Which cheese do you use to get a bear out of a cave? - "Camembert!!"

Now, anyone who knows me well knows I am an avid cheese lover, the stinkier and gooier the better. In fact even once I find a perfectly gooey cheese, I just love to take it to the extreme. Which is why a baked Camembert really is my idea of heaven! Honestly if I was on death row this would be my last request. So you can imagine my delight when my lovely (also French cheese addicted) parents treated me to a Parisienne Camembert baking dish, complete with recipe book. 


Now in the past I have simply used the box the Camembert comes in to cook it , but this little beauty really does make it a lot easier and  a lot prettier. The recipe book that comes with it is full of quirky little experiments to try such as adding cherries, mango chutney or pinenuts, however I am yet to try these as I am too in love with my classic thyme and garlic version. 

Please give this a go - if you are without a lovely dish like mine then simply keep the cheese inside its cardboard/wickerlike box but remove the plastic, stab all over the top of the rind with a knife and then drizzle with olive oil, sliced garlic, and fresh thyme. Whack this in the oven for about 20 mins at gas mark 6, then dive in with warm crusty baguette and some Italian breadsticks (or celery and carrot sticks if you're into that) and then wait for heaven to begin!!

Champagne & Choux

So I know it has been quite a while, I'll be honest I have been not just busy but also very lazy. Not cool at all. I have however got lots of exciting foodies things to talk about. The first, which this post is about, was my darling visit to Sketch for Champagne afternoon tea which I took my lovely LucyM out for as a birthday treat. Now I have heard mixed reviews about Sketch, as beautiful as the decor is I have heard the food isn't fab. This however could not be further from the truth. Although myself and Lucy didn't eat a proper lunch there we did get a chance to taste the most heavenly cakes, pastries, sandwiches, baguettes, tea (I had fresh mango tea while Lucy had Rosebud) and cocktails - these were all also absolutely delicious. In fact the scones seriously were freshest, warmest scones you can imagine! The pictures below I am sure will do the talking in terms of the arty, quirky atmosphere of the Glade room with its Swarovski encrusted walls, in which we devoured our scrumptious (extremely filling!) Champagne afternoon tea for £38 a head - well worth it for a cheeky treat. And definitely worth opting for the Champagne as it was a glass of Pommery Brut Royal (my new favourite!) which was very dry but beautifully smooth.

On another note if you do decide to take my advice and treat yourself to an afternoon at Sketch please please please make sure you check out the toilets!! absolutely awesome!

Burn after reading........

So I am not remotely Scottish and neither is my life long friend Lucy M (with who I annually celebrate Burns' night) but we just can't resist making a big deal of the 25th January simply because we both LOVE haggis, neeps and tatties SO much. Being the ridiculous foodie that I am I also insist on serving this yummy combo with a mustard,cream and white wine sauce. And if you aren't already drooling at the prospect of this (because I definitely am) then why not start the meal with some Sillfield farm black pudding (which you can grab yourself a pack of from Borough Market) a runny poached egg and yet more of that scrummy white wine sauce. Honestly it really is worth getting really good quality black pudding as it makes a world of difference. This Sillfield stuff from Cumbria is seriously incredible and goes so crispy. 

Don't let all the yumminess get in the way of the meaning behind Burns' night, make sure to read the poetry extract from Robert Burns which must be read over the haggis before tucking in.

 'Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,

Great Chieftain o' the pudding race!

Aboon them a' ye tak your place,

Painch, tripe, or thairm:

Weel are ye wordy o' a grace

As lang's my arm'

Mediterranean Escape

So on Sunday I was tasked with cooking an evening meal for 6 and this week I was determined it would not be a roast. So I hunted through all my new cookbooks (most of which I havent really had a chance to look at this year!) and came across one which my darling BF got me for Xmas - unbelievably the only Rick Stein I didn't already own - Mediterranean Escapes.  


I decided firstly to settle my (selfish) yearning for feta cheese with a starter of 'Grilled prawns with Ouzo, chilli and feta' which I was nervous about as I have never used Ouzo to cook with - usually just consumed in a bar on a little Greek Island whilst scoffing down  grilled Octopus - but actually this turned out to be extremely yummy and the taste of the Ouzo was apparent but not by any means overbearing, and the sauce was truly awesome soaked up with some warm Turkish bread. 

This was followed by a Moroccan main called 'Kefta Mkaouara' which is 'Spicy egg, meatball and tomato tagine' and honestly one of the easiest meals to cook, especially when there are quite a few of you, it was very stress free. The eggs really do make it delicious as long as you make sure the yolks are still really gooey and runny - again as you can imagine the bread for dipping is a must!! This was accompanied by some greek style roasties (really mixing up the meds I know) slathered in oregano (brought back dried from my fave Greek island) and lemon juice.
Then what better to finish this med feast than with some old school baklava (no cooking needed as I picked them up from my local Turkish supermarket). This meal would probably have gone best with an Austrailian Shiraz however I was being naughty and fancied a glass (or 4) of my fave white at the mo Villa Maria Dry Riesling.

 Tempted?? Let me know and I will share the recipes...

My New toy!

Hello and Welcome! I wasn't sure what my first blog should be about really but after playing with my new fave toy last week I realised it was the perfect thing to rave about! I say MY toy but it is actually my Mum's Xmas present this year from me, which I have since taken under my wing. This new toy was a pasta making machine! I did lots of research before finally deciding which brand to get but in the end went with what the majority of reviews had recommended, which was to go for a classic Imperia SP150. It is a traditional chrome plated steel pasta machine which kneads and rolls 150mm strips in 6 different thickness'. The pasta sheets can be used
for lasagne, cannelloni or cutting and shaping into dozens of different shapes, such as farfalle, ravioli etc. 

For my first experiment I decided to go for some ravioli and used a normal cutter like you would use for biscuits (despite going out and buying a proper pasta one) to get the crimped shape. I then made up a delish filling of fresh crab (white and brown meat), fresh dill and chopped fresh chilli. Added a little water to the edges and simply put the top on and firmly squeezed around them... and it really is that easy! 

After cooking in boiling water for 5-7 mins I served my little treats with hot melted butter and potted brown shrimps....Heaven!