Handmade Burger co (Trinity Walk WF1 1QU) 

Needs must sometimes and hunger drove our needs today.  

After supporting the Crofton Library Craft Fair we headed into Wakefield for a bout of pre holiday  shopping. Sadly the two independent cafés were closed so we headed into Handmade Burger Co. 

We were greeted and seated swiftly by our smiley waitress and were offered a run down of how the ordering works, how you can tailor your burger as they are all made to order.

My choice was easy, I opted for the organic offering – Jimmy’s Beef Cheese Classic. I hope it lives up to my expectations.  I was intrigued by the Yorkie burger but i resisted  and played it safe (burger encased in two Yorkshire Puddings).

Drinks were priced as you’d expect at  £4.95 for a Pinto Grigio Rose for 175ml and  £2.85 for the bottomless soft drink..

The burger arrived..

First impressions were good and the escaped chunk of burger I tasted had good flavour just not juicy. My first bite was owned by the amount of onion relish /marmalade dolloped on the burger which was obscene. Once scrapped off,  with the cheese revealed I could taste the burger and my first impressions remained decent flavour but quite dry.

I think the bun could have been better as it crumbled a bit as I tucked in or maybe they could toast the bun that stops the rot. Speaking of rot, not so fond of lettuce which is ready for its new life in the composting bin (see exhibit A).  There was a need for better salad toppings; maybe big beefy tomatoe but this is not a deal breaker.

Overall despite some flaws this is better that GBK and as most chain restaurants the meal priced for two mains with drinks at £28.95 in a city centre is about average centre.   I ewould revisit in a moment of hunger but it’s not going to be a regular haunt.

If you like my blog you can follow me on Twitter.

Louise x

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Sam Smiths Spread Eagle (Nostell/Wragby Wakefield) This is no euphemism 

It was a hot summer bank holiday (yes you read correctly) and a restless couple recovering from a busy family weekend felt indecisive. Then in a moment of clarity and a desire to enjoy this sun we headed to Nostell  Priory on foot to walk in their beautiful grounds.  We set off then after about 15 minutes and despite all good intentions and previous refusals, I was convinced we should try the Spread Eagle for lunch.  My hesitation was maybe unjust but I had they worst glass of red wine in a Sam Smiths pub in Durham; and I have drunk Retsina.  We headed into the pub and out into the beer garden to find a bench with a wonderful views.

We ordered two pints, one being a beer shandy for myself as there was really no other choice as I find the Sam Smiths range of soft drinks dreadful.   We had already agreed we would play it safe with a cold lunch, despite the pull of a venison burger, we ordered two sandwiches – resisting a bag of crisps (my achilles heel, if you thought Brad Pitt played a weak man, well trust me, he ain’t got nothing on me when it comes to those bags of saturated fat).

Our sandwiches, tuna fish and a ham salad, were delivered to our table about 15 minutes later by a smiley and helpful young lady.  Both sandwiches were presented pleasantly, had an unexpected garnish of crisps and salad (bang goes my syn limit for the weekend – put it in front of me and I will eat it).

The granary bread has a great crunchy crust and held its own against my hungry grip, and tasted as good.  Both we filled well and topped with fresh and crisp salad – a real winner and a pleasant surprise.

 We had two pints for under a fiver – a true bargain; the Yorkshireness is taking over in this Cheshire imigrant.

Lovely view.

Summer time pints at the Spread Eagle

 

The proof in the pudding will be when we visit to try their Sunday lunch – to me this is the true test of a good pub as if you cannot offer a good sandwich, pie and roast dinner you should not be offering food.

We enjoyed our visit to the Spread Eagle as the pub is clean, has good staff (whom clearly take pride in their work) and it offers good pub food at a reasonable price and would recommend if you are visiting the local area and are in need of a refreshment you consider this pub.

If you like this blog you can follow me on twitter or instgram

 

Lemon Drizzle Traybake – #zestybaker

Never baked Lemon Drizzle before yesterday  but a dear colleague is moving on to new challenges and this cake is her favorite.  It’s taken me a while to find the elusive 30 x 23 cms tray that Mary Berry uses  (if you follow me on twitter you may have caught my grumblings).   I was tempted to pimp this but i’m playing safe today.

So what next…

Grease and line your  30 x 23 cms tin with baking parchment/paper (remember, if you use larger tin you wont get the same rise).  Line your tin I and heat your oven to 140°c (fan) or Gas mark 3 then weigh out and prepare your ingredients but hold on for the crunchy topping.

You will need

  • 225g Softened Butter
  • 225g caster sugar
  • 275g Self-raising flour
  • 2 level teaspoons baking powder
  • 4 large eggs
  • 4 tablespoons of milk
  • finely grated rind/zest of 2 lemons

For the crunchy topping you will need

  • 175g granulated sugar (beware not to use a finer grade or you will not get the crunch)
  • Juice of 2 lemons (beware to to use large lemons – read on to see why)
  1. Measure the butter, caster sugar, SR flour, baking powder,eggs, milk and lemon zest/rind into your bowl and beat until well blended.  Remember your butter must be soft to touch before your start this process.
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  2. Turn your mixture into the greased/lined tray and gently level
  3. Place the tray in the oven on a middle shelf for 35-40 minutes – or until the cake has pulled back from the sides of the tin and if you gently press the middle if fingertips you see it spring back
  4. Leave the bake in the tin to cool for five minutes.
  5. When times up, turn it out on a cooling rack and carefully peel the parchment/paper from the base and leave to cool further
  6. Make your crunchy topping by mixing the granulated sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl to give a runny mixture
  7. Spoon this over the cake while it is still warm
  8. Cut into squares once cold.
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Lemon Drizzle Tray Bake by EatBakeBlogBG

Lessons learnt

My oven was slightly too hot – school girl error – always check your temperature or expect that doming.

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The lemons, despite being fabulously juicy, produced a lot of juice which is never a bad thing.   However  I think the amount of juice they produced took the crunch from the topping – too much juice to sugar.  It could also have been that the bake was too warm and melting the sugar .  What I do know is that baking is a learning curve and next time I will measure juice to try and find that perfect mix and use a more averaged size lemon.  In the meantime a cheats sprinkle of granulated the morning after gave these the crunch they deserved.

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Big juicy lemons – too much juice to sugar for the topping

Every cloud has a silver lining as these lemons gave me an incredibly zest and moist lemon drizzle and I look forward to baking this again but next time with some savory thyme.

Hope you like this and my pictures and if you try this with a twist then please share your thoughts.

If you like my blog why not follow me on Twitter or Instagram.

Louise x

EatBakeBlogGB

 

Banana loaf with Lindt Chocolate

Banana Loaf #badboy

I’m on a roll at the moment or should I say loaf. I’m slowly working my way through Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and adding and changing recipes until I feel I have mastered them or added a twist that leaves me happy.   The latest conquest was Banana Loaf.

Luckily for me, my colleagues are not keen on banana’s once they are showing signs of ripening which also gave  my the perfect opportunity to try out my new tin liners.  I love baking and I think I’m doing okay, but lining tins is not my area of strength so theses are a welcome addition.

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This bad boy is perfect (it’s no secret any great banana loaf needs really ripe bananas).  My first loaf was plain banana. My next bake had chocolate (a handful of chopped up dark chocolate) then I added Clark’s Maple Syrup and finally maple syrup and pecans which became the office favorite. The balance of Maple syrup was a learning curve and after 3 attempts and feedback from the office I think I have the right balance.

Lindt Dark Chocolate
Clarks Maple Syrup and a handful of  Lindt Dark Chocolate

So what next….

Line your tin. Now you’d think this is straight forward but be careful choosing your tin. For this recipe you needs a 2lb /900g loaf tin; if you’re not sure measure out and this size tin should hold one litre of water.

Ingredients

  • 100g (4oz) softened butter * (very important don’t cheat this)
  • 175g (60z) Caster sugar
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 2 Ripe Banana’s mashed
  • 225g  (8oz) self raising flour
  • 1 level teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons of milk

The Extras

  • 2 tablespoons of Maple Syrup (I use Clarks)
  • 2 tablespoons of pecan nuts, cut in halves.
    or 1 handful of chopped dark chocolate (both is too much so I recommend you pick one or the other)
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  1. Pre-heat your oven to 160c (fan assisted)/gas mark 4 and lightly grease and line your 2lb loaf tin (bottom and sides).
  2. Measure out your ingredients into a mixing bowl and the mashed banana and if desired the maple syrup mix well for 2 minutes or until well blended.
  3. Next stir in your chocolate and or pecans
  4. Pour / spoon the mixture into your lined tin and level the surface
  5. Bake on your middle shelf for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
  6. Leave to cool in the tin on your cooling rack for 5 minutes, then turnout and peel off the parchment until cooled.

Or if like me, why not have slice while still warm with a cup of tea!

If you like my blog you could follow me on Twitter or Instagram

 

Banana loaf with Lindt Chocolate
Banana Loaf with Lindt Chocolate

Return to Ego (@Beverley Arms Ackworth)

We returned to Ego on Thursday as we  needed a pick-me-up and I really fancied a good steak.

Thankfully, Ego were able to accommodate us at short notice which was a surprise as they are incredibly popular mid-week which I attribute to their specialist offers.  Tonight was Kebab night, and before you ask I do not mean Donner, I could have been tempted to falter from my desire for steak.

We were  greeted cheerily by one of the hosts and were offered a choice of table by the window (I much prefer this area, as I am not a fan of some of other areas of the restaurant which have a little too much atmosphere).

We do rate Ego and the main reason is for the great staff, they are warm and friendly and when it counts bold and not afraid to deal with issues where so many hide or mismanage. The customer service skills of this team are a credit to the restaurant and their infrequent weakness in the kitchen are forgiven for deftness of the front of house team.

The food ordered was the chicken Liver and rosemary pate and deep fried brie for starters. Then for our mains I ordered the fillet steak with skin on chips and David ordered the lamb rump with risotto and green and spring onion pesto.

The starters we served, the pate was very chilled as before I wish the kitchen would hold this back and let it reach somewhere near room temperature.  Maybe if they made this in a terrine and served a slices this could achieved.  If you like me believe certain foods taste best at certain temperatures you might like this article .  The pate as it warmed tasted great, although the rosemary as not detectable –  I am assuming this rosemary was only present in the butter used to seal the pate.   The marmalade of chilli tomato as a side was left by me but it was very much enjoyed by David – he preferred this with his creamy brie over the orange and apricot marmalade he was served.

Our mains were served and the steak looked good. It was cooked to order medium-rare with a lovely rocket garnish a garlic dressed plum tomato and a dish of skin on chips.  The fillet had good crunch on the outside with a pink and rare centre. I get so fed up of being served overcooked steaks #Cowshed

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The only extra not welcome on this plate was the huge chip – which is not on my shoulder!  Shame  the chef let a meal leave his kitchen like this.

David’s dish of Lamb Rump was tender and cooked medium and sat on a rich and creamy risotto finished with zesty pesto (and no chips in sight).

Our bill came to £50 which included 3 drinks and after our Ego discount was applied.

The quality remains to be good at Ego one day I look forward to them having local produce on the menu.  We will continue to support our local restaurant and hope that the kitchen team can raise their game to mirror the A team working front of house.

If you’d like to read more of my food adventures your can follow me on Twitter or Instagram.

Louise

 

 

Finished article. Serve immediately with custard, cream or ice cream

All round winner – Jaffa Self Saucing Pudding

Made this first for my Mum’s birthday meal.  My mum doesn’t have the sweetest tooth in the family that belongs to my Dad.  He truly is a pudding / dessert lover…and if he could, he would eat puddings for starters, mains and afters!

They both raved about this pudding, in fact Dad said its the best pudding he’s ever had. Since then David’s parents have enjoyed this  and they have requested this for the Ord family Easter Sunday dinner.  With this in mind I thought it was time to share this wonderful pudding with you.

I first found on the BBC Good Food website and I have made no tweaks as its perfect.

  The Batter

  • 250g self raising flour
  • 140g golden caster sugar
  • 50g cocoa powder
  • 100g soften butter
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Zest and Juice of 1 orange
  • 3 eggs
  • 150ml Milk
  • 100g orange milk chocolate (I use Terry’s Chocolate Orange)

    The Sauce
  • 200g  light muscovado sugar
  • 25g cocoa
  • 300ml boiling water
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Self Saucing Jaffa Pudding

 

  1. Butter a 2-litre baking dish and heat oven to 160°C fan/gas 4 and put your kettle on.
  2. Put the flour, caster sugar, 50g cocoa, baking powder, orange zest and a pinch of salt in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Chop your chocolate into pieces.

    I aim for pieces about the size of a Cadburys’ buttons give or take; this means you find lovely pieces of half melted chocolate in each mouthful.

  4. Squeeze the  orange juice into a pyrex jug and whisk in the 3 eggs, melted butter and milk.
  5. Pour onto the dry ingredients and mix together until smooth  (it takes about 2-3 minutes in  my Kenwood)
  6. Stir in the chocolate chunks and then scrape everything into the buttered dish
  7. Mix 300ml of boiling water from your kettle with the light muscavodo sugar and remaining 25g of cocoa for the sauce.
    Batter Mix
    Batter mix before your pour the sauce over
  8. Slowly pour this all over the pudding batter which will look very wrong at this stage!

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    Batter covered with the bubbling hot sauce mix
  9. The Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 30 mins or until the surface looks firm, risen and crisp.
    Finished article. Serve immediately with custard, cream or ice
    Self Saucing Jaffa Pudding

     

 

I hope you like this pudding as much as we do and if you do try this please let me know if you make any additions as I’m always looking for new ideas.

Louise x

EatBakeBlogGB

Cooked Dauphinoise Potatoes

Meals for Michael – Creamy and Spicy Carb Fest

I was asked today by David to share for our friend some of my favourite meals.   The easiest way to transfer recipes to those that ask for help could be to send them the respective cook books but in this case as the person in question is an avid reader of my blog and twitter I thought to salute their support by blogging instead.

Proper Blokes’ Sausage Fusilli from Jamie Oliver’s Cook

  • 2 heaped teaspoon of Fennel Seeds (don’t leave this out Michael its key to the dish)
  • 1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes (you cannot cheat and use powder!)
  • Olive oil
  • 600g or a pack of Cumberland Sausages (removed / squeezed out of their skins)
  • 1 tablespoon Oregano (use a heaped dessert spoon if you don’t have a tbsp)
  • Glass of dry white wine (not for drinking while making)
  • 500g Fusilli ( you need the spirals to hold the meat)
  • Grated Parmesan (two good handfuls)
  • 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (dried does not cut it)
  • Zest and Juice of a lemon (Jiff will not do, but if you do cheat don’t try and grate  it)
  • Knob of butter (only you can define what a knob is)

You will need a skillet pan or maybe a small wok for this.

  1. Crush/smash up the fennel seeds until broken up and put to one side
  2. Squeeze the meat out of the sausages throwing away the skins
  3. Heat some oil in your pan
  4. Place the meat into a pan and start to break it up with a wooden spoon, keep working the meat for a few minutes until it starts to colour to a brown
  5. Then add the fennel seeds and chilli (watch out the vapours can whack you in the face)

    Your are trying to make the meat look like minced meat

  6. Cook for a further 10 minutes keeping the meat moving until it begins to crisp
  7. Put your kettle onto boil while you are doing this
  8. Add the Oregano (tablespoon) stir once.
  9. Add the white wine (if you’ve not drank it);  lemon juice and zest; turn the light down to low
  10. Cook your pasta
  11. If the meat is looking dry add a spoon or two of the pasta water
  12. Chop the parsley and grate the Parmesan if you have not already
  13. Drain the pasta, toss the meat in to the pasta or vice versa, add the butter stirring to coat
  14. Add the parsley, and Parmesan and serve  into warmed bowls
  15. If you love Parmesan like we do grate a bit more on top.

Now this is an odd side dish, but if you like carbs with carbs here you go..

 Potatoes Dauphinose

We love this french classic and it is best eaten on the night it does not reheat well.   You can do 50/50 and use milk as well as cream if the ladies in the house prefer the lighter version.

  • Peel 1kg of potatoes (we only use Lady Balfours)
  • 300ml Double Cream
  • 3 Cloves of Garlic
  • Freshly Grated Nutmeg (1/4 teaspoon) or leave out
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • Generous mill of black pepper
  1.  Peel the potatoes and put into a bowl of cold water
  2. Chop the garlic or crush into fine pieces
  3. Pour cream into a large bowl; add garlic, pinch of salt, black pepper and nutmeg (if you want it
  4. Grease an oval bowl  about this size, well with butter

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    This size should suffice for this amount of potato
  5. Slice the potatoes as finely as you can

    Mandoline
    Ideally the potatoes need to be this thin to give the best and fastest result.
  6.  Once the potatoes are sliced work fast to layer them in the dish, side by side, making layers upon layers, keeping flat .
  7. When you have run out of potato slices pour over the seasoned cream.

    Cooked Dauphinoise Potatoes
    This is the look you are trying to achieve when your slice into the Dauphinoise
  8. Press down gently with a fork.
  9. Place into the oven on the middle shelf for 50-60 minutes at 160°c

Eat with sighs of ooh and aahh.

Happy cooking Michael and if you need to consult on any of the above my number is only at the rate of £1.00 per minute from a land line.

Love Louise x

EatBlogBakeGB

 

Freezer burn; here’s a saucy remedy for your pasta

Tonight we needed a quick tea so raided the freezer for a leftover stash.  I found an unlabelled mysterious package which turned out to be a batch of bolognaise sauce.

The only way to salvage was to whip up my favourite  tomato sauce…

Onion (medium) sliced and diced
Carrot (medium) scrubbed and grated
Garlic clove crushed
Teaspoon of fennel seeds crushed
Tin on chopped plum tomatoes opened

Splash of oil in sauce pan add onion, carrot and cook on medium heat for five minutes

Add garlic and fennel and cook for a further 2 minutes then add tomatoes.

Cook for 15 minutes, season and blitz with a stick blender taking care not to splash yourself.

Add enough sauce to the bolognaise to bring it back to life.

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I love this sauce the fennel really gives it a depth of flavour and it’s really rich and smooth the carrot removes any acidity from the tomatoes .

Just goes to show how easy it is to cook from scratch using simple ingredients.

We’ve yet to try this with just pasta but I feel confident with some basil ripped over the top it would be a winner too.

Love Louise X
Louise Winder Food & Travel
#EatBakeBlog

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The Shrove Tuesday Files

Who doesn’t love Pancakes. It’s one of my first positive food memories that repeats through my life. My mum made great Pancakes and always served with a sprinkle of sugar and a squeeze of Jif Lemon (not sure why we never had fresh lemons). I have carried on that tradition on, until recently as I’ve started having pancakes as a treat breakfast.

This morning I was feeling a bit flat after a great weekend in Brighton with my nephew and as an emotional eater I didn’t want my usual Bran Flakes.  So inspired by the great American series The X Files the truth was out there…

The Pancake recipe I used was this recipe :

● 135g Plain Flour
○1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
● Teaspoon of Salt
○ 2  Tablespoons of  golden caster sugar
● 1 Large Egg (free range)
○ 4.5 fld Oz Milk

Then I decided to mix it up with
● 1 Teaspoon of ground cinnamon
○ Handful of Sultanas

The method is simple
Put flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon into a bowl (I prefer to use my Pyrex Jug it makes it easier to decant.)

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Crack the egg into the middle and start to mix in.

Then add the Milk  mixing as you go until you have a thick batter.

Next melt a nob of butter in your pancake pan and add this to your mix and stir in.

Finally add your Sultanas and leave the batter to rest. An hour if you can and if you have no patience like me, then five minutes; this let’s the ingredients meld together and the starch molecules in the flour are absorbing the liquid in the batter making the batter thicker. This causes them to swell and gives the batter a thicker, more viscous consistency.

Then I use peanut oil to oil the pan and put it on a low light.

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I use a tablespoon as measure for each pancake (most recipes suggest a ladle)

I cook until I see air bubbles then turn (this should take about 1 to 2 minutes)

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Then serve with or without  Maple Syrup (other brands are available but this was on offer).

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American Cinnamon Pancakes

I loved these and as a huge fan of Cinnamon they will be a new Sunday treat . 

Tonight we will be having traditional pancakes unless I’m out voted!

Hope you enjoy your Shrove Tuesday.

If you like my blog please follow me on here or Twitter @LouiseWinder

Love Louise X
Louise Winder Food & Travel

#EatBakeBlog

Posted from WordPress for Android

The Shrove Tuesday Files

Who doesn’t love Pancakes. It’s one of my first positive food memories that repeats through my life. My mum made great Pancakes and always served with a sprinkle of sugar and a squeeze of Jif Lemon (how seventies). I have carried on that tradition on until recently.

This morning I was feeling a bit flat after a great weekend with my nephew and as an emotional eater I didn’t want my usual Bran Flakes.  So inspired by the great American series The X Files the truth was out there…

The Pancakes  recipe I using this recipe :

● 135g Plain Flour
○1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
● Teaspoon of Salt
○ 2  Tablespoons of  golden caster sugar
● 1 Large Egg (free range)
○ 4.5 fld Oz Milk

Then I decided to mix it up with
● 1 Teaspoon of ground cinnamon
○ Handful of Sultanas

The method is simple
Put flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon into a bowl (I prefer to use my Pyrex Jug it makes it easier to decant.)

image

Crack the egg into the middle and start to mix in.

Then add the Milk  mixing as you go until you have a thick batter.

Next melt a nob of butter in your pancake pan and add this to your mix and stir in.

Finally add your Sultanas and leave the batter to rest. An hour if you can and if you have no patience like me, then five minutes; this let’s the ingredients meld together and the starch molecules in the flour are absorbing the liquid in the batter making the batter thicker. This causes them to swell and gives the batter a thicker, more viscous consistency.

Then I use peanut oil to oil the pan and put it on a low light.

image

I use a tablespoon as measure for each pancake (most recipes suggest a ladle)

I cook until I see air bubbles then turn (this should take about 1 to 2 minutes)

image

Then serve with or without  Maple Syrup (other brands are available but this was on offer).

image
American Cinnamon Pancakes

I loved these but i am a huge fan of Cinnamon Tonight we will be having  with the traditional pancakes unless I’m out voted.

Hope you enjoy your Shrove Tuesday.

Louise x

#EatBakeBlog

Love Louise X
Louise Winder Food & Travel

#EatBakeBlog

Posted from WordPress for Android