#HeinzSeriouslyGood Mayo Mash with Steak and Ale

Anyone who's ever had the *ahem* pleasure of accompanying me to a fast food shop at the end of a night on the tiles will be able to tell you how much I LOVE my chips and cheese smothered with mayonnaise. To be honest, I love mayo with just about any food I can get away with. I've even been known to ask for it in restaurants and get in a huff when they don't have any. If only it didn't need to be refrigerated, I might follow Beyoncé's lead and keep a bottle in my bag at all times!

So, when I was asked by Heinz to create a recipe using their new [Seriously] Good Mayonnaise, I was FULL of ideas. The brief was pretty loose; it had to use mayo, and it had to fit on a spoon. That was all! As you know, I like to show you how to use ingredients in weird and wonderful ways and I was reminded of an old favourite I stumbled upon by accident.

This recipe is the lovechild of two happy accidents. I first discovered you could replace the traditional butter and milk in mashed potato out of desperation. I'd boiled my potatoes and gone to the fridge, only to find I was completely out of milk and butter. What could I use instead, I wondered?! Then I was hit by a somewhat crazy idea; would mayonnaise work?! Well, I gave it a go and it was AMAZING. My favourite way to make mashed potato now for sure and this new luxurious mayo makes it even better.

And my favourite way to accompany this mash? Steak and ale, of course! I discovered (after forgetting to buy a pack of pastry) that the filling of a steak and ale pie goes really well with mashed potato. You don't need that fatty pastry for this dish and it significantly reduces the number of calories per portion when the pastry is removed too. Win!

Heinz' [Seriously] Good Mayonnaise is their best ever mayonnaise. It is thick, creamy and really really delicious. You can try it now and they're so confident you'll love it, they'll refund you if you don't! You really have nothing to lose by giving it a go. Upgrade your mayo!

I'm entering this recipe into Heinz' competition to find the nation's best tasting spoonfuls. If you're interested in entering a recipe yourself, check out the website here.

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#HeinzSeriouslyGood Mayo Mash with Steak and Ale

by Kevin Chambers-Paston July-26-2016

Creamy mayo-spiked mashed potato topped with tender steak in a delicious ale sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 400g stewing steak, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 250ml ale of your choice
• 150ml beef stock
• 800g potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks
• 2tbsp Heinz [Seriously] Good Mayonnaise
• A splash milk (optional)
• 1tbsp cornflour

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan, fry the onion, carrot, steak and garlic in oil over a medium heat for a few minutes until browned. 2. Add the thyme, ale and beef stock and bring to the boil. Cover and reduce the heat to low for 1 hour. 3. Around 20 minutes before the steak is ready, put the potatoes on to boil. 4. Once cooked, drain the potatoes and mash. Add the mayo and splash of milk and mix well. 5. To finish the steak and ale, mix the cornflour with a little cold water then add to the saucepan. Simmer for a minute or two until thickened and luxurious. 6. Serve! Feel free to have some green vegetables on the side.

Details

Prep time: 20m Cook time: 1h 0m Total time: 1h 20mYield: 2 portions, or many many spoons!

How do you like to use mayonnaise? Let me know in the comments!

Disclaimer: I was asked by Heinz to create this recipe using their new [Seriously] Good Mayonnaise and was compensated for my time. As always, all views expressed are my own honest opinions and I wasn't required to write a positive review.

Caramelised White Chocolate Panna Cotta

A while ago now, I showed you how to make caramelised white chocolate in a slow cooker and then how to use it to glaze a beautiful bundt cake. I always intended to show you other ways of using this amazing ingredient, but then other things happened and I never came back to it...

If you've never made or tried caramelised white chocolate before, you're in for a treat. It has all the creamy vanilla flavour of white chocolate but with an added smooth caramel note too. Not only that, it's the most beautiful colour! I'd like to say I only use it for cooking but that would be a lie... I love to make chocolate buttons from it and scoff them in the evenings. Oops!

So, here we have probably the most delicious and visually stunning dessert I've made with caramelised white chocolate to date; panna cotta!

I was always quite scared of making panna cotta and thought it was really complicated. Turns out, it's actually really rather simple! You won't be surprised if you know me that I wanted to make it look a little prettier than the usual dariole mould-shaped dessert, so I used a Nordic Ware Buntlette Pan for my panna cotta. I'd definitely recommend making a few extra if you're trying to impress, as they're a little delicate to get out of the pan, but I hope you'll agree that the gorgeous shape it totally worth it.

I served with a few dashes of delicious Salted Caramel Sauce, but you could use whatever you like! Even a berry compote would work well...

Yes, I did use the wine fridge to set the panna cotta. It's a nice flat fridge and the tray slides in nicely under the bottles; good job really, as all the spaces on the racks are full! Ha.

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Caramelised White Chocolate Panna Cotta

by Kevin Chambers-Paston July-10-2016

A delicious dessert, sure to impress even the most discerning of dinner guests.

Ingredients

• 200ml full fat milk
• 500ml double cream
• 1 vanilla pod
• 3 gelatine leaves, soaked in cold water and wrung out
• 150g caramelised white chocolate

Instructions

1. Split the vanilla pod and remove the seeds, then put the seeds and the pod into a pan. Add the milk and cream, then bring to just below boiling point whilst stirring continuously over a low heat. 2. Remove from the heat and add the softened gelatine leaves. Stir until completely dissolved. 3. Chop the caramelised white chocolate finely and add gradually until completely melted and mixed with the milk. 4. Pass through a sieve and allow to cool until just warm. Pour into your moulds and set in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours. 5. When ready to serve, I like to use a blow torch to heat the back of the panna cotta, one at a time. Once heated, slide a cocktail stick down the side to release the suction and tip out onto a plate carefully. 6. Garnish with the sauce of your choice and enjoy!

Details

Prep time: 10m Cook time: 0m Total time: 10mYield: 4 panna cotta

I hope you give this a go and really enjoy it. If you do, please leave me a comment below or tweet me (@thecraftylarder) to let me know.

Häagen-Dazs at Wimbledon

Sometimes, when I'm in the middle of developing a recipe, refining the recipe for the 3rd time, photographing it, eating it and then writing about it I do stop and wonder 'Why on earth do I put myself through this?!' Yesterday, however, was the complete opposite. Whilst sipping champagne in the sun, feasting on afternoon tea and ice cream and having a good natter with other bloggers, I remembered clearly just how lucky I am to be a part of this community!

You see, Häagen-Dazs are the official ice cream sponsor of Wimbledon this year and for the next 5 years and to celebrate they invited some of us bloggers to afternoon tea in the outside space at Forest, on the roof of Selfridges. 

Of course, with Lanson being the official champagne sponsor of Wimbledon it'd be rude not to have a glass or two! *hic*

The afternoon tea was seriously delicious, but the icing on the cake was definitely the ice cream. Häagen-Dazs are renowned for creating great flavoured premium ice cream and have created a limited edition of their 'stick bars' flavoured with handpicked strawberries and cream (of course!)

To be honest, I'm not really a fan of strawberry ice cream. I usually find it far too sweet and really synthetic in flavour. So, I was really pleased to taste the Häagen-Dazs version and find it wasn't too sweet at all. In fact, it had a really authentic strawberry flavour that wasn't overpowering and had just a touch of sharpness to it which really nicely balanced the sweet ice cream. Here I am enjoying a bite! (Yes, I have changed my hair. Thank you, I think it suits me too! ;) )

You can taste this limited stick bar yourself either by buying one from Wimbledon or in a Selfridges store in the UK or by popping up to the terrace at Forest in Selfridges, London where they'll be screening the tennis and giving out complimentary ice cream until the end of the men's singles final on Sunday. Yep, that's right, I said FREE ICE CREAM. So get yourselves down there to have a taste! More details here!

If you can't make it but you'd still like to try one of the other flavours of Häagen-Dazs stick bars, you'll be pleased to know they launched a range of 3 flavours earlier this year so I'm sure you'll see them in shops near you soon.

Finally, I'll leave you with some pictures of the delicious afternoon tea, just to make you drool...

Disclaimer: I was invited to attend afternoon tea with Häagen-Dazs free of charge. As always, I wasn't asked to write a positive review and all opinions are my own honest opinions. I was also compensated for my time in attending and writing this post.

Antonio Carluccio and Cirio Tomatoes

You're going to be so jealous when I tell you what I got up to last night... 

At the Institute of Good Housekeeping Dining Rooms in Soho, London, I attended an event to celebrate the 160th anniversary of Cirio Italian Tomatoes and tasted some delicious food. That's cool enough in itself for a foodie like me, but it gets better... Who was cooking them? Only the legend that is ANTONIO CARLUCCIO OBE. I was truly star struck and he was every bit as sensational as I imagined. A true foodie and the godfather of Italian food here in the UK.

He was every bit as charming, funny, passionate and knowledgeable as I imagined him to be from watching him on TV and I am SO glad I went to meet him.

As I said, we were there to celebrate that Cirio have been canning/bottling/sieving tomatoes for 160 years now. That seems incredible to me and they surely must have been at the forefront of modern 'convenience' foods and food preservation in general.

I love Cirio tomatoes and will already buy them when I can. If they're good enough for Antonio, then they're definitely good enough for me! One of the questions asked of him at the end of his demo was 'Why should we buy Cirio when we can get supermarket own-brand tomatoes at a fraction of the cost?' His answer was simple; quality. "Sometimes," he said "you just need to accept you need to pay more to get the very best." Amen to that, Antonio!

He demonstrated two dishes from the cookbook he's developed to celebrate the anniversary. The first, Pappa Al Pomodoro, is a soup made with bread and served cold. I'm not a fan of cold soups at all and was expecting this to be disgusting but in actual fact it was delicious! So much so, I'm definitely making it myself at home ASAP.

The second was Cozze Alla Tarantina; mussels cooked simply in white wine then added to a tomato sauce. I didn't try this as I'm not keen on mussels but again the room was raving about it and I have no doubt it was delicious!

If you'd like the recipes for these dishes, you can find the recipe book here.

I even managed to get this image of Antonio looking as if he's showing us a little dance. He wasn't, but I wouldn't have been surprised. That's the kind of fun and light-hearted character he is!

I hope you've enjoyed this little insight into my evening with Antionio Carluccio and Cirio; remember me when you're next buying tomatoes at the supermarket. To paraphrase Antonio, some things are worth paying that little bit more for!

Disclaimer: I was invited to attend the Cirio event with Antonio Carluccio free of charge. However, I wasn't asked to write a positive review and all opinions are my own. I wasn't commissioned to write this post, but I did because I wanted to share what a fabulous time I had!