Moving house.......... :-/

Hi everyone....im so sorry i havent written anything for ages! Steve and i have been relocating to Cornwall and everything has been a bit mental! But we are in the process of finding a new home and once we do i will be adding regular recipes! Please bear with me, thanks :-* xx

Loin of pork with blueberry and red onion marmalade

This is such a lovely combination of flavours and goes really well the a good pile of garlicky, creamy dauphinoise potatoes.  I used to think pork was quite gross actually but after living with Steve for 6 years(he adores the stuff!) i kinda had to get used to it! I like pork loin too because its lovely and lean which allows you to pile on the really indulgent dauphinoise! I will post the potato recipe soon....

Oven 200c/gas 6.....Serves 4....
What you need........
Good quality pork loin, about 800grams, i have the fat removed but if you want you can leave it on, salt it loads and have nice crackling...up to you
Sea salt
For the marmalade...
4 red onions, halved and sliced thinly
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of cumin seeds
1 tablespoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of chilli flakes


4 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
250ml of red wine
3 tablespoons of good quality blueberry jam
What you do......
First of all make the marmalade. You can always double this recipe and eat it cold with cheese, its lush!
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed small pan over a medium heat and add the cumin seeds and chilli flakes.
Cook gently for 5 mins to release the lovely flavours then add the paprika.
Mix well and put the onions in the pan,
Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are all caramelised and soft and see through. You may need to add a little wine during this time if the onions start to stick.
Add the sugar, vinegar, wine, jam, and mix well.
Carry on cooking until the everything is reduced and the onions are completely cooked. You will need to add a few tablespoons of water during this stage, about 3 or 4 tablespoons.
Taste and season with salt, no pepper.
Turn off the heat and next cook the pork.
Preheat the oven!
Place the lovely loin into a nice big oven dish and salt it well, all over the top.
Put into the hot oven on the centre shelf and cook for about 25 minutes until the middle of the loin is just pink and juicy.
Loosely cover with foil and leave to stand for 5 minutes to rest while you gently warm the marmalade through.
To serve, slice the pork into inch thick slices and arrange on the plate with a ruddy great dollop of sticky marmalade on the top! Yum yum piggy heaven :-)

Wild mushroom and garlic crostini

I have to say, im really not into mushrooms, god i find them booooring. But wild mushrooms....yuuuuuum! This recipe uses dried which are so easy and have such a great strong flavour.
This dish is makes lovely starter or something fancy and posh for lunch! And...obviously it goes very well with a big glass of really cold white wine :-)


Serves 4....
What you need....
600 grams of mixed dried wild mushrooms(porcini and chesnut are good)sliced if possible
100 grams of fresh button mushrooms, sliced
2 large shallots or 2 small onions, cut in hald then thinly sliced into half moon shapes
a big knob of butter
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
3 - 4 cloves of garlic,depending on the size, crushed
a handfil of fresh thyme, leaves only, or dried if you cant get fresh
250 ml of fat free or low fat creme fraiche
a glug of reduced fat double cream
sea salt and black pepper
250ml of white wine
2 large spring onions sliced diagonally into thin strips, for garnishing
A handful of grated cheddar or feta, optional

What you do.....
Soak the dried mushrooms in boiling water until soft...this usually takes hardly any time at all, about 20 minutes if that.
Once soft, squeeze all the excess water out of them and set to one side.
Put the oil and butter in a heavy bottomed pan and heat over a medium hob until the butter has melted.
Add the sliced onions/shallots and crushed garlic.
Cook until the onions are see through, keep the heat low so they dont burn.
Add the mushrooms, dried and fresh, and stir well.
After 5 minutes add the wine and thyme.
Cook for 10 minutes until the wine is reduced.
Pour in the creme fraiche and add some cream just to loosen it up a bit and get a nice thick saucy consistency.
Season with plenty of salt and pepper and taste it!
Now, if you love cheese and arent really fussed about the extra calories...add a good handful of grated mature cheddar, or feta works well too. oh my god its really really good! If you want to skip the cheese though, dont worry its still really really good! :-)
I serve this on a nice chunky slice of toast, no butter.
Pile up the sliced spring onions to make it look pretty :-)  scoff scoff!

Poached pear , scented orange syrup, dark chocolate sauce

This yummy dessert i came up with whilst cooking in the chalet this winter. I love pears but i think the whole poached pear in red wine recipe is a bit "done to death" and quite minging actually! I also love the fact that it can be made with no effort and its super simple. Desserts are my least favourite thing to cook, i find them boring and i have zero patience so I'm always looking for new ideas that i can make easily and not get in too much of a stress about!

Serves 4 

What you need.......
4 good sized firm pears(although one week i used very very ripe, squishy pears and it still worked fine, just handle them carefully!)
1litre of orange juice
a splash of white wine
2 star anise
3 cinnamon sticks
50 grams of clear runny honey
200 grams of sugar
2 cloves
pinch of grated nutmeg
1 large orange
cold water.......

For the chocolate sauce.....
220 grams of dark chocolate(70% cocoa, i love Lindt or Green and Blacks)
50 grams of unsalted butter
a little double cream

What you do.......
Using an apple corer, or i find a peeler works well, remove the core from the pears.
Peel the pears, leaving the stalk on!
Place the orange juice, star anise, cloves, sugar, honey, nutmeg, and white wine into a pan.
Snap the cinnamon sticks in half and chuck those in too.
Mix well.
Sit the pairs in the pan and if there isn't enough liquid covering them completely, add cold water until it comes up to the stalks.
Bring the pan up to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for at least 40 minutes. The reason i don't give an exact time is because the pears will be cooked after about 25 minutes anyway but i like to keep simmering to reduce the orange juice a bit more.
After about 45 minutes to an hour take off the heat and when the pairs have cooled a little, remove them with tongs and set aside.
put the pan back on the heat and keep simmering until you have a lovely slightly thick syrup.
Using those handy tongs again remove and throw away the star anise, cloves and cinnamon sticks.
This syrup will keep fine until you are ready to use it, just pop it in the microwave for a minute or so to warm it through before hand.
For the chocolate sauce just get a small pan of water and a glass bowl. Place the bowl on top, not letting the water touch the bowl when its simmering!
Put the broken up chocolate, butter and cream in the bowl and simmer until its fully melted. Mix well!
If you need to warm the pear you can either pop it in a hot oven wrapped in foil for a few minutes or even microwave it...MINUS THE FOIL!! haha remember, it only needs to be slightly warm, not burn- your- mouth- off hot!
Grate some fresh orange zest into the warmed syrup, and pour a neat circle onto a lovely white plate.
Sit the pear in the centre and carefully pour the chocolate sauce until its dripping down the side and looking gorgeous!
Decorate with a star anise. mmm mmm :-)

chocolate bread and butter pudding with raspberry swirl sauce

Serves 6.......Oven 180c/gas 4

What you need......

10 slices of "day old" white sliced bread
...150 grams of dark chocolate, i love Green and Blacks, use anything that has 70% cocoa content
600ml double cream
120 grams of granulated sugar
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
5 tablespoons of brandy(or rum or tia maria....)
85 grams of butter
4 free range eggs

For the raspberry sauce swirl.....

1 tablespoon of raspberry jam
300 grams frozen or fresh raspberries
2 tablespoons of sugar
a little lemon juice

What you do......

First make the raspberry swirl sauce......
Combine all the ingredients and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved and the raspberries are defrosted(if using frozen!), or until the sauce is hot.
Cool slightly then blend it with a hand blender, or use a potato masher.
It doesn't have to be too smooth, however you prefer.

Next put the chocolate, cream, cinnamon, alcohol, sugar, and butter into a glass bowl and place on a pan of simmering water. The water must not touch the bottom of the pan!
While its all melting, stir occasionally with a whisk.
In a seperate bowl whisk the eggs well.
When the chocolate mix has all combined and melted remove from the heat and whisk both the egg and chocolate mixtures together.

Cut all the crusts off the bread.
Cut each slice into quarters.
Spoon some of the chocolate sauce onto the bottom on the oven dish then lay slices of bread overlapping until you have one layer covering the bottom.
Swirl some of the raspberry sauce on top.
Repeat this process, squishing each layer down gently with the back of the ladle after each sauce addition, until all the ingredients are used, finishing the top of the bread and butter pudding with a lovely raspberry sauce swirl making it look gorgeous!

Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for around 35-40 mins until the top is a wee bit crispy and you just wanna dive right into this gorgeous gooey chocolate heaven!