Venison & Pork Chorizo with fennel and potatoes

Photo: © childsdesign

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A nice simple recipe using Great Glen Charcuterie's Venison & Pork Chorizo which would make an ideal midweek meal.
The chorizo is wonderfully meaty, smokey and savoury with a good amount of spicing (though not hot) that mixes with the aniseed-tasting fennel and juicy tomatoes for a delicious meal.

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Beef Ragu

Photo: © childsdesign

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The flavours of a slow-cooked ragu are soft and mellow, quite different from a typical quick bolognese sauce. It is important to use good quality beef mince which has plenty of fat as this all adds to the flavour and the smoothness of the sauce.
The slow cooking creates a melt in the mouth texture as the meat becomes very soft and very delicious.
The ragu is best served stirred through tagliatelle pasta.

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Photo: © childsdesign

Venison and pork perfect chorizo partners

Photo: © childsdesign

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Last month we announced a new product from Great Glen Charcuterie – Venison & Pork Chorizo.
Eager to get the word out and our opinion on their recent addition, Anja Baak made sure we received a pack to be put to the test.

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We are pleased to award Great Glen Charcuterie our 'Artisan Food Trail Approved' status for their Venison & Pork Chorizo.

To find out more about Great Glen Charcuterie visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here.

Get cosy with an alpaca

So with the cold weather upon us we have teamed up with our friends Yew Tree Alpacas for our latest competition.
Although The Artisan Food Trail is all about food, these alpacas are definitely not for eating! However we do also appreciate those people who rear animals for their other benefits too and alpacas are famed for their super soft and warm fleeces. These are spun into yarn to make beautiful wearable items.

Yew Tree Alpacas in Anstey, near Buntingford in Hertfordshire is a small but growing herd of alpacas based in the picturesque village of Anstey near Buntingford. The herd was formed in May 2009 from a base of four girls, Barbara, Joyce, Jessica and Manette. Now, nearly 6 years later (January 2015) the herd consists of 29 alpacas, most of which have been bred at Yew Tree. Both the girls and boys are reared for their fleece which is beautifully soft and warm, a totally natural and ethical product.

Alpaca socks and other items knitted in alpaca yarn are very soft and warm, with excellent wicking properties to keep you pleasantly warm and dry. Alpaca is also hypoallergenic, many people who are allergic to lamb’s wool can wear alpaca. Yew Tree Alpacas sell a range of alpaca accessories, activities and gifts which also includes a range of ivory and chocolate alpaca yarns spun from the best fleeces in their herd.

The majority of their range of alpaca accessories, most are hand knitted from their own natural alpaca yarn; hats, gloves, scarves and shawls although other coloured alpaca yarns are also used to provide customers with a wider colour range. Yew Tree Alpacas also sells a range of alpaca socks from day socks for wear in every day shoes to the thicker walking socks, long country socks and bed socks. All are completely natural and ethically produced products knitted in the UK.

Visit the Yew Tree Alpacas website to find out more here

Win a £30 voucher to spend with Yew Tree Alpacas
Yew Tree Alpacas have kindly given The Artisan Food Trail a £30 gift voucher to use on any of their products - including their Alpaca Adoption Package.
Sorry this competition has closed

Braised Pork with Prunes and a Potato Top

Photo: childsdesign

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Choose good quality British pork for this dish and with several great producers on The Artisan Food Trail to choose from, you can’t go wrong.

It doesn't need to be an expensive cut either and we used shoulder as this seems to work best. The slow cooking makes the meat very tender and almost melting in texture.

Inspired by all things English, this recipe uses old traditional flavours that complement each other so well. Cider and apples for sharpness, prunes for sweetness and a dash of mace, thyme and juniper for warmth and fragrance.

Although optional, we can highly recommend adding Alan Coxon’s Ale-Gar
to give a nice depth to the finished flavour. To us, it just seemed very appropriate to add it as the rest of the ingredients echo the time which inspired the Ale-Gar’s recipe.

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Photo: childsdesign