Gwynnie's Blueberry Muffins

Pessimistic though I was about the arrival of Gwyneth Paltrow's cook book (would it too easily fall into the celebrity-turned-everything-else-but-in-a-rubbish-kinda-way category?), I must say that aside from a few rather dubious sounding items, such as Vegenaise (?!!?), I am actually quite the fan, and thank you to my lovely mum for ordering it for me.

There is nothing ground-breakingly jaw dropping, but her recipes appear to be homely, balanced and tasty too. The book is grounded on a foodie family, all with a bit of context which is always nice as food does evoke certain memories and resemble certain things to certain people. Firstly, she doesn't write the book under the pretense of a professional chef; rather she declares upon the first page 'I am not a professional cook. I am an amateur and a lover of all things culinary'. Once renound for her extreme macro-biotic diet she does offer healthy options in her recipes, sometimes with a completely alternative ingredient list. You'll be glad to hear, though, there is nothing scarily extreme and for the most part you won't need to schedule a visit to some health shop or chemist, but simply your local supermarket.

My first foray into the world of cooking as guided by Gwynnie was an attempt at her blueberry muffins (the less healthy versions, incase you're wondering!). My lovely friend Lizzie and I set about making these little wonders yesterday afternoon. It was very easy and enjoyable with a short and simple ingredient list, that let the fresh blueberries speak for themselves. In a moment of culinary creativity (and also due to the fact Tesco metro had failed us) we decided to make the muffin cases ourselves from squares of baking-parchment to give the oh so deli-esque touch.

The resulting golden buns, packed with oozing, bursting blueberries were divine and I couldn't resist popping one back in the oven to re-heat for breakfast this morning... so much tastier than the bought variety that are have that synthetic 'blueberry-flavour' taste.

Here's the recipe:
125g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large free-range eggs
125ml milk
225g plain flour
175g caster sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
300g fresh blueberries

-Preheat the oven to 190 C
-Pop some muffin cases into a muffin tin, or impress and alternatively make your own (a la Lizzie!) with 14cm squares of baking parchment pressed into the muffin tin so the corners spike up at the sides
-Whisk together the eggs, milk and melted butter
-In another bowl mix the dry ingredients together (salt, flour, sugar and baking powder)
-Combine the wet ingredients into the dry, apparently 8 stirs is sufficient and ensures the muffins are not too dense
- Divide the mixture equally between 12 cases and sprinkle a little sugar on top of each before baking in the oven for around 30mins. Blueberry bliss!

Thai for Two...

Upon discovery of a rather tucked away Asian restaurant in Newcastle, my boyfriend took me out for  a lovely oriental supper at Barn Asia.

The tuk tuk outside was a taste of what was to come as we entered the fashionably decorated interior. The walls where adorned with super cool asian artwork and the feel was modern and contemporary with colourful lanterns hanging from the ceiling and ornate furniture by the bar area.

The menu was reassuringly small- something that is, in my opinion, certainly no bad thing. We begun our Asian taste experience with starters of Thai yellow rice balls with a melon, cucumber salsa and tempura prawns. These curious, deep-fried balls of rice were delicious; crispy on the outside and wonderfully spicy and aromatic within. Bursting with thai taste bud tickling curry paste with notes of lemongrass, chili, ginger, garlic and coriander and presented beautifully. The cucumber, melon salsa and micro herb adornment snuggled satisfyingly atop each orb and provided a perfect cooling and flavoursome accompaniment.

My main course was a rather delicious shitaake mushroom pad thai with chicken, with the usual rice noodles, egg, spring onions, peanut and a sticky sweet sauce and a sliced chicken breast scattered scrumptiously across the noodle bed, with perfectly crispy skin.

There was a seemingly delightful dark chocolate and peanut butter tart on the pudding menu, although after seriously over-indulging in course one and two where my eyes had certainly been bigger than my tummy, and although totally tempted,  neither of us could quite face the thought of round three.. All in all an amazing asian sensation and one that I'd thoroughly recommend-  we didn't quite make it to pudding but what better excuse to go back, I'd say.

TOO TRUE...

Captivating Cupcakes...

Last weekend was my housemate- Lucy's 21st birthday. It proved to be quite the culinary few days with delicious home-made pizzas on Thursday followed by chocolate brownies and rice-crispy cakes before a cup-cake and champagne tea party on Friday and a delicious Italian supper in Gusto (courtesy of her lovely parents).

A truly note-worthy addition to the celebrations were Lucy's Granny Margaret's beautiful cupcakes. They looked almost too good to eat, but upon eating were equally as delectable. Lovingly decorated with perfectly piped icing and topped off with sweet little sugar roses and silver balls, they were a real feast for the eyes and the tummy! Presented in a specially bought cupcake box, they were the star of the show and everyone was utterly impressed by Granny Margaret's talents.