[Food] What I've Been Cooking #2

This round of What I've Been Cooking includes a few new recipes, plus some experimental and safe baking. You'll see from this that my savoury cooking generally tries to go down a much more healthy route, unlike the sweet stuff! I live with two 27 year old men, and their idea of a hearty meal generally means meat and carbs, so I treat myself to better-for-me meals when they're not around and try to make the meals we do share as full of veggies as possible! I've recently given up a lot of carbs (which I'll be writing about soon) and I'm on a bit of a health kick so I'll be updating you all on that soon. Until then, let's have a little looksy at some proper food!

Strawberry and Mascarpone Swiss Roll

I've never made a swiss roll before as it's a pretty daunting task. I assumed it would basically just fall apart on my first go because that's what happens to amateurs who get ideas above their station. BUT somehow, miraculously, it stayed together! The sponge was probably a bit too spongy as it tore a little as it came off the baking paper, and I definitely played it too safe with the filling (a Swiss Roll demands the filling to spill over, really). Ultimately though, it held together, there's a decent roll within it and it tasted good, so all is well!!

I followed Lorraine Pascale's Strawberry and Mascarpone Swiss Roll recipe here.

Banoffee Pie

When I lived with AJ this was a staple favourite of ours, but I have to admit that she was always the one that made it and I just happily stuffed my face. It really is the simplest of desserts so if you're planning a dinner party and you want something quick and easy to whip up for afters, this can't fail. You can of course go the long way around and make the caramel, but I just buy the Carnation tinned variety which in my opinion tastes just as good as takes a tiny portion of the time to prepare. 

I followed the Quick Banoffee Pie recipe on the side of the Carnation Caramel tin here.

Shakshouka

Shakshouka is a Turkish dish made up of a thick tomato sauce and topped with eggs. I had it for breakfast at a little cafe in Hackney a few months ago and have been searching for a good recipe for it every since (not knowing the correct name for it made this a bit of a challenge!). The recipe I found said to poach the eggs within the sauce, but I didn't pay attention and started cooking it in a saucepan instead of a frying pan, meaning I didn't have the surface area for this. Instead I poached my egg separately, plonked it on the top and ate it with some toasted carrot and coriander bread from Cranks. A perfect brunch recipe!

I followed this Shakshouka recipe from the blog White On Rice Couple.

Moroccan Meatball Tagine

This was a bloody good find. Tucked within a little recipe book I have called 100 Healthy Meals, it was super simple to make and really delicious. There was a nice mix of veggies in there including courgettes and peas, plus meatballs made by own fair hands - basically it's shop bought mince mixed with onions, garlic and a little flour, then fried off and added to the tagine. Once the lid was on the dish it bubbled away nicely for a while and I then served it up on a some cous cous I'd made with vegetable stock and a shaking of turmeric and cumin to flavour it up a bit. This is fast becoming a flat favourite.

A similar recipe for Moroccan Meatball Tagine can be found here, and the book I used can be bought here.

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