Sugar Thursday

I'm trying to write this while tweaking out a little. I had to taste everything I made tonight (obviously) but as a result am coming down from a major sugar high. 
But, I regret nothing. NOTHING! 
It's all so tasty. totally trashy, but sometimes the best things are!

NYT cookies
If you haven't heard of the New York Times Cookie recipe then you are missing out. This article won the James Beard award a couple of years back for what they proposed was 'the perfect cookie recipe'. Having interviewed many bakers around the city they determined there are 4 things that are required to have the perfect cookie.
1) It needs to be 6" across. That way you have the crispy outer edge, gooey middle and a ring that combines the two
2) The dough needs to 'settle' for at least 36hrs. This lets the butter, eggs and flour to fully absorb. It gives the cookies a nice caramel-y taste and a all over consistent golden brown color. 
3) There needs to be a ratio of 40-60 chocolate-cookie. The chocolate should be dark and preferably in disks, that way, in every bite is some chocolaty goodness. 
4) Two Words: Sea.Salt. 

 I decided to take half the batch up a notch. By adding bacon. Yum! 
Chop up some cooked crispy bacon and mix it into your already made dough before you roll it in a ball and place it on the cookie sheet. 

Funfetti & Oreo cake. 

This is super complicated so bare with me for a sec. 

Take funfetti batter and pour half into the pan. Place Oreos at even intervals and then pour the remaining half of the funfetti dough over it. Bake as normal. 

Got it? Good.

Can you see the sink hole in the middle?

A beautiful sunrise in London this morning. 

An Ode to a Craving

S'more Maker/ Mail order S'muffin/ Bourbon Bacon S'more Recipe/ Homemade Marshmallow/ S'more Candy Bar Recipe/ Home Made Graham Crackers Recipe

Weekend Snaps

I hope you had as good a weekend as I had- full of good food and friends. 


Gluten Free Blueberry & Raspberry pancakes

I realized I had never made American pancakes. Sure, I've made English pancakes, but never the big fluffy filling kind. UNTIL TODAY! And, if I do say so myself, they were delicious. 


Recipe:
1 cup gluten free all purpose flour (self-raising). I used Amy Ruth's that I picked up at Marylebone Fair.*
1 egg
1 cup soy milk
2 tablespoons salter butter
squeeze of honey (but wonder whether maple syrup will also be delicious) 
2 tablespoons of Vanilla Macadamia Nut Sugar**
Blueberries & Raspberries 


Mix the wet then add the dry.


*You can make this non-gluten free by just not using regular, gluten filled, flour. Same measurements. 
**This is an ingredient I picked up in Maui years ago (see picture below). To be honest, any sugar will do or even a sugar substitute. With gluten free cooking you need something to counterbalance the bitterness of the flour.

 

Also enjoyed an amazing Midsummer Feast with my Swedish friend... for which I made Salsa for (didn't say I was logical). 

 More Picked Herrings than I thought existed. 

 Smorgasbord!

 Random Salsa?

'Eggs with Eggs' boiled eggs with fish roe

And to finish it all off- a glass of wine in the sun

Hope you had a good weekend too!

Strawberry & Blueberry Salsa

The whole world needs to go make this right now. I promise it won't disappoint.
It was so easy and tasty that I feel it will be my go to summer accoutrement forever more. 

I give you: Strawberry & Blueberry Lime Salsa. 
(adapted from How Sweet it is)


1 Handful of blueberries
4-5 Strawberries 
Zest of 1 lime
Juice of 1 lime
Mint Leaves
Onion (I used white as that's what I had but red would work just as well)
1 bunch of Cilantro/ Coriander 
Salt & Pepper


This is not an exact science so change the ratios however you wish. The lime cuts the sweetness of the fruit so I wouldn't suggest cutting it down unless you'd rather something closer to a coulis than a salsa. 


Directions: Put them into a blender and blend. BAMM your done.


I served it with pan fried cod and a salad but I think this would be good with tortilla chips, burgers or any type of fish. 


Enjoy!

Happy Weekend!

Hopefully one of these recipes inspires you to cook this weekend! 

here

Shrimp tacos with spiced peach jam (why not make your own tortillas)

here

Grilled Chicken, Peach, Blackberry + Basil Pizza

here

Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles

here

Brown Butter Brownies

here

Homemade Tortillas

I.am. awesome....seriously.awesome


I'm not normally a toot my own horn kind of gal but in this situation I am blowing an ENTIRE BRASS SECTION! 
I made my own corn tortillas. That's right. You did hear me. HOMEMADE TORTILLAS. And they were easy and amazing. 


Let me take you on a journey. (again, sorry about the quality of photographs. I'm changing the name of this blog to girl with a camera-phone because she's lost her charger to her real camera).

You will need some Masa Harina (basically coarse ground corn). This is hard to get in the UK but you can find it on amazon. For the US folk, all you need is a well stocked grocery store. 


It's about 2 cups flour to 1.5-2 cups water plus a massive pinch of salt. Kneed it together until it forms a springy not sticky dough. Leave for an hour. 


Once it's ready tear off 2in balls and place it between two pieces of cling film (if you have a shmansy pants tortilla press- this is the time to get it out!). At this point you can either smoosh the ball down with you hands or use a rolling pin. I used the latter. 
Flatten the ball so that the dough is about 1cm ish thick and then place it in a NON oiled hot skillet (I learnt the hard way- if you have used oil then you basically are making tortilla chips, still delicious, but not what I wanted at that moment). 

Let it cook for about 1 min on one side and then flip it for 15 secs before taking it off the heat). It's nice to get some charred bits on the tortilla. Adds flavor! 

Keep going till you get a nice stack going. You can keep them in an air tight container in the fridge for probably a little under a week. 

I topped them with pickled red onions (water, malt vinegar, salt and sugar), chicken, Pico de Gallo and feta cheese.

I can't recommend homemade tortillas enough. Really fun and easy to make and very rewarding. Let me know how yours goes!


Amy xx

parTAY!

Sometimes you just need a good old girls night

Drinkin with my bitches
Punch Bowl
Tart Servers
Bowl
Burnett's Pink Lemonade Vodka
Fish Coasters
Rum Barrel 
Champagne Glasses
Engraved Cheese Board
Lillet Rose Spring Cocktails
Oreo Stuffed Funfetti Cookies

Courgette Ribbon Salad

I made this over the weekend and it was so easy and tasty that I couldn't help but share it! Excuse the really bad quality- it was all taken with my phone. 


Take 2 courgettes and using a vegetable peeler start 'ribboning' off thin slices. 

Lightly grill or sauté your courgettes (if you want- I'm sure it's also tasty raw)

Toss them in with rocket, spinach or whatever leaves you may have. I also added some pecorino, cheddar, flaked almonds and strawberries. To be honest, anything goes. 

Mix together a crushed clove of garlic, red wine vinegar (although balsamic would be delicious too) and olive oil. 

I haven't added measurements because I think this recipe is really up to personal taste. You can't go wrong and there are so many different substitutes in terms of ingredients! 

Bon Appetite!

Amy xx