Perfect potato wedges

This is just a quick post to show you how to make some really good wedges to go with every meal. They are  soft inside even without parboiling, and really crunchy with tons of flavour. I made some to go with chicken drumsticks the other night, mm mm (perfect with BBQ sauce too!)

Serves 1

- olive oil

- 1 baking potato

- schwartz season-all spice (salt, paprika, pepper, garlic etc.)

- mixed herbs

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees.

2. Drizzle some oil in a baking tray and place in the oven to heat.

3. Meanwhile, cut the potato into wedge shapes - fairly thin. (Do this by cutting the potato in half lengthways, then in half again, and keep doing this with each part until you get a number of wedges!)

4. Take out the oiled try, and place the potato wedges on, turning over so coated in the oil.

5. Cover with a sprinkled of season-all or some salt, pepper, paprika etc. followed by some dried mixed herbs.

6. Bake in the oven for around 45 minutes, or until golden brown, crisp and soft in the middle!

Enjoy :)

Coffee and mascarpone cupcakes

I made these for my mum's birthday since she loves coffee cake, like this tiramisu cake which I made for mother's day here! I usually always just stick to buttercream to ice cupcakes (I would've done coffee buttercream for these), but I thought a cream cheese frosting would be a nice change. It does mean you should probably keep them in the fridge though, as the mascarpone might go off otherwise, but I found that if anything it made the sponge more moist so keeping them cold worked great! You can decorate these with anything you like - walnuts would look really good placed on top and are the perfect match for coffee, but none of us really like walnuts so that's why I didn't do that. We tried to find chocolate coffee beans but couldn't which is a shame because they would have looked perfect. In the end I used these chocolate hearts which are really cute - they came from Sainsbury's, I think they were the Silver Spoon brand. These decorations will be particularly perfect for Valentine's day. The cupcake cases are from Ikea last year so they probably don't do them anymore. I love the colours and designs but always get annoyed because they're tall, slim cupcake cases, and I don't have a suitable cupcake tin to bake them in, so they lose their shape and it means the sponge doesn't go higher then the case. This really annoys me because I don't think the cupcakes look as good aha. Sorry for the long introduction! In short, these cupcakes make a really nice change and are super moist and flavoursome so definitely give them a try if you like coffee flavoured cakes.

Makes about 12
- 100g butter, softened
- 100g soft brown sugar
- 100g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 large eggs
- 2tsp coffee mixed with 100ml water
- pinch of salt
- dash of milk

For the mascarpone frosting
- 200ml mascarpone
- 2 tbsp soft brown sugar
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
- the remaining coffee

1. re-heat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180 degrees, and line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake cases.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar, beat in the eggs and fold in the flour and baking powder.
3. Stir in the coffee, a pinch of salt and a dash of milk until creamy.
4. Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases and bake in the oven for around 20 minutes, or until golden.
5. Leave to cool on a wired rack.
6. Meanwhile, to make the frosting, whisk together the mascarpone, sugars and coffee. Once the cakes are cool, spread on top.

 7. Decorate the cupcakes with anything you like - chocolate hearts, coffee beans, walnuts, grated chocolate etc etc. Don't forget to store in the fridge!

Enjoy :)

Leek and potato soup with brie

Another wintery recipe - sorry I know it's only August! I had all the ingredients for this in the house and had never really made soup before so I was really excited to try it out. I didn't expect the texture to be so thick and smooth so was really pleased and it tasted so creamy and delicious! If you prefer a chunky soup then feel free to alter the recipe slightly - you don't have to blend it in a food processor, you could just chop the potatoes smaller to begin with. This tasted great on it's own, but once I added a few chunks of brie it just made it so much better - more creamy mm mm. I served this with a tear and share bread.

Serves 2 

- knob of butter

- 1 onion, chopped

- 2 cloves garlic, crushed

- 1 leek, sliced or chopped

- 1 large baking potato, cut into chunks

- 1 chicken stock cube with 300ml water

- dash of milk

- salt and pepper

- few slices of brie

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the onions, garlic and leek. Cook for around 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the potato.

2. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Then cover with a lid, and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the potato is softened.

3. Put the soup into a food processor and add some milk. Blend until smooth (a minute or two). Season to taste.

4. Return the soup to the pan to heat through, and add the slices of brie. Stir until melted, then serve!

Enjoy :)

Pesto mash

This mashed potato was deliciously creamy and rich, despite not having any cream or crème fraiche in. I decided to use pesto because I've had pesto and cheddar on a jacket potato before and it was so yummy, so I knew that it would taste good in mash as well. I served this with chicken wrapped in pancetta (see previous post) and green vegetables. It's amazing that just by adding a few dollops of green pesto, you can transform a boring mash into something delicious and luxurious! You should definitely try this if you like pesto.

Serves 2
- 450-500g potatoes (I used desiree and vivaldi)
- pinch of salt
- dash of semi-skimmed milk
- knob of butter
- 1/2 small jar of green pesto (or less, or more)
- handful of cheddar, grated


1. Boil the potatoes in salted water for 20-25 minutes, or until soft.
2. Drain and return to the pan. Add some milk and a knob of butter and mash for a couple of minutes until smooth.
3. Add the pesto and stir in, then continue to mash - adding more butter and/or milk depending on the taste/texture you desire.
4. Put the cheddar in and continue to mash. Season to taste, and serve.

Enjoy :)

Chicken legs wrapped in pancetta

This chicken had loads of flavour, was really moist, and went perfectly with the crisp, smoky pancetta. I roasted onions with the legs for extra flavour, and served it with pesto mash (see next post), and green vegetables. I do prefer using chicken breasts and stuffing them with ingredients such as spinach and feta, or gorgonzola and cranberry, and then wrapping in bacon - but this is a good alternative - and less fiddly!

Serves 2

- 2 large chicken legs

- olive oil

- paprika

- garlic granules

- salt

- 1 large red onion, cut into chunks

- 6 rashers of pancetta

1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4/180 degrees.

2. In a roasting dish, drizzle olive oil and rub the chicken legs until coated. Sprinkle with paprika, salt and garlic granules.

3. Place the onion chunks in the dish around the chicken, and brush with olive oil.

4. Wrap each chicken leg with 3 rashers of pancetta.

5. Roast in the oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the pancetta is crisp

Enjoy :)

Blueberry pancakes

These American-style pancakes are a perfect breakfast treat, or make a great brunch. I had never even eaten blueberry pancakes before today, so I was a little weary about making them, but everything went fine and they were delicious. The blueberries poking out of the batter in the pan makes it harder for the pancake to cook through, but if you squash them down it isn't a problem and the blueberries go warm and jam-like mmm. This recipe made about 10-12 pancakes so I heated the oven to keep them warm as the stack got higher and higher. I am ashamed to say that my boyfriend and I ate all of these between us with no struggles (food blogging is stretching my stomach!) I served them with a drizzle of honey and topped with some extra blueberries. We also had blueberry jam and crème-fraiche - the cold cream went perfectly with these warm fluffy pancakes, and it was the Sainsbury's 'be good to yourself' version yay. I definitely recommend making these! 

 Makes 10-12 pancakes
- 250g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 250ml milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 50g butter/margerine, melted - plus extra for frying
- 100g blueberries

To serve:
- honey or maple syrup
- blueberry jam
- blueberries
- crème fraiche

1. Sift the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into a mixing bowl.

2. Combine the milk, eggs and melted butter in a jug. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together. Stir in the blueberries.

3. Heat a frying pan and add a small knob of butter. Ladle some batter into the pan and flip when the underside starts to go golden brown. 

4. Repeat until all the pancakes are done; keeping them warm on a plate in the oven until you have a huge stack of them.

5. Drizzle with honey or syrup, top with blueberries, and serve with crème fraiche.

Enjoy :)

The perfect baked potato

Why ruin a perfectly simple jacket potato by shoving it in the microwave for 10 minutes and making it soggy!? For some reason I am far better at using the hob or the oven than a microwave anyway, since every time I use the microwave for my porridge it ends up exploding all down the side of the bowl, and in the case of the famous jacket potato - no matter what I do, whenever I bake it in the microwave the skin wrinkles and goes tough. Although I like jacket potatoes when my mum bakes them in the microwave, I think it's safe to say that everyone loves a fluffy potato with a crisp, flavoursome skin. And here is how...

You will need a jacket potato, olive oil, salt and any other seasoning you like.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees/gas mark 6. Prick the potato with a fork or knife (this is very important - my dad once caused a potato explosion in the oven for not doing this...). Place the potato on a baking tray and brush with olive oil so the whole skin is coated. Sprinkle with salt and any other seasoning (like pepper, season all or fresh or dried herbs), and turn so that the whole potato is covered with seasoning. Bake in the oven for 1 hour 45 minutes - 2 hours. Turn halfway through cooking. The potato will be done when it looks brown in colour and crisp - stick a knife in the potato to check it is cooked through. Don't forget to extend the time if you are baking lots of potatoes at once or if it is particularly large!

Jacket potato toppings:
- Butter
- Any cheese
- Pesto
- Soured cream and chives
- Tuna mayo
- Egg mayo
- Sweetcorn
- Bacon and leek
- Fried onion and mushrooms
- Baked beans
- Coleslaw
- Chilli
- Cottage cheese
- Any flavoured spread like Philadelphia
- Chicken and garlic mayo

You can obviously mix and match any of these toppings to get some delicious flavours
Some of my favourites are:
- Green pesto and cheddar
- Brie and bacon
- Tuna mayo and mozzarella
- Sweetcorn, mushrooms with soured cream and chives
- The classic cheese and beans!

Enjoy :)

Cheese scones

Yes, the weather in England is turning slightly summery, but we all know the sunshine won't last for long so here is a real comfort food pick me up! Cheese scones, hot from the oven spread with butter that melts as soon as it hits the soft surface mm. And the best thing is, they are still delicious cold!

Ingredients:

- 225g self-raising flour

- pinch of salt

- 55g butter

- 25g cheddar cheese

- 150ml milk

Heat the oven to 220c / gas mark 7 and grease a baking sheet. Mix the flour and salt and rub in the butter until you are left with a breadcrumb consistency. Stir in the cheese and the milk until a soft dough. Knead lightly on a floured surface. Roll out until about 2cm thick and cut out using a round cutter. Place on the baking sheet, brush with milk, and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool briefly, and serve hot with butter.

Enjoy :)