Category: Food

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Natural Remedies to get rid of a sore throat, including Ginger Tea and Honey Toddy.

You know that feeling when you wake up, with a rattly throat and every swallow feels like broken glass searing down your gullet?  You instantly know you have some sort of a bug or two, or possibly the dreaded Strep throat, caused by the group A streptococcus bacteria.  What do you do now?

Although most sore throats are caused by colds and we can treat ourselves at home, if your throat seems to be Strep throat, see a GP.  Strep throat is contagious, and children are more at risk.  Breathing can be affected and diagnosis requires a throat swab.

For the rest of us, and our gritty sore throat caused by generally being unwell or having a cold, it’s a case of working through the options until we feel better.

Let’s not be shy here.  A sore throat can hurt like the devil, and then some, with every mouthful of saliva causing dread to fill our boots, as we know we have to swallow it.  In the past, I’ve found myself gargling milk, just for the soothing sensation for a few seconds, and there are some natural remedies we can try at home, to get rid of a sore throat.

I’ve spent several decades listening to the elder women in  my family, so I thought it was about time to share their remedies before I forget them.

1 – Salt Water Gargle

This has always been my  mother’s go to.  Every time I’ve been ill, I used to get the evil eye and pointed towards a glass and salt bottle.  Now with her, it wasn’t some scientific salt to water ratio.  She just grabbed a pinch, added it to boiled water and let it cool.    I have dread memories of the gargle and avoided it like the plague, but that’s not to say it was a daft remedy, as loads of people report that it does indeed work for them.  Who am I to argue with that?  This is pretty much what we do, usually every couple of hours or so.

Salt Water Gargle Recipe

  • Add 1 level teaspoon of salt to a small glass of water.
  • Stir until dissolved.
  • Gargle the liquid for sixty seconds if possible, or a minimum of 30 seconds.
  • Spit out the water once you have finished gargling.  Do not swallow.

2 – Honey Toddy 

This one belongs to my grandmother.  She’d add a tot of whisky and make it a whisky toddy though.  My mum, not liking the taste of alcohol, always preferred it without the tipple added.  I’m never quite sure how drinking something that burns on the way down could soothe a sore throat myself.

Ok, for the honey, it is said to help fight infection and help with pain relief, and the sweetness also helps make things taste better.  Check with a doctor or nurse before giving to children.

Honey Toddy Recipe

  • 100ml water which has been boiled and allowed to cool slightly.
  • Add one tablespoon of honey to the water and let it dissolve.
  • 1 slice fresh lemon as garnish and drink.

3 – Ginger Root Tea

This is nothing to do with my family, but as a spice with antibacterial and anti-inflmmatory properties, it might help a sore throat.   You can buy ginger tea ready made, or you can make it yourself as it’s so easy to do.

Ginger Root Tea Recipe

  • Peel a couple of inches of fresh root ginger and add to a pan.
  • Top up with a couple of mugs of fresh water.
  • Bring to boil and let simmer for 10 – 20 minutes, depending on how strong you like your tea.
  • Remove from the heat and add honey and either half a lemon or lime squeezed into the liquid.
  • Stir and drink the fluid.
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Soup Maker Recipe: Root Veg with Mushroom Soup

Mixing mushroom with any soup is always a hit or miss.  The colour of this soup was more muddy than it looks in the picture.  The colour seems to be very photogenic with a flash gun, but although muddy colour due to the mixture of green and orange, it was pretty tasty.

Soup Maker Recipe: Root Veg with Mushroom Soup

Lesley Smith
4 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course Soup Maker
Cuisine Soup

Ingredients
  

  • 200 g Carrots peeled and sliced.
  • 200 g Potatoes peeled and cubed.
  • 150 g Onion chopped.
  • 50 g Leek chopped.
  • 50 g Asparagus chopped.
  • 50 g Mushrooms chopped.
  • 30 ml Olive oil.
  • 1 Garlic Clove Crushed.
  • Pinch Black Pepper.
  • Pinch White Pepper.
  • Pinch Chilli Powder.
  • Pinch Paprika.
  • 2 Vegetable Stock Cubes.

Instructions
 

  • Saute your onions and leek with the oil, garlic, black pepper, white pepper, chilli powder and paprika.

  • Add the rest of your ingredients to the pot.

  • Fill the soup maker to the maximum level with water, making sure it fills above your minimum and below your maximum level. Stir well to ensure nothing is stuck to the bottom of your pot.

  • Ensure the lid is on properly.

  • Choose the smooth setting for your soup. If you make it in a pot, simply cook the soup and use a blender to smooth.

 

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Soup Maker Recipe: Potato and Apple Soup with Nigella Seeds

Potato and Apple are just the right blend of sweet for me, in a soup.  Apple goes with just about anything I find, and is an easy fruit add for picky eaters.

Soup Maker Recipe: Potato and Apple Soup with Nigella Seeds

Lesley Smith
4.67 from 3 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Soup
Cuisine Soup Maker
Servings 4 -6 Bowls

Ingredients
  

  • 260 g Chopped Leek & Onion
  • 280 g Peeled and Chopped Potato
  • 130 g Peeled and Chopped Apple
  • 50 g Asparagus Spears
  • 30 ml Oil
  • 2 Vegetable Stock Cubes
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1 Clove Garlic Crushed
  • 1.5 Teaspoon Nigella Seeds
  • Water
  • 150 ml Milk

Instructions
 

  • Add leek, onion, oil, crumbled vegetable stock cubes and garlic clove to the soupmaker and saute until the leek is soft.

  • Add the potato, apple, nigella seeds, salt, and asparagus spears to the pot, and top up the pot to above the minimum and below the maximum levels with water. Keep back a pinch of Nigella Seeds for decoration

  • Mix well with a wooden spoon.

  • Make sure your lid is on properly.

  • Choose the smooth setting.

  • Add the milk to the pot once the soup had finished cooking.
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Spicy Thai Cauliflower Soup – Vegan Friendly

Guest post with recipe developed by Nicky Corbishley, the founder of Kitchen Sanctuary blog. http://kitchensanctuary.com

Nicky is also brand ambassador for NEFF, after winning the Cookaholic competition last year, and is currently helping gathering true and passionate cookaholics around the country to enter this year’s competition.  This is his second recipe to feature on my blog.

Neff is currently looking for new entrants to this years competition at:

http://www.nextcookaholic.co.uk

The Spicy Thai Cauliflower soup is actually vegan so a flavoursome option for vegetarians and vegans.

Spicy Thai cauliflower, coconut and lime soup

A deliciously spicy soup to warm you up from the inside. It’s vegan too!

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

  • 1 large cauliflower, broken into florets
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
  • 2 medium red chillies, chopped (remove and discard the seeds if you don’t like it too hot)
  • 1 x 3cm piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 1 tsp lemongrass paste
  • 1 heaped tbsp of fresh coriander stalks (save the leaves for garnishing)
  • 1 ½ tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp tamarind paste
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp paprika
  • 1 x 400ml tin coconut milk (full fat)
  • 300ml vegetable stock
  • 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
  • 1 tbsp light brown muscovado sugar
  • Juice of one lime

Instructions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 180°C. Place the cauliflower florets on a large baking tray.
  2. Place 2 tablespoons of the oil, half of the chopped onions, the chillies, ginger, garlic, lemongrass paste, coriander stalks, turmeric, tamarind paste, cumin and paprika in a food processor, and pulse until you get a thick paste.
  3. Spoon half of the paste onto the cauliflower florets, and rub the paste in using your hands.
  4. Place the cauliflower in the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
  5. Meanwhile heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan. Add the remaining chopped onions and fry for 5 minutes on a medium heat until softened. Add in the remaining curry paste and fry for a further minute.
  6. Add the roasted cauliflower to the pan (save a few florets for garnishing) along with the coconut milk, stock, rice wine and sugar. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat.
  7. Carefully blend the soup in the pan using a stick blender.
  8. Divide the soup between four bowls and garnish with the reserved cauliflower, coriander leaves and some finely chopped chillies.
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Sugar Free Chocolate Mint Avocado Mousse

Guest post with recipe developed by Nicky Corbishley, the founder of Kitchen Sanctuary blog.http://kitchensanctuary.com/

Nicky is also brand ambassador for NEFF, after winning the Cookaholic competition last year, and is currently helping gathering true and passionate cookaholics around the country to enter this year’s competition.

Neff is currently looking for new entrants to this years competition at: http://www.nextcookaholic.co.uk/

One of his fantastic recipes is included in this post.  Enjoy..

Refined sugar-free chocolate mint avocado mousse with shortbread bites

  Makes 4 servings of mousse and 28-30 shortbread bites

Chocolate Mint Mousse:

  • 4 ripe avocados, peeled and de-stoned
  • 2 very ripe bananas, peeled
  • 160ml unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 1/8 tsp green food colouring gel (optional)
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • ½ tsp peppermint extract
  • 3 tbsp raw cacao powder
  • 2 tbsp Greek yogurt
  • 1 small square good quality, sugar-free dark chocolate, grated
  • Mint leaves to garnish

Shortbread Bites:

  • 100g unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 tbsp real maple syrup
  • 100g plain flour
  • 50g rice flour
  • pinch of salt

Instructions:

  1. Start with the shortbread. Using a stand mixer, or by hand, mix the butter and maple syrup until well incorporated. Add the two flours and the salt, and mix again until just incorporated (don’t over-mix as your cookies will be tough).
  2. Scoop out the dough and squash it together into a big ball. Place it onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to approx. 6mm thick. The dough is quite delicate and will try to crumble in places. Just push it back together if it crumbles.
  3. Using a small (approx. 3-4 cm) cookie cutter, cut out the cookie shapes – squashing and re-rolling the dough as needed. Dip your cookie cutter in flour before each cut, to prevent it sticking to the dough. Place the cookie shapes on a tray or chopping board, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes (this will help the cookies to maintain a sharper shape once in the oven).
  4. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 170c CircoTherm. Take the biscuits out of the fridge and take off the clingfilm. Place baking parchment or a silicone mat onto a large baking tray and place the cookies on the tray. They shouldn’t spread, but leave at least 1.5cm space between each cookie. Place the tray in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges start to turn slightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray.
  5. Now make the mousse. Place the avocados, banana, almond milk, vanilla bean paste, food colouring gel (if using) and honey into a food processer. Blend until smooth and creamy. Spoon half of the mixture out into a bowl and stir in the peppermint extract.
  6. Add the cacao powder to the remaining mixture in the food processer and pulse until well combined.
  7. Spoon the two mixtures into two separate piping bags with a large circular or semi-circular tip (alternatively use disposable piping bags with the tips cut off – no nozzle needed). Holding both bags at the same time, with the tips next to each other, pipe the mousse into serving glasses in a swirled pattern.
  8. Top each mousse with ½ tbsp Greek yogurt and a small sprinkling of grated dark chocolate. Push a shortbread biscuit into the blob of Greek yogurt and garnish with a few small mint leaves.
  9. Serve the mousse immediately, with extra shortbread bites for dipping.

 

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High Protein Rice – An Experiment

I’m into eating with high protein in my food these days.  The next logical step after trying the Konjac version of rice, which is pretty much zero calorie, and not really my cup of tea, was try the actual protein rice.  I got some from MyProtein, and gave it a whirl.

It’s made from vegetable proteins with durum wheat semolina, so unlike water noodles (konjac) which are slimy, rubbery, and have a bit of a fishy smell uncooked, actual protein rice looks more like regular rice.  The konjac rice and I didn’t get on at all.  Not one little iota…..

Protein rice isn’t quite like the rice you’re used to though, as it’s a different size and shape.  It’s a little shocking after being cooked too, but the taste and texture is very much like rice, so is much more pleasing to me as an additive to my food.

Per serving or 50g, there is 172 calories and a whopping 30g of protein.  Yes, it’s tempting to go the konjac route and have almost zero calories, but I just couldn’t sacrifice the rice texture for lack of calories. The picture above is uncooked, and yes, it does very much resemble rice, but with larger grains.

The cooked version does give you a bit of a surprise as it expands far more than I was expecting.  It looks like little grains of nuts, but the texture is very ricey.  I threw in a few pinches of chilli powder to the pot while my rice bubbled for the 9 minutes it takes to cook.

To make this a full meal, I cooked some mince with onions and carrots, added chilli powder and nutmeg to the cooking mince and served it up for supper. Full marks for a simple meal, and one that’s packed full of goodness.

I liked it so much, I just went and bought a few boxes…..

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Thai Fishcakes with Chilli Dipping Sauce

Guest Recipe.  When it comes to healthy eating, home cooking is a great place to start. But when the reality of all that dicing, slicing, washing, chopping and prepping to make holier-than-thou fresh nutritious meals dawns, it’s easy to lose your way! Whether you’re going gluten-free, paleo, low-carb or FODMAP, the Very Lazy range of pre-chopped and ready-to-use essentials from chopped garlic, chillis and ginger to lemongrass paste and cooking concentrates will make it easy as pie (or pie’s much healthier cousin).

Thai Fishcakes with Chilli Dipping Sauce

Very Lazy
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 450 g skinless and boneless cod or haddock fillets roughly chopped

  • 1 teaspoon Very Lazy Chopped Ginger

  • 1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce

  • 1 teaspoon Very Lazy Lemongrass Paste

  • 1 teaspoon Very Lazy Garlic Paste

  • 2 tablespoons freshly chopped coriander

  • 1 teaspoon Very Lazy Chopped Red Chillies

  • 1 egg white

  • 2 spring onions thinly sliced

  • 1 tablespoon oil for frying



  • FOR THE LIME CHILLI DIPPING SAUCE

  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

  • 1 teaspoon Very Lazy Chopped Red Chillies

  • finely grated zest and juice 1 lime

  • 2 teaspoons caster sugar

Instructions
 

  • Place all the ingredients for the fishcakes in a food processor and blend to a smooth paste. Put the mixture in a bowl and stir in the spring onions. With slightly wet hands, shape the mixture into 12 patties.

  • In a small bowl, whisk all the ingredients for the dipping sauce, until the sugar has dissolved.

  • Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the fishcakes for 4-5 minutes each side until golden brown and cooked through.

  • Serve immediately with the dipping sauce.

 

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Very High Protein Pork and Pear Stir Fry – Approx 40g Protein Per Serving

I made this in my Instant Pot 7 in 1, but you can make this by using a good old wok or stir fry too, you’d just need to adjust the times you cook the meat for, to ensure it is fully cooked throughout.

Very High Protein Pork and Pear Stir Fry

Lesley Smith
A whole meal in a bowl.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Mains
Cuisine High Protein
Servings 4
Calories 381 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g Pork cubed.
  • 50 g Mixed and sliced peppers.
  • 50 g Green Pepper sliced.
  • 75 g Onion chopped.
  • 50 g Wild Mushrooms.
  • 150 g Dr Zak's High Protein Pasta
  • 30 ml Rapeseed Oil.
  • 1 Conference Pear sliced.
  • Dried Parsley.
  • 1 Teaspoon Pink Himalayan Salt.
  • 1 Teaspoon Rainbow Peppercorns.
  • 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce.
  • 1 Tablespoon Chia and Flaxseed Sprinkles.
  • 1 Teaspoon Parsley and Lemon Seasoning.

Instructions
 

  • Add your pork, onions, salt and pepper, parsley and lemon seasoning, along with half of your rapeseed oil to your pot, and switch on the saute function. Stir fry in the pot, until the pork is seared and the onions are soft. Remove from the pot and place in a trivet.

  • Add the remainder of your rapeseed oil to the pan and add the mushrooms, peppers and pear. Stir fry until the peppers are soft, for a minute or two.

  • Put the vegetables into the trivet with the pork and onions, and a cup of water, then pressure cook for 20 minutes. Remove from the pot and leave the stock in the bottom.

  • Add your pasta to the pot, and another cup of water. You want the stock to cover the pasta, but not drown it. Pressure cook for 15 minutes.

  • Drain the stock, or keep it to use for soup another day. Add the pork and vegetable mix to the pot, with the pasta, add in the soy sauce and stir fry for 1-2 minutes.

  • Serve with sliced green pepper and a sprinkling of parsley, then chia and flax sprinkles.

Nutritional values are estimates.

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So, Can Burnt Toast Give You Cancer?

This topic smacks right back to earlier days, and the Edwina Currie scaremongering of eggs.  Poor eggs hadn’t done anything wrong, and I was pretty sure that slightly charred food was going to be in the same league….

No point in me just blustering though, as without any evidence, our ‘gut’ feeling isn’t ever going to be enough.  Most of us older people are probably not going to bat much of an eyelid at the claim, but for new mothers, or those with younger children, it probably did cause many of them a right worrying day or two.    And the news since, hasn’t toned it down much either.

And really, how on earth did burnt toast and poor roast potatoes, our Christmas staple, become linked with cancer?

If you read the Guardian, we find out about acrylamide and a 1997 happening in Sweden where cows dropped dead, fish floated lifeless and construction workers became ill.  A subsequent study later showed that the control group also had acrylamide in their systems and that it’s probably present in our environment in some way, despite the chemical being toxic and not found naturally in animals.  The link was eventually found to ‘probably’ be in processed food, more likely in starchy foods like bread and potatoes, cooked at high temperatures.

The Food Standards Agency

Acrylamide is a chemical substance formed by a reaction between amino acids and sugars. It typically occurs when foods with high starch content such as potatoes, root vegetables and bread, are cooked at high temperatures (over 120°C) in a process of frying, roasting or baking.

Acrylamide is not deliberately added to foods, it is a natural by-product of the cooking process and has always been present in our food.

The Food Standards Agency released their Go For Gold campaign.  You can read about it here, from the 27th January.   It aims to minimise harmful levels of acrylamide in our own cooking at home, by:

  1. Aiming for a light colour when frying, baking, toasting or roasting starchy foods.
  2. Checking the pack for cooking instructions and following them.
  3. Eating a balanced diet, with a mix of foods.
  4. Asking us not to keep raw potatoes in the fridge, as they say, keeping potatoes in a fridge can increase acrylamide levels.

Is There A Cancer Risk From Eating Burnt Starchy Foods?

How long is a piece of string?  I have no idea.  Everywhere I have looked, uses the words ‘possible,’ ‘probably,’ or ‘unlikely in daily living.’  Studies are likely to have been carried out at levels far above the consumption of humans, but we don’t know for certain.  Acrylamide could be classed as a possible carcinogen, but then again, so can many other things.

The advice not to burn toast, is likely just a help, to not compound any possible levels inside our bodies already.

Should We Stop Eating High Starchy Foods?

None of us can tell anyone else what they should or shouldn’t eat.  It’s very much a personal choice and we have to look at the potential, then weigh up the risks for ourselves and our families.  For me, that would be daft.  Bread and potatoes are almost a whole food group in our house.

What Do I Think?

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Simple Fruit Pasty Recipe

Have you ever wondered what to do with those leftover bits from tins of fruit?

How about this…

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Fruit Pasty

Lesley Smith
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4 Large

Ingredients
  

  • Half Tin Apples or 200g
  • 1-2 Pear Halves
  • 2 Peach Halves
  • 320 g Puff Pastry or 1 Puff Pastry Sheet
  • 1 Egg
  • 8 g Almond Butter
  • 2 Tablespoons Coconut Sugar

Instructions
 

  • Chop your fruit into smaller pieces, after draining as much fluid from them as possible. Sprinkle a tablespoon of coconut sugar on the top, spreading all over the fruit.

  • Roll your sheet out on a chopping board. I used a sheet. Slice into 4 portions.

  • Take each piece and roll it until it is a square.

  • Break an egg into a cup, add a tablespoon of coconut sugar and beat.

  • Mix the fruit and coconut sugar, which is likely to have broken down by now, until all mixed in, then add the almond butter and mix in.

  • Split your fruit into four sections. Put a quarter in the middle of each square, and then fold over, pressing at the edges to seal with your fingers.

  • Take a knife and slice some breathing holes into the top of each pasty.

  • Bake at 220C Oven, 220C Fan, Gas Mark 7, until brown on the top. Our ovens all vary, and for mine, it took around 20 minutes.

 

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Pumpkin, Carrot and Leek Soup

I made this in my pressure cooker, but it could easily be made in a pot.  In a pot, you will have to remember to stir frequently, and add more fluid, should some boil off in the process.

The proportions are too large for a soupmaker, and I had many mouths to feed that day, so my pressure cooker had to stand in, with some of the lovely pumpkin I’d frozen from Halloween and just sitting waiting in the freezer for a new dish.

I was a little wary of how this would turn out, as it’s the first time I’d defrosted pumpkin, and it seemed a little watery, with a mushy consistency.  It wouldn’t have been any use for anything other than soup.

Pumpkin, Carrot and Leek Soup

Lesley Smith
Optional - Before adding the rest of your ingredients, lightly fry your leek with the rapessed oil, then add your pumpkin, carrot, leek and potato to the pot and allow it to shallow fry for a couple of minutes, while adding 3 tablespoons of water.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 6 -8 Bowls

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g Pumpkin, cubed.
  • 250 g Carrots, sliced.
  • 175 g Leek, sliced.
  • 200 g Potato, cubed.
  • 2 clove Garlic or 1 Garlic Cube
  • 1 ltr s, Water
  • 400 ml Semi Skimmed Milk
  • 4 Vegetable Stock Cubes
  • 1 Teaspoon Rapeseed Oil optional
  • Half Red Chilli deseeded and chopped. (optional)
  • Salt and pepper to taste.

Instructions
 

  • Add all your ingredients to the pot, mix well, and cook on high pressure for 30 minutes.

  • Blend with a hand blender.

  • Serve with some chopped chilli or ground peppercorns on top.

 

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Christmas Sticky Pudding with Chocolate, Coconut, Apple & Cinnamon

This isn’t the version I’ll be using for Christmas Day, as I’ll be using the regular old full fat, toffee sauce version, but I wanted to try something different and see how it turned out, although on Christmas Day, we will have the apple and cinnamon added to the recipe here.

This came about, as I wanted to use something different from butter, and yes, I cheated in some bits for it…….  You’ll see where below.  Even cooled this is going to be very squidgy and lush, and also very coconutty.  Substitute with butter for a more traditional taste.  It could do with that squidgyness for the lack of soaking overnight in toffee sauce.  If you want a toffee sauce, go to my oaty sticky toffee pudding post.  I’ve said serves 6 – 12, as it all depends on your portion sizes. 🙂

Like all sticky puddings, this is much better on the day after it is made, or after it’s fully cooled, when you can re-heat.

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Christmas Sticky Pudding with Chocolate, Coconut, Apple and Cinnamon

Lesley Smith
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Dessert, Puddings
Cuisine Christmas
Servings 6 - 12

Ingredients
  

  • 120 g Chopped Apple
  • 50 g Self Raising Flour
  • 50 g Coconut Sugar
  • 2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
  • 100 g Medjool Dates
  • 100 g Coconut Oil
  • 50 g Oatmeal
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 tbsp Black Treacle
  • 50 g Cream
  • 50 g Chopped Nuts
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
  • 1 Tin Chocolate Middle and Covering
  • Red Food Colouring

Instructions
 

  • Chop the dates into small pieces. Put them into a bowl and pour over a little boiling water and set them aside. Leave them to soak in until everything else is done or whizz them in a processor.

  • Put your oven on, to around 170C/160C (Fan).

  • In a mixing bowl, add your flour, oatmeal, bicarbonate of soda, apple, cinnamon, nuts and sugar, and stir it around. Melt your coconut oil, so that it’s easy to mix in, and add it, along with your beaten egg, and black treacle. Mix by hand, or use a low setting on a mixer, to ensure the mix isn’t handled too roughly. When the pudding mix looks slightly curdled, add in the cream and black treacle, and fold it in by hand. Don’t worry about the texture. At this point, it might resemble batter more than pudding mix. Just remember, that it isn’t a cake mix and doesn’t need lots of air added. Using a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of your bowl is a good idea.

  • Add your whizzed dates, or mash the dates into the water, then pour it all into the bowl. Fold fold in by hand.

  • Grease your baking tins and pour the mixture in. I used two moulds initially, but transferred them into one for the oven.

  • Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the pudding is cooked, and a skewer comes out clean.

  • I cheated by putting mine into a basin of cold water to cool mine quickly as the hordes were desperate to eat it, so mine came out mashed up a bit. Leave yours to cool fully, and it will co-operate much more nicely.

  • Add toppings and serve. I didn't make toffee sauce for this version, but cheated with a tin of chocolate Nestle, which I heated up before pouring on.

With the red food colouring added, it became a very very dark coloured pudding.

Drizzled with cream and raspberry sauce.  [fb_button]