Buy British - Cod, leek and blue cheese pies

For my Cod, Leek and Blue Cheese pies, it will be a good Stilton, I am 3 miles away from the village of Stilton, the cheese is not made there its still produced in the UK though,not too far away from me in Leicestershire.

Country Life celebrates the best of British with recipes from
chef and "Buy British" campaigner Marcus Wareing and his

Cod, leek and blue cheese pies

• Makes: 4

Ingredients

For the cod

• 400ml semi-skimmed or whole milk
• 100ml fish or chicken stock
• ¼ bunch thyme
• ½ bulb garlic, peeled and halved crossways
• 1 bay leaf
• 500g cod

For the rest

• 100g Country Life Unsalted butter
• ½tsp salt
• 2 leeks, white part only, sliced
• 100ml chicken stock
• 50g plain flour
• 125g your favourite blue cheese, crumbled
• ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves chopped
• 1 medium free-range egg yolk
• 4 puff pastry discs, 3mm thick, to overlap the rim of each pie dish by 1cm

Method

1. Place the milk, stock, thyme, garlic and bay leaf in a deep non-stick frying pan and warm gently; do not boil.
2. Season the cod, then add it to the liquid and allow to poach gently for 5-8 minutes, until it is just cooked through and flakes easily. Remove the fish and lay on paper towels. Strain the poaching liquid through a fine sieve and reserve.
3. Put 50g of the Country Life Unsalted butter in a deep frying pan over a moderate to high heat. Add the leeks, season well and cook for 3-5 minutes until lightly coloured. Add the chicken stock and cook the leeks for a further 5 minutes until almost cooked through, then set aside.
4. Melt the remaining Country Life Unsalted butter in a medium sized saucepan over a moderate heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes. Add a little of the fish-poaching liquid and whisk well. Add the remaining liquid and continue to stir until the mixture has thickened and has lost the raw flour taste.
5. Divide the cod, leeks and blue cheese evenly between four individual pie dishes. Add the parsley to the white sauce, adjust the seasoning if necessary then spoon into the pie dishes.
6. Brush the top of the inside of each dish with a little egg yolk, then lay the pastry over the top, sealing it at the top edge and over the dish. Slice the excess pastry off. At this stage either put the pies in the fridge to bake later, or preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/gas mark 4.
7. Before baking, brush the pastry lids with egg yolk and make two slits for the steam to escape.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden. Allow to rest for a couple of minutes before serving.

Buy British Flapjack-Baked Figs with Crème Fraîche

You may have noticed my recent features on buying Briitish, here is another recipe that utilises some fab British ingredients.

They are kindly given to me by ‘BUY BRITISH’ Campaigner MARCUS WAREING

Country Life, the only major British butter brand, has teamed up with the restaurateur  to celebrate the best of British food and help launch the ‘Buy
British’ campaign.

Flapjack-Baked Figs with Crème Fraîche
For those with a sweet tooth, Marcus has made Flapjack Baked Figs with Crème Fraiche – the perfect British pudding, and one that is sure to delight any dinner guest and have them coming back for seconds.

Serves 4
30g demerara sugar
85g Country Life Unsalted butter
40g golden syrup
85g rolled oats
½tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra for sprinkling
4 large ripe, fresh figs
80g crème fraîche
Icing sugar, for dusting
Clear honey, for drizzling

1. Make the flapjack mixture first by placing the sugar, Country Life Unsalted butter andgolden syrup in a small saucepan over a moderate heat, stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has combined.

2. Mix the rolled oats and cinnamon together, then pour the butter mixture over and stir until combined. Put in the fridge until required.

3. Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/gas mark 4. Carefully make an x-shaped incision on the top of each fig, ensuring you slice only halfway down. Stuff the incisions with half of the flapjack mixture and place the stuffed figs on a baking tray. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

4. Roll the remaining flapjack mixture flat between two sheets of baking paper and cook for 5-8 minutes until crispy. Leave to cool slightly then cut into four pieces.

5. To serve, place a quenelle of the crème fraîche on each of the cooled baked

flapjacks. Dust the figs with icing sugar and serve while warm. Drizzle a little clear honey around the plate and sprinkle with ground cinnamon.

POYNT vital free local search app for busy parents

With all the kids now back at school, time will be precious- and any timesaving applications are always welcomed!

This one is welcomed even more by me as its free. Handy for a meal out, local playgroups, nurseries. you name it.
I'm very impressed with this and can see it being useful when I'm out and about and not got access to my newspaper or not having the time to google.

We have a FANTASTIC mobile app to meet the busy back to school rush that parents face- the application is called Poynt and is completely free!

Poynt is a local search application which allows you to find businesses, restaurants, cinemas and events in your local area and will even provide directions to them for you.

The Poynt app is ideal for busy parents for a number of reasons:

· Find doctors, pharmacies, crèches, swimming pools, museums, zoos, cinemas, ice rinks, restaurants etc.etc....

· Search for local family events – fairs, fetes, bonfire night celebrations

· Book tickets for cinema and other leisure activities

· Make a restaurant booking

· The app is available on all mobile platforms

SAVE TIME - Avoid copy and pasting details – MAKE CALLS DRIECT FROM APP!!!

You can find out all detail via the Poynt website at http://poynt.com/

1. Poynt is completely free to use.

2. It offers users the chance to find businesses, cinemas, restaurants and events in their local area.

3. It is available in eight countries – USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Australia and will shortly be available in India.

Whichever country you are in the directions and info will all appear in English if you are English or in the local language if requested It is available on the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Blackberry Playbook , Nokia QT, Windows Phone 7 and Android.

4. The app is deeply integrated with the handset so that you can add details to your contacts and calendar, call businesses, share the details via email twitter and Facebook with friends and send invites all within the app itself

iPhone/iPad

· iPhone features call gesture to call restaurants, cinemas, businesses etc. by holding the handset to your ear

· AR which allows you to walk to your chosen destination with arrows pointing the way – ideal if you are visiting a new location

Blackberry Playbook

· Allows you to pair your Blackberry device with the Playbook to add people to your contacts and calendar

http://poynt.com/

This is a sponsored post!

Buy British Bacon roly-polies

Country Life celebrates the best of British with recipes from
chef and "Buy British" campaigner Marcus Wareing

• Makes: 12-15

Ingredients

• 250g plain flour, plus a little extra for dusting
• 3tsp baking powder
• ½tsp table salt
• 75g Country Life Unsalted butter, diced and cold, plus another 25g
• 200-250ml semi-skimmed or whole milk
• 8 large rashers, shoulder or back bacon, rind removed
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 100g cream cheese
• 100g Cheddar cheese grated
• ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/gas mark 4.
2. Place the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl, then rub in the cold, diced butter using your hands.
3. Add the milk gradually, while mixing, until just combined. Turn out the dough on to a floured surface and roll into a rectangle 1cm thick.
4. Melt the remaining Country Life Unsalted butter in a small saucepan over a moderate heat. Brush the dough with some of the melted butter, and then layer the bacon on top, leaving a 2cm edge on one of the long sides of the dough.
5. Mix the onion, cheeses, parsley and garlic together and spread evenly over the bacon.
6. Brush the bare edge of the dough with water, and then roll into a spiral, sealing the edge brushed with water to the body of the roll. Wrap the roll in cling film and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
7. Cut the roll into slices and place, spiral side up, on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Win a TV Bed worth over £2000 with Bedstar.co.uk

Leading Bedroom furniture retailer Bedstar.co.uk is giving visitors to its website the chance to win a luxurious bed with integrated TV, through their latest competition.

Entering is easy; just visit http://www.bedstar.co.uk/bedstar/TV-Bed/Win-Competition and sign up to their monthly email newsletter to be in with a chance to take home this amazing prize.

Worth a whopping £2000 and essential for those who appreciate one of the most luxurious and technically advanced beds on the market, this 5ft TV bed is finished in soft dark brown faux leather, making it an eye catching addition to your bedroom.

The foot of the bed houses a 26" LG, HD LCD television, complete with remote control and HDMI connection, so the lucky winner will be able to watch all their favourite shows and films from the comfort and warmth of their own bed. The best part about this innovative bed is that the TV elevates using an electronic TV lift system, so it can be easily lowered out of the way when not in use, saving space in the bedroom.

The side of the bedframe contains a storage compartment which is ideal for keeping a DVD player handy. Each TV bed features a comfortable padded headboard, making it the perfect environment in which to get comfy and cosy to enjoy a good film, especially throughout winter.

Bedstar.co.uk is a leading online bedroom furniture product retailer. Customers enjoy up to 40% off typical high street prices across top brand bedroom furniture available online as well as unrivalled levels of customer service.

Competition Terms:

A winner will be chosen at random from all entries on the 30th November and contacted with 14 days. Only one entry allowed per email address. Mattress not included.

Marcus Wareing celebrates the best of British food with Country Life

British chef and restauranteur Marcus Wareing wants to celebrate the best of British food and has teamed up with Country Life (the only major British butter brand) to help launch the ‘Buy British’ campaign.

Together, Marcus and Country Life - which is made exclusively with milk from British dairy farms - are urging restaurants, organisations and food outlets across the UK to help 'spread' the benefits of buying British.

To prove how delicious British produce can be, Marcus Wareing has also rustled up some tasty traditional recipes, using Country Life butter, to celebrate the country’s farms and food producers. 'Great British cooking is about using great British ingredients, like a quality British butter. Make your pledge today and be proud to buy British food with Country Life,' Marcus said of the campaign. See for yourself with these delicious recipes I will be posting over the next few days.

Mu Cheese Review

I love cheese, its obvious from all the blog posts for cheese, I have rarely met a cheese I would pass on, a couple of the low fat ones I find a little bland and crumbly, so tend not to buy them.

From mild Brie to ripe Reblochon (introduced to me by my friend Cheryl from The Madhouse Family Reviews) I love them all. I also love cheddar as an almost daily meal or sandwich.


As you also possibly spotted reading through the posts over the last few months, I've been on a healthy eating plan. I've lost two stone nearly in just over three months and one of my concerns was I wouldn't get my cheese fix, so I swapped to low fat Cheddars.  I think I've tried most brands now, these are a bit hit and miss.

 I find the taste can be more over sharp than mature, the cheese breaks off in chunks if you try to slice, can also despite this crumbling be quite wet.
Mu low fat is a good good cheese, the first hit on my nose told me it was as good as the Mu medium cheddar, which I had also tried mid morning.

Like the full fat its a lovely medium mature, very flavoursome. Its smooth but not bland at all. and goes perfectly in a salad or sandwich. It slices really well and will be on my shopping list for next time at Tesco's.

I like that I can buy grated a boon when I'm in a rush and making a lasagne or cheese bake. It went well in my courgette and leek bake (coming up in a post soon) Gave it the lovely strong cheddar taste I like.

Turn meal times into MU-times with exciting new MU cheese!

Here to shake up meal times for mums, MU is a brand new, fun and tasty cheese which will have kids asking for more! Available in handy grated and sliced packs as well as blocks MU turns meal times into MU-times!

MU’s delicious, rich flavour is a winner for the whole family, making it easier than ever for mums to get creative in the kitchen and keep everyone happy. Why not get kids involved in the kitchen and make yummy cheese straws? Just roll out ready to roll pastry and fill with slices of MU Medium Cheddar then bake in the oven!

Hungry families will love making colourful pizzas with vegetable faces topped with MU Mild Cheddar for a mouth watering midweek meal. You can even create mini jacket potatoes for little tummies using baked new potatoes –you’d be surprised how many kids like a stronger flavour, so try topping with a sprinkling of MU Mature Grated. 

MU is also ideal for family favourites such as cheese on toast and classic sandwiches. Available in six exciting varieties from Tesco, MU’s eye catching packaging will be loved by kids and adults alike. MU is perfect for cheese loving families and mums who want the pennies to go further but still want the great taste of real cheddar.

Each slice, shaving and curl of MU has been exclusively sourced from the UK and Ireland, from well fed cows to fully ensure a delicious taste that will soon have your family moo-ing for more MU! ‘Like’ our MU Cheese Facebook page or visit www.mucheese.com to find out more.