Last year at The Hop Pole in Bath, I ate what could be the best pudding I have ever had.

A pineapple tarte tatin with coconut ice cream - juicy sweet caramely pineapple, dark rum, cold coconut and crisp hot pastry. Seriously....what's not to love?

Since then I haven't been able to quite shake it. When I got a beautiful tarte tatin dish for my birthday I finally decided to give it go and I'm pretty pleased with the results if I don't say so myself!

What you need
500g all butter puff pastry
1 pineapple (cut into chunks)
100g golden caster sugar
100ml dark rum
1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways with seeds scraped out
50g butter, cubed
an oven proof frypan or tarte tatin dish (approx 25cm in diameter)
a wooden spoon

The do
Cut up the pineapple into chunks and set aside.
Preheat your oven to 19o, or gas mark 5. Sprinkle a little flour on to your bench top, roll out the pastry until it's around half a centimetre thick. Make sure it is rolled out enough to cover the ovenproof frying pan you’ll be using with an excess of 5cm around the edge. Set aside.

Put the pan on a medium heat and add the sugar, rum, vanilla seeds and pod. Let the sugar dissolve and cook until the mixture forms a light caramel.

When the caramel is a lovely chestnut brown, add the pineapple. Carefully stir everything in the pan and cook until the caramel thickens and becomes sticky and toffee-like. Add the cubed butter, then lay the pastry over the top. Using a wooden spoon instead of your fingers, quickly and carefully tuck the pastry down firmly into the edges.

Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Don't worry if it puffs up, it will flatten down again when you turn it upside down. Remove from the oven and let it rest for a minute. Now this is the tricky bit, glove up or you could end up in A&E with third degree burns. Grab a serving plate bigger than your fry pan and very quickly and carefully, flip the whole thing over. If you don't feel too confident about this procedure, this video shows you how to do it.
Let it chill out for a bit then chop it up and serve with coconut ice cream, otherwise vanilla is just as good.

BTW if you are ever in Bath and have little people in tow, this pub is situated opposite the best playground I have ever laid eyes on. Plus they always have one veggie option that is delicious.

Tunes:
Agadoo Black Lace

The big pancake

Lately I've had pancakes on my mind because Jasmine T makes me read this to her most nights...

I can tell you now, if one of these pancakes went rolling off,

a mother

seven hungry, little boys

a man

a cat

a cock

a duck

and a cow

would definitely be running to catch it.

What you need (makes about 8 pancakes, enough for about 2 1/2 people)

1 cup SR flour

1 cup of milk

1 egg

pinch of salt

a mashed banana - the blacker the better

a handful of blueberries (optional)

The do

Dump the flour, egg milk and salt into a mixing bowl and whisk until all the lumps are gone. Add the banana and blueberries and mix in with a fork.

Heat a nonstick frying pan on high - when it's red hot throw in a knob of butter and swoosh it around the pan. Add half a ladle of mixture to the pan to make each pancake, taking care not to over crowd. When it starts to bubble a little on the surface, give the underside a little peek and if it's golden brown flip it over. Cook for a minute or so then transfer onto a plate. Keep going until all the mixture is gone.

Gobble them down with a big dollop of of Rachel's coconut yoghurt and a little maple syrup or honey.

Not only are these deeeelicious, they are perfect for making use of fruit that is past it's best - apples or pears instead of banana would also go down well.

Vegan Black Metal Chef

This weekend was spent in bed nursing a broken toe and recovering from a hideous vomit bug I caught off Miss Jasmine T.

The only thing that cheered me up was this link my dear friend Mr Zincke sent. If you have a spare 15 minutes, dim the lights, spark up a few candles and check it out. Solid gold...and actually quite informative!

New digs

It's been so long since I last posted , I'd be amazed if any one was still checking in on this poor little blog! If you are, thanks, and sorry for neglecting you.

It's been a bit of a busy time for us - we've moved out of our little pad, been homeless for a bit whilst we made our new home habitable, screwed up my visa application so I was almost deported and FINALLY moved in couple of weeks ago.

So to christen the new kitchen in true Lily and Chew style, I have attempted to make savoury hot cross buns to commemorate the crucifixion of the big JC. All you need is a decent white bread dough recipe. Add a good handful of chopped chives and as much mature cheddar cheese and you can be bothered to grate, then leave to prove for about 20 minutes before separating into bun-like balls. With the tip of a sharp knife, mark a cross into the top of each one and sprinkle a little more cheese on top before baking for around 20 minutes at about 200 (our new oven is gas and I still have to get my head around the whole conversion thing).

You say frittata...

Here's a quick one for when you're home alone and want to keep kitchen time to a minimum and couch time to a maximum. We have a gut of eggs at the moment so I'm combining the eggs with a few of our fridge/freezer staples - frozen peas, broad beans and parmesan. This would be perfect with a rocket salad, but tonight I can't be bothered with all that, so I'm slapping mine onto a slice of nice bread and finishing it off with a cup of tea and some Almond Green and Black's chocolate. This also makes more than enough for everyone's (2 adults, 1 toddler) lunch the next day too.

Fast frittata

What you need

A non-stick frying pan that you can place under the grill. My frying pan is 30cm, which yielded a thin frittata, if you have one around 20-25cm it would be perfect.

7 eggs

1 meduim sized red onion, halved then sliced thinly

2 big handfuls of baby spinach leaves, chopped

1 mug, half peas, half broad beans (frozen)

half a handful chopped mint

half a handful tarragon leaves

1 big handful grated parmesan cheese

The do

Turn the grill on high. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk with a fork for around 20 seconds. Add the cheese, some salt and pepper and whisk some more until well combined. In the frying pan, heat some butter or olive oil and fry the red onion until it starts to go soft, then add the mug of frozen peas/beans. Fry for a few minutes then add the spinach and fry for another half a minute. Using a spatula, spread the veg evenly in the pan, sprinkle the herbs on top then immediately then pour in the egg mixture evenly. Move the pan onto the lowest heat ring on your stove then cook for about 10-15 mins - mine was thin so it cooked in about 5-10 minutes. If the outer edge is set and the top is a little runny then it's time to pop it under the grill for around a minute where it will turn golden brown and puff up. Take it out and grate a little more parmesan on top.

Watch
Roger and Val Have Just Got In

Summery insalata

Yippee! Tomorrow we are heading out to Kent to stay at the Keeper's cottage on the grounds of Leeds Castle, but first, I must conduct my pre-holiday ritual of using up what's left in the fridge. Take out would probably be a more practical option considering that with a toddler in tow I'll have to pack half the flat - but I really hate waste and quite enjoy the challenge of a clear-out dinner. Plus it's nice coming home to a fridge that doesn't smell like bin juice.

I have:

a bunch of carrots

mint

cherry tomatoes

a courgette

buffalo mozzarella (OK, so I cheated a little and bought this earlier in the day)

The plan is to make a souped up insalata caprese, the ingredient that really ties this dish together is the gorgeous buffalo mozzarella with it's weird cooked chicken-like texture. Never ever use a knife to cut it! Ripping up a ball of buffalo mozzarella is a strangely satisfying activity that should be enjoyed whenever possible.

The do

Slice the courgette thinly and chop the carrots into bite sized pieces.

Fry the courgette with a little oil and salt in a frying pan until soft and a little charred. While this is happening steam or boil the carrots until they are just done, you don't want them to be too mushy. When everything is done, lay it all together into a big plate and sprinkle a couple of chopped mint leaves on top. Top with a some pinenuts, a handful of halved cherry tomatoes and the buffalo mozzerella, then drizzle a generous amount of good olive oil on top.

Enjoy with some super crunchy ciabatta and a big glass of red wine before you attempt the packing.

Tunes
Butterfly House The Coral

Monday night...

An Elvis-sized thanks to all who came on Monday night, we had a super fun time and I'm especially glad that all the food was eaten too. Here we are wielding some pizza-sized biscuits with Diddy Wah and the man of the evening.

Fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches

This delicacy was one of Elvis's favourites

What you need

2 loaves of white bread, with crusts cut off

approx 5 bananas, mashed

1 big jar of sunpat smooth peanut butter

lots of butter

The do

Make sandwiches using the mashed banana and peanut butter, then fry in a heavy based frying pan with a big knob of butter until golden brown on both sides. Cut into quarters.

Also, a big thanks to the amazing Kelly V and her ace-o-rama cupcake socks for all her help. You totally (jailhouse) rock!