The Little Welsh Eats The Big World

Food For Beauty: Lavender And Lemon Handscrub - Easy And Amazing!

2011-12-19T13:47:00.000Z

This. Is. The. Business. Seriously, get involved in some of this hand scrub, it's seriously the bees-knees! It's made from inexpensive ingredients that you'll most definitely have lurking in your cupboards somewhere plus it can be made on mass! This hand scrub rubs away all the nasty dried skin that Winter brings and leaves them smelling sweet and lavendary. I for one get super crispy skin on my hands (sexy right?) from standing on train platforms every morning in the bitter cold and this soothes and sorts out my crackled paws like nothing else. What's more - it makes one hell of a birthday present!

I found some super cute jars in Tiger Tiger, two for a quid, but any air-tight container will do. The mix will keep for yonks (6-8 months) as the olive oil acts a preservative. I keep mine by the sofa so I can slap some on my crusty Winter-bitten hands while watching TV but I might try keeping it in the fridge for a refreshingly cool hand massage!

I honestly love this hand scrub mix and it just goes to show how food has so many uses - beauty being one of them!

Here's the ridiculously easy recipe for 1 jar of approx 60ml hand scrub:
- 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 3 tablespoons sugar - I used caster as that's all I had!
- pinch of lemon zest
- pinch of dried lavender - I bought mine in Waitrose but I've seen it in most of the major supermarkets!
- 3-5 drops of Lavender Essential Oil - I bought a 30ml bottle from Holland and Barrett's for £4

1. Put all the ingredients into your air-tight container
2. Mix it up with a spoon

Hey Presto you've got yourself a gorgeous hand scrub using kitchen items! After a while the oil will separate from the sugar so all you need to do is give it a good shake and you're back on track :)

Other mixes I thought about making include Orange and Lime, Rosemary and Vanilla and Lemon and Thyme (for the gents!).

Bloody Brilliant!

Santa-tini: The Perfect Christmas Cocktail

2011-12-18T15:32:00.003Z

Christmas is the most popular party season of the year and what with threats of another recession looming us Brits are getting rather money savvy when it comes to our festive socialising. Why waste money hiring out bars or booking up events when you can host an equally memorable and Christmassy get-together in the comfort of your own home! But what makes a good party?

From Sunday afternoon marathons of Come Dine With Me, we've all learnt that the key to being a good host is spending time with your guests. Wrong. In actual fact, the key to good hosting is keeping your guests boozed up! That's right folk, get your visitors tipsy and you're guaranteed to be scored at least a 9 out of 10. Let's face it, alcohol is the primary ingredient to a good party and I've created a cost-effective yet luxuriously festive cocktail that is bound to keep you, your purse and your party-goers smiling. The Santa-tini is the perfect crowd pleaser - it has sparkle, it has Christmas berries and most importantly it has vodka. This, dear friends, is a winner. Fact.

This recipe makes enough for 8 glasses of Santa-tini:

- 1 bottle of sparkling wine - champagne/prosecco/cava - as cheap or as pricey as you like
- 360ml vodka (36cl)
- 8 tablespoons of creme de cassis (I used De Kuyper)
- 400ml raspberry juice (you could also use pomegranite or cranberry juice)
- handful of ice cubes

1. Into a cocktail shaker add the ice cubes, vodka, creme de cassis and raspberry juice
2. Shake the shaker - remember to hold the lid on tightly...
3. Pour equal measurements into the glasses
4. Top up the glasses with the sparkling wine

I served my Santa-tinis in martini glasses (because that's what I serve all alcoholic drinks in...) which I'd dipped in an egg white then into a bowl of sugar to give it a frosted effect.

This drink is super for a party as you can make the mix in advance then pop open the sparkling wine in front of the guests for a bit of festive fun. Hey presto you've got an inexpensive, easy and very Christmassy drink that everyone will love!

Merry Christmas! *hic*

[How To] Make Perfect Poached Eggs

2011-11-20T19:32:00.001Z

If I ever go out for breakfast/brunch it's guaranteed poached eggs will be involved. I love them. So simple yet so delicious and surprisingly low in fat - in comparison to the fried eggs I could have...

Making poached eggs is another story though. I've tried EVERY method from swirling the water, to pouring in vinegar, to spooning the eggs into the pan - I even bought one of the weird looking plastic poaching cups. Alas they've all failed. I have been unable to enjoy poached eggs in the comfort of my own home since the dawn of time.

However my suffering has come to an end!

The Man happened to watch one of Jamie Oliver's recent foodie programmes and knowing my desire for what seemed to be the unobtainable, memorised Oliver's method for fool-proof perfect poached eggs. We decided to experiment with our Saturday morning breakfast and whadayaknow - the eggs were indeed fool-proof, they were definitely poached and they were most certainly PERFECT!

And here dear readers is the secret: Clingfilm. That's right - good ol' clingfilm. Here is a step-by-step guide to making perfect poached eggs!

Step 1: Rip off a piece of good ol' clingfilm and lay it over a cup. Make a small well in the middle of the clingfilm, like so...

Step 2: Grease the clingfilm. We've used butter and olive oil spray and both work well - you only need a little bit.

Step 3: Crack an egg into the clingfilm well and season generously with salt and pepper.

Step 4: Bring the edges of the clingfilm together, try not to take in too much air in the bundle. Twist the ends tightly together.

Step 5: Chuck your bundles of eggs into a pan and pour in boiling water from the kettle. Boil for 4 minutes or until you cannot see any more clear eggy liquid.

Step 6: Take the pan off the heat and scoop your eggy bundles out. Rip open the clingfilm and plop the eggs onto a buttered toast

Step 7: Enjoy!

Delicious Tapas At Dehesa

2011-11-20T17:53:00.001Z

Tucked away behind the sprawling crowds of Friday night drinkers in the achingly cool part of town just off Carnaby Street is Dehesa. It was the chosen destination for a girlie catch up for JBay and I and indeed it served its purpose with miniature plates of flair and scrumptiousness. The girls and I do have a thing for tapas as our last meet and eat had been at another well-known London tapas bar. Tonight we had again chosen well.

This Spanish-Italian charcuterie and tapas bar is the spin-off sister jaunt to Goodge Street's Salt Yard offering up a similar selection of carefully selected food and wine. After elbowing our way through the crowds littering the small alleyways we came across the warming glow of Dehesa. We were met at the door by a smile and offered seats at a large communal dining bench. The sophisticated vibe was refreshing and welcoming and the little cast iron hooks under the table for coats and bags were greatly appreciated - I can't stand places that don't offer to take your garments then expect you to perch them on your lap or the floor because they've chosen chairs too funky for their own good...[rant over]

We wasted no time in ordering two raspberry Bellini's while studying the selection of tapas on offer. The tapas menu was divided into three easy categories; meat, veg and fish. On the flip side of the menu was the bar snacks and sides.

We chose five dishes:

Grilled Hake with Chorizo Mash, Clams and Cider Sauce £6.75

The chorizo mash was simply the star of the show and this will be recreated in the Little Welsh Kitchen! The salty chorizo was deliciously subdued in a creamy mash. The hake was cooked perfectly and was soft and flaky although when eaten together was lost against the strong salty-sweetness of the chorizo mash. The clams were a nice addition and the sauce was seasoned well.

Pan fried Cornish Mackerel on Butter bean, Piquillo Pepper and Broad Bean Salad £6.50

The bean to mackerel ratio was a little off on this dish as we were presented with a mound of beans and just a slither of mackerel. The flavours however were divine, the piquillo peppers added a delicious sweetness to the dish.

Ibérico Pork Loin Carpaccio with Porcini Mushrooms and Truffle Mayonnaise £8.75

This. Was. Heaven. No other words. The pork carpaccio was simply melt-in-your-mouth dreaminess and I didn't feel diddled either as there was a generous number of slices on the plate. The ample dollops of decadent truffle mayonnaise just added a whole other dimension to this dish and complimented the earthiness of the mushrooms. Simply sumptuous.

Courgette Flowers with Monte Enebro and Honey £7.55

Salty creamy goats cheese oozing out of a perfectly deep fried courgette flower drizzled in honey. Where can you go wrong? Battered superbly, this concoction of textures and flavours worked a treat!

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Cavolo Nero, Taleggio and Smoked Ricotta £5.25

This dish was heavily cheesed, so much so that the other flavours were unfortunately lost however little pockets of sweet pumpkin could be tasted every now and then. There was plenty or irony green cavolo nero but the taleggio faded away amongst the large helping of ricotta.

Five dishes was definitely a good amount to order, despite being of Lilliputian size standards the ingredients are rich and bold. The food was fabulous - each dish was thoughtfully constructed and each texture and flavour was paired with a carefully chosen opposite to produce chic and distinctive creations.

We did decide to venture on to the dessert menu however our waitress must have forgotten about us as the restaurant started to fill up. It turned out that our wait had made us realise that we were indeed full and it was time to move on!

The bill came to an acceptable £55 including service which we deemed a good price considering the quality of nosh, the central location and the close-to-perfect service. Dehesa is definitely on my list of "To Recommend" and "To Revisit".

We ended our catch up over cocktails at Bob Bob Ricard, a fab and well over-due Girls' Night Out!

Dehesa Charcuterie & Tapas Bar
25 Ganton Street
London W1F 9BP
+44 (0) 20 7494 4170
www.dehesa.co.uk

*Top Tip: We got there just before 7pm and managed to nab a table straight away despite most of the small restaurant being booked.

Pumpkin Ice Cream - Low Fat And Totally Delicious Any Time Of Year!

2011-11-16T10:12:00.001Z

That's right folks - I'm still hooked on Pumpkin! This time it's in the form of ice cream! Yes I know - it's mid-November, why am I eating ice cream when it's freezing cold outside? Well some times it's nice to have something refreshing - even in the chillier weather. Besides where in the rule book does it say no ice cream in Winter? I actually quite like a cold dessert after a big hot meal plus this ice cream works fantastically as a palate cleanser! Another bonus - it's low fat :)

Why not serve a dollop of this ice cream on top of a large wedge of Pumpkin Pie? It would be perfect following a tummy-warming Pumpkin and Chicken Curry!

If you like my Pumpkin Pie recipe you will love this - all the glorious flavours of a delicious sweetly spiced Pumpkin Pie in frozen form! This ice cream is creamy and sweet but without all the calorific horrors of regular shop bought tubs of ice cream! By using skimmed milk and a large quantity of Pumpkin puree you will achieve all the Autumnal flavours with half the fat!

If you don't have an ice cream then check out this non-machine method here, but I would highly recommend investing in a machine not just for convenience but you also get a smoother texture from the ice cream. I bought my ice cream maker for £25 from Argos - wait until the Winter sales are on then buy up ready for homemade ice cream in the Summer!

This recipe makes approx 700ml of ice cream. If you want to use fresh Pumpkin but aren't sure what the heck to with it check out my post here. Also have an air tight container to hand so you can store the ice cream in the freezer...if it lasts that long of course...

To make this ice cream you will need:

- 550ml skimmed/0% milk
- 85g caster sugar
- 130g pumpkin puree (either fresh or canned)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- Pinch of salt

1. Combine the milk, sugar and pumpkin in a saucepan and heat over a medium heat

2. Bring the mix to the boil while whisking then reduce to a low heat and simmer for 30 seconds

3. Remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt and stir

4. Pour the mix into your ice cream machine bowl and allow to chill in the fridge for an hour

5. When fully chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions

Delicious!

Source: Slightly adapted from Skinny Taste

Pumpkin And Chicken Curry - A Perfect Autumn Warmer!

2011-11-03T14:28:00.001Z

Well hello there! The Pumpkin obsession continues! As I've mentioned before during my declaration of love for these delicious orange beasts, their meat can be chucked in both sweet and savoury dishes. This time I've concocted a scrumptious savoury dish using chunks of Pumpkin meat carefully extracted by my own fair hands to add texture and depth to a light Asian style curry.

I was inspired to make this curry after looking through some holiday photos of Thailand from last December when The Man and I went gallivanting around beautiful Kingdom of Siam eating everything in our paths...and we also got engaged! You can read all about that here.

This is a really warming dish that is perfect for the cooler Autumn nights, it's also super easy to prepare! You don't have to use chicken either - this dish would be delicious with beef or pork too. For the veggies out there - replace the animal products with tofu! The Pumpkin absorbs all the spices and adds an earthy edge to the flavour of the curry - it's also super healthy, especially with a handful of spinach lobbed in!

Top Tip: De-chunk your Pumpkin in advance, the meat will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. I've also bagged some up and chucked it in the freezer!

This recipe makes enough curry for 2 people

- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/2 medium onion - sliced
- 2 chicken breasts - sliced into bite sized pieces (beat them with your fist a few times before slicing to make the meat tender!)
- 2-4 garlic cloves - minced (add more or less depending on garlicky preferences)
- 1 tsp fresh ginger - grated
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 4 tbsp water
- 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes/chilli powder
- 200g pumpkin chunks (about a large handful)
- Handful of spinach
- Handful of peas
- 200ml light coconut milk (half a can)
- 1 tsb cornflour mixed with 2 tsp water
- Handful of fresh coriander leaves

1. Heat the oil in a pan - I like to use a wok just so I have enough space!

2. Add the onion and cook for approx 4 minutes until its soft and starting to brown.

3. Chuck in the chicken, garlic and ginger and stir until the chicken has changed colour all over.

4. Add the cumin, turmeric, garam masala, chilli flakes and 2 tbsp water and stir for 2 minutes.

5. Splash in the coconut milk and the remaining 2 tbsp water and mix it all up.

6. Throw in the pumpkin chunks and peas, cover the pan and simmer for 20 minutes. FYI Keep an eye on it as the mixture can burn quite quickly and will need stirring every now and then...so no wandering off to watch X-Factor! (*ahem*)

7. Once the chicken has cooked through and the pumpkin is tender chuck in
the spinach and stir until it's wilted.

8. Stir in the cornflour mix and the coriander and stir for a further minute until the curry has thickened - if it gets too thick for your liking add a splash of water or coconut milk if you have any left.

9. Serve on a bed of rice - I recommend Thai rice which you can buy in supermarkets!

I {HEART} PUMPKIN!

Get Festive With Pumpkin Pie!

2011-10-31T14:44:00.000Z

Those of you who follow me on twitter(@TheLittleWelsh) will know about my current obssession with Pumpkins, morespecifically Pumpkin puree. Well folks, after weeks of hunting high and low Ihave finally got my greedy paws on several cans of the orangey goodness. Ibought mine from Waitrose in West London, I'd recommend looking in biggerstores though as the smaller branches didn't seem to stock any. Word on thestreet is that Wholefoods Market stores are also stocking cans too and ifyou've got wonga to burn then check out Selfridges International food section.

I just don't understand why it isn't more readily available in UKsupermarkets?! Lots of people have said to me it's because "it's anAmerican thing". Fair enough but so's McDonald's and you see that EVERYWHERE!And besides Pumpkins are actually good for you - they're chock full o'goodnessand bursting with vitamins and fibre - and we all know the benefits of that...

Anyway back to the pie. I used to live in Toronto, Canada and I'll never forgetmy first experience of Pumpkin pie...it was dreamy heaven in a pastrycasing...creamy, smooth, sweet, cinnamony deliciousness. Pumpkin tastes similarto sweet potatoes, it's got an earthy but slightly sweet depth to it. It's a very versatileflavour and you can lob it in both sweet and savoury dishes. I've made pumpkinpie every Autumn since coming back from Toronto - I just love the flavours,texture and the vibrant colour each and every year :)

A lot of Brits don't really like the idea of Pumpkin pie - The Man certainlyprotests at my annual declaration of pie production. The problem is us Brits justdon't get veggies in a dessert - take carrot cake for example, that took forever tocatch on! Me, however, well I'm not your typical Brit - I like vegetables in mydessert, it just works people! You just gotta try it!

For this recipe you can either use fresh Pumpkin puree - see this how to prepare it here, oryou can hunt down a can or two for convenience. I also used a ready made pastry case because...well why not?! I'm a busy girl, I dont have time for pastry making!

- 400g pumpkin puree or 1 can
- 320ml evaporated milk
- 90g granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 beaten eggs
- pinch of salt
- 1 ready made 9 inch sweet pastry case

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees C

2. Mix everything but tbe pastry case in a bowl and beat it until it's smoothand blended

3. Pour into the pastry case and throw in the oven for 45 minutes

Yum-o!

[How To] Prepare A Pumpkin

2011-10-25T09:02:00.001+01:00

Ahhhh the festive season of All Hallows' Eve is upon us, I love this time of year - not just for the perfectly legitimate excuse to dress up as a zombie and eat my weight in sugary treats but also because of the seasonal produce and the guaranteed glut of pumpkins filling the supermarket shelves! To be perfectly honest I've got pumpkins on the brain right now! While you may think a pumpkin is just for carving scary faces - they're also pretty delicious and can be thrown into both savoury and sweet dishes!

Pumpkins are pretty easy to prep - it's not quite as easy as peeling a potato - but it's worth the extra minute of prepping, plus you'll get plenty of the pumpkin meat to use in a variety of dishes! As canned pumpkin puree isn't as readily available here in the old U of K as it is in other places across the globe, if you want some pumpkin you'll just have to lug a whole one home from the shops! However there's something quite satisfying about making your own freshly prepared pumpkin puree from scratch so who needs canned pumpkin anyway!

Why not cover your freshly cut pumpkin chunks in water and simmer on the stove for 30 mins, blend until pureed and add to cinnamony pie fillings, crumbles, ice cream mixes, yogurt, cereals or smoothies.

Want something savoury instead? Throw your pumpkin chunks into curries, soups and stews. Roast them up and mix into couscous or egg fried rice!..Endless possibilities...

How To Prepare A Pumpkin

1. Cut the pumpkin in half with a large sharp knife

2. Scoop out all the seeds and stringy bits

3. Carve off the skin

4. Chop the pumpkin meat into chunks

*The freshly cut pumpkin chunks will keep in the fridge for up to 3-4 days or you can do as I do and chuck it in the freezer :)

Happy Halloween!

Have A Spooky But Sophisticated Halloween With Cocktails And Canapes

2011-10-18T11:15:00.001+01:00

Halloween has always been a special day for me - silly costumes, sugary sweets and Halloween FOOD - whats not to love?! *insert evil cackle here* What other day of the year can you legitimately eat jelly spiders with gusto whilst wearing a witches hat and shrieking BOO without looking like a complete freak? When else can you boast of eating spicy bat wings, maggot risotto and cat sick pie without your sanity being questioned?

I. Love. Halloween. Fact. Growing up Halloween was a big deal in The Little Welsh household. Mama Welsh would prepare a feverishly ghoulish feast of "flesh" and "blood" sandwiches (ham and jam respectively of course), Wotsits finger stumps and her prize -winning cauldron cake. Needless to say I'd be bouncing off the walls on a sugar high for some time after. My first venture into Halloween cooking came in the form of some rather scrumptious looking chocolate chip cookies which I generously offered to the eager neighbourhood trick-or-treaters. What those poor kiddies weren't to know was that the cookies were laced with a rather potent chilli powder. The consequences of my Halloween baking weren't to be realised until the following morning on my way to school when I had to dodge the puddles of vomit which contained something that suspiciously resembled chocolate chip cookies, as well as the obligatory sweetcorn.

Anyhoo I've moved on from playing rather amusing cookie tricks on unsuspecting children and have created more grown-up and sophisticated nosh while still maintaining that element of Halloween fun. This year I shall be presenting my guests with Halloween cocktails and canapes - neither of which contains chilli powder, promise! These will be perfect for a spooky dinner party and are even suitable to make en masse if your hosting a festive house party.

Eyeball Appletini

This recipe makes 2 Appletinis
6 radishes

3 green olives stuffed with pimento

100ml vodka

60ml Apple Schnapps

30ml Appletizer

1. Pour all the liquids into a shaker filled with ice and shake, shake, shake!

2. Pour into a chilled martini glass

3. Shave away bits of the radishes' skin leaving thins lines to resemble blood vessels

4. Make a small hollow in one end of the radish

5. Chop the end off a pimento stuff olive and place it curved-side down into the radish hollow

6. Float your eyeballs in your Appletini and enjoy!

Boiled Witches' Fingers with Mama Welsh's Blood and Guts Chutney

This recipe makes 4 Witches' Fingers

2 thin frankfurters cut in half

1 small yellow pepper - cut out 4 small triangles

small blob of ketchup

100g ripe tomatoes roughly chopped

1/2 onion peeled and chopped

10ml white wine vinegar

20g demerara sugar

1tsp Worcestershire sauce

1tsp wholegrain mustard

1. To make the fingers, make 3 small incisions into the middle of each frankfurter to resemble knuckles and boil for 3 minutes

2. carve out a thin layer at the end of each frankfurter and glue each yellow pepper triangle on with a blob of ketchup

3. For the chutney, throw all the remaining ingredients into a large pan and gently heat until the sugar dissolves then bring to a boil

4. Cook over a medium heat for 30 minutes until the mix looks syrupy

5. Allow to cool and pour into a sterilised (boiled) jar and seal

6. Arrange your fingers in a bowl of chutney and serve to your hungry guests

*The sealed jars of chutney will keep for approx 3 months in the fridge

Happy Halloween!

[COCKTAIL O'CLOCK] Elderflower And Apple Collins

2011-10-12T13:49:00.001+01:00

Hello! After a small hiatus I am back and I am ready to blog. I had a few things going on which ate up all my time and energy and alas this small space got a tad neglected. I had some dramas to deal with plus some very exciting developments such as getting a fab new job and going for a relaxing and super sunny break to Turkey (posts coming soon!)

So to celebrate my return I thought I'd share a luscious and oh-so-English inspired cocktail with you - enjoy!

This recipe makes enough for 2 cocktails...why would you ever want one?!

- 100ml vodka
- squeeze of lemon juice
- 30ml elderflower cordial
- 20ml sugar syrup*
- 2 glasses (the glasses you intend to use) of appletiser or any fizzy apple flavoured drink
- handful of ice cubes

*To make sugar syrup dissolve1 tablespoon of white caster sugar in 2 tablespoons of water, continue stirring while gently heating until all the sugar is dissolved. Leave to cool for 10 minutes and hey presto. This will keep in the fridge for approximately 3 days

1. In a shaker add the ice cubes and pour in the ingredients

2. Shake well and pour into glasses

3. Sit back and enjoy :)

Yum-Yum!

[BLOG BITES] Caprese Salad

2011-08-25T08:53:00.000+01:00

One of the things I most love about summer is eating Al Fresco! Alas here in the old U of K we only actually get about 3 decent days a year that are worth sitting and eating outside. Eating outside feels so good after being cooped up all day at the office. Al fresco dining always inspires me to cook more summery and fresh dishes like salads and Caprese salad is a particular summer time favourite in my household!

Caprese salad is one of my all time favourite salads! The fundamental ingredients are cheese, tomatoes and basil - you just can't go wrong! The colours of this dish are also spectacular together and the flavours and textures are just magical. I like this salad as a side dish, a main dish, an appetiser or even a snack!

I picked up some super fresh and squidgy mozzarella from the supermarket and plucked some of my very own homegrown basil from the garden. Remember my trip to the Farmers' Market a couple of posts ago? Well I still had some tomatoes left from that so I figured they'd be perfect for this dish. This is honestly the simplest, freshest, tastiest salad EVER. Also it's a total summer dinner party dish as it looks beautiful!

This recipe is for a medium sized Caprese salad, enough for 4 as a side dish (or enough for 2 as a main):

- 1 large ball of mozzarella (I used a 250g Castelli ball) - sliced
- 1 large handful of fresh basil leaves
- 4 large tomatoes - sliced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper for seasoning
- balsamic vinegar (optional)

1. Arrange your mozzarella, basil and tomatoes in alternating horizontal layers in a dish

2. season with salt and pepper

3. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar*

*I chose to add the balsamic vinegar separately as not everyone is wild about it (freaks!)

I paired the salad with some crusty olive bread to dip in the juices :)

Nom nom noooom!

[COCKTAIL O'CLOCK] Skinny Mojitos

2011-08-11T09:18:00.000+01:00

Skinny cocktails are all rage, seriously I should know - I'm such a trendsetter*. With an average cocktail racking up a whopping 500-700 calories minimum what's a girl to do when she's faced with the dilemma of wanting to save calories and sip on a delicious cocktail...TOTAL DILEMMA!

*Lie...

Well ladies (and gents?), don't you worry no mo' for I shall be unleashing a wave of skinny cocktails on this here blog - that's not to say if you drink copious amounts of these cocktails they'll make you as slender as Elle "The Body" McPherson but in fact these cocktails will be purely less calorific, which in my opinion is the best kinda cocktail!

This recipe makes 1 skinny Mojito:

- 1 shot of rum (40ml) - I used Barcadi Superior Rum
- Handful of fresh mint leaves
- 1 tsp sweetner - I used Splenda
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- Handful of ice cubes
- Approx 200ml diet soda water - I say 'approx' because I use this to top up the drink so depends how big your glass is and how strong you want the alcoholic taste to be

1. Fill your chosen glass with the ice cubes

2. Rip half of the mint leaves and rub them together in between your fingers and chuck them into the glass

3. Throw in the sweetner, lime juice and rum in to the glass and using a spoon mix it all together

4. Top up with the soda water and decorate with the remaining mint leaves

Top Tip: I discovered that if I remembered to leave the mint in the soda water a few hours before hand it produces a far mintier taste - but you just have to remember/be bothered to do that...

Bottoms Up!

[WEEKEND EATS] A Day At The Farmers' Market...

2011-08-09T09:33:00.000+01:00

This weekend has been a seriously foodie weekend for me, I have cooked up a storm in the kitchen from Friday evening right through til Sunday afternoon. Seriously there was no stopping me - I was on a roll! I'll be putting some of the links to my culinary delights up on the blog soon so don't panic, I'll share them with you!

London has a habit of always surprising me with it's many hidden gems and this weekend was no different. Since I was feeling particularly inspired to be a good foodie I hit up google to seek out some nearby Farmers' markets to test out the local produce - and whaddaya know there was one happening very nearby! That's what I mean, these things occur right under my nose and I never notice them. London always has stuff going on but you just have to know where to look...in this case it was google.

I'm always in support of supermarkets (controversial I know) because they're more convenient and the prices are lower. Yes they have their many nuisances - the screaming kids, the long queues and the monotonous sounds of the tills beep, beep, beep, beeeeeeeeeeeeeeping ...but they have everything I need so why go anywhere else. Every now and then though it's nice to try something else right? This weekend felt like one of those moments. I wanted to see a friendly farmer's face and not the spotty bored delinquent picking his nose behind the deli counter at Sainsbury's...

Saturday morning we eagerly made our way to Wimbledon Farmers' Market along with our bags-for-life (how green are we eh!). The market is held in the playground of a local primary school which was a very chilled and calming setting on this sunny Saturday - a nice change from the chilly madhouse that is my local supermarket...This was a relatively smallish market and to be honest I thought there'd be more but hey-ho it was a manageable size for our first visit. The first thing I noticed was the size of the berries - huge punnets of ripe and sweet looking strawberries and raspberries looking right back at me! Then my greedy eyes were drawn to the whopping big chunks of meat on the butchers stall and packs of freshly made herby pork sausages....*drool*...We nibbled our way around each of the stalls and then of course did the obligatory second lap - just to make sure we'd covered everything of course!

We weren't planning on a big splurge so we only picked up a few bits and bobs to try including a locally produced cider, some heirloom tomatoes and a box of edible flowers.

So not a huge bounty from our trip but I'm going to scout out a bigger market for next time and hopefully pick up some fresh fish and bread too.

If you're London based and would like to find a Farmers' market near you check out: http://www.lfm.org.uk/

Here are a few of my tips for good food shopping at your local Farmers' market:

1. Take a few bags with you - most of the stalls don't give out carrier bags plus it's more environmentally friendly, fyi this should apply to all shopping trips to both Farmers' markets and supermarkets (I am just too green for words right now)

2. Don't eat a big meal before you go - you will get samples trust me!

3. Ask questions - take the opportunity to quiz the farmers and traders on where their produce has come from, how it was grown and how long it keeps. Not only is this interesting and useful information but you just don't get to do this at a supermarket

Happy shopping :)

[BLOG BITES] Puerto Rican Pulled Pork

2011-08-07T21:19:00.002+01:00

I've been eyeing up a big slabs of pork in the supermarket for a few weeks now, in the sort of way pork slabs should not be eyed up. I don't get to cook with big slabs of pork enough and this weekend I decided to put a stop to that. I bought a particularly juicy looking 3lb slab of pork shoulder, cradled it all the way home then dusted off my slow cooker and sat down with the pair of them to decide what to do.

I decided on pulled pork. This is not a commonly known Brit-dish and to be honest I've only ever seen it served at Bodeans, the American BBQ chain here in London and they make some mean-ass pulled pork! A lot of people here probably don't even know what pulled pork is all about - well it's basically a long-cook-low-heat cooking method which allows the meat to become tender enough to become easily broken down, or pulled apart. Hence the ingenious American naming of 'Pulled Pork'. You can do pulled pork in an oven or slow cooker, you can smoke it or stew it in sauces, it's quite a versatile style of cooking.

So I knew I wanted to do pulled pork as this was something I'd never tried to make before but the question was - what kind of pulled pork? I hit JBay up for her infamous BBQ pulled pork recipe that she makes with Jack Daniels BBQ glaze and as tempting as that sounded I still wanted something more. I wanted to make my own marinade, a homemade flavour. That's when I came across a recipe for Puerto Rican Pulled Pork, a.k.a Pernil. I have no connections to Puerto Rico, heck I've never even been but I'm guessing it's hot there and they like pulled pork. Sounds like my kinda place.

This recipe couldn't be easier and you know that's what I'm all about - simple, no fuss recipes that don't require expensive, fancy-pants ingredients. Well here's another delicious recipe to add to my repertoire. The pork went down a treat - in fact it didn't last long at all. I whacked the ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning and all day a lingering aroma of citrusy, sweet, spicy pork wafted it's way through the house. We fought it all day long but eventually caved around 7pm. The meat was so tender it was practically melting...beautiful...

Well if that made you drool enough to want to make Puerto Rican Pulled Pork here's the recipe:

*I made this for just The Man and me, it was enough for a big meal plus leftovers for wraps the next day

- 3lb pork shoulder
- 4 - 5 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tbsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- juice of 3 oranges (1/2 mug of OJ)
- juice of 2 limes

1. In a bowl combine all the ingredients except the pork and half of the garlic

2. Whack the pork in the ceramic dish of your slow cooker - or in you oven dish if oven-cooking

3. Cut slits into the top of the pork and stuff with the remaining half of the garlic

4. Pour the marinade over the pork

5. Cook on low for 8 hours - or 180*c in the oven for 3 hours

6. After 8 hours remove the pork from the dish and slice of the pork fat from the top (I kept this on during the cooking process to help the meat stay tender but trust me you don't want to eat this sludgy fat...you'll see what I mean)

7. Shred the pork using two forks - literally pull the pork apart

8. Remove half of the remaining liquid from the slow cook/oven dish and discard

9. Put the pulled pork back in the pot with the remaining liquid and cook for a further 30 minutes on low

10. GORGE.

To serve my pulled pork I cooked up some rice and peas, boiled up some corn and added a dollop of coleslaw on the side. This was the perfect Saturday night dinner.

Yee-Haw!*

*I wasn't sure what they say in Puerto Rico...

Source: Slightly adapted from SkinnyTaste

[BLOG BITES] Mediteranean Orzo Salad

2011-08-04T11:13:00.001+01:00

Salads are definitely a summer staple but when it comes to Orzo this is a year-round ingredient that can be chucked in just about any dish - winter warming stews, hearty soups, chunky casseroles - and of course salads! This is the perfect salad for a warm summer's day and is a guaranteed crowd pleaser too as it incorporates all the wonderful flavours of the Med.

Enjoy this simple salad with a good crisp glass of White Zinfandel on a warm summer's day.

*FYI I took the photos of this salad from my lunchbox in the park on a warm work day when I was not sipping on a good crisp glass of White Zinfandel (for obvious reasons) and trust me, it would have been really appreciated!

Ingredient to make salad for 2:

- 100g Orzo
- handful of lettuce leave - shredded
- handful of tomatoes (about 5 each) - halved - I used pomordino because they're AMAZING
- quarter of a whole cucumber - quartered
- handful of kalamata olives - halved
- 1 avocado - chopped
- 100g feta cheese - about half a slab
- salt and pepper for seasoning
- 3 tablespoons olive oil

1. Cook the Orzo according to the instructions on the package - I cook it like regular pasta, chuck it in a pan of salted boiling water and cook for approx 8-10 minutes until it's soft then drain

2. In a bowl add the orzo, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, olives and avocado and crumble in the feta

3. Drizzle on the olive oil and season with salt and pepper and mix up the salad

Bon Appetit!

Sipping On Sunshine And Raspberry Cosmopolitans

2011-08-02T13:02:00.000+01:00

Recently I have been experimenting with cocktail recipes and I have also developed a penchant for all things raspberry - hence my fusion beverage of cocktail plus raspberries, it's best of both worlds! Alas every time I eat raspberries now I feel a twinge of disappointment that they don't have an alcoholic tang...hmm might have to keep an eye on that...

Picture this - you, sunshine, glass (or 3) of chilled rasberry cosmo...don't that sound THE BUSINESS! Well you can make it happen with this here recipe!

To make 2 delicious raspberry cosmos you will need:

- handful of fresh raspberries
- 1 cup (250ml) of raspberry juice
- 1/3 cup (80ml) of vodka
- 1/4 cup (65ml) of triple sec
- dash of soda water
- juice of half a lime

1. Half fill a cocktail shaker (or in my pre-shaker days I used a bowl...I know...) with ice cubes

2. Pour in all the ingredients except the fresh raspberries and soda water

3. Smack the lid on the shaker and shake away (shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake your booty, shake your boooo-ty)

4. Pour the liquid into your glasses of choice

5. Add your dash of soda and garnish with fresh raspberries and serve

Bottoms up!

No Smashing Of Plates But Plenty Of Fine Greek Food At Yia Mas...

2011-07-19T10:41:00.000+01:00

As some of you may know by now, I have a thing for Greek food and every now and then I just need a fix...it's kind of like what any addict would say - I just NEED it. I love the fresh, clean flavours and the combinations of salted cheeses and grilled meats. There's just something about it - it's made with soul and each dish highlights a distinctive flavour of Greece...why would you want to eat it?!

I had managed to go without Greek food for a few weeks until the urge was becoming too unbearable and I dragged* The Man to our nearest Greek eatery, Yia Mas in East Putney.

*I never actually have to drag The Man, he's always very willing to go out to eat...what does that say about my cooking?...that's a whole other blog post...

Yia Mas (meaning 'cheers' in Greek) is totally my cup of tea: nice, family run, rustic home cooking that doesn't cost the earth. It's unpretentious, it's got fantastic and friendly service and it's got a menu packed with gorgeous Grecian dishes. Definitely my cup of [Greek] tea.

There were so many things I wanted to try on the menu and I was finding it difficult to settle on one main - then I saw it: 'Meze A La Cyprus', Yia Mas offers a brilliant Meze which for £17 per person includes a selection of starters, a fish course and a souvlaki (grilled meats) course! I know - amazing right?! We obviously opted for the Meze, how could we not! It includes a little bit of everything we wanted to try. In keeping with our Greek dinner, we ordered a bottle of Nemea Kouros to wash down the scrumptious food and I was pleasantly surprised by how light the wine was and it's distinctive plummy flavours.

And here's what we chowed down on...

Agia Trias: A Selection of dips - Hummous, Taramisalata and Tzatziki

These dips were accompanied with warm pita bread and juicy olives... safe to say there was not a scrap left...

Peperoncini: Pickled chillies

These are freakishly moreish and we munched through the lot. The pickling takes away most of the heat from the chillies but you're left with the fabulous sweet flesh of the chilli which has been doused in the salty brine, fab combo

Classic Greek Salad

You really can't get any more Greek than a Greek Salad - plump tomatoes, earthy kalamata olives and crumbled salty feta cheese topped with freshly chopped herbs

Kioftedes: Greek Meatballs

These minced pork meatballs are packed full of the rich flavours of garlic and cumin and are lightly fried to give the outer shell a crispy finish

Lounza Halloumi and Pastourma and Loukanika: pork and grilled halloumi cheese accompanied by two types of Greek sausage

I. Love. Halloumi. Fact. Thick, rubbery, grilled slabs of creamy cheese layered on smoked loin of pork - a winning duo. This was sided with Pastourma, a sweetly spiced beef sausage and Loukanika, a traditional smoked pork sausage. I wasn't overly impressed with the Loukanika, the meat was too coarse and under-seasoned. However, the Pastourma beef sausage was THE BUSINESS.

Grilled Swordfish and king prawns

It was exactly what it says - grilled swordfish and king prawns. I'm not a huge fan of swordfish and this dish didn't change my mind. I always find swordfish too meaty for seafood and it's always too dry. The king prawns were delicious, they maintained their sweetness and were not over cooked from the grilling

Kalamarakia Tiganita: Deep fried squid rings

One of my favourite dishes and often overcooked but Yia Mas managed to cook the squid superbly - soft, creamy rings flawlessly battered...drool...

Pork Souvlaki, Pagidaki and sautéed potatoes

Souvlaki really is at the heart of Greek cuisine. This is what the Greeks do best. Tender pieces of skewered pork grilled until soft and flavoursome alongside grilled and juicy lamb cutlets in a light spice rub. The sautéed potatoes were a little bit too greasy as they'd been fried in about 10 sticks of butter...we left those...it's all about the meat after all...

Kataifi: A traditional dessert made with shredded filo pastry with honey syrup and chopped pistachios

DEElicious. It was everything I wanted it to be. I don't like sugary sweet desserts - I like my desserts to be naturally sweetened with things like honey or fruits. This was the perfect way to round off the meal and was just the right amount of sweetness

Ellinikos Kafes: Greek coffee

Prepared by boiling finely powdered beans in a Cezve (pot) with a little spoonful of sugar, a cup of Greek coffee definitely helped settle my stomach after the mountain of Greek food I'd just conquered

Yia Mas delivered on both food and service and indeed my Greek food urges were once again quashed. The food is fresh and packed with flavours, it's also beautifully presented with plenty of garnish. The restaurant itself is in a bit of a fiddly location with the nearest tube being East Putney and a few bus stops dotted about a 15 minute walk away. However it is worth the trek, the warm welcome we received was continued throughout the meal and our waiter was good enough to explain the dishes as he brought them to us. We booked our table for 7pm and by 8pm the restaurant was packed with eager diners being turned away so timing at Yia Mas is crucial.

I will absolutely be returning to Yia Mas, no question about it, and if you aren't able to jump on the next plane to a sunny Grecian island then trust me, Yia Mas will be the perfect substitute.

γεια μας

Yia Mas

40 Upper Richmond Road

London
SW15 2RX

Tel: 020 8871 4671

*Dinner for 2 with a bottle of wine, dessert and coffees came to approx £70 before service

Cây Tre - Old Street: Get Your Vietnamese Flavour On! (Plus A Mini Culinary Tour Of Vietnam)

2011-07-05T14:37:00.000+01:00

I've noticed a recent rise in Báhn mì cafés across London churning out their Vietnamese meat filled baguettes and a lot more attention is definitely being splashed on the already established restaurants and Vietnamese cafes dotted across the city - seems like Vietnamese cuisine is definitely the latest trendy grub! Last night I succumbed to said trendy grub and dragged The Man to Cây Tre (pronounced Kay-Tree) at Old Street to see what this summer's hype was all about...

So what did we have?

Gỏi cuốn, Summer rolls - king prawns, fresh herbs, vermicelli noodles wrapped in rice paper

These were fantastic - they were clean, light and super fresh. The flavour of the mixed herbs, which included mint and thai basil are brilliant with sweet prawns - not forgetting a good sguidge of hoi sin sauce!

Chả giò, Crispy spring rolls - king prawns wrapped and deep fried

These were simply deep fried wrapped prawns, crunchy and sweet and fried...you can't go wrong with that!

Bóng xào súp lơ, Heaven and earth pork - stir fried veggies, shitake, pork fillet and tiger prawns in a rich and garlicy sauce

The pork fillet was tender and took on a lot of flavour from the garlic in the sauce. The veggies had a good fresh crunch to them and I liked the variety of mushrooms in the dish

Lươn rang sả ớt, Pan seared Basa fish - chunks of basa fish coated in turmeric and lemongrass, pan-fried and topped with chilli

This was the star of the show, basa fish is a type of catfish native to Vietnam, it was chopped and pan fried with lashings of turmeric and spice - plus it had a funky kind of poppadom on the side!

All washed down with a couple of bottles of Hué Beers - brewed and bottled in Hué, Vietnam

Refreshing, easy drinking, delicious beer...

A lot of the diners were ordering piping hot bowls of Phó which I've heard are meant to the best in the city. We chose not to order it on this occassion as Cây Tre offers a really good meat and seafood section on their menu. Now I'm not new to Vietnamese food - I'm certainly not a connoisseur - but I do appreciate the rich balance of history and culture that's apparent in the nation's dishes. Yes ladies and gentlemen, there is more to your big steaming bowl of Phó than you think...

In fact there's more to Vietnam than just Phó anyway, the variety of flavours is evident as you move from one end of the country to the other. As a former colony of China, Vietnam not only adopted Confucianism but also chopsticks and the wok hence the preference for stir-frying and sesame oil - this is more evident in the North. As a result of the climate you'll see fewer veggies and chillies in the North and you'll definitely experience a lot more beefy dishes - thanks to the Mongol invasion way back in the day.

The South is a different story altogether. Dishes are spicy and curries are predominant - this is due to the Indian and Sri Lankan gourmet influences filtering across through Malaysia and also Vietnam's close geographic proximity to Cambodia, the land of curry! In the South you'll see more grilled meats and coconut milk and of course they love a good dollop of that infamous fish sauce, nước mắm.

Map courtesy of www.lonelyplanet.com

Don't cha just love how food tells a story? You can learn a lot about a country's history and culture from a plate of curried fish or a bowl of steamed rice. Bloody love it!

Dinner at Cây Tre was a really good experience, the service was fast and friendly and the staff always seemed to be smiling. The food was of an excellent standard, fresh and delicious. The restaurant is a casual setting and would be perfect for after-work gatherings. Be warned, it gets packed and pretty loud and there was a huge queue building up outside around 8pm...a good sign I'd say.

Cây Tre

301 Old Street

Shoreditch

London

EC1V 9LA

Tel: 020 7729 8662

*Dinner for 2 with a couple of beers came to approximately £35 excluding service

[BLOG BITES] Peach and Rosemary Sugar Tart...Light, Summery And Sweet!

2011-06-28T13:41:00.000+01:00

You may have noticed I've been loving herbs recently? This is because I've been growing my own - I'm not a gardening kinda gal, in fact plants fear me, however I have persevered and tried to be really good at remember to water these little herby babies and so far so good...fingers crossed! Anyhoo my rosemary has been growing a right treat so I've been looking for more experimental recipes which incorporate different flavours to create interesting tastes and textures in dishes - and hey presto I found this scrumptious summer dessert recipe!

This recipe is perfect for entertaining as it's super dooper easy to whip up and sounds pretty fancy-pants when you announce it to your guests. It's light and sweet and the contrasting flavours of the rosemary and the peaches work like a dream. The peaches become juicy and soft and mix well with the texture of the herb. Try serving it with double cream or a big dollop of vanilla icecream...yuuuummmmm

Ingredients for a 9" Peach and Rosemary Sugar tart

- 4 ripe peaches - peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 ready-made sweet pastry case - or you can make your own pastry if you desperately desire so
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar
- small handful of fresh rosemary springs - keep 1 sprig aside for decoration

1. Preheat your oven to GM5/200*c

2. Infuse the caster sugar with the rosemary - finely chop the rosemary and rub it in to the sugar. Leave the chopped rosemary bits in the sugar.

3. Neatly arrange your peach slices in your pastry case

4. Sprinkle your rosemary infused sugar all over the peaches - keep a small pinch of sugar for decoration

5. Whack your peach tart in the oven for approx 30 minutes until golden and caramelised

6. Decorate with the pinch of sugar you kept and the left over rosemary

Tuck in!

Source: Slightly tweaked from Tartlette.

[BLOG BITES] Try These Fabulous Blackberry And Thyme Margaritas!

2011-06-15T09:02:00.000+01:00

I love me a cocktail or two and I especially like interesting and fruity based cocktails - the more interesting and weirder the ingredients the better! I came across this fabulous recipe for Blackberry and Thyme Margaritas and knew this had to be made - I had blackberries in the fridge, tequila in the booze cupboard and thyme growing in the garden - urmm FATE!

Ingredients for 2 Margaritas:
- 18- 20 blackberries plus 2 for decoration
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme (take the leaves off and discard the stalks) plus 2 sprigs for decoration
- 1 cup crushed ice
- 80ml tequila
- 60ml sugar-water (see below)
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 tbsp of triple sec or Cointreau
- 60ml sparkling water

1. Make your sugar water - aka Simple Syrup - mix 30g of regular white sugar with 80ml water and warm on the hob on a low heat in a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved - approx 5 minutes and no need to boil! Leave this to cool until you're ready to make your Margaritas. The sugar water keeps for a couple of days in the fridge - unless you're making more cocktails that is!

2. In a blender blitz up the blackberries and the thyme leaves until smooth then push threw a fine sieve, keeping the deep purple liquid and discarding the mush left in the sieve.

3. Throw the purple liquid back into the blender and chuck in the ice, tequila, sugar water, lime juice, triple sec and sparkling water and blend

4. Pour into 2 chilled glasses - I've used wine glasses as I didn't have any other available...

5. To decorate, use a cocktail stick and push a hole diagonally threw the blackberry then thread one of thyme sprigs threw the blackberry and make a small slice in the side of it with a sharp knife to help it sit on the glass

Cheers!

Source: slightly tweaked from Annie Eats

[BLOG BITES] Enjoy A Wedge Of This Rosemary And Sea Salt Focaccia...

2011-06-12T18:52:00.000+01:00

I got the inspiration to dabble in a bit of focaccia baking after having lunch with the girls in an Italian eatery up the road from work. As the clouds turned grey and the afternoon showers arrived my mind wandered to a more Mediterranean clime where the sunshine would be beating down on fat juicy olives and the extra virgin olive oil ran as freely as the red wine....WAKEY WAKEY I'm in London and it's raining cats and dogs. Despite this I decided to luncheon like I was on the Continent. Hey presto I baked a deliciously light and fluffy focaccia complete with sea salt and home grown rosemary - it felt like holidays :)

Ingredients:
- 500g strong white flour
- 3 tsp sea salt (I used Maldon from the supermarket)
- 7g sachet dried yeast
- 300ml room temperature water
- 8 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tblsp chopped fresh rosemary plus a few sprigs of rosemary
*I used a 20 x 25cm baking dish lined with greaseproof paper

1. Throw half of the flour in a bowl along with the 2 tsp of the salt, chopped rosemary and yeast and mix it up good (fyi just use your hands - much easier)
2. Pour in 250 ml of the water and 4 tblsp of the olive oil and mix until all the flour is incorporated
3. Gradually add in the remaining flour - you might not need to use all of it so don't chuck it all in at once!
4. Knead the dough for a good 10 minutes then leave it to rise in a greased bowl covered with clingfilm for approximately 2 hours
5. After 2 hours give the dough another bashing to knock the air out of it and press into the base of your baking dish - push into the corners and even out the dough
6. Cover the dish with clingfilm again and leave for another 45 minutes
7. Using floured knuckles make dimples in the dough and cover it up again with clingfilm for another 45 minutes - trust me it'll be worth all this waiting!
8. Preheat your oven to GM7/250 degs C and press the rosemary sprigs into the dimples you made earlier
9. Drizzle the rest of the olive oil and sprinkle the remaining tsp of sea salt over the dough
10. Whack your focaccia into the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Once cooked, allow the bread to cool...if you can wait that long...

Enjoy your focaccia with a bowl of olives and a large glass of vino...the only way to eat it if you ask me...

Bella!

Source: Slightly tweaked from A Spoonful Of Sugar

[BLOG BITES] Low Fat And Super Easy Strawberry Cheesecakes!

2011-06-07T10:17:00.000+01:00

I. Love. Cake. It's a well known fact. I love any kind of cake - sponge cake, christmas cake, chocolate cake, fruity cakes, cupcakes, cream cakes, carrot cake, coffee cake, red velvet cake, welsh cake - the list goes on and on and on, basically I just like cake. I couldn't tell you what my favourite cake is I just love them all equally but I will tell you that I am rather partial to cheesecake. Just give me a big fat slice of sweet, creamy, soft cheesecake and I'll be your best friend for life - no jokes. I don't joke about cake.

Now despite my love for cakes, I'm not the best at making them. Baking cakes has never really been my forté so I'm all for 'easy', shall we say 'cheat' recipes. I came across one of these 'easy', 'cheat' recipes for cheesecake in a supermarket magazine and, as I do best, I adapted it and tried it out. The results were divine. I figured I should share this delicious and ridiculously easy recipe with everyone - well it would be rude not to!

Ingredients for 2 mini cheesecakes:
- 120g low fat soft cream cheese
- 1 tub of 0% greek yogurt (170g)
- 50g icing sugar
- 2 digestive biscuits
- handful of strawberries

1. Scrunch up the biscuits, 1 per pot - I used small 2 inch deep glass ramekins, pour the scrunched up biscuits into the ramekins to form the base layer
2. Mix the cream cheese, yogurt and sugar in a bowl
3. Pour your cheese mix on top of the biscuit base
4. With a fork mash your strawberries in a bowl - I only slightly mashed mine so there were some chunks of strawberry in the mush
5. Pour the mashed up strawberries on top of the cheese mix
6. Leave in the fridge to firm up for about an hour - if you can resist them for that long.

Not only is this recipe ridiculously easy to make but it's also ridiculously versatile. Swap the strawberries for any other fruit that you prefer - raspberries, blue berries, banana, mango, pineapple. Heck why use fresh fruit, chuck a dollop of jam or even marmalade on top instead. Why not melt down a bar of chocolate and add a layer of peanut butter - we're challenging the 'low fat' aspect of the recipe but that would be bloody delicious!

Enjoy!

[BLOG BITES] Crab And Courgette Spaghetti

2011-06-01T09:18:00.000+01:00

Finally Summer seems to be arriving - after weeks of cold, rainy weather London is receiving more appropriate June conditions. The light evenings are seriously long and there doesn't seem to be much call for a jacket any more. It's about bloody time is all I can say! What better way to celebrate the arrival of the long overdue sunshine than with a nice, light and summery dish - crab and courgette spaghetti!

Ingredients for 2 people:
- 120g spaghetti
- 1 small tub of crab meat - you can used dressed crab, tinned crab, tub o'crab - whatever you can get
- 1 lemon - cut in half
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley - chopped
- 3 garlic cloves - chopped
- 50 ml olive oil
- 1 small courgette - use a potato peeler and peel it into thin strips
- 1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes - or a small fresh chilli chopped
- Salt and pepper to season

1. Put your pasta on to cook - I cook mine for 5 minutes in salted boiling water then drain and run under a cold tap for a few minutes to get that good 'al dente' bite to it
2. In a pan slowly heat up the olive oil, through in the zest of one half of the lemon, the garlic and the chilli and stir until sizzling
3. Squeeze the juice of the zested half of the lemon into the chilli oil mix and stir until combined
4. Add the courgette and stir for a couple of minutes until the courgette is soft
5. Add the crab and the spaghetti then season and stir it up so everything gets coated in the luscious lemony oil
6. Sprinkle in the fresh parsley and serve with the remaining half of the lemon cut into wedges

Of course if you're not keen on crab then why throw in a pack of prawns or even some bacon if you're feeling carnivorous. This dish would be perfect with a glass of minerally and refreshing Sauvignon Blanc enjoyed al fresco.

Bellisimo!

Going Greek With Greek Yogurt, Lime And Olive Oil Cake!

2011-05-20T23:23:00.000+01:00

We all know by now of my most recent foodie obsession with Greek Cuisine - and if you're not 100% satisfied that I am head of heels in love with this glorious Mediterranean nosh then you just wait til you read this blog post! This week's Greek food obsession led me to baking a cake. A Greek yogurt, lime and olive oil cake. This is a beauty of a recipe and incorporates not only particularly Greek ingredients but ingredients that I happen to love.

Now I know what you're thinking - 'did she just say yogurt? And olive oil?' Yes, yes I did - and yes I really did put them in a cake! The oil is basically a butter substitute and the yogurt - well that just for extra Greekiness...

I came across this recipe while hunting for something sweet and Greek to bake that didn't involve the usual Baklava-esque ingredients and hey presto I found this lovely little treat.

This is a moist, soft and sharp cake. It's perfect for snack or a summery dessert and it's very versatile - try it with lemon or berries for a change. I also whipped up a small bowl of lime sugar to sprinkle on top - trust me this stuff is heavenly! What makes it even better is it's super dooper easy peasey to make - another favourite trait of mine :)

Ingredients
- 190g plain flour
- 1 /2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 400g Greek yogurt
- zest of 1 lime
- 180g caster sugar
- juice of 1 lime
- 2 eggs
- 80ml olive oil

Lime sugar
- zest of 1 lime
- 3 tablespoons of caster sugar

1. Whack your oven on to 180 degrees/GM4
2. Grease up a baking dish - I used a 9 inch round cake tin
3. Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl (flour, salt, baking powder)
4. Mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl (yogurt, zest, sugar, juice, eggs, oil)
5. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix with a wooden spoon
6. Slop that mix into your pre-greased baking dish
7. Chuck the mix into the pre-heated oven and bake for 40 minutes until golden (you can also shove a knife into the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean you know it's done!)
8. To make the lime sugar, mix the lime zest into the sugar and sprinkle it all over your lovely yogurty cake when it's cooled down

Enjoy!

Get Your Lebanese Food Fix At Meza!

2011-04-25T21:24:00.000+01:00

Have you got a hankering for grilled meat? Do you crave plump and juicy olives? Do you love moping up creamy hummus with a warm flat bread? I know where you can get all of this delicious Lebanese fare plus fantastic and charming service for a very good price...Meza in Tooting Bec that's where!

I've recently become obsessed with Greek food - even trying my hand at a few Greek inspired recipes. However - to my delight - I discovered that "Greek" food is not just restricted to Greek restaurants, no sir-ee! The influence, maybe amalgamation is a better word, of Greek food can be tasted in all cuisines affected by the Ottoman Empire. It's history time kids! To sum it all up - a gang of Turkish sultans weren't having much success taking over West Asia so tried their luck in Europe. Lo and behold the Ottomans kicked up a bit of a fuss and managed to invade numerous European lands for various periods of time - including (conveniently) Greece and Lebanon. So to this day the many nations that fell to the Ottomans share many culinary similarities - lucky me :)

By chance I came across the recent Times Out review of Meza, a tiny Lebanese restaurant in Tooting Bec. Hazaar! baba ganoush, lamb skewers and okra - my obsession was set to continue...I booked a table pretty much straight after reading the review to see if this pocket sized eatery would satisfy my craze...

Meza is seriously a teeny tiny restaurant - there are literally 5 tables to sit at including the bar and booking is a must. This ferociously busy Lebanese eatery is manned by a waitress and 3 cooks, including owner and head chef Hikmat, all of whom don't stop even to catch their breath during the entire service. Perched at the bar we had by far the best seats in the house with a full view of the power house open kitchen to one side and to the other a wash of happy diners crammed around all 4 remaining tables.

The menu is split into three sections, cold mezze - a selection of small sharing dishes, similar to tapas. The second sections is dedicated to larger mains and thirdly hot mains from the grill. There are also several daily specials including sea bass and lamb cutlets.

Now I don't like to do things by halves when I eat out, especially at new places - I like to try a wide spectrum of what's available and this visit was no different, so we had...

Bemieh Bil Zeit (okra in tomatoes and coriander)

Moutabal (Babaganous - grilled aubergine dip)

Home made Hummus (blended chickpeas with tahini and lemon juice)

Grilled Kallaj (halloumi in Lebanese bread)

Falafel (fried ground chickpea balls)

Soujouk (lamb sausages with chilli and garlic)

Lamb cutlets (grilled on a bed of garlic and chilli fried potatoes)

All that washed down with copious amount of Almazo, Lebanese beer...

We were offered complimentary Baqlawa (sweet filo pastry filled with nuts and syrup)

Followed by refreshing and tummy-calming mint tea

I absolutely love the food at Meza. Each dish was assembled with finesse and came flying out of the kitchen with lightening speed. Everything was perfectly seasoned and all the flavours worked beautifully together. Despite Meza being completely fully booked and the matchbox sized restaurant being packed with diners, the super efficient Meza staff were also churning out take away orders and a constant stream of people were arriving to pick up their boxes of freshly made quality deliciousness.The atmosphere is bustling and busy which gives the entire dining experience an energetic buzz. Where ever you manage to get a seat in Meza you'll find yourself tapping your foot along to the sultry warblings of Fairuz, widely considered to be the most famous living singer in the Arab world.

What Meza lacks in space it makes up for in service. The charming owner Hikmat chats to each diner like a close friend and explains every dish with such foodie flare and passion for his homeland that made both The Man and me fall hopelessly in love with Lebanese cuisine. Meza is a relatively new restaurant but it made a big impression on me and this little gem is firmly on my list of top 5 restaurants in London.

Meza

34 Trinity Road

Tooting Bec

London

SW17 7RE

Tel: 07722 111299

Approx £20 per person including drinks, FYI it's cash only!

[BLOG BITES] Refreshing Fruit Smoothie!

2011-04-10T16:28:00.000+01:00

This was just something I knocked up after a gym session and it turned out to be a winner! So far we've been making them after each workout! It's healthy, it's tasty and it's refreshing! It's the perfect drink for summer - after a workout, relaxing in the garden, as a snack-drink...Perfect :)

Ingredients for 2 large glasses

- 1 mango, peeled
- 2 kiwis, peeled
- 2 big handfuls of frozen (or fresh!) raspberries
- 3 tablespoons of plain yogurt (I used fat free)
- 1 big squirt of honey (2 tablespoons)
- 1 big handful of ice cubes
- water to thin (optional)

1. Chuck everything in the blender and blitz until smooth.
2. Enjoy!

Yum!

[BLOG BITES] Spinach And Feta Scrolls - A.k.a Spanakopita With A Twist!

2011-04-08T10:12:00.000+01:00

This week I have mostly been obsessing over Greek food. I can't stop thinking about it. Moreish olives, garlicky textured hummus, slow cooked lamb shanks...*drool* So to further fuel my Greek food obsession I decided to make something Greek myself! Now this couldn't be anything too complicated as I have a track record for messing up new (and old) recipes...this had to be something simple, simple yet deliciously Greek. I came across several Greek food blogs, one of which (Souvlaki For The Soul - is my new daily read!) had a recipe for these fantastic and super easy Spanakopita scrolls. This was the recipe for me!

These scrumptious little rolls of cheesy goodness are perfect for a quick breakfast or even a midday snack. I paired a couple with a salad and had it for lunch. What's more these lovely little rolls are packed with spinach so I like to think that they contribute heavily to one of my five a day. Don't quote me on that.

Ingredients:

- 1 ready to roll/Jus Rol pack of shortcrust pastry (375g)

- 1 large bag of fresh spinach (approx 200g)

- 100g feta (half of one of those blocks you can buy in the supermaket)

- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

- 2 eggs - 1 for the filling and 1 for a pre-bake glazing

- salt and pepper for seasoning

- handful of chopped walnuts (or any nuts of your choice)

1. Crank your oven up to 200 degs/GM5 and roll out your pastry - this should roll out into approx a 30 x 20 cm rectangle

2. Blanch the spinach and drain, run under the cold tap and squeeze out all the excess liquid

3. Chuck the spinach, feta, parmesan, 1 egg, salt and pepper into a blender and blitz until you have a beautiful snot green paste

4. Smear the snot green paste across the pastry - leaving about a 2cm at one end for sealing to roll

5. Sprinkle the walnuts over the snot green paste

6. Tightly roll up the pastry into a log and slap a bit of beaten egg along the little 2 cm gap to seal the roll

7. Leave your pastry log in the fridge to chill for around 2 hours

8. Using a sharp and floured knife slice the log thickly - I did my slices with a thickness of about an inch

9. Throw the slices on a lined baking dish, leaving a good amount of space in between them and splosh more beaten egg around the slices and over the tops of them

10. Whack it all in the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown

Bon όρεξη !

Ping Pong Dim Sum - When East Meets West And Tastes Pretty Darn Good!

2011-04-05T14:03:00.000+01:00

I've been to one of the eclectic Ping Pong Dim Sum restaurants sprinkled across London just once before and it was quite a few years ago so I can't actually remember what I ate - I do remember eating a lot though and having a jolly good time, in true Little Welsh style of course! The Bloggers' dinner I atteneded at Ping Pong's Goodge Street branch last Tuesday night was no different and in fact I learnt quite a bit about this interesting and innovative eatery which I thought I'd share with you.

So what is Ping Pong? Ping Pong is a Dim Sum restaurant chain with twelve funky branches in London and several dotted across the globe in rather exotic holiday destinations such as Dubai, Sao Paolo and Washington. Ping Pong's culture is aimed at transforming the stereotypical view us Brits have of Chinese cuisine. Dim Sum is in fact one of the East's most celebrated cuisines and is eaten daily across Southern China, alas it's rarely understood or embraced properly in the West.

If you've never had Dim Sum before, or even heard of it, the best way to describe it is Asian tapas - it's small portions of food designed to be shared by diners - or as Ping Pong says 'Little steamed parcels of deliciousness' and quite right too. The dishes are typically made up of steamed or grilled dumplings, fluffy bready buns and rice noodle rolls all stuffed with aromatic meaty or seafood fillings. There are in fact hundreds of different types of Dim Sum dishes but that's a whole other blog post! So folks it ain't all about your chicken chow mein and your beef in black bean sauce any more, no sir-ee. Ping Pong has brought this fantastic cuisine to you and what's more - they've added a Western twist to it! Dim Sum is actually a breakfast food in China and is rarely eaten in the evenings, however in the UK we don't have time to chow down on a steamed prawn dumpling first thing in the morning, hell no! We tend to eat Dim Sum in the evenings. Ping Pong have built edgy and modern dining spaces and artfully assembled a fabulous menu so that Londoners can enjoy the delights of this Asian nosh at a more Westernised pace - in the evening and with alcohol!

If you've read my blogs then you'll know my connections with China - not only do I love my Dim Sum but I also happen to be marrying a Chinaman, affectionately referred to as The Man. The Man and I have eaten our way around some of UK's many Chinese restaurants as well as multiple Dim Sum eateries across Hong Kong, including the Michelin starred Tim Ho Wan. Basically we love our Asian nosh and when it comes to Dim Sum, we're quite the connoiseurs. Inviting both of us to sample some of Ping Pong's dishes frankly made my week and was perhaps quite a brave move on Ping Pong's part! Nevertheless the evening was a success and both The Man and I came away stuffed, happy and eager to return.

Check out what we got to scoff on when we met up with the delightful Ping Pong team...

From top to bottom:

Deep fried duck spring rolls with hoi sin sauce

Seafood dumpling

Beef dumpling

Pak choi vegetarian dumpling

Chicken and prawn dumpling

Honey glazed spare ribs

King prawn and scallop sticky rice

I absolutely adored the deep fried duck spring rolls - who wouldn't! As an avid lover of ribs The Man agreed that the honey glazed spare ribs were quite delicious and the meat was beautifully tender. I loved the flash of colour used with the vegetarian and chicken dumplings - all of which was natural colouring, the purple coming from cabbage and the snot green from pak choi, genius!

To wash it all down we sampled Ping Pong's Asian inspired cocktail, Chinese Sling, which was yummy! I do love a good cocktail and this incorporated all my favourite flavours - ginger, cherries and *ahem* alcohol!

Not in the mood for cocktails then why not check out their extensive wine list supplied by Enotria and features beauts such as Stormy Cape Shiraz and a scrumptious Peter Lehmann Riesling! To calm our stuffed bellies we were served a warming cup of jasmine pearl tea which is lovely to watch unfold under the steaming water.

I'm pretty impressed with Ping Pong's dim sum, everything is hand made daily with the freshest ingredients by Ping Pong's very own Dim Sum masters - even the sauces! You can check out the video on their homepage of How To Make Dim Sum. Ping Pong's modern take on Dim Sum is evident in their quirky touches such as the vibrant colours in the food, the chic Chinese style furniture and the very jazzed up Hong Kong-style ordering tally sheet. These elements of fun and character are visible everywhere in any Ping Pong restaurant. So put your crispy prawn cracker down for a moment and take a look at Ping Pong's dynamic menu which not only features their classic and most popular signature dishes - including those dreamy spare ribs...but also a whole host of guest dishes that changes every 2 months.

Listening to Fabrizio and Lesley describe their experiences of working for Ping Pong was more like hearing family stories than restaurant tales. The Ping Pong staff are a tight-knit bunch and everyone always looks like they love their work. The staff receive extensive training and the high standard of service is consistent across the chain. It really makes eating out worth it when both the standard of food and customer care are high - both of which every diner will experience at any of Ping Pong's restaurants.

I will always love Dim Sum and Ping Pong is a fantastic and exciting alternative to the usual dining fare of Chinatown and would also be perfect for a corporate or private party. A big thanks to the delightful Ping Pong team for inviting me to the Bloggers' Dinner, I had a blast!

Ping Pong Goodge Street

48 Newman Street

London

W1T 1QQ

Tel: 020 7291 3080

For details of their other locations please visit http://www.pingpongdimsum.com/locate.php

*Allow £25-30 a head including drinks to be well fed or check out their set menus for £35 for two!

The Crab At Bournemouth - A Hidden Gem By The Sea!

2011-03-24T09:12:00.000Z

The Crab Restaurant couldn't be any closer to Bournemouth beach if it tried. Just a pebble's (ha!) throw away from the pier, this fabulous seafood restaurant serves up delicious aquatic dishes with flawless service and sophistication. I genuinely do not have a bad word to say about this place - other than I despise the cartoon crab logo - the restaurant is absolutely superb in every aspect.

Bournemouth doesn't actually have that many seafood restaurants which is odd considering it's geographic location. The Crab clearly realised there was a niche in the market and jumped on it instantly, the result was a beautiful menu with the freshest local ingredients and top notch staff. The Man and I are big seafood enthusiasts and we'd been eyeing up this joint for a while now as we regularly pop to Bournemouth for weekend trips. One Saturday night our curiosity got the better of us (hooray!) and a table was booked.

I wasn't sure what to expect to be honest as The Crab is relatively newish and it's also part of the Park Central Hotel. The giant orange cartoon crab on the windows also heightened my suspicions...nevertheless I wanted good seafood!

We were warmly greeted by the staff and led to our table to the lovely music of The Crab's live piano player. We chose a bottle of Picpoul de Pinet from The Crab's extensive and well written wine menu which includes a good variety of styles and they serve a lot of them by the glass so you can sample different wines.

For starters we shared a platter of Dorset Rock Oysters

I looooove oysters and these were gorgeous and beautifully presented

We also shared a Soft Shell Crab

These were deep fried and served with aioli. I absolutely love soft shell crab as you get so much more flavour plus when you're at a restaurant called The Crab it would be rude not to have to have crab! This was served as deep fried cakes and did not disappoint, they weren't stingy at all on crab meat! A nice little touch was the cloth wrapped around the lemon half preventing any pips from coming out when squeezing - genius!

The Man chose a Tagine of Local Monkfish for his main

This was served with harissa couscous and roasted vegetables and was divine. I've only recently gotten into monkfish and I love the flavours it took on from the spices in the tagine. This was plated up at the table from the tagine hence the lack of presentation - which could have been more careful arranged.

I chose a fillet of John Dory

This was served with roasted Parmesan gnocchi and a Bearnaise sauce. I desperately wanted to lick the plate clean it was that tasty! The roasted gnocchi were AMAZING and dangerously moreish. The John Dory was cooked to perfection with a delicate crisp on the skin. Stunning.

For dessert the Man chose a Hot Chocolate Pot

Talk about naughty. This dessert was ridiculously naughty. The centre was hot chocolate lava and was served with cooling and sharp raspberry sorbet - a match made in heaven!

I chose a Fig Tart Tatin for my dessert

This was refreshing and really well cooked. The pastry was excellent and the figs had caramelised nicely. An all-round refreshing and light dessert.

Throughout the evening the service was genuinely superb. The staff were friendly and discreet, and the standard of service was what I would expect in that of a starred establishment. When quizzed on various aspects of the meal - a favourite little test of mine - they were able to answer with informative responses. There were pleasant little touches added to our dining experience throughout the evening such as the warm bread and selection of dips brought straight to the table after placing our order and a scrumptious amuse bouche of chilled tomato and basil soup.

My experience at The Crab was fantastic and I would love to go back to sample other dishes on their menu. I would 100% definitely recommend a visit to anyone who happens to be in the area or is thinking of a trip! It certainly aint the cheapest eatery in Bournemouth but it is definitely one of the best I have been too - and trust me, I've eaten my way around that town!

The Crab At Bournemouth

Exeter Road

Bournemouth

BH2 5AJ

Tel: 01202 203601

[BLOG BITES] Lunch Ideas: Chorizo and Veggie Quiche - And It's LOW FAT!

2011-03-17T07:03:00.000Z

Yes that's right y'all - a LOW FAT quiche which tastes just as good as the full fat versions, I'm super serious! If you don't believe me then you'll just have to give this a whirl and see for yourself!

I made my quiche in a 9 inch round baking tin and cut it into thirds, a thirds was a good size for one portion which I had with a bit of side salad.

Ingredients:
- short crust pastry - I just used the ready to roll stuff from the supermarket
- sliced chorizo - how ever many slices you like, I used 8 and chopped them up even more
- 1 small pot (250g) of low fat cottage cheese
- 2 eggs
- sprinkling of dried herbs - I used oregano and rosemary
- salt and pepper
- veggies - I used mushrooms, peas and courgettes
- splash of oil for frying

1. Unroll your pastry and put your round baking tin upside down on top of the pastry cut around it leaving an extra inch of space - this will give you enough extra pastry to cover the sides.
2. Chuck the pastry into the baking tin and smooth it down so it lies flat
3. Next up you've got to blind bake the pastry case - I forgot to buy baking beans so just did it without and it worked fine. I just used a fork and pricked the pastry all over and threw it in the oven for 10 mins on GM5/250*c.
4. While your pastry's cooking fry up your veggies in the oil and leave to cool
5. Mix your cottage cheese, eggs, herbs and salt and pepper together
6. Once the veggies are cool (you don't want to curdle the eggs in the cottage cheese mix!) add it to the cottage cheese
7. slop the cottage cheese and veggie mix into your pastry case and chuck it back into the oven for 40-45 mins.

Enjoy!

L'Absinthe - Fab Service, Average Food...

2011-03-15T21:17:00.000Z

I've tried to love L'Absinthe's food, I really have but alas I just can't bring myself to do it. The food, for me, is just average, quite hit and miss if I'm honest. I've been to the quaint little French bistro nestled in the heart of Primrose Hill's most poshest residential street three times now and left equally disappointed on all three occasions. The food for bland and uninspiring yet people rave about this rustic restaurant. But are people really raving about the mediocre food or are they blinded by the quirky up-down interior and the continental charm oozing from the friendly staff? Does this mean people are willing to pay for average or bad food if the smiles of the staff make up for it?

You can stumble across L'Absinthe while taking a leisurely stroll around the quiet and leafy domain of the rich and famous of North London, a.k.a Primrose Hill. On my first visit to L'Absinthe, myself and the rest of my group chose from the lunch menu and here's what we had:

French Onion Soup

This was about as hot as the sun but was rich, thick and oniony and topped with a cheese soaked slice of bread. The portion size was quite large and I couldn't quite finish my bucket of scorching soup. Being ridiculous hot meant I couldn't actually eat it for a while and had to wait for it to cool, in the mean time my colleagues had pretty much finished their starters and then had to wait for me. Hmm ambience killer.

Lentils with roasted chicken

The plate was overloaded with lentils and none of us managed to clean our plates. Everything was cooked nicely and seasoned well. The chicken was moist but plain. The lentils, again cooked and seasoned well but were also just very boring. It was all just a bit meh?

Now you should never judge a place on one particularly unexciting visit, I always believe you should aim to judge your restaurants properly on a second visit. You may be wondering why I went three times - well my colleagues just can't get enough of the place - and this is what confuses me - and so I've ended up here a whopping three (disappointing) times...

On my third visit we had:

Garlic sausage with Potato Salad

Cheap sliced garlic sausage with days old potatoes doused in oil. Bloody awful. Enough said.

Cream of Vegetable Soup

This was all cream and no vegetable. Thick, gloopy and dull. It was a pale and drab coloured soup which needed seasoning and general all-round flavour. The only member of the gang who ordered it wished she hadn't bothered - but to be honest the rest of weren't overly excited about our cheap and oily sausage alternative...Major starters fail.

Beef Burger, Chips and Mixed Salad

Where to start with this sorry state of a main course...ok firstly shouldn't a 'burger' include a burger bun? Isn't that the very point of ordering a burger - am I right? With said burger and bun one expects a tomato, a slice of onion and perhaps even a bit of cheese or relish...of this there was none. Secondly, the mixed salad - there's nothing appetising about a bit of raggedy lettuce drenched in L'Absinthe's mystery dressing. Thirdly, the burger patty itself was just wrong. It tasted like someone had literally opened a pack of minced beef and slapped it on the grill without even a whiff of salt or pepper or any form of seasoning. This lump of seriously plain meat left for a very disappointing main course. On the positive - the chips were alright.

Fillet of Sea bass, Carrot Puree and Lemon Oil

I'm always happy when I see sea bass on a menu so I didn't hesitate to order this dish! Alas this main dish also lacked any form of interest or skill and appeared to be leftovers strewn together. The fish albeit cooked well was in need of flavour and was swimming in sickly sweet lemon oil which was made worse by the cotton-candy-sugariness of the carrot puree. This dish simply did not work which was a shame to waste this well-prepared piece of fish.

My my my that's a lot of negatives...well despite all this L'Absinthe does have it's positive and whether these will outweigh it's negatives is up to you. The staff at L'Absinthe are enthusiastic, delightful and very welcoming and what's more they're all authentic and speak with that wonderfully continental drawl. I once mentioned to a waiter on one of my three trips that we were celebrating two birthdays and the staff brought out two absolutely stunning desserts - completely free of charge...

These didn't last long - chocolate mousse and tarte tatin...delicious...

The decor is quirky and cosy and on all three occasions we've been seated in a great location in the cute little eatery. The food is simple and rustic yet but unfortunately not consistent in quality and not hugely exciting as one thinks when reading the menu and expect to pay around £10-12 for a lunch menu. L'Absinthe has a delicious and very French wine list with just a sprinkling of New World gems, prices range from £13-85.

Now this post may offend a few die-hard L'Absinthe fans and indeed some of my work colleagues who rave about it. But I have to ask - what exactly are you raving about? Are you raving about the brilliant and comical service and pleasant ambiance or are you raving about the boring and badly cooked food...or both? In my opinion I would definitely rave about the service and the actual restaurant itself but not the food. So does good service make poor cuisine acceptable? I don't think it does. Just because someone smiles sweetly does not excuse inferior food.

So if you want fantastic waiting staff and aren't too fussed about what you're eating, head to L'Absinthe - just make sure you only order dessert!

L'Absinthe

40 Chalcot Road

London

NW1 8LS

Tel: 020 7483 4848

HAPPY ST DAVID'S DAY, Part 2: Cawl, A Traditional And Delicious Welsh Dinner!

2011-03-03T09:44:00.000Z

Howdy and Happy Saint David's Day again! So for Saint David's Day dinner tonight I made Cawl, the most traditional dish of Wales EVER. Cawl is a delicious and hearty stew usually made with Welsh lamb and leeks and other veggies. Recipes for Cawl can vary region to region but at the end of the day it's a simple yet flavoursome dish that anybody can make!

I threw my Cawl together for my Saint David's Day dinner and served Teisen Lap for dessert - you can check out that recipe and other St David's Day facts here!

If you want to make this simple yet super tasty lamb Cawl just follow this recipe:

Ingredients:
- Lamb - I used 2 small fillets of lamb neck as it's the best for stewing but you can use any cut.
- 1 medium sized potato, peeled and diced
- 1 pint of vegetable stock - I just used a cube
- extra water for topping up the stew - just have the kettle to hand
- veggies - I used carrots, celery and peas
- 2 bay leaves
- 2-3 sprigs of thyme - or just a sprinkling of dried thyme if you don't have the fresh stuff
- salt and pepper
- small splash of oil for frying

1. Whack that oven up to GM5/250*C.
2. In a saucepan fry the veggies - except the potatoes - in the oil on a low heat and cover for 5 mins.
3. Chuck in the sliced up lamb and fry that with the veggies for another 5 mins then season with the salt and pepper
4. Transfer the mix to a casserole/over proof dish and throw in the bay leaves and thyme
5. Cover the mix with the stock and put the lid on
6. Chuck the dish in the oven for 1.5 hours
7. Take out the dish and throw in the diced potato and top up with water from the kettle if necessary - if so then just use enough to cover everything.
8. Shove the lid back on and chuck it back in the oven again for half an hour or until the potato is
9. Serve with buttered bread and enjoy :)

Happy Saint David's Day!!

HAPPY ST DAVID'S DAY, Part 1: Celebrate With A Slice Of Teisen Lap Cake!

2011-03-01T21:06:00.000Z

Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant to y'all! Happy Saint David's Day! Today is none other than St David's Day! This auspicious day is a day of celebrating being Welsh. Welsh folk across the globe will walk with a bit more of a skip in their step and will smile just that little bit brighter on this day - it's true! I don't often celebrate St David's Day in Wales any more as I live in London so I make an extra effort to let others around me know what a special day it is (whether they want to know or not). Today I wore a red dress - the colour of Wales, bought daffodils for my desk (the national flower of Wales), cooked Cawl in preparation for dinner tonight (traditional Welsh stew - blog coming soon) and even made Teisen Lap (a Welsh fruit cake).

St David (or Dewi Sant as we affectionately call him) is the patron saint of Wales and his 'feast day' or Saints' Day falls on the 1st of March every year - this is the date the dude passed away in the year 589. Basically Saint David was a very famous teacher in the Celtic world back in the day and we celebrate his legacy as an emblem of our fabulous culture every year.

Fun Fact: Wales is the only country in the world with a dragon on it's flag!

On St David's Day we like to wear a leek (the national vegetable) or daffodil pinned to our tops and if you happen to be in the Motherland on this day you'll also see people wearing/kids being sent to school in traditional and highly trendy Welsh costumes...

oh the memories...

So to mark this rather cool day I decided to bake Teisen Lap - this is a moist spiced fruit cake. All Welsh cakes are pretty much a variant of a fruit cake but that's ok as I like fruit...and cake...follow the recipe below and you too can celebrate your Welshness - or wannabe Welshness...

Ingredients:
- 250g plain flour
- 130g butter - softened
- 140ml milk
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- sprinkling of dried fruit - sultanas, raisins, currents
- sprinkling of your favourite sweet spices - I used dried cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger
- 60g caster sugar
- pinch of salt
- 2 eggs

1. Crank your oven up to GM4/220*C to preheat it
2. Chuck all the above ingredients in to a bowl and mix it up
3. Pour the batter into a buttered cake tin - I used a round 9 inch tin
4. Bake for 40 minutes - then stick a knife into the middle and if it comes out clean/with no cake batter on it then it's cooked!

Enjoy and Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant!

Check Out My Recipe In The Vitalife Green Tea E-Cookbook!

2011-02-26T16:34:00.000Z

That's right folks I've gone and got one of my recipes published in a cookbook - not just any old cookbook though, the Vitalife Green Tea E-Cookbook!

So what's matcha and what's all this fuss about?? Well for centuries, matcha green tea has been known for its energy-boosting, mind-focusing, and metabolism-fuelling properties. Popular in Japan and North America, now Vitalife brings this phenomenally versatile and extraordinarily healthy tea to the UK. We're all aware of the health benefits of standard green tea – it reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, and even acts as a natural mood enhancer.With matcha you ingest the whole tea leaf, as opposed to the brewed water, which means it delivers everything that green tea delivers – but with a much higher potency

(Picture courtesy of www.vitalifematcha.com)

So now you're interested right?! Well you can chuck a couple of spoonfuls of matcha in pretty much anything and Vitalife have very kindly put together a collection of recipes (including mine!) which were entered into the Matcha Madness competion run by Catty.

Bet you want to get your hands on that cookbook now dontcha! Well you can and it's free - all you have to do is go to http://www.vitalifematcha.com/ and download it! Hey Presto! The book includes scumptious recipes such as Matcha Poached Chicken With Noodles, Matcha Macaroons With Chocolate Ganache or you can give my recipe a go - Matcha Creme Brulee!

So what are you waiting for, download it now!

Lamberts - Perfect For Any Day Of The Week...

2011-02-25T20:37:00.000Z

I love eating out on Valentines' Day - I like having posh food that I wouldn't be able to cook myself and I also like being able to spend time with my husband-to-be instead of one of us having to slave over a hot stove. Many people are quite skeptical about eating out on such a day due to the fiasco of packed restaurants and overpriced set menus. However there's something to be said for a restaurant that can cope with the mania sparked by a consistently full house, the constant incoming flow of hungry couples anticipating the perfect and most romantic dinner possible. There's something even better to be said for a restaurant that produces unfailingly superior nosh and excellent service throughout all of the aforementioned madness that is Valentines' Day. This can all be said for Lamberts in Balham.

I've actually visited Lamberts before and you can read my previous post on my visit here. I knew this place was good, it's a hidden gem of South London that I love to recommend. Located on the busy Balham High Road, the restaurant itself is set back away from the hustle and bustle and a tranquil haven has been created by Mr Lambert and his team. On this bitterly chilly February eve I dived in and was immediately and warmly greeted by the staff, coat taken, seated and wine menu in hand. That's the kind of swift service I like.

Lamberts offered not just a Valentines' evening menu but also a Valentines' breakfast and other weekend options. This was rather clever and I've never seen a Valentines' breakfast menu offered before - and a delicious looking one at that so full marks to the Lamberts' team for ingenuity. We opted for the evening meal on the actual day and had a choice of £40 per person for a 3 course meal or for £70 for the same menu with a selection of wine for each course. I had a craving for a delicious looking bottle of Picpoul de Pinet on the menu so we chose the non-wine menu.

Now on to the most important bit - the food! The menu consisted of an appetiser, a choice from 2 starters, a choice from 2 mains, a palate cleaner and a large dessert to share.

The Appetiser...

Cream of cauliflower soup with a nutmeg and Hafod cheese gourgère

This was the most heavely bowl of creamy soup and managed to be full of flavour yet light as a feather. The gougère was a beautiful little touch - good choice with cheese of course! - and I could have eaten about 10 of them!

The Starters...

Seared wild venison loin with roasted beetroot and a port reduction

I chose this starter and it was a delight, the venison was soft and rare and the beetroot added a gorgeous stroke of purple across a very winter-colour inspired dish.

Poached langoustines with an orange and champagne foam.

This was The Man's starter. The langoustines were juicy and firm and the orange and champagne foam was delicious if not a little too sweet for my liking but The Man seemed happy. This creative dish will be a stunning dish for summer as the flavours were light, exotic and interesting.

The Mains...

Roast halibut with potato and celeriac terrine, kale and a mustard butter sauce

This. Was. Outstanding. I loved every aspect of this main dish. The fish was cooked to perfection, the potato and celeriac terrine was well seasoned and the sauce was subtle yet delicious. Simply Divine.

Duck breast, confit leg with caramelised chicory and black cherry puree

Again Lamberts achieved perfection with The Man's main. The meat was fantastic - tender and packed with flavour. The black cherry puree was a lovely touch and worked tremendously. I could have licked the plate clean if The Man had left any!

The Palate Cleanser...

Sweet palate cleanser of lemon and lime sorbet

The refreshing flavours of the sorbet definitely cleared the path for the final course - the one I had been looking forward to the most...

The Dessert...

A trio of Montezuma chocolate puddings to share

This chocoholic's delight included a sharp dark chocolate tart, a fluffy milk chocolate mousse and a light and creamy scoop of white chocolate ice cream. The dark chocolate tart was to die for and the white chocolate ice cream actually tasted of white chocolate - I often find restaurants seem to think that white chocolate means lots of vanilla, Lamberts' white chocolate ice cream tasted like the chef had melted a big bar of the stuff into an ice cream maker...sumptuous...

What. A. Meal. It got better and better with each course. Each dish was cooked and presented with inventive and unfussy flair. The ingredients are locally sourced where possible from a quality suppliers list and dishes are assembled masterfully under the watchful eye of the gregarious Joe Lambert. As always the staff are fantastic - unobtrusive, attentive and friendly. They know their stuff and are willing to give excellent wine and food recommendations at the drop of a hat. The contemporary decor is warming and stylish with soft brown leather seating and chocolate wood tables. The lighting is atmospheric and sophisticated and the perfect dining establishment not just for Valentines' Day but for any day of the week. I can't wait for my next visit!

Lamberts
2 Station Parade
London
SW12 9AZ
Tel: 020 8675 2233

Approx price: 3 courses for £20 mid-week menu...bloody bargain!

[BLOG BITES] Lunch Ideas: Minty Lamb Pittas With Lime And Coriander Dressing

2011-02-25T09:24:00.000Z

I decided to get a bit more funky with my packed lunches and have been pooling all my creative juices and have come up with a few more interesting luncheon ideas, the first of which was this rather delicious minty lamb pittas with a lime and coriander dressing....

Ingredients for 2 pittas (I make both mine and my fiance's lunch - I'm not a greedy guts eating 2 pittas...although I totally could!):

Lamb patties:

- 150g minced lamb

- 1 egg

- 100g breadcrumbs - I just bought a pack

- handful of chopped mint

- sprinkling of chilli flakes

- salt and pepper for seasoning

Dressing:

- 1 small pot of natural yoghurt - I used Greek 0% fat

- handful of chopped coriander

- juice of 1 lime

And of course you will need pitta bread!

1. Mix all the lamb ingredients up in a bowl - I used my hands and just squigged it all together

2. Shape your lamb mix into little balls then flatten into patties and chuck on to a lined baking tray - I managed to get 8 patties out of my mix (some for lunch and some for the freezer).

3. Bake your patties for 10 minutes each side in a pre-heated oven at GM5/250*c

4. Mix all your dressing ingredients together...easy peasy!

5. Assemble your pitta - slather on the dressing, stuff with a couple of patties and hey presto there's your lunch.

Enjoy!

A Lovely Lunch At Launceston Place...

2011-02-19T12:32:00.000Z

The quirky Launceston Place restaurant is situated in magnificent and gaspingly posh South Kensington (or SoKen for the trendies), London and its contemporary British menu seemed perfect for the birthday occasion of the day. Head chef Tristan Welch has worked hard at transforming the favourite lunching place of the late Princess Di into a modern and indeed statement dining experience. The serious winter paintings adorning the harsh charcoal walls focus diners' attentions to Welch's carefully constructed and refined menu allowing the best of British produce to shine.

So down to the nitty gritty - what did we eat?

While perusing menus we were brought bundles of handmade crisps - which the waiter called 'canapes' but they were blatantly crisps...subtly flavoured and tied together with a cute Launceston Place ribbon.

Next up was a loaf of warm homemade bread and butter and a jar of pickled herring. The herring was a nice accompaniment to the lightly salted creamy butter - perched on a a very chic pebble!

For starters two of us chose soft boiled duck egg on toast with black truffle sauce and shavings. This was scrumptious - especially as I'm a huge fan of black truffle, I just love the luxuriously earthy and pungent flavour it brings to a dish.

The other starter adorning our table was pumpkin soup with sage and potato dumpling and Spenwood cheese. The soup was poured into the bowl from a copper pot directly at the table, a nice little touch emphasising the freshness of the cooking and ingredients used. The soup was rich and hearty and perfect for the chilly weather of the day.

Next up for mains, two of us had roast middle white pork, hazelnut mash, apple compote. The pork was smokey and if I have to be nit-picky on the verge of being over done, but only slightly and not enough to put me off gobbling the whole thing up. The hazelnut mash was dreamy - light, creamy and fluffy and seasoned with the rich accent of the toasted hazelnuts. A subtle cider sauce had been drizzled across the pork which heightened the classic flavour of the meat with the apple compote. Beautiful.

The other main chosen was cod, creamed spinach, sea buckhorn berry and anchovy sauce. The cod was cooked to perfection and the creamed spinach offered a buttery bed of soft wilted spinach which cushioned the delicate fish. The anchovy sauce was a an unexpected success as it added depth and not saltiness - as predicted!

Next up was a little palate cleanser of lemon and lime compote - this could have easily have been a dessert and was quite large for a palate cleanser but absolutely heavenly. The refreshing citrus notes really woke up our taste buds and prepared us for the next course.

By this point we were quite stuffed. Despite the small portion sizes in fine dining establishments such as Launceston Place, you must remember the richness of the food is exceedingly filling - that's the killer! Nevertheless we soldiered on.

Two of us chose a dessert of treacle tart with creme fraiche ice-cream. Despite treacle tart normally being a heavy and hearty dessert this was light and beautifully sweet and housed in a thin and crispy pastry casing. The creme fraiche ice cream was an excellent touch and added a fluffy sourness to the sugary tart.

The other dessert to grace our plates was a baked egg custard with rhubarb and crumble. This hot pink dessert was the epitome of fun and pretty treats and added sophistication to the childhood memories of such a classic British pudding. The crumble was crisp and the custard delicate and soft, with a creme brulee texture. The stream of fresh vanilla running through the gooey goodness only elevated its elegance.

As it was a birthday occassion, the wonderful staff very kindly brought out a red velvet cupcake complete with candle on a cake stand. We were beyond stuffed by this point so the cupcake was wrapped up in a foil swan for us to takeaway.

Service is seamless and friendly, the staff were consistently attententive without being obtrusive, plates and cutlery were cleared without intrusion and the attention to detail was incredible. Former trader, Mickey Narea, is the sommelier for Launceston Place and offered wine recommendations for our meal - we chose a delicious Marsanne Viognier from Domaine Luch de lo Cessane. This worked nicely as it wasn't too heavy - this was lunchtime after all - but it did provide enough body and fruitiness for our interesting dishes.

As previously mentioned the walls and paintings are serious on first inspection but that doesn't mean to say that this cannot be cosy and romantic. In fact it proved to be quite the opposite and Launceston Place would indeed be the perfect spot for not just friendly lunch but also a lovers' dinner. The interior decor sets the mood for any occassion.

The food at Launceston Place is bordering on perfection. Bold interior decor hints at a stern and masculine menu whereas in truth the Welch's creations are delicate, gentle and creative. The immaculate presentation of the dishes matched the quality of the individual ingredients and the variety of elements used to present the different courses - wooden boards, jars and pebbles - gave the food a quirky streak breaking the mould of serious fine dining. Welch's simplistic cooking style allows the diners to experience the purity of the flavours and enjoy good British produce at its best.

And of course, I had to meet the man himself...

Mama Selby's Unique And Yummy Version of Kedgeree

2011-02-16T10:01:00.000Z

Every now and then I ask my mum to whip up some food from my childhood. Mama Selby makes the culinary classics but likes to put her own unique spin on them like her famous pizza - on a tortilla, or her pasta - with butter...Her cooking has been 'experimental' over the years but it's always been tasty and there's one particular speciality of hers that I had a craving for the last time we visited Wales and that's Mama Selby's Kedgeree.

Kedgeree is one of many famed dishes of Scotland and I like it for many reasons - one is that it incorporates some of my favourite ingredients (rice and fish) and two is because it involves watching my Anti-Pescatarian parents eat fish - seriously, even a fish finger evokes a glare of disgust from these two!

Now the reason Mama Selby's Kedgeree is unique is because she leaves out what many some may consider to be the key ingredient - I say pish posh to key ingredients, and so did Mama Selby. Her version does not include curry powder...Scotland just gasped in disbelief. Apparently when I was seriously young I didn't like curry (I know, WTF?!!) so my mum opted to leave it out and hey presto a new and more delicious version of the traditional dish was born! I've always had Mama Selby's Kedgeree without curry powder ever since and that's because it works, it doesn't need the curry, it's perfectly tasty without it.

So if you'd like to give Mama Selby's super duper Kedgeree a go there here are the ingredients and the recipe:

- Smoked cod or haddock 5 - 6 oz per person
- 1 hardboiled egg per person - chopped
- 50 g uncooked rice per person
- 1 onion - diced
- Big handful of frozen peas
- A few dollops of butter

1. Put the rice onto cook.
2. Grill the fish with a dollop of butter whilst at the same time cooking the diced onions - any juice left over from the fish put in with the onions.
3. Add the peas to the onions and cook through
4. Once the fish is cooked shred it, removing any bones as you go.
5. Throw the shredded fish into a bowl along with the cooked onions, peas cooked rice and boiled eggs and mix well.
6. Spread out the mix in a baking dish or grill pan and dot the dollops of butter over it
7. Stick it under the grill and cook through, stirring occasionally, for around 15 minuntes

I like to put a squirt of soy sauce on mine, Papa Selby quite likes Worcestershire sauce but there's endless possibilities - chilli sauce? ketchup (yes ketchup!)?

Enjoy your Welsh version of the traditional Scottish dish!

She looks sweet but you don't wanna mess with this Mama!

How To Make Papa Selby's Infamous Vampire Killing Garlic Bread...

2011-02-06T16:03:00.000Z

Every time The Man and I head back to the (my) Motherland that is Wales, my mum always asks beforehand if there's anything in particular we want to eat. There's always a few requests like - can you get me a packet of Welsh cakes and can you make some sort of cake and can you get that blackcurrant squash that I like. There's always one item that I don't need to mention as my mum and I have a silent understanding that I need my dad's incredible garlic bread.

There's no other way to put this - Papa Selby makes the best garlic bread there ever was! He doesn't hold back on garlic, he doesn't hold back on butter but what's more important is that he doesn't hold back on flavour!

So if you'd like to ward off the cast of Twilight then just follow Papa Selby's recipe:

- 1 french stick/long baguette - cut in half length ways
- 230g butter - softened
- 1 large bulb garlic - a whole bulb people, not those piddly little cloves within the bulb!*
- oregano - a copious amount
- parsley - a quarter of the copious amount of oregano
- salt to taste

*Papa Selby uses super strength Isle of White garlic he grew himself and it's pretty fiery stuff so if you're just using regular shop bought stuff then you should increase the number of bulbage to match the garliciness...

Papa Selby uses a simple yet effective technique for creating his masterpiece:
1. Smash it all up in a bowl
2. Spread it all on the bread
3. Wrap it in foil and throw it into the middle of the oven for 30 minutes at GM5

The Man goes potty for his future father-in-law's garlicy monstrosity and in fact Papa Selby is well respected and recognised as the Garlic connoisseur in my family and indeed Hometown. Known as The Garlic Man, he has attended many a garlic show and convention even travelling to the far away shores of California to attend the Gilroy Garlic Festival where he sampled garlic ice cream and garlic toffee...

This garlic bread recipe will knock your socks off and next time you're putting together a little party spread or just want to wow your dinner guests with something extra, make Papa Selby's garlic bread - you'll knock their socks off too.

Gerrouta my kitchen!

The Thailand Diaries, Part 4: How To Travel Around Thailand...

2011-01-31T08:47:00.000Z

I know this is a food blog but I'm just going to do a random non-related food blog today about all the modes of transport available in Thailand - and to be fair I used these various means of transport to get to food so in the scheme of things it is a food blog post...sort of...So this blog post will show you how to avoid the regular and boring planes/trains/buses and show you

How To Travel Around Thailand....

Boat

Metro

Bamboo raft

Elephant

Tuk-tuk

Kayak

The Thailand Diaries, Part 3: Phi Phi Island - Paradise Around Every Corner...

2011-01-23T17:13:00.000Z

Phi Phi Island or Ko Phi Phi Don is a small but popular paradise island in Krabi Province, Southern Thailand. Ko Phi Phi Leh is a smaller and even more popular island to the south of Phi Phi Island where parts of the movie "The Beach" were filmed. There are many other neighbouring islands such as Bamboo Island and Mosquito Island.

Most of the developed area of Phi Phi Island is situated in and around Ton Sai Village and this is where the majority of backpackers and tourists tend to stay - hence it's quite heavily Westernised with plenty of burger bars and pubs selling English breakfasts. Phi Phi Island was devastated by the Tsunami of 2004 and nearly all of the island's infrastructure was wiped out. Despite this tragedy redevelopment has been swift and there are no signs of the devastation caused over 7 years ago. The local islanders are predominantly Muslim and like their cats so you'll find hundreds of furry felines sprawled out over shop floors and pavements enjoying the sunshine and the pedestrian attention. The climate for the entire region is tropical and hot but when it rains, it really rains.

Phi Phi Island, including its surrounding smaller islands, is considered to be one of the most naturally beautiful islands in the world. Visitors can admire the stunning mountain ranges, pristine beaches, abundance of corals and amazing marine life. Pre-The Beach visitors only the most adventurous travelers visited the island and paid around 50-100THB a night for basic accommodation. Nowadays however the island has turned into a must-see and major destination for travelers to Thailand who can expect to pay around 2000-3000THB a night for very basic accommodation. The island has plenty of nightlife and a big party scene so if that isn't your cup of tea then perhaps you're better off staying on Long Beach, a 10 minute boat ride away from Ton Sai.

We did a full day boat tour on New Years' Eve and visited 6 different bays and beaches including Maya Bay, the main set for The Beach. The tour included snorkeling and kayaking kit, a packed lunch and unlimited tea and coffee. We paid 500THB each, approximately £8, and it was money well spent as we had a fantastic day out and saw some of the most secluded and spectacular beaches on the planet. You can find these tours everywhere on the island as every other shop is a tour shop.

More importantly I'm sure you all want to know what you can eat on Phi Phi Island - well take a look at some of this fare...

Pad thai

Green curry soup

Steamed fish in lime sauce

Don't judge me...

I highly recommend a trip to Phi Phi Island - you don't even have to stay there, there are many day trips from mainland Krabi and Phuket.

The Thailand Diaries, Part 2: Chiang Mai - A Perfect Proposal...

2011-01-23T10:17:00.000Z

Chiang Mai is the largest city in Northern Thailand and we decided to fly up there from Bangkok (check out AirAsia for cheap flights) as we'd read that it's less touristy and more cultural - a.k.a 'real Thailand'. The weather in Chiang Mai is more humid - so hot and sticky - as opposed to the dry heat further South so pack light linens.

Chiang Mai, known as the 'Rose of the North' is the hub Northern Thailand and is the fifth largest city in the Kingdom. Known for it's beautiful mountains and lush countryside, it is much greener and quieter than Bangkok. Chiang Mai is a lot cheaper than the capital so you'll be pleasantly surprised that your Thai Baht will definitely go further.

Since we staying in Chiang Mai over Christmas we decided to reserve a table on Christmas Eve dinner at the renowned Le Grand Lanna, a fabulous tree top Thai restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Dharan Dhevi, a 60 acre luxury resort. We arrived early so we could take a wander around the grounds and have a few cheeky drinks at the resort's Horn Bar. As it was Christmas the bar staff had tried to create a snowy effect so filled the entire bar with tiny white polystyrene balls - clever chappies!

Oh snow they didn't!

After a few delicious cocktails it was time to head over to the restaurant! The Man pulled me aside to a quiet little spot under a tree and low and behold he proposed! It was the perfect setting, stars were in the sky and crickets were chirping, it was lovely. The Man done good.

After all the excitement it was time for dinner - but not before feeding some random elephants along the way...

Check out the Blonde giving me the evil eye!

Time for dinner! Le Grand Lanna is modeled on a Lanna nobleman's home and is entirely built of old Thai teak and raised on stilts. The evening meal was candlelit with flaming torches and accompanied by traditional Thai music and dancers - who were stunningly gorgeous in their costumes.

So what did we eat I hear you cry! Well for starters we had a platter of raw Norwegian salmon with a mint and spicy lime dressing, deep-fried marinated prawns with black pepper rolls, fresh pomelo salad with coconut sauce and a grilled scallop with chili jam....YUM!

The starter was perfect - the scallop juicy, the salmon dressing crisp and refreshing and the prawns succulent and sweet!

For soup we had a spicy river prawn soup with fresh herbs and straw mushrooms - this tasted of Thailand in a bowl!

This soup incorporated all the flavours associated with this tropical country - lemon grass, juicy seafood, herby Thai basil and hot chili!

For mains we had a platter of deep-fried tiger prawn with black pepper, steamed snow fish with spicy lime sauce, grilled Australian beef with Panaeng curry sauce, stir-fried asparagus with shiitake mushrooms and served with steam organic jasmine and wild rice.

The beef was sensational - cooked medium rare and in a delicious coconuty curry sauce and the fish was superbly delicate and fresh in it's citrus sauce.

Everything was perfect, we were dining by candle light, sipping on scrumptious Bellini's and admiring the tropical garden surrounding the tree top terrace. Dessert time! For dessert we had a plate of sweet sticky rice with fresh mango, ginger sherbet and a selection of fresh fruits.

I love sweet sticky rice so this dessert was well suited to me. The ginger sorbet tasted like ginger biscuits and was a delicious accompaniment to the chilled exotic fruits.

To end the perfect night we released a Thai wishing lantern into the night sky

The food at Le Grand Lanna was absolutely sublime, the entertainment was beautiful, the staff are amazing and very attentive. Even if you don't visit the restaurant you must visit the resort - we were shown around on a golf buggie by a member of staff who very kindly explained the different kinds of accommodation available and the various attractions onsite, including a working rice paddy and several infinity pools!

So what else can you do when you visit Chiang Mai...

Cuddle some tigers

We visited Tiger Kingdom on Christmas day and opted to enter four enclosures of tigers - each with a different age group, from 2-5 months to 22 months old. You only get 15 minutes in each enclosure but once inside you're instructed to lounge upon this beautiful cats, touching their paws, holding their tails, patting their bellies and cuddling them...it's nerve-wrecking to say the least! These cats sleep for around 18 hours a day due to the intense heat and so are quite placid enabling visitors to enter the enclosures with minimal risk of being turned into cat food.

Watch Thai boxing

This was exactly how we imagined it to be - a dingy, rickety old warehouse filled half with tourists and half with anxious Thais all huddled around a large sweaty ring...it was BRILLIANT! With a constant stream of Chang beer you can enjoy at least 8-10 matches of different age and weight categories each performing the Thai dance ritual prior to a match plus plenty of knock-outs, bloody noses and screaming coaches...BRILLIANT! Top tip: We organised our trip to the stadium through our hotel and it was about £12 each for ring side seats so check out what your hotel can organise for you.

Visit Doi Suthep temple

Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep is a Buddhist temple located on top of Doi Suthep mountain and no trip to Chiang Mai would be complete with a visit to this blinged out sacred site. The spectacular golden temple can be seen from any point within Chiang Mai city and has been a holy place for more than 1200 years. Top tip: Hike up the gazillion steps to the temple and enjoy a nice smooth cable car ride back down.

Sort your feet out at a fish foot spa

This is seriously a strange experience that MUST be done! You simply dunk your feet into a tank full of Garra Rufa fish and allow them to nibble away! Garra Rufa fish are known for their healing benefits and are actually toothless which means when they nibble it's actually more like a tickle! This 'treatment' removes excess dead skin, promotes blood circulation and leaves your feet feeling super smooth - as well as being absolutely hilarious and quite freaky! Top tip: these fish spas are located everywhere so you won't have to search for long!

Ride an elephant

Yes that's right - you can ride elephants in numerous places across Thailand however it's definitely more fun in Chiang Mai as the elephants take you through thick jungle and wade through rivers. They are absolutely ginormous but still manage to be graceful and peaceful animals. Top tip: you can buy bunches of bananas and sugar canes everywhere inside elephant sanctuaries so buy them and feed your new wrinkly friends as a thank you for lugging you around in the jungle!

River rafting anyone?

If you've seen how I drive a car you wouldn't feel safe right now...

Why not hope on a few bits of bamboo and raft your way down a river? Enough said.

See gorgeous fauna and flora

There are several butterfly and orchid farms in Chiang Mai but the best can be found in the Mae Sa Valley. These farms run special breeding programmes for many of Thailand's wild species of beautiful orchids and butterflies which are fast becoming endangered.

Visit a hill tribe

The best place to see these mysterious residents of Thailand is Mae Sai, located on the border between Thailand and Myanmar, where hill tribes have been settled for hundreds of years. We visited the Long Neck Karen tribe where women put brass rings around their neck for every year of their life, a tradition starting at the young age of 5 or 6 years old. Tribes often sell handmade scarves and silverware to tourists to make money for minimal living expenses. Top tip: Visiting these tribes is quite an experience and I recommend that you be very respectful and try not to haggle with them over goods and please ask for permission before taking photos.

Basically you can pretty much do anything and everything in Chiang Mai, it's an amazing place and I loved it, it's where I got engaged and it'll always be a very special place for me. Check out flight prices with AirAsia and book yourself into a real Thai hotel to enjoy the 'Rose of the North'.

The Thailand Diaries, Part 1: Bangkok - The Best Street Food In Thailand!

2011-01-22T10:59:00.000Z

Bangkok, meaning "City of Angels", is not only the capital city but also the largest urban area in the whole of Thailand. Hundreds of thousands of tourists pass through this crazy city on their way to other parts of the country. Bangkok is littered with little street food markets all churning out delicious dishes of food to the constant stream of hungry diners. Hot steaming bowls of noodle soups of every variety are the preferred choice of quick snack in Bangkok as well as hearty bowls of rice and steamed chicken - if you see something that looks interesting on someone else's plate just point, that's the easiest way to try some of fantastic food Bangkok has to offer! Here's a few pictures of what we munched on...

Noodle soup

More noodle soup!

Chicken and rice with a fiery chilli sauce

Fresh coconut juice available everywhere for around 20THB

Noodles cooked in every style

Everything on a stick!

Apart from all the amazing food there's also a tonne of other stuff to do and see in this sprawling city...

The Grand Palace

Elizabeth Duke Gold eat your heart out!

This has been the official residence of the Kings of Thailand since the 18th century and is quite possibly the most blinged-out palace ever built. Gold and shiny stones are everywhere and glisten brightly in the sunshine. Top tip: bring your sunglasses and dress respectfully (covering legs and shoulders).

Chatuchak Weekend Market

Apparently there was a map available...somewhere...

Also known as JJ's market or as I referred to it 'Jackedy-Jack' - seemed to work with the taxi drivers...is opened on weekends only and is definitely the biggest market on the planet covering a whopping 35 acres. This incredible maze of market stalls sells just about everything you could ever want from the usual tourist tack to up market Thai furniture, clothes, shoes, jewellery, electronics, bags, dried fish, crockery - and the list goes on and on and on! You could seriously spend an entire day here and probably not get around it all. To keep you going there are endless little cafes and bars pocketed in between all the hustle and bustle. The market is accessible by both Skytrain (Mo Chit) and metro (Chatuchak Park) or if you're lazy just take a cab! Top tip: Brush up on your haggling skills and make sure you go to the loo at the metro station because they're pretty clean and once you're inside the market there won't be a toilet for quite some time!

Chinatown

Loads of Southern Chinese folk relocated in Thailand during the 1700s bringing their culture, traditions and food with them. They set up camp across a few large streets in Bangkok and so it became Chinatown! This area is a colourful chaotic medley of fantastic restaurants and street food vendors, market stalls and shops - you could easily forget you were in the Thai capital! Top tip: Flag down a tuk-tuk and get driven into the thick of it!

Bangkok really has a lot to offer both as a cultural hotspot and a bustling metropolitan and is a great place to spend a few days in at either end of your Thailand trip.

The Hong Kong Diaries, Part 4: The Best Seafood Restaurant Can Be Found On Lamma Island...

2011-01-22T09:35:00.000Z

This is the third time we've been to this seafood restaurant located in Sok Kwu Wan, the largest fishing farm in Hong Kong, and each time it has got consistently better. Rainbow Seafood restaurant opened in 1984 as a small family run 40 seater restaurant. Now over two decades later it has become the largest restaurant on the island seating over 1000 diners and has a shining reputation throughout the whole of Hong Kong.

Rainbow has it's own express boat service running back and forth from Sok Kwu Wan to Central and Tsim Tsha Tsui public piers - which is a complimentary service for diners. This 40 minute trip takes you right into the local restaurant strip - much of which is dominated by Rainbow with a splattering of other less attractive seafood restaurants in between. Rainbow passengers are warmly greeted by staff and led to an available table.

At the front of the restaurant is the tank of fresh seafood where you can choose what you'd like and how you'd like it cooked from from Rainbow's impressive menu.

Spoilt for choice!

Here's what we chose...

Steamed lobster in garlic butter sauce

Deep fried salt and pepper squillas - the waitress cut them up before I could get a photo of them whole...

Award winning honey and pepper prawns

Clams with garlic and vermicelli noodles

Sweet and sour pork - just for a change!

I highly recommend you visit Rainbow Seafood restaurant on Lamma Island - you can even take a boat over to the other side of the island during the day and hike across it, see the views and then reward yourself with a fantastic meal at Rainbow before taking their express boat back!

Rainbow Seafood Restaurant

23-25 First Street
Sok Kwu Wan
Lamma Island
Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 2982 8100

The Hong Kong Diaries, Part 3: Tim Ho Wan - the cheapest Michelin star dim sum you'll ever have!

2011-01-16T09:22:00.000Z

I'm not really good at queuing, despite my solid British genes queuing has never been a forte of mine. I'm a very impatient person and especially so when it comes to food - I hate waiting for food...This trait of mine makes it all the more difficult to understand why we decided to wait for 3 hours for dim sum. Well the truth is it's not any old dim sum - it's actually a world famous restaurant and I can guarantee that a visit to this place is on a many foodies' must-visit list!

Former dim sum master at Hong Kong's prestigious Four Seasons Hotel, Mak Pui Gor, is the man behind Tim Ho Wan. Mak decided after building up experience working at some of Hong Kong's most acclaimed Michelin star restaurants to branch out on his own and so Tim Ho Wan was born. Since opening, Tim Ho Wan has had quite a following due to it's cheap prices and since receiving it's first Michelin star the restaurant's following has rocketed - but it's prices remain the same. This hole-in-the-wall style dim sum restaurant has featured in countless reviews as serving consistently impressive food and has proved so popular that Mak Pui Gor has actually opened a second branch in Sham Shui Po.

So was it really as good as I'd heard? We arrived around 9.30am and joined a long snaking queue which turned out to be the queue just to get your seating ticket - not the actually queue to get in the place. After a 20 minute queue we got our ticket and were told it would be about a 45 minute wait. That's not bad I thought, however 45 minutes turned into an hour, then an hour and a half, then two hours, then two and a half hours...I wanted to leave but I couldn't, we were so close and I couldn't leave Hong Kong without sampling some of this supposedly God-sent cuisine! The restaurant itself is about the size of a matchbox, blink and you'll miss it. Due to size queuers must cluster outside, peering in at the diners enjoying their expertly crafted dim sum. A large gathering had formed outside at around the hour and a half mark and each time a waitress emerged we all held our breath in hope and anticipation. Each time a ticket number was announced a happy couple bounded forward beaming with relief and smugness while the rest of us sighed and returned back to our waiting positions.

At 12.45 our ticket number was barked in Cantonese and we jumped to attention and lept forward. We were led through the restaurant (which took all of 10 seconds as it's so small) to a tiny table right at the back in front of the kitchen counter and next to the waitresses' supply corner. The table was cramped and I was sat on a rickety old stool with my back flat against a shelving unit. Did I care - heck no, we were in and that's all that mattered! We started ordering from the interestingly translated dim sum menu and within minutes the food started arriving.

Mixed meat sticky rice

Prawn cheung fun (rice rolls)

Malaysian sponge cake

Chicken feet

Fried noodles

Har gau (prawn dumplings)

baked cha siu bao (bbq pork buns)

Spring rolls

Siu mai (pork and prawn dumplings)

So what did we think of it all? Was it as amazing and heavenly as I was expecting and had read about? Was it worthy of it's Michelin star? Well no. I just don't get it - it was all very average. The food wasn't horrible at all but it certainly wasn't anything spectacular and I could have easily gotten the same standard of dim sum at any of Hong Kong numerous restaurants. The one dish I really didn't like was the baked cha siu bao - these were revolting and I don't know what they just didn't do the steamed bread instead. It definitely isn't my favourite dim sum restaurant - that honour is reserved for the unbeatable Maxim's restaurant at City Hall! Anyhoo despite being slightly disappointed by the lack of fireworks from the food, the service was great (inside the restaurant!) and the waitresses were very friendly and smiley - which is actually quite unusual for Hong Kong. We paid around 200HKD for the whole meal which is about £16 so considering how much we ate it is excellent value. If you can be bothered to wait around for a few hours for average dim sum then I would recommend you visit Tim Ho Wan but if you can live without it then just visit Maxim's!

The Hong Kong Diaries, Part 2: My Favourite Foods...

2011-01-15T19:05:00.000Z

I've been thinking about eating all my favourite Hong Kong foods since before we even booked the flights...in fact I'm always thinking about eating my favourite Hong Kong foods...And can I name my favourite? No way, it would be impossible for me to have to try to pick one single Hong Kong food...it's all so tasty, delicious and totally inaccessible in the UK! Yes we have Chinatowns and they do a pretty good job but it just isn't the same. So irritating!! Anyway for those of you who aren't familiar with the food of HK then here are a few pics of what I ate...

Dou sha bao: This was one of the first things I tried to get my mits on after landing. A fluffy bread casing filled with sweet red bean paste - the ones in the UK just aren't quite as amazing as the HK ones.

Fish ball noodle soup with roasted mixed meat: This was actually the first thing we ate after checking in to the hotel, we were completely jet lagged but we managed to stumble outside and find a little cafe.

Hot pot: We actually went to this same hot pot restaurant last year in HK, there's unlimited food and beer and you can even mix your own sauces for dipping your cooked food in - genius!

Won ton mein: I love having this for breakfast when we're in HK, the broth is always so full of flavour and I love the crunchy chinese greens.

Crispy noodles with stir fried beef and pak choi - a classic dish!

Lobster steamed in a delicious garlic butter: This was had in another of our favourite restaurants which is on Lamma Island, Rainbow Seafood Restaurant - one of the best seafood places in the whole of HK and a must-visit for everyone! They have their own express boats to take you to and from Central and TST pier - for free!

Deep fried fish chunks in a sweetcorn and egg sauce: We had this when we visited Peng Chau island and the fish came straight from the fresh fish market next door to the restaurant - trust me, it tasted so much better than it looked!

Shu mai: We went for dim sum at the Michelin star Tim Ho Wan restaurant in Mong Kok (blog post coming soon!)

So as you can see I sufficiently stuffed my face - we were only in HK for a few days before we flew to Bangkok to start our Thailand leg of the trip...which meant more food! Keep checking back for The Thailand Diairies!

Bon Appetit!

The Hong Kong Diaries, Part 1: A Chinese Wedding...

2011-01-15T18:09:00.000Z

I haven't blogged in FOREVER and there's a very good reason for that - The Man and I have been away on a mammoth month long trip to Hong Kong and Thailand. We went to Hong Kong specifically to attend my future brother-in-law's wedding. This was my first Chinese wedding so I didn't really know what to expect but it was a really lovely day and I had a lot of fun! There's a few differences between an Eastern and Western and I had to have some of them explained to me but nevertheless it was a very romantic event. As with everything in Chinese culture - food was a major part of the day and the 12 course wedding meal definitely did not disappoint!

The food was sublime and it was a fantastic day so I'd like to say a big thank you to Alice and Stan and wish you all the best for the future :)