recipe developer - Travels for Taste

Tikka Masala curry paste

July 3, 2015 by manjirichitnis 1 Comment

Chicken Tikka Masala is the poster child for British Indian cuisine and definitely tops the list of the nation’s favourite curry. CTM as it is popularly known as is also the top choice for a Friday Night takeaway when ordering in Indian food.

Like any good curry, it’s best to use a homemade marinade, so if you can spare some time, it’s best to make your own tikka curry paste. I made mine and here is a simple recipe that you can use. The quantity is enough to marinade 1 kilo of skinless, boneless chicken breast pieces. I used 5000 gm of chicken for my CTM so the rest is in my freezer and can continue to live there for at least 2 months – I don’t think it will though because am sure the craving for a curry can strike sooner rather than later. Actually the tikka paste can be used as a starter marinade for grilled chicken kebabs as that is what is the basis of a good CTM. Or can be used for marinating even meat or fish to grill or as part of a curry dish.

Tikka Masala curry paste

Manjiri Chitnis

Print Recipe

Course Ingredient

Cuisine Indian

Ingredients

2 tsp oil
1 bay leaf
Half a red chilli de-seeded
2 medium-sized Kashmiri chillies
2 heaped tsp ginger garlic paste
2 heaped tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp coriander and green chilli puree
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp roasted cumin powder
1 tsp roasted coriander seeds powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Salt as per taste

Instructions

In a small saucepan heat the oil
Reduce the flame to a minimum then add the bay leaf and the dried red Kashmiri chillies, which add flavour and colour and not heat.
Then add in the ginger-garlic paste. Stir for 30 seconds before adding in the garam masala, that will allow the ginger garlic paste to mix well with the hot oil but prevent it from drying up the oil.
Once the garam masala is mixed well with the paste and the oil add the screaming dry spices and mix well. Allow to cook on a very low flame for under a minute and then add the coriander and green chilli puree. (Again, I make my own puree – simply spitz 2 large bunches of fresh coriander leaves with two small Indian green chillies, add some water in a small food processor to make a thick puree. This can be frozen and used for many curries and sabzi’s or bhajee’s as we call them in Marathi. I store mine for upto 3 weeks)
The smoked paprika will work with the chicken while making the curry and impart a fabulous smoky flavour that is hard to miss.
Allow the paste to cook for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure it does not burn or become too dry.
The water content in the coriander and green chilli mixture will totally dry out and you will be left with a dark reddish-brown paste

Looking for an easy yet delicious Chicken Tikka Masala recipe to make at home? Try my super-easy Air-Fryer Fakeaway version here and let me know what you think of it in the comments below!

Like any marinade, there are many things that been added or omitted according to one’s preferences. For example, the red chilli can be eliminated to reduce the heat. A small pinch of sugar can be added to balance out the green chilli too. Also, a small amount of water can be sprinkled to give the paste a more fluid consistency if required.
I use the dried Kashmiri chillies and the bay leaf later in the curry base and did not purree the tikka paste further. Why? Because the garam masala already contains both these spices. After marinating the chicken with the paste, the same Kashmiri chilli and the bay leaf can be added to the hot oil, to impart fragrance and colour.

Did you follow my recipe? Please let me know in comments, I love reading your comments and feedback.

Snap a picture of your creations and use the hashtag #travelsfortasteblogrecipe and share it to Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and I will re-post it.

Roasted mini Romanesque cauliflower with dukkah yoghurt dip

May 25, 2015 by manjirichitnis 16 Comments

I do hope some of you may recollect me mentioning that Cauliflower is one of my beloved vegetables, and after I found mini cauliflower and mini Romanesque cauliflowers it was love at first sight, in my mind, they run rings around even the baby courgettes and baby leeks! I mean they look like beautiful little green diamonds, such a beautiful shape, almost too pretty to be eaten!

Mini Cauliflower and Romasque Cauliflowers — Mini Cauliflower and Romanesque Cauliflowers

I just had to bring these beauties home and rustle up something tasty and easy with them. I have written earlier about the many health benefits of cauliflowers and how they are an aid to weight loss. But here are some fun facts for you:

Every 100gm of cauliflower i.e 1 cup has:

25 calories
Total Carbs only 5 grams
Total Fat 0.1 grams
Vitamin C – 77%
Vitamin K – 20%

I have been obsessing with the idea of whole roasted Cauliflower and today I was craving something different for tea. I did not want to load on excess and unwanted calories and wasn’t interested in deep-fried stuff at all.

So I tweaked the original recipe and used fragrant baharat, a fabulous Middle Eastern with dried rose petals and hints of smoked paprika for a kick and roasted cumin. This simple snack makes for a perfect tea time treat especially if like me you are craving cauliflower bhajji/fritters ( bhajji in Marathi is a deep-fried vegetable fritter coated in spiced besan ie. chickpea flour)

I decided to dry roast two cauliflowers and coat two on the four mini cauliflowers just to see how the taste varies when coated with a greek yoghurt marinade.

Roasted mini Romanesque cauliflower with dukkah yoghurt dip

Print Recipe

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Mediterranean

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

2 Baby Cauliflowers
2 baby Romanesco broccoli or the Romanesque cauliflower
3 heaped tbsp Greek Yoghurt
3.5 tsp Baharat
2 tsp Dukkah

Instructions

In a small bowl add 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt and add and mix well 2 tsp baharat
Pick one each of the babycauliflower and the baby Romanesco broccoli or the Romanesque cauliflower and coat it completely with the seasoned yoghurt marinade
Place them onto a baking tray
Then take the remaining baharat in another dry small bowl and coat the other 2 cauliflowers thoroughly
Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes at 180° C
Make a quick dip with the remaining yoghurt topped with dukkah
Serve with hot Turkish tea for a Mediterranean Treat

Ingredients

2 baby cauliflowers
2 baby Romanesco broccoli or the Romanesque cauliflower
3 large heaped tablespoons Greek yoghurt
3.5 tsp baharat
2 tsp dukkah

Method

In a small bowl add 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt and add and mix well 2 tsp baharat
Pick one each of the baby cauliflower and the baby Romanesco broccoli or the Romanesque cauliflower and coat it completely with the seasoned yoghurt marinade.
Place them onto a baking tray.
Then take the remaining baharat in another dry small bowl and coat the other 2 cauliflowers thoroughly.

Mini Cauliflower and Romasque Cauliflowers marinated — Mini Cauliflower and Romanesque Cauliflowers marinated

Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes at 180° C
Make a quick dip with the remaining yoghurt topped with dukkah

Mini Roasted Cauliflower with a Dukkah dip

Serve with hot Turkish tea for a Mediterranean Treat.

Whole Sea Bass steamed with a Rainbow side salad

May 1, 2015 by manjirichitnis 16 Comments

A delicious and healthy steamed fish recipe perfect for stay in #FishFriday night dinner or a lovely brunch on a lazy afternoon. The accompanying salad is colourful and full of fresh veggies that’s why I choose to call it a Rainbow Salad.

Whole Sea Bass Steamed

Print Recipe

Course Main Course

Cuisine Fusion

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

1 Large Sea Bass scaled andgutted
1 Large Lemon
2 sprigs Rosemary
2 sprigs Thyme
2 tsp Chives
Garlic sea salt as per taste
Red Chilli powder as per taste
4 small 2 small carrotsper person
Handful of Green Peas pe person

Instructions

Pre-heat theoven to 200 °C
Wash the fish and place on the foil
Stuff the lemon wedges inside the fish along with the Chives, rosemary and thyme
Sprinkle generously with sea salt, red chilli powder and a drizzle of olive oil
Wrap the fish in the foil parcel and cook in the oven until it has cooked through, should take about20-25 minutes
Steam the veggies in a steamer

Rainbow Salad

Print Recipe

Course Salad

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

1 fresh Pepper (capsicum)
1 small Red Onion
1/2 Courgette
1 Tomato
1 tbsp Red wine Vinegar
2 tbsp Chopped Parsley
Freshly cracked Black Pepper as per taste
Sea salt as per taste
Olive Oil – Generous amounts

Instructions

Chop all the vegetables into tiny bite sized cubes
Place chopped veggies in a large bowl and drizzle olive oil and add the red wine vinegar
Season well with sea salt and add a generous sprinkle of freshly cracked black pepper
Mix well

To Serve

Plate a portion of the fish and serve the steamed carrots and peas on the side.
Serve a generous helping of the crunchy veggies salad.

Whole steamed sea bass with a Rainbow salad

Here is another recipe to try if you are cooking sea bass:

Fennel and Pancetta Baked Sea Bass from Anne’s Kitchen

Kale, Spinach and fruity superfood smoothie

March 15, 2015 by manjirichitnis 2 Comments

Am back with another smoothie post, this one was even better than my previous green one in that, that hubster really enjoyed it and was blissfully unaware about how much Kale he had unknowingly added into his system 🙂

Also, Chia seeds are now a permanent feature of our smoothies and I add them into our porridge too, they are quite bland on their own and go with almost anything. They are a superfood and antioxidant boosting. Besides starting your day with a green smoothie keeps you going for longer, with a healthier fuller feeling which does not spike your blood sugar levels as some other sugar-laden juices can do , which then suddenly lead to a crash and thus result in hunger pangs.

What’s fab about this smoothie?

Chia seeds are 100% natural whole grains that are rich in omega-3, antioxidants, fibre, vitamins, and minerals. Great for those who have Type 2 diabetes as chia seeds can significantly lower blood pressure and a marker for inflammation.
Kale is rich in Vitamins K and C and is calcium, also it contains a chemical called sulforaphane which has anti-cancer properties.
Spinach helps boost iron levels and is a rich source of various Vitamins like B2, K, C & A.

Kale, Spinach and fruity super food smoothie

Manjiri Chinis

Delicious smoothie packed with the green goodness of spinach and kale

Print Recipe

Prep Time 2

Cook Time 2

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Fusion

Servings 2

Equipment

Blender

Ingredients

250 gm Large handful of baby spinach leaves per person
250 gm Large handful of Kale leaves per person
2 avocadoes
1 pear
Coconut water
a small knob of ginger
Chia seeds and fresh berries to garnish

Instructions

Chop the ginger into small bits after roughly removing the skin, if the ginger is super fresh you can use the back of a spoon to easily peel of the fine layer of skin.
Roughlychop the pear
Half the avocados, remove the seed and roughly make large chunks
Washthe spinach and kale under running water in a colander
Simplychuuk all the above ingredients into a food processor with the coconut waterand add very little water just to give the smoothie some more movement while itmixes in the food processor
Adjust the quantitiesaccording to how many servings you want to make
Sprinkle with some chia seeds and a raspberry or two and drink up for a delicious and filling smoothie that will do wonders for your body and mind!

Keyword smoothie

* With information gleaned off Wiki and some other useful sites and articles. Having said that am not a nutrition expert and am trying hard to get onto a balanced diet and exercise regime and educating myself to understand superfoods, how to eat cleaner, healthier and incorporate more raw foods, how to eat the right food at the right time to reduce blood sugar and how to fight off diabetes and other obesity led disorders.

I use my powerful and efficient Froothie U.K Optimum G2.1 Platinum blender to make my smoothies. I cannot imagine a single day in my kitchen where I go without using the blender. Why not have a look at my other recipes where I have made a quick job of the prep using my Froothie UK blender:

Easy Moroccan Chicken one pot meal

February 20, 2015 by manjirichitnis 22 Comments

The chill in the air is just right for warming one-pot meals. Make them healthy, quick, and easy to put together and you have a winner on your hands. Last year at the Cake and Bake show which I attended with a dear friend and fellow blogger, I ended up spending a bomb (£££!!!!) on four different sized pots – non – stick being one of their biggest virtues. One of them is a huge wok which I intend to use to make a stir fry over the weekend. The coating is said to last for years and each vessel comes with a glass lid. I can apparently also shove them directly into the oven but haven’t tried that yet. The big and rather saucepan is what I use as my crockpot for making one-pot meals in. In fact, there is something very comforting watching a warming curry or gorgeously tasty and nutritious one-pot meals!

heaven in a saucepan - healthy , happy meals begin here!

Ok so coming back to my one pot recipe. I had a bag of baby spinach leaves in my fridge and was craving a wholesome soupy stew with lots of vegetables. So managed to gather a few things that I think would taste great together and then added in Knorr onion gravy pots and Knorr mixed chilli pot for flavour and the result was so very satisfying. But the best part was adding in Ras El Hanout a delicious and fiery moroccan and North African fragrant spice mix. The delicate dried rose petals look so pretty , that’s why I decided to name my dish Moroccan Chicken one pot.I also devoured it for lunch today – umm.

Make this in a large quantity and it will freeze well. Batch cooking is highly recommended as it saves you time and ensures that you do not eat things that you will end up regretting when you are hard pressed for time and simply cannot cook.The freezer is a wonderful boon, use it!

I purchased a beautiful Red Leicester and Pumpkin seed batard to go with my meal – it is soul-satisfying to mop up the thick gravy with the bread while sitting on the couch watching my fav crime show on the telly, feeling all warm and happy.

The best part of this recipe is I haven’t added in potatoes or extra sugar to taste and yet the flavours are so well balanced. (Though both gravy pots do contain sugar) I love stocking up on these tiny Knorr flavour pots they are life-savers!

A recipe with enough spinach to make Popeye jump with joy! Spinach has several health benefits and is known to be a great source of folic acid and several essential vitamins and great levels of iron too. Best part is a big bag of spinach can be consumed in no time as the leaves are high in water content and it reduces in size when cooked.

Easy Moroccan Chicken one pot

Print Recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Course Main Course

Cuisine Fusion

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

2 tsp Olive oil
1 Large Red Onion
2 cloves Garlic
270 Grams Mixed – Broccoli, Carrot and Cauliflower
500 Grams Chicken thighs
75 Grams Trimmed green beans
4 or 5 Chestnut Mushrooms
1.5 Knorr onion gravy flavour pot
1 Knorr mixed chillies flavour pot
4 tbsp spinach leaves
3/4th Cup Red lentils – without skin and halved
1/2 tsp Ras El Hanout
1/2 tsp Roasted Cumin Powder
Salt as per taste
Water

Instructions

Remove the skin from thechicken thighs after washing thoroughly under running water
Chop the chicken thighs to make strips of the flesh leaving just enough on the bone
Wash and cut the broccoli, carrots,cauliflower, green beans and chestnut mushrooms bitsinto bite sized pieces
Slice an onion lengthwise into fine strips
Remove the skin from the garlic cloves and chop into tiny bits
In a large saucepan or stockpot heat olive oil on a medium flame, when the oil becomes to heat up add the finely chopped garlic and saute’ until they turn a golden brown then add in the sliced onion
Stirring occasionally allowthe onion to sweat and just when it begins to brown add in the chopped vegetables and saute for half a minute
Then add in the chicken thighs and saute for another minute
Then wash and add the red lentils , add enough water to create a thick gravy – enough to allow the lentils to cook and not soak up all the water. Then add in the Knorr flavour pots and mix well
Then add the washed spinach leaves, cumin powder and cover and cook on a medium flame for 15 minutes
By now the lentils will have cooked and the chicken will almost be done too
Then taste the soupy water and if it is too spicy add just a very tinypinch the Ras El Hanout , I added 1/2 a tsp as the tastereminded me of garam masala. Ras El Hanout is a moroccan mixture of fragrant spices with rose petals and gives the stock pot a gorgeous full bodiedflavour
Cook for a further 10-15 minutes on a gentle low flame
Serve in large bowls with a big portion of the pumpkin batard bread

Big, beautiful pot of healthy goodness - absolutely irresistible!

Gorgeous Bowl of goodness with immunity boosting spinach and delicious veggies

Avocado,Spinach and fruity Green Smoothie

February 18, 2015 by manjirichitnis 23 Comments

It’s a relatively bright and sunny but chilly February morning and the bright sunlight streaming through my kitchen window is not letting me sit down work due to the blinding light getting into my eyes. I have now moved to a cozy spot on the couch but it’s making me drowsy…

While I was away in India and eating all the wonderful local food, I also started reading up on a lot of things related to food, what we eat and how it affects us and how our body reacts to it all.

Now let me share some facts about myself – I am lazy – very lazy and not the type who will ever go the gym even twice a week – I have ended up wasting money in 2 currencies and 3 cities so I should know that however fabulous the gym it simply does NOT work for me.

Nor does dieting – I feel deprived and end up stuffing my face even more.

So what’s the way out when I have finally made a decision to eat sensibly and loose as much weight as I can without going mad. Well, past 2 weeks I have broken down my meals to smaller portions, trying to eat 5 small meals instead of 3 every day and have drastically cut down on sugar consumption. By sugar I don’t mean granulated sugar but sugar hidden in various food.

I have procured a chart about which foods are high in carbs and thus break down into sugar while they are being digested. Am consciously trying to read up more and steer clear of obviously sugar laden foods and any sugary foods are out. Thankfully I quit sugar in my tea years ago so that is not a problem but yes saying no to alcohol and other foods is not going to be easy. But then nothing good come by too easy does it?

So here goes, my morning smoothie recipe – an attempt to start the day on a healthy note :

Avocado,Spinach and fruity Green Smoothie

5 from 4 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 5

Course Drinks

Cuisine Fusion

Servings 2

Equipment

1 Blender

Ingredients

1/2 Banana
1/2 Pear
1/2 Big Avocado
1 Apple
8 tbsp Baby Spinach Leaves
2 tsp Ginger

Instructions

Chop the ginger into small bits after roughly removing the skin, if the ginger is super fresh you can use the back of a spoon to easily peel of the fine layer of skin
Roughly chop all the fruitsinto chunks. Break the banana half by hand
Simply chuck all the aboveingredients into a food processor and add very little water just to give the smoothie some movement and consistency

I prefer a thick consistency the type you can scoop out using a spoon as it is simply more satisfying and increases the feeling of being full.

This made 2 small glasses and I had both of them , simply double up the quantity for 2 people and so on and so forth.

Leafy, green, tasty, bursting with fruity goodness and taste, this smoothie is an immune system booster and full of all things good for your body. It will definitely boost sagging energy levels and induce a feel-good factor. The smooth creamy taste added by the avocado is a bonus!

I have linked up my recipe with Credit Crunch Munch which is a frugal food recipe sharing challenge developed by Helen over at Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla over at Fab Food 4 All and guest hosted by the lovely Elizabeth who blogs at Elizabeth’s Diary, linked up for Feb 2015 on her blog post too.

Easy Ham and cheese tart recipe

February 17, 2015 by manjirichitnis 12 Comments

Hello Everyone!

I have been away on a long holiday in Indian for almost four weeks. I got back last week and it has taken my system a few days to throw off the jet-lag completely and my internal thermostat to acclimatise to the massive difference in the weather.But am back now all refreshed and raring to go! So expect a lot of new and fun recipes, LOTS of travel posts and many photographs from my foodie and travel adventures – oh yes not to mention more exciting competitions, fabulous restaurant reviews and events that I will be going to soon – woohoo!

While I was in India I did a fair bit of travelling to Chennai, Pondicherry and shuttling between Mumbai and Pune. So all the resulting fatigue has taken it’s toll too.

Besides have discovered that I do have a fair amount of catching up to do with my blogging as well. hummm

So dinner the day after I landed had had to be a simple affair, because my body clock was still following IST. We decided to make a quick and super easy yet delicious Turkey, Ham and cheese tart using my own recipe. Hubster and me are both big fans of Jus-Rol as it really can save the day when things are crazy busy or plain lazy 😉

I have made a few minor tweaks to the original recipe but other than that it was smooth sailing. Here is my version:

Easy Ham and Cheese Tart recipe

Manjiri Chitnis

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time 8

Cook Time 20

Course Side Dish

Ingredients

320 Grams Puff pastry ready rolled sheet
2 medium-sized Onions peeled & chopped fine
100 Grams Cooked Ham diced
1 – 2 tbsp Oil
3 tbsp heaped Smoked Chilli Honey
250 Grams Cooked Turkey Diced
Salt & Black Pepper as per taste
75 Grams Grated Parmesan Cheese

Instructions

Heat oil in a large pan, gently sauté the onion until it is translucent, then add the diced ham and cook on a low flame for about 2 minutes
Meanwhile remove the puff pastry ready rolled sheet and allow it to rest while the filling is being prepared.
Add the turkey, season to taste and then add the smoked chilli honey. Stir continuously to ensure the chilli honey does not burn and cook on a gentle, low flame for a further 2 minutes
Preparea baking tray by lining with a baking sheet and carefully place the puff pastry ready rolled sheet onto the baking sheet
Pre heat the oven to 220°C or 200°C for fan assisted ovens or Gas mark 7
Spoon out the Turkey and Ham mixture onto the baking sheet and sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese over the mixture
Bake in the pre heated for 20 minutes and serve hot

I remember going to buy Jus- Rol at a supermarket two years ago post Christmas and it simply wasn’t available anywhere. Clearly people had been smart and stocked up on this lifesaving fridge fav for all those leftover meals after the big day. And have since then made a mental note to stock up well in advance for future occasions. There have been numerous dinners and surprise tea time treats for unannounced but welcome visitors who have been fed piping hot treats with several hot cuppas thanks to that pastry roll lying in my fridge! So like many of my store cupboard essentials this is one of my life savers and will almost always be found living in my refrigerator.

I loved this recipe and now am looking forward to more experiments with Jus-Rol .

If you need more inspiration to get creative with Jus-Rol why not check out these gorgeous recipes on the Jus-Rol website ?

*With thanks to Jus-Rol and the PR team for sending vouchers to buy some samples of Jus-Rol for review . No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Beetroot and Chickpea salad

February 6, 2015 by manjirichitnis 19 Comments

Who doesn’t love a salad that you can put together in no time? This easy to make and super quick to put together Beetroot and Chickpea salad recipe is just the thing when you want to eat healthy and not compromise on taste at the same time. I have added in amchoor powder which is a tangy dried mango powder which will give this salad a fabulous twist when combined with balsamic vinegar.

If possible try and buy baby beetroot cooked in vinegar as these would be the perfect size and also have the right amount of vinegar. If you are not sure of how much balsamic vinegar you can handle, add 1?2 tbsp first and then if you feel brave add another half. I have a whole collection of flavoured vinegar and if you can get your hands on cranberry infused vinegar, I highly recommend adding that in as it will totally elevate the flavour of your salad.

Beetroot and Chickpea salad

Manjiri Chitnis

Print Recipe

Course Salad

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

1/2 Can Boiled and Cooked Chickpeas
250 Grams small beetroot cooked and peeled
1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 small Red Onion slicedl ength wise
2 tsp Amchoor Powder
2 tsp Heaped Pomegranate Seeds

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl add the chickpeas
Chop the cooked and peeled beetroot into bite-size chunks. Add them to the chickpeas. Add the chopped onion and pomegranate seeds
Add the vinegar and the amchoor powder and mix well
Serve and sprinkle with more pomegranate seeds if desired

I have found the perfect linky to add my virtuous yet superbly delicious salad to. It’s this month’s Spice Trail with the theme ‘ Temple Food‘ hosted by the lovely Vanesther on her blog called ‘Bangers and Mash’. The whole concept of respecting your body by treating it like a temple is really apt for the way I have recently begun to think about food. I have to re-think and re-align what I feed my system and actually begin to ‘listen’ to what my body is speaking to me. It’s important that after years of neglect I FINALLY pay attention to what is entirely my own – my body.

By linking to this challenge I take heart in knowing that I am not ALONE. There are other like-minded foodies who are re-thinking their ways of eating. I do hope my recipe is one of the many delicious, innovative, and beautiful ones that will help my readers on their journey to eating healthy and feeling more energetic.

Wine Pairing made easy by Waitrose Cellar

May 22, 2014 by manjirichitnis 2 Comments

On a fine evening last week when the sun suddenly decided to shine upon us Londoner’s I happened to be invited to a blogger bash to celebrate the launch of Waitrose Cellar – the new online wine service by Waitrose ,at the London Canal Museum.

With over 1200 interesting & exclusive wines,Champagnes & spirits to choose from at Waitrose Cellar online you can order any 6 wines with free delivery.The best part is the Waitrose Cellar experts hand pick mixed cases and they are just a phone call away to address any queries you may have related to their wines ,but if you’d rather do the food and wine pairing yourself ,there’s a wealth of knowledge on the Waitrose Cellar website where you can browse through 40 articles, watch over 150 tasting videos and read ratings on product pages,you can even learn how to expertly pop open a bottle of champagne!

Our wine experts for the evening – Stèphane and Xenia set the mood for the evening by popping some champagne.Stèphane started with a level 3 award in wines and spirits from WSET and perfected his wine knowledge to become a wine waiter, then head sommelier before he became part of the Waitrose Cellar team. Xenia a Master of wine (2003) came to Waitrose last December ,with 24 years experience in the wine trade, she has worked as an independent wine consultant,a buyer for a large brewery,retailer and wine importer. After a spot of introductions over some champagne and starters I chatted with some very familiar friendly faces. It’s then that I noticed my name badge had a little picture of a glass of red and some others had picture of white wine on their badges ,the red wine gang set sail with Stèphane and the white wine badges went off with Xenia.We were taken onto a traditional canal boat to sail along the Regent’s Canal ,sample some of the brilliant Waitrose wines while Stèphane, took us through the story behind each wine and got us to think how best we could pair our wine with various mains.

If like me you’ve never sailed before on a traditional canal boat these beauties come equipped with a cute compact kitchen, ‘leisure’ accommodation and a nice little seating area for socialising which we promptly abandoned for a place on the deck, after all who can resist the soft evening sunlight and the light cooling breeze while sipping some fine wine and dreaming of delicious food to pair it with! While sipping on Prosecco, Stèphane shared a naughty little trick to amp up your sweet bakes,he adds just a tiny pinch of pepper along with some salt ,takes the tooth-grinding sweet edge off the bake and gives just the right hint of flavour,am definitely going to give this fab idea a try soon!

We started with tasting the white wines ,of the white wines we tried I loved the Cave de Lugny Sparkling Burgundy Blanc de Blancs NV the most ,perfect for summer parties and nibbles.This Chardonnay from Burgundy has a fresh, crisp, apple and citrusy flavour makes it really easy sparkling wine to drink. Also quite liked the Vasse Felix Sauvignon Blanc/ Semillon,which is a very dry,fresh western Australian Sauvignon which would go really well with fresh seafood,steamed greens by the side or a sinful portion of gnocchi with toasted pine nut and fresh green basil pesto. This white,I daresay is even better than the other Antipodean varieties like Chardonnay. Moving on to red’s, by which time we had passed through the Reagent’s Canal and am sure managed to gulp some stray drops of water falling off the musty old bridge as well, but am sure we were either honestly engrossed in conversation or blissfully unaware of anything expect how much fun we were having by then , which I shall safely blame on the progressive climb towards feeling pleasantly buzzed – no , not shamelessly tipsy.Am eagerly waiting to once again savour the Waitrose Chianti Classico Barone Ricasoli. This full-bodied Tuscan red is a delight on the palate with its woody notes and velvety texture,perfect for grilled meats and roasted peppers- think juicy kebabs with minty chutney. Made in partnership with Ricasoli family who were the first producers of Chianti , no wonder then this wine has won the Decanter Bronze Medal for classic Chianti. Before we knew it, we had worked our way through 16 different ,fabulously delicious Waitrose wines and by the time we got back to the Canal Museum we had worked up quite an appetite and speedily devoured the fab spread laid out for us.

Stèphane and Xenia continued to reveal one secret after another of how best to choose a wine just right for you and how to go about pairing food & wine.Then it was time for some speed wining – yes you heard that right Speed Wining! I’ve never been speed dating but enough hours of watching crime and romantic dramas on the telly have left me no stranger to what its all about ,only this was way more fun because we got to talk about our favourite food and wine and didn’t need to impress our very friendly bunch of fellow foodies. I think I managed to ask some rather interesting and fun questions along with some rather boring ones but the user-friendly Waitrose Cellar website made it really easy for us to look for wines that would best suit the personality and tastes in food of our speed wining partners.

Don’t we all look like we really had a great time ‘speed wining’? 🙂 And now a look at my favourites from the evening, the sparkling burgundy and classic Chianti both perfect matches for the sea food lover in me who also has a weakness for juicy kebabs,lamb curry and a major sweet tooth.

Am happy to say that as a result of our speed wining session my fellow red team mates Becky,Snigdha,Anne,Laura and May managed to almost accurately guess which type of wines I’d enjoy the most.So when the 6 wine case for each of us, sent by Waitrose Cellar online, reached me I couldn’t wait to get cooking and wine pairing!

First up of course I shall be popping some Champagne – Waitrose Blanc de Blancs Brut NV(picked for me by Laura for my love of sweet and a bit of fizz) – to celebrate becoming aunty to a bonny boy and my niece clearing her GCSE equivalent in India with flying colours!Definitely calling for some bubbly,loads of canapes and well some more bubbly 😉

For my Sunday lunch with my family I will be pairing lamb curry with Catena Malbec chosen for me by Anne .I know my dessert wine for this month will be the Limited Reserve Peachy wine from my wine case selected for me by May to appease my sweet tooth after a spicy meal. Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett will keep me company for familiar flavours of fresh seafood curries and fusion meals with scallops and soft shell crabs ,thanks to Snigdha’s choice.Waitrose Chablis picked for me by Becky who quizzed me and learnt of my love for ciders.This Chablis is so apt for a lazy summer afternoons with sea food starters.Last but certainly not the least the Sparkling Burgundy with a beautiful label that adorns the bottle ,which also is in my case,will be shared over lots of cake for a double birthday celebration with my family who are visiting us end of this month – exciting times ahead!

Feeling a bit of envious are we now? Don’t !For even you can win £1000 worth of wine specially chosen JUST for you by Waitrose Cellar Experts .Plus 5 runners-up will win a ready-made collection of Waitrose Wine Teams 30 favourite wines. Now I would certainly clink my glass to that! You can also tweet away – @waitrosewine and chat up the wine experts.

All the fabulous photos in this post are by Emma @emmakerf.

*With thanks to Waitrose Cellar for the invite.No monetary compensation was provided for this post.All views expressed are my own.

Tikka Masala curry paste

Tikka Masala curry paste

Ingredients

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Roasted mini Romanesque cauliflower with dukkah yoghurt dip

Roasted mini Romanesque cauliflower with dukkah yoghurt dip

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Whole Sea Bass steamed with a Rainbow side salad

Whole Sea Bass Steamed

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Rainbow Salad

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Kale, Spinach and fruity superfood smoothie

Kale, Spinach and fruity super food smoothie

Equipment

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Instructions

Easy Moroccan Chicken one pot meal

Easy Moroccan Chicken one pot

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Avocado,Spinach and fruity Green Smoothie

Avocado,Spinach and fruity Green Smoothie

Equipment

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Easy Ham and cheese tart recipe

Easy Ham and Cheese Tart recipe

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Beetroot and Chickpea salad

Beetroot and Chickpea salad

Ingredients

Instructions

Wine Pairing made easy by Waitrose Cellar

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