Yemi Adelekan, Author at The Stray Ferret

Yemi’s Food Stories: My slow love for avocado

Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in last year’s BBC TV’s Masterchef competition. Every Saturday Yemi will be writing on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food and sharing cooking tips– please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.

My mum introduced me to avocado over four decades ago and I wondered what she loved about a tasteless, mushy mess that discoloured quickly, or so I thought.

She loved telling us the story of how she introduced avocado to her village. As a young woman, she lived with a family in Lagos which was then Nigeria’s capital city, and they had access to imported fruits.

She discovered avocado and decided she wanted to grow them, so she took some seeds back to her parents who planted them. Other farmers took advantage of the seeds with many deciding to grow them.

Avocado is also known as butter or alligator pear and they grow well in warm climates; they are packed full of monounsaturated fatty acids and rich in many vitamins, minerals and fibre. It’s a food to add to your arsenal for weight loss.

My mum simple ate the avocado with a sprinkle of salt; it was so uninspiring that I never bothered with it after the first time I tried it.

Fast forward a few decades; the humble Avocado had become the new kid on the ‘superfood’ block. Avocado toast, the toast of all sandwiches, was pricey and the environmentalists were calculating the distance an avocado travelled and the impact on global warming.

It became the bourgeois thing to eat with Oprah famously having her own avocado farm. Every diet needs to include avocado a few times a week; I had to get on board somehow and give avocado another try so I began to look for ways to enjoy them.

It took a few attempts of guacamole until I got to like it and now, I am at a stage where I can say I enjoy it especially for brunch where I pair it with toasted sourdough, poached eggs and smoked salmon, grilled kippers, pan-fried salmon or prawns.

Avocado, flat mushrooms, sautéed kale and eggs

I enjoy avocado paired with a simple but well flavoured dressing of ratio 1:1 of lemon juice to olive oil, a pinch of gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes) for aesthetics and flavour, freshly cracked black pepper and smoked sea salt. Mix well and drizzle over sliced avocado.

I also pair my avocado with rib eye steak, flatbread, and salads. I use crushed and seasoned avocado as a topping for sweetcorn fritters finished with sweetcorn and smoky bacon-grilled pepper salsa.

Avocado, poached eggs, smoked salmon and samphire

Avocado mousse is perfect as a light and aerated toping for more elegant dinner. It can provide an air of mystery as diners wonder what is under the light and delicate green cloud. Anything from scallops, prawns and grilled fish to crispy pancetta and chorizo crumps would be perfect underneath the cloud.

It is also great for making vegan or vegetarian desserts.

I am not a huge fan of bananas as I find the flavour too overpowering especially when it is very ripe so banana cakes or breads are a no-no for me. I eat the odd banana when it still has a little bite to it. This also means that banana based smoothies are off the menu so I replace the banana with avocado to get a rich and thick smoothie.

The avocado is undetectable in the smoothie and this was my starting point of introducing them to my diet.

Here’s my recipe for Pineapple Smoothie:

Add 500g of pineapples to a blender

Add 1 medium avocado to the blender

Add a whole lemon (washed) and half the juice of a lime

Add a few fresh mint leaves and a thumb size of fresh ginger

Top with some water (for a less sweet version), or apple or pineapple juice

Blend together until smooth; taste and adjust the sweetness and texture; you can also add some cucumber slices

Serve poured over some ice for a refreshing smoothie.

I hope you give avocado a go and find ways to include them in your diet.

This weekend, I am doing three chef demos at Yorkshire Dales Food Festival and I am at Yolk Farm and Minskip Farm shop on Saturday, July 29. Drop by and come say hi if you’re in the area.

Yemi’s Food Stories: Sustainable takeaways from the Great Yorkshire Show

The Great Yorkshire, in its 164^th year, is the crème-de la crème of agricultural shows in the UK. Living in Harrogate means this show is close to my heart and for the past twelve years, I have looked out my window silently welcoming the vehicles travelling to the event.

You know my passion is food, so I wasn’t far from the food hall and cookery stages – the Great Yorkshire theatre and the Game theatre. I wished I could be in two places at the same time.

Tuesday kicked off with the cheese competition and there were many varieties of cheeses from hard to soft, savoury to sweet, butters and creams with award winners in all categories. The hives and honey pavilion was another fascinating place to be with hundreds of varieties of local honeys, shaped beeswax, bee products, honey displays, honey cakes and biscuits and alcoholic honey drinks made from fermenting honey and water with some flavours and spices resulting in really unique drinks.

My time at the Game Theatre introduced me to different game animals and birds as well as fly fishing and cooking trout in multiple ways. There was trout cured with Japanese flavours and finished with finger lime by chef Ben Wright (@that_chef_Ben), pan-cooked trout by Stephanie Moon and roasted loin of venison, served with a fondant potato, sublime parsnip purée, pickled blackberries, heritage carrots and venison jus by chef Mike Baldwin from Provenance Inns. There was also a wonderful venison summer tart by chef Mehdi Boukemach from Fodder.

The highlights from the cookery theatres included seeing the passion Yorkshire chefs have for their produces, their food, sustainable cooking and zero waste with many sharing tips on how they would use what most of us throw in the bin.

Sustainable takeaways I hope you try at home:

Onion skins – I use a lot of onions in my cooking caramelising them, flash frying them, making pepper blend with tomatoes, peppers, ginger and garlic. I always add onion skins to my stock or to my meat when braising them because I realised the skin has a lot of the flavour. Recently I made some onion skin powder by baking the skin in an oven until dried before blending to a fine powder. I use this as additional flavour for my onion-based dishes.

Herb oils – parsley, basil and chilli oils are well known, but you can do more with other herbs like dill tops, chives and spring onions. Most of us will throw away fennel fronds but they can be used to make herb oil.

Beetroot leaves – Fresh beetroots can often come with the green leafy parts but sometimes we only care about the beetroots themselves, so we chuck the leaves in the bin. The leaves are delicious sautéed with peppers and onions with spices.

I tried the smoothest vibrant green purée made from sautéed courgettes cooked in stock and blended with spinach. This was a revelation as many people only steam, pan fry or roast courgettes. It was nice to see courgettes used in a different way.

‘Salt baked turbot, caviar, cabbage, dill and lemon verbena’ by Shaun Rankin

It’s time to grow some our our own food. Farm to table, plot to table and nose to tail approaches to cooking shone through every demo with most restaurants having their own kitchen garden which is an encouragement for us to try and grow some of our own food.

Sustainable approaches to sourcing ingredients came through every chef demo session with most produces coming from local suppliers and only very rarely from outside of Yorkshire.

The variety of Yorkshire produces from cream, milk, cheeses, butter to Game, sea food from the coastlines to locally bred cows, lamb, Pork and chicken show us there are few to no reasons to not eat local. Entire meals can be created using only ingredients from Yorkshire so why not challenge yourself to do just that.

Future Stars

A final highlight for me is seeing young chefs who will be the future of Yorkshire food scene being mentored by chefs including chef Ahmed Abdalla from the Grand Hotel York whose chef, Harry Blades (@harry_blades_) won the Delifresh young chef of the year 2022 and chef Shaun Rankin mentoring young Sarah Szmit who in my opinion has a really promising future in food.

RHS Harlow Carr was well represented by their head gardener, Joe Lofthouse who provided Gilly Robinson (The Cook’s Place, Malton) with produce from the RHS garden and St Aidan’s school was well represented by a group of young ladies who made sweet and savoury dishes.

There is so much to write about so follow my food feature as I have lined up appointments with many chefs, restaurants and food companies and I will be bringing their stories to you. Watch this space.

I am doing chef demos at the Yorkshire Dale Food festivals next Saturday and will share some of my highlights from the event.

Yemi’s Food Stories: A Lamb Affair at Yorkshire Farmers Meat Company

Saturday morning brought a mini disaster as my pair of glasses broke in half and went in two different directions; it was like watching a slow motion movie as it took my brain a moment to figure out what was happening. It was a relief to know that it was my glasses and not my eyes that were moving.

After an emergency optician appointment, I made my way to the Yorkshire Farmers Meat Company which was just down the road. They provide high quality and locally sourced meat products. I enjoyed my banter with the butcher and other staff members. I was delighted to hear they read my food feature.

I wanted some chicken sausages which they didn’t have but after looking at their wide range of products, I left with lamb mince and some Barnsley lamb chops.

I was craving a challenge and wondered what I could do with the lamb mince that was more than the usual bolognese, burgers and shepherd’s pie. Lamb is a wonderful meat and minced lamb is very easy and quick to cook. It lends itself to many flavours and spices such as mint, cumin, coriander, curry and pairs well with peas, rice, potatoes and beetroot.

A well made shepherd’s pie is one of the most comforting food you can eat during the cold months and a French trimmed lamb rack is a stunning centrepiece for a dinner party.

After racking my brain for some ideas, and challenged by some recent changes to my diet, I had to get a bit creative. My first dish was inspired by middle Eastern and Indian flavours so I made lamb mince with, caramelised onions, shallots, garlic, peppers, cumin, Aleppo chillies, coriander, curry powder and smoked sea salt.

I served this along with roasted aubergines and some toasted cumin seasoned yogurt dotted with golden caramelised onions, a sprinkle of onion skin powder and some Korean chilli flakes. It was a gorgeous and delightful meal. See picture below.

My second idea for my leftover mince was a simple Yaji inspired meatballs. Yaji is an extremely popular Nigerian spice that is used to season meat grilled on hot coals giving the most amazing aroma.

The cooked meat called Suya is often eaten as a snack with cold drinks. The fiery, smoky and flavoursome Suya, a true culture icon is popular in many other West African countries and around the world.

Making Suya seasoned beef for a food critic was one of the highlights of my MasterChef UK 2022 experience.

Yaji spice is made from peanut powder, bouillon seasoning, smoked paprika, ground ginger, onion powder, garlic powder, ground cayenne pepper, white pepper and kosher salt. Some recipes also include cloves and calabash nutmeg.

The recipe originating from Northern Nigeria is a closely guarded secret and many chefs have tried to recreate it with limited success. The good thing is you can simply buy the Suya spice mix.

My meatballs turned out juicy with a red hue from the smoked paprika and Korean chilli flakes. You can buy Suya spice online so have a go at making the recipe or use the spice on any cut of meat, fish or vegetables before grilling.

**This is not for anyone with a nut allergy.

Here’s my recipe for Suya spiced meatballs

Ingredients

350g Lamb mince

1 Tbs of Suya spice

½ tsp of Onion powder

½ tsp of Ginger powder

½ tsp of Garlic powder

1 tsp of Gochujang (Korean Chilli flakes)

2 tsp of Smoked paprika

1 tsp of kosher Salt (The suya spice has some salt)

Method

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well with a wooden spatula
Make your meatballs into golf ball sizes
Place a non-stick pan onto medium heat stove and when it is hot, add the meatballs; you don’t need any oil as there’s enough fat in the lamb
Cook until golden brown on all sides
Baste constantly with the released oil to keep them moist
Check to make sure they are cooked through (use a meat thermometer or simply cut one in half). Rest for a few minutes
Serve with a sprinkle of chopped parsley and Korean chilli flakes

Tip, you can finish this in a cream based or tomato sauce and serve with potatoes, rice or pasta; alternatively add them to flatbread with some pickled carrots, a side salad and any sauce of your choice.

Next week, I will be bringing you some food highlights from the Great Yorkshire Show.

Staff at the Yorkshire Farmers Meat Company, Beulah St, Harrogate

Yemi’s Food Stories: My highlights of the Harrogate Food and Drink Festival

Summer is always agog with loads of food festivals and I was looking forward to the Harrogate Food and Drink Festival this year. It’s always exciting to see the range of local artisan products from charcuteries, honeys, chilli jams, chutneys, balsamic vinegars to different bakes and cakes.

I got to sample salt from Yorkshire Sea Salt company and was privileged to get my hands on one of their upcoming products. The salt was quite intense in flavour and a little goes a long way; the texture is perfect for crumbling between fingers, adding to salt grinders or used as a finishing salt. Richard explained their process and how it differs from other companies’ processes. I found someone who was as passionate about salt as I am.

I tasted some incredible balsamic vinegars – original flavour, white balsamic, pomegranate balsamic and apple balsamic – and I could immediately see how they could elevate marinades, salad dressings or be used to finish roasted vegetables.

Highlights from the two day event included the food demonstrations by various chefs including Scott Masey from Leeds Cookery School, Stephanie Moon from All Things Food, Owen Diaram from MasterChef UK 2023, Whaheed Rojan from Round Table Dining, Babna from Babna’s Patisserie, Norman Musa who is a chef, author and TV host, award winning Bobby Geetha from Fleur in Leeds and I get to throw myself into that mix as I did a demo on the Saturday.

What I love most about the demonstrations is the diverse and eclectic range of dishes from summer spring rolls celebrating the produces from Rudding Park Hotel Gardens by Stephanie, surprising Asian prawn noodle dish from Bobby, spicy Malaysian curry from Norman, cooking with whole chicken and chicken curry from Scott, Turmeric rice, Massaman Curry and Salmon rolled in seaweed dish from Whaheed, Mongolian sweet chilli chicken with sticky Jasmine rice from Owen and my Nigerian Jollof rice, fried plantain and Salmon with a red sauce.

The dishes were a celebration of flavours and cultures with surprising twists.

Desserts included Brioche soaked in berries from Steph and show stopping Paris-Brest, a French dessert made from choux pastry and praline flavoured cream from Babna. She created two flavours including the traditional hazel nut and almond version and a more modern one with pistachios and rose petals.

Taking part in the demo gave me an opportunity to talk about some incredible spices that aren’t commonly used such as Grains of Selim and Grains of Paradise.

Grains of Selim known by many names including African pepper, Negro pepper, Guinea pepper is from the seeds of the shrub Xylopia aethiopica and it has a musky flavour. This is toasted to release the aromas and features in Nigerian Jollof rice, pepper soup and other stews.

Yemi’s demo dish – Jollof rice, fried plantain and pepper sauce

Grains of paradise is an aromatic spice originating from West Africa with notes of cardamom, coriander, citrus, ginger, nutmeg and juniper rolled into one. It looks like black peppercorns but the more complex flavour means it is versatile for both sweet and savoury dishes.

My other highlight was connecting with fellow chefs and foodies whose passions for their crafts have resulted in change of careers, training and competing at the highest levels whilst still being really grounded.

I made some new friends and I can’t wait for next year’s event.

In the meantime, I look forward to sharing some of the recipes, new food ideas and my Jollof rice recipe with you in the coming months.

From left – chef Norman Musa, Babna from Babna’s patisserie, Yemi, and Scot Massey from Leeds School of Cookery at the back.

Yemi’s Food Stories: Making the most of honey

The past couple of weekends have been full of food adventures involving honey which is always a staple in my kitchen, given its many health benefits.

From having lemon-ginger-honey drink to stave off a chest infection, drinking honey and balsamic vinegar water before bed, to replacing sugar in many savoury and sweet dishes.

Louisa’s honey has been a feature in my past two weekends as I got to work with other chefs to create dishes using their many varieties of honey including the Acacia Ginger, Coriander, Lime, Citrus, the award winning Bosco, Acacia and Chestnut honey.

Food allows one to be creative and there’s nothing better than creating on the fly without recipes. The first event required the chefs including Gennaro Contaldo, of ‘Two Hungry Italians’, to create dishes from a range of different vegetables and meat with access to wood fired pizza oven, multiple wood fired grills and stoves.

The beetroot immediately caught my eye. I put some beetroots on the open fire and while they were roasting, I finely sliced some red onions and cooked them in olive oil with grated ginger and some pink Himalayan salt. Once the onions were deeply caramelised, I grated and added the roasted beetroots and finished this with black pepper, whiskey balsamic vinegar and ginger honey.

This is a simple and quick relish to make and goes really well with grilled meat, burgers, hummus and flat bread.

I then cooked a spatchcock quail dish using a simple marinade of Bosco honey which has a woody and intense flavour mixed with fresh oregano and thyme, lemon juice, grated habanero chilli, salt and olive oil. This was a real crowd pleasing dish ( see image below) and all it took on a really hot grill was about 9 minutes depending on the size of the quail.

My final savoury dish was squid cooked with some shallots, roasted peppers, Louisa’s lime honey, chilli, lime juice and fresh herbs. This was a really quick dish and one that I would recommend for a mid week dinner. Squid is a protein that needs to either be flash cooked in 2 – 3 minutes or slow cooked for hours.

This would be perfect as a side dish, topping for salad, couscous, rice, or an appetiser whilst waiting for the main meal. It’s a healthier alternative to battered squid rings.

The following weekend found me and a few other chefs at the BBC Good Food show in Birmingham, where I created a couple of honey inspired savoury canapes – toasted sourdough topped with prosciutto, drizzle of acacia honey, fresh thyme and micro herbs. The second one was toasted sourdough topped with labneh which is a strained cheese, sundried tomatoes, a drizzle of acacia honey and micro basil. I find the saltiness of the tomatoes and the sweetness of the honey make for one of those marriages made in heaven.

My dessert creations included carrot, ginger and coconut cake using Bosco and Ginger honey, strawberries and cream canape with ginger honey and chestnut honey crumb, whiskey balsamic and citrus honey macerated strawberries served with mascarpone on sourdough cracker.

My final creation inspired by middle eastern flavours was sourdough cracker topped with mascarpone, roasted pistachios, citrus honey and rose petals and this was tasted and complimented by Katy Truss from Fabulous Food Finds.

I hope you do more with the honey in your cupboard and you don’t just relegate it to being a drinks sweetener or toast topping. Try some of the amazing honey products that our local shops have to offer and have a go at making marinades, cocktails, sauces and bakes.

If you want to catch Yemi in action she will be giving a demonstration at The Harrogate Food Festival today at 4pm.

Yemi’s Food Stories: Making a good chicken burger

Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in last year’s BBC TV’s Masterchef competition. Every Saturday Yemi will be writing on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food – please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.

A reader suggested I visit Six Poor Folk restaurant in Knaresborough so I went there with a friend. As it was a lovely day, we decided to sit in their outdoor garden.

Service was prompt as the waiters came within minutes to take our orders but we needed a few minutes to make our choices. We chose the beef burger cooked medium and the chicken-chorizo burger both served with fries.

The beef burger arrived with the beef cooked medium as expected and came with sautéed mushrooms, cooked onions and cheese (see below). The chips were crunchy and lightly seasoned; the salad had a light and delicious dressing of balsamic vinegar and it didn’t feel oily or over-dressed.

With my chicken burger, I didn’t know whether to expect a ‘bird’s eye’ type chicken burger, a chicken escalope or schnitzel.

Escalope is beaten, flattened and breaded meat that can be fried or baked in an oven; schnitzel is a version of escalope that is fried.

Many nations have their own version of breaded meat from a Southern American favourite chicken-fried steaks, German chicken schnitzel, chicken katsu that is made from ‘unflattened’ breaded chicken to the Veal schnitzel which is Austria’s national dish but may have originated from Northern Italy as costoletta alla Milanese.

As I waited for my burger, I imagined what it could be so when it came, I quickly lifted the ciabatta bun to see sliced roasted chicken and chorizo on top of grilled ciabatta bread, and some spiced mayo which reminded me of piri-piri seasoned mayo (see main image) . It was delicious but nothing like what I thought it would be; a burger always makes me think there will be a ‘pattie’, breaded or shaped and grilled minced meat.

The roast chicken was tender and juicy and the mayonnaise melted into the bun to create a decent bite. It was more like eating a good roast chicken sandwich than eating a chicken burger.

I enjoyed dipping my chips into the Hellman’s mayonnaise that was on the table which is one of my indulgences. Overall it was a good lunch at a reasonable price and would make for a nice day out. Its closeness to Knaresborough castle and the high street means you can head out for some sight seeing after your meal.

Here’s my take on a chicken burger:

Step 1 – make chicken Kiev filled with wild garlic butter, chopped parsley and some Korean (Gochugaru) or Kashmiri chilli flakes. The chilli is for colour and not heat. Beat and flatten the chicken, place the flavoured butter in the middle before folding the edges and rolling until the butter is fully encased by the chicken.

Chill to set before breading it by first rolling in seasoned flour, then in beaten eggs before a final roll in panko bread crumps. Chill again before deep frying for 2 – 3 minutes (190°C) until golden; finish in a preheated oven (180°C) for 12 – 15 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to make sure the chicken is cooked through or until internal temperature of the chicken is 65C°. Be careful when you check it with a probe as you don’t want undo your hard work by letting the butter ooze out.

Step 2 – make your own spiced mayonnaise to go with the chips, a food processor will make an easy job of this

Step 3 – Grill your Ciabatta or sliced sourdough bread. I will use a crunchy bread so it can absorb and hold the melted butter without falling apart

Step 4 – lightly dress some fresh salad. This is the one time you can get away with an undressed salad as the melted butter is already packed full of flavour.

Step 5 – Assemble your burger with the salad, topped with the chicken and another layer of salad. I usually have pickled vegetables so I would add a bit for some extra tanginess.

Enjoy with several napkins as you will definitely need them to wipe the oozing wild garlic butter from your chin and any left over drips on the plate would be perfect for mopping with your chips.

This weekend, I am at the BBC Good Food show in Birmingham. I am next at the Harrogate Food Festival on the 24 June so hope to see you there.

Yemi’s Food Stories: Café at The Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park

Yemi’s Food Stories: a range of exotic sausages in Knaresborough

Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in last year’s BBC TV’s Masterchef competition. Every Saturday Yemi will be writing on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food – please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.

Many foods and ingredients scream ‘English’ whenever they are mentioned and one of them is sausages. You can’t have full English breakfast without sausages, there is no ‘Sausage and Mash’ without sausages, or ‘Toad in the hole’ without the toad.

A reader recommended that I go try the pies at Hutton’s in Knaresborough, but what caught my eyes when I got there were the varieties of sausages from their best selling pork sausage to others including the black pudding, pork and wild garlic, marmalade and ginger, Toulouse made from a meat blend that is half gammon and half pork and the Thai green curry.

What shone through from Alan who showed me around is the care and attention that goes into their products. They work closely with suppliers to ensure the animals used for their products are taken care of and dealt with ethically to making all sausages on site using their signature blends of spices.

Their products are proudly Yorkshire sourced as should be. Every sausage starts with a base of good quality meat, salt and black pepper before tailoring to achieve the desired flavoured profile.

Each variety of sausage inspired a different idea of a dish to pair it with.

The pork and wild garlic sausage immediately made me think of wild garlic butter and curry-oil cooked potatoes on a bed of crushed peas, wild garlic risotto or a bean cassoulet with garlic bread.

I could see the marmalade and ginger sausage working well with my breakfast of toasted bread and marmalade. It’s one of my favourite sweet and savoury breakfast pairings; I know it sounds odd having the sweetness of the marmalade with the sausage appearing to gate-crash the party but I have always had that combination. Finding this sausage resonated with me and was instant validation that I haven’t lost the plot.

Thai green curry was surprising and I reckon this would go really well with sticky rice and curry, sliced on top of noodles in a Thai inspired broth or in a flat bread with some satay sauce, crunchy carrots and bean sprouts.

The Toulouse with gammon and pork reminded me of my Christmas turkey and ham pies that’s made using left over roast ham, turkey, leeks, fresh tarragon, onions and cream with puff pastry to make the most delicious pies.

I expected this sausage to be mild in spice and meaty but when I opened it, the whiff of garlic, rich colour and spicing reminded me of chorizo so I concluded it would be perfect for a stew or cassoulet.

After watching a show about how black pudding was made, I steered clear of them for twenty years as I still remember seeing the buckets of blood. Alan persuaded me to try the Black pudding sausages and educated me on how the process has evolved over the years to incorporate blood powders. He was confident that I would like them and persuaded me to try some.

For dinner, I decided to use the black pudding and Toulouse sausages for a couple of toppings that could go on jacket potatoes. I cooked the Toulouse sausage with chickpeas in an Indian inspired spicy tomato, onion, pepper and ginger sauce (see below). The sausage held its own against the strong flavours and was delicious.

I oven cooked the black pudding sausage and served it with some peas, roasted piccolo tomatoes and finished the reduced roasting juice with some mint basil (see main image). The sausage had a good depth of meaty goodness; I could see the specks of black pudding but felt like I was just eating a quality sausage.

I am definitely a black pudding sausage convert and I am glad I trusted Alan’s recommendation. I will definitely be back to Hutton’s for their quality products, excellent selection and great value; I hope you check them out.

This weekend, I am cooking up a storm alongside some other chefs and foodies including renowned Italian Chef, Gennaro Contaldo, in London, followed by a demonstration at the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham.

I am next at the Harrogate Food Festival on the 24 June so hope to see you there.

Yemi’s Food Stories: Café at The Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park

Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in last year’s BBC TV’s Masterchef competition. Every Saturday Yemi will be writing on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food – please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.

I have lived in Yorkshire for ten years, and I am still pleasantly surprised when I discover places on my doorstep that I didn’t know existed. Growing up in Nigeria, my mum took my brother and I to look at sculptures and my love for the Arts was born.

So, when a reader, Margaret Smith, suggested I visit the Himalayan Gardens near Ripon to check out the sculptures and the café, I knew I had to go. A chance to be outdoors, get close to nature, see an array of plants was topped off with a promise of a ‘cherry on top’ visit to the café.

Yorkshire weather was on its best behaviour when I visited the Himalayan Gardens, it was sunny without being too hot and cool without being too breezy; sky had the best shade of blue and it was the perfect day to take in the breath-taking beauty of the Garden.

It was a welcome assault on four of my five senses with the array of colourful flowers, buzzing bees, the singing birds, sweet smells and different textured plants. It was lovely to come across loads of locals and tourists and crack a joke with a few.

I couldn’t resist taking a lot of pictures as everywhere I turned, there was beauty waiting to be captured. With 45 acres of woodlands to cover, there were much needed places to sit and catch a breath, enjoy a drink and picnic or perhaps meditate.

My sense of taste had to wait until I was at the café. After three and half hours of exploring, I was ready to join a queue of people at the café to try the highly recommended food.

There was a good selection to choose from including four options of panini, five sandwich options, Gardener’s platter including pork pie and cheese, soup, four options of warm tarts, steak ciabatta, and lamb kofta.

I opted for the Himalayan Space bowl which included Himalayan spiced vegetables, with coconut and lime chicken and naan bread. It was either that or the lentil and chickpea dhal also served with a naan bread.

Poke is traditionally Hawaiian which along with the Korean and Japanese versions tend to include raw fish. The Buddha bowl is usually vegan or vegetarian with a warm or cold base. Most bowls have a base of rice or grains, topped with pulses, a sauce, crunch nuts, some raw or cooked protein and lots of vegetables.

The first time I had a ‘poke bowl’ type dish was at the Wild Plum in Harrogate and I couldn’t wait to get back home to recreate some of the elements.

What I love about poke bowls is the amount of varieties of ingredients and the consequent experience of flavours and textures from sweet, salty, umami, bitter, crunchy, and soft, to spicy and sour notes. With every bite, you can alter your taste bud experience as you mix and match the different elements.

One of my personal rules when I eat out is to never order something I regularly cook or can cook so it was easy to give the dhal a miss even though it sounded delicious.

I didn’t know what to expect with my pot of Yorkshire tea and I was pleasantly surprised by the deliciously creamy coconut sauce with a generous portion of grilled but succulent chicken pieces. The fluffy naan bread cut into perfect mini circles was topped with the chicken and some crunchy salad including pea shoots, cherry tomatoes and brown rice. I ordered a portion of oven baked wedges which was perfect for dipping into the rich and creamy sauce. The sign of an enjoyed food is an empty plate and my plate was definitely licked clean. My compliments to the chef.

The service was fast which is a good thing considering the queue was relentless and unending. The tomato and cheese toasty was popular as they ran out but there were loads more alternatives on offer including little pots of ice cream and a good selection of cakes and bakes with loads of gluten free options.

The catering manager and wait staffs were welcoming and worked efficiently to get the food out quickly.

I had an amazing day at the Himalayan Gardens and agree with Margaret that the café is well worth a visit.

My next stop will be to Hutton’s butchers in Knaresborough on June 3 followed by the Harrogate Food Festival on June 24.

Yemi’s Food Stories: Perfect pies in Pateley Bridge

Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in last year’s BBC TV’s Masterchef competition. Every Saturday Yemi will be writing on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food – please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.

Last week Yemi was in Pateley Bridge and wrote about her experience at Cocoa Joe’s. This week she continues her culinary journey in the town..

My day in Pateley Bridge did not end without me exploring the town from the butchers to the tea rooms and I couldn’t resist entering Glad Rags Boutique where I left with a pineapple patterned summer shirt.

Charles Andrew from Cocoa Joe’s told me there were two excellent butchers on the high street so I couldn’t wait to see what was on offer.

My first stop was at Kendall’s where I first feasted with my eyes before stepping through their doors. It was a funny sight as I joined others to peer through the clear glass at their arrays of pies wondering how I would choose which one to try. I felt like ‘Oliver Twist’ about to ask for more.

Armed with information from the locals, I already found out their preferences, so I thought that was a great place to start. I dragged myself away from the street to take in the rest of their indoor display.

Their sausage roll was still warm, so I started with that, and I was really delighted by the flaky, crispy, and light pastry around the tasty filling. This was in a class of its own and I soon began to understand why their pies were award winning.

There was no way I wasn’t leaving with some sausage rolls for my boys who live in London so a pack of their ready to cooked sausage rolls were instantly on my shopping list.

I chose their hog roast pie with pulled shoulder of pork with apple and stuffing which I thought would be too sweet, but it was just right, and the chicken pie. I am a sucker for mushy peas, so the mushy pea topped pork pie made the final cut.

Kendall’s is uttered in the same breath as pies so it is easy to think that’s all they do well but that would be mistaken because they also have an amazing selection of meat – cooked and raw. I left with some lamb rack which would make a delightful dinner centrepiece and I am looking forward to sitting down to enjoy it crusted with my African spices.

I crossed the road again and was soon in the Oldest Sweet Shop in the World established in 1827; it was nice to know that generations have had a sweet tooth.

From the Guinness world record by the door as you walked in, rows of sweet in glass jars, old tin jars fit for any museum to the weighing scale that took me back to my childhood, there were many moments of being wowed. It took every ounce of strength to resist buying the tiniest amuse bouche like lemon desserts which were so pretty and dainty.

I walked past a tearoom, Indian and Waffles and Crepe restaurants which offered even more selection of sweet delights.

My last stop was Wildings Tearoom which is just by the river where you can enjoy a cup of tea overlooking and listening to the soothing sounds of the river. With a good selection of cakes and a couple of plaques, I was already smiling whilst checking out the menu.

A quote said, ‘A balanced diet is a cake in each hand’ and who can argue with that?

The second quote, ‘Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away’ was my parting gift as I left Pateley bridge, a town that took my breath away.

The natural beauty, amazingly warm people and the food scene makes this a place I can’t wait to visit again with friends, family and guests.

Yemi debating which cake to eat at Wildings Tearoom

Yemi’s Food Stories: The perfect chocolate fix in Pateley Bridge

Yemi Adelekan is a food writer and blogger who was a semi-finalist in last year’s BBC TV’s Masterchef competition. Every Saturday Yemi will be writing on the Stray Ferret about her love of the district’s food – please get in touch with her if you want her to review a restaurant, visit your farm, taste the produce you sell or even share a recipe.

Charles Andrew from Cocoa Joe’s at Pateley Bridge invited me to check out what they are doing with chocolate. He was so proud that I was intrigued to sample what was on offer.

Off I went with my friend, Carolyn and hubby (aka Matthew) who offered to double as driver and photographer.

As a granddaughter of a cocoa farmer, I grew up understanding the front end of the process up to when the dried cocoa beans were sold to warehouses.

My grandfather knew every cocoa tree like the back of his hands, and he would regale me with stories about his life’s work — a continuation from the previous generations. During the harvest season, we would live on the farm for days but still ate food like we were at home, given the fully built and stocked kitchen on the farm.

We relied on good amounts of sunshine to dry the beans and several times a day, we used rakes to move the beans round so they could get evenly dried. I learnt how to test when the beans were dried enough for storage and was responsible for the stock taking when we visited the warehouse.

My next experience of cocoa came in the form of buying Bounty, Snickers and Kit Kat when I was in boarding house from the age of 10 but I never connected what I was eating to my grandfather’s job.

Many decades later, I find myself interested in the ethics around cocoa production, varieties of cocoa beans and making every bean count.

So it was a pleasure to see Charles being as passionate about making great chocolate drinks as my grandfather was about growing the bean.

I learnt about the origins of their cocoa beans, got to sample many including the 100% Madagascar which I found jarring, various dark chocolates, the ruby chocolate with its lemon notes and the sublime caramelised white chocolate.

The quality of their chocolates shone through with their high cocoa contents. The drink had a wonderful mouth fill, felt luxurious without being too heavy.

I left not feeling the need to hit a gym or check my blood sugar level. We enjoyed three flavours of chocolate drinks including Uganda, Sao Tome, and Ecuador dark chocolates.

I couldn’t resist their chilli chocolate drink and for even more exotic taste, there was lavender flavour.

After a few sips from my cup, the child in me asked for some marshmallows. Charles offered to toast them but that wasn’t needed as they melted into the chocolate doing a dance on my tongue and tingling my tastebuds.

Hmm … which flavour to choose?

Cocoa Joe’s is popular with the locals and tourists; I can see why. The skill and passion exhibited by the team and the quality of the varieties of chocolates available to choose from, keep their customers coming back.

I left with some ruby, caramelised white chocolate and Uganda chocolate and I am already dreaming and drooling about what I will make with them.

Charles was excited to tell me about everything the town had to offer, so I wandered around to take as much in as possible and crossing the road was all it took to get to Kendall’s butcher.

More about Kendall’s and the rest of my visit next week.

Next on my list is The Café at the Himalayan Garden, Grewelthorpe which I will visit on Saturday 27 of May from 12.30pm. Come join me and I hope to see you there.

Sustainable takeaways I hope you try at home:

Future Stars

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