Quick Summer Wine Spritzer ;-)

Myself and my friend and housemate Rob, fancied a summery cocktail one rather hot and sunny evening last week. Filled by the joys of anything containing alcohol and the fact we were parched, I created this super easy and rather refreshing white wine spritzer.

A perfect drink for summer parties or to have with a few snacks, its costs very little and tasty!

Bottoms up! :-)

You will need:

1 bottle of white wine, dry or sweet depending on your preference.
1 bottle of white lemonade
1 punnet of strawberries
3-4 berry/fruity tea-bags (non-caffeine, just fried fruits and berries)
Ice
A few sprigs of fresh basil to garnish (optional)

These tea-bags are excellent and sold in Lidl Uk ;-)

 Serving:

A large jug or punch bowl

Method:

Firstly cut the strawberries in half, I used about 10 or so but its up to you. Add the fruit to the jug/bowl.

Next pour the entire bottle of white wine into the jug/bowl and to that add the same volume of white lemonade to it, you can add less or more depending on how strong or weak you fancy it.

Next add the ice to the jug and then add 3-4 fruit tea-bags, its best to tie them together with a piece of thread or string and let the dangle in the mixture for about 10mins. While this is happening I advise you store it in the fridge. The object of this is to both colour the spritzer and to add a fruity flavour to it. Once the 10 or so minutes are up gently squeeze out the tea-bags and remove from the mixture.

Add the sprigs of basil and stir well. Its now time to serve!

Rob enjoying his Spritzer !! ;-)

Crumble Recipe "Everybody's good at cooking something, I'm good at cooking crumble" The Crumble Song

Crumble Recipe

“Everybody’s good at cooking something, and I’m good at cooking Crumble”- Lorraine Bowen

Link to her BGT Performance

Inspired by Singer/Songwriter Lorraine Bowen’s hit song ‘The Crumble Song’ from this year’s Britain’s Got Talent completion, I decided to create a crumble recipe.

Her tantalizing and tongue-in-cheek lyrics reminded me of the fun I had as a child when having crumble for Sunday pudding. Lorraine’s attitude and approach to life is so inspiring and this nouveau-styled love song, although simply worded is genius in execution.

This dish is simple, yet effective and is perfect for those with the ‘Can’t cook, won’t cook attitude’.

Enjoy ;-)

You will need:

For crumble:

120-150g of plain flour (depending on the size of the dish)

50g Butter

3 tsps of Coconut oil

60g of Brown sugar

For Filling:

3-4 large apples of your liking

3-4 peaches

1 heaped tsp of Cinnamon

2 heaped dessert spoons of brown sugar

Cookware:

Crumble dish or any pyrex  dish that’s suitable for the oven.

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180c gas mark 6.

Into a mixing bowl sift the flour and add the brown sugar. Dice up the butter and add to the flour. With your fingertips start to rub the butter and flour together so that it starts to resemble a breadcrumb like consistency.

Next add a spoon of coconut oil and mix it through with your fingertips, continue to do so with the other two spoons until you have a bowl of breadcrumb like mixture. Set aside.

Next peel and core the apples and peaches .Cut them into 2cm wide pieces. Add the fruit to the dish and sprinkle on top the 2 dessert spoons of sugar and spoon of cinnamon.

Next cover the fruit with the crumble mixture, making sure to do so in an even fashion. Pop the dish into the pre-heated oven for about 25-30 mins or until the top has gone golden brown. Once done take out and let cool down. Serve with cream or custard.

Quick Pasta Carbonara

Quick Pasta Carbonara

When you want make something really quick and tasty why not try Pasta Carbonara.This is my version of the dish which is super quick and easy as I use the cream to create the sauce and not eggs as is traditionally used. Pasta Carbonara originates from Rome in Italy and it was created in the 20^th century. The smoked bacon merges with the creamy sauce well. It’s the perfect comfort food! And I for one am a big fan of comfort-food cuisine.

You will need:

1 large red onion

Dried basil

1 pack of smoked diced bacon

Garlic (powdered or fresh)

1 container of single fresh cream (about 300ml)

Spaghetti ( 1 generous handful)

Serves: 2 generous portions

Garnish:

Fresh basil

Parmesan cheese

Black pepper

Method:

Firstly dice the red onion and garlic and add to the pan with a generous dribble of olive oil. Next add the diced smoked bacon and 1 tsp. of dried basil. Over a medium heat begin to fry.

While this is frying start to bring the water for the spaghetti to the boil and add a pinch of salt.

Once the Onion, garlic and bacon has cooked, take off the heat and set to the side.

Once the spaghetti has cooked, drain and add to the Onion, garlic and bacon to the pot and stir in well. Next add the fresh cream and season with some black pepper, place the pot back on the heat and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring well so that all the flavours merge together.

After all the flavours have merged, serve the portions into two bowls and sprinkle with parmesan and black pepper and garnish with fresh basil.

Buon Appetito!