Recipe: Lettuce Wraps
January 31, 2010 by Simple or Sensational
Filed under Appetizers
When I was a child, lettuce wraps at our local Chinese restaurant were, to me, the height of sophistication. I’m not exactly sure why because they are quite difficult to eat whist still looking elegant. The mess factor is definitely overshadowed by their taste and they are a good thing to serve if people don’t [...]
Recipe: Pork and Cucumber Wraps
January 31, 2010 by Simple or Sensational
Filed under Hors D'oeuvres
I won’t lie to you these are fiddly to make, but they are not a painful as you would think and once you get on a roll you can knock them out quite quickly. You can make them an hour or so in advance and store them in the refrigerator, but make sure you bring [...]
Food fixes everything, doesn’t it?
January 26, 2010 by Simple or Sensational
Filed under Random Thoughts
This past week I was a little under the weather and one of my husband’s first reactions (albeit after “don’t give that to me”) was can I bring you some soup. This started me thinking about the fact that, in my life at least, the first thing that we often think of when there is [...]
Is food photography the equivalent of intellectual porn?
January 19, 2010 by Simple or Sensational
Filed under Random Thoughts
Someone much cleverer that I once described food photography as “thinking woman’s porn” which is a phrase I adore. When I first started this site I didn’t have any pictures of the food. This was mainly because, if you have ever tried to photograph food, you will know that it is a really difficult thing [...]
And this year’s resolutions are……
January 12, 2010 by Simple or Sensational
Filed under Special Events
I once read an advice column that suggested that the best thing to do when making New Years resolutions was to write them down and store them in an envelope with your Christmas decorations. That way you could see how you had done and congratulate yourself on your achievements. Just think about that for a [...]
Recipe: Shrimp Bruschetta on Endive
January 10, 2010 by Simple or Sensational
Filed under Hors D'oeuvres
Over the holidays I find that a cold hors d’œuvres that can for the most part be made ahead, are crucial. I once made the fatal mistake of serving only hot food for pre dinner drinks at a holiday party. The upshot of this was that whilst I did serve platters of bite sized wonders [...]
Recipe: Lobster Bruschetta
January 10, 2010 by Simple or Sensational
Filed under Hors D'oeuvres
These hors d’œuvres and to be honest the simple version as well, were inspired by the traditional colours of Christmas. For those of us that like a colour coordinated Christmas, the red of the tomatoes against the green of the basil makes them the perfect festive nibble. The making and reducing of the tomato water [...]
Recipe: Beef Wellington
January 2, 2010 by Simple or Sensational
Filed under Entrees/Main Courses
I am taking a little poetic license here and this beef dish is really “beef in the style of Wellington”. Beef Wellington is typically beef tenderloin, wrapped in a combination of pate and sautéed mushrooms and then wrapped in puff pastry. The original of the dish can be pretty high up on the “things to [...]
Recipe: Beef with Mushroom Sauce
January 2, 2010 by Simple or Sensational
Filed under Entrees/Main Courses
Beef and mushrooms are one of those classic pairings that you can do very little wrong with. This recipe is a big flavour step up from broiling a steak and sautéing some mushrooms, but with not much more work. You can play around with the mushrooms you use to give you different flavours and I [...]
