Big Trev's Lasagna

Its cold here in Scotland, and I like most people find the best cure for the cold to be something warm and  hearty that will stick to your ribs.  I'm also starting to get a little stressed about the upcoming move and getting a job and being apart from the hubby for a whole 6 months, so dinner tonight had to be comforting as well.  Now tell me people, what on this great planet is more hearty and comforting than a homemade lasagne?

Those of you who know Kyle know that the man is a lasagne man.  I'm not joking when I tell you that he once confessed to me that he first knew he wanted to mary me when he went through a phase where he wanted me to try and make as many different varieties of lasagne as humanly possible and I happily went along with it.  There was a traditional lasagne, a mexican spiced lasagne, pesto and spinach lasagne, chicken lasagne, and yet he never grew weary of the endless parade of lasagne.

So I knew it was serious when he came back from a trip down to Chris' hometown of Bentham claiming he had just eaten the world's best lasagne.  I might have even seen a tear trickle down his face as he lovingly recounted the perfect texture of the meat, the creaminess of the bechamel sauce, and the golden layer of cheese bubbling on the top.  I seriously worried that Kyle might attempt to leave me for the lasagne's creator - Big Trev Dobson aka Chris' dad.

Eventually I had to experience this epic-ness for myself and the Dobsons were kind enough to supply me with their recipe.   The verdict: its as good as the hype and not that difficult to make!!!  Try it tonight - you really won't regret it!!!

Big Trev's Lasagne

Meat sauce

1½ tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 fat clove garlic

450g lean minced beef

2 rashers bacon, finely chopped

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato puree

4 tbsp red wine

1 beef stock cube

1 tsp dried basil (I used fresh basil)

Salt and pepper

White sauce

750ml milk (about 3 cups)

75g butter (about 5 table spoons)

50g plain flour (1/2 cup)

Freshly grated nutmeg

Salt and pepper

9 sheets lasagne (kyle insists we use spinach lasagne, apparently the green tastes better) 

Grated parmesan

Grates mozzarella  

Dish 20cm x 27cm

Heat the oil in a thick based pan, soften onion, bacon and garlic for 5 mins. Now turn up heat, add beef and brown. Once browned add tomatoes, tomato puree, wine, stock cube, basil and seasoning. Put a lid on and simmer gently for 20 mins. Remove lid and simmer for another 20-25 mins.

To make white sauce, put the milk, butter and flour in a thick based saucepan, place over a gentle heat and whisk continuously with a balloon whisk until the sauce comes to simmering point and thickens. Season and simmer gently for 5 mins.

Now spread about ¼ of the meat sauce over the bottom of the dish, cover with approx ¼ of the white sauce, then sprinkle a layer of parmesan before arranging 3 sheets (in a single layer) of lasagne over the top. Repeat this process, finishing off with a final layer of white sauce. Cover the top with a sprinkling of grated parmesan and mozzarella cheese.

This can be done well in advance. When required bake in a preheated oven, gas 4, 350F, 180C, for 35-45 mins or until browned.

Serve with salad and enjoy!!!

Perfectly Poached Eggs

As many of you guys know, we recently had a bunch of our Scottish/English/Welsh friends over to New York for a week of fun.  There was sightseeing, there was drinking, and most interestingly there was the shocking realisation that these boys knew nothing about eggs.  One fateful trip to IHOP and the boys were overwhelmed by the endless choices of eggs that lay before them. They literally sat there staring blankly at the waitress - clueless as to what many of the delicious eggy options even were!

Now I have lived in Scotland for 4 years and I have had many a Scottish breakfast otherwise known as a fry up.  A typical Scottish fry up consists of scrambled eggs, hash browns, a potato scone, bacon, sausage, a grilled egg, grilled mushrooms, and haggis and black pudding.  Needless to say its a little on the heavy side.  Since Kyle and I are both trying to watch what we eat we've been avoiding the fry up lately.  Empowered by the experience of learning that there are other ways to make eggs Kyle turned to me the other day and made a simple request.  Can I try a poached egg?

I'm not a runny yoke person, I've an over hard with the yoke broken kind of gal, so poached eggs aren't something I had ever considered making.  Plus the idea is quite scary - how on earth are you supposed to drop an egg into a pot of boiling water and expect it to somehow hold together?  Some quick internet research from my absolute favorite food blog www.smittenkitchen.com and I felt brave enough to try it.  In her tips she advises to only use a couple of inches of water in the pan, add a splash of vinegar, and to add the egg when the water is just about to simmer but not quite boiling yet.

The verdict?  A perfectly poached egg and a happy husband!

Poached Eggs (technique stolen from Deb at SmittenKitchen)


1.  Head a pot with a few inches of water in it
2.  Add a splash of vinegar (I used malt vinegar since its what I had within reach)
3.  Heat the water until bubbles start to form under the surface but before it starts to really simmer or boil
4.  Break your egg into a separate dish (it makes it easier to pour into the pan)
5.  Make a whirlpool in the water using a spatula (I found a spoon worked quite well)
6.  Slide the egg into the whirlpool.  NOW DONT PANIC! It will look like a hot mess in there for a second, but the force of the whirlpool will pull all the whites back over the yolk to form a pretty circle of egg.  If there are still some loose strands just gently use your spoon/spatula to encourage them back into the main egg mass.
7.  Cook the egg until the whites have set about 3-4 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon!!

Enjoy with buttered bread - or in this case english muffins!

'Cowboy' Chili Sauce

So I have a slight addiction to buying cookbooks.  Ok so its not slight - its pretty major and likely to be the source of a significant shipping bill as I try to cart all my beloved books back to the US.  There is just something so incredibly wonderful about seeing pictures of perfect cakes and mouth watering morsels and knowing that you too can make these tasty treats.  I have books on cakes, books on cupcakes, books bread books on British meals, French meals, you name it I've got it.

There was one genre however that I had never thought to buy a book on - American food.  I am American, I grew up in America, I'd like to think that I could manage to russel up some good ole American meals. What even is 'American' food?  Mac'n'cheese? Burgers? I mean those are tasty but hardly something I felt I needed instruction or inspiration or guidance on!  I've always felt that the Brits never really understood that there is no such thing as being 'American' anyway - there is too much regional variation to ever define any sort of singular 'American' experience.

Enter my wonderful husband, who fuels my cookbook addiction in order to fuel his addiction of eating tasty things.  (Talk about an being a bunch of enablers!)  For Christmas a few years back Kyle got me a cookbook called Jamie's America.  It features British celeb chef Jamie Oliver traveling all over the US, cooking good old fashioned regional favorites; everything from NY street food, to Cajun cooking, to the bold flavors of the southwest, and to the wild wild west.  I never knew I could be so inspired by food and so inspired by America as a whole.  At the risk of sounding incredibly corny the beauty of America is that their is no one cuisine, its a melting pot of different people, different techniques, different flavors, and they are all delicious!!!

One of my favorite recipes to come out of the book is for a 'cowboy' chili sauce, from Jamie's Mountain Meatball recipe.  In Jamie's version you make this amazing sauce and then smother it all over giant meatballs that are stuffed with cheddar cheese and then bake the whole thing until thick and delicious.  The first time I made it we tried it with the meatballs, and while the meatballs were ok - the sauce definitely stole the show!  Thankfully the recipe made a ton which meant that we had a lot of left over sauce, and we have been eating it on pretty much everything.  Tonight we browned a little ground turkey before adding the sauce and eating it over cous cous and avocado.  We've also used it on grilled chicken, added it to stews, and slathered it in sandwiches.  Its seriously that good. I warned you.

'Cowboy' Chili Sauce (adapted from Jamie's America)
1 large red onion, peeled and ifnely diced
2 red peppers, deseeded and chopped
10 cloves of garlic, pealed and finely sliced
2 fresh chilis, deseeded and finely chopped (leave some seeds if you like it hotter)
2 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce (I deseeded one and left the seeds in the other - we like it hot)
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (we used hot hungarian)
6 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
6 heaped tbsp bbq sauce (Jamie used ketchup but I prefer the smokiness of the bbq sauce)
6 tbsp cider vinegar
6 tbsp dark molasses (unsulfered)
2 tbsp dijon mustard
400ml beef stock (we used 2 cups)
1 14oz can of chopped tomatos
2 bay leaves

1.  In a large pot heat a tbsp of olive oil over medium heat.  Add your onions, peppers, fresh chilis and garlic and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.
2.  Add your paprika and chipotles and a tbsp or two of the adobo sauce.  Cook for a further 5 minutes.
3.  Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, bbq sauce, vinegar, molasses, mustard, beef stock, bay leaves, and tomatoes and bring to a boil.
4.  Turn the heat down to low and simmer for about 20 minutes until it has thickened.  If the sauce is still thinner than you would like it after 20 minutes, just keep simmering until it is your desired level of thickness.

Enjoy on just about anything!  Here it is below mixed with added ground turkey and served over sliced avocado with a little cheese on top!

Bacon Braised Kale

Well guys - I went to the gym today for the first time since before the wedding. The first wedding. A solid 4 months ago.   Needless to say it kicked my ass.  I am sore, I am tired, and I am more unfit than I care to discuss.  However I am determined to loose the bit of holiday weight I gained, and determined to embrace the bikinis sitting in my drawer.  After all this will be my first summer in 4 years in a country that actually gets hot.  Its time to rock some abs!

Alongside reconciling with the gym, I have also promised to eat healthy.  In 2011 I shed 30 pounds by committing to eating my 5 a day, cutting out mid week alcohol, and limiting myself to 1 piece of chocolate a day.  It felt great to lose the weight, and I honestly didn't find it too hard to cut back on the junk food.  I found as long as I used a smaller plate and made sure that I had eaten all my fruits and veggies I could eat whatever I wanted (in moderation) and still keep losing.  That combined with alternating between zumba, yoga and running and I was in wedding dress shape in no time!

The only tricky part of the whole thing was finding a way to eat all these veggies without getting bored of them.  Now some vegetables (i.e. sweet potato) I can eat every morning/noon/night and never get sick of.  Other veggies (i.e. broccoli) eating them really more than once a week make me horribly bored of them.  They say variety is the spice of life, and I found that as long as I could find different and exciting ways to cook these veggies, I could keep myself interested in eating them.

Which brings me to tonights bacon braised kale.  Now I love kale, I love dehydrated kale 'chips', I love kale in soups, I love kale mixed into stir fries, curries, you name it!  But it wasn't until I was reading my friend Paige's blog http://abalancedlifecooks.com/ that I first thought about braising kale.  (Btw you should totally check out Paige's blog - she is a really fun cook!)  You see the problem with always throwing kale into other dishes is that you lose the actual flavor of the kale; it just becomes a side note to the main flavors of whatever it is you are making.  I wanted to give kale its moment in the sun to shine in all its leafy glory.  Everything's coming up kale!

And so tonight kale made its star debut; braised in a little chicken stock until wonderfully tender and delicate and cooked with the tiniest bit of bacon - because every star needs a sidekick, and lets be honest bacon is the creme de la creme of sidekicks.  It stole the show and made me think this eating healthy again thing won't be so bad after all.  Now if only I could say the same thing for the gym...

Bacon Braised Kale
2 heaping bowl fulls of kale (de-stemmed and cut into strips)
1 rasher streaky bacon, cut into pieces (1-2 strips regular old American bacon of your choosing, pancetta works too)
1 cup chicken stock (240ml)
1/2 onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (depending on how garlic-y you like it)
Salt
Pepper

1.  Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a sauce pan on medium heat.
2.  Add the onion and bacon and cook until the bacon starts to crisp
3.  Add the garlic and cook for a further minute
4.  Add the kale, and then pour the chicken stock on top. Depending on how much kale you have used you may have to use a little more or less stock, you want it to wilt the kale and have a little left in the pan)
5.  Cover the pan and reduce heat to low and let braise for 5-20 minutes depending on how tender you like your kale.  I stay closer to 5 minutes since I like a little crunch, but if you want it totally soft braise it longer.

Serve and enjoy!

Chicken Curry Soup

Last June my friend Rachel got married in a beautiful wedding in St Andrews, Scotland.  There were gorgeous blue skies, bagpipes blaring, and a beautiful wedding cake.  Ok so I'm gloating a bit since me and my friend Mackenzie made the cake, but it was a luscious buttercream covered three tiered affair and it was delicious.  Alas the bride's sister is vegan and gluten free and the one drawback to a buttercream cake is that buttercream and vegan's don't mix.  After a whole bunch of experimenting we came up with some pretty delicious gluten free vegan cupcakes. (ok we cheated and used a mix - I can do a lot of things in the kitchen but apparently VGF baking is not one of them)

During the experimentation phase of the cupcake making I wound up with a jar of virgin coconut oil.  Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with coconut oil its a natural oil that is solid at room temperature and has a very high heat threshold which makes it ideal for frying.  Its used in a lot of vegan baking as a butter or lard  substitute and we had brought it home in hopes it would be our solution to butter-less buttercream.  While it did make a tasty frosting with a slight hint of coconut, it ended up being too runny to hold up to the heat of Scottish ceilidh dancing.

Which brings me to today.  I have been eyeing this jar of coconut oil for over 6 months now.  I'll be honest it has scared the crap out of me.  It looks WEIRD and solid and yet I know it gets liquid when its hot and its white and it looks like Crisco and I don't even know what the hell Crisco is.  But there comes a time when we all must man up and face our fears and today seemed as good a day as any.  I opened the jar, I dug out a spoonful, and I cooked.  Oh my how I cooked.  Delicious roast veggies perfectly crisp with just tiniest sweet taste of coconut and an Indian curry flavored soup that was rich and deep and wonderful.   Welcome to my 2012 life coconut oil - and thanks for the deliciousness.  



Coconut Oil Roasted Veggie 'Croutons' 
1 1/2 tbsp virgin coconut oil
peeled and diced sweet potato (use as much as you want)
peeled and diced butternut squash (use as much as you want, just add
salt
pepper
cajun spice mix

Melt the coconut oil in a pan.  Pour over mixed sweet potato and butternut squash and toss, seasoning with salt pepper and cajun spice mix.  Spread out on a foil lined baking sheet and roast in a 350F (180C) oven until veggies are crisp, about an hour.


Indian Chicken Curry Soup
1 tbsp coconut oil
380g diced chicken breast (or just 2 diced chicken breasts)
1 orange pepper, diced (you can use any old color)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp fresh ginger (i buy it in a tube)

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

3/4 cup red split lentils

1 litre chicken stock (just over 4 cups)

several handfulls of baby spinach 

1. Melt the coconut oil in a soup pot.  Add yellow pepper and cook until it starts to soften, about 2 minutes.  Add the diced chicken and cook until chicken started to brown and is sealed on all sides. 

2.  Add the garlic and the fresh ginger and cook for a further minute.

3.  Add turmeric, cumin, chili powder cinnamon and ground ginger and cook for a further few minutes, stirring to evenly coat the chicken in the spice mixture.

4.  Add the lentils and the chicken stock

5.  Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce heat to low and simmer until chicken is tender and the lentils have disolved to thicken the soup, about one hour

6.  Add the spinach and cook for a further 5 minutes.

7.  Serve with the veggie croutons sprinkled on top and enjoy!

Winter Sunshine

I'm not a fan of January.  Its always cold and dark and usually its where my dreams of Championships for the Jets and Rangers begin to fall apart.  Much is the same this year; still cold, still depressingly dark and lets not even talk about the Jets.  But there is one loan ray of sunshine in my otherwise dreary January.  The NY Rangers, my lovely blueshirts, are not just 1st in the division but 1st in the conference and have been flirting with 1st in the NHL for quite some time.  They are playing smart, exciting hockey and King Henrik has taken his game to another level!

So as I sit bundled up in my blanket jealously watching the Giants and feeling the inevitable sense of dread that its only another couple of months until I have to suffer the pain of being a Mets fan again - I feel compelled to treat myself to a little bit of winter sunshine.  NY Rangers - thank you for helping me beat my winter blues, I raise my cookie and my cup of tea to you!

*A note about these cookies:  These are one of my absolute favorite cookies. Sweet and satisfying with a tarte lemony aftertaste, they manage to transport me to a warmer sunnier place.  The best thing about this dough is that you can leave it in its log shape in the freezer for months at a time and then slice and bake just a couple cookies at a time! Perfect for those of us whose New Year's resolutions involved not leaving tempting plates of cookies lying around the house...

Lemon Icebox Cookies (adapted from Martha Stewart) 

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp lemon zest (feel free to use more if you prefer a more lemony taste - i used the zest from one whole lemon)
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (Martha says 1 tsp, but like I said, I like 'em lemony)
• 1 cup (2 sticks or 250 grams) butter, cut into pieces
• 2 large egg yolks
• granulated sugar spread out on a plate or some parchment paper for rolling
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• 1. Cream the butter and confectioners sugar together until combined.  Add the egg yolks, lemon juice, and lemon zest and stir until smooth and all ingredients are incorporated evenly.
• 2. Add the flour and the salt to the butter sugar mixture.  It will be easier if you only add a little at a time.  Mix until fully combined.  This will be a thicker dough so you may need to work the last bit of flour in by hand.
• 3. Divide the dough in half and roll each half of dough into a log. Wrap the logs in cling film and freeze until firm - at least 2 hours.
• 4.  Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).   
• 5. Unwrap each log and roll it in the granulated sugar to coat.  Slice the cookies from the log 1/4 inch thick and bake on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake until cookies are golden brown around the edges, approx. 15 minutes
• 6.  Cool cookies on a wire rack and enjoy with a hot cuppa tea! 

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Saying Goodbye with a Pie

Tonight is the end of an era.  When I first came to Edinburgh way back in 2007 Chris was one of the first people I met.  Since then Chris has lived with me and Kyle in all three of our apartments, he was the best man at both of our weddings, and he has been our friend and pretty much a part of our family since the day we met five years ago.  It seems we've arrived at that age where everything starts to change.  Kyle and I are moving to NY in the next few weeks and tomorrow Chris is moving to London for an awesome new job.  While I'm super excited for Chris and super excited for our move back home - I can't help but feel a little nostalgic about the end of this chapter.

As its Chris's last night I thought I would make something for dinner that would be both warm and comforting and would leave a good enough taste in Chris's mouth that he has to come back and visit some time to get some more.  Now those who know Chris know he is a pie man.  His leaving present from work consisted of a pie dish and a pie cookbook, and his last meal out with his coworkers was to a pie shop.  I think you can probably see where I'm going with this; the boy really likes pie.

Naturally then the choice was steak and ale pie.  We used Black Sheep Ale which is Chris's favorite, but really any good quality ale will do the trick.  I decided to try out one of the recipes from his new cookbook, The Hairy Bikers' Perfect Pies, and with just a few adjustments and served along side some honey roasted parsnips and some mustard mashed potatoes - we achieved absolute pie nirvana.  Next time you need a hug in the form of food I highly recommend it!

*Note about puff pastry - Now I tend to be one of those self righteous home cooks who likes to do everything herself but puff pastry is a pain in the ass to make.  For the time and effort it takes, you can get just as good ready made pastry in the store, which is what I used today.  For those of you who like to make things difficult for yourselves I promise in the next few days I will put my puff pastry recipe up here but for now you'll just have to settle with being lazy.

Steak and Ale Pie (adapted from THe Hairy Bikers' Perfect Pies)
4 rashers of streaky bacon cut into chunks
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
750g casserole steak, diced into cubes
enough flour to coat the steak
500ml good quality ale
500ml beef stock
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 bay leaves
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme leaves (if you can find fresh just use a healthy pinch of dry thyme)
3 medium carrots, sliced to 1/4 inch thickness
500g puff pastry
1 egg beaten to glaze

1.  Heat about a tbsp of olive oil in a large soup pot.  Cook the onions and the bacon for several minutes until the onions become translucent and start to brown.  Add the garlic and cook for a further minute or two.  Remove the onion, garlic and bacon from the pot with a slotted spoon.
2.  Season the flour with salt and pepper and toss the diced steak in the flour until evenly coated.  Add a little more olive oil to the pot you cooked the onions in, and then in small batches cook the meat until brown on all sides.  Remove the meat with a slotted spoon.
3.  Carefully pour half of the ale into the pot to deglaze it.  Bring the ale to a boil scrapping the bottom of the pot vigorously.  Add the tomato paste and cook for a further minute.  Return the meat, and the bacon and onions to the pot and add the carrots.  Add the stock and the remaining ale and the bay leaves and thyme.  Bring to a boil.
4.  When the filling starts to boil, reduce heat to low, cover the pot and simmer until the meat is tender; about 1:30-2 hours.
5.  When the filling is done, roll out your pastry to about 5mm thick and to a size about 5cm bigger than your pie dish.
6.  Pour your filling into your pie dish and using a pastry brush, brush the edge of the dish with the beaten egg.  Cut some strips of the pastry about 1 cm thick and use them to rim the edge of the pan.  The top pastry will seal much better if it is attaching to these strips of pastry rather than straight to the pan.
7.  Brush the pastry strips with egg wash and carefully plop on your top sheet of pastry.  Trim any excess pastry and using your fingers gently crimp the edges of the pie to seal it.  Make a few small slits in the crust to allow the air to vent and brush the entire surface with the egg wash
8.  Bake in an oven preheated to 375°F (190°C) for 30 minutes or until golden and delicious looking. Don't be surprised if there are no leftovers....

A Muffin a Day

So Kyle (thats the hubby for those who don't know) was having his friend James over for an afternoon of FIFA.   For my American friends unacquainted with the phenomena of FIFA; its a soccer video game that every male in the entire United Kingdom seems to have played since more or less birth.   Alas in the cold, dark winter of Scotland playing actual soccer becomes pretty unpleasant, so the fervor and passion that most people would reserve for playing an actual sport all gets channeled into epic sessions of FIFA.  There is laughter, tears, shouting, hugging - and all from the comfort of our living room.

Needless to say these grueling marathons of video gaming require some fuel in the form of food.  Now as exciting and stimulating as playing video games can be I think its important to remember that these boys are sitting on the couch not ACTUALLY running around a field; thus perhaps their snack should be somewhat healthy.  The hubby suggested muffins arguing that muffins frequently contain fruit therefore they are clearly a health food.  While I liked the idea of getting fruit into the snack, I wanted to find a way to make a muffin that was a little more nutritious than being a cake with some fruit in it.  Now our friend James, is a blueberry muffin connoisseur.   This is a man who more or less eats a blueberry muffin daily; one who has probably had blueberry muffins from almost every place you can get a blueberry muffin in Edinburgh.  So this muffin had to be healthy, but it had to stack up to every butter and sugar laden muffin out there.  But how?

The answer my friends is some sneaky substitutions.  Use a little less butter and add some buttermilk - it will keep the muffins super moist but cut down on the calories.  Sneak in a cheeky bit of whole wheat flour instead of using all white flour and you add a little extra whole grain goodness.  And most importantly - if you are going to call a muffin a health food, then you better be damn sure you get all the fruit into it you can, so pile in those blueberries.  Volia - you've got a muffin so delicious the boys had no idea it was semi healthy.  Gabby 1 FIFA 0

Super Moist Blueberry Muffins (makes 9-10 muffins)

5 tbsp slightly salted butter (room temperature)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 buttermilk*

1 1/2 cups white flour

1/2 cup self raising whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 heaping cup blueberries (I used frozen and found I liked the results better!)

Cinnamon sugar to top (I just mixed some cinnamon with some light brown sugar, personally I like a lot of cinnamon but go with whatever amount tastes right to you)

1.  Preheat your over to 375°F (190°C) and either line your muffin tins with cupcake liners, or butter them, or spray them with a nonstick cooking spray

2.  Cream together the butter and the sugar until fluffy 

3.  Add the egg, vanilla and the buttermilk and beat until smooth and evenly mixed

4.  Sift the dry ingredients (the white flour, the wheat flour, the baking powder and baking soda) into the wet ingredients and mix until combined.  Your batter should be fairly thick; more like the consistency of cookie dough rather than cake batter.

5.  Stir in your blueberries

6.  Fill each muffin cup 3/4 of the way full and then top each muffin generously with the cinnamon sugar mixture

7.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean! 

8.  Let the muffins cool in their pan until they are cool enough to touch and then remove them from the pan and let them finish cooking on a wire rack

Enjoy :-)

P.S. Special shout out to Chris Dobson for the excellent photo!!! He is a much better food photographer than I am! 

Spicy Lentil Soup

Well friends, I counted my chickens before they hatched.  You see on our recent trip to NY all 5 of our Scottish guests, my sister, and two of my bridesmaids came down with colds.  Oh, how I laughed at their coughs and sneezes and boasted of my incredible immune system.  Sadly those laughs have come back to haunt me and I have returned to the frosty Scottish winter with a good dose of the sniffles.  Serves me right.

I know there are a million cold remedies out there but the one that the Aiutos (and now McCaigs) swear by is spicy soup.  Sure chicken noodle will make you feel warm and fuzzy, but only something with a little extra heat will help clear out that congestion!  My usual cure is a steaming bowl of extra spicy Thai Tom Yum soup, but tonight I wanted something thicker and heartier.  After all clearing my head would be helpful but I wanted to feel full as well!

Feeling confused and uninspired I took a peek in the pantry and was greeted by the same bag of French Puy lentils that had been staring at me for several months now.  As my poor husband will attest, I have a slight addiction to buying random bags of grains and pulses and never actually using them.  We had a box of whole wheat giant couscous sitting in our pantry for almost a year - WHY? We LOVED the giant couscous when we tried it, so why on earth did we stick to our staples of rice and regular couscous for so long?  Its the same with these lentils, I bought them in a fit of inspiration and have stared at them every day since trying to work up the will to actually cook them.  Don't get me wrong, I like lentils, but I often find lentil based recipes, particularly soups, can be a little mushy and a little plain.  But where there is a will, there is a way and tonight I was determined to not only use these lentils, but to use them in a soup with texture, flavor, and most importantly with spice!

Friends - this is what I came up with.  Its hearty and spicy and when topped with little 'croutons' made from sweet potato it is utterly delicious.  Enjoy it while snuggled up and wearing something along these lines.


Spicy Puy Lentil Soup with Garlic Cajun Sweet Potato 'Croutons'


For the Soup:

1 cup Puy lentils, rinsed 

1 onion, minced

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1 green chili, minced (for extra heat leave some of the seeds, for a milder version remove the seeds)

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp hot paprika

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp cajun spice mix

1 14oz. can chopped tomatoes 

1 bay leaf

1-2 cups chicken stock (start with one and add until soup is your level of thickness)

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups deveined and chopped kale (you could also use spinach) 

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan, add the lentils, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain and set the lentils aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat, then add the onion and  and saute until tender, a couple minutes.  Add the garlic, chili, and spices and saute for another few minutes until the onions are translucent. Stir in the tomatoes, lentils, and chicken stock and continue cooking for a few more minutes, letting the soup come back up to a simmer.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and add the bay leaf, and cook for a further 15 minutes.  Stir in the chopped greens, and cook for a further 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if need be. Ladle into bowls, and serve with garlic cajun sweet potato croutons.

Garlic Cajun Sweet Potato Croutons

1 sweet potato, pealed and cubed into small cubes

1 tbsp garlic (I used garlic paste, but you could use fresh minced garlic)

1 tbsp cajun spice blend

1 tbsp olive oil

Heat a saute pan on medium heat.  Toss sweet potato cubes with olive oil, garlic and cajun spice until evenly coated.  Pour the sweet potato into the pan and spread evenly across the pan.  Let cook for several minutes without touching to get a nice brown on the sweet potato.  Cook for a further 10-15 minutes (depending on the size of your cubes) stirring frequently until potato is crispy and crouton like.  

You could also roast the sweet potato in a 350F degree oven for 20-30 minutes 

 

New Year, New Start, New Blog

Welcome 2012 - I'm so excited to get to know you.  It's going to be tough to follow 2011, that was a pretty good year for me.  I got engaged, I got married, and I made my own wedding cake.   I grew both personally and professionally and I grew by leaps and bounds in confidence in the kitchen, experimenting with home made puff pastry, learning how to sterilize and made 80 jars of homemade jam, and having the faith in myself to make my own 3 tiered wedding cake.  And yet I am so excited for you 2012 even if you aren't off to the best of starts.  Ok so my UK work visa expired and I had to stop working, and yes I will have to move back to the US before my husband and we will live apart while he waits on his green card, and sure its a little stressful looking for work in this economic climate; but its no big deal.  I made my own wedding cake - I can do anything!

I promise I will shut up about the cake now, since this blog will be about so much more.  Its about being on a mission to improve myself.  Its a mission to get healthier, be nicer, and most importantly continue to kick culinary ass.  

Just to get things started - here is the recipe for my Scottish Raspberry Jam that I made for our wedding favors.   If you have been avoiding canning for a long time like I was, paralyzed by the fear of the thought of presenting your friends and families with a lovely can of botulism, rest assured this does actually work.  Our jars were bottled in July and I am still opening some of the extras and the jam is as good as ever!  The recipe itself is super easy and only calls for 3 ingredients.  Yes 3.  So easy and so delicious and you will wonder why you haven't braved the world of canning before!

For the Jam (adapted from Epicurious 2001):

4 cups granulated sugar

4 cups fresh raspberries (washed and patted dry)

1 lemon, juiced 

Screw top and sterilized glass jam jars (you will need 6-8 8oz jars per batch)

1. Put the sugar into an ovenproof shallow pan and warm in a 250°F oven for 15 minutes. 

2. In the mean time, place the raspberries in a thick bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, mashing the berries with a potato masher as they warm.  When the berries begin to boil let them boil vigorously for about 1 minute

3. Add the warmed sugar and the lemon juice making sure to stir thoroughly and let boil until the mixture forms a gel (see note below) 

4.  Ladle into jars and process in a hot water bath

5.  Let cool and enjoy!

To sterilize and process the jars:

Place the jars and the lids in your dishwasher and run them through a high heat cycle.  When the cycle finishes - do not remove the jars until you are ready to can.  The hot jam will need to go into the hot jars!

After you finish ladling the jam into the jars, wipe the rims with a damp paper towel to remove any excess jam and screw on the lids tightly.  In the mean time put a small cake round in the bottom of a large pot (large enough to hold several of the jam jars at once).  Fill the pot with enough water to cover the jars and have 2 inches of water above the can and bring to a rapid boil.  After the jars are filled and sealed drop them in the hot water bath and let the water return to a boil.  Once the water returns to a boil let them process for 5 minutes before removing and placing on some kitchen towels to cool.  Cool for 24 hours before eating! 

More detailed instructions can be found here: can processing

How to tell you have a gel:

Before you start the process stick a spoon in the fridge and let it chill.  When you are ready to test your jam, dip the cold spoon into the jam mixture and immediately lift it out keeping it horizontal.  If the jam is dripping off the spoon in several loose, syrupy drops it isn't ready.  The jam is done when the mixture looks thicker and more set and two drops run together before falling off the spoon.   

Another way to test the doneness of the jam is to spoon a little of the mixture onto a plate and let sit for a minute.  If the jam is ready it will have started to gel and will be wobbly like jello, as opposed to totally runny.