The winners of Theo Randall’s “Pasta” cookbook are..
Posted: 03 September '10 by Niall and Kelly
Win a copy of Pasta by Theo Randall
As you may know by now, “Pasta” by Theo Randall is one of our favourite Italian cookbooks.
Our competition to win one of three copies has just ended, and we’re happy to announce that the three lucky winners are:
- Grace M
- Stuart H
- David Q
Thanks to everyone who took the time to enter, and congratulations to the winners – we’re absolutely sure that you’ll love the book!
Tags: competition, competition winner, cookbook, promotion, theo randall
Categories: Competitions : Promotions
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Happy paella-ing to..
Posted: 03 September '10 by Niall and Kelly
Orce Serrano Hams
Our competition to win a paella kit from Orce Serrano Hams was a hotly contested affair – over 150 of you wanted to get your hands on the fantastic prize.
The name drawn out of the hat is: Siobhan McK – congratulations Siobhan!
The paella kit is a wonderful prize – and a great reason to get some friends round to yours for an authentic, flavour-filled Spanish night!
Thanks again to Iain and Gayle from Orce – you were incredibly generous.
Happy paella-ing Siobhan!
Tags: competition, competition winner, orce serrano hams
Categories: Competitions : Promotions
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Creu Celta is one of the best Spanish wines in the UK!
Posted: 03 September '10 by Niall and Kelly
New Wave Spanish Wine Awards 2010
We’re sure that everyone at Belfast’s Direct Wine Shipments are over the moon. Their ‘Creu Celta 2006′ wine has been awarded a “Best New Discovery” prize at this years New Wave Spanish Wine Awards 2010.
The ‘Creu Celta’ label produces rich, concentrated reds with pine, chocolate, cherry, plum and currant notes from the DWS vineyard in Priorat, Northern Spain.
Tim Atkin (award-winning wine writer and Master of Wine) led a panel of distinguished judges who had the onerous task of tasting nearly 1000 wines. The 119 wines shortlisted by the panel represent the very best Spanish wines available in the UK right now!
Now in its sixth year, the New Wave Spanish Wine Awards is run by Wines from Spain and Off Licence News (OLN). The awards are designed to showcase the most exciting wines from Spain available in the UK market.
So it’s official – Creu Celta is one of the best Spanish wines in the UK!
Congratulations to everyone at DWS!
Other information
You can find the full list of winning wines at www.winesfromspainuk.com.
You can buy the Creu Celta 2006 online at Direct Wine Shipments – RRP £19.99
You can click here to find out more about Tim Atkin.
Direct Wine Shipments
5-7 Corporation Square,
Belfast
BT1 3AJ
T: 028 9050 8000
E: shop@directwine.co.uk
W: www.directwine.co.uk
You can also find DWS on Google Maps.
Tags: awards, direct wine shipments, spain, spanish wine
Categories: News
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Italian Fennel and Orange Salad
Posted: 01 September '10 by Niall
Italian fennel and orange salad
As the temperature in Northern Ireland soared to a stifling 23° last week, we were in the mood for a lighter meal when we got home from work. What better than a zesty Meditteranean salad!
Kelly is a big fan of citrus flavours so this Italian Fennel and Orange salad was a sure-fire winner.
I have to admit, I’ve only braised fennel before, never eaten it raw, so this was a bit of a revelation. The secret lies in slicing the fennel into very thin slivers. The lemon and orange juice effectively “cooks” the fennel in citric accid, so you don’t get overwhelmed by the aniseed – it’s actually very subtle.
All in all the salad is so light, clean and fresh you’ll feel very virtuous after your meal.
Although the salad can be eaten on it’s own I served ours with some butterflied and griddled chicken breasts – the salad made a very tasty accompaniment.
Serves 2
You can see more photos hereImage 2Image 3Image 4Image 5
Ingredients
- 2 good-sized fennel bulbs
- 1 Navel orange
- 1 lemon
- 3 tbs of pine nuts
- some good olive oil
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Drizzle a drop of olive oil into frying pan and add the pine nuts, toasting them over a low heat.
- Trim the fennel bulbs by removing any wilted or unsightly outer shoots or flesh from the bulb, and keeping the delicate fronds from the fennel.
- Slice the fennel bulb in half and cut an inverted “V” in the bulb so you remove the central, woody core.
- If you have a mandolin you can easily slice the bulbs into wafer-thin pieces – otherwise you need to use a sharp knife.
- Place the sliced fennel into a bowl and add the zest of the lemon and the zest of the orange.
- Peel the remaining skin from the orange, removing as much of the white pith as possible.
- Using a sharp knife, slice the orange into segments by running the blade down the flesh inside each vertical membrane – you should end up with lots of nice, wedge-shaped orange pieces. Place these segments into the bowl.
- Squeeze the juice from half of the lemon over your salad.
- Roughly chop the fennel fronds and add these to the fennel along with the toasted pine nuts, a splash of olive oil, and the salt and pepper.
- Toss the salad ingredients together and serve immediately.
Enjoy!
More information
There are both male and female fennel bulbs. The shorter, round bulb is the female while the taller, more slender bulbs are the males. Some think that there is a subtle difference in flavour, with the female bulbs slightly more preferred to the male.
Tags: belfast taste and music fest, italian food, recipe, Recipes, vegetarian
Categories: Featured Post : Italian Food : Recipes : Side Dishes : Starter Course : Vegetables
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Spanish Stuffed Tomatoes
Posted: 25 August '10 by Niall
Spanish stuffed tomatoes
In our recent post about La Tomatina we mentioned that we’d be celebrating the humble tomato in our own way – by making Spanish stuffed tomatoes.
It’s a pretty straightforward recipe, but the flavours are superb – fruity, both sweet and savoury, and with a delicate hint of thyme and parsley in the background.
Kelly just loved this recipe and was raving about it to her friends in work.
It’s great way to play your own part in the Spanish Tomato festival!
Ready in 40 minutes – serves 6 as a starter or tapas.
You can see more photos hereImage 2Image 3Image 4Image 5Image 6
Ingredients
- 6 large tomatoes
- 100g fresh breadcrumbs
- 3 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
- black pepper to taste
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 50g Manchego cheese, grated (if you can’t find Manchego, Parmesan will do at a pinch)
- 1 tbsp thyme, finely chopped
- 1 tsp of smoked paprika
- olive oil
Method
- Preheat the oven to 140°C
- Drizzle some olive oil into a pan and sweat the onions over a low heat until they are soft.
- While the onions are cooking, combine the breadcrumbs, parsley, thyme, pepper, smoked paprika, and half of the grated manchego in a large bowl.
- Turn the heat off under the onions and tip the breadcrumb mixture into the softened onion, stirring the ingredients until they are mixed thoroughly.
- Using a teaspoon, scoop the pulp from the tomatoes.
- Spoon the breadcrumb mixture into the tomatoes, pressing the mixture down to fit as much stuffing in as possible.
- Place the stuffed tomatoes into an oven dish and top them with the remaining grated cheese and drizzle with olive oil.
- Bake the tomatoes for 20 minutes, or until the tomatoes are soft and the cheese has melted, and serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Tags: recipe, spain, spanish food, tapas, Tomato
Categories: Featured Post : Recipes : Side Dishes : Spanish Food : Starter Course : Vegetables
