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Please let him come dine with me!

If you’d ever read my other blog, you would know I have ever such a slight obsession with Doctor Who. Which is only slightly driven by a slight obsession with David Tennant. Which means I am on a countdown to Sunday evening when The Waters of Mars airs. Given that it airs at 7pm, it could mean dinner with the Doctor, so just what dishes would you dish up? Here’s my thoughts!

1. In honour of David Tennant’s Scottish roots, then I thought about maybe some good smoked salmon. You could whip up some blinis and get all the accompaniments and have perfect finger food. To be honest though, it’s not really doing it for me. The adrenaline is going to be going mental, it feels like it will need feeding something a little more substantial.I’m thinking of creating a great burger with best Aberdeen Angus mince, something tasty and meaty and satisfying. You can always bite into it when things get tense, rather than biting your fingernails. I’m enjoying Jamie’s burgers and sliders recipe from the new book, try that.

2. It wouldn’t be new Doctor Who without a Welsh contingent. Not only the writing genius of Russell T. Davies but also the fabulous locations in and around Cardiff. It adds a whole new dimension watching it with my very own doctor, as Dr T spent most of his life around the area. So it would be kind of appropriate to settle down with a Clark’s pie and a pint of Dark, but outside of Wales fairly hard to track down either. I think in honour of both my doctors, I would go for Penarth Estate Pink Sparkling Wine, to toast the genius, and drown my sorrows about the beginning of the end. I might knock up a few Welsh cakes to go alongside it.

3. Surely we should utilise the title as well, and therefore I’ve had a quick look at recipes using Mars bars. Well, I avoided it when I did the Scottish thing, no deep frying going on. Putting Mars bar recipes into Google reveals 119,000 entries, of which for sheer cuteness you have to look at Beccy’s Marvellous Mar Bar Cake. But for something a little less noisy, so as not to break the tension, then I’m going for Mars Bar Cheesecake. 

4. And so to the water part. I have to admit that I rather object to the whole bottled water thing, so do the world a favour and get a water filter, or just keep stuff in the fridge. I could be very tempted to mix it with Belvoir’s Raspberry & Rose Cordial, which would give it a nice reddish tinge in honour of the red planet.

So, please don’t ring me after 7pm tomorrow, I will be otherwise occupied! If you’re not sure what you’ll be missing, here’s the trailer. Allons-y!

Fishy goodness from Forman & Field

I was intrigued to suddenly receive a catalogue from Forman & Field. I always seem to get a very random selection of catalogues, but this one ticked a lot of the right boxes for me.

And I did a bit of research on Twitter to see what the reaction was, and what other people’s experiences had been. I only got positive experiences back, which may mean it’s all good. Or those who have had bad experiences aren’t on Twitter.

If, like me, you’re not familiar with them, the starting point appears to be in smoked salmon, with the parent company H Forman & Son having been in the stuff for over 100 years. They are most famous for the London cure, which is a much lighter process, as it is cured with rock salt first and then given just a very light smoke. You can buy a few slices, or a whole side plus all the kit you would need to do it properly yourself.

The three cure gravadlax got a thumbs ups, which is certainly unusual and tasty sounding. Not everywhere will you come across dill, beetroot and wasabi cures! Looks very nice too, and at just over £5 is a nice indulgent treat for any foodie, either for yourself or as a gift. Or for even more indulgent cues, then the potted lobster also got some very good feedback. This is really good looking, and perhaps less difficult for someone to work out as a gift, but definitely with a hint of luxury. A recipient of a Great Taste Award, the lobster is potted in lobster infused butter and chives, so you’re definitely guaranteed a full on flavour.

But it’s certainly not all about the fish. There were positive comments for the poussins, and you’ll also find unusual things like porchetta, suckling pig and mutton, or unusual cuts like a three bird roast and game roulade. Got a sweet tooth? Thumbs up went to the Tunisian puddings, Christmas Panettone and Butter Pudding, and Nadell’s Macaroons, which were favourably compared to Laduree.

There are some great British suppliers pulled together here. From this neck of the woods there is Lincolnshire plum loaf from Myers, Colston Bassett Stilton and Mrs King’s pork pies. If they’ve selected that quality from our local produce, that gives me great confidence in the suppliers they have chosen to work with. So if you wanted to put together a meal wtih good ingredients from around the UK, this looks like a good one stop shop as an alternative to a local supplier.

These are also wonderful choices for gifts for food lovers, whether you buy single ingredients or some of their interesting choices of hampers. The Smokehouse Crate has a great selection to work through: smoked salmon, smoked salmon pate, the aforementioned potted lobster, smoked tuna, sweet mustard and dill sauce, and keta caviar. All this in a handsome wooden crate for just under £80. Not cheap, but would you really want cheap versions of these products? For under £30, I would also have a look at the Perfect Parfait set, good choice for a very reasonable price.

So, this seems like a great source of great British produce, and for that reason I would most definitely consider shopping with them. Worth adding to your favourites I would say. Should you be in the neighbourhood, they also have opened a restaurant at their HQ, check out the review over on the Dos Hermanos blog. I’d go!