My Secret Chef Menu

Main

Serves 4-6
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1hr 45

Ingredients
2-3 tbsp olive oil
750g shoulder of lamb, chopped into 4cm cubes
3-4 tbsp flour
1 heaped tbsp tomato puree
2 small onions, peeled and roughly chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 large potatoes, cut into 2cm cubes
500ml boiling water
1 chicken stock cube
1 beef stock cube
½ tsp ground pepper
225g self-raising flour
115g beef or vegetable suet
2 pinches salt
1 medium egg
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
2 tbsp mint sauce
a little cold water

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°/gas 4.
2. Heat the oil in a 25cm x 12cm deep saucepan then add the lamb. Brown really well (this will take a few minutes) then remove from the heat.
3. Add the flour and tomato puree to soak up any excess fat from the meat.
4. Next add the vegetables and stir well, then add the boiling water and sprinkle in the stock cubes.
5. Add a little pepper and bring back to the simmer.
6. Put the lid on, place into the preheated oven and cook for one hour.
7. Meanwhile make up the dumplings by mixing together the flour, suet, salt, fresh mint, mint sauce and a little cold water. Finally, add the egg and mix to a soft dough, adding a little more water if required
8. Roll into walnut-sized pieces.
9. At the one-hour mark, remove the lid carefully, and add the dumplings.
10. Leave to cook uncovered for a further 45-50 minutes then serve with creamy mashed potatoes and peas

Pudding

Serves 6
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
50g butter
75g caster sugar
170g condensed milk
4 large eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp coffee powder, dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water
75g plain flour
350g dark chocolate, melted

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6.
2. Place a large baking sheet into the oven.
3. Grease and base line six 150ml Dariole moulds or pudding basins.
4. Cream the butter and sugar together using an electric hand whisk until pale and creamy.
5. Gradually whisk in the condensed milk.
6. Gently whisk in the eggs, a little at a time, then the vanilla and coffee mixture.
7. Add the melted chocolate and mix thoroughly, then add the flour and whisk until smooth.
8. Divide mixture between the moulds and either store in the fridge until needed or place onto the hot baking tray in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes.
9. If cooked from chilled, bake for 12 minutes.
10. Unmould puddings immediately. I like to serve them with lightly whipped double cream and or vanilla ice cream.

Max's First Day at Pre School

We arrived & he was a little bit shy but the nursery nurse was really good & got him to join in.
He loved playing with all the toys! Then they all sat on the carpet & played a number game where they were each given a sticker with a number on it & when the nursery teacher wrote their number on the board, they had to stand up. They all really enjoyed it & didnt realise they were actually learning! They they played a matching game where they had to match the numbers to a board.
Then they played some more. Max loved their kitchen set more than anything else! Then he done some cutting & sticking.
Then they had a snack of fruit & water before returning to the carpet for one last number game & a song.
We walked home with one of the other children who lives in the block opposite to us. Max loved it! Will definitely do it every week!

DisneyLand Paris

 Make a cuppa.... this is probably going to be a looong story!
Well on Saturday night i tried to get a few hours sleep as i knew it would be a long drive but i just couldnt get to sleep as i wasnt tired. So midnight came & we took the kids down to the car & they fully woke up. I expected them to fall back asleep on the drive to Dover but they were both full of beans with Max getting all excited that we were going on a "big boat".
It took about an hour & a half to get to Dover. When we got on the ferry, i was hoping that the boys would at least nap so that i could too but no such luck!
We were on the ferry for about an hour and 20 minutes and we got to Calais.
I found the drive ok actually. I thought that i'd be a bit panicky as it's all the wrong way round with them driving on the right but it was ok.
About half way through the journey i was starting to get a bit tired so we pulled into the services for a little break. We started back out after about half hour and finally reached Davy Crockett's ranch (our hotel) at about 10am their time. :sleep: I was knackered!! The kids however can function perfectly fine with no sleep!
As i went to book us into the hotel, Goofy was in the reception, just wandering round so after i had done all the boring stuff, i went & got Max. I told him that i had a friend i wanted him to meet. He walked in & saw Goofy & his little face lit up! His eyes nearly popped out of his head! Bless him! He was saying, "Mummy, look! It's Goofy!" and as the reception was empty except for us, he could spend as long as he wanted with goofy. He loved it!
Then we drove to the Disney Village because we couldnt get our keys until 3pm so we thought we'd get some food.
We ended up just having McDonalds and spending some time in the shop before heading back.
When we got back to the hotel, we got our key & found our room. It was a little log cabin. It was so cute! We had two bedrooms, toilet, shower room, front room, kitchen area, en suite in our room and a little decking area with a table & chairs.

We put the kids down for a nap but they werent having any of it so we went to the swimming pool. We had a lovely time and discovered that Alfie has no fear! He was swimming with his armbands on, going under the water and all sorts.... Max on the other hand was a scarey cat as usual!
After that, we went to the farm (they had a mini farm at the hotel too which was nice!) and then to the little supermarket to buy some bits for dinner.
The only English channel on the telly was one of the Disney channels so we didnt watch telly in the evening. We had radio 1 on the tv so we listened to that instead.
After dinner, the kids were knackered so they went to bed, and then i hit the hay too. It was about 7.30pm so i'd been awake for 36 hours straight with all that driving!
In the morning, we were all awake about 8am, had some breakfast & headed off to Disneyland. 

We started off by going on a few rides. Max loved the Buzz Lightyear ride!
Then we went back to Main Street and saw the mini parade where the characters come & meet you. Alfie decided this was the perfect time to nap so missed it all but Max met Baloo, Pluto, Rafiki, Mr Smee, Captain Hook, Tigger, Eeyore, Timon & Friar tuck.
After that, we headed to another land and went on some more rides. We decided then that we'd go to the Disney Studios but en route, got distracted by Mickey Mouse so queued up to meet him. Alfie was waving like mad while we were waiting! When it was our turn, Max rushed up with his autograph book then we got some lovely pics.
After that, we headed to Disney Studios, had some lunch, went on some more rides then met MINNIE MOUSE!! Again Alfie fell asleep! I think i was more excited than Max though. I love Minnie Mouse! Max got all embarrassed that Minnie kissed him!

We then headed back to the main park & went on even more rides. Max's favourite was dumbo! He couldnt get over how high up we were!
Alfie's favorite was Small world! He sped the whole time dancing & giggling!

We were reaching 8pm by this time & the park was due to close so we headed out. We bought two photos; one of all four of us & mickey and another of Max & Mickey.
We went back to Disney Village and said that the boys could have one thing each from the shop. Max then fell asleep! Alfie decided that he wanted Woody & we picked Buzz for Max. Everytime we went into any of the shops, he headed straight to Buzz so we knew he's love it!
Back into the car and we headed for Calais again.

Our ferry was suppose to be 1.50am but we had to be there an hour before so when we arrived early (12.20) we was told that our ferry had been delayed by fog for 15minutes which didnt matter but when we got to the docking bit, we had to get straight on the boat & it set sail at 12.45am! So it was a bloody good job we were early! Can you imagine if we got there at 12.50 & the ferry had left?! Still not sure why it left so early?

Anyways, the kids were awake the whole time on the ferry again & full of beans!
I decided to give Max his Buzz at this point & his little face was a picture! He was so happy! He couldnt stop saying "thank you!" Awww!
We got back to Dover & then finally arrived home at am our time. It was a loooong weekend but so worth it!!

Secret Chef

I had a really good day it was such a laugh!
I got to my dads house at about 10 and the producer was arriving at the same time as me (she was early!) and she gave me a briefing to what to expect.
Then at about 10.30 the camera men, sound guy & food economist arrived.
They miked me up & shot some opening bits & an interview. Then at about 12, they all except one camera man (Wayne) disappeared outside and i was told not to look out the window. They filmed the chef arriving and all that but i still wasnt able to know who it was...
They Lindsey (producer) came in and explained how to open the front door when the chef knocked (because that is such a hard thing to do! ) and then the chef knocked....
I opened the door exactly how i was told to & saw Phil Vickery! I had mixed feelings tbh... I was a bit gutted it wasnt gino but well excited it was Phil as he's quality!
He came in and then we had to retake it about 5 times from different angles!! LONG!!
After all that, Phil was chatting to me because he could see i was nervous and he's so down to Earth & normal! You'd think that someone on telly would be a bit up themselves but he wasnt at all!
He talked me through what we'd be making and was asking about past cooking experiences so he could touch on them whilst filming.
I done alot more of the actual cooking that i thought i would! I cut the lamb up, then peeled and chopped carrots and potatoes. We needed onions but Julia (food economist and aka Mary Poppins to me as she was amazing!) chopped all those.
I had to mix in all the ingredients into the casserole pot with Phil telling me how to do it all...
As i was mixing, the handles got hot so he gave me a tea towel to hold it with... Didnt think anything of it, was mixing away and all of a sudden the bloody tea towel started to burn! I was soooo embarrassed! So that was an on going joke throughout filming after that!
After the casserole was done, we started making hot goey chocolate fondant and we did it as a competition. I made 4 and Phil made 2... We'd serve 2 of mine & 2 of his and see which they liked better!
After making those, we put them in the fridge and stopped filming for a while. I expected Phil to keep himself to himself but he was sitting chatting with us all. They were all slating Jason Gardener! They were saying how he's a complete in real life as well as on camera! He asked someone to get him a drink whilst filming one day and when they asked him what he wanted he really put them down and said that he'd already stated he wanted a drink so they should be getting on with getting it rather than speaking to him. So the person went to buy a bottle of water, you cant go wrong with a bottle of water right... came back & Jason said "What is this? I don't do cold water! I only do room temperature! This wont do! Get another!" and sent the person off to get another. Apparently he was really rude!
They were also talking about some of the other celebrity chefs and saying how they are up their own arse! They came out with all these stories but didnt name any names Then Phil needed something from his bag & Lindsey said that it was upstairs & she'd get it and Phil was like "Don't be silly, i've got legs! I can get it myself! I'm Phil not Gino!"
Anyways, when it was time to make the dumplings, he helped me make those and then it was nearly time for Dru, dad & Nicole to arrive so Mary Poppins cleaned up and Phil laid the table.
He was talking to me about my guests. Bless him, he was worried they wouldnt recognise him! I felt like saying, DUH you're Phil Vickery! People know you! But he was worried because he wasn't one of the "popular" chefs! I would of thought he was one of the popular ones. Obviously Gino is probably housewife's favourite but Phil's gotta be up there too?
Anyways, Nicole & Dad arrived first & they filmed them arriving etc... then dru.
They meal went really well! They all loved it! It actually tasted really nice! Phil was upstairs watching on the monitor in dad's room. Dru was asking me what was in the casserole & how i made it & Phil was well impressed that i remembered everything!
When it was nearly finished, i had to go & cook the puddings. They turned out amazing too!
When i asked which pudding was better, i didnt say which was mine or whatever but mine turned out better!
After the meal, i had to say that i had help from Phil & he came down stairs & had a chat with everyone.
After we finished filming, he stayed for an extra half hour/hour off his own back chatting to us all.
It couldnt of gone better (except for maybe the tea towel!).
It's going to be aired on 17th March (so next Thursday!!). They are going to send me the dvd once it has been shown so that'll be nice to keep! It'll be on their website too!