Food Fad Reviews

Baked In Baking Club

2016-05-23T04:11:00.000-07:00

I decided to try the Baked in Baking club after trying out one of their recipe kits and being very pleased with the result.The recipes are all approved by Michel Roux so you can be confident that the result will be delicious.

When I tried the Double Chocolate Brownie baking kit, not only was the brownie delicious, and eaten almost as soon as it was served up to a group of new mums at a coffee morning, but I also found it was a really good way to introduce my little girl to baking without making too much mess. All the ingredients come pre-weighed and you even get a skewer and baking paper.

In the box with the chocolate brownies came and offer to join the baking club. For £2.99 for the first month we got a salted caramel millionaires shortbread kit, which I have to admit I made twice (once from the kit and secondly going out to buy my own ingredients) as it was so good but each time forgot to take pictures! I never though I would be able to make my own caramel from scratch but the recipe was so good that I had to have a second go!

Subsequent months are £7.99 or you can get a discount for paying quarterly or every six months.

Orange and Cardamom Cake

After the success of the Brownies and Caramel Shortbread I eagerly awaited the next delivery.

I was sent an email a couple of days before my Baking Club box arrived which told me the extra ingredients I would need - cream cheese, eggs, an orange and butter.
When my box arrived I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed to find the next recipe was a big (non-chocolatey) cake; as this is not the sort of thing I would usually choose to bake, but I was very wrong to judge so quickly!

All the ingredients were clearly labelled and included the baking paper and a skewer for testing the cakes. The instructions looked clear enough so I waited until I was next hosting a mums & babies coffee morning as i would need some help eating it!

To start I pre-heated my oven to 180 degrees centigrade, cut out the baking paper to line the bottoms of my 20cm round tins. Next I zested the whole orange and squeezed out half the orange juice as instructed (keeping the other half for the icing later).

In a large bowl I then combined Bag 1(190g self raising flour, 1/2tsp baking powder, 1/2tsp baking soda) and Bag 2 (50g polenta, 1/8tsp cardamom) then added Bag 3 (100g caster sugar) and the orange zest and juice.

I was then a little apprehensive about mixing in 225g butter and 4 eggs as I thought it might go lumpy. I did as instructed and really struggled to get the mixture "very smooth and creamy" so had to resort to the electric mixer.

I finally poured the mixture into the baking tins and put in the oven for 20-25 minutes, I tested the cakes with the skewer at about 20 minutes but they did need the full 25.

I then let the cakes cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a plate to fully cool (I don't have a cooling rack for some reason).

Once fully cooled (I actually did this the next day - wrap the caked in cling film and pop in the fridge) the next job was the icing.

I measured out 190g of cream cheese then emptied Bag 5 (350g icing sugar) into the bowl; the bowl was much too small! so I then transferred it into a bigger bowl and mixed with a wooden spoon before adding 1 tablespoon of the remaining orange juice (from the half I saved earlier) and mixing well again. I then popped the bow in the fridge for 10 minutes. My icing was a little bit runny but tasted amazing.

Finally I removed the baking paper from my cakes and laid them out, putting half the icing on one cake, sandwiched them together and then tipped the rest of the icing on top.

Result

The finished cake was amazing, I would always choose chocolate cake or carrot cake over other flavours... until now!

The sponge was very moist and the icing was rich, sweet and slightly tangy from the orange.

The recipe says 8 servings but i think i ended up cutting it in to 12 pieces!

Definitely worthy of a 5 star rating - but I will probably add slightly more icing sugar next time to make the icing thicker.

You Can Join the Baked in club for £1.99 for the first month by clicking this link.

Natural Blender review

2016-05-05T01:55:00.002-07:00

I bought a breville blend active a while ago and have been making mainly yoghurt and banana based smoothies with a teaspoon of spirulina to give it a boost. These are great for when I'm busy of if I have to leave the house early. After using an app called Lifesum I realised that my "healthy" smoothie wasn't actually as healthy as I thought!

So how do you try a range of different smoothies without having to invest in all the different "superfoods" and "booster" ingredients I keep hearing about? Where do you start?

So I decided to give natural blender a go, particularly as I found an offer that took £10 off the first 2 boxes.

As with most subscription services, it was easy to sign up and within 5 minutes I had set up a fortnightly subscription (I didn't want weekly in case I got overloaded with fruit and hadn't made them all!). My box arrived as promised on saturday morning.

I unpacked my box straight away and was pleased to see everything was packaged well and all the recipe cards and instructions were included.

Kale-Idascope -The first smoothie was interesting, in that it contained kale, as well as a plum, blueberries and almond butter.

Thai'd Up - The second smoothie was my favourite as im a fan of fruity flavours. it was made of mango, banana, bok choy, lemongrass and coconut and topped up with coconut milk which made it super creamy. I will definately be making this one again

Blueberry Burst - I was looking forward to the third smoothie because I’m a blueberry fan but was a bit disappointed that the addition of nuts made this one a bit gritty. I find this with kiwi seeds as well. maybe i need a more powerful blender but i prefer smooth smoothies.

Morning Sunshine - I had the same issue with the fourth smoothie, I had no problem with the spinach but the Hazelnuts again made the texture less pleasant.

The People vs OJ - The final smoothie was a fruity orange based drink and was very refreshing, again the texture was very bitty but it did have a whole raw carrot in it which i dont think blends very well!

Overall I was happy with the box, as its a great way to try things I would otherwise have never bought; such as lucuma or maca powder. I will wait for the second discounted box before deciding wether to keep subscribing.

I will also try to cost up the ingredients in the this box and the next one to see if its good value.

New services to try out

2016-04-26T07:07:00.001-07:00

So its been a while since I've updated my blog but I have been busy trying new food services:

Next week I will be recieving a Natural Blender Box for the first time and cant wait to see how it goes!

I have also signed up to the BakedIn Baking club after trying thier double chocolate brownie kit (which was amazing!) and thier range of mug cakes.

Reviews to follow very shortly!

Im also tempet to try out a few others, the number of companies offering good quality food subscription and delivery services have soared in the last year, here are some I'm considering:

Bacon and Sage wrapped Chicken

2016-04-26T06:52:00.000-07:00

Last week I was impressed with the menu on the Gousto website so decided to order a box. One of the great things about the Gousto service is that you can choose your meals, order a one off box as and when you want it without being signed up for a subscription.

My favourite recipe from the box this week has to be the Bacon and Sage wrapped chicken with chestnut mushrooms and herby mash, and it was really really easy to make.

1 large chicken breast, 40g clotted cream, 10g fresh sage, 150g dry-cured streaky bacon, 250g chestnut mushrooms, 1 garlic clove & 400g potatoes

To start, boil a kettle and turn your grill on to high. Chop up the sage finely except for 4-6 sage leaves which you are going to wrap with your chicken, and tear (yes tear) your mushrooms into bitsize chunks.. Peel and chop the potatoes into managable chunks before popping in a saucepan and covering with boiling water, simmer for 10-20 minutes until tneder enough to mash.

Cover a baking tray with tin foil and lay out your mushrooms, seasoning well with salt and pepper then drizzle with oil.

Next cut your chicken breast in half so that you have 2 thinner pieces (as pictured) this means the chicken will cook quickly and evenly under the grill. Lay a couple of sage leaves on each piece of chicken before wrapping with the bacon.

Place the bacon wrapped breasts on top of your mushrooms and place under the grill for 10-15 minutes until crispy and cooked through. Meanwhile drain your potatoes, add the chopped sage and a genourouse nob of butter to the saucepan and put back on the heat for a minute. add a splash of milk to the potatoes and mash well, season to taste.

Finally remove your chicken and mushrooms from the grill and tip the juices into a small pan, add the clotted cream and heat on the hob until smooth.

Plate up and you're done!

Result:

This was a very rich and tasty way to cook chicken. By grilling the bacon wrapped chicken on top of the mushrooms you really get the benefits of all the floavours in each different ingredient. I will definately be making this one again.

Second try at Gousto

2015-11-16T11:49:00.001-08:00

I tried Gousto a few years ago and liked it but felt there was room for improvement. So last week I got a discount through my email and thought I'd try it again.

My box arrived today and straight away I as impressed with the quality of the ingredients and how well it was all packed. This was an issue when i first tried the service but I can see that they have taken steps to make sure everything arrives in perfect condition.

They also included a starter guide, a free canvas bag and my recipe cards along with a sheet with the expiry dates for each recipe; all were well dated.

Tonight I'm going to try the beef stroganoff!

Get upto £25 off your first box by clicking here

Tesco hand prepared steaks

2015-07-06T10:54:00.001-07:00

I signed up to be a member of the Tesco Orchard trial programme a while ago with the intention of posting about some of the products I was invited to try however I just didn't get around to it for the first two trials.

This time around I was invited to try tesco hand prepared steak.

I'll admit my first thought was, "brilliant, free steak, but it won't be as good as Donald Russell" which is an online butcher with a royal warrant (if it's good enough for the queen...)

After browsing the steak section I noted that fillet steak was £34/kg then went to have a look at the fresh meat counter and found it was £30/kg and looked very fresh and red. So I asked for a freshly cut inch and a half off the piece of fillet. It came to £4.20 which was perfect as my voucher was for £4, so essentially a nice fresh piece of steak for 20p!

So not only was it better value than the pre-packed, you can also choose how much you want.

At home I put a baked potato in the oven and turned my frying pan up high with a little olive oil. Once the pan was really hot I rubbed the steak with some Donald Russell "THE perfect Seasoning" and placed it in the pan, turned the temperature down a little and cooked it for a few minutes on each side. I then let it rest for a few minutes while I fried and egg, cut up some tomato and served it up with the baked potato.

The resulting steak was rare, how I like it, juicy, and full of flavour. In a blind taste test I'm not sure I would have been able to tell the difference from the royal warrant holder.

I will deffinately be buying steak from the fresh counter in future.

Italian style sausage Stuffed Marrow

2014-07-28T06:07:00.001-07:00

Serves 2-4, recipe below is for 2 people so uses half a marrow. To serve 4 just use a whole marrow and double the quantities. I used carrots and a courgette but any similar vegetables you have in the fridge will work.

Half a marrow, half a pack of your favourite sausages, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 1tbsp tomato purée, 1 clove garlic, a couple of salad potatoes or breadcrumbs, a handful of cheese.

Chop the ends of of your marrow and slice in half lengthways. Scoop out the seeds and discard. Scoop out some of the flesh and chop roughly.

Peel and finely dice the carrots and onion. Put the marrow half in a baking dish and allow to bake in an oven at 200 degrees centigrade for 10 minutes while you prepare the filling.

In a frying pan, heat a teaspoon of oil and squeeze the sausage meat out of the sausage skins, into the hot pan. Using a spatula chop the sausage meat into small chunks while it browns. Once cooked set to one side and reheat the pan.

Fry the garlic, onions, carrots and marrow flesh until soft then add back in the sausage meat and the tomato purée.

Remove the marrow from the oven and stuff with the filling. Top with finely sliced potatoes or breadcrumbs. Bake in the oven until crispy on top. Sprinkle with grated cheese and pop back into oven until melted and yummy!

Result:

Marzipaning my Christmas Cakes

2013-12-19T08:49:00.004-08:00

Now that the cake boards have arrived its time to Marzipan my Christmas Cakes.

You want to do this at least a day before you plan to ice your cake. I usually do it a week before and wrap it up but left it a bit later due to forgetting to get cake boards!

Please note: this is my method of putting marzipan on a cake, I apologise to any professionals out there!

You will need marzipan (I found that 60g did an 6" cake), icing sugar for stopping any sticking, a couple of tablespoons of jam (the smoother the better), your original cake tin and a rolling pin.

first dust the surface with icing sugar and roll out your marzipan until about 5mm thick.

Take you cake tin and press gently into the top of the marzipan.

The tin will leave an indent the size of your cake which you can cut out with a sharp knife.

I had two cakes so did this twice.

You now need to unwrap your cakes and place next to the cake boards. You will be using the jam as a sweet glue for your cakes and marzipan but also to stick the cake to the cake board. using a small bowl microwave the jam for 30 seconds-1 minute until liquid.

Spread the jam thinly onto the top of the cake then place top down on the board - this means that the bottom of the cake, which is flat will now act as the top of your cake!

Next spread some jam on the new top of the cake and place the ready cut marzipan on top and gently press down.

Now that the cakes are on the boards upside down you are probably thinking "there's a little bit of a gap at the bottom, what do I do about it?" No matter how slowly you bake your cake you are likely to have a bit of a gap because the middle of the cake has risen slightly. Dont worry we

will now sort this out.

Roll out the remaining marzipan as a long strip, keep flouring the top and bottom as you turn it to prevent sticking. Measure the bprd to the top of your cake and cut a long strip this width.

With the off-cuts you can now use your hands to roll a long pieces out which you then place around the base of the cake to even out that gap. press it in gently with your fingers, it doesn't have to be pretty as no-one will see it.

Problem solved!

Finally brush some jam all the way round the remaining visible sponge. Then take the long strip of marzipan and wrap it around the cake. If you have a gap at the end don't worry just cut out a piece of marzipan to fit the gap.

Push together all the edges to seal the cake inside and smooth with your fingers.

Remember this is the base for your icing to go on top of, don't worry if there are any discoloured bits just make sure it smooth and sealed

Result:

preparation, preparation, preparation!

2013-12-17T03:16:00.000-08:00

All good plans....

I had planned to marzipan the Christmas Cakes on sunday but realised I did not have the cake boards! doh!

They arrived today so will do an update later!

Naked Noodles

2013-12-10T09:14:00.002-08:00

I picked up 2 packs of Hoisin Duck flavoured Naked Noodles in Tesco when they were on offer.

On first impression Naked Noodles seem to be a premium noodle brand with less additives than their popular "junk food" competitors.

"peel back the lid" what lid?

On opening the pack however I was disappointed to find a paper cup a plastic bag of noodles and a sachet of flavouring. Far from ready to just add water as it said on the side of the box. There was no lid to peel back as stated.

So first I had to take the cup out of the box add the noodles, open the flavouring sachet and unwrap the fork - lots of needless non-recyclable packaging.

You are then asked to add 200mls of boiling water or 3.5cm from the top - no fill line provided. I did the "guess what 3.5cm from the top is" method rather than digging out a jug.

The result: Quite watery noodles - there was so much liquid that I found it hard to fish out the noodles before tipping the remainder down the sink. On the website the noodles appear to have been re-branded "Ramen noodle soup" I'm not sure if this was missed off the original packaging or was added due to the overly soupy style of the product.

They had a nice flavour, quite strong and obviously hoisin sauce but really were nothing special.

The product certainly did not live up to the impression (or the instructions) on the box as an easy but healthy noodle snack.

Christmas Cakes done!

2013-12-03T06:20:00.000-08:00

I have just made my Christmas cakes for this year.

Rather than my usual 8" cake, I went for two 6" cakes instead. I did however stick to Delia Smith's Classic Christmas cake as it's served me so well over the last few years.

I'm not going to post the full recipes as you can visit Delia's page by clicking the link above. I will however give a quick run-down of how easy it is to make.

First you want to measure out your fruit the night before and mix with your alcohol of choice! I Chose a lovely cherry liqueur as it needed using up, brandy and other such drinks with a high alcohol content work well.

Give the fruit a good stir whenever possible throughout the evening and next morning to make sure its being soaked nicely.

Next is the Golden Rule of Baking; measure out and prepare your ingredients. There is nothing worse than getting half way through a recipe and having to run out to get something you've missed especially at a crucial time in the method!

Now is also the time to line your tins with a double layer or baking paper as you will be cooking the cake for a long time!

Sift the flour and other dry ingredients into your largest bowl then add butter, sugar, eggs and treacle and mix with an electric hand blender. I've done this by hand a couple of years and it can be done but just takes a bit longer and usually a tea break when your arm starts to ache!

Once smooth, mix in all the lovely fruit and the lemon and orange zest before popping into your pre-prepared tins and baking.

How long do I bake my cake for?

Very good question! If you stick to Delia's recipe then its a minimum of 4 hours but could be longer.

If you are using a different sized tin then the times will vary.

Delia also shows how to scale up and down the recipe and the baking times.

Once a skewer comes out clean, cool in the tin for 30 minutes then remove and once fully cool I wrap them in baking paper then tin foil. Feed on a weekly basis until ready to cover: to feel poke a skewer through the base of the cake evenly across the surface then drizzle on a couple of tablespoons of brandy or other alcohol, this keeps the cake moist and preserved as well as giving flavour.

You can make the cake a month in advance or longer if you wish, I would recommend at least 2 weeks to give feeding time!

Next week I will be putting marzipan on the cakes!

Black bean salad with BBQ chicken

2013-07-24T11:13:00.001-07:00

This is another HelloFresh recipe. I've recently cancelled my account with them as I've had repeated problems with missing items and a couple of cold packs bursting and ruining ingredients and recipe cards.

I cup new potatoes, 3 chicken thighs, 1 tin of black beans, 1 lime, 1 spring onion, 1tbsp BBQ sauce, 1/2 cup sweetcorn, 2 tbsp sour cream, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 red pepper

1. Pat dry and smother the chicken in BBQ sauce then bake at 200 degrees in the top of the oven for 20 minutes.

2. Finely chop the spring onion and pepper.

3. Boil the potatoes in salted water then drain and chop into bit sized pieces.

4. In a small bowl mix a little lime zest and half the juice with the sour cream and olive oil and a pinch of salt.

5. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes after taking out of the oven then shred with 2 forks (crispy duck style)

6. In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients and serve!

Fresh week - day 4

2013-05-16T11:15:00.001-07:00

Day 4

Another successful day, I had a snack from graze.com at lunchtime but otherwise all fresh.

It makes a really nice change to eat fruit and nuts as snacks.

For dinner I managed a to make a fresh meal fast, I went slightly off plan as I really needed to add some meat to the meal so did sausages with grilled mushrooms and spring greens.

The mushrooms were grilled till soft then topped with some seriously strong spreadable (and cream cheese would do) and topped with cheddar before going back under the grill for a few minutes. I shredded the spring greens and cooked in a little olive oil and some seasoning.

Fresh Week - Day 3

2013-05-16T01:54:00.003-07:00

Day three went exactly to plan.

Mine contained cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia, walnuts, brazil nuts and almonds

During the day I made my self a tub full of mixed nuts for snacking on and chucked in a bag of chocolate chips to make it more of a treat. Services like Graze do a great job getting me to snack more healthily but I always run out quickly and could make up a tub myself that lasts longer and is cheaper!

You can get a free graze box using code: 6FFYKCM or by clicking this link.

Real pizzas aren't perfectly round!

For dinner I stuck to my plan and made a pizza albeit with ready made dough. I rolled out the dough on a floured surface which took a little while as the dough kept springing back rather than staying flat! I topped it with a fresh tomato sauce (tomatoes, peppers and seasoning) then mozzarella, peppers and chicken.

Into the oven at 200 degrees C for 15 minutes and its ready. Serve with
nice fresh salad. Don't worry if your pizza doesn't look like the ones in pizza hut or isn't round, it will taste amazing because its fresh!

Fresh week - Day 2

2013-05-15T07:55:00.001-07:00

I knew day 2 would be difficult being out all day and evening.

I made some bread dough on Monday night by combining 500g flour with a teaspoon of quick yeast, 300mls warm water and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. I then kneaded until smooth and left overnight in the fridge in an oiled bowl covered in cling film.

Tuesday morning it had doubled in size so I knocked out the excess air and shaped into a loaf tin. I then left for an hour to rise for a second time before putting in the oven at 200 degrees centigrade for 25 minutes. The result was lovely but still a little doughy in the middle. I will try again but leave to rise a little longer and bake for longer.

Lunch was a panini from costa coffee, clearly freshly made, but not by myself.

Dinner was a sad affair of buffet sandwiches and coffee but I did avoid the Danish pastries!

All in all not a prefect day but not a fail.

Fresh Week - Day 1 complete

2013-05-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

Healthy lunch and dinner achieved!

I haven't eaten raw carrot sticks since my mum made me lunch, but I was actually surprised how nice it was!

The roll was packed with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, Edam cheese and crumbed ham and actually kept me full all afternoon.

Dinner was Chicken and Mushrooms in a tomato sauce with Carrots and Rosemary crushed Potatoes.
Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 Clove of Garlic
350g new potatoes
A sprig of thyme
A bay leaf
300g Carrots

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees and boil a pan of water.

First I chopped up the garlic finely, halved the larger potatoes, and roughly chopped the chestnut mushrooms.I peeled and sliced the carrots into equal sticks, this took a few minutes (if I had a Tefal Fresh express it would have taken seconds, hint, hint!)

The chicken was patted dry, rubbed in oil and seasoned before going in the hot oven on a baking tray for 20 minutes.

In a large pan I heated a tablespoon of oil and fried off the garlic before adding a tin of tomatoes with a bay leaf and the mushrooms. The potatoes were added to the boiling water and both pans simmered for 14 minutes. I then added the carrots to the boiling water for 4 minutes, took the chicken out of the oven and put it in the pan of tomato sauce.

Finally to make the crushed rosemary potatoes I drained the pan of water and put the carrots to one side. I crushed the potatoes gently with the back of a fork and heated a frying pan with a little oil. Once hot I added the rosemary waited a few seconds then fried the potatoes until crispy!

Serve it all in warmed bowls and enjoy!

Fresh Week - Plan

2013-05-12T03:11:00.000-07:00

If fresh week is about buying the right food then I win!

Unfortunately it's not! So today as planned I received a Veg box from Abel and Cole and also ordered some bread flour and yeast.

Now comes the tricky bit; planning a week of healthy meals from my fridge and box!

Plan A:

Monday: Dinner is already sorted as I have a HelloFresh! meal ready to make from scratch of Matador chicken and chorizo casserole with crushed new potatoes. For Lunch I am going to make myself a fresh roll with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, ham and cheese (I know the ham and cheese aren't organic/handmade etc but they're in the fridge!)

Tuesday: First hurdle; I'm out all day and not home till after 10 due to work events! I'm thinking make bread in the morning to atone for my sins later on? Healthy pack-up with said bread and carrot sticks then I'll have to make do with whatever buffet is served at the evening meeting

Wednesday: Home-made pizza with peppers, onions and chicken for dinner. The pizza dough is from the Tesco make it at home range but still better than frozen or ready made bases plus I can put all my own fresh toppings on top!

Thursday: I'm concerned that my lovely fresh food will not stay fresh! I have some carrots and leeks in the fridge and the veg box potatoes are piling up so i think I will have a soup session. Leek and potato for the fridge and carrot and coriander for this evening with some homemade rolls.

Friday: Starting to struggle for ideas now, I'm not one of these people who can make a box of vegetables into a main meal easily. Maybe a vegetable stir fry with the spring greens, peppers and carrot with soy sauce and chicken stock for flavour and seasoning.

Saturday: Leek and Potato soup for lunch, Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with salad and potatoes.

Sunday: Dinner at the in-laws, usually a roast or casserole made from scratch.

Making the plan took a little more effort than I thought but there's nothing on there which is unachievable!

Fresh Week 13th May - 19th May - Fresh Start!

2013-05-11T02:11:00.000-07:00

Today kicks off the start of Fresh Week!

Fresh week appears to be the invention of Tefal (based on my attempts to find any earlier example on Google) this year. Cynics may say it is designed to sell the new super slicing device but the ethos is definitely positive: A week dedicated to eating fresh food and avoiding processed ready meals.

This week the plan is to eat as much home prepared fresh food as possible.

I will hopefully update each day with my attempt to eat everything from scratch (with maybe a couple of short cuts!) during a normal busy work week.

If you would like to Win a Tefal Fresh Express and a Veg box from Riverford Organic click here.

Kent's Kitchen: Spicy Korma Kit

2013-02-22T06:47:00.000-08:00

This spicy Korma kit from Kent's Kitchen is award winning for a reason. I have never tasted such a flavoursome home-made curry before.

Spicy Korma Kit, Chicken, Veggies, Coconut Milk

The beauty of the kit is that you get a flavoured oil to cook your chicken and/or Vegetables, a curry paste to cook through then a spice pot to add at the end. Just provide the Chicken and Veg and a tin of coconut milk.

Method: Chop up your chicken and/or vegetables. Add the Garlic Oil to a hot pan and first seal your chicken (if using)

Add the vegetables and cook for a few minutes.

Add the Korma paste and cook for 5 more minutes.

Finally add the coconut milk and spice pot and simmer until your rice or other accompanying dish is ready.

Tip: In the winter you will find you coconut milk may solidify, just pop the tin in some warm water before opening. I added mine to the washing up bowl!

Result:

A very tasty, fresh curry. I will definately be trying the other kits in the range.

Recipe Score:

Also a great price at £2.30

The Hotel Chocolat Tasting Club

2013-01-19T03:00:00.000-08:00

I have been a member of the hotel chocolat tasting club for a few years and although it is a real luxury who would begrudge such a high quality box of chocolates every 3 months?

The club produces a new box every month sent to your door with a tasting card and newsletter. As I am the only one in my house who eats dark chocolate I've set my subscription to once every 12 weeks.

Being a club member also entitles you to a 5% discount is store.

How easy was it to order?

The website is very easy to use to place your order or modify an order but you do need to phone up to cancel.

The club is also designed so that those not confident with the internet can order by phone and pay by cheque if desired.

Delivery and Packaging

The box arrives in a long box designed to fit through your door and the box of chocolates is wrapped in a cellophane sleeve to keep them fresh. There is alos a message for your postman telling them not to leave in sunlight!

What's in the box?

A generous 'sleekster' box of chocolates, newsletter, tasting menu and score card.

The idea is that you have 2 of each chocolate, working through the menu you can then score each chocolate and report your answers on-line or by post. In each newsletter the results from each selection are posted and the best chocolates may be considered for the shop range. So as you can see its all very serious stuff!

Ratings

Delivery - Delivery is included in the price so cannot be judged alone.

Packaging - Well packaged, yet just fits through the door!

Quality & Taste- Second to none, easily the best boxed chocolates sold in the UK.

Value for Money - Not too bad as long as you recognise this as a luxury item, yes you could buy a lot of cadburys or galaxy for £18 but you are paying for ethical production and high quality.

Other comments: The Tasting Club really is a unique experience and a real indulgence.

Overall Rating:

Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin With Peppercorn Sauce

2013-01-18T02:30:00.000-08:00

Following the Pork theme of my last recipe HelloFresh seem to be quite generous with the pork!

For this recipe and the Spiced Pork Skewers I only needed 300g of pork fillet but was sent at least 600g so an looking forward to making them both again.

300g Pork Fillet, 450g potatoes, 4 Rashers Streaky Bacon, 100ml Milk, 1 Clove of Garlic, 3 Tbsp Double Cream, 1 Beef Oxo cube, 3 Tbsp diced Shallot, 150g Broccoli, 1/2Tbsp Black Peppercorns

As usual chop everything up; Peel and finely dice the garlic and shallot, peel the potatoes and chop into just smaller than golf ball size pieces.

Boil two pans of water, with a pinch of salt in each, and add you potatoes to one of them. Let them boil for 10-15 minutes until soft throughout and drain.

lay the bacon out, overlapping the edges to make a sheet to wrap your pork loin in. place the loin on end and roll carefully into a giant pig in blanket.

Heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil then seal your pork roll and let brown a little on all sides.

Slice the roll into discs about 2cm thick then pop them back in the hot pan and fry for 90 seconds on each side. Let rest on a warm plate.

fry the shallots and garlic in the pan containing your pork juices then add half the stock cube and 200mls of water. Allow to simmer until reduced by half then crush the pepper corns and add these plus the cream to the pan. Leave bubbling until thick.

Now cook your broccoli for 3 minutes in the second pan of boiling water and mash your potatoes with the milk, a nob of butter and a little salt to taste.

Serve the pork on top of the mashed potatoes with a good splash of sauce and broccoli on the side.

Result:

A little bit fiddly rolling up the pork and bacon but worth it in the end.

An impressive dish with lots of flavours.

Recipe score:

Spiced Pork Skewers with Carmelised Onion Rice

2013-01-17T04:40:00.003-08:00

Another lovely recipe from HelloFresh! last night.

After taking a bit of a break from proper cooking over Christmas I decided to give the healthy January boxes a go.

300g Pork Fillet, 200g Basmati Rice, 1 Red Pepper, 1 Clove of Garlic, 80g of Onion, A pinch of Smoked Paprika, 1tsp Curry Powder, 1 Lime, 300g Broccoli

First put the skewers in some water to soak, this stops them burning when the skewers go in the oven.

Chop up all your vegetables remembering that the garlic and onion need to be finely diced to go in the rice and the red pepper should be large chunks to go on the skewers. Chop a little off the top of one of your broccoli florets so that you have a teaspoon on tiny buds to garnish.

Chop your pork into bite sized chunks, again remember that they are going to be threaded onto skewers.

Heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil then add the garlic and onion, stir and allow to cook for 5 minutes.

Next add a generous pinch of paprika, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Add the rice and stir for a minute than add 300mls of cold water.

Once the pan starts to boil turn the heat down and pop on the lid. Turn your grill on to high and put a pan of water on to boil for your broccoli.

Meanwhile mix up a marinade of one tablespoon of olive oil, the curry powder, zest of half the lime and juice of half the lime. mix well and add a couple of pinches of slat and pepper then coat your pork and peppers. If you have time you could make the marinade the night before and leave the meat and pepper sot soak up the flavour in the fridge.

Thread your meat and peppers alternately on the skewers and pop onto a baking tray and put on to the top shelf under the grill. Cook for 10-12 minutes making sure to turn every 3 minutes. Be careful as the skewers will heat up very quickly!

Lastly put the broccoli into the pan of boiling water and cook for 4 minutes and drain. check your rice and turn off the heat if all the water has been absorbed.

Serve the skewers on top of the rice with your broccoli bud garnish sprinkled on top and the florets on the side.

Result:

Lovely tender Pork with plenty of flavour and the rice was good enough to be eaten on its own!

All that at under 500 calories.

Recipe Score:

My Tassimo Machine

2013-01-15T08:24:00.000-08:00

I know this isn't my usual recipe/food review but I though I might branch out into food related things such as my lovely coffee machine. I used to work in a cafe as a barista and have struggled to get a decent coffee at home. I've had a Gaggia machine but it was a bit of hassle cleaning and scaling and time consuming to make a single cup as I am the only one who drinks coffee.

I've had a Tassimo machine for almost a year now and have to say I'm very satisfied.

Ordering

I ordered my machine from Amazon purely because they couldn't be beaten on price and I like to look at the reviews before purchasing. So ordering was as easy as anyone with an Amazon account will find and arrived the next day, as I have an Amazon Prime account.

Put in Milk disc

What's in the Box

As you would expect the machine comes with cleaning instructions and everything you need to get going.... except samples!
I understand these might go out of date but it would be nice to have something to try when you get your machine home, so be warned, make sure to buy some T-Discs before getting the machine or you will be disappointed.

The Machine Itself

Put in Coffee disk

The machine, once set up, is able to dispense a fresh cup of coffee with one press of a button. If you like something a bit fancier you use 2 discs, one after the other. A single disk drink will take a minute to dispense and a double will be about 2 minutes. You can also top up your drink once its finished dispensing by holding the button down.

I made a lovely Costa cappuccino (pictured). I've heard some complaints that the milk is a condensed milk, so yes it is a bit sweeter, I would usually add sugar to my coffee but don't have to with the Tassimo milk discs. Also "no" it doesn't taste as good as going into Costa, at 54p, without leaving your house, nobody would go to Costa any more if it did!

Finished Cappuccino

I've found it much quicker than boiling the kettle and also only uses enough electricity to heat exactly the right amount of water.

Value For Money

I bought the T40 which is £119 on the Tassimo site, Amazon prices vary, It has a large removable water tank and is a little more noisy than advertised but not loud enough to wake anyone in the mornings.

The easiest way to look at cost is by single or double drinks. One disk varies from 24p for a basic coffee or tea to 28p for a Costa Americano, a double (so milk disc and coffee/chocolate disc) will cost from 47p for a Carte Noire Cappuccino to 62p for a Costa Latte, the latte uses a large milk disk.

A huge saving on coffee shop coffee but a bit more expensive than the premium (micro-ground) instants.

If my machine broke would I buy another one? Yes, definitely

Tesco Light Choices Ready Meals

2013-01-14T05:25:00.001-08:00

Forgive me for I have sinned!

As well as failing to post for a month I have come to confess that this week I have been eating ready meals instead of home cooking. In a bid to beat the post-Christmas bulge we have been eating Tesco Light Choices Ready meals which do claim to be healthy.

Looking back at my meals for the last week I can see that the calorie content is indeed low and I have been making sure to eat breakfast but as expected the salt and fat content can still be quite high considering the portion size.

Chicken and Bacon Pasta bake

Tonight's meal is a pasta bake, looks smells and tastes yummy so full marks there.

Is it really a healthy meal? I like to look at daily allowances here rather than grams and in theory I believe that a meals which uses 23% of your daily calorie allowance should ideally be similar for fats and salts etc. this meals actually only accounts for 15% of your allowance of fat but as most of it seems to be saturates (34% of allowance) may not be as good as you think at first glance. It also contains 2.2g of Salt which is 37% of your daily allowance.

Chicken Tikka Masala and Rice
Last week I also had a Chicken Tikka and Rice and I have to say I was very impressed with the nutritional values. At 459 Calories with 11% of your daily allowance of Fat (only 13% GDA for saturates) and 1.4g of Salt this has to be one of the healthier meals available.

Very impressive for a curry and it also tasted like a nice curry and wasn't swimming in oil!

Chicken Breasts with Tomato and Basil sauce

The healthiest meal we had all week has to be the chicken breasts in tomato and basil sauce. At 150 calories per breast and less than 5% of your GDA for fat & saturates this lived up to its light choices branding.

The pack itself isn't a full meal like the others but is definitely the main event. I served these with half a baked potato and salad.

Still to try is the Chicken and Broccoli Pie, 33% GDA of salt but otherwise good, and the Braised Beef with Mash, again the salt GDA was above the the calorie GDA but good on the fats. So far All of the meals have been tasty and I understand that removing salt can result in a quite flavourless meal.

So "Yes" you will lose weight eating light choices meals when paired with healthy breakfasts and a good lunch, just be aware of salt and saturated fats!

Undercover Ratatouille with Lemon Roasted Sea Bream

2012-11-09T10:27:00.002-08:00

This is by far one of the easiest from scratch recipes I have ever made but also very tasty and fresh. Quite an achievement since I have always ended up with the Courgette and Aubergine (Egg plant for any Yanks) in my veg box going to waste as I've not been keen on them before.

2 Fillets of Fish (Bream), 1 Lemon, 1 Aubergine, 200g Courgettes, 2 Peppers (we used 1 red and 1 Yellow), 1 Tin chopped Tomatoes, 2 Cloves Garlic, 1 Tsp Sugar, 1 Tsp Provencal Herbs (mixed herbs would also work)

As we have learnt by now, first I heated the oven to 250 degrees C then chopped up all the veggies. The peppers were de-seeded and sliced, the courgette was chopped into cubes and the for aubergine I removed the top and bottom, sliced into quarters and removed half of the spongy middle before chopping into cubes. If you really like your peppers you could slice it into bitter strips than I did.

These were all popped onto a baking tray and tossed in a little oil with a pinch of salt and pepper before being put on the top shelf of the oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile I finely chopped the garlic and fried it in a large pan with a little olive oil for a minute before adding the tin of chopped tomatoes. I then added the herbs, sugar and a pinch of salt and let it bubble until I had a thick sauce.

I placed a tray with a tablespoon of oil into the oven to heat up then rubbed some oil on my fish again seasoning with a little salt and pepper then placing on the heated tray. Finally squeeze the juice from 1/4 of a lemon on top and place in the middle of the oven for 5 minutes.

The veggies should be about ready by now, gently roasted and a bit crispy around the edges. Remove from the oven and add to the tomato sauce, taste and season as needed.

Serve the fish on top of the ratatouille and zest a little bit of lemon on top.

Result:

Both the fish and the ratatouille would work really well with other dishes or together. I couldn't believe how nice and simple this was and still so tasty. The fish was perfectly cooked and very moist and the vegetables all tasted very nice amazingly as both myself and the other half didnt think we really liked courgette or aubergine.