Sponsored Post: Carrot and Ginger Soup featuring the Gourmet Garden Range

This week I have been feeling a tad sorry for myself as I am suffering with a classic case of winter flu. Whenever I am ill, I always crave comfort food - which is typically a good winter soup for me. Today I cooked a batch of Carrot and Ginger Soup to hopefully ease the symptoms a little and warm me up in this cold weather! Ginger is a really great cold remedy as it is a natural decongestant and also helps with pain relief and cold prevention. Carrots keep your immune system healthy and help you to fight off unwelcome germs and infections, so hopefully the combination of the two will help to sort my cold right out!

I don't know if you have noticed, but I really love cooking. However, I often find when I'm cooking that there will be some ingredients - like ginger, and other herbs and spices that I don't typically tend to include in my weekly shop. I do buy herbs and spices in the supermarket, but I always get frustrated that I often only use a little of them and then they go off in so quickly. I wish I was green-fingered enough to have a whole herb garden flourishing on my kitchen windowsill, but unfortunately, it seems that me and plants, just don't mix.

That's why I was happy to discover Gourmet Garden  - a company who are fairly new to the UK who are committed to making herbs and spices easy for every day cooking.

How have they done this? By creating an alternative - fresh herbs and spices, in a tube, which keep their taste for months and are great for every day cooking. The Gourmet Garden range features 10 different herbs and spices, plus four blends of world spices. I think these are a really great idea as having more herbs and spices to hand adds so much more flavour to cooking and opens up so many more options - for beginner and seasoned cooks alike.

I used the Gourmet Garden fresh Ginger tube in my soup. The ginger worked really well and made a great alternative to traditional fresh ginger. I also thought that the flavour was a little stronger and I liked that it was a smooth paste, rather than 'bits' as my kids call them. I would definitely recommend trying the Gourmet Garden range for yourself and seeing what you think.

Currently, Gourmet Garden are currently searching for the UK and Ireland's best "Blogger-come Chef" to experiment with their range and create some wonderful recipes.

The overall winner will win a trip to Australia’s Sunshine Coast, for the Gourmet Garden International Bloggers Conference, as well as £3000 prize and a 12 month ambassadorship position with Gourmet Garden.

The competition will culminate in a live cook-off in London, in front of one of Britain’s best loved chefs.

Upon entry you will be sent a pack of Gourmet Garden products to use in your everyday cooking. Then your task is to get creative, experiment with the herbs and spices and create as many new recipes as you can to share on your blog.

You can enter the competiton on the Gourmet Garden website.

Here is the recipe for Carrot and Ginger Soup below. I hope you enjoy it, and please try it if you have a cold as it works wonders!

Carrot and Ginger Soup Print this Recipe Ingredients 1 tbsp Olive Oil 1 Onion, chopped 1 tbsp Gourmet Garden Ginger Paste 800g Carrots  800ml Vegetable Stock 1 tbsp Coriander, (garden gourmet paste, or fresh) Method In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil, and cook the onion and ginger for around 5 minutes, or until the onion has softened. Add the carrots and vegetable stock to the pan and stir well. Bring the mixture to the boil and then simmer for about 15 minutes, until the carrot has softened. Allow to cool a little and then process in the blender until smooth.  To reheat, return to the saucepan and add a little extra water if the soup is too thick for your taste. Season to taste, stir in the coriander and then serve.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post which I received payment for

Morphy Richards Breeze Steam Iron - Review

A bit of a different, non-veggie post from me today. 

As I am lucky enough to be a Morphy Richards Innovator, this year I have been testing some great Morphy Richards products. The latest product I was sent to review was a Breeze Steam Iron. Now I have to admit something, in our twenty-first century household, I don't really do the ironing! The ironing is purely hubby's department, so I left it to him to test this steam iron and give me his expert opinion, so I could feed back to you.

To give you some background, Morphy Richards have been designing irons for over seventy five years. They were the product that Morphy Richards started with - so they know a thing or two about how to create a great iron. Innovation has changed considerably over the years, however, as a market leader for irons, Morphy Richards are dedicated to designing irons suitable for a variety of different functions, and in a range of different price brackets.

Morphy Richards kindly sent us the Breeze Steam Iron with Ceramic Soleplate. This iron is part of their value range and retails at £19.99 - a steal for an iron of this quality. This iron is also great for those who don't do much ironing, as it is easy to use, and almost does the job for you without too much effort from yourself.

The Morphy Richards Breeze Steam Iron has a ceramic sole-plate and is also self cleaning. It is anti-drip, so it does not leak water everywhere, and it also comes with a three year guarantee - great reassurance on the part of Morphy Richards there!

I set hubby hard to work on our weekly loads of family ironing, and this is what he thought:

"So, the wife has asked me to test the Steam Iron Breeze. First impressions are that this is a great light-weight iron. I like the dial in the middle, which sets the temperature for different fabrics - great to make sure I don't burn the clothes whilst I'm ironing! I also like the steam action, and the constant stream of steam - this is great, especially when you are ironing stiff collar shirts. This iron pressed my collars and cuffs really well on my shirts, and it was also great for the collars of eldest's school shirts. My wife tried to trick me by giving me one of her silk tops to iron. Never fear, this iron worked really well on the silk and left a really good result, without burning the fabric (thank goodness). I really like this iron, it will make ironing a lot quicker and easier in the future as it has so many great functions."

So there we go - the chief ironer of the house loves this iron, and has been using it a lot. With such a great retail price and great functionality, we would not hesitate to recommend this iron. I love the colour, and hubby loves the usability of the product.

Thanks Morphy Richards for sending us this iron to review!

 Disclosure: Morphy Richards Iron offered in consideration of review. All views are mine (and hubby's) own.

Christmas 2012 Vegetarian Food Round-up - The Supermarket Edition

So this is Christmas..... as John Lennon sings - ok, I know it's not quite yet, but the shops are starting to get their Christmas food ranges in store and many of you are already planning your Christmas menu's. Whether you are vegetarian yourself, or you are catering for vegetarians this year, considering what to buy for vegetarians for Christmas dinner, and during the party season can be stressful. So today, I am taking the stress out of a vegetarian shop-bought Christmas by featuring some of the best vegetarian fare available in the supermarkets this Christmas

In a perfect world, I'm sure many of us would love to make all of our Christmas vegetarian food from scratch. However, in a real world, that's not always practical and Christmas should also mean time off for the household cook.

Just a quick scan of the supermarkets online food sections has surprised me as many of the supermarkets haven't even listed any vegetarian main courses in their Christmas dinner sections this year, and they haven't developed any main courses especially for the big day. However - I have found some dishes which would complement the traditional turkey on Christmas day and lots of vegetarian food to keep the party going throughout December. I have not been able to feature in-store Marks and Spencer and Morrisons food as they don't have online sections, however, most of the other supermarkets are represented. These are all my own picks and this post has not been sponsored in any way.

If you are shopping in the supermarket for vegetarians this year, remember that as well as meat and fish, many vegetarians also do not eat any products with animal rennet in. This includes pesto, parmesan cheese and other cheeses and products. Make sure that you always check the packaging - especially on cheeses to make sure food is vegetarian. The veg society produces a good fact sheet on vegetarian cheese. Vegetarians also don't eat gelatine - so be sure to check desserts to see whether they are vegetarian - you will be surprised how many desserts do contain them including Christmas trifles and mousses - I even found pork gelatine in strawberry mousse recently! - Just make sure you check the labels and ingredients when you are shopping and you can't go wrong.

So here is a selection of the best vegetarian christmas dinner and party food available in the UK supermarkets this Christmas. If you think I have missed any great dishes out, or you spot something at the supermarket that I've not featured, then I would love to hear from you so that I can add it to the list.

Enjoy your 2012 Vegetarian Christmas!

Christmas Dinner
Starters
Broccoli and Stilton Soup - Asda, £1.55 for 600g
Feta, Spinach and Tomato Tarts - Asda, £2.50 for two
Breaded Camembert  - Asda, £3.00 for two.
Baxters Mushroom Potage Soup - Tesco £ 1.69 per tin
Baxters Spicy Parsnip Soup - Tesco, £1.28 per tin
Camembert (for baking) - Tesco (finest), £2.00
Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with butternut squash soft cheese filling - Tesco (finest), £2.50 for two
Butternut Squash and Sage Risotto Balls - Sainsburys, £1.50 for 12
Mozzarella Fingers & Cream Cheese Bites - Sainsburys, £1.50 for 12
Baby Plum Tomato and Camembert Tarts - Marks and Spencer, £6.00 for 4 (food to order)
Caremelised Onion and Goats Cheese Tarts  - Marks and Spencer, £7.00 for 4 (food to order)

Main Courses
Linda McCartney Asparagus and Leek Tartlets - Sainsburys, £1.99 for two
Linda McCartney Mushroom and Ale Pie - Sainsburys, £1.99 for two
Sweetflamed Pepper and Goats Cheese Bake - Sainsbury's (taste the difference), £2.29 for two
Quorn Garlic and Mushroom Escalopes - Tesco, £2.65 for two
Waitrose Nut Roast Wellington  - Waitrose, £2.99 for two
Higgidy Sweet Potato and Feta Pie with Pumpkin Seeds - Waitrose, £3.49 per pie

Sides
Apple and Herb Stuffing - Sainsbury's, £1.19
Chestnut and Hazlenut Stuffing - Sainsbury's (taste the difference), £1.39
Cranberry, Orange and Chestnut Stuffing - Sainsbury's (taste the difference), £1.39
Porcini Mushroom and Garlic Stuffing - Tesco (finest), £1.40
Cinnamon, Apple and Orange Sultana Stuffing - Tesco (finest), £1.40
Linda McCartney Red Onion and Rosemary Sausages - Tesco, £1,98 for 6
Quorn Pork Style and Apple Sausages - Tesco, £2.65 for 300g

Party Food

Fresh
Tomato and Mozarella Quiche - Asda, £2.38
Cheese and Onion mini rolls - Asda, £1.00
Vol-au-vents (selection) - Tesco, £3.00 for 12
Brie and Cranberry Parcels - Tesco (finest), £4.00 for 10
Quorn Turkey style slices with Cranberry - Tesco, £1.60 for 100g
Brie and Craberry Filo Tarts - Waitrose, £4.99 for 12
Breaded Cheese Bites - Waitrose, £4.99 for 12
Cheese and pickled Onion Soufflettes - Waitrose, £5.99 for 12
Filo Pastry Tartlets (asst) - Waitrose, £4.99 for 12
Unearthed Spanish Potato Omelette - Waitrose, £1.49
Squeaky Bean Morroccan Style Veg Bites - Waitrose, £2.85 for 200g

Frozen
Tex Mex Bean and Cheese Wedges - Asda, £2.00 per pack
Cheese and Jalepeno Crispbakes - Asda, £2.00 per pack
Brie and Cranberry Bites - Sainsburys, £2.50 per pack
Linda McCartney Butternut Squash and Goats Cheese Tartlets - Sainsburys, £1,99 for two
Cheese and Onion Potato Skins - Tesco, £2.00 for 400g
Cream Cheese Jalapeno's - Tesco, £2.00 for 8
Mozzarella Sticks and Cream Cheese Bites - Tesco, £2.00 for 12
Mini Pastry Crowns (asst)- Waitrose, £3.99 for 18

 Frozen Food from Iceland (not online)
Vegetable Spring Rolls - £1.00 for 16
Mini Loaded Potato Skins (Cheese and Jalapeno, Cheese and Onion, Spicy Tomato) - £2.00 for 12
Italian Duo Iceland (Cheese and tomato, cones, vegetable calzone cones) - £2.00 for 16
Indian Takeaway Platter (bhaji's, pakora's samosas) - 75 pieces for £5.00
Italian Platter (mozzarella sticks, pizzas and dough balls) - 50 pieces for £5.00 (35 pieces when you take out the non-veggie lasagne bites)

Food to Order
Marks and Spencer have a great Food to Order range for vegetarian party food (although their only Christmas main course on offer is vegetarian lasagne). You can view the Vegetarian Food to order here.

I hope this has been useful - do leave me a comment if it has!

Lakeland Hamper Review - St Kew Teacup Gift Basket

I don't know about you, but I am a bit of a sucker for a hamper. As a child I remember my mother receiving a hamper each Christmas (typically from work) and it was always another sign that the Christmas season was upon us. Of course, it doesn't need to be Christmas for someone to enjoy a hamper - they can be enjoyed all year round, and they are the gift that keeps on giving as typically after the food is gone, you are left with a multi-functional basket or box of some description to use. 

Recently, Lakeland kindly sent me one of their St Kew Teacup Basket Hamper's to review. The Hamper arrived gift wrapped in cellophane and tied with a red bow. I must admit I felt a dash of excitement as I took the hamper out of the box and was greeted with a wonderful wicker tea-cup shaped bowl full of delicious treats.

Products Nestled in the wicker tea-cup bowl are: 

Strawberries & Cream Shortbread (200g).
Fabulous Oatie Flips (200g).
Strawberry & Champagne Conserve (227g).
English Breakfast Tea (10 bags).

Hubby and I decided to indulge ourselves with this wonderful hamper over an afternoon tea, and of course eldest was eager to get in on the act too. We had our first course of the biscuits served with breakfast tea. The strawberries and cream shortbread was absolutely divine, and the oaty flips just melted in the mouth. Hubby preferred the oatie flips, whilst eldest and I loved the straweberry cream shortbread which actually tasted really creamy.

Next we turned to our second course. We paired the Strawberry and Champagne Conserve with some fruity scones and cream. We loved the jam! The champagne in the jam gave an extra decadent flavour and tasted so delicious.

Now that the food is all gone, the teacup shaped basket makes a fabulous table decoration, fruit basket, talking piece, or perhaps even a pot planter!! For now it is sat on the table with some apples in.

This hamper retails at £16.99 and is suitable for vegetarians. For a limited time, Lakeland are offering 2 hampers for £29.99 - perfect for christmas gift giving!

I really liked the look of this hamper, however, I wondered about the addition of something else as the biscuits and tea go really well together, but you would need to add something to the jam to use it - perhaps some scones could also be featured? Having said that, it is still a great gift as it is and would be much enjoyed by someone who enjoys the ritual of afternoon tea.

Personally, rather than having a sweet tooth, I am more of a Cheese and Chutney kind of gal, and so having looked at the other hampers on their site, if you or your recipent prefer savoury food, this Cottage Delight Great British Cheeseboard Hamper looks so delicious and is also suitable for vegetarians - I am salivating at the thought of it!

I don't know about you, but I typically find that when it comes to gift giving, there is always at least one person who I haven't a clue what to buy for them. I often find that for any special occasion, there are friends and family, who have a house full of things and don't possibly need anything else. I think a Lakeland hamper would be the perfect gift choice for those awkward people in your life who are difficult to buy for. 

Lakeland have food gifts and hampers starting from just £4.99. Take a look at their Hampers for yourself as there really are some delicious gifts which are perfect for Christmas, or any other special occasion.

Thanks to Lakeland for sending me this hamper to review

Disclosure: Hamper offered in consideration for review

St Albans Cookbook Club - The Inaugural Meeting.

Last Wednesday saw the inaugural meeting of the St Albans Cookbook Club - a club set up in St Albans by the wonderful Ren from Fabulicious Food and Sheba from Absolute Indian cookery school to discuss cookbooks, recipes and all things cooking related!

Our venue was The Bakehouse - a wonderful artisan bakery cafe in the middle of the city which won Best Cafe award at the St Albans Food and Drink Festival recently. With views overlooking the cathedral, this was the perfect spot for us St Albans foodies to meet. With Christmas cooking soon to be undertaken, the theme for this month was festive recipes. Each of us bought cookbooks either dedicated to Christmas, or with great sections for festive menu's, preserves, bakes and gifts.

Predominantly, the celebrity chef's came out on top. With Nigella, Gordon and Delia all writing books dedicated to the Christmas season, many of us use their books to find inspiration or create wonderful food through December, and so we shared our favourite recipes from these books. However, we also discovered some other wonderful gems including this Scandinavian Christmas recipe book

Each of us shared about the kinds of food we typically eat at Christmas or during the festive season. Sheba told us about a typical Kerelan Christmas. Rather than a roast dinner, a traditional Indian Christmas includes lots of different smaller dishes which the whole family come together and enjoy. Ren and Monika told us about a typical Polish Christmas. Heidi from Heidi's Kitchen Talk and Jess, another St Albans local shared their experiences of thanksgiving with us. Typical recipes include sweet potatoes with the marshmallow on the top, pecan pie, pumpkin pie and bean and mushroom casserole - a recipe I am definitely going to have a go at! I told the group about vegetarian recipes I like to make at Christmas. This year I will be giving Nigella's Pumpkin and Goats Cheese Lasagne a go over the Christmas season!

It was lovely to see my fellow local foodies and to chat about food and cooking over a delicious hot drink and baked goods. Thanks to Ren and Sheba for organising, and Bakehouse St Albans for hosting. I look forward to many more meetings!

If you live in St Albans and the surrounding areas and would be interested in attending the cookbook club, please feel free to contact myself - or Ren and Sheba - We would love you to attend!

If you are a little further away and wishing you could attend, why not consider starting your own cookbook club? All you need is a venue (it could be your home), a few friends and some cookbooks to start!

Poached Egg, Garlic Mushrooms and Red Peppers on Toast

The art of suggestion is very powerful - especially when it comes to food. So powerful in fact, that when I Delicious Magazine tweeted this Cider and Thyme Mushroom with Poached Egg recipe yesterday, I had an overwhelming urge to cook Poached Eggs for tea.

Typically more a breakfast dish, this modern twist on the classic poached eggs on toast reminded me that eggs with bread doesn't have to be boring, and inspired me to experiment with some different flavours which could accompany poached eggs on toast.

Having to resort to what I had handy in the kitchen, I decided to make Poached Egg, served with Garlic Mushrooms and Red Peppers on White Toast.

I really enjoyed eating this dish. It look very appetising, and the flavours went really well together - I loved the flavour of the butter, oil and garlic which the mushrooms and peppers were coated in. If I made it again, I would also consider adding some spinach underneath for extra colour and texture, but I found the dish really filling as it was.

This is a great recipe for breakfast - or any other time of the day, and it only takes around 10 minutes to prepare. You can print it using the "print recipe" function below.

Enjoy!

Poached Egg, Garlic Mushrooms and Red Peppers on Toast Print this Recipe Ingredients 1 slice of Bread - Any kind you like! 1 tbsp Olive Oiil 1 tbsp Butter 2 cloves Garlic, crushed 75g Mushrooms, sliced 1/2 Red Pepper, sliced 1 medium free-range Egg 2tsp water Method Chop the peppers and mushrooms. In a frying pan, heat the butter, oil and crushed garlic until hot Add the mushrooms and peppers to the frying pan and coat them in the butter, oil and garlic. Cook for around 5 minutes, stirring regularly, then remove from heat. Toast the bread in a toaster or under the grill. Crack the egg and place it in a (microwavable) teaccup, small dish or poached egg maker. Prick the egg yolk with a fork and add 2 tsp of water over the egg. Place in the microwave and cook for between 1- 2 mins (I did mine for 1 min 20) depending on how you like your eggs. Drain the mushrooms and peppers of their oil.  Once toasted, lay the bread on a plate, layer the mushrooms and peppers over the top. Lay the egg on the bed of the mushrooms and peppers. Garnish and serve immediately.

Tomato, Vegetable, Couscous and Cheese Tart

This week I featured a Marrow stuffed with Couscous, Vegetables and Feta cheese recipe. After combining the couscous, vegetables and feta together and stuffing the marrow with the couscous mixture, I still had lots left over. To use up the mixture, the next day I served up this quick and easy tart made with tomato puree, cheddar cheese and the couscous and vegetables mixture to make a Couscous, Vegetable and Cheese Tart. This recipe is more of an assembly job, assuming that you have already cooked the couscous and vegetables. The couscous is best used cold for this recipe, so perhaps if you haven't made the marrow recipe beforehand, cook the couscous using half the ingredients stated in the previous recipe, and allow to cool before using. 

This dish was a quick inspired idea after ballet as I only had about thirty minutes to cook dinner and so this tart was a great dinner in a hurry dish. I wasn't sure how well the couscous would go with the pastry, but I thought that it worked extremely well and was really tasty and provided all of the nutrients a vegetarian meal requires. We served our tart with a crunchy green salad. 

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Feel free to print it, using the print function below!

Tomato, Couscous, Vegetable and Cheese Tart Print this Recipe Ingredients Ready to Roll Puff Pastry square 150g Tomato Puree 150g Cheddar Cheese, grated Leftover Couscous mixed with the vegetables and feta cheese Method Brush an oven tray with some oil and roll out the puff pastry onto the tray. Spread the tomato puree over the puff pastry. Liberally cover the tomato puree with the couscous mix. Fold over the edges of the puff pastry to create a defined crust. Evenly sprinkle the grated cheese over the top of the couscous. Place in the oven at 200 degrees, gas mark 6 for 15 - 20 minutes until the pastry is cooked through. Serve immediately, or allow to cool and serve cold.

Review Of Anjum Anand's Indian Vegetarian Feast

Recently I was invited to review Anjum’s Indian Vegetarian Feast by author Anjum Anand. Presenter and author Anjum, who grew up in London and has lived and worked throughout the world, cites her real love as home-cooked Indian food. 

Raised by a vegetarian mother, she married a strict vegetarian and is now raising her children as exclusively vegetarian. Therefore, unlike other chefs who write vegetarian cookery books as a gesture towards a different audience but display their ignorance of vegetarianism by including ingredients like animal rennet in their recipes, Anjum has a secure knowledge of vegetarian ingredients and has had a lot of practice at vegetarian home-cooking. 

It’s always lovely to find a recipe book which is exclusively vegetarian and where I know that I am not going to have to by-pass the on-veggie half of the book, or scrutinise the contents of each recipe to see whether I can cook it or not, so I couldn't wait to see what Anjum's book had in store.

I always find it quite ironic that around two thirds of Indian people follow a vegetarian diet, and yet if you walk into any ‘Indian’ restaurant in the UK, most of the dishes on the menu are not suitable for vegetarians as they are tailored to a UK market and are not really a true taste of India. Being a big fan of Indian food, I was eager to find out more about authentic Vegetarian Indian recipes, rather than trying to recreate those you typically find out on a takeaway menu. 

Authentic Indian cookery involves mainly lentils, beans, and dairy products, all of which are in abundance throughout Anjum’s Indian Vegetarian Feast recipe book. The book is well organised into different sections - breakfast and brunch, drinks, starters and snacks, salads and grills, vegetables, cheese, pulses and eggs, gorgeous grains, on the side and divine desserts. This is great as it allows you to easily find a recipe for the appropriate occasion. 

Anjum cites her ‘desert island ingredient’ as Bengal Gram (Chana Dal) – a type of lentil which is so versatile that it can be made into curry, a side dish, or dessert. The book is full of interesting glossy pictures and mouthwatering recipes including Vegetarian Kedgeree, Mushroom and Vegetable Kathi Rolls, Kerelan Coconut Curry, and the rather eye-catching Mango, Pomegranate, Berry and Coconut Trifle.

As I found out from my friend Sheba, from Absolute Indian, who gave me a lesson on Indian Kerelan cooking, Indians are the alchemists of the spice rack, and Anjum uses plenty of whole and ground spices in her recipes which can be found in large supermarkets or specialist stores in the UK. Anjum recommends increasing your spice larder by one spice a week to build up a whole and ground spice collection - what a good idea and one I shall be trying!

I really love this recipe book, first and foremostly because it is vegetarian, but also because the recipes featured are interesting, varied and look absolutely delicious. I also loved the food styling of the photographs, the tone of the book and just everything about it. For anyone who loves indian cookery, or is a vegetarian, I think that this book would make a great gift as it is a must for their kitchen shelf.

As well as a plethora of recipe books, Anjum also has her own range of spices and ready-made sauces which feature on her website The Spice Tailor. Anjum's hardback recipe book is available from a variety of retailers and has an RRP of £19.99. 

Disclousure: Anjum's Indian Vegetarian Feast recipe book was offered in consideration for review. All views are my own and I was not asked to write this article.

Couscous, Vegetable and Feta Cheese Stuffed Marrow

Today I am featuring another fabulous autumn vegetarian meal - stuffed marrow served with couscous, vegetables and feta cheese. Traditionally in season between August and October, marrow is now just going out of season. However, marrow still seems to be readily available in the supermarkets. Judging from recent searches on my blog, it seems that vegetarian recipes featuring marrow are hard to come by, and so I thought I would add another marrow recipe in addition to the 'Baked Stuffed Marrow' recipe I featured last year. This recipe included couscous, vegetables and feta cheese, as well as some balsamic reduction which I drizzled over the top for a bit of extra flavour. I absolutely love the array of colours in the dish as it looks really appetising and flavoursome when it is placed on the table. This was a great, delicious filling family meal. Try it for yourself and I would love to hear what you think!

Couscous, Vegetable and Feta Cheese Stuffed Marrow Print this Recipe Ingredients 1 medium sized marrow, de-seeded and chopped in half 400g Couscous 500 - 750ml Vegetable stock (as much as the couscous needs) 150g Tomato Puree Olive Oil 2 red Onions, chopped 1 white Onion, chopped 1 red Pepper, chopped 1 yellow Pepper, chopped 2 Garlic Cloves 100g fresh cherry/baby Tomatoes, halved handful of fresh Basil Leaves - torn 2bsp Tamari or Soy sauce 200g Feta cheese, cut into small cubes Balsamic Reduction Salt Method Cut in half and scoop out the marrow to the desired depth. Discard the seeds and chop up the marrow you scoop out into small pieces. Put aside. Into a large pan of salted, boiling water, place the two marrow halves and cook for around ten minutes over a medium heat. Place the couscous in a heatproof bowl, pour in the vegetable stock over the couscous so that it is just covered. Cover the bowl with a dinnerplate and leave for around ten minutes to cook. In a pan, gently fry the red and white onions and crushed garlic together in some olive oil until the onions begin to soften. Add the peppers and cook together for a further 5 minutes Add the chopped marrow to the pan and continue to cook for a few minutes more until the marrow starts to soften. Add the fresh tomatoes and basil to the mix and cook for 2 - 3 minutes, ensuring that the tomatoes are cooking well.  Remove the marrow halves from the pan and allow to cool. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees, gas mark 6. Check on the couscous. Using a fork, fluff up the couscous and taste test it. If needed, add more vegetable stock and re-cover. If not, ensure all of the couscous is fluffed up. Combine the couscous with the vegetables in the pan and turn down to a low heat. Add a couple of tablespoons of tamari or soy sauce to the couscous and vegetables and stir well. Add more if required, to taste, cook for a couple of minutes and remove from the heat. Take 100g of the cubed feta and mix it into the couscous and vegetables, reserving the rest. Next, start to assemble the stuffed marrow. Place the marrow halves into a heatproof, lightly oiled pan. Evenly spread a layer of tomato puree in the bottom of the marrow halves. Next, add the couscous, vegetable and feta mix over the top of the tomato puree.  Take the reserved feta cheese cubes and spread them over the top of the couscous mixture.  If desired, drizzle the marow halves with a balsamic reduction (or a little more soy/tamari sauce) Cook in the oven for around 30 mins until the marrow and the filling are thoroughly cooked  Serve immediately with a fresh salad or some crunchy bread.

Yeo Valley Farm Discovery Tour

Recently I was invited to experience a Farm Discovery Day Tour with Yeo Valley. Having spent a wonderful day with them on a Farm and Garden Tour earlier this year, I was very excited to be attending as a day in the country is always a welcome break from the normal routine, and the Mendip hills are certainly a good place to contemplate life and the universe, as well as learn about farming and how important it is in the UK.

After an early train ride from London, I was soon in the heart of Somerset and arrived at The Mendip Centre which plays host to Yeo Valley HQ. The Mendip Centre has recently been refurbished and looks fantastic – it’s definitely an interesting place to look around. 

Spread over 1250 acres, Yeo Valley are the only brand in the UK who produce organic yoghurt which is actually made in Britain. They produce ten million pots a year, and employ around fifteen hundred people at their Blagdon headquarters. Yeo Valley are part of a Omsco – the Organic Milk Suppliers co-operative and so they only use organic milk from British farms in their products. 

After a warm welcome, we started on our tour. I suddenly felt like a real townie as everyone donned welly boots, boot socks and country jackets to protect them from the inclement weather. I was dressed in my high street fashion boots and thin waterproof coat secretly hoping that the weather would hold out and vowing to buy some proper footwear as soon as I got home.

Our host for the day was Les Davis MBE - a Mendips Hills stalwart and inspiring enthusiast and oracle of the history of the Mendips area. On our tour we were to learn about the area which produces Yeo Valley products and how the land affects the products which are made. It was soon evident that Yeo Valley is not just about yoghurt. It's a way of life!

To start the day, we all bundled onto a bus to Wills Barn – the hub of Yeo Valley’s “Yeoniversity” where Yeo Valley carry out their schools work. Yeo Valley are so passionate about the land they are farming that they are really keen to share it with younger generations which they do through their varied schools work. 

Starting at Wills Barn, Les took us on a tour back in time as we looked at how the landscape has changed over millions of years, how the different periods of history affected the land and the kind of soil present in the Mendips. It turns out that the top six inches of soil are most important as they provide oxygen, and provide a bed for vegetation. At Yeo Valley they treat the soil with respect and with their organic farming philosophy they place a lot of emphasis on the health of the soil. 

Next we were off on a mystery tour through woodland and down the old Drovers Way which was traditionally used to herd cattle through the hills. As we ambled along, Les told us about the different types of leaves and plants along the way and described how their uses would have been second nature to our ancestors who would have used them in foods, medicines and to make fire - A far cry from our technologised world today, our ancestors would have manually farmed the land throughout their lives and would have had extensive knowledge of nature and it’s uses. 

Our lovely walk led us out to those amazing views over the Mendips. We learnt about how the land was forever changed by the tsunami in Somerset in 1607 – fascinating stuff! We also found out about how the lakes were created when Bristol Water dammed the area to create reservoirs. We also learnt about the lake’s history, with the village of Moreton buried underneath. Legend has it that you can still hear the church bells ringing when river levels are low!!

We continued our walk through the fields of one of the herds producing milk for Yeo Valley, back to Wills Barn. Jaime the chef and his team had laid on a wonderful lunch, much of which had been grown or made in the Yeo Valley gardens and kitchens. Always excited to eat something that I have not had to cook myself, I couldn't wait to tuck in as it all looked so good! You can tell that everything Jaime and his team serve is freshly prepared with care and attention as the presentation of the food was great and it all tasted absolutely amazing. There was lots of delicious potato and garden salad for the veggies, as well as fresh beetroot and a wonderful butternut frittata – I would love the recipe!!

After a delicious lunch, we were invited to experience a true taste of country living by riding through the lanes on the trailer of a tractor to meet some more of the cows who produce milk for Yeo Valley. A quick bumpy trip across the Yeo and we were at the dairy barns - home to part of the dairy herd and where the cows stay when they are being milked or are ready to calf. Here we met a couple of the newest members of the Yeo family, including a very cute black and white Fresian. Yeo Valley has around 400 cows who produce over two hundred thousand litres of milk a year. It is evident that the cows here are extremely well looked after. Fed on an exclusively organic diet which features silage, cereal mix, hay and grass, the cow's treat of choice is salt. Cows love salt as it helps them to salivate. They produce three litres of saliva a day. Yeo Valley keep a track of each cow’s diet to make sure that the cows receive the nutrition they need. Yeo Valley are also different as when their cows get ill, they do not use routine antibiotics. Instead, the herdsman specialises in homeopathy and tries to treat all of his herd homeopathically where possible. It is clear that the herdsman and his herd are very attached to each other as when he approaches, there are hugs and licks all around from him and the cows!!. 

After our day learning about the journey of Yeo Valley products from field to plate, it would've been rude to leave without sampling some of their wonderful yoghurt, and so we went back to Yeo Valley HQ for some yummy yoghurt and to say goodbye for the day.

As always, I had an absolutely fantastic day at Yeo Valley. It was wonderful to learn more about the company behind the products and to find out how much Yeo Valley are doing for organic, ethical farming in the UK. As I said previously, Yeo Valley are the only producers of organic yoghurt in the UK. Sometimes when we are buying our products in the supermarkets, we often know nothing about the company behind the products we put in our trolley. It was amazing to get a true insight into the company behind the products and to find out how much is going on behind the scenes - organic gardens, school education, ethical organic farming and much more! Yeo Valley is a truly British company, making delicious British products. With the yoghurt market saturated with non - British alternatives, sometimes it's lovely to find a company pouring their resources back into British farming, education and sustainability. It is clear that Yeo Valley really believe in preserving their little piece of the Mendip Hills for future generations to come, and as it’s such a wonderful place, who can blame them?

Thanks so much to Yeo Valley for inviting me on a tour. I would definitely recommend a Yeo Valley Farm Discovery or Food and Garden Tour to anyone as they are absolutely fascinating and are a truly wonderful day out and great value for money. Tours are over now for this year, but you can register your interest for next year's events here 

Disclosure: I was invited on a trip to Yeo Valley in consideration for review. All views are my own and I was not asked to write this article.