From Fashion to Food!

In May this year Gok Wan will be making his cookery début for Channel 4. After being brought up in the Chinese restaurant trade Gok will be reminiscing his fathers favourite dishes.

As much as I love Gok I don't know how I'm going to find his attempt at a cookery show, I'm sure it will be amusing to watch however I'm not entirely convinced I'll be whipping out my fish-sauce in a hurry after. I have to say I'm a great believer in 'stick to what you know' however I'll be sure to report back in May and see if I'm eating my words... excuse the pun!

Fitzbillies Cambridge

Fitzbillies is a Cambridge treasure steeped in history. The 1920's bakery located on Trumpington Street in Cambridge has been recently renovated since the previous owners went bankrupt. Now owed by The Guardian food writer Tim Hayward and his wife they are putting back the tradition into Fitzbillies as well as introducing new elements to this Cambridge institution.

Even famous faces such as Stephen Fry tweeted when Fitzbillies looked as if it was dying a slow death...

"Feb 09 2011 @stephenfry No! No! Say it ain't so - not Fitzbillies? Why I tweeted a pic of one of their peerless Chelsea buns but a sixmonth ago"

They have always been famed for their sweet treats such as their world famous Chelsea buns however they have now introduced a dinner service on Friday and Saturday nights. With a small menu of reasonably priced, well cooked, regional produce they seem to have filled a much open gap in the Cambridge restaurant scene.

To start I ordered sorrel breaded mussels which where absolutely delicious, the portion was larger than I expected however I must admit I scoffed the lot as well as two slices of scrumptious brown bread with proper butter i.e. salted and delish!

For my main course both myself and my fiancée ordered the quail with mash and braised shallots. It was pleasant however I found the quail a little tricky to eat. The jus surrounding the quail was lovely and the braised shallots an usual twist! I was pleased that the quail was pink and not over cooked as so often meat is.

After meeting Tim myself at a work function last week I expected great things from my visit to Fitzbillies, I was thoroughly pleased with the food and more than happy to part with my cash however the thing I enjoyed most were the superb staff members who were more than happy to make me my favourite hot chocolate which they make with their cake granache.... it really is heaven in a mug! If you visit for anything a Chelsea bun, a mug of hot chocolate and a natter with a good friend definitely makes for a worthwhile trip to Fitzbillies!

Beautiful Banana Bread

A perfect recipe for this time of year great with a slug of tinned custard (there's nothing wrong with a cheat) or simply sliced with a large mug of tea on a cold day in front of 'Loose Women'... no just me?

You will need:

• 250g Self-Raising Flour
• 150g Brown Caster Sugar
• 100g Butter
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract (not essence, this is the work of the devil aha!)

Equipment:

• Loaf Tin
• Large Mixing Bowl
• Wooden Spoon
• Fork
• Breakfast Bowl

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

In the mixing bowl cream together the butter and caster sugar and then in the breakfast bowl mash your banana's until they resemble a soft pulp. You still want to visibly see banana pieces i.e. don't turn the banana to something you might feed a one year old! Then add your eggs and vanilla extract to this mix and lightly whisk. Slowly add your flour to the mixing bowl and then add your banana/egg mixture slowly to the dry mixture. At this stage adding ingredients such as blue berries, crushed walnuts/pecans often produces fantastic results!

Grease your loaf tin with a little butter and pop in the batter mixture!

Pop it in the oven for roughly 45 minutes being careful to check the loaf regularly it should be a light golden brown when cooked. Be sure to pop a skewer into the middle of the loaf, it'll be ready when the skewer comes out clean!

Place onto a cooling rack and let it cool (unless your like me and you like it slightly warm!) This delicious loaf will keep moist however for best results wrap in tin foil and store in a plastic tub.

*top tip* cover the loaf with icing sugar and lemon juice that has been combined over a low heat for a delicious glazed finish!

The Fabulous Baker Brothers (Channel 4)

In a bid to evidently get young blokes into the kitchen Tom and Henry Herbert, a couple of handsome twenty something brothers use their fast paced show and simple recipes to woo over their audience. Built largely around delicious looking, wholesome food the boys (Butcher and Baker by trade) show off the kings of meat, bread and pastry dishes.

It's definitely not cooking for the faint hearted with dishes like Beef Wellington, Thai curries, Shepard's pie and lardy cake it's food for those who love to showcase beautiful, seasonal traditional and local ingredients.

The show itself is quirky, fast paced and packed with brotherly banter. At times it can be a little twee however the useful baking and cooking tips make for an interesting, watchable programme which definitely get's you reaching for your bread flour!

The Fabulous Baker Brothers is available to watch on 40D.

Long time no bake!

I firstly must make apologies for my sever lacking in blogging. It really has been far too long however with a busy year I've finally got a small amount of time to dedicate to the thing I love most (bar shopping)... BAKING! I'm definitely going to try and dedicate time to more restaurant reviews, recipes and cookery show reviews.

I'm hoping to post a couple of times today to make up for a whole host of lost time!

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.