Photo Gallery |  

| AskLydia

Find your food inspiration

APPETIZERS
BREAKFAST
COCKTAILS
DESSERTS
FISH
MEAT
PASTA
RICE
VEGETARIAN
ITALY
LONDON
PARIS
SWITZERLAND
WINTER IDEAS
SPRING IDEAS
SUMMER IDEAS
AUTUMN IDEAS
CAFES
RESTAURANTS
FRENCH RECIPES
ITALIAN RECIPES
JAPANESE RECIPES
MEXICAN RECIPES
ASPARAGUS
PASSION FRUIT
TOMATOES
WILD MUSHROOMS

CONVERSION TABLES

9 August 11
BLT salad
Slice up a head of romain lettuce and place in a shallow dish. Cut up 3-4 small tomatoes into small wedges and dot around the lettuce. Fry up five slices of streaky bacon, cut in half till crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen towel. To make the dressing mix together 2 heaping tablespoons good-quality mayonnaise with 1 tsp creamy dijon mustard and whisk in 2 tsp sherry vinegar. Drizzle over the vegetables and season with sea salt and pepper. Distribute the bacon slices evenly overtop and serve.
Serves 3-4.

BLT salad

Slice up a head of romain lettuce and place in a shallow dish. Cut up 3-4 small tomatoes into small wedges and dot around the lettuce. Fry up five slices of streaky bacon, cut in half till crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen towel. To make the dressing mix together 2 heaping tablespoons good-quality mayonnaise with 1 tsp creamy dijon mustard and whisk in 2 tsp sherry vinegar. Drizzle over the vegetables and season with sea salt and pepper. Distribute the bacon slices evenly overtop and serve.

Serves 3-4.

Pin It
Share/Save/Bookmark
26 January 11

Sea-salted chocolate chip cookies

These are traditional American-style cookies (gooey, and full of chocolate and nut chunks), perked up with the addition of sea salt, which helps balance out the sweetness of the other ingredients. This recipe was adapted from the fab David Lebovitz take on a classic.

In a bowl or electric mixer beat together 100g (2/3 cup) brown sugar, 100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar and 125g unsalted butter (softened). When well creamed together beat in 1 egg and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl mix together 180g (1 1/3 cup) flour with 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp sea salt (Maldon flaked works well). Then stir into the sugar and egg mixture. Fold in 200g chopped dark chocolate and 1 cup toasted chopped nuts (walnuts work great).

Take large spoonfuls of the batter (around 30g each for a total of 26 cookies), form into balls and then flatten the tops and bottoms (see second photo above). Place them on a tray or in a plastic container and refrigerate till they firm up a bit (or pop some straight into the freezer if you can bear to part with them!).

Transfer to an oven tray (leave a good amount of space between them as they will spread) and bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 180c. Remove from the oven and tap gently with a spatula to flatten slightly. If you like your biscuits quite crisp, return to the oven for an addition 2-5 minutes till they are lightly golden. Let cool before serving.

You may also be interested in:

CHEESE & CHILI BISCUITS >

Pin It
Share/Save/Bookmark
27 July 10

Carrot Cake

This is the moistest carrot cake I have ever eaten. A winner. Note that a full recipe will need a dish the size of a roasting dish to bake in the oven and will feed many people (I can get 36 squares). So unless you are having a party half the recipe is plenty.

In a very large bowl mix together 3 cups flours, 3 cups sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbs baking soda, and 1 tbs cinnamonAdd 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (I prefer rapeseed), 4 eggs, beaten and 1 tbs vanilla and mix well.

In a separate bowl mix together 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts, 1 1/2 cups shredded/dessicated coconut, 1 1/2 cups puréed cooked carrots, and 3/4 cup drained crushed pineapple

Now combine the two mixtures together and pour the batter into your preferred baking tin (large enough to fill up to 3/4) which has either been buttered or lined with baking parchment. Bake for 30-45 minutes at 180 degrees celsius till a knife comes out clean. Let cool completed before icing.

Here is a basic recipe for cream cheese icing. Note that you will need to double the quantities if using the full recipe above. Cream together 250g cream cheese and 90g butter, both at room temperature (this is important, otherwise your icing will be lumpy). Slowly mix in 3 cups icing sugar. Add the juice of half a lemon.

To make the carrots I used dried apricots and pieces of mint.

You may also be interested in:

STICKY CHOCOLATE & PRUNE CAKE >

BANANA CAKE >

Pin It
Share/Save/Bookmark

Themed by Hunson.