It’s Summer, we should be embracing it by eating healthy and broadening our food palette. When I received the challenge of Summer Cuisine I wanted to choose something that portrayed sunny days, picnics and simple pub lunches – a menu which just screams traditional summer treats! Me and Lucy, the best friend, toyed with ideas until we came up with an exciting menu which would get people to try and cook themselves.

So our first masterpiece: homemade crisps. We came up with some unique flavours and 2 hours later in asda we had our ingredients!

Homemade Crisps:

• 4 potatoes chopped very thinly
• Olive oil
• Flavours of choice – think spices, salt & pepper, onion etc
• Greaseproof baking paper
• Pastry brush

Wash and peel potatoes. Chop the potatoes into very thin slices so they become nice and crispy in the oven. Paint olive oil onto the potato slices. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Choose flavourings, in our case we chose four different taste infusions: mint and lime, sea salt and balsamic vinegar, paprika and chilli powder, onion and balsamic vinegar. Pop in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Make sure they’re nice and crispy and you’re done! Ready to eat.

adding the flavours

mint and lime

ready for the oven

the end result

To go with our crisps, Lucy thought Ploughman’s Lunch – the epitome of summer pub lunches:

A ploughman’s lunch is a cold snack or meal originating in the United Kingdom, composed of cheese (usually a thick piece of Cheddar; Stilton or other local cheese); pickle (called “relish” outside the UK), bread (especially crusty bread, which may be a chunk from a loaf or a bap); and butter.^[1] It is often accompanied by a green salad; other common additions are half an apple, celery, pickled onions, pâté, crisps, diced hard boiled eggbeetroot.

I have to admit I wasn’t too clued up on it, but once Lucy informed me of the ingredients I thought what a refreshing and simple meal we could make, and something we could contrast with our crisps. We wanted to create our own take on it and this is when we thought burgers. A rustic looking plate full of Ploughmans regulars but slightly unique.

Ploughman’s Twist – Rustic Burger Ingredients:

• Pork/beef mince enough to make 2-4 meat patties
• 1 small egg
• Handful of chopped onion
• Pepper
• Seasoning

And to put with the burger:

• Crusty bread
• Salad
• Coleslaw/raita dip

Pre-heat grill to 220 degrees. Chop up the mince so its easier to mould into shapes. Crack an egg and add it to the mince to bind it. Add seasoning such as pepper, onions and salt to add flavour to the meat. Divide the meat into portions and make into round shapes to serve 2-4 people. Pop in the grill for 20 minutes turning them over half way through. Done!

adding the egg to the mince

So to combine with our crisps and the Ploughman’s Lunch idea we wanted to create an interesting looking plate which looked healthy and simple. To keep with our rustic theme we placed the food onto a wooden chopping board to keep it very minimalist. We added the crisps, salad, homemade raita dip (onions, cucumber, mayonaise, mint seasoning) to our board and thought it looked amazing – I could eat it again now!

From watching Masterchef/Come Dine With Me I’ve noticed its not all about the taste but about the presentation too, its key!

Lucy showing off our plate. A farmhouse authentic meal I’m sure you’ll agree!

me about to tuck into the meal!

Okay so main meal done. Something to wash it down with? A gorgeous summer smoothie with rich exotic fruits. Perfect!

Our Summer Smoothies, #1:

• 3 Peeled lychees
• 2 handfuls of Blueberries
• 1 Banana
• A blender

Very simple this one! Add the fruits into your blender and blend until you have a puree. Serve in a glass and voila – smoothie done.

a very interesting lychee

Forest Fruits Smoothie #2

• 6 Blackberries
• Handful of blueberries
• 2 handfuls of raspberries
• 8 strawberries (basically all the berries!)
• 1 chopped Banana

fruits ready to blend

S is for Summer and Superdrug! To add our own take we include the star logo and S for Superdrug (sorry Phoebe we’d already done this before you did yours!). 2 very yummy smoothies!

For dessert we chose an ice cream sundae. We reminisced over pub knickerbocker glorys and mountains of ice cream we could never finish.We used leftover smoothie to create a coulis for our ice cream sauce. Coulis’ are easy to make – just blend some fruits together (I recommend Blackberries and Raspberries for a forest fruit taste!).

Superdrug Sundae

• Scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream
• Fruit Coulis
• Half a dozen Raspberries/Strawberries
• Mini Marshmallows
• 1 Glacier Cherry

Drizzle the coulis in the bottom of a nice glass. Add one scoop of the vanilla ice cream. Push the ice cream down to create twirling raspberry ripple effect. Chop some strawberries/raspberries in half and place  round the edge of the glass. Add some raspberries and more ice cream on top. Drizzle more coulis then create a small mound of ice cream on top. Add glacier cherry and sprinkle marshmallows. Your very own Superdrug Sundae!

Perfect Knickerbocker Glory!

I couldn’t let Lucy go without having her own little say on the task….

Lucy’s Summer Tips:

• Don’t be afraid to try new things, get creative in the kitchen!
• Smoothies are a great way introduce new flavours -  they can be all or part of your 5 a day. They’re also great as a breakfast alternative.
• Once you’ve got to grips with smoothies why not try soups!
• For the crisps, make sure they’re thin enough and make sure you soak them in the marinade long enough.
• Wash your hands after preparing every stage and be careful when using raw egg and meat – keep a clean work surface!
• Fruits are brilliant for skin and your hair will thrive from it. Shiny summer hair is a winner!

That concludes our summer menu!  This was my favourite task to date, me and Lucy had such a hilarious but stressful time cooking our dishes, lots of laughs but a lot of hard work put into it!  Thanks Superdrug for making our boring Sunday more exciting!

Hollie xo

We all know and love the Channel 4 show Come Dine With Me.  Contestants take part in providing a dinner party for guests they have never met before and throughout the week each person has the chance to cook.  The contestants are scored from 1-10 on the overall night and they must pull out all the stops in making their dinner party a night to remember.

I wanted to re-create Come Dine With Me in my own home, getting marked on my culinary abilities.  I sat and thought for a while about how I was going to pull this off and came to the decision that it would be pretty difficult considering I have limited friends as I have recently moved.

Instead, I thought I would imitate the new show Dinner Date.  I would cook for my boyfriend in the hope my cooking and company would result in one happy partner.

The new ITV show Dinner Date sees 5 singletons prepare a menu that they believe will seduce the mystery contestant.  The contestant chooses 3 menus that he/she believes are the best and then the contestant goes to those 3 houses on separate nights to enjoy the cooking of the 3 chosen singletons.  The diner is then marked out of 3 for the quality of the date and at the end of the 3 evenings he/she decides which cook he would like to date.

My boyfriend works very hard and has long days at work.  I decided that I would prepare a summer inspired menu for him to indulge in when he gets home.  I had the full day to get everything prepared for the evening, so in theory everything should have gone smoothly.

I know you would think I had it easy, as what could go wrong, he’s already my boyfriend, but then again you may not be aware of the mistakes I can make in the kitchen.  Also, I think it is easy when life becomes busy; for quality special time to go out the window.  I know me and James have early nights and rarely get to enjoy the evenings.  I wanted to give him a nice surprise and hopefully charm the pants off him (excuse the pun :p) like when we first met.

I had everything bought and ready to go the day before.  Here is the menu I created for the evening; I hope you agree it’s a winner.

And I can’t forget the drinks

Once in the kitchen I made a mental check list:

• Hair tied back – Check
• Apron on- Check
• Hands washed- Check

Starters

I prepared the nibbles quite easily; they were not difficult to do.  I literally put out a selection of foods to pick on like nuts, a prawn ring, BBQ chicken wings and salmon and goats cheese on crackers.  I wanted to make something simple to start off just so I could spend time talking to James. I ensured the wine was flowing and I think it went really well.

TIP:

Don’t go all out with the starters.  Spend time with your date and get to know him a little better.  Slaving away in the kitchen can begin the night awkwardly which you definitely don’t want.

Recipe

Main Course – The skewers

Ingredients:

• 1 Red Pepper
• 1 Chicken Breast
• 1/4 Chorizo Ring
• Paprika
• Chilli Powder
• Honey
• 4 Skewers

Method:

• Put the skewers into warm water and let them soak whilst you prepare the food.  This helps the stick not burn.
• Cut the Pepper into large square pieces so that they can be threaded onto the skewer without breaking.
• Cut the chorizo into pieces that are approximately a centimetre in width and remove the skin from the outside by scoring the outside of the sausage and pulling the skin away from the meat.
• Cut the chicken into medium sized chunks that will not break when threaded onto the skewers.
• It is totally down to taste but I like to cover the chicken with paprika and chilli powder for a slight kick.
• Thread the chicken chorizo and pepper onto the skewers in any order you choose, just make it look pretty.

• Drizzle honey onto the skewers for a sweet taste that compliments the spicy and smoky flavours.
• Put the skewers on the grill at a medium heat until the chicken is cooked.
  

Make sure the chicken is white throughout.

Recipe

Spicy Rice

Ingredients

• 1 small glass tumbler of rice
• Any vegetables
• Paprika (I use enough to colour the rice fully orange but is dependent on taste)
• Chilli Powder ( I use 1 tsp but is dependent on taste)
• 1 chicken/vegetable stock cube
• Encona Hot Pepper sauce ( I use 1 tsp but is dependent on taste)
• Chorizo
• 1 small squeeze of garlic puree paste

Method

1. Put a splash of oil and the garlic puree into a pan on a medium heat.  Chop the vegetables and chorizo into small pieces and add them to the pan.  Begin the next two stages immediately.
   
2. Boil the kettle and add the recommended amount of water to the stock cube.  Mix well.
3. Measure out 1 small tumbler of rice and add to the pan.  Pour in enough of the stock the fully submerge the vegetables and rice (around 300ml)
4. Put the lid onto the pan and wait until the water begins to absorb into the rice.  Turn down to a low heat.
5. Stir the rice often so it does not stick to the pan.  If it sticks (likely), add more of the stock so that there is a layer of liquid at the bottom of the pan.
6. Add the spices and hot sauce so that the rice has an orange colour.
7. Keep testing the rice to see if it is cooked.  If slightly hard add a little more water.
8. Once the rice is soft and is flavoured to your taste; serve.
   

Salad TIP

When trying to make a simple salad look more attractive; why not decorate the cucumber.  Cut a chunk of cucumber and score the sides of the vegetable with a fork.  Repeat around the circumference and slice the cucumber as normal.

To be honest the meal was a slight disaster.  Let me list to you the problems I faced.

• I slightly burnt the chorizo as I placed the grill tray too high.
• I undercooked the chicken so plated it up and then had to return the skewers back to the oven, just so I didn’t poison James.
• The rice was cooked too soon, so was getting cold.

With all the stress in the kitchen I couldn’t hide my frustration from James in the other room.  The loud bangs and screams may have affected my score…oops!

James seemed to be happy with my efforts even though I created pure chaos.

One happy boyfriend- Check.

Recipe

Dessert:

Chocolate pots with chocolate sauce and glitzy gold topping

I have to confess I didn’t make this recipe, I stole it from Nigella.  James is her biggest fan (I wonder why), so I thought I would prove I was just as great.

Ingredients:

For the pots

• 50g plain chocolate
• 50g butter
• 100g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 25g plain flour
• 1/8 bicarbonate of soda
• pinch of salt

For the sauce

• 75g plain chocolate
• 21g butter

For the topping

• Crunchie chocolate bar

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°.
2. Break the chocolate and put into a bowl.  Add the butter and melt together.
3. In a separate bowl beat the eggs and sugar together then fold in the sieved flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
   
4. Add the chocolate and butter mixture to the other ingredients and mix.
   
5. Pour the mixture into the ramekins.
   
6. Put into the oven for 25 mins.
7. Just before the pots come out of the oven melt the butter and chocolate for the chocolate sauce.
8. Take the pots out of the oven and pour over the sauce.
9. Smash the Crunchie and pour the golden pieces over the pots.
   
10. Serve and enjoy.

I always think that a chocolate dessert is the best option when trying to impress someone.  I mean, who doesn’t like chocolate.

After the food…

Although there were many disasters throughout the night I think James enjoyed having the meals cooked for him and I know he loved having time to wind down and spend time with me (I hope).  We decided afterwards we would head out with a couple of his friends.

The night was amazing and after the gruelling task of preparing a 3 course meal I thought I scored quite well.

More importantly here’s what he thought…

5?

Whilst in my drunken state I was more than happy with a 5 but when I got in I started thinking he was being a little harsh, I saw the smile on his face when he tucked into my chocolate dessert.  Hmm conspiracy…

In bed he confirmed my suspicions.  The score wasn’t accurate at all, he explained it was the only number he could find on the tables at the bar, so that’s what I got.  Haha!

If you want to know what James really thought of my cooking and that all important score; click here.

StephyScribble

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