100% dairy-free Sheese, the Melting Sheesy Bake

100% dairy-free Sheese is an amazing produce from the Bute Island Vegan Creamery.

As you might be aware, I had to stop eating dairy cheese for health reasons and, whilst browsing through the ever-expanding "Free From" section in Morrison's, I found a ceramic pot of 100% dairy-free Sheese. 

The description drew my attention: a "melting sheeshy bake" with spring onion and garlic flavour.

So, I added it to my shopping trolley and trundled it, plus some crackers and other bit and pieces, to the checkouts.

On the rear of the pack it describes the product as a dairy-free vegan alternative to cheese, a blend of coconut oil and starches.

Cook it in your oven for 20 minutes, give it a bit of a stir, place it back in the oven for a further five minutes.

Then you can share it with friends and family members, or eat it all yourself. Which is what I did!

It's got a really nice cheesy taste to it and goes really well with crackers, roast potatoes, nachos or spread on a piece of freshly baked bread. With a nice vegan spread, or butter. Remember? I'm not a vegan!

You can learn more about the range of products here https://www.buteisland.com.

Next to try? Their Jalapeno and Chilli Melting Sheesy Bake. I've got an idea this will taste equally good, but with a bit of fire in its belly! I'll keep you posted.

Dine Al Fresco With Unearthed®'s New Dips And Platters

This summer impress your guests by serving up a selection of Middle Eastern treats, one of the hottest cuisines in the UK right now. For inspiration look to foodie explorers unearthed®, they've discovered an exciting new range of Dips, which include exotic flavours such as pomegranate mollases and green harissa.
 
Pomegranate Houmous with Green Harissa Dip - an Eastern Mediterranean taste with sweet pomegranate molasses and fresh coriander. Serve with a variety of vegetable batons. (RRP £1.49, 170g)

Yoghurt & Green Harissa Dip - coriander, parsley and chilli flavours are gently stirred through a light refreshing yoghurt to give a taste of North Africa. Serve with pitta bread for an incredibly moorish snack. (RRP £1.49, 170g)

Broad Bean Houmous Dip - a nutty flavoured twist on humous made from broad beans and given a subtle kick from spicy paprika. Simply grab a bag of tortillas and dive right in. (RRP £1.49, 170g)

With charcuterie more popular than ever, why not share unearthed®'s new timesaving continental Meat Platters with your friends and family. Perfect served as part of your picnic or as a starter before a barbecue.

Umbrian Cured Meat Platter - includes Italian Prosciutto Crudo and Perugian Salami. Enjoy with crusty bread. (RRP £2.99, 65g)

Tuscan Cured Meat Platter - contains dry cured ham and Finocchiona Salami with fennel. Try serving with cubes of melon, plus a handful of figs and dates. (RRP £2.99, 65g)

unearthed® is a national brand partner of Action Against Hunger and have committed to donate 1p per pack sold to support their campaign. By choosing any of the unearthed® range, you can rest assured you're contributing to a worthy cause.

To view the full product range and for summer recipe ideas, visit www.discoverunearthed.com. Become a fan on Facebook search for unearthed. Join them on Twitter: www.twitter.com/foodsunearthed

The unearthed range is available from Waitrose supermarkets, Ocado and Abel & Cole.

In Summer 2010, unearthed® became the first national brand to partner with Action Against Hunger.

Donating one penny per pack sold, half of the unearthed donations will go forward to the Zambia project supporting grandparent-headed households where older generators are left to care for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. It will provide households with nutritional support for families and longer-term sustainable income-generation activities. The additional money will go to other Action Against Hunger's projects and emergency response.

Based on Action Against Hunger's successful 'Eat Out' campaign, Love Food Give Food is an Action Against Hunger appeal to save the lives of malnourished children. Love Food Give Food encourages food lovers to host dinner parties at home and invite their friends to make a donation in return for the delicious meal.

Tesco scoops up DipNation in time for Christmas

DipNation are set to launch their award winning range of dips in Tesco this December. The selection of chunky dips from the Fife based company will be available in selected Tesco stores across Scotland from today.

The Company was set up by Jeremy and Juliet Williams, and Juliet’s brother Patrick Gilmour. Inspired by the variety of dips available overseas and bored at the lack of choice in the UK market, Jeremy and Juliet decided to fill a niche. Patrick, with his background in chefing created scrumptious recipes to appeal to a primed UK consumer.

Since its launch in 2009 the family-run business, based in Fife built up a strong customer base of local Farm Shops and Delicatessens in Fife and its surrounding areas. They were an instant hit, their fresh ingredients and delicious flavours won them numerous stars in the Great Taste Award and a nomination in the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards. Their increasing popularity allowed them to supply to independent stores nationwide and they will now be rolled out across Tesco’s Scottish stores.

Commenting on the Tesco launch, co-founder Juliet Williams said, “It’s an exciting time for us and we are thrilled to be working with such a major retailer. It has really impressed us that Tesco are so keen to support and promote smaller, local producers who have innovative new products and to help them reach a wider market. We are extremely proud of our range and the awards they have won, so we are delighted that they will now be more readily available to consumers.”

The range is entering Tesco stores at a perfect time as they are a great product for the festive season. The delicious dips are perfect for parties, buffet table nibbles or for your traditional chips ‘n dips relaxing with friends and family. They even go well in recipes for a quick but impressive dish.

Lynne Roxburgh, Local Sourcing Marketing Manager for Tesco in Scotland said, "We pride ourselves on sourcing top quality food and drink from Scottish producers and are delighted to be the first supermarket launching such a range from DipNation. DipNation attended our 'Meet the Tesco Local Sourcing Team' event last year and introduced us to their award winning range of dips. Their enthusiasm and passion for their products was clearly evident and we are delighted to be working with them to help grow their business by adding these fantastic products to our range of locally sourced food and drink."

Bursting with delicious fresh ingredients, the Chunky Dips are made with a base of crushed cashews and real Parmesan shavings to give you more of a mouthful. Combined with an imaginative mix of ingredients these dips bring imaginative flavours to the UK table.
For more information contact Pam or Su at Crimson Edge PR on 0131 311 7050 or email pamela@crimsonedge.co.uk or su@crimsonedge.co.uk

FACTFILE:

*The dips will be available in 62 Scottish stores – a full list of stores can be provided if necessary
**The dips will retail at £2.20 for a 135g tub
***The following is the full range of Chunky Dip flavours available and the number of Great Taste Award gold stars they hold:

Sweet Thai Chilli Chunky Dip 2010 2 stars GTA. 2011 1 star GTA
Roasted Butternut & Sweet Chilli Chunky Dip 2011 1 star GTA
Roasted Red Pepper Chunky Dip 2011 1 star GTA
Spinach & Feta Chunky Dip 2011 1 star GTA
Sun Dried Tomato Chunky Dip 2010 1 star GTA

DipNation How to make your BBQ a special occasion

DipNation are a mouth-watering range of dips with a difference to tempt the taste buds of the nation. Not only are the dips fantastic with your usual chips and crudités, DipNation Chunky Dips work really well within recipes.  Not only do they help create delicious dishes, but they reduce much of the usually required preparation due to their ingredients.

Launched by Jeremy and Juliet Williams, and Juliet’s brother Patrick Gilmour, DipNation and its range of ‘Classic Dips’ was launched in the June of 2009. 

Inspired by the variety of dips that were available overseas and somewhat bored by the lack of choice for we foodies in the UK, Jeremy and Juliet thought they would try and have a go at filling what they identified as a niche, here. 

Patrick, with his background as a skilled chef, created some really scrumptious recipes designed to appeal to UK consumers.  The Chunky Dip range brings tantalising flavours to home entertaining and are perfect for bbqs, dinner parties, picnic occasions and buffets.

A new proposition to the UK market, the Dips introduced a unique and imaginative mix of ingredients which proved to be an instant hit with food lovers in the UK.

Having built up a strong customer base of local Farm Shops and Delicatessens in Fife and its surrounding areas, DipNation’s Dips are now supplied to independent stores throughout the entire UK.

Committed to producing high quality products that are fresh and flavorsome DipNation are always looking for new products. They have recently added a new line of ‘chunky dips’ to their range.

Chunky Dips

Filled to the brim with chunky ingredients these dips are made with a base of crushed cashews and real Parmesan shavings.  Combined with an imaginative mix of ingredients to infuse the flavour, these dips are a taste revelation.  There are no artificial flavourings or colourings added. They only believe in using the purest of ingredients that are designed to compliment and inspire. The chunky dips retail at around £2.60 and have a shelf life of 9-12 days.

Classic Dips

Bursting with delicious, fresh ingredients, these dips recreate authentic middle-eastern recipes that are tantalising and bursting with flavours.  Prepared in simple, yet imaginative ways, they are packed full of natural goodness and contain large amounts of protein, dietary fibre, vitamins and iron. And, as with the rest of the range, there are no artificial flavourings, colourings or preservatives.  Healthy AND tasty. Could there be better? No! The classic dips retail at around £1.99 and have a shelf life of 5 days.

To find out more, visit www.dipnation.co.uk.