Kwan's Kitchen Chinese Condiment Review

You know the time when you find a perfect dish from a Chinese (or other) restaurant or take-away, then move house to over 100 miles away and really miss those times when you really, really want to eat that perfect dish?

Yes, well so do we!  Moving from a large city with the perfect Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings to my little seaside town is exactly that!  But now, I've discovered Kwan's Kitchen!

The Salt & Pepper spice mix is fantastic!  It is defintely worthy of it's Great Taste Gold 2012 award!  Following the Good Food Show Winter, armed with my small but mighty jar of spice, I made Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings for my husband.  To be honest, he was quite non-commital at first, keen to try it but not overly enthusiastic as "it could never be the same as the one we used to eat"... one bite of the chicken and all was changed...!  He (and I) was very impressed and *did* believe that it is as good as a top Chinese restaurant.... and all cooked in my own kitchen with my own fair hands!

I can highly recommend the condiments from Kwan's Kitchen... here's the recipe for the Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings so treat yourself to a restaurant quality dish made at home for at least half the price!

Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings
Serves 2

8 chicken wings
1 tsp Kwan's Kitchen Salt & Pepper Spice Mix
1 small onion, finely sliced
1 green pepper, deseeded and finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 green chilli, finely sliced (optional)

Place all ingredients except the spice mix on a baking sheet with sides.  Sprinkle over the spice mix and bake in a preheated oven (Gas 5) for about 30 minutes, checking the chicken is cooked through.  Serve hot with a side salad and boiled rice.

Warburtons Winter Fruit Loaf Review

Especially for the festive season, Warburtons have produced the loveliest fruit loaf that is "Warburtons Winter Loaf".  It is delicately spiced and smells fantastic!  Traditional seasonal spicy nutmeg combined with cinnamon and a burst of rich fruit pieces is sure to bring some seasonal cheer to your bread bin! 

This delicious loaf is a tasty addition to the family baker's existing Fruit Loaf range, which includes Warburtons Raisin Loaf with Cinnamon and Warburtons Fruit Loaf with Orange. 

This loaf is definitely a festive family favourite in our house - a little bit of everything Christmassy to get you in the mood!

Although it was lovely just simply toasted with a lovely cup of tea, we also used it in an adaptation of a summer pudding recipe.  The recipe is really simple to make- mine didn't quite look like the photograph in the recipe but tasted good enough to pass the taste-test in our house!

Warburtons Chilled Winter Fruit Loaf Pudding with Cranberries
Serves 4, 200 kcal and 1g fat per person.

2 slices of Warburtons Winter Fruit Loaf
1 tbsp dried cranberries
1 cup of fresh cranberry juice
Brandy (optional)

1. Sprinkle the cranberries in the base of a ramekin dish.
2. Roughly tear the slices of bread and place over the cranberries.
3. Mix a little brandy with some cranberry juice and pour over the bread, ensure the bread is fully soaked but not soggy (for a deeper coloured pudding, mix the cranberry juice with a little blackcurrant juice).
4. Press the bread firmly down into the ramekin.
5. Chill for 1-2 hours in the fridge before turning the pudding out onto a serving plate.
6. For that extra Christmas touch, flambe with brandy and serve with brandy butter.

I made the puddings without brandy so that the children could enjoy them too... I also didn't add any blackcurrant juice, although next time I make these I think that I will to enhance the colour a bit better - they were a bit pale without the blackcurrant juice, but still tasted scrumptious!

Hubby's next request is bread and butter pudding made with Warburtons Winter Fruit Loaf (instead of boring bread, he added!).  So watch this space for the next recipe using this lovely Winter Loaf!

For more information on Warburtons products, click here.  Warburtons Winter Fruit Loaf is a limited edition loaf and is available in all major supermarkets for the 2012 winter period.

Mushroom Risotto - Recommended Recipe!

Mushroom Risotto - serves 4, preparation 15 minutes, cooking 30 minutes

Ingredients
25g dried mixed mushrooms or dried porcini
1.3 litres boiling water
1 tbsp olive oil
10g butter
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely crushed
250g mushrooms of your choice, finely chopped
350g risotto rice
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
30g Parmesan or Grana Padano, finely grated
Handful finely chopped parsley and about 5g butter (optional)

Method

1. Put the dried mushrooms into a jug, add the water, cover and stand for 15 minutes.  Pour through a sieve into a jug, saving the liquid.  Chop the mushrooms.
2. Heat the oil and butter in a pan and soften the onion for 10 minutes.  Add the garlic, soaked mushrooms and fresh mushrooms and fry for a few minutes.  Add the riceand balsamic vinegar and stir to coat.
3. Add a little of the dried mushroom stock and gently stir.  Once the liquid has been absorbed, add some more.  Keep adding the stock gradually until the rice is just cooked.
4. Take off the heat.  Sprinkle over the cheese and stir through the parsley and extra butter, if using.  Serve straight away.

Per serving - 430 kcal, 10.1g fat, 4.2g saturated fat, 2.7g sugar, 0.2g salt.

Source - The Co-operative instore magazine.

THE Christmas Cake Recipe!

Well, after 6 weeks of soaking fruit in brandy, sherry and orange juice... THE Christmas Cake is ready!

"Cake, cake.... did someone say cake?"

The recipe I've used this year is a hand-me-down recipe from the great Ainsley Harriott's Mum!  It's a rich, fruity family favourite - with the fruit soaking for weeks beforehand, it's a really moist but not too heavy Christmas cake.

You can start to make this cake as early as August - but I'm never that organised!  Ideally, to allow the flavours to develop to the max, soak the fruit in August and September; make the cake in the first week of October then store for 3 months, decorate in the week before the big day and enjoy in it's glory on Christmas Day!

So here's the recipe....

Ainsley's Mum's Christmas cake
Start soaking the fruit a month ahead, if possible.
Ready in 45 minutes, plus soaking, 4-5 hours baking.
Cuts into 16 slices.
Easy, can be frozen

280g/10oz sultanas
280g/10oz raisins
280g/10oz currants
175g/6oz glace cherries
175g/6oz mixed citrus peel
150ml/0.25 pint brandy or rum
2 tbsp sherry (optional)
2 tbsp orange juice (optional)

225g/8oz self raising flour
85g/3oz ground almonds
1 heaped tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
225g/8oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
225g/8oz dark muscovado sugar
6 eggs
zest and juice of 1 large unwaxed lemon

For the decoration
2 tbsp apricot jam
225g/8oz bought or homemade marzipan
250g/9oz white ready-to-roll icing
silver balls and ribbon, to decorate

1. Put the dried fruit and peel in a bowl and pour over the brandy or rum and sherry.  Mix well and store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for at least a month.  Stir the fruits every few weeks.  If they look dry, add more booze or a splash of orange juice.
2. Start making the cake once the fruits are plump.  Heat the oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2.  Butter a 20cm round cake tin - about 7-8 cm deep - and line the base and sides with greasproof paper.  To protect the sides from burning, tie a double layer of greaseproof paper around the outside of the tin.
3. Blitz the soaked fruit mixture in three batches in a food processor, blitzing the final batch only lightly to keep some bite and texture to the fruit.  Mix the flour, almonds and spices in a large bowl and stir in the fruits.  Don't worry if it's hard to mix.
4. Cream together the butter and sugar with an electric hand whisk until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs, one by one.  Stir into the fruit mixture bit by bit, along with the lemon zest and juice.
5. Tip the mixture into the tin and bake for 1 1/2 hours.  Reduce the heat to 140C/fan 120C/gas 1 and bake for 3 to 3 1/2 hours (4 hours in a gas oven). Take care it doesn't overcook.  Insert a skewer deep into the cake, if it comes out clean, it's cooked.  Cool slightly, remove from the tin, and cool on a wire rack.
6. Store in a double layer of greaseproof paper, wrapped in foil until ready to ice.  You can store the cake for up to 3 months.  Make sure you "feed" the cake by making skewer holes and pouring in brandy or rum every few weeks.  Wrap up the cake tightly after every "feed".
7. Brush the top of the cake with jam, roll out the marzipan to fit and place it on top.  Reserve a small piece of icing and roll out the rest and cover the marzipan.  Roll out the reserved icing and cut out holly leaves with cutters.  Gently press them on the edge of the icing, dampening under each leaf with water to secure.  Decorate with silver balls and ribbon.

Per slice: 616 kcalories, protein 8g, carbohydrate 102g, fat 20g, saturated fat 20g, fibre 3g, added sugar 45g, salt 0.38g.

Undecorated... straight from the oven!

 If you're quick, you can still manage to make this cake in time for Christmas.  It's simple to make so long as you follow the instructions and weigh carefully.

In step 2, I used newspaper to double wrap the cake tin (to avoid burning) as it's cheaper than greaseproof paper!  And also, on this occassion I couldn't find any string (anywhere!) to secure the paper so I stapled it into a ring large enough to slip over the tin!  The staples won't come into contact with the cake so don't worry!

I'll upload another picture once the cake is decorated... if only you could smell a cake through an online photograph!

For the record, I'm not related to Ainsley Harriott in any way!  This recipe was published in BBC Good Food Christmas, December 2004, and advertised as "Ainsley's Mum's Christmas cake".

Cafédirect Machu Picchu Coffee Recipe Review

This week we were sent some lovely Fairtrade coffee from the guys and gals at Cafédirect.  Now, I love coffee but as part of my blogging life, I also love to use everyday items in great recipes.  Cafédirect have a cool coffee matching guide with innovative reipes using the coffees they produce. All of their products are Fairtrade certified so you know that the growers are all getting a fair deal out of the growing and production of the coffe, tea and chocolate products.... so you can enjoy them even more!

I decided to make the Cardamom chocolate mousse on an Amaretti biscuit base with hazelnuts.  This is a recipe by Saskia Rogerson, winner of the Cafédirect coffee matching challenge.  I chose this recipe specifically for it's ingredients.  Coffee is quite widely used in desserts but here we have the addition of cardamom pods and chilli - combined with chocolate and carrot, I'm hoping the results will be quite spectacular!

So here we go.... recipe coming up!

Cardamom chocolate mousse
Ingredients
Biscuit Base
250g Amaretti biscuits, crushed
120g unsalted butter
2 tbsp chopped hazlenuts
3 cardamon pods, grated

Caramelised carrot and chilli layer
2 tbsp shredded carrot
2 tbsp shredded chilli
25g unsalted butter
4 tbsp Fairtrade muscavado sugar

Cardamom, Hazelnut & Chocolate mousse
300g Fairtrade bittersweet
chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tbsp hazelnuts
4 cardamom pods, grated
45g unsalted butter
5 free range separated eggs
4 tbsp Fairtrade caster sugar
230ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Shot of espresso made with Cafédirect Machu Picchu coffee

Method

1. Biscuit Base... Melt the butter in a pan, add the Amaretti biscuits, hazelnuts and grated cardamom. Transfer to a 28cm springform cake tin (or 6 individual ramekins) and leave to cool.
2. Caramelised carrot and chilli layer... Bring the carrot and chilli mixture ingredients slowly to simmer until it caramelises, then pour onto the biscuit so it forms an even layer.
3. Cardamom, hazlenut and chocolate mousse...  Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl heated over pan of simmering water, add espresso, cardamom, hazelnuts and vanilla extract.
4. Leave to cool. Heat the egg yolks and two tbsp sugar over the simmering pan of water. Whisk until warm then transfer to an electric mixer and mix until the yolk is pale and fluffy.
5. Fold into chocolate mixture. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff, and fold into the chocolate mixture.
6. In a bowl set over ice, whip the cream until stiff and fold into chocolate mixture. Spoon onto the biscuit and carrot/chilli caramel layer, and spread.  Refrigerate until set.
7. Eat!

The recipe is a bit technical at points with the separating of eggs, whisking yolks over heat and whisking egg whites to peak!  But I can say that it is definitely worth the effort!  The flavours are absolutely fantastic - you can taste each flavour with the chocolate complimenting the chilli, hazlenut and cardamom perfectly.

It was quite rich and so would recommend this dessert as a spectacular finish to a dinner party, but a small slice would be fine with an afternoon cup of coffee... Cafédirect of course!

We shared this dessert with my neighbour and over a cup of Machu Picchu coffee we decided that it would be making an appearance over the Christmas festivities with both familes!

Cafédirect products - tea, coffe and hot chocolate - can all be purchased at all major supermarkets and selected independant stores.  There's a great range of teas, coffees and hot chocolate available... it would certainly take a good while to work your way through them!  I can certainly try though!

Warburtons Naan Chips Review

When you think of Warburtons, what pops into your head? Bread and crumpets are the first two things that I think of! But have you tried the new Naan Chips from Warburtons? They are fantastically crunchy and tasty- perfect as a snack or as an accompaniment to a curry or other savoury dish.  They come in 3 great flavours - Fiery Madras, Classic Tikka and Creamy Korma.

Monisha Bharadwaj has developed some delicious recipes in conjunction with Warburtons and so we gave some of them a try with the different Naan Chips.

The Murgh Mirch Chaat is a quick and easy substantial dip recipe using leftover cooked chicken... So after your roast on a Sunday, don't just stick the leftover meat in a one-pot curry or stew! Make this deliciously simple dip and keep it a secret that it's a thrifty way of using up your leftovers!

Murgh Mirch Chaat
Serves 4, Preparation time 10 minutes, Cooking time 30 minutes.


1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp pink peppercorns
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 grren chilli, finely diced
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
Few sprigs of fresh dill, chopped
300g cooked chicken, shredded
Salt
1 tbsp lemon juice

1. Dry roast the 2 kinds of peppercorns in a small saucepan, and crush to a powder in a mortar and pestle.  Reserve.
2. Heat the sunflower oil in a frying pan.  Add the onions and fry on a medium heat until soft.  Stir in the chilli and ginger-garlic paste and cook for a minute.
3. Tip in the dill and allow to wilt for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the cooked chicken,season with salt, drizzle with lemon juice and heat through.
5. Mix in the reserved crushed peppercorns and serve at room temperature.

Use Warburtons Baked Naan Chips, Classic Tikka and Fiery Madras flavours to scoop up and enjoy.

This recipe is matched with the spicy and medium-hot chips, but we tried it with all of the flavours and it worked well with each of them!  And we also used coriander rather than dill, as we couldn't get our hands on any in my home town!

The chips are also great as a snack on their own... A long drive to Kent via Bristol at the weekend was partly fuelled by Warburtons Naan Chips!

A bonus is that they are lower in fat than potato chips but still must be shared(!) as the bags are pretty big and generously filled, no half bags here!

All members of the family enjoyed the flavours - from the youngest aged 5 to the eldest aged .... !

They would be great as a starter with Indian dip "Nacho-style" or on a buffet. For those entertaining over the festive period, these would definitely be a great buy to have in stock to impress your guests!

So pick yourself up a pack or 2 from Morrisons supermarkets around the country - keep your eye on their Facebook page here for stockists updates!  And check out the Warburtons website here for lots more great tasting products!

Total Greek Yohurt - Cheesecake with Raspberries, White Chocolate Sauce & Popcorn

I love cheesecake but usually make the chilled, no-bake version so when Total Greek Yoghurt asked me to choose a recipe from their site to make as part of their competition to launch the fantastic new range of 1,000 different recipes, I decided to give baked cheesecake a try.

I've had baked cheesecake before - usually when eating out and I haven't read the menu properly, the word "cheesecake" flashes before my eyes, I get giddy and say, "I'll have that!".  Then when it arrives, the slight disappointment hits me when I realise it's baked not chilled!  I always eat it though... never turn a dessert down!

Cheesecake with Raspberries, White Chocolate Sauce & Popcorn
This recipe from Paul Merrett is a throw back to that great dessert of the 70's - the cheesecake. Combine popcorn, raspberries and white chocolate to make a delicious update of this classic.

So anyway, making a new recipe that I haven't tried before - tricky, challenging...?  The recipe was surprisingly simple.  It takes a bit of planning as it needs to chill overnight, but the actual method is simple and well written for the most amateur of cook.  You can find the recipe here... the photo's below are of my own attempt and I'm glad to say that the finished result looked just like the professional picture!

Ingredients for Baked Cheesecake with Raspberries, White Chocolate Sauce & Popcorn

Biscuit base (Hob Nob's ... yum yum!)

Unbaked, ready for the oven

Baked, complete with statutory "crack"!

Nearly finished... raspberries, popcorn & grated chocolate

Finishing touch - white chocolate sauce :)

I did promise my neighbour a slice but unfortunately, we devoured the lot - sorry Mrs. P!  "We" being 4 of us over 2 sittings - not just me and hubbie, now that would be greedy!  But now I have an excuse to make it again!

This dessert would be a lovely end to a special meal - the calorie and fat content is quite high(!) but as a treat or a Sunday lunch dessert it's fine to spoil yourself now and again!  Just take the dog for a loooooong walk afterwards to make up for it!

You can find more recipes on the Total Greek Yoghurt website - there's a thousand ways to enjoy this 100% natural, authentic Greek taste.

Not only that, but they've launched a great new Facebook app so you don't even need to leave your social media page to get your recipe inspiration!

I have cooked with yoghurt before but was impressed to realise that Total Greek yoghurt is the only authentic Greek yoghurt on sale in the UK.  Because it is made in Greece in the traditional way it is much thicker and more robust than Greek‐styled yoghurt. As such it is much better to use in cooking and is still just as good for you. Total Greek Yoghurt is 100% natural.  And the 5 day chilled shelf life once opened is a bonus - there are so many recipes it can be used in, you won't waste a drop!

Total have hidden away 30 TOTAL recipes on 30 different food blogs across the web. Can you find them? If so, you are in with the chance of winning Paul Merrett’s Ultimate Chef’s Kit, worth over £800. On the tab you'll find clues leading to 10 of the hidden recipes and over the next few weeks, Total will be posting additional clues on their timeline to help you find the final 20. The more recipes you find, the more times your name goes into the draw and the more chances you have to win! The recipes are part of our brand new recipe collection 1000 Ways to Love your TOTAL.

Enter the competition here!

Disclosure: I was sent the ingredients for the purpose of testing out this recipe.

Ainsley Harriott BBQ & Cous Cous Pack Review

A couple of weeks ago, we reviewed some Ainsley Harriott Spice Sensation cous cous and following on from this, I was given the opportunity to review a great BBQ pack and various flavours of cous cous, again from Ainsley Harriott foods.

We were thrilled to receive this pack with the recipes and ingredients to make some lovely recipes for BBQ eating and of course, lots of different cous cous' (cous cous's, cous couses, cous cousi - please correct me and let me know which you think is right!).  Actually, it would have been easier to write "packs of cous cous"!

Well, anyway, grammar aside, the pack was fantastic and the recipes went down a treat.  My family were visiting for the weekend and so to celebrate my recent exam results and the end of a busy week, we had a great BBQ all together.

One of the recipes was for marinated steak and pepper kebabs with Roasted Vegetable cous cous.  This is one of the simplest but tastiest BBQ recipes I have made. Simply marinate cubes of steak (preferably sirloin) in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a couple of crushed garlic cloves - for at least 20 minutes (or overnight in the fridge).  I was a bit pushed for time - as always! - and so only marinated for about 40 minutes and the flavour was fantastic so don't worry if you haven't planned very far ahead and are having an impromtpu BBQ!

Thread onto soaked wooden BBQ skewers alternating with squares of peppers (any colour) and onion, if you want, and BBQ for about 10 minutes turning frequently.

Everyone was impressed with the kebabs and they complemented the Roasted Vegetable cous cous perfectly.  In fact, the recipe was taken home by some of the BBQ-ers for furture reference! 

The other recipe was for a kofta-style kebab spiced with garam masala, cumin and spring onion bound together with Greek yoghurt.    Previously, every time I have made these types of kebabs, they always fall off the skewer but these definitely held on tight and so for me, forget the egg to bind the meat together - Greek yoghurt all the way!  These were cooked on a supermarket disposable BBQ - nothing fancy! - and you can see how good the kebabs looked when cooked.

Cous cous is a great addition to any BBQ - it goes with any meat and/or vegetable main meal and with the array of flavours on offer, there's always something to please everyone.  From fruity lemony flavours to spicy aromatic flavours you will be spoilt for choice.  As reported in the last review, cous cous has great nutritional benefits and a low GI to keep your energy levels steady throughout the day.

I also have a secret confession, I had a slight infatuation with Ainsley a few years ago. I saw him present "Ready, Steady, Cook" at the BBC Good Food show in Birmingham and since then have though him to be fantastic!   So I was extra pleased to receive the hamper and goodies from him... but my children don't get the fascination with Ainsley - they just loved the great picnic basket and green ribbon that tied the utensils together!

Even Lucy the dog came and enjoyed the al fresco eating... but she didn't have any cous cous - just not her thing! 

Let's hope our summer stays sunny and enjoy eating tasty BBQ treats - next time why not try a new flavour of cous cous?  Or an easy BBQ party game - guess the flavour of the cous cous!

Ainsley Harriott Spice Sensation Cous Cous Recipe Review

Cous cous goes through phases of being fashionable to eat - it can be eaten as it comes but it's much better livened up a bit with a boost of flavours!

We were sent a pack of Ainsley Harriott Spice Sensation Cous Cous - the instructions on the packet are really simple to follow and it's great as a stand alone side dish or as part of a salad... but we decided to try something different.  We made cous cous stuffed peppers with garlic and shallots with minted lamb kebabs and garlic bread.... yum yum!

The recipe is simple - cut the peppers in half lengthways (1 each for a main course or one between two for a starter or snack), remove the seeds and drizzle a little olive oil into each one.  Add crushed garlic and shallots/red onion/onion which ever you prefer (or have in the fridge!).  We used shallots and garlic - 2 shallots and 2 cloves of garlic to serve 4.

Place on a baking sheet in a pre-heated oven (Gas 6) for about 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, make the cous cous as per the packet instructions.  Finely chop a couple of mushrooms and grate about 100g of cheese.  After the first 20 minutes in the oven, remove the tray, add a couple of pieces of mushroom to each pepper and spoonful or 2 of cous cous.  Return to the oven for about 15 minutes then top with cheese and bake for a further 5 minutes.

Serve with lamb kebabs (local butcher.... yummy!) and garlic bread... or whatever takes your fancy!  We all ate this as a family - little ones included.  My 5 year old actually prefers cous cous to rice - but pasta still reigns as his all time favourite food!

We had some cous cous left which we mixed with some left over mushrooms and ate cold with a salad the following day... I like the flavour just as much cold as warm and so this makes a great packed lunch option for work or school/college.

Cous cous is a healthy alternative to rice or pasta.  It is amongst the healthiest grain-based products widely available.  When comparing to pasta, it has a lower glycemic index figure (25% lower in fact), contains twice as much riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6 and folate and four times as much thiamine and pantothenic acid.  It has the same amount of protein in as pasta but exceeds the amount of protein in white rice.  Also, cous cous has a 1% fat-to-calorie ratio compared to 3% for white rice and 5% for pasta.  Source - Wikipedia.

You can flavour plain cous cous with basically anything, but the ready flavoured packs from Ainsley Harriott are ideal as the flavour combinations are great and versatile with different meats and/or vegetables.  Choose from Roasted Vegetable, Spice Sensation, Wild Mushroom, Chilli, Aromatic Thai Style, Moroccan Medley, Sundried Tomato & Garlic or Lemon, Mint & Parsley.

Keep up to date with recipe ideas and new products by liking the Ainsley Harriott Foods Facebook page here.

From my family's point of view, cous cous is here to stay and with the variety of flavours on offer, there's no reason to be bored of eating the same thing week in, week out!  Replace your pasta or rice once a week to try something new!

 

Discovery Mexican BBQ Fajita Recipe Kit Review

Thanks to the guys over at Discovery, we had the chance to sample the new Mexican BBQ Fajita kit.  The kit includes the spice mix, sour cream and plain flour tortilla wraps so the only ingredients you need to add are the chicken, peppers and onions.

When shopping, watch out for the new packaging on the shelf.... using 15% less cardboard than the older design is better for our planet!  My husband nearly popped to the shop to buy wraps as he didn't believe they were in the pack, but trust me they are!

The spice mix is a mild, family friendly one - I love food with a bit of a kick - this has a good flavour but not too hot for younger children to enjoy.  It was easy to make - no lengthy marinating time so a quick decision tea is possible!  Including preparation, it took about 25 minutes from start to finish - enough time for a quick read of the newspaper in peace whilst the children changed out of their school uniforms (and the potatoes steamed!).

We had the Mexican BBQ fajitas with a green side salad and home-grown baby new potatoes (the onions we used were home-grown too!).  Four clean plates shows that it was enjoyed by all 4 of us and was a great Friday evening meal! As the kit itself is vegetarian and vegan friendly, you can substitute the meat for more vegetables and/or lentils to make a great tasting vegetarian dish too.

This is great addition to the range and I look forward to the next new ideas coming up!

Pop over to the Discovery Facebook page and give them a wave... there you can keep up to date with new products and, of course, their Freebie Friday giveaways!

Ryvita Recipe Reviews (2)

Well, here's the second instalment of the fabulous recipes from Mark Sargeant & Ryvita.  They are both seasonal toppings for the crispbreads - the first as a light breakfast and the second as a light lunch.

Ryvita Fruit Crunch crispbread with banana, yogurt, honey, basil & passion fruit is a quick and easy light breakfast for a great start to your day.  I actually substituted the passion fruit for strawberries as, believe me, trying to find passion fruit in my small town was a major feat - a bit too tropical for a small Welsh town!  The passion fruit/strawberries are used to flavour the yogurt & make a simple coulis so any soft fruit you can get your hands on will work just fine... also it depends on the flavours you want to use for variety.  Next time I'm on my travels to the "big town", I will definitely pick up a couple of passion fruits to redo the recipe again!

 

The flavours of the fruits with the honey & basil fitted very well together and even my children (both under 8 years old) gave this the thumbs up!

The second recipe used the Mediterranean Herb Crispbread with Sardine Escabeche.  This recipe took a bit more in the way of preparation, with lots of thinly slicing to be done but it is worth the effort.  The marinade of red wine vinegar, orange, thyme, rosemary, bay, garlic, parsley & chilli gently pickles the fennel, carrot and onion and is lovely with the sardines... in fact, any oily fish would be great to use in this recipe.

I think this recipe is most suited to eating "al fresco" sat on a sun terrace on a warm afternoon... at the moment, a wet and windy Wales will have to do but it definitely gave a Mediterranean feeling to my afternoon.  The flavours from the crispbreads paint a perfect picture of the Med and the tastes most associated with the area.

I've really enjoyed working "with" Mark Sargeant - even if from afar!  But it has shown that a normal housewife and mum can create great looking and tasting foods in a normal kitchen with (mostly!) store cupboard ingredients!  "Come Dine With Me" here I come!

And of course, innovative ways to use the underestimated Ryvita Crispbread - a great source of fibre with great new flavours for family life!