A Reflective Foodie Friday On A Sunday - Cinder Toffee

Looking back over the years I don't tend to post on November 5th that often, normally when I do it's a tribute to my dad or more personal posts about grief and loss, but this year I decided to do something a little bit different.

Losing someone you love is hard but when it's on a day that people celebrate or that means something to everyone, then it's even harder. On November 5th 2002, I lost my dad very suddenly, and ever since then I've hated Bonfire Night was a passion, every single bang and sparkle of light, brings back memories that quite frankly I don't want to remember.

Life doesn't change for other people though , so I guess you just need to get on with it, and try and embrace it with the best of them. So I'm writing this post, attempting to calm down some very scared kitty cats, looking at the pretty lights outside of the window and trying to remember the happy times.

So many of my good memories of my dad, my grans, and my childhood concern food, and the 5th November is no different, from baked potatoes and beans, to parkin,  and to treacle toffee and cinder toffee, food like fragrance, is intrinsically linked to our feelings and memories.

My mam used to be a big sweet maker, every year she'd make trays of peppermint creams, fudge, coconut ice, rum truffles and cinder toffee for us to eat in the run up to, and at Christmas. When you look at recipes associated with Guy Fawkes night, Cinder Toffee is always somewhere on the list. Cinder Toffee is one of the most names associated with it, at least up north, but you might know it as Hokey Pokey, Puff Candy, or Sponge Candy, or as Honeycomb. Yes it's that brittle, yet chewy toffee, that's full of air bubble, that you'll find in your Crunchie bar.

It's easy enough to buy it on it's own or covered with chocolate but like so many things it's often hard to beat something that's homemade. It isn't the hardest thing to make but you do need to be a bit careful in more ways than one. There are a few different recipes out there but this is our go to.

Cinder Toffee

3 Heaped Tablespoons Of Golden Syrup Or Treacle 

7oz (200g) Caster Sugar

1 1/2oz (40g) Butter

2 Tablespoons Cold Water

1/2 Teaspoon Vinegar

1 Heaped Teaspoon Of Bicarbonate Of Soda

1. Well grease a loaf tin or line with non stick parchment paper  - Okay as you can see this isn't a loaf tin it's a small roasting tin, which on reflection wasn't the best tin to make this in as it ended up a bit thinner then it should have done. You needn't be too precise with size but it's better to make it in a smaller and deeper tin, than a larger shallower one like this one.

2. To make this recipe you really need a good quality heavy bottomed pan, the pan is going to get hot so you want something that's pretty substantial. I'm using a pressure cooker pan here.

Add your sugar, syrup, butter and cold water and heat gently until the sugar is melted, stirring all the time

3. When your sugar has melted, turn up the heat until it reaches a continuous rolling boil. If you have a sugar thermometer your mixture needs to reach 290˚ F or 143˚ C. If you don't have one though don't worry, get yourself a cup of cold water and keep testing the mixture by dripping blobs into the water. The mixture will go through several stages but eventually the mixture will become hard and brittle and snap when you drop it into the water.

4. Once it's reached that stage take the pan off the heat, and add the vinegar and the vinegar and the bicarb, and give it a good stir. It will expand slightly at this stage, and foam and change colour slightly. (Make sure that your bicarbonate of soda isn't too near the expiry date - the longer you have it the more it loses it potency - a new tub will give the best results)

5. Then pour it CAREFULLY in to your tin - Don't be tempted to touch the mix with your hands or taste it - it will be stupidly hot.

6. Then leave your tray in a cool dry place for a few hours until it's set solid. No matter how well you've greased your tin it will still be nigh on impossible to get it out of the tin. I suggest either hitting your cinder toffee with a hammer or careful drop the tray onto the floor to break up your toffee. You won''t get any neat squares with this rough shards are what you should be aiming for.

You can either eat it straight away or you can store it for a few days in a cool, dry airtight tin. It should be the perfect combo of brittle and chewy. You can either eat as is, or you can cover it chocolate, use it with a chocolate fondue, or you can crush it up and use for an ice cream topping, in butter cream or whipped cream in cakes, or in cookies or flapjacks.

This isn't the most dentist friendly treat so watch those crowns and fillings, and brush your teeth after you've gorge. I'm at the dentist this week so this probably wasn't the perfect thing to eat this weekend but I enjoyed it anyways, and sometimes a little bit of what you fancy does you good. What do you call cinder toffee? Let me know in the comments and I hope you have a safe and enjoyable Guy Fawkes night x 

Foodie Friday On A Saturday - No Bake Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake

This post is typical I suppose of how this year has gone, I don't post a Foodie Friday post for eons, and then when I do it becomes a Foodie Friday On A Saturday post instead. Ha! Ha! life fail in the extreme seems to sum up my year! Anyways I hope that you will agree, that this recipe was one worth waiting for.

I love cheesecake, I crave cheesecake on a regular basis, but as you probably know a lot of the ones that you buy in the supermarkets just don't cut the mustard - they are okay in an emergency but when you want the real I am, you can't beat a homemade dessert.

Baked cheesecakes scare me and as a vegetarian throwing gelatine into something isn't really an option so this no bake, vegetarian friendly number fits the bill perfectly. The recipe is very loosely based on a No Bake Raspberry And White Chocolate Cheesecake that a lovely lady that used to blog shared many moons ago. As long as you stick to the basic filling mix then you can use what every chocolate you like, and you can play with the flavours and the filling be it fruit, or even more chocolate. I made this recipe last week for my mam's birthday and I'm going to be honest this isn't one for the faint hearted - it's hugely calorific, very rich and very sickly, if you like your sweets to be sweet, then this is the dessert for you.

No Bake Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake

For The Base

100g Ginger Nuts

100g Chocolate Digestives

75g Butter (More For Greasing)

397g Tin Carnation Caramel

For The Filling

500g Full Fat Cream Cheese (Room Temperature)

50g Caster Sugar

180ml Whipping Cream

600g Milk Chocolate

65g Butter

1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract Or Vanilla Paste

Large Bar Of Caramel Filled Chocolate or Soft Caramel Filled Buttons Or Chocolates

For this cheesecake you will need a very well greased, loose bottomed or spring form cake tin, around 23cm across, don't worry if it's a little bit smaller but if it's any bigger you might need to make a bit more of the base.

1. To make the base all you need to do is to crush your biscuits, either in a sealed bag with a rolling pin or if you have one, use a food processor, it's way easier on the arms and you get a more consistent crumb. Melt your butter and then add it to the crumb mix with a tablespoon of the caramel, and give it a good stir.

2. Now it's time for one of the grossest pictures that you will probably ever see on my blog ;) It doesn't look good but the combo of butter, caramel and biscuit crumbs, tastes fantastic. Try not to eat it though, because a cheesecake is nothing without it's base. Pour the crumb mix into your well greased tin, and then press it down evenly and firmly with either the back of a spoon or a potato masher to create a compressed, even crust.

Then either pop it into the fridge or put it in a cool place for around an hour to firm up

3. While your base is setting it's time to start on the filling. Put your chocolate into a large bowl, with your butter and your vanilla, and pop it over a bowl of boiling water, gently stirring until it's melted. Try not to get any water into your chocolate mix and make sure that your chocolate mix doesn't get too hot.

4. While your chocolate mix is melting, put your room temperature cream cheese into a large bowl, and then add the cream and the sugar, then mix it all together until it's smooth.

5. You don't have to add any more chocolate but I love the texture difference in my cheesecake so you can either add some ordinary chopped chocolate or you can do what I've done here and chopped up a large bar of soft caramel filled chocolate (this is Cadbury's Caramel), or you can use individual soft caramel filled chocolates. Pop the chopped chocolate into the fridge until you're ready for it.

6. By now your chocolate mix should be fully melted, give it a good stir to make sure that there are no lumps or solid pieces. It will be a bit thicker than normal melted chocolate due to the addition of the butter so don't panic if it looks a bit thick. Leave it to cool for a minute or two.

7. Then add your melted chocolate mix to your cheese mix, and carefully mix it together until it's smooth and full combined

8. Then mix in your caramel filled chocolate until it's evenly distributed throughout the filling mix.

9. Now it's time to start building your cheesecake, start off by putting a few dollops of caramel sauce on to your chilled cheesecake base

Then start spooning in your cheesecake filling mixture, alternating it with spoonfuls of caramel

Keep a little bit of caramel for the top and swirl it through your cheesecake mix. Then put it in a cold place or in the fridge for at least 12 hours, I left mine for around 24 hours to be on the safe side. Make sure that you put your tin onto a baking sheet or a plate and you can sometimes get a little bit of liquid escaping from the tin, and make sure that you cover the top to avoid anything dripping into the mix

10. Unlike a baked cheesecake or one containing gelatine, this cheesecake will never set completely solid. After leaving it to set though you will notice a definite difference in the texture. It will feel firmer to the touch. Then I guess you just need to be brave, run a palette knife around edges to loosen it, and then either unclip the side of your tin, or push it up from the bottom, and your cheesecake should come away easily.

11. If it doesn't come away evenly it's not the end of the world, it will still taste great even if it doesn't look it. If it comes out great well done you, smooth the edges off with a palette knife, and if you don't think there is enough chocolate or caramel in it already, then decorate it with a bit more, I used Cadbury's Caramel Nibbles here x

Then serve in small slices, it will be gooey as hell, that's just the way it is. Pop it back into the fridge in between ravishings where it will keep for a couple of days, if you can leave it alone that is.

Tips And Suggestions

• As I say providing you stick to the basic chocolate, cheese ration you can use what ever you like, the original version uses white chocolate and raspberries and white chocolate buttons in the filling instead of the caramel, and the milk chocolate and it's amazing. I'm also envisaging a milk and white chocolate swirled cheesecake, a chocolate orange one for Christmas, and maybe white chocolate with strawberry or passion fruit, or a chocolate and peanut butter version or a white chocolate version with crushed Oreos, or even a dark chocolate and salted caramel version, just use your imagination!
• If you think this version is too much then you can of course leave out the extra chocolate in the filling on the top and just use the caramel.
• Instead of Carnation Caramel you could also obviously make your own caramel or toffee sauce, or use a jar of Dulce De Leche, a salted caramel sauce or even something like Cadbury's Caramel Spread.
• I've made this with a combination of gluten free chocolate digestives and ginger snaps but you can use what ever biscuits that you like - digestives are obviously the preferred biscuit for cheesecakes but ginger snaps, bourbons and Oreos also work really well
• It's really important that your cream cheese is at room temperature, it just won't mix in well enough if it's too cold. It's also important that you use a decent cream cheese for this recipe you don't want anything low fat, and whilst supermarket brands do work don't go for their budget or value cream cheese, it just isn't creamy or thick enough.

Obviously this cheesecake isn't something that you would eat all the time, it's way too calorific and expensive to make every day but for a treat or for a special occasion it's well worth indulging in a yummy slice of homemade cheesecake. If you have any questions please leave me a comment and if you try this out I'd love to see your creations x 

Foodie Friday - Using Buckwheat As A Grain And A Recipe

As much as I love cooking and eating sometimes it can all get a bit boring. I don't know about you but I tend to eat the same things again and again. Over the last few months though I've made a real effort to try and mix it up a bit and to try something new. I've been trawling through recipe books, magazines and the internet to look for new meals and recipes to try, and of course I've been ordering a few boxes from the Hello Fresh scheme ( read about my Hello Fresh experience here).

I've found quite a few lovely recipes that I'd like to share with you but in today's Foodie Friday post. I'm going to focus on a recipe and an ingredient that came courtesy of a Hello Fresh box - Buckwheat!

As someone with wheat and gluten intolerance's I'm all too familiar with buckwheat. Despite it's name it isn't actually related to wheat, it isn't even strictly a cereal instead it's related to both the sorrel leaf and rhubarb. The grain or seed can be ground into a flour and made into all sorts of things from pancakes, blinis and galettes, to noodles and even chocolate brownies.

I have to say I'm not a fan of buckwheat flour when it's used in sweet things, the flavour for me just dominates and doesn't work but something that I have become a fan of is the buckwheat grain or seed itself

Buckwheat can be used in any way that you would use rice, cous cous or Bulgar wheat. You can use it to make a type of porridge, or you can use it as an accompaniment to stews and vegetable chillis like I have below. The grains have a subtle nutty taste and they take on flavour really well

You can find both buckwheat flour and the grains in most major health food shops and larger supermarkets and the grains in particular are something I would really recommend. A 100g of dry buckwheat grains is just 343 calories, and it is a good source of protein, carbohydrate, fibre, and B vitamins,

Most of the packets that you buy, should have cooking instructions on them but I have to be honest and say after trying a few different methods Hello Fresh's is the one that works for me. I'll talk about it more in the recipe below but it's basically an absorption method that leaves the grain, looking and feeling dry but soft and with a bit of a bite to them.

The recipe below is a very slight adaption of the original Hello Fresh recipe that introduced me to buckwheat as a grain, and I personally think that it's a winner. It sounds a bit strange with the spices and so on but please, please give it a chance and prepare yourself for a taste explosion.

Mexican Bean & Buckwheat Bake With Creme Fraiche

1 x Can Beans - Kidney, Black, or Black Eyed Work Best

1 x Red Pepper

1 x Yellow Pepper

1 x tbsp Olive Oil

2 x Cloves Garlic

1 Medium or 2 Small Red Onions

1 Cup or around 150g Buckwheat Grains

1/2 Vegetable Stock Cube or 1/2 Vegetable Stock Pot

1/2 tsp Cumin

1/2 tsp Paprika

1/2 ts Cinnamon

2 tbsp Creme Fraiche

Red Chilli or Pickled Jalapenos To Taste (I use about a tablespoon)

100g Cheddar Cheese

1 x tbsp Olive Oil Or A Few Sprays Of Low Fat Cooking Spray

Salt And Pepper To Taste

To Serve

Chopped Chives or Green Parts From A Spring Onion

Creme Fraiche

1. Pre heat your oven to around 220°C - Core and deseed your peppers and chop them into bite size chunks, and put them onto a baking tray. Drizzle over 1 tbsp olive oil and roast in the oven for about 15 minutes till they're soft, and just starting to colour.

2. Bring 225ml of water to the boil and add your stock cube or your stock pot

Then add your buckwheat  - bring the pan back to the boil, then cover with a lid and turn the pan down to the lowest heat and leave for about 10 minutes and don't be tempted to take the lid off to have a peek

3. Then peel and finely slice your onion and your garlic and your chilli. I used about half a fresh red chilli here but I like it hot. Add as much or as little as you like - you can also use pickled jalapenos which are a good store cupboard / fridge substitute.

Then  in a large frying pan either heat up either a tablespoon olive oil or if your saving calories a few sprays of Fry Light, and add your onions, chilli and garlic, and cook for around 5 minutes till soft.

4. Then add your spices - the cumin, the paprika and cinnamon - The amounts I've given work but again you can add what you like - my mum isn't that keen on cinnamon so I tend to add a little bit less. Stir in the spices and cook for about a minute.

Then drain and rinse your beans - the original recipe uses black beans but none of the supermarkets near me seem to stock them so I've experimented with a few different types of canned pulses and I think it works best with either a black eyed bean or a kidney beans so I'm using kidney beans here x Add your beans and a touch of salt and pepper to taste. Cook or a minute or two until the beans are warmed through and remove from the heat.

5. By this time your buckwheat should be done so take off the lid and have a look. All of the water should have been absorbed by now and the buckwheat should be softened and dry and appearance. If it's still a bit wet cook it over a low heat for a little bit longer.

Like rice or cous cous, try not stir it, just fluff it up with a fork, then gently stir it into the vegetable and bean mix

Then remove your roasted peppers from the oven but leave the oven switched on x

and then stir your peppers into your bean and buckwheat mix

and then stir in 2 tbsp creme fraiche.

6. Then pour your mixture into a oven proof baking dish, and top with your grated cheese

Then bake  for around 15 - 20 minutes until the cheese is melted, golden and bubbly

Then spoon onto plates, sprinkle with chopped chives or the green parts of a spring onion, and serve with creme fraiche. This would easily serve four people with the addition of a bit of green salad.

This recipe really surprised me apart from the unusual ingredient - the buckwheat grain - this dish really is an explosion of different tastes and textures in your mouth. You get the nuttiness of the grain, the creaminess of the creme fraiche, the sweetness of the vegetables, the heat of the chili, and the depth and exotic tastes of the spices. It sounds odd I know but this is a really quick, tasty and substantial dish that always leaves me wanting more. I'm definitely going to be continuing my experimentation with buckwheat so if you have any recipe suggestions (Slimming World fans in particular) let me know x 

A Late Foodie Friday - My Twist On Nigellas Eggs In Purgatory

The plans of mice and men, or women and cats in my case! Yesterday's Foodie Friday post was curtailed by a very poorly Jakey cat. Thankfully after some emergency surgical intervention, he's home and doing well, so I'm now slightly less stressed and relaxed enough to get my blog on.

As it happens the recipe that I was going to share with you yesterday, is a perfect one for when you're feeling stressed or fragile. Whilst it's not a comfort food in the traditional sense, Eggs In Purgatory is a quick, one pan dish that really hits the spot, when you need a bit of boost. I know it a super popular brunch or quick lunch dish but for me it something that you could eat anytime of the day or night.

The premise of eggs and tomato is a staple of the traditional English breakfast but for me it brings back memories of Friday night teas, or evening meals with my dad, all be it with the volume turned up. Nigella Lawson's recipe for Eggs In Purgatory (which you can find here) is quick simply the best and the simplest, and more often then not that's how I make it, but this is my slightly spicier version, that easily feeds two, and that's perfect for the colder weather x

My Twist On Nigella Lawson's Eggs In Purgatory

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Clove Garlic

Chilli Flakes or Fresh Red Chilli

Chorizo or Vegetarian Chorizo or Pepperoni

A Sprinkle Of Salt To Taste

2 x 400g Tins Of Tomatoes

2-4 Eggs

Grated Parmesan Or Any Other Hard Cheese

Bread To Serve

Chilli Oil To Taste

1. Take a large frying pan or saute pan, and then add your olive oil, then grate, crush or finely chop your garlic clove and add it the pan, Then turn you pan on to a medium heat. Like the original recipe then either add a sprinkle or two of chilli flakes depending on how you hot you like it, or if you have them or you like the freshness and heat add as much finely chopped red chilli as you like.

2. Cook it for about a minute and then you can either move onto the next step or you can do what I like to do and add a bit more spice with some chopped chorizo or spicy salami sausage.

Obviously I'm vegetarian so I tend to use either a vegetarian chorizo or some vegetarian pepperoni. I normally use Quorn but if you fine with wheat Realeat also do a really good, hot and spicy, vegan chorizo. Cook it for about a minute till the red / orange spice filled oils start to come out of the meat or meat substitute.

3. Then add your tinned tomatoes - I'm serving two people here so I'm adding two tins, and a sprinkle of salt to taste.

Then give it a stir to combine all your ingredients, and cook for at least 5 minutes until the tomatoes have reduced slightly, and their hot and bubbly.You want tomatoes to be hot enough to poach an egg in.

4. Then carefully, without breaking the yolks if you can add your eggs into the bubbling tomatoes. I'm using 4 eggs for two people. I find it easier to crack the eggs into a cup and then add them into the tomato mix.

Sprinkle a little bit of Parmesan or any suitable vegetarian cheese (I'm using cheddar) over the eggs and partially cover with a lid till the eggs are cooked.

5. Ideally your yolks should still be a little bit runny, but it depends how you like them :)

And your done - remove for the heat and either eat directly from the pan or spoon it in to bowls, and top with some more grated cheese, and for some extra spice some chilli oil if you have some. Serve with a spoon to scoop it up, and lots of crusty bread (I using gluten free ciabatta) to soak up all of these spicy, tomato and egg juices.

Over the last few months this has been one of my go to dishes, it's soft, a recent must for me, it's filling and warming, and in a strange way quite soothing. I feel a bit of a fraud calling this a recipe really it's so easy but all hail Nigella, and those other innovators for inventing such a delicious yet simple combination of ingredients x