Author: jamesclay

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Christmas Four Bird Roast


Well my plan for a Christmas Four Bird Roast was scuppered last year. I had intended to order one from Marks and Spencers which consisted of Turkey, Goose, Duck, Chicken.

Marks and Spencers Four Bird Roast

However when I went to order it was apparent that many others had had the same idea and it had sold out! I am guessing that a) a lot of people were like me and liked the concept b) the Marks and Spencers version was good value for money at £100. There was no way you could even do it yourself for £100. Waitrose’s version was £120 and only consisted of a three bird roast.

So this year I got in early and managed to order one.

Now from the description I believe that this isn’t in fact four birds one stuffed within another, but a large turkey stuffed with goose, duck, chicken and stuffing. Still it sounds nice, and according to the person at Marks and Spencers who I ordered it from, it went down well at their Christmas last year.

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Marks and Spencers Pork Medallions

Cooked and enjoyed Marks and Spencers’ Pork Medallions with a cider and shallot sauce.

I normally prefer to cook my own sauces than use shop ones, but as I was in Marks and Spencers and looking at their The Cook Menu range decided to give it a go.

Whatever you fancy for dinner and whatever the occasion, M&S’s NEW The Cook Menu has something to offer. You’ll find a variety of exciting dishes, inspired by flavours from around the world, which all use the very best ingredients: fresh vegetables, sustainable fish and quality cuts of meat from M&S-approved farms. The preparation work has been done for you, so you can concentrate on the enjoyment of cooking and add an individual touch.

So what do you get?

Well you get some pork fillet sliced and a sachet of sauce, not enough sauce really, more would have been nice.

So you pan fry the pork and then remove from the pan and heat through the sauce.

I served mine with some rice and steamed vegetables.

It wasn’t that bad actually, quite good really.

Yes you could do this all yourself, however I didn’t have a huge amount of time, and nor did I have the ingredients for the sauce and that’s the real time and money saver with these.

Would I buy it again, yes I would.

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Paella

Made a homemade paella the other day.

paella011009

Took some onions, pepper and some pancetta, and fried them together in a large heavy pan with a splash of olive oil.

Add some diced raw chicken.

I then added the paella rice, and it always makes sense to use paella rice, and never any other kind of rice.

Ensuring the rice was coated in the onions, pepper and oil, I would have added a splash of white wine, but alas there was no wine in the house.

So I then added saffron and chicken stock. The saffron I had infused in hot water. This helps to bring out the traditional yellow colour in the paella. I also added half a tin of chopped tomatoes. In case you wonder what to do with the other half, I made a spicy tomato sauce  for patatas brava.

Simmer for twenty minutes adding more stock if required.

A few minutes before serving add raw prawns and slices of chorizo. I was  using cooking chorizo which I had  cooked separately. A handful of chopped parsley adds flavour and colour.

The dish was the put together and served.

I would have liked to use more shellfish, but all I had was prawns to hand, nice to have used squid and mussels.

paella021009

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Burts Chips

Really impressed to see some new crisps (potato chips) from Burts with no added salt, but unlike other unsalted crsisps they have flavours; plain, ketchup and vinegar.

They are really nice crisps and if you are trying to keep your salt intake down a nice choice if you like crisps.

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Why do we flock to all-you-can-eat restaurants?

BBC News Magazine reports on the all-you-can-eat restaurant chain Taybarns

With a “34-metre long food counter” Taybarns is all about quantity. It offers an array of food. Choose from a chip shop, carvery, pizza, pasta, even what appears to be a new hybrid-cuisine, Texican.

Its menu boasts: “Enjoy as much as you like, as many times as you like. All for one fixed price!”

Egg and Chips with a nice mug of tea

Why do we flock to all-you-can-eat restaurants?

A good question.

Personally I do go to them, but often not through choice, but because others take me there…

Having said that the all you can eat buffet at the Hilton Hotels I have stayed in have been pretty good. But there you pay £27 rather than the £7.99 at Taybarns.

I agree though with the final comment.

“The American model bothers me. We want big portions, rubbish food. What we actually need is higher quality and people eating less.”

Photo source.

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Cupcakes

Cupcakes

BBC News reports on the rise of the cupcake.

“Buttercream frosted, pink hearts and sprinkles, melt-in-your-mouth candy and violet petals.” It might be the perfect menu for an additive-enhanced children’s party, but these lavish confections are driving a sugar-coated revolution.

Not for me though…

Photo source.

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The secrets behind our processed food

Fascnating series from the BBC on how they make processed food, demonstrated by Jimmy Doherty doing it at home without the factory.

The organic, home-made food trend may have grown rapidly in the past decade, but in the recession many have returned to cheaper, processed produce. Yet few of us know how such everyday foods are made.

As household budgets have been cut, shoppers have been seeking out bargains in preference to pricey alternatives. For example, sales of organic vegetables slumped 19% in the past year.

But if the British palate has been readjusting to cheaper, often processed foods, few shoppers know much about how such produce is created. Suffolk-based farmer Jimmy Doherty has been working to overcome this consumer blind spot, finding out for a new BBC TV series how science and ingenuity combine to produce good quality food on such a mass scale.

So, what are the processes some of the most common convenience foods go through before they reach our supermarket trolleys? 

Read more.

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Waitrose Duck with Orange Sauce

I do quite like duck and the obvious choice with duck is an orange sauce. Though I more often than not prefer to make my own sauces, sometimes you don’t have the time, sometimes you don’t have the expertise. Shop sauces can often be too sweet or usually too salty, so I don’t like to buy them. The duck with orange sauce from Waitrose though falls into the just right category, neither too sweet nor too salty.

I use to get a similar pack from Sainsbury, however they no longer stock it at my local branch (and don’t recall seeing it elsewhere either).

Having taken out the two duck breasts from the fridge, using a fork, prick the skin side of the duck breast.Duck can be quite fatty and as a result if you simply roast the duck breast it will be too fatty and greasy. So heat a frying pan, but don’t add any oil. Place the duck breasts in the pan skin side down.

Frying the duck breast in this way renders the fat out from the duck and as a result you get nice crispy skin and little fat or greasiness.

The breasts will also shrink slightly as they cook. There is technique that you can use to stop the meat curling up, but I can’t remember what it is! Something about cutting away something. If you know post a comment and let me know.

Once the skin is nice and brown, place the duck breasts skin side up in a roasting pan. Roast in the oven for about ten to twenty minutes (depending on how you like your duck).

Serve with the orange sauce.

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Dodgy Italian

One of the problems I face when I stay away from home is where do I go to dinner. I am not a fan of hotel restaurants, generally I find they are overpriced and the quality can be poor.

I was recently in a hotel on the A45 Cromwell  Road and was not impressed with the menu, so decided to venture out and find somewhere to eat.

Well I wish I hadn’t…

I found Bellavista, what looked like a nice Italian restaurant, an interesting menu and was quite full (which I usually find is a good sign of quality) and went in.

Well I left very disappointed. It was an overpriced rubbish food experience.

I had a starter of calamari, which I initially thought was okay, but overall was disappointed as it was quite rubbery, it certainly wasn’t cooked from fresh, more likely deep fried from frozen.

My main course, spaghetti with clams was absolutely terrible. The sauce was obviously from a jar!

I couldn’t believe how bad the food was…

The couple on the table next to me ordered fish and chips, it looked worse than mine!

I had obviously entered a London tourist restaurant that caters for tourists.

I need to find some good places before I get to London in the future…