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Collier’s Powerful Welsh Cheddar first at Foursquare

Collier’s Powerful Welsh Cheddar is the first cheese brand to exploit the location-based social network Foursquare.
Wales’ award-winning cheese brand enjoys strong customer loyalty and was one of the first cheese brands to embrace social media channels like Twitter and Facebook to engage with its customers.

Foursquare allows users to share their location with friends by “checking in” to attractions, shops, restaurants and pubs via their mobile devices, and sharing “tips” or recommendations. They earn points for checking in and the highest number of “check ins” can lead to them being made the “Mayor” of the venue.

Collier’s Powerful Welsh Cheddar, which is made in North Wales, is urging its Foursquare friends to “check in” at top Welsh tourist venues to discover the Welsh heritage that inspired the award-winning cheese.

“We think it is important to have a two-way communication with our customers,” says Darren Gough, brand ambassador for Collier’s, "and word of mouth is still the most powerful marketing tool."

Foursquare is essentially like word of mouth with people 'talking' via mobile phone and social media.

Says Darren, “I love using Twitter to keep in touch with what’s going on and have my say. And now we have another way to reach the people who are interested in our cheese when they are on the move.”

Visit Collier’s Powerful Welsh Cheddar on Foursquare at https://foursquare.com/collierscheese

Gordon Ramsay Electric Slow Cooker & Tagine

He is, without doubt, one of the world’s top chefs. But Gordon Ramsay is more than that. He is also a seasoned traveller, and his many cooking experiences take him around the globe learning about local cooking methods and techniques.

One of Gordon’s favourite types of cuisine is the traditional slow cooking method of a Tagine – which takes in the wonderfully aromatic dishes of Morocco. Now, you can enjoy this delicious style of cooking with Gordon’s new Electric Slow Cooker & Tagine, a unique product that cleverly combines a Tagine Cooking pot and a Slow Cooker to give you the best of both worlds!

The new Gordon Ramsay Compact Tagine and Slow Cooker will create authentic tagine cooking and a myriad of favourite slow cooking recipes with the minimum of fuss! Its versatility allows you to cook everything in the one pot. You can sear meat and vegetables and add the remaining ingredients without the need for additional frying pans. And if you are out during the day, just assemble the recipe in the morning, turn it on and leave to cook all day on a low setting – and serve up a delicious meal on your return home!

This compact machine has a 1.5 Litre capacity which will comfortably feed up to four people and it’s economical to run. The cooker comes with both a Slow Cooker and Tagine lid so that you can create both types of dishes in the one unit. There are four settings High – Low – Keep Warm – and Off - with a handy Searing Setting for browning meat and vegetables first – simply adjust the temperature control knob accordingly. The temperature probe which houses the control dial, can be removed at the end of cooking ready to take to the table for serving.

Other features include: a removable Cooking Bowl; ceramic Tagine Lid; tempered Glass Lid for the Slow Cooker and Cool Touch Base. And for added inspiration there are some great recipes to get you started.

FACTFILE:

Slow Cooking food is one of the best ways to prepare nutritious meals with ease – whether it is soups, stews, casseroles or curries. The longer the cooking time the more the flavours will develop and infuse. Your Slow Cooker is also ideal for cooking cheaper cuts of meat, the slow cooking process allowing meat to tenderise and the food to become full of flavour. Using the Tagine Lid helps you create more authentic Moroccan dishes – the shape of the lid promotes the return of condensation back into the dish keeping it juicy and mouth-wateringly succulent.

Compact Slow Cooker & Tagine

• RRP £39.99
• 1.5 Litre Capacity
• Detachable Cooking Bowl
• Ceramic Tagine Lid
• Tempered Glass Lid for Slow Cooker mode
• Cool Touch Base
• Temperature Probe
• Control Dial – Sear/High/Low/Keep Warm/Off
• Power Light

Gordon Ramsay Product Range

Glass Jug Blender (With Fruit Filter) - £44.99
3-in-1 Hand Blender - £39.99
Professional Waffle Maker - £44.99
Digital Slow Cooker - £44.99
Party Slow Cooker - £74.99
Slow Cooker & Tagine - £39.99
Stand Mixer - £160.00

Chicago Rib Shack Announce New Stratford, London, Site

The Chicago Rib Shack are delighted to announce the arrival of “Baby Rib Shack”, the company’s first Cafe Court venue, in the brand new Westfield, Stratford City, alongside the magnificent Olympic Park and overlooking the Olympic Stadium and Aquatic Park.

The site opens on September 13th and shoppers will be tempted by a stripped down menu of popular dishes including burgers, wings, cheesecakes and of course their famous baby back ribs alongside the brand new Chicago Style Hot Dog. The family restaurant have a delicious choice of kids dishes too , all served with the popular “Paint Your Own Pig” colouring competition to keep them occupied. For a sneak preview of the site and the full menu check www.thechicagoribshack.co.uk/stratford.

Christian Arden, Director of The Chicago Rib Shack says “The Westfield project is an incredibly exciting one for The Chicago Rib Shack. It is not only a privilege to be associated with the Stratford development for the 2012 Olympics, but this also provides us with the ideal showcase for the future expansion of the brand.”

The management are seeking motivated and experienced staff for this new project and welcome any CV’s to jobs@thechicagoribshack.co.uk .

The flagship restaurant in Knightsbridge is going from strength to strength and following a busy summer with tourists, families and regulars flowing through the famous revolving doors, they are now preparing for Christmas, with a mouth-watering set menu starting from just £30 per head. Book now on 020 7591 4664.

To keep up to date with the latest information and offers from The Chicago Rib Shack you can join the mailing list via www.thechicagoribshack.co.uk or sign-up for a Chicago Rib Shack Gold Card for special monthly offers at both venues.

Tea & Coffee Festival to make welcome return to Southbank Centre

Rose Events

Tea & Coffee Festival
Southbank Centre Square,
Friday 18 – Sunday 20 November 2011
FREE Admission

The Event

Following the success of the first Tea & Coffee Festival in May 2011, the event returns to Southbank Centre for a winter extravaganza of the nation’s favourite beverages. The festival promises to have more companies showcasing their unique high-quality products and an ever-growing schedule of fascinating demonstrations, talks and tutored tastings.

Demonstrations and Tastings

Whether you are a confirmed tea connoisseur, a seasoned coffee drinker or even a caffeine-free individual you are bound to find demonstrations and products to pique your interest and tantalise your taste buds. Come along to witness a traditional tea or coffee ceremony; enjoy a coffee roasting demonstration; take part in a tutored tasting or even take part in the amateur Latte Art Competition.

Exhibitors and Stallholders

The Winter Tea & Coffee Festival 2011 is bringing some of the finest, and most discerning, tea and coffee providers and specialists together to showcase their wares and share their knowledge. The perfect cuppa often requires a suitable accompaniment and the festival will also offer complementary foods and desserts such as tea and coffee flavoured cheese cakes, coffee smoked beef baps and more.

Organiser Mrs Yael Rose explains: “I am really excited to be organising the second Tea & Coffee Festival. It promises to be the ideal place to learn more about these delicious beverage, discover new small companies and products and meet the passionate people behind them.”



FACTFILE:
* The event takes place from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th November 2011, 11am – 8pm daily (6pm on Sunday) at Southbank Centre Square. The venue is five minutes walk from Waterloo & Embankment tube stations and various bus routes. Admission is free.

* Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre, occupying a 21-acre site that sites in the midst of London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. The site has an extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the the 1951 Festival of Britain. Southbank Centre is home to the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and the Hayward Gallery as well as The Saison Poetry Library and the Arts Council Collection.

* Rose Events have been running events for 10 years and are currently managing The Cheese & Wine Festival (www.cheesewinefestival.com ) and The Chocolate Festivals in London, Oxford and Brighton (www.festivalchocolate.co.uk) as well as the Tea & Coffee Festival. For more information about Rose Events please contact Yael Rose (Mrs) on +44 (0)7898 681573 / teacoffeefestival@yahoo.co.uk

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Mint Hotel Creates The 45-Minute Lunch Hour for a Tenner!

Mint Hotel, the award-winning city-centre hotel brand, is celebrating summer in novel style by launching a 45-minute express lunch, available from just £10 per person, across the group’s City Café restaurants.

For that amazing price guests get to enjoy two-courses from the restaurant’s Market Menu coupled with a drink, including any house wine, spirit and mixer, beer or soft drink – all of which the group pledges to serve within 45 minutes.

The £10 ‘Fresh this Summer’ offer is available in City Café restaurants at Mint Hotel Glasgow, Mint Hotel Birmingham, Mint Hotel Bristol, Mint Hotel Leeds and Mint Hotel Manchester. In London, the offer is priced at £10.95 at Mint Hotel Westminster and £12.50 at the new Mint Hotel Tower of London. At Mint Hotel Amsterdam, which opened its doors in June, the express lunch offer is priced at just €15.00.

Guests choosing the ‘Fresh this Summer’ offer will also be handed a City Café loyalty card, entitling them to receive a complimentary two-course lunch (exclusive of drinks), after five return visits to the restaurants – a great excuse to keep coming back. What’s more, the loyalty card can be used through across all City Café restaurants in the Mint Hotel group, and lasts until 30 March 2012.

The fantastic lunch offers are available between 12–1 pm weekdays, and 12.30–3pm on Saturdays, with the promotion lasting until 3 September 2011.

City Café offers diners a modern European cuisine experience with the Market Menu focusing on locally sourced, seasonal produce, all created under the careful guidance of group executive chef Scott Macdonald. Summer dishes in the offer include breast of chicken with roast pumpkin, curly kale and caper jus, or fillet of mackerel, steamed bok choi, spring onion, red watercress, grapefruit and ginger reduction. As City Café’s Market Menus change weekly, regular diners can expect new dishes based on the freshest seasonal, regional ingredients throughout the summer.

The offer guarantees that guests will be wined and dined within a 45-minute time window – ideal for busy city workers, locals and visitors wishing to sample the delicious cuisine of City Café. Mint’s 45-minute pledge does not apply to diners who wish to add a third course to their meal, available for an additional £3.

Mint Hotels is dedicated to creating fresh, contemporary hotels thoughtfully designed to blend with each property’s cityscape. The group has eight properties - seven in the UK and its first international location in Amsterdam. People are put at the heart of each Mint hotel, with the customer truly coming first and Mint’s staff empowered to deliver memorable service.

Please visit www.minthotel.com/freshsummer for further information.


(EDITOR: Right! The That's Food and Drink team know where WE are going to be dining when we next visit the big city!)

Loseley Summer Meadow Butter takes Blackberry and Apple Oat Crumble and makes it better with butter!

Delicious autumn fruits are given a healthy wholemeal treatment along with long lasting oats, and creamy Loseley Summer Meadow Butter.

The porridge oats not only add extra crunch but also an added bonus to those bored of using them for breakfast. The crumble will keep you full and satisfied for longer than traditional mixes.

Cooking apples 680g (1½ lbs), peeled and sliced
Blackberries 200g (7oz)
Granulated sugar 100g (4oz)
Wholemeal flour 100g (3½ oz)
Loseley Summer Meadow Butter 90g (3½ oz)
Light Muscovado sugar 50g (2 oz)
Porridge Oats 100g (3½ oz)

1. Preheat the oven to 190˚C/ 375˚F/ Gas 5 and put the fruit into a 1.25 litre (2 pints) ovenproof dish in layers with the granulated sugar.
2. Place the flour in a separate bowl and rub in the Loseley Summer Meadow Butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the brown sugar and porridge oats.
3. Sprinkle the crumble mixture thickly and evenly over the fruit, pressing down lightly.
4. Place the crumble on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 180 ˚C/ 350˚F/ Gas 4 and continue cooking for a further 45 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. Serve the crumble hot with custard.

Cooks' Tip

If you pick wild blackberries from the hedgerows, be sure to pick those that are well away from any busy main roads to ensure they are not contaminated by car exhaust fumes, and wash them well before eating.

10 minutes preparation time
1 hour cooking time
371 Kcal per portion
13.4g fat per portion
8g is saturated
6 servings
Suitable for vegetarians

Loseley Summer Meadow Butter is packed in a 250g tub and costs £1.29p.

Loseley Chilled Foods are available from the chilled cabinet of local independent grocers, Morrisons and Waitrose. Visit www.loseley.com for more information.