Easy Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake:

I've been hunting for an easy carrot cake recipe for quite some time without success. There are hundreds of recipes on line and they are all very different. I've tried a few and never quite liked the icing or the been impressed with the results until recently. I found it in someones blog - then I tweaked it till I was happy with my version.

The reason I chose this particular one was simply because I had the ingredients in the cupboards and also because it's a no butter recipe. The fat comes from oil - so I substituted monosaturated rapeseed oil which is so much better for you than saturated fats in butter. I've also decided to omit the icing as there is no need for all that butter and icing sugar on top. The cake is not overly sweet and can be served with icecream/custard especially when hot out the oven!

The cake won't rise very much but the slices are moist and more-ish. This is the third time I've made it and it works a treat. It's so easy - all you have to do is measure out the ingredients, mix gently by hand and bung into the oven for 25-30min. Minimum of fuss and maximum in taste... and goodness!

Ingredients:
125g of Self raising flour sifted through a sieve into a mixing bowl
125g of Soft brown sugar
125g of Grated carrots [about 2 medium sized carrots peeled and grated]
125g of Monounsaturated oil like rapeseeed oil*

25g of dessicated coconut
25g of chopped walnuts
25g of raisins

1tsp of cinnamon
A pinch of salt
1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
2eggs

Equipment:
Pre-heated oven to 200 degrees C [fan]
Weighing machine
Grater
Greased Floured Springform cake tin lined with baking paper
Sieve

Note: the recipe I found on line didn't use a raising agent so my 1st attempt was quite flat. I used 1 tsp of baking powder in my 2nd attempt and it was slightly higher but the 3rd attempt with 1 tsp of bicarb worked best. They are both levening agents and cannot be used together but bicarb works better if the cake batter is acidic which I think it is with the carrots in... I think it will always rise better if you also have a good oven that doesn't lose heat and if you don't prematurely open the oven door and let air in!

Method:

1. Measure out everything and put all the dry ingredients into a bowl along with the nuts, grated carrots and raisins

2. Add the eggs and gently mix together before adding the oil and making sure it is all combined well

3. Scrape the batter into the tin and pop into the oven on the middle shelf and turn down the heat to 180 degrees

4. Take out and rest after 25-30min when the top is golden

5. Remove from the tin and serve warm with cold icecream or cold with hot custard

[*Monounsaturated fats are good for health as they help reduce low density lipoprotein cholesterol i.e.LDL which is the bad stuff, but they do not reduce high density lipoprotein aka HDL cholesterol - which is the good kind. They are linked with healthy diets that reduce the risk and the rate of coronary heart disease...

Of course the sugar, raisins and the coconut attribute to the richness of this cake but it's one of the healthiest ones going I reckon due to having no butter and no butter based icing on top. It also has the nutrients from the carrots like Vitamin A and Fibre along with good fats from the nuts! So there's no need to feel guilty when tucking into this treat - just go easy on the icecream or custard!]

Sunday Rules

The French have apparently just discovered long lazy Sunday lunches spanning into the night, but not too late into the night, before Monday morning blues take over. They are calling it Drunch [drunken lunch?] This is according to the latest Sunday Times Magazine.

Get with the programme I say. The British have been doing long Sunday lunches from before time began. A good Sunday session can start with a late breakfast [bloody Mary anyone] or a late boozy lunch. When you actually start lunch depends on how long you are slow cooking your food and you can drink till it is bedtime if you so wish!  It’s fun to get your friends and family together, analyse the weekend shennanigans and eat slowly for hours. It makes the start of the working week that much more bearable. To be honest as far as I am concerned, all the rules go out the window on the day of rest. Why limit yourself? Why not Brunch, Drunch then a midnight snack? or how about Breakfast in bed and then supper at any of the thousands of gastropubs we have these days?

This weekend my Sunday involved a small breakfast at home with the papers, followed by a 2^nd breakfast [!!] at a funky cafe featuring baked eggs and delicious barista made coffees. What a treat! This meant that lunch was not needed and indeed postponed to an early supper...sigh!  so many meal opportunities on a lazy sunday! Instead of going slow roasting, this time I opted for a speedy Sunday Supper.

 

Rack of Lamb with Harissa, Couscous Salad, and Asparagus with a parsley & yogurt dip:

Ingredients:

Rack of Lamb: Marinated with garlic, rosemary and harissa paste [You can buy this paste from supermarkets in a jar and store it in the fridge. It's a Moroccan chili paste with bags of flavour]

 

Couscous Salad:

Couscous – half a small pack in a deep bowl

Tomatoes – finely sliced

Red Onion – ¼ finely sliced

Pitted Black Greek olives – handful, sliced

Olive oil

Lemon juice from 1/2 a lemon

Basil [handful chopped up]

Salt and Pepper [to taste]

Asparagus

Dip:

Yogurt [plain]

Parsley

1 clove of garlic crushed

Salt and Pepper

Olive oil

 

Method:

1.       Marinade the lamb with rosemary, crushed garlic and harissa paste and set aside

2.       Make the tomato salsa and set aside

3.       Prepare the asparagus i.e wash and snap off the woody ends

4.       Crush the garlic, chop the parsley, mix with yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice and season to taste

5.       When you are ready to eat grill the rack for 10 minutes and boil the kettle

6.       Pour boiling water over the couscous – about 2cm of water above the level of the couscous. 

        Then cover with cling film and ignore for 10 minutes.

7.       Take the rack out and slice into chops

8.       Heat a table spoon of oil in a frying pan and fry the chops 2.5 minutes on each side then set aside to rest. Deglaze the pan with water and reduce to a thick sauce and drizzle this over the chops.

9.       Add the salsa to the couscous and season with salt. Mix well. Drizzle with olive oil.

10.     Char grill the asparagus [this is better than frying or boiling and dry grilling brings out the flavours and makes it more intense] then drizzle with olive oil when it's off the heat and serve with the yogurt dip

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are a few components to this meal but as long as you’ve got everything prepared, then the actual cooking does not take long. In fact it was eaten pretty quickly too! Leaving plenty of Sunday left for lounging around in pyjamas, listening to some tunes and reading a good book!



Chilli Con Carne with Chipolte Chilli & Chocolate

Chilli Con Carne

I’m not a huge fan of chilli con carne but I saw a Hairy Biker Recipe which looked more interesting than your usual run of the mill variety. They used minced beef as well as diced chunks of beef. They also used different types of beans and finished the dish with a chunk of dark chocolate to temper the heat and deepen the taste.

So I decided to have a go and tweak their recipe to my own specifications. I found chipotle [smoked dried jalapenos] in a local supermarket and decided to add another dimension with scotch bonnets. I also used cayenne and dried red chilli flakes! 4 different chilli hits for an entirely personal take on Chilli. Now you may think that’s too much – so use less of each or use whichever type you want. I think the smoked chipotle is a key ingredient for an authentic Mexican take on this dish but it’s not always easy to find.

 

Ingredients:

Diced Beef

Minced Beef or horsemeat [which ever you find]
2 Large Onions peeled and diced
2 Large Carrots peeled and diced
2 Cloves of Garlic sliced
1 dried Chipolte Chilli [whole]
1 tsp of red chilli flakes
1 tsp of cayenne [optional]
1 tsp of smoked paprika – hot [optional]
A very fine slice or two of the scotch bonnet pepper - use with caution [!!!]
1 tsp of thyme
1 tsp of dried oregano
1 tbsp of agave nectar
1 tbsp of tomato puree
2 tins/packs of chopped tomatoes
1 pint of chicken stock [oxo cube will do]
1 can of cooked beans [drained] – I used Haricot
3 cubes of dark chocolate [I had 50% cooking chocolate in the cupboard; Hairy Bikers use 70%]
Rapeseed oil [to fry the meat and veg in]
Salt and pepper [to taste]
Fresh Coriander/Parsley chopped - for garnish

 

It’s a very long list of ingredients. This type of list usually puts me off a recipe. Luckily, I had all the stuff in my store cupboard and some you can easily substitute e.g. use sugar instead of agave nectar, any other cooked beans/pulses instead of haricot beans, opt out of using the scotch bonnet. or the cayenne.

Essentially the idea is to cook it slowly like a stew. So brown the meat in batches. Soften the onions and carrots. Add the meat and the spices. Then add the tomatoes, stock and all the ingredients apart from the chocolate, coriander and the beans. Simmer for 2.5 hours – 3 hours. the longer you cook it the better it will be and softer the meat. Stir the chilli occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan adding water if it looks too dry. Check for seasoning and add the beans, chocolate and green herbs in the last 15minutes.

The chilli tastes better the next day and the heat mellows a little overnight.

Serve with boiled white rice and a mouth douser like yogurt. I made a avocado and red onion salad with plain yogurt dressing to balance out the heat with a cool relish.

This is one pot slow cooking ideal for the weekend. A large batch like this will last a few meals or some of it could be frozen for one of those school nights when you are too tired to cook.