• Dish of the Day

Displaying items by tag: farm shop

Saturday, 30 July 2016 17:14

Lovely local Lleyn lamb

Lleyn are a Welsh breed of sheep raised by 18 year old Annie Marschalek in the Gipping Valley, Suffolk. Annie bought three sheep four years ago and now has ten ewes and one ram (called Gordon Ramsay)  Clever Gordon and his girls produced 17 lambs in April.  Annie keeps the sheep outside on grass and will be selling the meat towards the end of August.  Half and whole lambs are £8 a kg (half a lamb is about 10kg and you get 2 leg joints, 2 shoulder joints, chops and minced lamb.) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. And there is more ... Annie's brother Jim raises pigs and her father Rolf raises Red Poll cattle. So you can buy beef too!

 

Wednesday, 22 July 2015 10:07

A couple o' three at The Cookhouse

Yis' day on my visit to The Cookhouse at The Suffolk Food Hall for lunch, I had the chance to chat to owner Oliver Paul, who jointly runs the business with his cousin Robert. This is diversification on a hooge scale, with former cattle rearing units and silage clamps converted into a massive food hall, garden centre and cookhouse.  There are commercial food production units complete with ice cream parlour and a large play area for kids with beautiful views across to the River Orwell. This is the kind of place you can wander for hours, with one area leading you into the next and something new round every corner. The provenance of this food doesn't get much better. Keeping it on the family farms with milk-fed pork, game, carrots, potatoes and onions coming from Broxtead while the Freston farm provides the Red Poll beef. The butcher in the food hall even sends the chicken carcasses to Steve Robson, the head chef (and our new Dish of the Day) to make stock. Nothing is wasted.

I ate a starter of lemon and herb hummus with flatbread and olives, chosen from the Summer Set Menu (2 courses £15.50/3courses £19.00 and hooly good value). Then I chose the Deben mussels which are from local supplier Simpers of Suffolk. Last time I tried their mussels I thought they were on the small size, but these were plump and succulent, although a bit hard going served with two thick doorsteps of bread and chips. There isn't a commercial deep fat fryer? They must be soft in the hid, I thought, but these homemade chips were great. I'm a fan of bite size desserts because you can pretend that you are aren't eating so much, so I pretended that I wasn't eating very much and chose 'A couple o' three'. A properly made mini apple and elderflower turnover, a slice of summer puddin' and - best on the plate - raspberry and balsamic sorbet. A roight old Suffolk feast.

 

 

 

Published in Reviews
Sunday, 23 November 2014 18:57

The Milk Shed

This is the most fun I have had buying produce from a farm shop in ages. Driving past the Flixton Aviation Museum into Bungay, I came across the Milk Shed at Fen Farm Dairy. Being a sucker for raw milk(you can't beat that creamy layer that appears on the top after a few hours in the fridge) I stopped and was amazed to find inside, the milk dispensing machine and the self serve fridge packed with eggs and the delicious farm made, Brie style Baron Bigod cheese. Put a pound coin in the machine (there is a change machine if you don't have the coins) place the container under the spout and out comes a litre of milk. Better than playing a fruit machine any day, you win everytime.

 

Published in Farm Shops
Monday, 13 October 2014 10:58

Plump Pumpkins at Alder Carr

Haven't been to Alder Carr Farm for months and so set off for a sunny Saturday lunch with Mum. It was very busy - because it clearly has some of the best produce in the area and an interesting lunch menu that goes on until 3pm. We shared a paté dotted with pistachios, venison pie (with chips - sometimes I just have to have the gravy with chips...) and then a dessert pear, served with their own first rate coffee ice cream. It was all tasty and great value. The seasonal and locally sourced evidence is right there in the huge display of bright orange pumpkins and squash - to remind us that autumn is here.

Published in Farm Shops
Tuesday, 09 September 2014 21:30

Adam from Turners Fish Van

Our Dish of the Day is Adam, selling his fresh Lowestoft fish of the day. Find him on Thursdays in Long Melford 2.30pm - 5.00pm. On Fridays at Clare Market Hill 8.00am - 10.00am, Lavenham Market Place 11.00am - 1.00pm and Depden Farm Shop 2.00pm -5.00pm. On Saturdays he is at Willow Farm Shop, Glemsford from 9.00am to 1.00pm

Published in Dish of the Day

Inspector X has been busy judging the entries for the Customer Service Award for the 2012 EADT Suffolk Food and Drink Awards. Tomorrow the winners will be announced at an Awards Ceremony to be held at Wherstead Park. Good luck to everyone who has been shortlisted - there are some real food and drink superstars out there.

Published in Eating Out
Monday, 01 October 2012 16:24

Meet Malcolm

Meet Malcolm our October Dish of the Day - you can just see him at the back! Malcolm is one of the bakers at The Suffolk Food Hall.  Their display of homemade artisan breads and baked goods is very impressive and so is the view from the Cookhouse Restaurant window.

 

Published in Dish of the Day
Tagged under
Monday, 05 December 2011 14:28

La Hogue Farm Shop

La Hogue Farm was on my route on Thursday so I called in to take a look.  I didn't have time to try the cafe which looked really inviting and had an interesting menu.  Has anybody been? I came away with an excellent pork pie and a lemon and ginger loaf, both of which were very good value. this is much more than just a cafe and deli - take a look for yourself - a great stop off the A11 close to both Newmarket and Mildenhall.

Published in Farm Shops
Wednesday, 19 May 2010 09:21

Stanton – again

Have already been recommended for their sausage rolls. This place has everything, fresh and frozen. And their plants are good too. Mick the Baker makes the bread at the back and he said if I come back earlier next time he'll make me a cup of tea.

Published in Bread and cakes
Tagged under