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Cheesy Straws

Cheesy Straws

These cheesy straws are a lovely snack for lunch boxes and last minute visitors. They can be prepared whenever you have time, and the pastry frozen – then just pop out a handful and bake when you need them.  I was setting an Autumn scene for some photos I had to do, so we broke up the straws to make a ‘woodpile’. I was glad when the kids walked in and said ‘Oh, look at the brooms!’  Always useful when people can tell what you’re going for!
Cheesy Straws

These cheesy straws can be made as straws, though simply baking them in rounds is okay too – I tend to freeze them as round biscuits, making them easier to use with dips. If you’re going to make brooms, I recommend that you use the stringy type of kids cheese, rather than regular blocks of cheese which crack rather than pull apart. And have more chives than you think you need as they break really easily too. Cheesy Straws

I also like to add paprika or rosemary to cheese strings – it just depends on what flavour you like, or whether you like something different from time to time! Also, you don’t have to add parmesan, it just heightens the cheese flavour. If you decide not to, just make another 50g cheddar cheese.

Cheesy Straws Recipe:

Cheesy Straws
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 60 sticks
Ingredients
  • 375g plain flour
  • 225g butter
  • 150g cheddar cheese
  • 50g parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp mustard (I use a grainy mustard, but powder will work too)
  • 2 egg yolks
  • pinch of salt
  • pepper to taste
Instructions
Thermomix Instructions
  1. Add all the ingredients to the Thermomix bowl
  2. Mix speed 5/30 seconds
  3. Remove and shape into a log. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes
  4. Heat the oven to 180C
  5. Break off pieces and roll into sticks using your hands
  6. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool before moving but be gentle as they are fragile
Regularly Instructions
  1. Add all the ingredients to a food processor
  2. Mix until everything is combined and the dough forms a ball
  3. Remove and shape into a log. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes
  4. Heat the oven to 180C
  5. Break off pieces and roll into sticks using your hands
  6. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool before moving but be gentle as they are fragile

 

 

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Borlotti Magic Bean Chocolate Brownies

Borlotti Bean Chocolate Brownie

I had my first experience of the Magic Bean Chocolate Cake phenomenon sitting in a friend’s garden in Australia in 2012. I strongly dislike beans, so when they brought out this mythical bean-chocolate cake I was highly suspicious and the surprise on my face after tasting had everyone laughing. If you aren’t told that there are beans in this brownie, you wouldn’t know.  In the years since, there have been dozens of ‘magic bean’ cakes that have sprung up around the web, and some of them have loads of ingredients. I like these Borlotti Magic Bean Chocolate Brownies because it makes a flatter brownie, and it’s highly adaptable.

Borlotti Magic Bean Chocolate BrowniesSometimes we make it plain, as it is. Othertimes we might add dried/freeze dried cranberries or nuts. My favourite is to add milk chocolate chips that provide gooey pockets of sweet chocolate throughout. Borlotti Magic Bean Chocolate Brownies

I recommend this brownie pan as the recipe below fills it perfectly, and when you’ve taken it out of the oven and allowed it to cool slowly, you can fit the cutting bit over it, and have perfectly sized brownies.

If you’re not using a Thermomix to make this, just make sure you pulse the chocolate and beans into a smooth batter, and you’ll be set. Allow it to cool, sprinkle with icing sugar, drizzle cream, or enjoy your Borlotti Magic Bean Chocolate Brownies as is.

Borlotti Bean Magic Chocolate Brownies
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 24
This recipe couldn’t really be easier, whether you’re using a Thermomix or not. It is also quite forgiving, but it’s IMPORTANT to note that all chocolate isn’t created equal. If you are using a rich dark chocolate, like 80% Lindt, you may want to have a taste of the batter and add a couple of tablespoons of sugar. If you are using a sweet dark chocolate, or a milk chocolate, you may want to add a couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder. You can also add extras, like chocolate chips or dried fruit or nuts. It’s very flexible, very forgiving, and ends up tasting delicious either way.
Ingredients
  • 400g beans – we used Borlotti
  • 200g dark chocolate
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Optional:
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 50g dark chocolate or white chocolate chips
  • 100g freeze dried fruit chips
Instructions
Thermomix Instructions:
  1. Heat the oven to 180C
  2. Drain the beans and break the chocolate into blocks
  3. Add beans, chocolate, eggs and baking powder to the Thermomix bowl and mix Seconds 30 Speed 10. (In a regular food processor, add them one at a time till they are properly blended). It should resemble a creamy buttercream. Have a little taste of the batter.
  4. Add any of the optional extras.
  5. Tip the mixture into a brownie tray and bake for 20 minutes.
  6. Leave to cool and serve as is, drizzled in cream or lightly dusted with icing sugar.

 

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Chewy Goji Energy Bliss Balls

Do you sometimes reach mid-afternoon and feel like you could fall asleep where you sit? Even though you have and thought you had slept well? That mid-afternoon slump is generally blood-sugar related, and for me, come 3pm and I could fall asleep where I stand or sit.

That’s when it’s so easy to reach for a bar of chocolate, or a bag of crisps, but obviously these provide only temporary blood sugar spikes and don’t solve the problem long term.

There are a few things you can do to help keep your blood sugar levels steady – getting enough rest, drinking plenty of water, and eating regular small meals  will help keep those cravings at bay too.  All that said though, there are times when having a supply of healthy snacks on hand can make all the difference.Goji Gogo

I love bliss balls – a raw food snack – for this purpose. They are quick to make, and keep well, so you only have to make them once a week or two, and will find that you only need one or two at a time to boost your energy and curb the cravings too.

These snacks are from the eBook Bliss Balls For Beginners, and while eating your way to feeling better is very much a temporary solution, it’s a better way than an excess of sugary snacks!

These ‘bliss balls’ don’t really have a way to go ‘wrong’. If you add a little more or a little less of something, it won’t hugely affect the outcome, but be careful of adding too much liquid (like the coconut oil or lemon juice) as it’s harder to form the balls if it’s too wet.

Chewy Goji Energy Bliss Balls
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 12 – 15 balls
Ingredients
  • 1 cup (250ml) Goji berries
  • 1 cup (250ml) dates
  • 1 cup (250ml) cashews
  • 1 cup (250ml) almonds
  • ¼ cup (60 ml) lemon juice – more if mix is too dry
  • 1 teaspoon (5ml) coconut oil
  • A pinch of rock or Himalayan pink salt
Instructions
  1. Blitz the Goji berries finely in a food processor, then remove a quarter of the mixture and set aside. Add the dates, cashews, almonds, lemon juice, coconut oil and a pinch of salt, and process together till the mixture is moldable.
  2. Shape into balls or bars and roll in the remaining Goji berries.
  3. Keep in an airtight container and they’ll last for ages.

In terms of nutritional value, between the berries and the dates there is quite a bit of fruit sugar, so of course, this is still a treat, but at least the release seems to be slower (my totally unscientific experience!) Each ball holds roughly 2g of protein and 4g of (mainly coconut oil) fat too, which seems to work well for giving me the boost I need.

Everyone who’s tried the goji berry bliss balls has agreed that they hit that ‘sweet spot’ and that just one or two balls is sufficient, which in my view makes the calories worth it. And they’re tasty too – so that’s an added bonus!

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Rhubarb Lemonade

Rhubarb Lemonade
Rhubarb Lemonade

The weather is hot hot hot and there’s more of it to come – and there’s just a little bit of rhubarb season left, so still enough time to make this quick and very refreshing drink. It was from a
Rhubarb Iced Tea recipe, but since I don’t have much affinity for tea, I changed it to a Rhubarb Lemonade, with bought lemonade to top it up. Rhubarb Lemonade

I normally use these Ikea Korken Bottles (pictured) but you can use any cordial bottles which I half fill with cordial and freeze (normally on it’s side) then it freezes diagonally and looks quite pretty!

Rhubarb Lemonade

Taken out of the freezer I top it with fizzy lemonade and leave it to defrost, it’s perfect on a hot and sweltering day.

Rhubarb Iced Tea
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 litre
Ingredients
  • 500g Roughly chopped rhubarb
  • 1000g Water
  • 100g White or Brown Sugar
  • Squirt of lemon juice (tbs roughly) or half a lemon
Instructions
  1. Add the rhubarb to a pot with water. Bring to the boil, stirring for 10 minutes to prevent the rhubarb burning. Lower the heat and boil for a further 20 minutes, with the lid on.
  2. (I would try to keep the rhubarb in a colander if you have one that can fit inside your pot – that way you don’t have to strain it after.)
  3. Remove the rhubarb, squeezing out any excess water. Switch off the heat and while the water is still hot, add the sugar and lemon juice and stir till dissolved.
  4. Set aside to cool – serve as is, or with lemonade. We like to freeze it too.
Thermomix Recipe
  1. Fill the Thermomix jug to 1000g
  2. Place rhubarb in internal steamer basket. Place MC.
  3. The water must touch the rhubarb, but the rhubarb shouldn’t touch the blades.
  4. Speed 10 mins /speed 4/ Varoma
  5. Then 20 mins /speed 4/100C
  6. Remove lid, then use the back of a spoon to squeeze out excess liquid.
  7. While still hot, add sugar – you can add more or less to taste – 100g works well for me.
  8. Add lemon juice and set aside to cool.
  9. Once cool, move to glass bottle and store in the fridge till ready to serve.
  10. With 1 litre Sprite: Calories: 1,738 Carbs: 454 Protein: 5 Sodium: 240 Sugar: 433
Serving size: 4 cups Calories: 1,258 Fat: 0 Sugar: 305 Sodium: 20 Protein: 5
Notes
To serve: I like to freeze half a bottle on it’s side so that I can take it out and add lemonade. The lemonade is cooled by the iced drink and once defrosted you have a bubbly refreshing drink. You can drink it as is too, but I like it with the lemonade.
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Carrot And Cheddar Shortbread Recipe

Carrot and Cheese Shortbread

An odd side effect of growing your own food is that sometimes you have very small amounts of produce. For example, we harvested a handful of carrots this week, thinning out space for the other carrots to grow bigger. This gave us about 8 small carrots which is barely a snack of one person, never mind a side for three, so I had to think of something we could make that use the carrots to best effect.

Carrot and Cheese Shortbread
Carrot and Cheese Shortbread served with Carrot Top Hummus

I decided a good snack for a picnic we were attending would be Carrot and Cheese Shortbread. I know shortbread is normally a sweet treat, but why should it be!?

This recipe was a bit trial and error, but it worked out so well, I’m really pleased with it. And if we have another small batch of carrots I intend to do the same again, but freeze the dough so that we have ready shortbread whenever we want – I think it’s a great way of saving summer produce too! I’ll let you know how I get on with that.

Shortbread

In the meantime, here’s the carrot and cheddar shortbread recipe.

Carrot And Cheddar Shortbread Recipe
Recipe Type: Snack
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 20 biscuits
In the Thermomix this just takes a few minutes, then there’s a 30 minute chill time. After chilling you need to slice the cookies or you can roll them out to make shapes.
Ingredients
  • 115g (4oz) salted butter
  • 90g (3oz) carrot and cheese*
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 1/2 tsp rosemary
  • 220g (1 1/4 cups) plain flour
  • 1 tbs water (a bit more if your flour is organic)
Instructions
  1. (If you’re not using a Thermomix, grate the carrot first)
  2. Add room temperature butter to a mixing bowl and using an electric beater whisk it till it’s light and fluffy
(Thermomix: add the butterfly and mix on speed 3 for 30 – 40 seconds)
  1. Add a mixture of carrot and cheese to add up to 90g. In this case I used 45g of each, but more or less of whichever you have, to add up to 90g.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the water and mix until combined
(speed 6 for 1 minute)
  1. Add the water and mix till it combines and pulls away from the sides
  2. Tip out onto greaseproof paper, and shape into a sausage. Chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.
  3. After 30 minutes, turn the oven on to 180C/350F. Slice the sausage into 1cm thick slices and place on a baking tray. Bake for 20 -25 minutes.
  4. Leave to cool.

 

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Easter Egg Macaroons {DF, GF, EF, RSF}

Easter Egg Macaroons

This is not a new recipe for me – we make chocolate macaroons frequently – but I decided to make it into Easter Eggs for the children to decorate, so we’re sharing it again, all seasonal like.Easter Egg Macaroons

I used egg moulds to make these Easter egg halves, but you could make whole eggs by hand too.  Depending on where you are (temperature) and whether you use organic coconut or not, you may need a little extra coconut oil. If that’s the case, just add a tablespoon at a time at the end of the mixing process. The  mixture does need to be able to hold together.

Easter Egg Macaroons {DF, GF, RSF}
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Ingredients
  • 50g Coconut Oil (1/4 cup)
  • 70g honey or syrup (1/4 cup)
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 30 – 50g cocoa powder (1/3 cup)
  • pinch of fine sea salt or Himalayan pink salt
  • 150g shredded unsweetened coconut (1.5 cups)
Instructions
Regular Instructions
  1. Melt the coconut oil in a pot – this requires 37C, i.e. body heat, and is still considered raw, or uncooked.
  2. Add the honey or syrup and stir till it’s all mixed and liquid and remove from heat
  3. Add the vanilla extract
  4. (If using banana, mash it and add to the mix)
  5. Add 30g cocoa first then add the coconut
  6. (Add chia seeds if using)
  7. Stir till it’s all combined
  8. Taste the mix too see if it’s the right amount of chocolatey. If you want it ‘darker’ add more cocoa powder till it’s right for you. Mix again.
  9. Scoop out onto a tray, or into moulds and refrigerate until it hardens.
  10. Keep cool as it will fall apart if the coconut oil gets too warm.
Thermomix Instructions
  1. Put the coconut oil in the bowl, and melt 37C/Speed 1/ 20 Seconds (you’ll need a bit longer if the weather is cold) Make sure it’s melted though, or it won’t be liquid enough to hold everything together)
  2. Add the honey or syrup and mix 37C/Speed 1/ 30 Seconds.
  3. Add the vanilla extract
  4. Add 30g cocoa first then add the coconut
  5. Mix speed 2/ 15 seconds
  6. Taste the mix too see if it’s the right amount of chocolatey. If you want it ‘darker’ add more cocoa powder till it’s right for you. Mix again speed 2/15 seconds.
  7. Scoop out onto a tray, or into moulds and refrigerate until it hardens.
  8. Keep cool as it will fall apart if the coconut oil gets too warm.

 

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Dinosaur Eggs (or Easter Eggs)

Dinosaur Easter Eggs
Marbled Easter Eggs

My children love having dinosaur eggs (or dragon eggs)  for lunch, but these can make really pretty Easter eggs too – ideal for lunch boxes or breakfast around Easter, and they couldn’t be easier to make.Dinosaur Eggs Easter Eggs Boil eggs in whichever way you prefer.

I fill the Thermomix bowl to half way through the internal steamer basket, place the eggs inside, then boil at Varoma temp for 14 minutes (9-11 should do it for soft boiled, if you start with cold water, but for these I prefer hard boiled).

In the meantime, mix a few drops of food colouring in a few tablespoons of water. If you use commercial food colouring you may need more colour, if you use confectioners grade, you need just one or two.Dinosaur Eggs Easter Eggs

Once the eggs are boiled, run cold water over them so that they are touchable, then very gently crack the shell all the way around. Don’t crack it too hard, you don’t want the shell to come off yet.Dinosaur Easter Eggs

Roll the egg in the food colouring till it is well coated, then leave for 5-10 minutes.Dinosaur Eggs Easter Eggs

Very gently peel the shell off. If you peel the membrane off, most of the dark colouring will come off too, but if you’ve left it long enough, it should be fine. It’s just easier to peel if you get hold of the thin membrane and pull the shell off.

Dinosaur Eggs Easter Eggs

You should be left with a colourful cracked egg.

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Welsh Beef Hotpot (Slowcooker)

Welsh Beef Hotpot

Growing up in South Africa, I took for granted that meat was meat. We seemed to always have good meat, when we had meat. Moving to England we found the quality of the meat… less than satisfactory. We’d often have a good meal – even in a restaurant – and comment that the meat was the weakest component of the meal.Welsh Beef Hotpot

It was only a few years later when I got our first organic meat box that I remembered what good meat tastes like – and more recently was introduced to Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef, and it’s restored my faith in the yumness of meat.

To create this recipe we were sent a huge piece of Welsh Silverside Beef – probably the biggest I have ever cooked at one time and rather than roasting it, I wanted to do something to make it stretch over a few meals , so I seared the beef, and chopped it into cubes. This may sound like a waste of a perfect piece of meat, but it wasn’t. It was so worth it.

After mixing a few sauces and stock together – see the recipe – I left the meat to slow cook for 6 hours before adding mixed root vegetable.

We ate one round of this delicious Welsh Beef Hotpot immediately, and froze two more meals (two meals of three serves). The smaller portion was mixed with risotto rice to make a deliciously flavoured risotto, and the larger portion was put inside a giant Yorkshire pudding which makes a fantastic meal.

Welsh Beef Hotpot
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 10
Ingredients
  • 1kg Silverside Welsh beef
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1kg mixed root vegi
  • 400ml red wine
  • 100ml dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbs brown sugar
  • 500ml beef or veg stock
  • 2 tbs corn flour
  • Dash of oil
Instructions
  1. Add oil to a frying pan, along with the onion and sear each side of the meat about 2 – 3 minutes per side. Chop a mixture of root veg into chunks
  2. Move it into a slowcooker
  3. In a different dish, stir together the red wine, soy sauce, sugar and stock and pour over the meat.
  4. Add the vegetables and cook on low heat for 6 hours
  5. Before serving, pour the stock into a saucepan. Put two tablespoons of corn flour and 4 tablespoons of stock together in a bowl and mix it together to make a paste. Add more tablespoons of stock till it forms a runny liquid and there are no lumps then pour it into the saucepan with the rest of the stock. Leave for about 10 minutes till it thickens up then add the meat back in
  6. Serve with rice, Yorkshire puddings or other sweet breads

 

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Root Vegetable Mash

Root Veg Mash

If you’re looking for a low effort and incredibly delicious hearty food this time of year, mash is always a winner. It goes so well with so many different meats and is versatile as it’s own dish, or as a topping – such as shepherds pie or fisherman’s pie. This Root Vegetable Mash, however, is a delicious alternative to stodgy potatoes.  It’s also a really useful one to have in your repertoire if you regularly do roasts as I always find I have a carrot here and a parsnip there that didn’t make it into the meal.Root Veg Mash

The bonus of a root veg mash that doesn’t include potatoes is that it doesn’t run the risk of being gloopy.

This recipe is good with any variety of root vegetable, really, and I find so long as it totals up to about 550g it’s hard to go wrong.  Some people require exact amounts, so this is the most recent version of the root vegetable mash that I’ve made.  I had a large rutabaga (swede) and a few left over carrots so decided to turn them into a quick mash for a light, but filling dinner.

You can make this completely fat free – which in this case also makes it dairy free – but I really like the bit of butter in this. I find it makes it rich enough that I’m not craving chocolate pudding at the end.

Swede And Carrot Mash
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: serves 2
Ingredients
  • 400g Swede chopped into 3 – 4 cm chunks
  • 150g Carrot chopped into 3 – 4 cm chunks
  • Pinch of Nutmeg
  • 40g Salted Butter (optional)
  • Salt & Pepper to Taste
Instructions
Regular Instructions
  1. Boil or steam vegetables as you normally would – about 30 mins till they are soft
  2. Drain and in a bowl, add butter, vanilla and seasoning.
  3. Use a masher or food processor to mash everything together until the vegetables reach a lumpy or smooth texture, as you prefer.
Thermomix Instructions
  1. Fill the Thermomix to half way through the internal steamer basket and fill with root vegetables.
  2. Put the lid in place and boil for 20 – 25 minutes/ Varoma / Speed 3
  3. Stick a knife into one of the larger pieces of vegetable to check that it’s fairly soft
  4. Pour out the water, but don’t drain too thoroughly – a tablespoon or two of reserved water is helpful
  5. Tip the vegetables into the Thermomix bowl and chop for 45 Seconds/Speed 5
  6. Add nutmeg, butter and seasoning and mix another 15 Seconds/Speed 5

 

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Jellybean Fudge

Jellybean Fudge

Sometimes a reader will get in touch with a question about a recipe that didn’t work for them, and it always makes me really nervous, so much so that I have to make the recipe as soon as I can to just check it again, to make sure I didn’t leave anything out. Jellybean Fudge

That happened this week, making the White Chocolate and Glace Cherry Fudge, so it was the perfect excuse for me, having not made it since Christmas. I didn’t have any glacé cherries, however, so I grabbed what seemed like a suitable replacement: jellybeans. I was so pleased with how it worked out, I couldn’t help but share it.

Jellybean FudgeThis is a soft and delicious fudge, and the addition of the flavoured jellybeans makes for chewy flavour bursts. And it’s really pretty! I think this is a great Easter fudge, or if you stick to reds and pinks you could do it for Valentines day too.

Jellybean Fudge
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 50 pieces
Ingredients
  • 1 can condensed milk
  • 250g white sugar
  • 25g golden syrup
  • 125g butter
  • 200g white chocolate
  • 100g jelly beans
Instructions
  1. Add condensed milk, sugar, syrup and butter to the Thermomix bowl.
  2. Cook without MC at 100C speed 3 for 8 mins.
  3. Scrape down sides if needed, then cook Veroma, 20 mins speed 3 still without MC. While it’s boiling, prepare the pan, break the chocolate into pieces and get the jellybeans ready.
  4. Add chocolate and mix on speed 4, reverse blades for 20 seconds, then quickly add the jelly beans and mix reverse blades 10 seconds speed 3.
  5. Working quickly, pour the mixture into a brownie tray
  6. Refrigerate for 3 -4 hours, cut and store in airtight container.