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We been trying to eat more fish for some time now.  It’s not that we don’t like it, we love it, but I do struggle with cooking with it sometimes.  I go to the shop, but they may not have the type of fish in that I was hoping to buy, so my recipe idea and meal planning goes out the window.  I could try something different, but what will I cook with it?  Sometimes in the shop my mind is a blank.  I even tried an app on my phone where you put in the fish type and it comes up with options, but that all seemed a bit stressful. So I was interested to try out Tesco’s Fresh Fish range.

Tesco have recently refreshed their range of pre-packed fish.  We decided to try out some of the new limited edition fish cakes from the Finest range.  They have some gorgeous sounding flavours, but we settled on the Salmon Fishcakes with Sicilian Lemon and Spinach.  They were full of lovely salmon and the lemon and spinach were the perfect complement to finish the dish.  For a summer’s evening’s dinner they are perfect as they aren’t too heavy and they team up well with some lightly steamed vegetables or salad.

This month I’ve been trying out Dark Chocolate Marzipan from Beech’s Fine Chocolates.  It’s not a chocolate combination that I’ve come across before, but I was eager to try them because dark chocolate and marzipan separately are two of my favourite ingredients.  I wasn’t disappointed either because they work very well together.  The flavours are very complementary and the chocolates aren’t too sweet, but balanced just right.  A big hit for us.

If you’d like to buy some too, you can use the 15% discount code for Beech’s Fine Chocolates: BFC11J1415.  It’s valid until the end of August. You can also win 1 of 2 packs by entering via the rafflecopter below.

Competition Terms and Conditions
1. No bulk, third party or automated entries.

2. Entrants must be UK residents aged 18 years or older.

3. The winners will be chosen by a random draw.

4. The winner will be notified by email and will have a week to claim their prize. Should they fail to respond within this time, an alternative winner will be selected.

5. Promoter is responsible for fulfilling the prize and full contact details of the winner will be passed onto the promoter.

6. Competition closes on 13 August 2014.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tesco have recently launched a new range of cakes, bakes and slices.  I’m all for cakes especially when I don’t have to go to the time and trouble of baking them myself.

Tesco have quite a selection to choose from.  I think the sticky toffee popcorn cake slices sound like just the thing to have with a mid morning coffee to fill that gap until lunchtime.

I really like the fact that they offer a number of cake wedges.  You get two wedges in each pack which is perfect if you have a friend coming round and want a slice each, but don’t want the temptation of having the full cake in the house.  I was very tempted by the raspberry and mascapone cake wedges, which looked just the thing for afternoon tea.

If you are thinking of putting on a bit of a spread or simply want some cup cakes to treat yourself or the family to after dinner, I think the cup cakes are hard to beat.  We took the vanilla bean cupcakes and the chocolate fudge cupcakes home to try out.  I found the icing a little on the thick side for my taste on the vanilla bean cupcakes, but I often find that with cupcakes anyway.  I’m of the ‘more cake, less icing’ school of thought generally.  Both types of cake are beautifully, but simply decorated and would grace any table set for tea.

Getting a little parcel from Hotel Chocolat always makes my day.  We’ve tried quite a lot of chocolates out in the past and we’ve always found Hotel Chocolat to be very good quality, plus they offer something a little bit different.

This time I was trying out some of the chocolates from Hotel Chocolat’s summer collection.  In particular, we sampled the Summer Fusions H-Box.

The Summer Fusions H-Box from Hotel Chocolate includes such temptations as key lime pie, kiwi smoothie, lavender caramel and strawberry cheesecake.  These chocolates have been made with a light touch and have lots of fresh, summer flavours, often in quite zingy combinations.

Hotel Chocolat have been generous enough to offer a box to give away to our readers.  So if you’d like to win Summer Fusions From Hotel Chocolat, enter via the rafflecopter below.

Competition Terms and Conditions
1. No bulk, third party or automated entries.

2. Entrants must be UK residents aged 18 years or older.

3. The winners will be chosen by a random draw.

4. The winner will be notified by email and will have a week to claim their prize. Should they fail to respond within this time, an alternative winner will be selected.

5. Promoter is responsible for fulfilling the prize and full contact details of the winner will be passed onto the promoter.

6. Competition closes on 2 August 2014.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Grenada Chocolate Company

Earlier this year we visited The Grenada Chocolate Company and had a tour of the cocoa making process that produces the key ingredient for chocolate making.  I’d really recommend a visit to the chocolate company if you are lucky enough to be visiting Grenada.  They run regular tours, you’ll get to try some of the chocolate and there’s an opportunity to buy some too in their onsite shop.

Fermenting or Sweating

The first step in the processing of cocoa is the fermentation of the fresh beans.  Once removed from the pods, the Organic Cacao Nibs are fermented for 5-9 days in large wooden bins that are covered with banana leaves and jute bags.

Freshly Harvested Cocoa

The cocoa beans themselves are surrounded by a white sweet pulp.  The fermentation process begins when yeast converts the sugars in the pulp to alcohol and carbon dioxide.  Bacteria oxidize the alcohol into lactic acid and acetic acid.  During this process the white pulp liquefies, the bitterness subsides whilst flavour and colour develop.

Fermentation generate temperatures as high as 45 degrees centigrade and activates enzymes that exist within the beans.  These enzymes act to enable chemical reactions that produce the compounds that provide the chocolate flavour for the beans when they are roasted.

Fermentation Bin for Cocoa Beans

Cocoa beans are turned from one bin to another every two days to increase oxygenation and to ensure an even fermentation.  The end result is a fully fermented bean with a rich brown colour.  This rich brown colour is a sign that the cocoa is now ready for drying.

Drying

Drying Rack

Fermented beans must be dried to preserve them.  They are placed on wooden trays with wheels or in sliding racks to dry in the sun.  this process takes approximately 5-7 days.  The cocoa farmer walk through the beans regularly to maximise their exposure to the sunshine and the air, plus this quickens the drying process.  During that time, any defective or germinating beans are removed.  If it rains the trays can be pushed under cover.  Properly dried beans crackle when rubbed together in your hands.

Drying reduces the moisture content of the beans from around 60% to just 7.5%.  The process must be carried out carefully to ensure that undesirable flavours do not develop, for example this can happen if the beans are dried too quickly or too slowly.

Dried Cocoa Beans

Grinding

The beans are ground up and after that the process varies depending on the product being produced.  The beans can be used to make cocoa butter, cocoa powder or used in chocolate making.

We love to try our hands at cooking dishes from around the world and oriental cookery is a favourite.  Sometimes though it’s nice to be able to cheat a little and not have to buy a complete cupboard full of spices and obscure ingredients, just so that we can enjoy something a little different.  The new Tesco Oriental range has been developed with Asian influences from Japan, China, Malaysia, Thailand and Korea.  Within the Tesco Oriental range there are pastes, glazes, pour-over sauces and meal kits.

Thai fishcakes are a restaurant favourite of mine, but we’ve never tried making them at home before.  With the Thai fishcake kit it was very easy, to make ourselves a Thai-style starter.  All you need to buy is some of your preferred fish.  The pack provides a blend of potato flakes, kaffir lime leaf, coriander and bird’s eye chilli to provide a flavour with is both spicy and aromatic.  To complete the fish cakes there’s also a sweet chilli dipping sauce which provides a tangy contrast.  It’s very easy to make these fishcakes and I’d certainly consider making them again in the future.

If you are looking for something to spice up a quick stir fry after work, we liked Tesco’s hot and sour paste.  Again this is from the Tesco Oriental range and it’s a mix of mirin, soy sauce and chilli which gives it a spicy kick.  It’s not all spice and no flavour though, there’s a depth and complexity of flavour too.

This month I’m been reviewing more scrummy goodies from Beech’s Fine Chocolates, in this case their After Dinner ChocolateAfter Dinner Chocolates.  We tried out four of the flavours from their range:

• mint creams
• rose creams
• violet creams
• orange creams

The mint creams make a good after dinner palate cleanser with their dark chocolate and mint cream combination.  These are quite thick creams, so there is a good dose of mintiness.

The rose creams were an unusual, floral flavour for me, but they grew on me.  They were popular with my family too when I took them along to share after a family Sunday lunch.

Sadly the violet creams were less popular.  They were a bit too sweet for me and that seemed to be the consensus round the table.  I know a lot of readers love Beech’s Fine Chocolates violet creams, so I think it must be a ‘marmite’ taste.

Orange creams with their classic combination of dark chocolate and orange flavoured cream were lovely and again a perfect after dinner accompaniment.  They’re perfect if you want something to treat yourself after your meal without going for a full-blown pudding.  I’d recommend Beech’s Fine Chocolates After Dinner Chocolates if you are planning a dinner party or simply want to treat yourself.