No time for a ValentineI'm sorry, but there really isn't time for Valentine's Day romantic meals at home this year. We have Half Term to prepare the larder for and Shrove Tuesday pancakes to follow.
Use this impending culinary crisis as a good excuse to go out for a meal instead. But be sure to go somewhere truly saucy - where they have the good taste to serve Stokes Sauces.
When you are out and about and spot a Stokes bottle or jar - snap it and share it, please tell us where it is: tweet here, or post here. This fine ale, marvelous mustard and award-winning ketchup made dining taste better at the Queen & Castle in Kenilworth.
Fresh foodie ideas for Half Term
Try these Tuna Tarts for a fun teatime snack. To make the tart base 'nests', cut slices of bread into circles and press them into the buttered moulds of a tart tray and bake at gas 7, 200°C for about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Use your own ideas for the fillings, but I like this - tinned tuna, chopped spring onions, diced cucumber mixed in a bowl with Stokes Real Mayonnaise and a little crème fraîche. Delicious.
Puff Pastry Pinwheels - these stir the imagination in a creative
kitchen.On a rolled out sheet of puff pastry, spread Stokes Burger Relish and cover with torn ham, chopped red or spring onions and grated Red Leicester cheese. From one of the short ends roll into a tight log and chill.
Pre-heat the oven to gas 6, 200°C, retrieve the log and cut into equal pinwheel slices. Brush the pastry with a beaten egg, place on a baking tray, cover with grated Cheddar cheese and bake for 20 minutes.
Let us know what you think: tweet here, or post here.
Its too early for BBQs but it's never too early for Stokes Original BBQ Sauce. Here's a couple of simple ideas to turn the otherwise ordinary into the really quite yummy with smokiness and molasses-styled sweetness.
Sticky Chicken Butty
A tasty use for leftover roast chicken. Shred the cooked chicken into a bowl; grate a carrot, slice and chop a red onion and add them to the chicken; pour Stokes Original BBQ Sauce into the mix, sufficient to coat the chicken. It's delicious in a burger bun with Stokes Real Mayonnaise, lettuce and a slice or two of tomato.
A good family tea. Roast, grill or fry some butchers pork sausages, cut into mouth size pieces and set to one side. Cook torn kale to taste (tough stems removed). Now, simply put a tin (or two) of baked beans in a pan with a glug or three of Stokes Original BBQ Sauce to taste.Simmer for a minute to infuse the smoky flavours. Add the sausage pieces and kale. Warm through and serve with a jacket potato. If the grown-ups are feeling braver, use Stokes Hot & Spicy BBQ Sauce instead - smokin.
Shrove Tuesday - it's pancake time !
Did you know: long ago Shrove Tuesday was a day for fun and feasting
before the 40 days of Lent.Christians went to church to confess their sins and would be 'shriven' or forgiven.
As rich foods such as eggs were forbidden during Lent, one way of using them up would be to make pancakes on this day.
The ingredients for pancakes have been seen to symbolise four points of significance at this time of year: Eggs - Creation; Flour - The staff of life; Salt - Wholesomeness; Milk - Purity ... and now Stokes Sauces - Deliciousness.
Enhance the simple lemon and sugar pancake by adding Stokes Lemon Curd to intensify the flavour with its velvety coat.
Apples (eating) gently sautéed in butter with brown sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and a splash of dry cider. This browns into a treacly apple filling for pancakes. Add a couple of spoonfuls of Stokes Bramley Apple Sauce when the apples soften in the pan to focus the succulent apple flavour. Serve with ice cream or crème fraîche.
The savoury option
Ham, egg & cheese pancake - it's brunch in a crêpe. put the ham on a warm pancake and sprinkle grated cheese over it, pressing a well into the middle. Carefully break a small egg into the well, fold in the pancake edges to make an envelope for the egg. You may need to put a lid on it to help cook the yolk, then choose - Stokes Brown Sauce or our Award-Winning Tomato Ketchup (perhaps both!).
Chicken & chorizo, chilli pancakes - stir fry chicken pieces, red onion slices and slices of chorizo until cooked. Add natural Greek yoghurt to moisten (not drown) the mixture, then flavour it with two tbsp Stokes Chilli Jam (to taste). Now fold in a couple of good handfuls of baby spinich and spoon into a wrap of fresh pancakes.
Poached salmon, horseradish and dill pancakes - poach a couple of salmon steaks and keep warm to one side. Combine 1 part Stokes Creamed Horseradish to 1 part Stokes Mustard & Dill Sauce and 1 part crème fraîche. Now flake the salmon into the mix and spoon into pancake envelopes.
Enjoy your February feasting.
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