My Helen, what lovely buns you have.....

"All the better to entice you with, my dear...".   "Why, thank you!" came the reply til I noticed him peering at a pair of Nutella covered chocolate buns.....I sighed inwardly and offered him one......uh...a bun....cheeky.....!   The buns in question were rather delectable so I can understand the staring.  

 

 Helen's Buns

This is the same recipe, dough-wise as the schnecken  but with 100g more flour and 80g sugar instead of 50g.   You can use oil instead of butter if you wish in this recipe.   So, all is the same up to the stage of rolling out the dough.   At that point, stop!  No longer follow schnecken and go the Helen Bun route instead;  you simply sprinkle over some sugar...a few tablespoons, making sure you coat the entire thing and then sprinkle with chocolate chips, enough to cover the dough evenly.   I used a 100g packet.   You then press the drops firmly into the dough and then roll up as per usual for buns, i.e. starting from the long end, rolling like a swiss roll.   Cut into 14-16 pieces, place on a parchment papered or oiled baking tray and follow the schnecken recipe, i.e. leave to prove and bake at the same temperature.

You don't have the syrup mix on this bun, like the schnecken do...so instead....oh this makes me happy...you take two large tablespoons of Nutella out of the jar and into a bowl, you melt in the microwave for about 10 seconds...stir...another 10 seconds...stir again at which time it should be soft and runny.   Pour over the cooled buns.   Leave to cool again and set a little then sprinkle with icing sugar through a sieve.   Gaze in wonder and have two immediately with coffee, pretending to everyone and yourself that there were only 12 to begin with....12 I tell ya!   At 300 calories each...yup, I worked it out....1 bun is all you should really allow yourself but then, I'd had soup for lunch.....*whistling*...stepping away from the buns....

 

A wonderful breakfast treat

Today's shopping came to just over £92 for two weeks.   There is a lot of chicken dishes this fortnight and a few new cakes which I'm excited to try.   I shall post the receipt and menu plan tomorrow.

Having had rather a lot of leftover cooked salmon from Christmas, I decided it had to be eaten as it was getting near it's throw out date, frozen or not!   I decided to curry it...yup, that's right....curry.   It was mighty fine, good for us and extremely easy, considering I had curry sauce leftover in the freezer as well.   I threw it...the sauce... into a pan and added some water, getting it to a simmer.   I then tossed in some chopped onion, some cherry tomatoes and a potato, peeled and roughly chopped.   After the potato was almost soft...about 10 minutes, I threw in the salmon, broken up into large chunks and simmered for a further five minutes.

I added a sprinkling of ground cumin and coriander and a little turmeric.   I cooked for a further five minutes at a gentle simmer with a lid on and then served the dish with plain, boiled, white basmati rice.

 

So, Scotland, unfortunately, lost the rugby game on Sunday.    France were clearly on much better form and it was enjoyable to watch.   I had prepared some snacks in preparation....

...much to the amusement of my husband.   It's not exactly typical football/rugby fayre, now is it?   This is what I felt like, you know it's my favourite, so that is what I had, plus it was leftover from the girls night on Thursday and needed using up...suuuuure it did.....!

Until tomorrow my friends....have a wonderful, crazy night.   

Soups

"This week, I'll be cooking mainly soups." the blogger announced.
"Why soups, Helen?!" they cried, most interestedly.
"Well, I shall tell you!" said she.

Autumn has reached us good and proper; the leaves have turned golden and scatter the landscape. The clocks went back an hour, the trees sway in the strong wind and the rain lashes down, reflections seen in puddles lit up by the orange glow of a street light as we hurry by. This is all we need to prompt us Scots to use one of the hundreds of ways we have to describe the weather, in particular, the rain:
"It's awfy dreicht!" cry some.
"It's pishin' doon!" cry others.
"Awa' and bile yer heid; it's only a smirr".

Translation:
It's rather wet and dismal, don't you think?
I rather think it's a bit more like a downpour myself.
Away and boil your heads, you pair, it's only a light rainfall.

The temperature has dropped, the woolies are oot, it's time for something warm and it's name is soup.! I love soup season; the parsnips get crisped and the pumpkins get roasted, haddock gets smoked and shallots get toasted. Gruyere is grated and bacon is fried and second helpings are never denied.

This weeks shopping came to just under £50. The menu this week is as follows:
Roasted Pumpkin Soup with melting cheese and croutons
Curried Parsnip & Apple soup with Parsnip Crisps
Indian Chicken Stew
French Onion Soup with gruyere croutons
Cullen Skink (fish soup)
Stovies (sausage and potato soup...!)
Omelettes (not a soup)
Chicken Bites & Baked Potatoes
Tuna Pasta
Bacon, eggs and beans

Scones
Welshcakes
Brown Bread
Toasted Baguettes
Pancakes

______________________________
Poor wee Kelly was sent home from school last week and had to stay off for yet another few days; illness is trying to consume us but we've been fighting it and it's nearly gone. To cheer the wee lass up, I made her...

Helen's Incredibly Delicious You May Just Die But It Will Be Worth It Hot Chocolate.

Do not underestimate the healing power of such things; tis magical!

How to make Helen's Hottie Hot Hottie (for short)

In the bottom of a cup, add two heaped teaspoons of grated chocolate/Green & Black's Organic Hot Chocolate/ Belgian Hot Chocolate flakes or a mixture of all of the above (or similar-as long as it's proper chocolate) and (this is very important; I'm revealing my secret ingredient so shhh, tell no-one) a heaped spoonful of Nutella! Yup. You heard me right.

Add a little cold milk, stir to make a paste and heat up in the microwave; feel free to do this in a pan of course. Once it heats up-check every 10 seconds in the microwave-and the chocolate is melted, stir vigorously adding more milk at the same time. Fill the cup 3/4 to the top and add a little sugar if the chocolate you use requires some. Re-heat. Stir well.

Plop a small handful of mini marshmallows into mug and top that with scootie cream, i.e. cream from a can! Dot the cream with marshmallows and grate/sprinkle over some of the chocolate. Serve with a long spoon and give to little child/adult/granny and watch that smile wash all over their face. It'll warm the cockles of any heart.

From Last Week....

Lemon roast chicken sprinkled with olive oil, thyme and salt. Half way through cooking, add potatoes and 15 minutes later, add an onion, quartered or chopped, carrots, peppers and any other root veg. Add stuffing balls near the end, depending on how much time they need to cook and crisp up and I sprinkled over some couscous to soak up the gravy. Lovely.


See that chicken? Yes, that one up there. It was picked clean and shoved into a bowl with the remaining stuffing, veg, gravy and couscous. Then tonight, I emptied it into an oven proof pie dish, added puff pastry and served it with broccoli and green beans. Doesn't exactly look pretty but tasted great.

Ugly cookies, eh? The kids loved them though. I used a basic cookie recipe and added 100g of breakfast cereal; any cereal to your taste would do. I added some Nutella and a white chocolate button. It's not all about appearances although I do agree it helps but the kids wolfed these down as an extra special breakfast treat at the weekend.

Onion Bhajis; very similar to the pakora recipe except without the spinach and with a mix of white onion and red onion plus a bunch of coriander. Served it with the pakora sauce and rice.

I went to Anne's for a wee soiree on Thursday night and a visit to another house for a little reunion party on Friday. To Anne's, I brought some of these basic little breads rolled small with goats cheese, herbs, tomatoes and Parmesan on top.

I also brought little quichelets; recipe to follow....

...and mini peanut butter bites. I made them with marg instead of butter though; nice but not quite the same. I also brought these to the reunion as well as some tikka bites which I didn't get a photo of.

Mmm, cake...

Still ill but recovering. I thought I'd share some cakes with you....

Kids Tea Party


Chocolate Cake...that's Nutella Icing (I think)!


Guess who had that first slice...?

Beef Olives

This weekend was Kelly's birthday; she just turned 10. How many mums before me have looked around and instead of seeing their wee child, they see instead a tall, beautiful, capable person stand in front of them and ask themselves "when did this happen??". It makes me proud and a little sad at the same time.

The weekend was busy with parties, cooking, hosting and hanging out with the extended family and Kelly's friends . It was wonderful.

I made Beef Olives for dinner on Sunday evening. They are a traditional British meal although the French do a version too, as do many countries, I'm sure, known as paupiettes de boeuf. There are a few different recipes out there but traditionally, beef olives are stuffed with sausage meat. You can buy sliced sausage over here, either square or round; the easiest way to make sausage stuffed beef olives is to buy as many sliced sausage as you do slices of beef and place it in the middle of each slice of beef, skin removed; the sausage meat will already be seasoned and salted and there is little need to add further ingredients, if you're looking to do it quickly. Alternatively, normal shaped sausages can be used with the skin removed. You won't be sorry!

Beef Olives don't exactly look pretty but they taste divine!

There are other types of stuffing though, just as tasty like the recipe on this page. It is utterly delicious stuffed with haggis, a treat I allow us to have on occasion. It doesn't actually cost that much, even though good beef is best used because you buy thin slices and batter each slice a bit more.

The first time I ever cooked anything like this was when I was 17; I had my very first 'dinner party' for friends who were 10 years older than me and was out to impress. I came across a recipe in Keith Floyd's cookbook called 'Paupiettes of Beef with Lemon Stuffing'. Having not a scooby what I was doing, I took his advice and phoned the butcher, ordering everything on the list.

Unbeknown to me, the list contained the ingredients for a large amount of homemade beef stock which used many slices of the best braising steak, amongst other things. I cheerily skipped into the butchers, basket on arm and asked for my order; the bill came to over £100. I did a double take and fainted inside my head, went pale and paid the butcher. I couldn't believe what I had done. To put it into perspective, it was more than a week's wages and I had rent and bills to pay. I decided to make the best of it and cook it to the best of my ability.

I have to say, it turned out splendidly although the state of the kitchen was a sight to behold. Every surface was covered in pots, pans and plates and it took me an entire day to clean up. It was a brilliant night though and I lived off the 'beef stock' for a week.

Beef Olives (or paupiettes de boeuf)

Oven to 190 degrees Celsius
A thin topside of beef per 'olive' although I used 21 day matured Aberdeen Angus this time.
Stuffing of choice, usually sausage meat (see this recipe). I used a rice stuffing (see below).
A little seasoned flour
Good beef stock, enough to cover the olives, 3/4 pint should be more than enough
A dash of red wine
A little hot oil

Place each slice of beef individually in a plastic bag and bash it! Not too hard now! Place a small amount of stuffing in the middle of the slice and roll as tightly as possible. Tie with string or use these new elastic strings you can buy which makes the job much easier. Repeat until all beef olives are complete and coat lightly in the seasoned flour. Fry in some hot oil until browned and place into an oven proof dish.

Pour a dash of red wine into the pan to get all the extra bits of meat, flour and flavours. Let it bubble for a minute and add in the beef stock, stirring once and removing as soon as it gets to boiling point. Pour over the beef. Cover with two layers of foil and place in the oven. Turn the heat down to 150 degrees Celsius after 15 minutes and cook for 2 hours but you can leave it a little longer if you prefer.

I think the best thing to serve this with is mashed potato although I used Flora light (low fat margarine) this time rather than full fat butter. Mmmm mmm!

Mmm, yeah, still not pretty but still tastes...and smells wonderful

Rice Stuffing

Boil some basmati rice (or any rice) as per instructions. Meanwhile, fry a finely chopped onion and garlic with some chopped mushrooms and bacon or chorizo and any fresh herbs you have lying around; I used thyme and rosemary. Add a good dash of black pepper and some salt. Add any other ingredient you like, to taste. Once the rice is cooked, drain and add to vegetables. Stir fry for a minute and remove from heat. Keep heat low whilst doing this as the rice may stick and burn.

I made some cupcakes for the kids coming back from school today....

Thanks to the lovely Anne McW, I have discovered something wonderful: Nutella can be melted in the microwave! Do you have any idea what this means? I no longer have to mix Nutella with butter icing or faff about with it, trying to top muffins or stuff scones with the stuff. I can simply melt the Nutella and pour. Pour over any surface I require. Evil chuckle.

The wonderful roasted vegetables we had tonight with the Wiltshire Ham and poached eggs.

I was going to just do potato (and sweet potato) wedges but decided to add in some peppers, mushrooms, courgettes, carrots and tomatoes. I tossed everything in olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, fresh thyme, rosemary and lavender. The smell was amazing, I highly recommend this dish. I made entirely too much but the rest will be tossed into my vegetable curry.

Buns, pasta and randomness

The kids are sharing a room at the moment because of the painting and decorating. They are driving me round the bend. I've considered all manner of things to make them still but for the love of all that is holy, they just keep at it! They just can't stop chattering like monkeys, even with a two day ban on all electronic equipment. I've even gotten a bit of cheek; not usual in this house, I can tell ya! "I can't turn on the light for you mummy, it's electric!" with a smug grin.

I've had no choice but to pour a large glass of wine tonight what with the abuse and my sore bones....that was the yoga...my legs have seized into a permanent lotus position....I've had to crawl round the house on my ar$£, pulling myself from place to place with my upper limbs...just as well my arms are like tree trunks, what with all the vinyasas.....

I know it's a pretty crappy picture but I stole it, edited it and all in two minutes....I have wine waiting after all.

I made Nutella buns last night; they sure don't look pretty but they tasted divine. The kids bounded down the stairs, two at a time, the smell tantalising their taste buds. When I told them it was Nutella Buns, they practically fainted with happiness. I allowed them a scant half a bun each for supper but that there would be plenty, ready and waiting for breakfast. Probably the sugar rush to the head which made them so wired last night....oh dear, they had cheese and pickles tonight. It's going to be nightmares, isn't it? Sigh.

I used the schneken pastry recipe but instead of slathering over egg and milk mix with the cinnamon filling, I layered on a great big dod of Nutella instead and rolled the dough, swiss roll like and cut into slices. I let it rest for another 15-12 minutes then baked at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. The smell alone is worth it. If you are selling your home, make these. You'd sell your home three times over and for twice the cost.

I made macaroni cheese for the kids and the spinach, feta, spicy tomato pasta for us. I've adapted this from a ricotta cheese recipe and the spinach didn't exactly enthrall me....it's the smell but this is a really tasty little number. Like the Nutella buns, it doesn't look like much but totally tastes better than it looks.

Spinach & Feta Pasta

1 garlic clove, finely chopped
A pinch of dried chillies
A tablespoon of olive oil
1 tin (400g approx.) of plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
A good handful of fresh spinach leaves
Approx. 200g feta, cubed
A handful of pine nuts, dry toasted
Linguine

Fry the garlic and chili over a medium heat in the olive oil until soft. Keep an eye on it, you don't want it to brown as it will go bitter. Add the tin of tomatoes. Do not stir yet. Leave the sauce to thicken and bubble then gently mash the tomatoes with a fork. Add the vinegar and salt and pepper and set aside.

Cook the linguine as per instructions. Steam the spinach for a few minutes above the pasta water. Drain the linguine and add to the tomato sauce, add the spinach and feta and mix. Place into serving bowl and sprinkle over pine nuts. Eat heartily.

And now for some randomness: Lucy wandered round taking odd photographs tonight so I thought I'd share them with you.

A photograph in a silver frame of my first graduation, in my early 20s.


A partial shot of my party invite, still to be distributed.


We were watching Friends.


Lucy's eyeball.

Guest Blogging and Sunshine

I slept like the proverbial baby last night couldn't have been MY babies they were talking about and woke up to the sun shining from the sky. Hurrah! It's still minus 20 but the young lassies will be out in flip flops, shorts and fake tan, ignoring the goosebumps, the blue toes and tsk, tsk tsking from the grannies passing by.

Lucy and Fraser woke me up with a cup of tea and a plate of ginger nuts...can you believe that. I was so amazed at having slept, so chuffed with my kind children that my head started to get around the fact that today, today I could merrily skip to the shops, stop off for coffee and possibly even go up a hill. I even rode the banister down the stairs with a merry 'weeeeeeeeeeeee' to find a forlorn looking lass pouting up at me, clutching her tummy.

Crash and burn, thoughts, crash and burn. So Kelly stayed at home. I questioned her for a moment but Kelly always goes to school, hating to miss anything and once we'd established that nothing was wrong at school, I looked at her pale face and tucked her into a blanket, resigning myself to the house.

It gave me a chance to package up these lovely little gifts from Snapdragon's Garden for my bloggy peeps; the last batch of Scottish lovelies went missing in transit, apparently some little bint somewhere is rubbing my tartan all over her house and 2 months later, I received my double surance: insurance and an assurance from the mailing company that the next batch would be safe. Nuh uh. These little beauties are being posted by my very own hands. Keep your eyes peeled.

I was asked to guest host a blog today by the lovely Charlotte at noteasilyoffendedmoms. As you can guess by the title, it isn't a blog for the faint hearted but definitely worth a look if you can stand the pace. She gave me three subjects to consider: sex, religion and/or politics. Hmmmm. Subjects that normally leave me in palpitations. Of course, having the opportunity to spew my diatribe all over someone elses page with permission didn't leave me thinking for too long. But I warn you now.

I plan to make some pakora and paratha bread for Lyn as she is having a weekend curry feast. I'll also be making some Parmesan crusted mini quiche tonight and will let you know how it turns out. Amazing what you can do with cheese, eggs and flour. Illness always spawns requests for chicken noodle soup and macaroni cheese so that is what is on the menu for the children; if they like the quiche, then supper is sorted.

Back to normal soon as Brian returns tomorrow night from his wanderings and I finally have Time returned to me.

Pancakes with Chocolate Buttons

Pancakes are a child's dream; they can be made quickly, they cost next to nothing and you can have whatever filling you like...everyone can! I've tried them all: chocolate chips, peanut butter, lemon juice and sugar, jam, bananas, buttermilk...you name it, I've made it. The best of all though, according to my children, is chocolate buttons and Nutella. I couldn't disagree.

Pancake mixes vary and I won't give you my wide variety of mixes as it is basically flour, sugar, milk and eggs of varying amounts, but mostly made up in my head...you can never really go wrong though if you stick to the following:
4oz of every ingredient, i.e.
Basic Pancake Mix
4oz flour
4oz sugar
4oz milk
1 egg
Mix everything together using a whisk. Add more liquid if you prefer. Simply double the amount for double the quantity. One quantity will give you approx. 8 pancakes.
Here are some tips:-
1. Always pour melted butter (1-2 tablespoons)into your batter just before cooking pancakes and stir.
2. When putting butter in the pan before cooking pancakes, heat up and then wipe with a kitchen towel.
3. Leave the pan to heat up for a good minute or two on medium. Always regard your first pancake as a trial so put in less batter for that one. Only turn up heat if really necessary and only a little at a time.
4. Wait a few seconds before adding chocolate buttons and raisins or any other filling.
5. Always cook the flipped side for half the time of the first.

I sometimes make a pile of pancakes by sandwiching them all together with Nutella. This is a request I usually get for birthday breakfasts and is just like a tasty cake.

Crepes are slightly different but just as straightforward; I shall be making them this weekend whilst in St. Abbs with friends so watch this space!

I rounded up a batch of kids today and threw them into the park. They were not all mine but no-one seemed to mind. A few of them managed to stowaway in the car and stayed for tea. The kids are having a really chilled out, great summer so far and sometimes it's the little things, like having friends over to play or sleeping in late ( a HUGE thing to me!) and watching cartoons past bedtime. I'm enjoying it too...so far. But, as the lovely Jo pointed out, it really is time for a pint, for the sake of sanity, so I shall combine my evening walk to coincide with the Burnbrae and accidently stumble upon a double gin and tonic. The kids are going to grandmas. Woohoo.

The Braw Chocolate Cake Recipe

The Braw Chocolate Cake

Grease and line two deep cake tins. Oven temperature 180 degrees C, 350 F, Gas 4.

90g/3oz cocoa powder
375ml/12 fl oz boiling water
185g/ 6 oz butter
440g/ 14oz caster sugar (not a misprint!)
2 tablespoons raspberry jam (I used strawberry as that is all I had)
3 eggs (I used large)
300g/ 9.5 oz self-raising flour

Combine cocoa powder and boiling water and mix to dissolve. Allow to cool.
Cream butter, sugar and jam until light and fluffy...it looks all pink and glorious! Beat in eggs with a spoonful of flour, one at a time. I sieved the flour into the bowl. Fold in the remaining flour and cocoa mixture alternately.
Spoon mixture into the cake tins and bake for 35 mins.

Nutella Icing
250g/ 8oz butter
330g/ 10.5 oz sifted icing sugar
Three large spoonfuls of Nutella
2 tablespoons condensed milk, milk or cream, to taste.

Beat butter until creamy. Add icing sugar a little at a time, add milk (I used condensed) and then the Nutella. Beat well. Use to sandwich the cake together and for the frosting at the top of the cake. I thought it all a bit much icing so next time, I'd make a ganache to pour over cake. The original recipe icing is as follows but I haven't made this yet.


Chocolate Mocha Icing
125g/ 4oz butter
330g/ 10.5 oz icing sugar, sifted
1.5 tablesoons cocoa powder, sifted
2 teaspoons instant coffee
2 tablespoons milk.

Beat butter until creamy, add icing sugar a little at a time, combine cocoa powder and coffee and mix to a smooth paste with the milk then whisk into icing.

Always allow cake to cool completely before icing as it can 'turn' the icing.