Tuesday 23 September 2014

Spanish Supper Club!

I'm hosting a Spanish Supperclub in London! THIS WEEKEND! Saturday and Sunday.
I'm going to make lots of delicious tapas, including these croquetas, then this Paella and some delicious desserts. There will be sherry and Malaga wine, I'm off to the Atarazanas Market now, to stock up on
Manchego and olives and to taste some Iberico hams and bring the best back to you!
If you'd like to come, its £35 per head and you can book a ticket here

I'm off to do this (that's sweet Malaga wine btw) See you in London.



Sunday 21 September 2014

Herby Courgetti

I didn't take any proper pics of my courgetti, this one from instagram will have to do.
Courgette really soaks up oil, like aubergine and for this reason, I don't really like using pesto here. This sauce seems to coat each strand, it's SO tasty I can't tell you. Also, when using a spiralizer, you end up with the core of the courgette which, chucked into the blender turns the sauce into something creamy. Han and I were pretty chuffed with our (minimal) efforts making this recipe.
Use firm, medium sized courgettes. The large courgettes are too wet and have less flavour.

Serves 2-3
4 medium, firm courgettes
2 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup lightly toasted pinenuts
275g cherry tomatoes (I used Isle of Wight co)
25g flat leaf parsley
25g basil 
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 tbsp lemon oil, or olive if you don't have
salt and pepper

1. Cut the tomatoes in half and drizzle with a little olive oil, slowly roast for half an hour in the oven at 140-150C
2. Spiralise the courgettes, or use a handheld mandolin, or painfully slice each courgette my hand (it can be done)
3. Grate the garlic and gently fry in the olive oil until just cooked but not at all brown. 
4. Place most of the pinenuts (reserve some for garnish) the basil, parsley, garlic oil, lemon oil, zest and juice and the courgette cores in a blender. 
5. Blend til super smooth, season and toss in a bowl over the courgette. Add tomatoes and pinenuts and serve. 



Tuesday 2 September 2014

Rhino Cake


I know, I know.. I hadn't forgotten I had a blog, but I had just forgotten my log in details,so deserve a slap on the wrist. I think one thing I could blame my tardiness on, is Instagram. I just snap, upload, and it takes all of 3 seconds, no logging in required. Are you on it? Shall we follow each other? 
I'm @millitaylor. When this blog finally gets a makeover, I'll make a tab for it, along with a twitter (I'm @milliskitchen on that), and a blogroll. Small steps.
Anyway, thought I would share some pics of the Rhino cake that I made this weekend. My friend Hannah named him Ronnie and I grew quite attached to him and his sad eyes.
He was a yummy Victoria sponge inside and although I was tempted to make larger ears out of sugar paste, I made smaller ones out of fondant so that someone could eat them.

I got him wading in a lake, I grew conscious after a couple of google image searches that it could end up looking like a poached Rhino if his head was in the grass :( 
DID YOU KNOW that a rhino's horn is not bone and isn't attached to it's skull? It's made of Keratin, the same stuff that our hair and nails are made up of. Wowzers (thanks for the fun fact, han) 
The ears are my favourite, what's your favourite bit?