Ask Lincoln - Review

Hello,
I have recently discovered an almighty love for Italian food, so both times when my Sister and Mum, and then Lee, suggested going for something to eat in my nearest city, Lincoln, I jumped at the chance to try out my local Ask restaurant.
I haven't really heard any reviews of this restaurant however it always seems bustling, so when my Mum, Sister and I went for my first ever visit, I wasn't too surprised to find that it was rammed and we took ages to get served. The twenty minutes just for our initial drinks did start to take the Michael a bit, though.
I'm going to sound really boring now and admit that both times I ordered the exact same thing. The Butterfly King Prawns and then the Penne Al Pollo Della Cassa (That's a chicken and mushroom bake to most of us) the first time around, the food was gorgeous. The bread accompanying the King Prawns was a little over-toasted for my liking but hey.
However on my second trip, it was definately less busy and even more definately a dinner service as opposed to an early evening so I expected the food to be as good, if not better. Sadly, when my King Prawns came out, although at first it was cool that the slate with still sizzling, the fact that by the time I'd finished my food was burning and I couldn't prize the burnt toast off of the bottom of my plate really took the edge off.
The Main Course, Lee has told me that I'm being far too picky, but when I'm paying for something I like it to be at least as good as I could make at home. I found the sauce a tad too runny and could not taste the white wine as hard as I tried. I like my pasta bakes to have a bit of a crunch on top, my guess is it could have done with a little longer in the oven.
Oh, and on a side note for a side dish - The garlic bread was inedible. I can't explain why, it just tasted off.
Overall, I've not ruled all Ask restaurants out if it were the only Italian in the area. However I'll try my hardest to make my vists at lunch time when I'm less picky about my food being perfect.

Pan-Fried Salmon | My new favourite protein

It's a rather recent discovery for me just how much I love fish. I've always been a bit scared of it incase it's cooked wrong and I get poorly. But recently I delved into the world of salmon and it's my new firm favourite for a quick and rather healthy tea.

I personally pan fry my salmon as I feel more in control of watching it change colour (as opposed to wrapping it in foil and grilling it) and it's about 8 minutes quicker, too. I usually go for some New Potatoes with parsley as my carbohydrate, and then mix up my vegetables from Asparagus to Broccoli. 

A confession here, I tend to buy the microwave new potatoes as they take about as long as my fish and are already garnished. 

Cheese, glorious Cheese!

It's no secret to those who know me well that I love cheese. I'm not into all the wierd and wonderful cheeses that are out that but give me a good cheddar and I'm yours for life.

This weekend Lee and I took a trip over to Burghley Horse Trials and other than mandatory boring horsey bits, the only thing we picked up was some cheese.

We went for three different types (after standing there trying them all for about half an hour). We picked the smoked cheddar, was has a lovely smokey (surprise) almost bacon-y taste that I instantly loved and earmarked for cheese on toast! We both agreed on the caramelised onion, which again has not too strong of a flavour, but it's definately there and it's scrummy! The onion is distinctive but not over powering when on crackers but when I had a huge chunk on its own it was rather strong.

Lastly, was the only one that we sort of regret, not because there's anything wrong with the cheese itself, but we chose it over 'the Lincolnshire Gamekeeper' which on reflection, has a stronger taste. We went for the Skegness Cheese. Very very creamy, a medium cheddar I'd say that is beautiful on crackers. I had it on a cheese and chive cracker and they went together perfectly.

Does anyone know where we can get hold of some Lincolnshire Gamekeeper cheese? We're now a bit devastated that we don't have any!

A warm welcome

Hello lovelies,

Welcome to all of you, whether you read my beauty blog or not! I hope that you find this blog interesting and maybe even useful.

It occurred to me whilst eating out with my Sister and Mum a month or so ago, that I eat out A LOT, and I have take away far too often. So from this epiphany of mine I drew two conclusions, one, I need to learn to cook more and two, I have quite a varied restaurant knowledge.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no novice in the kitchen and no expert in a restaurant. But I often get bored of the recipes that I know and as I used to work in restaurants and, like I said, I spend far too much money in them, I sort of know what's good and what's not.

This post is really just a quick hello to introduce the types of things you can expect from this blog. I'm not imagining this to be hugely successful (though one can hope) but it's a nice side project to go hand in hand with beckasbeautyblog.blogspot.com!

So, what can you expect? Recipes (that will be written by me so bare with me) of new things that I'm trying out or just old classics that I love! And reviews of restaurants that I am visiting. I will be fair but as I say, I know what is acceptable and expected so I shan't be taking any burnt steak lying down!

I'm certainly looking forward to my next meal out and letting you know all about it!

Becka