A new wok...A new recipe...

Recently I have gone through several woks. My first was a Tefal which served me well through uni, then when I really got into Wok cooking I visited my local Chinese supermarket and got myself a carbon steel wok that required seasoning. I then went for a large Wok with a lid, although its a great size I found it to hard to keep hot on my hob. 

So finally I went back to the carbon steel variety but this time I went for one of Ching He Huang's. I got it at the bargain price of £7.50 at Sainsburys and it really is perfect. Its big enough for what I need, Heats evenly and is easy to clean.

To christen it I decided to try a recipe I haven't made before. 

Minced beef and green pepper stir fry.
For this recipe you will need (serves 4-6):

500g Minced Beef
2 green peppers
3 carrots
a big handful of cherry tomatoes
a thumb sized piece of ginger, grated finely
3 garlic cloves, smashed and finely chopped
one green chilli, deseeded (leave them in if you like the heat)
a teaspoon of chilli flakes (optional, if you like the heat)
2-3 spring onions (to garnish)

For the sauce:

150ml of cold water
3 tablespoons of shaohsing rice wine (or dry sherry)
3 tablespoons of light soy sauce
3 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
3 teaspoons of toasted sesame oil
3 teaspoons of chilli oil
3 tablespoons of cornflour

Start by preparing all of the vegetables, chop the cherry tomatoes in half, the peppers into strips and the carrots on an angle (about half a cm thick.

To make the sauce simple combine all of the ingredients in a jug, it is really important that the water is cold, warm water will cause the cornflour to clump and it will ruin the meal.

Place the Wok on the hob and allow it to heat until it begins to smoke. Add one tablespoon of groundnut oil and give it a swirl to cover the edges.

Throw in the garlic, ginger and chilli and stir it for a few seconds before adding the beef.

Stir fry the mince for a few minutes, breaking it up into small pieces.

Once the meat has browned add the carrots. Stir fry these with the meat for 2-3 minutes. The Chinese like their vegetables to have bite to them and it really does add texture to the dish.

Next add the peppers and tomatoes and stir for a minute or so before adding the sauce. The cornflour in the sauce will cause it to thicken when it hits the hot wok, making a thick glossy gravy.

Allow it to cook together for a few minutes (Or until the veg is to your liking) before serving.

To serve simple pop it in a serving dish and garnish with chopped spring onion. 

I served this with plain jasmine rice but you could add egg noodles to this dish if you like.

If you like this recipe why not also look at this one for Kung Po chicken.

A great day in Bristol...

...So this weekend I made my way to the Bristol Foodies Festival. I got there early in order to get tickets for the chefs I wanted to see. Sadly getting there early didn't seem to work this year because they had virtually no tickets left! I managed to get a ticket for Glenn Cosby but missed out on getting one for 

Larkin Cen. However he came to my rescue on twitter and managed to get me in at the back!

The day started with Glenn Cosby from 2013's Great British Bake Off. I was expecting this to be quite a funny demonstration because he came across on the show as being a very funny chap. I hadn't prepared myself for the hilarity that ensued.

He was fantastic! He had the whole audience laughing and he really made it fun.

He made Ginger Scones with a Grapefruit and Ginger curd, from his book "Extra Helpings".

His tip for a great scone is "the wetter the better" (quickly followed by telling the lady in the back that she was rude for smirking)

I would highly recommend seeing his show "Bake It Big" if possible, he truly is a talented chap! Not many people can bake and crack a joke at the same time!

He signed copies of his book at the end and when I got to the front of the queue he asked if I baked and looked at me as if he recognised me. I introduced myself as the broke boy and he knew who I was! I was very excited by this..made my week!

Next up was Larkin Cen. He kindly tweeted the organisers of the Foodies Festival to try and get me in, And it worked! I managed to stand at the back in the centre of the aisle and get a great view of the demo. Sadly the lighting in the tent was a bit iffy so neither of my camera's managed to get a clear shot of him.

The demo revolved around Larkins soon to open restaurant/Take away, Hokkeí. The asian inspired menu will cost you £12, and you will get a main, side and dessert. I personally cannot wait to travel all the way to Cardiff just to get my hands on the little boxes of joy. 

For his demo he created one of the meals you could have from Hokkeí. Posh duck curry served half and half with chips and rice, along side some spicy squid.

Asian food has always been a favourite of mine. The second he started cooking the amazing smells began to fill the air around me. I was quite literally in food heaven. 

Does't it all look yummy?

Watching him enjoy himself in the kitchen has made me think once again about trying to change my career. I think I would be so much happier stepping into a kitchen and doing something I love.

Larkin gave a great tip for making the squid curl perfectly, I would share but I think it deserves a blog post all of its very own! Check back soon.

Upon returning home my tummy was growling and I suddenly realised that I had been to a foodies festival and not eaten a single bite! I quickly whipped up a batch of Glenn's scones. I got into a bit of a pickle making them because my ruddy kitchen units are awful for making anything remotely sticky, Hence the lack of photos. But never fear, this weekend I am going to remake them just for you guys and post a step by step guide... Who am I kidding...Im doing it for my tummy...All for me!

Time flies when you're...

...staring a new job! It's been two whole months since my last blog post! Where has the time gone!

So let me start with the new...

I started a new job as a Regional trainer, I was to travel my neck of the woods delivering training for new systems that were to be implemented over the coming year. 
A company car was promised and it was all going really well...
Until it stopped!

Basically the system wasn't quite ready for roll out and the job has ended until January. I am still employed but I'm currently unsure as to what I will be doing over the coming months.

Because of the new job i've not had the time to bake and cook as much as I normally do but never fear! I've been on holiday this week and i've spent some time in the kitchen.

Last Sunday was the Wimbledon final and I love any excuse to have a BBQ and crack open the pimms. This year Emma came to play and we decided to go all out food wise. I made some home made Brioche burger buns for the occasion.

I used Will Torrent's brioche recipe but had to make some home made bun rings out of tin foil, Much easier than you would think!

They turned out rather well don't you think? They were beautifully buttery.

I also made some cinnamon rolls to keep myself amused! The picture doesn't do them justice but they were devoured by the family and I dropped some into my old colleagues for their morning break.

I also tried 2 recipes from Sabrina Ghayour's book "Persiana". First was her sour cherry lamb meatballs in a spiced tomato sauce. I really cannot speak highly enough of this recipe! It was bloody lush!

Also tried the Lemon Saffron Chicken which was beautiful, perfect for a warm summers evening.

As it has been so long since i've blogged or had time to go out an enjoy the food of life... (well...food..) I've decided to dedicate this entire weekend to the Bristol Foodies Festival.

You might remember I went last year and had a brilliant time, If not take a look here and see what you missed.

This years event is looking great, the winner of this years master chef (Ping Coombes) is one of the guest chefs and I cannot wait to see what she creates. She's from Bath and it will be great to see some local talent!

There is also the Master Chef street food bus! This is probably where you will find me over the entire course of the weekend!

Other demonstrations include Larkin Cen from MasterChef 2013 and Glenn Cosby from GBBO 2013. 

If you fancy coming along tickets are still on sale online or on the door over the course of the weekend.

Go on...

Eat well!

The Hungry Dog...

...Recently there has been a flurry of activity on Twitter surrounding this lovely little box of joy. John Whaite recently released his new book which is full of great recipes, he also finished his time studying at Le Cordon Bleu (JEALOUS!) and has now moved on to something new...

CHOCOLATE!

The Hungry Dog is his new baby. Each chocolate is created by hand by John himself, packaged up and sent off to those lucky enough to succeed in "the hunt".

Each box contains 8 beautiful chocolates with their own delicious flavours. 20 boxes are sold each week, making them a truly special gift....Or a really naughty treat!

The website itself describes the experience best...

"This is a chocolate shop like no other. Every week just 20 boxes of 8 assorted chocolates are made. No more and no less. When the chocolates are ready the shop opens. Once the 20 boxes are gone, the hunt begins again a week later. 

To get a box you have to channel the hungry dog. Be driven by that desire and hunt the best. "

On bank holiday monday after a long day at work, I decided it was time to open the box and cover my face in glorious chocolate.
First out of the box was this little beauty...
I've been waiting for this single chocolate since John originally announced his new venture...The passion fruit frolic!
Biting through the dark belgian chocolate shell to find a passion fruit infused white chocolate ganache...

The noises coming from me were all kinds of wrong! but so so right!

Then onto the Forbidden Fruit..

"A beautiful pink strip on a 53.8% finest Belgian dark, hand moulded shell represents the simplicity and beauty of a Japanese cherry blossom tree. Inside though, lies a black cherry ganache, using that same dark chocolate and a 100% fruit black cherry purée." 

I love the thought behind all of the descriptions. They really make you feel like you are on an adventure...Hunting down the best of the best!

The Hazelnut Elixir... "For those who love a a nutty, caramel indulgence, and of course, gold." Who doesn't love gold!? 

The Black Dog. Dark chocolate, Guinness and blackcurrant..What more do you need to know! My tongue tingled after every flavour hit it. So scrummy!

The STP (Sticky Toffee Pudding).

"A chocolate truffle like no other. Inside this 53.8% finest Belgian dark chocolate, hand dipped truffle lies an intense mixture of Billingtons unrefined dark muscovado sugar, butter, dried dates and 33.6% finest Belgian milk chocolate. 

A chocolate to fulfil the deepest, darkest desires. For those who relish the dark, treacly tones of dark muscovado sugar. "

Its like reading food porn! 50 shades of chocolate!

Merrick the Shepherd. This little chocolate really carries the ethos of The Hungry Dog..The description tells you more..

"Inside this hand dipped 53.8% finest Belgian dark chocolate shell, awaits a water ganache using that same dark chocolate, laced with cinnamon and a delicate hint of Monkey Shoulder whisky. 

This is named after the Shepherd in the ethos and origin story, and the silver stars are to wish his soul well, wherever it may lie; hopefully in a field of sheep beneath a starry sky, accompanied by his trusty dog. 

This is the chocolate for those who aren't afraid of the heat of whisky and cinnamon. "

The Plain Jane was an unexpected treat! No cream is used to make the ganache so the chocolate flavour is pure. I wasn't expecting the core to be so fluid but it was heavenly! I had to take a picture of it before shoving it in my gob.

And last but by no means least...The LMP (Lemon Meringue Pie)

This is one for those who love lemons...The thought of it 2 days on makes my mouth water. The perfect balance of sweet and sour.

I had planned on having one chocolate each day to extend the enjoyment...But that went out of the window on first bite!

I would seriously recommend trying a box if you like chocolate (and if you can get your hands on one). 

This weeks box is a little different...

This week only 10 boxes will be made. Limited edition white and gold boxes will be sent out containing limited edition salted caramels.
They go on sale at 8pm tonight (Wednesday the 7th) and will be signed by the man himself, John Whaite.

Get on over to The Hungry Dog early and keep refreshing the page for your chance to complete the hunt.

Trust me! you won't regret it for a second!

Well Done John! Now hurry up and organise some more blogger days! Chocolate creation please...!


WOOF!

Moroccan Inspired Lamb Breast with cous cous...

Last week I had a little black bag full of goodies arrive on my doorstep from the lovely people over at Maille. Inside the bag lay two jars of mustard. 

As the sun was shining and the grass was freshly cut, I felt it was time to bring a little Moroccan spice to the kitchen.

This little jar of joy jumped out at me straight away, Maille mustard with white wine, lemon and harissa spices.

I watched a program a little while ago about cheaper cuts of meat (I think it may have been Nigel Slater..) and he barbecued a breast of lamb. I hadn't heard of this cut before and was intrigued to try it.  We had one for a roast a few weeks ago and although its incredibly fatty, it was probably one of the nicest bits of lamb i've ever had. It was incredibly tasty with a crispy skin that was to die for.

When thinking what to make, I thought I would try another breast of lamb, but stuff it full of lovely things that would take on the flavours of the fat as it rendered down.

For this Moroccan inspired recipe
you will need:

1 - 2 Breasts of Lamb (I got mine from Sainsburys, dirt cheap)
100g Maille mustard with white wine, lemon and harissa spices
500g Cous Cous
A pinch of salt
A pinch of paprika (I used smoked, but use sweet if you prefer)
500ml Vegetable stock
2 and a half table spoons of Garlic oil
200g chopped dried apricots
75g dried cranberries
2 shallots finely chopped
one tin of chickpeas in water, drained (roughly 240g)
Extra garlic oil to drizzle

Preheat the oven to 160°C Fan.

Start by placing the cous cous into a large pot (the pot does need to be larger because the cous cous swells quite a bit!) and add the paprika and salt. Cover with the stock and clamp on a lid whilst you get on with the rest.

Place the apricots, cranberries and chickpeas into another bowl and cover with boiling water for a few minutes just to soften them up slightly. This isn't essential as the rendered fat will do this during the cooking process, but I wanted to serve some cous cous on the side as well as inside the breast.

Finely chop the shallots and add them to the cous cous along with the apricots, cranberries and chickpeas.

The lamb breast from sainsburys is part of the Basic range. I managed to get 2 pieces for a little under £4 each. They come rolled up and tied with string which is perfect for a normal roast however I wanted to stuff mine. 

Snip off the string and flatten the breast out. Take the mustard and smoother it all over the breast. Now I know what you are all thinking ("Good lord thats a lot of mustard!"), but don't worry...
This mustard is incredibly mild. I had a little spoonful before starting to get an understanding of the ingredient and its nothing like a normal mustard. The flavour however is mouth watering.

Next take the prepared cous cous and place a layer of it over the breast(s). Roll them back up and then firmly tie with string. You may need a second pair of hands to do this. Don't worry about how it looks now, it will all turn out lovely in the end. You will notice that there is quite a bit of cous cous left over but fear not...

Drizzle a little garlic oil over the lamb and season with a bit of salt and pepper.

Pop it in the oven and sit back with a glass of wine in the garden.

One thing I should mention is that it takes quite a bit of cooking, mostly down to the fat content of the lamb. Oven times will vary depending on your own oven but you will have to judge that yourselves. I cooked mine for 2 hours and then placed the left over cous cous in the bottom of the pan to absorb the juices and continued to cook for a further 30 minutes.

Corrrrrrr look at that! 

I served this with cous cous and also some roasted courgettes, peppers, mushrooms and tomato's.

The perfect meal to end a gloriously sunny day!

I do hope you all managed to get through that post without laughing every time the word breast came up...Because I didn't!

The Diner...

I spent last weekend in London celebrating my birthday. We got the 7.30am train to Paddington and spent the journey making posters to go all "fan girl" on Beyoncé's ass! We were slightly light headed after the heavy usage of Sharpie markers but it was totally worth it, we got on the big screens and Beyoncé pointed at me and sang happy birthday! Best moment ever!

We arrived into London just before 10am and decided to make our way to the O2 just to double check what time the O2 priority room was opening, as no one was answering the phone.

By the time we had done that we decided it was time for a spot of lunch...Now Emma and I are mad on food, I mean we would eat anything! (Well...Emma refuses to go anywhere near eggs...EGGS!)

Planning of trips usually involves heavy organisation of food consumption. This time we had decided that we were going to try something americanised on the Saturday and then Brunch on the sunday...However it didn't quite turn out like that.

Saturday lunch time we made our way to Soho as Emma wanted to take me to The Diner.

It saddens me the amount of times i've walked past this place and not even noticed it! 

We walked in at just the right time, a table for 2 awaited us and shortly after they were turning people away.

Whilst looking over the menu the waitress took our drinks order and left us to decide. I went for the Snickers milkshake and Emma went for a Coke (Which she quickly regretted!)

One sip of this shake had me in a very emotional state...it tasted like a snickers but one million times better! I mean seriously amazing. It even had chocolate chips in it!

Our mission in life is to find the best chicken wings in existence, so naturally when we saw they had a basket of them we ordered them. 

We ordered one of the larger blue plates (£11) to share between us. 10 gloriously scrummy chicken wings arrived (along with the rest of the food) and we dug in. The wings had a crispy batter on them and the only way I can describe it is...Its like they cooked them in bacon...SO GOOD!

I then went for the Diablo burger,which is a signature 8 0z Burger made from rib, sirloin, filet and chuck on a bun with bacon, jalapeño mayo and cheese. I also had Wet Fries which really brought back memories of my trip to NYC.

I have to hand it to these guys, they know how to make a burger. Sadly though I was so stuffed after the wings and the fries, I couldn't finish it! I was defeated!

Emma went for the ribs and fries. She ate like a lady(ish) but she didn't really need a knife and fork, the meat fell off the bone. I had a cheeky nibble and they were beautiful.

If you are a big eater and a lover of meaty mouthfuls, head on over to the diner.  My only real criticism for the Soho branch was the service. We asked for water but it never came, and the waitress seemed to be away with the fairies a little bit. But other than that it was great...Or so we thought!

That evening we went and watched Beyoncé. She was amazing! Such a talent and such a naturally beautiful girl. 

The original plan was to get up, have a small breakfast and then head on into central London for Brunch. However we decided against it as we both had rather vivid dreams about DEM WINGZ!

We made our way into London and wandered around for a little while. Popped into Patisserie Des Reves and got some birthday yummies (More on that later in the week). Whilst doing this we decided that rather than going to the Diner again, we would go to Spitalfields Market and have a little look round and maybe grab some market food.

However! on arrival we realised that there was actually another Diner there...Emma is a sneaky chicken fiend!

Naturally we went again... as you do...

 This Diner was a lot busier when we arrived. We were informed that there was a 40 minute wait, but that didn't bother us to much. They took my mobile number and said they would text when a table came up.

When we got the text we made our way in. The tables at this particular Diner are much more spacious. In the Soho one we felt like we were rammed into a tiny booth and had to sit with our bags and coats between our legs. In Spitalfields all tables sit 4 and are very comfortable.

Once again we placed our drinks order, this time I opted for the iced tea. They also have a menu of "Hard" iced teas, for the boozy tea drinkers! I debated getting one but decided against it.

We wanted a smaller lunch today so decided to both go for the chicken wings and just get a side of fries each... Expecting 10 wings each...

I think something must have been seriously wrong with Sohos portion control. We had 10 wings in Soho and 20 (Yes, 20!) in Spitalfields for the same price. I even got the receipt out at the end of the meal to check what we paid the day before....

So much for a light lunch!

We were both presented with a MASSIVE basket of chicken and a HUGE portion of fries. I made the foolish mistake of going for the Chilli cheese fries. They were so so good but I hardly touched them due to the chicken.

Overall the service in Spitalfields was much better! If you are looking to try those juicy wings I would recommend making the journey as not only do you get the food but you also get the market which made the day.

Or if you are lucky enough to live in London but fancy a night in, why not order for delivery! I'm so incredibly jealous of all of you Londoners that can order those wings whenever you want....

Alternatively if you just fancy a shake, a thick, amazing, glorious shake... They do them to go!

Whilst you are here, Why don't you take part in my bloggers Giveaway! It's easy and you could win all the equipment you need to make bread! 

Go on...you know you want to...

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