I was recently sent a gift pack from Godminster Cheese, just in time for Valentines day . . . their sweet "Heart to Heart" set,   is a tasty combination of a delicious 200g Vintage Organic Cheddar and 150g Heart-Shaped Organic Brie, both heart shaped and presented in their very own unique gift box.



 Godminster Vintage Cheddar is completely organic, containing no preservatives and encased in a ruby coloured wax.  There is no need to remove the wax as it makes the perfect case to keep it in.  You can simply slice the top off and scoop out the cheese and then replace the "lid" when you are done.  Best served at room temperature, this lovely chedddar is rich and creamy.  Quite delicious!

Godminster Traditional Organic Brie, is an organic soft cheese, created using fresh milk from the Godminster Farm.  With it's fresh flavour and creamy texture, this was also quite delicious.



Inclued as well was a round of their lovely Organic Brie which I decided to do something interesting with.   I wanted to make something which would be wonderful as an appetizer for your Valentines Day Celebrations.

Brie cheese is just wonderful baked . . . it melts beautifully and it's delicious flavour and texture are a wonderful canvas upon with to layer other flavours.



I cut it in half whilst it was still really, really cold from the fridge and then place the bottom round, cut side up on a square of Puff pastry.  



I spread the creamy top of the bottom layer with some Jalapeno Pepper Jam that I had picked up at Morrisons at Christmas time but hadn't had occasion to use yet.  It was so pretty and jewel-like . . . and flecked with lots of red jalapeno pepper flakes.  I then placed the other half on top and covered encased the round completely with the puff pastry, sealing it shut.  (You want to do this really well or you could have a blow out!)



I decorated the top with heart cutouts placed in a round to resemble a pretty blossom, with a few little stamen balls in the centre, and then brushed the whole thing with some beaten egg yolk and ater.



Fifteen minutes later we were rewarded with gloriously rich and creamy gooey brie mixed with that hot pepper jam . . . perfect for spreading onto soft slices of a fresh French loaf . . . and topped with a few leaves of rocket . . .

 

Or  onto buttery  pepper crackers, and served with some crisp slices of a sweet red eating apple, it went down a real treat.   We both enjoyed this immensely.  Not only was it attractive, but it was quite simply . . . delicious.  How often do you get an appetizer that is so delicious without having put much effort into it.  I would serve this to anyone . . .




Bang the Brie into the preheated oven.  Bake for 15 minutes or so until the pastry is crisp and golden brown.  Place on a serving board and arrange with crackers, sliced baguette, some rocket and sliced apple.




You can purchase the Godminster Heart to Heart set    of cheeses on the Godminster site for £17.45
Do visit their page for information of stockists near you, and other information about their products.

Although I was given this cheese to try out, all opinions are expressly my own.  It was to be perfectly honest . . . quite simply lovely.  Many thanks to Godminster for sending it to us.  I would buy this cheese quite happily for any special occasion.

Just look at the nice pots and pans I was sent recently from Unique Home Living.    The Breast Cancer Aware 3-piece saucepan set by Ethos. 

• Special edition mirror polish 3 piece pan set 
•  Pink silicone handles for an easier grip and comfort.
• The glass lids are ventilated for controlled cooking 
•  High durability pan bodies 
• Set comprises of: 16cm with lid, 18cm with lid & 20cm with lid 

My mother is a breast cancer survivor and I like to support the Breast Cancer Campaign in every way that I can.  Ethos has guaranteed a minimum donation of £30,000 to Breast Cancer over a three year period and their line not only includes this nice saucepan set, but other things as well.   You can buy this lovely set of pans right now at Unique Home Living for £36.99, a marked saving from the RRP of  £58.99 

If I had any complaint at all about the pans, it's that the pink silicone handles mark up easily, but I would choose pink wouldn't I!!  The pans themselves are lovely.  They have a lovely heavy base and I like that I can peek in at what's cooking without having to lift the lid.  They are a nice quality polished stainless steel with riveted handles.  Nice.  Nice.

Unique Home Living is an online homewares shop that specializes in gifts and goods for the home, both indoor and outdoor.  They have a no quibble 14 day returns policy and free next day delivery on orders over £50.   They have a dedicated customer care line and their online shop is very easy to work through and view, with a lovely variety of goods in a variety of prices to suit any  budget.  You can't beat that. 

Many thanks to Jennifer for sending me these lovely pans.  All opinions are my own.

www.uniquehomeliving.co.uk
Twitter:@uniquehomelife
Facebook:UniqueHomeLiving

In Canada they have these really tasty candy bars names Sweet Marie's.  They were always my favourite candy bars when I was a child. 

 Not only were they stogged full of caramel, peanut butter, crispy cereal and salted peanuts . . . not to mention covered in chocolate . . . but they actually named the bars after ME!  (Don't ever tell me any different!)

All in all a very irresistable combination don't you think?

 

I don't know if they have anything similar over here, but I suspect they do . . . and I suspect that it is probably the Picnic or the Lion Bars.   

Or a cross between the two.



It's funny how things go . . . how when you can't get something anymore, you kind of crave it.   Things like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese . . . or Velveeta . . . 

All Dressed Potato Chips . . . Coffee Crisp Candy Bars . . . Lucky Charms Cereal . . . Captain Crunch . . . Sweet Marie's . . .



And the longer you have to live without them . . . the more you want them.   The more you crave them.   The more you think about, dream about, desire . . . them . . .



I find myself making lists every time I fly home of things I want to pick up to bring back with me when I go home.   Things like Lipton's Chicken Noodle Soup Mix . . . Cheese Whiz . . . and all of the above . . .



I think I can cross Sweet Marie Candy Bars off my list now . . . because these tasty bars are almost identical . . .

 

They are chock full of crunchy-ness, and chewy-ness, and peanuty-ness, and scrummy-ness . . . with just the right amount of chocolaty-ness to make them incredibly moreish, can't put me down . . . addictive-ness . . .



The fact that they are named after me  is . . .  just . . . well . . . the icing on a very VERY tasty cake!  In fact the only bad thing I have to say about these is  . . . it's impossible to eat just one.   *naughty girl am I*

Place the peanut butter, golden syrup, brown sugar and butter in a large saucepan.  Cook, stirring constantly, over medium low heat, until the peanut butter and  butter have melted and the mixture begins to bubble.   Remove from the heat and stir in the cereal and peanuts, mixing all in well together.  Spread this mixture into the prepared pan, and press down firmly.  I find using a buttered metal spoon the best way to do this.  The mixture doesn't stick to the spoon and it does a great job of pressing it down.  Immediately, while the mixture is still hot sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over top.   Once they have softened and melted, spread them evenly over top of the crisp rice mixture.    (If you like you can place the pan in a hot oven for a few minutes to facilitate this.)  Sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles to decorate and then place the pan in the refrigerator for one hour until the mixture hardens enough to be cut into squares.  When ready, just lift out with the foil and using a sharp knife cut into squares.





NOTE: for fun today I cut mine with a sharp straight sided metal Heart shaped cookie cutter.  Of course you will not get as many pieces if you do this, but the scraps are great to snack on.  *grin*   AND, the slices look so cute and very Valentiney!

I just love cinnamon.   It has to be my favourite of the warm spices.  It comes from the inner bark of a few different trees, and is great in both sweet and savory dishes.  I think the smell of cinnamon in the air makes a house smell like a home.



I was on Pinterest the other day and I found a recipe that looked fabulous.   (Don't you just love Pinterest?)  It came from a blog called Lauren's Latest.   They looked to good that I had to print it out and I could hardly wait for the weekend so that I could make them for us to enjoy.



You will want to use the small pretzel twists for these.  You know the ones.  They are about 1 1/2 inch in size.  Lightly salted.   Don't use any that are flavoured with anything else.  That would just be ucky.


 

Make sure you mix all of the ingredients together really well when you are mixing in the cinnamon sugar so that they all get coated evenly.  I found that  the cinnamon suar didn't get evenly distrubuted that easily, although to be honest the ones that the holes got stogged full of crunchy cinnamon sugar were my favourite bits!



I know my photos are not the greatest of these, but the weather was really cruddy today and the lighting was really poor, so they are a bit darker than I would like, but I hope that doesn't put you off from trying them, coz they are really, really good!

 

The original recipe called for drizzling white chocolate over the baked and cooled pretzels.  I have never been able to get white chocolate to drizzle properly . . . it usually just clumps for me, but I found dipping them worked quite well and we quite liked them.    Wouldn't they just make the nicest friendship gift for a special friend as a surprise?  I think so too!

The recipe I have to show you here today is a French recipe. The French and English share a somewhat tenuous love/hate relationship I think . . . we've come to love their cafe culture and flock over the channel in hordes to partake of their lovely foods and cheeses . . . and yet at the same time . . . we're not quite ready to embrace them as a people . . . nor are they ready to embrace us I don't think.  It is possible perhaps they will always see us a little bit as intruders . . . and more than a little bit crazy.

 

They think we work too hard . . . we eat too fast . . . we don't know how to relax .  .  .  our cheeses are boring (NOT) and the only thing we know how to cook properly  is Roast Beef.  We think they have a tendency to be a bit laisser faire about life . . . they take too long to eat . . . they eat far too much garlic, and they are missing cheddar in their cheese shops (only the best cheese in the world, lol) . . . not to mention, they eat some pretty strange things like escargots and frogs legs . . .  oh, and all  the men have mistresses . . .

(Note . . . these are only random generalizations . . . and not the way I really think.  I am merely taking a fun poke at things.  My father is French.)

 

In reality, I love French food and patisserie . . . I always have done . . . especially the rustic country fare . . . and who does bread better than the French???   I don't think anyone can beat their bread . . . the first thing I do when we go across to Calais on the Ferry is to indulge in a fresh Almond Croissant . . . and don't get me started on their Macarons . . . I just adore them.  I could quite happily spend a week in a French Patisserie, indulging all of my whims and pastry fantasies.

 

This cake here today is a recipe which I gleaned from one of my favourite cookery books "Under the Walnut Tree, great recipes from our kitchen" by mother and daughter,  Anna and Fanny Bergenstrom.  No, they are not French.  They're Swedish, but their cooking is a happy mix of all things European, including this lovely cake, entitled "Granny's French Pear and Almond Cake."

 

It's a lovely cake, gluten free . . . loaded with beautiful ripe pears . . . ground almonds  . . . and I added a touch of ground cardamom as pears and cardamom are such a quintessentially beautiful partnership and marriage of flavours.

 

The end result is a cake that is a beautiful light . . .  almost ethereal . . . creation.  Simple and yet divine.  Feel free to make this in individual dishes if you wish.  That would be so sweet upon the table I think . . . for today though, I just baked it in one 8 by 10 porcelain baking dish . . . and it looked every bit as lovely as it tasted.

 

Enjoy.



*French Pear, Almond and Cardamom Cake*
Serves 4 to 5
Printable Recipe

A light cake, stogged full of lovely sweet pears, ground almonds and just the merest hint of cardamom, which goes so very well with the pear.  Serve warm with some pouring cream.  If I am not mistaken this is also gluten free.

100g of ground almonds (19 TBS)
2 TBS butter, softened for buttering the dish
4 large firm, ripe pears
100g of butter, at room temperature (7 TBS)
100g of golden caster sugar (8 1/2 TBS)
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
pinch salt
2 medium free range eggs
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
icing sugar to dust
pouring cream or vanilla ice cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Butter an oven proof dish with the soft butter.

Peel your pears, core them and then cut them into thick wedges.  Arrange the wedges in the prepared baking dish and then pop them into the heated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, while you mix together the batter.

Cream together the butter and caster sugar until light.  Stir in the ground almonds, cardamom and salt.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Stir in the lemon juice until the mixture is smooth and combined.  Remove the baking dish from the oven and spread the almond batter over top of the pear wedges.

Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes. 

Dust the warm cake with some icing sugar and serve either  on it's own, or with some pouring cream or vanilla bean ice cream.

This is a reposting of an earlier post, but so good I thought you would not mind me repeating it.  I will be back tomorrow with something brand new!

 

As you all know I occasionally get sent products to try.  I was recently contacted and asked if I would like to try some of  the Garofalo range of gluten free pastas.  New to the UK since last autumn it is made with a combination of corn, quinoa and rice.  I'm not normally a fan of quinoa, but I figured that it wouldn't really matter if it was in a pasta and not served as a grain on it's own.



I was sent a package of Penne Rigate and a package of  Casarecce.  (Don't ask me to pronounce that last one!)  As you can see from the package they looked just like regular pasta.

From their page:

Can a producer of ‘normal pasta’, using a raw material containing the best gluten, produce an excellent gluten free pasta? The answer is in our philosophy and focus on the product: Good taste is a right. 

We set our selves the objectives of creating a product with the knowledge that Garofalo pasta is synonymous with the experience of taste. We knew that the flavour could not be the same due to the different raw materials, but it was of great importance to us to produce a Garofalo pasta that was no better or worse in flavour, just different. It was not to be just for those on a gluten free diet but a new cooking opportunity for everyone. It was equally important to produce a healthy product, which in the end might even be better than normal pasta. 

We have worked extensively on this line, which is not produced in our factory because of the risk of contamination with our pasta containing wheat, and remain in control at all levels from the raw materials to the production methods. The results are a product that is extremely good, especially when compared to the gluten free products currently on the market, but we are confident we can improve it even more. The phrase “it’s good considering it’s gluten-free” is not enough, we believe the pasta can reach the levels of pasta made with durum wheat semolina.  

I decided to cook and present what I was sent in two different ways so that I could see how it performed.  The first was to cook it and make a type of macaroni and cheese with it.  I used the Penne for this as it was the most suitable.



Here it is cooked and draining.  As you can see it looks like any other type of pasta which has been cooked. I had in mind to do a macaroni and cheese type of casserole with this, adding broccoli for extra colour, fiber and taste.    

  

I folded both into a delicious cheese sauce and then poured them into a casserole dish, topped the casserole with more cheese and then baked it until it was golden brown. 



You would be hard pressed to tell this pasta from any other kind of pasta.  It looked completely normal.

  

It tasted completely normal as well, although I did find it to be a bit chewier in consistency, but this is something which could be handled well by simply cooking it for a bit longer, and of course texture is all a matter of taste.   Some people like their pasta a little firmer and on the al dente side.  I do sometimes and I don't at others.  With a mac and cheese type of dish I would have liked it to be a bit softer. 



Other than that there was no discernible different, truly.  This was fabulous.  I thought the pasta tasted nice, just like any other pasta and had I not known it was gluten free I would not have been able to tell.   I gavew it a 10 out of 10 for taste, and performance.  Well done to the Garofalo people.

   

Bake in the heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.  Serve hot.   


 

For the Casarecce I decided that I would make a sauce that it could be stirred into.  Something which would cling to all those folds and get into those crevices.

 

A simple sauce of tinned tomatoes, herbs, and pasta sauce, with onions, garlic and two cheeses to make it creamy.  Nicely flavoured. 



A sauce it could just be stirred into and not cooked in.

  

Once again it performed really well.  Other than the fact that once again it was a bit chewier than I normally like, you would not have been able to discern any difference between this and the regular pasta, which again could be easily remedied by cooking the pasta in it's initial cooking for a tiny bit longer, and also is a matter of preference and taste.  It tasted great and the sauce worked well with it. I gave it a ten out of ten as well. 



Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.   Add the onion and saute to soften without browning.  Once softened add the garlic,  Cook for one minute until very fragrant.   Add the tomatoes and bring to the boil.  Cook for a couple minutes, then stir in the pasta sauce, herbs and salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for about 10 minutes, then whisk in the cheeses and allow them to melt.  Stir in the pasta and heat through.  Serve hot with more Parmesan for sprinkling at the table.   

 


Altogether I was very happy with both pastas.  I don't have a problem with wheat but we have friends with a son who does and it's nice to know that there are more and more products out there that are available for people with a gluten intolerance.

Giving up gluten without compromising flavour or texture is the premise behind the Garofalo lines of pasta products.  With a wide range of types and high attention to production and product performance Italy's most popular pasta makers have come up with a real winner here. 

The Garofalo lines of gluten free pastas are available online via Ocado and Nifeislife.

Many thanks to the people at Garofalo for sending me these pastas to try out!