Pinoy Hubby

 With a name like Jackson & Rye I should have realised straight away this was an American-style restaurant. Rye is used in making whiskey and Jackson is the capital of the state of Mississippi. The restaurant, which has three branches in London, has a ‘rye list’ – like a wine list but different types of whiskey – and a ‘blue plate special’ section. This is a term I’ve come across in other American restaurants like the Diner in Spitalfields and am never quite sure what it means – I even asked an American colleague once and she was a bit unsure but said it was a mixture of a specials board and a special (low) price. I was there for dinner with two friends and found it difficult to choose from everything on the menu – this is a restaurant for people who like their food, and plenty of it. From steak and eggs to fried buttermilk chicken and crab cakes – and of course hamburgers – the menu is American through and through. There are also salads and pasta dishes, and fish – including lobs

I don’t know what it is about Cadbury Animal biscuits that makes them so moreish.   It’s not just the Cadbury chocolate on one side, but the biscuit itself – which is actually made by Burton’s, who also make Wagon Wheels, Maryland cookies and Jammie Dodgers – which I love. They are so cute too – shaped like different animals and the chocolate side – if I remember correctly, as I haven’t bought them in a while – has a distinctive ridged pattern.   I was sent some products not long ago by Mein Cupcake  which trades in the UK as Cake Mart and among the items I chose was this cute little cow cookie cutter . It’s a nice cutter – very robust so it won’t get squashed out of shape, and you get enough detail without it being too fiddly.   I decided to make animal biscuits and kept the recipe fairly simple; I used: 250g butter, softened 150g caster sugar 1 tsp vanilla flavouring 1 egg 250g plain flour Pinch of nutmeg 100g milk chocolate   Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl until

Last Christmas I received a book called 'Mug Cakes' full of recipes to make in the microwave in a mug. It's a brilliant concept- when you really fancy something cake-y for dessert but want it then, not in an hour's time! I have already made a few mug cakes (chocolate, and toffee and pear) and when the weather was bad a little while ago we really fancied cake, so I flipped through the book until I found something we would both like where I had all the ingredients. I decided upon a sticky toffee pudding. To make one, you need: The largest mug you can find 2 tbsp. butter, softened, plus extra for greasing the mug 4 tbsp. toffee sauce 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 tbsp. dates, chopped 3 tbsp. brown sugar 4 tbsp. self-raising four Grease the inside of the mug and spoon in 3 tbsp. of the toffee sauce.    Place the butter, egg, 1 tbsp. toffee sauce, vanilla and dates into a small bowl (or another mug, but a bowl is easier) and beat together with a fork. Fold in the sugar and

Monday Lunch: chicken and cous cous salad Dinner: chicken curry Tuesday Lunch: salad/sandwich from whatever is in fridge Dinner: houmous-crusted chicken inspired by this recipe maybe with fried potatoes Wednesday Lunch: salad/sandwich from whatever is in fridge Dinner: I'm out overnight in a hotel as I have to be in the office extremely early tomorrow morning. Thursday The company I work for reports H1 results today and as I work in communications I have to be in the office several hours before most other people: Breakfast: probably sausage sandwich from the canteen after my early morning work is done Lunch: will have to buy something as I won't have been home since Weds morning Dinner: Enchiladas Friday Lunch: salad/sandwich from whatever is in fridge Dinner: fish and vegetables for me, chicken kiev for him Saturday Lunch: Potato wedges nacho style from Slimming World magazine Dinner: BBQ if the weather is nice Sunday Lunch: out. I need to practice driving longer distances so

  When we were in Monument Valley in America we ate something called Navajo Fry Bread that was served either sweet or savoury and was kind of doughy on the inside and crispy on the outside. When we went to Vienna we wanted a snack while we were at the zoo and kept seeing snack stands advertising langos which were very similar but I think served with garlic butter. My boyfriend loved them and I kept intending to make them at home but never got round to it. When I was looking for something to make for Formula 1 Foods to go with the Hungarian Grand Prix I came across langos - I think they are originally Hungarian even though there are popular in Austria. Result! They are very easy to make; they take a little bit of time as you need to leave the dough to prove twice but only for half an hour each time, so I started making these at 11am and we had them for lunch. The recipe recommended serving them with sour cream and grated cheese which was delicious. Mix the flour, yeast and water with

Did you know that you can cook pizza on a barbecue? I've been trying out some different things this summer since we bought a Weber gas barbecue and came across this article on the Telegraph website from a couple of years back. As it points out, you need a barbecue with a lid you can close as this recreates the effect of a pizza oven. It also recommends using a pizza stone to avoid scorched patches of crust, which I did but I still had a few burnt bits! The pizza dough is easy to make following the recipe given; you can top it with anything you like. I used passata, mozzarella, grated Cheddar and leftover sausage and bacon which was already cooked. pizza dough I used my giant pizza paddle from the Dot Com Gift Shop that was reduced from £16.95 to £5.95 in their sale. It was just the thing to lift the pizza and slide it onto the pizza stone. As I had enough dough for two pizzas - and only one pizza stone to use on the barbecue - I cooked the other pizza in the oven. It was nice but

I've written before about Sugar and Crumbs , a company which makes flavoured icing sugars and cocoa powders from natural ingredients. I first came across them at a cake show and I think it's a brilliant idea, especially for those flavours which are hard to replicate. So I was excited when they sent me a packet of pina colada icing sugar to try. It costs £1.99 for 250g or £3.49 for 500g which is plenty for a dozen cupcakes. So not something I would buy every day (you have to pay postage as well) but it's a great idea for something a bit different. I've made pina colada cupcakes once before but this time I used a different recipe from a fun book called Make Bake Cupcake. I didn't use the frosting recipe from the book though. This is what you need to make 12: 190g plain flour 1.5 tsp baking powder pinch of salt 115g butter, softened 200g caster sugar 2 eggs 2 tbsp. rum 125ml milk 85g tinned pineapple, crushed 60g of dessicated coconut to decorate 500g Sugar and Crumbs

I got a Spiralizer for my birthday and bought myself a recipe book called Inspiralized to go with it. A spiralizer lets you turn fruit and vegetables into spaghetti-like strands which can be used in a whole host of different ways. I liked the sound of this recipe for sweet potato waffles though I wasn't sure how well it would turn out, but I can say that the recipe was a success! The recipe can be found online here at Food Republic ; I changed it by serving the waffles with Greek yogurt, honey and fresh peaches rather than blueberries and maple syrup. First peel and spiralize a sweet potato: this is enough for one waffle. This is what the sweet potato ends up like:   Mix the sweet potato noodles with a teaspoon of cinnamon and heat some Fry Light (spray oil) in a frying pan. Add the noodles and put a lid on the pan; heat for five minutes until the noodles have softened.    Preheat a waffle maker. Mix the noodles with a beaten egg and a dash of vanilla and shape so it fits into the