Peach Slush

Even though winter is just around the corner, i love to enjoy slush all year round. Slush is so easy to make, don't go wasting your money in shops where they sell slush, it's way too expensive. To make peach slush, you need; a blender; still peach flavoured water; grenadine; ice and sugar. All i do is simply add around 8-10 ice cubes into the blender, then i add a tablespoon of sugar, then 1-2 teaspoons of grenadine. I then add about half a pint of peach flavoured water (make sure it's still). Ensure that the ice is all blended nicely and that you can suck the slush through the straw. You might need to add a little more sugar, because the slush will be more developed and it will be a nicer consistency when mixed with the sugar, water and grenadine.

Main Ingredients

1. Water (peach or any flavoured water) [half pint or more]
2. Grenadine (2 teaspoons)
3. Sugar (1 tablespoon)
4. Ice Cubes (8 or more)

Tuna White Bean Salad

 

I love salads, and the tuna and white bean salad is the perfect starter or snack. This is so tasty and so easy to make. It takes around 2 minutes to do. All i did was mix one can of cannellini beans with one can of tuna. I mix in 2 tablespoons of real hellman's mayonnaise. I then mixed in half a lemon, salt and pepper and prepared some iceburg lettuce underneath. It's so easy and so tasty. Garnish with a little coriander!

Main Ingredients (serves 1-2 persons)

1. Cannellini beans (one can) [wash under cold water tap]
2. Tuna (one can in brine) [squeeze out brine]
3. Half a lemon (squeezed)
4. Real hellman's mayonnaise
5. Salt & plenty of black pepper
6. Garnish: Coriander

Calamari

Squid is becoming a very popular food all around the world and i love calamari, especially when it's deep fried. Calamari is deep-fried battered squid. It's normally served on its own as a starter or as a side dish . Calamari is normally served with a wedge of lemon or garnished with parsley, or sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. It can also be served with dips such as tartar sauce, ketchup or mayonnaise. I like to eat mine with a side salad topped with mozzarella cheese and a baked potato. 

 

I also like to season my calamari with salt and pepper. To make Calamari, purchase good fresh squid from over the counter places in supermarkets.

Rinse and clean the squid. Wipe the squid dry with paper towels. Cut the squid bodies cut into rings and leaving tentacles whole. In a bowl, mix one cup of all purpose flour with one tea-spoons of salt and half a tea spoon of pepper. Place the squid in and toss to coat. Heat your deep-fat frier or skillet until it's very hot. Add your calamari one by one. Don't overcrowd the place as the calamari will stick to each other (you can do the calamari in batches). Deep-fry for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to individual plates, garnish lemon wedges and serve. Enjoy as an appetizer, side dish or snack!

Main Ingredients (serves 5-6)

1. 3 pounds small squid
2. 1 cup all-purpose flour
3. 1 teaspoon salt
4. 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper
5. Olive oil or peanut oil, for frying, (you can also use sunflower oil)
6. 2 lemons, cut into 6 wedges

Corned Beef Sandwiches with Mustard

Corned beef sandwiches are easy to make and are a very tasty snack. They are easy to prepare! Just toast some bread and then butter on both sides. Lay one or two corned beef slices over your bread, then cut into little triangles like i have done here. It's so easy to do this and i love adding lots of english mustard too. I like to serve this with an ice cold glass of Coca-Cola.

Asparagus and Parmesan with Balsamic Drizzle

 

I've recently been eating alot of asparagus and an easy way to cook asparagus is to fry it for about 5-6 minutes on a really high heat. There is no need to boil or steam asparagus. It tastes great fried over the hot pan! I fry the asparagus for about 6 minutes untill it browns slightly, then i prepare a dish with cooking foil and put about 3 table spoons of olive and 3 table spoons of  balsamic vinegar onto the foil. I also add a little salt and pepper too. Once the asparagus is cooked, i transfer it to the dish and then tightly pack the asparagus into the foil (as if you were foiling up a baked potato. I then leave the asparagus to steam for about 3-4 minutes. I also like to turn it upside down so that the oil and vinger spread out and cover all the asparagus. Garnish with a little paramesan...Easy! And it tastes great!

Main ingredients

• asparagus (about 6-7 each per person)
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper
• parmesan

Caprese Salad

	I've always loved tomato and mozzarella together and thought about making a salad with just these two ingredients. I've only recently discovered the "caprese salad" from Closet Cooking. Well, this is my take on the caprese salad. What i love about this salad is how fresh it tastes and also looks. Presentation goes along way these days, and I'm really into making dishes look and taste wonderful and exciting. On closet cooking's site i wanted to recreate the dish and make it my personal way. I simply used a cooking ring to stack the salad. I chopped up some sweet cherry tomatoes and finely diced some mozzarella too. I then put the tomatoes in first, then some of the mozzarella and then another layer of mozzarella on top. I seasoned with a pinch of salt and pepper. The sauce is simply basil infused olive oil. You can find this oil at any large supermarket. You can also easily make it yourself by chopping some fresh basil leaves up and putting them into a bottle of olive oil overnight. You can then strain the basil with a strainer. It was a very tasty treat and i look forward to making it again. Something that would go well with this salad would be some ciabatta bread drizzled with the basil infused olive oil - Mmmmm! Yummy! Main Ingredients:     * Cherry Tomatoes (Diced)     * Mozzarella (Diced)     * Olive Oil (Basil Infused works best)     * Basil Leaf (for presentation) Optional:     * Salt & Pepper (To taste)     * Ciabatta Bread