Another busy few weeks has passed by in the Foodie Couple household. Although the blog has been a little quite of late due to other commitments, we are still busy trying out the latest new products and trawling our way through new recipe books! Speaking of books, lets start there as there are 3 to tell you about this month!
First up a book from fellow blogger Dannii Martin.
I eagerly anticipated the arrival of this one, all about eating well and nourishing your body without giving up food you love. The book is really colourful and full of delicious sounding meals and snacks. I love the sound of the Chickpea and Pomegranate Stuffed Aubergine for a great veggie meal. The recipes I’ve tried so far work wonderfully well and are packed full of flavor.
Hungry Healthy Happy is published by Jacqui Small and RRPs at £20 and is out now!
I love cooking Asian inspired food at home so the next book, Simply Ramen is right up my street. This book is by Amy Kimoto-Khan and is trying to bring homemade ramen to the table in an easy and accessible way, with a delicious fusion of 70 traditional and non-traditional recipes.
I can’t wait to try out some of the super spicy recipes in here, but there is something for everyone with a wide range of meats and veggie options to suit all tastes. The Soft Shell Crab looks fantastic. Simply Ramen is published by RacePoint and costs £14.99.
The last book up this week is a bit of special one, because as well as telling you about this fab book, The Street Food Cookbook, I also have a copy to give away to one lucky reader.
This book is jam packed full of recipes from some of Britains great street food traders including Birmingham’s own Thai whizzes Buddha Belly amongst others including Mexican cantina Street Food Chef and Seafood Specialist Magpie Cafe. The recipes sound mouthwatering and after trying out a few at home can say they taste just as good!
The street food cookbook is published by Meze Publishing. For your chance to win a copy scroll down to the end of this post and enter via Rafflecopter! Good luck!
Next something a little unusual for the blog – we don’t usually review takeaways but when the offer to try the new deluxe Hawaiian Pizza from Papa Johns came up, I couldn’t resist. I’m firmly in the camp that pineapple on pizza works AMAZINGLY, so this ham hock and fresh pineapple pizza really appealed.
You could certainly see the difference when looking at the pizza with large chunks of the pineapple as opposed to the usual tinned stuff and ham hock scattered over that almost looked like pulled pork and it really came through in the fresh taste too.
So if you’re like me and adore a Hawaiian you really need to try this the next time you crave a bit of pizza goodness!
I’ve previously told you about gravies and stock powders from Essential Cuisine, who supply loads of top restaurants and this month we tried about a couple of their jus and glaces.
I’ve always loved the quality of the essential cuisine products and these were no exception. I;d love to make all my own stocks and reductions, but in reality it can be time consuming and these do the job really well. Making luscious gravies and sauces with the veal jus is fantastic. Check them out online or on twitter @e_cusuine.
With Mothers Day just around the corner this Letterbox Gift Cake from Bakerdays could be the perfect gift. It comes in a box that fits right through the letterbox, and in side the cake is house in a really solid tin to stop any spoiling of the cake. Mine arrived in perfect condition.
You can choose from loads of different designs and messages, they do ones for almost every occasion you can think of. I chose a Mothers Day design to try and was impressed with the quality of the finish. The cake also came packed with some candles and balloons – I really like this touch, all included int he price of the cake.
Inside I chose a plain sponge but again there are other options for this, and gluten free options too. The cake itself was moist and kept for up to a week.
This cake cost £14.99 . Find out more but following them on twitter and Facebook!
Last up this month but certainly not least are these Rapeseed Oils from Borderfields.
We tried their original cold pressed oil as well as some of their infusion. They are as good as any rapeseed oils we have tried, so will certainly be keeping an eye out for them in future. I absoloutely love cooking with garlic and chilli oils, they can really brighten up a dish and theses are both really flavoursome, the ingredients come through really strongly which is a big plus.
The bold and colourful bottle designs also caught my eye and would really standout on the deli shelves I think too.
To enter to win a copy of The Street Food Cookbook simply click on this link! Good Luck!
—————-> a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Entries open to the UK only, you must be over 18 to enter. Competition rules must be followed and entries will not be counted unless correct. No cash alternative. Prize will be posted to the winner within 2 weeks of them supplying their contact details.
Disclosure: Above products are brand samples, supplied for purposes of review. All opinions are honest and our own. If your are a brand and would like to have a product feature in my monthly Kitchen Bites, please contact thefoodiecoupleblog@hotmail.com