NEW BLOG: Bank Holiday Weekend

Hello! 


So took an extra few days off and turned my bank holiday weekend into 5 days instead of 3. Didn't really have a plan as to what to do except do things on the spur of the moment or just relax - in the end I did both - mwhaha. 


Wednesday night - made this:

Tomato, basil and rosemary focaccia bread

Yum. Recipe and video how to should follow next time I make this. 



Thursday as you've already read included a trip to West Kirby - apparently home to one of the UK's best beaches. I'll admit it was a very nice beach - the wind and rain not nice - but no complaint about the sand that ended up in my trainers and spread around the majority of my car. 

Looking out from West Kirby beach before we started to freeze. 

Friday was a fairly chilled out day. I walked to the shop  instead of driving. This may not seem a big thing but I'm sorry to say that since I've started driving the amount of walking I do has been declined by a scary amount! Also spent far too long playing God with the new wireless printer.  Finished the day off with a trip to Daresbury labs - the do a free lecture every month and they are usually really interesting. This months was done by some bloke who spent most of his life in the Antarctic circle and was terrified that his research station was going to float away and the rest of the world will flood. Fun times. 


Finished off the day with mac n cheese and cider. I'll post a recipe for this with a video next time I make it. 


Saturday arrived and we decided to take a stroll round Dunham Massey deer park. Its good -you should go there - they have deer 

and cake

Good day. 

Sunday rolled round - why does time off speed past so fast? Yes I know that rhymes. No I didn't type it like that deliberately. Am I going to leave it? Yes. Do I feel overly impressed with myself right now? Damn right! Again with mwhahaha. 

Anyway - Sunday! We went to Speke Hall - it was a really cool place but slightly confusing as for some reason they had decided to put Liverpool John Lennon Airport right next door. This meant the lovely relaxing strolling around was punctuated by a massive EasyJet plane going over at 300ft overy 45 minutes or so. 

Anyway - some photos

My friend hiding behind a hedge to avoid having his photo taken

Speke Hall - Jeff the overly friendly and quite terrifying garden guide said we must take this photo of the house  or  we would die!!! I may have made that last bit up - if you've been greeted by Jeff you understand.

I'm typing this bit in on the final read through before I hit post (even though I do this I know that I will have missed about 8 million mistakes - sorry - I'm rubbish at proof reading :)) - the National Trust have this new scheme where they let you have a more "interactive" experience - sounds odd? I thought so too until I walked into one room and the guide asked if we would like to have a go at playing billiards on the massive table they had. Sadly no pictures as weren't allowed to take them in the house and we couldn't take one on the quiet as we were too distracted playing billiards :P

Decided to unleash my inner photo geek at this point and try and do a panoramic shot with my new camera - here is the result: 

3 pictures stitched together. 

So Monday rolls around far too quickly and whats the worst you could do on a bank holiday Monday? Nope! Its try and park at Ikea Warrington - I have never seen a war zone with so much flatpack flying everywhere - it was quite terrifying. 

Sorry - no pictures for Monday. I did cook a roast dinner so recipes and videos to follow! 

Thanks for reading

Jon. 

NEW BLOG: Sweet Pea Cafe West Kirby

Hello, 


No recipe just today just a recommendation for a good place to eat! 


Decided to go to the beach in West Kirby and found a fantastic beach but also bucketfuls of wind and rain. We went on a hunt for somewhere to wait to warm up and found The Sweet Pea cafe on Acacia Grove just in the centre of West Kirby. 


Its a mix of traditional English - lots of different butties served on white/brown or in baguettes with any combination of fillings you can think of - including fish fingers. All served by friendly and helpful staff in a small but interesting building (see photo)


We ate: Olives, flatbread, homemade houmous,  and chips (you have to have chips at the seaside - it just has to be done.)


We drank: Hot chocolate and Water


Total: 10.90

This is the size of the whole cafe - space for around 20 people seated on tables for groups of 2 or 4 people. 

Thanks for reading! 

Jon

Easy Double Choc Chip cookies

Hello everyone,  So decided to make of my favourite recipes tonight just because I could.  Apologies for the lack of video and pictures. They are prepared so  quickly that I didn't have time to think to pick up my camera and eaten so  fast that their was nothing left to take a photo of! Thanks  Jon Ingredients 100g/3½oz unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing 100g/3½oz caster sugar 2 tbsp sunflower oil 100g/3½oz soft dark brown sugar 1 free-range egg, beaten ½ tsp vanilla essence or paste 200g/7oz self raising flour, plus extra for dusting ½ tsp salt ½ tsp baking powder 100g/3½oz white chocolate, broken into small pieces 100g/3½oz milk chocolate, broken into small pieces Preparation method Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Place the butter and the caster sugar into a bowl and beat together until light and creamy. Add the sunflower oil and brown sugar and fold through to combine. Add the egg and vanilla essence and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and mix well to form a dough. Fold in the white and milk chocolate pieces. On a floured work surface, carefully roll out the dough to 1cm/½in thick. Using the cookie cutter of your choice, cut out 8-16 cookies (depending on the size of the cutter - I try and aim for a circle shape thats about 10cm across - this means they dont spread too much when baked.) Place the cookies onto a greased baking tray (not to close together as they will spread). Place into the oven to bake for 15 minutes, or until golden-brown and cooked through. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the trays for 8-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Then stick them in an airtight container so that they remain soft and chewy instead of trying to break your teeth!

NEW BLOG: Pasta - How to part 1

Hello,


Just a quick video today with a quick kitchen tip on how to open spaghetti without it flying everywhere and then how to get that spaghetti into the plan without burning the ends off! 

Thanks


Jon

Vegetarian Shepherds Pie

Hello!


So I have to cook a meal next week for a bit of a party were having and seen as thought I havn't cooked it in a while I thought I'd have a quick run through and at the same time practice my filming/editing skills and give you good few people who read this something to watch! 


Enjoy cooking, leave a comment if you want anything clarifying! 


Thanks 


Jon




Vlog & Recipe 

For the champ topping

• 3 floury potatoes, such as King Edward or Maris Piper, peeled, chopped
• small handful frozen peas
• knob of butter
• 2 spring onions, roughly chopped
• 75g/3oz mature cheddar, broken into chunks
• pinch smoked paprika

For the lentil mixture

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ red onion, roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 2 small carrots, peeled, chopped into small pieces
• 1 celery stalk, trimmed, chopped into small pieces
• 400g/14oz canned plum tomatoes
• splash Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• few drops Tabasco
• pinch smoked paprika
• 1 fresh bay leaf
  
  
  1 tsp oregano
• 85-90ml/3fl oz-3½fl oz red wine - or just water
• 100ml/3½fl oz vegetable stock - or just water
  
  
  You can add these but the flavours from the various spices/sauces are doing most of the work!
  
  
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• splash balsamic vinegar
• small handful fresh flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 400g/14oz canned Puy lentils
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. For the champ topping, heat a pan of salted water, add the potatoes and bring gently to the boil, then simmer until the potatoes are nearly cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, for the lentil mixture, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and gently fry the chopped onion, garlic, carrots and celery for 5-10 minutes, until softened.
3. Add the remaining lentil mixture ingredients except for the lentils and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
4. Stir the lentils into the tomato sauce.
5. When the potatoes for the champ topping are almost done, add the frozen peas and cook for a few more minutes until the peas are tender.
6. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat, then gently fry the spring onions until softened. Add the milk and heat through.
7. Drain the potatoes and peas and mash roughly. Add the warm milk mixture to the potatoes and continue to mash until combined but still chunky.
8. Spoon the lentil mixture into a medium pie dish and top with the champ. Scatter over the cheese and smoked paprika.
9. Place the dish onto a baking sheet and bake the pie for 25-30 minutes, or until the potato is golden-brown or if you want to avoid extra washing up just stack the lentil mixture and mash on the plate. Called it deconstructed and charge an extra tenner!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Random Friday night creations

Hey everyone! 

So I know I havn't posted on here for a while but I'm hoping to change that! 

Tonight we came up with roasted peppers and halloumi salad - so lovely that we forgot to take a picture - sorry! 

Any how here is the general idea. 

We washed and dressed the herb salad with some homemade chilli oil, boiled the new potatoes and dressed them in a little butter and fresh basil and then pan friend slices of peppers in a small amount of olive oil. Finally we grilled the halloumi in a hot griddle pan till it was nice and crispy. 

Once all these have been prepared (we kept things warm and cool in a low oven and fridge respectively!) we combined them all for a tasty and healthy completely made up spur of the moment tea. 

More to follow. 

Thanks 

Jon

P.S. Blogger is also telling me I should replace halloumi with helium. I've taken Bloggers advice once - can you find the deliberate mistake?

P.P.S - Ha! Made you look kthxbye, :)