Amazing starter

Today I had lunch with my client in Harvey Nicks in Manchester. It was the bar restaurant on the top floor, I was greeted by a very pleasant host and offer a table too choose from. Once sat I ordered a pot of English breakfast tea and waited for my guest.

We both decided to have a small something to eat and so chose from the first course options. I went for the Ham Hock and Black Pudding dish while my client chose the 'special' risotto which involved prawns and peas.

Mine arrived and was pretty as a picture, really vibrant green de-shelled broad beans next to fleshy pink ham and deep black black pudding.

It was as delicious as it looked. It came with a lovely sweet apple and cinnamon puree which worked beautifully gelling all the ingredients together. Its been a long time since I have eaten something that tasted equally as lovely as it looked.

On top of this we had a wonderful waiter, Stuart, who was very attentive, polite and very helpful. So helpful in fact that he even wrote down the method of how to make my lovely starter. When i give it a shot I will post it for all to see... thank you Stuart.

Burns Night Supper finally!

I was invited to two Burns night events on the 25th and not a drop of Haggis to be seen! I was so so disappointed - my first Burns night in over 7 years with out Haggis. So Tonight, with my mum and my sister we had Burns Night Supper!! 

For those of you that don't know the traditional Burns Night Supper is Haggis Neeps and Tatties. Mash Turnip (thats Swede to all you non scottish folk) and mashed potato. 

Haggis is (according to wikipedia) a dish containing sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally simmered in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours. Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a casing rather than an actual stomach. Our's was in actual stomach, I have found that most Haggis brought from a traditional butchers.

I love it! I even have it cold the next day in a sandwich, sadly tonight its all been eat with not crumb left for my cold Haggis sandwich. 

Soda Stream it up!

So exciting! I just got a new Soda Stream! Remember the 80's favourite drinks maker? You were probably either one of the lucky kids who had one – or the one who didn’t and dreamed of your very own fizzy-drink factory (I was sadly the latter). Well, now SodaStream is back and it's set to be a must-have once again. 

SodaStream has had a sleek makeover and now comes in a range of modern designs and colours including chrome, red and white that will look great on your kitchen worktop. The new machines encapsulate all the fizzy fun you would expect with a trendy new design you’ll want to have on display. 

Perfect to keep me busy while not drinking. I tested out some new cocktails with the Soda Stream... 

Three Cheers Punch- New Years mocktail

A fruity mix of juicy flavours to welcome the New Year in style.
This delicious drink can be made in a punch bowl, with plenty of chopped fruit to garnish and add even more flavour. 1/2 part lime juice; 1 part orange juice; 2 parts SodaStream; Mango Passionfuit; Plenty of ice and chopped apples, oranges, etc. Ladle the mix from the punch bowl into tea-cups, so the kids can cut a dash with this sophisticated looking New Year treat.

Deck The Halls- Christmas Mocktail
A refreshing, fizzy treat. Fill a tall glass with ice. Top with equal parts SodaStream Apple, and SodaStream Clear Cranberry Raspberry.  Garnish with an orange slice and a string of redcurrants for a Christmas feel.

Both to die for very yummy indeed! Go and buy your self one its made me so happy but then that might be because I never had one the first time round? Either way its great.

SodaStream drinksmakers are available from John Lewis, Comet, Argos, Robert Dyas, Lakeland and selected Asda stores, including Asda Living. The drinks makers cost from £54.99 and flavours from £2.99. For more information visit www.SodaStream.co.uk or look us up on Twitter @sodastreamuk 

-ends-

SodaStream Facts:

• Did you know that every one litre bottle of SodaStream you make saves three aluminium cans? That means that over 3 years, a family of four could slash their soft-drink-related packaging usage by over 90%

• Each 500ml flavour bottle makes up to 12 litres of fizzy drink, which means no more lugging, and storing heavy cans or bottles and you’ll be saving money as well!

• All SodaStream flavours are low in sugar compared to most other sparkling drinks. The regular flavours have two thirds less sugar than standard "non diet" drinks and the sugar free range tastes great but without the calories

• SodaStream allows you to design your own drink. Choice of flavours, choice of strength and choice of sparkle meaning you’re completely in control

• *Tap water quality in England at Wales is at 99.96%, Scotland – 99.75% and Northern Ireland 99.69% (source: Water UK)

Peas please!

And so continues my month without the bad stuff! Its been so hard surprisingly hard, not because I want to drink but because of my friends disappointment that I am not drinking. 


When out with friend we usually have some crisps, olives or nuts but obviously on the diet this is not an option so I have had a hunt about for something that could replace these naughty treats. Hisaki Wasabi Peas, yum yum two thumbs up for these for sure! Clearly a lot better than crisps and they have a great kick to them too. 

I even had some in the office too so all round a good healthy snack

Get yours £1.49 for 40g pack www.sushisushi.co.uk

detox Jan

ok so as I have mentioned a couple of times I have given up drink this January, partly because its good for your health and partly because it makes you fat! haha. Any way its always good to abstain for a little bit and it would seem that January is the only time in the year that I could possibly get away with it what with everyone and their mum doing it. 

So on the hunt for some enjoyable alternatives I came across a wonderful homegrown delight called Luscome. My drink of choice is usually Champagne or white wine. And the lovely people at Luscombe have a rather fabulous drink that they have labeled 'wild Elderflower Bubbly' - sounds right up my street. So on Saturday night when all around me were sipping on their G&T's i pored myself a flute of chilled Wild Elderflower Bubbles. It was truly lovely, it looked just like champagne in the glass, ok it didnt taste just like Champagne but it did taste very nice and was a welcomed change from soda and lime!

Apparently I am not the only one that thinks this stuff is rather good, They have won many awards for their drinks including two-star Gold Awards for Apple & Elderflower and a one-star award for Cool Ginger Beer, Sicilian Lemonade, Wild Elderflower Bubbly, Devon Apple, and Apple and Apricot. The Great Taste Awards are the acknowledged benchmark of speciality food and drink 2010. They also serve it at Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck - well if its good enough for him its defiantly good enough for me!! 

I will be stocking up on this for sure, its very refreshing and so lovely to drink I should imagine it would be even better on a hot British summers afternoon. 

Sold at independent retailers nationwide and leading department stores including Harvey Nichols, Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges, Luscombe Drinks are priced from £1.50 why not give them a shot, I did and i will be going back for more and more. 

I very much recommend these.

Dinner at Getti in the Villiage, thats Marylebone High Street, London to you and I

last night we went a long to Getti on Marylebone High Street. A lovely smart little Italian number. We arrived and was greeted immediately by a very friendly banterful host with a much anticipated thick Italian accent. Lovely just the way it should be in my opinion. Walking to our table the restaurant was buzzing, I think every table was taken and filled with happy faces enjoying their delicious smelling food. We arrived at our round candle lit table complete with fresh followers, there was such a warm welcoming atmosphere - it was lovely. 

We were introduce by our cheeky chapy host to our sweet baby-faced waiter who took our drinks order, we also ordered some bread and oil and some olives too. I know, I know olives for the third time in less and 24 hours and stll you hear me say - 'they were a little salty" so i can only conclude that it is in fact me, I have officially gone off olives? I do hope not, perhaps its just a passing phase, like a 24 hour bug or something. Any way, I digress, the bread however was very nice, warm and a mix of white and granary, and the oil was very good indeed, almost creamy - you could tell it was the good stuff it had great colour and flavour. 

So on to the main course, I went for the lamb cutlets, my friend went for the homemade ravioli and my other friend had the squid, prawns, and whitebait dish. I ordered my lamb medium rare, and without roast potatoes, when it came out they had very kindly given me extra roasted vegetables without me requesting them which I thought was very considerate and a great way to win your customers over. The lamb was very tender and cooked to perfection I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I tried a little of my friend ravioli and it was to die for, clearly home-made and packed full of flavour very very good indeed. 

And I even had dessert  too! I'm not normally a dessert person but our baby face waiter pointed out these three dishes which were 'bit size' ! perfect, just what i wanted a little taste of something sweet. I chose from the dolcetti, they are small bites of deserts, i had the Zuppa Inglesse a yummy trifle like arrangement toped with chocolate.  It came out in a shot glass of sorts and was a three layered affair, very tasting and just what I needed. 

Then as if that wasnt enough the host decided we should all have lemoncello - so we did, nice but not really for me. Then if that wasnt enough in true Italian style he brought out more... 'you must try these" he says - ok, little nutty biscuit called Cantuccini, home-made i was assured very quickly, hard and crunchy slim slices of biscuit packed with nuts. And then her tells us that really we should have it with this dessert wine Vin Santo is a nectar-like dessert wine and a Tuscan speciality which you dunk them in - this just sounded too good to miss so her bought a couple over for  us, and right he was the wine complimented the biscuit beautifully. 

It was a wonderful Italian evening through and through every detail and part of our meal was heartfelt and just lovely. From our greeting at the door to the endless passion and chat that the staff had for the food. It was great!

Cheap voucher lunch

Just got back form a little spot of lunch at strada, not the most glamorous of places but we wanted something cheap and they are local and voucher friendly. Buy 1 main get 1 main free... get your voucher here.

It was a tinny one in Covent Garden, really quite nice actually I was pleasantly surprised. The tables were all a little packed in but it was ok. We ordered, I had the chicken salad and my friend had the pizza, which looked amazing. My salad was very nice and large too, it came with a flat crispy bread thing with was tasty good. We order olives, which again were horrible, I wonder if its not the olives but me now as this is the second lot of olives I have near spat out in less that 24 hours!?!

Any way, safe to say it was very good and cheap which is always a combo I love to hear.

The total bill including service charge was just £15!! we only had tap water. Thats a great price for a nice lunch in nice restaurant. And as my friend said you'd spend at least £7 in pret.

Pizza Hut

Fancied a pizza, bored on sunday night in the country, so decided what the heck, we'll go to pizza hut. Now we've been to this one before and was so disappointed in it that I wrote a letter of complaint! But never the less we went along.

Surprise surprise it took the about 10minutes to seat us even though there was only one table in and about six staff!

We ordered quickly and we were served quickly. My boyfriend ordered a glass of Malbec which came in a filthy glass covered in water  marks, at this point we simply had to remind our selves of where we were.

All in all good pizza and that's it.  

Yala Yala for dinner with the girls

Yala Yala Lebanese not really my bag but we went under recommendation and because we were told it was cheap.  

Its very bright, light and vibrant, bright yellow and black are the colours I recall. We were sat at a long wooden bench next to the window and requested some tap water to which the waitress responded - it will be £1, that goes to a water charity. Nice touch I thought. 

The water arrived in a lovely glass poring jug, so nice that 2 of us felt the need to say so. 

We were also given pickles and olives, the olives were horrible, far too salty for me, and the pickles were chili's and some pinkish thing, which we debated wasnt even edible- it turn out to be turnip pickled? That was also horrible. 

So we order, 2 of the girls ordered mezze between them and I went for the mixed grill minus the rice. 

It was very tasty, marinated chicken, lamb and koftas with a very fresh herb salad, which the waitress told me was made just for me.

Our food was very good and very fresh, it was a nice restaurant good service and pleasant surroundings, but sadly just not my personal kind of place. 

 

Homemade Spotted Dick

Tonight I decided to make the Great British Spotted Dick. I searched the internet for a good old fashioned recipe and came across this link. A recipe from 1850! It didnt take long and was easy to make, but I didn't realise that it took 2.5 hours to steam. I had to do a really cool tinfoil/grease proof paper pleated lid with a cool string tie and handle which was new to me and looked terribly professional, even if i do say so myself.

Well hey say the proof is in the pudding and only 5 minutes ago I found out that i'm actually quite good and making spotted dick however after a rather large late dinner and a rather large helping of my spotted dick and the minatory glug of custard I am feeling somewhat over indulged and a little sick.

School dinners all the way with this little slice of delicious childhood pud...

cheap cheap cheap soho lunch

Popped out for a spot of Friday lunch this week at Profile. They are offering 2 courses for £10!! So we thought we'd give it a go. We walked in with minimal expectations. Once seated the waiter went away came back and then gave us the menu which was a little frustrating as we were short on time and, isnt it the norm to get given your menu when you sit???

Any way lets not split hairs over it. We bother ordered the burger. I know I seem to be eating a lot of burgers lately but they really are the easiest thing to order on this diet (loose the bun and the chips and its fine).

So two burgers and 1 pint, I had tap water. We were asked how we wanted they cooked which is always a good sign. Food arrived fast, large portion and tasty, it was actually a cheese bacon burger - I must not have read it properly - it was good.

Vert bright an gay which one must expect when in Soho from time to time. Vivid canary yellow leather booths laid out like a classic American diner style.

The bill was about £15 including service charge.

It was fine no complaints.

Dinner at fish! in London Bridge

We walked in for a bit to eat and were sat straight way. Outside there was a board showing 2 courses for £16.99 but when I asked I was told that it was not available tonight- a little annoying but not the end of the world. So we order - me still not drinking, I had a glass of water and my friend had the "fish!" white wine. I went for sardines and he went for squid, I chose the salsa verde and he, the red wine sauce. We also had the "rustic bread". Presentation was good service was good and the food was good. All in all nothing to complain about but unfortunately equally nothing to shout about. Dinner for two, mains only, one glass of house wine, one side and some bread, oh and a glass of sparkling water and still water was around £50 not too bad. The restaurant has a nice feel to it and a good layout.

Cooking what we shot

I was lucky enough you be kindly given two phesent from our shoot. So straight away searched for a good and simple recipe to do them justice. We let them hang for just a few days and cooked them with cider. Dad butchered them and showed me how to do it for the future- not too hard really, well not when your just going for the breast anyway. The one thing I will say at this point as I feel its a good and fair word of warning to anyone doing this for the forst time. When you cut them they often have feed in this case corn still in their gullet which pores out, rather grose really but good to note that it is infact just feed and not maggots which is the first thought that entered my mind. 

Any who on with the cooking ... pint of cinder 4 breasts wraped in streky bacon in a dish and cook for an hour and a half then a nice sholot and creme fresh sauce served with mash leeks and cabage- bloody lovely. 

No pic of this one i am afraid as only remembered after demolishing it. 

Shooting in the country

We went shooting during the Christmas break and after every good shoot is a bit of Great British pub grub. We all went down to The Coach and Horses in Newport, the regular post shoot pit stop. A usual sort of place really, a local booza but a nice one. They had a massive menu which does always put me off but its was all safe stuff. I ordered the cottage pie with peas. Lovely home made good food, nothing to really write home about but nice all the same. I think thats enough said really. 

Sunday Lunch with Friends

Met with friends this afternoon for lunch in a country pub; The Hare. I've been here before but it was before the make over, they must have spent a small fortune on it its almost unrecognisable. It was packed so we had to wait to get a table. We ordered drinks at the bar and waited for our table while studying the menu and deciding what to have.

Once seated we ordered straight away, it was 2 courses for £14.99. I went for the prawn and crayfish salad followed by roast pork. Now this is where my blog name comes in to play, deli2dinners - a roast for lunch and a roast for dinner haha.

We were brought a wooden platter with two warm large granary rolls for us all which I thought was very nice, makes a pleasant change to rolls in a basket.

Starters arrived, and I suddenly realised that mine would come drenched in sauce which i really didnt want, so quickly asked if it would be possible to have my sauce on the side to which our lovely waiter said would be fine. It came out just a couple of minutes behind the others with the sauce on the side. A small dish but lost of fish and tasty too.

Main course came with a massive yorkshire pud, roast tatties and a dish of mixed veg for us all to share. It was nice pretty standard but nice.

Good service, the bar girl was very helpful and very polite possibly the nicest I have come across in a long time. The interior was nice very standard pub chain style but nice enough.

I would go back but not in a hurry.

Eatings cheating

Friday night off the booze and hungry in the local pub The Nags Head. We did plan to eat n the restaurant but unfortunately for me the booze kicked in for my friend and boyfriend so I grabbed a bar snack and eat at the bar. I ordered ham egg and chips I requested poached eggs and they said it was fine much to my surprise and delight. Any way the food came and the ham was very good - big thick cuts of fresh ham two very well poached eggs and horrible chips which I of course left. Not bad for £8.50

Breakfast at Harvey Nicks

lovely spot of breakie at Harvey Nicks this week - up on the 5th floor with a client. I had the eggs Norwegian minus the hollandaise and minuns the muffin so it wasnt really eggs Norwegian at all but again I am on the silly diet so its fine. The eggs were delicious really creamy and cooked well, I would have preferred them to have been a little more runny but thats just me. Nice eating environment - I felt very posh and important actually which is silly as its just a canteen type lay out. Would defiantly go again 

Steak Tuesday at the Island NW10

A rather impromptu dinner at the Island with a friend on Tuesday night. She has been banging on about steak Tuesday for ages so we went. Steak and two side a tena, not bad, choose from a sirloin or Onglet - I have recently learnt that this is simply skirt. I went for plain cooked medium rare - cooked to perfection loads of its (came cut in stripes) I also had greens and not chips - very nice indeed! Thumbs up to Steak Tuesday 

Lovely little Dunmow

Quick bite to eat in the country one rainy afternoon this week landed us in the Musketeers.

We stopped in after it being recommend to us by two people, always a good sign. Again a massive menu - back on the diet so was rather limited to what I could have. I went for the burger (without a bun) with cheese and mushrooms, it arrived - massive portion two burger sitting on ciabatta bread toped with mushroom cheese and onions a very basic side salad and loads of chips. The burgers were very sadly poor quality and definitely of the frozen variety. It filled a hole but was vey disappointing. The people I was with enjoyed their food. 

would not go again 

Must go restaurant ....

We went to Bob Bob Ricard for our Christmas dinner, me and the girls. WOW! its amazing we loved it. The venue is stunning, the service is brilliant and the menu delicious. I would throughly recommend this to anyone that enjoys a little decadence in their life. 

I have been told that the interior is inspired by the Orient Express, that might give you more of an idea of how beautiful this place is. We were sitting in one of the tall booths, terribly personal and intimate. the waitress took our coats and hung them in our very own hanging space down the side of the soft leather seating between our booth and our neighbours. As soon as we were sat we all noticed, possibly the high light of the evening - the 'Champagne button' you push and the come and bring you Champagne - amazing! it kind of say it all really. 

So we ordered cocktails, well they did, I went for a simple glass of bubbles, Pol Roger I think on this occasion but when I order I was asked 'the vintage?" which lucky I checked as the vintage was a third of the price more expensive. it was a treat but not that much of  treat. 

Food- was amazing as expected. I had the eggs Royale followed by the O'Shea's Beef Onglet with caramelised onions and greens, it was cooked to perfection and super tender, the onions were deliciously sweet to compliment it. 

the champagne button 

glo with glo

This new year I must eat healthy, I must eat healthy...! Well the guys at glo have made it a tinny bit easier for me. They are offering a yummy dish of Manuka Rump Steak- Rump steak marinated in Manuka honey coated in black sesame seeds and chargrilled.

Not only extremely tasty but super super good for you too. The health benefits of Manuka honey are awesome. Manuka honey is a unique blend of honey that is made solely by bees that harvest their nectar from the Manuka bush in News Zealand. Its been said to be the king of all super foods. It is 100 times stronger than other honeys, with hundreds of healing results ranging from digestion to sunburn! Its also the most expenses type of honey - well thats what they tell me anyway.

Continuing on the health theme for January 2011 I have decided not to drink for one month, I know terribly boring and very predictable but I feel a must, so if like me you have decided to take a break from the hard stuff why not try one of their flower teas, choose from Jasmine Fairy, Red Blossom and Lilly Basket.

Also to note a little birdy at glo informed me that all their meat is all from a local butcher and prepare on site, doing their bit to support local businesses.

Healthy feel good food!

Why not pop down and try it out for your self, they are in Reading too... www.glohq.com.