Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Chewy two-tone chocolate cookie recipe
These deliciously moist and bendy cookies are the result of what would be best described as ‘a bit of a fuck-up’ in the kitchen last night. I almost always use the same cookie recipe (this one, which you’ve already seen if you’re an ice-cream cookie sandwich kinda guy), so more often than not, I just…
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Easy-peasy apple pie bites with a chewy salted caramel and cornflake crust
It’s the drop in temperature that’s really making me crave apple pie – don’t go easy on the custard thankyouverymuch! – and I’d also like to blame it for my unrelenting need to snack hard all day long. Reaching for multiple slices of pie guarantees a ticket to the guilt train, whereas mouth-size portions don’t…
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Croissant bread-and-butter pudding with marmalade and milk chocolate
Everything about this recipe is amped up. Instead of bread you’ve got croissants, in jam’s place there’s marmalade and let’s not forget the (optional, if you’re mad) chunks of milk chocolate, which miraculously keep their shape in the oven. Simple but show-stopping is the best way to describe this recipe, perfect if you’ve got sweet-toothed…
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Caramel-stuffed banana cupcakes
The banana-averse among you should look away now. Feel so-so about my fave potassium-packed fruit? Maybe the generous measure of caramel in this (easy-peasy!) recipe will tempt you over to the yellow side. My piping leaves a lot to be desired, I know that but I’m pretty confident you’ll agree, even with those wonky swirls…
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Quick and simple chicken parmigiana recipe
We’ve moved house and it’ll probably come as no surprise to those who know me and those who just read the blog, that our decision was largely influenced by the potential for a kitchen upgrade – and boy did we get lucky! Our shiny new place has a lovely spacious kitchen with plentiful worktops and…
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Paneer, pea and cauliflower curry
We eat this dish at least once a week – discovering Indian cheese has really upped by tolerance for veggie curries! It’s an excellent way to sneak a whole heap of vegetables down your gullet without feeling like you’re chewing on tree trunks and can be easily toned down with yoghurt or by omitting some…
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Sausage and pea pasta with pesto and creme fraiche
Just typing that title is making me hungry. Say it out loud: sausage and pea pasta with pesto and creme fraiche. Gaaah. Your tummy’s rumbling too, isn’t it!? Supremely satisfying and surprisingly simple (especially if you use shop-bought pasta instead of making you’re own, which DEFINITELY tastes better but can be a bit of a…
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Sticky honey and chilli chicken with a crushed cornflake crust
Fans of a simple – and relatively healthy – chicken breast + spud + veggie dinner in the middle of the week will love this flavourful and unfussy upgrade on the classic. The long and short of it is: you bash the chicken out so it’s loads bigger and a bit thinner (this reduces cooking…
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Vegetarian laska {Sweet potato and roasted cauliflower laska}
A great way to get your five a day into one meal and still feel excited to tuck in after a long hard day, this veggie laska recipe couldn’t be tastier or simpler. You don’t have to use a jar of thai red curry paste, but if you’re cooking on a weeknight – or just…
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Salted chocolate and caramel tart with Oreo case
Diabetes in dessert form, this tart really does have a bit of every naughty thing you might be fancying this Bank Holiday weekend. I made mine for a BBQ, served with creme brulee liqueur ice cream, just in case the attendees felt cream – or alcohol – deprived (which I can tell you, dear reader,…
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Sticky soy and honey beef noodles {A quick and easy mid-week meal!}
Sweet, sticky and adequately slurpy, this simple stir-fry is a joy to eat. The ingredients are cheap, easy to prepare and tick off some of your five a day. Plus, the whole meal can be constructed in under 10 minutes. What’s not to love after a long day at the office? Serves 2 You’ll need:…
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How to make duck rillettes {A very simple duck pâté recipe}
The pâté in France is just <insert drooly face here>. Alex isn’t a fan, so anytime we get a platter in France – often – I get all the duck rillettes and it’s always my fave bit. On some warm crusty bread, already slathered with butter? Maybe with one of those mini pickles or onion…
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Deluxe cottage pie with slow-cooked beef and a dauphinois potato top
Read that title and tell me you didn’t dribble a little bit? Honestly? We’re big on supped-up versions of the classics round here. There’s Alex’s indulgent three cheese, pork and beef lasagne. My ‘most decadent bacon sarnie ever‘. And this roast-risotto mash-up. So, it felt only fair that the humble cottage pie got the Plates…
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Lentil, bean and pea cassoulet with a perfectly fried egg and harissa creme fraiche
Comforting, meaty (yet meatless!) hodge-podgey casseroles are my jam at the moment. For dinner with sausages (have now sampled Linda’s veggie version and can report that they’re pretty good) or like this at breakfast/brunch with a fried egg and some hash browns, ooh and buttered white bread to mop up the sauce… it’s delicious. Basically,…
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Creamy basil pasta with nduja and broccoli
So simple, so satisfying; this is a regular solo-night-in recipe for me. When Alex is away and I just want something quick and easy – and creamy, ’cause his tastebuds err away from that – I either go for carbonara or this. It ticks a lot of boxes. There’s garlic, cream, a little bit of…
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A very easy Tiramisu recipe
My favourite desserts go something like this: Sticky Toffee Pudding (with extra sauce and vanilla ice cream), Tiramisu (in an Italian restaurant) and Hot Fudge Sundae (if you’ll allow me to be incredibly specific, the ‘Rocky Horror’ sundae I used to have on birthdays at the Cooper Dean Harvester in Bournemouth). I’d love to know…
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Carrot gnocchi {Potato-free gnocchi recipe)
Please don’t take this post as an indication that I don’t love potatoes, because me and spuds are most definitely friends. We go way back. Oh, the times we’ve had together, at breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and in between – who doesn’t love a snacking hash brown? I just had a lot of carrots hanging…
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Nashville-style hothothot fried chicken {just like Howlin’ Ray’s)
Some things you eat and enjoy and then you move on. Some things you eat and enjoy and then want to eat again every day for the rest of your life and daydream about how you could justify a trip over 5000 miles away, plus a two-hour queue in a weird shopping centre just to…
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Cheddar and green chilli pancakes {Savoury ideas for Pancake Day!}
We take Pancake Day seriously in this house. Usually, we set up savoury and sweet stations and keep flipping till we pop, but this year, due to a scheduling issue – we’re off to see Bill Burr for the 300th time tonight – the batter was mixed a day early and we stuck with just…
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{Brunch ideas} Sweetcorn and leek fritters with bacon, avocado and harissa yoghurt
At home or in a restaurant, with vats of strong coffee or bottomless mimosas, I’m a big fan of brunch. I like the anything-goes attitude: familiar brekkie-regulars like eggs or faff-free muesli are fine, but so too are burgers and fried chicken, laboured over and dressed up with creamy sauces, spicy coats and truffle shavings.…
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Slow-cooked chipotle beef quesedillas with blue cheese and avocado cream
I promise that’s the last of the Stilton! I will take a break from blue cheese recipes now! Well, for a day or two, at least… Alex sorts the Ocado in our house and I always say it’s like his love letter to me. As well as the usual suspects, he always adds on something…
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3-ingredient Rice Krispie squares {UK recipe: Rice Krispie Treats}
Happy Friday, kids! Here’s a quick pick-me-up in preparation for the weekend. It’s the Rice Krispie squares of your childhood, rustled up in mere moments and using just three ingredients which you might already have in your arsenal – and if not, the corner shop is sure to have it all, no need to even…
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Blue cheese, mushroom and bacon risotto, topped with truffle and garlic breadcrumbs
Earlier this week, in the middle of a working day, I decided I needed to eat arancini. But that requires risotto – which hereon out I’m promising to always have a batch of in the freezer; I will be the woman with a backup risotto, on hand for any eventuality – so I had to…
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How to make oven-baked blue cheese, mushroom and bacon arancini {What to do with leftover risotto)
If this is the first page of Plates and Places you’ve landed on, firstly hello! and secondly, go here first. This is the follow-up recipe to a previous post: Blue Cheese, Mushroom and Bacon Risotto, which is very delicious on its own but also the base of my arancini recipe. To make arancini you will…
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Paneer itame (like Wagamama’s, but better and vegetarian)
My most popular post on here is Chicken Itame (despite the god-awful photo that accompanies it), but in recent months I’ve been on a bit of an eat-less-meat kick, so haven’t felt particularly excited about making it. This weekend, I had a craving and swapped out the chicken for cheese – Indian-style Paneer cheese, to…
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