The Way of the Wombat

So, after the venison casserole in January, and the peanut butter and chocolate chip cake in February, for my new recipe this month I, again, turned to the BBC Good Food magazines my daughter got me all last year.

But this time I tried something very, very, easy.

I had some minced beef in the freezer to use up - and decided to make Beef and Bacon Meatloaf. This is one of their 'five ingredient' recipes - and even then they were pushing it, as one of the five was the oil to brush the tin!

But it is really nice. D-d and I had it with some roast butternut squash, and roast tomatoes/peppers/onions. And it looked quite a lot like the one in the illustration for the recipe, too - ( Look... )

Definitely one to make again!

The challenges at tolkien_weekly recently were based on the ingredients for mulled wine.

This cried out to me for Recipe Fic. And so each of the seven drabbles features a particular dish - and is followed by the recipe for the dish.

The main character is simply described as an un-named young elf in a kitchen - those who have read the Returnverse might like to know that it is Tharhîwon. If you remember who he is you will understand his thoughts from the beginning - but if you don't, I will explain a little more at the end.

( So - Seven Drabbles and Seven Recipes... )

Enjoy the drabbles - and try the recipes!

brutti_ma_buoni said one of her aims this year is to try a new recipe each month from a recipe book she already owns.

Today I joined in and cooked Spiced Braised Venison with Chilli and Chocolate from one of the BBC Good Food Magazines that were my birthday present at the end of 2012.

D-d and I have now eaten (S2C is in bed - he'll get his later), and both agree that this is absolutely gorgeous. Also that it would work just as well with beef if you would prefer.

( Recipe under this cut... )

They are very generous portions - there will certainly be plenty for tomorrow. It would be very good with a pastry lid as a pie.

D-d has sent me the recipe for the Sticky Toffee Cupcakes...



( Read more... )

Well worth making.

I've been quite busy so far this weekend. Some Fridays I just want to come home and flop - others I have an urge to be productive! This was one of the latter.

So - I did the trolley shopping on the way home from work, put on a load of washing and drying whilst I put it away, mixed up dark fruit loaves whilst dinner was in the oven, and put them into the warm oven after dinner. Then, whilst they were in the oven I produced the prayer leaflets for church.

All this before S2C got up at 8pm to get ready for work! When he went out I changed our bedding, emptied the washer/dryer and put a load more in on timer so that it would be ready to sort and hang things to dry at breakfast time... and finally wrote 400 words of the next chapter of The Valinor Trail.

I rather think all the previous activities were a form of procrastination - it is surprising what you can fill your time with when you should be organising the ideas into sentences and paragraphs!

Actually I really did need to bake - we are having a Mariners' Service at church next week...( Read more... )

Anyway - whilst others will make sandwiches, cook chicken drumsticks, and so on, I will make fruit loaves and gingerbread, possibly a cherry & banana cake too. The best thing about the particular fruit loaves, and gingerbread, is that they will improve in the cake-tins until next weekend - so I can bake now, whilst I'm in the mood.

chaotic_binky and I were discussing cakes, and bread & butter pudding, not to mention bread pudding which is a totally different thing, in another place - and it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to post the fruitloaf and gingerbread recipes here. Both are very easy and pretty much fool proof - and very tasty.

So I have put the recipes ( Under this cut... )

It is, of course, very easy to half that second recipe and just make a normal sized cake!

Also - depending on what is in the store cupboard, it has been made with all syrup, half syrup & half treacle, all treacle instead of the syrup, and even about 2/3 syrup to 1/3 honey when I had no treacle to pad the remains of the syrup up! All taste good, just a little different each time.

You can see that the two have a common root, in the method used to make them. The other thing you will notice is that one recipe is older than the other - one is in ounces and the other in grams - I have scales that weigh in both, and can think pretty well in either, so I don't bother converting recipes, just use whatever it's in!

Anyone interested in the difference between bread and butter pudding and bread pudding - or their mysterious, richer, relative the Wet Nelly - just say - and I might post about those too.

Actually, I will probably post pictures of the baking tomorrow, too.

Hurrah for National Chocolate week - I am celebrating with mugs of Chilli Hot Chocolate when I get home from work - and might even bake something at the weekend.

But in the meantime I thought I might just share this link with you all, to Domestic Sluttery's top ten chocolate recipes. I've made at least three of them - I think it may be more.

Yay! I think I may have just produced something akin to a festive food of the gods. The idea had occurred to me in mid-December, and D-d thought it sounded good - but we never got around to trying it out. Until now...

I have just made mincemeat scones to eat with brandy butter. And the combination is just as good as we thought it might be!

Make your usual scone recipe but, instead of dried fruit, or cheese, add a good dollop of mincemeat. Then use up the left-over brandy butter to spread on them whist still warm. Although they'd taste really good with ordinary butter too.

I mentioned last week that I had made orange and cider fruit loaf for the cake-fest at church and deborahw37 mentioned that it sounded good. I thought then I should post the recipe - but only remembered now. So - if anyone wants a go, here is the recipe. It is one I've had for many, many years and so it is in ounces.

Cider and Orange Fruit Loaf

2 oranges
1/4 pint cider (proper, alcoholic, cider)
6 oz sultanas
6 oz soft brown sugar
8oz self-raising flour(for American friends - this is cake flour with ready added baking powder)
pinch salt

Zest and juice the oranges. Put the zest, juice, sugar, fruit and cider in a bowl, stir, and leave overnight.
Next day add the flour and the pinch of salt.
Put into a greased 2lb loaf tin, and bake at 150C (140C works for my fan oven) for 75-90 minutes.

Once cool it is fine eaten as is, but even better buttered.

And yes - there is no fat or eggs - but it really does work.

We haven't got much snow left - just a few icy patches now. But it has not crept up above 2 - 3*C for over a week.

It is the weather for comfort food... S2C and I have lived for the past few days on home-made lentil and bacon soup - once made it is easy to heat up bowl by bowl as required. But I have also been warming myself up when I get home from work with marzipan flavoured drinking chocolate - which is very warming!

I have also made some chocolate drizzled cranberry and pecan flapjacks as a start to the Christmas baking - somehow it seemed right for the weather!

If you are interested ( here is the recipe )

In other news D-d is snowed up in York - and beginning to fret over the college time lost. That's when you truly realise you are an adult not a child, isn't it?

This week it has been mainly wet... Although, oddly, I caught the dry bit of some days, as almost every day had some sunshine as well. But it feels quite autumnal already.

This week's pictures include ( an elephant on a motorbike, and a rather untidy corner especially for Kes! )

And D-d feels much better, although not 100% yet, went out for afternoon tea with her friends this afternoon, and is going to Amsterdam in the morning for a few days. Oh - and I have an urge to make blueberry scones - do you think I should use fresh blueberries or dried ones?