Chilli Crab Risotto

Ingredients:

1 crab weighing about 800g-1kg, cooked, the meat removed and shells reserved 
60g butter 
200g carnaroli rice 
1-1.5ltrs approx of hot crab stock* 
2-3 red chillies, finely chopped 
2-3tbsp chives, finely chopped 
100g unsalted butter to finish 
60ml double cream

*For the crab stock:

1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 medium leek, washed and roughly chopped 
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped 
20g butter 
The shells from the crab, broken with a rolling pin or back of a knife 
A few sprigs of thyme 
1tsp fennel seeds 
10 peppercorns 
1 bay leaf 
150ml white wine 
2ltrs fish stock (we used Knorr fish stock cubes)

To make the stock, gently cook the onion, leek and garlic in the 20g of butter for a few minutes, until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 hour, giving the occasional skim.

Strain the stock through a fine-meshed sieve. The stock should be strong in flavour: if it's not, reduce it until the flavour is concentrated. You should be left with about 1-1 litres.

To make the risotto, melt the 60g of butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add the rice, stirring it well with a wooden spoon over a low heat for a minute. Gradually add the hot stock a little at a time, stirring constantly. When the rice is almost cooked, add the chilli and continue cooking for a few minutes, then add half the crab, the unsalted butter, double cream and chives; season if necessary. Warm the rest of the crab through under a grill, spoon the risotto on to warmed serving plates and scatter the crab on top.

(We served our risotto topped with pan fried haddock, we also added the trimmings from the fish to the crab stock)

Vegetable Crumble

Ingredients:
For the crumble topping:
Butter or margarine 100g
wholemeal flour 175g
Cheddar cheese, grated 100g
Mixed seeds 50g
Sesame seeds 2 tbsp

Base:
Mixed root veg (parsnip, swede, turnip, potato, carrot etc) 675g
1 large onion
Butter or margarine 50g
wholemeal flour 25g
300ml vegetable stock
142 ml milk
3 tbsp chopped parsley

Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add the cheese and seeds and mix in.

Chop the vegetables then melt the butter in a large pan and cook the onion until transparent. Add the prepared veg and cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes. Stir in the flour then add the remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes until the veg is just tender.

Transfer to an oven proof dish. Press the crumble topping over the veg and bake in the oven at 190c for about half an hour, until golden.

(serves 6)

Clothes Show Live 2013

Recently I went to the Clothes Show Live at Birmingham NEC with the GCSE and A level Textiles students. So yes, that means I not only got in free, I was being paid to be there - there have to be some perks to my job right?!

The major fashion show was a mixture of high street and designer clothes, with the theme of 'A Weekend in the Country'. The story running through the show was that a group of friends arrive at a country house for a weekend away to party & celebrate New Years Eve. I thoroughly enjoyed it (and not just because of the skantily dressed men, although that is always a bonus!). A particular favourite was the eveningwear section, complete with gothic looking black lace masks and headpieces.

I also managed to see some of the Graduate fashion shows from the colleges and uni students, which were very inspiring. One of the collections I could have worn immediately, which was made up of quirky vintage style tweed outfits complete with pill box hats.

The rest of the day was spent browsing the huge number of stalls, it really is a shoppers dream! The discounts on the items on sale were really good, and I got some real bargains. Next year my friend Sian & I plan to go back on our own time so that we can take part in some of the hair & make up demos going on.

So yes, I spent the day oggling male models, shopping & taking photos and I got paid for it....!

Brighton

 Recently we spent the weekend in Brighton, staying with Ash's sister & her boyfriend to celebrate her 30th Birthday. I've never been to Brighton before, but after hearing them all tell me repeatedly how much I would love the shopping over the years I was definately looking forward to finally visiting!

I was not disappointed! Shopping in The Laines was a great experience, pretty much all the shops are small & independently owned, so you are guaranteed to get something unusual. I could quite easily have spent a small fortune, so I feel I was very controlled with my 3 purchases!

We went for coffee & cake in the most extravagant fashion, stopping off in a French macaroon shop for a 'pick me up'. The cakes arrived looking almost too good to eat (but only 'almost'!) and tasted even better. An extravagant coffee stop, but well worth it for the experience!

Daydreamer Lap Quilt

Friends of ours are expecting their first baby, and Ash asked me to make them something baby related for Christmas. The result is this, the 'Daydreamer' lap quilt. The idea is that the mum to be can use it as a quilt while she's expecting, and then once baby comes along it has thick enough padding to be used as either a cot quilt or a playmat on the floor.

The patchwork stripes are remnants of upholstry style fabric that I bought last year in a market in Totnes - I loved the cream, gold, blue & brown colour combinations but until now had never found a project to use them! These were cut & stitched together in stripes.

The clouds themselves are padded and then were quilting stitched onto the stripes background. Then I pinned the wadding and backing fabric to the front, created a border around the edge and stitched (very slowly!) through the whole lot.

Bath Christmas Market

So many ideas taken from this wonderful felt decorations stall!

Beautiful hand blown glass baubles

I loved these fat little owls on their branch - something I might have a go at making myfelt in the new year

This stall smelled AMAZING with all the dried fruit decorations!

Lots of doggie decorations, but no whippet ones!

Almost too good to eat! Almost...!

Bath Melts

Makes 15+ bath melts.

You will need:
200g Cocoa Butter
100g Sweet Almond Oil
6g fragrance oil or essential oil
Dried flowers/petals
bath melt cases or baking/ice cube molds

Place the cocoa butter in a heat proof glass dish/jug in a saucepan of water over a low heat. The water should come about a third of the way up the jug. Melt, stirring. Remove from the heat & stir in the almond oil and fragrance. Stir it well so that the mixture combines.

Pour into cases. I used cupcake cases and ice cube molds for my bath melts, as the silicone makes it easier to remove them once the set. If you want to add dried flowers or petals you need to wait until the melts are semi-set and then push them into the surface, otherwise they will just sink to the bottom.

Leave the melts in a cool place and they should set within a few hours.