Fancy Picnic Strawberries

Picnic Strawberries. Today we had lunch in the garden for Abi’s birthday. I was going to bake a sponge or maybe some brownies and then I looked outside over Costa del Beaconsfield and decided against spending the morning in the kitchen. Instead, I made some chocolate coated strawberries which wouldn’t have looked out of place in a box of Thornton’s chocolate. Not rocket science but it’s good to get the technique right or eveyrhting gets a little bit messy. All it took was 3 packs of milk chocolate,  3 packets of white and 2 punnets of strawberries. I used Sainsbury’s value chocolate as it melts really well and at 30p for 100g, no-one’s complaining! Make sure you melt the chocolate s-l-o-w-l-y to avoid burnt lumps. Once you have two separate bowls of smooth, glossy chocolate, dunk a strawberry in till its got an even coat. Holding it by the stalk, let a little excess drip of then place on a chopping board. Once both punnets have their coats, pop in the fridge for 10 minutes. The chocolate should stay runny but might require a 15 second blast in the microwave. Then, using a teaspoon, dribble opposing chocolate over the strawberries and return to the fridge for a further 10 minutes. Then use a straight spatula or a sharp knife to ease the chocolate strawberries off the chopping board and into your mouth!

Why Rosie Radish?

It might disappoint some, but I haven’t decided to take a U-turn with my food blog and started hugging trees and digging for victory (although obviously I’m a big supporter of organic and locally sourced produce.) Alas, I was reminded of my favourite childhood book featuring dungaree-clad Rosie the rabbit. Absolutely nothing to do with being named after the protagonist. I’ve loved cooking since I was little. Throughout school me and my friends would create after-school chocolatey concoctions as a ‘light snack.’  I’d clear out cupboards every weekends cooking apple crumbles and flapjacks. Not even a tight uni budget stopped this sweet tooth. And now I still like to cook whenever I can, getting inspiration from all the delicious pictures I see on blogs and social media and hopefully rumbling a few tummy’s with my own snaps and recipes. 

Waking up too early
Maybe we can sleep in
Make you banana pancakes
Pretend like it’s the weekend now
And we could pretend it all the time
Can’t you see that it’s just raining?
There ain’t no need to go outside

Jack Johnson

The Rivier Boat Restaurant in Richmond

The weather has only gone and done a complete u-turn from the bitterly cold winds and occasional hail storm of last week. The sun was beaming through the curtains when I woke up this morning, after one too many glasses of Pinot Grigio last night. Me and Henry picked Richmond as our brunch hot-spot (with Southwark and Putney acting as close contenders.) We walked along the river and decided on the Boat Restaurant, a little gem anchored by Richmond Bridge, where we discovered last summer. It’s the perfect place to go for brunch on a sunny day on the River Thames, you couldn’t ask for a better location, the menu is simple and delicious and the staff are lovely. I had a spicy Bloody Mary and Eggs Florentine; a toasted muffin with wilted spinach and poached eggs smothered in Hollandaise sauce and parmesan cheese. C’est parfait!

Rick Stein's roast: The Romeo and Juliet of food combos

A couple of weekends ago, Henry and I went round to a friend of his for a roast. After a long week at work and missing the last few of my mamas roasts, I was very eager to tuck into tatties, a juicy chicken and ladles of gravy. From my first sniff, I knew this would be no normal roast. Had they got the day wrong? Did they not realise it was Sunday- Day of the Roast? Why did it smell like the Bucks Tandoori on a Saturday night? Little did I know I was in the humble abode of a city slicker with a soft spot for Delia. Its rare to come across a guy in his early twenties who puts recipe books onto his Christmas list. Courtesy of Henry’s friend (who’s name escapes me) we sat down for an Indian banquet of aromatic beef, slow cooked in stock and spicy spices), Stein’s signature spiced roast potatoes and onions and a refreshingly zingy salad. Recipes to follow once my Amazon order arrives!

An Oxymoron: A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined

Crisps are commonly associated with Walkers, McCoys, Kettle chips; made for sharing but often integral to a cosy night in alone. Go back a few years and you’ve got Wotsits, Monster Munch and Quavers bringing your lunch box to life. Naughty, delicious, wafer-tin slices of fried or baked potato. Heres a conundrum for you; are vegetable crisps an oxymoron or an epic creation here to save the day this January. New year, new you, new diet, go to my recipe page to find out how to make your favourite and awesomely healthy new snack.

Vegetable Crisps

Root vegetable of your choice: Baking potato, sweet potato, parsnip, carrot, turnip, beetroot, pumpkin

Sunflower oil (FryLight works well)

Malden salt (or any other sea salt flakes)

Method:

So simple. All you have to do is peel the vegetables to create thin strips of raw vegetable. They can be as wide as you like as long as they are wafer thin. Go crazy- 2 carrots probably creates a small snack so don’t hold back as if you make too many you can keep them fresh in tupperware. 

Once you have a mountain of peel, divide into baking trays so you have one layer of peel per tray. The peel will shrink so don’t panic about over crowding. Spray or lightly coat the peel.

Place in an oven at 180 degrees for roughly 12-15 minutes. depending on your oven and how many trays you have in there, this will vary, so just keep an eye and once all the peel has crisped up, they are ready to come out. They will need a shake after about 5 minutes to stop them sticking to the tray.

Once they have called down, chuck ‘em in a bowl and sprinkle with rock salt, roughly crushed between your fingers.

Tuck in….

Crystalized grapes

Crystallised Grapes 

Hummingbird Bakery mulled wine cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting with a hint of orange.

Makes: However many little sparkly balls of crystal good-ness you so desire…

Ingredients:

Grapes

Egg white

Granulated sugar

Method:

Simply separate the the egg white and dip each grape into the egg white. Once the grape is coated in egg whites, roll it into a bowl of granulated sugar. The crystallised grapes just need to be chilled till they’re shells are hard. Then its up to you how you wish to present them. Place on top of a dollop of brandy butter as the perfect accompaniment to a mince pie or nestled amongst berries on a Christmas pavlova. 

Cloudy Bay, Pelorus Vintage 2008

Cloudy Bay Pelorus Vintage 2008, named after the dolphin Pelorus Jack, the legendary dolphin who followed ships between Wellington and Nelson in early 1900’s. Bubble wrapped and nestled in three layers of jumpers, this very special bottle of bubbly was backpacked through New Zealand, Fiji and America. In the heat of the moment, and after a few hours spent sampling the finest wines the Marlborough vineyards had to offer, I bought this bottle to bring home as a family Christmas present. My dad popped it open on Christmas Day and I was instantly reminded as to why I decided to lug it around the world. ..

Thinspiration

I never do any television without chocolate. That’s my motto and I live by it. Quite often I write the scripts and I make sure there are chocolate scenes. Actually, I’m a bit of a chocolate and will eat anything. It’s amazing I’m so skinny.

Dawn French

Jean Philippe chocolatier and patisserie at the Belagio. A little $6 slice of heaven.

Honey, I'm home!

I’m back from my travels with a highly neglected blog that is in desperate need of some tender loving care. What better way to spend a frosty Wednesday afternoon than to fill this blog with the memories and stories my friends and family are all bored of hearing eh? Here’s the rest of every delicious morsel that went through these lips! 

The largest chocolate fountain in the world at the Bellagio hotel, Las Vegas

'Honey. You can't have a Creme Brûlée frap WITH cream.'

I’ll be honest, I tried for all of minutes to fit into the notorious ‘LA lifestyle.’ As I stood in the first of many Starbucks queues in Laguna Beach, I began a mental game of tennis, eyes flicking from the seasonal frap board to the classics, and then a second wave of panic came over me: ‘Do I join the incessant request to ‘Make that a skinny,’ or do I go with my gut and not be a pedantic sheep.’ I was a pedantic sheep, but not just any old, I’m sure i made them all snigger when I probably made customer history in asking for a skinny Crème brûlée frap with cream. I was understandably shot down by the glowing honey who was serving me, who definately takes hers black, one sweetener. 

Bruxie's Waffles

It began with waffles and ended in Mac'n'Cheese.

Sit back, loosen your belt and prepare to commit diet suicide with my Vegas Diet. I actually had a To Do list for my time in America, not the naughty, little black book kind, nor the organised, FiloFax kind, I had to To Eat list and I am proud to say I ticked every box. There were a handful of quirky Mexican shacks in Laguna Beach, selling juicy burritos and fresh, crispy fish tacos I’d had my eye on from the word Go. I didn’t get to itch my scratch for a fish Taco until the Monte Carlo food hall. It was perfection; salty, crunchy, tangy goodness in a blanket of guacomole, nestled in a soft tortilla wrap. Next on the agenda, waffles. I first met Bruxie on Black Friday. We were ‘cruising’ back from Fashion Island in Newport when my eyes locked with Bruxie. I started with a Belgium waffle oozing with Tillamook Cheddar & Gruyere Cheese followed by another waffle gloriously stuffed with sweet cream and strawberries. Next on the agenda was a big, juicy burger with a side of hand cut, double, triple, quadruple fried chips and where better to indulge that in the Hard Rock Cafe with a beaker of strawberry lemonade? My quest for American cuisine ended in The Cheesecake Factory with a smooth, gooey, crusty baked Mac’n’Cheese… God save America!

The Waterfront, Sydney

My wonderful big sister Charlotte treated me and Alexa to dinner at The Waterfront restaurant as a belated birthday present. She organised the best seats in the house and we were wined and dined under the stars. We shared a seafood platter, but not just any old seafood platter, Paremsan crusted scallops, callamari with a creamy lemon mayonaise, muscles marinated in a spicy tomato relish and prawns the size of my fist. I kept it classic with a chicken tandoori pizza, served with a big dollop of tatziki and a sprinkling of roast cashews. The panna cotta served with sweet peaches, raspberry coulis and crumbled biscotti sealed the deal on a very enjoyable night!

The Yasawa Islands, Fii

Fijian cuisine is fresh and exotic. They have exhausted the uses of a coconut; coconut water as a refreshing drink, coconut milk for mild fish curries, coconut cream for the traditional cold starter ‘Kokoda,’ desiccated coconut for baking and chunks of fresh coconut for snacking. In a Fijian cooking lesson we made Kokoda (pronounced Ko-kon-da) by marinating white fish in lime juice which naturally cooks it, adding it to finely sliced tomato, cucumber and onion and finishing with coconut cream. 

The Almighty Ferg

Ferg Burger in Queenstown, New Zealand is no less of a landmark than Lake Taupo and Franz Josef Glacier. The Southern Swine consists of a fresh bun that can only be described as ‘squishy,’ a New Zealand prime beef pattie, streaky bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado, red onion, alioli and tomato relish. With every bite, you become ever-increasingly assured, that ‘Ferg loves You.’

Byron Bay, Australia

The laid back, easy going, hippy haven lifestyle that Byron Bay has down to a T is perfectly matched by this little Moroccan lair that we stumbled upon. I can’t remember the name but its next to Happy Herbs on the main road. Who can say no to date and walnut loaf smothered in butter and a pot of peppermint tea for breakfast?

Fishing Trip with Mr Trung, Hoi An

Just our luck, the day the typhoon hit Vietnam in September, we had organised a fishing trip with Mr Trung. Despite the down pour, we spent the morning catching shrimps and  sardines. Flinging the sacred fish on the back of our bikes, we went to Mr Trung’s family home, where his wife provided a very authentic cooking lesson. We began by making spring rolls: mincing pork, slicing carrots and green beans, crushing peanuts and seasoning with the world and his wife before rolling into rice paper and deep frying. Then we prepared the fish and lemon and garlic marinade before rolling in banana leaves and cooking over an open fire. It was an incredible experience and the family recipies Mrs Trung trusted me with are safely locked up in my diary.

Food Market, Gili Trawangan

Me at the food market at Gili Trawangan! Where I was in my element surrounded by fresh fish BBQ’s, endless versions of noodles and fried rice, chicken sate, sweetcorn frittas and corn on the cobs! The Backpackers flock from all over the island to eat like a king for a dollar or two.

The Fast and the Furious

We decided to play it safe and pay a little extra to get the fast boat to the Gili’s! The other option being the 9 hour s-l-o-w boat. Little did we know that the current that runs between Lombok and the Gili islands makes the waves so choppy we found oursleves clinging onto the rails of the top deck. In a desperate attempt for some mid-day rays we perservered. A little under 2 hours later, we arrived, drenched and bedraggled at Gili Trawagnan! We saw Anna and Alex in the distance waving frantically and were helped down a rickety ladder onto the golden sands, to begin our 4 days in paradise!

Happy Birthday Bro!

Sorry I missed the end of August birthday bender again. I wish I was there to celebrate and boss everyone around the kitchen at breakfast. Lots of Love. Ro. X

Best Place for Brekkie in Bali

Sea Circus. Getting lost on Instagram lead Alexa to Sea Circus. It was the Hangover Happy Meal that originally caught our attention- a proper greasy fry up, fresh fruit juice and 15 minute neck massage for $10. Heaven! We tracked it down and went for breakfast last Saturday before hitting the beach. I have a Very Berry fruit juice and Avo eggs and it was incredible. Everything at Sea Circus is fun. The Bombay Sapphire table vase, the wall of clocks, the token Bob Marley quotes, even the cups and saucers have a fun story behind them (http://seacircus-bali.com/blog/)

Best Bar in Bali

La Plancha. The boys took us to La Plancha on our first night in Bali and it was love at first sight. At sunset, La Plancha transforms from a colourful, quirky beach bar to an even more colouful and quirky beach bar. Two layers of chilled out ambiance, it was the first of its kind on Seminyak beach and stands out like a sore thumb with multi-colored umbrellas and lanterns drawing you in like a fly to light. Big bean bags come piling out onto the beach and as long as you get there early, you are set for the evening! When I think La Plancha, I think Sunny by Marvin Gaye (Mercury edit) and Bintang’s for $2.

Best Beach in Bali

Our best beach in Bali has been the stretch from Semiyak to Kuta. Where I first got up on a board, where we almost got Lex on a board, where we have had many romantic hand-in-hand strolls, the ice-creams, the banana juices, the fresh pineapples. The home of amazing beach bars like Ku de Ta and La Plancha, where we have consumed many a Bingtang. The beaches are why Aussies flock to Bali and now we know why!

Best Sunset in Bali

We have seen some incredible sunsets over the last few weeks. After our day trip to Padang Padang and just before our Red Snapper supper, we watched this amazing sunset on Jimbaran beach.

Happy Birthday Miss Sutcliffe

Luna2 Studios, Seminyak

The first day of our internship in Bali entailed lunchtime super-smoothies by the pool, watching the sunset with the company of a Mojito and over eating a five-course (saw off Lex’s pudding too didn’t I…) meal of Lobster bisque, seared scallops and pork cheek, Mahi-Mahi served with caviar and a flaming baked Alaska. All on the house of course. I don’t know who me and Lex thought we were calling each other from adjoining rooms to discuss the bubble bath menu and what we were going to watch whilst we were IN our Philippe Starck bathtubs. Harry Potter was the overriding favourite. Couple of Porn star Martini’s later we were out for the count in our king-size beds. A stack of legendry caramelized banana pancakes set me up for our first day at HQ. First impression alone, loving Luna2…

After a really tough 3 day week at Luna2..

Over the bank holiday weekend, celebrating the end of Ramadan, we beach crawled from Padang Padang to Dream land to Jimbaran. Padang Padang was hosting the annual Rip curl cup so was heaving! We joined the hundreds and hundreds of surfers piling down the cliff creeks onto the white sandy beach, trying our hardest to blend in with sun-kissed, bleach blond surfer chicks… However Jamie gave us away with his factor 30 and preference to the shade. There is not a lot to say about Dream land other than that it is not worth the detour through acres and acres of half constructed golf resorts. We raced to Jimbaran beach for a sunset- Bintang session. Jimbaran beach is cocooned by a vibrant stretch of fish restaurants. We were spoilt for choice and had no recommendations, other than to buy a chili-butter corn on the cob from a local beach-vender whilst you wait- so went with our gut instinct/favourite table cloths and picked Warung Ganesha. You order by the KG, pick your own fish and 20 minutes later your eating red Snapper, which has leaped 5 meters on to your plate, like a king! It’s very grounding to think that at 7pm, almost exactly 8 years to this day, 20 people were killed on these sandy beaches and in busy-hedonistic Kuta, the two sites targeted by the terrorist networkJemaah Islamiah. Harrowing as that fact is, it’s inspiring to see how Bali has moved on and how Jimbaran’s has been restored to the fish’n’corn-on-the-cob lover’s haven it’s always been!

Honeymoon-ing on Seminyak beach, Bali

How to deal with Post-Graduate Depression

Step 1. Go traveling. I was the last person to pack their bags up and buy an around the world ticket. I wouldn’t say I’m a work-a-holic but I do swear by keeping a diary and I have had a hefty selection of jobs in all my 21 years.  I want to graduate and get on that property ladder. Quote-un-quote. However as the prospect of unemployment became an immediate reality and exam-period boredom let my imagination drift a little further than endless graduate job applications, when Alexa planted the seed of going traveling together until Christmas in a dreary student travel agency in Newcastle, there was no chance in hell I was saying no.