Category Archives: Recipes

Teapigs Matcha Pop-Up at Boxpark

Teapigs, the English company founded with an eye for ethics and a taste for good tea, has had a short stint at Boxpark in Shoreditch since last week. Launching on the 16th of January, the popup shop has put a heavy focus on their most popular product: matcha, a delicate powdered green tea from the Nichou region of Japan, packed with flavour and antioxidants. Unit 26 has been transformed, at least for a little while, into a haven for tea and a menu of tasty treats you may never have associated with it. Continue reading

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Recipe: Duck Tacos with Blueberry Salsa (Gressingham)

Yes, duck and blueberry pair remarkably well as a flavour combo. Shredded duck leg is an excellent option for tacos, and blueberry salsa is a perfect sidekick to serve with such a succulent dish. Continue reading

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Recipe: Lavender Duck Fried Rice (Gressingham)

Considering how easy it is to cook duck breast, it’s amazing how much robust flavour it can add to even the simplest of recipes, such as this one for a lightly floral and somewhat zingy egg fried rice. Duck breast is such a juicy and tender meat too. One of the things I like best about this dish is how the chunks of meat blend with the tiny grains of rice and bits of onion for a succulent and multi-textured bite. Continue reading

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Cookery School Collaborates with Caprice Holdings Restaurants for New Gourmet Cooking Classes

Cookery School has teamed up with Caprice Holdings Restaurants to launch a new series of gourmet masterclasses for early 2015. Continue reading

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Recipe: Three Bacon Butty with Lardo and Iceberg Lettuce

Having trouble choosing which was the best type of bacon to use, I simple decided to layer this epic sandwich with three of my favourite cures (English style back, American style streaky, and Italian pancetta) along with plenty of crisp iceberg lettuce for good measure and a couple of ultra thin slices of super savoury lardo to up the flavour to the next level of yum. The bread? I reckon it’s gotta be a crusty roll for added crunch with a bit of soft, sop-it-up texture on the inside. Continue reading

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Recipe: Duck Mai Tai (Gressingham)

Here’s a recipe incorporating the elements of one of my favourite cocktails – the Mai Tai – and what’s fast becoming my favourite meat to cook with – duck! This ‘ducktail’ recipe calls for rum, but the alcohol cooks off leaving just its robust and sweet tropical flavour to meddle with the fruit juices and roasted almond yumminess. Continue reading

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Nachos of the Month: Honey Roasted Ham and Emmental Sincronizadas

Nachos! They’re an easy assemblage and an awesome snack. I’ve teamed up with tortillas with spirit brand Manomasa to create some recipes to help you best enjoy your next crunch time. A crunch Mexican style take on the classic ham and Swiss sandwich, my latest recipe – honey roasted ham and Emmental sincronizadas – is an especially quick and hassle free treat. Enjoy. Continue reading

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Nachos of the Month: Manchego with Anchovies, Almonds, and Olives

Nachos! They’re an easy assemblage and an awesome snack. I’ve teamed up with tortillas with spirit brand Manomasa to create some recipes to help you best enjoy your next crunch time. Here’s my latest creation: tortilla chips with Manchego, anchovies, almonds, and olives. Continue reading

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Recipe: Babybel Inside Out Cheeseburger

So I was craving a cheeseburger the other day, had some Mini Babybel Originals in the fridge and wondered what if … ? And the answer was yummy! So, I thought I’d share this fun and easy recipe for making oozy introverted cheeseburgers with you. Continue reading

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Nachos of the Month: Grapefruit and Scallop Ceviche

Nachos! They’re an easy assemblage and an awesome snack. I’ve teamed up with tortillas with spirit brand Manomasa to create some recipes to help you best enjoy your next crunch time. Here’s my first recipe: a zesty grapefruit and scallop ceviche. Continue reading

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Innocent Drinks and the Art of Good Taste

I’m a fan of Innocent Drinks. The London based brand makes some of the tastiest juices available on the supermarket shelf. I reckon its orange juice is the best on the market, and I really like those veg pot meals too. Flavour’s the main reason I’m all for Innocent, but I’m even more enthusiastic than usual about how Innocent does its thing because there’s no added crap to any other the products. More and more, it’s getting harder to buy food and drink that’s not loaded with additives and preservatives for longer shelf life or a shinier look. I applaud Innocent Drinks for keeping its products and its message simply – and for being able to do it on a grand scale. Continue reading

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Stress Free Dinner Parties Achieved with Food at 52 Cookery School

Planning to host a dinner party or would you like to build up your confidence before the next time you do? Consider attending Stress Free Dinner Parties course Food at 52 Cookery School near Old Street. It’s one of the school’s many courses designed to help ordinary people with ordinary kitchens cook and eat better. I sat in on the full day course and found it to be fun, enlightening and delicious. Continue reading

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Recipe: Spaghetti Puttanesca

An opportunity to sample a selection of especially delicious olives led to an opportunity to cook one of my favourite dishes: spaghetti puttanesca. As the name suggests, this dish is quick, easy and cheap … and oh so satisfying. Continue reading

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Breakfast Recipe: Red Eye Gravy with illy Espresso

Red eye gravy is a classic comfort food sauce from my home in the American Deep South. Usually served with ham or bacon, it’s about as easy and affordable to make as it is delicious. The main ingredients are grease … Continue reading

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Norwegian Salmon + a Scandilicious Freebie

This July and August when you purchase four promotional stickered packs of Morrisons “M” Norwegian salmon at Morrisons supermarkets, you’ll get a free copy of Signe Johansen’s cookbook, Scandilicious, Secrets of Scandinavian Cooking. Just look for the NORGE logo on pre-packed Norwegian salmon when shopping and choose between 440g salmon fillets, 240g salmon fillets and 240g lightly smoked salmon fillets. Continue reading

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Rachel Khoo and the Patisserie of Steam at Miele Gallery, Regent Street

Open now until 4 July at the Miele Gallery, Regent Street is a “Steam Patisserie” pop-up featuring treats by TV pastry chef Rachel Khoo made using Miele Combination Steam Appliance including the world’s first ever Doreo, an “exciting dessert hybrid of a doughnut and “the crumbly classic American cookie.” Continue reading

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A Delicious June with Genesis Crafty

The six brothers behind decades old Northern Ireland bakery Genesis Crafty (Adrian, Brian, John, Paul, Seamus, and Damian McErlain) recently presented me with an opportunity to become one of the family so to speak … but only for a few weeks. I was their blogger of the month for June. And as such, I took to the kitchen to see what I could cook up to go with their range of handmade small batch baked goods. Continue reading

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Recipe: Wee Soda Sliders

So who says you need buns to make a burger? See what you think about this version for sliders (mini-burgers) using Genesis Crafty’s Wee Sodas instead of the typical bun. Continue reading

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Recipe: Red Grape and Sage Mascarpone

Inspiration comes when you least expect it sometimes. As I mentioned in my last recipe post for this Genesis Crafty series, I was recently in Athens, Greece. While going through the toiletries in my hotel room bath, I was particularly impressed by the moisturiser and its main ingredients of red grape and sage. It smelled great and to me the unusual mix of grapes and sage seemed like something to eat more than lather on your body. So, when I got home I started playing around with the combo and came up with this creamy spread that’s ideal when served alongside Genesis Crafty scones. Continue reading

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Recipe: Pasteli Sauce

I was in Athens earlier this month, which is where I found inspiration for this recipe while munching on a piece of the classic Greek sweet, pasteli. A thin hard rectangle of mostly sesame seeds and honey, pasteli was probably the world’s first candy bar. For my sauce, all I did was take its basic ingredients to create a sort of enhanced honey, something that’s particularly tasty poured generously over a stack of Genesis Crafty’s Big Pancakes. Continue reading

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Recipe: Bourbon Maple Reduction with Roasted Pecans

This rich sauce is ridiculously easy to make and guaranteed to be a hit with anybody who’s a fan of full-on flaovur. Try it poured generously over a stack of Genesis Crafty’s Big Pancakes. Continue reading

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Recipe: Cheesy Chipotle Beans on Toast

This is a smoky and spicy version of the classic brekkie dish – which I found went really well using a couple of slices of Genesis Crafty’s Toaster Wheatens. Continue reading

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Genesis Crafty: Blogger of the Month

The six brothers behind decades old Northern Ireland bakery Genesis Crafty presented me with an opportunity to become one of the family so to speak … but for a limited time only. I’m their blogger of the month! And as such, I’m taking to my kitchen to see what I can cook up to go with their range of handmade small batch baked goods. Continue reading

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Recipe: Surf ‘n’ Turk’ Prawn and Turkey Tacos

Inspired by a recent sit in at a British turkey cooking demo hosted by ace TV chef Phil Vicky, I gleaned a thing or two from him for my own home kitchen creations. I was particularly impressed when he showed his audience how turkey and prawns can be paired together for a really tasty combo. Here’s what I came up with: surf ‘n’ turk’ prawn and turkey tacos. Enjoy! Continue reading

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Recipe: Parma Ham and Spaghetti Frittata

I love frittatas and reckon the southern Italian recipe for what’s essentially an egg and pasta pie is among the ultimate of comfortable foods. It keeps for a few days and is a fantastic leftover, reheated or even cold. Continue reading

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Adam Gray Nursery School Cookery Demo (Great British Chefs)

Skylon Executive Head Chef, Adam Gray, is a family man with a four year old son in nursery. Keen to pass on his passion for food to a younger generation, Adam recently dropped by his son’s south west London nursery, … Continue reading

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Win a Journey of Discovery Hamper Worth £40 from Bart Ingredients

From the sunny shores of Portugal through to North Africa, India and Thailand to Indonesia, the chefs at Bart have been on a Journey of Discovery to source delicious regional ingredients for an exciting new series of spice blends, which quickly and easily add character to everyday dishes. Here’s a chance for one lucky reader to win a Journey of Discovery hamper worth £40 and have a taste of these blends without even having to leave the kitchen. Keep reading to find out how. Continue reading

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SKREI – umptious Norwegian Cod

Skrei is a migratory cod that swims thousands of miles every winter from the Barents Sea to the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway to reproduce. Such a journey results in a lean, firm flesh rich in protein that’s a sustainably sourced, line-caught Norwegian delicacy only available from January to April. Continue reading

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Dixie Detours: New Orleans School of Cooking

Wow. Our afternoon visit to the New Orleans School of Cooking on St Louis Street in the French Quarter was a lot of fun – and well worth its own write up among all the entries in my Dixie Detours miniseries. Continue reading

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Recipe: Quick and Easy Tiramisu (espressoCrazy)

Here’s a super easy recipe for tiramisu. All in all it took me maybe 20 minutes to whip up. There’s no actual cooking or baking involved as long as you don’t mind using store bought wafer (I opted for ‘trifle … Continue reading

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Recipe: Cheesy Peasy Curry Toast

An opportunity to sample a few pots in Vini & Bal’s range of “rustic Indian curry sauces” provided a yummy answer to me wondering what to make for lunch this afternoon. Let’s see … I’ve got this jeera sauce … some wholegrain bread … some peas in the freezer … So I dug round the cupboards, went to the shop for some fresh coriander and paneer and came up with this cheap and cheesy little ditty: Cheesy Peasy Curry Toast. Continue reading

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London’s Quirkiest Taxidermy (CheapOair)

Ever feel like someone … or something … is watching from some dark corner? Never fear, that’s just the décor! If you like your pub with as many heads on the wall as there are patrons at the bar and … Continue reading

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5 Great Cookery Schools in Central London (OneTravel)

Here’s a list of five of the best cookery schools in London. I’ve been to all five, and I’m happy to vouch for all of them. Indeed, I’m a better cook for visiting each one. I’ve still got a long ways … Continue reading

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Cooking up a Scandilicious Christmas with Norwegian Seafood and Signe Johansen

Here’s a quick mention about a fun cookery session I recently sat in on at rather swank cooking school, Aveqia. Hosted by the Norwegian Seafood Council with London’s own Scandilicious chef Signe Johansen at the helm, it was a tasty opportunity to discover what makes seafood from Norway so special and delicious while dabbling in a bit of Scandi Christmas tradition too. Continue reading

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