Mexican Wraps

Check out my Twitter for the recipe on how to make these Mexican inspired wraps 🍴
https://twitter.com/meandmyaga/status/794559079549112320

Jacket Spuds

Looks like I haven't posted for a while:)

Needed an easy tea tonight so thought I'd give jacket spuds a go.  As I'm finding with AGA cooking nothing is an exact science, so timings can be a few minutes either way.  I used a bag of 4 baking potatoes from the supermarket, washed and dried them, then pricked them all over with a sharp knife.  I put them on a baking tray in the roasting oven with the shelf about half way.  I thought an hour would be a good starting point and actually I was bang on and they were cooked.  Because I thought they would take longer I had no fillings prepared so I just transferred them to the simmering oven whilst I grated cheese and heated a tin of baked beans. 

A great success, much better than when I used to cook them in the microwave and then crisp them up in a conventional oven:)

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Pea & Ham Soup

Yesterday I cooked a ham shank in the simmering oven of my Aga for our tea. I had put it in the oven just before I left for the school run in the morning, which meant that it would be ready by tea time. I had added about a pint of boiling water, an onion and a carrot to the casserole dish so I thought that I would save the stock at the end of the cooking time, meaning that I could make pea and ham soup for tea tonight.

Recipe

Firstly I peeled and chopped one large red onion and one large potato. I put them into a large pan, and stirred in about a tablespoon of oil to thoroughly cover. I put the lid on, and put in the roasting oven for 15 minutes. After this, I took out the pan and added the pint of stock (left over from the ham shank, but it can be substituted with a pint of boiling water and a ham stock cube), and about 12 ounces frozen peas. I put the pan onto the boiling plate to bring it to the boil. To this I added a small amount of salt and quite a bit of black pepper for seasoning. I put the lid back onto it and put in the simmering oven for 40 minutes. I then pureed the soup with my hand blender and added the left over ham from the shank (about 4 ounces), which I had chopped up. Finally, the pan went onto the simmering plate to heat the ham through, and then I served it with crusty bread and butter.

It was delicious!

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Tea Loaf Recipe

I have always enjoyed making loaf cakes, and this tea loaf recipe is a family favourite. When we lived in a house with a conventional oven, I used a silicone 2lb loaf "tin" with a liner inside which made my life a lot easier. I wasn't sure if the silicone "tin" would like being in the Aga, but I thought that I might as well give it a go. The recipe that I use for my tea loaf is inspired by a recipe that I found in a cook book a while ago.

Ingredients:

• 7 1/2 fl oz Tea
• 12 oz Sultanas (Or you can use a mix of other dried fruits)
• 4 oz Brown Sugar (You can use demerara sugar if you have it in the cupboard)
• 1 Egg
• 8 oz Self Raising Flour
• 1/2 tspn approx. Mixed Spice

Method:

Put the sultanas and sugar in a bowl and pour over the brewed tea. Mix slightly, cover, and leave to soak for about 4/5 hours. You can leave it overnight if you wanted to.

After this, add the egg (beaten), flour, and the mixed spice, and mix together.

Pour the mixture into the lined silicone "tin", and place on a baking tray.

I put the cake onto the shelf which I had put on the floor of the roasting oven. I then placed the cold shelf above it.

I left the tea loaf cooking for 20 minutes, but nothing really seemed to happen, so I left it for another 20 minutes, and then put it in the bottom of the simmering oven, with the shelf on the floor, for another 20 minutes. It was then cooked.

The loaf should then be lifted onto a cooling tray, still in the liner, and left to go cold. The loaf can now be eaten, or wrapped in cling film or foil and left for a day. I like to eat it with butter, and a mug of tea.

Now the part that we have been waiting for! Did the silicone "tin" survive? YES, it lives to see another day!

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Roast chicken in an hour???

Friday tea. I thought that I hadn't done much cooking this week, so I thought that I would treat the family to a roast chicken dinner with nearly all the trimmings. The chicken that I bought weighed 1.25kg. The Mary Berry cookery book says that a chicken this size will take approximately one hour in the roasting oven. I put the chicken in an ordinary roasting tin (I will have to put an Aga roasting tin on my Christmas list), and spread a small amount of stork margarine over the top. I decided not to put foil over the breast to just see what would happen. With the shelf in the top oven on the bottom set of runners, I put the chicken in for an hour.

 

I also put some parsnips, which I had cut into finger sized pieces, in a small tin with vegetable oil on the floor of the roasting oven to cook for the same length of time. Next, I prepared potatoes, and vegetables as previously described in my blog post about cooking the ham in the cola (http://me-and-my-aga.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/slow-cooked-ham-in-coke_22.html).

 

After an hour, I took the chicken out and although the juices ran clear, I decided that another ten minutes in the roasting oven wound definitely make sure that it was well cooked. This extra ten minutes convinced me that the chicken was then fully cooked, as when using a conventional oven, a chicken of this size would normally take over an hour to cook. I then put the chicken onto a plate and covered with foil to rest. After this, I put some frozen Yorkshire puddings into the Aga to cook. Very lazy I know, but one day I will try to make proper Yorkshire puddings in the Aga, and post it on here.

Thank you Mary for this successful recipe, I will definitely feel more confident when cooking a chicken again.

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Slow Cooked Ham In Coke

I used to often cook a piece of ham in my slow cooker but thought it was about time I tried it in my Aga. So before doing the school run this morning, I put the ham and about a litre of coke (full fat supermarket brand) into a cast iron casserole dish, lid on and then into the simmering oven. 10 hours later I took it out and thankfully it was cooked. I served it with mashed potatoes which I boiled on the hotplate for 5 minutes, tipped out most of the water and then put in the simmering oven with the lid on for 25 minutes. They were then ready to mash with milk and butter. I also did carrots and green beans, which like the potatoes, I cooked for 5 minutes and then put in the oven with the potatoes. I didn't drain the water from these as I was making cheats gravy with granules and needed the water for this. Clean plates all round so must have been a success :)  

 
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Trial & Error Vegetable Soup

My family and I love homemade vegetable soup so it was always going to be one of the first things I tried on the Aga. I tend to do some cooking by eye so there are not specific measurements for all items listed.  This also helps adapt the recipe to what your family likes and what is available to you.
The basic ingredients I use are:

• 1 large or 2 small onions chopped
• 3 carrots peeled and sliced
• 3 large or 5 smaller potatoes peeled and chopped (if using new potatoes I wash and chop a few handfuls but don't peel them)
• 2 pints vegetable stock made with stock cubes
• A teaspoon of tomato puree
• Seasoning and vegetable oil

These ingredients will make a basic vegetable soup but things I also add are: tomatoes (just chop a handful), Mushrooms (wiped and chopped) and Parsnips (peeled and chopped) although my husband doesn't like these so I just don't tell him what's in it. I have no idea of the nutritional elements of this recipe but its a good way to get my family to eat some of their 5 a day.

METHOD

Put the onions and a tablespoon, approximately, of vegetable oil in a pan. Mix to cover the onions with the oil, as unlike a conventional hob they won't be stirred. Put the lid on the pan and put in the top (roasting) oven with the grid shelf on the oven floor for 10 mins to soften. They may need another 5 mins or so but this is where the trial and error name comes in.

The other ingredients could now be prepared whilst waiting for the onions to cook. Take the onions out of the Aga and put on a heatproof surface, remembering the lid and especially the handle will stay hot. Stir in the tomato puree and add the rest of the vegetables. Stir and add the stock and seasoning. I just use salt and pepper and a sprinkling of dried mixed herbs. Put the lid back on.  

Now comes the trial and error part. When I made this, I put the grid shelf on the floor of the simmering oven and put the soup in for 25 mins. When I got it out, it was obvious that it hadn't cooked at all, so I then put it on the hotplate to bring to the boil and then put it in the simmering oven for another 25 mins. It was then cooked. Depending on the thickness of the vegetables, it may need another 10 mins or so, but it won't burn or boil over like it may on the top of the stove, so just check it every 10 mins, and use a knife to test the softness of the vegetables.

I then leave the soup to cool very slightly before using my hand held blender to make it smooth, although the kids always manage to find a piece of potato or carrot in their bowl. You can eat it straight away or let it cool completely and keep it in the fridge to be heated and eaten the next day if you want to make it in advance. It should be fine if kept in the fridge for a couple of days.

Enjoy :)

 

I came up with this recipe myself, and I hope that you also enjoy it. So far, I have made it quite a few times as it is great to serve friends and family if they are coming round for a quick lunch. I especially like grated cheese sprinkled on top of this soup, but feel free to mix it up. Sometimes I add a couple of handfuls of washed, dried, red lentils which I add with the bulk of the vegetables. If you have any questions or want to send me a picture of your soup, my social media links are below. This can be made on a conventional hob by frying the onion and then adding the rest of the ingredients and simmering for about 20 mins.

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My New Recipe Book

We've been shopping this afternoon and one of my daughters brought me this book as a late Mothers Day present.  I'll be trying out and posting results very soon. If anyone has any other books they could recommend then please leave a comment.

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Welcome to my blog!

Hi and welcome to my blog about my Aga that came with the house we've just moved into. It's always been my dream to have an Aga but they've not cheap so when we knew this house had one I was very excited and a little bit scared never having used one before. I hope to blog about my cooking experiences and other tips I find out and share them with you.

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Speak soon! #meandmyaga 🍴