Brand New Beer Bonanza For Staffordshire!

This year’s Stone Food & Drink Festival promises to be bigger and better than ever, with the inception of a brand new event for beer-lovers – The Titanic Brewery ‘Best of Staffordshire Beer Festival’.

With over a dozen Staffordshire brewers taking part, including Blythe, Enville, Burton Bridge – and of course, Titanic - this new addition will make The Stone Food & Drink Festival the go-to event for ale lovers.

Taste of Staffordshire members, Titanic Brewery, have attended Stone’s premier celebration of all things gastronomic for the past three years, and this year have invited fellow Staffordshire brewers to come along and celebrate the county’s fantastic and distinctive ale offer with them.

Dave Bott, Director at Titanic Brewery, said: “We have always thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the festival, but this year we decided that we wanted to look at the bigger picture and invite other brewers to come and get involved.

“The Best of Staffordshire Beer Festival will add a whole new dimension to The Stone Food & Drink Festival and we would encourage anyone with a passion for real ale to come along and sample some of the best that the county has to offer.”

With a huge variety of beers, from light to dark, bitters to stouts, and various strengths and styles, this year’s Stone Food & Drink Festival, from Friday 30th September – Sunday 2nd October is not to be missed for anyone with an appreciation of ale!

Now in its seventh year, The Stone Food & Drink Festival continues to be sponsored by Taste of Staffordshire, the county’s foremost mark of taste and quality for local food and drink.

Create your own Dim Sum feast at home

Usually found in China Town restaurants as authentic Oriental sharing dishes served with tea, Dim Sum cuisine is undergoing a transformation.

The popular social Chinese way of eating is being turned on its head with modern, celebrity-packed restaurants opening, – led by the Michelin-starred Hakkasan and sister restaurant Yauatcha in London.

But! Why pay inflated Michelin prices to indulge with family and friends? Beat the high prices by creating some tasty home-cooked Dim Sum dishes with a little help from Wing Yip.

The UK’s top Oriental grocer offers a huge range of vital ingredients for popular dim sum dishes such as wontons, dumplings and hom bao (Chinese buns).

Wing Yip also has a full selection of prepared Dim Sum dishes available to buy in store for quick and tasty treats for a night in.

Mr Wing Yip, founder and chairman of the Oriental grocery empire, said: “Dim sum is the perfect way to enjoy lots of different types of Oriental food with others. Our Hoi Sin, Oyster, Mushroom or Sweet Chilli sauces are the perfect accompaniment to add spice and flavour to a wide range of Dim sum dishes.”

Next time you’re in a Chinese restaurants look for the following tasty Dim Sum varieties on the menu and try to sample a mix of steamed, baked and fried dishes:

Rice noodle rolls
Thin rolls made from a wide strip of rice noodle filled with prawn, pork, beef or vegetables and served with soy sauce.

Dumplings
Prawn dumplings are a popular dish you must try. Made with a translucent skin, these little parcels make a divine mouthful. Also try vegetable, pork, scallop and other variations.

Fried dim sum
Deep fried squid, spring rolls and shredded turnip puff pastries all make a tasty selection of fried dim sum dishes.

Steamed sponge cake
For those with a sweet tooth, this sponge cake is steamed making it deliciously moist.

And for the more adventurous look out for chicken feet, pig stomach and ox tripe.

Wing Yip is the UK’s leading Chinese grocer, with stores in Birmingham, Manchester, Cricklewood and Croydon.

Each store is situated close to the city centre with easy access to the motorway and plenty of free car parking for customers.

A visit to one of their stores is like taking a trip around the world with over 2,500 products from the Far East.

www.wingyipstore.com

Two ‘Golds’ for legendary Christmas pudding

The only thing missing from a festive celebration with a Feeding Your Imagination Christmas pudding this year will be frankincense and myrrh...

Christmas is going to be extra special this year for Feeding Your Imagination and Master Chef Paul Da-Costa-Greaves. The Bristol based fine food company have received Gold in the 2011 Great Taste Awards and Gold in the 2011 Taste of the West Awards.

The multi-award winning food brand entered their famous Christmas pudding into both Taste of the West and the Great Taste Awards, and won. The Great Taste Awards are organised by the Guild of Fine Food and are widely acknowledged as the benchmark for speciality food and drink - described by many as the ‘Oscars’ of the food industry. The prestigious Taste of the West Awards is also one of the most highly respected in the food and drinks industry and is run by Taste of the West, based in Devon.

The Christmas pudding is part of a premium food range from Feeding Your Imagination, headed up by Celebrity Chef, Paul Da-Costa-Greaves. ‘As an innovative company, both the Great Taste Awards and the Taste of the West are extremely important to us. We are excited to have won two more Gold awards which will now certainly differentiate our Christmas pudding from the norm. These independent awards offer absolute confidence to the consumer that the product they are buying comes with a reliable seal of approval purely based upon great taste,’ says Paul.

Having developed the recipe over 15 years ago, after ‘pinching’ it from his Jamaican Aunt, Paul has gone on to refine and adapt the Christmas pudding. It is now Gluten free, suitable for vegetarians and does not contain any suet. The overall result is a festive pudding that is fruity and light in texture. It comes wrapped in a muslin cloth and presented in a striking carry box, making it ideal for gifting.

Paul, who has delighted the West Country foodies with his Christmas pudding for many years and has become quite legendary in the Devon fine food circles, says. ‘I am absolutely thrilled to have won two Golds this year for the pudding, it’s fantastic to receive acknowledgement from independent sources for all of the hard work we’ve put in over the years, to get the pudding to where it is now.

We have never stopped listening to our customers and we continue to refine our products based on the feedback from the market. The “Chrimbo Pud” is vegetarian and we also have full Gluten and Wheat free approval from the Coeliac Society. We also approached Courvoisier this year to request a license agreement, as we only use their VS Cognac in our puddings. We were delighted to have been granted full approval from Courvoisier to promote their brand on our packaging and I believe we are the only Christmas Pudding manufacturer to have this!’

All entries to the Great Taste Awards are judged by three different judging panels at three different venues. The Taste of the West Awards take the best part of a year to coordinate, from launch to judging, culminating in the awards ceremony which will be held in November 2011 in the Mediterranean Biome at the Eden Project.

The Chrimbo Pud from Feeding Your Imagination will serve 6-8 people and is certified Gluten free and suitable for vegetarians. Purchased either online at www.chrimbopud.co.uk or from independent delicatessens and various retail outlets across the UK, details of which are available on the company website.

Feeding Your Imagination has a premium range of puddings, chocolate bars and gourmet seaweed sauce products which are all available throughout the UK, either online or via approved stockists.

For further information, where you can purchase or how to become a stockist, please visit; www.feeding-your-imagination.co.uk or email; eatme@feeding-your-imagination.co.uk.

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Burnt Bangers Not Enough' As BBQs Go Gourmet

New research has discovered that a charcoaled sausage is no longer enough to cut the mustard among BBQ loving Britons - with 61% of UK adults now making the effort to marinate their food before their BBQ. A growing number of us are becoming more adventurous with our BBQ menus with over a third saying that steak, pork and lamb steaks are our meat of choice.

The survey, commissioned by Hybu Cig Cymru - Meat Promotion Wales (HCC), the organisation responsible for promoting Welsh Lamb, also revealed that almost a third of us take up to a week to plan for a BBQ - with Londoners taking alfresco dining the most seriously.

As we dust off the BBQ and dig out the deck chairs in the hope of sunny bank holiday spent cooking and eating in the garden, it seems that the Great British BBQ is growing in popularity - on average people are having BBQs eight times a year, with the biggest BBQ lovers found in East Anglia where 10% of people pack in a whopping 16 a year. And they're not small affairs either, with the majority of people (52%) hosting up to 10 guests every time they BBQ, and 11% saying they cooked for up to 20 at their average BBQ.

Myrddin Davies, Welsh farmer and Face of Welsh Lamb, said: "It's really encouraging to see more people taking the time to put extra love and attention into their BBQ food this summer by cooking different meats and using marinades. Although we all still enjoy a sausage from the BBQ, it's important to try new cuts of meat in new ways. Welsh Lamb for example is often associated with Sunday lunch or a dinner party treat however, mouth-watering lamb steaks can be popped on the BBQ and served in a matter of minutes. BBQing is a great way to enjoy good home-cooked food with all the family."

Red meat is still the way to a man's heart with 40% of them preferring to eat red meat to chicken and fish (30%) and 70% of them prefer cooking it to white meat on the BBQ.

90% of Britons said that the BBQ is still a man's world. Both men and women confessed to preferring food cooked on a BBQ by a man, regardless of what they were serving up.

And if the sun doesn't shine this weekend - it won't hamper the BBQ fun for resilient Britons, almost 80% stick out the showers and carry on grilling instead of retreating to the kitchen when the rain starts!

Why not try making delicious Welsh Lamb and apricot burgers for your bank holiday BBQ?
Welsh Lamb and Apricot Burgers
Ingredients
o 450g (1lb) lean Welsh Lamb mince
o 5ml (1tsp) oil
o 1 small onion, peeled and finely sliced
o 5ml (1tsp) mild curry powder
o 50g (2oz) dried apricots, roughly chopped.
Heat oil in a small pan and lightly cook onions. Add curry powder and gently cook for 1-2 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.

Place lamb mince and apricots into a large bowl and add slightly cooled onions.

Mix well together and divide the mixture into 4 or 6 and shape into burgers.

Place under a preheated grill or on a hot barbecue for 8-12 minutes, turning occasionally until cooked thoroughly.

Serve with curried mayo and spicy couscous.

Wing Yip nail Tesco deal

Leading Oriental grocer Wing Yip has secured listings for four of its stir-fry sauces in Tesco following significant investment in consumer research and new look packaging.

The four 185ml sauces; Black Bean; Kung Po; Spicy Szechuan and Chow Mein sauce were rolled out in 300 Tesco stores, recently.

Wing Yip undertook extensive research with consumer focus groups to explore buying patterns, perceptions of the Oriental food category and attitudes towards current product branding, before the labelling was redesigned and the listing secured.

Wing Yip Director, Brian Yip said: “The Wing Yip sauce range uses traditional recipes and quality ingredients to create an authentic Chinese taste. Consumers are thinking more about ingredients and provenance and we are delighted to be able to offer this range to Tesco customers.

“This new look range is the result of in-depth research with target consumers and we believe the refreshed packaging will create real stand out in the cooking sauce aisle. These are the first Wing Yip stir-fry sauces to be stocked by Tesco. If they prove popular, we anticipate the range will be extended to a further 200 Tesco stores. This builds on our well established relationship and expands our existing produce range within the store,” added Brian Yip.

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Let Diet Chef help you out this Christmas!

Two words: Christmas party - enough to put the fear into even the most preened and pampered women. (EDITOR: And some chaps, too!)

But here's another two words: Diet Chef - the easy weight loss plan here to help you get you into your LBD and party the festive season away.

Diet Chef is here to support women in the lead up to Christmas as the one stop solution for losing weight sensibly. Enough time is wasted in the kitchen over the festive period preparing for Christmas parties and dinners without the added hassle of having to calorie count too. So imagine if you had your own personal chef who planned your meals, measured out the portions, did all the cooking for you and delivered it to your door.

Executive Chef Alan Mathieson has created a whole range of delicious and mouth-watering meals that come in 1,200 calorie a day hampers (mainly for women) and 1,500 calorie a day hampers (mainly for men). It’s the easiest way to stick to a calorie-controlled diet that is actually enjoyable and packed full of flavour.

In the Diet Chef range you’ll find all your winter warming favorites including porridge and soups in a variety of flavours and a scrumptious ready meal for dinner. You can also choose a snack a day from a selection of bars, biscuits, oat bites or popcorn to keep hunger at bay.

The nutritionally balanced menu means Diet Chef delivers a healthy pace of weight loss, which will be much easier to keep off! So you will be eating real, tasty food with healthy ingredients and losing weight – the icing on the cake for anyone’s Christmas.

Diet Chef Founder Kevin Dorren, says: “At this time of year everyone is counting the pennies, and at Diet Chef it’s no exception. We’ve ensured that our delicious diet delicacies are affordable for everyone at only £5.57 per day which is what the average Londoner usually spends on lunch alone!”

Jenny, 36, Norwich, says: “I’m really excited about getting my LBD out for Christmas, it’s only my first week on Diet Chef and I’ve already lost 5lbs. The food is truly delicious, easy to make and you even get online support to help you keep track of your weight loss and gain tips on a healthier lifestyle.”

For more details or to sign up to a trial, visit http://www.dietchef.co.uk/

FACTFILE:

The price of £5.57 per day price is based on the Diet Chef 1200 programme on Pay Monthly.

Taste test results: The Lasagne was very filling and the soups tasted home-made.

Sugar free does not have to be taste free if you use SPLENDA

Some people cannot tolerate sugar due to health issues, others cannot use sugar because they are watching their weight as part of a calorie controlled diet.

But what alternatives are there to sugar? There is saccharine. To be honest, with its horribly bitter taste, it's a wonder it every caught on as a sugar substitute! And there are a variety of other artificial sweeteners, some which cannot really be used in cooking as they do not tolerate heat, whilst there are others that are liquid so not as useful in all applications as they might be. And they can impart a different taste to a recipe that is not always welcome.

SPLENDA is different. It can be used as a direct replacement for sugar in many recipes (it's granulated) and it is actually made using sugar.

SPLENDA is recommended by the new Atkins-Advantage plan as 'a low-carb alternative to sugar'

Sucralose is not recognised by the body as a carbohydrate, thus making it suitable for people with diabetes. When it comes to carbohydrate, SPLENDA Granular has just 0.5g per teaspoon and SPLENDA® tablets are virtually free.

This means that people with diabetes can now look forward to a whole new world of cooking, baking and dining opportunities with SPLENDA. Meaning they do not have to feel left out at Christmas time.

SPLENDA Granulated and SPLENDA Sweet Minis are available across all good retailers.

For cooking and baking tips on how to incorporate SPLENDA Granular into your favourite recipes – please visit www.splenda.co.uk

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