Come and join us this weekend for a Taste of Summer at Billing Garden Store

Our chefs will be demonstrating a range of mouth watering dishes over the two days with ingredients supplied by the exhibitors.

We will be kicking off our first demo at 10.30 on Saturday with some mouth watering Caribbean flavours– ceviche of bass, jerk salmon with rice and beans.

12 noon– Vegetarian heaven – watch our chef create two fabulous vegetarian dishes – Courgette and saffron risotto, Mediterranean puy lentil casserole.

2pm – Chicken feast – learn how cook chicken infused with flavour.

4pm – Home made beef burgers – a real bbq treat.

Sunday
11.30 Fruit frenzy – Summer fruits Eaton mess, flambe strawberry cheesecake.

1.30 Pan fried Moroccan pork with cous cous and yoghurt.

3pm – Fishy flavours Pan fried trout with asparagus

Come along and join us – meet the exhibitors and taste the flavours at the Billing Garden Store

Does your local landlord or lady go the extra mile to ensure their pub always provides a pleasing pitstop or hospitable haven?!? If so, why not nominate them for Northamptonshire’s newest prize – to be named the county’s ‘Community Pub of the Year’?

It’s one of three new categories in this year’s Carlsberg UK Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards, devised by Northamptonshire Enterprise Limited (NEL), to celebrate all that is great about the county’s produce and drink, to recognise excellence within its dining venues and to reward those who work so hard within the culinary sector. It has been added this year to give a public pat on the back to those locals which go that extra mile to support their local community.

A local, award winning, teenage chef is set to grill other young, future Heston Blumenthals and Nigella Lawsons, passing on her expertise as a judge in Northamptonshire’s exciting Budding Chef competition.

Bethany Dare, 15, Market Harborough, a finalist in the national, Future Chef competition, will join a prestigious panel including Northamptonshire’s own, Michelin starred chef, Adam Gray, in the final of the competition.

The event, organised by Shires Cookery School, in Northampton and aimed at 8 to 11-year-olds, is searching for enthusiastic young cooks from the local area to prove their creative, hidden talent.

Entrants can either work on their own or team up with a friend to cook up a two course “Taste of Summer” menu using local ingredients of up to £10 and demonstrating an understanding of nutritional value.

Bethany, who fought off nearly 8,000 other youngsters, through four stages, into the final of the Future Chef competition faced strict judging at the hands of top chefs including Theo Randall from London’s InterContinental Hotel, Park Lane, and celebrity chef Lesley Waters.

She says she’s delighted to be passing on some of her own experience. “I’m looking forward to helping up and coming talent,” she said, “it’s actually very exciting. “However, I remember how it felt when I entered and competed, so I aim to be very fair, I know what it’s like to be on the receiving end!

“I always think when you cook you reveal a little bit of your own personality because you have to be creative and I can’t wait to see what the competing chefs come up with.” Bethany is currently studying food technology and chemistry at Robert Smyth School, in Market Harborough, aiming for a specialist career in catering.

The three finalists in the Budding Chef competition will have the chance to cook their dishes with the help of a professional chef  at  Northamptonshire Foodshow @ Holdenby sponsored by Bell Sunday, August 29th. Shires Cookery School owner and competition organiser, Wendy Carter, says she’s thrilled to have Bethany on the judging panel, “We wanted a teenage, talented chef to encourage and mentor the other young competitors and we were so excited when Bethany agreed,” said Wendy. “I think it encourages them to aspire to bigger and better things just as Bethany has and they can relate to someone closer to their age group.”

The overall winner of the budding chef competition will receive £200 worth of cookery equipment plus other individual prizes. Deadline for entries is 23 July. Download the  Entry form

Would you like to join our growing teaching crew?

Due our exciting expansion and development plans, we are looking to add demonstration/teaching chefs to our team. We have a large number of events coming up over the summer in and around Northamptonshire, and new classes being added to our calendar each week. The majority of the assignments will take place over the weekend.
So if you have experience of cookery teaching or demonstrations drop us an email outlining your experience and what knowledge you could bring to our crew. info@shirescookeryschool.com

 Dont forget 7 – 13 June 2010

You can organise any kind of event you want, from bake sales and coffee mornings to dinner parties. For some inspiration take a look at some of the events that took place in 2009.

 
If you can’t organise an event during this week, please organise your event whenever is convenient for you.

So get your aprons on and oven mitts out

Wall to Wall, a leading independent television production company, who make a range of programmes for all the major broadcasters, including hit family history show, Who Do You Think You Are? (BBC ONE), Edwardian Country House (Channel 4) and New Tricks (BBC ONE) have contacted us at  Shires about a landmark BBC ONE series they are working on. 
 
They are looking for a baker/breadmaker and their family to feature in a new, prime-time BBC ONE series.  The programmes will chart the history of the British High Street from 1870 – 1970 by taking a group of skilled modern shopkeepers back in time.  They are hoping to find a lively, outgoing family with children aged between 8 – 21 years who can rise to the challenge of living and trading their way through 100 years of British history.  They want families who can help bring this ambitious series to life and who will relish the opportunity to give modern customers a unique insight into the history of their trade.  

The families will start by running their shop in the 1870s for one week. Then they will be fast-forwarded through time and spend a week running their shop in different key eras of British History – the Edwardian era, the 20s and 30s, the Second World War, the early 1960s and finally the 1970s.  In each era, the shopkeepers and their families will have to live and run their shop as authentically as possible.  
 The series will be filmed during the summer of 2010. The shopkeepers and their families will relocate for the duration of the filming to a modern-day market town in the South West.   It’s an ambitious and exciting way to stage this fascinating living history project and gives the shopkeepers an unprecedented chance to demonstrate to an entire town the challenges which their forebears would have faced on a daily basis.
 
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for a family to explore the history of their trade.  It’s a chance to celebrate Britain’s rich history of independent trading and to showcase a ‘baker’ who is an expert in their craft.  The ‘baker’, along with their family, will have the chance to learn old time skills in their shop, which will be meticulously decorated and fitted out.  They will get to grips with baking bread in a traditional Victorian bread oven.  They’ll need to tempt modern customers with once-fashionable recipes and use traditional methods to create them.  And they’ll grapple with the challenges of rationing and other rules and regulations laid down by history during the war years.  It’s a chance to experience the evolution of the British High Street first hand. 
 
So if your family fits the bill please get in touch with Zoe Acourt on 0207 482 6137 or you can email at zoe.a’court@walltowall.co.uk

Probably the best culinary competition in the world!

The team behind the Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards is delighted to announce that Carlsberg UK, the Northampton-based brewery company, is to sponsor the competition for the next two years.

Bake with Compassion is Compassion in World Farming’s annual supporter fundraising event.

The idea is to bake using free-range or organic eggs (remember to use other high welfare ingredients as well, such as organic butter, milk and chocolate) and to sell your baking creations or ask for donations to raise funds to support our work.

This event is also a great opportunity to talk to people about their consumer choices and the welfare of laying hens.

You can organise any event you like around this week, from cake sales and coffee mornings to dinner parties. Whatever you organise, it will be helping to fund our campaigns to end factory farming and raising awareness in your local community.

Visit the website to give you some key tips and ideas to help you organise your very own Bake with Compassion event. So get your aprons on and oven mitts out to join in.

Call 01483 521953, email supporters@ciwf.org or visit bakewithcompassion.org

You might find that getting a table at some of the county’s finest food venues has just got a little bit tougher after the winners in the dining categories of the inaugural Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards were finally announced!The awards, devised by Northamptonshire Enterprise Ltd, were aimed at celebrating excellence among the county’s eateries and to give a public pat on the back to those owners, managers and landlords who strive to offer their customers the perfect dining experience. 

The title of ‘Restaurant of the Year’ went to The Vine House Hotel and Restaurant in Paulerspury and Yvette Jones, who accepted the trophy on behalf of owners Marcus and Julie Springett, said they were delighted. “Marcus and Julie are absolutely passionate about what they do – it is their life! The food, the people, the service – they’re the key ingredients in running a successful restaurant and receiving this award is proof that they’re getting it right. They’re absolutely thrilled and are looking forward to celebrating with the people of Northamptonshire!”

Meanwhile The White Swan at Harrringworth was named ‘Pub or Bar Restaurant of the Year’, and its owners, husband and wife team Adam and Gina Longden, were almost speechless after hearing their names announced. “It’s amazing” said Adam. “We often work seven days a week and this is real reward for all that effort, especially looking after three kids as well!” Added Gina “Whether we’ve got two people or fifty-two people in the pub, we’d like to think we give them the service they deserve and perhaps that’s what the judges recognised when they came to visit – we’re just delighted!”

The results were announced by double Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing to an expectant audience of more than 400 guests at last night’s ‘Celebration of Northamptonshire’ dinner at Althorp (Friday 9^th October). Marcus, whose latest book ‘Nutmeg and Custard’ has just been published, said he was honoured to be part of the competition “I’m really very impressed with what’s being achieved here in Northamptonshire. I’ve always been keen on sourcing local and supporting local and these awards are a great way of promoting what’s on offer here. In fact, I’m thinking I should take the idea back to my home county of Lancashire to get them to do the same!”

The three judges who were charged with difficult but rather enjoyable task of ‘mystery shopping’ the ten finalists were celebrity chef and former Northamptonshire resident Sophie Grigson, food journalist Joanna Roughton and Duncan Taylor, whose The Bluebell Inn in Henley-in-Arden was the winner of the Best Dining Pub/Inn in the Coventry and Warwickshire Food and Drink Awards in both 2008 and 2009, so a man perfectly placed to judge what makes for a successful food pub. Said Duncan “Winning our award has been incredibly positive for us – great recognition for all the team, not to mention a huge boost to our business, as I’m sure it will be for the winners of these inaugural awards. I hope that a moment in the spotlight at such a glitzy affair, complete with celebrity chefs and local dignitaries, is fitting tribute to those whose work so often goes unrewarded.” Joanna’s praise was for the south Northamptonshire winners but she also commended all those who took part. “The Vine House are indeed worthy of their title but I should like to add that it was an extremely difficult task because the standard of all the finalists was so high. I was really very impressed with the quality of cooking and of the use of local ingredients and I hope these awards bring them all greater recognition. They certainly deserve it!” And Sophie added her particular commendation for the team at the White Swan “ This place is everything a pub-restaurant should be; warm and welcoming and serving local produce at its best.”

The results for the two categories are:

‘Restaurant of the Year’:
The Vine House Hotel and Restaurant, Paulerspury – winner
Oundle Mill, Oundle – runner-up

Other finalists (in alphabetical order):
Greens Restaurant and Bar, Northampton
Murrays at Whittlebury Hall, Whittlebury
The Church Restaurant, Northampton 

‘Pub or Bar Restaurant of the Year’:
The White Swan, Harringworth – winner
The Saracen’s Head, Little Brington – runner-up

Other finalists (in alphabetical order):
The Olde Red Lion, Kislingbury
The Red Lion, Sibbertoft
The Walnut Tree Inn, Blisworth

The competition’s co-ordinator, Rachel Mallows of ‘Rachel Mallows Services to Business’ said that the announcement of the winners was an exciting culmination to the whole awards “I’m absolutely delighted for those who’ve been successful and indeed for all those who have taken part. I think it’s only right that we should reward all those hard working chefs and restaurateurs for the excellence they achieve and it makes me proud to think that we have the kind of fine dining venues here in Northamptonshire to rival any in the country. I hope that the county’s many food lovers will now show their support by trying out the venues for themselves, if only to see if the judges made the right decisions!”

Meanwhile Kate Dent, Head of Tourism at Northamptonshire Enterprise Ltd, said “What a fantastic climax to what has been such an exciting project for all of us, last night’s awards presentations really were the icing on the cake! We extend our huge congratulations to all the finalists and a special well done to the winners along with a vote of thanks to all the team at Rachel Mallows Services to Business for their invaluable coordination of these awards. All the businesses involved have impressed us with the excellent high standard of quality and service, what a perfect excuse for people to get out and about in Northamptonshire and try them out for themselves!”