As the summer sun is most definitely fading it's probably time to start thinking about those winter recipes, and although I hardly dare mention it, Christmas food. There's a great deal that can be done with traditional winter recipes, and by replacing one of two of your traditional ingredients with gourmet ingredients you'll discover that you can take the same recipes you've been using for years and transform them into something truly exceptional.
The problem with most winter meals and Christmas meals is that because we're all under pressure to spend, spend, spend, we don't tend to have an awful lot of spare cash left over for being extravagant with cooking and ingredients. For this reason we don't tend to purchase gourmet ingredients, instead opting for the supermarket food which is usually heavily discounted.
But whilst this might all makes sense as far as your bank manager is concerned, your taste buds, and those of your family and friends, are being seriously short changed. By thinking about buying in a few gourmet ingredients now, you can try out a few of your favourite winter recipes and discover the real difference which gourmet ingredients can make.
In this article I'm going to give you one of my personal favourites when it comes to gourmet ingredients, and which you can easily add to a whole variety of traditional British winter meals and Christmas dinners, and which actually doesn't cost a very great deal more than run-of-the-mill, supermarket ingredients which leave an awful lot wanting. My suggestion is to get some goose fat.
When it comes to French food, UK consumers don't tend to be able to pick up gourmet ingredients very easily, and although goose fat is not strictly speaking a French ingredient, it tends to be thought of as French simply because they tend to use it more than we do. Typical of the French, they get all the best ingredients!
But by picking up some goose fat you can totally transform your traditional roast potatoes. So many winter Sunday roasts, and Christmas dinners celebrate roast potatoes, but if you want your roast potatoes to really shine, and be about the best roast potatoes your family and friends will ever come across, then simply replace your existing fat with goose fat. Smother your potatoes with goose fat, pop them in the oven and you'll discover that the goose fat does two things. First of all it helps crisp the outside whilst leaving the inside soft and fluffy, and it also adds a very great deal of flavour.
As far as gourmet ingredients go, goose fat is not only affordable, it's also extremely easy to use in your existing recipes. You can also use this fat in the same way to create the most outstanding home chips. If you a tub of goose fat to hand, then next time you need to fry an onion, use the goose fat instead of butter for a beautiful creamy flavour. You can also add it to your roast vegetables, and if you need to make dumplings for a Sunday roast, goose fat dumplings are about the best you can find anywhere.
People often tend to think that gourmet ingredients requires a gourmet level of cooking, but the truth is that it really doesn't. Buying one or two gourmet ingredients needn't be terrifying, and it needn't be expensive either. If you just buy one or two gourmet ingredients for this winter and Christmas, make sure that your shopping list includes a fair sized tub of goose fat. Once you've used it, you'll wonder why that you never used it before. Unfortunately, so will your family!
For more information about gourmet ingredients or to find out more about French food UK, visit The Good Food Network for a wide selection of ingredients, recipes and suggestions.
No comments:
Post a Comment