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The winner is……

Category : Contests

Thanks so much to everybody who entered the grill week competiton. We had a great response – especially through our brand new facebook fan page. Let us know if there’s anything you’d like us to think about including or doing via facebook and we’ll give it some serious thought. Check out the discussions page at the moment where we’re asking if anybody would like to write a guest post for the website and what themes people would like to see for future theme weeks.

So onto our winner:

Winner of the amazon voucher is our facebook fan Sara Murray! Congratulations Sara – we’ll be in touch soon to arrange sending your prize to you.

Thank you again to everybody who entered!

Crack Pie

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Category : Desserts, Pie

Oh.

My.

God.

I’d heard much about this sugary goodness via the internets. New Yorkers rave about Momofuku Milk Bar, and while they have many, many delicious treats, the most famous, and probably most singular, is Crack Pie. The name is pretty evocative. Sure, it might not tell you if it’s chocolate or berry or what else, but whatever it is, you know it’s got to be pretty addictive. But I don’t live in New York. I’ve never actually been to New York, unless running full-tilt through JFK counts. But now, with surprisingly little effort, you can have this deliciousness no matter where you are!

It’s not chocolate. There’s no fruit. It’s basically sugar, butter, and more sugar and butter. There’s an oatmeal cookie crust, and the filling is somewhere between a toffee/caramel (or the British version of fudge) and a cookie, in pie form. It’s complete heaven. The only thing that’s anything short of amazing about this pie (calories aside): you do need to let it chill overnight. It’s very, very difficult. I almost had it for breakfast, but I decided I didn’t want to start the day with a diabetic coma.

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Grill Week: Grilled Courgettes and a competition!

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Category : Contests, Veg

Today is the last day of grill week and we’re rounding off the week with this incredibly simple way to eat courgettes (zucchini for Americans) AND a competition to win an Amazon voucher!

Grill Week: Sweetcorn and Mozzarella Quesadillas

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Category : Bread, Sandwiches

It’s Grill Week here on the blog so we’re talking about foods that can all be cooked on the grill and make a sunny and food-filled afternoon if combined all together! Let us know how we’re doing in the comments. I love Mexican food but I fully appreciate that over in the UK we probably aren’t doing it right. However, we get by with what we have and enjoy them anyway. That is the British way. Make do and if someone points out it’s not entirely faithful to the original, make an excuse. So here are my entirely unauthentic but still very tasty quesadillas!

Grill Week: Southwest Chicken Sandwich

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Category : Sandwiches

I confess: I don’t do the grilling for this household. It’s not because I don’t like it or because I’m opposed to the food that comes from the grill, and more because it’s cooking I can actually get the hubby to do. The best part is that, since I’m normally the cook, he takes my suggestions on new creations that can be grilled up. This sandwich is one of those. Sure, you could make it indoors, on a panini press, or on the stove, under the broiler, using a toaster oven or a toaster and a microwave…but don’t tell my husband.

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Grill Week: Grilled Guacamole

Category : Salads, Veg

This week is Grill Week at Double the Sugar. We’ll be posting every day on the different thinks you can cook on your grill, or barbecue as we call them in the UK (a barbecue being something completely different in the states) while the good weather is still here. You may have noticed that there was no Wednesday post. That was my fault I’m afraid, I got so caught up in cooking dinner for a big gathering of my family that I forgot about posting until a few glasses of wine later when it wasn’t such a good idea.

I’m a big avocado fan and quite keen on halloumi cheese as well so this, which is a very good starter at a barbecue or not, is right up my street. You could use your favourite guacamole recipe if you prefer, or keep it nice and simple with just a few ingredients when you’re cooking outside.

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Grill Week: Flank Steak Part II

Category : Meat

Welcome back to the second day of Grill Week, and Part II of the guest post about Flank Steak from Shannon’s husband (and Grillmaster) Paul! If you missed Part I yesterday, catch it here.


Browning the Steak:
Flank steak is roughly rectangular, with a short side and a long side. When you place the steak on the grill, place the steak on the cool side and orient the steak so that the long side runs from the front to the back of the grill. If you are using dry seasoning, apply that now.

Rotate the steak often; maybe every minute or so. I rotate my steaks more frequently than that, but I can’t leave them alone. Check the bottom side by lifting one edge of the steak up with tongs. Once the bottom side is browned lightly (enough that there is no red or pink left, but not so much that dark brown patches start to appear), flip the steak over.

Now the top side is lightly browned and the bottom side is still raw. If you are using dry seasonings, apply them to the top side now. Repeat the rotations until the bottom side is also lightly browned.

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Grill Week: Flank Steak

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Category : Meat

Hello ladies & gents! This week we’re doing another theme week at Double the Sugar. This time around, we’re celebrating the season with Grill Week! So keep checking back for lovely grillable treats, there will be a new post every day, and while they may not have quite as much sugar, they’ll still be tasty!

First off, we have one of a two-part post from a guest, my (Shannon’s) husband Paul! He is know to our friends, with only a small amount of giggling, as a true Master of Meat, and there isn’t anyone finer to guide you through how to grill a steak. And specifically, my favorite kind of steak: flank steak! I’ll let him get to it…

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Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Category : Cupcakes, Desserts

When I was preparing to cook a batch of these cupcakes, I found out that my oven was broken. Luckily I found out that the thermostat was kaput and the oven was reaching horrendously high temperatures when I popped in some garlic bread rather than these beauties. I think these might be the first child friendly cupcakes on the blog, as they’re not based on alcohol, and I like to think they look quite appealing to adults and children. Doug was very taken with these and as he’s not a fan of sweets and cakes in general I took that as a huge endorsement. These should be nice and easy to make with small children in tow. In fact I made them while watching television so that should give you an idea as to how little concentration they require.

From Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery, a thank you present from my lovely friend Sarah for doing nothing at all. More presents like this please! Continue Reading

Chicken Saltimbocca

Category : Meat

This summer, I’ve started a little herb garden on my front porch. I wanted to see if expanding into a bigger vegetable garden would be a good idea, because while the idea of fresh-off-the-vine cucumbers in my salad of garden fresh lettuce seems very lovely and romantic, I also know I’m not terribly good about taking care of plants. I have actually killed an air plant, which only requires a bit of water once a week to survive. The experiment was a bit of a failure, my plants are all almost dead now and I’ve hardly even used them, and I’m just talking about the ones that survived past the first week. However, to justify my endeavor at least a little bit, I decided to turn back on an easy old favorite, chicken saltimbocca. There are many more elaborate versions of this recipe, but this one’s simple and delicious. Continue Reading