Christmas Craft Weekend - The Results!

Howdy all and apologies for the delay, things have been more than hectic. But it's back by popular demand....Harriate!


So me and lovegrove embarked on a day of drinking and craft round at Jessie's house on the 24/11 and oh what fun we had. 

I did a lot of the unknown or as it is known to you all Baking!

I even got a bit carried away with the creation side that i forgot to photograph 2 of the recipes ...whooops. I'll get them out of the way first..


Toffee Popcorn Bark - This one was simple but effective and went down a treat with all the people in the room so comes highly recommended as a special treat.

Here's what the wonders of the bbc made it look like:

Needless to say mine didnt come out quite as preened. 

You will need:

• 200g milk chocolate
• 200g white chocolate
• 2 x 30g bags toffee popcorn   We just got a big bag of popcorn and made it more popcorn based!

As I am totally ill prepared for the world of baking we didnt have the '20 x 30' baking tray and used a lovely oval baking dish lined with baking parchmant (thats right we had some!) Melt the chocolate (white and milk seperate) and allow to cool a little. Pour most of the choc into the dish and swirl around, chuck in the popcorn and top with the remainder then chill!

So Yummy. As I said up there the cutting wasnt nearly as elegent as the BBCs version but made great finger food during the party - get involved.

The Drink....

The second one without a pic of my own was the trusty alchol mixture that we made. Now during the festive season I'm a sucker for mulled wine however, i felt for day time drinking something lighter was needed hence/.....

WINTER PIMMS PUNCH (recipe can be found HERE :) )

I was a little sceptical as this has brandy in - the only time i use brandy is for Steak Au Poivre but decided to get into the spirit of festivities and give it a whirl. I must say that i found it a little overpowering so decided to top up with a lot of lemonade. It left the mix tangy yet warming and if you like Pimms you are well in. The BBC have got some great drinks suggestions, have a looksie 

So here comes the photos:

Christmas Tree Crispy Pops

You will need:


200g marshmallows
3 tbsp golden syrup
100g Rice Krispies    100g of coco pops - oooh yeah i live wild
6 ice-cream cones
500g icing sugar
½ tsp green food colourings
sweets and sprinkles , to decorate

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You need to melt the marshmellows and golden syrup together then add the coco pops. Once the heat is taken off you need to move quickly as the marshmellows start to set - push the mixture into the ice cream cones but make sure youre careful we had a few casualties and leave to set for a while

Mix icing sugar with water and green food colouring to make a thick paste. There is no evidence to support the fact i added a little too much water and had to add more icing sugar. Im not going to lie it tasted a bit bitty (does that even make sense?)

Once the cones themselves have set, dip them into the icing sugar mixture and then decorate. Points of error for this section include - we didn't have any lolly pop sticks or a cooling rack. This made the pops hard to balance and they wobbled over a few times. We had bought some pretty accessories including soft balls (hehe) of silver and pink and general confetti. 

They all looked good and here's an example. The taste wasn't as good as the appearance  They were really stodgy and rich - we couldn't even finish one. My error with the icing sugar made a difference for sure. 

For this i think ill blame the punch. Yeah it intoxicated me :S that's my final story.

The day after the night before....the baking continues.

The Cinnamon and Raisan Loaf.

You'll need:

190g/7oz softened unsalted butter

190g/7oz caster sugar

3 eggs, at room temperature

190g/7oz plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4tsp salt

25ml/1fl oz soured cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

70g/2 1/2oz raisins

Preheat the oven, 170c/160c fan/gas 3 and grease the loaf tin (I had to buy this especially)

While the oven's preheating, you cream the butter and sugar together until creamy and pale. Then you beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, scraping down the sides as you do so with a spatula. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, then using the same spatula, you fold in the dry ingredients. Once the flour's been combined in, fold in the soured cream and vanilla. Into a smaller bowl you spoon in about 200g/7oz of the mixture, then you fold the cinnamon into this, and into the vanilla mixture you fold in the raisins.

Pour in the vanilla mixture first then the cinnamon and then you swirl it with a skewer.

Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Once baked, take out of the oven and leave to cool.

Turn out of the tin and slice likeaso....

And serve with some amazing cornish clotted cream ice cream....

Now for this i did have a lot of help off lovegrove. Turned out really nice and dare i say it? Moist. The only thing I wanted was a stronger cinnamon taste so be liberal. If youre a beginner like me make sure you have some supervision!

The one I can do allllllll by myself....The Peanut Butter cookie :)

You'll need

• 115g of butter,crunchy peanut butter, caster and muscavado sugar and rolled oats
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 85g flour
• 1/2 teaspoons of bi-carb and baking powder

The method in the madness

• Oven to be set at 180c. Grease a baking tray
• mix the butter and peanut butter together. Beat in the suagrs, the egg and the vanilla essence
• sift in flour, bi-carb and baking powder then add the oats
• Shape the mixture into flattish balls and make sure you space far enough apart

• Bake for around 12 mins and leave to cool for 2.

These were tasty but i did have a spacing issue:

hmm soft gooey goodness

Easy fun and tasty to make - we added some milk choc chips on top for even more sugary goodness

The Jammy Biscuits:

You'll need:

• 225g of unsalted butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 200g plain sugar
• 100g ground almonds Not for me thanks!
• 100g of strawberry jam

Method:

• Beat together butter and sugar and add flour - leave dough to chill for an hour
• Knead dough, roll and shape and divide into equal size balls.
• Using one ball roll out until about 5mm thick and cut out as many shapes of your cutter as possible and repeat with the second ball. Make sure you cut small circles in the second shape batch.

• Cook cookies for 20- 30 mins at 140c and allow to cool.
• Place blob of jam on the shapes without the circle cut out and place holed cookie on top gently

TA DA. Not perfect but not bad for my first attempt.

The biscuit turned out more shortbread like but it was really tasty. I added a little extra jam than the recipe called for just cos i like it.

So the non baking trial:

Feta and Sweet Potato Quesadillas

 4 Sweet Potatoes

200gs Feta Cheese

Handful of fresh coriander

Drizzle of olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

8 Tortillas

Roast the sweet potatoes in a hot oven for around 50 mins - check they are soft with a skewer. Scoop out potato filling into a bowl and mash using a fork and adding the oil and pepper. Add the coridander and continue to mash. Crumble the feta into the mixture and gently mix in.

Take a tortilla and add mixture down one side. Fold over.

Warm a griddle pan and add the tortilla to it when hot. Leave to cook on one side for a few minutes and turn over. Cook until the feta is starting to melt.

Serve with some mexican dips - salsa, guacamole and sour cream.

A nice hearty and filling snack. Good mixture of flavours with coriander and pepper adding a little kick.

So thats me all caught up.

What would you recommend for me to have a go at baking?

Enjoy your week and have a look at my Christmas Tree

Eat, Drink and Be Merry.

H

xx

It's been a while....

Hi all, sorry for such a long break between posts, things have been a little hectic.

I will be telling you all about the following:

• Pancetta, Pasta and Peas
• Moroccan chicken with sweet potato mash
• Fish Jalfrezi

Pancetta, Pasta and Peas (or the triple 'P' if you want to be down with the kids.

This recipe is a regular in my repatoire of cooking on a weekly basis. It's tasty ,has pasta (always a win, especially on a winter eve) and doesn't take too long after a hard day at work.

This was originally sourced in delicious magazine but I have changed/added things as I have gone along.

You will need:

• 1 pack of pancetta (130g)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 1 lemon, squeezed for the juice ( I added this to the recipe)
• creme fraiche (This is subbed in instead of double cream) - about 2/3 of a 300ml tub (add a dash of water to the pan to loosen)
• freshly ground black pepper (I added this to the recipe)
• 200g of frozen peas
• Wholewheat Pasta - enough for 2 people
• Parmesan- add to your own taste

Add the pancetta to your wok/large frying pan and fry for 2/3 minutes (if you like your pancetta crispy, i would recommend frying for longer) then add the onions and garlic and fry for a further 5 minutes or until the onions and garlic are soft.

Add the peas to this mixture. I used frozen peas so allow this to cook for around 5 minutes until the peas are cooked through. Add the creme fraiche and a dash of water to the pan and mix in well with the ingredients  Once this is fully combined add the Parmesan and allow to melt into the mixture. Next add lemon juice and pepper to your taste.  Drain the pasta and stir into the sauce and serve! Josh always likes extra cheese!

The recipe doesn't call for the lemon/pepper however, when i tried it originally I found the dish too creamy and heavy. The lemon and pepper addition lifts the dish and adds to the flavour over all.

Sorry about the lack of piccys! My camera decided not to work :(

Moroccan Chicken with Sweet Potato

This is something i stumbled across on (you've guessed it) The BBC Good Food website. This dish offers unusual flavours with warming spices - a must have for those cold evenings. You can find the recipe here!

As ever I have made some amendments to the recipe. As you can see it states that 2 tsps of clear honey is used. I have found after making this dish several times is that adding extra honey can help the sauce to thicken more quickly and plays nicely alongside the spices. The spice mixture of cinnamon and cumin is fab and being spice-obsessed i add 2 tsps of each to the recipe which does make it stronger.  I also think its advisable to mix the cumin and cinnamon with a touch of oil to marinade the chicken in as it absorbs the flavours a little better. 

The recipe also states that it will take about 10 minutes to thicken, once again I have found that this can be considerably more around 20 minutes to half an hour so bear this in mind with the potatoes.

Look at my pretty pictures....

The Prep Phase...

Chicken smothered in olive oil, cumin and cinnamon - sorry it looks so unappealing!

Garlic, onion, corander, honey and oxo

Sweet Potatoes ready to boil....

The cooking phase...

Smashed sweet potato with olive oil and pepper

Chicken in the pan with stock, honey, onion , garlic and coriander

Ta Da....

 This recipe is one of my personal faves! tangy and garlicky! firm 9/10!

Fish Jalfrezi

so after the success of my Fish Thai Yellow curry, i thought i'd branch out and try it in a jalfrezi. The base recipe recommends chicken (thighs at that but I always opt for breast) but I thought i'd be frivolous! 

Chopped onions, garlic, ginger chillis and peppers

I am pleased to say that the humble cod fillets I used stood it ground firmly against the gorgeous spice mix! I even added extra chopped chillis for extra heat and it worked well. I personally don't see the need for the yogurt as the heat of the jalfrezi suits my palette well.

As you can see above, this curry has my favourite spice blend of coriander and cumin! all together this mixed together smells heavenly!

Ta Da....

As you can see the fish did break up a little but still tasted amazing! I would recommend highly.

When i told people about the fish curry, there seemed to be a lot of unsure looks staring back at me. Have you tried fish curry? If so what do you think?

Next time on harriate....
I am attending a craft day with lots of new food/drink recipes! Camera at the ready!

Eat,Drink and Be Merry

H x

My week in food 15/10

Right, we are getting on track and I have finally caught up with my tales of yesteryear and food. 

Last week was fairly busy so I only have a couple of recipes to share with you. One is a trusted classic and a Josh favourite and one was a new find.

The Trusted Classic....

A good friend of mine Lucy introduced me to the Good Food Magazine books and I invested in the 101 Veggie Dishes which has a couple of good recipes in it. Josh being a strong carnivore couldn't understand the concept of eating a meal without meat so I amended the recipe to include diced turkey

Thai Satay Noodles

you will need:

• 3 Tbsps of crunchy peanut butter (I like to use the whole nut version as it gives the flavours a different element).
• 3 Tbsps of Sweet Chilli Sauce 
• 100mls of coconut milk (light option all the way for me)
• 100mls of Chicken Stock 
• 2 Tbsps of Soy Sauce
• 2 inches of ginger, grated
• 140g of broccoli florets
• 1 red pepper sliced
• 85g of baby corn, sliced in half length ways
• 50g Mangetout, sliced in half length ways
• 3 cloves of garlic, diced finely
• 2 nests of wholewheat noodles
• Olive oil

To start you need to mix the peanut butter, sweet chilli sauce (I usually add another tablespoon or so as I like it spicy), coconut milk, chicken stock and soy sauce. Mix them together until the peanut butter mix becomes smooth. One thing I forget to do regularly is to stir the coconut milk before adding. It makes the difference. It may not seem the most appealing in sight or smell but give it a taste here as I often add extra soy sauce.

Add a small amount of olive oil to a wok or large frying pan and add the turkey and cook through then add ginger, broccoli, peppers and corn for 3 minutes. I always tend to cook this for a little longer as I find that the broccoli can be underdone and too crunchy for my taste. Take your own taste after 3 minutes and see what you think. At this point boil the water for your noodles and cook as per packet instructions.

Add mangetout and garlic and fry for another 2 minutes. Add peanut mix and stir into vegetables and allow to boil for a couple of minutes. Once the noodles are cooked add to the mixture, stir and serve.

When I first made the recipe I wasn't too sure about it, especially the first phase, however it mixes well with the ginger and garlic to give a unique flavour. One thing that does often gripe me is the ability to mix the noodles in to the vegetables enough that they are spread evenly. You may benefit from plating the noodles first and then adding the sauce mixture. the recipe will take about 30 minutes to cook and prepare when you are in full flow and this should serve around 3 hungry mouths. I have had to sub in petit pois and normal sweetcorn at a push and it still works well.

I tried to find the link for this on the bbc good food website but no joy. If you want to buy the book this is what is looks like:

I got mine from W H Smiths but is available online too!

The new find...

So as you will know by now I have a love of curry. And I'm a fan of vegetables. I made this one and managed to persuade Josh to have this without meat! 

Quick Vegetable Curry

Now I'm not sure about you but quick to me is around half an hour but this recipe with all of its faffing would take at least an hour. As I was tired and impatient I must admit I cut a few corners and amended it to my taste 

*bad harriet*

 As you know this goes against my ethos of try the recipe first then mix it afterwards. If you have a read through the recipe I'm hoping you will let me off about this one.

The recipe says you will need the following. (Though I have crossed out the things I didn't use)

• 2 large aubergines, cut into quarters, thickly sliced
• salt
• good glug groundnut oil
• 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 large, juicy garlic cloves, peeled, chopped
• finger-length piece fresh root ginger, peeled and cut into fine shreds
• 6-8 cardamom pods
• 1-2 good pinches dried chilli flakes
• 1-2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1-2 tsp cumin seeds
• 6-8 tomatoes, roughly chopped    I used passata here
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• few good dollops natural yoghurt I omitted this as I felt it would be too creamy
• dollop crème fraîche
• small handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• small handful fresh mint leaves   I ommitted this as I didn't feel it would be to my taste.

• 
  
  I also added to this 2 potatoes (cut into quarters and boiled for 20 minutes) and 2 carrots (Sliced thinly and boiled for 15 minutes) and a can of cannellini beans to add some more texture and to bulk it out for my man

So for this recipe I changed a lot. Firstly it said to :

1. Place the aubergine slices into a colander set over a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and leave for 30 minutes to draw out the moisture from the aubergine. - No Thanks, I want to get this ball rolling!
2. Meanwhile, to a large pan over a high heat add the groundnut oil with the onions, garlic and ginger. Cover with a lid, lower the heat and cook for 20 minutes or so, until the onions have softened. I once again feel that this was too long to cook them for so cut this down dramatically.
   
   
   The next stage it says is:
   Crush the cardamom pods, extract the black seeds and lightly crush them in a mortar with a pestle (I don't have one of these at the moment as I broke mine so used a spoon to crush and extract the pods.) - a gold star so far.
   Add them to the same pan, along with the chilli flakes, turmeric and cumin seeds, and stir to lightly toast the spices (discard the empty cardamom pods) - once again this was fine.
   
   
   Next it says to add the Aubergines which you have to griddle cook first until brown which is fine. At this point I added my other vegetables and the passata. I also added a little water to the mixture to loosen it up slightly. I left it to boil for about 15 minutes. 
   
   
   
   

   The chilli was quite strong against the onions so at this point I added the creme fraiche to cool it a little. The portion fed 3 of us and I had enough left over. As there is a lot of veg in my version there wasn't really the need for rice but I can't fault having a Naan to mop it up. I didn't find the aubergine needed to have the moisture drained out and found that the veg worked together well.

Tomorrow Night I am embarking on some baking with my friend Jessie so I'll take lots of pictures and let you know how we get on.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry.

H x

The Cornwall Restaurant adventures - North and South.

The restaurant edition....

The South...







During 'The Fish Saga' that took us to Porthleven we had passed this place. When we returned on our first trip it was shut so when we went back in August, this was on our hit list. This place was also recommended by the park we were staying on. As with Black Rock restaurant, Kota offers a set menu but this time it was available all evening.

We went to Kota early on in the evening and were only the second table in. Despite this the atmosphere was welcoming with strong dark wood all around for that extra cosy and intimate feel. One thing that's big for me on the atmosphere is the space between the tables, nothing worse than sitting on another diners lap. I am happy to say that this wasn't a problem here!

The restaurant offered an extensive wine and cocktail list and just for my blog I sampled one from each (wink wink). I started with a champagne cocktail and if my memory is correct it was a Kota Champagne cocktail which had cucumber vodka in. It came with a curl of cucumber in the bottom and a fantastically fancy champagne flute - a great way to start off your meal.

Josh decided to opt for the Set Menu for £17.50, dessert was added on and was well worth the money! With some set menus you get smaller portions but I can say that it matched mine in both size and quality.

To Start Josh had:
Tomato, chilli, coconut & seafood soup

I'm not usually a soup advocate, especially when we go out for dinner but Josh chose this dish and it made me re-think my stance. The soup came in a beautiful bowl (yes it makes all the difference) and wasn't stingy on the fish which made Josh happy. The bowl was littered with big chunks of cod and salmon with a thick soup which was well seasoned. The hint of chill complimented the whole thing. Josh even said he felt full after the starter and those of you who know Josh will understand the gravity of this.

For Main Josh had:

Pan fried hake fillet with saffron & seaweed risotto, shellfish & lemongrass bisque
Josh never used to like rice based dishes and had started to warm to it before Cornwall but this dish cemented his willingness to try. Once again the portion size was massive with a good portion of Hake. Crispy skin and well cooked meat made it extra tasty. Risotto was a little on the soft side for my taste but Josh found it tasty and worked well with the texture of the fish. Well seasoned and comes well recommended.
I was a pain as ever and decided that I wanted to eat a la carte! 

To Start I had:
Heirloom tomatoes, garlic custard, olive caramel, avocado puree & courgette flower (which was £7.50). 

The presentation was amazing - colours were bright and vibrant (different varieties of tomatoes featured) and the puree was scraped across the plate which made it even better! Flavour combinations were spot on too. Although I thought the portion was small at the time, when I had eaten my main and pudding I realised they did no wrong. Who knew tomatoes could taste so good!! ( I obviously did as I used to eat a punnet to myself when I was younger and go red!)

For Main I had:

John Dory with crab & ginger ravioli, cabbage, peas, globe artichokes & lemongrass (which was £17.50)

The first thing that struck me was the smells - the ginger and lemongrass. As you will probably pick up throughout the course of my ramblings, I adore spice and strong flavours and this did not disappoint. The John Dory fillet held its own well and was cooked perfectly offering a great texture to the ravioli. In my head when I ordered I imagined lots of little ravioli but it came as one big offering. I am probably being greedy as I am a carb fiend but I felt that I could have eaten more of it, especially as it was my carb helping of the course. The vegetables were fresh and al dente which made the dish even better.

Me and Josh share our pudding. We were both full but couldn't pass up the opportunity based on what we had already eaten.

For Pudding we had:

Malted chocolate fondant with popcorn ice cream, salted caramel and malted tuille. (which was £7.50)

Well well well. This was the loveliest end to a meal I have had in a very long time. The presentation was playful and made you feel as if you were embarking on a mini adventure to eat it. Different segments meant that you did know where to start.  Josh jumped straight into the fondant which oozed out some silky and delicious goo so naturally I stole the bit he had broken into. I think my favourite bit was the popcorn ice-cream. Oh so creamy and popcorny! The caramel played nicely against the creamy ice cream and the fondant! - below is the pic!

Go on check on the rest of the menu!

The restaurant comes highly recommended.When it got busier we still received attentive service and the vibe was relaxed and fun. Booking your table comes highly recommended! Definitely a place you can have a romantic meal with your other half. 

The North...

In September I went on holiday with some of the girls from University. Louise found some gorgeous wood cabins near Bude called Ivyleaf Combe. Before jumping onto the food, the accommodation was so good I want to give it a mention. Located in some fantastic countryside, you really couldn't ask for better for some time with friends. Each lodge has a hot tub on the deck which was very well used for relaxing times and catch ups with the girls.

The standard of cleanliness was fantastic and we were greeted onto the park by one of the owners who gave us a tour of the lodge before allowing us to settle in. The small things really do make a difference and the apple juice and biscuits laid out for us won us 4 over straight away.

Although most things are a drive away it was nice to come back and be in utter silence

So I banged on about this one restaurant for some time.....

We booked around 6 months in advance and availability was still tight. As Padstow is around 45 minutes from Bude we opted for the early bird special at 6.30pm. What I have learnt is that it can be somewhat of a rush to get ready for this time when you have been out all day as well as feeling slightly odd leaving the lodge dressed to the nines when it is light out.

In saying that my reservations left me as soon as we pulled up outside the restaurant and I began to get that excitement in the pit of my stomach.

As we walked up to the door in our heels, the door was opened for us which always puts me in a good mood. We were swiftly accompanied to our table by the same man and seated. All the excitement went to our head as we committed to the recommended sparking rose wine which we later discovered was £50 for the bottle. In saying that we had planned champagne and if we had had 2 glasses each it would have been more than this. Louise even got her posh on and tried the bubbly before it was poured to us all. I do like a bit of posh! With the bubbly poured we were greeted by the amuse bouche - some breaded cheese! These guys were smooth, too smooth perhaps.

I cant help but think that our experience here was ultimately made better by our waitress. She was friendly, attentive and made us feel completely at ease to ask questions. She even came over to ask if we needed help making our decision and spent time with us explaining what it was like and whats even better being honest.

If you are a fish lover, you NEED to look at the full menu. Only then will you fully understand how hard it was to make a decision. Be prepared to be amazed!

So after much deliberating and ensuring that no one else on the table was having the same thing, I opted for the following (drum roll please...)

Starter

Sashimi of Scallops, John Dory, Salmon and Seabass. 

That's right I went raw. I figured that if I was going to do it, Rick Stein wouldn't let me down. The plate came to me with a clean appearance and a good amount of each. I was so pleased that I got chopsticks but not so pleased I couldn't separate them (thanks to Louise for doing it). I had eaten some raw fish but this was another level, you could taste the freshness and the quality in each mouthful, My favourite of the selection was definitely the Scallops that literally melted in my mouth. Simple and beautiful. Worth every penny (£15.00)

Main

Braised Fillet of Brill with black truffle, slivers of potato, mushrooms and truffle oil.

This stood out to me straight away and what got my eye? The truffle. Together with the fish and the mushrooms it struck my palette as somewhat sweet and fragrant. The fish melted away in my mouth and was cooked to perfection. The slivers of potato did what they said but were cooked well. As I mentioned before I am a carb fiend so I would have happily eaten more! (£29.50)

Pudding

Passion fruit Souffle with white chocolate ice cream

I had so many tastes in my mouth all of which were amazing but opted for passion fruit as a light and refreshing flavour. The souffle was lovely and the passion fruit was there in abundance and gave me a zing which brought me out of my food coma. As with all other ice cream I had when I went to Cornwall it was velvety in texture and rich in flavour.

Overall -

The seafood restaurant is somewhere you should go, especially if you love fish and enjoy a bit of pomp and ceremony. All in the meal cost £75 each. This included the champagne, 2 glasses of pinot grigo wine, coffee and 4 three course meal. It is on the pricey side but sometimes you really do pay for the whole experience and the quality of what you eat.

This picture shows you my emotion about the food we ate:

Wow that was more writing than I planned!

Hope it was worth it and you guys enjoy!

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

H x