Author Archives: Kim Hartshorne

Burns Night Wednesday 25th January

Just an early reminder about Burns Night and the fact that our haggis delivery has arrived.

We only have a few 200g serves of MacSweens vegetarian Haggis still available.

Enjoyed by vegetarians, vegans and meat-eaters alike, this Delicious Every Day vegetarian haggis is a mix of healthy fresh vegetables, pulses, oatmeal, seeds and spices. Convenient to cook with for a variety of recipes.

If haggis isn’t your thing why not try our Cullen Skink recipe – serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main £9

We have just received our delivery of LillyPuds traditional Luxury Christmas Pudding.

This pudding has a Two Star Great Taste Award and is made from the finest vine fruits, apples, apricots, almonds and ginger blended with ale and brandy.

• Minimum 50% fruit
• Naturally sweet – less than 5% added sugar
• No mixed peel
• Suitable for vegetarians
• No dairy ingredients

We also have Devon Clotted Cream an absolute to serve with Christmas Pudding.

Fresh cranberries are still available for a very short time, so it will be your last chance to make our yummy Cranberry Muffins. Just ask us to include a copy with your purchase.

Our olive pick of the week are Nocellara del Belice, whole Sicilian olives, naturally vibrant green in colour, these olives have an amazing nutty, buttery taste! £4.50 per pot

Fresh cranberries have arrived, perfect for freezing ready for Christmas, £3.20 for 340g, fresh from Wisconsin USA, Cranberries are grown on 21,000 acres across 20 counties in Wisconsin. The sand and peat marshes in central and northern Wisconsin create the perfect growing conditions for them.

Cranberries are one of the few Native American fruits, they have not always been called cranberries! Indigenous American people called this fruit ibimi which literally means “bitter berry”. German and Dutch settlers renamed the fruit “crane berry” because they thought flower and vine looked like the head, neck and bill of a crane.

Cranberries grow on low running vines in marshes and sandy bogs. They need acidic peat soil, and to be near fresh water. Contrary to popular belief, while cranberries need to be near water, they do not actually grow in water. There are two primary methods to harvest cranberries: dry harvesting, and wet harvesting. In wet harvesting, the fields where the cranberries grow are flushed with water, and the growers come through with machines to dislodge the berries from their vines. The machines are nicknamed “eggbeaters”.

Once the cranberries are dislodged, they rise to the surface of the water, are collected, and taken to be processed. Wet harvesting is very efficient, but it also damages the berries more than dry harvesting. This method is only used for cranberries which are going to be processed. Our cranberries are dry harvested so they reach you in peak condition.

Our cranberries come from Ocean Spray, a farmer-owned cooperative, which gives all the profits back to it’s farmers. It is made up of over 700 growing families in North and South America. Seven out of ten cranberries that are sold in the world today come from Ocean Spray.

Not only for cranberry sauce, you can add to cocktails or champagne, delicious in cakes and muffins, add to apple crumble. We have 2 great recipes one for cranberry sauce and the other for cranberry muffins.

At village greens we have a great selection of food gifts

We stock a large range of Tracklements preserves and condiments, their Le parfait jars of Christmas Chutney and cranberry port and orange sauce make lovely gifts £6.50 each

Our very popular Little Doones balsamic vinegar gift packs are now in stock. Little Doones is a small Scottish company who take great pride in only using fresh produce to flavour their balsamic, which comes from one of the oldest and longest established balsamic houses in the Modena region of Italy.
This years gift pack contains 4 x 100ml bottles of Orange, Original, Raspberry and ginger, £11

From award-winning coffee roastery Dark Woods, based in Marsden in the West Yorkshire Pennines. This special coffee make a great gift for a coffee lover we have beans and ground. The depth of flavour makes for an extra special cup of coffee, roasted in Marsden and packaged in the most beautiful recyclable packing £9.50

The finest new season Medjool dates have arrived these are grown In the fertile soils of the Jordan Valley – they are absolutely delicious 454g pack £7.00

We have been proud suppliers of La Tua pasta for many years now. We were blown away with this authentic pasta and it is extremely popular in the shop. Each packet is 1-2 portions.

La Tua Pasta was founded in 2006 by Francesco Boggian and his wife Caroline. Francesco decided to bring a piece of Italy to the UK by making truly authentic Italian pasta.

He wanted the pasta to be so well-crafted, and so fresh, that chefs would be proud to serve it as their own hand-made pasta. They have developed over 300 types of fresh and filled pasta! Sometimes even calling family and friends back in Italy to get old recipes and new ideas.

This week we have –

Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli

Ravioli are square-shaped pasta parcels. The pasta has a very high Free Range egg content (30%) and thanks to a special blend of 00 and Durum Wheat flour, holds the cooking very well. Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli is the most traditional and well known Italian variety of ravioli. The delicious and creamy filling is made from scratch in the La Tua London kitchens by cooking whole spinach leaves with a bit of garlic, and then adding fresh Ricotta cheese and Italian grated cheese.They can be served up with olive oil and parmesan or with a nice tomato sauce. Suitable for Vegetarians. Suitable for freezing. £5.00

Cacio e Pepe Tortelloni –

Like Carbonara, this recipe is based on skill and simplicity. Its origins are very ancient and are supposedly rooted in the bucolic days of Roman shepherds tending to their flock during the time of the Roman Empire. The shepherds used the simple ingredients that they had and that would travel well; pasta, pecorino (sheep’s milk cheese) and black pepper (an easy to carry ingredient that doesn’t spoil). Despite the horrors that are seen on many cheap menus this dish like Carbonara should have no cream or butter in it. If it has cream or butter it is not a Cacio e Pepe; no paid card-carrying member of the Italian Republic would dare disgrace this dish with cream or butter! The ‘creaminess’ comes from the emulsion of the starchy pasta water and the grated pecorino and Parmesan. £6.50

Pumpkin Tortelloni

Hand-made Pumpkin Tortelloni are made using a blend of selected Italian 00 and Durum Wheat flours, and feature a high Free Range egg content (30%) for better, more consistent cooking. They are individually hand-folded to incorporate more filling, which is made from scratch in the La Tua London kitchens. La Tua use top quality pumpkins and roast them in the oven, they then add delicate ricotta cheese, Italian grated cheese and a touch of nutmeg. Try them with melted butter, sage and Parmesan cheese for a restaurant quality dining experience! Suitable for vegetarians. Suitable for freezing. £6.50

If you are looking for gifts for a foodie friend or relative we have a great selection.

Stuck for gift ideas, then why not send one of our gift vouchers available for our £25 or £15 boxes. We will email you a voucher then the recipient can redeem in the new year for one of our boxes including free delivery (check our delivery areas)

Our olives this week are a gourmet antipasti mix containing pitted Halkidiki and Kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, baby gherkins & sweet garlic cloves in a Provencal Italian herb marinade. £5 per pot.