We had over 150 entries to our competition to win a day with Shires – we are delighted to announce that our winner is Caroline Sweetman from Daventry

Many of you also completed our mini survey telling us the type of courses that you would like us to run. The most popular choices being Italian cookery, wine matching, healthy eating and bread baking.

The good news is our Artisan Bread course will be running again in October and for all you pasta lovers our first Italian Cookery Day will take place in November. Please subscribe to our site and you will receive details of the courses as soon as they are posted.

Flambé strawberries with quick lemon cheesecake 

Thanks to everyone who came to visit us at the Simply Specialists marquee over the bank holiday weekend – as promised Richards delicious Strawberry cheesecake recipe – let us know how you get on.

Ingredients
150g                Ginger nut biscuits
50g                  Butter
250g                Mascarpone Cheese
250g                Quark
½                     Lemon juice
                          Rind of one lemon
50g                  Icing sugar 

Method

1. Put the Ginger nut biscuit in a food processor and blend until a fine crumb is formed, add the butter and blend on pulse until combined.
2. Mix the quark and mascarpone cheeses together, add the rind of the lemon, and the juice of half a lemon and the icing sugar to taste, chill in the fridge.
3. Press the ginger nut crumb mixture into the bottom of the moulds for the cheese cake, making sure the mixture is firmly pushed down.
4. Put the cheeses cake mixture in a piping bag and pipe into the moulds, smoothing the top with the back of a spoon that has been dipped into boiling water.
5. Cool in the fridge for twenty minutes, or until the strawberries are ready.

Strawberry Flambé    

Ingredients

½                     Punnet strawberries (250g)
25g                  Butter
25g                  Castor sugar
½                     Juice from a lemon
25ml                 Brandy 

Method

1. Heat a frying pan and melt the butter, add the sugar and caramelise.
2. Add the lemon juice and reduce the mixture to syrup.
3.  Toss the strawberries in the sugar mixture.
4. Flambé with the brandy.

To finish

Run a hot knife round the cheesecake moulds and spoon round the Strawberry Flambé.

Take 100g of Northamptonshire’s most glorious stately homes
4 tbsp of the county’s finest food and drink
A large sprinkling of culinary expertise to inspire you in the kitchen
And the zest of one of the country’s most popular chefs 

And what have you got? The recipe for a perfect bank holiday to get anyone’s taste buds watering!

This weekend top TV chef Sophie Grigson returns to the county she once called home to judge the finalists in the brand new Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards 2009, as devised by Northamptonshire Enterprise Ltd.

 Sophie will be joining fellow expert Stephen Bulmer, former head chef at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir Cookery School and William Sitwell, editor of Waitrose Food Illustrated to select winners in the categories ‘Best Local Produce’ and ‘Best Drink’ – the culmination of the culinary festival that is the Holdenby Food Show.

 Author of 19 cookery books and numerous television appearances since bursting onto the food scene more than 25 years ago, Sophie says she’s delighted to be involved in these brand new Awards. “I was thrilled to be asked to be part of the judging panel for the best local produce and best local drink for the first Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards.  The list of finalists is impressive and I am looking forward to sampling the products at the Holdenby Food Show this weekend.  It is really important that people who set up and run businesses and are passionate about food and drink have the chance to be supported in their local communities.”

The competition’s co-ordinator, Rachel Mallows of Rachel Mallows: Services to Business, says it’s an honour to have Sophie on board “Our search for Northamptonshire’s finest food and drink deserves to have the finest of judges and in Sophie we have one of the very best! We’re very proud of the high standard of all those who took part and we think that all three judges are set for a very enjoyable – but very difficult – task in choosing their winners!”

The entries vying for the title of ‘Best Local Produce’ are

Dundee Cake from Towcester Country Markets
Mellow Yellow rapeseed oil from Farrington Oils
Potted Beef from Sauls of Spratton
Scarborough Fair Jelly from M.U.T.T.S
The Boozy Dark Breakfast marmalade from The Pickled Village 

While those battling to be named ‘Best Drink’ are:

Champs D’Amours Sparkling White from Fleur Fields
Fire-bellied Toad Beer from Frog Island Brewery
Northamptonshire Bitter from Hoggleys Brewery
Tickled Pink Sparkling Rosé from Welland Valley Vineyard 

Visitors to the Holdenby Food Show (sponsored by Bell) will have the chance to sample the nine shortlisted entries by heading to the Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards 2009 stand across both days before the judges are locked away on Monday afternoon in one of the House’s impressive Elizabethan rooms to make their selection. Head Chef of Rhodes Twenty Four Adam Gray will then announce the results and present the awards to the winners at 3pm.

Here at Shires we  are delighted to be hosting the Simply Specialists demo marquee over the weekend. We have many exciting and fun demos taking place, so come along say hello, enter our competiton and you could be in with a chance to win a day with Shires.

Adam Gray, head chef of the Michelin star ‘Rhodes Twenty Four’ in London, which is one of Gary Rhodes’ restaurants, will be returning to the show to headline the live cooking theatre, the ‘Courts Courtyard’.  Having grown up in the County and undertaken his training at Northampton College, Adam is delighted to be at the event. “I am very proud to be involved in the Holdenby Food Show again this year” Adam says. “It has definitely become a permanent fixture in Northamptonshire’s culinary calendar”.

Also this year, the show will also see the top chef Stephen Bulmer entertaining the audiences at the show. Stephen, who is now the head chef and owner of Brook Hall Cookery School in Winslow, near Buckingham, has had huge experience working in very prestigious restaurants across England. Most recently he was Chef/Director of the Raymond Blanc Cookery School at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons for the last six years.

Visitors will also have the chance to try the finalists in the Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards, before the final ‘taste off’ takes place at the show with the hotly contested results being announced live on the second day of the Show. A shortlist of nine finalists are in the running for the two awards, Best Local Drink and Best Local Produce. The Awards, which have been devised by Northamptonshire Enterprise Ltd in partnership with the Holdenby Food Show, are aimed at celebrating all that is great about the county’s produce and drink. 

Show organisers, Stonehouse Events Ltd, are delighted to have local company Bell on board this year too, who will be at the show demonstrating how to cook tasty treats on an Aga throughout the event on their stand. A. Bell and Company have been in Northampton since 1898 and offer a wealth of experience and knowledge over a large range of quality products, including stunning, top quality kitchens, bathrooms, stoves and gas barbeques.

This year also sees a second demonstration area at the event, the ‘Simply Specialists featuring Shires Cookery School’, which will comprise a mixture of varied sessions including from how to successfully flambé strawberries, testing your knowledge on healthy eating plus how to create tasty Indian dishes by an International Award Winning Chef.

Held at Holdenby House, just north of Northampton, this delicious day out will showcase a wonderful range of products to tempt you, plus plenty of opportunities to taste fantastic flavours of our region and beyond. Top quality and imaginative kitchen and home accessories will also be available, to create a great shopping experience.

With a licensed bar located on the picturesque front lawn of Holdenby House, plus the gardens and grounds of Holdenby House to sit and relax in while listening to love music, this food event will be a perfect destination for food fans everywhere. Holdenby House is also open both days too, admission included in the entrance fee. There is even a chance to play croquet thanks to Northamptonshire Croquet Club who will be on hand to give visitors tips on the tactics of this perfect summer game.

The ‘Holdenby Food Show sponsored by Bell’ takes place on 30^th and 31^st August, open 11am – 5pm each day. For more information call Stonehouse Events on 01604 820011, or see www.stonehouse-events.co.uk.

Come along to the Simply Specialists marquee and enter our competition to win a day with Shires Cookery School.

Enjoyed by thousands of visitors in previous years, the show promises to be a treat for anyone who likes great food and drink, along with family fun and entertainment all set in beautiful surroundings. With a fantastic mix of local, regional and other fine quality food and drink producers and suppliers, plus more, it is a tasty and exciting family day out.

Held at Holdenby House, just north of Northampton, this delicious event will showcase a wonderful range of products to tempt you, plus plenty of opportunities to taste fantastic flavours of our region and beyond.

Shires will be hosting the Simply Specialists marquee – come along and see a fantastic range of demos taking place over the weekend.

Returning again this year by popular demand is Adam Gray, Head Chef of the Michelin starred ‘Rhodes Twenty Four’ at Tower 42 in London. He will be headlining the live demonstration programme on both days, located in the ‘Cooks Courtyard’. Having close personal roots with Northamptonshire, as well as having trained at Northampton College, Adam is always keen to be involved in this great Holdenby event, helping to put local food and drink on the map. Adam will be cooking at the event on both days.

“I am very proud to be involved in the Holdenby Food Show again this year” Adam says. “It is a great opportunity for Northamptonshire to show the outstanding and varied produce it has to offer”.

Also this year, the show will also see the top chef Stephen Bulmer entertaining the audiences at the show. Stephen, who is now the owner of Brook Hall Cookery School in Winslow, near Buckingham, has had huge experience working in very prestigious restaurants across England. Most recently he was Chef/Director of the Raymond Blanc Cookery School at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons for the last six years, before which he had his own Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant, Atelier, in Soho.

‘I’m delighted to be demonstrating at the Holdenby Food Show’ explained Stephen Bulmer. ‘It’s a great day out. The range and quality local produce on sale is always inspiring’ he said.

The Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards are also being launched at this years show, thanks to a partnership between Northamptonshire Enterprise and show organisers, Stonehouse Events.

With a licensed bar located on the picturesque front lawn of Holdenby House, plus the gardens and grounds of Holdenby House to sit and relax in while listening to live music, this food event will be a perfect destination for food fans everywhere. Holdenby House is also open both days too, admission included in the entrance fee.

The ‘Holdenby Food Show takes place on 30^th and 31^st August, open 11am – 5pm each day. For more information call Stonehouse Events on 01604 820011, or see www.stonehouse-events.co.uk.