The rolling hills of Petritoli in Italy

Next holiday, perhaps...? 

The neighbour’s awning flaps in the breeze, the birds squawk occasionally in the distance and a Cinquecenta rattles past below on the cobbled streets. Otherwise nothing. The only buzz here comes from a bumblebee nestling into a cherry blossom. It is March, I am on a roof top terrace with the sun beating down, my legs prepped for tanning and the most glorious panoramic view looking over the valley.

The Sibillini Mountains form the backdrop of this vast landscape, peaked with February’s snow fall- what a difference a month makes- and blue in the haze of the sky. Below them are rolling, fecund hills scattered with peach, pear and olive trees, met with a trickling river at the foot of the valley.  Each hill top has a small, stone village that looks as if it might tumble off, losing it’s balance, if the wind were to blow any harder. 

Two bell towers obscure my view, oddly spaced a mere 40 metres apart, but beautifully designed- one topped by a weather vein and the other by the Virgin Mary herself looking down on the village with a watchful eye. The locals, laid back and very Italian, remain firmly footed in their winter. Whilst I am breaking a sweat in shorts and a t-shirt, they trundle around their topsy-tervy town donning their puffer jackets and polo necks, diving inside for warmth wherever possible. Ridiculous. The old dears in the vegetable store exclaimed, out of disbelief, to our Italian-speaking hosts that ‘those British’ are mad, ‘how could they be wearing strapped tops and flip-flops in weather like this?’ But, there’s no stopping us, however British and touristy we may look there is nothing, and I mean nothing, getting in the way of my pasty, winter trodden complexion and this positively Caribbean sun.

Thank you to my God Parents for a lovely week with them in their beautiful holiday home…a week full of fun, food and fantastic sun (mostly). Above are photos of barely a few of the to-die-for meals we indulged in; Moules Mariniere by the sea, Beef covered in balsamic, rocket and parmesan and the compulsory, twice a day injection of real Italian ice cream.  Oh, and some sheep.

This is the PALACE (!) that my my Mother and God Mother so wish me to marry in, anybody want to take the leap first? It's not too expensive. 

Well, That Lasted Long...The Failed Resolutions of 2012

 After almost a month of angelic, refreshing, healthy behaviour there seems to be a bit of a tug on the old heart/belly strings. It is the well deserved pig-out in which one must consume as much naughtiness as possible in one sitting.

If you haven't broken the healthy resolutions yet- now is your chance, we are truly in the depth of that January / February black hole and the only solution is home made, indulgence. If you never began to attempt any sort of new lifestyle, keep on trucking and treat yourself to even more. However, not to put you off or anything, I have been rather pre-occupied with summer plans due to the lack of sunlight and the issue of the 'bikini body' bombarded my brain box. I think we'll address that another time...

Ali's Roast Ham 

My wonderful housemate produced an amazing feast; slow roasted ham in orange juice and Magners cider with honey roasted vegetables. Upon the late arrival of a friend I, out of complete empathy, had my fourth helpings of the evening. Isn't it horrible eating alone with everyone glaring and salivating? So I decided to ease the pressure. Aren't I a good friend!

Tarte au Citron 

Not that we needed any more treats after the main, but I couldn't help myself. This is Mary Berry's Tarte au Citron featured on The Great British Bake Off. I'm sure Mary would have had a lot to say about mine, but as far as I'm concerned my pals thought it tasted amazing and it didn't look too shabby either! The more you make your own pastry, the better it will get and the more joy and pride you will get from your creation! So find a way that best suits you, I just go with using my hands all the way- none of this electric zizzing, and hope for the best! Maybe one day I will be up to Mary's standards, but taste and heart comes before any of that. 

Don't you just love a picture of the evidence? 

I hope this has inspired you to get baking and feast-out with friends! 

X

When Nobody's Looking

When I served up this meal my mum turned to me, smiled and said "The best meals always come when nobody's looking." 

Now, I realise that the dish looks fairly daunting and clumsy; a pile of mash with a fish-as-long-as-my-arm flung on top as if it's just jumped out of the water itself. But seriously, you wouldn't be questioning it if you could taste the quite simply amazing flavours from something so easy. 

3 Steps to make..

Normal mash (add celeriac to give it that extra lift and kick), bake your whole Mackerel with olive oil, a good helping of salt, pepper and squeezed slices of lemon for 20 minutes, leave the lemon slices in the tray with the fish, in the heat they will soften and give the oil a bit of zest. 

Serve with a caramelised red cabbage, the sweetness of this will explode when combined with the lemon. Start to fry in a pan with oil, then add about 2 large spoons of brown sugar and a good gulp of red wine vinegar and just let that cook 'till its soft and sweet. 

This meal is so simple, you can make it in 30 minutes and it is packed with healthy, nutritional goodies like omega 3 which is brain food perfect for us 3rd years about to tackle our last term and, of course, for all the other people who use their brains all the time...

I made this meal for myself and my parents and it came out of nowhere. Remember that not every meal has to be grand, expensive and time consuming. Sometimes, as my mum said, the best meals come from when you are most relaxed and without pressure. 

Contact me with any questions and happy healthy cooking! X

Back with another one of those...

I'M SORRY for my lack of action lately, but don't worry I have been hard at work in other fields...or stages.

Here is a rather entertaining photo of me playing Sir Toby Belch in our UEA all female production of Twelfth Night. It was a huge success, we sold out every night and had an excellent time whilst we were at it, thanks to Ant Cule our wonderful director.

This term though, I'll be concentrating on cooking and writing so expect a flood of exciting new recipes, fun dinner parties and healthy ideas.

I think I can just assume that many of us are trying to burn off christmas calories, so I plan on helping you do this, but without making your meals boring, dull and unappetising.

Watch this space...

A Fridge Prepared for Punting

I've visited Cambridge twice this holiday and have been so delighted and impressed by it both times I think it may even supersede Oxford. Although, of course, I don't want to speak too soon. Oxford is my home town and I hold those feelings of attachment you get with a place that is full of memories and experience. However,  these memories are of the people and rarely of the place. My parents are in the process of moving from the house I was born in and lived in for 21 years, to a lovely but unfamiliar house near by.  A nugget that I will always hold during this time from my mother was that we can make a home anywhere as long as we are together with our comforts around us. 

Having let go of some of my loyalty to Oxford due to this uprooting, I fear Cambridge may have caught my affections at a vulnerable time! It is a magnificent city, when the sun shined upon the vast greens and the college steeples I gained a sort of comfort knowing that I could admire such sights without having to work as hard as those inside the buildings (and that I didn't have to see it in the rain). 

Punting on the Cam was, as you can imagine, delightful. The sun was shining, I'd made a Victoria Sponge and a Goats Cheese and Caramelized Onion Tart and Anna had made a devilish Banoffee Pie. We packed our small raft with treats, and sun-cream for the fair skinned Jack, and set sale down the river, only to be joined by the rest of the tourist population in Cambridge that day. We were in such jolly moods that this didn't matter and there was boat banter to be had across the water and a sense of camaraderie in our voyage. Were we all going to the same shores to fight the same battle though? Well, yes, everyone seemed to moore up at the same time and cohabitate on the large expanse of grass where we managed to maintain enough privacy to eat all of our food without sharing one morsel. 

                        

The sights were spectacular, the shopping superb but the punting too packed for me and I thought it a little absurd. For authentic, non-tourist punting I will stick to The Cherwell Boat House where we all know how to punt in a straight line and we all know the direction to the Viccy Arms. http://www.victoriaarms.co.uk/home.php

X

P.s If you don't know what punting is, as some imbeciles don't, go get some culture in you.

Here's the recipe ! 

Food for Hungry Actors.

Menu

Roast lamb and vegetables with spinach and caramelised onion gravy.  

Apple crumble and custard. 

After months and months of exhausting, mind blowingly dull and frustrating rehearsals my cast and I sat down to be fed properly at last. Having eaten nothing but Pasta in Plastic Cartons, Prawn Mayo Sandwiches and Packeted Plastic Sushi for what seemed like a weighty eternity at last we reached the end of our rehearsal process and the weekend before our exam allowed us just one restful, life saving evening of stuffing our faces.

The five of us slumped low around my low lit, low down, coffee table and exhaled an exaggerated seven hours of rehearsal, most too tired to even sup on some vino. Of course I did, with some help from a trusty house mate. I needed the fuel to quickly cook up this feast, it was an easy one really, although I like to make a big deal out of rubbing the garlic butter and thyme into the leg of lamb, there really isn't much to it. 

Whilst my guests wearily wolfed down a packed of New Kettle Chips(The packet was Fuschia, how could I resist?) I caramelised red onions in the juice from the roast and a lot of red wine.  It went down so well that someone even lent over and said to me "I would pay for this at a restaurant, Chess." I should hope so too.

The Apple Crumble came at one of those times when absolutely nobody needs any more food whatsoever. Our fatigue and weakness was soon squashed by a hearty roast and the only thing to tip us off the edge was crumble and custard. But we'd done our fair share of exercise that day and I believe I'd jumped on a few shoulders and done a few roly pollies in order to create the wonderful physical theatre master peace we so fervently worked towards. On the Monday morning after this evening, however, I do recollect feeling a little less agile and dainty as I once did.

X

Lunch.

I can't eat wheat, instead I eat things like Rye bread and spelt flour. Turns out I really like it and it is better for you. I recommend getting Rye next time you purchase some bread, its all the rage at the moment. I also try to be healthy when I am not cooking up ridiculously naughty meals, and this is just a mere suggestion of a filling, healthy and original lunch (or dinner, why not). 

Poach some eggs, toast some Rye bread, chop a chive, boil some green beans, chuck around some lettuce and place some cottage cheese on top. One thing I try and cut out on is salad dressing, its a big fatty NoNo. Buy hey, it is delicious so it depends how you wanna roll.