Author: Sarah Kemp

Extra Special cooking at Leiths

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If you were to ask me what I would like to achieve in life, one of my answers would most probably be completing a diploma at Leiths. Ever since acquiring the Baking Bible a few years ago, I have been obsessed with the idea of training at the famous cookery school. I’m sorry to disappoint you but I’m not going to tell you that I have enrolled but a couple of weeks ago I was invited to try out the next best thing. For those of you that don’t know, Asda has teamed up with Leiths on the Extra Special range and I was there with a handful of fellow bloggers to cook an Easter inspired dinner with the ingredients. We split into teams with each person responsible for a different dish. On the menu: Asparagus, fresh parmesan, samphire and soft boiled egg salad Soda bread Mustard herb crusted rack of lamb with seasonal vegetables Strawberry tartlets Chocolate truffle cupcakes I wouldn’t call what we did cooking as such, all ingredients were ready measured out …

Shoe making at Bedruthan

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A few months ago I was presented with a little booklet. On the cover was a drawing of a beautiful Cornish beach and the words ‘Bedruthan hotel’. I flicked through and stopped at the sight of a very pretty pair of shoes. Upon closer inspection, I saw that the hotel would be running a two-day shoe making course in March, which was to be hosted by Green Shoes. I surprised myself that I overlooked the baking and pizza oven-making courses in favour of being able to make myself a pair of hand made shoes. Jack has just designed a range of menswear shoes for Hush Puppies so I guess that was in my consciousness and I thought that it would be a nice weekend away together. A few months later, we were boarding an extraordinarily small plane at Gatwick airport en route to Newquay. A mere 50 minutes later, we were off the plane and straight into a taxi for a ten minute drive to the hotel. Upon arrival we were given our room keys …

Chipotle, Baker Street

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On my way home a couple of weeks ago, I popped off the tube at Baker Street and went for a quick bite at Chipotle. It was early evening and I had deliberately saved some space during the day as I have experienced extreme fullness one too many times after eating huge burritos. And let’s face it, there is no such thing as a small burrito. Shortly after I walked through the door at 6.30pm, there was already a sizable queue of eager hungry Mexican burrito loving customers waiting in line to get their fix. I chose a pork burrito with brown rice and all the trimmings, including an extra scoop of guacamole (£1.60). I also enjoyed (shared!) a bag of tortilla chips (90p) with all three salsas – hot, medium and mild (£1.60 each). The medium and medium-hot, I am told, are produced using tomatillos – which on first glance look like under ripe tomatoes but taste like a cross between a tomato and an apple. Don’t believe me? Try it for yourself. The …

WIN a Leiths approved Asda Extra Special Easter hamper

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COMPETITION CLOSED It’s competition time! You may remember that I gave away an Asda Extra Special Christmas hamper back in December. Well, now is the time for an Easter give away! Hamper items (all Asda Extra Special and approved by chefs at Leiths) Extra Special all butter pastry cases Extra Special artisan flat breads Extra Special plain chocolate Extra Special mini meringues Extra Special strawberry conserve Extra Special Spanish orange blossom honey Extra Special Italian pesto alla Genovese Extra Special Aceto Balsamico di Modena Extra Special all Butter parmesan and garlic mini twists Extra Special garlic dipping oil Extra Special apricot crumbles Extra Special Italian conchiglioni Extra Special spiced plum and ginger marinade Extra Special stem ginger chocolate biscuits Extra Special Belgian milk chocolate and pecan popcorn clusters Extra Special black pepper ciabatta croutons ES Semillon Sauvignon Blanc ES Chianti Classico Reserva I attended an event held by Asda and Leiths at the London based cookery school last night and it was fantastic. Full review of what we got up to soon but for now, …

EAT THE OLYMPICS RECIPE – Slovenian Kolacky

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First published on Eat the Olympics on Thursday 22nd March Sour cream Kolacky (Slovenia) Ingredients: 1 cup plain flour 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter 40g sour cream Jam (or your own choice) for filling Icing sugar, to dust Method: 1. In a large bowl, rub butter and flour together until it resembled crumbs. Stir in sour cream and mix well 2. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours Pre heat oven to 180 degrees C 3. Roll on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with a large round cookie cutter 4. Fill center with filling, bring the sides up to the middle and pinch at the top 5. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until bottom of cookie is just beginning to brown 6. Remove from the baking tray and cool on wire racks. When cooled, dust with icing sugar to serve Score: BRONZE