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Easy Fish Pie

With the arrival of my aunt from New Zealand, I thought easy fish pie was something I could prepare ahead of time and just stick in the oven when I needed it.
Now, this is barely a recipe as it involves very little cooking and much more assembling.  So it’s more of an exercise in purchasing and emptying than actual cheffy finesse.  However, if you are short on time and have finally realised that sometimes the shop-bought stuff is actually better, then this is the recipe for you.  The Mother-in-Law has actually asked for this recipe, which was a test in truth or dare.  Do I dare tell her I whipped it up from scratch from my own intuition or do I tell the truth – it all comes from Waitrose and I merely plopped it in the dish….Anyway, back in the days when toast was a challenge I would have loved this ‘recipe’!
Get about 500g of fish pie mix from the fish counter.  This is nicely skinned/boned chunks of cod, smoked haddock and salmon.  Put them in the bottom of a lasagne dish and scatter a handful of frozen, shelled prawns over the top.  Next empty the contents of a large tub of cheese sauce over the fish and stir it through carefully.  Sprinkle some frozen peas over the mixture and set aside.
Make up a good wodge of mash – I use about 8 medium potatoes and mash it with a large knob of butter and some whole milk or single cream.  Mash and mix until it is creamy and not stodgy.  If you’re feeling a bit ‘Abigail’s Party’ you can put it in an icing bag and pipe the mash on in stripes using a big Mr Whippy nozzle.  Or you can just plonk it in the middle of the dish and spread out carefully until all the fish mix is covered.
Grate a knob of cheese over the top and sprinkle with a tsp of paprika (not as much as I put on in the picture…slightly heavy-handed and got it in my coffee, which was an interesting taste…pepped it up a bit!).  Then bake in the oven at 180ºC for about 45mins.  If the top looks like it’s burning, lay a piece of foil over it.
Hey presto!  Very easy, very cheaty but very tasty fish pie!  Costs about £12 to make and feeds 4 hungry adults or 6 modest ones!

 

Yum

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Fantasy Cake

This is a recipe from Lisa Faulkner’s book and it is divine.  Because of the fruit and almond contingent, I reckon it is best described as ‘if you like bakewell tart, you’ll LOVE this.’ Ideally, it should be served warm.  And with 400g of fruit in it, surely a contender for one of your 5-a-day?  It’s not pretty, but it’s beauty lies within…..
Line/grease a 23cm, loose-bottomed tin.  Cream together 175g of unsalted butter and 150g caster sugar.  Then add 150g sifted self-raising flour, 100g ground almonds, 2 eggs, 1 tsp almond extract and mix together well.
Fold in 400g soft fruit (well, keep a bit aside to adorn the top).  I use half/half raspberries and strawberries, but the lovely Lisa recommends you try what you like!  When folded in, spoon into the tin and scatter the leftover fruit on the top.  Bake at 160ºC for about an hour – it depends on your oven.  Mine cooks fast, so the cake is done in 50mins, but the book recommends 1hr – 1hr15mins.
When baked, and be careful not to overcook, carefully turn the cake onto a wire rack to cool (hallelujah for Bake-O-Glide – this is when it comes into its own!).
When the cake is still warm, serve and enjoy.  But watch out!  It’s very moorish….*wipes tell-tale crumbs from mouth*
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Easy tray bake (with icing)

This is a very easy tray bake/birthday cake/bake sale type of cake.  I made two this morning for my son’s birthday party tomorrow, but they are so easy you could easily rustle one up as a pud or a snack.

To make the cake, I preheated the oven to 160ºC and greased/lined a 20x20cm baking tin.  Then I mixed together (I used kitchenaid with paddle) 110g self-raising flour, 110g caster sugar, 110g softened unsalted butter, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 large eggs and 1 tsp vanilla extract (don;t smash it on the kitchen floor like I did…).  Whizz it all together and spoon into the pan.  Try to level it out as best you can and get it into the corners properly.  Bake for 16 minutes then turn out, top side down onto a wire rack to cool.  This gives you a nice flat surface for your icing to go on.

To ice it I mixed 200g icing sugar with 55ml of boiling water then added a pinprick of gel colouring.  I find it best to dollop it all into the middle of the cooled cake and gently spread it out with the back of a spoon to the edges.  Whilst the icing is soft, scatter your favourite sprinkles/edible glitter and leave to ‘set’.  I cut it into 9 squares, but you can go bigger or smaller according to your needs.  To fancy it up, sometimes I put a square in a cake case to make it look more presentable but you can, of course, sneak a slice and eat it from your hand!
To adapt mine into birthday party cake I coloured my icing pale blue (although it looks white on the photos), sprinkled sugar strands and edible glitter over it and later added a ribbon to hide the sides and stuck in a few candy coloured candles.  Easy to make, easy to cut up and easy to eat makes it a good option for those manic toddler parties….
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Mario birthday cake

My son had a last minute change of mind about his birthday cake.  Since he was born he has always had a dinosaur cake, as his bequest.  Again, this year it was his cake of choice.  Excellent, thought I, done it before – easy peasy!  

Then last week he announced he would like a Mario cake.  He didn’t notice the look of mild panic on my face as I said ‘Mario!  Yes, ummm, well I can certainly try.’  For the first time ever I have actually planned out what I am going to do.  I am cheating on the icing and use ready rolled and I fear with my colouring skills Mario might look a little sunburnt, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

So, this morning I baked a vanilla sponge, using my cupcake recipe but doubling the mixture.  I had plenty of mixture left over and made 20 small fairy cakes, which I might just ice and send in tomorrow for his class rather than the lemon cakes I had planned.  In my experience as a mother and a teacher, kids only eat the icing anyway and leave the beleaguered sponge cowering at the bottom of the discarded case.  So I may cheat (sssh!) and grab a tub of Betty Crocker icing, give it a swirl and a jelly diamond and send those in instead. (postscript:  I did!)

I am currently waiting for the whole lot to cool and will be back later with the next instalment….

LATER…

Well.  I did it.  Not well, but I did it!  My hands are dyed Christmas Red and Mario looks a bit like he should really be called ‘Charlie’, he’s covered in so much white powder…BUT he is at least recognisable and if you don’t look too hard you can’t see all the dodgy icing.

Having made the two sponges, I cut around a template I made and then sandwiched them with buttercream filling and spread a thin layer over the top and sides of cake to secure the roll icing.  

I had all sorts of ‘fun’ dying the icing pink, red and blue and rolled it out about 6 times only to rip it as I picked it up.  Then I thought about putting a layer of clingfilm down to roll it on (with yet more icing sugar) and this did the trick.

I iced the face first and made the nose.  Then I did the hat, the eyes and the emblem.  Then I did the moustache and stuck the nose and blue eye bits on.  The red ‘M’ was fiddly, but I got there in the end.  For his hair I used chocolate buttercream icing with a grass nozzle to pipe it on.  

I haven’t worked out how to de-powder him yet, but he looks OK…from a distance!
Cake-making is such a skill (not one that I have much of) from the baking to the icing and I am in awe of those who turn out perfectly presented cakes without a crack or speck of icing suger to be found!  To give you an idea of ‘behind the scenes’ I have included a photo of the carnage left behind.  And this is just the icing bit!  I can’t face clearing it up yet….I need a cup of tea and a sit down.

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Funky kitchen stuff

As much as I love cooking, I may love kitchen gadgets/cookware even more.  I am a sucker for kitsch especially.  With this in mind, I thought I would share with you my latest acquisitions that my sister bought me for my birthday (she knows me so well!).

The items are from Fred.  The first is the Russian Doll measuring set.  It measures cups, half cups etc with the bottoms and the tops in use!

The second is letter cookie cutters which allow you to bake your own ransom note!  These are very cool and great to use with the kids too – spelling and baking at the same time! Ta-da!

Having totally fallen for these I foolishly googled what else Fred does and now have a wish list.  First on my Fred list are the Gingerdead Men and the Ninjabread Men – if only because I do like a good pun!  And biscuits…..I like biscuits too. Especially ginger ones.

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Bloody Good Chips…

home made chips

..OK, not rocket science, but my key to gorgeous home-made chips is cook ’em like roast potatoes.

Preheat 1-2 tbsp of oil in a hot oven (200°C).

Cut the potatoes into chunky chips (leave the skin on).  I go for anything from 1-2cm thick.

Par-boil for 5-10 mins, depending on thickness, then drain, allow to ‘dry’ for a minute and sprinkle with semolina (about 1tbsp).

Gently toss, just a little bit else they’ll break up and become mashed potatoes!

Bake for about 25 mins.  Serve in a stack if you’re feeling a bit Billy Bistro.  If not, just chuck ’em on the plate and watch them get scoffed!  I like a good grind of salt and pepper on mine and a splodge of mayo on the side, but you do it your way!