Rachel Allen’s Carrot Cake

MUNCH RATING: 1/5

I saw Rachel Allen make this cake on TV the other week and it looked really easy to make and quite delicious. It was easy to make however the quantities for the icing was far too much and I only needed about one third to cover the whole cake.

I had very mixed reviews on this cake, some people really liked the sultanas and others weren’t too keen, as they said it was too much like fruit cake. I personally thought it was OK, but it definitely tasted better the following day. I’d kept it in the fridge because of the cream cheese and I think it being served slightly chilled made a big difference.

For a totally awesome Carrot Cake recipe check this out!

Ingredients: 

For the cake:

• 140ml vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
• 2 eggs
• 200g soft light brown sugar
• 300g grated carrot, (grated weight)
• 100g raisins (I used sultanas instead)
  
• 75g pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
• 180g self-raising flour
• 1 pinch salt
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ tsp mixed spice 

For the cream cheese icing:

• 250g cream cheese, chilled
• 50g butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 275g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 orange, zest only

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 2/300°F/150°C. Oil and line a 13 x 23cm loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then add the oil, brown sugar, grated carrot, raisins and chopped nuts. 
3. Sift in the rest of the dry ingredients and bring the mixture together using a wooden or large metal spoon until well combined.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, smooth the surface and bake in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
5. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the tin for about five minutes before removing. Cool completely on a wire rack before serving. 

For the icing: beat the cream cheese and butter together in a bowl until well combined. Add the vanilla extract, icing sugar and finely grated orange zest and mix until the icing is smooth and thick. Using a palette knife, spread the icing evenly over the cooled cake, dipping the knife into a bowl of hot water if the icing is hard to spread out. Cut into slices to serve.

Chinese style braised beef

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

This recipe is from BBC Good Food and I cooked it in my Tefal 4-in-1 rice cooker for 6 hours, but I have written the original recipe here.
The beef was incredibly tender, although we weren’t that keen on the Chinese Five Spice flavour, so would leave it out next time.

• Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 3-4 tbsp olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• goodthumb-size piece fresh root ginger, peeled and shredded
• 1 bunch spring onions, sliced
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
• 1½ kg braising beef, cut into large pieces
• 2 tbsp plain flour, well seasoned
• 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• 2 star anise (optional)
• 2 tsp light muscovado sugar (or use whatever you've got)
• 3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry
• 3 tbsp dark soy sauce , plus more to serve
• 500ml beef stock (I used Knorr Touch of Taste vegetable stock)
• steamed bok choi and steamed basmati rice, to serve 

Directions:

1. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large, shallow casserole. Fry the garlic, ginger, onions and chilli for 3 mins until soft and fragrant. Tip onto a plate. Toss the beef in the flour, add 1 tbsp more oil to the pan, then brown the meat in batches, adding the final tbsp oil if you need to. It should take about 5 mins to brown each batch properly.
2. Add the five-spice and star anise (if using) to the pan, tip in the gingery mix, then fry for 1 min until the spices are fragrant. Add the sugar, then the beef and stir until combined. Keep the heat high, then splash in the wine or sherry, scraping up any meaty bits. Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2.
3. Pour in the soy and stock (it won't cover the meat completely), bring to a simmer, then tightly cover, transfer to the oven and cook for 1½-2 hrs, stirring the meat halfway through. The meat should be very soft, and any sinewy bits should have melted away. Season with more soy. This can now be chilled and frozen for up to 1 month.
4. Nestle the cooked bok choi into the pan, then bring to the table with the basmati rice straight away and tuck in.

Chicken Tikka Masala

MUNCH RATING: 4/5
 
This is a dish you will need to prepare in advance as you need to marinate the chicken for at least 8 hours or overnight. This makes the chicken lovely and tender and really flavoursome. I served this with pilaf rice which I cooked in my Tefal 4-in-1 rice cooker, but you can do this in the oven using this pilaf recipe.

This dish is actually really easy to make, as the sauce is basically a spicy tomato and onion sauce laced with cream or yoghurt.

• Serves 4

Ingredients:
About 4 – 6 Chicken pieces, cut into 2 inch chunks (I always use thighs but they tend to vary in size, so I allow at least 1 large thigh per person and add a couple extra).

FOR THE MARINADE

• 4 cm /1 ½ inches ginger, grated
• 3 or 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon garam masala*
• 1 teaspoon curry powder*
• ½ teaspoon chilli powder*
• ½ ground cumin*
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 5 tablespoons natural yoghurt (this is about half of a 150ml pot)

FOR THE SAUCE

• ½ onion, chopped (use the other ½ for the pilaf rice)
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 2 or 3 tinned plum tomatoes or third of a tin of chopped tomatoes
• 200ml chicken or vegetable stock
• 5 tablespoons natural yoghurt (this is the other half of the 150ml pot) or double cream for a creamier, less tangy flavour.
• 1 tablespoon honey (optional) 

Directions:

1. Make the Marinade: Put the ginger, garlic, spices, salt and lemon juice into a wide shallow non-metallic dish and mix into a smooth paste, then add the chicken and mix to coat thoroughly. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight.
2. Make the sauce: Fry the onion in a tablespoon of oil until softened and golden brown. (If making pilaf rice then set aside ½ of the onion at this stage). Stir in the curry powder and cook for 2 minutes, adding a splash of water if it starts to catch on the bottom of the pan. Add the tomatoes and stir over a high heat for a few minutes until they have broken down. Add the chicken stock and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened. Take off the heat and use a blender to make the sauce smooth. Return to the heat and stir in the yoghurt or double cream and honey.
3. Cook the chicken: Heat the grill to its highest setting. Arrange the chicken pieces on an oven tray and cook for 5-10 minutes until charred at the edges, then turn the chicken pieces over and cook for a further few minutes until completely cooked through.
4. Add the cooked chicken to the sauce, along with any juices from the oven tray and give it a good stir. Heat through until piping hot and serve with rice.

COOK'S NOTES:
You can adjust the spice mix to your own tastes or whatever you have in the cupboard. The 4 main spices used in curries are: turmeric, cumin, chilli and ground coriander. These were the main spices that were in my curry powder and garam masala and I added extra cumin and chilli as ‘top notes’ to my curry.