5-a-day fruit smoothie

The Met Office is amazing, I’m sure. And if I was out at sea I would value their shipping forecasts… actually, I love them when I am at home – there’s something so soothing about listening to the litany….

“Forties Cromarty:
Mainly north or northwest 3 or 4, increasing 5 or 6 later. slight, increasing moderate later. Occasional rain. Good becoming moderate or poor.

Forth Tyne:
North or northeast backing northwest 3 or 4, increasing 5 at times. smooth or slight, occasionally moderate later. Occasional rain. moderate or good”

What it actually means, of course, I suppose I could puzzle out but it’s enough for me to hear it. Good work, men at the Met.

 But what about yesterday’s forecast? What about all the warnings of minus three degrees? Freezing fog and bitter cold and ice? Reports of road gritters on standby?

I went to bed, thinking about what to cook today, anticipating there would be a need for warming and sustaining food, maybe porridge first thing and something with dumplings later on… and got up to this…

 Pea and ham, fruit smoothie 033

That’s not freezing fog. Nor is the temperature below freezing. Looks quite bright, actually.

Pea and ham, fruit smoothie 034

So, I think,  we will have a fruit smoothie for breakfast.

I love to give the Bear a smoothie to start his day with – it’s a brilliant way to get extra fruit and vegetables into his diet. I always have a bag of frozen fruit in the freezer, either for putting in his porridge as a treat or for making desserts or smoothies with. We always have banana and yoghurt… and there’s always juice…

I started off making his smoothie with fruit juice to loosen it and then discovered that vegetable juice was a brilliant way to get more of his 5-a-day in… and V8 has just so many things that a Bear would balk at… look at them all

 Pea and ham, fruit smoothie 045

And do you know what? He doesn’t even notice!

So first of all, get some frozen fruit… half a glass full is about right.

 Pea and ham, fruit smoothie 038

You’ll need yoghurt, a banana and some juice

 Pea and ham, fruit smoothie 040

Put the fruit into the blending jug and add a couple of spoonsful of yoghurt

 Pea and ham, fruit smoothie 042

and a good sloosh of V8

 Pea and ham, fruit smoothie 043

Then blend….

 Pea and ham, fruit smoothie 046

Pea and ham, fruit smoothie 047

….. look at how it all goes together…..

 Pea and ham, fruit smoothie 048

Then pour.

 Pea and ham, fruit smoothie 051

And does he know he is drinking spinach and carrots and tomato with his fruit smoothie? No, he doesn’t. Everything blends together beautifully – the fruit and yoghurt are all he can taste. The V8 stops it being too sweet, really. It is a great improvement on the days when I added fruit juice.

Has he got his fair share of  his 5-a-day? Yes, he has. 

And does he  enjoy it? Yes, he does.

Coffee liqueur

There is, as you will probably know, a rather famous coffee liqueur.

In my kitchen there is a jar of something very similar… let’s call it Aunty Mary. After all, I’m not Spanish so I wouldn’t call it Tia…. oh but there you go, it’s NOT the famous coffee liqueur, is it?

It’s me with a bottle of vodka, knocking up rough and ready flavoured alcoholic drinks, ready for the Christmas party season.

.coffee vod, apple cake, 036

This is simplicity itself…. first of all, make some espresso coffee.

coffee vod, apple cake, 037

For a bottle of vodka, I need two cups of espresso

coffee vod, apple cake, 039

and a vanilla pod and some sugar……

coffee vod, apple cake, 040

Slice the pod (look at it shining.. it is almost seeping with deep, rich vanilla-ey essence)

coffee vod, apple cake, 041

Pop it into the jar with a couple of mug fulls of sugar (remember if this is to be a liqueur it needs to be sweet and almost syrupy)

coffee vod, apple cake, 043

Pour in the coffee

coffee vod, apple cake, 045

Then add a bottle of vodka……. all of it…..

coffee vod, apple cake, 048

And stir……

And leave it……. and do you know… it’s not rough and ready at all… it’s rather smooth and delicious!

  Pea and ham soup... and Aunty Mary 063

Once you are ready to celebrate…. Aunty Mary sends Festive Greetings…. and says Cheers!

Pork and Pepper Goulash

The Bear has returned from a trip to Australia and I have returned from work. We meet upstairs in the kitchen.

I need to cook something and I need to make sure it is not only quick to cook and serve   (before he falls asleep from jet lag) but also to get us back on our diet. It will have to be something from the 400 and Under section of my recipe files.

On my way back through town, in the rush hour traffic, I pulled in to the supermarket to see what there was and saw some pork.

I knew there was a recipe that I had cooked before that turned out to be surprisingly  tasty. I say surprisingly, because it wouldn’t have been my choice when I spotted it. I said, didn’t I, that I looked through magazines and cook books for recipes that gave us under 400 calories per serving?  Well, I always index tab them and show them to the Bear to see if there’s anything he fancies. He picked this one  from delicious.magazine (sept 2008). And this one had two things going against it in my eyes… it involved pork (not my favourite meat) and caraway seeds – very definitely not my favourite flavour.

Still, it was his choice and I am, despite appearances to the contrary, quite pleasant at times….

And as it happened, it turned out to be incredibly delicious. And also very quick to cook. Time to do it again, I thought.

Pork and Pepper goulash 004

So I got 4 boneless pork steaks – not too much fat on them – and not too expensive. I knew I had all the other ingredients that I would need, which is another good reason to read this recipe and keep it in mind.

Pork and Pepper goulash 002

I needed a tin of tomatoes, a red onion, some smoked sweet paprika, some caraway seeds, a jar of roasted red peppers in oil and some yoghurt.

First of all, while waiting for the kettle to boil so I could make the poor, exhausted Bear a cup of tea, I sliced the red onion and put the frying pan on to heat through.

Pork and Pepper goulash 006

Not much oil in the pan and get them softening, before adding 1 tablespoon of smoked sweet paprika

Pork and Pepper goulash 007

and a teaspoon of caraway seeds

Pork and Pepper goulash 008

Stir it all round and while the flavours are blending, cut the pork into bite sized pieces. Take the rind and any excess fat off (we are on a diet, you know!) and add that

Pork and Pepper goulash 009

get that meat in and stir it round, letting it brown

I swear, all that took just a few minutes. All I had to do then, once the meat was browned, was to add a tin of chopped plum tomatoes and let it simmer for fifteen minutes.

Pork and Pepper goulash 010

Now, as I was in late from work and as the Bear was starving, I didn’t want to delay supper. I had some Anya potatoes (those knobbly ones) and I put them on to steam (yes, it really should have been mash but I knew this would work) All I would have to do with them would be to crush them so the gorgeous juices soaked in….

Pork and Pepper goulash 011

… and some of the juices would be coming from the roasted red peppers. Most of the supermarkets have them and they are a great storecupboard standby. They have a real depth of flavour and a long shelf life so they are perfect to get and keep for moments like this.

Cut them into pieces and then add them to the tomatoey pork after it has had fifteen minutes or so, cooking

Pork and Pepper goulash 013

… then add a couple of large spoonfuls of yoghurt.

And that’s it. Done and dusted in less than 40 minutes. Squash the potatoes with a fork so they are broken up and then spoon over the delicious (and I say this as a person who doesn’t LIKE caraway) meat and sauce.

The tomato and caraway make a beautiful rich and savoury sauce for the meat, which is still tender…..

Pork and Pepper goulash 019

A sprinkling of parsley sets it off… all that for less than 400 calories (396 according the the recipe) … maybe 550 if you add the potatoes?

Well… it WOULD have been 550 calories but it was so utterly delicious I did have an extra spoonful. I do my best, you know. It was quick and easy, low calorie…… but I am greedy.

It is supposed to feed 4 so if you are strict and divide it by 4………. or maybe invite two friends round? That should solve things. What can you do, eh? Totally delicious…….

Noodles and Prawns

As part of the Bear’s training process ( in order to be truly omnivorous, he must learn to eat everything… and that includes shellfish) I am trying out various prawn recipes on him. He used to  get a very stubborn look on his face when I suggested shellfish and shake his head fiercely but he is getting used to me insisting he tries a mouthful, at least. These tactics are beginning to pay off. 

He not only ate his salt and pepper prawns but actively enjoyed them and would have eaten more but for the fact I insisted I had my fair share. I moved onto the next step in my plan….

noodle prawns, red cabbage, lamb, celeriac 001

I knew he had liked the savouriness of the salt and pepper prawns and I wanted to give a hint of that when cooking this next lot. I decided that a marinade would boost things up, so I mixed a bowl, using Chinese cooking wine, some sweet soy sauce, some sweet chilli sauce and some sunflower oil. A squeeze of lemon would sharpen up what would be a sweetly savoury spicy marinade.

noodle prawns, red cabbage, lamb, celeriac 005

 In went the prawns and I got on with other stuff. I thought noodles and vegetables would be good to go with it

noodle prawns, red cabbage, lamb, celeriac 006

I had an orange pepper, some spring onions, a carrot, some garlic and ginger and some Chinese leaves. They would give a lovely crunch to the dish and be a good contrast to the softness of the noodles. I got some ready (because this is so quick to do, you need to have everything ready before you start cooking)

noodle prawns, red cabbage, lamb, celeriac 007

noodle prawns, red cabbage, lamb, celeriac 008

With some hot oil in my largest frying pan (I really should get a wok, you know, but our kitchen is tiny and there isn’t another square inch of space to put anything and the benches are full already)

noodle prawns, red cabbage, lamb, celeriac 009

I started by frying some garlic and ginger with a splash of sweet soy

noodle prawns, red cabbage, lamb, celeriac 010

and then started frying the pepper, carrot and spring onion

noodle prawns, red cabbage, lamb, celeriac 011

then the shredded bits of chinese leaves

noodle prawns, red cabbage, lamb, celeriac 012

Put the noodles in and stir fry quickly.

Next step….prawns. By now they will have been doused in the marinade

noodle prawns, red cabbage, lamb, celeriac 013

Squeeze a lime – roll it first to get the juice going .. you will need that to squeeze over the cooking prawns

 and then take out the noodles and vegetables – you are going to need that pan for the prawns

noodle prawns, red cabbage, lamb, celeriac 015

noodle prawns, red cabbage, lamb, celeriac 014

Pour in the marinade as well – there is oil in there… just look how quickly they go from grey to pink….

noodle prawns, red cabbage, lamb, celeriac 017

And serve. Some finely chopped spring onions scattered over the top just sets things off.

And was it eaten? Yes it was, by a person who says he hates shellfish. Well that’s two lots he has eaten now…. and it’s not as if he left any. Was it enjoyed? Draw your own conclusions.

Pheasant breasting masterclass

Now the shooting season is in full swing, it isn’t unusual to spot birds waiting to be prepared if you walk into my brother’s kitchen

Pheasant

The pictures in this post were all taken by my brother and sister in law, with her phone, as they breasted a pheasant, so that we can all see how easy it is.

Yes, I have plucked a pheasant and yes, it is incredibly messy (if you want to do that then put the bird inside a large plastic bag and pluck inside there…. otherwise the feathers go everywhere. And let me tell you, they are the very devil to hoover up.) It’s also incredible time consuming.

If you just want to have the breasts of the pheasant, this is the best way to do it.

Pheasant 2

Lay the bird out on the draining board and spread the wings – you will be able to feel that the skin is slightly looser. Pinch a bit between your fingers so it is lifted up from the actual flesh and slide the knife in

Pheasant 3jpg

And with a sharp knife, cut the skin, straight down the middle. It’s quite easy.

Pheasant 4jpg

You can easily pull it away from the flesh.

See that yellow fat? It tastes harsh and not very pleasant at all, so trim that off as well.

Pheasant 5

Then, get your sharp knife and cut down the breastbone, slicing off the breasts.

Pheasant done

And there you are…. a few minutes work and you have four lovely pheasant breasts. No feathers flying everywhere, either.

See the ones on the left? Those marks are where the bird was shot, so run your fingers over the flesh and make sure there’s no lead shot left in there. You’d hate to be faced with the dentists bills of your guests!

All you have to do now is think what recipe you are going to use for them.

(I’m not a pheasant plucker……)

A day at the seaside

I have been away this weekend, back up to the North. While I was there, I went to see my little brother so I could collect some pheasant and we decided to go to the beach and take his son, my four year old nephew.

We live close to the sea and it is only a matter of minutes before we can get down to this faded little seaside town. I love it for its ageing beauty and the beautiful white sands lashed by the ferocious North Sea.

It’s also where the Bear and I used to go for a walk when we first met. That was  romance………

Seaton Carew to Headland

It’s all pretty much deserted at this time of year with only a few hardy souls out in the biting wind

Seaton Carew in December

The North Sea sweeps straight round and down from the frozen wastes of Russia… and you can tell. Your face hurts and your nose goes numb from the biting wind.

I have actually been swimming in the sea in January and once you get over the initial agonising shock it is, in fact, quite exhilarating. Our Granny used to live in this small  town and she swam in the North Sea most days. Tough old thing she was, too. I reckon the ice cold dousing  every day did her the world of good.

She believed in open windows, whatever the weather, and lots of exercise. She was never ill. Mind you she ate nettles and wheat germ, which for a woman born in 1896 made her a real health freak. Forward thinking, I’d think she’d say.

And yes, that does say 1896.

I don’t think we will ever be as fit as her because once we got there we decided that fish and chips would be the perfect treat

Seaton Carew Fish and Chips

 Oh the smell of them… there’s something so lovely about freshly fried chips and beautiful crispy batter round just caught fish…. there’s no way you could make this at home. Not to have it turn out the way a real chip shop can do it.

We opened the back of my brother’s car and perched in the boot, keeping as much out of the wind as we could.

When I broke open the fish, clouds of steam came out. Hot and fresh and doused in salt and vinegar. Now that is a smell that makes me smile!

You have to eat it quickly because REAL fish and chips are fried in dripping and once they go cold the dripping congeals. Not, I have to say that we tend to hang about .

Seaton Carew prom

When we finished, we decided to get my nephew an ice cream…. well, it’s not a trip to the seaside unless there’s ice cream, is it? And even in temperatures well below freezing, with the wind chill factor, small boys will always want ice cream.

Seaton Carew Big Ice

Especially when they see an enormous ice cream in the street…

The ice cream was being sold in a sweet shop… a real. old fashioned type of sweet shop

Seaton Carew sweet shop

And even in December there were bags of luridly coloured candy floss

Sweet shop candy floss

So, with our noses frozen and the little one beaming happily we got the most seasidey kind of ice cream.

Not for us the handmade, carefully crafted, organic, free range and  chef inspired icecream… no, we went for the industrial whipped….

Sam's ice cream

Because sometimes, just sometimes, there’s nothing nicer than recreating childhood pleasures.

Lamb shanks with rose coco beans and tomatoes

It’s cold. It’s dark. I need something warm and filling. I am planning something that can cook by itself while I am out the following dayand be ready when we return.

When I look in the freezer I spot two lovely looking lamb shanks that I bought when I was last in the North and I know I have a packet of very beautiful looking beans…

Mayo, fish and crisps, lamb shanks and spurtle 009

I’d never seen them before but they looked so pretty that I had to buy them. Well then. I can imagine them going so well with some slow cooked shanks…..perhaps a sort of Italian feel to the meal?

Mayo, fish and crisps, lamb shanks and spurtle 032

First step has to be get the beans ready. They had to be soaked overnight first  and then they need to be boiled for 10 minutes or so. That would fit in with my timings for tomorrow…

So they were left overnight to soak and then the following morning put on to boil

Mayo, fish and crisps, lamb shanks and spurtle 029

And the froth scooped off

Mayo, fish and crisps, lamb shanks and spurtle 030

Make sure that there’s  no more froth and then rinse them clean.

While all that has been happening, you can get cracking on the vegetables

 

Mayo, fish and crisps, lamb shanks and spurtle 033

As lamb is a lovely, sweet meat I thought that sweet potato in with the shanks would be a nice mix, alongside the usual suspects…. I think I may have been influenced by the pretty pink beans because I realise now that the sweet potato is pink as are the little shallots that are going to sit alongside the lamb.

Mayo, fish and crisps, lamb shanks and spurtle 036

I browned the shanks to make sure there was a decent colour  and good depth of flavour – if you don’t, the shanks will still cook perfectly but will look pale and uninteresting.

Mayo, fish and crisps, lamb shanks and spurtle 037

And really that’s it…. all you do now is put it into your slow cooker or casserole

Mayo, fish and crisps, lamb shanks and spurtle 038

Mayo, fish and crisps, lamb shanks and spurtle 039

Put some vegetables in first, lie the shanks on top, then add more vegetables, a clove or so of chopped garlic….

Mayo, fish and crisps, lamb shanks and spurtle 040

Put those boiled and rinsed beans on top

Mayo, fish and crisps, lamb shanks and spurtle 041

And I topped the lot with a tin of chopped plum tomatoes. Well, beans and tomatoes go so well together. I really was thinking pink, wasn’t I?

Some salt and pepper…. lid on and into the oven it went.

Lamb shank, pumpkin soup, bread, mayo 002

That was it maybe four or so hours later….

Lamb shank, pumpkin soup, bread, mayo 003

And once spooned out…. oh the delicious smell…. it went perfectly with a glass of red wine and some  freshly baked focaccia

Lamb shank, pumpkin soup, bread, mayo 004

Toffee vodka

I first made this years ago and it is rather like Marmite… not in taste, of course, that would be silly, but in causing complete polarity amongst my friends. They either hate it with a passion or they love it.

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 062

Toffee vodka – at least this rough and ready version of it – is the easiest thing in the world to make. Quick, too. Which is handy as I have a couple of friends coming to stay tomorrow night and it would be good to offer them at least a little drink….. These are the friends who once called me, whilst on a camping trip, for instructions on how to make it. J & M  called later to say they had been bashing the toffees with a tyre iron to get them to fit in the bottle neck.

That did cause a bit of a mess as they were bashing them on the dashboard. Shards of toffee were found for months afterwards.

Anyway, this is the quick and easy way to do it……

 lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 060

Get a bottle of vodka – it doesn’t have to be good vodka.. in fact, why would you use expensive stuff when you are going to add a packet of Werther’s Original Toffees?  Then, get a large jar

The first experiments involved taking some vodka out to free up some space and shoving the toffees down the neck of the bottle (hence the adventures with a tyre iron) but we realised that while that may be necessary when you are living rough (or camping, as they chose to call it) a large jar was much easier to deal with.

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 063

Step one…. unwrap the Werther’s (they really do taste the best)  and add them to the jar

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 065

Step two … add the vodka

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 067

Step three… watch how quickly it all dissolves – this is after ten minutes

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 068

Step four… give the jar an occasional shake… it will be dissolved completely within 3 or 4 hours. Shake or stir to help it along….

Step five…. decant it into pretty little bottles, wrap a ribbon round and give it as a Christmas present… OR… serve it in a glass with plenty of  ice and some single cream.

I’d like to think it was some sort of cocktail…..It probably is in some sort of chavvy way.  

toffee vodka 001

Oh and be warned. You really must dilute it .. While it tastes almost innocuous with its rich toffee flavour, it is, after all, the equivalent of drinking neat vodka while sucking a toffee.

The way to go is to add a mixer and what seems to work best is milk or cream. M and I like the cream option while J goes for soya milk. It transforms it into a soft and delicious drink. In fact, you could start off a party evening with  a round of this for everyone.

 

toffee vodka 014

Drinking it neat is madness and may lead you to complete inebriation and a life on the streets.

And don’t sneer… some of us are very partial to it!

Tandoori Pheasant

 As you may know (if you read my post about Game) I do tend to get my hands on a variety of game birds. The latest to turn up was pheasant.

One of the luxuries of having a ready supply of game is that you can experiment more readily than you would if you can only get  the occasional bird.

About a year ago, I scrawled some notes about a recipe for Partridge Tandoori. I know it was Valentine Warner but when I searched for it online, I couldn’t find it, so I can’t link to it. You’ll have to take my word on it. He had worked out the calorie count as coming in around 329 calories per serving. Well, pheasant would do instead of partridge and it would still be able to feature in the 400 and Under section.

You don’t need a tandoor oven to cook it on – you could use a barbecue, but I think in this weather, it is appropriate to stay indoors and use a griddle pan.

The trick with any tandoori dish is the marinade. The meat (whatever sort you are using) goes into that and stays overnight to absorb the flavour.  If you want this you need to start a day ahead . The only reason it is red is because of red food dye so we can miss that out, I think. So… start with making the marinade

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 033

You’ll need 2 tsp of ground cumin

2 tsp of turmeric

1 and a half teaspoons of ground coriander

1 tbsp of garam masala

Nutmeg – a good grating

1 tsp salt flakes

6 garlic cloves, peeled

Half a small onion

1 red chilli, de seeded

Half a juiced lemon

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 035

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 036

Blitz them all into a fine paste

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 037

Then  add 250 ml yoghurt  – I was using the Total Greek Yoghurt 0%

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 038

and give it a quick blitz but don’t over process it – see it has some texture?

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 041

 

Put it all into a large bowl. It needs to be large because you are going to put your pheasant in there.

And now for the fun bit. I have some poultry shears, which are big, strong scissors that can snip their way through any bird… if you are going to be doing this sort of thing a lot then it would be a good idea to get some. If not then have at the carcass with a sharp knife – but watch your fingers

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 057

You need to cut the bird, first down the breast bone

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 044

so you have two bits

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 046

and then separate the legs and thighs

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 050

 

Then, take the skin off… the skin of game birds is not like the sweetly savoury crispy skin you can get on a roasted chicken, so just stick your fingers in there and rip it off. It’s quite easy, really… and besides the skin is already torn from where it was shot.

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 047

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 052

 

Now then.. you have a plate of naked pheasant, cut neatly (or not)  into pieces.

 Because you are going to marinade the pieces overnight, you want that spicy, yoghurty mix to get into the flesh. Score the breasts and thighs with a sharp knife so that the marinade can get into the flesh.

Really give it a good covering, squishing it about….

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 055

and then cover the bowl with cling film and leave overnight.

The next day, wipe your griddle with a piece of kitchen roll and vegetable oil then get it hot. Lift out each piece of pheasant at a time, shaking off the excess marinade and lie it down in the pan.

Tandoori Pheasant 001

Don’t move the pieces around too much because you want them to get a lovely. slightly charred crust…

Tandoori Pheasant 005

It will take maybe 8 or so minutes on each side…..

Tandoori Pheasant 006

Just check that you are happy with the amount of cooking… I quite like it just cooked and tender but you may be different.

All you need to serve it with are some lemon quarters and maybe some naan braed on the side

Tandoori Pheasant 013

That was delicious … and perhaps one of the tastiest ways of eating pheasant.

All that and under 400 calories…. oooh, I feel thinner already!

Lemon glazed cake

There’s something very nice about a plain cake to have with a cup of coffee or tea. A plain and simple cake with a single flavour… no huge amounts of whipped cream and jam… just something to have with a hot drink. Something to change a snatched drink and a quick pause from work into a relaxing break.

Easy enough to make, as well…. I had an old recipe that I thought I might do – hence the measurements being in ounces… I have converted them because I can’t, for the life of me, work out how to get my digital scales to switch from grams to ounces.

I thought a nice plain cake with perhaps a lemon glaze would be good…

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 002

 Start off by heating the oven to 180 degrees then mix

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 003

310g /11 oz caster sugar

56g/2 oz butter

3 egg yolks (you use the whites later)

Get everything mixed together

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 004

See, it is still grainy here… keep going until it is smooth.. then add  225g/8 oz of yoghurt –

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 005

Zest a lemon and add that to the mix

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 006

Stir it in gently – don’t overbeat things at this stage, then fold in 170g/6 oz self raising flour

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 010

Then whisk the egg whites

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 013

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 014

And carefully fold them into the cake mix… start with a spoonful first to get the mix broken up slightly and then add more

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 015

There you are, done.

All you have to do now is pour that into a cake tin – a springform is best as you can get the cake out easily afterwards, and popping in a paper cakeliner makes it the easiest job in the world.

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 017

Into the oven with it for maybe 35 minutes.

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 020

You can occupy yourself by making the lemon glaze….remember you zested a lemon for the cake mix? Squeeze it now

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 022

and add it to some icing sugar  in a pan and heat it through, making a lovely syrup

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 026

.. which needs to cool.

You can relax now until the cake is ready to come out… stick a skewer in to make sure it is cooked and then get it out to cool

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 028

Once everything has settled… stick holes in the cake and then pour over the syrup to make a lovely glaze

lemon glazed cake, tandoori pheasant, toffee vodka 030

It is a really rather lovely cake, you know. Light and moist and beautifully tangy.. just the thing for a mid afternoon boost.

My boss, who doesn’t normally like cake, ate two slices and would perhaps have eaten more… but for the fact the whole thing had been polished off already. I suppose that is as good a rating as you will get for a cake.