scallops with spaghetti neri.

after a recent visit to dart's farm shop, i stumbled across something i'd been wanting to cook with for ages; spaghetti neri aka squid ink spaghetti. having had them at a jamie's italian with british scallops, garlic, chilli, anchovies, wine, parsley and capers, i thought i'd take on a few of these flavours in a simple grilled scallop dish with garlic, white onion, white wine, lemon and parsley.

hello fresh: my second delivery box.

having really enjoyed the hello fresh box that i was sent review a month or so back, i decided to buy another to try :) the three-meal box contained a real mix of cuisine; genki yakitori, guilt-free fish and chips and herby chicken caesar salad. so since it was yet another box of tasty meals i thought i'd share it with you!

cini restaurant and bar, leicester.

recently, i met my mum and sister after work at a local italian i've been meaning to try out for so long: cini. just a walk away from my offices, this traditional italian restaurant with a modern finish has a deal that between 5-7pm they serve the lunch menu where all the mains are £7. so i sipped on an ice cold glass of rose whilst i looked through the menu of fresh ravioli, pizzas, calzones, italian salads and pasta dishes which you could choose to have penne or spaghetti. 

vegetable won tons.

move over pasta machine, i've found a new foodie toy in my bamboo steamer. having recently tried out vietnamese summer rolls with king prawns and steamed pork dumplings i thought i'd set about finding a vegetarian dim sum recipe with the won ton wrappers i'd just bought. to my surprise, there were hardly any veggie won ton recipes out there. so i don't profess to this being authentic by any stretch but i hope you enjoy my recipe of oriental infused vegetables :) oh and do you like my new bowl and dipping bowl?

pineapple, passion fruit and raspberry jelly with ribena tropical.

a tropical treat for the english summer - made with the new pineapple and passion fruit ribena.

shopping list

serves 4-5

♥ 500ml ribena pineapple and passion fruit

♥ 200g raspberries

♥ 5 gelatine leaves or vegetarian substitute vegegel

♥ 100ml boiling water

♥ 3 tablespoons cold water

break up the gelatine leaves into small cm squared pieces and place in a large plastic jug with 3 tbsp cold water to dissolve. 

pour 100ml of boiling water into the jug followed by the tropical ribena and stir.

scatter a few raspberries into each glass and pour over the jelly mix, filling up about three quarters way to the top. 

cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for 4-6 hours. 

serve with ice cream (of course) and enjoy! :)

do you have any jelly recipes? have you tried any of the new tropical flavours?

king prawn pasanda curry.

a sweet, light and creamy curry with a kick of red chilli. adapted from the bbc good food chicken pasanda recipe, i switched chicken for king prawns as they're easily my favourite meat in a curry. 

i found this recipe whilst looking for yogurt based curries to try out the chobani delivery i'd kinda been sent to trial. they're a great alternative to most regular yogurts as they are complete fat free - yep 0%! - and as well as containing entirely natural ingredients they also have lots of protein to keep you fuller longer.

i'm also quite proud of the spice collection i've been building up - means i actually try a lot more curries from scratch now without thinking "oh i won't make that as i don't have x, y and z in the cupboard..." so how did i make this one?

gluten free lemon drizzle cake.

so with a whole load of lemons and a few half opened packets of ground almonds, i set about finding a new cake recipe to try out. and when life gives you lemons, i guess the most   obvious choice is to make a lemon drizzle cake! as this bbc good food recipe for lemon cake is gluten free... it has a secret special ingredient to bind it and keep it moist... mashed potato! 

sesame turkey skewers with coriander & lime chips and asian slaw.

made with delicious british turkey and fresh red tractor assured ingredients, this recipe is inspired by my favourite asian flavours of sesame seeds, soy sauce, sesame oil and coriander. i really think turkey and coriander are such a perfect match whilst the sesame and soy complement the asian vegetables in the slaw. 

it takes around 45 minutes to make and with would serve as a meal for two or as a light bite for four - i actually took the remaining sesame turkey into work the next day for lunch with the slaw and some salad. 

newquay, cornwall: my top foodie picks.

almost a month ago now, during that lovely mid july heatwave, i went for a little staycation to newquay in cornwall. we camped right by the sea in crantock and enjoyed the beautiful views of the north cornwall coast and the river gannal. as always i did quite a bit of research into bistros, bars, breakfasts, local eats and traditional treats and thought i'd share with you my favourite foodie places. 

strawberries and cream cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream.

a sweet treat for my housemate's birthday last weekend with a specific request for something with white chocolate. probably best suited to andy murray's celebrations of wimbledon, i thought i'd try my hand at strawberries and cream inspired cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream :)

darts farm: locally grown, reared, baked and caught.

a rainbow of locally grown fruit and vegetables, an array of premium quality produce, an ocean of seafood delights and endless rows of bottles, boxes, jars, tubs and tins. not to mention sections for lifestyle, homeware, outdoor and gifts. oh and a health spa. can you believe this is all under one roof? i couldn't either. 

we just happened to be passing through on our way back to the midlands from our cornwall break when i thought it'd be nice to find somewhere interesting to have lunch rather than in a faceless service station. so i ran my battery down a considerable amount in researching places along the m5, a30, bristol, exeter way and ran it totally flat taking as many pictures as i could. 

i thought i'd stepped into foodie heaven.

tamatanga, the cornerhouse, nottingham.

an inspiring menu of modern indian cuisine with fresh and tasty ingredients, a colourful environment and friendly staff along the way; this urban indian canteen is the perfect mix of authentic indian flavours with a modern influence. 

i would go as far as to say this is one of my favourite restaurants and somewhere i always visit when i'm in nottingham - i have so many pictures on my phone of dishes i've had there over the years! so since i met up with my friend grace there last weekend, i thought it was about time i shared my love of the place.

field&flower: premium somerset produce from the farm to your door.

voted the best meat box 2012 in the independent, i recently heard about the brilliant (and building) reputation of field&flower. producing and delivering premium, free range, organic meat from their somerset based farm, field&flower have an array of options ranging from classic cuts of beef, good old british sausages and roasting joints to the more adventurous wood pigeon, venison and rabbit. (i'm really sorry my veggie and vegan friends but it's probably best you avert your eyes to some vegan and veggie recipes instead...) 

so off i went to browse their produce and research some recipes to try out that would bring out the extra special meat i was ordering :) on their site, there is the option to buy a regular or "one-off" balanced box of meat to suit your lifestyle or occasion - such as the family barbecue, the skinny, the slow roast, thrifty beef and the seasonal game. 

another option is to work on credits so you can pick your own. so for example with the small meat box which is £55 you get 85 credits; this could get you something like one large chicken, two rump steaks, two gammon steaks, one large beef mince, one small lamb mince, a pack of homemade somerset lamb burgers, pork and leek sausages and two packs of streaky bacon. there are sauces and condiments to go with each meat too!

it suited me to pick the meat individually as i just cook for myself and occasionally my boyfriend or housemates. i went with a 1kg boned and rolled pork belly joint for £10.35, 400g diced wild venison at £6.60 and four wild wood pigeon breasts at £6. as you can see it came in an ice box which kept it cool all day whilst i was at work. 

so, what did i make?

st. petroc's bistro, padstow, cornwall.

if you follow me on twitter or instagram, you'll have seen the holiday snaps (perhaps a few too many) from my recent staycation in newquay. now i think it would be a foodie faux pas to spend a long weekend in north cornwall and not make your way to the seafood restaurants in the quaint fishing town of padstow. 

with a table at st. petroc's bisto waiting for us at at half six, we made our way down to padstow that afternoon to enjoy a few drinks overlooking the harbour in in the sun.

in case you didn't know, st. petroc's is owned by rick stein along with a seafood restaurant, fish and chip shop, cafe, deli and pub restaurant. i was worried i was going to be disappointed as many people say it isn't as good now he has so many businesses in the area. other recommendations included the basement, paul ainsworth's number 6 and pescadou. so what did i make of it? since i saved these pictures from social media just for this post - i just couldn't wait to write this post and share them with you!