Blog - All That I'm Eating

Turl Street Kitchen Oxford and Quandoo

April 29, 2015 By All That I'm Eating 6 Comments

This was a gifted meal.

I like heading to Oxford for a day out; it’s not too far away and there are plenty of good places to eat and drink. I don’t know it terribly well so always tend to head to the areas I know rather than spending the day seeking out somewhere new. I recently used Quandoo for the first time to find somewhere to eat in Oxford; there were so many places I hadn’t heard of it was a bit of a job to choose where to go! Turl Street Kitchen sounded like my kind of food so I booked it online and went the next day. read more

Wild Garlic Bread

April 25, 2015 By All That I'm Eating 12 Comments

If you fancy going out and trying your hand at foraging there isn’t much of a better time to start than now. Wild garlic is one of the best things to look for as it’s so distinctive; you smell it before you see it, the leaf is fairly specific and if you’re still not sure you can tear the leaves and do an additional sniff test before you start taking it home. I fancied my hand at baking some Wild Garlic Bread, sort of tear and share style, so off I sauntered to my favourite wild garlic spot to get picking. read more

Attempting Rhubarb Caviar

April 22, 2015 By All That I'm Eating 6 Comments

You may already know this, but, I studied Food Science at University. Think molecular gastronomy meets extreme chemistry with a sprinkling of maths and you’re about there. I enjoyed it immensely. All the tests and experiments that you see on the TV are familiar to me and if there’s something I don’t know about food poisoning it’s not worth knowing. Imagine what a joy it is to sit next to me at a formal dinner, “I wouldn’t take that from the buffet if I were you, there’s no guarantee it’s stayed out of the danger zone”. I have all the fun… read more

Riverford Recipe Box Review

April 17, 2015 By All That I'm Eating 5 Comments

There was another recipe box in the house a few weeks ago, this time from organic vegetable box company Riverford. I do get their veg boxes regularly so I was really looking forward to trying out the recipe boxes and giving some of their other ingredients a try. Because I get deliveries of veg from Riverford already the recipe box was delivered about 6.30am and was waiting on my doorstep in the morning; meaning I could get it all sorted and in the fridge before I went to work. Always good to start the day knowing what you’re having for dinner. read more

Lentil and Black Bean Chilli

April 12, 2015 By All That I'm Eating 16 Comments

I’ve never much been a fan of chilli cone carne; I’ll eat it but usually it’s a bit harsh and acidic for me because of the tinned tomatoes and I’m not that keen on kidney beans. However, I love the principal of it; plenty of chilli, spice and flavour and I’ve been working on my own version for a while. I think I’ve cracked it. My Lentil and Black Bean Chilli has all the same flavour but none of the meat; I promise, you won’t miss the minced beef at all. I’ve said this is enough for four but actually it’s probably enough for six and it’s amazing with homemade guacamole and plenty of rice. read more

Review: The Cheese Market

April 7, 2015 By All That I'm Eating 6 Comments

Any excuse to eat cheese is fine by me. I love the variety of cheese that’s available in Britain (and from across the World) and some cheeses are more suited to certain applications than others. At least I think so. For example I prefer mozzarella when it’s been cooked and has those little brown spots on the top (but I absolutely love a caprese salad!) and I would rather have Camembert cooked than on a cheese board. The Cheese Market got in touch to see if I would like to try out one of their cheese boxes; like I said, any excuse. read more

White Chocolate Easter Egg Nests

April 3, 2015 By All That I'm Eating 7 Comments

I don’t think a bit of accuracy does anyone any harm and I find myself slightly troubled each Easter as I see many chocolate nests filled with standard size chocolate mini eggs. Not only does it look like an ostrich has laid several eggs in a blackbird’s nest you can only fit three maximum in each nest which doesn’t feel very generous. Now I know these aren’t used for educational purposes and are purely for chocolate enjoyment but I couldn’t bring myself to make something that was so proportionally incorrect. Thank heavens, then, that I found some micro chocolate eggs. read more

Quick Vegetable Box Recipes

March 29, 2015 By All That I'm Eating 6 Comments

I regularly get a vegetable box delivered for a few reasons: I like that I have to use what I receive which means I get more variety than I probably would otherwise and there’s only so many times you can make mushroom risotto so I find myself trying out new recipes to use the vegetables. Grown With Love got in touch to see if I would like to try out some of their veg so I was looking forward to getting stuck in.

The vegetables that came from Grown With Love were very nice, they were all prepared which is something that I never buy normally. Considering they were prepared I was impressed with the shelf life of the veg and that the texture remained good. I received: butternut squash and sweet potato mix (chopped 50:50), butternut squash (peeled and deseeded), tenderstem broccoli (in bags and some that came with asparagus too), sweetcorn (some with garlic butter, some without) and sweet potato wedges. read more

Deli at Home Review

March 24, 2015 By All That I'm Eating 9 Comments

I’ve tried out a few different recipe boxes now and I really enjoy sampling new ones; I like the variety and diversity of recipes and it gives me an opportunity to cook things that I haven’t tried before. The most recent box to arrive in my kitchen was one from Deli at Home. The three recipes I chose to try were: Chicken Bhuna Gosht, Tonkatsu Pork and Mushroom Stroganoff.

I really liked that all the ingredients were sent in individual paper bags (for the ambient ones) and plastic bags (for chilled) that I could just put straight in the fridge when it arrived. It made it really easy to grab the two bags and get cooking. It was also a nice touch that they sent a box of pistachio biscuits with the box as a little sweet treat after the meal. read more

The Elephant at The Market Newbury

March 20, 2015 By All That I'm Eating 3 Comments

This was a gifted meal.

I’m not sure how many of you lovely readers of my blog are in or around Newbury but I think I speak for everyone when I say that (finally) it seems as if Newbury’s culinary scene is improving. We had a few nice restaurants in the town centre, (The Square and Petit Square spring to mind but both now closed), the family run Italian (Valle D’Oro) and many country pubs but we went through pretty slim pickings in Newbury town centre for some time.

It seems now however that times are a changing and we have new places in Newbury in which to dine (chain restaurants I’m not looking at you). Very exciting. We have Brebis for French cuisine, The Newbury is in the Michelin guide, The Lock Stock and Barrel has had a facelift and we have the newly opened Elephant at The Market. read more