Cold cuts & cool pies culture - with our condiments

Cold cuts & cool pies

We always buy and cook a joint that's bigger than we really need - just for the cold cuts the next day or a quick and easy mid-week curry.

We try to get three meals from a roast chicken (even if the last is a delicious soup made from the carcass stock). A shoulder of lamb gives us at least two meals - a juicy Sunday roast and curry or pilaf on Wednesday.

If there is still curry left, try making a Friday night snack by adding a tin of baked beans and a couple of good glugs of Stokes Brown Sauce.

The biggest problem with leftovers in our house is protecting them long enough to make that sandwich, curry or pasta bake. The fridge fox is an elusive yet active creature in these parts.

Cold cuts, pies & pickles

There are pork pies and there are pork pies. There are sandwiches and there are sandwiches.

But even the very best taste better with a spoonful or two of Stokes deliciousness.

Try these:

Stokes Creamed Horseradish Sauce - cream, wild horseradish roots flavour and cultivated root consistency to delight discerning palates.

Stokes Brown Sauce - just smell the grownup aromas of extra date puree, black treacle and spice.

Stokes Red Onion Marmalade - gently caramelised onions and black treacle with piquant balsamic.

Stokes Chilli Jam - exciting sensations of sticky sweet chilli peppers lure a hot red chilli 'wow' at the end.

Stokes Sticky Pickle - oozing spicy molasses-sweet vegetables and sticky black treacle.

Stokes Classic English Mustard - we make it strong with bags of deep mustard flavour, but without the lethal kick - to enhance rather than cover cold cut flavours.

A sandwich is a feast between slices of bread, in a wrap or pitta pocket. Love it more with mustard to lift the meat and mayonnaise to smooth the salad.

Stokes Real Mayonnaise - a velvet smooth blend of British free range eggs, British rapeseed oil and Cretan Koroneiki extra virgin olive oil. Se.....nsational.

Stokes Garlic Mayonnaise - adding a little garlic to our smooth, rich mayonnaise for a creamy round aioli. 

Stokes Mint Sauce - a classic 'remix' of mint, unrefined raw cane sugar and white wine vinegar.

Turn mere 'lush' to luxurious

More foodie thoughts for the week:







The Great British Roast - tips and techniques to share here.










 Chocolate & Beetroot Cake for British Food Fortnight here.








 



Family Flavourites - sharing the yum in your family's tum here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Family Flavourites - sharing the secrets that put the yummy in your tummy

Family Flavourites


What are your Sunday Roast essentials?

Please - we are asking you to share your favourite roast dinner components; your family secrets; amazing recipe ideas; how to make the perfect roast potatoes; anything that might make our friends and readers think ... 'of course', what a wonderful idea.

Let us know on Facebook or Twitter and we'll send something tasty to the 'family flavourite' we most want to try.

Click on the picture to share your Family Flavourites

What's happening 
on Facebook & Twitter


This was a very tasty reminder of our cheeky chocolate chatter last week. These scones with orange and chocolate are delicious. Have you tried them yet?

In a week where the buzz is all about the Great British Sunday Roast, here's a social sharing suggesting the dunking of crispy crackling in our Bramley Apple Sauce. Sounds good, but I do like my roast pork too.

Watch that waist - more chocolate. This time melted into a chilli con carne. It's a match made in heaven - chilli and chocolate.

More foodie thoughts for the week:







The Great British Roast - tips and techniques to share here.




     







 Chocolate & Beetroot Cake for British Food Fortnight here.









Cold cuts & cool pies - from 'lush' to luxurious here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

It's International Chocolate Day - what's not to like

Crunch, melt, grate, spoon - enjoy

Today, 13th September, is International Chocolate Day. In our house it seems that every day is 'chocolate day'. In the kitchen, chocolate in varying forms is an ingredient used in a wide spectrum of dishes.

Cakes, biscuits, mousses, tarts, cheesecakes, truffles, fudges, brownies - name it and you can put chocolate in it.

Chocolate with a minimum 70% cocoa solids offers a bitter-sweet flavour that sits so well with dark cherries, Seville oranges and chilli.

It enriches game dishes in Italy; adds a lavish depth to Catalan casseroles; and as a mole in Mexico it combines with chilli as a basic ingredient for many meat dishes.


Cheeky Chocolate

Chocolate Scones

This simple scone recipe combines the classic bitter-sweet flavour of chocolate with the equally classic sweet-bitter tang of Seville oranges.

You'll need:

• 1 Seville (ideally) orange, zested and juiced
• 2 tbsp of Stokes Seville Orange Marmalade
• 700 g of self raising flour
• 150 g of butter
• 200 ml of milk (full fat, ideally)
• 150 g of caster sugar
• 150 g of dark chocolate buttons, broken into smaller pieces

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6.

Tip the flour into a large bowl then rub in the butter to a breadcrumb consistency. Now stir in the broken chocolate buttons, sugar, orange zest and marmalade.

Combine the milk and orange juice then pour it gently into the flour mixture to form the dough.

Work the dough a little then roll it out to 2 cm thick. Cut out the scones and put them on a buttered tray (or 2). Brush each with a little milk and bake them in the oven for about 10 minutes until they rise and brown.

Try breaking the scones and dipping them in a mixture of Nutella and Stokes Lemon Curd.

Chilli Chocolate Cups

This embraces the other chocolate partners of cherries and chillis - in this case, using both.

You'll need:

• 1 x 425 g tin of pitted black cherries 
• 200 g of high cocoa dark chocolate
• 3 tsp of Stokes Chilli Jam
• 200 ml of double cream
• 4 eggs, whites only
• 2 tbsp of caster sugar, golden

Here's how:

Bring a pan of water to the simmer and melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over the pan.

Tip the cherries and their syrup into another pan to simmer and reduce them to a jam-like consistency.

Whip the cream until it creates 'soft peaks' then add the sugar and whisk further.

Beat the egg whites until stiff. When the chocolate has cooled a little, fold it into the cream with the chilli jam and cherry 'jam'.

Now fold this into the stiffened egg whites. Spoon the absolutely wonderful mixture into cups to chill before serving.

Chilli Con Carne

Adding rich, dark chocolate to a chilli dish gives it a velvety finish and truly deep flavour.

You'll need:

• 500 g of minced beef
• 1 beef stock bouillon
• 1 x can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, grated
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 tsp of chilli powder
• 2 tbsp of Stokes Chilli Jam
• 4 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup (thick with Italian tomatoes)
• 1 tbsp of Stokes Brown Sauce (for deep dates and treacle richness with spices)
• 50 g of dark high cocoa chocolate
• 1 tsp of ground cumin
• Fresh marjoram or dried, 2 tbsp
• 1 x can of red kidney beans (optional)

Here's how:

In olive oil, soften the onion and red pepper for 5 minutes then add and brown the beef mince with the cumin, marjoram, garlic and chilli powder.

Pour in the tomatoes with the brown sauce, tomato ketchup, 1 tbsp of chilli jam and stock bouillon. Cook for 5 minutes to combine the ingredients then add boiled water (about 250 ml) and simmer (lid on) for 15 minutes.

Check the contents with a good stir, adding or evaporating water for the right consistency. Add the rinsed and drained beans if using them.

Season and simmer for 10 minutes before testing for 'chilli heat', adding the other tablespoon or more of chilli jam to taste. Now melt the chocolate into the bubbling pot. Stir it in, let the pot rest (off the heat) and test the flavours again, adding more chilli jam if you like it a little hotter.

Served on a bed of plain rice with a spoonful of soured cream, this is a chilli-chocolate con carne winner.

September sensations - just add Stokes

More foodie thoughts for the week:







Fresh September produce - seasonal & sensational here.









Loving rice with Korean, Spanish and Colonial influence here.




       





 
Your Caption Competition and other social sharing here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

National Rice Week - from Pilaff to Paella

Rice - the world's natural health food

Rice has been used for thousands of years and its cultivation has spread around the world.

From 17th to 23rd September, The Rice Association is celebrating its value and diversity.

Rice is quite a complex carbohydrate delivering high energy values but with slow energy release.

It's ideal for the young, elderly and infirmed because of its health values and the basic fact that it is easy to chew and digest.

But you don't have to be either of those things to enjoy it as or as part of a meal.

Its versatility is such that it comes in many forms and is used in many many ways. It covers recipes including Paella, Pilaf, Risotto, Jambalaya, and Mexican Rice to name but a grainy handful.

These have regional connotations but also differ in technique, texture and taste. Dry al dente pilafs match al dente, wetter risottos. Paellas too vary from the classic meals of southern Spain with a slightly toasted bottom layer to regional variations such as the soupy, stew of Menorca's caldereta.

Jambalaya is the 'New World’s' version of a Spanish Paella without a strong local source of Saffron.



Try something different with rice

Chorizo Pilaf

A pilaf is probably the most basic rice dish, usually using long grain rice, often substituted by basmati. It's easy to create a pilaf of anything you have resting in the fridge and turns leftover chicken and sausages into a meal in minutes.

For this example, you'll need:

• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red pepper, sliced and diced
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 large chorizo (about 250 g), skinned and chopped
• 200 g of basmati rice
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 250 ml of chicken stock
• 2 tbsp of Stokes Chipotle Ketchup (for its smoky flavours and chilli finish)
  
• 2 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup (for rich tomato depth)

Here's How:

Soften the onion in a pan with olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the pepper, chorizo and garlic and cook on for a further 6 or 7 minutes to soften the pepper and release the rich colours and flavours of the chorizo.

Stir in the two types of ketchup then the rice, tomatoes and stock. Bring everything to the boil then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. If you are adding leftover chicken, this is the time to do it.

Take the lid off after 10 minutes - if it is too dry, add a little boiling water from the kettle. If it is too wet, raise the heat and evaporate the excess liquid.

Serve with a squeeze of lemon or lime (or both).

Bibimbap

This is a very popular Korean dish which literally means 'mixed rice'. It's a simple bowl of rice topped with a variety of yumminess - fried beef, kimchi (if you can get it) bean sprouts, peppers, mushrooms (sometimes), carrot, greens and topped with a fried egg. It is served with a hot sauce and we hope you'll enjoy our version of it.

You'll need:

• 150 g of rump steak, cut into thin strips
• Dark Soy Sauce
• 140 g of basmati rice
• 1 carrot, sliced into thin 'matchsticks'
• 1 green pepper, similarly sliced
• 1 pack of spinach
• A 1 inch piece of ginger (more matchstick slicing) 
• An egg each. 

For the sauce:

• 2 tbsp of Stokes Chilli Jam (adjust for heat)
• 1 tbsp of Stokes Brown Sauce (for rich dates and spices)
• 3 tbsp of Stokes Chipotle Ketchup (for smoky chipotle chilli warmth)

Here's how:

Marinate the strips of steak in the soy sauce. Cook the rice to the packet's instructions or your preferred technique to deliver a plain boiled consistency.

While this is happening, drain and fry the steak at a high heat to sear the outsides, leaving the inside of each strip pink and juicy. Rest and keep warm.

In the same pan, fry each vegetable ingredient individually - carrots, in, cook, out, rest - pepper ditto etc. You will have separate bowls of each cooked ingredient.

In individual serving bowls, assemble the meat and vegetables as a clock face over the rice. Fry an egg to top each bowl (with or without a scattering of sesame seeds).

Mix and taste the sauce ingredients adding the chilli jam a little at a time to balance the heat. More brown sauce will enrich and sweeten the sauce. More chilli jam - well, you get the picture. We know you'll like this one.

Kedgeree

With its roots in the Victorian days of the British Raj, there are varying stories of its origin. One is that it came to India with Scottish troops and adopted the flavours of the Indian subcontinent in the kitchens there. More likely is that it is a colonial version of a South Asian dish, 'khichri', a simple rice and vegetable nursery food that was easy on the tummy - perfect for colonial spice virgins as they arrived for tour of duty. With the addition of fish and eggs, kedgeree became a breakfast classic.

You'll need:

• 70 g of butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tbsp of curry powder
• 1 tbsp of Stokes Classic English Mustard
• Half a tsp of turmeric
• 450 g of basmati rice
• 100 g of frozen peas
• A good handful of chopped parsley
• 1 ltr of chicken stock
• 750 g of smoked haddock, undyed
• Milk
• 3 eggs, hard boiled (just) and quartered 

Here's how:

Gently soften the onion in the butter for 7 or 8 minutes. Add the rice, curry powder, cumin and mustard, combining everything well together.

Pour the stock into the pan, cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

While this is happening, bring a little milk to the boil in a frying pan, enough to just cover the fish which you simmer for 4 or 5 minutes. Keeping the cooking liquor, remove the fish to cool then flake it, removing the skin and any remaining bones.

Carefully fold the eggs, peas, parsley and fish into the the rice, adding a little of the milky cooking liquor and season well to taste. Let everything rest, keeping it warm (in a very low oven) to let the peas defrost and the flavours marry.

Spoon the fragrant breakfast into a large serving terrine in the refectory and get your staff to sound muster.

September sensations - just add Stokes

More foodie thoughts for the week:







International Chocolate Day - what's not to adore here.











Fresh September produce - seasonal & sensational  here.



    
 
 



 Your Caption Competition and other social sharing here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Seasonal Ingredients for September Suppers

Great British Seasons

September is a month that's blessed with season freshness, colour and taste. Just pop into your supermarket or local farm shop to see the shelves struggling under the weight of British goodness.

Artichokes, aubergines, courgettes, peppers, tomatoes, squash, onions, sweetcorn, runner beans.

September delivers fantastic food but suffers rather bad press. Blamed as the end of Summer yet only modestly celebrated as the gateway to Autumn.

In America September is referred to as the 'doorway to all things pumpkin' - poor little pumpkins ... overused there and underrated here.

That said, British culinary tastes are shifting and thankfully, we use squash more and more.



Supreme September

September Vegetable Paella


Here's how:

Basically get anything you fancy that's fresh - aubergine, artichokes (1 x 180 g bag of char grilled artichokes), red peppers, courgettes, tomatoes, mushrooms, beans, asparagus, garlic, onions and parsley.

Cut and slice to similar sizes so that they will all cook in about the same time. The artichokes are already cooked but everything else needs frying in olive oil to soften.

In a wide flat pan, begin with the aubergine and onions, then the peppers, beans etc. Add 2 tsp of paprika, 2 tsp of turmeric (poor man's saffron), 2 tbsp of Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard and 2 tbsp of Stokes Tomato Ketchup.

Combine everything well than add 400 g of paella rice together with 750 ml of vegetable stock. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Add the artichokes and another 750 ml of vegetable stock.

Cook it gently for a further 15 minutes, making sure all the liquid has been absorbed. Keep it warm but let it rest for half an hour or so to let the flavours get to know each other better. 

Sausage & 'Anything' Bake

The key addition to this bake is squash.

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6.

Put 8 of your favourite sausages into a roasting tin with 1 red onion (roughly sliced), 6 sage leaves (torn) and 1 tbsp of chopped thyme leaves.

Peel and de-seed a medium sized squash and cut its flesh to sausage-sized half moons, adding these to the tin (this works with the addition of sweet potato too).

Give the ingredients a good drizzle of olive oil and move everything around with your hands to thoroughly coat the squash particularly. Season and roast for 45 minutes or so.

The sausages should be cooked and the squash tender. Remove everything to a serving dish to keep warm while you make a gravy.

De-glaze the roasting tin with a glass of dry cider. Make a roux with 2 tsp of flour. Add 2 tbsp of Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard and up to 200 ml of chicken stock. Simmer vigorously to reduce and thicken the gravy and serve with your roast sausages and squash alongside a good helping of mashed potatoes (add 2 tsp of Stokes Creamed Horseradish Sauce to the mash for extra flavour).

Chicken & Sweetcorn

Cutting the kernels off the cob gives you the very best of sweetcorn. No giants needed here - green, jolly or otherwise.

Here's how:

Take a chicken breast each and rub the skin with Stokes Real Mayonnaise (to enrich the crisp the skin), then roast on a medium high heat for 15 to 20 minutes until cooked right through.

Meanwhile heat 300 ml of chicken stock in a pan. When it begins to simmer, add 300g of sweetcorn kernels and 150 g of beans.

When the beans are tender, remove both from the pan setting the vegetables aside to keep warm.

Bring the stock up to a rolling boil, add 2 tbsp of Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard and reduce the liquid. Add 1 tbsp of a good cream cheese to help thicken and cream the gravy, then pour it into the vegetables accompanying your juicy chicken with its crispy skin.

September sensations - just add Stokes

More foodie thoughts for the week:







International Chocolate Day - what's not to adore here.










Loving rice with Korean, Spanish and Colonial influence here.




    
 
 



Your Caption Competition and other social sharing here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Caption Competition and other social sharing

Caption Competition

A Bennetts and her baby

This is a lovely little video of one of our Bennetts wallabies with her baby. Between grooming and chilling they are chatting along happily. What words of worldly wisdom might mother be sharing with her toddler? Post a caption on our Facebook (here) and we'll send something delicious in the post to the one that tickles us the most.

Click on the pictue to share the love:

What's happening 
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Now that's what I call a fish finger butty. Whoever made this one though obviously couldn't decide whether to use Stokes Real Mayonnaise, Stokes Tomato Ketchup, or Stokes Brown Sauce - all three ... really ?!

Ah, good advice. Thank you Mrs @StokesSauces. Adding Stokes Lemon Curd really does add extra lemony flavour as well as keeping the cake moist.

Yes please, this looks amazing. Hunters' Chicken. Thank you for sharing this and other simple suppers right here.

September sensations - just add Stokes

More foodie thoughts for the week:








International Chocolate Day - what's not to adore here.









Loving rice with Korean, Spanish and Colonial influence here.









Fresh September produce - seasonal & sensational here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight 1 - 16 September

Celebrating the Scottish pantry

We are about half way through this celebration of Scottish food and drink and the people who grow, make, cook and sell it.

Celebrity chef, Tom Kitchin, extols the virtues of seasonal Scottish produce as he opens his fourth restaurant in Edinburgh - 'Southside Scran'.

His culinary 'from nature to plate' philosophy uses local ingredients to create traditional Scottish fayre with a modern 'French-influenced' twist.

In our own doffed cap tribute we're looking at three traditional Scottish plates with a Stokensian taste twist.

Take this beautiful plate of poached lemon sole on a bed of buttered leeks with a twist of smoked salmon on top. Simple, Scottish ingredients with Stokes Bloody Mary Rose Sauce. For the sauce, combine equal parts of Stokes Real Mayonnaise and Stokes Bloody Mary Ketchup - sensational.

 
Leig a ithe - let's eat

Cock-a-leekie twist

Cooked and served as a kebab this version of a recipe from Scotland.org looks as good as it tastes.

You'll need:

• 3 or 4 skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• A 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
• 3 tbsp of Stokes Chipotle Ketchup
• The juice of 1 lime
• 200 ml of plain yogurt
• 2 leeks
• 1 packet of pitted prunes

Here's how:

Mix the ketchup, garlic, ginger, lime juice and yogurt to make a marinade for the chicken. Add the chicken pieces, coat well and marinate overnight if possible.

Whilst the chicken is coming back to room temperature, cut the leeks into 1 inch pieces and blanch them for 2 minutes in boiling water.

Now, assemble the skewers - prune, leek, chicken etc. Grill the kebabs on a medium heat for 10 minutes (checking that the meat is cooked through), turning two or three times.

Serve your cock-a-leekie kebabs with a spicy smoked dipping sauce of equal parts: Stokes Real Mayonnaise, Stokes Brown Sauce and Stokes Chipotle Sauce.

Haggis, neeps & tatties

Associated with Burns Night celebrations but eaten often as a wonderful warmer on a chilly Autumn eve. We won't pretend to teach you how to cook it but offer these two tasty twists - one for the tatties and the other for that 'special Scottish gravy' !

Try this:

Whilst you are mashing your potatoes, hopefully with lots of butter and a touch of milk, try adding a couple of spoons of Stokes Creamed Horseradish Sauce. We make this with half & half wild and cultivated horseradish. This intensifies the flavour to delight discerning palates.

For a veritable cocktail of a gravy, while your rich beef stock is reducing, add a desert spoon of Stokes Chilli Jam and the same amount of Stokes Cranberry Sauce and blend them into the gravy with a wee (though not insignificant) dram of whisky.

Finally, grate a little dark, high cocoa content chocolate into the gravy to further enrich the flavours.

Haddock & Crab Gratin

Both of these Scottish ingredients are very much in season right now. The combination of sweet crab meat and smoked haddock with a little chilli and lots of bubbling cheese is wonderful. Serve it with 'tatties' (as above) and wilted spinach.

You'll need:

• 200 g of smoked haddock, cut into pieces
• 100 g of white crab meat
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 1 leek, sliced
• 2 tsp of Stokes Chilli Jam (more if you like it hotter)
• 1 tbsp of Stokes Dijon Mustard
• 150 ml of double cream
• 100 g of Cheddar cheese, grated

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6.

Soften the leeks in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain and set aside.

In a large bowl, gently combine the smoked haddock, crab, onion, leek, mustard and chilli jam and season using more black pepper than you might usually.

Spoon the mixture into an ovenproof dish and pour over the cream.

Once this has settled down, sprinkle your grated cheese over the top and bake in the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese begins to brown and bubble.

September sensations - just add Stokes

More foodie thoughts for the week:






Meals in minutes - happy mid-week supper recipes here.











Cooking with Stokes 'first three' - back to our tasty roots here.



 





Twittering and sharing more tasty ideas here.

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

 FOOD MADE BETTER 

www.stokessauces.co.uk

01394 462150

This November, Michelin-starred chef Tom Kitchin and his award-winning team will open their fourth restaurant, Southside Scran, in the heart of Bruntsfield in Edinburgh. Featuring an open rotisserie in the middle of the brass-accented, open-plan dining room, the Edinburgh bistro’s menu will incorporate the best of Scotland’s produce, with hints of Tom’s passion for French cuisine. It will be the first time that Kitchin Group has brought the ‘from nature to plate’ philosophy to the south side of the city, following the success of The Kitchin in Leith, Castle Terrace, and The Scran & Scallie in Stockbridge. Chef Tom Kitchin, his wife Michaela as well as their business partner Dominic Jack of Castle Terrace along with their teams have a real passion for seasonal Scottish fare. Once again, the team will use only the freshest, local produce at Southside, and the menu will reflect Chef Kitchin and Chef Jack’s passion for modern adaptations of traditional dishes

Read more at: https://foodanddrink.scotsman.com/drink/tom-kitchin-announces-new-edinburgh-restaurant-opening/