Cooking With French Onions

Hello hello hello!
Oooh I have exciting news! Exciting and rather yummy... We've had our delivery of onions, shallots and garlic fresh from France! Yay!

They smell and taste amazing, so get here quick before they're all gone! 

Here are just a few simple recipe idea's to get you inspired...

Caramelised Shallots With Spinach Salad

Ingredients

For the shallots...

Onions or shallots. I used shallots because I like the mild, sweeter taste and I didn't want the salad to be too heavy. However if you're having a BBQ caramelised onions would be wonderful!

Brown sugar

Salt

Oil

Balsamic vinegar

For the salad...

Spinach leaves

Cherry tomatoes

Red kidney beans

Toasted pumpkin seeds

Pine nuts

Sun dried tomatoes

Olive oil

Chopped chilli's or cayenne pepper

How you make this yummy food...

Slice the shallots very thinly, I prefer to not chop them up into pieces but instead leave them in thin strips.

Pop them into a saucepan with a good covering of your choice of oil, a good helping of salt and some sugar. How much sugar you add depends on how many shallots you're cooking, but I usually put in about two teaspoons if I'm cooking for two. Remember you don't need a whole load of sugar because the shallots are quite sweet anyway. 

Stir in a good glug of balsamic vinegar and leave on a low heat. Let it bubble and caramelise away gently until the liquid has gone and the shallots are soft.

Whilst the shallots are caramelising, put big bunches of spinach leaves into a mixing bowl, I like to tear and scrunch up about half of the leaves.

Halve the cherry tomatoes and add them along with the red kidney beans and pine nuts.

Whilst you chop up a handful of sun dried tomatoes, pop the pumpkin seeds on a baking tray and toast them in the oven before adding both to the bowl.

Drizzle on a small amount of oil, olive works well, but I prefer to use a bit from the jar of sun dried tomatoes!

Add chopped chilli's, or sprinkle on cayenne pepper to give it a kick!

Season well and then mix it all together.

If it's a quick lunchtime salad then you can serve the caramelised shallots on top of the salad or mixed through. Or if you have longer they can be baked into sourdough bread, which can then be sliced and lightly oiled before being put in the oven again to be turned into croutons! 

Roasted Vegetable Couscous Salad

Ingredients

Sweet potatoes

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Red/green/yellow peppers, whichever you fancy! I like yellow, because they're quite sweet once roasted.

Cherry tomatoes

Red kidney beans

Chickpeas

Shallots

Garlic

Chopped chilli's

Salt and pepper

Paprika

Wholemeal couscous

Spinach leaves

Rocket

Pine nuts

How you make it yummy...

This is such an easy, simply gorgeous recipe, I love it because you can have it as a salad for lunch, or it can be a side to have at a picnic or BBQ. 

Grab your favourite large baking/roasting dish.

Peel the sweet potato and cut into chunks, don't cut the broccoli and cauliflower florets too small either and pop them into the dish.

Remove the stem and seeds from the pepper and roughly rip into pieces. Add it into the dish along with the kidney beans and chickpeas. Give it all a stir.

Now, roughly chop the shallots, leave the cherry tomatoes whole because they'll turn so juicy! Add them to the dish with the chopped chilli's. You can also add the wonderful garlic whole, no peeling it or chopping it, just simply add a few cloves straight into the dish.

Season it all well, add a generous sprinkling of paprika and olive oil and mix thoroughly.

Pop it into the oven, about 200c for at least 40mins, until all the vegetables are soft and roasted. Do keep stirring every 10mins or so, to make sure everything is kept coated in the oil so it doesn't burn.

Whilst that's in the oven, pour boiling water over the couscous (enough so there's about 1cm of water on the top) and set aside.

Once couscous is fluffy, season with salt and pepper and add it to the roasted vegetables, mix it in well so the couscous is completely covered in all the yummy juices and spices, we don't want any dry bits of couscous! 

Now simply throw in a few handfuls of spinach and rocket, a sprinkle of pine nuts and give a quick mix.

I promise you the roasted French garlic will be wonderfully soft and sweet!

Millie

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

  

Parisian Kitchen...

Cookware to fall utterly in love with...

Sautéed vegetables with dinner... 

Imagine melting dark chocolate into truffles in this beautiful Ban-Marie...

French omelettes for breakfast... 

Add a little Parisian style to your kitchen with a range of beautiful and functional pans.

Copper is an excellent heat conductor, which allows for great control when cooking as it's so responsive. The stainless steel interior of the copper pans means they're perfect for everyday use as they're easy to clean. 

Go on... Treat yourself!

Click here for stock on our website 

Or pop in and say a cheery hello and see if there's something pretty you'd like!

 http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Millie

Fantastic Fenella Smith!

Ooooh we're very excited to show you the range of new pottery by Fenella Smith we've now got in stock! From wonderfully sweet mini mugs to large table jugs and many more in between, all with bright and fun illustrations of Labrador dogs, Hares, Pheasants and so much more.
Here's a sneak peak!

This sweet Labrador full sized 1/2 Pint mug is perfect for dog lovers!

These Daschund mugs come in the 1/2 Pint and also the mini size, perfect for a small mug of milk with a cookie before bed!

This Hare design is so much fun! He gallops around the mug trying to get at your coffee!

These Pugs sit around the bottom of the Slim Jug looking adorable!

These little pheasants chase each other about! You can also see here the small ceramic button that Fenella puts at the bottom of each handle, a lovely final touch!

This is only a glimpse, come and have a wander into town and see the full range and fall in love with all the little characters.

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Millie

Summer Begins!

Ok, so it's not exactly beach weather here in the lovely Montpellier Cheltenham... But that doesn't mean we need to postpone all the summer treats. With the rain tapping at the window I accepted that a gigantic BBQ feast just wasn't going to happen and the excitement of making home made lemonade wasn't so great without the sun.
But never despair! There is one thing that the rain simply can not spoil, good company and good cocktails! I piled the table high with food, invited friends round and we drank yummy beverages.
I chose to use jam jars, with vanilla sugar around the top to give that pretty sweetness with each sip. These lovely nostalgic paper straws add a vintage touch and come in a range of colours.

If you're feeling particularly defiant against the rain, add a strawberry and an umbrella and pretend you're on the beach!

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Millie

Fantastic Offers! Come And See!

Hello lovely people! We've got some great deals on at the moment so come and treat yourselves, we think you deserve to be cheered up after all this English rain!

KitchenAid Mixers £429 now £390! 
Since you're making a £39 saving, you could really make the most of your KitchenAid and take a look at the attachments. The Citrus Juicer is a great idea since summer is on it's way, it even strains the seeds and pulp for wonderful fresh juice!
The Sausage Stuffer would also come in handy for when you're having BBQ's this summer, use it in combination with the food grinder for tasty home made sausages!
Both the Citrus Juicer and the Sausage Stuffer are under £39!
Magimix 5200 Premium Orange £369 now £330!
Add a splash of colour to your kitchen with this gorgeous orange Magimix! Bake, whisk, blend, puree, grate, slice, juice and mash to your hearts content.

Le Creuset cast iron up to 25% OFF!
Le Creuset is a much loved favourite, so whether you're looking to invest in a good quality pan or simply adding to your Le Creuset collection, why don't you make the most of our wonderful offer and grab some whilst stocks last!

Henckels Four Star Knives £10 OFF!
If you're in need of a good selection of great quality knives, now's the time to start your collection. Henckels have a fantastic range and with our £10 off each knife you can really save money. Why not splash out on a starter set of four knives, lets say a carving knife, boning knife, santoku knife and a chefs knife, then with the £40 you've saved you can get a paring or peeling knife! That's five knives for the price of four, bargain!

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Millie

Cheltenham Jazz Festival!

The fabulous Cheltenham Jazz Festival is here! Montpellier have jazzed up their window displays which will be judged later today by the wonderful Gregory Porter! 

Come and enjoy this beautiful sunshine, have a wander around, drink good coffee, eat good food and listen to good music!

Hope you all have a lovely day! If you are around Montpellier do pop in and say hello!

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Millie

Tastes Like Summer!

The sun is shining, the birds are tweeting, the air is warm and the evenings light... Well, almost. I think we may have to admit that our English summers never quite match up to the pictures we have inside our heads, but that doesn't mean we should postpone all that those summery days bring.

Over the next few posts I'll be letting you know what you need to make the most of the English summer! Including BBQ's, Paella in the sun, cocktails at sunset and home made smoothies and lemonade. Mmmm, tastes like summer!

Hope you're all enjoying the sun!

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Millie

The Sweetest Easter Flowers

Nordicware Floral Bouquet cupcake tin makes the prettiest cakes! Nordicware has a large range of cake tins for every occasion, from Seashells to Dinosaurs! 

I baked these for the lovely Kitchener crew today for an Easter treat. I only used a simple vanilla sponge with a glacier icing because there's so much detail created from the cake tin itself. 

One cake tin makes six cupcakes.

Happy Easter! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Millie

Egg Hunt!

Roll up! Roll up! The amazing Easter Egg Hunt is coming to Kitchener! On Good Friday (29th March) we are having a wonderful day where you lovely lot get the chance to win some prezzies. 

All you've got to do is pop in and say hello and be on the look out for hidden eggs. 

Top prize is an Emma Bridgewater 4 cup teapot in the Zinnias design, worth £59.95! If you want this beauty of a teapot then keep your eyes open for the golden egg.

The delightful new cookbook by Delia Smith is yours if you spot the silver egg.

There are many more prizes to be found including this set of cakes forks with cake server by Stellar

A pretty Henry Watson pitcher

And many more!

The Egg Hunt starts at 11am and will continue through until 3pm. There will also be a chocolate egg hunt for children!

We hope to see you all soon!

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Millie

Delia For Mothers Day

Since it's mothers day tomorrow and we love our mums very much, why not give this beautiful new cookbook by Delia Smith as a gift? 

Or if you're feeling particularly lovely you could take a peak inside before you wrap it up and bake one of the marvelous cakes!

We now stock the entire Delia bakeware range, that's muffin pans, cake tins, tin liners loaf tins and more! 

The cookbook contains many wonderful recipes, from the classics, rock cakes, flapjacks and swiss rolls to fabulous hazelnut shortbread with raspberries and the ultimate carrot cake.

As soon as the delivery arrived I was eager to try a recipe ready for mothers day, but which one to choose?! So many mouth watering ideas that left me very hungry! So I eventually decided on a gorgeous coffee and walnut cake, which judging by how fast the kitchener crew scoffed it, was very yummy indeed.

I followed Delia's recipe almost completely, only changing it slightly to make it suitable for vegans. Due to Delia's wonderfully simple method, all I had to do was substitute the butter and eggs.

I smothered the cupcakes in a vegan coffee buttercream, sprinkled them with chopped walnuts and then decorated with chocolate butterflies that I'd made the night before. 

These were wonderfully simple to make, and I'm already excited to get in the kitchen and get baking more! These pretty little cases are available from our shop!

Happy Baking!

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Millie

Marvellous Mothers!

Emma Bridgewater 'Mum Is Queen' Tea Towel

OK, I think we should all just nod our heads and say it, Mothers are amazing. Honestly, I think my Mother is secretly a superhero or something, because there's no other explanation as to how she does everything the way she does. From being the only thing monsters were afraid of, to teaching me how to cook and right through to letting me make my own choices and mistakes (even when she knows she's going to day 'I told you so'). 

Now since we love our Mums, and agree that they are probably all superheros in disguise, why not celebrate?

Emma Bridgewater 'Sampler' 8 1/2" Plate and Baby Mug

Emma Bridgewater 'I Love Chocolate' Breakfast Cup

Perfect for that first cuppa tea in the morning with buttery toast...

Emma Bridgewater 'Zinnas' 4 Cup Teapot

'Sampler' Comport, imagine it stacked high with chocolate brownies...

'Zinnas' Baby Mug and 'Sampler' Plate perfect for two or three biscuits...

'Flowers' 1/2 Pint Mugs. 

Instead of a bunch of flowers, get your mum one of these lovelies, a cuppa tea in bed just got better!

'I Love Chocolate' Heart Shaped Baker, 1/2 Pint Mug and Treacle Tin Candles

Perfect for any chocoholics! 

Pretty 'Zinnas' 1/2 Pint Jug. 

Bring back the summer and warm evenings with strawberries and cream with the beautiful 'Zinnas' design.

So how will you be celebrating this Mothers Day? Let us know! @cheltkitchener

If you've got a sweet tooth and want to really celebrate in style stay tuned this week for the perfect chocolate cake recipe!

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Millie

Love To Shop Awards Ceremony

We had such a lovely evening last night at the Gloucestershire Echo Love To Shop Awards! The beautiful black tie ceremony was held at Cheltenham Town Hall, where after a three course dinner the awards for retail excellence were announced.
You can see the winners by clicking here.

There were some beautiful shops and some very well deserved awards. We were nominated for Best Window Display in the independent category, sadly we didn't win, but that's just made us more determined for next time! Having an exciting window display is great for showing all you lovely people what products we have to offer, so keep your eyes open for our Easter Window that will be on display very soon.  

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

#lovetoshop

Millie

A Good Year For Cooking! Part 3

Welcome back! So, January arrived and barged it's way into our lives, opening all the windows and letting the fresh white light illuminate our kitchens. With the exciting prospect of a new year beginning we've rolled up our sleeves, tied on our aprons and are in the midst of making our kitchens look fabulous.
We've sorted all our utensils, and our cupboards are looking marvellous with bowls and colanders sitting pretty... now it's time to take a look at all those pots and pans!
Whether you keep them stacked on the shelves, or hanging from an overhead rack, I think we can all say that we have way more than we use..or would ever use even if we had three lifetimes...
You don't need mountains of pans to produce good food, they only produce good washing up!
So keep it simple, think quality not quantity and invest in a small selection of good pans that will allow you a wide range of cooking possibilities.
Lets start small and work our way up.

 The Milk Pan is very useful, and not only for heating milk. This little gem is perfect for cooking small amounts of food, like eggs or peas and carrots. Or even to help judge single portions of pasta or rice. Take advantage of the pouring spout and use it for sauces and custards, and of course the classic hot chocolate.

For Hot Chocolate lovers...
Heat full fat milk in your milk pan, allow in to warm through and add three heaped teaspoons of your favourite hot chocolate. Using a balloon whisk, whisk the chocolate powder into the milk as it heats up. To create a frothy texture, position the whisk so it's standing straight up in the centre of the pan and place the palms of your hands together with the whisk handle in the middle. Roll the whisk in a quick motion between your hands. (Alternatively, you can use a hand held electric milk frother when the hot chocolate is in your cup.) When the hot chocolate is almost at boiling point (you will see it begin to rise) pour it straight into your favourite mug. Spoon the rest of the froth onto the top of the hot chocolate and sprinkle over some cinnamon sugar. If you're feeling extra decadent, which you always should be, try using Rice Milk for an even creamier taste and adding grated chocolate!

Kitcheners Tip Look out for Milk Pans with an all round pouring rim. This allows you to pour from any angle without messy drips, handy if you're making a thick custard that inevitably doesn't want to fit through a small pouring spout. This Le Creuset Milk Pan is a great choice, it's part of the 3-Ply range that has an aluminium core. This means the heat can spread through from the base to the rim of the pan with an efficiency that cooks your food gently and evenly.

A Sauté Pan is handy for when a frying pan is no good and a larger saucepan would be too much and too heavy. Choose a nice deep sauté pan with a lid, great for when you're frying large pieces of food or a lovely risotto. Le Creuset have this 3-Ply pan which is deep enough for poaching as well as benefiting from the all round pouring rim. However if you're after non-stick this one by Green Pan is also a good choice. It's very tough and great for high heat cooking thanks to it's ceramic non-stick coating.
How beautiful is This Sauté Pan? And because you're lovely... it's on sale!

Now, with all this talk of frying in sauté pans you might be starting to think you no longer have the need for a Frying pan. But just hold on a second. The frying pans slopping, shallow sides make flipping food over easy as you can use your spatula or fish slice to get underneath the food.
There are so many different types of frying pan, from beautifully chunky cast iron to sleek stainless steel, large and deep to small and shallow, non-stick to toughened non-stick. Click here for a great selection.
Kitcheners Tip Choose a frying pan with an oven proof handle, this means you can use your pan for recipes that need to be baked as well.

If the thought of all that oil in the frying pan leaves you a bit panicked, then it's time to grab a healthy Grill Pan. You can fry on them with very little oil and use them for searing food when you want the grill marks visible, it's a bit like barbecuing your food in the comfort of your pretty kitchen. You can buy electric grill pans or ones for the stove top. My favourites are the heavy duty cast iron grill pans for on top of the stove, easy to use and easy to clean.
Kitcheners Tip Season cast iron cookware well and avoid cleaning it with harsh soaps as they will strip it back. Some warm water and a cloth or kitchen towel is all you need.

Crepe Pans may seem slightly decadent at a first glance. I was the one every pancake day stubbornly clinging to my frying pan, batter thrown around the kitchen and dripping from my hair in my attempt to flip the pancakes with the same ease as my favourite chefs on TV.
However, I have since come to realise that the fact of the matter is, if one eats as many pancakes as I do then one deserves to be able to flip them without hurting ones back.
So maybe a crepe pan is a little bit unnecessary if you only bring in out once a year, however if you're prone to the regular urge for sweet and savoury crepes and pancakes, this is a pan it makes a lot of sense to own.
Ask for this pan as a gift, or simply buy it for yourself for being so wonderful!
Kitcheners Tip check out our website for yummy recipes! And please tweet us (@cheltkitchener) with any yummy recipes of your own!  

It's good to have a couple of Meduim Sized Saucepans. For everyday use when you're boiling vegetables or pasta, mashing potatoes or need to have a lot of different things cooking at the same time. Remember, even if you're only cooking something simple in them, good quality saucepans are much more pleasant to work with, making cooking so much easier and quicker.
Here's a wide range of saucepans to inspire you!

The Casserole Dish is probably my favourite pan. Why? Because of it's large size, making it perfect for all those warming soups and thick stews. Because of it's double handles, making it easy to lift from the top of the hop into the oven. Because of the fact that they can transfer so happily from hob to oven, they're so versatile. Use them to fry onions, garlic and peppers and carrots, then add pulses and water and use it to simmer, and finally smother on mashed potato and paprika and use it in the oven to finish off your pie. Mmm, perfect!
And did I mention how pretty the Le Creuset Cast Iron dishes are? So homely and welcoming! We have 15% off Le Creuset Cast Iron at the moment too! Choose from beautiful colours, from the classic Volcanic Orange to the sleek Nutmeg and more!

And finally, a Roasting/Baking Dish is a must have. Now I know it's not technically a pan, but a good baking dish is just as important as a good saucepan. Choose the size that's convenient for you, ideally you could have one for everyday use and a much larger one for when you're cooking to feed lots, like at Christmas. Use it for roasting all the vegetables and meats that take your fancy!
Ceramic dishes can be beautiful when using them to roast and then serve in. However if you choose a dish that's suitable for direct heat source, it makes it easy to bring it from the oven and onto the hob when making gravy. This Roasting Dish is great for oven to hob as it's tough so won't warp and the non-coated surface means it will last much longer.

Stay tuned for the next part of A Good Year For Cooking! Where we'll be looking at which electrical items are handy to have sitting pretty and which are handy for gathering dust...

All of the products mentioned above can be found in our shop and many on our website!

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/

Millie Fraser

Spring Window!

All this lovely sunny weather inspired us to create our Spring window! If your out and about in this early sun come and have a look!

http://www.kitchenercookware.com/