CS-E : Cooking Successes - Engineers

These little biscuits have magical properties. They.  Just.  Disappear. The  recipe I originally had said that these were an ideal way of using left-over cheese.  What craziness is this?  Leftover Cheese?   Insanity. Basically, use 100g of whatever flavorsome  cheese you have.  I've even used Stilton, ...nothing was wasted :-) Ingredients 75g unsalted butter, softened ½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper ½ tsp salt 1 small clove garlic, peeled and grated to a paste 50g Parmesan, grated 50g hard cheese, such as Cheddar or double Gloucester, grated 100g plain flour How To... In a bowl, beat the butter, pepper, garlic and salt until smooth. Stir in the grated cheeses and flour, and work into a soft, evenly mixed dough, adding a scant teaspoon or so of water if the biscuit mixture seems on the dry side. Chill for about 30 minutes, covered if you like. Preheat the oven to 160C (140C fan-assisted)/325F/gas mark 3. Line a baking t...

A Family Favourite, and for a damned good reason. It's easy, nutritious and delicious. Ingredients 1 tea bag 300g Mixed Fruit (Sultanas / Raisins / Currants / Mixed Peel / Cranberries...whatever) 175g sugar  2 medium eggs, beaten 225g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp ground cinnamon Method • Pour 300ml boiling water into a measuring jug with the tea bag and leave to infuse for 4-5 minutes. (Or just use some from a teapot.) • Place fruit in a large bowl. Pour the tea over, then discard the tea bag. Stir well, cover with clingfilm and leave to soak for 4-5 hours or overnight. • Preheat the oven to 180°C / gas mark 4.  • Line the base of a loaf tin.  • Stir the sugar and then the eggs into the fruit mixture.  • Sift in the flour, baking powder and cinnamon and stir the mixture until thoroughly combined. • Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 1½ hours, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.  • Cov...

Nice sunny day, so it seemed a suitable day for making a Victoria Sponge. Fresh whipped cream, and Raspberry jam filling. Recipe - PREP: 20 MINS COOK: 20 MINS EASY CUTS INTO 8-10 SLICES 200g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing 200g caster sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 4 medium eggs 200g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting about 6 tbsp raspberry  jam 250ml double cream, whipped icing sugar, for dusting Method Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Grease and flour 2 x 20cm sandwich tins. Place the butter, sugar and vanilla extract into a bowl and beat well to a creamy consistency. Slowly beat in the eggs, one by one, then fold in the flour and mix well. Divide the mix between the cake tins, place into the oven and bake for about 20 mins until risen and golden brown. The cakes should spring back when gently pushed in the middle. When ready, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 mins in the tin, before turning out onto a wire rack an...

Getting creative with the contents of the larder. A container of Self-Raising Flour of unknown vintage. Eggs getting towards the end of their shelf life, apple getting soft, Apple Curd made at Easter ... better use them up. Result - Very NomNom, tho' the flour was clearly past its best.

I do play around with the recipe, using a mix of a variety of flours - Wholemeal, White, 000 Pasta flour. I've even added in some grated cheese. Experiment folks. 400g strong white flour, plus more for shaping 1 tsp dry instant yeast, from a sachet 1 tsp fine salt 300ml warm water oil for kneading Put the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl, pour in the water  then stir into a sticky mass.  Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave for 10 minutes.  Lightly oil your worktop and hands.  Knead the dough for 10 seconds and return it to the bowl.  Repeat twice more at 10-minute intervals, then leave in the bowl for 45 minutes.  Wipe the worktop, dust it with flour then pat the dough into a rough oblong.  Roll it up tightly, pinch each end to keep it neat then place seam-side down on a floured tray.  Alternatively, place carefully in a greased and floured tin. Cover with a cloth and leave for 45 minutes or until the dough has expanded by a h...