Jamie's chilli con carne and jammy doughnut muffins

Today is a lovely lazy Sunday - the sun is shining, the birds are singing (or at least the crows are cawing) and I would love nothing better than to lay back and soak up the sunshine with my eyes closed, in a world of my own.


However, before I do that, I will quickly share with a couple of dishes that I have made recently which you too may wish to try.


The first is Jamie Oliver's Chilli Con Carne (featured in the photo at the top of this post) in its pre-Ministry of Food, pre-chickpea days from p31 of Happy Days with the Naked Chef. This was Jamie in his cheeky chappy, "lovely jubbly" days, while he still lived in London and prior to the arrival of his three baby girls. I loved this era, and watching the fun that he had in and around London in his shows was one of the factors which gave me the courage to up sticks half way around the world and live there myself for a short time.


This version of chilli con carne is hearty and delicious, and includes real chillies (not just chilli powder) and sun-dried tomatoes. It is absolutely delicious served on its own, or in a jaffle or taco. It is also dead simple to whip up, and can keep a very hungry crew satisfied.

If you would like the recipe, turn to Jamie's book, or alternatively, the recipe has been posted online here.





My next dish for today is the Jammy Doughnut Muffins made by the Sweet and Simple Bakes group last month. They look very pretty, but unfortunately, I found them a little dry and bland. This may well be because I halved the sugar (I made a double batch for work and ran out of sugar!). That said, they disappeared at work. Ruth had two, despite finding them a little dry, and Fay thanked me for the lovely cakes, so it's all down to personal taste. Don't let me dissuade you from making them - you are likely to be wise enough to have the correct amount of sugar for a start.


Hope you are all having a lovely weekend - ciao!