Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Cheese & Wine Party: How it's Done


One of my good friends and FashionEtc writer @ErinDonnelly threw the best Cheese & Wine Party for us girls. She had an impressive selection of fromages, which she purchased from Borough Market and Androuet at Spitalfields Market. This was Erin's selection and the order in which we ate them:

  • Morbier - Pinot Noir
  • Meule des Bergers -Pinot Noir
  • Gratte Paille -Pinot Noir
  • Tomme de Pebra d'Ai (Borough Market) - Sauvignon Blanc
  • Langres (Borough Market) - Prosecco
  • Cornish Blue  - Rose
 
We were a small group of 8 and were each assigned a type of wine to bring. The selection was a mixed batch between cow, sheep, and goats cheese and Erin had lots of yummy additions on the table. Plump grapes, fruit & nut bread, sliced pears & apples, almond stuffed olives and fiery stuffed red peppers. She said Androuet was very helpful and recommended cheeses, qty for our group, the order in which they should be eaten and what wines would match each cheese. They were all wonderful, but the Cornish Blue was out of this world! 
 
If you don't have a good cheese shop nearby, I discovered this website Fromages.com that delivers worldwide and has great assembled cheeseboards. And check out Stylist's article on a Cheese & Beer pairing!
 

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Feed Me: Open-faced Smoked Salmon on Rye


So I've just devoured a tasty homemade lunch and wanted to share. This afternoon I did a weight training session at Fitness4less, followed by an intense yoga class at Bikram City. By the time I came home, my appetite was ravenous or as the Italian would say "o fame da lupo!" I wanted something healthy, full of protein and delicious. The other day I made a quick salmon on rye sandwich for work and tweeted how good it was. Since I had more time after my workout, I decided to make it again, but with extra love.

This is what I did layering from top to bottom:
  • One toasted Biona Organic Rye bread with amaranth & quinoa (much heartier than rye loaf and the quinoa adds extra protein)
  • Spread with a think layer of Dijon mustard
  • Topped with fresh spinach leaves
  • Layered with thin slices of smoked salmon
  • Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
  • Add some slices of fresh tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes
  • Drizzle with lil' bit of sun-dried tomato oil
  • Sprinkle of capers, chili flakes and dried rosemary


OH MY GOD it was good. I will say that this is an acidic dish with the vinegar from the mustard, tomatoes, lemon juice, capers and chili flakes. I could see AA Gill slaughtering me about it from the list of ingredients alone. But if you are like me and you like a bit of acidity (think ceviche) then proceed, if not omit the lemon juice.  

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Peanut Butter Pad Thai


I love Thai food and the first time I made pad thai it included peanut butter. We all know how much I love peanut butter and so I had to try a version that called for it. It was tasty, but forgettable and nothing like the real version. Obvio and probably a bit sacrilege according to most Thai kitchens.

Regardless, Hub (who I've transformed into a PB lover) asked if we could make the PB version again. I went onto Food Network and found Rachael Ray's Pad Thai with Chicken & Shrimp. I love reading reviews and following recipes, but more often than not I can't find an ingredient or two and experiment with substitutions. So I thought I'd share our modifications and how we got on.

So here's what the original recipe called for and in bold is what we changed. All the reviews said that their isn't enough sauce and to double or triple the portions. We ended doubling the measurements below.

Pad Thai Paste
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
  • 1 teaspoon Asian chili paste, such as sambal oelek Less than a tsp of chili flakes
Everything Else
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil Used sunflower oil
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon minced ginger
  • 1/2 cup julienned mixed vegetables (carrots, yellow squash, zucchini) Removed altogether and used mushrooms instead. Love mushrooms & don't really like any of these vegetables stir fried
  • 4 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast or thigh, sliced into strips
  • 12 medium to large shrimp, peeled and deveined This time we just used chicken
  • 1/4 pound medium-wide rice noodles, soaked in warm water until softened and drained
  • 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cider vinegar Didn't have so used white wine vinegar and fish sauce
  • Chopped Romaine lettuce, for garnish Didn't even bother, what's the point?
  • Mung bean sprouts, They don't sell them at the off-license (aka Bodega), but we added chopped green onions
  • Lime wedges, for garnish
  • Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
  • Chopped peanuts, for garnish

I find it's easiest to prepare and chop everything ahead of time and then put it all together. This dish comes together quite quickly and it can be a bit stressful rushing to chop things, whilst cooking. First saute the ginger and garlic, then add the raw chicken, shrimp, veg until cooked.


Toss in the already cooked noodles and add the paste, sugar and vinegar. Hub thought it looked too dry and so we added fish sauce to the dish. We were going to use soy sauce, but the original pad thai calls for fish sauce so we opted for that instead.


We mixed it all up and it looked really plain.


Until we added the peanuts and green onions and it started to come to life


and Viola! Topped with cilantro & lime wedges, it looked so pretty.


This recipe was tasty and I loved the ginger coming through, which is not included in real pad thai. I would definitely make it again, but would triple the sauce and include shrimp.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Easter Egg Alternatives


Yesterday, Hub and I celebrated Easter with his parents and there were two large Easter Eggs on the table plus a little tin of baby ones. We generously tucked in, but my poor pa-in-law could not participate because he's diabetic.

Got me thinking about suitable alternatives for Hub's pa, my mom who has a heart condition and can't have chocolate (gives her palpitations), or my sister who's also diabetic. Here's what I found.

Rococo Chocolates do a Sugar-Free Easter Egg that comes beautifully wrapped in gold foil and their signature printed box. Thornton's also have a nice traditional version.




I recently tried Dr. Joshi's 21-day detox, which eliminates every allergenic food from your diet. Holland & Barrett offer the Celtic Easter Egg that is free-from everything and is dark chocolate, my favorite.



I could not find a chocolate-free egg anywhere! How can this be...making a mental note to produce a line of fantastic free-from Chocolate Easter Egg range with really cool packaging designed by my best friend Jess. I DID find that Lush Cosmetics make beautiful egg bath bombs that would be perfect for my mom who loves all things beauty.


Happy Easter Everybody! Also check out this great Choc-o-pedia article by the Independent and recipe for vegan chocolate covered cheesecake Easter eggs!


[The Rocky Road to Caramellow Extra Thick Easter Eggs image is by Hotel Chocolat]

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Life in Bibury


This past weekend, Hub and I went to a wedding in the Cotswolds. It was at the Swan Hotel in Bibury and it was one of the most picturesque places I'd ever seen. After the ceremony, we took a little stroll around the hotel and imagined what life would be like in Bibury....

We would live on a street like Arlington Row in a light color stoned cottage with tulips in the front and a door shorter than we.


 

 We'd take morning walks at Bibury Trout Farm and buy fresh trout, local cheeses and wine from the shop inside.


And our local haunt would be The Village Pub in neighboring Barnsley.

 

We stopped their for lunch on our way out and had double baked cheddar cheese souffle, a bowl of mussels in parsley & cream, battered haddock with mushy peas & chips, and toffee pudding with vanilla bean ice cream.
 

Ahhh life in Bibury....






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