But this humble root vegetable deserves more credit. Packed with nutrients, endlessly versatile in the kitchen, and grown right here in the UK all year round, carrots are one of the country’s quiet food heroes. But rather than just boil them for your weekly roast, we’ve looked at some of the best ways to cook carrots. And delved into their health benefits.

A homegrown success story

Nearly all the carrots on British plates are grown locally, with UK farmers producing over 700,000 tonnes every year. That’s around 100 carrots for every single person in the country. They’re harvested throughout the seasons, starting in the south and moving northwards. Meaning fresh carrots are always available.

Each one costs just a few pence, but together they’re worth almost £300 million to the UK economy. From field to shop in just a couple of days, with minimal food miles, they’re a sustainable choice too.

Read more: how to eat more sustainably

The health boost inside every bite

Nutritionist Dr Laura Wyness points out that the standout nutrient in carrots is beta-carotene, which gives them their bright orange colour. Our bodies convert beta-carotene into Vitamin A – essential for vision, healthy skin, and a strong immune system.

Carrots are also full of fibre, something most of us lack in our diets. One medium carrot contains around 2g, edging you closer to the recommended 30g daily intake. On top of this, carrots are low in calories, naturally sweet, and 80% water, making them a refreshing and filling snack. Compared to a banana, a carrot has over 50% fewer calories and sugars, yet delivers far more Vitamin A.

Chewing raw carrots can even help with oral health by stimulating saliva. This reduces harmful bacteria, while the crunchy texture helps break down plaque.

Spicy carrot soup

Ideas for new ways to cook and enjoy them

Carrots are cheap, colourful, and incredibly adaptable. They can be roasted, mashed, grilled, grated, spiralised, juiced, or baked. And they come in more than just orange – purple, yellow, pink, and stripy varieties can make your dishes stand out.

Try these easy ideas:

• Roast with honey and cumin for a sweet-spiced side.
• Toss carrot ribbons into salads or stir fries.
• Grill whole carrots, then serve with mascarpone and toasted nuts.
• Blitz the green tops into a bright, punchy pesto.
• Grate with apple and raisins for a fresh coleslaw.
• Bake into cakes, muffins, flapjacks, or even ice cream.

Carrots also work beautifully at every meal. Think overnight carrot cake oats for breakfast, a crisp carrot salad at lunch, and sticky roasted carrots with balsamic glaze for dinner.

Roasted whole with honey drizzle

Farmers behind the crunch

It takes more skill and technology to grow carrots than many realise. Fields are rotated to keep crops healthy, frost is warded off with straw, and GPS-guided tractors sow seeds in perfectly straight lines. Robots even help with weeding and sorting. Today’s carrots contain 50% more carotene than those grown in the 1970s, thanks to careful breeding and soil management.

Will Hunter, a fourth-generation farmer from Lancashire, says: “We are very proud of what we grow and want to show the skill and care that goes into producing something as ‘simple’ as a carrot. If every household ate just a few more, it would make a huge difference to British farming.”

A vegetable worth celebrating

Affordable, nutritious, and sustainable, carrots prove that sometimes the simplest foods are the most powerful. Whether you crunch them raw, roast them golden, or bake them into something sweet, they bring colour and goodness to your plate.

So next time you shop, add an extra bag. Britain’s farmers, and your body, will thank you.

Carrot factoids

1. Britain produces over 700,000 tonnes of carrots each year – that’s the weight of 70 Eiffel Towers – around 100 each for every member of the population
2. Carrots are harvested all year round so they are always fresh from the field starting earlier in the year with southern regions and moving up the country from Kent to the north of Scotland.
3. The first recorded carrots weren’t orange – believed to have originated in Afghanistan in 7^th Century AD – carrots were purple or yellow, with orange developed in the 16th century in Holland.
4. To keep them cosy over winter and free from frost, carrots are covered with beds of straw
5. Carrots like fresh soil and a new place to grow each year. To protect them from disease, carrots can only be grown in the same field once every seven years, so farmers ‘rotate’ them around their farm
6. A love medicine: The Greeks called the carrot “Philtron” and used it as a love medicine
7. Carrots like sandy soils, growing wonky if the land is stony.
8. A lot of research, innovation and technology goes into growing the best carrots in the UK, from making sure the seed grows well in the soils we have, to improve nutrient value – today’s carrots have 50% more carotene that those of 1970 – and to make sure they last well on shop shelves. GPS is used in tractors to plant the carrots perfectly straight lines and robots are used for weeding and sorting
9. Carrots are worth £290 million to the UK economy – but one of the cheapest veg to buy

www.britishcarrots.co.uk

silvermagazine

If you’d like to receive a regular mini-magazine direct to your inbox with a selection of editorial features to read at your leisure, please sign up for our newsletter. We also run the odd competition and offer and whatnot, and newsletter members get the heads-up first.

The post Some of the best ways to cook carrots appeared first on Silver Magazine.

I can’t think of anything more delightful than a salad to celebrate the summer season. But the UK being what is, how about something a little different? Our weather isn’t always great, so how about some of these warm salad recipes.

I find nothing more disappointing than a lacklustre salad though. If we’re making a salad, especially a warm one, I want it to knock it out the park.

Warm salads are a great way for you to get vitamins and nutrients into your diet. Although cold salads are good and refreshing, a warm salad resonates differently. The heat of a warm salad amalgamates the flavours while bringing you a satisfactory meal. With endless combinations, regardless of your preference: meat eater, pescetarian, vegan etc, a warm salad is good for all.

We’ve put together five best warm salad recipes that are super easy to make at home.

Japanese enoki warm salad with sesame dressing

Enoki (or えのき) is a Japanese term for a long thin mushroom. They are very popular in East Asian cuisines and are easy to cook. This is a hearty vegan salad, with oodles of protein-packed noodles.

Ingredients

150g enoki mushrooms
1 finely chopped clove garlic
Cooking oil (any you think best fits)
1 chopped leek
1 chopped spring onion
Grated carrot
Grated cucumber
Chopped coriander leaves
Sesame sauce
White sesame seeds to decorate (optional)

Method

Cut off the base of the enoki mushrooms (you can do this by using a knife or scissors). In a pan, heat your oil and add your garlic and cook for around a minute. Place your enoki mushrooms into the pan and stir while letting it sauté.
In a separate pan, add your grated and chopped vegetables together. Then stir-fry together. Place the Enoki mushrooms and the stir-fried vegetables together and serve in a bowl.

Drizzle sesame sauce over the warm salad, then sprinkle white sesame seeds to decorate. Sit back and enjoy the blended flavours!

I recommend adding bonito flakes to this dish to enhance the taste further (obviously not if you’re vegan!).

Read more: Five of the best salad dressings

Warm chicken salad with feta cheese

Did you know that having chicken in your diet can help strengthen bones and has vitamins and minerals that help the brain function. It is also a good source of protein and collagen, and is well-suited to warm salads. If you’re vegetarian, consider swapping out the chicken for griddled peaches, warm beetroot, and nuts.

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts
Mixed salad leaves
1 red pepper
A handful of red cherry tomatoes
1 red onion
Black and green olives
100g feta cheese
Dried oregano
Rosemary

Method

Start by cutting the chicken into small chunks then drizzle cooking oil over the chicken breasts. Place them into the oven and let it roast for 20-25 minutes or until done.

Chop your red pepper, red onion, cherry tomatoes and olives then place them in a pan, along with the mixed salad leaves and fry to however long you think they need. Set aside and wait for the chicken to be cooked.

Once the chicken is ready to be eaten, toss the cooked chicken chunks and vegetables into whatever bowl you like to combine.

Crumble the feta cheese on top, accompanied with dried oregano and rosemary for seasoning, and you have created a yummy warm chicken salad with feta cheese.

Warm rice vermicelli noodle salad with sweet chilli sauce

This recipe is inspired by Thai cuisine. Vermicelli noodles are gluten-free and go
exquisitely with salads, intertwining with the chilli sauce which adds a richness to a warm salad.

Ingredients

2 large carrot
2 spring onions
1 cucumber
1 red cabbage
Edamame
Black sesame seeds (optional)
Sweet chilli sauce

Method

Cook the rice vermicelli noodles by following the package directions. They normally require 2-3 minutes to cook. Then set aside.

Peel your two large carrots and cucumber into thin strips, using a peeler (a knife can be used also). Next, shred the red cabbage into thin pieces and chop up the spring onion.

Sauté your vegetables by putting them into a frying pan. Then add the edamame, and cook for about 2-3 minutes, or however long you think they should be cooked for.

Assemble your warm salad, by combining the rice vermicelli noodles and cooked vegetables and thoroughly mix.

Accompany the salad with sweet chilli sauce and decorate with black sesame seeds by sprinkling them on top.

Warm salmon salad

Are you a lover of fish? A pescatarian? Then this salad is a game changer. Adding salmon to your salad is a good way of getting your omega-3 fatty acids which are known to reduce triglycerides and lower blood pressure.

Ingredients

2 salmon fillets
250g beetroot
250g tenderstem broccoli
90g watercress
250g asparagus
250g trimmed green beans
2 spring onions

Method

Firstly, cook your salmon. You can do this by using a frying pan, air fryer or putting it in the oven and letting it cook for 10 – 15 minutes. Or until the salmon can be flaked when cutting it open by using a fork.

While the salmon is cooking, chop the tenderstem broccoli, asparagus, beetroot and spring onions. Add to a frying pan to stir-fry. Combine the watercress and green beans to the pan and cook for about 3-5 minutes.

Once you think your vegetables are cooked, add to a bowl of your choice and set aside.

After the salmon is cooked, take it out of the oven and let it cool for about five minutes. Then cut the salmon into small pieces. Add the cut salmon to the stir-fried vegetables, give it a shake, and you have yourself a warm salmon salad.

For the dressing… you can pick! Some suggestions are squeezed lemon, garlic butter, or soy sauce, which is my personal recommendation.

Warm Asian tofu salad

For those who are non-meat eaters, it can sometimes be hard to find recipes that will help you get your daily protein intake. This warm tofu salad is a great way for you to bump up your protein intake, while making a dish that is equally delicious. Great news for vegans, who will love this one!

Ingredients

Tofu
1 red cabbage
2 carrots
A handful of green beans
Mushrooms
Chilli sauce
Sesame oil and soy sauce
Garlic powder
Black sesame seeds (optional)

Method

First step, prepare the tofu. Combine chilli sauce, sesame oil, and soy sauce with a sprinkle of garlic powder into a bowl and mix. Cut your tofu however you desire; small chunks, in blocks, etc. Then marinate the tofu.

Once marinated, toss the tofu into a heated pan and fry for about five or so minutes.

Add the cabbage, carrots, green beans, and mushrooms into a frying pan, and stir-fry for about three minutes.

Once you think the tofu and vegetables are ready to eat, place them in a large bowl and toss them gently to combine. Dot some black sesame seeds around the warm salad, then enjoy.

Elena Harris

Elena is one of Silver’s interns. She has a love for illustrating, reading, and all things media-related. She is a self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur who spends her free time in coffee shops sketching and journalling.

The post Five of our favourite warm salad recipes appeared first on Silver Magazine.

It’s pretty much coming to the end of wild garlic season now, but you’ve still got time to forage and eat this delicious plant. Both the leaves and the flowers are edible, and below are some of my best wild garlic recipes. Chosen particularly for leaves picked later in the season. Like this…

As with any foraging, for heaven’s sake be sure you can ID the plant properly! And only pick from places where the supply is plentiful. Leave enough for wildlife, and avoid damaging habitats or pulling up the bulbs. Many animals rely on plants for survival, so don’t go crazy, as this could also deny wildlife from a valuable food source. Be thoughtful.

Wild garlic soup

Sauté chopped wild garlic leaves with onions and celery, maybe a courgette, adding potatoes for thickness, and simmering with vegetable or chicken broth. Blend the mixture for a creamy texture, and season. Serve with a dollop of cream or a drizzle of olive oil (or even truffle oil, if you’re feeling fancy), some fantastic bread, and a really decent crack of black pepper.

Wild garlic butter

Make a compound butter by mixing softened butter with finely chopped wild garlic leaves and a pinch of salt. I like to include some parsley in this too, but you can be as creative as you like. Chilli, more herbs, black pepper – go wild. Chill the butter down so you can slice it easily. This butter can be used to top grilled meats, seafood, or vegetables, or simply spread on warm bread.

Wild garlic pesto

Wild garlic pesto

Lasts for yonks, easy to make, tastes fantastic. Blend wild garlic leaves with nuts (like pine nuts, walnuts, or almonds), Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and olive oil to create a vibrant and flavourful pesto. Mix it up, add whatever you like really – basil, black pepper etc. Vegans can swap out the cheese for nooch. Use it as a pasta sauce, a base for dips, a topping for grilled meats or vegetables. You know what to do with pesto.

Wild garlic oil

Create a flavoured oil by gently warming a really good olive oil and adding chopped wild garlic leaves. Let it steep for a few hours or overnight. This oil can be used to dress salads, drizzle over pizza, or as a finishing touch for pasta dishes. It’s a simple way to infuse a subtle garlic flavour on a ton of different dishes.

Wild garlic stir-fry

It’s a bit late in the season to eat the leaves in a salad – probably a bit tough by now. But excellent for a stir-fry. Add chopped wild garlic to vegetables, meats, or tofu. The leaves add a cracking garlicky hit that complements soy sauce-based sauces or spicy chilli sauces.

Love salads? Read: 5 of the best salad dressings

Wild garlic risotto

Wild garlic risotto

Prepare a creamy risotto by sautéing onions and rice in butter or olive oil, then gradually adding chicken or vegetable broth. Stir in your finely-chopped wild garlic leaves toward the end of cooking, along with Parmesan cheese, for a fresh, garlicky flavour. Don’t cook it for too long once added. You can also add mushrooms, asparagus, or peas for extra texture and taste.

Wild garlic quiche or frittata

Incorporate wild garlic into a quiche or frittata. Combine with eggs, cream or milk, cheese, maybe other vegetables or even something like prawns. Or just keep it simple, which is really my fave. Nice in frittata, but the pastry really bumps this up into something a bit more special. Go for a quiche, I’d say.

Wild garlic tempura

Bit leftfield, but really delish. Try dipping whole wild garlic leaves in a light tempura batter and frying them until crispy. Serve alone, as a side dish, or with a light dip made with a lemony mayo or perhaps yoghurt-based dip.

These are just a few ideas that I’ve tried. I reckon you’ve still got a week or two if you get out there now. Pick responsibly, and enjoy! *chef’s kiss.

Sam Harrington-Lowe

Sam is Silver’s founder and editor-in-chief. She’s largely responsible for organising all the things, but still finds time to do the odd bit of writing. Not enough though. Send help.

The post 8 of the best wild garlic recipes appeared first on Silver Magazine.

It is said that one of the dafter questions an American can ask a Briton is how they’re going to be spending Thanksgiving. I’ve actually never been asked this question, but if I had been, as a child, I’d have said “well, we’ll probably be having roast turkey and all the trimmings,” for my mother is American. And as my father’s birthday falls in the last week of November, we would combine the two events, which seemed to make a fair amount of sense.

That said, there was always something a bit alien about it. I had a vague mental image, created by the illustrations of the articles I skipped in educational magazines like Look and Learn, of seventeenth-century English settlers landing in Virginia and being served a nice dinner by friendly native Americans, who didn’t want to see these people starve. The food was, of course, indigenous to the area, hence all that weird stuff like sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. And turkeys; weren’t they American in the first place?

I became increasingly sceptical as I grew older. For one thing, as I learned more about American history

I became increasingly sceptical as I grew older. For one thing, as I learned more about American history, I began to think that the natives, who, last time I checked (Saturday afternoon cowboy movies on the telly) were being shot from their horses at a staggering rate by what seemed, even given the standard one-sided nature of the narrative, to be invasive colonisers; and if they had given the settlers all those yams or whatever then they were either hopelessly naive or incredibly unfairly treated. Thanks for what, exactly? Your land? Here, have some smallpox-infested blankets.

A streak of anti-Americanism entered my soul, later to be bolstered by Watergate, Vietnam, and a few years after that conflict ended, songs like the Clash’s I’m So Bored With the USA. I was also being educated at very traditional British institutions and in the 1970s it was unwise to mention, let alone stress, any foreign part of your make-up.

But it was my Dad’s birthday, except when it wasn’t (Thanksgiving is held on the fourth Thursday of November. My father’s birthday was the 26th. Close enough).

My mother had a voice and an accent that could carry over the length of Hampstead Heath. And whenever she picked me up from school, loud and in furs, I would die of embarrassment.

And another thing: my mother wasn’t only American, she was, and remains, wholly exotic. English mothers were, in my experience, all from Hampstead and had identical hairdos and quiet demeanours. My mother, on the other hand, an ex-opera and -musical star, had a voice and an accent that could carry over the length of Hampstead Heath. And whenever she picked me up from school, loud and in furs, I would die of embarrassment. I’m not exaggerating. I actually died every time, until I told her I’d be getting the bus home in future.

That said, I had problems enough with the feast on its own terms, without taking any historical or geo-political concerns into consideration. For one thing, there had to be a symbolic distance kept between the Thanksgiving dinner and the Sunday roast. (Which we always had.)

Read more: Different Christmas rituals around the world

The turkey wasn’t a problem. Children are greedy little sods, and are generally supportive of roasted fowl, the bigger the better. What was a problem were the sweet potatoes and other bits and bobs that marked the occasion as peculiarly American. Also you had both mashed and roast potatoes, and one year she even tried doing that thing with marshmallows, the details of which remain buried in traumatised memory, but which resulted in my saying whatever the ten-year-old’s equivalent of “what the fuck?” was.

Dessert was always pumpkin pie, made from the internal organs scooped from the Hallowe’en pumpkin. (To this day, I have a strong suspicion that my mother was solely responsible for the importation of this custom into the British Isles, and when people mutter about the increasing Americanisation of winter festivals, I know who to blame. For that matter, I also suspect that she had the first car in England that wasn’t brown. Which did at least make it easy to find at Brent Cross car park.)

….the whole of December seemed to be spent eating turkey, in various permutations or disguises

My mother isn’t a bad cook, so her pumpkin pie was pretty tasty, but I could never get the hang of sweet potatoes. To this day my heart sinks when I see them as the default carbohydrate on a menu. But there were other tensions. Because turkeys are huge, and because you have to have them at Christmas too (absolutely no one cooked goose in those dark days), the whole of December seemed to be spent eating turkey, in various permutations or disguises, and after a while people would get fed up with it. I think my father suffered particularly: as if having his party taken over by his wife wasn’t bad enough.

But in my mother’s household, the tradition persists. Aged eighty-something, she became a little too frail, so I took over the cooking duties. I shall be doing it this year. I am not looking forward to the turkey, and only a little bit towards the pumpkin pie (which my mother will be making, I don’t have a clue). But there will definitely not be sweet potatoes. Or, for crying out loud, marshmallows.

Nicholas Lezard

Nicholas Lezard has been a freelance writer since God was a boy. He writes the Down and Out column for the New Statesman, and lives in Brighton.

The post Nick Lezard on the ups and downs of being Anglo-American at Thanksgiving appeared first on Silver Magazine.

It’s the much loved British classic, but how much do you know about the traditions and histories. Take our Sunday roast dinner quiz and find out!

Roast dinner quiz

See how much you know about the humble British roast dinner! Or just click through to drool over these delicious looking images...

Start Quiz

Question

Your answer:

Correct answer:

Next

Please wait..

↺

You got {{SCORE_CORRECT}} out of {{SCORE_TOTAL}}

Your Answers

Lana Hall

Lana can usually be found spinning her collection of records, or writing odd poems in her phone notes. Her mixer of choice is a ginger beer, and you’ll never find her away from the sea for more than a few weeks.

The post A British icon – Sunday roast dinner quiz appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Enjoying a day out with family and friends can be so much fun, especially when food is involved. However, trying to find nice restaurant option or some fun experiences can prove to be tricky. There’s so many options. Whether you’re situated in London or at the very northerly point in Scotland, here are some fantastic food options for next day out. Alongside some new releases that may tickle your fancy.

Academy of Cheese partnered with Paxton and Whitfield, London – £195

The Academy of Cheese class

The Academy of Cheese have paired up with Paxton and Whitfield to offer a Level One Cheese Training Programme.

If you want to expand your knowledge and know your Gruyere from your Gorgonzola, this is the perfect experience for you. Or it could be a great present for a cheese enthusiast. During the day you’ll learn about the history of cheesemaking, followed by the class and a guide to tasting and selecting the right cheese for you. They are offering five dates from July to November, so make sure you keep some dates free.

Paxton and Whitfield 

The Avenue Cookery School, London – £125

The Avenue Cooking school

Gather your friends and enjoy this sushi making and cocktail shaking class! Focused on driving your senses wild, this is a delicious and fun way to spend your evening.

You start the evening with a sushi demonstration, and then get stuck into the appetising journey of making your own sushi rolls. Alongside this, you have access to bottomless wine, just to make the experience even more heavenly.

After delving into a sushi feast, you get to take on making your own cocktails, Japanese style. Clink clink.

The Avenue Cookery School 

Borough Kitchen cooking classes, London – £115

The Borough Kitchen cooking class

Borough Kitchen are offering their time to teach you how to incorporate nutritional and colourful food into your diet. A cooking class inspired by mindful eating and healthy cooking. With a variety of dates, spotted around London, this isn’t a deal you should miss out on.

Dishes from spiced beetroot and coconut soup to salmon and chia seed cakes will make your experience tasty as well as informative. You’ll engage with well experienced instructors, and keeping the class small allows them to be attentive and ensure you are getting the most from your experience.

Borough Kitchen- mindful eating

The Borough Kitchen cooking class

A quick and easy pasta dish may be our go to meal for a night we can’t be bothered to cook. But there is so much more to pasta, especially when its home made. This experience will teach you everything you need to know to create delicious tortellini. Flour, eggs, a fork, and this hands-on class and you’ll be everyone’s favourite dinner host.

Spread over three hours, you will get to create the dough, roll the sheets, and fill the pasta. As well as learning the best ways to pair pasta with a delightful sauce. No need to stress if you have dietary requirements, this class can be adapted to your preference.

Borough Kitchen – pasta class

Virgin experiences Chocolate making, Shoreditch – £52

Virgin Experiences Chocolate class

Do you want to be taught by some of the best chocolatiers in the business? Virgin Experiences are offering a Luxury Chocolate Making Workshop.

This chocolate making session will have you making your own chocolate martini, infusing, and decorating mini cream truffles and creating a giant flavoured chocolate button. All to be specially packaged to take home. This fun yet luxurious workshop if the perfect day out for a group of friends or a couple. A glass of bubbles on arrival and leaving with a giant chocolate button, refined to your liking, what more could you want?

Virgin experiences 

Read more: 6 reasons you should be eating dark chocolate

The most northerly Fish & Chips, Shetland

Frankie’s fish & chips

Established in 2008, Frankie’s Fish & Chips holds the title for being the most northerly fish & chips shop in the UK.

With their seafood landing daily to their local market, don’t miss out on the fresh and high-quality fish. They have a family friendly environment ready to welcome everyone. Some of their staff have been with them since the opening, supporting the restaurant through 15 years of hard work. 

Frankie’s fish & chips

London Bridge to home UK’s first sake brewery/bar, London Bridge

KANPAI brewery/bar

KANPAI, meaning cheers in Japanese, is UK’s first sake brewery, who focus on traditional Japanese brewing techniques.

Since having a bar in Peckham since 2016, they are now making a big move to a new premises in London Bridge. It will offer a modern taproom bar with 10 distinct sake draft taps, as well as seasonal Japanese cocktails and sprits.

This new opening is dedicated to expanding its brewery, whilst being easily accessible for visitors. When in London, make sure to schedule in a unique sake experience, learning about the rich history of sake and tasting the delicious small plates that KANPAI has to offer. With the move expected to happen over summer 2023, don’t miss out from Wednesdays to Sundays on this artistic experience.

KANPAI 

French zero per cent wine brand Moderato makes UK debut, Club Soda tasting room – £20 entry

Moderato wine from Club Soda

Soon to be available in Club Soda’s Covent Garden tasting room, shop, and bar is Moderato’s line of alcohol-free wines. Red, white, Rose, and Sparking wines costing £10-£11. Moderato have created an all-natural, low sugar range of wines, perfect for summer sipping.

To perfectly compliment this beverage, is a July Wine Club. Every second Thursday of the month you can attend the Tasting Room (tickets needed) where you will be welcomed with complementary drinks and cheese throughout the night. You’ll get the opportunity to engage with the makers of the innovative drinks and immerse yourself in the world of no/low wine.

Moderato

Grab some food at the Ashmolean Museum rooftop restaurant, Oxford

The Ashmolean Museum rooftop restaurant

Take a day trip to the beautiful Oxford to visit the relaunch of the roof terrace restaurant in the Ashmolean Museum.

Opening from the 2 July, the rooftop restaurant has extended its opening hours until 6pm, allowing guests to relax and enjoy the sun. Whether you want to sip on a glass of rose or share a food platter with friends and family, this is the best way to enjoy the scenic view of Oxford. Located right in the centre, it’s very easily accessible.

Ashmolean Museum 

CafePod Half-Caff Brunch Blend, online – £4.20

CafePod coffee

CafePod, an independent coffee brand, specialise in Nespresso-compatible pods, varying in strengths and flavours. Their newest launch is the Half-Cuff Brunch Blend pod, a 50:50 blend of decaffeinated and a regular roasted coffee. Having a long day at work and going through three coffees may help. But drinking that much caffeine can have negative effects on our sleeping. This could be the perfect solution if you are looking to decrease your caffeine intake.

CafePod

The Wasabi Company, Yuzu Lemonade, online – £2.65 

The Wasabi Company Yuzu lemonade

We all love a summer refreshment, something to keep us hydrated whilst out and about. Why not try the new Yuzu Lemonade created by The Wasabi Company. A delicious drink with the perfect blend of being delicate yet enriching.

Made with four per cent yuzu juice from trees grown in Valencia, this fresh drink tastes like a cross between grapefruit and orange. As well as tasting delicious, this drink contains over 50 types of minerals, coming from Nagari. Nagari is the liquid left after salt has been precipitated and has huge health benefits when it comes to replenishing the body.

As well as being the ultimate drink for replenishment and rehydration, Yuzu lemonade comes in distinctive cardboard cans, so it’s great for the planet too! Being far more sustainable than other canned drinks, what a perfect drink for summer. 

The Wasabi Company

Ellie Mongey

Having a three month break from uni, where she’s studying marketing, Ellie can normally be found in a coffee shop, on the beach or spending all her money on food. 

The post July’s food news roundup – all the best finds appeared first on Silver Magazine.

If you’re thinking of eating in rather than out, this cherry bakewell galette recipe is a lush winner for pud. Add lashings of cream and lotsa love.

CHERRY BAKEWELL GALETTE

Prep:  minutes
Cook: 20-25 minutes
Serves 6

For the pastry:

125g plain flour
100g butter, cubed
25g light brown soft sugar
1 medium egg yolk

For the frangipane filling:

50g butter, softened
50g golden caster sugar plus 25g
2 medium eggs
½ tsp almond essence
75g ground almonds
25g plain flour
400g can Cooks&Co Pitted Black Cherries in Light Syrup
2 tsp demerara sugar 

Method

Preheat the oven to 200^oC, gas mark 6.

For the pastry, place the flour, butter and sugar in a food processor and pulse until it resembles breadcrumbs.  Add the egg yolk and 1-2 tbsp water until a soft dough is formed.  Wrap in clingfilm and chill.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Whisk together the butter and 50g sugar until pale and fluffy. Add 1 egg and the almond essence and whisk until combined.  Stir in the almonds and flour.

Drain the cherries, reserving the juice. Beat the remaining egg.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 30cm circle. Spread with the frangipane leaving a 3cm border, top with the drained cherries. Fold the pastry edges over the filling, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with the demerara.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.

Meanwhile, place the cherry juice in a small saucepan with remaining sugar and boil until reduced and syrupy, about 50ml.  Brush this syrup over the cherries just before serving.

Cooks tip

Great served warm with ice cream as a dessert, or cold with afternoon tea.

Five pancake recipes to really jazz up your Shrove Tuesday

silvermagazine

If you’d like to receive a regular mini-magazine direct to your inbox with a selection of editorial features to read at your leisure, please sign up for our newsletter. We also run the odd competition and offer and whatnot, and newsletter members get the heads-up first.

The post The food of love – cherry bakewell galette recipe appeared first on Silver Magazine.

I love to cook, and I love to eat. So when the team behind ‘Chef Simon McKenzie’ asked me if I’d like to try his new live cooking date on a Saturday night my nostrils quivered immediately.

It’s a fairly new venture – Simon is a real chef, and like many chefs, not super busy right now, so the idea of doing a live cookalong thing is clever. Food-focused muggles like me get to make a lovely meal alongside a proper chef. Plus *bonus* a delicious, fancier-than-normal meal at the end, and a sense of smug satisfaction. One hopes.

“Doing Stroganoff this week,” said Nick Mosley, who was the one to get in touch. “Do you want to do beef or chicken?” Not exactly a difficult question. Beef, I said. And lo, on Friday afternoon, the lovely Julia Claxton dropped my bag of food safely at my front door.

What’s in the bag?

Mostly ingredients. There is an instruction sheet, and a little handwritten postcard from Simon, which is a nice touch. And a teatowel. There’s no recipe/method included, on purpose. But there is a list of stuff you need from your kitchen, and directions on how to join the Facebook Live.

Everything seemed packaged up pretty safely – there was a little pot of brandy, a bag of cream – that kind of stuff, and no leakages. Things were wrapped in cling film though, and it did feel like maybe sealed bags would be better, if only for the meat. More important if I’d had chicken or pork I guess, but still.

The ingredients are really fresh, and of excellent quality. Couldn’t fault a single thing in the bag – the beef particularly was impressive. So fresh, I ate a raw chunk whilst I was chopping it. I’d have loved to know where the foods came from – are they local? Organic? Free range? Maybe something to add to the included notes?

How does it all work?

The premise is really simple. There’s a list of things you need on the enclosed sheet (2 x frying pans, sieve, chopping boards etc). And you simply get your kit together, log on to the Facebook Live at around 6.10pm, and wait for everyone to arrive. Then he kicks off and you cookalongaSimon, usually at around 6.30pm.

It’s a good idea to have your kit ready, and to have unpacked everything before you start. Simon’s partner Aisling monitors the comments, and handles the camera work – we get some zooms for close-ups, for example, although the whole live is shot on a single camera. It’s a clean, simple setup.

What’s wrong with it?

I’m going to do it this way round because I want to finish on the positives – and this was overall a really positive experience. But there are some issues.

Firstly and most obviously, connectivity. I lost connection two or three times, and it was glitchy occasionally, and I have superfast fibre at my gaff. So that’s something to be aware of.

Also, because it’s shot on a single device (I’m going to guess iPhone) without a mic, I really struggled to hear him. Especially once I was cooking and there were sizzling noises my end. Also, speaking personally I prefer to watch video in landscape, but perhaps it’s impossible to get all the action in shot that way round. Lighting is quite bleak and the tech felt a bit basic. We are all so used to video quality around food being high these days, so it feels a little unpolished.

Cooking along at the same time would work better if everyone had the same amount of food. I had a kit for four people, and it simply takes longer to dice for four than two. I found myself playing catch-up a fair bit. Also I missed a couple of instructions partly because I couldn’t hear, and partly because I was behind.

Does it need to be ‘live’?

There was one point where he cooked the beef and did the flambé and suggested we watch him first, and then do it afterwards. And I can’t help thinking that maybe that’s a better way of doing it all. So rather than all trying to do it at the same time, we watch him and then take our turn?

Check out my flambé!

It’s also really hard to ask questions and type when you’ve got sticky food-covered fingers and no time. The live banter would be improved, I think, if the chef and the cooks took turns. You’d have time whilst you were watching him. And then he’d have time to respond whilst you were doing your own cooking. Doing everything all together is a bit frantic.

The list of equipment didn’t mention a lighter or matches, although it is in the ‘stages’ part on the reverse of the sheet. So when it came to flambéing the beef we had a mad scramble looking for a lighter. Also there’s mention of a QR code for help joining the Live, but that isn’t on there either. So maybe some double checking on the sheet would be useful.

What’s right with it?

So although this is a slightly hectic way of cooking, it’s really good fun. There are comments coming in from other cooks, and there’s a great sense of all being in it together.

Simon is really likeable, and comes across well. He does a good job of looking comfortable in front of the camera although I suspect he’s strapping that on a bit. But his corny jokes and obvious passion for the food make him a genial host. He’s also, y’know, easy on the eye. Am I allowed to say that?

When I could hear him properly, he was generous in explaining how to do things – cut this thing 2mm thick, cut the meat this way, freeze your pancetta for better slicing results etc. So if you have the time to hear him, he’s giving away some nice little tricks of the trade and nuggets of cooking gold.

Delving back into the way it flows – I really enjoyed hearing him talking in a more sciencey way about the food, and wish we’d had more time for that. He spent some time explaining why he was using double cream and lemon juice instead of sour cream, for example. And some really supportive advice about methodology going along. You could learn a lot doing regular sessions.

All in all I had a really fun time, and the end result was great.

How was the food?

So the end result was Beef Stroganoff, cous cous, and French beans with shallots and pancetta. And it was delicious.

The Stroganoff

Green beans with pancetta and shallots

Ultimately we ended up with a really lovely meal. And I learned some really nice little tricks along the way. For example how cous cous (misery sand, for Peep Show fans) is transformed by using some stock and fresh thyme in the water. We were all pleasantly surprised in my house by how much difference that makes.

The meal was delicious, the quality of ingredients really helps with that. My Live froze literally as I was plating up but I didn’t care by then. We were too busy shoveling it in.

Other things to mention…

This was a round trip of about 2.5 hours in the end, so be aware of that if you’re starving!

I see that the live is also on Instagram, but there’s no mention of that on the instruction sheet. It’s also shot on a different camera for that, which I thought was at a better angle. And if you miss the fb Live you can still use your bag of food by watching it on IGTV afterwards. It’s also available to watch on Facebook afterwards too.

I didn’t buy a ticket in the usual way so maybe cooks get sent that kind of information when they buy the tickets. I’m assuming when you buy your ticket you get a bunch of info emailed to you. If so, ignore me. I’m flying blind here a bit.

Also I looked but there doesn’t seem to be any kind of option to share your results and hashtag it? There’s a competition that’s something to do with the teatowel which I heard about for the first time once the Live started, but I still didn’t quite understand. (I found it on the Insta account in the end; post your finished dish with the teatowel on Simon’s fb page for a chance to win two free meals).

But no specific hashtag? For a food-based activity on social media I think this is missing a huge UGC/marketing opportunity. Also you have to actively seek out and look at the Visitor Posts on the Facebook page to even see them. This thing could use a bit more user showboating I think; be great to see everyone posting their own results on their own feeds with a unique hashtag.

Would I do it again?

Absolutely. It was a bit hectic, and there was shallots and mushrooms and chopping boards and stuff everywhere at the end! The kitchen looked like a bomb had hit it. You’re cooking at someone else’s pace so there’s no time to clear up as you go along.

But the whole thing was great fun, and the food at the end really was super tasty. It’s a dish I’d never normally think of making, which is a delight. Just having someone else tell you what to cook for a change is lovely (parents everywhere will understand that one). And having it all measured out for you was also great.

Alice, sous chef and hooverer of dropped bits

I did this on my own (unless you count Alice pug) but I suspect it might be more fun with two of you. You can play tag, watching and listening in (and commenting and getting involved) – and then doing cooking and prepping as well.

All in all it’s a fun night in on a Saturday and is exceptionally good value for money. Essentially it’s a tenner a head plus delivery (varies depending on where you are). Right now you can do Brighton area, Henley and Newbury. It’s not UK-wide yet but they have plans to expand it. Keep your eyes peeled. Some amazing recipes coming up in the weeks ahead.

Simon’s website
Simon’s Facebook page,
And Simon’s Instagram

Sam Harrington-Lowe

Sam is Silver’s founder and editor-in-chief. She’s largely responsible for organising all the things, but still finds time to do the odd bit of writing. Not enough though. Send help.

The post I had a hot date on Saturday night – cooking with chef Simon McKenzie appeared first on Silver Magazine.

When writing this article, I called the document ‘I hate turkey’. And I do – to eat, I mean. Such a big, dry dodo of a thing. I know lots of people love it – and good for you; if eating the equivalent of reconstituted sawdust and plasterboard covered in sweaty bacon is your idea of a tasty treat then fill your boots – Christmas offers you the perfect excuse to tuck into that saliva-sucking chew-fest.

And don’t try to tell me that it’s about the way you cook it. I’m sure there are ways of making it less like a Bushtucker Trial, but even if it wasn’t so dry it renders you speechless, it still tastes of pretty much nothing. And damn it’s ugly.

Me, I like something with a bit more flavour (and moisture). And dare I say, something a bit more British, although that’s a complicated construct, but anyway. Let’s kick off by explaining that no, it’s not really America’s fault that we eat turkey at Christmas. Because I hear that one a lot.

The turkey, a bit like the chicken, was originally a luxury item on the British Isles. Although the bird does originate from North America, gobbling along from Canada to Mexico, it was originally seen as dinner table bling if you could get one, and our eating it at Christmas is not an extension of the US’s thanksgiving seeping into our culture.

Goose today is increasingly popular again, and clearly a bit posh, but it takes different handling

Historically, through the 16th and 17th centuries in Britain, goose or capon was commonly served, and the rich sometimes even dined upon peacock and swan. Goose today is increasingly popular again, and clearly a bit posh, with a sales rise of 30% in supermarkets and something like 45% in Selfridges, but it takes different handling. I did goose last year and struggled with the oiliness in the gravy but there are ways of making that better, I just didn’t research it properly. The meat was really lovely though.

Goose – phwoar, a much tastier bird

The turkey really only appeared more regularly on Christmas tables in England in the 16th century, and popular history reports that King Henry VIII was the first English monarch to have turkey for Christmas. Whether or not that’s true I don’t know – and who cares really. It became more popular largely because it was big, and fed a lot of people, and, well, here we are. It became really prevalent around the fifties, when you could shove something that large in a fridge and keep going back to it. For days.

Something like 10 million turkeys are eaten in the UK over Christmas. And a lot of them aren’t treated very well before they hit your table but that’s another story. Curious to see how perverse I am or how popular the turkey is, depending on the way you look at it, I posted on my Facebook page about the joyless big bird, imagining that most people love it. But no!

Henry VIII was the first English monarch to have turkey for Christmas. Whether or not that’s true I don’t know – and who cares

Apart from the fact that a growing number of friends are vegetarian or vegan and haven’t the slightest interest in eating anything with a wattle, a large number of my mates are tucking into (in order) goose, beef and venison, with some other variations. My Scottish mate Gail is literally having all three, AND some haggis action; “Venison, Beef Wellington, goose,” she says. “Haggis isn’t grand enough for Christmas dinner. We will often serve haggis as stuffing with whisky sauce though.” I don’t think she means all on the same day, but if she does; well that’s me seriously impressed. Actually I wish I was going to Gail’s for Christmas Day.

Vegetarians are keen on stuff in pastry. Rose Collis is the only one plumping for a Quorn roast (I’ve had one of those and it’s actually really not bad at all) but largely the Vs are going for some kind of fluffy parcel, encasing stuff like cheese, broccoli, mushrooms, nuts etc – all of which sound way nicer than turkey.

It’s really interesting hearing what friends living abroad or who have non-Brit other halves have – a friend who wishes to remain nameless for fear of Christmas homicide says, “We are in Norway so it’s pork belly. It’s really good. Unless you are the nameless relative who cuts off all the fat and skin and boils the meat before roasting it. We don’t eat with them, mind.” Egad.

Jason has a Slovakian wife, Lenka, and they eat the most extraordinary feast. “Surf and turf or duck and dauphinoise on Christmas Day. Fish on Christmas Eve, which is main Christmas for non-English speakers anyway, usually sea bass. We also have a fierce cabbage and mushroom and smoked meat soup which is traditional. Oh and a big plate of homemade sausages.” Wow.

Apparently, usually in America on Christmas Day you eat the dishes from whatever your cultural background is as they’ve all had enough turkey

And Esta – who is Jewish but has an American Italian missus, has “a Sicilian Christmas lunch because she is Italian American and her family are all originally from Sicily. So it’s antipasto with all the usual grilled vegetables and olives etc, then manna cotta which is huge tubular shells stuffed with ricotta cheese smothered with a garlicky herby tomato sauce, and a homemade fried meatball dish, and people who aren’t vegetarian usually add that to the pasta with ricotta as a side.” Apparently, usually in America on Christmas Day you eat the dishes from whatever your cultural background is as they’ve all had enough turkey from Thanksgiving.

There’s more, I could go on for yonks – Elisa has lobster and chips, which I’m definitely interested in – and pretty much everyone agrees there should be a ‘side ham’ for snacking on. Yossarian says their lot have a capon, which definitely has legs. “It’s the same size as a turkey, but tastes like chicken,” he said. Win.

Anyway, whatever you eat on Christmas Day, try and enjoy it. Even if it’s turkey. We’re going for beef this year, and couldn’t decide between Wellington or something slow cooked, so sod it, we’re doing both. Happy holidays everyone.

Sam Harrington-Lowe

Sam is Silver’s founder and editor-in-chief. She’s largely responsible for organising all the things, but still finds time to do the odd bit of writing. Not enough though. Send help.

The post I hate turkey. Why do we eat it at Christmas and what can you have instead? appeared first on Silver Magazine.