So we were recording some Diamond Jubilee themed cooking videos recently when shooting had to be ‘cut short’ (excuse the pun), due to a pretty bad (and bloody) accident I had with the kitchen knife. So I thought it was about time I wrote a post on how to use a kitchen knife correctly, and most importantly, safely! Don’t worry, I’ll refrain from posting the video of when it happened!
- First things first, make sure you keep a really good grip of the handle. The last thing you want is to lose control of a sharp knife. It’s easy to forget if you’re chopping something finely as you tend to use the knife a lot quicker.
- As well as good grip, make sure you secure the food your chopping firmly with your other hand. Be aware that different foods can slide around when being chopped (skin sliding off an onion is a fine example) so always be sure to prepare your food before chopping and ensure it’s not going to move in any way whilst chopping.
- Curl your fingers (this is what let me down)! The last thing you want to do is slice off your fingertips! So by curling them, if the knife blade is to get too close to your fingers, it’ll more likely brush past your fingers, than slice over you fingertips.
- And finally, we all want to be able to chop like a pro, but take it slow to start with. It’s too easy to get carried away. If you perfect your knife skills slowly, you’re much less likely to suffer an injury.
It’s also worth considering if there’s any other utensil that can handle the job more safely for you. For example, a garlic press, or my favourite, a Mezzaluna.
Cheers
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This post was written by Warren Nash on May 11, 2012 |
I’m not sure about you, but there are some food types that I’d simply not want to know what goes in them – sausages, burgers and chicken nuggets (to name a few). So I present to you my Chicken Nuggets Recipe which is really simple to prepare and cook.
The great thing about making them yourself, is that you can make the nuggets from chicken breasts and add all kinds of things to the breadcrumbs to add flavour (herbs and spices etc).
All you need is Chicken, Breadcrumbs, Egg and Flour (and you can see the full instructions for the Chicken Nuggets Recipe here).
And if you’re anything like me and like your food hot and spicy, add some Chilli Powder and Worcester Sauce to the breadcrumbs to give them a real kick.
Enjoy!
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This post was written by Warren Nash on April 26, 2012 |
As you may know from my previous post, it wasn’t long ago that I came back from my snowboarding trip in Avoriaz. Whilst self board cuisine wasn’t great, one thing I could eat plenty of (and thank you for introducing them to me France) is the Banana and Nutella Crêpe.
So of course, the first thing I did when I got back (leaving unpacking till later) was to make some of these beauties!
Originally I thought the only difference between a crêpe and a pancake was that a crêpe was a ‘thin pancake’. However, after doing a little research, crêpes are richer and lighter in texture than regular pancakes, so you’ll need to add more eggs and some butter to your basic batter mix. The ingredients I used for the batter are as follows (enough to make a hell of a lot of crepes – about 15)!
- 3 Eggs
- 125g Plain Flour
- 300ml Milk
- 2 tablespoons melted Butter
- Oil (to fry)
Simply mix all the above ingredients (minus the oil) together to make the batter. Then over a high heat, heat some oil, then pour a thin spread of batter to make your first crêpe. You’ll either need a good non-stick pan, or a reasonable amount of oil to make sure the crêpe doesn’t stick.
Once one side is done, give it a flip and spread your Nutella and sliced Bananas over one half of the crêpe. Once the other side of the crêpe is cooked, fold it in half and serve – et voilà!!!
…And some learnings from me: don’t be afraid of mixing sweet with savoury, and remember, you can also keep the batter in the fridge until you next need it.
Enjoy!
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This post was written by Warren Nash on April 19, 2012 |
I was reading through some really old blog posts and came across one about saving money and meal planning, and I thought (with the “current economic climate” etc), this is even more relevant to us in 2012 (especially to those eating a lot of pasties from Greggs)!
I find I always save money if I plan what I’m buying at the supermarket before I get there, and that means, putting together a really simple Meal planning template. It may sound like overkill, but it really works – for the reasons that you’re only buying foods for the meals you’ve actually planned to cook.
What’s a good time frame? I put together my Meal planning template for two weekly food shops. So I’ll count the number of dinners I’ll be having over the next 14 days (say 11), and as a rule of thumb, I always get 3 meals out of a 500g portion of meat. So if I bought 500g worth of chicken, this would serve me three meals (whatever they may be).
Next step, look up some recipes and start getting creative. If you want to save even more, I’d do your shopping online and especially browse the offers tabs. And remember, you can freeze your leftovers for the remaining days in your Meal planning template.
One other money saving tip – grow your own. I’m pleased to announce the first seedlings have started to sprout in the FitBrits garden. So far we have tomatoes, runner beans and sunflowers (with more to be sowed shortly) – bring on the Summer!
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This post was written by Warren Nash on April 3, 2012 |
Firstly, apologies for my absence last week, I was in the Portes du Soleil for a (snow) board meeting! We were greeted with Snowing weather all day Sunday/Monday and clear blue/sunny skies Tuesday-Thursday. Needless to say, I do have some pretty impressive goggle marks (look out for those in my next video)! I had a great holiday, but don’t miss the French version of bacon all that much!
Anyway, back to business! My latest video is for a Spaghetti Bolognese Recipe, and if you have any left over, why not make this Lasagna Recipe.
My secret ingredient is milk (to make the sauce nice and creamy), although (and to my disappointment), I forgot to add fresh basil to top the bolognese off. This is a must in my opinion – you just can’t beat the taste of fresh basil. I’d even have it on toast (with Nutella)!
Enjoy, and let me know what you think of the Nutella and basil on toast!
Warren.
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This post was written by Warren Nash on March 27, 2012 |
You’ve just got to love Lasagna! Well, I do, and my secret ingredient for this Lasagna Recipe is to add MILK into the bolognese. It’s great for making the sauce really creamy, and it really enhances the flavour.
And if you have any leftover, you can whip up a Spaghetti Bolognese Recipe the next day in minutes.
Enjoy,
Warren.
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This post was written by Warren Nash on March 15, 2012 |
I love really simple recipes, however, this Paella Recipe does require a little more thinking (boo) as I have discovered.
However… It’s worth it! The only extra thinking comes in when you’re cooking the rice. I find Paella is really nice if the rice is crisp, so it’s important not to cook it for a minute longer, otherwise it’s too late, which equals a soggy Paella Recipe!
I hope you enjoy it and please do leave a comment and subscribe to our YouTube Channel for more recipe updates.
Cheers,
Warren.
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This post was written by Warren Nash on March 7, 2012 |
So…
I’m not much of a baker, but I thought I’d give baking some cookies a go. However, under the instruction of Zac Young (of Top Chef Just Desserts), they can’t be any old cookie, and I need to ‘think outside the box’ to make them.
So I decided to combine my two favourite things – Nutella and Peanut Butter and make Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies (think of them as a Snickers cookie, without the Snickers)!
Now bearing in mind the recipe video we made for these was the third recording off the day, it was all going wrong from the start! Be that as it may, I somehow managed to bake some pretty tasty cookies, despite appearances (and it’s all documented)!
So I hope you enjoy the video below, and give them a go yourself – hopefully somewhat more successfully than me!
Enjoy,
Warren.
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This post was written by Warren Nash on February 22, 2012 |
Just a quick note to let everyone know that FitBrits.com has had a redesign and we hope you like it. Next on the agenda is to bring the same design to our Blog and YouTube Channel, so keep your eyes pealed.
You can now also subscribe to our newsletter from the homepage, all you have to do is fill in your email address to receive monthly recipes into your inbox.
We hope you like it.
Warren.
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This post was written by Warren Nash on February 15, 2012 |
I just want to say a massive thanks to Blake at CHOW.com for his feeback on my recipe video for Homemade Fish and Chips, as part of being on the YouTube Next Chef program.
You can check out his feedback in the video below. Simply fast forward to 02:20 and see what he’s got to say!
Thanks again Blake, and all the feedback has been noted!
Warren.
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This post was written by Warren Nash on January 31, 2012 |
