Pork Marsala Porcini Rice & Spring Greens

Jamies 15 Minute Meals

Agin it took much longer but it was worth it. If I made it again I would make more of the sauce it was amazing but not nearly enough of it. I suppose that's how the calories are kept down.

Quick Lamb Tagine Pan Fried Aubergine & Cumin Crunch

My first recipe from Jamies 15 Minute Meals. As per the 30 Minute Meal book the timing is rubbish, took 30 mins between two of us! My main problem though is he doesn't say what to do with each ingrediant on the list (e.g. onlions diced) which means because your far slower than he is when he says to chop the veg whilst the lamb is cooking, you end up burning the lamb because you took too long where as if you has chopped the veg before you started cooking everything would have been fine! Lesson learned - read through recipe before cooking and make any preperations possible first.

Still it was really nice and I would make it again.

Carribean Boozy Fruit Cake

Adapted from the boozy christmas cake from www.thepinkwhisk.co.uk

AMAZING - WELL WORTH THE WEEKS OF EFFORT!!!!

The quantities will make one 8″ round cake:
200g Sultanas
475g Mixed Tropical Fruit (Pineapple, Mango,Pappaya)
55g mixed peel
Soak
55g caster sugar
55ml water
170ml Spiced Rum
Zest of 1 orange
Zest of 2 Limes
1 cinnamon stick

Place your chosen dried fruit into a large bowl with the grated zest of the orange and the cinnamon stick. Add the sugar and water to a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar is completely dissolved but don’t let it boil. The syrup should be clear. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
Add the warm sugar syrup to the brandy and stir. Pour over the fruits in the bowl and give it a good mix. Now transfer this to an airtight storage container.

For a week you will need to stir it every day, then for a further five weeks give it a mix up just once a week. Six weeks soaking and you will have the most fab fruit to make your cake with.

225g butter, softened
150g soft brown sugar
75g dark brown sugar
2 tbsps treacle
2 tsps each Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Allspice, Vanilla Extract, Orange Extract, Ginger Syrup,  chopped Ginger (from the syrup)
100g Brazil Nuts
285g plain flour
5 large eggs, beaten
150ml Spiced Rum

Preheat oven to 110c (fan)/130c. Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the treacle then the eggs one at a time. Then the flour and spices. Take the cinnamon stick out of the fruit and throw away. Add the Brazil nuts and fruit and ginger to the batter and stir thoroughly.

Line the base and sides of the tin (tin must be 3 inces deep minimum) with greaseproof and the pour in the batter. Cook for 3hrs 45mins. Then allow to cook completely in the tin.

Unwrap but leave the greaseproof at the bottom of the cake. Roll out a tin foil cross then a greeseproof cross ontop. Put the cake in the centre then put back into the tin. make 40 holes 3/4 deep into the cake and brush with the rum. Wrap up and then feed every 3 days until your ready for it (3 weeks).

Orange & Saffron Spice Biscuits

My lovely boyfriend bought me an Andrew James buscuit press so I had to give it a go. There was a basic biscuit recpie that cam with it so I made that (though it wasn't very good it didn't even say when to use all the ingrediants!). I added some spices (cinnamon and nutmeg), some orange zest and orange essance and I added some saffron into the milk. The press was not as easy to use as I hoped and I had to get mike todo it for me but we got there in the end. I sandwiched some of the biscuits with Lotus Caramel spread (amazing find!!!) and they were quite nice and would make a nice gift.

Peanut Butter Squares

Lorraine Pascale's Fast Fresh and Easy Food - Peanut Butter Squares

I used 50% Dark & 50% Milk Chocolate and I swapped the digetives for gingernuts and these were incredibly easily and really nice.