I do get sent the loveliest things. Recently Lir Chocolates contacted me and asked would we like to try a box of their chocolates, which are now available in the UK. An Irish chocolatier, Lir started producing chocolates in Dublin, back in 1987. Connie Doody and Mary White began on Connie’s kitchen table with a food mixer and a bowl. Those early days instilled a spirit of creativity and attention to detail that are still integral to Lir Chocolates today.
Through the years, that spirit of adventure has made Lir Chocolates a leading provider of premium chocolates to major retailers both at home and abroad.
Since those early days, they have devoted themselves to the magic and the craft of creating hand-finished and hand-decorated chocolates, based on both traditional recipes and gloriously unfamiliar new combinations.
They travel the world in search of the finest ingredients such as Thai lemongrass, Persian lime oil, Spanish pistachios and, closer to home, Irish Atlantic sea salt. A true testament to the skill of the team has come in the form of several Great Taste Awards in recent years.
I was sent a box of the Lir Chocolate’s Discovery Collection. Wrapped in rose gold, delicate pink hues and showcasing eight painstakingly developed flavours. This has just launched in the UK for the first time. The selection box from these much-loved Irish chocolatiers features 16-pieces, each encased in a deliciously smooth Belgian chocolate exterior, from Dark Chocolate Torte, Chewy Pecan Caramel, Praline, Salted Caramel (using Irish Atlantic sea salt) and Coffee to more exotic ingredients like Persian lime.
They are beautiful to look at and Todd says, most delicious. He is really fond of the Cinnamon & Raisin Cream. (No surprise there!)
I confess I had a tiny taste, (Dark Chocolate Torte) and it was gorgeous! The dark chocolate coating on the outside had a lovely snap, whilst the interior was lovely and rich with a beautifully intense chocolate flavour.
The Discovery Collection is available in selected Morrisons, Tesco and Co-op stores for £10, making for a well-priced gift or affordable enough to tuck into all by yourself!
Their website
Note - Although I was sent a box of chocolates free to try, I was not required to write a positive review in exchange. Any and all opinions are my own.
I am always trying to spice up our side dishes a bit, trying to make them a bit more interesting than just boiled or steamed veg. Don't get me wrong, I adore boiled or steamed veg (so long as they are crispy tender and not cooked to death), but every now and then I like to shake things up a tiny bit and add some extra flavours.
Its very easy to do, and it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to add a lot of calories either. Today I added some fresh garden thyme, a bit of honey and some lime zest and juice to the carrots with fabulous taste results. Carrots and Thyme really go well together as does thyme. I was a bit dubious about adding the lime, but with the honey, it went really well. I also added chopped parsley to help pretty them up a bit more as the thyme and lime zest were not showing very well.
These really are delicious and quite adaptable to other flavours as well!
This is a recipe which is very easily doubled or halved as well. I halved it as there are just the two of us, and it worked really well. We had plenty and I still had some to share with Mitzie. She love, LOVES carrots!
Yield: 4
Carrots with Honey, Lime & Thyme
One of our favourite ways to enjoy carrots. These make a great side dish for the holidays. Recipe can be easily doubled.
ingredients:
1 1/2 TBS butter
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into juilienne strips
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1/2 tsp dried
2 TBS water
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into juilienne strips
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1/2 tsp dried
2 TBS water
1 TBS fresh lime juice
the finely grated zest of 1/2 lime
1/2 tsp honeyinstructions:
Melt
the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the carrots,
stirring well to coat. Saute, stirring often, for about 3 minutes. Add
the thyme, stock, lime juice, zest and honey. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 to 10
minutes until the carrots are nice and tender. Remove with a slotted
spoon and arrange in a serving dish. Delicious!
the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the carrots,
stirring well to coat. Saute, stirring often, for about 3 minutes. Add
the thyme, stock, lime juice, zest and honey. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 to 10
minutes until the carrots are nice and tender. Remove with a slotted
spoon and arrange in a serving dish. Delicious!
Created using The Recipes Generator
Recently I've been working hard on trying to control my portions and I got myself this Deluxe Meal Portion Control Tool. I find it is really doing a great job of helping me with this!!
I had moved to a sandwich sized plate for my meals a few years ago, which was a positive step in the right direction, but you know . . . you can pile things up as high as you like on a sandwich plate without really realising what you are actually doing.
Each section is clearly marked. There are two for fruits and vegetables. One for Starch, meaning potatoes, rice, pasta, etc.
It is surprising just how much 1 cup of vegetables amounts to! I have always tended to load up on the carbs and protein . . . but this helps to balance things out a lot better.
It is much easier to be accountable when you know exactly what you are putting on your plate.
The fourth section is perfectly sized for a portion of protein. As you can see, even a portion of meat with some gravy fits into the protein space, so that you are getting just the right amount, no more or no less.
Now that's what I call a well proportioned plate. As a Type Two Diabetic I really need to watch my portion controls, especially when it comes to carbohydrates. This Deluxe Meal Portion Control is really helping me to do that! I am really grateful for it! It is helping me to organise my nutrition, maintain a healthy diet and control my portion sizes, and it is dishwasher safe, which is great! Do check out the link. There is free shipping within the continental US, and there is only a small charge to ship it worldwide. I had mine within a week of ordering it. At the moment it is also available for $8.99 USD, which is lightly less than half of the normal price. You can't lose! Do check out the link to find out more! Thanks!
One thing the month of August always meant, the whole of my life . . . was that fresh CORN season was finally here! I have always looked forward to it the whole year through. There is nothing on earth as delicious as a hot ear of freshly picked corn on the cob with cold butter and salt. Nothing. Okay . . . maybe there are a few things . . . but fresh corn on the cob is definitely in the top ten of my most beloved tastes for sure! Up until this summer it had been 18 years since I had been able to enjoy this delectable delicacy. My friend Eric however, grows beautiful corn, and has gifted me several times this season already! Let me tell you, each time it has tasted like a little bit of Manna from Heaven to me!!!
He gave me some more this past Sunday, and I decided to treat Todd to real Home Style Cream Corn, which is a bazillion times better than what comes in a can! It can be a bit of work to make, with cutting the corn kernels from the cobs and scraping them, but the taste is worth every bit of extra effort! Just make sure you use a large deep bowl when you are scraping the cobs, or you will literally have it everywhere. (That is the voice of experience speaking.)
You will only want to cut off the kernels about 3/4 of the way through, leaving about 1/4 of each kernel on the cob. Then you just take the back of the knife and use it to scrape the milk and pulp from each cob. This is the messy part, but you really want those bits. Those are the very essence of the flavour of the corn. After that it is pretty easy going.
The kernels, pulp and milk get put into a large skillet with some melted butter and a bit of water and sugar. Keep cooking and stirring until your corn is tender. You will have to keep tasting it to test it for doneness, as the time is variable depending on the size and age of your corn. Smaller younger kernels take a shorter time, more mature corn kernels take a bit longer.
Once your corn is tender you add a roux of flour and water to help thicken the corn juices . . . let it cook for a couple of minutes to cook out the flour taste. Oh, and some seasoning also. Did you know that you shouldn't add salt to corn while you are cooking it? Just sugar. Salt toughens it. True fact. You want to add the salt after it is cooked, just to season it.
Once the flour flavour has cooked out of the roux, you will be adding some single cream (half and half) along with a few splashes of hot pepper sauce and some honey. You could also use milk, but I like the single cream. It is really lovely If you do use milk, make sure it is whole milk . . . full fat milk . . . in for a penny, in for a pound!!
The end result is a dish that is fabulously tasty!! Rich and creamy!
I could eat a whole bowl of this and nothing else . . . glutton that I am . . . corn lover that I am . . .
And why not! Its only once a year, or . . . in my case . . . once in 18 years!!! Thank you Eric!
Yield: 6-8
Home Style Cream Corn
I love tinned cream corn and this is a bazillion times better. I really only make it when fresh corn is in season, so its a once a year kind of a treat!
ingredients:
6 ears of freshly picked corn
65g butter (1/4 cup)
3 TBS water
1 tsp sugar
1 TBS plain flour, blended with 1 1/2 TBS water
1/2 tsp each salt and freshly ground black pepper
180ml single cream (3/4 cup half and half)
few splashes hot pepper sauce
splash of liquid honey
instructions:
Remove the husks and silk from the ears of corn. The easiest way to do this
is to cut the cobs off about 1/2 inch from the base end and peel from
that end down to the tip. You will find that the silk comes off
beautifully. Its simple. Trim off about 1/2 inch from the pointed end
to make a flat end. Make sure you use a large deep bowl. When you start
scraping the cobs the corn and its juices will fly everywhere!
is to cut the cobs off about 1/2 inch from the base end and peel from
that end down to the tip. You will find that the silk comes off
beautifully. Its simple. Trim off about 1/2 inch from the pointed end
to make a flat end. Make sure you use a large deep bowl. When you start
scraping the cobs the corn and its juices will fly everywhere!
Stand the corn, one ear at a time, in the bowl and using a sharp knife, cut
the kernels from the cob only cutting about 3/4 of the way through. Once
you have removed all the kernels, using the back side of the knife,
scrape down the cobs to extract all of the milk and pulp from the corn.
the kernels from the cob only cutting about 3/4 of the way through. Once
you have removed all the kernels, using the back side of the knife,
scrape down the cobs to extract all of the milk and pulp from the corn.
You will need a fairly large skillet. Melt the butter in the skillet over
medum low heat. Once the butter has melted, pour in the corn and all of
the juices/pulp. Add the 3 TBS of water and the sugar. Cook, stirring
frequently, until the corn is tender and cooked. This will take at
least 10 minutes or so. Keep tasting to check. At the end of that
time, stir in the flour which has been blended with the water, salt and
black pepper. Stir this into the corn and cook for a further 2 minutes,
stirring constantly. Stir in the cream, pepper sauce and honey. Heat
through for a few more minutes, without boiling. Taste and adjust
seasoning as required.
medum low heat. Once the butter has melted, pour in the corn and all of
the juices/pulp. Add the 3 TBS of water and the sugar. Cook, stirring
frequently, until the corn is tender and cooked. This will take at
least 10 minutes or so. Keep tasting to check. At the end of that
time, stir in the flour which has been blended with the water, salt and
black pepper. Stir this into the corn and cook for a further 2 minutes,
stirring constantly. Stir in the cream, pepper sauce and honey. Heat
through for a few more minutes, without boiling. Taste and adjust
seasoning as required.
Variation - You can whisk in a TBS of lime juice and add a TBS of chopped fresh basil leaves
at the end for another lovely version as well!
at the end for another lovely version as well!
Created using The Recipes Generator
I really hope you are able to procure some freshly picked corn to make this delicious dish. I think you will agree with me when I say, this is one of the best ways to enjoy fresh corn ever!!! Bon Appetit and Happy Corn Season!
I was recently sent a few bits from The Grown Up Chocolate Company to try! Chocolate is a particular weakness of mine and I never have to be asked twice if I would like to try something new when it comes to trying chocolate!!
Marvellously moreish, decadent and delicious the SPECTACULAR SPECULICIOUS PRALINE CUPS from THE GROWN UP CHOCOLATE COMPANY make the ultimate indulgent treat! Oh, I adore Speculoos biscuits don't you? And these definitely contain more than a hint of the lovely flavours of Speculoos, with a sumptuous warm spice praline encased in creamy milk chocolate. They come with six in each box, which makes them perfect for sharing
(if you can bear to part with any!)
RRP £2.25 (pack contains 6 cups)
I was also sent a sample of their Crunchy Crispy Toffee Trilogy Bar! Try to repeat that three times in quick succession! Now that's a mouthful and I have to say these lucious bars are one very delicious mouthful with their layers of milk chocolate and crunchy rice puffs, muddle of gooey caramel, and white chocolate biscuit pearls all encased in that same delicious luxury milk chocolate. Oh boy but these are moreishly tasty! Crunchy and gooey and sweet and deliciously creamy!
RRP £2.25 (pack contains two bars)
THE GROWN UP CHOCOLATE COMPANY has an ongoing mission to create the most indulgent and decadent chocolates - everything is handmade in Harlow, using only the highest quality ingredients (and a sprinkling of love).
Just remember, these are strictly for grown-ups - so no need to share with any mini-mes!
Meant to be reminiscent as the bars we ate as children but re-imagined for adult tastes, the Grown Up Chocolate Company's complete line of chocolate confectionary is available for purchase online and through select Distributors. You can also create your very own personalised bars. To find out more do check out their online site. I think they are very yummy! Rich and creamy, with beautiful flavours, and just sweet enough. Todd agrees. I have had to hide them from him, or they would be all gone! (I know, I am a greedy Gus!)
Note - I was sent free chocolate in exchange for a fair and honest review. I loved it!
My Todd is very fond of a curry, so every now and then I make one for him. I have a few Indian cookery books that I like to use if I am making one from scratch. Yes, I confess, often I will just use a good jarred sauce (Lloyd Grossman makes lovely sauces) but the other day I decided to make him a Lamb Curry from scratch and Lamb Rogan Josh is one of his favourites.
Curry's are not all that difficult to make. They are like stews really, but with completely different spices and aromatics than what you normally use in a stew.
This one uses cubed lamb. Neck fillet if you can get it, or leg of lamb. I find it most annoying that in the shops you can normally only get New Zealand lamb when we raise beautiful lamb right on our own doorsteps. I adore British/Welsh lamb. It is beautiful. For this curry I used New Zealand leg of lamb, cubed.
To begin you will need to make a curry paste. This is as simple as bunging a few ingredients into a blender/food processor and blitzing them until smooth . . . coriander stems (cilantro), red chili, cumin and coriander seeds, paprika, turmeric and tomato puree. Its very simple.
To start the curry off whole spices (cinnamon sticks, cardamom, bay leaf and cloves) are fried in a bit of oil until quite fragrant, which
only takes a few minutes. Then you add the onion and the lamb, quickly browning it off, and then adding some garlic and grated fresh ginger root.
Next, you stir in the curry paste that you have made, making sure that the lamb is well coated in it and then a quantity of water is added. The lamb is then simmered until the juices reduce and thicken and the lamb becomes very tender . . . this takes about 45 minutes or so.
Finally you stir in some thick yogurt which makes the sauce somewhat creamy. Oh, but it is quite delicious. Its not as mild as most of the curries I make, but its not blast your head off hot either. Todd really likes it.
I like to serve it with Pilau Rice and poppadoms. Have you discovered poppadoms? They are like Indian potato chips, or thin crisp tortillas, except they are made from ground lentils and fried until very crisp. I buy them ready made and heat them in the oven. You can buy them plain or with flavours added, the most common being garlic and coriander. That is that crisp bread you see on the side there. Oh but they are some good!
*Lamb Rogan Josh*
Serves 4
A
moderately spiced curry from Kashmir in the North of India. This is an
area which is famous for its aromatic and sumptuous curries!
For the Lamb:
1 TBS peanut oil
1 (2 inch) cinnamon stick
5 whole cardamom pods slightly bruised
3 dried bay leaves
4 whole cloves
1 onion, peeled and chopped
600g lamb neck fillet, trimmed and cubed
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 2-inch piece of fresh ginger-root, peeled and grated
100g fat free natural yogurt (scant half cup)
For the curry paste:
1 bunch fresh coriander, leaves and stems separated
1 red chili, seeded and finely chopped
2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground
2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tsp black peppercorns, coarsely ground
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp garam masala
2 TBS tomato puree (tomato paste)
400ml water (14 fluid ounces)
First make the paste. Put the coriander stalks, tomato puree, red
chili, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns, paprika, turmeric and
garam masala into a small food processor. Blitz to smooth.
A curry is a funny thing . . . you crave them, you make one and then you are happy not to have another one for a month or so until you start craving one again. Over here they are quite traditional fare on Saturday nights or for eating after a pub crawl. My pub crawling days are long since over, but every now and then I do enjoy a good curry for our tea. This one makes a change from Chicken curry, and is moderately spiced. Its very good. Adapted from a recipe found on BBC Good Food. Bon Appetit!
I used to make Panna Cotta sometimes for Luncheons and Dinner Parties when I worked at the Manor down South but it has always been a dessert I shied away from making here at home. I'm not really sure why. Its not really a difficult dessert to make actually, but I used to always hold my breath when I unmolded the dishes . . . I would make extra just in case . . . nothing would be worse than having one stick to the dish or break when unmolding. Not something you really want at a social function. I guess it was always accompanied with nervous anticipation for me, which had more to do with the presentation than the actual creation of it.
The idea of actually serving it in simple drinking or pretty glasses had never occurred to me, and I seriously doubt that my boss would have agreed with that idea anyways. If something was simple to her, then it probably wasn't good enough. She wanted complicated, difficult and "pushing out the boat" dishes for all the courses being served, which certainly was instrumental in affording me with the opportunity to stretch beyond what I ever thought myself capable of! In that respect, the experience was really good. I never had a failure, whew!!!
The down side of it all was that, after all that complication at work, I opted for simple at home. I did not want drama at home. That was my time for relaxing, and I have to confess I still feel the same. There is nothing like having to pull out the stops for five or six silver service courses (and all on your own wit no sous chef's etc. to help out) to cure you of ever wanting that in your life.
So essentially I had never made Panna Cotta for us here at home . . . until this weekend, when it dawned on me that I could just pour it into a small and pretty glass and leave it there, garnishing it with some lovely berries. DUH! Why had I never thought of this before!!
This is the perfect light dessert . . . for when you are entertaining or even when you are not entertaining. It is as simple as heating milk and cream with some sugar (not much) and flavouring, adding some gelatin and pouring it into glasses. Set in the fridge for a few hours and BANG! Dessert is ready.
Simple, creamy, light and DEE-licious!
I chose to top it with a simple mix of berries that I macerated with some lime zest and a bit of sugar.
You could also use honey . . . liquid honey. I used a mix of fresh Scottish raspberries and strawberries, and what was left of the blueberries in our garden.
They went beautifully. Diced peaches along with a splash of an amond liqueur and some chopped toasted almonds . . . poached apple slices with some cinnamon and nutmeg . . .
Sauteed cinnamon bananas, pineapple and coconut . . . let your imagination flow!
*Simple Panna Cotta with Mixed Berries*
Makes 8 to 10 small servings
Simple and creamy. Delicious served with lime marinated berries.
For the Panna Cotta:
600ml pouring (single) cream (2 1/2 cups)
200ml full cream milk (7 1/4 fluid ounces)
3 TBS caster sugar
4 gelatin leaves (1 TBS powdered gelatin)
1 - 2 tsp pure vanilla or vanilla paste
for the berries:
400g strawberries, raspberries and blueberries (1 pound)
2 TBS caster sugar
the finely grated zest of 1/2 - 1 lime
Put the gelatin leaves/powder into cold water to soak. Measure the
cream and milk into a saucepan. Add the sugar. Cook over very low
heat for 10 minutes, without boiling. Remove from the heat and whisk in
the soaked gelatin until the gelatin is dissolved.Stir in the vanilla
and then strain into a jug. Let cool for 10 minutes. Stir gently and
then divide the mixture between 8 to 10 small glasses. Place them on a
tray and place the tray into the refrigerator to set.
Hull
and slice the strawberries. Mix together in a bowl with the
raspberries, blueberries, sugar and lime zest. Let stand for half an
hour before using. Put a small spoonful on top of each panna cotta to
serve.
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