Thermapen

When cooking, we all like to think we are a bit like ‘Nigella’ in the kitchen and we at The Amazing Blog love to expand our repertoire on cooking, experimenting with new recipes. We have found your must have cooking tool for the kitchen. The Thermapen will allow you to find out if your Sunday joint is thoroughly cooked without having to cut through half of it.

The simplicity of cooking has never been easier after Thermapen came into our lives. We can now stop playing the guessing game with our meat, all you have to do is probe into the joint and read the temperature, and it’s very fast and accurate. The Thermapen isn’t just for meat either, whether it’s baking a cheesecake or making homemade toffee, these normally require expertise skills, with their fussy timing, and the Thermapen however has handled it for you.

We think health and safety should always come first and the Thermapen allows us to put our mind at ease and stay safe. When cooking our Sunday roast we decided to try out the Thermapen for ourselves and we absolutely love how simple cooking was for us. We were able to sit and enjoy our Sundays without worrying about the beef inside the oven. Get yours here for £48. Here’s to stress-free cooking!

Friday Favourites - Cookbooks

Here at The Amazing Blog we love to cook. Experimenting in the kitchen, trying out new recipes and creating delicious meals is one of our favourite pastimes. Although the internet is awash with recipes aplenty nowadays, there’s something quite special about discovering your favourite cookbook, dipping into it again and again. With this in mind, we’ve put together a list of our favourites, which will hopefully inspire a few stints in your own kitchen.

First on our list is the work of national treasure and Great British Bake Off veteran, Mary Berry. To coincide with Mary’s latest TV series, her new book, ‘Absolute Favourites’, is packed full of delicious meal ideas for any occasion.  With over 100 recipes, there’s bound to be something that tickles your fancy, and the recipes are so simple, that even a cooking novice could follow them. We tried out the Fish Pie with Souffle Crouton Topping and found it delicious and super simple to prepare. An interesting twist on the classic fish pie recipe, it’s perfect for a family dinner. Pick up the new book from our ‘absolute favourite’ homecook here for £8.99.

If you’re looking to venture into the daunting world of Superfoods, we think that Julie Montagu’s ‘Superfoods’ cookbook is a wonderful place to start. Full of healthy, nutritious yet delectable meal ideas, you’ll have no excuse for raiding the biscuit tin. Julie understands that, when it comes to eating healthily, food is certainly not a ‘one size fits all’ deal. Nutritional needs and lifestyle effect what and how people eat, so we were happy to see that this tome suits everyone! With a range of amazing plant-based recipes to pick from, you’ll be feeling like a superhero in no time!  Naturally, we had to check out the ‘Sweet Treats’ section, and stumbled across her ‘Black Bean Brownies with Chia Seeds’ recipe. Perfectly gooey and wonderfully chocolatey, they’re the perfect guilt-free alternative to our favourite baked good. Grab your own ‘Superfoods’ book here for £12.91

If you’re stuck in a teatime rut then the ‘The Five O’Clock Apron’ is here to help you to cook with creativity and ease. Written by chef and mum of three, Claire Thomson, the book is full of nutritionally inspired, relatively easy recipes that your little ones will love! Full of fresh, exciting and versatile meals, the recipes are also flavourful enough to please everyone around the table including the Lamb & Quince tagine and the delicious Arancini. Our favourite recipe has to be the wonderful ‘Snail Bread’ - an interpretation of the delicious Chelsea Bun – which will have everyone coming back for more! Get stuck into Claire’s inspiring book here for £20.

For those who love rich, exotic flavours, we can’t think of anything more suitable than the delicious recipes in Vanessa Bolosier’s ‘Creole Kitchen’. Inspired by Vanessa’s French Caribbean roots and drawing inspiration from her very own childhood kitchen, the pages are filled with 100 mouthwatering Caribbean Creole recipes that just scream sunshine to us! We cooked up the Sweet Potato and Ginger Cream Soup, and loved the creamy concoction that also packed a really good punch – a hearty, warming dish perfect for a rainy day. Treat yourself to a little taste of sunshine and buy the book here for £25.

For those hardcore foodies out there, we can’t quite get enough of the ‘Scook: Complete Cookery Course’ by Anne-Sophie Pic. Overflowing with exquisite French dishes, Anne-Sophie’s main aim is to teach and share her love of cooking. We’re certainly eager to learn, and found that her book is filled with 40 step-by-step guides to overcome even the trickiest of techniques, all fully photographed so that you can see how each method is performed - perfect for impressing people at dinner parties. One recipe that really caught our eye was the White Chocolate Fondant with Passionfruit and Chocolate Coulis. Easier than we expected, these are great for preparing ahead of time, as they need to freeze for 4 hours before baking, making then an ideal finishing touch when entertaining. Teach yourself how to cook the French way, and pick up a copy here for £40.

LEON Family and Friends

Whenever I go back to my parents' house to visit them, one of the things I enjoy most doing is cooking for them. When I was a little girl I always used to spend time with my mum in the kitchen while she cooked - I saw her mixing these colourful ingredients and felt intrigued; I just couldn't understand how some raw ingredients could turn into delicious dishes. Since then, cooking has always been a passion that I've shared with my mum. We both love cooking for the ones we love, so once again, while doing a bit of research on cookbooks to feature on The Amazing Blog I came across with the loveliest and and most perfect cookbook: LEON Family and Friends. LEON Family and Friends is a celebration of the hours we've all spent around the table chatting to our family and friends while having fun. The book is divided in three sections: Today, Tomorrow and Yesterday. Today features dishes that are easy to prepare and are delicious too. Perfect for everyday. Tomorrow includes recipes that have more thought to them; special occasions with a small group of friends or for a family feast. Yesterday features the writers', Kay and John, culinary memories. A celebration of the family and the food that made LEON the people that are today,

LEON Family and Friends is one of the loveliest cookbooks The Amazing Blog has ever come across with. Its writing style, the recipes and the design make this book a must-have for those of you who love cooking for the ones you love the most.

Saitaku Sushi Kit

One of my favourite types of food is Japanese. It is one of those delights I will randomly crave, whether it is sushi or chicken teriyaki, you can never go wrong with a good Japanese meal. At The Amazing Blog, we love trying new foods, especially new brands that allow you to easily cook international food in our own homes! We recently stumbled upon Saitaku, a global brand of authentic Japanese ingredients, which recently launched a line of “cook-from-scratch” products.

Our favourites are their Sushi Kit, the Tempura Batter Mix, and Teriyaki Sauce. The Sushi Kit contains everything you need to make sushi at home. For beginners this is a great kit to ‘wet your feet’ and learn how to make the perfect sushi rolls in several easy steps. The kit includes sushi rice, sushi vinegar, soy sauce, sushi nori, sushi ginger, wasabi paste, a rolling mat, chopsticks, and most importantly your very own leaflet with step-by-step instructions along with images to wrap your first ever sushi. The Sushi Kit is by far my favourite one of their products! Along with create-your-own kits they also sell an array of sauces and noodles. My favourite sauce, Teriyaki, is delicious on meats and vegetables. It is a mixture of naturally brewed soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar. The Tempura Batter Mix includes all of the ingredients to make the perfect batter to put over chicken and even shrimp. Saitaku’s Tempura is absolutely delicious. All of Saitaku’s products are made with high quality ingredients to authentic Japanese recipes, and all products are wrapped up in a distinctive and eye catching Japanese packaging.

These products can be purchased on numerous online retailers, a list of which can be found here which currently has discounts on all of Saitaku’s products. The Sushi Kit retails for £6.99 and a 150ml bottle of the Teriyaki sauce retails for £1.29. For more information on the brand and other products visit their website here. We at The Amazing Blog thing Saitaku’s Japanese food products are great and definitely worth a try!