Hangover Tart

Will a pounding head and an unquenchable thirst I dragged my intoxicated body out of bed to try and help my insides recover. My mother always told me that as alcohol paralyzes the stomach you need something hearty to get it moving again. So, peering into my fridge I managed to locate half a block of puff pastry, a few sad looking tomatoes and some goats cheese - voila, a tart for kings! (or hungover queens...)




Serves 4 for lunch

4 ripe plum tomatoes
100g soft or solid goats’ cheese (just break up solid into pieces)
good sprinkle of chopped fresh thyme (or dried)
1/2 pack of ready-rolled puff pastry
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly milled black pepper

First pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5, 375°F (190°C), well done you're halfway there!
Next roll out the pastry onto a floured surface until you get a rectangle which can be cut into 4 decent tart slices. Cut into 4 and place on oiled foil on a baking sheet & score a border inside each like a picture frame so the outside can puff up. Spread or sprinkle on the goats cheese and sprinkle thyme and garlic. Lay slices of tomato on top (not too thick or you'll get raw watery tomato) and drizzle some olive oil and salt and pepper.

Put in the oven until puff sides are golden and tomato looks roasted.
Collapse in front of trashy E4 safe in the knowledge your insides are on the way to recovery!

Spring Is Here!

Spring is here finally! After a horrendous, long winter of extreme snow and -12 degrees usually found only in Scotland not Salford I am sighing a huge sigh of relief that spring has finally sprung. My mini daffodils came out so fast I am considering setting up a time-lapse camera on my desk tomorrow to show you!

I'm currently preparing a new article on 'Urban Gardening' as well as posting all my latest finding in the recipe binder and design findings. Oh and this amazing new butchers in Flixton that delivers free - amazing!

Phillip and I made the most amazing ketchup on Saturday, it was spiced like a Bloody Mary cocktail - joy! We're looking into going into business with our ketchups, chutneys and jams, they're pretty great - will keep you posted, free samples for all readers!

Must crack on with the drinking of the beer and eating of bangers and mash...

First Photos

Plant Pot-Holes

Just found this fabulous design student Pete Dungey's work, highlighting the huge amount of potholes in our roads (there are so so many!) by planting up the holes with floral arrangments. He claims: 'If we planted one of those in every hole, it would be like a forest in the road'. Give it a go on your own street and send the photos to him here.

I know I'm giving this a go this week! (if the snow stays away that is...)

Gummi Light Chandelier by Jellio

Oh what could be more amazing than a chandelier made with Gummi Bears! Ok, they're not real gummi bears but made from acrylic, but they still look amazing. From the brilliant food inspired designers at jellio.com.

Want one now!

Let It Snow!

Happy New Year all! I admit I have been rather lax of late at the old blogs but never fear a new year, a list of resolutions and thousands of new ideas!

Meanwhile I thought I'd share a picture of my patio today as I'm snowed in in Salford with only tea and bran flakes for company. Egbert managed to walk to the city centre this morning and work for the office branch there as he feared he may be stuck in Sheffield. I'll just crank up the thermostat and arrange my new recipes while he works away, maybe the snow will last til tomorrow....

I Want To Be An Airplane Hostess

Hula Seventy's brilliant blog has this great image that really made me want to be an airplane hostess, oh the glamour of the 60's! Maybe it's not too late to change me career...

Stilton Fondue with Walnut Bread and Pears

Stilton Fondue with Walnut bread and Pears

300g Stilton, derinded and cubed
200g Mascarpone cheese
4 tbsp vodka


Walnut Bread
400g strong wholemeal flour
250g strong white flour
120g walnut pieces, chopped
2 tbsp light Muscovado sugar
1tsp salt
7g sachet yeast
3 tbsp walnut oil
450ml warm water

For the Bread:

Put the wholemeal and white flour into a large bowl, add the walnut pieces, muscovado sugar and salt. Sprinkle over the yeast, then pour in the oil and warm water. Mix together until the mixture combines to a rough ball.
Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 mins until smooth and elastic. Shape into an oval and put on to a greased baking tray (You can score to top with diagonal lines). Cover loosely with greased cling film and eave in a warm place for about 40 mins until doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Remove cling film from bread and bake the bread for 35 mins until golden and the base sounds hollow when tapped.

For the Fondue:

Put the Stilton and Mascarpone in a small saucepan over a very low heat and warm through for 5 minutes, stirring, until melted. Stir in the vodka and remove from the heat. Chop the pears and the bread into bitesize chunks when ready to serve. Warm through some small ramekins or a fondue pan and pour in the Stilton mixture. Serve with fondue forks along with the bread and pears to dip in.

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Butter

So as promised I'm kicking off my Instant Restaurant recipes with one of my starters, Butternut Squash Ravioli served with a Sage Butter - tasty seasonal and light!

Handmade Butternut Squash and Goat's Cheese Ravioli with Sage Butter
Makes 24

Sage Butter:
75g butter
12 sage leaves (from the garden)

Pasta
550g ‘oo’ flour
4 fresh eggs (for 2 duck eggs)
salt

Filling
1 butternut squash
I medium onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove
100g strong goat's cheese
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp sage, chopped
120g parmesan, grated, plus extra to serve
Salt and black pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 190C, cut squash in half and remove the seeds from the butternut squash and brush all over with olive oil and place cut side down on a baking tray. Bake in the oven for about 35-40 minutes, until very soft. Meanwhile sautee the onions without browning. Scoop out the butternut squash flesh into a bowl, add the parmesan and some olive oil. Mix well, using the back of a fork to squash the butternut squash into a thick puree. Season to taste and set aside to cool.

Make pasta by hand into long sheets (by mixing flour, eggs and salt until into elastic dough then run through pasta maker until setting 1 thin.). Cut out circles and fill with squash mixture and crumble in the goat's cheese.

Blanch for 30 seconds ready to cook to serve. When ready to serve cook for 2 minutes in boiling salted water until cooked.

For the sage butter, heat butter until frothy, add in sage leaves until crispy, pour over ravioli to serve.

Instant Restaurant

So, big news people, I was lucky enough to be filmed for BBC2's new show Instant Restaurant last Friday! I had to create a pop-up restaurant for one night in my tiny terraced house and be followed by not one but two cameras, following the spills and thrills of trying to create a professional restaurant with my one oven and tiny hob. The good news is I did it, and it was a success!

After some hairy moments involving making ravioli in the living room two minutes before serving as all the pre-prepared pasta had stuck to the plate! As well as having a mini-breakdown five minutes before the guest arrived as I was still cooking on the dining table and had no flower arrangements. But as if by magic as they walked in, an air of calm came across us and we had the best fun!

Be sure to catch me on BBC2 in January! And check out all my recipes from the show over the next few posts!

The Knitted Lamp

Every now and then I come across a piece of design that immediately makes me jump straight to my studio and start recreating. The knitted lamp by French designer Phillipe Tyberghein is a beautiful idea rejecting the modern textures of sleek cables and covering them in a lovely knit.

Nobody likes cables, and as a designer I am constantly surrounded by a nest of ugly shades of white and black shiny wires - when all I needed was to knit them a cover. I'm currently figuring out how to knit such a tiny long sock to neatly cover my laptop cable - I think it may take me some time! In the meantime I may order the Phillipe Tyberghein lamp instead.

Transparent Toaster

I have to say the bain of my morning is burning toast, and at the moment my toaster is set to an unchangeable burn on one side uncooked on the other - not the best start to my day. So imagine my delight when faced with this beautiful new invention of the transparent toaster bu Inventables.

Not yet for sale, the prototype claims to cook your toast using heat conducted through the glass sides allowing not only perfectly done toast, but a beautiful contraption for your kitchen which is nearly invisible! As soon as they hit the shelves I will be having one!