Author: Sarah Kemp

Chorizo, Butter Bean and Spinach with Sea Bass

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When stuck for what to cook, I can always count on a combination of Chorizo, Tomatoes, and Butter Beans. Today is one of those days – the sun isn’t making it’s mind up and I don’t know whether to go with something hearty or light so to make things easier I revert to an old favourite. I usually eat this meal with a bowl of roast potatoes or rice but having just found some good quality Sea Bass in the local supermarket, I decided to go for this and some added spinach. Ingredients 1 medium red onion, diced 1 red chilli, chopped finely 3 cloves of garlic, crushed 3 bay leaves 2 x 400g tinned tomatoes 1 x 420g tin of butter beans, drained Chorizo (as much as you want) 2 sea bass fillets 400g bag of spinach Juice of 1/2 lemon 1 tsp butter Method 1. Heat a large pan with olive oil. Add onions and chilli and fry off until onions are translucent. Add garlic and fry for another minute 2. Add the …

Gooey chocolate chip cookies

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I have always been a cookie lover. My favourite ice cream ever since I can remember is cookie dough Haagen Daaz ice cream. When my dad used to bring me down to London as a child I wouldn’t leave until we had visited the Haagen Daaz cafe in Leicester Square and he had bought me two scoops of the stuff. It’s no surprise then that when I make cookies I like eating the cookie dough just as much as the finished product. It has been my quest to make the perfect googey chocolate chip cookies after many a time making ones that snap very easily. Best eaten warm out of the oven with a scoop of velvety vanilla ice cream scooped and just melting on top. Ingredients 120g unsalter butter, softened 50g golden unrefined granulated sugar 75g unrefined light muscavado sugar 1tsp good quality vanilla essence 1 large egg, lightly beaten 160g plain flour 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda 100g good quality dark chocolate (I like 70% Lindt), roughly chopped Method 1. Preheat your oven …

#PizzaTuesday at Franco Manca

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Franco Manca has long been on my radar but a visit to the Chiswick High Road branch was my first. I had tried and failed to visit the Brixton branch before I went to a gig at the academy, not realising that they close at 5pm due to being situated in Brixton Market. Pizza is fast trending in London and I am becoming less scared of being torn to shreds when my answer to peoples question of what is my favourite meal being pizza. Of course I don’t mean Dominos or Pizza Hut but there are many fantastic authentic pizza restaurants popping up all over London. Daniel Young, the brains behind #PizzaTuesday talks so passionately of a dish that was once thought of as the easy and, pardon my expression, chavvy choice. He referred to Pizza Express as the Starbucks of the pizza world, hugely popular but there are better and more authentic pizza establishments popping up around London. I do agree with him but i’m still drawn into Pizza Express once every couple of …

Lemon and pistachio drizzle cake

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Doesn’t everyone just love a good old lemon drizzle? I recently had a ‘special occasion’ that I had to bake for. All will be revealed in a few months but in the mean time I just really wanted to share my recpie with you. The pistachios are mostly for decoration, the green offsets the yellow sponge and looks intriguing. Many questions were asked as to what it was and some lovely comments were made. The beauty of a lemon drizzle is the fact that the sponge will remain nice and moist for a good couple of days. I was told that my cake was delightfully zingy, fresh and moist. The compliments came from two people that I respect a great deal and I will not be forgetting them in a hurry. Lemon and pistachio drizzle cake For the cake 225g self raising flour 225g butter, softened 225g golden caster sugar (I like Billington’s unrefined) 4 eggs 3 lemons (grated zest) 20g finely chopped pistachio nuts (I chopped them in a food processor) For the drizzle …

Afternoon Tea at The Lanesborough

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What better way to start British summertime than with a quintessentially British afternoon tea at The Lanesborough. As I walk out at 6.15pm into day light, my waistband digs into me more so than it did before I filled myself with morsels of traditional English delight. An afternoon tea with three fellow food bloggers (Mathilde’s Cuisine, Gourmet Chick and Greedy Diva) was a perfect way to end the weekend. Although my two days off work have been full of butter, sugar, flour and egg mixtures in my own kitchen, it was great to end with a bit of posh. This was my first London hotel afternoon tea experience having previously visited Bea’s of Bloomsbury with my mum when she came to London, although you cannot really compare the two – both exquisite in their own ways. The Lanesborough adds a touch of grandeur to the life of a girl in her early 20’s living in Wembley. The seating impeccably comfortable, the silverware petit, the napkins placed neatly on your knee by a witty and quietly …