Calorific cheesecake from Nigella

Well it wouldn't be a cheesecake without the calories now would it? And if anyone knows how to do calories it is Nigella. She doesn't skimp on the butter and the chocolate.
Again this is so easy to make. It is a bit tricky to cut but if you put the knife in water before each slice it makes it a bit easier. It is not the most refined cheesecake and you will definitely find better recipes out there but it is yummy, especially as Nutella is one of my favourite things to spread on toast. It went down well as a dessert.

http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/nutella-cheesecake

It's from her Nigellisma book.

The best breakfast in Bucks?

There is a great cafe in Holmer Green called Caramal Square. Firstly it serves the most amazing brownies which are rich and soft in a great variety of flavours. The Caramac one they sometimes do is so moreish, well moreish in the I want more but feel a bit sick way.
It is just undergoing a revamp so it will be even more cosy as it sells great little crafty pieces too.
Tom and I went for breakfast there the other morning. Me being slightly piggy went for the Full English Breakfast, which was about £9. Tom went for a small little breakfast bagel. So yes, he had to watch me eat for about 30 minutes- the picture says it all. The bacon was a lovely cut, the bread was thick and buttered well and the beans were Heinz. Oh and you get a bottomless cup of tea. The perfect breakfast...

Delicious food at Ask

I went to Ask last Friday with Megan and I was thoroughly impressed with the quality of food, which was a lot better than I expected. I went to the one in High Wycombe armed with a Two courses for £10 o2 voucher, which made it even better.

I went for the Butterfly King Prawns, which are usually £6.95. They are oven roasted with a slice of bread in garlic butter served in a skillet. The prawns were so tasty- rich and succulent. And the crispy bread soaked in the garlic butter finished off the prawns a treat.  Megan went for the Insalata Caprese which is mozzarella, tomatoes, rocket and basil with extra virgin oil. It looked tasty and fresh.

We then both went for an oven baked main. I went for the Rigatoni Al Manzo Piccante (normally £10.35) which is baked rigatoni with ragu, chopped beef meatballs, green chillies, red peppers, white wine and caramelised onions topped with mozzarella and Grana Padano cheese, served with a side salad.

It was really nicely presented which is always a good start.
The dish had quite a kick which gradually warmed my mouth up but it wasn't too much and not being a big cheese lover it was just the right amount of cheese.

Megan had Penne Al Pollo Della Casa, which is pasta with chicken and mushrooms baked in a creamy mushroom, thyme and white wine sauce topped with cheese and served with salad. I have had this before and it is really good- creamy and satisfying.

The service was good, besides a slightly odd man at the start who had a slight problem with personal space. And the red Shiraz, which was the cheapest on the menu was drinkable! Although next time I think I will pay a few pounds more for a glass of Merlot.

Ask is doing a really good job as an Italian chain.

Comfort food at its best: Peanut butter chocolate muffins

I love peanut butter and I love chocolate so what better than these chunky muffins!
They are dead easy to make and pretty reasonable too. I left mine in the oven for longer- about 10 minutes longer and I managed to make one extra.
I also used smooth peanut butter and  a mixture of dark, white and milk chocolate for the chunks. I bought value chocolate from Tesco which seemed to work well. The Lidl chocolate is also good.
Happy baking- here's the link.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/jan/04/nut-butter-baking-recipes-cookies

The Hairy Dieters Coconut Prawn Curry

I was given the Hairy Dieters Cookbook for Christmas, as I went to go and watch their stage show last year where they dapped around on stage talking about their travels and how much weight they had lost.


I went for the Coconut Prawn Curry for the first recipe I tried. I love prawns and I love using coconut milk in curries so it seemed an ideal first recipe to try.

It was very easy. I added mushrooms because I had some left over which went well. And I used 100g more of spinach which didn’t seem to affect it too much. I also used full fat coconut milk as I had some left over in the fridge.

It all came together really well and was very flavoursome and surely a few of your five a day. A good one to make.


Ingredients

2 tbsp curry paste (I used tikka)
2 tbsp cold water
1 medium onion, halved and finely sliced
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into small chunks
1 tbsp mango chutney
4 tomatoes, quartered, deseeded and diced
200ml coconut milk
2 tsp cornflour
200g cooked king prawns
100g baby spinach leaves

Method

In a large non-stick frying pan or wok, cook the curry paste, 1 tbsp water, onion and diced peppers over a low heat for around 5 minutes. Stir regularly to prevent sticking, until the onion has started to soften.

Add the mango chutney, diced tomatoes and coconut milk to the pan and bring to a simmer. Cook for around 4 minutes, stirring every now and again until the tomatoes are just beginning to soften.

Mix the cornflour with the rest of the water to make a smooth paste and add to the sauce in the pan. Cook for around a minute, stirring all the time until the sauce thickens slightly.

Add the prawns to the pan along with the baby spinach leaves and cook for a couple of minutes until the prawns are hot through and the spinach has wilted.

Serve immediately with some steam white rice and a nice hot naan bread!

December eating from Italian in London to Vegetarian in Bristol

Kino Burger

I thought I would do a roundup of all the places I have eaten in December. I can’t remember all of the names, ooops, but here are some recommendations of those I can:

At the start of the month I went to the High Wycombe Cricket Club for lunch with Tom’s family. Perhaps not known as a place to eat I impressed and the slight problem is it is a members club. I had a bit of a hangover and they do a Sunday lunch, including dessert, for £6.95. I went for the pork which seemed good quality and not too fatty, and comes with a big selection of vegetables and it was all really good. Then for dessert I had a toffee fudge sundae which was rich and sweet- just as I like it.

Then the next Friday Tom and I went into London.  In the evening we went to an Italian restaurant in Wimbledon called La Nonne (www.lanonne.co.uk)

For starters I shared Calamari Fritti e Zucchini (deep fried squid rings served with tartar sauce and courgettes) £7.95. It was really good. The squid was cooked really well and went perfectly with the zucchini. Then for the main course I demolished a Calzone, which was folded pizza with tomato, mozzarella, mushrooms, ham and spicy salami (£10.95). It was huge and really good. The House red wine for £13.95 is also a winner. I thought some of it was slightly overpriced but it was good food.  

The next day I went to Noodle Nation where I had the chicken katzu curry with seafood and egg fried rice.  This is one of my favourite dishes as it is not too greasy, as it can sometimes be. The curry is a bit like the Home pride sauce you get in the tin, but a bit spicier. A good dish.

The next week I went to Wetherspoons in Henley with Lucy. Not a top place to eat but I had the Mexican Burger, which was surprisingly good. The chicken was cooked well and the salsa was really nice. The chips were good too.

On the Wednesday I went to Bristol and met Kat, where we went to Cafe Kino. It is a vegetarian cafe with a casual feel with high stools and a canteen style serving area. You have to peer above their heads to look at the menu. I went for the Kino burger with sweet potato fries and homemade slaw. It was delicious. I do love a good veggie burger and this was it. The consistency wasn’t too mushy and was full of flavour. The sweet potato fries were a good crispness and the slaw was nice and fresh. It was about £6, which I thought was reasonable.

In the evening I went to Zam Zam’s  in Ross-on-Wye with H, Bex and Jem for our Christmas meal. It was really good value- £9.99 for a starter, main course, rice or naan and poppadums. The staff were friendly and clearly a popular destination as the restaurant was busy. For starter I had prawn pil pil, which were prawns in a slightly spicy tomatoey sauce in a flat pancake. It was delicious and not like the usual Indian starter. I then went for a tandoori style curry with an onion and tomato sauce which was not too rich, and the naan was fluffy and huge! I was stuffed afterwards.

On the Monday I went to the cafe called Pots and Pieces in Ross-on-Wye for lunch with Ruth and Martin. It was a lovely little cafe. I had the chicken and bacon sandwich in mustard dressing and it was delicious, served with Tyrrells crisps. We then shared some of the sticky chocolate slice, which was just as good. A great little find and one I would recommend.

The rest of the time was lovely home cooked food, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Now where’s that New Year diet?