New in the Kitchen

It’s great to try out new products in the kitchen, here’s what I’ve been trying this month.Tyrrells Poshcorn

I love the packaging on the Tyrrells Poshcorn and it’s not all style over substance either. I tried the Sweet and Salt, Lightly Salted, Coconut Caramel and Lemon Cupcake. I think the sweet and salt was my favourite (it always is!) but I loved the combination of caramel and coconut. I wouldn’t normally go for lemon cupcake flavour but after having tried it I really liked it; citrusy, sweet and slightly tangy this flavour was really different and enjoyable. I’ll be looking for some other interesting flavours to try when I’m out and about. It was really nice to have something other than crisps to have as a snack with my lunch too and I was pleasantly surprised at the (low) calorie count on all the flavours. Almost guilt free!

Scan Swedish Meatballs

A shortcut in the kitchen is always welcome in my house in a busy week. I was looking forward to trying the Scan meatballs as they are additive free. I tried them with a classic tomato sauce, I fried them first then added them to the sauce, and really liked it, but they are at their best served Swedish style. I love Swedish meatballs, chips and plenty of thick sauce (I think we all know where I’m talking about) but I had no idea how easy it is to make at home! I cooked the chips and meatballs in the oven while I made the simplest ‘gravy’ in the world out of a basic roux but instead of adding milk I added beef stock. Easy as that! And a great, tasty Thursday night comfort dinner. For me to be able to make a small amount of meatballs it’s quite a challenge. I don’t have a freezer so I don’t tend to buy bigger packs of mince and freeze the rest and my butcher can’t mince the small amounts I need so for me, this are an ideal solution.

Corkers Crisps

How fun is the box that the crisps came in?! There were plenty of flavours for me to try: Sea Salt, Salt and Black Pepper, Sea Salt and Cider Vinegar, Red Leicester and Caramelised Onion, Sweet Thai Chilli, Pork Sausage and English Mustard, Gressingham Duck and Hoisin. All the Corkers crisps are made on their family farm in Cambridgeshire and are gently fried in sunflower oil. They are slightly thicker than ‘standard’ crisps that you can get so you get a good crunch. I enjoyed all the flavours that I tried but I particularly liked the Salt and Black Pepper, a real classic flavour and their slight twist on traditional cheese and onion. I have seen them for sale in a few pubs, I reckon the Sweet Thai Chilli would be cracking with a beer in a sunny pub garden.

Sibberi Birch Water

Birch water is something I have wanted to try making myself but I lack the time organisation and tree tools needed to be able to. Luckily Sibberi have made some and I was able to try something I’ve wanted to try for ages. I really like the glass bottles, white metal lids and clear labels. I loved the taste of the birch water; so clean and refreshing but much more interesting than water. With no added sugars, flavours or anything I think this is a really thirst quenching drink. I’m not sure you’re meant to try adding alcohol to it, but, when I ran out of tonic (heaven forefend that ever happens again) I tried a gin, birch water and cucumber. Delicious it was too on a summer evening out in the garden. P.S. they have just launched these in plastic bottles too!

Thank you to Tyrrells, Corkers, Scan and Sibberi for the samples. All opinions expressed are my own.