Chicken wrapped in bacon with salad

What could be simpler.
Get some chicken breast, wrap it in bacon, but it in the oven covered in foil for 20 or 30 mins. Then add salad.
Reduced fat coleslaw, boiled new potato's, Swiss chard, iceberg lettuce, cucumber and tomato's.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Mead

Broardland Norfolk Mead 12.5%

I've never had mead so I'm not sure that this is a good example of it.

I'd like to describe the smell but I can't... ah heck I'll give it a dry.  The smell is unpleasantly pleasant and yes I know that that is a contradiction. It's like... It's like a compost heap full of blossoms and sugar!

The taste is of honey, a taste like pollen smells (if that makes any sense) and has a sherry like taste in there with a mild burn on the way to your stomach which fills me with a vague sense of doom.

That bee on the label looks like a wasp pretending to be a bee!
I knew that eventually they'd find a way to fool and subsequently kill all humans!!
I'm not suggesting that this stuff has been made as a hyper intelligent plot by the wasps to poison people.

Norfolk Nog - Ale

Drink name                  Drink makers                         Drink type             Drink strength
Norfolk Nog                Woodforde's                           Ale                         4.6%


Let me start by saying that at the moment this ale is my favourite all time ale... That may change but for now this is top of my list.

I tried a pulled pint from Woodforde's while in Great Yarmouth and loved it so much I found the brewery was near by and went there. I recommend you go. It has a nice pub attached and the gift shop is great.

Right, that out of the way, lets Begin.

This ale has a slight smell to it but nothing strong enough good or bad.
The colour is dark and the taste is rich yet refreshing with malt, hints of chocolate, liquorice and a very slight bitterness to finish.

The bottle label is nice too. Inviting and well representing what I saw of Norfolk.

The only down side is the live yeast in the bottle. Make sure you store standing up and leave the sediment in the bottle.



tasty rating
Good as a drink 10/10 Good as an ale 10/10
Can't put down factor 10/10
Good at getting you drunk 5/10
Bottle art 8/10
Rated = 86ish out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.

Drink link

www.woodfordes.co.uk

rabbit pie

After looking at this recipe I decided this was the pie to try making!

Recipe link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/rabbitpie_89204

I freely admit that I bought a turnip and added it to the recipe and used veg stock and not chicken stock but apart from that I followed it perfectly... sort of... maybe.
Ok so I oven cooked the rabbit in water and I don't think that was what I was supposed to do but what the frak.

Here's the pictures of massacring .. I mean making the pie recipe.

By the way. It was nice but pulling all the flesh off of the rabbit legs has made me not want to ever eat rabbit again.

 sharpen all of your veg... in case of vampire attacks whilst cooking.

Citra - Beer

Drink name                  Drink makers                              Drink type             Drink strength
Citra                             Oakham Ales                              beer/Ale                 4.6%

To star with I like the bottle lables being used here. The Hopy character looks like someone gone wodwo.

The smell from the open bottle is of lychee which is a strong factor in the taste also.
Citrus hops and a dry finish make this one of the oddest ales I've tried.

It's good. I like it but it feels like something I couldn't drink a lot of.



tasty rating
Good as a drink 7/10 Good as an ale 9/10
Can't put down factor 09/10
Good at getting you drunk 5/10
Bottle art 8/10
Rated = 76ish out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.
lol... wodwo

Drink link

www.oakhamales.com

Maple Gold - Ale

Drink name                  Drink makers                              Drink type             Drink strength
Maple gold                  Joseph Holt                                   Ale                        4.3

This drink is already promising a lot. A taste with a hint of maple? We'll see about that.

What a lovely colour. It certainly looks like syrup. It smells nice and sweet too with an element of crispness at the end.
The tastes of sweet hops and malt.

Dam. That does taste nice.

I like the label too. Good change in the colour balance if the image to match the drink.



tasty rating
Good as a drink 8/10 Good as an ale 9/10
Can't put down factor 08/10
Good at getting you drunk 4/10
Bottle art 8/10
Rated = 74ish out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.

Drink Link

www.joseph-holt.com

Shut thi gob - Ale

Drink name                  Drink makers                              Drink type             Drink strength
Shut thi gob                 Barnsley Beer Company             Ale                         5.1% 



This is an odd ale with an odd name and an odd taste.
Not unpleasant, just unusual.

I've never herd of this brewery but they are from my neck of the woods... not really, they're about 2 hours away I think. I'm closer to Newcastle than I am to Barnsley!
But still.

The smell isn't great off this beer (reminiscent of a fart you'd be proud of doing in a friends car before getting out) but the taste has hops and a spiciness to it which is unusual enough that I can't put it down.

I think I like it but  don't know why!


tasty rating
Good as a drink 5/10 Good as an ale 8/10
Can't put down factor 09/10
Good at getting you drunk 5/10
Bottle art 8/10
Rated = 70ish out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.
It's a puzzeler

Paddy's tout - Wychwood

Drink name                        Drink makers                    Drink type                 Drink strength
Paddy's tout                       Wychwood Brewery          Stout                         4.3%


Could this bottle art be seen as racist? probably but I like it anyway. The Wyshwood bottle artist person has a real flair for the interesting and odd.

The drink has a subtle smell and a strong taste like toffee and bitter chocolate. Just what you want for a stout. I think this must be a seasonal drink because I didn't know Wychwood did stout but I could be wrong!
On first drinking this there is not only a zesty after taste but also a harsh but subtle chemical taste too which goes away after the first few tries.

This is good stuff. I'll have to keep my eye out for it when It comes back in the shops... and look in the £ shops in case it's still on sale in one of them  :-D




tasty rating
Good as a drink 8/10 Good as a stout 10/10
Can't put down factor 07/10
Good at getting you drunk 5/10
Bottle art 8/10
Rated = 76ish out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.
WARNING. I drowned my last calculator in my drink for not agreeing with me.

Alcoholic Dandelion & Burdock - Hooper's

Drink name                        Drink makers                    Drink type                 Drink strength
Dandelion & Burdock       Hooper's                            Dandelion & Burdock          4%

I'm on holiday with a hole mess of familly and doing a light bit of shopping for essentials when I spy Some alcoholic madness!

Dandelion & Burdock!?! Really!

Well, I had to get some.

You know what? It tastes almost exactly how Dandelion & Burdock usually tastes, except for a slight aftertaste which is like Vodka only not bitter. That's the best way I can describe it.

It's good and worth a try, if you like Dandelion & Burdock that is.


tasty rating
Good as a drink 10/10 Good as an alco-pop etc 10/10
Can't put down factor 09/10
Good at getting you drunk 5/10
Bottle art 6/10
Rated = 80ish out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.
WARNING. Rating was worked out on a calculator which I can't use correctly.

Hoegaarden - wheat beer

Drink name                       Drink makers                       Drink type                Drink strength

Wit - Blanche?                  Hoegaarden                         Wheat beer                4.9%


I confess I'm not trying this for the first time and that I love it.
I didn't know the joys of wheat beer until I tried this.

Drinking it again, I can't put it down. The taste is fantastic. Wheat and spicy flavours with a bit of carbonated fizz.
And so refreshing.

This makes me want to put on some and then go dancing in lederhosen and randomly do that slapping dance!

NOMen hosen drinken dancen shnifen beeren tasten!!
(sorry if that's offencive to anyone.I got a little exited there)


tasty rating
Good as a drink 09/10 . Good as a beer etc 10/10 .
Can't put down factor 10/10 . Good at getting you drunk 5/10 .
Random factor ... I threw a dice and it said 6 So I'm going with 10/10 .
Bottle art 9/10
Rated = 86ish out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.
WARNING. Rating is personal and May differ from your opinion and also logic.

Huntsman's ale - Tetley's

Drink name                       Drink makers                       Drink type                Drink strength
Huntsman's ale                  Tetley's                                Ale                            4.2%

AH! Tetley's.
This is one of the names of Alcohol I remember from childhood... Not I didn't drink as a child. I mean I was aware of it then and it stuck in my mind. Like Bass, but that's probably more to do with the shandy they sold.

This ale has a nice strong smell and a strong yet refreshing taste to it and surprisingly enough a fox didn't just out of it when I opened the bottle as I was for some reason expecting.

It has a nice amber colour to it too. All round I have nothing but good things to say about this ale. How odd.




tasty rating
Good as a drink... 09/10 Good as an ale etc... 09/10
Can't put down factor... 08/10 Good at getting you drunk... 5/10
Random factor... 0.3 :: % = potato/10
Bottle art 6/10
Rated =74.00potato out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.
WARNING. Rating is not worked out in any logical way and may as well have been put together by a hive of hyper intelligent wasps... Just because they are hyper intelligent doesn't mean they know a good ale when they taste one!

Double Stout

Drink name                       Drink makers                       Drink type                Drink strength
Double Stout                     Hook Norton Brewery         Stout                         4.8%

Now this is what I call a good drink.
It's strong, smooth, fully bodied and with a taste like bitter chocolate to it with flavours of malt.

I like the label of cause. That's the first thing we notice about a drink and this one feels right for the drink.
A dark  looking bottle for a dark drink.

Oh and the bottle says hand crafted in the Cotswold Hills since 1849.



tasty rating
Good as a drink 09/10 Good as a beer etc 10/10
Can't put down factor 09/10 Good at getting you drunk 5/10
Bottle art 10/10
Rated = 86ish out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.
WARNING. Rating is not worked out in any logical manner.

Drink link

www.hooky.co.uk

2012 Vintage cider - Westons

 Drink name                       Drink makers                       Drink type                Drink strength
 2012 Vintage?                   Westons                               Cider                         8.2%


 Smells like cider, looks like cider... has an odd picture of an old fassioned bloke with apples on the lable which I hope isn't sugesting theres bits of someone in the cider... and it tastes like cider.

And good cider at that. Maybe not as appley as I'd prefure (the strength of alcohol must have taken some of the flavour) but the oak flavour is about right.

 I like a medium cider with an oaky taste.

This one will get the summer wasps drunk when they attack me in the garden.



tasty rating
Good as a drink 08/10 Good as a Cider etc 09/10
Can't put down factor 07/10 Good at getting you drunk 9/10
Bottle art 5/10
Average = 76ish out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.
It's close enough.

Dry Cider - Kingstone press

Drink name                       Drink makers                       Drink type                Drink strength
Cider?                                Kingstone Press                  Dry cider                  5.3%

I've had kingstones ciders before and I wasn't impressed but I refuse to let that effect my judgement.

On opening this cider smells good. It's bubbly which I guess is good for this sort of cider.

The taste...
Well it's a dry cider and I don't feel let down on that but like the other Kingstone press cider I have tried it has a honey like taste in there too.
They are consistent in their flavour but this ain't for me. Makes my teeth feel funny.

It'll do for cooking though I bet!


tasty rating
Good as a drink 05/10 Good as a Cider etc 07/10
Can't put down factor 05/10 Good at getting you drunk 5/10
Bottle art 5/10
Average = 54ish out of 100% because I can't count and I don't understand percentages.
Who'd a' guessed