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Bring on the full English

I love breakfast. To be fair, I love weekend breakfasts, holiday breakfasts, breakfasts out…anywhere really where it’s relaxed and, preferably, someone else has made it. And if you didn’t make someone breakfast in bed on Valentine’s Day, then do it just as a surprise on any other day, or take them somewhere special, or just somewhere different, for a great breakfast, just because.

Want some ideas? Try these.

* I love the marmalades from The Pickled Village, even if only for the names. Depending on the kind of breakfast you want to create, you can choose from things like The Amorous Breakfast (pink grapefruit with cranberry and a nip of vodka) and The Morning After Breakfast (lemon marmalade with stem ginger and ginseng). They’d start any morning with a bit of a bang!

*If you want to share breakfast with quite a lot of people, then try the Breakfast Box for six from Sillfield Farm. The farm is home to wild boar, rare breed pigs and Herdwick sheep, and these end up providing some great brekkie treats. Eggs, two types of bacon, sausages, black pudding…that’s a serious breakfast with taste!

* If you want to head out for breakfast, then it still seems that the Wolseley is one of those places that you can’t go wrong at. But if that is a bit too formal, then how about Lantana? Or I’m very fond of Cecconi’s as well. But if you made me choose, then it would be a toss up between the corned beef hash at the Carnegie Deli, or cinnamon toast and a double strength cap at Alf Resco in Dartmouth. Depends if anyone is offering up the ticket to NYC!

* Get out and find your best local baker, and support them, get in there buying real bread. For me, I’m between Paul’s and King’s Road Bakery, who supply the great bread that the Red Lion serve. If you start with great bread, all you need is a toaster, great butter and fabulous jam, and that’s a great breakfast.

* Don’t want to cook yourself, and need to get away? How about a quick break but somewhere quite extraordinary? Have a look at the selection on Unique Home Stays, there are some fabulous options. I fancy The House in the Sea, although possibly not good if you are afraid of heights. Or don’t like the sea. But if you want a sea view with your full English, then this is for you. Alternatively, Mr & Mrs Smith always have a great selection and I would put a lot of faith in Alastair Sawday’s view.

So go ahead and make breakfast something remember. Although I have to say my favourite brekkie is still when MGG arrives at my bedside with a bowl of cornflakes. Sometimes even with milk!

Full on full English photo by peasap over on Flickr.

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Beetroot Relish from Jamie Oliver

You’ve been making a list, checking it twice, you’ve worked out what’s naughty and what’s nice. And now you’re having a sudden panic as you’ve counted up the presents and you’ve forgotten someone! If it’s a foodie gift you’ve forgotten, then never fear! Here’s some last minute suggestions you can still order in, so no need to brave the High Street just yet.

1. Jamie Oliver has some great stuff, without his face on it, that I think makes a great standby foodie present. There are good preserves and oils and, lets face it, you’re going to trust these more than some awful flavoured collection from the corner shop. A duo of beetroot relish and red onion pickle, wrapped in a funky teatowel, or a mixing bowl, would make a brilliant gift. Or I suppose I should have said a pukka present. Order by Thursday this week to guarantee pre Christmas delivery, and benefit from free delivery. Perfect!

2. Treat them to a different foodie day. All of the major experience companies offer very interesting days, and most still seem to be guaranteeing pre Christmas delivery. From Virgin, you could buy the Cupcake & Cocktails Experience, or learn some new dishes at the Novelli academy or spend a day cooking fish with Keith Burke. Not quite doing it for your foodie? Try Red Letter Days or Buy A Gift or check out the fantastic courses for real artisanal food at The School of Artisan Food, from patisserie through to wild yeast baking.

3. Heal’s have some great foodie gifts, and you’ve got through till midnight this Sunday to order from them. Truly a

Love it or loathe it, it's a great gift

present of love if you hate the stuff, but if your foodie loves the stuff, then they have a great Marmite gift. I’ve featured the pate gifts before, and you’ve got a choice of game, meat or fish, so something for everyone. There’s some cool stuff in their barware section, like the Beer Cooler Zinc Tub, ideal for the beer and party loving foodie. Looking forward to warmer days ahead, then I like the Metrokane Wine to Go Neoprene Carrier, perfect for picnics.

4. For the serious foodie with expensive tastes, then London Fine Foods is perfect hunting ground for great gifts. They have everything from Beluga Caviar to White Truffles, milk fed Pyrenne’s lamb and fabulous Jamon Iberico de Bellota. There are gift boxes on offer or, if the choice is too much, gift vouchers! The provenance and quality will make any foodie’s Christmas morning!

5. For your pick of great foodie presents, it’s also still not too late to order from Natoora. For most of the UK, orders can go through up until 22nd December, some parts of London are the 23rd. There are beautiful boxes of macaroons (watch this space, I say 2010 will be the year of the macaroon) and panettone, and if the choice is too much there are some great hampers already put together. Check out the Pure Indulgence and Great British Christmas versions.

That should keep the foodies very happy with their presents come Christmas morning, and should keep you happy by shopping from the comfort of your own chair!

Go nostalgic this Christmas

Lets face it, Marks & Spencer is a Christmas institution, which is not necessarily where you want to spend Christmas. But if it was the only place still open on Christmas Eve, then there are some choices I would make on the foodie gift front. Actually, some of these are definitely worth turning up for before Christmas Eve! Here’s my choices:

1. I’ve actually really loved all the retro stuff they’ve done this year, and I would happily give some of these. I don’t think you can have too many cake tins, and this set of two is lovely looking. Could be quite tempted by the teapot and the mugs as well.

2. For kids big and small, and for a guilty foodie treat, then I love the limited edition Percy Pig Union Flag money box. Practical, stylish and tasty, all in one nightmare to wrap package! Sadly, I’d love to show you this but it appears you can only get this in the shops. And not online. Bit of a M&S fail I would say. There is an online Percy Pig special though, should you not want to face the High Street.

3. If there are chocolate lovers on your list, then have a look at the Chocoholics hamper. All presented in an attractive and practical magazine holder/wrapper holder, there is a veritable chocolate feast inside. They can snuggle up with Fairtrade drinking chocolate sprinkled with mini marshmallows, and dunk in a milk chocolate Florentine. They can drool over chocolate recipes, whilst eating dark chocolate or spooning chocolate sauce straight from the jar. Perfect!

4. For the vintage lover, then there is a full on 125 Year Souvenir Gift. The gold label tea caddy is great looking, and I love the Hedgerow Jam, not something you see much these days. With two mugs and a tea towel, you’re on your way to a nice cup of a tea and a sit down. Just get some toast on and you’re all set!

5. Food intolerances are no fun, and I’m thrilled to see M&S offering a great gluten free hamper. No need to feel left out, there is gluten free Christmas cake and Christmas pudding, plus a great selection of jams and chutney, tea and coffee, chocolates and cava. This just feels like great tasting products, rather than “specialist food”, which is how most people with intolerances would want to feel.

6. For something a bit simpler, and cheaper, but still with good taste, then I like the Risotto Set. The grater both looks attractive and useful, and comes with a bowl for grating into. It comes with the essential wooden spoon and also a packet of risotto rice with dried porcini mushrooms, which should be very tasty. If you want to make it truly authentic, then you need to add a good piece of Parmesan too.

So, some really good standbys and useful options for people you might normally find it difficult to buy gifts for. Of course I would still prefer to order everything online and get them to deliver it, but if you had to go somewhere on Christmas Eve for last minute gifts, these would be pretty good choices. Better than these anyway:

More jam, less Jerusalem

It’s one of those big events in our village today: the annual horticultural show. Oh yes, there are still horticultural and village shows going strong, and there has been competitive pumkin and bean growing going on for months. No tales of sabotage yet but still time for that to surface!

As well as veg and fruit growing, not to mention the fresh flower arrangement inspired by a film title, there are all the culinary classes too. So for today’s Saturday session here’s a recipe recommendation from some of my favourite blogs and sites for each of the classes:

1. Jar of Jam – tip here, nothing exotic ever wins. Or perhaps that should read nothing exotic of mine ever wins. Really I think what you want is a classic raspberry, possibly strawberry. But if you wanted to push it just that little bit further, but still keep it sounding classically British sounding, then I would go for the Blackberry & Apple jam that’s featured on The Cottage Smallholder. Like a little jar of autumn in a jar. Although it rather depends on when your show is theough, as this isn’t going to work for early summer!

2. Jar of Lemon Curd – hard to make this one distinctive, so it’s all going to come down to quality ingredients. Looking at the recipe on Gastronomy Domine, Liz Upton recommends American Meyer or Sicilian lemons if you can track them down. Failing that I would suggest you need unwaxed organic lemons, and the best eggs you can find.

3. Jar of Marmalade – no fruit specified, but I think you can guarantee at our show there is currently little point in entering lime, lemon or even ginger and kumquat marmalade, no matter how delicious! You preferably have to have been organised during the short Seville season and laid away a jar or two ready for the big day. Not from a blog but my favourite food writer, Nigel Slater, shared his recipe for Seville orange marmalade earlier this year, so I’d happily give that a go.

4. A jar of chutney – I’m not sure of the technical difference between a pickle and a chutney, they would seem to be one and the same to me. If only for the very beautiful colour I imagine it goes, then I would try the Beetroot Chutney from Allotment Growing. That said, quite partial to the taste of beetroot too!

5. Fruit cake – so many possibilities, from the light tea bread type to a full on well matured Christmas cake. With no specification, I would think most people would go tea bread type. Which might give you an advantage if you went moist and well matured. Who knows? The judging of these things are a thing of mystery. I rather like this Treacle Fruit Cake recipe from Celt Net, which feels traditional but with a twist.

6. Six savoury vol au vents – seriously, did anyone ever make vol au vents? I mean even if you were going to serve them, you bought the frozen ready made cases, right? And as even Nigella buys ready made puff pastry, then surely not a single one will be made from scratch? I would be tempted to do the full on nostalgia and attempt the mushroom and chicken my mum always made, which always seemed to involve a tin of Campbells’ condensed mushroom soup. Surely the only way to approach this class is with irony?

If you really want serious award winning stuff, then I would guess you couldn’t go far wrong by following the recipes of the WI. There are books on preserves, bread and even tarts! That should keep you in rosettes for a while!

Yesterday I brought you Selfridges, today it’s Debenhams. I know you’re going to get in quick for some of these! I have to say, it is a mix of the good, bad and ugly. Here’s a quick selection:

A retro favourite for grandmas everywhere!

1. Snowball and glass set - a retro favourite, beloved Christmas tipple of my grandma. I think I would buy this for my mother-in-law as a stocking filler, and at £6.50 that’s not bad.

2. Mrs Bridges- there’s a good collection of different jams, chutneys and mustards from Mrs Bridges, which are the sort of things that tend to make good standby gifts. Some of these look pretty tasty, and useful for the kitchen. For those who like it spicy, there’s the Hot collection, which gives you Chilli Mustard and Chilli Jam. I love ginger, so would perhaps consider the amusingly named Ginger Preserves Mansion. I would think 4 jars of variants of ginger preserves might be enough for one year though!

3. Retro sweets - both Debenhams and Mrs Bridges are offering various retro sweets in jars. Everything from Rhubarb & Custards to candy shrimps and jelly beans. The Debenhams ones come in useful looking Kilner-type jars. The Debenhams ones are £7 for a jar full, and £8 will buy you a gift pack of 2 jars from Mrs B. I have to say, if it’s retro sweets you want, my preferred source is A Quarter Of. I have sent their gift boxes a couple of times, always to rave reviews and grateful thanks (although never heard anything about the dentist bills). Worth a look.

And what’s already on my what not to buy list? Most definitely the Blueberry Cocktail Glass Shoe. As far as I can see there are only two good things about this gift: 1) the contents may make an effective sink cleaner and 2) glass is easily recyclable. I really hope that you are good enough this year not to get one of these! I’m wondering if I can find something worse before the big day? If you spot something, let me know!

Blood Orange Marmalade from Daylesford Organics

I was looking at the prizewinners of the 2009 Sofi winners at the National Fancy Food Show in New York last week. Firstly, why can’t we have a Fancy Food Show, loving the name! Secondly, in case you didn’t know, a Sofi is awarded for specialty outstanding food innovation. Now you know.

There are 33 categories, but sadly many of the winners don’t seem to get shipped to the UK at the moment. What I found interesting was that 3 category winners had blood orange as their lead ingredient. There was the Blood Orange Marmalade from Sarabeth’s Kitchen, the fresh squeezed blood orange juice from Aliseo, and my favourite is the Caramelized Onion and Blood Orange Confit from Brickstone Fine Foods.

So, you could buy your foodie some blood orange goodies, then my suggestions would be the Blood Orange Marmalade from Daylesford Organics. As it says on the tin, not only tasty but organic too. I think the juice is out of season right now, but you could buy the Organic Blood Orange and Mandarin Presse or Cordial from Belvoir Fruit Farms.

I’ve drawn a blank on the confit, but you could have a go at making your own. I can’t even find a recipe with all the ingredients, but this one looks like you could convert it when you get the juice.

So, get them ahead of the trend curve, and look at for blood orange flavours trickling through into the delis and foodshops. And this is a trend that’s worth pursuing, as blood oranges do taste amazing, even if it is a very short season.