Moussaka

I don't know about everyone else, but I plan my weekends around what I'm going to eat. And having days off means I can cook things that take a little more time or preparation. So I'm posting this with a fair amount of time before the weekend, because it's a perfect Sunday night feast.

I eat out at a local Greek place about twice a month. Don't  judge me. The food is delicious and it is really fun there. They bake cheese with honey and sesame seeds. It's damn magical.

I noticed that on their menu they describe their moussaka as a light and healthy snack. I was intrigued, because I always thought moussaka was a sort of Greek lasagna - meaty and rich, with a thick and cheesy white sauce.

So I decided to make it, and it turns out, it is just that. And in Greece - that's health food! Oppa!

Anyway, this is absolutely delicious and I would recommend you all try it. It's really good for you.

Chocolate Baked Donuts

These donuts are the best start to the week that I can think of. And of course, I like any excuse to use my donut pan. Of all the slightly frivolous items I have in my baking cupboards, this is one of my favourites. Its niche – I know. But I’m slowly realising that there are so many wonderful ways to bake ring-shaped delicious things.

All stacked and ready to be iced!

I decided to go completely decadent and make chocolate donuts with gorgeous glazes. The thing I adore about donuts is that you can dress them up so prettily and there are so many topping combinations! 

I went with AAAALL the sprinkles I had in my cupboard, but next time I am going to chop up some hazelnuts and throw them on the chcolate ones, and I'm definitely adding nutella to the icing recipe. And then the time after that I'm going to add so much coconut.

See, I'm getting huge amounts of use out of the two (TWO!) donuts pans I just had to own. A totally rational purchase! I highly recommend them.

Ricotta Pancakes

I recently had the best pancakes of my life. They were served with passion fruit curd and they were EVERYTHING. I have eaten them twice in a week, no lie.

And, interestingly, they were ricotta pancakes, something I’ve never had before. I immediately had to try to recreate them. Ricotta pancakes aren't light and fluffy exactly, but they also aren't wet and crepe-y. They are also small and bitesize and pretty easy to make.

Now, I didn't have any passion fruit curd on hand (shame!) so I improvised with my boyfriend's favourite waffle toppings - whipped cream and strawberry jam!

But feel free to throw whatever toppings you want, nutella could be awesome, honey also would be super nice with chopped bananas on top.

Makes about 18 small pancakes, no judgement of how many that will serve – you do you

Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate (plus a little coffee) Cheesecake

Its a miserable cold week in Feb. This the the antidote. It is chocolate on every layer, exactly what you need. It’s amazing – crunchy chocolate base, smooth chocolate middle, and runny chocolate topping. I added some coffee to the topping to cut through the chocolate just a little bit. 

Let's get this cake a cookin'

Now, I don’t know if I was just being stupid, but I originally tried to add melted chocolate to the cheesecake mixture to make it all chocolatey, but the mixture was so cold that the chocolate clumped and wouldn’t mix evenly at all. So, this is a second try with cocoa powder which works beautifully.

This does take a little bit of time to assemble in full but it is really worth it, and you can prepare it the night before and allow to chill in the fridge, so it’s a good party dessert!

The key to the amazing texture of this cake is cooking it in a water bath, which isn’t hard, just takes a little bit of preparation.

Yemista - Stuffed Greek Peppers

Countdown to the weekend is on! Well, not for me, because I'm working this weekend. Feel for me.

But don't feel too bad, because I made these for dinner and they're amazing. You gotta try these. I have been trying to branch out on my side dishes, and I often get inspiration from food I try in restaurants.

After I had eaten them, I just knew I had to recreate these amazing stuffed peppers that I had in my favourite Greek restaurant. I have made some changes to the traditional recipe as I am wont to do.. Traditionally, as far as I can tell, you tend to include sultanas and mint, but I don’t like sultanas and I think mint can be overwhelming in savoury dishes. I also pre-cooked the rice a little because I only had brown rice and my boyfriend is very fussy with the way his rice is cooked.

Delicious filling!

These are great as a side, or on as part of a  little snack-y tapas feast!

Pan Fried Garlic Prawns

Whenever I go out to eat, I will often order fish or some kind of seafood. But I can count on one hand the number of times I have cooked that kind of food at home in the last year.

Last Friday evening I had a hankering for prawns after having had tapas recently. I decided to just go ahead and wing it, without much of a recipe but just an idea of what flavours I was fancying.

I'm always surprised at how fast seafood cooks! I had to read the cooking instructions on the packet a few times to be certain. This is a great midweek meal - it's not cheap (prawns are surprisingly pricey!) but it's super quick and tasty. I decided to serve my prawns with some aromatic fried veggies and some bruchetta-style bread, but a hunk of warm buttered sourdough would also serve just as well!

Pork Chops and Sweet and Sour Peppers

Looking for something a little different for a Sunday dinner?

My usual weekend plans include grand dinner plans, with involve lots of time - from the prep to the actual cooking. And then sometimes it gets to 3pm on a Sunday and you're in the middle of a netflix binge and getting up to cook a mammoth meal doesn't seem very appealing.. Well step on up. porkchops.

I am always on the lookout for quick meals and this one had been getting a lot of buzz around the internet. I am wary of “omg best recipe ever!” reviews, but this one intrigued me. I don’t eat pork chops very often, because I didn’t think they were good. It turns out, I just didn't know how to cook them well.

Turns out, you don’t have to cook them for very long at all! 3 minutes on each side, and dinner is cooked. Buttery, herby, garlicky deliciousness.

Obviously you can serve the pork chops with anything, I think they could also be delicious with some mash and roasted veggies.