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balsamic prosciutto, mozzarella and rocket salad.


another simple italian supper in the form of a prosciutto, mozzarella and rocket salad drizzled with balsamic vinegar. like the caprese salad, this is very easy to put together and allows great tasting ingredients to harmonise on the plate. 

sushi time, birmingham.


satisfy your sushi cravings at the newly opened sushi time in central birmingham. from beautifully presented bento boxes to rows of delicate sushi rolls, their menu showcases a variety of seafood and vegetarian dishes to mix and match. 

Update: This restaurant has now sadly closed.

simple caprese salad.


a trio of red, green and white dancing on the plate, this salad is a celebration of italian colours and flavours. keeping it fresh and simple is a must with this recipe, i just couldn't wait to share with you the brilliant italian produce from nife is life which i used to create it. 


macaron masterclass at l'atelier des chefs, london.


last weekend i donned my best floral dress, travelled down to sunny london and excitedly headed over to l'atelier de chefs cookery school by st pauls. for i was to become a master of macarons! or at least, that was the hope. with a fantastic line up of macaron flavours to make, we couldn't wait to get the sieves out, baking trays lined and mixers on to create the colourful treats.



firecracker salmon mirchi with homemade garlic & lime rotis.


the last recipe as vini and bal's may blogger of the month is with their fiery mirchi sauce. promising to set your palette on fire, this is the most potent of the range, heated by three types of chilli and a complex blend of fragrant spices. i chose to pair this with a salmon fillet and have a go at balancing the heat with homemade rotis infused with fresh garlic and zesty lime.

pad thai with a difference.


a delicious mix of juicy king prawns, a squeeze of lime, a crunch of nuts and a handful of sweet coriander...  flavours which make up the unmistakable elements of a prawn pad thai. however in this version, i've replaced the noodles with faux courgette noodles made in minutes with my julienne peeler. that's right, it's not just spaghetti you can replace with this cheeky little gadget.


the koffee pot, manchester.


during a long weekend in manchester, it only made sense to find somewhere that did a decent breakfast. turning to twitter and fellow food bloggers, we thought the koffee pot in the northern quarter of manchester sounded perfect. a good breakfast done well is just as important as lunch or dinner, in my opinion. 

with an ever changing, home cooked menu, the choices range from a hearty full english, haggis and black pudding right through to buttermilk pancakes and cornflake tarts with a cuppa. 

chickpea, spinach and tomato poppadom shahi bake.


following my king prawn and charred pepper jeera recipe with vini and bal's indian sauces from last week, i'm going vegetarian with this indian style lasagne made with chickpea, spinach and tomato. instead of lasagne sheets, i used poppadoms for the layers which soaked up the flavours of their shahi sauce whilst remaining a little crispy. quite the experiment in emily's kitchen, i'd love to know your thoughts if you make it too.

browns lane, loughborough.


a few weeks ago, i caught up with fantastically fabulous blogger charlotte of lifestyle blog charlottelouiset. having first met at a birmingham blogger meet earlier in the year, we soon came to realise we live very close and share one of the best interests a person could have... food! so naturally, we went to try out the lunch menu at browns lane in loughborough. 

is your favourite deli or farm shop the best in the midlands?


is your favourite local deli or farm shop the best in the midlands? make yourself known! the bbc good food shows are calling for nominations from local foodies to find and crown the midlands' best deli or farm shop for 2014.


king prawn and charred pepper jeera with vini & bals.


rustic indian sauces made from an authentic recipes with intensely flavoured spices, and yet, no measuring spoons, prepared pastes or yoghurt and ghee required. vini and bal's sauces plan to revolutionise the way we cook for convenience, by offering a fresh approach to pre made sauces. 

we're talking fabulous traditional punjabi spice blends made to keep fresh, so you can have a taste of cooking curry from scratch in your own kitchen. a curry connoisseur, if you will. as their may blogger of the month, i'll be sharing a few recipes i've been experimenting with their sauces, plus a chance to win some to try out for yourself.

onken naturals: cooking with lisa faulkner.


this week i braved the tube strike and headed to the capital for an exciting onken event. with cookery demonstrations from masterchef winner lisa faulkner and expert nutrition advice from angela dowden, myself and other foodies learnt some brilliantly inventive ways to use yoghurt in every day cooking. an ingredient that i often use in indian dishes myself, i was intrigued by the line up of banana muffins and french onion dip. so how did i get on?