Dinner at Cosmo

My wife, two daughters and niece were invited by Cosmo to come and try the pancake machine before Pancake day. Unfortunately the machine was not fully functional but we had a feast anyways!!

I got to meet the GM Tony and Head Chef Ken who gave me a tour of the restaurant and behind the scenes. It's really a slick and well run restaurant with lots of choices. Tony and Ken have lots of ideas to drive this place forwards so watch this space.

The kids had their food but were more interested in dessert, whilst my wife was happy with salad, squid and prawns. I on the other hand had a bit of everything and now need a long lie down!!! My favourite was the dim sum and duck with pancakes. 

Tony was also telling me that the restaurant employs upto 60 staff and that they comply with all hygiene and allergen policies. There are cards above the dishes which list the 14 allergens, so one always knows what one gets!!!

I would like to thank Tony and Imogen for the kind invite and looking after us well. Hope the pancake machine is working for Tuesday!!!!

Daddy daughter lunch at Tony Roma's

My 4 year old and I popped in to Tony Roma's for a bite to eat and had an amazing lunch. She wanted chicken bites with chips and milk, I had scampi and salmon piccata served with garlic potato cubes and mushrooms. To wash it down I had water. 

The service was first class and staff very friendly-remembering us from last time we were in!! My little one was chatting to everyone and she even cleaned a table!!!! There are several menus to avail from and different promos on different nights.

The food came out promptly and portion sizes were big-we just managed to finish the meal and drinks.......and then there was dessert, well we had that packed and will share with my wife and other daughter!!!! 

The chicken was cooked well and skinny fries with skins, served with Bbq sauce (my daughter wanted ketchup!!). My salmon and shrimp was meaty, juicy and full of caper, cheese and lemon flavour. Just right amount of garlic in the spuds and mushrooms were great. Excellent as usual. All for £30 which I had vouchers for, thanx to all the staff!!!

National Toast Day

FREE BREAKFAST FOR BELFAST: KINGSMILL TO FEED THOUSANDS OF HUNGRY NI SHOPPERS NEXT WEEK

 

Today, National Toast Day, Kingsmill announces brand new loaf ‘Kingsmill Super Toasty’ and plans to feed thousands of hungry Belfast visitors in the coming weeks

 

Kingsmill Super Toasty is a brand new toasting product with a unique recipe from Northern Ireland’s leading bakery*, that offers consumers their ‘best ever toast or their money back’ (T&C’s apply). To celebrate the launch, Kingsmill will feed the ravenous shoppers of Belfast next week by giving out free toast at key Belfast city centre location, Victoria Square.

 

The Kingsmill Super Toasty team will start in Victoria Square on Saturday 4th March treating the peckish passers-by to some delightful and deliciously tasty free toast.

 

The loaf has been designed specifically to create the perfect slice of toast. Its recipe is unique and the baked loaf is slightly thicker (than thick slice toast), combining to deliver the optimum slice of delicious, warming toast - light and crispy on the outside and soft and pillowy on the inside. 

 

Allied Bakeries Senior Brand Manager, Elva O’Connor, said, “With National Toast Day taking place on Thursday 23rd February, it’s the ideal time for Kingsmill to launch Super Toasty for toast lovers to enjoy on the day. Toast truly is one of life’s simple pleasures and we’re excited to bring this new loaf to not just the shelves but also straight into to the hands of the public. “

 

Recent research** conducted with main grocery shoppers in Northern Ireland concluded that NI is a nation of toast lovers:

· Almost half of us (42%) enjoy toast every day, with 91% consuming this simple pleasure on a weekly basis

• Nearly three quarters (69%) said Kingsmills’ new innovative product would be right up their street, with a whopping 82% saying they felt it would be suitable for the whole family, every day.

• White bread is still the people’s champion – three quarters (75%) buy it regularly and enjoy it as toast

 

Super toasty is now on the shelves of major supermarkets and independent retailers with an RRP of £1.25.

Daniels at Tweedies Italian Masterclass

My wife and I were really fortunate to attend an Italian cookery school/demo and meal on Tuesday evening past at Daniels at Tweedies.

It was an intimate evening, the restaurant was closed so it was just 14 of us lucky folk to be given a masterclass in Italian food- mainly pasta and dessert. Daniel and his assistant started with Panacotta-he used cow gelatine (so we couldn't have any as we don't eat beef), but it looked and tasted amazing Ibwas told!!

Then Daniel demonstrated how easy it was to made fresh pasta, which has a working time of 10 mins and cooking time of 3 minutes. He made beef cheek ravioli but I had pork in mine and my wife went for the mushroom pasta.

Then Daniel showed us two ways of making carbonara- the traditional and the Norn Irish way. Traditionally the pasta (tagliatelle) was cooked for 3-4 minutes in boiling salted water before draining and adding some olive oil, two egg yolks per person and Parmesan to the cooked bacon/Lardon pieces. The Norn Irish way is just add cream to the bacon, reduce then add pasta. Obviously the traditional one tasted best!!!!

Our whole meal was amazing and Daniel added a chocolate parfait then a creme brûlée for the dessert and camomile tea to finish. It was a great evening, met some lovely people, staff were great and food delicious!!! Definitely worth finding.

Our daily bread and toast!!

​Our Daily Bread and toast!!​​

#Bread has been around as a staple food throughout the world for over 12,000 years. Indeed many different cultures have their own types of bread, both leavened and unleavened, thin, thick, whole and now sliced. It can be steamed, baked, cooked on a flat or curved metal pan, cooked in a tandoor or fried (eg mantou, ordinary loaves/baguettes, chapatti or Middle Eastern/North African flat bread, nan, puri, bhatura, to name but a few)........it can also be grilled or toasted in a toaster which is what I will talk about toady. I would like to stress from the outset that bread in any form should Always be taken in moderation.

This morning I, along with a few other bloggers, were invited to the Kingsmill in East #Belfast for a tour and then a taste of their new product, a slice of the Kingsmill Super Toasty loaf with butter and tea!!! The new product is being rolled out officially on 23rd February 2017 which just so coincides with National Toast Day. The Bakery has been in East Belfast since the 1950’s and these premises are operational since the 1980’s (it was Sunblest before). They employ about 300 people and apart from bread they make potato bread, soda bread and pancakes (more on that later).

The company is owned by Allied Bakeries which is owned by Associated British Foods (ABF). All their raw materials come from local or national suppliers either part of ABF or independent suppliers. The Flour comes from Neill’s Flour (who are celebrating their 150th birthday this year, happy birthday guys!!), yeast comes from Mauri in England, sugar comes from British Sugar Plc., eggs come from Glenshane or Ready Eggs and butter milk comes from Dale Farm (last three go into making pancakes).

The whole bread making process from mixing flour, water, yeast and sugar to finished product takes about 4 hours. The dough once mixed proves for 50 minutes at 36oC. Its then divided into approx 500 and 900g balls. During cooking process the core temperature is 94-96oC and then bread enters the cooler for 2 ½ hours where the core temp drops to 27oC and the finished loaf is either 400g or 750/800g. A Super Toasty Loaf has 16 slices, the Thick has 19 and Medium has 21 slices respectively. The plant produces 3000 loaves per hour and runs 24/7 for 6 days, with Saturday being down time and cleaning. So there is 156 hours of continual baking producing about 460,000 loaves per week!!!!

After our tour we got to try some fresh #toast with butter and tea and it was delicious. I would certainly recommend you all to try this toast and taste it for yourself. My one little bone of contention would be that a slice of this bread contains 21.2 g carbohydrate (starch) and 1.8g sugar. So it has a high glycaemic index and MUST be eaten in Moderation. Please read: My big story

With #pancakeday coming up next week these guys are really busy making pancakes. They are churning out 3,000,000 per week!!! So do you like making your own or will you buy readymade?

I wish to thank Kingsmill and Smarts Communicate for their very kind invite. To sign off I would say buy these products as they are as local as you can get.

 www.belfastfoodman.com

Twitter @belfastfoodman

 

Happy toast day

‪Happy #toast day!!! Excited to be going to see #alliedbakeries @AlliedTrade later 2 c how #bread is made and to have tea and toast!! Blog l8rs‬

Morelli Ice Cream

NEW RISING STAR AWARD LAUNCHED IN MEMORY OF NORTHERN IRISH ICE CREAM GIANT, GUIDO MORELLI

20 February 2017: A new award has been created that will recognise young talent in the UK’s ice cream industry.

Morelli’s Ice Cream and the Ice Cream Alliance, the UK trade association for ice cream manufacturers and retailers, have created a Rising Star Award in memory of Guido Morelli who passed away in June 2016.

Guido was very much at the helm of the Northern Ireland ice cream industry and created hundreds of ice cream flavours for his family business, Morelli’s. The annual award will honour a young member of the ice cream community who has made an impact within the industry in a short period of time and shine a light on their achievements.

The inaugural Guido Morelli Rising Star Award was presented last week at the Ice Cream Alliance President’s Ball in Harrogate. The Morelli family commissioned a specially-made trophy from Ironside Trophies in Lisburn and selected the first recipient of the award. The deserving winner was 23 year-old Somers Giacopazzi who hails from Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders. He has worked in his family’s business, Giacopazzi's, for five years and leads the company’s very successful retail offering and manages over 50 wholesale customers. He also has some wins at national ice cream competitions under his belt.

 Guido’s daughter and Morelli’s Sales and Marketing Manager, Daniela Morelli-Kerr said “Dad was a much-loved figure in the ice cream community. He always sought to nurture young talent and we know how proud he would be to have a Rising Star Award created in his memory. Somers is a committed and passionate young man whose star shall no doubt continue to rise.”

Pre cricket nets brekkie

Had an amazing, nutritious yet delicious and simple #breakfast before my #cricket #netsession. I had two rounds of #wholemeal toast with a touch of #butter, with 3 medium boiled #eggs with salt, pepper and #mustard!!! It was yummy.

Quick #tip I always used boiling water and add to saucepan as the eggs cook better and shell peels off easier, so it takes 4 mins for soft boiled, 5-6 for medium and 7-8 for hard boiled.

Amazing Indian takeaway

My wife brought me back an amazing #Punjabi #takeaway from #Bradford!!! Courtesy of Apna Khana. They catered at our wedding and all our family functions in Bradford. Their food has stayed exceptionally good and authentic. Hard to find genuine true North Indian fayre.

I had Indian style noodles, seekh kebab, nan, chicken karahi and a spring roll.....delicious. 

Great dinner treat from my uncle

My uncle took me out for a rather fine North Indian meal last night. The venue was India Gate which is a Northern Sub Continental restaurant which served top quality food authentic Northern Indian/Nepalese food.

History of the real India Gate in Delhi is below:The Delhi Memorial (India Gate) stands at the eastern end of the Rajpath, or Kingsway.

Historical Information

Of the 13,300 Commonwealth servicemen commemorated by name on the memorial, just over 1,000 lie in cemeteries to the west of the River Indus, where maintenance was not possible. The remainder died in fighting on or beyond the North West Frontier and during the Third Afghan War, and have no known grave. 

The Delhi Memorial also acts as a national memorial to all the 70,000 soldiers of undivided India who died during the years 1914-1921, the majority of whom are commemorated by name outside the confines of India. 

The memorial was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. It was unveiled by Lord Irwin on 12 February 1931.

Our visit just so coincided with my 1007 th blog follower (51,500 views, 30,900 views and 744 blogs) and my 600,000th reader on Tripadvisor (1072 reviews) so a big thanx and keep it up!!!!

For starters we had popadoms and chutneys, then a mixed non veg platter containing chicken lollipop, chicken tikka and chicken pakora, served with a red onion sauce and salad-an amazing start!!

For mains my uncle chose his favourite chicken saag and buttered nan, whilst I wanted spicy chicken Nagaland with pilau rice and keema nan. All the food was perfectly cooked and presented and tasted just like we would make at home. I would have liked the Nagaland to be hotter (spice wise). 

All said it was a superb meal and we both left very happy and satisfied. Do give them a try!!

@belfastfoodman

belfastfoodman@hotmail.com

www.belfastfoodman.com

Lunch at Seasons

I had the pleasure of dining at Seasons at The Mount today as a guest of a friend. I must say that the restaurant was superbly staffed, well priced and had great service. There's everything from light snacks and sandwiches to proper 3 course meals. 

My friend chose seafood chowder and wheaten whilst I had peppered chicken, rice, sweet corn and coleslaw. We washed it down with still and sparkling water. The portion sizes were ample and my dish tasted amazing-one of the better pepper sauces I've had. All I can say is the staff and employees at the Mount are very lucky!!!!

Lion Oscars winner

Lion has to be an Oscar winner, what an amazing film......gr8 story, acting, cinematography. Much better than La La Land!!!!

Newly refurbished Rhubarb

I had a solo Valentines dinner at the newly enlarged and refurbished Rhubarb restaurant. Chef/proprietor Danish and partner Arun had the opportunity to buy the reptile store beside and extend the restaurant into what it is today, a super spot which can fit upto 70 people. Great for intimate dinners or parties!!

There are two entrances one on each side as it's a corner property, I would suggest here that there should only be one. The pre theatre menu is on during the week, with two courses for £16.95 and three for £19.95, with sides costing £2.95. There is an a la carte at the week end, you can always phone and check.

I went for the two course pre theatre menu and chose soup of the day, which was carrot and coriander. This was served with two slices of warm wheaten with two mini butter packs. The soup portion was big and piping hot. It was extremely tasty with nice tastes of coriander and carrot. It wasn't bright orange but more light green and creamy...delicious.

James, the trusty waiter from Doncaster, remembered me from my last visit-nice touch. He brought me a bottle of chilled water, which was my tipple of choice. 

For main course I went for the creamy chicken and chorizo penne pasta with a hint of chilli. It wasn't too creamy, it was well presented and the taste of the chorizo was the main character. Nicely topped off with rocket. I had a side of onion rings (6 in number, most places only give 5 and I've recently been somewhere that only served 4!!). Again cooked splendidly, not too oily, the batter was very crisp and seasoned. Not bad for less than £20. Another fabulous point is it's a BYO. So get down and check it out. 

www.belfastfoodman.com

@belfastfoodman

Thai Red Pork Curry

I made a delicious #Thai #red #pork #curry last night. I used 1 kg of assured NI pork loin cut into strips and coated with paprika and cayenne dry rub and cooked in oven for 40 min at 180oC.

Whilst this was cooking I browned a whole onion, 4 cloves of garlic, an inch of chopped ginger in 1 tbsp vegetable oil. I then added a jar of #tesco #green curry sauce and a can of #coconut milk. I let this simmer away then added the cooked pork. That's when it became red!!!! It was delicious.....

My big story

In the 1950's smoking used to be seen to be "cool". By the 1970's there was indisputable evidence it was linked to cancer. The Tobacco companies hired PhD scientists and government lobbyists to refute these allegations. But now there are class action law suits against these tobacco companies.

Pic. James Dean smoking (top) and oral cancer (bottom).

Alcohol is the cheapest and most legal drug available in shops. There are rarely if any health warnings on the bottles/cans/containers. It ruins many lives and yet in supermarkets its cheaper than water. Another potential for class action law suits against manufacturers and retailers? Not to mention the cost to NHS, industry and family life.

Pic Range of alcoholic drinks (top), normal and cirrhosis (below).

When it comes to food we were always told fat was bad and in excess of course it is, but now public enemy no 1 is sugar. Sugar is the major cause of tooth decay, obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Our bodies require a certain amount of glucose as fuel, this is a single block, disaccharides are two blocks and polysaccharides are long chains of glucose found in starchy foods like potatoes, rice and pasta. These are broken down to monosaccharides (glucose). Any excess is converted to fat and if there are problems with this mechanism diabetes can occur. 

Pic sugar causing tooth decay and obesity and fat causing obesity.

Farmers globally are growing corn to make high fructose corn syrup, which a leading US manufacturer uses in over 1000 products-from sauces to mayo to soup to breads-read the labels, I won't mention the name of the company, but it is in the UK. Once again the sugar companies have hired their PhD scientists and lobbyists to say sugar is not that bad. Again evidence is out there and is being swept under the carpet. My advice is if there is any added sugar in any form e.g. Glucose, dextrose, galactose, lactose, fructose, corn syrup etc think twice about buying it. Again class action law suits against sugar manufacturers and retailers is inevitable. Not to mention the cost to the NHS of treating tooth decay, obesity, diabetes, heart disease and their associated problems, which I hasten to add we are in a global pandemic and a lot of this is preventable.

As an avid food lover it's nice to go out for meals and treat oneself, but lots of restaurants and takeaways make food which is either too rich/fatty, use excess sugar and food colouring/ additives. Again as everything above one needs to exercise caution and moderation.

Finally and of real global concern is the use of non biodegradable packaging such as plastic bags, plastic packaging, polystyrene fast food containers and coffee cups. These take 100's of years to breakdown into nurdles and then become micro beads and make their way into the water and seas/oceans. They then are eaten by marine livestock and either kill them or WE end up eating them. Now in this day and age of evidence based research it's early days. Not enough data is available on this, or if it is it is being covered up. We don't know what long term damage, if any, this is doing to our bodies, but I know the mess it makes on the sea shores!! I was asked by M&S to help in a local beach clean in the past and it's astounding what we found.

Pic wate plastic on a beach (top), micro beads (bottom)

Next time you ask for a fish and chips, or have your prawn sandwich or crab or lobster, just think are you eating plastic as well???? I remember the good old days when a good fish and chip was served in yesterday's newspapers-bring those days back because the taste was much better. Also if you do order hot food in polystyrene containers the heat of the food can melt the polystyrene and you can actually taste the plastic, same with coffee. Again if it is shown to be detrimental to health then class action law suits galore.

I have been asking manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers to take this on board. What we should be doing as a society is really boycotting these products, bringing our own coffee cups/containers and caring more for our society, health, planet and future for our kids and the flora and fauna of the land and sea. I would urge you to share this message with your friends and families asap. Please follow my blog and twitter feeds and any comments are welcome.

www.belfastfoodman.com

Twitter @belfastfoodman

belfastfoodman@hotmail.com

Sportsmans brekkie

I've just made the best 3 egg #omelette using #onions, #vintage #cheddar and cumin, turmeric and salt topped with #hpsauce and #mustard on toast for #breakfast. Now ready for my #cricket #nets.....

Belfast Ginger Fest

Hi guys just been to the launch of the Ginger Pride Festival at Aether and Echo.

Weather permitting it promises to be a great street party and fun indoors with live DJ, food, ginger bread men decorating, teas and skin testing!!!! As well as opportunity to buy custom made tees from Norn Iron Tees.

Plenty of fun from all your superheroes and lots of ginger around. So get down, get goodie bags and a drink or two!!!!

Big congrats to Stevie!!!!

Bubbacue competition

Hi guys happy Saturday. Don't forget to enter the Bubbacue Competition. Read the piece, follow instructions and enter, good luck!!!!! 😀👍🏽

Real Slow Smoked BBQ at Bubbacue – Belfast Food Man's Blog https://belfastfoodman.com/2017/01/26/real-slow-smoked-bbq-at-bubbacue/

Big controversial story

Hi guys I'm working on a big controversial story to be published Monday. Keep ur eyes on Mondays feed. Njoy ur weekend. Peace and love 

Valentines dates

I received my "Valentines Dates" from the lovely #forestfeast range. Dates have been used for centuries for medicinal purposes and did you know are aphrodisiacs!?!? Pity my wife is away for a week as I would have loved to test the theory on the 14th!!!!! But please try them yourselves!!!

Happy Pizza Day from BFM and Four Star Pizza

Today is National Pizza day and I had the privilege of spending a couple of hours with Scott, who along with his wife Jamie, own 6 Four Star Pizza shops in North,South,East and West #Belfast as well as #Newtownabbey and #Carrick.

Scott told me that his love for Pizza grew from his various trips to the #USA where he learnt about pizza. He then came back to #NI and met Jamie and opened 1st store in East #Belfast in 1999 after working for another well known #Pizza chain. They've never looked back. They are both hands on and it's 7 days a week and long hours-they've about 150 staff!!

Four Star head office is in #Dublin and is owned by the #Fitzwilliam #hotel group. Running a pizza shop isn't cheap but I can say that each #oven is £25k and this shop has two. The pizzas and all other food takes 5 1/4 minutes to go through at 475oF. 

The big #USP is that Four Star have #doughologists. In Newtownabbey The doughologist is called Robyn and she is responsible for preparing fresh dough daily. They use strong wheat flour from Neill's, who are celebrating 150 years this year. Water and oil is mixed with salt, sugar and flour and then yeast and mixed for 15 minutes. The dough then proves for 48 hours before use. For #glutenfree there are rice flour bases.

All the other ingredients are freshly delivered by Musgrave so all ingredients are locally sourced and traceable. Scott was saying the menu changes four times a year and this year they are using a local relish Ballymaloe. 

I had the opportunity of making tonight's dinner!! I made a #pepperoni pizza (kids), a spicy #chicken on (for my wife) and a super hot #chorizo and #jalapeno pizza for me.....mmmmm

Finally Scott made me a "#flip" which is a thin base with sauce, #pulledpork, jalapeño and #sriracha and folded over and cooked-it is cheeseless. It tasted great!!!!

Big thanks to Scott and Jamie for arranging this. Also if you order online directly or call you will get better deals than if you use Just Eat. Scott and Jamie are also very good at helping local #charities.