Uncompromisingly Christmas

In the living room…

Expectation, Christmas jumpers, crazy socks, sparkling tree lights, excited children, happy guests, smiling relatives … so worth the effort to see those loving faces.

When it comes to the ‘yummy‘ side of your festive feasting, we have you well and truly covered.Our little jars of joy are simply bursting with the natural flavours that lift every foodie element of what you serve, from merely ‘delicious‘ … to … ‘oh my goodness, this is wonderful…‘.

Keep guests (& chefs) going with delicious nibbles. Our extra-special Devils on Horseback RECIPE HERE.

Gently heat our cran-packed Cranberry Sauce with extra frozen Cranberries to make a warm dressing poured over Mini Camembert Bakes – wow!But, just like Christmas itself, what comes out of those jars is only as good as what goes into them. The thought, the trials, the love, the ingredients.

Give your Christmas what it deserves…

TASTE WITHOUT COMPROMISE

You’ll find lots of other amazing finger food recipes and tips HERE.

Enjoy.

The kitchen party’s buzzing now – a fizzy sip here, red slurp there, sumptuous basting … simmering, steaming, rattling (and that’s just the pressurised cook !)

The roasties, the roasties – are they in?!?Not only are they in, but, having par-boiled, fluffed, and cooled, they’ve been rolled in a bowl of goose fat, Cider & Horseradish Mustard and thyme leaves.

Can’t wait.Christmas Traybake.

For a change, we are tray-baking the general trimmings. Carrots, parsnips, cavolo nero, shallots and some smaller potatoes will sit under the main wholegrain mustard roasties

Christmas Traybake RECIPE HERE.Chef Andy’s Red Cabbage

We asked, and he said:

A favourite of mine is slow cooked red cabbage.

Finely sliced red cabbage, Spanish onion and an eating apple. Lightly brown them in butter, in a large deep pan. Season with brown sugar, a slug of orange juice, mixed spice, a good dash of port, salt & pepper, a handful of sultanas and, my secret ingredients, a couple of spoonsful of Stokes Redcurrant Jelly.

Slowly simmer until the cabbage is tender and the liquid reduces to a syrup. This can be done a couple of days in advance and kept in the fridge (or frozen). On the day, ping it to your pleasure in the microwave.Did you know you can freeze gravy in advance and jazz it op on the day?

BEST GRAVY EVER:

1. Soften an onion, carrot and celery (diced) in oil. Stir in 2 tbsp of plain flour, then 750 to 800 ml of chicken stock and two good glugs of Stokes Real Tomato Ketchup.
2. Simmer for 10 minutes, blitz with a hand blender, strain into a jug to cool.
3. Freeze.
4. On the day, de-frost and heat to ‘piping hot’ in the microwave.
5. Taste, season, taste, add Stokes Cranberry Sauce or Redcurrant Jelly, perhaps even Chilli Jam.
6. Taste, ‘wow‘, serve.

‘Baby it’s cold out there‘

A seasonal sing-along. Join in while making your Bread Sauce taste better than ever; and your Brussels Sprouts surprise the family too.

Putting the FUN in Festive Food

Bread Sauce – WHY?This strange festive side dish, usually made with bread, milk, onion and nutmeg, shouts loud of Medieval spirits and was probably pasted onto the skin, worn to ward off evil. Well it’s a thought, but not true.

It is simply a humble addition to an otherwise luxuriant feast. And, like the equally humble Brussels sprout, is loved and detested in equal proportion.Bread Sauce Made Better

To cook packet bread sauce, you typically combine the mix with milk in a saucepan, bring it to a boil while stirring continuously, and then simmer for a few minutes, adding Stokes Wholegrain Cider & Horseradish Mustard (or our Dijon Mustard) to taste.Yes you do…!

It’s the ultimate love / hate relationship that peaks on Christmas Day.

There’s the standing joke that granny would have had the sprouts simmering since October to be ready for The Big Day, but there’s nothing worse than soggy green.Air -Fry Sprouts & Bacon

RECIPE:

There are many variations on the theme of this recipe. This pre-cooks the bacon with the date-rich Persian spices of our very grownup Brown Sauce adding a very tasty fresh dimension to the crunchy sprouts.