Quiche, Scotch Egg And My Favourite Salad Vegetables
This was my lunch and the Scotch egg and quiche came from Marks and Spencer.
It must be at least fifteen years since I’ve had a Scotch egg.
Quiche, Scotch Egg And My Favourite Salad Vegetables
But it was a good one.
If you’re worried I don’t get enough greens, I had a salad nicoise for supper.
The Irish Are Invading
One of the things I noticed at The Allergy Show was the number of new companies that I’d never heard of before. Several of these exhibitors were from Ireland and I stopped at one called Pure Bred from Donegal. I had a taste of their gingerbread and it was seriously good for a commercial product, that didn’t have a touch of the dry about it.
As I needed a loaf and buying Genius, where I live, means shopping other than my convenient Waitrose, I bought one of their sliced wrapped farmhouse loaves.
Bread to me must do three main jobs; make good toast, edible sandwiches when I travel and also make a good crust for some of the recipes I use like this fish from Mary Berry.
When I got home, I made some toast.
The bread certainly made seriously good toast.
One question that must be asked, is all this Irish gluten-free activity, a sign that the Irish economy is on the way to a full recovery?
Glamour Puds
The Allergy Show was busier than I’ve seen it before, with three supermarkets; Asda, Tesco and Sainsuburys exhibiting and a lot more stands generally.
One was called Glamour Puds, which in my view is a great name to get your product recognised. Especially, as glamour is a word rarely used with food, unless it’s Mae West suggestively eating something most of couldn’t!
I bought one of their raspberry jam sponge puddings and ate it with my supper. The pictures show the cooking sequence.
It was good and I’ll definitely eat another, when I can find a stockist. They will be in lots of Tesco stores soon, but then they don’t have a big store anywhere near me! But I don’t use them anyway! That’s another story!
If I have a complaint it’s not about the pudding, but the web site is factual and not glamorous enough.
I also think that they could add a touch of glamour to their presentation. The word drew me in and I wasn’t sure what they were selling, until I saw the packaged item.
One thing you have to remember is that I can be a showman, even if I’m a bad salesman, but I do know how to provide the ammunition for others to sell.
On the other hand Gerald Ratner was a showman and looked what happened to him. But then as he said, he was selling crap. This company certainly isn’t.
They’re also selling into a market, where a higher proportion of their target audience is on the thin side compared to the general population. So selling puddings to coeliacs doesn’t probably invoke the same guilt reaction in your customers.
I would wish them luck, but they probably won’t need any more than average good luck.
But how about a single pot custard to go with an individual pudding?
My Sort Of Salad
I don’t really like lettuce and other green leaves in salad. This was my lunch yesterday of one of quiches from this post.
My Sort Of Salad
I eat a lot of cooked green vegetables, like spinach and cabbage. But when it comes to lettuce, it’s something that I’m happy to leave to the rabbits, so that they’re nice and large, when I eat them.
A Pair Of Poison Free Quiches
Last week I had an excellent quiche from Marks and Spencer.
Today, at the Angel they had two different types; cheese and onion and Lorraine.
A Pair Of Poison Free Quiches
There is no provenance on the quiche Lorraine, but the ones with added poison are made in Yorkshire. So what with the Tour de France in the county next week, are they upping the anchors and moving across the channel?
But it was so nice to have a choice. I’ll have some of the Lorraine for lunch tomorrow and put the cheese and onion in the freezer for a very rainy day, when it’s too much to go to the shops.
A Supper Of Odds And Ends
Supper tonight was one of those made up from what was left in the fridge.
A Supper Of Odds And Ends
The quiche was cold and half of one of Marks and Spencer’s new gluten-free ones. It’s funny, but going back, I think I’ve always preferred quiches cold. Are other people the same?
The tomatoes were delicious and had come via the De Beauvoir Deli from the Tomato Stall in one of England’s South Sea Islands. There were no air miles involved, if you’re worried!
The beetroot was a late-in-the-day reduction special at Waitrose and the asparagus was from Worcestershire and although it was tasty, it’ll probably be the last English we’ll see until 2015!
The gluten-free beer was German via Beers of Europe at Kings Lynn.
Note that I passed on any lettuce. I’m not a rabbit!
I Never Thought I’d Eat A Supermarket Quiche Again!
I’m probably not a real man, as I quite like quiche. But coeliacs don’t get much chance to eat one from a supermarket or chain store, as let’s face it, they only think we like food made from cardboard. But after their sandwiches on Saturday, I just had to try Marks and Spencer’s new gluten-free quiche.
I Never Thought I’d Eat A Supermarket Quiche Again!
It was pretty good. Let’s hope that their new gluten-free foods are still being made in a few years time.
I gave my fitness trainer a piece and she said it had a touch of the home made about it.
But then I’ve never made or rolled pastry in my life.
The Best Packaged Sandwich I’ve Ever Eaten
It may be only a Marks and Spencer egg and watercress sandwich made with gluten-free bread, but in my nearly sixty-seven years I can’t remember a sandwich from a packet that tasted so good.
The Best Packaged Sandwich I’ve Ever Eaten
The bread was just right and the filling complimented it well. The only problem, as ever with this type of sandwich was opening it with my gammy hand.
I shall be eating a lot more, if they’re always this good.
Could Marks and Spencer have an agenda here?
If they made all their gluten-free sandwiches so good, would this increase sales at the expense of gluten-rich ones? So would this allow them to make all of their luxury and expensive sandwiches gluten-free, so that they can cut the cost of manufacture and only have one range!
I doubt it, but they are so good, you start thinking of ulterior reasons for the quality.
I’ve Just Got My World Cup Beer In
I’ll let the Germans win the beer war in this World Cup. English gluten-free beer seems to be sold out!
I ordered this beer from Beers of Europe.
It’s strange that the Germans can make good gluten-free beer, but can’t generally get the food right!
German coeliacs must live by beer alone!
Edinburgh – Plane Or Train?
I have just been up to Edinburgh and the Borders to see friends. I went up by EasyJet from Stansted and came back in First Class by East Coast.
I took the 11:50 flight and that meant I left home about eight in the morning. That sounds early, but as I needed to get there as the gate closed at 11:20 and the train took an hour or so, I wasn’t taking any chances. I also wanted to have a good breakfast on the way to the airport, as I know that there isn’t a good gluten-free restaurant air-side at Stansted.
I also had to take my passport for security purposes.
A Passport For Scotland
I suppose if Scotland votes for independence, this will become the norm for every journey across the border.
The plane was a few minutes early and after getting slightly lost in the Terminal, I was met by one of old friends and we were soon on one of the new trams to the city centre.
The flight up had cost me £47.93 for the actual flight, £13.85 to get to Stansted and £9 to get into Edinburgh. Which makes a total of £70.78.
Coming back yesterday, I bought my First Class ticket at nine o’clock in the evening on Wednesday for £64.35.
This cost surprised me and should I say my hosts in the Borders, thought it was good value.
It did of course include snacks on the way down, which I declined, as they we’re gluten-free, but I did keep myself plied with free drink all the way. It was mostly tea, but I did have a miniature of whisky (Scotch of course!) and was offered a second.
On the flight up, all I’d got on board, was an excellent lemonade in a box. Paid for at £2.50. If EasyJet keep selling these, it’ll certainly mean when I fly, I’ll know where to book.
If we look at the time taken. From my house to the centre of Edinburgh, it took me an elapsed time of about five and a half hours. I did give myself a lot of time to get to Stansted, but I needed it, as security took nearly an hour. Gone are the days of turn-up-and-go at London’s third airport.
Coming back, the train left at 14:30 and I just missed the end of the One Show, which means that the time was about seven-thirty. So it was just over five hours.
I don’t think I’ll be flying up to Edinburgh again from Stansted. Both journeys took about the same time, but the train was cheaper, more luxurious and included as much free food and drink as I wanted. Even if as a coeliac, I couldn’t eat the food. On the train, I also got a proper table on which to lay my paper flat out. And of course, security was more noted by its apparent absence.
Over the next few years the train will get faster as new trains, in-cab signalling and track improvement will mean that large portions of the line will be capable of 140 rather than the current 125 mph.
So city centre to city centre travellers like me will probably always take the train. For me, all that East Coast Trains need to do is get some decent gluten-free food. As Virgin do it, why can’t they?
The Anonymous Widower 