Thank you!

We've got to thank so many of you for stopping by to meet us at the Good Food Show last week. It was an exhausting few days but we met so many of you and quite a few celebs stopped by to try and approve of our goodies including the winner and all runner-ups of this years Masterchef, Greg Wallace cooking with our oak smoked rapeseed oil onstage, and good old Tucker Jenkins from Grange Hill (Todd Carty, but I will always remember him as Tucker)

A lot of you are now thinking of joining us as consultants so we look forward to bringing you onboard!

Creativity Wins!

How do you like to cook? Some people like to read and prepare recipes to the letter creating perfection in every bite.  Others give the ingredients a quick scan and then ditch the recipe book to create their own masterpieces. It is true that a picture speaks a thousand words - just the sight of something yummy can give the inspiration to get creative in the kitchen.


My kind of cooking can be compared to reality singing shows where contestants are encouraged to make songs 'their own'. There is nothing more satisfying to me than to hear of new ways that My Secret Kitchen products and recipes are being enjoyed.

One of my favourite recipes this month is hoummus using our gorgeous Saffron Tagine Paste. Our paste is great value for money - from the same jar you can make a fabulous tagine for six and still have enough left to use in marinades and dressings or to add a touch of exotic flavour to any dish - we've made it unique by adding the evocative spice, saffron. To serve with the hoummus we created another recipe for our versatile Beer Bread Mixes - Sunflower Seeded Honey Beer Bread and turned the loaf into home-made gourmet crisp bread crackers.

Hoummus with Saffron Tagine Chick Pea Topping
and Sunflower Seeded Honey Crisp Bread

The hoummus recipe uses chick peas - some of which are reserved to make a topping along with more Saffron Tagine Paste, red onion, tomato puree and our Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil from Sussex - with its golden colour and distinctive smokey flavour.  The Sunflower Seeded Honey Crisp Breads are made by leaving the prepared loaf to cool completely before cutting into slices and baking in a low oven......

Saffron Tagine Hoummus with
Sunflower seeded Honey Beer Bread

Alternatively, you can interpret the recipe differently (like one of our team leaders Nic Blake did!) by shoving all the ingredients in a blender and whizz away!  Similarly with the bread recipe you can just cut into chunks and serve!  Both serving suggestions are really tasty and great as a starter or for serving with crudites, in sandwiches or with salads.  I then used the last of the hoummus to thicken up a one pot chicken stew that needed some oomph!

In all cases creativity wins - the true pleasure is seeing everyone in the kitchen using and abusing our recipes and products - I'm confident you'll be a winner - after all, every My Secret Kitchen product has the X Factor!

Enjoy!

Clare

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Hoummus topped with Saffron Tagine Chick Peas & Smoked Oil

Serves 8-10

1 x can of chick peas drained and rinsed (240g)
3 tbsp tahini
1/2 tsp My Secret Kitchen Wild Garlic Secret Spices
Juice of 1 large lemon
2 tbsp light olive oil
50ml cold water, more as required
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp My Secret Kitchen Saffron Tagine Paste
2 tbsp My Secret Kitchen Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil
1 tbsp tomato puree
Handful fresh coriander, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

To make the chick pea topping, take 2 tbsp of the chick peas, mix together in a small bowl with the red onion, tomato puree, chopped coriander, Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil and 1 tbsp of the Saffron Tagine Paste and put to one side. To make the hoummus, blend all the remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor, adding more water as required.  Check the seasoning to taste and serve in a bowl with the seasoned chick peas scattered over the top.

Sunflower Seeded Honey Beer Bread

Makes 1 loaf

1 x My Secret Kitchen Wholegrain Beer Bread Mix
50g sunflower seeds
1 tbsp honey
150ml fizzy beverage

Preheat oven 175°C / Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a 1lb loaf tin. Empty the Beer Bread Mix into a bowl, add the sunflower seeds and mix together.  Make a well in the centre and add the fizzy beverage and then the honey.  Mix quickly and thoroughly until all the ingredients are combined.  Spoon the dough into the loaf tin and roughly smooth over. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden. For an added touch you can top the loaf with more sunflower seeds and a drizzle of Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil as it goes in the oven.  To make the bread into crackers, leave until completely cold (preferably overnight) and slice into thin slices.  Bake in a low oven, turning once, until crunchy and golden brown.

Forever Foodies

Clare Moran (Co-Founder)

Every month our lovely foodie consultants (or gastronauts as we sometimes call them!) get together at local team meetings for business support and inspiration.  For their meetings we come up with new recipes to try out – last month we put together some gorgeous Artichoke Pesto & gruyere puffs as well as stuffed baby potatoes with Tapenade with Smoked Garlic and a fabulous dairy free banana and Fig Pudding Pickle smoothie. 

Joy, Jane & Suzette

Artichoke Pesto & Gruyere Puffs

Makes 24 appetisers

2 tbsp My Secret Kitchen Artichoke Pesto

3 medium eggs
100g gruyere cheese, finely grated
3 tbsp My Secret Kitchen Original Beer Bread Mix
My Secret Kitchen Lemon & Chipotle Spiced Sea Salt

Preheat oven 200°C / Gas Mark 6. Grease a mini muffin pan with olive oil and place in the oven to heat.
Whisk together the eggs in a medium bowl and whisk in the Artichoke Pesto. Add the grated cheese and season with Lemon & Chipotle Spiced Sea Salt.  Add the Original Beer Bread Mix and quickly mix. Divide the mixture equally between the muffin pan and bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden and puffed.  Allow to cool slightly before removing from the pan. 

It never ceases to amaze me the wonderful people we meet and whom join us as consultants – foodies who are first-time business people or business people who see the potential in our food; either way, all our consultants love sharing our foods with people in an authentic way. 

Take Suzanne Alexander in Melton Mowbray – using the same recipe as the puffs, she created these fabulous blinis and combined them with Wild Garlic sour cream.

So hats off to all you foodies and being creative with our ingredients; at My Secret Kitchen you know we will never compromise on taste, value and versatility.  You don’t need to be a whizz in the kitchen to be one of our consultants – just an entrepreneurial spirit with a touch of foodie passion and we can provide the rest of the support you need – and perhaps you are the star of your own foodie show after all! 

(don’t forget you can email us to find out a little more or complete our online enquiry form)

Clare

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More Secret Kitchens!

Thanks for your photos of your gorgeous secret kitchens...keep them coming!  Email us at office@mysecretkitchen.co.uk
What do you love about your kitchen and what's cooking?!
Clare
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Sally's Secret Kitchen

Mat in action!

Your Secret Kitchen

I'm a sucker for home magazines; I love drooling over the pictures of glossy high end kitchens from modern city chic apartments to rustic farmhouses - the ones with the hand-made-cost-a-fortune type kitchens. In those pages, it looks as if nothing gets spilled or burnt and never needs cleaning - and come with perfect children and a labrador!

The majority of us have modest, simple and most important, fully functioning culinary spaces. Does a perfect show-home kitchen mean perfect cooking every time?  Maybe, but still, we all have the opportunity to make gorgeous meals whether you have a dual fuel, 6 burner range with sous vide option or an oven that needs a broom handle to keep it shut (I've been there!). That's our philosophy at My Secret Kitchen - we want to help you make your meals more amazing regardless of how your kitchen is styled or if you have the latest kitchen gizmo or not.

Mat and Vi's Secret Kitchen

Take my nephew Mat and his girlfriend Vi - they have just moved in together and are blissfully happy and proud to be in their first place together. I asked them to share what they have been cooking in their compact and bijou little kitchen. Gracing their foot stool - spicy thai papaya salad, bangers and mash and a rather incredible-sounding dish from Vi's native Poland of fried chicken with peaches, curry powder, chillies, soy and single cream served with rice. My personal favourite was the egg and soldiers which I'm sure tasted even more fabulous because it was cooked in their own secret kitchen.

Its true what they say about the kitchen being the heart of the home and you know the one about kitchens and parties. The art of making and preparing food is magical and I hope that as our company grows we can continue to be inspirational with our foods into the heart of your kitchens.

If you'd like to send us your photos of your secret kitchen, we'd love to send you our Lemon & Chipotle Spiced Sea Salt - perfect for making pretty much anything really tasty and would be amazing with that egg :-)

 (email your photos to office@mysecretkitchen.co.uk)

So here's to your secret kitchen and to making your meals more amazing, Enjoy,

Clare
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Open and Enjoy

Lets face it, most of us need to get dinner on the table in under 30 mins.  Week-end cooking and entertaining is where we can spend more time and effort in creating ellaborate dishes that taste great but why should we compromise mid-week?  So, here are a few ideas to make those every day meals more amazing with My Secret Kitchen products lending a helping hand.  The products features are particularly suited to just 'open and enjoy' with your mid-week suppers, Enjoy!

Featuring: Tapenade with Smoked Garlic & Lemon & Chipotle Spiced Sea Salt

A new meaning for Ham, Egg and Chips?

Poached egg, parma ham and new potatoes roasted in Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil and sprinkled with Lemon & Chipotle Spiced Sea Salt. All made extra tasty with a few teaspoons of Tapenade with Smoked Garlic.

Featuring: Jumping Jack Chilli Jam & Wild Garlic Secret Spices

Gourmet Burgers at home

Grilled butterflied chicken breast glazed with Jumping Jack Chilli Jam in a toasted bun and Wild Garlic Secret Spices mayonnaise.

Pasta with a difference

Artichoke Pesto pasta with camembert, lemon & pinenuts.  Roast chicken and cherry tomatoes with Balsamic Reduction.

                                                                       

Breakfast, lunch-on-the-go or an easy family friendly dessert  Granola, greek yogurt and Maple Caramel Sauce topped with plums, peaches and chocolate shavings

Confessions of a chocolate lover

Clare Moran - Co Founder My Secret Kitchen

I know I know, its Lent, but with Easter just around the corner who hasn't got chocolate on their mind?

At My Secret Kitchen we are also promoting our Ultimate Chocolate Brownie and Chocolate Peppermint Sauce in March and April so what a lovely excuse to experiment with chocolate again. In our Brownie Bliss recipes we have created Coconut Brownies with a Lime Glaze or for a simple and equally delicious dessert Ultimate Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Peppermint Fondue



I'm in awe of anyone who's decided to give up chocolate for 40 days - or indeed to give up anything food related.  Trying to give up anything I love is a near impossibility and believe me I've tried, but I am proud to be a very happy chocolate fiend.

(Have you read 'Beyond Chocolate' by Sophie & Audrey Boss? thoroughly recommended)


So, here are my 7 chocolate confessions in all their chocolatey glory...




1. I count chocolate covered raisins as one of my '5 a day'
2. As a student, for 6 months I lived on brain food of Kit Kats and black coffee
3. Yes, it was me who stole the chocolate buttons from the kid's sweet tin late last night
4. The little pea sized brown smudge on the sofa is evidence of the bar of cooking chocolate that side-stepped straight to my tummy
5. I buy low-fat hot chocolate mix - and then prepare it with double cream
6. I always lick the bowl when making Ultimate Chocolate Brownies - and never share
7. Petit dessert pots made with Chocolate Peppermint Sauce are the only cure for a case of the Mondays

Clare
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