I went on a bit of a pancake hunger fix this morning, with only 20 minutes or so to spare before dashing out of the door, I just had to make some.

Not one … but two types of pancakes.

Using the same batter for both (and what I have in my larder) I used organic wholemeal spelt flour and rice milk for my pancakes (dairy intolerant..sometimes)

I mixed 60g of flour, with 1/2 tsp of baking powder, 1 egg and approx 100 ml of rice milk, to make a smooth batter. Adding the milk in intervals and whisking away makes sure you obtain a smooth batter rather than it being too runny or thick.

Cooking the batter in a saucepan till golden on one side and flipping over on the next( I did a successful flip hoorah!)

Once cooked, move on to the next one and so forth, till you have finished all your batter, this made about 2 full-sized pancakes (well it was only me to feed)

The first was a traditional maple syrup drizzled and banana pancake.

After visiting Brockley Market, in London a couple of weekend’s ago and meeting the fabulous Blintz Boy, who heavily inspired me and tickled my taste buds to try his cream cheese blintz, dusted with icing sugar. Simple, not too sweet or tart, but just right.

He fried these polish pancakes with filling in them again in a saucepan to give a golden crisp, warm edge.Eaten and served hot.

I wanted to try my own, so I did! Using cream cheese, mixed with a few drops of vanilla extract and a dusting of icing sugar, mixing it together, gave this cheese a sweet/savoury still aspect, great for my pancakes.

Smearing this mixture in my pancakes and rolling it up, so the edges are enclosed and no cream can seep out, I place on the hot saucepan to give it a golden crisp.

I had this with fresh blackberries, blueberries and raspberry compote(sizzled and simmered down with some caster sugar and water) for a oozey, dark, rich coloured fruity syrup to splash on these pancakes. Its best eaten hot, with a dusting of icing sugar.

What are you all eating today?? Contemplating something savoury tonight… can you ever eat too many pancakes??

Enjoy!

xx

Afternoon all, it’s a loungy Sunday, I’m sitting in the conservatory with a gorgeous smelling vanilla sponge and cupcakes baking in the oven.. The house smells so good! Well after a busy day and evening on  Friday for my Supper Club its only natural one should treat themselves to relaxation time!

Here’s the lowdown and things you need to know;

I took part in this food bloggers challenge for Social Media Week and to help raise money towards Action Against Hunger, a great charity that I’m already fundraising for by doing a challenging trek over 26 miles of the Hadrian’s wall in June with my sister.

I love to cook for people, host supperclubs and dinners at my house, we are welcoming and have a cosy environment and ambience!

I LOVE to eat, you probably have gathered this by now, being an avid food blogger, its my favourite pastime, discovering and cooking new dishes, experimenting with flavours and cooking up world cuisines.

I hosted my Valentines Supper Club on Friday 17th February, purple candles adorned tables, Bob Marley singing on the stereo, tables to fit 12 people,all placed with cutlery and new plates/glasses..what’s not to love?

Preparations began during the week and I decided to narrow down the recipes I would choose from the Valentines recipes on the Great British Chefs site.

Prepping the tables…

Pre-Starters

Parmesan & Thyme Popcorn- As a pre-starter when guests arrived, I used chef Marcus Wareing’s recipe for honey mustard popcorn but tweaked it to add a different combination of flavour, fresh thyme and cheesy grated parmesan. This worked so well, two bowls were gone!

Fresh Bread & Homemade Butter- A recipe I had tried before by The Fabulous Baker brothers, creamy homemade, smooth butter, made from double cream being whisked into a frenzy!

Starter

Smoked Baby Beetroot, Mascarpone and Tarragon salad-

Another Marcus Wareing dish which didn’t need too much prepping, I put the beetroot into my bamboo steamer, it look over both levels of it, in a saucepan placed the sugar, tea leaves (lapsang souchong) and uncooked rice, let it heat till smokey. The beets were smoked for around 8 minutes then I left it on there for over 30 minutes to take on the flavour. It was a delicate smokey smell that protruded from these baby beets.

The balsamic was reduced down in a saucepan for an intense heat, then added extra virgin olive oil for the dressing. The walnuts were toasted in a pan with some butter for luxurious crunch.

When plating up this dish, using purple plates (great contrast for the white mascarpone, smeared on the plate) with toppling baby beets, walnuts, tarragon leaves and a drizzle of balsamic. This dish was a success with everyone! They used it to smear on fresh grilled bread, great starter. Recipe here

Main

Chicken Legs with Wild Mushrooms & Leeks-

I chose this main because we have some fish allergies attending the supper club and so fish was off the menu! Plus I wanted to challenge myself with prepping and cooking 14 chicken pieces! I chose not to use the breasts because always find them a bit dry and wanted to try chicken legs as I could get them really juicy.

It took time to sear 14 chicken legs, to get the skin browned and crisp, set aside and all set out on baking trays to go in the oven. The sauce was about 7 finely cut slices of shallots with white wine, simmered down till soft, then placed over the chicken.

They baked in the oven for the same time and once all cooked and juices ran clear, I could prep the sauce! Which consists of cream, wild mushrooms, julienne leeks, seasoning, lemon, cubed butter and chicken juices. Every ingredients spoke for itself and the sauce took time to come together nicely, it was rich, buttery, creamy sauce with nuttiness from the wild mushrooms. Perfect with the chicken.

In addition to this dish, I got some new potatoes, sliced, boiled and sautéed at the last-minute, so everyone had hot, crispy potatoes to accompany their meal.

The chicken was moist, the wine really helped to tenderise the meat, the creamy sauce was full of bundles of flavour from the string leeks, nutty mushrooms and chicken juices. Beautiful.

Recipe is here

Dessert

This dessert won a standing ovation! From one guest anyway

Passion fruit and white chocolate cheesecake with fresh orange sorbet by Chef Matthew Tomkinson

I made the orange crisps for this dessert two days prior so they had time to dry out after poaching them in sugar-water, then placing on a low heat in the oven for hours! It helped to speed the process if you don’t have an airing cupboard!

The sorbet was utterly divine, fresh orange juice mixed with a sugar syrup and then placed in the freezer, couple of hours later taken out and forked up and placed back in the freezer to set.

The cheesecake was easy to make, using hobnobs for the biscuit base, I had a chunky base (you can never have enough crumble). The filling was a mixture of double cream, cream cheese, melted white chocolate and gelatin to help it set.

The passionfruit layer was passionfruit juice with gelatine and sugar, this went ontop of the creamy filling after it had set for an hour or so. This vibrant orange topping would turn to jelly.The final step was the make a passionfruit syrup, using fresh mixed with sugar and water till reduced into a concentrated flavour.

Plating up this dessert, I had realised I had made too much (not like that would be a problem!), the cheesecake slice, had a orange crisp on the side, small melon balls or orange sorbet, fresh orange segments and piped dots of passionfruit syrup.

A perfect match of white chocolate & tangy passionfruit!

Recipe here

The end of the meal, finished off with glasses of jasmine tea!!

What a great experience and opportunity to raise money for charity and do what I love most and cook for friends and family.  If you liked by blog post and Supper Club experience please vote for me! x

Pics from some of my supper clubbers….!

A week ago I attended Leluu’s Vietnamese Supper Club based in London Fields in Hackney.Along with me my fellow food blogger Feel Good Food Book, we both delved into the world of Vietnamese cuisine, 7-8 courses to be precise…Consisting of Lemongrass Frogs Legs, Chicken, Carrot & Banana Blossom Salad, beef soup with noodles, spring rolls, Lemongrass Beef Sirloin & Peanuts In Betal Leaf, Banana & Coconut Bread & Butter Pudding to name a few..all which had their upstanding moments, but a lot of dishes to eat in the space of a couple of hours!

This is the second supper club of many more I intend to go to, plus by starting my own this month, it has given me a great insight into the world of Supper Club dining. Where as I will be doing my first couple of dates on Mauritian cuisine, it is my family background, food I grew up on and the honour of getting to prepare and cook some home cooked dishes with my mum.  She has taught me over the year or so we have been sharing weekly sessions of Mauritian cookery lessons.

Anyway back to the point, I even remember trying some delicious Vietnamese cuisine over in Berlin, which has even more elevated my palette for the taste of the orient. I love Far Eastern food, have always and aim to get myself over there at some point to try the food first hand. Which I think is the best experience, learning from people who have over generations been cooking these recipes, I feel that’s why I’m so interested in world cuisine, whether its African, Persian, Oriental.. it really lights my fire so to speak.

So the other night I decided to make some Bun Cha, the perfect Vietnamese dish using, fish sauce, soya, herbs including lemongrass, mint, coriander. Bun = rice noodles, Cha = grilled pork.

Traditional Vietnamese cooking is greatly admired for its fresh ingredients, minimal use of oil, and use of fresh herbs. Vietnamese food is commonly ranked as one of the healthiest cuisines in the world- Wikipedia

This dish has two components to it, I did see the recipe in Jamie Oliver magazine, but decided I wanted to try it from a more authentic source, so I looked online to find this culinary Vietnamese website that had recipes on it.You can find it here Culinary Vietnam and the recipe.

‘The line between fish sauce heaven and a big bowl of crap is a fine one.’  It can be tricky to get this right, but the key is to keep tasting and trying it.

First you prepare the meatballs, which are easy enough mixing all the ingredients together to let it marinade. The chargrilled cooking of the pork balls are perfect as you get a caramelised sweetness and stickiness to the balls, keep checking they don’t burn on both sides though!

The fish sauce mixture was so complimentary to the sweet, tangy lemongrass meatballs, it was not overpowering in fish sauce taste but had the right balance. All together each component worked so well! And it’s such a light, tasty dish to make, the kohlrabi which I have not eaten before was similar to green papaya, these only need to be blanched in with the carrots and still retained a crunch.

I would recommend trying this dish, I will definitely try more Vietnamese dishes as it is fast becoming one of my favourite cuisines!

Selina x

It’s the weekend! Hoorah! Just got back home from freezing my fingers and toes off outside, plus my gloves got stolen from right under my nose! (let’s hope I don’t find them at the bottom of my bag later!)

Last week started off with a last-minute invite and visit to Stratford, Westfield Shopping Centre, to Busaba Eathai, the restaurant. I didn’t know this restaurant was based here, as I had only visited Cabana on the opposite side last year and I had frequented the Soho based Busaba before. The restaurants at Westfield are all located and nestled among each other, Wahaca, Cabana and more.. The centre is also home to The Great Eastern Market which has independently run restaurants such as the Caribbean Rhythm Kitchen.

So last week was Burn’s Night! I’m not Scottish or it doesn’t run in my blood, but I love Scotland, I want to go back again, the people, food and general vibe is invigorating. So spontaneously mid last week, I cooked up a 2 course meal, in homage to this celebration of poet Robert Burn’s. Plus I have never cooked many Scottish dishes before and enjoy experimenting.

A Burn’s Supper is a celebration of life and poetry by Robert Burns, who authored many Scottish poems. Haggis and Scottish whiskey are consumed among reading and reciting of poetry in Burn’s Supper clubs and events over Scotland, Northern Ireland and Dunedin in New Zealand (where Burn’s nephew was a founding figure). Sourced from Wikipedia

With a variety of hearty, warming dishes normally served at this time, we have Cock-a-Leekie Soup, scotch broth, potato soup, haggis, neeps and tatties and with dessert being a cranachan or Tipsy Laird (whiskey trifle)..

So for this occasion I decided to make an alternative dish also served; Smoked Mackerel Kedgeree, Cabbage and Carrot Creamed side dish and for dessert a Raspberry Cranachan, well my healthier version!

The Kedgeree was really simple to make but I used a technique poached off the internet, where the mackerel is simmered in boiling water with some bay leaves for 5 minutes to achieve an earthy, smoked flavour. This is then set aside and flaked ready to be added to the kedgeree.

I used cooked brown rice, mixed in with some curry powder and mustard seeds for a spicy kick, fresh coriander to finish and quartered hard-boiled eggs for the texture. It’s a traditional and simple kedgeree, with the smoky fish it compliments it so well, this plate bursts with flavour!

The cabbage and carrot side, is grated and simmered in boiling water for 5-6 minutes this is then mixed slowly with cream and butter, for a rich accompanying side dish.

The raspberry cranachan is normally made with cream and traces of whiskey is added to this for a more boozy trifle experience! However, making use of the many pots of greek yoghurt in my fridge I folded in silky sweet mild honey, toasted oats and this mixture is piled upon some fresh raspberry compote (raspberry’s still whole, but warmed through with sugar and cinnamon for spice.

All of it is set in the fridge and before serving I crushed some traditional shortbread biscuits on top for that extra crunch ( you can make them if you had time, but I had a hefty biscuit tin from a christmas present that needed to be used up)

Smoked Mackeral Kedgeree

Ingredients

Last week I went to an event at the Goring Hotel in London, (bit plush for me I know), but the opportunity was there to meet other food bloggers and attend a breakfast in the honour of Total Greek Yoghurt. They have launched a new website to generate awareness in establishing the yoghurt as healthy and nutritious.

Personally I never really eat Greek yoghurt, not just because of my slight dairy intolerance but It has always come across as think, creamy (a bit cream like) and I’ve always thought it was unhealthy for you, so normally opt for natural yoghurt or soya.

However, it was interesting to try out some of the breakfast munchies they had available using the skills and experience of Chef Paul Merrett to create some delicious and nutritious breakfast variations using the yoghurt.

There were smoothies in a variety of flavours, kiwi, strawberry and banana which was think, creamy, chilled and just how you would expect a banana smoothie to taste! Some cups of muesli, oats mixed in with yoghurt and fruit although the oats had amalgamated into the yoghurt slightly, creating a bit of a sloppy texture.

On the plus side some hot breakfast options consisted of mini eggs benedict (very clever) canapes sized eggs, sausages wrapped in bacon on cocktail sticks and others which did look great, but by this time I had filled my belly with enough (thinking that this was the main breakfast event…)It was not.

We were all seated round tables for our main breakfast (recipe created by Chef Paul Merrett) was American Pancakes, topped with a raspberry compote and greek yogurt. Now, I love pancakes, but I can not mention how disappointed I was with it! Glad that Chef Paul Merrett didn’t actually cook it on the day otherwise I would be even more distraught!! To put it simply the pancakes were uncooked in the middle and one of mine was actually still raw and with a liquidy pool in the centre.. the rhubarb compote had a sharp sweet bite but worked well in the midst of the yoghurt.

To be honest I actually preferred the mini canapes of pre-breakfast starters! However, was a great early morning event and am thankful I was invited! It was lovely to meet other food lovers, have a great pole dancing and fitness discussion with Dee Thresher and bombarding Martin MacDonald with nutritional advice! He must get it all the time!

I  left with a goody bag containing over 7 pots of greek yoghurt, some my husband has tried to consume everyday for the past week but with three pots left, I may try out one of Paul Merrett’s many recipes on the website, which I have more interest in using it as part of a recipe rather than on its own.

Here’s some that caught my eye…

Posh Pimms with Greek Yoghurt

Herb Fritters, with Apricot Yoghurt Dip

Pink Grapefruit and Greek Yoghurt Souffle

Butternut Squash and Ricotta Cheesecake

What do you think about Greek Yoghurt?

Some of you may know I have started to do some cupcake decorating workshops over the next couple of weeks and it’s only fitting of me to share some of the cakes, cupcakes and wedding cakes I have done previously!

So here is a mini gallery of images that I have collated over the last couple of years (I’m sure there are many more hiding somewhere), they have all taken alot of effort, time, paitience (sometimes you need alot of this!) and care to make! But the best thing about making cakes for people, is it’s for a special occasion and you know you are going to put a smile on that person’s face, even if it’s just for a second!

I hope you enjoy perusing through them!

Happy Chinese New Year, It’s the Year of the Dragon!

So it’s the Chinese New Year, there’s lots of festivities and celebrations happening and already happened! In ancient China the dragon was associated with power, and today the sign is still regarded as an auspicious one, with links to success and happiness.

Reading the news on Chinese New Year this morning, I saw this article on Celebrating in Culinary Style this year. Some interesting facts and tips they gave were:

Animals are often served whole, with the head, tails and feet intact to represent togetherness and prosperity!

Cakes play an important role in the New Year celebrations, as sugar is believed to add sweetness to the year ahead. I want some of that!

Cakes are round in shapes, to signify family unity, and are served eight at a time (being a lucky number) on a round tray.

New Year’s Day is vegetarian, since it is bad luck to start the year by killing anything. So are we eating vegetarian today?

Dumplings — lots and lots of dumplings filled with a wide variety of ingredients, are devoured everywhere.

A roast of pork says you will be wealthy. Fish, whole, is popular because it offers abundance. And noodles will bring you long life!

Recipe

Yesterday I whipped up a super quick recipe in homage to Chinese New Year, Sesame Chicken, it was sticky, sweet, succulent and full of soy flavour and aniseed from the five spice.It’s great for a quick lunch or supper with some rice noodles..

These two recipes are here together because I had a Spelt Flour day yesterday, pretty much seeing what I could bake from spelt.. plus it was my mum’s birthday and so it doubled up as a birthday cake! ( In case your wondering, I baked two, one for my mother and one for me!)

This is perfect because this blog post doubles up as two recipes for the price of one and a great chance to add my olive oil cake to the Chocolate Log Blog’s Health Concious theme for this month’s  We Should Cocoa challenge hosted by Chele. This recipe combines creating a healthier cake, yet you still have chunks of melted chocolate, it tastes delicious and you have best of both worlds!

So what is Spelt Flour?

Spelt flour is one of the more popular non-wheat flours available. It can be used in pastas, cakes and lots of varities of wheat free recipes. Spelt

is very similar to wheat in appearance, it has a slightly nutty flavour, it does contain gluten but can be used to substitute it into cookie, bread and cake recipes withought comprimising the texture too much. Its has a high nutritional profile, in that it has fewer calories than wheat flour. Its easier to digest, just lower in fibre.

The gluten in spelt flour is breaks down fairly easily which means its pretty critical not to overmix it, or risk having a crumbly texture in whatever you create.

Olive Oil Cake, with Rosemary & Chocolate chunks

This recipe was inspired by 101 Cookbooks’ fantastic blog and recipes, using her recipe as a guide.

This healthier version, uses no butter, so there’s less fat and in addition the spelt flour creates a nutty, denser texture to the cake. Its perfect warm straight out the oven and warm with a cup of tea. The chocolate chunks in the cake, melt to create warm instances of gooey dark chocolate in between the pungent rosemary in the cake.

Ingredients