Marmite Cheese on Toast

Yes. Yes, I am giving a recipe for cheese on toast, though cheese on toast might seem like a pretty self-explanatory dish, I feel incredibly passionate about this variation, though this might just be the easiest recipe I have ever shared.

I have written here before about my passion for marmite, I adore salty foods much to the chagrin of my father, and I even own a book of recipes, all of which use marmite, I have also previously shared a recipe for marmite macaroni which I urge you to try if you are as passionate for this viscous salty elixir.

The inspiration for this recipe is twofold, firstly it's a variation on a favorite snack of my friend Morgans, and secondly it takes me back to my childhood when my favorite dinner was a baked potato split in half and spread thickly with a coronary-inducing amount of marmite wth a melting slice of red Leicester on top.

Start by toasting your bread, then spread it with butter and then marmite, cover with melted cheese and place under a hot grill for five minutes, until the cheese has melted and started to brown, remove from the grill and devour.

ingredients

bread
butter
marmite
grated cheddar

Mojito Drizzle Cake

This is part of a new series I've started here on Philips Journal. Based on the greatest show on television, The Great British Bake Off which just returned to our screens after a too long break. This week the bakers made drizzle cake, and seeing as baking isn't my greatest passion, I decided to challenge myself every week to make my own version of the signature bakes. This week was drizzle cakes, so here is my version.

This is based on the flavours of a mojito, I've added peppermint extract and lime zest to the sponge, and used lime juice for the drizzle.

Start by making your sponge, cream the softened butter and caster sugar together until smooth, add the eggs one at a time and stir gently. Add a teaspoon of peppermint extract and the zest of a lime and mix. Sift in the flour a little at a time and fold until smooth, spoon into a greased loaf tin and bake at 220C for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

While the cake is cooking squeeze the juice of 2 limes into a saucepan, add 3 tablespoons of sugar and swirl the pan to make a syrup, a few minutes before the cake is ready heat gently until the mixture is hot, but not boiling. Remove the cake from the oven and prick all over with a skewer. Drizzle over all the syrup and leave in the tin to cool.

ingredients

225g unsalted butter
225g self raising flour
300g caster sugar
4 eggs
2 limes
1 tsp peppermint extract

Peanut Butter Tollhouse Cookies

I have a sick obsession with peanut butter which I almost certainly inherited from my mother. My mother was known for eating it from a teaspoon when pottering around the kitchen, and when asked what she was eating she would promptly try to swallow the entire spoonful whole, and end up looking like the snake from The Jungle Book in the process.

These manage to quench my desire for peanut butter quite nicely, though I suspect that my father would abhor them, he has a loathing of peanuts, perhaps understandable given how many different varieties of urine bar nuts allegedly contain.

These cookies are flourless, and thus this recipe has the bonus of being gluten free. Start by measuring your smooth peanut butter into a large bowl, add the sugar, salt, and baking powder and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth. Add an egg and a teaspoon of vanilla extract and gently stir them into the batter. Fold in the chocolate chips. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and place heaped teaspoons of the mixture onto the paper spread well apart. Bake at 180C for 12 minutes until they have spread and crisped slightly. Leave them on the tray for 10 minutes until they have cooled and then gently transfer them to a wire rack to cool fully.

ingredients:

225g smooth peanut butter

100g molasses sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch sea salt flakes

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

75g chocolate chips

Corn Chowder

I have a complicated relationship with soup, I adore it, but whenever I make it I always end up making enough for the entire street and eating it for a week afterwards. The quantities shown here are enough for one large bowl, feel free do multiply the quantities if you wish to make more.

Start by putting your sweetcorn, defrosted under boiling water and drained in a food processor. Add a bruised clove of garlic and a chopped spring onion and blitz until smooth. Transfer to a large saucepan and cover with 500ml of hot vegetable stock. Mix with a wooden spoon and simmer for 10 minutes.

While the soup is simmering scatter a small handful of tortilla chips on a baking tray and cover with liberal amounts of grated cheese, place in a hot oven for four or five minutes until the cheese has melted and the tortilla chips have started to brown. Ladle the soup into bowls and cover with the tortilla chips, and devour.

Ingredients

250g frozen sweetcorn
1 clove garlic
1 spring onion
500ml vegetable stock
small handful tortilla chips
40g grated cheese

Beef Stroganoff

This dish was first cooked in 19th-century Russia by Count Pavel Stroganoff, a dignitary of Alexander III. It was subsequently popularised in America in the 1950's where it was often served with pasta, this version is served with a mound of buttery rice.

This is a beef stroganoff, however, you can make a vegetarian version if you so wish, simply by omitting the beef strips and using more mushrooms. For the meat, I use ready diced beef which tends to be a bit cheaper than buying a steak and then slicing it, you can. of course, use any cut of beef you like, if you wish to be a little more extravagant.

Start by chopping a medium sized white onion finely, add a large knob of butter to a frying pan with a little vegetable oil and melt on a medium heat, add the onion and fry until it is translucent and slightly browned, add some finely sliced mushrooms and cook for five minutes. Transfer from the pan to a bowl and slice your beef into thin strips if you haven't gone down the lazy prepared route as I have. Cook your beef for a few minutes until cooked through but still tender.

Return the onions and the mushrooms to the pan and add the creme fraiche and the mustard, stir until combined, add a pinch of paprika and nutmeg and serve, on a bed of rice.

ingredients

250g beef (see above)
50g button mushrooms
4 tbsp creme fraiche
1/2 tsp wholegrain mustard
pinch paprika
pinch nutmeg
large knob butter
1 tsp vegetable oil
salt & pepper

Prawn Curry Soup

I recently experienced somewhat of a craving for curry, and I'm not referring to the fluorescent orange tandoori found in most middle England towns, but to something rather softer, and less harsh, more fragrant and aromatic than fiery and spicy.

Whilst curry is wonderful it can often get boring, so I created this dish to use similar flavours as a curry, but without needing rice as an accompaniment, here I serve it instead with a toasted pitta, which is clearly not traditional, given the vast distance between the middle east and south-east Asia, it has a texture almost reminiscent of a chapati, but is much easier to procure.

Start by chopping a head of broccoli into fine florets, discard the tough stalk and stir-fry them in a little vegetable oil until tender, add the cooked prawns and toss in the hot oil. Add the korma paste and stir until the prawns and the broccoli are coated. Add the double cream and stir until it is a uniform ochre tone. Add 250ml of water from a recently boiled kettle and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes stirring sporadically until the soup has thickened, and serve, with a freshly toasted wholewheat pitta.

ingredients

150g cooked king prawns
1 head broccoli
3 tablespoons korma paste
50ml double cream
salt & pepper

Banana Pancakes

Yes, I too was sceptical. These sound disgusting and bizarre, but believe it or not they do actually make something resembling pancakes in style and in taste. I was inspired to create this recipe when I saw on snapchat that my friend and colleague Zoe had made something similar, and they looked so good, so I made my own!

To start chop a banana roughly into a bowl, mash the banana using a fork until it is smooth and without chunks, whisk an egg and add it to the banana along with a teaspoonful of vanilla and half a teaspoon of baking powder. Mix together until smooth. At this point you can add pretty much anything you want, be it honey or chocolate chips or berries. You can also double up on the quantity if you wish to make a larger batch, the amount used here will make enough for one.

Heat a small knob of butter in a skillet or griddle, and then add a ladleful of batter when it is hot, cook it until the edges of the pancake start to frill and the top resembles set jelly, check that the bottom has browned, flip it over and cook the other side until brown and firm. Place on a hot plate and cook the rest of the batter, if you are cooking a large batch you can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven. Serve in a stack with syrup.

ingredients

1 banana
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
butter