OXO Good Grips Complete Grate and Slice Set and a Giveaway

I have a new favourite toy!  It's the OXO Good Grips Complete Grate and Slice set.  It's a kind of mini mandoline and grater in one and it's just the best piece of kit I've reviewed for ages.
I have a big OXO Good Grips Mandoline which is fab for slicing lots of veg and you can set variable thicknesses, however it is a bit of a faff to take apart and clean, so I only use it if I'm doing a lot of slicing.  On the other hand I probably use the Grate and Slice every other day it's just so handy, let me show you.
You can see from the box that there are four different slicing blades in their own storage box, a safety grip to hold your veggies so you don't slice your fingers and the base box to catch all the processed vegetables.
So you have this nice tidy closed box with everything you need organised inside. I keep mine in the cupboard next to my work surface.
Open the lid and you can see you have your four slicing blades, a straight slice, julienne slice, large grater and fine grater.
The slicing blades fit onto the lid of the storage box which becomes a bowl to catch whatever you are processing.
Here I'm using the fine grater to grate some ginger.

The ginger I was grating was frozen and it still grated perfectly.

I also made a quick coleslaw using the straight slicing blade for the cabbage and the large grater for the carrots.  When it's this quick and easy, there's not a lot of point in buying coleslaw.

OXO Good Grips Complete Grate and Slice RRP £30

I have one OXO Good Grips Complete Grate and Slice set to giveway (UK only) please follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below and you too can be slicing and grating with ease!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received the OXO Good Grips Complete Grate and Slice Set for review, I was not paid and all opinions are my own. 

Labels: coleslaw, Complete Grate and Slice, Ginger, giveaway, grate, Mandoline, OXO Good Grips, slice, win

posted by Janice @ 00:00 163 Comments

Fish Tacos with Red Cabbage and Celeriac Coleslaw

I love Mexican food, there is something about all the layers of  textures and flavours, the tortillas, the chillies, the tomatoes, the sour cream and the cheese.  When they all come together they seem to make a magical combination that is quite delightful.

I've made Mexican dishes with chicken, with beef and with vegetables but never with fish, time to put that right.  If you have been reading my recent fish recipe posts you will know that I've been eating oily fish twice a week but I hadn't had any fresh mackerel.  Mackerel has quite a strong flavour and a solid meaty texture, so it can stand a bit of chilli heat without being overpowered.  It's also No. 2 in the top 30 Omega 3 rich fish, second only to herring, so really good for you.


Mackerel is also really good value for money, I got three medium mackerel for £2.54.  I prepared them myself but if you don't have the stomach for that, then I'm sure you could get mackerel fillets or ask your fishmonger to fillet them for you.

Have you tried these new Stand N Stuff Soft Tacos from Old El Paso? The tortillas have been shaped in the little baskets making them much easier to fill and eat.  The Chunky Guacamole is a good stand by to keep in the fridge too, for those times when you don't have a ripe avocado!

Fish Tacos
Serves 4

3 medium whole mackerel, filleted
1 tsp hot smoked paprika
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 Old El Paso Stand n Stuff Soft Taco Kit (contains 8 Stand N Stuff Soft Flour Tortillas, 1 Tomato Stir in Sauce, 1 Cool Herb Topping Mix)
3 tomatoes
100ml sour cream
100g grated cheese
1 lettuce
Old El Paso Chunky Guacamole

1. Cut the fillets into chunky pieces and place in a glass or ceramic dish.
2. Mix the spices and salt together and sprinkle over the fish pieces, mix together to cover the fish with the spices.  Place in the fridge and leave for at least 30 minutes.
3. De-seed the tomatoes and chop finely, place in a bowl and set aside.
4. Mix the Cool Herb Topping Mix with 100ml sour cream in another bowl.
5. In a hot pan, add a splash of oil and add the spiced fish mixture until the fish becomes opaque.
6. Turn down the heat and add the Tomato Stir-in Sauce and stir gently for 2 minutes.
7. Add half the grated cheese (50g), stirring until the cheese has melted.
8. Warm the tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds or on a baking tray, covered with foil in the oven at 165C/Gas 3 for 7-9 minutes.
9. Fill the Stand and Stuff Flour Tortillas as follows:

• Lettuce
• Fish mixture
• Chopped Tomatoes
• Grated Cheese
• Cool Herb Topping Mix
• Squeeze of Chunky Guacamole at each end!

I served the Fish Tacos with Red Cabbage and Celeriac Coleslaw



Red Cabbage and Celeriac Coleslaw
Serves 4-6

1/4 red cabbage, finely sliced
1/2 medium celeriac root, finely sliced into julienne strips
1 large carrot, grate half and julienne slice the other half
1/2 a small onions, finely chopped

Place all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix.

To make the dressing
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
25 ml olive oil
1 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp soured cream
salt and freshly ground pepper

Place all the ingredients into a jar or dressing shaker (or you can whisk in a bowl) and shake until completely mixed.  Pour over the vegetables and mix.  Chill until ready to serve.


What a tasty supper dish, we really enjoyed it.  The fish held together well and combined well with the spices.  I loved the Stand N Stuff Tacos, they held the fillings so well and I could see them being really brilliant for buffets and much easier for children to manage than the traditional tortilla.  As long as you don't fill them too full, you can pick them up and the filling will stay in while you bite into them.  I was also pleasantly surprised by the Chunky Guacamole, it definitely tasted of avocado and no obvious artificial flavour, not as much texture as the real thing but handy to keep in the fridge.

Read more about the benefits of eating oily fish at the Fish is the Dish website. 

The mackerel is a really thrifty buy, and the coleslaw is pretty cheap to make too. The meal can also be made with standard tortillas to make it less expensive.  With all these money savers I'm entering this recipe for Credit Crunch Munch, the blog event run by Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food 4 All and currently being hosted by My Little Italian Kitchen 

I was provided with the Old El Paso products for review, I was not paid and all opinions are my own. 

Labels: celeriac, chilli, coleslaw, fish, Fish Tacos, Mackerel, Old El Paso, red cabbage, spicy, Tacos, Tortillas

posted by Janice @ 09:30 7 Comments

Salad Lunch with Pie!

I made a trip out to our local Farm Shop, Kilnford Barns to stock up on some of their Galloway Beef, Blackface Lamb and Outdoor Reared Pork all locally produced.  While I was there I spied this pie in the Deli, it's ham, chicken and stuffing, as I'd been out all day I thought it would be ideal for our supper with some simple salads.  This piece was around £6.00 however,  it served three people.  It's a heavy little pie, because it is stuffed with lots of meat and is quite filling  so overall it was good value and really very delicious.

I got a new food processor recently and it is brilliant for making your own coleslaw.  This one has sliced white cabbage, sliced fennel and  grated carrots dressed with a well seasoned mix of mayonnaise and greek yogurt and topped with some roughly chopped pistaschio nuts.

The hot potato salad with spring onions and mint was featured on Lavender and Lovage and was easy to make and delicious.
My basil plant has finally produced leaves big enough to pick. They are still pretty small but another week and I will be wondering what to do with them all!  Simply sliced tomatoes, seasoned with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar, dressed with olive oil and topped with basil leaves.

The salad leaves came from my little salad trough, which has done better than ever before due to the huge quantity of water coming from the sky and the muggy temperatures.

Labels: coleslaw, Kilnford Barns, leaves, Pie, potato salad, tomato

posted by Janice @ 21:06 4 Comments

The feast before the feast

Every year, just before Christmas, we invite my husband's cousins over for lunch. It is traditional for us to have a cold buffet style lunch, but we sit at the table to eat it! Here is my dining room ready for the food. We started with Spiced Parsnip Soup which drew very favourable comments, but I forgot to take a photo!

We love to eat pickles with the cold meat, pickled onions, gherkins and beetroot. In the centre of the dish is the homemade cranberry relish which was delicious.
I made a few things from Delia Smith's Happy Christmas book, this is the Spiced Brown Rice Salad which was really tasty with a mild curry flavour and lots of bits of veg, nuts and seeds mixed through.
The pasta salad is simply pasta, sweetcorn and some cheese chopped into little cubes, dressed with mayonnaise.
This is Delia's Christmas Coleslaw which includes celeriac and an amazing dressing made with sour cream and garlic amongst other things. I wouldn't say I could taste the celeriac but the whole dish had a great overall flavour. I didn't get a photo but the whole thing was served with a green salad and roast potatoes.
I usually make a 'real' trifle which means no jelly (jello), just sponge soaked with alcohol, in this case cherry brandy, raspberries, topped with real egg custard and then cream and decorated with toasted flaked almonds. Delia's verision of 'English Trifle' is pretty similar to the one I usually make BUT she makes the custard with double cream :o and I have to say, it was fantastic! I don't think I can go back to the one I usually make with full cream milk.
I also served Apple Pecan Cheesecake, which I've shown on my blog before. The recipe came from Judy's Kitchen and is now a favourite of mine.

I've been asked for the link to the Cheesecake recipe you can find it HERE

Labels: Cheesecake, Christmas, coleslaw, ham, pasta, salad, trifle

posted by Janice @ 19:51 12 Comments