Cardiff based food blog
As usual I’d like to thank everyone who has sent me products this month. I can’t review everything but I always do a round-up of what I have received. So here goes…
Aldi Diplomat Teabags
Own brand tea might be a no-no to some people but when it comes to tea bags, I think many of the super market brands are just as good as the leading brands, including these Aldi tea bags.
Steenbergs Loose Leaf Tea
More tea, this time from Steenbergs. I struggled with this one because nowhere in either of these products was any actual ‘tea’. The mint variety was just two types of dried mint so I decided that I would probably be more likely to cook with it.
Funkin Hollywood mixer
Inspired by the Hollywood award session, this is a mixer for use in cocktails. It’s a blend of raspberry, blueberry and acai berry. It’s incredibly sweet but nice mixed into a cocktail. I tried this one:
The Great Beauty Cocktail
50ml Aperol (although I used Campari)
50ml Funkin Hollywood
100ml sparkling wine
Steenbergs stuffing
I don’t use packet stuffing so this product isn’t something I’d use on a regular basis but if you do, these Steenbergs ones were some of the nicest I’ve tasted, especially the chilli one.
Sweet Freedom Choc Shot
I was quite excited by the prospect of a chocolate shot. Unfortunately, although nice, it is more of a chocolate sauce than a liquid chocolate. At 14 calories a spoonful, I did find myself squeezing it into my mouth on more than one occasion and it’s nice with milk as a hot chocolate but not a cupboard essential as suggested.
Welcome to another ‘To The Door’ post. This one covers December and January as I wasn’t blogging in December. Thanks to everyone for sending me your products.
Cardiff based Flapjack Fairy sent me some lovely Christmas themed flapjacks. I had Christmas Spice, Christmas Fruity and Triple Chocolate. You can read the full review HERE.
I have been sent Darjeeling tea temples and Earl Grey Strong tea temples. I love my loose leaf tea but for a quickly I use a bag and Tea Pigs are a cross between the two. The biodegradable temples contain whole leaf tea so it is only a step away from loose leaf. Both of these flavours are good, especially the Darjeeling.
The latest in subscription food boxes, Simply Cook is a meal kit complete with recipe cards and ‘hard to find’ ingredients. I will be reviewing this later in the month so keep an eye out.
Bannister’s Farm Foods Jacket Potatoes
I received a few different types of potato from Bannisters:
Ready Baked Jacket Potatoes Ready in the microwave in about 4 minutes, these ready baked jackets come drizzled with olive oil and are even cut ready to eat. While they tasted ok, I felt that they lacked the crispy skin that you can only get when you oven bake them. It saved time but I prefer the real thing.
Fully Loaded Jacket Potatoes- These jackets filled with 5 different fillings are for lunch on the go or ‘cheats’ dinner. I tried the Chicken Tikka and Mature Cheddar Cheese flavours. They are marketed as ‘good wholesome food when you need it fast’ but they take 14 minutes in the microwave. It would be quicker to make a sandwich. If you like convenience food you could do a lot worse but these weren’t for me.
Jungle Dogs by Pek are pork hot dogs for kids. They are supposed to be guilt free for mums because they are made with quality cuts of pork, naturally smoked and contain no artificial colours or flavours and no MRM.
That may be but they are still processed and have that ‘fake’ quality. My daughter is too young to eat solids but personally, I won’t be feeding her this type of thing if I can help it. Non processed food is better for her and significantly tastier. However, if this kind of thing is your bag, you could do a lot worse.
Sainsbury’s Roast Recipe Collection
I’m working with Sainsbury’s to create a recipe for leftovers from my Sunday Roast. First I need to cook a roast so I have been sent a book of recipes to try.
Jordan’s Cereal
Thanks to the kind people at Performics I have been sampling some Jordan’s Granola and Absolute Nut Bars. I am already a fan of Jordan’s and often buy their granola but I had never tried this particular variety- Super Fruity.
It was packed full of raspberries, redcurrents and pomegranate and the tart flavours worked very well with the sweet taste of the honied oats. For me this is an excellent flavour combination.
I also enjoyed the Absolute Nut Bars. As a snack these were filling and packed full of nuts and soft oats. The best thing about them was the fact that they had whole almonds in them so you could really taste them and got a good crunch in contrast with the oats.
Sweet Mandarin Sauce
I was sent three dipping sauces from Sweet Mandarin; Sweet and Sour, Sweet Chilli and Barbeque. Sweet Mandarin have recently launched in Sainsburys. All are very nice and are gluten free which appealed to me. I wanted to try them because I am often left wanting with gluten free products but these were very good and I wouldn’t have guessed they were gluten free.
I was sent some recipe cards with the sauces which I didn’t get around to trying, I prefer to make my own recipes but I did make a very nice salmon dish with the sweet chilli sauce (which is my favourite) and I used the barbeque sauce on ribs which worked very nicely.
I was also sent some cocktail recipes. If you like a Bloody Mary, you might be interested in the Bloody Barbeque Mary:
2 part vodka
2 part tomato juice
1 part Sweet Mandarin Barbeque Sauce.
Pour into a cocktail shaker with ice and serve.
If you try this I’d be interested to know what you think.
Rapeseed oil
After a Twitter conversation about rapeseed oil being used as a substitute for ghee, Mr Hughs were kind enough to send me some of their rapeseed oil to try. I am in fact already a convert. I love the nutty flavour of this oil and it really does work very nicely in place of ghee. I also use it in place of olive oil because I love the flavours in cooking and drizzled over a dish to finish it off.
Rachel’s Rhubarb and Strawberry yogurt
Fat free but not lacking in flavour, this Rachel’s Organic yogurt had plenty of chunks of fruit running through its usual creamy texture. Obviously it isn’t as thick and creamy as the full fat version but for a low fat yogurt, it was very good and one that I would buy in future. The flavours worked very well together with the strawberry taming the tartness of the rhubarb.
Love Pickle
Another Twitter conversation led to the arrival of a jar of Premium Chilli Tomato Pickle by Love Pickle. It is available in different variations of heat and I asked for extra hot. Aside from liking things spicy, I asked for extra hot because so often I am disappointed with products when they are described as ‘hot’ and in fact turn out to be relatively mild.
I’m pleased to say, this pickle was extra hot. It has a lovely bitter savoury taste reminiscent of the traditional lime pickle enjoyed as part of Indian food. The flavours were excellent with a fine texture. I enjoyed this with poppadoms and with some cheese and biscuits.
Thanks to everyone who sent me products this month. It is much appreciated.
With the build up to Christmas and all, I thought I’d do a festive edition of my To The Door post in honour of all the products I’ve been sent recently. It’s a thank you to the producers who have been kind enough to send me things to try and it will hopefully give you some ideas for stocking fillers and Christmas goodies!
Selection of stocking fillers from Storm Communications
Storm sent me some products from their ‘Seven of the best stocking fillers for foodie lovers’. All products are under £9.99.
New Zealand Honey Co’s Manuka Honey With Root Ginger-This was a very tasty honey and the addition of the ginger gave it an interesting and unique taste. It reminded me of a natural cold remedy. So if like me you always end up with a cold at Christmas, this is ideal!
Marshmallow Fluff– I became quite fascinated by Marshmallow Fluff when I tried it as a student and this brought back memories. For something so sweet and sticky, it’s surprisingly low in calories too.
Nakd Bars and Trek Bars– I’ve tried Nakd Bars before but I was sent some new flavours; Apple Pie, Rhubarb and Custard and Gingerbread. I’d never tried Trek Bars but they are very similar to their Nakd friends. I was sent Cocoa Brownie but it was significantly lacking in the naughtiness you’d expect from a brownie I have to say. Nice as a healthier snack though.
Steenbergs ‘Spice it up’
Steenbergs fair trade gift box was nicely presented and contained four organic spices; Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and 4 colour peppers. Perfect for making muddled wine, it retails at £6.99.
Bombay Sapphire
My favourite spirit and my favourite brand of said spirit. I was very pleased to receive this in a presentation box with a list of cocktails to try. Here is one that I took a liking to:
Bombay Sapphire Golden Wonderland
50ml Tuaca Liqueur,
200ml ginger beer
200ml cranberry juice,
1 lime cut into wedges.
Fill a jug with cubed ice and squeeze in the lime. Pour in the Bombay Sapphire, Tuaca and cranberry juice and stir. Finish with ginger beer and garnish with a mint sprig.
A bottle of Bombay Sapphire this size retails at £19.99
Drambuie
I was pleased to unwrap 20 miniature bottles of Drambuie. For me Drambuie is a Christmas drink but I find it a little too strong on it’s own even though I love the flavours of the honey and spices. However, I tried this cocktail which was delicious!
50ml Drambuie Original
150ml Pressed Apple Juice
1 Cinnamon Stick
4 Cloves
20ml Sugar Syrup
25ml Lemon Juice
2 Orange Twists
Heat all the ingredients together except the Drambuie. Add the Drambuie to a teacup or handled latte glass, then, strain in the warm apple juice mixture. Garnish with a lemon slice and a fresh cinnamon stick.
Popkakes
I thought cake pops were going to be the next big thing but I haven’t seen that many around recently so a delivery from Popkakery was very welcome! The ‘Popkakes’ came beautifully presented in a colourful gift box and each pop had a label with flavour and ingredients.
I had red velvet, bling bling and chocolate noir. All were very nice with a rich cakey centre and thick crunchy chocolate shell. My favourite was the bling bling because the sparkly sprinkles gave it extra bite.
Tio Pepe
Sherry is the Christmas drink of choice for lots of people. My family only have Sherry at Christmas so it certainly says Christmas to me. This is a dry sherry and personally I prefer a sweet one but at £9.99 a bottle, if dry sherry is your tipple, this is a good option and great for an aperitif.
Bottle Green
I am already a fan of Bottle Green cordials but I was very impressed by this Spiced Berry Cordial which is to be enjoyed warm. It can be added to wine to drink like mulled wine but the cordial on its own with hot water was lovely. A real taste of Christmas and a great non alcoholic alternative to mulled wine.
Rachel’s Apple and Cinnamon yogurt
I eat a lot of Rachel’s yogurt and it’s always good but I think this in one of my favourites. Apple and Cinnamon is a great flavour combination. Delicious! Perfect for Christmas.
Thanks to everyone for sending me your Christmas inspired goodies!
Your Last Mouthful 