Yemi’s Food Stories: the countdown to a food-filled Christmas has begunEat, drink and be merry: the best Christmas food & drink from local independents

Christmas is the season to eat, drink and be merry. But it’s easy to get caught up in planning your Christmas dinner and forget about the rest of the food and drink you need.

Here’s our round-up of some of the very best local businesses with the food and drink you’ll need over the whole Christmas period.

Beer from Rooster’s Brewing Co.

Rooster’s Brewing Co. make a range of beers that cover a variety of styles, from pale ales and IPA’s to best bitters, stouts and sour beers, all brewed on Harrogate’s Hornbeam Park.

What’s more, Roosters offers a free local delivery service within Harrogate and Knaresborough*, as well as a ‘Cluck & Collect’ service from the brewery and onsite Taproom!

Find your new favourite beer here.

*Minimum spend applies, please see website for specific areas covered.

Cheese from The Cheeseboard

Is Christmas even Christmas if you don’t eat lots of delicious cheese? Save the hassle of collating an assortment of individual cheeses with a ready packed hamper from The Cheeseboard. 

To keep things local, try the ‘Luxury Yorkshire Hamper’. It contains traditional Wensleydale, mature Yorkshire cheddar, Flat Capper brie, blue Wensleydale, Yorkshire halloumi, Stottie goat’s milk camembert, strawberry jam, lemon and ginger marmalade and Wensleydale chutney from Rosebud Preserves, Blueberry preserves lime curd, and of course, traditional fruit cake.

You can order your Luxury Yorkshire cheese hamper here. 

Gin from Whittaker’s Winter Solstice Gin

This delicious Whittaker’s gin is a smooth winter spice and fruity 42% London dry gin, an ideal fireside tipple for cold winter nights. Featuring juniper and coriander gently overlaid with signature botanicals of dried bitter orange and currants, it’s perfect as a gift… or a treat for yourself.

It’s best served over ice, with either ginger beer, ginger ale or simply with a plain regular tonic – but don’t be shy with your measure of gin. Add a slice of orange, or for a warming alternative add a star anise and use a cinnamon stick as a stirrer.

Get a bottle of Whittaker’s Winter Solstice Gin here. 

Fish from Mackenzie’s Smokehouse

Smoked right here in the Harrogate district at Mackenzie’s Smokehouse in Blubberhouses, the Trawler hamper is perfect for anyone wanting a luxury fish-feasting experience.

Inside you’ll find traditional oak smoked salmon, oak roast hot smoked salmon, kippers, mackerel fillets, smoked salmon pate and mackerel pate.

Order the Trawler hamper here.

Wine from Yorkshire Vintners

The Yorkshire Vintners Ultimate Wine Lover’s Christmas Hamper really does have it all when it comes to exploring wines.

It’s a journey through the various styles and prominent origins of wines, starting with a renowned English sparkling Nyetimber, followed by a classic chablis and standout Australian red blend. Moving on, there’s a sauternes, then 10-year-old tawny port, finishing with a wonderfully smooth cream liqueur from an emerging distiller here in Yorkshire.

Also included is a Nyetimber bottle stopper, Grahams Port decanter and corkscrew.

Order the Yorkshire Vintners Ultimate Wine Lover’s Christmas Hamper here. Order before 15 December to guarantee for Christmas.

Just so you know, all of the local businesses featured here were selected on their own merit, but some have paid to be featured in this article. 

Stray Kitchen: Christmas Hacks the Stray Kitchen way

Stray Kitchen is our column all about food written by renowned local produce expert, food writer and chef, Stephanie Moon. Stephanie is a champion of food produced in the UK and particularly in Yorkshire and the Harrogate district. 

I love, love, love this time of year, and the feeling of festive fun is really growing in tempo this Christmas…

So how do we make Christmas easy? This is a question I always get asked, and truthfully, I don’t think catering for a large group at Christmas is easy at all. But there are some ways we can make it as pain free as possible.

Mulled wine: Everyone has a mix they love, and for me it is a bottle of Malbec red wine, shot of brandy, shot of sloe gin, a clove studded orange, three cinnamon sticks, and three star anise, brought up to the boil with two glasses of lemonade and a glass of cranberry juice. Sweeten it up to taste, and for a real trick, pour it into a slow cooker so the mulled wine is warm and ready to go when your guests arrive.

Nibbles and dips: I love a quick homemade hummus. Boil two tins of chick peas with the aqua faba (chick pea juice inside the tin) until the juice evaporates. Add crushed garlic and tahini with some Ras El Halenout (spice mix), rapeseed oil, a splash of water and lemon zest and juice. For something to dip into the hummus, try my simple recipe for Harrogate blue cheese straws.

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Ingredients

Method

Starters: Jazz up your prawn cocktail with some cooked lobster and a few slices of locally smoked salmon for a real treat. For the Marie Rose classic, try adding some finely chopped soft apricot pieces. Or, if you fancy a tropical alternative, why not add some fresh mango pieces and a light curry powder to your mayo.

Time to bring in the turkey! Steph is pictured here with London based chef Valentina Harris and her assistant Cher, at the Ideal Home exhibition.

Main: The turkey is the main event. Everyone cooks their’s differently and has their own favourite stuffing mix, but the gravy often gets left to last minute. Show your gravy some love this year and really glaze the turkey tray properly, removing the fat to get all that extra flavour into your gravy. To make a light roux, whisk this onto your flour and butter mix and cook out well with a good splash of red wine and stock; add a little redcurrant jelly for sweetness and hey presto, you’ve got a lovely turkey gravy.

Pudding: To flambe or not to flame, that is the question. If you do, make sure it is on a robust serving platter: one year I had a disaster at home, when the platter broke and flambe juices ran down the dinning table! Always warm the alcohol before pouring over the hot pudding, then set it on fire just before you enter the room… making sure decorations and long hair is well out of the way!

Have fun, and remember it is your Christmas to enjoy too!

Ho Ho Ho

Steph x

Stray Foodie New Year Recipe: All Things Barley

Stray Foodie New Year Recipes are written by Michelin-starred chef, Frances Atkins. In 1997, Frances opened the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge, where she was the owner for 20 years. During her ownership, she held her Michelin-star status for 16 of those years.

This is the start of the year when we look forward and plan for new beginnings. I’ll be bringing you some of my favourite recipes each week. I’d love to see how you make the recipes your own – let me know by using #StrayFoodie or tagging @thestrayferret in your social media posts.

It’s the start of a new year, where we are all looking forward and planning for new beginnings. Here are two recipes containing one of my seasonal favourites, barley, which has a fantastic nutritional boost for the winter months.

Barley Bannocks

This is a Recipe from a dear friend of mine from Orkney who makes Barley Bannocks every year. A Bannock is something that is rounder and thicker than a biscuit and can be cooked on a griddle. It could be described as similar to a pancake.

Ingredients:

Heat the griddle

Sieve the ingredients together and mix to a soft dough

Place in dollops on the hot griddle and press down with your lifter to about 6 inches round

Bake on both sides

Serve warm with a little honey – delicious!

Barley Risotto

Pearl Barley is very similar to arborio rice which we use for a good risotto, but is so much more flavoursome and great for healthy eating.

Ingredients:

Heat the oil in a sauté pan over a medium heat with a chopped onion, leek and pearl barley for 1 minute

Then pour in the wine and bring to the boil and simmer for 2 mins

Add the stock little by little, stirring all the time and it continues to absorb (note: you may not require all the stock)

Once the barley is soft and creamy, add the mushrooms, pesto, purple sprouting and parmesan

Add the spinach at the very last minute so it just wilts into the risotto and check the seasoning.

If required at this stage you may like to finish with a little butter.

This can easily be adapted to accommodate vegetarian or vegan guests.

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Stray Foodie Christmas Recipe: Cheese Stollen

Stray Foodie Christmas Recipes are written by Michelin-starred chef, Frances Atkins. In 1997, Frances opened the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge, where she was the owner for 20 years. During her ownership, she held her Michelin-star status for 16 of those years.

Over the festive period, I’ll be bringing you some of my favourite seasonal recipes each week. I’d love to see how you make the recipes your own – let me know by using #StrayFoodie or tagging @thestrayferret in your social media posts.

 

This recipe is designed to use all your odds and ends up from the fridge during this period.  Making a tasty base to load on preserves, meats, salad, grains or anything you wish!  We are calling this a Cheese Stollen, a savoury effort modelled on Bettys‘ simply delicious sweet marzipan stollen which is a treat for me every year. We have made a Stollen from a brioche dough and a basic bun dough. It sounds complicated, but it certainly isn’t as you will see as you read through the recipe.

Stollen is traditionally a fruit bread made from spices and candied fruits and by heritage it is Germany’s answer to Italy’s panettoni. At this time of year there seems to be a muddled variety as far as quality and authenticity is concerned.

Our cheese stollen is a brioche wrapped in a bun dough with a small amount of mixed peel, raisins and cheese.

For the Brioche Dough

The ingredients can be halved, but I like to keep a little in the fridge for general use. It is so handy to bring out of the fridge, knead it, shape it and pop it in the oven for that fabulous warm brioche at breakfast.

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water and let it work for a couple of minutes.

Add the beaten eggs and pour into a mixing bowl.

Add the flour and salt and mix to a stiff dough either by hand or using the dough hook of an electric mixer.

When the mixture is smooth, beat in the butter in small pieces. The finished dough should have a silky appearance.

Place it in an oiled bowl, loosely cover and rest overnight in the fridge.

For the basic bun 

This bun dough is great for donuts and other buns too.

Dissolve the yeast in the water at blood temperature.

Sieve the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl.

Rub in the butter and then add the eggs.

Add the yeast and enough water to obtain a soft dough.

Cover and rest the dough for 10 mins.

Knead well until the dough becomes firm and springy.

Place in a bowl dusted with flour and allow to rise until double in size –  this should take approximately 30 mins.

Take the rested brioche out of the fridge and knead with flour, then rest again for 30 mins.

Knead the cheese into the brioche and roll into a sausage.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle and egg wash.

Sprinkle over the mixed peel and raisins.

Roll it around your brioche sausage.

With the remaining beaten egg, wash the bun dough.

Place on a baking tray and let it double in size.

Place in a heated oven at 210c and cook for approximately 30 minutes.

When cool, slice and the light cheese brioche with the slight hint of sweetness from the peel and raisins and the crisp bread is simply scrummy!

If you would rather not have the raisins and peel keeping it completely savoury you could use mixed, chopped fresh herbs or a pesto.

If all this is just too much, have a good walk and reward yourself with a lunch or take away at our Paradise Food Wagon, where we will be happy to serve you from Tuesday 29th December.

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Stray Foodie Christmas Recipe: Chocolate Ganache Terrine

Stray Foodie Christmas Recipes are written by Michelin-starred chef, Frances Atkins. In 1997, Frances opened the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge, where she was the owner for 20 years. During her ownership, she held her Michelin-star status for 16 of those years.

In the run-up to Christmas, I’ll be bringing you some of my favourite seasonal recipes each week. I’d love to see how you make the recipes your own – let me know by using #StrayFoodie or tagging @thestrayferret in your social media posts.

This Chocolate Ganache Terrine is the most delicious, rich chocolate cake that is highly suitable for chocoholics and perhaps a big treat to have at Christmas. It should be noted that a little goes a long way!

Many chocoholics would consider this as being called divine.

Originally in chocolate history the Mayans believed the pods of the cocao tree were an offering from the Gods to man.  When a Swedish botanist gave if a formal classification in the 18th Century he called it the Theobroma Cacao meaning the “drink of the Gods” from the Greek Theos (God) and Broma (beverage).

Up until the 19th Century chocolate existed in a liquid form when it became solid the early British producers were Quakers. They recognised their product might help their crusade against the evils of alcohol! Ironically my recipe has a lot of alcohol in it and together they form a powerful product.

For the Ganache

For the Topping

Line a heavy based terrine mould, approx. 10 inches with a double layer of cling film.

Separate the Eggs and whisk the egg white and sugar together.

When stiff, add the egg yolks.

Melt the chocolate carefully over a pan of boiling water or in the microwave.

Add to the egg mixture.

Mix the instant coffee granules in to the rum, whip the cream, add the instant coffee in to the whipped cream.

Fold in the gluten free flour and then the whipped cream in to the chocolate. (Make sure this is done in this order.)

Place the chocolate mixture in the terrine and place in a roasting tin of water, a bain marie. Cook at 150c – 180c, dependant on oven variation for 35 mins or until the chocolate has set.  Cool in the terrine mould overnight in the fridge.

For the topping the next day melt the chocolate, mix in the cream and pour over the ganache. Let it set up. This is now ready to thinly slice and serve with whipped cream or an accompaniment of your choice.

The divine smoothness of the chocolate lends itself to the aroma of a “cheffie” pine bud garnish or orange for the more conservative. The Rum from Harrogate Tipple in it makes the perfect taste sensation.

We have already talked in our previous recipes about Harrogate Tipple Christmas Gin and their Rum is equally superb. Taylors of Harrogate have a selection of marvellous blended coffee which I would recommend. Perhaps I would suggest Mundo Maya Arabica Coffee for its intensity and complexity, but you could great fun here sampling the different blends.

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