Mary berry Archives - Munchies and Munchkins

Reasons To Visit The BBC Good Food Show. 11-20

June 24, 2014 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 1 Comment

Sorry for the delay in writing the second part of my series about the BBC Good Food Show bit I’ve just returned from a week away in Kent and various parts of London. It’s been a chaotic month but the BBC Good Food show was definitely a major highlight. I am already counting down the months until the winter shows.

Without further ado let’s dive into reasons 11-20 of why you should visit the BBC GFS.

11. There is a good chance you will meet a celeb chef. If you are a little bit in love Mary Berry .. or the silver fox aka Paul Hollywood then your dreams could come true:

12. You get to try before you buy. On pretty much anything. There are samples galore and it’s rude to say no so maybe skip breakfast before you go – ooh that rhymed.

13. Even more cooking demos. It’s not just the Supertheatre you need to visit to see your favourite chefs in action but also the Belling Live and Summer kitchen too. Chefs this year included: Greg Wallace, Lisa Faulkner and Shelina Permaloo amongst others.

14. You will see products you have never heard of before.. Like strawberry mint from Urban Herbs or honey beer from Hiver. This could also be your only chance to buy them, for example Urban Herbs only do collection rather than delivery so if you don’t live to near them then the Good Food Show is your only place to stock up ..and you need Urban Herbs in your life.

15. Gadgets galore. You know all those must have gadgets you just NEED..well you can see them in action and try dishes that have been created my chefs demoing them. Vitamix, Braun, Morphy Richards and Kenwood are just a few of the brands at the show. I heart my Vitamix.

16. Cocktails at Home Masterclass – a new addition to the show and a very exciting one. Learn how to make three cocktails under the watchful tutoring of cocktail gurus Tom Soden & Frankie Campopiano and learn all about essential cocktail kit and ingredients.

17. MasterChef Street Food visited the BBC Good Food Show Summer with their wonderfully converted double-decker Routemaster bus, with delicious street food cooked by MasterChef Champion Mat Follas (Champion 2009) and Jackie Kearney (Finalist 2011).
Dishes included a Smoky Chicken Burger, Singapore Scallops (Queenie scallops and Crab Bisque with Rice Noodles), Banh Mi Buddha Sandwich, and two delicious ice creams: Lavender & Lemon and Walnut & Miso.

18. Back to the celeb chef thing. If you are a cookbook addict ( like me ) you can get your cookbook fix and even get them signed by numerous chefs at signing sessions throughout the day. Here is Michel Roux Jr at a show last year:

19. Gifts. You can buy some really lovely presents at the show. Things that people are not always able to buy in the shops. Stock up!

20. Wine tasting Masterclass hosted by Sue Atkins – what a way to end up my 20 reasons to go. Wine. I don’t really need to go into much detail do I?

New to the selection of BBC Good Food shows is the Cakes and Bakes show which will be held in London this October. Find out more here: www.bbcgoodfoodbakesandcakesshow.com Mary Berry will be appearing every day and as we are now good friends* ( May be a slight exaggeration) then I urge you to go see her.

* I am part of the Official BBC Good Food Show Blogger Panel and as such receive tickets to the show for the purpose of the review.

Great Bloggers Bake off – Brownies

September 22, 2013 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 4 Comments

I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for a while.. It really does make the very best gooey brownies every single time.

This is the second entry into the GBBO ..my first is HERE.

I am disappointed that for one reason or another I have missed out on several weeks but never mind. Once again I hope to be able to join in the remaining weeks.

My recipe is based on one that I fiddled with from Mary Berry – queen of cakes herself.

Beckys Brownies

You will need:

275g softened salted butter
375g golden vanilla caster sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp Nielsen Massey vanilla paste/or extract
75g cocoa powder
100g self raising flour
35g white chocolate chunks/chips
35g dark chocolate chunks/chips
35g milk chocolate chips
50g icing sugar (for decoration)

Preheat your oven to gas mark 4 and grease/line a 12×9 traybake tin.

It’s the simplest method. Put all ingredients apart from your icing sugar in a large mixing bowl and mix either by hand or with an electric whisk/beater for a few minutes until combined.

Tip into your prepared tin and level out. Bake for approximately 40 mins until your top is set and it still has a slight wobble but is cooked. Remove from oven and leave to cool in tin for a few minutes before placing on a wire rack, when more or less lukewarm dredge with sieved icing sugar. Cut into squares and serve.

These are delicious served with vanilla ice cream when slightly warm.

They keep really well for days in a sealed container although good luck with trying not to eat them. They are seriously good -this is the 4th time I’ve made these in 6 weeks! Oops. I have shared though. Honestly.

The Great Bloggers Bake Off is a weekly linky organised by Helen from The Crazy Kitchen and Jenny from Mummy Mishaps

Cooking at Christmas time

December 27, 2012 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

Has Christmas Day really come and gone already? It seems like we prepare for an absolute age and then it’s gone in a flash! I hope all your wishes came true and your dinners were delicious.

I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with family so I didn’t get a chance to cook which I missed! Yesterday I just relaxed and spent time playing with Izzy or watching tv with my OH but today I really wanted to get back in the kitchen. I was spoilt this year, spoilt by the wonderful time I got to spend with my family and the fabulous food I had to eat and once again spoilt with perfect presents from my OH and Izzy.

I won’t list all my presents but I will tell you that I will be experimenting with new recipes, cooking methods and playing with kitchen gadgets for quite some time!

Some of my books:

Already bookmarked around 30 MUST TRY recipes.

I was also lucky enough …after numerous hints to get a new waffle maker so it would have been rude to not try that out. It’s very different to my old waffle maker (my mums) so my first attempt looked like this:

I blame the waffle maker instructions. It said use 1 tablespoon of mixture .. Clearly not enough so I doubled it for attempt 2 which was a major improvement :

Both tasted delicious. For those interested the recipe I use for waffles is here and I often add extra ingredients such as vanilla or cinnamon… Or even chocolate chips.

Waffle making was not enough I needed to make something delicious for dinner so I tried a recipe which I have heard fave reviews about. Ham in coca cola. Sounds weird, tastes dreamy.
I used Nigellas recipe which you can find here I made a few small adjustments. Instead of using molasses followed by mustard powder and sugar I simply rubbed in a tablespoon of English mustard after I had placed my cloves in the scored fat and then followed by rubbing in 2 tablespoons of molasses. Worked well for me and the end result was so good I was amazed.

Here are some pics :

Bubbling hot hot hot

Just ready to go in the oven

Begging to be eaten but best leave it cool…

Worth waiting for

And one more just because it looked so pretty

If you have a ham lurking in your fridge you must try this, if not then well there are lots of hams in the shops at the moment. Buy one, try this. You will not be disappointed.

My kitchen addiction only seems to be growing so expect more and more recipes very soon.

I am aiming for healthier recipes in January. Until then enjoy.

P.S thanks for the feedback from you lovely people who tried my sprout recipe on Christmas Day. So glad you loved it too!

Reasons To Visit The BBC Good Food Show. 11-20

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Great Bloggers Bake off – Brownies

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Cooking at Christmas time

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