Table Top Cookware

Last week whilst at one of my favourite restaurants I had my first experience of "Steak on a stone" , If you haven't tried it, you must. I was blown away by it, it not only allows you to cook your food to your exact liking but it also adds more theatre and excitement to a meal. Every one of us tried the "steak on a stone" and we were all equally impressed with our meals.

I immediately knew what I could get my Dad for Christmas, he's ridiculously difficult to buy for and with his birthday being on Christmas Eve it makes it even harder having to buy double the amount of gifts. He loves to cook and I thought these would be a perfect present. It's a bit different, and it's something which all of the family can enjoy and experiment with.

I rate a company very highly if they are good with customers and I was very pleased with the service I received from Table Top Cookware. I often find that with many companies your email can take a good few days to be replied to, that's if you even get a reply. When I contacted Table Top Cookware with a query I was impressed when I got my reply 20 minutes later, and that was after midnight... I wasn't expecting the reply so soon.

So I ordered 2 of the Hot Stone Grills which cost £28.99 each. As with all new things you want to get them out of the box and use them straight away but being a gift for the parents, it'll just have to wait for Christmas eve! It makes for such a unique gift idea or even a great investment for a more enjoyable and interactive meal. I'll be sure to update you once Dad has used it!

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Cake Pops

Today I thought I would share my first attempt at making cake pops. One night when I was having trouble sleeping, I was in the mood to bake so I thought i'd give cake pops a go. After looking at a few recipes on the internet for some guidance I took the essentials and adapted them to what I had in the cupboard/ what I fancied making. I decided on all chocolate pops, that meant chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream, chocolate coating and chocolate sprinkles. If your not a fan of chocolate you will not like these.

To start I made my basic chocolate cake which I use in most of my chocolate cake recipes. For this I creamed together 200g of butter and 200g of caster sugar. You need 2 eggs and 200g of self raising flour. Alternate between adding small amounts of the beaten eggs and self raising flour at a time. Add a little vanilla extract, a dash of milk and 3 heaped tbsp of cocoa powder. Mix togethe and spread into your cake tin. Cook at 180 on a fan assisted oven for about 30 minutes or until springy to touch. It doesn't matter what tin you bake it in as once it's cooked it will all be crumbled up.

Whilst the cake is cooking you can make the buttercream so that it has time to chill for a while in the fridge. Mix butter and icing sugar together along with some cocoa powder. Mix until you have a smooth and creamy buttercream. Once the cake is cooked and had time to cool, crumble it all up until it almost resembles breadcrumbs. If you don't want the crispier edges of the cake in the mix then cut them off before.

Making sure not to add too much, add a spoonful of the buttercream to the cake crumbs at a time. You don't want the mixture to be moist as the cake will probably quite moist already. You still want the texture to be a little crumbly but with the ability to hold it's shape.

Shape the mixture into rolled balls, if they are not holding their shape then you will need to add a little more buttercream to the mixture. Once all of the cake balls are ready, allow them to chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

Melt your chocolate and dip your sticks about 1cm into it, then insert the sticks into the cake balls about half way through. Now you are ready to dip the cake balls in the chocolate. Make sure that the bowl with the melted chocolate is deep enough to completely coat the cake ball. You could use proper lollipop sticks but I didn't have any of those so I used halved kebab sticks instead, they worked just as well.

Whilst the chocolate is still wet you can decorate the cake pops with any sprinkles you like. I chose white chocolate stars and some chocolate crunchy balls. Once decorated, pop them in the fridge to let them set. You could spend a long time making them perfect and identical but I took more of a random approach by literally sprinkling the decorations on. My chocolate cake pops are far from perfect but they are rather yummy!

If you don't fancy the cake pops, why not try my Ultimate Chocolate Cake which I posted about a few months ago. Or do you have a better recipe for cake pops which I could try?

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Root Vegetable Soup

 

I've been meaning to share this recipe for a while now. It's a hearty soup that's full of flavour and is the perfect dish to warm you up on those chilly winter evenings.

 

1 Tbsp of oil
1 Large white onion diced

4-5 Parsnips peeled and diced
4-5 Carrots peeled and diced

2 Sweet Potatoes peeled and diced

2 Vegetable stock cubes made with 1 pint of water

Salt & Pepper to taste

It's so simple to make, cook the vegetables in the oil until they have slightly softened. Then add the stock and simmer on a low-medium heat for about 45 minutes. Blend until all of the chunks have gone. Depending on how you like the consistency of your soup, you can adjust it to your preferences. If you like your soup to be thinner,  simply add more water or if you like it thicker then don't put as much in.

For extra flavour and a bit of a bite I cut some bacon into little bits and lightly fried until nice and crispy. As this recipe makes quite a sweet soup I find that the bacon really balances the flavours and adds a great salty kick. I sprinkled the bacon bits on top of the soup, sliced some crusty bread and was ready to tuck in.

Enjoy x

Lizi's Granola

Today I thought I would tell you about a granola that I've been trying recently. With breakfasts I go through different phases of particular foods, I then find myself bored of them after a few weeks of eating the same thing every day. I go from porridge to toast to a variety of cereals. Being bored with the usual ones, I went to the supermarket on the look out for a new breakfast cereal to try. I knew I wanted to try some sort of granola or muesli. If I'm away on holiday then I often have that but I've never bought a granola to have at home.

I decided on this one from Lizi's with passionfruit and pistachio. I chose this one particularly because of the passionfruit, I'm a lover of all tropical fruits and especially passionfruit. As I was expecting it to have quite a strong fruity flavour, I was disappointed when it didn't! Every now and then I got a hint of the passionfruit but not very much. On a positive note, the nuttiness of the pistachios is lovely. The pieces of pistachio add a lovely crunch and a lot of flavour to the mix. I like mine with really cold skimmed milk and sometimes a few added berries. On the packaging it states that it is perfectly measured for slow energy release and I'd definitely agree with this as after eating it I was full and satisfied until lunchtime.

I would buy this granola again, but I would probably buy some passionfruits as well so that I could add some more. Even though in my opinion there isn't enough passionfruit flavour coming through, I would imagine for most people it would be enough. It's simply because I love passionfruit that I wanted it to be a stronger and less subtle flavour. 

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The Hairy Dieters

For months I had been hearing great things about this book by The Hairy Bikers, Dave Myers and Si King. The book is called The Hairy Dieters and it's them showing you 'how to love food and lose weight'. It is tied in with their series which was aired on BBC2. I'm ashamed to say that I wasn't even aware that it was on TV, if I had of known it would have definitely been series linked on Sky. 

                                          

They have lost nearly six stone between themselves and are now sharing some recipes which are good for you but still tasty and satisfying. The book was released a few months ago but I only managed to get it a few weeks back as it was sold out everywhere! It's such a popular book that it even knocked '50 shades of grey' off the top of the charts. Who would have thought that the hairy duo Dave and Si would knock Christian Grey off the top spot!

I am yet to try out any of the recipes yet but I cannot wait to get in the kitchen to try out some of the yummy looking recipes. There are so many to choose from that I'm struggling to make a decision on which one to try first! A few recipes which have really caught my eye are the Spanish Style Chicken Bake, Sweet and Sour Chicken and Skinny Lemon Cupcakes! They all look so yummy.

 

I've bought many cookery books over the years and this is definitely the best I've purchased. With most cookery books I like the look of a few of the recipes within. However with The Hairy Dieters book I could say that I like the look of probably about 90% of the recipes, the other 10% of recipes I don't like the look of are simply through personal taste as I can be picky with fish dishes or particular spices. On top of the amazing looking recipes there are some great dieting tips within.

 

Why not try this book out for yourself? Try some of the of healthier recipes without compromising on flavour!

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Krisprolls Canapés

For the Macmillan charity evening that I hosted I decided to put out a little spread with some tasty little nibbles that everyone could enjoy. Along with the usual picky bits I decided to make some of my own. I expected them to be eaten but I didn't expect them to go down quite as well as they did. I even had to make some more half way through the evening as they went down so well. They are so simple and easy to make, yet they are so tasty.  

 

I bought some of these wholegrain Krisprolls, I had never tried them before but had always heard good things about them. I decided on a simple topping of cheese, tomato and basil with the option of some pesto. I simply sliced mozzarella, halved cherry tomatoes and added a fresh basil leaf. I put a little pot of pesto on the platter with them, It just added a complete other level to them, a little drizzle was all you needed for it to become a delicious canapé .

 

The great thing about Krisprolls is that you could have them with anything, for a sweet tooth you could spread your favourite jam on them or if you prefer savoury things you could dunk them in your soup, the possibilities are endless. You can get them from most supermarkets and they cost around £1.

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Marmite Cheddar

 

This cheese is made by Ilchester British Cheeses, they make a range of speciality British cheeses in a variety of different flavours. Whilst in your local supermarket you've probably seen the other cheeses that they produce, Mexicana, Applewood and White Stilton with Apricots and many others are all made by Ilchester Cheeses.

 



I am a big lover of Marmite, and I have always found that Marmite is the perfect accompaniment to a slice of cheddar. Ever since I was little I have always loved a nice piece of crusty toast with a spread of butter and nice bit of Marmite and topped with a few slices of yummy cheddar cheese. When I discovered this Marmite flavoured cheddar cheese I immediately had to buy it.

Before I even tasted it I had high expectations as I thought nothing would come up to scratch with my much loved cheese and Marmite on toast. Well it's safe to say that this Marmite Cheddar has exceeded my expectations. It cleverly combines two of my favourite tastes, a nice mature cheddar and Marmite. It's tangy and unlike any cheese I've had before. I think that even if you don't like Marmite then you may still like this cheese, don't knock it until you've tried it!

Perfect in a sandwich, on crackers, or even grilled on some bread from some tasty cheese on toast! In the week I even grated some and sprinkled it onto my spaghetti bolognese, that may sound odd but it was gorgeous and it added a complete new taste to an already yummy meal.

Give it a go!
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Yummy Roasted Vegetables

This is just a simple recipe idea to make vegetables a little more interesting and tasty. They make a great accompaniment to a meal or could even be enjoyed as a meal on their own. You could use whatever vegetables you like,  I used peppers, onions, mushrooms, courgettes and new potatoes. After chopping all of the vegetables and part boiling the potatoes put them all into a roasting tin. To the vegetables add a drizzle of olive oil, a couple of finely chopped cloves of garlic, 2-3 heaped teaspoons of smoked paprika, a sprinkling of dried Italian herbs and some salt & pepper. Give the vegetables a quick toss so that the seasoning is spread about evenly. I cooked it in a pre-heated oven at 200°C for about 30 minutes. They were delicious!

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Homemade Coleslaw

Today I thought I would share the recipe for a crunchy coleslaw which I made a few days ago. It makes the perfect accompaniment to a meal and goes great with a juicy burger and chips, you could even eat it on its own. Its so quick and easy to make, you can adjust it to your personal tastes and it is much healthier for you than the ones you can buy from the supermarket.

 

1 white cabbage

3 carrots

3 spring onions

3 tbsp of extra light mayonnaise

1 heaped tsp of wholegrain mustard

1 tbsp of lemon juice

salt and pepper

 

Firstly shred the cabbage, then use a peeler to create ribbons of carrot. Finely slice the spring onions and add them all to a mixing bowl. To the mayonnaise mix in the mustard, lemon juice and seasoning to taste. Mix the dressing into the cabbage, carrot and onion and it's ready to eat!
Enjoy x

Homemade Burgers

Yesterday I was writing my blog posts from the garden, making the most of the lovely weather as i'm sure it won't last too long. We were having a BBQ which will probably be the last of this year because i'm sure the bad weather is on it's way very soon. I decided to make homemade burgers instead of buying them. They were not spiced with anything and didn't contain any crazy flavourings, just simple burgers. It's nice knowing what is going into homemade burgers as with shop bought ones you have no idea what goes into them.

I was making quite a few burgers, and also making them quite big so I used 1kg of extra lean mince. To this I added 1 finely diced white onion, breadcrumbs made from 2 slices of bread, 2 beaten eggs, 1 crumbled oxo cube and salt and pepper to taste. Get your hands stuck in and mix it all together. If you find the mixture is a little to wet add some more breadcrumbs. From this mixture I managed to make 13 burgers but they were really big, they could have been halved to make 26 burgers and they would have still been a decent size.

 

I finished my burger with some cheese and crispy prosciutto for a salty kick.

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Homemade beef and ale pie

 

Last week I decided to make my first ever pie. Considering how easy it was to make i'm surprised I hadn't made one before. I decided on a beef pie, but to give it an extra something adding a whole bottle of ale to give it some extra flavour.

 

To start heat a little oil in a pan and lightly fry a whole onion until softened then remove from the pan. After lightly coating my braising beef in some seasoned flour I browned it in the pan. Once browned add the onions back into the pan, add a whole bottle of ale along with 3 beef stock cubes. I only added about half a pint of water to the mix as I like my pie filling quite thick but if you prefer it thinner then simply add some more water. Simmer on a low heat for about an hour until the meat is tender, remebering to stir occasionally. When ready, seperate into individual pie dishes making sure that everyone has a generous portion of beef. Then simply top with the pastry.

 

I cheated and bought Jus-Rol's puff pastry (I won't tell anyone if you won't). After topping my pie dish with the pastry I brushed it with some egg yolk and popped it into the oven. Bake in the oven until crisp and golden. Next time I'm going to try a chicken and mushroom pie in a white wine sauce.

 

It was truly scrumptious, a simple recipe which doesn't contain lots of fancy herbs but who says a tasty meal has to be complicated! A lovely warm and hearty meal.

 

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Marks and Spencer - Lemon Puds

 

As I've mentioned before my favourite type of puddings are lemon flavoured. A few weeks ago I tried the lemon cheesecake from Gu. This week I tried two yummy looking treats from M&S, the first was a lemon mousse from the count on us range and the second was a lemon tart. 

 

Both of the puddings perfectly settle the cravings when you fancy something sweet. The lemon is sweet, tangy and refreshing. The mousse has a good texture and is great for a lower calorie treat. The lemon tart is amazing! It's not quite as low in calories as the mousse but everyone has to have a treat every now and then. A buttery pastry with a smooth, creamy and zesty lemon filling. M&S have triumphed once again with these two delicious puddings.

 

 

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Pasta Three Ways

Today I thought I would share with you my three favourite three sauces for pasta, including a creamy bacon sauce, my mum's bolognese and what I use when I'm being lazy! I love pasta. It's so versatile and you can do so much to it. You can make a really yummy sauce for it or even just sprinkle some Parmigiano-Reggiano on to some plain pasta for a quick and simple meal.

Creamy Bacon SauceThe first of my sauces is my take on a carbonara, I don't use eggs in my sauce which is what makes it different from a traditional carbonara sauce. With this recipe you can change it around depending on how much bacon,cream and cheese you like in it. I use 2 bacon rashers each and a small pot of cream for 3-4 people.

Bacon
Cream
Half a red onion
Half a tsp of garlic
Parmigiano-Reggiano

1. Fry some bacon in a pan until nice and crispy.
2. To the bacon add half a teaspoon of garlic and half of a red onion diced, cook until softened and slightly browned.
3. Add the cream to the mixture and heat on a low temperature, making sure not too boil the cream.
4. Stir in four tablespoons of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. When the pasta is cooked, add it to the sauce in the pan along with a little of the starchy water to loosen the sauce.
6. Once the sauce has been fully mixed into the pasta, serve with another little sprinkling of parmesan.

Bolognese
Bolognese is a much loved dish by many and everyone makes it in their own different ways. It's one of my favourite dishes, I don't think I've ever tried two the same, even the ones I make always seem to vary a little. Apart from my mums Sunday roast her bolognese is my next favourite dinner and very hard to beat in my eyes. It's very different from the ones you get in restaurants or abroad, it's richer, beefier and so yummy.

500g Extra lean beef mince
1 White onion diced
1 Red Onion diced
2 Beef OXO cubes
2 Tins of chopped tomatoes
About 10 Mushrooms diced
2 Tsp of italian herbs
Worcester Sauce
Red Wine

1. In a pan lightly brown the mince along with the diced onions.
2. Add two crumbled oxo cubes along with the mushrooms and cook on a medium heat until softened.
3. Then add the two tins of chopped tomatoes, italian herbs, a dash of worcestershire sauce and a generous splash of red wine.
4. I find that the longer you cook it the better, I would recommend leaving it on a low for a good few hours, just gently bubbling away.  
5. We sometimes double up on the recipe so we can eat half and freeze half so that we have a delicious dinner which is already prepared for whenever we fancy it.

...and for when I'm feeling lazy or in a rush and haven't got any of the bolognese already prepared in the freezer there is a sauce from Dolmio which I love.

Stir-in sauce for your favourite pasta, a lovely smokey tomato sauce with bacon bits.
Quick, Easy and Tasty. Enjoy.
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