Tiramisu – a classic Italian dessert
Valentine’s Day is approaching and this year we propose a simple but iconic Italian dessert: Tiramisu. We don’t know for sure where this dessert was originally created, but we know that it’s an all-time favourite throughout the Italian peninsula and all Italian restaurants abroad have their own version too. Just like any classic recipe, Tiramisu would be a perfect reason for an animated Italian argument about who has the best recipe amongst friends or family. Continue reading “Tiramisu – a classic Italian dessert”
Tiger Prawns with Sweetcorn & Chilli – a recipe from Ching He Huang
It’s going to be the Year of the Rooster in 2 more days,and as food is the main way to celebrate Chinese New Year, we tried out the Emmy-nominated TV chef Ching He Huang‘s tiger prawns, sweetcorn and chilli recipe. It’s a classic stirfry dish – very quick to prepare and cook – and really adds colour to the dinner table! In Ching’s words, “Prawns symbolise happiness as they are homonym for ‘laughter’ and their reddish colour is synonymous with ‘luck’. The yellow colour of the corn resembles small nuggets of gold symbolizing ‘wealth’.”
The prep time is only 5 minutes, as is the cooking time. It’s Ching’s ethos to use fresh ingredients, but all the fresh tiger prawns were sold out (probably in the scramble to buy prawns for Chinese New Year), and we had some leftover frozen sweetcorn left, so we’re cooking these from frozen, using 100g in total. You’d ideally need to defrost these before use, but when stirfrying, the ingredients such as sweetcorn can be added to the wok frozen – just add an extra minute to the cooking time. Continue reading “Tiger Prawns with Sweetcorn & Chilli – a recipe from Ching He Huang”
Chinese Steamed Fish – a simple recipe using sea bream
Chinese New Year is just a week away, and fish is a must on the menu (年年有余), so we’d like to share this simple yet eye-catching steamed fish recipe. Fish cooks really quickly in the steamer, so once you’ve done all the prep work, it only takes 5-10 minutes before it’s done! Not only so, you won’t get all the oil splatters you’d get from stir-frying.
The “must” ingredients are fish (sea bream here, but you can also use other types of smaller fish with white meat such as halibut, pike, sunfish and carp), loads of ginger, spring onions and all the seasoning/sauce ingredients. The carrot, luncheon meat, shiitake mushroom and chillies are optional. However, if you decide to go without fresh chillies, then you can also add a little chilli sauce into the sauce at the end. The amount of chilli included here will make a very spicy version, so please tone if down as per your own taste!
We’re using seafood soy sauce here – you can usually find it with a green label. If you don’t have it, then use a light sauce sauce and add an extra teaspoon of oyster sauce, then 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Continue reading “Chinese Steamed Fish – a simple recipe using sea bream”
Tofu and crab simmer pot (xie huang dou fu) – a simple Chinese recipe
Crab is a popular dish to include when celebrating Chinese New Year, and since it’s only 2 weeks away, we’d like to share this simple tofu and crab simmer pot recipe – it has minimal frying so is a good one to try if you don’t like the smoke from stir frying at home.
This recipe is one of the used traditionally to emulate the rarer and more expensive crab meat (another being imitated crab/sai pang xie), and can be made with duck egg yolk instead of crab meat. However, since crab is easier to buy nowadays, it’s rarely made with just eggs. Continue reading “Tofu and crab simmer pot (xie huang dou fu) – a simple Chinese recipe”
Mince Pies and Hazelnut Ale – Eric Lanlard Launches Meantime’s Cake Boy Hazelnut Ale
Nothing sets off the festive spirit and signals the approach of Christmas quite like mince pies, and that’s what we learned to make with Master Pâtissier Eric Lanlard at Cake Boy in order to celebrate the launch of Meantime‘s latest limited edition beer in The Pilot Series: Cake Boy Hazelnut Ale.
We found Eric Lanlard’s boutique patisserie by the river near Wandsworth Town on an evening in December, which, in London, means that it had been pitch black for several hours already. A step into the patisserie brought us into a different world, where the sofas were as colourful as the macarons. We sipped a glass of Meantime’s Cake Boy Hazelnut Ale as we stared at the mini Christmas trees and chocolate baubles on the counter. Fairy lights twinkled in the background – yes, it’s Christmas.
The nutty and smooth dark ale was created with Christmas in mind. But more than that, it is the spirit of experimentation that led Meantime’s Brewmaster Ciaran Giblin to incorporate hazelnut, an ingredient from baking and festive desserts, into an ale. The desire to create something exciting, different and unexpected sits at the heart of Meantime’s Pilot Series: 26 limited edition beers of which Cake Boy Hazelnut Ale is the latest addition.
It is, again, the spirit of experimentation that led Eric to incorporate the ale into these special mince pies. We soon donned aprons with the pink Cake Boy logo to find out how to make them. We gleamed a few top tips from the Master Pâtissier throughout the evening.
5 tips from Eric Lanlard – how to bake (and eat) the perfect mince pie Continue reading “Mince Pies and Hazelnut Ale – Eric Lanlard Launches Meantime’s Cake Boy Hazelnut Ale”
Sugarless apple, cinnamon and veggie muffins – perfect for babies
To kick start our new category of recipes (due to one of us having a baby who’s now eating solids), we thought we’d share this apple, cinnamon, carrot and courgette muffin. It uses a flour and banana base – the banana’s there to add some extra sweetness. All our baby recipes will be sugar and salt free, and as our baby has cow’s milk allergy, we’re using margarine (Pure, to be specific, as recommended by the GP). This recipe is inspired by the courgette muffin recipe from BBC Good Food.
Also, with our baby recipes, as all mamas are probably running low on time, we’ve gone for the method with the least amount of prep work. In this case, we’re doing as much as possible in the blender. You’ll still get a nice and fluffy texture following these steps!
These make a nice batch of 12 muffins. The prep takes around 5-10 minutes, and it cooks in 25 minutes.
Continue reading “Sugarless apple, cinnamon and veggie muffins – perfect for babies”
Hot and sour soup (suan la tang) – a simple warming Chinese recipe
Hot and sour soup is a perfect winter warmer now that we’re through to the last month in the year and the temperature’s dropping (further). It’s a soup that’s always on the menu in Chinese restaurants, and there are lots of fusion recipes around as well, such as the hot and sour chicken noodle soup. Traditionally, you’ll have hot and sour soup after a meal, and it’s supposed to help you feel better after a night of drinking – also extra handy during the festive season!
The soup is originally from Sichuan, and you’ll find that the ones in restaurants are quite thick due to the cornflour. The versions you make at home generally don’t contain cornflour, so the consistency is much more watery. Here we’ve put cornflour as an optional ingredient, as it really doesn’t affect the taste of the soup.
This is a really easy recipe, and will cook you a nice pot of the soup. I can have half a pot to myself, but generally, it should serve 4 people.
Continue reading “Hot and sour soup (suan la tang) – a simple warming Chinese recipe”
Sweet and sour pineapple and turkey stir-fry – a recipe for leftovers
Thanksgiving means turkey galore! And whether you’ve got some raw turkey left in the pack or if it’s already cooked, this Chinese recipe with pineapple, traditionally made with chicken, can give you a completely different meal from the roast the day before. We’ve cooked this with raw turkey, but if you have some already cooked turkey, especially where you’ve rubbed it with salt and pepper/stuffed it with herbs, then simply skip the first step. Continue reading “Sweet and sour pineapple and turkey stir-fry – a recipe for leftovers”
Sushi Heads – The Local Sushi in Tottenham
A recent entry to the list of local restaurants in North London, Sushi Heads is perfectly located amongst the other local finds on Philip lane. At perfect distance from both Tottenham Hale and Seven Sisters stations, Philip lane has revealed itself as a home for local potential, where new restaurants and cafes are making the most of the up and coming spirit of the neighbourhood, without breaking the sense of local community that’s so breathable around N15.
Continue reading “Sushi Heads – The Local Sushi in Tottenham”
Beijing: a foodie’s heaven and a tale of two restaurants
When making a culinary trip to Beijing, hutongs are a must – there are many foodie finds among the traditional courtyards. However, if there are more of you or if you are travelling with young children (or even just want a roomier sit-down environment), give Ju Qi (局气) or Jing Wei Zhai (京味斋) a go. Ju Qi, named after a Beijingese word for having poise … Continue reading Beijing: a foodie’s heaven and a tale of two restaurants
Blender & Basil 