Cheese & Onion Loaf

We saw on twitter that the Box Bakery were selling #GlutenFree mixed packs containing bread and chocolate cake. Always on the look out for simple bakes, particularly bread, we placed an order. It was speedily delivered and the contents seemed tempting... and more importantly, required just warm water to be added!

Looking at the bread options, we decided to try the white bread mix. We thought that it would be nice tweaked with the addition of cheese and onion. 

To make the onion, a medium red onion was sliced thinly and fried in oil until it was starting to look transparent. It was then taken off the heat and left to cool. The cheese (we used Red Fox vintage red leicester) was grated.  

The instructions on the Box Bakery packaging were then followed. 

Opening the box on the corner, the lukewarm water was added. Having shaken the box as instructed, the lid was carefully peeled off and a fork was used to ensure the mix was fully combined.

At this point the onion and cheese was stirred into the dough and mixed through. The top of the loaf was brushed with olive oil. 

Following the instructions, the loaf was placed, in its box, in a cold oven with the temperature set for 50C, then cooking for 25minutes (a little longer than stated in the instructions to allow for the additional ingredients included in the loaf)

The oven temperature was then increased to 210C (fan) and the loaf was baked for 50 minutes.  It was checked after this time and the oven was turned off, leaving the loaf in the hot oven for a further 10 minutes. 

Taking the loaf out of the oven, it was left to cool.

Finally, it was removed from the box and sliced... 

We thoroughly enjoyed the bread and it was very good toasted as well. The concept of Bake in the Box is very good for easy, cupboard options...and also for those who aren’t #GlutenFree but want to offer pals who are a home baked and SAFE bread! I will be making sure my mum has a box for our next trip to see her 😉

Mini Muffin Quiches

We made some individual, pastryless quiches... mini sized ones which were 'perfect for picnic food'.  To do this, we decided to use some silicone muffin cases and our 'usual' quiche mix.

We used:-

4 eggs, beaten
3 onions, peeled and finely chopped
250ml yoghurt
Cheese, grated (we used mature farmhouse cheddar)

 These ingredients were enough to make 6 mini quiches and a large pastryless quiche.

 We used silicone muffin cases to line our muffin tin.

The eggs were lightly beaten...

... and then the yoghurt was added and whisked through.  Next the grated cheese was incorporated and the mix was stirred to make sure it was all combined.

Having chopped the red onions, they were lightly fried untill they started to cook through.

We added a dessertspoonful of the egg, yoghurt and cheese to the bottom of the cases then topped this with some of the lightly cooked onions.

Each case was then topped up with some more of the egg mix before having some sliced yellow cherry tomatoes added.

The quiches were then placed in a pre-heated oven (180ºC) for about 10 minutes after which time we checked them every few minutes and removed them when the tops were just beginning to brown.










The completed quiches looked really appetising and were easy to remove from the cases.

We served ours with spicy potato wedges, sweetcorn and peas.

They can be saved, in an airtight container, in the fridge (or frozen), and make a great picnic/packed lunch item.

Garlic Mushrooms

When the veg box arrived the other day with a paper bag of chestnut mushrooms, which Sous Chef J will not eat, a recipe was required to make use of them.  We chose another long standing family recipe as it's quick and easy with only five ingredients. 

Gathered with the mushrooms were a clove of garlic, an onion, a Tablespoon of oil and a Tablespoon of tomato puree.

The garlic was 'squashed and squished', then the onion was chopped fairly finely.  Next the oil was heated in a small pan before adding the garlic and onion, to sweat over a low heat for a few minutes. At this point, the tomato puree was added to the pan and left to cook through for about five minutes (again on a low heat). 


Whilst the garlic, onion and tomato puree was cooking, the mushrooms were cleaned, the stalks trimmed and they were quartered. 


Finally the mushrooms were added to the pan and left to cook, still on low, for a little over five minutes.  This allows the lovely mushroom juices to be released.

A quick mix round and the mushrooms are ready to serve... as a side dish with steak or on Gluten Free toast for a quick lunch.

Speedy Mushroom Sauce

Things are not quite 'right' here at the moment. Sous Chef J is rather unwell (more on that in later posts, I should think) and, as a result our life is even more chaotic than usual.

Luckily, we were sent some samples of Boursin Cheese the other week and during a lunchtime fridge audit (those of you that follow me on twitter may recognise that term!) I spotted the Garlic and Herb Boursin loitering alongside a few mushrooms.  It wasn't a great leap of culinary genius that lead to my mind coming up with a plan to use them together but a moment of thinking "that'd go well together"... so I gathered the ingredients and set about trying an ad hoc concoction.

An onion was finely chopped and fried in a little oil over a low heat for a few minutes during which time the mushrooms were cleaned, de-stalked and chopped.   The 3 chestnut mushrooms (they were quite large) and a handful of button mushrooms were added to the frying onions and a knob of butter was added.  This was all then left over a low heat for about 10 minutes to sweat down.  A squeeze of lemon juice was added to the pan and mixed well.

The mushroom mix was then drained in a sieve to remove excess moisture.  It was then blitzed using our Braun stick blender.

Finally, a whole pack of "Boursin Ail & Fines Herbes" was added and quickly whizzed to combine.  The mix was then placed in a jar and stored in the fridge until teatime when we cooked some Dove's Farm Gluten Free Pasta, drained it, returned it to the cooking pan and mixed the mushroom sauce through. 

We thought it was delicious, although in his current, under the weather state, am sorry to report that Sous Chef J would "not even taste a molecule". 

However, we tried half of the summer flavour Sun Ripened Tomato, Onion and Chive Boursin stirred through the warm pasta and the young Chef's plate was cleared so fast, there was no time for a photo! 

To use up the remainder of the pack, we also added the cheese to a salad to accompany our steamed salmon the next night making another quick and tasty meal. 

Thanks to Kirsty for sending the samples.  They've provided us with the chance to make speedy, tasty food when we've really needed to be spending as little time as possible on daily chores. 

Pastryless Cheese and Onion Quiche

OK, so this is a bit of a "make it up as we go along" recipe. When there are eggs that need using up, this is the recipe of choice for us. The principle is the same each time we make this but amounts and timings have to be adjusted depending on number and size of eggs being used, runniness of yoghurt and amount of cheese... It's definitely worth cooking but you need to keep an eye on what's going on in the oven.

The ingredients used this time were two onions, which had been sliced, two large eggs, beaten, about 400ml natural yoghurt and lots of grated mature cheddar cheese. Plus seasoning to taste and sunflower oil for cooking and oiling the dish. As mentioned above, this is a dish that is cooked when the eggs we have are about to go out of date... so we may use three medium eggs, two large eggs or more... depending on the supply situation!

First of all, the sliced onions were cooked in sunflower oil over a medium heat until they are starting to cook through (we usually use red onions).








Whilst the onions were cooking, we mixed together the eggs and yoghurt then added in the grated cheese - sous chef J seasoned well with freshly ground black pepper (using his own 'special' pepper mill). His next task was to oil the pyrex dish we cook the quiche in. Sunflower oil is used for this and he spreads it over the base and up the sides using a silcone 'brush' like utensil from Ikea.








After oiling the dish, a thin layer of the egg, cheese and yogurt mix was added... and spread out evenly. This was then covered with the onions.

Finally, the onions were covered with the remainder of the egg, cheese and yoghurt mix and the dish was placed in the preheated oven.
After cooking in the oven at 180ºC (for about 25 minutes with this amount) we ended up with this...

After allowing it a little time cooling in the dish, we carefully served (we use a fish slice). We enjoy our quiche with any/all of salad, potato wedges, steamed vegs... or you can try whatever takes your fancy!
The quiche can be cooled fully, stored in the fridge and sliced for picnics. It freezes well for a short time too.