Italian Meatballs with Chunky Tomato Sauce

When my sister had her twins (Tinytot & Jellytot) she went Tommee Tippee mad (crazy).

She had a Tommee Tippee perfect prep which by all accounts is a godsend to any parent of multiples, this meant tommee tippee bottles, bowls, cutlery and the Tommee Tippee Food Blender.

Now that the twins are toddlers she has no need for all the equipment – but the Tommee Tippee Blender I kindly took of her hands as it’s the perfect size for blending and chopping small portions.

It’s an excellent devise for blending, mushing and chopping and now my go to tool in the kitchen for chopping up carrots or Onions.

There are 1000's of blenders out there, but I can wholeheartedly recommend this Tommee Tippee blender as with may recipes you only need to chop or blend a small proportion of the ingredients.

Below is an excellent recipe and the perfect opportunity to use this machine for an adult meal.  The recipe is again one of my sisters’ favourites from the Hairy Dieters Cook Book by David Myers and Si King (The Hairy Bikers).

Apple Cinnamon Cake

Last night the guv'nor and I were reminiscing about our travels abroad. We talked about coffee and cakes we used to enjoy as we'd have a very British elevensies. 

We both remembered a cake that had chunks of apple and cinnamon sugar through it. So this morning whilst the guv'nor was at work I made my version of this cake and I'd like to share it with you all.

Apple cinnamon cake 

Prep time 10minutes

Cook time 30 minutes 

Serves 12

challange accepted

Today I was challenged by a friend to cook a bag of sainsburys basics mince and turn it into a nutritious flavourful meal to feed his brood of six without it looking like a pile of sawdust on a plate.

Using a few larder ingredients I put him to work as my sous chef. From my larder we grabbed the following.

• 1 large onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 carrot
• 1 stick celery
• Garlic paste 
• 12 mushrooms 
• Small packet baby plum tomatoes.

Whilst I went to my herb garden to gather some fresh basil and parsley I put my friend to work dicing the onions celery and peppers. 

Halloween - Pumpkin Seeds

Its been a busy few days here at chef dave's, with impromptu visits from the family and getting my cooking head on.  But one thing that has kept me going is mine and the guv'nors "go to" health snack . 

Pumpkin seeds are a good source of zinc, 3.5 oz of pumpkin seeds if eaten whole can provide you with about 10mg of zinc if you prefer to shell them (we don't it's to much hard work and besides the taste is sublime) you'll get about 7mg of zinc. 

The seeds are also a good source of vitamin E.

As Halloween is just around the corner I thought I'd share with you my recipe for roasting pumpkin seeds at home and can be kept for 3 months and in an air tight container (try them they won't be around that long)

Most people when making jack o'lanterns discard the seeds don't, follow this easy recipe and have a delicious snack. 

Method

• Pull the stringy flesh from the seeds and rinse the seeds clean
• Refines seeds in a bowl of water
• Spread seeds evenly on to large baking tray
• Pour good glut olive oil over seeds
• Add seasoning (I would recommend sea salt, ground fennel seeds and chilli flakes)
• Mix together to evenly coat seeds
• Bake at 180/gas mark 4 for 10 minutes 
• Leave to cool
• Once cool you can put them in an air tight container 

What Makes Me a Good Chef!

Many people ask me what I personally feel makes me a good chef...


...My answer to this question has always been the same throughout my career -

Passion, Heart, Feeling

In this trade the hours are long and antisocial so the most important tool in any chef arsenal is PASSION.  As a chef you need to have passion for the ingredients your using whether it be as simple as oxtail or a cut of Kobe beef, without passion you end up with a mish mash on a plate.

Using passion for the ingredients chefs create edible artwork, as my very first head chef used to say "the customer eats with their eyes".

As a seasoned chef I cook with heart and feeling, I have a love for the fresh produce that is grown or reared locally to me. 

Using my passion, heart and feeling I create stunning dishes like this

and menus like this