That's Christmas: Collecting Seashells has some exciting Christmas G...

That's Christmas: Collecting Seashells has some exciting Christmas G...:  Collecting Seashells has some exciting Christmas Gift ideas at their online shop https://www.collectingseashells.com . Here are some exampl...

Bug Liz! Organic September Petition to Save Nature Reaches 30,000 Signatures

A www.Change.org petition launched for Organic September, asking our new Prime Minister Liz Truss to take action to save nature in her first 100 days in government, has reached 30,000 signatures, thus providing wildlife like earthworms, ladybirds and bees a voice for the first time.

On behalf of nature, the Organic Trade Board (OTB) launched the petition requesting the Prime Minister commits to protecting wildlife in any new policies. And represents the UK at the vitally important UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in December.

Not only are insects an integral part of a balanced ecosystem, providing food for other animals and recycling nutrients, they also play a key role in our global food system. One in three mouthfuls of food depends on pollinators and without pollinators we would not have potatoes, strawberries, tomatoes, coffee, chocolate or cotton.

Nature's keyworkers also held a miniature protest standing up for their insect rights at an organic farm in the North East this month. Armed with miniature placards, they gathered at Bays Leap organic farm near Newcastle to show if wildlife such as bees, earthworms and ladybirds had a voice they would want all farming to be organic to help keep the delicate ecosystem in balance.

Cristina Dimetto, General Manager of the Organic Trade Board (OTB), said: “Organic farming works with nature, not against it, encouraging natural predators like ladybirds and pollinators like bees and butterflies rather than spraying harmful pesticides. 

"As a result, on average, plant, insect and bird life is 50% more abundant on organic farms. There are up to seven times more wild bees in organic grain fields. So if nature did have a voice, we believe it would opt for organic. 

“If pesticides were substituted for more sustainable farming practices (such as organic), this could slow or reverse the decline in insects. The hope is even tiny insect-sized steps can make a big difference when it comes to keeping nature's crucial keyworkers thriving.”

For more information visit www.GoOrganicUK.com and to sign the petition head to https://www.change.org/NatureProtest.

Readers of That's Food and Drink will recall that we ran an Organic September feature which actually ends today, the last day of September.

Making Delicious Recipes for International Real Vanilla Day with LittlePod

Taking place on 17th October each year, International Real Vanilla Day brings together the voices of vanilla from all over the world.

From the farmers and the communities who protect and nurture the fragile ecosystems on the equatorial belt, to the professional chefs, home cooks and bakers who use real vanilla in their creations.

So Why Use LittlePod?

LittlePod was the first provider of real Vanilla to commission a squeezy tube for its Natural Vanilla Paste to make real vanilla as convenient as possible to use, while helping to conserve this extraordinary crop.

Founder of International Real Vanilla Day and the MD of LittlePod, Janet Sawyer MBE BEM, is one utterly amazing woman! 

Janet is on a very important mission to save the vanilla pod from the very real threat of extinction. With 97% of vanillin used in the west being artificial, the vanilla pod was at risk of being lost within just one generation. 

Most vanilla is grown in Madagascar, which puts it at a high-risk due to environmental factors like storms, droughts, etc. 

Having won a Queen's Award for Sustainable Development, Little Pod also produce vanilla pods from their own collaborative orchard which is in Indonesia. 

They encouraged the Indonesian government to restart their vanilla industry again by planting vanilla vines for reforestation in peat bog areas that were unfortunately made barren from palm oil planting. 

LittlePod's products are a vehicle to allow the company to work on community projects in Madagascar and Indonesia, supporting farmers and families in these areas.

LittlePod Natural Vanilla Paste 100ml is vegan, kosher and gluten free, available from littlepod.co.uk. RRP £15

So, how can you use LittlePod Real Vanilla? Here are some recipes:-

Peter Gorton's Honey Mousse With Port Jelly and Fresh Strawberries

Ingredients

Mousse

4 large eggs yolks

100g castor sugar

320 ml milk

50g honey

1 tbsp LittlePod natural vanilla paste

2 ½ gelatine leaves

250 ml double cream, whipped to stiff peaks

Port Jelly

90 ml port

90 sugar syrup

2 gelatine leaves

2 tsp LittlePod pure chocolate extract (optional)

Sugar Syrup

90ml water

80g sugar

Boil until dissolved and set aside to cool, refrigerate when cold

Method

Honey Mousse

Bring the milk to a simmering point in a saucepan.

Whisk the egg yolks and castor sugar in a bowl until pale and frothy, then add the honey, vanilla paste and slowly whisk in the warm milk.

Stand the bowl over a bain-marie and gently cook, whisking continuously until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.

Soften the gelatine leaves in a little cold water, wring out the excess water and stir the gelatine into the custard until dissolved.

Pass the custard through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and cool over ice in the refrigerator.

When the custard is almost set (about an hour) fold in the whipped cream.

To Make The Jelly

Bring the port and sugar syrup and pure chocolate extract up to the boil in a saucepan.

Soften the gelatine leaves in a little water and wring out the excess water and stir the gelatine into the hot liquid until dissolved.

Pass the jelly through a fine sieve into a bowl and allow to cool but not set.

To Assemble

Spoon the mousse into the desired ring moulds leaving a gap at the top for the port jelly.

Refrigerate until set (about 45 minutes) and pour the jelly on top of the mousse.

Refrigerate until set (about 1 hour).

To Serve

Suspend the moulds in hot water for 10 seconds then carefully turn out onto shortbread biscuit in the middle of the plate.

Place a few strawberries on top of the honey mousse and drizzle a little honey over the top. Delicious!!

Cooking Tip

Peter Gorton - You can use raspberries or figs instead of strawberries if you prefer.

Peter Gorton's Twice Baked Goats Cheese & Vanilla Soufflés

Ingredients:

Soufflés:

80g butter

60g plain flour

350ml warm milk

75g goats cheese

1 tbsp LittlePod natural vanilla paste

1 tbsp freshly grated parmesan.

2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley or chives.

3 egg yolks

Salt and pepper

4 egg whites

250ml double cream

Tomato Vinaigrette:

2 shallots

2 cloves garlic – minced

6 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp good quality balsamic vinegar

150mls dry white wine

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp LittlePod natural vanilla paste

125ml passata

Salt and freshly ground pepper

4 tbsp softened butter (optional)

Method:

The Souffle:

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºc.

Melt 2 oz of butter and grease 6 – 8 ramekin moulds.

Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and cook over a medium heat, stirring for 2 minutes.

Add the warmed milk and vanilla paste little by little until the mixture is a smooth white sauce and the flour has cooked out. Remove from the heat.

Mash the goats' cheese until soft then add to the sauce with the parmesan and fresh herbs.  Cool for 5 minutes. Fold the egg yolks in thoroughly and taste for seasoning.

Beat egg whites until ribbon stage and fold quickly and lightly into the cheese mixture.  Divide the mixture between greased ramekins and smooth the surface of each.

Place in a baking dish and pour in hot water to come two-thirds up the sides.

Bake for 18-20 minutes until firm to the touch and well puffed.

Remove the soufflés from the oven. (they will deflate and look wrinkled).

Allow to rest for a minute then gently ease them out of their moulds.

Place on a plate and cover with cling film.

When you are ready to serve place soufflés in a buttered ovenproof shallow dish.

Pour the double cream equally over the top of the souffles.

Sprinkle with extra parmesan and return to the oven for 12-15 minutes fan-assisted oven 200c until the soufflés are puffed and golden brown.

Tomato Vinaigrette:

Place the shallots, garlic and olive oil into a small saucepan over a low heat for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the vanilla paste, white wine.  Increase the heat, cook and reduce by half.

Add the tomato passata, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Bring the mixture to the boil and remove from the heat.

Slowly whisk in the softened butter and a tablespoon of good quality balsamic vinegar

Peter Gorton's Poached Pears In Filo Pastry, Filled With Amaretti, And A Caramel Coffee Sauce

Ingredients

Poaching Liquid:

700ml water

225ml red wine

115g granulated sugar

2 whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick

2 LittlePod natural vanilla pods, seeds scraped out

Amaretti Filling:

125g amaretti biscuits, crushed

(mix all the ingredients below to form a firm paste)

125g ground almonds

4 teaspoons sugar

4 teaspoons butter

Pastry:

450g package of filo pastry de-frosted in the refrigerator overnight

225ml melted unsalted butter

Caramel Sauce:

250g double cream (& a little extra cream to thin the sauce)

250g sugar

150ml water

1 tbsp LittlePod natural vanilla paste

1 tbsp LittlePod organic coffee extract

Method

Pre-heat oven 200°c/gas 6

Choose firm pears that still have their stems attached.

Peel the skin off with a vegetable peeler and cut a thin slice off the bottom to create a flat surface so that the pears will stand upright during poaching.

Combine the poaching ingredients together, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes, remove from the heat and add the pears, return to the boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove the pears from the liquid so they don't continue to cook.  When they have cooled completely, core the pears from the bottom & fill them with the amaretti filling, dry any excess liquid from the pears.

To prepare the pastry:

Allow 3 sheets of filo per pear.

Brush each sheet with melted butter, layering them on top of the next sheet, place 1 pear in the centre of each pastry square and pull the four corners up towards the top and pinch around the stem leaving as much stem exposed as possible.

Bake the pears until golden brown, while the pears are baking prepare the caramel sauce.

Caramel Sauce:

Bring the water and sugar to the boil and boil until a nice golden brown

Remove from the heat and add half of the cream and allow for the sauce to combine to a smooth texture

Add the rest of the cream, the vanilla paste and coffee extract, return to the heat and allow the sauce to reduce to the desired consistency.

Presentation:

Place pears in the centre of six plates and pour the caramel sauce around the pear, serve with an ice-cream of your choice or clotted cream.

Cooking Tip

Peter Gorton - The pears can be prepared up to three days in advance. When adding the cream to the caramel be very careful as the mixture tends to splatter.

(Editor: I think these recipes will be ideal for your Christmas festivities. Maybe an addition or as an alternative to the more traditional Christmas Pudding, perhaps?)

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UK's Leading Cheese company Launches New “Nightmarish” Halloween Cheese

The UK's number one blended and snacking cheese supplier has launched a new seasonal cheese for Halloween that could give cheese lovers a bit of a “nightmare”.

Ilchester®, which has delicious ranges of both dairy and plant-based cheeses, has got together with Morrisons to introduce Nightmare on Market Street, a cheddar cheese blended with smoky chipotle and chilli jam. 

It's a delicious taste sensation for food lovers who appreciate a Smokey Chipotle and Chilli flavour profile with a tasty cheddar cheese.

The smoky chipotle and chilli ingredients give the cheese a nice smokey, spicy flavour to complement the mild and mellow flavour of the Ilchester cheddar, which makes it the ideal cheese with “heat” for Halloween.

Best used to make some delicious Halloween party food, perhaps smokey Chipotle Chilli Witches Fingers Cheese Straws and Smokey Chipotle Chilli Stuffed Spooky Peppers. 

Add some smokey flavour and heat and crumble on top of jacket potatoes, mac 'n' cheese and fries. Or just slice onto hot dogs or burgers and give the whole family a Halloween (trick or) treat.

Talking about Ilchester's new Halloween launch, Lisa Harrison, Marketing Manager at Ilchester, said: “We know how popular cheddar cheese with a little bit of mild spicy, smokey flavour is, which is why we have chosen the smoky chipotle with chilli jam, which is the perfect “ghoulish” complementary ingredients to our Ilchester cheddar for this Halloween.

“Previous cheeses we have launched in the autumn and winter season that have a bit of “heat” have proven to be really popular and we are hoping Nightmare on Market Street will be a great new seasonal cheese for foodies who are hosting their very own Halloween parties this October.”

Ilchester's Nightmare on Market will be available at all Morrisons deli counters across the country from 10 October and will RRP at £1.30 for 100g.

That's Food and Drink says: "I know where I will be on October tenth!" 

Incidentally Market Street is a feature in every Morrisons store in the country and harks back to time when, in 1899 William Morrison opened his market stall in Bradford Market selling eggs and butter.

To learn about the history of Morrisons please visit https://www.morrisons-corporate.com/about-us/company-history/

Ilchester Cheese was launched in 1962 their website is at https://www.ilchester.co.uk.

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Gosnells Opens Mead Bar on Bermondsey Mead Mile

Gosnells, which is London's sole meadery, has opened The Gosnells Mead Bar at 72 Enid Street, London SE16. It is secreted in a deep railway arch with the capacity for over 100 drinkers and has outside drinking space under parasols for those with thick coats, too!

Says Tom Gosnell: “So many people are popping by to see what it's all about, and we are excited to be able to offer them such a wide range of flavours from 0% to 12% abv. 

The bar will provide a thought-provoking showcase and hopefully encourage guests to sample one of head brewer Will Grubelnik's iterations of the world's oldest alcoholic drink, mead. Our meads are solely based on honey and water fermented to show the brilliance of the honeybee and its flowers.”

“The new bar has opened just in time for the London Marathon on Sunday 2nd October. The race passes through Bermondsey, so what better way for guests to reinvigorate all the senses than by visiting the Bermondsey Mead Mile, surrounded by a cornucopia of amazing brewers?” 

The Gosnells Mead Bar's draught selection is led by its new dry Wildflower Mead (4% abv) which is drawn from the nectar of 45 species of flowers, bushes and trees. It is gluten-free and sparkling, with no added sulphites, made from a brew using 100% honey and with zero added sugar.

Gosnells Wildflower Mead is already available in Portobello pubs in London, Laines pubs, Brewdog pubs and independents. 

It is also available in smartly presented yellow 440ml cans.

The Mead bar will serve seven other meads on tap including Raspberry Wildflower 5.4%, Sweet Cherry 8% and a cloudy Mojito Mead at 5.5%. There will also be 75cl bottles of Gosnells 5.5% Classic and of Gosnells 12% Vintages, dating back to 2019. A range of 4% canned meads including Sour, pink Hibiscus and Hopped will also be available,

Gosnells Mead bar is at 72 Enid Street, London SE16 3RA

Opening times:

Mondays/Tuesdays: Closed

Wednesday - Friday: 4:00PM to 11:30PM

Saturday: 12:00PM to 11:30PM

Sunday: 12:00PM to 11:00PM

To check them out to to buy by mail please visit https://www.gosnells.co.uk.

We think it's time to put in your orders to Gosnells for Christmas for your Christmas drinks bar and also for different and interesting Christmas gifts, too.

Cheese of the Month - October - Sharpham Cheese Camembert

Introducing Sharpham Cheese's cheese of the month for October. It's a very special moist, soft, creamy, surface-ripened cows' milk cheese, typically made in individual rounds which makes it perfect for baking. 

When heated, Sharpham Camembert becomes yielding, oozing and perfect for dipping.

Sharpham Camembert is a unique combination of traditional Normandy methods and their very own singular South Devon terroir. It was created to celebrate the cheese dairy's 40th anniversary in 2021. It's inspired by the French classic, but is very much its own cheese.

This delicious cheese has recently been awarded a best cheese at the prestigious Devon County Show and an 'outstanding' two Great Taste stars awards, a rating that less than 10% of entrants receive. Great Taste judges said “This pretty little cheese has a sensational creamy texture that delivers a long, delicate richness and the most alluring wisp of straw. The rind is fully flavoured and paste utterly unctuous. Delicious!”

Sharpham Camembert costs £6.50 for 280g and is available from www.sharphamcheese.co.uk

That's Food and Drink and That's Christmas says:- "It's our opinion that Sharpham Camembert will be absolutely ideal for your Christmas cheese board. Plus the other Sharpham cheeses, too!"

Here's a nice recipe that you can try with Sharpham Camembert:-

Savoury Camembert and Caramelised Onion Bread and Butter Pudding

Serves 4 - 1hr prep/cook time

Ingredients

1 loaf of bread – stale is fine, sliced

100g salted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

2 garlic cloves, grated

Small bunch of parsley, roughly chopped

1 Sharpham Cheese Camembert

200ml whole milk

2 eggs

50g Cornish clotted cream

1 tsp mustard

Salt

Pepper

Caramelised onions

50g butter

A glug of olive oil

3 red onions, thinly sliced

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Method

Heat the butter and olive oil over a medium heat, add the onions and coat them in the buttery oil. Cook for at least 20 minutes, prodding from time to time, until they are all caramelised. Add the red wine vinegar and cook for a couple more minutes until sticky. Season well and set aside.

Stir the grated garlic into the softened butter, parsley and pepper until thoroughly combined.

Spread the garlic butter over the bread on both sides. Slice the bread into triangles, don't worry about removing the crusts as you might a sweet bread and butter pudding.

Slice the Camembert into thick, oozy slices, if using. Otherwise, grate your cheese.

Grease a baking dish and arrange a layer of bread in the bottom. Spoon over a layer of caramelised onions and cheese. Repeat with bread, onions and cheese until it's all used up.

Whisk the milk, eggs, clotted cream and mustard, before seasoning with salt and pepper. Pour over the bread it's all soaked up.

If you have the time, allow to stand for a little while so the bread soaks up the mixture.

Preheat oven to 180c. Bake for 25 minutes until bubbling and golden on top. 

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