Cheesy Pasta Bake for 'Pasta Please'

This particular carb-fest is the result of my store cupboard audit.  As I mentioned in my Random Recipe post I'm trying to use up the bits and pieces that have been abandoned at the back of the larder. In this case about a third of a bag of chickpeas, a few tagliatelle 'nests'.  There was also a butternut squash which has been in the fridge for two weeks, I can't even remember why I bought it!

Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes is hosting 'Pasta Please' a food blogging challenge using, yes you've guessed it, PASTA!  This month the theme is Cheese and Jac has been begging asking for entries on Twitter, so I thought I would help her out with this rather unusual combination of pasta and other stuff that needed used up.

Cheesy Butternut Squash, Chickpea and Pasta Bake

1 large butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped
2 tbsp oil
150g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked in boiling water until just tender
3 tagliatelle 'nests'
100g Philadelphia cream cheese (mine was the light one but any will do)
100g cheddar cheese, grated (you can use any hard cheese)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oven to 200C.  Put the oil in a roasting tray and add the squash, roast for 30-40 minutes until soft and slightly browned.
2. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions in boiling water, when ready, drain and mix the cream cheese into the pasta.  Season to taste.
3. Mix the cheesy pasta with the chickpeas and roasted butternut squash and put in a buttered or oiled ovenproof dish.
4. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the pasta bake and put in the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese has melted and formed a crunchy golden topping.
5. Serve with a green vegetable.

The bake was filling and tasty, ideal for a cold day in January.  The chickpeas near the top of the dish had become lovely and crunchy in a 'Bombay Mix' sort of way and the sweetness of the butternut squash and saltiness of the cheese worked well with the bland flavour of the pasta and chickpeas. 

Labels: butternut squash, chickpea, cream cheese, pasta, Pasta Bake, Pasta Please, Philadelphia cheese, Tinned Tomatoes

posted by Janice @ 20:27 3 Comments

Bread Sticks and Bloggers- Bread in Fife Part One

It's quite extraordinary the lengths that bloggers will go to meet up and bake. Between the three of us we made a 450 mile round trip to Freuchie in Fife, to learn how to bake Mediterranean Breads with Colin Lindsay at Bread in Fife

So who, you might ask, are the three bloggers baking bread?

Louise, Janice, Jacqueline

Louise (Lou) from Please Do Not Feed the Animals, Me and Jacqueline (Jac) from Tinned Tomatoes.

Colin

After some refreshments and a little discussion about our various bread making experience, we got down to business. Colin is testing the heat of the water  with his fingers.



We started off making an olive oil dough, all the ingredients were weighed, even the liquid.  I was very interested by the importance of the temperature, not only of the liquid, but also of the flour.  The ideal temperature for fermenting dough is 27C.  Colin gave us a formula to get the right temperature for both flour and water, double 27 = 54  minus the temperature of the flour = temperature of the water.  We used flour from  Shipton Mill and fresh yeast, but you could use dried yeast.


Once we had  incorporated all the liquid we started to knead our dough.




Colin showed us a variety of ways of kneading, including air kneading,  all of which is pretty physical, but the air kneading is really hard work.

 Here is Jac, checking whether her dough is ready by stretching it out paper thin, and if you can do that without it breaking, then the gluten has stretched enough and you are ready to prove your dough.  We set aside the olive oil dough to prove, in a converted plant propagator/mini greenhouse in Colin's porch.  It had a little heater in the bottom to keep the temperature even, of course you only need this sort of thing if you are proving a lot of dough, a warm room or airing cupboard will do just as well.

This 'beast of yeast' is a plain flour, yeast, salt and water dough that Colin had made before we arrived, so we would be able to continue baking while the olive oil dough proved.

 Bread Sticks

The first  thing we made were bread sticks, not the very thin brittle type of Grissini, you get on the table at Italian restaurants, these were more substantial.
Here are the 'toppings' that we had to choose from: olives, Parmesan cheese, sesame seeds and poppy seeds.

Colin showed us how to incorporate sesame seeds into our dough by folding the dough over the seeds, turning and folding again.
When you start to knead them into the dough, they rise to the surface.
By rolling and pushing the dough firmly in a circular motion against the table, the seeds start to go under the layer of dough.  Reading that back, I'm sure it makes not sense to anyone who hasn't seen it - you had to be there!

 Then you roll the dough flat and divide into strips.  Take each strip and roll it into a long sausage.
Place your chosen topping on a sheet of baking parchment on your baking tray, damp the bread stick with a little water from a spray bottle and roll in the topping.  You can also sprinkle with some flakes of sea salt.

These are Lou's lovely evenly rolled bread sticks.

These are my rather gnarly and unevenly rolled bread sticks - I think bread sticks can say a lot about your personality!

And here they are after baking.We tucked into them with a cuppa and discovered that you had to go easy on the salt, as some were a little oversalted, especially where we had used olives and parmesan!  However, they tasted great and we all agreed we would make them again.

We used the rest of the plain dough to make Fougasse, a traditional hearth bread, but with slashes cut into the flat breads.

These would be good with a bowl of soup, but as they are so plain, you really need something to go along with them.

The recipe for the bread sticks and the olive oil dough is on the Bread in Fife website, the Fougasse uses the same recipe as the bread sticks.

In Part Two I will show you about how we made pannini and the Focaccia featured at the top of the post.

Labels: Bread, Bread in Fife, bread sticks, dough, Fougasse, olive oil, Please Do Not Feed the Animals, Tinned Tomatoes

posted by Janice @ 20:24 10 Comments

Food Bloggers do Social Networking in Ayrshire

Chapter 2 - Food Bloggers do Social Networking with Colin Kelly

No Food Blogger Conference would be complete without a session on social media.  At the Taste of Ayrshire Food Bloggers Conference we were joined by Colin Kelly a journalist and social media trainer.   Here are a few key messages that Colin shared with us:

• Build a community
• Start a conversation
• Using You Tube increases your Google Score (because they own You Tube)
• People trust Twitter recommendations because people are accountable, they are on Twitter as themselves
• 55-65 year old females are the biggest growing demographic on social media
• 20 minutes a day is the most you should spend on social media (err I think I must be doing something wrong - ha ha!)
• Do you have a primary objective?
• It takes time
• Be human
• Give the audience a say over what you put on your blog e.g. what would you like me to cook, blog, bake?
• Have Facebook events
• Use the customisable tabs on Facebook to integrate your blog into Facebook
• Put yourself in your customers shoes
• Posts with pictures are 30% more engaging
• Finish your blog posts with newsletter sign up, follow by email etc
• Use Google + gives you an advantage in google ratings
• Create a consistent style/brand

 In the spirit of making the post more engaging here are some of the Food Bloggers at the conference.

And here are Jacqueline, Tinned Tomatoes and Louise, Please Don't Feed the Animals   you might want to visit their blogs to get a different perspective on the conference.  You may also recognise some of the photographs as we are a caring, sharing bunch :)

What are your tips for social networking/social media?

Chapter Three coming very soon (almost written)

Labels: Colin Kelly, Food Bloggers Conference, Please Do Not Feed the Animals, Social Networking Tips, Taste of Ayrshire, Tinned Tomatoes

posted by Janice @ 19:47 6 Comments

Food Bloggers go mad in Ayrshire

Chapter 1  - Sustainability, Seasonality and Ethical Purchasing

When an email from Taste of Ayrshire popped into my in-box in the middle of July, I jumped at the chance to meet up with other bloggers and learn more about the craft of blogging.  There was very little information about the programme, but I booked up anyway then got straight on to Twitter to let the blogging community know.  I'm not sure how many people were sent the email but I do know that there was a bit of a ripple effect from my tweets which reached Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes, Louise at Please Do Not Feed the Animals, Stuart at Mr CakeyBoi  and Kellie at Food to Glow.

It's always a pleasure to meet up with Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes (on the right) more photos of food bloggers in my next post, but as there is a lot of information to share, I am splitting this into 'chapters' expect 'lashings of ginger beer!'.



Our first speaker was Justin Galea, the Executive Chef at the Turnberry Hotel.  Justin is passionate about food and talked about three important aspects of showcase food: sustainability, seasonality and ethical purchasing.  He is able to buy excellent game, beef and vegetables from the local area around the hotel.  He also has access to fresh fish landed at Girvan and  quality seafood from the island of Arran on his door stop. Justin told us the story of a diner who asked for an asparagus omelette out of season and how he is prepared to 'say no' to customers on the grounds of seasonality, if the product is not in season it won't be on the menu.

Sustainability is only one aspect though, buying locally is only sustainable if the product is good and ethically produced.  There were more tales of local suppliers, some of whom were artisan producers farming using organic methods, but unable to get the accreditation.  As long as he was satisfied with that the production was of the highest quality and ethically produced he was willing to pay a premium.  Buying high quality produce locally means that the carbon footprint and environmental impact of the Hotel resort stays low.

It was news to me that the majority of foraged food for the top 50 restaurants comes from Scotland.   Justin is fortunate enough to be able to walk 200 yards from his kitchen into the woods behind the hotel and forage for ingredients which reach high prices in the markets in London.

Justin then moved on to talk about value for money. The Turnberry Hotel is an expensive place to eat, but from Justin's point of view, value for money is about the enjoyment received for the price paid, walking away with an experience.  I would agree, but would be unlikely to be prepared to pay £600 for a dinner for two!

We were also guided as to how to identify a good chef.  Justin recommended quizzing the waiters, they should be able to tell you everything about the dish you have ordered. Ask the name of the farmer who produced the main ingredient, and for meat like beef, ask whether it is grass fed or grain fed.  Was the fish farmed or line caught?  In a nutshell "Where has it come from and why?"

One of the questions asked of Justin was "who influences you and who do you follow online?"  The answer was an interesting one as Justin has been following his food heros, such as Alain Bourdin, since he was 10 years old, when there was no Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.  He 'follows' them wherever he can find them, but also recommended You Tube as a rich source of inspiration citing Grant Achatz of the Alinea Restaurant and Ryan Clift  of the Tippling Club in Singapore as well worth watching.

Chapter 2 coming soon...

Labels: Alain Bourdin, Food to Glow, Grant Achatz, Justin Galea, Mr Cakey Boi, Please Do Not Feed the Animals, Ryan Clift, Taste Ayrshire, Tinned Tomatoes, Turnberry Hotel, Twitter

posted by Janice @ 22:21 12 Comments

White Chocolate and Strawberry Cream Cake

I've had a birthday recently, yes another one, they definitely come round quicker every year.  Quite often I end up with a bought cake from M&S but as I was on holiday at home, I decided to make my own cake. 

I chose this White Chocolate and Strawberry Cream Cake from the Great British Bake Off book from 2011, the recipe is widely available on the web so I've linked to one which is a reliable source.

The cake was relatively easy to make although it did stick to my tins a little bit, so make sure you grease them very well or use cake release spray.  I probably slightly overbaked my sponges too as they seemed to still be wobbly in the middle. However, it didn't affect the taste or moistness of the sponge they are just a little darker than I would have liked.  Putting the cake together is 'a piece of cake' and the 'value' strawberries I used were ideal, being smaller but packed with flavour rather than water. 


As most of you know I like to enter cooking/baking challenges and was rather perplexed because this didn't fit any of them.  Then I remembered Bookmarked Recipes  run by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes  and founded by Ruth from Ruth's Kitchen Experiments.

I'm hoping that I can just sneak in as this is the last Saturday of the month and the round up is due.

Labels: birthday cake, Bookmarked Recipes, cake, cream, Great British Bake Off, strawberries, Tinned Tomatoes, white chocolate

posted by Janice @ 14:25 11 Comments

Watercress Open Sandwich with Coconut

As usual Saturday lunch was a a bit of a forage in the fridge.  I sliced a couple of very thin slices of sourdough bread and spread them with lighter than light Helmann's mayo, then piled up a mixture of watercress and baby salad leaves.  Some slices of red pepper and tomatoes topped it off.


No Croutons Required is hosted alternately by Lisa from Lisa's Kitchen and Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes

Labels: AlphaBakes, Belleau Kitchen, coconut, Lisa's Kitchen, No Croutons Required, Tinned Tomatoes

posted by Janice @ 22:16 4 Comments

Chocolate, Churros, Chilli and Cider at Foodies Festival

That got your attention, didn't it? More about the chocolate and churros later, but this post is about the Edinburgh Foodies Festival which I went to with my blogging friends Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes and Claire of A Kiss of Cookies.
The Foodie Festival was held in Inverleith Park near the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh.  It was very busy with several rows of tented stalls, live music and the smell of barbequed meat hanging in the air.

The smokies were split, deboned and wrapped in paper ready for sale.


We had a great time and the sun shone which was a bonus, but there were so many ways that the festival would have been better for me: 

Getting there
 There was very little signage so actually finding Inverleith Park was a challenge. There were no directions on the website, no information about buses or parking opportunities, so if you didn't know the area, you had to do a lot of extra research to find your way.  The only sign we saw was on the gate to the park and by that time we were already there.  I know the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe were on, but a few signs round about Stockbridge and perhaps on Ferry Road would have made all the difference.

 Who and Where
There was no programme or plan of who was exhibiting and where they were located in the fenced off festival area.  Okay, I can understand they might not have been able to publish it on the website if there were late entries, but a list with numbers and aisles would have been very welcome, even if I'd had to buy it!  I've visited the Pot Fest in the Park near Penrith which is a pottery fair and they manage to provide this.  I had been tweeting The Elephant Juice Soup Company earlier in the day, but I never did find their stall. Planning who you want to see and looking back afterwards is, for me, part of the pleasure of an event like this.

The Chef's Theatre
I was really looking forward to seeing  a demonstration, but the people who took the tickets did not  give any indication about booking and the booth was placed just inside the entry almost behind the tent where people were buying tickets.  Now maybe if you bought a ticket on the day you would be told to book, but we didn't get that information, so everything was booked up.  Again, it would have been good to pre-book online, but if not then some information at the gate would have been equally useful.

Range of Exhibitors
Maybe I missed some exhibitors because of the lack of a programme (can you tell that I'm a bit narked by that?) but it seemed that there were a lot of  stalls for chocolate, spicy rubs/oils/flavourings/dips and booze!  It was very meat heavy too, not that I minded, but other than the noodle stall 'The Scottish Vegetarian' was rather challenged to find lunch, there may have been more, but we didn't know where they were.

Did I have a good time - YES!  Would I go back - probably not unless the organisation is better.

I was not sponsored by anyone to write this post, these views are my own and cannot be attributed to the friends who visited the festival with me.  

Labels: A Kiss of Cookies, Arbroath Smokie, Edinburgh Foodie Festival, Potfest in the Park, The Elephant Juice Soup Company, Tinned Tomatoes

posted by Janice @ 21:53 13 Comments

Make it Moussaka!

olive oil for brushing


Switch on your grill to full heat.  Slice the aubergines  lengthways and lay out on a baking tray, brush with olive oil.

Put the tray of aubergines under the grill and gril until golden brown and soft, turn and brush with more oil.  Do this until all of your aubergine slices are cooked.

Fry the bacon in a little oil in a large pan, when it is cooked, add the sliced mushrooms and saute gently until soft.  Add the left over chilli mixture and shepherd's pie.  Add a tin of tomatoes and heat through, mixing the ingredients together.

Place a layer of the mixture in the base of a large baking dish, then add a layer of aubergines, another layer of the meat and tomato mixture and then put the remaining aubergines on top.

Mix together the soured cream and egg together and season, spread over the aubergines.

Bake at 180C for 40 minutes until golden brown and bubbling around the edges.  Serve with crusty bread and a salad.

Labels: Aubergine, chilli, Moussaka, mushroom, soured cream, Tinned Tomatoes

posted by Janice @ 20:10 10 Comments