Recent baking and cooking exploits

Made last Sunday, all within the space of 2.5 hours. I was impressed with myself, I must admit.

Cherry Pie:

We had a box of disappointing Spanish cherries so I decided to make them into pie. Rubbish fruit always = pie in Naz Cooking Maths. However, the recipe I used wasn't great, and didn't include any liquid so the fruit didn't get the lovely sticky sauce that usually comes with a cherry pie. But it was nice nevertheless.

Courgette and Cheese Muffins:

I made these after my sister told me about Hugh Fearnley Whittingsall's recipe in the Guardian. I liked the sound of these, but in reality they're not as tasty as I thought. It might have been because I didn't have parmesan and used a medium cheddar, though - I think it calls for a strong flavoured cheese. But Bartimaeus loved them, so go figure. They do go well with soup or salads.

and banana bread (you don't really need a picture of it, it's not the prettiest stuff in the world! and it got munched before I could take a picture). I make a couple of adjustments to Nigella's recipe: I take out the boozy sultanas as my mum doesn't drink and I think they'd just make it oversweet, and I add more walnuts and salted butter. I also cut out 50g of the sugar. Upping salt and decreasing sugar tends to make cakes more moreish I find! I usually make them in cupcake cases - they don't rise like cupcakes but they're much easier to eat and transport, and only take about 15 minutes to bake.

Inspired by the World Cup Come Dine With Me, I made Baked Eggs Florentine yesterday, which was made by someone called Neil "Razor" Ruddock this week! I never thought I'd be doing recipes inspired by footballers, but it did look lovely. Traditionally, it's made with poached eggs and hollandaise but I don't like either. I sauteed the spinach with a clove of garlic first and then cracked eggs on top, baked in a water bath for 10 minutes and then topped with cheese sauce and cheese. I served with crusty bread and it was lovely! There's something about baking eggs that really brings out their flavour.

Tonight, I'm doing Carlton Palmer's crab pot recipe! It was a special request from Bartimaeus, who loves the stuff. TWO recipes from footballers! Wonders will never cease. I have to say I was way more impressed with their efforts than the dull offerings of the WAGS in the previous episode!