Category: Hilary’s Culinary Corner

Hilary’s Culinary Corner is the new (Nov 2024) cooking column

Curry & Chocolate Cake

There are one or two simple recipes that every cook should include in their repertoire. A good quick standby curry that isn’t expensive or hard to make but always delicious! The other is a chocolate cake, the ultimate comfort food in my opinion….

Curry

Ingredients

1 medium chopped onion

25g margarine or own choice fat/oil

1 medium apple, peeled and sliced

1-2 heaped tsps. curry powder (for mild curry)

2 large tomatoes (sliced) or medium tin of tomatoes

1 heaped tbsp flour

½ tsp sugar

Pinch of salt

55g sultanas

½ pint stock (or cube and boiling water)

400-450g cooked leftover meat or fish

Method

Fry the onion in the fat/oil until transparent. Add the chopped apple and cook until soft. Stir in the curry powder and the flour followed by the tomatoes and stir until it thickens.

Season with salt and sugar. Add the stock and the sultanas and simmer slowly over a low heat for about 30 mins, stirring occasionally.

Add the meat or fish and allow to heat thoroughly.

Almost any kind of left overs, meat or fish can be added.

Try diced beef, lamb, prawns, flaked cooked cod or diced potato and carrot for vegetarian meal.

 

 

Easy-Peasy Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

175g soft butter or margarine

115g caster sugar

4 tbsp golden syrup

175g self-raising flour (sifted)

2 good tbsp cocoa powder (sifted)

Good pinch of salt

3 eggs beaten

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/360F/Gas 4. Mix together all the ingredients using an electric mixer or elbow grease and wooden spoon! Add a little milk if the mixture seems too stiff. Divide the mixture immediately between two 7 inch greased sandwich tins. Bake for about 30 mins.

When cold, sandwich with filling of choice i.e. butter cream and icing sugar frosting.

Butter cream

140g butter

280g icing sugar

1-2 tbsp milk

¼ tsp vanilla extract.

Beat the butter in a large bowl until smooth. Add half the icing sugar, 1tbsp milk and vanilla extract and beat the mixture until creamy and smooth. Beat in remaining milk to loosen mixture if necessary.

 

Quick and Easy Macaroni Cheese & Easy Christmas Cake

Pacific Pie

A childhood favourite, loved by kids and almost impossible not to have all the ingredients making it a good standby supper……..

Ingredients for 4

3 large floury potatoes
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp butter
450g tinned tuna (keep the oil)
2 medium onions
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1tsp sugar
1tsp red or white wine vinegar
300g frozen peas (thawed)
1 pkt ready salted crips, smashed up
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

  • Boil the potatoes until tender, then drain.
  • Mash with milk and butter.
  • Preheat oven to 200c or mark 6.
  • Heat oil from tuna and fry with onions until tender, don’t let them brown.
  • Add tomatoes, sugar and vinegar and season to make the tuna sauce.
  • Transfer tuna sauce to bottom of baking tray and cover with mashed potato like a shepherds pie.
  • Cook for 30 mins and sprinkle crisps on top just before serving.
  • Serve with mayo or tomato ketchup!!

 

Nutty Carrot Cake Traybake

Using a combination of granulated sweetener and muscovado sugar helps to reduce the sugar in this yummy tray bake!

Ingredients:

150g plain flour

3tsp baking powder

40g light brown muscovado sugar

10 tsp table top sweetener

60g walnuts, chopped roughly

120g carrots, grated

2 medium eggs,

50g low fat spread, melted

2 tsp ground cinammon

30g sultanas

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
  • Line a tin approx 20cm by 20cm with baking paper.
  • Sift together dry ingredients into a bowl, flour, baking powder, sugar, sweetener and cinnamon.
  • In another bowl beat 2 eggs and add the melted low fat spread.
  • Stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture, then add the carrots, walnuts and sultanas, fold and don’t over work mixture.
  • Pour into lined tin and bake for 30-35 mins, using skewer to check centre which should come out clean when cooked

 

 

Sausage and Mash Pie & Moist Ginger Cake

 

As the weather turns, and the nights draw in, we’re in the mood for warming comfort food to see us through the chilly evenings. Some favourites to try

Sausage and Mash Pie

Ingredients

75g butter

6 pork sausages, roughly chopped

2 leeks, sliced

2 carrots, roughly chopped

2 celery sticks, roughly chopped

3 tbsp. onion gravy granules

200g frozen peas

500g floury potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped

2 tbsp. wholegrain mustard

Method:- Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan) Mark 6. Melt 25g butter in a medium casserole dish over medium-high heat. Add the sausage pieces, leeks, carrots and celery and cook for 10-15 mins, stirring occasionally, until the sausages are golden. Stir in the gravy granules, 300ml water and plenty of seasoning. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2mins, stirring until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the peas. Make the mash. Put the potatoes into a large pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat and simmer for 10-15 mins, or until tender. Drain, reserving a cupful of the starchy cooking water. Leave the potatoes to steam dry for 5 mins. Return potatoes to the empty pan and mash. Mix in the remaining butter, season and a small splash of the reserved cooking water (add more if mash is dry). Stir in the mustard. Top the sausage mixture with the mash. Cook in the oven for 25mins, or until golden and bubbling.

Moist Ginger Cake

Ingredients

350g golden syrup

125g block butter

250g plain flour, sifted

½ level teaspoon salt

1 ¾ level teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

1 level teaspoon ground ginger

½ level teaspoon mixed spice

1 large egg

275ml milk 

Method: –  Pre – heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan)  gas mark 4. Weigh a saucepan on the scales and  weigh the syrup into it. Then add the butter to the  saucepan and melt the two together over a gentle  heat. Measure the dry ingredients into a bowl, then  gradually pour in the syrup mixture, mix well. Beat  the egg and milk together in a separate basin then  add that bit by bit, again mixing thoroughly. The  cake batter will seem very liquid at this stage but  that ’ s OK so don ’ t worry, just pour it into the  prepared oblong tin, well buttered and with a liner.  Bake near the centre of the oven for about 45 – 50  minutes or until the centre is springy. Cool in the tin  for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire tray to  cool. When it ’ s cold, cut it into squares .

 

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