Come to a Barbeque at my Kitchen Table

It's Barbeque season and, although the weather has been rather variable, when the sun shines we love to cook and eat outside.  Some hardy souls even brave the rain and wind and carry on regardless.  Here are a few of the products that have arrived on my kitchen table for review and how I think they can be served as part of al fresco eating.


Let's start with some soup!  "Soup at a Barbeque!" I hear you cry, well yes... ideal for those days that are not quite warm enough and also perfect to keep hunger pangs at bay while the barbie is heating up and the main event is cooking.  This healthy Glorious Skinnylicious Soup is perfect to start your party.  The San Antonio Fiesta is a  hearty chilli sin carne with Black eye beans, Haricot beans, Black Turtle beans, and Red kidney beans. Also carrot, red pepper, basmati rice, a smoky Chipotle chilli paste, a pinch of peering at colourful floats parading past and ending the night shamelessly line-dancing in an old dancehall.

For those who prefer something a little smoother and sweeter there is New England in Autumn and it certainly doesn't taste like it has less than 1% fat. Made from roasted butternut squash with a hint of warming cumin, this soup reminds us of happening upon honesty stalls full of autumn harvests and strolling under colourful tree canopies.  Kids will love this too.


Now, you can't have a barbeque without burgers.  These are a little different, they are haggis burgers which I made by combining 500g of beef mince and 450g Macsween Haggis, then forming into patties. Chill and then cook in the usual way on the barbeque or fry them, cook under the grill or bake in the oven. Serve with salad, homemade coleslaw and homemade potato wedges.



To dress up your burgers, sausages or steaks you need some spicy sauce or a tasty marinade.  Encona Taste Explorers have a great range of sauces and marinades provide something a little different,  how often do you taste Jamaica, Korea or Morocco on the grill?

With Encona’s new marinade range, you can spice up your barbeque and bring flavour to the fire. You have a choice immersing your food in Jamaican Jerk, Korean BBQ or Moroccan Harissa.

Each marinade has been inspired by its origin, combining authentic ingredients to create three mouth-watering marinades that will make you feel like you are sunning in the Caribbean, riding a camel in North Africa or wandering through Gwangjang market.

A spicy and fragrant Moroccan paste made with a blend of chilli puree, herbs and spices; the harissa marinade adds the perfect kick to a lamb skewer.

For those who feel taste travelling to Morocco isn’t far enough, you can take your taste buds all the way to Korea. The BBQ marinade is made with a blend of gochujang spices, which can be enjoyed on beef, chicken, pork or grilled vegetables.

Alternatively, you could virtually hop across the pond to the sandy beaches of Jamaica, and enjoy a beach BBQ with a mild jerk marinade blended with scallions, hot pepper and pimento spices.

Each marinade is suitable for vegetarians and  two are gluten free.
Time to get saucy with Encona Peruvian Amarillo Sauce, a blend of authentic Peruvian Amarillo chillies, roasted onion, spices and herbs creating a sweet, subtle chilli flavour with a hint of garlic – the perfect way for eager taste explorers to get their taste buds tingling without the cost of a plane ticket.
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I was provided with samples to review, all opinions are my own. 

Labels: barbecue, barbeque, burger, Elizabeth Shaw, Encona, Glorious Skinnylicious, haggis, halloumi, Macsween, marinade, mints, Moose Maple Butter, rice and grains, sauce, Soup, Uncle Ben's

posted by Janice @ 00:00 149 Comments

What's on Farmersgirl Kitchen Table?

I don't really have a 'kitchen table' as such, I have a light oak counter/breakfast bar in the kitchen and a big dark oak table in the dining room, you will have seen both in my food photos.  However, what I want to share with you today are some products I've been sent to review over the last couple of weeks.

First up are a couple of new additions to the Elizabeth Shaw premium bar range with the introduction of their Connoisseur Bars - Blackberry and Ginger,  Pear and Almond.  There was a bit of a debate between me and my husband about which of these flavours we liked best.  I enjoyed the Blackberry and Ginger which, I felt, captured the earthy flavour of blackberries although I would have preferred more of a ginger taste.  Brian preferred the Pear and Almond which was big on almonds and had a definite pear taste which I found a little too reminiscent of pear drops, but he disagreed.
 The chocolate is 57% cocoa solids so if you are a 70% type of person you might find it a little mild, however it didn't detract from our enjoyment of the chocolate bars though.


After the chocolate, I think it's time for a nice cup of tea and fortunately Whittards asked me to try some of their Green and White teas.

The Whittards story began in 1886 when Walter Whittard opened his first tea and coffee store on London’s Fleet Street.
His philosophy was to always ‘Buy The Best’, sourcing the highest quality teas and coffees from around the world and blending them to his customers’ specifications.
Today – over 125 years later – they still remain true to Walter’s founding philosophy. From one little shop on Fleet Street they continue to grow, sharing their innovative range and specialist knowledge across their UK stores, overseas and online. They are still the blending and tasting experts, offering you something truly unique.
• Whittartds have 130 varieties of tea, and still blend their own teas and infusions, just as Walter did.
• Whittards are one of the few places that will grind freshly roasted coffee beans to your individual tastes.
• Whittards have over 18 varieties of luxurious hot chocolate, tempting chocolate lovers with everything from White Chocolate and Strawberry to Chilli.
• Whittards believe that preparation and serving are all part of the enjoyment. So they sell specialist china, equipment and glassware alongside their drinks.

This is the delightfully pretty Pomegranate White Leaf Tea, (125g for £6.50) it looks like pot pourri and smells a bit like it too!  I was a bit concerned that the flavour would be too sweet, but it is light, fresh and fruity.  A lovely afternoon tea for a pick me up, I think it would also make a great iced tea for a summer day.

The Organic Green Leaf Tea,  (125g, £6.50) has a smaller leaf, a stronger green tea flavour, but none of the harshness that I find you get with green tea bags.

While we enjoyed both the Pomegranate White Tea and the Organic Green Tea, we really fell in love with the River of Clouds Green Tea  (50g, £6.25) the most expensive one, of course!
This is 'proper' green tea, large leaves with a delicate flavour, a drink to be savoured and enjoyed.  Perfect with food or as a refeshing drink at any time.  If you love green or white tea, this is one you should really try.
We have been drinking our tea without milk since we were poor students with no fridge to keep the milk fresh overnight.  I think that has added to our enjoyment of different teas as you really taste only the tea.  Soft Scottish water is also perfect for making tea, although I think coffee probably benefits from harder water.
We were impressed by the quality of these teas and  will certainly be popping into Whittards again to stock up.

Next up I'd like to tell you about Red Candy  a website dedicated to the celebration of red home furnishings and modern interior accessories.  Whether you use red as a subtle accent, or your love of this passionate colour sees it spread throughout your life, RedCandy.co.uk provides for all by stocking the latest, most fantastic and innovative red products & designs from across the world.

With such a large choice of modern red accessories covering collage photo frames, clocks to colanders, mugs to magazine racks, you need not venture any further in your quest to find a complement for your red themed interior, or discover the perfect gift for another that adores this colour.

There are many fun items on the Red Candy website, but I fell in love with this delightful Guzzini Latina resin storage jar with a tight-fitting push on lid (£16.00).  It's designed to sit inside the fridge door, but it won't be seeing the inside of my fridge, it's far too attractive.


The storage jar is perfect for storing anything you want to see, the Pomegranate tea looks great with it's pretty pieces of pink fruit, and the lid keeps it fresh and keeps the fruity smell inside.

Last weekend I used it to store some of the Glamour Cherries featured in my previous blog post, I love the look of the cherries in the jar although they were a nightmare to photograph!

I was rather torn between the clear resin version of the Guzzini Latina  and this all red version (£15.00), which is sold as a coffee jar. Both have the same lovely curvy shape, but in the end I wanted to see what was inside the jar.  I think it may well become a cookie jar, next time I'm making some pretty cookies.

Labels: Blackberry and Ginger, Connoisseur Bars, Elizabeth Shaw, geen tea, Guzzini, Pear and Almond, Red Candy, review, tea, What's on Farmersgirl Kitchen Table?, Whittards

posted by Janice @ 21:52 1 Comments

Gold Medal Muffins with Elizabeth Shaw

Gold Medal Muffins

The opening ceremony last night was outstanding and, today, I've had one eye of the telly for the road race, the swimming and the tennis.  I'm not a sports fan but somehow, this is different!

There was another celebration last week when I opened up a hamper sent to me my the lovely people at Elizabeth Shaw.  Oh my goodness so much chocolate!  As well as a couple of boxes of the well known Elizabeth Shaw, Dark Chocolate Mint Crisp, there are some new flavours to try and some different ways to enjoy Elizabeth Shaw chocolates.

Like this bar of Milk Chocolate Butterscotch Crisp.  It's a very mild chocolate at 31% Cocoa Solids, personally I prefer chocolate with higher cocoa solids, the butterscotch crisp has pleasant, if slightly burnt flavour, if you like a mild milk chocolate and cinder toffee, you will like this bar!

Also new in the Elizabeth Shaw range are a variety of 'Flutes', Orange, Amaretto, Latte and Mint.  These are ideal for nibbling and would make great stocking fillers or little hostess gifts.

Now a review is all very well, but if you are a regular reader you will know that I like to try to make something with the products I'm sent to review.

I looked at this selection of Elizabeth Shaw Butterscotch Crisp, Caramel Crisp, Cocoa Crunch and Honeycomb Crisp and thought 'Muffins'.  Finding a couple of blackening bananas in the fruit bowl and it was clear that some kind of banana and chocolate chip muffin was in order.

When I weighed out the chocolates, I thought how like medals they looked with their shiny foil covers and decided to make Gold Medal Muffins.

I found a recipe for Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffins at Muffin Heaven  I pretty much followed this recipe but, as I only had 2 bananas, I cooked up two eating apples and added those with the bananas.

I used a combination of the Elizabeth Shaw chocolates and chopped them to add to the mixture. I baked the muffins in gold muffin cases which I had picked up in a sale some time ago.


To decorate the Gold Medal Muffins, I made the little flags by scanning a Union Flag that came with Simply Homemade Magazine for the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations.  Using Photoshop Elements I put the flags side by side and printed them out.  So basically, you cut out two flags side by side and then fold them round the cocktail stick using a little glue to hold them together. I love it when my crafting and baking hobbies come together.

The 'gold medal' is, of course, an Elizabeth Shaw Butterscotch Crisp. I printed out the Olympic rings and stuck that onto the 'medal', cut a ribbon and taped it to the back of the chocolate.

I melted half a dozen of the chocolates in a bowl over a pan of hot water and placed a spoonful on the top of the muffin, then stuck the 'gold medal' onto the chocolate, stuck the flag into the muffin behind the chocolate and you are done!

If you would like to win a hamper of Elizabeth Shaw chocolates then they are running a competition on their website:  Win Chocolates to Celebrate

I entering this into the Calendar Cakes challenge. As July's challenge is The Olympic Games.  Calendar Cakes is run by Laura Loves Cakes and Dolly Bakes

I'm also entering this for Sporting Snacks run by Ren at Fabulicious Food

 

 I can't wait for Team GB's first Gold Medal, good luck to all the competitors.

Labels: Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffins, Calendar Cakes, chocolates, Elizabeth Shaw, Gold, Gold medal, Muffins, Olympics, Simply Homemade

posted by Janice @ 19:52 11 Comments