INTERFLORA CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES HAMPER

I have been very fortunate being asked by Victoria if I would like an Interflora Christmas Festivities Hamper to review.

The hamper comes in a wicker lidded basket, open the lid, and there before my very eyes was a tempting array of gourmet treats, presented so perfectly.

The top layer contained, a selection of Twinings Tea, mincepies, Duchy Originals Organic Rosemary and Thyme Cheese Nibbles, chocolate chunk shortbread, clotted cream fudge and clotted cream biscuits.


The underneath layer contained a bottle of red and white wine, Christmas Pudding, mixed fruit and nuts, fruit cake, box of chocolates, strawberry jam, cranberry sauce, and sticky onion chutney. You can listen to a video on the Interflora site detailing the items in the hamper here.

The hamper arrives in a very smart black box and the wicker hamper inside is a very tight fit. There is no room for movement in the outer box and I wouldn't be fearful about the hamper contents arriving to their due destination, other than in perfect condition.

The top layer of products are placed onto green tissue paper, underneath are biodegradable packing nuggets that you can either reuse or recycle through composting. All glass products are placed at the bottom of the wicker hamper and are wrapped tightly in bubble wrap.

It would be impossible to be any other than delighted, if you was the recipient of this Christmas Festivities Hamper, and that is exactly how I felt upon receiving mine.

We all think about flowers when we say Interflora but if you look at their website you will see they have so much more to offer. Now on the subject of flowers they do some splendid Christmas hand-tied bouquets (always a favourite way of mine to buy flowers). The Christmas Cracker Hand-tied bouquet looks particularly wonderful, I've only now to hope my husband reads this posting..............

MORNFLAKE OAT CEREALS COMPETITION

Enjoy porridge season with Mornflake.

I have a selection of 9 Mornflake cereals to give away in a lovely hessian shopper. The prize includes oats favourites, as well as Mornflake Extra Crispy Mueslis, Mornflake Very Berry Oatbran Flakes, the original Mornflake Oatbran Flakes and Mornflake Oatbran - a smoother hot cereal alternative to porridge, for sprinkling on cereals and salads, soups and casseroles and baking use in muffins, scones, pancakes, waffles and biscuits. One of the highest sources of beta-glucan – oatbran is the soluble fibre absorbed into the bloodstream that helps remove cholesterol.

To be in with a chance all you have to do is answer two simple questions:

1. Where are Mornflake oat cereals made?
2. What is the name of the family who have milled for 14 generations and still make Mornflake oat cereals today?

Please note: This competition will end at midnight on Sunday, 29th November 2009.
The competition is open to UK Residents only.
The winner will be chosen by random.
The prize contents are subject to availability.

Please pop back to see if you are the winner and let me have your email details, I can then arrange for your prize to be sent to you.

With porridge season now well and truly underway - for those of you who don’t partake in this healthiest of breakfasts all year round - what better way to start the day than with one of the Mornflake range of oats made by the UK’s oldest milling experts.

Milled in Cheshire since 1675 by the Lea family, Mornflake cereals are made from the finest quality British oats and milled in a special way perfected by 14 generations of the same family to create the renowned delicious taste and texture.




Choose from Mornflake SuperFast Oats – milled to retain natural taste and texture for the creamiest hot porridge and chopped for a quicker start to the day – also great for baking use or Mornflake Superfast Oats with 20% added bran – mixed with wheatbran. Other favourites include Mornflake Organic Oats, organically grown and packed with nutritional goodness and complex carbohydrates for slow energy release to keep you going until lunchtime which are also available as Mornflake Organic Oats2Go microwave sachets for an instantly nutritious breakfast from sachet to bowl in 3 minutes.

Look out for the special promotional packs of Mornflake Organic Oats and Mornflake Superfast Oats on shelf until the end of the year offering a bakeware set from The Jane Asher Home Baking Collection at the special price of £9.99+p&p (normally on sale for £25). The promotional packs will also feature a series of exclusive recipes developed Jane Asher for Mornflake and which include Oat and Apple Traybake, Squidgy Oat Cake and Oat Scones.

ABEL & COLE ORGANIC BELLY PORK JOINT

Abel & Cole asked if I would like to try a rolled piece of Organic Belly Pork. Usually I don't buy a piece of belly pork rolled but just buy it in a slab, and so this was a complete change for me.

The first thing I noticed about this joint was how the rind had been scored into diamonds shapes. Also, there was a good fat to meat ratio. First impressions are everything to this cook.

I smothered the rind with sea salt and rubbed in lots of ground fennel seeds. The joint was then blasted at a high temperature for 30 minutes before turning the oven down to resume the cooking. During the last 30 minutes of cooking I added some white wine to the belly pork for extra flavour and to make a delicious gravy.



The exposed meat, the best pieces in my humble opinion, were delicious and the interior of the meat was soft, tender and juicy.

We thought it was the best piece of belly pork ever to have graced the table in our house, there was hardly any waste - other than the string the joint had been tied up in!



Every joint of meat on the Abel & Cole website is traceable and it is always very comforting to read about the animals and producer regarding the meat you are about to order.

BEEROASTER CHICKEN AND SALMON WOOD WRAPS

Ever thought about cooking Beeroaster chicken? I have been writing my food blog for over three years now and have seen this method of cooking chicken on numerous food blogs, somehow I never seemed to get around to having a go.

Clive from Cookequip sent me the Chicken Beeroaster Deluxe which comes complete with a tube, drip pan and vegetable clips - this is by far the safer option for using this method of cooking.
The Beeroaster can be either used in an oven or a barbecue with a closed lid.


The Beeroaster comes with a cooking guide and recipes.

The tube can be filled with beer, ale, wine or fruit juice to flavour the chicken and to add to the flavour experience a rub can be sprinkled on the outside of the chicken and also inside the cavity.

I poured beer into the tube, rubbed Cajun seasoning over the outside of the chicken and lowered the cavity of the chicken onto the tube until the legs reach the bottom of the drip pan. Then the Beeroaster was placed onto the barbecue and a couple of potatoes were put onto the vegetable spikes. We then closed the lid of the barbecue and cooked the chicken for 1½ hours, the potatoes took 1 hour, you can also put corn onto the vegetable spikes and this takes about 20 minutes to cook.

The skin was golden and crispy, the meat was tender, moist and flavoursome. You don't even need to baste the chicken, it just takes care of itself - couldn't be simpler!

My husband is taking a keen interest in the Beeroaster and next year I'll be putting more postings on here with recipes. I'm sure the man in your life won't mind opening a bottle of beer now and then, so that you too can have Beeroaster chicken!

SALMON WOOD WRAPS

Beech Wood Wraps come in a pack of six - Beech wood gives the food a sweet and mild flavour and is an ideal choice for cooking fish and seafood.


Halved spring onions were placed onto the wrap then topped with salmon and anointed with soy sauce. Sprinkle with brown sugar, red chilli and grate over some ginger. I served the cooked salmon with a vegetable stir fry and the salmon was extremely moist and delicious.


Here is how to use the Wood Wraps: Presoak the wraps in water then pat dry. Spread olive oil onto the area where you will be placing the food, this is to stop the food sticking to the wood wrap.

Place the food onto the oiled area and wrap around the food. Tie with string or a spring onion leaf (I tried the spring onion for photographic purposes but got in a mess!!). Place the wraps onto a baking tray and then into an oven 180°C. My salmon took about 20 minutes to cook. Remove the string, open up the wood wrap and serve.

There are many wood wraps to choose from, including a pack containing cherry, cedar, maple, oak, walnut and beech, enough to keep any cook happy!

A few more ideas for using wood wraps are on the Cookequip website.

Metropolitan Chocolates by Thorntons

Pigpigscorner recently ran a competition to win these wonderful chocolates and I was lucky enough to be chosen randomly, as the winner.

The chocolates are Thorntons latest creation and come in milk and dark chocolate. All of the chocolates have wonderful names such as Manhattan Melt, Midnight Melt, Cloudberry Hill, Q Couture...........I'll save these for the festive period!

Thank you Pigpigscorner.

SMOKED SALMON AND CAMEMBERT CHEESE COOKED ON A STOVETOP SMOKER

As a newbie to smoking food, I decided to start with salmon fillets and a Camembert cheese. These took the same amount of time to cook which is approximately 15 minutes. Baby new potatoes dipped in smoked Camembert was a revelation, and will be made many times again, also the salmon was deliciously moist and smoked. I chose to use Alder Wood Chips, which came supplied with the Stovetop Smoker.


The food smoking possibilities are endless. Cheese, tomatoes, pork chops, chicken, fish, seafood, sausages and potatoes - just to name a few options. Any foods you may think will benefit from searing after smoking can then just be placed onto a griddle pan.

My husband has decided he is going to use the smoker on the barbecue, load it with sausages, potato wedges and vegetables then finish cooking them on the barbecue. He is coming up with ideas now - anything to do with the barbecue and you soon get his interest!

I've had a few requests from him such as smoked salmon fishcakes and smoked tomatoes, maybe these can be part of my next stovetop smoker posting.

A couple of weeks ago I reviewed the Oven Baking Plank sent to me by Clive of Cookequip, this time it is the turn of the Stovetop Smoker. I have been sent the Gourmet Edition - Mini Smoker which can be used indoors on the hob, or outdoors on a barbecue.

The smoker is made from stainless steel and consists of a base where you put a small amount of wood chips, next you insert the drip pan and top with a food rack. Put your food to be smoked on the oiled rack and slide the lid to close. Cooking instructions and recipes are on a separate booklet included with the smoker, also included are a couple of tubs of wood chips to get you started. After use the inside of the smoker will turn black but this is normal and means you are using it!


The smoker comes with a cooking guide explaining the matching of wood chips to certain types of food, I chose to use Alder and the book explains this is a mild wood ideal for smoking salmon, seafood and vegetables. Although Alder isn't recommended to smoke cheese I found it was a suitable match.

Smoking food is all about tweaking - which wood chips you prefer to use, the quantity and also how long you prefer to smoke your food. I am at the beginning of the learning curve with smoking and from time to time I will come back with a few photographs of food I have smoked.

Weird and Wonderful Restaurants to Eat in Around the World

Simonseeks Blog have just posted Weird and Wonderful Restaurants to Eat in Around the World. They have picked out some of the most unique places in the world to eat, the photographs are fascinating. Ever fancied eating in a tree house restaurant, apparently there is one in Auckland suspended 10 metres above the ground, or how about an Undersea Restaurant in the Maldives?!

Why not pop over to the site and take a look.......................

Simonseeks has just been shortlisted for the Good Web Guide Website of the Year Award 2009.

Here is a website where you can get paid for writing about your favourite restaurant, foodie destination, short break - the list is endless. All you have to do is write your own articles and post them up on the site. The details of how to 'Get Published' on the Simonseeks site can be found here.

ABEL & COLE ORGANIC FILLET STEAK REVIEW

Following on from my two other Abel & Cole reviews, which you can see here, Victoria asked if I would like to sample their Organic Fillet Steak.

Abel & Cole are experts at packaging and they send chilled goods in a polystyrene insulated box (which is returnable), lift the lid and there are your chilled food items in perfect condition, alongside a few reusable ice blocks. I should mention, Abel & Cole products are delivered by a friendly and polite driver.


My fillet steak was delivered alongside the free range chicken which was double wrapped, and there wasn't any sign of leakage from either product.

I cooked my fillet steak to medium - first heat your griddle pan, then prepare the fillet steak by anointing it with olive oil, season with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. To the hot and smoking pan I added the steak, cooking the first side for 3 minutes, turning it over and cooking for another 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and place on a warm plate, cover loosely with foil to rest for 5 minutes or so to ensure you have a juicy and tender piece of steak.

The fillet steak seemed to vary on tenderness, graduating from tender at one end to meltingly tender at the other, and was very tasty and succulent.

I made a simple red wine sauce to serve with my fillet steak, which is basically cooking a small chopped onion in butter, adding red wine to the pan, reducing to a third, then adding a couple of teaspoons of redcurrant jelly. Lastly, adding small cubes of butter to both enrich the sauce and give a wonderful sheen.

If you are looking for a reliable, quality and traceable fillet steak for a special occasion, I wouldn't think you could go far wrong with one from Abel & Cole.

CEDAR WOOD OVEN BAKING PLANK REVIEW AND RECIPES

Clive from Cookequip has sent me a collection of interesting premium quality products to review for him.

Camerons Large Cedar Wood Oven Baking Plank.
Camerons Chicken Beeroaster Deluxe with Vegetable/Potato Clips.
Camerons Smoker (as used by Mat Follas on Masterchef and also demonstrated by him on ITV's This Morning Show this year).
A huge selection of Wood Chips to use in conjunction with the Smoker or for using on the barbecue to flavour food.
A pack of 6 Beech Wood Wraps.
Recipe Book

Reviews for the above products will be appearing on here shortly, so please pop back and read how I/we got on, because my husband has also taken a very keen interest in using these too!

I will be revisiting these products after the first initial reviews have been posted, so please look out for future recipes, including some from the Recipe Book.

CEDAR WOOD OVEN BAKING PLANK

The first product I have chosen to review is the Large Oven Baking Plank which is made of Cedar wood.

The Large Oven Baking Plank measures 38mm x 267mm x 432mm, but there is also a smaller version. There are two bolts which run through the width of the plank and these must be kept tight. If cracks appear then it will be necessary to tighten the stainless steel rods which go through the plank.

The Cedar wood imparts a subtle flavour to the food and you will also find your food stays moist. Also, because you are using very little oil, it is a very healthy and low fat way to cook food.

Presentation of food is always important and you can take the Oven Baking Plank to the table and serve straight from it (always take care because the board is very hot and retains heat, do not place the Oven Baking Plank directly onto any surface).

The first, and most important thing to do, is oil the hollow cooking area on the Oven Baking Plank with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil (this will help prevent cracking). Next, you place the Oven Baking Plank into a cold oven and set the temperature to between 180°C and 200°C, depending on what you choose to cook. After 10 minutes you can then pop your ingredients on to the board to cook for your chosen time.

After you have used the Plank you must let it cool down completely, then wash with soapy water. Leave to dry completely and then oil the complete Plank.

With the onset of winter and the barbecue season over (unless you have a BBQ with a lid), the Oven Baking Plank adds another dimension to oven cooking. I'm always looking for other ways to cook food and I am now definitely an Oven Baking Plank convert.

Click on all of the photographs for a close up view of the product .

PORK CHOPS WITH SAGE, ON A BED OF ROSEMARY AND THYME WITH ROAST POTATOES



Put the oiled board into a cold oven for 10 minutes at 190°C.

Meanwhile, parboil the roast potatoes and then simply spray with olive oil.

Take your Pork Chop and press a sage leaf on to the meat, season with pepper. Lay a bed of thyme and rosemary leaves on the board and place the pork chops and potatoes on top, along with a red onion. Cook for approximately 1½ hours until the meat is tender.

The meat was deliciously moist and tender and had a subtle Cedar flavour. The kitchen is filled with Cedar aroma whilst the food is cooking and everything smells delicious.

MEDITERRANEAN VEGETABLES WITH MELTING BRIE


Same method as outlined above - simply rub two tablespoons of olive oil into the baking area on the Oven Baking Plank and place the plank into a cold oven and set the temperature to 190°C. After 10 minutes place your chosen food onto the plank.

You will need: 175g baby new potatoes, 1 red onion cut into wedges, 1 large sliced courgette, black pepper, ½ teaspoon of cumin seeds, a few sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary, 4 tomatoes sliced into wedges, 2 slices of Brie, basil leaves to garnish.

Cook the potatoes for approximately 15 minutes and drain, lay a bed of rosemary and thyme on the Plank, add the potatoes and wedges of onion and spray with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle over the cumin seeds, cook for 45 minutes.

Add the courgette slices to the board and cook for 15 minutes, now add the tomato wedges and cook for 10 minutes.

Lastly, add the Brie slices and cook for approximately 10 minutes or until the Brie has melted slightly. Season to taste.
NOTE: Don't be tempted to use Light Brie as I did because it just won't melt!

All of the vegetables cooked perfectly and again had a subtle Cedar wood flavour.

SALMON STEAKS WITH COURGETTES AND CHERRY TOMATOES


Again, oil the hollow on the Oven Baking Plank and then pop into a cold oven at 190°C for 10 minutes. The courgettes take approximately 45 minutes to cook (you can see from the photograph I didn't give mine quite long enough to colour up, but I am learning).

Add the cherry tomatoes to the board 15 minutes after the courgettes went on. Add the salmon portions for the last 10 minutes of cooking time. Season the fish and vegetables and serve with slices of lemon.

The fish was beautifully moist with a subtle Cedar wood flavour and definitely benefited from this way of cooking.

BAILEYS EXTRA THICK CREAM WITH A HINT OF CREME CARAMEL REVIEW

FALL IN LOVE WITH PUDDINGS ALL OVER AGAIN..............Serve them with Baileys Extra Thick Cream. This was the heading on an email sent to me by Claire - and would I like to sample Baileys Original Irish Extra Thick Cream and also Baileys Extra Thick Cream with a Hint of Creme Caramel. As a pudding lover, of course I would!

If you, like me, are a Baileys lover then these smooth, thick creams are for you, and very moreish.

My first delivery of cream was Baileys Extra Thick Cream with a Hint of Caramel and it was a perfect match with this pudding.

STICKY TOFFEE AND BANANA PUDDING


Serves: 4 people

50g butter - softened, 35g caster sugar, 75g dark brown sugar, 1 egg, 100g bananas - chopped, 125g self-raising flour - sieved, 150g golden syrup (this is about one good tablespoon of golden syrup per ramekin).

You will need: 4 x ramekin dishes, greased, with a greaseproof paper disc placed at the bottom of each one.

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C /130°F Fan, Gas 2.
2. Mix together the softened butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix well. Add the bananas and flour and mix again.
3. Pour the golden syrup into the ramekins, then add the pudding mixture until each ramekin is two-thirds full. Cook in the oven for 40 minutes. If they aren't quite ready cover with foil and cook for a further 5 minutes or so.

To serve: Turn out the puddings from the ramekins, dust them with icing sugar and serve with Baileys Creme Caramel Extra Thick Cream and a few slices of banana.