Seggiano Pesto and more

Let’s be honest… Who doesn’t love affair pesto pasta? It's quick, it's simple Quick, simple and delicious and it's getting quite the cult following.

The best  is available from artisan Italian brand Seggiano.

Regularly winning in taste tests, Seggiano Raw Basil Genovese Pesto is the star of the show. Made using only Ligurian basil grown to organic standards, and the very best virgin olive oil that's available. Cashew nuts give a wickedly lush, creamy texture to this pesto which will really blow your mind.  

Other pesto varieties from Seggiano include Pesto Rosso made with tomato and basil; Wild Fennel Tomato Pesto; and Tuscan Black Kale Pesto. 

Seggiano Raw Basil Pesto – 1KG 

https://seggiano.com/product/raw-basil-pesto-catering-size/ 

Ironically the Mother of all pesto jars, this beauty weighs in at a hefty 1kg. Filled to the brim with the world’s best pesto from Seggiano, this jar should last your family a while

Seggiano Pesto Selection

https://seggiano.com/product/pesto-selection

Price: £22.50 for four jars of pesto, each 200g-220g

Surprise Dad with the full range of Seggiano pestos, including the star of the show, the Raw Basil Pesto, as well as Tomato Pesto, Tuscan Kale Pesto and Wild Fennel Pesto. 

Olive Wood Grater 

https://seggiano.com/product/olive-wood-grater-medium/ 

Price: Small, £11.40; Medium, £14.85; Large, £19.35

Because what would pesto pasta be without a heavy grating of Parmesan to top it off? This stunning box grater is handcrafted by the Marchini family from Tuscan olive wood which is pruned from the trees to encourage renewal and growth.

Organic Calamarata Pasta 

Link: https://seggiano.com/product/organic-calamarata-pasta/ 

Price: £4.40, 375g

Made using organic Tuscan wheat, cultivated in the untouched Orcia Valley, this pasta is dried slowly using bronze moulds to give the pasta a porous, matte texture, perfect for binding to pesto. 

Need a little helping hand with perfecting the cooking of your pesto pasta? Here are some top tips from Seggiano’s experts. 

Seggiano Perfect Pesto Pasta  

1. When you cook pasta you need plenty of water so that the pasta doesn't get gluey. Use 1.5 litres water per 100g of pasta, and bring to a brisk boil before adding salt (which will slow down the boiling process).

2. Drop the pasta into the briskly boiling water, stir and keep on a low boil for the time indicated, stirring occasionally.

3. Do the al dente test by carefully sampling a piece of pasta. It should be soft enough to bite through, but your teeth should still feel some resistance. Drain over the serving bowl which will warm it through, then empty and add the pasta to the dish.

4. Keep by a spoon or two of the warm cooking water, add this and a dash of good extra-virgin olive oil to the pasta to loosen it up, along with a good dollop of pesto. Stir well and serve onto warm plates. 

5. Ta da! Finish with a heavy grating of parmesan for the perfect pesto pasta.

All gifts can be ordered for nationwide delivery from the Seggiano web shop, where you can add a gift box to your purchase. 

Mayni Coffee

Mayni Coffee is indigenous, community coffee from the Peruvian Amazon.

It is grown in the shade and is fully washed.

The coffee is grown by the Mayni Indigenous Community of Junin in Peru.

For those who like to know these things it is grown at an elevation of 1650 metres above sea level, or roughly 5413 feet above sea level.

Shade grown. What does that actually mean? It means the Mayni people grown their coffee plants underneath the canopy of the rain forest. They don't employ the slash and burn land clearance technique  of growing coffee, which, unfortunately, is all too often associated with traditional coffee farming.

But the Mayni people don't do that! They make use of ecologically sound and safe techniques within their natural landscape. 

This means that foliage and wildlife are looked after and kept safe whilst the coffee is handpicked in a way to minimise damage to the handsome coffee plants.

So it's clear that it ticks all the boxes regarding how it is grown and harvested, which is very good. But what does it taste like?

Like coffee heaven! According to the tasting notes you will taste "honey, orange, chocolate and almond."

It is absolutely delicious. There's a dichotomy of tastes. At once it is bold and striking, yet it is also, somehow at the same time, mellow and smooth.

I don't know how it can be both, but it is. The only way for you to find out for yourself is to buy some.

It's available through https://www.easyjosecoffee.co.uk/ caffienated or caffeine free, the choice is yours. Our coffee was a combination of Caturra, Geisha & Typica beans. It costs from £9.50.

 

Proper snacks taste proper good!

The Proper snack company produce snacks that are proper good (that's bad English? I can live with that!).

Several years ago Cassandra decided that she had had enough of the snacks that were then available. They were too salty, too fatty, were filled with nasty ingredients that really had no place in foodstuffs or snacks. Or, if they were being made to be more healthy didn't taste all that good.

So Cassandra decided to start making proper popcorn. Using a repurposed cement mixer. And from that eco-friendly start  (nothing wrong with some recycling and repurposing) things have really progressed for Proper snacks.

Of course you can still buy Proper Popcorn (Caramelised Biscuit, Salted Caramel, Sweet and Salty, Lightly Sea Salted, Sweet, pop at home microwave popcorn, Salted Caramel Popcorn Bars and Hazelnut Praline Popcorn Bars) but there's also a growing range of other Proper snacks for you to enjoy.

There are now Barbecue Lentil Chips, Sweet Sriracha Chilli Lentil Chips, Sour Cream and Chines Lentil Chips and Salt and Vinegar Lentil Chips.

They are vegan friendly, though tasty enough for omnivores to enjoy, too and don't contain a long list of suspicious sounding ingredients that would look more at home in a science laboratory than in a bag of snacks for you and your children.

For example, Proper Lentil Chips contain lentil flour, potato starch, sunflower, rapeseed and coconut oils, corn flour, sugar, rice flour and natural flavourings and spices. 

To learn more about the company, how it's working hard to be the type of company we should do business with (Net Zero by 2030) and its range of snacks you can visit them at www.proper.co.uk.

They are a B Corporation and are hiring staff for a variety of roles.

If you want to stock their products they have a wholesaler here https://musclefinessewholesale.com/brands.html/proper-snacks.html

The People's Captain Latte Latte Love beer

The People's Captain Latte Latte Love beer is an absolutely stunningly good milk stout beer.

Produced with lactose, coffee and cacao nibs, plus water, malt, hops and yeast, it's a very interesting beer style.

Although brewed with coffee and cacao nibs it's only slightly different from a "proper" milk stout, but that slight difference is all it takes to bring Latte Latte Love beer from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

There's the milk stout taste, but the coffee taste floats to the surface (to coin a phrase) and the chocolate taste lingers throughout.

It's not a weak, insipid beer. Full of exciting, bold tastes, but you need to be wary. It's a 5% beer but it doesn't drink like a 5% beer, so do keep that in mind!

It's a product of an absolutely wonderful place the Brewing Positivity Laboratory and it's also a supporter of indigenous communities in the Amazon Rainforest.  

What is the People's Captain? It's a very, very special beer club. How is it different? In their own words: "We're on a mission, to use the social power of craft beer to bring communities together. We believe positive mental health is a vital part of life and we're inviting you to be a part of our journey to have a positive social impact in yours.

So, make it count - grab a beer, have a great conversation - and let's create positive change together."

Your first case of beer will cost under £20. To learn more please visit them at https://peoplescaptain.co.uk/

And they have got together with Tony's Chocolonely to offer milk chocolate and salted caramel milk chocolate both of which go so, so well with Latte Latte Love beer! 

Double Dutch Mixers

Joyce and Raissa de Haas

I have learned something new. It's perfectly possible to make a very nice Bloody Mary using gin as the base, but probably only if you use a high quality mixer as part of the recipe, in this instance a Double Dutch readymade Bloody Mary mixer.

Double Dutch was founded by Dutch twins, Joyce and Raissa de Haas in 2015 when they launched their first two mixers, Cucumber & Watermelon and Pomegranate & Basil.

Over the next seven years they developed a range of absolutely stunning and delicious mixers. They are so tasty that you could well be tempted to drink them in their own right, not bothering to use them as mixers! (Ginger ale, for example!)

What mixers are available? Cucumber and Watermelon, Bloody Mary Soda, Cranberry and Ginger, Ginger Ale, Double Lemmon, Ginger Beer, Indian Tonic Water, Skinny Tonic Water, Soda Water, Cucumber Margarita with Chilli Soda and, of course, Cucumber & Watermelon and Pomegranate & Basil.

My wife and I had great fun depleting our stock of alcoholic drinks (Scotch, Welsh, English and Irish Whisky, plus London Dry Gins) when we mixed up so mightily tasty Double Dutch cocktails. Obviously not all at the same time as that would have been messy!

But it was great fun to learn some new recipes including the gin bloody Mary using the Bloody Mary Soda. I'd never considered using anything other than vodka and was pleasantly surprised that it actually tasted pretty darn good!

Where can you buy Double Dutch mixers? Direct from their own shop  https://doubledutchdrinks.com/collections/our-drinks on Amazon and in Waitrose.

Are you a buyer for a large chain of supermarkets, a wine and spirits retailer, etc? Then you need to get in contact with their trade team sales@doubledutchdrinks.com.

Soho House, Dishoom and The Alchemist are venues that treat their customers like Kings and Queens by using Double Dutch tonics. To learn how your venue can up its game contact sales@doubledutchdrinks.com.

You'll find lots of cocktail recipes on their site, so have fun testing them!

(Image (c) Double Dutch)

Off your food due to hayfever? Superdrug can help

 I love food, but there's something that can put me off eating. Hayfever or allergic rhinitis. (Boo!)

Stuffed up nose, dry eyes, dry, sore throat, sinus headaches and a general feeling of malaise. Yes, it's no wonder we don't feel like eating under those circumstances.

What can we do about it? Visit your local branch of Superdrug and make your way to the hayfever display. Or ask their duty pharmacist what they can recommend. 

So get to your nearest branch or go on line to sort your allergies out. They offer click and collect and on line purchases, too.

I personally like the following items:-

Superdrug Hayfever Relief Wipes Twin Pack. £1.89 for a twin pack.

Superdrug Saline Nasal Spray 100ml at £4.99 this is one of my go to remedies. 

The relief is instant. Really, really instant!

Superdrug Allergy Eye Drops 10ml £3.29

My eyes really appreciate these eyedrops. They work so well at soothing them.

Superdrug Allergy Eye Mist 10ml £5.99

Maybe you can't put eyedrops in? Some people can't. But now you can use this eye mist spray to ease your poor eyes. 

There are also a range of other allied products available including antihistamines. Some Superdrug branches have health clinics and/or pharmacists.

To learn more visit https://www.superdrug.com/

Cranswick Country Foods Chicken products recall warning

Image courtesy of Pixabay/rajdeepcraft

Cranswick Country Foods, a major UK provider of processed chicken products to a wide range of retailers in the UK, has had to issue a product recall notification due to an outbreak of Salmonella food poisoning linked to their premises.

Retailers involved in the recall are: Aldi, Amazon, Waitrose, Co-Op, Sainsbury's, Caffe Nero, Costa, Jamie Oliver, One Stop, Tesco and Starbucks.

A full list of the products involved is here- https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-prin-32-2022

On their website Cranswick have stated "Cranswick can confirm that a routine internal inspection has identified the presence of Salmonella in a limited number of cooked chicken products prepared at our poultry facility in Hull.

"These products are sold as ingredients for sandwiches and meals through UK retailers and food to go outlets.

"As a precautionary measure, we have asked our customers to remove any of their products containing our ready to eat chicken produced during the affected period. We are working closely with the Foods Standards Agency and will collaborate with their experts to resolve the matter.

"We are conducting a thorough investigation into the possible cause of the contamination and the site will remain closed until the investigations are complete.

"The safety and quality of every product produced by Cranswick is our number one priority and all necessary protocols will be followed and completed before we restart production."

https://cranswick.plc.uk

Ramsbury London Dry Gin

Ramsbury London Dry Gin is a remarkable London Dry Gin. 

It's a special Wiltshire born and bred Single Estate London Dry Gin which is distilled in Wiltshire at their special distillery which is housed in Stockclose Farm, on the Ramsbury Estate.

Although it is in the tradition of a fine quality London Dry Gin style, it really does stand out on its own.

It's crisp but yet it is also smooth as it lacks the harshness of some London Dry Gins.

The flavour is alluring in its complexity. There's a hint of something that reminds me of vanilla, some woody undertones and a mysterious, spicy sweetness that stays on the tongue for a while. Which makes it very moreish!

The gin is combined with quince fruit which is grown on the estate itself which blends very well with the juniper, citrus, angelica and cinnamon and the other botanicals and spices that they use.

My wife and I tried it neat and with some high quality mixers (more on Double Dutch mixers in a little while) and I made a discovery that was new to me, apparently you can make an absolutely delicious Bloody Mary with gin instead of vodka, though I feel that with a gin of lesser status than Ramsbury Single Estate Wiltshire London Dry Gin, the experiment might not have worked nearly so well as it did!

When you buy your bottle of Ramsbury Gin you will appreciate the fact that so passionate and dedicated to the entire concept of being a producer of genuine single estate gin that they proudly display the coordinates of the field in which the grain was grown. And you can't get more dedicated than that!

Visit them at https://ramsbury.com/

A 70cl bottle of 40% vol gin will cost £29.50 and we think it will make an ideal Father's Day gin for the Dad who loves his gins!

Skinny IPA

I absolutely love Skinny IPA. But then again, what's not to like about it? 

It's aimed at those drinkers (and I include myself in this category) who want to continue to be able to drink the types of beers that we love, but who want to reduce our calorific intake at the same time.

But that's quite a big ask. Because once you start messing with brews, things can soon go wrong, can't they?

But that's most definitely, certainly not the case with Skinny IPA. Skinnybrands, the folks behind Skinny IPA have been able to reduce the calorific content of their IPA to 89 calories per can, yet being able to hold the ABV at a very respectable 4.0%. 

This means that Skinny IPA has a remarkable 40% less calories than other quality IPAs out there. Plus 78% fewer carbs and it's gluten free, which makes it ideal for people like my wife, a diagnosed coeliac. 

I imagine that you're now saying: "That's all very well, but what about the taste? Does it taste like other IPAs?"

The truth is that Skinny IPA tastes better than many other (to coin an expression) full fat IPAs that are available. 

It's clean, crisp, has a delightfully hoppy bite to it, has a stonkingly good mouthfeel and leaves a very moreish quality IPA aftertaste that will certainly having you reach for another can. It actually reminds me of "proper" Californian craft IPAs I have been fortunate enough to try.

However, I have had a surprise. My wife is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a fan of IPAs. Her drinks of choice are a good quality Merlot, a high end gin, the occasional glass of Ardbeg Scotch and a pint of Guinness when the thirst is upon her. 

But when she took a sip of my Skinny IPA she said: "That's beautiful! Can you pass me a can, please?" Of course, being the good husband I try to be, I immediately presented her with her very own can. Which didn't last long, to be honest!

If you are wondering what to buy your Dad for Father's Day, order him a crate of  24x330ml Cans.

You can order them direct https://shop.skinnybrands.com/collections/skinny-lager-and-ipa-trial-packs/products/skinny-ipa-trial-pack-6x330ml-cans. A 6 can sample pack will cost you £12. 

It's also available in kegs and there's a draught system that's ideal for parties, etc.

Learn about them here https://shop.skinnybrands.com/

And don't forget their Skinny Lager, too.

My next step? To write to the Wetherspoon company and ask them to stock Skinny IPA!

Fighter Shots. The ideal Father's Day Boost!

The thing is as Dads, and moms, get older they tend to feel their age a bit more. Fact is there comes a time when you realise that when you get up from a seated position or even sit down you let out an involuntary little groan!

So, coming toward Father's Day, how can you help your father to feel as little less like groaning and a bit more like jumping out of his seat shouting "Yes! Let's do it!" instead?

We have recently come across a liquid food supplement called Fighter Shots. 

We have seen and tried some energy drinks over the years, my wife and I. However, they tend to be chockful of caffeine, sugar and some rather long pseudoscientifically named substances and they either make you as jittery as heck or give you a thumping migraine.

But that's not the case with Fighter Shots! Because Fighter Shots are different to any booster shots that you might have tried before.

They are guaranteed to be made using only 100% natural ingredients.

My wife's favourite is Ginger Beetroot. It contains ginger and beetroot. It's 70% beetroot, 20% ginger and 10% lemon. All of which are certified organic and cold pressed. Incidentally there is no added sugar and there are only 20 calories per 60ml shot.

I tend to prefer the Ginger Manuka shot for taste, but I love Manuka honey. It's 35% ginger, 30% lemon, filtered water and Manuka Honey MGO50+ at 15%. The ingredients are also organic and cold pressed. Due to the inclusion of honey the calorific value is a little higher at 35 calories per 60ml shot.

We also tried Ginger and Collagen. It's ingredients are filtered water, lemon, 30%, ginger 15%, honey 15% and marine collagen 3,000mg. The lemon and ginger is both organic and cold pressed.

The fourth Fighter Shot we tried was Ginger Turmeric. In each 60ml bottle there is filtered water, 30% lemon, 15% ginger, 15% apple, 8.5% turmeric and 8% cinnamon, black pepper.

These Fighter Shots go work, they give you energy and a bit of pep and collagen, turmeric, black pepper, beetroot and ginger are all known to be helpful, especially for older folks!

You can buy Fighter Shots direct at https://fightershots.co.uk or on Amazon, at Superdrug, Tree of Life, Yunbles, DDC Foods, The Health Store, Mr Lemonade and Faire.

A mixed selection of 12 shots should cost £30 but is on sale at Fighter Shots for £27.00.