My Fave Foodie Websites!

I love finding inspiration from others in terms of what to cook! I love collecting cook books but when you have the World Wide Web now at our finger tips there are more recipes circulating around! Which means more variations, new ingredients and more options on what to cook tonight!

These are my current favourite websites that I like to look at to gain inspiration on what to cook that night or one to save for another day!

Jamie Oliver’s website is one of my favourites! I love his flavour combinations and I love his books. His website shows just that bit more than what you would see in his books but also it means that if you don’t have his books then you can still access some of those recipes on his website!

Sainsbury’s recipe section offers a wide range of products and obviously if you like the recipe you can just add those items into a basket on the groceries page and get them delivered to your house! Supermarkets have really upped their game in terms of providing more than just being a supermarket, I have 100s of Sainsbury’s recipe cards that were free to pick up when I was younger. Now I can save trees by finding those recipes online!

Can’t forget BBC Good Food now can we! I always like looking though the different sections of this and trying to find things I wouldn’t normally think to cook! Over the years when I have been trying to get inspiration I always head here! Its such a simple and easy to use website!

I love this ginger & lime chicken recipe! I make it quite a lot actually, its perfect for summer or keeping simmer alive! Its perfect on the BBQ or fried on a griddle pan or even to put it in the oven and roast it and keep adding on the marinade! It makes it go more jammy when you put it in the oven! But its even nice cold in salads or with a different side such as a vibrant cousin cousin salad but this chicken should definitely be something you should try, I tried it and now my family love it!
Now everyone loves halloumi! How can you not love a bit of squeaky cheese! These wraps are so tasty and fresh, again another perfect summer time recipe!

So whats your favourite websites to use? If you haven’t used any of these already then I would highly recommending you to!

Terry’s Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

I love baking! Especially cupcakes! I love playing around with different flavours and making sure that everyone think wow I wish I thought of doing that! I’ve been baking now for quite a while. And found that cupcakes were easier and quicker and better at different events than a whole cake. I didn’t want to make traditional cupcakes and there are so many people out there now that are doing this, for example Cupcake Jemma. She makes imaginative cupcakes and I wanted to follow suit with this. SO these Terry Chocolate Orange cupcakes were something I came up with as I love orange flavouring and decided to play about with it. I’ve made these so many times now that it just comes naturally and everyone loves them. At nearly every family party/event these make an appearance.
I didn’t want the icing to be solely orange I wanted some of the chocolate to be present so I made the icing 2 tone! This puts a nice little twist on these cakes and I think its what everyone loves about them.

For the sponge:
150g Sugar
150g Stork Butter
150g Self raising flour
3 Eggs
50g Cocoa powder
6-8 segments of Terry’s chocolate orange

Icing:
175g Hard butter ( take out the fridge so it can soften slightly and cut into cubes)
280g Icing sugar
Orange food colouring paste (you won’t need a lot of this as paste is really strong, a little goes a long way so add little bits in at a time till you get the desired colour)
6-8 segments of Terry’s chocolate orange

Method:
– Pour the sugar and butter into a bowl and using an electric whisk mix until all combined and fluffy.
– Mix the cocoa powder and self raising flour together and then sieve some of the flour mix into the bowl then crack in 1 egg. Whisk together then fully combine. You may want to use a flexible spatula to get down the sides of the bowl to sort of fold it together before adding in the next bit of flour and another egg. After you’ve done that for all 3 eggs there should be some flour mix left over.
– Melt the Terry’s chocolate orange segments in a bowl over simmering water (don’t let the water touch the bowl) and then pour into the cake mixture and whisk until combined.
– With the remaining flour mixture fold add that to the cake mixture and using your spatula fold through. Making sure you don’t know any air out.
– Line a muffin tray with cupcake cases and divide the mixture evenly. Put in the oven for about 10 minutes then check to make sure that a skewer comes out clean if not then put them back for another 2-4 minutes depending on how done they are. Take them out the tray and put on a wire rack to allow them to cool.
– tip the butter into a bowl and using an electric whisk beat until it goes a bit pale in colour and fluffy.
– In 2 parts sieve the icing sugar and mix into the bowl of fluffy butter until fully combined. You may want to mix it a little bit longer just to make sure its really nice and light so it pipes easily.
– Split the mixture into 2 bowls and then melt the chocolate and add it to one bowl and in the other add the food colouring paste.
– Put in a star shaped nozzle into a piping bag and add small blobs of each icing to the bag and pipe a little bit out to make sure it comes out with the desired effect.
– pipe from the middle then to the outside and back in overlapping to create some height and top with a segment of Terry’s chocolate orange. Do this to the rest and your cupcakes are complete!

I hope you enjoy making these and eating these as much as myself and my family do! 

Feeling 22 ooo ooooo!

On Friday I turned 22! I booked the day off work, my mum and sister came down for a day out! We went to Westfield’s Shepherds Bush to do some shopping where I got a new top, some make up and some new trainers, and I also wanted my mum and sister to try a Snog! I really liked mine last time I had one and I knew my mum and sister would like it as well! This time we got mine ones, I went for the same flavours as last time but my mum went for Chocolate frozen yoghurt with brownies and strawberries! She said the brownies could have been smaller pieces but more of them. Otherwise my mum and my sister both loved Snog! I love showing people new things especially when it comes to food!

I asked around at work as to what the good places to go to in Notting Hill were. One of the recommendations was The Distillery. The home of Portobello Gin. The Distillery is built up of 4 floors each with a slightly different theme but all surrounding the ideals of gin! We went in for some pre-dinner drinks and we parked ourselves in The Resting Room. Its on the ground floor so is perfect for passing by! This floor is traditional but classy British in a nutshell! A large selection of wines, gins (obviously) and cocktails. They do serve food as well but I have head that the floor you really want to go to is the Gintonica floor! This will be a floor that I will try due to its long list of gins but also its tapas menu! This would be a luxury night out for me but by the sound of the recommendations at work it’d be totally worth it. The other floors are the Ginstitute which is a small museum with different cocktails to try which will enhance the gin history lesson. There are boardrooms as well as bedrooms as well at The Distillery.
For my pre-dinner drink I had an Aperol Spritz! I do like the refreshing yet slightly bitter taste of an Aperol Spritz. My mum and sister both had a glass of wine.

After our drinks we thought we would head down the road to Honest Burger. A place that calls themselves honest but serve some real good dirty burgers! Tucked away in a small narrow section of Portobello Road with a large bar taking up most of the space, your food gets cooked downstairs and come out quite quickly! The onion rings were gigantic! I had the special which was the Louisiana! Cajun-rubbed beef, smoked bacon, fried onions, American cheese, smoky ketchup and pickles. The burgers are cooked pink or to how you would like them! I had mine pink and my god did I make a mess! It was such a nice burger with gooey cheese and soft burger van onions! The sauce made for an even better flavour and the pickles added that slightly healthy element and added flavour! The rosemary salted chips were incredible! The rosemary made them! Best chips I have had so far! My cocktail also came in a cup! All three of us really enjoyed Honest Burger, but like I’ve most probably said before, you cant go wrong with a burger!

On the Sunday me and Hayden walked up to Shepherd’s Bush (Its only round the corner so you can’t blame me for being there so much) and went to Dinner at Jamie’s Italian. As part of the Gold Club, which is free to become a member of with so many perks, I got the taster which was a slow roasted tomato on creamy ricotta and basil topped onto a crunchy crostini! There was a large mouthful sized (a small bite for Hayden) for both of us! There was an intense tomato flavour but balanced out with the creamy ricotta! As well as this I got £10 off the bill and because it was my birthday, a bottle of Jamie’s Prosecco which me and Hayden shared.
For starters we shared the crispy Italian nachos which is actually deep fried ravioli with a chilli, tomato sauce that you dip them into. The filling is a cheese and its topped with shaved parmesan. The other starter we had was Crispy Squid. Cant go wrong with crispy squid and aioli. For mains I had Gennaro’s Mixed Grill which was Free-range pork & fennel sausage, Welsh lamb chop & herby marinated flash steak with crispy British coppa, smoky chilli ketchup & a side of your choice which I chose Polenta Chips. Hayden had the Pesce pizza! My mixed grill was so nice! Proper meat feast! There was so much meat (doesn’t look a lot from my picture but bearing in mind I’d had starters) by the end I was struggling but made sure I ate it all as it was too good to waste! But I couldn’t eat any polenta chips! I wanted room for pudding! I had 3 scoops of dark chocolate ice-cream topped with honeycomb and a butterscotch sauce! Hayden had the Chocolate fudge sundae! We came away from our meals stuffed and slightly tipsy from the bottle of prosecco! But we both thoroughly enjoyed our food and the atmosphere of the restaurant!

I had a lovely birthday weekend and the birthday celebrations don’t stop here!

Lewis’s late birthday celebrations

Me and Lewis have been friends since I was 2 years old! And every year we like to do something exciting for each others birthday! This year Lewis turned 21! For such a big birthday I wanted to take him somewhere special and to do something a bit different, especially now I am living in London.
Where I live isn’t far from Shepherd’s Bush Westfield’s and White City, So I had a look around there to see what places would be good to go for lunch. I then remembered that there is a rooftop bar just opposite the White City entrance of Westfield’s called Pergola on the Roof. Neither of us have been to a roof top bar, the weather was meant to be nice and I felt as though this was the perfect occasion to go!

Pergola on the Roof is on the top of the BBC television centre Carpark. This is the old BBC headquarters. If there are less than 4 of you then you don’t have to book but it is on a first come first basis in terms of the getting a table. This I’d looked into so made sure we got there early enough to be able to get a table! Up on the roof you didn’t even feel like you were in London! The decor was that of the Hamptons in America and the weather matched it perfectly! The cocktails and prosecco were flowing and for food we got the popular squid burgers from Salt ‘n’ Sauce (Bonnie Gull) . The way it is set up is there is a 2 bars and then 4 pop up counters which are run by a different company. Salt ‘n’ Sauce is one of them and the other 3 are Patty and Bun, Breddos Tacos and 8 Hoxton Square. The squid burger was so full of flavour and the squid itself was crispy yet not chewy! It was cooked perfectly! And the chips were beautiful as well!

Pergola on the roof was a perfect start to our day and by the time we left we were a little bit tipsy but also looking for something to eat some more! We had had a whole bottle of prosecco at this point as well as a few cocktails! So we went into Westfield’s not really knowing what to have and wanting something a bit light and came across Snog. Snog is a frozen yogurt brand where they serve it to you as if it is Mr Whippy ice-cream and then you get to choose your toppings. For mine I went for salted caramel with brownie pieces and dark chocolate nibs. I have to admit mine didn’t taste very much of caramel so was a little bit disappointed but the brownie pieces were so nice and I love dark chocolate so I was happy with that. We did get a too bigger size though. We definitely could have done with a smaller pot as neither of us finished them. But Id definitely go back and have another one!

For our evening entertainment, I had got myself and Lewis tickets to see Sigma at the Royal Albert Hall. So to make it convenient  for us, rather than jumping on nearly every tube and having to go here there and everywhere, I booked us a table at Verdi an Italian Restaurant which is inside the Royal Albert Hall. We turned up a couple of hours before the concert so that we could have a nice relaxed dinner experience. I had the ‘Tagliatelle Al Ragù D’anatra which is slow cooked duck with wild mushrooms. Lewis had the Pappardelle Al Ragù Di Cervo which is braised venison in red wine. My duck was so tender it just fell apart in my mouth, there wasn’t much of a sauce or a massive amount of flavour if I am honest. I tried some of Lewis’s and I know that venison has more flavour but the depth of flavour in for his pasta was incredible! Mine I think was a bit more simple in that the flavours the restaurant wants you to taste are the duck and mushrooms which you could. For pudding I had lemoncello which was delightfully creamy but really strong in alcohol as well! It got to the point where I couldn’t finish it. I wasn’t disappointed by the meal but I also wasn’t wowed by it. I think because of where it was I expected a little bit more from Verdi but Lewis really enjoyed his meal and that was the main reason for me being there so thats all that matters. Would I go again, maybe, if I was going to the Royal Albert Hall again yes, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to go there again for a nice casual meal. It was in a perfect atmosphere, great location in terms of what we were doing that evening and fitted well into the day. Sigma was also pretty incredible!

The next day me and Lewis went down to Chichester, Lewis has just been offered a job down there and so we went and looked at some places for him to potentially live in. Whilst we were there we stopped off for lunch and we went into the first place we found which was Brasserie Blanc, a french restaurant in a traditional British city. For a Sunday they did offer roast dinners and when I saw people eating the roasts, well I may have started dribbling! I did think though I could have a roast anywhere and still enjoy it. So I thought I’d choose something different, something I don’t always eat! I had King Scallops Provencale, which came with chargrilled courgette, sautéed potatoes, padron peppers, cherry tomato sauce and a deep fried herb crumb. Im not a massive fan of peppers so I did push those to the side but everything else, oh my days, was delicious! For something very simple it was full of flavour! The cherry tomato sauce lifted the whole dish and the scallops were cooked to perfection! I came away from the table not feeling stuffed but satisfied which I think is a good position to be in when you know you have a lot of walking to do and knowing that I was going out for dinner that night too made it even more comfortable in the knowledge that I hadn’t eaten too much nor ruined whatever we were going to be having for dinner that night!

Once we had seen all the places Lewis wanted to look at we made our way back to London where Hayden joined us. We eventually decided on Pix followed by trip over to Bounce. Pix is a tapas restaurant in the style of a buffet where you go up to the counter and see what you want and put it on a plate and take it back to your table. There are different sized sticks in each dish, 2 different sizes to be precise. The different sizes equates to the difference in price. The shorter stick is cheaper and the longer stick is a little bit extra. Due to it being a Sunday and a bank holiday, they had a deal on which was all you can eat tapas as well as all you can drink cava for £33 each. This was a deal we couldn’t refuse! I went for all the traditional dishes as well as the ones I didn’t even know I was going to like! Patatas Bravos, diablo meatballs, chorizo stew, baked brie with cranberry sauce, there were just a few things I had and tried at Pix! I have been to a Pix before but the atmosphere in the Notting Hill branch was so much better. All 3 of us really enjoyed it and then we went to Bounce and had a game of ping pong on the tables with a few cocktails and we were set for the night!

The weekend consisted of a lot of different food, a lot of drink and a lot of laughs and I am so glad that Lewis enjoyed his birthday weekend and treats that I had planned for him.
I’d highly recommend Pergola on the Roof as well as Pix and Brasserie Blanc in Chichester for places to go to.

Argo Lounge

Last night was such a magical night! Due to me moving on Sunday to London, my boyfriend Hayden wanted to take me out for a surprise meal! Neither of us had been to Argo Lounge so it was a nice surprise walking into the restaurant for the first time! 
Argo Lounge is a sister restaurant to The Cosy Club, one of which I’ve been to in Stamford which you’ll see in a previous post! Argo Lounge is more relaxed than Cosy Club in term of how the atmosphere is and the decor. 

The staff there had gone above and beyond for our time there. Hayden had been in the day before with table decorations and told them why we were coming, to which apparently they said say ‘no more we’ve got this!’

The table was decked out with gold and red heart confetti and then large gold glitter hearts that were stuck to the bench and also standing against the two candles that were placed on the table! It was amazing! Hayden’s idea in real life had been done justice due to the staff at Argo Lounge! 

Our food made an already amazing night an even better one! Honestly food can change the mood of a night in an instant! There were similar dishes to what Cosy Club would have but they’d mixed them up and made it different. For starters we shared some of the tapas dishes. We got 3 tapas dishes. 

The dishes we chose were salt and pepper squid, goats cheese and spinach croquettes and pork belly squares! The croquettes were light and crispy and the tomato tapenade intensified the flavour! The best bit about these 3 dishes was most definitely the pork belly squares in a BBQ sauce with sesame seeds. The BBQ sauce was incredible and the pork just melted in your mouth! I definitely mopped up the sauce with the ciabatta! I didn’t want it to end! 

For main I was very stuck for choice on what to have! There was so many incredible sounding dishes. In the end though I chose the butternut squash, lentil and coconut curry and added in the chicken! 

The curry was nice and fragrant and I enjoyed the different textures that were in the dish! It was a nice subtle flavour with a slight bit of heat. I always worry when I am ordering a curry that’s not from my local curry house! Just because I don’t want to burn my mouth and be sweating with my nose running at the dinner table. I know nice picture! The only criticism that I’d have is that my butternut squash was a little under done for my liking but I enjoyed it all the same! Hayden had the Ultimate Burger which was pretty beastie! 

I felt like such a princess the entire night and my cheeks hurt so much but that was purely because I couldn’t stop smiling! You know it’s been good when you go up to the member of staff that sorted the entire night for us and give him a hug! They’d put so much care and attention into Hayden’s idea and I was blown away! 

I would have loved the meal even if it was just a meal but as I keep saying it was just an amazing night! I know I had a different experience to a normal sit down meal but I can not recommend Argo Lounge in Peterborough enough! 

http://thelounges.co.uk/lounges/argo-lounge/ check them out as well as the menu and head down! 

Whats in store for me!

So I have some exciting news! I have got a job down in London! I am off to be a studio assistant for a photographic studio company! After completing my degree in Photography I have felt as though there was still more to learn so what better way to learn than to assist those that do what I’d eventually like to be doing.
I know what you might be thinking, its not food! But when I was at university I loved cooking and trying new things and actually made sure that I cooked myself a decent dinner and lunch! I am going to be going on to do long hours but when I cook for myself I feel like I will be more inclined to take photos and then let you guys know what I have been making! I will be eating on a budget with the occasional splurge in terms of going out with friends and family but this means I can show you how to still cook and live on a budget! When I was at uni I thrived off of making my food go further! And turning fresh veg into something that will last or even just how to use it up if its going off! I’ll mainly be cooking for myself so I will also be able to give you tips on how to be economical and use portion control in making your food and money go further!

Not only is there more opportunity for me to cook different food and try new things, there will be more places for me to go and eat out at! More independent restaurants, cafes and eateries! I can’t wait to show you the places I got to and also the adventures I go on!

I love going to London! Every year me and my best friend, Lewis, go for a weekend! We’ve been to a fair few places so far and each one I have thoroughly enjoyed! Lewis is quite good at tracking places down or finding out from people/websites where they recommend!
We’ve been to a Vietnamese restaurant called House of Ho in Soho (unfortunately I have no pictures) But the dishes come out in a similar set up to tapas food when it comes out when it is ready! And its safe to say I’d love to go back there!
Last Summer we went to London for my 21st birthday and on one night we went to a ping pong bar called Bounce for cocktails followed by dinner at the Darwin Brasserie up in The Sky Gardens! Oh my oh my! We had such a good night! It was such a treat and such an incredible meal/night! I know you can never recreate a moment right down to the tiny details but I’d love to go again!

I’m so excited for this next chapter in my life! And I can’t wait to take you on that journey! Well, food journey that is!

http://www.bouncepingpong.com/locations/london
https://skygarden.london/darwin
http://www.houseofho.co.uk/home

Day out in Nottingham

I love spending time with my sisters! My older sister and I took our younger step sister out in Nottingham to help her find a prom dress! All I need to say is that by the time it came round to us getting lunch we were very hungry and feeling tired! We needed to refuel! There had been a lot of dresses!

Due to my dad previously living near a tram stop in Nottingham we went to Nottingham quite a bit whilst I was growing up and we knew that near the Corner House had recently become quite a trendy area with new restaurants opening there! So we decided to go and see what was we fancied! We debated Turtle Bay, which I love! But we decided to go to Gourmet Burger Kitchen instead! Yep thats right another burger! Maybe this blog should be called This Girl Eats a Lot… of Burgers!
I have only been to a Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) once before this visit. I went to one in Russell Square and had a Parisian Lamb Burger which had feta and mint sauce in it! It was so good! But that was a while ago now and the menu has now changed! I decided on a Bacon Pesterella with sweet potato fries. The chicken was reformed into a burger shape it was an actual chicken treat which was cooked perfectly! I could have ordered it with panko breadcrumbs but decided on the lighter option of having it chargrilled! The bacon was just crispy and the basil mayo was top notch!

The sweet potato fries were cooked perfectly! I’d love to be able to recreate these at home but I know it will more than likely involve a deep fat fryer! One day! The sweet potato fries came with a mayo which, for me, made my lunch! Baconnaise! Yep! Bacon mayonnaise! Small pieces of bacon mixed into mayonnaise! It was a revelation that I never want to stop experiencing! More places need to get involved in baconnaise!

The only down side I’d say to this GBK experience is that I had ordered avocado to go in my burger as an extra and I didn’t realise until I got home and looking back through my photos that I didn’t get any! I must have been so excited to eat my burger that I completely forgot about my slight craving for avocado! I even paid extra for it! Overall, we were all pleased with our burgers! My older sister had the Camembert and Cranberry panko burger and my younger sister had the panko Cajun Blue burger!

But in terms of food, our day didn’t stop there! I follow Tom Big Eats on snapchat as well as Foodbible! A couple of months ago I was watching peoples stories and Tom Big Eats was in Nottingham and was saying how people needed to go to Doughnotts! I followed them on Instagram straight away and have loved the combinations that they have created! They make doughnut flavours that I definitely wouldn’t have come up with! Its almost as though they have thought, well a cupcake or a cake can be any flavour so why can’t a doughnut! These homemade doughnuts are served in a little basement cafe off the main square in Nottingham. The shop front is quite small which makes you feel like you are about to go join a secret club! A secret doughnut club! As soon as we got to the door there was a queue and to me thats a good sign! To my sisters, who at this point were very tired and wanted to go home weren’t to pleased about me forcing them to queue so I could get a doughnut! Paid off for them though as they got a doughnut too!

I think because we went on Good Friday there wasn’t as much of a selection, either that or all the really fun flavours had gone! But I opted for the bright blue, cookie monster themed doughnut, Cookies and Cream! My sisters both got a salted caramel doughnut and we also got one for my soon to be brother in law a ‘Death by Chocolate’ doughnut! My doughnut was really nice! The salted caramel one was a bit too sickly and I am glad I didn’t have it but in terms of my first Doughnotts experience I was very happy with my bright blue doughnut! Such a fun food to eat! And the doughnut dough was so light and fluffy! Such a great thing to have thats not in London! All of these little boutique, fun places tend to always be in London so to know that there are people in and around the country bringing these great treats to their local spaces is incredible!

Nottingham to me, is getting a lot better in terms of the shopping as well as the food… thats the more important part! Before when you’d go to Nottingham we would very rarely go to a restaurant and eat somewhere it was always a M&S sandwich, a greggs or McDonalds. The options are finally opening up and especially with places like Doughnotts, Nottingham is slowly become a go to place to try new restaurants and one off places!

Take a look at both the places I went to below! Especially Doughnotts! Their flavour combinations are just beyond anything!
https://www.gbk.co.uk
@doughnotts_official on instagram

Wagamamas!

Going back to my first week at Uni in Southampton doing my top up year. myself and a girl on my course had hit it off straight away! She became a best friend upon meeting her! She had been to Wagamamas I had not! What a great thing to do together! Try one of your friends favourite places to eat! When we went the atmosphere in the West Quay restaurant was buzzing and the waiters were constantly on the go but gave you their undivided attention. It was a very social layout with long tables which I have found with most Wagamama restaurants. I decided to have one of the omakase dishes whith is the specials aspect of the menu. I had a lamb noodle dish which is very similar if not the same teriyaki lamb dish that’s on the menu currently. And my friend, pictured below, had a peking duck wrap dish. It was an incredible experience and I have not looked back since!
With West Quay shopping centre just around the corner from me I was able to keep visiting and have now found my favourites! I’ve tried ramen dishes before at other places and have found them very filling and have never finished them so I’m not going to lie I have avoided those. But my ultimate favourite is the chicken katsu curry! The fragrant curry saucy is just everything. It reminds me slightly of your chip shop curry sauce but better. Combined with the sticky rice and crispy breaded chicken its to die for! I have it every single time I go! Sad I know. But once you have a favourite, and its a place that you don’t go to often then its a nice treat to have! When I realised I could swap the white rice for brown rice to me it was another brainer! Why not be a bit healthy and turn a treat into a healthier treat than it was before!
Brown rice is higher in fibre than white rice, its a complex carb which is better for you!

I’ve also got a few favourite side dishes as well! The wok-fried greens and chilli squid are my favourite/to go to side dishes!
Upon this visit I was on a date with the guy I am currently seeing! He had never been! Thats right I took his wagamama virginity! I taught him how to use the chop sticks and helped him understand the menu!
Obviously I ordered the Katsu curry! He ordered the Teriyaki Lamb. For sides I thought I’d push the boat out and try a new side dish! I have always been interested in the sound of the gyoza! I had the crispy fried duck gyoza which is served with the best dipping sauce ever which I believe is a plum sauce but I might be wrong, incredible either way! He ordered the lollipop prawn kushiyaki which was two prawns intertwined on a skewer marinated in lemongrass, lime and chilli! It was such a refreshing marinade! I’d love to be able to recreate it at home!

It was such a nice evening and I really enjoyed introducing someone to my little food obsession! I am currently trying to track down the recipe for the wagamama Katsu curry sauce recipe so that I will be able to recreate it at home! So if anyone can recommend a recipe for me to try than that would be a great help!
If you haven’t already then you seriously need to try Wagamama!
https://www.wagamama.com

Krispy Kreme

A brand new Krispy Kreme opened up just outside of Peterborough on the Serpentine industrial park in the summer. And I’ve been before but only through the takeaway. We had a magically moment where we drove through and played Adele Hello! To which the guy on the speaker sang back saying “Hello, what would you like today?” We thought it was brilliant!

On this visit though we sat inside! Inside there was a production line of their original glazed donuts where you can watch thousands of doughnuts being fried and glazed!

I got the premium box of 3 with a hot chocolate! The doughnuts I picked were the salted caramel, chocolate orange and strawberries and Kreme.

I am an absolute suckered for salted caramel! So I had to try it! I got a bit too excited about eating it that I forgot to take a photo of the doughnuts before I took a bite out of it. It had a white icing on top, drizzled salted caramel and biscuit pieces on top. Inside the doughnut itself, is very light and filled with salted caramel!
The next doughnut was the chocolate orange doughnut! It had a clear shimmery glaze, chocolate drizzle and chocolate curls on top and inside was a rich chocolate orange filling which at first you thought ‘this isn’t orangey at all… hang on one second! My days that orange flavour!’ The orange flavour was more intense than that of a terry’s chocolate orange which meant that it became a little sickly but so good! Because of how rich it was it meant I couldn’t stomach my third doughnut so I waited till the next day to eat that one.

This amazing doughnut experience then carried over to the next day and I was able to get my doughnut fix with a Strawberries and Kreme! It was delicious! a perfect balance in the flavours and great with the added texture of the biscuit pieces! And filled to the brim with the strawberry jam and ‘kreme’!

If you haven’t had a Krispy Kreme doughnut you really need to have one! Go find one now!!!

Leon Restaurants

The past few weeks I have been backwards and forwards to London for different reasons but every single timeI have been on the return journey I have popped into Leon! Leon prides itself on Naturally Fast Food. For me this isn’t fast food that you would think it to be like what you would get at McDonalds or KFC etc. No this is real honest, healthy food!

Thankfully there is a restaurant at King’s Cross station so I am able to have a Leon anytime I travel in or out of London. The service is quick and friendly and there is a good variety of dishes to try from. The take away boxes are mainly brown rice and chicken based but there is an impact in flavour all their dishes. Whether its a sauce or just aioli to add an extra depth of flavour to the natural ingredients.

Nearly every single time so far I go for the Chargrilled Chicken Hot Box with Chilli. This is rice and chargrilled chicken with a side of their ‘Slaw’ which is made up of a variety of cabbages, herbs and peas. Drizzled over the top is aioli and then you get a pot of Leon’s Chilli sauce which is more of a chilli ketchup. I love the simplicity of this take away box and as it was the first thing I tried due to me not knowing what it was like I’ve found a go to meal that I can recreate at home and also get out when I am travelling.

After a few years of going to Leon I decided that this was a good opportunity to try some of their other dishes!
The next one that I tried was the Sicilian Chicken Meatballs Hot Box. This box consists of Chicken meatballs serves with Leon’s tomato sauce with a few added ingredients to really add depth to the flavour as well as Sicilian Pesto! I had never had chicken meatballs before and this was a great way to try them! Without the pesto I don’t think this would have been as good it was! It was simple yet effective! There were nice textures and even without the ‘slaw’ it was nice and refreshing.

The other meatball dish that they have is the Moroccan meatballs. I’ve always been a bit weary of this one just because I thought it’d be really spicy or I thought there’d be things like currents in them. What it actually is is meatballs in a tomato sauce with spices, toasted seeds, herbs and garlic aioli! Then with the same components as the chicken hotbox! It had a delicate spice to it and made for a pleasant meal! I thought I’d show this one as you’d see it when you eat it as well as when you are given it! I loved the toasted seeds in this as it creates a variety of textures that you wouldn’t get with the other dishes! 

 So far these few dishes have wowed me and I can’t wait to try more! 🙂