Tex Mex Special - Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo - 5th May

This is a Mexican American festival celebrated in a big way Stateside. It marks the failed invasion of Mexico by the French in 1861. French President Napoleon III fancied a slice of Mexico and invaded under the guise of seeking repayment of massive debts owed by Mexico to Europe. Who says history never repeats itself.

Flamboyant is the dress code and extravagant is the food order.

It's sangria and salsa all the way and a great excuse to go Tex Mex. So, make sure you have a jar of jalapeño, lots of lime, a bottle of tequila and buckle up gringo ... this is going to be a hot one.

Margarita time

Before we get to the hot stuff, let's cool it with a Margarita. Salt the rim of a chilled Margarita glass and set aside. Put 2 parts tequila, 1 part lime juice and a dash of orange liqueur in a shaker or blender with 1 cup of crushed ice and blend until the mixture is smooth and frothy. Pour it into the salted Margarita glasses and chill.


It's time to Tex Mex

Quesadillas - the basics

Mexican Americans use Monterey jack cheese which is produced from cow's milk that may be skimmed or whole. It has a smooth texture and a very mild flavour.The best supermarket replacement is Gouda, but experiment until you find your own favourite.

You'll need:

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 450 g of minced beef
• 1/2 tsp of chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp of ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp of paprika
• 1 tbsp of Stokes Chilli Jam
• 8 medium flour tortillas
• A handful of chopped coriander. 

Here's how:

Soften the onions over a medium heat for 5 minutes then add the meat, spices and chilli jam and cook for a further 10 minutes until cooked through. Set the meat aside and wipe the pan clean of water and grease and return it (empty) to a low heat to keep warm.

To assemble the quesadillas: sprinkle cheese onto 4 tortillas. Top each with beef, some avocado and coriander and finally another tortilla. One at a time put the 'tortilla sandwich' in the pan and cook for 2 or 3 minutes until golden on one side, flip and do the same to the other side.

Cut the quesadillas into triangles and serve warm.

TIP: To flip the 'tortilla sandwich', invert a plate over the pan, roll the pan over, dropping the tortilla onto the plate, then slide it back into the pan, now upside down.

Ensalada de Pollo (Mexican Chicken Salad)

This is a delicious salad of chicken and vegetables dressed in a creamy mayonnaise dressing that's perfect for fiestas before the siestas.

You'll need:

• 4 tbsp of Stokes Real Mayonnaise (one of the new small jars)
• 4 tbsp of sour cream
• 1 tbsp of Stokes Classic English Mustard
• The juice of 1 lime
• 500 g of cooked chicken
• 125 g of cooked diced potatoes
• 125 g of cooked diced carrots
• 125 g of cooked peas
• 75 g of cooked corn.

Here's how:

In a bowl mix the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, lime and season. Add the chicken and the vegetables, coating them all well.

Rest it for 20 minutes to let the flavours marry then serve on a bed of lettuce topped with chopped jalapeño, or wrap it in a tortilla.

Fish Tacos with Chipotle sauce

This is a simple version of a very tasty tacos supper. You can either use fresh fish fillets such as Tilapia (great value for money) or frozen breaded fish goujons. The Chipotle sauce is an easy take on a Mexican classic.

You'll need:

• 750 g of fish (approx), cooked and kept warm
• 4 - 6 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• A good handful of  chopped coriander
• 1 shredded little gem lettuce
• 2 avocados flesh, sliced widthways
• The juice of 2 limes
• 8 flour tortillas, warmed
• 4 tbsp of sour cream
• 1 tbsp of Stokes Chipotle Ketchup (make that 2 tbsps!)

Here's how:

Cook your chosen fish. If you use fresh fillets, coat them first in a little ground cumin and coriander before frying in butter and cutting into mouth size goujons.

Mix the tomato, onion, avocado, fresh, lettuce, coriander and half the lime juice. Season to taste.

For the chipotle sauce, simply mix the chipotle ketchup with the sour cream and the other half of the lime juice. Add more chipotle ketchup and season to taste (if you like it hotter add a shake of cayenne pepper).

Load your warm tacos with even amounts of fish, tomato salad mixture and a dressing of the chipotle sauce - fold and enjoy.

Chilli Choc Pots

You'll need:

• 200 g of rich dark chocolate (highest cocoa %)
• 4 eggs, yolks and whites separated
• 100 g of unsalted butter
• 2 tsp of caster sugar
• The seeds of one vanilla pod
• 1 tbsp Stokes Chilli Jam

Here's how:

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Gradually add the butter until it too melts and is fully incorporated with the chocolate. Add one egg yolk at a time beating each in fully before adding the next.

Now mix in the chilli jam and vanilla seeds. In another bowl, beat the egg whites and sugar to glossy stiff peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and spoon into individual bowls to chill.

Bring them back to room temperature to serve with a scoop of thick cream on the top.

Gosh it's good.

More foodie thoughts for the week:






Go nuts about doughnuts in National Doughnut Week here.











Cooking with ketchup - and some amazing results here.










More happy sharing and caption competition winners here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

National Doughnut Week - going nuts about doughnuts

National Doughnut Week 12 - 19 May

National Doughnut Week (12th - 19th May 2018) is a unique opportunity for bakers, cafes and companies to raise money for The Children's Trust by donating money for every doughnut they sell.

It's also a great excuse for us to practise making home-grown doughnuts so that we can do a little Children's Trust fundraising ourselves.

The Children's Trust offers both residential and community-based rehabilitation services for children and young people with a brain injury. You can find out more about the trust and make a  donation here.


Going nuts about doughnuts

The basic jam doughnut

You'll need:

• 1 tbsp of dry yeast
• 4 tbsp of caster sugar
• 150 ml of warm milk
• 225 g of plain flour
• A pinch of salt
• 50  g of soft butter
• 2 beaten eggs (free range)
• Vegetable oil for wok frying
• Stokes Extra Jam - Strawberry, Blackcurrant or Raspberry

Here's how:

Mix the yeast with half a teaspoon of sugar and two tbsp of the warm milk. Place this in a warm place to rest for 15 minutes, or until it froths. 

Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Stir in one tablespoon of sugar. Make a well in the flour and pour in the yeast mixture, milk, butter and eggs. Mix to make a dough and knead it well. 

Cover the bowl with cling film and let it rest for 40 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. Work the dough into 10 or 12 balls and rest them in a warm place until they double in size again. 

Carefully (and in batches) lower the dough balls into hot oil (using a wok is recommended) for 3 or 4 minutes until they are golden brown. Dry and cool them on kitchen paper then coat them in the remaining sugar. 

Use a knife to make a slit in the doughnut ball and spoon or squeeze the jam into each delicious ball of loveliness.

Doughnut 'holes' & dips

Unlike the great Polo mint question - what happens to the holes ... 'doughnut holes' are wonderful small fluffy sweet little balls of joy. And they're perfect for dipping.

You'll need:

• 1 tbsp of dry yeast
• 4 tbsp of caster sugar
• 150 ml of warm milk
• 225 g of plain flour
• A pinch of salt
• 50  g of soft butter
• 2 beaten eggs (free range)
• Vegetable oil for wok frying

Here's how:

Basically, follow the procedure as with the jam doughnuts but roll more (two to three times as many), smaller dough balls, halve the frying time and don't fill them with jam.

For the dips:

Blackcurrant dip -  3 tbsp of Stokes Extra Blackcurrant Jam, diluted slightly with 2 tsp of water and warmed gently to soften the dip.

Lemon dip - 2 tbsp of Stokes Lemon Curd mixed with 3 tbsp of double cream

Chocolate dip - melt 100 g of dark chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Add and warm 100 ml of double cream and (optional but amazing) 2 tsp of Stokes Chilli Jam for additional zing.

Whisky dip - heat and combine 100 g of dark muscovado sugar with 100 ml of double cream, 50 g of butter and 1 tbsp of whisky (at least) and simmer until everything dissolves together.

Baileys dip - just replace the whisky with Baileys (try this with chilli jam too).

More foodie thoughts for the week:







A fiery Tex Mex special celebrating Cinco de Mayo here.










Cooking with ketchup - and some amazing results here.










More happy sharing and caption competition winners here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Cooking with ketchup - shake and bake

Award-winning tomato ketchup 
for gold medal taste 

Because tomatoes are the backbone of so many Stokes sauces, their quality and consistency are paramount.

We found just what we needed ripening in the Mediterranean sunshine on the hillsides of southern Italy.

Instead of milling the tomatoes as most producers do, we simmer them gently for better, natural flavour and firmer texture.

What's more, we use 200g of these beauties in every 100g of Stokes Tomato Ketchup. That's integrity, quality and taste.

 

Cook it with Ketchup


Melanzane alla Parmigiana

This simple, southern Italian baked aubergine dish is packed with the flavours of the Mediterranean. It's probably because our tomatoes come from the region that our Award-Winning ketchup feels so deliciously at home in the bake.

You'll need:

• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 6 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 x 400 g tins of chopped tomatoes
• 4 aubergines, cut to long, thin slices
• 85 g of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• plenty of freshly torn basil leaves
• ditto oregano leaves
• 4 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup
• 1 beaten egg

Here's how:

Heat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 6. Cook the garlic, tomatoes and ketchup together in olive oil, simmering for 10 minutes to reduce the sauce.

In a separate pan with oil, cook the aubergine slices in batches for about five minutes on each side, then soak off the excess fat on kitchen paper.

In an ovenproof dish, make layers of aubergine slices first, topped with tomato sauce, a sprinkle of basil, oregano and Parmesan, repeating until the layers are complete. Pour the beaten egg over the top and a final scattering of cheese then bake for 20 minutes.

Molto bene !

 
Other great international
classics include:

• Add a good glug or two of our Tomato Ketchup to simmering baked beans to make a richer, deeper sauce.
• Stir into a bolognaise sauce for extra tomato flavour! 
• Add a dash of white wine vinegar, oil and Worcestershire sauce to Ketchup for a saucy salad dressing
• Add chopped peppers, onion and garlic to ketchup for a delicious burger relish!
• Stir into soups and stews as a rich, tomatoey base.

Garlic & honey glazed pork chop

You'll need:

• 4 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup
• 1 tbsp of runny honey
• 1 tbsp of dark soy sauce
• 2 cloves of garlic, grated
• 4 pork chops

Here's how:

Mix together the ketchup, honey, soy sauce and garlic. Coat the chops thoroughly with the sauce.

Now grill them turning 2 or 3 times for 6 minutes each side until the juice runs clear when you prick each chop with a sharp knife at the thickest part by the bone.

It's very simple and very tasty.

Stir fry 'chup chicken

You'll need:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 3 garlic cloves, grated
• 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp of dark soy sauce
• 4 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup ('chup)

Here's how:

Cut the chicken into 2 cm cubes, dust the pieces in seasoned flour and fry on a medium high heat in a wok for 6 or 7 minutes until the meat browns.

Add the garlic, soy sauce, cayenne pepper and ketchup to the chicken. When the sauce starts to bubble, turn the heat down and let it simmer gently for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, cook some noodles as the pack directs and enjoy.

 
More foodie thoughts for the week:







A fiery Tex Mex special celebrating Cinco de Mayo here.











Go nuts about doughnuts in National Doughnut Week here.












More happy sharing and caption competition winners here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

More winning ways on the social network

Competition winners  

Last week, Facebook followers were asked what these cheeky chappies (below) might be saying to each other about the object out of sight in our caption competition.

 
The winners were:

Neill Waugh with
'...The Summer is here, they are obviously warm, so they are looking at a jar of Stokes English Mustard as everybody knows it's the best accompaniment for a hot dog!'

and: Dick Waine with
'...You're having hot dogs for dinner? With Stokes ketchup? Quick lads, let's scarper!'

...well done both.


What else has been happening 
on Facebook & Twitter


Caption competition

Let's start with this week's caption competition.

Meet Ned (below). He spends a lot of his time wandering about behind The Old Stables in Rendlesham and always seems deep in thought. But what might he be thinking about? Enter a caption on Facebook and you might be a winner.

You can enter our Facebook caption competition this week just by clicking on the image of Ned, below:

 Good luck.


Other things shared on the network this week include this happy, smiling breakfast tweet - no, not Tweetabix but happy, smiling eggs - clearly from free range chooks.

And thank you for the message announcing that Stokes will be demonstrating their tasty wares at the Game & Country Fair at the Euston Estate this coming weekend.

Sound like a tasty day out.

Finally, this old cockerel clearly isn't hanging around to watch the dreadful table manners of youngsters Angela, Alice and Scarlett 

More foodie thoughts for the week:







A fiery Tex Mex special celebrating Cinco de Mayo here.











Go nuts about doughnuts in National Doughnut Week here.











We're cooking with ketchup with some amazing results here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Home baking just gets tastier and tastier

The Queen of Hearts had a
wonderful idea...

The good old fashion jam tart is almost a British right of passage.

Mum bakes them; you taste them; you make them for your own children; grow out of them; write a newsletter including them; and fall in love with the little circles of joy all over again.


Let's Bake

Stokes Extra Jam Tarts

You'll need:

• 200 g of plain flour
• 100 g of butter (or 50 / 50 lard and butter)
• 3 tbsp of cold water
• A pinch of salt
• Stokes Extra Jams

Here's how:

You can of course use a ready-made short-crust pastry - or make your own.  Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/gas mark7. Mix the flour, butter and salt in a bowl and work quickly with your finger tips until you have the consistency of breadcrumbs.

Drop at a time, add the water, kneading the dough until the pastry combines. Clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes. Roll the dough to 4 mm thick, cut into circles fitting a pre-greased tart tin.

Half fill each tart base with your choice of jam or curd, bake for 10 to 12 minutes, cool and enjoy.

Lemon Victoria Sponge

You'll need:

• 200 g of caster sugar
• 200 g of butter
• 200 g of self-raising flour
• 1 lemon, zest only
• 2 tbsp of Stokes Lemon Curd
• 3 eggs, beaten

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 5. Grease a 20 cm cake tin and dust it with flour. Beat the caster sugar, butter, lemon zest and lemon curd until it's light and fluffy. Add the eggs bit by bit beating after each addition.

Now sift the flour into the mixture, folding it in thoroughly. Put the cake mixture into the tin and bake for 40 minutes. When a knife is inserted gently into  the middle comes out cleanly, remove the cake from the tin and let it cool on a rack.

You should have sufficient depth to slice the cake in half and fill. A lemon flavoured butter cream would be lovely.

Orange Shortbread Squares

Tasty shortbread with an orangey twist using Stokes Seville Orange Marmalade and flaked almonds.

You'll need:

• 50 g of ground almonds
• 100 g of plain flour
• 50 g of caster sugar
• 100 g of butter, cubed
• The zest of 1 orange
• 25 g of flaked almonds
• 250 g of Stokes Seville Orange Marmalade

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 160°C/gas mark 4. Put the ground almonds, sugar and orange zest into a bowl (or blender) and blend to a breadcrumb consistency.

Tip quarter of the mixture into a separate bowl and stir in the flaked almonds. Further blend the remaining three quarters to a finer consistency and spread it into a lined baking tin.

Spread the marmalade on top and the flaked almond crumb on top of that. Now bake it for about 45 minutes. Remove and cool the golden platter of joy and divide into more user-friendly squares.

Cranberry Flapjacks

The sharper bite of the cranberries sits deliciously with the sweet syrup of the flapjack.

You'll need:

• 125 g of butter
• 100 g of soft dark brown sugar
• 4 tbsp of golden syrup
• 250 g of rolled oats
• 3 tbsp of Stokes Cranberry Sauce

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 5. Over a low heat, gently mix the butter, sugar and syrup in a saucepan until the ingredients have combined.

Stir in the oats and cranberry sauce and coat well. Pour this into a 20 cm round baking tin and bake for 30 minutes until golden. Cool and cut into scrumptious wedges.

More foodie thoughts for the week:






Celebrating St George's Day with great English feed here.










Caption competition and other Facebook fun here.












British Beef Week - watch 'the finest steak' video here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Facebook winners and social sharers on Twitter

Social sharing @stokessauces

Only by following us on Facebook and Twitter will you discover the lives behind the sauce. Follow Rick @Stokessauces, his family, friends and other Stokensien folk from The Old Stables, Rendlesham.

You'll learn that this (right) is not punishment for not doing his homework, but Child3's own attempt to eat his popcorn in peace #smartthinking.

There are weekly competitions, shared recipes, foodie horror stories and delicious successes too. Good food is for sharing and there's no better place to share your foodie thoughts than here.


Competition winners  

Last week, Facebook followers were asked what these two lovely characters (below) might be saying to each other in our caption competition.

 
The winners were:

Alison King with
'...If you don't pass the Stokes Sauce my deer, I'll be in a fowl mood!'

and: Lin Scott with
'...Deer to Peacock. Deary me! Don't know why you're looking so proud. You forgot to buy the Stokes Sauces when you went shopping!!'

...well done both.


What else has been happening 
on Facebook & Twitter


Caption competition

Let's start with this week's caption competition. There are more animals than people at Stokes and these are just some of the dogs (below). But just what is it that's attracting their attention ?

You too can enter our Facebook caption competition this week just by clicking on the image below and following the link:

...good luck.

Also, treated almost as lovingly as Doris here, the fist of our lovely chicks from last year...

...this is the latest bottle of Stokes Brown Sauce, literally still warm as it rattled happily off the end of the bottling line in The Old Stables...

...ahh, how sweet.

Waking up on a Sunday morning with a headache ? You might need one of these

And when it comes to storing your Stokes sauces, where do you stand on the great fridge debate?

More foodie thoughts for the week:







Celebrating St George's Day with great English feed here.











Our baking series - the next tasty instalment here.











British Beef Week - watch 'the finest steak' video here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150