Time for a coffee

September 15, 2010

Cannellini Beans

Sometimes speed and ease is what is needed in the kitchen. I do use tinned pulses and beans a fair bit in my cooking. Though I know I can buy dried, soak and cook them myself, I do find that using tinned is quick and easy. It also allows for last minute changes to recipes or what I am going to cook for dinner.

One problem I do have is that sometimes a regular sized tin of pulses or beans is too big. So I was pleased to find these small tins at my local Waitrose of Cannellini Beans.

I have used these for salads and for cooking.

What is also nice about these is that the beans are not in brine, so less salty.

September 14, 2010

Fresh Ground Coffee

When I stay at most hotels I am faced in my hotel room with instant coffee.

I don’t do instant coffee.

So when I stayed at a hotel in Plymouth recently I was pleased to see in my hotel room “fresh ground coffee in a bag”.

Okay so it wasn’t fantastic, but was at least drinkable compared to a cup of instant coffee.

September 13, 2010

Fish and Chips

I do quite like fish and chips, but rarely eat them when I am out to eat, unless I am buying a take away. Down in Plymouth in the Watering Hole down on the quay I made an exception for these.

The batter was good, the mushy peas were good. I took fries in preference to the chunky chips on the menu. I didn’t though think much of the tartar sauce. Though that may be because I don’t like tartar sauce!

September 12, 2010

Peroni

I do like a lager now and again especially in the summer or early autumn. It’s not as though I don’t like a good real ale, but during the summer, a bottle of lager reminds me so much of my travels to France and Italy back in the 1990s.

One of my favourite bottled lagers is Peroni.

When I am at an Italian restaurant for lunch I often choose Peroni over a glass of wine. It has a distinctive taste and freshness and I really find it very refreshing.

September 11, 2010

£110 for a cheese sandwich…

Nope, not a typo…

A cheese show in Somerset is hoping to set the record for the world’s most expensive cheese sandwich.

The Frome Cheese Show claims to be the oldest in the country. And organisers hope its cheese sandwich, costing £110.59, is the world’s most expensive.

It was created by Bath-based chef Martin Blunos and is made with cheddar blended with white truffles and sprinkled with gold dust.

Via BBC News

September 11, 2010

Chicken with a Parmesan and Lemon Crust

Having got Chicken with a Parmesan and Lemon Crust as part of the £10 dine in offer from Marks and Spencers, I roasted it in the oven alongside some potatoes and steamed vegetables.

It was quite nice.

I am not sure how much of a deal those £10 deals are from Marks and Spencers, actually of course it is no deal really, just the price that they charge called a deal to tempt you in…

However I don’t buy them because it is a special offer I buy them because it’s a quick and easy way to get a meal without having to spend huge amounts of money.

Oh and the wine isn’t too bad either!

September 10, 2010

Not quite like the photographs…

Enjoyed reading this blog article about the differences between the fast food you see in the advertising and the fast food you actually get.

People around the world know fast food as one of the most reliable distributors of disappointment ever produced by the business world. We know that if we ever feel the need to complain about something, we can just grab a page out of a coupon booklet, adorned in pictures of juicy burgers, then go have a party. Why, the restaurants themselves usually plaster their walls with pictures of juicy burgers – often hanging right over your table – so that you need only open your eyes to find something to compare your food with, while you eat it. Needless to say, the results of my little project were unsurprising… which shouldn’t be a surprise.

My favourite part is that the food in many of the advertising pictures wouldn’t actually fit in the boxes that they are supplied in!

September 9, 2010

Calamari and Calzone

Went to Bottelino’s again.

For starters I had the calamari again.

I do like calamari, this was okay, certainly not the best I have ever had, but also not the worse. Would be nice if they were a little more authentic. Next time I go I must have something different, though looking at another table I don’t think I will go for the mushrooms. Quite liked the look of the anti pasta.

They do a lunchtime special at my local branch where any pizza or pasta is just £4.95, so I decided to try the calzone.

It comprises a pizza base folded and stuffed in this instance with bolognaise sauce and mozzarella cheese.

I didn’t enjoy this as much as other pizzas I have had at Bottelino’s, it was a little too rich for me.

Overall not the best experience I have had, but didn’t put me off going again.

Bottelino’s is an independent chain of Italian restaurants in Bristol and North Somerset.

September 8, 2010

Borlotti Beans

One problem I do have is that sometimes a regular sized tin of pulses or beans is too big. So I was pleased to find these small tins at my local Waitrose of Borlotti Beans.