90g whole-wheat flour
30g milk powder
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
quarter teaspoon nutmeg
half teaspoon cinnamon
60g oats
120g unsalted butter (softened)
60g brown sugar
1 egg
200g mashed sweet potato
3 tablespoons molasses
half teaspoon vanilla essence

Cook (boil) and mash the sweet potato to start with and put to one side, then preheat the oven to 170C/gas 3 and grease a small cake pan (square is best for cutting into ‘bars’ later, but round is fine).

In a bowl sift the flour, milk powder, baking powder and spices into a bowl, add the oats and put to one side.

In a mixing bowl mix together the butter and sugar until fluffy – beat in the egg, sweet potato, vanilla and molasses, the gradually beat in the dry ingredients.

Pour the mixture into the cake pan and bake for 25 minutes until firm to touch and when an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool then cut into bars…

Eat, and relax….

To make 12…

For the cakes:
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules (use your favourite, not just cheap stuff)
1 tablespoon boiling water
115g butter (softened)
140g self-raising flour
140g golden caster sugar
2 tablespoons milk
2 large eggs
25g chopped walnuts

For the icing:
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
2 teaspoons boiling water
100g butter
225g icing sugar

Walnut halves to decorate.

Pre-heat oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4.
Line a muffin tin with 12 paper cases.

For the cakes:
In a mixing bowl stir the coffee granules and boiling water until smooth, then add the butter, flour, sugar, milk and eggs – mix with an electric whisk (or a lot of elbow grease and a manual whisk!), until smooth. Stir in the walnuts and then spoon into the cases.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden brown – transfer to a wire rack until cooled.

Icing time! In a bowl stir the coffee granules and water until smooth, then add the butter, sift in the icing sugar and stir until smooth and streak-free. Spoon and smooth (or in my case – splodge!) onto the cakes and top with a walnut half.

Brew a fresh pot of coffee and scoff!

A lot of ingredients, but it’s truly worth having a go. You’ll need a pestle and mortar, a blender and some skewers (or a way round it!).

The marinade and the sauce can be made a day in advance if required.

To serve 4

The marinade and meat ingredients:
4-5cm piece of ginger
4 plump garlic cloves
3 tablespoons natural yogurt
2 teaspoons lime juice (fresh works best)
1 tablespoon chopped coriander (they say finely, I’m impatient, rough is fine!)
half teaspoon hot chilli powder
half teaspoon garam masala
half teaspoon paprika (I only had smoked paprika, that was fine too)
quarter teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
half teaspoon fenugreek seeds
600g skinless, boneless chicken cut into chunks (about 3-4cm)

Sauce ingredients:
2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
2 onions, sliced into wedges
half teaspoon paprika
half teaspoon turmeric
half teaspoon garam masala
quarter teaspoon hot chilli powder
2 tablespoons tomato puree
300ml water
2 tablespoons natural yogurt

For the marinade, grate the ginger and garlic and mix together in a small bowl. Put half of the mixture into a larger bowl and put the other half to one side for the sauce.

Into the larger bowl add the yogurt, lime juice, chopped coriander, chilli, garam masala, paprika and turmeric.

In a small dry pan (I use a milk pan) toast the cumin, coriander and fenugreek seeds – take care not to burn them, especially the fenugreek seeds. Remove from the pan and grind to a powder using a pestle and mortar. Stir half into the yogurt mixture and put the rest to one side for the sauce.

Stir the chicken into the yogurt mixture, ensuring it’s all coated. Cover and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Then to the sauce:
Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onions and cook over a medium heat until the soften and start to turn brown.

Stir in the ginger and garlic and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Then mix in the paprika, turmeric, garam masala, chilli and the rest of the toasted seeds – some of the spices will stick to the bottom of the pan, don’t worry.

Add the tomato puree and 150ml of water, cook for a minute or so before blending to a thick smooth sauce (I got bored – lumpy sauce is just as tasty!). Return to the pan and stir in the rest of the water.

When you’re ready to eat, put the chicken pieces onto skewers and under a high grill place then on a baking tray lined with foil – I use a deep-sided tray with the skewers resting on the edge so they’re raised off the foil. Grill for about 12-15 minutes – they will be slightly blackened, that’s good!

If serving with rice, get that on the go as per the packet instructions, then heat up the sauce in a pan. Once the sauce is heated through, remove from the heat and stir in the yogurt.

To serve, a shallow bowl is ideal, but a plate or deep-side bowl is fine too. Pour in some sauce and lay the skewers on top… or just bung it all together if you’re not fussy!

You can also sprinkle some coriander leaves on top and serve with lime wedges for that little bet extra.

Yum!

As a group of five we found our table cramped as it really was meant for four. We were also sat at a table with a large floor-standing fan right behind one of the chairs, so not terribly comfortable – there were much better tables to be had!

The waitresses were pleasant and friendly, but clearly untrained.

Many of the wines on the list were not available, as were four of the nine desserts – we weren’t told this when handed our menus, only once we’d chosen.

There was a good selection of dishes, including classics such as Spaghetti Carbonara, Lasagne, Pizza. Overall, the pasta dishes were good, but in the Linguine dish of clams (spelled calms on the menu!) and prawns, the prawns were a little overcooked, and the Cannelloni was missing the spinach which was stated on the menu.

Portion sizes were good for the main courses and for the desserts – plates were cleared! Desserts were well presented and tasty, the coffee also good.

Overall, for lunch we probably wouldn’t rush back, preferring Gusto in Gaol Street for their lunches. In the evening however, the atmosphere has been quite different, so another visit is on the cards!

L’Oliveto
14 Church Street
Oakham
LE15 6AA
Tel: 01572 759656
Website: www.loliveto.co.uk

Time to revive the blog

Comfortable seating, generous-sized tables and a relaxing atmosphere immediately put us at ease – the staff were welcoming and friendly.

The menu offered a good selection of appetisers – within the group we chose potato skins, chicken caesar salad and squid. All were presented well. The potato skins were very popular and served with a garlic mayonnaise and salad garnish, as was the squid which although slightly over-cooked were still very tasty with a lovely light, crispy batter. The caesar salad was the best of our choices – strips of chicken and pancetta on crispy lettuce with a lovely dressing.

Pizza, pasta, steak and fish are well represented on the main menu – we chose grilled salmon, steak with peppercorn sauce, king prawns in a garlic and white wine sauce, penne arrabiata and garlic bread.

The salmon was a generous portion and cooked beautifully, served with freshly=cooked vegetables which were leeks in cheese sauce (gorgeous!), carrots and roast potatoes.

The steak was cooked exactly as requested and well-matched with the peppercorn sauce, also served with vegetables.

The king prawns were a good size, served with their tails on and cooked to perfection. The dish was served with rice, which was a really good match.

The penne arrabiata was a large portion of pasta – though the size of the dish would be overwhelming for a small eater, the sauce was just right on chilli allowing the tomato flavour to come through too – lovely.

The garlic bread was pizza-style with cheese and the right amount of garlic – enough to flavour but not overpower.

And to dessert! Ice cream went down well, a nice mix of toffee, strawberry (the best!), chocolate and vanilla. The cheescake and hot chocolate fudge cake were typical of any good restaurant, the quality of ingredients noticeable, but the best pudding of all had to be the tiramisu – not at all soggy, good coffee flavour and a smooth delicious cream custard.

Most definitely worth a visit – prices are excellent, even more so with their regular special offers, such as ‘happy hour’ between 5pm-7pm if you prefer to eat that little bit earlier.

Classico No 7
Tel: 0191 5812719
Stockton Road, Seaham, County Durham SR7 0HJ

The bar area looked like it was struggling to decide whether it was a bar or a cafe.  Comfortable enough, but the furniture was mismatched and the vinegar bottles needed a good scrub.

When we asked for a menu at the bar we were told menus were on the tables, so we sat down…

There was a lot of choice on the menu – I plumped for Chicken & Mozzarella Baguette with Basil Pesto, my husband for a Cajun Chicken Baguette. When we realised it wasn’t waitress service my husband headed for the bar, ordering drinks and meals.

After 10 minutes the coffee hadn’t arrived… we could tell they’d forgotten, but my husband was told it was on its way. Hmmm, how long does it take to pour a small cup of coffee?  Another five minutes is how long!

Food followed soon after. The Chicken and Mozzarella was odd, bland and rather disappointing (I realised once we were back in the car that they’d forgotten the pesto – doh!).  The Cajun Chicken was drowning in mayo and while the flavours were good, it too was bland due to the mayo-attack.

The baguettes were served with a salad garnish (lettuce was slightly brown, not good) and a small dish of coleslaw… well, I say coleslaw, it was more chopped cabbage in mayo.  On the plus-side – they had beetroot in the salad which was a nice change to the norm!

So overall we were disappointed. A hotel bar offering a wide range of dishes, wetting our appetites with fancy photos on the brochures, sadly let down by inattentive, unrefined service.

Wandering through to the hotel lobby to the restrooms it like entering a different world… the toilets were immaculate!

The Charnwood Hotel is a Best Western Hotel – www.thecharnwood.com

Break up the mints in a bowl or container and cover with the vodka – mix well.  Leave for about a week.

After a week all, or most, of the chocolate will be dissolved – sieve any lumps out and then filter the liquid back in to bottles through a coffee filter paper or muslin cloth (this helps to make the liquid clearer and prevent sediment settling in the bottle).

Drink!

200g fusilli
gammon steak, chopped into small cubes
leek, cut into short strips
30g butter
1tbsp plain flour
300ml milk

In a saucepan cook the fusilli following the instructions on the packet.

In another saucepan gently fry the gammon and leeks.  Melt in the butter, then mix in the flour.  Add the milk and keep stirring until the mixture thickens.

Once the mixture is sauce thickness (!), drain the pasta and mix everything together.

Serve with parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.

125g digestive biscuits
25g butter
500g soft cheese (eg. Philadelphia)
100g honey (choose a good one, the flavour is important)
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C fan / Gas Mark 4.

Crush the biscuits – the recipe suggests a plastic bag and a rolling pin, but I prefer baking foil and the end of a rolling pin!

In a pan melt the butter, take off the heat and mix in the biscuit crumbs. Press the crumbs firmly and evenly into the base of a 20cm (8″) non-stick, loose-bottomed cake tin. Chill in the fridge while you make the filling…

Beat the soft cheese, honey and eggs together until smooth.  Pour into the tin, placed on a baking sheet, and sprinkle with almonds.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden.  Allow to cool, then chill before serving. To help prevent cracking, once baked just turn off the oven and open the door while it cools.

Good served with fresh raspberries and dusted with icing sugar.