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Sunday 21 October 2018

Rafanata

Rafanata


  • Handful of rocket salad
  • 400g  potatoes
  • 2 knobs of butter
  • Splash of milk
  • 50g pecorino or Parmesan cheese (grated)
  • Small piece of freshly grated horseradish
  • 2 large eggs
  • 50g of smoked pancetta
  • 70g coarse stale breadcrumbs
  • Salt and pepper

Method:
Peel and chop the potatoes and boil in a pan of salted water for around 15 minutes or until tender.  Drain and leave to steam dry in the pan.  Add a knob butter, splash of milk, horseradish and most of the cheese (reserve some for later).  Crack in the eggs, season and then mash away until you get a nice smooth mash and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  Slice the pancetta and place in a cold 18cm non-stick ovenproof frying pan.  Heat the pan over a medium heat and when the pancetta starts to sizzle add the breadcrumbs, toss over the heat until crisp and golden and then mix into the mash.

Press the mash in to the frying pan, smoothing it out.  Fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes, loosen the edges with a spatula then lift slightly and pop the remaining knob of butter into the pan underneath.  Once melted, put a plate on top of the pan, carefully flip over and slip the rafanata back into the pan.  Bake in the oven for around 30 minutes or until golden.  Place the rafanata onto a plate and top with the rocket salad and the remaining grated cheese. 

I served this with a couple of thinly sliced sirloin steaks, rocket and asparagus, however you can eat it with anything you fancy.  Whilst we enjoyed the dish I have to say it looked nothing like the picture in the cookbook, but still very tasty.

Recipe adapted from Jamie Cooks Italy.

Saturday 6 October 2018

Festival of Sussex Gins 2018



Gin, gin and more gin, well Sussex gins to be exact, that was the promise, so did the Brighton GIN Club deliver?  In a word, yes, there were more Sussex based gin distillers than you could shake an empty Copa glass at!

All set for a busy gin festival

Having been to the festival the previous year I knew what to expect and given that this was going to be the largest festival of Sussex gins, I couldn’t wait.  This year the festival was held at the Clare Hall in Haywards Heath, a bigger venue, but rightly so as there was even more gin goodness to sample and buy.



There were 10 gin distillers at this event, which was once again sponsored by Fentimans who were showcasing some new tonic water flavours.

The distillers showcasing their gins this year were:-

  • Blackdown Distillery
  • Slake Spirits
  • Brighton Gin
  • Cabin Pressure Spirits
  • Mayfield Distilling Company
  • Chilgrove Gin Company
  • Chichester Harbour Gin
  • Generation Distillers
  • Harley House Distillery
  • Madam Jennifer Distillery


Of the distillers mentioned above a number of them were rather new to the gin scene, some having only started producing gin earlier in the year!  But hey, you can never have too much gin and it is always pleasing to see and taste new gins and as per last year, we were not disappointed.

Getting busy at Festival of Sussex Gins
The day was split into two sessions, an afternoon and an evening session where you had 3 hours to sample the gins, buy the gins and talk about gins to your hearts content.  Now I like to talk, so couple that with a bunch of passionate gin distillers and that 3 hours goes by in next to no time!



We once again got to meet the lovely Sarah from Blackdown who not only brought along her award winning Sussex dry gin, silver birch vodka, silver birch vermouth and elderberry liqueur, but she had new gins flavoured with tea, sage and bay.

Blackdowns range of gins and vodka

 All I can say is Sarah, you are definitely onto winners with all of these gins, they were Fabulous, yes, with a capital F, they were that good!

Thomas from Slake Spirits

The equally lovely Thomas from Slake Spirits did not disappoint, his gin, which is really smooth, and went down equally well in his Slake Gin Fitz cocktail.

Slake Gin Fitz cocktail

Fitz is a British sparkling wine, along the lines of a very good prosecco, but for obvious reasons they can’t call it prosecco and I will  be checking them out that’s for sure.

Brighton Gin and rock!

I must remember next time to sample the Brighton Gin with the pieces of Brighton Rock that Kathy was putting together, it looked rather good!


All in all it was a great way to spend a few hours doing what I love to do best, drink gin!  The new distillers all had great gins with the promise of new blends to come.


As always, Fentimans did not fail to disappoint with their array of mixers including their new offerings of Oriental Yuzo and Pink Rhubarb, all of which can lift the flavour of even the most uninspiring gin, I hasten to add that all the gins on offer were well and truly inspired, there definitely was no uninspiring going on in any shape or form or glass!


Just to say, if any of the fab distillers who made the event the success it was require any specific reviews of their gins, then please do get in touch, I will be more than happy to help you out, cough cough, nudge nudge 😉


Once again good value for money, £20 entry fee, a nice Copa gin glass along with goody bag including some of Fentimans new range, a small price to pay for a few hours of gin heaven.

Me and Jason of The Brighton Gin Club

For those of you new to The Brighton Gin Club, Jo and Jason as well as putting on wonderful gin festivals, also hold numerous other events in and around Brighton, including cheese tasting with gin pairings, charity events, gin tasting, basically anything to do with gin -  you get the picture!
Check them out at www.brightonginclub.com  for details of upcoming events.

In conjunction with one of the distillers from the day and RH Uncovered, we will be having a competition coming soon where one of you fab readers can win a bottle of gin so watch this space for more details.











Wednesday 3 October 2018

Capacitea - To Tea or not to Tea?


Whether it be one lump or two, a splash of milk or a twist of lemon, there are many ways that people enjoy a cup of tea.  I was recently sent some tea to try by Capacitea, a London based company who offer a wide range of organic Chinese teabags and loose leaf teas which are sourced directly from tea plantations using only whole leaves and traditional methods of preparation to create a premium quality tea for you to enjoy. 

As well as a fine array of tea they have a great selection of modern Chinese tea ware and gift sets, which are ideal presents for those tea lovers in your life.
Want to save 30% on your tea order? Use discount code "boost" at checkout!


Capacitea - Dainty Maidens, Black Tea and Oriental Timelapse


Now, I will be the first to admit, I’m not a huge tea drinker so this most certainly was going to be an interesting experience for me!

Capacitea Chinese Black Tea

The first taster was of the Chinese Black Tea.  The tea was nicely packaged in a classic Chinese red coloured box with a nice fan shaped cutaway through which you could see the silken pyramids containing the tea leaves.  The tea itself hails from the Yunnan province of China and more information concerning the providence of the area is detailed on the box along with the brewing instructions, which are simple and easy to follow.

Capacitea Chinese Black Tea Silk Pyramid Bags

Having boiled my water to the desired temperature, placed my pyramid within my lovely glass tea cup which I had purchased especially for the occasion, I poured on the water and waited a couple of minutes for the tea to steep, then came the moment of truth.

Capacitea Chinese Black Tea

The tea itself had a good colour to it, clear, no floaters or bits having come through the pyramid, always a good start.  Now the packaging referred to the tea as having fruity, caramel and malty flavours which are balanced out with a light tannic finish.  I am clearly not a tea connoisseur but even I could smell and taste a touch of caramel and malt, the tea was light and refreshing with a good aroma.

Capacitea Chinese Black Tea

 Could this replace my morning cup of coffee?  You know what, I think it could!  Again, I don’t really drink tea but I think I could be onto a winner here.  Don’t be in a hurry to throw away your pyramid as it can be used several times as can the Blooming tea which I was also to sample next.

Capacitea Blooming Tea Blooms

I had been sent two types of Blooming tea to try, Oriental Timelapse, a mix of amaranth, marigold flower and tender green tea buds and Dainty Maidens which contained a mix of jasmine, chrysanthemum and green tea, all of which are skilfully woven together into a ball shaped bloom by experienced Chinese tea masters.  The blooms were contained within a slender re-sealable foil type pouch,  classic Chinese red on the front with a photograph showing the tea bloom and white on the back of the pouch where the brewing instructions were clearly detailed.  The pouches alone looked quite sophisticated so I was pretty eager to check these out.

Capacitea Blooming Tea - Oriental Timelapse

Now to appreciate the enjoyment of the flowering teas, Capacitea recommend using one of their 500m glass mugs, thankfully they sent me one which is handy as I don’t think my glass tea cup would have shown the tea to full affect!  Having boiled the water to the recommended temperature I allowed the Oriental Timelapse blooms to infuse for the required 4 minutes.

Capacitea Blooming Tea - Oriental Timelapse

I had initially thought the blooms would sit at the bottom of the mug but they float, as they slowly unfurl they sink to the bottom of the mug.  Now who would have thought sitting staring at a cup of tea for 4 minutes could be so entertaining, they really were stunning and impressive to watch as the beauty of the flowers was revealed with each passing moment.  I’m not sure if it was coincidental but the Oriental Timelapse bloom took exactly 4 minutes to reach the bottom of the mug!

Capacitea Blooming Tea - Oriental Timelapse

The Oriental Timelapse has a delicate scent which precedes a light plum taste which is completed with a touch of chrysanthemum, well, that’s what it said on the pouch.  I found it to have quite a strong aroma, much stronger than the black tea and also earthy, however the flavour itself was very light but got stronger as you neared the bottom of the mug, not having tried chrysanthemum before I couldn’t say whether the taste reflected that but it was pleasant enough.

Capacitea Blooming Tea - Dainty Maidens

The Dainty Maiden packaging refers to a delicate jasmine scent and again a light plum taste completed with a touch of chrysanthemum.  Of the two Blooming teas I found this the more refreshing and I could actually smell and taste a hint of jasmine (thankfully something I have come across before!).  It had a stronger flavour in comparison to the Oriental Timelapse and was my preferred tea out of the two.

Capacitea Blooming Tea - Dainty Maidens

The Blooming Tea is certainly a sight to behold and most definitely one of those teas you whip out when you have company, who wouldn’t fail to be wowed by such a beautiful looking mug of tea! In addition, even though the tea is brewing for 4 minutes, it doesn't develop that bitter taste that so many green teas can if left to steep - testament to the quality teas used.



On the whole, very impressed by the quality and flavour of the teas, my personal favourite however being the black tea, so light and refreshing, and given that the Chinese have been producing black tea for centuries, I think they have perfected the art by now.



If you are a lover of tea, be it black, green, white, yellow, Oolong, Dark, flowering, loose leaf or pyramid bag then Capacitea will have something to suit as well as some lovely items of tea ware.  Even if you are not a tea lover the chances are you know someone who is follow my link below and treat yourself or make an early start on the Christmas shopping.

Want to save 30% on your tea order? Use discount code "boost" at checkout!

 Visit Capacitea website