Recipe Time! Roast Chicken with Garlic and Lemon

Hi!

So we are going to start a new series called Recipe Time!, where we browse cookbooks from our favorite English food companies, and share their recipes with you! This first one comes to us from Lyle's Golden Syrup, which has been around for decades, so it only seems fit to post our first recipe from them!

Candy Spotlight - Mars Bar

     Things have been very busy around the Jolly Grub offices! I haven't had time to write something up, so for this post I figured I would go to an English candy staple - the Mars bar.

     Many people in the United States may not have ever tried a Mars bar, as they were a definite backseat to a popular favorite - Milky Way. Coincidentally enough Forrest Mars, the man who started the Mars factory in 1933, was actually the son of Frank Mars, the man who created the Milky Way ten years earlier. To this day the recipe for the Mars bar has remained unchanged, however the size of the bar has.

     Similar to a Milky Way, the Mars bar has a soft chocolate nougat and caramel center with a milk chocolate covering. In fact, Mars touts that the chocolate is "couverture" or of a higher quality than most other common chocolates. Fun fact about "couverture" chocolate - it is actually highly regulated. The chocolate "must contain not less than 35% total dry cocoa solids, including not less than 31% cocoa butter and not less than 2.5% of dry non-fat cocoa solids." It is mainly used by professional candy makers, and is great for molding and covering other sweets, which is why Forrest Mars used it.

    I really liked the consistency of this candy bar, very reminiscent of both a 3 Musketeers bar and a Milky Way bar - although at the same time being an amalgamation of them both. I did like it very much, the nougat and caramel paired nicely together and surprisingly enough I could actually taste the difference in the chocolate that covers the bar as well! Definitely something I would recommend!

     If you liked what you read here today and would like to order a Mars bar for yourself,  you can check out Jolly Grub's website for more information. Also check out their facebook for a chance to win a discount off of your order!

Product Spotlight - Robinsons Fruit Concentrates

     So today’s Product Spotlight features a line of drinks that Jolly Grub has gotten me hooked on – Robinson’s brand drink concentrates!

     Before there was ever MiO, the fruit flavored drink concentrates in squirt bottles, thee was Robinsons. This brand has been around since 1823, and was independently owned right up until 1995, when Britvic bought it, a large British soft drink production company. It even has a royal warrant, which means that Robinsons is an official supplier of fruit concentrate to the crown! In fact, every year Robinsons actually is one of the main sponsors of the Wimbledon tournament, or similar tennis tournaments – and have been for years!

     I tried the Summer Fruit flavor, and I can tell you it is much better than the MiO, as it does have a bit less of an overly sweet characteristic, which I prefer as it tastes less manufactured.

     It really does go a long way when pouring drinks, making several pint worth of drink before ever needing to get more!

     They come in a variety of flavors including Fruit Shoot, Fruit Squash, No Added Sugar Fruit Squash, Fruit & Barley, Barley Water and Select – all of them very delicious!

     If you would like to try some for yourself, give Jolly Grub a ring, or click here!

Candy Spotlight - The "Wispa" Bar

     So this will be the first installment of a new spotlight series I will be doing entitled simply that: Candy Spotlight.

      I had thoughts about doing a post like this for a week or so, but I was stumped as to where to begin, as the UK has a near endless amount of different candy that comes in different shapes, sizes and flavors.  It struck me – “Why not just start with my favorite?” And so I did, it’s the Wispa bar!

     Wispa was first launched nationally in England in the year of our lord 1983, after an extremely successful trial run in North East England in the previous two years. It is made through a unique manufacturing process in which a gas, usually CO2 or Nitrogren is aerated into the chocolate while at very high pressure. As it cools, the pressure is slowly brought down to normal, leaving gas bubbles trapped inside! The reason it is called “Wispa” is because of the sound that it makes while you eat it – a light “whispering” sound – this can be heard if you hold the candy up to your ear (although you may seem a bit odd if you do this on the train).

     In 2003 Wispa was discontinued by Cadbury in favor of the “Dairy Milk Bubbly”  when Cadbury was relaunching the Dairy Milk brand. The reason we all still see Wispa bars in stores is because it was changed back after an overwhelmingly success Wispa “limited-time only” run in 2007, and by 2008 Wispa was permanently added back on to Cadbury’s line.

     This is a favorite Candybar of mine for a few reasons, the first being it’s flavor. I’m not sure if the gasses are coming in to play, but the fact that the chocolate is airy certainly allow the flavor to spread across your palette and melt evenly. The texture lends itself well to the chocolate, almost like a mousse without the long wait at a fancy restaurant.  The bar leaves you with a delightful taste in your mouth, all while being a nice light snack – not super heavy and slowing like many of its contemporaries.

     

This candybar is certainly recommended, and you can find them at Jolly Grub here! Special thanks to Jolly Grub for hooking me on these treats, and here’s to hoping you manage to get some before I take them all!

Product Spotlight - Geeta Tikka Masala and Mango Chutney

     Last night I had the pleasure of trying out one of Geeta’sTikka Masala curry paste meal starter packages from Jolly Grub. I call it a meal starter because it was probably one of the easiest meals I’ve ever cooked that wasn’t a TV dinner! The directions were so simple they barely took up a quarter of the entire backside of the small package it came in. All I had to add were three ingredients – two of which you may already have: an onion and about a half a cup of single cream (for us American’s that’s light cream). The last ingredient needed is a small can of diced tomatoes, I used most of an 8oz can, the recipe called for 250 to 300 grams. You can use all sorts of meats for this meal – seafood, pork, you name it, however for this recipe I used just around a half pound of chicken.

 

The packages I used for the meal.

     It started simply by frying the onion (diced) until golden brown. From there I added the chicken to the same pan and fried that until it was starting to look cooked. Here was the fun part, I added the curry paste and mixed thoroughly - I was starting to resemble what I remember as curry! The smell in my kitchen was unbelievable, the chicken and spices simmering filled the entire house.

     From there I added the light cream and a splash of water and let it simmer on the stove for about 20 minutes. When I returned to check it out I had some finished curry ready to pour over rice. I couldn’t forget Geeta’s Mango Chutney to go along with the chicken. It’s like a delicious sweet barbecue jam that goes perfect with any meat imaginable – including curry chicken.

     My meal was a success and I owe it all to Jolly Grub and Geeta's products. It was so simple to make I am probably going to stock up for when I’m feeling something quick and easy for dinner. If you want your own you can always find it here, and don’t forget to follow Jolly Grub on Facebook for the latest products and prize winning contests such as money off on your order!

The Taste Test Saga

     Ok, so today we are going to be starting something a little bit different today - something I don't think has been done here before. We are starting a taste testing saga for Jolly Grub's retail store and all of the lovely retail customers that we see throughout the day.

Come check out our HUGE selection of British Candy!

     The purpose of this taste test is simple: which candy do you prefer? We're willing to bet that you'll choose the British chocolate over the American chocolate! In fact the store owner came out and did a blind taste test for us and chose Cadbury's Dairy Milk over Hershey's "American Cadbury Dairy Milk" (thanks Gerry!)

     Over the next few days we will be tallying the results on our Official Taste Test Results sheet and I'll come back and post the results! In the meantime you can check out our selection of british chocolate and other candies here. Also if your in our area (Greenland, NH) you can come test some chocolate for yourself! And don't forget to give Jolly Grub's Facebook a 'like' - where you could win discounts on your orders!

The Official Testing Station

   

Walker's "World's Finest" Shortbreads - "They weren't kidding"

     Today I figured I would take it back to some English classics. Now everyone has tried “shortbread” cookies be it from the Girl Scouts outside of the grocery store, or the boxed American brand shortbread cookies inside the grocery store. Let me tell you, if you are a fan of these types of cookies, you are going to be impressed by Walkers, and I have to thank Jolly Grub for the tip – without them I’d be lost on this adventure.

     Started in 1898 – Walker’s was founded by Joseph Walker and has remained in the family ever since, and their dedication to “baking the finest shortbreads, biscuits, cakes and oatcakes, using [their] founder's original recipes” has truly paid off. These cookies really do melt in your mouth. While a lot of American shortbread can be a bit dry from time to time depending on the brand (and the weather!), these cookies are the perfect consistency and texture that will keep you coming back. They also have a huge variety besides plain butter shortbread as well – from chocolate chip to scottie dogs to butterscotch biscuits – Walker’s has a near endless amount of cookies you can try.

   You can find Walker’s shortbread cookies here. Remember if you like anything you read here and want to try it for yourself, check out Jolly Grub! In the next few posts, I will be starting to cook with various sauces and trying other various British treats so be sure to follow! Don’t forget to find Jolly Grub on facebook here.

Simpkins Travel Sweets - The Perfect Glovebox Companion

     So for my first real post about the wonders of British food, I chose the first thing I fell in love with when I first discovered Jolly Grub – and that would be Simpkins Travel Sweets, with my favorites being the mixed citrus and mixed fruit flavors. These hard candy drops are made with all natural ingredients, colors, and flavors by the “original method of slow cooking in copper pans, ensuring the finest taste and texture possible” – and boy does it really show! The first time I tried the lime flavored candy I was hooked, as it didn’t have an over-sweetness to it, rather the perfect amount of sour lime flavor to keep you coming back for more – and I did get more!

     What I really like about these sweets and the Simpkin brand in general is that they are a family company, owned by the Simpkin name since 1921. They even still have people to actually put the candies in the tins! Talk about a commitment to quality, even the tins have their own unique designs depending on the flavor, right now my mixed citrus tin has an amazing illustration of Big Ben on the front, while my mixed fruit tin has one of a cricket batter. I personally like it because I feel that these tins would be perfect on a coffee table or in your car’s glove box, and the branding and designs are classy enough that the Queen herself would be delighted to see them!

     If you want to try these for yourself (I highly recommend them to those with a sweet tooth) you can find them here.

     And don’t forget you can find JollyGrub on Facebook as well – where you can participate in contests for money off on your next order and stay up to date with the happenings in Greenland!

An Introduction - Hello!

     Hi!

     This is the first post of many to come here on ‘A British Adventure’ (ABA for short), a blog that, in essence, is my culinary journey through British food. I will be exploring different options and tastes with the help of my good friends at the British Aisles in Greenland, New Hampshire, and Jolly Grub – their online retail store where you can find all of their products for you to try.

     If your looking for a bit of background my name is Jeff Blair and I was born and raised in Southern Rhode Island on the glorious Narragansett Bay, where I would discover my passion for music, traveling, friends, family, and last but not least cooking.  Fast-forward a hefty eighteen years and I would move to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire to attend and graduate from Plymouth State University. It was there I was able to cultivate my love for the arts and cooking – and where I developed my skills in both. Post graduating I moved to the Seacoast of New Hampshire where I now currently reside.

     I’m excited to bring you all on this adventure with me, as I have literally no experience with British food, and I am looking forward to this change of pace that life has afforded me. I hope you all enjoy this series and may you all discover something new in the process – I know I will!