Make Your Own Raspberry Vodka

This is something I like to do quite a lot at University. You have to leave it for a while for the flavours to properly infuse, but once its done you'll always have a tasty vodka you can even drink straight if you like. My girlfriend and I like to put it with orange juice to make a really good cocktail.

- 75cl Bottle of good quality vodka (40% not 37.5%)
- 300g Raspberries
- 150g Caster sugar
- 1 Vanilla pod
- 1 1L Clip Jar (sterilised)

- Add the vodka, raspberries, caster sugar and vanilla pod (scarpe the seeds out  and add the pod and seeds) to a saucepan and heat very gently (because we don't want to lose any of the alcohol) just long enough to melt the sugar and break down the raspberries slightly (about 5 minutes).

- Put the raspberry vodka mixture into the Clip Jar and put in a cool, dry place. Leave for at least a month. But the longer you leave it the better it will be. Give it the occasional shake to make sure its mixing well.

The vodka raspberries go really well with chocolate too. I like to garnish my homemade chocolate mousse with a few to add a boozy kick.

Enjoy!

Rich Chocolate Ice Cream

I do a lot of experimenting with different flavours of ice cream, but there are two that I get asked to make all the time. One of them is this delicious chocolate ice cream (the other, just in case your wondering - you will have to wait for). Unfortunately, you will need an ice cream machine for this recipe, unless you are truly dedicated in which case you can take it out of the freezer every10-15 minutes and stir to make sure it stays nice and creamy. 

- 300ml Double cream

- 300ml Milk (whole or semi)

- 100g Dark chocolate (but no more than 65% cacao)

- 50g Milk chocolate 

- 7 egg yolks 

- 150g Caster sugar

- 1tsp Vanilla extract (not essence)

- Combine the milk and cream in a saucepan and heat until it comes to a gentle boil. Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk together the egg yolks and caster sugar until it turns almost white in colour. 

- Once the cream/milk has come to the boil, slowly pour it into the bowl with the eggs, stirring all the time. Once you have combined the two, add the vanilla and chocolate (save a few pieces if you want to add them at the end as chocolate chips).

- Put the chocolate mixture back into the saucepan and heat gently until it thickens slightly. Make sure it does not boil, or it will split. 

- You have the ice cream mixture, now all you need to do it put it in your ice cream machine.  

Enjoy! Its pretty good on its own but if you're feeling inspired add some crushed hazelnuts.

 

Korean Spring Onion Noodles

This is a great little recipe I like to make loads at university because its so quick, easy and most importantly, cheap. You can play around with the ingredients in this recipe too, to get it just how you like it.

- 1 Medium sized rump steak
- 4 Spring onions
- 1 Thumb sized piece of ginger
- 1 Tbsp of dark soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp of light soy sauce
- 1/2 Tbsp sherry vinegar - or cider vinegar
- 2 Tsp Honey
- 1 Tsp of sesame seed oil
- 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil
- 400g fresh egg noodles

1. Slice the rump steak into thin strips, discarding any fat. Place in a bowl with the light soy sauce, olive oil and 1tsp of honey and leave to sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2. Very finely slice the spring onions (save a few slices for garnish later) and chop your ginger until it resembles a paste. Place into a separate bowl with the dark soy sauce, sesame oil, sherry vinegar and the last tsp of honey.

3. Have a frying pan on a medium-high heat and put your marinated beef into the pan, when it starts to colour. Put your noodles in the pan and heat through.

4. Pour the noodles and steak into the bowl with the spring onion dressing. Toss the noodles in the dressing and serve with a few of the fine slices of spring onion sprinkled on top.

Enjoy the first recipe in the Heathy Eating section!

Perfect Pizza Dough: Thin and Crispy

There are two types of pizza dough I usually make. One makes a thicker, 'deep-pan' base and the other makes a thinner, crispier base for a more traditional pizza, and this is the recipe I will be going through now. To cook this base a pizza stone should be used.

• 650ml lukewarm water

• 1kg strong white bread flour 

• 40-50g fresh yeast, or 14g of dried yeast (fast action)

• 1 level tablespoon fine sea salt

• 1 tablespoon golden caster sugar

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Sieve the flour and salt into a large bowl. In a separate jug mix the olive oil, warm water and yeast, mix well and allow to sit for a few minutes. Make a well in the flour and pour your yeast mixture into the well. Mix with a wooden spoon until combined. 

Once the mixture has come together, remove from the bowl and set on a clean, floured surface and knead with your hands until you have a smooth dough.

Line the inside of a clean bowl with a teaspoon of olive oil, put the dough in the bowl, sprinkle with flour and cover the bowl with a damp cloth. Leave to stand until it has doubled in size. About an hour.

Once the dough has risen, take it out of the bowl and knead slightly to 'knock the dough back'. It's now ready to use. Never use a rolling pin on your pizza dough because it will take the air out of it. Use your hands to stretch the dough out as thin as you want it (if its not a perfect circle don't worry, it will look more rustic if its not ;)).

Pre-heat your oven or BBQ to its hottest setting and place your pizza stone inside to heat up (Its important that you don't take the stone out to put your pizza on, just slide the pizza onto the stone in the oven/BBQ. to keep as much heat in the stone as possible).

Spread your ingredients however you like them. Slide onto your pizza stone. Cooking time is between 8-10 minutes. 

Hope this was helpful to all those pizza lovers out there!

Review: Pizza Stone

Being a massive pizza lover I made it my mission to perfect the homemade pizza. As i'm sure many of you know this is not an easy thing to do, because a conventional oven will usually max out at 220 degress C. The answer to your pizza prayers is the pizza stone. A thin ceramic stone you put in your oven (I use a BBQ but ill go into that later) to heat up, and place your pizza on to cook. Heating the pizza from above and below ensures you aren't left with a soggy mess. A must have for any pizza lover.

Tempering Chocolate

Okay so this quite an advanced technique, but it will give a much more professional look (and the satisfying snap) to your chocolate treats. If might take you a few tries to get it perfect but keep at it because the end product is well worth the effort. Pretty soon you'll be a true chocolatier.

Make sure you use the best chocolate you can afford (don't buy the chocolate drops because these will have additives to help them hold their shape at a higher temperature and the chocolate wont temper properly).

1. Set up a double boiler (a bowl suspended over a saucepan of simmering water) with a thermometer ready to measure the temperature of the chocolate.

2. Take about 3/4 of your chocolate and put it in the double boiler. Try to resist the temptation to stir and fiddle with the chocolate as it melts.

3. Watch the temperature of the chocolate carefully. When it reaches 44-48 degrees C take it off the heat quickly and add the remaining 1/4 of your chocolate (the reason we do this is to reduce the temperature of the melted chocolate) and stir in until the temperature comes back down to 28 degrees C. Remove any lumps of chocolate that have not fully melted.

4. Now once more return the melted chocolate to the double boiler and bring the temperature back up to 32 degrees C.

While you are still using the chocolate try and keep it constant at 32 degrees C. Your chocolate is now tempered and can be manipulated into whatever shape takes your fancy.

Happy cooking chocolatiers! I would love to know how people get on!

Tricks of the Trade

I recently had the pleasure of working on a super-yacht in Monaco, cooking alongside a very talented young chef for the crew of thirteen. As well as cooking exciting dishes for the crew it was a chance for me to get really creative. With a wealth of ingredients at my disposal I was in my element to say the least. I learned a few tricks and recipes I'll be passing on to fellow foodies.

Perfect Roast Potatoes

These perfect roast potatoes are a necessity for the Christmas dinner. So many people struggle when trying to make their roasties lovely and crispy, when its so simple to do, and something everyone should know how to make.

Ingredients:

- 2.5Kg Potatoes

- 300ml Goose fat

- 100g Semolina

- Pre-heat the oven to its highest setting (ideally around 250-260C)

- Peel and chop the potatoes into chunks, as big or small as you like them.

- Boil the potatoes for four minutes then drain the saucepan.

- Add the goose fat to a baking tray and put in the oven to heat up.

- Add the semolina to the potatoes in the saucepan and give them a good shake to blur and roughen up the edges (these fluffy edges are what are going to give the crunch).

- Once the goose fat is hot, put the potatoes into the baking tray and put straight back into the oven.

- Cook for 25 minutes then turn over and cook for a further 25 minutes.

You should have the perfect accompaniment to your Christmas dinner. Perfect crispy roast potatoes.

Willie's Chocolate Revolution

Some of you may have seen this programme on TV a little while ago. But for those that haven't, its a programme about Willie Harcourt-Cooze - chocolate fanatic and chef - tying to show us (the British) what chocolate really is. Not the typically sweet milky 'rubbish' you will find in supermarkets, but real cacao, not refined beyond recognition. The programme shows Willie's journey to find the perfect cacao for his new chocolate bars. Once he finds the Venezuelan and Peruvian cacao beans, he goes about turning them into the perfect chocolate bars. You can watch the three episodes here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tJRhSw7L3c.

Have a look at his site dedicated to the chocolate he has made. Why not treat yourself to a bar? I'm not a big fan of dark chocolate but Willies chocolate is delicious. You can buy his chocolate on his site, http://www.williescacao.com/.

Here is Willie with his Christmas turkey recipe, a quirky take on the traditional turkey dinner.

Prawn Stir Fry

This is a great healthy recipe from Jo Pratt. So tasty and quick to make. I end up making stir fry a lot because being a student means i don't always have time to spend two hours in the kitchen slaving away. If your a stir fry lover then you will love this recipe.

Chicken Korma

I cannot even remember how many times i have made this dish. It gets better every time. I have been making tweaks to the recipe ever since i started making it when i came to university two years ago. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as i do.

Ingredients:
- 1 sachet of Patak's creamed-coconut
- 300ml Chicken stock
- 250g Creme Fraiche
- 100g flaked almonds
- 1tsp Ground cumin
- 1 tsp Garam masala
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp Ground coriander
- 1/2 - 1tsp Chili powder (You can leave this out if you prefer your korma not spicy at all)
- 1tsp Mustard seeds
- 4 Cardamon pods
- 1 Cinnamon stick
- 2 Chicken breasts (diced into 2cm chunks)
- 1 large onion (finely chopped)
- 3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- 2 tbsp Olive oil

- Dry-fry the flaked almonds in a frying pan over a high heat until golden brown, and leave to one side.

- Add the olive oil, cardamon pods, cinnamon stick and mustard seeds to a saucepan over a medium-high heat. When the mustard seeds begin to sizzle add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, until the onions are soft. Then add the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes.

- Add the turmeric, garam masala, ground cumin, ground coriander and chili powder to the onions (it should form a thick paste - if it is too dry add a little more oil). Cook for 30 seconds and add the diced chicken. Cook for five minutes until the chicken is almost cooked through.

- Add the chicken stock, coconut cream, creme fraiche and flaked almonds. Season with salt and pepper. Then cover and turn to a medium-low heat. Leave for one hour, stirring occasionally.


Let me know what you think. Any improvements or comments are welcome.

Sticky Lemon Chicken

Gordon Ramsay bring us another yummy recipe. Turning chicken from the standard, boring household meat into something a bit different, and so delicious. I have used this recipe so many times and friends and family all love it. Watch the video and have a go yourself.



Enjoy guys!

Top Ten Favourite Healthy Recipes

After writing the top ten favourite foods, i thought i would follow up with a top ten healthy recipes with some of the best yummy but low fat dishes.

10. Pasta with a tomato and basil sauce.
Unbelievably tasty for something so low fat. With whole wheat pasta to make you feel full for longer. You will be making this again and again once you have tried it.

9. Lime and coriander chicken kebabs.
Kebab is not something you very often associate with weight loss. Rather, fat students after a very drunk night out. Very simple to make, and another gem for healthy eating. Served over brown rice it will shed the pounds quicker than you can say 'kebab'.

8. Spicy salmon salad.
Again, really simple, but a lovely combination of flavors. Potato with rocket, cucumber and salmon, drizzled with a lovely spicy dressing.

7. Healthy Chili Con Carne.
A favourite in many households. But when using lean mince meat it turns this classic into a quick, healthy meal.

6. Leek and potato soup.
Really easy to make and so yummy. Full of healthy veg that is ideal for a lunch time meal. Hearty, filling and full of nutrients.

5. Chicken and mango salad.
Doesn't get much better than this. Check the recipe to check how to make this delicious dish.

4. Raspberry and redcurrent sorbet.
There are no words to describe it. healthy and delicious, what more can you ask for.

3. Prawn stir-fly.
Something most people will have tried and loved. With plenty of veg and whole wheat noodles its a winner for wight loss.

2. Raspberry and hazelnut tart.
Something that is so hard to believe that it might be low fat, and you might be able to eat it without the scales haunting you.

1. Thai style couscous.
Thai and Japanese seem to have the answer to staying healthy and slim. Its always so delicious and you can rest assured that your meal will contain vast amounts of vital nutrients to keep you going.

I hope everyone likes the top ten. Let me know what you think, any suggestions would be appreciated. The recipes will be up on the blog soon.

Whole Wheat is the Answer

Many people find it hard to stop snacking between meals, that's usually because your not getting enough fibre, and that's where wholewheat comes in. Whole wheat pasta, bread and rice all contain 10 times the amount of fibre of their white counterpart.

Fibre has an amazing property of making you feel fuller for longer. So sticking to whole wheat products will help you stop those hourly fridge raids. The hinges on your fridge will be thanking you, and you will be on your way to your weight loss goals.

Women and Weights

This is aimed more at women than men, as it is for some reason or another a woman's greatest fear to be seen in the weights section of a gym. Surrounded by all the giant men 'pumping iron' must be intimidating but it is something that has to be overcome.

Weight training is one of the most effective ways to lose weight quickly. Not only that, but resistance training (using free weighs or the wights machines) is an important activity to keep arthritis at bay. It increases bone density, leading to stronger bones and therefore a stronger, fitter body.

The effect that a full body weight training session has on your body when looking at weight loss goals is a 15% rise in your metabolism, which can last for up to 48 hours. Your body will be burning around 300 calories per day on its own for up the next couple of days. Not bad. (that doesn't mean you can scoff your favourite cookies by the way). That might be worth the 'embarrassment' of 30 minutes in the weights section of the gym.

Not only will you be burning fat when doing weight training, but you will be building muscle at the same time, speeding up the rate you will achieve that flat stomach. The more muscle you have, the quicker you will burn fat from your body. So remember that when you are eying up the weights section, feeling lazy.

You don't need to worry girls/ladies, women often don't have the testosterone levels necessary to build huge amounts of muscle so you wont be looking like Arnie by the time you finish.

Top Tip: If you are worried about building up too much muscle, stick to low weight, high repetitions, for example 15-25 reps at 40-50% of your personal, maximum weight (called your one rep max). If you can complete 25 repetitions with perfect form, then go up a weight.

If anyone has any questions or comments, feel free to post a comment. I would love to hear your feedback, and if any of the tips have helped your individual training and weight loss goals.

Eating five times a day will aid your weight loss

Healthy eating and weight loss obviously go hand in hand. But a lot of the time people don't know where to start. There are hundreds of weight loss programmes and routines out there, the problem is finding the one to suit your individual lifestyle.

Many people assume that the less they eat, the more weight they will lose, but in actual fact, not eating will grind your metabolism to a halt and ultimately have the opposite effect.

An easy way to lose weight, contrary to popular belief; is to eat 4-5 times a day with healthy snacks in-between. This will speed up your metabolism and ensure that your body is burning fat around the clock.

Eating a low fat breakfast in the morning (Porridge or Weetabix are ideal) will get your metabolism burning right from the start of the day. Porridge will provide you with plenty of protein and carbohydrates, which is perfect if you are planning on going to the gym that day.

Try eating an apple 15 minutes before a meal, it will ensure that your body will consume up to 185 less calories.

Many people's problems with dieting include snacking late in the evening. This is a terrible way to put weight on. During your sleep your body slows down and the food you eat late in the evening will sit in your stomach all night. You should avoid eating later than 8 at night, and avoid eating carbohydrates later than 6.

Top tip: Coffee contains - as I'm sure most of you know - caffeine, which despite what many people may think, is actually good for you in small amounts. A coffee in the morning will help boost your metabolism and get your body burning even more fat.

Beef Stew and Mustard Dumplings

This is one of my favourites. Great for a cold winter evening, to warm you up and fill your belly.

Ingredients:

For the Stew:
- 2 Onions, cut into thin strips
- 3 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
- A little thyme for seasoning
- 400g Stewing steak, cut into thick chunks
- 100g Button mushrooms
- 100g Carrots, cut into 1 cm pieces
- 2 Large leeks, cut into 1 cm pieces
- 1/2 Bottle of full bodied red wine
- 400ml Beef stock

For the Dumplings:
- 150g Self raising flour
- 100g Sewit
- 1 tbsp Finely chopped parsley
- 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- Water

- Pre-heat the oven to 150C.

- Put a little olive oil in a saucepan and add the leaks and carrots. Stir fry for 7-8 minutes.

- Add the onion to another saucepan and fry for five minutes, then add the garlic and fry for a further three minutes.

- Place the onions, garlic, carrots and leeks to a large ovenproof pot along with the mushrooms. Then add the beef to the saucepan you used to fry the carrots and leeks with a little oil, and brown the meat on all sides. Add the meat to the ovenproof pot.

- Add the red wine and stock to the pot and season with salt, pepper and thyme.

- Place in the oven with the lid on and leave for 2-3 hours.

- Half an hour before you take the stew out of the oven, make the dumplings. Add the self-raising flour, sewit, a pinch of salt, parsley and mustard to a bowl and add water, a little at a time until the ingredients combine to form a ball that is slightly sticky. Roll into balls (remember that they will grow to about twice the size when cooked). Add to the stew and cook for half an hour.

Tips: If you want your dumplings slightly crispy on top, take the lid off the pot for the last 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Britain's Disgusting Food #2

As if the last one didn't put you off enough. If anyone is a big fan of hot dogs, you will be checking the labels after reading this. Most jarred or tinned hotdogs contain MRM (mechanically recovered meat, specifically chicken). For those of you that don't know what that is, which im guessing is most of you. The bones and leftovers of a carcas, that are to difficult to remove manually, are placed in the machine that crushes the remains until a black, soggy paste is removed from the carcas.

Companies that use this method to remove the meat to use in their hot dogs keep the machine well hidden from the public eye, for obvious reasons.

This clip shows some of the show Britain's really disgusting food and has a short video of what MRM looks like when it has been recovered from the bones. Very disgusting stuff.

Duck Breast with a Cranberry and Red Wine jus

Served with a finely grated potato dauphinoise.

Ingredients:

For the Jus:
- 100g Cranberry's
- 1 Orange (juice only)
- 75g Brown sugar
- 100ml red wine
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar

For the Potato Dauphinoise:
-2 large baking potato
-250ml double cream
-2 tbsp whole milk
-2 garlic cloves,
-100g Gruyère cheese, grated
- Salt and pepper for seasoning

For the duck:
- 1/2 Duck breast
- 1tbsp Olive oil

- Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

- Add the milk, cream and garlic to a saucepan and bring to the boil, add a generous amount of salt and pepper for seasoning. Slice the potato using a mandoline and cut into thin spaghetti shaped strips.

- Add the potato strips to a small greased ovenproof dish (so the potato is at least an inch tall) and add the cream and garlic mixture, making sure that the mixture completely covers the potato. Top with the grated cheese and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until slightly brown on top.

- Add the cranberry's, orange juice, red wine, white wine vinegar and brown sugar to a saucepan over a medium heat until combined, to make a sauce.

- For the duck, heat an ovenproof frying pan, add the olive oil and duck breast and sear the duck over a high heat until brown on all sides. Transfer to the oven and cook for 3-5 minutes until cooked to your liking.

To serve: Cut a square of the dauphinoise and place in the centre of the plate. Cut the duck into 4-5 slices depending how thick you like them. Place on top of the dauphinoise and drizzle with the cranberry jus.

Enjoy everyone!

My Top 10 Favourite Foods

There are some foods that instantly get your mouth watering at the thought of them. Here is a list of my top ten favourites.

10. Crispy duck with pancakes. I'm pretty sure everyone will have had this at some point from their local Chinese, and if you haven't, then its a must! I will have a recipe up soon for a home-made version for anyone that hasn't tried it.

9. Beef stew and dumplings. I know its a simple one, but its a classic for a reason. Red wine gravy and mustard dumplings. Nothing better for a cold Winters evening at home.

8. Baked Camenbert with ciabatta with an orange and passion fruit marmalade. So amazingly simple and quick to make. Great to eat for a late supper while watching a good film.

7. Pasta Puttanesca (Or literally, whore's pasta). I'll always remember this one as Daddy's pasta. My Dad used to cook it for me all the time when i was younger and i could never pronounce the name. An Anchovy, caper, Kalamata olive, and parsley sauce with penne pasta. Yummy!

6. Homemade chicken korma. Another well known dish. But there must be something about it that the British like, it did make it to the top 10 most popular dishes in the UK.

5. Creme Brulee with a hint of orange. Time for a dessert i think, and this is one of my all time favourites. It's become a regular in my household. The crispiness of the thin sugar layer, with the soft creamy texture of the custard, melts in your mouth. One just isn't enough!

4. Mussels with a white wine and garlic sauce. A French classic, if you haven't experienced this amazing dish yet, don't worry, don't book your flights yet. Have a look at the recipe here. So simple, but so wonderfully tasty!

3. Wild mushroom risotto with Parmesan. So rich and delicious, it's hard to find the will-power to stop eating, even when your about to pop.

2. Baked chocolate orange cheesecake with homemade vanilla ice cream. I'm a massive fan of Terry's chocolate orange, so this one is something i try not to make to often because I'll end up sitting down and finishing it on my own. Not great for the figure, but a fantastic naughty treat.

1. Duck breast with a cranberry and red wine jus. Served with a finely grated potato dauphinoise. Delicious.

All of these recipe's will be up on the site soon, so if you like the sound of any of them, then you can make them for yourselves!

Add your own favourites to the page! I would like to see people's own opinions!