Simplicity by Candlelight

"Ask not what you can do for your country.
Ask what's for lunch."
Orson Welles

These are a few lovely ideas for supper by candlelight, putting a little love on the plate this weekend.

Scallops & Scrambled Eggs

Scallops take no time at all to cook so start with the eggs. Scramble them as you would normally, but add a little twist to make supper better still by stirring 2 tbsp of Stokes Garlic Mayonnaise into the eggs as they begin to firm up. This gives them the additional flavour of a gentle aioli.

Whilst a little oil and butter heat up in a pan, put a couple of dollops of Stokes Chipotle Ketchup onto a saucer. Dip one side of each scallop into the smoky chipotle sauce, then gently put them into the hot pan with plenty of room between them. We want them to sear and caramelise, not poach.

45 seconds to 1 minute 30 seconds on one side (depending on their thickness), then over for 45 seconds on the other. The gentle, warm smokiness complement the scallops' wonderful ocean flavour with the aioli scramble on the side - delicious.

Chicken & Mushroom Pasta

Use chestnut mushrooms roughly chopped or torn, fried gently in butter with garlic and thyme. Gently crush the garlic, bruise the cloves so they can easily be removed - it's the gentle infusion we want rather than pungent power.

Roast a couple of chicken breasts, skin on, then set them aside, wrapped in foil, until the pasta and sauce are ready. Remove the skin before slicing the meat into the pasta, we left it on to keep the chicken moist. Cook the spaghetti to the pack's instructions.

For the sauce: In a pan, reduce 150ml of white wine and splash of brandy by half, then stir in 2 tbsp of Stokes Cider & Horseradish Wholegrain Mustard. Reduce the heat and add 150ml of double cream together with about 30g of Parmesan cheese and season.

Just before draining the pasta, scoop out a cup of the cooking water and set it aside. Add the drained pasta to the sauce, coating it well. If it is too thick, add some of the pasta water little by little until the consistency looks right. Serve up with the mushrooms and chicken, with a further grating of cheese over the top.

Chocolate Bonbons

Break up 180g of white chocolate and put it in a pan with 10g of desiccated coconut and 2 good tsp of crème fraîche plus 2 tbsp of Stokes Lemon Curd. Now melt everything together over a very gentle heat to avoid it catching.

Once smooth, tip the mixture into a bowl and chill it in the fridge for about 3 hours.

Once chilled, spoon small portions onto a plate and roll them in coconut flakes forming coconut covered lemon flavoured white chocolate bonbons. A yummy treat to finish.

Watch the recipe come to life on video - HERE.

Love Tasty - Love Stokes

More foodie thoughts for the week:





Breakfast, Romance, Food - 
Elevate the humble 'Eggy Bread' to French Toast or Pain Perdu for Valentine's Day. Enjoy this and more - here.




 


The Rhythm of Jam - 
Beautiful flavour, delightful texture, time, effort, skill ... the Rhythm of Jam is the Rhythm of Life - here.  







Share the Love - of Food - 
We share this Pork Belly Bánh mì with you, just as Jamie shares his discovery of our Bloody Mary Ketchup with us all - here.

If we couldn't make it AMAZING...
we wouldn't make it at all.

FOOD MADE BETTER 
www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

The Rhythm of Jam

We're Jamming

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 don't believe in minimums 

We prefer more with our Strawberry, Raspberry and Blackcurrant extra jams. Stokes Extra Blackcurrant Jam has 510g per kilo – 51% of delicious fruit as our grandparents would traditionally have made it.

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.

Magic Marmalade

Toast and marmalade - now that's a good breakfast. Toast with Stokes Seville Orange Marmalade - now that's a great breakfast. Once more, we took a traditional English recipe and made it our own to create a classic fine cut marmalade rich with the tangy taste of delicious Seville Oranges.

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 lemon sponges. 

The guys in the kitchen made a lemony sponge last week and a step-by-step guide was filmed - see the video here.

Enjoy !

Jamming - The Rhythm of Stokes

More foodie thoughts for the week:





Breakfast, Romance, Food - 
Elevate the humble 'Eggy Bread' to French Toast or Pain Perdu for Valentine's Day. Enjoy this and more - here.



 



Simplicity by Candlelight - 
These are a few lovely ideas for supper by candlelight, putting a little love on the plate this weekend - here.
 






Share the Love - of Food - 
We share this Pork Belly Bánh mì with you, just as Jamie shares his discovery of our Bloody Mary Ketchup with us all - here.

If we couldn't make it AMAZING...
we wouldn't make it at all.

FOOD MADE BETTER 
www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Share the Love - of Food

Don't miss the fun
on Facebook & Twitter & Instagram

Food is Fun

Most of us are lucky enough to see food as an enjoyable part of our life rather than simply a means of sustaining it. Rick's ethos and Stokes passion is to share that fun and create Food Made Better with the best sauces you can buy in a jar or a bottle.

Through our weekly Newsletter and Social Sharing, we are able to invite customers, friends and followers to our 'virtual table' with delicious ideas and tasty techniques.

This Pork Belly Bánh mì is, for anyone fortunate enough to have visited, typical of the street food of Vietnam. We made ours using a French stick with a layer of pork liver pate, pork belly coated in our Hoisin Sauce accompanied by cucumber, shredded carrot, horseradish and coriander.

This is a wonderful opportunity to see and hear Rick (Stokes' founder and MD) as he speaks to camera and very much from the heart. 

Rick talks about Stokes and his passion for quality and honesty. He introduces and speaks of our partnership with Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines and we take a tour on board. 

And we meet Roo and friends, the rescued animals that live a far better life in the eclectic menagerie behind The Old Stables here, home of  'the best sauces you can buy in a jar'.

This really is one to watch and enjoy - HERE.

It's not just Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines that are proud to serve Stokes sauces to their guests, Stokes is served in more than 1,000 pubs, restaurants, bars and cafes across the country.

The service may be good, the ambiance relaxing, the food delicious, but if they serve Stokes Ketchup & Condiments ... that really is Food Made Better.

We are always pleased to hear from new converts to the quality of Stokes' passion for quality. Our thanks go to Jamie for sharing his discovery of Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup through his shared passion for Craft Beer.

Jamie, you clearly are an aficionado of great taste - welcome aboard.

Love Tasty - Love Stokes

More foodie thoughts for the week:

Breakfast, Romance, Food - 
Elevate the humble 'Eggy Bread' to French Toast or Pain Perdu for Valentine's Day. Enjoy this and more - here.



 




Simplicity by Candlelight - 
These are a few lovely ideas for supper by candlelight, putting a little love on the plate this weekend - here.
 





The Rhythm of Jam - 
Beautiful flavour, delightful texture, time, effort, skill ... the Rhythm of Jam is the Rhythm of Life - here.

If we couldn't make it AMAZING...
we wouldn't make it at all.

FOOD MADE BETTER 
www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Seasons to be Cheerful

Fabulous February

I get really excited in February. For one thing it's a short month, meaning March is on the horizon with Spring just around the corner. Lambs are already in the fields. And supermarkets are filling up with new season 'freshness'.

Chicken Milanese

Well almost - just add garlic wilted spinach for the real deal.

Butterfly a chicken breast each, sit it between two sheets of greaseproof paper and beat them out into 'chicken thins'. Dust each with flour before dunking them in a couple of beaten eggs then coat well with breadcrumbs. Fry the coated chicken in garlic infused oil for just 2 or 3 minutes each side and set them aside to rest and keep warm.

Garnish with pitted olives, sliced tomatoes, finely sliced red onion and a scattering of thyme leaves. Now dress the dish with equal amounts of Stokes Olive & Balsamic Dressing and orange juice, together with 1 tsp of our Classic English or Dijon Mustard, whisked together with a pinch of salt and twist of pepper.

Roast Cauliflower

If you haven't tried this yet - you must. Cooked long and low, it truly is a joy for the taste buds.

Trim a whole cauliflower of its green outer leaves and cut a cross into the thick end of its base stem. Now, you can season it in so many ways before roasting. Try this as a tasty option.

Make a rub by combining Stokes Tomato Ketchup and our Wholegrain Cider & Horseradish Mustard, with Harissa spices, lemon juice and olive oil. Play with the combination until you get the spicy tomato coating you enjoy and spread it all over the cauli'.

Place it in a well fitting pan with a good glass of white wine, lid on and into the oven, pre-heated to 180°C/gas mark 4 for 1.5 hours. Take it out at this stage, remove the lid and pour a glass of water into the pan to keep the cauliflower moist, then back into the oven for 20 minutes (lid off) or that point at which it is tender and still robustly intact.

You can serve it as a vegetable alongside any meat or fish dish or, try it with warm pitta bread and hummus, it really is delicious.

Salmon Sensations

This is probably one to save for the 14th. The little beetroot hearts reflect romance on a plate.

Make a sensational salad using thin slices of cooked beetroot, red onion, fennel, blood oranges, toasted pine nuts and fresh coriander, drizzled with Stokes Raspberry & Balsamic Dressing. For the salmon, mix Stokes Original BBQ Sauce with fresh blood orange juice, a splash of soy sauce and some freshly grated ginger.

Brush salmon steaks with the marinade and grill them under a medium heat or bake in the oven. The salmon takes on the smoky aromatics of its marinade, which balances so well with the sweet acidity of the dressing.

[TIP: If you like a bit of fire in your food, replace the Original with our Hot & Spicy BBQ Sauce.]

For more recipes using juicy Blood Oranges - CLICK HERE.

Cod with Chilli Tomato

This is a succulent piece of cod, grilled and served on a powerful Chinese-style chilli broth.

For the broth, roast, peel and dice a red pepper then simmer it in beef stock, tomato juice, soy sauce and a little soft brown sugar. Now blitz  it to a 'soup' with a hand blender. 

Add Stokes Chilli Ketchup and a dollop of our Brown Sauce until it delivers the heat and flavours you want. Cook red pepper slices and courgette until tender and serve them in the broth with the cod on top and a dollop or two of sour cream or crème fraîche.

Just add 'Amazing' - from Stokes

More foodie thoughts for the week:

Pamper a Tomato - 
'Pamper a Tomato' said Nigel Slater, as a tip for nurturing perfection. Read our own quest for perfection' - here.







Blood Orange Beauties - 
Blood Oranges are a thing of beauty, so we thought we'd share a few delicious sweet and savoury ideas with you - here.
 






Rick, Roo & Curries Too - 
This is a wonderful opportunity to see and hear Rick as he speaks to camera and very much from the heart  - here.

If we couldn't make it AMAZING...
we wouldn't make it at all.

FOOD MADE BETTER 
www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Blood Oranges

Intensely Tasty

Blood Oranges are just coming into season so we thought we'd share a few delicious ideas in this week's Newsletter to help you get the most from this intensely flavoursome fruit.

Fennel Salad

Slice and braise the fennel in a little water, butter and white wine. Retain the feathery fronds for decoration. Meanwhile peel and segment a beautiful blood orange. Assemble the softened fennel with segments of orange, chopped chives, fennel fronds and pitted sliced Kalamata olives, with a spoonful of Burrata or Mozzarella cheese on top.

For the dressing, whisk Blood Orange juice with a pinch of salt and Stokes Olive & Balsamic Dressing to taste. For a salty twist, add slivers of Italian salami or Prosciutto.

Indoor BBQ Ribs

Use about 1.5kg of pork ribs to serve 4 people - but, this is all about the marinade. In a large bowl, whisk together at least half a bottle of Stokes Original BBQ Sauce, 2 tbsp of our tangy Seville Orange Marmalade, 2 tbsp of soy sauce, the zest of 1 and juice of 3 or 4 Blood Oranges, 1 inch of ginger, peeled and grated and 2 tsp of soft brown sugar.

Put the ribs, fatty side up, in an ovenproof dish and coat them in the marinade. The longer the meat marinates, the better - ideally overnight. Drain off and retain the marinade then cover the dish of ribs with foil and put it into an oven, pre-heated to 160°C/gas mark 3.

Pour the marinade into a small pan, add more orange juice and 1 or 2 tsp of Stokes Classic English Mustard and reduce it to a sticky glaze. After 2 hours remove the ribs, uncover them and brush with the glaze. Finish them off under a medium grill, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes to caramelise the glaze.

Stir Fried Duck

Whilst I absolutely love the crispy fat and caramelised skin on pan roast duck breast, in a quick stir fry it really doesn't work so, sadly, it's better to cut this off and slice the breasts thinly.

To make the cooking marinade, mix the juice of 3 Blood Oranges with 3 tbsp of Stokes Hoisin Sauce, 2 tbsp of our Tomato Ketchup, 1 tbsp of soy sauce and 1 tsp of cornflour.

Heat a little sesame seed oil in a wok until it is piping hot then quickly throw 1 inch of finely sliced ginger, 2 grated garlic cloves and the sliced duck into the pan.

Keep the contents moving for 2 minutes then pour in the cooking marinade. This will swiftly come to the boil and coat the duck. At this stage add 2 or 3 handfuls of kale (making sure the woody stems have been removed) until it wilts. Just 5 minutes is all it will take before scattering the dish with toasted sesame seeds and serving with rice or noodles.

Blood Orange Loaf Cake

You'll Need:

• 1 x 25cm x 11cm loaf tin
• 2 eggs
• 170g of granulated sugar
• 160ml of Blood Orange juice
• 2tbsp of Stokes Seville Orange Marmalade
• 80ml of rapeseed oil
• 210g of '00' flour
• 50g of potato starch
• 16g of baking powder
• A pinch of cinnamon
• 2 Blood Oranges

Here's How:

Beat the eggs together with the sugar and cinnamon, then add the oil, orange juice and fine zest of 1 orange. Whisk this to a smooth blend before sifting in the flour, starch and baking powder.

When everything is fully combined, pour half into the buttered, lined base of the tin. Finely slice one of the whole oranges and layer half onto the cake mix with the marmalade spread over the slices. Top up with the remaining mixture and set the last few orange slices into the top before baking in an oven pre-heated to 160°C/gas mark 4 for 45 minutes.

Just add 'Amazing' - from Stokes

More foodie thoughts for the week:

 


Seasons to be Cheerful - 
March is on the horizon with Spring just round the corner. Enjoy this seasonal 'freshness' - here.







Pamper a Tomato - 
'Pamper a Tomato' said Nigel Slater, as a tip for nurturing perfection. Read our own quest for perfection - here.  








Rick, Roo & Curries Too - 
This is a wonderful opportunity to see and hear Rick as he speaks to camera and very much from the heart - here.

If we couldn't make it AMAZING...
we wouldn't make it at all.

FOOD MADE BETTER 
www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Pamper a Tomato

And it will Pamper You

Nigel Slater is quoted as saying: "Pamper a Tomato - over water it, over feed it and you will get (and these are Nigel's words) a Paris Hilton of a tomato."

Rick (Stokes' founder, MD and Ketchup aficionado) has quite a thing about the quality of the tomatoes we put in our Award-Winning Tomato Ketchup.

"I liked Ketchup so much that, similar to a smoker (but I'm not) who would not go out with only two cigarettes left, I would panic unless I had at least two bottles of Ketchup in my house."

It is thanks to Rick's passion for perfection that we get to enjoy this delightfully thick, intensely tomatoey Tomato Ketchup and its brothers and sisters in Stokes' amazing Ketchup Range.

Shake it,  squeeze it,  love it

Tomatoes originally came from Paraguay, which is where we started our search. In fact, we tried tomatoes from everywhere, all over the world.

Rick and the team discovered that the best tasting tomatoes came from a number of different growers, ripening below the Mediterranean sunshine of southern Italy. 

They were and are a bit more expensive than some other sources but our mantra is always to be “Best in Class” - no compromise.  

With the 'quality' box ticked, we decided to up the volume, simmering a massive 200g of those juicy Italian tomatoes, reduced into every 100g of ketchup to make Stokes Tomato Ketchup sooo special.

Savour the rich tomato taste then feel the heat of the spices kicking in from our Chilli Ketchup. For smoky background notes and another warming finish, our Chipotle Ketchup uses Chipotle Chillies, which are Jalapenos left to ripen on the plant to a deep red, before being smoked, giving them their distinctive flavour.

Stokes Curry Ketchup marries the rich tomato tastes with classic curry spices including coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, ginger, cumin, and green cardamon.

Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup is pure beauty in a bottle, adding a shot of vodka and a unique blend of Bloody Mary spices, perfect for that 'morning after' bacon sandwich. Try mixing it with our Real Mayonnaise for a Bloody Mary Rose Sauce to give prawn cocktails a real treat.

Shake it, squeeze it, love it

 Order your 'Great Ketchup' hit - here

More foodie thoughts for the week:

 


Seasons to be Cheerful - 
March is on the horizon with Spring just round the corner. Enjoy this seasonal 'freshness' - here.







Blood Orange Beauties - 
Blood Oranges are a thing of beauty, so we thought we'd share a few delicious sweet and savoury ideas with you - here.
 


 



Rick, Roo & Curries Too - 
This is a wonderful opportunity to see and hear Rick as he speaks to camera and very much from the heart  - here.

If we couldn't make it AMAZING...
we wouldn't make it at all.

FOOD MADE BETTER 
www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Rick, Roo and Curries Too

Don't miss the fun
on Facebook & Twitter & Instagram

Rick talks about Fred.

This is a wonderful opportunity to see and hear Rick (Stokes' founder and MD) as he speaks to camera and very much from the heart. 

Rick talks about Stokes and his passion for quality and honesty. He introduces and speaks of our partnership with Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines and we take a tour on board. 

And we meet Roo and friends, the rescued animals that live a far better life in the eclectic menagerie behind The Old Stables here, home of  'the best sauces you can buy in a jar'.

This really is one to watch and enjoy - HERE.

Curry Night - the weekly reward for the taste buds. Whether you eat out, take away, cook your own or 'ping' something from the supermarket, the smells and flavours are pure joy.

A Newsletter article towards the end of last year - For the Love of Curry - covered everything from its history to 'Ping Curries Made Better'.

If you missed it, you can read it again - HERE.

Here's another deliciously simple yet tasty lunchtime snack from our friends at Wythmails. Make your own at home by sprinkling your favourite cheese on top of crumpets or muffins, pop them under the grill for 5 minutes and serve them with our Chilli Jam or Red Onion Marmalade.

More foodie thoughts for the week:

 


Seasons to be Cheerful - 
March is on the horizon with Spring just round the corner. Enjoy this seasonal 'freshness' - here.

Blood Orange Beauties - 
Blood Oranges are a thing of beauty, so we thought we'd share a few delicious sweet and savoury ideas with you - here.
 






Pamper a Tomato - 
'Pamper a Tomato' said Nigel Slater, as a tip for nurturing perfection. Read our own quest for perfection - here.

If we couldn't make it AMAZING...
we wouldn't make it at all.

FOOD MADE BETTER 
www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150