Beef Kofta Kebabs

As we’re now in the midst of barbecue season, it seemed a perfect time to cook and share one of our favourite charcoaled meat dishes - beef koftas.

I cook these year round (under the grill outside of summer), but there is something extra special about the taste when barbecued and served with pitta, salad and tzatziki or any other array of lovely summer dishes.

You can play around with the herbs and spices depending on what you like, but these are good. I use 15% steak mince, as whilst I’m attempting to shave off some calories here and there, they need a little fat in them to keep them moist and prevent them drying out.

The below makes around six koftas.

Beef Kofta Kebabs

Here’s how: 

• 500g 15% fat steak mince
• 2 large spring onions
• 2 cloves garlic
• Pinch salt
• Black pepper
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp cumin
• Handful each of fresh mint, parsley and coriander
• 1 beaten egg to bind

Firstly get a large bowl and throw the meat in. Season generously.

Now peel and mince the garlic and finely chop the spring onions and add to the meat bowl.

Measure out the spices and add to the bowl.

Roughly chop the herbs up and throw into the bowl and then crack the egg into a separate bowl and whisk it.

Now throw the egg into the bowl and use your hands to smoosh everything together.

Once you’re happy with the consistency, break into six roughly equal sized pieces and roll into a sausage shape.

Really use your hands to bring together and roll against the chopping board to help it get into this shape.

Once the koftas are ready, use a skewer for each and pierce all the way through. You’ll now need to use your hands to press the koftas around the skewers a little and this can help lengthen the koftas too. You ideally want an equal thickness all the way along, so they cool evenly. Don’t be too gentle, you want them to be tightly packed around the skewer so they don’t fall apart during cooking.

Beef Kofta Kebabs

Now wash your hands, and find a plate or board and spray with some Fry Light or an alternative and then place each kofta on this. Cover with cling film and place into the fridge until cooking time.

Allowing them some time in the fridge also helps prevent them from falling apart when cooking.

When you’re ready to cook them, give them a quick spray with Fry Light, to stop them sticking to the grill, then place them onto the main part of the barbecue grill and allow to cook for 4 minutes on each side, turning carefully with tongs as you go.

They take about 10-12 minutes in total cooking on coal, but if you are unsure, just cut into the thickest part of one of them to ensure it’s cooked through.

If you like it really charred, then cook for longer. Enjoy!

Plain Scones

Cream Tea at Home

If you enjoy a cream tea, and like baking, then a simple scone recipe is a great one to have in your cooking armoury. 

You'll be surprised at how easy these are to make, and if you serve them slightly warm, they are just to die for. Buttery, crumbly and delicious - especially with a cup of tea.

As we are heading to Cornwall very soon, I served these the Cornish way; jam first, then the Roddas Clotted Cream - just perfect.

Plain Scones

Plain Scones

Here's how:

• 375g self raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 95g butter - room temperature, and cut into cubes
• 3.5 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 190ml milk (use full fat)
• 1 drop of lemon juice
• 1 beaten egg to brush over before baking
• Roddas Clotted Cream and some Strawberry Jam to serve

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees and get a baking sheet ready - line it if you wish.

In a large bowl tip in the self raising flour, the salt and the baking powder and mix a little.

Now add the butter cubes into the bowl and use your hands to rub the mixture together, until it resembles breadcrumbs.

At this point add the sugar and mix well.

Measure out the milk into a small jug or bowl and add the vanilla then pop into the microwave for twenty seconds to take the chill off of it. 

At this point pop the baking tray into the oven to warm up as you want to place the uncooked scones onto a hot surface.

Now make a hole in the middle of the flour in the large bowl and pour in the liquid as well as the drop of lemon juice.

Use your hands to bring everything together, it will be quite wet to begin but will soon come together as a dough.

Once it is a dough consistency, scatter some more flour over a clean work surface and place the dough onto it. Use your hands to fold over the dough 3-4 times, until it is quite smooth. Be careful not to overwork it here.

Use your hands to then smooth it out into a flat piece of dough, it doesn't need to be perfectly straight or flat, just a similar thickness, about 3-4cm deep.

Now take a round cutter and make 4-6 scones. With any excess dough bring back together and press down and you can make another scone. 

Now quickly beat an egg and then remove the hot baking sheet from the oven. 

Place each scone onto the tray and brush over the beaten egg.

Place into the oven and bake for 10 minutes until they are golden brown and well risen.

Serve warm with your choice of clotted cream, jam or even butter. Enjoy!

If you enjoy simple bakes here are a few other ideas you might enjoy:

Rhubarb & Custard Cake

Guilt Free Apple Cake

Lemon and Honey Yoghurt Cake

Lemon Curd and Blueberry Muffins

Simple Double Chocolate Tray Bake

Chocolate Cornflake and Marshmallow Cakes

Lemon Drizzle Cake

Banana and Berry Breakfast Muffins

Cheese Muffins

Easter Cookies with Mini Eggs

I absolutely love the annual onslaught of Easter and all the chocolatey goodness that comes our way since having children but I'm very nervous about Mini Eggs or any other solid chocolate eggs of that shape and size because of the obvious choking risk.

We came up with these cookies last year in order to allow my girls to enjoy the Mini Eggs that were bought for them without me panicking about any choking risk. 

The cookie mixture is a recipe I use loads and is always well-received, you could always up the chocolate chips instead, or add raisins and oats instead. 

Bridget and Beatrice enjoyed making these this morning and enjoyed eating a couple straight after baking even more. I adore cooking with my girls - it's a fun, educational and sensory experience. 

Whatever your plans this Easter have a fabulous long weekend.

Easter Cookies with Mini Eggs

Here's how:

Ingredients:

• 150g salted butter, room temperature
• 85g brown sugar
• 85g granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tbsp cocoa (I use Green & Black's)
• 240g plain flour
• 100g milk chocolate
• Mini Eggs (80g bag) 

Method:

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees and line a couple of baking trays with grease-proof paper.

If cooking with children, I tend to do the chopping etc. first - so I would at this stage chop the Mini Eggs in half or thirds and chop the chocolate bar into chunky pieces.

Now measure the butter and sugars and add to a mixing bowl and cream together with a wooden spoon.

Bridget and Beatrice making Easter Cookies with Mini Eggs

Bridget and Beatrice making cookies

Once well combined, add the egg and vanilla and mix well. 

Now add the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and the milk and again, mix well. 

Once you have achieved a good cookie dough consistency, add the chocolate chunks - but not the Mini Eggs. (If the cookie dough is too clunky or dry add a little extra milk a drop at a time until you are happy). 

Now use a couple of tablespoons to scoop out the cookies - you will need to do in a couple of batches, so don't be tempted to pack them on too tightly on the baking trays. Use about a heaped tablespoon in a round and place 5-6 on each,  try to keep them well spaced apart. You don't need to press them down or anything just leave in a round.

Place them into the oven for four minutes, by which time they will have spread out a little, and then remove and carefully place the Mini Eggs into each cookie 2-3 pieces  per cookie, with the coloured side up. 

Return to the oven and cook for a further 8 minutes. 

Easter Cookies with Mini Eggs

Remove from the oven and place onto a wire rack or board to cool. Enjoy!

Reduced Calorie Bolognese

Spaghetti Bolognese is always a crowd-pleaser at our house and as I’m trying to get a few pounds off before the summer holiday season begins, I have tweaked the more traditional version to reduce the calories and this is pretty good even if I say so myself.

Using turkey thigh mince instead of the usual steak or beef mince immediately shaves off approximately 60 calories, and by taking out the red wine and adding instead a touch of balsamic vinegar, again takes out around 160 calories overall. I would usually use a generous amount of olive oil when making a bolognese sauce, but have reduced this too just three sprays of Fry Light Olive Oil at only 3 calories.

I serve with 150g cooked wholemeal spaghetti too - which is easier to digest and has half the amount of sugar to white spaghetti. The below gives x4 portions and one with the 150g pasta and a tiny 6g Grana Padana grated over too comes in at 515 calories.

I add cinnamon to the mince as it cooks, which gives a great flavour and is more of a nod towards the Greek flavours of a meaty ragu, rather than Italian, but trust me it works beautifully.

Reduced Calorie Bolognese

Here’s how:

• 250g turkey thigh mince
• 1 large white onion
• 1 large clove garlic
• 1 large carrot
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried cinnamon
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• Water
• 3x sprays of Fry Light Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

Firstly spray the pan with the Fry Light and place on a low heat.

Peel and finely dice the onion and add to the pan.

Peel and mince the garlic and also add to the pan.

Now peel the carrot and finely dice, and cut the celery into small slithers too. Add both to the pan.

Once the vegetables are softened, add the turkey mince and season well.

Use a wooden spatula or spoon to gently break up the meat to avoid it all clumping together.

Once it has begun to brown, mix it around and allow it to cook all over. At this point add the dried cinnamon and stir.

Once the meat has all coloured, add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, balsamic vinegar, oregano, sugar and rosemary and mix well. Now fill the empty tomato can up with water straight from the tap and pour over the meat.

Now simply allow to cook for at least thirty minutes until the sauce has reduced down and thickened up a little. The longer you cook the sauce for, the more intense the flavour will be so if you're not in a rush leave it to cook down for as long as you can.

Serve over spaghetti with a small smattering of Grana Padana and enjoy!

Smoky Tomato Soup

I love a good, homemade soup and tomato is up there with my favourites - I often make Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup in the summer months, when tomatoes are ripe and full of flavour, but this version is something else entirely.

It has the background sweetness of a normal tomato soup but the roasted, charred flavour mixed with the paprika and the heat from a red chilli makes it smoky. spicy and completely moreish.

It's completely vegetarian too so great for serving to veggie guests - if you omit the cheese at the end it can also be vegan or plant-based.

The below makes three portions of soup and each bowl is around 240 calories when dressed with a little Grana Padano. 

Smoky Tomato Soup

Here's how:

• 600g tomatoes
• 1 white onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 red chilli
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 vegetable stock pot made up to around 750-800ml
• Pinch salt
• Black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Few shavings of Grana Padano

Firstly place onto a high heat of 200 degrees. 

Roughly chop the tomatoes into quarters and throw onto a baking tray. Season generously and pour over the olive oil. Place into the oven for 20 minutes, or until just beginning to char.

In the meantime prepare the base of the soup by finely dicing an onion, mincing a clove of garlic and slicing a chilli and gently frying in a drizzle of olive oil. 

Once the onion mixture is soft, add the paprika and oregano. 

Once the tomatoes are ready, pop them into the pot with the onions and mix through. 

Pour over the vegetable stock and give another seasoning of black pepper and allow to cook away for fifteen minutes.

Blitz the soup off the heat, return to the pan to warm through and serve with a couple of shavings of the Grana Padano. Enjoy!

A few other soup recipes that you might like:

Chunky Lentil & Kale Soup

Asparagus Soup with Crispy Bacon

Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup

Red Pepper Soup

Quick Pork Noodle Soup

Restorative Green Soup

Winter Vegetable Soup

Thai Sweet Potato Soup

Skinny Broccoli & Fennel Soup

Mexican Mushroom Soup

Rhubarb and Custard Cake

I made this cake for the first time on Sunday as an experiment as my parents were coming for dinner and both my Dad and I absolutely adore rhubarb. It made a completely delicious dessert served with good vanilla ice cream.

It had a tartness from the rhubarb but was well balanced with the sweet custard-flavoured cake batter and I’ll be sure to make it again. I mean, who doesn’t have a fondness for the combination of rhubarb and custard.

We eat the entire cake in one sitting between the six of us so that should give an indication of the reception it got. I will say it looked a little over-brown and charred when it came out of the oven, but it really did taste great.

I took inspiration from The Australian Women’s Weekly The Cake Stall recipe book which I was gifted a long time ago; but I made a cheat short-cut in adding ready-made custard instead of making my own. This added a thicker baked custard-like texture and just sped up the process (I was painting garden fences whilst preparing dinner on Sunday). Feel free to make your own custard though if you have plenty or time. 

Rhubarb and Custard Cake

Rhubarb and Custard Cake

Here’s how;

• 4 rhubarb stalks
• 110g Caster sugar
• 200g Softened butter
• 185g Self-raising flour
• 3 tbsp custard powder
• 3 eggs
• 1 carton or tin of ready-made custard

Firstly pre-heat the oven and grease and line a small but deep tin.

Now prepare the rhubarb stalks by cutting the ends off and then slicing length-ways down the rhubarb and setting aside.

In a mixing bowl cream together the sugar and softened butter until thick and creamy, then add the eggs, beating them in one at a time.

Next combine the flour and custard powder and sift into the wet mixture and mix until all is combined.

Now pour about half of the cake mixture into the bottom of the tin and smooth across so it’s evenly covering the base.

Now take a few of the rhubarb stalks and place them gently into the cake batter.

Next pour over the custard, and then finally spoon on the remaining cake batter and carefully spread over the custard.

For the final thing before baking, gently place the rhubarb on top of the cake batter, and press lightly down.

Place into the oven for 45 minutes, then test with a skewer to ensure when prodded the skewer comes out dry. If not return to the oven for a further ten minutes.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or even more custard.

For more baking inspiration here are a few other cake recipes you might like:

Lemon Drizzle Cake

Mary Berry's Marbled Chocolate Ring Cake

Guilt Free Apple Cake

Coffee and Walnut Tray Bake with Vanilla Latte Icing

St. Clement's Drizzle Cake

Peach Upside Down Cake

Lemon Honey and Yoghurt Cake with Blueberries

Carrot Cake

Creamy Chicken, Pepper and Mushroom Skillet Dinner

Chickens, peppers, mushrooms, garlic and a creamy sauce - this dish needs very little introduction. It ticks the comfort food box for me and served with a heap of fresh vegetables it is almost virtuous. Almost.

I have reduced the calories significantly by using creme fraiche rather than the usual double cream and it is still delicious and creamy. I also refrained from serving over a bed of buttery mash potato - but I advise you do so if you’re not watching your calorie intake or diet.

I prepare the entire dish in one skillet too which means less washing up - win, win.

The below serves a family of four.

Creamy Chicken, Pepper and Mushroom Skillet Dinner

Here’s how;

• 3 shallots
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 150g mixed mushrooms
• 6-7 chicken thighs, skin on
• Xx Creme Fraiche
• 1/2 glass white wine. I used Vina Sol as it was knocking about in the fridge - any white wine is fine
• Handful Parsley
• Salt & black pepper
• Olive oil

Firstly coat the skillet in a little olive oil and place onto a medium heat on the hob. Also preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Now season the skin of the chicken thighs generously and place each thigh, skin down into the skillet.

Allow them to really brown and crisp up well, for about 8-10 minutes, moving around gently to stop them sticking to the pan.

In the meantime prepare the vegetables: peel and dice the shallot, mince the garlic, chop the peppers and slice the mushrooms and set aside.

Turn over each chicken thigh when satisfied they are brown and crisp enough and simply sear on the other side for a few minutes.

Now remove each thigh, and place on a plate for the moment.

Add the shallots and garlic to the pan now and allow to gently cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the peppers for another couple of minutes to carefully soften.

At this point add the white wine and make sure the heat is between medium and high - you want the alcohol to cook out, but to flavour the dish lightly.

Once the wine is sizzling away and has reduced slightly, return the chicken to the skillet and add the mushrooms. Pour over the creme fraiche and stir well to combine - it will quickly thin down to a runny sauce.

At this point generously season the dish and place it onto the middle shelf in the oven and allow it to cook for ten minutes, or until the chicken thighs are cooked right through.

Remove from the oven.

Roughly chop the parsley and scatter over the skillet before serving. Enjoy!