Weekend Carnivore

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If you do run a food blog, then chances are you have discovered just how hard it is to learn the ins and our of running a food blog. I know that when I decided to start Weekend Carnivore, I spent many hours scouring the internet looking for any resources for food bloggers. Most of the time I came up empty and what I did find tended to be years out of date.

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Avocados are a gift from the gods to those of us on a diet who are missing creamy foods. Sure, they pack a fair amount of fat but the good news that it is all super healthy unsaturated fat. So, not only do they do your tastebuds good your brainpower too.

As I have mentioned before, I love dips and spreads. Sadly though,If I am ever going to shift the rest of this weight then I either have to pretend they don’t exist or come up with healthier versions. That is what I have done with this creamy avocado and lime spread.

I came up with it some months ago when I was looking for something to quickly fill me up and tickle my tastebuds. I know that a lot of people use lemon juice with avocado but I have found that lime really works very well to lift the creamy texture of the avocado and give a real zip to the spread.

With a little bit of salt in the mix that lime and avocado combination becomes a real culinary match made in heaven. To me, this is one of those cases where it really is important to use coarse sea salt rather than the normal table salt. The slight crunch really works to bring the flavours of the creamy avocado and lime spread bursting forth.

Since its creation, I have used this avocado and lime spread in any number of ways. I have been known to spread it simply on some toast in the morning instead of butter or jam. Scooping it up with some tortilla chips has a certain charm too.

However, as of late, my favourite use for the creamy avocado and lime spread has been to make a quick and healthy lunch. I have been spreading it high on some crisp breads and then topped it with slices of cucumber and cherry tomato.

As summer approaches I can see myself adding a piece of fruit on the side and calling that a perfect hot weather lunch.

Avocado and Lime Spread

avocado and lime spread

Ingredients:

1 small avocado
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon Greek yoghurt

Directions:

1. Scoop out the flesh of the avocado
2. Put all the ingredients in a blender or mini chopper.
3. Pulse for between 15 and 30 seconds until the mixture is smooth.

Serves: 1

We have all been there. You have more on your to do list than you could possibly fit into your day but you still need to find time to feed your family. The temptation is to reach for the takeaway menus or the ready meals but you would much rather cook a quick and easy meal.

It was during just such a period that I developed my red pesto ciabatta pizza recipe. Truth be told, I feel a bit dramatic even calling it a recipe because it is so simple and easy to put together. All you need to do is take a quick trip around your local supermarket to collect the items that make up the ciabatta pizza recipe and within 15 minutes of returning home you can be serving up a meal.

I feel no shame either in saying that all of the ingredients for my red pesto ciabatta pizza recipe all came from Lidls. Some foodies can really look down their noses at the Lidls and Aldis of this world. However, there is no shame in buying affordable food and considering the prices, both stores have some quality hidden gems on their shelves.

Due to their reach across the continent, they have managed to bring in ingredients from all of the other countries where they do business. Amongst those items are some interesting Italian ingredients ranging from various types of pesto, nice cheeses and really nice antipasti. I am particularly fond of the jarred mixed mushrooms and I have used them in this recipe.

The great thing about this red pesto ciabatta pizza recipe though is that if you don’t have or like a particular ingredient you can just swap it out for another item. Also, if you have family members who aren’t ready to go fully vegetarian then you can put slices of meat on their part of the ciabatta pizza recipe.

Red Pesto Ciabatta Pizza

Red pesto ciabatta pizza recipe

Ingredients:

1 ciabatta loaf, if part-baked bake it until just underdone
70 grams onions, thinly sliced
115 grams red pesto
200 grams shredded cheese (I used a reduced fat cheddar and mozzarella mix)
130 grams roasted red peppers from a jar, diced
125 grams antipasti mushrooms from a jar

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven grill.
2. Slice the ciabatta loaf in half lengthwise and put on a baking sheet.
3. Lightly sauté the sliced onions using a cooking spray or a tiny bit of oil just until they have lost their bite.
4. Spread the red pesto evenly over the two halves of the ciabatta
5. Sprinkle the cheese over both sides of the bread.
6. Pile up the rest of the ingredients making sure each half of the bread has roughly the same amount.
7. Stick the baking sheet under the grill and cook for about 7 minutes until the cheese has melted and started to go golden. Keep a close eye on it to make sure it isn’t starting to burn.
8. Slice both long halves into slices width wise.

Serves: 4

A few weeks ago, I received an email asking me if I would like to go to a taping of the Good Food channel’s Market Kitchen show. I really enjoy going to television and radio recordings (a perk of living in London) and I am a regular viewer of Market Kitchen. So, I didn’t have to think twice about accepting the offer. I roped in two of my fellow foodie friends and went along to the taping.

Market Kitchen Set

It turns out there are two Market Kitchen filming sessions in a day. We decided to go for the afternoon session which turned out to actually be one and a half shows being recorded. That means that we are in the audience for two episodes. The first of which aired yesterday and the second of which is being broadcast tonight. It seems that when they have a chef in they cook a few of their recipes in a day and then spread it over a few shows.

When we arrived at the Market Kitchen recording, we had a short waiting period downstairs in the lobby. It was at this point that we learned that one of the guests on the show that day were The Wurzels. They were there for a cider tasting segement and turned out to be really nice men who asked us how we enjoyed the light and sweet “lady cider” we had been sipping during the tasting. Too funny!

Their arrival was entertaining because the receptionist clearly had no idea who they were and thought they were part of the studio audience. Once, they had cleared that up they went up to the Market Kitchen studio and the rest of us followed shortly after.

Market Kitchen set decorations

My first impressions of the Market Kitchen studio was a feeling of having a slightly surreal moment. We were in an office building in a leafy area of Camden (no where near Borough Market despite them clearly suggesting the show is related to the market) that resembled more of a dusty warehouse then a studio. Yet, when we made our way up the stair case we were suddenly in the brick walled set that looked exactly as it does on television.

All of the food you see in the background in the show is there and looking great but largely it isn’t real or has been rendered inedible so that it will survive under the hot studio lights. What is real though, is the coffee bar at the back of the studio. All throughout the filming there is a real staff back there serving coffee, tea and hot chocolate to Market Kitchen studio audience.

Market Kitchen coffee bar props

Market Kitchen studio

Our hosts for the day at Market Kitchen were Matthew Fort and Tom Parker Bowles. The chef’s were Richard Corrigan and Luke Dale Roberts.

Matthew Fort at Market Kitchen

Tom Parker Bowles at Market Kitchen

It has to be said that the menu for the day wasn’t very vegetarian friendly. Richard Corrigan cooked us two dishes that were spread across the two shows. One was roasted apples and sage with calvados with black pudding. If the black pudding was removed, that would be a really nice vegetarian dish. It isn’t the healthiest in the world as it uses both butter and cream but still yummy. The other dish was mackerel with a beetroot salad.

Luke Dale Roberts cooked a springbok dish which we weren’t allowed to taste. I suspect that was based on cost as the information pack they gave us at the show lists the cost of springbok at £7.99 per 160 grams.

With all that meat being cooked, the dish of the day for me was actually a vegetarian dish. I was somewhat shocked it was by Matthew Fort since I am rarely overwhelmed by his recipes on Market Kitchen. However, when you do something right, then you do it right and he did with his mango fool recipe.

Matthew Fort's Mango Fool Recipe

It was such a lovely and very simple recipe that I went home and made it the next day. I followed his recipe apart from in two aspects. Firstly, in his version of the mango fool, Matthew Fort used Alphonso mangos. I have never seen that variety on sale at any of my local stores. So, I used the same weight of normal mango flesh and added a bit of the suggested caster sugar to sweeten it up slightly. Then, at the last moment I decide to add some lime zest to the top of the mango fool recipe. I think that worked very well to lift the whole flavour of the delicate tasting dish.

All and all we had a wonderful day out at Market Kitchen and I would love to do it again. If they ever do a more vegetarian friendly show I would love nothing more than to be in the studio audience one more.