New Schwartz Perfect Shake herb & spice blends

Schwartz, the UK's leading herbs and spices brand, has recently added three new flavours to its Perfect Shake range - Pasta, Spanish and Chips. I was amazed to discover that there are 27 varieties of Perfect Shake. That's a whole lot of various meals sorted, to please all tastes and palates. Perfect Shakes are truly versatile, and can be used to suit many cuisines and occasions, from easy midweek meals to more formal dinners.
I have recently tested two of the new flavours, Chips and Spanish.

Perfect Shake Chips is a seasoning blend with paprika, onion an garlic. Among its ingredients you will find salt, paprika, dried onion, garlic granules, sugar, black pepper etc. It has a bright terracotta colour. This seasoning is finely ground, and is a versatile blend which can be used with chips, potato wedges or any other roast vegetables. It was great with baby potatoes, roasted with the olive oil and sprinkled liberally with Perfect Shake.

It worked perfectly with home made chunky chips (just slice the potato lengthways, add the olive oil and the spice blend and roast for half an hour).

I served these chips with the venison & dried fruit stew, but they will be as nice with just an egg, or sausages, or both indeed.

Perfect Shake Spanish is a seasoning blend with smoked paprika, red and green bell peppers, onion granules, garlic granules, dried tomato, black pepper, rosemary, bay leaves and more.
I first sprinkled it over the roast butternut squash and sweet potatoes, and the sweetness of the vegetables was enhanced by the smokey flavours of paprika and peppers.

It is lovely in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. For example, just the other day I cooked a quick chicken and sweet pepper stir fry with the Spanish Perfect Shake. I also added a tomato, a finely chopped clove and garlic and squeezed juice of one orange. In almost no time at all our dinner was ready.

I have recently tried it in the recipe for beetroot fritters, and the combination of flavours was very nice. Beetroot works really well with paprika, tomato and garlic.

Schwartz Perfect Shake range is available in all major supermarkets at £1.63-1.82.
For more information about the range and meals inspiration visit Schwartz.

If you haven't tried this range yet, I run a lovely little giveaway on my blog at the moment (closing on 30 April). The winner will have a chance to win some tasty Schwartz Perfect Shakes and Flavour Shots.

The perfect picnic giveaway (c/d 22 July 2013)

This weekend the outdoor parties and picnics are in full swing. What do you like to add to your picnic spread to make it perfect?
Bottlegreen cordials add a summer scent and flavour to any drink. And who can resist a bowlful of Burts potato chips. If you enjoy these products, here is your chance to win a lovely selection of Bottlegreen and Burts chips products.
Bottlegreen and Burts potato chips have kindly offered a prize for one of my lucky blog readers.

The prize on offer includes:
2 bottles of Bottlegreen presse
a bottle of Bottlegreen elderflower cordial
and 4 packs of 150g potato chips (the chips might vary from the photo below, but they will be Burts potato chips).

If you would like to win this prize, please fill in the Rafflecopter form.
T&Cs:
Only the first step is mandatory: all you need is answer the question by leaving a comment.

All the other steps are optional, you don't have to do them all. All it takes to win is just one entry.
Only one entry per person is allowed (however, you can tweet daily to increase your chances).
The giveaway is open to the UK residents only.
Once the Rafflcopter picks the winner, I will check if the winner has done what was requested. I will contact the winner, if they do not reply within a week, the prize will be allocated to another person.
The giveaway will close on 22 July 2013 at midnight.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Picnic times for teddy bears

"What do teddy bears drink on a picnic in the woods, Mama?"
I think they have hot tea with honey in flasks and also bottles of the elderflower cordial. What could represent the more typical example of a summer drink on a picnic than a glass of sparkling water with the cordial? You might have noticed a limited edition bottle of Bottlegreen Elderflower Cordial in the shops. This well known and much loved brand has produced two new elegant designs for their elderflower cordial and sparkling presse.

The delicate sweet scent of the elderflower is so evocative of the British summer with its long evenings. The newly designed bottles of the cordial will add a touch of glamour to any picnic (weather permitting, of course, as the British summers could be a very elusive phenomenon, hot one day and pouring with rain the next one).
For an adult picnic why don't you mix some smashing cocktails: does an Elderflower G&T sound good? Mix the ingredients and enjoy.
If you are not keen on alcohol, make a super non-alcoholic cocktail from the elderflower cordial, apple juice and sparkling water, with lots of crushed mint leaves. Very refreshing and won't give you a hangover.
As for your teddy bears and other kids, they would love a drink of a cloudy lemonade with ice topped up with the elderflower cordial.
What do you like to eat on a picnic? Pies, potato salad, sandwiches? I always enjoy a good old tub of hummus with crudites, and plenty of crisps.
If you are a crisp lover, "Burts Chips, the artisan crisps with the big crunch, is proud to announce the launch of its latest and most adventurous tongue-tingling flavours ever!"
How can you stay indifferent, reading such a pitch?
What do you notice first? Very funky amusing packet design of an apron and hands on hips.
Go on, open the packets!

Red Pepper & Jalapeno flavour has been inspired by the traditional Mexican cuisine, and oh my, it does have a kick. Perfect for any picnic or as part nibbles. I can well imagine it pairs nicely with a mojito.
It is more of an adult flavour. I have offered the crisps to my guys to test, my older son licked the first crisp, made a funny face as he didn't expect it to be so hot, laughed at his own reaction and wanted some more. Eddie, a sensible young man, decided he didn't want them after watching his older brother.

If you prefer more traditional flavours, you can't go wrong with Sea Salt & Malted Vinegar. A British classic, great with dips, and quite addictive as a snack. It's good the packet is not too big (40g). You can also get it in a bigger size packet (150g).

And that's our teddy bears' picnic's sorted. What do you like to have on a picnic?

To find out more about Bottlegreen and Burts, visit Bottlegreendrinks and Burts Chips.

Disclosure: we received a bottle of Bottlegreen and packets of Burt's chips for the purposes of reviewing, all opinions are mine.

McCain Home Chips challenge

I've been following in the footsteps of Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews blog and taking part in McCain Home Chips challenge. Cheryl and I are always up to any cooking/culinary challenge, and it is fun to see which ideas she comes up with.

I am not surprised that the simple combination of soft, fluffy potato and crispy coating makes McCain Home Chips a taste sensation – and now the latest data shows they are the chip of choice for us Brits – infact we eat 3.5 billion of them every year, so many that if you lined them up end-to-end they would stretch to the moon and back four times!

 

I usually buy the McCain French Fries, as this is what my guys love the most, so I was curious to try the Home Chips and compare.

 

What did the Home Chips challenge involve?
The brief was simple:

"Take the Home Chips challenge!

Now McCain is challenging you to put Home Chips to the test in three quick steps:

1. Contact us for samples and wait for the bag of potato goodness to arrive at the address of your choice.

2. Get cooking! (Don’t forget to use your favourite condiments and accompaniments.)

3. Tell us what you thought – and feel free to pass the challenge onto colleagues, friends or family.

We hope it will be fun foodie challenge for you and your family to take part in and also make an interesting blog post for the readers of your blog"

 

I know I am suggesting the most obvious combination here, but chips and fish are a perfect match, so that is exactly what I cooked. I am not very keen on the fish in batter and have chosen to cook the trout in parchment paper or en papillote. You simply make a parcel from the parchment paper, add a few pieces of your preferred veg, a sliced carrot or fennel and herbs, add fish, close the pocket and the fish will be cooked in steam in it sown liquid. A healthy and tasty way of cooking the fish.

 

What about the McCain Home Chips? Did they stand the test? They were soft and fluffy inside as promised, with the crispy outside. As chips go, they are probably perfect.

 

My guys were happy to eat them, though Eddie said he loves Smiley Faces and French fries more. I think Sasha's choice would be French fries as well.

 

My favourite condiment to serve with the chips is not mayo or ketchup, but a bottle of runny mustard. It reminds me of the eateries I loved visiting when we lived in the States. And of course, I love pickles.

 

To read what Cheryl cooked with her bag of chips, visit her post The McCain Home Chips Challenge.