Parragon Book Buddy – Food Heroes “Use Your Noodle”

I don’t know about you but I love noodles. Now it isn’t my go to food when thinking about what shall we eat tonight as the option gets drowned out with other choices in my planning stage, but and it is a big but, when I do actually have them I really, really love them. So why does this dilemma exist there is a food I love but my thoughts do not offer it up as a solution to the daily what shall we eat conundrum. Well as it turns out it’s all about ideas regarding the different ways of preparing them, how do I know this you may wonder, I have a little helper in my corner 🙂 Parragon books sent me a “Use Your Noodle” cookbook and I am very grateful.

This cookbook is packed with yummy recipes from all over the world covering different types of noodles.

The cookbooks’ contents are split into four main chapters:

A Bird in the Hand – covering all your bird based noodles recipe

From the Farm – covering farm meats like pork or lamb

From the Sea – this part is packed with recipes requiring prawns, cod, tuna and all the other lovely types of fish

Veg Out – the last chapter is for all veggie lovers out there

After reading just a few pages, how easy they are and how amazing they look and taste noodles are on my mind.

In addition to lots of recipes, like all Love Food cookbooks I have had the pleasure to read, “Use Your Noodle” also contains a lot of useful hints and tips. My favourite is the “know your noodle” part.

In just two pages is an easy to understand explanation about many different types of noodles covering such wonders as:

Soba – mainly made from buckwheat flour and did you know the most popular noodles in Japan.

Ramen – this wheat flour noodle is generally treated as a comfort food and used in a variety of broth-based recipes.

Udon – generally thick and white, made with semi whole-wheat flour; they are light and very easy to digest.

Rice – they are made from rice flour and these are my favourite 🙂

Egg – made with wheat flour, water and eggs – they cook fast and are idea as all-purpose noodles.

As I said above the cookbook is packed with a great selection of recipes. As you would expect from Parragon books all the recipes have a clear indication of both preparation and cook times as well as how many people it will serve. Every recipe has a clear ingredients list and easy to follow cooking instructions and best of all you can see a full colour picture of the final dish so you know what you are aiming for.

I have a few favourite picks from the book.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Steak & Soba Noodle Salad

Udon Noodle Stir-Fry with Fish Cake & Ginger

Sichuan Noodles

So now when I am out shopping I am always on the hunt for new and exciting noodle options as I plan to get myself a nice selection of noodles to cook with.

Do you like noodles?

What’s your favourite noodle dish.

***
Food Heroes: Use Your Noodle
ISBN 978-1-4723-6451-7
Published by Parragon Books Ltd in 2014
Part of Love Food
Number of pages: 128
RRP: £6
Paperback; perfect bound

*I received this book for free from Parragon as a part of my Book Buddy pack.
**All pictures in this post are from “Use Your Noodle” cookbook.

What’s Cooking – Christmas Gingerbread Man Cookies

The Christmas season is in a full bloom so it is time to get some festive food ready. What can be more festive than some tasty little gingerbread cookies?

The recipe I want to share with you today is from The Christmas 3D Cookie Kit from Parragon. The kit contains 3D cookie cutters (so you can make your own 3D snowman and 3D Christmas tree) and a recipe book with a fantastic selection of Christmas cookies.

The recipe I’ve chosen was originally for a Mini Gingerbread House Cookies, but we thought that a gingerbread man shaped cookies will be a better choice 🙂

Ingredients:

125g butter

2tbp golden syrup

175g light muscovado sugar

300g self-rising flour

2tbsp ground ginger

1 large egg

Method:

Prepare 2 large baking sheets, ideally pre-lined with a baking paper.

Heat the oven to 160C.

Place the butter and the golden syrup in a pan and heat gently, stirring all the time until melted.

Remove the pan from the heat, add sugar and stir until dissolved.

Sift the flour and ginger into a large bowl and make a well in the middle ready for the wet ingredients.

Pour in the warm, wet ingredients and add the beaten egg into the mix.

Stir thoroughly to form a smooth dough.

Wrap it in a cling film and chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

Remove your dough from the fridge and prepare to roll it out; ideally you want your rolled dough to be about 5mm thick.

Cut desired shapes using a cookie cutter or an upside down glass if you want to make a classic round shape or even a knife if all else fails.

Transfer your cut cookies to your baking sheets.

Chill in the fridge for a further 10 minutes.

Bake in earlier preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes or until firm and lightly brown.

Remove from the oven and allow them to cool down.

Now the fun can begin…

It is time to decorate!

If you are good with decorating you can make your own royal icing (just mix 150g of icing sugar with 2tsp of white egg powder and 2 tbsp of cold water)… I am not a master decorator so we used shop bought icing pens to make this job easier 😉

Happy baking!

Parragon Book Buddy – Wild Stationary Collection

This month instead of sharing with you my experience with a new cookbook I would like to tell you about a new addition to the Parragon collection – Wild Stationary Collection.

If you believe that life is about getting noticed, this is the must-have stationery collection for you. Take a walk on the wild side with this vivacious range of products featuring bold feather prints, that really stand out from the crowd!

There are eight lovely products to pick from:

•  Journal
•  Trio of Notebooks
•  File Folders
•  Sticky Note Tin
•  Pocket Notebook
•  Stylish Pencils
•  Notecards in a Tin
•  Tins in a Tin

Their designs are inspired by nature and they all look very lovely.

I am not big on lists but I make a lot of notes…mainly to myself, so I asked for a Trio of Notebooks and Sticky Note Tin. This is how my chosen products look up close.

Pretty aren’t they?

Each notebook measures 15×11 cm and has 80 pages. Each notebook looks different, not only from the outside but also inside – you get one that is lined, one that is a dotted grid and one with graph paper. Their covers are quite thick and very smooth to the touch. The pages are rounded at the corners, which makes them even more attractive. Their size is perfect for use on the go. Even the smallest ladies handbag will have a room for this notebook.

As for sticky notes – you get 11 different shapes and designs enclosed in a lovely protective tin. I really like the idea of the different sizes. There is truly a sticky note for any occasion and with 495 sticky notes in total they will last for quite a long time.

And if you prefer something less bold, check out their Paris collection, which features pastel shades and timeless iconic Parisian landmarks.

So, what do you think about the Wild range?

Which product would be The One for you?

*I received this products for free from Parragon as a part of my Book Buddy pack.

Parragon Book Buddy – “The Camping Cookbook”

It is summer time and I have the perfect cookbook for this time of year – The Camping Cookbook – Recipes for the great outdoors.

Like most of the time with Love Food cookbooks there is more to the book than just recipes. The Camping Cookbook – Recipes for the great outdoors contains a lot of great tips for your outdoors living including:

• What to take – the equipment list
• Hints & tips for pitching your tent
• Campsite cooking – cooking with gas, cooking on the barbecue and cooking over the campfire
• “Don’t forget” check list
• Store cupboard essentials

It even offers some advice on why skipping breakfast is bad for you and how to beat bad weather blues.

So you see it is like a great outdoors guide all in one 🙂

The cookbook part in itself is split into five main chapters:

1. The big breakfast
2. Lunchtime
3. Seriously filling dinner
4. Something on the side
5. All things sweet

There are over 70 yummy recipes in there or how I would describe them as a list of our favourites.

Some of the recipes are simple meals that we might do everyday anyways like Bacon Butties, Apple and Spice Porridge or a Rice Pudding but despite this fact I really like this book. I think it offers a great selection of dishes to pick from and it is written purely with outdoor cooking in mind, so you know the recipes will be fairly easy and will only require a minimum number of ingredients.

I picked few of my personal favourites to share with you.

Spicy Fried Eggs – this reminds me of all the camping trips I took as a child with my parents. I actually still cook it from time to time but Mark isn’t so keen on it. He thinks that all the additional trimmings do not belong with eggs… but hey what does he know?

Tomato Bruschetta is my next pick. It is so quick and simple yet so delicious. I totally adore the taste on nice fresh toasted bread, sweet juicy tomatoes and basil. This is a perfect lunch meal… anytime and anywhere.

Sunshine Risotto makes for a perfect dinner meal; it is light and healthy, fabulous looking and full of goodness. This might not be the quickest meal but once camping we shouldn’t be in any rush. It is good to take your time and prepare your meal with love. This particular recipe features sun-dried tomatoes, which give the biggest flavour burst but it can be adopted to suit any pallet. If you are not a tomato fan you can try and create for example a mushroom risotto, especially if you are close by to some nice woodland and can go and pick your the wild mushrooms yourself.

There are Meatballs on a Stick. This is my favourite recipe from the book. I totally love it and I just can’t believe that I’ve never thought about doing it before. The recipe calls for pork and herb sausages, fresh minced beef, breadcrumbs, onion, fresh herbs, egg and some salt and pepper to taste. It couldn’t be any easier. It reminds me of my Polish Meatballs 😉 I am sure cooking it on the BBQ will enhance the flavour and provide a great dining experience.

Fruit Skewers is my choice for a pudding. I love fresh fruits and I love chocolate, so these two paired together makes for me a perfect combo. You are supposed to brush your fruits with a little maple syrup, which will make them caramelize over the fire. Then just drizzle over them some melted chocolate and enjoy the fresh sharp taste of the juicy fruits mixed with the sweet chocolate. Oh, this really sounds great!

So what do you think about my choices?

Would you like to try any of these dishes?

***
The Camping Cookbook – Recipes for the great outdoors
ISBN 978-1-4723-5619-2
Published by Parragon Books Ltd in 2014
Part of Love Food
Number of pages: 192
RRP: £8
Hardback

*  I received this book for free from Parragon as a part of my Book Buddy pack.

What’s Cooking – Apple and Oat Cookies

Home-made cookies always make for a lovely treat and kids love them but what about sticking some goodies into them? This quick and easy recipe for Apple and Oat Cookies is a perfect combination of both – it makes for a perfect treat and it is full of good ingredients (more or less) 😉

This is yet another recipe from Make, Bake, Cookies – The Recipe Book I told you about some time ago. These one are from chapter 2 – soft & chewy and yes indeed they come out just as intended – nice and soft with lovely chewy middle. They are really nice with a cup of coffee, or milk or even a hot chocolate and make for a perfect snack.

So how do you make them?

Easy… let’s start with the ingredients:

• 2 large apples, peeled and cored
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 225g unsalted butter, softened plus a little extra for greasing
• 100g brown sugar
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 225g self raising flour
• 150g rolled oats
• 85g raisins

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C / 350F or a Gas Mark 4.

Grease three large baking sheets.

Dice the apples and toss in the lemon juice.

Place the butter and sugars in a bowl and beat together until creamy. Gradually beat in the egg. Sift the flour and add the oats, raisins and apples. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Place dessertspoonfuls of the mixture on the prepared baking sheets spacing them well apart.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden around the edges.

Leave to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

That’s all.

Nothing else to do but eat 🙂

Do you think they would count as one of your 5 a day?

Parragon Book Buddy – “On the table in 30: One Pot”

This month I have yet another great cookbook I would like to tell you about. This time it is “On the table in 30: One Pot” 60 super speedy recipes.

We all know that in this fast moving world time is of an essence and sometimes we really can’t spare half of the day for cooking a meal. I know someone who would really like that; stay in the kitchen all day and “play” with food creating some amazing dishes for others to enjoy, but the reality is cruel and there is no time for it. “On the table in 30: One Pot” is a perfect cookbook for anyone who wants to enjoy a nice healthy meal, which can be prepared fast and with use of only one cooking dish.

“On the table in 30: One Pot” is split into four main parts:

• Super-quick poultry
• Made-in-minutes meat
• Fast fish & seafood
• Speedy veggies & beans

Plus there is an introduction and a chapter on useful information.

Every recipe includes a list of ingredients, picture of the dish and clear method on how to make it which is written giving you time indicators (30 minutes to go, 15 minutes to go, 5 minutes to go etc). This layout is actually very handy, as it gives you precise instruction and a countdown to when your meal will be on the table.

I studied this book for a while searching for meals to cook, checking differences in methods and getting a general feel for it. There are a lot of lovely recipes in there.

One of my favourite must be Spicy Bean Chilli. It is really easy and straightforward. It calls for a lot of store cupboards ingredients so it can be made without any special preparations and trips to the store. I didn’t try to make it as yet, but it is on top of my list and I will share with you once I make it… for now enjoy this Spicy Bean Chilli picture from the book.

There are a lot of cookbooks on the market these days… some of them are better than others and some are just perfect. I would include “On the table in 30: One Pot” into the perfect cookbook category and let me tell you why… Mainly because it has a great selection of fast recipes, which can suit every household taste including any vegetarians at the table; but that’s not all… As I mentioned at the beginning “On the table in 30: One Pot” contains an introduction and a chapter on useful information. The introduction part gives you great hints and tips for quick preparation and cooking shortcuts. The useful information part has a lot of really useful information; strange I know! 😉 It talks about essential equipment, covers all preparation techniques and “supermarkets cheats” (you will have to get the book if you want to know what they are, my lips are sealed) and it has a clear temperature and measurement guide.

I think this book will make a great addition to any cookbook collection but specifically I would recommend it to any new cooks, students and people always in a hurry, who are fed up of take away dishes and would love to eat a home cooked meal for a change.

Do you have any tips on how to speed up the cooking process in general?

***
On the table in 30: One Pot:
ISBN 978-1-4723-4439-7
Published by Parragon Books Ltd in 2014
Part of Love Food
Number of pages: 175
RRP: £12
Hardback

* I received this book for free from Parragon as a part of my Book Buddy pack.

What’s Cooking – Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today I have for you yet again a great recipe from Make, Bake, Cookies the Recipe Book… this time we tried the Chocolate Chip Cookies.

This is a quick and easy recipe and it will make a perfect treat even for hard to please family members.

Our cookies came out crunchy on the outside and a little chewy on the inside – they were just perfect.

So what will you need to bake them?

Ingredients:

• 175g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 125g margarine or unsalted butter, melted
• 85g light brown sugar
• 55g caster sugar
• 125g plain chocolate chips
• 1 egg, beaten
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Lightly grease two baking sheets… or four 😉 (One lot of ingredients will make 8 large cookies, so if you have a large family, you might want to double it)

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients and beat until well combined.

Place tablespoon of the mixture on the prepared baking sheets. Don’t forget to space them apart to allow some spreading and for growing whilst in the oven.

Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Leave to cool on the baking tray for a few minutes, and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

That’s all.

You are all done. Now make yourself a nice cup of tea or a mug of coffee and enjoy your creations.

What’s Cooking – Traditional Shortbread

Did you ever wonder why shortbread is so expensive? We did and we have no answer to this question. It is easy to make, the ingredients aren’t very expensive yet when you look at shortbread packets on the shelves in a store they cost a fortune… why?

Anyway, due to the fact that we really like shortbread and don’t really fancy spending so much money on them in the shop we decided to make our own… helped by the fact we found a lovely recipe for it in our Make, Bake, Cookies the Recipe Book 🙂

Ingredients list:

• 165g plain flour
• 55g caster sugar
• 115g unsalted butter’ cut into small pieces
• Pinch of salt
• Icing sugar for dusting

And that is all she wrote…

Method:

Preheat the oven to a nice cool 150C.

Line a baking sheet with some baking paper.

Place the flour, salt and sugar into a large bowl and mix together. Add the butter and rub into the dry ingredients with your fingertips. Continue to work the mixture until it forms soft dough. Do not overwork the dough or your finished biscuits will be tough.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to form a 20cm circle.

Transfer it to prepared baking sheet and pinch the edges or use a fork to make small groves all around the edge.

Use a fork and stab your dough a little creating some nice pattern 😉 This allows for steam to escape and helps with the cooking process.

Then using a knife, lightly mark the dough into eight equal pieces, which will create a breaking line for the future.

Bake in the preheated oven for around 45-50 minutes or until the shortbread is firm to the touch and is just coloured.

Leave to cool on a baking sheet for a few minutes.

Sprinkle with sugar.

Cut / break into pieces and move onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy! We did!

Parragon Book Buddy – “Man-Up Your Meals” & Beer-Battered Fish and Chips

“Man-Up Your Meals” the title of the book shouts at you with bold capitals, I wasn’t sure distracted by the thought that they must have just alienated around half the adult purchasing population, Mark on the other hand had no qualms about the title and snatched it out my hands. Disappearing off to the kitchen I heard him yell “Off to cook dinner”.

An hour later and the house was filled with the glorious smell of fish and chips, I popped down stairs with the sole intent of stealing a chip. The chips where being guarded, damn. I initiated a conversation to distract him. “So how is the book?” Full of recipes that everyone loves I was informed from snacks to full on dinners and even some lovely puddings to ensure you can’t move for an hour after eating. I was then informed that the recipe chosen for tonight’s feast was the beer battered fish and chips recipe. I gulped nervously; Mark has tried this style of cooking before with less than favourable results, I started mentally preparing myself for a jam sandwich for dinner. OMG how wrong was I, the jam stayed in the cupboard. I was presented with crisp crunchy chips that were fluffy on the inside, a fish so tender it melted in your mouth and to top it off mushy peas with a hint of mint, let me tell you it was divine. To use up the extra batter he had also created some crunchy onion rings to go with it.

Look at my plate and tell me your mouth is not watering…

Beer-Battered Fish and Chips from Man-Up Your Meals

Now healthy people tell you that fatty foods are not good for you, but I think occasionally they are perfectly fine. After tasting the fish and chips Mark made from the Man-Up Your Food book I think occasionally is not frequent enough.

So it was a winner, and thus the book has been elevated to the frequently consulted shelf in the kitchen. The book itself is a hardback volume with 128 pages of ways to fill up even the hungriest tummy. Each recipe has a photo with it on its own page so no chance of you starting one recipe and then find you’re following a different recipe because you lost your place on the page. Clear and well laid out there is no excuse for not producing wonderfully tasty food. The recipes even come with a difficulty rating so you can find your cooking level and know you’re not going to get caught out with some technique you don’t know.

Evidently Paella is next on the list to make; I’ll let you know how that turns out.

Beer-Battered Fish and Chips Recipe if you want to try it out

***

Man-Up Your Meals:
ISBN 978-1-4723-4541-7
Published by Parragon Books Ltd in 2014
Part of Love Food
Number of pages: 128
RRP: £8
Hardback

* I received this book for free from Parragon as a part of my Book Buddy pack.

What’s Cooking – Chocolate and Hazelnut Drops from Make, Bake, Cookies

Chocolate and Hazelnut Drops from Make, Bake, Cookies

So a few days ago we finally got around to trying one of the recipes from Make, Bake, Cookies – The Recipe Book (if you missed it (and if so, why did you miss it?) you can read the book review here).

I wanted to try the button cookies or even the peanut cookies but due to the availability of ingredients we ended up baking some Chocolate and Hazelnut Drops instead. They looked like a straightforward and easy recipe to follow.

I must admit it was a good choice.

Ingredients:

• 225g unsalted butter, softened
• 140g caster sugar
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 225g plain flour
• 55g cocoa powder
• Pinch of salt
• 55g ground hazelnuts
• 55g plain chocolate chips
• 4 tbsp chocolate hazelnut spread

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C / 375F / Gas Mark 5.
2. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.
3. Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon, then beat in the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Sift the flour, cocoa and salt into the mixture, then add the ground hazelnuts and chocolate chips and stir until thoroughly combined. Careful not to over-mix though or you will make the cookies tough.
4. Scooping up tablespoonfuls of the mixture, shape them into balls with your hands, and then put them on the prepared baking sheets, spaced well apart. Use the dampened handle of a wooden spoon to make a hollow in the centre of each cookie.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. Mark wasn’t paying attention and grilled the first batch, he was so confused as to why they were taking so long to cook, till he realised, what a Muppet! He blames the new cooker and the confusing dials, of which there are only two I might add. On the plus side they did taste lovely, but the second batch cooked in the oven were truly divine.
6. Leave to cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
7. When the cookies are cold, fill the hollows with your favourite chocolate spread.

Enjoy!

And remember they are baked not grilled 😉