entertainment

Celebrity Come Dine With Me 2008

The next best thing to cooking (and eating) great food as got to be watching it being cooked on TV and with hundreds of shows and dedicated TV channels, us foodies have never had it so good!

Narrated by the hilarious Dave Lamb, Channel 4′s Come Dine With Me series is one of those shows that quietly sits in the shadow of all the F-Word’s out there but after four series it’s a format to be reckoned with.  4 (or 5, depending on the series) strangers all take turns to cook a full blown meal for the other diners in the course of a week, with each host being scored based on their skills in the kitchen and at entertaining.  Needless to say, there’s always a lot of bickering going on which just adds to the appeal of the show.

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Say “nr” to HP Sauce!

This was something I wanted to write about a while ago now but for some reason, never got round to it.  In case you missed possibly the biggest news to rock the UK food industry since they stopped making Wispa bars (the first time around) in May 2006, Heinz announced that they were going to stop making HP brown sauce in the UK.

As soon as the Heinz purchase of the HP Foods company was a done deal, Heinz then proceeded to close the Birmingham factory and switch production to the Netherlands.  That’s right, Britain’s number one brown sauce is now coming from Holland of all places!!

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Peterborough is unsafe at night

That’s if you believe what you read in local newspapers that is. To those thousands that travel into the city centre each weekend after hours, have a bite to eat and a bit to drink then maybe a dance and a kebab home, Peterborough is a pretty decent place.

Ok it’s no bustling metropolitan city like Manchester or Birmingham, but really who wants it to be? I personally don’t. Peterborough’s “that place” where people go to get their passport at the last minute. They didn’t know it existed before and they’ll probably forget again until they need another passport in 10 years time.

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GTA IV Review

After what seems like forever, quite possibly the multi-format game of the year is here!

The hugely anticipated, new instalment in the ground-breaking Grand Theft Auto series has landed and is going to be the game to tear gamers away from Call of Duty 4.

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NES Controller Engine Cover

I like to think I’ve been around long enough to have an opinion on both games consoles and cars, after all I remember standing in WH Smith copying down a list of poke codes out of CU Amiga and playing Ikari Warriors on the NES so much that my thumb bled.

I’ve seen video games where real world cars are faithfully recreated and I’ve even seen cars that have had games consoles painstakingly crafted into them but this is the first time I’ve seen an engine cover fashioned in the style of a NES controller…

NES controller engine cover

The guys obviously got the time and an inkling of talent to come up with this so what’s next?

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Shipwrecked 2008

With the rain hammering it down outside it’s nice to be able to dream of a far away place where the sun beats down on white sandy beaches, with blue seas lapping at the shore. Add a sprinkling of beautiful people and you’re not far off Channel 4′s Shipwrecked reality TV series which has just returned for the 3rd time under it’s “Battle of the Islands” guise.

Since getting the V+ box, I’ve found my TV viewing habits a lot more selective, so I (thankfully) miss most of what T4 has to offer however I’ve always enjoyed Shipwrecked (what’s not to like about tanned girls in bikinis?) so will be adding this outing of Shipwrecked to series record.

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Venezuelan Black Chocolate Recipes

Since my earlier post on Willie Harcourt-Cooze’s chocolate exploits proved so popular I thought it would be appropriate to post up some of the recipes mentioned in the Channel 4 TV show including the much sought-after, Venezuelan Black Chocolate truffles!

All of these Venezuelan Black recipes are currently available on the Channel 4 website, however I’ve taken the liberty to post them here too should the link to the recipes page change.

Wondering where to buy Venezuelan Black Chocolate? Well Selfridges are the “official” stockist and they offer a mail order service but they’re out of stock as the time of writing this so some enterprising souls have listed bars of the lovely 100% cacao on eBay too.

…whichever you choose, the food you make is going to be chocolate heaven!

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Venezuelan Black Chocolate

Any TV addict out there will probably be suffering from an intense chocolate craving right about now thanks to one Wonky Willie and his slightly crazy mission to bring the ultimate cacao to the UK.

I’m not convinced that chocolate as an ingredient is right for most meals although anyone that’s watched an episode of the Channel 4 series Willies Wonky Chocolate Factory will testify, most of the show revolves around Willie Harcourt-Cooze adding helpings of his Venezuelan Black chocolate stuff into just about every meal of the day.

But is he just adding chocolate for the sake of adding chocolate? With a strap line of “From bean to bar”, the series shows the Harcourt-Coozes travelling from the UK to Venezuela, to their Hacienda farm.
Update!!  Chocolate Factory cookbook now available!

Since originally writing this article, I’ve discovered Willie’s released his own cookery book titled Willie’s Chocolate Factory Cookbook.  Combining biographical content with recipes and such, the book will battle for a place on both your coffee table and in the kitchen!  My personal favourite is the Chicken Mole recipe which reminds me of when the Hairy Bikers visited Mexico.  Lets hope Willie will put his name to more books and start a series on cooking with his chocolate.

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