Spiralize Every Day - A Book Review

This summer I became the proud owner of a spiraliser. Like many spiraliser owners, I was phenomenally excited to start with and spiralised everything that came into my path but then the novelty wore off and I struggled with ideas more inspiring than carrot and courgette "pasta". That's why I was interested to read Denis Smart's new cookbook, Spiralize Every Day - 80 recipies to help replace your carbs.

Spiralize every day is packed full of recipe ideas that use the different blades you get with your spiraliser. There are lots of recipes based on the "noodle" theme such as butternut squash spaghetti with walnut, or sweet and sour pork with daikon noodles. But as well as this there are lots of ideas you might not have thought of such as using the blades to create think slivers of fruit and vegetables as toppings for cakes, pastries or pizzas.

I found lots of the recipes in this book to feel quite light and summery - salads and light bites. I guess that's the nature of carb-free meals though. There are one or two warming heavier dishes such as a cauliflower-base pizza, vegetable lasagne or a carrot-rice style jambalaya.  All of the photos of the food look amazing. Because of the distinct lack of carbs, you really notice that the food looks brighter and more colourful. In fact, there are very few things in this book that I don't want to try - they all look so inviting.

One section of the book that isn't carb-free is the baking and sweet treats chapter which has some really clever sweet ideas as well as some innovative bread ideas. The girls can't wait to try sweet potato and chocolate chip cookies made with shredded potato. Lara also seems quite tempted by beetroot cupcakes but I'm not so sure how she would feel sprializing beetroot as it can get very messy!

If you're looking for ideas of what to do with your spiraliser then I highly recommend this book for a bit of inspiration. It's only £9.99 and I promise there will be ideas in it that you'd never even have thought of.

Number one on my list for next weekend is...homemade carrot tortillas wraps with chipotle chicken.

Paleo Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes

It is a little over a year since I started my new approach to life.  A healthier, happier me.  I haven't made big changes but last spring, when I decided that I needed to turn things around, I started off with a very big change to my diet which helped me kick start my metabolism - I spent a few weeks on a wholly paleo diet.  Since then, I've learned a few things about generally reducing the amount of grains and unrefined sugar in my diet and I've found a nice settling point for me but I do quite regularly still cook paleo dishes.

For those not familiar with the paleo approach to eating, it is based on the concept that paleolithic man lived a healthy, long life with just the foods that they could forage.  A paleo meal is usually grain-free, dairy-free, and free from refined sugar and refined vegetable oils.  Other foods should be unrefined where possible, and produced using natural processes.

Coconut Oil is big in the world of paleo cookery because it is a healthy, unrefined fat that can be used in both savoury and sweet recipes.  I'd never used it until very recently when Monkey Nutrition asked me to give coconut oil a whirl as part of my healthy eating approach.

Coconut Oil comes in a jar in a solid state.  As it warms, it melts.  In the recent warm weather my jar of coconut oil turned totally liquid and see-through!

coconut oil in its raw form

I've used my coconut oil successfully in paleo curries which I absolutely love and I've even tried it as a simple fat for cooking eggs but I do notice the flavour when I use it this way.  This weekend, I even tried it for baking and I think it is blimming brilliant!!!

I made these paleo chocolate and raspberry cupcakes which are gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free (but they do contain eggs).

I'm not awfully proud of the recipe (I need to work on my sugar-free frosting attempts!), so I'm not going to share it with you in detail but I was actually reasonably surprised at how tasty the cupcakes were, and how much they rose without flour and raising agents.  The girls absolutely loved these cakes.

Raspberry frosting

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons of coconut oil

150g raw honey

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 large eggs

125g ground almonds or almond flour

65g cocoa powder from a responsible source

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the frosting

30g coconut oil

50g fresh raspberries, plus extra for decoration

METHOD

Mix all of the ingredients together roughly with a wooden spoon, or an electric mixer.

Place the batter into 9 cupcake cases and cook in an oven (approximately 170 degrees centigrade) for about 25 minutes, until they are risen and the surface of the cake has crusted over.

Allow to cool.

Melt the 30g of coconut oil in the microwave or over a low heat and combine with the fresh raspberries.  Mash with a fork, or an egg-masher and then place in the fridge for 30-40 minutes.

Spread the frosting over the cakes and decorate with fresh raspberries.

Monkey Nutrition's Coconut Oil costs around £10.99 for a 500ml jar.

Heston's Pear Tarte Tatin Challenge

I was challenged by Salter to create a pear tarte tatin to Heston Blumenthal's exacting standards.  Having never made a tarte tatin before, I was a little apprehensive.  Salter sent me all of the equipment I would need to very precisely follow Heston's own recipe; a precision kitchen scale, an adjustable rolling pin, adjustable measuring spoons, spatulas and a professional kitchen whisk, all part of the Heston Blumenthal Precision range.

For a change, I cooked this recipe alone.  Hot caramel and delicate slicing don't mix well with preschoolers, and I'm not sure the word "precision" is one I'd use when I'm cooking with my girls!  And this was certainly an exercise in precision.

There were lots of individual ingredients to weigh out from tiny quantities right through to an enormous mound of sugar. I found the dual-plate precision scale invaluable.  Not only does the large plate measure upto 10kg, the smaller plate can measure in 0.1g increments for when you really must get things right.

I used the clever adjustable rolling pin to roll out my (ready made... shock!) puff pastry into exactly the right thickness for the base of the tarte.  I think the rolling pin will be awesome for when I am rolling icing for the girl's birthday cakes (although it does have measurements printed on it which might scupper my chances of a smooth finish).

My favourite item from the Heston Precision range was this large professional whisk which is about three times as big as my old whisk - perfect for blending an almond and butter frangipane.

The pears were poached gently in a liquer made from caramel, honey, vanilla, star anise, peppercorns, lemon and cinnamon.  The most intricate part of the tarte tatin was slicing the poached pears finely to place at the bottom of the tins.  On the top I piped the frangipane and then tucked in my circles of puff pastry before putting in the oven.

And this is the finished article.  I'm rather proud of it.  A traditional tarte tatin is one of my most favourite desserts in the entire world but this, this really is something special.  Very fitting for a wedding anniversary treat, I think!

    

Burgers - A Recipe Book Review

Burgers, by Paul Gayler, is a small hardback book in the shape of.. a burger.  Burgers are fabulous things to cook with kids but they don't always have to be a plain old beef burger - this book is packed full of gourmet burgers with lots of different flavours, and ingredients!

This week we set about making our own burger rolls.  Making bread is something that the girls very much enjoy doing with their Daddy.

Unfortunately, this time our bread rolls were a total disaster so we went for plan B - the corner shop!  Thankfully our burger-making efforts were awesome so it totally made up for things.  We followed a recipe from Payl Gayler's book, Burgers called "Ploughman's Burger" which features a tangy beef and onion mix with strong cheddar cheese pockets in the middle which oozes out when you eat it.  Om nom nom.

Burgers also features lots of recipes for classic burger accompaniments such as chips and relishes.  To top our burger we made a sweet balsamic onion pickle, homemade coleslaw and fresh tomatoes, just like a ploughman's lunch.  The result was mouth-watering.

Paul Gaymer's book starts with a few burger classics including an ultimate burger with "the works" but it quickly moves on to fascinating flavour combos such as Indian flatbreads with tandoori lamb burgers, Turkey BLT or Carribbean pork burgers.  There are vegetarian options too with a couple of innovative fish burgers.

Burgers is a fun book and I can see the Mellow Family slowly working our way through it.  I'd love to see more photos in this book of the relishes, salads, sauces and accompaniments as I think some of these recipes are outstanding - can't wait to try making my own ketchup some day soon.

To order Burgers at the discounted price of £7.99 including p&p* (RRP: £9.99), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code APG198.
*UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.

Recipe Book Review :: Easy Indian SuperMeals for babies, toddlers and the family

I am, a rather big fan of Zainab Jagot Ahmed and her simple, tasty recipes for indian-inspired foods suitable for babies, toddlers and the WHOLE family.  Zainab's new book, Easy Indian SuperMeals for babies, toddlers and the family is released next month and I got a sneaky peek - I have to say that if I had to chose one baby and toddler cookery book to recommend to new (or experienced) parents, then this would be it.

In our house, we eat an Indian-inspired meal on two to three evenings a week and have done ever since our girls were teeny and tiny.  Easy Indian SuperMeals (available to pre order now) features recipe ideas packed full of nutrients and exciting textures and flavours suitable from stage 2 of weaning (at around 7 months old).  We love the sweet fish and fruit curry which is suitable for small babies just taking their first foray into the exciting world of food - made with yoghurt, apple, pear and banana as well as white fish fillets and a selection of gentle spices such as ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander and turmeric - it is just as yummy as a grown up!

Later in the book there are recipes for finger foods such as apple french toast with blueberries and cinnamon or minted green beans.  And then for the more adventurous toddler there are some beautiful curried dishes designed to start building a love of healthy, exciting spices - Cardamom Chicken Curry is a tomato based curry with a hint of sweet cardamom and an optional zing of fresh green chilli.  Zainab's own daughter is now school age so the final section of the book features "booster snacks" and quick-to-prepare meals that are great for the post-school rush!

I find it hard to put into words how much Zainab's approach to mellow weaning and family mealtimes aligns with our own family's approach to food.  But, even sharing a love of Indian-inspired healthy food for kids, I still find a lot of new inspiration in Zainab's recipes.  I recognise a lot of the recipes in Easy Indian SuperMeals from Zainab's first electronic book but this new cookery book is packed chock-full of recipe ideas and I think I will be trying new things for many months to come.

If you're wondering what's so "super" about these Easy Indian Superfoods; it's the ingredients.  Each of the recipes features 'SuperSpices' which have been used for many generations for their health properties and antioxidant levels.  Combine these tasty spices with SuperFoods such as whole grains, nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables, a good mix of dairy and protein items as well as oily fish, olive oil and you have SuperMeals!  The first section of this cookery book features a lot of common-sense, scaremonger-free information about food groups and how to make sure your toddler gets a healthy, balanced diet that can set them on the right track from day one of their weaning journey.

It always puts a smile on my face when I see my own daughters enjoying Indian foods as much as I do - just last week Lara, my eldest, came home at the end of the day and asked me what's for dinner.  I told Lara we were having "curry"; she originally seemed a bit disappointed when she found out it was homemade curry and not "ordered curry" (her term for a takeaway) and I felt a bit deflated.  A little while later, as I served her "Classic Keema Curry" made with minced lamb, Lara exclaimed "Oh yay... I LOVE this curry" and demolished an adult-sized serving of it!

You can find out more about Zainab and her cookbooks at www.ZainabJagotAhmed.com and on facebook.

To celebrate the launch of Easy Indian SuperMeals for babies, toddlers and the family, I'm giving away a copy of the book to one lucky Mellow Mummy reader so you will be among the first people to get your hands on this fab new recipe book.  To be in with a chance of winning a copy, all you have to do is to leave me a comment below with the name of one of your tried and tested family-friendly meals that you like to cook.

TERMS and CONDITIONS:

1. There is no cash alternative.
2. The competition is open to UK and Ireland residents only.
3. Only one comment entry per person. Multiple, automated or bulk entries will result in immediate disqualification
4. The winners will be contacted by email.
5. Entries will only be deemed valid if a valid email address is provided when commenting - people who just log into intensedebate with their facebook account will not qualify for entry because it is too difficult for me to contact the winners
6. The winners will be selected at random from all valid comments received by 11:59pm on 8th September 2014.
7. The judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into
8. The winner's names will be published on this site

Annabel Karmel Quick & Easy Toddler Recipes Book Review

Annabel Karmel's latest book is released today - Quick & Easy Toddler Recipes is a book perfect for our family as it features simple tasty recipes suitable for Holly, for Lara and the whole family.

I now own quite an array of Annabel Karmel cookery books - I like her simple approach to food without stressing too much about whether something is officially 'healthy' or officially 'fun'; it means that her recipe books aren't patronising.  Quick & Easy Toddler Recipes is a book for parents of toddlers and preschoolers but the recipes are suitable for all the rest of the family too, in fact there are lots of my own favourites in there such as Nasi Goreng and Sticky Lamb Chops.

The book features ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner and pudding.  None of the recipes take up more than one page so they are very simple to follow.  There are a couple of recipe ideas that I recognise from Annabel's other books for slightly older children but I also find it quite comforting to see some recognisable flavour combinations from her weaning books which build upon baby recipes and turn them into dishes for more grown up children.

Chicken Tagliatelle Ragu

The photography throughout the book is perfect for getting Lara inspired by the food.  She will quite happily browse the book for ideas for her own dinner and will come away with a week's worth of ideas of things she wants to eat.  Recent quick wins have been the Peach and Rasberry Crumbles and Tagliatelle Ragu which we made with chicken mince which was a first for us.

I don't think there are any groundbreaking recipes in Annabel Karmel's Quick & Easy Toddler recipes but several of her oriental style recipes are a little out of the ordinary (Orange and Soy Sole for instance) but for me I like to have this book as a means of mealtime inspiration for the girls.

Quick & Easy Toddler Recipes is available in both hardback and Kindle edition on Amazon.

The PicnicChallenge - Spicy Chicken Florentine Ring REcipe

Lara and I were challenged to dream up a tasty and innovative picnic food recipe using some summery Unilever products. This spicy chicken florentine ring was inspired by a recent Pampered Chef party I hosted, its my own spicy twist and is incredibly easy to make. Lara enjoys laying out the ring of the dough and dolloping on the mixture. This ring works REALLY well when you chill it and eat it for lunch the next day... in fact, I think it tastes best that way.

SPICY CHICKEN FLORENTINE RING (makes 12 slices)

INGREDIENTS
225g skinless boneless pre-cooked chicken breasts
4 spring onions
1/2 a red pepper
280g frozen chopped spinach (weighed before defrosting)
1 egg
115g mature cheddar cheese, grated
3 tablespoons Hellmann's Mayonnaise with a Spark of Chilli
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 packets of chilled ready-to-roll croissant dough
3 tablespoons Colman's Sweet Chilli Mango Sauce

METHOD
1. Preheat your oven to 190 degrees centigrade (a little lower for a fan oven).
2. Coarsely chop the cooked chicken breasts into pieces about 1cm cubed. Chop the spring onions and red pepper into similar sized cubes.
3. Squeeze the defrosted spinach dry and then coarsely chop it and add it to the other ingredients.
4. Mix the Hellmann's Mayonnaise with a Spark of Chilli and the curry powder with the dry ingredients.
5. Lightly beat the egg and then add in two thirds of the grated cheese and mix everything together; add salt and pepper to taste.

6.On a large baking tray or pizza stone, lay out the triangles of croissant dough in a circle with the wide ends of the triangles in the centre to form a ring. Let the points of the triangles point outwards and dangle off the edge of the baking tray.
7. Spoon the chicken curry mixture onto each of the triangles into 12 lumps and then use the back of the spoon to spread the mixture out into a circle.

8. Fold the points of the triangles in and over the mixture, tucking them under the centre of the circle.
9. Brush the Colman's Sweet Chilli Mango Sauce over the ring to form a glaze and then sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese.

10. Bake in the middle of the oven for approximately 25 minutes until golden.
11. Once cooled, this makes a perfect picnic centre-piece (but if you can't find a picnic box big enough to fit it in, you can cut it into 12 chunks!) I like a little extra chilli sauce for dipping!

Getting Kids Cooking - Pizza Making With The Pros

A couple of weeks ago Lara and Holly were lucky enough to spend the day learning how to make pizza with the pros at Pizza Express. To celebrate the launch of the new Pizza Express Picolo menu for children, Lara and Holly were taught how to stretch their own pizza, cover it in unctuous tomato sauce and select their favourite fresh toppings. I have to say it was one of the best days out we have had - the two girls absolutely LOVED it. The excitement the girls found in creating their own pizza followed by the pleasure they showed when it came to eating their own creations really demonstrates how much children enjoy getting involved in the food they eat.

The new Pizza Express menu features little versions of some of the adult pizzas on the menu (as well as some new in-house pasta dishes) but the beauty is that children are now encouraged to chop and change the toppings on their pizza to ensure that they get something they really want to eat... the imagery on the menu really focuses on the fresh vegetable toppings and I must say that both Lara and Holly tried toppings I would never have dreamed they would enjoy! The pizzas are slightly lower in salt these days too which means I was comfortable letting Holly, at just under a year old, join in with our family meal out.

Take a look and see how much they enjoyed the experience! My favourite photo is of Holly eating the no-added-sugar raspberry sorbet!

Indian SuperMeals: Baby & Toddler Cookbook Review

Those of you who know me well won't be surprised that I literally leapt for joy when Zainab Jagot Ahmed contacted me to ask me to review her electronic cookery book - Indian SuperMeals: Baby & Toddler Cookbook. It claims to be the first ever Indian baby cook book (long overdue, methinks) and to me it is totally perfect, nothing too outlandish in terms of Indian cookery but just lots of healthy and exciting recipes for stage 1 weaning upwards right through to family meals.

One of Holly's very first ever foods was a lentil and sweet potato curry and one of Lara's was a simple tarka dal. I'm not somebody who needed convincing that introducing exciting flavours and spices to a baby from a very young age can encourage a more adventurous palette but I was surprised to read so much in Zainab's book about the health benefits of different spices and it has really encouraged me to add different spices and ingredients to all of Holly's food, not just the recipes that I have followed from this cookbook.

Indian SuperMeals: Baby & Toddler Cookbook is available exclusively electronically - you can get it for various different e-reader devices including Kindle. I downloaded a copy for Kindle on my PC. I am a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to recipe books. A cookbook is made for sitting on the work surface next to you and getting covered in turmeric stains. I think this book would capture more hearts if you could buy it in hard copy to sit in your bookcase alongside your Annabel Karmel equivalent!

I enjoyed reading the introduction to Zainab's book - it reminded me a lot of Annabel Karmel's Baby and Toddler cookbook in terms of its thorough, no-nonsense approach to weaning but there was also a lot of useful information that explains what supermeals are (super foods and super spices) and what the benefits of different ingredients and spices are for your baby.

But really it was the recipes that I was interested in. There are a few stage 1 weaning recipes and lots of stage 2 and 3 recipes of mashed and pureed food as well as finger foods. When it gets to stage 4, there are a good selection of family-friendly Indian recipes that you can all eat together without having to worry about salt and sugar content.

I loved the balance of savoury and sweet foods - Indian sweets are not something I have experimented with before and I was really pleased to make my first traditional grated carrot halwa for Holly (and the rest of us). Almost all of the baby foods appealed to us and it was just a case of where to start first! My very first recipe from the book was an Aubergine Bharta because it was something I never would have considered making before and looked like it would be a good lumpy texture for Holly.

I think that this Indian weaning recipes book makes a perfect addition to my ideas for nutritious, healthy and exciting baby foods for my little girl.  My only real niggle with it though is that some of the photos need to have a little more pizazz injected - they all look like baby food in a baby bowl which I know is what they are, but they don't sell the food to me; in most cases the photos aren't mouth watering enough to make me want to get up now and start cooking.

Indian SuperMeals: Baby & Toddler Cookbook is the perfect cookbook for people looking to find inspiring ideas for baby foods or for people who love Indian food themselves but are a bit wary of feeding them to their baby. It would make a great gift for new parents and you can buy it on Amazon, Waterstones or Kobo books as a gift.

You can find out more about Zainab and her cookbook at www.ZainabJagotAhmed.com and on facebook.

Freezer Meals for our Babymoon

One of the ways that I tried to stay mellow after childbirth the first time around was to fill the freezer full of healthy and nutritious meals that I had cooked in advance and which could be easily re-heated at any time of day or night. I intend to do much the same thing this time but I've learned an important lesson.

When I was expecting Lara, I craved curry. Every day for 9 months the only thing I wanted to eat was spicy food (this isn't unusual for me even when I'm not pregnant but I like to think I have a more varied diet the rest of the time). For this reason, pretty much all of the meals that I batch cooked and put in the freezer for baby's arrival were curries and, as such, packed full of onions. Onions and newly breastfed babies don't mix very well and in the first few weeks of her life, Lara struggled a lot with wind. Once my Mum had pointed out the connection, it was easy to resolve.

I have a few ideas of low-onion-content recipes to cook and the other day one of my favourite bloggers, Luschka, shared her own list of babymoon batch cookery ideas which inspired me a lot. Here is my list so far:-

• Cottage Pie


• Lasagne


• Sausage casserole with root veg


• Beef stew


• Ham and leek macaroni bake


• Parsnip soup


• Meatballs and tomato sauce


• Homemade sausage rolls (shaped but uncooked)


• Moroccan lamb with chickpeas


• Pork, leek and potato bake

If you have any ideas for easy meals to cook at volume and which freeze well, please do leave them in the comments below. Perhaps you have a recipe on your own blog? or a link to a favourite recipe? All ideas welcome.

Cooking With Children : Banana Fudge Muffins Recipe

You don't have to have an excuse to make muffins, do you? Good, because Lara and I cooked banana fudge muffins just for the fun of it, and from a recipe that just came to my head so it was a bit experimental. The muffins didn't rise quite as well as I had hoped but this recipe is a basic sweet muffin recipe with mashed banana and tasty fudge pieces so who cares about what they look like - they taste YUM! The muffin mix takes hardly any preparation so it is a great recipe for a toddler to help you out with in the kitchen.

Banana Fudge Muffins (makes 6)


INGREDIENTS
50g fudge chunks (we used Dr. Oetker's pre-chunked fudge chunks but you could chop your own pieces if you fancied it)
1 ripe banana
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp dark brown muscavado sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g soft margarine, slightly melted to make it REALLY soft
75g plain flour
50g caster sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to about 180 degrees centigrade (or slightly lower for a fan oven).





2. Mix the caster sugar into the melted margarine until well blended and then beat in the egg to form the batter base. Add the vanilla extract.


3. Mash the banana with the back of a fork and sprinkle over the lemon juice and the dark brown sugar before adding the mashed banana mixture to the batter base.


4. Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt and bicarbonate of soda and beat well until it forms a thick but sloppy batter.





5. Finally stir in the fudge chunks before spooning the batter into a greased muffin tin (we used the Dr. Oetker cake release spray)


6. Cook the muffins in the centre of the oven for about 20-25 minutes until golden. You can check that they are cooked by inserting a cocktail stick or kebab stick into the muffins and if the stick comes away clean then the muffin is cooked.


7. Allow to cool slightly before eating... otherwise the banana pieces will be RED HOT

The banana fudge muffins from this recipe are a wonderful mix of sweet muffin and sweet banana with the fascinating salty touch to the fudge pieces. They did not last long in our house... in fact, they didn't even get to cool down fully.

Cooking With Children : Crispy Chicken Goujons Recipe

I have been wanting to cook a chicken goujons recipe with Lara for some time - there is something rather irresistible about the amount of mess it involves. Perfect for big kids like me, and toddlers like Lara. The art of cooking goujons of any sort is to be well prepared. Lay out all of your ingredients in a supply chain within easy reach of each other and everything will work like clockwork.

Crispy Chicken Goujons (serves two adults and one hungry toddler)

INGREDIENTS
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 slices of stale white bread (or fresh bread that has been blasted in a hot oven for a few minutes)
3 eggs
125g plain flour
1 tablespoon polenta / cornmeal
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees celsius. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper or else spray it with non-stick cooking spray.


2. Blitz the slices of bread, including crusts, in a food processor until they form breadcrumbs. They don't need to be too fine. Place them in a bowl next to the baking tray.


3. Beat the eggs and put them in a bowl next to the breadcrumbs.


4. Mix the flour and polenta together with a little salt and pepper (and the chilli powder if you are using it). Place this in a bowl next to the egg.


5. Slice the chicken breasts into long strips about 2cm wide and place these next to the flour. Now you have your supply chain.





6. Get your little helper to take one piece of chicken and dip it into the flour, making sure it is well coated.





7. Then dip the chicken into the egg mixture briefly before then dipping it into the breadcrumbs.


8. Make sure the chicken is well coated in breadcrumbs before placing the completed goujon onto the baking tray.





9. Repeat! (note, it is actually less messy if you do a number of pieces of chicken at each stage so that you are not repeatedly placing your fingers in and out of the egg mixture.


10. Once all of the chicken goujons have been coated, put the baking tray into the oven and bake until golden. This will be about 20 minutes but keep a close eye on them so that they don't burn or dry out too much.





11. We served our chicken goujons with a yellow tomato salsa and wild rice salad (recipe coming soon on Mellow Mummy!). These goujons go brilliantly with ketchup or chilli sauce.

I have Fish-A-Phobia (but I'm learning to deal with it)!

This weekend I went with my Mum to the Fish Works cookery school in Richmond. It was a great day out where we learned lots of useful tips about how to buy, prepare, cook and serve a wide range of British fish and seafood. Unfortunately, there was one thing holding me back – I am absolutely terrified of fish.

Icthyophobia is the the fear of fish. I have it. Given that I live nowhere near the sea and that, until a few years ago I didn't eat any fish at all, it normally doesn't present me with much of a problem but very occasionally, as it did at the cookery school, it makes my life pretty tricky.

My fear of fish can be traced back to an incident with a 'frighten-fish' at the Aquarium in Birdworld when I was a toddler. The first time I really remember knowing that I had an irrational fear of fish was when I was in my mid-teens and I think the fear reached its strongest while I was at University. At its peak, I couldn't even look at a picture (not even a cartoon) of a fish without feeling slightly queasy. If we saw a fishmongers, I would have to turn my face as we walked by and would feel the nausea rising. When I swim in the sea (wherever I am in the world), I am always flailing my limbs around to try and deter any fish from coming anywhere near me – it is very exhausting! As a teenager, a trip on a glass-bottomed boat in Kenya nearly pushed me over the edge!



When I left university I dated a guy who was studying Marine Biology – learning with him about the biology of fish and marine creatures helped me a little; Understanding why fish move like they do, and act like they do helps me to keep my fear in check. Dating a marine biologist meant that I also learned to start eating some types of white fish and seafood. I'm still not that adventurous, but maybe I will try some new fish with my new-found fish cookery skills!

On a trip to Tenerife with my marine-biology boyfriend, I experienced a panic attack at an Aquarium so severe, and so embarrassing that I knew I really needed to do something about the fear. And so, unbeknownst to him, I enrolled myself in a SCUBA diving course and decided to tackle my phobia head on. The rather unfortunate thing about learning to dive in the UK is that the water is so murky that fish encounters are few and far between; in fact, I think I only saw one tiny brown fish in all my training dives and then I was concentrating so hard on not drowning that it didn't really bother me anyway!

The boyfriend didn't seem that impressed with my diving qualification and soon afterwards we split up; the plan to tackle the phobia was put on the back burner. In 2008, just before I got married to Mr. B., I took a SCUBA refresher course in preparation for our honeymoon in Mozambique, home to some of the most spectacular fish and one of the rarest of sea mammals – the Dugong. If there was ever going to be an opportunity to face my fear, this was it.

The honeymoon rocked, but the night before my first dive, I stayed awake all night shaking with an all-consuming fear. I had got myself really worked up. That morning, when I slipped into the water with all of my kit on I started hyperventilating; this is not good for several reasons – (1) it uses up your limited air supply, (2) is makes you exhausted (3) short sharp breathes are a sure fire way of making you float, not sink! And (4) it means water gets in to your mouth piece. In short, I never even managed to get under the water! I decided that day that me and SCUBA diving were never meant to be.

At Fish Works this weekend I thought I did pretty well. I managed to stand within a metre of a great display of fish for sale and I even plucked up the courage to stroke a slimey flat fish! I stopped short of filleting a mackerel; I knew it would end in tears if I did. For that, I feel slightly disappointed in myself for not having pushed my boundaries a little further.