Millie's Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’ve fallen in love with Millie’s Cookies from the first time I tried them in London few years ago. There are so many different ones and it’s hard for me to choose only one or two and I always want more afterwards. The kind of cookies that are soft, chewy and melt in your mouth. I always wanted to be able to make such cookies by myself.

I have to admit that I’m not very good at baking, but I never stop trying. Practice makes perfect! That’s way last weekend I decided to give baking another go.

I found recipie for Millie’s chocolate chip cookies on Lauren Smith’s blog. It wasn’t complicated and had a lot of good comments. The cookies came out lovely and doughey, but also crunchy at the sides. The secret is to keep then in the oven shorter, like Lauren says - 7 minutes. I didn’t change anything in the recipie. For me, they were quite sweet, I'll add less sugar or chocolate chips next time. I’m sure next time will be very soon:)

Lauren Smith’s Chocolate Chip Cookies Millies Style

http://laureneasmith.blogspot.com/2008/05/millies-cookie-recipe.html

Ingredients:

125g butter, softened
100g light brown soft sugar
125g caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
225g self-raising flour
½ tsp salt
200g chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
Cream butter and sugars, once creamed, combine in the egg and vanilla.
Sift in the flour and salt, then the chocolate chips.
Roll into walnut size balls, for a more homemade look, or roll into a long, thick sausage shape and slice to make neater looking cookies.
Place on ungreased baking paper. If you want to have the real Millies experience then bake for just 7 minutes, till the cookies are just setting - the cookies will be really doughy and delicious. Otherwise cook for 10 minutes until just golden round the edges.

Chicken in minutes!

I came back home today so hungry that I wanted to eat immediately. I could have sandwich or order a pizza, but I decided to prepare a proper dinner. I thought chicken breast would be ideal as it is quick to prepare.

The left over mango chutney that I had in the fridge after a curry night with my friends two weeks ago inspired me to prepare this sticky chilli mango chicken. A delightful combination of chili, lemon, curry and the mango chutney spice up a bland chicken breast.

The dish goes well with flavoured couscous and simple salad.

There’s nothing better than home made meal!

Ingredients (serve 2)
2 chicken breasts

2 tsp mango chutney

1 tsp chili

1 tsp curry

1 lemon

Pre-heat oven to 200C/gas mark 6.

Stir the mango chutney, lemon juice and spices in a bowl, then spread the mixture over the meat.

Place the chicken breasts on a roasting tin and cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Spoon any baking juices over top before serving.

Spaghetti with prawns and rocket

I adore Italian cusines and really enjoy experimenting with pasta dishes. When I found a recipe for spaghetti with prawns, chili and rocket I knew it would be a perfect combination of textures and flavours. Being a meat free recipe week, it's also a great alternative to my favorite Spaghetti Bolognese.
The dish is super quick and easy to make. The timing is important, so it’s good to do the preps and have all the ingredients handy. Wow factor is guaranted in just 30 minutes for all pasta and seafood lovers.
I will definitively be coming back to it more often.

Ingredients (for 3 hungry people)
400g dried spaghetti
1 – 2 long chilies, crumbled
Extra virgin olive oil
200g prawns
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
100g of wild rocket
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook spaghetti in a large pan of salted boiling water according to the packet instructions.

While spaghetti is cooking, heat around 100ml extra virgin olive oil in a large frying pan and toss in the garlic and chilies. When the garlic begins to colour, add prawns and sauté them for few minutes. Be careful not to overcook them. When they are pink and become 'C' shaped, they are done!

Remove from heat, add spaghetti, lemon zest and juice, fold through the rocket and stir.

Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

A week without meat and Moroccan Cuisine

Few days ago my husband suggested that we should give up meat for the whole week. I was a bit shocked, because I know how much he loves his steaks and pork chops, but he didn’t have to repeat it twice.  I was up for it.

There are hundreds of vegetarian recipes on the internet and it was hard to choose only few.    I decided to start with Moroccan chickpeas and butternut squash tagine. Was it a good choice? Definitively!

The dish is very aromatic and typically for Moroccan cuisines bursting with its unique sweet-savory flavours. The recipe suggests that it should be served with couscous, but we had it with rice and was great too. In a matter of minutes, my husband consumed the whole dish and his comments was ‘absolutely delicious’ and to hear it from a big meat eater was a huge compliment.

 
Ingredients (serves two with left overs for next day lunch):
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cut into chunks
1 onion, sliced thinly
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp corriander seeds, crushed roughly
4 whole garlic cloves, skin on
15g fresh ginger, chopped
49 g pitted dates, chopped
500ml vegetable stock made from 1 cube
2 tbsp Morroccan spice
400g can chickpeas, drained
75g frozen peas
juice of 1/2 lemon
15g toasted flaked almonds (didn't have, omitted)

Preheat oven to 200C/gas mark 6/180C fan. Place the squash in a roasting tin with the onion, drizzle the oil and scatter with the corriander seeds. Add the garlic and roast for 30 minutes or until the squash has softened and is beginning o char. Remove from the oven.

Meanwhile, place the ginger and dates in a large lidded pan with the stock and spice. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes until dates are easly mashed. Remove from the heat. When cool enough to handle, take the garlic cloves from the roasting tin, squeeze out the flesh and add to the pan. Blend until smooth using a handheld blender (the mixture will still be quite liquid).

Heat the souce again, add the squash, onion, chickpeas and peas. bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes, until hot. Season and stir in the lemon juice. Serve with cus cus (or rice), with the almonds scattered over.

Baked Squirrel

When I told my friends that I baked squirrel they could not believe me. How could I eat such a small, cute creature? No, I couldn't do that!

The baked squirrel is actually a cake. It got its name thanks to apples, walnuts and a ginger colour. It’s so easy to make that even a baking beginner can handle it. The cake is very moist and walnuts add a crunchy texture. If you like carrot cake, you will have to try squirrel as well.

 
Ingredients:
4 baking apples such as Bramley or Golden Noble, peeled and cut into chunks
2 glasses of self raising flour
1 glass of sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1/2 glass of sunflower or vegetables oil
1 glass of chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
 

Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 5/fan 180C. Oil and line the base and sides of an 18cm square cake tin with baking parchment.

In a large mixing bowl beat eggs with sugar till sugar dissolve. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon, then sift into the bowl. Lightly mix all the ingredients and while still mixing it pour oil slowly.

Add apples and walnuts and stir. Pour the mixture into the baking tin.

Bake for around 40 minutes. The best way to check if the cake is ready is to poke the centre of the cake with a cocktail stick or skewer. If the stick is wet and sticky, the cake needs some more time in the oven. If the stick is dry the cake is ready.

You can decorate it with icing sugar and whole walnuts.

 

Summery - Citrus tagliatelle with grilled plaice

I love summer - nice, hot weather, blue sky and longer days.
Unfortunately, we don't have many sunny days in Manchester, so when the weather is hot and nice I celebrate it as if it's the last day of the summer.

And what's the best way to celebrate it, if not to prepare something light and fresh, something that reminds me about all the beautiful places I have visited.

The recipe for citrus grilled plaice is quick and simple, yet sophisticated. Fish with lemon is always a good combination and zest of orange adds citrusy flavour.

Ingredients (for 2 people):
175g fresh tagliatelle
1 courgette and 1 carrot, cut in ribbons
Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 orange
Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon, plus wedges to squeeze over
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp snipped fresh chives (i didn't have it, omitted)
2 x plaice fillets
15g low fat spread

Preheat the grill to medium and line a grill pan with foil. Cook the tagliatelle according to pack instruction, adding courgette and carrot ribbons for the last minute of cooking. Drain well.

Combine the orange and lemon zest and juices with the oil, chives and toss into the pasta. Cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, put the plaice on the grill pan and dot with the low fat spread. Season with black pepper and grill for 4-5 minutes until cooked through - it will flake easily.

Serve the plaice with the juices on a pile of pasta with the lemon wedges (for squeezing over).
This can also be good with salmon fillets (grill fillets for 5-10 minutes).