Bomtastic Bombay

Our new Bombay Onion Cheese Ball Mix has been causing quite a stir. We just about made it to the warehouse on time for Christmas and since its conception we have needed to make more than expected as it seems we are still passionately in love with all things curry.

(Apologies that our Moqueca Curry Paste is out of stock - we are busy planning when the next batch can be made).

Since day one our food has been the star of our show. Every My Secret Kitchen product has at least five other uses,recipes or ideas - like a toolkit of flavours our range can help you create something amazing with the minimum of effort. As for our food values, we make and present everything in a simple honest fashion - we only recognizable ingredients and quite simply try to make the best possible version of whatever is on our menu.

So using our new Bombay Onion Cheese Ball Mix as an example, (if you are unfamiliar with a cheese ball it is simply a gorgeous flavoured ball of cream cheese but of course the seasoning mix can be used for so many other dishes) I thought I would share with you five super tasty recipes and ideas to spice up your life.

Spinach & Bombay Onion Dip - our spices mixed with spinach, parmesan in a base of mayo and sour cream - can be served warm too with Indian appetisers - find the recipe here

Cheese & Bombay Onion Tear & Share Beer Bread - using our Original Beer Bread Mix and onions sautéed in butter and our Bombay Onion Spices, topped with cheese - find the recipe here

Baked Bombay Fish Parcels with Balsamic Reduction - mix the Bombay Onion Cheese Ball Mix spices with breadcrumbs and sprinkle onto white fish. Wrap in a greaseproof paper parcel with cherry tomatoes, lemon and wilted greens; bake for 10 minutes, open the parcel for the last 5 minutes of cooking to brown the top.

Bombay Rosti Potatoes - super simple shredded cooked potato mixed with My Secret Kitchen Bombay Onion Cheese Ball Mix and grated parmesan cheese and then shallow fried until golden.

Smoky Bombay Spiced Dukkah - 150g jumbo cashews and peanuts tossed in 1 tbsp. My Secret Kitchen Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil with 2 tbsp. My Secret Kitchen Bombay Onion Cheese Ball Mix, 1 tbsp. sesame seeds and 1 tbsp. dessicated coconut. Sauté over medium heat for just a few minutes until warmed through and the mixture is starting to brown at the edges.

 

 

 

 

These recipes can also be adapted for our Nacho Fiesta Cheese Ball Mix too so have fun experimenting, sprinkling and stirring up your own surprises too.

 

Enjoy!

 

Clare

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Dinner for Friends

I reckon all foodies like to show off every once in a while. Our My Secret Kitchen mantra is 'make your meals more amazing' which is all about our products giving simple ways of making the everyday taste extraordinary -whether its a touch of Balsamic Reduction, or easily rustling up the best Brownies EVER (I promise). I totally understand that we all feel so busy and time poor in the kitchen but every now and then its such a delight to take more time preparing a meal. So I wanted to share with you my dinner for friends last night - how many My Secret Kitchen products can I get into one evening? And make it a Danish meal at that.

For some time now, we have been meeting roughly once a month with our nearest and dearest friends to take it in turns to dine with a menu from around the world. Phil started it several years ago with a cooked-from-scratch Indian meal and since then we have travelled to Australia, Afghanistan, Ecuador and Ethiopia to name a few, on a magical mystery culinary tour.

Last night was my turn and Denmark my country of choice. Thanks to my Danish neighbours and friends for their inspiration in the form of this fabulous 1978 Danish Cookery Book - love it!

After much deliberation and too many episodes of MasterChef, here is my menu with no less than 10 My Secret Kitchen products in 3 courses. And don't ask me for the recipes, this was my evening of make-it-up-as-you-go-along and self indulgent foodie heaven!

Starter
Open sandwich of rye bread (made with Original Beer Bread Mix plus the same quantity of rye flour and a dark stout), anchovy butter, smoked trout, celeriac remoulade (a mayonnaise based sauce with crème fraiche and Thai Dressing with Kaffir Lime), baby leaves and a sweet mustard and dill dressing (with Secret Wild Garlic Spices), garnished with salmon caviar.

Main Course
Slow roasted belly pork (marinated overnight in Miso Dressing with Ginger), pork tenderloin wrapped in parma ham, Jerusalem artichoke puree (seasoned with Lemon & Chipotle Spiced Sea Salt), baby carrots, potatoes in smoked parsley oil (fine chopped parsley in Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil), and a mix of onions, apples, hazelnuts caramelised in Balsamic Reduction and a pork jus.

Dessert
Pudding was a Danish apple cake on a biscuit base (with Secret Vanilla Pudding Spices) and topped with almonds in Maple Caramel Sauce, crème anglaise, Danish blue cheese ice cream, pine nut brittle, red fruit gel with Hibiscus & Rose Nectar.

The starter was not too filling and the secret star was definitely the anchovy butter. The belly pork was gorgeous and could have been the main part of the dish without the tenderloin. I'm kicking myself for not adding a final dusting of icing sugar on the apple cake but hey, the blue cheese ice cream made up for it! In fact, can we do it all again tonight?

Clare
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Sweet Genius

Round II of my meringue challenge and what better than to showcase our three new product launches for the Autumn Winter season - Secret Vanilla Pudding Spices, Toffee Hot Chocolate Drink Mix and St Clements Cardamom Curd.

Top of the bill is an award winning recipe from our consultant Susie Medcalf, a Spiced Pecan & Maple Caramel Meringue Roulade. Admittedly I've pimped this roulade with Secret Vanilla Pudding Spices but I'm sure she won't mind....

Next a Toffee Chocolate & Fig Meringue Layer Cake - this cake seemed to take on a life of its own, one minute each layer was beautifully stacked and the next it had cracked, hey ho, it still tasted great - very rich, with a hidden layer of toffee chocolate ganache and then masala and figs giving a lovely fruity boozy touch - you could use mascarpone as a change from whipped cream....

But my favourite meringue creation were these mini St Clements Meringue Pies and mini Toffee Chocolate Meringue Pies - simple pastry cases filled with St Clements Curd with Cardamom or Toffee Chocolate Ganache and topped with meringue...gorgeous when still warm and gooey from the oven...

Enjoy!

Clare
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Nirvana Palaver

Food Nirvana - peace achieved after a long process of committed application to the path of food perfection.

There aren't many things in the food world that get my feathers ruffled. Baking is a breeze now that my cupboard is constantly stocked with Beer Bread Mixes and Ultimate Chocolate Brownie Mix. But there is an achilles' heel in my kitchen.

The meringue may seem innocuous enough but believe me, many tears have been shed in search of that perfect light, fluffy, crunchy yet chewy concoction.

So in search of my foodie nirvana I have tackled the miraculous meringue with everything I've got. I've read and researched the expert opinions but honestly, the more I have read the more it reads like folklore and meringue mysticism. I foolishly thought I could create a 'one size fits all recipe' but it has proved elusive apart from a few consistent rules that I will share in due course.

On my ingredient list to test I found myself facing caster sugar vs. icing sugar vs. brown sugar and then salt, vinegar, lemon juice, corn flour and cream of tartar. Fascinating stuff - especially when you see the before and after photos of my meringue creations...

 

Clockwise from top - with cream of tartar, with corn flour, with lemon juice and the control. I'd like to say I intentionally induced a flat-as-a-pancake result with the control but it was a complete fluke - think I added the sugar too quickly :-)

And after...

In a nutshell, the cream of tartar definitely gave a chewier and firmer texture; the corn flour gave more structure and did not collapse as much as the lemon juice which had a good foam and a soft, chewy mallow-like finish. And the less said about the control the better. So from this, my golden rules for meringue nirvana....

RULES

For every large egg white allow 50g caster sugar + 1tbsp icing sugar.
Egg whites must be at room temperature.
School girl (or boy) error I know but the bowl and whisking equipment must be spotlessly clean.
Humidity is not your friend, have air tight containers standing by for meringue storage and this is definitely not rainy day cooking plus be aware of the moisture that your added flavourings may add to the meringue foam.
Oven temp - in my fan oven the best non-colouration was with 100C for 1 hour and then turn the oven off for another hour.
Leave space on the baking tray for the meringue to spread and always ALWAYS grease your baking parchment with plain vegetable oil.
Do not add the sugar too soon to the whisked egg whites and add slowly a tablespoon at a time and then whisk in the icing sugar.

Ultimately, be clear about what you are wanting to achieve in the final result, which from round one, I have summarised as thus..

1. The Meringue Roulade - a flat sheet of meringue that must be soft and pliable enough to fill and roll (when cold).
SOLUTION - add a dash of lemon juice after the initial whisking, before adding the sugar

2. The Meringue Sandwich - mounds of meringue, chewy but firm sandwiched together with cream, ganache etc.
SOLUTION - add 1 heaped tsp of cream of tartar to the sugar for every 4 egg whites

3. The Meringue Nest - a firm foam that can be piped in concentric circles to form a nest, pavlova base or piped onto the top of tarts and pies.
SOLUTION - add a dash of lemon juice plus 1 heaped tsp corn flour for every 4 egg whites

4. The Meringue Layer Cake - quick to cook thin rounds of meringue that can be layered up into a gateaux, light airy and melt in the mouth, also good for mini meringues.
SOLUTION - add 1 heaped tsp of corn flour along with the sugar for every 4 egg whites

My quest is not over. At the very least whilst you wait, I implore you to reject supermarket versions of these tempting treats especially when they are almost too perfectly white, with a chalky texture and a headache inducing sweetness. But now the fun can really begin - to decide on the combination of flavours and amazing My Secret Kitchen products to add to really blow these meringues out of the park....the list is endless and do share with us your own ideas; here are mine so far....

Maple Caramel & Pecan Roulade (courtesy of our consultant Susie Medcalf) - using Maple Caramel Sauce
Toffee Chocolate Meringue Kisses - using Toffee Hot Chocolate Mix
St Clements Meringue Layer Cake - using St Clements Cardamom Curd
Raspberry & White Chocolate Meringue Sandwiches - using Chocaberry Cheese Ball Mix
Tropical Mango Mojito Meringue Nests - using Mango Mojito Dessert Sauce
Chocolate & Fig Roulade - using Fig Pudding Pickle
Hibiscus & Rose Pavlova - using Hibiscus & Rose Nectar

To be continued.......


Clare
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If all else fails - Eton Mess is a legitimate solution to any meringue related culinary disaster

Souper Douper Rescue Remedies

It was party central in our house this week-end. It was our village fundraising ball where I had the pleasure of being part of the catering team.  The event was so fabulous from start to finish with the decorating committee somehow managing to turn our drafty village hall into a fairy tale wonderland and we served 140 of the most fancily dressed fairy tale fans with roast duck, boulangere potatoes, minted pea puree, red cabbage and two sauces.

With Sunday being recovery day it was the perfect opportunity to experiment with some fabulously warming autumnal eats of our own in the form of soups that really hit the spot. My pot turned to the magic that is Miso Dressing with Ginger (a Great Taste Award winner no less) to create two new recipes for your repertoire.

First up is the most clarifying, wholesome Miso Chicken Noodle Soup with Lincolnshire collard greens and wheat free soba noodles...

Next a deeply satisfying Miso Maple Bacon Chowder chunky with baby potatoes, corn, peas and ham caramelised with a touch of Maple Caramel Sauce believe it or not, along with the perfect Asian twist from the Miso Dressing...

Another award winner is our consultant Anne Hales' entry into our recipe competition, her Carrot & Cashew Moqueca Soup with our Bombay Onion Cheese Ball Mix used to spice it up a little

Finally, something more unusual but absolutely stunning - a Moroccan Spiced Banana Soup which features our Saffron Tagine Paste and a couple of ripe bananas which give a subtle sweetness and velvety texture...

And as if we haven't learned our lesson, we have a Halloween party just around the corner but with these rescue remedies we'll be sure to be feeling souper douper again.

Enjoy!

Clare
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Tagine Time

The weather is on the turn and that's our cue to turn to the comforts of our kitchen. This month at our tastings we are featuring our Moqueca Curry Paste and Saffron Tagine Paste - two of our most helpful helping hands in the kitchen especially when it comes to hearty, enriching meals perfect for Autumn.

You may recall our 'Its a Curry Thing' blog post and three curry recipes that you have been enjoying. Today I turned to our Saffron Tagine Paste to create these three simple tagines to tempt you.

First a rich and satisfying Beef Tagine with Figs and Dates - which uses not only our Saffron Tagine Paste but a great partnership with Fig Pudding Pickle, find the recipe here.

It is served with toasted pitta bread and natural yogurt that I have dressed with a simple Rose Harissa (1tsp Secret Firecracker Spices, 1 tbsp. hot water and 1 tbsp. Hibiscus & Rose Nectar - its spicy hot! You have been warned!)

Next a zesty chicken tagine with fennel, preserved lemons and green olives. Its served with buttery wild garlic couscous, find the recipe here.

Finally, a golden vegetarian tagine packed with coquina squash, yellow peppers, chickpeas, pine nuts and for the fruity sweet touch, gorgeous dried sour cherries (you could use dried cranberries) find the recipe here.

So no excuses now to get some winter fuel for you and your family, slow cook or quick cook, our cooking pastes will hopefully inspire you to cook something great,

Happy cooking,

Clare
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Top 10 Foodie Finds

We recently ran a competition for our My Secret Kitchen Club members (you can sign up here on our home page) to win a Spirit of Adventure hamper full of My Secret Kitchen goodies (find our new range of gifts and hampers here). We asked you to share with us if you had discovered a really unusual use for a common ingredient or a way to use something unusual in a common way! 

The entries well and truly wowed us and picking a winner proved a tricky task. After much deliberation we awarded first prize to Cecelia Allen of the Isle of Wight and we just had to share the top 10 with you....

Semolina is my foodie find - I put semolina in a polythene bag with finely chopped chives, mint and rosemary and garlic salt or finely chopped garlic. I use this to coat my roast potatoes. Lightly beat one egg white, coat the potatoes and place them in the bag, shake to coat them, then roast, they are fabulous. Cecelia Allen

Love this idea with any of our Secret Spices, I'm going to try Secret Vanilla Pudding Spice on apple wedges - Clare

Hi to the secret society, it's like the Masons of food ;) By secretly adding a heaped spoonful of the wonderfully combined Nacho Fiesta Cheese Ball Mix, I have turned my scones into dizzily desirable delights. This cheeky blend brings out the cheese flavour in full and adds depth to the overall enjoyable tasty treat. People beg me for the recipe to which I answer 'it's a secret'. Mandy Alden

Thanks Mandy - Nacho Fiesta Cheese Ball Mix is only available this month so contact us or your consultant for more! - Clare

I discovered the use of apple sauce as a way of stripping unnecessary fat from my diet by using it in place of butter or margarine. It complements chicken, beef, and pork sandwiches without the fat content, and keeping them moist. Low-fat doesn't have to mean low-taste! Julie Earnshaw

Brilliant idea and we know it works with our Ultimate Chocolate Brownie Mix too, just substitute 100g melted butter with 100g apple puree to reduce the fat content by 70%! - Clare

My unusual food idea that works really well is to wash potatoes thoroughly before peeling, keep the peelings in water and when you fancy a snack later on, dry them really well, fry until soft with garlic, onion and add a dollop of cream cheese at the end. It’s a great way of using up something that you would normally just bin/compost when preparing potatoes and it’s a lovely snack. Gillian Shiels

Wow - some of the team weren't sure about this one but what a great way to reduce waste and we thought they could be baked for a healthier alternative to crisps? - Clare

I am passionate about food and sailing, often spending weeks on my boat and find myself having to be really 'inventive' in order to conjure up a variety of meals. Once I had an abundance of wild figs and I decided to make a Fig Crumble but with no flour or butter I turned to the cereal packets and realised how great Cornflakes and Branflakes can be as an ingredient. Our cereal crunched down and
sprinkled on the top of a crumble before toasting off really does add a lovely finish to any 'crumble' ! Tracey Belcher

Oooh - definitely will try this idea with our Fig Pudding Pickle - Clare

I use the oil from jars of sundried tomatoes to make amazing tasting mayonnaise. Paul Wilson

Another fab idea to reduce waste - find our Smoked Mayonnaise recipe here where you could a combination of our Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil with the leftover sundried tomato oil - Clare

Hate the lingering smell of fish after a fish supper? Gently fry a tablespoon of peanut butter for a few minutes and it not only eradicates the fishy smell, but leaves behind a warm, nutty smell. Much better! Laura Harris

And at the same time why not add some Miso Dressing with Ginger to the peanut butter in the pan plus some water to make a satay sauce for the next night's tea or pop in the freezer - Clare

Soy sauce and chocolate, it is such an amazing combination be it fondant, brownies, or just mixed into melted chocolate and poured over ice cream honestly my life changed when I discovered this tasty mixture :) Lisa Williams
Sounds like Lisa has discovered the umami affect! - Clare

I recently 'found' a really interesting ingredient. Pickled ginger or sushi ginger but does not need to be used exclusively for sushi. My hubby started complaining that our stir fry's were boring - then I added some of the Sushi ginger. It is very finely sliced and fantastically 'zingy' You have really got to try it! Solange Thomas

 Fried Plantain as chips with Fish! Amy Ripley
 I love these too and served with a Moqueca Curry they are so good or cold & crisp with Secret Firecracker Chilli Spices - Clare


Thanks to everyone who entered with their ideas and for my foodie find, I have found natural toasted coconut curls in my local health food shop as a great alternative to sweetened dessicated coconut and it looks great too on Coconut Brownies with Lime Glaze...

Clare

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Cook Once, Eat Twice

Back to school means a welcome back to the kitchen for me. And I have a new resolve to be ahead of the "what's for dinner" game with ready to go family meals in the fridge or freezer.

Christmas season will soon be on us and as our busiest time of the year it is also the time when lovingly prepared meals get overlooked in favour of dishes that can be thrown in the oven, forgotten and 30 minutes later be ready on the table.

I think this is when My Secret Kitchen products can really shine by turning the mediocre into the magical and it is a million times more satisfying to feed your family with as much of a true home cooked meal as you can. A dollop of Tapenade with Smoked Garlic through hot pasta or a speedy Miso Dressing stir fry are simple ways to feel like you can cook great meals from scratch even if you are pushed for time.

An even better idea for the time-poor home cook is to have one week-end cooking session to produce several meals for the coming week. So I have been working on deliberate batch cooking to produce several equally delicious dishes from the same ingredients. Hence - cook once, eat twice.

This week my family have been my usual willing guinea pigs although I have to say the kids are rather confused as to why I need to photograph their dinner before they eat it! Red Pepper Cheese Ball Mix and Nacho Fiesta Cheese Ball Mix have both jumped to the rescue in these recipes along with Jumping Jack Chilli Jam....and voila....

Mediterranean Steak Pie (recipe from our consultant Pauline Inglis) on Monday becomes Steak Nacho Tacos on Tuesday....

Mediterranean Steak Pie

Steak Nacho Tacos with corn and black beans

Roasted Red Pepper Chicken on Wednesday becomes Red Pepper, Chicken & Walnut Fettuccine on Thursday....

Roasted Red Pepper Chicken



Red Pepper, Chicken & Walnut Fettuccine

Simple sausages on Saturday becomes Jumping Jack & Sausage Bake (recipe from our consultant Becky Boast) on Sunday....

Jumping Jack Sausage Bake

And if you're wondering what happens on Friday.....cooks day off :-)

Happy cooking,

Clare
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Last of the Summer Dine

Is it just me or does it feel like it is already getting darker in the evenings? With the kids heading back to school next week we are clinging on to the last few summer days and getting the most from our ice cream maker and picnic baskets before dusting off the slow cooker.

This week-end will also see the start of the preview of our Autumn / Winter new products for our 'early bird hosts' which also means that we say goodbye to some of our seasonal products to make way for the new ones.

Thai Dressing with Kaffir Lime for example will be taking a sabbatical so enjoy it while you can! I've taken some inspiration from our consultant Hazel Kerr's recipe for salmon en croute (a winning recipe no less from our recent consultant awards) which combines cream cheese with our Secret Wild Garlic Spices with salmon - which I switched to smoked trout - and wrapped in pastry - which I converted to simple open tarts. This dish was crying out to be paired with a simple watercress and rocket salad drizzled with Thai Dressing.  Here you can see Hazel's original version - great for a centrepiece - and my twisted version for a starter, lunch or picnic dish, find the recipe here.

Our Mango Mojito Dessert Sauce however will be sticking around to give some much needed sunshine flavours through the winter.  I've also experimented with a recipe for Mango & Rum Ice Cream from our Scottish leader Lisa Riddoch by turning into a dairy free sherbet. You will need an ice cream maker for the sherbet, find the recipe here

Hazel Kerr's Secret Salmon en Croute

Lisa Riddoch's Mango Mojito & Rum Ice Cream

Dairy Free Mango Colada Sherbet

Secret Smoked Trout Tarts with Thai Dressing

So enjoy the last of the summer sunshine and the last of the summer dining - for now anyway!

Enjoy

Clare

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Party Passion

I've not posted for a while which is indicative of  lack of time in the kitchen recently - the school holidays have taken hold plus our imminent product launch to our lovely consultants this week-end has meant time spent on other secret activities in our kitchen.

We did have time to run a recipe challenge for our consultants recently (find the winning recipe in our new edition Menu out in September) and as I was flipping through our recipe archive I found a consultant recipe for 'Chocaberry Passion' and with a house full of hungry kids today it was the perfect recipe to try.

Plus in August we have a fabulous host promotion featuring Chocaberry Cheese Ball Mix with Hibiscus and Rose Nectar so I thought I would combine the two. As you should know by now, we have a real passion for flavour and passion fruit coupled with our floral Hibiscus and Rose Nectar is a sublime combination. We also have a passion for our tasting parties - yes, I have come to terms with calling them 'parties' after all its food, its with friends and above all, its fun! So this month we have extra rewards for our hosts and customers too to thank them for their party passion too.

Chocaberry Cheese Ball Mix is a mainstay on our menu - as well as producing superb cheese cakes and you must try our semi-freddo recipe, here is another to add to the list. Chocaberry Passion has been used to fill simple pastry cases and topped with crystalised rose petals which have been sitting in my cupboard for far longer than I care to remember,

 

 

 

A simple drizzle of Hibiscus & Rose Nectar adds a perfect finishing touch to these perfect morsels................................

 

 

 

Similarly, you can go all out and with added fresh berries soused in Hibiscus & Rose Nectar to make a delectable dessert when out to impress.

Finally, I plan on mixing all the leftovers together with the soft fruits, passion fruit pulp and Hibiscus & Rose Nectar and either whizzing up as a super deluxe smoothie or putting it through my ice cream maker; either way nothing goes to waste and I'm feeling rather smug at creating several recipes from one. Although, mixing a few ingredients together is hardly 'cooking' but let that be our little secret!


Enjoy!

Clare
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Inspiration & Creation

One of the most frequent questions I am asked is where do we get our inspiration from for our products and recipes. Phil likes to recount how he will put together food trends information with our insider knowledge of the industry for our internal brainstorming sessions to create a list of potential new products. And then how I will sneak off into the kitchen and ignore everything we have talked about to create something completely different!

Creativity thrives in all walks of life and how great it is that we get to work with something edible and so fun!

Take our Consultant Awards Recipe Challenge – we just love reading our consultant's innovative ways of using My Secret Kitchen products from how to spice up a slimmer’s recipe with Nacho Fiesta Cheese Ball Mix (Vicky Gatenby) and secretly spiced roast vegetables (Sarah Price). These are just some of the recipes we received and look out for the published recipes from our top 3 winners - Hazel Kerr's Salmon en Croute with Wild Garlic, Susie Medcalf's Maple Caramel & Pecan Roulade and overall winner, Anne Hale's Moqueca Soup.

Our Hibiscus & Rose Reduction was a particular favourite for some inventive recipes, Becky Boast's Raspberry & Rose Sorbet and Georgie Lovell's Hibiscus & Rose Jelly Tartlets - just a couple of ways to use our sweet and tantalisingly tasty syrup which just happens to feature in a rather fabulous host  promotion in August! :-)

Becky Boast's Raspberry & Rose Sorbet

Georgie Lovell's Hibiscus & Rose Jelly Tartlets

Recipe development is often simply what I feel like making and sharing at that particular moment. Left to my own devices I have no doubt that my diet would be atrocious - it is the desire to share good food with our children, family, friends and of course our customers that really motivates me.

Flavour inspiration can come from many sources. The obvious choices for inspiring creativity are being outside in this gorgeous weather and being aware of nature around you. Music is a huge part of our household and there is always time for a favourite song to be cooked into a recipe and a spot of kitchen dancing. Exercise too – the solitary kind – is my drug of choice. It gives my mind the freedom to wander whilst beating my body into submission!

Maybe surprisingly I don’t watch many TV cookery programmes and my magazine subscriptions have dwindled to just a few travel and home publications. However, strolling up and down supermarket aisles is a must to keep on top of what is ‘out there’ and I can spend hours hunting for a new ingredient to try.

Ultimately, trusting that your own unique ideas are always there to be discovered and unearthed is a good philosophy. The worst thing you can do is overthink it or compare your culinary work to others and don’t take yourself too seriously – believe me, laughter has saved many a situation in the My Secret Kitchen story!

I guess the key to creativity is finding your own inspiration sources and making time for them regularly in your life. I know I am a better mother, wife and business person when I have given priority to the things I need and love in my life. So thank-you for your recipe inspiration too - being the best you to inspire the best in others is the sweetest prize of all.

Sugar & Spice

Cinnamon, Apricot & White Chocolate Whirls

Blueberry Honeycomb Loaf

 

Slow Roasted Tomatoes with Spiced Sea Salt & Smoked Oil

Sugar and spice and all things nice! We're revelling in the delights of all things spicy in our kitchen this week and by spicy we mean amazing tastes and flavours - not just chilli! Inspired by our host promotion this month, which is a collection of Secret Vanilla Pudding Spices (with cinnamon and roasted cassia), Secret Honeycomb Spices (with honeycomb, bee pollen and green anise) and our very special Spiced Sea Salt grinder (with lemon oil and chipotle), here are my three favourite recipes. All these recipes have our signature 'easy-peasy' philosophy with My Secret Kitchen products providing that extra touch  and are perfect for laid back week-end cooking. Enjoy!
Clare
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Mayday Mayday!

A little late in the month you may say, but I've good reason to be shouting for mayday help in my kitchen this week. We are packing our bags ready for an American adventure - 3 weeks travelling across the USA, visting friends and generally eating our way across the country. So like all holiday makers, I'm eeking out the storecupboard and left overs trying to create satisfying meals with whatever we have left to spare another trip to the supermarket.

In particular, our White Wine and Porcini Finishing Sauce has come to the rescue giving a welcome lift to some left over chicken, a tasty twist on mashed potato and an odd concoction of frozen spinach, puy lentils and some coley portions (perhaps never to be repeated again).

I was chatting to our Sue who often has the dilemma of feeding several teenagers and boyfriends who drop by at a moments notice and with fondness she recalled the evening where she served four different types of potato dish. Nobody seemed to mind, afterall, a full tummy is a happy tummy.  So as an ode to the potato and our White Wine & Porcini Finshing Sauce here are our recipes for Stuffed Baby Potatoes, and Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes. May they be your rescue remedy one day too,
Enjoy!
Clare
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Bake me I'm yours...

Please don't hate me, but I feel compelled to tell you that it is National Doughnut Week. Anyone who has experienced a warm just-from-the-fryer doughnut dripping in sticky glaze or a sugar encrusted churros dipped in hot chocolate will understand the fascination that doughnuts have around the world. 

From Saturday 11th May to Saturday 18th May, bakeries around the country are frying up a storm and selling doughnuts all for a good cause in the shape of The Children's Trust.  The Children's Trust is a national charity providing rehabilitation, care and education to children with acquired brain injury, multiple disabilities and complex health needs. National Doughnut Week has raised over £755,000 for children’s charities in the last 21 years; you can find local bakeries taking part in the fun here.

Whilst I have not made any doughnuts recently per se, my take on National Doughnut Week is to make a simpler version with puff pastry stuffed with our Fig Pudding Pickle and Secret Honeycomb Spices and then tied in a knot. Then warm from the oven it is brushed with a milk icing or glaze - rather like a yum yum but without the fry factor.

I call them Fig & Honey Dough-Knots.....(get it?) and with everyone slightly different from the next it just adds to their home-baked charm; find the recipe here

Fig & Honey Dough-Knots

If you have been a guest at one of my tastings you will have heard me say 'I'm not a baker' and I make no apology for repeating it at every tasting because it is the honest truth. Cakes as flat as pancakes and pastry like rock candy are in my repertoire. Hence the strong motivation from day one when we developed My Secret Kitchen to create mega easy and foolproof products and recipes, especially the bakery mixes.

And just because we are about to embark on a 3 week tour of USA, back to where it all began, here are my Smore's Honeycomb Brownies, find the recipe here

I rather like this photo as they look as if they have been sent from heaven and believe me on the rainy days we have had recently it sure feels that way as they come out of the oven - I recommend inviting friends to just pull a wedge of sticky marshmallow and brownie heaven and eat with your fingers.

So happy doughnut week everyone and happy fundraising to The Children's Trust, I can think of no better way to help spread a little love and care so mis-happy baking too.

Clare
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Kitchen Essentials - 3 things I couldn't live without....

My kitchen is my happy place and even more so in the past few days as I've been busy working on new products for My Secret Kitchen.  Its like re-connecting with the business all over again - an authentic food business that creates amazing foods to make meals more amazing.  Six years later and I still love the awesome challenge of creating new foods for our customers and consultants to fall in love with too.

They say staying in is the new going out which is great for someone who loves being in the kitchen but not so great if you don't. And that is the beauty of My Secret Kitchen products - adaptable for everyday and the wow factor for special occasions without spending hours cooking when we are all so time-poor.  Little luxuries are the name of the game and little gadgets can be big helpers too in the kitchen. So here are 3 essentials that I couldn't live without in my kitchen...

NUMBER 1 - Spatulas and Tasting Spoons (plus a few My Secret Kitchen products)

Next to the hob is my trusty pot of spatulas and tasting spoons to get every last luscious drop (or lick) of yumminess from the bowl and who could call themselves a good home cook if they don't sample what they are making along the way? Also my personal culinary team in the form of My Secret Kitchen Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil, My Secret Kitchen Lemon & Chipotle Spiced Sea Salt, My Secret Kitchen Balsamic Reduction, My Secret Kitchen Secret Firecracker Chilli Spices and My Secret Kitchen Secret Wild Garlic Spices.

NUMBER 2 - A Beautiful Mixing Bowl

 

 

William Morris said have nothing in your homes that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. My mixing bowl does both and regardless of what comes out of the oven after said mixing I get a zen-like satisfaction from using my beautiful 'Bixing Mowl' (family joke).

 

NUMBER 3 - Music Maestro Please

 

 

No kitchen is complete without a media area - aka the phone, DAB radio and ipod docking station. Dancing in he kitchen is optional but music is a must in our family and our time in the kitchen.  Its the unwritten rule that Planet Rock is on Saturday mornings and Radio 2 on Sunday mornings (who doesn't adore Steve Wright's Love Songs). During the week my ipod plays various playlists, this week Ellie Goulding, Paramore and Fall out Boy; maybe you just might be able to taste a little musical magic in our finished products?

This blog wouldn't be complete without a recipe or two so here's a work in progress - Maple Caramel Florentines with Apricots, presented pre-baking in a rather nice bowl....I'll let you know how they turn out....

Romancing Recipes

You know what they say about hearts and tummies. I'm sure we all have our favourite recipes for romance or when out to impress a new love. Beef Wellington was a favourite of mine back in the day, but I'll admit rather sheepishly that I don't think I have prepared it in the 10 years or so of married life. Funny how times change. It's my beloved's birthday this week and I love an excuse to spend hours in the kitchen on one special meal, so I've been reminiscing about recipes we've literally loved and lost.

Phil's Normandy Pork is quite possibly legendary with the ladies in his teenage haunt of Aylesbury so here is my homage to him - pork shoulder with caramelised apples, shallots and cooked with cider and a healthy dose of Jumping Jack Chilli Jam.....
(Find the recipe here)

A homage to romance - Phil's Normandy Pork with Jumping Jack Chilli Jam

 

I was interested to find out more recipes for romance, so from our own MSK Laura...

"My meal was always chicken in a cream sauce served with sauté potatoes - it was something my mum used to make & I loved. The My Secret Kitchen version includes a few of our fabulous staples that my cupboard would never be without - Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil, Secret Wild Garlic Spices & Lemon & Chipotle Spiced Sea Salt, and an ingredient that really brings this dish to life & up to date: White Wine & Porcini Finishing Sauce. Voila the new & improved Creamy Chicken Stir Fry with White Wine & Porcini Finishing Sauce."

(Find the recipe here)

Creamy Chicken & Mushroom Stir Fry

 

 

And from another friend of MSK who shall remain nameless...

 

" I can't remember cooking to impress a man myself, in fact I was too scared I'd blow it that I had a friend cook for me & sneak the casserole in the back door! ( Unknown to my now husband!!!). I do remember impressing a friend when I was flush with the independence of my own earnings & I made a prawn salad which has inspired this lovely My Thai Prawn and Avocado Salad using our gorgeous and zingy Thai Dressing with Kaffir Lime"

(Find the recipe here)

My Thai Prawn & Avocado Salad

 

Do you have some romantic recipes and stories to share? We'd love to hear your own delights and disasters, in the meantime, happy reminiscing....

 

Clare

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