What do you eat for Christmas day lunch?

Quarter Stilton Cheese

Not everyone eats the traditional Christmas turkey on Xmas day, some prefer beef or a goose, what are your traditional family Christmas eating habits?   I read with interest a recent article where it was suggested that Turkey or Beef was eaten for Christmas Day, Lamb for Boxing Day and Pork for New Year.

Traditional Bronze Christmas Turkey

We normally have a fiercely traditional Christmas Turkey Lunch and then a cold Boxing Day feast of turkey, ham, prawns, salmon, salads more sausage meat balls, cranberry sauce, bread sauce, egg mayo, mince pies, Stilton cheese board,  Christmas pudding and Brandy sauce, the full festive buffet experience.

Sausage meat balls

Xmas Leftovers, what do you do? cold meat sandwiches, Bubble & Squeak, boring salad!

Can you Eat Healthily at Christmas? well you should have plenty of opportunity for vegetables & your five a day, Brussels sprouts, parsnips, satsumas, clementines maybe even the odd pomegranate with a pin in front of the fire?

If you have not already ordered your Christmas Fayre please take a look at the Paganum Christmas Poultry range, goose and turkey or maybe a lovely rib of Beef or a nice boned & rolled leg of lamb all available now on the Paganum Website.

Christmas gifts, food and wine hampers and much more also available for Christmas delivery in our Christmas Gift section.

And don’t forget to top up the wine cellar from our selection of quality wines.

Take 3 Chefs made a return visit to Settle Victoria Hall on Wednesday the 13th of May, organised by Settle Festival a full house were treated to a variety of menus from 3 local chefs -

• Richard Wallbank from Ravenous, Market Square, Settle – Black ‘n’ Blue Pig & Mushroom risotto
• John Pratt from The Traddock, Austwick – Yorkshire Pikelets with creamy Smoked Haddock, leeks & soft poached egg and stuffed breast of Swillington Duck with a warm salad of pear, walnut and perry dressing garnished with capers, balsamic syrup, croutons and a whole poached pear
• Ben Atkinson from The Falcon Manor, Settle – Sea Bream with vine cherry tomatoes and Lamb with Summer Salad

All three chefs were brilliant performers in front of the crowd and produced some fantastic dishes.

On display in the interval were local suppliers Growing with Grace, Paganum Produce, Booths and NYCC reduce waste display.

I could not resist giving this one a go myself so have recreated Richard Wallbank’s Black ‘n’ Blue Pig dish see Black N Blue blog post.  Link to all the recipes and more photos here LoveSettle

Would you order or appreciate a corporate gift of Yorkshire Dales Meat delivered to your office or home?

What particular things would appeal? Specialities like Yorkshire Dales Salami, Porcetta, Yorkshire Dales Lamb or maybe a breakfast box of great sausages, bacon and black pudding?

We have received orders for Wedding Gifts in the past from Yorkshire expats, half a lamb, does the idea appeal to you?

A few festive hampers now on the Paganum Farmers Market site here www.paganum.co.uk

Yorkshire Dales Food Hamper in Wool insulated Eco Packaging

With many Chef’s favouring traditional cuts of meat and recipes and in the midst of a downturn or as the media insist on calling it at every opportunity the “Credit Crunch” now is perfect timing for Delia Smith to relaunch her Frugal Food recipe book.  Originally first published in the seventies Frugal Food is a collection of low cost recipes utilising economy and budget foods and less popular cuts of meat such as shin, stewing steak, breast of lamb, oxtail, offal, liver, etc.

You can win a copy of Frugal Food by Delia Smith by subscribing to the Paganum email newsletter here http://www.paganum.co.uk/delia_competition.cfm

Found a great blog post on Girl Interrupted Eating about camping food on the barbecue at Riverside Campsite in Malham in the Yorkshire Dales.  Some great recipes and photos including Yorkshire Dales lamb and vegetable kebabs and the local scenery around Malham Cove.

Bolton Abbey Well Hung Beef

The finest Beef and Lamb from Bolton Abbey in the Yorkshire Dales.   ‘The quality of our beef is second to none’  says Steve Crabtree of Bolton Abbey Foods.  Over the years a suckler herd has been established, using the best of both native British breeds and continental breeds.  These animals are ideally suited to the high Dales grassland and rich lower parkland.

The Beef animals are reared naturally, suckling their mothers from birth and graze at least two seasons at grass.  A purpose designed feeding regime has been formulated with the help of an animal nutritionist, this enhances the texture, taste, consistency and overall quality of the meat.  As a direct result, the animals are both healthier and happier.  The meat is tasty, tender and succulent because it is hung and fully matured ensuring the quality of the beef is second to none.

Bolton Abbey Really Tasty Lamb

The sheep flock on Steve Crabtree’s farm in Bolton Abbey graze over the heather moors and lower parklands. The breeding sheep have been established over the past 50 years and are indigenous to the Wharfedale valley.  They are farmed in a natural way utilising the diverse grazing which is available on the farm.

The lambs are Spring born to their home-bred mothers and suckle during the Autumn.  The lambs are finished purely on grass, which ensures only the best quality of lamb is produced.  This farming practice creates a wholesome, natural and unique product.

The farm is registered as farm assured and is subject to rigorous annual inspections, ensuring all aspects of animal welfare and environmental care are kept to a paramount.

Steven Crabtree’s Bolton Abbey Beef and Lamb is now available on the Paganum Farmers Market Website  here www.paganum.co.uk.

A little bit of information about our products, at the moment we are just supplying Yorkshire Dales Beef and Lamb, all from the Skipton, Craven, Malhamdale, Littondale, Wharfedale and Ribblesdale areas of North Yorkshire.  Our beef products include a selection of well matured, naturally reared and grass fed steaks.  All our meat is from family farms in the area.

Paganum is all about changing people’s perceptions as well as enthusing their taste buds with quality.

Our aim is to create an online farmers market supplying only quality gourmet produce sourced from the Yorkshire Dales.

There seems to be this notion that traditional country produce can only be enjoyed by people living in the country, and town and city people must go to the supermarket and be slaves to mass-produced convenience.  This is not the case. Through Paganum, consumers and restauranteurs who care deeply about food they serve can benefit from higher quality and often cheaper prices than the untraceable supermarket ingredients.