Apple, Pear & Passionfruit Crumble

I made a yummy crumble today and thought I would post the recipe here.

It’s also a frugal crumble, because I picked up the apples, pears and passion fruit at my local supermarket reduced:

A bag of 5 Granny Smith Apples for 60p, 4 x passionfruit for 30p, and a bag of 6 pears for 23p

So not including my storecupboard essentials the crumble cost  50p!

Recipe:

• 2 x Passion Fruit
• 5 x Pears
• 1 x Granny Smith Apple

For the Crumble Topping :

• 60g / 2oz Rolled Oats
• 175g / 6oz Plain Flour
• 110g / 4oz Unsalted Butter
• 110g / 4oz Demerara Sugar

Method :

1. Peel & Chop pears and apple into an ovenproof dish
2. Cut the passion fruit in half and scoop the insides over the chopped apple and pears
3. Put all the crumble ingredients into a food processor and blitz
4. Cover the fruit with the crumble mix
5. Cook in the oven at 180 degrees C for about an hour or until the juices bubble up around the edges of the crumble
6. Serve with Custard, Cream or Ice Cream

Have to say it was rather yummy and everyone enjoyed it 🙂 so 10/10 and would make it again

Frugal Foodie ~ Pesto & Blackberries

I picked up a few bargins when I stopped off  at the co-operative on my way home from work yesterday 🙂  I really should try and pop in there more often, after all I have to drive past it nearly every night 🙂

3 Pots of Basil  £1.10 each normally I got them reduced to 30p a pot saving me £2.40

2 Pots of Parsley £1.10 each normally I got them reduced to 30p a pot saving me £1.60

2 packets of Blackberries £2.00 each normally I paid 60p each saving me £2.80

= a total saving of £6.80!!

So tonight I made 2 batches of Pesto…. one for tomorrow night’s tea and one for the freezer,  the blackberries were frozen, they will be a welcome addition to an apple crumble this winter 🙂

Pesto Recipe is a case of throw it in the food mixture until I get the consistency I like

• Basil
• Parsley
• 5 cloves of Garlic
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Put everything in a blender and whizz together adding the olive oil through the funnel

Nutty Plum Crumble

This recipe is courtesy of  “The Best of Mrs Beeton’s Christmas” ISBN 978-1-898-80176-4

Serves 4-6

Ingredients :

• 675g Plums, halved and stoned
• 50g Sugar

Topping :

• 175g Plain Flour
• 75g Butter or margarine
• 25g Demorara Sugar
• 1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 75g Chopped Hazelnuts, toasted

Set the oven at 180 degrees C / 350 Degrees F / Gas Mark 4   Place the plums in an ovenproof dish and sprinkle with sugar

Make the topping.   Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and rub in the butter or margarine until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Stir in the sugar, cinnamon and hazelnuts.

Sprinkle the topping evenly over the plums, pressing it down very lightly.   Bake the crumble for about 45 mins, until the topping is golden brown and the plums are cooked.   Serve with custard, cream or vanilla ice cream.

Fruit & Nut Loaf

The recipe I used for this loaf was actually titled Sultana Loaf, but I didn’t have enough sultanas in the store cupboard and had to improvise, I used cranberries and chopped nuts to make up the shortage on the sultanas, it turned out ok, but I think I should have added a splash of milk to the mix because it turned out rather dry, still edible tho 🙂

Ingredients :-

• 170g / 6oz butter
• 170g / 6oz soft light brown sugar
• 3 room temperature eggs, beaten
• 285g / 10oz self raising flour
• 340g / 12oz sultanas (I only had 170g the rest was made up with cramberries and nuts)
• grated zest of 1 orange
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice

Method :-

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees C / 350 Degrees F / Gas Mark 4
2. Take a 2lb loaf tin and pop in one of those fab loaf liners you get from lakeland
3. Cream the butter in a large bowl using an electric beater until it is soft.   Add the sugar and beat until pale and fluffy
4. Add beaten eggs a little at a time, beating well between each addition.   If the mixture starts to curdle, beat a little of the measured flour.
5. Fold in the flour, sultanas, orange zest, mixed spice and mix well.
6. Put into the prepared loaf tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 1-1 1/4 hours.   If the cake starts to get too dark, cover it with a sheet of greaseproof paper and turn the oven down to 150 degrees C / 300 Degrees F / gas Mark 2.   Extend the cooking time if necessary.
7. The cake is ready when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.   Allow the cake to cool for 10 mins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe Courtesy of Leiths Baking Bible ISBN 0-74765-8189-4

Peppercorn Sauce

We are having Balmoral Chicken for our tea tonight so I made this Peppercorn Sauce to go along with it, for those of you wondering what the dish is… it’s Haggis wrapped in Chicken Breast smothered in a Peppercorn Sauce … YUM!!

Peppercorn Sauce Ingredients

• 170ml Double Cream
• 2tsp Dijon Mustard
• 2 beef oxo cubes
• A good splash of white wine
• A good splash of hot water
• 2tsp of crushed peppercorns (or more according to taste)

Method

1. Add the cream to a small saucepan and heat gently.
2. Crumble the oxo cube into the cream
3. Add Dijon mustard, and most of the peppercorns leaving some for the steak
4. Add wine and water stirring all together
5. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper
6. keep stirring until quite hot

Banana Loaf

• 150g Dried fruit, I used the Berry, Cherry & Sultana’s mix from Asda
• Rind of 1 Lime
• 100g Soft unsalted butter
• 125g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 large ripe bananas
• 200g self raising flour

Method :-

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees C / Gas Mark 3 – bake for 55 mins
2. Grate the zest of the lime
3. Cream the butter and sugar in the mixing bowl,
4. add eggs, and mix well,
5. then add dried fruit and lime zest,
6. add mashed bananas & flour.
7. Place in a 2lb loaf tin and bake for 55 mins

Malted Chocolate Crunch

Malted Chocolate Crunch Recipe.

• 8oz ~ 225g digestive biscuits magimixed or bashed in a plastic bag with a rolling pin
• 4oz ~ 100g Butter
• 3 Large Tablespoons of Golden Syrup
• 2oz ~ 50g Ovaltine
• 6-8oz or 175-225g Cooking chocolate

Method :

1. Line a small swiss roll tin with cling film
2. Melt butter and syrup, then add ovaltine and biscuits
3. Pour into tin and flatten
4. Cool
5. Melt cooking chocolate in bowl over boiling water or microwave
6. Spread chocolate evenly over mixture, I like to sprinkle choc chips and white chocolate mice on the top of mine.
7. Allow to cool
8. Pull out crunch, take off cling film and cut into squares.

Broccoli and Stilton Soup

I was in my local supermarket earlier and I picked up 2 heads of organic broccoli reduced to only £0.03 each!!  …. you know what it’s like, your head starts going through possible yummy recipes… my head was telling me soup! 😉    I nipped round to the cheese counter and picked up a bit of stilton.

|This recipe should serve six.

Ingredients:

• 50g / 2oz butter
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 1 Garlic Clove, crushed
• 2 large heads of Broccoli
• 2-3 oz of Stilton Cheese or adjust depending on your preference
• Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt
• 1-1.5 litres boiling water and a stock cube

Method :

• Heat the Butter in a large pan, add the onion and garlic and leave to cook on a low-med heat for 8 mins until they become soft and clear
• Whilst the onion and garlic are softening, chop the broccoli as finely as possible.   Add the chopped broccoli to the onions and pour in 1 litre of boiling water an a stock cube and bring back to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
• When the broccoli is tender, add the stilton cheese.   Whizz the soup well in a liquidiser to give it a really smooth texture.
• Check and adjust the seasoning and reheat if necessary.

Chocolate Chip Flapjacks

I fancied making something different today… something that would go nice with a cup of tea.   I had a rummage through the cupboards to see what ingredients I had then flicked through a few cookbooks… decided to make Flapjacks! 🙂

p.s. (Picture to follow soon – theyre in the oven as I type this)

Ingredients :

• 115g / 4oz butter, plus extra for greasing (I used Stork)
• 60g / 2 1/4 oz Caster Sugar
• 1 tablespoon of Golden syrup
• 350g / 12oz rolled oats (I used Porridge Oats)
• 85g / 3oz plain chocolate chips (I used a bar of plain chocolate chopped up)
• 85g / 3oz sultanas (I left out the sultanas my lot wont eat them so doubled up on the chocolate)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C / 350 Degrees F / Gas Mark 4.   Lightly grease a shallow 20cm / 8inch square cake tin.
2. Place the butter, caster sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly until the butter and sugar melt and the mixture is well combined.
3. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the rolled oats until they are well coated.   Add the chocolate chips and the sultanas and mix well to combine everything.
4. Turn into the prepared tin and press down well.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.   Cool slightly, then mark into fingers.   When almost cold, cut into bars or squares and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Rhubarb and Apple Crumble

Ingredients :

• 450g (1lb) Rhubarb, shorn of leaves, trimmed and cut into 2.5cm (1in) lengths
• 450g (1lb) cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
• 150g (5oz) light muscavado sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

For the crumble :

• 60g (2oz) rolled oats
• 175g (6oz) plain flour
• 110g (4oz) unsalted butter
• 110g (4oz) demerara sugar

Method :

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C, 400 Degrees F, Gas 6
2. To make the crumble topping, mix the oats and flour, and rub in the butter until you have a pile of small crumble.   Stir in the sugar.
3. Mix the rhubarb and apples in a pie dish and dredge with the light muscavado sugar, then sprinkle with sinnamon.
4. Sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly and thickly over the top.
5. Bake for about 30 minutes, or a little longer if necessary, until the top is golden brown, with the juice bubbling up a little round the sides.
6. Serve hot or warm with cream or custard or even some gorgeous white chocolate ice cream to melt and ooze into the hot juices.

Recipe courtesy of Sophie Grigsons Country Kitchen – ISBN 0-7553-1054-3