Food & Drink

By Katharine Wright thehungrygiraffe2020@gmail.com

Roll up your sleeves and put your apron on… This year we all have a little extra time on our hands, with the joy of meeting friends for coffee or going out for Sunday lunch with the family off the cards, us foodies need to keep ourselves busy. So why not this season we get creative in the kitchen and make tasty festive food? I have fantastic childhood memories helping mum prepare the Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, mince pies, pickled onions and more. Consequently, our Christmas cake also doubled up as dad’s birthday cake and his sweet treat in his lunchbox for nearly the whole month of January! Let us start with the Christmas cake, as

ENFORD FARM SHOP Open as usual Fri-Sat, and outside shop 24/7. Pre orders for any who don’t want to come in shop. Call the shop or email Christina. marks330@gmail.com or markscattle@yahoo.co.uk Pet foods of all variety’s can be sourced through us also by order. Christmas meat orders now being taken for all your needs from turkeys, game, meats and trees coming in soon. Durweston, near Blandford 01258 450050

Time to get cooking for Christmas

traditionally the last Sunday before Advent is known as ‘Stir-up Sunday’ – which this year is this Sunday (22nd). The day to mix up and bake your cake, allowing the mixture time to soak up all the lovely alcohol and fruity flavours to enjoy in the weeks to come. So, with a good cup of tea look for a recipe from a book or the web or maybe you have your family recipe, either way, just enjoy the baking moment. Do not forget the marzipan and icing on the top a few days before the 25th.

Of course, while making the cake you can make Dorset Magazine has announced its winners in The Dorset Food, Drink & Farming Awards – including several in our area. Alex & Emma Young of Ginger Viking in Blandford Forum won Entrepreneur of the Year. Food Producer of the Year winner was The Book & Bucket Cheese Company in Cranborne, while From Dorset with Love in the pudding too. Much like the cake, making in advance allows the ingredients to become deep and rich in flavour, perfect on Christmas Day. So, remember while looking up the cake recipe look for the pudding one too. While still on the dried fruit we must not forget the mince pies – Now my nan made the best mince pies ever, and the secret was in the pastry. The pastry complimented the mincemeat (which of course you can make too) perfectly. Her method was self-raising flour, crumbed with margarine, then sugar stirred in and bound together with a

Blandford Forum scooped highly commended.

Highly commended in the

Best Farm Shop category was Steeptonbill in Milton

Abbas, while Sherborne

Viral Kindness was highly commended in the

Community Food/Drink

Initiative Award. The Dorset

Food Co, Blandford Forum were highly commended in the Best Local Food/Drink

Delivery Experience and beaten egg and water to bring it all together. My personal favourite at Christmas must be the homemade pickled onions. Prepare these now and they will be ready to eat over the Christmas period with lots of Dorset cheese. Many methods are available so take your pick and get pickling. They are simple to make and for me they are Christmas. There are many other elements you can prepare in advance like the cranberry sauce, gravy and stuffing so go on, roll up your sleeves, get your pinny on and head

Local gourmet winners in Dorset Magazine awards

straight to the kitchen.

Carl Thompson and Victoria Cannings of the Dorset Food Co

Allen Valley Milk & Pamphill Dairy was highly commended in the Business Collaboration Award.

Cooking...

Mrs Simkins’ Plum Pudding It’s Stir-up Sunday this Sunday: the fifth Sunday before Christmas and the last before Advent. In the old Anglican Book of Common Prayer the Collect that day was ‘Stir up we beseech thee, O Lord, the will of thy faithful people …’ Continue the tradition by gathering family members to stir the pudding and make a wish. Stir east to west in memory of the three wise men travelling from the East. Centuries ago, the ‘plums’ in plum pudding meant any kind of dried fruit but a few actual dried plums make it extra luscious. Butter is used instead of the traditional suet and no breadcrumbs for extra lightness. Tip Zest the orange and grate the apple and carrot in short, sharp up and down movements to avoid long strands. Serves 6 300g mixed dried fruit and peel 100g soft-eating prunes, quartered 100ml sherry, rum or brandy 50g salted butter 2 rounded tablespoons black

Orange Mincemeat

Perfect for Christmas, with plenty of spices and a generous slug of whisky.

Ingredients: 550g/20oz cooking apples 4 x 15ml/tablespoons water

Walnut-sized knob of butter 225g/8oz sultanas 100g/4oz walnut pieces 100g/4oz candied peel, chopped 225g/8oz currants 225g/8oz muscovado sugar

Grated rind and juice of 1 large orange 5ml/1 teaspoon ground cinnamon treacle 2 teaspoons mixed spice Finely grated zest of 1 small orange Juice of same orange 1 small dessert apple, grated (peeled or unpeeled) 1 small carrot, peeled and grated 50g plain flour You will need a buttered 1 litre basin, greaseproof paper and string. Steep the dried fruit in the alcohol overnight. Next day, melt the butter and treacle and stir into the mixture. Stir in the spice, orange zest, apple, carrot, and orange juice.

Mum’s Kitchen...

Walnut, Whisky and

Fold in the flour gradually and 7.5ml/half teaspoon ground cloves 7.5ml/half teaspoon grated nutmeg 175g/6oz melted butter

60ml/4 tablespoons whisky Method: Peel and core apples and chop roughly. Cook gently over a medium heat with the water and knob of butter until mushy. Remove from heat and mash with a fork. Turn into a large wide bowl and leave to cool. Chop the walnuts and sultanas quite coarsely. Add to the apple with the candied peel, currants, sugar, orange juice and

with Mrs Simkins

pour the mixture into the basin to within a finger’s breadth of the rim. Steam in the usual way or cook as below. To microwave Cover the pudding with greaseproof paper, pleated to allow for expansion, tie securely with string. Microwave on full power for 2 minutes and rest for one minute. Repeat until the pudding has had 10 minutes cooking time in total. Stand for 10 minutes before turning out. Cool completely and wrap in greaseproof paper and foil. Store in a cool, dry place until Christmas. To reheat: unwrap and microwave in a rind, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and mix well. Stir in melted butter and whisky. Cover and leave to stand overnight.

buttered basin, covered with clean greaseproof paper tied with string, on full power for 5 minutes. Rest halfway through for one minute. Stand for 2 minutes before turning out. In the Slow Cooker Cover the pudding with a disc of buttered greaseproof and then with a roomy hat of foil and fold and pinch it round the rim. Stand it in the slow cooker and pour just-boiled water halfway up the side of the basin. Cook on low for 8 hours. Cool, turn the pudding out, re-wrap and store as before. To reheat, in a buttered basin, cover the top with buttered greaseproof and foil as previously. Cook on low for 4 hours (it won’t mind cooking a bit longer if dinner is held up). PS It’s so lovely to be back in the Blackmore Vale! Funnily enough this recipe, in its original form, was the first ever Mrs Simkins recipe to appear in the BVM in November 2008. It’s had a few tweaks since but it’s still its old light and fruity self. MrsSimkins.co.uk

with Diana Holman

witter.com/mrssimkinscooks The following day, spoon the mincemeat into dry, warm jars. Press down well to exclude the air, seal tightly and label.

Food & Drink Fascinating past & a great future as

Does your pub have a fascinating history? Email Toby at newsdesk@blackmorevale.net

During these challenging times where getting out to do shopping or collecting a takeaway is difficult, we can help! Let Black Cat Catering remove the stress and look after the food for you. If you need a freshly prepared, delicious home-cooked meal, along with a tasty dessert then look no further. We will deliver to your home or you are welcome to collect from Sarah at 15 West Orchard. Your order will be ready for you to simply heat up and enjoy! Please visit our facebook page or our website to look at our menu of the week or just give us a call and place your order! Vegetarian and gluten free options are available by request. Saturday orders will be delivered on Friday. 07944790514 hello@blackcatcatering.co.uk blackcatcatering.co.uk

By Toby Hartwell newsdesk@blackmorevale.net Stourton Caundle is a village of over 400 people located in the heart of Hardy country, midway between Sherborne and Sturminster Newton. Much has changed in the village over the years, but the Trooper Inn has been a consistent port of call for locals and an important part of the village life for well over 300 years. I recently had an entertaining chat with Debbie who runs the pub with her husband John and two sons Jamie and Joe, not forgetting their cockapoo puppy, appropriately named Trooper. The Pritchetts bought this freehold pub in November last year, making a move to the country from Poole. This is the first time they’ve run a pub but you wouldn’t know it. Their enthusiasm is infectious and it’s clear that this historic pub is in safe hands. Even though there were probably some local worries about the future of their village hostelry after it went up for sale, Debbie and John were a little taken aback when, on the night they moved in, locals were already knocking on the door to see it was open yet. It was an encouraging sign, but before opening a month later they made some significant improvements to the pub, gutting and refitting the cellar and replacing a lot of the equipment whilst also giving the bar a good makeover. John and Debbie had something of a baptism of fire when they did reopen the pub on the evening of December 19 last year. It happened to be the night of the Stourton Caundle annual carol service. As the new owners hesitantly opened the doors for the first time, the pub was immediately packed with hordes of thirsty carollers. It was a great, but exhausting, first night for all the Pritchett family and required all hands to the deck to dispense drinks and mince pies, but was deemed to be a great success all round and a very good introduction to the village. Debbie is keen to learn more about the history of the pub and she’s been told that it was at some time in the past called The Catherine Wheel. What is known is that the current name, The Trooper Inn, is believed to derive from the time of the Napoleonic Wars at the beginning of the 19th century when a bench outside the pub was used as a local centre to recruit new soldiers for the war. Opposite the pub, Manor Farm was lived in by Enid Blyton until she sold it to the present owners in 1964. It was the inspiration for Five on Finiston Farm, which makes reference to the pub in the Five’s adventures. Debbie said what has struck them particularly is the friendliness and helpfulness of the villagers.

Food & Drink historic super Trooper marches on

YOU’RE WELCOME: John and Debbie Pritchett at The Trooper in Stourton Caundle

Lockdown was a blow but they used the time to relandscape the outside area of the pub with 22 tons of Cotswold shingle to create lots of new seating and when they ran out of paint during a redecoration, helpful locals came to the rescue with some free pots. I do recommend a visit. After lockdown ends, Friday night fish & chip night is not to be missed with their delicious homemade beer-battered fish proving very popular. Debbie and John are looking forward to Sunday folk music night returning, events such the annual beer & gin festival along with the many new ideas that they have for the pub. It’s also clear they understand how much The Trooper Inn is a valuable social asset to the local community. Dogs, walkers and horses are all welcome and they plan to reopen the campsite and skittle alley next year. For the beer lover there’s a good range of wellkept Exmoor, Otter and St Austell ales such as Trelawny and Tribute and they rotate guest beers on tap. There are also plenty of interesting gins to explore if that’s more your choice of tipple. During lockdown, they are offering takeaways as follows: Wednesday – Hot pots Friday – Fish & Chips Sunday – Roast lunches Call 01963 362405. ORDER NOW FOR CHRISTMAS! Local Farm Fresh Turkeys Free Range Bronze Turkey, Goose And Duck Boneless Turkey Crowns Local Dry Aged Beef Free Range Pork & Succulent Grass Fed Lamb Prime Gammon Joints & Cooked Hams ALL THE TRIMMINGS AVAILABLE INCLUDING: Sausage Meat, Sausages And Dry Cured Bacon We have moved depots please see new address below

Come along and meet our freindly butchers Unit 1a Harding’s Business Centre, Bowbridge, Henstridge, Somerset, BA8 0TF 01747 838881 www.bmv-butchery.co.uk

Events chef diversifies in lockdown

By Kate Smith newsdesk@blackmorevale.net From freshly baked bread to fish and flour, chef Nick Holt has diversified, bringing a long-held dream to open a high-end delicatessen from his Higher Horton catering studio, into fruition. Nick loves food. And cooking. As the owner of Dorset Fine Dining, he is the main caterer for wedding venue Lulworth Castle and, until coronavirus struck, his diary was a back-to-back events-fest, chockful with weddings, anniversaries and dinner parties. The virus changed everything. The events at which Nick would cook up a storm and for which he has become renowned, dwindled into nothing. So, he decided to turn his spacious office, a former factory shop once rented by By Steve Keenan Takeaway meals during lockdown just became a lot more interesting in North Dorset with the launch this week of Syrian Cuisine. Friends Imad and Atef, who both live in Gillingham, began delivering meals on Wednesday, with free delivery in the town. From falafel and shawarma to full meals, the couple will also deliver (for a small charge) within seven miles, a radius which takes in Shaftesbury, Wincanton and Marnhull. They met through the Dorset-based charity Unity in Vision (UinV), which aims to help individuals

the Chocolate Society, into a contemporary delicatessen serving delicacies including salmon pastrami, pasta, olives, charcuterie plus freshly-baked bread and a gluten-free option along with your everyday staples and fresh fruit and vegetables. Nick sources his food locally, stocking Dorset apple cake and mince pies and supplying Tamworth pig sausages and bacon from Story Pig. from migrant communities to work together and integrate successfully in their new neighbourhoods. The UinV has a dedicated support officer for resettled Syrian families: there are now 18 Syrian families living in Dorset. “We did not meet by chance: we as Syrians are interested in getting to know every new Syrian coming to Britain so that we can help, especially in the first days,” said Imad. He arrived in Britain from Damascus two years ago, Atef from near the Lebanese border in 2017. Both families have three children. They will be cooking with their wives and the service operates from Wednesday to Nick is also selling homemade frozen meals. And if you are after something special or a dinner which isn’t in his freezer, just ask him and he will create something deliciously bespoke at a moment’s notice. “If you fancy a fish pie one evening for your family, but don’t have the time to make it, please just give me a ring and I will make one for you,” said Nick. Saturday. Order between 11am and 2pm for delivery between 510pm. The menu includes six pieces of falafel for £5, which comes with humous, pickles and Syrian bread. Shawerma costs from £7-£7.50. Full meals of kabsa and maqlouba cost between £10£14 and must be ordered 24 hours in advance. They will also deliver ingredients to those who might try cooking their own Syrian meals. He is serving sensational takeaways, alternating the menu each week and he has just invested in a pizza oven. Nick said: “I have wanted to open a quality delicatessen for some time and the coronavirus meant I have brought this idea forward. We have opened a farm shop and deli at our commercial kitchen premises in Higher Holton. Please pop in to get your essentials or a special treat from the deli. “We have a selection of goodies to choose from, we have fresh meat and fish deliveries. There is a lot more on offer so please keep checking our Facebook page for updates. We look forward to seeing you in our shop!” Dorsetfinedining.co.uk

Syrian cuisine providing an alternative

42 07525 667687

“So lovely to have an alternative takeaway to the norm,” said Jo Russell, one of several to welcome the move on their Facebook page (search Gillingham Syrian Cuisine for a full menu). Cash only on delivery. Call: 07946 375660 or email syriancuisine20@gmail.com