thefoodiegifthunter.co.uk

If you were quick, you may briefly have read my vicarious review of Dr T and MGG’s lunch at The Field Kitchen at Riverford. Sadly, there was a glitch on the blog and I had to restore to the previous day’s version. Which wiped it out.

I could try and rewrite it, but the original is always the best! Just to say they had an amazingly wonderful lunch that they haven’t stopped talking about to anyone who will listen. I take it on their recommendation that if you are near the area, or can make the detour, it is worth booking for! If not, then order up the cookbook and invite everyone round for some communal dining.

What can you expect? Well, without being able to taste it, then perhaps it’s best to let some photos do the talking. These are all MGG’s, so a little leeway on the focus is allowed! See if these stimulate your appetite!

The menu (if you squint)

Where a lot of lunch came from

Ploughing through

Plates looking clean

Anyone for seconds?

The only one they didn't want

I think most places around the country are about to start half term (I know, it seems like they just went back). There is good news, roads will generally be quieter. But homes with kids may not be! So this is a perfect opportunity to get kids in the kitchen and get them busy cooking up a storm. There is no better way to get them involved with food than getting them involved in it’s preparation.

So, this post is a bit of a collaboration between me and Mini Gourmet Girl, as MGG has acquired a number of cookbooks over her 8 years (can’t think where she gets that habit from) and she has some favourites, as do I, for really getting stuck in in the kitchen. Here goes:

The Usborne Cookbook for Children

1. The Usborne Cookbook for Children - this is MGG’s favourite, and you can regularly find her poring over it before coming to tell me what she wants to cook. There’s a good mix of savoury and sweet dishes, both hot and cold, and every step is well-illustrated. There are even useful chef’s tips, like how to make olives less salty, and covers everything from basics like rice and bread through to a very scrummy chocolate cake.

Kids' Kitchen

2. Kids’ Kitchen by Fiona Bird – we’ve been playing with this one recently, as Fiona and her publishers kindly sent us a copy. I like the format: individual wipe clean recipe cards, plus some how to cards as well. The colour coding helps them work through all the five major food groups of the Government’s healthy eating initiatives, covering fruit to grains, veg to oils. The steps are clearly written and easy to follow, and the results have so far been delicious. And all the kids I’ve had in the kitchen have loved having their own card to work from and I love being able to wipe them down! I think this is an innovative and interesting approach to kids cookbooks, and worth a look.

3. The River Cottage Family Cookbook – I think this is probably my favourite book for cooking with MGG. I love the explanations of the basics of cooking, of helping kids to understand why things work and how. MGG loves the Victoria Sponge recipe, where you weigh your eggs and match everything else up. This is probably a great book for sevens and over, and will probably be a book they dip in and out of for years.

Family Food

4. Family Food: A New Approach to Cooking by Heston Blumenthal- this one must be for the molecular gastronomes of the future! Actually, it’s a lot less  contrived than you might think, but will still appeal to the slightly more geeky cook. We have cooked less from this one, but MGG has enjoyed doing things like making cartouches for sauces and things. It’s worth having just to marvel that this is the first cookbook that Heston wrote, as I don’t think many of us would have thought that family cooking would have been where his writing started out.

5. The Gastrokid Cookbook: Feeding a Foodie Family in a Fast-Food World- this is a great all round book, both for cooking with, and for, kids to help expand their food horizons. The recipes are tasty, quick to put together and guaranteed to generate clean plates all round! I also lover their courgette hummus for being antoher way to get rid of the courgette glut at the end of the summer!

I honestly don’t think it matters much what you cook with kids, as long as you keep it fairly simple and quick, as they tend not to have great attention spans. Small cakes always work well for me as you get two bites of activity: one to make them and one to decorate them! Go on, go mad with the sprinkles! Don’t rely in your local Sainsbury’s, order now from somewhere like Splat or Cupcake Style. Of course they’ll be on sugar overload, but isn’t that what holidays are for?

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

It’s January, it’s been colder than cold, and certainly warming, comfort food has been the order of the day.Except it’s that time of year when huge chunks of people are resolving to eat better. Eating better can mean a whole heap of things, and be for a whole host of reasons from general health through to weight loss.

So here’s 5 choices that are about healthy choices, without being dull, and without being all about lettuce leaves!

The Nordic Diet

1. How Not to Get Fat by Ian Marber - I’ve got a lot of time for Ian Marber, and he does talk quite a lot of sense on the food front. However, with a title like this, I can’t help but wonder if it’s a two page book, and just says eat less and do more. If it’s like his other books, then there’ll be some good recipes too.

2. The Nordic Diet by Trina Hahnemann - there seems to be general rise in interest in Scandinavian cookery, so it was inevitable it would spill over into the healthy eating sector. It has all the foodie buzzwords of locally sourced and seasonal, but also lots of variety. I would think you would find things to cook out of this regardless of whether you were looking for “healthy” food or not. I think this would bring some great new tastes to any table.

3. Anjum’s Eat Right for Your Body Type - bringing together the ancient wisdom Ayurveda with great food to deliver fabulous taste and healthy food. You can do the whole body type prescription thing, or just cook up a storm with some great recipes, combining the best of East and West.

4. The Healing Powers of Chocolate – you’ll have a few weeks to wait for this one, but show me a woman who doesn’t believe already that chocolate has healing powers! This is just the science to back up what we’ve always known. Not so big on recipes, but good to know you’ve got some justification for that next bar of Green & Blacks!

5. The Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health - I had one of the original Moosewood cookbooks from my godmother in the US years ago, and it was well thumbed during my vegetarian stage. This one has 200 new recipes, and if they are as good as I remember the old ones being, then it won’t be hard to get anyone to eat healthily. Although it probably won’t make me vegetarian again!

So if you want some healthy ideas, or just new flavours for a new year, then these may be worth a look.

Getting planning your home grown goodies!

Lets face it, it appears we are in the worse winter since God was a boy and sent us the last Ice Age. Which means we don’t have to feel remotely guilty about not setting foot out of doors. Personally, this is the time of year I like to spend curled up with the seed and plant catalogues, full of good intentions of all the things I am going to grow.

Regardless of how much space you have, you can grow something, and it will taste better than lots of stuff you can buy. There’s nothing like leaning out the conservatory window to pick some rosemary that goes straight into the kitchen. I can think of no shorter supply chain!

You can either buy seeds, plants and kits for the foodie in your life, or just order in the catalogues and let them make some choices. Here’s where I’m looking for some inspiration this season:

1. Seeds of Italy is new to me, and I want to grow loads of stuff from here. Given that we have 3 raised beds and a patio, I shall have to be strict! There is an amazing choice of varieties of tomato though, and I really do like the look of the Costoluto Fiorentino and the Yellow Pear Shaped. Something to keep even the most experience vegetable grower interested and trying something new!

2. Sarah Raven has lovely things, although not necessarily the cheapest. If your foodie is new to growing their own, then the Beginner’s Garden Veg Collectionis a great gift for a beginner, as it says on the tin. Looks very pretty, and useful seeds like french beans, lettuce and parsley. For the more advance, there are things like Beetroot “Burpees Golden” and Courgette Trombomcino (yes, it does look like a trombone, kind of) not to mention edible flowers. If you’ve got mini gourmets to buy for, then also worth taking a look at the Easy Veg for Children kit.

3. If you want to grow unusual, heritage varieties, then the Heritage Seed Library is a perfect choice. You have to become a member, and you get to grow up to 6 varieties a year. It’ll certainly give you something different to show at the horticultural show, not to mention benefit from tastes that have all but disappeared. Membership is just £20 for the year, definitely an unusual but useful foodie present.

4. Lets not dismiss Thompson & Morgan just because you can get them in every garden centre. They are big on research, and are big on seeds and plants for small spaces. Check out the vegetable pouch collection, which allows you to grow things like salad leaves and runner beans in a pouch hanging on a wall. Only got patio space? They have varieties for you to be able to grow everything from blueberries to cucumber, not to mention some patio veg planters.

5. I’m not brilliant with growing from seed, with last summer being my most successful. If you really want the lazy route, or a brilliant gift, then check out Rocket Gardens, who will send you little plants all ready to go in the ground. They offer everything from patio container and window box versions, through to a full Mediterranean vegetable garden. You can order and give the vouchers any time of the year, and the plants will be sent when the time is right for planting. You do have to plant them yourself and tend for them, but this is lazy gardening that should lead to great and tasty results!

So, get snuggled up in front of the fire, get your graph paper and coloured pens out and all the seed catalogues, virtual or otherwise, and put these cold nights to good foodie use!

Shot of great looking raised beds by greengardenvienna on Flickr.

Wogan As Cake, Cake As Wogan

Anyone who listens to Terry Wogan will know at least two things:

1. He loves his food, particularly the snorkers. And a curry at 8am

2. Today is his last day on Wake Up to Wogan

Like many of my age I guess, I went to primary school listening to Wogan, and now take MGG to school on the back of Wake Up to Wogan. I remember Wogan on the telly, being elbowed out by some naff soap opera. I remember Blankety Blank. I’ve cried with laughter at Janet and John stories. And, as much as I like Chris Evans, I shall miss him in a morning. So, whilst Terry has not written 5 cookbooks, here are 5 that suit the man and his tastes, in my view!

1. The TOGs Cookbook 2008 - where would Terry be without the TOGs? Well, possibly a little quieter, as they write so much of the great stuff that goes into each show. They are also an amazing group, raising huge sums of money for Children in Need each year. Terry would be proud if every home had a copy of this cookbook, and with £5 going to Children in Need, how could you not make room for it?

2. New Irish Cookery - now, if ever there was a man who was an advert for the Blarney Stone, it would be Sir Tel. And if there was ever an advert for contemporary Irish cooking, then Paul and Jeanne Rankin would be two of those up for the part. This is a great mix of traditional and contemporary cooking, perhaps reflecting Wogan’s music choices that can see you go from Glen Miller to Pixie Lott in about 5 minutes!

3. Finger Lickin’ Way to Fight the Fat - there are a few copies of Fight the Flab still in circulation, and at under £2 it could be an interesting stocking filler, though possibly not an investment. For a 21st century take, this might do the trick, with a focus on great taste and pictures of cake. I think Terry might approve of the cake bit.

4. Tarts With Tops On: or how to make the perfect pie - I was going to go with the appropriately named Pie, but then this title sounds like something out of a Janet & John story, or a reference possibly to Lynn. Pies seem to feature a lot, especially Clark’s Pies, and most seem to get left under angle-poise lamps for a top up on the heating front.

5. The Fat Duck Cookbook - it was difficult to choose one celeb chef, as Sir Terry seems to frequent many a fabulous eating establishment. I was very tempted to go for Richard Corrigan, being another genial, larger than life Irishman. However, Heston just pipped him to the post. My thinking was that Heston’s been known to drop in to do the Christmas cooking tips, Terry went to Heston’s spectacular Christmas thing on Channel 4, but then mainly because whenever Heston has a new series it tends to provoke most reaction on the show! And also he has nicknames on the show, Mr Corrigan doesn’t. Not original ones, but definitely a sign of affection and admiration!

So, we salute you Sir Terry, and send our thanks. We hope the saintly Lady Helen is ready for turning out curry early in the day until your bodyclock adjusts. And we hope Chris Evans can keep up the good food work!

Great shot of Terry in cake by katsommers on Flickr.

What does it take to be cool?

Finally catching up with the stack of newspapers yesterday I came across a supplement from last week’s Observer about cool brands. Or, more correctly, CoolBrands®. Now, having been through this process before, I’m a bit cynical about what might be included, knowing that defining cool must be even more subjective than defining what makes a brand super.

And what were the results?

Well, disappointing and predictable in my view. Some interesting brands were entered, but what the final vote was for in each of the food related categories was rather dull, and not reflective of the new excitement in British food, drink and restaurants. I think the winners, whilst all great brands, are established brands, not necessarily cool, as cool does often seem to be the territory of the young! So here are my entirely biased and personal views, based on the other options that were available, or even some that weren’t!

Drink: Beer & Cider – won by Guinness, which I am quite fond of, not to mention its iconic advertising. And I think of alll the long established brands I would think it still deserves the tag of cool. Mind you, the other options weren’t very exciting, the usual suspects such as Stella and Grolsch. I think they should have been recognising some of the new microbreweries that are emerging like Sambrook’s Brewery (London beer for Londoners) or Otter Brewery from the South West. Although I don’t imagine they have the budgets for things like this.

Drink: Champagne – Won by Dom Perignon, which I guess is as good as any. I’ve nothing against Dom Perignon, although I think Veuve Cliquot have been doing some interesting things to make champagne sexy, like their travel sets. Happy to have either! And don’t forget the Bolly!

Drink: General – Now I’m going to seem churlish, as this category went to everyone’s favourite drinks company: Innocent. And I do love these guys. And they are still cool. But isn’t it time to find the next thing, isn’t that the definition of cool? I’d have loved to have seen Fever-Tree walk off with this, or even Belvoir Cordials. I love the Italian style of Illy but at least it didn’t go to Evian or, even worse, Glacéau Vitaminwater.

Drink: Spirits – Went to Jack Daniels, which is kind of the same comment as Guinness. Except I don’t like Jack Daniels. And there were so many wonderful alternatives. Hendricks Gin would have got my vote, for a great product, turning the gin category slightly upside down, and beautiful design. And the same would go for Belvedere Vodka. And Grey Goose. Then there is the joy of the advertising images of Absolut. And the list goes on, of so many other, newer, more interesting choices.

Food – so, all those categories for drink, and then all food gets one. Just the one. Which went to Green & Blacks. Forgive my cynicism, but with perhaps the exception of Innocent, the winners are all from very big companies, with very big advertising spends. If it was going to go to chocolate, I would have given it to Rococo or Montezuma’s, both of which I adore, and salute for doing different things with chocolate, particulary with flavour combinations.

It could have gone for services to crisps, and rewarded either Burts Potato Chips or Salty Dog. For services to breakfast, I would go for Dorset Cereals, not to mention bringing great design to cereals. For full on lifestyle choice, then there’s Daylesford Organic. And for sheer sweet and sticky gorgeousness then it would have to be Gü. I mean, talk about making the safe choice. And since when was safe cool?

Leisure & Entertainment: Restaurant & Coffee Shop – interesting combination, and again another safe winner in The Ivy. I know it still has the glitz and glam of its celeb clientele, but it rather ignores the renaissance in eating in the UK, and where we lead the field. I mean, The Fat Duck was in this list, and I would think what Heston was up to was much cooler. I also love what Thomasina Miers is doing at Wahaca, about as far from Taco Bell and Chiquitos as you could get. And I could carry on all night about the macaroon plate at Yauatcha. And if you were looking at something that captured the spirit of the moment, then you’d have a good look at Square Pie for comfort food. Leon obviously had more sense than to enter, but I think they’re pretty darn cool for making fast food healthy and tasty.

So I think my lesson learned from this is when the list comes out next year, I’ll just pass it straight to recycling, and move straight to proper awards to recognise the taste revival going on in the UK!

Belvoir Cordials

I realised when I had published yesterday’s post that there were other old foodie friends that we stopped by at the East Mids Food Festival, with one of them being Belvoir Fruit Farms. I know they are quite literally just up the road, but still we came back with 3 different bottles.

If you’ve not discovered Belvoir, which I am sure in most of the country is pronounced the French way but here is Beaver, then you really should, particularly if you want good cordials to provide adult alternatives to wine. Lets face it, Diet Coke is not a good accompaniment to most meals, and you can get bored of water.

As a great alternative to white wine then I’m very fond of the elderflower. Great with still water, even better with sparkling. There’s now a Elderflower, Gooseberry & Muscat Grape,, which sounds a perfect alternative to a white wine on a summer’s day. They’re also really useful as bases for sorbets, when you need a little helping hand!

For something to accompany a beef casserole or similar, then it has to be Spiced Winter Berries. I stockpile this, as it is seasonal, but I love it. Works equally well as a hot drink or cold, you could also spice a warm mugful up a bit more with a grating of nutmeg or a swirl with a cinnamon stick. You can buy them directly from Belvoir, most branches of Waitrose or from FoodFullStop, if you’re looking for full range of British foodie gift options.

If you were after more traditional alcohol free versions of wine, then The Alcohol Free Shop is probably a good place to start. They have red, white, rose and sparkling wines, plus alcohol free beer and cider. They also stock the Fentimans traditional sodas, like ginger beer and dandelion & burdock. New to me earlier this year was Kingsdown Drinks, which has a great range of British drinks including not only Belvoir Cordials but also Luscombe and juices from Moors and Lawton Cross.

With the Christmas season coming up this is a good time to start thinking ahead to organise some interesting alternatives to any non drinkers you may be entertaining over the season. They’ll be grateful not to be greeted with diet coke or orange juice and lemonade. Or they can be there for those good intentions of your New Year’s resolutions!

Economy Gastronomy

Last week was all about what was new, so I was just intrigued as to what was making the top of Amazon’s bestsellers list from already published books. The thing with Amazon is not just the huge choice, but also that an older book can stay around for ever, long after it’s gone out of the bookshops. Here’s the top 5 food orientated titles as of last night:

1. Economy Gastronomy – number 2 in the overall bestsellers chart, and on the rise, probably as the series has now had three episodes aired. The idea of basic recipes is not new, but I’ve enjoyed the series. I would think it was a good book to buy a not very experienced cook. For more foodie cooks, I would buy the Leon cookbook by Allegra instead.

2. Jamie’s America- a faller on the charts, but still there at number 15. There will be crowd pleasers, family food, and stuff for special occasions. Nothing looks ground breaking, but I don’t think you buy Jamie’s books for ground breaking!

3. 101 One-Pot Dishes: Tried and Tested Recipes - this is the sort of book I love to see on Amazon. Not trendy and certainly not new (it’s spent 396 days in the top 100 and was published in Feb 2006) but full of good, straight forward recipes that you can use day in day out. I imagine it’s risen up the charts as we’ve all tightened the purse strings, as one pot cooking does lend itself to nice, slow cooking, perfect for those cheaper cuts of meat.

4. Healthy Eating: The Prostate Care Cookbook - I am thankful that this is a subject I know nothing about, but it will affect many families. I also don’t know if there is any science behind the cooking, but if this is affecting you then I am sure you will give anything a go. And changing your diet, compared to the alternatives, has to be an easy step. From the reviews, it sounds like the recipes are tasty too.

5. Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey – a faller at number 23! I really enjoyed this series with Rick, that fabulous combination of great cooking and beautiful locations, not to mention memorable people!  The only worry with this one was that some of the recipes they cooked had such huge numbers of ingredients. Great sounding recipes and beautiful recipes, as always.

So, an interesting mix, although as you might expect with the book of the TV series dominating. Still, all of these together would give you some very interesting times in the kitchen!

A good breakfast for any day

Apparently, it’s National Breakfast Week. To which our immediate reaction was how sad Terry Wogan would be, missing out on all those lovely fry ups and regional produce being delivered to the studio. But Terry, you’re safe. I’m just confused.

Instead of the glories of National Farmhouse Breakfast Week, this is just the ordinary version, brought to us by Kelloggs.

That’s not really a week worth celebrating to me. A bowl of cereal doesn’t really count as breakfast, that’s refuelling. I mean, we’re not even talking exciting breakfast cereal. No Dorset Cereals here or Rude Health porridge, just cornflakes and the like.

I do take their point that it’s a really important meal. So important that it should be more interesting, and certainly shouldn’t be the fake sugar packed stuff of something like Frosties. Don’t even get me started on Coco Pops. I would rather serve up a homemade granola with a glass of milk, and at least know what was in it. Greek yoghurt with agave syrup and berries goes down well, and MGG loves to help knock up a batch of Bircher muesli ready for the next morning.

But I’m from the North, so breakfast is really about the good stuff, the occasional stuff, the going out for a cooked breakfast from somewhere that knows where its bacon came from. Cinnamon toast that has skimped on neither the butter or the cinnamon (to be fair, there has yet to be a place to top Alf Resco in Dartmouth for this). Eggs Benedict or Florentine. The corned beef hash at the Carnegie Deli in NYC…I could go on, I really do love a great, celebratory breakfast.

So, I am all for great breakfasts, even on a wet Wednesday at the end of the summer. Even when we’re all trying to get out the door to school and work. I just won’t be letting that damned Coco Pops monkey cross the table here! We, and our kids, deserve better starts to our day.

Not what you were expecting?

So here we are, a week on. I’ve tried to get to grips with the vagaries of red and green, I have Syn’d and, lets face it, I have fallen off the wagon.

For, as Mr Wilde said, I’m good at resisting stuff (exercise, a BigMac) but faced with the temptation of a glass, or two, of good fizz, the courgette cake and some artisanal cheese, then temptation is my biggest weakness.

So I shall be starting this week a whole kilo heavier than I started last week. One weak moment. I have only myself to blame. Me and the other cooks around the table! But one night! How disappointing that all the good work went out in one blaze of over-consumption. Even worse that I thought I’d not been that greedy! Never mind, there’s a good food festival to go to today. Shall I be red or green I wonder? Or just healthily conscious?

Well, it rather depends on the temptation!

Photo by MonkeySimon