Friday 28 August 2009

Sugar Cookies for the Birthday Girl

It's my good friend Tiffany's Birthday on Tuesday so I'm baking her some sugar cookies to send in the post. I'm posted them earlier so she will get them tomorrow due to the bank holiday so she will have to open them early.

I'm soooooo excited to go home for the weekend to see the kids although my sister just caled to say she's taking them camping so I'll only see them on Monday :-( Booooo

Here is the recipe for sugar cookies. I'm afraid I can't take the credit for these. I love watching Miss Trulys videos on you tube (http://www.youtube.com/user/SignatureSweetShoppe) and she makes amazing cookies so I gave her recipe a whirl last night.

Mrs Trulys Recipe for Sugar Cookies:
.
5 & 1/2 Cups plain flour 3 Cups sugar
4 x Large Eggs
500g Butter (salted)
1 x tbsp lemon extract
1 x tbsp vanilla extract
.
Pre-heat oven to 375 F / 190 C / Gas Mark 5
.
1. Beat the butter with the sugar until fluffy
2. Add in the extracts and the eggs and beat until it looks like whipped butter
3. Add in the flour
4. Pour the dough onto a piece of cling film and wrap.
5. Put it in the fridge for a couple of hours until firm
6. Roll out to 3/8 of an inch
7. Bake for approx 15-22 mins until starting to brown.
.



Miss Trulys Icing Recipe:
1 Egg White
1 tsp Cream of Tarter
Splash of flavouring if you want
Icing Sugar - You have to keep adding it until you get the right consistency. It should 'ribbon' on the surface before disappearing.

Watch Miss Trulys video for the cookies here -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5moVhLL0LA

Watch Miss Trulys video for the icing here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efmpm6WNazE
.
Mrs Hackneys Notes:
By using 1 egg white, it made enough to cover around 16 cookies.
.
If you want to make and ice all the cookies straight away (I froze half the dough) then add an extra egg white and tsp of cream of tarter to make mor eicing.
.
If you don't have a mixer (I have one but it's rubbish, see wish list) use a food processor. This is what I did and then I changed to a bowl and added the last bit of flour by hand.
.
They also worked best when I left the dough in the fridge overnight.
.
The dough spread a tiny bit so maybe add a 1/4 extra plain flour.
.
I baked them for 17 minutes.
.
I used a spash of lemon extract in the icing.
.

I hope she likes them!! :-)

The Woman who lived in a shoe...

Sharon emailed me this link because I want 10 kids! I loved reading this!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1209432/Couple-finally-squeeze-wedding--having-TEN-children-12-years.html

Thursday 27 August 2009

I love my hubby...

My hubby is soooooo cute.

He text me on Tue and said he was waiting for a delivery so could I wait in a sign for it but it never came.

Then I was out all day yesterday so wasn’t in to sign for it. Finally it was delivered today.

It’s wasn’t a T-shirt being delivered for him which is what he told me.

It was a bouquet of flowers to say ‘To my beautiful wife. Love you all the world. Xxx’ because Tuesday was our one month anniversary of being married!

He is soooooo cute! xx

Feeling sorry for oneself...

Last night my husband and I met up with Mr Jon Davis for dinner at The Butchers Hook and very nice it was too. We shared 60g of freshly carved ham and some cod goujons. I chose my usual Butchers Hook main course of steak and chips, which was as tasty as it always followed by a French cheese board and a glass of vintage port. Jon very cheekily paid the bill so thank you for a lovely meal.

As Jon paid, I thought it was only fair to make everyone margaritas back at the flat. We watched the new episode of Shooting Stars and laughed. A whole lot.

Kenny went to work late with a banging headache and I feel the same. The kitchen is covered in raspberries and strawberries and half a bag of ice has melted all over the cooker. I'm sad to say that my lovely dinner didn't stay down long enough to be able to count it as part of my daily intake. Nice.

I think I might retire the smoothie maker to the back of the cupboard for a while...

On a plus note, I worked out the perfect recipe for a berry margarita.

Mrs Hackneys Recipe for a Berry Merry Margarita:

Makes enough for 3 people.

Warning: Extremely tasty and fruity and very easy to drink but very, very lethal.

Ingredients:
1/2 Bag of ice (this fills my smoothie maker about 2 thirds.)
6 shots of tequila
Gran Marnier - Bubble one, two, three
1/2 punnet of strawberries
1 x punnet of raspberries
Lemon Juice (in a carton) Bubble one, two
Lime Cordial - Bubble, one, two, three
Lemon Cordial - Bubble one, two
Orange Juice (in a carton) Bubble one, two

OK, you're probably wondering what Bubble means. Well, it quite simply means you tip the liquid in and say out loud 'bubble, one, two etc' then stop pouring. :-) Don't ask, it's a bartender thing.

Notes:
Remember to put the ice away.
Remember to wipe down any spilled berries in a bid not stain the benches.
Remember to take a milk thistle tablet before you start drinking and another one before you go to bed if you don't want a hangover.

Enjoy :-)

Tuesday 25 August 2009

Shepherds Pie for the Hungover

I've been working from home today on mine and Emma's new business concept. Fingers crossed it all works out and we make loads of money!
.
I also heard back from the photographer who expects us to pay £1175 for a CD of pictures when he has a whole package on his website offering the same thing plus 80 print for £950 - go figure. So as soon as he gets back to me with a proper offer of a refund, I'll let you know.
.
My bargain of the day has to be the fruit I got off the market. I got 10 boxes of raspberries and 4 boxes of strawberries for £2.00! Yes you heard me right people! £2.00 for 14 boxes of fruit! A few of the raspberries had seen better days so I've thrown them out and washed the rest so into the freezer they'll go for future frozen margaritas or smoothies. :-)
.
Kenny was very drunk last when he got in because Aston Villa beat Liverpool last night and it hasn't been done for years or something along those lines so he was very merry to say the least. I'm not surprised he's feeling rotten today so I'm making him a Shepherds Pie to make him feel better.
.
Mrs Hackneys Recipe for Shepherds Pie:

Serves 4 people or 2 really hungry people with a bowl leftover for lunch the next day

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
500g minced lamb
1 x large onion, finely chopped
1 x large carrot, finely chopped
2 x cloves garlic, crushed
2 x tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 x tbsp x tomato puree
1 x tbsp x sugar
1 x tsp x dried thyme
1/2 x tsp dried rosemary
1 x Cup red wine
1 1/2 x Cups chicken stock
1kg potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
50g / large x knob of butter
1 x egg yolk
4 - 5 tbsp x grated Parmesan plus some for sprinkling
Salt & Pepper to season



1. Preheat the oven to 200˚C or 100˚C (see number 12)

2. Heat the oil in a pan. Add in the mince and fry for around 5 minutes. Season with salt & pepper.

3. Add the onions, carrot and minced garlic.

4. Add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree and herbs and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

5. Pour in the red wine and reduce until almost evaporated.

6. Add the chicken stock, bring to the boil and simmer until the sauce has thickened.

7. Add in the sugar and mix well.

8. Add in the cornflour mixture and remove from heat.

9. Mash the boiled and drained potatoes and add in the egg yolk, butter and Parmesan. Season well. White pepper is best for this.

10. Spoon the mince mixture into the bottom of a large ovenproof dish. Spoon the mashed potatoes on top of the mince. Don't make it look too pretty, it loos nicer a bit chunky!

11. Grate some extra Parmesan over and season.

12. If you want to eat it soon, bake in the oven for approximately 20-25 minutes, until golden and crispy on the top - oven temp for this is 200˚C. If you want to bake it slow in the oven (for example if you're waiting for your husband to come home from a hard days work!) then put it in the oven at around 100˚C for an hour and turn up the heat to around 200˚C 10-15 minutes before you want to serve it.

Tips:
Desiree potatoes work best for mashed taters.Place the dish on a baking tray as the mince mixture can sometimes spill over the edges.

I serve this with buttered asparagus and a large glass of red wine.

Enjoy :-)

Monday 24 August 2009

Stir Fried Pork & Onions for the Hardworker

After a long day of hard work over at Emma's house, I came home to an empty flat. No Sueling and no Kenny boy. So rather than make something from scratch, I raided the fridge for leftovers and ended up making stir-fried pork and onions, which Sue made me for me the other night. I didn't have the recipe so just bunged a bit of each ingredient into the frying pan that I remember her mentioning and it was yum :-)
.

Mrs Hackneys Recipe for Stir-fried Pork & Onions in Oyster Sauce:
.
Serves 1 very greedy person
.
Splash of Sunflower Oil
2 x Thin Pork Boneless Loin Steaks, cut into strips
1 x Onion, cut into chunks
Splash of Soy Sauce
1/2 Jar of Oyster Sauce (50 - 75 ml)
1 tbs Sugar
Salt & Pepper to season
.
1. Add the onions to the pan with a splash of sunflower oil
2. Add in the pork
3. Sprinkle over the sugar
4. Stir-fry until the pork is cooked
5. Pour in the oyster sauce
6. Season with soy sauce, salt and pepper
7. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes

Serve with leftover breakfast fried rice and large glass of red wine!!


And if you're really lucky, have some frozzzen yogurt for dessert :-)

Sunday 23 August 2009

Breakfast Egg Fried Rice for the Lazy

Kenny just complained that it's Sunday and we don't have anything in for breakfast.

Due to the fact that I cannot be bothered to leave the flat today (and the fact that he told me exactly what he thought of having my frozzzen yogurt for breakfast!) I decided to make us some breakfast egg fried rice. You can make this with whatever you have in the cupboards but as we only had pancetta and eggs, that is what I used in this version today.

Mrs Hackneys Recipe for Breakfast Egg Fried Rice:



Serves 2 - 3 hungry people



.
6 x Eggs
1 x Tub of Pancetta (they sell mini tubs of 206 grams at Sainsburys)
250 grams x Long Grain Rice / Basmati Rice (Must be cold)
Splash x Sunflower Oil
Splash x Toasted Sesame Oil
Splash x Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce
Salt & Pepper to season
.


.
1. Cook the pancetta on high heat until golden and crispy. Set aside.
2. Scramble the eggs in the left over fat from the pancetta. Set aside with the pancetta.
3. Add a good splash of sunflower oil and a good splash of toasted sesame oil into the pan.
4. Add the cold rice and cook for approx 3-5 mins.
5. Add in a good splash of soy sauce and season well with salt and pepper.
6. When the rice is hot, add in the egg and pancetta and cook for a further 3 minutes.
.
Serve and enjoy :-)
.
*This is also is delicious with a dollop of tomato ketchup.

Frozzzen Yogurt

Since my bff Sharon and I discovered SNOG, a frozen yogurt shop in South Kensington last week, I have been craving frozen yogurt since.

I've been searching for recipes the last week and found a fair few but due to the fact that I only had a 500g pot in the fridge this-morning, I ended up making my own version.
Mrs Hackneys Frozzzen Yogurt Recipe:
1 x 500 gram pot of Low Fat Natural Yogurt
75 x grams Caster Sugar
Fresh fruit to serve


Stir the sugar straight into the yogurt and pour into an ice cream maker. Churn for 30 minutes and you'll get this delicious frozzzen yogurt! Sprinkle with fruits and enjoy.


I have to say, it was as good as (if not better) than snogs! Woo Hoo!

Saturday 22 August 2009

Kennys Chilli Nachos

Mmmmmm my lovely hubby just made me chilli nachos and they are deeeeeelicious!!



Here is the recipe for the chilli:

1 x Tins of Chopped Tomatoes
1 x Large Onion, diced
1 x Clove of Garlic, crushed
1/4 Jar Jalapenos, chopped
2 x Red Chillies, chopped
1 x Red Pepper, chopped into chunks
1 x Pack of Lean Minced Beef
1 x Tin of Red Kidney Beans
Salt & Pepper
1 Small Squeeze Tomato Puree
1 x tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 /2 x tsp Cayanne Pepper
1 x tsp Chilli Flakes


1. Cook the onions, garlic and red pepper in a frying pan.
2. Add in the tomato puree.
3. Remove from frying pan and put into seperate pan.
4. Fry mince beef with salt and pepper. When cooked, add to the onion mix.
5. Add tinned tomatoes to the pan.
6. Add Worcestershire sauce, tobasco sauce, cayanne pepper, chilli flakes, chopped chillis, jalapenos to the mixture.
7. Add kidney beans last.

Serve with boiled rice or piled on top of cheesy nachos straight out of the oven.


Mmmmmmm enjoy :-)

Corned Beef & Potato Pie for the insomniacs :-)

When I think about my favourite comfort food, corned beef always springs to mind.

Whether it's the corned beef and potato squares I used to get from Peters Bakery when I was younger, the corned beef hash and fried eggs from Westway Diner, my favourite diner in NYC or the corned beef hash type stew my older sister makes for me sometimes, I just can't get enough!
Here is a simple recipe I made the other day because I was still jet lagged from honeymoon and woke up at 4am!

Mrs Hackneys Corned Beef & Potato Pie Recipe:

For the Crust:
8oz / 250g Plain Flour
4oz / 110g Cold Butter
4 - 6 tbs Cold Water
1 Egg & a splash of milk (for egg wash)

Filling:
1 x Tin of corned beef
Approx 6 potatoes (cubed, boiled and drained)
1 x beef stock jelly or cube
Salt & pepper
1 x Large Onion (diced)
Olive Oil
Worcestershire Sauce

Start with the pasty first because you will need to chill it before you use it. Rub the cold butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add in the water until it mixes to a soft but not sticky dough. Wrap it in cling film and put it into the fridge for at least 30 mins.

In the meantime, make the filling. Peel, cube and boil the potatoes. Set aside a third of them.

In a pan on low, add a splash of olive oil and throw in your onions. Cook for approx 10 - 15 minutes so that they slowly caramelise. Add in the tin of corned beef and the 2/3 thirds of potatoes. Mash with a potato masher until combined. In a cup, dissolve the stock jelly/cube (I like the knorr jelly stock pot ones) in about a 1/3 cup of boiling water. You don't want too much water otherwise the mix will be too wet and won't set. Pour into the corned beef and potato mixture and season well with salt and white pepper. Add a splash of Worcestershire sauce to taste. Add in the leftover potatoes that you set aside but be careful not to break them up as you want the pie to have some bite. Set aside to cool whilst you roll the pastry.


Prep the dish by rubbing butter all over it and then dust it with flour - this will prevent the pastry from sticking to the dish when it comes to cutting it. Roll out the pastry and cover the sides and the bottom of your pie dish. Prick all over with a fork. The dish size I used is approx A5 (half an A4 sheet of paper).

With the leftover pastry, cut into strips, cover with cling film and put in the fridge to keep cold whilst the base cooks. Luckily I got to use my new little pastry cutter that my hubby bought me on our honeymoon!

To make sure that the crust is cooked and not soggy, you need to 'blind bake' the pastry. Add a piece of baking parchment and pour in your baking beads (you can use rice, lentils or dried beans if you don't have these). Bake for approx 15 - 20 minutes until it's just nearly cooked but not brown yet.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 - 10 minutes before filling it with the corned beef and potato mixture.
Cover the top with the pastry strips and brush it with the egg wash.

Bake in a moderately hot oven (approx 220 c) until golden brown.


As you can see in the photo, I didn't have any eggs in at the time either so I just brushed with milk!
I like it served cold but my hubby likes it warm served with brown sauce!
Enjoy :-)

Margaritaville


On our honeymoon travels, our favourite place in Las Vegas was Margaritaville. It's a bar owned by Jimmy Buffet and they have a great selection of margaritas, not to mention the fact that they serve the largest plate of nachos I've ever seen!!
We decided to re-create Margaritaville so I went out an bought a blender (Only £20 from Argos - bargain!) and the hubby went out and stocked on tequila, fruit, juices, limes etc.

My first attempt was this and it was lovely:
Mrs Hackneys Mango Margarita Recipe:

1 x Mango
Ice Cubes
Splash of lime cordial
Splash of lemon cordial
Splash of lemon juice (in a carton)
Splash of orange juice (in a carton)
3 shots of tequila
Splash of contreau
Squeeze of fresh lime


Dump it all into the blender and wizz until it's a nice thick, smooth, icy consistency. Serve with a sugar rim :-)




This is the raspberry, strawberry and blueberry version :-)

Friday 28 August 2009

Sugar Cookies for the Birthday Girl

It's my good friend Tiffany's Birthday on Tuesday so I'm baking her some sugar cookies to send in the post. I'm posted them earlier so she will get them tomorrow due to the bank holiday so she will have to open them early.

I'm soooooo excited to go home for the weekend to see the kids although my sister just caled to say she's taking them camping so I'll only see them on Monday :-( Booooo

Here is the recipe for sugar cookies. I'm afraid I can't take the credit for these. I love watching Miss Trulys videos on you tube (http://www.youtube.com/user/SignatureSweetShoppe) and she makes amazing cookies so I gave her recipe a whirl last night.

Mrs Trulys Recipe for Sugar Cookies:
.
5 & 1/2 Cups plain flour 3 Cups sugar
4 x Large Eggs
500g Butter (salted)
1 x tbsp lemon extract
1 x tbsp vanilla extract
.
Pre-heat oven to 375 F / 190 C / Gas Mark 5
.
1. Beat the butter with the sugar until fluffy
2. Add in the extracts and the eggs and beat until it looks like whipped butter
3. Add in the flour
4. Pour the dough onto a piece of cling film and wrap.
5. Put it in the fridge for a couple of hours until firm
6. Roll out to 3/8 of an inch
7. Bake for approx 15-22 mins until starting to brown.
.



Miss Trulys Icing Recipe:
1 Egg White
1 tsp Cream of Tarter
Splash of flavouring if you want
Icing Sugar - You have to keep adding it until you get the right consistency. It should 'ribbon' on the surface before disappearing.

Watch Miss Trulys video for the cookies here -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5moVhLL0LA

Watch Miss Trulys video for the icing here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efmpm6WNazE
.
Mrs Hackneys Notes:
By using 1 egg white, it made enough to cover around 16 cookies.
.
If you want to make and ice all the cookies straight away (I froze half the dough) then add an extra egg white and tsp of cream of tarter to make mor eicing.
.
If you don't have a mixer (I have one but it's rubbish, see wish list) use a food processor. This is what I did and then I changed to a bowl and added the last bit of flour by hand.
.
They also worked best when I left the dough in the fridge overnight.
.
The dough spread a tiny bit so maybe add a 1/4 extra plain flour.
.
I baked them for 17 minutes.
.
I used a spash of lemon extract in the icing.
.

I hope she likes them!! :-)

The Woman who lived in a shoe...

Sharon emailed me this link because I want 10 kids! I loved reading this!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1209432/Couple-finally-squeeze-wedding--having-TEN-children-12-years.html

Thursday 27 August 2009

I love my hubby...

My hubby is soooooo cute.

He text me on Tue and said he was waiting for a delivery so could I wait in a sign for it but it never came.

Then I was out all day yesterday so wasn’t in to sign for it. Finally it was delivered today.

It’s wasn’t a T-shirt being delivered for him which is what he told me.

It was a bouquet of flowers to say ‘To my beautiful wife. Love you all the world. Xxx’ because Tuesday was our one month anniversary of being married!

He is soooooo cute! xx

Feeling sorry for oneself...

Last night my husband and I met up with Mr Jon Davis for dinner at The Butchers Hook and very nice it was too. We shared 60g of freshly carved ham and some cod goujons. I chose my usual Butchers Hook main course of steak and chips, which was as tasty as it always followed by a French cheese board and a glass of vintage port. Jon very cheekily paid the bill so thank you for a lovely meal.

As Jon paid, I thought it was only fair to make everyone margaritas back at the flat. We watched the new episode of Shooting Stars and laughed. A whole lot.

Kenny went to work late with a banging headache and I feel the same. The kitchen is covered in raspberries and strawberries and half a bag of ice has melted all over the cooker. I'm sad to say that my lovely dinner didn't stay down long enough to be able to count it as part of my daily intake. Nice.

I think I might retire the smoothie maker to the back of the cupboard for a while...

On a plus note, I worked out the perfect recipe for a berry margarita.

Mrs Hackneys Recipe for a Berry Merry Margarita:

Makes enough for 3 people.

Warning: Extremely tasty and fruity and very easy to drink but very, very lethal.

Ingredients:
1/2 Bag of ice (this fills my smoothie maker about 2 thirds.)
6 shots of tequila
Gran Marnier - Bubble one, two, three
1/2 punnet of strawberries
1 x punnet of raspberries
Lemon Juice (in a carton) Bubble one, two
Lime Cordial - Bubble, one, two, three
Lemon Cordial - Bubble one, two
Orange Juice (in a carton) Bubble one, two

OK, you're probably wondering what Bubble means. Well, it quite simply means you tip the liquid in and say out loud 'bubble, one, two etc' then stop pouring. :-) Don't ask, it's a bartender thing.

Notes:
Remember to put the ice away.
Remember to wipe down any spilled berries in a bid not stain the benches.
Remember to take a milk thistle tablet before you start drinking and another one before you go to bed if you don't want a hangover.

Enjoy :-)

Tuesday 25 August 2009

Shepherds Pie for the Hungover

I've been working from home today on mine and Emma's new business concept. Fingers crossed it all works out and we make loads of money!
.
I also heard back from the photographer who expects us to pay £1175 for a CD of pictures when he has a whole package on his website offering the same thing plus 80 print for £950 - go figure. So as soon as he gets back to me with a proper offer of a refund, I'll let you know.
.
My bargain of the day has to be the fruit I got off the market. I got 10 boxes of raspberries and 4 boxes of strawberries for £2.00! Yes you heard me right people! £2.00 for 14 boxes of fruit! A few of the raspberries had seen better days so I've thrown them out and washed the rest so into the freezer they'll go for future frozen margaritas or smoothies. :-)
.
Kenny was very drunk last when he got in because Aston Villa beat Liverpool last night and it hasn't been done for years or something along those lines so he was very merry to say the least. I'm not surprised he's feeling rotten today so I'm making him a Shepherds Pie to make him feel better.
.
Mrs Hackneys Recipe for Shepherds Pie:

Serves 4 people or 2 really hungry people with a bowl leftover for lunch the next day

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
500g minced lamb
1 x large onion, finely chopped
1 x large carrot, finely chopped
2 x cloves garlic, crushed
2 x tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 x tbsp x tomato puree
1 x tbsp x sugar
1 x tsp x dried thyme
1/2 x tsp dried rosemary
1 x Cup red wine
1 1/2 x Cups chicken stock
1kg potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
50g / large x knob of butter
1 x egg yolk
4 - 5 tbsp x grated Parmesan plus some for sprinkling
Salt & Pepper to season



1. Preheat the oven to 200˚C or 100˚C (see number 12)

2. Heat the oil in a pan. Add in the mince and fry for around 5 minutes. Season with salt & pepper.

3. Add the onions, carrot and minced garlic.

4. Add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree and herbs and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

5. Pour in the red wine and reduce until almost evaporated.

6. Add the chicken stock, bring to the boil and simmer until the sauce has thickened.

7. Add in the sugar and mix well.

8. Add in the cornflour mixture and remove from heat.

9. Mash the boiled and drained potatoes and add in the egg yolk, butter and Parmesan. Season well. White pepper is best for this.

10. Spoon the mince mixture into the bottom of a large ovenproof dish. Spoon the mashed potatoes on top of the mince. Don't make it look too pretty, it loos nicer a bit chunky!

11. Grate some extra Parmesan over and season.

12. If you want to eat it soon, bake in the oven for approximately 20-25 minutes, until golden and crispy on the top - oven temp for this is 200˚C. If you want to bake it slow in the oven (for example if you're waiting for your husband to come home from a hard days work!) then put it in the oven at around 100˚C for an hour and turn up the heat to around 200˚C 10-15 minutes before you want to serve it.

Tips:
Desiree potatoes work best for mashed taters.Place the dish on a baking tray as the mince mixture can sometimes spill over the edges.

I serve this with buttered asparagus and a large glass of red wine.

Enjoy :-)

Monday 24 August 2009

Stir Fried Pork & Onions for the Hardworker

After a long day of hard work over at Emma's house, I came home to an empty flat. No Sueling and no Kenny boy. So rather than make something from scratch, I raided the fridge for leftovers and ended up making stir-fried pork and onions, which Sue made me for me the other night. I didn't have the recipe so just bunged a bit of each ingredient into the frying pan that I remember her mentioning and it was yum :-)
.

Mrs Hackneys Recipe for Stir-fried Pork & Onions in Oyster Sauce:
.
Serves 1 very greedy person
.
Splash of Sunflower Oil
2 x Thin Pork Boneless Loin Steaks, cut into strips
1 x Onion, cut into chunks
Splash of Soy Sauce
1/2 Jar of Oyster Sauce (50 - 75 ml)
1 tbs Sugar
Salt & Pepper to season
.
1. Add the onions to the pan with a splash of sunflower oil
2. Add in the pork
3. Sprinkle over the sugar
4. Stir-fry until the pork is cooked
5. Pour in the oyster sauce
6. Season with soy sauce, salt and pepper
7. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes

Serve with leftover breakfast fried rice and large glass of red wine!!


And if you're really lucky, have some frozzzen yogurt for dessert :-)

Sunday 23 August 2009

Breakfast Egg Fried Rice for the Lazy

Kenny just complained that it's Sunday and we don't have anything in for breakfast.

Due to the fact that I cannot be bothered to leave the flat today (and the fact that he told me exactly what he thought of having my frozzzen yogurt for breakfast!) I decided to make us some breakfast egg fried rice. You can make this with whatever you have in the cupboards but as we only had pancetta and eggs, that is what I used in this version today.

Mrs Hackneys Recipe for Breakfast Egg Fried Rice:



Serves 2 - 3 hungry people



.
6 x Eggs
1 x Tub of Pancetta (they sell mini tubs of 206 grams at Sainsburys)
250 grams x Long Grain Rice / Basmati Rice (Must be cold)
Splash x Sunflower Oil
Splash x Toasted Sesame Oil
Splash x Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce
Salt & Pepper to season
.


.
1. Cook the pancetta on high heat until golden and crispy. Set aside.
2. Scramble the eggs in the left over fat from the pancetta. Set aside with the pancetta.
3. Add a good splash of sunflower oil and a good splash of toasted sesame oil into the pan.
4. Add the cold rice and cook for approx 3-5 mins.
5. Add in a good splash of soy sauce and season well with salt and pepper.
6. When the rice is hot, add in the egg and pancetta and cook for a further 3 minutes.
.
Serve and enjoy :-)
.
*This is also is delicious with a dollop of tomato ketchup.

Frozzzen Yogurt

Since my bff Sharon and I discovered SNOG, a frozen yogurt shop in South Kensington last week, I have been craving frozen yogurt since.

I've been searching for recipes the last week and found a fair few but due to the fact that I only had a 500g pot in the fridge this-morning, I ended up making my own version.
Mrs Hackneys Frozzzen Yogurt Recipe:
1 x 500 gram pot of Low Fat Natural Yogurt
75 x grams Caster Sugar
Fresh fruit to serve


Stir the sugar straight into the yogurt and pour into an ice cream maker. Churn for 30 minutes and you'll get this delicious frozzzen yogurt! Sprinkle with fruits and enjoy.


I have to say, it was as good as (if not better) than snogs! Woo Hoo!

Saturday 22 August 2009

Kennys Chilli Nachos

Mmmmmm my lovely hubby just made me chilli nachos and they are deeeeeelicious!!



Here is the recipe for the chilli:

1 x Tins of Chopped Tomatoes
1 x Large Onion, diced
1 x Clove of Garlic, crushed
1/4 Jar Jalapenos, chopped
2 x Red Chillies, chopped
1 x Red Pepper, chopped into chunks
1 x Pack of Lean Minced Beef
1 x Tin of Red Kidney Beans
Salt & Pepper
1 Small Squeeze Tomato Puree
1 x tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 /2 x tsp Cayanne Pepper
1 x tsp Chilli Flakes


1. Cook the onions, garlic and red pepper in a frying pan.
2. Add in the tomato puree.
3. Remove from frying pan and put into seperate pan.
4. Fry mince beef with salt and pepper. When cooked, add to the onion mix.
5. Add tinned tomatoes to the pan.
6. Add Worcestershire sauce, tobasco sauce, cayanne pepper, chilli flakes, chopped chillis, jalapenos to the mixture.
7. Add kidney beans last.

Serve with boiled rice or piled on top of cheesy nachos straight out of the oven.


Mmmmmmm enjoy :-)

Corned Beef & Potato Pie for the insomniacs :-)

When I think about my favourite comfort food, corned beef always springs to mind.

Whether it's the corned beef and potato squares I used to get from Peters Bakery when I was younger, the corned beef hash and fried eggs from Westway Diner, my favourite diner in NYC or the corned beef hash type stew my older sister makes for me sometimes, I just can't get enough!
Here is a simple recipe I made the other day because I was still jet lagged from honeymoon and woke up at 4am!

Mrs Hackneys Corned Beef & Potato Pie Recipe:

For the Crust:
8oz / 250g Plain Flour
4oz / 110g Cold Butter
4 - 6 tbs Cold Water
1 Egg & a splash of milk (for egg wash)

Filling:
1 x Tin of corned beef
Approx 6 potatoes (cubed, boiled and drained)
1 x beef stock jelly or cube
Salt & pepper
1 x Large Onion (diced)
Olive Oil
Worcestershire Sauce

Start with the pasty first because you will need to chill it before you use it. Rub the cold butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add in the water until it mixes to a soft but not sticky dough. Wrap it in cling film and put it into the fridge for at least 30 mins.

In the meantime, make the filling. Peel, cube and boil the potatoes. Set aside a third of them.

In a pan on low, add a splash of olive oil and throw in your onions. Cook for approx 10 - 15 minutes so that they slowly caramelise. Add in the tin of corned beef and the 2/3 thirds of potatoes. Mash with a potato masher until combined. In a cup, dissolve the stock jelly/cube (I like the knorr jelly stock pot ones) in about a 1/3 cup of boiling water. You don't want too much water otherwise the mix will be too wet and won't set. Pour into the corned beef and potato mixture and season well with salt and white pepper. Add a splash of Worcestershire sauce to taste. Add in the leftover potatoes that you set aside but be careful not to break them up as you want the pie to have some bite. Set aside to cool whilst you roll the pastry.


Prep the dish by rubbing butter all over it and then dust it with flour - this will prevent the pastry from sticking to the dish when it comes to cutting it. Roll out the pastry and cover the sides and the bottom of your pie dish. Prick all over with a fork. The dish size I used is approx A5 (half an A4 sheet of paper).

With the leftover pastry, cut into strips, cover with cling film and put in the fridge to keep cold whilst the base cooks. Luckily I got to use my new little pastry cutter that my hubby bought me on our honeymoon!

To make sure that the crust is cooked and not soggy, you need to 'blind bake' the pastry. Add a piece of baking parchment and pour in your baking beads (you can use rice, lentils or dried beans if you don't have these). Bake for approx 15 - 20 minutes until it's just nearly cooked but not brown yet.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 - 10 minutes before filling it with the corned beef and potato mixture.
Cover the top with the pastry strips and brush it with the egg wash.

Bake in a moderately hot oven (approx 220 c) until golden brown.


As you can see in the photo, I didn't have any eggs in at the time either so I just brushed with milk!
I like it served cold but my hubby likes it warm served with brown sauce!
Enjoy :-)

Margaritaville


On our honeymoon travels, our favourite place in Las Vegas was Margaritaville. It's a bar owned by Jimmy Buffet and they have a great selection of margaritas, not to mention the fact that they serve the largest plate of nachos I've ever seen!!
We decided to re-create Margaritaville so I went out an bought a blender (Only £20 from Argos - bargain!) and the hubby went out and stocked on tequila, fruit, juices, limes etc.

My first attempt was this and it was lovely:
Mrs Hackneys Mango Margarita Recipe:

1 x Mango
Ice Cubes
Splash of lime cordial
Splash of lemon cordial
Splash of lemon juice (in a carton)
Splash of orange juice (in a carton)
3 shots of tequila
Splash of contreau
Squeeze of fresh lime


Dump it all into the blender and wizz until it's a nice thick, smooth, icy consistency. Serve with a sugar rim :-)




This is the raspberry, strawberry and blueberry version :-)