It’s Saturday and it’s time to get the party started. Although summer is pretty much at an end season wise, it’s actually the ideal time time to get outside. Plus with the sun beating down in the late 20s it sure as hell feels like summer, thus the summer sangria was born. I am usually a red sangria drinker myself, but was in the mood for something blanco this time. I’ve been drinking it for 5 days straight over Chuseok so it must be pretty damn good, that or I’m just not that fussy when drunk. The lovely people at Berentzen  sent me over a bottle of their apple liquor as thanks for creating a few cocktails with the blackcurrant one. There’s only one thing I love more than booze and that’s free booze, so I used it to jazz up this classic drink. It really hits the spot and goes down a storm. Add any fruit you like, I just used what I had. Happy drinking!

Ingredients

1 bottle of Prosecco (or and sweet sparkling white wine)

100mls of Berentzen apple

300mls of Sprite

1 orange

A handful of blueberries

A handful of strawberries

Ice to serve

Directions

1. Slice your orange and add the fruit to your jug.

2. Add the Berentzen and Prosecco.

3. Top up with ice and Sprite and give it a good old stir. Drink and enjoy. Repeat steps 2-3 until you run out of wine or you fall over. For me it’s generally falling over, I’d never be foolish enough to let myself run out of wine!

My ice-cream obsession now plagues my every waking hour, so I thought it was about high time I made my own. Pralines & Cream is my absolute favourite flavour of Haagen Dazs and it’s impossible to get in Korea. So it seemed as good as place as any to start. The ice-cream itself its stupidly easy to make, whipping and mixing  and that’s it. You can keep it as straight vanilla or add whatever flavours you like to jazz it up. I went for my lovely pralines mixed with a caramel sauce. It was divinity itself maybe even better than the Haagen Dazs version. I can see a Fat Girl ice-cream range in my near future!

Ingredients

600ml of cream

200g of condensed milk

2 tablespoons of vanilla extract

Pralines

200g of pecans

200g of light brown sugar

100g of butter

4 tablespoons of milk

A pinch of salt

Toffee sauce

4 tablespoons of butter

10 tablespoons of light brown sugar

200ml of full fat milk or cream

Directions

1. To make the ice cream, put your cream, condensed milk, and vanilla extract in bowl and whisk until it becomes thick. It should be very thick, stop just before it starts to turn. It’s much easier to do this if you have an electric whisk. Once it’s nice and thick put it into a seal-able container and pop it in the freezer until it sets(usually 4-8 hours). It’s so easy, right? If you only want plain vanilla you can just eat it as it is.

2. To make the pralines, melt the butter in a saucepan on a low heat, then stir in the sugar. Once the sugar has melted a little stir in the milk. Let it cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens and starts to turn golden brown. Add the pecans to the sauce and stir to make sure they are coated and cook for a further minute. Turn off the heat and spoon out the pralines onto grease-proof paper, allow to cool. Then pop them in the refrigerator to set for a few hours. Once they have set, you can bash them into pieces using something heavy.

3. To make the toffee sauce put the sugar and butter in a saucepan and heat on low. Once the butter has melted and starts to combine with the sugar, add in the milk or cream. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes, until you have a thick golden brown  toffee sauce. Allow to cool before adding to the ice cream along with your pralines. Voilà easy homemade ice cream!

I generally like to save my cocktail shares for the weekend, but today has just been one of those days and I plan to hit the the bottle the moment I get home from work. I’d be more than happy to get on it before work if only human decency would allow me to indulge in teaching while drunk. So for the moment I choose coffee, but later I shall choose Berentzen.

Berentzen recently celebrated their 1st Birthday in Korea, and to celebrate ran a competition to give away a bottle of each of their fab flavours of liqueur. And would you believe it, I only went and won the blackcurrant one. I have never won a thing in my life (except the pub quiz), so to win some free blackcurrant flavoured booze was tremendous. I’ve been a lover of all things blackcurrant since I had my first sip of Ribena as a child. So using my lovely free booze I made these two cocktails, because lets face it one is never enough.

My first libation is called the Naughty Ribena, an alcoholic and adult friendly version of British kids favourite blackcurrant squash. I was inspired to make this after having a chat with Charlie, the owner and resident mixologist of Battered Sole, who told me he plans to put a Dirty Ribena on the menu of their new British Gastropub restaurant. It hasn’t quite made its way onto the menu yet, so I figured I would have a go at making my own and it turned out perfectly.

Ingredients

4 shots of Berentzen blackcurrant

2 shots of vodka

4- 6 shots of sparkling water

A wedge of lemon

Directions

Pour the vodka and Berentzen blackcurrant into your glass and top with the sparkling water. Squeeze in the juice of a wedge of lemon then stir and serve over ice.

The second cocktail I made was a good old rum punch. Now the sun is shining I just can’t get enough of this fruity rum delight. This one makes a whole jug-full, so you can share with your friends, or if you’re a lush like me just drink it alone. This one is kind of boozy so feel free to add more juice if you need to. Ah punch, the answer to all of life’s problems.

Ingredients

4 shots of Berentzen blackcurrant

4 shots of dark rum (I used Captain Morgan)

2 shots of Malibu

12 shots Pineapple juice

Fruit & ice to garnish (strawberries, orange, and lemon)

Directions 

Pour all the alcohol and juice  into a large jar or  glass. Give it a good mix then top with ice and sliced fruit. Voila two amazing cocktails to see you through the summer season. Happy Birthday Berentzen!

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. There is nothing better on a hot day than a cool tangy glass of lemonade. But I refuse to buy the ever so popular blue lemonade that is sold on the streets of Korea. I don’t know why but it really annoys me for some reason, what’s wrong with yellow I ask you? However a life without lemonade is not worth living, so I figured it was about time I made my own, sans food coloring.

Ingredients

2 cups of sugar

2 cups of water

7 lemons juiced and zested

1 lemon cut up for decoration

A few sprigs of mint

Directions

1. Zest and juice 7 of the lemons into separate bowls.  In a saucepan put the sugar, water, and zest and bring to the boil on a low heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. As soon as it starts to boil you can turn off the heat.

2. Mix the lemon juice with the syrup and allow to cool. You can now strain the syrup if you want to remove the zest and store in a bottle in a fridge. It should keep for at least a week.

3. To make the lemonade, mix the syrup with water in equal ratios, although feel free to add more water if it’s too strong for you. Serve over ice and garnish with slices of lemon and sprigs of mint.

4. For a twist you can make this fruity strawberry and watermelon version, which you can add rum or vodka to after a hard day at work. Blend a handful of strawberries and a wedge of watermelon with a shot of lemonade syrup and a shot of sparkling water (or vodka). Then serve over ice and enjoy. Voilà, Fat Girl’s traditional lemonade.

Since it’s Monday and the sun is shining it only felt right that I should kick off the week with a salad recipe. Eating healthy can be somewhat challenging for most of us when it’s just so easy to go and grab take away food for work lunches and dinners. A trip to the supermarket requires thought and planning, not a lot mind you so don’t let it put you off. Stock up for the week and even make your salads in advance on Sunday or Monday night. As long as they are in airtight containers and you hold off on the dressing they will stay stay fresh.

Being a seasoned salad eater myself, I’m always on the look out to make our salads that little bit nicer and include a few more ingredients we usually don’t eat. When I was first preparing this one in the morning The Fat Boyfriend seemed unsure, but I later received a text message telling me that the salad was amazing. So the pecan and mandarin salad is now a firm favorite. I made this one here with chicken, but I think it would be even better with some halloumi, feta, or goats cheese if you happen to have some. Just be sure to include plenty of pecans, I had forgotten how tasty they are. It’s easy to get a big bag on i-Herb.

Ingredients

1 chicken breast

A handful of mixed lettuce leaves

A handful of spinach

A small wedge of red cabbage

1/2 a cucumber

1 red pepper

1/2 an avocado

2 mandarins

5 strawberries

12 pecans

5 green onions

Directions 

1. If using a raw chicken breast, wrap in foil with a couple of pieces of garlic, and sprinkle on your favorite seasoning and cook in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool then thinly slice.

2.  Wash your lettuce and spinach leaves and leave to dry.

3. Finely slice the red pepper and the red cabbage. Then chop the cucumber and avocado. Slice the strawberries and mandarin and set aside.

4. When all ingredients are prepared toss together and top with finely slices spring onions. Drizzle with the dressing of your choice and rock your salad world!

This salad is like summer in a bowl and I can’t get enough of it. It’s just so fresh and tasty and makes your taste buds dance in your mouth. It’s insanely quick and easy and a great way to use some of that watermelon you have in the fridge. Is it just me or are they bigger than ever this year? It’s so good I  have made this salad three times in the last week, in fact I’m eating it right now as I type this post!!! I managed to get a block of real feta up at the foreign food mart in Itaewon for 7,500. Quite a bargain. I think it would also taste great with halloumi cheese too.

Ingredients

1/4 of a watermelon

100g of feta

1/2 a cucumber

10 cherry tomatoes

10-15 mint leaves.

Directions

Chop your water melon into chunks, halve the cherry tomatoes and dice the cucumber. Then put it all into a large bowl. Tear the mint leaves into pieces and add to the salad. Finally crumble in the feta cheese and mix everything together. Voilà the most refreshing salad you are ever likely to eat.

Yes I realize that it’s already the 5th of July, but what with the torrential rain and the fact that yesterday was a Thursday. I’m thinking that most patriotic celebrations have yet to happen. Tomorrow is forecast to be hot and sunny, so I am sure lots of you will be planning on a BBQ, no matter where you are from. If you are still in a dither about what dish to take, have a look at the recipes below, and avoid taking those packets of sad smoked sausages.

Meaty Moments

Here are just a few recipes for the carnivores. So load up on meat and slap it on those hoat coals.

BBQ Chicken

Pulled Pork

Chicken Wings

Lamb Burgers

Veggie Burgers

Sizzling Salads

Barbecues aren’t just about the meat, they are also about the side dishes. Here are a few of my favourite salads to keep the vegans, vegetarians and health conscious happy too.

Roast Vegetable Couscous

Mixed Bean Salad

Asian Stir fry Salad

Potato Salad

Panzanella

Delicous Dips

If meat and salad aren’t your cup of tea, why not whip up a dip. Those chips need to be dunked into something.

Hummus

Tasty Garlic Dip

Baba Ganoush

Spinach Hummus

Salsa

Delightful drinks

We all know that a BBQ is just an excuse to get drunk in the day, so if your cooking skills aren’t up to much, why not make a big pitcher of one of these cocktails to share.

Strawberry Lemonade

Sangria

Skittles Soju

June Bug

You may be well aware by now that we are big lamb lovers in our house. We just can’t get enough of that sheepy goodness. However, lamb options in Korea are sadly rather limited. So when I discovered a bag of New Zealand leg of lamb shavings in the Foreign food mart, I just had to have it. I would more or less describe them as lamb sam gyub sal. It cost about 10,000 for 1kg. I decided to make some home-made lamb gyros and they went down a storm. Quick and easy to make, a great dinner on a hot summers eve.

Ingredients

Gyros

500g of frozen lamb shavings

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of coriander

A pinch of chili powder (or as much as you like)

4 tortillas

1/2 a red onion

1 tomato

1 small handful of lettuce

1/2 a cucumber

Tzatziki

250g of plain yogurt

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

1/4 of a cucumber

1 clove of garlic

12 mint leaves

A small pinch of salt.

Directions

To make the tzatziki put the yogurt in a bowl, add the lemon juice and salt, and stir. Finely chop the mint leaves and cucumber and add to the yoghurt. Crush the garlic and  stir into the tzatziki. Leave for about 20 minutes to marinate.

Wash your salad leaves and slice the tomato, onion, and cucumber and set aside. In a dry frying pan, fry the lamb shavings for a minute or two before adding the cumin, coriander and chili powder. Fry until the lamb has cooked through. Warm the tortillas by cooking on each side for one minute in the frying pan.  When everything is ready, assemble and devour. Voilà homemade lamb gyros.

Summer is here, and things are hotting up. We all need to cool off and also make sure we are still getting our daily soju allowance. Enter the Soju Pop Cocktail. Recommended to me by one of my good friends this was too good for me not to share, even if I can’t really take much credit for it. It’s the perfect drink to refresh you on a hot Summer’s day when you’re sat outside your local convenience store. Choose your favourite ice-lolly ( I used a strawberry and apple 스그류), grab a bottle of cider and a bottle of Soju, and you’re ready to make delightful summer drink. If you are a classy kinda drunk like me, feel free to replace the soju with your favourite flavoured vodka.

Ingredients

300ml of lemonade/cider/sprite (UK/ROK/USA)

100ml of Soju (or vodka)

1 ice lolly (Popsicle)

Directions

Take one large glass, a 1 pint beer glass pilfered from your local bar works perfectly. Add the soju and top up with lemonade. Unwrap your chosen ice lolly and put it into your drink, and keep stirring until the ice lolly has melted off the stick. Drink and enjoy. Repeat if necessary. Voilà the Soju Pop Cocktail. Sweet Summer salvation.

Since it’s Monday I thought I would offer up one of my more healthy recipes. For me summer equals salad and this is the one I took for lunch today. I’m always trying to think of interesting ways to make my lunches different and this is one of my favourites. The tastiness of a Thai curry but in the form of a salad. Switch it up and swap the chicken for some shrimp or tofu and change the veg to whatever you have in your fridge. Stop eating the crap they give you at work or those 5,000 sandwiches from Paris Baguette and get up 10 minutes earlier and make yourself some sizzling salads for lunch. This recipe will make at least 4 portions and if you keep it in an air tight container and only add the dressing on the day you want to serve it, it should last 3-4 days. Bikini season is well and truly here, so I’ll try my best to bring you a couple more skinny recipes to get you through the summer season.

Ingredients

1 or 2 chicken breasts

1-2 tablespoons of green curry paste

200g of rice noodles

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1/3 of a cucumber

50g of red cabbage

2 handfuls of lettuce leaves

A handful of coriander (cilantro)

Dressing

10 tablespoons of coconut milk

2 tablespoons of lime juice

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

2 tablespoons of sweet chili sauce

1 tablespoon of sesame sauce

Directions

Marinate the chicken in the Thai green curry paste for about an hour, then fry it in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes on each side until it’s cooked through. Whilst the chicken is cooking, cook the noodles according to the directions then rinse in cold water and allow to cool. Cut the cucumber, peppers, and red cabbage into thin strips. To make the dressing, combine the coconut milk, lime juice, soy sauce, sweet chili and sesame seed oil in a bowl and mix togther. When the chicken is done, cut into thin strips too, and toss together with noodles, coriander and vegetables . Then drizzle with as much dressing as you like. Serve on top of a bed of salad leaves and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Voilà Thai green chicken salad.