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January 23rd, 2013
79 notes
817. Oak-Smoked Back Bacon BACON. I could pretty much leave my review as that, but I guess I should say a little more. This actually isn’t the kind of bacon I would normally buy at all. I always get streaky, because I like it when it’s properly crunchy, and I often get unsmoked too, but saying that, bacon is bacon, and this was still delicious. I decided to use it for a really quick dinner tart. Take 2 sheets of filo pastry, cut them in half and put them on top of one another so it’s 4 thick, and approximately a square. Spread a circular part in the middle with cranberry sauce, top that with sliced brie, and then top that which chopped just-cooked bacon (make sure the bacon is cooked to a point of being edible, but not too crispy as it’ll cook more in the oven). Fold the filo in at the sides, brush with a little melted butter, and bake for about 15 minutes. I served mine with salad, not that you can see much of it from underneath the mega tart.  817 down, 979 to go

817. Oak-Smoked Back Bacon

BACON.

I could pretty much leave my review as that, but I guess I should say a little more. This actually isn’t the kind of bacon I would normally buy at all. I always get streaky, because I like it when it’s properly crunchy, and I often get unsmoked too, but saying that, bacon is bacon, and this was still delicious. I decided to use it for a really quick dinner tart. Take 2 sheets of filo pastry, cut them in half and put them on top of one another so it’s 4 thick, and approximately a square. Spread a circular part in the middle with cranberry sauce, top that with sliced brie, and then top that which chopped just-cooked bacon (make sure the bacon is cooked to a point of being edible, but not too crispy as it’ll cook more in the oven). Fold the filo in at the sides, brush with a little melted butter, and bake for about 15 minutes. I served mine with salad, not that you can see much of it from underneath the mega tart. 

817 down, 979 to go

Tags: bacon meat british food food 1796

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December 7th, 2012
115 notes
808. Damson Jam I’ll start this off by saying I’m not a huge jam fan. I know that makes me a big fat weirdo, because who the hell doesn’t like sweet, sticky, fruit? But it’s true. I can eat it as a filling in a cake, but I’d never have it in a sandwich or on toast, unless I needed to try it for the list of course. For jam though, this was quite nice (a compelling compliment I know!). It wasn’t overly sweet, and it had plenty of chunks of real fruit in it. I’m not a sudden convert though; I’m still just not a jam fan. 808 down, 988 to go

808. Damson Jam

I’ll start this off by saying I’m not a huge jam fan. I know that makes me a big fat weirdo, because who the hell doesn’t like sweet, sticky, fruit? But it’s true. I can eat it as a filling in a cake, but I’d never have it in a sandwich or on toast, unless I needed to try it for the list of course.

For jam though, this was quite nice (a compelling compliment I know!). It wasn’t overly sweet, and it had plenty of chunks of real fruit in it. I’m not a sudden convert though; I’m still just not a jam fan.

808 down, 988 to go

Tags: jam breakfast food british food 1796

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November 21st, 2012
21 notes
800. Gubbeen A little while ago I went to the Cardiff British Cheese Festival. I went last year too and it was great so we decided to had to visit again. Basically there is a huge marquee filled with hundreds of British cheeses you can try, another smaller marquee with other local produce to try and buy, and a third marquee which is a bar selling lots of local ales and ciders. There was also a hog roast stand. You can’t really beat a hog roast, especially when I ask nicely (read: be that annoying customer) so that I can get loads of the blackened crispy bits of meat from the outside. YUM. Anyway, I’m supposed to be talking about cheese. It’s just ever so easy to get sidetracked when thinking about moist, crunchy, savoury, roasted meat… Did I tell you we’re having a hog roast for my work Christmas party? OMG am I excited about it. Oh, but yes, cheese. Gubbeen is actually an Irish cheese. All this talk of pork seems to have dropped all of the memories of the actual flavour clear out of my head, but I do remember it was really nice! 801. Heather Honey In the local produce tent, there was a stand selling a range of honeys. I actually bought a single malt whisky variety which is amazing - literally thick set honey with just a touch of whisky mixed in. It’s so good. I also tried the heather honey though, and you could definitely taste the slightly herbal floral flavour that the heather gave to it. One of my favourite things about honey is that you actually can tell the difference between the flowers it has been made from. 802. Savory The third and final thing I tried at the festival was savory, which is a herb. It probably makes me sound like a moron, but when I tried it I was really surprised at how savoury the flavour actually was. This is definitely a case of the name accurately describing the food!  802 down, 994 to go

800. Gubbeen

A little while ago I went to the Cardiff British Cheese Festival. I went last year too and it was great so we decided to had to visit again. Basically there is a huge marquee filled with hundreds of British cheeses you can try, another smaller marquee with other local produce to try and buy, and a third marquee which is a bar selling lots of local ales and ciders. There was also a hog roast stand. You can’t really beat a hog roast, especially when I ask nicely (read: be that annoying customer) so that I can get loads of the blackened crispy bits of meat from the outside. YUM.

Anyway, I’m supposed to be talking about cheese. It’s just ever so easy to get sidetracked when thinking about moist, crunchy, savoury, roasted meat… Did I tell you we’re having a hog roast for my work Christmas party? OMG am I excited about it.

Oh, but yes, cheese. Gubbeen is actually an Irish cheese. All this talk of pork seems to have dropped all of the memories of the actual flavour clear out of my head, but I do remember it was really nice!

801. Heather Honey

In the local produce tent, there was a stand selling a range of honeys. I actually bought a single malt whisky variety which is amazing - literally thick set honey with just a touch of whisky mixed in. It’s so good. I also tried the heather honey though, and you could definitely taste the slightly herbal floral flavour that the heather gave to it. One of my favourite things about honey is that you actually can tell the difference between the flowers it has been made from.

802. Savory

The third and final thing I tried at the festival was savory, which is a herb. It probably makes me sound like a moron, but when I tried it I was really surprised at how savoury the flavour actually was. This is definitely a case of the name accurately describing the food! 

802 down, 994 to go

Tags: cheese british food honey food 1796

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October 5th, 2012
23 notes
790. Tellicherry Peppercorn I’m sure it will come as no surprise to anyone that I don’t like doing the dishes. In fact, does anyone like doing the dishes? Probably not. So therefore I always like meals I can make it one pan as then there is only one pan to wash!  This was an all-in-one pot roast pork type thing. I started a joint of pork off with a little cider in the pan so it could get all steamy and juicy, and then popped potatoes at one end of the pan and carrots, celery, apples, and onions at the other end of the pan when it had about 45 minutes to go. I sprinkled the whole lot with smoked sea salt and a TON of ground tellicherry peppercorns, which are basically just a very nice variety of black pepper.  I served it all up with a little (read: swimming pool of) gravy and very tasty it was indeed. 790 down, 1006 to go

790. Tellicherry Peppercorn

I’m sure it will come as no surprise to anyone that I don’t like doing the dishes. In fact, does anyone like doing the dishes? Probably not. So therefore I always like meals I can make it one pan as then there is only one pan to wash! 

This was an all-in-one pot roast pork type thing. I started a joint of pork off with a little cider in the pan so it could get all steamy and juicy, and then popped potatoes at one end of the pan and carrots, celery, apples, and onions at the other end of the pan when it had about 45 minutes to go. I sprinkled the whole lot with smoked sea salt and a TON of ground tellicherry peppercorns, which are basically just a very nice variety of black pepper. 

I served it all up with a little (read: swimming pool of) gravy and very tasty it was indeed.

790 down, 1006 to go

Tags: pork roast dinner british food meat dishes food 1796

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October 2nd, 2012
23 notes
786. Yarg I’m getting ever so close to having fewer than 1000 foods left to eat on this food blog, and that makes me ever-so-slightly excited. It’s still rather a lot of foods to eat, but it will be in the 3 figures. Go me! I’m sure I have mentioned it on here before, but this cheese was from Wally’s Delicatessen in Cardiff. Wally’s is a deli/coffee house in one of the old-fashioned arcades here and it is brilliant. I have ticked quite a few things off the list thanks to them and their awesome cheese and charcuterie counters and range of international foods. (I may have also sampled a few of their delicious cakes in the cafe upstairs too). On this occasion I got a chunk of yarg, which is a Cornish hard cheese wrapped in nettle leaves. It has a lovely mild and creamy, but still properly cheesy flavour.  786 down, 1010 to go

786. Yarg

I’m getting ever so close to having fewer than 1000 foods left to eat on this food blog, and that makes me ever-so-slightly excited. It’s still rather a lot of foods to eat, but it will be in the 3 figures. Go me!

I’m sure I have mentioned it on here before, but this cheese was from Wally’s Delicatessen in Cardiff. Wally’s is a deli/coffee house in one of the old-fashioned arcades here and it is brilliant. I have ticked quite a few things off the list thanks to them and their awesome cheese and charcuterie counters and range of international foods. (I may have also sampled a few of their delicious cakes in the cafe upstairs too).

On this occasion I got a chunk of yarg, which is a Cornish hard cheese wrapped in nettle leaves. It has a lovely mild and creamy, but still properly cheesy flavour. 

786 down, 1010 to go

Tags: 1796 british food cheese food cardiff

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September 25th, 2012
154 notes
785. Battenberg Battenberg is a traditional British cake. It is made of 4 almond sponges (2 pink, and 2 yellow), joined together with jam, and all wrapped up in marzipan. It’s like an almondpalooza, which is great for me as I love all things almond and cherry flavoured, but it does make it one of those Marmite, love-it-or-hate-it type foods (it would be my brother’s nightmare food). I ate this whole thing. Not in one go of course, I’m not quite THAT greedy! 785 down, 1011 to go

785. Battenberg

Battenberg is a traditional British cake. It is made of 4 almond sponges (2 pink, and 2 yellow), joined together with jam, and all wrapped up in marzipan. It’s like an almondpalooza, which is great for me as I love all things almond and cherry flavoured, but it does make it one of those Marmite, love-it-or-hate-it type foods (it would be my brother’s nightmare food). I ate this whole thing. Not in one go of course, I’m not quite THAT greedy!

785 down, 1011 to go

Tags: cake baked goods british food food 1796

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September 18th, 2012
56 notes
784. Beef Wellington You know a while back I posted about a rib-eye steak that I had at our local steakhouse? Well we’ve been back twice since, and we’re probably going again this weekend. I can’t help it. It’s just too damn good. On this occasion I went for the beef wellington, which is a fillet steak with a layer of pate and mushrooms all wrapped up in puff pastry. I can never get enough puff pastry; it’s like the single best food in the whole entire world, so that part was awesome. It was pretty delicious all over. My only slight complaint is that the nature of it being baked meant the steak ended up a little more cooked than I would usually go for. It did come with bearnaise sauce though which more than made up for that. Every meal should be served with bearnaise sauce. 784 down, 1012 to go

784. Beef Wellington

You know a while back I posted about a rib-eye steak that I had at our local steakhouse? Well we’ve been back twice since, and we’re probably going again this weekend. I can’t help it. It’s just too damn good. On this occasion I went for the beef wellington, which is a fillet steak with a layer of pate and mushrooms all wrapped up in puff pastry. I can never get enough puff pastry; it’s like the single best food in the whole entire world, so that part was awesome. It was pretty delicious all over. My only slight complaint is that the nature of it being baked meant the steak ended up a little more cooked than I would usually go for. It did come with bearnaise sauce though which more than made up for that. Every meal should be served with bearnaise sauce.

784 down, 1012 to go

Tags: 1796 british food food meat restaurants cardiff

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July 27th, 2012
49 notes
762. Pear Drops Pear drops are a traditional British hard candy. They look like a pear, and taste kind of like a pear, but mostly just like candy. I got them in a bag of mixed hard candies with cola cubes and pineapple chunks and rosy apples. I do like pear drops but they’re actually my least favourite of all the candies in the bag, so I would put any of the others on the list ahead of them. The others are all a bit more tangy so I think they appeal more to my sour-loving sensibilities. 762 down, 1034 to go

762. Pear Drops

Pear drops are a traditional British hard candy. They look like a pear, and taste kind of like a pear, but mostly just like candy. I got them in a bag of mixed hard candies with cola cubes and pineapple chunks and rosy apples. I do like pear drops but they’re actually my least favourite of all the candies in the bag, so I would put any of the others on the list ahead of them. The others are all a bit more tangy so I think they appeal more to my sour-loving sensibilities.

762 down, 1034 to go

Tags: candy sweets food british food 1796

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July 4th, 2012
31 notes
742. Morcilla de Burgos This was my Easter dinner, so it’s going back a little way now. There are very few meals that can beat a proper roast dinner but as I’m usually only cooking for two I normally tend to make very basic versions with just meat, potatoes and veggies. As it was Easter though I thought I’d go all out, so we had roast chicken, roast potatoes, yorkshire puddings, cauliflower cheese, roasted carrots, peas and a stuffing I made with morcilla de burgos. Morcilla is a Spanish version of black pudding (blood sausage) and is really tasty. It worked perfectly in stuffing which I made with half morcilla, half regular sausagemeat plus breadcrumbs and herbs. 743. Smoked Sea Salt I used smoked sea salt to sprinkle on the skin of the chicken. Even though it was just a very slight hint, you absolutely could taste the smoke. I got a big bag of it so I have since been using it in place of regular salt on all kinds of things! 743 down, 1053 to go

742. Morcilla de Burgos

This was my Easter dinner, so it’s going back a little way now. There are very few meals that can beat a proper roast dinner but as I’m usually only cooking for two I normally tend to make very basic versions with just meat, potatoes and veggies. As it was Easter though I thought I’d go all out, so we had roast chicken, roast potatoes, yorkshire puddings, cauliflower cheese, roasted carrots, peas and a stuffing I made with morcilla de burgos. Morcilla is a Spanish version of black pudding (blood sausage) and is really tasty. It worked perfectly in stuffing which I made with half morcilla, half regular sausagemeat plus breadcrumbs and herbs.

743. Smoked Sea Salt

I used smoked sea salt to sprinkle on the skin of the chicken. Even though it was just a very slight hint, you absolutely could taste the smoke. I got a big bag of it so I have since been using it in place of regular salt on all kinds of things!

743 down, 1053 to go

Tags: roast chicken british food spanish food meat dishes food 1796

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May 22nd, 2012
54 notes
715. Mulligatawny Mulligatawny is one of my favourite soups. It’s spicy and chunky and filling and delicious. I think it’s one of those hybrid Indian/British dishes that came about when the empire was still around (like kedgeree). This particular one is with chicken, though you can have it made with other meats too. 715 down, 1081 to go

715. Mulligatawny

Mulligatawny is one of my favourite soups. It’s spicy and chunky and filling and delicious. I think it’s one of those hybrid Indian/British dishes that came about when the empire was still around (like kedgeree). This particular one is with chicken, though you can have it made with other meats too.

715 down, 1081 to go

Tags: soup healthy foods indian food british food food 1796