Mexican Magic - with a twist

It's not all tortillas 
and tacos...

You can enjoy the flavours of good Mexican food without facing rows of tortillas and tacos.

As long as you have avocados, sour cream, lots of limes, cheese, chipotle chillis, paprika and more chilli - you can give almost anything a Mexican twist.

Top these with the tasty range of chilli-based sauces in our Summer Sizzler's Collection.

Vamos a Mexicano !


Pasta Mexicano

This can become vegetarian simply by leaving out the meat or using Quorn mince instead.

You'll need:

• 350 g of lean minced meat
• 100 g of penne pasta
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pepper, chopped
• 1 stick of celery, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 tsp of ground cumin and of oregano 
• 3 or 4 jalapeno peppers, chopped
• 1 x 400 g of chopped tomatoes
• 1 x 196 g tin of sweetcorn
• 1 beef stock bouillon
• The juice of 1 lime
• 2 tbsp of Stokes Chipotle Ketchup (more for a smokier depth of flavour)
• 2 tbsp of Stokes Chilli Ketchup (more for a sharper chilli hit)
• 2 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup
• Grated Cheddar cheese, avocado and sour cream to finish / garnish.

Here's how:

Fry the onion, garlic, pepper and celery in oil for several minutes then add the minced meat. Keep the meat moving until it browns then add the tomatoes, bouillon, sweetcorn, jalapeno peppers and ketchups, then simmer gently for 15 minutes. Cook the pasta to packet instructions, drain it and add it to the mince for a further 5 minutes. Top with grated cheese and serve with avocado and a drizzle of sour cream.

Lamb Pita Pocket


Persia and Mexico meet in a hearty pita pocket.

Here's how:

Soften a chopped onion and 2 grated cloves of garlic then add 400 g of minced lamb. Brown the mince as above, adding 1 tsp of ground cumin.

Add 2 tbsp of Stokes Chilli Ketchup, 2 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup and 1 tbsp of Stokes Mint Sauce.

The sweet garden mint and light pinch of vinegar work so well against the sharpness of the chilli ketchup.

Pour in a little beef stock, not too much as you'll have a messy pita if it's too 'sloppy', and simmer for 15 minutes.

Peppers Mexicano

Try these stuffed peppers as a vegetarian supper using Quorn mince instead of beef mince.

Here's how:

Make this pretty much as the Pasta Mexicano, above, replacing the meat with 3 or 4 handfuls of Quorn mince and adding 1 x 400 g tin of rinsed and drained kidney beans. Use a vegetable stock bouillon of course and reduce the liquid in a rolling boil.

Scoop out halved peppers, fill with the mince, grate Cheddar cheese over the top and bake in a medium high oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the peppers soften but before they collapse.

Serve with a little soured cream and enjoy.

Summer Sizzlers from Stokes...

Just £15: order your own little heatwave - here

More foodie thoughts for the week:





Skewered for Sharing - 
putting taste into marinades and BBQ sharing on a skewer - here.







Summer Sizzlers - 
if you like a little chilli, you'll love these tasty temptations - here.
 








BBQ Competition - 
enter, win, share, enjoy - here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Delicious Barbecue Kebabs

Skewer it, grill it, love it

One of the lovely things about grilling a juicy string of meat, fish, fruits or vegetables is the variety of flavours and textures they add to a BBQ supper.

Tastes can be enhanced in a magical marinade, others simply by brushing the flesh with a delightful coat of one of Stokes' many ketchups, sauces and condiments.

Magical Marinades

Marinades usually combine three key elements: Acids which help tenderise the meat. Fruit juices - orange, lemon and lime - offer a gentle acidity, with vinegar and wine having a harsher effect.

Oil in the marinade penetrates the meat, acting as a carrying agent for the third element - flavour.

Flavour in spades

Chicken & Bacon Skewers

Salty bacon wrapped around tender chicken breast cubes with pieces of spring onion taste wonderful, particularly if the chicken has had a good soak in a sweet marinade.

Combine orange juice, olive oil and Stokes Sweet & Sticky BBQ Sauce in a food bag with the chicken cubes, coat them well and leave them in the fridge overnight.

This tenderises and sweetens the meat enhancing the delicious contrast with the salty bacon.

Tuna Skewers

The firm flesh of fresh tuna steaks are fabulous candidates for the barbecue.

They don't need a long marination. A quick swim in olive oil (to protect the fish from the heat) and mixed herbs will do the trick. Tuna has quite a strong taste of its own so can take additional flavour.

We like the smoky chilli kick we get  by brushing the skewered fish with Stokes Chipotle Ketchup. Chipotle peppers are dried, smoked, red jalapeno chillis that combine with our thick tomato ketchup - guaranteed to 'wow' the taste buds.

Chilli Prawns

Plump, sweet prawns are a favourite at any barbecue or al fresco feast and take just about anything you throw at them.

Prawns love garlic and chilli so let them rest for a couple of hours in olive oil, grated garlic cloves and a few good glugs of Stokes Sweet Chilli Sauce.

The sweet red peppers marry the prawn's juicy sweetness and the chillis punch through with a zingy finish.

Soak, skewer, grill and share.

Marinades made better - here

More foodie thoughts for the week:





Mexican Magic - 
the flavours of Mexico inspire these lunchtime recipes - here.

Summer Sizzlers - 
if you like a little chilli, you'll love these tasty temptations - here.
 



 

BBQ Competition - 
enter, win, share, enjoy - here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Chilli Sensations - our Summer Sizzlers

If you like a little chilli
- you'll love these:

I know we haven't got to Summer just yet but it's always nice to have something to look forward to.

In this case, our heatwave has been bottled and grouped into a special sizzling collection of chilli sauces.

Stokes Chilli Jam

Meet one of the stars of the Stokes portfolio and an absolute 'must have' in the store cupboard.

It's a deliciously sticky jam, bursting with sweet chilli peppers, red peppers and red chilli heat.

We literally spoon it onto and into anything that deserves a bit of chilli enlightenment.

This halloumi and crushed avocado burger has been given the chilli treatment with our Chilli Jam. Spoon it into your chilli con carne or add a little power to a sheepish Shepherds Pie.

 Summer Sizzlers from Stokes

Hot & Spicy BBQ Sauce

This is a wonderfully sweet, smoke flavoured chilli sauce, rich with spicy tomato, sweetened with cane molasses and black treacle.

The chilli seeds release their punchy heat through the smoky finish.

Don't wait until the summer to enjoy it pasted onto a hot, spicy souvlaki.

Stir a couple of spoonfuls into a pan of baked beans for sweet and intense smokiness with a hot spicy kick.

Chipotle Ketchup 

It brims full of real Italian tomatoes with a smoky, spicy kick!

Chipotle Chillies are Jalapenos left to ripen on the plant to a deep red, before being smoked dry, giving them their distinctive flavour.

Add a couple of good glugs to chopped tomatoes and herbs as a truly tasty base for meatballs in a bun.

Stir it into a chilli con carne for a smoky difference, or add smokey heat to an onion gravy.

Chilli Ketchup

This does what it says on the proverbial tin.

It differs from those above by removing the smokiness, intensifying the tomatoes and adding red chillis and cayenne pepper for a mouth-tingling finish.

Use it to spice up Tasty Tacos by adding it to the onion, minced beef, garlic, tin of tomatoes and a little paprika.

Coat chicken pieces in it before grilling or frying them, then pop them in a pitta pocket with fresh salad.

Chilli Mayonnaise 

This is a beautiful mayonnaise made with British rapeseed oil and British free range eggs to which we add jalapeno chillies, giving a subtle warmth through a rich and velvety mayonnaise.

These prawns just love the chilli dip - it makes a tasty change, even from our Bloody Mary Rose Sauce.

Make a potato salad sing with your supper.

Paste it onto the skin of chicken breasts before roasting them for a shiny crisp skin and subtle chilli finish.

Summer Sizzlers from Stokes...

Just £15: order your own little heatwave - here

More foodie thoughts for the week:





Mexican Magic - 
the flavours of Mexico inspire these lunchtime recipes - here.

Skewered for Sharing - 
putting taste into marinades and BBQ sharing on a skewer - here.

 



 

BBQ Competition - 
enter, win, share, enjoy - here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Social Sharing Foodie Fun

WIN a Wild Meat BBQ Pack
and this collection of Stokes Sauces

For your chance to win a Wild Meat BBQ Box packed with five family-sized packs of ready-to-barbecue products, plus all four Stokes sauces and a handy Stokes apron, click here before our closing date, Sunday 9 June 2019.

For full terms & conditions and 

to ENTER, click HERE

Don't miss the fun
on Facebook & Twitter

This has got to be the ultimate evening snack. Posted and liked on Twitter, this bowl of chips is stacked with cheese, smokey bacon and coated in Stokes yumminess.

Probably the shortest video ever, but no less enjoyable to watch (and listen to), particularly on a rainy day. As the rain patters on your window, listen to the chicken sizzling on the BBQ, coated in delicious Stokes Sweet & Sticky BBQ Sauce.

Watch the video - here

Another convert shared his discovery of our amazing Brown Sauce. Well done and welcome to the club Griff. Thank you for sharing.

More foodie thoughts for the week:





Mexican Magic - 
the flavours of Mexico inspire these lunchtime recipes - here.

Skewered for Sharing - 
putting taste into marinades and BBQ sharing on a skewer - here.

 







Summer Sizzlers - 
if you like a little chilli, you'll love these tasty temptations - here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

National BBQ Week - bring on the barbie

Brilliant Barbecues

National BBQ Week runs from 27th May to 2nd June and, as if we needed one, it's a great excuse to dig out the barbecue and bring on the barbie.

The unpredictability of the weather in this country makes longer term planning of a family barbecue or al fresco supper party quite challenging. Whereas our antipodean friends can light up an Aussie barbie or South African braai whenever they choose.

Even the routine of preparation is fun.

Checking there's enough charcoal (or gas); cleaning off the grilling rack; gathering the tongs and tools; preparing the meat, vegetables and salad ingredients; making mouthwatering marinades; chilling the Prosecco, beers and pitchers of fruity mocktails; setting your favourite 'outside-ware' - plates, bowls, cutlery and glasses.

There's a buzz in the air (and not just from the bees).

 Just add taste - spoon it, shake it, squeeze it !

Lamb Koftas

Easy peasy koftas are as good on the BBQ as they are from the grill. These smaller koftas on cocktail sticks are perfect as part of a sharing platter.

Here's how:

Mix 500 g of lamb mince with 1 tsp of ground cumin, 2 tsp of ground coriander, 2 grated garlic cloves, 2 tsp of Stokes Mint Sauce, 1 tsp of Stokes Chilli Jam.

Once well mixed, form them into sausage shaped patties and skewer them with cocktail sticks.

Brush with a little Stokes Brown Sauce (for its Persian spices and sweet molasses & dates) and grill.

 Pork & Pineapple

Another mini kebab idea that makes great finger food or part of a pitta pocket filling.

Here's how:

Cube about 400 g of pork fillet and soak them for an hour or so in a marinade of 150 ml of white wine, a splash of cider vinegar, grated ginger and 4 tbsp of one of our BBQ Sauces:

Hot & Spicy gives a chilli contrast to the sweet pineapple; Sweet & Sticky complements the fruit; and Stokes Original BBQ Sauce is authentically smoky - and - now squeezable.

Shake off the marinade and thread the meat and pineapple chunks on cocktail sticks, then grill.

BBQ Lamb Cutlets

An absolute classic and perfect for the barbecue as the charred fat caramelises leaving the meat juicy and pink inside.

For the Marinade:

Grate 1 onion and an inch of fresh ginger. Put them into a bowl with the juice of 1 lime, 125 ml of orange juice, 2 tbsp of Stokes Original BBQ Sauce, 3 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup and 1 tbsp of Stokes Brown Sauce.

Mix the ingredients together in a sealable bag, add the cutlets and coat them well with the marinade.

Allow the meat to soak up the flavours in the fridge overnight (ideally). Let it come to room (or garden) temperature before grilling them to taste.

 Just add taste - spoon it, shake it, squeeze it !
BUY NOW - HERE

More foodie thoughts for the week:



British Tomatoes - 
a celebration of succulent British Tomato recipes - here.








Sensational Sides - 
colours, flavours and textures to brighten up your BBQ feast - here.

 



   


 
Competition Time - 
WIN the perfect pairings for the perfect BBQ - here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Tomatoes - home grown and much loved

British Tomato Fortnight

Tomato vines are starting to grow in domestic greenhouses the length and breadth of Britain as gardeners feed and water them with loving care. Commercial growers will be celebrating British Tomato Fortnight between 20th May and 1st June.

We, Stokes, would love to use British tomatoes in our products if we could get sufficient of these ripe, juicy fruits all year round.

That's why our Award-Winning Tomato Ketchup and other tomato-based sauces use tomatoes ripened on the slopes of southern Italy where the growing season is lengthened by the temperate Mediterranean climate.

Short of plucked from the vine in your greenhouse, the best way to enjoy British Tomatoes is freshly cut into a salad of feta cheese, cucumber and avocado with a delicious drizzle of Stokes Olive & Balsamic Dressing.

Tomato Tarte Tatin

Looking as good as it tastes, the sweetness of the tomatoes comes through beautifully.

Here's how:

Preheat the oven to 210°C / Gas Mark 7. Halve a dozen tomatoes and set them to one side.

Slice and fry 1 onion until it softens, then add 1 tbsp of chopped thyme and rosemary leaves, 1 tsp of caster sugar, 1 tbsp of Stokes Raspberry & Balsamic Dressing and 2 or 3 tbsp of Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup, cooking them through for 2 or 3 minutes.

Coat the tomatoes with this juicy mixture as you set them into the pan, packed closely together. Cut a sheet of ready rolled puff pastry in a circle about 2 cm larger than the pan and lay it on top of the tomatoes.

Tuck the edges of the pastry down the sides of the tomatoes within the pan and bake for 25 minutes. Let it rest for a few minutes before flipping it over onto a serving plate.

Gazpacho

This famously chilled tomato soup is one of the most refreshing ways to enjoy new season tomatoes.

Here's how:

Roughly chop: 1 kilo of vine tomatoes, 1 small, peeled cucumber, 1 red pepper, 2 grated cloves of garlic and 2 Spring onions. Mix all this together in a bowl with 4 tbsp of Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup, 2 tbsp of Stokes Olive & Balsamic Dressing and a dash of cider vinegar.

Put 2 or 3 slices of stale white bread into the mixture, squashing it down to soak up the the juicy combination. Cover and chill, preferably overnight.

Whizz it all up in a blender or with a hand blender until it's smooth. If it is too watery, blitz in more bread. If it's too thick, blitz in some ice cubes. Drizzle 2 tbsp of olive oil into the Gazpacho and serve. A garnish of chopped tomatoes, basil and cucumber sits well with this soup.

[TIP: For a Bloody Mary garnish, blanch and peel little plum tomatoes; prick them with a sharp knife and soak them in vodka overnight. They soak up the vodka adding a new taste sensation to the Gazpacho.]

Caprese Tart

A warm simple tart named after Sicily's Caprese Salad, replicating the colours of the Italian Flag: Green (basil), White (mozzarella) and Red (tomatoes).

Here's how:

Preheat the oven to 200°C / Gas Mark 6. Slice and roast 10 or so tomatoes in a baking tray with a good drizzle of Stokes Olive & Balsamic Dressing, 3 or 4 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup and a scattering of dried thyme leaves.

After 15 minutes, they will have caramelised and the taste intensified. Remove the tomatoes, let them cool a little and turn the oven down to 180°C / Gas Mark 5. Roll out a puff pasty sheet and score a 2 cm border on each side.

Layer the tomatoes and 200 g of sliced mozzarella, alternating rows of red and white within the border. Brush the visible pastry edges with a beaten egg, drizzle the contents with a little oil, then bake for 20 minutes until the pastry crisps. Garnish with basil leaves and serve.

Stokes: the difference is - delicious

You can order your 'delicious' - here

More foodie thoughts for the week:



National BBQ Week - 
enjoy these quirky BBQ recipes and marinades - here.








Sensational Sides - 
colours, flavours and textures to brighten up your BBQ feast - here.

 



   


 
Competition Time - 
WIN the perfect pairings for the perfect BBQ - here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150