Product Reviews Archives - Travels for Taste

BBQ pulled pork and aromatic Noodle soup

February 25, 2017 by manjirichitnis 12 Comments

Enjoy summery flavours mixed with a warming aromatic bowl of spicy noodle soup with Iceland Foods new BBQ Mississippi pulled pork from the World Famous Foods range

Winter evenings in February are always unpredictable, even though some days are warm, evenings are always chilly. During transition periods the trio of cold, cough and flu makes an appearance. At such times I mostly crave a hearty filling bowl of soupy noodles with a spicy zing and yesterday I had the perfect excuse – a chilly evening -and a freezer full of frozen delights from Iceland Foods World Famous Foods range. I cannot resist juicy BBQ pulled pork and thought an aromatic warming noodle soup topped with BBQ pulled pork was an apt choice – soup to warm your cockles and BBQ flavours to welcome the new season which is just around the corner.

Isn’t it great that you can enjoy summery flavours from across the world at any time you please by just stocking up your freezer with these delightfully diverse and flavoursome foods? The sheer convenience of having the #PowerofFrozen at your fingertips allowing you to create a whole host of budget-friendly, tasty meals that not only you and your family can enjoy but are perfect crowd-pleasers.

To make their frozen range even more convenient is the Chilled Life on the products, which clearly states how long a product can stay in the fridge to ensure that its high quality and taste are not impacted. The smart way to free up precious freezer space especially in the summer!

To make the meal healthy I used zero fat, low calorie and low carb, gluten-free noodles, and very little oil on high heat. You could swap the oil for a 1 cal oil spray too.

BBQ pulled pork Soup with aromatic low-carb, GF noodles

Iceland Foods has re-christened their slow-cooked range as the World famous foods range.

BBQ pulled Pork and aromatic noodle soup

Manjiri Chitnis

Easy recipe for Smoky BBQ pulled Pork in a delicious aromatic noodle soup

Print Recipe

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 2 People

Equipment

Oven
Wok

Ingredients

550 grams BBQ Mississippi Pulled Pork
350 grams Beef stock from a 450 gm shop bought jar
240 grams gm of mixed tender stem broccoli green beans, pak choi
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 pack bared naked noodles
1/2 thumb-sized Cinnamon stick
1/2 thumb-sized Ginger – peeled and sliced
1/2 Thai red chilli – thinly sliced
1/2 a stick of fresh fragrant lemongrass
1/2 a medium sized red onion sliced lengthwise
3-4 cloves of garlic deskinned and smashed roughly with the flat end of a knife
a pinch of brown castor sugar
Handful of fresh coriander roughly chopped
Some fresh chopped spring onion to garnish
1 lime sliced into wedges
2 medium boiled eggs

Instructions

Defrost the BBQ Mississippi pulled pork in the refrigerator for 24 hours before use
Place for 40 mins at 180 °C in a pre-heated oven
While the pork is heating in the oven, start with the noodle preparation
Heat a wok on medium heat
When the wok is hot add sesame oil and add the cinnamon, garlic, ginger and red onion
Cook on medium heat until the garlic and red onion turn a nice brown, then add the green beans and broccoli
Stir fry the green for about a minute on medium low heat before pouring in the beef stock
Add some water to thicken the stock if it is too thick and then added the cooked noodles. Throw in the sliced lemongrass stalk and sugar
If you are using noodles that need to be cooked beforehand, simply follow pack instructions.
I used Barenaked Noodles as they are zero fat, low in calories and extremely low carb
Add the pak choi and cook covered on a low heat for about one minute
To serve, add the noodle soup in each bowl then garnish with fresh coriander and some chopped spring onion. Place about 2 heaped tbsp of pulled pork in each bowl
Serve with a wedge of lime
Serve hot

BBQ Pulled Pork aromatic spicy noodle soup

Both hubby and I loved the thick and flavourful rich BBQ sauce and used some of the leftover sauce to drizzle over mushrooms stuffed with mature cheddar and oven cooked with just a spritz of chilli garlic oil – the result was mouth watering!

The entire range of World famous foods is available in stores at Iceland Foods from 20th Feb’17. The World famous range includes: Hoisin Duck Wings, OHSicilian Half Chicken, BBQ Mississippi Pulled Pork, BBQ Texan Down & Dirty Pulled Brisket, BBQ Memphis Baby Back Ribs, Minted Lamb Shanks, Garlic & Rosemary Lamb Leg. To find out more head to the Iceland Foods site here.

LOOKING FOR EASY TO MAKE, DELICIOUS SOUP AND STEW RECIPES? WHY NOT BROWSE THROUGH SOME OF MY EASY TO FOLLOW RECIPES:

This post was commissioned by Iceland Foods. As always all opinions are always my own.

Celebrate Caribbean Food Week with Grace Foods

August 26, 2016 by manjirichitnis 6 Comments

When it comes to Caribbean flavours in the U.K, Grace Foods have bagged the top stop as the numero uno food and drinks company. They have a wide range of sauces, dips, marinades seasonings and tropical drinks to satisfy all palates.

Grace Foods are celebrating their 5th annual Caribbean Food week – Aug 22nd to Aug 29th’ 2016. To spread the word of their celebrations Grace Foods, sent me a cracking hamper stuffed with an assortment of goodies.

I wanted to try all the sauces but I was cooking for two so choose the following products:

Dunns River Ackee
Dunns River beans
Dunns River Tropical seasoning
Dunns River all-purpose seasoning

I had never heard of Ackee before and was very curious to try working with this ingredient. Ackee, the national fruit of Jamaica, is consumed in a traditional dish with salt fish. AK is not fond of salt fish though I decided to create a side with vegetables and Dunns River Tropical seasoning. I am so pleased with the results, the dish is truly sunshine in a plate.

It is always fun to try out new and exotic flavours but mind you this one comes with a warning. The unripe fruit can prove fatal and causes Jamaican vomiting sickness. But the ripe fruit has many nutritional benefits including being a digestive aid, helping to lower blood pressure and is high in unsaturated fats which help to maintain heart health.

Ackee and vegetable side

Manjiri Chitnis

This dishis truly summer in a plate

Print Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

25 mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Caribbean

Servings 4 portions

Ingredients

Dunn Rivers can of ackee
6 tsp Dunn Rivers Tropical seasoning
1/2 a red onion chopped lengthwise
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3-4 small sweet peppers
2 tbsp Rapeseed oil

Instructions

Heat oil in a wok
Sauté’ the chopped garlic until they brown
Add the Tropical seasoning and mix well
Add the chopped onions and sauté’ them until they go soft
Then add the green beans and stir fry for about 2 minutes
Then add the peppers and sauté for about a minute
Drain and wash the ackee under running water
Add the ackee and cook on low heat for at least 4 minutes
Ensure the ackee mixes well with the vegetables and spices and serve hot

Keyword Ackee

As the ackee cooks, it breaks down like soft gooey scrambled eggs and takes up the flavours in the seasoning very well. Mix the ackee very gently or it will turn into a lump.

I paired this dish with hearty brown rice mixed with peas and beans.

Caribbean rice with peas and beans

Manjiri Chitnis

Delightful mixture of spices add a different dimension of flavour to this simple dish, make it healthier by using brown rice

Print Recipe

Course Main Course

Cuisine Caribbean

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

1.5 cup brown rice
1 can of Dunns River peas and Beans
1 small red onion
4 cloves of garlic
2 tsp olive oil
1 bay leaf

Instructions

Chop the onion lengthwise
Rinse and soak the rice in a big vessel
Heat the olive in a medium-sized vessel
Add the bay leaf and then sauté’ the chopped garlic until it browns
Add 2 heaped tbsp of all-purpose seasoning and mix well and sauté for under 30-second stirring continuously so that the seasoning does not bu4n
Drain the water used to wash the rice
Then add the washed rice and sauté it for under a minute stirring continuously
Drain the water from the canned peas and beans and transfer them to a sieve and wash them under running water, to get rid of the salt
Add the peas and beans and add exactly twice the amount of water as the rice and cook on a medium flame with lid on
Garnish with some chopped spring onion
Serve hot

Caribbean brown rice with peas and beans

Ideally, I would cook up a fiery chicken curry to go with this rice but I had some white fish in my freezer and decided to grill them with some jerk seasoning.

Grilled Jerk Fish

Manjiri Chitnis

Spicy grilledfish is great paired with the brown rice with peas and the ackee and vegetableside

Print Recipe

Prep Time 2 mins

Cook Time 8 mins

Total Time 10 mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Caribbean

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

2 fillets of white fish
3 heaped tbsp of Dunns River Jamaican jerk seasoning marinade
2 tsp of olive oil
1/4 th of a lime

Instructions

Wash the fish fillets and coat thoroughly with the marinade
Heat a grill pan and pour the oil
Grill the fish until done
Ensure you do not overcook as the white fish is generally very delicate and will break easily. Overcooking will render it dry and not much fun to eat!
Squeeze the lime and do not be shy with it, the lime will cut through the spice and elevate flavours

Get creative in your kitchen or just go with the recipe suggestions on the packs, if you need more recipe inspiration head over the Grace Foods recipe section.

If you are in London join the festivities at Caribbean Food Week Festival at Windrush Square in Brixton.

Disclaimer: With thanks to Grace Foods for sending me a selection of products to experiment with. As always, all opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated monetarily for this post.

Steamed Idli batter recipe + Froothie Optimum G2.1 Platinum blender review

April 14, 2016 by manjirichitnis 14 Comments

When I first moved to the U.K the one kitchen appliance that I really missed was my ‘mixie’ I relied heavily on my old beat up noisy mixie or mixer as it is popularly known as, especially, when I wanted to make chutneys or grind soaked grains. In the past five years, I have tried several blenders and food processors and never really had satisfying results.

So I ended up buying many different types of blenders, right from a handheld blender worth £15 to an expensive and large, space-occupying food processor with several attachments, most of which I never use for various reasons. One of them being the pain involved in washing up – yes am lazy that way 😉

Fast forward to 2016 – When I was offered the opportunity to become an ambassador for Froothie UK and sent the new and shiny high-speed Optimum G2.1 Platinum blender to test and review, the very first thing I wanted to try was making an idli batter with homemade coconut chutney.

Perfect kitchen companion for dry and wet grinding

I am delighted to announce that the results are really very satisfying. The 6 blade assembly makes it very easy to grind grains so my soaked rice and urad dal mixture reached the right consistency in no time!

I am so relieved that I do not have to keep blending and adding more water than required to reach the right consistency for my idli and dosa batters. Even bigger relief is in knowing that freshly grated coconut can be turned into a fabulous chutney within seconds. This especially is a blessing, considering that my parents had to lug a heavy mixer all the way from India, just so that I would stop complaining about how difficult it is to grind dals or make coconut chutney. Sorry, Baba for all the trouble you had to go through to lugging that device all the way to London!

When you are looking to purchase a high investment appliance like a power blender, comparisons are a part of the process. Froothie has made it easy for you to make that decision with this table comparing the Optimum G 2.1 Platinum blender to a Vitamix – Pro series 500.

Ease of Use, sturdy jug, and intelligent overload protection best part about the Optimum G2.1 Platinum blender though is the ease with which the sturdy Eastman Tritan Copolyester BPA Free jug sits on the base – no twisting and turning and waiting to hear a click – just simple fit, plug and play. I recollect the horror I felt when the plastic edge of my food processor chipped while I struggled to fit it into the grooves of the base, only days after spending quite some money buying it, about three years ago. What a nightmare that was.

The Optimum G.21 also comes with intelligent overload protection meaning the built-in sensor automatically switches off the motor in case, over-heating is detected. This prolongs the Optimum’s operating life while pre-empting and avoiding breakdowns. If the blender should ever trip, all you have to do is simply switch it back on.

Hot soups, frozen desserts and healthier smoothies in minutes

The idea of making a bowl of soup in minutes is so appealing and especially to a person like me who is trying very hard to loose weight. Not only am I trying to loose weight by eating healthier am also helping my husband throw off excess weight faster by making better food choices. It is a boon to be able to relish fresh homemade soups every single day in less than ten minutes thanks to the heat created by friction.

Nothing beats smoothies packed with fiber and that is something you can enjoy daily, fruits go into this beauty with skin and without chopping – yes you read that right. Brilliant, isn’t it? A heavy-duty tamper tool has also been provided for improved processing and mixing.

If you need recipe inspiration your blender comes with a recipe book with 80 inspiring ideas for you try at home.

Nut butter, sauces, dips, flours – make everything at home

Throwing a party and need hummus now? I made a large bowl of smoked red pepper hummus over the weekend for a big party we threw for our dearest friends (recipe for humus coming up soon)

I am yet to make any flour in new Optimum G2.1 but that is because I have been so obsessed with soups, smoothies, and chutneys! Buckwheat flour is ready in 10 seconds flat – need to see a demo? Watch this video on the Froothie TV channel, they have a whole host of fab videos from recipes to comparisons with other brands and tests too.

The optimum now comes with a free nut milk bag too as part of the package.

Complete control at your fingertips

I am quite smitten with the latest offering from Froothie, and it’s not just the smart good looks but the 6 pre-set programs on a fabulous modern digital panel, pulse and timer settings that allow me to be in total control at the push of a button, that make this vortex blender so very appealing. It truly is the only blender you will ever need. Especially, if like me, you too have spent a lot of money on experimenting with various types of blenders. The 10-year warranty is an added bonus. You can order this fabulously stylish and highly efficient power blender via this link

Why not make the most of a great limited time offer which expires on the 30th of April 2016 and save £170 on your purchase? Get the Optimum G2.1 Platinum blender for £429 instead of £599. To ensure that the ordering is smooth and delivery process hassle-free Froothie U.K uses a next day courier service and you get your blender delivered with 24-48 hours. There’s also a 30 day trial with a money-back guarantee which includes return postage costs, but I am pretty sure that won’t be necessary!

Ok now for my recipe, I have followed the late master chef Tarla Dalal’s easy to follow recipe, for my Steamed Idli’s recipe but have adjusted the proportions to make approximately 15 idlis – the number will vary based on the size of the moulds.

Steamed Idlis

Manjiri Chitnis

A Quintessential south Indian delicacy which makesfor a guilt free meal considering it is steamed and wholesome

Print Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Servings 15 Idlis

Ingredients

1/2 cup Urad dal – split black lentils without skin
2 cups Par-boiled rice/ idli rice
1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds- methi seeds
Salt as per taste
Water to adjust consistency
Low-calorie oil spray to grease the idli-moulds
Coconut chutney to serve with the idlis

Instructions

Soak the rice in water in a bowl and the fenugreek seeds and urad dal in another. Add enough water to allow the dal and rice to absorb the water and then some
Soak for a minimum of 4 hours
Drain the excess water from the rice and add in the blender – enough to get a pouring consistency
Repeat with the urad dal and fenugreek seed mixture – this mixture will get very thick while blending so you may need to add in more water as required. This mixture gets frothy while blending which is perfectly natural
Mix both batters and set aside in a warm place to ferment – it took my batter 24 hours to ferment. Fermentation slows down when the temperature is low
Season the batter with salt after it has fermented
Grease idli-moulds and spoon the batter into the moulds
Steam the idlis in a pressure cooker or idli-steamer for about 12 minutes.
Take care while removing the hot idlis from the pressure cooker, to avoid steam burns. Serve the steaming hot idlis with coconut chutney
Serve as a breakfast dish for a weekend treat, actually, this is dish ideal for any meal

Steamed idli recipe by Manjiri of www.travelsfortaste.com

*I am an ambassador for Froothie and was sent a Froothie Optimum G2.1 Platinum blender for review. This post has affiliate links. No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own and I only endorse products that I love and have experimented with.

A slice of Costa Rica – Casado

September 10, 2015 by manjirichitnis 2 Comments

With summer firmly on it’s way out and Autumn settling in, the chilly nights demand some great comfort food. I wanted to try something different so I choose a popular Costa Rican dish – Casado. Why? Well, it’s the ideal comfort food, easy to put together and tastes amazing! Best part is it’s very easy on the pocket and if you plate it well, it looks like a posh meal – no one would guess what went into making it!

Costa Rican Casado

Casado literally means a ‘married man’ and it is said that the name probably originates from how the local men expected food to be served when they were eating outside so that it reminded them of familiar tastes of a home cooked meal. An authentic Casado which is served at ‘sodas’ or local cafes is accompanied by what is known as a Lizano sauce. The brand name Lizano is now generic and retails in N. America. Since this sauce is yet to hit UK shores ( believe me I did a fair bit of looking around in shops that sell Mexican ingredients, Asian, Carribean and most of my local supermarkets) I finally decided to make my own ,which was a great decision – why ? Well scope to experiment and innovate for one, coupled with freedom to incorporate easy to procure, local ingredients – resulting in a deliciously moorish creation! A traditional root vegetables dish from Costa Rico called Picadillo is a popular side dish with rice and tortillas. You can safely say that the gravy sauce is a marriage of sorts between the Lizano sauce and the Picadillo. I have done a fair amount of customisation and the most interesting part of cooking Casado was creating the gravy sauce, combining it with root vegetables and serving it as a wholesome gravy side dish. Let’s get started with the sauce aka gravy as this will take the most time to cook of all the other sides.

Costa Rican Casado

Recipe is good for 2 with generous helpings.

Root Vegetable Gravy Side

Prep & Cooking Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

1 medium juicy tomato – finely chopped
2 small red onions finely chopped
3 medium carrots chopped into tiny cubes
3 small sweet fresh peppers finely chopped
A handful of cauliflower florets
A handful of very finely chopped sweet potato
1 heaped tbsp of finely grated celeriac
A pinch of garlic puree
Half a dry red Kashmiri chilli
½ tsp of thick tamarind puree
2-3 bay leaves
1 tsp dried red chilli flakes
2 tsp freshly grated black pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp roasted cumin powder
2 tbsp Oil
Salt as per taste
A handful of finely chopped coriander

Method:

In a large saucepan, heat oil and add the chopped onions, add the garlic puree and cumin powder and stir well.
When the onion starts to reduce add the bay leaves, the chopped tomato and chopped sweet peppers, stir the the tomato & peppers around vigorously bit to get them to release their juices and reduce the flame to a minimum.
Throw in the finely chopped carrot cubes, sweet potato, grated celeriac, tomato puree and add enough water to cover this mixture.
Cook with lid on till the sweet potato and carrots begin to soften, then it’s time to toss in the cauliflower florets, season with the dry red chilli,tamarind,cracked black pepper, salt and sugar and give it a good stir.
Let this cook on a low flame with lid for about 25 minutes.
Keep opening the lid, stirring and adjusting the water if it becomes to run dry, we need a gravy like consistency.
When it done, add some finely chopped coriander in the tamarind should give it a bit of tangy twist, while the dried Kashmiri chilli gives it colour and mild heat, the sweet pepper and tomato puree work their magic together and the gravy is delicious and wholesome what with so many veggies hidden inside!

Red Kidney bean side

Prep and Cooking Time: 15 min

Ingredients:

1 can of red kidney beans
1 medium sized red onion
2 large tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp garlic puree
1 tsp red chilli flakes
Salt to taste

Method:

In a large saucepan, heat oil and sauté the chopped onions, add the garlic puree and stir well.
After the onion has sautéed, add the tomato puree and stir then add the beans and mix well.

Red onions for Kidney Beans

Add some water to the mixture and reduce the flame to a minimum, cook with a lid on but check often so that it does not burn or run dry.
4.Since the canned and ready to eat red kidney beans are preserved in salty water, check the taste before adding in any more salt, chuck in some dry red chilli flakes for flavour and set aside.

Red Kidney Bean side is done

Boiled white rice

Cook 1 cup rice using exactly double the water and a pinch of salt

Fried Plantain

Peel and chop the plantain into large chunks and fry in hot oil in a kadhai or wok until they are a light brown. It’s easy for them to char so get them out as soon as the colour turns a golden shade of brown, allow to cool on a plate on a bit of kitchen roll to soak excess oil.

Don’t fret if like me you can’t peel the plantain I simply use a knife and remove the thick green skin, even if that means that the plantain pieces are hexagonal or cubes now, well I never was too good at geometry 😉

Fish

Casado can be served with meat, fish or chicken. Chop one large fillet of fresh salmon and pan fry both sides till done in about 1 tbsp oil.

Cheese Tortilla

Heat a large flour tortilla –shop bought on a pan and adds a generous helping of grated parmesan cheese on tortilla. Just as the tortilla heats up and the cheese shows sign of melting fold the tortilla in half and flip over and toast each side till you have a crispy yum cheesy tortilla, slice into neat triangles ready to be served.

Cabbage Salad

Chop a fresh cabbage fine to get one large handful of cabbage, add half a red onion and a small handful of finely chopped cucumber, squeeze half a lime, sprinkle some cracked black pepper, a small amount of fresh finely chopped coriander and toss all these together. Easy-peasy right?

Serve the steaming hot rice with the salmon on the side, topped with some of the root vegetable gravy. Mop up the beans with the cheesy tortilla and munch on the sweet fried plantain with generous bites of the tangy cabbage salad in between mouthfuls of everything else.

Costa Rican Casado

Häagen-Daz rings in Spring Summer 2015 with captivating new flavour combinations

March 22, 2015 by manjirichitnis Leave a Comment

Last week may have forced us all to crank up the heater and go back to stews and soups, but hopefully if the weather today was any indication Spring is finally here – fingers crossed!

After a lazy Sunday spent lounging around after a stroll in the park where it felt amazing to feel the sun on my face, I deiced to allow myself a bit of indulgence. Sitting in my freezer and waiting to be eaten were 2 new flavours from Häagen-Daz – a limited edition exotic flavour – Yuzu Citrus & Cream and a dreamy Chocolate Salted Caramel.

They were sent to me in a goody bag with a yuzu lemon juice from Waitrose which I used to season a whole fresh sea bass for dinner last Friday and some yuze scented bath bombs from Lush. Those am saving up for a quite dip in the tub sometime this coming week.

Yuzu Lemon is definitely the new citrus craze in town and in ice cream form its creamy tangy taste is quite irresistible. It’s good to know then that Häagen-Daz handpicks the exquisite Yuzu fruit from the Japanese mountains of Kôshi.

The sour hybrid of mandarin and ichang papeda is pressed fresh to deliver a juice with crisp flavour notes, reminiscent of mandarin and grapefruit. The juices are then mixed with sweet oranges to create a refreshing sauce that twists into Häagen-Dazs’ original ice cream recipe for a uniquely intense taste.

The die hard chocoholics also have reason to celebrate as the new Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Salted Caramel combines the delicious chocolate ice cream with generous silky ribbons of salted caramel and delicate brittle, delivering a moment of decadence with every satisfying crunch.

To really enjoy your Häagen-Dazs allow it to rest for a while before you dive into it, just when it starts to melt is the the time when you will relish it the most. Like all their flavours, these new flavour combinations are made using 100% real milk and cream and yolks from free-range eggs.

**Häagen-Dazs Yuzu Citrus & Cream is now available to purchase from Sainsburys and Waitrose and Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Salted Caramel is now available to purchase from Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Asda, Morrisons and Tesco.

*With thanks to Häagen-Dazs and the PR team for sending me samples for review. No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Easy Ham and cheese tart recipe

February 17, 2015 by manjirichitnis 12 Comments

Hello Everyone!

I have been away on a long holiday in Indian for almost four weeks. I got back last week and it has taken my system a few days to throw off the jet-lag completely and my internal thermostat to acclimatise to the massive difference in the weather.But am back now all refreshed and raring to go! So expect a lot of new and fun recipes, LOTS of travel posts and many photographs from my foodie and travel adventures – oh yes not to mention more exciting competitions, fabulous restaurant reviews and events that I will be going to soon – woohoo!

While I was in India I did a fair bit of travelling to Chennai, Pondicherry and shuttling between Mumbai and Pune. So all the resulting fatigue has taken it’s toll too.

Besides have discovered that I do have a fair amount of catching up to do with my blogging as well. hummm

So dinner the day after I landed had had to be a simple affair, because my body clock was still following IST. We decided to make a quick and super easy yet delicious Turkey, Ham and cheese tart using my own recipe. Hubster and me are both big fans of Jus-Rol as it really can save the day when things are crazy busy or plain lazy 😉

I have made a few minor tweaks to the original recipe but other than that it was smooth sailing. Here is my version:

Prep. Time: Less than 10 minutes

Makes: 2 servings

Total Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

320 gm Jus-Rol™ puff pastry ready rolled sheet
2 medium onion peeled & chopped fine
100 gm cooked ham diced
1-2 tbsp oil
3 heaped tbsp Gran Luchito smoked chilli honey
250 gm cooked turkey diced
Salt & black pepper
75 gm grated Parmesan Cheese

Method:

Heat oil in a large pan, gently sauté the onion until it is translucent, then add the diced ham and cook on a low flame for about 2 minutes. Meanwhile remove the Jus-Rol™ puff pastry ready rolled sheet and allow it to rest while the filling is being prepared.
Add the turkey,season to taste and then add the smoked chilli honey. Stir continuously to ensure the chilli honey does not burn and cook on a gentle, low flame for a further 2 minutes.
Prepare a baking tray by lining with a baking sheet and carefully place the Jus-Rol™ puff pastry ready rolled sheet onto the baking sheet.
Preheat oven to 220°C/(200°C for fan assisted ovens)/Gas 7.
Spoon out the turkey and ham mixture onto the baking sheet and sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese over the mixture.
Bake in the preheated for 20 minutes and serve hot.

I remember going to buy Jus- Rol at a supermarket two years ago post Christmas and it simply wasn’t available anywhere. Clearly people had been smart and stocked up on this lifesaving fridge fav for all those leftover meals after the big day. And have since then made a mental note to stock up well in advance for future occasions. There have been numerous dinners and surprise tea time treats for unannounced but welcome visitors who have been fed piping hot treats with several hot cuppas thanks to that pastry roll lying in my fridge! So like many of my store cupboard essentials this is one of my life savers and will almost always be found living in my refrigerator.

I loved this recipe and now am looking forward to more experiments with Jus-Rol .

If you need more inspiration to get creative with Jus-Rol why not check out these gorgeous recipes on the Jus-Rol website ?

*With thanks to Jus-Rol and the PR team for sending vouchers to buy some samples of Jus-Rol for review . No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Amur Beluga Caviar – a Review

December 31, 2014 by manjirichitnis 4 Comments

The beauty of any food and consuming it is in also understanding the history of its origin and the aura and mystique surrounding the food especially if it is Caviar.

My family and me hail from the western coastal parts of India – namely Konkan and fish was always a part of the daily diet , over the years of course the consumption of fish daily is not practical due to various reasons but the love for all things seafood is deeply ingrained in all of us.So when I was offered a chance to review Amur Beluga Caviar by Caviar Classic, London, I could not refuse.

Caviar classic is a small London based Caviar Company, owned and run by Darren Pedersen. They pride themselves on sustainably farmed products that are guaranteed to live up to the highest standards.

Amur Beluga is a hybrid of the Acipenser Schrenkii (Amur Sturgeon) combined with the Huso Dauricus Sturgeon (Freshwater Beluga) resulting in a gold green egg with a bit of a harder shell that pops in your mouth, the aftertaste is light and creamy. This combination of the two of the best Sturgeon in the world, not only takes 10 years to mature, but also produces a magnificent sizeable shimmering silver Roe. Naturally then this is a favourite amongst caviar connoisseurs around the world.

At the moment the Amur Beluga is in many ways considered a better product than most Iranian/Russian Beluga’s as the eggs are bigger (3mm in size) and the quality is in most ways of a higher standard.

Caviar is served with mother of pearl caviar spoons to avoid tainting the taste of the caviar. I was also sent this beautiful spoon along with the Caviar and Caviar classic always try to go that little bit further to ensure that their customers receive their purchase at it’s best, such as chilled boxes with small ice packs and an extra gift – like this lovely spoon – in most packs.

We ate the caviar on wafer thin slices of toast with a fresh juicy salad tomato sliced in half – I wanted an absolutely neutral and fresh base to feel the caviar on my tongue …the little gems popping in my mouth …exploding with flavour…

I paired the caviar with a fine Chablis from Waitrose as dry whites work as well as Champagne. Caviar can be had with a good creamy cheese too.

I have stowed the remaining away in the coldest part of my refrigerator where it should stay upto a month but ideally wouldn’t keep it for more than 3 days. And no matter what happens never freeze caviar as it can damage the delicate membrane.

For me this post would be incomplete without mentioning how much consuming this Caviar reminded me of a scene from Casino Royale where Bond he is seen enjoying Beluga Caviar on toast as he sips on his nth Vesper Martini and seduces femme fatale Vesper after his big win at the casino.

“The problem is not how to get enough caviar but how to get enough toast with it.” – James Bond in Ian Fleming’s Casino Royal

Image Credit: Aston from the Bond Lifestyle Forum

Thanks to my Baba, who is a great fan of 007 and the movie series, the craze for the books, movies and trivia has been passed down to my sister and me and till date the best movie marathons we have at home are when we watch Bond Films back to back with Sean Connery and Daniel Craig as our top Fav Bond actors with Pierce Brosnan as a hot favourite amongst the women in our family 😉

The fictitious and very Charming James Bond lives the high life and one his many expensive tastes is for the most exclusive and expensive – Beluga Caviar. No one rocks the Champagne and Caviar for dinner combination like Bond does, isn’t it ?sighhhhh

Hope that all of you enjoy the party tonight – Bond style with some splendid Champagne – hopefully Bond’s Fav – Dom Pérignon for the lucky few with lots of Caviar and toast to go around and hope you have great company to ring in the New Year.

Adios, dear readers, and off I go to ring in the New Year and dance the night away, here’s wishing all my readers a very Happy New Year where I shall continue to share my adventures in the kitchen and outside, a lot of travel stories and yes loads of other great c0ntent – stay tuned folks but for now – au revoir!

Image Credit: Caviar Classic

*With thanks to Caviar classic and the PR agency for sending me a sample of Amur Beluga for review. No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Introducing Britannia’s Nutri Choice Heavens – India’s new delightful healthy cookie – Guest Post

December 28, 2014 by manjirichitnis Leave a Comment

Guest Post by my sister Dr. Mrs.Monika Tandon

Recently Madison PR gave me a packet of Britannia’s Nutri Choice Heavens to review. A new arrival on health food market; the cookie is filled with cranberries and made of whole grain oats. Mildly sweet and chewy with a fresh baked flavor it’s a great accompaniment with green chai or a health drink like cold veggie juice.

Each cookie is individually foil sealed and the entire pack is an enchanting mauve. The taste and presentation are appealing to both kids and adults.

A truly healthy and tasty way to say Good Morning.

About the Author – Dr.Mrs.Monika (Chitnis) Tandon – who resides in Mumbai, India

Reviews, research, ratings…all invaluable tools for a working mom who wants to keep up with all that’s healthy, tasty and best for her family. That’s what keeps me going too and adds fun to all my food cooked as a Monday morning tiffin or as a weekend treat. Travel trips with overnighters and client meetings and family vacations are all fun with my meticulously researched itineraries and DSLR. Hope you enjoy my two bits in ink…Writing straight from me to you, Monika.

*With thanks to Britannia,India and Madison PR for the invite and sending a sample. No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Häagen-Dazs Limited Edition Christmas ice cream cake – Le Village

December 18, 2014 by manjirichitnis Leave a Comment

Each year, the Christmas Häagen-Dazs ice cream cake is a new gourmand creation which unites the beauty of design with the succulence of ingredients. For this 7th edition, Häagen-Dazs has sought Nendo – a Japanese designer whose powerful imagination is combined with the simplicity of lines. Nendo’s technical excellence matches the poetry in his creations. Le Village instantly brings back memories of New Year parties, the magic of Christmas, and the fragility of woken dreams. Between marvellous fairy tales and enchanted reality, the Village brings together adults and children around the same desire for sharing.

Of the two versions of Le Village created (pink or chocolate houses), I was sent one of the Le Village cakes as a beautiful early Christmas present – one with pink houses – talk about getting an ‘inside scoop’ !!

A frozen wonderland with a sleek design.

Each Le Village creation both pink and chocolate contains a delicious original recipe, one enhancing the iconic flavours from Häagen-Dazs (Macadamia Nut Brittle and Dulche de Leche), and the other completely original with a new limited edition flavour ( Vanilla and florentine ).

To the excellency of its ice cream, Häagen-Dazs adds another ingredient to sublimate its recipes: chocolate. In fact, the houses themselves are made of milk or white chocolate and filled with fudge sauce and caramelized hazelnuts . They are then delicately dusted with icing sugar, like freshly fallen snow on the rooftops.

I took this beautiful cake to my friends place at a Pre-Christmas lunch party – sharing only made this treat sweeter and more special… 🙂

Christmas is a time for generosity; for large tables, the Village can be expanded at the wish of Nendo who, in a final gesture of great inspiration, created a small bridge out of chocolate, which allows the two different villages to be joined together. So everyone has the chance to (re)create their own Village, a purely indulgent creation with timeless elegance.

You too can discover pure indulgence and share this very special festive delight with your loved ones on Christmas day, but there are only TEN Le Village Limited Edition Christmas ice cream cakes available to buy from the Häagen-Dazs Leicester Square store for the whole of Britain! Will YOU be one of the 10 LUCKY people across BRITAIN sharing this lovely cake for Christmas ?

A generous helping of festive delight!

*With thanks to Häagen-Dazs and the PR team for sending this beautiful early Christmas present. No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own

Cooking with WORLD FOODS at the School of Wok and WORLD FOODS Giveaway – CLOSED

December 16, 2014 by manjirichitnis 11 Comments

Cooking out of jar is something we resort to only when we are really hard pressed for time or in a situation when we simply do have access to fresh ingredients, but there are few jarred sauces that defy this belief and World Foods sauces I think deserve to be one of those. The reason I say this thank to a really well planned and executed cookery class at the School of Wok courtesy WORLDFOODS and expertly conducted by Head Chef at School of Wok Jeremy Wong.

WORLDFOODS produces a range of seven ready-made sauces totaling 51 variations in all with tantalising Asian dipping sauces, pastes, noodle sauces, stir-fry, cooking sauces, marinades, chutneys and salad dressings . The best bit is that they do not use preservatives and artificial flavorings. AND their products are food allergens free, trans-fat free and gluten free with no artificial preservatives, coloring or flavouring. The aim being to produce and maintain a range of “clean” products that are suitable for Vegetarians, Vegans and Celiacs.

Once we had a brief introduction from Jeremy, we were each asked to pick a partner to cook with and since I was going to be eating the duck and Nayna is a vegetarian we picked other partners and Fiona and me started working on the ingredients.

Jeremy showed us some really amazing knife skills and we sliced a pepper like I’ve never done before using a rather huge cleaver imported straight from the Far East. In spite of both Fiona and me still having wrists in bad shape we managed this bit smoothly thanks to picking up some basic techniques that Chef Jeremy very lucidly explained.

The mention of Panang Curry duck with Thai basil stir fry made my mouth water. On the menu was a also a Masaman roast poussin and for the vegetarians similar dishes using the same WORLDFOODS sauces but with aubergine replacing the duck and delicious and cute squash used in place of poussin. I love paneer and the squash was stuffed with paneer – I felt slightly greedy especially when I saw the beautiful roast squash was taken out of the oven – turning a visible shade of green (with envy – which scared Fiona a little and Nayna a lot 😉 !). The vegetarians also made Rendang tacos.

After the veggie chopping when we started cooking I was really impressed with the huge portion of duck that we were going to cook and it watching the duck sizzle and ooze its fat and juices on the pan made my tummy rumble in anticipation of a fab meal.

What happened next was the most interesting part of the evening – we learnt some cool wok handling skills and the basics of how to get a stir fry going, I even managed to get a really cool video of Jeremy giving us some amazing tips – why not head over to my Instagram feed and watch the video now?!)

After our cooking session we sat down to a delicious meal and really enjoyed the the taste of the dishes – fresh and full of flavour – nothing that you will expect coming out of a jar – ever! The Lemon drizzle cake made with WORLDFOODS lemongrass paste had a beautiful fluffy and light texture and was irresistibly yummy. I am not a fan of traditional lemon drizzle cakes and find the sharp citrusy taste overwhelming but the milder lemon grass was a very welcome taste for me and I really think that this is going to be my favourite not so secret ingredient for my future bakes!

With minimal prep done for us, I picked up some excellent knife skills and cookery tips, ate some gorgeous Asian Fusion food and spent a very pleasant evening in the company of some old food blogger friends and met some more really lovely bloggers. The most important part was the superb time management by Jeremy and his efficient in house chef.

WORLDFOODS have kindly agreed to give ONE lucky reader a selection of 5 delicious sauces to experiment with so you too can create asian fusion foods using natural ingredients in the comfort of your own home.

How to enter the WORLDFOODS Asian Fusion Flavour Sauces Giveaway with sliceoffme blog:

How to enter the giveaway:

You too can WIN 5 delicious sauces from the WORLDFOODS range, all you have to do is :

Follow me on twitter – @manjirichitnis
Tweet out the following – #WORLDFOODS #WIN @fusiontasteteam sauces with @manjirichitnis, to enter #GIVEAWAY head to sliceoffme blog bit.ly/16oX4oj
Leave a comment below telling me what is your favourite asian dish and your facebook name used to like my FB page. I will find you on twitter via the hashtag so it’s not required for you to mention your twitter handle in the comments. Do not share your email id in the comments please.

Please have a read through the Terms and Conditions below:

Winner will be picked using Random Number Generator.
Deadline for entering this contest is 5th January’ 2015 midnight GMT.
Entry is open only to residents of the U.K except Scotland and Ireland.
All entrants must be 18 years old and above.
ONE lucky winner will be chosen using random number generator.
The giveaway prize is as mentioned in the post. Neither WORLDFOODS, nor I am liable for any damage of products and / or contents in transit.
Please allow a minimum of 25 days for delivery of the prize, which may reach earlier or later. The sauces will be sent directly by WORLDFOODS.
The prize is as stated: no cash alternatives are available.
I retain the right to DISQUALIFY any entrant who do not complete all the 3 steps mentioned above.
The winner will be notified on 6th January’ 2015 on Twitter by me and here on my blog post. I shall tag the winner on Twitter via their twitter id. If you are declared as the winner you agree to allow me and Knorr to contact you via email id to arrange for the goody bag to be sent out to you.
If the winner failS to respond by 8th January’ 2015 then another winner will be chosen via Random Number Generator.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE LUCKY WINNER WHO HAS WON 5 DELICIOUS WORLDFOODS Asian Fusion Flavour Sauces

Sarah Davies @haonharas

*With thanks to WORLDFOODS and the PR team for arranging the fabulous sauces for my giveaway and inviting me for the event. A special thank you to School of Wok and Jeremy for his time, generosity and teaching me some cool skills . No monetary compensation was offered for a positive review. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own