Farmers Markets

[GUS]

Hi, brave soul! ...i'd be looking at some second hand stainless units on ebay if it were me, (can never understand the uk fascination for naff chipboard cupboards that don't move, prefer the ability to roll stuff out for cleaning & sorting out the holes that builders invariably leave "that'll never be seen" ...until you have to go searching for vermin entry points.

Any good council food safety type will be pulling off your kickboards & shining a light, get ahead of the game.

Bookers wholesale / makro, go online & look at a few possibilities, (then go look at lidl)

Most food hygiene courses are now "online" via "recommended partners, so the council gets a kickback, its cack!

[welsh wizard]

Hi LD

when I started I informed EH that I was starting to sell / make stuff to sell at FM's etc. Once you have informed them you can start to produce your foods and they will contact you to come and check out your kitchen by mutual agreement on time / date.

Personally I wouldn't spend a penny until they see you. they tend not to give you ultimatums (unless it is blatantly obvious what you are doing isn't safe) but advise you on what may be helpful to ensure your product is the best it can be. I say "can be", because unless we have the pockets of TV chefs we will not be able to match the very best hygiene standards (in their eyes) in which to produce foods. They are not as bad a some people make out and they genuinely want to help. I started in my home kitchen and survived in there for 2 years until such time I just got too big for it so turned a spare room into a second kitchen. I did this because if you rent a unit you are liable for business rates whereas if its in you home you are not.

Foods that make money are: Pasties, sausage rolls, pies. Unusual foods can be introduced but if possible on the back of staples such as the aforementioned.

Really good luck LD, you wont buy a castle in London but you will have the best job satisfaction ever.

Cheers WW

[welsh wizard]

Here we go again........

This year sees another change in Key Cottage Catering shows catering. I have booked a few shows where I said I would offer homemade pies and salad. the pies would be cold cutting pies like pork and Stilton, Chicken and smoked gammon, mixed game and cranberry etc. My thought was c8oz of pie with a selection of 4 salads like, coleslaw, orange and mint cous cous, green leaf with homemade dressing, tomato and chilli, all homemade of course. Does anyone have any experience of seeing this type of thing at shows?

The other thing I am planning to do is offer "pulled" meats instead of the standard burger (or possibly as well as) and I was wondering if any members have any experience of using liquid smoke in the preperation of this product, possibly our American friends?

Cheers WW

[NCPaul]

I had an idea for you WW, I don't know if you have ever heard of a famous BBQ restaurant in Alabama called Big Bob Gibson's or it's pit master named Chris Lilly. One of the things they are famous for is barbecued chicken with white sauce. The white sauce is a mayonnaise based sauce that compliments the taste of the chicken perfectly. You can easily find the recipe online and I think it is fantastic. My thinking for you would be to barbecue several turkey breasts, pull/chop the meat and add white sauce. To serve, cheap white bun, slice of cheese, pulled turkey, shredded lettuce, and bun top. I believe you would be the first on your island to serve a barbecued turkey sandwich with Big Bob Gibson's world famous white barbecue sauce from exotic Northern Alabama.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009 ... ecipe.html

[welsh wizard]

Thanks very much NCPaul

The sauce looks easy to make up which is important as often we have to make sauces on site and I like the idea of using turkey breast so I will give it a go next week to see what the taste is like and portion size / cost / retail.

Thanks again i love doing different things at shows

Cheers WW

[welsh wizard]

Just a bit of feed back, I tried the NCPaul recipe for White Sauce and it really is very good indeed, it dosent look right but the flavor is excellent (i tried it with turkey)

Cheers WW

[welsh wizard]

Has anyone tried the "pulled pork" seasoning on this web site? If so, what do you think?

Cheers WW

[welsh wizard]

And all change..............

I have now come off the general market in Ludlow as 6 years standing out in the cold and rain has just about done me in. However this decision has been made in light of over 20 outside catering bookings in the 3 months of the Summer, so it is more a shift in emphasis rather than semi retirement.

Part of the ongoing strategy is to attend a few more shows, but of course breaking into new shows is incredibly difficult if you do the same as already established people. True your burgers may be made of local steak, served with a homemade coleslaw and your sausages can be hand made etc etc I also tried with my pulled pork idea to be greeted with "we have a hog roast" etc etc. All organizers see is "we already have someone doing that", so this is my new idea (I seem to have millions of them, not always practical)!

I have ordered a salad topper, you know, the long chillers that have 1/3rd gastronome pans in them. I intend to make a selection of homemade pies and a selection of home made salads and sell them from a stall called "salad days" (unless anyone can think of a better name). I have worked out a plateful of pie and salad (2 good pieces of pie) will be £6 or three slices of pie £7.50. I intend to do a sharing plate for £10. The only down side is if we sell out on the first day i cant make anymore or if we have a crappy day I cant really freeze the pies like I can burgers.

ALWAYS interested in what people think, ideas etc so all contributions very gratefully received. Oh I thought of doing a veg, vegggggg, veggggi, vegie (phew that was hard work), option as well.....ideas?

Cheers WW

[wheels]

The idea sounds fantastic.

My only concern would be the logistics of eating it: if it's difficult, people won't buy.

That's my initial thought, I'm sure that others will come to me later.

Phil

[welsh wizard]

Hi Phil

The pies would be cutting pies so they could pick them up and eat, and the salads can be eaten with a fork. I am looking at containers as we speak but really a good quality disposable plate and some beechwood cutlery should do the trick. However I know what you are saying......thanks

Cheers WW

[kil2k]

This thread has been a fantastic read. Eight years of exploits in 43 pages! Thoroughly enjoyable.

Much to my wife's chagrin, I've recently become mildly obsessed with the thought of making my own sausages, burgers, bacon etc. etc. Not knowing any better, but trying to support my latest folly, she bought me a cheap kit with a plastic meat grinder / stuffer in. I picked up some pork shoulder and hog casings from the butcher, and went to work making my first ever sausages. After attempting to use it and promptly consigning it to the bin, with the assistance of a food processor I ended up making some half decent sun dried tomato and feta sausages, which were smoked on my Brinkman the next day. They actually tasted really good, but were not what I was expecting. I used 100% pork shoulder, with no fat, rusk or liquid, so they ended up more like a frank with a rather satisfying snap when biting in to them.

As the missus enjoyed the product of my first foray into the world of sausage making, I then took that as approval to purchase an electric mincer / stuffer, meat slicer, dried pigs blood [for black pudding], rusk, hickory smoke powder etc. She facepalmed when it started arriving, but I'm hoping to sway her by creating some taste sensations this week. Thanks to this forum I've been researching methods and recipes, and I'm relishing the challenge!

Now can I convince my wife we need another freezer for my creations..?

[welsh wizard]

hi Kil2k

I read with interest you are starting on the road to sausage heaven, you wont regret it. This site is choc full of people who are incredibly generous with their advice / ideas and range from the novice to the professional. There are some fantastic threads on here which will help you to achieve sausage nectar, as well as bacon nectar, burger nectar, smoked nectar and all the other nectar's that you can imagine.

Welcome to the forum and loosen the belt!

Cheers WW

[NCPaul]

The crop of wild blackberries was poor this year so my sister and I made jelly with one part wild berries and two parts of cultivated.



These are white peaches that I plan to peel and freeze; the peach crop was uneven this year with areas further South being touched by early cold.



Nectrines, which seem to have only a one week season most years, are plentiful and very sweet.

[welsh wizard]

Pulled chicken

I have been experimenting during the "off" season and I am now ready to go with my version of pulled chicken at the various shows I will be doing in the summer. I thought I would put it in a roll, roll in a chip tray type thing and put a small side salad with it consisting of tomatoes, homemade coleslaw and lettuce. Not too sure how much to charge for this as I personally have never seen it done. So if anyone has any ideas I would be most grateful. I personally was thinking c£4.50...................too much?

Cheers WW

PS as always looking for new ideas, so if anyone has any, they would not fall on deaf ears..........

[Ruralidle]

Seems good, or perhaps £3.99?