LONDON, 31^st August 2012, Looking for new food inspiration? Sainsbury’s magazine, Britain’s most widely read monthly glossy, launches its online presence with its first ever blog Kitchen Secrets at sainsburysmagazine.co.uk on 5 September. The blog will be serving up the hottest food trends, cooking tips and tempting recipes every week to keen cooks who want more than their regular monthly fix of the print title.

With mouthwatering original online posts from the award-winning magazine’s food team, led by editor Helena Lang and food director Sarah Randell, the new blog will be regularly updated with the latest culinary tips and tricks, how-to videos and exclusive recipes. Plus there will be news, views and recipes from well-known contributors such as Lorraine Pascale and Eric Lanlard.

The brand-new food blog is simple to navigate too, with separate recipe, trend and treat filters and easily identifiable tags of keywords, so you can find your favourite blog posts, make comments, swap tips, chat to other readers and share the latest news and videos through Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. With fabulous food pictures too, following the blog will be a real visual feast!

To launch the blog, Kaushy Patel, chef/owner at Prashad, Gordon Ramsay’s Best Restaurant 2010 shares a pea and cauliflower curry and one of our favourite baking gurus, Eric Lanlard, passes on his how-to tips for chocolate writing in a step-by-step video. There are exclusive foodie offers and treats from top tea rooms, and meals to win at some of the team’s favourite restaurants. Must-make recipes include a summer pudding traybake and a ‘something for the weekend’ cocktail.

That’s not all - with a monthly newsletter sign up option, we’ll make sure you’re always kitchen ready!

Log on now and discover your favourite Kitchen Secrets HERE, or pick up the conversation at #sainsburysmagblog.

Selling over 244,000 copies every issue, Sainsbury’s magazine, produced by Seven, now has more readers than any other monthly glossy paid-for magazine, making it the UK’s widest-read, fully paid-for monthly in Britain, with just under 4 million readers every month (NRS)

As a big fan of their magazine, I'm really excited about this!

One of my life-long dreams has been to have my very own B&B . . . a nice country home with lovely cosy rooms, soft puffy beds . . . a home away from home for weary travellers . . .



With killer breakfasts served up, hot and delicious from my very own country kitchen. Breakfasts that keep my guests coming back for more year after year . . .



Signature Breakfasts that make my place unique and cosy . . . that have my guests thinking about and drooling for years to come . . .



Breakfasts like this delicious Pain Perdu with Cream Cheese and Blueberry Syrups . . . the Pain Perdu, all crisp and golden on the outside . . . but creamy and custardy inside . . . served up hot and gilded with not one . . . but two fabulicious syrups. YES!! not just one . . . but TWO tasty syrups . . .



The first a delicious cream cheese syrup . . . creamy and decadent, but amazingly . . . low in fat.



The second a wonderfully fruity blueberry syrup . . .



The two together . . . well, dare I say it??? M-O-R-E-I-S-H-L-Y scrummy yummy!!



The breakfast would not be complete without some crisp and smoky back bacon on the side . . . dry cure of course . . . oak smoked . . . yes . . . everything is better with bacon, is it not???



Oh, and for the true glutton . . . on the side . . . fresh large free range eggs, lightly sauteed in a mixture of maple syrup and butter . . .



Is this a breakfast that would have you coming back for more?? I sure hope so! A gal can dream can't she???



*Pain Perdu (French Toast) with Cream Cheese and Blueberry Syrups*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Dangerously delicious stuff. With this kind of food being served at home, why would anyone ever want to go out??

For the French Toast:
8 large slices of a hearty french bread
375ml of whole milk, warmed (1 1/2 cups)
3 large free range egg yolks
3 TBS light muscovado sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 TBS butter melted (plus more for cooking)
pinch of table salt
1 TBS vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon extract

Cream Cheese Syrup:
250g package of light cream cheese (I8 ounce package)
250ml of pure maple syrup (1 cup)

For the Blueberry Syrup:
250g of wild blueberry preserves (jam)
4 TBS of liquid honey

icing sugar or vanilla bean dusting sugar to serve (optional)



Preheat your oven to 150*C/300*F/ gas mark 3. Place a rack onto a baking tray. Lay the bread onto the rack and then bake the bread slices in the heated oven for about 15 minutes, flipping them over halfway through the baking time, until amost dried through. Let cool before proceeding. Remove the rack from the baking tray and put the oven tray back in the oven. Leave the oven on.

Beat together the milk, egg yolks, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, salt, vanilla and lemon extract. Blend well and then pour this into a 13 by 9 inch pan. Add half of the dried bread slices in one layer. Allow to soak for about half a minute, then carefully flip over and allow the other side to soak up some of the mixture. Remove, allowing any excess egg mixture to drip off, to a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining four slices.

Heat a knob of butter in a large nonstick frying pan until it begins to foam, over medium low heat. Add half of the bread slices. Cook until golden brown on one side, some 3 to 4 m inutes, flip over and brown the other side. Remove to the baking sheet in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining pieces of bread.

To make the cream cheese syrup, whisk together the cream cheese and maple syrup until smooth. Place in a jug for pouring.

To make the blueberry syrup whisk together the jam and the honey. Heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds and whisk again. Put into a jug for serving and keep warm.

Place two slices of cooked french toast on each of 4 heated plates. Dust with the vanilla bean sugar, or icing sugar (if using) and then drizzle with some of each of the cream cheese and blueberry syrups. Pass any remainder at the table for people to add their own.

Serve with crisp bacon and or maple syrup fried eggs. (To fry eggs in maple syrup, drop about 2 TBS of maple syrup into a nonstick skillet along with 2 TBS of butter. Let the butter melt and whisk together to combine. When it just begins to bubble drop in the eggs and cook until they are as done as you prefer, turning or not, again as you prefer.)

Freezers Can Help You Get Magic for Money

When you think about the meal planning, then it is extremely essential that you must have a freezer. You must keep your freezer clean and organized in order to get full help to save the extra things and foods that can be spoiled.

Most of the time, a freezer is considered as the best friend and it can also do much magic. When you start freezing the extra food in your freezer, then you come to realize about how you can save your money using the beneficial freezer. It does not only save your money but also saves your time that you can spend with your family.

When you cook large amount of food during the weekends, you can also store these foods in the freezer to keep them save so that they can be used later on. You can fill your freezer with the freezing bags that contain different ingredients in it. So in order to store a number of ingredients and food items in your freezer, you must keep your freezer well organized and clean. Throwing the freezer bags in the freezer makes it messy and dirty.

Different tips to use the freezer for saving time and money

• If you want to organize your freezer completely, you must keep it clean. Take all the ingredients and bags out of your freezer and throw away all the expired things from the freezer. After cleaning the freezer, keep the fresh items in the freezer again and do remember, you have to set the temperature of the freezer to 0 degree. It is an extremely important point that most of people forget.
• Make different sections in your freezer, so that you may keep different kinds of food in it. Just like the right side is for meat, left side is for vegetables and the door side is for the ice cream. Do your best and do whatever suits you.
• Try to store all the cooked meals and groceries in the food packages that must be waterproof. You can also use the containers, plastic bags and aluminum foils etc.
• During the storage of food, always notice that there should no air in the container of the plastic bag. It will dehydrate the food and make it inedible for the people. So if you do not want to spoil your food then you must be very careful that there must be no air in the container.
• Once you defrost the food, you should not store it again in the freezer. Therefore, it is mostly advice to store food in small packages rather than in large packages. So the best thing is that you must save them as food per serving in one package.
• In order to manage your freezer, you must use label. In these labels, you should mention what kind of food or ingredient is inside. You must also write the date when you bought it from the market and the date when you prepared it. Also, write the date by which you can use the ingredient or food item.
• Whatever you keep in your freezer, always try to keep it in pressed form. All the food items kept in the pressed form will occupy less space and allow you to store more items in it. Therefore, it is mostly advised to store all the ingredients and items in the form of bags.
• The quick defrosting of the food kills its nutrition and moisturizer away from it. You must defrost it one day before you are going to use it. If you forgot to do it one day before, you should throw it in cold water and defrost it.

About the Author
I love to cook and spend time in kitchen; I am the author of blog "Nutella Recipes" where I try to deliver to my customers the best eyewear dessert ideas.

Delicious fish for Friday here in the English Kitchen today! Having fish for supper on Friday is a long held tradition over here in the UK, especially up here in the wild and wooley North West. On most Friday nights there are long queues at fish and chip shops . . . if you don't want to have to wait a long time for your dinner . . . you have to get there early.



I remember when I came over here to meet Todd in person before we got engaged. My first Friday night here, he picked up some fish and chips for us from the local chippie. I was totally amazed at the size of the pieces of fish. He got two regular pieces of cod and one portion of chips to share . . . and there was more than enough for the two of us.



It cost £2 each, for the pieces of cod . . . and they were so large that they were hanging over the sides of our plates . . . and for 60p we got a portion of chips that was so ample we could not eat them all . . . both fish and chips liberally sprinkled with lots of salt and malt vinegar. (I now request to add my own, as it's usually far too much salt for my liking.) The cod was so sweet and moist, much nicer than I had remembered the cod being back home . . . the chips hand cut and chunky and crisp. The batter . . . crisp and melt in your mouth scrummy . . .



By the end of the meal I was so stuffed I could barely move . . . two fish and chip dinners for £4.60 . . . you'd be lucky to get away with one fish and chips dinner for that price now! But . . . then again, that was 12 years ago and a lot has changed in those 12 years!



When I was growing up, I used to be a tiny bit jealous of the catholic kids in my class at school . . . they always got fish for dinner on Fridays and I loved fish. I don't know if it was too expensive or what . . . but I know we only ever very rarely had fish. It was a real treat. Usually on Fridays we had hot dogs . . . which were quite good the way my mom did them . . . but I still would have loved to have had fish.



Today I oftimes choose to do my fish in simple ways, rather than deep fry it . . . saving the luxury of those deep fried fish calories to a once in a blue moon treat, from my favourite fish and chips place in town. This is a very simple, and yet easy way of preparing fish that gives you moist fish . . . with a deliciously flavoured crisp crust . . . without all the frying and faff.



The seasoned fish is brushed with a simple butter, olive oil and Dijon mustard mix and then has a crisp breadcrumb mixture of panko and parsley flakes pressed into the surface . . . and then you drizzle the remainder of the butter mixture over top. About 15 minutes later, you are rewarded with beautifully cooked fish with a nice crisp crust . . . not long . . . but just long enough to throw together . . .



. . . a delicious and easy homemade tartar sauce! It can be very low fat if you use low fat mayo instead of the regular kind. A bit of mash on the side and a few green vegetables and Bob's your Uncle! I don't know what's not to like about this meal, easy, quick and DELICIOUS!



*Crunchy Baked Cod with Horseradish Tartar Sauce*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Delicious baked cod with a crunchy flavourful panko crust, served up with a fantastic homemade tartar sauce!

4 (6-ounce) cod loins
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 TBS softened butter
1 TBS olive oil
1 TBS Dijon mustard
a pinch of cayenne pepper
60g of japanese bread crumbs (1 cup)
1 TBS dried parsley flakes

for the tartar sauce:
1 stalk of celery, de-stringed and finely chopped
2 TBS finely chopped cornichons
1 TBS prepared horseradish
2 TBS coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
6 TBS food quality mayonnaise (I use Hellman's or French Mayonnaise)
1 tsp lemon juice
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 5. Line a baking sheet with some aluminium foil. Lightly spray with cooking spray.

Rinse your cod loins and then pat them dry with some paper kitchen towelling. Place them on the baking tray. Season with some salt and pepper to taste. Melt the butter together with the olive oil. Whisk in the Dijon mustard and cayenne pepper. Brush the top of each cod loin with this mixture. Divide the bread crumbs between each loin, pressing them onto the fish to help it to adhere. Drizzle with the remainder of the butter mixture, dividing it equally.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes.

While the fish is baking make your tartar sauce. Stir together the celery, cornichons, parsley, horseradish, mayonnaise, mustard powder and lemon juice. Season to taste with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Serve with the cooked fish. Delicious!

Make sure you come back tomorrow. I have a REAL treat in store for you! You won't want to miss it!

Today something for the kiddos. In honor of them going back to school. Something that is simple and yet a bit special for them. And your big kid husband would probably enjoy this as well.



I know how busy mom's are, especially if they work outside the home. Time is always precious . . . and quick and easy meals always come in handy. The more time you can spend with your family and the less time you have to spend slaving over a stove on those weeknights . . . the better.



This is quick . . . and easy . . . simple . . . and very family friendly. It can be economical too . . . if you use store brands, or the super saver brands . . . but I don't. I want real chicken breast meat in my nuggets . . . and some substance to my sauce . . . and I confess . . . I like a best quality pasta . . .



You can round it out with a simple salad and maybe some garlic toast.
5 ingredient entrees. You can't beat them.



Not Todd's favourite of course . . . it's the pasta, you know . . . but . . . meh! Sometimes it's good for me to feed my inner child. He had beans on toast. (Let me add, this is very easily cut down in proportions or pumped up to larger portions.)



*Baked Chicken Nugget Spaghetti*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

A five ingredient meal for the kiddos that is surprisingly delicious! Who knew!

1/2 pound of dry spaghetti, broken in half
1 large jar of tomato pasta sauce (I like the Napolina brand, tomato and basil, as it's got a fab flavour and lots of texture. I need to use two jars as they are smaller than other kinds)
1 package (355g) of frozen breaded chicken nuggets (Use the ones that specifically are
made 100% with chicken breast meat. 4 serving size packet)
6 ounces of shredded mozzarella cheese
Optional, several dessertspoons of finely grated Parmesan Cheese (grate your own)

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Cook your spaghetti as per the directions and timings on the packet. Drain well and return to the saucepan. Stir in the pasta sauce. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 5. Lightly spray a 13 by 9 inch baking dish ( or 4 indivudual gratin dishes) with some cooking spray. Spread the spaghetti evenly over the bottom of the dish, or divide it equally amongst the individual dishes. Top with the frozen chicken nuggets in a single layer.

Bake uncovered for about 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and flip all of the chicken nuggets over. Sprinkle with the Parmesan, if using and the mozzarella cheese. If you are using individual dishes, divide it equally amongst them. Return to the oven for a further 6 to 8 minutes, until the chicken is heated through and the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

One of my favourite things to do is to combine different flavours and textures together in unsual ways. I picked up a packet of crumpets at the Spar the other night, thinking we would have some toasted crumpets and jam that night for a late supper in front of the telly.



To make a long story short, it didn't happen . . . so I was sat there looking at this packet of crumpets today . . . and thinking that I needed to do something with them before the expiry date and then I thought why not pizzas???



Why not indeed? Crumpets make the most fabulous pizzas, not the least because they have all those lovely little holes and tunnels in them for the toppings to melt down into. Scrummo! Way scrummo!



Then I started thinking of flavours that go well together . . . I had a block of lovely Stilton cheese in the refrigerator, and some beautiful pears that came in our veggie box yesterday. Pears and stilton go very well together. It's that old favourite combination of sweet and salty, plus a bit of tang.



Then I thought . . . walnuts also go really well with both pears and stilton. so then I had my topping mix. I added a bit of mozzarella just for bit of extra ooooze quality.



I wanted to add something extra though . . . kind of like a dressing and I toyed with the idea of a white balsamic vinaigrette and then I spied a bottle of Acacia honey in the cupboard and thought to myself . . . sage and honey. Sage and honey . . . SAGE HONEY! So I infused the honey with the flavours of some lovely freeze dried sage I keep on hand and drizzled this over the finished pizzas . . . and voila!!



Magnifique! Sweet, savoury, tangy, and crunchy . . . all on a scrummy crumpet!



What more could you ask for????



*Pear, Stilton & Walnut Crumpet Pizzas, with a Drizzle of Sage Honey*
Makes 4 servings as a starter, or a delicious lunch for 2
Printable Recipe

A fabulous mix of flavours and textures that is wonderfully delicious. If you are a fan of salty/sweet and crunchy . . . this is just perfect for you!

4 English Crumpets
175g of Stilton cheese, crumbled (6 ounces)
50g of mozzarella cheese, grated (2 ounces)
50g of chopped walnuts (approximately 1/2 cup)
1 medium firm ripe pear, cored and coarsely chopped

For the Sage honey:
2 heaped dessertspoons of a mild flavoured liquid honey
1 tsp of freeze dried sage leaves

First make the Sage Honey. Put the honey into a microwave safe glass bowl. Stir in the sage leaves. Heat on high for about 40 seconds. Stir again and set aside. Keep warm.

Preheat your oven grill to high. Place the crumpets onto a baking pan. Toast under the grill on both sides until lightly golden brown. While the crumpest are toasting, mix together the cheeses, pear and walnuts. Divide this mixture evenly amongst the four crumpets, piling it loosely on top. Pop back under the grill for several minutes, until the cheeses are melted and the walnuts are beginning to toast.

Remove from the grill. Scoop carefully off onto 4 serving plates if serving as a starter, and 2 plates if serving as a lunch for two. Drizzle evenly with the sage honey and serve immediately.



As you know, my husband and I are Latter Day Saints, and as such we don't drink alcohol, although I am not opposed to cooking with it. I live in Chester, which is the gateway to Wales up here in the North West . . . and I was greatly intrigued several weeks ago when I was contacted by Fine Wines Direct and asked would I like to try some Welsh Wines. I had no idea that they made Wine in Wales. How fascinating.

I told them that I didn't drink wine, but did cook with it from time to time and so I was sent two lovely looking bottles of wine from the Ancre Hill Estates Winery, situated at Ancre Hill on the outskirts of Monmouth, in South East Wales.

The vineyard is comprised of two sites on the outskirts of Monmouth town. The Folly View site of 6 acres is principally planted with Chardonnay and Albario. The newer Town site of 3 acres is totally dedicated to Pinot Noir. Both sites are south facing on well draining, limestone soils and the long hours of sunshine and comparatively low rainfall in the little valley all combine to make it an ideal location for vines.

I was sent a bottle of their Rose Wine (2010) and a bottle of their White (2010). I have not been able to use them yet, unfortunately, but I did want to tell you about this beautiful winery.



Set in the middle of the Wye Valley, an area of outstanding natural beauty, the vineyard is blessed with its own unique meso-climate, surrounded by tree topped hills on all sides, with the famous Brecon Beacons to the north. Being produced in an area of outstanding beauty is not what makes this wine different however, and this is what I found completely fascinating!

Ancre Hill Estates Winery is one of the few wineries in the country to use Biodynamics to help produce their wines. I expect you are wondering just what that is??? So was I . . .

The concept of 'Biodynamic agriculture' was proposed by the philosopher and scientist Rudolf Steiner through a series of lectures called "The Agriculture Course," held in Koberwitz, Germany between the 7th and 16th of June, 1924. The course provided farmers with an alternative to the ever more industrialised nature of agriculture. Ancre Hill Estates take pride in practice farming which stays true to the principles set out by Steiner, which have been adapted to their Vineyard site for the present day. These are practices which help them to maintain their beautiful piece of Wales and which help them to protect the intregrity of their vines. This means that their wines are chemical free, and that they use natural process to care for their vines. They also plant their vines according to the lunar cycles, which is another thing I found to be quite fascinating.

"The concept of biodynamic agriculture means we don't use any chemicals whatsoever in our process. It means we keep the whole ecology of the area in balance," he says.

The method adheres to the belief that the moon's gravitational pull can cause the seeds to swell and burst at certain times. This factor, coupled with the increasing moonlight, creates balanced root and leaf growth.

"We don't follow the lunar cycle to the letter, it's much more instinctive than that, " says Mr Morris.

"For example if we do the winter pruning in a descending moon on a fruit day, then it's going to put lots of visceral forces into the vine and they are going to come back much stronger."
(text taken from Wales online.co.uk)

This is something which I really admire in modern production of anything. I love it when farms and companies and producers are environmentally aware and when they use a quality of care towards our environment in the production of their products. This to me is a HUGE plus.



Richard Morris and his family started planting in 2006 and are only the second biodynamic vineyard in the UK, which is impressive, especially since their wines have now managed to scoop an impressive three awards on the international circuit, having impressed judges around the world, with a silver medal for it's Sparkling Rose (2008 vintage) and two bronzes for it's Sparkling Shite (2008 vintage) and it's Pinot Noir (2009 vintage) from the International Wine and Spirits Competition.



In any case it all sounds like a very winning combination to me, and I promise to let you know exactly what I think of their flavours as soon as I have the opportunity to cook with them. This building work which is going on in our home at the moment is somewhat cramping my cooking mojo, to say the least!! Many thanks to Fine Wines Direct for this opportunity to learn something about these very unique wines as well as the opportunity to share what I learned with each of you.

I reckon the courgette has to be about one of the easiest vegetables to grow. It practically grows like a weed, providing you with an abundant supply during August. It's a very versatile cookery ingredient and the trick is to keep up with it, and to keep picking it's fruit before they grow as big as marrows!



We love it stir fried in a bit of oil, with some garlic, salt and pepper and then dusted with some freshly grated Parmesan.



We eat it cut into sticks and battered and then served with a delicious garlicky dip.

We eat it raw on a crudite platter along with an herby dip or aioli.



We eat it raw and sliced into salads.

We eat it sliced and casseroled or gratined.

Grated and slipped into meatloaves or pasta sauces . . .



Our favourite way to eat it though, is baked into a tasty quick bread. I have long had my own delicious recipe, but this time I wanted to try something new. I turned to "Bake", one of my favourite cookbooks, written by Rachel Allen. I love Rachel's recipes. They always turn out fabulous, and this was no exception. Filled with spice and two types of sugar, it has a wonderfully crunchy crust on the outside, and a moreishly moist texture inside.



This is one of those loaves that gets better tasting with every day that passes. It does make two loaves, but that's not a problem. You can either freeze one for a later date, or become the favourite person in your neighbourhood by passing the extra one onto one of your neighbours!

Scrumdiddlyumptious!



*Courgette Loaf*
Makes 2 9X5 inch loaves
Printable Recipe

It just wouldn't be summer without having made at least a couple of courgette loaves. This is an extremely delicious way of using up some of that "glut" in the garden. The inclusion of demerara sugar makes for a very nice crust.

14 ounces plain flour (4 cups)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
11 ounces caster sugar (1 2/3 cups)
3 1/2 ounces of demerara sugar (1/2 cup)
3 large free range eggs, beaten
200ml sunflower oil (7 fluid ounces)
2 tsp vanilla extract
13 ounces of grated courgettes, with the skin left on (3/4 pound)
3 ounces chopped walnuts (3/4 cup)



Pre-heat the oven to 150*C/300*. Grease and flour two 9 X 5 inch loaf tins. (alternately you can grease them and then line them with baking paper, and grease again)

Sift the flour, salt, soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves into a large bowl. Whisk in both sugars.

Beat the eggs, sunflower oil and vanilla extract together.

Stir the egg mixture and grated courgettes into the dry mixture, mixing until well combined. Stir in the walnuts. Divide between the two prepared loaf tins.

Bake in the heated oven for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the loaves comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for about 15 minutes or so before turning them out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Delicious toasted and served warm with some cold butter.