Simple pleasures

Sometimes the simple things are the best and just lately I've really appreciated some really quick and easy recipes that give great results. A couple are my own and the others have been passed on to me by friends.

First up Twice Baked Cheesy Jackets. Too simple to even class as a recipe. All you need are some cold, cooked jacket potatoes. When I know I'm going to make these I usually try and pop them in the bottom of the oven to cook while I'm baking something else, like the cake I'll come to later in this blog. (It just saves a few pennies)

I leave them in the oven until I need them, usually the next day or I pop them in the fridge once totally cooled.

So once you have your cold potatoes, slice them in half, scoop out the potato, being careful not to tear the skin. Place the potato into a large bowl, all except one half. Scoop it out but leave to one side and find another use for it. Mash the scooped out potato & add a couple very large handfuls of grated cheese.

 The stronger the flavour of the cheese, the less you need. I like a mature cheddar but you can use whatever you have handy. Mix the cheese and potato and fill the empty skins with the mixture. Top off with a little extra grated cheese and bake in the oven for about 20/30 minutes on a medium heat.

Ready for the oven

When they come out they're all golden and crisp on the outside and creamy and soft inside. They go with all kinds of things even my next recipe......

Butternut Squash Soup

There are no exact quantities for this recipe, I just use what I have in the fridge at the time.
 Usually it will be one large or two small Butternut squash, peeled and cut into large pieces

about 4 large carrot's, topped and tailed cut in half

a large white onion, peeled and quartered

about three peppers, orange, yellow or red, de-seeded and quatered

4 large garlic cloves, bashed but unpeeled

Some olive oil & seasoning.

Place all the veg and garlic in a large roasting pan pour over some oil and season well. I use salt and pepper plus some cumin, ground coriander and chilli to taste (you can always add more later).

Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes on Gas4/180c. You want the vegetables cooked but not too browned.

Once cooked remove the garlic and add the vegetables to a pan of good quality vegetable stock(about 1 1/2 litres) bring to the boil then simmer for 15/20 minutes. Squeeze the garlic from it's husk into the pan. 

Add everything to the blender, you might need to do this in batches. Return to the pan and taste.

This is when I adjust the seasoning. I like to add a splash of balsamic vinegar or a squeeze of lemon to bring out the flavours and sometimes I'll add a little extra spice.

Serve with a swirl of cream or a dollop of creme fraiche and some fresh chopped parsley. Yum!

 The next recipe was given to me by The Pastry King, a lovely person I know through Twitter. Very nice of him to share his recipes as this is something he does for a living, but he's always happy to give tips and advice and yes, even share his recipes!

It was a recipe for Dutch Butter Biscuits so quick and so easy. Three or four ingredients are all they require and they're things I have in the house all the time Butter, icing sugar plain flour and cocoa if you want to make a chocolate version. It's a 1-2-3 recipe. (100g of the first, 200g of the second and 300g of the third, just substitute some flour for cocoa if you want to make chocolate ones) I made a plain batch and a half size chocolate batch. All the ingredients go in to the food processor and whizz together to make a dough. Roll into a sausage and slice into 1cm thick slices, bake for 10 mins on 180c/gas4 and hey presto you have yummy biscuits to go with a cup of tea. I'm thinking they'd be great for lunchboxes too.

Fresh from the oven

With a little added chocolate!

My Last recipe is from a very good 'real life' friend of mine, Nancy. It's her recipe for Fruit and Almond cake, which has become the weekly cake of choice in our house!
You can find the recipe here. It's also very good with a cup of tea, a glug of cream or even some custard. But it never lasts long! I love it not only because it tastes so good, but because you can use such a variety of fruits and most importantly of all it's so simple to make.

This week it's Plum and Almond

So that's all. Just wanted to share these little gems with you. Have a lovely weekend, whatever's on the menu!