Go dine Launches 32 New Leeds Restaurants Pages

Go dine has now launched across Leeds city centre and its beautiful suburbs. Go dine have been working with Visit Leeds the official tourism board to produce a first class restaurant guide and booking service for visitors to area and inhabitants alike.

The platform allows visitors to the site to look at professionally shot beautiful photos, food menus, wine lists and the latest offers at each of the restaurants in Leeds. The website is easy to use, looks great and when booking online the process could not be simpler. Diners simply choose the date and time and an offer if it applies and a text message is sent to their mobile phone outlining the offer, date and time of the booking. For restaurants its simple, they receive additional bookings due to the spread and reach of Go dine, and simply gain an entry on the most informative and best looking restaurant website around that is easy to find.

There are many fabulous restaurants around Leeds and using local intimate knowledge of the area we were able to track them down in order to provide a guide that is choca-bloc full of the only the best restaurants in Leeds. From classic British restaurants such as the magnificent Calverley Grill at Oulton Hall to the contemporary and breath-taking Bird Restaurant in Alea casino Leeds truly has it all. The riverside is where people most like to spend time wining and dining and we have also brought together a collection of restaurants that either have beautiful views such as Brasserie Forty-4 or Riverplate, and Ciao Bella just of Brewery Wharf, home to some fabulous bars and drinking holes.

Go dine brings you the best restaurants in Leeds….enjoy!

About Restaurants in Leeds

Leeds has a thriving restaurant industry and with perfect night life to match, Leeds city centre restaurants and its beautiful suburbs have a wide choice and the perfect restaurant venue for any discerning diner. Restaurants in Leeds city centre vary hugely in quality and offering with the shopping districts and centre hubs areas being dominated by restaurant chains such as Strada Restaurant, La Tasca Spanish Tapas restaurant and Loch Fyne restaurant on the City Square.

Clarence Dock is associated with one of the best free tourist attractions outside of London, The Royal Armouries, and with The Fig and Bird restaurants, this area south of Leeds city centre makes for an excellent afternoon or evening out.

Throughout the summer months, the riverside becomes Leeds’ focal point but finding the perfect restaurant for you can be difficult. Brewery Wharf is home to one of Leeds lively night spots with independent restaurants, Ciao Bella and Brasserie 44 restaurants, and diners are thrilled with the quality of produce and cuisine on offer.

Diners who look for additional spice in there evenings can be sure to be excited with a good number of award winning Indian restaurants including Shabab on Eastgate, trading for over 30 years and their recent addition, Shabab on Bishopsgate. The Bird offers contemporary Indian cuisine courtesy of Michelin Star chef Vineet, whilst the award winning East Indian restaurant and lounge in Pudsey is an excellent venue.

For diners looking to experience the very best in the Leeds restaurant scene, Kendell’s Bistro, winners of the best restaurant 2010 is an absolute winner with Steve Kendell at the helm, an extremely well versed and experienced chef at the top of French cuisine.

No matter what your restaurant desires are, Leeds has it all and with the knowledge that Visit Leeds has of the restaurant scene, diners must browse our restaurant guide offering full up to date menus, photos, reviews and dozens of offers. Click here to view restaurants in Leeds and see why it has such a strong restaurant scene.

Oriental Garden Restaurant in Northampton Serves up a Success

The Oriental Garden restaurant in Northampton received recent accolades from the Chronicle and Echo newspaper after they sent their mystery diner.  So impressive is the article we decided to upload it to the website for you all the read…

Nottingham Food Festival 2010

Celebrity chefs on the menu for NOTTINGHAM FOOD AND DRINK FESTIVAL 2010

A host of top celebrity chefs are preparing to cook up a storm as part of the second annual Nottingham Food and Drink Festival.

The full line-up for the event, which takes place 23-26 September and includes a Celebrity Chef Theatre in Old Market Square, has been officially unveiled and includes well known names from Italy, India and the Caribbean.

The festival will be opened by Gino D’Acampo, the Italian chef and winner of the ITV 2009 series I’m A Celebrity…Get Me out of Here!, whilst the hugely popular TV personality and Ready Steady Cook presenter Ainsley Harriott will bring proceedings to a close on the Sunday.

Visitors and foodie fans will also be able to pick up tips from Caribbean soul food star Momma Cherri on the Friday, as well as Michelin-starred chefs and Great British Menu representatives Atul Kochhar on Saturday and Sat Bains on Thursday.

As well as the famous faces in the Celebrity Chef’s Theatre, the festival will also be dishing up live cook-offs, chef demonstrations, events in city centre venues and a host of delectable tasting areas courtesy of local restaurants, bars and eateries, as well as a special food and drink market featuring some of Nottingham’s finest local suppliers.

Other highlights include a Ready Steady Cook style challenge, where members of the armed forces will be partnered with chefs from venues in the city to take part in a series of cook-offs in aid of the Help for Heroes charity. Local sports stars will also be competing at similar events during the four day festival, with a third of the money raised from ticket sales for each of the challenges going to a charity of the winner’s choice.

The Nottingham Food and Drink Festival launched in 2009, with chefs such as James Martin and Simon Rimmer helping to attract around 18,000 visitors from across the country and it’s hoped that this year’s line-up will increase visitor numbers further.

The festival is organised by We Are Nottingham, which sees licensees in the city centre working together and contributing funds towards projects to give visitors the best possible experience when visiting the city.

As well as the Food and Drink Festival, the organisation has worked together on a number of other initiatives, including the taxi marshal scheme and the hugely successful street pastor project.

The festival is also funded by the Greater Nottingham Partnership and supported by Experience Nottinghamshire.

Sylvia Manser, chief executive of We Are Nottingham commented: “We’re delighted to bring the Food and Drink Festival back for a second year. The licensees have been working hard to ensure that 2010’s event will be even bigger and better.

“We have a fantastic mix of celebrity chefs and local talent who will be serving up some great cooking ideas for cookery aficionados, those looking to expand their culinary skills and families. Nottingham has one of the widest selections of cuisines available in the country, so it’s only right that we celebrate it and encourage people in the city to sample some of the food that’s available on their doorstep.”

Online booking for the Nottingham Food & Drink Festival opens on Monday 5^th July at www.wearenottingham.co.uk/foodanddrink where you’ll also be able to check out the city’s restaurant and bar scene and find out more details about the full festival programme.

______________

Feeling hungry?  Why not view the best restaurants in Nottingham.

Hunt for City’s Best Customer Experience

Nottingham’s Best Bar None Awards Scheme, which recognises venues in the city that provide a safe environment for customers to enjoy a night out, is now asking city residents and visitors to select the venues which offer the best experience to their customers.

All of the venues that have applied for the scheme have been assessed and are now eligible to win awards, including some for “Best Customer Experience”, voted for by the public on the scheme’s website, www.nottinghambbn.co.uk.

Best Bar None was developed by Police in Manchester to help improve safety and management standards of venues.  Licensees work together with the Best Bar None assessors to ensure they have the necessary standards and procedures in place to offer the best possible environment for their customers, from safety to customer service.  There are currently over 80 cities running Best Bar None schemes in the UK.

This year, nearly 60 venues applied for the Nottingham scheme, run by We Are Nottingham, the Business Improvement District incorporating all of the city’s licensed businesses.  51 of the applicants achieved the standards and are in the process of being notified that they have been accredited.

Nottingham’s Best Bar None is supported by NBAC and Nottingham City Council, who provided the expert assessors that visited the venues to score them according to the pre-agreed set of criteria.

It has also received funding from We Are Nottingham, international drinks company Diageo and the Home Office, through the Nottingham Crime and Drugs Partnership.

The accredited venues are now eligible to win a number of awards, and customers are able to vote to decide which pub, bar, restaurant and club provides the best customer experience.  Trent FM are supporting the Best Customer Experience voting stage by promoting it to their listeners.

Leader of Nottingham City Council, Councillor Jon Collins, said: “I am pleased to see that so many of our city centre venues have taken part in the Best Bar None scheme, which helps to reassure people going out for a drink in Nottingham about the venues they are visiting.  Many venues have demonstrated some extremely good management practices that go above and beyond the legal requirements of their licence, which helps to promote a safe, comfortable environment for visitors to our city.”

Sylvia Manser, Chief Executive of We Are Nottingham, said: “I am delighted at the high level of interest in the scheme this year by the licensees in the city.  Best Bar None is a great way for the businesses to work in partnership with the authorities to help make the city centre a better place for everyone to visit at night.”

Voting is now open and closes on the 1^st August, with the winners announced at a glitzy awards bash at the Council House on the 19^th August, hosted by Twiggy and Emma from Trent FM’s Breakfast Show.

Purple Flag status for Nottingham City Centre

Nottingham has been officially recognised as one of the best places to go for great night out in Britain.

Nottingham has been successful in its bid to gain Purple Flag Status for its late night offering and is among one of the first places in Britain to be recognised for the strides they have made in becoming safer, cleaner and more pleasant places to be after dark.

Developed by the Association of Town Centre Management (ATCM), the Purple Flag scheme has been set up to establish national standards and raise the image of Britain’s town centres at night. It recognises great entertainment and hospitality areas at night and provides the opportunity for successful centres to present themselves in their true colours and in a positive light to town centre users and operators, residents, tourists and visitors.

The application was a collaborative effort between Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire Police, Nottingham Businesses Against Crime, Nottingham Crime and Drugs Partnership and We Are Nottingham, which is the Business Improvement District (BID) for the leisure businesses in the city, as well as other city centre partners.

Nottingham has been working hard to improve its night time experience after recognising problems in the city centre and this is an acknowledgment of the positive steps they have made to work out these issues.

Nottingham city centre was assessed on a range of criteria including attractiveness and appeal, cleanliness, personal safety, arts and cultural offer, how welcoming it is, as well as the strength of partnership working. A team of experts carried out the judging process and explored, examined and experienced the nightlife of the centre.

Cllr Jon Collins, Leader of Nottingham City Council, said: “Nottingham is proud to be one of the first UK locations to have Purple Flag status and thanks go to all the teams for their ongoing commitment to partnership working in the city centre.

“Nottingham has always been a 24-hour city and we have worked hard with our partners to offer a wide programme of night time events complements the regular night life in the city’s theatres, cinemas, restaurants, clubs, and bars.

“We have put in place a holistic approach to managing the city’s night life and we are pleased that the judges were impressed by the way the city centre is managed. All the services are linked together with strong leadership and everyone taking responsibility for the success and safety of the whole evening.”

The benefits of achieving Purple Flag Status include:

1. A raised profile & Improved public image
2. Wider patronage with more families and older people
3. Lower crime and anti-social behaviour
4. Successful mixed-use economy long term

Jon Collins of CGA and Chair of the Purple Flag judging panel said “the panel is delighted to be awarding Nottingham City Centre a purple flag. Nottingham has worked extremely hard over many years to improve their evening economy and change the perception of ten city. Purple Flag will further improve its public image to encourage more and diverse people into the city at night.

“The Assessors and Panel were impressed by particular strengths, including Doorwatch, Street Pastors, good signage, refurbishment of the public realm, BID management of the city centre and the excellent partnership work between businesses and agencies.”

Superintendent Helen Chamberlain, from Nottingham City Police, said: “Our number one priority is to ensure the safety of everyone who comes into Nottingham and we recognise the importance of providing high visibility policing across the city centre to offer people that reassurance when they are out and about.

“Police officers, along with our partners from Community Protection, take a robust approach to antisocial and alcohol-related behaviour and will deliberately intervene early to prevent problems arising.

”The awarding of the Purple Flag is testament to the efforts of everyone involved in making Nottingham city centre a safer place for all.”

Sylvia Manser, Chief Executive of We Are Nottingham, said: “This is a real achievement for the city that recognises how hard all of the different agencies have worked together to deliver a brilliant and varied experience at night.”

Simon Litherland, Managing Director of Diageo GB who are headline sponsors of the Purple Flag scheme, said, “It’s an unavoidable fact that sadly some people are put off from going out in their town centres by the actions of a few who behave antisocially. Tackling this antisocial behaviour and creating a safer, more enjoyable night-time environment for everyone is crucial and we believe the best way to do this is through a variety of local partners working together – exactly the approach encouraged and recognised by Purple Flag. That’s why we’re delighted to be supporting Purple Flag for the next three years. With our support we hope more areas will be motivated to follow in the footsteps of Nottingham, which is a fantastic example of just how much can be achieved by working in this way.”

Nottingham is entitled to fly the Purple Flag for two years from 16th June 2010. During the next two years Nottingham will be expected to continue to broaden the night time offer, with further improvements to the facilities and services available.

The inspection report will be discussed at the Night Time Economy Partnership Group (NTEPG), where all the partnership organisations in the city meet to discuss the strategy for the night time economy, so the recommendations can be used in the next action plan.

Hunter’s at the Olde Red Lion Welcome Scott Grimsley Back

Chris and Paul at the Olde Red Lion are pleased to be welcoming back Scott Grimsley who returns to Hunters Restaurant to compliment Adam Cyz who joined the team when Scott left to further his culinary expertise last year.  Both Scott and Adam have a wealth of experience including the Butchers Arms at Priors Hardwick, Fawsley Hall, Narrow Boat, Weedon, Church Restaurant Northampton and The Griffin Specialist Fish Restaurant, Higham Ferrers both Chefs having originally graduated from Northampton’s own Moulton College. With a passion for food and the support of Chris and Paul in enabling them to use only the best ingredients, this new collaboration is sure to continue the reputation for fabulous cuisine and attention to detail already associated with this dining venue.

With Summer upon us the Olde Red Lion Team offers you an opportunity to use the skills of their chefs who can cater for any special occasion. Whether it be celebration dining at Hunters Restaurant to include Weddings, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Intimate Dinners or Chef Hire Services to produce Fine Dining Meals within your own home, all packages are bespoke to your requirements.

With a FREE Chauffeur Home Service for Diners, make sure you save their web site to your favourites as there is so much going on, including a Sponsored Bungee Jump on Saturday 26^th June in aid of Help for Heroes (jumpers still required) and their Annual Beer Festival in July featuring The Hound Dogs Rockabilly/Rock n Roll Show, not to be missed!

For amazing food, great passion and energetic fun be sure to visit The Olde Red Lion, Kislingbury some time soon.

Oundle Mill Awarded 2 AA Rosettes

Just over a year after opening Oundle Mill is delighted to be awarded 2 rosettes by the AA, and is one of only 5 restaurants in Northamptonshire to have achieved this accolade.

The long established and well respected AA Rosette scheme recognises successful cooking at different levels across the UK. Success or failure in achieving Rosettes is based on one or more visits by an AA inspector to a hotel or restaurant.

In the words of The  AA 2 rosettes are awarded to:

‘Excellent restaurants that aim for and achieve higher standards and better consistency. A greater precision is apparent in the cooking, and there will be obvious attention to the selection of quality ingredients. Around 40% of restaurants/hotels within our AA Restaurant Guide have Two Rosettes.

Head Chef and Manager Jeremy Medley commented ‘We are delighted to receive such a prestigious award. Oundle Mill is a fabulous building in a beautiful setting with a passionate and dedicated team and we are all excited about the future.’

Oundle Mill, Barnwell Road, Oundle, Northamptonshire, PE8 5PB.

Click here to view the menus and photos of the stunning award winning venue – Oundle Mill.

PR – The Curry Lounge Launch New Healthier Menu

LOW CALORIE CURRY, BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT!

NEW HEALTHY MENU FROM THE CURRY LOUNGE REVEALED

The Curry Lounge in Nottingham is launching its much awaited new menu on June 7, 2010, following its mission to cut-back on calories, in order to offer a much healthier dining experience when eating out.

Over recent years, consumers have shown greater interest in what food they eat; whether it’s organic, locally sourced, gluten-free or low in cholesterol, and have become far more health conscious as a result – hence the Curry Lounge’s extensive research, testing and year long development of its new healthy menu.

Indian food is well known for being high in calories and saturated fats, but the chefs at the restaurant, led by owner Arfan Razak, have taken a completely different approach to the way they cook their cuisine, opting for more traditional dishes.

Techniques have been adapted, with more ingredients being marinated for longer, followed by being steamed, chargrilled, tandoor-cooked or stir-fried. There’s also been a big shift towards tempering spices for longer periods, as well as removing saturated fats and using the ingredients’ own natural oils in meats and fish, so that there’s no need to add any additional oil, ghee or butter.

The low calorie results from the Curry Lounge’s dishes have been phenomenal. The chefs have switched to cholesterol-free vegetable and olive oil, and they’ve reduced the amount they use by an impressive 40 per cent.

Calorie values have been revealed at the back of the menu for all of the dishes, but diners that choose the dishes nearer the top of each section will be safe in the knowledge that they’re automatically opting for a dish with lower calories compared to the ones below.

There is also a brand new ‘healthy options’ page where diners can choose from six meals (that include a main dish, rice, salad and raita) that have a total average calorie count of only 665 calories.

A secret trial was held last week amongst customers who didn’t necessarily realise they were eating their favourite Indian dishes but with reduced calories. Feedback was excellent, as each diner felt there were increased depths of flavours, and lighter and fresh new dishes. And as a few said they noticed some dishes weren’t as spicy, Raz and his team have been tweaking the heat levels since to get the menu absolutely perfect.

“We’re really excited about our tasty new, healthier menu!” said Raz. “The lamb dishes, such as the Chef’s Korma (654 kcal) and Bhuna (755 kcal) are where we’ve had the most success in reducing the number of calories, as each are cooked with almost zero oil and use more water to keep the meat moist and ensure there’s still plenty of flavour.

“Natural oils from aromatic spices, curry leaves and specially sourced herbs from India are also used, as well as cuts of meat that are trimmed of all fat, slow-braised and some are even served on the bone.”

Other heavily reduced calorie dishes that are particularly worthy of note are the Mahi Makhni sea bass (286 kcal) and Murgh Chettinand Balti chicken (717kcal).

“It’s important to consider people’s request for healthier options when they dine in your restaurant,” added Raz. “So, by using even more traditional cooking techniques and reducing the oil and calorie content across all of our dishes, we’ve come up with a balanced menu that we’re really proud of.”

To Celebrate Raz and the team at the Curry Lounge are offering a special offer on the new menu – so why not view the menu and enjoy a great deal!

Northamptonshire Food Awards Video

Lemon Curd Parfait Recipe by the Grey Lady Leicester

This is a fabulous summer time pudding which can be enjoyed at any time of year at the Grey Lady head chef Phillip Gibson serves it with a wonderful homemade basil meringue but why not try it with fresh raspberries?

For the lemon curd
4 lemons, zested and juiced
4 eggs beaten
110g butter
450g castor sugar

For the pate bombe
100ml water
400g sugar
10 egg yolks

For the lemon curd parfait
320g pate bombe
600g lemon curd
2 lemons, zested and juiced
325ml double cream, semi whipped

Lemon curd
Fill the sauce pan with water and bring to a simmer over a low heat. Melt the butter, lemon juice, zest and sugar in a bowl over the sauce pan making sure it doesn’t touch the water. When the sugar has dissolved add the beaten eggs and continue to cook the curd, stirring gently with a whisk, until it thickens. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Pate bomb
Place the water and sugar together in a heavy based saucepan and bring to the boil at 120c using a sugar thermometer to check the temperature. Whisk the yolks until they double in size then pour the sugar slowly over the yolks, continue to whisk as the mixture cools.

Lemon curd parfait
In a large bowl whisk together the Pate Bombe, lemon curd and the juice with the lemon zest, and then fold in the semi whipped double cream. Pour the mix into a lined tray and place in the freezer for 24 hours.

Chinese Sesame Noodle Recipe

Chinese noodles are so versatile and make a great base for a quick and easy meal. This sesame flavoured sauce for thin egg noodles makes a tasty cold noodle dish to go with summer salads, garnished with cucumber juliennes and toasted sesame seeds. It can equally well be served hot for a quick supper dish to accompany a stir-fry or just as a late-night snack.

If you can’t find fresh Chinese egg noodles they can be substituted with dry ones or with any other fine noodle or pasta. Whichever noodles you use, cook them according to the instructions on the packet as different makes vary.

Recipe for Chinese Noodles with Sesame Sauce

Ingredients
225g / 1lb fresh Chinese egg noodles
1 tablespoon sesame oil plus one teaspoon
4 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon thin soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
pinch cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon salt
pinch white pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vegetable stock or water
half a cucumber

Peel the cucumber. Cut it in half and then into fine julienne strips. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Grind 3 tablespoons of the toasted sesame seeds to a powder.

Make the sauce:
Combine 1 teaspoon sesame oil, the ground sesame seeds, the soy sauces, vinegar, sugar, cayenne, white pepper, salt, vegetable oil and stock in the bowl. Beat to a smooth paste.

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet.

To make this dish as a cold dish: rinse the noodles in cold water and allow to drain for five minutes. Toss in the tablespoon of sesame oil. You can refrigerate at this point until ready to serve. At the table, pour the sauce over the noodles and top with the julienned cucumbers and sesame seeds. Toss the noodles and serve.

To serve hot: as soon as the noodles are cooked, toss first with the sesame oil and then with the sauce before serving immediately.

Ready for a full Chinese meal with a whole assortment of dishes? Why not visit one of  Nottingham’s finest Chinese restaurants and enjoy a great selection of authentic Chinese cuisine.

Lamb Korma Recipe

Fragrant spices, tender lamb and a thick spicy sauce, a genuine lamb korma is a wonderful meal, to fill the house with tantalizing aromas while it is cooking. Authentic Indian dishes frequently have an intimidatingly long list of ingredients, but most of these are the spices and easy enough to assemble, so it is well worth cooking a lamb korma and roasting the spices from scratch, for the depth of flavour and added richness.

Recipe for Lamb Korma

Ingredients for 6 people
3 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dessicated coconut

4 medium onions, roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
4 cm length ginger, peeled and chopped
1 large tomato, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon ground turmeric

6 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 cardamom pods
6 cloves
7 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick about 5-6 cms
2 dried chilli peppers
1.5 kg cubed lamb shoulder, patted dry
1 tablespoon plain yoghurt
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garam masala
fresh coriander leaves to garnish

In a small heavy based frying pan, toast the coriander, cumin and coconut over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring, until the spices darken. Remove from heat.

Put the onions, garlic and ginger in a food processor with the tomato and turmeric and blitz to a smooth paste.

In a heavy based casserole, heat 4 tablespoons of the vegetable oil over a medium heat. Add the cardamom, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves, cinnamon and chillies and stir well. After a minute, add the meat a few pieces at a time to brown. Brown all the meat in batches, then remove to a warm plate with the whole spices.

In the same pot, add the rest of the vegetable oil and heat. Add the onion paste from the food processor and stir over a medium heat. If it starts to stick, lower the heat and add a little water. Keep cooking for about 5 minutes. Add the toasted spices and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring all the while. Add the yoghurt and stir again.

Return the meat to the pan with the sauce, add the salt and enough water just to cover the meat. Cook covered at a simmer for at least 1 hour or until the meat is tender. Add the garam masala and cook for 5 more minutes.

Serve with rice or puris garnished with fresh coriander leaves.

Love Indian food but don’t feel like cooking it yourself? Book a table at one of Derby’s finest Indian restaurants and revel in the spices.

Recipe for Home-made Greek Gyros

Succulent meat sliced from the spit and served in pitta bread with onions, tomatoes and tzatziki, a gyro is one of those quintessential Greek street foods that it is hard to recreate at home. However this recipe does recapture the real flavours of Greece and if you have a rotating spit you can even cook it authentically over glowing coals to get that extra char-grilled note. For ease and convenience the gyro meat can be baked in the oven with good results and sliced thinly to create your own gyro sandwiches.

The traditional Greek gyro is usually a mixture of at least half lamb mince with either beef or pork, depending on the area. Don’t choose extra lean mince, as the fat is needed to bind the meat and keep it moist as it cooks. The ground meat needs to rest to allow all the seasonings to penetrate, so allow enough time for this or prepare it the night before you want to eat.

Gyro Meat Recipe

Ingredients
500g / 1lb minced lamb (or half lamb, half beef)
½ onion very finely chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed to a paste
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon dried marjoram
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mix all the ingredients well and leave to rest for at least 2 hours in the fridge, or overnight.
Before cooking, blitz the meat mixture in the food processor briefly to get a finer texture. One minute should be enough; it doesn’t need to be smooth, just a bit finer, to get the authentic gyro feel.
Form the meat into a loaf shape in a tin if baking in the oven and bake at 160C / 325F for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until cooked through..
If you have a barbeque spit, form the meat into an oblong around the spit, pressing it firmly so that it stays together. Cook slowly over the coals, rotating slowly, for 30-45 minutes.

Slice the meat quite thinly and serve wrapped in pitta bread with dollops of garlicky tzatziki and some tomato and onion slices.

Feel like experiencing the flavours of Greece with plenty of atmosphere? Why not visit one of Derbyshire’s Greek restaurants for some great food and a lively evening out.

Orange Sorbet Recipe

Summery sorbets, with fresh flavours and plenty of zing, make a great dessert. This orange sorbet goes fantastically with dark chocolate, so can be part of a sophisticated dinner with a sliver of chocolate tart, or can be served up for a family Sunday lunch with some chocolate mousse. It is equally good on its own with its burst of orange tang cleansing the palate beautifully.

The sorbet keeps well in the freezer, its flavour even intensifying over time, so make it in advance and have it on hand for an easy dessert option at any time.

Recipe for Orange Sorbet

Ingredients
10 oranges
juice of half a lemon
100ml water
icing sugar to sweeten if necessary

For the syrup
250g / 8oz sugar
150ml water
juice of half a lemon

Make the syrup first. Heat the ingredients together over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring it to the boil and allow to bubble for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
Grate the zest from 5 of the oranges and squeeze the juice from all of them.  You are aiming for about 3 cups / 750 ml of juice. Mix together the grated zest, lemon juice and water to the juice, then stir in the cooled syrup. Taste for sweetness. Add icing sugar if it is too sharp or more lemon juice if too sweet. Remember that frozen food needs slightly more sweetness than normal, to bring out the flavour.

Pour the mixture into a freezer container and chill for a few hours. Take it out again and break up the ice crystals by beating with a fork, then freeze again. For a special presentation you can freeze the ice in the scooped out orange skin halves as individual portions. If you are doing this make sure that al the flesh is cleaned from the skins, then scoop the beaten ice into them and freeze wrapped in clingfilm.

Rather join your friends in a fine restaurant than cook for a dinner party? Check out our list of fine dining restaurants in Leicestershire to choose from the best.

English Scone Recipe

Hot scones fresh from the oven, oozing with melting butter and luscious strawberry jam, or piled heart-stoppingly with clotted cream and topped with strawberries, are a real treat in summer or winter at tea-time. You don’t need to be in Devonshire or Cornwall for a traditional cream tea to enjoy them. They are so quick and easy to make at home that you can put together a batch on impulse on a weekend afternoon when friends drop round unexpectedly for tea.

Scones are best eaten on the day they’re made, better still when still warm from the oven, so make them in small batches unless you’re expecting a crowd. This recipe makes 12 medium sized scones and you can expect people to want seconds, so it does six people.

Recipe for Scones

220g / 8oz self raising flour ( or use plain flour with 2 teaspoons baking powder)
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
30g / 1oz butter
1 egg
185ml / ¾ cup milk

Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F.
Lightly grease a baking tray.
Sift together the flour, salt and sugar.
Rub the butter into the dry ingredients
Beat the egg with the milk and then stir into the flour mixture until it forms a light, sticky dough.
Flour a surface well and then roll out the dough to about 1.5 cm / ½ inch thick. The thickness isn’t crucial but if you make it too thin the scones will turn into biscuits!
Use a medium sized round or fluted pastry cutter to cut rounds of dough and transfer them carefully to the tray. Avoid twisting the cutter, as the scones will rise unevenly.
Collect together the scraps and roll out again until you have used all the dough.
Brush the tops of the scones with a little milk.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden.
Cool on a rack for perhaps five minutes before serving, if you can wait that long.

Feel like going out for a tea-time treat instead of baking yourself? Visit Perkin’s restaurant in Nottingham with its fine array of tempting freshly baked goods.

Recipe for Vegetable Tempura

Light and crispy tempura is a real delicacy when cooked to perfection, the sort of thing you’d visit a Japanese restaurant for specially. There is a knack to good tempura, but you can cook it easily at home once you have mastered the basic batter. Then you can cook a whole range of fresh ingredients this way, from vegetables to prawns and seafood.

Tempura batter is the opposite of pancake batter. It should be made at the last minute, when you are ready to start frying, so it is not kept standing. It should be lumpy not smooth, barely folded together, to achieve that golden lacy effect when fried.

The other trick to good tempura is having the oil at a constant temperature (about 170C / 340F). Test it with a small piece of batter before you start. The batter should dip under the surface and then rise quickly to the top when the oil is the right temperature, but should not turn dark too quickly.

Recipe for Vegetable Tempura

Ingredients
For the batter
2 egg yolks
2 cups sifted flour
2 cups iced water

For the dipping sauce
1 cup dashi
1/3 cup mirin
1/3 cup light soy sauce

vegetables: sweet potatoes, shitake mushrooms, broccoli, onions, courgettes or whatever is fresh and in season.
Flour for dredging
Oil for deep-frying

Prepare all your vegetables first of all. Peel and cut into rounds or slices to make appealing bite-sized shapes. Dry off any moisture with kitchen towel.

Prepare the dipping sauce. Bring all the ingredients to the boil in a saucepan, then switch off the heat. Keep warm.

Put the oil for frying on to heat.
Make the batter in two batches. Use half the ingredients to make a first lot, as you are waiting for the oil to heat, and leave the rest until you’ve used up the first batch.
Beat the egg yolk lightly, add the iced water and mix a couple of times with a chopstick or fork.  Add the flour all in one go and fold gently just a few times until the ingredients are loosely mixed. There should still be lots of lumps of flour and a rim of unmixed flour round the edge of the bowl.
Assemble your work surface, with the tray of prepared vegetables, a bowl of flour for dredging the vegetables and the batter. Have a plate lined with kitchen paper ready to drain the cooked vegetables on.
Dip the vegetable pieces in the flour a few at a time, shake off excess flour, then dip into the batter. Slide into the hot oil and fry until golden (about 3 minutes). Allow excess oil to drip from it then put on the lined plate to drain. Tempura should be served still hot, so do an assortment of vegetables together and serve them in batches, with the dipping sauce, as they are ready.

Tempted by tempura but not ready to make it yourself? Head out to Nottingham’s finest Japanese restaurants and discover how delicious it is.

Strawberry Shortcake Recipe

Light, crisp and buttery, the American strawberry shortcake is a great family dessert recipe for summer. When strawberries are in season, all they need is a little sugar and cream to make a delicious end to any meal, but the addition of the shortcake mellows their acidity, bringing out their sweetness and turning them into a real feast.

Nothing like Scottish shortbread, American shortcake is more like a sweet, rich scone and is very quick and easy to make. It is best when made at the last minute, so that it has just cooled enough not to melt the cream, but is still fresh and gloriously soft on the inside and crisp on the outside.

Recipe for American Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients
500g / 18oz plain flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 teaspoons baking powder
300g / 10 oz butter
300ml whipping cream or half milk, half cream

Filling
500g-750g strawberries
sugar
500ml / 2 cups whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 220C / 425F.
Sift the dry ingredients together into a bowl.
Rub in 200g / 7oz of the butter in the same way you do with pastry. When the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, mix the cream or milk in to make a soft dough.
Decide whether you want individual shortcakes or one big one to cut into slices.
Roll out the dough leaving it quite thick. It needs to be just big enough to fit twelve 7cm / 3 inch rounds or two large 23cm / 9 inch ones.
Grease a baking tray with butter. Cut the rounds and place half of them on the tray. Melt some of the remaining butter and brush it onto the rounds. Put another round on top of each of them.
Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown. Check at 10 minutes to make sure they’re not going too dark.
If you are doing one large shortcake it will need 20-25 minutes.
Pull the cakes apart and allow to cool slightly before filling.

In the meantime prepare the fruit. Keep the best berries for decorating the top. Halve the rest and sprinkle them with sugar to taste. Whip the cream until it is softly peaked.

When the shortcakes have cooled, (they don’t have to be completely cold, in fact warm is good too, as long as you are serving them immediately) spread the insides with the rest of the butter, pile strawberries on top, lay another layer of shortcake on top and put the best strawberries on top of that. Serve with copious dollops of whipped cream.

If you like, you can layer whipped cream inside the shortcake on top of the strawberries for a really creamy confection, just whip up more cream than listed in the recipe.

Tempted by luscious summer desserts, but don’t have time to make them? Head out to Perkins restaurant in Nottingham and sample the wonderful concoctions on their dessert menu.

Potato Puri Recipe

These delicious deep-fried Indian breads are a real treat. Eaten as a snack with some relish or chutney, or as an accompaniment to a main meal, they are irresistible, with a gorgeous aroma of spice as they cook. In India they are often eaten for breakfast, so you can cook them at any time of day, whenever the longing for a comforting savory snack grabs you.

Pooris, or puris, are best eaten when they are freshly made, while they are still puffed up and aromatic, but you can keep them warm for up to half an hour if necessary, covered with a cloth.

Recipe for Potato Puris

Ingredients
1 medium potato
140g / 5ox plain flour
½ teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for frying

Boil the potato until tender and peel it while it is still hot. Mash it and leave to cool a little.
Sieve the flour with the salt and spices into a bowl. Rub the mashed potato into the flour, mixing it well in.
Add 4 teaspoons of the oil and mix in well. Start to bring the dough together, adding 1 tablespoon of water if needed. The dough should be quite firm so don’t add too much water.

Knead the dough for 10 minutes.

Brush the ball of dough with a little more oil and leave it to rest covered with cling film for 15 minutes.
Knead the dough briefly again, then divide into 8 small balls. Keep the dough covered when not working it.

Heat 6 cm oil in a wok over a medium heat. The oil should be hot but not smoking.

While the oil is heating, start to roll out the balls of dough on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle the dough with flour as you work so that it does not stick. Keep rolling until it is about 15 cm / 6 inches in diameter.

Test the oil temperature by putting a little piece of dough in. It should rise up to the surface quickly if the oil is hot enough, but the oil should not smoke.

Slide the rolled out puri carefully into the oil. Use a slotted spoon to keep pushing it lightly under the surface to help it puff up. Turn it over and fry the other side until golden. If it turns dark too quickly, reduce the heat.
Remove onto kitchen paper in a bowl to drain, cover and cook the next one. Eat as soon as possible.

It is important to handle the dough as little as possible when making the puris, just as when making pastry.
Sounds like too much effort to make your own puris? Why not visit one of Derby‘s finest Indian restaurants and enjoy sampling their delicious breads as part of a wonderful meal.

Patatas Bravas Recipe

A stalwart of Spanish tapas, these little fried potatoes with spicy salsa brava make a great snack on their own or as part of a tapas selection. Salsa brava is one of those best kept secrets. Every bar in Spain has its own closely guarded recipe. No two are exactly the same but this recipe gets pretty close to the authentic Spanish flavour

The sauce is best made in advance so the flavours have time to develop and keeps for several weeks, so you can use it with other tapas dishes such as fried chicken wings too. There is a long list of ingredients for the sauce, but all you have to do with them is process them together, so it is not in the least complicated to make.

Recipe for Patatas Bravas

Ingredients
4 large potatoes
olive oil for frying
salt

For the salsa brava
325g / 12oz piquillo peppers or pimentos
60ml / ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic crushed to a paste
2 tablespoons onion, grated
4 teaspoons Smoked Spanish paprika
½ teaspoon hot paprika
½ teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon dried thyme
4 teaspoons white wine vinegar
60 ml / ¼ cup dry white wine
salt and pepper to season

Make the sauce by processing all the ingredients to a smooth consistency. Taste for heat and add some Tabasco if you like it hotter.
Parboil the potatoes in their skins for 10-15 minutes. They should still be firm. Allow them to cool.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes about 3cm / 1 inch in size. Season them with salt
Heat the oil and fry the potatoes until golden brown.
Drain on kitchen paper and check the seasoning.
Drizzle the salsa brava over the potatoes only when ready to serve as the potatoes should retain their crispness to contrast with the smooth spicy sauce.

Feel like an evening of Spanish tapas? If you don’t feel like cooking all those little dishes yourself, then why not head out to one of Nottingham’s best Spanish restaurants and enjoy their delicious tapas selections.

Focaccia Recipe

Golden Italian focaccia, glistening with olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt and rosemary, is irresistible just on its own, but also makes heavenly sandwiches, for a summer picnic with a difference.

This is a simple dough recipe, which will make a delicious olive oil flat bread, maybe not quite the same as the focaccia you remember fresh from the Italian bakeries of Tuscany, but definitely worth baking. The dough can be formed into two trays of focaccia to be cut into squares, or made into individual rounds, whichever you prefer.

Recipe for Italian Focaccia Bread

Ingredients
1kg / 2lb plain flour
2 teaspoons salt
700ml / 1 pint lukewarm water
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
20g / 2 tablespoons instant yeast

For the Topping
Extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
rosemary

Mix together the flour and the salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and sprinkle in the yeast. Add some water and start to mix. Keep adding water and the olive oil and mixing until it comes together in a soft dough. If it is too sticky add more flour.
Knead the dough on a floured surface until it is smooth and elastic, for about 5 minutes or so. Put in an oiled bowl covered with a damp cloth to rise until doubled in size. This should take about 1- 1 ½ hours in a warm environment, longer in a cold room.
Brush two baking trays with olive oil.
Knock down the dough and divide in half. Push it out with your hands to fit the baking trays. It is up to you whether you leave it in rough oval shapes or roll it out neatly to fit exactly.
Leave the dough to rise again for ¾ hour.
Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F.
Before baking, brush the tops liberally with olive oil, then sprinkle with sea salt and fresh rosemary leaves.

Alternative flavourings
Rosemary is a traditional flavouring for this bread, but you can also experiment with adding other ingredients to the dough: fresh sage, whole pitted olives, crumbled cooked sausage meat, even nuts. Add these when the dough is knocked down before shaping the dough, so that they are incorporated into the bread. Then continue as before just leaving out the rosemary from the topping.

In the mood for the flavours of Italy without all the hard work? Why not head out for a great wood-fired pizza  at Fire and Ice restaurant in West Bridgford, Nottingham.

Cherry Clafoutis Recipe

May is cherry picking season in the south of France and this easy dessert is a great way of using cherries to create a memorable end to a meal. All a clafoutis consists of is a rich batter poured over the fruit and baked to golden, delectable puffiness.

You can make clafoutis with all sorts of other fruit, cherries being the most traditional, but plums, apricots and peaches also working well. The cherries are usually left whole, which is a whole lot easier for the cook and is supposed to add to the flavour as it bakes. Remember to warn your guests to spit out the stones though!

Recipe for Cherry Clafoutis

Ingredients for six
4 eggs
50g / 2oz flour
50g / 2oz sugar
600ml milk or half cream, half milk
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
pinch salt
500g / 1.1lbs cherries
2-3 teaspoons brandy (optional)
icing sugar to serve

Preheat the oven to 190C / 375F
Butter a 20x30cm baking dish or a round one of about the equivalent capacity. Spread the clean cherries over the base of the dish.
Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl.
Make a well in it and break in the eggs, whisking just until mixed.
Add the liquid a bit at a time in a steady stream, whisking continuously. Only whisk as much as necessary to mix the batter together. Over-mixing makes the finished dish tough rather than soft. If there are lumps of flour, it is better to pour the batter through a sieve to remove them rather than trying to beat them in.
Pour the batter over the cherries and leave to rest for 30 minutes or so.
Preheat the oven to 190C / 375F.
Bake for 40-45 minutes until puffed up and golden.
Leave to cool a little, then sprinkle the brandy over, if using, dust with icing sugar and serve, perhaps with a little cream or a blob of vanilla ice cream on the side.

If you’d like to try some other French desserts, why not visit one of Nottingham’s French restaurants and discover some classic French cuisine.

Baklava Recipe

Sweet and spicy nut filling in crispy flaky filo pastry, this quintessential Greek and Middle Eastern dessert can very easily be made at home, with the help of ready made filo pastry. Sticky and deliciously sweet, a small piece goes a long way, so it is perfect for rounding off a meal with coffee, or for snacking on at tea-time.

You can use any nuts except peanuts, though pistachios, walnuts and pecans are the most usual. Spices used also vary and can include cinnamon, cardamon and cloves, so choose whichever of these you prefer or combine them.

Recipe for Baklava

Ingredients
500g filo pastry
300g chopped pistachios, walnuts or pecans or a mixture
½ cup sugar
250g melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves or cardamom

For the syrup
4 cups sugar
2 cups water
juice of half an orange

Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F.
Mix the chopped nuts with the spices and sugar.
Butter your baking tin (which should be the same size or slightly smaller than the sheets of pastry).
Layer 5 sheets of filo pastry, brushing each one with melted butter before putting in the next.
Keep the unused pastry covered with a damp cloth to prevent it drying out.
Spread half of the chopped nut mixture over the pastry.
Layer another three sheets of pastry, again buttering each one, then the remaining half of nut mixture. Add another 5 sheets of pastry on top, buttering as you go.
You can add more than 5 layers, up to a maximum of 10 top and bottom, depending on how much pastry there is and how thick you like it.
When the final layer is on, trim the edges of excess pastry with a sharp knife if necessary. Cut the baklava into individual serving sizes, either triangles or diamonds. Butter the top, then bake for about 1 hour.
While it is baking prepare the syrup. Put the sugar water and juice in a pan, bring to the boil and simmer stirring for about 10 minutes. Allow to cool.
When the baklava is golden brown, remove from the oven and pour the syrup over it. Leave for at least 20 minutes before serving, longer if you can bear it.

Never use a fan oven for baklava, as it will burn the pastry edges.

Feel like tasting baklava made by the professionals? Why not visit one of Nottingham’s Greek restaurants and sample their desserts.

Tapenade Recipe

Dark, piquant and delicious, tapenade is wonderfully easy to make at home. The salty, fruity taste of olives is given extra zest with the addition of capers and new depth with an anchovy or two. Spread on crusty bread for lunch or as an appetizer, or used in puff pastry tarts for savoury interest, tapenade is an addictive snack that has all the health benefits of olives to recommend it, as well as its taste.

While the name tapenade is essentially French, black olive pastes have been developed wherever olives are grown around the Mediterranean. This recipe has a French slant with its capers and anchovies.

There are so many versions of tapenade available to buy ready-made, that making it at home is really not essential, but it can be fun to develop your own perfectly balanced black olive paste, experimenting with different olive varieties, varying the amounts of capers, trying it with and without the anchovies, and it really takes very little time and effort.

Recipe for Home-made Tapenade

Ingredients
250g / 9oz black olives without their stones
2 tablespoons capers
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 anchovies
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
black pepper to season

Put the pitted olives, capers, garlic and anchovies into the processor and blitz to a paste.
You decide how chunky or smooth you like it. Don’t overdo it, as you want some texture to it.
Add the olive oil and lemon juice and mix together, then season to taste with black pepper.
The tapenade should keep for at least two weeks in the fridge. You can seal it with a thin layer of olive oil to keep for longer.

Experiment with different olive varieties, from different countries. Greece, Spain, Italy and France all produce olives with substantially different flavours so it can be fun to see the difference they make to your tapenade.

Feel like enjoying the tastes of the Mediterranean without any effort. Why not visit or Madeira Vista in Leicester for a selection of wonderful Mediterranean dishes and a great atmosphere.

Summer Pudding Recipe

A true celebration of summer, an English summer pudding is a must for a Sunday lunch in berry season. Vibrant in colour, oozing rich purple juice, with the perfect tart/sweet balance, it is one of those traditional puddings that is still a jewel of British cuisine.

The traditional berries used are raspberries and redcurrants, but many people add blackcurrants for more sharpness, now that the other berries are sweeter than they used to be in the past. In autumn it can even be made with blackberries gathered from the hedgerow and eked out with apples, though this would probably make traditionalists cringe!

The important thing is to get the balance of fruit right. Berries that are very sweet will result in a bland and sickly concoction. You need the contrast of some tart berries to get the perfect balance.

Recipe for Summer Pudding

Ingredients
850g / 2lbs mixed berries – preferably about 600g raspberries and the rest redcurrants
about 8 slices of good quality white bread
3 tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons water

Prepare the fruit, by taking off any stalks and picking out any unripe or mouldy berries.
Put the berries in a pan over a low heat and add the water and sugar. Check the fruit for sweetness before adding the sugar. You may need less for very sweet berries and more if they are quite tart.
Bring to a simmer and cook briefly for 3-4 minutes over a low heat until the juice has run and the fruit is tender but still retains its shape. Remove from the heat.
Taste the juice for sweetness. It should still be a little tart but not mouth-dryingly so. Add a little more sugar if necessary.

Cut thick slices of bread and remove the crusts. It really is best to use a good quality loaf rather than cheap sliced loaves, as it absorbs the juice better and has a better end result. You can use slightly stale bread too with good results.
Line a 1 litre pudding basin with the bread. You’ll have to cut some of the slices to fill the gaps and make a well-fitting patchwork, so that there are no spaces for the juice to escape. Keep one or two slices to cover the top of the bowl.

Spoon the fruit and juice into the lined bowl until it comes nearly to the top. Put the last slices of bread on top and patch the gaps again. Put a small plate or saucer on top of the bowl so that it can compress the fruit and bread. Add a weight to help. You might want to stand the bowl on another plate to catch any escaping juice. The weight helps make the juice soak into the bread and compresses the fruit to a firm pudding consistency. Leave overnight in the fridge.

To serve, loosen around the edges of the pudding basin with a palette knife, then turn it onto a serving plate. Serve with plenty of thick cream.

Want to try out some other great British puddings? Book a table at The Fox at Farthinghoe restaurant in Northampton and indulge in the best of British cuisine.

White Bread Recipe

The welcoming smell of warm bread baking is only equalled by the wonderful taste of a fresh baked crusty loaf still warm from the oven. If you live close by to a great bakery then you can enjoy the aromas without having to start kneading dough, but it is actually very easy to make bread yourself at home. Wait for a quiet weekend when you are going to be at home anyway and try out this simple white bread recipe.

The making of the bread itself demands very little time: ten minutes of initial mixing and kneading, a couple of minutes to knock down and form the loaves and then half an hour to bake. It is the rising that takes the time, so bread making fits perfectly into a morning spent pottering around, reading the newspaper or doing the chores and you have the rewards of a perfectly baked loaf or two at the end of it.

Recipe for Crusty White Bread

Ingredients
1kg strong white bread flour
1 tablespoon salt
1x10g sachet instant yeast
670ml lukewarm water

In a large bowl mix the salt into the flour. Pour the instant yeast into a well in the centre.

Pour in the water and mix with a knife or with your hands, until it all comes together into a dough.

Tip it onto a lightly floured surface and start to knead. With one hand push the dough away from you as you hold one end with the other hand. Stretch it out and fold it over and repeat the process again and again. If the dough is sticky, keep adding a little more flour as you knead. After 10 minutes the dough should be smooth and elastic and when you push a thumb into it, the dough should rise quickly back up as the yeast starts to work.

Put the dough back into the bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Leave to rise in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size (about 1 ½ to 2 hours).

Knock the dough down, by pressing the air out of it and form it into two loaves. You can use loaf tins, lightly oiled, or form into a loaf shape on a baking tray.

Cover with a damp cloth again and leave for a second rise for ¾ to 1 hour until doubled in size again. Preheat the oven to 200ºC during this second rise.

Bake for 30 minutes until crusty. To test if it is done turn the loaf over and tap on the bottom. It should sound hollow.

Cool on a rack and enjoy the smell of new bread permeating your house. Ideally you should let it rest for at least 20 minutes, before slicing into the loaf, but it can be hard to resist!

Want to enjoy home baking without the effort? Visit Belle and Jerome in Beeston where the chefs rustle up cakes, biscuits and scones every day as well as a full café menu.

Mayonnaise Recipe

Mayonnaise has a fearsome reputation for being difficult to make at home. It can indeed be tricky, with the worry that it might separate and all your whisking be in vain. However once you have the knack, it is well worth while, with a much better flavour and consistency than any shop-bought brand.

You can make mayonnaise at home with any oils, depending on the flavour you want: a vegetable oil will give a mild mayonnaise, a walnut oil will contribute its nutty depth and an olive oil will give a rich and fruity flavour.

First of all the ingredients and the bowl should all be at room temperature or slightly warmer before you start, so take the eggs out of the fridge in advance. Then at the beginning an emulsion must be established by adding oil a drop at a time to the egg yolks, so that the mixture thickens. Once this has happened, you can add the oil more steadily. Once you’ve learned the trick you can experiment and make mayonnaise flavoured with all sorts of vinegars and herbs to lend interest to salads and cold meats throughout the summer.

Recipe for Mayonnaise

Ingredients
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or 1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and white pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)
300 ml / ½ pint oil of your choice

In a small bowl put the egg yolks with half the vinegar or lemon juice, salt and pepper and the mustard. The mustard is optional but it does help the emulsion form, so makes it easier. Make sure everything is at room temperature. Whisk the egg yolks for a minute until they thicken.
Add the oil one drop at a time as you whisk constantly. By the time you’ve added 2 tablespoons of oil the mixture should be quite thick. Start to add the oil in a steady trickle as you whisk constantly.
Once all the oil is incorporated, taste the mayonnaise and add more vinegar, salt, pepper or mustard as required.
If the mayonnaise is too thick for your purpose you can thin it with a tablespoon of warm water.

Alternatives
For aioli replace the mustard with 5 cloves of garlic crushed to a paste with ½ teaspoon of sea salt.

Note
Always make mayonnaise with guaranteed salmonella free eggs and store no longer than 2-3 days in the fridge before eating.

Changed your mind about attempting mayonnaise today? Why not relax over a meal lovingly cooked for you at Langberry’s restaurant in Kettering.

Zabaglione – Italian dessert recipe

Zabaglione is a wonderful, rich custard flavoured with Marsala. In Italy it can be served on its own as a dessert, garnished with berries or chocolate shavings, used to dip biscotti into or layered in other desserts like the famous Tiramisu.

Zabaglione takes quite a bit of whisking to bring it to perfection, but its few ingredients means that it can be put together from store cupboard standbys as a last minute dessert, when you suddenly have a longing for something rich and indulgent or just want something delicious to dip some biscotti into after a good meal.

The authentic alcoholic flavouring is Marsala, but you can use other sweet fortified wines, such as port or Madeira if you prefer, or else leave the wine out altogether if you are making this for children.

Recipe for Zabaglione

Ingredients for six people
6 egg yolks
6 tablespoons sugar
125ml / ½ cup Marsala

Put the egg yolks into the top half of a double boiler, or use a bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure that the water does not touch the base of the bowl.
Beat the eggs yolks over the heat until fluffy. Keep beating as you add the sugar.
Add the Marsala still beating.
Keep whisking constantly over the heat until the zabaglione thickens. It should triple in volume and become a pale creamy colour. Don’t let it boil.
When it has thickened, remove it from the heat and keep whisking for another two minutes.
Serve it warm straight away spooned into individual glasses, or cool for 15 minutes and then fold in a cup of whipped cream and serve with berries.

Variations
You can flavour your zabaglione with the addition of spices or other flavourings if you like.
Try ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract for subtly different flavours.
You can also use zabaglione as a special custard or sauce to serve with another dessert, in which case remove the bowl from the heat as soon as it has reached the consistency you desire.

Want to taste other delicious Italian deserts? Visit some of the best Italian restaurants in Nottingham and indulge in a wonderful evening out.

Lamb Rogan Josh Recipe

Rogan josh is a popular dish in Indian restaurants in Britain for its thick nutty, spicy sauce and delicious aroma. Making it at home will fill your house with a gorgeous spicy fragrance, but it’s not a quick dish to make, so try it at the weekend, so that you can enjoy it in a leisurely fashion.

Although the ingredient list seems scarily long, it is well worth toasting your own spices and making your own fresh spice paste, which will give the dish the depth and complexity it deserves. You can use any boned lamb cut, including shoulder, leg or shank, cut into bite sized pieces.

Recipe for Lamb Rogan Josh

Ingredients
1 kg boned lamb in bite sized pieces
6 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter)
10 cloves
1 chilli pepper, deseeded and chopped
12 peppercorns
6 cardamom pods
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 tablespoon desiccated coconut
3 tablespoons chopped almonds
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2cm fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon mace
2 medium onions, finely chopped
3 tablespoons plain yoghurt
½ tin tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon salt

In a large heavy-based frying pan heat the oil. When the oil is hot, add the cloves, chilli pepper, peppercorns and cardamom. Stir for a few seconds and then add a batch of meat in one layer, being careful not to crowd it. When it is brown on all sides, remove it onto a plate with a slotted spoon, leaving behind the spices and add the next batch of meat to brown. When all the meat has been browned, turn off the heat.

Find a small heavy based pan to toast the rest of the spices. Put the cumin, coriander, coconut and almonds in and toast over a medium heat stirring constantly for 5 minutes until they are browned and fragrant. Put these spices into a blender with the chopped garlic and ginger. Add the whole spices (without the oil) from the frying pan in which you browned the meat. Also add the turmeric, nutmeg and mace with half a cup of water. Blend to a smooth thick paste.

Now fry the onion in the same pan and oil that you used to brown the meat. Stir and scrape up all the spicy residue and cook for about 5 minutes until starting to brown. Add the spice paste from the blender and cook stirring for another 5 minutes. Add the yoghurt a little at a time and then add the chopped tomatoes, continuing to cook and stir for another 2-3 minutes.

Add 1 cup of water and simmer this sauce covered over a low heat for 15 minutes. Add the meat to the sauce, stir in the salt, bring to the boil, then simmer over a low heat for about 1 hour until the meat is tender.

Don’t have time to cook this tonight? Why not try the lamb rogan josh at one of Northampton’s finest Indian restaurants instead.

What to drink with a Greek meal Guide

As you’d expect from a Mediterranean cuisine, wine is the usual accompaniment to a meal in a Greek restaurant. Greece has been a centre of wine-making for its entire history and though there are few big name wines produced here, there are many very palatable wines perfectly suited to Greek food. An increasing number of modern wines from Greece are now starting to win international recognition and awards too.

Restaurants in Greece are more likely to offer carafes of house wine than the more expensive bottled wines. These can be good or not so great depending on the restaurant, but they are usually well matched to the cuisine and light enough to enjoy drinking throughout the meal without suffering any ill effects. Greek food doesn’t demand complex wines to complement it, so when you are at a Greek restaurants in Britain choose a dry, light Greek wine to go with your meal for the authentic Greek experience.

Greece is perhaps better known for two drinks which are definitely an acquired taste. Retsina is a dry white wine flavoured with pine resin. The resin used to be added to preserve the wine on sea voyages and the Greeks developed a taste for it which has lasted to this day. Aromatic and fresh, it can go well with any Greek food, if you develop the taste for it. Some do, some hate it, so if you’ve never tried it before start off buying by the glass rather than the bottle, just for the experience.

Ouzo is a potent aniseed flavoured spirit, distilled from the residue left from grape making. Clear when poured, as soon as water or ice is added it turns cloudy. If you are drinking ouzo throughout the evening, a recommended way of drinking is to add water to the drink and then keep topping up with water as the level drops, so it gets weaker and so that you can keep drinking longer without getting drunk. In Greece it is always served with an accompaniment of meze, snacks to help absorb the alcohol. Friends can sit all evening over a few glasses of ouzo, eating snacks as they talk long into the night. In a Greek restaurant in Britain you are more likely to try a glass of ouzo at the end of your meal to finish off the evening. The flavour is strongly aniseed, so if you don’t like liquorice you are unlikely to enjoy ouzo.

There is a stronger spirit distilled in Crete, and often home-made, called raki, (or tsikoudia). Like the Turkish raki, it is a strong distilled spirit usually without the aniseed flavour of ouzo and you should avoid drinking it on an empty stomach, and preferably not mix your drinks if you want to avoid a certain hangover.

So you can be adventurous and go all out for the more unusual flavours of Greece when you order your drinks, or be just as authentic with a delicious dry white or red wine from Greece to go with your meal.

Why not view a selection of Greek restaurants in Nottingham?

Italian Bean and tuna salad recipe

Cannellini beans and tuna (or tonno e fagioli) are a classic Italian salad combination for those summer months when you need something substantial and full of flavour but can’t bear to cook anything hot. The beans themselves provide a mild background to the zesty tastes of lemon juice, red onion and Italian parsley and a really good Italian extra virgin olive oil raises the whole dish to the heights of simple but good country cooking.

It’s much the easiest to use tinned beans, in which case you can use a mixture of beans, including white cannellini and brown borlotti. If you are cooking large quantities for a party though, it would be much cheaper to cook your own beans from dry.

Recipe for Italian Tuna and Bean Salad

Ingredients
1 tin cannellini beans
1 tin borlotti beans
1 tin Italian tuna in olive oil
a generous bunch Italian parsley washed, dried and chopped
½ red onion finely chopped
2 tablespoons capers (optional)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons good extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Drain the beans in a colander and rinse well in cold water. Allow to drain well.
Drain the tuna and put it in a bowl with the chopped onion, parsley and capers if using.
Add the beans and gently combine the salad.
Dress with the lemon juice and olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Mix well and taste to see if you need more of anything.
The flavours will develop nicely if you have time to prepare the bean salad a little in advance.

Variations
Italian parsley is the ideal and authentic herb for this salad, but you could try using fresh coriander and a little chilli as a spicy fusion version.

Feel like trying some other authentic Italian dishes? Head out to eat at San Marco restaurant in Derby for some great Italian cuisine.

Souvlakia and Greek Street Food

With so many cafes offering meze as snacks and light meals, Greece has less need for a variety of street foods than many countries. The Greeks like to sit over their food enjoying wine and conversation, rather than eat on the run and the meze tradition has grown up to fill the need for eating between meals. However there are some traditional Greek foods that are perfect for street food and which are a much loved part of authentic Greek cuisine, successfully defying the onslaught of hamburger chains in the cities of Greece.

Souvlakia are char-grilled kebabs of lamb, chicken or pork, grilled to tenderness over coals. You can find them on the menu in restaurants where they will be served on plates, with rice and salad, but the best way of eating them, if you are after some fast food, is bundled into a wrap of pita bread, along with some tomato and onion, parsley and some garlicky tzatziki.

To order this in Greece and make sure of getting what you want it is best to ask for pitta-souvlaki for pork, pitta-kebab for lamb, pitta-mpifteki for minced beef and pitta-kotopoulo for chicken. There are so many variations that if you just ask for souvlaki you could find that you are given a platter of kebabs or a bread sandwich with a kebab, depending on where you are in Greece. Warming your hands on a flavoursome bundle of pitta with succulent meat and plenty of garlicky sauce is a really authentic Greek street food experience.

A pitta -gyro (pronounce yee-roh) is a similar pita wrap but with meat sliced from the big rotating spit (like a doner kebab) and is usually pork or a mixture of pork and lamb. These are just as traditional as the souvlaki kebab and sometimes also called souvlakia just to add to the confusion!

Eating in a Greek restaurant in Britain, you can still enjoy the flavours of Greek street food, and souvlakia, but they are more likely to be presented on a plate with pitta bread alongside. Make sure you eat them with plenty of tzatziki for the real flavour of Greece and check that they are char-grilled, just as if they’d been barbecued at the side of a street in Athens itself.

Why not view Nicky’s Lounge -  a great Greek restaurant in Derby.

Hummus Recipe

Hummus has long made it into the mainstream as a dip. Its origins as a Middle Eastern and Greek dip are somewhat blurred in supermarket renditions that vary from good to bland. If you want a great flavour and texture to your hummus it is easy enough to make at home. All you need is a food processor and the ingredients and then you can adjust it to suit your own tastes: a little more garlic, more lemon? Just taste it and add as you go.

Soaking and cooking your own chick peas makes this a very cheap and cheerful dip for parties, but it is just as good and much quicker to use tinned chick peas. In fact it is so quick that you can rustle it up from your store cupboard at a moment’s notice if you have unexpected guests for lunch. Grab a packet of pitas from the freezer to toast and you have a tasty impromptu basis for a casual lunch in minutes.

Recipe for Hummus

Ingredients
1-2 garlic cloves depending on size
a 400g / 14oz tin of chickpeas drained or the equivalent weight of home-cooked chickpeas
4 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons tahini
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cold water
¼ teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Start the food processor running and then drop in the peeled garlic cloves. When they are finely chopped add the chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, salt and cold water. Process until you have the texture you like best. Fairly smooth with a little texture is ideal. Taste and add a little more lemon juice, tahini or salt if necessary, according to your personal preference. You can also add more cold water it you prefer it thinner.

Scoop the hummus into a shallow bowl and then sprinkle with the paprika and drizzle over the oil just before serving.

Serve with warm pita bread or raw vegetable sticks to dip into the hummus. Or make it into a lunch dish and dollop hummus into the hollow pitas with a generous amount of salad.

Feel like an evening out with a whole variety of meze? Why not enjoy the traditional meze menus at Eviva Taverna restaurant in Nottingham.

Greek Meze Guide

The Greek lifestyle is a convivial one, suited to cheerful gatherings in cafes, where the night is whiled away in lively conversations and debate, maybe an outburst of singing when the mood takes one. Wine or ouzo is the lubricant of choice, but it is always accompanied by food, often included in the price of the glass. These snacks or mezedhes (the plural of meze) are a whole culinary department of their own in the Greek tradition. You can spend a whole evening eating small dishes or delicious little pastry parcels with your drinks and never leave the cafe to seek out an evening meal.

Like tapas in Spain, the meze tradition sprang up in a hot climate, where long summer evenings were perfect for sitting over a glass of wine with friends and light food was all that anyone wanted, to sustain the conversation and soak up the alcohol. In small village cafes the mezedhes could be a few olives and a piece of cheese, a tomato salad or some sardines. City cafés can offer a whole selection of mezedhes, from seafood: calamari, anchovies, octopus, shrimps and so on to filo pastry parcels filled with meat or vegetables, stuffed vegetables, salads and dips.

There really is so much variety in the types of meze that it easy to make a whole meal of them and forget about the conventional starter, main course, dessert format that we are used to. With dips like tzatziki and taromaslata, salad, stuffed vine leaves, meatballs, vegetables and so on meze can make up a very balanced and satisfying meal, with the advantage of spreading the food out through the evening so that you can savour each mouthful without getting too full.

If you want to enjoy the meze tradition in Britain, many Greek restaurants offer the whole experience. Meze menus are usually separate from the main menu, though some of the meze dishes may also feature as starters. Usually you decide to eat in the meze format and just order the same menu for the whole table, specifying whether or not you are vegetarian. Then you can sit back and relax with your drinks, as a variety of dishes are brought to the table in succession. Everyone serves themselves from the dishes in the middle of the table and plenty of lively conversation and laughter is all part of the Greek experience.

Why not try the wonderful Greek restaurant – Yamas, based in Nottingham’s city centre.

Banana Bread Recipe

A bread that is really a cake, banana bread is not only a tasty treat to have waiting for you in the cake tin, but is also the best way of using up those overripe bananas in the fruit bowl that no-one in the family wants to eat. A wonderfully simple yet moist cake, it is quite healthy, lasts for days, needs no icing and is great for lunch-boxes.

You can add nuts, dried fruits or even chocolate chips to the basic recipe if you like, but it is just as good without.

Recipe for Banana Bread

Ingredients
125g / 4oz butter
200g / 7oz sugar
4 ripe bananas peeled and mashed
2 eggs
240g / 8oz plain flour
½ teaspoon of salt
5ml / 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
7ml / 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
60ml / ¼ cup water or milk

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Stir in the mashed bananas and beat again.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Sieve together the dry ingredients and stir in to the mixture.
Add the water or milk until you have a soft dropping consistency.
Pour the batter into the lined loaf tin.
Bake for 45-60 minutes until a skewer comes out clean from the middle of the loaf.
Cool in the tin.

Variations
Add a cup of walnuts or pecan nuts to the mixture.
Grate one apple and add.
Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon for a warm spicy flavour.
Add half a cup of chocolate chips for a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

Feel like something more rich and decadent for tea? Why not go out to Perkin’s restaurant in Nottingham and sample some of the wonderful cakes and tea-time treats on offer.