Stokes Sauces: Spring's seasonal larder - for tasty seasonal dishes

Seasonal sensations

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/category/mayonnaise

Spring is bountiful in its seasonal ingredients. Nature has pushed the gloom of winter aside to open its doors to delicious offerings from land and sea.

The season at its best includes: Cauliflower, Cabbages, Lettuces, Radishes, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Broccoli, Spring Greens, Sea Kale, Watercress, Morel Mushrooms, Wild Garlic, Sorrel, Rocket, Rhubarb, Wood Pigeon, Jersey Royal New Potatoes, Cod, Clams, Crab, Halibut, Sea Bass, Lemon Sole, Salmon, Sea Trout, Sardines, Cockles, Spinach and Spring Lamb.

Plates of food become lighter, look prettier, taste sensational and are generally better for you. All you need to finish a dish is a drizzle of dressing or immodest spoonful of mayonnaise.

Today, we have three simple yet delicious recipes using
crab, clams and fresh Cornish sardines.

Spaghetti alle vongole

Clam spaghetti. This is probably one of my all time favourites partly because it is so simple and partly because of the natural sweetness of the clams contrasting the delightful zing of the chilli jam.

You'll need:

140 g of dried spaghetti
500 g of small fresh clams (in their shells)
3 tomatoes, skinned and diced
2 tbsp of finely diced shallots
2 tbsp of Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup
2 tsp of Stokes Chilli Jam
1 x 250 ml glass of dry white wine

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/ketchup-and-sauces

Here's how:

Rinse the clams, discarding any that have opened. Whilst the pasta is cooking, soften the shallots in hot oil, then add the tomatoes, chilli jam and ketchup.

Tip the clams into the mixture with the wine and simmer with the lid on for just 4 minutes.

They say to shake the pan to move the clams about but do it gently to avoid breaking the shells. In a large serving bowl, combine the clams and their cooking liquor with the cooked, drained spaghetti.

It's a joy.

Sardines with wilted cos

Walk anywhere at any time on the Algarve and you will smell the ubiquitous aromas of grilling sardines. Yet these lovely little things are often overlooked in Britain, despite being landed in their hundreds and thousands, particularly now, around the coastline of Cornwall.

People are often put off by their tiny bones. Now, you can buy them filleted and if served on toast, the crispy bread acts as a psychological decoy for any tiny hair-like bones that may remain.

You'll need:

12 sardine fillets from 6 fresh sardines
3 tbsp of rapeseed oil
2 tbsp of lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic, finely grated
2 tsp of Stokes Chilli Jam
3 or 4 baby cos lettuces
2 tbsp of Stokes Creamy Caesar Dressing
And a handful of chopped parsley to finish

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/product/relish-and-chutneys/chilli-ja

Here's how:

Brush the fillets with a little oil and lemon juice whilst heating the garlic and chilli jam in a large pan. Put the fillets in the pan, skin side down. Add a twist of salt and pepper and cook for just 3 minutes - no need to turn them.

Remove the fillets from the pan and set aside, keeping them warm. Now cut the cos hearts lengthways in half or thirds and fry them with a good coating of the Caesar sauce in the pan from which you have just removed the fillets, having first turned the heat up high. You are looking to wilt the outside but leave the hearts crispy.

Now put the fillets onto toasted rye bread, drizzle with the remaining oil, lemon juice and a scattering of parsley and serve with the spectacularly tasty greens.

Crab cakes

This is a good but basic crab cake recipe to which you can add, replace or remove any variation.

You'll need:

250 g potatoes, boiled and mashed
300 g of white crab meat
1 tbsp of drained, chopped capers
2 finely chopped spring onions
The zest and juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp Stokes Sweet Chilli Sauce
2 tbsp of plain flour
1 beaten egg
85 g of panko breadcrumbs

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/product/special-sauces/sweet-chilli-sauce

Here's how:

Mash the potatoes without cream and only a little butter as we need this to be a fairly dry ingredient and set them aside to cool.

In a large bowl, mix the crab meat, capers, spring onions, lime and sweet chilli sauce. Add the potato mash until the ingredients are well combined and form into 12 equal patties. 20 minutes in the fridge will firm the patties up for frying.

Taking 3 plates, put the flour in one, the egg in another and the breadcrumbs in the third. Now in that order - flour, egg, breadcrumbs - coat each of the cakes. In gently foaming butter, cook the cakes in batches for 3 or 4 minutes each side until golden and crispy.