More Christmas Cake Designs

Last batch of christmas cakes for Radmore Farm Shop!
Now to start on the mince pies!!

Snowflake and Star design christmas cake

Snowman design christmas cake

Holly wreath design christmas cake

Fruit Tarts

We have an abundance of fruit in the village store at The Old Red Lion today so I got creative!
Sweet pastry tart cases filled with custard and topped with a mixture of fresh fruit glazed with apricot jam. Find them on sale at Radmore Farm Shop, Cambridge tomorrow afternoon.

Fresh Fruit Tarts

Fresh Fruit Tarts

The Northamptonshire Food & Drink Awards 2013-2014

I have never considered entering a food competition before and, to the best of my knowledge, have never worked in an establishment that would aspire to win any kind of award for their business. I have now!!!!!
The Rogers family have spent years of hard graft building their businesses and take great pride in everything they do. As an outsider looking in I can see they set themselves goals and, as each goal is achieved, set the bar just a little bit higher!
Now that The Old Red Lion seems to be establishing itself as quite a popular and well liked village pub with a reputation for serving good, quality homemade food in a warm, friendly atmosphere it is time for the next goal- To Win Awards!
We were made aware of The Northamptonshire Food & Drink Awards in the form of a letter from Heygates , our local mill, from where we are supplied with all of the flour we use in the pub.
It seems that Heygates are sponsoring 'Artisan Local Product of the Year' within the competition and suggested that it might be a category that we considered entering.
"Artisan" we discovered on research, describes a product handmade by traditional methods.
Vicky & I, to say the least, got a little excited at the prospect of entering this category. With her passion for homemade cakes and mine for pies we knew we wanted to have a go.
  The entrance forms were daunting I must say. Lots of writing to describe the product, why it was considered Artisan, where ingredients were sourced from, why it was value for money and proof that it was made locally in Northamptonshire.
But we did it, and the forms are signed, sealed and, hopefully by Monday, will be delivered.
So I guess you now all want to know what our entrance products are?
For Vicky, she decided that her lemon drizzle cake would be best to enter as it sells best out of all her cake range. With flour from Heygates and free range eggs from Radmore farm it certainly is made with local produce and all the beating, whisking, lemon zesting, juicing  and baking certainly make it eligible as an "Artisan" product.

Vicky's Homemade Lemon Drizzle Cake

And for me? Well I chose from the many pies that I make to enter my steak and ale pie with bubble and squeak topping. Made from the best beef from Radmore Farm, flour from Heygates and even potatoes grown on the farm it also is certainly made from local produce and with the braising, rubbing ,rolling, mashing, and chopping I certainly would consider it "Artisan" also!



 

Steak & Ale Pie with 'Bubble &Squeak' Topping

So for now all we can do is wait, with our fingers tightly crossed!!!!!!!

In addition to these entries we have also entered Toby into "Young Chef Of The Year" so best of luck to him and The Old Red Lion is entered into "Food Pub Of The Year". We await our mystery customers to dine with us in the very near future!

Focaccia - Bread Challenge No 6

As I reach number 6 of my dough challenge I would firstly like to thank my bosses Ben Aveling and Vicky Rogers for being so supportive,interested and encouraging for what I am doing and secondly would very much like to welcome any new reader who has found their way here via The Old Red Lion or Radmore farm Shop facebook and twitter feed. I hope that you enjoy the read, attempt the recipe or even just pop along to the pub and enjoy the taste of traditional homemade bread.
So today let's talk Focaccia!
Focaccia - a light Italian flatbread made from a soft dough and flavoured with olive oil.
 It had been my intention to attempt this bread nearer the end of my challenge as I thought it was a more complex dough to make but, having completed the challenge successfully today, I concur that it wasnt any harder than my previous challenges and that it is truly a gorgeous soft bread if eaten fresh from the oven.
Ingredients:
500g Strong White Bread Flour
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 1/2 Tsp Fast Action Yeast
1-2 Tbsp Finely Chopped Fresh Rosemary Sprigs
6 Tbsp Olive Oil
300ml Lukewarm Water

1 Green Pepper
8 Sun-Dried Tomato halves
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 clove garlic
Sea Salt Flakes & Freshly Ground Black Pepper.
A few sprigs Rosemary.

Method:
Combine the flour,salt and yeast in a bowl. Stir in the chopped rosemary and add the oil. Mix in enough of the lukewarm water to form a soft and slightly sticky dough. Turn out the dough on to a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and pliable - usually about 10 minutes. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and turn over so it's coated in oil. Cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for about an hour in a warm area.
While the dough is rising prepare the topping.
Deseed the pepper and cut into 2cm chunks. Put into a mixing bowl with 2tbsp olive oil and stir round until coated. Heat a frying pan and chargrill the pepper over a high heat until speckled with dark-brown patches. Put back into the bowl, add the crushed garlic and a little salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Roughly chop the sun-dried tomatoes.
When the dough has risen punch down into it to deflate and disperse the gas. Turn the dough onto an oiled baking tray, press and shape into a rough square with your hands. Press your fingers into the dough to make dimples.

Poke fresh rosemary sprigs into these dimples, scatter the tomatoes over and top with the pepper mixture. Leave to rise for a further 20 minutes and turn on your oven to preheat to 220C/425F/gas7.
When risen, drizzle the rest of the olive oil over the top and season with salt and pepper and put in the oven.

Bake for 10mins,then reduce the temperature to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and cook for a further 15mins until the edges and base are a good golden brown.

Best served warm and certainly a big hit amongst the staff and customers last night! A lovely soft and tasty bread.

Green Pepper and Sun-Dried Tomato Focaccia