Homemade Recipes...

Valentines Day!

Yesterday was Valentines Day, and though I am not a huge fan of the holiday, I thought seen as I have a boyfriend this year I might as well celebrate it somehow. I decided to cook for us both, as I enjoy cooking and it's cheaper/ less slushy than going out on the night!

For starter I just did a homemade platter, which had french bread, brie, pate and olives. I find that the simple dishes are often the nicest, although I was pretty full after eating it all! 

For main course I made slow cooked beef bourguignon and dauphinoise potatoes. I was well prepared, as I chopped the 4 rashers of bacon, 3 onions, two handfuls of mushrooms and 2 carrots the night before, so that I just had to pan fry them in oil the following morning before adding them to the slow cooker. I covered 400g beef cubes in flour and then lightly browned them, before adding them too to the mix, and then poured half a beef stock cube, 150ml of red wine, a chopped garlic clove and 1/2 tbsp tomato puree over the top and gave it a stir. I then left it bubbling all day for about 6 1/2 hours. (Recipe from the Good Food Channel). 

To make the dauphinoise, I peeled and par boiled the potatoes for a couple of minutes, before thinly slicing them and placing them into an ovenproof dish so that they slightly overlapped. I then grated 2 garlic cloves, and added them to 175ml double cream and 100ml skimmed milk (this can all be cream if desired, I just wanted to lower calories slightly!) and poured it over the potatoes before topping with some grated cheese and baking them in the oven for approx 1 hr at 175c. (Recipe from BBC Food).

For dessert I made a tarte tatin, served with the remaining double cream. I peeled and cored 6 small apples, and sliced them in half before placing them to one side. I then heated 100g sugar, seeds from a vanilla pod and 50g butter until it was a bubbling caramel and tossed the apples in the mixture before pouring into an ovenproof dish. I then placed shop-bought puff pastry over the top, squashed the edges around the apple mixture and trimmed the edges before baking at 190c for 25-30 minutes. (Recipe from Jamie Oliver). When it was finished, I flipped it over onto a plate, and though mine was a strange shape due to using a dish that was too big to cook it in, it tasted delicious and was surprisingly easy to make.

It all went down a treat with red wine for me and Coronas for Mo, and there was plenty of dessert left for the day after!

New Tastes...

Cafe Rouge Take 2!

Today I went to Cafe Rouge in Leeds with Mum, Dad and Jasmine to celebrate Jas' 21st. We had £80 worth of Tesco vouchers to spend on food, so had a great feast of treats!

We started with some drinks, I got the citron presse which looks quite scientific when it arrives - it has one bottle of cloudy lemon concentrate, and another with a silver nozzle that is spring water, and you mix the two together in your glass to taste. Jasmine just got a coke, and Mum and Dad shared a bottle of house red wine.

For starter we got the sharing platter that Mo and I shared last time,  which is a mixed selection of meats, cheeses, olives and bread with dips, as well as breaded mini camembert and chilli king prawns. It was gone in a matter of minutes as we were all really hungry, the prawns had quite a kick and the cranberry syrup that came with the cheese was delicious.

Next came our mains, I got poulet Breton, which is chicken breast in a creamy mushroom, white wine and garlic sauce with courgette and leeks, served on buttery mashed potato. It was really good and hearty, just what I wanted on the hangover I had. For pudding we shared a trio of mini desserts, chocolate fondant, tarte au citron and tarte tatin. I went for the latter, which was tasty; caramelised apple in a sweet pastry base. I accompanied it with a cup of earl grey tea - lovely Sunday meal!