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Cookery Demonstration 'Christmas Celebrations'

We had a super Christmas demonstration on Thursday. Our ladies bravely navigated the then waterlogged streets of Malton and Norton and were well rewarded with a full and interesting programme.

Claire's delicious mince pies were on hand to welcome guests along with a reviving cup of coffee. For all that it has been tricky driving around our area, we were still accessible and are now even more so as the waters are starting to recede.

The demonstration started at 10.30am with Alison making potted hot smoked salmon. This is a lovely dish, ideal as a starter on Christmas day, or would make a lovely light lunch with warm crusty bread a few green leaves and nice Chablis! 

Claire went on to make two suggestions for topping bruschetta in a 'Christmas' style. These made generous quantities but they must have been good as all the carrot and chick pea canapes had gone before we office dwellers could get to them! The other topping of beetroot and walnut gave stunning colour to the table and by using the currently in season and on trend beetroot gave our starters a contemporary feel.

The 'main event' was of course turkey, and some time was spent explaining cooking times and methods on the AGA. This year we went for a turkey crown with a warm and spicy chorizo stuffing. To accompany this we did carrots with caraway, crispy topped sprouts and, everybody's favourite, parsnip and apple mash. Served up with piping hot roast potato's and a 'secret' turkey gravy recipe. Other accompaniments were apricot bacon and sausage skewers and cranberry relish.

For the vegetarians Claire cooked a delicious mushroom and herb bake served up in individual portions and garnished with watercress. This was almost too delicate to be called a bake and yet too elegant to be called a pudding. With a strong mushroom flavour and a dense texture making this both delicious and filling. Again this would make a lovely dinner party dish at any time of the year.

  
As if we hadn't all eaten enough Christmas pudding followed. This too was popular and the 3lb Christmas pudding that Claire made was heartily consumed. For those with any room Alison showed us how to make an orange and pistachio stollen. This had a lovely christmassy taste and just enough marzipan to keep it moist without overpowering the delicate flavours.

To round of this Christmas cookery demonstration we were privileged to have Judy Bell from Shepherds purse cheeses of Thirsk join us. Judy gave us an inspirational talk on cheeses for our Christmas table. Along with helpful hints on serving and storing these cheeses Judy offered everyone a taste of Harrogate Blue, Buffalo Blue, Bluemin white and the ewe's milk cheeses Katy's white Lavender and Yorkshire fettle. These cheeses are all made using traditional methods and have a full but soft flavour, in particular I really like the Buffalo blue. A big thank you to Judy for braving the flooded plains of Ryedale to join us that day.

For this year we have completed our demonstrations programme. However we will be doing more in the new year. If you would like to know the new dates for 2013 please fill in your details on the contact us page under cookery demonstrations and we will contact you once we have the new programme arranged.



 

The Christmas Cheese Board

A big thank you to Judy Bell from Shepherds Purse who visited Country Warmth last week to create the perfect Christmas Cheese Board.

Our ladies really enjoyed the event - our favourite cheese is the Buffalo Blue as its full of flavour yet mellow at the same time!

The Countdown to Christmas

We've got some lovely Christmas gifts in the shop ideal for stocking fillers. From tea towels to mugs and cookbooks. 

Book and Brew at Country Warmth

A huge thank you goes out to Elaine Lemm and Ann Davis for making the book and brew event such a great success. 

Our ladies loved it and the tea and cake served up was simply delicious. 

We would like to wish Elaine every success with the launch of The Great Book of Tea. We are big fans of her work. 

Living North Essence of Christmas Fair

We had a great time at the Living North Essence of Christmas Fair last weekend. 
The show was excellently run and we met some lovely people at our stand. 
 
Here are a few photos...

 

We have a fantastic selection of Christmas gifts available at Country Warmth. Why not pop in to our shop and take a look?

We had a great time at our 'Autumn Dinner Parties' demo

Here are a few pics of the delicious food prepared.

 

The Living North Essence of Christmas

Come and visit our stand at the Living North Christmas Fair this weekend.

Bringing Living North to life. The very best in Christmas shopping at the largest event of its kind in the region, The Living North Essence of Christmas Fair at York Racecourse, 16th-18th November 2012.

The event at York will provide an unprecedented shopping experience consisting of artisan producers, designers, gift retailers, health and beauty products, fashion, toys and much more.

Find us in the Food and Drink Hall. 

 LivingNorthChristmasFair

Tea Event Reminder!

We are hosting a book and brew tea party on Tuesday 20 November to celebrate the launch of ‘The Great Book of Tea', the latest release by renowned Yorkshire food journalist, Elaine Lemm.

'The Great Book of Tea' follows the successful release of 'The Great Book of Yorkshire Pudding' and 'The Great Book of Rhubarb'.

Elaine will give a short talk on her new book and wax lyrical about her discovery of just how and why tea has become such a part of British life and how the resurgence of afternoon tea has seen spectacular growth in specialist teas, tea blenders and tea shops. Elaine will also demonstrate how to bake some of the delicious cake recipes featured.

We will also be joined by Ann Davis, owner of The Tea Experience, a Yorkshire based speciality tea company.  Ann, who has trained with international tea masters in London, specialises in unusual flowering teas and premium loose tea blends, as well as tea ware and gifts.  Guests will be introduced to a new range of teas made by Chinese artisans, known as Flowering Tea Blooms and will be able to enjoy the whole tea experience.

We hope you will join us to learn more about the tea we drink every day and try a new tea experience with the Flowering Tea Blooms. Guests will also learn new cake recipes to accompany our celebrated brew. The event will run between 10.30am and 12.30pm with tea and cake tasting and a book signing from Elaine.

The tea party is free of charge, however, places must be reserved ahead of the event. Please contact sara@countrywarmth.co.uk or call 01653 694699.

Christmas Stocking Fillers

This year’s festive AGA textiles are a delightful twist on the traditional Christmas Partridge in a Pear Tree. Products within the range include napkins, tea towels, aprons and pot grabs. 

Prices from £5.99

Ask in store for details. 

 

Celebrating the Launch of 'The Great Book of Tea'

We are set to host a book and brew tea party on Tuesday 20 November to celebrate the launch of ‘The Great Book of Tea', the latest release by renowned Yorkshire food journalist, Elaine Lemm.

'The Great Book of Tea' follows the successful release of 'The Great Book of Yorkshire Pudding' and 'The Great Book of Rhubarb'.

Elaine will give a short talk on her new book and wax lyrical about her discovery of just how and why tea has become such a part of British life and how the resurgence of afternoon tea has seen spectacular growth in specialist teas, tea blenders and tea shops. Elaine will also demonstrate how to bake some of the delicious cake recipes featured.

We will also be joined by Ann Davis, owner of The Tea Experience, a Yorkshire based speciality tea company.  Ann, who has trained with international tea masters in London, specialises in unusual flowering teas and premium loose tea blends, as well as tea ware and gifts.  Guests will be introduced to a new range of teas made by Chinese artisans, known as Flowering Tea Blooms and will be able to enjoy the whole tea experience.

We hope guests will join us to learn more about the tea we drink every day and try a new tea experience with the Flowering Tea Blooms. Guests will also learn new cake recipes to accompany our celebrated brew. The event will run between 10.30am and 12.30pm with tea and cake tasting and a book signing from Elaine.

The tea party is free of charge, however, places must be reserved ahead of the event. Please contact sara@countrywarmth.co.uk or call Country Warmth on 01653 694699.

Sara Danesin Medio Cookery Demonstration

Yesterday we were privileged to have Sara Danesin Medio host a cookery demonstration in our upstairs AGA showroom.

Just to demonstrate that Sara can handle pressure, the elements threw all they could at her. Torrential rain in York meant that Sara couldn’t make her intended train. The train she managed to catch then encountered the ‘wrong kind of leaves’ delaying it further. However, Sara was as calm as a cucumber. With only a few minutes before she was due to start she breezed in to the ‘kitchen’ all smiles and raring to go.

Sara started by giving us all a lesson in making the perfect fondant potato. Stressing the importance of allowing the potato its full cooking time. She made reference to the influence of her family in her chosen career.  The delightful quote from her mother went along the lines of ‘it takes nine months to make and perfect a baby and it takes forty five minutes to make the perfect fondant’! So we see the Danesin family have a healthy sense of humour as well as a gift with food!

A light and colourful vegetable frittata was next on the agenda. A perfect dish for  lunch with friends or a light supper. Sara explained that when using garlic she felt less was more. It was the French that were the proponents of garlic as opposed to the Italians. Throughout Sara’s cooking she stressed how flavours must be allowed to speak for themselves and not overpower each other.

A similar sentiment was apparent in her preparation of aubergines parmigiana. This dish was much acclaimed on masterchef and has been a huge hit at her dining club.

Created using the finest ingredients this was a delicious dish. Part of it incorporated   the now infamous ‘Medio’ sauce – most of us have a ‘bog standard’ tomato ragu, but not the Medio family. They enjoy a ‘Rolls Royce’ of tomato sauces with their vegetables! (How do they all stay so slim?!)

Finally Sara cooked grouse for us. Again it was fascinating to see different parts of the bird benefit from different methods of cooking. It made such good sense, but this common sense approach to cooking seems to be in short supply these days. This attitude is indicative of Sara’s approach to food. She has a flair for what flavours mix well and she has the discipline to pay attention to detail.

The audience was full of praise for her demonstration. In the same way that Sara was full of praise for her AGA. Sara has an AGA at home and uses it to its full advantage at her dining club. Having enjoyed her demonstration at our shop we now all want to go to Sara @ St John’s.  See her web site for further details www.saradanesinmedio.com

Creating the Perfect Cheese Board

We are excited to welcome Judy Bell from the family-run artisan cheese makers Shepherds Purse of Thirsk, to our cookery school on Wednesday 10th October.

Shepherds Purse produce a portfolio of multi award-winning, traditionally handmade cheeses, including their best selling Yorkshire Blue, Yorkshire Fettle, Olde York and their latest innovation Harrogate Blue.

Judy will talk to guests about her life as a cheese maker and demonstrate how to create the perfect cheese board.

Shepherds Purse launched in 1988 at various farmers markets and the brand and product range has grown successfully ever since. The cheeses are now sold at major supermarkets, some on a national basis, either pre-packed or on the delicatessen along with specialist cheese shops nationwide.

All the cheeses are handcrafted to family recipes, with no mechanical stirrers or cutters and made with locally sourced cow's, ewe's and water buffalo milk. The penicillin is added at the start of the making process and after the cheese begins to form it is turned by hand for two days to allow the whey to drain and finally it's salted. Then it heads to the ripening store, where high humidity and moderate temperature provide optimum conditions for the blue to develop. It’s best eaten at 10-12 weeks old.

We are delighted to welcome Judy to Country Warmth. Her knowledge of cheese is unprecedented and you can't fail to be impressed by her journey as a self-taught cheese maker.

Guests attending the event are in for a real treat!

The event will include a talk from Judy as the founder of Shepherds Purse, followed by a short cookery demonstration and cheese tasting.

Places at the Shepherds Purse event are free, however, people wishing to attend must pre-register as space is limited. For more information  telephone 01653 694699.

Introducing the AGA TC5 Cooker

The latest additions to the range of AGA Total Control cookers feature five ovens; a roasting, baking, warming, simmering and, now there’s a slow cooking oven. 

The 5 Oven Total Control AGA allows the user to operate the cooker as a traditional Heat Storage AGA, or the roasting, baking and simmering oven can be operated independently of each other, as can each of the two hotplates. 

These can be controlled via the remote control, the integral touch-screen panel, or in the case of the 5 Oven iTotal Control models with a PC or tablet or via a mobile phone using text or the AGA app. 

The slow oven and the warming oven operate together via a switch located on the front of the top plate and there is also a warming plate located on the top plate. 

Ask in store for details! 

Special Rayburn Offers

Black  Rayburn XT Oil Power Flue Cooker Normal Retail Price £5406 showroom model £4495

Old Style Pewter Rayburn 400 Power flue gas Cooker Normal retail price £5049 showroom model £4050

Feel free to call into the showroom to take a look and find out more!

Blender Offer!!

Selected AGA kMix Blenders will be reduced by £20 from £109.99 to £89.99 from Saturday 1st September until 30th September.