Party Special - more canapés and party treats

Ready or not - it's coming. The festive party season is on it's way.

Party Special

Whether you are a big party giver or a low key neighbourly socialite, it is good to have some ideas up your sleeve and sauces in the cupboard ready to help you out when frosty and friends come a knocking.

We hope that this special addition to the November Newsletter will share some delicious ideas with you and invite you to share some of your own through Facebook here, or Twitter here.

Let's start right here with this juicy little morsel (right).

Start with the basic Bloody Mary Rose Sauce, which is three parts Stokes Real Mayonnaise to one part Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup. With this basic sauce, the opportunities are endless - and simple. To a Ritz cracker, spinach leaf, sprig of dill and a couple of juicy prawns ... just add Stokes.


All you need to get your party going

All good dips start with a reliable base - and there's nothing more reliable than Stokes Real Mayonnaise. Made with eggs from British free range hens, British rapeseed oil and additional extra virgin olive oil from the Koroneiki olive groves of Crete giving it its exceptional velvety depth.

Put a few spoonfuls of our mayonnaise in a bowl and, now - just add:

• Add Stokes Dijon Mustard to make simple cocktail sausages sing.
• Add Bloody Mary Ketchup to dress prawns in Bloody Mary Rose Sauce.
• Add Creamed Horseradish for velvety warmth in a crudités dip. 
• Add Sweet Chilli Sauce to dip mini meatballs and falafels.
• Add Mustard & Dill Sauce to dip goujons of cod.
• Add crème fraîche, Coronation Sauce and chopped tarragon for pure wow. 
• Add Chipotle Ketchup for a Chipotle Aioli sauce.
• Add Dijon Mustard and lemon juice for a delicious remoulade.
• Add thin slices of crisp streaky bacon and chopped spring onions for 'baconaise'.

Party bites

Don't be put off by over-complicated combinations of ingredients assembled with tweezers for show-stopping photogenic snacks.

Keep it simple, easy to eat with one hand and one bite - and let the taste do the work.

The bases are as important as the toppings. A variety makes the collection more fun as well as flavoursome. Of course there are plenty of round bite-size biscuits around these days. We no longer have to rely on the Ritz cracker alone.

• Ready sliced rye bread cut into discs and toasted, offer a firm base with texture and taste. 
• A bag on mini poppadoms goes a long way and can be piled or filled with just about anything. 
• Mini baguettes are perfect for slicing, toasting and turning into little brochette bases.
• There's the good old vol au vent - buy the pack, follow the instructions and fill.
• Scooped out cherry tomatoes are easily filled and pop perfectly into happy mouths.
• Bake new potatoes and fill them as you would a grown up baked spud - a bit of mayonnaise, grated cheese and three baked beans for retro fun.

Fig & olive tapenade
Chop green and black pitted olives; mix into Stokes Fig Relish and thin with mayonnaise.

Smoked trout & horseradish
Spread mayonnaise on a brochette; top with a slice of smoked trout, a dollop of Stokes Creamed Horseradish and a caper to finish.

Chilli Salsa brochette
Chop tomatoes (seeds out), cucumber, red pepper, red onion, fresh coriander and combine with freshly squeezed lime juice and a spoonful or two of Stokes Chilli Jam.

Turkey 'Dinner'
On rye bread discs spoon some Stokes Cranberry & Orange Sauce, add a Brussel sprout leaf, a piece of turkey meat and half a bacon-wrapped chipolata sausage.

Chipotle prawns
Mix the Chipotle Aioli (see above) with mayonnaise and scoop into a mini poppadom. Place a juicy prawn on top with a squeeze of lime and a gentle tap of cayenne pepper.


Read on...

Scroll down to last week's November Newsletter to read more:

'First Pressing' party time in Crete

Your chance to win a holiday to Crete

Where to buy your Stokes Sauces

Cranberry Sauces from Stokes

'Taste of Luxury' & 'Selection for Cheese' gifts

Store cupboard essentials for the festive period.

Competition Time

If you haven't already entered our competition to win a 3 x night trip to Crete then click on the image (below) and you can do so now. Good luck.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Looking forward to parties, dips and tasty tips.

We finished last week's special Newsletter in the olive groves of Crete. The dust from the vibrating trees and noise from humming generators filled the air. It's the olive harvest, when everyone stops their normal work and routines to help bring the olives from the fields to the mill for pressing.

The transformation from peaceful olive groves to the latest pure batches of luscious dark green Koroneiki extra virgin olive oil is an annual event, essential to the lives of everyone on Crete and, so essential to Stokes.

This is the extra virgin olive oil that makes Stokes Real Mayonnaise so extra special.

After the harvest - the celebrations.

Villagers gather to feast, dance, sing and honour the quality of the new season pressing. Extravagant it's not, but delicious it most certainly is. Chaniotiko boureki is a courgette and potato pie. Gamopilafo is a celebratory rice dish, a type of risotto made with the broth of the boiled lamb or chicken meat that's served with it.

Kleftico is a firm favourite with every village seeming to have its own take on this aromatic slow cooked lamb dish. Ntacos are a type of barley rusk served as a brochette with tomatoes, feta cheese and olives. And Chochlioi Boumpouristoi are snails, gathered in the hillsides and fried in the new pressed olive oil.

Competition Time

If you haven't already entered our competition to win a 3 x night trip to Crete then click on the image (right) and you can do so now. Good luck.


Where do you buy your Stokes 

Stokes Sauces are available in more and more retailers. Stores wanting to stock and sell these premium (that means great tasting, made with high quality ingredients, so just a little more expensive - but worth every tasty penny!) ketchups, mayonnaise, relishes and preserves are increasing daily. Sainsbury's is the latest to stock our Real Mayonnaise, as well as Waitrose, Ocado, The Co-op East of England and Booths in the north.

If you prefer shopping at a more leisurely pace and enjoy browsing as much as buying, perhaps you use a smaller, independent retailer. 

Independent retailers such as Farm Shops, Delicatessens, Butchers, Garden Centres etc, often stock a wider variety of Stokes products than supermarkets. Stokes fits in so well alongside the quality and dependability of their other fine products. Here, discerning shoppers expect something rather special as part of the more personal shopping experience they enjoy.

And of course, you can put your feet up and make your purchases on line from our shop - here.

Perceptive foodies buy and enjoy Stokes from Iceland to the Falklands and Chile to Hong Kong.

If you like cranberry sauce - you'll love this

Stokes Cranberry Sauce is a beauty, crammed with a host of big juicy North American cranberries. Knowing eyes have watched them bubble gently with sugar to balance the sweet tartness of this intensely fruity sauce.

We thought we couldn't possibly improve on that - but we did, by letting it cook with Ruby Port and adding the zest of Seville oranges, creating a rounder taste with citrus sensations. The Cranberry & Orange Sauce with Ruby Port was born.

As if that wasn't enough, we have just made an extra special limited edition version - the Orange Cranberry & Cinnamon Conserve. This has a uniquely sweet intensity and spicy aromatics which add a festive spoonful of Christmas to the sauce. However, it is only available in the 'Taste of Luxury' gift collection...:

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

 

The 'Taste of Luxury' selection contains three unique preserves, each crafted especially for this gift tube. And the ‘Selection for Cheese’ contains three of Stokes cheese-friendly favourites.


The 'Taste of Luxury'

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.

Stokes Spiced Winter Chutney gives us every essence of Christmas fruit spices in a jar. It adds jingles to sausages and bells to cold beef.

And the Orange Cranberry & Cinnamon Conserve has a uniquely sweet intensity of consistency, aromatics and taste. Glaze the best bread & butter - ever.


 
The ‘Selection for Cheese’

Fig Relish with its abundance of sweet, juicy figs - it's fabulous with smoked cheese melted on toasted baguette slices.

Chilli Jam deliciously rich with a vibrant finish - try a spoonful in hot chocolate with a shot of Baileys.

Last but by no means least, our Red Onion Marmalade, lusciously thick with sweet caramelised onions - it's amazing with just about anything - cheese loves it.

These are available in selected independent retailers, and on line here.


Great tastes of Winter

As the evenings get notably darker sooner, we like to make sure that our store cupboard is loaded with tasty treats to make supper time easier. Just reach out and add:

These are just a few ideas you may not have tried:

You are all more than likely to be familiar with Stokes Real Mayonnaise. It was one of the first products to benefit from Stokes passion for quality derived by our unerring insistence of using the finest ingredients possible.

We use Extra Virgin Koroneiki olive oil from Crete. It has a beautiful dark green colour, rich in Mediterranean flavour. This, together with whole eggs from British free range Welfare Assured hens makes it stand out from the rest.

To the core mayonnaise we add real lemon zest to create our Lemon Mayonnaise for a superbly fresh flavour with a strong lemon tang. Perfect with fish and seafood and a refreshing touch for salads, especially new potatoes.

Our Award-Winning Tomato Ketchup was another Stokes original to benefit from quality and quantity. 

Tomatoes are the backbone of our core products. Their quality and consistency are paramount. We eventually found what we needed ripening in the Mediterranean sunshine on the hillsides of southern Italy. 

That’s quality, now quantity:  we use a massive 200g of these beauties in every 100g cramming pure deliciousness into every bottle.

To our classic tomato ketchup we added a twist, with a dash of real vodka and a splash of Worcestershire sauce for a touch of Bloody Mary spice in Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup. Try mixing it with or Real Mayonnaise for a wonderful Bloody Mary Rose Sauce.

Other ketchup twists include:

These three sauces should be in every food lover's store cupboard on the run up to Christmas festivities.

The Mustard & Dill Sauce is a classic gravadlax - perfect with smoked salmon and alongside poached salmon. Try baked cod and roast tomatoes with creamy mashed potatoes and a spoonful of Mustard & Dill in the mash.

The Cider & Horseradish Mustard is as beautiful as it is versatile. Stir it into chicken stock for a delicious gravy; spoon it into mash for extra wow; coat cocktail sausages in a mixture of it and honey for a party hit; or revitalise cold cuts of ham with warming mustard flavours and tangy bursts of mustard seed heat.

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

For a great party dipping sauce, try Coronation Sauce with creme fraiche with plenty of chopped fresh tarragon ... fab - u - lous!

The last store cupboard essential for the coming social season is our Sweet Chilli Sauce. It does exactly what it says on the bottle - only better. 

Made with red chillies and red peppers it overflows with the vitality of the orient. With its sweet, clean taste it is deliciously versatile - use as a dip, a glaze, a marinade or add it for the last minute to a stir fry.

Also...:

• Mix with a dash of vinegar, lemon juice, honey and garlic as a marinade or dressing. 
• Drizzle over a selection of nuts and lightly roast on a baking tray for 15 minutes, turning occasionally. Ta daa...a Sweet Chilli snack!
• Use as a dip for crisps, celery, carrots...or whatever takes your fancy.
• Spread on toast and top with cheese before grilling for cheese on toast with a difference!
• Mix a few tablespoons with cream cheese before stirring into pasta.
• Mix with Real Mayonnaise for a Sweet Chilli Mayo - another perfect part dip.

 Supper time should be a super time !

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Great mayonnaise doesn't grow on trees - but the olives do.

A holiday in Crete is a constant series of questions: Poolside with a book? A swim in the clear blue waters? Lunch by the harbour or up in the hills? A snooze in the Mediterranean sunshine?

But for one week out of 52, everything changes.

Crete is closed to everything other than 'the harvest'.


The harvest.

Every single person on Crete has a stake in the olive harvest. Through ownership of a handful of trees on a parched hillside, to family connections with commercial growers, everyone takes to the hills. In a twist on Churchill's words recognising the stoic bravery of the Greek people ... 'henceforth, we will not say that Greeks harvest [fight] like heroes, but that heroes harvest [fight] like Greeks'.

Usually, there is one week between November and February when the olives are ready, just three quarters ripe, and the weather is perfect, no wind or rain, so the harvest begins.

Click the image above for a brief video 

Nets are spread out below the crop, people stand back and the harvesting machinery moves in. Tractors back up though the trees, a mechanical grip takes hold of the trunk and vibrates, shaking the tree with such force it releases its verdant fruit.

Hillier groves prevent mechanical access and more traditional methods have to be used. From hand combing to a series of generators to power hand held 'T' shaped rods spinning plastic flails to release resistant nuggets of essential oil to the nets below.

The noise is incredible, both the machinery and the excited chatter of families and friends as they gather the olives to be loaded and taken to the mill.

Policemen, bank clerks, waitresses, hotel receptionists - moms and sons, aunties and nephews all turn their hands to the harvest.

Each day ends with a simple feast and a good night's sleep before the same hard work and thrill of the following day's efforts and so on until the harvest is complete.

At the mill, the olives are washed to remove any dirt, then pass through a series of hoppers to remove the leaves and stems. The shimmering pearls of goodness are now ready for pulping and cold pressing to release their exquisite dark green liquid gold.


Get more from your mayo

Bloody Mary Rose Sauce - a delicious alternative to Marie Rose sauce.

The North Atlantic Prawn is a truly delicious thing. A pealed pile of the little beauties on crispy iceberg lettuce with this wonderful sauce is pure heaven. Simply use three parts Stokes Real Mayonnaise to one part Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup and enjoy.

Tuna baskets

Try these Tuna Baskets 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 and corn mixed in a bowl with Stokes Real Mayonnaise. Delicious.

The classic egg mayonnaise - made better

A firm favourite is egg mayonnaise. Free range eggs boiled (just), peeled whilst warm and coarsely broken up with Stokes Real Mayonnaise and some freshly snipped peppery cress. Try adding a teaspoon (or more) of Stokes Chilli Jam for a grown up kick.


Mixing and matching

Take Stokes Real Mayonnaise as your base and add a spoonful of this and a dollop of that to create a dip or a dressing to liven a lunch or a tastier tea. Mixing sauces and relishes is not only good fun, it opens the door to all sorts of new taste experiences.

Go on, try it, get them all out and let your imagination run riot. The exercise, pictured above, led to the making of 3 parts mayonnaise to 1 part chilli jam for a delicious accompaniment in a chicken and avocado sandwich.

The taller bottle at the back (left) is one of Stokes truly scrumptious salad dressings, it's the Mango & Orange Dressing. Add this to the mayo chilli jam combination to coat lukewarm new potatoes with it in a salad.


Some other tasty tips

• Halve hard boiled eggs and scoop out the yolk. Mash the yokes with mayo, mustard and parsley until smooth. Pipe into egg white half’s and sprinkle with paprika for delicious ‘Devilled Eggs’.
• Mix together grated cheese, onion, garlic and mayonnaise and spread generously over a halved loaf of bread. Grill for a cheesy bread that's great for dipping and perfect to accompany salads.
• Mix together equal measures of mayonnaise and apricot chutney, then add curry powder to taste for a curried mayo dip.
• Add mayo to your crab cake recipe for a creamy centre!
• Easy peasy mayo biscuits! Mix together 2 cups of self-raising flour, 1 cup of milk and 6 table spoons of mayonnaise. Spoon the mixture onto a baking tray and bake for 12 minutes.

Next time...

We'll return to Crete for dome 'to see and do' ideas - in case you are the lucky competition winner and return to the harvest as the island parties to celebrate 'first pressing'. And of course we'll share some more tasty tips.

In the meantime, if you haven't already entered the competition ... follow in Rick's footsteps:

... andi'o sas ...

'goodbye'

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150