Aldi Wine of the Month for March Review

As we enter into March the year seems to be slipping away so fast ! A chance to try out a cheeky wine from Aldi seemed a lovely way to spend an evening.
So the wine for this month was

The Exquisite Collection Muscadet Sevre et Maine
Single bottle: £4.99 / Case of six: £29.94
Available in stores and online now

If you like your whites crisp and lively, this is a great choice. The Exquisite Collection Muscadet Sevre et Maine from Aldi is dominated by mouth-watering lemon freshness, complimented by subtle traces of ripe stone fruits. Enjoy with seafood, fish and even sushi. We thought for some reason that is was a sweet wine more for dessert . It was a nice surprise to find such a fresh crisp dry wine. We really enjoyed it and though it would be lovely with lots of foods or just a nice chilled glass on its own.  I love the idea of a wine of the month as it makes you try some you may have over looked.




Also check out the Aldi web site for lots of wines and food ideas

https://www.aldi.co.uk/

Please note I was not paid for this review just receiving a sample of the product

Aldi Luxurious Irish Cream Liqueurs

I recently found out to my delight I have some Irish heritage so I was delighted to toast the up coming St. Patrick's Day, with Aldi's Luxurious Irish Cream Liqueurs .
I know we all like to have this at Christmas time but with such great prices to buy, why limit yourself to Christmas. Plus if you are a keen cook it is wonderful to use in all sorts of recipes . We got to try two totally yummy liqueurs ,


Ballycastle Irish Country Cream (£3.75 – 70cl)
On sale in stores nationwide now
Another luxurious, creamy delight from Aldi, the Ballycastle Irish Country Cream can be enjoyed in a cool glass over ice or even served over a scoop of Gianni’s Soft Scoop Vanilla Ice Cream (£1.19 – 2L tub) for a dessert with a difference.

It is such a yummy drink so smooth and with a wonderful taste very creamy. I had not used it to cook with before so as my husband is a very keen cook he thought he would try it out. We used the recipe below as he thought it would be great for a dinner party dessert. Boy was he right! It was the most delightful thing I have had in ages. I think you would be mad not to try .


Ballycastle and Dark Chocolate Mousse
Luxuriously indulgent chocolate desserts. Perfect for dinner parties.

Serves: 2 people
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
British
Vegetarian

Ingredients
100g Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa
1 Large Egg
25g Caster Sugar
30ml Irish Cream Liqueur
30ml Double Cream
Sprigs of mint to serve

Method
Break up the chocolate and put in a ovenproof dish, put the dish over a pan of boiling water and melt the chocolate - allow to cool slightly.
Meanwhile separate the yolk from the egg white - put the yolk in a small bowl with the Ballycastle and the cream - whisk well.
Put the egg white in a separate bowl, whisk till the egg white is softly peaked, slowly whisk in the caster sugar till it becomes glossy and thick.
Add the previously prepared egg yolk and Ballycastle mixture to the melted chocolate.
Then fold the egg white mixture in, a spoonful at a time.
Spoon the mixture into two small glasses and refrigerate - decorate with some fresh mint as you serve.
This is his version which I think looks pretty good. He also added a poached pear and a lemon ice.

Specially Selected Irish Cream Liqueur (£6.99 – 70cl)
On sale in stores nationwide from 9th March, whilst stocks last              
This Specially Selected Irish Country Cream has a fantastic blend of fresh Irish cream with the finest distilled Irish whiskey for the perfect after dinner sweet treat. Add to a hot chocolate and top with whipped cream for an extra dose of decadence.

Another winner and really great over a little ice . I am already thinking of drinks for the summer and once again for cooking. Hubby got to try number two recipe .

Irish Cream Banana Special
This elegant and luxurious dessert choice is guaranteed to wow your dinner guests.

Ingredients
1 small banana
300ml Irish cream liqueur
100ml white rum
100ml semi-skimmed milk
2 tbsp fudge sauce (see below)
4 balls premium vanilla ice cream
Cocoa powder

For the fudge sauce
115g unsalted butter
275ml double cream
140g brown sugar
Dash lemon juice
Method
Place 1 small banana into a liquidiser.
Add 300ml Irish cream liqueur, 100ml white rum, 100ml milk, 2 tbsp fudge sauce (see recipe below), and then blitz really well.
Finally place 4 small balls of premium vanilla ice cream into 4 frosted tumblers.
Pour over the cocktail and serve, dusted with cocoa powder.

For the fudge sauce
Make the sauce by placing the butter, sugar, and cream together into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
Whisk well until you have a thick fudgy sauce.
Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice.

For me this was my fave. I loved the sticky fudgy sauce it was yummy. The only mistake we made was not letting the sauce cool a little more as we melted our ice cream a bit lol. I really did not care as it was so full of flavour. I had no idea that cream liqueurs could be so versatile.
This is our version and I can tell you I enjoyed every bit ! We also used our Aldi Food Possessor to make it!

So both will be on sale in sores nationwide from the 9th March, while stocks last. So run over to your local aldi store and stock up while you can and don't limit yourself to Christmas . You can find our lots of recipes at the Aldi web site

www.aldi.co.uk

Please note I was not paid for this review only receiving a sample of the product

Aldi Restaurant at Home Range

This household is a big lover of the Aldi stores. We recently had a new store one of the 600 spread over the country, open near to us. My husband who is the main cook loves the range and the great prices. So we already loved all the food items but when I heard about the new  Restaurant at Home Range we were very excited.  The range will be online on the 2nd March 2017 and nation wide by the 9th , but lucky us got to test drive a couple of items first.

Premium Food Processor

Prepare to cook like a professional with this Premium Food Processor (£49.99), perfect for mixing, beating and blending all ingredients. It also comes complete with pre-programmed Pulse, Ice Crushing and Smoothie cycles, and is available in cream and grey colour options. It also comes with a really handy case for all your accessories which is fab. Don't know about you but I am always putting things away then losing bits. This way they stay safe for when you need them. You can do everything with this machine from making cakes to chopping vegetables. Its easy to use and clean and not a huge machine, so does not take up much counter top space.  For the price point I think it is excellent and good value. 

Medium Fry Pan

This is a really handy size fry pan. ( from 14.99) not too small but a good size for most things. Very heavy and sturdy I think it will be around the kitchen for a while. Easy to clean and to use. The thing my husband loved was it could also go inside the oven which is great. Just be super careful to use oven gloves to get it out lol.  Nice shape makes it very easy to flip things and  cooks nice and even . Can't wait to see and try the whole range of cook wear as I was impressed by this one.

As I said the whole Restaurant at Home Range will be available in store next month from the 2nd online and nation wide by the 9th , but you can always find out more information at the Aldi web site

https://www.aldi.co.uk/

Please note I was not paid for this review only receiving  a sample of the product 

Aldi Cocktail Challenge

Christmas is over but summer is coming so any excuse for a lovely fresh cocktail really! I was really excited to get to try out some ideas now dry January is over.
Aldi is one of our fave stores and they have a great range of drinks to make your creations with.
 So we tried

Gin, Lime & and  Cucumber Cooler

Really lovely and fresh and zesty. Be perfect for those summer BBQ's or just relaxing in the sun.

Ingredients

50ml London Dry Gin
6 slices of cucumber, peeled
1/2 lime cut into 2 wedges

40ml Del Rivo Apple juice
12 fresh mint leaves
1 tsp sugar
Crushed ice

Pour he gin and apple juice into a large cup or small owl . Add the sugar, squeeze of lime
Add the mint leaves and the cucumber and with the end of a wooden spoon, muddle/crush the mint and cucumber slightly to release their flavour. Pour into a glass and add plenty of crushed ice, drop in the lime half and stir
serve garnished  with a sprig of mint

We loved this really fresh and super easy to make but big on taste


Blackberry Smash

Delicious fresh berries and fresh lemon juice combine with the crisp taste of gin to make this cocktail the perfect weekend drink in front of the TV. With its uplifting citrus and berry notes, blackberry smash is an excellent drink to brighten up your winter

50ml Oliver Cromwell London Dry Gin
1/2 cup of White sugar
1/2 cup hot water
10-12 blackberries
25ml lemon
6 mint leaves
sparkling water to top

method

Fill a tall glass and a cocktail shaker with cubed ice
To make the blackberry syrup dissolve the White sugar in the hot water. Once dissolved add in 10/12 blackberries and allow to cook down to room temperature before straining and chilling in the fridge
Add 25ml of blackberry syrup and all ingredients (except sparkling water)to cocktail shaker
Shake hard for ten seconds then  strain  through a tea strainer into the ice-filled tall glass
slowly top with sparkling water

This was so nice I can see me sitting around the BBQ sipping this on a warm summer night or siting all cosy by the fire

Cranbellini

This is a lovely light cocktails but has that distinctive sour bite of the cranberry with the soft bubbles of the Prosecco

Ingredients

75 ml Prosecco Superiore Valdobbiadent NV
25ml Rio D'Oro cranberry juice
1 tsp mixed spice

method

Dip the rim of a chilled champagne flute into the cranberry juice and then into icing sugar
Dip again  in the cranberry juice, then into the mixed spice and leave to stand
Make the sugar syrup - mix water and sugar and bring  to the boil in a saucepan
Stir until the sugar has dissolved and allow to cook
Mix the cranberry juice with 1 teaspoon of sugar syrup and fill the bottom 1/4 of the glass then top up with prosecco
Garnish with a cranberry cut in half and pushed onto the rim of the glass.

This could be a yummy summer drink but I thought it would also be great for a special meal in the winter, or Christmas. With the cranberry and mixed spice it would be perfect.
As you can see ours did miss the cranberry on the glass as when we bought all our items we totally forgot the fresh cranberries lol.

Nolan

A Crisp and fruity drink great for parties

Ingredients
30ml Oliver Cromwell London Dry Gin
15ml Old Hopking White Rum
Orange Juice

Method

30ml Oliver Cromwell Dry Gin, 15 ml Old Hopking White Rum, fill a tall glass with orange and enjoy!

Really easy to make and tastes great .


We loved trying out these cocktails and it would make a fun evening for anyone. Hope you try and go over to the Aldi web site for lots more items for great meal

https://www.aldi.co.uk/

Please note I was not paid for this review , only receiving a sample of the product .