A few little recommendations....

Just a few quick recommendations.... The £12.95 set menu at Pizza Express is really good. The choice is quite limited for starters and mains but it is still good. I had dough balls for starters, and then the American Hot Pizza Leggara, which I thought was really good. I wouldn't normally go for a pizza with a hole, which is then filled with salad, but I need to be a bit more careful with what I eat and this was really good actually. The pudding choice is chocolate fudge cake or icecream. I had the strawberry and vanilla icecream, which was really nice. An all round good meal. The Rose and Crown in Severn Stoke in Worcestershire is also a good pub, which a nice outside area. I went for the Seafood Linguine (£9.95). It was quite simple but it had a nice lot of fish and there was a side of garlic bread. The sauce was a little bit thick, but still nice. There is a huge selection of puddings. I went for the Key Lime Pie, which is about £5. It was nice but not as good as the one I make. I think of this dessert as a cheesecake style dish but this was more like lemon meringue. All in all reasonable pub grub though. And I have also had a few Marks and Spencers picnics. I have to recommend the Make Today Delicious- the amazing Vietnamese rolls are lovely crunchy fresh bites, the sweet potato and barley salad is fresh yet really tasty, the antipasti meat platter is also beautiful. The chicken and asparagus quiche is a great combination and I really like the Moroccon lamb bites. The chocolate sundae from the chilled area is really saucey and not too rich. The only disappointment I had was the flat bread sandwich, it was the Moroccan chicken and it was quite dry and not something I would recommend. The White Grape fizzy drink is also beautiful- it tastes like a light wine but it is alocohol free- perfect for drivers.

Jamie's Dinners Chicken Tikka Masala

I love this recipe- it tastes like proper curry and is really tasty. You have to use quite a few pans but it is easy to make otherwise.
Serves 4
Ingredients
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
7.5cm/ 3 inches of fresh ginger, peeled
2-3 fresh red chillies
Olive oil
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
3 tablespoons garam masala
200g natural yoghurt
4 medium chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
1 tablespoon of butter
2 medium onions, peeled and finely sliced
2 tablespoons tomato purée
A small handful of ground almonds
Sea salt
115ml double cream
A handful of fresh coriander
Juice of one to two limes

What to do
Grate the garlic and ginger on the finest side of the cheese grater and put in a bowl. Chop the chillies as finely as possible and add to the garlic and ginger. Heat a splash of oil and add the mustard seeds, cook until they pop. Add them to the mix too and the spices but only 2 tablespoons of the garam masala. Put half of this in a bowl and add the yoghurt. Add the chicken and marinate for half an hour or so or overnight.
Melt the butter and add the onions and the rest of the spice mix. Cook gently for 15 minutes without browning too much. Add the purée, the ground nuts, 500ml water and half a teaspoon of salt. Reduce until it thickens.
Meanwhile cook the marinated chicken on a hot griddle pan and cook through, or you can do it under a grill.
Add the cream to the sauce and the rest of the garam masala. As soon as it boils,  add the chicken and  the coriander leaves and a splash of lime. Serve with rice.

Good pub grub in Berks and Bucks

I have been to a few good pubs within the last month or two. I went to The Potters Arms in Winchmore Hill in Bucks, which has a small pub garden for the sunny weather and has a good menu. The landlord, Richard, is lovely and will make you feel really welcome.
Before it got hot I went there for a pork roast. The best thing about it, by far, was the long piece of crackling across it, which was perfectly crisp and salty. The pork was also good. The veggies were a little bit plain but all well cooked and tasty.
The pudding was amazing. I had the Profiterole Cheesecake, which

was so calorific! The creamy cheesecake sat underneath three cream filled profiteroles and was covered in caramel and even had cream on the side. Having a sweet tooth I finished it off no problem.

A few weeks later I went to The Cunning Man in Burghfield Bridge, near Reading. It has a huge pub garden and it was really hot and lovely. I went for the Wild Boar and Chorizo burger, which was delicious. It was a thick, well seasoned burger which made a change to the usual beef. It was served with crispy chips and was a good price at £10.95.
I also had the Eton Mess for pudding. This was a bit different as it had a strawberry mousse and icecream- I have to say I prefer the classic mix of cream, fruit and meringue. Otherwise a good spot.

I went a bit mad that weekend on the burgers and the day before I ate in Kick in Hoxton, London. It has a simple menu and I went for their homemade burger- which I have to say was surpisingly delicious. Well recommended.

Time to do some sit ups....

The joy of National Trust food

IF you have never eaten at a National Trust property- you really should try it. The food is normally fantastic. They use vegetables and fruit from their estates and source food as locally as possible. It is the best part of any National Trust visit!

I went to Hanbury Hall and Gardens next to Droitwich Spa with my friend, Rachel. This is a great house built in 1701. It was owned by the Vernon family until the middle of the last century, and it has a rich history. The rooms are beautifully kept and the grounds even more so. There are also lots of walks surrounding it.

For lunch I went for the sausage casserole with a range of vegetables from the garden. There were two tasty sausages with a really colourful display of veg- ranging from beetroot to sweet potato to carrots and celery. The potato wedges were well seasoned and thick and fluffy- a wholesome dish- reasonably priced at £6.95.

Later on we treated ourselves to a cake and I went for the Chocolate Fudge Cake. This was really well done as sometimes I find chocolate cake a little dry but it kept its moisture.

A few weeks late I went to Tyntesfield near Bristol with my other friend, Kaylee. It is a gothic Victorian mansion, which was bought by the public in 2002. It still needs a lot of work doing to it and has a ridiculous amount of objects which need to be looked after by The National Trust.

It has very dramatic furnishings and is huge! The grounds are also very big.

We went to the cafe afterwards and both of us had the same! We went for the home made pork with basil and sundried tomato and home made coleslaw (£3). The pie was delicious- with well seasoned meat and the pastry wasn’t too thick. The coleslaw was also fresh and crispy and went well with the pie.

We then treated ourself to a Cream Tea (£3.95)! It was divine- with beautiful large scones, thick raspberry jam and lovely clotted cream. My tummy felt full until bed time!

Burgers galore

If you love a good burger then The Harrow in Hughenden Valley is the place to go. It has a lovely big beer garden so on a sunny Monday afternoon my friend, Lara and I skipped down to the pub which overlooks fields and generally lovely countryside.
The menu is pretty extensive with your usual pub grub options. The burger menu is pretty big- aptly titled Burgers Galore! Love it :)
I went for the Canadian Burger (£8.75), which is locally Reared Seasons Farm Shop Pure Beef Burger with melted Monterey Jack Cheese, crispy maple cured bacon, rocky maple sauce and a caesar side salad. What a good choice this was. The beef was thick and succulent and the sweetness of the maple sauce and bacon was just divine- not too sickly sweet now- with the creamy cheese. Perfecto. The salad had huge croutons on it with a moreish dressing. Being a little piggy I also had the chips to go with it.
Lara went for the Piggy Burger (£8.00) which is home Made Seasons Farm Shop Pork Sausages with

crispy bacon. This is essentially a sausage sandwich but Lara really enjoyed it. She had the skinny fries with it, which looked better than my fat ones (food envy) and some crispy onion rings.
Excellent food at reasonable prices- I would recommmend.

The delights of Munch Street Food

ON the Bank Holiday Saturday I had the pleasure of sampling some street food in London. It was called Munch Street Food and was at The Scoop near Tower Bridge.  It was a small festival with about ten suppliers, but I still had big problems deciding what to have. In the end I went for the Chorizo Sandwich, from Azafran. It was delicious with two chorizos, and tomato salsa in a soft roll. Daisy went for Big Apple Hot Dogs. I had a bite and they were delicious. Other options were Mamas Jerk Station and toasties from Buen Provecho. For dessert I went for a delicious honeycomb cupake from the Sweet Tooth Factory. As usual with cupcakes the butter icing on top was ridiculously thick and rich and had a large piece of honeycomb. There was also some good live music to listen to with a pint.

The Hairy Bikers' best-ever banoffee pie

Being a big banoffee pie fan I was getting a bit fed up of using the same old recipe, so after seeing The

Hairy Bikers make it on their show I decided to go for this one. I personally preferred this recipe to the one I usually use, but my brother preferred the other one. This one has a good biscuit base.

Toffee filling:
115g butter
397g condensed milk

Topping:
5 ripe but firm medium bananas
450ml double cream
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
25g plain dark chocolate, coarsely grated

Biscuit base:
75g butter
300g chocolate oaty biscuits, such as Hobnobs

A 23cm loose based tart tin is needed.

Serves 12

To make the base melt the butter in a pan. Break the biscuits into chunky pieces and add to the melted butter. (I put the biscuits into a plastic bag and hit with a rolling pin).

Tip the mixture into the centre of your tin and press it firmly into the base and sides. Make sure the mixture is evenly distributed, especially where the base meets the sides. Chill for 30 minutes until set.

To make the toffee filling, melt the butter in a non-stick saucepan and stir in the sugar. Cook over a low heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar has dissolved and the butter and sugar looks smooth with no oil floating to the surface. Add the condensed milk and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly. Cook for three minutes, stirring, until the mixture turns a deep, creamy caramel brown. Pour over the toffee gently onto the biscuit base and quickly smooth over the surface. Leave to chill for at least one house and up to eight hours before topping.

Just before serving, lightly whip the cream. It should stand in very soft peaks- any thicker and it will look over-whipped when mixed with the bananes. Diagonally slice four of the bananes and scatter half of them over the toffee. Fold the rest lightly into the cream and spoon gently on top.

Slice the remaining banana and put it in a bowl with the lemon juice. Toss very gently- this will stop the banan turning brown. Decorate the top with lemony banana slices, poking them into the cream randomly, then sprinkle the pie with grated chocolate or decorate with chocolate curls. Serve the pie in fairly think slices as it is very rich.