Tag Archives: soup

Delicious Allergen Friendly Soup from Soupy Do!

15 May

Earlier this year I heard from Martyn Phipps who informed me he was setting up a new Plymouth based company, Soupy Do!, that would sell a range of freshly made soups.  Not only that but all of the soups in his range were to be gluten free, dairy free, low in fat and vegetarian.  In addition to that Martyn has since gone a step further and ensured that all of his soups are free from all 14 of the regulated allergens.  A true free from experience!

Soupy Do!

Soupy Do! produce seven flavours of soup which are; Carrot and Ginger, Continental Country, Italian Herb and Red Pepper, Spicy and Smokey Tomato, Super Green, Crimson King and finally Butternut, Cumin and mild chilli.  Martyn was kind enough to drop around some samples of the carrot, tomato and butternut varieties.  All three were packed full of flavour and quite spicy, which is right up my street.  All of the produce used to make the soups is sourced locally in Devon and Cornwall where possible.

I always like to know what inspires a producer to make gluten free foods.  Martyn said “I didn’t set out particularly to make them Gluten free, but awesome tasting, with all the health advantages that they provide. I have two family members that are Coeliac so know the trouble they have finding food that ticks all of the boxes. I couldn’t understand why taste had to be compromised to meet certain criteria, or so many other things added as a compromise, so I set out to prove to myself it could be done.”

Some of you may have sampled these soups at the Coeliac UK Plymouth Group AGM where Soupy Do! were present selling on the day.  The soups are available to buy in Plymouth and will be delivered by Martyn personally to your door.  The delivery area has now been expanded to South Hams including Totnes, Dartmouth, Kingsbridge, Salcombe.  Martyn is also currently investigating national delivery.  Minimum order for delivery is 1kg, with a £1.50 charge for Plymouth delivery, increasing slightly with distance.

I recently placed an order with Soupy Do! and I tried the Continental Country and Italian Herb and Red Pepper soups.  I’m pleased to report that both were delicious and I can highly recommend them.  They were milder than the first three flavours that I tried for those of you who are not as keen as me on spice.  You will also be able to buy these soups at several local markets in and around Plymouth including the new local produce market at Mount Edgcumbe.  Keep an eye on the Soupy Do! Facebook page for further details of other markets.

Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea

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Tideford Organics Giveaway!

31 Jan

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I first came across Tideford Organics at the Allergy and Free From Show in 2013.  When eating so many sweet things at the show, I often find that it’s a savoury item that sticks in the memory, and Tideford’s minestrone soup was definitely one of my highlights.  The fact Tideford Organics are based in my home county of Devon meant I definitely needed to find out more about this company.  Tideford have been making their products since 1996, using only organic ingredients, and are produced in their kitchen in Totnes.

samplesAfter contacting Tideford to introduce myself and try to find a local supplier, I was lucky enough to be sent a great range of samples.  All of the Tideford products are gluten free with the exception of the porridges.  The rest of the range includes soups, sauces, pestos and puddings.  My sample box included a variety of soups, some salsa and some pesto.

stmauricenbreadAs luck would have it, the arrival of these soups coincided with St Maurice Bakery starting to bake fresh gluten free bread in their bakery in Plympton, Plymouth.  This made a fantastic partner to the soups and is now available to buy fresh every Saturday.  As for the soups themselves both my wife and I really enjoyed these.  They were packed with flavour and contained nice chunky vegetables.  My personal favourites were the minestrone and the farmhouse chicken, closely followed by the pea and mint which was Abby’s favourite.

beetrootminestrone

salsaThe salsa was tasty and went well with some beef tacos (and of course a side of Abby’s famous refried beans).  The pesto was our least favourite product.  We used it as a pasta sauce and I found it a little too oily, but it also tasted quite dry.  The flavour was good though and overall it was OK, just not something that was up there with the quality of the soups.  Abby was really not keen on this one, mainly as she found it too oily.  I’ve since spoken to Tideford about this and they’ve suggested the pesto needs stirring well before use, as it can separate due them not using any potato or corn starch to prevent this as other pestos do, preferring to keep more natural ingredients.

ricepudding

I was lucky enough to run into Tideford Organics at the Flavour Fest that took place in Plymouth during August.  It was a good chance to stock up on some more soup, and I also grabbed some of their rice pudding which I’d not tried before.  Rice pudding is one of those things that never sounds appealing, but every time I eat it I really enjoy it.  What I’d never tried before was flavoured rice pudding, and I have to say I really enjoyed the Tideford puddings.  I tried chocolate which was really nice, but my favourite was the butterscotch which was absolutely delicious and I would definitely buy again.

I have seen some of the soups and sauces available to buy in both Tesco and Waitrose, but please let me know if you know of any other Plymouth stockists.  The good news is that Gluten Free by the Sea has teamed up with Tideford Organics to bring you a chance to win some of these delicious goodies!  One lucky winner will win two 600g soups, two 300g soups, 2 sauces and two rice puddings.  All you have to do is visit the Gluten Free by the Sea Facebook page and enter via the Tideford Giveway app or by following this link: https://www.facebook.com/gfreebythesea/app_228910107186452 To enter you must either like the Tideford Organics Facebook page or follow them on Twitter, and confirm this via the app.

600g 300g and sauceSAD 600g Chowder_HiRes

The competition will run until midnight on 28th February and the lucky winner will be chosen at random by Rafflecopter which I am using to host the giveaway.  Your details will then by passed to Tideford Organics who will send the prize to the winner directly.  Please note this competition is open to UK residents only.  This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.  We hereby release Facebook of any liability.  Winner will be contacted by email after the giveaway ends.  Good luck!

UPDATE 01/03/2014: The competition has now closed. Congratulations to winner Emma Louise Hutchinson!

Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea

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The Chancel

24 Mar

My wife and I celebrated our ten year wedding anniversary earlier this month.  I can’t believe it’s been 10 years and she is truly lucky to have me, no wait, that should be the other way round!  We had decided to head out for a meal in Plymouth to mark the occasion, and thought we would head somewhere new for a change.

I’d recently heard good things about The Chancel from Facebook follower Sharon Lewis-King so I emailed them to check their gluten free options.  I had a call back to say they offered gluten free bread, pasta and even pizza in addition to much of the menu being naturally gluten free.  They did warn me that they had a very small kitchen and they did prepare gluten containing dishes, but were able to give me enough confidence that they would take cross contamination seriously.

We arrived at the restaurant in St Andrews Street and when we were seated at our table we found an anniversary card waiting for us, a lovely touch which was much appreciated.  The staff were extremely friendly and immediately came over to discuss the gluten free options with me and the vegetarian options with Abby, without us needing to ask.  Abby was told that if there was something she fancied and she could see the ingredients on the menu they would do their best to make it for her.

Chancel_soupThe option of bruschetta to start was extremely tempting, but we had walked from home on a cold night so we both decided to go for some warming tomato and basil soup to start.  This was extremely tasty and we both loved it, and as you can see from the photo mine came with some extremely impressive looking gluten free bread.  The bread looked so impressive, that I immediately had one of those “is that really gluten free” moments.  However, the waitress had stated it was GF on bringing it to the table and it was suitably different to Abby’s Tiger bread to put me at ease.  The bread was good and overall this was a very impressive starter and perfect for the cold occasion.  The portion size was generous too.

For the main course, I decided to go with one of the naturally gluten free Chancel_steakdishes rather than gluten free pasta or pizza.  I decided to go with my favourite fillet steak, and was extremely happy to be told all the steak sauces were already gluten free.  This meant I could have peppered sauce, something I love and a rare treat!  The only downside was that the chips were not gluten free.  Again I was told this without needing to ask, and received new potatoes as a substitute.  Another enjoyable course, though I have to say the steak was not quite as tender as I usually expect of a fillet, but enjoyable none the less.  I definitely enjoyed being able to have the steak sauce for a change too.

Chancel_dessertFor dessert I was given a choice of creme brulee, or surprisingly sticky toffee pudding.  I am a big fan of creme brulee and was too full for (and maybe slightly wary of) sticky toffee pudding.  The creme brulee was creamy and delicious as you would expect, and a nice light dessert to finish off the meal.

The overall bill was quite expensive, but this was mainly down to myself and Abby making the most of some of the delicious wines that were on offer.  I am not really a wine drinker, but the pinot grigio went down a treat.  Overall we were very well looked after, the food was good and there was plenty of gluten free choice.  I suffered no ill effects so they managed to prevent any cross contamination in their small kitchen with no problems.  I would definitely go back for another meal, and it’s great to be able to add another restaurant to the gluten free friendly list.  Thanks to Sharon for the recommendation.

Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea

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