Olive Magazine February 2018

Love is… patient. Love is… kind. Love is, also, I reckon, food. All of my best memories with the people I love are coloured by the meals we’ve shared. From the roast chicken and salad my mum used to make every Sunday, and my nan’s fiery Friday night curries we had to temper down with ketchup as kids, to the bowls of aromatic pho I now slurp contentedly with my boyfriend to cure any ill-gotten hangovers. I love cooking, I love being cooked for. And, in this issue, we’ve got plenty of inspiration for both. There are inspired, and seriously impressive, recipes for two – beef fillet with port sauce and chips, or eggs Benedict pizza with buffalo hollandaise, anyone? We have the most indulgent and creative ideas for cooking…

TRENDS TRANSLATOR Each month, the Olive magazine team spots a hot new trend appearing in restaurants and street-food stalls, and then translates it for you to cook at home. This time we’re giving granola a savoury twist. TREND SPOT CRUNCH TIME In a recent survey that we carried out with Olive readers, we discovered that the majority of you are still choosing cereals, like muesli and granola, as the top choice for a midweek breakfast. But have you ever tried a savoury granola? The trend popped up in the US and Australia several years ago, and is now starting to be seen in supper clubs and restaurants in the UK. Often healthier than sweet granola, thanks to a lack of oil – egg white does all the hard work binding and adding crunch here –…

Instant mashed potato might be something you last encountered at school but I’ve been converted recently after a blind tasting of Idahoan Perfect Mash. No weird aftertaste and no gluey texture, just fluffy mash you can make using a kettle. I’m not sure it will totally replace my regular mash (after all it only takes 20 minutes to whip up) but as a storecupboard standby it’s a great quick fix for fishcakes, pie toppers and these fluffy breakfast pancakes. £1.50/109g, available in large supermarkets and online. Potato and spring onion pancakes 20 MINUTES | SERVES 4 | EASY mashed potato 200g, chilled (make up a pack or use leftovers) plain flour 50g baking powder 1 tsp egg 1 small, beaten buttermilk 100ml milk 1-2 tbsp spring onions 4, finely chopped, plus extra to serve parmesan 30g, finely grated butter for…

Burton’s fish ’n’ chips snack biscuits Mini Cheddars meet Scampi Fries in these moreishly savoury and tangy salt and vinegar bites. £1.59/150g, sainsburys.co.uk Milk chocolate honeycomb These bite-size chunks of sweet, sticky honeycomb are crunchy yet melt on your tongue. Warning: you won’t stop at just one piece. £3.99/150g, beanandpod.com It’s Alive! fermented scotch bonnet hot sauce Fermentation mellows and brings out the fruitiness of the fiery scotch bonnets, while still delivering a proper chilli kick. £4.99/150ml, eatenalive.co.uk Tomato and mozzarella arancini With a crunchy exterior and oozy cheese centre, these arancini make for the perfect veggie starter. £3/300g, waitrose.com Makhani curry kit This handy kit gives you all the base ingredients you need for this Punjabi-style curry, and saves you buying jars of spices. Quick and convenient, you’ll have a creamy chicken dinner in no time. £3.50/148g, local…

Frozen HASH BROWNS No freezer should be without hash browns. You can make cheffy, artisanal styles of hash browns all you like, but to be honest they rarely ever compete with a box of pre-made ones that you can chuck into the oven straight from frozen. Supermarket BRUSSELS PÂTÉ We’ve sampled some truly ghastly pâtés in our time. Too offally, too garlicky, tasteless, questionable texture – so often they leave a lot to be desired. More often than not we keep returning to those bog-standard Brussels pâtés you find in the supermarket. The perfect 11pm snack, slathered on crackers! Lotus Biscoff BISCUIT SPREAD We’ve a real love affair with Brussels – it’s like a mini Paris but far more of a melting pot. The city is widely regarded for its frites, chocolate and beer but if…

If 2017 was cited as the year of voice recognition by techies, then 2018 is when us mere mortals (especially us foodies) will really get to recognise its true potential. New devices – including the Google Pixel 2 phone and smart speaker Google Home, which both contain a Google Assistant – have been designed to make looking for recipes, shopping for ingredients and even cooking, that much easier. From setting timers to having ingredients or recipe steps read out loud – hands free – the Google Assistant is there to help. Be sure to take a picture of your creation once it’s cooked, too – the Google Pixel 2 is the best smart phone camera we’ve ever used (and the world agrees – it’s officially the highest rated smartphone camera…