We spoke to chef Gavin Austin about how and why he uses Farrington’s Mellow Yellow Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil…

 

1. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and what you do at Northampton Saints?

I’m originally from North Norfolk. I’ve been cooking for over twenty years and am currently the team performance chef at the Northampton Saints.

 

2. How did you first hear of Farrington’s Mellow Yellow Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil?

It was a good while ago now! When I moved down to Northamptonshire to work at Oundle Mill, I heard about Mellow Yellow at the Northamptonshire Food Awards. This must have been about 6 years ago and I have been using it ever since.

 

3. What were your reasons for switching to Mellow Yellow?

Well it’s the ultimate oil. I don’t think anything else is as good. It’s really versatile for my uses and really good for you.

 

4. What do you use Mellow Yellow for now?

I use it for everything! Dressings, cooking breakfast, lunch, I even add it into desserts.  The flavour works brilliantly with dark chocolate, orange and sea salt.

 

5. What would you say is the biggest benefit to using Mellow Yellow Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil?

It’s healthy and not full of rubbish. Plus it’s local! I like to support independent local businesses so Farrington’s is perfect.

 

6. What is your favourite recipe to use Mellow Yellow in?

That’s a really hard question as I pretty much use it in everything. It goes into probably 95% of my cooking. Vegetables, chicken, scrambled eggs, caponata, etc, all use it. It’s just so versatile so I couldn’t pick a favourite.

 

7. We know you try to encourage the players to cook at home themselves, who is the best or most creative home-cook?

The names that spring to mind are Christian Day and Jamie Gibson, they stand out as two of the most foodie players.

 

8. As the weather is pretty cold at the moment, what’s your go-to winter warming comfort food dish?

Anything slow cooked!

 

If you enjoyed this interview with chef Gavin Austin, why not watch our video with him at the Saints last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPcDwXTvrgg

I have been asked in the past what we do in the winter months. People comment, saying “Surely as an arable farmer, you plant the crops in the autumn, go away on holiday and come back the following summer ready to harvest them?” Nice thought, but I’m afraid the reality is a little different.

 

Admittedly, on an arable farm, where we only grow crops and do not have any livestock to look after, the winter months are quiet and it can be an opportunity to relax on a holiday if you wish. However, I have always found it the time of year for research, planning and projects, of which we have done many over the years. Back around the millennium, I remember spending many winter months researching the viability of creating a cold pressed rapeseed oil business on our farm, as a diversification project on something I found very interesting and to hopefully bring a little extra income to the family business. Looking back, I think this was time very well spent.

 

Of course winter is an ideal time for us to service all the farm machinery in preparation for the coming spring and summer months when we will want it to work long and hard without too many breakdowns. We have done many building projects over the years, both for new machinery ideas and for buildings on the farm. Some examples have been building a new trailer, or creating a water bowser. In the past, when I was a young boy and even before I was born, my Father and Grandfather were at their happiest creating new weird and wonderful machines in the farm workshop. Two of the most extravagant examples included a six-wheel drive tractor, converted from a World War II army fire engine. I remember going across the fields with them on this machine, before it finally over heated and was retired in the nettles. Their most famous project was when they took two normal tractors, replaced the standard engines with more powerful versions, before removing the front axils off both tractors and joining them together to make an articulated four-wheel drive machine, driven by one person from the back tractor. This was certainly cutting-edge engineering in its day, that was later copied and refined by machinery manufacturers in future years.

 

We have restored our beautiful traditional barns and converted them from redundant old farm buildings into offices, including our farm office today. New modern grain stores have been designed and built to cope with storing and drying the grain at the speed the modern combine harvester brings the crops in. Over the years, we have built all of the factory and some of the machinery inside it for Farrington Oils. Some of these projects seem to start as winter job ideas, but tend to stretch through other months of the year and before long take on a whole life of their own. The most recent being the latest expansion of Farrington Oils to create a new toilet and changing facilities, as well as extra space to mix our salad dressings and store ingredients. We have even made a little development kitchen in which Eli is currently very busy with her trusted jam jar creating some possible exciting new dressing recipes. This whole project started in April last year, we had a few weeks break for harvest to take place, before finally finishing the project just before Christmas.

winter Marvin

Marvin planting saplings in Jan 2018

 

The other main type of project we have done during winter over the years is planting trees and hedges. We have literally planted thousands of trees and several kilometres of hedges since 1987 when my Father planted the first couple of spinneys on the farm. They are now well established, adding beauty and wildlife habitats to the landscape. This year we have been at it again. Marvin spent the time before Christmas with the chainsaw, thinning out dead wood from a copse area and old hedge, in readiness to replant with new young saplings in the first weeks of January. He has now created a few hundred more metres of hedgerow – Father and I have helped him with the spade to get some of the 2,000 hedge and tree plants put into the soil. We will have to weed around the young saplings for the first two years, after that they will hopefully grow and thrive, adding more beauty and wildlife habitat for many years to come. Additionally, we have a pile of wood ready to cut up for the fire to keep us warm at home next year.

spinner winter

Spinney on Bottom Farm that was planted in 1987, photo taken Feb 2018.

 

Although winter on Bottom Farm may not be spent on a combine harvester or tractor, it certainly is far from quiet!

Did you know that cold pressed rapeseed oil is a great, heart-happy oil? Are you looking to improve your health? Well we have one simple change for you that will help you with this goal. Mellow Yellow Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil is a brilliantly healthy, British cooking oil that is grown, pressed and bottled in Northamptonshire. Read on to find out more about all the fantastic health benefits of cold pressed rapeseed oil…

 

Top 4 Health Benefits of Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil

Low saturated fat

A balance of Omega 3 and Omega 6

Contains Vitamin E

Naturally occurring plant sterols

 

Low saturated fat

Saturated fat is usually found in high levels in fatty meats, full fat dairy products, coconut oil and lard. For many years, health professionals have advised against consuming high amounts of saturated fat as they have been shown to raise your LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein) levels. LDL is known as ‘bad’ cholesterol as high levels of LDL blood cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease by building up in our arteries and causing them to narrow. Cold pressed rapeseed oil, however, has very low levels of saturated fat. This is one of the major health benefits of cold pressed rapeseed oil! For more information from the British Heart Foundation, click here.

 

A balance of Omega 3 & Omega 6

Mellow Yellow Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil contains both Omega 3 and Omega 6. These are essential fatty acids that the body is unable to produce itself so we need to ensure that we consume these in our diet. These two essential fatty acids contribute to brain development, growth and maintaining a healthy immune system. It is important that we consume these two fatty acids in the correct ratio as found in cold pressed rapeseed oil. It is this ratio that makes this one of our top health benefits of cold pressed rapeseed oil. We have more information on Omega 3 and 6 on our Health and Nutrition page.

 

Contains Vitamin E

Another of the health benefits of cold pressed rapeseed oil is that it contains vitamin E. Vitamin E occurs naturally in cold pressed rapeseed oil and is needed for a strong immune system and healthy eyes and skin.

 

Naturally occurring plant sterols

Last but not least in our top health benefits of cold pressed rapeseed oil are the naturally occurring plant sterols found in this brilliant oil. Plant sterols are fat-soluble compounds found in some vegetables, nuts and seeds, including rapeseed. They are similar in structure to cholesterol therefore when eaten, plant sterols compete with cholesterol for absorption into the bloodstream. Our bodies find it easier to absorb plant sterols as they block the cholesterol from being absorbed. This results in the cholesterol passing through and out of the body via the stool. Find more information here.

 

Comparison of oils:

health benefits of cold pressed rapeseed oil graph

 

With these brilliant health benefits of cold pressed rapeseed oil, it’s easy to see why so many people are swapping to Mellow Yellow Rapeseed Oil! Find out where to buy here.

If you want to know more about cold pressed rapeseed oil, how we produce it, how it grows, the simple way we press the seeds to produce our cold pressed rapeseed oil and more on what is so special about cold pressed rapeseed oil, have a look at this article!

For recipe inspiration on what to cook with cold pressed rapeseed oil, visit our Recipe page here.

Christmas is just around the corner so now is the perfect time to share with you some of our favourite recipes, hints and tips for festive cooking! The Mellow Yellow team has all contributed a recipe or a favourite tip to help you ensure this is the best Christmas yet.

 

Tips For Roasties…

 

crispy roast potatoes thumbnail

 

Roast potatoes – Make sure you use Farrington’s Mellow Yellow Rapeseed Oil. Thanks to its high smoke point, it helps you achieve extra crispy roast potatoes as it performs brilliantly at high temperatures. Take a look at Joanna’s freezer tip below if you want to save time on your roasties.

 

christmas potatoes

 

To save time on the big day, parboil and freeze your potatoes a few days earlier. Then once your meat is out of the oven, heat up Farrington’s Mellow Yellow Rapeseed Oil in a roasting dish until nice and hot, then put in your parboiled potatoes from frozen. This will make EVEN crispier roast potatoes, and save you a bit of space on the hob. (As heard by Joanna on Radio 2.)

 

Mince Pies

 

mince pies thumbnail

 

Mince Pies – Homemade mince pies really are so much better than shop bought ones, plus our recipe has a secret addition of chopped apple in the mincemeat that elevates the flavour!

 

A different way to eat a mince pie – Heat it up and take the lid off, pop a slice of stilton inside while it’s still hot then put the lid back on. Enjoy your sweet and savoury treat! (Rachel promises us this is delicious.)

 

Any other tips?

 

Use roasting bags for a juicy turkey and start with a clean oven to make the clean up easier! If you’re not feeding the five thousand, buy a turkey crown as it’s solid meat, takes less time and fits in a roasting bag perfectly! (Jo’s top tips for a stress-free Christmas!)

 

Leftover Christmas Cake? Don’t waste it, instead cut into large chunks, cover with clingfilm then foil, and freeze. (Gina’s favourite way to keep Christmas going until Spring)

Christmas cake

 

Chestnut Stuffing – Emily’s Christmas dinner highlight

 

Ingredients:

100g bacon
50ml Mellow Yellow Rapeseed Oil, plus extra for greasing tin
1 onion peeled and chopped finely
150g sliced mushrooms
250g chestnut puree
250g tin whole chestnuts ground like breadcrumbs
Small tin or tube of liver pate
3 large cloves of garlic chopped finely
1 tablespoon (15ml) dried oregano
50g fresh breadcrumbs
1 lightly whisked egg
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

Cut any rind off the bacon and chop into small cubes.  Put Mellow Yellow Rapeseed Oil into pan and fry bacon and onion for about 3-5 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl with all the fat and stir in well with all the other ingredients and check seasoning.  Grease baking tin with Mellow Yellow oil and cook in a preheated oven at 180c for 45 minutes.

 

Boozy Cranberry sauce – Richard’s way to add a kick to lunch time

 

This is one to start this year ready for next Christmas as it needs 10-12 months to infuse. But its a great thing to start during any time off you have this Christmas!

Firstly make cranberry Gin as you would sloe gin:

Ingredients:

450g/1lb Cranberries, frozen will work
225g/8oz caster sugar
1 litre/1¾ pint gin

Method:

Prick the skin of the cranberries all over with a clean needle and put in a large sterilised jar. Pour in the sugar and the gin, seal tightly and shake well. Store in a cool, dark cupboard and shake every other day for a week. Then shake once a week for at least two months. After 10-12 months strain the cranberry gin through muslin into a sterilised bottle . Once you have strained the gin, cook the soaked cranberries down to a jam like consistency adding a little salt and or sugar to taste. And there you go, delicious homemade boozy cranberry sauce, plus cranberry gin for a festive G&T!

 

Find more recipes here.

As the UK’s first seed to bottle producer of rapeseed oil, our British heritage is incredibly important to us! From 24th September to 8th October, the UK has been celebrating British Food Fortnight with the hashtag #BritishFoodFortnight. To show our passion for British food, we’ve been sharing our favourite recipes on Twitter each day. In case you missed these recipes, we’ve collated them all here for you. So take a look through and let us know which ones you’ll be trying next.

 

Roast Potatoes

No self-respecting roast dinner would ever be seen without these by its side. Using our British cold pressed rapeseed oil on your Sunday roasties ensures you the crispiest potatoes. Thanks to the high smoke point of the oil, your potatoes can get nice and hot, helping them get that crispy coating.

British food fortnight roast potatoes

 

Plum Cake

A quintessentially British fruit, the humble plum sings in this Plum Cake recipe. With ground almonds to add a nutty flavour, this cake is fantastic for a Sunday afternoon tea, or even just to whip up mid-week for a surprise guest!

British food fortnight plum cake

 

Succulent Steak

Using British beef, this recipe will always go down well when brought to the table. Simple, perfectly seasoned and deliciously succulent, it truly is a classic dish. We love our steak served with potato wedges and garlic mushrooms, but there are so many other options you could choose from.

British food fortnight steak

 

Rhubarb Cake

Almond and rhubarb make perfect partners in our Rhubarb Cake, which is an easy yet impressive bake. This is a fantastic way to use any seasonal rhubarb you have, as well as impressing your family with a delicious treat for them to tuck into!

British food fortnight rhubarb cake

 

One Pot Honey & Mustard Parsnip Chicken

This recipe uses our Honey & Mustard dressing as a delicious cooking sauce. Simply pour the sauce over your chicken thighs and British parsnips, pop it in the oven and there you go, a tasty one pot dish that’s perfect to warm you up during the colder weather that British Food Fortnight signals.

British food fortnight honey mustard chicken

 

Roast Lamb

Usually eaten at Easter time, British lamb can also be sourced later on in the year with a stronger, more developed flavour. Our recipe for Roast Lamb uses garlic, rosemary, lemon and plenty of seasoning to bring out the most flavour possible from your lamb.

British food fortnight lamb

 

Yorkshire Puddings

A true British favourite, we couldn’t talk about British Food Fortnight without including these. In our opinion, no matter what meat you’re having, no Sunday roast is complete without a Yorkshire pudding brimming with gravy. Get your oil nice and hot, ours has a high smoke point which really helps, to get those puddings rising nice and high!

British food fortnight Yorkshire puddings

 

Blueberry & White Chocolate Muffins

The delicate flavour of Mellow Yellow lends itself perfectly to cake baking and is particularly good in these marvellous muffins. Blueberry and White Chocolate Muffins fresh from the oven will attract the entire household, so make sure to grab one for yourself before everyone else descends!

British food fortnight muffins

 

Potato Wedges

Such a simple side to make, and goes with so many different things. We like using British rooster potatoes in our Potato Wedges, but you can use any type of potato. A drizzling of Mellow Yellow and a good pinch of salt is all you need to create the most delicious wedges to be enjoyed by the whole family.

British food fortnight potato wedges

 

Lemon Cake

A beautifully light and fluffy lemon cake with a zesty lemon drizzle icing. Quick and easy for an everyday treat for the family but makes an impressive afternoon tea centerpiece if you’re planning a party.

British food fortnight lemon cake

 

Fresh Asparagus and Mellow Yellow Mayonnaise

British asparagus has to be one of our highlights of June, especially when combined with our delicious Mellow Yellow Mayonnaise. Our favourite way to serve this is by BBQ’ing the asparagus then serving it in a big pile with plenty of mayo ready for dipping!

British food fortnight asparagus

 

Apple Cake

This recipe produces a really easy, moist fruity apple cake. A perfect way to use up any seasonal British apples (cookers or eating apples) whichever you have in the garden or the fruit bowl. Served with creme fraiche, or even ice cream if the weather is warm enough, this cake is sure to be a hit!

British food fortnight apple cake

 

Courgette Cake

A wonderfully unusual way to use courgettes when in season. This fluffy courgette cake with its delicious lime cream cheese filling is a coffee morning or afternoon tea show stopper!

British food fortnight courgette cake

 

Blackberry & Apple Galette

Pastry no longer needs butter! Using our incredibly simple recipe, you can make a quick and delicious pastry with Farrington’s Mellow Yellow Rapeseed Oil. This recipe is for a fruity Blackberry and Apple Galette, perfect with a hearty pouring of custard or double cream.

British food fortnight galette

 

British Food Fortnight has been a great way for us to shout about all the amazing food produced in Britain, but just remember to keep buying British! Tweet us and let us know which recipe is your favourite!

We are over the moon to have won not one, not two, not even three, but SIX stars at the 2017 Great Taste Awards for our Farrington’s Mellow Yellow products this year. The judges have awarded a 1 star Great Taste award to each of our Classic Vinaigrette, Honey & Mustard Dressing, Balsamic Vinegar Dressing, Chilli Oil, Mayonnaise and Garlic Mayonnaise. For most products, this is their second, or even third Great Taste award but for our Chilli Oil, this is the first time it has been awarded a Great Taste star and we couldn’t be happier!

The Great Taste awards are the world’s largest and most trusted food and drink awards, with a panel of over 500 experts judging each product, being described as the ‘Oscars of the food world’. This year, 12,366 food and drink products entered into these prestigious awards, with only the very best products being awarded the coveted stars.

 

Here’s what the judges had to say about our products:

Chilli Oil: A wonderful colour and clarity. The nuttiness of the oil is retained and a subtle hint of chilli makes a wonderful condiment for cooking.

Balsamic Dressing: Lovely fruity sweetness that lifted the palette.

Classic Vinaigrette: Herbs add to the complexity of flour with all the ingredients working in harmony.

Honey & Mustard Dressing: The honey flavour balances well with the mustard. Love the ‘pop’ of the mustard seeds too.

Mayonnaise: A very good colour, and the rapeseed oil really works well here. It’s light and creamy textured, and well seasoned with a light hand.

Garlic Mayonnaise: Good clean creamy mayo with a well-judged hint of garlic. Lovely richness and mouthfeel.

 

We’re so proud of all our brilliant products, so if you haven’t tried them all, head over to our Where to Buy page and find your local stockist!

Situated on the top of a hill, looking out over the city of Peterborough, Hill Farm Pick Your Own has been selling Farrington’s Mellow Yellow for over 3 years now. As a pick your own farm, they are one of our more unique customers and definitely one to be proud of.

Founded in the 1970’s, Hill Farm PYO started out when John & Jill Ivens bought the farm and decided to change it from a traditional arable and livestock mixed farm to a pick your own farm, growing fresh produce and allowing the public to pick it themselves. They started off with sweetcorn and expanded into raspberries, then strawberries and all the other produce that can be found today. Hill Farm is now run by John & Jill’s son, Paddy, and his wife, Susannah. They grow an incredibly wide variety of fruits and vegetables, with the aim of extending the picking season so you can enjoy fresh, hand-picked fruit and veg for even longer. Strawberries have remained the best selling fruit each year, in fact most people know it as ‘the strawberry farm on the hill’, but pumpkins are now gaining popularity and are the second best seller. With the farm decorated with ghosts and pumpkins in all shapes and sizes, it’s not hard to see why people continue to flock to the farm in the cold of October.

We visited Hill Farm about a week into July, when there would normally be row upon row of strawberry-filled plants, however, due to the unexpectedly hot June we had this year, they were down to their last two varieties! This is one of the excitements of farming, so much is down to the weather. This year, everything has ripened at the same time rather than being spread out over the summer months. However, hidden in the rows there were still plenty of strawberries ripe for the picking!

A few years ago, pick your own had a bit of a dip in popularity, but now it is definitely back in fashion and incredibly popular as a family day out. Susannah says that it takes people back to the old way of cooking; using seasonal vegetables when they’re available. Some people even visit the farm and pick buckets of fruit to be frozen and last them the entire summer.

Keeping the crops healthy is very important. Hill Farm PYO run on a 3 year crop rotation which helps maintain the soil and keep the fields producing the very best fruit and vegetables. As well as their crop rotation, Susannah and Paddy make sure that there is a daily inspection of the fields and that a different field is picked each day.

In addition to pick your own, Hill Farm also has a shop which sells a selection of pre-picked produce as well as local products, which is where we come in. Our full range of products is available on a beautiful stand behind the counter, and they tend to sell lots of our rapeseed oil later on in the year as it is perfect for when the squashes are in season. In fact, we have a brilliant recipe for squash season: http://farrington-oils.co.uk/recipe/chilli-chorizo-butternut-slice/ .

Hill Farm Pick Your Own is open from June to the end of October, so if you’re nearby it is definitely worth a visit this summer, just remember to call ahead to see what is available for picking each day. Website: www.hillfarmpyo.co.uk, phone number: 01733 233270.

Over the years I have tried to encourage the right sort of habitats on our farm for wild birds which either just visit Bottom Farm seasonally, or make it their home all year round. I am no bird expert, but I have been fortunate to learn from others in Agriculture, and wider afield, who have specialist knowledge on what to do to help our feathered friends.

One expert who lives locally is ornithologist and former Head of Conservation for the RSPB, Dr Mark Avery. Mark has visited the farm on many occasions, often early in the mornings, armed with binoculars, notebook and pencil to see what is around. Mark and I are both full of passion and opinions for our respective points of view, but we enjoy our conversations and I, for one, have learnt a lot from him on the bird life at Bottom Farm; what we have, what may be missing or in decline and what I can do to try to improve things. Two memorable occasions of excitement were firstly, when on Mark’s first visit, he was delighted to find nesting Lapwings in a spring planted field. I thought this was normal, but Mark said this was quite rare in our part of the country, so I had got off to a good start immediately. The second is the Turtle Doves, which would visit every year. Over the last couple of years, they have not been around, but I am pleased to report, one was spotted around the farmyard again last week, although I have yet to confirm this myself. This is now another rare occurrence in our part of Northamptonshire and I have caught the excitement off Mark to try and see them here, as a sign of our farming practises creating something that this rare species requires.

 

owl box pellets 1 owl box pellets 2

As well as trying to grow the right sort of habitats around the farm, we have built four owl boxes over the years. One of these is in constant use by barn owls, where I have heard young chicks active inside and occasionally seen adults fly out at sunset to fly gracefully over the fields on their evening hunting mission. The best sign of owls is the scattering of owl pellets on the ground. Owl pellets are not droppings as some people think at first inspection. Owls eat their prey whole, then re-gurgitate the indigestible fur and bones. For the more inquisitive and less squeamish, owl pellets are a fantastic record of what exactly they are eating, as well as being able to learn about the skeletal construction of small mammals.

tamsin owl boxTamsin Greig featured

One of our owl boxes was officially opened by actress Tamsin Gregg, when we were launched as a LEAF Demonstration farm in April 2003. Tamsin was playing the part of farm manager Debbie Aldridge on Radio Four’s, The Archers. Since this, Tamsin has continued to have a fantastic career, winning a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress and starring in Black Books, Green Wing, Friday Night Dinner and Episodes, amongst others. We were delighted to host Tamsin and her family to our launch day, along with other guests.

 

owl box 1

Anyway, over the intervening fourteen years, the owl box finally blew of its perch in a gust of wind. Over the winter months Marvin has been busy in the farm workshop making a new exclusive penthouse suite for any self-respecting owl and family that may like to make this their new home. This is now erected in its prime position and we will watch with interest to see who decides to inhabit it.

 

duncan signature

Do you love finding new local food producers, farm shops, restaurants and pubs? Well we do too, so we’re proud to now be part of Great Food Club. Great Food Club is an independent website that selects and recommends local food and drink independents. Based purely on merit, Great Food Club checks all its members before allowing them to be listed on the site. They use the simple criteria of ‘would we recommend this to our foodie friends?’ The great news is, they would happily recommend us!

One of our favourite things about the Great Food Club it’s perfect for finding great food in your local area. We’re incredibly proud of the fact that we are a Northamptonshire producer and so this guide is great for other Northamptonians to hear about us. By simply entering your post code, you can discover a world of fantastic foodie finds, right on your doorstep!

It is free to join the Great Food Club. Simply head over to www.greatfoodclub.co.uk and sign up. It is a fantastic way for foodies to find local producers, restaurants and shops in their local area. They will send you a membership card, which you can use in certain establishments to claim a discount.

You can find us on Great Food Club at http://www.greatfoodclub.co.uk/business/farringtons-oils/. If you love our products, which we hope you do, please feel free to leave a review and let everyone know!

Not only available in shops, we also sell our oil to various pubs, restaurants and cafes across the UK for use in their kitchens. Many of these businesses use our oil in interesting and innovative ways, and The Mermaid at Ellington is no exception!

The Mermaid can be found in the idyllic Cambridgeshire village of Ellington in a beautiful 14th Century public house. The name comes from the old ships timber used in its construction many years ago. The owner and head chef, Nick Marriott, is a Michelin star-trained chef who is passionate about bringing vibrant and refreshingly new ideas to a characteristic and historic country pub.

mermaid at Ellington

Having used our oil for a while, Nick recently contacted us with an idea. He wanted to use our rapeseed before it was pressed, and instead, germinate the seeds for an exciting new dish.

Here’s what Nick had to say about this innovative new way of using rapeseed:

“Here at The Mermaid at Ellington, Mellow Yellow Rapeseed Oil has fast become our go to quality oil of choice. With it being high in mono-unsaturated fat, it ensures us cooking at high temperatures without corrupting its lovely nutty character & flavour.

We now also use rapeseeds to bring to life our ‘Snail Garden.’ We germinate the rapeseeds and grow them into small sprouts by soaking the seeds and keeping them in a warm area to do their work. This process usually takes around 5 days but is definitely worth the wait. The germinated rapeseed add a beautiful image and perfect texture of a real life soil, as well as adding an earthy flavour to the dish. Combining the rapeseed with puffed wild rice & quinoa, caramelised chicory & sesame, the ideal soil is created for the garden. Hidden underneath sits a smoked garlic yoghurt and finished with salsify bark, baby vegetables and rosemary branches with flowers from the Mermaid garden.

mermaid snail garden 1

Mellow Yellow Rapeseed Oil is also a perfect option for dressings and creating flavoured oil in which we make a lemon grass & ginger oil for all our Asian style cooking. We very much recommend this high quality product.”

 

Thanks Nick!

For more information on The Mermaid at Ellington, head over to their website:  http://www.themermaidellington.co.uk