food | What Emily Did Next

March 26, 2013
by Emily 2 Comments

Tuna and Couscous Salad

A creator of wondrous recipes I am not. If you leave me in a fully equipped and stocked kitchen I can absolutely feed myself something tasty and nutritious, and I could even try feeding other people too. But I don’t tend to measure things, and I just add things as and when they come into my mind or line of vision. If I’m left to my own devices I will often end up eating very simple, recipe-less meals like cottage cheese on pasta, eggs and bread, or chickpeas and tinned tomatoes. All perfectly nice (even the cottage cheese pasta creation, which came as quite a surprise) but nothing that needs to be shared with the world.

If I ever do come up with a recipe on my own, it’s usually an accident. This recipe came about because I really wanted to eat avocado. No, it does not contain any. My avocado was a truly tragic brown-but-rock-solid mess. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. At the risk of sounding very #firstworldproblems, it was the worst avocado ever. So I settled for a tin of tuna. This may not be a logical step, I ended up making something delicious, so I guess it was a step worth taking.

As I mentioned, I don’t go in for much by way of measuring, and this is definitely one of those ‘mix things together until it tastes good’ sort of recipes. I combined half a tin of tuna with the following chopped vegetables: cherry tomatoes, cucumber, celery, green pepper, spinach. I added in a tablespoon of Greek yoghurt and a tablespoon of mayonnaise, along with a variety of spices. I went for curry-ish spices, like turmeric, cumin, garam masala, and a sprinkle of chilli powder. A simple curry powder would probably work really well too. The final step is making some couscous – about two or three tablespoons. Once the couscous is mixed in, I added a bit of lemon juice, covered the mixture and left it in the fridge for a few hours to let the flavours settle or whatever they’re supposed to do when you leave things.

It was really delicious, and pretty nutritious too. There was enough to eat two days in a row, which was a bonus, as it made good leftovers. I served it with crusty bread the first day, and pitta bread the second day.

That might be the worst photograph in the world but I’ve eaten it all now, so it’s all I’ve got. You should go make your own and take a better photo, if you can or if you want to. Most importantly you should just make this salad.

August 7, 2012
by Emily 6 Comments

Summer Salad

If you don’t live in the UK – or you’re lucky enough to live in a part of the UK that’s been having nice weather recently – you might not know that our Great British Summer has been all but non-existent. This is what the weather’s been doing lately in my lovely part of England: sun! It’s sunny and everyone’s happy. People plan barbeques and other frivolous sunny outdoor things. Suddenly the clouds appear. Soon the rains come. These rains range from averagely annoying to creating floods of Biblical proportions.

So today it’s been nice and summery and warm and I wanted something nice and summery and warm to eat. I also wanted something meatless, because after cooking a steak and kidney pie at work I did not fancy eating much meat. (Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about the steak and kidney, but there’s nothing like dealing with mass amounts of raw meat to make you fancy something a bit more on the vegetarian side.)

In steps this warm, summery salad creation full of tasty things like courgettes and halloumi and quinoa. Ideally I would have liked to eat it outside while bathing in the sun, but a) I ate it while sorting out my wardrobe and b) I am so terrified of the impending showers that I don’t really want to go outside.

Maybe it’s not the most attractive dish in the world. But it’s easy and delicious and good for you. So there.

Cook the quinoa. (Don’t listen to the suggested serving size on the packet, they don’t know you.) Chop up some celery and courgettes – or any other combination of vegetables that you want in your salad. Chop some halloumi into cubes. Drain the cooked quinoa and set aside. Fry the halloumi and vegetables in the oil of your choice (I used about a teaspoon of rapeseed oil). Add the quinoa and stir everything together in the pan for a few seconds. Arrange some fancy salad leaves in a bowl or on a plate, then spoon your quinoa and vegetable mixture over the top. (I only ended up using about two thirds of the mixture and put the rest in the fridge to eat tomorrow.) I added some cooked beetroot on top but only because we have some in the fridge that needed eating.

I’ve got to say that it was pretty delicious. I love the nutty flavour and odd texture of quinoa, and there’s something about warm stuff on salad leaves that’s really nice.

(In vaguely relevant health-related news, I am currently on day 4 of the 30 Day Shred and have not yet keeled over. Which is fantastic. I attempted it about 6 months ago and by the time I got to day 5 I ached all over and could not force myself to switch on the dvd and gave up. So it’s awesome to know that I’ve got fitter since then, and awesome that hopefully I will be even fitter by the end of the month.)

What’s the weather like for you?

July 15, 2012
by Emily 12 Comments

Blueberry Sour Cream Cake

Just a tip, for anyone who may be a worse baker than I am: if a recipe calls for ‘soft butter’, make sure your butter is actually soft. Don’t just take it straight out of the fridge and hope for the best. If you do what I did, you will spend a very long time trying to get rid of the lumps of butter in your mixture. So just plan ahead and let your butter soften. (This is more of a note to myself than anyone else.)

The recipe comes from the oracle that is BBC Good Food – but of course. I didn’t follow it to the letter –but of course. We never have sour cream in the house but we always have half fat creme fraiche so I decided to use that instead. I also decided against making the cream cheese icing because I just didn’t think it was necessary.

Someone told me that if you’re baking with blueberries, you should dust them with flour before adding them to the mixture, and then they’re less likely to sink to the bottom of the cake and/or explode. I tried this and a lot of them still sunk to the bottom, but it made the blueberries look all pretty and dusty.

I have to admit that I thought this cake was going to be an absolute disaster. I gave it 50 minutes in the oven, and it wasn’t set. So I gave it around another 30 minutes and then took it out and scowled at it and walked away and left it for 30 minutes. Then I returned to it and discovered that it tasted amazing.

My main issue with most cake is that it has a tendency to be very dry. This cake is more like a pudding in texture and I think that if I were to make it again, I might serve it warm from the oven with cream or ice cream. It didn’t last long enough for any such experimentation this time, especially once Rich arrived and ate around half of it to himself. (I will take that as a compliment, thank you very much.)

I think I might make this recipe again because I really liked it, and as far as I’m aware so did everyone else I fed it to. I can imagine turning up to some kind of potluck (even though we don’t really have those in England) with this cake. If I were making it for someone’s birthday cake, I might pull out the big guns and make the cheesecake icing. Now who’s got a birthday coming up and would like some delicious cake?

June 28, 2012
by Emily 4 Comments

A Better Day

After the travesty of a day that was Tuesday, Wednesday was much better.

(OK, so Tuesday wasn’t exactly a travesty. Like Mara said in the comments, it was one of those days that makes you want to cry while you’re enduring it, but is comical in retrospect. It was filled with first world problems and slight annoyances that were all cured and rectified with a bowl of pasta – I can’t really complain.)

Wednesday, however, was an absolute corker of a day. Here is why-

1. I didn’t have to work.

2. I bought a whole load of things that I didn’t necessarily need but which are lovely. Some yellow shoes, a storage box with birds on it, a yoga/exercise mat, and some amaretto flavoured coffee. All from TK Maxx, except the shoes which are from Tesco. And they were all absolute barry argins.

3. I received an email bearing good news. Not everything is in place yet but watch this space! #unnecessarilycryptic

4. I bought a pork shoulder so that I could make slow cooker pulled pork today. Here’s another non-recipe for you!

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork (adapted from almost every recipe for this I’ve ever seen, but particularly The Londoner’s)

She uses pork ribs but I used a shoulder. It was a cheap and nasty one from Tesco which came to the grand total of £3.86. Stick it in your slow cooker and pour some coke over it. I did not have any BBQ sauce so I didn’t use any. Whether this affected the flavour or not I will never know. (It has just occurred to me that I didn’t really follow her recipe at all, in any way.) Make sure the pork is covered and whack your slow cooker on high. After about 3hrs I removed a few ladles of the liquid and added some beef stock. (I can’t explain why I did this.) At this point I began to worry as it smelled disgusting and looked like some sort of alien. So I tried to forget about it for another few hours. Other things I added over the course of the cooking time: Frank’s Red Hot sauce, tomato puree, a sprinkle of brown sugar, a squeeze of HP sauce. Jesus wept I am bad at following recipes – though maybe this means I would be amazing at making my own recipes? (Probably not.)

All in all, my alien shaped pork shoulder was in the slow cooker for a total of around seven hours. I turned it over a few times because it seemed to grow (much like an alien would) and I didn’t want the exposed bits to get tough. I served the pork in much the same way as The Londoner does – in crusty buns with gherkins and red cabbage, along with a side of coleslaw. It was one of those sandwiches that lacked structural integrity but made up for it in tasting delicious.

There are so many ways to adapt a recipe like this. If you don’t have a slow cooker, use your oven. You can cook it in whatever liquid you like, really, though I have read that the Coke helps break down the enzymes or something – and the finished product does not taste like Coke. Use whatever cut of pork that you like. If you’re a vegetarian or a vegan… this is the wrong recipe for you.

Enjoy!

June 26, 2012
by Emily 8 Comments

One Of Those Days

Everyone’s had one of those days.

When a simple trip to the bank turns into a torturous 45 minutes of hell.

When you accidentally put Fairy liquid in the dishwasher and it overflows.

When you peel your finger instead of a carrot.

When you fall into the laundry basket when you’re gathering up towels.

When your knee suddenly decides it does not want you to walk around, work out, or be happy.

There are only a few things that can a day like that better. These things are a) listen to Janis Joplin and b) eat pasta with pesto and avocado. Here’s a good starting point for the first one.

And here’s the only non-recipe you need to lift your spirits.

Avocado and Pesto Pasta

You will need pasta of your choice, pesto and around 1/3 of a medium avocado. I made my own pesto, which is really easy… if you’re not me. All you have to do is blend pine nuts, basil, olive oil and parmesan. My advice would be not to attempt to blend it in a smoothie maker. It probably won’t work, and the next smoothie you make will have a vaguely cheesy flavour.

Put your pasta on to boil. I chose wholemeal spaghetti. Mash your avocado with a tiny squeeze of lemon juice. I added some leftover mushrooms and courgettes but if you don’t like them don’t use them. If you don’t like pesto or avocado… I’m not sure what to say to you really.

When your pasta is cooked, drain it and mix with avocado, pesto, vegetables and any other things you have chosen to add. Stir together. Serve with a sprinkle of sea salt and plenty of black pepper, and a slice of garlic bread if you’re that way inclined. Cheer up instantly.

If you’ve followed these steps and you’re still having a bad day, it’s time for cake and wine. Best of luck, my friend.

April 23, 2012
by Emily Leave a comment

What Emily Ate Next

Lately, I have been feeding myself in a way that is both nutritious and delicious. I feel happiest and healthiest when I put thought into what I’m eating – not only in the ‘calories and nutrients’ sense but also in the ‘deliciousness and eating what I’m craving’ sense. I’ve fallen out of love with writing blog posts just about what I ate, but I have eaten some lovely things lately and wanted to show them off. My meals have ranged from vegan (sweet potato and black bean stew) to vegetarian (falafel and hummus bagel) to meat-and-cheese heaven (tequila-lime chicken, avocado and cheese salad). I also made a pasta sauce with vodka – does it mean I’m growing up that I’m cooking with tequila and vodka instead of throwing them back?

What kind of delicious things have you eaten lately?

March 14, 2012
by Emily 10 Comments

Cookies, courgettes and cheese

Please rest assured that the aforementioned cookies, courgettes and cheese are not involved in the same dish.

In my possibly never-ending quest to perfect one signature dish and strike a line of victory through one of my self-set 30 before 30 challenges, I have been baking quite often as of late. I’ve got pretty good at cheese scones, tried my hand at oatmeal biscuits, dreamt up some heavenly white chocolate, cranberry and almond cookies, and dabbled in a loaf of courgette bread.

The verdict: The cheese scones, while very good, might not cut it as a signature dish just yet. Oatmeal biscuits are pleasant enough but it’s unlikely that I’ll bother making them again. White chocolate, cranberry and almond cookies are divine. Courgette bread is a source of confusion but very enjoyable served with a cup of tea and a good book. (That said, most things can be improved by the addition of hot beverages and literature.)

I must confess that these cookies pictured aren’t actually the ones I personally baked. The first batch went down so well (read: was demolished within a day) that my sister baked some more the next day.

If you invited someone to a party and they said they’d bring something they had baked, what would you hope it was?
If someone invited you to a party and asked you to take something you had baked, what would you take?

January 21, 2012
by Emily 2 Comments

The Perfect Tiramisu

This is not, in fact, the perfect tiramisu. As much as I would like to lay claim to such an accolade, I’m sure the perfect tiramisu is made by an Italian, or at least by someone with a great deal more know-how than myself. The reason it is perfect is because, as I’ve discussed before, I always think food I make myself is awesome. This is because I like to offer myself unnecessary congratulations and admiration for doing things that normal people do every day and don’t make a fuss about. It is also perfect because I plan to share it with some of the people I love the most.

When I was younger I would regularly cook spaghetti carbonara and tiramisu for family, friends, or just for myself. It comes as no real surprise that I would eventually become obsessed with Italian culture as well as Italian food.

Here’s the recipe that I used:

175ml strong black coffee / 6 tbsp Tia Maria liqueur / 150g lady finger biscuits / 250g mascarpone cheese / 284ml double cream / 4 tbsp sifted icing sugar / 1 tsp cocoa powder

Make the coffee and add the Tia Maria. Put to one side to cool. Whip the cream and mix with mascarpone and icing sugar. Arrange half the lady fingers in the bottom of a dish. Pour over half of the coffee mixture. Spread with half of the cream mixture. Repeat. (Depending on the size and shape of your dish, you might need more layers. Whatever works!) Leave in the fridge to chill for a few hours. Sprinkle with cocoa powder and serve.

This recipe is actually not very unhealthy at all, as the calories you expend while whipping the cream will negate the calories that you eventually eat. This may or may not be true.

I’m sure someone will inform me that this is not an authentic tiramisu recipe, and therefore is awful. I’m aware that some people think you’re meant to use marsala wine. And some people don’t think you should sprinkle cocoa powder on top. And the rest. Here are the facts, as I know them: I have no marsala wine, but I have Tia Maria, and Tia Maria tastes good. Cocoa powder on top looks pretty, and tastes good. I tend to use ingredients that first and foremost taste good, and also what is affordable and convenient. This is the recipe I’ve been using for years, and I love it, and other people seem to like it as well.

Serve with some Italian wine, Peroni, or a shot of grappa if you think you’re hard enough.

January 12, 2012
by Emily 7 Comments

Ricotta & Chocolate Muffins

I’ve been at it again. Baking, that is. It didn’t go too badly last time, so I thought I might try again. As with most things that I make, this was simply an effort to use up something in the fridge that wasn’t going to get eaten otherwise. The ingredient in question: ricotta. There was talk of pasta, but it was the evening, everybody had already eaten, and the cogs of my brain were already set in motion. After a dash around the internet, I came back with the idea of chocolate ricotta muffins. Here is the basic recipe I was working from:

240g ricotta / 2 large eggs / 320ml milk / 1 tbsp vanilla extract / 4tbsp butter / 260g flour / 250g white sugar / 2tsp baking powder / half a tsp salt / 60g cocoa powder / 180g chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180C. Combine cheese and eggs, mix well. Add milk, vanilla, and butter. Set aside.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Combine both mixtures, add chocolate chips. Bake for 20 minutes.

Except I didn’t follow this exact recipe because I seem to have a mental inability to do as I’m told. I used 260g of ricotta because that’s how much was in the tub, added more flour to compensate for that, less sugar because I ran out, cream of tartar instead of baking powder because I don’t know the difference, and missed out the chocolate chips because, well, because I forgot. If you want to make them, perhaps you should follow the recipe. I think mine turned out perfectly well, though. They’re not very sweet, but to be honest that feels like the perfect antidote to the festive season’s excesses. As they’re not too chocolatey, it feels acceptable to eat them for breakfast, which makes them a winner in my eyes.

Now for some pretentious pictures of the muffins. Don’t tell me you didn’t know this was coming.

January 11, 2012
by Emily 8 Comments

WIAW

In here we have: a Thornton’s chocolate, salad, halloumi stuffed pepper, beer, balsamic vinegar, Fuji apple, apple + blueberries, crudités + homemade tortilla chips with hummus + spicy bean dip, far too many Miniature Heroes consumed in bed at the boyfriend’s house, and Bolognese tortellini baked with halloumi, cheddar, pasta sauce, peppers + peas.

To make the halloumi stuffed peppers: deseed however many peppers you would like to have stuffed. Stick them in the oven. While they’re in the oven, chop up some halloumi, and make some couscous. (We put some Quorn mince in, but I wouldn’t really recommend it. It was flavourless and very dry. Use real mince if you’re a carnivore, or otherwise just go without!) Take the peppers out of the oven before they’re fully cooked, and cram the couscous and halloumi inside. Put them back into the oven for a few more minutes, until the pepper and the cheese are how you want them to be.

To make the baked tortellini: (This is really not an interesting recipe. Don’t get your hopes up.) Get a packet of tortellini. Cook according to packet instructions and drain, then pour into a casserole dish. Empty a jar of pasta sauce over it. Add chunks of halloumi (because you have it leftover from your stuffed peppers, of course). Mix in some red peppers, peas, and whatever variety of vegetables you might have lying around. Put in the oven for five minutes or so. Take out, put some grated cheddar on top, stick it back in until the cheddar has melted. We had homemade cheesy garlic bread with ours – to make this we toasted some bread, mixed chopped garlic into butter and spread that on, topped it with a little bit of cheese and then finished it under the grill.

Have you ever tried halloumi?

Am I the only one still eating leftover Christmas chocolate?

What Emily Did Next

country living, city dreaming

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