Recipe: Yellow courgette and Butterbean Soup with Red Pesto

This is a dish which I made from some of the lovely yellow courgettes i brought back with me from France, and a jar of red pesto I had in the cupboard that I think was part of a hamper that I won a while back. I cant believe that i havent got any of my own courgettes this year yet, the weather has been so terrible! Normally by now i'd be drowning in kilos and kilos of them! I've just got to hope for a late frost this year so i can get a good enough crop. "Red" pesto means usually that it is a pesto made of a mixture of tomatoes, sundried tomatoes and red peppers, but if you cant find any then just use sundried tomato pesto. Also of course, normal green courgettes can be used in this recipe instead of yellow.

Yellow Courgette and Butterbean Soup with Red Pesto (serves 4)

2 tbsp olive oil
Knob of butter
1 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1.5 litres vegetable stock
1 fresh (or 2 dried) bay leaves
1 tin butter beans, drained and rinsed
100g red pesto
300g (about 1 large) yellow courgette, diced finely
300g frozen peas
Large handful fresh parsley, chopped
Large handful fresh basil, chopped (plus extra for garnish)
Salt and pepper to taste
Freshly grated parmesan
Drizzle extra virgin olive oil

1. Fry the onions and garlic in the butter and olive oil for 10 minutes on a low heat, until soft. Add the veg stock and bay leaf and cook on a high heat for 5 minutes.
2. Add the butterbeans, courgette and pesto and cook for a further 10 minutes.
3. Add the peas and herbs and cook for a further 5 minutes. Season to taste and serve with some shredded fresh basil, grated parmesan, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Competition: Tried and Tested.com's Summer 2012 Recipe Winner!

Hey guys. So just before I went on holiday I won myself another competition- Tried and Tested Recipes Summer recipe competition! I've shared a few recipes on that site hoping to win, and this time my Aloo Matar won it! I won £35 worth of Amazon vouchers, which actually I'm not sure what i'm going to spend it on yet, but i expect it will be put to good use and spent on text books for Uni 2nd year. Or, to be fair, if it comes out before then i'll end up spending it on the next World of Warcraft expansion (lol, i'm such a dork!!).

Tried and Tested recipes is a great site actually, it's American so you have to convert the ounce/cup measurements, but i've tried a few recipes on there (the "fast and easy lime mousse" recipe is luuush!) and they are great. Here is the link to my winners page:

So who made your pants? Let's talk about ethical underwear

Being a lover of fancy lingerie and a right nosey parker, I couldn't resist the opportunity to visit ethical pants manufacturer Who Made Your Pants?.

I have been following them on Twitter for about six months, having spotted that they use end-of-line lace, which other lingerie manufacturers discard at the end of their seasonal runs. However, I soon discovered that this business was not just about saving waste, it was about turning around people's lives too.

And it's that which tempted me to scoot all the way from Suffolk to Southampton for the company's open day and to finally have the chance to meet founder Becky John (pictured left) and to find out more about what goes on at Who Made Your Pants?.

Immediately, it was easy to detect the warm and welcoming atmosphere of a small enterprise that was specifically created to help the people who work for it. As Della, the Operations Manager took me on a tour of the business she described how the enterprise helps women, such as refugees, get onto the work ladder, in a way that allows them to overcome language barriers and other cultural hurdles.

Although clearly working as a team to create what felt like a family atmosphere, the philosophy of the organisation, which is managed as a co-operative, stems from one woman's passion, that of Becky John, to tackle, in her own words, the issues of waste, both in wasted stuff and wasted lives.

Becky understands what this means, having volunteered with Amnesty and having been nurtured through her own life-changing experiences. With women who have arrived into the country from as far afield as Sudan, Somalia and Afghanistan, she wants Who Made Your Pants? to work for them, as well as enabling them to work for the enterprise.

It was very easy to see her passion as she explained,

"The women we work with are marginalised and isolated in so many ways and they are bursting to do something.  They are just like you and me and any other woman. They get bored, passionate and curious and that's why we are here, to unleash that and do something good."

Becky continued to tell me about one of the younger women who had arrived from Afghanistan with her mother. When she first met her at a refugee organisation, her body language showed her distinct lack of confidence. She was hunched over the table, very nervous and shy and she knew no English.  She's now been to college for a couple of years, has done a media course and a computer course and now confidently teases her team. Becky recognises this as an amazing change and is just one of the examples of how she's seen her staff develop.

"I believe in this, and this organisation, with everything I am," she added. "It's about an opportunity to help women learn and help them feel empowered, as well as providing good role models for the daughters in the family."

And that's one of the reasons why Becky had committed to sponsoring last weekend's Winchester Science Festival. She wants girls and women to follow their curiosity and have the confidence to believe in themselves.

I liked Becky very much and loved the environment that she and her team had created.  And by team, I don't just mean the 'Management Team'.  It was everyone in this enterprise that makes the Who Made Your Pants? co-operative work so well.  Whether it's translating basic vocabulary into one of the many languages, helping the women have access to office computers, respecting prayer routines or everyone enjoying delicious home-made food that's brought in to share.

.... as well as special cake for Who Made Your Pants? Open Days.

All hands on deck - to cut the celebratory cake!

Of course no visit to any organisation like this would be complete without a nosey around the bins and it was great to see that all the lace off-cuts are sent to a local social enterprise to stuff cushions, so no waste is created.  They've also had requests from Knickerbockaglory artist Fanny Gogh, to provide extra lace for her fabulous fundraising collages, which helped raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

But recycling and repurposing doesn't stop with lace. Waste reduction is really at the heart of the business and almost everything acquired into the office is reused or upcycled, including computers, printers, desks, whiteboards, book cases and some reconditioned machinery.

"I love old and have always loved things that are different," Becky tells me. "Even our stock boxes are from the Ordnance Survey."

As she shows me the page of the annual report, which highlights how little waste they created in 2011, I realise that even as a small business it weighs waste to ensure that it's included in the business assessment criteria.

Becky nods at my positive response.

"If you are going to be a good organisation, you have to start at the very beginning, so we've done this from the start. We also try to engage the women in the recycling process and help them understand why it needs to be done."

She tells me that this enterprise could have been based around anything, but due to her ludicrous love of underwear, a passion to which I also confess, and her desire to provide the world with a fabulous ethical choice, knickers it is!

Having risen out of her fundamental question about who made her pants and the welfare of the women concerned, Who Made Your Pants? has made great progress in helping a small group of women in the UK and Becky still campaigns to raise awareness of the issue of sweatshops.

My pants in progress!

Having seen my own pants being made last Tuesday, by a small team of women working for an enterprise that cared about their welfare, the first thing I did on my return was to contact my long-standing lingerie brand to query their own ethical and sustainability policy.

Seven days later, I've still not received a reply but I shan't give up.

People like Becky John really do make you stop and think, and if you are inclined to begin asking questions about fast fashion, you can't really find a better place to start than with pants!

More information about Who Made Your Pants?,  its ethos and how it is run as a co-operative, can be found at www.whomadeyourpants.co.uk. An online shop, where you can browse and purchase the beautiful lace goodies, is also available.

Recipe: Raita

A "Raita" (pronounced RAY-EE-TAH) is an Indian yoghurt dish, served often as an accompaniment to spicy curries. Traditionally it is a mix of yoghurt, mint, cucumber and various other seasonings. Sometimes you may find varieties with cumin and/or fresh coriander in, but this is the simple traditional version.

Raita
300g Natural yoghurt
½ cucumber, seeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh finely chopped mint
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper or paprika for garnish

1. Mix all the ingredients together, season to taste, and serve with a sprinkling of cayenne or paprika for garnish! Perfect on the side of a tasty curry.

Oily skin: Problem Solved!

Finally, the much-coveted warmer weather has arrived! As sunny days are great for showing off summer dresses and relaxing by the poolside, they can present a common problem: oily skin. 

A greasy complexion requires special attention and care, period. However, when the summer months roll around the battle of oily skin can become harder to fight. To keep unnecessary oils at bay and keep your pores unclogged it calls for a different game plan and new tricks to get you through the warm season. 

Why does your skin produce so much oil? There can be a few different culprits: genes, climate, hormones, eating habits, products and even dryness of your skin (I know that seems contradictory, but it causes your skin to produce even more oils then what you started with). 


Now, I know your thinking that oily skin is impossible to live and the worse skin type of all to have, but think again, there are actually advantages that come along with this specific skin type. Just what can these "advantages" be? It causes your face to age less than those who have normal to dry skin (not so bad after all, right), you are less likely to get those bothersome fine lines and wrinkles compared to other skin types. Told you this skin type wasn't so bad after all. 


So, to get us started in keeping our oily complexion in check, the following three recipes will help you maintain your oily skin: 

Sage Toner Recipe:

Herbal treatments provide your skin cells with vitamins. Using sage helps control the oil  production and preserve the spotless condition of your complexion. 

Take a small amount of sage in a medium-sized cup and pour hot water over it. Let the herb steep for 30 minutes. Strain it and give it some time to cool down. Simply dip a cotton ball into the sage tea and cleanse your face. Repeat at least once a day (make sure to moisturize afterwards). 

Mango Facial:

Accompanying oily skin acne tends to make an unwanted appearance. So, to keep acne at a fair distance you can use this facial to keep your pores clean and free from anything that could cause a breakout. The best part of this facial is it can be used to give you silky soft skin.

Mash a mango on a plate. Taking the content, massage the pulp into your skin using circular motions (be gentle). Leave it on your skin for 10 minutes or until it dries. Wash it off with lukewarm water. Enjoy the radiant look of your complexion.

Wheat Germ Oil Facial:

Wheat germ oil is rich in anti-oxidants and vitamin E. Use it in your skin care regime to help your oily skin. All it takes is you putting a small amount on your fingers and gently massage it into your skin. Go read a book, get some cleaning done or do your toes while this stays on your skin for 40 minutes to ensure your pores absorb all the nutrients. Wash off the treatment and your set. 

Need a quick fix, here you go: 

These products are temporary fixes, but will help eliminate surface oils when you’re on the go. 

Astringents:

Astringents stimulate circulation, reduce oiliness and help to refine pores and rough, uneven skin texture. Astringents should be used with care as they can cause dryness.  Here are some to get you started. Apply them to your skin leave for about 30 minutes and rinse off. 

Stimulating Astringents in General:

• Witch Hazel
• Orange Flower Water
• Organic Cider Vinegar
• Lemon 
• Grapefruit Essential Oil 
• Rose Water
• Basil Essential Oil 
• Peppermint and Chamomile Essential Oils

Toners:

Toners are used to remove excess dirt, and oil from your skin. They should be applied after you have completed cleansing.  These are gentle yet are an effective way to heal, calm and sooth and balance your skin. 


Making your very own is very easy to do. Just combine some of the listed above ingredients and there you go! Here are a few examples: 

Aloe Vera Gel and Tangerine Essential Oil Toner:

Grab a bowl and put three tablespoons of Aloe Vera gel into it then add four drops of tangerine essential oil. Apply this simple mixture onto your skin and leave it on for 15 minutes. Rinse off with lukewarm water. These ingredients will do magic for oily skin. 

Facial Toner for oily and acne prone skin: 

• 1/2 ounce: Apple Cider Vinegar 
• 5 drops: Grapefruit Seed Extract
• 1/2 ounce: rose water
• 1/2 ounce: Witch Hazel 
• 1/2 ounce: Lemon 
• 1/2 ounce: Rosemary 

Here are some additional essential oils that you can mix and match, adding them to your facial routine will help with your oily skin: 

• Geranium
• Lavender
• Lemon
• Peppermint
• Sandalwood
• Grapefruit 
• Thyme
• Rosewater

Blotting Papers: 

Blotting papers are extremely handy and discreet for bathroom touch-ups.  They are essentially thin, tissue-like papers that work by absorbing surface oil on the skin. An added bonus is blotting can prevent you from having to reapply your makeup throughout the day.

Lifestyle habits that need to be applied to your everyday life: 

Come Clean: 

Having a well-defined skin care regime for your oily complexion is essential, especially in the summer, to keeping your skin in check. 


Proper cleansing and exfoliating go hand-in-hand to keep your pores unclogged, remove dead skin cells, reduce excess oils from the surface of your skin and help control the production of oils.


Using a gentle gel-based or water-based cleanser is best to get a thorough cleanse (stay away from harsh soaps, as they can cause your skin to dry out, telling your skin to produce more oils, not helping your problem at all). When washing your skin use lukewarm water, it dissolves oils better and will open your pores and remove all the dirt that might be present.  

A common misconception out there is to constantly wash your face or to keep it dry in order to control the oil production, right? WRONG! This simply tells your skin to produce more oils, which you are trying to control and reduce, making your oily skin problem even worse then it was before. Washing your face morning and night is the perfect amount, no more no less.

Eat Healthy: 

The more you eat oily foods the more oily your skin will be, so stick with fruits and vegetables. Reduce your salt and sugar intake. Whole grains, beans, nuts and wheat germ are great sources of Vitamin B2, which supplies the body with iron and rejuvenates the skin.  

Drink Plenty of Water:

Not juice, not soda, just simply water. Here’s one more reason for getting your eight glasses in: drinking lots of water will help flush out toxins and keep your skin moisturized, preventing your glands from overcompensating.

Use a clay mask once a week:

A clay mask is very effective in fixing your oily skin problem. Put it on a clean face and leave it for 30 minutes, then wash off. Easy enough? 

Moisturize your face after washing: 

Seriously, even if you have oily skin, it is still important to moisturize, it replaces the lost moisture on your face when you wash. When your face is moisturize there is no need for your skin to produce oil. Use a moisturizer that says: "oil free".  There are some moisturizer that not only moisturize your skin, but also controls oiliness. 

Makeup: 


Always remove any trace of makeup at the end of the day. Also, check your make up to ensure it doesn't contain any oil in it. Some foundations can also help control your oiliness not make your problem worse. 


Hopefully these tricks and masks will help you enjoy your summer to the fullest, boot-kicking those problems and oils off your skin! 

Recipe: Sweet Potato Soup with Wensleydale and Cranberry Toasts

This is a bit of an unusual lunch i made for myself yesterday- we've got a load of things to use up in the fridge before we go on holiday so i've been coming up with strange combinations. Actually I find that often a delicious recipe is discovered just due to the fact that there wasn't much in the fridge/cupboards and you just sort of "made something up". I still have loadddds of wensleydale with cranberries though, my boyfriend's brother gave us a huge chunk of it after he had a party. Thinking of maybe stuffing it into chicken breasts or something? Or maybe on a tart? Hurmmmm..... any way, I would fully reccomend trying out this unusual flavour combination, it really works!! By the way, i garnished the soup with some extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of cumin seeds, but that was really just for presentation purposes.

Sweet Potato Soup with Wensleydale and cranberry toasts (serves 3)

1 tbsp olive oil
Knob of butter
1 large red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 celery sticks, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 tsp garam masala
1 bay leaf
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 apple, peeled cored and diced
1 litre vegetable stock
Splash of milk (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

3 large slices tiger bread
100g Wensleydale with cranberries

1. In a large saucepan, fry the onions, garlic and celery in the olive oil and butter for 10 minutes. Add the garam masala and bay leaf and cook for a further minute.
2.Add all the other ingredients (except the milk) and cook on a medium/high heat for 25 minutes. Blend (either in the pan with a hand blender, or in a liquidiser), season to taste, and add some milk if necessary to get the desired texture.
3.Meanwhile, toast the slices of tiger bread in a toaster. Heat a grill on to high, top the toast generously with the Wensleydale and put under the grill for a couple of minutes, or until beginning to brown. Serve with the soup.

Competition: Turkey Masterclass with Marco Pierre White!!

Hey guys, remember that recipe I entered into Britmum's and Lean on Turkey's competition a few weeks ago? Well, I won it!! My spiced turkey burgers with avocado relish won me £250 and a personal masterclass with Marco Pierre White!

I was terribly excited about this, as not many people know but Marco Pierre White was the youngest British chef to be awarded three Michelin stars. So before he was a celebrity chef he most definitely was a "real chef"!, haha! Me and three other food bloggers attended the masterclass in south london on tuesday, and we all had a great time, and got to know Marco off camera which was fascinating.

I asked him a few cheeky chef-y questions, including whether he had worked with many women in professional kitchens, and what he thought of women in the Michelin industry. He said the main reasons why there are less women in kitchens is because a)physical strength (i agree with this as I often have to get the boys to help me out with carrying heavy trays/stockpots, and pulling fridges out) and b) high emotions. He said that women often take comments in the kitchen a bit closer to heart than men, whilst with heated comments during the middle of service men often forget or dont think that it means much. I think i would have to agree with this too, and he said it's also mainly these two reasons that women in michelin kitchens often get pushed onto larder or pastry, because the men feel that they can get away with doing this. I also mentioned that Nick used to be a chef in Ilkley, where Marco attained his first michelin star at The Box Tree. He asked whether he was still a chef now, I said no, he works in I.T, and he said "Ah, he got out of it then, clever boy!".

He's a very honest guy and I like that. I asked him if he missed being a "real chef" (as in working in kitchens) and he basically said "Hell no!"- which would be exactly the same thing i would say if i had managed to get out of kitchens and on to TV. He's not as stern as he is on television but you could tell when he went into "camera mode" because he squinted his eyes a bit more, spoke slower and more sharper, and waved his knife about a bit more (something he does, he told us, to manage to speak clearly in front of the camera, like a sort of speaking aid)! All that stuff is for his tv image, for the camera- just like Ramsey and his swearing I suppose.

As this was a masterclass, involved with Bernard Matthews, he of course showed us a few delicious recipes using turkey. He also used knorr stock pots in all of his dishes, because he is of course also the face of Knorr at the moment, as well as Bernard Matthews (busy man!). He made us a turkey bolognese, a roast turkey waldorf salad, a turkey thai green curry, a turkey and leek casserole and a turkey milanese. My fave was the bolognese i think, because he added lots of chilli and some dark chocolate into the ragu so the flavour was lovely and intense.

At the end of all the recipes and filming, we all got given a copy of Marco Pierre White's latest cookbook- Marco Made Easy, which he signed. I had a full read of the book on the train home- It focuses on using really nice good quality ingredients, and then the rest of the ingredients in the recipe are items you would find in your store cupboards- mustard, worchester sauce, red wine vinegar etc. Like theres a whole section on steak- you go out and buy your favourite cut of steak, and then theres all these recipes in the book on what you can do with that steak with just items from the cupboard. I like the style, it's different. Once we'd done all the promotion photos (the photos i've put in the blog are taken by Sammie Hodges- one of the other winners- I havent been emailed the photos the bernard matthews people took yet) and we were all about to leave, the crew were just like "Mel, could we speak to you for a moment?". I was thinking OH GOD what have I done now? Lol! Nah, turns out they liked the way i was in front of the camera with Marco, so they asked me to do a little interview about what i thought about turkey and why Britain should be eating more of it. One of the camera guys said "theres a little bit of a food presenter in you isn't there?", which made me pretty happy- because as we all know, i am the next big celebrity chef, it just aint all confirmed yet, haha!!

Then I started my rather chaotic journey home, which involved the train being 20 minutes out of Paddington, before stopping for no reason, and then an announcement came through the train saying "We have stopped and are delayed due to a fatality". The whole carriage groaned, and I had to ask the guy next to me "What does fatality mean?" and he said " theres been a jumper"!!! Couldn't believe how not bothered everyone was by this, as if it happens all the time! Anyway, despite getting back to Bath very late, i had a wonderful day with Marco Pierre White and shall never forget it! Will post up the promo video once they've edited it all and got it up online!

An educational farmers' market. Lessons from a Suffolk primary school

On Friday, my son's primary school held its end-of-year award winning "Farmers' Market".

With gazebos and traditional bunting to set the scene, the hall was transformed into a wonderful entrepreneurial venture, with fresh vegetables, plants and food on offer as well as toys that the children had either decorated or made.

Organised entirely in-house, with just some support from the school community and a couple of external producers, the school Farmers' Market has already won a Green Suffolk award.  And it really is well-deserved.  This is something really special and here's why I love it....

• Most of the vegetables sold - including those in the photograph above - are grown by the children and are planted and watered during lesson time or by the gardening club.  Not only do they learn about growing food as part of the curriculum, but they also learn that there is a real market for their produce as well as the economic value of food.

• In preparation for the event, some of the classes had the opportunity to make food and drink for sale. The Year 4 children were really proud of the pizzas they had made. Year 3 had also been busy that day making fresh lemonade. Not only was it a great commercial opportunity, but the educational benefits can be long-lasting. My 8-year-old was so proud that he knew how to make lemonade, he woke up on Saturday and Sunday wanting to show off his new skills and make some more!

• It's also a fabulous way to raise funds from existing resources. Our school is blessed with lots of lavender, which flourishes in the summer and is then cut back as part of the grounds maintenance work.  The market offers a great opportunity to gather bunches and sell it to children and parents, raising a few extra pounds from a resource that could otherwise go to waste.

• It also gets the wider community involved. Families have a chance to contribute, with home-made jams, cakes, biscuits and seedlings helping to raise money for the school. Kind donations were also received from local potato growers as well as a supplier of free-range eggs.

• The older children have a chance to manage stalls, serving their customers and handling the money, some independently and others with staff help.  It was obvious to see that it was a great confidence-builder and what a fantastic way to bring maths out of the classroom into a real practical setting!

For an after-school event that only lasted an hour, I could rave on about it for hours more, but I guess you already get the gist.  This is only the second summer Farmers' Market, but the school has also held one at Christmas, which was a real festive highlight.  Seriously, if you've got school-aged children, I'd recommend having a word with your headteacher in the hope that they can organise something similar. This is learning at its finest - with children and the school community, working together on a practical project that doesn't even feel like education!

So, while you go and stir up the vegetable beds, I'm off to indulge in a glass of my son's home-made lemonade and ponder a proposition that might encourage him to become my regular supplier.

I could get used to this life.  If I play my cards right, this could lead to my retirement on a lemon orchard somewhere on the continent, or even here in Suffolk.  By then, we might even have the weather for it.

Recipe: Bel Potato Dauphinoise

Very simple dish, with only a few ingredients, resulting in a big punch of flavour! If you love garlic, and you love creamy french style dishes, this is the dinner for you. This is another recipe I have developed for Bel, which they are very happy with, as it uses Boursin as well as Leerdamer (both products that their company manufactures). Again, instead of boursin cuisine, use 150g of the the normal garlic and herb boursin you get in the shops, and add 60ml more double cream (dare i say it!). I'm hoping to get another delivery of Bel cheese soon- this time i'm hoping for a load of leerdamer, i've got some funky recipe ideas for it.

Bel Potato Dauphinoise (serves 6)

900g potatoes (maris piper work well), peeled and sliced thinly
240ml double cream
200g Boursin Cuisine
Handful fresh parsley
Black pepper
2 slices (50g) Leerdamer mature, finely diced

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. In a mixing bowl, combine the double cream, boursin, parsley and black pepper until a smooth consistency is reach.
2. In a baking dish, layer up half the potatoes, then pour half the cream mixture on top. Layer up the other half of potatoes; pour over the remaining cream mixture (making sure all the potatoes are covered). Cover the dish tightly with tin foil, and put in the oven for 40 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven, remove foil, top with the diced Leerdamer and bake in the oven for a further 30 minutes. Put under the grill for a few minutes in order to brown the top. Serve!

Recipe: Satay Noodles

This is a recipe I cooked for my mum and my brother- all of us love satay sauce, and always order an extra pot of it whenever we get a chinese takeaway, so i thought i would have a go at making my own. Still havent got it to the same recipe as my fave chinese place, but this dish is still delicious. I dished this up for my vegetarian mum, but then for me and my brother I mixed in some leftover roast chicken, so it kept the meat eaters and the veggies in the family very happy last night. Whats also nice is that it doesn't require any hard to find asian ingredients, just things you would normally find in your store cupboards.

Satay Noodles (serves 3)

Satay Sauce:
40g crunchy peanut butter
20g sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce (plus extra for garnish)
2 tbsp water

Noodles:
3 stacks Sharwoods medium egg noodles
2 tbsp oil (plus extra for noodles)
4 spring onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, julienned
100g sugar snaps, julienned
¼ tsp garlic powder
Fresh coriander and sesame seeds for garnish

1. Mix together the satay sauce ingredients until it is well mixed and smooth. Meanwhile, cook the noodles 1 minute less than the packet instructions states. Drain well, toss in oil (to avoid the noodles sticking together) and set aside.
2. Heat the 2 tbsp oil in a wok until very hot. Stir fry the spring onions, sugar snaps, carrot and garlic powder for 4 minutes, stirring often. Add the noodles and satay sauce, remove from the heat, and stir until all the ingredients are well combined.
3. Season to taste, and garnish with fresh coriander and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Recipe: Chicken, Ham and Pea Risotto

This is by no means a traditional risotto recipe but it's certainly a tasty one. It's good recipe for using up cold cuts,such as after Christmas, for example. I've just come back from Yorkshire and, like normal, my boyfriend's mum sent us packing with a joint of beef, and a load of roast chicken and ham. I know that in normal risotto recipes you are supposed to add the stock gradually, but since my boyfriend doesn't like his risottos al dente, I just chuck it all in at the same time. It's a less authentic way of doing it but also less fussy I suppose.

Chicken, Ham and Pea Risotto (serves 2)

1 tbsp olive oil
Knob of butter
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
150g risotto rice
600-700ml vegetable or chicken stock
1 bay leaf
100g cooked (leftover roast if possible) chicken
50g diced ham
100g frozen peas
1 rounded tsp Philadelphia
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan shavings for garnish

1. Fry the onion and garlic in the butter and olive oil for 6 minutes. Add the rice, stir in, and then add the stock and bay leaf and cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat, stirring often.
2. Add the chicken and ham, and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the peas and Philadelphia, and cook for 2-5 minutes, or until all of the stock has been absorbed and the rice is cooked. Season to taste and serve with parmesan shavings!

Glowing Skin Tips For Summer

Healthy looking skin is a must have during summer time.
In Summer we need to take extra care of our skin because we frequently go in sun. So, we must take proper care of our skin as well. I am writing below few easy to do Home Remedies to protect and make your skin look more glowing and healthy.

HOME REMEDIES for GLOWING and HEALTHY SKIN:

Potato Method: Grate a potato and take a thin piece of cloth. Lie down and place the cloth on the face. On the cloth, place the grated potato. Spread the grated potato in such a manner that it spreads all over the face evenly. Leave it on for 20 minutes. This is also a good home remedy for white heads and to improve the complexion of the skin. You can spread the potato grating on eyes also. This will remove the dark circles around the eyes. 


Cucumber Method: Cut the cucumber in pieces and apply it on your face. Cucumber will lighten the skin color. Being a good coolant, it will relax your face and eyes. During summer this will give a great relief for the face. 


Poppy Seeds Method: Take one spoon of poppy seeds and 2 almonds. Grind both into fine powder. Apply few drops of milk and make it into a paste. Apply this paste on the face. This is one of the best remedy for beautiful wrinkle free skin. Try this once a week. Almond rich in vitamin E will nourish your skin and gives a natural glow.

Apple Method: Whenever you are preparing apple milk shake, take 2 teaspoon of this milk shake before adding sugar. Apply this apple milk mixture on the face. This is an excellent fruit therapy for beautiful skin.  


Tomato Juice Method: Take 2 teaspoons of tomato juice. Add a teaspoon of honey. Apply this on the face for 10 minutes. Wash with warm water to have a fresh looking face. 


Radish Method: Grate radish and take the juice out of it. Apply this juice directly on the face leaving the eye part. It will give some burning sensation if there are more white heads. Leave it for 5 or 10 minutes depending on how much you can with hold the burning sensation and the fuming smell of radish. Then wash your face with plain water. Do not apply soap. Do it for a week daily and see the difference in your face. If you find any blemishes on your skin, do not continue with this remedy. This method will remove white heads and give a glow and fairness to your skin.

Recipe: Leerdamer, Ham, and Asian Pickled Vegetable Baguette

Hey guys. So sorry it's been a while (a week! Jeez- I really do owe you guys an apology!) since my last post, but i've had so much going on lately I haven't had time to get on to my computer! I've been on holiday in France for a couple of days (for the Django Reinhardt festival) and then up in Yorkshire (Ilkley) visiting mates and seeing my boyfriends mum for another couple of days. And then actually the day before all that I had a masterclass in London with no other than Marco Pierre White!!(which I will tell you guys all about once i've got some promo photos of me and him to show off to you all!).

This is another one of my recipes that i've developed for Bel, and also for the British Sandwich Association, as this year is the 250th anniversary of the sandwich! According to the British Sandwich Association, a sandwich is classed as "Any form of bread with a filling, generally assembled cold - to include traditional wedge sandwiches, as well as filled rolls, baguettes, pitta, bloomers, wraps, bagels and the like, but not burgers and other products assembled and consumed hot", and so this recipe and also my pulled bbq beef toasties are definitely classed as proper sandwiches! Again, in this recipe I have used Leerdamer mature slices, but feel free to use normal leerdamer or leerdamer light slices instead.

Leerdamer, Honey roast ham, and Asian pickled vegetable baguette (serves 4)

For the pickled vegetables:
90g peeled and julienned carrot
90g julienned seeded cucumber
Small handful fresh coriander, stems and leaves finely chopped
35ml rice vinegar
20g sugar
Splash of soy sauce
½ tsp crushed ginger
Salt to taste

For the baguette:
40g butter (or low fat margarine)
4 demi-baguettes
8 slices (200g) Leerdamer mature, sliced in half diagonally.
150g wafer thin honey roasted ham

1. In a bowl, combine the rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, ginger and salt, and whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Mix into this the carrots, cucumber and coriander well, and marinate covered for at least an hour.
2. Once the vegetables have marinated, spread four halved demi-baguettes with butter, and fill with equal amounts of ham, Leerdamer and pickled vegetables. Serve!

NB: For Caterers, the pickled vegetables can of course be made in bulk, and have a two day shelf life. This baguette can be sold on its own, or can be sliced in half and served with salad, fries, coleslaw, or even a mug of soup as part of a lunch deal.