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Cooking, Recipe and Food Blog

Spiced Butter Biscuits

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A similar consistency to Shortbread, but that’s where the similarities end really. This recipe goes great with some home-made Ice Cream, or with some fresh fruit.

Butter Biscuits

Store these in an air-tight container, and try to use within a week of making them – hence the small quantity that these are made in. They’ll still be edible after two or three weeks, but just won’t taste as nice.

To make 12 Biscuits
125g Butter, softened
60g Sugar, plus extra for dusting
180g Plain Flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2tsp Ground Ginger
1/2tsp Ground Allspice

1. Pre-heat an oven to 180C, and line a baking tray with some baking parchment, unless you have one which is non-stick.
2. Mix the Butter and Sugar in a bowl until well combined and light and fluffy.
3. Sift the Flour, Cinnamon, Ginger and Allspice together, then beat them evenly into the Creamed mixture.
4. Spread some Flour lightly over a work surface, before turning the mixture out onto it. Knead slightly, then bring into a ball. Leave to harden slightly in a fridge for twenty minutes.
5. Flour the surface again, and flour a rolling pin. Roll the dough out to a thickness of one centimetre across.
6. Cut into fingers, or rounds with pastry cutters or knives. Lay out evenly on the greased Baking Tray then dust with Caster Sugar before leaving to rest in the fridge for ten minutes.
7. Remove from the fridge, and straight away place in the Oven for fifteen to twenty minutes, or until golden and cooked through, before leaving to cool completely.

Photo Courtesy of: Ambernectar 13

Savoury Oat Crackers

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Great as part of a picnic, or to use as a snack for a day at home – these crackers are very easy to make, and very tasty. You can easily add some flavouring to them to make each batch a bit different, and of course, you can shape them however you want!

Savoury Oat Crackers

To Make 12
100g Unsalted Butter, plus extra for greasing
90g Rolled Oats
25g Wholemeal Flour
1/2tsp Coarse Sea Salt
1tsp Dried Thyme
40g Walnuts, finely chopped
1 Egg, beaten
40g Sesame Seeds

1. Heat an oven to 180C, and lightly grease two medium sized baking trays
2. In a large dry bowl, rub the Butter into the Rolled Oats and the Flour using just your fingertips, until it begins to cling together and then start to stir in the Walnuts, Salt and Thyme.
3. Add the Egg and mix to form a soft dough. Spread the sesame Seeds out on a large shallow dish (it can be a plate or tray). Break off small pieces of the Dough (around Walnut Sized would be good), and roll into balls, before covering in the Sesame Seeds.
4. Place the balls into the greased baking trays, then flatten them using a Rolling Pin of the palm of your hand, to get them as thin and as flat as possible.
5. Bake in the oven for around twelve to fifteen minutes, or until firm and light gold.
6. Remove from the oven, then cool on the baking tray for three to four minutes, before placing on a wire rack to finish cooling.

Serve with various Pates and dips to get a good snack.

Photo Courtesy of: papertygre

Spicy Salmon Parcels with a Zesty Ginger Butter

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Salmon and Ginger Parcels

Serve with freshly cooked vegetables of your choice, this dish is relatively fast and easy to make, and also quite cheap as well – you’re looking at around £4 per portion, which is quite low for a dish with such varied flavours and textures in the dish – the soft, succulent flesh of the meat, and the crispness of the pastry.

To serve 4
50g Butter, at room temperature
2cm Fresh Root Ginger, Grated
Zest of ½ a Lemon
125g Frozen Filo Pastry
4 x 125g Salmon Fillets, Skinned
½ Red Chilli, Deseeded and Chopped
½ Green Chilli, Deseeded and Chopped

1. Mix half of the butter with the Ginger and Lemon Zest, then season well. Wrap in Clingfilm and shape into a sausage and chill until set – it should be around thirty minutes
2. Heat the oven to 200C and melt the remaining Butter in a small pan, and set aside.
3. Unroll the FIlo Pastry and cover with a clean, damp tea towel, and keep covered as much as possible. Brush with a small amount of the melted butter, and lay another sheet on top. Place the Salmon Fillet on top in the middle of the layers of Pastry, and season with a small amount of the Chillies and Black Pepper. Repeat with the other three Salmon Fillets
4. Unwrap the Ginger Butter, and slice into four equal rounds, and wrap the Pastry up to make a parcel. Transfer to a non-stick baking tray, and brush with the remaining Melted Butter.
5. Cook for fifteen to eighteen minutes, until Crisp and Golden.

Serve fresh from the oven, with a range of various seasonal vegetables.

Photo Courtesy of: Xelliex

Crunchy Garlic and Herb Chicken Parcels

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Herb and Breadcrumb Chicken ParcelCrispy and golden on the outside, tender and full of juices on the inside, posh cooking doesn’t get much more enjoyable than these Parcels!

You can prepare these a day early, and chill in the fridge. This can allow the chicken to absorb some more of the flavours for longer, developing the tastes better.

To Serve 6

125g Softened Butter

5 crushed cloves of Garlic

6 plump, skinless Chicken Breasts

4tbsp Plain Flour

200g Breadcrumbs

1tbsp Dried Parsley

½tsp Paprika

1tbsp Dried Thyme

2 Eggs, Beaten

200ml Vegetable Oil

1.       Heat the oven to 200 C – Gas Mark 6.

2.       Mix the Butter, Garlic and Parsley together, and season to taste. Roll it into a long, thin sausage shape, and wrap tightly in cling-film. Place in the fridge to chill.

3.       Mark a cut into the side of each Chicken Breast to make a pocket, where you need to insert some of the chilled Herb Butter (after taking it out of the Cling-film!)

4.       Mix the Breadcrumbs with the Paprika and Thyme. Season well with Salt and Pepper. Pour the beaten Egg onto a large plate, the breadcrumbs on another plate and the flour on another.

5.       Cover the Chicken in the Flour, then into the Egg, then finally the Breadcrumbs, making sure that all of the chicken is well coated. Secure each Chicken Breast with a Cocktail stick in order to keep as much butter inside as possible.

6.       Heat the oil until very hot (a piece of bread should turn golden in about thirty seconds). Fry each Parcel for a minute or two until golden, then transfer into a large baking tray, and cook in the oven for fifteen to twenty minutes.

7.       To serve, remove all of the cocktail sticks, and drizzle and of the extra sauce over the top.

Photo Courtesy of Megan.Chromik

Bread and Butter Pudding

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The first pudding I ever learnt to cook, and still my favourite by a long shot!
Bread and Butter Pudding: Courtesy of david.nikonvscanon
To serve 4 to 6 (or just me!)

-          85g softened butter
-          6 slices of thick bread (either white or whole-wheat – from personal experience, don’t use the ones with seeds in!)
-          55g mixed fruit (sultanas, currants and raisins)
-          25g candied peel
-          3 large eggs
-          300ml milk
-          150ml double cream
-          55g caster sugar
-          Whole nutmeg (for grating)
-          1 tbsp Demerara sugar
-          Cream (to serve)

1.       Pre-heat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F/ Gas Mark 4

2.       Use some of the butter to grease a baking tray and the slices of bread. Cut the bread into slices and arrange with an overlap

3.       Mix the eggs, milk, cream and sugar well, adding in the fruit at the end, and pour over the bread. Allow to stand for 15 minutes. Grate the nutmeg over the top, and sprinkle the Demerara Sugar to taste.

4.       Cover most of the fruit with the bread to make sure it doesn’t burn. Bake at the top of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until just set and golden brown

5.       Remove from the oven, serve warm with a little pouring cream