A Little Kitchen Gadget Haul

I don't suppose haul posts are really expected, but I have to show you this.

I guess alot of you know when you have a mooch on ebay you'll see listings from China, that are really cheap, usually I would click 'UK Only' but I thought I'd give it a go.

So here's what I bought from one seller:



I know, curious, right? What on Earth are they? Well let's play a little game.

First off, yes you can see the label and it tells you what it is, albeit in broken English.

So, what is it?



It's a lid stand! Honestly, I don't know why I bought it. Probably for the novalty of it. Then again it may save my counter top from wet patches, plus it's red and I want my kitchen red.

Next, what do you suppose this happy guy does?



He's a peeler! I had to have this guy when I saw him, he just made me smile! Imagine, you have to peel a carrot or ten, that's a task right there, pull this guy out the drawer and you'll smile and get on with it, bliss.
I love the packaging too, how cute!

Finally, what is this odd contraption?



You make crisps in the microwave with it! I actually bought it for Craig to play with, because he loves potato chips, so let him play around with it.

So that was my little kitchen gadget haul, I'm still waiting for an egg seperator, so I'll show you that once it's arrived.
I may show these in use at some point.

Weekend Overview #6

25th - 27th November 2011

Friday

Craig had a gig and I was ill so there was no point to me cooking that night, so we did the next best thing, ordered takeout.

We'd heard about Just Eat for a while so we checked it out and ordered from a local chinese (I'll do a write up once we've ordered from different places on there). I had Duck with ginger and spring onions with a side of pineapple fried rice and Craig had a chicken curry.

I loved my dish but the duck was quite fatty, I like crispy duck. I'd never had proper ginger either, and it was yum! The pineapple rice was fantastic too.

Saturday

Festive menu at Burger King, had to try it. Craig had the Steak House Angus and I had the Festive Chicken Tendercrisp. Again I'll do a festive fast food review once we've sampled some more delights.
They were delicious.

I wanted to try liver, so I cooked it all nice, looked good, hell it even smelt good. I took one bite and gagged. Not a liver lover. Craig didn't like either so we chucked it out and I attempted omlettes, though I must've been having a bad day because they didn't do right either.
But Craig liked it so it was all good.

Sunday

I really cheated this night. I was so fed up I cheated and cooked coconut curry from a jar, threw in some microwave rice. But at least the turkey breast was fresh, is pre diced.

L'Omelette Brouillée

With my current obsession with Julia Child and the fact that Mastering the Art of French Cooking (volume one) landed on my door step this morning, I just had to have a go, especially after watching this video from The French Chef:



So here is a photo log of my first attempt at Julia's L'Omelette Brouillée [Scrambled Omelette].



Melt the butter, ok, frying pan is a little wider than the 7inch one cited, but let's do this!



Beating eggs, I'm good at this, beaten until the yolks and whites are blended with the seasoning. That's looking good.

I do that jerking motion that she does in the video, but it doesn't fold in on itself. I guess that's the width of the pan, maybe it will with practice?



Here's my finished result, had to fold it myself, and we didn't have any fresh parsley so I used dried mixed herbs, not quite the same, now I know why I use these in sauces and not salad. But it looks good!

So, that is my first foray into the Julia Child's cookbook world, I'm not going to do a Julie Powell, I don't think I have the stamina for that, I very much doubt I'll go near the aspics, but you may see a few of these recipes pop up on here.

So for now, bon apetite!

Weekend Overview #5

I didn't do alot of cooking this weekend as it was my friends Engagement Party.

Friday (Party)

I tried black pudding for the first time, it certainly wasn't that I expected it to be and I rather enjoyed it. I also had some delightful cheeses, apricot in cheese is always a favourite of mine, though there was a herby one and a spiced crust one too, delicious.

Saturday

Considering the German Market has opened in Birmingham, I thought I'd do a little food journalism, so we went to have a look but it was that crowded that I could barley move, let alone get my camera out for photos. I will try again though, I'm not letting that stop me, there's so much to eat there! At least I can say that the stollen cake is good, the frankfurters are amazing and the flavoured coffee smelt wonderful.

I cooked the steak in orange sauce again, not only for myself and Craig but for his mother too. They had the beef steak, I had turkey. The turkey cooked in orange was rather nice, but now I'm thinking that's a rather festive sounding dish.

Whilst in Birmingham we bought a large box of Krispy Kreme Donuts, the Snowman one is my current favourite, but then again when aren't Snowmen my favourite?

Sunday

We went to a local craft fair and I had the most delightful Toffee Apple Cupcake. It was amazing, The toffee icing wasn't sickly and the toffee pieces on top were lovely, then you bite into the soft toffee sponge, which was the perfect level of moist without being sticky and there was the apple filling.

I honestly get the feeling I could eat those cupcakes over and over. I have their business card

I did create a nice simple little noodle soup, which I am writing up the recipe for. In honesty I think this is a good leftovers recipe or one of those nice simple starters for a dinner party.


For now, bon appetite!

Ode to an Onion

Is there anything finer, really?

Right now I believe that it's my favourite vegetable. Onion is amazing, and you can't doubt that. They say a smile is universal, yeah well, I say the onion is. There is not a major food style that doesn't use an onion varient, the onion is the smile of the food world.

Not only is it a smile, but it's also the little black dress, I'm serious. Perhaps the greatest dishes contain onion, at least the one's I like best have it as part of the recipe. Time of distress and you have to whip something out of nothing? Add onion. Fried, boiled, baked the onion will never let you down.

I know I get my love of food from my fiance, my skills from my mother and grandmother, but my love from my fiance. He taught it me through (initially) fast food joints, then onto the delicious little restaurants. My first real attempt at cooking us something was when I knew I could recreate a burrito I had at Chiquitos (onion included).

It's a real testament that he'd chop an onion for me, save my mascara running down my face. Most of the time I'll let him do it, but I need to every now and a while. Honestly, I'm starting to think that onions are a running theme through our relationship, there's always onion and there's always us. Both of us love onion, hell onion soup is one of our favourite recipes.

And to quote Shrek:

"Onions have layers."

Yes, the onion is magnificent.

Bailey's Biscotti Review

I'm not much of an alcohol drinker, though I do like a drink on the odd occasion, usually around Autumn/Christmas as a warmer-uper.

I jumped at the chance to try this though! It's delicious, it's so creamy and tastes like biscuits. It's amazing!

If I were to see some in my stocking this Christmas I'd be very happy, actually any Baileys this brand kicks ass.

Weekend Overview #5

My pie!

Hello my dears! With saying that I think I just turned into a Grandma.

This weeks cooking has been rather exciting! I've experimented with pastry, started keeping a food journal (but not in the obsessive anorexic way) which helps me remember what I've cooked, how I've cooked it and what can be done to improve it. I've also cooked steak for the first time!

Wednesday 9th November 2011

Today I thought I'd experiment with tomato based pasta sauce. I have cooked a pasta sauce before but it was my Uncle's recipe, and honestly it didn't work so well for me. It's a secret recipe though, so I can't divulge. I do remember not liking it years ago, so maybe that's one thing that stuck, as I like most things I used to hate the taste of. I'm not saying it's a bad sauce, because it's not, it just wasn't quite right.

So tonight I decided to make my own.

I raided the fridge for onion and leek, then raided the cupboard for tinned tomato's and penne pasta. That's the base of the sauce. I cooked the onion in olive oil and added mixed herbs, black pepper and paprika to the sauce, that's all that it is.
Probably took 15mins in total to cook, and it was so delicious and I was full before I'd finished the bowl, though that could be that I haven't gotten portions perfect yet.

After that, well I'm not sure what came over me, but I decided I'd make a pie. Pastry... from scratch. The last time I did this, my mom made me and I moaned the whole time about it being underneath my fingernails, but I found out some shortcrust pastry tips and went for it!

Went for it I did, anyone who follows me on Twitter will have seen my valiant journey through the pastry making world. I misjudged my measurements though, and my pie casing was too thin, I think I was out by 50 grams though, so not too bad. Now, onto the filling.

I wanted to use black cherries only, yet when I emptied the tin and drained them they were bloated and most of the tin's weight was the very watery syrup. Let's say I'm not using that brand again. Even halved these cherries wouldn't even fill a pie, they barely covered the base, I had to open a tin of pear quarters in the cupboard to fill it up. Though I did arrange them in a very pretty manor.

I even had enough left over pastry for the epic little pie leaves. The top of the pie is my favourite, milk glaze, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. Delicious. It smelled amazing in the oven. Those damn cherries ruined it though, their bloated corpses leaked in the oven and caused the base of the pie to be soggy. It tasted good though.

Friday 11th November 2011

Tonight's meal was completely for my fiance, beef in orange from my Chinese Food Made Easy book. The marinade/sauce was my favourite part, sweet and fresh, made the medallion steaks I used so juicy. I'd never cooked beef, and I had no idea how much a proper frying steak cost, hence why I substituted for the uber thick medallion cut. I had mine well done and Craig's was medium.

Cooking steak for the first time is scary. When I started this cooking lark I was terrified of raw meat and wouldn't touch it, but I soon had my hands on these bloody cuts.

Everything about this dish smelt delicious. Oh I haven't even mentioned the shiitake mushrooms! I was so excited about these, I didn't think I'd be able to find them in Tesco, I thought I'd have to substitute for chestnut. Yet there they were, bold as brass, and they were wonderful, slightly sweeter than regular old mushrooms.

I served it with simple microwavable Thai rice, I guess you could call it cheating, but I had my mind on steak! Plus I couldn't be arsed with all the faffing about at that point, I was bloody hungry.

Saturday 12th November 2011

This time I cooked chicken braised with cider & bacon, again with rice but mostly because I never think of the side dishes, personally I think courgette or parsnips would be brilliant roasted, perhaps honey roasted, oooooooh!

I changed a couple of bits to the recipe, using breast instead of leg and Oak Smoked bacon lardons. I added a sprinkle of ginger and a pinch of coriander, my own little touch to give it a lift.

I loved this, the chicken fell apart at the slighted tug, beautifully soft and succulent.

Sunday 13th November 2011

I decided to do my pasta sauce (see top) again, but this time I added a red chilli, deseeded as I'm not insane, mangetout and baby corn.

Now this, this was good. It's amazing how small a varient can make a big difference.

So that's all for this weekend, next week I shall be cooking the steak again, but this time I'll be trying it with turkey. Honestly I think that's all I shall be cooking because it's my friends engagement party on friday night, so there'll be no time to cook.

Simple Cold/Sore Throat Remedy

It's that time a year again when we all catch colds and end up with sore throats, so I decided to share my remedy with you, this helps me alot more than those little lozenges.

You Will Need
Water
Milk (full fat if possible)
Honey (runny is best)
Powdered ginger

Method

Boil your kettle, then fill a mug half-way with water. Stir in a teaspoon of honey, stir until disolved. Then add milk til full and sprinkle some ginger in and stir.
Enjoy at your leisure.

I got the idea from watching the behind the scenes on The Lord of the Rings, as Andy Serkis would have to drink and hot water, lemon and ginger concoction all day so he could do the Gollum voice.

Ginger is a natural antiseptic which helps treat your throat, so is the honey, though it also soothes your throat the way phlem is supposed to.

I consider this a comfort drink too, warm and milky without caffine makes it great for resting.

I hope this helps your sore throats!

Weekend Overview #4

On Friday night I made something up, including my own sauce, to go with some roasted vegetables, aubegine, mushroom, pepper etc. It was served up with turkey steaks and pancetta.

I made another batch of stew on Saturday, experimenting with the sauce by adding marmite and worcestershire sauce. It was a sucesss.

I didn't cook after that but I did buy a notebook for a kind of food diary.

So that's all for now.

Weekend Overview #3

I tried not to cook too much this weekend as I have a cold and didn't want to pass it on to my family.

Friday

We had a sort of cottage/shepards pie thing. Beef mince carrots, onion in a sauce topped with mash sweet potatoe. I really enjoyed this meal, was heart and warmed us up but the best thing is it was on the healthy side.

Saturday

I didn't cook, but I did use my baking knowledge to invent a cake. I'll write up the recipe and post it mid-week I think. I made this for Craig to cheer him up, well he did most the work, I didn't want to embed germs into the mix. It turned out well and would make a great layer cake!

Cyber Candy!

If there was ever a reason for me to head into the bustling city of Birmingham, it'd be Cyber Candy.

I've loved this store since it opened, such great choice, some amusing sweets in there!
So, Craig and I went in there, not sure what we really wanted, though I was dying for some Reese's Pieces.

Here's my stash:



Vanilla Coke (how I've missed thee) Reece's Pieces and a Reece's Pumpkin! So peanut buttery, I love it.

I didn't photograph it but Craig had Mountain Dew Adrenaline, 2 packs of Twix Pods (bogof) and the pumpkin shaped Reese's.

They have so many things to choose from, I usually have Pocky. I love this store, perfect for a treat.

Crusha Milkshake Pudding

Vanilla
Strawberry
Banana

Do you remember when Crusha first appeared a few years ago? The cats, that advert was brilliant. I still sing it in the style every now and again, it's one of their jingles that stick in your head.

I saw these in Tesco (3 for £1) and couldn't resist trying them. As a lover of the milkshake mix I couldn't wait to try these.

I can say that these didn't disapoint. I am a lover of milkshakes, and these are just like milkshake.

Actually, if you like the Crusha milkshake mix, then you'll love these.

I am yet to try the chocolate one, and there's jelly too, Crusha even have their own form of Angel Delight.

Weekend Overview #2

Top: Burger and Chips
Bottom: Enchiladas

Hiya, me again. So I guess it's time for another weekend overview. You know it's nearing Christmas when your mother/mother-in-law tries to poison you with sprouts, like everyone else, I dislike sprouts, being a foodie doesn't change this.

Friday

I cooked burgers for dinner, turkey and spring onion, made from scratch.

When I started this cooking run I couldn't handle meat. I was actually very squeamish about it, the raw, slippery flesh. I guess I was still in vegetarian mentality, I'd been vegetarian for over a year and still eating mostly meat-free food. The first meal we did included fresh salmon, which I was hesitantly handling. Fast forward a few months and I have minced turkey and raw egg up to my wrist, as the best way to mix meat is to handle it. I genuinely enjoyed the experience.

So, this is the recipe we used: Thai-style Turkey Burgers

We had to deviate from the recipe as Craig's mom was having them too, and she doesn't like chilli, and we left out the coriander because we couldn't find it in the supermarket.

I made these burgers and had fun doing so, whilst Craig's mom taught us to make chips from scratch. These I didn't eat, as I don't really like potato, actually I loathe it.

These burgers were great with ketchup whilst watching Kickassia on dvd.

Saturday

Ok, I was tired, so we kind of cheated by making Enchiladas using the Old El Paso sauce instead of making my own, and following their instructions religiously. Though next I make Enchiladas, I'm making the sauce myself. I did learn how to make the delicious creamy sauce that's inside the enchilada itself...cheese! Mind. Blown.

Sunday

I'm not cooking today, though we did buy decorate your own pumpkin shaped gingerbread cookies, fun!


Note

I love ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com I can watch it for hours, the character of Dr. Insano is, my favourite I guess, well Spoony too, so for some insane reason I bought Insano goggles (I saw. I wanted. I purchased.)Also, for some reason, just for our own amusement I was wearing them whilst cooking on Friday night, Craig took a photo of me and tweeted Spoony... he ended up retweeting it, that made my day. So I'll leave you with the photo.

Until next time.

Weekend Overview #1

Top: Saturday Night Salad
Middle: Cupcakes
Bottom: Sunday Tea

I would've cooked on Friday night, apart from I was ill, ugh! So, I settled for a slice of Craig's pizza. One day off cooking and he's resorted to junk haha!


Saturday

So on Saturday I decided to bake, I baked 12 vanilla cupcakes with vanilla butter-icing topping covered in sugar stars.
I don't know about you but I love the look of cupcakes. I adore watching Cupcake Wars on the Food Network and I've never made them by myself.
I have all the kit! Silicone cases and an icing bag with an assortment of nozzles. I'm really proud of these! I got the recipe for them from cupcakerecipe.co.uk this is the perfect base recipe that I can eventually experiment with, I already have ideas to use ginger and spice. That recipe cannot go wrong, they're so light and fluffy, truely wonderful.
Though I did run out of butter-icing so I quickly made up some normal white icing.

I'm really confused as to why we have this insane heat in October! So we decided on a simple salad. We had a base of little gem lettuce and cucumber, though Craig had grilled Southern Fried Chicken and mayo whereas I had pickled beetroot.
It was just too hot to properly cook, and you cannot go wrong with a simple salad.

Sunday

We're not the biggest fans of the Sunday Roast, so I usually cobble something together. This was turkey breast fried with red onion and green pepper with ginger and cajun spice, served on a bed of rice. I really love onion. It didn't take long to cook at all, as I did cheat and use microwavable rice, but we were hungry, and sometimes life's too short.

Welcome!

Hello there, and welcome to Lozzy's Tasty Buds!

For anyone who doesn't know, I enjoy cooking, I enjoy food, I enjoy eating food.

This all started when my fiance and I decided we'd try cooking recipes we found online instead of eating fast food, take out or ready meals all the time. That was a few months ago, and now we even brainstorm our own recipes.

I cook, and I do come up with alot of the base of our own recipes, but I wouldn't make anything that Craig wouldn't eat.

Everytime a meal is cooked a photo gets taken, this is then uploaded to Craig's Facebook where we get a fair few comments on the food, mostly envious ones.

This blog has been created as a kind of food diary, recipe/restaurant review and a place where I can share my tips and some of my quickest recipes.

You may be wondering; "What gives her the right to discuss these things? What are her qualifications?"

Well, I have no certificates from any cooking schools, hell the things I learned to cook at school were terrible! The only one I remember is orange juice with a sugar frosted glass (not even kidding). In all honesty most of my cooking ability comes naturally, though I learn through trying out recipes, watching cooking shows and doing. Seriously, I found out that white onions fried in butter to almost burnt taste (and smell) amazing!
My mom and nan both taught me to bake when I was little, so my baking ability comes from the best place, generations of knowledge.

And yes, I am inspired by Julie & Julia, I've already seen the movie and now I'm reading the book.

Currently I cook out of my mom's and my mother-in-law's kitchens, I can't wait to have my own.