Christmas Yule Log

Christmas Yule Log

So this week I have decided to start trying out a few Christmas recipes in time to perfect them in time for our flurry of guests throughout the coming month.

First on the list was my personal favourite festive treat; The Chocolate Yule Log. Needless to say it went down a storm with Nick and the in-laws, and Bella even sat still long enough to watch me from her high chair (enjoying a rusk)... which goes to show how quick and easy it is.

You will need

• 3 eggs
• 75g Caster Sugar
• 75g Self Raising Flour
• 200g Icing Sugar
• 35g Green and Blacks Cocoa ( you can use any cocoa but G&B's is the best!!)
• 200g Softened butter
• 1 tablespoon Cocoa
• 1 tsp milk

Preheat oven to 200 C

Line a long thin baking tray with baking parchment and grease around the outside also.

Whisk together your sugar and butter in a large bowl using an electric whisk.

Sieve in your flour and fold in to the mixture.  Then do the same with your cocoa.

Spread over your baking parchment and bake for 10 mins.

Remove from oven, allow sponge to cool and tip out onto a tea towel on your kitchen surface. Trim off any crispy edges.

Next prepare your butter-cream icing by mixing together your butter, icing sugar and milk together in a bowl until smooth. If you want the inside of your yule log to be chocolatey, add the tablespoon of cocoa powder too.

Spread a very thin layer of your butter-cream icing over the sponge and simply roll over until you make your log shape.

Using a pallet knife, cover the log in the remaining butter-cream (if you left the cocoa powder out above, you can add it in here) and once the whole thing is covered, flick the topping up with a fork to add some hedgehog spikes and then dust a small amount of icing sugar over the top using a sieve.

Et Voila... Tempting and chocolatey and ready for you to decorate with holly, berries and fluffy Christmas robins!

Abel and Cole

Doorstep Drop Off

A few months ago, thanks to a very, very dear friend I discovered what is now quite possibly one of my favourite companies on the planet... Abel and Cole.

As soon as I logged on to their website I was converted, and every Monday I am now the extremely delighted recipient of a delicious variety of seasonal, organic veg. And who wouldn't find Monday mornings more bearable when you wake up to a great big cardboard box full of goodies sitting in the porch!


One of the winning factors for me is the ease of use of their website. It is so fool proof that even I manage to select my likes and dislikes, choose the dates I'll be on holiday (and so won't need a delivery), flick through the endless recipes and add bits and bobs onto the back of my main order.

We have the small veg box which is £9 and plenty for the two of us. The weekly boxes are always varied which gives me the perfect excuse to try out new recipes (not always successful... as Robbie will vouch for) and it also makes sure we're eating more of our 5 a day!

You can log into the site in advance and change your order if there's something you don't like, or you know you need something extra. And it's not just veggies! There's a whole range of food and drink - all fresh and organic.

This was yesterday's delivery (and yes some of the items do arrive looking like they've just been pulled out of the ground, but this is to keep them fresh and to try and prevent any transit-bruising):

If there's ever a vegetable that someone might not be as familiar with using as they are with the good ole' carrots or broccoli, they even pop in a handy little guide like they did for this little aubergine...

We got an extra present for free (sometimes the nice people at Abel and Cole do that) - a mini mince pie. Unfortunately I scoffed it before I remembered to get my phone out and take a snap. My first mince pie of the season!

In keeping with the Christmas spirit, they'd included a Christmas booklet. As well as showcasing the wines and foods they sell online, there were some great Christmas recipe ideas too...

As well as fulfilling my vegetable dreams, Abel and Cole are also very particular when it comes to being eco-friendly. Not only can you leave your empty boxes on the porch each week for collection (they use them again), but they also have some very 'cool' cooler-bag ideas too...

This week I'd found their Chilli Crab Spaghetti recipe online, and ordered a few extra bits to make it. I'll post it up once its cooked. This is the crab meat that arrived in the above cool bag, nice and... cool :-)

Beef Tacos

Taco Tuesday

After spending two days listening to the endless drones of a man-flu victim, there was nothing else for it. If it kept him quiet for half an hour, I was going to slave away at the stove for twenty minutes to prepare his fave dinner - Cheesy Beef Tacos.

This recipe is SO quick and easy, looks the part and tastes restaurant quality! If you want to try it, here's what you'll need:

• 500g beef mince
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2tbsp tomato puree
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1tsp ground Cumin, 1tsp Chilli flakes, 1tsp hot Paprika
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped into small chunks
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• Lettuce
• A load of grated cheddar cheese
• Ready made taco shells, I use Old El Paso, below

For the lettuce, I use baby gems as the leaves fit perfectly into the little taco shells...

 
Firstly, fry your onion and garlic in a little oil. Add the mince and brown all over. Then add your Cumin, Paprika, Chilli flakes, tomato puree and give it all a good stir.

Allow to cook for a few minutes to let the Mexican spices flavour the meat.

Meanwhile, prepare your taco shells so they are standing upright in an oven proof dish. Add the lettuce leaves something like this:

Pile the mince meat mixture into the taco shells. Sprinkle OVER-generously with your grated cheese, and pop in the oven till cheese is melted, glistening, and screaming out your name.

Add the chopped tomatoes and spring onion to the top of the tacos and stuff any gaps you can around the sides with spare tomato.

Grate on a little more cheese (one can never have too much). Place delicately on a plate with a lettuce leaf to make it look like a Ramsey creation and serve!

Oh, and don't forget to summon the flu patient before you polish them all off!