Sunday 14 October 2007

Strawberries, Noodles and Sparkles!


21 Eton Mess
I made my first ever Eton this Summer, and it was quickly followed by another. When my Mum saw Nigella’s variation in TV, she requested it, so here it is. Nigella’s slight spin on the original is to mix the strawberries with sugar and pomegranate juice, I upped the pomegranate a bit (a splosh more) to make the strawberries more juicy, and the juice made it a more perfumed pudding. This is the first time I’ve bought pomegranate juice, and it’s lovely, it tastes to me how I want a watermelon to taste, but never does. A new juice for the fridge!

22 Sesame Peanut Noodles
This is meant to be an on-the-run from-a-box kind of packed lunch. Noodles, raw mangetout, pepper, and spring onions, beansprouts, coriander and sesame seeds bound with a gorgeous dressing of sesame oil, garlic oil, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, lime juice and peanut butter. I made it for lunch at home one day, and we liked it. I was a little spooked by the cold noodles, (just a little, not enough no to eat it though!) and I’d try this again but with hot noodles for immediate hot eating. The dressing was so good on it’s own, and for anyone who has Nigella’s book Feast, it would be better than the bang bang dressing in the bang bang turkey recipe in there, in my chilli shy opinion that is =). This one is not nearly so fiery, just a bit of chilli taste, and a lot of Asian inspired savoury goodness. Or just use it anywhere a satay type sauce is needed, it was really good with the raw mangetout just dipped into it.

23 Marshmallow Crispy Squares
I have a regular crispy square that I make, and in reality it still hold a lot of appeal for me as an adult. My one has some toffees in it as well as marshmallows. This one is straight marshmallows with butter and rice crispies. These are from the Holiday Snaps chapter of Nigella Express, and Nigella dresses them up with some edible glitter. It make them so beautiful, now you might think I’m exageratting – crispie squares beautiful? Try it and see, both children and adults couldn’t resist the shiny edible glitter, this I will definitely be making an appearance at my little ones birthday party. You can see the glitter in the pictures, but in real life they are even glitzier and you can see millions of sparkles, well a lot anyway =)


Eton Mess from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson.
500g strawberries
2 teaspoons caster or vanilla sugar
2 teaspoons pomegranate juice
500ml whipping cream
4 x meringue nests from a packet, broken up

Chop the berries and place in a bowl with the sugar and juice. (I used extra juice)
Whip the cream to thick but still soft, fold in the meringues. Reserve a ladle full of the berries and juice, then fold the rest into the meringue cream. Spoon into serving glasses / bowls and top each with some of the reserved strawberries and juice. Serves 4. (I'd say 4 - 6)

24 comments:

Lisa said...

Oh, wow! Everything looks fabulous! What a great idea with the glitter!
Inspiring, K-J!

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

Those are the prettiest rice krispie treats I've ever seen! Pomegranate juice is great -- super healthy -- and if you boil it down to about one-fourth of its original volume, you end up with pomegranate molasses.

Amanda at Little Foodies said...

I love those sparkly squares!
You're right about pomegranate juice, it is really tasty.

Now my dear Kelly-Jane I have to tell you - in Waterstones yesterday I very nearly broke the CB diet and purchased this book. I even had it in my arms, carrying it to the counter ready to hand my credit card over but after much Dobby style self chastising (Dobby being the house elf from Harry Potter) I put it back on the shelf!

Having flicked through it for real now it is at the very top of my Christmas list.

Anna's kitchen table said...

Sooo beautiful KJ!

I have the edible glitter ready for these....

Susan said...

Haven't had Rice Krispie treats in ages. You've made them party pretty. They would make great foodie gifts boxed in pastel tissue paper. Very festive, Kelly-Jane! I see you've got "Crazy Water Pickled Lemons" listed in your sidebar. Just got my copy today (at Shaun's persuasion). What do you recommend from it?

Belinda said...

Oh, I am loving the edible glitter on those wonderful crispy treats...such fun! And so pretty. :-) And pomegranate juice with strawberries...what a truly inspiring combination, it sounds heavenly. And then of course, what's not to love about those noodles...noodles are always a good thing as far as I'm concerned. All looks wonderful, Kelly-Jane. Now I feel that I have to track down some glitter!

Peabody said...

Edible glitter...something I have yet to see. I will be on the look out for that.

KJ said...

I have never seen edible glitter, but what a fantastic idea. Nobody could resist those.

I love eton mess. I love meringue full stop. Yours looks delicious.

Gemma said...

I'm very into edible glitter - so beautiful, who can resist sparkly food! The noodles look good too, I'll definitely try these, we enjoyed the soba noodles in Forever Summer so I'm sure these will be a winner too.

Sandy said...

Rice Crispies are delicious at any age! I love the colour in yours and love the idea of glitzing them up.

Anonymous said...

What fun! Now to find some edible glitter. How much does the recipe call for?

Deborah said...

I love that glitter!! I have never seen it before - I'm gonna start looking for it online!

Patricia Scarpin said...

I would love to try this version of Eton mess - it's Joao's favorite dessert, too!

Your food always looks so delicious, Kelly-Jane!

Angel said...

Those look so tasty.
The idea of the flavors of Strawberry and pomegranate together sounds so delectable. Do you have the recipe for that, that you could post? I would love to try it out myself.

Anonymous said...

Now I'm curious about the flavor of strawberry and pomegranate. The noodles look delectable too and the edible glitter? I am dazzled!

Kelly-Jane said...

Lisa, thank you =)

Lydia, pom molasses is great too=)

Anmanda, 'Dobby style' hahahahaha. Christmas is not so long away, hurray!

Anna, I've bought a few colour of edible glitter, it's just so pretty!

Susan, I've made Moroccan Chicken with Tomaotes and Saffron Jam, the Baked Apricots from p71 and my favourite so far Thyme, Oregano and Citrus Roasted Chicken. Next on my list is the Spiced Chicken on Melting Onions with Preserved Lemons. I preserved the lemons ages ago, but recenty remembered them after reading Tanna's post on My Kitchen In Half Cups. Diana has a new book out this month, which I've pre-ordered so you may hear more soon...

Belinda & Peabody, it great stuff the edible glitter - and it comes in so many pretty colours!

KJ, thank you =)

Gemma, a bit of sparkle is a good thing!

Sandy, it's very true, I love marchmallow crispies as much as my little one ;)

Lynn, it doesn't say in the recipe, but I used two thirds of a small pot, about 1 - 2 teaspoons.

Deborah, I bought mine online from a cake decorating firm who sell on (UK) ebay!

Patricia, the juice with the strawberries is lovely.

Hello Angel! I'll post the recipe for you.

KJxx

Kelly-Jane said...

Veron, dazzled! =) and strawberry and pom juice is a lovely pairing.

KJxx

Helene said...

I love Eaton mess..great addition of the pomegranate. That noodle dish looks very tempting!

Shaun said...

Kelly-Jane - I LOVE pomegranates and their juice. That was one of the best things about living in Southern California - they grow like crazy there. They're a little harder to find and pricier in New Zealand. I love the juice, for it is both tart and sweet. It makes a nice change from cranberry juice if you want a tart cosmopolitan, too. Great results you have here - as always.

Maggie said...

I too am not sure about cold noodles! Love the rice krispie squares and will try out the pomegranate juice next time I make Eton Mess, although I make mine with Greek yogurt - its a calorie thing!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous crispy bars! I love the glitter! :)

That Eton Mess looks delicious!

Kelly-Jane said...

Helen, thank you :)

Shaun, there is something so exotic and special about Poms :)

Margaret, I glad it's not just me that's a bit iffy with cold noodles!

Joey, thank you:)

KJxx

Christina Kim said...

I LOVE strawberries!! Very very nice presentation:D

Anonymous said...

Wonderful blog.