All That I'm Eating

Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.

Cider making at Ciderniks

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bags of apples

I prefer cider in either hot weather so I can have it nice and cold, or when it’s cold outside so I can have it nice and warm. How do you prefer yours? There seems to have been much more interest recently in cider with lots of new brands popping up so it was great to have a chance to see behind the scenes with a cider maker himself. Ciderniks is a small cider maker based in Kintbury and Nick opened up his cider making empire for the curious to have a look around.

Nick’s garden was absolutely full of bags of apples; some from here, some from there but he knew where each bag had come from. It was remarkable how many apples he already had with the promise of more on the way. It was also very surprising how much juice each bag will give you; I thought it would have been a lot less. read more

Baketopia – an edible pop up to launch National Baking Week

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Baketopia mushrooms
It’s all about baking at the moment. The Great British Bake Off has taken over our Tuesday evenings and I for one have felt the need to bake more so than usual. National Baking Week starts on Monday (the 14th to 20th October 2013) and Baketopia was a fantastic way to kick it off. The Tattooed Bakers, Nevie Pie Cakes, Caking It, Cake Revolution and Conjurer’s Kitchen are some of the people who contributed to Baketopia which is also supported by John Whaite, winner of GBBO 2012.  

The event is being held in Kingly Court (off Carnaby Street in London) and the last day you can gorge yourself on all manner of sweet treats is 12th October. It is quite a thing to be seen, it’s hard to believe that almost everything is edible. I hope my pictures can get across how realistic some of the bakes were.

 Above (clockwise from the top) is the edible meadow; covered in brightly coloured macarons and biscuits. The unicorn was fantastic and it seemed such a shame to cut into it (although it was made of rainbow cake so well worth a slice) and The Tattooed Bakers told me it took around 120 hours to put together. I can’t imagine where I would even start.
I loved the ridiculously realistic looking slug on top of the rather magical looking mushrooms. Even though I know it’s not actually a slug, I wasn’t tempted to try it! The meringue wigwam was so bright and colourful and the pistachio meringue I tried was delicious. read more

Review: Puro Coffee

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Puro coffee selection
Although more of a tea drinker I do enjoy a good coffee. It has to be ‘my’ perfect coffee though; strong, not too bitter and creamy. It’s surprisingly hard to find my ideal coffee so I tend to create something reasonable at home. So when Puro coffee got in touch to see if I wanted to sample some of their coffee I thought it was a great excuse to hone my coffee making skills.

I have to admit that I had never heard of Puro until they got in touch. That’s because you normally find their coffee in Gourmet Burger Kitchen or The National Trust. Puro have a great attitude towards the environment and the rainforests and all their coffee is fair trade and organic. For every cup of coffee sold money goes back into protecting the rainforests in South America. 

We weren’t sure which coffee to try first so we went with Puro Fuerte. This is a 50:50 blend of Arabica and Robusta coffee beans from Guatamala, Peru, Honduras and Congo. I thought this one had a deep coffee flavour that was smooth and rich. This blend was my favourite of the three. read more

Sticky Toffee and Date Cake from Baked In

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sticky toffee and date cake with toffee sauce and cream
Back in July I was at a food festival and got talking to a company called Baked In. They sell the dried ingredients you need to make a cake, all pre-weighed and ready to go. They asked me if I’d like to give one of their mixes a try, the sticky toffee and date was calling out to me so I grabbed a bag and headed off looking forward to putting on my apron. Since then we have had some very lovely hot weather and baking on a hot day wasn’t appealing to me; I’d much rather be outside in the sun. Last week however there was a rainy day last week which was the perfect time to get baking!

Ingredients

You will need (for one finished cake):

  • 1 sticky toffee and date cake mix
  • 1 egg
  • 125g unsalted butter
  • 175ml boiling water

Method

The instructions were really easy to follow and the kit contained everything including a butter measurer, a skewer to test doneness and baking paper. It smells lovely when you open the bag too thanks to the fresh vanilla in the sugar.

You start by greasing and lining a 20cm x 20cm tin and preheating the oven. The pre-weighed dates are mixed with boiling water to soften them. The sugar is mixed with butter before the flour is added. The egg and date mix is added after that. I’ve not made a cake with that method before but it worked a treat and was really easy to mix up. This goes into the oven for around 30 minutes. read more

Steak, Chips and Mushrooms with Maille Pepper Sauce

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Is it just me that is prone to insatiable food cravings? When I get one I am unsatisfied (and sometimes unapproachable) until I have devoured my wanted meal. It could be cheesecake, fizzy cola bottles or pizza but most recently I had a desire for steak and I wasn’t going to stop until I’d eaten one. It can be a little awkward in some situations to try and explain to those near you that the reason you are frowning, grumpy and on edge is because you desperately need some smoky bacon crisps. I had my mind set on a juicy steak with peppercorn sauce and thank goodness that I only had to wait a few days to fulfil this particular culinary requirement. Any longer and I’d have probably alienated all my friends. read more

Coffee and Chocolate Shortbread

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chocolate and coffee shortbread
I have been meaning to make some shortbread for a while but things just seem to get in the way and before I know it I’m tucked up in bed thinking, “Tomorrow. Tomorrow will be shortbread day”, it seemed to be a never ending cycle. However many things happen I always try to make time to bake a biscuit; there’s nothing else that can fill the void like making a homemade treat. To bring about my biscuit making I set about creating a coffee chocolate shortbread.

Kopi sent me some coffee and instead of making a mug of coffee and telling you about it I wanted to mix it up in something tasty! I like the idea of Kopi coffee; you sign up and get a different coffee sent to you each month. I was sent Sumatra Aceh Organic and it was deep and smooth with a little hint of bitterness but not too much. It formed a distinct crema layer on top with no effort on my part; I’ve been told a good crema is the sign of a good coffee. 

Ingredients

You will need (for 12 fingers):
  • 180g plain flour
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 150g softened butter
  • 40g dark chocolate, finely chopped
  • 10g ground coffee

Method

Preheat your oven to 160C and grease a baking dish; I’ve used round, square and rectangular for this mixture before and all work well. read more

Rhubarb, Rosehip and Lime Fizz

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I’m not sure if you’ve ever been in the designated driver situation where you end up at a soiree and the host assumes that the only guests not drinking alcohol are children? As much as I like Um Bongo it’s always a little embarrassing to reach the end of the carton and make that loud, conspicuous slurping noise while in the middle of a conversation. Down with this I say and hooray for the now bursting market that is adult soft drinks and cordials. I’m not sure why but all the ready-made ‘adult’ soft drinks available used to be either apple orientated or have grape juice in. I am really not a fan of grape juice; maybe because it tastes artificial to me and not at all like grapes. Not to worry though as this Rhubarb, Rosehip and Lime Fizz is a corker of a soft drink.  read more

Blackcurrant and Liquorice Lemonade

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blackcurrant liquorice and lemonade
The next beverage in my adventures with Mr Fitzpatricks cordials is Blackcurrant and Liquorice Lemonade. The smell of this cordial makes me think of old sweet shops. I love blackcurrant; it’s my flavour of choice for the last sweet in the bag. Liquorice I’m pretty unfussy about as I don’t mind if it’s there and I don’t mind if it’s not. The cordial smells rich, dark and mysterious so I thought it would be an idea to mix it with something sharp and fizzy.

Ingredients

You will need (per glass):

  • Mr Fitzpatricks Blackcurrant and Liquorice Cordial
  • Lemonade
  • Fresh lemon juice

Method

This isn’t a complicated one to make but again it’s all about personal preferences. Add some cordial to the glass as much or as little as you like then top up with lemonade. Squeeze in a few drops fresh lemon juice to give it some tang.

I think the colour is fantastic; a lovely dark purpley brown. The fresh lemon juice added a freshness to cut through the rich liquorice and distinctive blackcurrant. I am a fan of a bit of fizz too so I really liked this flavour combination. This is very much an evening drink; a long one to have with a book or a good film.
Thanks to Mr Fitzpatricks for the samples. All opinions expressed are my own. read more

Sloe Gin and Tonic with Elderflower and Apple

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sloe gin and elderflower
Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while will know about my penchant for sloe gin. I’m not sure what it is about infusing your own alcohol that I like so much. Perhaps it’s the romantic idea of foraging for food, connecting with the land and being able to puff out your chest in pride when you’ve picked a kilo of berries. It could be to do with the fact that I like gin. Either way, my second post about drinks looks at mixing up sloe gin with some classic British flavours.

Ingredients

You will need (per glass):

  • 50ml sloe gin (to make your own see recipe here)
  • 1/2 cap full Mr Fitzpatricks Elderflower and Bramley Apple Cordial
  • Tonic
  • Juice 1 lime
  • Caster sugar

Method

I was going the whole hog with this one, sugar crusting on the edge and everything. It’s easier to make the cocktail in another receptacle and then pour it into the sugar encrusted glass; much less risk of dribbling and dissolving. Start by squeezing the lime juice onto a small plate and putting a thin layer of caster sugar on another plate. Dip the rim of each glass into the lime juice and then into the sugar so you form a rather pretty (sweet and sour) edge to the glass. Mix together the sloe gin, cordial and tonic in a jug and then pour into the prepared glasses. read more

Hot Blood Tonic with Orange

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hot blood tonic and orange
One of my favourite things to make is drinks. They are so simple and there is a world of flavours and so many combinations to choose from. I recently met a great company called Mr Fitzpatricks who make a range of interesting cordials. To make the most of their intriguing flavours I am doing a series of posts all about drinks. The first of four posts is about the curiously named Blood Tonic. It’s got a fantastic deep red colour and it smells of fruit and herbs. I’ve been a bit under the weather recently (and feeling terribly sorry for myself) so this was sure to cheer me up.

Ingredients

You will need (per glass):

  • Blood Tonic
  • Hot water
  • 1 small orange

Method

With the exception of water (and even then maybe not) people are very particular about how they like their beverages; strong, hot, milk in after and many other variations can enhance or upset our enjoyment of a drink. When it comes to making this concoction it is all about how strong you like it. For this unbelievably simple drink just dilute the Blood Tonic with hot water, squeeze in a little orange juice and then top with a slice of orange. read more

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