The Verdict

Two or three weeks, the doctor told me! That was bad enough in my mind but the nice doctor (who introduced himself by bursting into the examination room booming "NOW! What have you been doing to yourself, eh?!") at the Trauma Unit tells me I'm to wait at least six weeks. Six weeks! Don't they realise I have stuff to be doing? Tutt. Looks like the next month or so is going to be a test. Not sure how much cooking I'll be doing as a) the pain means I'm struggling to be hungry (yes, you read rightly - this must be serious) and b) I can't really carry things when I'm on crutches which makes cooking rather difficult. Time will tell!

Mashed!

Lesson one in Successful Bicycle Riding: Don't fall off. Amateur mistake on my part then, it seems, as I've managed to topple off my bike and force a pretty little fracture into my fifth metatarsal (easier to say than spell!). "Well, I can see from the x-ray that it's broken," states the doctor helpfully, having made me endure five or so minutes of painful poking and prodding and "Does this hurt?". Raving sadist. "It'll take two or three weeks to heal," he tells me.


A broken foot and a few bruises aside, I'm fine thankfully. Kudos to my long suffering housemate who applied peas, supplied sympathy and kindly ran me to A&E. So here I am, popped in a temporary cast and told to show my face at the Trauma Unit (not a promising name if ever I saw one) first thing tomorrow.

Calorie Confusion

Although diets are pretty popular, it's sometimes difficult to work out where your calorie intake will get you. If you're confuzzled, take a peek at this website.

Beetroot is back!

Since being a student and being freer to cook for myself (without the restraints of younger - pickier - siblings), I've been able to experiment. Beetroot is now something I buy quite regularly, particularly fresh from farmers markets. With the help of my other half, we've found the best way to cook it is to pop it in a bowl with a few inches of water, cover with a plate and zap in the microwave for about ten minutes (or longer for a large beetroot). Don't bother with peeling it as the skin sloughs off easily once it's been cooked. It's so easy and very tasty! On one of his internet trawls, the boy came across this amusing website. Just to ram the point home if you needed some persuation?

Chewy Flapjacks

I like flapjacks - they feel all wholesome and good for you. Which I guess they are, if you ignore the copious amounts of butter that go into making them. Not a biscuit, not a cake; they fall into that undefinable weird snack group. My grandmother makes lovely crunchy flapjacks which is what first inspired me to look into a recipe but I must admit that I'm more of a soft and chewy person myself. Hence, when I tried some of a friend's yummy batch, I was quick to nick the recipe and modify it to make my perfect flapjack experience. Just so you know, porridge oats are really cheap - you can buy 1kg of Tesco Value Oats for a mere 58p which will make four batches of flaps.

Soft & Moreish, Ultra Tasty Flapjacks
(with thanks to Dan for the initial inspiration!)

Makes:

Soft and chewy flapjacks with a sweet and buttery taste. A great way to use up over ripe bananas.

Ingredients:

80g demarera sugar

110g (unsalted) butter

250g oats

1 banana (ideally really ripe)

2 tbsp golden syrup or runny honey

Method:

- Preheat oven to 220c

- Melt butter on a low heat

- Remove from heat and stir in sugar and syrup/honey for a few minutes (it won't all combine into a smooth mixture so don't worry too much!)

- Add oats to wet mixture and mix well until all the oats have a thin coating of buttery sugar-ness

- Mash up the banana with a fork until it's smooth and gooey

- Fold banana into oats

- Spread evenly into a non-stick tray so that it's about 2.5cm thick

- Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown on top

- Leave to cool for 5 minutes and then score into pieces with a knife

Variations:

Add dried banana chips, chocolate chunks or soaked raisins to the mixture before you bake for more flavour.

Kitchen Diaries

One of my (numerous, undoubtedly strange) habits is singing. I love it. I like to sing while driving (I'm now a master of harmonising with the radio), while banging out my uni work if it's something creative and most of all, while I cook. Ideally, my kitchen of the future will have an intergrated speaker system and music library. With this in mind, I was linked to this rather hilarious kitchen noise-maker...

Foccacia

(not as rude as it sounds!)

I have the task of creating some appealing party nibbles for a friends cocktail party and being on a budget, I didn't want to buy a ton of pre-packed gumph. I already had flour, yeast and oil in the cupboad and a ready supply of water from the tap so I thought I'd give homemade bread a go. It's really easy so don't be daunted! Here's my take on the Italian classic...

Focaccia

Ingredients:
250g strong white flour
tsp salt
7g (sachet) yeast
Olive oil

- Combine flour, salt, yeast and a tbsp of olive oil in a bowl
- Add about 150ml of tepid water, mixing as you go. This can be very messy! Different flour will absorb varying amounts of water so add a little at a time and be prepared to use a little more or less each time. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more water. If it's still very sticky, add more flour. You're looking for a solid consistency that isn't sticky and doesn't coat your fingers as you agitate it.
- Spend about ten minutes kneading the dough on a floured surface; stretch it, then work it back over itself. You can really pound it! Work out some of your aggression until its smooth. Add drizzles of oil as you go a long to add to the elasticity.
- Prepare a baking tray with parchment and a little olive oil.
- Stretch out dough until it's about 2cm thick. Cover with cling film and leave to rise for at least thirty minutes to an hour.
- Preheat oven to 220c
- Bake for 15 minutes

Notes: I used plain flour as I didn't have any strong flour, which worked well. It's not ideal but will work if it's all you have.

Additions: A little minced garlic, finely chopped green olives and/or dried or fresh rosemary would work a treat with this. Mix them in at the dry stage for added flavour.