Friday 31 August 2012

Recipes

All of BFTF's recipes brought together in one tasty post!

Whilst the rest of this blog is, admittedly, a bit "do-gooder", the recipes section is here for a very different reason - BFTF appears to be utterly incapable of keeping track of the recipes that it has tried, especially the ones that seemed to work. So putting them here will hopefully ensure that BFTF can find them when required.

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250g biccies

250g butter (British)
250g brown sugar (Fairtrade, if possible)
250g plain flour
200g mixed peel (the sticky kind in tubs, ASDA own-brand seems to work best)
2 eggs, beaten (Free Range - there is no excuse for buying anything else)


Place butter and sugar in mixing bowl and mix together (10-20 seconds in the microwave may help if the butter is straight from the fridge and it is a cold day)
Add Flour and beaten eggs, mix until uniform.
Add Mixed Peel (Avoid the syruppy bits at the bottom of the tub, they can make the biccies over-sweet)

Pre-heat oven to 180C
Use fairy-cake baking trays (and paper fairy-cake cases), place about a heaped teaspoon worth of mix in each tray location. The amounts above should give about 48 biccies.
Place in oven and cook for about 19mins (until nicely browned on top).
Remove from oven, take cases out of tray and allow to cool for 5-15mins then remove cases and your biccies are ready.

Eat within a few days.

A plate of 250g biccies and mini-muffins


The dish rates as "MEDIUM" on the BFTF Washing Up Index

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Mini Muffins
500ml milk (semi skimmed of full fat)
250ml oil (vegetable or sunflower)
250g brown sugar (Fairtrade, if possible)
2 eggs, beaten (Free Range - there is no excuse for buying anything else)

500g self-raising flour
250g chopped fairtrade milk chocolate (or chopped glace cherries, or raisins)


Place milk, oil, sugar and eggs in a bowl and stir together for a couple of minutes.
Add Flour and mix until no free flour remaining. DO NOT OVERMIX, the mix should remain lumpy
Add Chopped chocolate and mix for about 30seconds.
Pre-heat oven to 200C
Use fairy-cake baking trays (and paper fairy-cake cases), fill cases about 80% full. The amounts above should give about 38 mini-muffins (which is annoyingly 2 more than the spaces in three standard trays)
Place in oven and cook for about 20mins (until nicely browned on top).
Remove from oven, take cases out of tray and allow to cool for 5-15mins then remove cases and your mini-muffins are ready.
Eat within a few days.
A plate of mini-muffins and 250g biccies


The dish rates as "MEDIUM" on the BFTF Washing Up Index

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Plum Compote

BFTF has always been interested in the idea of making jam, but has been less keen on the perceived need for paraphanelia such as muslin filters, airtight jars and gelling agents. All sounds a bit technical.A work colleague recommended a recipe for a Plum Compote (a compote is basically a runny jam) and this has proved very successful. . .

12 ripe(ish) plums
1/2 cup sugar (fairtrade is good)
1/2 cup water

Cut plums into quarters. Remove and discard stones (they contain a toxic chemical)
Bung everything into a saucepan and bring to a strong simmer
Keep simmering for 20 minutes, longer if you want a thicker result.
> Allow to cool, put in a plastic container and freeze. Scoop out spoonfulls from frozen whenever required.

This recipe rates as "EASY" on the BFTF Washing Up Index
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Potato Dauphinoise

BFTF is a fan of potatoes - not least because they are so spectacularly easy to cook that even BFTF can do it without making a mistake.

Having said that, BFTF was wondering about new ways to cook potatoes recently and became aware of this French recipe (don't ask how because BFTF has no idea, although it may have been featured on a Jamie Oliver programme). It's widely available on the Internet and seems to come in two flavours (as it were)
a) Pre-boil the potatoes (about 40mins cooking time)
b) Make everything in one shot (about 90mins cooking time)
It may come as no surprise that it is version (a) that is described here. . .


1-5-2.5kg potatoes (cut into 2-3mm slices)
500g double cream
500g full fat milk
250g grated cheese (mature cheddar is good)
1 chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic paste

Bung everything (except the cheese) in a large pan and bring to a gentle simmer.
Stir gently and frequently until potatoes almost cooked, about 15mins
Transfer to greased oven dish and add cheese (either in alternate layers with the potatoes or all on top)
Place in a pre-heated oven at 200C and cook for a further 15-25mins


Potato Dauphinoise


This dish is rated as "VERY HARD" on the BFTF Washing Up Index, so don't say you weren't warned. . . .

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Keema Salan
It's a taste sensation!

Ingredients
1 kg minced mutton
1 tin tomatoes
2 large onions
1.5 teaspoon Salt
1.0 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
0.5 teaspoon Turmeric
0.5 teaspoon Garam Masala
2.0 teaspoon Zeera (Cumin seeds)
Some cooking oil

Procedure
a) Bung everything except the oil into a pan, bring to the boil and it simmer for 20minutes, during this time, add a little water if required.
b) Increase the heat to evaporate most of the water then add some oil and gently fry for a further 20mins.
c) Serve.

The dish rates as "EASY" on the BFTF Washing Up Index

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Easy Risotto with Fish and Peas

Ingredients
300g Risotto Rice
1 litre hot vegetable stock
Tinned oily fish (anchovies/sardines etc)
Peas (optional) One onion
Salt, pepper, oil

Worth knowing that So, anyway, you just need to know that while Sardines are not an overfished species, many other species are and you should look for the MSC logo when buying Tuna, Cod, Mackeral etc.

Procedure
a) Fry the onions in a little oil until brown.
b) While onions are frying, boil the peas (in a separate pan, you muppet).
c) Add the fish to the oinons and fry for a couple more minutes
d) Add the stock and rice to the onions.
e) Simmer for 20-30mins, stirring occasionally.
f) Add the peas and stir in

This dish rates as "EASY" on the BFTF Washing Up Index, which has gotta be a good thing right?

Easy Risotto