How to make perfect roast potatoes

Photo: © childsdesign

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To be served a roast dinner without roast potatoes would be a serious misdemeanour. The meal would not be complete without these heavenly golden crunchy caskets encasing the fluffy potato within.

You can never make too many either as we don't know anyone who doesn't love a roast potato, so they're bound to want second helpings!

For the best results you will need floury potatoes such as Maris Piper, King Edward or Desiree.

How to make perfect roast potatoes
Peel your potatoes, removing any eyes or blemishes and cut the potatoes into halves. Put into a pan of cold water and bring to the boil.

Add about half a teaspoon of salt. Don't skip this part as the salt the allows the potato's cells to crumble which will give a crunchier texture.

Parboil the potatoes for 7 minutes if the chunks are large or 5 minutes if they are small. Drain into a colander and leave to allow the steam to evaporate off and dry out.

Give your potatoes a good shake in the colander to break up their surfaces, but be careful that you don't smash them completely to bits. The fluffy surface you have created will crisp up when roasted.

There are various approaches to the next stage – adding the fat.
You can choose from a variety of fats and oils – it's up to you. Some people swear by goose or duck fat, pork lard or even beef dripping for that traditional old fashioned flavour but you could you use olive oil, but we like to use cold pressed rapeseed oil for ours (see below for producers).
Many cooks heat the fat in the tray before adding the potatoes, but we've found that by coating the potatoes in the cold oil first then tipping them into a very hot tray produces a good thick crunchy crust.

You'll need to get your oven good and hot, 220C / Gas 7, to heat the tray. Once you place the tray of potatoes into the oven turn down the heat to
190C / Gas 5. This works best as some fats are prone to spoiling at very high heats. Put your potatoes on the top shelf and roast for about an hour. Sprinkle them with a little flaked sea salt, and if you like, add some sprigs of rosemary or thyme. Turn the potatoes twice throughout their cooking time. You should get nice evenly roasted potatoes with a golden colour and thick crust.

Once cooked remove the potatoes using a slotted spoon and keep warm in a serving dish. Don't leave the potatoes sitting in the cooking fat. They should stay crisp for at least 20 minutes, but the sooner you get them on the plate
the better.

Cold pressed rapeseed oil producers:
Yare Valley Oils
Filbert's Fine Foods
The Artisan Smokehouse – produce a smoked version

Smooth smoky oil slips into the AFT Approved list

Over the past few years we've become big fans of cold pressed rapeseed oil and it has become an important staple in the kitchen.

Many British farmers have seen the benefit of growing the crop not only for animal feed but also as a gourmet ingredient for human consumption.

Read the full review

We are pleased to award Yare Valley Oils our 'Artisan Food Trail Approved' status for 

their Oak Smoked Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil .

To find out more about Yare Valley Oils visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here.

Yare Valley Oils dressings are not just for salads

Photo: © Yare Valley Oils

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Yare Valley Oils  have combined their delicious Norfolk extra virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil with a variety of different, herbs, spices and seasonings to produce a range of dressings.
Currently there are three to choose from, all quite different, to complement a wide range of foods; Norfolk Honey & Mustard, Chilli and Norfolk Vinaigrette.
Yare Valley Oils' wonderfully golden rapeseed oil has a nutty taste with a particularly floral character which makes a pleasing base flavour.

Read full review

We are pleased to award Yare Valley Oils our 'Artisan Food Trail Approved' status for their Norfolk Honey & Mustard Dressing, Chilli Dressing and Norfolk Vinaigrette.

To find out more about Yare Valley Oils visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here.

AFT member Yare Valley Oils shortlisted for Producer Of The Year award

Norfolk producer Yare Valley Oils has been shortlisted in the East of England Co-op's Producer Of The Year awards and now it depends on your votes on whether they scoop the title for 2014.

The East of England Co-op says:

"We're passionate about local food, and we want to recognise the very best local producers on our Sourced Locally range."

There are six shortlisted producers
and as a little incentive the East of England Co-op will be entering the voters into a prize drawer to win £100 of shopping vouchers.


Yare Valley Oils, run by three family members, began trading in 2010 and first started selling to East of England Co-op stores in 2011.
The oil, which is grown and pressed on the farm, is rich in omega 3 and enjoys a nutty flavour that is ideal for frying, roasting, sauces, baking, marinades and salads.
Read more over on the Co-op's website to find out why Yare Valley Oils has been shortlisted.

Here at The Artisan Food Trail we would be very grateful for your support for one of our members, so please vote for Yare Valley Oils.
Vote now!

Fields of Gold at Yare Valley Oils

Photos: © Yare Valley Oils

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Ever since settling beside the Norfolk Broads in the early 1900’s the Mack family have been farming the rich soil of the Yare Valley.

Oilseed rape has been grown across their fields for many years and the crop has become an important part of farming along with potatoes, sugar beet and cereals. From plough to plate every single seed is grown, pressed and bottled for you to enjoy.

The oil has full traceability from field to table and nothing goes to waste – the pulp from the pressing goes straight back into the biomass boiler to fuel the farm.

The oil seed rape is sown on the farm the first week of September with approximately 2½ Kilos of seed per hectare. Pigeons are often a problem as they love the brassica seed. In March the fields are fertilised and by April and May the rape begins to flower creating a brilliant yellow display. After enjoying the sun and insect pollination, the flowers produce pods which are full of rapeseeds.

The rapeseed plants are left in the field and allowed to mature naturally and dry before harvesting in late July to early August. The seed is collected and then stored before being cold pressed using a mechanical screw and then filtered twice to obtain the highest quality when it reaches your plate.

Being cold pressed, Yare Valley’s oil is the purest form of rape oil, no other heat or chemical extraction processes are used and it is healthy too with many nutritional benefits.

As well as selling pure rapeseed oil, Yare Valley also produce a range of dressings containing it carefully blended with other ingredients, some locally sourced to retain the true Norfolk taste. Look out for Chilli, Norfolk Honey & Mustard and Norfolk Vinaigrette.

To find out more about Yare Valley Oils visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here

Crispy Courgette Fritters

Photo: © childsdesign

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These crispy courgette fritters are really easy-to-make and they go down very well with a glass of beer or wine or even with a salad on the side. They’re fried in healthy Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil so a little indulgence can be good for you now and then.
Do make sure you choose a good beer to make the batter – cheap lager will not do!

View recipe

Oil's Well – why rapeseed oil is good for you

You may have heard about the endless health benefits of olive oil and the Mediterranean Diet, but did you know that Britain produces an oil that equals, and may even rival it?
Intrigued by this information we spoke to our Industry Expert, Priya Tew of Dietitian UK, to find out more about Britain’s golden elixir, that is rapeseed oil.

AFT: Rapeseed oil has been around for a very long time but not as a gourmet culinary ingredient, we’ve even heard that it was quite unpalatable.
PT: It was used in Asia and Europe as a lamp fuel and in WWII as a lubricant for steam engines. Now all these years later we have a version that has been bred to taste better and is actually good for us.

AFT: It is amazing to think that rapeseed oil was not considered a food, so now with it becoming part of our diet, what makes it so special for our health?
PT: Like olive oil, rapeseed oil is low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated fats, in fact it is made of about 60% Oleic acid (MUFA). This specific fat has been shown to have some significant health benefits.

AFT: Olive oil has become an ubiquitous store cupboard essential and we’d like to see more British people using rapeseed oil as it tastes good and is good for you. You say that rapeseed oil has much in common with olive oil, so how is it better for us?
PT: Back in the 1980’s some landmark research was conducted that looked at the diet and death rate of over 11,000 middle aged men in 7 Countries. They found that the Mediterranean men had a lower death rate from cancer and heart disease which was related to their diet. Eating less saturated fat and more monounsaturated fats (MUFA) was the key and Oleic acid was the main source of the monounsaturated fat that these men were eating (1). This is the main fat in rapeseed oil.

AFT: Obviously in addition to using rapeseed oil we would need to follow a balanced diet to enjoy all the health benefits. What is the Mediterranean diet?
PT: The Mediterranean diet contains plenty of fresh and unprocessed foods. With an emphasis on eating fruit and vegetables, beans and pulses, wholegrains, olive oil and nuts. Dairy foods, fish, poultry and red wine are eaten in moderate amounts. Only a small amount of saturated fats, salt and processed foods are eaten, most meals are cooked from scratch and flavoured with plenty of herbs and spices. Eating this type of diet can reduce death from heart disease by 10% and can also reduce cholesterol levels (2).

AFT: Rapeseed oil is still a fat, so how can it help people looking after their heart?
PT: Some small studies have suggested that using specifically more rapeseed oil could lower total cholesterol levels and more importantly lower the “bad” cholesterol (LDL) levels (3,4), once again supporting the fact that eating rapeseed oil can be good for your heart.
Rapeseed oil is a healthy fat to be choosing to include in your diet on a regular basis. Reducing your intake of saturated fats such as butter, cheese and processed foods and increasing avocados, nuts, seeds and rapeseed oil can help lower your risk of heart disease.

Priya Tew is a registered dietitian who runs her own nutrition consultancy business, Dietitian UK.

As a mum and food lover she is passionate about helping people to discover good quality food and to show them how healthy eating is not just tasty but vitally important.

www.dietitianuk.co.uk

If you haven’t yet tried rapeseed oil, we’d urge you to do so. It is great for cooking – use it for shallow frying and roasting – potatoes turn out wonderfully crisp. It is perfect for making dressings too.

To find out where you can get rapeseed oil from, take a look at our Oils section on The Artisan Food Trail here

For more about rapeseed oil the following articles and recipes should inspire you:
Say hello to yellow or why you should buy extra virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil
Zingy Honey Chilli Chicken recipe
‘A Very British’ Watercress Pesto recipe
Carrot Cake recipe
Roast Potatoes recipe

1. Keys A et al (1986). The diet and 15 year death rate in the Seven Countries Study. Am J Epidemiology 124: 903-15.
2. Sofi F, Abbate R, Gensini GF, Casini A. Accruing evidence on benefits of adherence to the Mediterranean diet on health: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Nov [cited 2011 Oct 24];92(5):1189-96. Abstract available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20810976
3. Gillingham LG et al (2011). High oleic canola and flaxseed oils modulate serum lipids and inflammatory biomarkers in hypercholesterolaemic subjects. Br J Nutrition 105 (3) 417-27
4. Iggman D et al (2011). Replacing dairy fat with rapeseed oil causes rapid improvement of hyperlipidaemia: a randomized controlled study. J Intern Med 270 (4): 356-64.

We’re buzzing about honey… plus recipe for Zingy Honey Chilli Chicken

Photo: © childsdesign

 Sweet, gooey and scented, it’s easy to become slightly obsessed with honey, well for us anyway. Everywhere we go, we like to pick up a jar of local honey – there’s always a pot to hand in the pantry. The Artisan Food Trail is lucky enough to have Cardona & Son and as well as rearing rare breed pigs in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire they are enthusiatic beekeepers and also run a hive management scheme.

The best place to find good local honey is from your farmer’s market or deli – the label will have the exact address of origin. Decent local honey may not be cheap, but it is the pure unadulterated product likely to carry the signature flavour of our indigenous countryside and even our gardens.
It is truly amazing just how those busy honey bees gather the nectar and turn it into such a seductive food for us to plunder.

Photo: © childsdesign

Generally, bees can fly up to six miles from the hive but one or two is more common if food sources are close by. They collect the pollen and nectar in the spring (when most plants are in flower) and take it back to the hive where they process and store honey in honeycombs to be used as their winter sustenance. Bees make more honey than they actually need and a typical hive can hold up to around 25lb (11kg) surplus.

Depending on the types of plants that the bees forage on, the honey can be either runny and clear or opaque and set. The flowers also impart their unique flavour characteristics too, so honeys can vary considerably from region to region.

As well as spreading it on our toast in the morning, we love using honey in cooking – it is great for baking as it has hygroscopic qualities, meaning that it attracts water, thereby keeping cakes moist for longer.

Apart from the kitchen, honey also has a place in the medicine cabinet too. Its antiseptic properties make it a soother of sore throats and it is even good for the skin when applied externally.
Honey lasts practically for ever too, an explorer found a 2000 year old jar of honey in an Egyptian tomb and said it tasted delicious.

As honey is sweet thoughts normally turn to desserts but we’ve decided against this and used honey in a delicious main course savoury dish instead, to demonstrate the versatility of this gorgeous substance.

Zingy Honey Chilli Chicken (or Pork) – View recipe

Photo: © childsdesign

Say hello to yellow or why you should buy extra virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil

If you’re out in the countryside at the moment it is hard not to notice fields full of vivid yellow flowers. Brighter than a workman’s high visibility vest this humble crop of oilseed rape is gradually becoming more popular as a fine foodstuff.

The oil extracted from the seeds was once used in the 19th century as a lubricant for steam engines and hardly suitable for little else as the high levels of glucosinolates made it too bitter to be palatable for animals let alone humans.
Since then varieties have been bred to reduce the glucosinolates and now it is possible to make an oil which is fast becoming an essential item for the cook.

Although vast amounts of rape are grown commercially for animal feed and margarine production, many farmers are diversifying to add value to their oilseed rape crop. Much of the seed is crushed and mixed with solvents to extract the oil – you will find this as vegetable cooking oil – but many producers have found that by cold pressing and filtering the oil results in a wonderfully superior extra virgin product.

Having less than half the saturated fat of olive oil and being a good source of Omega 3 and 6, it’s a good choice for the health conscious. It's burn point is a lot higher too which means it can be heated to higher temperatures than olive oil making it better for frying and roasting.

There have been discussions in The Artisan Food Trail office about starting a campaign to promote extra virgin rapeseed oil as Britain’s answer to olive oil. Rapeseed oil does not taste the same as olive oil – it is unique and nutty in character – but it is really something quite special. If you buy it not only are you getting all and more of the benefits of olive oil, you will be supporting our British farmers.

The oil is good in all types of cooking 

and can be used in place of olive oil

At present we have two extra virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil producers on The Artisan Food Trail – Yare Valley Oils both of whom grow their own rapeseed and press it on the farm.

Over time we hope to add more rapeseed oil producers to the trail to represent all areas of the UK. Interestingly like olive oil, we have noticed, that depending on where the oilseed is grown, the flavour and aroma varies. It is obvious that terrain, soil, climate etc add certain characteristics to the final product. 

No two are the same. 

'A Very British' Watercress Pesto

Photo: © childsdesign

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We've taken the Italian recipe and transported it into the heart of the British Isles. By taking some elements and substituting them for something from our homeland, it makes a vibrant and fresh tasting sauce.

Rapeseed oil is fast becoming Britain's equivalent of olive oil. In its cold pressed extra virgin form, rapeseed oil is healthy and flavourful. You can find quality rapeseed oil producers on The Artisan Food Trail from Yare Valley Oils.

We prefer to make pesto by hand as it gives a much better texture. There’s something to be said for bruising the flavours out of the leaves rather than just chopping everything up in a food processor.

This pesto is good mixed into linguine pasta or used in which to toss some Jersey Royal potatoes served along side a good piece of poached salmon.

View recipe

Carrot Cake

Photo: © childsdesign

We hope not too many of you are on post festive diets otherwise this cake recipe might be seen as inappropriate for the moment. However, this is a cake with a difference, and we like to think that it contains enough good ingredients to make it wholesome enough to at least indulge in a little.

We added our own twist to Yare Valley Oils’ recipe (which features on their website). Usually carrot cakes use sunflower oil but this recipe uses the liquid gold that is Yare Valley Oils Extra Virgin Coldpressed Rapeseed Oil. The oil has a wonderfully nutty flavour and is packed with omega 3 and vitamin E, so along with the heap of grated carrots, the cake should be (dare we say) quite good for you!

View recipe

To find out more about more about Yare Valley Oils visit their page on
The Artisan Food Trail here

Roast Potatoes

Photo: © childsdesign

To be served a roast dinner without roast potatoes would be a serious misdemeanour. The meal would not be complete without these heavenly golden crunchy caskets encasing the fluffy potato within.

You can never make too many either as we don't know anyone who doesn't love a roast potato, so they're bound to want second helpings!

For the best results you will need floury potatoes such as Maris Piper, King Edward or Desiree.

How to make perfect roast potatoes
Peel your potatoes, removing any eyes or blemishes and cut the potatoes into halves. Put into a pan of cold water and bring to the boil.

Add about half a teaspoon of salt. Don't skip this part as the salt the allows the potato's cells to crumble which will give a crunchier texture.

Parboil the potatoes for 7 minutes if the chunks are large or 5 minutes if they are small. Drain into a colander and leave to allow the steam to evaporate off and dry out.

Give your potatoes a good shake in the colander to break up their surfaces, but be careful that you don't smash them completely to bits. The fluffy surface you have created will crisp up when roasted.

There are various approaches to the next stage – adding the fat.
You can choose from a variety of fats and oils – it's up to you. Some people swear by goose or duck fat, pork lard or even beef dripping for that traditional old fashioned flavour but you could you use olive oil, but we like to use extra virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil for ours.
Many cooks heat the fat in the tray before adding the potatoes, but we've found that by coating the potatoes in the cold oil first then tipping them into a very hot tray produces a good thick crunchy crust.

You'll need to get your oven good and hot, 220C / Gas 7, to heat the tray. Once you place the tray of potatoes into the oven turn down the heat to
190C / Gas 5. This works best as some fats are prone to spoiling at very high heats. Put your potatoes on the top shelf and roast for about an hour. Sprinkle them with a little flaked sea salt, and if you like, add some sprigs of rosemary or thyme. Turn the potatoes twice throughout their cooking time. You should get nice evenly roasted potatoes with a golden colour and thick crust.

Once cooked remove the potatoes using a slotted spoon and keep warm in a serving dish. Don't leave the potatoes sitting in the cooking fat. They should stay crisp for at least 20 minutes, but the sooner you get them on the plate the better.