Sunday 22 June 2014

Waitrose Cellar launch- a very wine-y evening

Photography by Brighton and London photographer Emma Gutteridge
                                                                                                      (Photography by Emma Gutteridge)

I am ridiculously late in posting this, but as they say, better late than never right?
Well, about a month back I was invited to the launch of the Waitrose Cellar, and the invite said- with a twist. They had me at wine and I rsvp-ed immediately. I then went back and reread the mail and it said the wine tasting would take place on a canal boat in Regents Canal. Now that was really exciting and i waited patiently for the day. Laura, who was part of the PR team did a fab job reminding us of things like not to wear heels if possible, and directions to the place etc.
Photography by Brighton and London photographer Emma Gutteridge
                                                                                                         (Photography by Emma Gutteridge)

The weather Gods seemed to like the idea of the whole wine tasting thing on a canal boat and so blessed us with some fabulous sunshine and warm weather in the middle of May, when it was technically still spring. We got together at the London Canal Museum and after a bit of catching up with fellow food bloggers (of course with some bubbly in hand), our wine experts for the evening Xenia and Stephane, took us through the journey of wines and how the Waitrose Cellar came into being. We were then segregated into two groups and asked to head on over to the two canal barges that were ready for us. Once we all got cosy inside the boats, Xenia, who was our group head, went on to explain the different ways to identify the personality of different wines, while opening bottle after bottle of delicious wines for us to taste.
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The canal ride was really beautiful, and with wine as companion you'd never want it to end. We tasted quite a few wines, but I must say my favourite was the Cae de Lugny Sparkling Burgundy Blan de Blancs NV which just hit the spot the moment i took a sip. Its perfect for those summery afternoon parties and at GBP 13.99 its a steal. I'm a Chardonnay lover, and so it wasn't too difficult to please me with this anyway! I usually go for whites and Rose's over Summer and switch to the dry reds in colder months, and i'm really really getting used to the sparkling wines this year. I am not too familiar with pairing wine and food, but I'm definitely getting the hang of it. 
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Once the canal ride was over, we were all ushered back into the museum to do a round of 'speed wine-ing.' the idea being, we'd by then have learnt a skill or two about wine's in general and a one on one session with a fellow wine enthusiast would help us pick a wine for them based on their character traits and tastes. This was indeed a fun session and we all managed to get whatever we can out of the other in that one minute span. I am yet to go through my entire case of wine that was picked out for me, but from the few opened, I've loved them all, with the Cantena Malbec, picked out for me by Fiona of London Unattached, being my absolute favourite. I am not a sweet wine person, but the Seriously peachy dessert wine from Waitrose, picked out for me by Katja of ifhipscouldlie, was also a pleasant surprise. I recently paired it with a chocolate and coffee panna cotta and it really, really matched well. The bitterness from the dark chocolate nicely complimented the peachy flavours of the wine. 
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Urvashi (Botanical Baker) insisted I try out the Marquesa de la Crus Garnache Rose, and that's the first bottle I opened from my case. It was indeed delicious, not too sweet, and perfect paired with spicy food. We had it with some chicken curry and stir fried vegetables. I keep tweeting and instagramming the wines as and when I open them, so follow me on there to be up to date with my wine saga.

The Waitrose Cellar website gives in-depth information on all wines and they also have how to guides that help you learn a few things; and if that's not enough, the wine experts are available on @waitrosewine to answer all your wine queries and food matches.
Photography by Brighton and London photographer Emma Gutteridge
(Photography by Emma Gutteridge)

With thanks to Waitrose Cellar for inviting me to the event and for the case of wine. All views expressed are my own

Tuesday 17 June 2014

Lime and coconut crinkle cookies

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Its been a while since I posted a cookie recipe on the blog. Well, that's because I rarely make cookies and other than biting into them fresh out of the oven, I kinda don't like them that much. Of course its a different story for Ro, who claims he buys Oreo cookies just because I don't make any at home.

So last week I was heading over to G's place for a fun afternoon dress-up session (more about that later) and I had to take something for her lil boy who is so so adorable. I was on a tight schedule and had to figure something that could be easily made, with available ingredients and of course tastes good. I scouted around my bookmarked recipes and found this recipe, and I strangely had a couple of limes lying around in the fridge.
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I've developed this new found love for lime (well, I always liked it in a margarita), mostly after tasting the awesome lime filling my boss makes for the macarons. It's perhaps one of my fav fillings, closely followed by passion fruit. I was a bit sceptical about whether kids would like lime and coconut as a flavour, as its somehow very adult-y, but then I had to give it a shot to see if it was worth it. I for one, loved it. G told me she and her nanny loved it, but I didn't get around to asking if lil S liked it. I served the leftover few to my niece and nephew the next day and they loved it, so I'm thinking even kids may actually have a thing for that flavour.

To be honest its very lime-y and coconutty. If you don't like these two flavours that much, then don't even bother scrolling down. If you like the lime flavour, but the coconut not so much, then do as the original recipe calls for where you roll the dough in granulated sugar and not coconut. The 15gms of coconut in the cookie doesn't really bring out too much of its flavour. I wanted it to be coconutty and hence rolled it it coconut.

Recipe adapted from here (makes around 36 to 38 cookies)
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Unsalted butter- 80 gms, at room temperature
Caster sugar- 100 gms
Egg- 1, small
Lime zest- from 1 lime
Lime juice- 2 tbsp
Dessicated coconut- 15 gms + enough to roll the cookies
Plain flour- 220 gms
Baking powder- 2 tsp
Icing sugar- to roll the cookies (around 2 tbsp)

Cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl, till light and fluffy. I used a silicone spatula for this as my butter was of a nice easy-to-handle consistency. Use the paddle attachment of your stand mixer to make the creaming easier.
Into the mix add the egg, lime zest and juice and dessicated coconut.
Mix till you get a smooth mix. I switched to a wooden spoon to make this job easier. You can use the same spatula, or even a whisk if that's easier for you.
Sieve together the plain flour and baking powder and add it to the butter mix, bit by bit, mixing after each addition. Use a fork to do the mixing.
One the mixture has come together, cover with a cling film and refrigerate for about 1/2 an hour.
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When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
Into a large plate add the icing sugar on one side and the dessicated coconut on the other. 
Keep a cup with water ready by the side because you'd need to keep wetting your hands to roll the dough.
Make small balls with the dough, first roll it in the dessicated coconut, followed by a generous roll in the icing sugar and place on the baking tray about an inch apart.
Continue till you finish the entire dough.
Bake for about 10 minutes and 12 if its a bit on the bigger side but not longer.
Cool on wire racks and enjoy them immediately or store in air tight containers and use up in 2 to 3 days (if you can stay away from it that long) :)
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Notes: The mix curdled quite a bit when i started mixing and of course I panicked but once you add the flour, it becomes alright
The original recipe used granulated sugar for the first coat, but i thought coconut was a better option. Feel free to replace it with granulated sugar.
The cookies are really lime-y, so reduce it to 1 tbsp if you don't want it too strong.

Tuesday 10 June 2014

Sponsored video: Glorious Nothing Days by Anchor

This is such an apt topic for me to talk about, because I am a big fan of 'glorious nothing days.' Much to the extent that I wonder if I should be celebrating the 'doing something days' rather than the other way round. Any-ways, the point is that, everyone, even my energised, enthusiastic, husband has days when he wants to do nothing.

For me, a day like that would start off with waking up late, then a leisurely breakfast of coffee and pastry from the next door bakery and then sitting down with my laptop to catch up on stuff. Lunch would either be at the pub in the village or a late one with friends in a restaurant we've been dying to check out. The sun would be out, the shorts would be worn and there would be loads of cocktails and beers doing the rounds. We'd finish off with dessert and if we are not too tired, catch a movie or head back home and retire on the couch with some green tea and conversation. A day spent just the way you like.

Anchor's campaign 'Glorious Nothing Days' tells you to do just that. Sunny days spent at the park reading a book, or baking that cake you'd bookmarked aeon's ago, or deciding to suddenly go on a long drive or just staying at home in your pj's. Whatever be your scene, if you manage to take a snapshot of your perfect day by selecting four images to set the scene then you'll be in with a chance of winning a set of exclusive personalised Anchor aprons.

Head on over to the Anchor website for full details and also watch this cute video of 3 families enjoying their perfect day.

This is a sponsored video for Anchor

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Cooking with Lactofree- Broccoli & Cauliflower cheese bake

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Around 2 weeks back I was invited to an exclusive Lactofree masterclass with Michelin starred chef, Tom Aikens. I had a crazy night the day before and waking up for a breakfast masterclass was a bit of a feat, and for a second (just a second) I wished I didn't have to go, but just snuggle in bed. I'm glad that thought didn't last long because I really did have a fab time. I reached just before the session started and so missed out on the lavish breakfast spread a la Lactofree. So with a cup of coffee in hand i joined the crew in the kitchen. Tom Aikens is quite a charming and patient chef. He talked about using Lactofree products in cooking and baking and how you get the delicious taste of real dairy, but without the lactose and since its made from cow's milk, you still get all its nutritional benefits too.

First up was Lacto(se)free raspberry, poppy seed and white chocolate muffins which Tom prepared right in front of us, and we even got to take home a few for tea. He then took us through a cooking demo of mushroom ragout on toast which we were then asked to recreate at our cooking stations. We went about creating our brunch dish with much enthusiasm and devoured into it with all the other bloggers. It was also the first time i cooked with and tasted sorrel leaves and chervil and it did make a whole lot of difference to the final dish. I'm sure i can use spinach and some other herb instead.
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From the Lactofree samples in the goody bag, I ended up making a broc and cauliflower cheese bake and a chocolate-coffee panna cotta. My husband is lactose intolerant (self proclaimed) and he was happy he could have his coffee and tea with milk for a few days :)

Recipe adapted from here (serves 4 to 5)
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Broccoli- cauliflower cheese bake
Broccoli florets- 3 cups
Cauliflower florets- 3 cups
Butter- 2 tbsp (I used Lactofree spreadable butter)
Plain flour- 1/4 cup
Spicy brown mustard- 1/2 tsp (optional)
Ground nutmeg- a generous pinch
Paprika- 1/2 tsp
Pepper- to taste
Salt- to taste
Milk- 2 cups (I used Lactofree semi-skimmed milk)
Cheese- 1 cup (I used Lactofree cheese) + enough to sprinkle on top
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Boil the broccoli and cauliflower in enough water for about 3 to 5 minutes. Make sure you dont cook it completely. It should still be crispy.
Drain in a colander and transfer to a large baking dish (9x 13 inch is what i used)
In a saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour to make a roux and add in the mustard, nutmeg, paprika, pepper and salt and continue to whisk till smooth.
Gradually add the milk and bring to a boil, while continuously whisking and making sure it doesnt stick to the bottom of the pan.
Once the milk mix had thickened a bit, stir in the cheese until it has melted.
Pour the mix over the vegetables and bake in an oven preheated at 200C for about 30 minutes.
Take the baking dish out of the oven, change the setting to broiler/grill, sprinkle some cheese on top and place under the broiler for another 7 to 8  minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Serve with garlic bread
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Here is the panna cotta recipe i used. I used Lactofree cream and milk for this recipe.

Notes: I have tried this with a Mexican cheese blend and it was fabulous
Of course, you can add other vegetables like carrots, spinach, leek etc.
The paprika gives it a punch, but feel free to omit if you dont want it spicy.

With thanks to Lactofree for inviting me to the event and for the samples, and Tom Aikens for the fabulous masterclass.