Some simple recipes to tide up through

[Hell Razor5543]

With the Coronavirus causing some issues with food supplies (or, rather, some selfish people buying up all the food they can get their hands on) I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread where we can post up simple recipes for us to try, and to help us to get through this crisis. Please, wherever possible, use recipes that do not require fresh produce that is (currently) difficult to get hold of. Well, here goes with a few I have to hand;

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large (microwave safe) coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?


Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

GINGER AND DATE CAKE

250 g/8 oz butter
250 g/8 oz dark muscovado sugar
112 g black treacle (put tin on scales, remove treacle until the scales read 112 g less than they did when you started)
375 g/12 oz plain flour
5 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoonsful ground mixed spice
1 packet Whitworth’s Fiery Ginger (chopped crystallised ginger) (chopped again)
1 packet Whitworth’s chopped dates
2 eggs. Beaten
300 ml/1/2 pint milk
2 teaspoonfuls bicarbonate of soda

Line two large loaf tins, or similar capacity cake tins.
Heat oven to 160 c, gas mark 3
Put the butter, sugar and treacle into a heavy pan and heat gently, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Allow to cool a little while.
Mix together flour and spices, pour in treacle mixture, stir thoroughly. Add ginger and dates, stir eggs into the mixture.
Warm the milk, stirring to avoid it burning. Add the bicarbonate of soda, and let it foam. Stir it into the mixture, making sure it is all well blended.
Pour into the prepared tins, and bake until it is springy, or a skewer comes out clean, approximately one hour.

MEXICAN BEAN POT

Starting ingredients.

2 tins of kidney beans.
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 medium onion
4 medium carrots
2 cloves crushed garlic (more if you like).
1 dessertspoon hot paprika
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon Winter Savoury (If you cannot get Winter Savoury Marjoram or Oregano will do, but barely. The German name for Winter Savoury is 'Bean Herb', and it makes even cheap baked beans taste good).

To add later.
Half teaspoon chilli powder (full one if you prefer).
1 seeded, cored and chopped red pepper (prepare in the morning and leave in the fridge until needed).
1 dessertspoon Marmite
Salt and pepper
Parsley to garnish, if you are feeling posh.

Put the starting ingredients in a large pan and cook them slowly until the carrots are soft. Either leave to simmer on the slow part of the range, or (if the oven is big enough) transfer to an oven proof dish and leave to cook slowly. About half an hour before you are planning to eat add the last ingredients (other than the parsley, you pop that on at the last minute).

This can be eaten the next day, frozen, wrapped in tortillas, or whatever you like. Mums' preference was hot wholemeal bread rolls and herb butter.

Herb Butter. When you have the time and fresh herbs, mash the herbs into butter (not margarine or those fake buttery spreads), and pack the mixture into ice cube trays, and freeze. To remove them dip the base of the tray into hot water for a moment. To store them wrap them in cling film, but do not pack them unwrapped in a container as they will stick together.

SWEETCORN PANCAKES

Two tablespoons of plain flour,
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 pinch salt
3 eggs,
Milk
Small tin of sweetcorn

Sieve the flour, bicarb and salt together. Add the eggs, and beat until smooth. Add sufficient milk to make a batter consistency of double cream. Drain the sweetcorn, add to the batter. Fry (small pancakes). Mum uses a serving spoon amount per pancake.

WHOLEMEAL BREAD

Ingredients:

350g strong brown bread flour
50g malted wheat flour
7g instant yeast
8g salt
25ml olive oil plus extra for the tin
265ml lukewarm water

Method:

Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast to one side and the salt to the other (salt in direct contact with the yeast could kill it or slow it down).

Add the olive oil and 200ml water and, using a plastic dough scraper or your fingers, work together the flour mixture and water. Slowly add the remaining water until you’ve picked up all the flour from the sides of the bowl and the dough is soft, but not soggy. You may not need absolutely all the water.

Tip the dough onto a lightly oiled work surface and knead for 5 – 10 minutes until the dough forms a smooth, soft skin. At first it will feel wet and sticky – continue kneading and you’ll end up with the smooth texture you’re looking for.

Shape the dough into a round and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise until the dough has doubled in size. This could be anything from one hour to three, depending on how warm your kitchen is but don’t worry too much about leaving it too long, the dough should be fine left for up to three hours.

Rub a thin layer of olive oil into a 1kg loaf tin. Tip the risen dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knock the air out of it by folding inwards repeatedly. Then flatten the dough slightly and form into an oblong by folding the sides into the middle. Press firmly on the dough where it joins to create a good structure then place your dough in the prepared tin, making sure the join is underneath.

Place the tin inside a black plastic bag and leave to prove for about one hour, or until the dough is doubled in size and springs back quickly if you prod it with your finger. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees C and fill a roasting tray with hot water, placing it on the bottom shelf. This will create steam to help your loaf rise with a lovely crust.

Dust the risen dough with flour and slash the top with a sharp serrated knife or razor. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the loaf is cooked through. Check by tipping the loaf out of the tin and tapping the base – it should sound hollow.
Remove your loaf from the oven and cool out of the tin on a wire rack.

[bobins]

I've got a recipe for beer cake.

Ingredients:
One of James' cakes from above.
One bottle of beer.

Method:
Eat the cake and drink the beer.

For added variety, it's possible to use two bottles of beer, or maybe even substitute the beer for Scotch, or maybe Gin. Don't use a cheap lager though, as they're horrible.

Simples

[bobins]

A serious one from me for a change. This is a made up recipe for Wild Garlic (Wild Ramson) soup. We first had this soup in a small hotel 'am Arsch der welt' in Germany, the German's would know this as Bärlauch soup. Wild Ramsons are just coming in to season right now, so if you're still allowed out in the big - wide world, pick some whilst you can - the younger leaves are the best. Be sure you know what you are picking, as there are similar looking plants out there waiting to catch you out. The clue is in the fact that they smell like garlic, and once you're in a wood with them in, you can't mistake them
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium_ursinum

Wild Garlic Soup

Recipe is as follows - although it is less of a recipe and more of a make it up as I go along. I also don't have quantities as it is a bit of guesswork.

Take a generous handful of ramson (wild garlic) leaves. Give them a good wash - I just put them in a sinkful of fresh water and agitate them. If they are very small they can stay in one piece, for the larger leaves you may wish to remove the stem and central rib as they are quite tough.

Chop the leaves finely and place in a saucepan with a small amount of butter (oil if a vegetarian method is preferred). Lightly fry the leaves until they begin to wilt.

Add vegetable (v) or a mix of chicken and vegetable stock and bring to the boil. I just use Knorr stock cubes.

If freezing some for later in the season, cool and freeze now.

When ready to serve follow the below, and if serving straightaway, read on...

Reduce to a gentle simmer and add cream to taste, this should turn the soup opaque, and check seasoning. If a thicker soup is preferred, you can either use cornflour or I use butter and plain flour in a 1:1 mix- that is, blend a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of flour together and add, then repeat until the desired consistency is reached. Do not let the soup get too hot while thickening as the cream may curdle. Serve with good bread and croutons.

About those croutons.........

I save bacon fat from when I have fried streaky, and with this soup I fry a slice of bread in bacon fat and then chop it into croutons and serve with the soup. A flavoured oil e.g. chilli instead of the fat makes a good veggie alternative. I've also been known to fry up the bacon, then chop up the bacon and drop that in the soup, and then make the croutons with the bacon fat

[NewcastleFalcon]

I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread where we can post up simple recipes for us to try,

Wild Garlic Soup

Excellent idea James, and that could well be a winner Bobins. A few visuals always help "sell" the recipes so any chance of photographing a few?. Plenty wild garlic in the woods round here, I will get my camera out see what state of readiness they are in up here

REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

The crop is abundant and mostly embrionic, and very mild in aroma.

Northumberland Wild Garlic
NF own work

Regards Neil

[myglaren]

Not a recipe but a very artistic chocolate 'construction'

[mickthemaverick]

Ingredients:
2oz of ground nuts
2oz of rabbit pellets
2oz of ground Special K or Bran Flakes
1oz dried mealworms

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together well and place on a low sided dish
Sprinkle the whole dish with tepid water until the food glistens with wetness

At around 20.30 hours place the dish in an open spot in the garden which you can observe from indoors.
Watch and be fascinated by the antics of competing hedgehogs and other mammals.
Be prepared to shoo away the roaming cats but they won't bother with the food plate.
Pour a nice glass of your favourite tipple and enjoy nature!!

Nobody said it had to be recipes for us to eat!

[myglaren]

Isolation Bakery

[Dormouse]

I have been relaxing and taking my mind off things this week by watching a local hotelier on "Four in a Bed" and watching "Masterchef - The Professionals". When Marcus Wareing set the chefs the task of making a cheese burger with tomato relish it got SWMBO, my daughter and granddaughter to suggest it was time I got back in the kitchen. Hmmmm!

It was suggested that I would not be very good at making burgers.

So, duped into going back into the kitchen, I set about making a basic tomato relish and burger patty.

The bun is a Cabin roll ( a sweetened bread roll ) with some simple salad garnish. The fries are TGI Friday oven ones. Apparently, the burgers were succulent and I need to repeat the process on a more regular basis.

Ever felt you have been had?

Ingredients :- 1 small onion, 1 tomato, 1 tbsp tomato puree, 1 tsp brown sugar. Patty :- 650g beef, 200g ham ( fat left on ), 1 small onion, all chopped and minced add 50g breadcrumbs and 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, mix and divide into bun sized patties. Add mature Cheddar slices to melt about 3 mins before serving. Salt and pepper to taste. Simples .......

[Dormouse]

The observant among you will have noticed I made 4 burgers but only served up 2. Well, because the first cheeseburgers were a success, I served the other two the next day. Same buns, same fries, same mature cheddar slices. The burgers were treated to an extra grind of black peppercorns, heated for 8 mins until "medium" with the cheese slices put on for the last 2 mins. How do you know if it is "medium"? Well, a cooking thermometer pushed into the middle should reach 70`C. 65`c is on the "rare" side. Above 75`C is on the well done side. That is how you know for sure.
The tomato relish was deemed too sweet for use with the Cabin roll, so I cut the brown sugar out, added 1 heaped tsp Lazy Garlic, 1 tsp of Smoked Paprika, 2 tsp of dried Parsley and 1 tsp of dried Italian Spices. Cooked down to a relish consistency, as before, and served cool under the burger with salad, as before. The sharper taste of the relish worked better this time. Nearly as Simples.....

[Dormouse]

It is that time of the year when we get stuffed with turkey. But what do we Scots have for Hogmanay? Stovies.

That and Millionaire's Shortbread

Anyway, here is my recipe for Stovies and I am sure I will be branded a heretic and burned at the hob for it.

Ingredients:-
potatoes - sliced thinly
onions - sliced into thin rings. White ones don't have a "big" taste. Use other types of onions to personal taste
beef dripping - can be replaced with oil or similar to personal taste ( cue the heresy cries )
2 Oxo cubes - crushed and sprinkled on. Gravy Granules are ok
salt and pepper to taste
cooked beef - any meat can be used ( cue more cries of heresy ) if you use chicken, use chicken cubes, if you use ham/pork, use ham cubes
half a cup of water


put 1 Tbs of beef dripping and the water in a pot on a low heat
add layers of potato and onion with the cubes and salt/pepper sprinkled on, stirring each layer before adding the next
stir well for 20 to 25 minutes until the potatoes have broken down.
Add the cooked meat near the end of cooking and stir in.
Do not let the ingredients burn and add more water as required
Stovies should stick to an upturned spoon easily. If they slump or slide off there is too much moisture. Better to add small amounts as you cook.

I particularly like making Stovies with Corned Beef instead of cooked beef and serving it with Beetroot Slices. ( definitely burning at the hob now )

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

[Paul-R]

Yuk. Beetroot. Yuk, yuk, yuk.

[Hell Razor5543]

Well, one advantage of beetroot is it can help your blood carry more oxygen, so that can help people with poor blood flow.

[myglaren]

I eat loads of it, allegedly good for diabetes. Good enough excuse for me.

[CitroJim]

Well, one advantage of beetroot is it can help you blood carry more oxygen, so that can help people with poor blood flow.

One reason I eat it, apart from adoring it Good athlete food