Heston's shortcrust mince pies

I

Carmel Sticky Toffee Pudding

Fabulously rich and sticky pudding!!

homemade med pork casserole

discuss the quality of different meats and in particular my love of pork and parents smallholding.

Heston's fish pie and Chilli Con Carne

Waitrose Bread and Butter Pudding

Heston's Shepherd's Pie and Cauliflower Truffle Macaroni Cheese

SO, this weekend my girlfriend and I decided to buy one of each of the new Heston range from Waitrose while they were still on offer and the first two we are trying are the Shepherd's pie and Cauliflower cheese.

Cauliflower cheese tastes very truffle like (too much for Carly)

The lamb shank in the Shepherd's pie was beautifully tender and added a luxurious edge to the dish...

I would say that both dishes have a lot of positives and very rich flavours, however, I wouldn't necessarily recommend either dishes if you are looking for a simple warming supper!

Homemade Lasagne

One of my favourite dishes, both to cook and eat, is Lasagne!

Charlie Bigham's Fish Pie

I was initially going to eat and review a Heston Blumenthal fish pie for dinner tonight from his new range exclusively for Waitrose. However after finishing my shift and realising we had none of the Heston fish pie in stock I went for the Charlie Bingham's pie instead!  A colleague originally recommended this product to me over the Heston offering however I will still review the Heston alternative over the coming few weeks. I served the pie simply with a handful of green beans which worked nicely with the richness of the fish pie.

For those people strange enough not to like seafood there are no prawns or any other such creatures in the pie; it has two types of fish, salmon and haddock (regular and smoked!)  This may appear to be rather simple for such a high quality product however you get a good amount of very good quality fish and the bechamel sauce is beautifully creamy and perfectly seasoned.  A very nice wholesome touch is the large amount of spinach in the filling that gives it a more home-made feel along with the beautiful chunks of fish.  The pie has a lovely layer of crispy mash on top but not too much potato and goes beautifully well with the rest of the dish! The smoked haddock gives a lovely depth of flavour and overall this is a superb pie!

Packaging (Display and quality of serving):

• I love the packaging with the simple hand drawn picture on the outside and quirky messaging of a great brand.
• Lovely wooden packaging and easy to eat out of (although slight problem at the end!)

Essential Product Info:

• Serves two people however I was feeling hungry so had it for one.  This dish would probably serve two people very well but not particularly large portions.
• Nutritional Information see below diagram:

Review of number 6 in padstow

During my holiday in cornwall I decided to visit Paul ainsworths restaurant in padstow! I had previously watched him on

Food packaging and storage

A lot gets written about and discussed when it comes to the amount of packaging on food. There are obviously the environmental issues as well as 

I will look briefly at the environmental issues in this blog however I am more interested in the packaging of fresh foods. Supermarkets package a lot of their pre-packaged vegetables in clear plastic materials. From my experience this causes the vegetables to sweat and often Eggs in fridge? If its not in the fridge in the supermarket how likely is it that its necessary is it to keep it in the fridge? Convo with uni mates on this topic, onions, tins, open jars in fridge?

Mobile check...

A quick post to check the mobile phone app!

Blog begins

About me and the beginnings of my Blog

After achieving a first in my mathematics degree from the University of Loughborough I have decided to start a food blog alongside the beginning of my career in the food retail industry.  I will be moving to London in the next few months to begin working in a supermarket and gain experience in my chosen career path.

Along with working in the food industry I will be continuing to cook for myself and friends and eating and reviewing some of London's many restaurants.

I am hugely passionate about the food industry and in particular supporting local producers that can help them to survive and keep producing great products.  Eating British food also reduces air miles and makes us more self sufficient as a nation.

I will be discussing a range of topics in this blog.  These will be largely food related with maybe the odd mention of my other passion that is sport.

• Discuss current issues in the food industry (such as the current crop failures in the US that means the price of flour and other foods is likely to rocket)
• Compare products and prices in a range of different supermarkets 
• Cook and photograph the food that I am eating and discuss recipes
• I will also discuss any cookbooks that I am particulalrly enjoying at any moment in time.
• Look at products from new producers and suppliers (also look at success stories such as Yeo Valley and Tyrrels.)  A new product that I have been hearing a lot about and am looking forward to trying is  Look what we found who are producing wholesome ready meals and supporting local farmers with impressively local ingredients.
• Reviews of restaurants and takeaways that I visit
• Food campaigns and celebrity chefs (i.e. Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall and his Fish Fight campaign)
• I have a rather large love of food programs on TV and I will discuss any that I am enjoying or maybe not!