A day in my quarantine kitchen

Along with the recent news of the closure of all restaurants, pubs, bars, cinemas etc and now the lockdown measures that have been put into place across the UK, it is clear that we will all be spending a lot more time in our houses than usual. For me, a huge foodie and massive fan of eating out, this has come with the mourning of some of my favourite foods. I have now been home for just over a month and have been slowly eating my way through the list of restaurants and foods that I missed whilst in China.

With this being said, I have now had to take matters into my own clean hands and start to get a bit more creative with my cooking. Over the past couple of weeks, I have been playing with some simple recipes to make some of my favourite dishes that I love to eat out in the comfort of my own home. So here are some of the recipes to my favourite things I have made so far:

Brunch- Avocado, halloumi and poached eggs on toast

Now I know this is very simple and easy to execute but I just thought I’d share my personal take on it and how to make the perfect runny poached egg. Personally, I just make this with one slice of toast and one egg, however it can easily be doubled depending on how hungry you are.

Ingredients

• 1 slice of bread of your choice

• 1 small ripe avocado or half a large avocado

• Olive oil

• Salt

• Ground black pepper

• Chilli flakes

• Slice of lemon/ lemon juice

• A couple of slices of red onion chopped finely

• 3 slices of halloumi cheese

• Butter

• 1 large egg

• Vinegar

1) Firstly, peel, pit and chop your avocado into small pieces and place in a bowl. Using a fork begin to mash the avocado with a couple of drops of olive oil and a couple of squeezes of lemon juice, just until the avocado becomes a smooth and creamy consistency. Season the avocado with salt, ground black pepper and chilli flakes to taste. I also like to add a sprinkling of chopped red onion.

2) Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Crack your egg into a small ramekin- lots of recipes online talk about using a small sieve to get rid of the watery outside of the egg white to avoid the wispy bits of white that you sometimes get coming off your poached egg, however I skip this, and if needs be just cut off these bits once the egg is cooked.

3) When small bubbles begin to rise in your water, turn it down to a low heat to simmer. Add around a tablespoon of vinegar to the water, avoid adding salt to the water as this can break up the egg white. Using a slotted spoon quickly stir the water to create a little whirlpool. At the same time slowly tip the egg into the centre of the pan. For a perfectly runny poached egg, cook for 3 minutes.

4) While your egg is poaching, in a small frying pan add a teaspoon of butter and bring to a medium heat. Once the butter is melted and bubbling add your halloumi. Fry on one side for a couple of minutes/ until golden brown and then using a spatula flip the halloumi and fry the other side until that is also nicely golden brown.

5) Toast and butter your bread and place on a plate ready to assemble. Spread your mashed avocado on the toast, pile on the golden halloumi and top with the poached egg. Finish off with an extra sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Put on your favourite chill music and imagine you’re sat eating this in your favourite café, or on holiday sat in front of a stunning view.

Dinner- Cheese and onion pie

When I was missing home, my go to takeaway in Shanghai had to be Pie Society. Nothing comforts me more than a well-made pie and gravy. Now that you hopefully have some extra time to spare at home, try to master the task of making pastry from scratch. Allow plenty of time to make this, as the pastry needs time to chill, the pastry needs blind baking, cooling and then time to bake the full pie. Personally, I find this a very therapeutic and rewarding process.

Ingredients

Pastry

• 450g plain flour, and extra for dusting surfaces and rolling out pastry

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• Salt

• 120g unsalted butter, and extra for lining the pie dish

• 1 egg yolk

• 50g grated parmesan cheese

• 120ml water

• 1 beaten egg for glazing

• Dry beans or rice for blind baking

Filling

• 1 potato, peeled and cut into small cubes

• 2 onions, finely chopped

• 1 tablespoon plain flour

• 100ml milk

• 150g grated cheddar cheese

• 1/2 teaspoon English mustard

• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• Salt

• Ground black pepper

1) To make the pastry, combine the plain flour, baking powder and a good sprinkling of salt in a large mixing bowl. Cube the butter and add this to the bowl. Lots of pastry recipes use food processors, however it is just as simple by hand. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients using your fingertips, until all the butter is combined, and the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Rub in the egg yolk using the same method as with the butter, then stir in the parmesan cheese.

2) Bit by bit, gradually add the water to the bowl, and in between adding water, mix using your hands. Add water until the dough comes together in a ball, just add enough so that the dough sticks together however don’t add too much as this will cause the pastry dough to be too sticky. Roll into a ball, wrap in cling film, and place in the fridge to chill for an hour.

3) While the pastry is chilling, begin to make the filling. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the chopped potatoes. Cook for approximately 10 minutes, until they feel soft when poked with a knife. Once cooked, drain well and set aside.

4) In a separate large pan, bring water to the boil and add the chopped onions. Boil the onions for around 3 minutes, just to get them nice and soft. Once soft, drain the onions and return them to the pan.

5) Add the flour to the onions and mix well until they are evenly coated. Add the milk and heat the mixture over a medium heat for around 3 minutes, until all the flour is mixed into the milk, and the liquid has started to thicken slightly. Add the cooked potato, grated cheese, mustard and cayenne pepper. Stir well and add salt and pepper to taste.

6) Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 20cm pie dish with butter, then add a small amount of flour to the tin and shake to cover the whole base and sides of the dish in flour.

7) Once the pastry is chilled, place on a clean floured work surface. Dust a rolling pin in flour, and evenly roll the pastry so that it is double the size of the base of the pie dish. Carefully lift the pastry into the dish and gently press into the bottom and edge of the dish. Trim off any excess pastry from the top and then using a fork prick the pastry case all over a few times.

8) Cover the pastry case with a sheet of greaseproof paper and fill with either dry beans or rice in order to blind bake the pastry. Bake in the oven for around 15-20 minutes/ until the pastry is a light golden-brown colour. Take the pastry out of the oven, remove the beans/ rice and greaseproof paper and leave the pastry case to cool.

9) Once the pastry case is cool, spoon the cheese filling into the case. Roll out the remainder of the pastry so that it is big enough to cover the top of the pie. Brush the edges of the cooked pastry case with the beaten egg and then lift the rolled-out pastry on top. Carefully trim the edges of the pastry and secure down with a fork.

10) Using a knife, poke two small holes into the top of the pastry lid. Brush the pastry lid with the rest of the beaten egg. Pop the pie into the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes/until golden brown.

Sit back and relax eating this extremely comforting pie. Personally, I like to eat this with homemade chips, peas and gravy. Get yourself your favourite drink and enjoy as if you’re sat in a nice country pub after a long afternoon walk.

A little sweet treat- Banana and caramel muffins

These muffins are extremely quick and easy to make, and the caramel adds a little bit more indulgence. They make the perfect treat day breakfast, or an after dinner treat in front of the TV.

Ingredients

Caramel

• 100g granulated sugar

• 45g butter

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 60ml single cream or milk (I used almond milk and it worked perfectly so whatever you have in the house).

• Salt

Muffin mix

• 250g self-raising flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

• 110g caster sugar

• 75g butter, melted

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 eggs

• 2 mashed ripe bananas

• 125ml milk (again I used almond milk)

1) Firstly, make the caramel. Add the sugar into a large based saucepan so that it is evenly distributed across the base of the pan. Add cold water to the pan to just cover the sugar. Leave to bubble on a medium heat for around 8 minutes. Watch the sugar carefully during this time and make sure to take off the heat when it becomes a golden-brown colour- you want it to be dark in colour but be careful not to burn the sugar. If the colour is uneven give the pan a gentle shake to make sure all the sugar is dissolved.

2) Once completely dissolved and golden, take the sugar off the heat and stir in the butter, vanilla and a good pinch of salt. Stir well until all combined. Add your milk or cream and again stir well. The mixture might start to separate a little when you add these cold ingredients to the hot pan, so just make sure to keep stirring at this stage and while the caramel is cooling. Set aside and begin to make the muffin mixture.

3) Preheat your oven to 190°C. Mix all of the dry ingredients- flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, caster sugar and a pinch of salt- into a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl combine the wet ingredients- melted butter, eggs, vanilla extract, mashed bananas and milk.

4) Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well, and slowly begin to mix the wet ingredients into the dry using a fork. Try not to overmix this.

5) Line a muffin tray with muffin cases. Spoon a large tablespoon of the mixture into each of the cases. Then, add a couple of teaspoons of your caramel to the centre of each muffin case, trying to keep the caramel as central as possible so that it doesn’t ooze out of the sides. Carefully layer another tablespoon of muffin mix into each of the cases.

6) Bake in the preheated oven for 20/25 minutes/ until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Serve as they are, or for even more added indulgence, top with whipped cream and a generous drizzling of the leftover caramel sauce. The best start or end to any day!

I hope that everyone is having the best possible time at home, and you can enjoy any time spent cooking as much as I do. Please be responsible when shopping and be thoughtful of others. There should be plenty of food to go around, and we should all be able to enjoy good food in the comfort of our homes without anyone struggling! Stay safe, get cooking, and enjoy xoxo