Margie Broadhead

Pan Seared Scallops with Chorizo & Cauliflower Puree

November 14, 2013 by Margie Broadhead Leave a Comment

“One should eat to live, not live to eat” Moliere. Au contraire Moliere, au contraire.

I can honestly say I truly believe Moliere would never have said this if he had tasted this dish. Bold claim, but frankly scallop, I don’t give a clam!

I think you’ll back me up once you’ve made it and devoured the lot. It’s a (self-proclaimed) delicious dish and is simple enough to whip up for yourself (because you’re worth it), but is also snazzy enough to serve at a dinner party. And dinner parties are all about the snazz. (That might not be a real word, but it should be)

Cauliflower puree is one of my most favourite things to eat and once you’ve tried it, I know you’ll think it a worthy competitor to trusty mashed potato. I would like to see a cauliflower and a potato battle it out in a boxing ring. Not that either of them would be very good at boxing. That would be silly. They don’t have arms.

Anyway, (clears throat), I would choose my cauliflower puree over mashed spuds any day

I definitely count this as a healthy dish and it’s deceptively simple to make.

You need 2 scallops per person for a starter or 4 per person for a main course

I’m going to give the recipe for the starter option, but this is a very easy recipe to double up on and exact measures are not necessary so give it a go!

Pan Seared Scallops with Chorizo & Cauliflower Puree

Author: Made By Margie

Serves: 4 People

Ingredients

8 scallops
225g chorizo ring, sliced into 8 slices
1 large cauliflower
About 150g butter
Handful chopped parsley
Generous slug of cream, NOT a slug who likes giving presents
Salt and pepper
Pint of milk (optional)
1 lemon, half cut into wedges, the other half left as it is

Instructions

First things first, start by making the cauliflower puree. Chop your cauliflower into chunks, if you are a thuggins like me. Or you can be more refined and carefully break your cauliflower into delicate florets.
Either way you get there, pop your cauliflower into a pan.
I like to cook the cauliflower in milk as I think it makes for a smoother, creamier puree. Imagine how happy you would be after a bath in warm milk, and our aim is to make the cauliflower as happy as possible. But if you just use water it will still be delicious….just not as delicious as mine. But definitely still delicious.
Bring the milk/water to the boil and then simmer for about 25 mins or until the cauliflower is really tender.
Test this by piercing the thickest stalkiest bit of cauliflower with a knife and it should go easily through. To get a smooth puree, you do need the cauliflower to be really soft.
Then strain the cauliflower and most likely get a steamy facial at the same time. Two birds, one stone.
Now, this next stage is optional, but I really think it makes all the difference, and in the grand scheme of things is very little faff.
Melt a knob of butter in the cauliflower pan and once its melted throw in your drained cauliflower.
You want to cook it for about 5 minutes on a medium-high heat, stirring every minute or so. You don’t want the cauliflower to burn (obviously) but it’s okay if it gets a little bit coloured. By the end it should be really smooshy and buttery. Yum
Now either tip the cauliflower into a food processor, or use a handheld stick blender to puree the cauliflower. Throw in a generous lump of butter and a generous slug of cream, season with salt and pepper and whizz until smooth and creamy.
Taste and adjust seasoning. Try not to eat the whole lot now.
This can be made a couple of days in advance and kept covered in the fridge to make this dish even easier. To serve, either pop it in a microwaveable bowl and blitz for about 2 mins until piping hot, or tip it into a baking dish and warm through in the oven at about 170 C for about 25 mins (make sure it is gently warming, not bubbling too much)
Right, now, when your guests are chatting amongst themselves, you just need to disappear to the kitchen for 5 minutes. Take a large frying pan, preferably non-stick if you have one. Put it on a high heat, but don’t add any oil.
When the pan is hot, add your sliced chorizo and fry for a minute or so until it is lightly golden and ever so slightly crispy.
Tip onto a plate and cover with some tin foil to keep it warm. A little tin foil blanket if you will.
Now, don’t worry about cleaning the pan, just throw in a little knob of butter and a glug of olive oil and heat until the pan is smoking ever so slightly.
Whilst the pan is heating up, season your scallops with salt and then carefully place them into the hot pan. They should sizzle sexily when you add them, if they don’t sizzle they aren’t sexy enough, the pan is not quite hot enough so just hang on a bit and then try again.
Now cook for about 1 minute and 30 seconds – don’t be tempted to move them around, you want them to get a lovely crust on one side, so look at your watch or count to ninety.
Now carefully flip the scallops over and cook for about another minute.
Don’t overcook them – scallops are better undercooked than overcooked, when you press on them they should still be bouncy, if they are firm then they are over cooked. If you are unsure, you can always take one out and slice into it, it should be translucent in the middle (no shame in doing this, and you can always serve this one to yourself). Obviously scallops vary in size, so this is only a guide, but if you buy lovely fresh largish scallops from the fishmonger, this recipe will stand you in good stead.
Now, squeeze half the lemon onto the scallops and remove the scallops from the pan and add to the chorizo plate.
Turn the heat off and sprinkle the parsley in the pan.
Spoon on about 2 tablespoons of cauliflower puree onto each plate.
Place 2 scallops and 2 slices of chorizo onto the puree.
Spoon over the buttery, parsley sauce from the pan onto the scallops.
Garnish with a lemon wedge and sprinkle with pea shoots (I KNOW I’m obsessed with pea shoots…I need help).

Restaurant worthy dish in no time at all!

Pan Seared Scallops With Chorizo & Cauliflower Puree

November 13, 2013 by Margie Broadhead Leave a Comment

“One should eat to live, not live to eat” Moliere. Au contraire Moliere, au contraire.

I can honestly say I truly believe Moliere would never have said this if he had tasted this dish. Bold claim, but frankly scallop, I don’t give a clam!

Anyway, (clears throat), I would choose my cauliflower puree over mashed spuds any day

I definitely count this as a healthy dish and it’s deceptively simple to make.

You need 2 scallops per person for a starter or 4 per person for a main course

I’m going to give the recipe for the starter option, but this is a very easy recipe to double up on and exact measures are not necessary so give it a go!

Pan Seared Scallops With Chorizo & Cauliflower Puree

Author: Made By Margie

Ingredients

8 scallops
225g chorizo ring, sliced into 8 slices
1 large cauliflower
About 150g butter
Handful chopped parsley
Generous slug of cream, NOT a slug who likes giving presents
Salt and pepper
Pint of milk (optional)
1 lemon, half cut into wedges, the other half left as it is

Instructions

First things first, start by making the cauliflower puree - chop your cauliflower into chunks, if you are a thuggins like me. Or you can be more refined and carefully break your cauliflower into delicate florets.
Either way you get there, pop your cauliflower into a pan
I like to cook the cauliflower in milk as I think it makes for a smoother, creamier puree. Imagine how happy you would be after a bath in warm milk, and our aim is to make the cauliflower as happy as possible. But if you just use water it will still be delicious….just not as delicious as mine. But definitely still delicious.
Bring the milk/water to the boil and then simmer for about 25 mins or until the cauliflower is really tender.
Test this by piercing the thickest stalkiest bit of cauliflower with a knife and it should go easily through. To get a smooth puree, you do need the cauliflower to be really soft
Then strain the cauliflower and most likely get a steamy facial at the same time. Two birds, one stone
Now, this next stage is optional, but I really think it makes all the difference, and in the grand scheme of things is very little faff.
Melt a knob of butter in the cauliflower pan and once its melted throw in your drained cauliflower
You want to cook it for about 5 minutes on a medium-high heat, stirring every minute or so. You don’t want the cauliflower to burn (obviously) but it’s okay if it gets a little bit coloured. By the end it should be really smooshy and buttery. Yum
Now either tip the cauliflower into a food processor, or use a handheld stick blender to puree the cauliflower. Throw in a generous lump of butter and a generous slug of cream, season with salt and pepper and whizz until smooth and creamy.
Taste and adjust seasoning.
Try not to eat the whole lot now.
This can be made a couple of days in advance and kept covered in the fridge to make this dish even easier. To serve, either pop it in a microwaveable bowl and blitz for about 2 mins until piping hot, or tip it into a baking dish and warm through in the oven at about 170 C for about 25 mins (make sure it is gently warming, not bubbling too much)
Right, now, when your guests are chatting amongst themselves, you just need to disappear to the kitchen for 5 minutes
Take a large frying pan, preferably non-stick if you have one
Put it on a high heat, but don’t add any oil
When the pan is hot, add your sliced chorizo and fry for a minute or so until it is lightly golden and ever so slightly crispy
Tip onto a plate and cover with some tin foil to keep it warm. A little tin foil blanket if you will.
Now, don’t worry about cleaning the pan, just throw in a little knob of butter and a glug of olive oil and heat until the pan is smoking ever so slightly
Whilst the pan is heating up, season your scallops with salt and then carefully place them into the hot pan. They should sizzle sexily when you add them, if they don’t sizzle they aren’t sexy enough, the pan is not quite hot enough so just hang on a bit and then try again
Now cook for about 1 minute and 30 seconds – don’t be tempted to move them around, you want them to get a lovely crust on one side, so look at your watch or count to ninety
Now carefully flip the scallops over and cook for about another minute
Don’t overcook them – scallops are better undercooked than overcooked, when you press on them they should still be bouncy, if they are firm then they are over cooked. If you are unsure, you can always take one out and slice into it, it should be translucent in the middle (no shame in doing this, and you can always serve this one to yourself). Obviously scallops vary in size, so this is only a guide, but if you buy lovely fresh largish scallops from the fishmonger, this recipe will stand you in good stead.
Now, squeeze half the lemon onto the scallops and remove the scallops from the pan and add to the chorizo plate
Turn the heat off and sprinkle the parsley in the pan
Spoon on about 2 tablespoons of cauliflower puree onto each plate
Place 2 scallops and 2 slices of chorizo onto the puree
Spoon over the buttery, parsley sauce from the pan onto the scallops
Garnish with a lemon wedge and sprinkle with pea shoots (I KNOW I’m obsessed with pea shoots…I need help)

Restaurant worthy dish in no time at all!

Homemade Sushi Party…Rollin’ With my Sushi

November 13, 2013 by Margie Broadhead Leave a Comment

I love sushi.

I spent two months in Japan and think I ate a large quantity of the world’s fish supply, single handedly. I can’t get enough of it. Take me to one of those sushi places with the conveyor belts and I can stack up a tower of plates tall enough for King Kong to climb. But having an appetite like that for sushi can be expensive!

Not any more my friends, not any more. Make your own sushi feast at home. It’s really fun to do and it’s great for when you have friends over (or just for a night in on your own….). All the prep can be done ahead, and it’s seriously easy to prep too!

The other day I was having five friends over for supper so I made a sushi feast. And then everyone got stuck at work because they are all lawyers. Which is funny because I heard lawyers love a new type of sushi…called Sosumi. Ahem. Any way all got stuck at work except my friend Luke. So Luke and I ate sushi for five…for two. I’m not going to lie to you…I was full. In fact full is an understatement. I had to lie down on the sofa and wave Luke off out the door from a horizontal position. I’m not proud of it, okay maybe I am a little proud of it, is that wrong?

Okay if I admit something you are not allowed to judge me. I actually managed to peel myself off the sofa to eat one of these…

…A melt in the middle chocolate cookie with homemade malteser ice cream (recipe coming soon!) drizzled with chocolate sauce. But pudding goes in a different stomach, doesn’t it?

It took determination and a high level of greediness.

Back to the sushi…if you make a bit too much you can just roll them up and pop them in the fridge to take to work the next day and be the envy of the office.

All you need to do is cook the sushi rice according to the packet instructions which is seriously simple. You’ll find it in the “foods of the worlds” section of the supermarket along with the rice vinegar you will need to give the rice that delicious sweet and tangy taste.

You will need:

Sushi rice, Japanese vinegar and sugar,
Sheets of seaweed
Soy sauce
Wasabi
Assortment of fillings
Then lay out an assortment of yummy things to put in your sushi

My suggestions would be:

Smoked salmon
Sliced avocado
Cucumber sticks
Sliced salmon fillet, sliced tuna fillet (best to get these from a fishmonger you trust if you are going to eat these raw)
Crab sticks
Sweetcorn and mayonnaise (sounds weird but this is EVERYWHERE in japan and is amazing)
Prawn tempura
Mayonnaise (a KEY ingredient in my book, and will add hugely to your sushi experience)

Play around with the ingredients and have fun trying to roll your own sushi!

My tip would be to lay to your piece of seaweed out flat, then spread your rice onto the seaweed, like you are spreading butter on a piece of toast. Then place your ingredients 1/3 of the way up the piece of seaweed and then roll. Slice into hunks and then proclaim that you have been wasting your talents elsewhere because you are a sushi rolling champion.

I made some prawn tempura to go with ours, and then we had these with mayonnaise and avocado and it was out-of-this-world good. Is that tempura in your belly, or are you just happy sashimi?!

Prawn Tempura

Author: Made By Margie

Ingredients

100g plain flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
150ml sparkling water, cold from the fridge
couple of ice cubes
100g fresh peeled prawns

Instructions

Simply mix the flour and the baking powder
Then add nearly all the water and give it a good stir. Use chopsticks to mix it so that you feel like an authentic Japanese tempura maker. This is the perfect time to use those left over chopsticks you have from that takeway last week (I know you have them). Don’t worry about getting all the lumps out, lumpy batter is good here. Throw in a couple of ice cubes.
You want the batter to be thick enough to stick to the prawns, so don’t water it down too much, but add more water if it looks like wallpaper paste.
Then pour vegetable oil into a high sided saucepan and heat carefully (or use a deep fryer if you have one, you lucky thing!).
Test the oil by putting in a tiny blob of batter and it should sizzle seductively.
Now dip your prawns into the batter and drop carefully into the hot oil.
You may need to do these in batches so they don’t get overcrowded. If you put in too many at a time, the temperature of the oil will drop and you will get soggy prawn dumplings…not what we want!
Remove the prawns from the batter with a slotted spoon (if you have one) and rest on some kitchen paper to soak up the excess oil.

This batter can easily be used to cook all sorts of vegetables in tempura as well and they are delicious served on a bed of rice with a drizzle of soy sauce

I’m off to look up how to enter the World’s Largest Amount of Sushi Eaten in One Sitting Competition 2013….fish me luck! (sorry I couldn’t resist)

And I’m pun. I mean done.

Stars in your Eyes at Morston Hall, Norfolk

November 10, 2013 by Margie Broadhead Leave a Comment

Morston Hall has won more awards and has more stars than you can shake a stick at. And boy does it deserve each and every one of them.

It’s my favourite kind of restaurant, the kind where there is a set menu and you don’t get to choose. You start with canapes and then follow on to eat SEVEN courses, and finish the whole thing off with perfectly formed petit fours. You can see why this is my kind of restaurant. But each course is the perfect size and is so delicious, it leaves you wanting more. The menu is balanced so beautifully that by the end you feel completely satisfied but not Christmas-day-stuffed.

The menu changes daily and rarely has the same ingredients on the menu which is amazing when you think of the sort of imagination it must take to come up with such exciting and delicious daily changing menus. The restaurant I worked at had a different menu each day and so I know from first hand that a lot of skill and thought goes into the process of creating the menu.

There is no pretension to Galton Blackiston’s cooking and he really lets the locally sourced ingredients speak for themselves and the results are nothing short of sensational.

There are rooms too, so you could stay there and have breakfast which I feel confident would be a starry affair aswell.

We started with two canapes, presented on lovely wooden boards.

First off was sausage with homemade sauerkraut

Followed by plaice on shallot puree which was unbelievably good – I could easily have eaten ten more of these!

We opted to go for the “Wine Flight” where the Sommelier choses a wine to go with each course…it meant we ended up with quite a few glasses!

This is a great thing to do, if like me, you don’t know that much about wine. Opting for this means you discover wines you wouldn’t have done before and are treated with some really delicious pairings. The winner of the night was the ‘Carmel Road, Pinot Noir 2012 Monterey America’

Borsch with feather blade of Wagyu beef. Maybe not the looker of the bunch but definitely the best borsch I’ve ever had

Locally shot partridge on a bed of cabbage with apple puree and game chip. This for me, was the star of the bunch. Beyond delicious. Have you ever seen such a beautiful hame chip?

Roasted Salsify with blackberries, celery and goats cheese. This tasted as lovely as it looks

North Sea Cod with beetroot, curly Kale and red amaranth. The cod was perfectly cooked and almost melted in your mouth

Lime sorbet with quite a kick of tequila!

Norfolk Horn Lamb with thinly sliced turnip, tiny cubed potatoes and roasted onions. I thought this dish was beautiful, and the lamb was incredibly tender – your knife cut through it like butter

Selection of British Cheeses

Gateau Opera with green tea and vanilla ice cream – I’ve been wanting to try an opera cake since it featured on the Great British Bake Off. The green tea gave it a really interesting flavour and the vanilla ice cream was amazing

And finished the whole thing off with some mouthwatering petit fours – including melt-in-the-mouth madeleines, raspberry marshmallows and passionfruit jellies

The head chef came round to talk to people at the end of the meal and he said that people are able to go and spend a day in the kitchen seeing how it’s done – Morston Hall I will see you soon!

Morston Hall, Morston, Holt, Norfolk NR25 7AA

Frozen Berries with White Chocolate Sauce

November 7, 2013 by Margie Broadhead Leave a Comment

This has to be one of the easiest puddings in the world.

And definitely one of the most delicious.

It hardly warrants a recipe – as it is merely a handful of frozen berries smothered in a hot white chocolate sauce. As the hot chocolate hits the frozen berries, the berries thaw a little and melt a little themselves into the chocolate. It’s amazing and is definitely one to try!

It’s perfect for dinner parties when you want to spend more time at the table than slaving away in the kitchen. It is also the perfect pudding for when you have impromptu guests, as the ingredients are things you probably have in your kitchen anyway.

I always have frozen berries in the freezer, for popping into a smoothie, or whipping up a coulis, or for this amazing pudding.

Frozen Berries with White Chocolate Sauce

Author: Made By Margie

Serves: 4

Ingredients

500g mixed frozen berries (you can buy these in the supermarket, the only ones i would avoid are the strawberries) - I only used frozen raspberries this time as that is all I had, but this recipe lends itself well to any kind of berries
140ml double cream
140g white chocolate

Instructions

Break up your chocolate into small pieces.
Then, simply pour the cream into a saucepan and heat gently until it it is bubbling gently but not boiling rapidly.
Turn off the heat and throw (not too hard!) your chocolate into the pan and give it a good stir. The heat from the cream will melt the chocolate and you shouldn't have to add any more heat.
Now arrange your berries onto four plates and take to the table.
Pour your now melted chocolatey cream into a jug and take to the table.
Allow each guest to pour the hot chocolate cream onto their berries and tuck in.

Now is not the time for manners, don’t wait for everyone else, just devour!

Skinny Garlic Mash

November 6, 2013 by Margie Broadhead Leave a Comment

Mash has got to be the ultimate comfort food, but stodgy mashed potatoes can leave you feeling bloated and tinged with guilt.

My skinny garlic mash uses crushed white beans to create the mash-like texture, drizzled with olive oil and a generous amount of garlic. I was introduced to skinny mash by a friend and I genuinely think I now prefer it to mashed potatoes. Plus, it is surprisingly filling and full of nutrious beany benefits such as being full of protein and helping to lower cholesterol.

One of my favourite suppers ever is a juicy sirloin steak served with lots of skinny garlic mash. It takes minutes to make and is packed full of protein to leave you feeling fuller for longer.

Skinny Garlic Mash

Author: Made By Margie

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 tins of butter beans ( or any white bean will do)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 clove garlic

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a pan on the hob, and then throw in your crushed garlic.If you aren't lucky enough to have a garlic crusher - sprinkle some salt on the garlic and it will make it easier to crush it with the tip of your knife.
Watch the garlic, you don't want it to burn.
Open and drain your beans and give them a quick rinse.
Then throw them in with your garlic and olive oil, give them a good stir and then let them cook for 2 minutes or so.
Take a wooden spoon and smoosh the beans until they resemble mashed potato.
Taste first and then season with Maldon salt and pepper (some beans are already salted).
Serve with pan fried steak, roast chicken, sausages...or anything you would normally serve mashed potato with and feel virtuous in the process.

Melt in the Middle Chocolate Chip Cookies

November 6, 2013 by Margie Broadhead Leave a Comment

CAUTION: THESE MAY CAUSE YOUR CLOTHES TO SHRINK

These cookies are amazing. On their own. Eaten upside down. With no hands. Blindfolded. You name it, they are delicious.

I’ve often wondered as I have sunk my teeth into a freshly baked cookie, does life get any better than cookies? Well, the other day as I was perusing Pinterest I discovered that life can indeed get better. It was an epiphanic moment. It was around 10.07 last tuesday morning that my world was to change forever. I logged onto Pinterest and there it was. A beautiful vision the likes of which I had never seen before. Gorgeous and gooey. It was there and then that I knew life was going to be a lot shinier. Shinier, and I would be a chubbier.

It’s a cookie which is baked in a muffin try to give it the appearance of a muffin. A cookie masquerading as a muffin with a gooey melted chocolate centre. Yumm. This recipe is slightly adapted from the one Amanda gives, but the idea was all hers.

Cookies are so easy to make – that this recipe is a total breeze anyway, but if you wanted to make life even easier, you could buy ready made cookie dough.

Melt in the Middle Chocolate Chip Cookies

Author: Made By Margie

Serves: 10 cookies

Ingredients

110g butter
110g light brown sugar
110g caster sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
220g plain flour
½ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
340g chocolate chips (or you can use a chopped up chocolate bar)

Instructions

First things first - preheat your oven to 170C
Grease a muffin tray, i like to do this with one of those vegetable oil sprays, but a bit of butter on kitchen roll also works really well
If you have a freestanding mixer, pop your butter and sugars into it and beat until light and fluffy, this should take about 4 mins. Remember that you are using light brown sugar as well so the colour will be darker as a result
Of course if you don't have a freestanding mixer you could use an electric whisk...and if you don't have one of these you could use good old fashioned elbow grease, and this can count as your work out for the day. Yes, that is my idea of a work out.
Add the egg and the vanilla and give it a good beat
Now add the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda and beat on a low speed until just combined
Now add HALF of the chocolate chips and give it a really good stir. I always think this makes a really satisfying sort of clackle when you do this. No? Just me?
Scoop the dough out and flatten it with your fingers and squidge it into the muffin tray, so it comes up the sides a little
Then melt your remaining chocolate chips - i find the easiest way to do this, is to melt them in a heat proof bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, making sure they don't burn.
Then use a teaspoon to blob a dollop of melted chocolate onto each piece of cookie dough
Then take another scoop of cookie dough and place this on top of the melted chocolate and squidge it down a little
Bake for 15-20 mins
You will know when they are done when the edges are hardened and a little brown
Remember that cookies continue to cook as they cool down, so you want them to still be squidgy when they come out of the oven
Leave to cool before using a knife to run around the edge of each cookie muffin
These are unbelievably good popped in the microwave for 15 seconds to remelt the chocolate into gooey deliciousness.

Melt in the Middle Chocolate Chip Cookies

November 6, 2013 by Margie Broadhead Leave a Comment

CAUTION: THESE MAY CAUSE YOUR CLOTHES TO SHRINK

These cookies are amazing. On their own. Eaten upside down. With no hands. Blindfolded. You name it, they are delicious.

Cookies are so easy to make – that this recipe is a total breeze anyway, but if you wanted to make life even easier, you could buy ready made cookie dough.

Makes 10 cookies:

Melt in the Middle Chocolate Chip Cookies

Author: Made By Margie

Ingredients

110g butter
110g light brown sugar
110g caster sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
220g plain flour
½ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
340g chocolate chips (or you can use a chopped up chocolate bar)

Instructions

First things first - preheat your oven to 170C.
Grease a muffin tray, i like to do this with one of those vegetable oil sprays, but a bit of butter on kitchen roll also works really well.
If you have a freestanding mixer, pop your butter and sugars into it and beat until light and fluffy, this should take about 4 mins. Remember that you are using light brown sugar as well so the colour will be darker as a result.
Of course if you don't have a freestanding mixer you could use an electric whisk...and if you don't have one of these you could use good old fashioned elbow grease, and this can count as your work out for the day. Yes, that is my idea of a work out.
Add the egg and the vanilla and give it a good beat.
Now add the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda and beat on a low speed until just combined.
Now add HALF of the chocolate chips and give it a really good stir. I always think this makes a really satisfying sort of clackle when you do this. No? Just me?
Scoop the dough out and flatten it with your fingers and squidge it into the muffin tray, so it comes up the sides a little.
Then melt your remaining chocolate chips - i find the easiest way to do this, is to melt them in a heat proof bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, making sure they don't burn.
Then use a teaspoon to blob a dollop of melted chocolate onto each piece of cookie dough.
Then take another scoop of cookie dough and place this on top of the melted chocolate and squidge it down a little.
Bake for 15-20 mins. You will know when they are done when the edges are hardened and a little brown.
Remember that cookies continue to cook as they cool down, so you want them to still be squidgy when they come out of the oven.
Leave to cool before using a knife to run around the edge of each cookie muffin.
These are unbelievably good popped in the microwave for 15 seconds to remelt the chocolate into gooey deliciousness.

Prosciutto, Tomato & Basil Pizza Omelette… Pizette? Omelizza?

November 3, 2013 by Margie Broadhead Leave a Comment

This is such an easy lunch or supper and is incredibly quick to make. Now that the cold weather has firmly settled, I find it’s incredibly comforting to have something warm. It is also surprisingly filling, as the eggs are protein rich and will help keep you feeling fuller for longer.

Treat the omelette like a pizza and have a play around with the toppings. An eggy pizza. Would a pizza by any other name taste as delish…YES. If it were called a Pizette, or perhaps my personal favourite – the Omelizza.

Skinny Prosciutto, Tomato & Basil Pizza Omelette... Pizette? Omelizza?

Author: Made By Margie

Serves: 1

Ingredients

2 eggs
handful of cherry tomatoes
3 slices of prosciutto
2 eggs
handful of cherry tomatoes
3 slices of prosciutto
sprinkle of parmesan
handful of basil leaves, I used Greek basil as I just think it's so pretty, but you could definitely just use normal Basil
scattering of pine nuts
salt and pepper
small knob of butter

Instructions

First crack your eggs into a bowl and give them a good whisk - conversely I like to do this with a fork.
Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Next slice your tomatoes in half - i think they look much prettier if you slice them in half around the middle. So if you imagine your tomato is the earth you would cut around the equator. Or if your tomato was wearing a belt, you would cut around the belt. I kind of wish tomatoes did wear belts, that would be amazing.
Now take a non stick frying pan - I have quite a nifty little 8 inch pan that I am a bit obsessed with and I use him to whip up pancakes on a regular basis, but any non stick pan will do!
Put your pine nuts into the pan and gently toast for 1 minute or so until they are a lovely golden colour, careful not to let them burn. Burnt pine nuts do not taste nice. When they are cooked tip them into a bowl and set aside for later.
Now heat a knob of butter in the frying pan and throw in your tomatoes and season with a little pinch of salt and some pepper.
let the tomatoes gently sizzle away for about a minute just so that they are a teeny bit squishy. But not mooshy. There's a difference.
Then pour in your eggy mixture and give it a little stir to make sure the tomatoes are spread out and that the egg covers the base of the pan.
Let it cook for a minute or so and then when the edges are beginning to firm up you can sprinkle on your grated parmesan ( if you have a microplane grater, then you can use this to grate the cheese straight onto the Omelizza...if you don't have one, put it on your list for Christmas, pronto!).
Use a spatula to loosen the edges of the omelizza and use this opportunity to have a sneaky peak underneath to check it is turning a lovely golden brown.
Once the egg has set, carefully slide the omelizza onto a chopping board or plate and decorate with the slivers of prosciutto, scatter the pine nuts and tear the basil leaves.
Finish with a little drizzle of olive oil.

This is no ordinary Omelizza. It’s a Made by Margie Omelizza.

Flat Iron Soho – Best Steaks in Town

October 31, 2013 by Margie Broadhead Leave a Comment

There is only one item on this menu and oh what an item.

A perfectly cooked, mouth wateringly melt in the mouth Flat Iron steak.

The menu is written on the exposed brick wall and you can choose between dripping cooked chips, creamed spinach, aubergines roasted with parmesan and market greens to accompany your £10 steak.

I narrowly missed out on going to Flat Iron as it’s one of the growing number of restaurant that abides by the no reservations policy….which drives me mad. But of all the ‘no bookings allowed’ restaurants I’ve been to, I can honestly say this is the only one that has truly been worth it!

There’s a really cool cocktail bar so you can while away the waiting time for your table. As if this place could get even better – there is also a doughnut station – which makes hot freshly made doughnuts with lots of scrummy fillings.

As soon as you sit down you are greeted with deliciously salty popcorn which wins me over every time.

There was a special of the day which was slow cooked beef belly which sounded incredible, so we ordered one of these along with the signature Flat Iron steak. Flat Iron is a delicious cut of meat which is surprisingly underused as it is relatively inexpensive and seriously tender. (Jamie Oliver has proclaimed it to be his favourite cut of beef…as if you needed more convincing).

I loved that everything was served in the blue and white enamel dishes that I am completely obsessed with. The steaks come on their own little chopping boards and instead of a steak knife, everyone is given their own mini meat cleaver…so cute!

I’d heard good things about the pudding, so we decided to try and resist the chips and went for the creamed spinach and the roasted aubergine with parmesan, pretending to ourselves we were being virtuous. Which we were, if you ignore the copious amounts of cream and cheese. Theres a choice of sauces, so we went for the peppercorn and the Fred’s special sauce which is a tomato, chilli and caper sauce, both of which were seriously good.

There is only one pudding. It’s basically a chocolately caramel Mr Whippy. And it’s amazing.

I have it on good authority that it is simply melted mars bars with cream and then put into a cream dispenser which whips it up into a heavenly treat. It’s so good that I am now convinced that I need one of these in my life….one for the christmas list perhaps?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mr-Whip-Cream-Dispenser-Litre/dp/B005D1DOKO

MIRACLE Juice That Will Make You Look like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley!

October 30, 2013 by Margie Broadhead Leave a Comment

Okay, so that may not quite be true, but it is the juice that Rosie Huntington-Whiteley starts her day with. I’m sure her amazing figure is down to genetics and the fact that she never tucks into something as good as the salted caramel rolo miracle microwave cake.

But I’ve been trying to get more fruit and vegetables to counter balance all the chocolate caramel monster cookies I eat and juicing seems to be a great way…and yes, I am secretly holding onto the hope that with one sip of the juice I might be transformed into a Victoria Secret’s Angel.

It’s surprisingly delicious, I promise!

MIRACLE Juice That Will Make You Look like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley!

Author: Made By Margie

Serves: 2

Ingredients

3 green apples
3 stalks of celery
1 generous handful of spinach
Squeeze of lime juice

Instructions

Pop everything into your juicer (I did the spinach first and then bunged in the apples and celery to help push as much juice out of the spinach as possible and then finished with a squeeze of lime juice).
(If you don’t have a juicer, you could whizz everything up in a food processor and then push the pulp through a sieve)

I only recently gave in and bought a juicer as I had been lusting after one for ages. You can spend an obscene amount of money on juicers but after doing quite a lot of geeky juicer research I really recommend the one I got – which seems to be pretty good value for money…and annoyingly it’s already £40 less than I paid for it!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-HR1861-Whole-Juicer-Aluminium/dp/B0007XHGHA/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1383138075&sr=1-1&keywords=philips+HR1861+whole+fruit+juicer

I really like this one because you can chuck in the fruit whole and there is no need to peel or chop anything, and it is really simple to take apart and clean and you don’t need a PhD to put it back together again!

Supper at The Shed

October 29, 2013 by Margie Broadhead Leave a Comment

The Shed is one of my favourite restaurants.

It’s my favourite kind of food – small plates of delciousness that you share tapas-style. Everything on the menu is seasonal and its good hearty food, where there are interesting flavour combinations without pretentiousness. It is absolutely scrummy. My friend proclaimed it to be a “taste sensation” which made me laugh at her, but it actually summed it up perfectly.

We had the table right next to the pass so you can watch the chef (and co-owner) plating up. The restaurant itself is cosy and quirky and would make an ideal date restaurant. In fact I would go as far to say, that taking someone to The Shed on a date would guarantee you a second date.

It’s not the cheapest place to eat, but everything is so yummy that it’s totally worth it.

We had some cocktails to kick things off – ‘Nutbourne Pinot Noir Grape Juice, Chase Vodka and Soda’ and a Shed Gin and Tonic….yum

We started with three little mouthfuls. These little canapés were amazing and I wanted to wrestle my friend to the floor for her share. I resisted. But it was close. I honestly couldn’t tell you which was more delicious.

Beetroot crisp, goat’s cheese, pear jam

Nutbourne pork scratching with apple

Mushroom marmite, confit egg yolk

These little bites were followed with the sharing plates of pan fried goats cheese with hazelnuts, honey and thyme. So simple. So delicious.

Lamb chips with parsley, lemon and harissa

We thought we had better get some vegetable so plumped for the gem squash with red split lentils, cabbage and mature cheddar

My personal favourite of spatchcock quail with quince and marjoram which thankfully has been on the menu each time I’ve been

Pork rillettes with pickled chard which we ate with the Shed’s sourdough….amazing!

We really didn’t need pudding, but couldn’t resist the Quince panettone with marmalade and pouring cream. I thought this sounded a bit odd but it was unbelievably good. It tasted just like Christmas. And it looks like a little borrowers house. What’s not to love.

I’m not going to lie, I waddled home after this feast but every mouthful was completely worth it.

http://theshed-restaurant.com

The Shed

122 Palace Gardens

London

W8 4RT

I HAVE A FREE GIFT FOR YOU!

Get a copy of my eBook: How To Cook From Scratch For £20 A Week!f content they will receive.