Cooking with Guinness for International Stout Day

It's International Stout Day

As if we needed an excuse to cook boozy meals - they are always the best.

But, today's international celebration of Porters ales and modern day stouts (1st November) gives us a hook on which to hang this week's foodie hat.

Porters is a dark ale that was favoured among London’s working classes in the early 1700s. Street and river porters provided an eager market for this new, energising beer.

The word 'stout', was known to have the meaning 'strong' reflecting the physical attributes of working porters in the strong beer or Porter.

Guinness had been brewing Porters since about 1780 and is famous for their Dry or Irish Stout.

On the subject of Guinness, this Guinness-can chicken dish is not for the faint hearted.

Prepare the bird for roasting. Leave only the bottom shelf in the oven and pre-heat to your normal cooking temperature.

Pop open a can of Guinness, pour half of it into a mug and set aside. Into the can, put 3 or 4 sprigs of thyme which will nestle into the Guinness. Push the can into the chicken as pictured and balance it carefully in a roasting tray then into the oven.

The flavours and liquid in the can will keep the chicken moist.

When cooked, remove the can and tip whatever liquid is left together with the reserved Guinness into the roasting tin, deglaze it and reduce the liquid. Stir 2 tbsp of Stokes Fig Relish into the reducing gravy with a good knob of butter. Amazing Chicken, awesome gravy.

 
Cheers to the porters of London

Glazed Pork Loin

The pork loin plays its part but the Guinness and honey glaze is the real star. Use it on almost any roasting or BBQ'd meat.

Here's how:

To make the glaze, put 300 ml of Guinness, 100 ml of clear honey, 250 g of Muscovado sugar, 4 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup and 2 tbsp of Stokes Original BBQ Sauce into a pan. Heat it up and reduce the volume by half (ish) until you have a sweet, dark syrup. Set this aside to cool.

Trim and season a 2 kg piece of pork loin. Roast it for 15 to 20 minutes in a pre-heated oven, 200°C/Gas mark 6. Remove the meat and turn the heat down to 160°C/Gas mark 3.

While it's cooling, brush the pork with most of the glaze (reserve a little for a finishing flourish). Return the meat to the oven for a further 30 to 40 minutes then rest it well.

For the final flourish, add 175 ml of white wine to the roasting tin to deglaze it then add the reserved glaze. This should make a pouring syrup for the meat once carved and served.

 
Rich Onion Soup

This works really well if you use a small range of different onions including shallots, Spanish, red, spring and even finely chopped baby leeks.

Here's how:

Melt about 30 g or so of butter in a pan and add either 6 onions thinly sliced or the equivalent assortment mentioned above.

Cook them slowly for 20 minutes then add 2 tbsp of Stokes Red Onion Marmalade and 2 grated garlic cloves. After a further 20 minutes they will caramelise and the onion marmalade will help with this.

Stir in 2 tbsp of flour to make a roux and add 2 tbsp of Stokes Dijon Mustard. Now add 300 ml of Guinness. When it starts simmering add about 1 litre of beef stock (keep some extra in case it becomes too thick).

Add a splash of dark soy sauce and the same of Worcestershire sauce and simmer until you have your preferred consistency.

Make some chunky croutons to go with this rich soup by toasting rough slices of French bread. Spread one side with Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard topped with grated Cheddar cheese and finished under the grill.

 Beef Stew - the Guinness way

You'll need:

• 1 kg of beef, cut into large cubes
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 8 carrots, in large slices
• 1 tbsp of flour
• 1 beef stock bouillon
• 500 ml of Guinness
• 3 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup
• 2 tbsp of Stokes Brown Sauce
• 2 tbsp of Stokes Creamed Horseradish Sauce
• 2 or 3 sprigs of thyme

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 160°C/Gas mark 3.

Brown the meat in a casserole dish (best done in batches) and set aside. Add a knob of butter to the dish and soften the onions for 5 minutes then add the garlic and stir in the flour to make a roux.

Now pour in the Guinness and add the ketchup, brown sauce, thyme and the bouillon. With a good stir, bring it to a rolling boil and add the carrots.

Cover firmly and transfer the casserole dish to the oven for 2 to 3 hours. Remove the dish from the oven and stir 2 tbsp of Stokes Creamed Horseradish Sauce into it before serving with buttery mashed potatoes.

Make Autumn Awesome - just add Stokes

Did you know you can order your tasty sauces on line - here

More foodie thoughts for the week:






Bonfire Night feasting - try these hearty sparklers  here.











Meet our 'special' sauces - food gets a whole lot tastier - here.












Share your foodie favourites on Facebook & Twitter here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

 

Remember, remember, great taste in November

Penny for the Guy

For 400 years Guy Fawkes Night has been marked with bonfires, fireworks and festivities.

This was the day in 1605 that a group of Catholic conspirators had their plan to blow up Parliament foiled just hours before the fuse to the gunpowder was lit. Half the plotters were killed in a shoot-out. The rest, including Guy Fawkes, were tried for treason, found guilty and executed in January 1606.

In 1910, firework manufacturers started branding the occasion as ‘Fireworks Night’ to cash in on the act. Their sales increased by 20%.

Enthusiastic children would create a Guy Fawkes effigy, carting it around asking for ‘a penny for the Guy’ to help them buy fireworks.

Today, community and home firework displays are followed by something warming to eat, to re-stoke the energy spent sharing appreciative ooos and aahhhs on a smoke-filled night.

Here are some tasty ideas you might like - to keep you warm this year.


Light the blue touchpaper and...

Big Pot Chilli

You'll need:

• 1 kg of minced beef
• 2 onions, diced
• 4 sticks of celery, chopped
• 2 red peppers, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, grated
• 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
• 2 tins of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 250 ml of red wine
• 2 tbsp of dark chocolate, grated
• 2 tsp of chilli powder
• 2 tbsp of Stokes Chilli Jam
• 4 tbsp of Stokes Brown Sauce
• 4 tbsp of Stokes Chipotle Ketchup
• 2 x beef stock bouillons 

Here's how:

In a large pan soften the onion, pepper, celery and garlic for 5 minutes then add the minced beef. Cook, stirring occasionally until the meat is browned throughout.

Stir in the chilli powder, Chilli Jam, Brown Sauce and Chipotle Ketchup then add the tins of tomatoes with the stock bouillons and red wine. Let this simmer for 30 minutes, melt in the chocolate and add the beans.

Simmer gently for a further 30 minutes then taste for flavour and heat. You can let this stand whilst enjoying the fireworks and warm it up before you eat.

Served with a doorstop slice of bread or rice, you and your guests will soon warm up. Or, use it as a filling for jacket potatoes.

Jacket Potatoes

Who doesn't love the crispy skin and fluffy middle of a baked potato. A baked sweet potato is a very fine thing too, soft and succulent on the inside.

The fillings can be as simple or as complex as you like, but one thing they have got to be is tasty. With Stokes in the cupboard, 'great taste' is only a short reach away.

First up, we have a baked sweet potato. For the filling we've shredded cooked chicken breast and stirred equal amounts of Stokes Real Mayonnaise and Stokes Chipottle Ketchup into it. This gives it the gently smokiness and chipotle heat of the ketchup and velvety smooth texture of the mayonnaise.

Beans - the classic. With cheese, awesome. Try mixing a spoonful or two of Stokes Tomato Ketchup into the beans as they are cooking to build on the flavour. Add Stokes Original BBQ Sauce for a sweet smokiness. You can take it one step further by cooking, chopping and adding smoked bacon with the BBQ Sauce to create instant Boston Beans.

The third is a Shepherd's Jacket, the fluffy potato being filled with minced lamb cooked with thyme, onion, grated carrot and Stokes Tomato Ketchup. Go a step further adding sweet date puree and spices in the form of Stokes Brown Sauce whilst cooking out the meat. Finish under the grill to melt some cheese - it's a sparkler.

You can't put too much cheese in a jacket potato as the fourth example shows. The easiest way to do this is to make a cheesy rarebit sauce using Cheddar, Red Leicester and perhaps a stringy Edam-type cheese. Stir Stokes Chilli Jam into the rarebit sauce and spoon it into your jackets.

The variations on these tasty themes

are deliciously simple:

Did you know you can place you tasty Stokes orders on line - here

Chicken wings as well ? 

...you're spoiling us

 

For this amazing Guiness & Honey Glaze 

that's making these wings look so glossy and tasty,

take a look at the recipe as used for the Pork Tenderloin - here.

More foodie thoughts for the week:





Meet our 'special' sauces - food gets a whole lot tastier here.












Cooking with Guinness - drink it, baste it, eat it - here.














Share your foodie favourites on Facebook & Twitter here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Stokes Special Sauces - seasonal and sensational

Welcome to 'special'

If you look on the our website - www.stokessauces.co.uk - you'll see a fabulous dropdown from the menu 'sauces' which offers a beautifully visual way to get to know sauces you may not have tried before. Today we are bringing our special cooking sauces to life for you right here:

'We're special'

Order us today - here

We've prepared a range of classic sauces with 'special' twists in our 'Special Sauces' range. Cocktail Sauce for seafood, Mustard & Dill Sauce turning Salmon into Gravadlax in an instant; Coronation Sauce for a classic Coronation Chicken in a simple stir; Sweet Chilli Sauce for easy Asian stir fries; and Hoisin Sauce for lucky duck.


Stokes Hoisin Sauce

This is a wonderfully rich, sweet sauce made with Yellowbean sauce, soy sauce and red chillis. It's an oriental classic that, once tasted, will have you coming back for more.

The classic accompaniment to duck and great as a dip or marinade.

We used it last week in one of our Halloween recipes - here.  It was folded into the eggs of an oriental-styled Pumpkin Omelette, which was finished as a frittata and served with Stokes Sweet Chilli Sauce.

We just can't overuse the word 'classic' - next time you order takeaway Peking Duck, be sure to have Stokes Hoisin Sauce and prepare to be carried away to the Orient.



Stokes Sweet Chilli Sauce

Made with red chillies and red peppers our Sweet Chilli Sauce overflows with oriental vitality.

With its sweet clean taste, this sauce is deliciously versatile - use it as a dip, a glaze, a marinade or the centrepiece to one of your great stir fries.

Mix a few tablespoons with cream cheese before stirring into pasta.

Pour a little over salmon fillets and cook them in a a foil pouch for 10 to 15 minutes to add a fresh dimension to your fish.

Spoon it over strips of cooked chicken with slices of peppers and lettuce for a fresh wrap filling.



Stokes Mustard & Dill Sauce

A personal favourite, this is a spooning sauce with a gentle mustard tang and strong dill flavour for the perfect addition to smoked salmon, turning it into an instant Scandinavian Gravadlax.

We used it in a recent Fish Friday recipe - here.  The Poached Salmon Frittata was given a Scandinavian lift with just one spoonful of this delightful sauce.

Mix a little with our Real Mayonnaise to create a yummy dipping sauce for breaded goujons of fish (home made fish fingers).

Use a little with buttered new potatoes for a warm potato salad to accompany - well, the foil baked Salmon we mentioned earlier.



Stokes Coronation Sauce

A twentieth century classic, it's creamy, fruity and spicy all at once. Made with apricots, sultanas and curry spice for the delicious classic chicken sauce.

It is scrumptious simply spooned and folded into chunks of cooked chicken.

Having originated in Colonial India you can create a dish worthy of the Raj by adding fruit (sultanas, mango and apple) and mixing equal portions of our Coronation Sauce with a rich, smooth creamed cheese.

Serve this with a salad or as the filling for a jacket potato on bonfire night.


Stokes Cocktail Sauce

A rich and creamy, tomatoey sauce that's perfect for seafood. We make it with rapeseed oil, free range whole eggs, pureed tomato and a little Worcestershire sauce.

Mix with prawns, chicken or tuna for a wonderful jacket potato topping, or sandwich filling with fish fingers.

Stir a little Sweet Chilli Sauce into it for an amazing dipping sauce.


Their place in your cupboard

With one or all of these to hand in your store cupboard, you become the special one, able to turn meals into marvels in moments - very special moments.

Click on any of the images to place your order today - enjoy.

'You're special'

Order this tasty lot today - here

More foodie thoughts for the week:






Bonfire Night feasting - try these hearty sparklers  here.










Cooking with Guinness - drink it, baste it, eat it - here.

















Share your foodie favourites on Facebook & Twitter here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

 

Tell us how you like it - sharing foodie thoughts on social media

What's happening 
on Facebook & Twitter

However you say it, share it with us and our many followers on Facebook and Twitter. We all have our favourite kitchen tricks and treats. In this 'sous-vide-free zone' you can share it as you like it, no matter how simple you think it might be. It's the simple things in life that often matter most.

Take this cheese on toast with our Red Onion Marmalade - who though a video of cheese bubbling under the grill would be as good to watch as it is to eat:

Watch the video - here

It was the battle of the sausages this week on Social Media. Here, Musk's Sausages extol the virtues of adding Stokes Mango Fruit Chutney to make a fabulous gravy (I've got to try that, better order some today - sausages and Chutney)...

... whereas, in our own kitchens the sausages are being cooked with Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard then finished with a zesty glaze of our Seville Orange Marmalade.

Watch the video - here

This was a fun exercise posted on Facebook this week - just how many Stokes products can you see in this picture ... enjoy!

More foodie thoughts for the week:







Bonfire Night feasting - try these hearty sparklers  here.










Cooking with Guinness - drink it, baste it, eat it - here.

















Meet our 'special' sauces - food gets a whole lot tastier here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

 

The Great British Banger - celebrating National Sausage Week

At home with sausages


This is a nation of sausage lovers and ours is a home of sausage eaters.

There are so so many different styles of sausage and ways to cook them: fried, grilled, baked (our preference) barbecued, with gravy and mashed potatoes, in sandwiches and so on.

Because sausages are predominantly pork based and we Brits have the highest standards of pig husbandry, the British Banger is something to be proud of.

A good butchers sausage should be at least 80% pork which combines with seasoning, spice and breadcrumbs - and then the variations begin.

But now we come to the biggest question of them all ... what mustard, sauce, or relish do you have with your sausage.

 
The Great British Banger

To dress your sausages for the right occasion, click and order here

What do you have with yours?

Banger Bourguignon

You'll need:

• 8 good pork sausages
• 12 button mushrooms
• 12 small shallots, peeled
• 2 chunky carrots, sliced
• 500 ml of red wine
• 500 ml of beef stock
• 2 cloves of garlic, grated
• A good knob of butter
• 1 sprig of thyme
• 2 tsp of sugar
• 3 tbsp of Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup

Here's how:

Boil the wine with the thyme and sugar until it reduces by half, then remove the thyme. Cook the onions in the butter for 5 minutes then stir in the flour and garlic.

Pour in the wine and stock, add the carrots and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. In the meantime, grill the sausages to brown the outsides but not to cook them through.

Add the sausages to the simmering stock and carrots, stir in the ketchup and let the mixture bubble gently for 15 minutes. Add the mushrooms and simmer for a final 5 minutes.

This is wonderful served with buttery mashed potatoes with 2 tbsp of Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard mixed into it.

Cider Sausages

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4.

Brown 8 sausages in a casserole dish then set them aside. Soften 1 diced onion in oil for 5 minutes then add 2 grated garlic cloves for a further 2 minutes.

Add 2 tbsp of flour stirring it well into the oil and onions. Add 2 tbsp of Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard and 3 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup before gradually adding 280 ml of dry British cider.

Bring the contents up to a simmer then add the sausages with 2 peeled, cored and chopped parsnips, apples and the same amount of chopped carrots. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of thyme leaves into the pot, cover and cook it in the oven for 30 minutes.

Make Autumn Awesome - just add Stokes

More foodie thoughts for the week:






Halloween - get more from your pumpkin this year  here.











Great gift ideas from Stokes - the gift of great taste here.












Social sharing on Facebook & Twitter here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Halloween - get more from your pumpkind this year

Trick, treat or 
something good to eat

The clock will be going back, the leaves are falling down and pumpkins will be carved to scare away the ghouls and ghosts of halloween. We're at the heart of Autumn now, the season of root veg, squash and pumpkins.

The British Heart Foundation speaks highly of the humble pumpkin and its natural health benefits.

The fibrous qualities of what is technically a fruit are highly nutritious and particularly rich in Vitamin A and C - great for the immune system. Its supply of Vitamin E, iron and folate are well regarded too.

Its culinary qualities are increasingly popular in this country, though I doubt its popularity will ever match that of kitchens in the USA and South Africa.

We have three grades of pumpkin preparations for you to enjoy through the Autumn.



Potty about Pumpkin

Pumpkin Soup

Here's how:

Gently cook 2 finely diced shallots in a little olive oil until soft and translucent. Add 1kg of pumpkin (peeled, deseeded and the pith removed) cut into chunks and cook on for 10 minutes or so.

It will begin to soften but keep its wonderful orange glow. Add 700ml of chicken or vegetable stock, season well and simmer for 10 minutes.

Pumpkin loves fresh ground pepper. It also adores the smoky warmth of Stokes Chipotle Ketchup, so add 2 or 3 tbsp to taste.

When the pumpkin is soft, add 150ml of double cream, a pinch of nutmeg and the same of cinnamon and blend with a hand blender. 

Pumpkin Frattita

This has an oriental theme to it. It's easy to make and so easy to eat - delicious.

Here's how:

Beat 5 eggs in a large bowl, season and add a splash of dry white wine. Add the diced flesh of half a medium sized pumpkin, 6 sliced spring onions and 2 or 3 tbsp of Stokes Chipotle Ketchup.

Melt a knob of butter in an omelette pan or an 8 to 10 inch non-stick frying pan. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and swirl it around to cover the base and edges. Keep tipping the pan so that the soft centre rolls to the edges and cooks evenly.

After 5 minutes, pop it under a medium grill unti the eggs set and the top begins to brown. Let it cool a little and serve it with Stokes Garlic Mayonnaise as a dip.

Lamb & Pumpkin Tagine


Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to a 'cool' 160°C/Gas mark 3.

In a lidded casserole dish, fry 1 diced onion until soft and translucent. In a separate frying pan, brown 500g of cubed lamb shoulder in batches and add it to the casserole.

Now add 2 tbsp of flour; 1 tsp each of ground cumin, paprika and coriander; 1 tin of chopped tomatoes and 1 tbs of Stokes Chilli Jam. Add 350 g of cubed pumpkin flesh and 350 ml of chicken stock. Bring the casserole to a simmer, cover and put it in the oven for 2 hours.

Add 30 g of sultanas and the same of apricots together with 2 tbsp of Stokes Brown Sauce and 2 tbsp of Stokes Spiced Apricot Chutney.

With the lid off, let it simmer for 20 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken slightly. Served with a simple cous cous this will be the real star on a restful Autumn evening.

Make Autumn Awesome - just add Stokes

More foodie thoughts for the week:






Celebrating the Great British Banger in UK Sausage Week  here.









 Great gift ideas from Stokes - the gift of great taste here.












Social sharing on Facebook & Twitter here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150