All posts tagged: cooking

Blackberry Marble Cheesecake

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More fool you bakers! This ‘no bake’ cheesecake looks like it has taken ages to prepare, but in reality it takes 20 mins to put together and 2 hours to set in the fridge. Try it now while blackberries are in season and free on the roadside! Sit down and watch this week’s Great British bakers struggle to work their ovens while you tuck into ‘no bake’ cheesecake heaven. Serves 6-8 people in an 8 inch loose based tart tin For the buttery bisuit base: 100g butter 250g disgestive biscuits 100g soft light brown sugar For the cream cheese topping:  180g/ 1 tub of cream cheese 300ml double cream 200g icing sugar For the blackberry marble drizzle: 250g blackberries 1 lemon 50g caster sugar mint leaves Reserve 10 blackberries for garnish later and add the rest to a small pan with the juice of half a lemon and the caster sugar. Heat until bubbling then simmer for 10 minutes until the berries have broken down and the sauce has thickened. Then leave to cool. Gently heating the butter in a small …

My store cupboard essential: what’s yours?

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Oh boy, do I love a good chutney tray in an Indian restaurant (yes I do).  At home, I have spent many years buying pre-made Sharwoods poppadoms (around £2 for 8 poppadoms). I now realize that i’ve been CONNED. If you’re like me and didn’t know that popping your own poppadoms was so easy then take my hand and let’s float away into the future of fast, healthy, cheap snacking. MY STORE CUPBOARD ESSENTIAL: RAW POPPADOMS These babies are an absolute gem: 1 pack of 15 costs £1! (more than half the price of ready made) each poppadom has under 30 calories (that’s less than a small bag of popcorn) heat for 15 seconds in the microwave (and their ready to eat straight away) you can rub each side in butter, coconut oil or ghee (for a richer taste) you deep fry in hot oil for a couple of seconds (Indian restaurant-style) Save a couple of quid on a takeaway and make your own If you’re craving a packet of crisps, whip up a couple with a jar of …

What I learned at Cinnamon: the art of Indian cooking

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I ate like a Queen this weekend. Beautiful, refined and proper clever Indian cooking. The food successfully mixed authentic flavours from all over India with more classic European cooking techniques and styles, which always did service to the original dishes but enhanced the dining experience. This type of cooking is a real art; a dish is never changed for the sake of being different. Everything I tasted was true and intelligent, without trying to be fashionable or in trend. I was privileged enough to spend the weekend as the guest of Vivek Singh at two of his three London restaurants, Cinnamon Club and Cinnamon Kitchen. As well as the chance to explore the kitchen at Cinnamon Club, where I skipping around with a spoon like a kid in a sweet shop, I also attended their Wine & Spice pairing at Cinnamon Club and a Vegetarian Masterclass at Cinnamon Kitchen, hosted by head chef at Cinnamon Club Rakesh Ravindran Nair and manager Hari Nagaraj. I took away with me so many tips. Here are my favourites: A pinch of sugar: …

Vietnamese Chicken Pho

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Right. This might sound strange but I find nothing more satisfying than pulling the skin off a chicken – it’s like peeling off your support tights at the end of a long day (I hope this imagine doesn’t freak you out when you have a go yourself). Pho is a bowl of soup literally full to the brim with the big 5  flavours of Vietnamese cooking: sweet,sour, spicy, bitter, salty. Most of the ingredients you can find in any small supermarket. Feel free to use those squeezy bottles of ginger and lemongrass puree if you can’t get fresh, but don’t bother with dried herbs as they just won’t do the job. This recipe is so delicious, so virtuous, clean and fresh with subtle spice. A big bowlful will clear any cold or fill you up after a long day.. just make sure you take off your support tights before diving in. Serves 4 1 whole chicken 5 inch piece of ginger 2 sticks of lemongrass 3 hot red chillies 2 garlic cloves 1 stick of celery 2 star anise pods …

Giving in to the Instagram Fitspiration b****es again!

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I’m used to taking pictures of lovely food porn that makes my eyes bulge and my mouth drool. But today is Tuesday, the day before Monday, which (every week) is the beginning of my healthy eating regime (again) and, as well as flailing about in the free weights section,  i’m keeping a food diary to keep my meals in check. If I don’t I can happy end up eating two dinners quite without noticing. So here’s some sickeningly wholesome dishes that i’ve been knocking up in the last few days. I’ll be awaiting my medal in the post… If you’d like any of these virtuous recipes, do drop me a mail 🙂 x

Apple Strudel Tarts

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Necessity is the mother of invention – and I was in a desperately hungover situation last Sunday and in need of a proper dessert. A couple of bruised apples, half a pack of filo and the remains of my baking cupboard later and, voila, the glorious flavours of strudel quickly baked in a muffin tin. Considering how good these taste and how pretty they look they really are flippin easy… and I didn’t even have to run to the shops for any ingredients half way through.  You can use whatever dried fruit and nuts you’ve got lying around – sultanas and hazelnuts, apricots and pecans. (makes 4) 1 cooking apple, cored, peeled and cut into 1cm chunks 1 eating apple, cored, peeled and cut into 1cm chunks 50g soft light brown sugar a handful of raisins ¼ tsp allspice ½ tsp cinnamon 50g salted butter, melted 4 sheets filo pastry, cut into 5 inch squares (keeping the offcuts) a handful of flaked almonds icing sugar, for dusting Start my cooking the chopped apples, sugar, raisins …