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.