Stokes Sauces: September Suppers

Simple tasty suppers

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/traditional-condiments

It has been a great summer but we are well and truly BBQ'd out. I love the marinades and the sauces but don't want to see another charred sausage for a very long time now.

September is a season of change. The farm shops and supermarket shelves are full of seasonal colour and flavour.

Deliciously green Savoy cabbages add iron and vibrancy to our bangers and mash; beetroot roasted with potatoes gives an earthy accompaniment to the Sunday roast; root vegetables abound in time for one pot suppers; and figs add flavours to both sweet and savoury dishes.

Oh for a Sunday roast, cold cuts and pickles and sandwiches stuffed with leftovers and Stokes Real Mayonnaise.

Savoury suppers

Hunter's Chicken

Every European country seams to have a version of Hunter's Chicken but the only thing they really have in common is the chicken element and the fact that it's very tasty. Here's our version.

You'll need:

4 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless
8 rashers of smoked bacon
100 g of Cheddar cheese, grated
1 tbsp of Stokes Brown Sauce
1 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup
2 tbsp of Stokes Original BBQ Sauce

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

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6.

Wrap each chicken breast with two rashers of bacon and pop them in the oven for 15 minutes.

Take them out and cover each with grated cheese then cook for a further 10 minutes or so until the cheese is bubbling brown and the chicken is cooked through.

Mix the sauces and ketchup together in a pan, warming them to combine the wonderful flavours.

If you want to thin it to a gravy consistency, add a little chicken stock - delicious as well as simple.

Pan-roast Duck Breast

Another simple mid-week fowl.

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Pat the breasts dry with kitchen paper and trim off any excess fat (that bit that sticks out around the side). With a very sharp knife, score the skin, criss and again cross.

Heat some oil in an ovenproof pan and fry the duck, skin side down without moving them or fiddling for 5 or 6 minutes. Pour away the excess fat after a couple of minutes and again after a couple more.

Turn the breasts skin side up and transfer the pan to the oven for 15 minutes for very pink and 20 for pink but cooked through. It is really important to rest duck breasts, keeping them warm for 10 minutes after cooking.

While this is all happening, make and reduce a chicken stock then add Stokes. Add Stokes Hoisin Sauce for an Asian influence with its Yellowbean sauce, dark soy sauce and a little chilli. Grate some orange zest into it with a squeeze of orange juice for the citrus zing duck loves.

Or add Stokes Chipotle Ketchup for sweet tomatoes and the gentle heat of Chipotle chillis. We like a combination of Stokes Tomato Ketchup and Stokes Brown Sauce.

Roast Chicken

Normally associated with a Sunday roast but cooking a larger bird than you need mid-week can give you three decent feeds.

A couple of ideas and truly great gravy:

On a Sunday we would cook it more slowly on a lower heat (160°C/gas mark 4), sitting on top of a wonderful array of root vegetables, potatoes, fresh thyme and garlic, covering it with foil for the first hour or so then uncovered for a crispy skin.

In the week though, crank up the heat to 220°C/gas mark7.

For a lemon and garlic finish, slice lots of lemon into the roasting dish with fresh thyme and a whole head of garlic cut through the middle in half and sit the chuk on top.

When cooked and resting, deglaze the tin with white wine, chicken stock and Stokes Dijon Mustard, reduce and serve.

Our favourite is to make a trivet with celery, fennel and onion to lift the bird above a centimetre of water. Roast it covered in foil so that it part steams then uncover to brown. You will have a lot of juice in the tin.

Make a roux, adding a good cider to it before pouring in the cooking liquors. Add a chicken stock bouillon and 2 or 3 tsp of Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard, reduce and serve.