The Ultimate Manuka Honey, Ginger and Lemon Zinger

When the OH awoke and declared he felt dreadful, it seemed like the perfect time to try out this new range of Manuka Honey from the New Zealand Honey Co. To quote from their marketing material…

“New Zealand Honey Co, producers of 100% pure, authentic honey, has perked up its premium Manuka honey with the addition of lemon and root ginger creating two new exciting honey options that are great for cooking with and must-have’s on anyone’s shopping list this year.

So much more than a sugary sweetener, the new Manuka Honey with Lemon and Manuka Honey with Root Ginger not only taste great but are brilliant functional foods, which provide a number of health benefits, helping you to put a spring in your step! The Manuka Honey with Lemon, with its delicious zesty zing, is packed full of Vitamin C and adds a whole new element to the honey – making it the perfect ingredient for salads and desserts. Smooth and fresh, the honey is also great when added to smoothies and juices, for an extra healing health kick!

Ginger, a store cupboard essential for any food lover - has been used to create New Zealand Honey Co’s deliciously different Manuka Honey and Ginger.”

I simply added a heaped teaspoon of each of the honeys, a splash or orange juice and squeeze of lemon to a cup of hot water (note: in his favourite cup…I think this might have made all the difference!). After tasting simply a spoonful of the honey, the OH declared he felt better already, but enjoyed the drink nonetheless! I think this will definitely become a favourite in our house during times of colds and sore throats!

On an entirely different note, I’m hoping to use the ginger honey next in a Cajun honey chicken recipe served with spinach and mash. I’ll let you know how I get on.

Both honeys have a RRP of £9.99 and are available from Morrisons. For further information on New Zealand Honey Company and honeys visit www.newzealandhoneyco.com .

Disclaimer: Although I was sent products to try for the purpose of this post, all views and opinions are entirely my own, truthful and honest.

The Perfect Mash?

In my question to find the perfect mash, I usually opt for the shop bought, ready-made variety with potatoes, milk/cream and salt and pepper. I can never be bothered with the phaff of peeling, boiling, then trying the mash the potatoes without them turning into wallpaper paste. However, I was recently sent a potato ricer to try. And not just any ricer: this is an Oxo Good Grips 3 in 1 Ricer. There’s a removable disc on the end that you can rotate to choose how fine you’d like your mash to be. You can also use for fruit purees, etc. It sits nicely on top of the bowl, but as it’s so deep, there’s little space left underneath for the potato!

Before beginning, I asked Twitter their opinion on the perfect mash. Comments ranged from cracking an egg into it, along with butter, milk and seasoning ( ‏@JoeLeShark ) to leaving them to steam for several minutes after boiling to ensure the mash doesn’t go soggy ( @janetravers ) to doing it the Michelin way and using a 40/60 ratio of fat to mash as the potato is there only to ensure the butter and cream do not split! ( @PaulLomax )

So, first and foremost I chose a Desiree potato that stated it was perfect for mashing. Then peeled, chopped into large pieces to minimise the amount of water absorbed, and boiled. Next, I drained and returned to the hot pan on the lowest heat to steam for several minutes.

Now to begin the ricing process! I chose the finest setting by rotating the disc until it clicked into place, then piled the potatoes high and began to close the ricer. It surprised me how easily they went through the mesh, and the process itself was really quite enjoyable!

The potato was very fine and, although it did contain small lumps, these were soon whisked out with the addition of the tasty stuff! I had 1.2 kg of potatoes so chose to add 200ml milk, 200ml crème fraiche and 100g butter. Plus salt, pepper and a good grating of nutmeg. Not quite the Michelin proportions suggested!

And in my book, the perfect mash should be part of the old favourite, Bangers and Mash with onion gravy! I roasted the sausages in my new Medium roaster from Great British Bakeware until dark brown and sticky, then served.

And the ricer went in the dishwasher, so no washing up either!

Disclaimer: Although I was sent products to try for the purpose of this post, all views and opinions are entirely my own, truthful and honest.

 

Garlic & Bacon Chicken

Last week, I was, as usual, scrabbling around in the bottom of the fridge trying to come up with something to do with two chicken breasts and some smoked bacon. There wasn’t a lot else left to make any sort of sauce, so I settled on a simple, but tasty, garlic butter stuffed and bacon wrapped dinner.

Recently, I have been sent several products to trial in the kitchen to help with any recipes. So this was the perfect time to try out the Medium roaster from Great British Bakeware. I go through roasting tins faster than anyone I know, probably because I usually opt for the cheapest, so I was a little hesitant to use such a nice one, fearing I will never be able to give it the care it deserves. Anyway, I followed the simple preparation instructions of washing the tin, then began to create the chicken.

It’s simply a case of slitting open the breast, with the mini-fillet left attached to act as a wrapper. Then adding crushed garlic and butter. Roll the fillet and wrap in bacon. Place into the roasting tin and pop into a pre-heated oven. I had the oven up high to begin with in order to give the bacon a good chance at going crispy, then turned it down to ensure the chicken cooked through, then up again at the end to brown.

Apologies for the lack of pictures of the finished dinner but we ate it before there was a chance! It was, however, a quick and tasty dinner. I served it with mash.

And the roasting tin? Well, I left it sitting while we ate, then cleaned it up after. With warm soapy water, the burnt crispy bits slid off easily with a nylon-type sink brush. It still looks like new, although I’ve only used it once. I feel the real trial for this product will be how well it fares when I get sloppy with the ‘looking after’ of it in terms of not using metal utensils, leaving it for three days before cleaning, etc. You know the type of thing! I’ll let you know.

Disclaimer: Although I was sent products to try for the purpose of this post, all views and opinions are entirely my own, truthful and honest.

Little Dish’s Salmon & Pesto

I was very kindly sent this baby- / child-friendly recipe book some time ago now, when my little one was beginning to move on from ‘mush’ to real food.

The book contains several weaning recipes, including purees, then moves to meals which can be easily mashed, and on to quick and simple family meals.  Many of them I already make and have my own recipes for, such as baked fish, lasagne or burgers, but there are a few new combinations that I thought I’d give a go. My first effort was Salmon and Pesto. I’d have never thought to put pesto with salmon, choosing instead to stir into pasta or maybe add to a white fish, so was intrigued as to how this would turn out. My little one is now much preferring to eat with her hands and attempt to use a fork, and has given up completely on ‘mush’, even though it’s sometimes so much simpler and faster from my point of view! And I’m struggling to find quick and tasty meals to make for her that differ from pasta, ham and cream cheese, so this seemed like a good place to start.
The book said that preparation time was 5 minutes and cooking time 15, and those were about right, especially if you’ve got your breadcrumbs made in advance. You can find the actual recipe here or use my paraphrased version.
You’ll need:

4x125g salmon fillets
145g tub fresh basil pesto (I used it from a jar as I couldn’t find fresh)
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
40g fresh breadcrumbs

General Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
After checking the salmon carefully for bones, lay skin side down on a baking dish.
Mix the pesto, bread crumbs and lemon juice and spread over the salmon.

Bake for around 15 mins, or until the salmon is cooked through.

I served it with rice with peppers and raisins for Frankie, and added toasted nuts to the rice for the grown ups.

As you can see, she was a hungry little bird today and obviously very much enjoyed it, as did we. This recipe is so quick and easy I’ll definitely be making it again!

Chicken Wrap–of mixed heritage!

I sometimes crave a kebab. And just love a chicken tikka starter at the Indian, especially with the mint sauce and wrapped in a chapatti. So I decided to make my own version one evening, although, as expressed in the title, mine has several cultural influences. The wrap could be Mexican or Moroccan; the chicken is seasoned in an Indian tikka marinade; served with a Mediterranean salad; add a Greek tzatziki dip and very British mint sauce. Sounds like phaff? Think again, one of the quickest and easiest meals you'll ever make. And you can choose whether to make each component part or cheat and buy them, as I did!

You’ll need:

chicken (the best quality you can afford)

natural yoghurt / crème fraiche / cream

tikka marinade dry powder

flatbread

salad leaves

chopped cherry tomatoes, onion and pepper

mint sauce

tzatziki

lime juice

Method:

First, chop the chicken breast into pieces, marinate in yoghurt / cream and the tikka seasoning, then fry off.

Meanwhile, pop the flatbread on a plate, sprinkle with leaves, chopped cherry tomatoes, onion and pepper slices.

Once the chicken is cooked, place on top and spoon mint sauce and tzatziki on top. Squeeze fresh lime over, roll, and eat.

I promise, you'll want another once you've finished it, so I suggest making two to begin with!

 

Herman…from Boy to Man

Today was the day…Herman grew from a boy to a man!

After 10 days of talking to, nurturing, feeding and stirring Herman, today he was, apparently, really hungry. So I fed him with…

2 cooking apples, chopped; tsp vanilla essence; tsp cinnamon, tsp baking powder; more flour; more sugar; 2 eggs; raisins (meant to be sultanas); cooking oil

After all that, I gave him a final stir, poured him into a greased tin and baked for 45 mins.

I’ll admit it…I wasn’t sure I could get along with this cake, let alone one whose milky ‘starter’ had possibly been around for years and years. However, as I spent the week caring for Herman, I grew to like him, maybe even love him. And come today, I wanted to do the best I could so he could really flourish.

I also drove to friends’ houses to leave them a little part of Herman to make their own cake. Strangely, leaving these bubbling pots of froth was the most fun part. I felt happy. Not ‘proud’ happy, or ‘it’s finished’ happy, but ‘sunny day’ happy…like I knew that in ten days, they’d feel like I did today!

The Adventures of Herman

Herman, my new best friend, is now ready for his adventures. His bag is packed with extra flour, sugar and milk, he's split himself into four and I'm happy to report, has decided to leave a small part of himself with me to be made into a delicious cake tomorrow!

So, Stacy, Kate and Katharine...you'd better expect a new friend to turn up on your doorstop today or tomorrow! I hope you enjoy him as much as I have.