Food: Red Onion, Beetroot & Goats Cheese Bruschette

If you’re looking for a decadent lunch, or perhaps just looking for ways to use up beetroot, (that’s how I found this recipe) then you’ve come to the right place!

This really is the tastiest lunch, perfect for a Saturday afternoon with a bottle of Prosecco! The recipe gives instructions for bruschette but I’ve found it’s just as good (and a lot quicker) with a fresh baguette. I’ve made this twice now, and the second time not realising I bought Greek Crumbly Cheese (I thought Greek said Goats for some reason – cue the opticians) but it still tasted good.

Makes 8
For the bruschette
⅓ baguette
Olive oil
Dried rosemary, crushed  (optional)

For the topping
1 tbsp olive oil
450g red onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
450g cooked beetroot, diced
Salt and black pepper
200g soft goat’s cheese
Rosemary leaves, to garnish (optional)

1 First make the bruschette. Cut the bread into 8 slices, then brush each slice on both sides with olive oil. Sprinkle both sides with a good pinch of crushed rosemary. Place the bread on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 150C/300F/gas mark 2 for about 20 minutes, until crisp. Cool on wire racks. They can be made up to 1 week in advance and kept in an airtight container.

2 Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onions, cover and cook for about 15 minutes, until they’re very tender, stirring them every 5 minutes. Add the sugar, wine vinegar and beetroot, then simmer gently, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the heat, season and cool.

3 Spread the bruschette with goat’s cheese, top with caramelised onion and beetroot and a piece of rosemary, and serve.

I found the original recipe on the Guardian.

Food: Best Beef Stir Fry

 

This is quite possibly the easiest, quickest and tastiest stir fry dish I know – as of yet – perfect for a quick  and healthy mid week meal.

Here’s the recipe for 2 (can’t quite remember the original source unfortunately)

Marinade quick fry beef strips in:

• 2 x tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 x tbsp soy sauce
• 2 x tbsp lea and perrins

Cover with cling film and let the beef marinade overnight minimum if not 48hours – very important!

Prep your veg, I would use the following:

• 1 x large carrot sliced into long thin batons or shaved strips
• 1 x red/orange/green pepper chopped into thin slices
• 1 x red onion cut into thin wedges
• 1 x small bunch of spring onions chopped
• 1 x large handful of cashew nuts

Heat a dry wok, and fry the beef for 30 seconds – 1 minute, holding the marinade back. Then stir in all the veg and left over marinade sauce and stir for another minute or so. Serve with rice or noodles and that’s as easy as it gets!

Enjoy!

Food: Dark Chocolate Orange Cake

A few weeks ago now I took on the task of baking my Dad’s birthday cake – so it had to be good – no pressure!

Both my parents love dark chocolate so started looking for recipes when I found a great looking Dark Chocolate and Orange Cake recipe on the BBC Good Food website – such good recipes on there! With Terry’s Chocolate Orange being a staple at our family Christmases, this recipe was a no-brainer.

So, I bought all of the ingredients, but when it came down to begin baking, I was reading through the method, when it dawned on me, this could either go really well, or really bad. One, I have never added a whole blended orange to a cake, and two, used such a large quantity of sunflower oil .

But I carried on, albeit anxious at how this may turn out especially as I’d only given myself the night before to bake this for the first time. But I boiled that orange and I blended it, and added it to the sunflower oil cake mixture, popped it in the oven and it was smelling good – well how can a mixture of chocolate and orange not smell good I guess!? It was going well…

Then it came to the chocolate ganache. For some reason, it just wasn’t blending right. But after some serious power stirring, which also doubled up as my exercise for the day, it was looking pretty good!

Once it had cooled, I decorated the cake with the ganache and some orange peel as I couldn’t find any candied orange (*tip – put the orange peel on at the last minute to keep it looking fresh) and it looked rather lovely!

So looking rather impressive (the cake) I took it round to my Mum & Dads eager for everyone to have a slice. Nervous that is was going to be a bit ‘bitty’ from the whole juiced orange, it was actually OK although very, very rich! Eaten cold – not that enjoyable, but warmed up and served with a dollop of cream or ice cream – delicious!

So I would definitely recommend this cake – just serve it warm with cream (probably my favourite of all serving suggestions!)

Find the recipe here!

Food: Good ol’ mac ‘n’ cheese!

Oh I love a good mac ‘n’ cheese, I really do….just all that cheesy gooey goodness!I found a great recipe over at the BBC Good Food website and added cherry tomatoes and little chunks of chorizo which makes it even better and a bit more substantial. The hardest bit is trying not to burn the cheese sauce!

The best bit though, has to be the crispy breadcrumb topping to give it a little bit of crunch, and of course served with a bit of garlic bread.

It’s only an iPhone pic unfortunately as its getting harder to resist eating it straight away!

Find the basic recipe here!

Life: New arrivals and new opportunities.

Well, it’s fair to say I’ve been more than slack in blogging in recent months but this summer’s definitely come up trumps for new challenges and here’s the story so far.

I was more than excited for this summer having already been Podding in Cornwall and looking forward to spending time with my fiancé in the sun as well as planning on going to Bestival for the first time in September. The English summer actually came out to play this year and had been making the most of it with going to the beach, going on lots of walks, spending lots of time in pub gardens and eating ALOT of BBQ food.

Then completely out the blue, the trend forecasting agency I had worked at for 5 years, went into liquidation and all employees were made redundant, with no notice and no salary to pay the bills at the end of the month. (Still claiming).

So it was a year till our wedding, my dog Jess was expecting, I had a long list of to-do’s and there I was home early on a Monday, without a paycheck, but more importantly without my job that I loved so much. It was hard, getting over the strange feeling of not going to work each day, never going back and it all just happening so quickly. Coupled with the horrendous experience of the Job Centre and long waiting times to hear back from jobs, it took its toll and am just so grateful to my fiancé for putting up with my mood swings.

At the time of losing my job, Jess was just 2 weeks off being ready to pop so around endless job hunting, I spent some quality time with her before she gave birth which was an amazing experience itself. The puppies have definitely kept my spirits up and are the biggest time wasters – could sit there all day watching them! It really has been great having the opportunity to look after a little family of cockers. Luckily my fiancé knows a lot about dogs but with Jess being my first ever pet, I know now the true value and enrichment your dog can bring to your life. I never thought I could know and love a dog so much.

It was also my birthday last week and thought I’d postpone celebrating till I had found a job but was reminded what amazing friends and family I have, especially during difficult times. I was taken out for lots of lunches, given lovely gifts and even had a surprise party! It’s now been 6 weeks since being made redundant but have now thankfully found a great job I can see myself growing in and have learnt the lesson that these things really do happen so better things can come. And with the support of the ones you love, you can get through anything.

Even more recently, my fiancé and I were also made aunty and uncle as my brother-in-law to-be had a beautiful baby girl who is the tiniest, most beautiful little lady, yes I may be slightly bias! I just cant wait to watch her grow and buy her lots of cute clothes! As they say, its now onwards and upwards and of course, I can now get on with the wedding planning!

The next post will be a wedding update *excited screwed up face*! Oh and I’ve also been working on an exciting new fashion project with a dear friend and fellow blogger so stay tuned for more news about that!

The pics above clockwise from left are: Our vacation pod in Cornwall, Bournemouth beach, Jess and her pups, more pups, more pups, our view from the stunning Royal Albert Hall watching Swan Lake for my Mum’s birthday.

Food: Spicy lamb meatballs with sweet potato fries & corn

This is a great recipe I’ve adapted from one of Jamie Oliver’s, as I just didn’t have all the ingredients or be bothered with a food processor on a weekday evening and this was still really delicious!

The trick is, to pan fry the onion and crushed garlic first and then combine into the fresh lamb mince – you can then adapt it from there and add in what you like for flavour! I used a lot of paprika, a pinch of cumin, tsp of mustard and some dried chilli flakes for a nice kick. Simply use an egg and bread crumbs to bind (with your fingers), roll into balls and chuck in amongst the sweet potato fries in the oven till done for a nice easy tray bake dinner. Once done, drizzle the meatballs with lemon juice and serve with sour cream and corn on the cob – gulp! It can be a bit time consuming, but definitely worth it for something a bit different.

Fashion Week: Better late than never!

You may notice Fashion Week passed and I didn’t post a picture of a single outfit – unfortunately this season I didn’t have the pleasure of working with the runway images but I did spot this little beauty of a dress by 3.1 Philip Lim and now finally have the time to share!

I just love the rich navy blue, the flattering panelling and the drop shoulder sleeves, just perfect and all kinds of me! I need to get me some knee high boots as well it seems in time for next winter!

I’ve also been attending the autumn/winter 13/14 fashion press days for work and spotted an absolutely gorgeous Alice by Temperley gown (see below) which is now on my wishlist to wear to some swanky occasion – hell, I’d be happy just to wear this in my bedroom in front of the mirror ha! I’ll be posting a round up of the season soon!

Follow me on Instagram (heather_ffs) for more regular updates!

Food: Blueberry & raspberry lime drizzle cake

This weekend my Mum gave me 2 punnets of blueberries as she over ordered on a food shop so my baking partner in crime Jem and I decided to research some blueberry baking recipes and found this gem!  The lime twist on the drizzle was such a great alternative to lemon and the mix of blueberries and raspberries works really well – definitely serve straight from the oven with extra drizzle! Find the recipe here at BBC GoodFood. (We just cooked it in a standard cake tin and baked for an extra 5-10mins) Would be great in the summer for a BBQ so I’ll be making this again in a few months for sure.

With the leftover fruit, I also knocked up some American style pancakes for breakfast this morning (and lunch!) – the perfect remedy for a cider induced night before! Find the recipe here – worked perfectly with lots of golden syrup – gulp!

Food: Venison Steaks with sticky redcurrent and port sauce

Have you ever have had a meal where you savour every single bite and wish it would never end, then sit back and think damn this is why I love food! Well this was one of those delicious moments, but first of all, I’ve got to admit that a) I can’t take credit for cooking all of this delicious dinner and b) this photo just doesn’t do the taste any justice!

The boyfriend – oops – no, fiancé :), brought home a third of a whole deer recently including these medallions, and I could not recommend this venison recipe enough! As the other half knows how to cook a good steak and crispy homemade chips, I just found a great sauce to go with it, you can find the recipe here – I also added a spoonful of honey instead of the orange and it worked brilliantly, the whole thing just melts in the mouth! You need to try this – and yes it does taste like beef, but lighter and healthier 😉 win win!

InstaChristmas!

Well, its been a great Christmas for me so far and its only the 19th December! Being slightly obsessed with Instagram at the moment (although not for long due to their ridiculous new t&c’s) I thought I’d round up my recent photos for a nice Christmas collage!

Well this year’s particularly special as its mine and my boyfriend’s first Christmas living together so am extra excited! I’ve been making reindeer decorations (middle pic), baking mince pies and festive biscuits while drinking mulled cider, which is now my new favourite holiday tipple! We’ve also had our work Christmas do which was fab, a lovely turkey roast followed by shopping at the Xmas markets then ice skating at Winchester Cathedral which I was surprisingly nimble at! As Miranda would say – ‘Such fun!’

How have I had so much time to do all this I hear you ask?! Well, I had my last day at work  on Wednesday 12th and don’t go back till the 7th January (much to the annoyance/jealously of all my family and friends) all because I had so much holiday days left to take at work – always a nice surprise!

So what’s left to do? Preparing a Christmas eve duck roast for me, the other half and the dog before we part ways on Christmas day, making more reindeers, lots of festive drinks with friends and more baking which I shall be blogging about soon – depending on how much mulled cider I get through!

The images from top left, clockwise are: a snapshot of my tree; a present from my boss; first batch of mince pies; my dog Jess festively dressed; delicious mulled cider from M&S; my first turkey dinner; Dominic the Christmas donkey at Winchester market; Xmas biscuit and my home-made reindeer decoration.

Happy holidays! X