Category — news

Using a website platform I’ve not tried before, I’ve launched a kitchen storage site where you’ll find all sorts of storage ideas for your kitchen. Feel free to take a look.

For a change I thought I’d do a little review of a tin of soup. Yes, this blog is typically about cheffing and cooking from fresh, but be honest if you fancy something hot for lunch, making homemade soup is a little time consuming.

I needed a bowl of hot soup to warm me up so I paid a visit to our pantry – yes, we really do have a pantry! There were a few tins of soup including cream of tomato and the one I went for – Sainsburys be good to yourself, Tomato & 3 Bean soup.

As a healthy option the soup has less than 1% fat, but as I had wholemeal toast with butter I kind of negated that just a little. Normally I wouldn’t choose products from a low fat range because sometimes they’re low taste too.

A few short minutes in the microwave while the bread toasted in my beloved Dualit and I had a hot bowl of soup ready. Toast buttered and the addition of some ground black pepper for seasoning and I’m ready to eat.

So how did it taste? Pretty good actually to be honest. Obviously there’s a tomato taste and the beans give the soup a bit of substance. I enjoyed the hint of spicyness that the soup had – the ingredients do include chilli seasoning and green peppers.

As the weather is forecast to be cold and frosty I might just treat myself to some more. The improved and extended Be Good To Yourself range is available in Sainsburys stores and also online.

Nisbets, one of the UK’s largest and best-known suppliers of catering clothing and equipment to the trade, are currently offering free next day delivery on all orders. But hurry, this offer expires on 31st August.

The TV chef John Burton Race has declared himself bankrupt. You may remember him from the documentary a few years back following his progress at the New Angel restaurant in Dartmouth. Mr Burton Race was also a contestant in a series of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here. Burton Race is still head chef at the New Angel as his friend Clive Jacobs bought the restaurant.

We’re looking to hear from anyone with tips on how to make good, fresh pasta – can you help? We’re launching a pasta machine site that’s all about making homemade pasta and we’re hoping to include a top tips page. So, if you’ve got any good advice then please leave a comment here on or on that site if you prefer – thanks!

The winner of the 2009 Masterchef BBC competition was (pictured above on the left) Mat Follas

Mat blogs about his cooking and his foraging on his own blog at The Wild Garlic Blog.

Congratulations to him – I think he was a worthy winner, obviously passionate about his food.

The Telegraph has reported that celebrity chef Anthony Worrall Thompson has been forced to close four of his six restaurants because of the credit crunch.

Apparently he visited each venue to tell the staff that the company had been put into administration. It is believed that the 57 year old chef had used £250,000 of his savings to buy back the two remaining restaurants.

Devon based chef Ed Chester found himself in the news today due to the fact that he’s put squirrel kebabs on the menu!

He says about the common grey squirrel:

They are very good meat, they are abundant and they are cheap. It’s as free range as it gets.

Mr Chester also serves squirrel pate and fillet of squirrel – and these new dishes sold out in around 90 minutes (90 portions).

Not something I fancy eating myself – how about you?

I’ve just been watching Gordons F Word and during the ad break watched an advert for the French lager Kronenbourg 1664. I think it’s quite clever with the slicing and prepping of bubbles. Take a look and let me know what you think:

oh, by the way the song in the background is The Beat Goes On by The All Seeing I

Just you let you know that we’ve started to publish a sister site all about steam ovens. These new ovens have the potential to really take off as they offer a new and healthy way to oven cook. Combi-steam ovens offer a mix of steam and traditional convection heat cooking. So feel free to visit the site and do leave us feedback if you’ve actually used one of these ovens.