Oh hello, I know you thought I had disappeared on you but I'm always working on something behind the scenes. A masterpiece always takes plenty of homework so bear with me as I build!

 

On to more important matters! A little while back, I was invited to taste some of Fry's new Vegan curry pies. It was national pie week and I thought it would be a great idea to try something different. 

 

The holborn location was nice and central and the team were friendly, funny and created a relaxing atmosphere. I had just had a long day so it was great. As soon as I entered I could smell the delicious salads and coleslaws that had been prepared by The Vegan Peasants, we were off to a good start.

Hi, 

 

This is just a quick post as I had a fresh lychee cocktail on my February menu that I didn't put up. The crystallized roses in the drink turned it from dreamy pink to super pink but I'm on open book so you get to see the great stuff and the things that weren't perfect! 

 

 

It is just a boozy pink drink that tasted fabulous!

So I had the privilege of tasting the lovely award winning Jams from Artisan Kitchen. I was sent two Jams to try, one of which I made into a lovely dessert for the purpose of the review. The other will basically be unceremoniously eaten in large scoops on some toast I think. 

 

I used the raspberry and chocolate flavour to poach a pear and cut up some chilli chocolate to go with it. An odd combination that came together quite nicely. A light caramel base and a dollop of vanilla ice cream later here are the results:

Hello, 

 

As promised over on twitter, I am posting my review of the two hour cupcake class I had over at L'atelier des Chefs. Can I first just get a 'woop woop' that I have successfully been taught how to make a cute little cupcake!

 

I am going to rattle on about how the class was now. I was the annoying one with the camera in the cooking class but it's worth it if I can get you these in your face pictures. 

 

 

So I'm sitting here reminiscing about my travels in 2012. Most of you won't know this cause why would you? But, at the end of my travels my wonderful Nikon camera got stolen! A whole month of pics from Trinidad, Tobago, Oman, Miami and Thailand for the most part gone. Needless to say, I was (no still am) gutted. 

 

Anyway, I was just looking through my pictures on iPhoto and realised I took quite a few cheeky iPhone pictures as every true foodie does. They aren't great but I can still share with you every single food pic I took in Thailand. Enjoy, I know I did.

Obviously the first thing I have done to celebrate the return of the mac (ha!) is update my blog. Yay! I am so happy to have her back and she is as shiny and new as ever. Over on twitter I did a little survey as to what people love to eat with sweet fried plantain. It is a dish most worshipped in my country Nigeria, we have it with Nigerian stew, beans and fried egg amongst other things. Some people mentioned ice cream! My Filipino friends have it wrapped in a fried filo pastry like a plantain spring roll. A Ugandan friend of mine mentioned having it with chapatis so I rolled some out and threw that into the mix. 

 

This delicate blend of cultural deliciousness went down a treat. I cannot wait to make it again for a table full of guests.

I am trying something pretty amazing here and that is blogging from my iPad. That being said I would pretty please ask you to forgive any typos or missing words as it is not too easy to edit in this form. I think the best thing to do is not to be too word heavy. With this strawberry salad, I thought that the fruity concoction may taste a little strange. its one of those things you have to try before you realise how refreshing it is. i know jamie oliver has a similar recipe using strawberries so I think we are onto something. if you are going to try and recreate something like this please go for strawberries which are less sweet for that tart edge. I know we say courgette over on this side of the pond but how sexy does a courgette and haloumi fritter sound. I also have an investment exam on monday and don't like to eat much before these things. This is a perfect light lunch.

Hello its me again, blogging from my little sisters computer... that's right I'm leeching off my family members while my laptop is in Apple Hospital :( Please pray for a full recovery. 

 

So I made this lasagne and then got distracted (this isn't the first time) and put the plate in the oven, so the edges of it burnt a little and the fresh pasta is not quite as soft as I would have hoped. It still tasted pretty darn good. 

 

I chose a lobster bisque instead of a mixed seafood one because I wanted lobster to be the dominant flavour. I love lobster! Accompanied by a simple steamed lobster claw to go to town with and garnished with dill.

Gosh, seems like the heading alone is a complete mouthful. As I mentioned on the facebook page this morning, my laptop has just decided to die on me. I'm pretty upset about being macbookless for a little while so things may be a bit quiet from me until I manage to get that all sorted out. 

 

So these pancakes are healthy, not healthy, kinda healthy weird things. I did want to try strawberry and banana wholemeal sugarfree pancakes... The frosting just fell on top, as did the colourful little pearl balls of sugar. 

 

Wholemeal pancakes are made in the same way that you would make them using plain flour, there is no stroke of genius here, just thought I'd deviate from the menu a little bit and join in with the pancake day fun!

Have you ever eaten gold? I hadn't until I experimented with it in a Jelly. I wish I could say this combination was some stroke of genius but I walked past a bottle of Toasted Marshmallow Vodka (okay fine I didn't walk past it!) in the supermarket and was taken by its beauty. 

 

Short of swigging on the bottle and stuffing heart-shaped marshmallows into my cheeks I couldn't think of any way to justifiably consume this beauty. I bought it anyway...five points to consumerism. 

 

Anyway the jelly took work! Erm this tiny little cup was like layer, upon layer upon layer. I actually toasted the little mallows inside too. It came out so delicious I ate two before managing to get pictures of them. What an animal.

So I've been a teeny tiny bit lazy with posting Feb's menu... I haven't even cooked it all. Life however is for the living and I have been spending time watching my home country win this the African Cup of Nations 2013. (yay!) Anyhoo, this succulent sweet potato pie was spiced mildly and not filled as deeply as I would have used in a dessert. 

 

The jerk chicken was made in my ever famous griddle pan... because I love her quite simply. I tried to follow an authentic Jamaican Jerk chicken recipe but who follows recipes these days. 

 

It is garnished with a steamed chilli, on lime with creme fraiche and paprika. Left for a little while this makes a wonderful chilli-lime dip. Totally snazzy. 

The apology part is that this is mulled wine, raspberry liquer, prosecco and a splash of cinnomon. This is the christmas fizz cocktail. I can say it in many ways but I think I forgot to take pictures of this before me and my partner in crime finished both glasses! Sorry

I'll be honest, I kind of burned the cashew satay. Well I think overcooked is the right word. It took a moment away from mixing it on the stove for it to go from rich, creamy, flavourfull goodness to a separation of oil and power (thats a private joke... in a public forum) Anyhoo, I grilled the cucumbers lightly and still used my satay because it was bursting with flavour, just the wrong texture. Enjoy...

This one needed a 'The'. When I created this in my mind, I didn't think it would turn out how it did. The leek and cognac reduction created a flavour in the ribeye rich yet not overpowering. I chose to use Applewood cheese also because it has a meaty flavour to it. It was important not to use too much cheese; the cheese was not the star of this show. 

 

On making brioche for the first time in my entire life... well! It was brilliant. When you pull it out of the oven and taste it for the first time its like 'oh my gosh, did I really just make this?' I used a little less sugar than I would have had I been making brioche as a desert. The whole sweet and savoury thing can only go so far. 

 

I used some of the marinade which wasn't used on the steak to create a tiny little flavour boost on the side of this dish. Erm, what else to say... it tasted fabulous, it was one of my favourite this month. Here it is:

This is what I would consider to be one of my experiments. Jollof rice is a traditional west african dish made with a tomato base and a fusion of spices. I wouldn't say these additional spices are strictly adhered to each time it is made but accents of thyme and mild curry are often used (well thats what I used lol). On the inside is soft beef mixed in with the tomato stew and a blend of leaves, mayo and cucumber.

 

Turning the Japanese Sushi rice into Nigerian Jollof Rice was a challenge too, this dish takes patience and is deffo not a quick fix, but the results were "amazing", and I quote "amazing". I even suprised myself with how good this tasted.

 

I served this with aoili wasabi and a tomato, garlic and onion dip garnished with simple parsley. I wasn't a big fan of the fishy taste that the seaweed left and may even try this again with vine leaves. 

 

Anyway, here's how they turned out. Yum!

Hey... its me again with a new creation. This one is not an original but I've been wanting to try cooking with quails eggs for ages. Any other birds eggs that are not chicken is exotic to me so handling these mini beauties was quite exciting. I will say I tried to poach them in cling film...*huge thumbs down*. I don't know who this works for but for me the whites got stuck to the cling film and it was just messy = not good for eggs benedict. I searched high and low for mini-moulds = gap in the market, someone make them please. Finally I went for the good old fashion salt, vinegar and hand whisk. They came out perfect. 

If there is ever a fully fledged and bona fide reason to eat cake its a birthday! Yesterday I celebrated my birthday and some of my lovely colleagues bought me bubbly and cake. It was from Paul and was both pretty and excellent tasting! It made me realise that I am so rubbish at desserts I really need to go to some sort of masterclass. Who wants to teach me how to make cake? x

Well this is the first dish on my menu this month, the goats cheese is breaded but not melted and seasoned with black pepper. The onions have been caremelized with balsamic vinegar and muscavado sugar. The glaze is a simple honey and balsamic glaze. I had a little trouble making my oatgrain disks the exact texture that I wanted; I wanted them warm and soft but grainy and small, like a cross between a cracker and tiny bread... weird I know. It tasted great me thinks. Not the most original recipe but a nice start I'd say!