Food 'n' Drink – Food and Drink news |

Frankly the second half of summer this year has been miserable.  However, now the sunshine has returned and the weather looks set fair and sunny for the next week, it’s not too late to make up for lost time.  Young’s London Gold, a lovely refreshing summery beer which is a light, golden and full flavoured bottle conditioned beer with a refreshing bite, makes the ideal companion to savour these last summery days.

This bottle conditioned beer (alc 4.8 vol) is the closest you’ll get to cask beer, so is ideal for that pub -pulled real beer taste but ideal for entertaining at home, or for picnics, BBQs and al fresco eating with friends and family.

Brewed with the same passion and dedication to quality as the entire Young’s range, London Gold is brewed with 100% farm assured English barley and proudly carries the Red Tractor logo.  Young’s were one of the first beers to be accredited with this accolade because they use only the highest quality English Maris Otter barley, helping to assure the future of local farmers.

London Gold is fresh and slightly floral but with plenty of fruit flavour, so perfect matched with grilled chicken, pasta, tarts and quiches or enjoyed on its own.  London Gold is brewed with natural mineral water from the brewery’s very own well, sunk by the founder, Charles Wells, in the early 1900’s.

Each bottle of beer is made with just four key ingredients – barley, hops, water and yeast, and matures in the bottle for the freshest taste.

Young’s London Gold is available in Sainsbury, Waitrose, Booth’s, Ocado, Morrisons, Budgens  and Londis with a RRP of £1.89 per bottle.

The third and final event on the Tesco Enjoy the Taste of Scotland road show in Glasgow last Saturday attracted over 5,000 visitors.  It was a real opportunity to showcase the best in Scottish food and drink, both in terms of cooking talent as well as products.

Audiences were treated to  a range of Cookery demonstrations from chefs at The Sisters restaurants, Hotel du Vin, Red Onion, Cail Bruich, Two Fat Ladies, Mushtaqs, The Glasgow Restaurateurs Association.  There were also tastings with Tesco’s Home Economist and some Whisky cocktails with Gordon & Macphail.

As well as live demonstrations, the event included a large collaboration of local suppliers who were keen to showcase their local produce available in Tesco, including delicious cakes and biscuits from Tunnocks, Scotland’s No 1 pastry brand Bells Bakers, award winning Seriously Strong cheddar from Lactalis McLelland, childhood favourites Millions Sweets, creamy treats from Robert Wiseman Dairies, thirst quenching spring water from Highland Spring and the famous Irn Bru from AG Barr.

If you’re a bit of a masterchef at home, try turkey in your recipes and make some fabulous new versions of classic dishes.

Where you’re thinking of chicken – go turkey. How about swapping turkey for your usual meat not only in family favourites – like spaghetti Bolognaise or Stir Fry – but in upscale gourmet dinners to impress your friends? How about Turkey Tikka Masala? Or Turkey Kebabs – Turkish-style? There are so many recipes for turkey that you can try, and lots of reasons to eat and serve more turkey – good value, great flavour, and amazing versatility.

Turkey recipes can also help towards a healthier balanced diet. Bernard Matthews Farms supports http://changeyourmeatnotyourmenu.co.uk/ a website that is packed with ideas and on how you can serve your family’s favourite recipes, but give them a healthier twist by simply substituting turkey for your usual meat choice. For example by using turkey mince instead of beef mince in spaghetti Bolognese or pasta Carbonara, you can reduce your saturated fat intake by up to two thirds, that’s 11g per average portion! It really is that easy.

And turkey breast meat is also high in protein and low in fat, which makes it the top option to give your family a more nutritious and balanced diet.

Bernard Matthews Farms turkey cooked meat products such as slices, wafer thin and chunks are also a healthier choice – typically under 3% fat – and are equally versatile in recipes for family favourites. Their website has loads of great recipe ideas and inspirations using their cooked meat products and there are even ideas for recipes using turkey leftovers.

Browse the recipe section of their website you’ll come away with some exciting new ideas.

Many office workers that are trying to diet will quickly snatch up readymade pasta bowls or salads under the impression that they are healthy purchases.  However, analysis performed by the Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash) shows that most actually have a high salt level that can be dangerous if consumed on a regular basis.

Even though the items may look innocent, about six out of the 270 readymade choices had less salt than one normal packet of Salted crisps.  Another one out of ten had over the amount of salt in a Big Mac from McDonald’s offering over a third of the daily recommended salt allowance.

This is not the first survey that has showed that salads can be an unhealthy choice as well, as last year a survey showed that some salads can actually be worse than consuming a Big Mac.

Most of the saltiest items come from upmarket high street cafes, even though the establishments often market the salad items as healthy and fresh meal choices.

Eat is the worst café of them all, offering a Spicy Crayfish Noodles salad that offers about 3.51g of salts which is approximately 17x more salty than a No Bread Tricolor from Pret A Manger which contains .2g of salt.

Other extremely salty salads from cafes and fast food restaurants include KFC’s Zinger Salad with 3.1g of salt, KFC’s Original Recipe Chicken salad with 2.9g, Pret’s Super Humous salad with 3.2g, and McDonald’s Crispy Chicken and Bacon Salad with 2.6g of salt.

Supermarket salads can be just as bad with Marks & Spencer salads topping the top ten list seven times.

London restaurant openings are continuing to occur despite the effects of the economic downtown according to a survey that was announced today.  Over the last year period ending in August there were 140 restaurant launches, which was almost two times more than the amount of closures.

According to the Hayden’s London Restaurants guide, this is the largest amount of restaurant launches seen since 2007 and the third largest amount of openings ever.

Many large names welcomed diners into their area including the Galvin bothers’ Glavin La Chapelle in Spitalfields, Daniel Boulud’s Bar Boulud in Knightsbridge at the Mandarin Oriental, and Russel Norman’s Polpo in Soho.

Over the past few weeks other large openings have been the five million pound Shaka Zulu and the Pierre Koffmann bistro titled Koffmann’s.

Outside of restaurant openings, the survey also revealed that the overall cost of eating out has stayed the same due to the fact that restaurant owners are still launching special menus and deals in order to keep their tables full.

The average bill for the year on year period ending in August was £41.75 which is only a .3% increase from the year before.

Co-author of the guide, Peter Harden, stated that London restaurants are currently in ‘rude health’ given the fact that when they first started the guide everything seemed to be closing since no one could afford to eat out.  He added that now it seems different with more people turning to eating out as an affordable option.

Parma Ham and seafood skewers make for a stylish dinner party starter, and they only take minutes to make.

All you need to do is to simply wrap slices of Parma Ham around scallops and thread on to rosemary spears, along with king prawns. Cook on a griddle or barbeque and serve with a delicious caper and coriander salsa.  Done!  The full recipe is given below.

Parma Ham is a completely natural food with nothing added except salt. Making a Parma Ham is a long and painstaking process. The curing is controlled carefully so that the ham absorbs only enough salt to preserve it to retain its distinctive sweet flavour.  Prosciutto di Parma, is produced in the hills surrounding the Italian town of Parma. The air in the Parmesan hills is unique, dry and sweet-smelling with breezes from the Apennine mountains, creating perfect environmental conditions for a natural “drying” of the hams.

The unique taste of Parma Ham is dependent on the traditional production process passed down from Roman times, carefully controlled by the Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma. Only hams that have passed stringent curing regulations approved by the EU can be awarded the stamp of the Ducal crown – a five pointed coronet logo with PARMA in the centre which is branded onto the ham’s skin. The Ducal Crown is now a certification trademark.

For more information on Parma Ham, please visit www.prosciuttodiparma.com

Recipe for Parma Ham-wrapped scallop and king prawn surf ‘n’ turf skewers with a caper and coriander salsa

Serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main

4 long stems of fresh rosemary

4 slices Parma Ham, sliced in half lengthways

8 scallops

8 raw king prawns

olive oil

salsa:

2 handfuls chopped coriander

3 tbsp chopped capers

3 tbsp diced cucumber

1 tbsp finely chopped red onion

½ green chilli, finely chopped

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

zest and juice of 1 lemon

zest and juice of 1 lime

salt and black pepper

1.  Strip the leaves off the rosemary spears, leaving 2-3cm leaves at the end of each

2.  Wrap a strip of Parma Ham around each scallop

3.  Thread a prawn onto each rosemary skewer followed by a Parma Ham-wrapped scallop. Alternate prawns and scallops so that each skewer has 3 prawns and 2 scallops

4.  Combine all of the ingredients for the salsa and season to taste

5.   Heat a lightly oiled heavy based frying pan, griddle or barbecue  and cook the skewers for 1-2 minutes per side until the prawns are pink and no longer raw, and the scallops are firm to touch

6. Serve the skewers with plenty of salsa and green leafy salad leaves

Cook’s tip: If you are short of time, prepare the skewers in advance and refrigerate until you are ready to cook. The salsa can also be made and chilled for 3-4 hours in advance

The Internet has helped make wine lovers’ jobs so much easier. The process of finding your favourite bottle now couldn’t be simpler, as with just a few clicks you can have a case sent directly to your door. This is all thanks to mail order wine services. You don’t even have to leave the comfort of your own home to ensure that you’re fully stocked up with enough good wine for every occasion.

One of these occasions might be an upcoming dinner party for which you want to buy red wine, plus a couple of bottles of white, as you know that your guests have individual tastes.

Both grape colours are also needed so that your wine can match the food as closely as is possible; when creating your ideal menu, you should always take the varieties of wine which you have available into account.

There are certain wines that go well with specific dishes, but a good basic rule is that red wines go well with red meats, while white wines match up well with poultry and fish. Therefore, if you’re serving a range of meats across your menu then it may be worth having a different bottle for each course. This will ensure that your wine always perfectly compliments the food that you serve.

If your main course is a classic, like beef wellington or something similar, though, then you can’t go wrong if you just buy Cabernet Sauvignon. This is one of the most widely consumed red grape varieties and, if you know your red wines, then it’s likely that you’ve had a glass of it before.

The Cabernet Sauvignon grape variety is grown in a number of regions around the world and you can take your pick from all of them online. Some of the newer grape regions – including South Africa and Chile – are growing some fantastic produce at the moment and their wines will probably feature heavily in your choice of this deep red. The Brampton Cabernet Sauvignon, for example, which is grown in the Stellenbosch mountain region of South Africa, features a particularly distinctive flavour.

If you’ve never tried a Cabernet Sauvignon before, then your first sip should look out for the taste of blackcurrants and cherries. These fruits don’t only off-set beef well, but also compliment meats such as venison. The wine could even be used in a tasty sauce.

Cabernet Sauvignon is just one of the red wine grape varieties that you can choose from online. If you’re partial to a Merlot or a Pinor Noir, then you can head straight for these red grape varieties. Whichever bottle you choose, you can rest assured that the people at Formula Wine know their stuff – illustrated by their WSET Diploma, the wine trade’s professional qualification.

So, if you’re looking to stock up for an upcoming dinner party or just want to keep your reserves ticking over, head online for a wine choice that will leave you speechless.