Farmison sausages with onion gravy

There has been a lot of bad press about meat in the last few weeks, so I was pleased to be approached by Farmison and Co to review some of the products they sell online.

With Farmison you can either choose your own cuts of meat or order one of the hampers.  A monthly meat box is a good way of filling your freezer with a usable selection of meat to plan easy and delicious meals. Farmison say this is  a great selection of our excellent quality products in smaller portions, ideal for individual, but I found that the portions were generous and I was able to extend them to easily feed three or four people.  The labelling on the Farmison products is excellent, the type of meat is clearly labelled and includes details of the breed (if appropriate) and the producer, very important with the current concerns about what we are eating and where it comes from.


These Jubilee sausages are huge, a single sausage is quite enough for one person.  I simply put them in my Mermaid roasting tin with a little oil and put them in the oven at 180C until they were well browned, about 30 minutes.

 I served a single sausage (the equivalent of two ordinary sausages) with yorkshire puddings, red cabbage and onion gravy.


There were three cooked sausages left over from last night so, for lunch, I made 'pigs in blankets'.  I halved the sausages, opened a can of croissant dough, spread each of the triangles of dough with a little dijon mustard, then wrapped the sausage halves in the croissant dough and baked them at 180C for 15 minutes.


Both dishes went down very.  The Jubilee sausages are very meaty (76% pork) and quite highly spiced a bit more like a cumberland sausage than your pork banger..  I can highly recommend the croissant trick,  I had the dough in the fridge and it was nearing its sell by, but I would go out of my way to make these again, the sweetness of the croissant worked very well with the sausage.

I was sent a hamper of meat products by Farmison and Co for review.  I was not required to give a positive review and all opinions are my own.

Labels: Farmison, hamper, onion gravy, Pork chops, pork sausages

posted by Janice @ 19:04 3 Comments

Gousto - Win Dinner in a box!

Ingredients for Spiced Pumpkin and Halloumi on Bulgar Wheat with Pomegranate Seeds

Although I love to plan ahead and decide what I'm going to cook, sometimes it's difficult to find the time to get organised and  because I love my food so much, I'd prefer not to have a freezer meal very often   That's why I was so pleased when Gousto Simply Cook contacted me to try out a couple of their Gourmet recipe boxes.

What is a Gousto Gourmet Box?
Gousto provides you with all the ingredients in the right proportions to cook delicious meals at home. The produce is organic, fresh and seasonal. Gousto’s recipes are developed by a team of passionate chefs and tested by their friends and families first (very picky people). You get to choose the recipes online and every week the selection is updated to make sure there’re plenty of new recipes for you. The recipes are delivered right to your doorstep once a week so you decide when to cook. Whenever you’re on holiday or just don’t have time, simply place the subscription on hold – it’s easy.

In practice it is very simple, in a trial subscription you can decide whether to try 3 meals a week or 4 meals a week.  Three meals a week  for two people for the Gourmet box costs £42 (around £5 per person per meal) and for the Veggie Box it costs £39.  Once you  have your trial subscription you can  log in to the Gousto Simply Cook website look at the list of recipes and choose what you would like to make,  and there is a wide range to choose from and they are added to each week.  You then add the recipes to you basket and sit back and wait!


Excellent Delivery Service
What I really liked about the website was the delivery address checker, I live in rural south west Scotland and have had problems with deliveries e.g. Ocado don't deliver to our area.  So I was delighted to be able to put in my postcode and find that my parcel would be delivered on a Wednesday.  Gousto are currently delivering to all postcodes in the UK apart from a few very remote areas, they deliver in London on a Tuesday between 1pm and 6pm and to other UK areas on a Wednesday, 9am - 5pm.  The ingredients duly arrived on the appointed day packed expertly in a box with a fleecy lining and icepacks, there were no issues about signing for it and Gousto are happy to take instructions as to where to leave the parcel if you are out.

I have the opportunity to try two of the recipes, so I chose:

Spiced Pumpkin and Halloumi on Bulgar Wheat with Pomegranate Seeds


 I have always wanted to try halloumi cheese, but for some reason I never got round to buying it. What a fantastic recipe,  the pumpkin chunks are roasted in the oven with the onions, the halloumi cheese is fryed and served on top of a bulgar wheat salad which includes the roasted vegetables, pomegranate and mint.  It was really delicious and probably not something I would have made otherwise.

Oven Baked Pork Chops with Pears, Stilton and Pecan Nuts


 The oven baked pork chops with pears, stilton and pecan nuts use a similar technique to the pumpkin recipe as the pears and onions are oven roasted with the spices.  I love blue cheese and the combination of the sweet fruit, slightly earthy taste of the pecan nuts and the sharp, saltiness of the cheese was a treat to eat.

Conclusion
The recipes are excellent and are definitely something that I would want to make and eat.  There are interesting and exciting vegetarian options.  The delivery service is one of the best I have experienced. There is also very little waste as you only get enough of the ingredients to make the meal.  I would consider using the service if I was going on a self catering holiday and wanted to make nice food without the hassle of shopping, but I don't think it is something I would use on a weekly basis.

If, on the other hand, you find it difficult to decide what to make but love good food and are happy to cook, this is a great way to try out some new recipes and ingredients.


GIVEAWAY
You can win a Gousto Gourmet Box that feeds two people by following the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget. This Giveaway is only available for entrants with a UK delivery address.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was supplied with a Gousto Gourmet Box with two meals for two people.  I was not obliged to write a positive review and all opinions are my own. 

Labels: Dinner in a box, Gousto, halloumi. bulgar wheat, Pears, pecan nuts, pomegranate, Pork chops, pumpkin, Stilton

posted by Janice @ 15:00 89 Comments

Easy Barbeque Pork Chops without a BBQ!

If you look carefully, you will see that it is a Mary Berry recipe, but unfortunately I haven't said which book it is from and as I probably wrote this out in about 1981 I certainly can't remember.  You can always tell a good recipe from the splatters on the page and of course my own 'star' system where I award recipes up to five stars and this is definitely a Five Star Recipe.

Labels: barbeque, BBQ, ketchup, mustard, peppers, Pork chops, sauce, soy sauce, tomato

posted by Janice @ 21:40 6 Comments

Irish coddled pork with cider

This recipe was in this month's BBC Good Food Magazine as a Treat for 2. I doubled it up to make it a family meal and replaced the cabbage with brussels sprouts which I cooked separately as I hate cabbage and sprouts which are overcooked. It was very nice indeed and I would definitely make it again.

small knob of butter
2 pork loin chops
4 rashers smoked bacon cut into pieces
1 carrot, cut into large chunks
2 potatoes, cut into chunks
1/2 small swede, cut into chunks
1/4 large cabbage, cut into smaller wedges
1 bay leaf
100ml/31/2fl oz Irish Cider (I just used English Cider)
100ml/31/2 fl oz chicken stock

Heat the butter in a casserole dish until sizzling, then fry the port for 2-3 minutes on each side until browned. Remove from the pan. Tip the bacon, carrot, potatoes and swede into the pan, then gently fry until slightly coloured. Stir in the cabbage, sit the chops back on top, add the bay leaf, then pour over the cider and stock. Cover the pan, then leave everything to gently simmer for 20 minutes until the pork is cooked through and the vegetables are tender (I put it in the oven). Serve at the table spooned straight from the dish.

Labels: cider, one-pot, Pork chops

posted by Janice @ 14:52 3 Comments

Roast Pesto Pork with mushrooms

This is what we had for tea last night. I was out at a needlefelting class all day, so left DH to cook this dish - I love Pesto!

Labels: Pesto, Pork chops

posted by Janice @ 09:43 0 Comments