Round up of Lets cook Preserves, Jams and Chutneys.

Thankyou to every who participated in this event , here are all the entries.

Round up Flavours of USA and Canada

Thankyou to everyone who took part in this event.Here is around up of all the lovely entries.

Announcing event ~ Lets cook Christmas Party Food

The month of December is upon us and the Festive season  has started. Its time to spend time with family nad friends and have lots of fun and arty. This event is all about Christmas Party food.
Create any festive party food and link it to this event.

To Participate:

1.Prepare any  vegetarian recipe as part of the Ingredient   (eggs allowed) please link your dish using the linky below by entering your Dish Name and Post URL
2.Please link this event announcement with your entry, this is mandatory.
3.Use of logo is  not mandatory but it helps to spread the word if you can use it.

4. Multiple entries are allowed, archived are only allowed if reposted and updated with this event link.

4. In the event of problem using linky you can email me the entry at simplysensationalfood@gmail.com

Please use this format:

Your Name: Recipe
Name Recipe URL
Image no larger than 300 pixels.

Featured November Blogger of the month at Foodies 100

The Foodies 100 is the UK’s largest and most exciting network for food and drink bloggers, with more than 2,500 members reaching 5m readers a year.

Foodies 100 provide a platform for bloggers and give them opportunities to share and grow their blogs through their website. They host events for bloggers to meet, learn and share their knowledge with each other and connect. Through Foodies 100 bloggers are able to get in touch and work with brands and build relationships for product reviews, giveaways and much more. Foodies 100 also provide very informative posts on technical help for blogs, seo workshops and much more. They also help bloggers to share their experiences and posts through guest blogging. I am proud to be a member of Foodies 100.

This month I am very proud and excited to be featured as November 2013 blogger of the month at Foodies 100 site. It is a great honour to have such a wonderful space to showcase my blog and share my blogging experience. Thank you so much Foodies 100 for reaching out to me and giving me this wonderful opportunity.

You can read my feature here.

Farmers market soup ~Secret recipe club challenge-18th November 2013

This is my assignment with the Secret Recipe Club.The aim of the club is that you are allocated a blog from which you have to select a recipe and try it and blog about it. My assigned blog was teaandscones. I had lots of fun looking through the blog and finally settled on a soup recipe. I liked the sound of  Farmers market soup as it was the type of soup that you can make with any thing you have in your fridge and produce a hearty bowl of soup.The only changes I made were that I swapped a couple of the vegetables in the original recipe for what I had in my fridge.

Delicious and hearty veggie soup packed with protein.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small white onion finely chopped
1 small red pepper finely diced
1 clove garlic finely chopped
2 small carrots peled and finely diced
1 small potato peeled and finely diced
1 zucchini finely diced
14 oz / 400 g precooked lentils
14 oz / 400 g chopped tomatoes
handful chopped baby spinach
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
500 ml water

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan when it is hot add the onions and the garlic and saute until onions are soft and translucent.
2. Add the carrots, pepper, zucchini, potato and the chopped tomatoes and saute for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the water and the lentils and bring the soup to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the soup for 10-15 minutes util all the vegetables are cooked.
4. Stir in the lentils and the chopped spinach and season with the salt, pepper and chilli flakes.
5. Remove soup from stove and serve in large bowls with bread and butter.

You may like:

Pumpkin and apple soup

Tesco christmas chocolates review.

With Christmas coming up soon we are all looking for stocking fillers and Tesco have some really good chocolate selection that not only is delicious but its realistically priced too. They recently sent me ChokaBlokcracking Christmas Pud Chocolate tree. The chocolate tree was rich and creamy with Christmas pud flavour chocolate. It contained raisins and wafer golden flakes coated with a swirl of dark chocolate. The chocolate trees came in a pretty gold and blue packaging and retails at £ 5.00 each and they are currently on special offer priced at 2 for £ 8.00. The ChokaBlok trees also come in Santastic Cinnamon, and Cherry Merry Christmas flavours.

Gingerbread and Christmas go together hand in hand and no Christmas is complete with it. Tesco collection has introduced Milk chocolate gingerbreadstars. These cute little milk chocolate stars are topped with caramelised biscuit, ginger crumble and drizzled with white chocolate. The pretty blue and orange box looks very luxurious but the best thing is that they are reasonably priced at £ 4.00 for a box. In this range there is also the dark chocolate raspberry brownie buttons box. In the box you will find dark chocolate buttons with swirls of white chocolate, brownie pieces and freeze dried raspberry pieces.

I loved both these chocolates and would like to thank Tesco for sending me the Christmas Pud ChokaBlok tree and the Milk chocolate Gingerbread stars. All the views and opinions in this post are my own.

Moong Beans ( green lentils) cooked Gujarati style

Gujarati Moong-Moong beans (green lentils)cooked with onions, ginger and garlic . Flavoured with aromatic spices in a rich gravy.Full of protein and very healthy.

Ingredients:

240 g / 8 oz dried moong beans

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3-4  curry leaves

2 pieces cinnamon

3 cloves

1 small onion finely diced

1 teaspoon fresh ginger paste

1 /2 teaspoon garlic paste

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh coriander leaves

1 tablespoon oil.

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

1 tomato finely chopped

4 tablespoons passata (blended tomatoes)

2 green chillies finely chopped
some fresh ginger slices and chopped tomato for garnish.

Method:

1. Wash and soak the moong beans the night before.

2. In the morning boil the moong beans and cook till tender.

3. In a pan heat the oil, when hot add the mustard seeds, cloves, cinnamon and curry leaves.

4. Add garlic paste and onions and saute till onions are translucent, add the ginger paste and tomato passata and the chopped tomatoes.

5. Cook till tomato softens; add salt, chilli powder, turmeric, lemon juice and the finely chopped green chillies.

6. Add boiled moong beans and extra water if necessary to make a thick soup consistency.

7. Bring to boil stirring occasionally.

8. Simmer for 5 more minutes and then transfer into serving dish.

9. Garnish with chopped coriander.some slices of ginger and fresh chopped tomato

Serve with plain boiled rice or rotis.

Submitting to :
Javelin warriors Cook with Love

Digital scales and measuring jug review and giveaway.

Digital scales are a must in any kitchen, especially when baking, as weighing the ingredients accurately is of the utmost importance in the success of any bake. I recently tested a digital measuring jug and scales that combines both a measuring jug and scales all in one handy device. The jug allows you to measure in grams, ounces, and pounds, cups and holds up to 1 litre of liquid, so if you're short of space in the kitchen, this is an ideal solution. This scale is perfect as it also allows to weigh multiple weighed ingredients by simply re-setting the scale with each new ingredient you add to the jug. 

The digital scales and measuring jug also allows you to automatically convert from weight to volume on 5 pre-set ingredients: sugar, oil, milk, water and flour. It is perfect for any cook .It is compact and only measures approx 14.5 cm x 12.5 cm x 14 cm so it does not take up too much space in your kitchen. It is available from Find me a gift and retails at £ 19.99. 

I would like to thank find me a gift for sending me this love digital scale to try out. All the views and opinions in this post are my own.

Find me a gift have also been very generous and have agreed to provide one more digital scale jug as a prize for one lucky simply.food winner.

To enter:

How to participate:

• Simply complete the Rafflecopter widget below to verify your entries
• Entries can be via blog comment, Facebook, Twitter etc
• Please read the rules they form the terms and conditions of this
• Closing date -14th December 2013 12.00 am
• Prize 1 Digital scale jug
• This competition is open to UK residents over the age of 18 only.

How Rafflecopter works:

• You will need to complete the mandatory entry first – usually making a blog comment. You can do this by clicking on leave a comment at the bottom of the post and leaving your reply in the comment box.
• Login to Rafflecopter – click to see what the question is. Make a comment answering the question on the blog.
• Go back to Rafflecopter and click the green button to tell me you have made a comment, this will unlock all the other options. All entries are checked to see that the mandatory question is answered, if its not all bonus entries will become void. 
• Rafflecopter will tweet, like and follow on your behalf. For information on how to find the URL of your tweet click here.
• For bonus entries you can return to this page and enter the daily bonus entries. 
• If you are still unsure as to how Rafflecopter works please do check out this short video

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review-20 cm Ozeri Green Earth Frying Pan

I was recently sent a 20 cm Ozeri Green Earth Frying Pan with Ceramic Non-Stick Coating . It is one of the world's first frying pans to achieve non-stick perfection while remaining absolutely free of PTFE, PFOA and other harmful chemicals. It is made in Germany and designed to cook food with minimal use of oil making cooking easy and healthy. It has a textured cooking surface to prevent food sticking and the special coating means that no harmful fumes are released in the foods at high temperatures. The Green Earth Pan by Ozeri is made of the highest quality anodized aluminium that allows for even cooking and browning without the risk of hot spots. It has  a magnetized bottom for rapid heat transfer on induction stoves, and a heat resistant silicone coated handle.

I really enjoyed cooking with the pan and found that it was easy to wash as well. I found the 20 cm size a little small and limiting for family cooking however it was perfect for cooking smaller portions and frying eggs and making pan cakes. The Ozeri range does come in larger sizes. The 20 cm pan retails at £ 24.95 and is available form Amazon UK

I would like to thank Ozeri for sending me this pan to review, all the opinions in this review are my own.

Giveaway and Review of Vintage cutlery set.

I love crockery and cutlery in all shapes sizes and forms so when I came across the Rex London website, I was thrilled. It is an Aladdin's grotto for people like me who want to purchase unusual and beautiful gifts for their friends. Rex London have gifts for all occasions such as birthdays, themed parties, Christmas or just for a surprise gift for someone.The vast selection of  of gifts range from gifts for cooks, to hobbies, arts and crafts,cyclists, pet lovers, home and garden, weddings and many more occasions that you can think of. In fact within their range you can do all your Christmas shopping without checking any other place out.

I particularly like their kitchen gifts and all the vintage and retro gifts.I love the cute little milk bottles in a carry case, the Moorish stoneware, tableware and many more gifts.When  Rex London sent me the 16 piece Vintage pistachio cutlery gift set. I was thrilled with it. Consisting of 4 knives, 4 spoons,4 forks and 4 teaspoons, the set is perfect for a table setting for 4 persons.The cutlery is made from stainless steel with lovely Pistachio handles with a metal band of decorative metal design.The set came in a matching gift tube and is really pretty.It comes in other colours such as blue, red, pink and black also.The retail price of the set is £29.95.
I am really happy that I have come across this wonderful site and it is my one stop shop for all my gift purchases.Thank you to Rex London for my cutlery set .All the views and opinions are my own.

Rex London have been very kind and they have agreed to send one simply.food reader a 16 piece vintage cutlery set as a prize.

To enter:

How to participate:

• Simply complete the Rafflecopter widget below to verify your entries
• Entries can be via blog comment, Facebook, Twitter etc
• Please read the rules they form the terms and conditions of this
• Closing date -7th December 2013 12.00 am
• Prize 16 piece vintage cutlery set
• This competition is open to UK residents over the age of 18 only.

How Rafflecopter works:

• You will need to complete the mandatory entry first – usually making a blog comment. You can do this by clicking on leave a comment at the bottom of the post and leaving your reply in the comment box.
• Login to Rafflecopter – click to see what the question is. Make a comment answering the question on the blog.
• Go back to Rafflecopter and click the green button to tell me you have made a comment, this will unlock all the other options. All entries are checked to see that the mandatory question is answered, if its not all bonus entries will become void. 
• Rafflecopter will tweet, like and follow on your behalf. For information on how to find the URL of your tweet click here.
• For bonus entries you can return to this page and enter the daily bonus entries. 
• If you are still unsure as to how Rafflecopter works please do check out this short video

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ghotma Ladoos Rajasthani Indian Sweet

 Wishing all simply.food readers a very happy Diwali

This recipe for Ghotma Ladoos, I discovered at Jagruti's cooking Odyssey, it is a ladoo recipe very unique to Rajasthan -Jaisalmer. Jagrutis recipe post can be found here and here is also a video showing how the Ghotma ladoos are made in the authentic way in Jaisalmer.
I have adapted the recipe slightly and added a few extra ingredients.

Ingredients:

Boondi

250 g chickpea flour
1 tablespoon melted ghee for batter

½ cup water
1 litre sunflower oil for deep frying

Mawa

175 g sugar
125 g condensed milk
60g clarified butter
30 g milk powder
30 g almond powder

1 teaspoon cardamom powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg powder
30 g coarsely chopped pistachio nuts
30g coarsely chopped almonds
1 tablespoon almonds flakes
coloured red and slightly crushed

How to colour almonds red:
Put almond flakes in a zip lock bag and add few drops of red food colouring, shake the bag to colour the almonds red.Place a sheet of kitchen paper on a tray anddry the coloured almonds, once dry use them for garnish

Method:

1.Mix the chickpea flour and water with the melted ghee and make a lump free batter.
2.Heat oil in a large wok and using a ladle with holes pour the batter through it into the hot oil to form small droplets of batter.
3. Deep fry the boondis until crisp ad drain them on kitchen paper .Repeat for rest of batter.
4. Once all boondis are made weigh out 350 grams for the recipe and store rest away for future use.

5. In a microwaveable bowl add the clarified butter, condensed milk,milk powder and almond powder and mix well.
6.Cook on medium heat for 2 minutes stirring after 1 minute.The mixture should start to come together to form a semi solid ball. Cook for a further 30 seconds and remove from microwave and leave to cool.
7. In a food processor add the 350 g of prepared boondi and the sugar and blend until a fine sand like texture forms.
8. Add to this mixture the prepared mawa mixture made in the microwave, cardamom powder and nutmeg powder  and blend again until all the ingredients are combined.
9.Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the coarsely chopped pistachios, almonds and the red crushed almonds.Mix everything together.You should be able to form balls from the mixture, if the mixture appears dry add an additional spoonful of condensed milk, just enough to bind the mixture.
10. Make bite sized ladoos from the mixture freeform or using aladoo mould.

Round Up ~Lets cook with Pumpkin

Thankyou to everyone who participated in this event.Here is the wonderful round up of the dishes.