Uncategorized

Name: Ren's Goji Beetroot Blast
Yield: 1 smoothie

March 3, 2017

Super Smoothie: The Goji Beetroot Blast

Recently, I was invited along to the Waitrose Test Kitchen to create my ultimate super smoothie recipe for the John Lewis website. Images courtesy of Charlie Richards. Smoothie styling by Cynthia Blackett. Recipe by Ren for John Lewis.

Find out how I got on…

Move over clean eating, the new kid on the block is wellbeing. This is good news, because it means we can move away from ruling things out, and instead, focus on the good stuff that we can put in to keep ourselves nourished, well and happy.

I was very excited to be invited along to the Waitrose Test Kitchen by the John Lewis team – cue shelves packed with colour-coded cookbooks, and a workspace filled to the brim with fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and a selection of alternative milks plus an array of mixers and blenders for us to try out.

We also got to listen into a fascinating question and answer session with ‘Get the Glow’ girl Madeleine Shaw who was keen to put across that wellbeing is about making food your friend, not your foe. Smoothies can be a great vehicle for adding in more good stuff, rather than stripping anything out. Nature’s larder offers us an abundance of ingredients to chose from and as long as you follow a few basic rules you’ll be good to glow!

Smoothie Making Tips

Add a small amount of liquid to your chosen blender first to help everything blend well and add more at the end to get the consistency you require.
Fruit smoothies can be sweetened with fresh or frozen berries and a squeeze of honey – keep small bags of pre-prepared fruit and veg in the freezer ready to whiz up into instantly in a high-powered blender.
Creamy smoothies, such as smoothies blended with banana, go well with dates, honey and almond, coconut or oat milk.
One of my favourite smoothie secret ingredients is half an avocado, peeled and stoned which lends extra silkiness plus a boost of good fats. You’ll never know it’s in there.
Sprinkle in nuts, seeds and powders, such as spiriluna or stir in a little nut butter for an extra protein boost. If adding chia seeds, flax or spirulina – do so carefully and sparingly. A little goes a long way.
Experiment with adding organic, natural yoghurt or kefir for better digestion and gut health.
Add a variety of fruits/vegetables or greens and try and vary the textures. Dried fruit, such as goji berries, work too and add a great boost.
A cube or two of ice can help to keep your smoothie fresh and cool.
Experiment with nutritional extras such as a little bit of grated fresh ginger, mint, spinach, unsweetened cocoa powder, a pinch of cinnamon or ground turmeric powder – depending on your base ingredients. Check out our varied super charged smoothies here for more ideas.

So, our challenge was to get creative and to blend our own recipe inspired by the freshness in front of us – our signature smoothie perhaps – which was then be beautifully styled by Cynthia Blackett and professionally shot by by Charlie Richards.

And ta-dah – here is my creation for John Lewis. This smoothie makes me feel happy. Happy on the outside, happy on the inside. Even the colour of it, makes me think happy thoughts. The very best thing about it is that it’s full of goodness – beetroot, avocado, goji berries, raspberries, strawberries, a dash of almond milk and a squeeze of lime.

1 vote

Ren's Goji Beetroot Blast

Author Ren Behan

Yield 1 smoothie

A super-charged smoothie, featured by John Lewis.com

Ingredients

20 raspberries (frozen, ideally)

10-12 Waitrose LOVE life dried goji berries

5 strawberries

1 small cooked beetroot (not in vinegar)

1/2 avocado, peeled, stone removed

A squeeze of fresh lime

125ml almond milk (or more depending on thickness)

1 ice cube

Instructions

Place all the ingredients into a high-powered blender. Blend until smooth, adding a dash more almond milk if required.

With thanks to John Lewis for the invitation to this smoothie and #MyWellBeing event. I received a fee for taking part.

February 22, 2017

The Secrets to Successful Food Blogging

This is the first post in a new series from Bloom by Ren – which I’ll be adding to a bank of resources for food bloggers.

I wanted to kick things off with a post full of really great tips. Thank you to all my food blogging friends for their words of wisdom below.

Do you have a great idea for a food blog you’ve always wanted to write, but just don’t know where to begin? Well stop dreaming and get started, as I’ve teamed up with my food blogging friends to bring you the best advice to get things moving. I wish I’d had the benefit of this kind of wisdom when I was starting out!

I’m part of a very supportive and inspiring community of food bloggers, who between us have a huge amount of experience, so here are some tips from myself as well as some of the most successful and long-standing bloggers in the UK.

1. Your blog is your brand

Ren
Ren Behan

Think of your blog as an extension of yourself – your voice needs to come through strongly from the outset, sharing your food philosophies and ideally, showcasing the kind of food you like to eat – rather than trying to emulate something else or someone else or a style of eating that isn’t sustainable. In many ways, your blog is your brand, even if you’re not ready to think of it that way – your blog is a platform created by you, showcasing what you chose to feature.

Although you need to have some idea of what you’d like to write about, I have always believed that you shouldn’t be afraid of tweaking or even of changing direction if what you are writing about no longer seems relevant. Don’t overcomplicate or procrastinate – make a start and try and write as regularly as you can, but write about what comes most naturally to you. What you don’t want to do is to jump about so much that you send out a confusing message of what your blog is about.

To grow an audience and to keep people coming back, try and work out, if you can;

Who your readers are
Why they read your blog
How you can continually help them when they visit your blog

If you can do that, and keep refining your skills, you will start to see an increase in engagement and readership.

These days, successful blogs are all about the community around them. Successful bloggers aren’t just blogging for themselves, they blog for their readers and in response to what their readers are looking for.

[bctt tweet=”These days, successful blogs are all about the community around them.” username=”@renbehan”]

As your blog grows and develops, you’re aiming to relax into a friendly writing style – imagine your reader as a friend stopping in for a coffee and a chat. Tell them about what you’ve been doing, let them in a little bit. This does not mean sharing every single detail of your private life, but rather, letting your readers know that you are real, that you’re there, that you’re reading and listening to their comments and that you’d like to connect.

2. Choose a name with longevity

Kavita
Kavey Eats

When it comes to naming your blog, stop and think about whether the name you are choosing will restrict you going forward or whether it’s one you can grow with, because for most bloggers, the nature of what they write about does change over time, even if they remain in the same broad sector. I spent all of 30 seconds thinking of Kavey Eats, and for the first several years, it worked well for me. Now that I publish a fairly equal amount of food and travel, I wish I had a name that wasn’t so squarely tied to food, but feel it’s best to stick with it. Think too about how long it is, whether it’s easy for readers to remember, and check whether there are already blogs in your niche with the same or similar names, so you can avoid confusion or claims of plagiarism.

3. Go for a simple design

Ceri Jones
Natural Kitchen Adventures

When it comes to designing your blog and logo, simplicity goes a long way. You don’t need to work with an expensive designer, if you are just starting out, but do take some time to think about what works best on all the blogs you like reading (plain white background for example). Have a play with free software like Canva to create a simple logo using your blog name, and choose one of the smart, well designed templates that you can adjust yourself. I would also suggest you use a similar colour scheme, style and vibe across all your photography, it will help to bring consistency to the look of your site. I think it’s easier now with the wealth of resources than it was, say six years ago when I started!

Check out: these beautiful themes by Feast Design Co. *

4. Have a clear niche

Katie Bryson
Feeding Boys
@cookingkt

Don’t just follow the herd. Have a clear niche that individualises your recipes and content from everyone else and try and stick to it as much as possible. Be the go-to person for that style of food, and you’ll soon grow a loyal following of people who trust what you’ve got to share. To write a successful food blog you need to have an infectious passion and enthusiasm for your niche, that not only drives you to create compelling content week in, week out, but also helps you stand out in a very crowded market. Don’t just copy what other people are doing, make your own mark and don’t be afraid to develop your own voice and visual style. Of course we all learn from each other, but don’t try to be all things to all people.

5. Get your social media organised

Helen Goldrein
Friends Family Food

Get all your social media organised and make sure you can get the same username for everything and that it’s the same as your blog name. Even if you don’t use all the channels to begin with, it’s better to get the account so that no one else gets ‘your’ name. I didn’t do this and now my twitter handle bears no relation to my blog but it’s too late to change.

6. Choose WordPress

Kevin Chambers-Paston
The Crafty Larder

Go with WordPress. Self hosted. From the beginning. Blogger may seem easier but it’ll hurt you in the long run.

7. Join the community

Laura
How to Cook Good Food

I do think that good name, blog design and photography that is attractive from the start will get you noticed in this ever increasing world of blogging. Also, definitely be committed to making friends and meeting other bloggers as it can be lonely!

If you don’t know how to join food groups, try commenting on a few blogs, or following some of your favourites on social media and ask them whether there are any food blogging groups or circles that you can join in with.

8. Stand out from the crowd

Sus Davy
Rough Measures

Make sure you have a USP! The market for blogs is so saturated you need something to stand out. In my case it was my boat which now doesn’t work as we don’t live on it anymore.

9. Value your content

Helen Best Shaw
Fuss Free Flavours

Think about whether you can add more value to your posts by offering more than a simple review in return for product. For instance, from the outset, practice saying that you offer paid recipe development work and set out a rate – even if it is modest at the start. It’s true that everyone has to start somewhere (and that most of us do start by reviewing products for free), but if you have been blogging for a length of time, have established an audience or a following, then it is fair to charge a reasonable amount for your time if you are creating a post initiated by a brand. If you do wish to include product reviews as part of what you offer your readers, try and offer short, editorial style reviews, perhaps in a round up post and always disclose to your readers when you have been sent a product for free or when you have received payment for producing a post.

10. Just do it!

Jane Sarchet
The Hedgecombers

You’ll never know if you’re going to love it until you start, so stop talking and start doing.

So what now?

As Jane says, just take that leap and get stuck in! You can really over-think things like this and never get going out of fear of doing it wrong. But actually it’s pretty liberating once you publish those first few blog posts and start finding your voice.

Further resources:

Here are some great blog posts to read if you want even more advice

http://www.lovelyappetite.com/how-to-start-a-food-blog/ (UK perspective)

http://pinchofyum.com/resources/how-to-start-a-food-blog (US perspective)

I have always used the Genesis Framework and these themes from Feast Design Co. for my self-hosted wordpress blog*

*Affiliate theme link included

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January 29, 2017

Ren Loves: January Foodie Picks

Welcome to January’s foodie picks featuring a hand-picked selection of lovely things that have caught my attention in the last month. From good reads to gin, popcorn to brownies, there are some great things to hunt out or explore. Whether you fancy a bit of indulgence, or need some inspiration for foodie-related gifts, you’ve come to the right place.

Whilst some of you may have been following Dry January, clearly I have not…However, I have been quite good on the snacking front and I’ve increased my gym time and have finally set up my FitBit – hooray!

Over Christmas, I really enjoyed making cocktails with a special edition of Williams Extra Dry Gin and whilst sipping away, I managed to snatch a few quiet moments to began reading all about the process of making vodka and gin (from apples and potatoes!) through a beautiful book called The Great Chase by William Chase. This is precisely the sort of farming that I’d be very much up for.

Chase Distillery

Britain’s first single-estate distillery is based on a family farm in Herefordshire where they grow King Edward and Lady Claire potatoes to make their Chase Vodka, as well as cider apples for their Naked Chase Apple Vodka and Williams Gin. The company, led by William Chase, went from supplying spuds to supermarkets to making award-winning spirits, and are intensely proud of their field to bottle approach. Quite rightly so…

My pick of their two best products are their Chase Rhubarb Vodka and their Williams Grapefruit Gin.

The rhubarb vodka is a rose tinted pink elixir. It’s just on the right side of sweet and goes amazingly well with a good quality natural ginger ale. Herefordshire grown rhubarb is stewed and then distilled into their classic Chase Vodka – a marriage made in heaven.

When making a gin and tonic, I often slice up a fresh grapefruit and drop it into my glass but Williams Grapefruit Gin takes this one step further by infusing the grapefruit peel into the gin along with hints of juniper. It is definitely worth a try.

Explore more about their field to bottle process here, it’s truly inspiring:

http://chasedistillery.co.uk/

Plus, take a look at some of their lovely cocktail recipes next time you’re hosting a party.

Willy Chase’s Fit Pop Corn and Willy’s ACV

Hint: don’t try saying that sentence after a few glasses of William Chase’s gin.

Diversification in farming is becoming more and more important if businesses and brands are to thrive and so William Chase has cleverly combined the art of making vodka, gin and cider with the art of making popcorn.

William Chase have just started to introduce a produce a range of health-focussed products including Fit Pop Corn, wholegrain air popped corn made by hand on the Herefordshire farm, along with their Apple Cider Vinegar – which I’ve been very keen to try for some time.

Fit Pop Corn

Guilt-free because it’s air popped (not fried) and with gorgeously grown-up flavours like Smoky Bloody Mary and Salted Honey which are all created using locally sourced ingredients, what’s not to love?! I tried the apple cider vinegar ‘Fit Corn’ made with The Mother (which refers to strands of proteins, enzymes and friendly bacteria within Apple Cider Vinegar). I loved the subtle ‘salt and vinegary’ flavours that came through. At just 94 calories a packet, they’re definitely worth a pop (!)

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)

Apple Cider Vinegar is possibly going to be this year’s next big thing so get your hands on some of Willy’s special brand of ACV, which is biorganic, unpasturised, raw and gluten free. It’s made from their 300 year old cider orchards in Ledbury and contains the aforementioned Mother.

The health benefits gleaned from the proteins, enzymes and friendly bacteria within Apple Cider Vinegar are pretty incredible:

•   Aiding weight loss
•   Improving digestion
•   Maintaining healthy skin and hair
•   Maintaining a healthy alkaline state
•   Relief from Arthritic symptoms
•   Supporting the normal function of the immune system

You can add it to salad dressings or add a couple of tablespoons of ACV into some warm water with a touch of honey. I’ve heard it’s best to drink this tonic before bed, with a little cube or two of cheese…

Buy Willy’s ACV here (500ml £6.50)

And onto something a little more indulgent…

Chin’s Kitchen

Kenyan-born Chintal Kakaya has drawn on her strong family heritage in food to create her own unique range of cakes, bakes and desserts that’s a wonderful fusion of traditional and modern flavours and techniques. Everything is hand made in small batches fresh to order, with most of the creations free from any artificial flavours and preservatives and all are made with reduced sugar content.

I’ve sampled a new range of products including her new Salted Caramel Sauce, Chocolate Brownies and Cocoa Shortbreads, called Nankhatai. These are gently spiced shortbreads, which are handmade in small batches. They are traditionally served with Masala chai for breakfast, although I quite enjoy them during the afternoon with a cup of milky tea. They also make a lovely wrapped gift for teachers or as a thank you. They are very light and crumbly in texture. Little people love them too!

Chin’s Salted Caramel Sauce was almost gone the moment the lid got taken off. It was incredibly more-ish, velvety smooth and with just the right balance of sweetness. I stirred a spoonful into my hot chocolate and the children had the brilliant ideas of trying some on hot buttered crumpets. Slightly warmed, it also served as the perfect accompaniment to Chin’s chocolate brownies.

Chin’s Indian-inspired cakes are also genuinely stunning and it’s wonderful to see that Chin is growing her home-based business and diversifying, too.

For more information have a read here https://chinskitchen.co.uk/

That’s it for January. I hope you like some of the products featured and that you get to try them.

With thanks to Chase Distillery, Willy’s Chase and Chin’s Kitchen for the review items. Photographs my own. I was not expected to write positively about any items received.

January 15, 2017

A Happy Heart at Busaba Eathai St Albans [Review]

Who said you have to be blue, on blue Monday? I’m not sure I really believe that one day in January in particular needs to be marked officially as the UK’s most depressing day of the year, because that’s depressing in itself. However, if you believe the hype, the big blue day is tomorrow, Monday 16th January. So my advice is to go easy on yourself, pour yourself a soothing pot of tea, take some time to enjoy a nourishing bite to eat and ignore any talk of feeling blue. Personally, I’ll be taking the Busaba Eathai approach, inspired by the philosophy of Sookjai based on traditional Buddhist values, which is all about ‘avoiding the everyday chaos that distracts you’ and instead, placing the emphasis on ‘taking life as it comes and creating your own reality.’ Sookjai can also mean ‘to enjoy’ or to have a ‘happy heart’ with a secondary mantra, Gan Gin Gan Yuu, meaning ‘as you eat, so you are’. Now, isn’t that much better than focussing on feeling blue?

Here is St Albans we officially welcomed a trendy new eatery called Busaba Eathai St Albans in the late autumn. You may have seen my posts across social media during various visits. I hadn’t eaten at any of the Busaba chains previously, but had walked past the Covent Garden branch a few times longing to go in. Busaba Eathai are popping up in some incredibly up-and-coming places, such as Shoreditch, Hoxton Square, the 02, Soho, Bloomsbury, Westfield London & Stratford City, and also in Manchester and Liverpool – so I think St Albans can now officially claim its place on the ‘trendy eateries’ map.

Having peeked through the windows during the renovations of Busaba St Albans on Verulam Road a few times, catching a glimpse of the exposed brick walls of the bar and an open kitchen, I was expecting something of a laid-back canteen style of Thai street food, perhaps something like Wagamama. But when Busaba St Albans opened and I stopped by with some foodie friends for the press night I was completely blown away by the transformation of a previously unremarkable corner restaurant space in into a stylish, high-end, New York loft-style Thai restaurant complete with golden Budda’s, deep, dark wood and a beautiful bar. My goodness, even the toilets were stylish enough to make me want to take pictures of the loo cubicles (I was 12 months in my own house design back then and looking very closely at bathrooms!) There is a communal feeling in the way that some of the square tables are laid out, but overall, Busaba Eathai offers a stylish, modern and spacious interior with a chic vibe.

As well as the main central space filled with tables, there is an area for larger private parties as you go up the staircase to the bathrooms on the mezzanine level, a number of good tables along the windows and tables outside which I’m sure will become popular in warmer months. By day, Busaba feels relaxed and welcoming of children, as well as offering quieter tables for those wanting a business lunch.

Though St Albans is becoming a little chain-restaurant-saturated, it seems we can’t get enough of Thai food, and Busaba’s trendy feel matched with Bangkok-inspired dining is sure to succeed. The unit had been empty for a long while, following the closure of Cinta Garden – a Chinese restaurant which had become a little tired and which ended its days with the reputation of being something of a hen-do hotspot. The refurbishment and investment of the Busaba chain into the outdoor Christopher Place Shopping Centre, a short stroll from The Cathedral and Abbey of St Albans, has worked. However, the people of St Albans are a discerning crowd, so Busaba need to focus on fast, attentive and friendly service to make friends and encourage repeat visits.

After the renovations, Busaba was officially opened with a traditional Buddhist tea ceremony, which I loved reading about. The press night that followed was a little more excitable as we washed down a selection of items from the Busaba St Albans with some particularly amazing cocktails. If you go, you must order the whisky plum sour (with bourbon, umeshu plum liqueur, lemon, grapefruit and bitters) and the Asian Mojito (with rum, citrus, kaffir lime leaves and sugar) – or really any of the cocktails offered on the menu which compliment the spicy flavours of Busaba’s Bangkok-style cuisine brilliantly. For non-drinkers, there are also some pretty special lassies and smoothies and freshly blended juices. And don’t forget to end your meal with a pot of loose leaf tea and have yourself your very own Buddhist tea ceremony at the table – I like the Busaba Coconut and Pineapple blend which is a great palate cleanser.

As to the food, there is lots to chose from including their Bangkok Express Lunch Menu (£8.95), the Best of Busaba menu (£18.90), small plates (I love the Crispy Chicken Wings or the Thai Calamari, with ginger and green peppercorn). The menus also include Stir-Frys, Wok Noodles, Noodles Soups and Curries, Rice Sets and Bangkok Chargrilled dishes. I liked the Thai chicken wings and the prawn and asparagus stir fry and I’ve also tried the chargrilled duck, which was tender and served with a tamarind sauce and sticky rice.

I’ve also eaten there on a separate occasion with my kids and they enjoyed tucking into the Children’s menu – particularly the chicken fried rice and the battered Thai chicken fillets.

In fact, there isn’t anything on the menu that I wouldn’t want to try – be it for an express lunch or a romantic dinner and it has definitely become my go-to place for a quick Bangkok street-food style fix.

If you’re quick, you can register online today for Busaba’s Blue Monday 99p deal – you’ll get an email tomorrow then present your code and tuck in to a choice of 9 indulgent Bangkok dishes, from classic Pad Thai and crabmeat fried rice to chargrilled chicken and green chicken curry for just 99p each.

Alternatively, Busaba are also be offering 25% off food throughout January 2017 to lift your spirits all month long – which I think is a great offer and will definitely banish any sign of the January blues! Don’t forget to register online (again it can take up to 24 hours for the email to come through) and check that your local restaurant are offering this deal. Some are even offering up to 50% off the bill.

Follow this link to find out more about their January Sale here, simply pick your nearest location and register.

Disclosure: With thanks to Busaba St Albans for welcoming us on their opening press night where we enjoyed a complimentary meal, drinks and a take home goodie bag. On all other occasions I have paid full price for my meals and have received no incentive to write positively about my food experiences there. All photos are courtesy of Busaba Eathai and are used with their permission.

Are you a Busaba fan? Share your experiences and let me know in the comments below.

December 24, 2016

Merry Christmas + Open Sandwiches with Turkey {Recipe Video}

Hello there, I just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Our house move has proved quite time-challenging and I’m only really just getting ready to start cooking our traditional Polish Christmas Eve meal, called Wigilia. I’ll also be hosting on Christmas Day and Boxing Day – so it’s going to be a bit of a cooking marathon for me. As mentioned in my Waitrose Weekend interview last week, by Boxing Day it’ll be a case of keeping things super simple, so I’ll be serving up these quick and easy Polish-style Open Sandwiches with all the leftover turkey we have from Christmas Day and some pretty garnishes. I’ve also created a quick time-stop video with Michelle Becker at Pink Soul Pictures to show you just how simple and easy these sandwiches really are. Hope you enjoy them too.

I’m looking forward to creating lots more recipe videos in 2017. If you’re after some cocktail inspiration you can watch our second festive video here on You Tube too. And for dessert, why not have a go at baking my Lemon, Rose and Poppy Seed Cheesecake, find the recipe here.

2 votes

Open Sandwiches with Turkey

Yield 6

Open sandwiches, which are common to both Scandinavian and Eastern European cuisine, are the perfect vehicles for turkey (or other meat) leftovers. Simply have good loaf of rye or sourdough to hand and plenty of garnishes, such as radishes, pickles, tomatoes, cress, dill, sliced boiled eggs and kabanos (a type of smoked Polish sausage).

Ingredients

1 loaf rye bread or sourdough
Butter
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon zest
A twist of black pepper
400g leftover shredded turkey or other cooked meat
4 small radishes, finely sliced
2 dill pickles, sliced and cut into small pieces
4 cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 eggs, boiled, peeled and quartered
Sliced Kabanos, Polish smoked sausage
Small punnet of cress
A few sprigs of fresh dill

Instructions

Firstly, make a quick flavoured mayonnaise. Put the mayonnaise in a small bowl. Add the lemon zest and a twist of black pepper and stir together. You can add a teaspoon of dill pickle juice to loosen it slightly, but this is optional.

Slice the bread and arrange on a platter. Butter each piece and spread a little mayonnaise on each slice.

Arrange the leftover turkey, or other meat, on each slice of bread.

Top with sliced radishes, pickles, tomatoes, boiled eggs and kabanos.

Finally, garnish with cress and lots of fresh dill.

Cuisine Polish

That’s all for now, I’ll be back with another quick post between Christmas and New Year.

Keep in touch via instagram @renbehan and don’t forget to tag any recipes that you make with #foodren

If you still have time to make some homemade gifts, take a look at my 10 Festive Cakes and Bakes post too.

November 6, 2016

Recipe: Chicken Soup Two Ways

Two ways to serve comforting chicken soup – with coconut cream and courgetti or with brown rice and spinach.

Hello my friends. It’s officially chicken soup season. I know this because it’s November, it’s cold, dark and we’ve had coughs and colds. This is the time of year that chicken soup comes to the rescue. Secretly, I’ve enjoyed having a bit of down-time this week. Hibernation mode is a good thing. The warm and cosy slippers are out and the candles are, too. I’d say I’ve been embracing the Danish art of hygge, but that might actually mean I’m on-trend, and that doesn’t happen often. Anyway, you really just need one chicken soup recipe to get you through the winter and then you need to know how to ‘customise’ it. If you’re into slow cooking, follow my original Slow Cooker Chicken Soup recipe and if stove-top cooking is more your thing, follow the recipe below and you’ll have an equally nourishing pan of chicken soup, with fall-off-the-bone chicken and soft onions and carrots. My favourite way of eating chicken soup this week has been to switch the dumplings/carby noodles that I usually add, for spiralised courgette or courgetti/zucchini noodles or zoodles – gosh, so many terms for one vegetable. Also, a splash of creamy coconut milk takes chicken soup to a whole new level. My second favourite way is to cook some basmati brown rice (separately to the soup) and then to add that in when cooked, along with a few handfuls of fresh spinach. And if you really want to, you could add all of the above – courgetti, brown rice, spinach and a splash of coconut milk or cream to your chicken soup – because that works too.

Love. This. Soup.

With Brown Rice and Spinach

And here’s the brown rice and spinach version…an equally happy bowl of soup.

What are you eating to keep yourself warm and cosy?

Stay tuned for more winter-ready recipes….

October 24, 2016

Recipe: Cardamom, Ginger & Cinnamon Spiced Banana Bread

Recently, I wrote about trying out the Holy Lama Spice Drops® Collections – you can read my post here. This Banana Bread was one of my favourite recipes using the drops within the Baking Collection, which included cinnamon cardamon, ginger and rose. I had used the rose drops in a Gin Cocktail, and decided to blend the flavours of cardamon, ginger and cinnamon for this delicately spiced Banana Bread. This makes a perfect mid-morning or after-school snack.

Let me know if you give this recipe a try by tagging it with #foodren and #spicedrops on social media. You can find me on Twitter or Instagram @RenBehan

You could also try my Cherry Crumble Cake using Cardamom Spice Drops.

Holy Lama Naturals on Social

twitter.com/SpiceDropsUK

instagram.com/holylamaspicedrops

facebook.com/Holy-Lama-Naturals

With thanks to Holy Lama Spice Drops® for commissioning these recipes. This was a paid campaign. #ad

October 24, 2016

Introducing the Holy Lama Spice Drops® Collections

Recipe suggestions using the Holy Lama Spice Drops ® Collections

We’re all familiar with cooking with dried spices, but have you ever used spices in liquid form? My local friend Gouri is the oldest daughter of the founders of a fascinating business called ‘Holy Lama Naturals’, who produce award-winning Spice Drops® created from natural extracts, as well as a range of natural skin care and body care products. She asked me to create a batch of recipes using the spice collections, and I was really curious to give them a try.

Click here for my Spice Drop Banana Bread recipe

Why use Spice Drops?®

When you read the list of benefits, it’s hard to think why you wouldn’t want to give them a whirl.

Simple – no preparation or messy powders, instead of measuring spoons you just use a drop or two
Versatile – a huge range of uses in both food and drink, cocktails anyone?!
Long life – a three year shelf life, so no more stale jars of spices at the back of the cupboard
Economical – the average price is just £3.49 per bottle
Consistent flavouring – better cooking with more reliable results
Flexible – can be used at any stage of the cooking process
Sensory – spray in an atomiser to fill your home with delicious aromas

Ethically sourced and produced

The ingredients that make up Spice Drops® have a clear provenance, with the raw materials mainly sourced from local farmers in Kerala and the rest of India. They are also ethically produced, with 80% of the workers in the factory being women, most of whom are from disadvantaged backgrounds. In a traditionally male dominated society, employment in the factory gives the workers much needed self-confidence and independence. They get paid the same wages as the men too. Find out more about their story here.

How are they are made?

The spices are cold-pressed using rollers, which involves a process of non-heat generating crushing to retain the flavour. Then the crushed spices go through a series of careful processes to create the finished Spice Drops®. All products are predominantly made using natural ingredients, avoid using harsh chemicals or synthetics and use sustainable materials for packaging where possible. Nothing is tested on animals either. Find out more detail about the technical process of how Spice Drops® are made.

How to get hold of Spice Drops®

You can purchase them individually, but my favourite way of buying them is in the collection packs, because you can experiment with a variety of flavours and recipes. Here are some of the wonderful combinations available and a little taster of the recipes I made using each collection.

There are 7 different collections in total – I experimented with 5 of them including the Cocktail Collection, the Curry Collection, the Barbecue Collection, the Baking Collection and the Christmas Collection. each collection contains 4 bottles of Spice Drops which compliment each other particularly well.

Cocktail Collection

Spice checklist: Ginger, Lemongrass, Mint & Rose

What to make: Raspberry, Rose and Mint Gin Fizz or Lemongrass and Ginger Gin Fizz

CURRY COLLECTION

Spice checklist: Cumin Seed, Garam Masala & Saffron

What to make: Griddled Lamb Chops with Spiced Chickpeas

BARBECUE COLLECTION

Spice checklist: Cumin Seed, Paprika, Red Chilli & Tikka Masala

What to make: Tikka Masala Spiced Prawns with Chilli and Paprika Yoghurt

BAKING COLLECTION

Spice checklist: Cinnamon, Cardamon, Ginger & Rose

What to make: Cardamom, Ginger & Cinnamon Banana Bread {Get the recipe here}

Christmas Collection

Spice checklist: Cinnamon, Mulling Spices, Orange & Nutmeg

Christmas Bundt Cakes with Orange, Nutmeg & Cinnamon {Come back in December for the recipe!}

If you’re planning your Christmas list, the collections are reasonably priced, starting at £15. Also look out for the starter set, which comes with a particularly lovely wooden rack.

Stockists:

Find more Holy Lama Spice Drops® recipes here

Find my Cherry Crumble Cake using Cardamom Spice drops here

Which collection would be your favourite to experiment with?

With thanks to Holy Lama Spice Drops® for commissioning these recipes. This was a paid campaign. #ad

September 28, 2016

Recipe: Organic Red Miso Roast Chicken with Onions, Courgette and Potatoes

This month has been a whirlwind of organic loveliness. You may have noticed a bit more of an emphasis generally on organic food as part of Organic September. Earlier this month I also enjoyed a trip to the Bio Bazar in Warsaw – a whole area of organic markets within the city within a set of buildings which date back to the 1830’s, hosting individuals and stall holders exclusively selling organic produce – it was very inspiring! I tried everything from organic Polish apples, to organic wine and even found whole organic kale trees for sale! Back at home here in the UK, it was also a real treat to come back to a whole box of organic food, as part of the ‘Organic. Naturally Different’ campaign. I threw myself into the #OrganicUnboxed challenge – unpacking a box filled with some of our very best British organic produce and trying out some easy recipes. Today, I’m sharing one of my favourite recipes made from some of the ingredients in the box – organic Red Miso Roast Chicken with Onions, Courgette and Potatoes.

Organic Unboxed

My mystery box of ingredients included a number of items from brands I was already familiar with, but there were also a few surprises too. I received a beautiful Daylesford Farm Organic Chicken, potatoes and onions from the Tesco organic range, Yeo Valley butter and natural yoghurt, Clearspring green pea and quinoa pasta and a bottle of organic soya sauce, Doves Farm organic flour, Mr Organic’s fusilli and canned beans (we already but Mr Organic’s tinned tomatoes as they are BPA-free), a selection of organically grown strawberries, raspberries, limes and watercress and a lovely bottle of organic red wine from the Vintage Roots, Organic Rouge range. Our family loves roast chicken so it seemed like a great idea to create something tasty with the Daylesford bird. I was probably the most intrigued by the fresh red miso paste by Tideford Organics and since I had never cooked with fresh miso paste before, both the organic chicken and the fresh miso inspired me to come up with a Sunday roast dinner with a miso twist. Tideford fresh miso paste is unpasteurised and made from soya beans, rice and koji culture. It happens to be organic, GM free, gluten free, low fat and vegan. I was interested to experiment with it as it seemed to me to be a great addition to the fridge to add a quick ‘umami’ hit to some of my go-to recipes.

Why buy organic?

Whilst you may consider organic food to be something of a luxury, in fact, there are so many organic ingredients readily available now, that it is easier than ever before to look out for offers on organic produce. The key benefit to buying organic is that crops are exposed to fewer pesticides, therefore organic farming is naturally more environmentally friendly. Research also shows that organic crops are up to 60% higher in a number of key anti-oxidants and that both organic milk and meat contain approximately 50% more omega-3 fatty acids, thought to be particularly beneficial to our health. Certified organic livestock, such as chicken, beef, lamb and pork also have more space to roam, they are pasture fed and have higher welfare standards. For us as a family, this means that if we can buy organic where possible, not only are we able to support better farming practices, but we also benefit personally and directly from a better standard of food in terms of nutrients and omega 3’s.

Since the potatoes were from the Tesco Organic range I was happy to leave the skin on. I simply washed them and par-boiled them before roasting them alongside the chicken. I also coated the onions and courgettes in the red miso paste mixed with a little organic soya sauce and they were lovely, too. The meal came together really well – we were all surprised by the delicious flavour of the red miso which also created a lovely crispy and well-flavoured skin, with some of the flavour going through into the chicken itself. The children also liked the sweetness of the miso roasted onions and courgettes.

I hope you try this recipe – it’s a real treat and the whole family loved the miso twist.

For more organic recipes, follow Organic UK on Facebook or Twitter. You can follow our social media adventures too by searching for the tag #organicunboxed. Madeline Shaw has also made an #organicunboxed video as part of the campaign which you can watch here #ad

For more organic recipes take a look at:

The Little Sunny Kitchen’s Organic Coq au Vin

Amuse Your Bouche/Becca’s Pasta in Miso Brown Butter Sauce

Veggie Dessert’s Miso Roasted Mushrooms with Courgetti – Kate also has some great tips on reducing food waste by using organic vegetables and peelings within recipes, such as vegetable cakes!

Here’s my video too!

With thanks to Organic UK Food. This post contains a commissioned/sponsored recipe for the Organic Unboxed campaign. My trip to Warsaw was personal/unconnected to this campaign.

September 20, 2016

Recipe: Welsh Lamb Steaks Wild Mushroom Sauce and Dill Mash

A comforting recipe for Eat Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef

Hello September! My goodness, August just flew by. I’ve had a slightly longer break from the blog than I anticipated, though if you’ve been following my instagram feed you may have followed my adventures to North Wales, East Devon and then Warsaw, which in part explains my blogging silence. There has been a little bit of site maintenance going on too, with a new theme called Cook’d Pro by Feast Design Co having been installed. I hope you like all the new features. We’re also now 12 months into our house build and things have really been picking up pace. Now that the children are back at school, I’ve hit the ground running and I’m back to full-speed blogging. Expect lots of catch-up travel posts and new recipes to follow, starting with this one – Welsh Lamb Steaks with Mushroom Sauce and Dill Mash.

Whilst I’m sad to be saying goodbye to the summer flip-flops that I’ve practically been living in, September also means that we’re now heading into autumn. The plus side, is that we can welcome comfort food back onto the family menu. Whilst in Wales, we enjoyed plenty of high-quality, high-welfare meat and so it was a great pleasure to come home and create this recipe for Eat Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef.

The best thing about arriving in Wales for our summer holidays is our immediate switch from supermarket to local farm shop and the general feeling that we are somehow more connected to the source of our food. However, it’s about more than simply buying local; we actually feel better in Wales – the air is cleaner, we are surrounded by fields of green grass and Welsh heather, there are waterfalls, mountains and lakes and when we stay on the Llyn Peninsula, we’re also by the sea. The whole family always sleep better and as soon as the children are awake they put on their shoes and leap outside into the garden overlooking the fields full of lambs. Given that we feel much happier in Wales, I am sure that the sheep and cows do too!

It’s a wonderful thing then, that the European Commission recognise that the unique air, climate and conditions in Wales lead to higher-quality produce and that Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef has a PGI – which is a Protected Geographical Status. It really is worth looking out for this mark of quality around the world. PGI protected Welsh Lamb means that every animal is fully traceable, farming practices are monitored and sustainable and it also means that the meat is lean and flavourful, no matter the cut.

As a Llambassador for Welsh Lamb, I’m very happy to be sharing one of our favourite ways to eat Welsh Lamb. I hope you like it, too.

More lamb recipes you may like:

Lamb Steaks with Mint Ajika Sauce (Olia Hercules for Marley Spoon)

One-Pot Cypriot Lamb with Orzo

Make-Ahead Lamb and Potato Moussaka

Jamie Oliver’s Mothership Roast Lamb

This is a paid recipe commission for Eat Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef. Find more Llambassador recipes here.

July 23, 2016

Recipe: Kasza and Lentil Salad with Griddled Courgette and Halloumi

A super-quick store-cupboard/fridge-raid supper – Kasza and Lentil Salad with Griddled Courgette and Halloumi.

Hello! It has been a long time since I have sat down to share a simple recipe, without the pressures of looming deadlines. I am pleased to say that despite possibly the busiest six months of my entire life – renovating our home and writing a book (squeeeeeel, yes, a real book commissioned by Pavilion Books with plenty of exciting news to come, soon, I promise!) and keeping up with commissioned work – that I have reached the point when I can actually breathe and….relax! Perhaps as a result of my extreme tendency to over-commit, I also managed to convince myself that blogging simply took too long and hence, there has been something of a blogging block. So tonight, despite the extreme heat, and following an afternoon of watching ‘Top Cat Begins’ in the comfort of a nice, cool, dark cinema with the kids, I decided to come home and leap into action. I challenged myself to cook supper, photograph it and blog it within one hour. So far, I’ve reached 43 minutes, so as long as I don’t waffle on for too much longer, I may possibly have succeeded…

This is quite simply a super-quick store cupboard/fridge-raid supper, promoted by a thread in one of my favourite Facebook Groups within my Polish community of what we all have in our store cupboards as staples.

I took a look in my cupboard and found the following:

a tin of cooked green lentils
a packet of Polish kasza (this is a type of cracked barley from my local Polish deli, but you can use any grain, such as buckwheat, bulgar or even cous cous),
a packet of Vegeta (Polish vegetable bouillon) but you can use a stock cube,
some rapeseed oil
cumin powder
poppy seeds and nigella seeds.

In the fridge I found:

a packet of halloumi cheese
one, lonely courgette
an equally lonely tomato.

This is what I made:

This salad serves 2 as a main course in the sunshine with a nice glass of wine, or 4 if taken to a BBQ.

I’m linking this up to Simple and in Season July, hosted by Katie at Feeding Boys over here (courgette and tomato) and to Credit Crunch Munch hosted by Linzi at Lancashire foodie, alternating with Camilla at Fab Food 4 All and Helen at Fuss Free Flavours.

Here are some more summer salads you may like:

What are your store cupboard/fridge staples? I’d love to know!

July 3, 2016

Cruise Notes: On Board Harmony of the Seas – the world’s largest cruise ship

You may remember a few weeks ago that I wrote about attending the ‘Dry Run’ of a brand new dining concept at sea called Wonderland Imaginative Cuisine by Royal Caribbean. Shortly after this event, I jumped on board the world’s newest and largest cruise ship and into the real Wonderland to preview Harmony of the Seas, as part of the ship’s pre-inaugural cruise season. Here’s what happened when I fell through the rabbit hole!

When Harmony of the Seas, the latest ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet, docked at Southampton in May, she caused quite a splash. She was met by onlookers and by the press with excitement, intrigue and in most cases, sheer incredulity that something quite so huge, could exist – and float. I had only ever seen cruise ships before from a distance; I don’t think I’ll ever forget observing the ‘Costa Fortuna’ (actual name) docking in Venice, although my mum, who came with me on this trip, has been on at least 20 cruises over the years covering the Med, the Caribbean and most-recently, a transatlantic cruise to New York. Despite our collective experiences, we both gasped in amazement whilst standing in the shadow of Harmony. After composing ourselves, we moved like tiny little ants, along a red carpet lined with pretty flowers, and boarded one of the most talked-about ships on earth. With the Royal Caribbean philosophy of ‘innovation and imagination’ ahead of us, we started to get the sense that we were in for a treat.

Costing £700 million/$1 billion to build, Harmony of the Seas was shiny and new and spotlessly clean; in my view one of the plus-points of joining a cruise during her inaugural season. At times, we noticed work people hanging pictures or fixing small things, but these were essentially minor details and didn’t bother us at all. It felt a little like we (or rather the ship’s captain Gus Andersson and crew) were about to take a brand new car out of the showroom for it’s very first spin. The staff were all fresh and ready for a new adventure too. Interestingly, almost every staff member that I spoke to indicated that they had worked for Royal Caribbean for more than five years on different ships and many of them had clocked up eight, nice or ten years at sea.

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As we travelled up an escalator and turned our first corner, we had our first ‘through the rabbit hole’ experience, finding ourselves in the Central Park zone, filled with real trees and shrubs and lined with restaurants and cafes. My mum asked; “Where are we? Have we gone the wrong way? Are we still on the ship?” and if I wasn’t so busy giggling and trying to get orientated myself, I probably would have been asking the same. In all her years taking cruise ship holidays with her cruise-obsessed partner, mum exclaimed that had never seen a ‘real park’ on a ship.

Credit: Royal Caribbean. Entrance to Jamie's Italian in Central Park. — Credit: Royal Caribbean. Entrance to Jamie’s Italian in Central Park.

Neighbourhood Concept

In fact, Central Park was just one of seven ‘neighbourhoods’ on board Harmony of the Seas:

Central Park (with 1200 trees and plants plus dining and shopping)
Boardwalk (an amusement park-styled area with a carousel, hot-dog stand and fast food, also the aqua-theatre is just beyond)
Royal Promenade (with boutique shops and areas for eating, drinking and late night dancing, you’ll also find the robotic Bionic Bar here)
Entertainment Place (with comedy, jazz bars and two theatres)
Youth Zone, a deck dedicated to kids including the kids’ clubs and a creche)
Vitality Sea Spa and Fitness Centre
Pool and Sports Zone, including a kids area called Splashaway Beach, five water slides and the 10-story Ultimate Abyss dry slide and FlowRiders where you can learn to surf.

Wherever we ended up we seemed to keep finding unusual features and it took us at least two days to explore the ship – even then, there were areas that we didn’t manage to visit. The ‘neighbourhood’ concept is unique to Royal Caribbean and you’ll find neighbourhoods on their Oasis Class, such as Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas. Since the Royal Caribbean fleet seems to be moving towards bigger and bigger ships, it makes sense to create specific zones within the ship to help give passengers a sense of where they actually are once on board. Thus, while cruising, you get the sense that you are in a resort, or on a small ‘floating city’ rather than a stuffy, claustrophobic boat.

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Accommodation

Our first challenge and port of call was to find our room, which we eventually found after walking along a seemingly endless corridor. The ship is 362 metres long in total, so if you find yourself at the wrong end of it, you’re in for a walk. We found our room – an Ocean-View Stateroom (top left image) and mum was thrilled to find a balcony – she had only ever stayed in an ‘internal’ cabin on board ships before. The category of our room was classed as ‘state class’ and it was spacious, with a large and comfy double bed, a bathroom with a shower, a large TV, sofa and double doors to our balcony. If cost is an issue, it’s worth noting that many of the the internal cabins on Harmony of the Seas have ‘virtual balconies’ – another unique on-board concept boasting a floor to ceiling screen displaying an image of the sea giving you the impression that you can see out. A large number of rooms on Harmony also have balconies or windows overlooking the open-spaced centre of the ship, for example, Park View rooms overlook Central Park whilst Boardwalk View Balconies overlook the Boardwalk. You can also book some of the larger rooms and suites – Star Class will get you a Royal Genie, Sky Class gives you an exclusive concierge, priority reservations and access to a private sun deck, whilst Sea Class suites give you access to an exclusive restaurant with bar called Coastal Kitchen.

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After taking a few obligatory selfies on our balcony, we headed out to explore the rest of the ship. There are 16 guest decks on board Harmony of the Seas, with 18 decks in total and 24 elevators – so it takes a little while to get your bearings. At full capacity the ship can hold 6,780 guests and a further 2,100 crew members – so yes, it is colossal. During our mini-cruise the ship was at around half capacity, and even so, there were times when we didn’t come across any other passengers at all.

Technology

Royal Caribbean are definitely leaders within the cruise industry in terms of on-board technology. Not only did we find a complete robotic ‘Bionic Bar’ – where you can order your cocktails via a touch screen device, but so too can you connect to Voom, the fastest wifi/internet at sea, as well as connecting to Royal IQ, an app available on your tablet or phone – there is an android version as well as an iPhone version. There are Royal iQ stands located around the ship to help you connect and make bookings and reservations. You can also plan your holiday with Cruise Planner which allows you to select internet packages, make dining reservations, book shore excursions, spa appointments and more.

Having challenged ourselves to drinking a cocktail in every bar (of which there are more than 16!) we got to work, whilst also sampling a selection of snacks and canapés from some of the restaurants on board. I started to get my head around the whole concept of cruising – from what’s included in a standard package ticket to all the various extras and upgrades available on board.

The key thing to keep in mind when booking a cruise holiday is that your fare will likely include (though always check) –

All your meals within the Main Dining Room, on Harmony this is split across three levels and also on Harmony, within the Windjammer Marketplace (serving global cuisine, fresh-to-order omelettes, desserts and offering a fresh bakery for sandwiches and snacks), as well as tea, coffee and some soft drinks
Additional complimentary food is available at Sorrento’s Pizza, the Boardwalk Dog House, Mini Bites, Park Café, Solarium Bistro (highly recommended for a quieter experience) and at the Vitality Cafe within the spa.
The Adventure Ocean Kids Club if you are travelling with kids (I checked and they don’t accept disorientated mothers)
Activities, such as theatre shows, mini golf, rock climbing, swimming pools, cinema, zip line, carousel, dance classes, live music, comedy, sports and fitness, sauna and steam room, table tennis, quizzes, classes and demonstrations.

Things you can pay for/add on –

Drinks Packages and Speciality Dining Packages (these also allow you to make reservations in advance)
Shore Excursions – again, bookable in advance. You can get off and explore on your own, but by booking the shore excursion via your cruise company the ship has to wait for you if you are late!
You can also pre-pay for your gratuities to save you having to tip individual waiters or staff.

Food & Drink

Standard Dining Package

We dined in the Main Dining Room (below left) during our second evening on board. Usually, you do have the option of requesting a table of your choice, but at busier times you may be seated with other people. Look out for the option of ‘My Time Dining’ which offers you more flexibility on when to eat. I would imagine that at full capacity the main dining room must get very busy; there were a couple of teething-issues with the timing of food orders during our pre-inaugural cruise. However, we enjoyed the buffet-style dining of the Windjammer Marketplace (which would have also been included as part of any package) and in reality, would probably have found ourselves eating there more, particularly if we were on a cruise as a family.

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For families, the kids club staff can either take your children to eat at the Windjammer Marketplace or your kids can dine with you and then the staff can be booked to take your kids off to watch a movie while you finish your dinner alone. There is also an in-cabin babysitting service for a fee of $20 an hour per child.

Speciality Dining

During a ‘longer than two-day cruise’ I think I would have to take up the option of a Speciality Dining Package. For an additional fee you can eat within the speciality restaurants on board – prices vary from $6.95 at a hamburger-style restaurant to $25 for dinner at Jamie’s Italian to $49 for an experience at Wonderland and to $89 for a meal at 150 Central Park. You can also look out for Royal Caribbean Dining Packages and special offers – for example, you can buy 3 dinner sitting credits for $80. One or two of the restaurants on board also offer ‘a la carte’ options – so this is worth checking ahead.

Speciality Restaurants on Harmony include:

150 Central Park (cover charge)
Jamie’s Italian (cover charge)
Jonny Rockets (cover charge)
Chops Grille (cover charge)
Wonderland (cover charge)
Chef’s Table (for up to 14 guests)
Coastal Kitchen (suite guests only)
Room Service (cover charge)
Sabor Taqueria and Tequila Bar (dinner available a la carte)
Izumi Hibachi and Sushi (lunch and dinner available a la carte)

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Wonderland Imaginative Cuisine – At Sea

As mentioned, I had already experience Wonderland on dry land at the pre-launch event in Soho. However, during our first night at sea we had a reservation at Wonderland and it ended up being one of the highlights of our trip. The menu really is imaginative, beginning with a picture frame that you have to paint with water in order to reveal the ‘elements’ of your meal, categorised by Sun, Sea, Earth, Wind, Fire and Dreams. We shared a tasting menu showcasing most of the dishes on offer, which, as you can see below, were beautifully presented and particularly well-cooked – as you would expect from any comparable fine-dining restaurant on land. As an ‘add-on’ to your standard cruise package, I would certainly recommend scheduling in a meal at Wonderland with cocktails. We tried dishes such as Baby Vegetables in the Garden, Liquid Lobster, Gazpacho Cones, Terroir Beef with River Stone Potatoes and the Arctic Equator Chocolate dessert.

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Wonderland is available on Harmony of the Seas, Allure of the Seas and Quantum of the Seas as a Speciality Dining Package.

Entertainment

The entertainment on board Royal Caribbean was very impressive. We watched the opening night of the hit musical ‘Grease’ as well as the opening show on ice called 1887. Harmony also offers a production called ‘Columbus the Musical’ and ‘Harmony High’ – a rock and roll style show. There is also an aqua-theatre, which includes high-wire acts and open-aired acrobatics. Sadly, we didn’t get to experience the aqua-theatre because it rained on our second day on-board – Harmony is definitely a fair-weather ship with so much outdoor activity going on. Happily, her future home-port is to be Florida.

There was also lots of music going on around the ship, including live music within some of the bars, such as the jazz bar. There is also a karaoke bar as well as a comedy bar. There is also a Vegas-style on-board casino for all your roulette, poker and slot-machine needs. Surprisingly, the casino is an indoor smoking spot so be aware of that when you are walking through to the art gallery – I almost told someone off for smoking indoors! After a good few cocktails (keeping up with our personal challenge to have one in every bar) we joined in with a full-on “Totally Awesome 90’s street party” – again, I felt as if I had chanced upon a parallel universe. I kept asking mum whether all this partying was normal on a cruise ship, and she assured me the party atmosphere is the main reason she enjoys it so much! I think this is what surprised me so much. I was half expecting a stuffy environment with people wearing dinner jackets looking forward to attending a captain’s dinner. In fact, the demographic of people booking cruise holidays has changed so much so that ‘the captain’s dinner’ is probably no longer the highlight of the holiday.

Royal Caribbean offer so much ‘upbeat’ and modern entertainment (for example, in securing the rights to Grease from Broadway and partnering with DreamWorks) that means that cruise holidays are increasingly appealing to multi-generational families who are keen to be ‘wowed’ and entertained as well as being well-fed and watered. Despite this new edge to cruising, there most certainly are quiet areas on board. I wouldn’t quite say we were in Ibiza territory and if you are after a quieter time of things, you can easily find a place to sit away from the hustle and bustle.

Harmony of the Seas: Credit Royal Caribbean. The Perfect Storm

Family Activities

One of the main reasons that I have never been on a cruise with my family is that with three children (aged 9, 6 and 2) I feared that we would feel trapped. However, I can completely see now that this wouldn’t be the case and that they would absolutely love it. There is a whole neighbourhood on board Harmony of the Seas dedicated to kids. The activities within Adventure Ocean are included with the cost of your cruise fare and there are three categories (as well as a nursery for Royal Babies and Tots) which includes Aquanaughts for 3-5 year olds, Explorers for 6-8 year olds and Voyagers for 9-11 year olds. The ship offers everything from activities presented by their partners DreamWorks, as well as face painting, craft stations, talent contests, Xbox corners and outdoor activities such as a zip-wire and two rock-climbing walls. Teens have a bit more freedom to come and go within a speciality area on Deck 15 with chill-out areas and even a dance club with staff on hand.

Older kids (as well as adults) will love the must-try experience of shooting down the biggest slide at sea called The Ultimate Abyss, which is a 10-story slide!

There are also three water slides called The Perfect Storm as well as a gym, a running track and a learn-to-surf wave simulator called FlowRider.

Hamony of the Seas: Credit Royal Caribbean. Pool Deck

Overall Thoughts & Tips

Did I enjoy my first cruise-ship experience? Absolutely. I think there was more than enough high-quality entertainment and luxury facilities on board Harmony of the Seas to make a ‘multi-generational’ family holiday a real contender for us in the future – and I didn’t feel sea-sick at all despite a little bit of choppiness around the English Channel.

I’d want to travel to somewhere hot to make the absolute most of the outdoor spaces on the ship. There are 25 cruise ships within Royal Caribbean’s fleet and as based on my experience on board Harmony, I would recommend an Oasis Class ship which offers most of what I experienced. Given that Harmony is currently the newest and largest, there are obviously some unique features to be enjoyed, too.

Harmony of the Seas is currently sailing around Europe, from Barcelona or Rome around the Western Mediterranean, but she is due to move permanently to Fort Lauderdale in Florida where she will cruise to the Bahamas, Eastern and Western Caribbean. An all-inclusive balcony room will cost around $1500 for a 7-night cruise but do look out for deals and special offers.

When booking…

I would definitely ‘add on’ a Speciality Dining Package as you are really only paying a supplement on top of your full-board fare but in doing so will open up a wider range of more exclusive dining options on board. I would also take advantage of any Pre-Paid Drinks packages on offer to limit spending lots of extra cash on cocktails.

Having said that, my mum and partner never take up the ‘speciality dining’ options and always have a perfectly happy time – especially as they enjoy taking excursions and sampling the local food on shore. So, if budget is an issue, on balance, I would likely choose a newer/larger ship and a better room with a balcony over paying for speciality food…

Whilst on board I attended a media briefing during which the President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, Michael Bayley, praised the independent travel industry and said that they have been key to increasing cruise-holiday sales.

Following the cruise, I spoke to an Independent Travel Expert Rebecca Randall who said:

“When a client is looking for a holiday they may not consider a cruise, thinking it might be an expensive proposition compared to a ‘land’ holiday. However, in reality there may not be such a difference in prices – making a cruise a good option for the customer – and that’s where an agent is able to provide advice.

We deal with all of the major cruise companies and get all of the latest offers, so we are able to compare prices and offer the client the ideal package for them. And for clients who do not have the time to search through all of the various offers – either from the internet or from the cruise companies themselves, the one-to-one personal service ensures that all their package needs are taken care of with the minimum of fuss.”

Royal Caribbean also have plenty of offers and deals which you can receive if you subscribe to their newsletter.

Recipe Box: Lamb Steaks with Mint Ajika Sauce by Olia Hercules for Marley Spoon

This week I’ve been cooking from a recipe box from Marley Spoon, including a recipe by Olia Hercules for Tender Lamb Steaks with Mint Ajika Sauce and Grilled Potatoes. Recipe below.

Recipe boxes are soaring in popularity at the moment and there are now plenty of choices and options available to suit all our ‘at-home’ cooking needs. The concept is fairly straight forward – you chose the recipes you like online or via an app, place an order (one week in advance) and your fresh food arrives in an insulated box on a nominated day ready for you to unpack. Fresh food delivery boxes have many plus-points – they remove some of the pressure of week-night cooking when time is usually tight, they can lighten the load of the weekly shop and – big bonus here – you don’t have to think too long hard about what to cook. Overall, there is less waste because you use all the ingredients delivered to you in each recipe you may spend less on food shopping as some of your meals will already be planned and budgeted for. This week, after a manic half-term break, I was especially keen to try a box from Marley Spoon, who currently have a month-long collaboration with Ukrainian-born chef and award-winning author, Olia Hercules. Since I love anything that Olia does (I have cooked most of the recipes in Mamushka!) I knew these recipes would be super-tasty.

Seasonality & Influence

Olia chose to create some exclusive recipes for Marley Spoon because she loved their ‘excellent produce and the importance of seasonality in all of their recipes’ and I agree, this is a really strong feature of the Marley Spoon boxes. I even found some hand-picked salad leaves with pretty edible flowers in my box, delivered to customers who chose the Smoked Mackerel & Orange Salad with Mixed Grains & Roast Fennel.

Having had a look through some of the other recipes on offer in coming weeks, I like the fact that Marley Spoon recipes include lots of global-inspired dishes because this means that you get to try a range of different recipes and flavours within the context of quick and simple week-night cooking – a bit like having a few pages from lots of different and inspiring cookbooks.

Packaging & Delivery

I liked the fact that each meal was individually bagged in a brown paper bag. This made grabbing the ingredients together even easier (other food box companies pack all the ingredients in one big box which means there is a bit more sorting to do).

As is common to most fresh food delivery boxes – meat, fish or dairy products are kept chilled and insulated inside a separate bag containing upcycled sheep’s wool which is renewable and biodegradable. The system Marley Spoon uses holds food at 2-4°C for up to 36 hours.

If you are out, you can nominate a designated safe place and your box can be left there – any chilled stuff stays cold into the evening so you can unpack your box and get cooking in your own time. Marley Spoon say that their ingredients should stay fresh (once stored correctly) for up to four days after you have received them. Deliveries take place on Tuesdays, Thursday and Fridays – though you can set or move your day once you have registered.

You have to chose your order the week before it gets dispatched which allows the company to bulk order items, thus passing on a competitive rate per recipe. Marley Spoon have a comparison page here so that you can see how much the ingredients would have cost if you were to buy them at the supermarket. You can view the recipes up to two weeks in advance and there are usually around 7 recipes to chose from in the 2-person box and 5 recipes to chose from in the family box.

The recipes cards within the Marley Spoon boxes are larger than most too and can be stored in an A4 wallet or folder. I found the recipe cards easy to read and follow – there are also step by step photos if you’re more of a visual cook!

Back to Olia’s beautiful recipes…

I made the Lamb Steaks with Mint Ajika and New Potatoes today. Our meal was ready in under 20 minutes and I loved the ‘mint ajika’ twist – a fresh mint sauce but with the added punch of fresh garlic and chilli. This would be a great recipe to scale up too for a BBQ or for guests over the summer.

Next week, I’ll be making the most of a discount that Marley Spoon have offered (you can use the discount code too to get £20 off your first box, simply type in Ren&MarleySpoon into the voucher code box) which will be valid until the end of June. Look out for Marley Spoon ‘Global Barbecue’ boxes coming soon too.

To try Olia’s recipes next week, select Tamarind and Ginger Trout with Bok Choi and Crispy Garlic (week commencing 13^th June) and Georgian Pork Lavash with Pickled Spiced Carrots – (week commencing 20^th June). Both recipes are options in the ‘2 People’ box in the Weekly Menu section of the site.

Recipe: Creme Egg Cupcakes

How is your Easter going? I hope it’s been a fun filled weekend full of good food, family time and Chocolate!

I’m sure you are all quite sick of creme eggs, but in case you aren’t, or perhaps you have some visitors coming over, I’m sharing my Creme Egg Cupcakes, which I hope may inspire some Bank Holiday Easter baking.

Here’s a tip for you – Freezing the whole, large Creme eggs will prevent them from melting into the cake mixture once the cupcakes are in the oven! So freeze them first for the best result.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the Easter break.

I’m sorry things have been a bit quiet – I’ll be back very soon with some exciting book news and a number of new recipes.

More recipes using Easter leftovers

Nigella’s Brownies with leftover mini eggs

No Bake Creme Egg Cheesecake

These Creme Egg Cupcakes were featured previously by the Good Food Channel website. Recipe, styling and photo my own.

March 13, 2016

Review: Wonderland on Harmony of the Seas – the Dry Run

Review: Wonderland Imaginative Cuisine – a preview, or dry run, of the restaurant to be launched on board Harmony of the Seas by Royal Caribbean.

Wonderland concept on board Harmony of the Seas ™

Cruise holidays…cool, or not cool? I have to admit, I had previously categorised cruise ship holidays as something that my mum does. I mean no offence to my mum in saying this; she is über–glamorous, able to pack light, has seen much of the world and has made many friends on board various gargantuan-sized ships. It’s just that going on a cruise holiday is not something I have ever considered for myself or my family for fear of being uncontactable, claustrophobic, or sea-sick. Enter Royal Caribbean who are about to change my perceptions by launching the world’s largest cruise ship in May 2016 – Harmony of the Seas ™

This ship is designed to offer everything you could possibly wish for, including: the fastest internet at sea, a bionic (fully robotic) bar, a 9-deck high zip line, a 10-story drop waterslide, a running track, fitness centre and spa, ‘Central Park,’ a Broadway show, an outdoor movie screen and a rock climbing wall. The scope and scale of this ship is something that really hasn’t been achieved before, although Royal Caribbean have nine-times won Best Mainstream Cruise Company, so they clearly know a thing or two about offering luxury at sea.

As to the food on board, Harmony of the Seas ™ will boast a Jamie’s Italian, 150 Central Park by Michael Schwartz, an English Pub, a Vintage Wine Bar, to mention but a few of the dining options as well as countless coffee shops and cafes. Harmony of the Seas ™ will also offer guests the very modern dining experience of ‘Wonderland Imaginative Cuisine’ – a celebrated gastronomic adventure offered exclusively by Royal Caribbean.

Wonderland – was it wonderful?

Can the food on board a cruise ship really be all that good? Well, we were reassured by Michael Gilligan, Director of Culinary for Royal Caribbean, that it absolutely can be and we invited to a dry run of Wonderland, replicated in Central London, to taste the food for ourselves.

Chef Gilligan has accrued 25 years’ worth of culinary experience during his career so far, including stints at Le Manoir Aux Quatr’ Saisons, New York’s Ritz Carlton Hotel, De Niro’s Miriad Restaurant Group and the Conrad Miami amongst many other prestigious ‘on land’ adventures. He is now overseeing all culinary operations on board the world’s biggest cruise line.

The Wonderland Menu is categorised by theme rather than course, showcasing food from across the globe grouped into elements such as Sun, Ice, Fire, Earth and Dreams. There are culinary twists, elements of surprise and the dishes are all presented with a great deal of imagination and flair.

We sampled an 8-course tasting menu at the ‘Dry Run’ event, offering a preview to some of the dishes that you can expect to experience on Harmony of the Seas ™ including;

Liquid Marzana Olives
Crispy Crab Cones
Baby Vegetables in the Garden with Black Rice
Sashimi of Red and White Tuna (with a divine Yuzu dressing)
Buffalo Chicken Eggs (which arrives under a smoking glass cloche with blue cheese and a hot sauce)
Halibut Cooked in Clear Paper (with wild mushrooms, potatoes and bacon)
Berkshire Pork Belly with Apples and Crackling (with an exceptional sauce)
Valrhona Chocolate Mousse with Dulche de Leche and Crispy Pearls

I would happily eat this menu from beginning to end again and I must also mention the service, which was highly attentive and informative right the way through. The sauces and dressings accompanying some of the courses were incredibly well executed, too. The stand-out dish for me was the Halibut cooked in clear paper, although the Valrhona chocolate mousse reminded me that I would also need to save room, in future, for dessert.

Notes

Wonderland is a speciality dining option on board Quantum of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas and will launch from May 2016 on Royal Caribbean’s brand new ship Harmony of the Seas

Interested in more on-board photos? Look out for my future posts and have a look at Sarka’s post here:

Quantum of the Seas by Cook Your Dream.

With many thanks to Royal Caribbean for the invitation to experience Wonderland at The Ice Tank in London. I was not expected to write a positive review and all thoughts and opinions are my own. Images above supplied by Royal Caribbean.

You can follow Royal Caribbean on twitter @MyRoyalUK

I dined with Helen, Urvashi and Jeanne – fun to see you, ladies. It was a welcome night out!

What are your thoughts on cruise holidays? Have you ever experienced one?

January 27, 2016

Recipe: Healthy Noodle Pots and a look at Hungry Healthy Happy by Dannii Martin

Hungry Healthy Happy – isn’t that a perfect trilogy of words? It’s one of the reasons I have always been a fan of Dannii Martin’s thoughtfully-named blog and now, the mantra has been perfectly encapsulated into Dannii’s debut cookbook, of the same name, published by Jacqui Small. This book has been a very welcome addition to my kitchen this January. I’ve found lots of recipes to keep the family well-fed with high nutrient foods, without the usual calories count that winter comfort fuel brings with it. Particular favourites have been the Healthy Noodle Pots (recipe shared below) and Dannii’s Spicy Lentil Tacos.

What’s the book about?

Hungry Healthy Happy: How to nourish your body without giving up the food you love, is a beacon of sense in the current sea of fad diets and impossible commitments to clean eating. Dannii shares her story of how she managed to shed 98 pounds (the 7 stone that had crept on slowly thought her twenties) by setting her daily calorie intake to 1,500, which enabled her to lose 2 pounds steadily until she reached her own personal target weight. Dannii’s struggling health had been the main factor behind her trying to lose weight. However, as she lost the weight, she felt more motivated to keep active and find ways to stay focused, whilst gaining a healthier outlook on life and a better sense of how to stay balanced.

Dannii’s message is sensible, measured and down-to-earth, which is precisely what keeps the followers and fans of her blog coming back for more and, why publishing a book of her successful blog makes complete sense.

Thankfully, there is no giving up carbohydrates, no deprivation or fasting, just simple tips and tricks for leading a healthier life-style with a few less calories thrown in to the mix. It’s also not about eating less. In fact, Dannii suggests that you could be eating more, but by making some clever swaps and eating an overall greater proportion of healthier foods, Dannii shows you how you can start seeing small, yet significant changes to your health over the longer term.

Pad Thai (Photo credit: Jacqui Melville)

What’s the secret?

Just as persistence and perseverance are the key to maintaining a successful blog, according to Dannii’s own real-life experiences, the same principle can be applied to the journey to better health. There is no big mystery here – just small, incremental steps and consistency. And when things don’t quite go to plan, Dannii’s advice is not to beat yourself up about it; simply pick yourself up and move on.

Part of Dannii’s huge blog-appeal is that she is just a regular young woman, cooking from scratch, challenging herself every now and again by finding fun ways to keep active – such as by dancing or going for walks – and of course, by trying and sharing a selection of uncomplicated recipes with a focus on health and happiness.

There’s no huge team behind her, no hair and make up artist, no wardrobe stylist – just Dannii, from her home, telling it like it is. Dannii’s book is the perfect encapsulation of the no-nonsense message of her blog, with the addition of some beautiful food photography by Jacqui Melville.

Healthy Noodle Pots & Vietnamese Summer Rolls (Photo credit: Jacqui Melville)

The advice is simple:

“The Hungry Healthy Happy way of eating isn’t about totally restricting yourself, it’s about making small changes where you can, like adding extra vegetables, swapping cream for yoghurt and using fruit rather than sugar to retain sweetness but increase fibre.”

The book has a good solid introduction outlining:

The Principles of Losing Weight
The Importance of Exercise
Eating Well for Less
Store Cupboard Essentials
Two-week Meal Planner

The chapters are organised into:

Breakfasts
Snacks and Treats
Light Meals and Lunches
Hearty Main Meals
Side Dishes
Desserts
Drinks

Recipes I love:

As a family, we’ve really enjoyed some of Dannii’s recipes so far. I have found them to be quick and easy to prepare and even though some healthy substitutions are made, there is no compromise on flavour. For example, Dannii’s sweetens her pancake batter with mashed bananas instead of sugar, incorporates plenty of fresh fruit into her recipes, uses the grill more (for example for her Healthy Grill Up with Hash Browns) and offers her own versions of many of her takeaway favourites, such as her Portobello Mushrooms Pizzas, Sweet and Sour King Prawns and Chicken Tikka Masala.

Healthy Grill Up with Hash Browns (Photo Credit: Jacqui Melville)

Must Try’s:

Banana Pancakes (Breakfast, page 26)

Breakfast Burritos (Breakfast, page 41 – see similar recipe here but use wholemeal tortilla wraps and add pinto beans and fresh guacamole). Janice has shared Dannii’s recipe here.

For snacks I can recommend Dannii’s Blueberry Crumb Bars (Snacks and Treats, page 71)

For supper tonight we’ve having Dannii’s Pad Thai (page 144).

And, as you can see below, one of my own personal favourites have been the Healthy Noodle Pots (Light Meals and Lunches, page 93) – see recipe below.

Healthy Noodle Pots – Photo by Ren Behan

Winning Desserts – we love the Apple Nachos (Desserts, page 166) and also, Dannii’s vegan, gluten free and dairy free 2-Minute Healthy ‘Ice Cream’ (Desserts, page 176) – made very simply with ripe, frozen bananas. Dannii’s Mango and Raspberry Cheesecakes (page 165) are really simple to make and are very tasty.

Mango and Raspberry Cheesecake (Photo Credit: Jacqui Melville)

Who would love this book?

Anyone looking for some straight-talking, simple-to-follow advice and ‘good for you’ recipes!

If you’re following a plan such as Slimming World or Weight Watchers, many of Dannii’s recipes are easily adaptable, plus, each recipe has a nutritional breakdown so you can work out the ‘Syns’ or ‘SmartPointsTM’ quickly via your apps. Equally well, Dannii’s common sense approach means that you can incorporate her personal tips and tricks into your meal times from breakfast through to dinner with snacks and ideas for lower-calorie desserts in between.

Dannii’s philosophy isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being realistic, facing your ups and downs and making small, but significant changes and substitutions whilst still eating all the foods you love.

Details/Credits:

Recipe and images extracted from Hungry Healthy Happy by Dannii Martin, photography by Jacqui Melville. Published by Jacqui Small (£20.

With many thanks to Jacqui Small for my advanced review copy.

Amazon affiliate link included.

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Other book reviews you may like:

January 20, 2016

Recipe: Healthy Beef Ragù with Puy Lentils and Spinach

Goodness it’s cold here in the UK, we even had snow at the weekend. It’s so hard, I find, to keep up with any kind of January ‘healthy eating regime’ when all you want to do is curl up with a blanket and eat mounds of warm comfort food. So, I’ve devised a plan, which is to batch-cook big pots of my favourite savoury comfort food, starting with this beef ragù. I have employed a few tricks to try and strip out the calories by using an olive oil spray, super lean organic minced beef and then adding in plenty of vegetables such as carrots, celery, onions, tomatoes, Puy lentils and fresh spinach.

This dish is a meal in itself, so no spaghetti or pasta needed. If you’re really missing something, try courgette spaghetti, or ‘courgetti’ with this or even some brown Basmati rice. I promise, that when the need for comfort food strikes, this dish will tick all the right boxes. It may not be the way your Italian Nonna makes it, but it’s certainly a great way to pack in some extra vegetables and keep the cold weather comfort food cravings satisfied.

My recipe makes enough for 12 servings, so there’s plenty to go around and you can portion some up for lunch throughout the week, too.

Recipe Notes

You can use cooked green lentils in place of Puy Lentils in this recipe.

Slimming World = Free on Extra Easy

Weight Watchers = 5 SmartPointsTM per 200g portion

How are you keeping warm and well-fed?

Ren x

October 16, 2015

My Secret Quick-Fix Dark Chocolate Lime and Chilli Pudding

In case you haven’t been alerted – it’s Chocolate Week here in the UK. This is the one event in the foodie calendar that I do love to mark – not that I need any excuse when it comes to chocolate. There are a number of events going on, with the chocolate-themed celebrations reaching melting point at The Chocolate Show, 16-18 Oct at Olympia National Hall, London. In the meantime, I’ve been marking the week by tasting and cooking with some exceptionally good British chocolate, made by Beech’s, who are based in Preston, Lancashire and who have been making chocolate since 1920. After much deliberation, I decided that I liked their ‘chocolate thins’ the most and I’m torn between declaring their Milk Chocolate Anglesey Sea Salt thins or their Dark Chocolate Lime and Chilli thins as my favourites of the week. By happy accident, I also discovered that I could use them in one of my favourite quick-fix chocolate cake recipes – a microwave mug cake (shhh) that takes about a minute to whisk together and less than a minute to cook. It’s perfect for those occasions when you need an almost-instant chocolate cake hit. If you add two Beech’s thins to the bottom of a ramekin and one on top of the mixture, you create a lush sauce at the bottom and a chocolate puddle to dive into through the top.

A chocolate cake in under a minute you say?!

1 vote

Quick Fix Dark Chocolate Lime and Chilli Pudding (Microwave Version)

Prep 5 mins

Cook 1 min

Total 6 mins

Author Ren Behan

Yield 1

A super quick (40 second) microwave pudding with Dark Chocolate Lime and Chilli Thins - note this makes one ramekin-sized cake. Adapted from a 30 second Self Saucing Chocolate Pudding in a Mug Recipe by Domesblissity.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon mild, light olive oil
3 dark chocolate thins
1 tablespoon self-raising flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder - I like Green & Blacks
1 tablespoon light muscovado sugar
4 tablespoons whole milk

Instructions

Take a ramekin dish and lightly grease the bottom and sides with a little olive oil. Place two chocolate thins into the bottom of the ramekin.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and milk.
Pour the mixture into the ramekin.
Place a chocolate thin onto the top.
Microwave for 20 seconds. Wait ten seconds. Microwave for a further 20 seconds.
Eat right away!

Since I’m in the mood for sharing my chocolate thoughts, here’s a selection of some of my go-to chocolate recipes from around the web. Feast your senses on this little lot and don’t forget to let me know if you have a go at trying any of them.

9 of the best…

Let’s start with the healthiest chocolate cake I could find…Katherine’s Slow Cooker Beetroot Chocolate Cake with Beetroot Vanilla Topping.
Next on the hit-list, Sarah’s Egg Free Quark Chocolate Mousse.
For a no-cook recipe, I’d go for Michelle’s Chocolate Pots.
Best Brownie recipe? Definitely Judith’s Gooey Fudgy Deeply Chocolaty Brownies.
Need something stunning? Try Nazima’s gorgeous Lychee Mousse Cake.
For a gluten-free yet decadent cake, I love Jeanne’s Spiced Chocolate Orange Cake.
If you’re after a bake-off style showstopper, here’s a beauty – Jac’s Moist Chocolate After Eight Cake.
Lush, lush, lush – Katie’s Chocolate Hazlenut Crumble Tarts.
And finally, if you’re in the mood for something French, try Urvashi’s Chocolate Madelines.

Happy Chocolate Week

With thanks to Beech’s for the chocolate samples. I was not required to write about the samples or create a recipe.

The Lime and Chilli Dark Chocolate Thins are also available at Lakeland, at £4.89.

October 1, 2015

Market Experience Food Photography, Oktoberfest and the St Albans Street Finale this weekend!

If today’s news of the giant sinkhole in St Albans hasn’t caught your attention, then I hope this weekend’s St Albans and Harpenden Food Festival activities will!

As I type, there are just two spaces left on our market experience food photography workshop this Saturday – take a look at Stephanie’s site to book if you fancy joining us. If you’ve never visited St Albans before, let me entice you…

Our beautiful city is just 22 minutes by train from London St Pancras. According to the Guinness Book of Records, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks (situated in the heart of Verulamium Park) is the oldest pub in Britain. We also have more pubs per square mile than anywhere else in the country (woo hoo) and we are incredibly proud to host one of the oldest regular street markets in the UK, dating back to the 9th century.

For a real taste of what St Albans has to offer by the way of independent restaurants, cafes, delis, market stalls and street food, then this weekend is by far the best weekend to come and visit.

Here are a few treats to look forward to at the weekend:

Stephanie and Ren’s St Albans Market Experience Food Photography Course

Meeting at 9am outside Thompson@Darcy’s
2 Hatfield Road, St Albans, AL1 3RP

Click here for more details – two spaces left (as of today)

Photo credit: Stephanie Belton

Octoberfest, The Foragers at The Verulam Arms – Saturday 3 October

41 Lower Dagnall Street, St Albans, AL3 4QE
12 noon – midnight

After the workshop, I’ll be heading along to The Verulam Arms to join The Foragers for their annual Okterberfest. The Foragers are promising live ‘Oompah’ music, a special ‘festbier’ from their microbrewery and beers from Munich, as well as their ‘unique brand of wild food with a German twist’ including sausages, homemade stews and sauerkraut. Who’s with me?!

St Albans Street Finale – Sunday 4^th October

St Peter’s Street, St Albans (head for the city centre)
12pm – 6pm

On Sunday, St Albans high street will be transformed into a street food haven with a pop up village green complete with hay bales and beer from some of our best local pubs. There will also be a Kitchen Garden area with an emphasis on grow your own and locally grown produce, a City Farm, a Family Zone (including a children’s Fairtrade chocolate factory) as well as a cookery theatre and a World Food Zone. See demo times here (page 14).

St Albans Seasonal Salad

Thank you also to everyone who made the St Albans Seasonal Salad (there’s been lots of love on Twitter!) that I created especially for the food festival and the #kidscookalong this year and to Stu McLellan for illustrating it.

Happigreetings

As I’m dishing out some local love, I’d also like to thank Glen Cooper for sending me one of his happigreetings by happijar cards, featuring an image created by a local St Albans artist, Mandy Reekie and some inspirational quotes behind the little windows on the front. The really cool thing about these cards is that you can customise them and include your own quotes in each window – think of an advent calendar in a card with eight windows – six on the front and two on the back. Take a look at Glen’s Etsy store here for more versions.

If you can’t visit St Albans this weekend, then I hope you can visit the St Albans Christmas Market within the grounds of St Albans Cathedral from Thursday 26^th November to Sunday 20^th December. Find out more here.

October 1, 2015

Simple and in Season July and August – 65 summer recipes

Ren’s got a poorly household at the moment, and she’s not feeling too great herself, so Feeding Boys is staging a temporary blog takeover to give her a bit of a break. Don’t worry, she’ll be back very soon!

So if you’re not quite ready to let go of summer just yet, here’s a bountiful collection of summer recipes generously sent in for July and August’s round of Simple and in Season.

Ren wants me to pass on her thanks to everyone who sent in their amazing dishes to celebrate the seasonal produce that the summer months brought us. From soft fruit bakes to salads, light vegetable soups to preserves we’re spoilt for choice with this extensive selection of dishes. I hope you find some inspiration in this post… I know I have!

Happy reading, and let’s raise a glass to an extremely tasty Summer!

Katie x

Rhubarb and Strawberry Syrup – eat. live. travel. write
Tatin de Legumes – eat. live. travel. write
Summer Quiche with Herby Wholemeal Pastry – Life, Loss & Lots of Love
Cucumber & Fennel Salad – Chardonnay and Samphire
Strawberry & Hendrick’s Dome – Patisserie Makes Perfect
Pea and Kale Soup with Mint – Veggie Desserts
Summer Salads from Jamie Oliver HQ – Ren Behan
Watermelon and Feta Salad – Veggie Desserts
Garlic and Herb Twister Bread – Tales From The Kitchen Shed

Strawberry Tart – Tales From The Kitchen Shed
Cheese and Garlic Bread Twists – Tales From The Kitchen Shed
Gooseberry and Apple Jam – Fab Food 4 All
Roasted Summer Vegetables With Goats Cheese – Ren Behan
Green Goddess Lunch Bowl – The Veg Space
Easy Aioli – Tin and Thyme
Cauliflower Hummus – Veggie Desserts
Strawberry Chantilly Cake – The Dream Baker
Raspberry Vinaigrette – Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary

Chilled Avocado, Watercress and Cucumber Soup – How To Cook Good Food
Mango Manaskai – Healthy and Tasty Vegetarian Recipes
Gooseberry and Orange Drizzle Cake – The More Than Occasional Baker
Ham and Broad Bean Risotto – Life, Loss and Lots of Love
Morello Cherry and Raspberry Jam – The Veg Space
Fresh Cherry Cupcakes – Jo’s Kitchen
Strawberry Crumble Bars – Kerry Cooks
Mixed Berry Buttermilk Muffins – Nic’s Bakes
Bilberry Pie – Life, Loss and Lots of Love

Melon, Mozzarella and Prosciutto Salad – My Little Italian Kitchen
Blueberry and White Chocolate Buttermilk Scones – The More Than Occasional Baker
Chargrilled Veggies with a Caesar Dressing – How to Cook Good Food
Vegan BLT With The Best Avocado Mayo Ever – Food To Glow
Crushed Minted Peas on Toast – Veggie Desserts
Caramelised Courgette Soup – Fab Food 4 All
Fruity Lemonade Ice Lollies – Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diaries
Gooseberry Crumble Cake – The More Than Occasional Baker
Spiced Courgette Fritters – Tin and Thyme

Fresh Cherry Crumble Cake – Ren Behan
Heirloom Tomato and Roasted Lemon Salad – Chez Maximka
Raspberry and Blackcurrant Jam – Fab Food 4 All
Strawberry Cheesecake Mousse – Life and Chai
Polish Salted Dill Cucumbers – Coffee and Vanilla
Crispy Baked Shrimp with Edamame Succotash – Franglais Kitchen
Greek Orzo Salad – Lancashire Food
Broad Bean and Bacon Risotto – Jibber Jabber UK
Mini-Macaron Ice-Cream Sandwiches – Rosie Bakes

Chocolate Courgette Loaf With Nutella and Cranberries – More Than The Occasional Baker
Freekeh Tabbouleh – Chardonnay and Samphire
Easy Roasted Celeriac Soup – Fab Food 4 All
Blush Gooseberry and Chia Seed Jam – Penelope’s Pantry
Summertime Panino – My Little Italian Kitchen
Courgette and Ginger Jam – Tales From The Kitchen Shed
Cauliflower Leaf and Sweet Potato Curry – Veggie Desserts
Sugar, Gluten and Dairy Free Easy Apple Crumble – Along Came Cherry
Sweet Chilli Jam – Tales From The Kitchen Shed

Spiced Blackberry Pulled Pork – De Tout Coeur Limousin
Courgette Brownies – Tales From The Kitchen Shed
Instant Blueberry Ginger Ice-Cream – The Taste Space
Brie, Courgette and Red Pepper Muffins – More Than The Occasional Baker
Magical Grilled Peaches – The Taste Space
Rainbow Chard Souffle – Fab Food 4 All
Chorizo and Green Bean Ragu – Fab Food 4 All
Zucchini and Orange Marmalade Muffins – More Than The Occasional Baker
Tangy Cabbage and Carrot Stir-fry – Maayeka
Blackcurrant Vinegar – Tin and Thyme
Baked Greek Feta with Barbecued Red Pepper, Tomatoes and Mountain Oregano – The Gluten Free Alchemist

Thanks again for all of your amazing entries… Simple and in Season is having a little rest for September, but watch this space for the next instalment!

Let’s all wish Ren a collective Get Well Soon! xxx

September 22, 2015

Join me for a ‘Market Experience’ Food Photography Class

There are just five spaces left on my very first food photography class on Saturday 3rd October 2015 in St Albans with the award-winning photographer, Stephanie Belton.

Book here now to join us!

This year, the St Albans and Harpenden Food and Drink Festival is embracing food photography!

I’m excited to announce that I shall be running a very special workshop with celebrated local photographer Stephanie Belton. The Market Photography Experience is a brand new concept in food photography and we’re launching here in St Albans.

This two-part, interactive workshop combines street food and outdoor market photography with the art of food styling and indoor food photography (based at Thomson@Darcy’s) and is perfect for all skill levels.

Whether you’re a blogger, food writer, instagrammer, or photography enthusiast perhaps looking for a new subject matter to explore this the perfect opportunity for you to refine your skills or gain some new ones in a fun, relaxed, hands on way.

This workshop runs on Saturday 3rd Oct 9-11.45am and we would absolutely love for you to join us.

Stephanie Belton and Ren Behan

Overview

Meet outside Thompson@Darcy’s on Hatfield Road for a brief introduction to the morning.
Head to St Albans Market where we’ll be sharing some specialist tips on how best to capture the life of the market.
Group session taking photographs of the people and the produce.
Task – find some fresh, seasonal produce to work with indoors.
Head back to Thompson@Darcy’s where we’ll have use of plenty of bright, natural light and space.
Once we’re back at the restaurant, we’ll be welcomed with coffee and pastries (optional extra).
During the second part of the workshop, Stephanie and I will be sharing some of our indoor photography techniques and tips, including some beautifully plated restaurant food by Phil Thompson and his team, as well photographing the produce you’ve selected at the market alongside some props.

By the end of the day, Stephanie and I will have helped you create some beautiful images of food, with tips on how to play with the light, composition and available props to produce mouth-watering shots.

I’ll also be showing you the exact set up that I use at home to create the food photography shots that I produce for commissioned work and for my blog.

There are no pre-requisites for this class, all photography levels are welcome. In terms of equipment, you will need to bring your own camera (ideally an SLR or bridge camera but compact cameras can also be used).

Photo Credit: Stephanie Belton

INFORMATION

Date: Saturday 3rd Oct 9-11.45am

Location: Thompson@Darcy’s 2 Hatfield Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL1 3RP

Price: £59 (£65 including coffee and pastries)

Excited? We are! We look forward to meeting you.

Don’t forget to use the hashtag #marketexperience across social media if you are joining us or would like to find out more.

Space is limited to 15 participants for this course.

I’ve also created the St Albans Seasonal Salad recipe (above) for the #kidscookalong – you can download your free recipe card here.

For more 2015 St Albans and Harpenden Food Festival Events you can find the full brochure here.

September 10, 2015

Recipe: Seattle-Style Cream Cheese Hot Dogs with a Quick Pickled Cabbage Salad

It’s been two years since my last visit to Seattle, which means two years since my first taste of a Seattle Dog – cream cheese adorned hot dogs sold by street vendors around Seattle. A little stand in Pioneer Square called ‘Dog in the Park’ sold me my best-ever Seattle Dog…in case you are ever visiting. The Seattle Dog is often made with a Polish hot dog sausage (bonus) and is usually served with cream cheese, onions, sauerkraut or cabbage and fried potatoes, oh, and mayo or chilli sauce. The cream cheese, in case you are wondering, is spread onto the inside of the toasted hot dog bun. They are not the easiest things to eat (pick up an extra large stash of napkins) but my goodness, as street food goes, they are really good.

When Sarsons recently asked me to create a street-food inspired recipe with a pickled element, I immediately wanted to recreate my own version of a really good street food dog, and so I did. My hot dogs are served with cream cheese, in true Seattle-style, caramelized onions and my twist – a quick pickled cabbage salad, which I often make to a Polish recipe known as Surówka. These are great for feeding a crowd. If you do try this recipe at home (and I rely hope you do!) try and get the best quality hot dogs that you can. Polish delis sell sausages called kabanosy, which are slightly smoky, or go for a good quality organic all-beef hot dog, which would be my second choice.

A few little tips to make this recipe extra special: after boiling the hot dogs, split them and griddle them in a hot pan. Also, split the buns and griddle them, too to warm them up a little. You can make the Quick Pickled Cabbage Salad in advance – store in in a jar for up to three days in the fridge.

3 votes

Prep 10 mins

Cook 10 mins

Total 20 mins

Author Ren Behan

What has been your best street food experience ever? I’d love to know!

Take a look at my Street Food Pinterest Board for more inspiration

With thanks to Sarsons for commissioning this recipe. Photo credit: Sarsons

September 4, 2015

Recipe: Rainy Day Pizza Pasta Soup

So, another summer season is over and it’s back to school for the children after a fairly rainy few weeks. Rather than craving summer salads, we’ve been seeking out cold weather food – scrambled eggs for breakfast, soups for lunch and pasta bakes for dinner. The children have also been requesting their favourites; pizza, pasta with tomato sauce or Bolognese, repeat. And so I’ve been trying to get creative with the ways we rotate around these themes. Enter my Rainy Day Pizza Pasta Soup. It is indeed a strange hybrid, “It’s a bit odd, but it tastes nice, mummy” came one piece of feedback. However, I actually really love this recipe as it’s a great way to use up odds and ends or leftovers, especially on days when I can’t face a supermarket adventure with three children.

The recipe below assumes that you have either some tomato sauce or Bolognese sauce leftover. If you haven’t, then you could make a batch following my Slow Cooker Bolognese Recipe. You could also use a jar of tomato sauce – a good quality one and add the same amount of stock to achieve a soup consistency. On other occasions, I’ve thrown in chopped, fried pepperoni, mushrooms or shredded chicken. A good sprinkle of mozzarella is a must and a big heap of grated Parmesan cheese for the top. Fresh basil or oregano is lovely, too. Get creative!

5 votes

Rainy Day Pizza Pasta Soup

Prep 10 mins

Cook 10 mins

Total 20 mins

Author Ren Behan

Yield 4

A great way to use up leftover tomato or Bolognese sauce. Simply add a handfull of pasta and some of your favourite 'toppings' such as chopped, fried pepperoni, mushrooms, or shredded chicken. Add grated mozzarella and a good handful of Parmesan cheese on the top.

Ingredients

500g/two cups Bolognese or good quality tomato sauce (leftovers are ideal)
250ml/one cup vegetable or chicken stock
1 bay leaf
sea salt
black pepper
280g/2 cups cooked pasta
100g mozzarella, torn or grated
100g fresh Parmesan cheese
1 small bunch fresh basil, leaves and stalks separated
(optional - fried pepperoni, mushrooms or shredded chicken)

Instructions

Pour the Bolognese or tomato sauce into a large pan. On a medium heat, bring to the boil. Add in the stock and stir well. Add in the bay leaf. Stir in half a teaspoon each of sea salt and black pepper.
When hot, add in the cooked pasta and stir. Remove the bay leaf Add the optional extras, such as pepperoni, if using. Divide the soup between four bowls.
Add the torn mozzarella, and top with grated Parmesan cheese and a few basil leaves per bowl.
Serve straight away

Cuisine Italian-ish

More Pizza Loveliness

If you’re looking for other back to school/autumnal recipes, take a look at these pizza-inspired creations:

We love Jac’s Easy Pizza Dip with Cream Cheese over on Tinned Tomatoes
Time for some baking? Try Sarah’s Pizza Muffins with Black Olives over on Maison Cupcake
Jeanne at Cook Sister shares her recipe for Margherita Pizza Grilled Cheese Sandwiches – next on our pizza hit list!
I Spy some Pizza Nachos over on Franglaise Kitchen by Nazima
Or, how about Margherita Pizza Hummus? Another very tasty dip and pizza-inspired creation by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours
Plus, Katie has rounded up seven of her back to school favourites, here.

I hope you enjoy some of these pizza-inspired rainy day recipes!

As always, let me know if you make this by tagging me on Instagram or Twitter as @RenBehan.

Or, add your recipes and ideas to our Pizza Love Pinterest board (338K followers)

Follow Ren Behan Food’s board Pizza Love! on Pinterest.

July 27, 2015

Fresh Cherry Crumble Cake

We were lured by the huge crates of English cherries at St Albans Market over the weekend. By the time we arrived home, the children had eaten a whole bag of cherries between themselves – in the back of the car – and yes, there were cherry juice stains everywhere. The second bag I had earmarked for a cherry crumble cake, made to a recipe my mum had given me over the phone a few days earlier. This is an easy cake that you can either make in a rectangular tin – I’d go for a 12″ x 9″ traybake tin, or as we did, a deep round tin. It depends whether you are in the mood for a rectangular cake or a round cake. We were in the mood for a round cake. Get the kids to crack the eggs into a bowl, measure out the ingredients or make the crumble mix while you get on with stoning the cherries – mine (8 & 5) can manage the crumble mix on their own. It’s a bit messy, but messy baking is fun. If you can’t find cherries, lots of other stone fruits work in this recipe – plums or apricots chopped in half with the stones removed. You can also make this with blueberries. I love the mess that cherries make. Almost as much as the mess the children make.

I used some cardamom Spice Drops to flavour my cake in addition to a little vanilla but this flavour is entirely optional. My friend, Gouri, gave me a couple of bottles of Spice Drops to try – you can buy them on Ocado in the UK. Spice Drops are an interesting little invention – they are concentrated extracts of the natural spice and they come in lots of flavours – including cardamom, cinnamon, lemongrass, peppermint, rose and many more – you can see the full range here.

1 vote

Fresh Cherry Crumble Cake

Prep 20 mins

Cook 60 mins

Total 1 hour, 20 mins

Author Ren Behan

Yield 8

An easy cake made with fresh English cherries and a crumble topping. I used some cardamom spice drops do give an extra dimension of flavour. You can also crush some fresh cardamom pods instead or leave the cardamom out and just use vanilla extract.

Ingredients

400g fresh cherries, pitted (or other stone fruit)
For the crumble topping
50g/ 1/3 cup plain/all-purpose flour
50g/ ½ stick unsalted butter at room temperature
30g/ ¼ cup icing/confectioners’ sugar
For the cake batter
180g/1.5 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
130g/1 cup caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 drops cardamom Spice Drops (see notes) or the seeds of 6 green cardamom pods, crushed
200g/1.5 cups self-raising or all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions

Preheat the oven to fan 160C/180C/gas 4. Using a little butter, grease and line a 20cm round cake tin, about 5cm deep or a rectangular traybake tin 12" by 9"
Remove the stalks from the cherries, carefully slice each cherry in half and remove the stone. Keep the cherries to one side.
Make the crumble topping by sifting the flour into a large bowl. Add the butter and icing sugar or confectioners’ sugar. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour and sugar to make a crumb-like mixture, then set it to one side while you make the cake batter.
Whisk the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy (around five minutes using a stand mixer or a whisk), add the eggs in, one by one, and continue to mix well. Add the vanilla extract and cardamom drops or crushed cardamom pods, if using. Mix together well again.
Sift in the flour and baking power and using a spoon, carefully stir the mixture until all the flour is incorporated.
Pour the cake batter into your lined baking tin and flatten with the back of a spoon.
Scatter the halved cherries onto the batter and press down gently.
Scatter the prepared crumble mixture over the top of the cherries.
Bake for 55-60 minutes until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean.
Leave the crumble cake in the tin to cool and then remove and place onto a wire rack until you are ready to serve.
Before serving, dust with a little extra icing/confectioners’ sugar.
The cake will keep well in a tin for up to two days.

Courses Dessert

All you need once the cake is baked is a nice cup of tea and you’re all set for the afternoon.

If you have a go at baking this cake (and I hope you do) don’t forget to let me know.

Tag me on instagram @renbehan or on Twitter @RenBehan or on Facebook Ren BehanFood so I can see how it turned out.

I’m linking my bake up to Simple and in Season July and August.

Other fruity bakes that you may like to try:

My Poppy Seed and Plum Cake Recipe
My Cherry and Almond Traybake
Sarah’s Five Minute No Butter Chocolate Cherry Cake
Nazima’s Plum Crumble Tart
Becca’s Blueberry Shortbread Bars

Happy Baking!

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Ren's Goji Beetroot Blast

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