Okay so it's barely even June but the amazing weather we've been having has put me in full summer mode, and my food revolves around BBQs and picnic-style cold nibbles at the moment. I did think I'd been a bit hasty ordering a picnic-hamper worth of deli items from organic veg-box gurus Abel & Cole, as it proceeded to pour with rain for two days, but the weekend is here and the sun is blazing again, so it was time to enjoy my goodies.
With the recession hitting hard, organic veg boxes have been amongst the victims - it's certainly one of the luxuries I cut out first. Companies who specialise in them are having to diversify and bring in new product lines to keep customers' interest (and are increasingly dropping the word 'organic' as a key marketing strategy - apparently people feel it's synonymous with 'overpriced' these days). My old veg box supplier was able to lure me back in with their new delicatessen line, and I just couldn't resist sharing some of the goodies with you.
Lunch today was a Melton Mowbray Pork Pie. Immediately I was struck by how short the ingredients list is - just pork, flour, gelatine, lard, salt, pepper and egg. My own recipe for homemade pie has no fewer than 15 ingredients, and I wondered if this meant the pie would be dull - I mean, who's heard of a pork pie with no herbs and spices? I decided to risk it as a) Melton Mowbray is a name of great repute in the Pie world and b) when the sun is shining, the last thing I want to be doing is slaving in the kitchen, boiling lard for a hot watercrust pastry!
The pie came beautiful misshapen, and generously portioned. It was neither as tender, nor as succulent, as homemade but was well flavoured and excellently seasoned - I didn't miss the herbs or spices at all. A little tip for these would be to serve them at room temperature rather than chilled - the flavour was infinitely improved by warming up a little. As convenience food goes (and why else do we buy deli items?) this was a vast improvement on the insipid and chemical-laden supermarket pies I've had in the past.
Lacking any hard cheese (pork pie with Cheddar or Stilton is a thing of beauty), I wolfed down my pie with some homemade runnerbean chutney (2007 vintage) and another one of my Abel & Cole treats - a gloriously rich and tangy Black Olive Homous, which was perfectly balanced, and surprisingly tart, delicious!
Hooray for summer!
With the recession hitting hard, organic veg boxes have been amongst the victims - it's certainly one of the luxuries I cut out first. Companies who specialise in them are having to diversify and bring in new product lines to keep customers' interest (and are increasingly dropping the word 'organic' as a key marketing strategy - apparently people feel it's synonymous with 'overpriced' these days). My old veg box supplier was able to lure me back in with their new delicatessen line, and I just couldn't resist sharing some of the goodies with you.
Lunch today was a Melton Mowbray Pork Pie. Immediately I was struck by how short the ingredients list is - just pork, flour, gelatine, lard, salt, pepper and egg. My own recipe for homemade pie has no fewer than 15 ingredients, and I wondered if this meant the pie would be dull - I mean, who's heard of a pork pie with no herbs and spices? I decided to risk it as a) Melton Mowbray is a name of great repute in the Pie world and b) when the sun is shining, the last thing I want to be doing is slaving in the kitchen, boiling lard for a hot watercrust pastry!
The pie came beautiful misshapen, and generously portioned. It was neither as tender, nor as succulent, as homemade but was well flavoured and excellently seasoned - I didn't miss the herbs or spices at all. A little tip for these would be to serve them at room temperature rather than chilled - the flavour was infinitely improved by warming up a little. As convenience food goes (and why else do we buy deli items?) this was a vast improvement on the insipid and chemical-laden supermarket pies I've had in the past.
Lacking any hard cheese (pork pie with Cheddar or Stilton is a thing of beauty), I wolfed down my pie with some homemade runnerbean chutney (2007 vintage) and another one of my Abel & Cole treats - a gloriously rich and tangy Black Olive Homous, which was perfectly balanced, and surprisingly tart, delicious!
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