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Thursday, 26 February 2015

Join me for Celery Soup and a Spring Four Course Dinner


I've been shopping at Aldi again, picking up some great deals on spring produce and making them into an amazing four course dinner for you.

The Soup Course
Let's start with some delicious Celery Soup, I found this lovely recipe for dairy-free Cream of Celery Soup on Pinterest, it comes from the very talented Erren's Kitchen and uses potato as a thickener.

The Fish Course
A very simple four ingredient Smoked Mackerel Pate  is whizzed up quickly in the food processor and is very moreish.  I've served it with large slices of toast but it would be ideal on cocktail oatcakes or thin slices of french bread at a more refined dinner party.


 The Main Course (Entree)
Pot Roasted Scotch Beef with Roast Potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and Spring Greens. The beef was cooked in the Slow Cooker doused with a bottle of dark beer and enough stock to cover three-quarters of the meat, then cooked on low for 8-10 hours.  Once cooked, I reduced the cooking liquor by half , by boiling it on the stove to make an intense and delicious gravy.



 Dessert
Okay, so pears are hardly 'spring' produce but I couldn't resist these pears, they looked so good and when I peeled and quartered them to make the Pear Upside Down Cake, they were indeed perfect and perfectly ripe. I'll be posting the recipe for the cake very soon, it comes from the latest book Hummingbird Bakery - Life is Sweet which I'll also be reviewing.

Aldi Shopping List
Celery - 65p
Maris Piper Potatoes - 2.5kg  - £1.89
Smoked Mackerel Fillets - £1.59
Silverside Scotch Beef Joint - £8.10
Spring Greens - 59p
'Specially Selected' Yorkshire Puddings - 99p
'Best in Season' Pears - £1.29

Many thanks to Aldi for providing me with vouchers to purchase the ingredients for these recipes. I was not paid and all opinions are my own.

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posted by Janice @ 18:27 16 Comments

Tuesday, 27 January 2015

Asian Spiced Shoulder of Lamb, Mango Quark Cheesecake and the Aldi Challenge

Asian Spiced Shoulder of Lamb with Chantenay Carrots and Garlic Cream Potatoes

The last time I featured Aldi products it was to showcase some of their top of the range frozen foods, this time I've been asked to take part in the Aldi Challenge. The Aldi Challenge is an initiative to ensure that every shopper can enjoy January, if you shop at Aldi  you will still have money to spare for enjoying new activities and eating well.

Here is my shopping comparison, I couldn't believe how much I saved.

  • The Rolled Shoulder of Lamb at Aldi was Scotch Lamb with the QMS mark on it and the comparative lamb at the major supermarket was 'British' Lamb with the Red Tractor.  Generally Scotch Lamb is more expensive than British Lamb. 
  • The ice cream I bought at Aldi was a named brand and the comparative tub of ice cream was top of the range own brand. 




I first saw this recipe demonstrated by Jacqueline O'Donnell, of The Sisters Restaurant, for Quality Meat Scotland.  She kindly gave me a copy of the recipe and says "this dish is worth all the effort in time for maximum taste" I would certainly agree with that. 



Asian Spiced Shoulder of Lamb Serves 6 -8

2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1.6 kg boned and rolled Scotch lamb shoulder
2 onions, halved and cut into half moons
2 tbsp grated fresh root ginger
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 red chillies, both de-seeded, one chopped and one thinly sliced (I used one dried chilli)
1 tbsp soft brown sugar, plus 1 tsp
3 star anise
2 lemongrass stalks, tough outer leaves removed, then bruised
2 litres lamb stock (I used 1.5 litres in the Slow Cooker as it doesn't evaporate the same)
1½ tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp fish sauce
Juice 2 limes
big handful mint leaves, torn
handful basil leaves

1. Using a large deep oven proof dish, slow cooker, Aga or warming drawer
2. Place the lamb and all the other ingredients into which ever appliance you are using for cooking, 
3. Put in the oven at 140C for 4-6 hours or 8-10 hours in the slow cooker/crockpot.
4. Once it is fork tender,  remove the lamb from the dish and lay onto several layers of cling film, roll up tightly. For best results refrigerate the lamb overnight, wrapped in cling film.
5. Allow to rest whilst you reduce the stock in the pot by at least 2/3 adjusting the flavour to your liking  I also chilled the stock overnight before reducing, this meant I could remove a thick layer of fat.
6. Use all the same ingredients, however you always have to taste & try to get the balance right in Asian/Vietnamese cooking
7. To serve slice lamb very thickly, through the cling film, then remove the film and any string holding the rolled lamb together.  As I had chilled the lamb, I then placed the slices in an ovenproof dish, spooned over a little of the reduced stock, cover with foil and reheat in the oven for 20 minutes at 160C.  
8. To serve, carefully lift the lamb slices onto the plate and and spoon the reduced sauce over the top serve with either rice or potatoes.

I served the Asian Spiced Lamb with Chantenay carrots and potatoes sliced, dotted with garlic butter and covered with single cream. The lamb fell apart and tasted fantastic, the flavours of all the spices had amalgamated and it was the flavour of the lamb that dominated. I have also used this technique of cling film wrapping with brisket cooked in the slow cooker and it works equally as well, it's a really dinner party winner too as you can prepare the meat the day before.

Mango Quark Cheesecakes 

250g quark
1 tbsp single cream (optional)
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 mango
2 small brioche rolls

1. Cut pieces of the brioche to fit base of 4 large or 6 small ramekins. Mix all ingredients except mango until fully combined and pour evenly into the ramekins.

2. Cut the mango and add a few pieces to each pot. Cover the pots with foil and bake in a Bain Marie (roasting tin filled with enough boiling water to come half way up the side of the ramekins) at 160C for 30 minutes until firm.

3.Remove from the hot water, remove the foil and cool, then chill in the fridge for at least two hours. top with the remaining mango and serve.

This recipe is all my own,  I used the mango and brioche rolls from Aldi and some other ingredients I had in the fridge and larder.  This is a light cheesecake which is not too sweet with most of the sweetness coming from the ripe mango. 

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posted by Janice @ 07:00 3 Comments

Sunday, 7 December 2014

Specially Selected Christmas Dinner

Hand Prepared 5 Bird Roast
Christmas dinner is a meal that shouldn't leave you stressed out and sweating in the kitchen it should be tasty but easy.  When Aldi asked me to try out their Specially Selected range I was looking particularly for something special for Christmas dinner.   I don't visit Aldi too often as it is a bit out of my way so was delighted to see just how many interesting products they had in the Specially Selected range and, of course, they were all at good prices.

I cooked the Specially Selected Hand Prepared Five Bird Roast.  When I read the instructions I couldn't believe that you can cook it from frozen!  What a bonus and perfect for anyone who needs to make an extra meal over the holidays, you can cook this bird from frozen in 2 1/2 hours in an electric fan oven and 3 hours in a gas oven or non-fan electric oven.  You can see for yourself  the different layers of poultry.  The Five Bird Roast contains turkey, duck, goose, pheasant and chicken, it also has a really delicious Pork, Clementine and Cranberry Stuffing.

The Five Bird Roast is listed as feeding 6-8 people but we managed to get four meals for three people from it, admittedly we are not big eaters but it would certainly feed more than 6 people. It's also good cold and the layers hold together better when it's cold.  After trying the Five Bird Roast, I hot footed it back to Aldi to buy another one to put in the freezer ready for my Christmas dinner.


I served the Five Bird Roast with Specially Selected Goose Fat Potatoes and Specially Selected Heritage Carrots (not frozen).


And now for the prices:

Specially Selected Five Bird Roast £9.99
Specially Selected Goose Fat Potatoes £1.29
Specially Selected Heritage Carrots £0.99

Specially Selected Salmon Wellington  £3.99
Specially Selected Whole Cooked Crab £3.99
Specially Selected Coquille St Jacques £3.99
Specially Selected Yorkshire Pudding £0.99
Specially Selected Gourmet Crackers £0.99

There is also a range of Specially Selected Desserts including Specially Selected Dessert Shots, macarons and mini cheesecakes as well as the traditional Christmas Pudding and mince pies.


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posted by Janice @ 09:00 6 Comments