Spicy lentil stew

So I thought that I should explain why this blog is called 'Always Add Cinnamon'.

I love cinnamon. And when I say love, I mean LOVE. I always at least double cinnamon in recipes, and my mum regularly gives me catering sized tubs which I work my way through happily.

Cinnamon rolls, cinnamon porridge, cinnamon biscuits... The list goes on and on and on.

Now until recently I had only used cinnamon in sweet dishes. I'd never thought to add it to savoury.  But a lentil bolognese recipe I made required a little bit of cinnamon and it have it a lovely fragrant, spicy edge, and since then I've been hooked.

When I saw this Nigel Slater recipe for spicy lentils with caramelised onions I knew I had to give it ago. It's proper comfort food. Incredibly savoury and spicy, and wonderful filling, with a smoky paprika edge and subtle cinnamon depth. Make it for dinner tonight and you will feel warm and fuzzy and satisfied, I promise!

Lentils with caramelised onions (adapted from Nigel Slater)

4 red onions

500ml chicken stock

300g green lentils

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

1. Diced 2 of the onions and fry until soft.

2. Add the spices and fry for a minute until fragrant

3. Add the stock, bring to the boil, add lentil.

4. Cover and cook for 20-30 min when lentils should be cooked through.

5. Meanwhile, fry remaining onions slowly in a little oil until soft, then up the heat to caramelise for a few minutes at the end of cooking.

Lime Marmalade Muffins

When I bought a jar of lime marmalade in January 2013, I didn't a think that it would sit in the cupboard for quite this long.

So, when I saw a recipe for marmalade filled muffins I jumped at the chance to finally get stuck into the jar.

I made a few alterations to the recipe, replacing orange zest and juice with lemon to go better with the lime centre, and adding some seeds to the suggested oat topping.

They're really tangy and sweet, and perfect alongside a cup of tea!

Lime marmalade muffins (adapted from BBC Good Food)

175g plain flour

25g oats

175g sugar (50g dark brown, 125g caster)

1tsp baking powder, 1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda

1tbsp veg oil

150ml plain natural yogurt

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

12 teaspoons lime marmalade, for filling

Oats and seeds, for topping

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line muffin tin. I used silicone cases for ease.

2. Put dry ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine.

3. Combine lemon, yogurt & oil in a separate jug.

4. Add wet to dry and mix until just combined

5. Add just enough mix to each case to coat the bottom evenly, the add a teaspoon of marmalade to each and cover with remaining mix.

6. Sprinkle oats and seeds on top.

7. Bake for 20 mins until cooked through. As they are molten in the centre, you need to pop a knife/cocktail stick in diagonally to check they're cooked through.

8, DO NOT eat when just out of the oven (which I have a tendency to do) as the centre takes a long time to cool down.

Chocolate Marshmallow Teacakes

Tunnocks Teacakes are, to me, the ultimate food. I have to resist buying them, because I'll happily sit down and work my way through a box of 10 with no qualms whatsoever.  I never even thought that it was possible to make them yourself until they were featured on The Great British Bake Off, and, to be honest, it looked a bit of a faff.

But then I sampled (several) homemade ones made by my boyfriend's mum, and was completely bowled over. They were yummy, light and definitely tasted less artificial than the bought version.

So I bit the bullet, and bought silicone moulds.  Hopefully they'll come in useful of other things, otherwise they will be the most ridiculously recipe-specific bit of kit to own.

As per my Bake Off inspiration, I used a Paul Hollywood recipe. I found that the biscuit needed quite a bit more milk than specified, but otherwise it was relatively easy, just time consuming!  

The biscuits for the bottom have to be baked, cooled and then covered in chocolate, which did get a tad messy.  They were actually really tasty on their own (I devoured the left over ones), they're not very sweet so taste a bit like scones.

After lining the moulds with melted chocolate and leaving to cool, I piped in the marshmallow filling.  The filling was really easy to make, and there's now a jar of left overs in the fridge that I full intend to eat with a spoon at every opportunity.

The final, very tense, part was popping them out of the moulds. They turned out really glossy, which, given I didn't temper the chocolate, I was pleasantly surprised by.

Now the only problem is, they're really tasty and addictive to eat.  After a good few hours, including waiting for chocolate to set, they take only a  few minutes to hoover up.

Next time I make them I want to add a bit more salt to the biscuit to balance the super sweet marshmallow. I'm also having grandiose ideas about swirling salted caramel through the mallow....

Apple Fritters

These tasty apple fritters were inspired by this recipe from A Cozy Kitchen.

They helped to use up a big bag of apples kindly given to me by my Granny and Grandad, but also were bloomin' delicious!

If you fancy a fruity, pancakey start to your day you could do a whole lot worse.

Hello there

Hi there, 

This is Ruth. I wanted to find a way to document my love of cooking and share it with others.

I'll be sharing things I've baked, stewed, roasted and generally concocted.  

But first, I'm lay down a 11 Month Challenge to myself. These are the 11 recipes I want to tackle this year. (Macarons have already been tackled - but more of that later).

In no particular order...

Crème Brûlée 

Malt Loaf
     
Crumpets

Naan bread

Donuts

Baba Ganoush

Pretzels

Custard Tarts

Chelsea Buns

Spatchcocking a chicken

Perfecting shortcrust pastry


We'll see how they go, and I'll try and keep you updated!