Ross' Yorkshire Puddings!

After years of my mum attempting to make a half decent Yorkshire (and I mean YEARS) she got the recipe off bizarrely my boyfriend! These are without a doubt the nicest Yorkshire pud's to grace your Sunday roast! If you follow the rules they'll be absolutely delicious. The ingredients are simple but it's the measurements that are crucial and all you need is a mug, no scales or weights needed!

Ingredients:

• Plain Flour
• 2 Eggs
• Milk
• Tap Water
• Salt and Pepper to season

Pre-heat the oven at the highest possible temperature. The muffin tin must be filled 2mm's with vegetable oil and must be placed in the oven 10 minutes before adding the batter.

Whisk both the eggs in a large mug and pour into a large mixing bowl. Where the eggs have been in the mug there will be a residue left round the edge. Pour in a dusting of flower to line the mug (this will stick to the residue to make the line more visable). Then fill the mug to the line with the plain flour. Add this to the mixing bowl! Where the flour has been there will be a mark fill the mug half way to the line with the water and the remaining half with milk. Add the water/milk mix to the bowl. Add the batter to the muffin tin that has been pre-heating the oil. Cook for 20 minutes until they have risen and look crispy on top. They must be crispy on top as they will flatten if you open the oven!

WARNING: DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN WHEN COOKING THEY WILL GO FLAT! WAIT AND WATCH THE MAGIC HAPPEN :)

My yummy dressing...

I've decided to blow my own trumpet a little and post what I believe to be THE BEST recipe for a sort of multi-use all purpose salad dressing that can also be quickly transformed into a dip! I don't really have a name for it other than 'Hannah's French Style Dressing'!

Ingredients:

• Natural Yogurt (4 heaped tablespoons)
• Olive Oil (6 tablespoons - preferably a reasonably good quality one)
• White Wine Vinegar (2 teaspoons)
• Wholegrain Mustard (2 teaspoons)
• Salt & Cracked Pepper to season

This tastes wonderful on a variety of salads including a nicoise salad and if you add more natural yogurt it tastes fantastic as a dip with carrot and cucumber batons!

It also tastes particularly nice when used to dress my 'Ali D's Mean Bean Salad' (see recipe below)

This salad was first made by my mum and involves 3 simple ingredients:

• A can of Cannellini Beans strained and rinsed with cold water.
• A whole tin of tuna (2 tins if you're making this for more)
• A whole red onion finely chopped.
• Salt and Pepper to season.
• Olive oil or The 'Hannah's French Style Dressing!

It's delicious in a large portion on a bed of rocket for lunch or as a side salad with BBQ food.

Jamie does... (Channel 4)

After 14 different television show's overtime from 'Pukka Tukka' to the 'American Road-Trip' the nation has decided to get naked. With the chef that is! Jamie Oliver's new television series that follows his adventures round many different cities. Exploring the culture and food along the way!

This week Mr Oliver visited Marrakech - Morocco. The programme displayed the use of authentic flavours and how to create tasty simple Morocan dishes in the home. The useful information about spices was informative and fun. The simple culture shots and mini-vid's made the show flow easily.

Ice Cream

There is not a single country in the world that I think does ice cream like the Italian's do it. I know your probably thinking 'all she ever goes on about it Italian food'. But genuinely I do believe that their ice cream is the most amazing there is.

The texture, flavour and colour are all fantastic, these are the before and after shots of me and my boyfriend polishing off a huge polystyrene tub in about 10 minutes.

Oooops!

Gnocchi

Tomorrow I'm going to make some gnocchi from scratch! I'm also going to try and re-create a porcini mushroom, cream and parmesan sauce that I had when I last had gnocchi in Rome in February!

Will try and get a photo up of my efforts.

Italian Stuffed Chicken Breast

This is a recipe that over time has chopped and changed. The original is one that my mum did by stuffing the breast with mozzarella cheese. I personally prefer my moderated version however the cheese is a lovely option if you can get hold of good quality mozzarella!

Ingredients

1 chicken breast per person
4 rashers of either streaky bacon or 2 slices of parma ham
soft butter
pitted black olives
fresh herbs - I find basil works best!
1 clove of garlic per person
red or green pesto

Method

• First cut a deep slice through the centre of the chicken breast without going all the way through.
• Then mix together the butter, herbs, olives and and garlic and stuff inside the slit of the chicken.
• Then cover the chicken with pesto using a pastry brush.
• Then wrap the chicken in the bacon or parma ham.
• Finally place on tin foil and wrap to form a small parcel.
• Cook in a medium oven for about 20 minutes.

Serve with roasted vegetables or salad.

Jamie Olivers *NEW* Cambridge Resturant

Jamie Oliver on Sunday 21st February 2010 opened his ninth restaurant in the beautiful city of Cambridge (where I've grown up). I haven't yet been to the restaurant though I hope to soon and once I go I can assure you I'll be writing a review!

His new rustic Italian menu looks simplistic and tasty. He has obviously taken a lot of time to source the right ingredients to make his classic dishes beautiful. After a couple of disappointing meals at Carluccio's restaurant that was opened in the city in early 2009 I hope Oliver's grub stands a bit higher.

We can only wait and see!

The Delicious Miss Dahl (BBC 2)

'The Delicious Miss Dahl' is a little confusing to say the least. I think the over-the-top 'kitchness' (if that can temporarily be a word) is a bit much. The recipes however are VERY much my sort of food. The excerpts from poetry and books are random, irrelevant and really rather cringe-worthy. But eton-mess with rhubarb, apple crumble, peanut butter fudge, Blinni's and cottage pie all sound and look delicious as the title would suggest.

There is also something distinctly 'wannabe Nigella' about her. Trying to make innuendos about certain ingredients is a little uncomfortable to watch as she makes a Victoria Sponge! However as a former model who can blame her.

The food cooked is simple, honest, home cooking so therefore not patronising to its target audience! I can't help but find it hard to take her seriously as a cook as she has been a model who has publically battled with her weight.

All in all a good show with achievable tasty dishes however slightly hard to concentrate on this when she's near enough climaxing over talking about soup!

5/10