Toad In the Hole: Suffolk Sausages in Yorkshire Pudding

This January my Instagram and Facebook feeds have been bombarded with pictures of fridges filled with salad, fruits and vegetables. Don't get me wrong, out of any one in the family, I eat the most green foods, often having a salad in place of their traditional Sunday fry-up... But carrot sticks alone are not going to get me through the winter! As the most depressing month of the year, I want to be eating glorious comfort food, that doesn't hurt my purse.

This recipe for Toad In The Hole is lovely eaten by itself but also nice with green beans, mash and gravy. For the Yorkshire pudding, I turn to Delia, who's recipe I will insert below; for the sausages, of course I turn to Andrew's! I've tried the supermarket ones that are made using artificial skins and they're just not the same, with either no flavour or too much fat. AND for this week only, all Andrew's sausages are 10% off! 

Heat your oven to 220C, then add a dish with sausages and a splash of cooking oil to the oven.

Now make the batter for your Yorkshire pudding. You will need:

75g plain flour - 1 egg - 75ml milk - 55ml water - salt and pepper to season 

Such a small amount (very cheap!) will make enough for four people, so just double and split between two dishes if you would like to make for a larger amount. 

Delia then says: "Make up the batter by sifting the flour into a bowl and making a well in the centre. Break the egg into it and beat, gradually incorporating the flour, and then beat in the milk, water and seasoning (an electric hand whisk will do this in seconds.)" 

The time it takes to do this will have left about 10 minutes for the sausages to start cooking and the pan to get really hot. The heat really is the secret behind a well risen Yorkshire pudding. The batter needs to start sizzling the minute it hits the pan. 

Once you've poured the batter over the sausages leave for 35 minutes until well browned and risen. Serve with gravy for a no nonsense cheap meal or with a few extra vegetables if you're feeling too guilty! 

For more about how Andrew's sausages are made, and another easy sausage recipe click here. 

Christmas Dinner

Happy Christmas everyone! I'm sure none of you will be reading this on Christmas Day but hope you all enjoyed your meat and had a lovely time with friends and family. I was lucky enough to have two special Christmas dinners, one with friends at Lola's gorgeous Suffolk cottage which included a delicious St.George's chicken with pigs in blankets, and Abi's homemade sage and onion sausage meat balls. The second was Christmas day which I also ended up cooking as everyone else fell asleep. It was only the four of us, so we had a turkey crown without the legs and I made Abi's sausage meat balls as they were so delicious the first time!

Giving the girls some tips for carving the chicken, pretending I'm a domestic goddess when it always goes wrong at home. 

Couldn't keep them away from picking at the yummy bits left on the carving board. 

Our beautiful roast with all the trimmings was delicious.

At home, I put herbs and streaky bacon on the turkey crown. It looks more like a dinosaur, I got carried away, but it tasted delicious! I also put some water in the bottom of the pan while cooking so that the onion, garlic and carrots didn't burn. If the water evaporates you can always add more throughout the cooking. It helped me make a delicious gravy at the end too! 

These are the stuffing balls inspired by the ones my friend Abi made at the weekend. I added 500g of sausage meat to some finely chopped sage and onion and breadcrumbs. Instead of normal breadcrumbs I used croutons and bashed them with a rolling pin in a sandwich bag, mainly because it was all I could find in our cupboard, but I think it made making breadcrumbs extremely easy. Abi's top tip is to sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top for an extra crispy outside. Baked for 20-30 minutes. 

 I added some honey and thyme to some cocktail sausages because quite frankly by that point I was sick of looking at pigs in blankets. Baked for 20 minutes. 

Wishing you all a very happy new year, 

L x

Christmas Madness

Today has been such an overwhelming day, and I feel like I have to share it because I don't think anyone could ever imagine what can go on in a little high street butchers shop! Today and tomorrow are the two days that customers collect their orders for Christmas. For the 12 days previous all the butchers have worked without a single day off, starting at 6/7am and some days not coming home until 9pm in order to prepare and allocate every single meat order. I have no idea how they keep going, I am in awe of how physically hard they work.

7am. There were already a few customers avidly waiting for the doors to open. I started making pigs-in-blankets with Beth fresh for the counter. I am so happy we managed to make these as I know in previous years people have asked me, and we just haven't had the time or staff to do so! I know having a nose around the supermarkets it is hard to work out where the meat for this sort of product comes from so it's nice that we could give customers something that they know is 100% a Suffolk product.

10am. I started serving customers, running up and down stairs like a mad woman to collect turkeys and different meat joints ordered. I love serving at Christmas because there is such a buzz and love thinking about all the gorgeous meals people are going to cook for family and friends. Arthur who helps filling up the counter went and took these pictures of the queue and shop early afternoon, and as customers kept telling me, the length didn't change much throughout the day.

 

3am. Dad finally noticed I hadn't stopped all day so I ran to Crabtree's for a coffee and cake, but when the queue's like it is, and knowing how hard the boys have worked for two weeks it's impossible to stop any longer than it is needed to wolf down a slice of Victoria Sponge! Late afternoon Jock, who is now retired but was my Dad's first employee, came in to give us a tin of sweets. At this point I was so tired I thought I was going to get emotional... It sounds so stupid but when the shop was established 20 years ago (it's nearly as old as me!) it was half the size it was, their was only Dad and Jock working in it in a dead high street, and some years my Dad was so overworked and physically exhausted we had no family life at all... So to then see the endless queue in a buzzing high street and Christmas cards thanking the butchers for the service they contribute to the high street makes my heart swell with pride. Knowing how important the shop is to the community makes all those years of Andrew's hard work and sacrifice somehow worth it.

Chicken Breast & Wing White Wine Casserole

For my fourth week of eating local produce I have chosen another relatively simple dish that is easy to adapt to the leftover vegetables you may have in the fridge. Chicken breast and wing portions are also much cheaper per kilo than a filleted chicken breast so aside from the bottle of wine, this meal makes a relatively inexpensive dish for the whole family. At Andrew's, we sell two kinds of chicken that are bred and reared in Suffolk: firstly an economical barn reared variety which is fed on a natural antibiotic-free diet and left to roam in a big lofty barn, and secondly the famous Sutton Hoo free range chicken which is slow grown, again on a natural diet, for a full delicious flavour. For this recipe I have used the barn reared variety as it is much cheaper and still rather tasty. 

Ingredients
1 Chicken Breast and Wing Portion Per Person | 1 Bottle of White Wine (I feel any will do but don't go too cheap!) | 1 Onion peeled and roughly chopped into segments | A selection of local vegetables (I have chosen local Trimley mushrooms and Suffolk carrots, I know lemons are by no means local but i wanted to use up what was in the fridge!) | A handful of sage - this is a great herb to have in the garden, I use it in a lot of cooking so is much cheaper than buying sage from a shop each time |

Preheat the oven to 180C | Add all the ingredients to a casserole dish, pouring over the bottle of wine last: this should just cover all your ingredients but if you don't think there is enough liquid just add a little water or chicken stock. | Bring to the boil on the hob to get the heat through your dish before placing in the oven, with the lid on, for an hour and a half | After this time move the chicken and veg to a heated serving dish and place the casserole back on the hob to reduce down the liquid to make a gravy, perhaps adding a stock cube to thicken if you would like | Serve with rice, crusty bread, or potatoes depending on what you fancy!

Nedging Lamb with Suffolk Vegetables

This month Transition Ipswich have launched the 30-Mile-Food-Challenge, an initiative to get Suffolk consumers eating the best produce the county has to offer. I'm really proud of the work Dad has put in to now be selling so much meat bred in Suffolk, so I thought I would offer up four recipes over the coming weeks using as much local produce as possible.

One of the difficulties of selling local meat has always been that out of a small herd, as is often the case, naturally only a small percentage will be of the high specification that produces quality meat. However, we have been really lucky to meet some great suppliers this last year who help us source meat from a selection of high-welfare Suffolk farms. Such is the case with all of our lamb; in the spring and summer months we are able to offer the flavourful and tender Nedging Lamb, whilst looking to other local farms as the lamb gets older into the autumn. 

 I popped into the shop this afternoon to get a leg of lamb, garlic and rosemary from the garden in hand, for Dad to prepare this delicious roast for me. First he deboned and rolled the leg, making it easier to carve later. He then placed the sprigs of rosemary underneath the string like so: 

He then made some mini pockets in the meat with the tip of his knife and placed in chunks of peeled garlic.

We already debone and roll lamb leg joints for customers but we were discussing this afternoon whether we could sell them prepared with herbs and garlic. What do you think, is it something you would buy? Once home I roasted in the oven for approx 1 hour 40 minutes at 190C in a fan oven. I used a whole leg of lamb which would normally serve 6-8 people, but we have kept what we didn't eat for lunches during the rest of the week. 

 I served the lamb with a medley of Suffolk vegetables; in particular Suffolk Maris Piper potatoes  from Waitrose, which make the best roasties, and delicious fresh Runner Beans from Hollowtrees Farmshop, Semer. 

If you have any questions about how to recreate this meal at home please leave a comment below! 

L x

Blueberry Sponge

This week's recipe is completely off subject, but due to request, I had to include this delicious blueberry sponge that I have made for the boys in the shop when they are working hard on a Saturday. It is again a recipe taken and adapted from Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Italy, one of my favourite cookbooks that I absolutely love, as much for its pictures and stories of Italian life as for its tasty recipes.

Ingredients 
butter for preparing the cake tin
4 large eggs (all of Andrew's eggs are free range from the local Gate Farm, Suffolk)
270g soft golden caster sugar
180g unsalted butter, melted
115ml extra virgin olive oil
155ml milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
400g plain flour
1.5 teaspoons of baking powder
a pinch of sea salt
zest of 1 lemon grated
zest of 1 orange grated
one large punnet of fresh blueberries (jamie uses 600g but I have found that 350g is plenty)


Preheat the oven to 175C | Generously butter a 25cm/9.5 inch cake tin, line the base with greaseproof paper, and set aside | Either by hand or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk, beat the eggs and sugar for about 10 minutes until thick and pale yellow | Add the butter, extra virgin olive oil, milk and vanilla seeds, and mix well | Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt | Add the lemon and orange zest and stir with a wooden spoon until thoroughly blended | Set aside for 10 minutes to allow the flour to absorb the liquid.

Stir about a quarter of your blueberries or grapes into the batter, spoon it into your prepared cake tin and smooth out the top with a spatula | Place the cake tin in the centre of your preheated over and bake for 15 minutes, the remove it from the oven and scatter the remaining blueberries over the top | Gently push them down into the cake, then return it to the oven for another 30 to 40 minutes until the top is a deep golden brown and the cake feels quite firm | Put the tin on a rack to cool | After ten minutes run a knife along the sides of the pan and turn out your cake.

Parisian Inspiration

I wasn't able to cook this weekend as I was in my favourite city, Paris, visiting a friend who currently lives there. Despite all good intentions to find meat and cheese recipes my diet consisted mostly of chocolate crepes and brioche- my weakness! Yet strolling the Parisian streets I was in awe of the beautiful presentation and design the Parisians bring to their food and shops.

At Les Deux Magots, famous for the writers and artists that used to go there, where I sat and watched the world go by. You know when food looks this good it is going to taste delicious! 

Nearly every bakery I came across had the most beautiful shop fronts and were filled with items that looked so delicious you wanted to buy one of everything- nothing like the Greggs stores we have dotted over the country in their place. When I am in the shop, Dad is constantly telling us to check the display and how everything looks to the customer and I think this makes for a much nicer shopping experience.

With projects and plans in the pipe line that may involve packaging, it was interesting to see how these herbs are bottled and how the simplicity of the design makes them look so much nicer than standard herbs and spices we find in the supermarkets. In fact I found these herbs in a local corner shop; it was inspiring to find such good design across the spectrum.

While this wasn't the most beautiful butchers shop in the world it was great to see the shop was completely open to the street for everyone to see what they had on offer. While the British weather permits us from opening up the shop, we definitely want to work on shop visibility from the street. I was also inspired to see samples on the top of the counter, something I definitely want to introduce! 

Andrew's Website

After months of taking pictures, writing about everything we do, and working on layout and style, my plans have finally been realised! So I'm very proud to direct you to the new website for our butchers shop at www.andrewsqualitybutchers.co.uk Take a browse and see what we do; the site includes information on where all our meat is from, special services we offer throughout the year, and a little bit about the shop's background. Here's a quick preview below...

Q GUILD

The Q Guild is a national guild representing "the highest quality butchers and independent meat retailers in the UK". Naturally it is an organisation that we are really proud to be apart of as Q Guild status is only awarded to those up keeping the highest standards: not only in quality of meat, but also in hygiene. We were especially pleased to be awarded a distinction in both quality and hygiene this week. The Q Guild is also great for meeting other peers in the industry to bounce around new ideas. Next week we are inviting some butchers from the southern eastern region to show them our shop and to visit our spring season lamb being born... Very exciting, so look out for pictures soon! 

Joyeuses Fêtes

I'm absolutely in love with the packaging on the Le Rustique Camembert this Christmas. We're selling this delicious Camembert in mini or large whole cheeses, or alternatively by the slice on demand. They would make for the perfect present in a Christmas hamper or look great brought out whole to slice at a dinner party with wine, crackers and grapes. Alternatively why not try out this festive whole baked camembert recipe, from Jamie Oliver one of my favourite chefs, it looks deliciously easy but would certainly impress at Christmas parties.

Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken Breasts

First created to use up feta and olives in the fridge, this is one of my favourite things to cook all year round even if it does sound particularly summery.  Easy to cook when entertaining, as it can all be prepared before hand, you can adapt this recipe for individual tastes and budgets. We do a lovely range of olives at Andrew's and for this recipe I use the Mix Italia - a lovely blend of black and green olives as well as capers and peppers. The sweet flavours balance out the Greek feta we sell perfectly, but if you prefer say plain black olives, I would use some chopped cherry tomatoes in with the stuffing. I use Serrano ham to wrap the chicken breasts because of its robust flavour that is slightly stronger than Parma ham, but cheaper alternatives such as streaky bacon can also be used.

Ingredients for 6 people
6 chicken breasts, as large as possible.
6-12 slices of Serrano ham 
1 pack of Greek Feta finely diced
150 -200 grams of Mix Italia Olives finely chopped 
Dried mixed herbs 
Fresh basil finely chopped
Extra Virgin Olive oil, black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 190°C. Then mix the chopped feta, chopped olives, and herbs in a bowl. Drizzle with plenty of olive oil and sprinkle with pepper for seasoning. 
Slice open your chicken breasts lengthways to butterfly them, being careful not to cut all the way through. 
The Serrano ham may be small slices it all depends in which case you may want to use two slices per chicken breast, this is up to you. 
Lay out your ham on a chopping board, place your open chicken breasts on top, and divide the mixture between as shown. This then makes it easier to close your chicken breast and wrap the Serrano ham around the breast to keeping the mix within. Secure with a cocktail stick if necessary. Place on baking tray and put into pre-heated oven for 30 minutes. Presenting the chicken breasts cut in half allows you to check they are completely cooked inside before plating up. Serve on a bed of salad for a light meal,  or with rice, vegetables and gravy for something a little heartier. 

Gammon in Suffolk Cider

Besides prosciutto I'm not a big ham fan, but I absolutely loved the tender gammon mum home-cooked last Christmas and have since cooked it whenever I fancy a change from other roasts! Our Suffolk gammon joints make a tasty and economical alternative dinner, and with some leftover makes tasty sandwiches too. What else to cook it in than Aspall’s cider also produced in Suffolk.

Ingredients 

One of Andrew's Suffolk gammon joints, 2kg will serve 6 people in itself or 4 people with more to eat cold. Ask us if unsure!

A bottle of Aspall’s Suffolk Cider (original or flavour of your choice)

2 bay leaves and a sprig of fresh thyme 

For the glaze, honey or golden syrup and course sea salt crystals or cloves. 

Place your gammon joint in a large saucepan and pour over the cider and enough water to just cover the meat. Add your bay leaves and herbs. 

Bring to the boil and then cook at a simmer for 20 minutes per 500g (1h20m for 2kg)

At this stage the gammon will be cooked and deliciously tender, however it is lovely to crisp up the outside layer of fat in the oven with a tasty glaze. This needn’t be complicated. Simply score the fat with a sharp knife in either traditional diamonds or parallel lines. Then look to your store cupboard for with honey or golden syrup and brush over. Press in crushed sea salt crystals for extra crunch or cloves for decoration. Bake in a hot oven (190-200°C) for 30 minutes or until golden and crispy. Serve with traditional roast accompaniments in winter time and enjoy!