Archive for December, 2011

A Selection of Christmas Recipes for the holidays

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

Shaun’s Famous Stuffing Recipe

  • 300gms Whole Chestnuts
  • 60 gms Whole dried Apricots
  • a tblspn of fresh Parsley
  • 1 sprig of Thyme
  • The zest and Juice of a lemon

    Blend all these together, and then mix well with 500g good pork sausage meat.
    Either use to stuff the turkey or rolled joint in the usual way, or make into balls and bake for 10 to15 mins in a hot oven.

    Makes an incredibly tasty stuffing -  as served in the Orchard Café!

Bubble & Squeak

  • Mash all your left over vegetables, either by hand or with a blender.
  • Add a splash of tabasco sauce, seasoning and gently saute in olive oil until slightly crispy on the outside
  • Serve with a fresh poached egg OR a selection of cold meats and a good chutney

Winter Root Vegetable soup

  • Using a blender, puree any leftover vegetables and put into saucepan
  • Add 1 pint of vegetable stock and half a teaspoon of garlic puree, bring to boil
  • Season to taste with cracked black pepper and sea salt
  • Serve with a swirl of cream
  • Diced turkey or ham, or crispy smoked bacon can be added if required

3 Cheese & Pinenut Tart

  • Using either homemade or ready made pastry, line a flan tin with shortcrust pastry
  • Blind bake the tart case putting baking parchment and baking beans in the centre of case to ensure that the pastry doesn’t ‘bubble’.  This will take approx 15 mins
  • Use any odd bits of cheese you may have left in your fridge, doesn’t matter if they are hard soft or blue (in fact this makes the tart tastier!) – dice the cheeses and place on top of pastry
  • Toast some pinenuts and scatter on top of cheeses
  • Mix together 6 eggs and half a pint of double cream.  Pour this over tart.
  • Bake for approx 20 mins at 180c (or until light brown all over)
  • Allow to cool, serve slightly warm with mixed green leaves

New Year Risotto

  • Chop onion, celery and garlic and gently sauté in olive oil and 1 knob of butter
  • Add 400g risotto rice, stirring constantly.  Alow to cook through for approx 15 mins
  • Add 2 glasses of white wine or vermouth – keep stirring until wine cooked into rice
  • Turn down the pan to simmer and add 1 ladle of stock and pinch of salt – stir through and then add another ladle and so on.
  • Very important to allow each ladle of stock to be absorbed into the rice before adding the next.  Taste rice to check cooked.
  • Remove pan from heat, add any left over cheese, mushrooms, vegetables, meat (just one or mix and match!) and stir into rice with a knob of butter. Place lid on pan and ‘rest’ pan for 2/3 mins allowing ingredients to ooze into each other and serve with green salad.

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Anya’s Christmas Biscuit Recipe

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Ingredients

225g softened butter
360g brown sugar
340g sieved plain flour
180g roasted hazelnuts coarsely chopped
360g dark chocolate buttons
80g candied orange peel
11/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
2 eggs lightly whisked
Pinch of ground cloves

Method

1.    Beat the butter in the mixer for approx 4 – 6 minutes, add the sugar, salt, flour and spices and mix well
2.    Add eggs to combine, then stir through the remaining ingredients
3.    Spoon the mixture onto a sheet of cling film and roll away from you to form a cylinder.
4.    Twist the end of the cylinder to seal and chill until firm.
5.    Preheat the oven to 190c
6.    Once chilled  remove the film from the biscuit mix and slice into 1cm thick slices
7.    Place biscuits on baking try and cook for 10-12 minutes

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Christmas at Orchard Park – why go anywhere else?

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Looking for inspiration ahead of the festive season? Looking for presents for all the family, ideas for your Christmas dinner and decorations to make your tree stand out from the crowd? Orchard Park in Gillingham has Christmas wrapped up.  Inside you will find locally sourced ingredients for your Christmas dinner, presents for everyone as well as Christmas trees and decorations to get you in the Christmas spirit.

Orchard Park is now in its 7th year. It was built on the Clarke family’s farmland, Lagan Farm as an outlet for their prize-winning rare breeds, joined with a well-stocked garden centre and restaurant.

Ron & Sheila Clarke of Lagan Farm have been rearing rare breeds of sheep and cattle for thirty years and are passionate supporters of traditional British breeds. When they moved to Park Farm in Gillingham in the eighties, Mr & Mrs Clarke set up the Rare Breeds Centre with a view to educating the public about Britain’s native breeds and farming activities. The Clarkes added other traditional breed such as Irish Moiled, Red Polls, Longhorns and Belted Galloways to their collection as well as a variety of sheep breeds and began selling their meat but in many ways, they were ahead of the times. ‘In those days rare breeds were very unconventional but we have always known that they produce the best meat.’ Since then, numbers of herds of rare breeds have increased all over Britain as farmers recognise the benefits of cattle that can thrive in an extensive system and the message about the quality of their meat is spreading to the consumer. Mr & Mrs Clarke now keep herds of Red Poll, British White and Irish Moiled, chosen for their tender, marbled and tasty meat. Mr & Mrs Clarke have been instrumental in championing these rare breeds and thanks to their work and others like them, the British White is no longer on the rare breed survival list. Mrs Clarke says, ‘meat produced slowly, from a grass fed animal is always going to taste better than one that is corn fed and finished in a fraction of the time.’

Lagan Farm Shop at Orchard Park, with its team of skilled butchers, is fast becoming a destination for people who value the meat they put on their table. Particularly as the Clarkes ensure that the other producers that stock their shelves share their ethos. The journey from field to shop is kept to a minimum to ensure the meat you serve at your table is of the highest quality.  White or BronzeTurkeys from Dorset, succulent hams, duck and your Christmas goose are all available from the butchers together with Orchard Park’s homemade stuffing. Orders are being taken now but last date for ordering is 20th December. The Clarke’s work is really paying off with Lagan Farm recently triumphing in the Taste of Dorset Awards, with a win in the coveted ‘Best Meat Producer’ category. All the meat stocked in the farm shop can be bought fresh or frozen and Lagan’s team of experienced butchers also produce tasty sausages, burgers and faggots and delicious home made pies, pasties and sausage rolls.  Why not top up your freezer in case of unexpected guests!!

Orchard Park is strongly aware of the importance of supporting local producers, so you will find some familiar names on their shelves including Fudges, Purbeck Icecream, Pink’s Organics, Dorset Cereals, Moore’s Biscuits, Stoate’s Flour, cakes by Lavender Blue, eggs from Blackacre Farm and coffee from Spicers in Wimborne, and those are just a few. The shelves are groaning with eye catching and tempting treats to stock your cupboards for Christmas. The farm shop is also well stocked with festive drinks from local brewers & producers. You will find beer from Keystone and Piddle breweries, Lyme Bay Wines, Burrow Hill Cider and various warming tipples from the Somerset Cider Brandy Company.
Bespoke Christmas hampers can be prepared – all you have to do is choose the contents and we will do the rest!

In the garden centre there is a huge choice of Christmas trees both natural and artificial and there are 3 varieties of needle fast trees of fantastic shape and quality.  There really is no excuse for a dowdy tree this year as in the Christmas shop you will find a wide selection of glittering decorations and sparkling lights along with garlands, Christmas stockings and candles.  Complete your decorating with a gorgeous Christmas wreath for your front door!

Presents for all the family will be easy with gifts ideas for all the family and a treasure trove for the gardening enthusiast.  Father Christmas himself will be at Orchard Park on 10th, 11th and 17th December so come along and say hello but in case you miss him we have our very own post box for Santa where Children (or grown up’s!) can send him that all important letter!

After all that shopping why not visit the Café where all kinds of festive treats including warming hot chocolates with all the trimmings, mince pies and homemade cakes are on offer daily and every Tuesday and Sunday throughout December a delicious 2 course Christmas lunch is being served.
Much of the fine food available in the farm shop is also served in the café, which caters for breakfasts, lunches and teas. Daily specials always include meat from Lagan Farm as well as fresh, sustainable fish from Brixham.

The floristry department is preparing beautiful Christmas bouquets to compliment your home or as a wonderful gift and a delivery service is available.
Come to Orchard Park for all your Christmas needs. Late Night Shopping is on Thursday 15th December.

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