Gourmet & Speciality Foods in general Reviews

So it’s Christmas Eve and to get the senses ready for the festivities I decided to make some mince pies. Now, if you are like me, I do not have the time or patience to be making my own mincemeat and find it much easier to cheat with a ready made jar (I really do cheat – I also buy the pastry ready made but that’s for a ...

What do you do as a person who's trying to put her money where her (enormous) mouth is with regard to ethical food purchasing but you just can't find the time? You're trying to keep away from nasty additives, irradiated groceries, exploitative production methods for both workers and livestock, but you keep on needing some beef ...

This past Friday was an event much anticipated, the culmination of my most massive undertaking since an abortive attempt at recreating a scale model Viking longboat and sailing it in a municipal swimming pool while grilling hamburgers on a hibachi. (The boat actually did set sail, we got it that far. But something went awry with the hibachi and ...

I was well into adulthood before I found I could enjoy mushrooms. Somehow the texture and apparent lack of flavour put me off. It was only when I gave up smoking for the first time and diverted my nicotine craving to popcorn, that mushrooms entered my life. Initially the 2 stone weight gain which resulted had novelty. At 6' I could take ...

This one's for Jill and comes with an open invitation for dinner when I open my café. So, my favourite thing – my beloved, wolves, Buffy, my cat lying on my feet when I have to get up in the morning and, of course, Kate Bush – but the thing I love to do most is cook for my friends. When I get in at night from ...

Having Just read jillmurphy's touching request for a favourite thing opinion, one thing sprang to mind. Never mind that I've been lucky enough to be free of cancer (as well as any other serious disease) for all my 31 years and that I've been blessed in other ways too, my first thought of favourite things was 'Tacos'. Irene made ...

Potatoes. May sound pretty bland, but it depends on what you do with them. Think about it, potatoes are with nearly every meal, if not chipped, they are mashed. They are so many things that you can do with potatoes, so many varieties of potato itself. This is what makes potatoes my favourite thing, alongside the fact that they are filling and ...

I first came across the Jelly Belly brand in a branch of my local Blockbusters video store. A relatively small packet of these brightly coloured sweets cost £2.50! I was appalled, and yet the flavours named on the package like Strawberry daiquri, Candyfloss, Pina Colada, Peanut Butter and more made my mouth water. Years later I ...

It has been a while since I haven’t posted any opinion on recipes. Food being one of my favourite passe-temps I feel it is a compulsory to have it on a regular basis on my list. Unfortunately Emma my 2 and a half years old daughter doesn’t give me much time to do anything really (being pregnant doesn’t make things easier ...

*** Introduction *** Being only eighteen and living with my parents I rarely have the need to prepare my own food. Sure the time will come when I will have to but for now I?m fine eating the meal that?s served. Yes we all need to learn to cook and I have found that the only way I?m going to survive is to indulge in the delights of ...

At 10.47am this morning I had a sudden terrifying urge to talk about bananas. I have never had an attack of the 'talk-about-bananas' before, but I can tell you now, it was not a pleasant experience. It meant that I could no longer concentrate on my English prep I had been slaving over (appropriatly about slavery) so it is a relief to ...

I haven’t written my practical guide to what else you can do with lemons yet, but I know you are all on the edge of your seats to find out. I will just have to keep you in suspense a little longer, as their oral consumption seems to me to be their primary function at least. If you have read my piece entitled ...

Sushi, isn’t that raw fish? In my mind’s eye is a picture of a largish slab of cold wet cod, or even worse a picture of a coiled octopus, which of course is still wriggling … I eat raw smoked salmon, but that’s been sort of cooked, hasn’t it, and anyway I like that with scrambled eggs. (Now that reminds me of ...

On a chill snowy evening there is nothing better than snuggling up in front of the fire with your family and a plate of oatcakes. Now some of you may well be wondering what exactly an oatcake is, I always thought they sounded disgusting, that was until and elderly Aunt placed in front of me a huge sweet pile of ...

Greek-style is as sinful as yogurt gets. It's thick, creamy and utterly delicious, and Yeo Valley Greek style yogurt is far and away the best there is. It's healthy as well as fattening (yes, that is possible), and it has a multitude of uses. Come with me on a tour of yogurt heaven. First, the difference between standard and ...

I guess organic pizza sneaks in as a speciality food. But in a few years time, we'll all be tucking in to it. Anyway...heat the oven, take out of box, unwrap, place in oven, kick your heels for 20 minutes, put on a plate, munch away. Smack your lips and wish there was another slice. So much for pizzas, once a 16th century ...

Many of us like Chinese food but very few of us bother trying to cook it unless it comes as a frozen ready meal or out of a packet, but here is a simple recipe anyone can try and with a little care when cooking can be deliscious. Ingredients 50g Cashew nuts 350g shredded cooked chicken breast bunch of ...

Kliks' Indian Chicken: Serves 4 This seems quite an extravagant recipe but I can assure you that it tastes sublime. 3lbs chicken thigh meat 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 cup of plain yoghurt 1/2 cup whipping cream 1/2 cup soured cream 4 tbsp butter 6 cloves 2 tbsp ground almonds ...

Excellent sweet, in which chemists are combined diverse elemtos, with saturated fats and you sweeten. Ideal to acquire an incredible potential of cholesterol, because though beech some listillo who says to myself " in the bundle he(she) says that(that) alone this done with vegetable fats ", in effect, but these they come from the ...

I was nineteen years old. My mum was sitting and waiting for the phone to ring. After turning down an offer of free Double Glazing estimates and being updated on her Aunt's bad leg, she got the call she wanted. The caller advised that our family would be moving. We weren't in the witness protection program. It was for a far ...