What BeeBee Made: Festive Slice

Christmas baking, is there anything better? There has to be something said for a festival that brings about so much rich and gorgeous tasting foods. 

This is my recipe for Festive Slice. I have to admit there is very little to this, and if you're not a pastry maker, just buy that too!

1. The Pastry layer: 

225g plain flour

100g baking fat (or a mix of butter and lard/shortening)

pinch salt

Rub the fat into the flour until you get breadcrumbs (or blitz in a food processor like I do)

Add up to 2 tablespoons of water to bind. 

Roll out to fit your tray. 

2. The Marzipan layer: 

This is my favourite bit!

Take a good sized piece of marzipan, I used about 250g (half a pack of the natural version). 

Roll out until big enough to cover the base of the pastry-lined tray.

3. The Mincemeat Layer:

We're getting even more festive now. I used 2 jars of mincemeat. You can use your own, I tend to buy it and then add extra nice things like extra brandy, vanilla and orange zest. But that's your call. 

We're almost there... 

4. The Crumble Layer. 

This is were it turns from a mince pie to something a bit more special. 

100g self-raising flour
50g butter
50g sugar
50g almonds

Rub the butter and flour together, then stir through the sugar and almonds. 

Scatter this over the top of the tart. 

Bake in a pre-heated oven (190ºC, 375ºF, Gas Mark 5) for 20-25 mins. 

When it's all bubbly and golden remove from the oven and leave to cool. 

Don't try and cut this before it's cooled as it will all try and run away!

What BeeBee Cooked: Slow Cooker Chicken Chow Mein

I have been relying quite heavily on ready meals and sandwiches since going back into the office. 

Instead of financing the local Tescos, I have taken to making my own meals on a weekend. Portioning them up and then storing them in the freezer. 

This is my Slow Cooker Chow Mein. I love it mainly as it is really simple to make. Also because it only really gives me one pot to wash up! God love the slow cooker. This makes 4 portions for me.

Ingredients: 

Skinned chicken portions
500ml Chicken stock
One bag of stir-fried vegetables (if you're being lazy like me) or a mixture of finely chopped veggies. 
Packet of dried egg noodles.
Garlic, grated - to taste I often use a tsp of garlic paste
Fresh ginger, grated - to taste or a sprinkling of ginger powder
1/3 cup Soy sauce (ish)

Method:













In your slow cooker (set to high) poach the chicken portions in the chicken stock, soy sauce, garlic and ginger for roughly 3 hours. 

When cooked through remove the chicken and set aside to cool slightly. Shred the meat and return to the pot. 













In the meantime, add the veggies to the stock for about 30 mins.












Add the dried noodles. 












Make sure the noodles are covered by the liquor. Leave until the noodles are cooked through, this should take between 15-30 minutes. All the stock should have be absorbed into the noodles. 












Return the chicken to the pot. 

Mix through. 













Serve and eat. 

Or cool and freeze.

Dairy Milk Oreo

Oh my glittery goodness. 

Last year when Cadbury released their Oreo bars I was a very happy girl. What wasn't there to like?

Thick milk chocolate, with a creamy white filling and small pieces of the dark, dark, chocolatey biscuity goodness.

The only problem is when they come in a big bar, it is very difficult (if you are me) to stop at just one block or strip. 

Finally, the chocolatey powers that be have seen fit to deem us mortals fit to receive a smaller bar of this gorgeous nectar from the gods. 

I love chocolate and I adore Oreos. Ever since I discovered them on a Barnamint Baileys icecream cocktail in TGI Fridays more years ago than I care to remember.

Anyone who has seen some of my foodie posts in the past is probably aware of my issue with texture.

There is something about certain foods that even though I like the taste, they just feel really, really horribly wrong. On this list is salt and vinegar chipsticks, Pringles, Crunchie bars, well done bacon (there is a really small window between perfectly crispy and wrong), and yogurts. What can I say I'm a complex soul. 

But which do I prefer? The big bar or the (what I would call) handbag-sized bar (but then with the size of my handbag a brick could be described as a handbag-sized bar).

Just look at those chunks. The 41g bar has knocked it out of the park for me. The chunks are slightly bigger, with a bubble like feel to the shape. The chocolate creamy goodness gods have delivered more biscuit and more of the creamy filling into one bite of this smaller bar than was originally in the larger bar. 

Result I say. 

Now shush while I finish the rest of this bar! 

What I've Been Baking... Cherry and Almond Muffins

Office law dictates that when it is a resident's birthday that they must bring cake...

Who am I to defy that law?

So I took these beauties in.

Cherry and Almond Muffins.

Preparation: under 15 min.
Makes: 12
Oven's temperature: Gas Mark 5/200 C
How Long?: 20 m

The Ingredients:

175g (6 oz) soft margarine
175g (6 oz) caster sugar
300g (11 oz) self raising flour
3 eggs
5 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
½ teaspoon baking powder
200g tub glacé cherries, roughly chopped

The Method:

1. Place 12 muffin cases into a muffin tray. 
2. Using an electric whisk, beat sugar into the margarine. Add eggs, milk and almond extract, beat again until well combined – it may look a bit odd and curdled. Carry on regardless. 
3. Stir in the flour. 
4. Reserve some cherries for decoration and fold the remainder into the mixture. 
5. Divide mixture evenly between the paper cases, and decorate the tops with remaining cherries. 
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 – 25 minutes. 
7. Next time I make these I'm going to drizzle the top with glacé icing for a Bakewell tart type affair.

These are so good.

What I Ate Wednesday: Cajun Night Special

I thought I would share with you some of the goodies that I ate on Saturday night.

Each month my friends and I gather for a 'cultural' evening, which is a good old natter over a themed spread and a couple of glasses of wine.

This month we chose to do Cajun.

We had seafood gumbo, bbq bourbon chicken wings, chicken, chorizo and prawn jamalaya and finished off with Jim Beam Brownies.

Fresh crab pancakes with a Wolds Chilli Mayo

Seafood 'ey-bye' Gumbo with mussels, prawns and fresh crab

BBQ Bourbon Chicken Wings

Chicken, Chorizo and Prawn Jambalaya

Jim Beam Brownies with raspberries and chantilly cream

What I Ate Wednesday

This is my current favourite breakfast, yogurt and fruit. In this instance I have added pineapple to some coconut yogurt. 

Lunch was a houmous and carrot sandwich made with green olive bread from ASDA and a side of cheese snack mix from Aldi.

Tea tonight was chinese-style lettuce wraps. So simple even my 6-year-old son can make them. Gone as soon as they are served up! Click here for the recipe.

What I Ate Wednesday

This is what I had on a not so hungry day:

Red thai curry and rice (an ASDA Fresh Tastes meal)

Home-made lasagne and roasted vegetables. You can find my lasagne recipe here on BeeBee's Recipes.

What I Ate Wednesday

Breakfast was coffee:

I have a broken tooth and eating really did hurt. Thankfully it has been temporarily fixed.


Lunch:

Chopped salad: lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cheese, gherkin, ham cubes, home-made coleslaw and a boiled egg.

Tea:

Chicken Casserole with sage and onion dumplings.

What I Ate Wednesday

Finally the boys are back at school.

Does anyone else think that was a really long two weeks, or is that just me?

Today I've started my day off with Special K Multigrain porridge with honey and almonds, and to cut through the sweetness I've topped it off with a little milk. 

I got a bit peckish about 10.30am, so I felt that elevenses were in order, so I grabbed an apple and a handful of nibbly bits left over from Christmas. Mmm savoury nibbles...

Lunch is leftovers from last night's tea. Bubble & squeak, made with leftovers from the Sunday dinner, and Boston-style baked beans, a tin of baked beans souped up with the little gammon we had left, a finely diced onion and some bbq sauce. I have topped this with a poached egg. Not an elegant meal, but a tasty one!

I had a bit of a run around in the afternoon doing chores and the school run, well I've been told the boys need to be collected after school as well as taking. Tea was a quick fuss free affair of Chicken Tikka Bake, with chips, onion rings and a tomato & cucumber salad. 

I rounded the day off with a coffee and Irish Cream cake bar, while watching the Taste.