Happy National Grilled Cheese Day!

Happy National Grilled Cheese Day Guys!

There is seriously not much that can beat crunchy bread, and melted cheese. It's just so delicious and satisfying for the mind to eat something so good. I occasionally make grilled cheeses here in Glasgow, but since there is no panini press or any of that sort, I've had to resolve to other methods. My solution has been to put them in a frying pan, and while they toast on the first side, I take my pot and press Down the sandwich. It Works fine, but I really can't wait to go home and have access to a real grilled cheese toaster if you will.
I actually cheated a bit on this national Holiday, and made this grilled cheese yesterday.. I honestly thought it was the 12th.. Anywho I took Pictures of it, so here is my sacrifice to the grilled cheese gods (aka my stomach & Prefrontal Cortex).

Ingredients:
Bread
Oil
Hummus (Can you tell I'm on a hummus high?)
Sliced Ham
Chives
Cheese

If I can, I usually try to spice up my grilled cheese a bit. This time I added, hummus, ham, and chives.
Sometimes I will butter the bread, but I've found that oil Works just as fine if its in a frying pan, and it doesn't dirty my cutting board.
I start off by spreading some hummus on my bread, add chives. Then i try to make a sort of pocket of cheese. I put the ham on the bread, the cheese on top in the middle, and the flip over the rest of the ham, to enclose the cheese, so it doesn't end up in the pan. Fry till golden Brown, flip over, fry, and enjoy!

 

It might be too late for you to enjoy the Holiday, but this heaven should be enjoyed much more often.
I miss you!!
XOXO Ann

Tuna Salad

Hello Vibe & Siobhan

After my first post, I actually remembered to take some Pictures of the food I was making!
Today I thought I would share my recipe for Tuna Salad, something that I have been obsessed with for the past 3 weeks. I would actually eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and believe me or not but i actually have.. It's just too good to only have it for lunch!

Ingredients:
1 can of Tuna (I use Tuna in Sunflower Oil)
Hummus (I use Tesco's caramalised onion hummus)
1 Red Pepper
Chives

For this recipe you could use Mayo instead of hummus, but as you're well aware, I absolutely loathe mayo. I also think that the hummus adds much more flavor, and a bit of sweetness to the salty tuna.
I don't personally need to add salt or pepper to this, but sometimes i will add a bit of the sunflower oil from the tuna can, to loosen Things up a bit.

Start of by chopping your red pepper finely, and your chives. I love chives so I use a lot of them, but if you don't cut Down the amount, or leave them out. Next open your tuna, add a bit of the oil, drain the rest, and add the tuna to a bowl, with the peppers, and chives. Mix. Lastely you add your hummus. I usually use about half a tub of hummus, but it depends on how the mix is looking. Essentially its up to you how 'loose' you want your Salad to be, but about half a tub usually does it. Mix it all together and add on some toasted bread.

This amount usually makes about 5-6 sandwiches, or about 3 days in my fridge, if i'm trying to limit myself.. It will keep nicely in a Tupperware, but you might find that it seperates a bit, so that there is a bit of liquid, I usually just mix it Again, and everything's fine.

I hope you'll give this a try, it really is worth it!
Miss you so much!
Love Ann

International Food

Hello Vibe & Siobhan

Whoa first blog post ever? I hope I do you guys justice..
For my first post I thought I would take some Pictures of an international dinner I had with some uni friends yesterday. We started out with my friend Anania from Italy making some delicious handpies/calzones.. I don't remember the exact name, but they were delicious! I had one with tuna and olives, and one with ham and tomato. Very good! I'll try and get the name, and possibly a recipe for those cause I think you would love them!
For the main course, I had to showcase my cooking abilities. It was not my brightest moment, but my friends seemed to like it. I made Frikadeller, with potatoes. In my home that's what we usually have with them, no Salad, and not usually any sauce. Anywho the potatoes turned out to be good for mashing, so that's what i ended up doing.. Today I will only give you the 'recipe' for Frikadeller.
I say 'recipe' because I usually eyeball it with frikadeller and the amounts for them..

Frikadeller
 - 500g of pork mince
 - 1 yellow onion
 - 1 egg
 - Breadcrumbs
 - Flour
 - Milk (Or Water)
 - Salt & Pepper
 - Dried Thyme
 - Optionally 1 clove of Garlic

I couuld give you estimates of the amount of breadcrumbs, flour, and milk, but really it depends on how wet your onion is. Basically you want to start out by making a 'slush' of the onions, garlic, flour, egg, breadcrumbs, and your spices. It should be like a clumpy gravy. Then add your meat. Once you've mixed it all together form balls. I usually use a spoon, and the palm of my hand to make them. Into a frying pan they go, with some olive oil and butter, and give them 5-6 minutes per side. I usually just go by colour, and not so much time.

For dessert my friend Maria from Portugal made some traditional portugese desserts including lemon pudding (Made with condensed milk I believe), and these custard tarts. I was so full, but I did taste the tarts and they were delicious!

For the next dinner it will be American & Scottish/British that will be served, and I'm crossing my fingers they decide on brunch! I mean English breakfast and American pancakes?! Hello food coma!

Also just a side note, I made way too much mash, so for dinner today I made potato cakes, just form balls of the mash, dust them with a bit of flour, salt & pepper, and fry them up! There really isn't a lot that can beat fried/baked mashed potatoes, yum!

I hope you're doing great, I miss you guys!
Love Ann

 

Student Food: Pasta Amatriciana

Dear Ann and Vibe,

Eating well as a student can be hard. With limited money and limited time, weekdays can easily turn into an endless monotony of frozen pizzas and mcdonalds. But nice food doesn't necessarily have to be expensive or difficult. I experiment a lot with nice pastas and stir fries. Not only can you get creative with them, but you can easily make enough for a couple of days, giving yourself a night off from cooking the next night. 

This week, I made a (slightly modified) pasta amatriciana. It's easy to make, easily modifiable to your desires, cheap and delicious. 

Recipe adapted from 'The Hungry Student Cookbook' by Charlotte Pike

INGREDIENTS:

• A couple tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• A large handful of cherry tomatoes
• Chopped tomatoes
• 5-6 rashers of nice, smoky bacon
• 200g Pasta of your choice (I chose a chunky rigatoni, but the original recipe calls for spaghetti)

RECIPE: 

Chop up your garlic finely (you can use a garlic press if you have one), and your onions, bacon and tomatoes into chunky pieces.

Heat up the olive oil in a medium to large pot and sautee the garlic and onions until they are soft but not browned. Add your bacon at this stage and heat, while stirring regularly, until it is cooked. Add your cherry tomatoes and heat for another minute or so.

Add your chopped tomatoes and stir through. At this stage, you can also add a splash of white wine if you happen to have a bottle in the fridge, but this is optional. After this, turn the heat down to a low heat, and let it simmer away for around 30-40 minutes. This will really let the flavors come through.

Cook the pasta according to the details on the package. I prefer my pasta al dente, but whatever you like is fine.

Let your pasta and sauce finish cooking. Serve hot in a bowl with some parmesan sprinkled on top! It keeps well, and will serve 2 (generously), or last you a couple days.

I hope you're both doing well. I miss you.

Lots of love,
Siobhan
xxx

We're back!

This blog sort of died, but I am happy to announce that we are rebooting it! And with an exciting new member! Meet Ann: the lovely dane, currently living in Glasgow. She's an incredible cook with a love of both blogs and food. A natural member of the Signed, Sealed, Delicious family. We'll be posting once a week, alternating between the three of us. Welcome, Ann!

Love, Siobhan