MATTY'S BEST CHEESY TOAST

So Christmas is over for another year. Hasn't it just flown by? Did you have a nice time over the festive holidays? I did but once again I've eaten far too much. After all those sweets, chocolate and the massive mountains of cheese, ham and turkey you would think there wouldn't be any room left for anything else but come lunchtime today I had a right craving for some proper lush cheese on toast. What happened next? Well it just so happened that I made the best cheese on toast ever, so good in fact that I knew I had to share the recipe with you as soon as I could. Well, Christmas is all about giving isn't it! 

MATTYB'S GREAT BRITISH CHRISTMAS CAKE

It's Christmas Eve ladies and gentleman! You know what that means; it's time to ice your Christmas cake ready for the big day tomorrow. When I said I was preparing my cake in October a couple of guys in work looked at me like I was crazy but if you make your cake early and then soak it with the booze of your choice once a week until the 25th, you'll have a fantastically boozy fruity treat to serve as part of your Christmas spread and if you're anything like us, enough leftover to last till new year! Marzipan, icing and apricot jam at the ready? Lets go!

MATTY'S HOMEMADE MINCE PIES

So you have made your homemade mincemeat  and it's been brewing away for a while so now, in the last few days before Christmas it's time to make those mince pies. Obviously if you haven't made your own mince meat you can use a ready made variety but for me, making your own pastry, filling it with your own mince meat and baking them so that your kitchen is filled with those incredible festive smells is what Christmas is all about! My recipe below will make 8 mince pies but you can scale the recipe up if you want to make a bigger batch.

THE DELAUNAY LONDON (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Let me get straight to the point with this one and tell you that I think The Delaunay is a brilliant restaurant. A proper fancy dining experience that we have visited two Christmas times running now as a post theatre treat and hopefully, fingers crossed we'll be back for a third time next year. Let me take the time now to tell you all about why I think The Delaunay is so special and why you need to visit them the next time you are in the capital.

FLAT IRON SQUARE LONDON (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

This is a recommendation that's a bit outside the norm now as its not so much a restaurant that I'm writing about but more a foodie venue. We strolled past the Flat Iron Square on Union Street in the Southwalk area of London last weekend and it was packed full of people drinking and generally having a good time. Intrigued as to what was going on we gave it a quick google and found out that as well as hosting weekly flea markets, many small vendors sell their foodie wares here as well. Looking for somewhere to lunch the next day, we decided to stroll over and see what was on offer.

CHAMPOR CHAMPOR LONDON (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Nestled away under the shadow of the Shard is Champor Champor. Much like the time we visited Grafene in Manchester, we had no idea how we found out about this Thai-Malay restaurant but we had bookmarked it for a visit next time we were staying in Southwalk. That time was this weekend so with a reservation made for 9pm, off we trotted! The entrance to Champor Champor is very unassuming but once you walk through the door you are instantly transported to the east. An array of Malaysian/Thai inspirations decorated the red walls; Buddhas, masks and even the cow that acts as their emblem was brought to life right above us.

FRNZY AMSTERDAM (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Last weekend we went to the beautiful city of Amsterdam. It was my first time in the Dutch capital and I was surprised by the amount of South Asian restaurants that were knocking about. One day whilst exploring the area of De Pijp, close to the Heineken Experience south of the city, we stumbled across Frnzy, a Vietnamese street food restaurant nestled down one of the more quieter side streets. A quick glance of the street food style menu and we decided to give them a whirl.

LION AND LOBSTER BRIGHTON (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

When Sunday rolls around and you can't be bothered to cook there is only one thing left to do; head on over to the local pub and get that Sunday roast cooked for you instead. When we discovered that The Lion And Lobster was just a stones throw from our hotel and was indeed serving this traditional British feast we just knew that we had to go and check them out. Painted bright red, Lion and Lobster's quirky exterior is hard to miss. With its traditional cartoon pub sign it really couldn't get any more quintessentially British. Stepping though the door is like stepping back to a time when the pub landlord was king and everyone came down for a sing song and a gossip down at the local boozer.

THE CHILLI PICKLE BRIGHTON (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Sometimes when your googling a city to find out the best places to eat you'll get the same places popping up time and time again. "Award winning" you will hear or "best in the city" but it's when even friends start telling you about somewhere that you start thinking that this place could be particularly special. That is what happened with The Chilli Pickle in Brighton, we kept hearing such amazing things that we knew we had to give them a visit.

LUCKY BEACH BRIGHTON (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

You can't really visit a British seaside resort without taking a stroll along the prom and treating yourself to a portion of battered fish, chips and mushy peas. During our recent weekend break to glorious Brighton and having walked a gazillion miles hunting the brilliant Brighton Snow Dogs we decided to take a little break to enjoy a lunchtime nibble. The arches under the prom that line the seafront is home to  Lucky Beach and as we strolled past we couldn't help but be enticed in by their tasty looking menu.

THE NEW CLUB BRIGHTON (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Sometimes when you're visiting a new city you might spend ages researching places to eat, getting

recommendations from friends and family or trawling the internet looking at reviews and pictures on Instagram. Sometimes though you should just wait until you get there and you never know what you might stumble across. That is what happened with The New Club, which we walked past on our way to our hotel in Brighton. It looked nice inside and the menu sounded delicious so we decided to walk back in the evening and give it a shot.

LULLY LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE

So I realized on Sunday just gone that this would be the last weekend of the year we are actually going to be spending at home until the actual Christmas weekend (we are very busy people don't you know!). I couldn't let this weekend pass me by without baking a little something before we head off on our various travels. At the same time, I didn't want to spend all day in the kitchen so for me, there was only one cake to bake; the simply classic lemon drizzle loaf cake! Well as I always say, the oldies are the best aren't they?

GRAFENE MANCHESTER (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Why we booked a table at Grafene earlier this month is still a mystery to us? Not in a bad way you understand but its just we can't remember where or how we discovered it! Having booked said table weeks in advance for a pre-theatre dinner we ventured up to King Street in the Deansgate area of Manchester city centre on quite a wet and windy Friday evening to see if there was method to our apparent madness.

MATTY'S RED HOT XMAS ONIONS

You can't have Christmas without a good old cheese board and you can't have a cheese board without a pickled onion or two. Making your own batch of plump pickled onions is so easy to do and also makes a great gift to hand out to friends and family as part of a homemade Christmas hamper. Take a slow, stress free day to prepare these bad boys, packed full of chili and other spices to really give them a kick. These little globes of pickled goodness are so much more delicious than any version you can buy in a supermarket.

CROSBY COFFEE'S MOCHA BROWNIES (AS FEATURED IN THE LIVERPOOL COOK BOOK)

Having been blessed to be given the opportunity to give away a copy of the brilliant Liverpool Cook Book produced by Meze Publishing, I have also been granted permission to share one of the books fabulous recipes with you in the hope that it will inspire you to head out and purchase a copy of the book for yourself. The first recipe to instantly jumped out at me from the pages was Crosby Coffee's mocha brownies. Not only did they look divine in the book but I can confirm upon making them that they taste equally as delicious!

EASY PEASY CHEESY VEG PASTA

On a horrible rainy week like the one we are having in Liverpool at the moment, sometimes all you want when you get in from work is a big plate of cheesy pasta. This doesn't have to be at the expense of your waistline though. By using a low fat cream cheese you can make a low calorie version that doesn't have to scrimp on flavor with the addition of chili and garlic to keep those taste buds dancing. Finish with some veg and a grating of parmesan and you can have this dish on the table in less than 30 minutes.

THE RETURN OF THE RAVISHING RED ONION RELISH

I've whipped out another classic Christmas chutney recipe for you now with the return of my deliciously sticky and sweet caramelized red onion chutney. It's makes an amazing foodie gift to give to your friends and family. One thing to remember is that this onion relish is for life not just for a Christmas so keep some for yourself to spread on bacon butties or hot dogs throughout the whole year. This recipe will give you 1.5 litres worth of the gooey good stuff, just make sure you have the patience to let it brew for 1 month before digging in.

WIN A COPY OF THE LIVERPOOL COOKBOOK

 Released on October 20th, The Liverpool Cook Book brings together the very best of the city’s burgeoning food and drink scene; from a fantastic array of independent restaurants, to cafés, pubs, delis, producers and suppliers. The book is the 16th in the series of regional ‘Get Stuck In’ guides by Meze Publishing, who were recently crowned Best Newcomer at the Independent Publishing Awards and I'm very excited to be able to offer you all chance to win your very own copy of this fabulous book:

LULLY LEMON, MINT & MUSTARD GREENS

I've been getting more adventurous with my flavorings recently and this Sunday I decided that I would try using some lemons to flavor my vegetables. No biggy you might think but I've always had a bit of an aversion to using lemons in savory dishes after a bad lemon chicken incident in a restaurant once. I'm glad that I gave it another go at home though as the lemon, mint and mustard dressing that I mix through this selection green beans, leeks and peas really does give the greens a lully little lift.

LULLY LULLY CHICKPEA CURRY

If you are not a fan of spending time in the kitchen then you probably have herbs and spices in your pantry that you bought yonks ago that are now sitting unloved in your cupboard. Set your spices free people! A curry made from scratch is so much more fragrant and tasty than a jar from the supermarket and is a great way to use up all those odds and ends. Once you've made your spice mix, all you need to make this curry is some fresh vegetables, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and chickpeas (of course!) and you are onto a winner.