This years Christmas presents!!

Spoiler Alert to all friends!!

This year I'm being frugal and making most of my Christmas presents. 

Two weeks ago I attended the annual Winter Good Food Show and stumbled across Collectively Artisan ceramics. Unforetunatley I was literally stumbling after just having hit the alcohol section d no amount of free nibbles can prepare you for the measures they were serving!

Anywho I digress!! At the ceramic stall there was a bowl of complimentary Indian sweets. A small ball of coconut and cardamom yumminess!! Fortunately they had a recipe card to recreate the treats which I knew instantly would make an alternative Christmas present.

To make 10-12 treats you'll need:

> 100ml/6 tbsp condensed milk (preferably unsweetened)

> 5-6 green cardamoms (seeds removed and crushed)

> 125g desiccated coconut

Pour the condensed milk into a small saucepan and warm over a low heat. Tip the crushed cardamom seeds, if using and mix. Add 100g of the desiccated coconut and simmer for 2-3minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Watch carefully so it does not burn.

Remove from the heat and set aside until the coconut mixture is just cool enough to handle.

Sprinkle the remaining desiccated coconut onto a plate. Wet your hands and shape the mixture into 10-12 balls of equal size. Roll each ball in the desiccated coconut to cover evenly. 

Either serve immediately or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for 5-6 days. Or like me, wash or sterilise an old jam jar for an easy, quirky and delicious gift.

Our University Brew Club

Last year at Univeristy a few of us like minded students clubbed together to create Harper Adams first brew club. Here we meet and discuss our favourite tipple, organise informative talks by our very own beer wiz Professor Frank Vrieskoop (Full member of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and Honorary member of the American Distilling Institute) as well as occasionally brewing our own concoction of whatever we fancy providing what ingredients we can get our hands on!

Our first official meeting this year instructed those interested in joining to bring along two of there favourite tipples (one for yourself and one to share). We discussed why we had chosen that particular brew and what we would like to get out of the group. I brought along my newest discovery Buddy's; a beer flavoured with bourbon and a hint of honey. It's an easy drinking beer with a real honey aftertaste. So far I've only seen it in Asda which is great for weird and wonderful new tipples.

The other two beers that really stood out for me at the meeting was Brew Dogs Punk IPA and Thornbridges Jaipur. Both had a great hoppy flavour and a strong lychee taste, very fruity and very drinkable!

Now that I've been 'promoted' to social secretary I'm in charge of organising educational excursions to breweries and distilleries. Any recommendations would be hugely welcomed!!

Tyrrels Aristo-Crackling (with a hint of mustard)

 Makes for superb snacking!!

Found a pack of these refined Aristo-Crackling in Waitrose. The mustard variety aren't for the faint hearted. If you like a snack that packs a punch these are for you (unblocks stuffy noses too). 

Love that they name the British breeds of pigs used too!!

My experience entering the Ecotrophelia Competition 2013

When I first started Harper Adams University, myself and eight other food students formed the team 'More Than Meat Pies' to enter the Ecotrophelia competition 2013.

Ecotrophelia is a competition recognised by the EU Commission. Students from Universities are asked to create an Eco-Innovative product to present it to some of the 'top dogs' in the Food Industry. The product has to be environmentally friendly, sustainable, profitable and commercially viable.

Our team recognised the potential in offal, an underused by product, so decided to create a cottage pie style ready meal. We used kidney, heart and liver which we formed into a mince and mixed with onion, carrot, herbs and a delicious gravy with a mashed potato topping. We kept the skins on the carrots and potato to minimise waste and get those extra brownie points!! We aptly named the pie 'A Heart Meal'.




In early June we entered the first stage of Ecotrophelia in the UK heats at Campden BRI.


Here's a picture of our lovely stand and three of my team mates just before they went to present to 'the dragons'.

We only went and won it!! It was a brilliant feeling especially as we were against some great competition.

Here's us with our Cheque.


Next stop Anuga Cologne, Germany. Mid October the team and I travelled to the largest food trade fair to present our pie against 18 other competing countries. Below is a picture of the team with our pies in transit.

The fair itself was humongous and offered the weird, wonderful and future trending products such as pizza on a stick, but I'll write more about that in another post.


The judging panel was made up Michael Knowles (Chairman European Technology Platform 'Food for Life' and Vice-President Global Scientific and Regulatory Affairs to The Coca-Cola Company), Peter Van Bladern (Global Head Regulatory and Scientific Affairs of Nestle SA) just to name a few!!

Here's some of the products the other Countries were offering:

Ukraine - Panna Cotta Cream Dessert with Fruit Juice Ball Sauce
Switzerland - The Delicatesse (premium fast food)
Spain - Peelcuits (baked snack made from tomato peel)
The Netherlands - Choco Quino (chocolate quinoa beverage)
Italy - SOcrock (snack made with sorghum)
France - Ico&La (vegetable patties using lentils)

Whilst three of the team were presenting, the rest of us served a small portion to the judges. Time just flew in those 15minutes, before we knew it it was all over. All that time, work and effort but boy were we relieved. The next day we returned to Anuga for the result. Third was Italy, second was the Netherlands and well deserved first was France, who hope to launch their lovely veggie dish on the market. We weren't in the top three but were assured we were placed highly and received some great feedback.

It was a wonderful experience and honour to represent the UK and our University. We may not have won but we learnt so much in the process such as project management, how to deal with inherent problems, team work and how an idea develops through research, formulation, industrial phases into a fully fledged product. I'm so proud of our achievement and to have worked with such a lovely and strong team.




If you have the opportunity or are interested in entering, I couldn't recommend it enough. Its a brilliant experience and pretty fab on your CV too!!

http://www.ecotrophelia.eu/

Here's a few links to publications we featured in...

http://www.harper-adams.ac.uk/news/202013/students-hope-winning-top-award-is-easy-as-pie
https://connect.innovateuk.org/web/biosciencesktn/articles/-/blogs/harper-adams-team-win-inaugural-ecotrophelia-uk-student-innovation-awards%3bjsessionid=2A7B30497345F311BE0970D2CCB33A55.2dd13a02eab 
http://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/NPD/Harper-Adams-green-meat-pie-scoops-award
http://www.fstjournal.org/news/finals-ecotrophelia-uk-student-innovation-awards
http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/fmcg/fresh/harper-adams-students-compete-for-eco-food-award/344201.article   

Daylesford Organic Restaurant

Lucky for me my mum is a comper (enters loads of competitions) and occasionally wins something..usually something weird like a Pie Minister Frisbee but this time she won a meal at the Daylesford Organic Restaurant in Esher, Surrey.

Here's what Daylesford have to say...

"Join us any time of day for award-winning organic food, straight from our farm to your fork. Every day on our Gloucestershire farm we bake our own bread, make our own cheese, grow our own fruits and vegetables and rear our own animals.

Daylesford Esher’s organic menus reflect the seasons, and are full of the best organic produce from our farm. Our chefs also make special seasonal dishes that might only be around for a few days, whilst the produce is at its best."

As we entered the restaurant on Esher high street I firstly must mention the decor. The walls covered in wooden white slats which reminded me of the outside of a beehive. On the left was where you can buy all the produce like cheese, fresh bread, soups etc. the restaurant was buzzing with business people and ladies who lunch. It was a great atmosphere! It was all open plan so you could watch the chefs work their magic.

Jerome the restaurant manager seated us and introduced our waitress. The competition win included three courses, a bottle of their organic wine and coffees, what a treat!! When ordering food I always like to try something I wouldn't make or don't have the skill to. To start I had the grilled sardines with fresh tomato and caper salsa and green salad, I could taste the olive oil which was wonderfully peppery. Mum ordered the spiced Cornish crab on toast.

Perhaps mum and I took a long time over our starter but as soon as our plates were cleared our steak arrived. I sometimes like a little break between.

It was the special of the day, Sirloin with chips, homemade tomato ketchup and a small salad. I prefer my steak medium rare unlike my dad who enjoys his steak cremated!! It was cooked perfectly and very well presented.

For dessert mum ordered the treacle and ginger tart. It was well balanced, not too sweet and kicked a punch of heat from the ginger. I ordered the chocolate nemesis. The waitress warned me it was rich so asked for the butterscotch ice ream, unfortunately it only came with a small amount of vanilla cream. I felt bad that I couldn't finish it, usually I'm never defeated by a pud. I did suggest to the waitress that perhaps it should be served alongside a chilli ice cream or some other ingredient to counter balance the richness. Apparently they're experimenting with orange and mint which sounds nice but maybe they're should be an option 'not for the faint hearted' and serve it with chilli pecans?!

Wine wise we has they're 2010 bottle of Chateau Leoube Rouge de Leoube. I'm no wine connoisseur but this was damn fine, so fruity, actually so good that we bought a bottle from they're farm shop after

Whilst having our coffee our waitress and Jerome the manager came and sat at our table to talk about our experience and for a general chin wag. I really enjoyed getting to know them and how they came to work for Daylesford. In fact everyone was friendly even the busy chefs were polite and said hello as I walked past (the loos are amazing and the products such as the soap and hand lotion smelt gorgeous).

Overall I loved this restaurant, the food was tasty maybe because it was all grown on their organic farm in Gloucester?? The staff were attentive, the decor, the atmosphere..it was all brilliant and was great to hear that restaurants were opening closer to home in Islington soon. Yes I would recommend this place, although the prices were a little over my student budget I would return here In the future.

Hoxton's Grapefruit and Coconut Gin

I thought of myself as a bit of a gin purist but since trying Hoxton's Grapefruit and Coconut gin mixed with pineapple juice I am a convert. It tastes like a piña colada but probably not as fattening?!

Currently Waitrose are reducing bottles at a great price.

So even if your not a great gin lover (as I am) it makes a great base for many cocktails.

Grab one and treat yourself!!

Quirky Alternative Chocolate - Rozsavolgyi

I often get on a bus up to Selfridges to have a mooch around and look at all the unusual alcohols and confectionery they have. As an early birthday gift for my mum (I'm also terrible and surprises) I bought her what I think is the prettiest and most unusual chocolate bar I've ever seen. Rozsavolgyi have created a range of beautiful chocolates with unique flavour combinations, for instance I bought my mum the dark chocolate with olives and toasted bread. Strange? YES. Does it work? STRANGELY YES!!

Here's what Selfridges have to say...

"Roasted olives, toasted bread and olive oil collide in this deliciously good Rozsavolgyi dark chocolate bar. At the 2013 AoC awards, this textural sweat treat won the bronze award in the seasoned bar category."

Other flavours available include milk chocolate with Himalaya salt, white chocolate and matcha tea and dark chocolate with hot paprika. The packaging and the actual chocolate was also stunning.

Prices range from £5.99 to £7.99 but let me tell you they're worth it and make a wonderful and unusual gift.

Eat 17 Bacon Jam

When I saw Eat17 advertising bacon jam and onion jam in the Waitrose magazine I knew it would be right up my street because it sounds damn weird.
In fact its not a jam at all, its an onion chutney.

Eat17's Bacon Jam is sweet but not in a weird way and is the type of condiment that goes with or in anything, for example I can't eat grilled cheese on toast without it and a dollop goes great in spaghetti bolognese let me tell you..the possibilities are endless.
 

I suppose you've got to buy it to believe it.

Chin Chin Labs in Camden

After reading reviews of London's top ice cream parlours Chin Chin Labs had been on my hit list for a while. Amidst the hussle and bustle that is Camden market on a Saturday afternoon I found the small ice creamery next to Gilgamesh. 

My friend and I quickly nipped in to the fudge shop next door to stock up on goodies to eat in the que for Chin Chins (not that it was long..we're just greedy). They did traditional and unusual fudges like mojito and amaretto and coffee fudge. Whilst my friend Becky opted for the dark chocolate and sea salt, I bought a piece of chocolate coated bacon. Yes the saltiness of the bacon pumped up the flavour of the chocolate but I'm not sure I'd buy it again, but you have to buy these things to know if you like it.

In the queu for ice cream I then had the difficult task of deciding what flavour I'd like. They had 3 regular flavours then a special although there is nothing normal about this ice creamery let me tell you!!

Here's a great description by Timeout...

"Now a fixture of Camden Market, the innovative Chin Chin Labs – where ice-cream is frozen to order amid billowing clouds of liquid nitrogen-generated steam – may not seem as wacky as it once did, but there are always new tourists to surprise, and plenty of regulars happy to queue for the fabulous ice-cream. The menu is commandingly short: chocolate, vanilla and two specials – one ice-cream, one dairy-free sorbet. The latter always astounds with its fat-free creaminess and cool flavours, such as griddled peach, watermelon and dill, or beetroot choc chip. Haute cuisine references are frequent in flavours such as coffee and tobacco, or Guinness caramel with smoked salt. Experimental, yes, but the results are reliably superb. Pimp your tub with a veritable chemistry set of sprinkles and sauces (we liked the white chocolate-coated potato chips with our summery strawberry and hay ice-cream) – you too can be a molecular gastronomist."

Choosing the toppings was just as exciting as choosing the flavour. They had griddles white chocolate, cardamom and pistachio powder, green tea peanut brittle to name a few. 

I finally chose coconut sun cream when they announced they'd sold out...typical! But they replaced it with an exciting retro flavour of 'Peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich with a caramelised toasted bread topping'..how could I refuse!! So here it is along with the griddles white chocolate. How do you grill white chocolate..seems only the laboratorists know!!

At rock bottom prices that include an ice cream and a topping or sauce (extra toppings or sauces are 45p) I can't recommend this place enough. Even If the queu looks long just watching the Chin Chin laboratorists at work was an exciting experience!!

Baba Ghanoush

Living in London (when I'm not at University) there are cuisines available from all over the world. One of my favourite restaurants is based in the seedy part of Soho, Yalla Yalla serves up authentic Beirut street food. Found down a small alley I only discovered the place after a friends recommendation. Dishes from the menu include Baba Ghanoujj (charcoaled aubergine dip), fattoush (salad that's includes crispy pitta bread and sumac) and Lahem Meshoue (charcoal grilled marinated lamb skewers). I never had a bad meal here and the beers (Almaza Lebanese beer) aren't bad either.

To accompany a recent barbecue I decided to recreate Yalla Yalla's Baba Ghanoujj. Whenever I have ordered it here they garnish it with fresh pomegranate seeds and mint leaves. In my recipe I have included pomegranate molasses. It has sweet and sour notes and can be purchased Waitrose. Sesame seed oil isn't traditionally added however I love the nuttiness and flavour the oil has.

Ingredients...

• 2 medium aubergines
• 4 heaped tbsp of tahini (sesame paste)
• The juice of half a lemon
• 1 clove of crushed garlic
• 3 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tbsp of sesame oil (if you don't have any, just replace with olive oil)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp Pomegranate molasses 
• Seeds from half a pomegranate
• 2-3 fresh mint leaves

Method...

Bake or grill the aubergines until the skin turns black. Once their centres are soft scrape the flesh out into a bowl, discard the skin. Mix in the garlic, lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, sesame oil and the salt and pepper until everything is well combined. Place in the serving bowl, drizzle on the pomegranate molasses then sprinkle on the pomegranate seeds and tear the mint leaves on top.

Top Tip...
Make sure the aubergine skins are scorched all over, this is necessary to achieve that smoky flavour.

Serving Suggestion...
Serve alongside warm flat bread or pitta.

Enjoy!

Greek Inspired Lamb Marinade

I recently bought a leg of lamb from Morrisons yet wasn't entirely sure what to do with it. In the past I have used a french recipe and stuffed the leg with garlic and other herbs and served it with dauphinoise potatoes, although this was delicious I felt it didn't quite compliment the recent tropical climate. A few years back my family and I visited the town of Spanhori on the Greek Ionian Island. The local (and only) restaurant served up simple dishes of barbecued meats and fresh salads. Using this as an inspiration I decided to concoct a marinade of my fond memories of this restaurant..something fresh, zesty and perfect for barbecuing.

Ingredients...

• 4 generous tbsp of olive oil
• The juice of half a lemon
  
• 2 generous tbsp of dried thyme
• 2 generous tbsp of dried oregano
• 6-10 fresh mint leaves
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• a good pinch of rock salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method...

If your going to barbecue the leg of lamb be sure to de-bone it, then *butterfly the meat. Making the marinade couldn't be simpler just put all of the ingredients into a small bowl, mix and rub into the meat. I recommend marinating the leg of lamb at least 2 hours before cooking.I cooked the lamb on a coal barbecue for about 20 minutes each side as I enjoy it slightly rare, but just extend the cooking time if you prefer it medium to well done.

Top Tip...
Rip the mint to release it's wonderful fragrance and help it infuse with the rest of the ingredients


Serving suggestions...
We enjoyed ours with butter bean salad, tomato and onion salad and baba ghanoush (a middle eastern aubergine dip).




*Butterflying meat refers to you cutting the meat almost but not all the way through (opening it up like a book) to increase the surface area so it can cook more evenly.

Kalí óreksi!