My first attempt at making risotto

Tomorrow I am cooking dinner for the whole family, including my boyfriend, so the pressure is on and I will be trying my hand at a new dish. I am going to attempt to make my first risotto, after falling in love with the dish at a number of restaurants recently. So far I have tried butternut squash and Wensleydale risotto and a salmon and asparagus dish.

I am going to be making Creamy Gorgonzola and Portabello Mushroom Risotto – it sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it! Fingers crossed it all goes well. Click here for the recipe I will be using. I’ll take photos and let you know how it goes!

Raspberry, lemon and almond tray bake

I was invited to a friend’s house-warming party at the weekend and was excited to see her new place after months of hearing about it. Fitting with all my expectations, it was a cute little cottage that was exactly as I imagined – cosy and quirky with sloped floors and ceilings, and a wood burner to make it even more inviting.

A friend from work, she had invited all of our work girls and a couple of others we know – all of us keen bakers – and with so many of us travelling quite a distance to get there, we turned away from the wine we would have loved for what turned into a bit of a cake party! I decided to make one of my favourite cake recipes to share, while others made cake lollies, stout cake and banana cake – all very tasty!

I went for Raspberry, lemon and almond tray bake – a sweet almond cake topped with tart raspberries that makes a moreish treat!

The ingredients are:

• 125g plain flour
• 200g caster sugar
• 150g unsalted butter
• 75g ground almonds
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• juice of one lemon (3tbsp)
• 2 large eggs
• 200g fresh raspberries
• icing sugar, to dust

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (350 F/Gas 4). Line the base and sides of the cake tine with baking parchment.
2. Sift the flower into a bowl, add the baking powder and ground almonds, and mix well.
3. In a pan, melt the butter, sugar and lemon juice together, stirring until well combined.
4. Stir the syrupy mixture into the dry ingredients, then mix in the vanilla extract and the eggs, one at a time, then mix until smooth and well-combined.
5. Pour into the tin, then scatter the raspberries over the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden, when a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
6. Cool in the tine for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack. Dust icing sugar on top before serving, then cut into rectangles.

Review – Cookie’s Crab Shop

I went to this gorgeous crab restaurant in Salthouse, on the glorious North Norfolk Coast, last weekend.
Accompanied by my parents and my other half, we headed out to the coast specifically to try the shellfish at this restaurant after a mention in the Sunday Times magazine.
Easy to find, and cute as anything, the restaurant (which was more of a cafe than anything else) looked out over the marshes and on a beautifully sunny day, without a cloud in the sky, was the perfect setting for some fresh, Norfolk seafood.
The staff were friendly, efficient and served us the very best they had on offer while telling us all about the latest catch and what were the best combinations.
We went for prawn and garlic pate and potted shrimps to start, with Royal crab salads and a tiger prawn salad for mains.
The food was delicious and could not have been fresher unless it jumped straight out of the ocean and on to my plate.
There was such a relaxed atmosphere, and even the option of bringing along your own wine to accompany the food, as some of the diners had done.
I would heartily recommend the place to anyone with a fondness for seafood or a wish to try crab as it should be served.
The meal was followed by a drive through the stunning villages along the coast, with a quick stop in Thornham before we headed to Old Hunstanton to see my pretty little beach hut, which is having work done on it at the moment but I shall post pics when it is finished and re-painted.