Foodie Friday: Summer Ham Hock and Mushroom Pasta Bake Recipe

Ingredients:

75-100g pasta per person/portion

Ham hock pieces

Handful of cumin seeds

Cheddar cheese

Pine nuts

Bread crumbs
Flour
Milk
Broccoli

Method:

1) Put water onto boil and put your choice of pasta into cook when boiling

2) Make Bechamel/cheese sauce

3) Fry mushrooms separately in a saucepan and boil the broccoli (or other veg if you wish)

4) Mix the sauce into the pasta and place in an ovenproof dish

5) Mix in the mushrooms and ham hock

6) Top with breadcrumbs, cumin seeds, pine nuts and grated cheddar

7) Brown in the oven for 10-15 minutes

Carpe Diem xx

Foodie Friday: Cooper's Sour Dough Bread

I've always liked the idea of baking and eating fresh pastries and bread, mostly because my mum has always been into it. Today we went on another foodie adventure, this time to collect fresh sour dough bread from a local deli that is supplied by Cooper's. Cooper's Bakehouse is a small business that bakes fresh bread from scratch every day and supplies delis and businesses in south London. Yum! A chewy, well-baked texture that passes the 'sniff' freshness test.

http://www.coopersbakehouse.com/

Carpe Diem xx

Foodie Friday: A Health Kick and the Case of the Misleading Muesli

Muesli is great. High in fibre and low-fat, it can be a healthy constituent of a balanced diet. And that's what I thought when I started a health kick last week and decided to switch my normal cereal or toast for muesli at breakfast. It was going well, or so I thought. However, I soon realised that I had become so used to the puffed out supermarket cereals that I was eating twice the recommended portion! One 45g serving, which looks pathetically measly in comparison, with 125ml of semi-skimmed milk is 211 calories, whilst 100g is 337 calories! So beware, next time you think you're starting the day off well, you might be breakfasting bigger than you think.

My favourite is Essential Waitrose Fruit Muesli - 1kg, £2.63

Carpe Diem xx

Foodie Friday: The Goods Shed Canterbury Restaurant Review

I went for lunch at The Goods Shed in Canterbury to celebrate my birthday with my parents. The Goods Shed is a tucked-away farmers market in a large warehouse building. On a mezzanine level is The Goods Shed restaurant, which serves fresh homemade dishes made from local produce, some from the Kent area.

For Main: I wasn't feeling hungry, so I just had a vegetarian...joking! So, even though I was very hungry, nothing could have prepared me for what would arrive when I ordered the vegetarian platter! The Christmas-turkey sized plate was packed with delicious rocket, stuffed mushroom on toast, apple and leek soup, couscous, roast carrots and boiled egg. Generally very good quality and fresh ingredients, but the quantity was too much for little me to be able to finish!

For Dessert: Of course I had to leave room to treat myself...with chocolate brownie and salted caramel ice cream and clotted cream! Slightly dry but delicious with the ice cream, which tasted home made.

When my mum first asked for a place to take me out for lunch I was a little dazed as Canterbury has one of the high streets most densely populated with cafes and restaurants than I've ever come across. However, slightly off the beaten track and off the main high streets, set in a charming farmers market setting and spacious surroundings, The Goods Shed was definately the best choice I could have made!

The Goods Shed: Station Road West, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 8AN, 01227 459153. 

Open lunch, Tues-Sun, noon-2.30pm (3pm Sat & Sun), dinner, Tues-Sat, dinner 6-9.30pm. Three-courses for about £30 a head, plus drinks and service.

Carpe Diem xx

Foodie Friday: The (Un)bearable Goodness of Green Tea (or Reasons Why You're Drinking the Wrong Tea)

Two weeks ago I was a green tea virgin. It was 'that thing what they give you before your Chinese'. I couldn't have been more incorrect. Since popping my green tea cherry with a trip to Sainsbury's and tasting my first proper full mug of green tea, I have discovered its amaranthine qualities and become addicted. (And so should you).

If you consider these possible side effects of drinking green tea as healthy, and want to incorporate it into your diet, then you'll see why it's my 'food' of this Foodie Friday!

1) Prevent tooth decay

2) Boost metabolism to increase weight loss (boosting the metabolic rate 4% without increasing the heart rate)

3) Containing powerful anti-oxidants it inhibits the growth of cancer cells

4) It's a legitimate use of study breaks

Happy sipping! (But maybe give the Chinese meal a miss before EVERY cup!)

Carpe Diem xx