Cooking up a storm

Hey everyone!

I'm sorry it has been a while since I last posted, a myriad of problems arose, such as having no electricity for two weekends in a row and then school getting very busy. But not to worry, I'm back!

With all the time I've been spending at home (before school started), I decided to use it to get into my mom's good books (not that I'm ever in her bad books, right?). The best way to do that is either by cooking or cleaning and that is an easy choice to make. So I finally decided to don the frilly apron and march into the kitchen.

I have come to really enjoy cooking and spending time in the kitchen, even washing up isn't as bad as it used to be. I have experimented with different soups, tarts, pastas, sweet treats, sandwiches and so much more. That is the fun with cooking, you can be so creative and it almost always tastes good!

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of all the meals I have made but you will just have to use your imagination. Keep in mind that my meals are never as pretty as the one in the recipe! I have linked the recipe below the meals where I could find it, so you can try them out yourself.

Hot Cross Buns

My friend, Helen, had made hot cross buns for Easter (yes, that is how long we have been in lockdown), and she sent me the recipe to try. These took forever to make, like all breads that need to rise, but it was still a rewarding process. The crosses on top of the buns did not turn out so well and they were quite dense but it just means I need to practice more! They did taste delicious so I think I can still get tastiness points.

Honey sesame tofu and chicken

This was the first time I cooked tofu and it went so well! The secret with tofu is to coat it with cornstarch before you fry it to make it crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The honey garlic soy sauce sesame marinade (quite a mouthful!) was a great sweet-and-sour sauce that works well for tofu and chicken.  I served it with broccoli and rice. I think jasmine rice would have been even better.

Recipe here.

Butternut gnocchi with butter sage sauce

I love pasta, in any form, so I thought why not try gnocchi? And to make it more difficult for myself, I tried to make butternut gnocchi. It was very fun to make but the dough is quite sticky so be warned if you want to make it. Unfortunately, the final product did not turn out as well as I had hoped, it was slightly chewy when it should have been light and fluffy. I think I should have cooked it less but lesson learned! The butter sage sauce, on the other hand, was fantastic and I highly recommend this sauce for any type of pasta.

Recipe here.

White bean pasta with rosemary rocket pesto

Told you I liked pasta! This recipe was amazing. I had never thought about making rosemary pesto but it is a game-changer. I made the pesto with almonds as pine nuts are exorbitantly expensive and I used home-grown rosemary. My sister, who is a tough critic, loved this pesto so I encourage you to give it a try. The white bean pasta was also scrumptious, even without the pesto. The pesto also tastes good on a baguette which we had with the meal. 

Pasta recipe here.

Rosemary rocket pesto recipe here.

Banana Bread

I think that everyone has made banana bread during lockdown but that just shows how classic it is. My sister loves it and one loaf barely lasts 2 hours in my house. I have found that I can reduce the sugar in it and it still tastes good because of the sweetness from the bananas. I love eating it with peanut butter with my afternoon tea.

Ramen

Wow, ramen is delicious! My dad always spoke so highly of eating it in Asia so I thought I would give it a go. I first made it with tofu, mushrooms and carrots and I made the broth with vegetable stock and coconut milk. We had it with egg noodles and it was delish. The broth contains peanut butter which automatically puts it in the good books with me. The second time I made it (because it was so good), I made it with chicken instead of tofu and chow mein noodles which was equally as delicious. The third time we made it (because it is now a firm favourite!), we used thick rice noodles which I actually prefer to egg noodles so play around with what is available to find what suits you best.

Recipe here.

Buffalo chickpea taquitos

As with the ramen, we have had this meal so often because it is such an easy recipe. It is simply a chickpea and bean curry-of-sorts baked in tortillas. I made this vegetarian dish with trepidation as my dad isn't always the biggest fan of meat-free meals but he loves it! I recommend throwing in another tin of any type of bean to make it more filling and serving it with cheese sauce. Last time I made it I also had it with guacamole which is a great combo.

Recipe here.

Nice cream (banana ice-cream)

Nice cream is a great healthy alternative to ice-cream if you want a sweet treat after dinner. I have made nice cream so many times but it never turned out how I wanted it to, until a few weeks ago. The secret is to blend the frozen bananas with coconut cream (or coconut milk). This made the nice cream so much nicer and makes it taste less like bananas which are not my favourite in a dessert. I made it with cocoa powder, coconut flakes, honey and peanut butter (what else?). 

Recipe here.

Carne asada tacos

For Father's Day, my dad was allowed to choose whatever he wanted to eat and the rest of us would make it for him. He chose to have tacos for supper and as we always have store-bought crunchy tortillas (that he complains about), I made soft flour tortillas instead. We (at this point, my dad stepped in to help) seared and roasted a ribeye steak and pan-fried the tortillas. We served the carne asada with lime yoghurt, homemade salsa, cheese, avo and peppers. My dad really enjoyed it and so I think it was a successful Father's Day!

Recipe here.

All in all, I think that these meals have been a great start to my cooking career and I look forward to making loads more in the future. Comment down below what your favourite meal to cook is and follow me on Instagram @erincoullblog