2 stylish tubes, 6 delicious preserves, 24 tasty tips - and more.

Last winter we created a special gift selection of Stokes preserves that are particularly good with cheese. It was so popular as gifts for friends and work colleagues, that we are repeating the collection again this year.

As well as the successful 'Selection for Cheese' gift tube, we've created the 'Taste of Luxury' offering that extra special touch of original fine festive feasting.

The 'Taste of Luxury' goes a few steps further though. It contains three unique preserves, each crafted especially for this gift tube.

We thought long and hard about the flavours, ingredients, textures and aromatics that sum up the very essence of Christmas - and put them in a jar.

Welcome to:

 The 'Taste of Luxury'     and      'Selection for Cheese'

Tasting Notes & Tasty Tips

The 'Taste of Luxury' collection has been conceived and created after much discussion about and tasting of exciting flavour combinations. Finding the perfect ingredients, as always, is crucial to the success of our award-winning range of products and these extra special taste sensations are a crowning festive glory.

The Blackcurrant Extra Jam with Claret is intensely fruity, sweet with sour berry notes and textures. Spread it on toasted crumpets with oodles of butter. 1 x 250g jar per tube.

• Add sweet depth to chilli con carne;
• Scones just adore it;
• Spread it on warm waffles topped with ice cream.

Stokes Spiced Winter Chutney gives us every essence of Christmas fruit spices in a jar. It adds jingles to sausage and bells to cold beef. 1 x 240g jar per tube.

• Make even the best pork pie taste better;
• Add 'Christmas' to steak casserole;
• Bring cold cuts to sweet spicy life.

And the Orange Cranberry & Cinnamon Conserve has a uniquely sweet intensity of structure, aromatics and taste.

Glaze the best bread and butter pudding - ever. 1 x 250g jar per tube.

• Add lavishly to apricot nut stuffing;
• Melt it over Cornish ice cream;
• Treat the turkey with reverence and the goose with joy.

 The 'Selection for Cheese' contains three of Stokes' favourites.

Fig Relish (1 x 250g jar), with its abundance of sweet, juicy figs - it's fabulous with smoked cheese melted over toasted baguette slices.

• It's at home on any cheese board;
• Add it to Moroccan spiced lamb tagine;
• Mix with mayonnaise for a fruity dip.

  
Chilli Jam (1 x 250g jar), deliciously rich with a vibrant finish - try a spoonful in hot chocolate with a shot of Baileys.

• Add zing to shepherd's pie;
• Spoon sweet chilliness into gravy;
• Mix it with mayo for a calamari dip.

Last but by no means least, our Red Onion Marmalade (1 x 265g jar), lusciously thick and sweet caramelised onions - it's amazing with just about anything - cheese loves it.

• Crown the perfect cheese on toast with it;
• It's very moreish in your mash;
• Perfectly partnered with a vintage Cheddar.

These limited edition collections are available in good independent retailers or on-line here.


They make wonderful gifts - but - don't forget to treat yourself to one (or both) too.


Pumpkin Pleasures

Remember - a pumpkin is not just for Halloween. It and its 'squashy' friends should be enjoyed throughout their season. We use them in 'Sensational Sausages' below and offer a few additional thoughts here.

Before we go on though, if you want to learn more about the glorious pumpkin, click on the image (right). It links to a site called hubbub.org.uk where you can learn 'how to eat pumpkin' - the basics. Follow their own 'gourd-eous recipes' link.

 Let us know what you think.

I ran out of Tomato Ketchup last week (ridiculous but true) and ran into my nearest stockist #aubreyallen. In my hurry I reached for a couple of bottles only to find when I got home that it was Stokes Chipotle Sauce. Gosh - does it like squash (and vice verca).

It has unique flavours that truly tantalise the taste buds - sweet, smokey, spicy, chilli, rich in tomato and velvety smooth.

Chicken in squash chipotle sauce.

Peel, core and slice a squash into wedges and place in a roasting tin with chicken breast pieces, drizzle with oil and bake on a gentle heat until the chicken is cooked and the squash soft.

Set the chicken aside. Cut the squash into one inch chunks and put them in a pan with any juices from the tin. Add cream and chicken stock to cover the squash and blitz with a hand blender until smooth.

Thin it out with more stock (to a pouring consistency) and stir in Stokes Chipotle Sauce for a sweet, smokey flavour. Soften some mushrooms in a pan with fresh thyme; add the chicken and any juices; pour over the squash chipotle sauce; season, warm through and enjoy.

It's particularly good with mashed potatoes and Stokes Creamed Horseradish Sauce.


Baked whole pumpkin

This makes a great starter or side dish for a Halloween supper. For six people take 6 fist-sized pumpkins or similar round squash. Cut a lid off each and scoop out the pippy core and discard.

For the filling: gently soften 2 x chopped onions in butter with one trimmed and chopped leek; then add a teaspoon each of chopped sage, chopped thyme and ground coriander. Add 125 ml of double cream, about 50 g of grated Cheddar cheese and half as much again of bread crumbs.

Season well adding Stokes Chipotle Ketchup to taste. Spoon into the scooped out squash, replace the lids and bake on a tray at 180°C, gas 6 for 40 to 45 minutes until a shark knife runs smoothly into the flesh.


Sausage Sensations

Whether they're your butcher's award winning pork and herb combo or an honest pack of simple pork sausages - who doesn't like the great British banger.

Roast Bangers & Roots

A simple and tasty way of preparing a sausage based supper is to bake them on a tray of 'fruit & veg'. The pork fat from the sausage (particularly good, high meat content butcher's sausages) seep gently into the vegetables adding lusciousness throughout.

You can use and add anything you like, but the basic rule is to chop the vegetables evenly, drizzle and coat well with olive or rapeseed oil, and roast at  180°C, gas 6 for 15 to 20 minutes before adding the sausages. Mix the sausages and vegetables together well and return to the oven for a further 35 to 40 minutes until the sausages are cooked and the veg has softened.

The variations are endless. Try:

• Squash, sweet potatoes, onions, thyme, garlic and beetroot with chilli jam for vibrant colours.
• Or carrots, fennel, celery, apples, our barbeque sauce and garam masala.
• For a North African twist use potatoes, onions, carrot and squash with our brown sauce and ras el hanout.

Sweet chilli sausage pasta.

This uses simple meatballs made by squeezing the sausage meat out of their skins and rolling it into small balls for frying. Add a pinch of ground cumin and coriander to the pan together with a couple of good glugs of Stokes Sweet Chilli Sauce. When cooked, add the cooked pasta with a cup of pouring cream and finish off with several sprigs of watercress.

The three leaf salad packs work well too, using watercress, rocket and baby spinach for peppery taste and fresh green colour.

Sausage fusilli with tomato sauce

Cook whatever sausages you prefer, cut into inch sized chunks and set aside. Cook, drain and rest pasta such as fusilli. For the sauce, soften a diced onion with garlic and the zest of half an orange. In a pestle and mortar grind a teaspoon of caraway seeds and the same of fennel seeds, then add it to the onions with the contents of a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes.

Season and flavour with equal amounts of Stokes Brown Sauce (for spice and molasses), Stokes Chilli Jam (for sweetness and a chilli kick) and Stokes Tomato Ketchup (for added tomato concentration). Add the pasta and sausage to the sauce, warm through and enjoy.

TIP: You can vary the flavour by using one of our other ketchup sauces - try it with Curry Ketchup.


Inspired

Inspired by mini Cumberland sausages as a starter for lunch on the first visit to my son at Sheffield University, I thought - what could make their honey and grain mustard dipping sauce better ... Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard of course.

I just had to try it when I got home. One part runny honey to one part Cider & Horseradish Mustard over a gentle heat to improve the mix - perfect.

Give it a go and let us know what you think.


Gravy with a twist

Here's a tasty tip to add a delicious twist to your gravy. Whether you make your own from a stock, reduce it from a jus, or shake it from a jar, try this.

For an earthy sharpness stir in a spoonful of Stokes Brown Sauce; for a sweeter depth of flavour add a spoonful of Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup; and for a richer hint of eastern spices add a good dollop of Stokes Curry Ketchup.

You'll know how much to add when it tastes ... yummy.


Leftover Chicken ? - give it a cool coronation

 

Before we get to the Coronation Chicken, to make your roast chicken taste better still, add a spoonful or two of Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard to your gravy, stir it in to taste and enjoy the combination of sweet cider, hot horseradish and juicy pops of mustard grains running round the plate.

Coronation Chicken

For the perfect, speedy Coronation Chicken, mix two parts of Stokes Coronation Sauce with one part of Philadelphia cream cheese and fold to coat the shreds of cooked, cold chicken. Instant, smooth and oh so full of flavour.

It's great on a jacket potato, with a salad, or in a sandwich for supper.



Two fishy favourites

Whitebait makes a lovely supper starter or a crispy lunchtime snack. A bag in the freezer is essential in our house, just as a jar of Stokes Real Mayonnaise is essential for the larder. Less of an essential though more of a treat is a jar of our Mustard & Dill Sauce. It mixes the sweet dill with warming mustard in a smooth sauce just begging to be spooned beside a piece of baked cod loin.

If good food makes you happy
...adding Stokes will make you smile ;)

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150