And to finish....

Now I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people who can't resist a good bargain- in principle. If I'm in the supermarket and I see something on the reduced counter that I can see some vague use for, then generally, I'll buy it (and deal with the consequences later).

As we all know, these are difficult times, and all over the world people struggle to survive on what little food they have. Yet according to www.lovefoodhatewaste.com we throw away over 6.7 million tonnes of food, every year- most of which, could have been eaten!

I'm a firm believer in taking responsibility for my own actions. For example, I bought a punnet of peaches at a reduced price last week. I had to throw two away because they went mouldy, but I chose to economise, rather than waste by salvaging what I could and turning them into something tasty; my Peach and Apple-Berry Crumble.

Peach and Apple-Berry Crumble
For the Filling:
5x Ripe Peaches (peeled, stoned and cut into 1/4s)
2x Apples (peeled, cored and cut into chunks. I used Granny Smiths as they were in the fruit bowl)
A splash of Lemon juice
100g Mixed, frozen berries
50g Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon of Plain Flour
A good pinch of Ground Cinnamon

For the Topping:
300g Plain Flour
200g Brown sugar
200g Butter (plus extra for greasing)

1. Preheat the oven to 180C or Gas mark 4.
2. Place the Flour and Sugar in a large bowl and combine. Gradually rub in the Butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Place the fruit in a large bowl and with the Sugar, Flour, Lemon juice and Cinnamon. Stir well until the fruit is coated.
3. Butter a large ovenproof dish. Place the fruit mixture into the bottom, and sprinkle on the crumble topping.
4. Bake in the oven for roughly 40 minutes until the crumble is lightly browned and the fruit mixture is bubbling.
5. Serve with custard/ice cream or a good dollop of Clotted cream!

Serves 6

Seafood Medley Risotto

For about a week now, a sad, lonely Chorizo sausage has sat in our fridge, doing nothing but take up valuable space. Well I thought 'tonight's the night.' The Chorizo's destiny to reach the table has finally been realised!

It's pouring with rain outside, and summer is well and truly over. So, I thought I'd bring a touch of sunshine into the kitchen in the form of a Seafood Medley Risotto (featuring the aforementioned Chorizo!).

Seafood Medley Risotto
100g Sliced Chorizo
200g Cooked, mixed seafood
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 Clove of Garlic, crushed
1 Red Pepper, chopped
A few strands of Saffron infused in 750ml hot Chicken stock
225g Risotto Rice
The juice and zest of a Lemon
A pinch of Cayenne Pepper
A good splash of White Wine
2-3 Spring Onions, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Dry fry the Chorizo on a medium heat to release the oils and slightly brown the meat. Carefully remove from the pan with a slotted spoon.
2. Add the Onion, Spring Onion, Garlic and Pepper to the pan, cook till golden.
3. Next add the Rice, stirring for about a minute, until the Rice is coated in the oil.
4. Add the Chorizo, Lemon juice & zest, Cayenne Pepper and White Wine.
5. Begin adding the stock, a little at a time until the Rice absorbs it.
6. Keep adding more stock until the Rice is al dente.
7. Now it's time to add the seafood, as this is already cooked, it simply needs warming through.
8. Season to taste, adding more chopped Spring Onion as a garnish if desired.

Serves 4

And so it continues...

Today has been a weird day. I had an amazing start to the day when my meeting with a local publishing company went exceedingly well, leading to more freelance work. This freelance work will not only give me scope to develop their website, it will also get me the exposure I need as more of my work gets published- finally!
As if that wasn't enough, I sent the director of one of my favourite shows- Supersizers Go... an email at the beginning of the month, and he got back to me today. All I can say is, what a lovely chap! Maybe it's time I stopped being such a negative Nancy and realised that sure, the world can be a tough place, but it's full of nice people willing to help you along the way.
What a week- eh?

F-ing Hell!

After voting on the F-word website many months ago, for Delifonseca to become Britain's favourite restaurant, I'd heard nothing back and thus assumed the worst.
We may not have won the privilege of sharing a kitchen with Gordon Ramsay himself, but I certainly don't feel like a loser- as I might have tickets to dine in the F-word restaurant! How cool is that?

So not only will I get to meet Gordy himself (if I get through), but I'll actually get to critique food on television!
My plans for world domination continue...

You'd have to be clucking mad to eat at Nando's!

I had a vague memory of eating at Nando's some years ago. It was nothing special, just simple, inoffensive food. As of last Sunday, my impressions have certainly changed!

As a bit of a last resort, we decided to grab a bite to eat in Liverpool One's food court. Nando's was the only place still open- so what choice did we have?
The menu read: chicken, chicken, and more chicken! If it wasn't their breasts, it was their livers or their poor wings! Don't get me wrong, I'm an omnivore at heart, but how many innocent chickens are slaughtered a week just to keep up with the demands or these hardcore chicken fans?!

With the option of having a whole chicken, or even two to myself seeming a bit daunting, I opted for the chicken breast fillet in a pitta with salad and chips on the side- simple!
Now I hate to harp on about chicken, but when I say these people like chicken I mean it! The chips even tasted like they'd been deep fried in chicken fat- not a drop goes to waste here!
To top-off our evening, we had a poultry panto act, in the form of our cap wearing waiter. He regularly, seemingly appeared out of nowhere, often startling us with his idle patter- I never thought the phrase "Okey Dokey!" would cause someone to jump out of their skin, but he certainly had a knack!
Between dropping cutlery on us and messing up our beer order, we actually had a really good night! Must have been the company!
My advice- go and see the colonel if you want chicken!

Facebook

I'm currently bombarding people to read my blog and join my facebook and twitter page- I know I'm not that tactful- I'm just passionate about what I do, honest! You'll all reap the rewards when I start dishing out my secret recipes and giving out freebies etc...

Great news fans!

As of today, you can now follow me on Facebook (click on the banner on the left hand side)and Twitter! Hurray!