Thursday 24 December 2015
That's Christmas: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
That's Christmas: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year: From That's Christmas. We will be back with more Christmas stories some time during 20016.
That's Christmas: Some very late minute Christmas presents from Kuro...
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Wednesday 23 December 2015
That's Christmas: Christmas recipes from Mission Deli
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That's Christmas: Christmas Day Essentials with Sabichi
That's Christmas: Christmas Day Essentials with Sabichi: Christmas Day Essentials Tackle and prep for the day’s festivities with ease, using a few kitchen and dining essentials from Sabichi: •...
Tuesday 22 December 2015
That's Christmas: Fruit Cake & Cheese: A Festive Favourite for Yorks...
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That's Christmas: Bonne Maman... It's sort of French for Christmas!
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That's Christmas: Festive fun for Christmas week
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That's Christmas: Christmas made easy
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That's Christmas: Mac & Wild Ready To Drink Pre-Bottled Cocktails -
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That's Christmas: Inception Group Experiences and Gift Vouchers
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That's Christmas: Inception Group Experiences and Gift Vouchers
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That's Christmas: Encona can help you transform your turkey and help...
That's Christmas: Encona can help you transform your turkey and help...: The British waste an astounding and, to be frank, horrific, 7 million tonnes of food each year, with much of this happening over the festi...
Monday 21 December 2015
That's Christmas: New Covent Garden Soup Company® predicts a White C...
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That's Christmas: Hari Ghotra’s ‘Curry Kits’ putting a kick into Chr...
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That's Christmas: New luxury Magnum Chocolate for pleasure seekers t...
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That's Christmas: Discover a world of extraordinary coffee with Unio...
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That's Christmas: From their kitchen to yours – Castle MacLellan spr...
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That's Christmas: The real reason Santa and the rest of us will pile...
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That's Christmas: New ways with leftovers and maple syrup
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Monday 14 December 2015
That's Christmas: One in ten of us will have five festive feeds this...
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Sunday 13 December 2015
That's Christmas: How to save £400 this Christmas
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Sunday 21 June 2015
Scan real Swedish meatballs
If you haven't tried Scan Swedish meatballs, you really do have to get a wriggle on and get them onto your shopping list.
Meatballs are a highly popular meal in Sweden and, once you have tried them, you will come to understand why that is.
Smart Swedish Mums regularly turn to Scan meatballs for cooking up quick, tasty and nutritious meals - now with 12.5% less salt and no artificial colours, flavourings or preservatives.
With a huge following across Sweden and nopw the UK, they've been nicknamed the kitchen 'cheat' by mums who love their authentic, homemade taste, fresh herbs and spices. Because they are ready-made, busy mums can spend less time in the kitchen and enjoy more 'me' time – as well as tucking into a plate of delicious tasting food.
How can you serve them up?
Spicy BBQ Meatballs with Mango Salsa
Mediterranean Meatball Tart
Meatball Kebabs with Pressed Cucumber Salad and Flatbreads
Mixed Meatball Smörgåsbord
Spicy Meatball and Noodle Salad
Bahn Mi - Thai open sandwich with meatballs
Teriyaki Meatball Stir Fry
Meatballs in Lingonberry Sauce with Jansson's Frestelse
Scan Original Swedish Meatballs come ready-cooked, can be eaten hot or cold and make the ultimate, convenient and versatile ingredient for lots of recipes. Heating them through takes just minutes in the oven, on the hob or in the microwave.
Eat cold in salads, pasta and rice dishes
Ideal pick-up food for parties and picnics
Delicious eaten in the traditional Swedish style with potatoes, cream sauce and lingonberry
Perfect for adding into a whole host of recipes, from pizza and casserole, to stir fry, curry and sandwiches, or for coming up with your own ideas.
The new lower salt Scan Original Meatballs are available in Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Asda and Ocado in two convenient pack sizes: 230g, RRP £2.00 (serves 2) and 395g, RRP £3.00 (serves 4).
To learn more about how to serve them visit www.scanmeatballs.com.
Cawston Press drinks
For a refreshing treat this summer, try these new sparkling soft drinks, created for the more mature taste of the adults amongst us, from Cawston Press.
Elderflower Lemonade and Ginger Beer are the latest launches from the premium soft drinks company.
Their aim is to satisfy the increasing demand for discernible, non-alcoholic drinks for grown-ups that aren't full of artificial flavours, colourings or preservatives. (EDITOR: So doi not put your teeth on edge!)
Each variant has been especially designed and crafted by Micah Carr-Hill, Cawston's Master Blender, and use beautifully fresh ingredients that are lovingly and gently blended together with sparkling water and Cawston's trademark utterly delicious pressed apple juice.
Both are perfectly balanced, thankfully are not overly sweet and are gently sparkled.
Like all Cawston's drinks, they use juice that has come from fruit picked at the peak of ripeness and pressed within a 48 hour period.
And another key factor in their success is that they are made without any concentrates, artificial sweeteners, preservatives or colourings.
Ginger Beer is a twist on the classic and features two types of ginger, one sweet & citrusy and the other earthy & fiery. The result is a fruity, complex ginger flavour with a satisfying 'bite' and the perfect hit of heat for a drink that's discernibly dry. Using pressed apple juice in the blend adds a dash of acidity and fruitiness to this not-so-sweet ginger beer.
Elderflower Lemonade is a refreshingly light blend with the unmistakable floral fragrance (of this quintessentially British flower), Cawston use an elderflower extract made by soaking the dried flowers in water which captures the wonderful aroma of these delicate blossoms.
The sparkling water adds to the refreshment, whilst the squeezed Sicilian lemon juice delivers tingling citrus and with just 99 calories per can, this blend offers those wanting a lighter drink delicious flavour without any compromise in taste.
Ginger Beer and Elderflower Lemonade will join Cloudy Apple and Rhubarb in the line-up of adult sparkling drinks from Cawston Press and will be available at Waitrose and Ocado (in a six pack, RRP £4.99) and as individual 330ml cans in Pod, Whole Foods Market, As Nature Intended and Planet Organic (RRP 99p ea.), plus all good independent retailers.
That's Books and Entertainment: Lime 43 is a new cocktail is born with Licor 43 an...
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Now Walkers Shortbread is available in a new, gluten free range
By universal acclaim and repute, family-owned and managed Walkers is almost without a shadow of a doubt, one of the world's top bakers and purveyors of genuine Scottish Shortbreads.For a while the expert bakers at Walkers were examining a problem that the company had identified. The many people who would be loving to eat Walkers Shortbreads but, by reason of the fact that they had a gluten intolerance or a gluten allergy (or a wheat allergy) were excluded from enjoying Walkers Shortbreads.
But this is where the bakers in the test and development kitchens at Walkers Shortbread became involved.
They turned their baking expertise to the problem of how to develop and craft a new series of recipes for a type of genuine Shortbread that they'd never attempted to make before. A special gluten free range of products.
The came up with the following three recipes: Gluten Free, pure butter shortbread.
It melts in the mouth, you can taste the butter.
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Shortbread. They don't scimp on the chocolate, when Walkers tells you that they are offering you some really delicious shortbread loaded with real chocolate chips, that is exactly what you will get.
And the Gluten Free Ginger and Lemon Shortbread is a real revelation. There are real lemons and real stem ginger in this beautiful shortbread biscuit. Every bite is delicious from the first to the last one.
And everyone can eat them, safe in the knowledge that thee will be no adverse reactions in any of the group.
As with all of Walkers Shortbreads, they are made with only the finest ingredients that are available and they are then baked with only the expertise and the care that a company like Walkers can bestow upon their products.
This ensures that the products are made without any compromise.
Jim Walker said: "We're delighted to launch a Gluten Free option to the Walkers Shortbread range, so allowing everyone the opportunity to enjoy this delicious traditional treat without compromising taste."
He went on to point out: "With so many people now suffering from food it intolerances we took the view that it is important to create choices for all. We're proud to have the unique offering of traditional shrotbread which has a Gluten Free Certification from the UK Coeliac Society."
Each pack costs from £2.50 and is available from www.walkersshortbread.com/glutenfree.
But what do the people think? The member of the That's Food and Drink taste test team who does suffer from a gluten intolerance said: "The gluten-free additions are a welcome innovation. They tasted delicious."
And the rest of the team couldn't see what the fuss was about, so it looks like Walkers Shortbread has got it just about perfect! Well done!
Bundaberg, a craft brewed Australian ginger beer
The London Mule - as seen at the Grind.
Bundaberg Ginger Beer team up with the Grind to create the must-have cocktail for summer
Australian craft brewed ginger beer, Bundaberg, has partnered with cult London bar Grind to create London’s hippest cocktail of the summer.
The London Mule is a heady mix of fresh apple, bourbon and maple syrup, topped with refreshing Bundaberg Ginger Beer. The craft cocktail will be available at both the London Grind and Shoreditch Grind and is deliciously refreshing on a warm summers evening.
Bar Manager, Adam Wright says “London has long been having a love affair with craft beer but craft cocktails are also about to have a moment. We wanted to introduce a new cocktail that would embrace craft, sophistication and summer. Something you could imagine Don Draper drinking at the weekend. The London Mule is just that.”
Make the perfect London Mule
Ingredients
· 1Ž4 fresh apple cubed (red delicious)
· 20ml maple syrup
· 25ml fresh lime
· 50ml bourbon
· 3 dashes of angostura bitters
· Bundaberg ginger beer
· Two cubes of candied ginger
Description: Macintosh HD:Users:katie.hancock:Downloads:For Approval 2:Ingredients.jpg
Method
1. Muddle the fresh apple, candied ginger and maple syrup
2. Add the bourbon, lime juice and angostura bitters and shake
3. Strain into a short glass and top with Bundaberg Ginger Beer
4. Garnish with candied ginger and fresh apple fan
5. Enjoy your drink
Or why not try these as an alternative?
Appley Ever After
A fruity mix of fresh apple juice and dark rum, topped with the refreshing Bundaberg Ginger Beer, perfect for those warm summer day.
Ingredients
· Bundaberg Ginger Beer
· 1.7 fl.oz Dark Rum
· 0.5 fl.oz Apple liqueur
· (Pomme Verte)
· 0.7 fl.oz Lime juice
· 1.0 fl.oz Cloudy apple juice
· Apple fan to garnish
Ignite
A fiery cocktail with a kick to get summer started, mixed with the cooling Bundaberg Ginger Beer.
Ingredients
· Bundaberg Ginger Beer
· 1.7 fl.oz Blanco Tequila
· 0.7 fl.oz Lime juice
· 1 hot pepper
· Pinch coriander
· 1/2 hot pepper to garnish
Crushed Sailor
A summery cocktail bursting with berry flavour added with the sweet and spicy bite of Bundaberg Ginger Beer.
Ingredients
· Bundaberg Ginger Beer
· 1.7 fl.oz Spiced Rum
· 0.3 fl.oz Berry liqueur
· 0.7 fl.oz Lime juice
· Dash Angostura bitters
· Berries to garnish
So what is Bundaberg?
Bundaberg Brewed Drinks is a proud family owned business, based in the small Australian town that shares the same name. The Fleming family believe real ingredients and time honoured brewing methods make all the difference.
Since its humble beginnings, the company’s aim has been to craft premium non-alcoholic beverages using time-honoured brewing methods and the finest quality ingredients. Bundaberg Ginger Beer and other Bundaberg Brewed drinks are exported to over 36 countries.
Bundaberg Ginger Beer
· Craft Brewed over 3 days
· Real ingredients – cane sugar, GMO Free
· Ginger from the Bundaberg region
· RRP £4.49, 4 x 375ml
Find them on Facebook – Facebook.com/BundabergUK and on look out for updates from the Brew Riders on Twitter @BundabergDrinks
Available in leading retailers. For your nearest stockist please visit https://www.bundaberg.com/en-GB/product-locator/
Primula, it's what squeezable tubes were invented for!
It comes in a variety of flavours, plan, with chives, with ham, and with prawns.
It is equally at home being used as a sandwich spread, as a filler for baked potatoes at a barbecue, or as toppings for canapés at a posh dinner party.
My favourite recipe is for large baked potatoes to have a filling made up of corned beef hash and Primula with chives.
And Primula cream cheeses make an excellent topping for crackers or with cheese biscuits of ou are having a party or just chilling out with your honey whilst watching late night TV films.
The nozzle is specially designed to help you make fancy, wiggly toppings if that is your desire. And there is now no need to pierce the seal with the little knurled cutter on the top. That's been replaced with an innovative and much more hygienic way to open the tube.
One of my favourite ways to serve it is to grill or toast some potato farll thins and then add some butter and a liberal dollop or two of whatever Primula cheese spread takes your fancy. My favourite is chives, with ham as a close second.
Served with a large fresh salad it makes a perfectly healthy main meal.
You'l be pleased to know that Primula also produces Primula Kids Cheese, the original Primula and a Primula Light version, too.
and it's also available in spreadable tubs, too.
Incidentally, all of the profits of the sale of Primula go to charity.
To learn more and for some tasty recipes you can visit
http://www.primula.co.uk/primula-cheese-range.html
Sunday 31 May 2015
Add some ginger to your summer deserts
Nobody does ginger like The Ginger People! For over three decades they have been perfecting the craft of all things gingery, responsibly sourcing their key ingredient via direct partnering with ginger farmers and producers from some of the world's best ginger growing regions.
And 2015 sees the UK launch of their EU Organic Certified Ginger Cooking Essentials range, a delicious assortment of culinary treats, guaranteed to tantalise your taste buds!
Organic Ginger Syrup.
• Ginger-infused syrup for beverages, breakfast toppings, desserts, stir-fry’s and glazes for your BBQ meats.
• Very versatile, and also makes a great hot soothing drink!
• Gluten and fat-free, and certified organic and Kosher
• 237ml RRP £3.79
In addition to its delicious taste, ginger also has a long history of medicinal use in traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. Modern research confirms its effectiveness in relieving symptoms of nausea, vomiting, indigestion and dizziness.
The Cooking Essentials range from The Ginger People is available from independent health stores, fine food stores, garden centres, farm shops and delicatessens’ nationwide.
Wow! The That's Food and Drink taste test team were very impressed with this organic ginger syrup.
It was tried in hot drinks (a ginger, hot chocolate and cinnamon drink that really kicked the taste buds into high gear!) as an ingredient in a hot ginger pudding, as a pouring sauce for ice cream or as a cheeky addition to a cocktail or even stirred into plane yoghurt, it will add pep and fun to your summer dining experiences!
We can heartily recommend this ginger sauce.
Gin and Tonic cocktails
By that I mean you either put too much alcohol in the cocktail or you go to the other extreme and use far too much mixer.
Either way the drink will not satisfy your guests and too much alcohol and a barbecue certainly do not make a good combination. I remember the shriek of pain when the guest of honour at a barbecue party was so drunk that she felt the need to steady herself, by putting her hand on the hot barbecue, which certainly put a dampener on the evening.
So, what can you do? Buy pre-mixed cocktails. They come in cans or bottles and both Gordons Gin and Bloom and Fentimans are both widely available.
It's also better to have these drinks rather than jugs of drink kept outside as they can attract flies and in order to keep them cool you will have to add copious amounts of ice, this further diluting the cocktail.
With the Gordons and Bloom Gins readymade cocktails you can keep them in a drinks fridge until your guests are ready to drink them. After all, what is the point of serving warm drinks with guests trying to rescue flies from their glasses?
Go for readymade cocktails so that you can concentrate on cooking and serving up the food!
Sunday 24 May 2015
Fruit teas from Whittard
But if you are entertaining guests and you want to offer them s real fruit tea experience, it's no good just grabbing something from the supermarket, you have to treat your guests with respect.
Far, far too many fruit teas taste like they are nothing more than a couple of tea leaves, a few chemical flavourings, a dollop of cheap corn syrup and some bitter-tasting artificial sweeter. Which, sadly, if you study the ingredients list, you'll probably find that is, in reality, what they are, pretty much.
But! It doesn't have to be this way!
Get yourself along to your nearest Whittard branch (or visit their website) and find yourself some of the best fruit teas that you will ever have the pleasure of serving to your guests or of drinking yourself.
Recently, iced tea and fruit infusion drinks are becoming a big trend for this summer.
And Whittard has recently launched its ice TEA-JAY – a unique product for creating delicious fruity drinks and cocktails (yes, you can even add alcohol if you fancy!), as well as a number of fruit infusion flavours like Very Berry and Apple and Elderflower.
We have had the pleasure of trying the fruit teas from this range and have to report that they are utterly superb!
That they have no trace of chemical flavourings, no nasty artificials and just the delicious tastes of the fruits of nature.
Ideal for your summer barbecue, your after dinner drinks in the conservatory or with your al fresco Sunday lunch, on your picnic (just chill and put it in a vacuum flask) or whenever and wherever takes your fancy.
You can order from Whittard on line at http://www.whittard.co.uk.
Castello Burger Blue cheese declared "Best blue cheese ever!"
Castello Burger Blue cheese is a recently launched product, based on Castello's extremely popular Extra Creamy Danish Blue cheese.
It is aimed to be the perfect compliment to the barbecue beef burgers this summer. (If we have a summer!)
After my wife prepared the burgers she placed slices of the Castello Burger Cheese on them and gave them a quick burst in the microwave and we at the cheese-topped burgers with a nice salad with some extra virgin olive oil as the dressing.
My wife's verdict: "This is the best blue cheese I have ever tasted!"
As my wife is a long time fan of blue cheeses of a wide variety of types and styles, this is high praise indeed!
Just ask for it as your cheesemonger or supermarket or visit http://www.castellocheese.com/en/our-cheeses/castello-burger-blue/.
Be a barbecue season hero with a garden curry in a hurry!
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 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
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!
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!
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.
Sunday 17 May 2015
Are there too many chillies in commercial 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."
Thursday 30 April 2015
Anni's Lavender Scones
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.
Sunday 26 April 2015
Merangz - and the Passion Fruitz Luxury dessert in new tropical flavour is naturally Gluten Free 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.
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