Makes 12

100g Butter (softened)
175g Caster Sugar
225g Self-raising Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
2 Eggs (beaten)
3 tbsp Milk
2 very ripe Bananas (mashed)
75g Dark Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Beat together the butter and sugar, sift in the flour and baking powder and combine, then stir in the eggs, milk and bananas into the bowl and beat together until combined and smooth. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Spoon into the paper cases and bake for about 30-40 minutes until well risen, golden brown and shrinking away from the cases. Remove the cases from the tin and set aside to cool.
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Serves 6

bbc food

2.3kg Leg of Lamb

for the spice rub:
2 Garlic Cloves
1 tbsp Sea Salt Flakes
1 tbsp Cumin Seed
1 pinch Smoked Paprika
2 tbsp Thyme Leaves
2 tbsp Olive Oil
a thick slice of Butter

Heat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3.

Make the spice rub: peel the garlic cloves, then lightly crush them with the salt using a pestle and mortar. Mix in the cumin, paprika and thyme. Gradually add the oil so that you end up with a thickish paste. Melt the butter in a small pan and stir it into the spice paste.

Put the lamb into a deep-sided roasting tin and rub it all over with the spice paste. I made the paste and put it on the lamb the night before and left it in the fridge overnight.

Put the lamb in the oven and leave to cook for 35 minutes. Pour in 250ml of water. Baste the lamb with the liquid, then continue roasting for a further 3 hours, basting the meat every hour or so. If the juices are evaporating, then add a little more water.

Remove the pan from the oven and pour off the thin top layer of oil from the cooking juices, leaving the cloudy, herbal sediment.

Cover the roasting pan with foil and leave to rest for about 10 minutes before carving.

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It was a beautiful experience, I really enjoyed this unusual interactive exhibition. Stepping from log to log, some sturdy and large, others unsteady, small or too far to reach. The artist aimed for participants to create their own pathways through his work and it was wonderful to watch people hopping, stepping and jumping through the room.

With the help of firemen in Bristol, Braun set up his exhibition in one of the rooms in the gallery. HERE are some pictures showing how this was achieved. A 9 metre 150 year old Douglas fir tree felled at Westonbirt Arboretum, was turned into stepping stones that appeared to float on 20,000 litres of water pumped by the fire service into the first floor space at Arnolfini.

The Arnolfini website states that Braun’s “…central work in the exhibition is “R.T/S.R./V.S.”, a project about an unrealised film by the renowned Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray entitled The Alien. While Ray’s film was eventually abandoned after negotiations with Hollywood producers, rumours say that the script became later the basis for Spielberg’s classic E.T. Braun recreated the opening scene of the film as a spatial environment – a dark and shimmering lake in the exhibition space, which can be crossed over via logs, cut from a Douglas fir at Westonbirt Arboretum.”

Below are some photographs I took of the exhibition;

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Makes about 20 peanut butter cups

104g Creamy Peanut Butter

28g Unsalted Butter (room temperature)

pinch Salt

54g Icing Sugar

400g Dark Chocolate (chopped)

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Place the peanut butter, butter and salt in a microwaveable bowl, and heat in the microwave for about 30secs or just until soft, but not melted (check and stir the ingredients every 10 seconds). Stir in the icing sugar.

Melt the chocolate in a bain marie, stir occasionally until melted. I added salt to this as well!

Spread out 20 cupcake paper cases. Drop a teaspoon of the melted chocolate into each of the paper cases and spread to cover the bottom. Top with a teaspoon of peanut butter mixture. Then top with another spoonful of melted chocolate, making sure it evenly covers the edges and all of the peanut butter mixture.

Let them set on the worktop, so that chocolate stays shiny and glossy, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

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Serves 6-8

http://www.vinalba.com

For the pulled pork
Oil, for greasing
3 Bay Leaves
2 Onions (finely sliced rings)
4 cloves Garlic (sliced)
2kg Pork Shoulder
1 Green Chilli (finely chopped)
2 tsp Paprika
1 tbsp Mustard
Splash of Beer
Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
200ml White Wine Vinegar
250ml Cider

For the coleslaw
1 Red Cabbage, (finely chopped)
2 large Carrots (grated)
1 Leek (finely sliced)
6 tbsp Soured Cream
2 tsp Wholegrain Mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve
Soft White Bread Rolls

Preheat the oven to 170C/340F/Gas 3.

I prepared the pulled pork the night before, oil a deep sided baking tray and place the onions, garlic and bay leaves in the bottom.

Mix together the chilli, paprika, mustard, beer, salt and pepper, then rub the mixture into the pork shoulder. Put the pork into the baking tray on top of the onions, etc. Cover with foil and leave in the fridge overnight.

Remove from the fridge a few hours before cooking and pour the vinegar and cider over, so the pork can sit and soak up the liquid.

Cover the baking tray with parchment paper, then foil and wrap to form a seal. Place into the oven to roast for 3hours. Remove the parchment and foil, then roast for another hour.

Leave to rest, then ‘pull’ the pork by shredding the meat into small pieces with two forks.

For the coleslaw, chop/grate the cabbage, carrot and leek, lightly salt the vegetables and leave in a colander for an hour. Press the vegetables with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper to squeeze out any excess liquid. Then mix together all of the ingredients with the black pepper, mustard and soured cream until well combined.

To serve, pile the pulled pork shoulder on a serving plate and spoon the coleslaw next to it. Serve with sweet potato chips, soft white rolls and apple sauce.

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My mother in law and I each made a batch of macaroons and the rest of the family judged them on Christmas Day. My brother in law ducked out of the competition in the end – although we were treated to his macaroon-ish roulade on 27th! As predicted it was all a ruse so Peter could consume macaroons at Christmas!

Makes about 10 – 14

yummly.com

65g Ground Almonds
85g Icing Sugar
25g Cocoa Powder
75g Egg Whites (2 large)
Pinch of Salt
60g Caster Sugar

For the ganache:
100g Double Cream
100g Chocolate (chopped) – I used Lindt Dark Sea Salt Chocolate (and didn’t add extra pinch of slat)
20g Butter (cubes)
Pinch of Sea Salt

The day before, age the egg whites; Separate the egg whites and put them in an air tight container in the fridge for 24hrs.

Firstly make the ganache; Gently heat the cream in a small pan until it’s just beginning to boil, then take it off the heat and add the chocolate. Leave it be for a couple of minutes, then stir until combined and  smooth. Gradually beat in the butter and add a pinch of salt. Leave to set.

Make a macaroon template; Cut two pieces of baking paper to fit the baking tray, use a glass or pastry cutter about 3.5cm in diameter, cover one piece with black marker pen circles spaced about 2cm apart. Put this on the baking tray and cover with the other piece of baking paper. Use a piping bag with a 1cm nozzle.

Blitz the ground almonds in a food processor for a couple of minutes, then sift them, the icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl. Sift again, so it’s all well mixed.

Put the egg whites and a pinch of salt into a bowl and whisk. As soon as the whites begin to hold their shape, whisk in the caster sugar and continue whisking until you have a stiff meringue – you should be able to hold the bowl upside down without the meringue falling out!

Fold in the dry sifted ingredients and then beat the mixture until it falls off the spatula. Don’t worry about beating the air out of it, you don’t want too much trapped in the shells.

Spoon the mixture into the piping bag and carefully pipe on to the circles. Pick the baking tray up and drop it on to the worktop a couple of times, then leave to rest for about an hour (longer if the room isn’t warm) until the macaroons feel dry to the touch, they should not be sticky.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 180C / Gas mark 4.

Bake the macaroons on the top shelf for about 17 minutes until firm, opening the oven door a few times during cooking to let off any steam.

Once you’re sure they’re cooked, slide the baking paper off the tray onto a wire rack immediately to stop the macaroons cooking. Cool completely on the paper, then carefully peel off.

When cool, match up equal-sized macaroons, and using a small palette knife or spoon, sandwich them together with ganache.

Refrigerate for 24 hours, then serve at room temperature. Then tuck in – Delicious!!

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Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 12,000 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 20 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Serves 4

tesco.com

120g Salmon
100g Smoked Haddock
100g Pollack
120g Raw Prawns
300ml Single Cream
300ml Milk
100g Butter
50g Flour
Pinch Ground Nutmeg
Splash of Lime Juice
2 tsp Thyme
Salt & Pepper
1 Leek (chopped)
2 Boiled Eggs (chopped)
500g Mashed Potato

Peel and boil potatoes until very soft. Drain and mash with a little butter, milk, salt and pepper, then set to one side.

Heat the oven to 200C / Gas Mark 6.

Fry the leek in 50g of butter, then set aside in an oven proof dish, meanwhile boil the eggs.

Poach the fish and prawns in the cream for about 10mins, I used a frying pan over a low heat. Add a splash of lime juice, thyme and seasoning. Turn halfway through to make sure it is fully cooked. Remove the fish and prawns and add to the dish with the leeks.

Melt the butter with the flour in a pan and whisk. Use the cream you poached the fish in and the milk, add gradually a little at a time to the flour and butter, keep whisking so no lumps appear. Add nutmeg and seasoning, once thickened put to one side.

Peel the eggs and chop them, add them to the leek and fish mix and stir carefully. Pour the creamy sauce over this mixture and stir again. Add the mashed potato topping and smooth the surface with a fork.

Place in the oven for 40-50mins until the potato is golden.
Serve with peas.

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123rf.com

Serves 3-4

1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion (diced)
1 Red Pepper (thinly sliced)
2 Garlic Cloves (chopped)
75g Chorizo (chopped)
1 1/2 tbsp Cajun Seasoning
250g Long Grain Rice
400g Tin Chopped Tomatoes
350ml Vegetable Stock
200g King Prawns

Heat the oil in a large frying pan with a lid and tip in the onion and cook for 3-4 mins until soft. Then add the pepper, garlic, chorizo and Cajun seasoning. Cook for further 5 mins.

Stir in the rice to coat with oil and fry for a few mins, stir in the tomatoes and stock.

Cover and simmer for 15 mins, add the prawns and cook until pink, this should take about 5mins.

Cook until the rice is tender and serve.

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Navid’s photography has won awards and appeared in publications and exhibitions worldwide.

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Click to view slideshow.

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