"toffee's deeply moreish baked stuff."™

[ToffeeOwnsTheSausage]

Mazzle's request.

Cheese and date bread.

Prep time: 20 minutes.
Cooking time: 45 minutes.
Makes 1 loaf.
Serves 8-10.

225g self-raising white flour.
A pinch of salt.
55g butter, diced.
85g mature cheddar cheese, finely grated.
115 pitted dried dates, finely chopped.
2 eggs.
150ml milk.

Preheat oven to 190C, 375F, Gas Mark 5. Grease a 900g loaf tin and set aside.

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl then lightly rub in the butter until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Stir in 70g of the cheese and all the dates.

Beat the eggs and milk together, the add to the date mixture and mix well to combine.

Turn the mixture into the tin and level the surface. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake the loaf for about 45 minutes or until risen and golden brown. Turn out and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or cold in slices.

Enjoy .

Great service on this thread. Wonderful mouse recipe, but I'll need to up the number of mice. The reason BoyCat has to catch so many is that it takes several of the little tykes to make a decent burger.

Those carrots muffins and the cream cheese icing sound divine

Yes, error on my part there. 2 mice are obviously not equal to 2 steaks. I will try harder next time.

Festive Cheese and Fruit Scone Ring.

Prep time 25 minutes (I am sure it didn't take me this long.)
Cooking time 15-20 minutes (took 17 in my fan oven.)
Serves 12 (ha ha, not in my house!!)

225g self-raising white flour.
25g butter, diced.
25g caster sugar.
About 150ml milk.
85g sultanas.
115g Wensleydale cheese.

Preheat the oven to 200C, 400F, Gas mark 6.
Flour a baking sheet and set aside.

Sift the flour into a bowl and lightly rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar then add enough milk, mixing to form a soft dough. (I didn't use the full 150ml of milk.)

Turn the dough on to a lightly floured surface and roll out to form a rectangle about 30cm x 20cm in size. Sprinkle the sultanas and 85g of the cheese evenly over the dough. Starting from a long side, roll up the dough fairly tightly like a Swiss roll.

Transfer the dough roll to the baking sheet and form into a ring, pressing the ends together to seal. Using a sharp knife, cut through the dough about 2.5cm intervals not quite cutting through to the centre. Twist the slices so that the cut sides face upwards, then sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake the scone ring for 15-20 minutes, or until risen and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cook. Serve warm or cold.

Mice? As in one mouse, two mice? I don't believe it!

wildwater
in case you'd not picked up, Toffee has rather a cat / mouse / presents in the kitchen problem and some rather silly ideas came up

WildWater
I requested a mouse recipe from Boy Cat, who resides with Toffee and insists on bringing her what he considers delicacies.
Toffee kindly interpreted his miaows on this thread for us.

However, mouse tartare is not obligatory on 5:2

Toffee As you may know, I can't eat butter, margarine etc as they upset my tum (runs in the family). I normally substitute with Philly cheese or olive oil. I've no problem with cheese, cream, yoghurt.

Also, I avoid wheat flour and grain flour generally, preferring almond flour or occasionally chickpea flour.

These substitutions are probably the main reason my baking efforts usually end so badly: baking is unforgiving in comparison to say stir-fries.
I even managed to produce an inedible slimy gunge from B&W's vegan "choc cake in a cup" recipe, which he thought small kids could do - that resulted from substituting almond flour for strong flour (btw strong flour ? It has muscle ?)

I set the quantities by judgement - obviously bad - and impulse, even worse.
Do you have any suggestions when substituting Philly for butter ?
Same amount by volume ? Weight ? Full fat ? Add olive oil ?

Similarly, do I need to measure almond flour by weight or volume, or add anything, such as baking powder ?

Probably you'll reply these are impossible (crazy) questions and anyway each dish requires individual substitutions. Still useful info to have.
If you think it is an individual thing, I'd then choose a couple of key dishes and experiment until I achieved satisfactory results.

BCF - give me some time and I will look for you.

FD Pizza! I am half way through making this for the children so can't report on what it tastes like but I thought I would post it anyway.

Polenta Pizza. This is a Good Housekeeping recipe.

Per serving - 358 calories.
16g fat (7g saturates), 37g carbs (5g total sugars), 15g protein, 2g fibre.

Hands on time - 15 minutes.
Cooking time - about 20 minutes.
Makes - 1 pizza.
Serves - 4.

750ml (1 1/4 pint) strong vegetable stick.
175g (6oz) instant polenta (dry.)
40g (1 1/2oz) freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
75g (3oz) tomato puree.
1 1/2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil.
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano.
125g ball buffalo mozzarella, torn into pieces.
200g (7oz) vegetable antipasti (GH used a mixture of grilled artichokes, roasted peppers and sunblushed tomatoes.) I am using salami and olives as my DCs like those.
Large handful of rocket leaves to garnish.

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment.
Put the stock in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Stir in the polenta. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring continuously until the mixture thickens. Be careful as it can bubble volcanically!

Stir in the Parmesan and lots of seasoning then tip on to the prepared tray and spread to make a circle 12 inches across. Leave to cook while you prepare the toppings.

In a large bowl, stir the tomato puree, oil and oregano with 1 tbsp. of water to make a smooth paste. Spread evenly over the polenta base, leaving a 2cm border.

Scatter over the mozzarella and antipasti and cook in the oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and golden. Scatter over the rocket. Enjoy .

BCF - forgive me if I have misunderstood but I am hoping this recipe will work for you. I will keep looking for more.

Cornmeal and bacon muffins.

125g bacon, diced.
150g yellow cornmeal.
150g plain flour (only just seen this. I would try your almond flour here instead.) I kept posting it as the recipe sounded like it might still work.
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper or crushed dried chillies.
1 tablespoon baking powder, sifted.
2 large eggs, slightly beaten.
230ml milk.
1 tablespoon baking fat sourced when you fry the bacon. Or veg/sunflower/corn oil.
1 tsp maple syrup.
1 tbsp. fresh herbs such as snipped chives, chopped parsley or sliced spring onions.

Put the bacon into a cold frying pan, non-stick if possible, and fry until golden and crisp. Remove the bacon and transfer to a plate lined with crumpled kitchen paper. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat in the frying pan. If necessary, make up this amount with the other oil mentioned.

Put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix. Add the crispy bacon, eggs, milk, bacon fat or oil, syrup and the herbs or spring onions. Mix quickly to make a coarse, slightly streaky batter. Do beat or over mix.

Spoon the mixture into a prepared muffin tin, filling each hole about 2/3rds full. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 220C for about 15 minutes until lightly golden and just firm to the touch. Let them cool in the tin for 1 minute then turn out onto a wire rack. Eat warm, immediately or within 24 hour.

When cooled completely the muffins can be wrapped then frozen for up to 1 month.

I hope this works. I am no way an expert. If you want a particular recipe, let me know as I have gluten and dairy free bakes I think.

Many thanks, Toffee, that recipe looks wonderful. I really appreciate it.

I'll try that this weekend. I cook very rarely, so adding this to my repertoire will keep me happy for some time.

Is there anything else you would like me to look for? Even though I can eat anything I do seem to have a daft amount of recipes for X-free foods.

Toffee If you have any thoughts on converting your delic Smoked Salmon Sophistication:

• Ok, almond flour for plain, or I can do chickpea flour.
• However, can I just increase the quantity of cream cheese to replace the butter ? Increase by same volume as butter ? Or should I try olive oil, since they are muffins ?

I just thought: if we replace butter by olive oil, those who worry about saturated fat (not me) would also be reassured that it is healthy and more the recommended Mediterranean type of food.

I have no real clue on converting. If I needed 2 types of flour for a recipe but only had one I would just do it with both amounts added together with one type.

I would give it a go with the cream cheese. I bake so much now I am getting more confident at trying things. For instance, some muffin recipes say cooked melted butter or corn oil so I think it would work to change.

I have cheese and grain cobb rising on the radiator and dough in the bread maker to make fruit teacakes. All going well at the moment. Having to fish BoyCat out of the microwave wasn't part of the plan though .

Microwaved BoyCat !!!??
^^ I'm fond of the little scallywag

It is okay ,stroked BCF to calm her down> he was only looking in the microwave. I hadn't shut him in and turned it on. Little monkey had been out all morning and came home impersonating a soggy moggy. Took me ages to catch him to dry him off, he left dirty wet paw marks all over my kitchen, and I did not want them on my new quilt. He has already done that when the cover was off . I dried him off as much as he let me, him meowing all the time and he is now sleeping on Daddy's chair . No mice though so all good.

As requested by Doris.

Savoury Rice.

Serves 4.
356 calories per serving.

2 tbsp. olive oil.
1 onion, chopped.
1 carrot, diced.
200g long grain rice.
250g tomatoes, finely chopped.
500ml hot chicken or veg stock.
150g sweetcorn kernels (I just put the whole small tin in.)
90g frozen peas.
2 tbsp. tomato puree.
salt and black pepper.
1 garlic clove, crushed.
chopped parsley to garnish.

Heat the oil in a (large) frying pan, add the onion and carrot and cook gently, stirring, for 3-5 minutes until the onion is softened but not coloured. (I used a red onion, DS1 said it was very nice.)

Add the rice and stir to coat the grains in the oil. Add the tomatoes and stock.

Add the sweetcorn, peas and tomato puree. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 12-15 minutes. Stir occasionally. (I did 20 minutes, less might have been fine.) Cook until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.

Add salt and pepper to taste and stir in the garlic. Serve at once, sprinkled with the parsley.

Hope you like it.

Thanks, Toffee. I'll give that a go tomorrow.

Oooh, I've got "Birds of a Feather' (the original on a re-run on the Drama channel) on at the moment, and Sharon and Tracey are doing karaoke I WIll Survive. Classic! I haven't bothered with the new series after the first episode which I hated, but I adore the original. Pauline Quirke is the tops.

Yummy-looking recipes here, thanks Toffee. XXX ps hope you're doing ok.

toffee Do you have any recipes for soups with cheese in them ? Say broccoli or spinach or whatever you think goes with cheese (but not gorgonzola or blue cheeses, because I find them bitter)
I am such a cheese addict.

*Green Bean and Parmesan Soup.

Serves 4.

25g butter/margarine
225g green beans, trimmed.
1 garlic clove, crushed.
450ml vegetable stock.
40g grated Parmesan cheese.
50ml single cream.
salt and freshly ground black pepper.
30ml/2tbsp chopped fresh parsley.

Melt the butter/margarine in a medium sized saucepan. Add the green beans and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes over a medium eat, stirring frequently.

Stir in the stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then simmer, uncovered for 10-15 minutes until the beans are tender.

Pour the soup into a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Return to the pan and reheat gently. Stir in the Parmesan and cream. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve.

Egg and Cheese Soup. - My note next to the recipe says not nice.

Serves 6.

3 eggs
3 tbsp. fine semolina
6 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese.
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (I just used ground).
2 1/2 pints meat or chicken stock.
salt and freshly ground black pepper.
12 slices of French bread to serve.

Beat the eggs in a bowl with the semolina and cheese. Add the nutmeg. Beat in 250ml of the cool stock.

Meanwhile heat the left over stock to a simmering point in a large saucepan.

When the stock is hot, whisk the egg mixture into the stock and bring it barely to the boil. Season with the salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes. As the eggs cook, the soup will lose its smooth consistency.

To serve, toast the slices of French bread and place 2 of them at the bottom of each soup dish. Ladle the hot soup on top of the bread and serve immediately.

Squash, Bacon and Swiss Cheese Soup.

Serves 4.

900g/2lb butternut squash.
225g/8 oz smoked back bacon.
15ml/1 tbsp. oil.
225g/8oz onions, roughly chopped.
2 garlic cloves, crushed.
10ml/2 tsp ground cumin.
15ml/1 tbsp. ground coriander.
275g/10 oz potatoes, cut into small chunks.
900ml/1 1/2 pints vegetable stock.
10ml/2tsp cornflour.
30ml/2 tbsp. crème fraiche.
Tabasco sauce, to taste.
salt and freshly ground black pepper.
175g/6oz Gruyere cheese, grated.
crusty bread.

Cut the squash into large pieces. Carefully remove the skin, wasting as little flesh as possible. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Chop the squash into small chunks. Remove all the fat from the bacon and roughly chop it into small pieces.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and cook the onions and garlic for 3 minutes, or until beginning to soften. Add the bacon and cook for about 3 minutes. Stir in the spices and cook on a low heat for another minute.

Add the shopped squash, potatoes and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the squash and potatoes are tender.

Blend the cornflour with 30ml water and add to the soup with the crème fraiche. Being to the boil and simmer, uncovered, for 3 minutes. Check the seasoning and add Tabasco sauce to taste.

Ladle the soup into warm bowls and sprinkle the cheese on top. Serve immediately with crusty bread to scoop up the melted cheese.

Oooh yum, I may have to try the green bean and parmesan one...I bet it would also be ok with the parmesan in some bread instead of in the soup...and then I could have the plain soup on a FD and with the cheesy bread on a NFD.

Thanks toffee

Ooh, thanks Toffee.

I wondered if that cheese request might fox you, but you seem to have recipes for absolutely every taste.
I especially like the idea of cheese with bacon and butternut squash, both of which I love.
In fact, I might leave out the stock and make it as a stew. Mmmm, yum.

btw, I cheat in the kitchen: frozen diced butternut squash, most other veg too. All beans from tins. So, I don't peel and cut most things.
It reduces the potential sources of disaster.