Baxters sent a gorgeous hamper with a lovely Baxters apron and a selection of Beetroot from their range. Baxters are reasonably local to us, and I’ve often bought their beetroot as it tends to be a nice sweet vinegary taste.
Their products have been in my life as far back as I can remember, so we’re regular customers in this house.
Baxters have been going in the UK for several generations and the make soups, preserves, condiments, beetroot and chutneys among other thing. Baxters create their own recipes and showcase some of the them on their website. They even have the opportunity for you to add your own recipe to their website, and if they like it, they might feature it online.
They have a visitors centre that is based around a highland village experience in Fochabers, Aberdeen. I’ve driven past it several times, but have not stopped off as yet, but after this challenge, I may well give their Highland Village a visit in the near future.
They challenged me to come up with a recipe for their Beetroot so I used it as an alternative to rumpledethumps for leftovers in a Chicken, Bacon and Beetroot Stir Fry which went down a treat.
I opted for another recipe for one of the jars of beetroot in making the Beetroot and Chocolate Brownies from their website. I had to tailor the recipe as I didn’t have quite enough beetroot for their version, and it went down well with the kids.
I can’t say that it was my favourite and I much preferred the savoury stir fry to the sweet versions, but the kids loved the brownies. I think I just have more of a savoury tooth.
Here we go with my two recipes from the challenge.
Baxters Beetroot and Chocolate Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 x 340g Tin Baxters Baby Beetroot
- 150 g Softened Butter
- 300 g Milk Chocolate
- 375 g Brown Sugar
- 4 Eggs
- 150 g Plain Flour
- 35 g Cocoa Powder
Instructions
- Preheat your oven before you start and set it to 180ºC, or reduce it to 160ºC for a fan oven.
- Grease a medium to large baking try or roasting tin.
- Soften the chocolate by putting it into a microwave for a few minutes, or on the hob as a plate on top of a pan with water in it, similar to a bain marie method of softening the chocolate.
- Add all the ingredients into a mixer if you have one, or a large bowl. Mix them all together for several minutes, until the mixture is smooth.
- Pour the smooth mixture into the baking tray and bake for 40-45 minutes. The brownies should feel a little soft under he centre and might be a bit wobbly, but they'll harden up as they cool.
Notes
Chicken, Bacon and Beetroot Stirfry
Ingredients
- 10 Rashers Bacon
- 2 Chicken Breasts Cut into strips.
- 4 Eggs
- 600 g Mixed Stir Fry Veg Beansprouts, pumpkin strips, shredded carrot, green leaf salad, mange tout.
- 1 Onion Chopped.
- 1 Jar Baxters Crinkle Cut Beetroot Chopped into smaller pieces. Wash, drain and dry the beetroot before adding to a stir fry.
Instructions
- Use your pieces of meat, chicken or bacon and lightly fry in a wok or thick bottomed pan until fully cooked.
- Add eggs to the pan and let them cook similar to scrambled eggs, stirring in with the meat as it cooks.
- Add an onion to the pan and let the mixture slowly cook for a few minutes on low.
- Stir in your stir fry vegetables and either spray cooking oil, or add a couple of tablespoons of oil to make the stir fry.
- Add the beetroot towards the end of cooking if you are happy with the pinky shade that your meal till take on from cooking for a few minutes.
- I had split my stir fry into two lots. For the kids, I gently folded the beetroot in with their finished stir fry to keep it sharp, bright and pleasant to the eye.
- For my own, I stirred in the beetroot and let it cook with the stir fry for a few more minutes to take on the beetroot taste. I am happy to say this is one recipe that I am going to make several variations of.