Our NPD teams across the business have been challenged this week to make a dish in a hurry from the five ingredients we waste most at home. These ingredients are apples, potatoes, milk, bread and cheese. The teams were also asked to incorporate one meat product produced at the Cranswick site they are based at, and two wildcard ingredients.
We’ve seen an amazing effort, with 14 mouth-watering dish entries from across 11 of our sites, judged by our Head Judge, Simon Woods. The recipes were judged on Creativeness, Presentation, Ingredients Usage and Waste Friendly, and were shared internally across the business to inspire our colleagues.
Big congratulations to our Cranswick Continental and Cranswick Country Foods Preston teams who won joint first place! Alison at Continental produced an amazing board of colourful dishes making up a full meal and dessert of different textures and flavours. Liam at Preston created beautifully presented dishes with a creative array of flavours, textures and colours.
Alison’s recipe: Tapas
Ingredients: Gala Apples, Baby Potatoes, Mature Cheddar Cheese, Sliced Bread, Semi Skimmed Milk, 1 Chorizo Ring - chosen ingredient, 1 pack of Parma Ham- wildcard, 1 pot of Semi Dried Tomatoes- wildcard, Salt & Pepper, Sunflower Oil, Paprika
Method
Preheat oven to 190°C (electric).
Tomato & Cheese Bruschetta
Make toast and cut out rounds, top with sliced cheese and semi dried tomatoes.
Roughly grate or blend the remaining toast to make breadcrumbs and reserve for the croquettes and cheese sauce dip.
Pan fried Chorizo & Semi Dried Tomatoes
Cut around ¼ of the chorizo ring into rounds and pan fry for a couple of mins, add some of the semi dried tomato pieces and fry for 1 more min before serving.
Salt & Pepper Potato Skins
Prick the potatoes and place in a microwaveable bowl and heat on full power for 10-12 mins or until fully cooked through.
Slice in half and scoop out the centre of the cooked potato (reserve this for the potato croquettes).
Place the potato skins on a baking tray and season with black pepper, salt and sunflower oil and bake for 20 mins or until crisp and golden.
Cheese Sauce dip topped with crunchy Breadsticks and Chorizo
Heat 200ml of milk and add 50g of melted cheese, stir until smooth and fill into a terracotta dish, top with breadcrumbs and diced chorizo and bake in the oven for 5 mins.
Potato, Cheese & Chorizo Croquettes
Take the centre of the cooked potato and mash together with a dash of milk, some breadcrumbs, grated cheese and diced chorizo.
Shape into croquettes and coat in breadcrumbs.
Bake in the oven for 20 mins or until golden.
Parma Ham wrapped around Apple and Toasted Breadsticks
Take some soldiers of toast and apple slices. Wrap with the Parma ham.
Diced Cheese marinated in Paprika and Oil
Dice up 50g of the cheese and marinade in a drizzle of oil and a sprinkle of paprika.
Chopped Chorizo & Semi Dried Tomato dip with Crisp Melba Toast
Dice 30g of chorizo and 30g of semi dried tomatoes together and decant into a dip pot.
Cheese Crisps
Put grated cheese onto some greaseproof paper on a baking tray in rough round shapes.
Bake for 5 mins or until golden and bubbling.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool and harden before handling.
Pressed deli sandwiches
Take a slice of bread and layer sliced chorizo, sliced cheese, semi dried tomatoes, another slice of bread, grated cheese, sliced Parma ham and finally another slice of bread.
Press down and if you have the time, leave with a weight on top.
Slice into small fingers or squares to serve.
Apple and bread pudding
Heat milk with some cinnamon to infuse.
Layer slices of bread, chopped apple and grated apple into a heatproof bowl and pour over the infused milk.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 mins until set.
Leave to cool for 5 mins before turning out onto a plate.
Liam’s recipe: Italian Herb Loin Steaks with Apple & Potato Gratin, with Cheesy Chips, followed by Caramelised Spiced Baked Apples with Caramelised Croutons.
Ingredients: 300g Pork Loin - chosen ingredient, 4 Pink Lady Apples, 10 x Baking Potatoes, Italian Herbs, 500ml Milk, ½ Loaf of Bread, 250g Red Leicester Cheese, Fino Sherry - Wild ingredient, Crispy Parma Ham – Wild ingredient
Method
Preheat oven to 190°C (electric).
Thinly slice 7 of the potatoes and 2 apples using a mandolin.
Butter a round baking tin and line with greaseproof paper and start to layer the potatoes and apples.
Bring the milk to the boil and add 6 slices of the bread to the milk with a clove and a little pinch of salt, pepper & Italian herbs. When thickened, blend with a hand blender until smooth, return back to the heat and add 175g of cheddar cheese. Pour this over the potatoes and apples and sprinkle 50g of the cheese on top. Bake in the oven for 30 mins at 190°C.
Meanwhile, season the pork loin steaks with salt & pepper and Italian herbs. Heat a frying pan on a medium heat and sear the steaks for 12-14 mins turning occasionally. Leave to rest.
Cut the potatoes into chips and parboil for 7 mins. Strain and ruffle up in a colander and deep fry for 4-5 mins, scattering with the leftover cheese and serve.
For the baked apples
For the croutons, cut the remaining bread into cubes and place in a frying pan. Fry until golden brown in colour, drain and add a little caramel from the apples. Leave to cool and once cooled, roughly chop the croutons and scatter over the baked apples and fino sherry caramel.
Cut 2 apples into halves and using a apple corer, core the apples. Add 150g sugar to a frying pan with a cinnamon stick and bay leaf, add the halved apples until they begin to colour. When this has happened put in a preheated oven at 180°C and cook for 10 mins. When the apples are nice and soft, remove from the pan and add a splash of fino sherry to the caramel. Serve with a drizzle of caramel and place croutons over the apples.