Wagamama style noodles

Mmmmmmmm I adore noodles. I wish I could say the same for the rest of the family who seem to tire easily of such a wonderfully versatile ingredient.
Except our gorgeous daughter, luckily she popped home from Uni, a surprise visit for my Birthday. What an idea opportunity to take full advantage of  - to cook noodles - wagamama style - to celebrate.
So all fresh produce & many great flavours. Not sure if this is the best way to make a sauce (in an empty jar then shake)  but its a great way & importantly I have concocted a simple way to mix the delicious flavours added to the noodles.   Also mixing the flavours in advance & in bulk means you have some always to hand ready to add to noodles  :) Mmmmmm
This was our platter of tasty chicken & prawn noodles . There are so many ways this platter can be cooked. you can marinade chicken before frying it, you can add sauce to the noodles or sauce to the vegetables. You can mix altogether in one pan or serve individually together on a plate. You will find your favourite way, i often forget so tend to mix my methods depending upon whats easiest at the time.
This method was mixing flavours together in jar, adding to the noodles. Chicken was marinated in chilli, soy & honey.

 Ingredients 
Medium egg Noodles
Soy Sauce
Oyster Sauce
Rice Vinegar
Hoisin Sauce
Plum Sauce
Chinese Five Spice
Ginger
Coriander
Chilli
Honey
Sesame Oil
Olive Oil

4 Chicken Fillets
Frozen King Prawns (uncooked)

Red & Yellow Pepper
Spring Onions
Red Onion
Mushrooms
Carrots
Green Beans

 Method 

• Mix the flavouring you like into an empty jar. 2 tablespoons of each & then add an extra one of the favourite flavour you love. Ours is chilliiiiiiii :)

• Wash & prepare chicken

• Cut chicken into smaller pieces 

• Add large dash of chilli, honey & soy into bowl.
• Add chicken & mix together til all of chicken is covered in marinade
• Cover chicken.
• Wash & prepare king prawns.

• Wash & prepare vegetables. I use a potato peeler to make ribbons of carrot.
• Add dash of olive oil into wok & a few drops of sesame oil
• Heat oil until faint smoke appears
• Add mushrooms , sizzle & cook
• Add red onions into mushrooms, sizzle & soften
• Add peppers & carrots, sizzle & cook them until they look a little blackened, then lastly add spring onions

• If you have another pan, add oil & sesame oil, heat until slight smoke rises.
• Add the pieces of marinated chicken, keep moving continuously so the cooking is evenly.

• Once the chicken is ready remove onto a warmed plate. Cover.
• Add little more oil, heat until sizzling then add king prawns for few minutes til cooked.

• Boil kettle, add boiled water into extra large saucepan.
• Add dried noodles into the boiling water, stir with fork to separate. allowing them to cook evenly. Boil for around 4 minutes.

• Drain water off the noodles. Add the sauce, stir & add flavoured noodles into the vegetable mixture. 
• Add the juicy flavoursome chicken, sizzled moist prawns & serve immediately.

ENJOY xx Mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmm

Uni Pizza

Pizza dough
600g Strong Bread Flour
1 dessertspoon salt
1 sachet of dried yeast
luke warm water
Tomato puree
Tin of plum tomatoes.
Mozzarella cheese
Garlic oil
One half, Tuna, Olives, Onions, Chilli
Other half, Chorzio, Parma Ham, Sweetcorn, Onion, Chilli

• Mix all ingredients together. 
• Add water little by little until all of flour is mixed & forms a sticky dough. 
• Mix until dough gathers altogether into one lump. 
• Cover & allow to rest for about an hour. 
• Flatten & shape by hand, flattening dough & spreading into thin or thick base. 
• Add tomato paste, 
• Add grated mozzarella cheese 
• Add  as many toppings as you like
• Add little more cheese
• Drizzle some garlic oil, chilli oil etc
•  pop onto baking tray,place in hot oven to cook  for 10 mins or so.

 Hmmm here we go again, our daughter is just a huge pizza lover. After completing her year at Uni, returning home first thing she does is invite girlie friends round & Mum makes load of pizza dough. Thye had a lovely evening creating their own pizzas, adding their topping then cooking them. Just like many years ago when we used to invite her school friends round :)  So, anyway I made the Italian dough but made rather too much. Daughter disappeared back to Uni flats & were were left with some dough & loads of mozzarella cheese etc. So, pizza for the 'rants' :) Unable to decide what flavours to use I decided upon a half & half style, a his n hers :)
Heres the delicious pizza prepared for the parents. Recipe so easy & tasty. Toppings to suit taste.

 Once all of the toppings are added to cheese & tomato pizza base. Add a second light covering of the grated mozzarella.

Mmmmmmmmm ENJOY!!

Fruity meringue pie

Opus of orgasmic deliciousness, heavenly fruit stewed & a mouthwatering puff pastry layered base.  To bring a hint of naughtiness & indulgence, make a toffee chewy sticky pavlova topping to unite simplicity with thrilling formality. A brilliant dessert to create when you just don't know what will be good enough for those dinner guests. Fail proof, always tickles & thrills!!

Wash & prepare some seasonal fruit, I used rhubarb, plums, apples & grapes. Quite a tasty combination, exciting the palette with sweet seduction.
Make or buy a base layer of puff pastry. (this one was from the freezer already made in advance)
Whip up a gorgeous slightly caramel flavoured pavlova to finish.

Ingredients
Sheet of puff pastry
4 Egg whites
cup full of half natural granulated sugar & half soft brown sugar (discovery they both work only because I ran out of caster sugar & as guests were arriving within the hour I had to improvise)
Lemon juice or vinegar
Vanilla essence
Plums, Rhubarb, Apples, Grapes. (washed & sliced ready to place onto pastry in any disorderly fashion)
Ice cream or cream

Method

• Grease a baking tray. Place sheet of pastry onto tray , coat in milk or egg yolks. (or both :)
• Cook pastry in hot oven for about 30 minutes
• Allow pastry to cool whilst preparing fruit & making pavlova
• Remove the yolks from the whites, I just use the half shell of the egg for ease & quickness.
• Add whites into a bowl & whip until forms a soft peak 
• Spoonful by spoonful mix the sugar into the fluffy peaks
• Add dash of vineyard or lemon juice (bout a teaspoon)
• Peel, slice & stew gently the rhubarb until softened briefly add the other fruits for a few moments.
• Bring to the boil
• Place the softened - but skins intact - sliced fruits onto the layer of puff pastry
• Add the slightly stewed rhubarb & thick syrup juices last
• Using a large wooden spoon add the divine dollops of the pavlova mix onto the fruit, totally concealing them
• Once main course is ready to eat, place the fruit pie into the oven for around 45 mins - an hour or as long as necessary (adapting heat to suit accordingly) whilst enjoying your main course. 

Gorgeous served hot with cold, melting ice cream :)
(sadly didn't remember to take photos of finished result as we were too into the flow of the wining & dining by then, yakkering too much but I can say it was greatly appreciated by all & all devoured!!)

Basically a modern take on an old fashioned favourite, yet the lemon meringue pie never draws the gasps of indulgent pleasures this fruity little number always incites.  Mmmmmmmmmm ENJOY.
(as per usual, lease do play around, be creative try many variations & combinations. Works well with raspberries, pears & apricots etc etc)

Juicy Sunday Joints

Any joint can be roasted in the following way. Its the juicy flavours, the fragrant taste, the warmth & spice which impregnate the flesh, marvelling a most unique & succulent tasty alternative to a dry roast.

Excite the tastebuds, simultaneously creating the most delicious gravy. 

Unleash your imagination, allow  peppercorns or mustard seeds to permeate their warmth & spice,  garlic, mustard, celery to penetrate their vibrant rousing flavours complimenting the freshness of rosemary or coriander, thyme or basil etc etc.  Smother with cranberry sauce, honey, Thai paste, ginger & garlic et etc  All melt & blend together in a fusion of exquisiteness. Full flavours with minimum  effort :)

Cook on a bed of Italian style potatoes, remembering  every now & then to open the foil parcel allowing the full flowing flavours to overflow, to soak thus marinate the potato mixture beneath. 

Mmmmmmm mmmmmmm.

Enjoy being creative . . share any good flavours & findings please :)

Rose Petal Jam

An unusual jam with a strong distinctive flavour. Deep red heavily scented roses are the best to use.

Ingredients

• 225g rose heads
• 450g sugar
• juice of 2 lemons

Method

1. Pick the roses when they are in full bloom, remove the petals & snip off the white bases.
2. Place the petals in a small bowl, add 225g of sugar. Cover the petals & sugar & leave overnight to exact the scent & darken the petals.
3. Pour 2 pints of water and the lemon juice into a saucepan. Stir in the remaining sugar. Heat gently until all the sugar has dissolved . DO NOT BOIL
4. Stir in the rose petals, simmer further for about 20 minutes. Bring to the boil , boiling for about 5 minutes until thick. 
5. Pot, cool  & cover in your usual way.

Festive Cake

Glazed Fruit Festive Cake

A latecomer, so not exactly a fully fledged Christmas cake but an equally full gorgeous flavoured delicacy to share with friends, family & especially a taste of welcoming heaven for those unexpected drop'ins who were just passing!!! Don't underestimate this tasty cakes seductive prowess, just because its a late starter & doesn't include all traditional ingredients doesn't mean we lose any of the moist rich deliciousness. I'm all for the entwining mature flavours, flowing amongst a delicate warmth all merging to become a light fruity texture with a scrumptious rich texture finished with a fruity (or if you like nuts) a nutty, sweet sticky glaze.

As you can probably tell - in other words I don't get along too well with the traditional heavy fruit cakes, especially Christmas ones with the marzipan & icing. There's just something about icing that provokes my throat into a barf state of peristalsis!!

Sooooo this recipe is especially for any of you other Christmas cake declinees - who still want the pleasures of having a nice cake but without all the traditional stifled stiffness - this is the cake for you!!! :) Try it & see, use your own ideas if you don't like mine. . its a beautiful alternative yet it can still strut its stuff as a traditional cake , still hold its nuts high amongst the best of the cakes :)

Last year I drizzled my mixture with Jack Daniels - no reason behind this other than it was all I had in the cupboard (except vodka & sloe gin maturing). It turned out beautifully & the flavours awesome. However please drizzle your mixture with your favourite tipple. This year I'm daring to make a batch of them for the family . . . so there's minature Brandy, Whiskey, Rum & Vodka bottles in my cupboard of their favourite tipples :) A couple of them like nuts - the others don't .. so decide if you like the nut finishing then glazed with melted apricot jam or simply glazed plain or even served naked without the glaze :)

Ingredients

FRUIT

8oz Sultanas

6oz Full Juicy Raisins

2oz Currants

6oz Apricots

6oz Dates

6oz Figs

4oz Prunes

* this is where - if you like these specific flavours - you would add

2oz glade cherries, 20z almonds, 2oz pecans, 20z candied peel etc adjusting the amounts to suit taste.

Grated zest of an orange & lemon

1 teaspoon Black Treacle

1 & 1/2 Teaspoons Mixed Spice

Teaspoon Ginger

Teaspoon Cinnamon

Teaspoon Nutmeg

Teaspoon Ginger

3 tablespoons of Brandy or Sherry or Whiskey etc)

Large cup full of water

• First of all we prepare the dried fruits. Measure them all out individually then with a pair of scissors cut some of the fruits into long thin pieces then into smaller cubes (painstakingly boring I know but well worth the effort) then place into a large saucepan. Once all fruits are cut, add the spices & stir. Add the liquids & bring the mixture to the boil, reduce & simmer for about an 15 mins. Allow to cool, cover then leave to rest into a refrigerator overnight. *Sorry but as its evening, working only with the kitchen light -the photographs of the dried fruit, saucepan & mixture look naff so unfortunately I'll have to take some more tomorrow but it will all be already mixed! However I'm sure you can imagine what weighing our dried fruit looks like & mixing in saucepan :D I'll continue writing the recipe & method just incase there are any more late comers ..

CAKE

6oz Plain Flour

2oz SR Flour

Teaspoon Mixed Spice

40z Soft Brown Sugar

40z Dark Brown Sugar

8oz Butter (room temperature)

4 Eggs

Decoration

Figs

Dates

Apricots

Apricot Jam

Nuts

8" round tin, 7" square

Greaseproof paper .

Method

• Remove fruit mixture from fridge, give a good stir. Remove cover to allow mixture to reach room temperature
• Pre heat oven
• Measure out cake ingredients
• Sift the four well & the spices into a large separate mixing bowl (not the one used to mix the butter & sugar) put to one side until needed
• Whisk the butter & sugar together to make lovely light creamy fluffy consistency
• Beat the eggs in a small dish & add them little by little to the creamed mixture, keep gently mixing all ingredients continuously. Once all the eggs have been used into the mixture stop whisking
• Using a large wooden spoon gently fold into the mixture the sieved flour - do not beat as the air is nicely trapped between each fold which adds to the texture
• Next fold in the fruit mixture & other ingredients chosen by you i.e. chopped nuts, glace cherries etc
• Transfer the cake mixture into a lined cake tin . I line mine with greaseproof paper in a cross shape so I have the balance of the cake weight to lift evenly
• Cover the top of the cake with a double piece of greaseproof paper
• Cook for 1 hour on 200oC then after an hour reduce heat & continue to cook for a further 2 hours
• Leave the cake in its tin to cool then once cold remove the greaseproof paper
• Wrap in double greaseproof paper, add into a large air tight cake tin. Pop some halved apples into the tin (skin side against the greaseproof paper)
• Before giving the cake as a gift - its a lovely way to finish & to present the cake by adding the glazed fruit/nut topping. Choose which ingredients you prefer to use if its nut slightly - lightly- toast them beneath a grill. If its fruits half them so you still have the whole shape of the fruit.
• Melt the apricot jam into a small saucepan (you can add a teaspoon of Brandy or whatever alcohol you chose to use) Gently heat & stir until blended & melted. Using a pastry brush paint some of the glaze over the cake as if it were a glue. arrange the fruit/nuts in any pattern you like.
• Finally brush all of the artistically arranged fruit/nuts with the remaining warm glaze.
• Wrap a ribbon around the cake & store in a cake tin until needed.
• I use apricots, figs, prunes & cherries mainly for the colouring & the exquisite aesthetic result achieved by the contrasting colours & the lovely unusual instinctive appearance of the fig against the soft fleshy apricot.
• I'm sure the same aesthetically pleasing masterpiece can be achieved using walnuts, almonds, brazil nuts & pecans :)