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 Yay kids school exams are finally over.  I think I am more relieved than they are.  It has been a very stressful last month, well for me anyway.
Potatoes, bacon, mushrooms and eggs is Jacobs ultimate study food and what he has eaten just about every day for the past few weeks.  Sometimes there are tomatoes in there as well.  He makes it himself.
He peels, chops then parboils his potatoes before frying them in the pan that he has already cooked his bacon and mushrooms in and then finally cracking the eggs on top to finish.  By the looks of things I think there is some chopped fresh thyme sprinkled in there too.  This is heaven food for him.

This sandwich is Chris's ultimate.  A ton of sliced salami, peppers, tomatoes, feta cheese, avocado and lettuce.  Actually it's pretty good, the peppers and the salami are a wonderful combo.

broad bean dip

This dip is made with frozen broad beans bought from the frozen section of the super market.  Not always that easy to come by as they are not always there year round, but they should be there as they are in season now.
They are actually a very good product, probably like frozen peas but unfortunately I  have a very unhealthy aversion too, due to childhood trauma of force feeding.

Anyway the recipe is as follows

• 250g of frozen broad beans or 1/2 a packet
• 10-15 mints leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest and squirt of juice
• pince of salt and pepper
• a chunk of feta cheese, probably a large tablespoon
• drizzle of good olive oil

This is what they look when the come out of the frozen packet, quite disgusting really.

Pour on some boiling water and leave for at least 5-10 minutes.  I find there is no need to boil them in a pot.  Drain off the water and them pop them out of their pods.  Look how beautifully devine they are now that they have shed their grey green skin.
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and whiz until you get the desired consistency.
You could just smash them all together too for a more chunky look.
Serve on toasted bread or as lily does something she dips her carrots into for school lunch.

prawn pot stickers

Lily loves dumplings so when I came across this recipe here at Rasa Malaysia, I decided to give it a go.
Just simply ingredients which were all in the house.
She used  square wonton wrappers but I prefer the round ones and I just used sweet chillie sauce as the dipping sauce and of course I didn't fold them like hers either.

Don't over fill them or it makes it difficult when it comes to the folding and sealing.
I folded them over in half using a bit of water as glue and then pleating them until sealed.
Put them in the freezer until you are ready to use them.
I also cooked them differently as I wanted pot stickers with the crunchy bottom.

When you are ready to cook them put the dumplings (frozen) in a frypan on a high heat along with 1/2 cup water and a dash of plain oil.  Put a lid on it and bring to the boil.  Once the water has evaporated take off the lid and turn the heat down to low.  The dumpling will come off the bottom of the pan once it has got some goldeness to it.  Don't be tempted to play around with them or you will get a big mess.
They probably take about 10 minutes.

gluten free lemon and almond cake

I made this cake yesterday for Finn as he has been doing a lot of whining lately that there is never any gluten free baking for him.   I did remind him there has been no baking for anyone.
I am not much of a baker so this cake was right up my alley as all I had to do was keep adding the ingredients to the cake mixer.
This was not originally a gluten free cake but as it had very little flour in it, I just substituted it for 'Healtheries' gluten free baking mix' and it worked a treat.
This is a very indulgent and decadent cake and I am all for it.  If you are going to eat cake it may as well be a proper cake, dense and rich.

I got the recipe from here amatteroftaste.me and she definitely is right when she says its better the next day.  It does improve with 1 night in the fridge.
I just substituted the 60g of flour with 60g of GF flour and it worked out wonderfully and enjoyed by all in my family.
I couldn't photograph the whole cake as 1/2 of it got eaten soon after making.
Well worth making for gluten free and non gluten free alike.

beef salad with thai dressing

Well I thought it was about time that I got myself organised and started posting again.
This was what I had for lunch yesterday, left overs from last nights dinner. The beef and the dressing were the same but the choice of vegetables were different.
What really makes this salad good is the dressing the coriander and mint, some crunchy vegetables topped of with some peanuts and deep fried shallots and of course some chile.

For this salad I used

• lettuce leaves
• bean sprouts minus their heads
• yellow pepper
• cucumber
• a little bit of carrot, just because I like carrot
• avocado
• spring onions
• red chile
• mint
• fresh coriander
• asparagus was used on the sat night
• chopped roasted unsalted peanuts
• deep fried shallots
• And don't forget the beef,  I used finely sliced BBQ rump

The dressing is really simple and goes perfectly with the beef, herbs and crunchy toppings

• juice of 2 limes
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar or more depending on how sweet you like it
• 2 tsps of fish sauce
• I also used some kaffir lime leaves as they were in the garden pounded in the mortar and pestle with the sugar before I added the juice and fish sauce

Combine until all the sugar has dissolved and add at the very last minute before serving

Actually this is what the salad really looked like before I ate it.