Oatie Cookies with about a million varieties (ish)

When it comes to biscuits, these oat based cookies really deliver! My mum originally discovered these in an American cook book that we bought way back in 1993 when we were in California. Just one of the 365 great cookie and brownie recipes the book promised, these are have become a firm favourite amongst family and friends alike. The base for these is really versatile and lots of things can be added or substituted to make sure that these suit your own taste. The basis I have used for this recipe is dark choc chip, with a slight hint of coffee, however if you scan down you’ll see some of my suggestions for what could be used instead. And the other good thing about these is that that can ready in less than half an hour to provide a great companion to that morning coffee you crave!

These are the coconut and white choc, with a few chilli and ginger I made for work. 

Ingredients (to make between 24 and 28, 2-3 inch cookies):

4 oz of butter, softened

2 oz granulated sugar

2 oz dark brown sugar

1 egg

½ teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 tablespoon of coffee liqueur or 1 tablespoon of instant coffee (cold)

3 oz flour

6 oz rolled oats

½ baking soda

½ teaspoon of salt

6 oz of choc chips.

Method:

Preheat oven to 150 C if using a fan oven like me, or 180 C if using a conventional oven.

Add the butter and sugar to a large bowl and mix well. Add the egg and continue to stir thoroughly. Following this, add the vanilla and coffee.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until it forms quite a thick cookie dough of a dropping consistency.

Drop the dough onto a greased cookie sheet 2-3 inches apart (I usually reckon 8-9 cookies per tray) and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Variations:

Now this is where these cookies come into their own! To strip this back to the bare bones, follow the recipe up to where you add the choc chips and coffee. Instead of this, why not try:

Removing a handful of oats and adding a handful of desiccated coconut and 6 ounces of white choc chips and mixing in to the cookie dough?

Adding a teaspoon of ground ginger and ½ a teaspoon of cinnamon (perfect for a festive variation!) Or maybe omit the cinnamon and add a good pinch of ground chilli for a warm afterglow.

Otherwise try my mum’s favourite: cinnamon and raisin. Or why not try white choc chunks and dried cranberries?

My most recent creation was with dark choc chips with a couple of teaspoons of grated orange zest and a tablespoon of orange liqueur.

And here they are! Choc and orange awesomeness!

The list is endless! Let me know what you try!

Cool Quesadillas

So you remember the Cool Summer Chilli I posted about? Well I had some left over (which freezes really well by the way!) so I whipped up these super quick Quesadillas. These are great for a mid-week dinner as they are ready in minutes!

Ingredients:

Flour tortillas

Leftover chilli

Cheese (mozzarella is best, but cheddar also works fine)

Butter or margarine

Method:

Heat a large, flat frying pan.

Lightly butter one side of the tortillas and lay in the pan. Cover one half of the tortilla with the chilli mix and top with a sprinkle of cheese.

Fold the other half of the tortilla over and press down onto the chilli. Head this through for about 4 minutes on a relatively high heat then turn over once golden brown and crisp. Repeat on the other side. Serve straight from the pan.

Serving suggestion:

I usually serve this with a light salad of rocket and watercress which was the plan for tonight, but my fridge was on the blink and my salad crisped a little bit too much...

If you want to jazz it up a bit more, top with a squirt of a hot sauce (Nando’s is good, although I hate to be a corporate sell out; maybe a homemade chilli sauce should be a summer project...) and a good spoon full of sour cream to offset the heat. 

Cool Summer Chilli

This is a recipe I originally found on the Jamie Oliver website and have made a couple of times since then. It’s a great alternative to the standard chilli and, whilst it still has the spice and some chilli powder in it, it’s perfect for the warmer summer evenings with generous sprinkle of cheddar cheese or a splodge of cooling sour cream. I recently made this for my friend Jess who, with her partner Scott, is one of the most regular visitors to the City Kitchen. Jess isn't a huge fan of beans in food, but this recipe even managed to win her over. It's a sure fire winner and definite crowd pleaser!

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

Splash of Olive Oil (Extra virgin ideally)

½ an onion, chopped finely

1 red and 1 green pepper, chopped into small pieces

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1/4 teaspoon of chilli powder (more if you prefer)

1 tin of red kidney beans

Salt and pepper to season and a quick shake of dried basil.

For the crispy shells:

Tortilla wraps

Toppings:

Cheddar cheese

Sour cream

Method:

Heat the oil in a frying pan (I use a wok, but any large frying pan will do) and add the onion. When added the onion should sizzle in the hot oil. Stir immediately until the onion softens but doesn't brown.

Add the chopped red and green peppers and continue to stir for about 5 minutes, until softened.

Once the ingredients have softened, add the chopped tomatoes and stir. Sometimes I add a dash of water at this stage if I am going to leave it to simmer for a while. Add the kidney beans and the chilli powder and leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes, seasoning if necessary and adding the dried basil.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 degrees (or 150 if you’re using fan assisted). Tear off 4 strips of tin foil (about 2 ft each one) and scrunch into a ball of about 4 inches diameter. Wrap the tortilla loosely around these until each forms a simple ball, and bake in the oven for 10 minutes until crisp. After 10 minutes has passed, remove from the oven and extract the tin foil from the centre.

Spoon the hot chilli into the prepared tortilla shells and serve with a generous sprinkle of cheddar cheese or a healthy dollop of sour cream. I usually serve this with a fresh rocket salad as this really compliments the sweet chilli flavour.

Variations:

If you like your chilli hot, after you have softened the onion, add ½ a teaspoon of chilli powder, ½ a teaspoon of cumin powder and then follow the same procedure as above. A good slug of red wine will add to the richness of the flavours too. (I usually make this version in the winter and serve over home-made potato wedges).

I am also a fan of adding some Quorn mince to this recipe after adding the chopped tomatoes and the kidney beans. This will mean you need to add about ¼ of a can of water to the mixture as the Quorn always seems to soak up loads of the tomato juice.