Archive for December, 2009

When it comes to the meat we sell, we like to know everything there is to know about it. With Christmas just a few days away we’re guessing that you’ve already brought your meat of choice for the dinner table, but for those who haven’t, we have some quality, mouth watering meats that will be an instant Christmas cracker!

Although turkey and goose are the more traditional options, gammon, capon and chicken still rank highly with our customers each year, mainly due to their versatility and cost. Whichever meat you choose, you’ll know it will be well received on Christmas day, Boxing Day and however long it will stretch over the festive period!

Here at Natoora we are advocates of ethical rearing and all of our meat has been expertly reared where the highest animal welfare standards are upheld. We love the festivities so much that we thought we’d give you a breakdown of the finest choice cuts we’ve received from our butcher this Christmas. Enjoy!

Turkey

Our Appledore Organic free range bronze turkey is raised on a natural diet with the freedom to roam in open grassy areas. This particular bird has a unique taste and texture that will certainly make a palatable impact this Christmas!

Goose

Goose is a real Christmas treat but easy to overcook as the size, density and amount of fat all affect the cooking time. Our free range goose is rich in heritage as well as taste and specially reared on straw and corn; containing zero additives. A must have table treat!

Smoked/Unsmoked Gammon

The great thing about smoked gammon is it tastes fantastic hot or cold, which is why this meat is hugely popular on Boxing Day. We also have unsmoked gammon for those who require a more subtle finish, but either way they’re both delicious seasoned with honey and cloves!

Chicken

Our organic chicken is always a popular choice, so why not make it your centre piece this Christmas? Like turkey it tastes great with cranberry and stuffing, or with thyme, rosemary and garlic of course.

Capon

Capons are becoming an increasingly popular Christmas Day alternative as the meat is very tender compared to other birds. You may have noticed that all the top chefs rave about capon, so why not bring a little something special to the table this year!

Next month’s choice cuts: rabbit and game

Forget chestnuts roasting on an open fire, avoid Christmas cliches in the kitchen this year with Natoora’s alternative Christmas food guide.

1. Make your presents stand out. Forget Terry’s Chocolate Orange and think Terry’s homemade sticky date bars . Or if you want to give them something really tasty, have a look at our gift hampers

2. Obviously our Appledore turkeys are first class birds, but if you fancy a change for Christmas dinner try Bollito Misto - our Christmas meal box comes with all the ingredients plus a recipe from top chef Theo Randall! Hurry though, you need to order this box today for Christmas delivery!

3. Forget 2 turtle doves, try an eclectic selection of chocolates in a beautiful dove box from Rococo.

4. Don’t waste your time trying get that patridge down from the pear tree, buy one online! Fresh from Moen and Sons they’ll make a real Christmas treat…

5. Chestnuts are pretty good just roasted and with a good bit of salt, but you could also add some cooked chestnuts to your sprouts on Christmas day to revive two festive classics.

6. You can even jazz up your stocking filler clementines with one of the recipes below!

Happy Eating!

Katherine

Two ways with Clementines

Get these out of your stocking and into the pan!

Clementine Sauce
8 Clementines
150g Caster Sugar
125ml Cold Water
Orange Liquer

Peel and segment the clementines. Bring the sugar and water to the boil in a pan, making sure to stir regularly. Let them boil for about 5 minutes until the liquid has reduced by a third. Now add the clementines and orange liquer and stir well. Remove from the pan and leave to cool. Once cooled, blend to a purée. Pass through a fine sieve, reserving the liquid as the sauce. You can then use this sauce on the dessert of your choice! We like it with Panacotta.

Roasted Clementines with Vanilla
4 Clementines
200g Caster Sugar
1 Vanilla Pod
1 Lemon

Peel and quarter the clementine. Heat the sugar in a large frying pan over a high heat, then split the vanilla pod and add it to the sugar. Add the clementine wedges and cook so that they caramelise for five minutes until golden brown. Wedge the lemon and serve with the roasted clementines.

Preparing and stuffing the Christmas turkey should be just as an important task as consuming it, so we want to ensure that you do it properly. If you haven’t stuffed a bird before (so to speak) then don’t worry, our step-by-step guide is a simple and effective way to deliver the perfect turkey this year.

• Prepare your desired stuffing from scratch, or see our fresh homemade chestnut and brandy stuffing for some inspiration.

• Remove the packet of giblets from the main cavity of the bird and set aside if you wish to make gravy.

Now for the fun bit!

• To stuff the neck, first pack it loosely with stuffing.

• Pin the neck skin over the exposed stuffing with a skewer.

• Spoon stuffing loosely in the main body cavity.

• Cover exposed stuffing with a swatch of aluminium foil or a piece of bread.

• Roast the turkey based on the recipe you’ve selected.
• Place extra stuffing in a baking dish coated with cooking spray, cover and refrigerate until ready to bake, no more than six to seven hours.
• Pour turkey or chicken stock over the extra stuffing and bake at 350 degrees F (about 175 degrees C) for no more than an hour.
• After the turkey is done roasting, remove stuffing immediately and place in a bowl and the refrigerate leftovers.

If you haven’t done so already, hurry and get a quality turkey from us this Christmas before they all go!

The Culinary Guide had the pleasure of tasting our Twelfth Night gift hamper this week. Virginia Farrow reviewed the hamper and I think it’s safe to say she quite liked it! You can read the full review below and if you want to see what all the fuss is about, order one today!

Natoora Twelfth Night Christmas Hamper
Written by Virginia Farrow – Read it at www.theculinaryguide.co.uk

“On the twelfth day of Christmas Natoora sent to meeeeee, a hamper full of yummy goodieeees…” – Get rid of that post-Christmas anti climax with this wonderful box of delights from culinary experts, Natoora.

“Packed full of the finest European delicacies, and delicious morsels, this is an excellent way to welcome in the New Year with the greatest of cheer. The Twelfth Night Hamper contains:

• Alfred Gratien Champagne Brut
• Rosemary Crackers
• Olive Oil and Sea Salt Crackers
• Plateau 7 Fromages – Valencay, Livarot, Comte, Brie, Bleu D’Auvergne, Chistera, Saint Marcellin
• Lenticchie Di Spello- Green Lentils
• Cotechino Pork Sausage
• Balsamic Vinegar from Modena
• Goose Confit – preserved in rendered Goose fat
• Panarello Panettone
• Sable De Nancay Biscuits

The contents are carefully swaddled in swathes of red tissue paper and packed into a festive red hamper, which is delivered to your door, packed with ice packs to keep all the contents fresh and chilled, ready to consume immediately. Here are my thoughts on some of the wonderful goodies the Twelfth Night Hamper has on offer…

The Alfred Gratien Champagne is truly delicious. As soon as it is opened it exhales a crisp, apply scent that tantalises and strengthens as it is poured. It is a beautiful autumnal-gold colour and effervesces constantly, even after being nursed lengthily in a glass during a social occasion. On drinking, the Champagne is surprisingly savoury given its sweet aroma, with subtle undertones of peach and butter, and is dry without being bitter or tart. With an alcohol content of 12.5%, it has a lovely, almost sherry-like warmth that slowly creeps down the gullet and warms you through; achieving a cheerful merriness without being too heady or dehydrating. Despite its strength and depth of flavour, the Champagne is highly refreshing and even though it emits continuous ribbons of minute bubbles, it doesn’t leave you feeling gassy or bloated.

If you fancy a little morsel to go with the Champagne, the cheese-board with seven different varieties definitely spoils you for choice. Whether you’re a connoisseur or a novice, there’s something for everyone, mild to strong -There’s even Goat and Ewes cheeses for those with lactose issues. My favourite is definitely the Valencay, an ash-mould wrapped Goats cheese, which is delightfully mild and creamy, with a lemony backtaste that lingers deliciously in the mouth. My second favourite is definitely the Saint Marcellin, which as a soft, white-rind cheese is similar to Brie, but has a far more sophisticated yet subtle flavour and is delicious with gammon or bacon.

I found the Castellucio Extra Virgin Olive Oil to truly be the best olive oil I have ever tasted. The strength and depth of flavour is outstanding, with a strong, slightly bitter odour similar to Granny Smith apple skins. I drizzled it generously over al-dente pasta with a splash of lemon juice, and the result was delicious albeit simplistic. After I added nuggets of the different cheeses and fried slices of Cotechino Pork Sausage, I was literally speechless with glee. Despite being oil, it is far from greasy or heavy and will make an excellent salad dressing once combined with the Balsamic Vinegar, or as a Mediterranean style dip for crusty bread or crackers.

The Panettone and the Sable de Nancay Biscuits are a delicious sweet treat that can be enjoyed easily on their own or as ingredients in a luxury Trifle or Tiramisu. Whatever you do, you and your guests (if you choose to share) will not be disappointed. Personally, I enjoyed dunking the Sable Biscuits in a deep mug of creamy hot chocolate, and I loved tearing off great rough chunks of Panettone to hand round to guests with a short glass of Amaretto.

The greatest thing about the Twelfth Night hamper is that it is choc-full of wonderful and unusual culinary delights to tantalise, broaden or simply just spoil your taste-buds, and even if you open it all in one go, the delights go on and on for days and weeks to come- a perfect segue in to 2010.

The wonderful Twelfth Night Hamper is ideal as a Christmas gift to have delivered to friends, family, or colleagues or as a lovely, indulgent New-Year’s treat for yourself after festive visitors have eaten you out of house and home, and is available for just £125 from www.natoora.co.uk”

You can order your hampers for Christmas until 23rd December (Outside London) or the 24th December (Selected London Postcodes, view website for more details). For a truly bespoke hamper you can even create your own with any items on the natoora website!

You may have noticed a new addition to the Natoora website this month…delicious, rich, moreish Christmas puddings. We teamed up with Violet Cakes who runs a stall at Broadway Market to let you try these beauties online and unsuprisingly, a few other people have picked up on how amazing her puddings are, including Hattie Ellis at The Times. Here are a few snippets from her recent article on the great Pudding maker, or you can view the whole article here.

Behind the scenes with the pudding makers

Fewer of us are stirring up a Christmas pud at home. Here’s how professionals do it

Hattie Ellis

When it comes to the meat we sell, we like to know everything there is to know about it. We pride ourselves on providing the best cuts of lamb both for flavour and quality, and if you share our passion for all things lamb, you might be interested to know exactly where these amazing cuts come from. So, every month we will highlight the various edible parts from our select animals, and more specifically, how best to prepare and cook them.

Sheep thrive in a variety of climates and have been the principal meat source across North Africa and Eurasia for centuries. The Industrial Revolution sparked an increased demand for meat and led to the increased breeding of sheep for meat in the UK. We can now reap the reward of several generations of selective breeding for taste and texture; well-reared lamb today is likely to be better than any eaten at any time in the past. Approximately 80% of lamb sold in the UK is from animals between four months and a year old. Lamb is a fantastic source of zinc, iron and Vitamin B. So, delicious and healthy all at the same time!

Here at Natoora we are advocates of ethical rearing, and all of our lamb cuts have been expertly reared and where the highest animal welfare standards are upheld. We love lamb so much that we thought we’d give you a breakdown of the finest lamb choice cuts we receive from our butcher.

Leg

Our legs of lamb are perfect for that scrumptious Sunday roast, as well as popular dinner party cuts. Our tip when preparing for a roast is to make several small incisions in the leg and then stuff it with loads of garlic and rosemary. Yum!

Culets

The great thing about quality lamb cutlets is they’re immensely delicate, which means you can’t overcook them. Our little tip is to brush them lightly with oil, season with salt ad black pepper and seat quickly on a griddle.

Chops

All our Lamb Chops are derived from the British Isles, including classic breeds from Shetland to Yorkshire. Chops are extremely tender and juicy and we recommend you marinate them in fresh rosemary and then cook them on the griddle.

Neck

Many people use Neck of lamb for stewing as the bones provide unique and delicious juices to the stock. Fantastic for gravies and soups to really warm the cockles this winter!

Shank

As one of the most popular cuts, the lamb Shank is best braised to really appreciate its tenderness and richness. We think that Sunday lunch was made for lamb shank!

Rack

The Rack of lamb is cut from the saddle of the lamb and has the perfect balance of fat to meat ratio, which means when in season is the sweetest of all the meats.

Shoulder

The Shoulder of lamb is one of the larger cuts and is hugely rich in flavour. We have always thought the shoulder is highly underrated, and at such great value, believe you should savour this select piece to really appreciate its complex flavours.

Next month’s choice cuts: Rabbit

The kind people at The Observer took on the tough job of tasting some of this Christmas’ must have foods last weekend – including some delicious Natoora cheeses! See what they said below, or read the full article here.

Tasted by Rowley Leigh, chef proprietor of Le Café Anglais:

Camembert

Natoora 240g, £3, www.natoora.co.uk

Smell that heifer. This has a pronounced buttery, crumbly texture.

★★★

Stilton

Colston Bassett 250g, £5.25, www.natoora.co.uk

The best here judging by colour and veining. It’s buttery, with a hint of blue.

★★★★★

Red Leicester

Sparkenhoe 250g, £5.75, www.natoora.co.uk

Smoky taste followed by a cheesy bite. Not bad at all.

★★★

They also had a nibble on our Tiptree Brandy Butter. Here’s what Stuart Gillies of the Boxwood Café thought:

The most buttery flavour of them all. Doesn’t taste of dairy. It’s pretty sweet, but a nice Christmas taste.

★★★

Well it’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it! If you want to see what all the fuss is about, visit our Christmas shop where you kind more gourmet cheeses,  gift hampers and a whole lot more…

Now it’s definitely getting a bit colder, we all need some good old fashioned stodge to warm us up. These totally addictive, energy-boosting date bars  from Beth at Jam and Clotted Cream should certainly do the job! Made with our sweet, chewy dates, they promise to be something really special. Read her whole blog here for more fantastic recipes.

Salsa verde is a great accompaniment to many dishes. With its strong flavours it is suited to meaty dishes like pork and lamb or even tuna steaks.

3 Anchovy Fillets
120gr Parsley (just the leaves, no stems)
50 gr White or Red Wine Vinegar
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 spoon of Capers
100gr Extra Virgin Olive Oil
50 gr of Breadcrumbs
A pinch of Pepper
A pinch of Sugar
2 egg Yolks

Wash and dry the parsley, making sure to use only the leaves. Chop very finely. Chop also the anchovies, garlic, and capers (if preserved In vinegar – squeeze to take out excess vinegar, if preserved in salt rinse in water for 20 minutes in lukewarm water and squeeze afterwards).
Wet the breadcrumbs with vinegar and squeeze.

Gather all ingredients and mix well with oil, then add salt and pepper according to taste. Now add the boiled yolks. Mix.

Salsa verde is best if quite liquid, and needs resting 24 hours before use. It can be preserved in the fridge in glass jars, with some olive oil to cover.

For a limited time, when you buy anchovies from Natoora you can get a free bunch of parsley – well on your way to making that fantastic salsa verde!

Christmas is fast approaching and this year it promises to be a tasty one with our Christmas Meal Boxes, including recipes from top chefs…

This year, we’ve created some truly delicious meal boxes using the best fresh produce and gourmet groceries. Each box contains carefully selected main ingredients for your festive meal, including a main course, dessert and wine. Our selection includes recipes contributed exclusively to Natoora buy top chefs and suppliers who work with us.

What’s more, when you order one of these fine festive meal boxes, you will automatically receive 10% off the whole of your order*! Complete your Christmas with a host of wonderful seasonal products available from our Christmas shop.

Happy Eating!

Katherine
*Terms and Conditions: Discount only valid when you order a Christmas meal box. Does not include gift hampers. Not valid in conjunction with any other offer except price discounts. No cash alternative. We reserve the right to refuse or restrict orders.

Discover delicious meal boxes from £90…

Bollito Misto with Capon: Recipe provided by Theo Randall (Theo Randall at the Intercontinental, winner of Italian Restaurant of the year 2008). £151, Serves 6-7
Includes capon and ingredients for Bollito Misto, seasonal vegetables, wine, prosecco and Panettone Le Cose Buone.

Tell me more…

Oie excellence de la St Martin with roasted salsify and mash potatoes: Recipe provided by Michelin-starred chef Antonin Bonnet from The Greenhouse £168, Serves 8-9
Includes goose and accompanying ingredients, champagne, wine and chocolate fondants.

Tell me more…

Appledore Bronze Turkey recipe with all the Trimmings: Recipe provided by Moen and Sons butchers £188, Serves 12-14

Includes turkey, chipolatas, seasonal vegetables, wine, champagne and Violet Cakes’ Christmas pudding.

Tell me more…

Christmas Fruit and Vegetable Box £29.95, Serves 4-6
Packed with some of our Christmas favourites like juicy clementines and red currants, to sweet parsnips and of course brussel sprouts! Also included are some mixed herbs, chestnuts, grapes, leeks and much more…

Tell me more…

Don’t forget to check out our full range of gourmet Christmas delights in our Christmas Shop!