Floor Biscuits

6oz plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground ginger

2oz butter

3oz demerera sugar

2tbsp golden syrup

1/2 beaten egg

demerera sugar to decorate

Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup together and then beat in the egg. Mix in dry ingredients. Roll out til they look about right and cut out. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 190C, 375F, GM5 for 12 - 15 mins. 

This recipe originated in a veggie cookbook many moons ago - but has slowly evolved into this simple recipe!

4oz lentils

4oz cheese (grated)

4oz quaker oats

Cover lentils with water and simmer until cooked. Add grated cheese to quaker oats and mix. Add lentils to mixture and stir. Shape into burgers and cook for 20 minutes at 2ooC.

You can also add onions, herbs and spices to taste!

This recipe came from my friend Myra’s mum in Ireland and is truly yummy!

2oz butter

8oz leeks

1/4 pint stock

1/4 pint milk

1/2oz flour

1/4 pint cream

2 egg yolks

3oz cheese (grated)

salt + pepper

Make flan case using 6oz flour (3oz brown/ 3oz white) and 3oz fat. Chill pastry in fridge for 15 minutes before baking. Part bake for 10 minutes.

Melt butter and fry leeks for 2 minutes. Add stock, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain leeks and make liquid up to 1/4 pint with milk. Make a roux with a little butter and flour and add liquid stirring until creamy. Beat egg yolks and cream and add to sauce  OFF THE HEAT. Stir until thick and creamy (do not boil). Add 1/2 grated cheese. Spread leek on flan base. Pour sauce over and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Bake at 375F for 25 minutes.

It can also be made without the egg yolks and with greek style yoghurt instead of the cream - and that works out nice too!

I got the basis of this recipe out of a magazine a long time ago and the recipe has now morphed beyond all recognition. This was my first attempt at making the loaf without eggs, but it’s come out absolutely fine.

175g (7oz) sugar (whatever type you have to hand)

85g (3oz) marg (currently using Vitalite for baking, which is dairy free)

3 medium bananas, peeled and mashed

250g (10oz) self raising flour

1 tsp ground ginger

Cream the marg and sugar then add the mashed bananas and then the flour and ginger. Bake in a greased and lined loaf tin for approx 1 hour at 180C.

Way back in the mists of time (must be at least 20 years, what a dreadful thought!) we got a yummy ginger biscuit recipe off my friend Vicky’s mum. It had golden syrup in and the biscuits spread out while baking and were lovely and chewy. One day we were making them and I dropped a whole tray of them onto the floor (what a waste!) - hence these biscuits were known in our family as "Floor Biscuits" ever after. I don’t still have a copy of the recipe or I’d post it, but they were very lovely. So Floor Biscuits seems an appropriate title for our recipe blog.