The #cassieskitchen adventures of Drake & Morgan

There once was a social butterfly who frequented London Bars and funky bars.

So I like to explore London and I am always up to try something new and see as much as possible, and it just so happened without intending too, I have gone to not one but 2 Drake and Morgan venues in 2 days. (Not very “explorer” of me.) So to make up for this in the past week, I have been to  The National Museum to see Picassos sunflowers, a Tapas Restaurant in Greenwich, a French Pattiserie in Soho a few wine bars including Gordons Wine bar near embankment and Guanabara.

I shall set the scene at the start of my adventures since my last blog. It's valentines night and I'm getting dressed to head out to some mysterious dinner in Canary Wharf with my husband Stuart. It's a special night, (the first as husband & wife) and I naturally decided to wear my favourite dress.

We arrive in Canary Wharf via the tube, and it' windy, oh so windy and at one point I am holding onto Stuart for dear life as the wind is blowing me over in my stilettos. We arrive, slightly windswept and a little wet after battling with the "breeze" of Canary Wharf, to a buzzing seductive bar/ restaurant pumping out some funky tunes that oversees the nearby ice rink.

We are seated by the host and served up a 2 glasses of water at wonky table. Not a great start, but shortly afterwards we are relocated to a more intimate table in the middle of the restaurant and a bottle of Champagne appears. Bingo. 

Our first dish of the evening is a goats cheese curve served with hummus and edible flowers & sundries tomatoes. ( MMM CHEESE) Then our second course is followed shortly after with lobster & steak - yum checkout the picture.

Overall an enjoyable meal. We didn't stay for dessert as the night was getting on, (and now I sound like an old nanna) but we won’t be going back as this is a nice bar that serves food, not to be confused with a restaurant with a drinks selection.

                       
My second adventure was to the newly opened Fable bar opened up in Holborn, I went here with my friend and fellow blogger Emma from  whosebootsarethoseshoes. With my first steps onto the top level of the bar, I knew this was the perfect place to adventure for our blog brainstorm lunch.

FYI this is a super cool venue the decor is rather trendy and my sister Rebecca would love it, the walls are covered in pages of old books and it has such a beautiful effect with the unique lighting fixtures bouncing off alluring shadows. It makes you feel as if the golden goose is about to walk through and lay a golden egg.

Next stop is Greenwich. As I had already eaten a massive bowl of linguine earlier in the day Tapas was a great suggestion, and I headed there to meet Michelle, Linda and Stuart for a bottle of red wine, chorizo, patatas bravas & whitebait mmm Yum Yum.

Now it’s Sunday and I have a scheduled trike date with Camille & Bec and we travel to the National Portrait gallery to view Picassos Sunflowers then head on our mission for non-booked high tea. I tell you what if you plan on going to high tea, book ahead. So we wondered on, and by accident we ended up having high tea at the maisonbertaux.

This has to be the best hidden treasure, absolutely  delicious! The berries were so fresh and amazing and I am counting down the days to get back there and order my next Strawberry tart.

So before my next blog I am setting myself a goal. A Google Places page & connecting with another blogger while I hunt for a mentor to take #cassieskitchen to the next level.

If you have any ideas or want to get in touch via twitter here. 

Have a good night kids

Cass xx

Happy Valentines Nonno!

So valentines has come around again, it's that time of year when we get all "yummy"  towards our friends, lovers, husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends. This will be my first Valentines as a wife, and Stuart is taking me out for a special dinner in Canary Wharf. Many people think valentines is cheesy, tacky and I'll quote the hipsters " too commercial".

To be fair, for years I have been tooting a similar tune but deep down I love it, due to the nostalgia it holds closer to home. A special baby was born on this day in 1936 in Cornuda, Treviso Italia, his mother named him Bruno Valentino Cadorin. Later on his life Bruno moved to Australia meet his Italian wife Edda, and they started a family 2 boys & 2 girls.

The eldest, my dad or as I like to call him padre, and the next in line is my uncle Alan, who is born also on Valentines day! They had two more daughters, Sonia then Jenny who went on to start their own families. Jenny has son Fabian, and guess what, he is also born on Valentines day! What are the chances? 3 generations!

In addition to all the birthdays my dad is a romantic, and didn't want to be left out of the Valentines spirit, so he married my mum on Valentines day in 1982 and they had 3 kids. Sadly their are no more birthdays, but to top it off, when I was little I asked my mum what my name would be if I was a boy, guess what! My middle name would have been Valentino. - True story that.

So with love in the air & Italian family history on the agenda. It would only be fitting to share an Italian recipe this Valentine's Day.

Spinach Cannelloni in Arrabiata sauce. 

Preparation time 20 minutes

Cannelloni:
1 bag of spinach
1 packet of fresh lasagna strips
1 tub of fresh ricotta
Seasoning ( salt, pepper, oregano, mixed Italian herbs )
1/2 bag of Mozzarella cheese

Arrabiata Sauce:
1 cube of chicken stock
2 Bay leaves
1 white onion diced
3 cloves of garlic
2 sprigs of fresh basil
1 Tablespoon of Chilli flakes
1 tin or box of chopped tomatoes
2 Tablespoons of tomato paste

Sauce first :
Sauce is best when cooked over a few hours, or even the day before. If time is limited a quick and easy sauce to cook is Arrabiata ala Cass

Fry off diced onion & garlic, pinch of pepper & salt in olive oil until the onion is golden
Stir in chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken stock, drop in the bay leaves and tear up the basil and leave to simmer while preparing the cannelloni, chilli flakes

Boil spinach over a medium heat, once wilted drain, then dice up finely, add to bowl and mix in the ricotta and pepper. - It will kinda look like seaweed


To roll the lasagna sheets ( ensuring they don't break) pour some warm water into a pot and very quickly submerge the sheet in the hot water. Be sure not to leave it in too long as it will be more likely to tear when handing it.
Place the sheet on a flat surface add a good portion of the ricotta mixture and spread the width of the sheet and roll, after the first roll add some extra mixture thinly to the remainder of the sheet and roll up tight.

Add rolls to cooking tray, once full pour your magic sauce over, place in the oven to cook with mozzarella cheese. Leave to cook for 40 minutes on high.

And serve up with a light salad and a voila!
Bellissimo. Now go out there and say ti amo to someone you love.

I may not blog all the time but make sure to catch my pinterest for more 

simple recipes and instagram feed.

See ya later lovers

Cass xx

#cassieskitchen moved house :)

So we moved house. 

Yep that’s right #cassieskitchen has a new home and a brand new sparkling kitchen to cook in!  

Lady Bugs - Tomato & Olives with goats cheese eyes

Since the move I have been serving up some delicious dishes including a very soft & tender lamb roast with roasted potatoes & turnips. 

Yum Yum

Fresh linguine in a pink sauce with chorizo, bacon and Portobello mushrooms

Pasta spirals in Carbonara sauce with goats cheese

I used my new wok to make Sweet & Sour vegetable noodles

Baked chicken stuffed with Chorizo, spring onion & garlic

After our first week in the new flat we hosted Michelle for dinner, as we don’t have any furniture we had a picnic on the floor party.

We served up lamb roast and after realising that I hadn’t organised sweets, I had a quick scan of the cupboard and had enough ingredients to make 10 minute not cheesecake cream cakes.

They were delicious and a great after dinner treat!

Recipe:

10 minute not cheesecake cream cakes

10 small serving jars or tumbler glass-wear

10 Oatmeal biscuit

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

1 tablespoon of butter

1 tin of condensed milk

3 mandarins

Chocolate for shaving over the top

Crush up the biscuits and mix in melted butter, put this into the jar as a base

Mix condensed milk, cream and vanilla essence into a bowl and squeeze juice out of 2 mandarins.

Pour ¾ of the mixture into the jars and add 1 or 2 segments of the mandarin to each jar.

Pour in remaining mixture and shave the chocolate over the top, then place into the freezer for 10 minutes.

If you want to send me a food challenge make a comment or get in touch!

I may not blog every week, but you can follow my food adventures on Instagram and Pinterest 

Well thats it from me kids, 

Till next time xx