The Breakfast Milkshake

Sometimes, I do try to be healthy. 

Not so long back I was at the gym 3/4 times a week and I ate my five a day, everyday. 

Things have slipped and I'll be trying to sort out my lifestyle a bit over the next few months. 

Of course I will still live the foodie lifestyle.  After all food made with top quality ingredients is perfect for the health conscious.

So, first up is an old favourtie of mine; the The Breakfast Milkshake.

It's easy to make; providing you have a blender.

Ingredients;

Large glass (a pint?) of milk
One banana
10-12 small strawberries
1 tsp honey

Of course we're all about quality ingredients so I'd use a locally produced milk.  With me being based in Sheffield I used Our Cow Molly milk.  Strawberries were from East Yorkshire and were deliciously sweet.  Banana was from wherever banana's come from, but it's needed to thicken the milkshake up.  Sheffield Honey provides the perfect touch of natural sweetness without making the shake sickly.

So, place the chopped up fruit in the blender along with the milk and honey.

Hit blend & give it 30 seconds or so, or just until everything is smooth.

Pour out and enjoy your healthy, but delicious breakfast.

Additions can include a handful of porridge oats and dried fruit to thicken it up further. 

What about you?  What's your favourite milkshake combo?  Remember to try and keep it healthy!

Bradfield Farmers Market

UPDATE - BOTH GERTY'S PORK AND TEABOX HAVE CEASED TRADING.

Well, I couldn't make the Farmers Market this time (far too much work to do with exams coming up) so I sent the husband up with a list. This is what he came back with...........

Blossom Honey from Sheffield Honey Company

This is a treat! It's clean tasting and sweet, but not sickly so. It's how honey should taste and the difference between this and the shop bought stuff is quite impressive.

A pork pie with black pudding from Gerty's Pork

Oooo I do like a good pork pie. The meat was tasty and free of gristle and the jelly casing was delicious. The only downside for me was that the flavour of the black pudding didn't really come through. As Gav'd had a taster of the black pudding and proclaimed it as some of the best he had tasted, I felt I was missing out a little. Next time, we'll get the back pudding too.

Big Boy Chops, also from Gerty's Pork

These are still frozen and will be eaten later in the week along with...

Sheffield Brew from Tea Box for my dad

He'll be chuffed to see this again as it's currently his favourite brew.

Liquorice ice cream and milk from Our Cow Molly

Check out the Made in Sheffield logos! The milk is super fresh and will easily keep for a week. The ice cream is great and the unusual addition of liquorice makes it an interesting choice too.

Chocolate Chilli Brownies from Heavenlies

I've said it before and I'll say it again; these are the best brownies ever! The chilli adds a warm kick, but isn't over powering.

Pressed tongue from Halls Home Produce

This is really good quality meat and great in sandwiches.

He didn't do too bad did he?!

For more info on the Bradfield Farmers Market, Our Cow Molly and Heavenlies click here.

Sardine Supper - No 2

We had the last of the sardines tonight. I gutted and cleaned them, stuffed them with chopped coriander and chilli. I then squeezed the juice of half a fat lemon over them, seasoned and drizzled with olive oil.

Once my char-grill pan was smoking hot I cooked the sardines for 2 minutes each side.

I then squeezed more lemon juice over the fish and served them with salad, bread and butter.

Oh my. Sod roasting sardines; char-grilling or barbecuing is the way  The fish was really smoky and the skin was crisp, but the flesh was still lovely and moist. Fantastic.

I now need more sardines!

Sardine Supper - Roasted Sardines with Lemon, Chilli, Garlic and Coriander

On my most recent trip to Castle Market I spotted kilo bags of sardines on offer for £2. I hadn’t banked on buying sardines and was actually after some Rainbow Trout, but given the price and the fact that I could buy them frozen I had to have them!

Once home I stuck them back in the freezer so that I could use them once I’d devised my plan... The people of Twitter and the Blogging world (The Knifeman, Steel City Kitchen, Just Preserves, The Food Nut & He Who Cooks Eats) were happy to provide ideas and I took them all on board when it came round to cooking.

So a quiet Saturday night in was a chance for me to have a go at the sardines. I defrosted 6 of them which was well under half of the bag so I still have plenty left. I had decided to serve them with some crusty bread, salad and a homemade salsa. The salsa was pretty basic. I chopped up about 16 cherry tomatoes, sat them in a sieve to drain off some of the juices, added a bunch of coriander (roughly chopped) half a chilli (finely chopped), a small onion (diced), the juice of half a lime and a sprinkle of salt and mixed everything together.  

Onto the sardines. After pre-heating the oven to about 180C the next bit was really bit grim as I had decided to gut them. I just slit open their bellies scrapped all the gunk out and washed in fresh water. Funny how the husband never seems to get cooking when blood and guts are involved! Scaling them was pretty easy as the scales just fell off as I rubbed my hand along the fish under water.

Once I was happy they were clean and I was ready to go, I spread the sardines out in a roasting dish and dotted slices of lemon, garlic, chilli and stalks of coriander between each one along with some knobs of butter. I then squeezed the juice of half a lemon over the fish, seasoned and drizzled with olive oil.

They then sat in the oven for about 12 minutes. 

They were delicious. The flesh was incredibly moist and the flavours of the garlic, chilli and coriander came through subtly. The knifeman’s suggestion of salsa was one to be repeated as it contributed to the freshness of the dish.

Everyone said bread was a must and yes it was as it was especially useful to mop up the buttery cooking juices from the fish. And Just Preserves were right; sardines are real finger food as it was easier to pick the flesh from the tiny bones with fingers rather than attempt to use clunky cutlery.

It was a really fresh & simple dish and I think serving one with a bit of salsa and a slice of crusty bread would work nicely as a starter.

As for the rest that are sitting in my freezer I think I’ll char-grill them. Steel City Kitchen and The Food Nut both suggested barbecuing them and as I don’t have a BBQ, the char-grill pan will have to do. I think I’ll serve them simply drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil. 

He Who Cooks Eats suggested tying slices of orange around each fish before grilling which is another idea to bear in mind for the next bag, as I WILL be buying more of these little beauties!

Any more sardine ideas to share?

The husband cooks!

Normally I am insanely jealous when the husband has a day off and I have to put in a hard day's work.... but not this time. To be fair he is putting in a few night shifts and weekends at the moment so he was due a break. Also, he spent a fair amount of it preparing my dinner!

Having bought some fab W Bunting & Son lamb steaks the dish had to be lamb based. Gav, having spotted some wild garlic on a recent bike ride, went off foraging for some to go with the lamb (via lunch at Amigo's Mexican Kitchen I must add).

Of course, I had little to do with the prep so here's the recipe - Paul Rankin's Chargrilled Lamb with Garlic Puree, Borlotti Beans and Wild Garlic. Gav pretty much followed it to the letter, bar using slightly less oil and balsamic vinegar and he didn't use fillet. Oh and he used rocket instead of lamb's lettuce.

Looks pretty good doesn't it? It was! Garlic puree was lovely and creamy (and will be made again as a dip). Crispy garlic slices were milder than expected (as they were boiled in milk first). Wild garlic was nice and fresh (and he has loads left over to make a pesto with tomorrow). Bean salad was subtly flavoured with the fresh thyme which I love with lamb. And lamb itself was good.

Not bad for a Thursday night tea is it?

Oh and by the way.  Amigo's has been refurbished and the menu has been extended.  Apparently it has more of a restaurant feel now and there is steak on the menu.  Mmmmmmmm!