Pots, Soups & Stockings

There’s something truly satisfying about One-Pot cooking and it’s not just the fact that (in theory) you have only one cooking pot to clean after supper.

It is so good to watch the dish grow and the flavours intensify as you add each element – meat, vegetables, herbs, spices, stock, Stokes, seasoning – and watch it simmer away, filling the kitchen, hall and house with delicious smells ……until – BOOM – supper’s ready guys.

Using Stokes Sauces as ingredients takes those flavours to new heights and their intensity (ironically) to intoxicating depth.One-Pot Lamb Tagine

From the Mediterranean coastline of North Africa – Tunisia or Morocco – Lamb Tagine served with sweet peppers and vegetables couscous and tabbouleh. ‘Love’ James Martin’s recipe HERE  or our own Resident Chef Andy’s recipe HERE with ras el hanout and preserved lemons.

CHEF’S TIP:

Add our Cranberry & Orange Sauce (steeped in Ruby Port) to enhance the sweetness of the dish. And shake in a dollop or two of our Real Brown Sauce for its rich dates and heady Persian spices. Cheap & Cheerful Hearty Cassoulet

Chef’s wholesome recipe – HERE – is a healthy collection of leeks, carrots, onion and swede with haricot beans all celebrating the sausage meat balls in this one-pot wonder.All-in Lamb Casserole

1. One and a half kg of diced shoulder makes a family pot like this.
2. Brown off the lamb with 100kg of unsmoked lardons then coat with flour.
3. Add 750ml of chicken stick and a great handful of chopped onion and root veg, including several waxy potatoes.
4. Bring the pan to the boil, then down to a simmer, adding 2tbsp (or more) of our Real Tomato Ketchup (better, natural flavour than purée) and 2 or 3 tsp of our sweet garden Mint Sauce.
5. Cover and simmer for an hour; check the seasoning and flavours adjusting as needed; simmer for 20 more minutes (uncovered) to thicken up the sauce.
6. Serve, smile and relax.

Pumpkin / Butternut Squash Soup

Just a few weeks ago, you cut faces in them and waved them goodbye. If that’s all you did, you 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.

Other soups to play with your taste buds include:Courgette, Thyme & Mint Soup.

Another simple chop, cook, simmer and blitz creates this light lunchtime soup with sweet garden Mint Sauce – 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 out – HERE.

Food Lovers love food.

So…

Food Lovers love something deliciously uncompromising to say Happy Christmas – whether giving or receiving.

It could be a Stokes Stocking Filler or simply a jar of something special like this Coronation Sauce – how about Coronation Eggs Benedict to start the Festive Feast?Whatever your plans for Christmas, take Stokes with you. A Boxing Day Butty wouldn’t be the same without Stokes Cranberry & Orange Sauce (steeped in Ruby Port).This is just the start, with more to come over the few short weeks ahead.

Cheese without Chutney is like Christmas without … The Cheesboard Collection:The perfect gift for someone special who is partial to a little cheese and wine, containing 4 of our most popular relishes and chutneys:

Stokes Fig Relish – A sweet fig relish with a slight tartness, brimming with dried figs (60%) and made with cider vinegar and molasses for a great complement to cheese.(great with other things too.)

Stokes Chilli Jam – A delicious sticky jam for cheese that is just oozing with flavour from the sweet chilli peppers and red peppers. Particularly good with mature cheddars and soft brie.

Stokes Red Onion Marmalade – A red onion relish made with sticky black treacle and rich balsamic vinegar. Fully flavoured with a delicious sweet sauce.

Stokes Sticky Pickle – A scrumptiously sticky pickle with our own unique blend of vegetables in a sweet and spicy sauce made with molasses and black treacle. Yum!

This soup it absolutely the best I’ve ever had. It’s souperlative!

Q: Why did the hipster burn his tongue? A: Because he ate his soup before it was cool.

Q: Is chicken soup good for your health? A: Not if you’re the chicken.

Q: How do you know when it is too cold to picnic outside? A: You chip your tooth on your soup!

Q: What font does alphabet soup use? A: Times New Ramen.

Q: What do you call a chicken in a hot tub? A: Soup.

The Japanese restaurant serves the best soups. It will always make miso happy.

That’s it for now. I’m off to take stock!