White Russian ice cream recipe

Sometimes, a nice White Russian simply won’t do, so why not go one better than The Dude and mix it together with home made ice cream!

Ingredients

125ml of whole milk

600ml of double cream

200g of sugar

The yolks of 4 medium eggs

1 tablespoon of Agar Agar flakes (You can use gelatin if you’re not making it vegetarian)

60ml of water

150ml of good vodka

150ml of Kahlua

An ice cream mixer

Method

Add the milk, cream and sugar to a pan, put on a low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. You don’t want to boil it, just heat it through until just before it boils and the sugar has dissolved.

In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks.

Slowly add a little bit of the hot milk/cream mixture whisking all the time. This is called tempering, you don’t want too much of the hot mixture to come in contact with the egg yolks or they will go lumpy. The idea is you add a little bit at a time so the yolks don’t get hot enough to solidify.

Once you’ve incorporated all of the milk/cream mixture into the egg yolks you have your custard.

Strain the custard back into a pan and heat for a few minutes, stirring constantly.

Coat the back of a spoon with the custard, run your finger across it, if you can make a line without any of the mixture running back over the line it’s ready.

Strain the custard into another bowl, cover with cling film, place in another bowl filled with ice and put it in the fridge for at least 8 hours, overnight if possible.

Add the water to a pan and sprinkle the Agar Agar flakes over the top, heat the water until the Agar Agar dissolves and stir until it thickens.

Add the vodka and Kahlua, mix and then strain into the cold custard. Give it all a good stir.

Take the freezer bowl for the ice cream maker from the freezer and immediately add the custard.

Mix it for up to 40 minutes, it should start to thicken after 20 minutes depending on how cold your freezer bowl is.

That’s it! If you want your ice cream thicker pour it from the freezer bowl into a container and place in the freezer overnight.

The Dude would be truly proud!

Baked aubergine with almost ratatouille recipe

It’s almost ratatouille but not quite but it tastes really nice and smothered over a lovely soft baked aubergine it makes for an easy meal. It goes down equally well over some roasted butternut squash wedges or topped off with some paneer pieces and a light grilling.

Ingredients

1 aubergine, washed and cut in half lengthways

1 400g can of chopped tomatoes

2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped

1 orange pepper, washed and cut into chunks

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon of sugar

A sprinkle of dried oregano

A sprinkle of dried sage

Freshly ground black pepper

A little olive oil

Method

Preheat your oven to 200C (I’ve got a fan oven).

Place the halved aubergine on a baking tray, score the flesh, rub with a little olive oil and add a little ground black pepper.

Bake in the oven for around 40 minutes but keep an eye on them!

Meanwhile in a large pan add a little olive oil and sauté the onion and orange pepper for a few minutes until the onion is soft.

Add the chopped tomatoes, garlic, sugar and a little black pepper, stir until combined.

Add as much of the herbs as you like, I probably added a teaspoon of each.

Give it all a good stir, have a taste, if it’s good let’s rock and roll.

When the aubergine flesh has turned golden brown and the edges catching move them to plates and spoon over the almost ratatouille.

Celeriac and carrot soup recipe

Picked a bag of veg up from the farmers’ market for £1.50 and it made enough soup for a week. It’s easy to make and will keep in the freezer.

Ingredients

40g of unsalted butter (Recipe could easily be made vegan by substituting the butter for olive oil or vegan spread)

2 celeriac, peeled and chopped

4 large carrots, peeled and chopped

4 medium sized potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 medium onions, peeled and chopped

1 litre of hot vegetable stock (I used 2 Knorr stock pots)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

In a large pan, melt the butter then add the onion, carrots and celeriac.

Stir to cover the veg in some butter, put a lid on the pan and cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add the potatoes and stock, make sure the stock covers all the veg.

Season with freshly ground pepper and a little salt, remember there’s probably already salt in the stock so don’t overdo it!

Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the veg is cooked.

With a stick blender, purée the soup leaving some lumpy veg.

Serve in hot bowls with a chunky wedge of bread!

Penne pasta with bechamel, broccoli and peas recipe

Left over béchamel sauce and some broccoli in the bottom of the fridge, throw it in a pan with some other stuff, quick food!

Ingredients – Serves 4

300g whole wheat penne pasta

680ml of béchamel sauce

1 head of broccoli, washed and cut into bite size chunks

A hand full of frozen peas

Freshly ground black pepper

As much vegetarian Parmesan cheese as you have to hand, grated

Method

Steam the broccoli for about 20 minutes.

Whilst that’s going on, pour some boiling water in to a large pan and add the pasta, cook for around 12 minutes or until it’s done!

Drain the pasta and add it back to the empty pan.

Add the béchamel sauce and heat through.

Throw in a hand full of frozen peas and cook for a few minutes.

Twist in some black pepper.

Add the Parmesan and broccoli and stir in gently.

Serve up!