This month’s round-up is all about fresh ingredients and healthy food. Well, January is the month of resolutions!
Gousto are a London-based firm that delivers recipes and ingredients to customers’ doorsteps so that you can make meals from scratch without worrying that you have everything you need in the cupboards. All ingredients- delivered weekly- are local, seasonal and organic and, as the food arrives pre-measured, have the added benefit of reducing your food waste. I cannot recommend them enough. We tried venison sausages with cabbage, which was so easy to make yet professional enough to make DH suspicious that i had pranged the car and was softening him up. Brother Adam gave a Pork and Stilton dish a whirl (DH is allergic to cheese) and liked the recipe so much he made it again a week later. From a Yorkshireman, that’s praise of the highest order. Learn more at Gousto.co.uk.
Benito’s Hat invited me to supper before Christmas to introduce me to the real flavours of Mexico. Not the heavy Tex-Mex-style food but the much lighter, zestier, utterly divine food from the hands of Chef Felipe Fuentes Cruz who, together with former-lawyer Ben Fordham, have brought the flavours of Mexico to the heart of Soho. Brother Adam and I subsequently took a trip to Benitos Hat Covent Garden for lunch (I paid!). And let me tell you that they do. There is so much flavour, and such a large portion of freshly-cooked rice and guacamole, and beans and filling and, and, and…..The service was quick, the food heavenly and I will be heading back the first chance I get. My mouth is watering just recalling it. Did I mention the Watermelon Margaritas?
Discovery Food hosted the supper club with Ben and Felipe, and kindly gave me a goodie bag to take home. They offer a range of products that help you put a little Mexican zing into your home cooking. TransAtlantic Mom mentions that the Discovery Products aren’t as spicy in the UK as in Scandinavia. Who knew?
Fresh Herbs are a perfect way of adding fresh ingredients to hearty food in the cold of winter. They add flavour and colour and much-needed variety to meals when fresh vegetable choices are often limited. Plus, you can grow them year round in your own kitchen so they don’t have to cost a lot. They very kindly sent me a Mezzaluna- something I have always wanted- to chop my very own herbs up. Keep watch for a couple of recipes using Fresh Herbs coming soon.
Crosse & Blackwell 4 Kids pasta shapes are so quick and easy. My children love the taste and can spend hours fishing out their favourite shapes from their bowls. And I get the satisfaction of knowing that each can is one of your child’s five-a-day. And what could be more appealing for a three-year-old who has been out in the snow than a bowl of ‘Princess Pasta’? Other shapes are available of course. Available from all good supermarkets.
*Disclosure: we have been sent a Gousto sample box, Discovery Food goodie bag & 4Kids pasta shapes for the purposes of this round-up, as well as receiving a mezzaluna and a supper club invitation as mentioned above. All opinions are our own.
Go on! You know you want to tell me what you think!