Mella Malta

I recently went to visit my friend Andy in Malta. Having no idea what to expect, i was delighted by the sun and sea, and mixed north african and meditteranean influences in the food. A firm favourite were pastizzi, which a version of pasties. It made me think about the various types of pasty type snacks I've tried around the world, and almost always enjoyed. Indian samosas, middle eastern boreki, chinese spring rolls, south american empanadas, the best Bolivian saltenas, Cornish pasties and now maltese pastizzi. The picture (and our favourite) shows spinach ones, but peas, meat and spinach and ricotta were also available and a suprisingly filling snack. There are two aspects of these pasty variations that stand out: a sweet light pastry and a tasty spicy filling; Bolivian saltenas have a sweet glaze over a thin pastry, and boreki have the salty spinach and feta with a crumbly pastry.

Another Maltese favourite was 'kinni', a bitter orange fizzy drink, which sadly did not wash down the pastizzi as well as I thought, and I ended up carrying it around for hours trying to finish it as it grew warmer and flatter and even less apetizing. A much tastier drink were the mojitos with strawberries. Our version with seasonal pomegranate is to follow.

The first picture is lamb curry with pilao (spicy and delicious). The second are oysters with tangy lemon mustard vinagrette over a bed of salad leaves (perfect for valentines day). The third is feta cheese sauteed in chilli and leek on a home-made focciacia.

Chocolate con churros: the manchester food festival

This week Manchester is hosting a festival for foodies; delightful for the tastebuds and strangley feeling more like a typical summer music festival in Britain than a the urban scattering of gourmet delights I was expecting. The horizontal drizzle, bright coloured wellies and pints of lager in plastic cups accompanied by reggae was contrasted with the chocolate extravaganza inside the main tent.
Chocolate wine, chocolate truffles, chilli chocolate, chocolate ice cream and let's not forget chocolate con churros! Deep fried batter covered in sugar and cinnamon and dipped in melted chocolate. The supreme way to spend a Saturday afternoon. If only I had got some of that chocolate wine...

Fast food and creativity

Since starting work in August I have have not had the time or energy to be as creative or spend as long over cooking. So I have basically got into a food rut. This consists of having about 10 different meals that are quick to make and quite tasty. Satay stir fry, green thai curry, roast chicken thighs with roast root vegetables, smoked mackeral fish cakes, and chorizo and bean fajitas are some of my favourites.

However, I've decided it's time to make a change and return to creative cooking. Even though work is tiring and when I get home all I want is a quick meal without having to think, the creativity involved in experimenting with food and the satisfaction of preparing a tasty new combination of ingredients is even more important now then when I had lots more time and energy. People always say work-life balance is important: cookery combines creativity with practicality, can be sociable or a solitary treat, and basically brings colour to a world that is so often grey and routine. Especially being in Manchester, where there is a constant drizzle, I've decided to take every opportunity to indulge my sweet, sour and savoury teeth and re-introduce home-cooked pleasures into every aspect of life.

Peptic ulcer and an ode to Creme fraiche

So my doctor recently told me that I might have a peptic ulcer. All this rich tasty fine dining has caught up with me at the ripe old age of 24. This means I have to stay away from caffiene (easy), alcohol (not so easy) and chilli (what am I going to eat??)! Plus no really fatty fried food or really uncooked vegetables. Minimal chocolate. This sounds like it's going to be boring ...

However, I've decided not to let this get me down. I am making do quite well. My lovely friend Rachel made a roast vegetable feast, with sweet potato, tomatoes, leeks, pine nuts and a tiny sprinkling of feta with a couscous and rice base. Then Lucy suggested a left-overs soup recipe with broccoli, leek, potato, pesto and creme fraiche which was so tasty and my stomach held it together.

I've also recently found an app that gives me loads of recipes and blogs to my phone. This is feeding my food addiction. But it also gave me a wonderful recipe for blueberry muffins, which I had never made before, where the key ingredient was sour cream. I changed this to creme fraiche and the results were soft and squishy fruit goodness.

So this is a thank you note to creme fraiche. It's light enough for my stomach to cope and has given flavour and texture to this week's meals. I recommend using this ingredient more often. I certainly will be .

It's Lunchtime!

I think it's always nice to have something tasty to look forward to at lunchtime. It can break up a dreary day and raise energy levels. Recently I have been trying hard to think of some more packed lunch recipes and realised that I mostly take left-overs. Especially good are curries, although pasta turned into a salad or left-over pies can also be tasty. Argentine 'empanadas' or English pasties are also great, and if home-made you can be really adventerous with your fillings.