Big Day Out - Total Greek Yoghurt Masterclass

Last week felt like a bit of a right of passage for me as a blogger, I went to my first ever blogger event! I admit I still feel like a relative blogging novice so was nervous about going & who else might be there? Would they all be well established, incredibly successful, very clever foodie bloggers? Well yes, most of them were, but I needn't have worried, from the second I walked into L'atelier des Chefs in central London, I felt very welcome & was chatting away in no time!

The event was hosted by the team at Total Greek Yoghurt, the theme of the day being 'living a healthy lifestyle'. After a delicious smoothie (made with Total of course) we took our seats for a Q&A session with Hala El Shafie, expert nutritionist & co-founder of Nutrition Rocks, her ethos is everything in moderation, a little bit of what you fancy does you good & faddy diets don't work. A women after my own heart!

Me asking the very important question....'are carbs really that evil?!'

Next we were introduced to Phil from Skinny Latte Strikes Back, she shared her own story of turning her life around from being unhealthy, unfit & unhappy to...well, healthy, fit & happy. My favourite comment from her was that dress sizes are BS! Reassuring to know I'm not the only one who has a wardrobe that varies from a size 10 to 16!

Finally we got to the bit I was looking forward to the most...the food! Andre Dupin, former Chez Bruce & Claridges chef was to be our guide for this part. Andre had created a range of 3 savoury & 3 sweet recipes for the occasion, all incorporating Total Greek Yoghurt. He carefully demonstrated each recipe (in front of a rather particular film crew!) before we were let loose in the kitchen!

Here are the results of my efforts.....

Vegetarian Samosas with a Minted Yoghurt Dip

Pan Fried Medallions of Pork with Total Greek Yoghurt Gribiche & Fennel

Tartare of Mackerel with Minted Cucumber Soup

It's difficult to choose my favourite dish as they were all yummy, I'd never really given much thought into using yoghurt in savoury dishes (other than tatziki!) so they were a bit of a revelation. I think at a push I'd have to say the Pork Medallions were my favourite, the fennel salad added a lovely fresh crunch to the dish & having never tried Gribiche before it was delicious!

Then it was onto the desserts....

Drop Scones with Caramelised Pineapple & Total Greek Yoghurt


White Chocolate Mille Feuille with Spiced Plums

There was also a recipe for a Chestnut Tiramisu, but I ran out of time so unfortunately didn't get a chance to try it. However several people around me were eating it, making the appropriate yum & mmm noises, so I imagine it was very good! Out of the two desserts I made, my favourite was the pancakes, but them I'm a sucker for anything involving pineapple. Click here to see a list of the full recipes.

I thoroughly enjoyed my day out & would like to say a big thanks to all involved & all the lovely people I met. I will certainly be getting a bit more experimental with my yoghurt! Till next time, Rebecca x

Biscuits not bullets...testing out a cookie gun!

I hope you're all enjoying the Easter break & the sun is shining for you as much as it is here in the Royal Borough? This week I'm testing out another of the kitchen gadgets I received at Christmas & this time it's a cookie press. Looking at it, you'd think you should grout your bathroom with it, but I have to say after a bit of trial & error it was actually quite nifty. It's made by Kuhn Rikon & comes with 16 interchangeable discs that produce a range of shapes from stars & flowers, to Christmas trees & something vaguely resembling a pumpkin! I made the same cookie dough I used a few weeks back for my Cookie Stamp, then you roll it into a sausage, load it into the gun & get trigger happy!

I decided I'd make a batch to give as gifts this Easter rather than eggs, so I chose the most spring like shapes (sorry the bat & dinosaur will have to wait for another day!)

These are 'abstract' according to the booklet, squiggles to me!

Stars that could be flowers...

more flowers....

& even more flowers!

Hearts

What I discovered was that there was a bit of a knack to shooting cookies, some shapes required a quicker trigger speed than others, (I do realise how ridiculous this sounds!) The other thing that was a bit of a revelation for me was using a non-stick baking liner. It was recommended in the instructions to help the cookies stick & they were right! I tried shooting them onto greaseproof paper & straight onto the baking sheet, but no joy. I bought mine from Lakeland for £5 & I think it'll be a fiver well spent.

I ended up with 80 odd cookies from one batch! As they were for Easter I packed them into these really cute bunny bags also from Lakeland. Beats an over packaged, over priced choccie egg any day I think!

Next week I'll share with you what happened when I went to my first ever Blogger event organised by the lovely people at Total Greek Yogurt, so prepare yourselves for lots of yogurt related recipes in weeks to come! Have a lovely weekend with you & yours, Rebecca x