Hard work? There's just no knead.

Another post, another bread recipe. Inspired by a blog favourite of mine Budget Bytes, I prepared this unbelievably easy focaccia in time for a dinner party turned booze-up at fellow food enthusiast Hester's apartment. The guests were impressed.

I felt almost embarrassed to take compliments for something that was so simple to make, but not so embarrassed that I didn't glowingly reply 'it was nothing'. (It really was.)

Not out of place at a gourmet meal

Ingredients:

120g wholewheat bread flour

360g white bread flour

1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

480ml water

3 tablespoons olive oil (the better the quality, the better the bread)

Sprinkling of herbs - salt & rosemary is a classic combination, or basil and garlic

Method:

Add all of the dry ingredients to a large bowl and stir. Add the water and stir gently with a spoon until the mixture is combined and in a sticky ball. Cover loosely with a tea towel and let sit overnight/about 14 hours.

When you're around 2 hours before needing the dough to be ready, prepare a tin with oiled greaseproof paper or foil and and pour the dough onto the sheet. Stretch to the edges of the tin and let sit for another hour. Poke dimples in the dough and drizzle with extra olive oil, don't worry about adding too much. Sprinkle with extra herbs and salt. 

With the oven preheated to 200°C, place a sheet of foil over the mixture and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes, or until brown.

 Wait until cooled to slice or enjoy hot.

If you're worried about cooking times or leaving the dough for too long, you could always mix the dry ingredients before you go to bed and add the water when you get up in the morning. Minimum time and effort involved, and lovely risen dough for when you get home.

Prep time: Around 16 hours (the majority of which you will be sleeping for)

Hands-on time: 20 minutes

Oven time: 40 minutes


Extra step-by-step photos:

Every Tuesday

How have I only just discovered this foodie lunchtime haven? Every Tuesday from 10am-3pm, street food vendors of Manchester gather to provide the hungry student with mouthwatering delights that can’t be found in the campus canteen….Correct me if I’m wrong, but I doubt you’ve had a venison burger or peanut butter snickerdoodle brownie in Uni Place.

Photo: @lushbrownies

On the mention of the latter dessert, I don’t expect much more persuasion to visit is necessary. However, for the sake of ensuring your attendance, I’ll continue.

Is your muffin buttered?

Brownie points

Opposite George Kenyon Hall – behind Uni Place, you’ll find a campsite of delicious hot and cold food offerings. For hot days, there’s ice cream. For cold, there’s coffee and hot chocolate. The amount of pudding selection is difficult for the sweet-toothed, like me, as there are hot waffles, pancakes with syrup and ice cream, about 12 varieties of fudge brownie, and an array of freshly baked muffins. Due to my unplanned visit I did not have the funds to try everything I wanted to, and only purchased the salted caramel brownie, but may be back for the offer of 4 for £5 - a great idea for some early Christmas gifts for friends.

All of the independent vendors were friendly and eager to chat and offer tasters. The cheese stall in particular was great for providing samples and a genuine knowledge of each taste, I plan to return and stock up in time for a pre-Christmas cheese & wine evening. Relatives would also probably appreciate a rare cheese for Christmas, with types ranging from tangy manchego to deep, earthy Montgomery cheddar. A friend had introduced me to the blue sheep’s cheese which, after polishing off with any cheese-holding carb available, drew me to visit the market itself.

After starting course-backwards due an irresistible brownie, I moved on to the ‘northwest game’ stall for a hearty venison burger with extra chilli sauce. It was great to have a meat I wouldn’t usually buy, and at the reasonable price of £3.50. Other options were the regulars ‘pheasant nibbles’ and ‘game sausage’, which I intend on returning to try, as well as their special of wild duck in plum sauce. At less than a fiver for an innovative lunch you probably wouldn’t make at home, it would be a crime not to a least have a look.

As I turned up at almost 3pm, the majority of stalls were packing up so I didn’t see the market in its full glory. But I did observe the quesadilla van serving rabbit and chorizo amongst Mexican classics like chilli con carne. Delighted with my find, I’ll be back again next week.

Term time every Tuesday 10am-3pm.

Opposite George Kenyon Hall. (Behind Uni Place – keep going through the doors!)

Vendors:

@nuffinbutmuffns

@lushbrownies

@wrapscallion_co

P.S Apologies that this is a very niche Manchester-Student post, broader aimed bloggings to follow!

Naan Bread

Bread always seems like one of those foods only to be tackled by those who know what they’re doing - ‘leave it to the professionals’ - you probably think. No matter how many times you've baked a cake, made cookies or cupcakes, there’s something daunting about using yeast. What if it goes wrong?!

Really, it’s just as likely to go wrong as a cake, and in turn, just as likely to go right.

Flatbreads are a lot easier than loaf-style breads as there is little work in the way of kneading and shaping. Proving means it takes that little bit extra longer than making a cake, but if you plan ahead you’ll have fresh naan quicker than you can walk to the shop and buy a packet. And nothing makes you feel more like a genius than when your own bread looks like REAL bread, (except maybe getting a 1^st in your degree, but never mind that when you can make naan).

Ingredients:

Makes 6-8

½ packet dry active yeast

1 tsp sugar

110ml room-temperature water

Around 400g wholemeal or white bread flour (I used wholemeal)

½ tsp salt

50ml oil (vegetable, olive, any)

75ml natural/greek yoghurt

1 egg

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix the yeast, sugar and water. If the water is cold from the tap, warm in the microwave for 10 seconds to help to activate the yeast. Let sit for a few minutes until the mix seems bubbly and slightly frothy. Then stir in the oil, yoghurt and egg. Add the salt, and work in the flour about a third at a time until well combined. Keep adding flour until the mix becomes doughy and you are unable to stir it. At this point, turn out the dough onto a floured worktop and begin kneading for around 3 minutes until the dough is smooth and soft but not sticky. Use your own discretion with the amount of flour, you may not need it all or you may need a little more. Cover the dough with a tea towel and leave in a warm or room temperature place (DON’T leave it in the oven on low – I did this and ended up with half cooked dough which went in the bin).

 Leave for around an hour or until doubled in size, then flatten the dough and cut into 6/8 equal portions. Roll each piece into a ball then flatten out to circle-resembling shapes. Heat a non-stick frying pan with a small amount of butter or cooking spray and fry each piece at a time, heating the bottom til bubbles have formed and the underside is brown, then flipping. Each naan should take about 4 minutes but it’s very easy to see done-ness by eye. Serve with curry, eat plain with butter or use as a wrap with salad and various fillings.

Bonuses:

-          Way healthier than shop-bought naan due to lack of preservatives

-          Amazingly cheap, no fresh ingredients required

-          Leftovers can be frozen and reheated in the microwave

-          Your friends will think you should go on masterchef

Next stop: paratha or peshwari naan. Anyone got a good recipe?

I made something up and it was a success.

Down to my last 3 sweet potatoes and having the idea of a chilli in my head as influenced by this, I foraged through the fridge, freezer and cupboards to come up with a vegetarian variation on a Mexican classic. What I created was not Mexican, more an amalgamation of Middle Eastern, Greek and something you'd find at a vegetarian hippy food tent at Glastonbury. (For which I have tickets, YES!!!!)

The white speck on the left is annoying me, too.

 It might look like there are a lot of ingredients, but as per they are interchangeable/omit-able and all reasonably inexpensive.

Sweet potato and spinach chilli with bulgur wheat and various Greek toppings.

Makes 3 servings (I know 3 is weird but this is just what I used)

Main dish:

- 1 tablespoon coconut oil/normal oil/butter

- 1 onion, finely chopped

- 3 medium sweet potatoes, diced with skins on

- 1 stick celery, chopped

- 1 heaped teaspoon minced garlic

- 1/2 chopped green chilli, seeds included

- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper/chilli powder

- 1 tsp ground cumin

- 1/4 of grated nutmeg

- few drops balsamic vinegar

- few drops Worcestershire sauce

- 2 drops Tabasco

- 4 blocks frozen baby leaf spinach

- 1/2 can Foul Medames (some bean things I had in, probably best to use red kidney beans, borlotti beans or chickpeas)

- 1 tin chopped/peeled plum tomatoes

To serve:

- bulgur wheat

- olives

- feta

- pumpkin seeds

Heat the oil in saucepan and add sweet potatoes, celery, onion and garlic, cooking for around 5 minutes on a medium heat until the veg has started to soften. Add the chopped chilli and spices and let these infuse for another 5 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients and let simmer for around 45 minutes, until the sweet potato is soft. Stir occasionally and add frequent splashes of water to make sure it doesn't stick.

While this is cooking, you can make the bulgur wheat. I know this is not a staple household item but it's really delicious and very cheap, it's also a great healthier alternative to rice. However, if you want to just use rice that would also work well with this dish. Cook your wheat according to instructions - I put about 4 heaped tablespoonfuls per person in a saucepan, cover with hot water then boil for about 15 mins. Sieve to get rid of any excess water.

When both above components are done, arrange your bowl: bulgur wheat on the bottom, 3-4 big spoonfuls of chilli on top, and a bit of crumbled feta. I grilled mine in the bowl for about 10 mins, then sprinkled a small handful of pumpkin seeds and chopped olives over the top. These are perhaps not customary ingredient combinations, but in my opinion they work. Hopefully they will for you too!

Sweet Potato and Tangy Coriander Chickpea Salad

I came across this recipe in my housemate's Women's Health magazine, and I loved it! I had most of the ingredients in already,and things like the spring onion can easily be swapped for red onion. Experimenting with different roast veg is something I'll be doing in the future with this recipe, and perhaps adding rice to make this a full meal rather than a side dish/salad.

Ingredients:

-Sweet potatoes, 1 large per person. 

-4 spring onions per person

-1/2 tin of chickpeas, drained

-sprig of celery, finely chopped

-juice and zest of 1/2 lemon (fresh is better)

-2 tbsps balsamic vinegar

-1stp oil

-1/4 grated nutmeg (or 1/2 tsp ground)

-1/2 tsp chilli powder

-salt & black pepper

-handful of chopped coriander

Directions: 

Roast the veg for 25 mins on 200C, tossed in spices & oil. In the meantime, mix chickpeas with all of the other ingredients apart from  spring onions—char them with the potatoes 5 mins before they’re done. The end. That’s it. Really, so easy! This would be delicious served with a piece of white fish or bulked out with lettuce leaves and roasted peppers, experiment!

Creamy Thai Satay Soup

Inspired by Half Baked Harvest

Often in the shadow of their starchy distant relative the potato, sweet potatoes are just as cheap, versatile and delicious as the mighty jacketed staple food. I use them in cooking all the time because I love the flavour that erupts from them, especially when roasted. They're also incredibly healthy. As I've bought a bag this week I'll be posting updates on what I decide to make with them, here is the first creation:

Ingredients:

- 2 large sweet potatoes. I get mine from Lidl so they are huge and vary in size every time. On average two big ones cost me 79p.

-knob of butter/glug of oil

-3 tbsp Thai red curry paste

-1 1/2 tbsp peanut butter

-Can of coconut milk (can be bought cheaply in foreign shops, look for non-branded options)

-1 onion

-1 tsp minced garlic

-Nutmeg & paprika – use according to taste/about 1/2 tsp each

-1 vegetable stock cube dissolved in 500ml hot water

-handful of chopped coriander (worth buying a plant if you have space on a windowsill, they’re normally a pound or less)

Directions: 

Oven to 200C, chop and roast the sweet potatoes in oil/butter for about 25 mins, sprinkled with the spices. While waiting, finely chop the onion and fry in a saucepan on low, adding in the garlic and curry paste when the onions have softened. Add the roasted sweet potatoes to the pan and cover with the stock and can of coconut milk, bring to the boil then simmer as you plug in the liquidiser/blender, or chop the coriander. Add all ingredients (don’t forget the peanut butter) except fresh coriander to the blender until smooth. If you don’t have a blender this soup is still delicious with chunks, but if you want a smooth consistency you could roast the potato whole, mash the insides and then add it to the onion mix. Top with a spoonful of natural yoghurt and sprinkle with coriander.

 Warning: This is DELICIOUS, you will probably struggle to restrain yourself from drinking the entire thing from the saucepan. It tastes like a soup version of satay dipping sauce. And it’s healthy!

Healthy on a budget: 5 cost-friendly pasta recipes.

Although sometimes pasta gets viewed as an 'unhealthy' option due to its high carb content, it's actually a great choice two or three times a week as part of a balanced diet. Brown dried pasta is widely available these days and will only cost you around £1 per bag - about 5 meals worth.

Roast Veg Fusilli.

Here are some interchangeable recipes for you to use with your packet. Cook pasta according to instructions (normally for wholewheat it’s about 17 minutes on a constant boil) and mix with the following toppings, delicious hot or cold:

1. Pesto.
The simplest, and possibly one of the most delicious. A jar will cost you around £1 and last for about 4 servings, it’s a flavour enhancer so try it out on a toasted sandwich with mozzarella, basil and tomato. With the pasta, simply mix about a tablespoon through the meal. Ideas: add toasted pine nuts/grated mozzarella/make your own pesto!

2.Roasted veg.
Chop vegetables such as red onion, red pepper & cherry tomatoes and roast sprinkled with a little olive oil and salt for 25mins in a 200° oven. Stir into pasta along with the cooked juices. Extras: aubergine, courgette and mushroom also work well. Think Mediterranean.

3.Butternut squash, bacon & feta.
This works best with spaghetti. Dice your squash, drizzle with oil and roast for 30 mins in a 200° oven. Grill and cut bacon into small pieces, mix everything into pasta bowl and crumble feta over the top.

4.Garlic-herb pasta.
SO simple and so sophisticated! For one: in a saucepan, melt 1 tbsp butter, add 1 clove chopped garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes until it has begun to soften. Add cooked pasta to the pot and sprinkle in a pinch of basil, salt & black pepper. Transfer to a bowl, add fresh chopped parsley or basil and top with grated Parmesan or cheese of choice. 

Garlic-herb tagliatelle with steamed kale.

5. Sausage & tomato.
Sausages are really cheap, and you can easily up the quality of this dish by spending a little more money on the meat. If you treat yourself, you’ll notice the difference. Cut uncooked sausages into meatballs and fry in oil with chopped onion, when browned and almost done add half a tin of chopped tomatoes per person. Add basil, salt, tabasco, a drop of balsamic vinegar and a spoonful of sugar. Reduce and pour over pasta shape of choice. Extra: place in oven-safe dish and top with mozzarella, grill until melted and cheesy.

Have any fail-safe pasta staples of your own? Please share them in the comments below!