Sticky Sticky. Clarks Maple Syrup & Honey.

I am a huge maple syrup fan so was delighted when Clarks contacted me with the offer of a selection of their syrups and honey to try. To be honest I didn't even know they had a range of honey's or that there was more than one kind of Maple Syrup. Neither myself of Foodie Loon like honey but boy and girl are huge fans. I do use it in cooking and baking but really don't enjoy it on its own or on bread/toast.

My official taste team were straight on the job and put all the products to the test in a most scientific fashion. I had to rely on them for the honey feedback but both the Clear Lavender and the Acacia got a huge thumbs up even although they looked and tasted very different. Of the three Maple Syrups I received the one I usually buy is the Original version. I had always assumed that this was pure syrup but it is actually blended with Carob Fruit Syrup. Upon tasting it in comparison with No1 and No2 I found it overly sweet. No 1 is considered by Canadians to be the real Maple Syrup whilst No 2 is harvested later in the season and is darker and richer.

With an abundant supply in the pantry it was time to get cooking. First up Eggy Bread (French Toast) with Bacon & Maple Syrup. This is a firm favourite in our house for breakfast, brunch or a quick supper. If its not something you've eaten for a while do give it a go. It must be eaten quickly before your bread goes cold and soggy. Next I used some Acacia Honey and Fruit Sweet to make a selection of Rainforest Smoothies with a class of P7 pupils. 

Aother of my regular uses is Maple Syrup and Grainy Mustard Marinade. This is delicious on Salmon fillets which can then be grilled/oven baked or done al fresco on the BBQ. The same combo goes well with ribs but I add Smoked Sweet Paprika to the mix to give a stronger flavour.

If you have the BBQ out and are looking for a salad to accompany I've devised my own Pimm's Summer Salad. I've blogged the recipe on a previous BBQ Time post and it includes Acacia Honey. Its a real taste of summer and can surely be classed as one, if not two, of your five a day.

Grainy Mustard required again for my next idea. This is a very simple but oh so tasty dip. Only three ingredients Mayonnaise. Grainy Mustard. Maple Syrup. Combine them to your own taste and enjoy. Here we had them with potato wedges and crisp coated chicken goujons.

The final use is literally hot off the press this morning. Boy turns 11 today and for his Birthday Breakfast I made him Waffles, Crispy Bacon and Maple Syrup. Happy Birthday Kyle! Go wash that sticky syrup off your face.

S'more Camping than Glamping

We've had three glamping expeditions so far this year, High Seas Hobbit, Gypsy Caravans and a return visit to the Hobbit. The end of July should be safe enough weather wise to give some old style camping a go surely? The sun was shining and the temperature was hot, hot, hot when we headed to Aden Country Park at Mintlaw to spend a Saturday night camping with friends. 

After discovering Rhubarb Vodka on our last glamping trip I'd set about making my own plus some Rhubarb Gin. Strictly speaking neither had been left long enough to infuse but I took the risk of decanting a wee bottle of the Gin to bring along as camping juice. Oh my days it is good. Even better than the vodka version. Goes down far too easy straight and absolutely perfect with tonic and ice.

Base camp established in the glorious sunshine it was time to head off and explore our surroundings. But not before we were suitably refreshed with a glass of Pimm's. Alas we forgot the mint and our foraging couldn't source any. So much to do at Aden. Huge play area with zip slide, treehouse, ruined mansion house, lake, gardens and woodland. The 5 kids were charged with collecting kindling for the campfire on the way back to our tents. Boy went one better and fashioned a rope from grasses to tie up his bundle. 

As per usual we had brought along enough food between us to feed the entire campsite. I had filled up my trusty Tiffin Box with an assortment of salady bits including a tuna and sweetcorn pasta made with some funky coloured bows brought back from Italy. There seemed to be much hilarity with regards to 'Carry On Camping' and my Tiffin Box. Must be some sort of in joke. 

Our meaty goodies included chicken kebabs, vegetable kebabs, sausages, mojito chicken fillets, burgers and ribs. The ribs were a big success. What they lacked in meatiness they more than made up for in flavour. I'd marinaded them the night before in Olive Oil, Maple Syrup, Sweet Smoked Paprika, Grainy Mustard and S&P.

The kids were very excited about the prospect of S'mores cones. This was our first try at making these and would have been much more successful if I hadn't stood on the box of cones in the tent...

S'MORES CONES

Waffle Ice Cream Cones

Mini Marshmallows

Chopped Fruit - Strawberries & Bananas

Chocolate Chips - Milk & White

Mini Fudge Chunks

Fill your cone (must be a waffle one) with you own preference of sweet and sticky ingredients  Anything goes but you really need some marshmallow and chocolate to melt and make everything stick together. Wrap in tinfoil and place on the BBQ. Depending on the heat it should take around 5 minutes for the contents to melt. Unwrap and enjoy.

Alas all good things must come to an end and that was certainly true of the weather on this occasion  Scorching Saturday turned to Soggy Sunday and it soon became apparent that our tent wasn't quite as weatherproof as it should be. Undaunted we still cooked up a hearty breakfast in the rain. Think I might stick to glamping in future. Hobbits and Gypsy Caravans don't leak.

Cookery Course in Tuscany. Pasta. Focaccia. Gnocchi.

No sooner had we arrived at Norcenni Girasole Club for a fortnights holiday in Bella Italia than I spotted a sign that was impossible for me to resist. Tuscan Cookery Class. Even more interesting when I found it was to be held in a rather posh hotel next door to Sting's Italian home. What a glorious setting Villa La Pallagina was. No sign of the former Police frontman but a lucky 13 participants for our cookery course.

Our tutor for the day was Federico, or Chef Fred to his students. We were to be preparing our own lunch of Focaccia, Spaghetti, Gnocchi and Tortellini. It was a scorcher of a day but we were cooking al fresco in the shade of a canopy with plenty of chilled water and Prosecco on hand. Huge pan of tatties on to boil for the Gnocchi whilst we got stuck into making the Focaccia.

FOCCACIA

700g Plain Flour

450g Warm Water

15g Salt

25g Fresh Yeast

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Measure out all the ingredients, including weighing the water. (Something I have never seen done in a recipe before). Crumble in the fresh yeast (where do I buy this in the UK??) and a slug of olive oil. Combine in a large bowl and tip out onto a floured surface and kneed until elastic and shiny. Add more oil or flour if needed. Return to the bowl, cover with clingfilm and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. Knock back after the first proving and place on a very well Olive Oiled baking tray. Use your fingers to shape the dough whilst making dimple marks all over it but avoiding the edges. Cover with cling and prove for a second time. Drizzle with Oil and coarse salt before baking for 15-20 mins at 180 degrees.

FRESH PASTA

300g Plain Flour

3 Eggs

1 spoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Next up pasta which I've made myself at home quite a few times now. Chef Fred showed us how to make it by hand and then we headed into the kitchen where he made a batch by machine. We used a Chitarra (pasta guitar) and rolling pin to cut the pasta into spaghetti strands. Albeit they were square rather than round.

With the other half for the fresh pasta we made Tortellini stuffed with Ricotta, Parmesan and Fresh Herbs. I've made my own ravioli stuffed with ricotta but the tortellini shapes looked more complex but under Fred's instruction we all got the hang of them. The best tip that I picked up was to use a plant water spray bottle to moisten the edges before sealing. I've been using a pastry brush and water but this gave much more control and less sogginess. 

GNOCCHI

1kg Boiled Potatoes
200g Plain Flour
2 eggs
Salt
Parmesan

Last on the menu was Gnocchi with Pesto. The tatties had been boiled and were mashed with a potato ricer before the flour, eggs, salt and Parmesan were added to make a dough. Basil was picked fresh from the garden to make the Pesto which contained only a tiny amount of pine nuts which I was surprised to see were not toasted. Fred said that would make it bitter. He also didn't add any Parmesan to the pesto but instead mixed it though at the last minute when serving up.

After all our hard work we sat down to enjoy the fruits of our labour over a late lunch accompanied with some Chianti from the hotel's own Vineyard. The food was excellent and we were well and truly stuffed with our carb loaded meal. Consensus was we'd done a great job and would all try and recreate the dishes at home.

Following a post lunch Espresso the majority of the course participants headed off but a few of us remained to try out the hotels two swimming pools. Soaking up the sunshine and cooling off in the infinity pool was the perfect conclusion to the day. The sky did however begin to darken around 4pm and a distant rumble of thunder soon turned to a torrential downpour. I may have been soggy but thanks to the Fred's plant spray bottle tip my tortellini won't be.

A Fortnight of Food & Drink in Bella Italia

Did you miss me? Just got back yesterday from a fortnights holiday in Tuscany. Had a fantastic time staying at Norcenni Girasole Club. Wifi access was somewhat limited so didn't manage to blog (with the exception of a couple of pre-scheduled posts) but shared our Italian adventures in food on my Facebook page. If you'd like to like me there you'll keep up to date with all of my foodie blethers Foodie Quine on Facebook. I'll be blogging in depth about various aspects of our trip in due course, but meanwhile here's a pictorial summary of what I've already shared with my Facebook likers. 

Awesome first meal in Italy

Toasting Mr Murray's Wimbledon win with Chianti and BBQ

Like a kid in a Sweetie Shop in Florence

Lunch in Florence at Le Antiche Carrozze

Awesome setting for my Tuscan Cookery Course at Villa La Palagina

Tortoleni stuffed with Ricotta, Parmesan and Herbs

Focaccia

Spaghetti

Gnocchi with Pesto

Lunch in Siena

Tuscan wine tasting night at Villa Norcinni Cellar with wines from il Colombaio di Cencio

Why do UK supermarkets look nothing like this?

Girl thought she'd died and gone to heaven with the Italian answer to deep fried Mars Bar. Nutella Pizza.

This is the way to drink late night coffee. With Amaretto, Baileys and Cream.

Lunch in San Gimignano. Risotto with Truffle for me at Hotel La Cisterna

Foodie temptation

Developed a serious Ice Cream habit. I'm blaming a combination of the heat and the fact that Italian gelato can not be beaten. Favourite flavours so far have been Raspberry & Rosemary and Pink Grapefruit & Prosecco.

Pizza in Pisa.

Wonderful visit to an organic vineyard at Podere Luisa

Complete opposite in the afternoon at an International Wine Cellar. Lamole di Lamole

The biggest and tastiest steak ever. Steak Florentine.

Reward for many stairs climbed. Chip pizza. Even more of a food sin than Nutella Pizza?!

Sights, smells, tastes and sounds of Florence Market. The jury is still out on the Tripe Sandwiches...

The last supper in Bella Italia

Laura Cooks for Raymond Blanc - Squid & Barley

I've got a very special guest post on the blog today from eight year old Laura Townsend who like me lives in Aberdeenshire. I've known Laura since she was a toddler and was so excited for her when she won this experience of a lifetime. Laura can be found blogging at Laura Cooks (with a little help from her Mum). I am so inspired (and jealous) of her skill in the kitchen relative to her age, her prizewinning recipe and her meeting with Monsieur Blanc. 

I've left Laura's words exactly as she wrote them...

LEON cook5/Times prize weekend!!

Hello


remember a few weeks ago I told you about the cookery competition I won. It was with LEON restaurants and there cook5 website and the Times newspaper. Well it was great. I am going to tell you about it.

My mum went with me. We went on the plane and a few taxis an we eventually got to the hotel witch was great - we stayed at One Aldwich I loved the underwater music in the pool. We went for lunch at Wahaca. And then gone to Hamleys and Fortnum and Mason.

The next day I got a taxi with the other winners Mia and Poppy to the cooking school Food at 52 and it looked fab. You should see it for yourself! first i found all my ingredients and then everybody started to arrive. Henry Dimbleby, John Vincent and Beth from LEON, Giles Coren and Tony Turnbull from the Times newspaper, and Raymond Blanc.

Me cooking the dish

Raymond Blanc was rely kind. He showed me how to prepare squid, he told me to add the salt to my risotto first (which I have never done before). Raymond has a HUGE Love of food. IT was great to see Raymond like my food so much. my recipe was a barley risotto with asparagus and lemon juice, and squid. I was pleased how it turned out ( because it was the tastiest I have ever cooked it!).

HENRY AND JOHN were rely nice and they gave me a basket of goodies from LEON.

My Finished Dish

The Tasting

The day finished with a cookery demonstration from Raymond of pistou soup and chocolate mousse. I think they are rely beautiful. some day I want to have my own restaurant like Raymond. It would be nice to cook for him again in his restaurant!

the weekend was a life time experience.
BY-BY

Isn't she just a foodie star in the making? I'm pretty sure Laura could teach me a thing or two in the kitchen. I have certainly never tackled squid. If you are braver than me and fancy giving her dish a go her recipe is reproduced below. I'm hoping she might agree to giving me a masterclass. Pretty sure Laura is destined for bigger and better things. Hope she'll remember to put Foodie Quine on the guest list when she opens her first restaurant. 


Laura Townsend’s Squid & Barley

“I chose these ingredients because I wanted some vegetables in season and I love squid and wanted to invent something new. Barley grows a lot in Scotland where I live,” says Laura

Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tbsp butter 
2 tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp olive oil 
1 bunch spring onions, chopped 
3 garlic cloves, crushed 
300g barley (or risotto rice) 
1 litre chicken stock 
1 big bunch asparagus 
2 squid, prepared and sliced in rings 
Juice of 2 lemons 
Chilli flakes 
Sea salt and black pepper

Method
1 First melt the butter in a pan with 1 tbsp olive oil. Cook the spring onions and garlic gently for 4 min. Add the barley and stir for 1 min. Slowly add the stock and cook gently for 40 min.

2 Meanwhile, griddle the asparagus brushed with 1 tsp olive oil. In a large frying pan heat 1 tbsp olive oil and fry the squid for 2 min. Add lemon juice. Ladle some barley into a bowl, pile squid rings on top and asparagus around the side. Pour over the remaining lemony olive oil from the pan and sprinkle with chilli flakes, sea salt and pepper.

Thanks so much to Laura for letting me share her story and winning recipe. I'm sure she would love to read your comments.