AWESOME MINTY DOG BISCUITS

I love making my two dogs some treats every week, that's because every afternoon they want a snack around about an hour before their dinner time and they often come up and place toys on my lap or as lottie the Great Dane does she just places her chin on my shoulder as she knows that will get her a treat !!!  😃... 

These are really quick and easy to make and the recipe has been created with the dogs approval !!! That really means I have learnt from the disaster batches that they would not eat, like the peppermint breath biscuit, a definite  no go!  

Prep Time 5 minutes / Cooking Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

(Makes approx 40)

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups  oat bran

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup potato flour

1cup water

2 eggs beaten

1/4 cup fresh chopped mint

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and bring to a firm dough ball, you can add more water or oat bran if you need to stiffen or loosen the mix.

Roll out the dough to around half an inch thick and cut out your cookies, bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degreesC / 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes, remove and leave to cool, then treat your pets with your fabulous home made cookies. 

CHICKEN LIVER PAFAIT FRENCH

Awesome this rich chicken liver pate is my mums French recipe and is super easy and quick to make and tastes awesome! 

Prep time 15 minutes / Cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients 

(Serves 4)

500g organic chicken livers

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic finely chopped

2 sprigs fresh thyme

100ml brandy

200ml double cream

Himalayan sea salt 

Fresh black pepper

Bring a large skillet to a medium heat, add the olive oil and onions, gently soften for 5 minutes, add the garlic and chicken livers and cook for around 7 minutes until the centre of the chicken livers are still just a little pink, remove the chicken livers and leave to one side, now add the brandy to the pan and de glaze the pan on a high heat for one minute reducing the brandy slightly.

In a food processor place the rested chicken livers along with their resting juices and using a spatula all the de glazed pan brandy sauce.  Blitz until smooth, then pour in half the double cream a generous pinch of salt and pepper, blitz to combine and taste, adjust the seasoning and creaminess to your taste, you want the consistency to be soft like whipped cream as the pate will firm up once stored in the fridge.

Want to go to the next level, melt some butter and place the pate in your serving dishes leaving a one inch head space from the top, place a pretty sprig of thyme or a sage leaf on top and pour over the butter completely covering the pate.

This is two fold, first it seals the pate from air exposure and discolouration and even better the pate comes complete with its own butter for the Melba toast! 

BEST EVER VINDALOO CURRY SPICE POWDER

I love to cook and in our family home Sunday's are very special, they are a totally family day where we all go down the farm and feed the animals and then get back home, change in to our Sunday best Pyjamas and get Sunday Lunch under way.  At the moment Sunday Lunches are Indian themed where  we are eating our way around India.

Vindaloo Curry Spice

It is always best to grind your own dry spices when cooking Indian food it really does make a difference  and it really is very easy and quick to do.

Ingredients

This is my families tiffin spice tin, we have two that hold all the spices we use regularly and that makes it much easier to make your curry spice as everything is to hand.

1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp cumin seeds 

1 clove

1 inch piece cinnamon stick

1.5 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp turmeric

15 cardamom pods seeds only

2 tbsp Kashmiri powder

Place all the ingredients in a old coffee grinder or pestle and mortar and grind, these are now ready to use, I like to marinate my ingredients for at least 12 hours, the next stage is below.

To Marinate your main ingredients, vegetables, lamb, beef or chicken this is the next stage.

1 onion 

6 cloves garlic

1 inch whole fresh ginger

2 tbsp tamarind pulp

5 tbsp white wine vinegar

Place all in ingredients in to a food processor and blitz, add the above ground curry spices and blitz again until all incorporated, mix and coat your main meal ingredients and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours but 12-24 is brilliant if you can.

To cook your curry pan fry some chopped onion in ghee, add your marinated curry ingredients along with 200ml water, a couple of tomatoes and a fresh green chilli and gently simmer until cooked, serve with rice and breads.

AWESOME SLAW

Gorgeous fresh garden slaw, this I make with glorious egg mayo from my chickens who live in the garden and whatever greens and root veg are also ready from the garden.  I help my family grow all our own vegetables which is a great feeling of self sufficient shopping.

Ingredients

The Slaw

1 handful spinach

1 handful Nero kale

1 handful curly kale

1 sweetheart cabbage finely sliced

2 carrots juillenned 

1 large onion finely sliced

1 portion mayonnaise 

The Mayonnaise 

1 egg yolk

1 tsp mustard Dijon 

1 tsp white wine vinegar

300ml olive oil

Sea salt

White pepper

To make the mayonnaise, this should only take a couple of minutes, place the egg yolk, white wine vinegar in a deep jug and start to whisk in the olive oil one drop at a time until you have thicker consistency then you can add the oil at a much faster rate, once all the oil is mixed in season with the salt, pepper and mustard to taste.

Take your slaw vegetables and place in a large bowl and fold in the mayonnaise, that's all it takes! 

My lovely broody chicken 🐓

BUTTERMILK MAPLE SYRUP PANCAKES

These are awesome buttermilk pancakes!  I am practicing for Christmas Morning tomorrow when I will be making these for my family, light fluffy and drenched in true maple syrup.

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 3 minutes each

Ingredients 

(Serves 6)

350g self raising flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

3 tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp bicarbonate soda 

300ml butter milk

300ml whole milk

2 eggs beaten

85g butter melted

1 bottle pure maple syrup warmed 

50g butter and glut olive oil for cooking the pancakes

Place the flour in a large bowl, mix in the sea salt, bicarbonate of soda and caster sugar, add the beaten eggs, melted butter, milk and buttermilk to a separate jug, whisk together, pour into the dry ingredients and whisk and until smooth.

Heat a skillet medium hot, add a little of the butter and olive oil, pour a ladle of your batter on to the skillet and leave the pancake to cook on one side until lots of little air bubbles have formed, only then flip the pancake and cook for a further minute, remove and repeat.  Keep your pancakes warm by wrapping them in a tea towel, serve with warm maple syrup and enjoy. 

EASY PEASY MAYONNAISE

This is so simple and easy to make and only takes a couple of minutes, no fancy equipment needed and you know what's in your mayonnaise, for me it's great organic egg yolks from my home raised chickens and virgin cold pressed olive oil from a farm in old family farm in Italy.

Equipment :  Large bowl and a whisk / Cooking Time : 2 minutes 

Ingredients

(Makes 200g)

1 egg yolk

300ml olive oil or nut oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp mustard

1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

I used Olive oil in this recipe as its my dad's favourite, but it is a strong flavour and my mum likes a lighter nut or grape seed oil flavour.

First place the egg yolk in your bowl with the white wine vinegar add start to add the olive oil really really slowly and whisk in, if you add too much oil the yolk will go runny and you will not get mayonnaise, if this dose happen you can save the Mayo by adding one or two more yolks and then continue as before.  Once you have incorporated half the oil and the mayo is emulsifing you can then add the rest of the oil much faster, season with salt and mustard, I like Dijon mustard or whole grain sometimes.  

Think of your mayonnaise as a blank canvas that you can now flavour with anything, my favourites are lemon and fresh grated garlic, capers gherkins and dill, chipotle chilli and smoked paprika and lemon, amoung a few.  Have fun and get inventive with your favourite flavours.

This will keep for about a week in a air tight container in your fridge.

MEET MY GOATS

How fabulous is this, I finally have my two pet goats, I have been asking for goats for the last couple of years but there was a concern of escapees and mischievous fun, and as we don't live on my farm mum and dad were not convinced it would work out well.  Well recently I was super brave and as a surprise mum and dad got me two Boer Goats called Tullah and Jack, I am so thrilled to have them and they are great.

.

I am teaching my goats to walk on a lead so I can take them for a walk around the farm and for handling them as they will need brushing and feet trimming so it is important they are friendly.

This was arrival day and I went with mum and dad to pick up Tullah and Jack and take them back to the farm where they spent two days in a holding pen so that the other sheep would get used to them being there and just in case they had any germs!  

That is Tullah she is the mischievous one !!!

SPICY CHICKEN SOFT TACOS

I just love making soft tacos for a family dinner, everyone gets to stuff their taco to their own design and there is always lots of noise until they start the face stuffing lip smacking enjoyment of eating them and that is why I love food and my family

Prep time: 15 minutes / Flat bread Proving time: 1 hr / Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

Marinade For The Chicken

4 chicken breasts sliced

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp paprika

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

3 tbsp fresh coriander

1 lime juiced

2 tbsp coconut oil for cooking the chicken

1 red pepper sliced

1 green pepper sliced

1 onion finely sliced

2 tbsp coriander

12 flour or corn flat breads, recipe below to make your own.

Place all the ingredients except the coconut oil in a bowl and combine, leave in the fridge to marinate for half an hour.  Meanwhile make the guck olé and salsa accompaniments.

Place the mashed avocado in a bowl and mix in half of the spring onions, red pepper, jalapeno, garlic, and lime juice along with one tbsp of the coriander, mix well, taste and adjust seasoning if required.

Next for the salsa place the tomatoes in a bowl and add the rest of all the ingredients, spring onion, garlic, red pepper, salt, coriander and lime, mix to combine and adjust seasoning if needed.

To cook the chicken heat a skillet nice and hot, add the coconut oil and sear the chicken for around 5-7 minutes until just cooked add the peppers, onions and a dash of water mix to combine and cook for a further minute until the water has thickened to make a little sauce from all the gorgeous flavours in the pan, serve in the skillet on the table family style with all the accompaniments and enjoy the hustle and bustle of a great family moment in time.

Accompaniments 

1 large tub sour cream

1 avocado mashed

4 tomatoes roughly chopped

2 spring onions chopped

1/2 red pepper finely chopped

2 cloves garlic grated

1 jalapeno diced

1 lime juiced

2 pinches sea salt

3 tbsp fresh chopped coriander 

Speedy Flat Breads

(Makes 8-10)

500g 00 flour

50g olive oil 

10g sea salt

15g dried yeast (optional)

320g water

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and combine to form a ball of dough, turn out on to a slightly floured work top and knead for seven minutes until smooth and springy, leave covered in a bowl at room temperature for at least one hour.  Divide in to 8-10 equal balls and roll out to approx 6" circles.  

Heat a non stick frying pan hot and cook each flat bread for around a minute on each side, wrap up in a warm tea towel to keep warm until serving.

AWESOME JALAPEÑO AND LIME GUACAMOLE

This is awesome, a zesty lime and jalapeno guacamole which goes great with corn chips, nachos, tacos and salads, super good for you and brilliantly tasty this is a winner dinner all round.

Ingredients

1 large ripe avocado

1 fresh jalapeno diced

1 tomato de seeded chopped

1/4 red pepper diced

1 handful chopped coriander 

1 spring onion chopped

1/2 lime zested and juiced

Sea salt

Black pepper

Really simple to make, mash the avocado n a bowl and add the rest of the chopped and diced ingredients, mix well and adjust the seasoning to your taste by adding more or less lime juice, sea salt and pepper.   If you want a more fiery guacamole then ramp up the chillies.  Enjoy.