Category Archives: Food

The Healthy Way To Drizzle On Pancake Day

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It may just be me, but Shrove Tuesday feels later this year.

We have to wait until the 8th of March before people try and remember how many eggs to add to how much flour and whether it was right to include a knob of butter in the mix. Hint: It’s not – unless I’ve been doing it wrong all these years.

But don’t forget the real lemon juice, or that great plastic Jif lemon which used to make great water pistols when empty. Can you still get those? (Sigh, nostalgia). And syrup – lots of.

And now there is a healthy alternative for those looking to watch their waistline. Raymond Blanc swears by it, rather than at it, like I do when I miss the pan when flipping, but that’s another story. Suffice to say the cat’s fur was never the same.

Sweet Freedom is an award winning, natural, healthier sugar substitute. It’s won Great Taste Gold stars (Foodie Oscars) so tastes delicious – well, obviously. But because it’s made 100% from fruit, it has 25% fewer calories than sugar, and, as an added bonus, it’s sweeter, so you can use 25% less too.  On a more serious note, it has a low GL (Glycaemic Load), which means it won’t cause blood sugar highs and lows, so it’s suitable for all the family –  including diabetics.

It’s completely natural and made from just apples, grapes and carob with no colourings, flavourings or preservatives added.  It’s a good option for anyone looking for a healthier, great tasting, lower calorie alternative to sugar and other sweet syrups.

Sweet Freedom can be found in 300ml drip-free squeezy bottles from Tesco, Waitrose (both Free From section), Ocado, Booths, Holland & Barrett and health food stores for the  RRP of £2.99. There’s no word yet as to whether they match the Jif lemons for portable and potent post-use water pistol fire power. Time will tell.

www.sweetfreedom.co.uk

The Inept Girl's Guide To Cooking: Lasagna

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I apologise for how little I have been updating this column. I do, however, have a good excuse. I have been filming at Shepperton studios for the past six months. Quite exciting for an actor. Another perk of this is that I have been fed, three times a day, completely for free. So you can see how little cooking has actually been done.

I have decided to come back with a classic. A very strong memory that my mother taught me to make when I was a child. You can never go wrong with lasagna. Even if you have vegetarians coming round. Just replace the meat with quorn. So, here’s what you need.

  • Mince. I used Pork Mince for a change. Always get good mince. Bad mince ruins the entire dish. 500g is good
  • Three onions
  • Tomato Puree
  • Tinned tomatoes ( I used two tins, one with cherry tomatoes in.)
  • Garlic, one clove
  • Lasagna pasta 250g
  • Cheese sauce (I have been experimenting but this time used Dolmio’s Creamy sauce for Lasagna, Which tasted good.)

Brown the mince in a large pot, make sure there are no pink bits. You don’t need oil or anything. Take it off the hob. Chop the onions and garlic and add to pot. Return to the hob and stir for a while. Add the tomatoes puree and the tinned tomatoes. Keep stirring this and let it cook for a while. It won’t take long. Just until the onions and everything looks cooked.

Take a lasagna dish and put butter or oil on it to stop it sticking. Add half of the mince. Put lasagna pasta on top, covering all of the meat. Add the rest of the meat and cover the mince again. Add Dolmio’s creamy sauce for lasagna or another cream cheese. You can also add cheese on the middle layer. DO NOT ADD CARROTS TO LASAGNA. This is wrong, people who do this should be shot. You can, however, add mushrooms. I think mushrooms are great in lasagna.
After adding the cheese sauce put the lasagna in the oven. 30 minutes at Gas Mark 6 should do it. I have heard a lot of different temperatures and cooking times, but this always works for me. Keep checking on it if you are unsure. When it is golden and brown it’s ready. Do make sure it is piping hot before you serve.

There you go, bloody great lasagna.

Free box of Graze Snacks {Freebies}

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Would you like a free box of Graze snacks directly to your desk? January’s almost over and new years resolutions have been made, broken, restarted, broken again and then thrown out the window. Graze boxes have been gracing the post bags of many a postman delivering healthy snacks directly to your desk. Each box comes with four compartments of yummy healthy guilt-free snacks and a specially printed leaflet telling you the nutritional value of everything in the box.

Here’s the details:

Free Box of Graze and next one half price

How: Enter code 5GCRNGP on the homepage at www.graze.com and follow the instructions.

How it works: Not valid with other vouchers. New customers only.

Enjoy!

Chor Bizarre Restaurant Review: India transported into the heart of Mayfair.

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London is full of every kind of cuisine you could think of. However, few of these restaurants really give you the true experience of the country they are representing. Chor Bizarre is different. Just as all of the furniture is taken from different parts of India, the cuisine comes not just from one part of the country, but the width and breadth of it.

Chor Bizarre, located on Albermarle Street, Mayfair, captures the infamous Chor Bazaar or thieves market of South Mumbai. The restaurant is a relative Aladdin’s cave, with all the beauty, colourfulness and eclecticism of India.

It’s nothing less than perfection. My starter of Purani Dilliki Papre chaat was a dish both refreshing and spicy – a perfect balanced combination. It’s one of only three dishes on the menu that doesn’t change. It’s Indian street food and a speciality they have had for years.

Next, to a Tandoori special, which had a combination of chicken, salmon, lamb and the biggest prawn I have ever seen in my life. Almost the size of my fist. That was followed with Chicken Tikka Masala and Lamb Shank, with every dish having just the right amount of spice. And dessert? Tandoori Pineapple. Absolutely delicious with ginger ice-cream.

It is fair to say that the menu has so much good food, it’s almost impossible to choose what to eat. Ask for recommendations instead. The owners are lovely and knowledgeable.

Charles Metcalfe has collaborated with head chef Manpreet Singh Ahuja and they have produced wine to match every dish. In fact, I was incredibly impressed at Chor Bizzarre’s eye for detail.

Very simply, I have completely fallen in love with this restaurant. I’ll be going back again and will also recommend it to all of my friends. The hospitality is first rate, the food is delicious and the staff are first class.

One of the best restaurants in London, if not the best.

Chor Bizarre

ROCK AROUND THE WOK FOR LESS. {Food}

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You can rock around the wok for less this festive season thanks to Wing Yip’s great recipe suggestions which will allow you to provide authentic Oriental cuisine for up to 10 people for under £20.

Authentic dishes can be prepared easily with Wing Yip’s Mai Siam Hamper which contains sauces ranging from Thai Green Curry Paste to Thai Sriracha Chilli Sauce. At just £15.00 this hamper pack offers the base for a vast selection of fantastic meals and Oriental feasts.

Complete with a range of sauces, coconut milk, tableware and a wok for preparing these great authentic meals at home. The hamper is ideal for Oriental meal ideas designed to make parties an easy and cheaper option this festive season.

Christmas leftovers can be turned into a tasty Oriental feast, with just a little preparation and a few additional ingredients.

Why not try Thai Red Curry? Quick and easy to prepare, it will provide a great opportunity to put all the leftover turkey meat to good use. Use Mai Siam Thai Red Curry Paste with a dash of Sweet Chilli Sauce and coconut milk – all included in the hamper.

Side dishes are a must at any banquet. To accompany the mouth watering Thai main dish, why not keep it authentic and serve with noodles or fragrant rice.

Everything you need including Oriental beers, wines, fortune cookies, chopsticks and tableware, is available online or from Wing Yip superstores in Birmingham, Manchester, Cricklewood and Croydon.

Customers can access more than 800 Wing Yip products, 100 Oriental recipes and store information by visiting www.wingyipstore.co.uk

Thai Red Curry with Turkey

Red Curry is the most well known Thai curry. The basis of the curry is the dried chillies that are ground to a paste together with lemon grass and galangal. This recipe uses leftover turkey.
Ingredients

* Large turkey pieces cut into bite size pieces
* 4 tsp Mai Siam Red Curry Paste
* 1 tbsp vegetable oil
* 57g fine beans (cut into 3cm lengths)
* 1 tin coconut milk
* Handful Sweet Basil
* 2 tsp fish sauce (to taste
* 1 tsp palm sugar (to taste)

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a wok and gently fry the red curry paste, adding 2 tbsp coconut milk to cook out the curry paste.
2. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until the oil separates from the curry paste.
3. This is the best time to add the turkey pieces which should be stir fried in the mixture for about 3 minutes.
4. Next add the coconut milk, palm sugar and the fish sauce.
5. When turkey is cooked add the fine beans and cook further until beans are al dente.
6. Lastly, scatter the sweet basil over the curry and turn off heat.
7. If curry is to be eaten later, allow curry to cool uncovered.

· Serves 2 – 3

JACOB’S CREEK AND BBC SATURDAY KITCHEN WINE EXPERTS BRING A LITTLE SPARKLE TO CHRISTMAS

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Leading Australian wine brand and award-winning wine duo demystify bubbles ahead of the festive period

Can’t spot a Prosecco from a Cava; don’t know a Brut from a Demi-Sec? Well fear not because BBC Saturday Kitchen wine experts, Peter Richards and Susie Barrie, have joined forces with the UK’s best-selling sparkling wine brand1, Jacob’s Creek, to produce the ultimate guide to fizz, ‘A Taste of Sparkling’, just in time for those Christmas celebrations.

This eye- and ear-friendly vodcast objectively guides you through the sometimes confusing world of sparkling wine. Taking in everything from Asti to Champagne, it helps you make sense of sparkling wine; from how to open the bottle correctly, to when to serve different sparkling wines, and with what.

We enjoy more sparkling wine at Christmas than at any other time of the year, so when better to make sense of the world of fizz and impress your family and friends? Peter and Susie run the Winchester Wine School and, like Jacob’s Creek, their mission is to help you get the most out of your fizz whatever the occasion.The vodcast is a simple way to bolster your wine knowledge with small interesting snippets that capture the imagination. Did you know, for example, that due to the number of bubbles in a bottle of Champagne, the pressure inside the bottle is the same as that in the wheel of a double decker bus? No? Then this vodcast is for you.

http://db.tt/Pnaf9DO Jacob’s creek podcast.

As Susie says, “For many of us, shopping for wine is a complicated and intimidating experience, with most decisions based on price and familiarity. Like us, Jacob’s Creek wants to help people expand their horizons and discover new wines and tastes that they may not have tried before”.

Visit www.jacobscreek.co.uk/united-kingdom/news/a-taste-of-sparkling to start your sparkling wine adventure.

Champagne fizz with friends this Christmas. {Food & Drink}

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Christmas is the perfect excuse to open a bottle of Champagne and celebrate the year in style with loved ones. The Champagne Information Bureau has compiled a list of top tips and dispelled some myths on how to serve and enjoy the ultimate luxurious drink this festive season:

Quantity – a bottle of Champagne serves about seven Champagne flutes. When served as an aperitif, allow one bottle for every three or four guests, but at a meal, serve one bottle for every two or three.

Temperature – Champagne takes around three hours to chill in the fridge. For a quicker result, place the bottle in a bucket filled with equal parts ice and water. This takes about thirty minutes. Never put Champagne bottles in the freezer as it will dumb down the aroma and flavours.

Open – Be brave! Slant the bottle at a 45 degree angle away from guests. Untwist (exactly six half turns) and remove the wire muzzle. Grasp the cork firmly with thumb and forefinger and twist the bottle slowly letting the pressure help to push the cork out. It should sigh rather than pop.

Serve – Champagne is best served in a tulip-shaped glass or a flute. Do not serve in a saucer-shaped glass as the aroma and bubbles will disperse. Serve by holding the glass upright. Pour a small quantity of Champagne in the glass and allow it to settle before filling two-thirds full.

Enjoy – hold the glass by the stem or even better at the base to avoid warming the drink. Between glasses, store the opened bottle of Champagne in an ice bucket for no more than three hours. Contrary to popular belief, a silver spoon placed in the neck of an open bottle does not prevent the Champagne going flat.

Store – keep un-opened Champagne horizontally in a cool, dark place away from heat, light and severe temperature variations.

Francoise Peretti, Director of the Champagne Information Bureau, says:

“Don’t be Champagne shy this Christmas! Make sure you look around for different styles and brands – there is a wide diversity of Champagne which will suit your occasion. Year-end celebrations are a great time to experiment and explore.”

IF IT’S A PIG’NIC, THEN IT SHOULD BE FROM OUTDOOR PRODUCED PORK, SAYS MARCHIONESS

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It’s the start of National Picnic Week today, but campaigners at Pig Business have noticed that Britain’s pig industry leaders have been trying to hog the headlines by with their attempts to change “picnics” to “PIG’nics”.

Fair enough if the nation were being encouraged to add “free range produced pork” to their picnic hampers as they head for the great outdoors, but the sad reality is that this campaign centres its support on pork producing schemes called Red Tractor where most of the pigs are denied straw let alone the outdoor experience, instead being reared under indoor, barren, factory farmed conditions.

‘Pig Business’ is all for a good picnic and is hugely supportive of Britain’s high welfare pig farmers, so why not use this opportunity to encourage shoppers to look for high welfare labels. And, when they discover that most products don’t explain how the pig has been raised, exert pressure on the government to introduce mandatory method of production labelling.

Pig Business is calling on Britain’s picnickers to use their consumer power to shun factory farmed pork this week and support high welfare farmers by ensuring their hampers only contain pork from high welfare systems from the basic RSPCA freedom food standard to the gold standard such as free range or organic.

The Pignic project is part of a larger campaign initiative that Britain’s pig industry leaders have launched this summer called ‘Love Summer, Love Pork’ http://www.lovepork.co.uk/.The campaign is run by BPEX, who represent the pig industry in England and campaign to increase demand for UK pork.

Their campaign encourages consumers to look for the Red Tractor pork logo, run by Assured Food Standards. Yet this is a scheme to be aware of, as it claims to promote good farming practices, but in reality often offers little assurance to consumers beyond simple compliance with minimum legal requirements. Though UK standards are higher than on the continent, where sows have spent 90% of their lives confined to crates that they can’t even turn around in, they may be closely confined in farrowing (when suckling piglets) crates and piglets may be reared indoors in intensive systems without any bedding. Their relentless boredom in such barren conditions results in tail docking to prevent their biting each other’s tails.

The Pig Business team has spent the last 5 years campaigning for radical reform of the world’s pig industry, calling for legislation and public procurement that moves away from intensive factory farm systems to more extensive, welfare friendly pig systems which protect public health and the environment. With over 40% of Britain’s pig farmers operating outdoor systems why not take this outdoor experience to support them.

The Marchioness of Worcester says,“National Picnic Week provides the ideal opportunity to taste outdoor produced pork in the great outdoors! Ham up your hampers with some free range or organic pork but spare a thought for the thousands of factory farmed pigs in this country who won’t get to taste fresh air this week. Also make sure you check the label to ensure it’s British outdoor produced pork so you can give your support to our great British farmers who choose to farm by putting animals on the land and not in factories”.