Monday 17 June 2013

Sweet and spicy prawns (shrimp)

Ok, since I forgot to do a RecipeFriday, (oopsy!) I thought I give this little recipe a go.

Ingredients:

Around 20 King Prawns, (raw)
1 tbsp tomato purée,
1/2 tbsp honey,
1/2 tbsp brown sugar,
1 tsp hot chilli powder,
1 tsp paprika,
1 tsp garlic powder,
1 tbsp lemon juice,
1/2 tbsp lime juice,
1 tsp mustard, (english)
2 tbsp chunky chopped chorizo,
1 tbsp chopped dried (or normal) parsley,
1/2 tsp salt,
1/2 - 1 tsp pepper,
1 tsp garlic and basil pesto, (optional)
2 tbsp diced red pepper,
1 tsp finely chopped/minced chilli.

Method:
Fry the prawns until the outside begins to appear white/pink.
In a small bowl mix together the tomato purée, pesto,  mustard, lemon and lime juice, honey and brown sugar.
Then add around 1/3 cup water. Mix together and add to the prawns. Then mix in the chilli, garlic and paprika powder, parsley, and salt and pepper seasoning. Add peppers.
Simmer for 5 minutes until the prawns are firm and cooked all through. Throw in the chorizo at the last minute.

Recommend serving with brown rice and your favourite veggies :)

Enjoy :D x

Saturday 8 June 2013

New cake :)

So the pictures aren't great because I screen shotted them from a little video clip I made and sent to my friend.
This was another 60th birthday cake and I based it off the last one. Also the person I done it for was into gardening so with that I decided to emphasise the garden feel. I also wanted to think the colourful summer weather and colours into it- therefore not using as much black as other colours.
It's just a plain vanilla sponge with a bit of jam in the middle, didn't have a lot of time on my hands due to school work and busy schedule.

Friday 7 June 2013

Chocolate chip pecan cookies RecipeFriday #9

So I think I love americans so much that I think maybe I'm starting to think like one...
I absolutely adore pecans! They have an amazing flavour and go well with chocolate, maple syrup, salted caramel, ect...

Ingredients:
150g soft butter,
200g soft brown sugar,
2 heaped tbsp white sugar,
200g plain flour,
1 tsp vanilla,
1 large egg,
1/4 tsp salt,
1/2 cup chopped pecans, (chopped in 1/2 or 1/3)
1/2 cup chocolate chips,
(Or just do: 100g chocolate chips and around 75g pecans- but you can add more or less)

Method:
In a bowl, cream the butter and sugars together. Add the egg and beat until well combine. Then add the vanilla and salt.
In a seperate bowl, mix the flour, pecans and chocolate chips.
Then mix both mixtures together.

Scoop heaped tbsp onto a lined and slightly greased baking tray. You can measure the tbsp's out and roll or mold it in your hand for litrally a second just to get a basic shape.
Bake for 12-16 minutes until soft in the middle and slightly crusty on the sides.
(If they decide they want to puff up and rise a little, just press them down with a spatular once they are to the stage when they won't stick to the spatula)
Allow the cookies to cool for about 5 minutes before attempting to remove from the sheet.

Enjoy pecan and chocolate lovers!

Want something extra?

Why not drizzle some salted caramel or some salted maple syrup on top? Don't be put off when I say salted, trust me, salt and caramel work!

Ingredients:
2 level tbsp brown sugar,
1 heaped tsp white sugar,
1/4 fine/course/flaked sea salt,
1 tbsp unsalted butter.

Method:
In a small saucepan or small frying pan place the butter in the pan and melt. Add the sugars and salt and stir very slowly. Then simmer for five minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally.
Take off heat and drizzle on the cookies.
Leave to cool for a few minutes.

Enjoy :D

Saturday 1 June 2013

Non-recommendations

So I just love anything scented with coconut. I love the gorgeous freshly sweet smell it has!
I decided to try a coconut conditioner and yeah it smelt great but I was disappointed...
Me being a teenager I have grease-prown hair. I wasn't expecting this but it made my hair greasy even though I throughly washed it out and made sure there was no left over residue.
But when my hair was dried my hair seemed near enough fine but then not soon after it felt slightly greasy. Then it quickly progressed to get greasier causing me to again wash my hair soon after.
Then figuring out it must have been the oily coconut, I scrapped using it and moved onto an apple shampoo and conditioner specially for greasy/normal hair.
So if you have oily/grease prowned hair then I don't recommend using a coconut based conditioner- I haven't used a shampoo so I don't know the affect but still don't recommend an oily based product.