On our trip to South America last year, you may recall that in my Brazil blog, I mentioned that I cooked for our lovely host Jeanne one night, and her husband. My offer to cook came within the first few minutes of meeting her, I just can’t help myself! She delightfully accepted and offered me…
Launch of my 1st Cooking Video – Chocolate Peppermint Truffles
Well, I finally launched my first cooking video last week. It’s a short festive clip on how to make Chocolate Peppermint Truffles. These would be perfect for Christmas presents, parties or to simply indulge yourself. A full blog on the experience to follow shortly. Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with the final video link below….
Belfast City, Northern Ireland
Previous Visits: Before the days of blogging! I’d visited Belfast three times before, back in the day when blogging wasn’t even a word. I always found it a friendly city, steeped in history, the good and the sobering. On these previous visits, having my friend John as a local tour guide, certainly helped to see…
24 hours in Chester & Liverpool……Spanish Tapas, Cuban Food & Cool Finds
It’s been a great weekend for food on my North West of England trip, catching up with friends. On Friday afternoon, after working from our Manchester office, I jumped on the train over to the lovely historic city of Chester. Porta’s Tapas, Chester: My friends Rita and Jo took me out for dinner at the…
Quick & Tasty Lunch – Courgette & Tomato on Toast
Don’t waste your leftover vegetables. For my lunch today I made a delicious meal from half a courgette and a tomato! I heated some butter in a pan, threw in diced Courgette and Tomato, stirred well then added some garlic, pepper and salt. I was out of fresh herbs so threw in some dried mint…
Hosting my First Supper Club!
The Opportunity: It was completely by chance that the opportunity to host my first Supper Club at a nearby cafe/bistro in Leeds came about. My friend Mark visited Cha Lounge regularly and it was through him that I met the owner Mandeep. It’s a lovely little venue, with a reputation for serving delicious global small…
Salmon with Taragon Cheese Sauce, Swede Patties, Spinach & Pistachios
I came up with this recipe last year following a challenge from a Ready Steady Cook Facebook group that I’m part off, involving fellow food bloggers. The ingredients we were given were; Salmon, Swede, Spinach & Leeks. You have “free” list of things like spices, herbs, diary, nuts etc. We had a week to devise…
South America (The Final Part): Lima & Homeward Bound
After a well earnt nights sleep in Cusco we headed off to the airport for our late morning flight to Lima. It was a little over an hour to Peru’s capital city, flying over the vast Peruvian mountains for the last time. I had read mixed reviews about Lima, ranging from a dangerous and dirty…
Goats Cheese & Tarragon Arancini with Beetroot Chutney & Rocket
This is perfect as a starter or ‘tapas’ style dish. I took a goats cheese, tarragon & beetroot risotto recipe and adapted it slightly. Instead of adding the beetroot to the risotto, I made a separate chutney. After rolling the cooled risotto into balls, I placed a good size piece of goats cheese in the…
South America (Part 9): Machu Picchu Summit!
The alarm went off a little after 4am. I’m not a morning person, so normally waking up at this time wouldn’t have pleased me. However, waking up early to climb up one of the greatest landmarks in the world, was somehow much easier than waking up for work! Climbing the Steps We walked the 5…
The Messy Cook Travels 