bottlegreen green tea & elderflower sparkling Presse review

When you are in the wilds of Cornwall ( or any where) with the rolling hills, sheep and the cream teas you need a light refreshing drink. bottle green has selected the finest handpicked elder flowers and combined them with infused green tea and lightly sparkling water to create the prefect summertime drink. Made with only natural ingredients with no added preservatives or sweeteners, bottlegreen green tea & elderflower sparkling presse brings together two traditional summer flavours in an unusual but tasty combination that provides instant refreshment on lazy days in the sunshine or at alfresco parties or from me and my family in a cottage in Cornwall.

Green tea and elderflower have well known benefits such as improved metabolism,healthy skin and a stronger immune system. Pour bottlegreen  & elderflower sparkling presse over ice and it makes the prefect accompaniment to summer feasts such as barbeque's or when sharing tapas with your closest friends and family. Alertantively for something with a little more kick,add a few shots of gin to a jug,add freshly cut limes and top up with the presse to create a delicious refreshing drink.

bottlegreen uses traditional win making methods of production to ensure the new bottlegreen green tea  & elderflower sprakling presse, along with its popular range of cordials and sparkling presses, are clean crisp with the flavours of natural ingredients retained.

bottlegreen green tea & elderflower sprakling presse contains no artifical colours ,flavours  or sweetners and is  available from supermarkets priced from £2.30

This is a pleasant alertnative to wine and its looks as expensive as the £48 bottle of wine I had on holiday !

bottlegreen green tea & elderflower sparkling  presse 

Follow bottlegreen drinks on twitter @bottlegreen and become a fan on facebook http://www.facebook.com/bottlegreen

Patak's Masala Paste Review

So you have the Patak's Tikka Masala Paste:

I then chopped the onions

I measured 70g of Patk's Tikka Masala Paste.

I fried the onion in a little oil.

I added the Pataks Tikka Masala Paste

Then I should of added the chopped tomatoes but guess what Mr T had blooming well forget to buy them. I had left him clear instructions on what do do, when I went to the Post Office while he went to the supermarket to buy.....




1.Chicken.
2.Nan Bread
3. Single cream


I discovered at a crucial stage of my cooking he had not come back with what I had sent him in for...
He came back with the Chicken, Nan Bread, Creme freche ?? and Indian snacks ( I had not asked for Indian snacks)

So I made do with Organic baby plum tomatoes and a squirt of tomato sauce. The tinned tomatoes are made to reduce down and you add the water but as  Mr T had forgotten these I had to make do !

Patkak's pastes are easy to use and adapt as you can well see. So why not make them part of your cupboard's stock items and see what you can create.

Best Indian recipe in the country?

Are you a whizz in the kitchen with a flair for Indian flavours and cooking up outstanding curries?

Patak’s, official sponsor of National Curry Week, is searching the UK for perfect culinary candidates to take part in this year’s Signature Dish awards. The awards, judged by a panel of experts including Patak’s brand ambassador Anjali Pathak, will be split into two categories – traditional and innovative – to search the country for perfect Indian inspired recipes.

So, whether your Indian speciality is a brilliant balti, terrific tikka or something altogether more unexpected, get cooking and enter now!

Entries (full working recipe with a photo of the finished dish) to: National Curry Week, 33 Beresford Avenue, Surbiton, Surrey, KT5 9LH or by email togroveint@aol.com no later than 23 September. 

Good natured salad review

I was given the opportunity to review Good natured salad. I used to run a mile at the though of healthy living but with my weight gain I have to do something after all I want to be around for my son.

I washed the pepper and baby plum tomatoes.

I then chopped the pepper and add both the pepper and tomatoes to some rice and chicken to make a nice healthy crunchy salad.

The peppers and tomatoes cost around £1.60 from ASDA a bit pricey but as its Organic and pesticide free you pay for what you get. I don't grow my own vegetables though I really should start to my lovely friend Jane Willis over at her awe inspiring blog  and her  husband has the most amazing garden  blog.

Well Jane has provided me with a lovely recipe which I shall be using on the remaining vegetables I have left and adding a few myself Organic and pesticide free of course.

Sweet and Sour vegetable stir-fry serves 4

A  selection of  vegetables eg:

150 g sugar snap peas

150g baby sweetcorn, halved

1 bunch spring onions, sliced on the diagonal

1 tbs oil for frying

For the sauce:

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs white wine vinegar

2 rounded tbs tomato purée

Juice of 1 orange

1 rounded tsp cornflour

1 rounded tbs Canderel

100  ml water

Whisk together all the sauce ingredients except the water then gradually blend in the water.

Heat the wok and stir fry the veg until just tender. Add the sauce mixture at the end of cooking, stirring until it comes to the boil and thickens.

Serve with steamed rice as a light lunch. You can make it into a main meal by adding some chicken, tofu or prawns to the stir fry.

Photo Courtesy of Jane Willis

Disclosure (I was provided my vouchers to get The Good Natured Salad Items)

ProCook Glass Kitchen Scales a review

I was lucky enough to be sent some glass Kitchen Scales from ProCook.

Stylish and beautifully simple, these scales feature a clear, integral LED display and have an easy clean, hygienic glass surface. Touch sensitive ,they can weigh up to  5kg / 11 lb and a touch sensitive button selects either metric or imperial. Select 'on/ tare ' to set the scales to zero after each ingredient is added.

Finely tuned for accuracy, Procook Glass Digital Scales come complete with a battery so you can put them to work immediately. Available in white, black and red with rubber feet for stability, they measure 182mm x 203mm x 16mm tall.

Now I used to have a habit of just guessing quantities especially when it came to measuring rice. The rice instructions called for 50g per person. So I put the bowl on the scales press the button to zero and poured the rice in.

150g of brown rice =50g per person

The digital scales made it so easy to ensure that the I measured the correct amount out.

I was able to cook perfectly with no wastage.

ProCook Glass Digital Scales can be purchased from the Procook website at £14

My own fear is that you'll be wanting to style your kitchen around these stylish scales!.

Disclosure ( I was sent these scales for review ).

Silent Sunday 21/08/2011