Be a barbecue season hero with a garden curry in a hurry!

You can be the barbecue chef sensation of your entire neighbourhood when the delicious scent of your barbecue curry wafts throughout the neighbourhood.

What you need to do is to get a large pan and place it on the gas burner of your barbecue. The gas burner you have probably only ever used once to cook some barbecued baked beans, but haven't used since.

Into the pan place some pre-cooked chicken or turkey breast chunks (the chilled food sections in supermarkets like Morrison or Tesco are ideal for buying these) and then stir in a bag of Our Little Secret Tikka Lababdar sauce and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes. If you wish you can add a pot of plain yoghurt, or some crème fraîche and ensure that it is stirred in well.

Serve up with a side salad and perhaps some pre-cooked rice, if you wish. (For speed of preparation, buy a couple of bags of microwave rice.)

You can also use naan breads or, if you want to know my secret, just use plain pita breads instead of naan breads, should you have some in the freezer.

The above recipe works equally well with any other of the spicy and testy sauces from the Our Little Secret range, and it means that (with the That's Food ad Drink cheat as described above) you will have one of the most tasty barbecue meals ever, with the minimum amount of fuss, very little preparation time and only one pot being used.

However, if you want to really push the boat out, why not try these recipes kindly supplied by the folks at Our Little Secret?

Our Little Secret Summer Recipes

Tikka Meatballs with Coconut Rice

Serves: 4-5

Preparation time: 10 minutes

 Cooking time: 20 minutes

Add meatballs to a Tikka Masala Dine-In Kit and experience an awesome
twist on Britain's favourite curry.

Ingredients:

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 10 meatballs of your choice

- 1 Our Little Secret Tikka Masala Dine-In Kit

- Desiccated coconut for garnish

- 1 chopped chilli

Preparation Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the meatballs until golden brown.

2. Add the dry spices from the dine-in kit and sauté gently for 2-3
minutes.

3. Add the contents of the paste sachet and simmer for 1-2 minutes.

4. Then add the Tikka Masala sauce and simmer for 5-6 minutes ensuring that the meatballs are fully cooked and the sauce thickens to a desired consistency.

5. Make a 2-3 cm tear in the rice pouch and microwave on full power for 2 minutes.

6. Garnish the rice with desiccated coconut.

7. Add chopped chillies to add heat.

8. Serve hot and enjoy!

Chunky Makhani Vegetable Broth

Serves: 4-5

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

- Our Little Secret Makhani cook-in sauce

- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

- Shallots

- 1 crushed garlic clove

- 125g trimmed fine green beans

- 1 large diced sweet potato

- 175g baby corn, halved lengthways

- 375g small cauliflower, broken into small florets

- 400g drained lentils

- Water

Preparation Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion and garlic for 5-6 minutes, until softened.

2. Stir in the curry paste and fry for 2 minutes.

3. Add beans, potato, corn and cauliflower to water. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are just tender.

4. Season to taste and add the Our Little Secret Makhani cook-in sauce and lentils. Simmer for 5-6 minutes until warmed through.

5. Add a little water to make the broth.

6. Enjoy by itself or with naan bread. Alternatively, you can add soup bread into the dish.

Sauces are available in Morrisons and other supermarkets and food outlets.

Wheyhey Ice cream. Tastier and better for you.

Wheyhey Ice Cream. I don't know... maybe it is because I am now starting to realise that I am knocking on a little bit, but Wheyhey Ice Cream reminds me of the delicious ice creams of my childhood.

Wheyhey Ice Creams are all 100% natural, they have not a scrap of gluten in them, are sugar free, are low in fat and high in protein.

So they are eminently suitable for vegetarians and also diabetics, too. (And being able to enjoy a desert or a treat without worrying too much about what my blood sugar levels are at is a great boon, believe me!)

They are the perfect treat for an after barbecue desert or for when you are cuddling up together on the sofa watching a documentary about narrow boat restoration. (That's what floats our boat, my wife and I, but if you want to eat your tubs of Wheyhey -a cute little spoon is also included!- whilst watching a romantic film, then go for it!)

Flavours we tried were Banana toffee, vanilla and strawberry, all of which were equally delicious and wonderfully smooth.

To learn more please visit them at http://wheyhey.com/

Where can you get it?

You can order it Order online at Ocado and Musclefood and it should also be available at Holland and Barrett, Wholefoods, As Nature Intended, GNC, Revital, Nuffield Health and it's also now available at Odeon Cinemas, too!

New sauce to complement your summer foods

There's a delicious new sauce which will be the absolutely perfect complement to your summertime barbecue foods and also your salads.

It's based on the famed Irish Stout, Guinness.

It is a rich and dark sauce which has a deep, intense flavour that is, in my opinion, unique.

The combination of flavours is delightful as you can detect the Guinness as well as the malt within the Guinness.

Most table sauces that are available are, by and large, variations on a theme. All fruit sauces taste, pretty much, very similar to every other fruit sauce.

However, in my opinion, Guinness Sauce is unlike all other types of table sauce that I have ever tried before. It is vastly different and, instead of adding or changing the flavour of the food, Guinness Sauce complements and enhances your food.

It's ideal for freshly cooked meats, ideal for cold cuts and/or cheese with a salad, slices of pie and the like. It even goes well with your Sunday roast, too! You can use it to coat the meat (steaks, burgers, lamb, etc) before cooking, have it in a sauce boat for the table or even cook some in to your gravy!

It's a versatile sauce. As versatile as your imagination.

Ask for it in your local Tesco store, as it is an exclusive offering at Tesco.

Chilled Coffee? That's an Almond Breeze!

I like chilled AKA iced coffee but I sometimes feel that my little indulgence is not quite so little, as they are usually loaded with what people describe as empty calories.

That was, however, until I discovered Blue Diamond Almonds Almond Breeze Iced Coffee.

It's a dairy free product and is completely free from any dairy products lactose or eggs, so is perfectly OK for vegetarians and vegans and those of us who are lactose intolerant.

I was able to try two flavours, Cappuccino and also Mocha.

Both tasted really good and there was a different taste to it than one gets with milk-based iced coffees, but that wasn't a bad thing, as some iced coffees can be a little cloying and tend to put my teeth on edge, as it were. Not so with Blue Diamonds iced coffee, both varieties were keen and clean about the taste!

The Cappuccino is only 29 calories and the Mocha comes in at 30 calories, so it's another of those guilt free treats that are now available to those of us who care about such things.

To learn more visit the website at http://www.bluediamondalmonds.co.uk/almond-breeze.

And don't forget the Almond snacks, the BBQ flavour variety did not last long!

Now free from fans can live their Dream!

Yes, now free from fans can live their Dream!

Let's face it, most people who seek out free from food do so because, like my wife, they have food allergies and food intolerances, so their only dream, if you can describe it as such, is to be able to enjoy the same kinds of foods that everyone else can indulge in without having intestinal cramps, bloating, migraines or severe joint pains, skin rashes or the like.

For years free from foods were only ever available from specialist retailers, looked odd, cost the earth, had the texture of par-boiled cardboard and tasted like nothing you had ever tasted before, but not in a good way.

But the times they are a changing, free from foods have now hit the mainstream and the recipes that are being produced are designed by chefs who care about the meals and deserts that they produce.

A perfect example of this is Almond Dream dairy free ice cream.

They come in the following flavours, Velvety Vanilla, Salted Caramel, Praline Crunch and Mint Chocolate Chip.

And they actually do taste like ice cream. No! Really! They do!

My wife said: "It's obviously not dairy based, but the taste of each flavour is really very, very good indeed."

We both agreed that each ice cream flavour we tried was creamy and had a good texture. It also had a good mouthfeel, and that's not something all mainstream ice creams can manage to do, so it is a genuine achievement, believe me!

My wife favours the vanilla, I loved both the Praline Crunch and the Salted Caramel. I favoured the Pralines but (pun, though weak, but intended) I have always been a little nuts for praline.

My wife didn't try the chocolate mint variety as she is allergic to chocolate. So, that was my job, then! Not that I complained, as it was a perfect rendition of a mint chocolate chip ice cream.

And for those of us who like to watch our fat and saturates intakes, they have about half the fat compared to other types of ice cream and roughly 10% of the saturates. And only 70% of the calorific value, too, which can't be bad!

They are also highly suited to vegetarians and vegans, too.

You should find them in Waitrose and Morrisons branches at £4.99 per 472ml. If they are not in your local branch ask the manager to make certain that they are available.

To learn more about the dairy free options available from Dream visit their website at www.mydairyfreedream.com.

Are there too many chillies in commercial available products?

Are there too many chillies in commercially available products?

I ask this question because my wife recently bought a bottle of alcoholic ginger beer in a high end supermarket that we we visiting. It was a drink that was exclusive to them.

When we got home she started drinking her ginger beer but after a few sips she said: "There's something wrong with this ginger beer! It's making my lips burn!"

She read the ingredients and found in small lettering that as well as ginger the recipe contained chilli peppers.

My wife does not cope well with chillies as she has a food intolerance problem as they have a bad impact on her digestive system.

Why on earth would anyone want to add a hot chilli to ginger beer?

The only reason that we could come up with was that ginger, especially good quality ginger, could be rather costly, whereas chilli  is far cheaper.

It's our guess that chilli is added to the ginger beer in order to make people's mouth's burn and their lips tingle, but hope that they wouldn't realise that this was nothing to do with the ginger but actually caused by the addition of cheaper "cheating" chilli.

After all as my wife said: "If they'd have been honest and called it: 'Ginger and Chilli Beer' I would have been able to avoid buying it."

Anni's Lavender Scones

This is an interesting recipe as it involves a fairly rare cooking ingredient, lavender. However, Anni has asked me to point out that you must only ever use edible culinary lavender. We source ours from Shropshire Lavender of Wellbank Farm, Pickstock, Shropshire, TF10 8AH, www.shropshirelavender.co.uk or call them 01952 550303. (The lavender fields are open from June onwards.)

First heat your oven to 180c (or the equivalent for your oven).

Ingredients 225g self raising flour
50g butter
50g caster sugar
130 to 140ml milk
1 teaspoon of baking powder
50g of fruit (This can be either sultanas, cherries, mixed fruit, raisins, chopped apricots, chopped prunes, etc)
2 teaspoons of culinary lavender
1 teaspoon of culinary lavender oil.

Place the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl, rub in the butter 'til it resembles breadcrumbs.

Mix in the fruit and the sugar, the lavender flowers  and the lavender.

Make a hollow in the middle of the mixture, then place the milk in the hollow.

Stir the mixture well, turning it into a soft dough.

Then place the lump of dough onto a lightly floured board.

Knead until it is nice and smooth. Flatten it out into a round shape (use your hands or you can roll it out) until it is about 1.5cm thick. Then use a biscuit cutter to make the rounds.

Place the rounds onto a greased baking tray and bake for approximately 20 minutes, until they are a golden colour.

Remove from the oven and serve hot with butter straight from the fridge.

You can add jam, honey or marmalade should you wish.

Merangz - and the Passion Fruitz Luxury dessert in new tropical flavour is naturally Gluten Free too

Those terribly clever and very gifted and innovative, award winning bakers Merangz, are launching an exotic new addition to their range of wondrous and stunning giant Swiss meringues - refreshing and luxurious Passion Fruit. Their giant - and bite sized - meringues now have a longer shelf life too.

The icing on the meringue
Unique, luxurious, ambient and versatile, Merangz are perfect for retail and also for foodservice. The best friend of time pressed cooks, caterers and chefs, they can be crushed, sprinkled or drizzled with fruit, compotes, cream or a thick caramelly Dulce de leche to create stunning desserts - with minimal effort. Or they can even be served simply - just as they are.

For foodservice, Merangz giants are available in boxes of 18 of an individual flavour, and bites in a mixed box of 80. For retail, giants are available in twin packs - with eight in a box, and bites 14 packs per box. They now have an even longer shelf life too - giants, 10 weeks and bites, 24 weeks.

Gluten Free - naturally!
Naturally Gluten Free and low in fat, Merangz are the perfect dessert choice for those with a gluten intolerance - or those simply avoiding gluten for a healthier lifestyle. They are made with only the finest ingredients and natural flavours. Every meringue is lovingly made with top quality, hand separated free range egg whites and slow baked to a traditional Swiss recipe.

Brian Crowther, the owner of Merangz, said: "Our giants and our foodservice bites, are the perfect choice for catering, coffee shops, garden centres, restaurants and pubs - as a low fat and Gluten Free dessert option.

"They are also the icing on the meringue when it comes to creating stunning mouth watering displays in a farm shop or deli - customers simply won't be able to say no! Both the giants - and the bites - are handmade using free range hand separated eggs. They really do offer a simple, versatile dessert option - with strong margins and incredible plate appeal."

To learn more, please visit our friends at the Merangz website, http://merangz.co.uk.

there's a fantastic project, that is republishing 138 of special wartime recipes

There's a fantastic project, that is republishing 138 of the special wartime recipes that the National Government of World War 2 had produced in order to help people make do with the small amounts of rationed food that they were allowed and also with some (rare!) off rational foodstuffs that could, sometimes, be available.

The Royal British Legion have teamed up with Carolyn Ekins (from 1940’s Experiment) to re publish 138 1940’s style War Time recipes to encourage the nation to take part in the Royal British Legions VE Day celebrations.

You can find the recipes at the following link:

https://1940sexperiment.wordpress.com/100-wartime-recipes/

What recipes are there?

Recipe 1. Wartime Loaf
Recipe 2. Wartime Dripping
Recipe 3. Meaty Gravy
Recipe 4. Bread Pudding
Recipe 5. Corned Beef Fritters
Recipe 6. Eggless Sponge Gone Wrong
Recipe 7. Salad Dressing for immediate use
Recipe 8. Wartime Vegetable Turnovers
Recipe 9. Wartime Scotch Shortbread
Recipe 10. Carolyn’s ‘Everything In’ Wartime Stew
Recipe 11. The Oslo Meal
Recipe 12. Curried Carrots
Recipe 13: Pancakes (5 dishes from 1 recipe)
Recipe 14: Wartime Cauliflower Cheese with Bacon
Recipe 15: Cynthia’s Eggless Sponge (gone right)
Recipe 16: Pear Crumble
Recipe 17: Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam..
Recipe 18: Rock buns
Recipe 19: Mock cream recipe 1
Recipe 20: Spam Hash
Recipe 21: Wartime Pumpkin Soup
Recipe 22: Bread stuffing balls
Recipe 23: Apple crumble
Recipe 24: Lord Woolton Pie
Recipe 25: Cheese Whirls
Recipe 26: Glory Buns
Recipe 27: Cheese and Potato Dumplings
Recipe 28: Cream of Parsnip Soup
Recipe 29: Carrot and Potato Mash
Recipe 30: Cheese Dreams
Recipe 31: Farmhouse Scramble (version 1)
Recipe 32: Cottage Pie
Recipe 33: Potato and Cheese Bake
Recipe 34: Boeuf Bourguignon 1940s Rations Style
Recipe 35: Potato Floddies
Recipe 36: Bread and Apple Pudding
Recipe 37: Danish Apple Pudding
Recipe 38: Vegetable Stew
Recipe 39: Wartime Welsh Cakes
Recipe 40: Cold meat pasties
Recipe 41: Quick chocolate icing
Recipe 42: Potato Rarebit
Recipe 43: Mock Cream Recipe 2
Recipe 44: No Cook Chocolate Cake
Recipe 45: Mince Slices
Recipe 46: Marmite Mushrooms (a modern creation?)
Recipe 47: Eggless Fruit Cake
Recipe 48: Potato and Carrot Pancakes
Recipe 49: Potato and Lentil Curry
Recipe 50: Mock Goose
Recipe 51: Wartime Eggless Christmas Cake
Recipe 52: Vegetable and Oatmeal Goulash
Recipe 53: Irish Soda-Bread
Recipe 54: Eggless Pancakes
Recipe 55: Carrot Cookies
Recipe 56: Herby Bread
Recipe 57: Poor Knight’s Fritters
Recipe 58: Eggless Mayonnaise
Recipe 59: Split pea soup
Recipe 60: Potato Fingers
Recipe 61: Chocolate biscuits & chocolate spread
Recipe 62: Curried potatoes
Recipe 63: Vegetable pasties
Recipe 64: Wheatmeal pastry
Recipe 65: Homemade croutons
Recipe 66: Quick vegetable soup
Recipe 67: Fruit Shortcake
Recipe 68: Cheese potatoes
Recipe 69: Lentil sausages
Recipe 70: Root vegetable soup
Recipe 71: Sausage rolls
Recipe 72: Eggless ginger cake
Recipe 73: Mock duck
Recipe 74: Cheese sauce
Recipe 75: Duke pudding
Recipe 76: Potato scones
Recipe 77: Cheese, tomato and potato loaf/pie
Recipe 78: Bubble and squeak
Recipe 79: Belted leeks
Recipe 80: Lord Woolton Pie- Version 2
Recipe 81: Beef and prune hotpot
Recipe 82: Prune flan
Recipe 83: Butter making him-front style
Recipe 84: Mock apricot flan
Recipe 85: Corned beef with cabbage
Recipe 86: Oatmeal pastry
Recipe 87: Gingerbread men
Recipe 88: Carolyn’s mushroom gravy
Recipe 89: Jam sauce
Recipe 90: Brown Betty
Recipe 91: Middleton medley
Recipe 92: Rolled oat macaroons
Recipe 93: Anzac biscuits
Recipe 94: Beef or whalemeat hamburgers
Recipe 95: Lentil soup
Recipe 96: Welsh claypot loaves
Recipe 97: Chocolate oat cakes
Recipe 98: Wartime berry shortbread
Recipe 99: Oatmeal soup
Recipe 100: Mock marzipan
Recipe 101: Gingernuts
Recipe 102: Eggless christmas pudding
Recipe 103: Leftovers stew
Recipe 104: Vinaigrette dressing
Recipe 105: Apple pudding
Recipe 106: Irish omelette
Recipe 107: Potato cakes
Recipe 108: Glazed turnips (Canadian recipe)
Recipe 109: Carrot roll
Recipe 110: Wartime Bara Brith
Recipe 111: Bread and prune pudding
Recipe 112: Sausage stovies
Recipe 113: Malted loaf
Recipe 114: Toad in the Hole
Recipe 115: Summer berry jam
Recipe 116: Scones
Recipe 117: Mock cream 3
Recipe 118: Vegetable Pie
Recipe 119: Air-raid apple chutney
Recipe 120: Lentil curry
Recipe 121: Haricot bean croquettes
Recipe 122: Leek and Lentil Pie
Recipe 123: Coconut Cream
Recipe 124: Colcannon
Recipe 125: Carrot and Sultana Pudding
Recipe 126: Lemon Syrup Sauce
Recipe 127: Bean and Vegetable Shepherds Pie
Recipe 128: Chocolate Layer Cake
Recipe 129: Small Cottage Tea Loaves
Recipe 130: Vinegar Cake
Recipe 131: Kale and Bean Stew
Recipe 132: Pea and Potato Stew
Recipe 133: Baked Chips with Thyme
Recipe 134: Homity Pie
Recipe 135: Vegetable Au Gratin
Recipe 136: Kale and Potato Soup
Recipe 137: Trench Stew
Recipe 138: Irish Potato Pancakes

That's a splendid list, is it not?

Apple Pudding and Mock Cream? Sounds delicious! Especially following some Kale and Bean Stew or some Vegetable pie!

Anni's Vodka Cherry 'Baked Well' cake

As part of the Aldi cake challenge, That's Food and Drink brings another one of Anni's specially created cake recipes.

This one is called "Anni's Vodka Cherry 'Baked Well' cake."

It requires 175g of Aldi's baking margarine
175g of Aldi dark brown sugar
225g of Plain Aldi flour
3 Aldi eggs
1tsp Aldi baking powder
1tsp Aldi cinnamon
1tsp Aldi ginger
550g of Aldi luxury dried mixed fruit
400g of Aldi cherries
100g Aldi chopped almonds
zest of an orange
zest of a lemon
150ml of Aldi Vodka

Pre-heat your oven to 160C 325F or Gas Mark 3.


Cream together the margarine and the sugar. Beat the eggs and add the egg mixture a little at a time, mixing well.

In a separate bowl mix all dry ingredients together, then carefully fold this into the cake mix and stir well.

Add the dried fruit and 200g of the cherries to the mixture and make sure they are thoroughly mixed in. For a better result you could mix 100g of the cherries and the dried fruit and marinate them in the Vodka overnight. If you can't do this, just pour the Vodka into the mix once the dried fruits have been added and mix well.

Place the cake mix into a greased and papered cake tin (the Aldi one shown in the pictures is ideal)     and put the remaining 200g of cherries on the top of the cake and put it in the oven for approximately two hours.

After two hours test the cake with a skewer. When it comes out clean, the baking is complete.

If it starts to look a little too brown, cover it with some aluminium baking foil.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for at least an hour before you  remove it from the cake tin.

At this stage you can add more Vodka to the top of the cake. You can also prick the cake in several places to  ensure that the cake is well fed with the additional Vodka.

For a bit off added decadence serve the cake with shots of chilled Vodka straight from the  freezer!

You can use this as a stand alone cake or as part of a larger Aldi Challenge creation.