Prosciutto Wrapped Figs & Goats Cheese

After my Costco trip, I had a glut of figs. I fed some baked with balsamic syrup and goats cheese to hubby which was a big success, but even then I still had figs left over. Hubby had a work night out at the last minute, going to one of my favourite ever restaurants. So I was home alone and with no-one to cook for.

My guilty pleasure when hubby is away is meat. Hubby is a vegetarian.

Mixing something meaty with the lovely, sweet and juicy figs seemed like a great idea. It was. This might have been the most delicious thing that I have ever eaten. There is something special about the sweetness of the figs, the tang of the goats cheese and the salty porkiness of the prosciuttio. It was like magic happened in the oven.

I served these on a bed of lettuce and slow roasted tomatoes with a dressing made of balsamic vinegar, pesto and olive oil.

It was so delicious that I didn't feel even a little bit jealous of the posh meal out that hubby was having.

What I used...
Two black bursa figs
Two slices of prosciutto
Crumbly goats cheese

How I did it...
1. Heated the oven to 180 degrees C

2. Cut a cross in the top of the figs

3. Stuff each fig generously with goats cheese

4. Wrap each fig in a slice of prosciutto

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes

Coming or Going?

Unless you work in a hospital or are friends with a doctor, you're probably not fully aware of how training for junior doctors happens. In fact so many bits of it change to often I'm sure most doctors aren't even sure anymore.

One thing that hasn't really changed is how much you are expected to move around as a junior doctor. That's not just for the first couple of years after graduating, but actually all the way until you're a consultant which for some specialities (like mine) can be over 10 years after graduating from medical school.

I'm not employed by a hospital, but by a "deanery" that is in charge of my training and sends me out to various hospitals within the three county (!!) area it covers. I'm very lucky because I have a training job in the speciality of my dreams that, unless I encounter big problems, will see me right through to being a consultant. I thought I was even luckier because I'd been told where I'd be working for the next two years... it's almost totally unheard of for a junior doctor to know where they'll be for two years.

My first year was in the hospital that I'm in now, and my second year was a whole year in another hospital that although it is an hour away was commutable for me and meant it was easy to live between our two jobs for hubby and I.

I got an email the other day telling me that my jobs had changed. Mega sad times. It's pretty frustrating, although I completely understand that making sure everyone gets fair training opportunities is the most important thing. I also realise that I'm a very lucky girl actually having a job in the current economic climate, but still... I need a little rant.

I'll now be working in two different hospitals next year, 6 months in each. They're about an hour and a half apart in decent morning traffic. Importantly the first hospital is over a 2 hour drive from where I am now in morning traffic. That makes it uncommutable for me. I just don't think it would be safe to do a night shift which is 13hrs long and have to spend 4 hours travelling. I'd be an exhausted wreck.

This means moving again in August. Boo. I've moved so much in the last 8 years that I'm not sure if I'm coming or going.

I'm spending hours of my time on google maps trying to work out the best place to live between all the hospitals, while still making life for my hubby not too difficult. It's giving me a right headache. I'm so filled with dread at the thought of packing everything and the drama of actually moving it, not to mention finding a new flat to live in.

What a bother!

Vanilla Sugar

Who doesn't like cake? I certainly do. Or at least I do now, I was a strange child who didn't really develop a sweet tooth until I was about 12-13. 

I'd love to say that I'm one of those people who bakes a couple of times a week, loving packing my husband's lunch box with homemade chocolate brownies but I'm not. However, when I do make cakes I like to think that I'm pretty good at it. 

My secret ingredient in most desserts or baking is vanilla sugar.

I don't spend lots of money on buying it from the shops, I make it myself. It's easy and almost totally effort free, which is good when you have as little time as I seem to.

You just need a big jar, some sugar and a vanilla pod. In fact I use the left over shell from when I scrape the seeds out of a pod. All I do is put the vanilla pod shell and sugar in a jar and leave it for a week or two. 

I don't only use it in baking, I also like to sprinkle it on my porridge and mix it into tea. Delicious!

Wintery Feelings

Okay, it's not quite snow angel time yet this year, but I am starting to get that happy winter feeling.

I'm in the middle of a run of horrid shifts in my rota (8 shifts in a row including 4 nights should be illegal!), but no matter how tired I am I just can't seem to be grumpy at the moment. Now part of this could be due to all the beautiful babies I get to see at work, some of it is definitely due to the honey roast cashews that I'm nibbling, but I think a large part of it is due to the slowly growing wintery feeling inside.

Although I'm being stubborn and not turning on the heating yet, it feels like winter is truly setting in. I've switched to a big warm coat and started wearing boots to walk to work. I've also started burning winter scented candles.

As a rare treat I have next weekend of to spend with my (not so) long suffering husband, and I'm trying to think of something nice and wintery to do. We have to pop to Ikea to get a bed for the spare room before the in-laws come to stay next month, but that still leaves a whole day spare.

I'm thinking a walk outside through the woods nearby and then perhaps lunch in a pub with a big warm roaring fire. Last week we popped to the pub behind our flat which has an open fire, but couldn't get a table anywhere near it, next time I have a plan to get there earlier and beat the crowds. I took a couple of sneaky pictures so will post about our Sunday Lunch there soon.

I also have lots to look forward to this winter. In less than 2 months it's my 1st wedding anniversary and we're planning a romantic weekend away. In fact tonight we need to look at booking a romantic cottage for the weekend... I love planning trips away. As well as that my oldest niece is turning the scary age of 13, we have our 1st Christmas just the two of us at home (although I am working) and then New Year with my Dad.

What do other people like doing when the weather gets chilly?

Baked Figs with Goats Cheese and Balsamic Syrup

Hubby has been trying to get a hair cut for over a month now. He is very particular, and will only get his hair cut by the lady who has been doing it since he was 3. This means a drive up the M25 and M1 every time he needs a hair cut. Lucky he doesn't mind having longish hair. We have been jinxed when it comes to getting hair cuts, and like the other times as we've set off the M25 has been closed due to some incident. 

This time we didn't even make it on to the motorway, and after an hour of queuing diverted to Croydon. Most people wouldn't get excited about Croydon, but most people aren't me. After dragging hubby to Ikea to bounce on the beds and bury myself in the sheepskin rugs, having a HUGE plate of meatballs with loads of loganberry jam and stocking up on tea-lights we went to my favourite place in Croydon. Costco.

For those of you who haven't been to Costco it's a big cash & carry, but stocks EVERYTHING. There are lots of gadgets for hubby to browse, a big range of all kinds of household stuff, but most importantly food. Our cupboards have been stocks with enough loo roll and washing powder to last a year and our fridge has done pretty well too.

One of my Costco impulse buys was a big box of black Bursa figs. I adore figs but rarely buy them because they're so expensive, here I got 10 figs for £3.99. Hubby has never had figs so I had to do something special to introduce him to them. 

This recipe was a complete no brainer. We both LOVE goats cheese and can regularly be found dipping our bread in balsamic vinegar. It's really simple to make and feels like such a decadent treat.

I made this for dinner for 2 of us and served with a big green salad, but it would serve 4 as a starter. 

What I used...

Four figs 

25g butter 

Tablespoon of honey

Generous glug of balsamic vinegar (about 50ml)

Crumbly goats cheese.

What I did...

1. Melt the butter, balsamic vinegar and honey together. Heat oven to 180 degrees C.

2. Cut figs in half, lay skin down in an oven proof dish.

3. Pile little mounds of goats cheese on each of the figs.

4. Pour over the syrup.

5. Bake for 15 minutes (or until the figs are soft and the cheese is melty) and then serve up onto plates to share with a special friend.

Enjoy with lots of bread to mop up the balsamic syrup.

The Lavender Tea House - Folkestone

Last weekend hubby and I took a drive down to the seaside to visit my Dad. At the same time we took a couple of hours to catch up with V, a lovely lady that I went to school with and still try to see whenever I get home.

She had the great idea to spurn our usual trip to one of many high street coffee chains and instead go to a lovely cafe we have been eyeing up for a good while.

After being stuck in traffic for a couple of hours longer than anticipated our "quick cup of tea" catch up needed to turn into something more substantial and The Lavender Tea House didn't let us down.

From the outside it is very twee, painted lavender (unsurprisingly) and nestled on an old fashioned little street curling off of the high street. Inside the cute tea house theme continues with bunting, fairy lights and a lovely mismatch of chairs, sofas and wooden tables.

Rather temptingly there's an impressive selection of homemade cakes by the front door. I was almost swayed from my usual choice of a scone, but decided that would be madness. I LOVE scones. V and I both went for cream tea. We had a choice of teas and chose a citrusy local tea called Blue Lady, a nice change from my usual choice of Earl Grey. Even though I have a teapot at home it always feel like such a treat having tea served in a pot, and with such cute little cups too!

The scones were generously sized, light and delicious. Served with cream and jam I was in scone heaven. Even my husband's mickey-taking of the way I say scone couldn't ruin them for me.

Hubby had a cheese and chutney sandwich made with lovely fresh bread, stuffed full of good-quality cheddar and fruity chutney. I had a nibble or two and it was delicious.

Next time I go I think I'll have to try one of their tasty sounding savoury tarts or their sausage and mash with homemade sausages. Who doesn't love a good sausage? I also really want to try some of their cakes, so I'm either going to have to go in very hungry or make a couple of trips.

Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

A fruit masquerading as a vegetable. There is something magical about tomatoes. Don't laugh. There is. What other food stuff is so universally loved? If not in it's raw form, it's loved as ketchup, or in a bolognese or even juiced and mixed with vodka to cure a hangover.

A large portion of my weekly shopping budget is taken up with tomatoes. Lots of tasty cherry tomatoes, chopped tomatoes for sauce, Tiptree ketchup for dipping, big tomatoes for slicing in sandwiches, salsa for dunking... the list is almost endless. As much as I love autumn and winter, it always depresses me the way that fresh tomatoes are replaced with tasteless, watery, high-airmile little red bobbles.

The obvious solution to this are sundried tomatoes, but I have yet to find an affordable brand that don't have a horrible metallic aftertaste or aren't drenched in cheap, tasteless oil.

On a surprise outing to Costco this weekend, when we were stranded in Croydon for an afternoon, I managed to pick up a massive box of cherry tomatoes for a bargaintastic £3.99. There were so many tomatoes that I knew even someone with a hardcore tomato habit like myself would never get through them all before they went mouldy so I decided to have a bash at making my own slow roasted tomatoes. They are sensational. Great in salads, in sandwiches, on pasta or just for snacking on their own.

What you will need...
Cherry tomatoes
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt

How I did it...

1. Heat an oven to between 100-120 degrees C.

2. Slice as many tomatoes in half as you can fit onto a baking tray. Place them skin side down.

3. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with the olive oil.

4. Bake for 2-3 hours in the oven. You want most of the moisture to evaporate but without them turning crispy.

5. Store in a clean jar topped up with olive oil to cover the tomatoes. As you eat the tomatoes the extra oil can be used for salad dressings, cooking or dunking bread.