New recipes: What have I learnt and what was the best?

Just over half of what I cooked in the challenge was something sweet. Not all my cooking attempts were successful; in fact the sweet treats were things that often went wrong. The key lime pie was a landslide, as was the upside down cake which didn't cook fully either. Panna cotta and the chocolate fondant didn't come out of the ramekins and pudding basins successfully, and the macaroons didn't turn out great either.

With all the failures in the cooking it doesn’t mean that I failed the challenge. I cooked things I wouldn't normally cook or things that I thought were adventurous. I was really surprised with how the Crème Brulee turned out. I thought they would be a disaster because on Bake Off the week I cooked them, the contestants had trouble mastering them. But they were a hit and surprisingly easy to make.

I learnt how to cook some basics like Stew, steak and flapjack and there were some dishes that I would definitely make again like Biryani, the vegetable rosti and Mexican scrambled eggs, which I have already made again.

The best times of cooking were when I was cooking for friends and family and I loved making brunch and doing the pudding club and food gathering. On the subject of the food gathering I must do a little shout out to Fran who made me some Indian almond milk sweets and I forgot to mention that in the food part of the challenge. Sorry Fran! Hopefully I can cook for you again soon.

New Recipe #29: Simple yet satisfying

For my last recipe of the challenge I kept it pretty simple as I was running out of time. So I made hummus. I thought it would be quite complicated to make for some reason but it was quite the opposite.

Just chuck some chickpea, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, cumin and paprika in a food processor and hey presto hummus!

So not a grand finale on the recipes but I reckon if you put together all the recipes I made over the year it would make a pretty great feast.

New Recipes #27-28 and New Activity #30: Thai and Mexican cuisine

For my food gathering I was going to cook Thai fish parcels, but with some late drop outs I decided to cook these at a later date and at the end of last week I did. Now I’m a real stickler to the recipes, even when it comes to something as simple as pancakes, so it may come as a shock to my friends that I didn’t follow the recipe.

The recipe said to use coconut cream and red curry paste. I didn’t have either, so I used Greek yoghurt, double cream and tikka paste instead. It was an easy way to cook fish, just wrap it up in baking parchment and foil and put in the oven. I thought that with the flavours being wrapped up, when I opened it up once it had been cooked the flavours would be really strong. However I was underwhelmed by it. It tasted okay, but didn’t really look that great.

The second recipe I made was recommended by my friend Rachel and I made it for her while we were at the fitness weekend. It was Mexican scrambled eggs and I think the last time I cooked or at least got taught to cook scrambled eggs was when I was 5 at school. The recipe was pretty easy to make, fry some tortilla wraps which have been cut into strips. Fry chopped chilli and a spring onion, then add that and 4 beaten eggs together and tada! I was expecting it to be really spicy but it wasn’t too bad and was very filling. I’ll definitely make it again as it was so easy to do.

Even though I've finished the new experiences part of the challenge I also went to my first pilates class over the weekend. As I thought the class consists of lots of stretches, but challenging ones. It was towards the end of the weekend so was a good way to wind down.

New recipes #20-26: Food gathering

On Sunday I had a little food gathering for friends and family. It was to act as a little trade off as well. I made nice food and in return I got some unusual food to try or a new phrase for my challenge.

I aimed to cook 10 recipes as I had quite a few people set to attend but ended up making 6. This was a blessing in disguise as 3 people couldn’t make it on the day and 2 others who said they were going to come never showed. Even so I still have a lot of food left over which I’m sure my work colleagues will appreciate, and means I don’t have to go food shopping for quite a while.

I started preparing food on the Thursday as I had a busy weekend ahead and the first thing I made was chicken liver and orange pate. The pate was made with chicken livers which I got from Morrisons for a very high price of 19p! It was pretty straight forward to make which I was surprised about and smelt and tasted like pate. Although before freezing it I did think it looked like dog poo. Even so it still tasted great on French bread.

I was still making slight tweaks in what I was going to make the night before and I was wondering what I could make with ingredients I already had. From the granola bars I had quite a few different seeds left and with them I raspberry jam and a luxury nut and seed loaf. The jam was surprisingly easy to make. It wasn’t proper jam like my mum made with the long cooking process, but it tasted and looked just like jam and was extra healthy as it had Chia seeds in it.

I got inspiration from my favourite band Lady Antebellum in the form of Devilled Eggs. I found out about these through one of their webisodes as Charles from the band would impersonate his crazy aunt bella. She would go on about her devilled eggs and how they were amazing. I googled the recipe and thought I’d give them a try. I hadn’t tried them before either and boy did they have a bit of a kick. 

The nut and seed loaf tasted good, but it did need a sauce or gravy which I didn’t have time to make. It recommended a cranberry and apple sauce but I couldn’t find any cranberries. But it was still pretty filling.

I also made 2 desserts and I seem to be back in my pudding stride after some landslides earlier in the challenge. I made a passion fruit trifle which was a simple recipe using brioche slices as the base. The reason why I made a trifle was that I felt that all the dishes I was making were a little brown. So I asked one of my friends what I should make for dessert that had a bit of colour, and passion fruit was the answer. It was another easy recipe to make and there weren’t any complaints. 

The last thing I made on the day was Banoffee Pie. Now I have an eventful history with Banoffee pie, as when I was growing up if there was free food around I would make the most of it. One Boxing Day we went to my auntie’s and there was a lot of great food. So I stuffed myself and when I got home was subsequently sick, and the last thing I ate was you guessed it Banoffee pie. I’ve never had it since. But I did make it for the challenge and it went down a storm. My friend Penny called me the queen of Banoffee and quite a few people went back for seconds!

I was planning to make Biryani on the Sunday but I decided to make it the day after and I loved it. The rice was very fragrant and it the meat and sauce wasn’t too spicy but was full of flavour. It’s a dish I’ll definitely make again and again.

New Recipe #19, New Food #23 and New Phrase #9: Classy Cricket

As I ‘ve said before my dad Bobby and I like cricket and he’d been camping with my sister for a week while The Ashes was on. So this afternoon he came round to watch some of the test highlights.

I’m in full challenge mode so I also took the opportunity to cook a new recipe as well. I cooked Crème Brûlée, which is something I hadn't tried before either. I planned to cook it this weekend for a while, but as luck would have it they were cooking it on Bake Off this week, so I got some tips from there.

It was pretty straight forward to make, however I was worried it would turn watery or like scrambled eggs. Timing wise I had to leave it in the oven for 10 minutes more than the recipe said and they came out well. They tasted great, and I’m surprised at how filling they are.

What would have been better was if I used a blowtorch to caramelise the top. I do have one, but I didn’t realise that you need fuel in it, and I didn’t have any. So I did the Mary Berry way and grilled the top, which worked just as well.

While Bobby was here he also told me a phrase in a different language. He’s always been into history and we watched Time Team every Sunday growing up. So he taught me the Latin for ‘The Senate and People of Rome’ which is Senatus Populus Que Romanus!

So a fun afternoon and the cricket weren’t bad either.

New Recipe #18: Clean Living

I feed my friend Jen’s pets when she’s away and I looked at one of her cookbooks when I was at her house the other day. It was Deliciously Ella and I heard a lot about Ella Woodward as she writes articles for the Telegraph. I saw the recipe book at my cousins the other week as well and had a look through it then and I wanted to try a recipe from it.

So I made some granola bars and after buying enough seeds to feed a whole army of birds the baking began. I left Jen and Mark a few while I was feeding their pets and my family got a few as well. It was an easy recipe and it made 20 bars, so if I have them as snacks at work, it’ll stop me eating shortbread one of the guys brought in!

New Recipe #17: Masterchef Nemesis

Aussie Masterchef is my favourite show and one of the main food challenges for the contestants is chocolate fondant. So I thought I’d give it a go.

I got a great recipe from the Guardian site and read it through several times to make sure I didn't go wrong at any stage.

Going into the oven it all looked right, and even looked fine when it came out. However when tipping it out was more troublesome as it started to trickle out and I realised it hadn't set properly. I was gutted, even though my friend Alice said they were still good. Mine turned out a little better as the shape was nearly there, and it had the melted chocolate centre which was the most important factor.

I think if they were in the oven for a couple minutes more they would've set. They tasted great, not too rich and you wouldn't need ice cream as a side as it’s quite filling.

I will attempt them again as the recipe is very straight forward, and the next time, they’ll set!

New Recipe #16: The landslide returns!

Continuing with my pudding clubs on Fridays, last week’s edition was pear upside down cake. I made it for my friend Rachel and her sister Kate. When it came out of the oven and tipped it upside down it looked and smelt amazing! However on closer inspection it turned out not all the batter had cooked.

I served the cooked bits to Rachel and Kate and it tasted really good. With me still being a big kid when it comes to cooking and licking the spoon, the batter tasted really good. So I did have some of it raw. I tried putting in the microwave to cook the batter for a few minutes, but that didn’t work. Putting it in the oven for 15 minutes more seemed to do the trick.

I didn’t want to poison the members of the doggy bag club, so I ate the leftovers myself.

New Recipe #15 and New Food #22: Aussie Traditions

My friend Laura is getting married in September and I couldn’t make her hen do. So instead I put on a Neighbours day for her, as she is a massive fan of the show.

I went the extra mile and asked my friend Jas who lives in Australia, as well as my friend Tom who now lives in New Zealand what aussie things I should cook. They both said Lamingtons so I gave them a go.

Lamingtons are basically a sponge cake dipped in chocolate syrup and then rolled in desiccated coconut. Really simple and really yummy!

I also tried Vegemite. I had it on toast and the first few mouthfuls were fine, but then it was a struggle and it started to taste like tar. Why do aussies like it so much?!?

New Recipe #14: Pudding club the Sequel

Following the successful debut of my first Pudding Club and Doggy Bag Club; as in it was a success that nobody got food poisoning; it was time for another edition. So over the weekend I made Pavlova. It was another Mary Berry recipe and you can tell, as it was very sweet.

From the picture I think it turned out pretty well. Like the Lemon Meringue Pie I think I over beat the meringue again, so still need to figure out the right time to stop whisking. The recipe was quite simple as well, which I was surprised at because I always thought Pavlova’s were complicated to make.

My parents, sister and Granddad each got pieces, and my friends Jen and my flatmate Charlotte had some but because they were busy bees by the time they got to their pieces it wasn't very edible. But the thought was there!

New recipe #13: Pudding and Doggy Bag Club debut

A few weeks ago I started a new job, and on Fridays I finish at lunchtime. So I thought I should spend my afternoons doing something productive, although the first couple of weeks I spent the afternoon catching up on The Good Wife.

Then one of my friends said I should do things for the 29 challenge in that time, and that’s when I thought of the pudding club.

The first pudding I created was Lemon Meringue Pie, which is my dad’s favourite. I used a recipe from my signed Mary Berry recipe book and unlike my Key Lime Pie landslide, it actually set!

My mum and dad were the first pudding club participants and the pie tasted great, a little rich as Mary Berry likes sugar. But my dad went up for seconds, so I must have done something right.

As a side club and to ‘waste not want not’ (as one of the old people I used to serve breakfasts to use to say), I started the Doggy Bag club. My flatmate, Lord Studman aka my Grandad and a few others got drop offs of the pie, so plenty of people enjoyed it.

New Recipe #9 and #10: A cooking challenge

Last Sunday my guy was going to have a week away on business, and he had a lot of food he was going to chuck out. So he said that I could have it, here’s what I got.

This gave me an idea for a challenge, to see how much of it I could use before it went off. I think I’ve used quite a lot of it so far.

The first thing I made was a new recipe from my favourite recipe book of the moment Jamie Oliver’s Save with Jamie book. I made a grated rainbow salad and feta fritters.

Friends and family of mine would laugh at this, because I hate salad. I eat plenty of fruit and veg, but I just don’t do salad. But I thought it had couscous, so with a bit of carbohydrate it might be okay. And it was fine, however the best bit was the feta fritters, they tasted amazing. As my flatmate pointed out, so your favourite part of the salad was the fritters, and not the actual salad. Very true!

I then made some more Stilton burgers one evening, and some pasta with Peperonata which is a tomato sauce with peppers. I also made steak with Stilton crumb and some of the baby corn and mange tout that I had. I’m not a big fan of steak, my family don’t really eat it and it was only last summer that it appeared on my radar. But I cooked the steak medium and it tasted great. As my old housemate from uni Lizi reminded me; she remembered that in 2^nd year I would just eat quorn as I was worried I’d give myself food poisoning. How far I’ve come!!

New Recipe #8: Frittata it makes me happy

This is another recipe from Jamie Oliver’s Save with Jamie book. I'm not really into egg dishes, but the sweet potato and spinach frittata has made me think otherwise.

There was a near cooking disaster as in the recipe it says to put the pan straight in the oven. I nearly did before my flatmate pointed out that the handle would melt. Good point well made, so once in an oven proof dish, everything went to plan.

The frittata tasted pretty good, and as recommended it tasted nice cold as well. Anything with sweet potato is usually a hit for me.

New Recipe #6: Old school baking

I love baking, so I’m surprised that I haven’t made flapjack until last weekend. This past week has been busy at work, so I thought I’d do some baking to help my colleagues get through the day.

Flapjack is really simple and everyone knows what flapjack tastes like! My only problem is the flapjack was soft and some pieces broke in half. But my colleagues didn't complain about this.

As you can see there is also a little tub of flapjack and that was for my neighbours. Last year we started a little baking exchange and its great that it has continued into 2015. 

New film #7 and Cooking #4: Whimsical turkey

Today was a typical day that happens in the Christmas holidays (although I'm still at work till Christmas Eve.) I watched a random film that was highlighted during the traditional highlighting the Christmas Radio times and I cooked a turkey (well the crown of a turkey!)

The film I watched was Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium which starred; Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman and Jason Bateman. Hoffman played Mr Magorium who was 243 years old and owned a toy shop, who wanted to give the shop to Molly Mahoney who worked in the shop alongside him. It was whimsical film, and one that was only 90 minutes which is rare these days. Most films are at least 2 hours long.

This is a picture of the little boy in the film, he was an average kid character in the film, until they showed his hat collection and then I was in admiration of him from then on in.

Later in the afternoon I had a few school friends over for a bring and share Christmas lunch. I thought one of the others would take charge of cooking the turkey, but as I was host, it came down to me, which I was a bit daunted about. But following the instructions on the packaging, and using my trusty meat thermometer which looked pretty lethal, I think the turkey was a success. I've asked my friends to text me tomorrow just to tell me they haven’t got food poisoning!

New Recipes #2: Pumpkin Pie

Last week I had a Halloween fancy dress party; including me, 30 people came along all in fancy dress. It was the best party ever and with Halloween, there were bound to be a few pumpkins. Well only one friend dressed up as a pumpkin, but a couple were brought along. There was enough to make pumpkin soup, which I had made before, and pumpkin pie which I had never made before.

I had seen pumpkin pie being made at lower school when I was around 6 or 7. I had a friend at the time called Elizabeth who is American and her dad came into school and showed us how to make pumpkin pie, and explain about Thanksgiving as well which was pretty cool. Elizabeth then moved to Iceland and is now in the states, but we were pen pals for a little while. I had quite a few pen pals and kept the letters in a folder, and found these. It’s always fun to read back letters you received when you were a kid, and what was important then. We’re Facebook friends, so hi Elizabeth if you’re reading this!

Now back to the pie, how did it go? Well in true bake off style, there were some plumbing issues and there was a little leak to begin with. But pastry cooked and the filling set and it didn'/t taste too bad. Also at the party I got to know my neighbours and discovered they like to cook. I jokingly said if they need a tasting panel for their cakes, let us know. Well 2 days later I come back from work to find some hot banana bread on the door step. So pumpkin pie will be on their doorstep tomorrow. Have you tried making pumpkin pie, how did it turn out?