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Category Archives: Kitchen Triumphs

Rich Christmas Cake

Posted on October 22, 2012 by emmaattenb

Every Christmas, I visit my very good friends at the Jayne household. Their home is a veritable wonderland of fresh Christmas trees, decorations, booze, and more food than you can shake a stick at. So, when I heard that Julie (Mother Jayne) was being her usual organised self and getting the Christmas cake made, baked, and injected with regular shots of alcohol, I thought it was only fair to share it with the KB masses.

So, without further ado, I’ll leave you in the very capable hands of Mother Jayne and her delectable Christmas cake recipe…

Yes, it’s that time again! There is no doubt that the earlier you make your Christmas cake the better it is. I always like to get mine made in October as that gives you plenty of time to ‘feed’ it with sherry or brandy (hic) before covering with marzipan and icing. But don’t despair; this is a very straightforward recipe which gives great results!

You’ll need:

  • 1 kg dried mixed fruit
  • 100g ready-to-eat dried apricots, roughly chopped
  • 100g ready-to-eat-dried figs, roughly chopped
  • 80 g whole almonds, roughly chopped
  • 150ml sherry
  • 250g unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 orange, zest and juice
  • 175g dark brown soft sugar
  • 1 tablespoon golden syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 5 medium eggs, lightly beaten
  • 300g plain flour
  • 75g self-raising flour
  • 1 tablespoon mixed spice
  • 1 tablespoon orange marmalade

It’s very important to soak the fruit overnight as this helps to keep the cake lovely and moist.

Get cooking!

  • In a large non-metallic bowl, mix together the dried fruit, apricots, figs, almonds, orange zest and juice. Add sherry, cover, and allow to soak overnight.

Could a bowl get more festive?

  • Preheat the oven to 150C, 300F, gas mark 2. Grease and double line the base and sides of a 20cm square or round deep cake tin.
  • Cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in the golden syrup. Stir the vanilla essence into the eggs, then gradually beat into the combined butter and sugar mixture.
  • Sieve the flours and mixed spice together. Using a large metal spoon, gently fold into the cake mixture. Then fold in the marmalade and soaked fruit mixture.

It’s not hot weetabix, honest

  • Place the mixture into your prepared tin, smoothing down the top but making a small dip in the centre.

You can almost taste the flavours

  • Bake in the centre of your oven for 3-3 ½ hours, or until a skewer comes out clean when put into the middle of the cake. If the top has browned enough after 2½-3 hours, cover the cake loosely with foil for the remainder of the cooking time.
  • Remove from the oven, leaving to cool for at least an hour in the tin, then turn out onto wire rack.

Mmm, we love Christmas!

  • When completely cool, wrap in greaseproof paper and foil and store in an airtight container.
  • Once a week, unwrap the cake and prick holes in the base. Pour over about a tablespoon of sherry or brandy. Once soaked in, re-wrap your cake.

I have used this recipe for many years and it really does produce a very moist, rich Christmas cake.
 
Watch this space for info on marzipan and icing later. Now get baking!

Love,

(Honorary Kitchen Bitch) Julie xx

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Recreating My Mum’s Kitchen Disasters: Fish Flan

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Domestic Disgrace

When I was at primary school in the 1980s, my mum was our school secretary.  This had some definite disadvantages for my brother and I:  we had to sit in the library for an hour after our friends had gone home every day while we waited for her to finish work, every time we got in trouble with a teacher, she knew about it straight away, resulting in an instant second bollocking for us, and – worst of all – she used to get meal ideas from the school cook.  We not only had to suffer school dinners at school, we had them at home too.  Feel my childhood pain.

Savoury Mince Crumble was one of her favourite school dinners to recreate (bleughhh).  Cheese Aigrettes were another speciality (these are essentially big balls of lard covered in breadcrumbs).  But the meal which never failed to send my brother and I into competitive, twitching retching fits on the floor was Fish Flan.

If my memory serves me correctly, Fish Flan used to stink like a slightly sulphurous seabed while it was cooking and tasted exactly as though something had crawled into a quiche and died.  Tastes change though, right? So, for my debut Kitchen Bitching post, I decided to recreate it in all its glory to see if it was really as bad as I remembered.  I emailed my mum and asked her for the recipe.  ”Huh, I knew you liked it really,” she replied.  No Mother, I just want to mock it on the internet.  Transcript of the recipe coming up, my notes in italics.:

Ingredients:
6oz plain flour
3oz marg
1.5 tbs water
(the above should be used to make pastry) – No shit, Sherlock. If anyone can make anything different out of those 3 ingredients, please let me know.

1 small onion
1 tin of tuna
2 eggs
quarter of a pint of milk
salt and pepper
cucumber.

Method:
Make pastry, line flan dish (I eventually located a flan dish at the bottom of the cupboard. It almost certainly doesn’t belong to me. Mysterious) and bake blind at 190 degrees for 10-15 mins.

Well, this presents a problem.  To blind bake something you’re supposed to use those special ceramic bean things or dried pulses.  I have neither.  If any PRs want to send me some ceramic blind baking beans to review, do feel free.  Or a potato masher – we haven’t got one of those either *looks around hopefully*. So, I had to use uncooked rice and hope for the best.

Finely chop onion and flake tuna (I think ‘flake tuna’ means ‘empty it out of the tin’)
Whisk eggs and milk together and add seasoning

Yuck, one of my eggs had those little blobs in it.  What is that? An embryo or a chicken period or something?  Scraped it out with a spoon so as not to vom everywhere.

When case is ready, put onion and tuna in and pour egg mixture over the top.

Well…that looks…err….

Cook for 30-40 mins.
Decorate with a cucumber.


I jest.  Here is what it really looked like when I served it up.  If I was going for the full 80s experience, I should have served it with boiled potatoes and frozen green beans, but I don’t hate my family, so I didn’t.

The Verdict:

You know what?  It really didn’t taste that bad. In fact, I will go as far as to say that it was quite pleasant really.  It could actually be made very tasty indeed by substituting salmon for the tuna and adding some chopped dill, but as a quick, easy week night dinner, it was completely acceptable. Apart from the bits of uncooked rice that I couldn’t quite hook out after blind baking the pastry – they didn’t taste so good.

I felt guilty.  I’d complained and bitched about Fish Flan for years and refused to eat more than two mouthfuls of it every time it was served throughout my childhood, and here it was proving itself to be tasty and misunderstood.  For that reason, I almost did a victory dance when my three year old son informed me that it tasted “of bums” and that he would die if he ate any of it. Phew. Vindicated.

Fish Flan:  Acceptable for adults, hell on a plate for the under 18s.

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Cibo e bevande, stile italiano

Posted on October 12, 2012 by emmaattenb

Food and drink, Italian style. For a whole week. In the picturesque surroundings of Sorrento. And Amalfi. And Capri (just for good measure).

As most of you will know (and why else would I be a loyal Kitchen Bitch), I have an unashamed, unabashed, and unrelenting love of food and drink. Not all food, I grant you (being about as fussy as they come); but food excites me. I love seeing it, smelling it, tasting it, and reading about it. And the pleasure I get from perusing the menu of anywhere that I’m about to visit (or dream of visiting) is immeasurable. So, when I set my heart on Italy as this year’s holiday destination of choice, I knew I was going to be in for some treats. And I wasn’t disappointed.

I sampled the biggest meringue known to man

Pure sugar hit

Tried my first amaretto cappuccino (highly recommended)

For the love of amaretto

And sought refuge from the heat with some of Italy’s crispest beers

Oh so refreshing

The cafés of Sorrento, dotted along every narrow lane, and hidden around every winding corner, offered the perfect opportunity to simply sit and soak up the Italian culture. For me, it’s the atmosphere that makes Italy a very special place. It was the same in Rome. For anyone who is happy to sit and people-watch, Italy is the place to be.

And in the evenings, I was lucky enough to visit some truly memorable restaurants; not least of which was Sorrento’s famous Parrucchiano.

Restaurant ‘o Parrucchiano: the birthplace of cannelloni
 
Founded in 1868 by Antonino Ercolano — a seminarian who learnt the art of cooking in the kitchen of the local archbishop’s palace — Parrucchiano can be found nestled snugly on the Corso Italia (Sorrento’s main road). The restaurant — originally named ‘La Favourite’ — was given the nickname ‘o Parrucchiano’ by Ercolano’s friends, owing to his past vocation as a priest. And it was here that cannelloni (then called ‘Strascinati’) was born, about a hundred years ago.

Well, I wasn’t about to travel all the way to Sorrento and miss out on sampling this most popular of dishes at the place of its inception, so on my second night in the city, I got all dressed up and descended on the enchanted gardens of Parrucchiano. With lemon trees growing overheard and fairy lights all around, it was a truly magical experience. And the food definitely lived up to the hype. The pork and beef filling was so full of flavour, and the sauce tasted, well, entirely authentic. The homemade pasta was just the right texture and consistency, and the whole dish was rich and satisfying, with an oozing of authentic parmesan cheese; all washed down with a bottle of Prosecco — perfecto.

And so cannelloni was born

Unsurprisingly, I spent much of the holiday drinking Prosecco. I would say that it’s a weakness of mine, but how can indulging in bubbly ever be labelled as a weakness? But it wasn’t Prosecco alone that I became hooked on throughout the holiday; Italy’s Café Freddo (iced coffee) seriously puts Starbucks to shame.

I love iced coffee on a hot summer’s day. In all honesty, I’d love iced coffee on a snowy winter’s day; but I’m perpetually disappointed in the weak offerings of so many of the UK’s coffee shop chains. So when I sampled my first Café Freddo in Sorrento’s famous Fauno bar (founded in 1950 and considered one of Sorrento’s most important meeting points by residents and tourists alike), I took my first step on the road to a week-long love affair with this most delicious of drinks.

Satisfaction beyond words

Luckily, they’re pretty easy to make.

Café Freddo

You’ll need:

  • Espresso
  • Milk
  • Ice cubes
  • Sugar or caramel syrup (optional)

Get shaking!

  1. Make some hot espresso
  2. Mix one-third hot espresso with two-thirds cold milk
  3. Add ice and shake (preferably using a cocktail shaker)
  4. Strain into a large glass
  5. Drink whilst gazing at photos of Sorrento…

And the perfect accompaniment to a Café Freddo? The profiteroles of Amalfi of course! Dark, rich, and exquisite…they say a picture speaks a thousand words, so feast your eyes on this.

Ciao,

Love Dolly xx

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Creamy Chicken Blaster Pasta!

Posted on October 11, 2012 by brodisnook

My mum came to visit me in Brighton last month, which among other great things, meant some good old home cooking. I have attempted to make her chicken blaster pasta many times but it never turns out as good as hers. Actually, that’s an understatement; the last time I tried it myself it came out pink! Hot hint: You don’t put the sun dried tomatoes in the mix, you use them for decoration on top.

Monstrous!

Monstrous!

You’ll need:

  • Two chicken breasts, chopped
  • Two/three rashers of bacon, chopped
  • Two cups of shell pasta
  • Seasame oil
  • Small carton of single cream
  • One small onion, chopped
  • Four cloves of garlic, chopped
  • One tablespoon of wholegrain mustard
  • Chopped mange tout
  • Chopped mushrooms
  • Sun dried or cherry tomatoes
  • Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese
Simple ... but delicious

Simple … but delicious

Get cooking!

Put chicken and bacon into a hot pan with seasame oil and fry until cooked. Add onion and garlic and stir. Gradually add other ingredients, such as mushrooms and mange tout (at this point you can add any extras you fancy), and stir well. Pour cream and add mustard to create a lovely creamy sauce and leave to simmer. Lastly, add cheeses into the pan and try not to drool!

Serve on top of shell pasta and decorate with sun dried or cherry tomatoes. This is a really nice spin on a creamy chicken pasta dish and I think the mustard really gives it the kick!

Enjoy, love Barbie x

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THE WORLD’S MOST DISTRESSING GINGERBREAD MEN

Posted on September 28, 2012 by emmaattenb

This week, we’re very excited to have Stuart Heritage (of Luv & Hat fame) as our guest blogger; especially as he is now a proper foodie with his own food blog and everything. Personally, we think that trumps the small fact that he writes for The Guardian.

So without further ado, I’ll hand you over to the very capable creator of the world’s most distressing gingerbread men…

If one thing characterised the summer of 2012, it was the gingerbread man. To mark the Queen’s jubilee, Sainsbury’s launched Mr & Mrs Jubilee – a pair of upsettingly malformed, boggle-eyed, jizzy-looking gingerbread arseholes. Then, for the Olympics, Sainsbury’s launched Mr & Mrs Sport – the same malformed, boggle-eyed, jizzy-looking gingerbread arseholes as before, but wearing medals. They made me proud to be British.

So, to continue the golden spirit of the summer, I decided to make my own gingerbread men. And because I made them, they’d obviously be much better than anything those supermarket dicks could come up with. Right?

HOW TO MAKE GINGERBREAD MEN

STEP ONE – Combine a load of gingerbread ingredients (like these) in a bowl. Decide that you don’t actually want to make 20 gingerbread men, so half all the quantities. End up putting way too much of some stuff and way too little of other stuff in because maths has never been your strong point. Dump it all onto some clingfilm.

STEP TWO – Roll the dough out until it’s the same thickness as a pound coin. Put in the fridge and plan to leave for two hours. Get bored after ten minutes and remove from the fridge.

STEP THREE – Realise that you don’t actually own a gingerbread man cutter. Attempt to cut the shape of a gingerbread man out of the dough with a knife. Fail hopelessly because you messed up the quantities of the ingredients and the dough’s still warm. This wouldn’t have happened if you’d just followed the instructions. But oh no, you think you’re better than that, don’t you?

STEP FOUR – Instead, just kind of hamfistedly fling a load of gingerbread men together limb by limb like some sort of awful surgeon who wasn’t hugged enough as a child or whatever. Do your best to ignore the fact that they look like little shiny poos because you’ll have to eat them soon. Bake at 180 C for ten minutes.

STEP FIVE – Forget that the gingerbread men will spread out in the oven. Stare at your wodge of mangled gingerbread for a couple of minutes, realise that you shouldn’t have taken the piss out of Sainsbury’s as much as you did because gingerbread men are actually quite hard. Briefly toy with the idea of inventing the gingerbread human centipede. Remember that you’re writing this as a guest post and that you should be on your best behaviour. Cut them apart with a knife.

STEP SIX – After spending about 20 minutes working out where the head is, ice sad faces on your pathetic mangled gingerbread stumps, and give them Smarties for buttons. Even though they don’t have hands. Or any discernible limbs to speak of. Maybe they’ve got a helper who does their buttons up or something. Look, shut up.

STEP SEVEN – Repeat for as many gingerbread men as you’ve made.

STEP EIGHT – Apologise to the readers of Kitchen Bitching, who are probably used to a better standard of cook than you, you jumped-up bimbo.

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Review: Love Your Larder

Posted on September 7, 2012 by emmaattenb

I’ve followed Love your Larder on twitter with an avid interest for some time now, and often drooled over their vast array of unique products. The site is brilliant for recipes, hints and tips, and for buying everything you’re ever likely to need to add a bit of je ne sais quoi to your daily menu. But most of all, I’ve been lusting after their Larder Boxes ever since I first stumbled across their online store.

Each month, the culinary Clusos of the larder world hunt out the most eclectic, interesting, and downright delicious titbits for the marvel of their many customers (or more aptly, consumers). Last month, my attention was piqued when reviews flooded twitter with tales of black garlic (who’d have thought it?) and chorizo (my all time favourite thing ever. Ever!) So when the lovely people over at Love your Larder said they were looking for keen food bloggers to review their next proffering, guess who jumped at the chance?

I had no idea what would be winging its way to me, but I was excited. And rightly so.

A veritable menagerie of loveliness

When my Larder box arrived through the trusty old post, I tore open the packaging with the excitement of a small person at Christmas. Oh, who am I kidding? I tore open the packaging with the excitement of ME at Christmas. And tucked neatly inside, underneath the covers of some lovingly shredded tissue paper, were the following foodie delights:

Bacon jam

(And straight away you see why we love this company). Deliciously weird, incredibly intriguing, bacon jam. Yes, that’s right: jam, made out of bacon. These are the sort of delightfully unique products you can expect from food pioneers Love your Larder. I put mine on Artisan Swedish Crispbreads (below) and cheese, and it was like a big ol’ crazy party in my mouth. The sort of party that you wake up from wondering what the hell just happened. In a good way. But I think the jam is actually best on hunky chunky beef burgers, so I’ll be trying that one out at my next BBQ!

Bacon + jam = genius!

White truffle oil

 I’ve always been intrigued by truffle oil. It’s expensive. Chefs talk about it an awful lot. And they use pigs to sniff it out (truffles, that is; I don’t think they’re trained to search out ready made bottles). I read Love Your Larder’s recommendations on what to serve the oil with (yes, they even give you a handy little print out that explains what’s in you Larder Box, where it came from, and how to use it — marvellous!) and whipped up a simple vegetable pasta accordingly. I drizzled a little truffle oil over my Italian feast, and soaked up its punchy aroma. I can only describe the experience as a taste revelation, and thank the Larder gurus for finally cluing me up on what all of the fuss is about.

Truffley pasta love

Handmade peanut butter and sea salt fudge

Oh. My. God. Where to start. I nearly died of excitement when I pulled this out of the box, and it didn’t let me down. The fudge was crumbly, smelt amazing, and tasted incredible. It’s exceedingly rich so it lasts ages as you only need a little bit before running for cover from the blocked arteries chasing you around the kitchen. The sea salt adds a completely unique flavour and cuts through the sweetness, and once again, it’s a taste I probably would never have sampled without the pickings of the Larder team.

Artisan Swedish Crispbread

I’m on a bit of a health kick at the moment (yes I know that’s laughable after extolling the virtues of peanut butter fudge), so I was mightily relieved when I pulled something out of the box that looked relatively healthy; although I’ll admit that I was suspicious about whether or not the crispbreads would actually cut the mustard when it came to the taste test — but I needn’t have been concerned (yippee!) It seems that Love Your Larder can do no wrong: not only did they bring me naughty treats aplenty; they also gave me a vehicle for my bacon jam, and the illusion of health! And then they brought me something to wash it all down with…

Clipper tea

I don’t actually drink tea (unless it’s got jasmine flowers or liquorice and peppermint in it), so I brewed up one of these fair-trade teabags for my old man and he LOVED it. He’s quite a tea connoisseur (he likes to think he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to the hot stuff), and gave this tea his full seal of approval. Apparently it was “smooth” and “refreshing” for an everyday tea, and went perfectly with the fudge (can you believe I shared a piece??) 

Perfect afternoon treat

So all in all, my Larder box was a resounding success. I loved not knowing what to expect when I opened the mysterious parcel, and was delighted with the unique products inside. I especially liked the fact that the contents weren’t the sort of things I would have chosen for myself. And that’s the beauty of the Larder box. It takes you out of your culinary comfort zone and pushes you to try flavours that you didn’t even know you liked. A food lottery, if you will.

So I urge you all to sign up for your own monthly Larder Box. Or at the very least, visit the site and search their range of eclectic goodies. Trust me; you’ll be glad you did.

Love,

Dolly xx

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Butternut Squash Cousotto with Hazelnut Butter

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Panda Bear

Hi Bitches!

As you guys may or may not know, I am a sugar-free bear. Being sugar-free means also avoiding simple carbs with all your might. Risotto rice falls in the simple carb category. Does brown risotto rice exist? I don’t know, and instead of finding out I thought I’d
use cous cous instead, meaning this recipe can be eaten hot or cold. I think it would also work with quinoa, which is good for vegans wanting to up their protein consumption. Then you could call the recipe quisotto. I’m here all week.

The following recipe serves four. It keeps for up to three days in the fridge and makes a lovely side dish with tapasy picky fingery foods.

You will need:

  • 500g (1lb 2oz) butternut squash
  • 1 tsp vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped ( I used two, but I’m not big on social graces)
  • 300g cous cous
  • ½ a litre hot vegetable stock
  • 50g butter
  • 40g chopped hazelnuts
  • 4 sage leaves, finely sliced( or a pinch of dried sage)
Om nom nom

Om nom nom

Get cooking!

1. Peel the squash, then remove and discard any seeds. Cut the flesh into 2cm cubes.
2. Heat half the oil in a large pan over medium heat.
3. Fry the squash, tossing occasionally for 15-20 minutes until tender. Lift squash from pan and set aside on a plate.
4. Add remaining oil to pan and gently fry the onion for ten minutes until tender. Stir in the garlic.
5. Add the cous cous to the pan, stirring gently to incorporate all ingredients.
6. Add the stock, and stir until all liquid is absorbed.
7. Crush hazelnuts with a pestle and mortar.
8. Heat hazelnuts and butter in a small frying pan until the butter is light brown and the nuts lightly toasted, then add the sage.
9. Consume hot or cold. If having cold, I suggest eating the butter atop oatcakes.

I found this combination utterly delicious, and I hope you do too.

Love, Panda Bear x

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Spice up your meals in Caribbean Food Week

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Sara Walker

This week (20th – 27th August), the UK is celebrating its first ever Caribbean food week. If you’ve never eaten traditional Caribbean fare, this is the perfect time to give it a try, particularly if you’re a fan of spicy foods.

I’ve tried my hand at cooking dishes from many different countries over the years. I can bluff my way through quite a few Italian dishes – although I still have a mental block on the difference between tarragon and oregano – and I can knock up a fairly decent curry (sometimes, if I’m feeling particularly flash, I even make the paste from scratch). However, Caribbean cookery is something I’ve never tried, and it doesn’t seem to feature largely on UK menus. The lovely folk behind Grace Foods, the UK’s largest supplier of Caribbean fare, are keen to change that, and kindly sent me a hamper of traditional foods to sample.

When I unpacked the beautifully-presented box, I was intrigued to find plantain chips in both sweet and savoury varieties. I had a vague feeling that plantains were a type of banana, and salted banana chips sounded…interesting, to say the least. A little research told me that plantains are indeed members of the banana family, but being starchy and low in sugar are more normally eaten as vegetables.

Image

The salted plantain chips were good – so good, in fact, that my husband and I almost came to blows over the finishing the bag. They’re a great alternative to potato chips, and would make an unusual party snack if you’re looking for something a little different. The sweet chips were also good, and might make a good alternative to chocolate bars in a child’s lunchbox.

The Jamaican condiments included ‘Hot Sauce’ – a Jamaican version of Tabasco – and All Purpose Seasoning.

The Hot Sauce is exactly what is says on the bottle – hot, fiery and great for chilli lovers. A few drops of this scattered cautiously onto a baked potato topped with cheese were great for giving an otherwise boring meal a bit of a kick.

The All Purpose Seasoning – a spice mix containing coriander, paprika, chillies, and garlic – can be added to stews, stir fries, salad dressings or marinades.

Image

The thing I was really looking forward to trying was Jerk Seasoning, a spicy marinade used in making the traditional Jamaican dish Jerk Chicken. This was incredibly easy to use, and just involved combining two sliced chicken breasts with a teaspoonful of marinade in a dish and leaving it in the fridge overnight. I also prepared some vegetable skewers, layering cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, sliced courgettes, sliced onions and chopped red pepper onto skewers. I mixed the marinade with a little cooking oil to make it easier to use, spooned it over the vegetables and left them in the fridge overnight as well.

The following day I fried the chicken strips in a pan, cooked the vegetables in a hot oven, and served it all with plain boiled rice, a yoghurt and mint sauce and a green salad. The whole meal took less than twenty minutes to prepare. Once again, my finished dish didn’t look quite the same as the Grace Foods photo (I really need to work on my presentation skills), but smelt fantastic.

Image
Photo courtesy of Grace Foods UK.

When I took the first mouthful of vegetables, a rogue bit of marinade that had been lurking inside a pepper slice hit the back of my throat with a ferocity that made my eyes water – note to self, apply marinade with a brush next time, rather than a spoon! Once my mouth had stopped tingling, the vegetables were very good – a nice depth of flavour with a bit of a chilli backlash. The vegetable skewers would work well cooked on the barbecue, for a vegetarian BBQ dish that’s a little unusual.

If you’d like to try adding a little spice to mealtimes, the Grace Foods Caribbean food range is available from supermarkets. For more recipe ideas and details of local stockists, visit the Grace Foods UK website.

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How To Impress Your Veggie BBQ Guests

Posted on August 15, 2012 by veggievision

There are few things that make me really cross, but people thinking that us veggies and vegans want food that looks completely different to what non-veggies are eating is definitely one of them. Not to mention those who thinking that we can’t enjoy a good old-fashioned roast dinner (that’s basically all vegetables other than than roast piece of meat) … and BBQs!

When it comes to BBQs it’s a universally recognised fact that there are few better ways to enjoy your meal thank out of doors (for the 3 days this year when that’s been a possibility, that is!). However,  BBQs do not need to mean meat, meat, meat!

Believe it or not, this is a veggie burger!

Believe it or not, this is a veggie burger!

Here are my top tips for catering for non-meat eating guests BBQ-wise, and after this I have added some top tasty ideas to spruce up your veggie burgers and really impress your veggie guests!

Top Tips for Your Veggie BBQ Guests: 

  1. Ensure that you have separate cooking facilities for non-meat eaters. It is easy to do and not that expensive for an additional small BBQ to ensure peace of mind for your guests. Alternatively, a small disposable BBQ can do the job just fine for a fraction of the price.
  1. Keep cooking utensils separate – It is not great to turn your veggie burgers with something that has just prodded the steak.
  1. Read the ingredients of your veggie burgers and sausages. Many non-meat eaters may not eat eggs or could have a dairy allergy – ensure that your veggie options are suitable.
  1. Impress your veggie guests. Have a look for something different – veggie kebabs with polony, vegan-friendly hot dogs with ketchup, or spiced burgers – just because they don’t want meat doesn’t mean that they want to be left out, or left their taste buds at home!
  1. Make sure that you make enough non-meat options. We hear stories constantly of veggie guests who arrive late only to find the meat eaters have already devoured all of the non-meat options!

My favourites are Fry’s Vegetarian Burgers  - Keep for ages in the freezer and are super on the BBQ…..

Spiced Burgers

Spiced Burgers

Warm the Spiced or Traditional burgers through and try them with the combinations listed below in a traditional sesame burger bun or wholemeal bap:

  • Salad, pickle and vegan strong cheddar cheese
  • Finely sliced fresh red onion and gherkins
  • Fresh chilli sauce and salad
  • Vegan pesto, vegan mozzarella cheese and fresh tomatoes – serve in a ciabatta roll
  • Mango relish and ginger sauce
  • Fresh avocado, thinly sliced and grilled FRY’S polony with vegan mayonnaise
  • Defrost the burgers and cook over the barbecue – serve in a bap with caramelised onions and tomato ketchup

ENJOY!

Love, Veggie Bitch x

PS – Do have a look at the Frys website – Their products are all vegan friendly and really delicious: www.frysvegetarian.co.uk

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Posted in American Cuisine, Kitchen Triumphs, UK Cuisine, Uncategorized, Vegetarian and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Pumpkin Soup Triumph!

Posted on August 10, 2012 by brodisnook

During the past year I have graduated from burning toast to burning things like jacket potatoes and finally parting with my beloved Pot Noodle in favour of noodles you cook in a pan. This is progress.  As one of the lucky few that live with a man who likes to slave over a stove, it has always been my job to pick a record, light the candles and pour the wine, steering clear of the actual stove. But, after turning the dreaded twenty one last week [Editors Note: hurrrumpf. TWENTY-ONE??! *crawls under the nearest "nearly 30" rock*], I decided it was time to summon my inner domestic goddess. This meant one thing: Mum’s pumpkin soup.

My Mum’s least favourite chore was cooking, so I guess her lack of experimentation in the kitchen has rubbed off on me somewhat. I have to point out that I was a Mac ‘n’ Cheese fanatic, so I didn’t give her much room to move when it came to culinary delicacies. But, no matter how she cooks it, it’s Mum’s so it’s right, right? I’d sooner try to replicate home cooking before Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. Scribbled on the back of a Pret receipt and slowly burning a hole in the kitchen drawer was her recipe for pumpkin soup:

  • One Japanese or butternut pumpkin
  • One big onion
  • 5-6 cloves of garlic
  • 6 chicken stock cubes
  • Tin of creamed corn
  • Single cream
  • Pepper
  • Curry powder
  • Worcester sauce
The simplest of ingredients

The simplest of ingredients

The directions seemed as simple as the ingredients:

  • Peel and chop pumpkin into cubes (the smaller they are, the faster they’ll cook)
  • Chop and add onion and garlic, as it all simmers on the stove add small amounts of water
  • Finally add and blend corn, splash of cream and spices once everything has gone soft.
  • Hey presto!I had been advised by a chef friend of mine to keep the pumpkin seeds, pan fry them and serve them on top for an extra crunch, but I wasn’t caught up with being fancy at the time, just making soup without a visit from the fire brigade.

The result?

Not too shabby ...

Not too shabby …

Things went pretty well aside from the end result being an interesting dark brown colour and tasting a little of burnt garlic. In contrast with Mum’s creamy orange brew I felt a little deflated, though it needs to be noted that you’ll never get your cooking the same as your old bird’s (especially seeing as my Ma’s was different every time – sorry Mum!).

I also need to note that leaving it bubbling without a lid on the stove to go and have a shower will result in spots of soup on the ceiling. I’m looking forward to creating my own catalogue of mismatched, improvised recipes that someone will try to mimic in years to come!

Love, Barbie x

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Posted in Kitchen Triumphs, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
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