New in the kitchen August

I know it’s technically September now and I’m slightly delayed in posting this but better late than never! I had all sorts of different things arrive on the ATIE kitchen table in August; burgers, soup, yoghurt and gin. All from some fab British companies. Take a look at what was new in the kitchen in August.

Mash Direct Vegetable Burgers
Mash Direct are based in County Down making all sorts of vegetable and potato products using older heritage varieties of veg (which they grow on their farm) in their dishes. I tried out their Vegetable Burgers with Cabbage; bread crumbed mash filled with broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, cabbage and parsnip.
I was really surprised how fresh the vegetables tasted and the balance of flavours was lovely. I cooked mine in the oven but you can also grill or BBQ them according to the pack; served in a nice fresh roll with mayonnaise they were surprisingly filling. I would definitely look out for these again as well as the other products they make.

Rachel’s Organic Yogurt
I’ve been trying out the new Rachel’s Inspirations Yogurts: Apple & Butterscotch and Cherry & Dark Chocolate. I normally have yogurt for breakfast with fruit or granola so these two flavours have given a bit of welcome variety to my mornings. They sound more luxurious and indulgent than your ‘standard’ yogurt flavours so I felt like I was having a proper treat.
The balance of flavours in both is good; slightly tart fruit and sweetness from butterscotch or chocolate. These yogurts have also served me well when I’ve craved something sweet after dinner as a couple of spoonfuls have stopped me reaching for the biscuit tin! I also got hold of some of their limited edition Kiwi & Lime Yogurt which has been going down a treat with fresh fruit in the morning.

Glorious! soups
I think the packaging on the Glorious! soups is great and the names of the soups sound really enticing: San Antonio Fiesta, Mumbai Madness and Louisiana Voo Doo to name a few. I love taking soup to work but I don’t always have time to make it myself. I like that these soups are enough for me to get two servings from each and they use the same ingredients that I would if I had made it.
I’ve tried out a few of them and my favourite flavours so far are the San Antonia Fiesta; a lovely blend of mixed beans and rice with a good spicy kick, and the Mumbai Madness which is a delicious dahl.

Rock Rose Gin
First of all I think this gin has a very lovely name, made by the Dunnet Bay Distillers, the most northern gin distillery in Britain. I really like that their gin will vary year on year depending on the weather which determines the amount and quality of the botanicals they use; that it’s not always going to be the same is rather charming. Since I received the gin to try it has been awarded three stars at this year’s Great Taste Awards and was named as one of the Guild of Fine Food’s Top 50 products; it doesn’t get much better than that!
A little sprig of rosemary was sent with the gin (along with some Fever Tree tonic) to add to a G&T and it was lovely; something I haven’t tried before. I loved the zestiness and smoothness of this gin and I really like the look of it too. I can see why it reached the Top 50 list!

Thank you to Mash Direct, Rachel’s, Glorious! and Rock Rose for the samples. All opinions expressed are my own.