Frugal and simple: Egg topping

Borrowed from Google, with thanks.

There's absolutely nothing special about this one - everyone knows it but it is worth remembering the old and simple ideas from time to time.

Makes enough for two.

Hard boil two eggs.
Peel them.
Mash them with some mayo (or I rather like it with good, old fashioned salad cream too).
Add seasoning (remember the mayo has salt).
Add herbs: fresh, chopped chives work well.
It's nice with grated cheese but becomes less frugal

Either cover and chill till needed or eat straight away.
Good for sandwiches, to top crispbread, in a delicious fresh roll or on soda bread, on a pile of shredded lettuce with a side salad, mixed with prawns on lettuce as a starter, etc.

As I say, nothing unique but jolly tasty, especially on these hot days!

Frugal recipe: Thrifty Lesley's oaty biscuits

. . . which can be found here.
http://www.thriftylesley.com/oaty-biscuits-1p-a-serving/

For once, my photo!  :-)

I made these this morning using half quantities.  It's a very, very easy recipe although before baking one wonders what it will turn out like as the raw mixture looks - er - odd!
However, I carried on and finished.  I gave them longer than the recipe said - 15 mins and then I turned the heat down by about 10 degrees and gave them five more minutes.  They didn't burn and turned out light and crisp all the way through.  I baked them on parchment so no sticking whatsoever.

I'm not a great admirer of cookies that are gooey in the middle.  I prefer crisp and crunch in my biscuits and this recipe delivers it all.

I didn't add anything and would say that it would be worth adding more seasoning.  Ground ginger would be great or chopped crystallised ginger (yum), as would cinnamon or other spice (garam masala comes to mind here) or some dried fruit.  The butter taste is missing, of course.
However, they are perfectly scrummy all by themselves and I'm glad I have visitors today or I would be forced to eat them all up myself and that would never do, would it?

Take a look and have a go - they're really good.

Thank you

It is so nice to see that people are still popping in here to read, even though I haven't managed to post anything for a while now.

Things are quite heavy at the moment and I have little time for experimenting but I promise all you lovely readers that I will be back good and proper once the term (and my teaching career) ends.

Then I can really get going again.

In the meanwhile, I hope there's enough in here to keep you interested.  Thanks for sticking with me.

Recipe: Cake in a mug

I know - everyone knows this one!  It was scrummy so here it is again.

I have wee pullets eggs at the moment and it seemed to me that they would be perfect.  I needed cake.  Yes, I did, definitely NEEDED cake.

I did it the classic all in one.
First of all I weighed the egg (in its shell) and it came to 44g.
I weighed out 44g of SR flour, sugar and spread into a bowl.  I popped them in the microwave for a short time to soften the spread, then I beat them together with a fork.  Then I added the egg and mixed it well, finishing it off with a few drops of vanilla.
It went into one of my mugs and into the microwave.  3 mins at 600.

Just what was needed!  Five minutes from start to finish.

Soft cheese - the next chapter

The wire sieve didn't work.  I could see straight away that the yogurt was starting to drip through.  So that put paid to that idea.

So I put the sieve over a bowl and lined it with one sheet of that stronger than usual almost-like-fabric (except that it isn't fabric) kitchen towel and lo and behold, the whey immediately started dripping.
There's not so much 'fabric' to soak up the whey so there should be more in the bowl.

So it's all covered with cling film and in the fridge for three to four days to see what happens.

I suspect as much whey will drip out but the results will be creamier tasting and less yogurt-y in flavour because the yogurt was made with whole milk rather than skimmed or semi skimmed.  If that works (and it should), I will try some flavourings next.

(Nearly forgot to add some salt though!)

More about soft cheese

A short time ago I posted about  making soft cheese from yogurt.  I used fat free milk so the yogurt (and subsequently the soft cheese) were also low fat.

I wondered what it would be like made with yogurt made from whole milk so I tried and I am delighted to say that it is absolutely gorgeous.  So creamy and delicious.

I left it straining for quite a lot longer (so there's less cheese) but don't know how much whey came out as it was wrapped in muslin and therefore the muslin soaked up all the whey.  A shame because I wanted to use it in bread but never mind.

I am now wondering about using a metal sieve instead of a fabric to strain the yogurt.  I have a very fine one that might work.  Watch this space!