New foodie discoveries (August)

The summer is officially over today. The school is looming, and we look back at the summer with nostalgia and fond memories.
Last month we also tried a variety of new foods and drinks
New food products appear on the shelves of supermarkets on a daily basis. It's impossible to try them all. Some are limited editions and are available only for a short time, some come to stay, some get discontinued after a while, perhaps due to a lack of demand.

Here are some of our food discoveries that merit a mention this month.

Palacio de Oriente Squid Pieces in olive oil octopus style was one of the foods which appeared in the Mediterranean food promotion in Waitrose recently.
These specially selected large premium quality squid with tentacles are cut in the traditional "Octopus" style. Can be enjoyed either hot or cold in any dish which uses Octopus or Squid as an ingredient.
Surprisingly low calorie - 120kcal per 72g (drained weight of the tinned squid)
Produced in Spain.

Very handy to have in the pantry for quick salads and pasta.

Another product which I have spotted and bought in the same Waitrose Mediterranean promotion was Merchant Gourmet Smoky Spanish-style grains & rice. It is a combination of wholegrain rice, wheatberries and black barley, cooked with red peppers and a good pinch of smoked paprika.
This is one of my new favourites. I have already bought several packs to have in the kitchen as a base for quick meals.

I have tried it with chilli prawns, and it was delicious. Use it as a base for either vegetarian or meaty/flexitarian meals.
It has low saturated fat, it's a good source of fibre and is suitable for vegans.
Allergens alert: it contains gluten (wheatberries and barley).

Recipe suggestion: heat up the rice with a dash of water, mix with tinned (drained) octopus, slice hard boiled eggs and avocado and arrange on top of the meal. Serves 2.

Most Sundays I go to Waitrose an hour before closing time. There are rarely big savings to be had, nothing like I see on Instagram of one blogger who buys a whole trolleyfull of food for a couple of quid in Tesco before closing time. Our Waitrose is rather stingy at giving good discounts.
But whenever they have sushi at reduced price, I buy it. I love sushi. A couple of weeks ago I have found an Aloha Poké next to the sushi.
I have never heard of the Aloha Poké, but as it had sushi rice and seaweed, I couldn't resist buying it.

This is a Hawaiian salad/Salmon Poké - a poke bowl with sushi rice, raw salmon, wakame seaweed salad, edamame beans, rocket & spring onion with soy sesame dressing & avocado mousse.
It's a delicious flavourful salad.
Don't think I'll be buying it often, but if it comes at a reduced price, I'll gladly buy it again.

Skyr yogurt has been around for a while, but there are so many good yogurts in the shops that I haven't had a chance to try it until recently.
This Icelandic-style yogurt is a source of high protein, it's fat free and has reduced sugar.
The tubs promise -  "It's a delicious way to stay healthy"
Smooth and not sweet at all, even with a layer of berries.

Yollies have recently added a new flavour - chocolate - to their range of yogurt lollies. When Eddie and I spotted them in Sainsbury's, he was very excited to try them. However, after eating just one he mentioned that he prefers the strawberry flavour.

Yollies are a good source of calcium and vitamin D. They contain no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. Suitable for vegetarians. A lovely snack to add to a school lunchbox. There are 200kcal per 100g pack, which makes it 50kcal per yogurt lolly.

This summer we have been enjoying Paul Hollywood Ready To Bake Crusty Rolls a lot.
These part baked flour dusted white rolls with added rye flour are very handy to have in the pantry.

We don't have access to fresh bread in the village where we stay in Cornwall, and cannot have grocery deliveries on a daily basis. These delicious rolls, made with a slow fermented starter, are easy to bake, it takes about 8-10 minutes in the oven. They have a crispy crust and soft inside, which is just perfect for a butter and jam sandwich.

We ate them hot, straight from the oven, with a warning "Very hot, eat carefully or you'll burn your tongue!"
Each roll is 120kcal. The packs are suitable for home freezing
Though pre-baked, these rolls contain no preservatives.
A bit ironic that Mr Hollywood has a range of pre-made bread, when he's extolling virtues of bread made from scratch, but we are glad he did it. These rolls are fabulous. Big well done, Mr Hollywood!
There is also a seeded variety, which we haven't tried yet.

Talking of bread creations, if you are in Waitrose, pick a few of Waitrose 1 Seeded Cheese Straws, they are very moreish, though not cheap, at £1.35 for a small stick.

Another big favourite of the last summer is Hellman's Australian Sweet Grill sauce. We first sampled it on a Bank Holiday in May, when we had friends over for a BBQ.
It is an excellent sauce which can be used as a marinade, glaze or dip.
Made with honey, molasses, white wine vinegar, sugar, tomato paste, anchovies, spices and more, it has been inspired by Australian recipes.
It's great with sausages, grilled meat or even fish. I found it in Tesco, but it might be available in all major supermarkets.

Tesco Finest is a range, where we have quite a few family favourites.
Their recent addition to the range includes Tesco Finest Tri-colour Tomatoes on the Vine.
They look so pretty and taste sweet and tangy.

These tomatoes are great in salads, but also tasty just on their own, as an accompaniment to fried potatoes.

Since our Italian from bean to coffee machine has died over a year ago, we acquired a small Nespresso, and I have been buying different brand varieties to find the one we love the best.
I'm not a big fan of Starbuck's, but I was curious to test its nespresso capsules.
Starbucks Guatemala Antigua Espresso (Nespresso compatible capsules), with cocoa & subtle spice, medium roast was not too bad, but not my favourite either.

And I'm finishing my eclectic round-up of the latest foodie discoveries with a delightful Cornish chocolate. I love dark chocolate, ginger and Cornwall, so for me it was a win-win purchase. We bought a few bars on our trip to Penzance, to take home as souvenirs. But one of the bars has conveniently got broken in the suitcase, so we ate it.
I also adore the design on this chocolate bar, it's so cute and makes me smile.

Did you discover a food product recently which made you smile?

Baked omelette with wild mushrooms

Since going on a 5:2 diet this year, I have been rethinking some of the favourite recipes which will be suitable for all family and lower in calories as well. Last evening I fancied some omelette for dinner, and it made me think of the school lunches and the school cooks who handled huge trays of baked omelettes, which were cut into neat squares. This one of the few school lunches that I actually enjoyed. My recipe for Baked Omelette with Wild Mushrooms is a far cry from the humble school meals. But the idea is the same: to bake it rather than cook in the frying pan, with less fat and healthier.

Baked Omelette with Wild Mushrooms
Ingredients:
100g wild mushrooms
1tsp butter spread (with olive oil)
1/2tsp Italian herbs mix
3tbsp plain yogurt (I used Rachel's organic fat free Greek Style natural yogurt)
50g self-raising flour
250g semi-skimmed milk
4 eggs
80 g low fat hard cheese, grated (for example, Weight Watchers reduced fat cheese)
olive oil spray (for example, from Filippo Berio)

Slice the mushrooms (if you don't have wild mushrooms, use chestnut mushrooms for a stronger flavour). I buy wild mushrooms from Tesco, they vary each month. For the last few weeks it is Pied de Mouton from Portugal, meaty mushrooms which are relatively big in size, and are very tasty. Fry them with 1tsp butter spread (with olive oil) or just butter and half a teaspoon of Italian herb mix, for about 3 minutes.

Remove from the heat, add two heaped tablespoons of self-raising flour (50g), 3btsp of plain yogurt, grated cheese and mix well with a spatula to make a thick paste with mushrooms. Pour the milk and mix well again.
Separate the whites from yolks. Add the egg yolks to the mix, and combine together. Whisk the egg whites for a few minutes until all bubbly (it doesn't have to be stiff like when you are making the meringues). Carefully fold into the batter.
Take about 8 ramekins (mine are all mismatched) and spray with the olive oil (I use Filippo Berio, as it comes in a bottle with a dispenser, so it is very convenient to use). Pour the mix into the ramekins. Place the ramekins into a big tray, and fill it with warm water, half way up (be careful not to get any water into the ramekins). Place the tray in the oven preheated to 200C. Bake for about 15 minutes.

You can bake these individual omelette protions ahead of your meal, and reheat in the oven, just before you serve them. For a more substantial meal, serve with the multi-seeded bread sandwich with prosciutto and sliced apple (that's what my husband had for dinner).

I had it with a simple rocket salad, drizzled with freshly squeezed lemon juice. As you can see, it is a low calorie version, but it's absolutely perfect for all the family including those who are not on a diet.
If you don't count the calories, use any hard cheese you fancy like Cheddar (which is a whooping 402kcal per 100g), or parmesan (even higher calorie count at 431kcal).

For more egg-citing recipes using eggs, please visit Egg Recipes. Did you see my #ShortcutEggspert badge on the side panel? BritMums and the British Lion Eggs have challenged foodie bloggers to share their knowledge and recipes for tasty meals with eggs. I was very happy to be chosen as one of the Shortcut Eggsperts. Watch this space for more recipes, using eggs.

Disclosure: I received vouchers and an amusing gadget to make soldiers as a participant in this project. All recipe ideas and opinions are mine.

Tesco Finest Potatoes

Having read that the Orchard at Tesco programme is recruiting new members, I joined in just in time to take part in Fresh and Flavourful finest Potatoes Orchard Programme. If you haven't heard of the Orchard, the idea is that you receive money-off vouchers, buy the product, test it and then post your reviews online and talk to your friends about it. I found out about it thanks to Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews and her Fab freebies of the week (if you're not following her yet, why don't you?).
We love potatoes, and I am happy to eat them every day. And as a foodie blogger, I am always on the lookout for new products, so I was pleased to try new varieties of potatoes from Tesco.
As the member of the Orchard tatties programme, I received several money-off vouchers for myself and my friends (ranging from £1.50 to £0.50 off). You can use these vouchers both in store and online (I do online grocery shopping from Tesco).

Blue Belle potatoes with wild mushrooms and baked eggs

I have put two different varieties of potatoes in my shopping cart: Blue Belle and Venezia.
Blue Belle appealed to me, as they look very pretty, with purple "freckles" on creamy skin. Having read that they have a delicate and slightly sweet flavour, that's perfect for mashing or baking, that's the spud I wanted to try first. They remind me of my favourite King Edward potato in shape and pattern, only with darker speckles. They have a floury texture.
Blue Belle potatoes are great in roast dishes, either roasted on their own in the olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and nutmeg, or with garlic cloves, thyme and mushrooms.

Blue Belle potatoes

The very first simple dish I tried them in was Roast potatoes with wild mushrooms and baked eggs (see the photo below). They crisp nicely, staying fluffy and soft inside.
You will need:
2 big potatoes
a pack of wild mushrooms (100g, I used tesco Finest wild mushrooms)
2tbsp olive oil
2 medium eggs
a sprinkling of thyme

Cube the potatoes and parboil them in salted water. Drain the water, mix the potatoes with the olive oil and put them in the roasting dish in the oven preheated to 180C. Cook for about 20-25 minutes. Tear the wild mushrooms and give them a quick fry (about 3 minutes) before adding to the potatoes (15 minutes after you started roasting the potatoes). In the last five minutes of cooking, break two eggs into the potato-mushroom mix. Bake the eggs to your liking, either runny, semi-soft or hard. Serve hot with a good chunk of bread to dip into the dish. 

I have also made chicken soup for my children with Blue Belle potatoes. It is a good all-rounder. Having tried this variety last week, I bought a new bag of Blue Belle this week as well.
The photo below is Blue Belle roasted with the olive oil and halved garlic.

It was a side dish to serve with chipolatas roasted with the roasted red pepper jam (Pelagonia veg jams are delightful). It was a great combination of flavours and textures.
All in all, a great spud. I am glad to discover it, and I am happy to recommend it.
Our score: 10/10

Chipolatas with red pepper jam and roast Blue Belle potatoes

The next spud to try had a beautiful name - Venezia. It is an early salad potato which could be boiled or steamed for salads or roasted whole. These potatoes are smaller in size if compared to Blue Belle, and have a firmer smoother texture when cooked.

Once cooked, they have a buttery taste. I used them to make a Potato and shrimp salad for lunch.
Ingredients:
8 small size potatoes
1 onion, sliced thinly
lemon juice, about 1tsp
1/2 tsp sugar
1 apple, sliced thinly
4 cornichons, chopped
200g cooked shrimps
2tbsp olive oil
You will need to cook the potatoes first, drain the water. Slice the potatoes thinly and arrange them on the plates. Thinly slice the onion, then using your hands, squeeze them quite roughly, you want them to get rather soft and floppy, add lemon juice and season with sea salt and half a teaspoon of sugar or honey. Mix well. In a separate bowl mix the cooked shrimps, chopped cornichons and apple as well as the onions. Add the olive oil. Place the shrimp mix on top of the sliced potatoes. Serve at once.

This variety was another winner. Absolutely perfect as a salad potato, as it keeps its shape when sliced.
And it tastes lovely.
There are two other potato varieties in Tesco Finest range, Elfe and Exquisa, and I am going to try them as well, so watch this space for more reviews.
Have you tried any of Tesco Finest potatoes? What did you think?

Disclosure: as a member of the Orchard at Tesco programme I received money-off vouchers to use as a discount. All opinions and recipe suggestions are mine.

Polish food at Tesco: hit and miss

I have mentioned in the past some of the Polish products I have been buying at Tesco, like kefir and soft cheese (which I talked about in the recipe post on syrniki, Russian cheese scones). Bakoma kefir is sadly not available anymore, but there is another good kefir - Mlekovita Naturalny Polski kefir, which has a good level of acidity and is very creamy as well. I buy a bottle weekly, and it is a very enjoyable drink, which I can recommend if you're looking for a dairy drink different from yogurts. It has a lot of health benefits for bones and teeth as well as digestive system. It is 127 kcal per serving (a glass), and I much prefer it to any diet milkshakes in the morning.

While doing my grocery shopping online, I followed the link to the Polish food section and was amazed to discover that Tesco sells over 110 food products imported from Poland. Clearly this is the situation of demand and supply. I would love to know how many authentic Italian products they sell (if you search for the word Italian, most of the products are actually not the Italian produce but British foods imitating the Italian cuisine).
As I am very curious when it comes to new foods, I decided to try a selection of Polish food.
Some were old favourites which I remembered from my childhood in Russia, some are totally new to me. I am by no means claiming to have done a thorough research of the selection, but just thought you might like to know which products we tested. I wish I read some reviews before I made some of my decisions.


Lubella Kasza Gryczana or Roasted buckwheat groats is another great product. As a kid growing in Russia, I have eaten the buckwheat kasha very often. It is a healthy food, and you can serve it either with milk (typical meal for children) or as a side dish with fried meat or vegetables. Buckwheat from Lubella comes in a box which contains 4 portions (very generous, if you ask me). You cook them in sachets, like rice in bags for about 6-8 minutes. Convenient and easy. Excellent quality product which I would score as 5/5.

Dawtona Ogorki kwaszone or Cucumbers in brine
If you are used to the British style of pickled cucumbers/gherkins which are more often than not are reeking of vinegar, you might find these cucumbers different. They are preserved in salted water with spices. Though this is the Polish product, it is very similar to the type of canning/pickling which is widespread in Russia. The cucumbers are bigger in size than gherkins. They are lovely with meat or cheese, or in salads like Vinegret or Salad Olivier (Russian salad). They are not very crunchy, and I would have liked to see garlic cloves and dill inside for the extra flavour, but they are not bad at all. And the brine is considered to be a good cure for hangover. Score: 3+/5.

Miod Wielokwiatowy or Multiflower Honey is produced by a beekeeping farm Sadecki Bartnik, and is a blend of EU honeys. I would so love to see honey from small producers, which is not a blend of some unknown EU and non-EU entities. Pick a jar of honey in any supermarket, and in most cases they are a blend of EU and non-EU honeys, which in my eyes makes it more of a syrup than honey and also diminishes its health benefits. Nowadays I prefer to buy either a local honey at the farmers' market or one-country honey, like New Zealand or Greece, but it's getting more difficult to get unblended honeys. My favourite Italian honey that I used to buy in Waitrose isn't available anymore, and even those brands which are very British sell a mix of honeys from all over the world, God knows what is mixed there.
Anyway, going back to the Multiflower Honey, it is a clear runny honey, very pleasant and flavourful. Tastewise, I have no complaints. It is lovely with pancakes and in Greek yogurt.
If it were produced at the specific farm in Poland and not mixed there, I would give it a very good score. As it is mixed, it loses points, hence is my score of 3+/5.

Pamapol Bigos (home made hunters' stew) contains sauerkraut, white cabbage, sausage meat, pork etc and an alarming amount of E-numbers (E250, E452, E451, E450, E331, E407, E1422). If I picked it up in the store, I would have put it back.
Taste-wise it is quite forgettable. And I only tried it myself, I would definitely not offer my kids this chemical cocktail.
I have tried a proper Polish bigos many years ago, when we lived in the States. My older son was a newborn, and our friend Margo brought several jars of homemade bigos for me. It was very tasty.
Pamapol bigos doesn't have the right cabbage/sauerkraut ratio, there's more cabbage than sauerkraut here. The meat tastes very processed, not chunky enough.
1/5, it's a definite No-No for the future.

I was very excited to see Ptasie Melczko waniliowe (lit. bird's milk) or vanilla marshmallows in chocolate on the list of Polish products. Bird's Milk used to be my favourite Russian chocolates, when I was a kid. I haven't tried them for almost twenty years, and was delighted to discover that they taste exactly as I remember them.

Very light fluffy inside and chocolatey on the outside. I'm not sure if marshmallows would be the exact translation, as the texture is different, they are less chewy than marshmallowy, but that's what they are sold as in Tesco. They are delightful, and I absolutely loved them. It is also possible that I am swayed by my childhood memories, as I also offered them to a couple of friends to try. One wasn't enthusiastic at all, the other liked them and asked me to get her a box next time I do grocery shopping online. I will be buying them again as a treat for myself.
For the pure sentimental reason I will give them a top score (though beware there are a couple of hidden E-numbers. How did we survive before without them? (meant ironically)). 5/5

Ptasie Mleczko or Bird's milk

I have bought more Polish foods from Tesco, which I haven't tried yet, once I have, I will be adding to this post.

My suggestions to Tesco: to give more detailed information on each foreign product, after all, not all of us can speak/read Polish. For example, there is a Lubella Maka Puszysta Tortowa Flour 1kg. And no more information, on what kind of flour it is, self-raising, plain, wholemeal? On seeing the image of the cake on the packet, you might think it is a cake mix of some sort. Surely if you list and sell the product, you could add more information like a proper list of ingredients (I noticed some products have it already).

Are there any products from the Polish food range that you have tried and would recommend?

Pirozhki with potatoes and wild mushrooms

Pirozhki - individual pies - are a staple of the Russian cuisine, there are so many variations and methods of preparing them, that one would need to write a mini-encyclopedia just on the topic. They can be fried or baked, sweet or savoury, made with meat or vegetarian. My Mum's pirozhki are of course the tastiest in the world.
Just the other day I was singing praises to the wild mushrooms from Tesco (see my post Girolle and garlic pasta). I saved the 2nd pack for Pirozhki with potatoes and wild mushrooms. Mushrooms and potatoes are a classic combination, and they complement each other beautifully.
For a budget recipe, skip the mushrooms altogether and just do the filling with the mashed potatoes and fried onions. When I was a student, that was often the option for a cheap tasty meal.

Pirozhki with potatoes and wild mushrooms (makes 20)
Ingredients:
100g wild mushrooms (girolle or ceps)
150g potato
2tsp butter
1 small onion
salt, pepper
1 pack of Jus-Rol shortcrust pastry
1 egg yolk

I know the likes of Paul Hollywood and the GBO contestants would pooh-pooh me for using the ready-made pastry, but I am not ashamed to admit that I use it. Jus-Rol makes pretty good pastry, and it is very convenient for busy Mums like me.

Start by peeling the potato and cooking it in the salted water until just soft. Mash it with a fork and add 1tsp of butter and a bit of the liquid in which potatoes were cooking or a dash of milk. Don't make it too runny.
Brush the specks of dirt from the wild mushrooms - I used the beautiful girolles from Tesco - and chop them with a knife. In a small frying pan melt 1tsp of butter, add the finely chopped onion and fry for about 5 minutes, then add the mushrooms and fry for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Mix the mashed potatoes and mushrooms. This is your filling for the mini pies.

Now roll out your pastry, and using a cookie cutter, cut the little circles. You will have some leftovers, knead them together in a ball, and reroll the flattened dough. Cut more circles. Slightly stretching each circle of pastry, add a teaspoon of the filling, fold the edges, so that they meet like a little purse, and pinch them together. Place all your pirozhki on a big baking tray, which has been oiled. Beat the yolk with a fork, and using your fingers or a pastry brush, brush the yolk over pirozhki. You could also use a bit of milk for the same purpose or melted butter.
Put the tray in the oven preheated to 180C and bake the pirozhki for about 20 minutes until golden.
Serve with the pickles and a generous dollop of the soured cream. They are also often accompanied by a hot steaming mug of clear broth or bouillon.
They are tasty both hot and cold.
Na zdorovie! Enjoy your meal!

I'm participating in the 1st Edition Tiendeo cooking competion "Seasonal Recipes".

Girolle and garlic pasta

I love wild mushrooms. Mushroom hunting is a national hobby in Russia. When you go to the market in summer and autumn, there are usually dozens of babushki selling the freshly picked bounty. I have never been confident enough in my knowledge to pick the right mushrooms to go foraging in the woods, but I certainly enjoy eating them. That's why I was delighted to see that Tesco is selling the girolles aka golden chanterelles (a 100g pack for £2). As I was placing my groceries order online, I have added a couple of packs to my shopping trolley. I would have added more, but I wasn't sure how fresh they would actually be, as in the past I had some very sad looking wild mushrooms from Waitrose (but they were picked somewhere in Latvia or Lithuania and were not at their best after a long trip). Well, Tesco proved me wrong, and the mushrooms were very fresh.
Girolles are known in Russia as lisichki, i.e. little foxes, and no wonder why. The colour is as bright as the summer fox's tail.

These mushrooms don't need any fancy cooking, they are so full of flavour that they need just a little bit of cooking. They make scrummy snacks, just quickly fried in butter and seasoned well. Top up a piece of warm ciabatta, and enjoy a heavenly snack.

Girolle and garlic pasta (for 2)
Ingredients:
100g fresh girolles
1 garlic clove
1tbsp butter
a small bunch of chives
salt, pepper
spaghetti
Brush the mushrooms to remove the specks of dirt. You are not supposed to wash them, but if they are a bit too dirty, give them a quick rinse and then leave them to dry on a paper towel.
Cook the spaghetti in the salted boiling water, they should be cooked al dente.
In a small frying pan melt the butter. Once it starts to sizzle, add the garlic, either finely chopped or squeezed.
Add the chopped mushrooms and chives, season well with the sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring the mushrooms.
Drain the pasta and mix with the cooked mushrooms.
Serve at once. Delicious!

You could swap the chives for fresh thyme, or even a bit of flat parsley.

Have a look at Tesco's Wild Mushrooms. I haven't been asked to write about the mushrooms, I just wanted to share the good news in case you missed it.