off (after all its her house and we merely live there to serve her...) or occasionally if she wants something and has given up on trying to bend us to her will simply by starting at us! Binksy will always be the first to come to greet new people and establish whether they are to be accepted. Her brave, independent, cantankerous nature is what I love most about her.

Yodi is my beautiful tabby cat (with a couple of big tortoiseshell splodges) and is a complete cuddle-bunny. She is my shadow when I'm in the house, following me all over (even to the bathroom) and extremely affectionate.  She is far more chatty than Binksy and we have long conversations between us, especially on a morning when I'm trying to get ready for work and she's demanding her breakfast! She is a quiet, gentle soul and it takes her a long time to trust people - in fact when I first started seeing Mr Ellie, I didn't believe she existed as I didn't see her until I'd been to the house about 4 or 5 times! Now though, she and I are extremely close and she loves nothing more than being picked up and cuddled.

Like all sisters, most of the time they get on just fine but they do have their little spats every now and then. They both have their favourite toys (a green mouse for Binksy and a white mouse and a catnip fish for Yodi). Yodi is the more generous of the two and brings the white mouse to us every night (which is always fun to stand on in the middle of the night!). Both of them are very empathic and know exactly when I need a cuddle, especially if I'm feeling poorly.

So this blog is dedicated to my beautiful puss-cats, who have changed my life for the better x

Miss Ellie xxx