Lemon-Raspberry Cake

I made this cake a few weeks ago for my birthday. I made Randal a chocolate truffle cake for his birthday, so I thought why not make Sarabeth's lemon raspberry cake.

I loved making this cake, but then I always enjoy cakes that involve many steps and I finally got the chance to make lemon curd for this cake.  This is such a lovely cake, not too sweet which is great for me, as I really am not a fan of heavy sweet cakes with lots of frosting.

Vanilla Genoise:
5 tbsp unsalted butter
5 large eggs
5 large egg yolks
1 cup superfine sugar
seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean
1 cup cake flour

Lemon Curd:
4 lemons
10 large egg yolks
1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened

Lemon Buttercream:
5 sticks unsalted butter
5 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean
1 1/2 tbsp lemon curd

Simple Syrup:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water

Two 6 oz containers of fresh raspberries

To make the vanilla genoise, preheat oven to 350. Grease a half sheet pan.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, transfer to a small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes, until tepid.

Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Bring a large pan of water to simmer over high heat, reduce heat to low and place the mixer bowl over the water.  Whisk constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is about 118 degrees.

Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Add the vanilla and beat on high speed until quadrupled in volume and very pale yellow, will take around 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer. In four equal additions, sift the flour over the egg mixture and use a balloon whisk to fold it in.  transfer a quarter of the batter into a medium bowl and add the butter and fold together with the balloon whisk.  Pour this mixture back into the remaining batter and fold together.

Pour the batter into the half sheet pan and smooth it evenly with an offset spatula. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

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To make the lemon curd, zest the lemons, set aside the zest then cut the lemons in half and juice them.  There should be around 2/3 cup of lemon juice.

In a large heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and zest.  Place over a saucepan of simmering water, cook the curd and stir often until it thickens and reaches 185 degrees, will take about 10 minutes.

Strain the mixture through a sieve into a medium bowl.  Gradually whisk in the butter a tablespoon at a time.  Press a piece of cling film directly over the curd, pierce a few holes in it to allow steam to escape and leave to cool.  Once the curd has cooled transfer it to a covered container and refrigerate.

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To make the simple syrup, place the water and sugar in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, let boil for a couple of minutes then turn off the heat and leave to cool.

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To make the buttercream, add one inch of water to a saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Add the egg whites and sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer and place over the simmering water.  Whisk constantly until the mixture reaches around 160 degrees, should take about 5 minutes. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip on high speed until the meringue is cool, could take up to 10 minutes.

With the mixer on medium speed, beat in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Once all the butter has been mixed in, add the vanilla and the lemon curd and beat for another minute.

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To assemble the cake, split each raspberry in half and place on a paper towel lined sheet pan.

Using an 8 by 3 inch entremet ring, cut two rounds from opposite corners of the genoise. Cut out two half rounds from the remaining cake. 

Insert an 8 inch cardboard round into an 8 by 3 inch entremet ring.  Place a whole cake round into the ring and brush with 1/4 cup of the simple syrup. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the circumference of the cake.  Spread 1/2 cup of the lemon curd up to the ring of buttercream and layer half of the raspberries cut side down on the lemon curd.  Top with the two half rounds of cake, using the scraps of cake left for filling any gaps and repeat with the simple syrup, piped buttercream, lemon curd and raspberries.  Place the final cake layer and brush with the remaining syrup.  Place one cup of buttercream onto the cake and using a large offset spatula spread so that it is even with the top of the ring.  Carefully lift off the metal ring, refrigerate for 1 hour.

Spread a thin layer of buttercream over the cake, refrigerate for 15 minutes.  Apply the final layer of frosting to the cake, top with raspberries and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Linked to:
A Pinch of Joy
Create With Joy 

I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Addicted to Recipes
Inside BruCrew Life
Love Bakes Good Cakes
Nap Time Creations
Our Delightful Home

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Quinoa, black bean and corn tacos for me, regular beef tacos for Randal and spanish rice

Tuesday: Chicken korma, jasmine rice, poppadoms and mango chutney

Wednesday: Nonna's handkerchiefs, salad (still haven't made this)

Thursday: Cherry glazed ribs, corn on the cob, sugar snap peas

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Zucchini Boats

I was under no illusion that Randal would actually eat these, so I planned to make them on a night I was making Randal a dinner that I don't really like. So while Randal enjoyed his roasted Italian sausages and spaghetti, I enjoyed these stuffed zucchini (or courgettes as I call them) boats from Proud Italian Cook.

2 large zucchini
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
1 garlic clove, crushed
12 cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup mozzarella

Preheat the oven to 375. In a small bowl mix together the olive oil, dried herbs and garlic.

Cut the zucchini in half and scoop out the middle, brush with the olive oil and herb mixture. Cut the tomatoes in half and place in the zucchini boats.  Sprinkle with the panko and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and top with the grated cheese, bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

We had some really good deli roast beef from my favourite grocery store Central Market that I needed to use up. I remembered I had pinned this recipe from Quick'n Easy Recipes and as Randal loves stuffed peppers and roast beef, I thought this would be a great dinner for him.

8 oz roast beef
8 slices provolone cheese
2 green peppers
1 onion, sliced
6 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400. Slice the peppers in half and remove the seeds.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large pan.  Add the onions and mushrooms, cook for about 10 minutes.  Add in the garlic and season with salt and pepper.

Add in the chopped roast beef and mix together.

Place a slice of cheese in the bottom of each pepper.  Divide the beef mixture between the peppers and top with another slice of cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Persian Jeweled Rice

I pinned this rice dish from the view from the great island a long time ago.  I kept looking at the recipe saying that one day I would make it, but I never seemed to have all the ingredients for it or I would change my mind and just make plain jasmine rice instead.  It looked so pretty though that I eventually just had to try it.  We both really loved this, although we increased the amount of spices because we tend to like really strong flavours.

1 1/2 cups rice
1 onion, diced
1/2 tsp saffron threads
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cardamom
2 tbsp butter
2 bay leaves
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup dried apricots, diced
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup pistachios
seeds from 1 pomegranate

Place the saffron in 2 1/2 cups of hot water.  Set aside.

Melt the butter in a large pan, add the fennel seeds and cumin seeds and fry for a minute or two.  Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes.  Stir in the rice and fry for a few minutes.  Add in the cinnamon, allspice and cardamom, bay leaves, lemon zest and the saffron water.  Season with salt and pepper, add in the dried fruit and bring to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes or until the rice is tender.

To serve, remove the bay leaves and top with the almonds, pistachios and pomegranate.

Mediterranean Chef salad

One of the best things about grocery shopping at HEB are all the food samples they give out. We have found so many great recipes through samples at HEB, and as soon as I tasted this salad last week I made Randal go back and ask for the recipe card. I had everything in my cart that this salad needed anyway, except for the turkey, so I changed my lunch plans for the week so I could make this.

1 lb extra lean ground turkey
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch spring onions, chopped
1 head romaine lettuce
1 bag baby lettuce medley
1 large tomato
1 large avocado
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Dressing:
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
3 tbsp fresh mint
1 tbsp lemon juice

Heat the oil in a large pan.  Add the turkey and cook for 5 minutes.  Add in the garlic and cook for another minute, season with salt and pepper and add the kidney beans and cook for another minute.  Remove from heat and stir in the spring onions.

To make the dressing, finely chop the mint and stir it into the yogurt and add the lemon juice.

Tear romaine into bite sized pieces and place onto a serving platter.  Top with the lettuce mix.  Spoon the turkey mixture over the lettuce, add the tomato and avocado and drizzle with the dressing.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Herb roasted chicken with green beans and red potatoes

Tuesday: Cheesesteak stuffed bell peppers, salad

Wednesday: Nonna's handkerchiefs, salad (still haven't made this)

Thursday:Italian sausage spaghetti for Randal, zucchini boats for me and salad

Friday: Spicy mint beef and jasmine rice
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Beef Kofta Curry

I have been wanting to make this Jamie Oliver curry for a while, although I really wasn't sure if Randal would like this at all, mainly because of the lentils mixed in with the beef.  I figured if there was enough curry sauce though, he might not even notice. I really enjoyed making this curry and it did taste great (although Randal quickly found the lentils!) but I did have some trouble with the kofta falling apart in the pan, so mine ended up more like a mince curry.

1 cup puy lentils, cooked
1 tsp garam masala
1 lb ground beef
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tomatoes
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
2 spring onions
1/2 a red chilli

1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp honey
2 tsp rogan josh curry paste
Half a can of light coconut milk

 

Put the lentils into a bowl with salt, pepper, the garam masala and beef, mix together.

Divide the mixture into 12 and shape each one into a short sausage shape. Put them into the frying pan with 1 tbsp of oil, turning when golden.

In a blender, add the tomatoes, ginger, spring onions, the chilli, turmeric, honey, curry paste and coconut milk, then puree until thoroughly combined. Pour into the kofta pan, bring to the boil, then simmer and season to taste.
  

Cardamom Rice with Beans and Peas

I made this Jamie Oliver rice recipe to go along with his beef kofta curry. I usually just make plain jasmine rice for curries but I thought this cardamom scented rice with beans and peas looked really good and was just something a little different.

1 cup jasmine rice
2 cups water
5 cardamom pods
8 oz green beans
8 oz peas
2 tbsp oil
salt

In a large pan heat the oil over high heat.  Add the rice and fry until the rice turns white.  Add in the 2 cups of water, salt, cardamom pods and the fresh green beans.  Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the water has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.

Fluff the rice with a fork, add in the peas and cook for another minute or two, just long enough to heat the peas. 

Quinoa, Black Bean and Corn Tacos

We eat tacos fairly often, so as soon as I saw these quinoa, corn and black bean tacos from Cooking Classy I knew I had to make them. I am loving quinoa these days and I really loved the idea of using this mix in place of the standard beef taco filling we make.  Randal of course did not eat these, but that's okay because there are plenty of leftovers to freeze for next time.

 

1 1/2 cups quinoa, cooked

1 tbsp olive oil

1onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 can mild rotel

1 8oz can tomato sauce

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp coriander

1 cup corn

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

juice of 1 lime 

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add in the onion and cook for about 5 minutes.  Add in the garlic and cook for another minute before adding the rotel, tomato sauce, cooked quinoa, black beans, corn, chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne and coriander.  Heat through for about 10 minutes, add in the lime juice.  Serve with taco shells, lettuce, diced tomatoes, avocado, grated cheese, sour cream or whatever your favourite taco toppings are.

Spanish Rice

I don't often make my own spanish rice, Randal actually really likes the zatarain rice mixes so most of the time when we have tacos I make that. This time though I really wanted to try a homemade version. I looked around at a number of different recipes and then threw this together really quickly. It was quite spicy, but that's because I didn't use the mild rotel.

2 cups rice
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 can rotel
2 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cumin
Fresh parsley (because we don't like cilantro)
2 tbsp olive oil

In a blender, puree the onion, garlic and can of rotel.

In a large frying pan, add the olive oil over high heat.  Add the rice and fry until the rice turns white.  Add the puree mixture to the pan along with the chicken broth and the chili powder, oregano and cumin.  Cover and reduce the heat to a simmer and let cook for 15 minutes, until all the broth has been absorbed and the rice is tender.  Stir in the chopped parsley.

Poppy Seed Bread with Lemon Curd

After making lemon curd for a lemon raspberry cake a few days ago, I had some lemon curd leftover so went looking for ideas of what to make with it. I found this poppy seed bread recipe that had a lemon curd swirl in it from Williams Sanoma and as I had everything else I would need to make it, decided that would be the perfect recipe to use up the last of my homemade lemon curd.

2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup canola or corn oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. poppy seeds
1/2 cup lemon curd

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until blended. Add the oil, granulated sugar, lemon zest and vanilla and whisk to blend. In another bowl, using a large wooden spoon, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in the poppy seeds. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until blended.

Using a rubber spatula, spread about three quarters of the batter in the prepared pan. Drizzle half of the lemon curd over the batter. Spread the remaining batter over the curd. Spoon the remaining lemon curd over the batter. Insert a small knife about halfway into the batter and gently swirl it through the curd once or twice.

Bake until the bread is lightly browned, about 50 minutes.

Spicy Corn Chowder with Chicken

This is a really good soup recipe from  My Favorite Things, I added a poblano pepper to this chowder as I was trying to make something similar to Randal's favourite soup from central market, which is a poblano chicken chowder.  This came really close to that, although it wasn't quite spicy enough for Randal.

2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
2 slices bacon
1 onion, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1 poblano pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 small potatoes, diced
3 cups corn
1 tbsp fresh thyme
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper

Cut the bacon into strips and fry in a medium pan until crispy, set aside. To the bacon fat add the onion, jalapeno, bell pepper, poblano pepper and corn, cook for about 5 minutes.  Add in the thyme and season with salt and pepper.  Add in the potatoes, chicken stock and milk.  Simmer for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.  Transfer half of the soup to a blender and puree.  Add back to the soup pot and add in the cooked chicken and heavy cream.  Let simmer for a few minutes, top each bowl of chowder with the bacon.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: It's my birthday, so we are eating out

Tuesday: Quinoa, black bean and corn tacos with spanish rice

Wednesday: Nonna's handkerchiefs, salad (didn't make this last week)

Thursday: Roast chicken with persian rice

Friday: Beef kofta curry
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Chocolate Root Beer Bundt Cake

Time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal. This month I was assigned the blog Satisfy My Sweet Tooth which is such a pretty blog, such great pictures.

After looking through all the recipes I decided on this chocolate root beer bundt cake, I do not like root beer at all but Randal loves it and I figured that once it's baked into a chocolate cake you wouldn't taste too much of that root beer anyway.  I used my favourite valrhona cocoa to make this cake so it ended up really chocolately.  I wanted to make the root beer chocolate frosting a little more runny so I could drizzle it on the cake, so I doubled the amount of root beer in it.

2 cups root beer
1 cup valrhona cocoa
1 stick unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Frosting:
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate, melted
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup root beer
2/3 cup valrhona cocoa
2 cups icing sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325 and grease a 10 inch bundt pan.

In a small pan, melt the butter, add in the the root beer, cocoa and the sugars.  Leave to cool.

In a medium bowl mix the flour, baking soda and salt.

Whisk the eggs into the cooled root beer mixture and add to the flour, mix until combined.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until cooked through.

To make the frosting add all the ingredients to the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk until smooth. You can either pour it over the cake or use a spoon to drizzle it.

BBQ Beef Taquitos

Another taquito recipe, this one is from chef in training and while we really liked the previous chicken taquitos, these we absolutely loved, so much so that we made them again a few days later.  The filling has a wonderful, creamy, BBQ flavor.  We changed the recipe slightly as the original had ranch dressing powder in it and neither of us like ranch at all. We halved the amount of shredded cheese to just half a cup and added a little more cream cheese.  When eating them we found they were great dipped in sour cream.

 

1 lb ground beef

4 tbsp cream cheese

1 cup bbq sauce (we used Stonewall Kitchen honey bbq sauce)

1/2 cup colby jack cheese

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic salt

Flour tortillas (we really like using ready-to-cook raw tortillas found in the refrigerator section)

Sour Cream for dipping

Preheat oven to 425

In a large frying pan brown the ground beef, take off the heat and drain.  Add in the cream cheese, colby jack, bbq sauce, onion powder and garlic salt.

To cook the tortillas, heat about 1 teaspoon of oil (just enough to coat the pan) in a non-stick pan, then fry each one to your own preference (about 1 minute per side).  Place on paper towel to drain any excess oil.

Place a 1/4 cup of the mixture onto each tortilla and roll up. Place the taquitos on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

 

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Taquitos

Last week I got some ready to cook tortillas from HEB, and so went looking for recipes to use them. I have never made taquitos before but these ones from Damn Delicious looked really good.  Randal and I loved them, although we both agreed that next time we would either use less cheese or none at all and just keep the pineapple bbq sauce and chicken.

2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup diced pineapple
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup bbq sauce
8 flour tortillas
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425.

Heat olive oil in a small frying pan.  Add the red onion and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl mix together the chicken, cheese, pineapple, red onion, bbq sauce and season with salt and pepper.

Place a 1/4 cup of filling onto each tortilla, roll the tortilla up and place on a baking sheet. Bake the taquitos for 15 minutes.

Lemon Curd

I made this lemon curd for a raspberry lemon cake I was baking. I love lemon curd, it definitely reminds me of England and this recipe from Sarabeth's Bakery is really easy to make and the end result was a great lemon curd.

4 lemons
10 large egg yolks
1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened

Zest the lemons, set aside the zest then cut the lemons in half and juice them.  There should be around 2/3 cup of lemon juice.

In a large heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and zest.  Place over a saucepan of simmering water, cook the curd and stir often until it thickens and reaches 185 degrees, will take about 10 minutes.

Strain the mixture through a sieve into a medium bowl.  Gradually whisk in the butter a tablespoon at a time.  Press a piece of cling film directly over the curd, pierce a few holes in it to allow steam to escape and leave to cool.  Once the curd has cooled transfer it to a covered container and refrigerate.

Amish Cinnamon Bread

I know that this is a bread recipe that I made in a bundt pan, but the reason for that is even though I have at least 2 bread pans, I can't find them. We moved into our house 2 years ago this month and we still have a closet full of unpacked boxes. Pretty sure my missing bread pans are somewhere in that closet.

Anyway, I found this recipe over at Redfly Creations and knew immediately that Randal would love this, and as I had some buttermilk in the fridge I needed to use up I gave it a go, bundt pan and all.

This is a really simple recipe to make, and we both enjoyed the end result, and a few days later we used the last of it to make french toast, which Randal loved but as I am not a fan of sweet french toast (I much prefer mine with baked beans and ketchup!) I left that for Randal.

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon 

In a small bowl mix together the 2/3 cup sugar and the cinnamon, set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together the butter and the 2 cups of sugar.  Add in the eggs.  Add the milk, flour, and baking soda and mix until combined.  Put half of the batter into a greased pan (be it bundt or bread) and top with 3/4 of the cinnamon mixture. Add the remaining batter and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Once the cake has cooled, remove from pan and top with the remaining cinnamon sugar.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Sweet corn tamale cakes (didn't make these last week)

Tuesday: Spicy corn chowder and BLT's

Wednesday: Nonna's handkerchiefs, salad

Thursday: Herb roasted chicken, green beans and red potatoes

Friday: Eating out
 
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Garlic Pork with Sugar Snap Peas

This recipe came from Green Lite Bites  it is a very simple recipe, so much so that I really thought Randal would not really enjoy this as he isn't much of a fan of soy sauce.  He really shocked me however because he liked this a lot and I have to say for such a simple recipe that has so few ingredients it is very good.

1 pork tenderloin

1 cup sugar snap peas

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp corn starch

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp fresh ginger

1/2 cup water

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp oil

Cut the pork into cubes, toss with the garlic powder and salt, set aside.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat, add the oil and cook the pork until browned.

While the pork is cooking, in a small bowl mix together the water, corn starch, soy sauce and ginger.

Once the pork has cooked through, add in the sugar snap peas and cook for a minute or two.

Mix in the sauce and let simmer for a few minutes before serving.

Kale Ginger Rice

I was planning on making a pork and snap pea dish that I found over at  Green Lite Bites The pork was served with a kale and ginger rice and as I had everything on hand that I would I need I figured why not try it also, it's a great way to use up kale and it did go really well with the pork and snap peas.

1 cup jasmine rice
2 tbsp oil
1 cup kale, finely chopped
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp soy sauce

Bring 2 cups of water to boil in a medium saucepan.

In a medium frying pan over medium high heat, heat one tablespoon of the oil and add the rice and fry for a minutes until the rice turns white.  Add to the boiling water, reduce the heat to simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender.

While the rice is cooking, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil to a large frying pan and cook the kale for a few minutes until it softens.  Add in the cooked rice, the ginger and soy sauce. Mix together and serve.

Fish and Chips

Last Saturday was the first new doctor who episode of the year, so I thought a nice English dinner of fish and chips would be perfect. I looked around at lots of different recipes for the batter and they were all quite similar, however the garlic parsley chips from notions of a novice cook looked amazing, certainly nothing you would find in an English chippy though.  We had minted mushy peas with our fish and chips but curry sauce would have been equally as amazing and authentic, just don't forget the malt vinegar!

4 cod fillets
6 ounces plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 (8 fluid ounce) bottle british beer

juice of 1/2 a lemon

salt & pepper
extra flour

Garlic Parsley Chips

4 large potatoes

2 cloves garlic

fresh parsley

salt

Make the batter for the fish by putting the flour, baking soda, salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Slowly stir in the beer and whisk until it is smooth.  Add in the lemon juice.

Dredge the fish in flour then coat in the batter and drop straight into a deep fat fryer heated to 375.  Fry for 6 to 8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.

To make the chips, peel and chip the potatoes.  Cook them in a deep fat fryer at 320 for 3 or 4 minutes, long enough to soften the chips but not brown them.  Remove from the fryer, raise heat to 375.

While waiting for the fryer, finely chop the garlic and parsley and set aside.

Drop the chips back into the fryer and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes, until golden brown.  When the chips are cooked, toss with the garlic and parsley and season with salt.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Garlic pork and sugar snap peas with kale ginger rice

Tuesday: Hawaiian bbq chicken taquitos, bbq beef taquitos and spanish rice

Wednesday: Chicken tikka masala, jasmine rice

Thursday: Roast pork, mashed potatoes and green beans

Friday: Sweet corn tamale cakes
 
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie