Coconut puffs

You will need:-
1 packet of puff pastry thawed to room temperature
half a cup of dessicated coconut
nine mini marshmallows
Parchment paper on a cookie tray




Unfold the pastry and cut into nine even squares
Put a small pile of coconut in the centre of each one
Pop a mini marshmallow on top
Dampen the edge of the square - brush with water
pull up the corners to form parcels and squeeze tight
bake in a pre-heated over at 425 degrees for about 12 minutes

Leave to cool for at least 5 minutes on the parchment paper [if you transfer them they will glue themselves to whatever you put them on / in

Jaffa Dogs - Barbequed desserts

An easy, popular summer dessert for the barbeque.



You wil need:-
Ingredients
One or two cans of Nectar
A hot dog bun per person
Philadelphia Cheese
Nutella
Bag of mini 3 Musketeers
Pam cooking spray
Equipment
Foil
Table knife for spreading

1. Tear off a sheet of foil about 12 inches square
2. Lay it flat on the surface and spray it with Pam
3. Split a hot dog bun in half and spread the bottom of the bottom [!] with a thick layer of Nutella. Put the bottom, Nutella side down on the sprayed foil in the middle
4. Put the other half of the bun next to the one you’ve been working on.
5. Curve the foil up around the bun like a little protective bath
6. Pour a few tablespoons of nectar over both buns
7. Spread the soggy bun with another layer of Nutella
8. Spread a layer of Philadelphia cheese on top of the Nutella
9. Place three mini Musketeer candies on top
10. Put the plain but soggy top bun on top
11. Spread the top with another layer of Nutella
12. Scrunch up the foil until it is hidden a bit like a cracker.
13. When you sit down to eat your barbeque put the foil packages on the barbeque on the lowest heat and leave there for about 10 minutes
14. After ten minutes remove from the barbeque and open the packages to let the steam escape – ask an adult to do this bit for you as the dessert is very hot indeed.
15. Either eat in the foil to save washing up or tip out into a bowl.
Variations:- serve with cream or ice cream to speed up the cooling down process.



Eaten to quickly for an 'after' photo!

You may wish to enter your own "contribution," to NPR.

Score = 10 but only if you avoid the vile ice-cream

Inoffensive Kebabs

You will need:-
Ingredients
Precooked Hot dogs [one per person]
Cherry tomatoes [six per person]
Kebab sticks soaked in water so that they don’t burn when you put them on the barbeque

Method:-
1. Turn the barbeque on to heat up
2. cut the hot dogs into bite sized pieces
3. push one piece of hot dog onto the stick followed by a cherry tomato
4. repeat until the stick is nearly full but with enough room each end for you to hold the stick
5. cook the kebabs on a medium heat for about 5 minutes.
6. Turn them over half way through so that they get dark lines on both sides
7. Serve with fresh bread and green salad



Score = 7 [minus the black marks]

Strawberry pudding recipe

You will need:-
One pound of washed strawberries hulled [take off the green bit]
Sugar to taste about one or two tablespoons [if you use Demerara sugar it gives a pleasant caramel taste]
2 tablespoons of Bird’s Instant Custard
One pint of full cream milk which is 20 fluid ounces

Tools:-
One big bowl
One little bowl
Measuring spoon
Wooden spoon to stir
Cuisinart /Magimix to whiz the mixture smooth.
Sieve
Serving bowl
Rubber spatula
Cling film

1.Mix the custard powder and sugar together in the small bowl and add some of milk, about a quarter cup or a few tablespoons.
2.Stir it until it looks like a paste.
3.Heat the rest of the milk in the microwave until it is hot, about two minutes.
4.Add the custard paste to the hot milk in the big bowl and stir.
5.Return to the microwave and heat for two more minutes.
6.Take out and stir.
7.Put it back into the microwave and heat for one minute.
8.Take out and stir. Now it should be getting thicker and less liquidy. Repeat until it is really thick.
9.Scrape into the magimix and add the strawberries.
10.Whizz until there are no lumps but only teeny tiny specks of strawberry.
11.If the tiny specks are still too hideous you can sieve the mixture to remove the bits. [and any accidental lumps]
12.Pour the mixture into the serving bowl and cover with wetted cling film which will stop the pudding from forming a disgusting skin.
13.Place in the refrigerator to chill for an hour.

[Note = you can make the custard in the traditional saucepan method if you have graduated to open flames or electric ring burners]

No cook corrupted Caprese Salad

You will need:-
One pound of tomatoes
One pound of Mozarella cheese
One jar of Kalamata olives
One jar of roasted red bell peppers
One bunch of fresh basil
Olive oil
Vinegar

Method:-
1.Chop the cheese into bite sized squares
2.Pull off the basil leaves from the stalks
3. Cut the tomatoes into bite sized pieces
4. Mix the tomatoes, cheese and basil in a big bowl
5. Drain the bell peppers in a sieve and chop into bite sized pieces
6. Drain the olives in a sieve and chop into bite sized pieces
7. Add a quarter cup of good vinegar
8. Add half a cup of olive oil
9. Mix well
10. Chill in the refridgerator for an hour.
11. Serve with fresh warm bread.



Score = 4 but not the olives. Also brown cheese is very peculiar

Green bean, Tomato and Coriander Salad

You will need:-
One pound of tomatoes
One pound of green beans
One bunch of fresh coriander [cilantro]
Olive oil
Vinegar

Method:-
1.Chop of the tops and tails from the beans [you can use scissors for this]
2.Place water in the steamer and then steam the beans for ten minutes
3. Cut the tomatoes into bite sized pieces
4. Chop the coriander [cilantro] roughly and mix into the tomatoes
5. Pull out the beans, drain the water and plunge into cold water [this makes them stay green and stops the colour draining away.]
6. Add a quarter cup of good vinegar
7. Add half a cup of olive oil
8. When the beans are cold pour into a sieve and then pat dry with a tea towel
9. Mix in the beans
10. Chill in the refridgerator for an hour.
11. Serve with fresh warm bread.

Score = 3 but not the beans

Real Scottish Shortbread

Taken from Leith's Cookery Bible:-

This makes 6 to 8 biscuits [cookies]
4 ounces of butter at room temperature
2 ounces of caster /superfine sugar [do not use granulated]
4 ounces of plain flour [not all purpose or it will rise]
2 ounces of rice flour [this is what gives it the effect of gluing it to the roof of your mouth. Some people use Semolina but that's unobtainable around here]

We doubled the ingredients to make American sized portions.




1.Turn on the over to 325 degrees F.
2.Beat the butter and sugar in the mixer until it changes colour and looks creamy and fluffy.
3.Sift the flours together and then add to the mixer on ‘slow’ until you have one big lump of shortbread.
4. Place a fluted shortbread ring onto a baking tray and tip the big lump onto the tray in the middle of the ring.
5. Squish out to the ends of the ring.
6. prick the surface all over with a fork
7. draw lines with a knife on the circle of shortcake to look like spokes of a bicycle wheel.
8. Bake for about 40 minutes until very pale.
9. Leave to cool for five minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.




If you don’t have a shortbread ring you can just roll the dough out into a circle and crimp the edges with your fingers. Put flour on your hands first or the dough will stick to you.

Score = 10 out of 10