Breakfast snails

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Hortense

Cashew -raisins snails

Ingredients:

1 pre-rolled puff pastry
50g dry raisins
2 teaspoons sugar
200g cashew butter (or smooth peanut butter)
Vegetable oil for the baking tray

Cashew -raisins snails ingredients

Method:

Preheat the oven at 180°C.

Measure 50ml water and dilute the 2 teaspoons of sugar in it. Now add the raisin and soak for 1 hour, then drain and pat dry. Set aside.

If the butter you are using is slightly hard place it in the oven for a few minutes to soften then, kneed with the back of a spoon or a spatula to make as creamier and as spreadable as soft butter.

Unroll the puff pastry on a flat surface but, keep it on its baking paper. Spread on it
the soften cashew butter then sprinkle on top the now drained raisins and roll the pastry length ways. (follow the sequence in pictures below)

Now, using a very sharp knife, cut the pastry every 1.5 cm then squash each of them with the palm of the hand and place them on a lightly oiled baking tray.

Cashew -raisins snails

Place in the oven to bake for 12 minutes at 180°C.

Leave to coll for few minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Breakfast and elevenses

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Hortense

Making cranberry & mint jam

The mid-morning is usually when I reach out for a chocolate bar. So, whenever possible, I pack with my lunch pack a some crackers and jam or a yogurt to help me restart after 10-11am.

mid morning snack Cranberry jam and cracker

If you’ve got left over fruits, make a quick jam, that way you won’t waste them. Sever on a [piece of toast my cranberry jam and crackers make a great snack!

Rye bread and peanut butter

A great snack would be toasted Rye bread with peanut butter served with ginger & lime tea.

Other fantastic idea for snack would simply be, fresh fruits, raw not, or boiled peanuts.

The best breakfast for me is porridge! It keeps you filled up for longer…

Morning porridge for 1

4 table spoons porridge mix (I make my own mix out of dray raisins, chopped peanuts, pumpkin seeds
100ml soy milk
1 kiwi

My porridge mix

Method:

Mix the milk and the porridge stir and place in the microwave for 2 minutes. Take the bowl out, stir and place it back in the microwave for a further 1 minute.

Finish it by topping with peeled and chopped porridge. The fruit will provide just the right amount of sweetness needed.

Serve as suggested.

Enjoy!

Check out the next post t see my morning breakfast ‘Snails’. x

Hello February!

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Hortense

Nutty Pain aux raisins

January is well and truly over and so are for most of us the good resolutions for 2016!

Did you managed to give up chocolate, wine, meat or dairy for 99% of the time? How about 50% of the time or even 25% of the time during January? Build up on that!

You have probably discovered like me that you are not addicted to coffee, but just like it. You have discovered that eating meat and dairy free meal is an eye opener… how about those new exercises?

What are you going to do to build up on? What you have learnt? For me, I will be building up on my racket sports and have just signed up for a 6 week tennis course. I will consume less coffee and buy less chocolate bars.

To help you build up on the January resolution to eat less meat and dairies, I will be posting for you here few ideas for snacks that are meat & dairy free, suitable for vegan and also breakfast ideas.

Porridge and fruits

For February, you can decide to replace at least one meal/snack a day with a healthy option or even sugar and dairy free… I have decided to make 2016 my healthiest year yet and continuing with my daily 30 minutes Pilates… How about you?

Since this webpage is all about being on budget, all the suggestions will be as cheap as I can find or make it.

Thank you for checking in…

Please do post your comments below.

Happy New year for the last time. x

#Veganuary salad – Caramelised Tofu salad

Posted on January 10, 2016 by Hortense

Caramelised Tofu salad

Caramelised Tofu salad

Serves 2 as mains or 4 as a starter

70g wild rocket – washed
Salad components
150g beansprouts – blanched & drained
200g tofu – fried in caramelised sugar
2 fresh tomatoes – Cut and de-seeded.
Teaspoon of Sesame seeds

For the vinaigrette

3 tablespoons mustard oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 generous pinch of ground ginger
Prepping the tofu
½ teaspoon of caster sugar
1 pinch of salt
½ small red chilli – very finely chopped
Garlic granules

Prep:

Tofu sticks

The tofu is sold as a block that will need to be cut and fried. Use the DragonFly pressed tofu as they are much tastier and absorb flavours.

Just cut as in the picture. Rub with salt and ground ginger. In a hot pan, add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil with 1 teaspoon of sugar. Leave the sugar to brown slightly. Then add the tofu sticks and swirl to allow the sugar to coat the sticks. Allow 1 minute for each side to crisp before turning them from side to side.

Once that is done, set aside and prepare the other components of the salad.

The vinaigrette. In a small jar with a lid, add: mustard oil, soy sauce, ground ginger, caster sugar, salt, garlic granules, and chilli. Shake well to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Mixing bowl

Caramelised Tofu salad

Now into a large bowl, add: rocket, sprouts, tomatoes and toss. Add the tofu sticks, sesames seeds drizzle the vinaigrette, serve & enjoy!

See the original post on my vegan blog here.

#Veganuary soup – Beetroots red pepper and mustard

Posted on January 10, 2016 by Hortense

Beetroots red pepper & mustard soup

Beetroots red pepper and mustard soup

Serves 3

4 small precooked beetroots
1 big red sweet pepper
A hand full of fresh coriander
1 small red onion
1 tea spoon wholegrain mustard
Salt
Mustard oil

Method:

Peel the outer layer of the beetroots, rinse and roughly chop. Do the same for the onion, cut the sweet pepper and the coriander. Rinse all and place in a deep pan with 1L water or stock. I did mine just with water and salt to keep it simple.

Add 2 tablespoons of mustard oil and 1 teaspoon of wholegrain mustard. Cover and place on the hob to simmer for 20 minutes. This will allow the vegetables to soften.

To gauge that the soup is ready, taste the hardest to cook vegetable in the pot. Here it would have been the beet if they were not precooked. So, I tasted the onion quarters and sweet pepper.

Adjust the seasoning, take away from the hob and using a hand blender. Liquidise the soup to your liking.

I like my soup with bits in it and others prefer theirs smooth.

Beetroots red pepper & mustard soup

Serve with croutons or… potato wedges on a skewer.

Enjoy. x

See original recipe on my vegan blog here

#Veganuary mains – Creamy Spinach & garlic roast potatoes

Posted on January 10, 2016 by Hortense

Creamy Spinach & garlic roast potatoes

Dinner for 2

Ingredients:

150ml Alpro cream
Creamy spinach ingredients
1 medium carrots
200g bag of spinach
2 white shallots
6 small potatoes
25g soya mince
2 garlic cloves
4 Brazil nuts
1 spring onion
Salt & Pepper
Groundnut oil.

Prep:

Re-hydrate the mincemeat in boiling water for 10 minutes, then sieve and set aside.

Ready to roll!

Wash the spinach and set aside.

Parboil the potatoes in salty water and halve them.

Peel and chop the carrot, garlic, shallots & spring onion. Keep them separated and leave aside.

Grate the Brazil nuts.

Method:

Preheat the oven at 180°C.

In an oven dish, place the halved precooked potatoes with 1 chopped garlic and spring onion, a pinch of salt and 1 table spoon of groundnut oil. Toss to mix well. Place the potatoes face down in the dish then, using the potatoes masher press the potatoes down to mash them a bit. Place in the oven for about 10-15 until they start crisp.

Crushed potatoes

Crushed potatoes 2

Crushed potatoes 3

In the meantime, in a hot pan with 2 table spoons of groundnut oil, fry the shallots until brown, add the mincemeat with salt, pepper & garlic. Stir until the mince starts to crisp. Now add the chopped carrot. Hope fully the latter has been chopped thinly enough not to take too long to soften. In this case, it took about 2 minutes. As all that starts to brown it adds flavour to the dish.

Now add the grated Brazil nut and the cream. Leave to simmer for about 3-5 minutes then, stir in the spinach, adjust the seasoning and leave to soften for about 2 minutes.

All this shouldn’t take more that 10-12 minutes and the potatoes should be ready by then. Serve.

This dish is the worst nightmare of a person with nuts allergies make sure none of them is around.

Enjoy!

See the original recipe from my vegan blog here.

#Veganuary – Cinnamon pear Tatin

Posted on January 10, 2016 by Hortense

Cinnamon tatin with Single cream & poppy seeds

Cinnamon pear Tatin for 10

(see original post from Nash’s vegan creations, my test kitchen here)

Ingredients:

7 medium pears halved and corked
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
125g of sugar
1 pinch of salt
1 lemon zest
125g butter
1 rolled pastry (made with dairy free butter, sugar and flour)
Cream for serving (use alpro soy cream)
A 25cm tart dish

Pre heat the oven at 200°C

Method:

Pear zest and poppies

Pour 100g sugar and 100g of butter in a pan, melt both stirring until they start to brown. Add the peeled halved pears in the mix, all the cinnamon, lemon zest and salt. Cover to simmer for 20 minutes until the pears soften.

Meanwhile, coat the inside of the baking dish with half of the remaining butter and dust with the remaining sugar.

Place the pears in the baking dish one by one and face down, then cut the remaining piece of butter and deposit the chunks on top of the pears. Now cover with the rolled pastry. Use a fork to prick the top of the pastry all over so it will let steam out while the cake is baking.

Place the dish in the oven and cook for 40 minutes at 200°C.

Once it is ready, take the dish out of the oven and allow it to cool down before serving. and leave to cool before serving.

cinnamon pear tatin

I served mine with cream and poppy seeds to finish. Alternatively use roasted almond flakes.

I use very little sugar because I am not a big fan. If your guests have a sweet tooth, serve the cake with a coulis or ice cream.

ENJOY!

Don’t forget to post a comment!

To see the original recipe from my vegan click here.

Happy 2016!!!

Posted on January 3, 2016 by Hortense

Start fresh & reset!

Happy New Year!

Thank you for all your follows and support during 2015… Hope I won’t let you down in 2016.

SO! You’ve enjoyed the great fancy and fatty foods during the festive period, the jegging is a bit tighter at the waist as is the purse… No worries let’s try and be practical and smart with our eating habits for a bit.

For one month only, we are going to be kind to our body.

Forget the Costa, the Starbucks and the likes…. You will save a bunch. Instead, opt for homemade brews that can be prepared in advance for your day at the office.

Have you ever tried homemade ginger and lemon tea? You can do it yourself or buy it

Mint tea brewing in the strainer

ready made. It goes without saying that fresh is better and much more flavoursome. Buy the ginger, grate it, take half a lemon grate the zest. Place both in a tea strainer and pour over it a cup of boiling water. Leave the strainer in the cup for 2 minutes then drain before adding the lemon juice and drink.

If you don’t like lemon and ginger go, for the mint tea. Do you know mint tea is great to fight bloating? Lemon is great for cleansing and ginger I great for a good digestion?

To make the tea either buy a bunch of mint in the supermarket or go for the teabags.

If using fresh mint, simply pick out 3-4 leaves of mint rub them together to bruise them, place in the tea strainer and pour water over it.

You can pre-prepare both infusions in advance and just reheat a cup full when needed.

For the mint tea for example, bruise a whole bunch, pour 1.5l of water and bring to boil. Strain, leave to cool and place in the fridge. When you are ready, pour a cupful and heat for 2 minutes in the microwave. Voila!

Both can be consumed hot or cold. With or without sugar and if you are looking to fit better in those jegging, I do recommend that you either reduce the sugar or remove it completely and replace with lemon.

HJ porridge mix

Another great way to eat smart will be to have porridge for breakfast. Porridge keeps you fuller for longer so, if having porridge for breakfast you will feel full until lunch time. Again, rather than using sugar here, opt for fruits to bring in all the sugar needed…

I prepare my on porridge mix by adding few extra to make it interesting…

The porridge flake costs 39p in Lidl and I add in chopped roast peanuts from Lidl cost 49p mix seeds, dry raisins or any dry fruits, seeds and anything else I’d like.

1 pack of 250 can become 500 just by adding the extra. In the morning, I measure 4 table spoons of porridge add 100ml (whole) milk or soya milk, place in the microwave for 2 minutes, stir and place back for 1 minutes and enjoy!

For the mid-morning snacks, I opt for a banana, pear, raw nut or crackers…. I feel that often when I want a snack it is not that I am hungry, it is just that I want to chew on something…. 1 cracker or two is enough to distract me until meal time. Water is also a great distraction from chocolate cravings.

My breakfast – dairy free no added sugar

As far as New Year resolutions go, I decided to go coffee free in January, will also eat more meat and dairy free meals. This to cleanse, reset and get ready for the rest of the year. For more information about doing a meat and dairy free week/month, google Veganuary for ideas or see the vegan dishes available on this blog. I will post some of my meat and dairy free recipes in the next post. They are from my vegan blog… been running since 2013…

Shinny tennis set

Exercise: I am also taking up rackets sports to get fit… I found a set of 2 tennis rackets & balls for £9.99… will be taking lessons in Dulwich at £5.00 per session that is the cheapest I could find.

I am also taking badminton for recreation. A meetup group in Pimlico offers the session at £6.00.

The set of two badminton rackets and shuttlecocks (the balls) cost £9.99.

My badminton set

Last but not least squash! I’ve always wanted to do squash. The single racket cost £9.99, the set of 3 ball cost £4.99 and the lesson cost less than £5 in Stockwell.

But if you cannot do and don’t like racket sports, take on walking! To go shopping 2 bus stops away, walk it on the way and jump on the bus on your way back as you are carrying loads. Join Park run for free. You can do mini 5Ks marathon or walks weekly.

Squash racket & balls

I have also decided not to buy chocolate bars this year and only eat some when offered to me 😉 Let’s see if I can complete January first… ha ha ha!

The above are of course few of my recommendations for January and are mutually exclusive so, pick one or two things from the list and stick to it at least until end January.

And if you wish to lose weight, weigh yourself every 2 days or so and readjust your food intake… little often with a spot of exercise.

Before you weigh yourself, try to wee and do number 2. That always helps J

Do not no hesitate to send me your questions or if you need further details about the Tennis/badminton/ squash lessons.

Happy New Year to you and yours.

PS: I am not a nutritionist, all the above are from experience.

#NoelByHJ – Dessert – Twin Hazelnut & Coffee buches

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Hortense

To finish this menu of, we will spoil ourselves with chocolate, coffee and hazelnut all in the shape of two version of the traditional French Christmas cake called bûche. The bûche can be like a Swiss roll or much more imaginative yumminess created in a shape of a log. Caution! These cakes are very very satisfying and RICH enough to make you feel very guilty after each spoon full. Just saying.

Twin Hazelnut & Coffee “bûches”

HJ’s buche de Noel

HJ’s buche de Noel

Ingredients for 2 x 150g cakes:

300ml double cream – 60p
100g hazelnut – 95p
50g Madeira cake – 70p
3 teaspoons instant coffee
20g sugar
2 x (15cm x 7cm) mini loaf baking tins
100g butter
100g icing sugar
salt
20ml vegetable oil

Total spend: £3.45

If these cakes were shop bough, they would cost at least £5.00 each… great as a treat.

Method:

Ground hazelnut is not always readily available in supermarkets or if they are, they

Sieving Hazelnut

cost quiet a lot of money, It is much much cheaper to buy them with skin, roast, grind and sieve at home as I did. If you don’t fancy doing that, use ground almond instead. I prefer hazelnut because of its strong flavour. Against the coffee it was fantastic!

Once the ground hazelnut is ready, set aside.

Next remove the “crust” from the Madeira and cut out two mini logs of 3cm x 3cm x 12cm to fit into the baking tin. The idea here is to cut the Madeira so it will fit fully in the inside of the cake. So, it should be smaller than the size of the cake tin. Once the Madeira is ready and set aside.

Break 2 and half chocolate tablets (250g) and melt them in a Bain Marie. Set the liquid chocolate aside to cool down a bit.

While all this is going on, the double cream should remain in the fridge until it is needed.

Dissolve 1,5 teaspoon of coffee in 100ml water, set aside.

Now, prepare the cream. Pour the 300ml of cream in a large bowl with the sugar and whisk until it starts forming picks.

Add to the cream, the melted chocolate and gently fold until the mix become one single and regular colour.

Now divide the mix in two. In one half, mix in the ground hazelnut, leave the other half plain. See blow the mix progression.

Mixing cream and chocolate

Plain chocolate-cream mix

Hazelnut-chocolate-cream mix

On to the moulds. Wet the inside of the cake tins with water and line with cling film allowing about 5cm of film to hang on the outside of the mould. Make sure that the film inside the mould is as flat as possible with no folds or pleats.

Once the moulds are lined up with the film, spoon in the first layer of the plain chocolate and cream mix. 2 tablespoons of the mix per mould should do. Now make sure to spread the mix evenly in both moulds. Spread on the bottom as well as on the sides. This will help with to shape of the dessert.

lined tins

first layer

dipped Madeira cake

Once the first layer is spread, dip the Madeira cakes in the coffee and place them on the middle of the cake tins now lined with chocolate mix.

Cover the Madeira cake with the chocolate-cream-hazelnut mix, then tap the tins to allow the mix will fill all wholes. If you still have Madeira cake left, dip it in coffee, place in the tin and recover with the left over chocolate mix until the tin is full.

Now bring in the cling film ends hanging on the outside of the tin and fold them over the dessert tightly, then place the both tins in the fridge for 1 hour.

all layered buche

Ready for a nap

Out of the moulds

Meanwhile prepare the presentation plate for both dessert. The bûche can be very fragile and it is not advisable to more it around event two minutes. If you are decorating it, it is best to do so as cleanly as possible while the cake is on a presentation plate.

Prepare the covering for both cakes.

For one, simply melt 50g of chocolate with 20ml vegetable oil or Hazelnut oil if any available. Adding oil to the melted chocolate will prevent it from being too hard to cut with a knife and also give the chocolate a shine.

For the second covering, soften 100g butter at room temperature and when it becomes gel like, whisk it to soften it even further with a pinch of salt then sieve in 100g icing sugar as well as 1 teaspoon of coffee granules. Mix well until obtaining a milky coffee colour. Spoon this mix in a piping bags ready to be piped on the cake.

Once the desserts have been in the fridge for an hour, take them out and carefully unmould them and remove the cling film.

HJ’s Buche 1

For the first version of the dessert, simply pour the melts chocolate over it, leave to rest for 5 minutes then, pour another layer of the liquid chocolate over it. Leave to rest for 10 minutes then move into a serving plate before topping with broken roasted hazelnut. Return the bûche in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving.

HJ’s Buche 2

For the other bûche, simply pipe the coffee icing in a pattern of your choice and have fun. As for me, I simply created straight lines to imitate a log. Afterwards, I sprinkled chocolate shaving and topped with whole roasted hazelnuts.

Et voila! It is all done. J

HJ’s twin Hazelnut & coffee buches

HJ’s buche – inside

I hope you have enjoyed this menu. To see my whole Christmas menu for 2, type #NoelByHJ in the search box.

I have also create 9 recipes for the Christmas leftovers if you had turkey with the usual trimmings. Just search #XmasScraps or #ChristmasScraps.

Thank you for following.

Happy Christmas to you and yours. See you in 2016… don’t forget to visit Croydon Radio to listen to the show dated 5^th December on the podcast with Tom C.

Ciao!

#NoelByHJ – Mains – Lobster in Crème fraiche

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Hortense

For the main on this Christmas menu I chose to stay away for THE GIANT BIRD (Turkey)… The love of the fowl in this country (UK) is fascinating… People eat chicken throughout the year and at Christmas they want to eat an even bigger variety of the bird… WHY?!It is beyond me! So, of you are tempted to stay away from the fowl too, try the Lobster. Make it a treat… It is annoying to de-shell, but it is worth the bother. I feel the same for potato! So my main is …

Happy Christmas! Lobster & Mash!

Lobster in Crème fraiche Served with Parsnips & Swede mash

Ingredients to serve 2:

2 lobsters from Lidl – £9.98
Ingredients for the dish
50g red onion
A handful of parsley – 30p
3 garlic cloves
150g crème fraiche – 52p
300ml stock – made out of the lobster carcasses
25g butter
Black pepper
Paprika
Salt
Vegetable oil

For the mash:

500g swede – 30p
300g parsnips – 30p
Chopped parsley
25 Butter
Salt

Total spend: £11.40p

I think this might be the most expensive dish I have cooked for this blog, but it is Christmas and you are trying to eat something different and having a treat for this one day in the year is very much recommended! Enjoy it!

Method:

Progression of the lobsters preparation below

The day before cooking.

Defrost the lobsters and deshell them without damaging the shapes too much or you might end up with flakes instead of well-shaped pieces of lobster meat. Be especially careful with the laws as they are the hardest to break without crushing.

Start by separating the tails from the heads, then detach the claws from the heads. Carefully remove the shell from the tail then rinse and score the back of the tail to empty the belly of the lobster.

Once that is done, rinse the lobster tail and feel it all over to make sure that there is no shell debris left. Set aside. Now deshell the laws and carefully remove the meat. Rinse and feel all sides to make sure there is no broken shell left on the meat and set aside.

Repeat all the above with the second lobster. And do not throw away the shells debris

Seasoning the lobster

nor the heads. Instead, rinse and reserve in bowl with a lid or in a freezer bag.

Returning to the lobster meat: We are going to marinade it overnight.

Place the lobster meat in a bowl with 3 chopped garlic cloves and 25g chopped onion. Add a pinch of paprika, salt and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Mix well and leave in the fridge overnight.

The Next day:

When you are ready to make the sauce, heat a pan with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, toss fry the lobster shells for 2 minutes, then add the parsley, chopped or whole with the remaining 25g of chopped onion. Toss fry for another 2 minutes before adding 500ml water. Cover the pan and leave to simmer for 10 minutes at high heat then drain using the finest sieve you can find.

Making the stock

The sieve will hold back even the smallest pieces of shell so you won’t find them in the sauce later. Discard the shell and set the stock aside. The stock will be about 300ml.

In a new pan, heat 25g butter and add the lobster and everything that was in the

marinade. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes allowing the onion of the marinade to soften. Now add the 300ml stock prepared previously as well as 150g of crème fraiche, salt & pepper. Stir and allow to simmer for 8-10 minutes. This will give time to the liquid to evaporate and the sauce will become creamier and creamier… as you stir, look out for the sauce sticking to the sides of the pan as an indication that the sauce is getting creamier… as it begins to stick, taste and adjust the seasoning. Before removing from heat.

For the mash:

Peel and cut the swede and parsnips in small pieces.
Place them in a pan with enough salted water to cover the content of the pan. Bring to boil for 10-20 minutes depending on the size of the pieces of vegetables. Both vegetables feel a bit like potato once they are cooked so, keep a closer eye on them after 10 minutes of boiling as you do not want a soggy mash. The vegetables should be cooked, but still firm and mashable.

Once they are cooked, drain and mash either with a potato ricer or simply a potato masher. Add the remaining 25g butter, a pinch of salt, combine and finish with chopped parsley.

Serve hot as suggest with the lobster.

Tuck in and enjoy.

PS: Lidl’s Lobsters are pretty well rated by the Daily mail… check out what they said about it here.

Click to see the nibbles & stater from this menu or simply type in #NoelByHJ in the search box.

Made By Hortense

Celery was never only made for Humus dips. No waste allowed. So, go create!

Breakfast snails

Breakfast and elevenses

Hello February!

#Veganuary salad – Caramelised Tofu salad

#Veganuary soup – Beetroots red pepper and mustard

#Veganuary mains – Creamy Spinach & garlic roast potatoes

#Veganuary – Cinnamon pear Tatin

Happy 2016!!!

#NoelByHJ – Dessert – Twin Hazelnut & Coffee buches

#NoelByHJ – Mains – Lobster in Crème fraiche

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