1.In a large saucepan pan heat the oil and sauté the onions and garlic for 2-3 minutes until onion is translucent.2.Add the diced potato, carrots, brocolli and cook for another 5 minutes.3.Add the mushrooms and tomatoes and sauté for 2-3 minutes longer.4.Add the water, the salt, pepper, chilli sauce and simmer the soup for 15 minutes until all the vegetables are cooked.5.Once vegetables are cooked, add the dry noddles and simmer the soup for 3 more minutes.Take off the heat. 6.Transfer the soup to serving bowls and serve with fresh bread.
Details
Prep time:10 mins Cooking Time:26 minutes Total time:36 mins Yield:Serves 4
Crunchy melt in the mouth white chocolate and berry Biscotti.
Ingredients:
2 cups buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup mild olive oil
1/3 cup water .
few drops vanilla extract
1/2 cup white chocolate drops
2 medium eggs
1/2 cup dried mixed berries, cranberries, goji berries, blackcurrants, physalis, blueberries and strawberries,
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F /175 Degrees C.2. In a bowl sieve together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt.3.Add to the flour the sugar, berries and chocolate chip and stir it in.4.Mix together the vanilla,eggs, water and oil and whisk together.5. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture a little at a time until the flour form a dough.6.Bring together the dough and divide it into two parts, roll each part into a sausage shape approx 6 inches long and three inches wide and place each sausage onto a greased baking tray.7.Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. 8.Place the baked sausage on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 3/4-inch-thick slices.9.Arrange the biscotti on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti again, for 15 minutes, until they are golden brown.10.Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: 60mins;Total time:
The Buckwheat flour and the super mixed berries used in this recipe were sent to me by MyProtein, an on line retailer that sells many health foods, such as flours, berries and a range of health food products. They also sent me some dried roasted coconut. There are many healthy ingredients that you can purchase from My Protein. The products are packaged in foil packs to keep them fresh and are available to order on line.
A few weeks back I went to an event by friends of glass and
really had a lovely time. Friends of glass are an organisation who are committed
to promoting the use of glass in homes. I am so inspired by recipes in glass
that I have started collecting a selection of glass bottles and jars to store my
food in. Just when my jar obsession was calming down, lo and behold I got
another invitation by friends of glass to attend their Christmas event at Cactus
Studios -Michel Roux Jr's cookery school, where Saturday Kitchen is filmed. I
am not complaining I was rather pleased that I would get to learn some more
ideas for Christmas using jars.
On arrival I had a
lovely surprise as I met a fellow blogger friends Choclette who blogs at
chocolate log blog. As we entered we were greeted with the most wonderful and welcoming Christmas setting of candle light,
Christmas tree, innovative decorations in glass bottles, carols playing and
glasses of warm mulled cider. Whilst getting to know all the other guests we
mingled over shot glasses of red pepper soup with pesto. Followed by warm brie
with cranberries all served in pretty glass jars and breadsticks for scooping
up the creamy brie.
After the nibbles we watch a cookery demo by chef Bridget
Colvin and BBC TV presenter Cherry Healey . They made spiced parsnip soup with
pesto and parsnip crisps which we sipped whilst the second demo of pies in the
jars was demonstrated. For the vegetarians there was Butternut squash jar pie and
for the non-vegetarians Bridget showed a honey & mustard ham rock jar pie.
Whilst the pies were cooking in the oven ready for our
dinner we were shown how to create Cointreau clementines in jars. We enjoyed the lovely hot
pies with delicious wine and then it was hands on deck as we each created our
own jars of the boozy clementines. We had to pay extra attention to the caramel
as it can burn in a jiffy. I was really pleased that my caramel did turn out
perfect and there was enough to share with a friend whose caramel turned just little
too brown.
The evening ended with a lovely arts and crafts
demonstration by Amanda who showed us how to let our creative juices flow by
filling a jar with hot chocolate powder, chocolate buttons, and marsh mallows
and all beautifully decorated with ribbons and bows. Of course we all attached
a miniature bottle of booze to the jars to make the hot chocolate in the jar
just that little bit more special.
The evening was awesome and really fun and interactive. We
all left with all our lovely gifts and an additional surprise of a jar chutney
by Rubies in the Rubble, who create all their chutneys from unsold fruit that
otherwise would go to waste.
I would like to thank friends of glass for a wonderful
evening. It was most enjoyable.
If you are a teetotaller or just want to refrain from drinking alcohol at the christmas party this wonderful cinnamon spiced scented Mulled pom is seriously delicious. Pom is made from pure pomegranate juice that is a good source of Vitamin C,Vitamin K,Fiber, Potassium, Folate and Copper. It is delicious served on its own or mixed with other fruit juices too.
print recipe
Cristmassy Mulled Pom
by Nayna Kanabar December -2-2014
Pomegranate and Apple juice with cinnamon and spices
Ingredients:
240 ml Pom- pomegranate juice
240 ml apple Juice
1 cinnamon stick plus 4 for garnish
2 star anise
2 oranges
1 teaspoon orange zest
Method:
1. Warm the apple juice for 1 minute and add the orange zest, cinnamon stick and star anise.2. Leave the cinnamon and star anise to infuse in the apple juice.3. Slice the oranges in rings, reserve 4 slices and cut the remaining slices in halves.4.In a jug add the Pom -pomegranate juice and add to it the orange slices, remove the cinnamon sticks and star anise from the apple juice and add it to the jug. 5. Mix the pomegranate juice and apple juice together and give it a good stir.6.Pour the Mulled Pom into serving cups and garnish with orange slices and cinnamon stick. This tastes best served at room temperature.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield:serves 4
I was sent a cocktail making kit and some pom juice to create a recipe by Pom
With the month of December upon us, the Christmas festivities are fast approaching. It's a time for sharing and caring, eating and drinking and having lots of fun.
The theme for this month is cooking savory snacks for christmas
To Participate:
1.Prepare a dish vegetarian only (eggs allowed) please link your dish using the linky below by entering your Dish Name and Post URL
2.Please link this event announcement with your entry, this is mandatory.
3.Use of logo is not mandatory but it helps to spread the word if you can post it..
4. Multiple entries are allowed, archived are only allowed if reposted and updated with this event link.
4. In the event of problem using linky you can email me the entry at simplysensationalfood@gmail.com
Please use this format
Your Name:
Recipe Name
Recipe URL
Image no larger than 300 pixels.
The Ozeri coffee cups are made with heat-resistant glass with double bottom .
Stylishly shaped and light weight the glasses have a double wall which means
that when you pour hot drinks in them they do not get too hot to handle. I love
serving soup, hot coffee and also warm herbal drinks in them in the
winter and in the summer they are perfect for serving, sorbets and ice slushies.
The glasses are not only suitable for hot drinks, they are
perfect for serving ice cold drinks too. The double glass means that it stops the glasses from getting too hot or too cold to handle resulting in safe use both for hot and cold drinks.
The strong glasses with stands high freezing temperatures
and are also microwave and dishwasher safe. The glasses come in a set of four with a
capacity of 250ml. They retail at £34.09 and are available to order from
Amazon.
I was sent a set of the Ozeri glasses to review, all the views and opinions are my own and unbiased.
I was recently invited to a master class by world foods at the School of Wok to create some dishes using their sauces.
The WORLDFOODS' Cooking Solutions range are a concentrate of
flavours and are extremely versatile in any Asian inspired cooking. They are 100%
natural and are created using authentic herbs and spices. All the sauces are
free from artificial preservatives, colouring, flavouring, gluten or
genetically modified ingredients and are totally suitable for vegetarians,
vegans and coeliacs.
The product range is vast and includes:
Thai Green
Curry Paste
Thai Red
Curry Paste
Thai Yellow
Curry Paste
Thai Basil
Curry Paste
Thai Masaman
Curry Paste
Thai Panang
Curry Paste
Thai Tom Yum
Paste
Indonesian
Fried Rice Paste
Indonesian
Sambal Oelek
Malaysian
Rendang Curry Paste
Singaporean
Nyonya Laksa Paste
North
African Harissa Paste
Thai Chilli
Paste
Thai
Tamarind Paste
Northern
Thai Spicy Curry Paste(Hung Le curry)
Lemon Grass
Paste
Ginger Paste
Garlic Paste
Galangal
Paste
The sauces are very convenient to use, the flavours are well balanced and all that’s required to create tasty and delicious meals is to add some vegetables, meat or rice.
At the master class we were given a demonstration in how to
chop vegetables using a proper Chinese cleaver by Jeremy the chef. We all
chopped our vegetables to perfection (or almost) and then headed to the kitchen
to prepare our vegetarian feast of Rendang
tacos, Thai Basil stir fry, Masaman baked squash with coconut. The non-vegetarians
cooked Panang curry duck breast, Thai basil stir fry, Masaman roast poussin . Jeremy
demonstrated the perfect cooking techniques after which we created our dishes
ready for dinner.
Dinner was washed down with lovely wine for the drinkers and
soft drinks for the teetotallers.
Finally when we thought we could eat no more we were tempted to sample the amazing Lemon grass drizzle cake which was amazing.The whole experience at school of wok was fun, interactive and the meal was superb. I was really surprised how bottled sauces could taste so authentic and homemade. I would like to thank world foods for inviting me to the
cookery master class with the amazing Jeremy and sending me home with a wonderful
goody bag of sauces so that I could recreate the meal in my own home.
As always I like my readers to be able to sample all the products that I try out, I am pleased to say that World foods have been really kind and have agreed to send two lucky simplyfood readers a world foods hamper each which will consist of:
Panang Curry Paste
Rendang Curry Paste
Masaman Curry Paste
Lemongrass Paste
World foods apron
Recipe notebookUSB (with all the recipes we cooked at School of Wok) as well as printed versions.
How To Enter:
Simply complete the Rafflecopter widget below to verify your entries
Entries can be via blog comment, Facebook, Twitter etc
This competition is open to UK residents over the age of 18 only .Please read the rules below .
Leaving a blog comment is mandatory and failure to do so will void any other entries.
Closing date - 18th Dec 2014-12.00 am
How Rafflecopter works:
·You will need to complete the mandatory entry first – usually making a blog comment. You can do this by clicking on leave a comment at the bottom of the post and leaving your reply in the comment box.Please note your comment will not show immediately as it needs to be moderated however rest assured it will appear on the site, so carry on with rest of entries.
·Login to Rafflecopter – click to see what the question is. Make a comment answering the question on the blog.
·Go back to Rafflecopter and click the green button to tell me you have made a comment, this will unlock all the other options. All entries are checked to see that the mandatory question is answered, if its not all bonus entries will become void.
·Rafflecopter will tweet, like and follow on your behalf.
·For information on how to find the URL of your tweet click here.
·For bonus entries you can return to this page and enter the daily bonus entries.
·If you are still unsure as to how Rafflecopter works please do check out this short video.
Refreshing breakfast juice- citrus orange with sweetness of apples.
Ingredients:
3 jaffa oranges
1 large carrot
2 braeburn apples
Method:
1. Peel the oranges and cut them into quarters.2. Cut the apples and carrots into quarters.3. Feed the fruit into the Optimum 600 juicer.4. Pour the juice into chilled glasses and garnish with slices of apples.
Details
Prep time: time: Total time: 10 minsYield: 3 servings
For the last three months I have really been enjoying the Optimum 9400 blender, it is a fantastic blender that is perfect for smoothies, nut butters, grating, grinding , making hot soups and cold icecreams. I am so much in love with it that, I was over the moon when I had the opportunity to try out the Optimum 600 slow juicer from the Optimum range. I have now stopped buying ready made juices from the supermarket as this juicer is so easy to use and clean.
There are two types of juicers available a cold press and centrifugal juicer, the differences is that a centrifugal juicer chops up the fruit or vegetable with a flat cutting blade at high speed. The high-speed blade shredder does not penetrate the produce deeply enough to extract precious nutrients of the juices and causes oxidation that destroys enzymes and nutrients with in the juice. It also causes the juice to separate.
The Optimum 600 is a cold press juicer; the advantage of it is that it works at a slower speed so it’s less noisy. It crushes and presses the fruit, releasing its deep-seated nutrients and enzymes, this result in a richer coloured juice containing large amounts of vitamins and minerals and no oxidation and separation.
There are many other advantages of the Optimum 600:
Can juice whole fruits and vegetables with no food prep
required.
Slow speed – Only 65rpm.
Designed to last, high-quality SGS approved parts
Induction Motor designed to last, 10 Years Comprehensive
Warranty
User friendly
Easy to clean (Self Cleaning function)
Low Noise, as low as 40dB
Ingredient flavour preserved, due to the slow speed of only
65rpm
More nutrients, vitamins, minerals and enzymes
Less separation & 35% more juice than centrifugal
juicers
Safety sensor
CE and SGS approved
Assembling the Optimum 600 Juicer was pretty simple. All the components are marked with a small dot and once you have all the parts in the right order you just need to match the dots for them to fit together. I created a video that shows how to assemble the Optimum 600 Juicer which you can see below.
Juicing in the Optimum 600 Juicer is simple too, I made a simple Orange and apple juice, I did peel the orange and cut the apple into quarters although you could have added the apple whole as the feed tube is fairly wide. You can see the video below showing you how easy it is to create the most delicious juice in the Optimum 600.
The Optimum 600 is available to buy at £329.00, It comes with a 1 MONTH TRIAL - MONEY BACK GUARANTEE (includes return postage costs for UK customers) Currently it is available on special offer only £249 for a limited time .
If you like the sound of this awesome juicer, please orders it through here.
Spicy Mushroom and fennel curry with baby tomatoes.
Ingredients:
240 g /8 oz button mushrooms diced into 1cm pieces
1 bulb fennel cleaned and diced into 1cm pieces
1 small red onion finely diced
1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
12 baby tomatoes cut into quarters
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1 tablespoon mild olive oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 red chilli finely sliced for garnish.
Method:
1. In a pan add the oil and wait for it to heat up.Once the oil is hot add the mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter.2. Add the garlic and onions and saute until onions are translucent.3. Add the mushrooms and fennel and saute for 5 more minutes until both are almost cooked.4. Add the salt, chilli powder, turmeric, tomatoes, coriander powder, cumin powder and toss the vegetables to coat with the spices.5. Cook for another 3-4 minutes after which transfer the curry to a serving bowl and garnish with red chilli slices.
This is my assignment with the Secret Recipe Club.The aim of the club is that you are allocated a blog from which you have to select a recipe and try it and blog about it.
This month I was assigned The Texan New Yorker that is written by Julie who describes herself as " A myopic, finicky eater with no food conscience, who transformed into a grown-up who loves cooking, food, adventurous eating, and cares deeply about where food comes from." I looked through Julies blog and found some lovely recipes but finally I settled for the cantaloupe melon sorbet as I had an over ripe cantaloupe melon sitting in the fruit basket screaming at me to use it!! The sorbet was refreshing and simply delicious, the only changes I made were that I added a forlorn ripe peach that was staring at me from the fruit basket and omitted the wine since I don't drink.
print recipe
Cantaloupe Melon Sorbet
by Nayna Kanabar November-17-2014
Refreshingly sweet and fragrant Cantaloupe Melon Sorbet.
Ingredients:
1 Cantaloupe Melon
1 large ripe peach
1/2 cup sugar or honey to taste
1 tablespoon lime juice
Peach slices for garnish
Method:
1. Cut the melon in half and remove the seeds, cut the melon rind off and cut the melon into cubes.2. Cut the peach in half and remove the stone and cut it into quarters. 3. Add the melon, peach, lime juice and sugar to the Optimum 9400 blender and blend for 1 minute.4. Pour the mixture into a plastic tupperware and place it in the freezer for three hours, after which take it out of the freezer and rake it with a fork and return it to the freezer to keep overnight.5. To serve remove the sorbet from the freezer and leave it at room temperature for 2-3 minutes after which rake it with a fork again..6. Scoop the sorbet into serving cups and garnish with peach slices.
Details
Prep time: Freezing time: Yield: 8 servings
I made my Peach Sorbet in the Optimum 9400 blender. It is very versatile and it will blend, purée, grate, chop, make ice cream, hot soups, nut butters and nut milk.
To read about the Optimum 9400 check my review post here. The blender is currently on a special offer at £329.00 with a thirty day money back guarantee with free postage if not satisfied. You can also get an extra two years warranty if you order through this site You can order yours here. To get the extra warranty please quote brand ambassador discount in special instructions on the order form.
Recently, I was sent a Loyd Grossman hamper to create a recipe with. In my hamper there was a sample of Loyd Grossman’s Limited Edition Mint Masala gravy sauce, Tikka
sauce, a recipe card, Loyd Grossman Naan Bread, boil in the bag rice, and a
Balti dish.
The new mint masala will be available in the shops from mid November, it a delicious
aromatic Indian curry sauce made with a blend of spices, tomatoes, yoghurt and mint. It is perfect when you want to create a tasty
meal in a short time. Being a vegetarian I choose to use my Mint masala gravy
to create a lovely paneer (indian cheese dish) cooked with onions and capsicums.
print recipe
Minty Masala Paneer
by Nayna Kanabar November-10-2014
Succulent paneer cooked in an aromatic blend of spices in a minty masala sauce.
Ingredients:
400g Paneer cut into 2 cm cubes
1 green capsicum cut into 2 cm pieces
1 red capsicum cut into 2cm pieces
1 small red onion finely chopped
1 green chilli finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 jar Lloyd Grossman Minty masala sauce
1 tablespoon fresh chopped coriander leaves
1 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Salt
Method:
1. Heat the oil in a frying pan and toss the Paneer cubes in it for 3-4 minutes until they start to turn brown.2. Remove the paneer from the pan on to a piece of kitchen paper.3. To the pan add the onions and saute them until translucent. Add the peppers, green chilli and stir for 3-4 minutes until peppers slightly soften.4. Add the salt, lemon juice, and the minty masala sauce and stir fry for 2-3 minutes .5. Add the cooked paneer and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.6.Transfer the paneer minty masala paneer to the serving balti dish and garnish with chopped coriander.Serve with rice and nan bread.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time:
I really enjoyed the Minty masala sauce and am pleased that I have two Lloyd Grossman hampers for two lucky simplyfood winners.(Only 1 hamper per winner)
The contents of the hamper:
Lloyd Grossman’s Limited Edition Mint Masala gravy sauce,
Tikka sauce,
a recipe card,
Lloyd Grossman Naan Bread,
Boil in the bag rice,
Balti dish.
How To Enter:
Simply complete the Rafflecopter widget below to verify your entries
Entries can be via blog comment, Facebook, Twitter etc
This competition is open to UK residents only over the age of 18 .Please read the rules below .
Leaving a blog comment is mandatory and failure to do so will void any other entries.
Closing date - 24th November 2014 -12.00am
How Rafflecopter works:
·You will need to complete the mandatory entry first – usually making a blog comment. You can do this by clicking on leave a comment at the bottom of the post and leaving your reply in the comment box.Please note your comment will not show immediately as it needs to be moderated however rest assured it will appear on the site, so carry on with rest of entries.
·Login to Rafflecopter – click to see what the question is. Make a comment answering the question on the blog.
·Go back to Rafflecopter and click the green button to tell me you have made a comment, this will unlock all the other options. All entries are checked to see that the mandatory question is answered, if its not all bonus entries will become void.
·Rafflecopter will tweet, like and follow on your behalf.
·For information on how to find the URL of your tweet click here.
·For bonus entries you can return to this page and enter the daily bonus entries.
·If you are still unsure as to how Rafflecopter works please do check out this short video.
I love mediterranean vegetables and I am always looking for ways to cook them in interesting ways. With the arrival of my ActiFry, roasted vegetables have become a breeze to cook and I love serving them with a home made spicy tomato salsa and cactus corn tortilla.
Using the ActiFry is simple all it requires is less than 1 tablespoon of oil and a selection of vegetables and the actifry does the rest.It cooks using a hot air system in minimal oil without compromising on the taste.
print recipe
Roasted Vegetable Wraps
by Nayna Kanabar November-3-2014
A colourful medley of roasted mediterranean vegetables served with spicy homemade tomato sauce and cactus corn wraps.
Ingredients:
2 baby courgettes cut into 5mm thick round slices
2 baby carrots peeled and cut into 5mm thick round slices
10 baby new potatoes cut into quarters
1 green pepper cut into one inch pieces
1 red pepper cut into one inch pieces
10 button mushrooms cut into halves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes
6 cactus corn tortillas
6 tablespoons homemade spicy tomato salsa
Method:
1. Put all the vegetables except the mushrooms in the ActiFry and add 1 tablespoon of oil.2. Roast the vegetables for 15 minutes in the ActiFry, after 15 minutes add the mushrooms and roast the vegetables for 5 more minutes.3.Remove the roasted vegetables from the ActiFry and add them to a bowl. Season with salt, pepper, chilli flakes and lemon juice and toss together.4. Place a tortilla wrap on a hot griddle to warm for 30 seconds , transfer the wrap onto a plate, spoon over it the spicy tomato salsa and add a portion of the roasted vegetables 5.Roll up the wrap and serve immediately.6. Repeat procedure for rest of wraps.
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 6 wraps
NB- If you don't have an ActiFry you can place the vegetables on a baking tray and roast them in the oven instead. I was sent the ActiFry by Tesco Direct to review, all the views and opinions in the post are my own and unbiased.
