White Chocolate and Lemon Tart

Here is the white chocolate and lemon tart that I said I was making. 

Basically the recipe isn't much different from the "Easy Chocolate Tart", just a few tweaks here and there. Obviously the main difference is the replacement of dark chocolate with white and the lemony flavour. Hope you like it!

Makes one large tart

Ingredients

300g of white chocolate (broken up)

30g of butter

60ml of boiling water

a tablespoon and a half of lemon flavouring

200ml of double cream

170g of white mini marshmallows (Don't use the pink ones as they turn the mixture peach)

Shop-bought or pre-made pastry case

Method

1. Place all the chocolate except 2 pieces (for grating), marshmallows and the butter into a decent sized pan (if you have a heavy bottomed pan then use that to minimize the risk of burning anything.)
2. Pour the boiling water over the ingredients in the pan.
3. Stir over a low heat.
4. When the ingredients are almost fully melted take of the heat and leave to cool slightly.
5. Add the lemon extract to the cream and whip until stiff peaks can form.
6. Check if the chocolate is cool enough (I stick my finger in it and if I can keep it there then it's cool enough. But I can get away with that as it's only me and my girlfriend who eats it. If it's for others then I suggest measuring it by having a taste.)
7. Mix in the whipped cream to the chocolate until thoroughly combined.
8. Pour into pastry case
9. Refridgerate for an hour.
10. Once refridgerated, finely grate the white chocolate over the top.

Note

 

Goes great with single cream or a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Red Hot Buffet Review

So Amy and I went to 'Red Hot Buffet' in Leeds city centre today. We have been there once before but weren't really looking at it from a critics point of view. I am not going to go into too much depth as it's only really a mini review of the restaurant. So here goes...

The Good:

• The serviece was reasonable. The staff were friendly and helpful but could benifit from speeding up a little.                        
• The quality and portions of the meat were terrific. Amy tried the salt and pepper chicken wings and the prawns. The chicken wings tasted like they were fresh off the BBQ and the prawns were coated in a fresh seafood sauce that complimented them beautifully.
• Another good point would be the choice that is offered. With food from seven different countries and the option of a meal freshly prepared in front of you at one of their live cooking stations, you are spoiled for choice.
• Amazing range of well presented desserts.
• The interior is warm, spacious and welcoming with certain areas being themed, which is always fun!
• They also make a decent latte.

 

The Bad:

• Apart from the ice cream, the desserts were not kept chilled.
• This isn't really a bad thing it is more something to be wary of. Some of the food (more so the vegetables) werent what they seemed, for instance I tried some sweetcorn that tasted slightly like an mint aero bar and some broccoli that tasted as if it were boiled in a salted wine. Amy tried the corn on the cob and found it overspiced and overcooked. Now I am aware that these dishes are from all around the world, i'm not ignorant to that, but I think that they should state a little more clearly how they have prepared it eg. boiled in wine or fished from the fiery depths of hell.

The Bottom Line:

 Overall the experience was brilliant and for the price, well worth it. They may let themselves down in certain areas but make up for it ten-fold in others. I would give it an 8/10.

A shot from the interior of the section of the restaurant we were sat in.

A few of the amazing mini desserts on offer.

I suppose this isn't really relevent but I loved this cool glowing sink in the restroom!

Going to 'Red Hot Buffet' in Leeds today

So i'm going to Leeds' 'Red Hot Buffet' this afternoon with Amy and will be posting my first amateurial review of the food and venue by tonight. May be able to snap a few pictures too!

Home-made Stock

I find stock to be very useful as it can be used as a base for both gravies and soups, and if made from scratch I think it has an undeniably better taste than its granuled counterpart. I am all for cutting corners and choosing the easy option but when it sacrafices taste, that's when I stop. It's easy to make stock anyway, and there is a huge sense of satisfaction when you're done!

Makes a generous amount for 4 to 6 people.

Ingredients

1 large onion (halved, with skins)
1 large carrot (unpeeled, halved)
1 clove of garlic (unpeeled, unchopped)
1 large leek (stork and root removed)
2 vegetable stock cubes
12 whole black peppercorns
1 large pinch of salt
carcass or bone of selected meat (with fat and gristle left on)

Method

1. Boil 1.7 litres of water in a pan
2. Add 2 vegetable stock cubes
3. Add the carcass/bones
4. Add the rest of the ingredients
5. Bring to the boil in the pan
6. Reduce heat to a low simmer with the lid on and simmer for 1 hour.
7. Once cooked seive the stock from the other ingredients
8. Cover with lid/clingfilm and place in the fridge until chilled
9. Once chilled remove the fat that has collected on the top of the stock.
10. Cover the stock and use when needed.

Notes

1. Instead of chilling the stock to remove the fat you could also line the seive with kitchen roll and seive through as normal and this will catch the excess fat.

2. Other vegetables can be used such as celery, parsnips, red onions and chillis - should you want to add a bit of spice. Because the stock is quite versatile it lends itself to most vegetables, it just depends on what type of flavour you prefer.

3. Once the meat of the meal you are cooking is ready, you could pour the juices from the meat directly into the stock to add more flavour. You could also add cornflour to thicken.

4. Can be frozen.

I know... I shouldn't play with my food...

Scrambled Eggs

Now I know that a post devoted purely to scrambled eggs seems silly. "Scrambled eggs, anyone can make it!" and that's true... but can you make it well? I'm somewhat of an egg fanatic and believe that as long as there are eggs in the vicinity, a meal can be made. I honestly panic a little bit if there are no eggs in the house, It's true, and I also think that there is no better way to use them than to make scrambled eggs. The problem is that people often find it hard to get the balance right so that the eggs are not snotty or rubbery. To help those who struggle with this issue here is a recipe and a few tips from my Mother...

Makes one large portion

Ingredients

3 medium eggs,

a knob of butter,

50ml of double cream,

50ml of full fat milk,

pinch of salt.

Method

1. Crack the eggs into a fair sized bowl or measuring cup and whisk them.
2. Slowly whisk in the milk and cream.
3. Stir in the salt.
4. Put the egg mix in a heavy bottomed pan over a medium heat.
5. Add the butter.
6. Stir slowly but continuously.
7. Lumps of egg will begin to appear.
8. Take the eggs off of the heat when the main body of the eggs are cooked but with a very small snotty film over them. (Mothers Wisdom: The reason they must be taken off of the heat at this stage is because the eggs continue to cook for a minute or two after being removed from heat. If they are kept on the heat, chances are, they will begin to sweat out the moisture leaving them rubbery and overdone.)
9. Keep stirring until the faint snottiness in the eggs dissappear.
10. You're done! Put on top of toast, with a breakfast or however you like them.

Easy Chocolate Tart

 I like recipes but tend not to follow them exactly because I have the attention span of a goldfish. I usually add, subtract or replace ingredients to suit my taste or even change the entire flavour and mood of something but keep the general idea. But when I practised this sort of experimentation on Nigella Lawson's "Instant Chocolate Mousse" recipe... it didn't quite work out. I decided that it didn't need that much double cream and added about 50ml less than the recipe required resulting in a tasty chocolate cement. I was gutted. But then I had an idea! Instead of putting it in a dessert bowl, why not put it in a shop-bought pastry case and make a chocolate tart? It was a success! Of course you could make your own pastry case but that kind of deviates from the simplicity of it, no?

P.S. I am aware that in the picture the tart looks like a delicious Pacman.


P.P.S. I am now working on a white chocolate and lemon version of this. Shall post the results!

Makes one large chocolate tart

Ingredients

250g of dark chocolate (broken up)

50g of butter

60ml of boiling water

a tablespoon of vanilla extract

230ml of double cream

150g mini marshmallows (Don't buy the big ones as they take ages to melt)

Shop-bought or pre-made pastry case

Small white chocolate bar 

Method

1. Place the chocolate, marshmallows and the butter into a decent sized pan (if you have a heavy bottomed pan then use that to minimize the risk of burning anything.)
2. Pour the boiling water over the ingredients in the pan.
3. Stir over a low heat.
4. When the ingredients are almost fully melted take of the heat and leave to cool slightly.
5. Add the vanilla extract to the cream and whip until soft peaks form.
6. Check if the chocolate is cool enough (I stick my finger in it and if i can keep it there then it's cool enough. But I can get away with that as it's only me and my girlfriend who eats it. If it's for others then I suggest measuring it by having a taste.)
7. Mix in the whipped cream to the chocolate until thoroughly combined.
8. Pour into pastry case
9. Finely grate the white chocolate over the top.
10. Refridgerate for about an hour, maybe two.

Mozzarella Dippers

Now I know this sounds very cheap of me but my girlfriend Amy's sister went to

McDonald's once and bought some - you guessed it - mozzarella dippers. I tasted one and I liked them but I was enraged when I found out that you only got three small dippers for £1.29! I just couldn't get my head around how they could justify that price. So I set to work on making my own version! At my local supermarket I could get all the required ingredients for £2.28 (bar salt and pepper, but if you dont already have that then I can't help but wonder why you're here?) and this made a whopping 15 dippers! Working out at roughly 15 pence a dipper! Result! So happy I was with my victory and it's tasty outcome that I decided I to share it.

 

Ingredients

2 Packets of mozzarella cheese,
150g tub of bread crumbs,
50g of plain flour,
2 eggs,
salt,
pepper.


Method

1. Heat the deep fat fryer to 180c
2. Put the flour, crumbs and egg into three seperate bowls
3. Whisk eggs.
4. Mix in a dash of salt and pepper to the crumbs
5. Cut the mozzarella into strips (about the size of your index finger, though size will vary)
6. One at a time, roll the mozarella in flour
7. Then roll in egg
8. Then in crumbs
9. Then in egg again
10. Then once more in the crumbs
11. Repeat with the rest of the mozzarella strips
12. Place in the deep fat fryer
13. Turn after about 30 seconds
14. Fry for another 30-40 seconds
15. Remove from the deep fat fryer and place on some kitchen roll to absorb excess oil.
16. Plate 'em up!!

Basic Lasagne

As with all recipes on this blog, feel free to tinker around with ingredients. Remember that this is just a basic lasagne and allsorts can be added or taken away to suit personal taste. Some people may prefer more layers of lasagne sheets, I personally don't, but if you want to add more then adjust the amounts of meat and sauce used in each layer to accompany more layers. I know it looks like a lot of steps but they are simple enough and if you can make it shorter, more power to you!

This picture shows you the sheer size of this monster!

Makes one VERY large lasagne or 2 average ones.


Ingredients

2 packs of lasagne sheets
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
3 packs of mince
1 medium onion
1 beef stock cube
1 cup of grated cheese
1 bottle of tomato lasagne sauce
1 bottle of white lasagne sauce
splash of olive oil
pinch of salt
dash of pepper.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200c
2. Grease a large rectangle baking dish (at least 3 inches deep)
3. Peel and dice the onion
4. Splash some olive oil in a large pan
5. Add the onion to the pan
6.  Once heated add all the mince
7. Stirring intermittently, fry the mince until brown
8. In a second pan, add the red lasagne sauce and the chopped tomatoes and bring to the boil
9. Once at boiling temperature turn off heat
10. Crush the beef stock cube into the sauce
11. Stir in salt and pepper to taste
12. Mix the sauce in with the mince
13. Line your baking dish with a layer of lasagne sheets
14. Add a layer (half of the pan) of mince
15. Apply another layer of lasagne sheets
16. Add a layer (half a bottle) of white lasagne sauce
17. Apply another layer of lasagne sheets
18. Add the second half of the pan of mince
19. Add the final layer of lasagne sheets
20. Spread on the second half of the white lasagne sauce making sure it reaches all the edges
21. Sprinkle the cheese over the top
22. Finely dust the top with pepper.
23. Pop in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Easy Vanilla Muffins

Makes a batch of 12 muffins

Ingredients

110ml of Vegetable Oil,

200g of Caster Sugar,
1 Egg,
220g Self Raising Flour,
165ml of milk,
2 grated apples (with or without peel),
one tablespoon of vanilla flavouring.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180c
2. Line a muffin tray with muffin papers
3. Add the egg, milk and oil to a bowl and whisk
4. Sift the flour and sugar into a large mixing bowl
5. Mix in the egg/oil concoction until combined (dont over mix as this toughens the muffin.)
6. Now add the grated apples
7. Stir in vanilla flavouring.
8. Spoon into muffin tin, filling almost to the top.
9. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven at 180c for 23 minutes or until golden brown.

 Note
The apple in this recipe is very useful as it keeps the muffin moist and bouncy for days. 
The apple can't be tasted or seen in the muffin, so it can be transferred to different flavoured muffins without compromising taste.

Hello!

Welcome to my lazy food blog! In this blog I am going to be writing amateurial reviews of food at restaurants, meals I intend to cook along with pictures of the results, but mostly I will be uploading recipes that don't require too much effort to make. I personally love food and live spend a lot of time in the kitchen. But I also understand why many people tend not to cook, as when they try they're faced with recipes that are about ten steps too long and use jargon that Nigella Lawson would scratch her head at. So, in light of all that I will make it my aim to write my recipes and what-not in plain English so 

everyone can enjoy good food!