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Tuesday, 16 October 2012 11:51

What's new in chocolate?

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Amelia Rope - Pale Lime and Sea Salt, Chocolate Naive - Uganda Fleur de Sel, William Curley - House Dark 70, Paul A Young - Peppermint and Black Pepper, Demarquette - Vietnam Ben Tre Milk.

Tuesday, 16 October 2012 11:35

Why I'm not rich...

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Little Dish is a £10 million a year business that makes children's ready meals for the big supermarkets. The range includes spaghetti with meatballs, cottage pie, fish pie, risotto... Like some of us - it's founder Hilary Graves had the inspiration for her business when she was pregnant. 'I realised no-one was making fresh healthy food for toddlers and young children' she says.

Well Hilary, we were - we were just giving them some of our dinner. 

Here is the link for next years nominations... and you can see who won this year. 

Thursday, 11 October 2012 12:10

The Restaurant Show 2012

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Off we go again to sample the delights of the Restaurant Show trade fair at Earls Court. Our first mission - to get the best coffee we can find, as fast as possible, and free. Inspector X won. Then to lunch at the the disappointing street food area (this years theme) where I had the worst 'street food' I have had all year, I should have realised - there was no queue! Then off to taste Orange wines. Here are some of the pics - starting with Tuddenham Mill chef Paul Foster doing a demo.

Saturday, 06 October 2012 14:00

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

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A delicious treat and the perfect way to use up those unripe tomatoes.  Vegetarian too!

Ingredients:

  • 4 to 6 green tomatoes
  • salt and pepper
  • beaten egg
  • cornmeal
  • vegetable oil for frying

Preparation:

Slice the tomatoes into 1/4 - 1/2-inch slices. Salt and pepper them to taste. Dip in the beaten egg and then the corn meal. Fry in hot oil for about 3 minutes or until golden on bottom. Gently turn and fry the other side. Serve as a side dish - delicious with breakfast!

Monday, 01 October 2012 16:47

Mulberry Jam

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Yesterday I picked the last of the mulberry crop from the suffolkfoodie ancestral home.. The old mulberry tree blew over in the great storm of 1987 but being from a farming family, daddy suffolkfoodie pulled the tree upright with his tractor and tied it back into position. It survived!  I have picked over 20kgs of fruit and made some into jam. Here is the recipe. I used jam sugar with added pectin as mulberries are low in pectin.  I added plenty of red, unripe fruits to improve the setting, as the red fruit have higher pectin levels.

1kg Mulberries and 1kg of Jam Sugar

Rinse the mulberries carefully and quickly so as not to lose too much juice. Put into a large saucepan and simmer until soft. Stir in the sugar ensuring that it all dissolves.  Boil hard until setting point is reached.  (Setting point can be tested by dropping some cooked jam onto a saucer which has been chilled in the freezer, a skin will form on top of the jam when setting point is achieved)

Warm some clean jars in the oven, bottle and store.

mulberry jam

Monday, 01 October 2012 16:24

Meet Malcolm

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Meet Malcolm our October Dish of the Day - you can just see him at the back! Malcolm is one of the bakers at The Suffolk Food Hall.  Their display of homemade artisan breads and baked goods is very impressive and so is the view from the Cookhouse Restaurant window.

 

Sunday, 30 September 2012 17:29

Farmers Market at Ixworth

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Wednesday, 26 September 2012 20:40

Afternoon Tea Party

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A very special afternoon tea is being held in Ickworth House West Wing.  It is in aid of Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. Tickets cost £15.00 for adults and £3.00 for children.  The cost of the ticket includes afternoon tea and entrance to the park and gardens.The County Upper School Swing Band will be playing and the tea will be served on the fabulous vintage china of suffolkvintagechinahire.  See the flyer for booking details.   See you there!!

Thursday, 20 September 2012 19:42

Hey Pesto

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Today I picked my whole crop of basil and turned it into pesto sauce ready to smother onto hot pasta. Pesto is very quick and easy to make, either in a mini food processor or by hand, with a pestle and mortar. You will need:

  • 2 cups fresh basil leaves
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts ( or try walnuts for a change)
  • 3 medium sized garlic cloves crushed
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Crush the basil leaves, salt, pepper and garlic together adding the nuts and oil a little at a time.  Keep working until you have a rough paste. Add the grated cheese and the last of the oil.  Mix well and store in the fridge in a covered jar.

I keep a layer of oil on top of the sauce, to maintain the colour and texture. 

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