Sunday, 18 December 2011

Channelling a safer Christmas meal

The Food Standards Agency has teamed up with Channel 4 to sponsor its Christmas recipe web pages over the holiday season. This allows the Agency to highlight its Christmas food hygiene and safety messages to a wider audience as they plan their Christmas menus.

Unless you take care, food poisoning can be an unwelcome Christmas guest. The Agency has a range of information to help, including tips for preparing and cooking your turkey. But keeping Christmas dinner safe is not just about taking care with turkey. Recent Agency research found that consumers are aware of the risk of harmful germs from raw meat, but are less aware of the risks from raw vegetables.

Bob Martin, food safety expert at the Food Standards Agency, said: "Preparing Christmas dinner can be a challenge, as most of us aren’t used to cooking for so many people. It can be easy to make mistakes in the kitchen that increase the risk of food poisoning.

"One of the main rules to remember is to avoid cross-contamination from raw meat or poultry on to other foods. Keep all raw food, whether it’s your turkey or vegetables, separate from ready-to-eat foods. Always wash your hands before and after handling food but don't wash your turkey, as that will only spread germs. Instead, make sure that it gets cooked properly, and that means right the way through.

"There are around a million cases of food poisoning over the year, but following some simple steps in the kitchen can help protect you and your family."

For advice and information on preparing a safe Christmas dinner, go to the link below.
www.food.gov.uk/safereating/hyg/turkey

(EDITOR: And when you are eating out, always ensure you visit an establishment that is fully compliant with food hygiene standards. You can check out eating places, takeaway and delivery services, food shops, etc., at www.scoresonthedoors.org.uk. If your local council does not yet participate in the Scores on the Doors scheme, ask them why they are not.)

Saturday, 17 December 2011

Try something different for your Christmas Party

With the Christmas season and party time upon us, it’s the time to fill our plates at the buffet. But why should our plate be restricted to the usual sausage rolls and crisps?

‘Tis the season to be experimental, and party snacking at the office Christmas party offers the perfect opportunity to try new things.

The UK’s leading Oriental grocer, Wing Yip, dedicates an aisle in its stores to a vast array of sweet and savory snacks. With the credit crunch taking its toll on the Christmas party budget, many offices are bringing the buffet table to the board room.

Throw a soiree to remember with an Oriental spin on tradition that’s sure to get your guests and colleagues (and their tastebuds) excited. From spring rolls to chilli rice crackers there are plenty of tasty options to brighten up the buffet table.

Mr Wing Yip, founder and chairman of the Oriental grocery empire, said: “Party food doesn’t have to be boring. We offer a host of unique party treats and authentic ingredients to make sure the office party goes off with a bang!”

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 the stores is like taking a trip around the world with over 3,000 products from the Far East.
www.wingyipstore.com

Mixology Expert Presents a Cocktail Course for Cost-Conscious, High-Style Entertaining

Everyone loves a holiday cocktail party, but in this economy, a full bar may not fit the budget. That's not a problem, says Certified Specialist of Spirits Jennifer Simonetti-Bryan. Throw a one-bottle party with diverse cocktails based on that one spirit, and that becomes part of the fun. Here are some short cocktail courses for the holidays from this acclaimed mixology expert.

Simonetti-Bryan is course lecturer for The Everyday Guide to Spirits and Cocktails: Tastes and Traditions, a DVD and downloadable guide to cocktails video course. She says, "If you’ve only got one bottle, embrace it. Theme your party to that spirit. There are a wide variety of creations you can make with just one spirit ... it’s knowing what the key ones are and how to make them well."

Vodka Cocktails

Vodka is so versatile, it goes with almost anything. Classic vodka cocktails include the Bloody Mary (which can also be made with gin) and the Moscow Mule (named for its gingery kick). Vodka goes well with a variety of mixers, and it can be infused or flavored at home. Just add ingredients such as citrus, apple, spices, ginger, or nuts, and let the bottle sit a day or more as the flavors infuse.

Vodka Bloody Mary recipe:

2 oz. vodka, 4 oz. tomato juice, ½ oz. lemon juice or juice of half a lemon, 4 dashes Tabasco(R), 2 dashes Worcestershire, 2 pinches of salt, and 3 pinches of pepper. Celery stalks to garnish.

Says Simonetti-Bryan: "People might know the ingredients for this cocktail but vary the amounts, which can change the flavor significantly. This recipe allows the full flavor of this cocktail to come out. It's best served in a tall glass."

Rum Cocktails

Rum is another versatile spirit, central to such classic cocktails as the Mojito, Daiquiri, Pina Colada, and Caipirinha. Here's a classic rum cocktail with the Simonetti-Bryan touch.

Mojito recipe:

2 oz. white rum, 1 oz. simple syrup (mix and heat 1 part water to 1 part sugar), ¾ oz. fresh lime juice, and 2 oz. club soda. Two sprigs of fresh mint to garnish.

A good selection of garnishes, mixers, fruit juice, and fresh fruit can make a cocktail sparkle. If you use the right ice (cubed, shaved, crushed, or cracked) and some well-matched glassware, no one will even think of what your party cost.

The Everyday Guide to Spirits and Cocktails: Tastes and Traditions is an eight-lecture course covering classic spirits, cordials and liqueurs, recipes, and a mixology toolkit. For further information on mixology courses and how to purchase a DVD or a digital video download, visit www.thegreatcourses.com.

For further information on The Everyday Guide to Spirits and Cocktails or The Great Courses please contact Kirsty Shaw or Gina Tunley at Punch Communications: +44 (0) 1858 411 600 or email tgc@punchcomms.com

• The Everyday Guide to Spirits and Cocktails: Tastes and Traditions is available from www.thegreatcourses.com/cocktail-courses for $27.95 (digital video download) and $29.95 (DVD). Shipping and handling costs apply.

• Jennifer Simonetti-Bryan is a definitive authority on spirits in the United States and among a small number of people to have received the highest credentials in the spirits and wine industry. She has a Professional Certificate in Spirits from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and is a Certified Specialist of Spirits from the Society of Wine Educators. Ms. Simonetti-Bryan is also one of only a few hundred people in the world to hold the Master of Wine title (M.W.) from The Institute of Masters of Wine in London, England—the highest and most difficult title to achieve in the industry.

Winner of the Wiesbaden Tasting Trophy from the Institute of Masters of Wine, Ms. Simonetti-Bryan has trained thousands of professionals in the spirits and wine industry, has judged international spirits and wine competitions, and has hosted seminars with Food Network stars including Rachael Ray and Bobby Flay. She is a frequent guest on television programs, including Fox Business and Bloomberg TV, and has been featured in Fortune, Wine & Spirits Magazine, and Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

• The Great Courses is a highly popular series of university-level lectures crafted and delivered by top professors and experts. Designed to meet the demand for lifelong learning and to change the way people think about the world, The Great Courses currently offers more than 350 courses in a range of video and audio formats including DVD, CD, and digital downloads.

Courses span over 5,000 hours of content across ten subject categories: science and mathematics, history, fine arts and music, religion and theology, philosophy and intellectual history, literature and English language, business and economics, better living, professional, and high school. Since 1990, over 10 million courses have been sold around the world.

Tesco Real Food sets SOS helpline to save Christmas dinner nightmares

Tesco Real Food has set up a unique Christmas dinner SOS helpline to rescue Britons from kitchen disasters as they prepare their festive feasts.

The supermarket has pulled together a crack team of expert chefs who will be on hand to offer personalised first rate advice on how to create the perfect Christmas dinner and avoid any potential nightmares.

Anyone running into difficulties on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be able to contact the team via the supermarket's Twitter site to get immediate solutions to their culinary problems.

Tesco senior marketing manager Breige Donaghy said: "Imagine the scenario - your guests are due to arrive for the most celebrated meal of the year and to your horror your turkey is undercooked, your bread sauce too thick and your roasties aren’t crispy enough.

"But instead of panicking, cooks will now be able to speak to our team of expert chefs who have cooked thousands of meals between them and who know all the tricks of the trade for putting on a fabulous Christmas feast with as little stress as possible.

"We think the helpline will prove especially useful to those embarking on cooking their first ever Christmas dinner. And our experts will also be around on Christmas Eve in case anyone needs help planning the big meal."

The team will include Cordon Bleu standard chefs as well as others who have been trained by top London cooking school Leiths and other top restaurants plus those who work with Tesco to develop recipes and inspire new dishes. Their combined experience totals nearly 100 years in the food business.

The team will run two help sessions. One will offer planning and preparation tips between 10am and 8pm on Christmas Eve and the other will help solve actual cooking dilemmas on Christmas Day, between 8am and 4pm.

Anyone wanting to contact the team will need to log onto Twitter on those days and then navigate to Tesco's Real Food Online Twitter page (@tescorealfood), and send off their question. They will then be sent a tweet with a solution to their problem

Breige Donaghy added: "This is the first time that any supermarket has ever tried anything like this and if it’s a success then we will look at running similar kitchen helplines for Easter and other big occasions."
 
FACTFILE:

On the Real Food website Tesco has developed a Christmas zone to help customers with everything they will need in the run up to Christmas. The tools on the site include:

- Easy-to-follow cooking videos
- Working out the right cooking times with a turkey timer. The timer can also work out the cooking times for salmon, gammon, chicken and beef.
- How to carve a turkey
- How to steam a Christmas pudding
- Cocktail recipe tool: users type in their preferred spirit or ask for suggestions based on taste and/or glass type.
- Advent calendar on the site for daily helpful tips on getting ready for Christmas.

About Tesco Real Food:

The Tesco Real Food website is packed with hundreds of healthy recipes to suit any occasion including vegetarian recipes and a recipe for strawberry yoghurt jellies. Whether customers are looking for a quick mid-week meal for the family or something for a special event, visitors are sure to find exactly what they're looking for. In addition, a range of step-by-step cooking tips and videos to help improve kitchen skills can be found, as well as healthy eating and cooking with kids sections. To make shopping even easier, every recipe has a ready-made shopping list that can be used to add all the ingredients to the shopping basket in just a few clicks.

www.tesco.com/food

That's Christmas: Festive chores dominate Christmas family time

That's Christmas: Festive chores dominate Christmas family time: toptable research reveals Brits spend over 2 working days planning and delivering their perfect Christmas celebration. British families a...

The Marilyn Factor Boosts Demand For Cakes, Puds And Dessert Course

Lake District cookery school, LucyCooks, is receiving support for its ‘Keep Cumbria Curvy’ campaign from an unexpected source – film viewers who have been to see the movie ‘My Week With Marilyn’.

The sight of the representation of Ms Monroe with real shapely curves and oozing sex appeal, despite being a reported size 14/16, is proving to women nationwide that it is not a sin to have a silhouette. Freed from the guilt that society has placed on food indulgence, women are booking themselves on to cookery courses as decadent as Classic Cakes and Bakes, Thrilling Three Courses and Canapés and Bubbles.

Top-selling courses at the Staveley-based cookery school near Kendal in the last two weeks have been Desserts – Queen of Puddings (April 20), Macaroon and Cupcake afternoon (January28) and the multi-generation desserts-focused Family Fun Day running on February 19.

LucyCooks front of house manager, Anna Morton, says: “Retro is the trend that’s dominating style, dining and fashion and it would seem that we are thankfully getting back to a time in which having a full and fabulous figure is something to celebrate, rather than hide away.

“Our message to male and female cooks is that you can indulge yourself with your favourite dishes, delve into delicious desserts and comfort yourself with cake, if you balance this out with some exercise to burn off the calories. It would seem that this view is definitely getting more backing thanks to the resurgence of the Marilyn factor”.

Food lovers wanting to free themselves from their food taboos can find a huge range of courses at www.lucycooks.co.uk that will give them a fabulous culinary repertoire and reward their bravery in standing up for the curvaceous Cumbrian. More information can also be obtained from 01539 822507.

Laverstoke Park beers for Christmas and the New Year

The first thing one notices about the beers that Laverstoke Park produces is that they actually do taste like beer.

Now, whilst the idea of beers that taste like beers might be somewhat confusing to some people, please let me explain what I mean.

I speak -or rather, write- as someone with considerable experience as a drinker of beers and as a writer on beers. Sad to say, some beers do not taste particularly pleasant.

I remember one brewer of organic ales who worked very, very hard to brew his beers. But somehow or for some reason he had decided to use smoked malt in all of his different types of beer. The result was not good.

However, it has to be said that the folks at Laverstoke Park know what they are doing!

Their Organic Real Ale is 5.0% ABV. It has a pleasingly light flavour, though the malty character of this finely crafted ale does combine nicely with the yeast and the hoppy goodness, though there's a rather nice and welcome surprise, a fruity undertone that means it will go very well with Christmas dinner, Christmas cake, mince pies and will be a great toast for the Queen's Chirstmas Message!

Next we come to the Laverstoke Park Organic Real Lager. At 4.5%
 it is a good, decent strength and is exactly what a lager should taste like. It has the characteristically lager style taste (not all lagers do!) and it is a light and refreshing beer, ideal for those who know their Continental style beers.  Ideal for drinking with all Christmas foods, and for just drinking whilst you think nice thoughts about what Christmas really means. I would suggest getting in a good supply of this Real Lager and watching every film version of the Charles Dickens novel a Christmas Carol that you can!

www.laverstokepark.co.uk

Thursday, 15 December 2011

It must be Aldi for Christmas

If you are worried about what to buy for your Christmas and New Year food this year, do not worry! Just shop at Aldi, instead!

Aldi has an undeserved reputation and I want to show you why this is wrong. I was shopping in Aldi not so long ago and met a retired Lieutenant Colonel I know who had a trolley brimmed with Chirstmas shopping.

He was clearly very happy to be shopping in Aldi and he explained why: "I was a base commander in Germany for a number of years and Aldi is one of the best supermarket chains over there. And when you are stationed over in Germany for any length of time, you get a taste for certain German foods. Especially at Christmas time, because the Germans certainly know how to celebrate Christmas with mulled wine, Stollen, cheeses and so forth. And I know I can get all of these items -genuine, good quality German stuff, too! all at a fraction of the price I would pay in a delicatessen or a high end supermarket!"

And there are genuine British goodies that are available, too! The mince pies -especially when warmed in the oven!- are absolutely delicious (better than those at premium prices elsewhere!) the Stollen pieces are to die for, the four bird roast is a real treat and please do not forget  the goose fat roast potatoes!

There's a stunning range of beers and wines and the selection of Champagnes and sparkling wines is excellent and all at prices that might make you think you have joined Dr Who for a quick trip back to the 1980s!


To find out more and to locate your nearest Aldi store, please visit www.aldi.co.uk


That's Books: First the Absolute Sanctuary, now the cook book!

That's Books: First the Absolute Sanctuary, now the cook book!: The Love Kitchen, the in-house restaurant, at ABSOLUTE SANCTUARY is proud to announce the launch of its much awaited cook book Food Made wit...

Christmas Dinner - In A Cake? Here's the recipe!

Christmas Dinner - In A Cake? Whatever next?!

Why not try a slice of Weeton's of Harrogate's new 'Christmas Dinner Cake' made from all the trimmings - minus the turkey, however!

The Christmas Dinner Cake - which was baked exclusively for Weeton's by its multi-award winning cake supplier Allison Whitmarsh, of Proper Maid in Huddersfield ­- contains carrots, parsnips, cranberries, Christmas spices, chestnuts - and of course, the sprouts.

"We all know that vegetables are great in cakes but who knew you could get an entire Christmas dinner in there!" says cake connoisseur Allison. "While the cake was baking there was a definite whiff of sprouts, but the end result is absolutely delicious - Christmas dinner never tasted so good!"

Weeton's operations director Jo Loftus says she can't wait to sample her first sweet slice. "Allison has been providing us with delicious cakes for sometime now and we didn't think she could beat some of her more unconventional flavours, but this is festive and fantastic," she says. "There'll be no running around like a headless turkeys this Christmas - just serve a slice of this Noel novelty and you've got Christmas dinner licked!"

The Christmas Dinner Cake, which is topped with a cream cheese frosting and decorated with cranberries and white chocolate curls, will be available to try at Weeton's café throughout December, plus this unusual sweet treat is available to order this festive season.

And in case you want a slice of the action at home...

...that Christmas Dinner Cake recipe in full!

7" Cake serves 6-8

Ingredients

185g Wholemeal Chapatti Flour

135g Soft brown sugar

55g Dark brown Sugar

1 tsp. ground Cinnamon

1 tsp. Mixed Spice

1 tsp. Bicarbonate of Soda

30g Cranberries

30g Chopped Chestnuts

2 Eggs

110g Vegetable oil

40g Sour cream

125g Grated Carrots

50g Grated Parsnips

50g Chopped Sprouts

Filling

50g Roses orange Marmalade

80g Philadelphia

40g Vegetable Margarine or Butter

40g Icing Sugar

Cranberries and White Choc Curls to decorate

Method

1. Mix together the flour, sugars, bicarb, cranberries and chopped chestnuts

2. Add the eggs, sour cream and oil and beat well

3. Mix in all the grated and chopped vegetables and beat well again

4. Grease and line 2 x 7" sandwich tins

5. Pour the prepared mixture into the tins

6. Bake 180°C for approx. 30 mins until cooked (test with the tip of a knife to ensure all

the mixture is cooked through)

7. Leave to cool

8. When cool spread the orange marmalade onto the bottom half of the cake

9. Mix together the Philadelphia, margarine/butter & Icing Sugar until smooth

10. Spread 80g of the prepared icing onto the top of the marmalade and sandwich

together

11. Spread the remaining 80 g of icing onto the top of the cake

12. Decorate with cranberries and white chocolate curls

Weeton's is located at 23/24 West Park, Harrogate, HG1 1BJ, 01423 507 100,

info@weetons.com, www.weetons.com.