Sweet Cinnamon Dusted Dough Rings

God, I am such a sucker for doughnuts in general.  This probably explains my once portly frame to many people who were wondering.  So I made these yesterday, and these doughy rings of goodness, lasted about 2 hours in my house.  I made them, photographed them, had a little bit of one, turned my back and when I looked back there was ONE left.  Just one, and it the was sort of deformed one that I'd dropped whilst cooking it.

If that isn't a testament to the addictive power of a homemade dough product, I don't know what is.  Personally, I think it's the fact that a warm, freshly cooked item, covered in sugar is right up there in the pleasures of life.  So the big question I'm hearing on people's lips:  "these aren't exactly a healthy food..."

To those I say, this blog is about finding the moderation in life...and then cooking it!

Sizzling Cajun & Tang Chicken

Nothing beats a nice grilled dinner.  What is it about the smell of sizzling food that just smells so fantastic?  The smokey, sweet scent of this dinner has my mouth watering before I've even popped the chicken on the grill plate.  I think it might actually be something to do with the fact that Cajun is probably one of my favourite seasonings ever.

There was a restaurant we used to visit in York, that isn't around anymore (DAMN YOU RECESSION!) that used to do this amazing Cajun chicken burger with a smokey relish on the side.  It was spicy, sweet, tangy and needless to say, fattening too.  The meat patty could vary between 3-4 cm tall and you'd always get the spicy juice running down your chin and dripping into your cleavage.

Unless you're a dude.  Then you know, maybe not.

Muddy Chouxs

Well, I'm back from holiday.  Being away from cooking has been strange, I'm very used to cooking every meal for myself every day.  It's funny how used to it you get. I've been throwing these pictures around the site & social medias for donkey's years and thought it's about time I shared.  I work with choux pastry a lot because it's very easy to make.

This recipe is fairly simple, unlike eclairs, I've skipped the fondant top and gone for an altogether more messy chocolaty affair.  Still puffy, crunchy and crisp though.


To go a bit educational on you: Instead of using a rising agents, the pastry relies on a high moisture content to let the steam puff up the pastry.  So there you go, we like to learn here.

Roasted Rainbow Cous Cous

Yesterday I received a plea for some healthy food from a friend whose losing weight.  I'm never one to let down a friend in need, and since my large group of weight-loss friends support me in this whole venture, I've put away from whipped cream, chocolate & butter for the choux pastry post I had planned and I've posted this in their honour....

Strawberry Vodka

So the final winner was Strawberry Vodka.  I made this batch months ago, and this bottle here is my last one left.  A shame really as it's so nice, but takes a week to get right.  Luckily it's hardly any work at all.

This was a massive hit at Christmas, mostly because of the vintage looking bottles and the fact that it was homemade and tied up with pretty ribbons.  They are also really nice, with a sweet aftertaste....

Chocolate Stardust Truffles

Working with chocolate is usually a massive pain the wooden spoon.  You have to temper it to just the right temperature, it cannot be a degree out, and then you have to let it cool to just the right temperature and then you have to temper the bloody thing again!

That's why I love making these truffles so much.  All the fun of working with chocolate, no tempering or messing with thermometers....

Apple Crumble Flapjacks.

Ladies and gentlemen, winning by a mile in the final count was:  Apple Crumble Flapjacks!  Adding all the votes from the polls, comments, emails, twitter AND Facebook (god, so many social medias) meant that these tasty little buggers won with 32% of the vote. Anyway enough of the counting stuff, am I the only one who found that vaguely exciting?


Yes?  Okay moving on then...

Food for Thought: The Vote

Hi all, it's been a horribly rainy few days over where I am, and quite frankly I've been a little run down. So food has been plain, easy to eat meals like mash, salads, and grilled chicken.

This also means that I've had nothing to post, unless you like looking at pictures of chicken and mash, which actually I do.  Pictures of food make me happy....

A Healthy Crispy Chicken Recipe

Back in the day, there was a certain chicken based chain restaurant that sold many different types of deep fried chicken that I was deeply addicted to.  I would sometimes have it two or three a week & somehow it would never quite satisfy....