Super Healthy Sashimi

Super Healthy Scallop Sashimi and Seared Tuna...

I hope you have all had a fantastic Summer, I must apologise for not posting for so long. My Private Chef work has rather taken over my life recently, working abroad in France, helping set up a new cafe for C Press and numerous events and I have hardly managed to find the time to have a day off! I look forward to sharing a bit more of this with you over the next few blog posts...

Today I would love to share these two delicious recipes with you so that you can make the most of the sunshine this week and perhaps try making these yourself!

The First recipe is for my delicious...

Scallop Sashimi with Grapefruit, Ginger and Mint.

Photo Credit: G's Kitchen

Photo Credit: G's Kitchen

This dish is so light and fresh and perfect for a light lunch in the sun.

Recipe:

Serves 2
6 scallops, roes removed and sliced as thinly as possible.
1 grapefruit peeled and segmented.
Dressing:

Juice of half a Grapefruit
1 inch piece of Ginger peeled and finely grated
1 tsp Honey
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 Garlic clove finely minced
1 Pickled green chilli finely minced
1 Lime juiced
10 Mint leaves finely chopped plus extra for garnish
Chive flowers
Violers

Start buy mixing all of the ingredients for the dressing together. Leave to infuse for two hours then pass through a fine sieve.

Place the sliced fresh sashimi grade scallops onto a plate and top with the grapefruit segments. Pour over the dressing and top with fresh mint leaves, violers and chive flowers.

I love using edible flowers for their taste and colour. They add vibrancy to the dish and are great to use when styling a dish to bring these elements to the plate. I grow violers at home however you can get them from a good food market such as covent garden fruit and veg market or order them through a good delicatessen. 

Seared Tuna, Sweet Soy and Ginger with a Green Chilli and  Tomato Salsa

on a crunchy Daikon and Radish Salad

Photo credit: G's Kitchen

Recipe:

Serves 2

1 large Tuna steak seared and cut into cubes.

Dressing:

3 tbsp Soy

1 Tbsp Mirin

1tsp Honey

1 Inch piece Ginger finely grated

Tomato and Green Chilli Salsa

2 Plum tomatoes finely diced

1 handful Coriander finely chopped

1 Green Chilli finely dice

1 lime juiced

Salt and Pepper

Salad:

2 inch piece Daikon peeled and julienned

2 Radish finely sliced

1/2 lemon juiced

Photo Credit: G's Kitchen

Start by mixing the ingredients for the dressing then searing the Tuna steak in a hot pan until golden on each side but still raw in the middle then cutting it into cubes and put to one side to chill. Pour the dressing over it and leave for 10 mins to marinade.

Next mix all the ingredients for the tomato salsa together

Finely make the salad and arrange on a plate. Top with the tuna and then the tomato salsa. 

Pour any extra dressing on top and serve with elderflower heads to garnish.

Photo Credit: G's Kitchen

Have a lovely weekend and hopefully some of you will enjoy this,

Georgie xxx

Straight From The Kitchen Garden... 

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

There is nothing I love more than being able to pick produce straight from the garden.  Sadly my garden in London is quite small, and although I have managed to squeeze in a couple of tomato plants, some purple runner beans, herbs, hydrangeas and lavender I am pretty pushed for space!

Although my favourite 'Elizabeth & King Deli' on the New Kings road, where I source much of my ingredients has a stunning array of vegetables, unusual heirloom tomatoes, multi coloured radishes, micro herbs and edible flowers, it's not quite the same as going into the garden and pulling your veg out of the soil!  That's why I love going down to my parents in Kent so much! 

My mum Sophia, who writes the popular lifestyle blog 'Sophia Home' www.sophiahomelifestyle.blogspot.co.uk is the 'Queen of Kitchen Gardens'.  Her perfectly laid out kitchen garden with its raised beds are filled with everything from wild alpine strawberries to gorgeous purple artichokes. Anything you can think of.. she grows it! 

Last weekend I was in my element, pottering around collecting early pickings of salad leaves and edible flowers,  to go towards creating gorgeous salads straight from the garden. 

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

How stunning are these Alliums... can you spot the bee? I managed to find some gorgeous chive flowers growing in the herb garden which I thought would look perfect in my summer salad to capture the essence of the photo above.

Cannellini Bean, Feta, Tahini and Chive Summer Salad...

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

Recipe...

serves 2

1 tin cannellini beans washed and drained

1 red onion thinly sliced

1 red chilli finely diced

1/2 bunch coriander roughly chopped

1/2 bunch chives roughly chopped

1/2 pack feta crumbled

Dressing

1 tbsp tahini paste

1 clove garlic crushed

1/2 lemon juiced 

4 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp greek yoghurt

1 tbsp sherry vinegar

Place the salad ingredients into a bowl and in a separate bowl mix the dressing ingredients together and then toss with the salad. 

Garnish with edible flowers and chive flowers.

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

These radishes came straight out of the ground ten minutes before I served them up with drinks! I mixed ground cumin with salt and served it along side to dip the radishes into it... so tasty!

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

These roasted asparagus with lemon, green harissa dressing and almonds were to die for...

Green Harissa Dressing...

Recipe

1 green chilli

1/2 bunch parsley

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cardamom

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp sugar

200ml avocado oil

Pinch of salt

Wizz up all the ingredients in a food processor and massage onto the asparagus. Roast for 5-6 mins and serve sprinkled with almonds.

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

I am looking forward to being back home in my Mum's kitchen garden before too long, to pick the 'Baby Kale' that we planted together...

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

I hope you're having a lovely weekend,

Georgie xxx

Street Feast is Back.....

Photo credit: Google

Finally its that time of year again, the sun is out and everyone is in a summer mood, staying up later, eating delicious food and socialising with friends. I love the summer for all of these reasons, however for me the main highlight is the return of 'Street Feast'!

For those of you who have not heard of 'Street Feast' before it is held in Dalston Yard in East London. It is open between the beginning of May and the last weekend of September.  'Street Feast' is a celebration of the best 'Street Food' in London and with around 20 stalls it is very hard to choose from! Walking into an old warehouse, half open and half covered there are large fire pits everywhere, a tequila bar set in a tree house and rum, cocktail and czech beer bars dotted around amongst the food. 

The atmosphere is buzzing full of young trendy foodies who are out with their friends for some good food and a fun night!

After eating a huge amount of food I managed to work my way around the stalls and here are a few of my favourite...

B.O.Bs Lobster

Photo credit: Google

Set up in a modernised Volkswagen RV with waiters and chefs dressed in black tie, this stall immediately caught my eye!  I love lobster and particularly lobster rolls.  However, this was no ordinary 'Lobster roll'.  It was a beautifully toasted brioche roll, spread with gorgeous homemade mayonnaise, crammed with fresh melt in the mouth lobster meat and then painted with a slick of oregano butter on top, making this the most delicious lobster roll ever! 

Photo credit: Google

As I am sure some of you know I would say Mexican food has to be one of my favourite cuisines, so it will come as no surprise to you that I am obsessed with this taco place...

Breddos Tacos...

Photo credit: Google

These amazing soft tacos were filled with the perfect amount of crunch, creaminess, sourness and spice. The first one I tasted was their 'Crunch Coated Chicken'. The chicken was juicy and tender with an amazing crunchy nut coating, and was complimented to perfection with the tangy salsa and homemade arbol chilli mayonnaise. I followed it by the 'Bavette Steak Taco' which was fantastic, the rich fatty taste of the red meat was cut through perfectly by the sourness of the lime and subtle spice of the green chilli (definitely my favourite).  The last one was the Baja fish taco, deep fried battered fish which was light, crispy and delicate, wrapped up in the soft taco with a crunchy slaw, spicy salsa and a creamy sour cream to finish it off....put it this way I cannot wait to go back again this Friday!

Photo credit: Google

Mouth watering tacos...

Photo credit: Mondo Mulia via Google

Due to it being quite dark in 'Street Feast', unfortunately as you can see below on my photo, the quality is awful so thank you to Google and the photographers that uploaded all of the other stunning photos on this post.

Photo credit: G's Kitchen

After several hours of tasting I finished off the night with some sensational Indian Street Food made by... 

Rola Wala.

I love Indian food and after working for an Indian family for a while, and travelling around India for three months I have been lucky enough to have tried food from many different regions and to also have been taught how to cook a variety of dishes. There are so many flavours that go into Indian cooking, however it still amazes me that Indians cook with their same set of spices every day yet manage to create so many different flavour combinations and dishes out of the same spices. 

This street food stall is a flavour explosion... they have been named runner up for 'Best Street Food' and Zagat named them 'Top 5 next wave names to know'.

Using up to 43 different ingredients in each naan wrap and sourcing their ingredients from lovely suppliers such as the 'Rare Breed Meat Co' and 'Anna's Happy Trotters' this company knows the importance of eating well, supporting good animal welfare, and most of all the difference in taste a happy animal gives to us.

Photo credit: Google

Their Beetroot Chana Dal cooked with coconut and their special masala mix is to die for, and heaven for any veggies, whilst their 'Goan Pulled Pork' free range from Yorkshire, cooked for 12 hours with a southern Indian twist in phenomenal!

These delicious toppings are all piled on top of light, fluffy, flavoursome naan bread.... What a way to end my evening!

Photo credit: Google

Make sure you pop down to Street Feast this weekend, it is open between 5pm and late on both Friday and Saturday.

Photo credit: Google
Please do let me know if any of the photos I have found on google are yours as i would love to credit you for them.

 Have you been before and if so, which was your favourite stall? 

Have a Happy and Healthy Thursday!

Georgie xxx

A Breakfast for the Beautiful...

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

As some of you may know I am in Kent for a relaxing sun filled weekend at my family home with my parents. I always love being down here, seeing the gardens progress and it is always stunning throughout the summer when it is all in bloom! 

The only downside is that my hay fever really kicks in and last year my throat used to swell up so much i was left feeling like I was unable to breathe. Luckily I discovered Bee Pollen! Bee Pollen naturally reduces histamine in your body and acts like an anti - histamine pill that you would get from your chemist yet it is 100% natural...

Today whilst the boys in my family tucked into bacon, eggs, toast and lambs kidneys I prepared a beautiful breakfast for my beautiful Mum and I. 

I sprinkled lots of Bee Pollen on top of my smoothie to help kick my hayfever!

My mum and I picked some gorgeous rhubarb from her kitchen garden yesterday and today roasted it up with orange zest and ginger. We then topped natural yoghurt with the rhubarb, a selection of seeds and Violers from the garden.

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen

I love this gorgeous purple 'Parrot Tulip' one of many that we have growing in the flower beds outside.

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen

Bee Pollen....

Did you know the many health benefits of Bee Pollen?

Bee Pollen is a serious energy enhancer, the vitamins help enhance stamina and fight off fatigue.

The amino acids help smooth and protect your skin and help regenerate skin cells.

Bee pollen is packed with antioxidants and anti inflammatory qualities that help the tissues in the lungs, preventing and helping with asthma and respiratory problems.

Pollen reduces histamine to help hayfever, allergies and sinus problems.

Bee Pollen helps aid digestion and helps the body absorb as many nutrients out of food as possible.

Pollen is an amazing immune system booster and helps the body fight off viruses.

Bee pollen is fantastic for helping people with any kind of addictions as it stops impulses, therefore very helpful when trying to lose weight.

Pollen helps support the cardiovascular system, preventing cholesterol, heart attacks and strokes.

Bee pollen is even said to help with the health of mens prostate, fertility problems (in some cases helping women to conceive) and it is also a great aphrodisiac!!

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

So why not add Bee Pollen every day to your daily breakfast!

My smoothie recipe was a very simple one today...

Berry smoothie

1 Handful berries

1 inch ginger grated

1 Handful Mint

1 lime juiced

1 tsp local kent honey 

1 tbsp ground flax seeds

1 cup water

1 tsp bee pollen

Wizz all the ingredients apart from the Bee Pollen in a Nutri Bullet or blender and top with Bee Pollen.

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

I am now off to test my upper body strength and work on my handstands, prepare a lunch of slow roasted spiced leg of lamb, harissa roasted asparagus, cumin and turmeric potatoes and a white bean and tahini salad... a Middle Eastern feast! 

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen

Have a happy and healthy Sunday...

Georgie xxx

Happy Saturday.....

Finally the weekend has come after a busy week of work! I had a fantastic night last night going to 'Street Feast' in Dalston, a street food party with unbelievable food vendors and cocktail bars. (I shall fill you in on it and share my photos on my next blog) I am now about to head down to Kent to visit my parents for the weekend but I thought I would quickly share my recipe for these amazing Salted Chocolate Black Bean and Raspberry brownies that  my friend Emily and I made up the other night.

We added extra ingredients to our usual recipe such as raspberries, avocado oil and Himalayan sea salt for extra goodness and deliciousness!  

Emily like me loves to be healthy but has a serious weakness for all things sweet so these brownies are the perfect treat for us...

They took seconds to wizz up and seconds to eat, (we basically ate a whole tray in about five minutes!)

Salted chocolate, Black Bean and Raspberry Brownies...

Photo credit: G's Kitchen

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

In a blender blend together the black beans, half of the chocolate chips and the avocado oil. Once blended add the eggs, brown sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, baking powder and salt and process until silky smooth.

Stir in the rest of the chocolate chips and the raspberries and transfer into a lined 9 inch baking tray.

Bake on 180 degrees for 20-25 mins and enjoy!

We put salt in to make them salted chocolate and raspberries in for extra goodness but this recipe would also be delicious without the added salt and raspberries.

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

Have a fantastic weekend and get baking brownies...

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

Georgie xxx

A Week of Fitness and  Detoxing...

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

Its the Weekend...

How was your bank holiday? Mine was fantastic, however after a lot of cocktails with the girls and too much bbq I have been on a strict health regime this week getting my body back into the swing of healthy eating, juicing and letting my body recover!

Today I would love to share with you a couple of the healthy dishes I have made this week along with a top tip to help cleanse your body...

Photo credit: 'G's kitchen

This week I have been concentrating on cleansing my body whilst eating a healthy balanced diet to fill myself with energy for my busy working week.

Did you know how cleansing lime is?

 I love to drink water with slices and freshly squeezed lime in it throughout the day. I find that adding fresh mint makes it extra delicious.

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

Here are a few health benefits about limes that you should know about...

Limes are fantastic for women's health, especially post- menopausal women and women of child-bearing age because of the huge amount of calcium and folate that they contain

Limes can help to cleanse the kidneys and prevent kidney stones from forming (great after a big weekend!!)

Limes are seriously good for our digestive system, respiratory system and our gums.

They are fantastic for our skin and can EVEN prevent ageing!

Try rubbing lime juice into your skin to get rid of dead cells and keep your skin glowing.

They are also considered a diabetes superfood as the high levels of soluble fibre help regulate the absorption of sugars into the bloodstream.

So next time you grab a glass of water, slice in a lime and feel the benefits...

Healthy cooking...

I am lucky that my job includes cooking for a lot of healthy clients so most of the time I eat what they are eating, however occasionally I do get the more traditional type that loves the heavy sauces, butter and rich red meat. I have to say I adore this type of cuisine as well, however normally more in the winter when the days are colder or when I am ski-ing and there is nothing better than tucking into a hearty, heavy warming dish. 

Today was one of those days when all I wanted was fresh food so I quickly whipped up a light salad and a sashimi dish for myself to munch on whilst I cooked the client lunch.

A delicious Salad of Butternut Squash Puree, Kale, Red Cabbage, Chicken, Parma Ham and Micro Celery...

Photo credit: 'G's kitchen'

So quick and easy and being a warm salad it gives you the satisfaction of having a hot filling lunch.

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

My starter was a simple sashimi dish, one of my favourite snacks to have along with my lunch.

I hope you will try this recipe and enjoy it as much as I do.

'Sea Bass Sashimi with Yuzu, Greek Basil, Chilli, Ginger and Truffle Oil'.

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

Serves 1

1 Sushi grade Sea Bass fillet 

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated Ginger

1 teaspoon Yuzu (available from Waitrose)

1 teaspoon Truffle oil

1 teaspoon good quality Olive oil

1/2 Chilli finely diced

Greek basil

1 Radish thinly sliced

Red amaranth to garnish

Finely slice the Sea bass as thinly as possible. I use a sashimi knife however any good carving knife or a long slicing knife will do.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together and season to taste.

Drizzle the dressing over the sashimi just before serving and garnish with extra greek basil and red amaranth.

Today I ate this as a snack with my lunch but this would be a perfect starter for a dinner party. You can pre slice the Sea Bass before your guests arrive and keep it in the fridge so that it is just a case of plating it up and dressing it.

Have a happy and healthy weekend and hopefully you will enjoy some sashimi and lime water over your time off!

Georgie xxx

G's Kitchen...

Happy Friday!

I am sorry that I haven't posted for a few days, my private chef work has kept me busy both days and evenings,  and as much as I absolutely love my work I am very excited for the bank holiday and it couldn't have come too soon! 

I hope you all have some lovely plans for this bank holiday weekend?  I have managed to squeeze in a lovely day shopping with my best friend Emily tomorrow (before work in the evening) and I am looking forward to another best friend Jelly's birthday lunch on Sunday!

Hopefully the sun will shine through for a perfect weekend...

For those of you who follow me on Instagram you will know that I have recently moved house and am settling in well into my new home.  My kitchen though small, is beautiful and bright and I adore cooking in there. This evening I am eating a gorgeous butternut squash salad left over from an event today... it is so lovely to come home after work with goodies to keep you going over the weekend when you are running around seeing friends and you don't always have time to go to the shops and prepare lots of food!

Today I brought back a variety of delicious salads, some gorgeous breads and some yummy soup.

 I would love to share with you my kitchen and my beautiful leftovers...

'Last week on a particularly warm spring day at my girl's lunch'

Photo credit: 'G's kitchen

'Tonight's healthy and delicious Butternut Squash salad'

Photo credit: 'G's kitchen'

'Super excited to eat my lovely leftovers'

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

Photo credit: 'G's Kitchen'

 A variety of Seeded, Sourdough and Olive bread'

Photo credit: G's Kitchen

What are your plans for this weekend? 

I would love to know!

Have a fantastic time whatever you are doing whether relaxing, cooking, seeing friends or getting some well deserved sleep...

Georgie xxx