ABOUT
Andrew James sell products to make your life in the home or in the garden easier. Read on for easy recipes, gorgeous pictures and fabulous inspiration.
We all love cocktails. Whether a traditional one or a cheeky mocktail - there’s something for everyone!
So strap in, and get ready for our favourite summer cocktails, and how you can make them at home!
Mojito
Let’s start with a classic. This tangy, minty cocktail is the perfect way to stay cool in the summer sun.
And making it couldn’t be easier.
Ingredients
2 parts white rum
½ fresh lime (cut into wedges)
10 mint leaves
2 tsp of caster sugar
Dash of soda water
Crushed ice
To Garnish: Sprig of Fresh Mint
Grab your cocktail shaker and chuck the lime wedges and sugar into the base and crush with the wooden muddler.
Bruise the mint leaves (easiest way is to place them in your hands and clap), then gently push them with the muddler into the lime juice.
Half fill your glass with the rum, and stir into the mix until the sugar dissolves.
Add your crushed ice and give it a good stir, and top with the soda water.
Split into glasses, or stick a straw into the glass and you’re good to go!
Limoncello Collins
Refreshingly different, this limoncello concoction is a delicious and tempting treat for your summer BBQ guests.
Using our Citrus Juicer you will be able to juice your way through as many lemons as possible, helping you to keep up with the demand for these amazing drinks!
Ingredients
16oz limoncello
12oz gin
8oz fresh lemon juice
24 paper–thin lemon slices
Ice
16 ounces chilled club soda
8 mint sprigs
Method
Grab a pitcher and place the limoncello, gin and lemon juice in it. Cover and allow to sit in the fridge for 2 hours (this helps the flavours develop).
Next, add the lemon slices, stir, and pour into your glasses, topped with ice.
Lovely.
Espresso Martini
Another classic cocktail! Never underestimate the power of a chilled coffee cocktail - its a wonderful pick-me-up (especially if you’ve been running around looking after everyone!)
Summer and BBQs go hand in hand don’t they? Now while our Electric BBQ can be used inside and out - being in a sunny garden just makes food taste better!
So read on for our top tips for hosting the best BBQ.
Top Tip 1: Cater for everyone
This might seem obvious - but if you’re going to throw a fantastic BBQ, you’re going to have to cater for everyone.
Usually this is self explanatory but how about we’re a little more inventive than the usual vegetarian options?
Which is why we’re loving these skewers - perfect for veggies and meat eaters alike!
Ingredients
2 Medium Courgettes
250g Low Fat Halloumi Cheese
2 Peppers
16 Cherry Tomatoes
Quorn Cumberland Sausage
Marinade Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
4 Tsp Lemon Juice
1 Tsp Lemon Pepper
3 Tsp Fresh Thyme
2 Tsp Dijon Mustard
Method
This recipe really couldn’t be easier! Simply chop everything up, then thread onto a skewer in any order you like.
Then, place your marinade ingredients into a bowl (or your hand blender beaker) and whiz them all up!
Brush the marinade over your skewers, and pop them in the fridge to let the flavours develop.
Pop them on the grill and cook, turning regularly.
Watch our video tutorial here:
Top Tip 2: Provide delicious refreshments
With the heat, eating, and laughing, your guests will need something delicious to cool them down.
Thanks to our brand new Deluxe Ice Crusher you can create slushes for the kids, cocktails for the grown ups, and even chill your drinks.
Choose between fine or coarse ice and let the crusher whiz it up! Once you have all the ice you need, scoop it into your glass and pour your drink over.
Or, add your cocktail mix the the jug (mojito works particularly well here), and let the crusher add the ice and stir it all up together!
You can also create refreshing snow cones for the kids - just add some fruit juice to the shaved ice, pop into a little cup and hey presto! Some very happy party guests.
Top Tip 3: Get more bang-er for your buck
We’re a nation who loves a good sausage. We’ve got dishes that revolve around them, and with so many varieties maybe it’s time to make your own?
With our recipe for Italian Chicken Sausage - you’ll be struggling to churn out enough to keep up with demand!
Ingredients
450g chicken with the skin on
50g sundried tomatoes
2tsp garlic
2tsp cumin
4tsp basil
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Right - here comes the fun bit.
Grab your meat grinder - if you don’t have one grab one here - and finely mince the chicken.
Next, chuck the chopped sun dried tomatoes, garlic, pepper, cumin, basil and salt and mix in and mix well.
Mince once more, then stick in the fridge for an hour to let the flavours meld.
Then, set up your grinder and place the sausage skins over one end, and tie off the other (slightly icky, yes).
Send the mixture through, tie them off and turn them into sausages - pop them on your grill and tuck in!
As part of our trifecta of amazing Easter recipes that will blow your mind, we’ve made the humble croissant even better.
‘Is that even possible?’, you whisper to yourself in hushed tones. But it is, and this is how you do it.
All you need are a few caramel eggs and a sheet of shop bought croissant pastry.
So to start, just roll out the pastry and cut it off into individual portions. Pop an egg into the middle and roll it wide end down towards the skinny end.
Next, take the pastry arms and fold them over each other and tuck them into the sides of the pastry.
Oven bake for 15 minutes at 190 degrees and the job’s a goodin!
Easter wouldn’t be complete without Hot Cross Buns, would it?
Every time those little delights appear on the shelves, you know it’s nearly Easter egg time!
But what would happen if they got an insane makeover, the likes the world has never seen before?
I can tell you, and it’s about to go down. Wrapping chocolate inside things has become a Bishop’s Kitchen specialty, and this is one of my favourites.
All it takes is a tiny amount of baking skill, four Creme Eggs and a bit of time (mainly to let the dough prove).
To begin this wonderful journey, mix together all the dry ingredients and rub in the butter.
Next, stir in the dried fruit and sprinkle the yeast over the top of it all. Set that aside and warm up some milk until lukewarm, beat it with an egg and pour it over the dry ingredients.
Mix all of this into a moist dough - you can use your hands, but be prepared for mess central. We used our lovely Food Mixer.
Once the dough has been created, cut it into four equal parts and leave it to prove for an hour. When it has doubled in size, wrap each piece around a Creme Egg.
Take the flour and water for the cross, mix them together, pop them in a piping bag and use it to apply a cross.
Preheat the oven to gas mark seven, and when the required temperature has been reached bake them for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
After the amazing success of our original Cookie Dough Pie, we thought we’d take it to the next level for Easter.
So introducing the Creme Egg Cookie Dough Pie, and yes, it is as incredible as you’d think.
Is it a cookie, is it a pie? It matters not, this glorious being will dance across your taste buds like kale can’t - just be prepared for the most epic food baby ever.
To make matter even better, you’ll only need three ingredients and no mess to celebrate Easter the best way possible.
Just roll out one block of cookie dough into a skillet pan, and dot five Creme Eggs around the dough.
Throw over a handful or two (depends how naughty you’re feeling) of pink and white marshmallows, and roll out a second block of cookie dough.
Use that second dough to make a lid, and seal at the sides. Oven bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees and you’re all set!
The last of our St. Patrick’s Day recipes is our take on the classic Soda Bread.
We’ve made these into delicious little biscuits so you can take them to work with you (and you can eat quite a few before feeling guilty).
Delicious on their own or enjoyed warm, split in half and smothered in butter (personal favourite) these biscuits are filling and perfect for the whole family.
Ingredients (makes 6)
260g plain flour
2 tsp granulated sugar
¾ tsp bicarbonate soda
¾ tsp salt
2 tbsp cold, unsalted butter
½ cup of raisins
1 tbsp caraway seeds
¾ cup of buttermilk
Method
Pre-heat your oven to gas mark 6/200C and tip the flour, salt, sugar and bicarb into a bowl. Give them a stir, add the cold butter and rub the ingredients together.
Once mixed, add the raisins and caraway seeds then give another stir. Once combined, make a well in the middle and pour your buttermilk in, mixing well with dough hooks, until a soft dough has formed.
Turn it onto a lightly floured surface and knead well. Cut into six and roll the pieces into balls. Place on a floured baking sheet, flatten slightly and bake for 20 mins or until they are golden brown and sound hollow when you tap the bottom.
Leave to cool for five minutes before slicing open and enjoying with a cuppa.
This recipe is a must for St. Patrick’s Day. Or any other day to be honest…
Featuring a succulent frankfurter, creamy Champ, and sharp Irish cheddar, it really is the hot dog of champions.
There’s nothing we enjoy more than experimenting with recipes. You never know what you’re going to end up with or when inspiration will strike! This recipe came from some left over mash and the hankering for some classic American fast food.
If you aren’t familiar with it, Champ is a fantastic twist on the traditional mashed potato. Stirred into the creamy mash are fragrant spring onions giving it a wonderful flavour.
Don’t confused this with Colcannon (which is also delicious but have you tried piping cabbage? It’s hard!).
Ingredients (makes 3)
Two medium sized potatoes
Two spring onions
Three frankfurters
Three hot dog buns
2oz grated, sharp Irish cheddar
2oz butter
Milk (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Grab your potatoes, give them a good scrub, peel, cube and boil until soft. Chuck the butter in and mash well, gradually adding milk if you decide to use it. Chop a couple of spring onions and stir into the mash. Season well.
Heat up your grill, pop your frankfurters on it (or steam in your Hot Dog and Bun Steamer for healthier results) and cook until the skin is brown and crisp. Place into a hot dog bun when cooked.
Spoon your Champ mixture into a piping bag and pipe over the hot dog. Sprinkle cheddar over the top and put under a medium heat grill for 30 secs (or until the cheese is melted).
We love St. Patrick’s Day. From seeing green everywhere to using it as a wonderful excuse to tuck in to some of Ireland’s most delicious recipes (and to tweak a few classics!)
This is one we’ve tweaked. We’ve taken the classic espresso martini and added a little Irish twist in the form of smooth and creamy Baileys.
Irish cream is one of those drinks that makes you think of Christmas, when it’s traditional to stock up on a bottle or two. What better way to use up the leftovers than for St. Patrick’s Day?
First things first, grab your cocktail shaker, and add a couple of ice cubes, 2oz of Baileys (or any Irish Cream), 0.5oz of vodka and a shot of ice cold espresso.
Give it good shake (think Tom Cruise), then strain it into your cocktail glass, sit back and relax.
In the UK we’re blessed with a variety of days and weeks that give us a spectacular excuse to sink our teeth into something delicious, just because.
Just one of these is Butcher’s Week, and apart from supporting our excellent high street butchers, it basically orders you to eat loads of meat for a week.
Don’t be worried about just chowing down on red meat from dusk to dawn, because The Bishop’s Kitchen is coming at you with a healthy recipe for an Italian chicken sausage.
You will need a meat grinder for this, and I happen to know someone who sells a few ;) (check them out here).
This recipe is dead simple, especially if you buy the chicken breast that still has the skin on.
First, mince the chicken on the finest setting into a mixing bowl.
Next, add the chopped sun dried tomatoes, garlic, pepper, cumin, basil and salt and mix well.
Mince it again on the finest setting, and put this mixture into the fridge for an hour.
Now, gather your sausage skins and put one end over the attachment and tie the other end off.
Send the mixture through the grinder, but remember to remove the cutting blades and the plate.
Tie off the sausages and fry them up to your taste.
It’s a very exciting time to be alive. Ginsters can do one - get back in that service station fridge! This is the moment for pastry lovers to rejoice. Sit back, and let the pie mana wash over you.
Why? Because it’s only flippin’ British Pie Week!
In honour of this most glorious time, we’ve knocked up this magnificent chicken, bacon and leek pie with a crumbly, golden puff pastry. Look at it, it just screams joy.
To start with, heat 450ml of chicken stock in a saucepan and pop the lid on. Add three chicken breasts and the bacon into the pan and bring it all to a low simmer, pop that lid back on and cook for 10 minutes.
When the time has gone, remove the chicken and set aside - pour the remaining stock into a large jug.
Melt 25g of butter in a saucepan over a low heat, stir in the leeks and gently fry them for around two minutes or until they have softened. Throw in the garlic and cook for another minute.
Add what’s left of the butter to this mixture and, when it’s melted, add the flour. Cook this for 30 seconds, make sure to keep string to make a roux.
After this, pour the milk into the pan slowly - add just a small amount at a stir, and stir constantly until the sauce has thickened and is nice and smooth. Bring it to a simmer and cook for three minutes.
You can now season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste. When you’ve done that, remove it from the heat and stir in your cream. Next, pour all that into a large bowl and cover with clingfilm and set aside to cool.
Now it’s time to preheat that oven - select 200c or gas mark six. Remember to put your baking tray in to preheat.
That was the clean bit, now comes the messy part. Put the flour and butter into a food processor and pulse until you get a fine breadcrumb-like texture.
While all the motor is running, pour in a pre-beaten egg and some water and blend it all together until you get a ball. Take away 250g of pastry and save it for the pie lid.
Roll out what’s left behind of the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Remember to turn it frequently until you get it 5mm thick and 4cm bigger than the pie dish.
When you have reached that size, lift it gently into the dish and press it down at the sides. Don’t worry about being firm with the pastry, it can handle it! Just be sure to leave it overhanging the lip of the pie dish.
Remember those chicken breasts and bacon you set aside earlier? Now is their time to shine. Cut them into 3cm pieces and stir them, the leeks and the bacon into the cooled sauce that you cling flimed. Now, pour it into the pie dish and brush the rim with the beaten egg.
Roll out the pastry for the lid, and cover the pie with it. Make sure you press the edges together firmly to make a seal, and trim off any excess.
Just before you pop the pie in the oven, make a small hole in the middle of it with a knife and glaze the lid with a beaten egg.
Bake on the preheated tray in the middle of the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until it’s golden brown and the filling is hot, hot, hot!
Pastry ingredients
350g plain flour
200gbutter
1 free-range egg beaten with 1 tbsp cold water, plus 1 free-range egg, beaten, to glaze.
At last it's time to wave goodbye to the gloom of winter and venture back out into the garden! Spring is all about preparation, and our fantastic range of garden gadgets will do the hard work for you so that come summer, you can enjoy your best garden yet! Below you’ll find our top picks for March, along with some top tips. To see our full garden and outdoors range, click here!
Cultivator:
Time is running out to prepare your soil for spring planting, and an electric cultivator is a fantastic time saver that will also save your back! All you need to do is walk the lightweight tiller up and down; soil will be broken apart and aerated, ready to welcome the roots of new plants.
*Top Tip* After cultivating to churn up the top later of soil, cover the area with soil-enriching compost or organic matter, and use the cultivator again to mix it all in.
Secateurs and Telescopic Pruners:
Pruning not only keeps plants healthy, it can increase the quantity and the quality of the flowers and fruits they produce. Different plants will require pruning at different times of the year; spring is the turn of broad-leaved evergreens such as holly, and summer-flowering plants like hydrangea and roses.
*Top Tip* To encourage fast healing, always cut just above a new bud, at an angle sloping down and away from the bud to prevent moisture from rotting the new bud.
Garden Tool Stool:
There's nothing quite like the satisfaction of giving your garden some much needed TLC - and there's nothing quite like the aches and pains the next day! Save your knees and back with this handy compact stool, which is not only a seat but a storage bag for all your important bits and bobs! The Tool Stool comes with 4 carbon steel hand tools: a fork, cultivator, broad trowel and narrow trowel, so it's the perfect kit for beginners.
*Top Tip* Before getting stuck in, take a brisk walk to get your blood pumping and muscles warmed up.
Insect House:
Not a fan of creepy crawlies? Well you should be! Insects like ladybirds, lacewings and centipedes will eat garden pests, protecting your plants, and bees are needed to transfer pollen between flowers so plants and trees can produce fruit. Providing a safe home is the best way to get these beneficial creatures to stick around - welcome them with one of our adorable insect houses!
*Top Tip* Placing the insect hotel near to a creepy crawly hotspot like a hedge or Buddleia bush will ensure guests fill up the rooms quickly!
This Mother’s Day we’re all about spending time in the kitchen with your Mum, recreating those early baking days.
The next step from super simple biscuits would probably have been something like chocolate muffins - which we’ve topped off with delicious salted caramel sauce.
Like any good recipe, these are so satisfyingly simple to make they’ll have you preheating the oven for batch two in no time.
So, it start with turn on that oven and set it to 160C.
Sieve the plain flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into a bowl before mixing together egg, milk, oil and sugar in a jug.
Next, pour the egg mixture into the bowl containing the flour, baking powder and cocoa and mix them until combined but still lumpy. We used our stand mixer, but you can also use a hand mixer (try not to eat too much of the mixture).
Spoon the mixture into cake cases and put the tray in the oven at 160C for 20 minutes.
If they are set and cracked on the top, whip them out, if not give them a further 10 minutes.
When the muffins are done, spoon on some salted caramel sauce (you can get some good shop bought stuff) and indulge!
Let’s face it, everyone needs their Mother from time to time (guilty). This year, give some of that love back with these delicious bakes.
We had a throwback theme for Mother’s Day this year, featuring our food stylist Jenny’s lovely girls - I was in charge of their entertainment in between poses, but that’s a story for another day.
Anyway, the end result of that shoot was these delicious biscuits and chocolate muffins.
Everyone remembers those first tentative steps into the baking world, mum by your side, dustpan and brush in hand.
A simple biscuit is probably where it all began: standing on a box to reach the counter top, scattering as many sweets on top of the biscuit as is humanly possible.
After a while graduating on to something slightly more complex, yet easy enough to grasp in an afternoon, is the natural progression.
Here is where the humble English chocolate muffin, layered with oozing salted caramel sauce, comes into play.
It’s a wonderful recipe for chocolate lovers and fans of easy but effective baking - and the caramel looks fantastic draped across the top of the muffin.
This Mother’s Day, it’s time to give in to nostalgia and good memories. Bust out the trusty Food Mixer (or buy a new one), go digging through the cupboards and hit the kitchen.
Like so many good holidays, there is more than a hint of commercialisation about Valentine’s Day. So this year, stay at home, push the boat out a little - do something different, it’ll work.
Julia Child once commented: “I think careful cooking is love, don't you? The loveliest thing you can cook for someone who's close to you is about as nice a valentine as you can give.”
That’s exactly what we are aiming to give you with this recipe - something that shows how much you care, but also something that tastes amazing too.
Don’t be put off by the multiple parts to this, they’re all really easy to make - and anyway, love shouldn’t be *that* easy, should it?
Firstly, the chimichurri sauce needs to be made. This is a great friend for grilled meat, and it originates from Argentina.
To make it, chop 1 shallot, 1 green chili, 2 tbsp parsley and 2 tbsp coriander - combine these in a bowl with 1 tsp dried chili flakes and 2 tbsp red wine vinegar. Drizzle it over the meat to serve.
Next comes the bean and pepper salad to serve alongside the T-bone steak. This is another simple recipe that’s super effective, just make some thick cuts of pepper and cook them on a griddle pan until they soften, boil green beans and toss them with the pepper and some rocket.
Pub classics come next, and we’ve chosen to go with both onion rings and thick cut chips - but if you want to be good you can just do one or the other.
For the onion rings, cut yourself some hearty slices from a large white onion and put them to one side. Next, take 150g of self raising flour and whisk it with 190ml of sparkling water.
After that, take your onion rings and dip each one into some extra flour before immersing them in the batter. Cook in a Deep Fat Fryer at 180 degrees.
To make the chips, slice up some baking potatoes, but leave the skin on. Parboil your slices and dry them before deep frying at 190 degrees until they are golden brown.
Lie these golden brown chips on some baking paper until they are ready to serve, before finishing off the cooking by popping them back in the fryer.
Finally, we get to the steak. Oh you glorious being, this is what love really looks like. It’s a massive hunk of marbled cow, and nothing has ever looked better.
It’s also the easiest thing of the lot to make, just grill it for seven or eight minutes on each side and serve with the lot.
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