food, reviews and of course coffee
If you are looking for an interesting pasta starter than the basil & pine nut margherite fresh pasta from Sainsbury’s Taste the difference range could be a good choice.
The egg and spinach flower shaped filled pasta is stuffed with a basil and pine nut filling (a bit like pesto).
Cooking in just a few minutes I served mine with a quick sauce made from creme frache and parmesan cheese, then adding some freshly ground black pepper.
BBC News Magazine has a nice article on the International Cheese Awards.
I do like to roast chicken portions in the oven with vegetables. In this recipe I also use lemons to impart a delicious citrus flavour to the chicken.
To make this dish, I took some chicken legs and thigh portions. These I slashed with knife and then placed in a bowl with the juice, peel and the rest of two lemons. I added a splash of white wine. I then added small plum tomatoes, onion, mushrooms and basil.
This was then roasted in the oven for thirty minutes, or until the chicken was golden brown as in the top photograph.
Place the chicken on a plate and add the roasted vegetables.
You can also use the juice from the pan as a basis for a sauce if required.
If you are a regular reader of the blog you will know that I am a bit of a fan of Jamie Oliver. However I have been avoiding buying any Jamie Oliver products as I was concerned that my expectations would not be met.
However having put off buying anything I saw in my local supermarket some Jamie Oliver Italian style sausages. Coarse pork with red wine, prosciutto and herbs. They sounded and looked great.
After watching Jamie’s Great Italian Escape
I pan fried them, they browned and cooked fine.
I served them with some pasta and a green salad.
So what did I think?
Well…
They were certainly meaty, a great texture.
However I was disappointed with the flavour. It wasn’t sausage enough and it wasn’t Italian enough either. The flavours needed to be stronger in my opinion.
The key question is will I buy them again?
Sorry no.
There is something about grilled chicken that has me thinking about my childhood, summer and outdoor eating. As my oven doesn’t have a proper grill I have never managed to capture that grilled taste and freshness.
One tool in my kitchen I do have is a griddle and that I can use that in some way captures the essence of grilled chicken. Yes it is not a perfect replacement.
I took some chicken breast and between two sheets of cling film and flattened it with a rolling pin.
I then brushed the chicken with olive oil and seasoning.
This was then placed onto a hot griddle and cooked for a few minutes on each side.
Perfect.
Jamie Oliver makes a cracking BBQ chicken.
Divers have found 30 bottles of champagne thought to pre-date the French Revolution on the Baltic seabed.
“It had a very sweet taste, you could taste oak and it had a very strong tobacco smell. And there were very small bubbles.”
Read more.
Had another one of those dishes from Marks and Spencers’ The Cook Menu range: Atlantic Lemon Sole fillets with Shallot and Tarragon butter and Cherry tomatoes.
A simple dish, pan fry the fish for a few minutes with the tomatoes and then add the butter. Serve.
I served mine with some salad and steamed asparagus.
It was simple to cook and importantly very quick. Yes this is a dish you could throw together yourself from raw ingredients, but unless you have all the ingredients can result in either an expensive dish or one missing that vital piece of the jigsaw.
I am not a fan of precooked cook chill products you bung in the microwave, however this range from Marks and Spencers (and other supermarkets like Waitrose and Tesco are now doing them too) are quick and easy, but also give you ideas and inspirsation for when you do have the time. They are also just the ingredients and are raw products that need cooking.
So what is it with the Flat White?
It was never available in this country and now it’s all over the place. First I see Costa sell it and now Starbucks is also selling the Flat White.
So what is the Flat White? According to Wikipedia:
Originating from Australia and New Zealand, a Flat White is a coffee beverage prepared by pouring steamed milk from the bottom of steaming pitcher over a single shot or double shot of espresso. As with many other espresso-based drinks the Flat White is interpreted in a number of ways. In Australia it is commonly served as a single shot of espresso, whereas in New Zealand it is more commonly served using a double shot.
So it’s popular in Australia and New Zealand, and yes a fair of them have come over to the UK, likewise they are also popular counties to visit. But why the sudden popularity here in the UK of the Flat White?
No idea!
I have had it a few times now in the UK, from Costas and Starbucks and though nice, it’s not quite the same as a Flat White from New Zealand.
Photo source.
Well written and amusing article on Kitchen Myths.
We’ve all heard of urban legends, those plausible sounding but false stories that circulate so widely on email and news groups, such as the old lady who microwaved her cat or the Nieman-Marcus $250 cookie recipe. There are several web sites devoted to researching and exposing these fake stories. The same sort of thing happens in the world of food and cooking, although on a much smaller scale.