How to: Make Rosemary and Garlic crisps

Oven baked Rosemary crisps

If there is one thing more than anything else I could just eat, and eat, and eat, and eat I would have to say its crisps. When I've got a packet in my hand I will wolf my way through them without giving any thought to breathing or any other living function beside biting and lifting the potato snacks.

With such passion for crisps I decided to take it upon myself to try and make these wonderful snack myself.

I started with a few Maris Piper potatoes, and peeled them. Once all skin was removed I used the peeler to make to peel off slices. I tried to make sure these had a big and flat surface area to pick up extra flavouring.

I laid these slices out on a baking tray, on top of baking paper and dabbed with kitchen roll to try and dry out a little.

In another bowl I made a mixture with loads of chopped up Rosemary, a few finely chopped up garlic cloves, a generous portion of sea salt, and cracked black pepper.

I gave the potato peelings a light dribble of sunflower oil and then sprinkled my mixed up herby flavouring and left them in the oven at 150 degrees for ten minutes.

I tried these with extra virgin olive oil and it didn't crisp up as well.
Use a teaspoon to sprinkle herbs over the crisps so you don't end up with a fire mouthful of pepper!

These tasted super good, and is obviously very versatile for mixing up flavours and trying new things. They're quicker to make than walking to the village shop and much better value for money than an overpriced bag of air and carbs!

Spain's Royal City.

Last week the lovely boyfriend and I visited Spain's royal city, Madrid.

It's somewhere that we've both wanted to go for some time, and as Easyjet had a sale it seemed like the perfect time to book up for a little adventure filled with tapas and cheap wine.

The city itself is beautiful. A combination of small side streets packed with restaurants and bars, juxtaposed by grand detailed buildings. As a tourist the city is easily accessible by foot as everything is within a few square miles (we only took the bus to take us from the airport into the city centre).

Parque del Retiro

When we arrived we found a wonderful restaurant and had an absolute feast. The restaurant was small but had a big buzz about it. Keeping to the tapas routes we received free tapas dishes alongside every drink we bought. The tapas dishes in spain are on real plate sizes, not teeny tiny ones! We ordered a bottle of wine, 3 dishes (including crab), got 2 free tapas dishes and a big basket of bread and oils all for 23 tiny euros!

The first full day involved thousands upon thousands of steps. Unlucky for me I decided on wearing some knee length boots that rubbed my wee toes, so by the end of the day I was hobbling around like a Disney villain. I tried for as long as possible to ignore this, and with so many beautiful buildings too ooo and ahh at it was made a little easier.

The Parque del Retiro has loads of hidden gems inside, and it's worthwhile to pick a sunny day to stroll around as there is so much to see. If we were to return in the summer months I'd pop in to the patisseries and ham museums (places are actually called that, its a chain and has a tasty selection of cured hams, cheeses and other tasty Spanish meals) to make a super picnic, and laze around in a beautiful park for hours after stuffing my face.

We found a conceptual Art gallery in the park which had free entry. We had a little walk around the gallery, but it wasn't exciting. Every painting was a washed out white or black canvass, and all were named "Untitled".

Museo del Prado is an EU freebie access (Tuesday's 6pm- 8pm). The museum is held in another beautiful, grand building and is home to thousands of art pieces, be it sculptures, paintings, prints or drawings. As you stroll around this huge gallery, you will come across artists recreating paintings. I quite like this as I think it gives people a chance to appreciate the sheer level of skill, but personally, I think the recreation artists have a much harder job.

We woke up on day two to snow and incredibly stiff legs after covering so much of the city the previous day. We came prepared for the cold weather, and after watching the weather forecast we had an inkling that it was going to snow, but it didn't make us any happier to be walking around in it. 

We started the day at a beautiful patisserie about two doors away from our hotel. The cakes and treats were delicious, and it was a much greater breakfast than the hot chocolate and churros that we had the day before. The freshly squeezed orange juice is a delightful way to start the day too. it cost us about six euros for the OJ and pastries and was enough to keep us at bay until about 1-2pm. 

After refuelling we set out across grey, rainy Madrid in hunt of the Palace. Once we arrived we found out it would be free entry if we returned at 5pm. So off we set the Museo Renia Sofia. 

This gallery was much more to my taste than Museo del Prado. Housing contemporary works, mixed media, sculpture, painting, films and a whole floor of Photography made me feel much more engaged. The floors cover many different eras form the last 100 or so years and include big Spanish names, Picasso being the most recognisable, and I was more than happy to see Photographers I studied/ wrote about in my dissertation. 

The gallery has a rooftop with some beautiful views across the city, and is home to Gurnica.

Entry here is 6 Euro. You could easily spend all day here. 
If you would rather use your spending money on something else then you can turn up here Monday- Friday between 7pm-9pm for free entry, 2:30 pm- 9.00pm on saturday and all day sunday.

If you are lucky enough to still be a student then you can get in for free with your student I.D.

After a few hours of becoming cultured we headed back to our hotel for a wee 15 minute rest before heading out to the ham museum for lunch. The Palace was a 5-10 minute walk from our hotel with something beautiful to look at in every direction.

The palace was really fun to wander around. It was incredibly flamboyant, and over the top, due to being preserved from kings in the 17th century. There was a strict no photo rule that I tried to ignore, but its very hard to be subtle with a flash. 

The last day we spent walking around the upmarket area of Madrid, eating more food and chilling out in the city hall.  The City hall is really worth going into. There is a viewing tower which we saved for the last day, but as it was snowing it was shut down. We were pretty gutted about this as it is bang in the centre so the views would be incomparable. If you can afford to splash the cash there is also a rooftop champagne bar. I'm not sure how much this was as the bf isn't really a fan of fizzy and it was February, it would have been freezing!

It's not really possible to get a photo of the town hall in day light without LOADS of cars in front of it. But you can still see just how beautiful it is. Its free entry too, and has a few exhibition's on each floor.

Whilst walking to the Palace we found a big food market and decided to head here for lunch on the last day. It was wonderful! The food hall was absolutely buzzing and had lots of different types of foods and drinks on offer.

We opted for seafood paella, moved on to octopus, some eel-lookalike dish and some little pies. It was so nice walking around and eating in this way, but it was so busy there was hardly any space to move, so its worth checking this out early, or lateish if you like to be able to move.

                  

For the last night we decided it would be a good idea to head to the same place we went on the first night, not look at any prices and stuff our faces on delicious tapas. Again it was lovely, and really good value. It's called Malaspina if you want to check it out. 

Plaza Mayor

Our hotel wasn't the most fabulous place to rest by any means, but it was affordable and in all honesty I don't know if we could have possibly found anywhere more central than where we stayed, and as the website has lots of offers on the site you can easily get 15% off the cost of staying.

Louis infront of our hotel

Wheelchair access:

As my brother is in a chair I subconsciously always think about accessibility in any new city I visit. There are fewer cobbles and hills than most over European Cities I've visited so I don't think there would be huge problems in covering ground. 

I didn't see many restaurants with disabled toilets, and a lot of the places where we ate were very small. If you can be good levels of sly with a catheter and empty wine bottle it would be easy enough to sit near a table.

Most tourist attractions and museums would also be fine, but I don't remember seeing any lifts in the palace.  

Money saving tips for Madrid

• Take advantage of late evening EU free Entry. It's worth pre-planning and scheduling whats open when.
• If you're fit don't waste money on public transport. Everything is within walking distance and staying off undergrounds means you are less likely to be mugged, and also means you will get to see all of the beautiful buildings and sculptures. 
• The park was probably my favourite "attraction", and it cost nothing!  
• If you are visiting the city for the first time there is enough to keep you out of the hotel. You don't need anywhere fancy, just comfortable and clean. Money saved here can be more money spent on food! 

Iris

Iris - Eating out in Edinburgh

For the last week we were in Edinburgh, my lovely boyfriend treated me to dinner. I had the task of picking where to go, and thought I would search what Thistle Street had to offer. Thistle Street is a road running between George Street and Victoria Street and is packed with lots of lovely restaurants.

Eyeing up the menu, this definitely seemed like the best choice.  If you want to go there I would definitely recommend making reservations. We watched couple after couple walk in and ask for a table, and told to come back two hours later if they wanted a seat. Very popular!

For starters I opted for Pork Belly. The pork itself was in strips, lying on a small bed of salad. I think I received a fairly generous helping. It had a honey glaze, and looked lovely. The boyfriend had a smoked duck salad starter. He wasn’t particularly impressed with it, as there was very little duck on the dish.

The main meals were a lot better. I had roasted duck with raspberries and drambule. And oh my! It was so good. The duck was perfect. Very pink, and I was impressed with just how well duck and raspberries go together. The perfect combo. The boyfriend had a rack of lamb, rare again and cooked to perfection. We were very happy with the meat, the side however were a total let down, and I feel they kind of ruined the meal. Normally you would expect to be served a bowl of extra vegetables or something in addition of the meal. Not at Iris though. You have to buy sides as you literally only receive the meat. This wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if the sides actually go with the dished, but they weren’t brilliant options. We decided that the sweet potato fries would be best, they did the trick, but I’m sure that Iris could come up with a lot more flattering sides.

After some deliciously tender meat it was time to fill the sweet pocket. I opted for Chocolate Key lime Pie. It was so good! I’m always a sucker for key lime pie, and the addition of chocolate made it too tough to refuse. It was wonderful. A raspberry sauce and icing sugar decorated the plate to make the whole thing look even better.

What I think:

The food was really, really good. The mains cost about £13 for the Duck, £17 for the lamb (bill totalled at £68 with drinks), which is what you expect to pay on Thistle Street. Desserts were good and pretty cheap.  When the waiting staff deliver the bill you are also given an envelope that goes to an Edinburgh charity for the homeless, which I think is a very nice touch. They could probably do with having more than two staff serving, as sometimes we were left for a while longer than we should have been to be asked about desserts/ serve desserts, but they were both very pleasant. I would recommend this place, but I would be tempted to check it out on lunchtime as you can get a three-course meal for 14.99. Barry bargain! Like I said at the very start, you need to make a reservation too. It’s so busy. Would recommend and give a 7.5/10 

Holyrood 9A

Eating out in Edinburgh

The Holyrood 9A

It’s August which means Edinburgh has sprung into Fringe life! Woooo! The biggest Arts festival in the world is on my doorstep (for the next two weeks, as I am soon to be moving!).

The boyfriend and I went on a date night on the 1^st Of Aug, which was the opening of the preview shows. We went to see David O’Doherty which was a laugh a minute. The show was at pleasance, situated around a step hilly corner from HolyRood 9A, a place you must check out if you like super brilliant quality burgers. They also have a large list of beer and ales.

After a good bit of pondering I decided that the “Pioneer” would be my burger of choice. A 6oz burger, sautéed rosemary scented wild mushrooms, crispy

bacon, Swiss cheese & Garlic mayo. It sounded dreamy, tasted dreamy, and was very messy to eat! The burgers are presented on a wooden block, with a cup of chips (very good size serving) and a small side dish of red cabbage coleslaw. The burger itself was so juicy and full of flavor, especially with long stems of rosemary running throughout for a big hit of flavor. The only thing I think could do with improving would be better chips, perhaps some big chunky wedges with lots of tasty herbs all over them.  The staff were great, very attentive, quick to serve us, and take our orders. The restaurant was clean, nicely presented with interesting artwork over the walls. It’s safe to say it’s not the cheapest burger place in Edinburgh, but I’m pretty certain few would do it better! 8/10 for sure!

Mediterranean Soup

Roasted Med-Veg Soup

I always try to have the very best intentions and cut down (I wish I could cut out!) on bread. So I often try to make soup for my lunch at work. It’s more filling, and it’s so much healthier to have a bowl of blended veg than bread and pork (also trying to cut down on meat)!

Vegetables about to be roasted. 

 Ingredients:

1 X Onion                                        600 ml vegetable stock

1 X Red Pepper                                400g tinned tomatoes

1 X Yellow Pepper                          2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 X Courgette                                    Pinch of Rock Salt

½ Aubergine                                 Cracked Black Pepper

3 Clove of Garlic                          1 tsp. Smoked Paprika

1 tsp. Basil                                          Tomato Puree

Start by pre-heating the oven to 180 degrees.

Chop all of the vegetables.

Place in the baking tray with your seasoning, balsamic vinegar and a good glug of olive oil. Leave to cook for about half an hour.

Once out of the oven, place on the hob in a saucepan. Add the tomatoes and the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, and then allow to simmer whilst covered.

It should be ready in about 20 mins.

What I think:

A lovely rich red, full flavoured soup. I normally end up getting out my blender to thicken soups up, but for this one I decided to allow the vegetables to stay nice and chunky. It looks wonderful, and it’s really nice to feel the textures of the veg.

Will be making again as it is very filling and tasty

Oh Calzone, you delicious pizza pie.

Calzone for dinner!

Is there much better than a calzone? It’s like a pizza, and a pie- a pizza pie! Yummy! With this in mind, the Boyfriend and I set out to make some.

Ingredients

Half a Chorizo                      Half a large onion/ 1 small onion

1 X Red Pepper                    1 X Green Pepper

60g Mushrooms                    Garlic cloves X 2

1 X 400g tin of tomatoes       Tomato puree

Handful of spinach                Grated Mozzarella

Rosemary                              Basil

Pesto                                     Salt and Pepper

Pizza base mix (it’s not considered cheating when you need to knead anything for a good 10-15 mins!)

Above Image: Calzone mix cooking
Bottom Image: Calzone waiting to go in the oven.

How To:

Start by pre-heating the oven to 180 degrees.

Make the pizza base dough (all the instructions are on the side of the box. If not, mix flour with yeast until you get a dough like consistency. Roll out on a floured surface, and knead for 10 mins). I added in some rosemary and basil to add flavour to my base, and make it a wee bit prettier! Roll it out, and leave to rest on a pizza base tray for about 10 mins.

To make your sauce use your tin of tomatoes, and handful of herbs and tomato puree and crushed garlic cloves. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer away whilst everything else is cooking.

In a pan heat Onions in olive oil. After they brown add in peppers & chorizo (these both need time to soften).  Give to just under 5 mins and add in your mushrooms. Allow this all to stay cooking for another 10 mins.

In the last minute, add in your spinach. Then get 1/3 of your tomato sauce mixture and stir in to your calzone filling. Do this whilst on a low heat.

(You are holding the other 2/3 of the tomato mix to use as a tasty dip later! Mmmm)

Get your base and spread a good slather of pesto on half of the base.  Then carefully place your filling in the middle (The tip here is to not go too mental, if it is overfilled, it will leak out whilst cooking. You don’t want that!). Sprinkle a generous portion of mozzarella cheese over the mix, and then fold over the pizza base. Get a fork and press down along the edges to keep everything inside (just like a pasty!), and then brush over with a little milk. Sprinkle some more herbs over the calzone, place in the oven for 15-20 mins until base is hard and golden!

The finished piece! So delicious. 

Summer salad

Avocado, Melon, Lime & Chicken Salad.

There has been a little bit of sunshine recently, which has called for some lighter meals. Being such a big fan of avocado, I try to include it wherever I can, and thought that it would work well as a chicken salad, and what do you know? It did!

Ingredients:

4 X Boneless Chicken Things, chopped

1 x Lime

2 X Avocado, chopped

A pinch of Paprika, chilli, cumin

10 X Cherry Tomatoes, halved

¼ cantaloupe Melon, sliced

Spinach leaves (2 handfuls per dish)

This is so easy to make. Start my cooking your chicken things in a little bit of olive oil. Season with all three spices, and then squeeze the lime juice all over the chicken.

Prepare the salad of spinach, avocado, melon and tomatoes. Then add chicken.

That’s all there is to it! Super easy, Super colourful, Supper yummy!