Homemade Organic Condensed Milk and a visit to Cockhaise Organic Farm

Being a vegetarian, it is really important to me knowing where the foods I consume are coming from and their quality. So when I was invited by Arla Foods UK to visit Arla's cooperative Cockhaise Organic Farm in Haywards Heath, West Sussex to find out about Organic farming, I did not need much persuasion to agree to the visit.

So what do we understand when we read it's Organic?

During my visit at the farm, I have learnt that organic means “Working with nature, providing a high standard of animal welfare, no use of artificial fertilisers and totally GM free.”

To be classified as free range, the cows at Cockhaise Farm graze outdoors in the grass and clover fields, which are free of artificial pesticide and herbicides. The grass in the fields also have many species of herbs such as chicory, plaintain, yarrow, burnett, red clover, sweet clover and rye grass. The farmers rely on crop rotation and careful selection of crop varieties and cultivation to avoid the use of pesticides.

The cows are milked twice daily and the milk is graded for its quality according to the Organic Standards. This ensures that the Arla Organic Free Range Milk is of the highest standard. It is available in most supermarkets such as Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys, Morrisons, OCADO and Nisa stores.

Today I am going to make my own condensed milk with Arla Organic Free Range Milk. I use a lot of it in my Indian Sweets and often baking but I have never been able to find an organic variety of condensed milk. The recipe is simple to make and tastes amazing.

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Homemade Organic Condensed Milk

by Nayna Kanabar September-16-2017

Creamy and rich homemade organic condensed milk, full of flavour and delicious.

Ingredients:

• 600 ml Arla Organic Free Range Milk
• 150 g Fairtrade Organic granulated cane Sugar
• 6 tablespoons Organic Butter (unsalted)

Method:

1. In a heavy bottom, pan add the milk, butter and sugar and bring the milk to a simmer.2. Once all the sugar has melted, simmer on a steady low heat for 35-40 minutes, stirring intermittently.3. The milk will reduce in quantity and thicken. It is ready when it starts to coat the back of a spoon.4.Turn off the heat and pour the condensed milk into a sterile jar and leave to cool. The condensed milk will thicken more when it gets cold.5. Store in the fridge.

Details

Prep time: 2 mins Cook time: 40 mins Total time: 42 mins Yield: 1 jar

This post is in collaboration with Arla Foods UK who invited me to visit Cockhaise Farm to learn about the production of Arla Organic Free Range Milk. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions and photographs are my own and may not be reproduced in any form without my written permission.

Pizza Making at Pizza Express

Meeting friends and catching up over a nice pizza is something that is always fun. It's even more enjoyable if you are all thrown into a room with lots of flour, pizza dough and toppings and you get to create your own pizza. This is exactly what I did at Pizza Express in Fulham Road, when group of us attended the Pizza Express Pizza making party.

The Pizza Express has recently been revamped, it has a Pizziaolo kitchen space and new bar area.
The restaurant has an exciting new décor which has new Jacobean oak stained timber wall panelling, elegant pendant lighting and comfortable banquette, booth and settle seating. The restaurant decor which is rich in colour and patterns is inspired by the artwork of De Morgan and Burchell. On warmer evenings you can dine outside as it also has a patio outside seating area under an awning that is kitted out with furniture, planters, lighting and heaters.

Before we were covered in a white cloud of flour we enjoyed some drinks, nibbles and delicious dough balls.We then ventured into the party room and watched a demonstration on how to pat, toss and roll the perfect pizza base from our chef John.

Once the demonstration was over the pizza making fun began as we practiced with some dough. There were some truly memorable moments as each of us tried to toss our pizza in the air and catch it. I am really pleased that I did win the Best Tosser Award for my pizza tossing skills. Not everyone managed to catch their pizza and there were lots of pizza bases on the floor. It was good that they were only practice pieces and we were given fresh dough to create the pizza we were going to eat.

The practice run over we set about to make our pizzas.The dough was gently patted into the pans and topped with lots of delicious toppings and mozzarella cheese. Once we had all finished our pizza masterpieces, we enjoyed more dough balls and drinks whilst our creations were baked in the oven to perfection ready for us to devour.

There was of course the option of dessert too if you can manage it. The dessert menu had some lovely desserts and drinks on offer. I finished off my meal with a cup of latte and a mini lemon tart.

The pizza making party is great for team building, corporate events and birthday parties too. A perfect way to cook and eat together and get messy. If you would like to book an adult pizza party do check out this link.

I was invited as a guest to Pizza Express pizza making party, all the opinions shared are of my experience as are all the pictures.,

Knead to Know Bread making class -Jamie Oliver Cookery School

I enjoy cooking and baking but I have not really got into bread making yet. I make bread rolls and sometimes pizza base but that is as far as my bread making skills take me. I have always wanted to create beautiful loaves of bread so when I had a chance to try out a bread making class hosted by Hotpoint and Currys PC World at the Jamie Oliver Cookery school, I did not need much persuasion to say yes.

The Jamie Oliver Cookery school is part of the Jamie Oliver restaurant and it is located in The Westfield shopping centre in Shepherds Bush. The cookery school is bright and airy and is fully kitted with all the newest kitchen equipment and Hotpoint ovens. Our lesson started with a brief introduction to the Hotpoint ovens that we were going to use in the kitchens. As all new electrical equipment, oven too have come along way. The new Hotpoint ovens have a multi flow technology that distributes heat evenly so everything in the oven will cook evenly, this is an important factor in baking especially bread.

Next we watched a demonstration by the resident chef to make the bread dough for the bread rolls and Focaccia bread.We learnt the key skills of bread making such as knocking, kneading, proving and shaping the dough. These skills are of utmost importance in creating the perfect loaf.

I  realised whilst attempting to make my own bread rolls and Focaccia bread that baking bread is actually very messy but at the same time extremely therapeutic and a great way to unwind. The best bit is that the kitchen smells heavenly and the taste of hot bread straight out of the oven is absolutely delicious.

I was rather pleased with my bread rolls and Focaccia bread, although I did learn that if you add too many pumpkin seeds they can burn!!!!I am rather proud at my plaiting skills demonstrated in the picture below.

As the saying goes "the proof of the pudding is in the eating" this we did as we enjoyed our hot freshly baked bread rolls, served with a lovely cheese fondue and roasted pumpkin soup made at Jamie Oliver's Kitchen.

The whole bread making session was excellent and I have definitely come home with much more confidence at attempting to bake bread. If you are keen to learn how to bake bread or just need to boost your confidence than you can book classes at the Jamie Oliver school. You can also check out the recipes for the Rosemary Focaccio and the Roasted Pumpkin soup at the Currys Tech Talk Blog

I was invited to the bread making class by Currys PC World  and Hotpoint. All the views expressed in this post are my own as are all the photos.

Strawberry Smoothie Bowl

I look forward to having a leisurely breakfast on Sunday mornings. I am not a big fan of fry up breakfasts, instead my my favorite is coffee with pastries and having yoghurts with fruits and nuts. There are so many combinations of flavours you can create by combining different flavours of yoghurts and fruits that you would never be bored.

This simple strawberry smoothie bowl is so tasty and delicious and it really looks so pleasing to the eye served in this beautiful Sainsburys Home Bloomville range of dinnerware. The Bloomville range comes in a pretty floral design in pastel colours, it is really cheerful and would grace any breakfast or dinner table beautifully. Available in the range are dinner plates, side places, pasta bowls, mugs, cake plates, coasters, trays, spatulas and wooden spoon  and matching tea towels and oven gloves.

The dinnerware is made from porcelain and is dishwasher and microwave safe. It is reasonably priced as most items start from as little as £3.00 each and you can purchase as many pieces as you want to make a set for two place setting to six place settings depending on your family size. You can also buy separate pieces should you need replacing anything.

Back to my Strawberry smoothie bowl recipe, actually there is no set recipe!!! All you need is some yoghurt and fruits.

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Strawberry Smoothie Bowl

by Nayna Kanabar September-2-2017

Creamy strawberry yoghurt garnished with fruits, granola and honeyed almonds.

Ingredients:

• 100 g Strawberry Yoghurt
• 1 Kiwi peeled and sliced
• 8 Strawberries hulled
• 15 Blueberries
• 1 tablespoon Granola
• 10 Honeyed Almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon Chia Seeds

Method:

1. In a blender add three strawberries and the yoghurt and blend it for a minute.2. Pour the strawberry smoothie into a serving bowl .3. Garnish with the remaining strawberries, blueberries, kiwi fruit, granola and almonds and sprinkle with chia seeds.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: Total time: 5 mins Yield: 1 serving

** The dinnerware featured in this post was sent to me by Sainsburys Home, all opinions expressed in this post and pictures are my own.

Tidbits from my Pantry- Homeware

Last few weeks I have had the opportunity to attend many events where brands showcase their products. I love attending these homeware shows as you get a chance to see new products that are being launched on the market, together with some old time classics.
I am sharing below a round up of some really lovely samples, I have had the privilege to test out and use in the simplyfood kitchens.

1. Gourmet Gadgetry Vintage Tea Party Mini Toasted Sandwich Maker has non-stick baking plates to make 8 cute little toasted sandwiches ideal for a tea party.

2. Tala Salt and Pepper Mills are adorable novelty mills that are perfect for the dinner table.

3. Tower Veggie Peeler and Brush is very convenient as it is placed on your finger whilst peeling vegetables. The accompanied brush is handy for cleaning vegetables and fruit.

4. T and G Crush Grind Spice Mill crushes and grinds all types of spices and herbs. It has an adjustable setting for coarse and fine.

5. Addis Pop and Store is a collapsible container that can be used to keep your food fresh.

6. Sparq Home Hammered finish Copper Mule Mug is a really lovely size for serving chilled drinks in a stylish way.

7. Sistema Bento Lunch Box comes complete with compartments, food tray and a yogurt pot makes taking packed lunches very convenient keeping various foods separated.

8. JWP Good 2 Go Portion Perfect is a storage container collapses down for easy storage and helps to maintain healthy portion sizes for a balanced diet.

9. Mason Cash Wooden Spoon is a 3 in 1 utensil which stirs and blends, measures and scrapes.

10. Victorinox swiss made handheld grater with a curved silicone handle and safety cover to protect the blades.

11. Viners spoon, fork and knife set.

12. Kitchen Aid Silicone Spatula is perfect for all baking tasks.

13. Bobble make water better filter bottle is a reusable bottle that filters water as you drink. This is perfect for on the go in the car to work or at the gym.

14. Zoku Shooter Ice Moulds create edible ice glasses perfect for serving desserts or cold shots.

15. Jersey Pottery sardine run designed Jug is a cute little jug for milk or cream and would look perfect on any table.

16. Aladdin Bistro To-Go Hybrid Bottle keeps drinks cool for 12+ hours and ice for 16+ hours which is perfect for picnics.

17. Kilner Jar is a perfect little glass jar that is ideal for serving mini drinks.

18. Kuhn Rikon Scourer is a stay clean silicone scrubber that is hygienic and dishwasher safe.

19. Any Sharp is a kitchen knife sharpener with a powerful suction grip securing the sharpener to the table or flat surface and is good for straight or serrated blades.

I am totally thrilled with all these new items. They are going to be very useful in and around my home, especially the storage and cooking utensils which you can never have too many off.

I would like to thank all the brands that are featured in this post who have gifted me these wonderful products to try.