Thursday, 10 March 2016


Roasted courgette, couscous, tzatziki 
Don't be fooled, this is no ordinary stuffed-vegetable-dish. The flavours in this recipe are fresh, exciting and will even impress the non-vegetarian dinner guests. The subtle flavours of the roasted courgette, sun-dried tomato couscous and peppers provide a delicate setting for that salty goats cheese. The additional sweetness of the dates offsets the salty cheese beautifully and adds an element of surprise to the dish. 

My boyfriend actually created this recipe and I was so impressed I stole it off him and have now made it more times than him. 

This is great served as a starter (serving half a stuffed courgette per person served with some fresh tzatziki), as a side dish, or main dish (serving a whole courgette per person with some homemade coleslaw).

For this dish, I cheat a little bit. I buy a packet of Alfez sun-dried tomato flavoured couscous which is available in most supermarkets (UK & Dutch, see image). However, you can of course make your own using 150g plain couscous, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 3 chopped spring onions, 1 tablespoon concentrated tomato puree, 80g finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, 1 tsp garlic puree, fresh herbs (chopped parsley would work well) and salt and pepper to taste.

Ingredients: 

  • 4 medium (equal) sized courgettes
  • olive oil
  • 1 red or yellow pepper
  • 1 (200g) packet flavoured couscous
  • 50g dates
  • 75g goats cheese
  • lemon juice (optional)
  • salt and pepper


Method:


  1. 1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
  2. 2. Chop the ends off and carefully slice the courgettes length ways.
  3. 3. With a spoon (or an apple corer) remove the flesh of the courgette (see image).
  4. 4. Repeat with all 7 remaining courgette halves.
  5. 5. Place in a large oven dish, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
  6. 6. Cook in the oven for 20- 25 minutes.
  7. 7. While the courgettes are cooking, prepare the couscous filling.
  8. 8. Add water to the couscous and set aside (according to the instructions on the packet).
  9. 9. Finely chop the pepper, goats cheese and dates.
  10. 10. Stir the chopped pepper, goats cheese, dates into the couscous.
  11. 11. Add a squirt of lemon (optional) and stir throughly. 
  12. 12. Fill each of the roasted courgettes halves with generous portion of the couscous, and lightly drizzle with olive oil. 
  13. 13. Return to the oven to bake for a further 10 minutes.
  14. 14. Remove from the oven, serve and enjoy! 
Serving suggestion: Serve half a courgette as a starter with some fresh tzatziki dipping sauce or serve a whole courgette as a main dish with some homemade coleslaw and crusty bread on the table. 

Alfez sundried tomato couscous
3 medium courgettes ready to roast








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Tuesday, 8 March 2016


This is one for all the chocolate lovers out there. I love chocolate and come from a family of chocolate enthusiasts, but crazily enough I've ended up with a boyfriend who despises it. On the plus side, it's meant I've had to expand my baking repertoire beyond the realms of chocolate, coffee and caramel (yes he hates coffee and caramel too), but on the downside, it means I sometimes forget to go back to basics and bake with my favourite ingredient and that's CHOCOLATE.


These brownies are everything a brownie should be: rich, moist, fudgy and the addition of salted caramel gives it that je ne sais quoi.



Ingredients: 
Method: 




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How do you like your eggs in the morning?

Fried eggs sunny-side up

Ingredients:


  • Eggs
  • Small knob of butter or teaspoon of oil 


Method: 

  1. Melt a the butter/oil in a shallow frying pan on a low heat.
  2. Spread the butter/oil round the pan using some kitchen paper. 
  3. Crack the eggs into the pan and cover with a lid.
  4. Cook on a low heat until the top of the yolk starts to turn a light pink colour. 
  5. Turn off the heat, use a spatula to get remove the egg and season with salt and pepper. 




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Got some old bananas hanging round? Don't let them go to waste! If you need an excuse to bake a cake this week, let this be it.

I always start the day with great intentions, taking a banana to work with me, but even after a short journey in my bag, I take out my banana, see the brown bruises and suddenly my appetite for that healthy snack has vanished.
I came across this recipe by 'iggytakahashi' on allrecipes.com after I once again found myself almost throwing out some perfectly-good-but-brown-bananas festering in my bag.

Chocolate and banana is a winning combination so give those brown bananas at second chance and turn them into a moist cakey treat. Perfect as breakfast on the go, an afternoon tea treat, or as a dessert served warm with ice cream.


Ingredients:




Method:






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Scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, avocado and brown bread
Scrambled eggs in 2 minutes! Why waste time and effort when you can make scrambled eggs in the microwave without the hassle of scrubbing the pan clean afterwards?

Here I've cracked, beaten, cooked and served my scrambled eggs in the same bowl, sliced an avocado in half, and layered some fresh salty smoked on a whole grain crusty roll...et voila, an impressive brunch dish in just 2 minutes!





Ingredients: 
  • 2 eggs
  • Splash of milk
  • Salt and Pepper
Method: 
  1. 1. Crack 2 eggs into a bowl and beat. 
  2. 2. Add the milk, a crack of black pepper and stir.
  3. 3. Cook in the microwave for 40 seconds on HIGH.
  4. 4. Check the eggs and give them a stir
  5. 5. Microwave for an additional 30 seconds until the eggs are cooked. 
  6. 6. Season with salt and serve!
Serving suggestion: 

Serve with some brown bread topped with smoked salmon and sliced avocado. 
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Foodie Heaven: SHANGHAI. 

In my early 20s I was lucky enough to spend a year living, working and studying in this crazy city. 

Where to stay:

What to see:

What to eat: 
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Flammkuchen: 'classic' and 'blue cheese and walnut'
Could flammkuechen be Europe's best kept secret?

'Flammkuechen' or 'tarte flambee' originates from the Alsatian region of south-west Germany and east France. It's a super light bread dough rolled out thin and traditionally topped with creme fraiche, onions and bacon, although many variations now exist.

 Over the past couple of years flammkuechen has become my 'thing'. Weeknight dinners, drinking food, BBQs, lunch time treats, I can literally find any excuse to whip up a few of these delicious crowd-pleasing alternative pizzas. They are so versatile, can be topped with anything you fancy and take minutes to prepare.

I'm so passionate about them that at one point I even wanted to start my own flammkuechen restaurant. But don't just believe me, try them for yourself! This recipe is for the 'classic' bacon and onion flammkuechen. I have many favourite toppings (which I will be sharing with you on this blog) but everyone seems to agree you just can't beat that light, creamy base topped with sweet onions and salty bacon, served with a crisp glass of white wine.

Ingredients: 

  • 200g plain flour + extra for dusting (wholemeal also works well) 
  • 2 tablespoons of oil 
  • 125ml water
  • 200g creme fraiche
  • 2 large onions 
  • 100g bacon (the really thin bacon works well) 
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • salt and pepper

Method: 
1. Preheat the oven on the highest temperature.
2. Lightly grease two large baking or pizza trays.
3. Add the flour and a pinch of salt to a large mixing bowl.
4. Add the oil and water and mix well into a (non sticky) dough.
5. Cut the dough in half and use a rolling pin to roll each half into a large thin base. 
6. Place the bases on the trays and pre-bake the base for 3-4 minutes.
7. Finely slice the onions and cut up the bacon.
8. Melt the butter in a frying pan on a low-medium heat.
9. Gently 'sweat' the onions until soft.
10. Add the bacon and fry for another 2 minutes.
11.. Spoon and evenly spread half of the creme fraiche onto each of the bases.
12. Evenly distribute the onion and bacon topping and season with pepper.
13. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the edges look crispy.
14. Remove from the oven, cut into pieces and ENJOY!

Serving suggestion: Serve with some white wine or good beer. Warning flammkuechen are very light and extremely moreish, make plenty if feeding a crowd. :-)



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Mussels in a garlic, onion and white wine broth
Moules Frites Mondays... or Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays...

This recipe is so deliciously simple you can have restaurant standard mussels anytime you like.

I discovered this recipe one day at work (recipe hunting during my lunch break to get me through the Monday blues). This was during the summer when my sister and I were living together in Geneva, Switzerland. I wanted a recipe that was inexpensive, simple enough to be able to cook in our tiny swiss kitchen and unbelievably tasty. After munching our way through all the mussels, we mopped up the rest of the sauce with a baguette and french fries. In fact, we loved this evening so much that we renamed Mondays 'Moules Frites Mondays'

Mussels can be daunting to cook if you don't know how, but this recipe gives you a step-by-step low down on how to prepare and cook your mussels.

This recipe was taken from K.Martin's recipe on food.com and it's such a winner, I haven't changed a thing (sometimes I don't have fresh herbs on hand so I leave them out). The sauce is a garlic, onion, butter and white wine broth and is a perfect summer dinner served with a fresh baguette, french fries and a leafy salad.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • Approx 1.5- 2kg live mussels 
  • 475ml dry white wine 
  • 4 small onions 
  • 4 cloves garlic 
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt 
  • 6 tablespoons butter 
  • Fresh herbs (optional)

Method:

Preparing your mussels

1. If your mussels are live, they should be tightly closed. If there are mussels which are open or slightly open, tap the mussel on the counter and see if it shuts by itself. If it does close up, keep it (it's live). If it remains open- discard it (it's dead)
2. Place the live mussels in a large colander and rinse with water.
3. Scrub and de-beard any mussels that have mud, seaweed or stringy 'beards' hanging out of them. You can de-beard a mussel by grabbing the stringy beard part with a piece of kitchen paper and holding the mussel tight with the other hand and firmly ripping it off.
4. You are now ready to cook your mussels! If you want to prepare your mussels in advance, just place the cleaned mussels in a bowl, place a damp cloth covering them and store in the fridge. You should use them that day.

Cooking your mussels

1. Finely chop the onions and garlic and place in a large pan on medium heat.
2. Add the wine and salt and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Add the mussels, cover with a lid, and turn the heat up to high.
4. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the mussels have opened.
5. Add the butter (and optional herbs) and stir.
6. Turn off the heat, serve and enjoy!
7. Don't eat the mussels that didn't open.

Serving suggestion: Don't forget to dish up that delicious broth and serve with some crusty bread or fries (or both) and a leafy salad. 



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Easter caramel crispy nests 
This is one of those recipes I used to beg my mum to make for me every birthday; were demolished at the school cake sale; and one of the first cake recipes I ever learnt to make by myself. If you love that sweet chewy caramel golden taste you will love this super simple recipe!

My mum invented this recipe, adapting a recipe she found in a supermarket magazine almost 30 years ago, and has since become a firm favourite with family and friends. So much so, when my family was relocating from Germany to The Netherlands, one of my male classmates told me I wasn't allowed to leave... no not because he had a crush on 13-year-old-me, because I hadn't given him the recipe to these cakes yet! You should have seen the disappointment on my his face when I told him you couldn't buy golden syrup in Berlin.  :-( 

Ingredients: 
  • 1 can condensed milk 
  • 125g butter 
  • 25g white sugar 
  • 2.5 tablespoons of golden syrup 
  • Cornflakes or rice crispies.

Method: 
1. Place the butter, sugar, condensed milk and golden syrup in a large pan on the hob.
2. Heat gently, stirring with a wooden spoon, until butter has melted and sugar has dissolved.
3. Bring to boil stirring continuously. Make sure it doesn't burn on the bottom of pan.
4. Cook for 7-10 minutes.
5. When the mixture has turned a golden brown colour take off the heat.
6. Stir in the cornflakes or rice crispies and mix well (put in plenty as they can be quite rich and sticky otherwise).
7. Divide the mixture into around 24 paper cases or into one large flat tin (pressed down) and cut into squares once cooled.
8. Allow to cool and enjoy!

TOP TIP! Stirring continuously and throughly by scraping the bottom of the pan is crucial, the mixture can burn very easily.
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While at University I perfected the art of cooking eggs: poached, scrambled, fried, soft-boiled...you name it, I can do it! So here is my fail-safe guide to cooking perfect eggs every time!

I start with the all time favourite soft-boiled egg (or dippy egg): delicious seasoned with salt and pepper and served with buttered soldiers (with a lick of marmite) and a cuppa.




Ingredients: 

  • Egg(s) 
  • Water 
Method: 

1. Place egg(s) in a saucepan and cover with water.
2. Bring to the boil.
3. As soon as the water starts bubbling- start your timer!
4. Large eggs: 4-4.5minutes, Small/Medium eggs: 3.5-4 minutes.
5. Once the timer goes off, turn off the heat and serve. 
TOP TIP! If you are unsure whether your egg is cooked properly, take the egg out of the water, carefully crack open the top with a knife and check if the egg white is cooked enough. If it's still a bit runny/transparent, don't worry, simply pop the top back on the egg, wrap the egg tightly in tinfoil and place back in the boiling water for up to a minute.
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Poached egg with avocado, bacon and brown toast
Love poached eggs but never sure how to make them? Not got a pan big enough to make more than two at a time? Don't worry, with this method you won't ever be swirling or vinegar-ing your water again!

For this guide, I owe credit to my mother. She discovered and taught me this method and I have never looked back since. There is just one essential element to this recipe- coffee filter bags. You can find coffee filter bags in most supermarkets for very little money and usually come in packs of 50-100. You will need one bag per poached egg.

I have included photos below the recipe to help demonstrate how to use the bags.


Ingredients:
  • Egg(s)
  • Water
  • Coffee Filter Bag
Method: 

1. Fill (about 3/4 full) a small saucepan with cold water and bring to the boil.
2. Once the water has started boiling, get a mug or glass and place the coffee filter bag in the mug, so the opening of the bag is facing upwards and is wide open.
3. Crack 1 egg into the coffee filter bag and quickly place the bag into the boiling water
4. Repeat if poaching multiple eggs.
5. Put the timer on for about 4 minutes for 1 egg, and 5-5.5 minutes for more than 4 eggs.
6. Once the timer has gone off, turn off the heat, drain each egg on a slotted spoon, and serve.
Serving suggestion:
Serve eggs on a brown toast with mashed avocado and topped with crispy bacon. YUM.

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