Carluccio's, Coffee and Ice Cream

The good news is that after many months, we finally found time to have a meal at Carluccio's.  It's an eatery we've been keen to try since reading about their Gluten Free menu.  The bad news is that we were so overcome by having such wonderful choice of food that we could order, we forgot to take pictures to show you.  However, by way of consolation, here's a pic of the wondrous menu....

Having studied the menu, we made our choices.  Sous Chef J went for pasta with a tomato and basil sauce, B chose pasta too and I had the risotto special (with asparagus).  When we placed the order we were told there'd be a wait of at least 15 minutes to allow the chef to cook the gluten free pasta which was fine with us. 

The food arrived on time.  Was admired and eaten with gusto.  Pasta dishes were declared yummy and I thought the risotto was excellent.

It was then time to move onto picking desserts.  Sous Chef J went for a vanilla ice cream, B chose panna cotta and I first opted for the chocolate fondant but, alas, it had sold out so went instead for Affogato with coffee.  This is what this blog post was inspired by!

Having seen the ice cream and coffee dessert at Carluccio's, Sous Chef J wondered if we could replicate it at home, so we gave it a try.  He gathered all the equipment needed.

Next, I added some vanilla ice cream to the latte glasses (nowhere near as  neatly as Carluccio's do!) whilst Sous Chef J brewed the coffee for us.

Then it was time to pour the coffee over the ice  cream and dive in.  We found these sundae straw/spoons very useful for getting to the bottom of the glass.

Here's a close up of the straw/spoon for those who fancy a look...

... and this is the view from the person eating/drinking the dessert!

Our first meal at Carluccio's was great.  We will be returning and will aim to take pics next time... although can't promise to.  I am keen to try the chocolate fondant and hope they haven't run out next time we're there.  We'll also spend more time looking round the shop as we liked the look of the HUGE meringues on sale.


This dessert could easily be made with Swedish Glace dairy free vanilla ice cream and we're sure it would be just as good as the one we made.

Strawberry Smoothie

 Today the sun has been shining and there have also been clouds.  Sous Chef J decided he needed a summery drink to 'get into summer' so decided to make a smoothie.

As is good practice, he gathered the ingredients (but forgot the orange juice in this pic) then set about preparing his Vitamin C packed drink of delight.

It's a simple to make concoction.  He puts all the ingredients into a container then whizzes them with the Braun Hand Blender (although, after seeing a Vitamix demo at last week's Good Food Show, he keeps telling me one of their blenders would be better!!)

Using a handful of hulled strawberries, juice of one orange and a whole ripe banana as a base he added a squirt of lemon, a squeeze of runny honey, a splodge of natural (home made) yoghurt and a dash of vanilla extract.

Then WHIZZZZZZZ.  Pour out into "suitable receptacles" and enjoy!

Simple Strawberry Meringues

As the weekend has been busy, we needed a quick pudding. Sous Chef J is a fan of meringues, so we grabbed the three 'ingredients' and made our speedy individual meringue cakes.

 What we used were some shop bought mini meringues, a few strawberries and a small amount of double cream.

 Sous Chef J hulled and sliced a few strawberries.

 He then whipped the cream.








Finally, two of the mini meringues were sandwiched together with a big blob of whipped cream, placed in a cake case and the sliced strawberries were placed on top.  You could use other fresh fruits such as slices of kiwi fruit, cherries or grapes... whatever takes your fancy.