Recipes for dummies

Hi, I’m Jacqui and welcome to my recipes for dummies blog. Are you a recipe for disaster? So am I. I’m probably one of the worst cooks out there! But when I put my mind to it, I can blow your socks off with my cooking. So I decided to create this blog for other dummies out there that want to start getting the hang of cooking cool dishes as well and to show off in front of your friends and family to prove you can actually be a bit more useful in the kitchen. I’m in love with fresh food, so most (if not all) of my recipes will be designed to make from scratch.

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How to make homemade Focaccia Bread

Ingredients

Olive oil

Rosemary from the garden

Room temperature water

Yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar

All-purpose flour

Salt

Utensils

Oven

Tray

Baking paper

Small mixing bowl

Large mixing bowl

Clean damp tea towel (or plastic bag)

Measuring cups

Teaspoon size

Wooden spoon

Steps – Prior to cooking

Activate the yeast by lightly whisking together the warm water, rapid rise yeast and sugar in a small mixing bowl

Set aside to let it rise for 5 - 10 minutes, or until bubbles appear on surface

Steps – Part 1

Whisk together the flour, oil and yeast mixture in a large mixing bowl

Set aside for roughly 3 minutes to rest

mix the remaining flour and salt with your hands and begin kneading the dough for 5 minutes.

Set aside for roughly 45 minutes to rest with a clean damp tea towel  resting on top (or in a plastic bag) 

Steps – Part 2

Pre-heat oven to 210c

Transfer dough to the baking pan and spread it out evenly

Use your fingers to poke the dough leaving dimples every few centimetres 

Brush remaining oil on top of dough, and place some rosemary in the dimples

Bake for 25 minutes until lightly browned.

Enjoy!

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How to make homemade Vegan Choc Chip Cookies

Ingredients

½ cup vegan butter (I used Nuttelex buttery)

¼ cup of white sugar

½ cup of brown sugar

1 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon (2ml) baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon (25ml) water

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup chocolate (I cut up a block and a half of vegan chocolate (Pico Salted Caramel – 80g per block) but you can use vegan chocolate chips or whatever you want!)

Utensils

Oven

Tray

Baking paper

Mixing bowl

Mixer machine

Measuring cups

Teaspoon size

Tablespoon size

Wooden spoon

Steps – Prior to cooking

Leave blocks of chocolate out to be room temperature

Leave out butter to be room temperature

Steps – Part 1

Preheat oven to 180c

Use mixer machine to beat the butter with white and brown sugar for 1-2 minutes until creamy

Add flour and baking soda and mix

Add water, oil, and vanilla and mix

Tips

The cookie dough should not be crumbly and should look moist and stick together well. If it doesn’t, use some water to get it just right.

Steps – Part 2

Fold in the chocolate bits with a wooden spoon

Start putting spoonful of cookie dough onto baking sheet and tray.

Bake for 12 minutes

Serves roughly 18 cookies. Takes 15 mins prep time, 12 mins cooking time.

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How to make homemade vegan Oreo Cheesecakes Bites

Ingredients

250g vegan cream cheese

Oreo original (I used a family packet of 39 Oreos)

1/3 cup of lemon juice

3/4 cup of coconut oil

2/3 cup of caster sugar

Utensils

Food processor

Measuring cup

Spoon

Spatula

Microwave

Fridge

Cupcake trays

Cupcake baking cups

Steps – Part 1

Keep the vegan cream cheese out of the fridge for 1 hour so it becomes room temperature before beginning Part 2.

Steps – Part 2

Place 20 Oreo cookies into the food processor and blend until fine (no need to separate the cookie and cream).

Melt 1/4 cup of coconut oil in the microwave (will only need roughly 20 seconds on high until it is clear).

Mix the melted coconut oil in with the blended Oreo cookies.

Set cupcake baking cups into the cupcake trays (I did roughly 16).

Scoop small amounts of the crumbed Oreo mix and pat down into the bottom of the cupcake cups. Mine were roughly 5mm thick each.

Place trays into the fridge to set.

CONTINUE TO PART 3 WHILE TRAYS SET IN THE FRIDGE

Steps – Part 3

Place 8-10 Oreo cookies into the food processor and lightly blend but make sure there are some chunks remaining. Place the blended Oreos into another bowl to keep safe.

Place 250g of vegan cream cheese into the food processor with 1/3 cup of lemon juice, 1/2 cup of melted coconut oil, and 2/3 cup of caster sugar and blend fine so there is no lumps remaining.

Pour your cheesecake mixture in with the Oreo cookies [from step 3.1] and fold the two mixtures together. Do not stir as we do not want to overmix.

Bring out the trays from the fridge and begin pouring the cheesecake mixture into the cupcake cups evenly.

Place the trays back into the fridge for at least 2 hours to firm up.

Steps – Part 4

Optional: Decorate the top with your favourite snacks. I chose to crunch up the remaining of my Oreos and cutup Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (not vegan!).

Remove cupcake wrappers and place on a serving platter.

Serve!

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How to make homemade hummus without tahini

This recipe was made with no tahini as I didn’t have any in the cupboard.

Ingredients

1 can of chickpeas [roughly 400g]

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1 teaspoon of minced garlic or 1 clove

1 pinch of salt

1 pinch of pepper

1 pinch of cumin

Utensils

Colander

Plastic bag or container

Tea towel

Food processor

Measuring cup

Tablespoon

Teaspoon

Spatula

Steps

Open the can of chickpeas. Using the colander, empty the can of chickpeas into a plastic bag or container. Tip: You can keep the chickpea liquid for other recipes!

Rinse the chickpeas under the tap then pour onto a clean and dry tea towel.

Cover the chickpeas with the tea towel and lightly roll them around to loosen their skin.

In this step, I like to move the skin on the chickpeas one by one, however this takes up a lot of time. If you do not have the time, then simply pick out any obvious skin that has come off in the tea towel. Removing the chickpea skin makes the hummus texture a lot more smooth and creamy.

Once the chickpeas are ready, pour them into the food processor. Add the other ingredients to the food processor as well, including 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of minced garlic or 1 clove, 1 pinch of salt, 1 pinch of pepper, and 1 pinch of cumin.

Blend the ingredients together, checking the hummus every now and then on the texture and taste. You want the texture to have no chunks in it, being as smooth as possible. If the taste isn’t right to your standards, get creative and add a little bit more of the ingredients e.g. olive oil, lemon juice. salt, pepper, cumin, or other spices. Tip: If you want a more creamy taste, add a bit of the chickpea liquid separated in step 1.

Serve! And add a drop of olive oil or spices etc on top to give it more of a taste factor.

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How to make homemade vegan pasta

Ingredients

Plain flour

Semolina flour (or sub more regular flour)

Salt

Olive oil

Utensils

Large mixing bowl (optional)

Fork

Foil

Pasta cutting item

Pasta machine or a rolling pin (if you have neither, an empty wine bottle can do the trick!)

Large pot

Steps – Part 1

Mix 310ml of plain flour, 250ml of semolina flour, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt into a bowl. Or place the mixed flour into the shape of a donut on a large flat surface if you’re feeling fancy!

Gradually add 190ml of room temperature water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the middle of the mixed flour and start mixing together using a fork to form dough. Knead pasta until firm. Tip: Add more water if too dry, and add more flour if too wet.

Roll the pasta into a ball, wrap with foil and chill in the fridge.

BREAK FOR 30 MINUTES

Steps – Part 2

Place the dough onto a floured bench, and cut the dough into quarters.

Flatten each piece with your hands and flour it up, then start to flatten the dough through the pasta machine or with your rolling pin. For the pasta machine, fold the flattened dough and flour after each turn. Every time the dough is flattened, increase the roller size. Stop when you can see your fingers through the dough.

Once the dough is ready to cut, begin to roll the pasta through the chosen cutter on the pasta machine, or start to hand cut the dough.

Hang the cut pasta onto the drying rack for at least 15 minutes.

While the pasta is drying, add salt and a small amount of olive oil to a large pot of water and bring to boil.

Cook pasta for 2-4 minutes.