Category: Food

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Strawberry Cheesecake with Fresh Scotty Brand Strawberries

Our delivery of strawberries arrived, and two boxes were eaten almost immediately by children who ate them like sweeties.  They were so sweet and juicy that I was reminded of the strawberries we used to get as kids.

Our challenge came via this adorable recipe from Scotty Brand for cheesecake pots.  You can download the Scotty Brand recipe from the link, and my version is below.  I didn’t have all the ingredients to hand, so I have changed the recipe to suit my kitchen cupboard.

The kids wolfed down some glasses of cheesecake as soon as they were made and they didn’t have the chance to set.   We only have 3 glasses left for after their evening meal tonight.  I suspect they will disappear sharply.

Strawberry Cheesecake  Makes up to 8 glasses.

Ingredients

Filling

  •  600 g Scotty Brand strawberries, blended
  •  500 g cream cheese
  • 200 ml whipping cream, whipped
  • 30 g gelatine
  • 6 tbsp hot water
  • 3 tbsp icing sugar

Base

  • 400 g digestive biscuits, crushed
  • 100 g butter, melted

Method

1. Melt butter and mix with crushed biscuit crumb.  Press into individual glasses.

2. Beat soft cheese (mascapone here) and mix with 3 tablespoons of icing sugar.  Fold in whipped cream.

3. Blend the strawberries until it’s a pulpy mush.

4. Dissolve 30 g gelatine using hot water.  Add half to the cheese mix and half to the blended strawberries.

5. Pour a layer of the blended strawberries into the glasses.  I put mine in the freezer for 10 minutes to set the strawberries a little.

6. Smooth the cheesecake mix as the next layer.

7. Pour the last of the blended strawberries on the top and leave overnight to set.

8.  Add strawberries, cream or topping before serving.

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Funky Foodies June – Month 1

Funky Foodies

Funky Foodies is here on the Scottish Mum Blog:

  • It is a monthly linkie, which will be opened on the first day of the month and will close on the last day.
  • A medal will be awarded for the Star Recipe every month, and the fabulous trophy in the blog badge will be awarded at the end of a whole year of the Funky Foodies.   If you want to find out more about it, read here.
  • All you have to do is share a recipe from your own blog and link it up to qualify.
  • Try to pop around and share the comment love with other funky foodies.  We all like a little love and might come across some fabulous recipes.
If you want to host the linkie on your own blog as a blog hop, get the code here :     get the InLinkz code

Simply add the link to your recipe on your own blog, and share your latest recipe with everyone taking part.  If you don’t want to miss the linkie being opened, subscribe to RSS or by email in the blog header.  I’m looking forward to sending off the first medal.  The code is below if you want to add the badge to your post or your blog.  I’ll add recipes of mine to share, although I don’t count in the recipe challenge.

Funky Foodies

Feel free to copy the text in bold into a text widget or the html of your post if you’d like to add the small blog badge to your own blog / post.  It makes finding you easier for other funky foodies.

<img src=”  http://scottishmum.com/wp-content/uploads/100-funky-foodies.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”Funky Foodies” />


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Restaurant Review – Frankie & Bennys in Aberdeen

When the PR offered us a voucher to go and try out the new menu at Frankie and Benny’s, I just couldn’t turn that down.  It did take us a while to get to using our voucher, so ours is probably one of the last reviews in.

We visited on a week night when middler was on respite, so there were only four of us to sample the menu and no jumpy, moody and excited special needs tornado to work around.  Lots of bribery and behaviour points were cashed in and off we went down to Frankie & Bennys at the beach.

Initial Impressions

When we arrived, the place was quite empty.  Strangely, they tried to seat us right next to the serving / cooking area where it’s noisy and hot with servers walking past all the time.  It was in the middle of the tables so  had servers walking behind and up both sides constantly.

We said nothing, but got up and moved to the back of the restaurant where it was quieter and with more comfortable seats.  It seemed as if they were keeping the quieter booth type seats for later diners, and putting the kids where the noise was.

Excitedly, the kids ran up to the entry desk to get their crayons and paper, only to be told they had run out.   The restaurant is right next to a poundshop, so I’d have guessed it would be easy enough to go out and get some crayons and put them in some cups to share around the kids who are used to getting them.  Disappointing start, but not the end of the world.

Menu wise, there were loads of options to choose from.  I suspect everyone could find something to eat.

Ordering

Ordering was simple and easy enough, and I’d say that the menu for kids is reasonable and well priced on the whole.  I’d expected to see items marked as “new” on the menu, but it looked the same as it was the last time we were in, and that was a few years ago now.  The waitress was pleasant and helpful, but wasn’t sure of what was new either.

Serving Time

It took a while.   We got our food about 20 – 30 minutes after ordering, and people who arrived after us were served their meals first.   We weren’t in a hurry so it wasn’t a problem although the hungry kids were a bit peeved.

The Food

Mains

The kids had their favourites and the man had a burger.  I wanted a pizza and the rest of them wanted a bit too, so I ordered a 15″ for us all to share.  The chicken and sweetcorn on top was a little sparse on the pizza, but other than that, it was lovely.  The junior burger was as big as his dad’s.  He was very happy with that.

Dad Burger

Kids Junior Burger

Kids Junior Wraps

Sharing Pizza

Dessert

Dessert for the kids was a letdown.  The menu says brownie pieces with ice cream so when a teensy sundae glass arrived with one tiny bit of brownie and one scoop of ice-cream, their faces fell.  With the spectacular dishes for mains, they expected a spectacular sundae.

Brownie Pieces?  There was one.

The grown ups had ordered a sharing sundae so the kids ended up having most of that.

Room for Improvement

Most definitely in the seating and kids arenas.  Kids want to be impressed.  If the parents don’t feel kids have had what they have been promised, they are unlikely to go back and spend more money on it.  For us it was fine as the bill was almost all covered by our voucher, but if I was paying over £60 to have kids disappointed with dessert, I’d have been a tad unhappy about it.

I didn’t complain as we had a large part of the bill paid for us.  For the kids sundae glass, I’d have expected two scoops of ice cream with a couple of brownie pieces to fill the teensy glass and look impressive.

Overall

The waitress got a little stressed out when I handed over the voucher and she immediately whisked away the bill without letting me see the original, and I had to ask for it.  She came back for the remaining £10 or so to be paid and when I asked her a few questions about the menu, she scuttled off and left the card machine and salver on our table.  I had to go after her before we left and give it back to her.

We enjoyed our meal and it was a nice break from the usual school night routine, so yes, it was an enjoyable meal for us, but could have been better if the kids had been catered for more.

Would I pay that price for us as a family, given that we were one person short, and it would end up with a bill over £70 without any starters?  I don’t really know to be honest.  I thought the soft drinks prices were quite high, and the lack of kiddie friendliness spoiled it.

We were provided with a £50 voucher in exchange for an honest review as a family.

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Coconut and Lime Soup – New Scottish Mum Recipe

I know, I know, you probably all think I have gone absolutely bonkers to make soup and create a recipe with coconut and lime, but it was lovely.

So lovely that my kids loved it too.  I was completely prepared for them to say they hated it so it was a nice surprise.  The littlest one is my sticking point as he tends to only want the best of everything and new foods are a hit or a miss as to whether he will eat them or not.

I’m also adding this into Jacqueline’s No Croutons Required for August 2012 as this is an original recipe that I am very happy with.

Carrot and Lime Soup Recipe

  • 10 – 12 servings.
  • Preparation, 15 – 20 minutes + cooking time.
  • Nutritional, rich source of vegetables.

Ingredients

  • 1 litre stock.  fruit, vegetable, chicken or beef.  I used chicken to give the soup a good strong base, as I prefer the taste of soups with poultry stock.
  • 2 litres water.
  • 1 chicken stock cube.
  • 3 large carrots.
  • 5 medium to large potatoes.
  • 1 large onion, or 2 small ones.
  • 3 x limes, squeezed for juice, rind removed.   You could use lime juice for cooking.
  • 2 largish leeks.
  • 400g good quality coconut milk.
  • half litre of milk.
  • salt.
  • pepper.
  • ginger.
  • basil.

Method

  •  Simmer stock and add 2 litres of water.
  • Peel, scrape and chop all vegetables and add to pot.
  • Add 2 teaspoons of salt, pepper and ginger.  I used ground rainbow peppercorns and ground ginger.
  • Add lime juice and flesh of lime, with pith removed if you are using fresh.
  • Simmer for 15 minutes, then add half a litre of milk, 400g coconut milk and the stock cube.
  • Simmer until carrots and potatoes are cooked, then blend.
  • Add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Serve with basil on the top.
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Traditional Scottish Oakcakes

Oat cakes, normally known as oatcakes in Scotland, are a traditional Scottish food.  I’ve heard there is a version in England that is more like thick pancakes, and I’ll have to look for those to try in the future.   The Scottish oatcakes recipe is simple and quick.

Oatcakes are a great accompaniment to stovies, corned beef hash, or any slow cooked meal, stew or stroganoff.

A Scottish breakfast could also be found using the humble oatcake with butter, cheese, or jam added to the top.

Most Scottish food is relatively easy to make, and to smash the assumption that it is all deep fried mars bars up the Aberdeenshire neck of the woods, I suspect that adding more traditional Scottish recipes to my blog could be a good idea.  Sorry to disappoint the deep fried mars bar brigade, but I’ve yet to meet a Scot whose eaten one.

To make oatcakes, make sure you buy proper oatmeal, preferrably pinhead as more rough versions can be harder to work with.

Please don’t be tempted to try porridge oats, buy oatmeal – every time.

Oatcake Recipe

  • 8 – 10 large oatcakes.
  • Preparation, 15 minutes
  • Nutritional, oatmeal is a good source of dietary fibre.

Ingredients

  •  200g pinhead oatmeal
  • 35g butter
  • half teaspoon of baking powder
  • half teaspoon of salt
  • 6 – 8 tablespoons of water

Method

  • Heat the butter and water in a saucepan or the microwave.  I blast mine in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time until the butter is melted. Mix the oatmeal, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
  • Add the melted butter and water to the oatmeal mix in your bowl.  Mix together until it forms a stiff dough.  You may need to add a little extra water to make the dough form.  If you need more water, add half a teaspoon at a time,  and don’t be afraid to get your fingers in the bowl to make the dough work.

  • Dust a clean surface with some oatmeal to roll out the dough.
  • Use a cutter to cut oatcakes into circles, or whatever shape you have available.  If you don’t have a cutter, just cut them into triangle or square shapes.  I used a sandwich cutter for larger sized oatcakes.
  • Grease a heavy bottomed frying pan or griddle.  I have a cast iron pan that I use for things like this.  The oatcakes should be cooked on a low heat for approximately 5-6 minutes each side until they begin to go brown.
Being new to the foodie community, I’m making my oatcakes my first entry into best of british – Scottish Challenge
Rules:
 The full rules are posted on The Face of New World Appliances. However, here is a summary of what you have to do to enter:
  • Post your recipe on your blog with a link back to The Face of New World Appliances AND to the hosting post.  Visit the host post to find out how to enter fully.
  • The round-up of entries will be posted on or before the 20th July.

 

 

 

 

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Cauliflower & Cheese Soup

I often have pots of soup on the go, and this one was an experiment as the kids all love cauliflower cheese.  I wanted to make it into a meal in a bowl, so with some extra mature cheddar from Andrew Gordon, our local butcher and fine food store, we were ready to go.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Little Black Bomber Cheese from Snowdonia UK.  It was quite soft and crumbly and was perfect for making soup.  I even tried some on charcoal biscuits and it was quite a mild taste with a lovely creamy texture.  It’s a new find that will now be regularly on our shopping list as the kids really loved it.

Ingredients

  • 1 extra large cauliflower, or 2 small cauliflowers
  • 200g smooth and creamy extra mature cheddar, I used the little black bomber.
  • 2 small onions, or 1 large onion
  • 4 large potatoes
  • 1 fennel
  • 1 litre of stock.  I used chicken as it’s what I had in the fridge.  You could use beef or vegetable.
  • 2 litres of water & half litre of milk.
  • salt and pepper to taste.
  • ciabatta to serve.

 

Method

  1. Set your stock on to cook.  For this recipe, I used ready made stock from my fridge.
  2. Add stock to 2 litres of water and 0.5 litre of milk and bring to the boil.  Turn down to a simmer and add a few pinches of salt.
  3. Chop vegetables into reasonably small sized chunks and just add them all to the pan.  You’ll need enough liquid to cover your chopped vegetables to start off with, so just add a little more water if you need to.
  4. Simmer for 25 minutes, or until all vegetables are soft. You may have to add a little extra water depending on how long you simmer for.
  5. Liquidise, or blend in the pot.
  6. Take the soup off the heat and add the cheese cut into small pieces.
  7. Stir the soup until all the cheese is melted and blend again if needed.
  8. Add salt and pepper to taste, and you’re done.

 

 

 

 

 

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Cheesecake Flan (Cheats Cheesecake)

This is a complete and utter cop out for cheesecake but is fabulously easy, quick to make and the kids and visitors are always impressed.

Ingredients

    •  1 x Large sponge flan case.
    • 500g Tub of mascapone cheese.
    • 4 Tablespoons icing sugar.
    • 1 Teaspoon vanilla essence (optional).
    • Peaches and pears.

Method

      • Take cover off pre-bought flan case (hard work I know).
      • Mix mascapone cheese with the icing sugar.
      • Add vanilla essence if you want a slightly creamier taste.
      • Spread mix onto flan case.
      • Slice (or drain) peaches and pears.  I dry mine with kitchen roll, then just plop on the top.
      • Pop into fridge for half an hour if you’ve time.

Hey presto.

 

 

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Spaghetti Bolognese Scotty Brand Carrots

My two favourite produce providers are the reason for the fabulously speedy wolfing down of Spaghetti Bolognese for our evening meal.  It’s amazing how much difference the taste of good meat and vegetables makes to the enjoyment of what we eat.

The same Scotty Brand carrots used to make the Carrot and Orange Soup, added a lovely sweetness.  Combined with the gorgeously tasting steak mince from Andrew Gordon Butchery and Fine Foods in Aberdeen, the two ingredients made for a fantastic meal.

Feel free to use half portions.  I had three adults and four children to feed with these proportions.

Ingredients

  • 1kg Steak Mince
  • 1 Large Onion
  • 5 Large Carrots
  • Teaspoon Turmeric
  • Teaspoon Cinnamon or Nutmeg
  • 500g Carton of Passata
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Rapeseed Oil
  • 500g Spaghetti
  • 50g Butter (Optional)

Method

  1. Brown mince in a thick bottomed pan, or a good frying pan on a low heat.  I added a couple of tablespoons of Rapeseed Oil to help it along.
  2. Chop onions finely and add to the browning mince.
  3. Slice carrots and add to the  pan.
  4. Boil the kettle and add a pint of water to the mix.  Leave to simmer for 25 minutes, and top up the water if necessary.
  5. Salt and Pepper to taste.
  6. Put the pasta on to cook.
  7. Once the mince has simmered, add the tub of passata, turmeric and either cinnamon or nutmeg.
  8. Simmer the passata and mince mix for 5 minutes.
  9. Drain the pasta and use boiled water to rinse the spaghetti until it runs clear.
  10. Add the butter to the pasta if you like the taste, and mix it through.
  11. Serve immediately.
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Guest Recipe : Meatball and Okra Casserole

This guest recipe comes to you from Leila of @persianliving on Twitter.  Her blog is worth a visit as it grows with lovely Iranian style cooking.  You can find her recipes at: persianliving.co.uk

Meatball and Okra Casserole

My favourite vegetable of late is the flavourful and aromatic Okra, otherwise known in the West as Ladies Fingers or Gumbo.

In Iran, we call it Bamiyeh and in Pakistan/India it is known as Bhindi.

You can fry them up with garlic and tomato and eat with flat breads soaking up the juice, or cook in a casserole with chunks of lamb or beef ,flavour up with ginger and cinnamon and just for good measure add a few pieces of apple or simply stir fry. The easiest way and as I have found, the best way to get them eaten by my children, is to add them to a saucy meatball casserole because you can mash it up a little and they would never know the difference!

Okra, which is rich in calcium, can be found in most supermarkets usually somewhere obscure where all the fresh herbs and exotic vegetables are in little packets or already potted. I get mine from my favourite Asian store in Manchester where fruits, vegetables and herbs such as okra, baby aubergines, quince, coconuts, methi (fenugreek) and much more can be found in abundance. Here is my recipe for a deliciously spicy meal. Enjoy!

Ingredients

  • 400g lean minced beef or minced lamb shoulder
  • medium onion, grated
  • 175g okra
  • 1 tin chopped tomato
  • 2 heaped tbsp tomato puree
  • 2 heaped tbsp fine white breadcrumbs
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

  • Add the grated onion, breadcrumbs,, turmeric, salt and pepper to the minced meat and mix thoroughly.
  • Roll the meat into little balls about the size of a gobstopper or smaller.
  • Heat oil in a medium sized lidded pan and fry the meatballs until they have firmed up and have turned a brown colour.
  • To avoid *sticking*, whilst the meatballs are still soft, instead of using a spoon, pick up the pan and shake occasionally to make sure all the meatballs have been allowed to fry.
  • Once the meatballs are thoroughly browned all over, add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, curry powder, salt and pepper to taste and cover with water.
  • Bring the casserole to the boil then simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • After 30 minutes, add the okra. Mix into the casserole as gently as possible using your spoon to bring up sauce from the bottom and pouring it over the okra.
  • Leave to cook for a further 20 minutes repeating the same method with the sauce in order to soak the okra.
  • Serve with fluffy white rice and a crisp crunchy salad!

*Tip: Okra can be slightly *sticky* if split open. This is due to the seeds being gelatinous. To avoid this, don’t cut them or split open whilst stirring the casserole.

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Strawberry, Peach & Pear Smoothie

We can  make this all fresh, or all tinned, or a mixture of both.  The boys wanted some fruity smoothie and I didn’t have enough of any one thing to made a dedicated smoothie, so we experimented with the left over strawberries that we had, and a tub of peaches and pears in juice from the cupboard.

Smoothies are really easy peasy and gets some fruit into our bodies.

Ingredients

  • Just under half the blender of crushed ice.
  • Strawberries – I used a 400g tub
  • Tub or tins of peaches and pears – 400g, including the juice.
Method
  1. Add all ingredients to blender.
  2. Stir to mix ice and fruit
  3. Switch on blender and let run for a few minutes.  Stir a little if the ice stops crunching up.
  4. Serve immediately.

 

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Coco Mango Chicken Recipe

 

For my lovely meal, six of us ate from the recipe, and I have three strapping lads to feed, as well as a man who likes a good bit of animal protein.

Ingredients

  • 800 – 900g chicken breast / fillet.
  • 6 heaped tablespoons mango chutney (I buy Premium Mango Chutney in huge jars from Costco).
  • Rapeseed oil.
  • 1 clove of garlic crushed or chopped, or a teaspoon of garlic from a jar.
  • 1/2 tin of coconut milk (mix well in the tin before adding).
  • Salad, vegetables and fruit to serve.
  • Pitta bread or wraps.

Method

  1. Cut chicken into pieces.
  2. Shallow fry the chicken in the minimum of rapeseed oil.  Use a large frying pan, wok, or even a thick bottomed saucepan on low – medium heat.  Turn the chicken often to make sure it doesn’t burn.
  3. Add the 6 tablespoons of mango chutney and the garlic.
  4. Stir often to make sure the chicken and mango chutney don’t burn.  Turn down the heat, and let the mixture bubble away for a few minutes.
  5. Mix in the coconut milk a little bit at a time on a low heat at the end or it will separate.

To serve, simply warm pitta bread or wraps, choose vegetables, salad or fruit, and serve in large dishes for sharing.

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Carrot and Orange Soup Challenge by Scotty Brand

As a Scotty Brand Blogger, I am loving the boxes of goodies arriving with instructions on how to make something that I haven’t made before.  This week, the challenge was to make Carrot and Orange soup, which I managed quite easily.  I had a couple of packs of carrots torn open and being chopped within about 10 minutes of them arriving at my door.

I didn’t read the recipe properly and thought that it only needed 600ml stock and so quadrupled the contents as my boys eat huge portions of food.  Don’t make the same mistake as I did, as I then had to up the milk quantity by four times as well – AND transfer my soup into a much bigger pot.  I’ll give you the Scotty Brand quantities and not mine, as we ended up with an obscene amount of soup which is now stored in the freezer for other cold days to come.

I also made the cardinal mistake of doing kids homework while I put the soup ingredients together, and I had put the butter in the microwave to melt.  It was after the soup was eaten that I discovered I hadn’t put it in the pot.  I have to say, the soup without the butter was delicious, so I’d say it was an optional ingredient and all in all, the recipe is fabulous and can cope well with some modifications.

Ingredients

  • 450g Scotty Brand carrots sliced
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 65g butter
  • 65g plain flour
  • 600ml chicken or vegetable stock
  • 600ml milk
  • 1 orange (juice and rind)
  • Salt and finely ground pepper
  • 5ml nutmeg
  • 5ml parsley

Method

  1. Melt butter and add onions and carrots  (I just added the onions and carrots to the pot with the stock and flour).
  2. Cook gently, and stir in the flour and cook for a further 1/2 mins (oops, I missed this step).
  3. Add milk.
  4. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
  5. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly, then simmer for 20/30 minutes  (you really have to stir frequently because of the milk).
  6. Liquidise before adding orange juice and shredded rind (I left out the rind as one of my boys doesn’t do bits in soup).
  7. Serve sprinkled with parsley and, if you like, a dollop of fresh cream or plain yogurt.

Enjoy
Scottish Mum Blog