Cheesy Cheese Cracker Puffs

Ok these are literally the simplest and easiest things in the world! But be warned! They are VERY moreish.

Ok. You have been warned. Moving on.

Cheesy Cheese Cracker Puffs
Bare Necessities

1 1/2cups Cheddar Cheese
100g Butter
3/4 Self-Raising Flour
1tbsp Milk

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175C/350F.
2. Grate the cheese.
3. Breadcrumb the flour and butter together.
4. Mix in the cheese.
5. Mix in the milk. It should start to come together into a ball of pastry. If, after you've added all of the milk the pastry isn't holding together, gradually add a bit more, but only a tiny bit, even the tiniest bit of milk can make the difference.
6. Wrap the pastry up in clingfilm and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
7. Take the pastry out of the fridge and put it on a lightly floured surface.
8. Roll the pastry out until it's about half a centimetre thick.
9. Line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
10. Slice up the pastry into bite size squares. and put them onto the baking tray.
11. Prick each one with a tooth pick.
12. Place the tray into the oven for about 10 minutes or until they go a golden colour.
13. Take out of the oven and leave to cool.
 14. Put them into a bowl and tuck in!

Stilton, Spinach and New Potato Quiche

I'm not really a fan of quiche. And I REALLY don't like stilton. So why, you may be asking, have I decided to make a quiche WITH stilton in? Good question. The reason is, I was watching The Great British Bake Off, and I realised something. What was the use in me writing a cooking blog, or even cooking at all, when the majority of what I cook is cakes and the like? So, I opened up my TGBBO cookbook and decided to give this a try.

Now, for someone who doesn't like quiche or stilton, this is actually really nice, so I recommend all of you out there to give this a go, it's really worth it.

N.B. You will need a 23cm Pie tin and some baking beans.

Stilton, Spinach And New Potato Quiche

Bare Necessities
For The Pastry
200g Plain Flour
100g Butter
50g Walnuts, chopped to breadcrumb size (I didn't put these in because I forgot to buy any, but I guess it tastes nice either way)
1tsp Paprika
2 Eggs

For The Filling
250g Spinach Leaves
7/roughly 200g Small New Potatoes (unpeeled)
3 Eggs
250ml Double Cream
1/2 Lemon's Zest
pinch Grated Nutmeg
pinch Cayenne Pepper
25g Grated Parmesan
small handful Thyme
150g Stilton (rind cut off)

1. Breadcrumb the flour and butter.
2. Mix in the Paprika and walnuts.
3. Mix in about one and a half of the eggs (more or less, depending on what your mixture needs) and save the rest of the egg for later.
4. Gather the pastry into a ball and, on a lightly floured surface, flatten it slightly with a rolling pin until it's about 2cm thick.
5. Wrap it in clingfilm and pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
6. In the mean time, cook the spinach in a saucepan on a low heat until it wilts.
7. Strain the spinach and then leave to cool.
8. Once cooled, squeeze the water out of the spinach throroughly with your hands. It's important to do this, or else the quiche will be soggy.
9. Finely chop up the spinach.
10. Boil the potatoes for about 10 minutes or until tender, strain them and leave them to cool.
11. Once cooled, finely slice them up.
12. Back to the pastry. Once the 30 minutes are up, place the pastry between two pieces of cling film and roll it out so that it will line your 23cm tin, but is not too thin.
13. Grease your tin.
14. Carefully place the pastry into the tin, making sure that it is flat against all the edges and goes over the edges a bit.
15. With a fork, prick the base of the pastry and then pop it back in the fridge for 20 minutes.
16. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4.
17. Whisk up the eggs for the filling.
18. Add the cream, lemon zest, nutmeg, cayenne pepper and parmesan and keep whisking.
19. Season with some pepper to taste and then mix in the chopped spinach and thyme.
20. After the 20 minutes are up, take the pastry out of the fridge.
21. Put a sheet of greaseproof paper in the middle and fill the tin with baking beans.
22. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the pastry starts to turn more golden.
23. Take the pastry tin out of the oven, and take the beans out of the tin.
24. Take the egg left over from earlier and brush it over the whole inside of the pastry.
25. Put the pastry back in the oven for 5 more minutes.
26. Take out of the oven and leave it in the tin to cool.
27. Line the bottom of the pastry with one layer of the sliced potatoes.
28. Crumb the stilton and sprinkle evenly over the top of the potatoes.
29. Pour all of the filling over the top.
30. Pop the quiche back in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until the filling is set and the top of the quiche is a golden colour.
31. Take the quiche out of the oven, out of the pie tin and leave to cool for about 10 minutes.
32. Slice up (or not) and enjoy!

The Cheesiest Cheese Sauce

Apologies again, but in all fairness, I was away at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for a week with no internet, so posting was a tricky one. However, having said that, I had so much fun, so I thought I'd tell you about some amazing shows that I went to see, if you're going down there, I would definitely recommend you go see them!
1. Katherine Ryan: Natures Candy An absolute treat to go watch, very funny, but not suitable for younger people, though not wholly obscene.
2. Jeff Leach: Boyfriend Experience Very unsuitable for younger people, but hilarious nonetheless.
3. Daniel Sloss: The Show One of the youngest at the fringe, but a great must-see, this guy has talent.
4. Out Of The Blue Not a stand up like the other shows I've suggested. This show is a group of guys from Oxford in a fantastic acapella group, performing modern chart toppers and old classics, all with a sence of style and comedy. Great fun.

So now that's done, before we get on to a fabulous recipe, I would just like to say that I will be away for two weeks, so I don't think I will be able to write anything during those weeks, so apologies all round, but I will repay you with a monstrously delicious recipe when I get back!

Now. Onto the recipe. I came up with this from scrap, and it's quite different to other cheese sauce recipes I've come across, but its really good, so I know that I'll definitely be making it again!

The Cheesiest Cheese Sauce
(Serves 2-3)
Bare Nececities

150-200g Uncooked Shell Pasta
1cup Double Cream
150g Cheddar Cheese
1/2cup Cream Cheese
1/4cup Milk
Parmisan to taste
Pepper to taste

1. Pour the double cream into a medium saucepan.
2. Chop up the cheddar, add it to the cream and melt on a low heat.
3. Once the cheese has melted, add the cream cheese and stir it in until the mixture is totally smooth.
4. Stir in the milk and pepper.
5. In another saucepan, cook the pasta in simmering water until it's cooked. Cooking times for pasta will vary, so check the back of the packet.
6. Once the pasta is cooked, strain it and stir it into the sauce, then serve up with a bit of parmesan and enjoy!