Page 6 | Kitchen & Cook Shop

Kitchen and Cooking Themed Gifts for Mother’s Day

Posted March 12, 2015 by Nicki & filed under Gift Ideas.

It can be very difficult choosing a gift for Mother’s Day, especially if, like me, she also has a birthday the week before! So I have picked out ten of our favourite things that would make a great mothers day gift.

Beautiful Gift Mugs

Mugs are a popular gift idea and there are some very pretty floral mugs that mum’s will love from Cath Kidston, or perhaps she would prefer a stylish shabby chic mug. Another great choice would be to spoil your mum with a specific “Mother” designed mug.

Portobello Sandringham Adora Bone China Mug

Katie Alice “Cottage Flower” Fine China Mug by Creative Tops

Me To You Tatty Teddy “Mum In A Million” Boxed Mug

Love Life Best Mum Ceramic Mug

The Health and Fitness Mum

If your mum loves healthy food or keeping fit then these blenders are great gift ideas. Making smoothies and juicing are very popular ways to help keep you fit and healthy.

Breville Blend Active Personal Blender & Smoothie Maker with 2 Portable Blending Bottles

Braun MultiQuick 5 Vario Hand Blender

Russell Hobbs 3-in-1 Hand Blender

Mum, the wannabe Baker

Does your mum love to make cakes but sometimes gets it a little wrong?! How about this Cupcake Maker in pink, the perfect gadget for the baker who likes things to be simple and quick in the kitchen.

Breville VTP159 Cupcake Maker with Accessories

Luxury gift ideas

For those of you that have a higher budget and want to treat your mum to something a little different that perhaps she wouldn’t buy herself, here are three more interesting gift ideas for Mother’s Day.

Panasonic SD-2501WXC Automatic Breadmaker with Gluten Free Program

KitchenAid K45SS Classic Stand Mixer in White

KitchenAid Classic Stand Mixer in White

Tefal Cook4me Plus with Connected Capability 6 Portion Multi-Cooker

Three extra gifts – The gift of chocolate!

I hope you found this choice inspiring and you find a gift to suit your mum. Of course if you cannot decide at all what to buy your mum, you can always go for a traditional gift choice and buy her the gift of chocolate!

Prestat Fine Chocolate Assortment in Large Jewel Box

Lindt Lindor Milk Chocolate Truffles Box

Green & Black’s Chocolate Lovers Collection

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

Posted March 4, 2015 by Paul & filed under Recipes.

Picture the scene if you will. It is 10.30 am on a March Monday morning, and I am sitting out in the garden catching the warmth of the sun’s rays and enjoying a ristretto made with our new coffee machine, when I suddenly realise that I have completely forgotten to prepare a dish for tonight’s evening meal. Okay, that may not be a problem for some, but I know that I am perilously forgetful and I had no idea what food we had in the house.

We had just finished a very busy weekend and shopping had not been on our list of things to do so the fridge was looking rather empty, but as fortune had it we had bought some chicken breasts the previous Friday that would be perfect if only I knew what to do with them. I found so many recipe choices online, but knowing that our kitchen cupboards were also terribly bare I needed a dish that required few other ingredients. To the rescue came realhousemoms.com with a wonderfully simple slow cooker recipe for honey garlic chicken that needed just 5 simple, common ingredients, so into the kitchen I headed, after finishing my coffee of course!

I’m a huge fan of my slow cooker despite its age and appearance and I tend to use it at least once a week. I find almost all meat cuts cook to perfection in it and with this recipe my girlfriend remarked that it was almost as if the meat was being marinated as it cooked, which is most probably the case.

I adapted the recipe from Real Housemoms a little to suit my tastes, but my full gratitude goes to Aubrey Cota for sharing the recipe in the first place. Being European, I don’t use cup sizes so I adjusted (and lowered a little) the quantities. I also added a couple of other ingredients, as is my want!

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 large cloves of garlic, chopped or crushed
Pinch of paprika
A few mixed herbs
Dash of Worcestershire sauce (optional)
Dash of Tabasco sauce (optional)

Instructions

Place the chicken breasts aside for a moment and mix together all the remaining ingredients in a bowl. A whisk works well.
Spoon a little of the mix onto the bottom of the slow cooker crock pot and spread around. Place the chicken breasts on top of the thin layer of paste mix.
Poor the remaining mixture over the chicken, ensuring that all of the chicken is covered with the delicious goo!
Cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or on high for approx. 3 to 4 hours or until chicken is done. I used a combination of ‘auto’ and low settings and it took about 6 hours.

We served our honey garlic chicken with a risotto made by my partner. She makes it so well and it tasted lovely.

This is definitely a recipe to make again and again, especially as it uses so few ingredients. It’s simple and flavoursome cooking – try it yourself today!

Useful products for making this recipe

Morphy Richards Red Sear and Stew 3.5L Slow Cooker (460014)

Satisby 13 Piece Kitchen Utensil Set

Apollo Filled Schwartz Spice Rack Set

Lemon and Almond Cookies Recipe

Posted February 23, 2015 by Nicki & filed under Recipes.

These delicious cookies are always a hit with family and friends and they don’t last long! This recipe makes a lovely tangy soft cookie with almond chips to add a crunch. Great with a cup of tea in the afternoon when entertaining friends.

Ingredients

100g soft butter or margarine
100g castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
185g plain flour (a little more may be needed)
Half a teaspoon baking powder
zest and juice of one lemon
a large handful of almonds or as many as you have available, crushed.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c (gas mark 4, 350F).
Add the sugar and butter and lemon zest to a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamy.
Crush the almonds by putting them into a plastic bag and hitting them with a rolling pin until they are ‘chocolate chip’ size pieces.
Add the vanilla essence and egg to the butter mixture and beat until thick and creamy.
Add the lemon juice and two tablespoons of flour and mix well.
Gradually add the rest of the flour, baking powder and the crushed almonds and continue mixing. The cookie dough should be thick and sticky so that it stands in peaks when the spatula is lifted from the mixture and it is tough to mix. Add more flour if it is not thick enough, it will depend on the size of the lemon and the amount of juice added.
Using a tablespoon, spoon out half tablespoon size balls of the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with greaseproof/baking paper, and bake for 16 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are starting to turn golden.
Place on a baking tray to cool.

These cookies will keep in an air tight container for up to a week, or can be frozen in bags.

Cookbooks for Baking Fans

Lemon and Almond Cookies are one of the Kitchen and Cook Shop’s favourite recipes. Here is a further selection of great cookie recipe books.

The Cookie Book: More Than 200 Great Cookie, Biscuit, Bar and Brownie Recipes (Catherine Atkinson)
The Cookie Jar: Over 90 Scrumptious Recipes for Home-baked Treats (Liz Franklin)
Great British Bake Off: Children’s Party Cakes & Bakes (Annie Rigg)

Be Prepared with the Best Kitchen Tools

Here is some kitchen equipment that will help you to make great cookies!

Alessi Juicy Salif Citrus Juicer

Kenwood HM220 Hand Mixer in White

Duronic KS3000 Stainless Steel Round Digital Display 5KG Kitchen Scales

Duronic Round Digital Display 5kg Kitchen Scales

Kenwood kMix 1000 W Stand Mixer in Black

KitchenCraft Colourworks Plum 29cm Silicone Spatula

VonShef Stainless Steel 6 Piece Premium Nesting Mixing Bowl Set

Easy Pancake Recipe plus all the Tools you Need

Posted February 16, 2015 by Nicki & filed under Recipes.

As it’s almost pancake day we thought we’d share the traditional pancake recipe as I always find myself looking for it when the day arrives. Pancake day or Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday which is the start of Lent and the day itself moves depending on when Easter falls each year. For a little history, pancake day was originally a pagan holiday and symbolises the fight between the arriving spring and departing winter. The pancakes represented the sun and were made and eaten during the holiday. You can find out more about Shrove Tuesday on wikipedia.

Here is the basic pancake recipe, and we’ll leave it to you to add the traditional sugar and lemon topping, or maybe you will go for jam or chocolate, apple and pear, or perhaps a savoury version.

Pancake Recipe

To make 8 thin pancakes.

Ingredients

100g plain flour
2 eggs
300ml semi-skimmed milk
1 tbsp of sunflower/vegetable oil plus extra for frying.
Pinch of salt

Method

Put the flour and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the middle.
Crack the eggs into the well in the middle of the flour, add the oil and only 50ml of the milk.
Start mixing from the middle of the well and gradually draw in the flour from the edges. It will become a thick paste as you mix, keep mixing until all the flour is used and if the mixture becomes too thick to mix add a little more milk.
Continue adding the rest of the milk slowly and keep mixing until you have a smooth batter. It should be the consistency of a thick cream.
Heat a large flat pan or frying pan over a medium heat and grease with a thin layer of oil. (Use a piece of kitchen roll to spread the oil).
Ladle some of the batter into the pan and swirl the pan to get an even covering of batter. Leave to cook untouched for 30 seconds. If the pan is a good temperature the pancake will turn golden on the bottom in 30 seconds.
Flip the pancake over to cook on the other side for another 30 seconds. First loosen the pancake with a spatula and then lift and flip it over.
Check the pancake is golden on the new side, and then tip it out onto a plate and serve, or leave to stack the others on top.

To serve

Pancakes can be served with many different toppings and it is a matter of your preference. Some of the best include chocolate sauce, maple syrup, honey, sugar and lemon, or slices of fruit.

Tools you may need

Here are a selection of tools that you may find useful in pancake making. We hope you enjoy your pancakes!

VonShef Professional 300W Hand Mixer

Kitchen Craft Colourworks Non-Stick Crepe Pan

OXO Good Grips Batter Bowl

OXO Good Grips Angled Measuring Jug

Master Class Soft-Grip Nylon Ladle

Philips HR2744/41 Viva Collection Citrus Press

Product Comparison: Modern 24 Piece Cutlery Sets

Posted January 28, 2015 by Paul & filed under Product Comparisons.

In our home we are thinking of buying a new cutlery set as our existing knives, forks and spoons have seen far better days! My significant other on Kitchen & Cook Shop, insists on having a 24 piece cutlery set, whilst I only desire that it be modern and stylish, and not too expensive!

With these parameters in mind, I have been looking around on the Amazon UK website and have narrowed down my choices to those in this article. These cutlery sets are all those that I would consider modern in design and of good value too.

Villeroy & Boch 24 Piece Cutlery Sets

Quality lifestyle brand Villeroy & Boch have been making amazing products for your home since its foundation in 1748. They are well known for their ceramic and glass homeware products, but they also produce many cutlery sets for your dining pleasure. They produce a multitude of cutlery designs at a range of prices that suit most budgets. Villeroy & Boch cutlery is very highly rated on Amazon.co.uk, with all of their sets getting positive reviews from happy buyers.

The design of cutlery is a very personal choice. I quite like cutlery with a slightly rounded handle, and two of the Villeroy & Boch options below look as though they might suit my needs well. The first choice seen here is from the Vivo range and costs around £40, whilst the other two options here are priced at about £70.

Villeroy & Boch Vivo Group New Fresh Basic 24 Piece Cutlery Service

Villeroy & Boch Victor 24 Piece Cutlery Service

Villeroy & Boch Oscar 24 Piece Cutlery Service

Our other choices in 24 piece cutlery sets

My partner has always wanted a cutlery set from Viners, after the set she previously had was ‘borrowed and never returned’ by a disgruntled ex-boyfriend! My parents also use Viners cutlery and they certainly are of high quality. The set I quite like is the Viners Angel 24 Piece Cutlery Gift Box Set. There are a great many positive reviews on this Viners cutlery set, proving without doubt that it is a high quality product. The cutlery is made of 18:0 Stainless Steel, dishwasher safe and comes with a 25 year guarantee.

Another cutlery set that I like is the Judge Windsor BF50 24 Piece 18/10 Stainless Steel Cutlery Set. It is great value for a 24 piece cutlery set (at around £25) and they are perfect for every day use, although some buyers have complained of rust appearing after a while. They look easy to hold, and I would consider them to be a perfectly fine cutlery set. Judge make many different household and kitchen products, the majority of them very well rated, so there is some confidence to be had in this cutlery set.

Russell Hobbs is a well known and established brand and I was interested to find that this British manufacturer also made cutlery. Not surprisingly, the Russell Hobbs Deluxe Vienna 24-Piece Stainless Steel Cutlery Set is very highly rated, as most of their products are. This is a great looking cutlery set with a timeless design. It is also dishwasher safe and has an excellent 15 year guarantee.

Viners 5981330 Angel 24 Piece Stainless Steel Cutlery Gift Box Set

Viners Angel 24 Piece Cutlery Gift Box Set

Judge Windsor BF50 24 Piece 18/10 Stainless Steel Cutlery Set

Russell Hobbs Deluxe Vienna 24-Piece Stainless Steel Cutlery Set

Our final choice

We have yet to buy our cutlery set but the final choice seems to be between the Villeroy & Boch Vivo Group New Fresh Basic 24 Piece Cutlery Service and the Russell Hobbs Deluxe Vienna 24-Piece Stainless Steel Cutlery Set. The Russell Hobbs cutlery set about the same price the Villeroy & Boch set, but there is a certain timeless quality to the V&B set that I like, depsite it being part of their more ‘budget’ priced items. Perhaps I shall buy both – The Villeroy & Boch set for special occasions and the Russell Hobbs set for every day use!

Christmas Cooking Tip: Pick up Roast Turkey with Ease

Posted November 26, 2014 by Paul & filed under Kitchen and Lifestyle.

It’s Christmas Day. Imagine the scene if you will… The kids are running around playing with their new toys. Family members are arriving to join you for the day. Grandma’s slowly getting drunk on port. The TV is showing ‘Home Alone’ (again). The cat is attacking the Christmas tree, the dog is jumping on everyone, and you’re struggling to lift the massive roast turkey out of the boiling hot pan. The roasting fork is too long and can’t quite give enough purchase so you’ve opted for a couple of normal table forks. Slowly, and with great effort, you carefully lift the roast turkey out of the pan, but just as you get to a height where you can carrying the roasted bird over the pan sides, you lose grip on one of the forks!

In what seems like slow motion, the prize turkey that has been roasting in the oven for the last 5 hours, slips out of your grasp and falls with a resounding thump to the floor. Your world stops and begins to fall apart. Your Mother-in-law cackles. The kids run into the kitchen, pointing and laughing. Drunken Grandma slumps into a flower pot. The cat stares at you from the top of the Christmas tree, and the dog bounds in, grabs a mouthful of turkey breast from the floor and leaps away.

Aaagghhhh!

Wouldn’t it be so much easier if you had a kitchen gadget that makes lifting your roasted poultry a breeze. Have no fear! OXO, our favourite kitchen tools maker, comes to the rescue. Take a look at the fantastic OXO Good Grips Poultry Lifter available on Amazon UK. Part of their Good Grips range, this poultry lifter makes it so easy to transfer roasted poultry and game of all sizes from one dish to another. The soft handle is ergonomically design to be comfortable and non-slip and the prongs have been specially created to secure the bird without piercing or damaging the meat. Its design aims to prevent any slippage or twisting and because the OXO Good Grips Poultry Lifter is shaped to lift from underneath the breast bone, the roasted turkey always looks perfect from the outside and presentation ready.

This stainless steel poultry lifter is safe to put in the dishwasher and what’s even better is that it can carry a roast turkey, chicken or other roasted bird weighing up to 9kg/20lbs! It’s also great value too.

Here at Kitchen & Cook Shop, we highly recommend the OXO Good Grips Poultry Lifter. We’ve had our fair share of dropped roasted chickens (albeit not onto the floor but onto the kitchen counter top) due to struggling with two forks so this is one kitchen tool that we are sure to purchase before Christmas this year!

Thanks for reading.