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Our Moroccan Lamb has been one of our most popular dishes for nearly a decade. Why not take a moment and see what the Hairy Bikers made of the eclectic cuisine of North Africa.
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Going For Gold
Published on July 31, 2008
In eight days time the 29th modern day Olympics kicks off in Beijing and medal fever is expected to sweep the country! Already the GB team is arriving at its training camp in Macau and in just a few days they will be dashing, diving, sailing and shooting their way to a haul of medals.
Our Commercial Director Guy, is a bit of an athletics fan and was at Crystal Palace last weekend to see the athletics team in their final race before Beijing. He tips Christine Ohuruogu in the 400m, Kelly Sotherton in the Heptathlon and Philips Idowu in the triple jump. He seems to think Paula Radcliffe might grind out a result in the marathon, but that the going will be tough as she was recently injured. So best wishes to all of our gold medal hopefuls
I'm not a huge fan of athletics myself , but I do think winning gold medals is important and today I was hugely proud to hear that The Guild Of Fine Foods have awarded us three gold medals in their annual taste test of the UK finest foods. Each year, of the 5000 foods they taste test, only thirty coveted "three star gold" awards are given and this year we have managed to win two!!
One of our dishes that won, is our Breton Chicken, which has been part of our range for years: look to your right and there it is in all its glory! It is a classic combination of fresh chicken, bacon lardons and leeks in a chive mornay sauce. On the pack we list an excellent recipe for combining it with puff pastry cases and green beans , which are in season now making it a great time to try the range. If you do buy it from Waitrose or www.ocado.com I’d be really interested to know if you think it deserves the award! Email me at charlie@bighams.com.
A day of jammy joy …
Published on July 30, 2008
What a treat awaited me today as I arrived at work. Sitting on my desk was a beautiful and luscious pot of strawberry & redcurrant jam made by our head chef Madalene from fruit picked from her garden.
As I dipped my finger in to taste Maddie’s wonderful creation we inevitably got chatting about the joys of summer fruit and what wonderful jam you can make. At home we have been making raspberry jam and I thought it might be interesting to share a few tips on raspberry varieties for any other jam aficionados out there …
Kicking off with the Glen Ample and Glenn Prosen varieties both these varieties have a distinctive and strong raspberry perfumed fragrance. The fruits tend to be large with large caviar shaped cells packed full of flavour. We reckon they are excellent for delivering a delightful and fragrant jam yummy maybe in a Victoria Sponge or Swiss Roll and always great with fresh warm scones and clotted cream.
Next up are Tulameen raspberries. These are a slightly sweeter fruit, again large and with deep red large cells and nicely fragrant. This is the most common variety grown for retail purposes, with a good yield and pests seem to stay away. As it’s slightly sweeter these raspberries are excellent for a raspberry fool, home made jelly or fresh home made raspberry ripple ice cream. As they are big and pretty impressive they make an extremely eye-catching and mouth watering choice for a Pavlova filling.
Finally we come to Allgold raspberries – much more unusual these are golden yellow in colour. It’s said that the Allgold variety has an even more exquisite flavour than the red varieties; I find them slightly tart for my liking, although they do make an interesting jelly.
Are you a raspberry pro? If so why not drop me a note and let me know which variety you reckon is the most luscious of all or alternatively let me know some interesting recipes using raspberries. I think we might even stretch to a small prize for the best savoury recipe idea …
Feeling hot, hot, hot!
Published on July 22, 2008
I don't often use this slot to talk about our food but I thought I'd zap up a quick newsflash. It looks like the UK is in for the hottest week of the summer so far. Better still the whole Bighams barbecue range is on special offer at the moment so no excuses!
In Waitrose and on www.ocado.com buy any 2 Bighams barbecue dishes and there’s £2. 50 off. So why not get some fantastic food to go with the fantastic weather? Once you've created an alfresco triumph, how about sending me some photos of the food. Pictures of your creations are beginning to flood in and in the next week or two I am going to post the best ones on the blog, so watch this space! Send them to me at charlie@bighams.com
To have a look at my BBQ range Click Here
To click straight through to www.ocado.com, Click Here
Mike and Bobby
Published on July 18, 2008
“They came in yesterday!” enthuses Mike, stall holder and centre piece of our local market. After 25 years running his stall Mike certainly hasn’t lost any of his enthusiasm for good honest veg!
In this case he is talking about his personal favourite at this time of year, the bobby bean. “All legumes are currently excellent” he continues, and without pausing for breath, he is forcing fistfuls of runner beans in to my hands. “feel these” he says “ just like velvet” When we’re in town, the wander down the High Street to see Mike is a Saturday ritual. Each week he highlights what is season and which veg he is particularly proud of at the moment.
This week he is typically vivacious, “now don’t get me wrong I love a good roast as much as the next man, but at this time of the year, I wouldn’t complain if the wife served me just a plate of veg.” he states, waving a broad bean to reinforce his point.
Mike goes on to explain that the wholesalers are full of top quality British produce at this time of year but that the return of British bobby beans are something special, pausing for thought, he explains “They just taste of summer”
So this week, try cooking with British bobby beans (also called dwarf beans) and why not send me your recipes or photos of your dishes to charlie@bighams.com. I’ll stick the best ones up here. Also expect to be hearing more from Mike he has kindly to be our resident blog veg expert! Thanks Mike