A food journey through beautiful Sicily

I absolutely love Italian food, I am certain in a previous life I was Italian. I enjoy Italian cuisine mainly because the food does the talking, there is no elaborate tinkering, the freshness of the ingredients speak for themselves.

I love that Italians are so expressive, they have immense pride for their heritage and take joy in sharing that love.

When Nuffang and Zomato (your local guide of what's great to eat), invited me to an Italian cooking masterclass with renowned Chef Pietro D'Agostin, followed by a tasting menu I was already dreaming about the Italian food he would whip up.

The event was at Evoluzione, the beautiful airy restaurant in South Kensington's boutique Hotel Xenia, a 99 roomed boutique hotel in Kensington that opened last year. Now can we all marvel at how beautiful this hotel is...

The event was to preview and celebrate the launch of a new series of six 'Guest Chef Events', in which every six weeks guests will be able to share the tastes, traditions and talents from across Italy (North-South).

Guests will be taken on a wonderful journey through different Italian regions, tastes and traditions.

The unique creations and wonderful food combinations that chefs create will be available for one night only. So if you want to go, have a look at the end of the post to check out the chefs and available dates.

Our chef for the evening was the wonderful Pietro D'Agostino; known by many critics as an "imaginative interpreter of local cuisine". 

One of the reasons I personally liked his approach was the passion he clearly had for his cooking, using seasonal produce and being incredibly inventive with his dishes.

Once inside the hotel we were seated at a dedicated show-cooking station, I was lucky enough to sit next to the lovely Hannah from AdventureHan and the charming Hassanain, we had the perfect view for watching the comings and goings from the kitchen.

First up we were presented with fresh bread and the best olive oil I think I have yet to try Frantoi Cutrera.

Now you may well be thinking come on Lucy it is only olive oil, but that is were you would be wrong, one taste of this and I was transported to Sicilian rolling hill tops. This olive oil tastes of nature and is a great accompaniment to bread. 

Our starter was Noodles Scallops, beautifully presented by resident Chef Andrea Angeletti. The perfect mouthful of the sea.

Followed by King Prawns (onion salad, orange and almond sauce) presented by Chef Pietro D'Agostino.

For me this was the highlight of the entire meal. The onion, orange sauce and prawns was a perfect combination. A taste explosion of summer.

Next up was by Pietro too, Blac Cod (potatoes, lettuce, capers marinated in Masala Wine)

This was lovely and helped to cleanse the palate. The ingredients had a great balance and the capers were a lovely addition.

Each course was served with a beautiful Italian wine.

The next dish was entitled 'Just Pasta', but I am not sure that can ever be true; it was sea food ravioli, capers, Sicilian wild fennel and pistachio from Bronte by Andrea.

Both Hannah and myself at this point were rather full and the thought of a further dish and two desserts did leave us wondering where on earth we were going to put it all.

But ever the professional foodie somehow I found space.

The Turbot, artichoke, calamari and roasted aubergine was a great main dish to finish on. I am not sure what the calamari was coated in but it melted in the mouth. The roasted aubergine sauce was delicious.

I am definitely going to try and replicate the roasted aubergine sauce at home, it would be a perfect accompaniment with chicken.

What followed were two wonderful desserts by Pastry Chef Manuele Francesco.

The Almond mouse was perfect and light. The banana and raspberry dessert was gooey and moist, the sauce gave the perfect tartness.

The perfect way to end a wonderful evening is with more chatter and delicious chocolates.

I am really not sure how the four hours went by so quickly but I felt like I had been on a wonderful journey through Sicily with friends. 

I had a truly wonderful evening and I really cannot recommend Evoluzione Restaurant enough, I have eaten in lots of Italian restaurants in London and this scores incredibly highly.  

From £65 per person; you can't go wrong, you get a welcome aperitif, a dedicated show-cooking and a wonderfully authentic chef meal.

The next Guest Chef event at Hotel Xenia is on Tuesday 21st April 2015. To see other dates check out below.

Hotel Xenia translates to hospitality and it is certainly true, I will definitely be going back. Banish the soulless London hotel stays and book yourself a luxury stay at Hotel Xenia to create the perfect weekend break.

Future Guest Chef Events:

21st April Mario Demuro Basilicata                                            

26th May Teresa Buongiorno Puglia                                                   

24th June Luca Collami  Liguria                                                

14th July Andrea Incerti Emilia- Romagna                             

8th September Donato Episcopo Veneto                         

21st October Paolo Barrale Campania                                  

25th November Stefano Masanti Lombardia

www.hotelxenia.co.uk

Thank you very much to Hotel Xenia and Evoluzione restaurant for a wonderful meal. My meal was complimentary for the purposes of a review, but this is an honest and fair reflection of the wonderful restaurant and my meal. 

Start the morning the right way

Finding your serenity can sometimes be difficult, especially in the morning when your in a rush. Small things can make a huge difference. 

About a year ago I swapped out my normal alarm for a Lumie Bodyclock, it was a brilliant decision. The clock mimics dawn and gradually wakes you up by stimulating cortisol and reducing melatonin. 

How many of you press the snooze on the alarm or worse still bounce your alarm clock around the room? 

Well the Lumie could be your answer, the clock has definitely boosted my energy and I now wake up ready to get out of bed, rather than a groggy, can I have ten more minutes and snooze the alarm. If you haven't seen the alarm in action have a look at this film. 

It is also great for treating seasonal affective disorder (SAD). 

In the morning I have fifteen minutes to be washed, dressed and out of the house and whilst I would like a nice bath it's just not practical. So a shower for me is a means to an ends, getting clean and getting out. 

Smells can really help to transform your mood and I have been loving The Body Shop shower gels, not only do they smell divine they wake me up as well.

Favourites have to be Pink Grapefruit (£4), Moringa (£4) and Early-Harvest Raspberry (£4). The shower gels all smell divine and do wonders for my skin. I absolutely love the raspberry, but it's so popular that finding it in the shops is always a challenge. When I do find it, I always stock up. The best bit of all is the wonderful aromas last all day on your skin. 

A good day always has a good ending and as you know my day always ends with a bath. I have a huge stockpile of Lush. Some favourites of the moment:

Karma Bubble Bar (£3.25): Smells divine it has a wonderful orange fragrance. I like to split the bar into two so that it goes further.  

Dragon's Egg (£3.35): A kaleidoscope of colours unwinds as this melts. It smells of lemon sherbet and Jasmine, perfect for unwinding after a hard day.  

The Comforter Bubble Bar £4.75: With this I love to lock myself in the bath with candles and the lights out. It smells of cassis and blackcurrant and creates a wonderful pink bath to relax and unwind in. 

Ultraviolet £4.75: For any of you reading this that dislike Lush, because it is to sweet in smell, ultraviolet is for you. The smell is more woody with a hint of spice and it makes a wonderful purple bath. 

But by far my absolute favourite of all Lush products has to be Twilight Bath Bomb £3.35. I love how long it takes to melt away in the bath and the smell of lavender and Ylang Ylang oil. It also creates a more creamy bath than the other Lush bath bombs. 

How do you find your serenity to start the day and relax at the end of a long day? 

All good days have to end with a good nights sleep. If your having trouble drifting off read my sweet dreams post here.

Duck breast, sweet potato & butternut squash mash

Any vegetarians reading this post you might want to pop away and come back later. 

Duck breast is a favourite of mine, but limited often to eating in a restaurant. In the evening following work it is often late and the idea of cooking a big meal just is not that appealing. That said today I thought I would share a recipe that is delicious and very easy to do. 

For this recipe you will need the following:

It serves two as a main and can be made within 30 minutes maximum. 

So lets crack on, first preheat your oven to 200°C, Fan 180 °C and Gas Mark 6. 

1. Take your duck breasts, remove packaging.

2. Score the skin of the duck breasts,add salt and pepper to taste. 

3. Taking your butternut squash and sweet potato peel and chop into small pieces. Add to a saucepan with warm water and heat on a medium gas/setting for about fifteen minutes until you can skewer with a knife.

 4. Whilst the butternut squash and sweet potato are heating. Take your duck breasts, place skin side down in a cold pan to start with. It is very important that the frying pan is cold and that you gentle increase the heat to release the fat otherwise you will seal the fat in the meat. 

5. Gently increase the heat and cook the duck breasts for eight minutes, remove the excess fat as it is released. When the eight minutes are up turn over and gently seal the back of the duck breasts (1 minute max). 

6. Taking the duck breasts out of the frying pan, place on a oven proof tray, skin side up and place in the oven. Now how long to cook your duck breast is all down to personal taste. I personally like my duck breast slightly pink so I cook ours for 13 minutes.

But if you like your duck rare cook for 8-10 minutes, medium 10 -15 minutes and well done 15 -20 minutes.   

7. Whilst the duck breast is cooking add your cabbage to a pan with cold water, do not put on just yet. Add heat when there is six minutes left of cooking time on the duck breast. 

8. Drain the butternut squash and sweet potato. 

Add the butternut squash and potato back to the saucepan, add small amount of milk and butter and mash. 

9.When cooking time on the duck is complete remove the duck rest and cut into 5mm slices. 

10. Drain the cabbage and plate the sweet potato, butternut squash mash and duck. 

All that is left, is to sit down with good company and devour. Of course someone else needs to do the washing up after all that hard work. 

If you have more time you can also make a red wine and redcurrant juice to add to the duck breast.  

What is your favourite accompaniment to duck? What would you like me to cook next?

The perfect cup of tea

Some stereotypes are true whether we like it or not. The British love to queue, talk about the weather and we British love our teas. 

When travelling abroad, tea is the one thing I seriously really miss. Yes it might be sad, but nothing beats a nice cup of tea to help me relax. My favourite is Earl Grey and controversially, I prefer mine with milk. 

Recently I have been enjoying experimenting with mixing loose teas. Try Twinings Earl Grey and Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Darjeeling to create the perfect refreshing blend.  

I've been using this little man to brew my loose tea. Best of all he doesn't give back chat. He is great for at work; if you can get over the fact that he looks up at you smiling after having a little accident.

The only problem with loose tea is that it's not that portable, that was until I found the Libre travel tea glass infuser (£20). 

The Libre keeps my tea nice and hot whilst on the go and best of all magically, the outside doesn't get too hot to handle. 

You have two choices when making your tea: you can place the loose leaf at the top on the filter or add it to the water and drink through the filter. 

If adding your tea to the filter at the top, you have to turn the glass infuser upside down so that the tea can steeper.

Here's the Libre in action...

There are times when I have problems sleeping. So at night time I have reduced my caffeine drinking altogether and have opted for herbal teas instead. 

For years I have used Pukka Aloe Vera juice, so when I was looking for a herbal tea to drink at night I thought I would give their teas a go. For those of you with intolerances they are dairy, wheat and nut free.

Favourites from the Pukka organic tea range so far have been womankind, night time, as well as lemon and madarin.   

Womankind (Rose, cranberry and vanilla), lemon and mandarin are perfect accompaniment for drinking in the early evening. 

Pukka night time tea (oat flower, lavender and lime flower and Valerian) is the perfect pre-sleep drink. If you haven't read my earlier sweet dreams post on getting a good nights sleep have a read here.

I am looking forward to trying some more teas in their range.  

What are your favourite tea creations? Do you drink herbal teas at night to help you off to sleep?