By Guest Writer Julie

I recently added Eric Lanlard’s Home Bake to my ever expanding collection of baking books and have been enjoying experimenting with some of his ideas. One of the recipes is for Malteser Squares which I thought was a fun twist on the traditional tiffin! I have used Eric’s idea with my own tiffin recipe as I thought the one in the book was a little light on the sugar! It’s such a simple recipe that it’s ideal for making with little ones.

Ingredients

Ingredients:

100g unsalted butter
250g milk chocolate
4 tbsp golden syrup
4 tbsp granulated sugar
4tbsp cocoa powder
225g Maltesers plus extra for decoration
225g Digestive biscuits

and one cheeky child!

1. Put the butter, 200g of the milk chocolate, golden syrup, granulated sugar and cocoa powder together in a pan and melt together over a low heat.

Bashing!

2. Finely crush the digestives in a large bowl, you don’t want any chunks of biscuit left unlike a normal tiffin recipe as the crunch comes from the Maltesers!

3. Mix the digestives and the melted ingredients together thoroughly then quickly stir in the Maltesers.

4. Press the mixture in to a lined 8″ square cake tin and pop it in the fridge to set (not forgetting to lick the spoon!)

5. Once the tiffin is set firm, lift it out of the tin using the lining paper. Sprinkle the top with crushed maltesers and drizzle with the remaining 50g of melted chocolate.

The End Result

6. Cut the tiffin into squares – Mr Lanlard suggests you can get 20 squares from this quantity but that gives you rather mean portions. We ended up with 12 squares which disappeared so rapidly I didn’t get chance to photograph a piece!! Here’s some I made earlier – topped with white and milk chocolate chips this time.

I love this idea so much I am now dreaming up other goodies to add to my tiffin mix – I’m thinking of trying bashed up Crunchies next! What favourite sweeties can you think of that might work with tiffin?

I’m a simple cook. I hate following complex recipes and quite frankly I’m crap at baking. I tend to take a brief look at a recipe and then make things up as I go along.

This is one of my favourite ‘easy and quick’ dinners at the moment.

Ingredients
Serves 2

Pork medallions
One leek
2 cloves garlic
Single cream
Brandy or white wine *Optional
1/2 pint of chicken stock
Olive oil
Tsp wholegrain mustard
Sea salt and pepper

1. Sear the pork medallions (season and coat in olive oil first) on either side until they’re caramelised. Remove to a sideplate.

2. Slice and fry leek and garlic in a little extra olive oil.

3. Add chicken stock, bring to the boil and then turn to a medium heat – add a splash of white wine or brandy (optional)

4. Remove pan from heat and stir in half a cup of single cream.

5. Put on a low heat and stir in a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard. Put the medallions back in the pan and cook until meat is piping through – be careful not to split sauce! (but if you do, remove the pan and add a bit more single cream and it should come back together).

6. Season sauce to taste and serve with new potatoes and vegetables.

Totally forgot to get a ‘plate picture’ as I was too busy filling my face!

For desert what about a nice apple pie and a wee bit of custard?

1. Melt in the Middle Chocolate Pudding with Chantilly Cream and Malibu Syrup

This is served at the restaurant I work in. It is the ultimate desert and if there’s any going spare I’m first in the fist fight to grab it. It’s a possibility for desert at this year’s Christmas dinner (what? nobody else planning christmas dinner yet?)

2. Frangelico

Another gem unearthed at work. I love tia maria and Franchellico kind of reminds me of it, its a liquer made from hazelnuts, quite strong but the perfect accompaniment to the chocoate pud. Yum.

3. Parmesan Chicken

So simple. Pan fry some skin on chicken breasts, make sure to give a good colour to the skin. Cook in the oven for around twenty minutes. Sprinkle some parmesan over the skin, be generous, then grill until golden. Serve with a green salad and a lemon wedge.

4. Lemon & Rosemary Baked Chicken

Take some skin on chicken and arrange in a dish with potatoes, pour over a good glug of olive oil, and a glass of white wine (I prefer a sweeter wine, it helps counter balance the sharpness of the lemon). Cut a lemon into segments and arrange between the chicken breasts. Add some fresh rosemary and season well. Place in the oven for around 40 minutes (check the chicken breasts are golden and cooked through). Serve.

This is a tasty one dish dinner that takes barely five minutes to prepare. Some nice crusty bread for the juices and you’re in heaven.

5. Quesadillas

An american favourite that we only discovered recently. Looking forward to trying out different combos – any suggestions?

6. Gu Chocolate Souffle and Mackays Ice Cream

Ready made Gu puddings are the ultimate in luxury deserts. For a special occasion (and we have been having a lot of ‘special occasions’ recently!!) this is a real treat.

7. Vanilla Creme Round

I order my shopping online and when it’s delivered I treat myself to one of these or a slice of walnut bread. Makes the unpacking go quicker….

8. Flake Ice Cream

Flake + ice cream = yum

Flake Ice Cream = Double Yum

What more can I say?

Quesadilla photo by flickr user Rooey202

The growing season began in March, I was so keen I started in February, deciding initially to start with a few pots (next year I hope to progress to raised beds and then a small greenhouse).? So far we’ve harvested (with mixed success) lettuce, chives, parsley, strawberries, rosemary and basil.

Lettuce

I used wooden trough and sowed a ‘mixed bowl’ variety.? I’ve managed about three salads but think I’ll hold off growing again until I get a greenhouse as I found the leaves easily drown especially during a downpour – and this is scotland after all.

Chives

This has grown well on a window sill and I have used in salads and in dips.

Parsley

I started this indoors and then moved outside, it grows like crazy but not when potted with basil – no love there…? I have used this in various recipes and for garnish.

Stawberries

We are currently growing these in a large terracotta pot but next year I plan to try and start from seed and move into hanging baskets.

Rosemary

I cheated and bought an established plant but I plan on planting more along with thyme directly into the garden.

Basil

This has been the most successful, it thrives indoors and I’ve managed to pick enough leaves to make two batches of pesto (I’ve included the recipe below).

Pesto Recipe

I’m not sure how pesto is ‘supposed’ to be made but this makes a fresh and lemony pesto that’s nice with pasta, chicken, mozzarella or focaccia.

Ingredients;

Basil (two handfuls)

Garlic infused olive oil (one slug)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (two slugs)

Parmesan (small handful)

Toasted Pine Nuts (small handfull)

Juice of half a lemon

Freshly ground salt and pepper to taste (needs a generous amount)

Simply whiz up the ingredients in a food processor and serve

I love walnut bread, but at ?1.19 for a small loaf it’s pretty expensive and I therefore have to ensure that when I do splurge I use every morsel….and because it’s yummy and I can’t bear to leave a crumb!

1. Simply sliced and eaten with quality butter, I like Lurpack.

2. Toasted with a little quality cheese.

3. Blended and used as breadcrumbs to top pies/pasta bakes.

4. Chopped chunky and dipped in olive oil and balsamic (I like raspberry vinegar too.)

5. Sliced and used for an open sandwhich.

6. Cubed, doused in olive oil and baked. Use these croutons in a nice salad, I like chicken and bacon salad or a simple green salad with parmesan and pine nuts.

7. Cubed and doused in olive oil with a slug of balsamic, bake, then plop into a nice bowl of tomato soup.

In a recent post I suggested that the popular entrepreneurial venture of a lemonade stand was a good activity that was free, yes, I know the lemons and sugar will cost but you will make that back when you sell the lemonade!

Here’s a recipe I found (Juliet Moxley book again!), I haven’t tried this recipe so don’t blame me if it’s foul and you don’t make any money – only kidding, how foul can it be, it’s just lemonade!

Lemonade

You need;

4 Lemons
4 tbsp castor sugar
Water

A Pint Jug

1. Cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice with a lemon squeezer (I don’t have a lemon squeezer so I would use a fork).

2. Pour the juice into the pint jug, add the sugar and enough boiling water to dissolve it, stir well.

3. Fill the jug with cold water and refrigerate. Serve with ice*.

*Tip Charge a premium for your lemonade by making lemon ‘n’ lime ice cubes. Cut thin slices of lemon & lime, cut into triangles and put one of each into an ice cube tray, top with water and freeze.