Holiday Planning - Food

Suntans & Happy Tums

Whether your last holiday is already a distant memory or you're preparing for and looking forward to your next, regional cuisine always plays its part in the package.

Here are a few holiday flavours.

 Spanish Paella

You can put almost anything into a Paella. Chicken is often included, but this is just seafood, glorious seafood.

You'll need:

• 300 g of paella rice
• 1 x can of chopped tomatoes
• 900 ml of chicken stock 
• 2 x diced shallots
• 2 cloves of garlic, grated
• 1 tsp of dried oregano
• 1 tsp of dried thyme
• 4 tbsp of Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup
• 2 tsp of Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard
• A combination of fresh prawns, mussels, clams and a piece of cod loin.

Here's how:

In a large pan, cook the prawns quickly until they just begin to turn pink, then remove and set them aside. In the same pan, soften the onion and garlic in olive oil. Stir in the mustard, herbs and the rice for a minute or so, then add the tomatoes, stock and ketchup.

Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes then add the prawns, mussels, clams and cod (cut in to bite size pieces). Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Check that the rice has absorbed all the liquid and is cooked and that the mussels and clams have opened (discard any that haven't). Season and serve.

Cretan Moussaka

If you are ever in Crete, take a drive through the olive groves in the north to see the Koroneiki olives from which the extra virgin olive oil for our Real Mayonnaise comes.

You'll need:

• 450 g of minced lamb
• 3 or 4 cooked potatoes, sliced
• 2 shallots, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 2 aubergines, sliced thinly
• 500 g of passata
• 4 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup
• 1 tbsp of Stokes Brown Sauce
• 1 tbsp of fresh thyme leaves
• Crème fraîche, 300 ml
• Lots of grated Cheddar cheese

Here's how:

Pre-heat your oven to 200°C / Gas mark 7. Gently fry the aubergine slices in olive oil for 5 minutes to soften them, cool and set aside. Soften the onion in olive oil, then add the garlic and lamb. Brown the mince then add the passata, Brown Sauce, Ketchup and herbs. Simmer, season and set aside.

Now, in a greased ovenproof dish, layer the potatoes, meat and aubergines, repeating the layers until it's all used up. Mix the crème fraîche with about 150 ml of grated Cheddar cheese and spoon it over the top, then into the oven for 10 to 15 minutes until the creamy cheese topping bubbles and browns.

Italian Clam Pasta

A real Mediterranean classic, Spaghetti Vongole, is simple and truly delicious.

You'll need:

• 1 kg of clams
• 2 shallots, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• A handful of chopped parsley
• 1 red chilli, chopped
• 400 g of spaghetti, dried
• 250 ml of dry white wine
• 3 or 4 tbsp of Stokes Garlic Mayonnaise

Here's how:

In a pan of boiling water, cook the pasta, drain it and back into the pan with a drizzle of olive oil.

While that's happening, check your clams are clean and closed, discarding any that are open or cracked. Soften the onion in olive oil, then add the garlic and chilli. Gently tip the clams into the pan with the parsley and wine, simmer, then lid on for 3 or 4 minutes.

The clams should all have opened (discard any that have not). Add the spaghetti to the clams and stir in the creamy aioli mayonnaise. Season, serve and enjoy.

A world of taste - spoon it, shake it, squeeze it

Order your 'world of taste' - here

More foodie thoughts for the week:




Summer Chicken - 
wonderful marinades for Summer Chicken grilling, indoors and out - here.




 



Cream Teas - 
for National Cream Tea Day (28th June), deliciously  - here.

 








Video Magic - 
take a tour of the home of great sauce. You're always welcome - here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Summer Chicken Lickin'

The Summer Outlook is 
         ... Chicken

So versatile, so simple, so tasty, so - Free Range.


BBQ Spatchcock Chuck

To spatchcock the bird, turn it breast side down, cut down one side of the parsons nose and backbone and again on the other side removing the bone.

Flip it over and lean on the centre of the breast until you hear a crack. This helps the chicken cook more evenly and faster, making it ideal for grilling on the BBQ or on a tray of juicy summer vegetables and fruits in the oven.

Rub the spatchcocked chicken with generous dollops of Stokes Original BBQ Sauce (Hot & Spicy BBQ Sauce if you like a good chilli kick and Sweet & Sticky BBQ Sauce if that's your fancy).

[TIP: Try mixing the BBQ Sauce with the juice of 2 limes and an inch or so of grated ginger for a simple, zesty marinade.]

I personally still like to part cook the bird in the oven for 30 minutes then finish it on the BBQ, turning it every 5 minutes for 20 minutes, basting with the marinade each time.

Beer-Marinated Drumsticks

This is a flavour-filled Mexican-style marinade that makes your drumsticks stand up and be counted.

Make the marinade with a bottle of Corona (or similar), the zest and juice of 1 lime, 2 tbsp of olive oil and 4 tbsp of Stokes Chipotle Ketchup.

The smoky chipotle chilli kick is subdued by the beer and refreshed with the lime.

Put this and the drumsticks in a sealable plastic bag, covering the meat well and (ideally) leave them in the fridge overnight. Grilled indoors or out, they're a winner.

Simple Souvlaki

Served with a Greek Salad and a bowl of chilled plain Greek yogurt with a teaspoon of Stokes Mint Sauce stirred into it, this makes a wonderful lunch or tasty light supper.

Cut skinless chicken breasts into cubes and put them in a sealable bag with 4 tbsp of olive oil, 2 tsp of Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard, 1 tsp of Stokes Mint Sauce, the juice of 1 lemon and 2 grated cloves of garlic.

Make sure the chicken cubes are well coated and pop the bag in the fridge for as long as you can.

Thread the cubes on pre-soaked skewers and grill until browned and with clear running juices. Squeeze more lemon juice on the chicken before serving.

Stokes BBQ Sauces

Stokes Original BBQ Sauce is thick and smoky with natural blossom honey and a molasses-style sweetness that can be used as an accompaniment, a marinade or a dipping sauce. Now available in a squeezy bottle.

Stokes Hot & Spicy BBQ Sauce is just that. To balance the heat of the chillis, it has even more molasses and honey to sweeten the initial smoky BBQ flavours, letting the spicy heat develop as an after flavour.

Stokes Sweet & Sticky BBQ Sauce is another flavoursome variation, deeply sweet with a sensational kick of British horseradish and Worcestershire sauce to balance the sticky maple syrup.

It just wouldn't be BBQ Season without them

Order your 'BBQ Season - here

More foodie thoughts for the week:



Holidays on a Plate - 
favourite foods from holiday destinations, at home on your plate - here.





 


Cream Teas - 
for National Cream Tea Day (28th June), deliciously - here.

 








Video Magic - 
take a tour of the home of great sauce. You're always welcome - here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

National Cream Teas Day

One for the sweet tooth
 

It's National Cream Tea Day on 28th June.

Britain’s love affair with tea began when Portuguese Catherine de Braganza married Charles II in 1662, bringing the custom of drinking tea at court with her and making tea popular worldwide.

In 1706, Thomas Twining opened London’s first tearoom. Before long, a flurry of tearooms appeared across the city, a far sight more inviting for a lady than the male-oriented coffee houses.

The cream tea tradition flourished in the Westcountry following the tourism boom in the 1850s, brought on by the opening of the railway.

Visitors bustled south looking to relax and indulge, and hotels, tearooms, farmhouses and cafés were happy to oblige – offering delicious afternoon cream teas, made with the finest local ingredients.
  

We don't believe in minimums

Traditional jam recipes are simple but often time consuming, using equal quantities of fruit and sugar. 

Commercial producers can use as little as 350g of fruit per kilo, with some jams using even less fruits and more additives and flavouring. Water and extra sugar are added to create the ‘jam effect’. 

‘Extra’ jam has a legal minimum requirement of 450g of fruit per kilo.

We prefer more with our Strawberry, Raspberry and Blackcurrant extra jams. 

From 'perfect' to 'oops'

In the Old Stables at Rendlesham, knowing eyes watch over slow cooking blackcurrants, as they simmer, waiting for that very fine line between ‘perfect’ and ‘oops’. 

Our kitchen staff have an enviable expertise and are as passionate about their jams, preserves, relishes and sauces as we all are.

But it’s not just the amount of fruit. 

Use 50% poor quality blackcurrants and you can only create poor jam. 

It's all about ingredients

We go to uncompromising lengths to make sure the blackcurrants we use have that signature juicy sweet / tart flavour; the raspberries are rich, sweet and luscious; and the succulent strawberries have keynotes of Wimbledon.

Stokes use unrefined cane sugar, which is a typical artisan sugar. Produced in smaller batches, it is less processed and retains all or most of the cane molasses around the sugar crystals. 

This natural sweetness and additional depth of flavour simmer gently with the extra fruit to give the deeply flavoursome jams we love to deliver.

Lemon Curd

Stokes Lemon Curd is a truly wonderful thing with lemons, rich butter and British free range eggs.

A simple recipe, simply made and simply delicious...

... It's delicious on toast, pancakes, lemon tarts and delicious in lemon sponges, lemon drizzle cakes and much, much more. 

Enjoy !

Jam, as in 'Mam'

Order your Cream Tea ingredients - here

More foodie thoughts for the week:




Holidays on a Plate - 
favourite foods from holiday destinations, at home on your plate - here.





 


Summer Chicken - 
wonderful marinades for Summer Chicken grilling, indoors and out  - here.


 





Video Magic - 
take a tour of the home of great sauce. You're always welcome - here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Share and Share Alike

Don't miss the fun
on Facebook & Twitter

We thought you might like to see 'where it all happens'. The home of great sauce is located deep in the heart of rural Suffolk. Our kitchens are in the converted Old Stables at Rendlesham Hall where for 15 years now, our experienced staff simmer sugar and blackcurrants until that delicate point between 'perfect' and 'oops'.

As we busy ourselves making sauces, ketchup, mayonnaise, relishes and preserves, the menagerie of rescued animals enjoy the calm of their new home.

 Enjoy this video - here

We introduced Pete (pictured here) on Facebook this week. Pete is the Operations Director here with the vital role of making sure the production systems are working efficiently. He's always a busy chap but makes time to enjoy his favourite Stokes product - our Chilli Mayonnaise. Enjoy your mayo Pete.

Shoppers in the North West of England find their Stokes favourites in Booths supermarkets and were treated this week to a tasting of one of my personal favourites - butcher's sausages paired with our Award-Winning Tomato Ketchup.

Another 'perfect pairing' was Tweeted by The Weavers tea rooms in Peasenhall. This game pie looks absolutely delicious and with our Sticky Pickle - we know it will be. Thank you for sharing.

and from Instagram...

More foodie thoughts for the week:




Holidays on a Plate - 
favourite foods from holiday destinations, at home on your plate - here.





 


Summer Chicken - 
wonderful marinades for Summer Chicken grilling, indoors and out - here.


 





Cream Teas - 
for National Cream Tea Day (28th June), deliciously - here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

World Food - sharing the culture of taste

World Food Week

World Food Week kicks off the British summer, running from the 24th to the 30th of June.

The week aims to provide people with the opportunity to try something new and be more adventurous with their food choices.

As 'taste' is our middle name, we thought we'd visit a few cultural flavours here today.

Basque Chicken

Let's start in the Basque country of south west France where food is simple, rustic and rich with peppers, garlic, tomatoes and paprika.

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C / Gas mark 4. Joint and brown a chicken then set it aside. In a casserole dish, fry 2 chopped onions, 2 peppers, a courgette, 3 or 4 grated garlic cloves, 1 tbsp of thyme leaves and 120 g of skinned, diced chorizo.

Add 1 tin of chopped tomatoes, 300 ml of chicken stock and 175 ml of white wine. Pop the chicken back in with 300 g of basmati rice. Let it come to a gentle boil, add 3 tbsp of Stokes Chipotle Ketchup and 3 or 4 tbsp of our Tomato Ketchup. Lid on and into the oven for 50 minutes. It's a one pot winner.

Duck Ramen

Right over to Japan to which these Chinese style wheat noodles were introduced by Chinese immigration over 100 years ago.

Rub a couple of duck breasts with Chinese 5 spice and Stokes Hoisin Sauce then fry them in a hot pan for 5 minutes, skin side down, before transferring to a very hot oven for 10 minutes or so. Set them aside to rest before slicing into strips.

In 1.25 litres of simmering chicken stock add 1 red chilli, 1 inch of grated ginger, 2 grated garlic cloves, 4 chopped spring onions, 3 tbsp of soy sauce and 3 tbsp of Stokes Chilli Ketchup (add more to taste).

While this simmers for 15 minutes, cook 300 g of egg noodles to the pack's instruction, drain and rest. Divide the noodles between 4 bowls, pour on the broth, add slices of duck, chopped spring onions and a hard boiled egg.

Moroccan Meatballs

Now to the fruit, heat and aromatics of Morocco.

Turn 350 g of minced beef into meatballs, combining them in a bowl with ground cumin and a few glugs of Stokes Brown Sauce before rolling into 14 balls. Fry them in a deep pan for 10 minutes then set them aside.

In the pan, soften 1 sliced onion and 2 grated cloves of garlic for 6 or 7 minutes. Add 75 g of chopped dried apricots, a tin of chopped tomatoes (also half of the can of water), a beef stock bouillon and 4 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup.

Simmer for 10 minutes then add the meatballs for 5 minutes more. Sprinkle with a handful of toasted almonds, break four eggs onto the surface and bake them in a hot oven or under the grill.

Mexican Chilli

Across the Atlantic to the colours and chillis of Mexico.

With avocado, tomatoes, red onion, sweetcorn, kidney beans and Stokes Chilli Ketchup, you're halfway there. Add 400 g of minced beef to a softened chopped onion, a grated clove of garlic and diced red pepper.

As you brown the meat, stir in 3 or 4 tbsp of Stokes Chilli Ketchup (more if you like it hotter) and 1 tbsp of fresh, chopped oregano leaves. Add 1 tin of chopped tomatoes and a beef stock bouillon.

Whilst it is simmering, grate a couple of squares of dark, high cacao content chocolate into the spicy mixture to give it a beautiful sheen. You can add kidney beans (drained, rinsed and drained again) and enjoy your chilli with rice or, with the other assorted garnishes and soured cream in tacos.

A world of taste - spoon it, shake it, squeeze it

Order your 'world of taste' - here

More foodie thoughts for the week:




Perfect Picnics - 
in National Picnic Week we replace soggy sandwiches with tasty, sharable fun - here.




 

Back to Basics - 
no fancy words written in haste, just back to basics and glorious taste - here.


 




Share & Share Alike - 
is it the video that's awesome or the Mac & Cheese it creates? You decide - here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

It's Picnic Time - grab your brolly

National Picnic Week

National Picnic Week runs from 21st to 30th June across the UK. So, grab your blankets and baskets (and brollies) and get out into the great outdoors for a very British picnic.

That said, it is actually the French who are credited for starting the modern fashion for picnics, when they opened their royal parks to the public after the revolution of 1789.

I suppose Marie-Antoinette's attributed - 'let them eat cake' - should really have been 'let them eat cake, sandwiches, sausage rolls, chicken drumsticks etc.' 

The pastry of these sausage rolls was given a coat of Stokes Chilli Jam before being rolled around the meat and baked. A tasty alternative is to coat the pastry with Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard, the whole grains of mustard seed exploding deliciously with each bite.

Mini Pitta Pockets

One of the key ingredients for a successful picnic is to make it 'fun'. The food should be tasty, easily shared and fun - a little out of the ordinary.

These little pittas contain teeny Greek Salads.

Sweet tomato, crunchy cucumber and red onion, salty feta cheese and olives tossed in Stokes Olive & Balsamic Dressing.

Cut open the pittas, spoon in a layer of Stokes Real Mayonnaise and fill each with a portion of Greek Salad.

Picnic Loaf

Let your culinary imagination run wild. This has an Italian theme in the filling.

Slice the top off the loaf and cut out the inside. Cut the inside of the loaf into cubes, coat them in Stokes Raspberry & Balsamic Dressing then pop them on a tray in the oven until they crisp up into croutons.

Assemble a collection of salami, mozzarella cheese, slices of sweet pepper, sliced tomatoes and chopped fresh parsley. Now layer, Stokes Real Mayonnaise, mozzarella, salami, pepper and repeat.

Finish with a row of crunchy croutons, a topping of greens and a drizzle of Stokes Creamy Caesar Dressing. Don't forget to take a knife.

Mini Frittatas

Tasty, sharable, fun ... tick.

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C / Gas mark 4. Finely chop 2 shallots to soften in butter for 6 or 7 minutes before adding 2 or 3 chopped spring onions.

Beat together 6 eggs, 100 ml of milk, 50 g of grated Parmesan cheese and 2 tsp of Stokes Classic English Mustard.

Stir in the onions and divide the mixture into a greased 12 hole muffin tin. Grate another 25 g of Parmesan over each filled cup and bake for 20 minutes.

Tasty, sharable, fun - that's Stokes

Order your 'tasty sharable fun' - here

More foodie thoughts for the week:




World Food - 
we use World Food Week as an excuse to tickle some global taste buds - here.





 

Back to Basics - 
no fancy words written in haste, just back to basics and glorious taste - here.


 




Share & Share Alike - 
is it the video that's awesome or the Mac & Cheese it creates? You decide - here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150