Valentine's day menu

How do you woo your amour on Valentine's day? Do you keep things simple and sweet with a box of chocolates, or do you go for a full Monty and cook a 3-course dinner? Or do you fancy recreating that famous food scene from Nine and a Half Weeks? You know, I have just watched it again on Youtube and enjoyed it as much as I did the first time. Oldies are always goldies.
While I might be showing my age by reference to 9 and 1/2 weeks, I like to make an effort and cook a special meal on Valentine's day.

Valentine's day menu

If you are looking for a menu which is easy and romantic, the Italian cuisine might be a source of inspiration. The Italians certainly know how to woo their loved ones with the most tantalising recipes. Take Caprese salad, what could be simpler than slicing tomatoes, mozzarella and tearing some basil leaves? Yet it's one of the most satisfying salads.
For my starter I prepared a light Caprese with a twist, as I also added a sliced blood orange to the classic ingredients. Don't knock it off before you tried it.

Caprese salad with blood orange

For a Caprese salad, slice the tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, as well as a blood orange. Arrange the slices so that overlap each other. Drizzle some olive oil, tear fresh basil leaves, season with a bit of pepper if you fancy.

Strawberry Spumante cocktail:

To put you in the romantic mood, how about a cocktail with fresh strawberries?

Whizz 4-5 big strawberries into a thick puree, pour 5tbsp of puree in each glass and top up with a sparkling wine. I used Rosamore Vino Spumante Rosato Brut, an Italian fresh pink sparkling wine. It is a lovely aperitif, fresh and fruity.

For a main course impress your love with a dish of duck breast served with a strawberry and blood orange salsa.
Duck with sweet and sour salsa is a winning combination.
Duck with strawberry and orange blood salsa
Ingredients:
2 duck breasts, skin remove
1tsp grated ginger
juice and zest of 1 lime
1 garlic clove
sea salt
2tbsp olive oil

For the salsa:
2tbsp balsamic vinegar
juice of 1 lime
1tbsp maple syrup
a small punnet of strawberries
1 blood orange
a handful of pomegranates
1tbsp fresh thyme

First marinade two duck breasts in a mix of grated ginger (1tsp), juice and zest of 1 lime and 1 garlic clove, grated or pressed through the garlic press. Leave them in the marinade for an hour and a half or more.
Cook the breasts in the frying pan with the olive oil. I like my meat well done, so I don't give any suggestions on the time, it depends on how you like your meat.

Mix the balsamic vinegar with the maple syrup, zest and lime juice. Chop the strawberries and put in the bowl with the marinade. Remove the skin from the blood orange, slice it and put together with the berries. Add the pomegranate seeds and chopped thyme. Ideally the salsa should be left to infuse for a couple of hours. Give it an occasional stir.
Serve the duck breasts with the salsa spooned over.

Chocolate for me is a final indulgence. This Nutella and whisky cake tastes divine and finishes the Valentine's day nicely.

Nutella cake

Nutella cake
Ingredients:
4 medium eggs
100g Nutella+ more for decorating
150g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla essence
3tbsp whisky
200g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
40g ground almonds
zest of 1 blood orange (optional)
100g butter, melted
Dr Oetker Shimmer spray gold and gold pearls (optional)
30+ minutes

Beat the eggs with Nutella and caster sugar. Add the vanilla essence, whisky, flour, baking powder, ground almonds, orange zest and melted butter, mix well. Pour in a heart-shaped cake tin. Bake at 180C for 30+ minutes.
Once cool to touch, spread some Nutella with a knife and smooth the surface. If you like, add a touch of glamour with Dr Oetker shimmer spray gold and gold pears, but this is optional.

If you are full, and feel a bit of slumber, perk up yourself with a nice cup of latte or cappuccino, sprinkled with cocoa.

To help me cook my Valentine's day dinner, OXO sent three kitchen gadgets of my choice to play with. I love OXO Good Grips, and use all my products from the range regularly. If you visit my kitchen, you'll see that I constantly use OXO Good Grips herb mincer, measuring cup and juicer to name but a few.

My first choice was an OXO Good Grips 3-piece Berry Bowl and Colander set. This jolly colourful set is just the right size for rinsing berries, beans and more. The set comes as a nest for compact storage, it has a non-slip bottom. The set is very easy to clean. The colander has an elevated ring along its bottom, so it also stays stable on the working surface or in the sink when you wash the berris. The holes are elongated for efficient draining. There is a lid with seals the bowl for storing the food in the fridge.

I used the set for washing the strawberries for both the salsa and cocktail and used the bowl for preparing the salsa.

OXO Good Grips Simple Mandoline Slicer is an easy-to-use kitchen gadget. I have fancied a mandoline for a long time. You choose a thickness you need for the food you selected: three slice thickness setting, julienne setting and storage setting. The stainless steel blade is angled and cuts the foods into slices with ease. You hold your piece of fruit or vegetable with a spring-loaded food holder which has a big rim to protect fingers. Textured runway prevents food from sticking.
A soft handle is comfy and soft, plus the mandoline comes with non-slip feet which keep it stable.
Once you finished the job and cleaned the mandoline, its leg folds for compact storage.
I used the mandoline for preparing the salad.

Tomatoes sliced with a mandoline

And finally OXO Good Grips Baker's Dusting Wand is a cute little kitchen gadget. It is useful for flouring the cake tin evenly, for sprinkling surfaces for rolling the dough, and of course, for adding icing sugar to your baked goodies or sprinkling cinnamon or cocoa over cappuccino. It is very light. Twist the wand open, scoop some icing sugar or cinnamon, twist to close and dust whatever you fancy.

Disclosure: I received a selection of OXO Good Grips to prepare a menu for Valentine's day.

The Red Box (1000-piece puzzle from Ravensburger)

When I was young, one of my Mum's friends had a red lacquer box from China. It travelled with her aunt from Shanghai who left the revolutionary Russia with the wave of immigrants, only to come back later to the Soviet Union in the 1950s. There was a big Russian community in Shanghai. She didn't bring much with her, some silk robes and a beautiful red lacquer box. I remember looking at that treasure box with great awe. It was so exotic and almost magical, all those compartments revealing their secrets. I recently revisited my childhood, while solving an amazingly intricate puzzle The Red Box from Ravensburger.

The Red Box puzzle

The Oriental design has been created by a talented illustrator Colin Thompson, well known for his unique and original style.
Like all Ravensburger puzzles, The Red Box comes in a sturdy cardboard box. The puzzle pieces are also made from strong durable premium grade cardboard.
I kept postponing the work. Since the complete puzzle measures 69.9 x 49.7cm, I had to find a clear table space. I have been looking into buying one of those foldable puzzle trays, now that would have been very handy. In the end, I used a desk upstairs to build my puzzle without it being disturbed by all the toys. You should see my working table with the laptop, it's all laden with papers and toys, there's absolutely no space for a puzzle of this size.
As always, I first try to find all the pieces to build the frame, and then slowly sort out the colours and assemble separate pieces.

The design shows a magic oriental red lacquer box, with lots of drawers. You find all sorts of hidden treasures inside, as well as some mystic mini-figures.
You'll see a beautiful Blue Willow patterned piece and a red lantern, a golden koi carp, elegant old pieces of china, a smiling Buddha and much more.

I loved spotting weird little creatures, a kind of trolls and magic animals which often populate the Northern European illustrations of Moomins and Findus & Pettson series.
There is a very handy print of the overall picture which is very convenient for reference.

I am half-way through with my puzzle, so it's still very much a work in progress.
As with all Ravensburger puzzles, it is a pleasure to play with.

This puzzle will make a great gift for any puzzle lover. Or perhaps you might give it to someone for Chinese New Year which is celebrated on 19 February.

Next day update: once kids fell asleep, I spent a good couple of hours, finishing the puzzle. I swear all night I had puzzle pieces dancing in my mind. But oh boy, what a satisfactory feeling when the last piece was slotted in.

Disclosure; I received the puzzle for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are mine.

Apricot kernel oil (Mokhado)

Apricot oil is found in many beauty and personal care products. With its distinct aroma and health properties, it is a popular ingredient in beauty industry. It is less known as a food ingredient, yet it is tasty and a good source of unsaturated fats. Apricot kernel oil from Mokhado is a pure cold-pressed extra virgin oil. This fragrant healthy oil is great for drizzling, frying and roasting.
It has a lovely smell and a slightly sweet flavour.

Sweet potato and blood orange soup
Ingredients:
2tbsp apricot kernel oil
175g carrots (4 small sized)
1 shallot
2 small (180g) sweet potatos
1 big blood orange, zest and juice
1tsp grated ginger
4tbsp red lentils
1 Knorr vegetable stock pot

Thinly slice the shallot and carrots and fry in the frying pan with 2tbsp of apricot kernel oil for about 7 minutes, until the shallot becomes translucent. Remove from the heat and add the contents into a medium sized pan. Add the chopped sweet potatoes, zest and juice of 1 blood orange, grated ginger and red lentils, as well as one Knorr vegetable stock pot (or any vegetable stock cube or a tbsp of powdered stock). Pour enough water to cover all the vegetables. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and cook simmering for half an hour. Once cooked, blitz with a hand blender. Serve hot, with a dollop of Greek style yogurt.
It is an easy to cook soup, flavourful and colourful. The apricot kernel oil is great for frying, and adds a lovely sweet note and aroma to the dish.

I also used this oil in a chicken tray bake: chicken thighs and drumsticks, mixed with wedges of butternut squash, chopped dried apricots, celery stick, preserved lemons and lots of ras el hanout spice. And again, this oil works beautifully with the roasted chicken and vegetables. Together with ras el hanout it gives an Eastern twist to a simple chicken tray bake.

It is lovely in sweet dishes as well. I made a batch of chocolate frosting last week, and it was too thick for spreading on the cupcakes. A dash of apricot kernel oil made the frosting glossier and easier to spread.

Chocolate cupcakes

Apricot kernel oil from Mokhado is an excellent versatile product.

If you are not able to source the Mokhado oil and want to buy an apricot kernel oil, make sure you are buying the oil which is specified as edible. You don't want to eat the oil which has been manufactured for the beauty industry, i.e. for massage, as it might contain additives and preservatives.

For more information on Mokhado range of oil, visit Mokhado.

Disclosure: I received a selection of oil for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine.

Meeting the Honey Monster

"Mummy, are we going to meet a real monster?" (Eddie)

Eddie was very excited when I told him we were going to Oxford to meet the Honey Monster. We caught a bus to Oxford,  We arrived a bit early and were told the Honey Monster is having a little break. Thankfully, Mary from Over40andamumtoone and her Monkey were already there, so we had a little walk around the Westgate shopping centre.
It took both Mary and me a bit of time to try to convince our guys to hug the Honey Monster, as all of a sudden they have gone all shy.

Spotting the Honey monster (photo by Mary Proctor)

Honey Monster in action

Honey Monster's new tour has kicked off in Birmingham’s Bullring Shopping Centre on 24th January 2015 from where he’ll be appearing in major shopping complexes in the Midlands throughout February. On 1st March 2015 his grand tour finishes in style at Star City in Birmingham, the ultimate venue for MONSTERFIED family fun.
Honey Monster invites you to join him and unleash mischief; give boredom a fright!
If you have your photo taken with the Honey Monster, you can upload your photo to his Facebook/HoneyMonsterUK or Twitter/@HoneyMonsterUK page with #funmonsterfied hashtag for a chance to win an exclusive "I've met the Honey Monster" t-shirt.

First hesitant Hi (photo by Mary Proctor)

If your little people would love to meet the Honey Monster as well, here are some dates to mark on your calendar for the event closest to you:

14th Feb High Cross Leicester
15th Feb Queensgate Peterborough
21st Feb Gloucester Quays Gloucester
22nd Feb CrownGate Shopping Centre Worcester
28th Feb Merry Hill Shopping Centre Dudley, W.Midlands
1st March Star City Birmingham

Friendly fluffy monster

As told by honey bees, the Honey Monster's friends:
"It’s been very busy at Honey Monster HQ and the packaging design is not the only thing we have updated. The new packs feature a delicious new recipe with 20% more yummy honey than before. At the same time, we have reduced the overall sugar level* and have added clearer nutrition information frontof-pack, so you know exactly what’s in there and what’s not. We hope you enjoy the classic taste of Honey Monster Puffs that you know and love!"

A while ago there was a bit of a hullabaloo regarding the rebranding of Sugar Puffs into Honey Puffs and the use of words "Honey goodness". A ruling from ASA banned the brand from the use of this expression on the packaging.
In my opinion, and No, I haven't been paid to say my piece, this is just another example of the state thinking that parents cannot make their own food choices (well, some obviously cannot).
Yes, sugar is bad for you, but actually honey is well known for its medicinal properties. I am not going to write an essay on the merits of honey, there are enough sources available in print and online about the goodness of honey.
Everything these days needs to come with a health claim. Just today I read that there is a new directive for the supermarkets to remove the daffodils further from the food aisle, as apparently there were a few cases of food poisoning. Well, it's not the daffodils' fault, but the ignorance of the people who have eaten them.
The same with the cereals. Obviously, if you eat a whole big box of sweet cereals in one go, it cannot be good for you. If you eat it in moderation, it is fine.
We are not big on cereals at breakfast time anyway. My guys like snacking on granola or cereals as an afternoon snack, and only once in a while.

The raise in obesity levels in young children these days is a big problem without doubt, but that is also thanks to the very sedentary lifestyle, an addiction to all those game consoles and ipad culture.
If children are active and have a balanced diet, their weight won't be affected (unless there is an underlying condition).
We, parents, should be an example for our children: unglue our bums from the sofa, venture into the garden or nearest park to do some exercise, spend less time online and be more active.

I've just been reading a family saga based in the North Dakota in the end of the 19C-beginning of the 20C. The amount of food they consumed was quite staggering, but then they worked so hard all day and burnt all those calories. But I'm digressing even further.

What the state should do is support the British farmers and producers, not play God by growing GM-crops in this country, introduce very clear nutritional labelling, as well as the origins of the product labelling, offer healthy meals in schools and educate the younger generations on the healthy food choices.

We have tried new Honey Monster Puffs which are whole grains of wheat, puffed and drizzled with honey. I can taste a bit of molasses too.
Honey Puffs are free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives. They are actually pretty low-cal too, at 95kcal per 25g portion (that's one mini-box). With a skimmed milk, it might be one of the breakfast options for those who are on 5:2 diet.

Many thanks to Mary Proctor for taking photos of Eddie and me with the Honey Monster.

Visit the Honey Monster site for more information.

Disclosure: we received a goodie bag with a few packets of cereals and a soft toy.

Photo diary, week 6 (365)

February is here, cold, but with a promise of spring, as more and more flowers appear around the town. As much as I love roses, it's the first flowers of spring that I cherish the most.

What did we do this week?

February 1: On Sunday I cooked a spinach and wild mushroom roulade. and very tasty it was. 

On Mondays Eddie goes to a football club after school, and when I collect him, he's peckish. We often stop at M&S on the way home and buy a couple of doughnuts, one for Eddie, one for Sasha.

Tuesday the 3rd. We've woken up to the thinly-spread whiteness. It wasn't a deep snow, to Eddie's chagrin. He is still dreaming of building a snowman. At school they were playing in the snow, throwing snowballs and having great fun.
I have spotted these beautiful daffodils in the snow.

Wednesday the 4th. Eddie loves dressing up. I had a Sainsbury's gift card, and instead of spending it on something sensible or a treat for myself, bought the king's costume for my little man as well as Ninja Turtles wellies. He was ecstatic. He loved the knight's costume we borrowed from his friend for the school's dressing up day, so I knew this one would be a big hit, especially that it comes with a shield and a sword.

Thursday the 5th - having fun with a Weetabix and making a funny face, with a hat, and a banana pearl necklace.

Friday the 6th. On the way home we spotted these lovely lights in the tree. I'd love to see them in the evening, when it's dark.

Saturday the 7th: a fun day. We went to Oxford to meet the Honey Monster. It was great fun, especially that Mary from Over40andmumtoone and her cheeky Monkey were there as well. After being hugged by the Honey Monster, we had a lively lunch at Giraffe's.
It was a splendid end to a busy week.

Blood orange and limoncello cake

I haven't done much blogging this week, feeling restless and a bit depressed. My Mum is unwell, and with us being so far apart, there is nothing I can do to help her. I keep cooking and taking photos as usual, but once I sit in front of my laptop, I feel like brain-dead. Call it an apathy or a loss of mojo...
Anyway, these few weeks we have been enjoying the blood oranges. The season of blood oranges is so short, but when they are here, I try to add them to almost anything, sweet or savoury.
Last week I baked a Limoncello cake with blood oranges, and it was a delicious moist cake, which has disappeared pretty fast.

Blood orange & Limoncello cake
Ingredients:
4 medium eggs
200g caster sugar
140ml Limoncello
zest of 2 and juice of 1 blood orange
130g self-raising flour
130g cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
30g ground almonds
190g butter, melted
for the icing:
icing sugar mixed with juice of blood orange (at least 4 heaped tbsp of icing sugar)

In a big bowl beat the eggs with the caster sugar, add limoncello, grated blood orange zest and juice, flour, cornflour, baking powder and ground almonds, mix well. Add the melted butter and mix again. The cake batter is quite runny in consistency.
Butter the cake ring tin or use the cake release spray, pour in the cake mixture. Place the cake tin in the oven preheated to 180C. Bake for about 45-50 minutes. Check if it's ready with a wooden skewer.
In a small bowl mix the icing sugar with the orange juice, until you get the runny consistency. Pour over the cake.

If you don't have blood oranges, swap them for standard oranges or lemons. The only place that I can get blood oranges at the moment is Abel and Cole. Order a kilo at £2.75 or 5kg for £13 plus delivery at £1.25. The quality of their blood oranges is excellent. I just wish there was a place nearby where I can buy them whenever I fancy freshly squeezed blood orange juice. They are just so above the standard oranges in taste and colour.

Spinach, wild mushroom and cheese roulade

Last year I was selected to be one of the ShortcutEggsperts with British Lion Eggs, and was delighted to continue being part of the panel for this year. The first culinary challenge for the year was to create a healthy recipe. What comes to mind when you say healthy? low calorie, fresh produce and spinach. As a child, I absolutely hated spinach. In my Soviet childhood it came in bricks of frozen green horror, and tasted vile. No amount of convincing it was good for me would persuade me. I associated it with school meals and people who were on a special diet. That dislike of spinach lasted until I tried fresh baby leaf spinach. Suddenly it was tasty and wonderful. These days I am happy to eat it in salads, lasagne and all kinds of meals, both fresh and cooked. And it is indeed very good for you. Those old grannies of my childhood knew what they were talking about.

Spinach, wild mushroom and cheese roulade
Ingredients:
100g wild mushrooms
2tbsp olive oil
1tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped finely
a squeeze of lemon juice
100g spinach
2 eggs, separated
2 egg whites
80g lighter soft cheese
60g self-raising flour
2tbsp soured cream
80g hard cheese, grated, like a vegetarian Manchego
170g lighert soft cheese

Clean the mushrooms well and slice or break into smaller pieces. Fry them in the olive oil for 5 minutes, with the chopped flat leaf parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice. Season with a bit of sea salt.
Remove the mushrooms into a bowl. There will be some oil left in the frying pan.
Add the spinach, and let it wilt, stirring for a few minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool before mixing with two egg yolks, flour, grated hard cheese and 80g of soft cheese. In a separate bowl, whisk four egg whites with an electric whisk. Once the egg whites get stiff, fold them into the spinach-cheese mix with 2tbsp of soured cream.
Place a piece of foil into a brownie tin and spray with a bit of spray oil for easier removal after the baking. Pour the eggy mix inside the tin.
Bake for 15 minutes at 180C.
Cool slightly before peeling off the foil.

Mix the remaining soft cheese with the mushrooms and spread the mix over the baked omelette. Roll up carefully. Serve chilled, sliced.
It is a tasty vegetarian dish.

I buy the wild mushrooms from Tesco throughout the year, you get different varieties, depending on the time of the year. Some mushrooms are picked in Scotland, some come from further afield, like Poland, Bulgaria or Lithuania. My favourite variety is chanterelles. I think Tesco is the only supermarket which consistently offers wild mushrooms all year round. At £1.50 for 100g it's a pretty good bargain as well.
If you cannot find wild mushrooms, chestnut mushrooms will work as well.

Disclosure: I received vouchers to buy products and create a healthy recipe with eggs.

For more ideas and recipes using eggs, visit Egg Recipes. And if you are a fan of TOWIE or just enjoy the celeb news, Lucy Mecklenburgh is also a British Lion eggs brand ambassador.
I confess, I never watched TOWIE, but Lucy's recipes which she created as an ambassador, look might good. See all her recipes at Lucy Meck's healthy meals page. I particularly like the sound of spinach, feta and pine nuts omelette.