Photo Gallery! My Dishes!

Simple Birthday Cake!

 I wanted to make my mum a birthday cake for her birthday, I think this is a very easy recipe to follow  i really enjoyed making it and the end result is pictured below. Here is my Recipe and How I made it!

 

You Will Need:

8 oz  Self Raising Flour,

8oz Butter Cut into cubes

8oz Caster Sugar

4 medium eggs

1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

 

Method:

Cream together the Butter and Sugar  till light and fluffy, add in the vanilla extract Gradually add the flour and last but not least add the eggs. split into two  9 inch cake tins and  bake at 180C for approximately 15mins or until they look risen and if you  put a skewer into the middle it should come out clean. Turn out onto a baking tray and leave to cool

Then you Will Need:

Jam, Pre rolled icing and a ribbon if desired

cover one half of the cake in jam and sandwich the other on top you may also add some butter cream (icing sugar vanilla essence and butter) then sandwich the two cakes together.  Roll out enough icing  to cover the cake and transfer it onto the cake make sure theres no holes.

You may make some royal icing to pipe  a message onto the cake or some trims like i did. for that just add 2 egg whites with enough icing sugar to form a stiff  pipeable paste

Voila a nice easy birthday cake in less than an hour 😛

THE PITTENWEEM INN

http://pittenweeminn.co.uk

42 CharlesStreet

Pittenweem
Fife
KY10 2QJ

Tel: 01333 311326

 pittenweeminn@yahoo.co.uk

Lunch on Sunday29th Aril2013

Went to the Pittenweem inn for lunch. It is situated in the pretty coastal village Pittenweem not far from Anstruther or Crail even St Andrews is not far away I

must say I was very impressed with both the restaurant and the Staff it is owned by Brian who is a Great chef mad as a box of frogs  and Odette. Who have had the Restaurant for about 3 years.  It is very nicely decorated with nice comfortable surroundings and very pleasant indeed.

We were seated promptly given some menus and we had the special set lunch menu which was very reasonably priced.

1 course £6.95 2 courses £8.95 3 courses £10.95

I had the Fruit platter as a starter it tasted absolutely divine with a kiwi sorbet presentation was also very good.

My friend with whom i was dining with had the St Monans Smoked Mackerel and Horseradish Pate he really enjoyed it

For my main meal i opted for the Bacon Steak with Fresh Caramelised Pineapple and my friend ordered the Salmon and Dill Fishcakes
Fresh vegetables and lemon butter sauce.

I thought this was very well presented and he ensured me  that it tasted absolutely delicious. It certainly looked very well executed.

Then it was time for dessert  and i had the most beautiful meringue with fresh raspberries and  a lovely sorbet and my friend had  a strawberry Shortbread sundae.

One thing i will say about this place is the food is delicious and all the bread is freshly made on the premises and all of their ingredients are sourced locally as far as physically possible. I think this place is well worth a visit if you’re in the area but be warned it can be a very busy little place so maybe worth calling in advance to book so you are not disappointed.

When i am next in the area i will be back thank you for your Hospitality.

Their opening times are as follows
Thursday & Friday – Lunch 12 noon to 1.45pm – Evening Meals 6pm to 8.30pm

Saturday – Lunch 12 noon to 1.45pm – High Teas 4pm to 6pm

Evening Meals 6pm to 8.30pm
Sunday – Lunch 12 noon to 1.45pm – High Teas 4pm to 6pm

Booking Essential for High Tea

The Restaurant can be booked out with these times for private parties

FISHER’S IN THE CITY!!!

http://www.fishersbistros.co.uk/fishers-in-the-city.php 

58 Thistle Street

Edinburgh EH2 1EN

Tel: 0131 225 5109

I went to fisher’s in the city to work for a day in the kitchen. When I arrived I was shown by the Sous chef what I was required to do.  I really enjoyed working in the kitchen here and it was valuable experience on my food journey. Basically I did as I was told doing jobs like chopping and preparing vegetables, chopping herbs making a béchamel sauce cooking fish taking skin off monkfish .If it’s cooked with the skin on it shrivels up and doesn’t look or taste very nice! I don’t have a lot of experience in a professional kitchen and I am only learning but in time I think I could be a great chef.   I am very interested to go and learn in other kitchens for a day here and a day there. Everybody was perfectly pleasant and although I don’t personally eat fish it is a wonderful place.

This restaurant is situated in Thistle Street, tucked away just off George Street in Edinburgh.  From the outside it looks like a normal restaurant, open the door to receive a warm welcome in nice relaxed settings. Everything was dark wood, very well presented and the service was truly exquisite.

I would recommend a visit to this place its well worth a visit if you happen to find yourself in Edinburgh. They also have an extensive wine list and an a la carte menu to choose from.

Olive Bread with Sage and Oregano

I made this wonderful bread today at college here is the recipe I hope you enjoy making it and eating it it tasted wonderful so much flavour!

 

 

 

You Will need:

12g of Fresh yeast or 4g or Dried Yeast

310ml of milk

825g Strong Bread Flour

5g Sugar

80ml Olive oil

5g Salt

250ml Tepid Water

100g  De-Stoned Black Olives

1tbsp Chopped Fresh Oregano

1tbsp Chopped Fresh Sage

Temperature 200C, Gas mark 6 for 40-45 minutes

Method:

1. Warm the milk to 37C or body Temperature and remove from heat, add yeast and sugar until dissolved, whisk 300g of flour into the mixture and allow to prove for 30 minutes.

2.When mixture has doubled in size add oil, remaining flour,herbs and salt mix well and knead until it turns into a smooth elastic dough.

3. Place the dough in a greased mixing bowl and cover for 30 mins or until mixture has doubled in size. in the meantime chop Oregano, Sage and the olives.

4.Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, knock back, add remaining ingredients including the  olives. Cut the mixture into two and roll dough out into an oval shape, fold in half and place ontoa greased baking tray,allow to double in size.

5. Dust with sifted flour and bake for 40-45 minutes, allow to rest on a wire rack before serving.

Chocolate Truffles a recipe by Mark greenaway!

Made some Chocolate Truffles with the Children last night http://eatscotland.visitscotland.com/content/3744191/mark-greenaway-truffles its a Mark Greenaway  recipe.  Here is the recipe i used the kids they had a lot of fun with these and  they would make fabulous christmas pressies wrapped up in small bags.  please do try this recipe with your kids if you have time and they look and taste amazing!! very moreish

Rosemary, Red Onion, Garlic and Sea Salt Foccacia Bread

Ingredients

15g of Fresh Yeast or 7g of Dried Yeast

300ml of Warm Water

2tbsp of Olive Oil

Half a Red Onion

1 Clove of Garlic

Course Sea salt

2 Sprigs of Rosemary

Method:

Sieve Flour onto Surface to make a bay

Mix the yeast and water to add to bay and add the olive oil and mix all together.

knead for 5-10 mins and leave to prove in a warm place for an hour

Chop Onion and Garlic Finely

Then Knock back and divide into 3 Shapes each piece into an oval and then with knuckles press into the dough. Sprinkle with olive oil Red onion Rosemary and Garlic.

leave to rise again and bake in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes

Remove from oven and sprinkle with a little extra olive oil and enjoy

This is really simple and fun to make.

Complaints And not Happy!!!!

a newspaper published an article on Thursday stating that ” i was now writing food columns for them”  so i contacted an event which i attended in good faith on December 1st.  I tweeted both the paper and the event about obtaining a press pass and  the event added me to the press list. i didnt think there was a problem as said paper tweeted me saying thanks Rona. On  Monday (3rd December) at teatime i had a phone call from said paper who had said that i didn’t  work for the paper and i was in no way associated with said paper. i said  i had a column in said paper and  behaved appropriately. the events organiser was most unhappy by how i conducted myself apparently all i did was speak to people and ask opinions, However i did criticise one celebrity  chef who failed to wash her hands after blowing her nose and still served the food to members of the public.  But i think this is important for people to hear!  if people like her dont wash her hands  then what hope do any of us have. this chef has won awards. Now i will apologize if i got my wires crossed but i genuinely thought  after the paper saying i was writing for them that  i was writing for them as a freelance food and drinks journalist.  or certainly that my column would be going live.  This was my one big chance to prove myself and ive somehow managed to complicate things before i have even started. However i wont give up on my dreams i have the statistics for my blog  and in the last month have hit 1000 hits so i think i am getting through to people. but as i said i don’t think ive done anything wrong and  will continue to blog here. please please let me know your thoughts on this and where i go from here?

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ

Foodies Festival Edinburgh EICC 1st December 2012

Went to the Foodies Festival , I must say what a terrific day out it was and how impressed I was with some of the fresh local produce thats available  right on our doorstep.  One Company that really stood out for me was a company called Trotters  Independant  Condiments. they are a company based in  Upper Largo Fife and regularly  attend the various farmers markets throughout the kingdom of fife! the product that really had me interested was the Hot Pepper Jelly,  you can use it in  all sorts of things and you will even find a recipe for  Hot Pepper Chocolate Cake Here http://trottersindependent.co.uk/Condiments/Recipe_ideas/Entries/2010/3/17_Hot_Pepper_Chocolate_Cake.html  interesting and its on my to do list.

 

Another thing which i really loved doing was the  Christmas Wine Tasting with the lovely Charles Metcalfe, I had a chat with this man after the wine tasting and he has written two books and is a very experienced wine critic. I really learnt a lot at this class.

We tried a Jim barry Lodge Hill Riesling 2011,Clare Valley, South Australian wine first  it was paired with some Thai prawns, Second wine was a De Bertoli wines Windy peak Chardonnay 2010, from Victoria and it was paired with some smoked salmon.

the 3rd wine was Stella Bella Cabernet Merlot 2008 , Margaret River, Western Australia and was paired with somesmoked ham.

the 4th wine i personally did not enjoy it was Yalumba the scribbler 2009 Barossa Valley, South Australian wine and  itwas paired with Turkey

the 5th wine was Peter Lehman Botrytis semillon 2009 Barossa valley south australia and was paired with a strawberry pavlova

and last but not least the last wine was Tempus two moscato 2011 Riverland, South australia it was simply divine the way the bubbles popped as you drank it. and it was paired with some christmas pudding! i never knew there was so much to learn about wines and i truly enjoyed it. his website is http://www.charlesmetcalfe.com

The highlight of my Day was Watching Mark Greenaway cook. i will add  his recipe at a later date we also saw Carina Contini But i wasnt impressed with her she made a Pumpkin Risotto and she blew her nose with a tissue and didn’t  wash her hands  then started to cook food which the public then ate. I asked her about this and she said there wasnt  hand washing facilities but  Mark Greenaway demonstrated in the Same room earlier that day and managed to clean his chocolate covered hands.

makes  you wonder sometimes.

That is enough for today i shall write some more tomorrow maybe

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts Easy and Yummy!!!

Made Doughnuts  rolled in cinnamon Sugar at college today Really enjoyed making these

Here is the Recipe :

40 grams of Sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

30 grams of white Fat (lard)

1/2 an egg

20 grams of fresh yeast  ( or 7 grams of dried yeast)

150mlof water

Method :

Sieve the flour and milk powder together with the salt and rub in the White Fat. add the sugar and yeast to the 150ml of lukewarm water and also add your 1/2 egg into this add into the rubbed in mixture. knead dough well!

leave to prove for half an hour. After half an hour roll into  shapes or balls and  leave to prove again in a warm place. deep fry for 3 minutes each side or until a golden brown in colour. roll in cinnamon sugar (a mix of cinnamon and sugar) and or put a hole in them and fill with jam 😛 yummy

Very easy and fun to make the picture is of ones I made this morning  i hope you enjoy making them as much as I did