The Taste Migration

Autumn Comfort … one delicious bowl at a time.

There’s a moment every year when summer finally loosens its grip, and it’s been a hot grip at that.

The light fades a little earlier, the evenings start to get that familiar chill, and we find ourselves reaching for jumpers, blankets, and something deliciously comforting to eat.

Autumn is made for food like this.

Proper food. Generous food. Food that warms you from the inside out.[Lamb Minted Hot Pot

This combines a harmony of classic ingredients – carrots, onions, potatoes and mushrooms. Fry off the onions with herbs or spices.

A combination of fennel and cumin seeds dry fried before the onions and rapeseed oil makes a spicy change from herbs. Then, literally add the rest, just covering the ingredients with an appropriate stock.

We’ve opted for lamb mince in this recipe (for speed), which can be easily rolled into meatballs and browned off before going into the stew, together with a couple of good teaspoons on our garden sweet Mint Sauce.

But, you can’t beat slow-cooked shoulder – the real thing.

CHEF’S TIP:

Enrich the gravy with a good dollop of our Real Tomato Ketchup and a couple of teaspoons of garden sweet Mint Sauce. They add depth to the flavours already developing.]

So, think bubbling casseroles, golden-topped pies, hearty one-pots and steaming bowls of soup, filled with the goodness of fresh vegetables and packed with flavour.

And, the beauty of comfort cooking is that it doesn’t need to be complicated.

In fact, some of the best autumn suppers begin with what’s already in the kitchen. Perhaps a few seasonal vegetables, a handful of store-cupboard favourites and a little inspiration.

Add a spoonful of something from Stokes and suddenly an everyday dish has a little more depth, a little more character and a whole lot more flavour.[A pack of diced beef and assorted vegetables from the weekend’s supermarket crop. A good stock, and the sweet dates and Persian spices of Stokes amazingly grown up Brown Sauce – try it!]

From rich, warming sauces to bold, savoury seasonings, Stokes is all about making good food taste even better, giving you the freedom to take a simple recipe and make it your own.

A splash here, a spoonful there, a taste, a tweak … and before you know it, you’ve created something that smells irresistible and has everyone asking when dinner’s ready.[The more you put in, the more you get out. We’re talking effort. This Beef Crumble adds a simple twist. Who would have thought that adding an innovative crumble topping to a savoury mince dish would create such refreshing texture to the meal – what a joy! RECIPE HERE]

So, as the leaves turn and the nights draw in, let’s celebrate the simple pleasures of autumn cooking. Big pans, generous portions, plenty of flavour and food made to be shared.[Chicken, Pumpkin & Chorizo Stew – an absolute winner as the season develops. Try it now, and you’ll put it at the top of your winter comforts list. RECIPE HERE.]

Because, when the weather outside is turning colder, there’s nothing quite like coming home to something delicious bubbling away on the hob, or waiting to be ladled into a warm bowl.[Butchers sausage cooked to perfection in 15 minutes in the Air Fryer while assorted veg bubble in a chicken stock, made richer still with a spoonful of Stokes Classic English Mustard.

The buttery mash is ready, with a good spoonful of Creamed Horseradish spooned through it.]

Welcome home.

A few seasonal vegetables, a handful of store-cupboard favourites and a little inspiration. Veg can be so much more than neat rows of boiled this and that.  [Somewhere in the background there’s an escalope of chicken in a creamy sauce enrichened with a dash of English dry cider and Stokes Dijon Mustard.

The star is the colourful display of veg, cooled then brought back to life in a wok with butter and popping wholegrain mustard – our own Cider & Horseradish Mustard. Beautiful.]

September has a habit of sneaking up on us. None moreso than this extraordinary year.

One minute we’re still basking in the summer’s sunshine, the next, the supermarket shelves and farm-shops are quietly migrating.

Already, root vegetables are marching in, and the pumpkins appear to have jumped the starting gun.[So much more than mashed potato, the Patron Saint of Autumnal food. The Colcannon is traditionally an Irish dish of buttery mashed potatoes and cabbage. A simple side, made even better with a spoonful of our wholegrain Cider & Horseradish Mustard warming and popping its way through the mash.]

This year, the weather has had its say, bringing some of the autumn harvest along rather earlier than expected.I’ve picked my allotment pumpkins already. It’ll be Chicken, Pumpkin & Chorizo Stew on Saturday, and Spicy Pumpkin Soup in the week.

Suddenly there are roots aplenty, happily rubbing shoulders with French beans, aubergines, gloriously bright peppers, onions by the armful and an impressive supporting cast of squash.

And then there are the tomatoes, abundant, ripe and impossible to ignore.[Vegetable Medley. It’s basically absolutely anything you like – all cooked together in a little stock, making it both the vegetable star AND the gravy all in one. Include some pulses for extra heart!

Here, we’ve used Cannellini beans to the carrots, onion, celery, fennel, tenderstem and waxy spuds. Just add sausage, lamb chops, salmon steaks…]

This is the moment when vegetables deserve to stop being the supporting act and take centre stage.

Fresh, local produce needs little fuss: treat it kindly, let its colour and character shine, and combine it with other vegetables that make it sing.A generous one-pot dish is the perfect September solution. A plated jigsaw of texture, colour and flavour, all getting to know each other as they cook.

Which brings us rather neatly to Ratatouille. That wonderfully unfussy French classic was practically invented for this moment. Aubergines, peppers, onions and tomatoes coming together in a rich, fragrant celebration of the late-summer garden.

Add a little Real Tomato Ketchup, plenty of seasoning and the right amount of time, and suddenly a humble pile of vegetables becomes something you genuinely look forward to eating.[Ratatouille doesn’t just look good, it tastes amazing too. Eat it on its own with a hunk  of buttered French loaf; or serve it with … well, whatever you like. We had it with a nice pork chop earlier this week. RECIPE HERE.]

September, it seems, isn’t the end of summer after all. It’s simply the season changing your menu.

Your taste migration.

Fridge Soup

Wilted tenderstem broccoli, wabbly carrots, onions starting to seed, limp celery, cross-eyed potato, a shake of dried mixed herbs. Whatever’s lurking in the fridge.

Fry in a little butter and oil, add boiling water and a stock cube or pot. Simmer ’till the veg softens and blitz with a hand blender (not got one? ask for one for Christmas!)

Now, taste, season, add a couple of good shakes of our Real Tomato Ketchup and a spoon (or two) of Chilli Jam.

Delicious.Rustic Mushroom Soup

Though I say it myself, it’s a cracker. The ‘rustic’ element is achieved using different types of mushrooms and blitzing to different textures – rough through to smooth.

Enjoy the RECIPE HERE.Courgette, Thyme & Mint Soup

Courgettes, mushroom, onion, pancetta, cheese – this soup has everything and tastes amazing. It’s a real winner with a bacon sandwich and our Real Brown Sauce.

Enjoy the RECIPE HERE.Pumpkin / Butternut Squash Soup

In just a few weeks, you’ll cut faces in them and waved them goodbye. If that’s all you do, you’ll have missed a trick.

In just a few chop, fry, stir, simmer, taste moments, you can turn the above …

…into this.

See and enjoy this so simple RECIPE HERE.Spicy Beef Taco Soup

There’s a bit more to this, but well worth the effort. Let us know what you think as you try the RECIPE HERE.