My Secret Kitchen

Though all my internet presents seemed to get caught up in the post chaos before Christmas, one package that managed to get through the post was a bumper parcel of products from My Secret Kitchen. My Secret Kitchen were an unheard of secret to me until that point but the package's contents certainly were enticing - pickles, jams and sauces and several intriguing sounding cheese ball mixes. It instantly became my back-up option should I either a) have got snowed in and not been able to go to the shops or b) need a quick stocking filler of a gift in the face of internet presents not arriving in time - Jumping Jack Chilli Jam anyone? Maple Caramel Sauce? Yum.

Through their literature and website, I realised they're a nationwide food tasting company. One of the key way their products are promoted and discovered are through tasting evenings. They encourage people to host tastings where a My Secret Kitchen consultant who can show you the various ways to use their products. Alas, no consultant came with my package, but there was lots of help in their accompanying leaflet and magazine (free with every purchase) to show me how to use their ingredients.

Each My Secret Kitchen product is designed to be used with the addition of only one or a couple of other ingredients and as many different ways as possible. The image at the top of this post shows one of their Nacho Fiesta Cheese Ball Mix, which costs £3.99 a pack, a Mexican style dip created only by adding cream cheese and refrigerating. While this dip was something a bit different to my usual culinary offerings, I was happier with the results when I experimented a bit more with their products. For example, while I could have made a similar cheese dip from their Red Pepper Cheese Ball Mix (also £3.99), instead I used their suggestion of adding warm water and olive oil to the product to make a nice nut-free pesto for a pasta dish. The Red Pepper mix would have also worked well as a filling in a tortilla wrap for a tasty lunch or for stuffing a tomato for something a bit more showy-offy.

To complete the trio of their cheese ball products in my package was Black Forest Cheese Ball Mix, a new product for the company and costing £3.99. This was perhaps my favourite of the things I made, a guilty pleasure type of treat with that retro 70s Black Forest taste. Perfect to eat while watching The Good Life night on TV.

Like all their products, it contained very simple ingredients - in this case dark chocolate, sugar, dried lemon juice powder, dried cherry and natural cherry flavour. I served it as a sweet serving by itself, again just having to add cream cheese to the mix, but it could have easily been used in icing, or as part of a cheesecake.

My Secret Kitchen's slogan is 'Make your meals more amazing' and some of my greatest pleasure in their products came from very simple uses of their products. My breakfast porridge at my desk became a lot more interesting with a bit of their maple caramel sauce (£6.99) while a lunchtime feta pitta was enlivened by their Fig Pudding Pickle (£6.49) and it helped me feel nice and festive too! There are a few more products on their website that sound intriguing and I'd like to give a try, such as the 'Ultimate Chocolate Brownie Mix' for £7.49 or the Beer Bread Mixes for £4.99.

Everything was extremely simple to use and while there are some products I'd probably only use a couple of times, there are others I'd know I'd use all the time and that would become cupboard essentials. You'd probably need to try them and see what works best in your kitchen and makes life more easy (or more tasty) for you. Everything can be ordered through the website - or, if you'd like to host one a My Secret Kitchen tasting, details can be found there too.