Mallorca Part 1

It's finally time for a summer holiday! It is definitely long overdue, so I am in Mallorca for just over 2 weeks. I have a week with a couple of girl friends, and then 10 days with my boyfriend, before the holiday ends with a friends' wedding.

So here's a quick update of some of the dishes I've been tucking into since we've been here.

One of my favourite places to eat is in Palma, and called Duke. It is run by 2 brothers, and they have travelled the world and chosen their favourite dishes from all their travels to serve up on the menu.

Let's take a look...

Above is the Greek sharing platter with feta cheese, humus, olives, tzatziki, flatbread and spiced lamb kofta. Nothing short of absolutely epic; inspired by their travels to Greece, perfected by their Greek chef.

Above is the teryaki salmon with a sesame crust, vegetables and rice. This was Issy's favourite, and a great Asian-inspired dish.

Staying along the Asian theme, there is the crispy shredded duck and mango salad. It has a delicious peanut dressing, and the mango on the top balances out the chilli within the dish.

A twist on Californian fajitas is next. Instead of chicken, the meat was prawn and squid in a BBQ sauce. With that came a sweet corn and grain mix, fresh tomato, mango and avocado, and of course the wraps to bundle it all up in. A really interesting alternative to the classic.

We have been having a huge range of foods, from traditional Spanish tapas to epic 3-man pizzas, to beautiful crab, lobster and mango salads from Nikki Beach. I'm getting some great inspiration, and there is so much more to come that I am excited about!

For now... Cheers!

Epic Guacamole

This is a recipe of mine which I have used over and over again, and which never fails to impress. My friend Katie came over last week, and I decided we should cook a fajita feast.

Marinated chicken, onions and pepper, with half fat creme fraiche (a healthier alternative to sour cream), tomato salsa, grated cheese and guacamole.

So for the epic guacamole, here's what you'll need to serve 4...

 3 large avocados

 4 tomatoes
1 lemon
1 red or green chilli
2/3 cloves of garlic (I love garlic so use 3, but just use 2 if you aren't a fiend for it like me)
1 tsp ground cumin
Small bunch of chopped coriander (optional)

. Chop the chilli very finely, and put into a bowl with crushed garlic and the cumin. This is your base so mix it together well to make sure the guacamole will have an even flavour

. Chop the tomatoes into small pieces and add them to the bowl

. Take a knife and slice around the avocado, and break it open as shown above. I find the easiest thing to do is get a teaspoon and scoop the flesh out with that
. Place it in the bowl with the base mix and tomato, and squeeze the juice of a lemon over it

. Season liberally with salt and pepper

. Take a knife and fork and chop the mixture together. It should mix through evenly. I like it chunky so I don't chop too much, but if you like it smoother you could use a food processor here
. Mix through some of the chopped coriander, holding some back to garnish it with (I forgot coriander so it isn't in the photos here!)

. Put into a bowl and serve! 

Guacamole isn't just for with fajitas. I made an amazing steak sandwich with it (below), but also serve it with a variety of chicken, steak and even tuna steak dishes.

A Trio of Desserts; Cheesecake, Eton Mess and Brownies

Last weekend I headed home to Cheshire to catch up with my family and friends. We were pretty lucky to get a weekend with amazing weather, because usually in the North of England the weather can be questionable to say the least!

On the Friday night we had a group of family friends over for dinner, so I was tasked with creating the desserts. After much deliberation, I decided to make canapé-style desserts.

We started out sat in the courtyard, drinking rose and eating the most delicious nibbles, courtesy of Tom, chef from Licky Chop, Climpsons Arch. See my post about that here. 

We had crisp bread topped with broad bean, pea and lavender, or black olive and mint. They were absolutely delicious and went down a treat with a glass of rose or prosecco.

Our little dog Pepper, enjoying the sunshine.

Then it was time to head inside to begin our epic Moroccan feast. My mum had bought a gigantic shoulder of lamb, so while we prepared the table, they began the shredding.

The table was full of amazing food, including fresh salad home-grown by my mum, a sweet orange and carrot salad, pomegranate salsa and a green apple and herb chutney. After an epic fill, I was becoming evermore confident that my canapés were a great idea, so people could have as much or as little as they wanted. 

First up was my baked lemon New York Cheesecake. I had topped it with my granny's home made lemon curd and it was pretty amazing.

For these you will need:

250g ginger snap biscuits

100g melted butter

250g ricotta cheese

250g cream cheese

200g soured cream

3 large eggs

250g caster sugar

1 tablespoon cornflour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 lemon, finely grated rind and juice

150ml double cream

Lemon curd to decorate

. Heat the oven to 160C. Grease a 20cm by 30cm tin and line the bottom with greaseproof paper.

. Put the ginger snap biscuits in a food processor and blend until they resemble fine breadcrumbs. Add in the melted butter and blend once more. Tip it into the baking tray and press down with the back of a spoon until it covers the bottom of the tin.

. Blend together the ricotta, cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, caster sugar, cornflour, vanilla extract and the rind and juice of the lemon until well-mixed.

. Pour over the biscuit mixture. Bake for 40 minutes until slightly set all over. Allow to cool to room temperature

. Whisk the cream and cover the top of the cheesecake with a thin layer. Leave this in the fridge to chill overnight.

. To serve, take the cheesecake out of the fridge and cut into small squares. Arrange on a plate, then top each with a small blob of lemon curd. Alternatively, you could top each with a raspberry.

Next onto the mini Eton Mess. I sort of made this one up a bit, but followed a basic meringue recipe.

You will need; 

4 large egg whites

115g caster sugar

115g icing sugar

A few drops of red food colouring

1 pot double cream

Strawberries

. Put the oven to 100C, and line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper/baking parchment

. Beat together the egg yolks with an electric hand whisk until they resemble soft peaks. They should stand up a bit when you take the whisk out of the mixture

. Turn the speed to the highest and add the caster sugar a tablespoon at a time. Don't over-beat, just stop when the mixture is thick and glossy.

. Sift a third of the icing sugar in, and fold it in. Do this with the second third, and then the third. The mixture should be smooth and billowy. 

. Put the mix into a piping bag, and pipe with the round nozzle, starting in the middle and swirling outwards so you have a flat disc.

. Bake for 1 - 1 and a half hours (check them after an hour to see if they are crisp on the outside) and then leave to cool.

. Whisk the cream, and top them with half a strawberry each.

Finally, the brownies. This is a recipe which has been used time and time again by my family, and work for almost any occasion. Leaving them ever so slightly undercooked means they will be gooey and sticky in the middle. 

This time, the brownies were made by my sister, Meri.

You will need; 

275g sot margarine

375g caster sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

75g cocoa powder

100g plain flour

100g chocolate chips

60g crushed hazelnuts

. Line a small roasting tin with foil and grease well

. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and blend. If you are going to use a hand whisk, put the chocolate chips in at the last minute and blend by hand.

. Bake at 180C for 20 minutes, then turn the oven to 100C for 30-40 minutes. This will help the brownies form a nice crust on the outside and stay nice and gooey in the middle.
. To serve, cut into squares. They are pretty rich so small squares go a long way!

I then placed the three platters of canapes on the table, and let people help themselves. They went down amazingly well and I got great feedback which is always a bonus!

Enjoy! x

Truck Stop, Canary Wharf

A friend came to stay a few weeks ago and while she was here she told me she had been to Truck Stop in Canary Wharf and absolutely loved it. I have been on quite a run of the street food festivals so thought I had better make the most of the sunshine so booked a few tickets for it.

I took my mum and my best friend Elena there on Thursday when the weather was amazing which was lucky. It was a really interesting place to hold that event, because it was almost ironic to have a gorgeous food festival with parasols, benches on the grass and a buzzing atmosphere in amongst the gigantic skyscrapers that make up the Canary Wharf skyline.

First thing was first, wine o’clock. The queue for the bar was pretty long, but we were given £10 each in Truck Stop Dollars on our way in as we had pre-booked our tickets so we grabbed a bottle of rose and headed out onto the grass to relax for a bit. The bar menu was simplistic but provided something for everyone, and I loved how they listed ‘Nice red’ at £5, and ‘Nicer red’ at £6.50.

We had made a deal that we would get different dishes, so making a decision wasn’t as tricky as it might be if you were only having one thing. Yum Bun is one I have wanted to try out and is the favourite of one of my foodie friends so that one had to go on the list. Then we chose Healthy Yummies for scallops, Spit and Roast for spicy chicken, and Rainbo for gyozas.

Surrounded by a buzzing atmosphere, stunning views and good company we had an awesome evening. My favourite stall even just to watch was Healthy Yummies as they made their batches of scallops and dished them out in scallop shells to the eagerly awaiting masses.

I didn’t manage to get any pictures of Yum Bun being made as Elena was the one who was on duty to retrieve those but I loved the truck they brought. We had one with chicken and chilli, and another with pulled pork and hoi sin sauce.

Rainbo was also delicious. We ended up ordering loads from there, as the tofu and shitake mushroom gyozas were rather addictive, and the chicken and coriander were pretty mind blowing too. We did laugh when I returned from the bar to hear my mum telling me how disgusting she thought the green beans were which she got in her salad box from Rainbo. After falling about laughing, Elena and I explained to her that they are edamame, so you just push the beans out, not eat the whole thing!

Spit and Roast would definitely have been my boyfriend’s favourite had he been there. The chicken was seasoned and tasted sensational, especially with the super-hot chilli sauce which came with it. Luckily I have been trained pretty well by him to deal with spicy food, but unfortunately the same couldn’t be said for my two weak-palletted companions!

Truck Stop is on every month for 2 nights in Canary Wharf. If you buy tickets in advance, you get the value of your ticket back in Truck Stop Dollars, so it is definitely worth doing. We were lucky the weather was amazing, and it was a great atmosphere. We all had a great evening and am so pleased I got to experience yet more of my favourite pop ups and street food!

The next Truck Stop will be in September. They are thinking about changing the venue, so will keep you posted to let you know how to get tickets next time.

Enjoy!