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.