Food In My Home

The last week my kitchen has turned into a raw vegan dessert experimental mess. I'm eating ice cream cakes for breakfast which is awesome and they are not even the slightest bit bad for you! It's way too much fun playing around with recipes, especially because unlike normal baking, nothing is going in the oven, so no more hot kitchen, burns on my hands or black cakes in the oven, just a bit of music, dancing and mess. My friends have been teasing me about the new veganism, especially because living in a ski resort the local diet is a whole load of melted cheese, bread and meat. I will have to come to terms with the fact that I am going to be blacklisted from all dinner invites in the future. However, I have been feeding them my experiments and trying to make some new recruitments. So far I have almost made one and had lots of requests for this delicious very naughty looking chocolate brownie recipe from This Rawsome vegan life so here it is! Good luck trying to not eat the mixt

So this summer I have been turning into a bit of a hippy and trying veganism, vegetarianism and eating a more raw diet. I can't say I'm a total convert yet which was made obvious last night when I ate a moo but that was just a small relapse! My latest craze has been experimenting with funky vegan desserts using new ingredients like raw cacao butter, coconut oil and lots of dates and nuts. If you have tried raw chocolate before you have probably become a little bit obsessed, it's all creamy and amazing, not even that much like normal chocolate, more like rich chocolate mousse without the naughty stuff in it..phew! However out in the mountains it is totally impossible to get, I have one pack of cacao butter and I have a feeling it's going to be gone pretty swiftly with this new recipe. You will need to go to an organic health foods shop like wholefoods to find the raw cacao powder and butter. makes 5/6 mini cupcakes 1/4 cup raw organic cacao butter melted 1/4 cup raw orga

The last week I have been working in the sunny Cote d'azur trying to squeeze in the last of summer. It turns out the french riviera makes for excellent people watching! As I basked in the sun my eyes were on stalks checking out all ze oiled up men in scarily tight budgie smugglers, sipping on chilled rosé and lunging in the direction of lots of uninterested glamourous ladies. I have been trawling through the Denis Cotter book 'For the love of food' trying out recipes that I have wanted too for ages and this one is really really yummy! If you have any leftover make some summer rolls adding pickled ginger, rocket, spring onions and spicy prawns and wrapping up in rice paper rolls with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and dipped in soy sauce..mmmm. Serves 4 1 tbsp coconut or rapeseed oil 2 small shallots, finely chopped 2 fresh green or red chillies, finely chopped 2 tbsp fresh grated ginger 400g savoy cabbage, finely sliced 200g rice noodles for the almond and coconut dressing 10

I have been in the Loire Valley for the last three weeks working for a lovely family with four kids, there has been lots of spaghetti on the walls, wine drinking, chocolatey faces and bum pinching from a certain naughty four year old. We are staying in a big Chateaux and my bedroom in in a turret so I am now calling myself Rapunzel, although no french men have been at my window trying to climb up my hair yet! Here is a nice little recipe from Jamie Oliver for smoked trout pate which I have been doing as a little addition to summer lunches. So unbelievably easy to make, just mix in a bowl or chuck into a magimix for a smoother pate. serves 6-8 125g cream cheese 2-3 heaped teaspoons jarred horseradish 1 lemon small bunch of chives finely chopped 125g hot smoked trout or salmon, skin removed sea salt and pepper Mix the cream cheese with the horseradish, zest from the lemon and half of the juice. Mix in most of the fresh chives just leaving a few to sprinkle on the top when you serve it. S

It's been scorching for the last two weeks, and I can't even even brag to my friends back in England because apparently it's 30˚C there too which is totally unheard of! This recipe should appeal to all hot people out there because it's cold...whoopee and it's healthy unlike the other cold thing you eat...ice cream, which is yummy too. Maybe have one after since you will be so full of goodness! serves 4 1 cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped 2 red peppers, seeded and roughly chopped 5-6 tomatoes, skinned 2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced a small handful of basil leaves 1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil generous salt and pepper handful of white/wholemeal bread, no crusts You can use bread thats a day old for this as you soak it in a little water until it goes soggy. I would use something like ciabatta or a nice brown loaf. Put the bread in a bowl and pour over some water and leave to soak, once soggy squeeze and put in the magimix or blen

I am still loving France apart from the fact that I am meant to be brown by now and the sun has not come out nearly enough. We have become totally obsessed with eating fish since we are a 5 minute bike ride from the port where there is a market every day with the fisherman arriving with their catch from the morning. It also helps that it's so cheap! The only place I have ever bought fresh crab is straight from Ken the fisherman in north Wales where I have spent my summers by the sea every year since forever. It has always been a bit of a tradition to name them, so since our crab was french we named him Clemence, and he was very tasty...merci Clemence! This is a delicious, simple way to eat crab. You can buy the white meat from the supermarket or fishmonger too if you don't fancy cooking the crab and picking the meat out yourself. Also if you don't like the brown meat then just use the white meat and give the brown to your cat instead. serves 5 1 large male crab about 1kg or

The weekend is almost here and that means brunch! I have been trying out new recipes from Denis Cotters book "For the love of food" and he has got all kinds of yummy healthyish brunch ideas. This is a really delicious take on traditional scrambled eggs and much fresher and healthier...oh and summery too! serves 2 sourdough or ciabatta sliced and toasted 1 avocado sliced drizzle olive oil 5 eggs, whisked in a bowl 1 small stalk of rosemary finely chopped half a chilli finely chopped 2 tbsps butter salt and pepper Chop up the rosemary and chilli and gently fry on a low heat with half the butter in a medium saucepan for a few minutes. Add the eggs and stir it all together, keep stirring until it is cooked as you like it. Stir in a little extra lump of butter for super creaminess and pour onto the toast. Serve the avocado on the side with salt, pepper a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. I recommend eating it in the sun with a glass of fresh orange juice which is probab