Mastering Taste - simple tips to top up the taste this Christmas.

Treat tummies 

to the gift of Taste

Each year we say we won't, yet each year we do - buy more vegetables than we need; a larger turkey that even these leftover recipes could do justice to; nuts and chocolates we never usually have in the house; and we spend more on better quality wine than a weeknight's drop would otherwise cost.

If you do the same every year, then why not treat your tummies to the best tasting sauces, chutneys and condiments available in a jar.

If you haven't tried Stokes' amazing 'taste bombs' before, then now surely is the time to make Christmas feasting better than ever.

We only do delicious.

We simply wouldn't make it if we couldn't make it 'amazing'.


Let's make 'amazing'

Juicy Roast Onions

This is a delicious way to use up assorted old onions to clear the decks for next week's big shop.

Peel your onions and mix them in a big bowl with Stokes Chilli Jam, our Creamed Horseradish and some amazingly flavoursome Cranberry Sauce. Coat well with these taste enhancers and a drizzle of oil, then spread them in a roasting tray.

After about 30 minutes or so on a low heat they should be soft, sweet and luscious. Now, serve them just like this with roast beef.

Or, add beef stock and simmer with a couple of spoonfuls of Stokes Red Onion Marmalade for a magic take on French onion Soup. Or try blitzing them in beef or chicken stock with a hand blender, for a brilliant onion gravy.

Sensational Sausages

Stokes loves sausages and sausages love Stokes - whether a pretty cocktail treat, a delicious plate of bangers 'n' mash, or a family-sized toad in the hole ... just add Stokes.

Before wrapping your cocktail sausages in bacon, spread the bacon with our Creamed Horseradish Sauce.

You could spread some with horseradish and others with Cranberry Sauce so that guests get a different flavour if they go back for more (and they will).

Or spread the warming comfort of one of our marvellous mustards.

 

Marvellous Mustards

Classic English.
It's a smooth and strong mustard but without the burn. If you like mustard we know you'll love this.

Cider & Horseradish.
Made with cider vinegar, British dry cider, horseradish and a blend of yellow and black mustard seeds this mustard has everything. 

Dijon.
A strong, smooth mustard made with finely ground mustard seeds from the Dijon area of Burgundy.

 Simple Pleasures

The simple things in life may not be free but they can be absolutely delicious. Take this Roots Hash with Gammon - all leftovers from Christmas Day.

Fry some diced onions with grated garlic, add our gorgeously grainy Cider & Horseradish Mustard (or Chilli Jam) and fry it until it's hot and well coloured.

Pop an egg on top and treat it to the good company of Stokes Tomato Ketchup - thick and rich with plump, sweet Italian tomatoes.

If you like a bit of zing in your tomato ketchup, try adding a spoon or two of Chilli Jam stirred in and served with your Hash.

After the Turkey

Boxing Day leftovers can be more of a treat for the tum than the Christmas Day feast itself.

Lift the leftovers to new culinary heights - Stokes Cranberry Sauce with the turkey; Creamed Horseradish with the beef; Red Onion Marmalade with the Gammon; and Chilli Jam with ... well with just about everything.

Now is the time for simpler fayre - Toasted Brie for instance.

Slice thickly on toasted granary bread and grill it with Red Onion Marmalade, Chilli Jam or Cranberry Sauce.

For more leftover recipes, just click here.

Stokes Festive Foodie Collection

Save 10% OFF the individual product price. Just £25 including post & packing. Order here and enjoy.

More foodie thoughts for the week:






Lovely Leftovers - supper recipes for tasty lighter bites here.





 

 



Christmas Day with 'family' Stokes - Rick's festive favourites here.








 


8 ways with Cranberry Sauce - and other video fun here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

8 Tasty ways with Cranberry Sauce - and other video fun

Don't miss the fun
on Facebook & Twitter

This is a clever little video showing 8 wonderful and unexpected ways to use Stokes Cranberry Sauce. There's some great ideas here from our innovative kitchen - and all very tasty too. Note to self ... make sure I have enough Cranberry Sauce:

To see the video, click here:

 

More innovation from the kitchens at Stokes. Simple, fun, delicious - this Cranberry & Brie Christmas Tree is a real party pleaser. The video is fun to watch and shows just how easy this tasty tree is to make - go on ... have a go.

To see the video, click here:

The perfect gift for Chilli Lovers. This is a gift collection created especially for those who like to heat things up - just £15 (+p&p) available exclusively here.

Ahhh - what a cute way to end this social bulletin. Lucky randomly selected winners are still receiving our Advent Cards and sending us a selfie. Not quite what you'd call a selfie, but delightful nonetheless.

More foodie thoughts for the week:






Lovely Leftovers - supper recipes for tasty lighter bites here.





 

 



Christmas Day with 'family' Stokes - Rick's festive favourites here.










 


Mastering Taste - simple delights make happy tummies here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Non-Meat Christmas Feasting - some vegetarian alternatives for Christmas

Noël sans Dinde

For many, the bird, the beast, the fowl, the fish - these just aren't options even for Christmas. So it's Christmas without the Turkey.

There are lots of great vegetables to share around the table but few centre pieces for the meat-free meal. These are just a few ideas you might like to try for a change this year.

They are our take on tried and tested recipes using the magic of Stokes to make sure your non-meat Christmas tastes wonderful.

What's more, each of these recipes uses a little something special from our new Festive Foodie Collection, Stokes tasty favourites chosen by our 'taste aficionados'.


For a Tasty Conscience


Chilli Baked Camembert & Grapes

This simple starter is as easy to make as it is tasty to eat - and tums don't lie.

Baked Chilli Camembert & Grapes

Here's how:

Open a couple of decent sized Camemberts, sit them on a greased roasting tray, prick holes out with a knife, filling each with a little Stokes Chilli Jam held in place with a sliver of garlic and sprigs of rosemary. They'll be runny and scrummy after 15 minutes in a medium oven.

Lovely yes, but served with roasted grapes and our Cranberry Sauce - lovelier still. Spread green and red seedless grapes on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and a squeeze of runny honey with 1 tbsp of chopped thyme leaves. Cover well and bake until caramelised on a medium low heat for 30 minutes or so.

Put the grapes in a bowl and stir in 2 tbsp of Cranberry Sauce before spooning it over the runny Camembert.

Festive Squash

Here's how:

Set in a nest of Christmas vegetables, this makes a tasty and attractive festive picture. Use a small / medium acorn squash per portion. Take off the top and scoop out the inners then roast on a medium heat until the flesh is tender when prodded with a fork.

The filling is whatever you make of it - try ... in a bowl combine: cooked basmati rice, wild rice and lentils. Chop and fry a diced shallot, red pepper, grated garlic and an assortment of mushrooms. To this add 2 tsp of garam masala,1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg, 2 tbsp of Stokes Chilli Jam (more if you like it hotter) and 1 tbsp of our Creamed Horseradish Sauce.

Combine this with the rice, adding 2 tbsp of olive oil and a handful of chopped coriander. Stuff the squash(s) and bake at 180°C/Gas mark 4 for 20 minutes.

Garnish as you wish - sliced avocado works well and a sauce of 4 parts Stokes Real Mayonnaise to 1 of Chilli Jam and 2 of Tomato Ketchup.

Mushroom & Cranberry Loaf

You'll need:

• 2 shallots, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 400 g of cooked red and green lentils
• 250 g of chopped assorted mushrooms
• 60 g of chopped chestnuts
• 45 g of flour
• 100 g of breadcrumbs
• 50 g of dried cranberries
• 200 g of fresh cranberries
• 4 tbsp of sugar
• 6 tbsp of Stokes Cranberry Sauce
• 2 tbsp of Stokes Creamed Horseradish Sauce
• 1 tbsp of Stokes Chilli Jam
• 3 tsp of dried mixed herbs
• 1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg 

Here's how:

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

Mix the shallot, garlic, lentils, mushrooms, chestnuts, flour, breadcrumbs, dried cranberries, 2 tbsp of Cranberry Sauce, horseradish, chilli jam, herbs and nutmeg - basically everything except the fresh cranberries, sugar and 4 tbsp of cranberry sauce.

Mix it and fold it, working it all well together.

In a pan, mix the fresh cranberries, the sugar and remaining 4 tbsp of cranberry sauce. Dissolve the sugar and simmer gently for 5 minutes to soften the fruit and create a syrup.

Pour this syrup into a greased, lined loaf tin then spoon in the loaf mixture on top, pressing it down thoroughly with the back of a spoon. Bake for an hour or so. Let it cool down for 10 minutes before removing the loaf from the tin, inverted, so the cranberries ooze on top and down the sides.

Savoury Christmas Strudel

Here's how:

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

Take and cube the flesh of a butternut squash. In a bowl, coat it with olive oil, 1 tbsp of our Stokes Chilli Jam and 1 tbsp of chopped thyme then spread it on a roasting tray and roast for 20 minutes to tenderise it.

Finely dice 1 red onion and add it to 100 g of Feta Cheese, cubed into a bowl with 2 tbsp of garam masala and 2 or 3 tbsp of Stokes Red Onion Marmalade. Take a 270 g pack of filo pastry. Melt 100 g of butter in a bowl over simmering water.

Lay 1 sheet of filo onto a damp tea towel and brush it well with melted butter. Add another sheet and brush again ... repeating for each of the 6 sheets of pastry. Spread the chilli squash along the middle of the stack of buttered sheets adding the cheese and onion mixture evenly with it.

Fold the short sides up and over, then the long sides, pinching them together at the top. Put the strudel onto a greased baking sheet and brush with a beaten egg before baking on a higher 200°C/Gas mark 6 until it is brown, crisp and mouthwateringly good to go.

Stokes Festive Foodie Collection

Save 10% OFF the individual product price. Just £25 including post & packing. Order here and enjoy.

More foodie thoughts for the week:






Pud-free Christmas - lighter desserts when the pud's too much here.








 

Stokes Festive Foodie Collection - for tasty festive feasting here.












As seen on TV - Liam Bakes with Stokes on Channel 4 here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Non-Christmas Puddings - something lighter for dessert

Puddings for the lighter appetite

Not everybody likes the traditional Christmas Pudding - too heavy, too rich, too much after such a large roast and extraordinary trimmings.

We have looked for and found some lighter alternatives. They are lighter on the palate, aromatically cleansing and have a twist of Christmas cheer.

What's more exciting is that these tasty treats each use the Cranberry Sauce or Seville Orange Marmalade, or both, from our new and exclusive Stokes Festive Foodie Collection - here.

Marmalade Ice Cream 
with Italian Panettone

There's a lot of Panettone around at this time of year. Tear up about 100 g of any you have leftover, cover it well with 3 or 4 tbsp of caster sugar and grill it until the sugar caramelises.

While this is cooling, whip 400 ml of cream to soft peaks and add 1 tsp of vanilla paste. Crumble and stir in the cooled Panettone. In a freezer proof container, spoon 2 tbsp of the Panettone cream followed by 1 tbsp of Stokes Seville Orange Marmalade, repeating four times (4 good tbsp of marmalade). Freeze.

Give it ten minutes on the side before serving this deliciously refreshing dessert.

More Non-Christmas Pudding

Marmalade Upside Down Cake

Here's how:

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

Peel and thinly slice 1 or 2 oranges (blood oranges give a particularly attractive end result) and marinate them in Grand Marnier (or a cheaper brandy and sugar mixture).

Line and grease a round baking dish fitting the marinated orange slices into the base. Warm 100 g of our Seville Orange Marmalade and 75 g of Cranberry Sauce in a pan and pour it over the oranges. Leave this to cool whilst making the sponge.

Beat 110 g of butter together with 110 g of Muscovado sugar. Separately, mix 150 g of self-raising flour with a gentle touch of ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg (one teaspoon of all four will give the cake sufficient 'Christmas' - add more to taste), a pinch of salt and 1 tsp of baking powder.

To the butter mixture add an egg with 2 tbsp of the flour mixture, beating it in well. Repeat with a second egg (2 eggs in total). Fold the remaining flour mixture into the butter mixture with 3 tbsp of orange juice.

Spoon the batter over the orange base and bake for 35 minutes. Cool, remove, flip (orange side up) and serve with cream.  

Cranberry & Orange Brioche Pudding

Here's how:

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

For the custard, heat 600 ml of milk with a vanilla pod until it just boils. Meanwhile mix 3 egg yolks, 25 g of caster sugar and 2 tsp of cornflour to a smooth paste.

Pour the milk into the paste and mix well before straining the mixture back into the pan. Add 4 tbsp of Stokes Cranberry Sauce and simmer very gently until it begins to thicken.

Firmly push 6 to 8 brioche rolls (halved) into a casserole dish so that they sit snugly together. Pour over half the custard and let it settle.

Scatter with a handful of cranberries or blueberries and equally spread with 4 tbsp of our Seville Orange Marmalade. Pour over the rest of the custard then leave it to absorb all the ingredients for an hour or so then bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Serve it with cream, ice cream or more custard. 

Stokes Festive Foodie Collection

Save 10% OFF the individual product price. Just £25 including post & packing. Order here and enjoy.

More foodie thoughts for the week:






Meat-free Christmas - vegetarian alternatives for the feast here.










 

Stokes Festive Foodie Collection - for tasty festive feasting here.












As seen on TV - Liam Bakes with Stokes on Channel 4 here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

The Festive Foodie Collection - a delicious collection of festive flavour

Tums don't tell tales

This is the first time we have created a collection of yumminess for festive feasting.

Chosen by Stokes' taste aficionados, it ticks all the Christmas boxes.

There are combinations to make great party dips; to dress up the Christmas meal whether spooned onto the side or stirred into the gravy; and essentials adding life to the leftovers.

Your tums will thank you and your taste buds delight at this delicious array of Stokensian joy.

Stokes Festive Foodie Collection

Save 10% OFF the individual product price. Just £25 including post & packing. Order here and enjoy.

Tasting notes & tasty tips

Stokes Red Onion Marmalade - is lusciously thick with caramelised red onions in sticky black treacle and a sharp balsamic finish. It's amazing with just about anything - try it with grilled cheese on toast.

Stokes Chilli Jam - is a deliciously sticky jam, bursting with sweet chilli peppers, red peppers and red chilli heat. It's particularly good with mature Cheddar or a soft brie.

Stokes Real Mayonnaise is really very special. We use only whole eggs from British free range Welfare Assured hens into which we drizzle very fine British rapeseed oil to create the product's core.


Then, to make our real mayonnaise stand out from the rest, we add extra virgin Koroneiki olive oil from Crete.

Stokes Tomato Ketchup is packed with plump, sweet tomatoes that have ripened on the sun drenched slopes of southern Italy. We gently simmer 200g of the little beauties for every 100g of thick and truly tomatoey ketchup.

Stokes Coronation Sauce is as tasty as it gets. To a luscious base of our award-winning mayonnaise, we add curry powder, turmeric, sultanas and apricots to create this creamy, fruity, spicy jar of joy.

For a classic Coronation 'Turkey' - just add leftover turkey. For something a little different, stir in a couple of spoonfuls of creamed cheese and flake a poached salmon steak into the sauce.

Stokes Piccalilli has crunchy garden vegetables in a sweet, tangy, mustard sauce spiced with turmeric. It's a traditional favourite with cold meats and fantastic with cheese.

Stokes Cranberry Sauce is crammed with a host of big juicy North American cranberries. Knowing eyes have watched them bubble gently with sugar to balance the sweet tartness of this intensely fruity sauce.

Stokes Creamed Horseradish Sauce lets you enjoy its full flavour without bringing tears to your eyes. A lovely chap called Robbie mixes half wild and half cultivated horseradish, washed and shredded to which we add single cream for this gentle, deliciously smooth sauce.

Try these mini Yorkshire Puddings - perfect party canapés.

Stokes Seville Orange Marmalade follows a simple, classic English recipe. It is packed with tangy Seville oranges, medium cut for flavour and texture. Try it in these festive desserts - here.


Simple Party Dips

Put a few spoonfuls of Stokes Real Mayonnaise in a bowl and - just add:

• Add our Cranberry Sauce for a lovely dip for a cocktail sausage or pie.
• Add Tomato Ketchup and Chilli Jam for chilli prawn canapés.
• Add Creamed Horseradish bringing velvety warmth to a crudités dip.
• Add Coronation Sauce, crème fraîche and chopped tarragon for pure 'wow'.
• Add finely diced crisp cooked smoked bacon and chives for delicious 'baconaise'.
• Add Red Onion Marmalade as a creamy base for cheesy canapés.
• Add Cranberry Sauce and Horseradish Sauce to dip your chicken drumsptcks.
• Add Chilli Jam as a dipping sauce for mini meatballs and falafels.

Your Festive Foodie Collection

Save 10% OFF the individual product price. Just £25 including post & packing. Order here and enjoy.

More foodie thoughts for the week:






Meat-free Christmas - vegetarian alternatives for the feast here.










Pud-free Christmas - lighter desserts when the pud's too much here.







   




As seen on TV - Liam Bakes with Stokes on Channel 4 here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

As seen on TV - more videos and social sharing

Don't miss the fun
on Facebook & Twitter

From Liam Bakes on Channel 4 , Liam and his friends are having great fun in the kitchen cooking up a mayo dance with Stokes Real Mayonnaise - great show, great dance, great mayonnaise. Take it away boys ...:

To see the video, click here:

 

Our second winner of the Advent Card has declared herself. For the days running up to Christmas the busy elves in Stokes dispatch will randomly put an Advent Card in one of the deliveries to an unsuspecting, but worthy Stokes customer. Those who get one and send a selfie back to us will receive a 6 x bottle case of our Award-Winning Tomato Ketchup.

Another timely video take a look at the classic Bloody Mary which has been given a boost with Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup. It really works - give it a go. Take a look at the video here:

 And finally Esther ... cute !

More foodie thoughts for the week:






Meat-free Christmas - vegetarian alternatives for the feast here.










Pud-free Christmas - lighter desserts when the pud's too much here.













Stokes Festive Foodie Collection - for tasty festive feasting here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150