Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

I hate wasting food - it's why my freezer's jammed packed of meals ready to be reheated. When preparing this soup I decided not to throw away the seeds form the pumpkin and instead make a healthy snack!

Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

So take the seeds from the pumpkin and spread them out on some baking paper in a pan. Don't worry about washing them just shove them into the pan.

bake them on a medium heat for about 30 minutes (I put them in underneath the vegetables I was roating for the soup). Once they are nice and dry and roasted and then add a teaspoonful of coconut oil in a frying pan. Add the seeds with some cracked black pepper, some sea salt and some Cajun spice mix and stir over a moderate heat for 3 minutes of so. Put in a dish and allow to cool,

A healthy, delicious snack which uses up part of a vegetable that you would usually discard!

I'm rubbish at keeping up to date but........

I am a bad human being, terrible in fact. I just never have time to update my blog - especially as at the moment I am juggling my full time day job, barmaiding a couple of evenings a week and helping my beloved best friend Charlotte plan her wedding.... life is busy busy busy and I kind of forgot my lovely little blog, which is a shame because I love to write, especially about food. And also opens me up to all kind of abuse from my favourite supplier Chris as we talk all the time about food but I never actually update!!
Trouble is at this moment of my life my time in the kitchen is limited to a couple of minutes here and there, usually to extract washing from the machine (my least favourite job in the world is unloading the washing machine, it fills me with dread). Cooking for me has been severely off the menu, which is sad, very sad, and I miss it and I miss how relaxed it makes me.... so my blog is going to change slightly, I will still be blogging my recipes but I'll also be blogging about the food I eat and where I'm eating it that way i wont be so constrained with what I can write on here......
So last night I finished work and went to see my gorgeous friend Kate and my little Godson Harrison and rather than making a huge dinner we went for the French classic Croque Monsieur, otherwise known as a posh cheese and ham toastie..... its so much more then a toastie though and when done properly they taste so amazing. Here we go:

Croque Monsieur (Posh Cheese & Ham Toastie)

I refuse to write out the list of ingredients for this, its simple stuff you can follow without trouble... so you take some bread and I hate to say it but it is the one occasion where brown bread is disallowed, it has to be white and you brush each side with melted butter and but under the grill so it can go golden brown. Whilst the bread is toasting you melt about a tablespoon of butter in a pan and add about a half a tablespoon of flour into it beating it until it forms a glossy paste. Gradually add some milk in (I warm the milk in the microwave first) until you have a nice smooth and thick bechemal sauce. Add in a small handful of grated cheese, I'm sure you should use the traditional Gruyere or Emmental but we just used some mature cheddar (MMmmmmm i LOVE cheese) and then your sauce is ready. Take your toasted bread put a thin layer of the bechemal on each piece of bread and layer some ham and then some grated cheese. Put the sandwich together and then spoon some of the sauce on top (if you like you can add a sprinkle of cheese as well but we didn't bother as we added a bit of cheese to the sauce) Then put back under the grill and let all the lovely cheese and sauce become gooey and warm. Then Voila! You have the bestest toasted sandwich ever.... .I can only apologise for the lack of a photo but its a  half hearted sorry because these have to be eaten straight away washed down with some very un-French cold beers!

Simple Sunday Supper

I very much enjoy Sundays; there is something rather luxurious about pottering around in a pair of ex boyfriends pj bottoms (well they say you should take something from every relationship you have and I've found this to be far the most effective thing) after a long weekend at work and a busy Saturday. Sometimes I'll mix it up and go for a swim or a walk, often I'll do some form of cleaning and of course when your in a relationship you tend to do couply things but I like my Sundays to be peaceful and quiet and preferably spent on my own.

Foodwise sometimes I'll be sociable have everyone over and cook one of my rather awesome roasts. As much as I'm at my happiest feeding my nearest and dearest, roasts create so much washing up and leave my cheeks so very flushed. Sometimes I'll go out for a meal with my beloved friends and sometimes when I have no work on the Monday I'll drag my friend Timmy to the pub to get drunk! Today after a bit of a mad girly night out I just decided that a nice simple supper on my own was all I needed.....

I made the pate the day before and this recipe is very much influenced by Mr Slater the God of all cooks but I've tweaked it around a bit and I absolutely insist on the peppercorns - the fireiness sets of the smooth texture of the pate perfectly! Once you've realised how easy and tasty this is you will find it hard to justify picking up a pack of the shop bought stuff!

Chicken liver pate with Peppercorns

400g chicken livers (average pack size me thinks)
milk
150g butter (nice and soft)
100ml double cream
glug of white wine / brandy - most recipes call for brandy but i must confess i had none in my house so white wine was substituted, but it tasted delicious so we'll go with it!
1tbsp green peppercorns (as I've instructed before drain them first on kitchen paper

You start by de-viening the livers, this isn't the nicest job in the world and I do tend to hack away a bit but practise makes perfect. Place the livers into a bowl, cover with milk and leave them for about an hour - plenty of time to have a soak in the bath or do your nails!! Melt a third of the butter in the pan and let it froth and then add the livers one by one - stand well away these babies spit like nothing else! they need about 5-6 minutes and a couple of turns so they are lightly golden but not overcooked after all you want a pink pate! put all contents of pan (juices and everything) into a blender with the cream and the rest of the butter, start to blend. Put the pan back on the heat and add a couple of glugs of brandy, let is reduce a bit and then add it into the blender. Blend it until nice and smooth and there you have it! Most recipes say to sieve this mixture but I find you don't really need to, just mix in the peppercorns and pour into ramekins!

Now leave them to set in the fridge for about an hour. Melt some butter and then pour over each ramekin this helps the pate keep a bit better and makes it look a little bit more professional!

And so my pate's sat looking rather scrummy in the fridge and my lazy Sunday supper involved the great task of making some toast, spreading on some pate and onion marmalade and demolishing in front of BBC 4's "The story of Musicals". Rock n Roll is my middle name honest.