News

Product of the Month- Plum Recipes

Posted Thu, 12/08/2010 - 9:23pm by heather47

 

Our seasonal plum selection at the Green Valley Grocer

Oat Plum Crumble

750g plums or Damsons

4 tablespoons-Golden caster sugar

A Large Knob of butter

 

For the crust:

150g of flour

100g of butter

50g of Ground Almonds

70g of Caster Sugar

50g of Rolled oats

Set the oven at 190/gas mark 5

 

Stone the fruit, place them in a deep pan with the butter and Sugar and leave them to soften slightly. Meanwhile make the oat crust by rubbing the butter  into the flour till it looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the ground Almonds, sugar and oats.

Place the fruit into the baking dish, place the oat and almond topping on the fruit and bake for 30-35mins .and serve hot with cream.

 

 

Place the fruit in a bowl and add sugar, allow the mixture to stand for 8 to 10 hours, next place the fruit and syrup in a saucepan and cook over low heat, stir every once in a while, and allow to boil for approx 20mins.If after this time the fruit is still chunky mash with fork or electric mixer to make the jam smoother. Fill jars with liquid and seal.

 

 Beef and Plum Stir Fry

Ingredients

 3tsp sesame oil

6 small plums, stones removed and cut into thirds

1tbs brown sugar

500g beef fillet, thinly sliced

2cm fresh ginger, finely shredded.

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 broccoli, in little florets

2tbs hoisin sauce

450g rice

Thai basil leaves to serve

 

Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a wok over a medium heat. Add the plums and sprinkle with sugar. Cook for around 5mins stirring occasionally. Then transfer to a plate.

Heat the remaining oil in the wok over a medium-high heat, stir fry the beef for 1-2 mins or until golden, once cooked transfer to the plates with the plums.

Heat the remaining oil and add the ginger, garlic and broccoli cook for 2-4mins or until the broccoli is green and crisp.

Add the beef and plums and the hoisin sauce, toss until well combined and heated through.

Serve with the rice and basil leaves.

 

If you have any plum recipes please bring them in to the shop, or add to the blog.

 

 

 

Plum Jam

1kg of plums, washed and halved

700g of Sugar

Product of the Month-Plums

Posted Thu, 12/08/2010 - 8:36pm by heather47

Plums or Prunus domestica are part of the Rosaceae family. Plums are smooth skinned sweet fruits with a flat pointed stone in the middle.  Plums grow on trees which can grow  between 5 and 7 metres high, they produces white flowers which get pollinated by bees, plum trees loose their leaves in the autumn.

 

 

There are thousands of plum varieties available world wide, but lets focus on the English ones, 9 of the most common ones are:

1)    Avalon, which are available by the end of August, they are a large plum with a deep pink skin.

2)    Czar, which are available in early August, they are fine to eat, but are best known and used in jams.

3)    Early Rivers, available from early July, but can be rather sharp at the beginning of the season.

4)    Excaliber, available through August, it has a dark purple skin, and is very similar to Victoria plums.

5)    Majorie’s seedling, available later in the season in September/October time, and is one of the oldest English plums.

6)    Mistaka

7)    Reeves

8)     Sanctus Hubertus

9)    Victoria, which are available through August It has a sweet rich taste both to eat and to make into jams. 

 

English plums have become rather a rarity in English supermarkets but also in English gardens too. Most large supermarkets get their imports of plums from Italy and South America; these countries allow large quanities of plums to be available through out the whole season.  Plums in supermarkets are large, colourful but thought to be tasteless.  

Why plums are good for you, well plums are high in carbohydrates, low in fat and calories but are also good sources of vitamin A and C and also a good source of calcium, iron, potassium and fibre.

What can you do with plums other than eat them as a snack, they can be made into jams, pies, crumbles, cakes and much more, see the Product of the Month recipe blog for some ideas.

Got room in your garden, why not help increase English plum production and plant a tree, here are a couple of websites which can help you get started.

www.gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg_diary/fruit_veg_mini_project_march_2b_plum.asp                             www.fruitexpert.co.uk/PlumTrees.html

If you fancy some one to one advise about growing a plum tree, why not pop into the shop and talk to Ange and keep your eyes out for her plums which should be arriving in the shop very soon.

 

*NEW* Ecover re-fill service

Posted Sat, 24/07/2010 - 5:56pm by ange dews

 

From this week, the GVG is offering a refill service

for Ecover Washing Up Liquid and

Ecover Laundry Liquid

at £1.99 for a litre, which means it's cheaper AND you don't have to get rid of your empty bottle. 

Jim might even fill it for you, if you're lucky.

Service with a smile!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greener Together Energy Monitoring

Posted Wed, 30/06/2010 - 4:31pm

Carol, Ange and Susan showing off their energy monitorsHere at the Green Valley Grocer we are enjoying the amazing summer weather and are arranging for our pioneers - in particular those who have pledged to lower their energy use- to have access to energy monitors to help them in this.

The plan is for monitors to be available for a week to each household - it is surprising how quickly you can learn which parts of your daily routine are using large amounts of electricity and to what extent this can be reduced.

The photo shows (from left) Carol Wood and Ange Dews with two of the energy monitor devices, and Susan Thomas who is the Green Valley Grocer's "eco-operator" for the Greener Together project.

Don't forget that there is still time for you to get involved and do your bit to reduce our community's carbon emissions and support your local community-owned green grocer at the same time. Why not sign up today at www.greenertogether.coop

Now We're Cooking!

Posted Mon, 17/05/2010 - 10:11pm

It is with great pleasure that we can let you know that the Handmade Bakery is back in full operation!

If like me you get withdrawal symptoms after just 24 hours without a slice or two of that outstanding handmade bread, you will be mightily relieved to learn that Dan and Johanna are fully recovered from the virus that shut down operations for the whole of last week bar Thursday (when Matt and Paul pulled out all the stops to ensure that subscribers and Green Valley Grocer customers could still get a slice of the real McCoy).

Freshly baked loaves will be available from Tuesday morning as usual. For more information why not take a look over at the Handmade Bakery website.

It's May - that must mean ENGLISH ASPARAGUS !!!

Posted Tue, 04/05/2010 - 12:13pm

After a typically grey bank holiday, the sun is shining again, and the shop is full of goodies, including that touchstone of the seasonal food calendar, English Asparagus. The season is a short one, and already the price is going down. So bag yourself some tasty spears and try out some new recipes such as the one below, or click here for a selection of recipes.

 

Chargrilled British Asparagus and Spring Onions with Lime and Sea SaltChargrilled British Asparagus and Spring Onions with Lime and Sea Salt

Serves 4
Preparation 5 minutes, plus pre-heating griddle pan
Cook 5-7 minutes

Ingredients

1 bundle British asparagus spears (300g)
1 bunch spring onions
1 tbsp sunflower or groundnut oil
1 lime
Flaked sea salt (such as Maldon)

Method

  1. Heat a griddle pan to hot, about 10 minutes or light the barbeque.
  2. Wash the asparagus and trim off the wooden end. Wash the spring onions and peel off the outer layer, if necessary, leaving the root attached.
  3. Brush the vegetables with a little sunflower or groundnut oil and lay across the smoking hot griddle. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, turning occasionally, or until the asparagus and spring onions are tender and blackened a little. The thin ends of the spring onions will get quite chargrilled and crispy - this is fine, they will taste great.
  4. Remove to a serving plate, squeeze over the juice of the lime and season generously with flakes of sea salt. Eat immediately. 

Let's Get Greener Together

Posted Sun, 02/05/2010 - 12:19am

Greener Together logo

The Green Valley Grocer has joined thirty or so other cooperatives and community-owned shops across the country in an exciting new project. 

We need at least 50 of our shoppers, members and other supporters to pledge to cut their “carbon footprint” by either 10 or 20% (you choose) over a six month period.

The first step is to register as one of our “pioneers”. You can do this online at the special project website: go to www.greenertogether.coop. It's important to note as you register that the shop is listed under our formal name of “Slaithwaite Co-operative Ltd” and we are classed as a consumer owned enterprise on the Greener Together website. Registering is quick, free and with no obligation.

Of course we want you to come with us on the Greener Together journey over the coming six months, so we will encourage and support you, there will be events, information, and fun to make it all easy and enjoyable.

Once registered you will be asked to complete a survey which will act as your baseline for reducing your carbon footprint. Once the survey results have been analysed you'll have the chance to sign up to some actions to cut your carbon, ranging across your energy use, personal transport or waste.

If we can get enough people to sign up and participate on this exciting project, the shop will in turn receive some funding support and advice to help us to make some important changes to improve the sustainability of The Green Valley Grocer. We are looking at our own energy use and considering insulating our roof using Warmcel (recycled newspaper) and replacing some our light fittings for even more energy efficient ones.

So, if you are keen to do something about the size of your carbon footprint, have always planned to make your lifestyle greener – now’s your chance to do it in the company of like minded people - and support your community-owned greengrocer at the same time!

Sign up to-day at www.greenertogether.coop - and let’s get greener together!

We'll be putting more information about the project on this site, so watch out for news as we get stuck in to the programme.

One of board members - Susan Thomas - has kindly agreed to act as our "eco-operator", and will be your first point of contact for any queries or if you need more information at any time. You can contact Susan by sending email to greener.together@slaithwaite.coop, or via the contact form on this site (select the Greener Together category).

Time is really tight, so please help us to make Slaithwaite and the Colne Valley even greener by signing up today!

 

 

It's April, so it must be PURPLE SPROUTING BROCCOLI...

Posted Tue, 13/04/2010 - 3:47pm by ange dews

We promised to bring you a calendar of 'Seasonal and Regional Produce' and, as we're now well into April, it should be noted that Purple Sprouting Broccoli is here.

It's purple when raw and green when cooked, but more tender than the big heads of regular green broccoli (calabrese). It's a bit of an investment for any gardener: you might be sowing seeds mid-spring, protecting from slugs and snails through our wet summers, knocking snow off in December and chasing away the pigeons when there's little else for them to eat, finally it's ready (now-ish), standing at three feet tall and taking up space in the plot that you want for new sowings! But it's worth it... no really it is.

My 'Big Broccoli book' (by Georgina Downard) boasts 86 pages of delicious things you can do with either green or purple broccoli, like 'broccoli and crab souffle' and 'broccoli pilaf with chickpeas and tomatoes' - it shall be on loan to the GVG for the next month!

 

Coming soon.... We have had our first glimpses of (Spanish) asparagus... next month should bring a regular supply of UK-grown spears, hopefully some from within just a few miles of us.

 

 

Purple Sprouting Broccoli at Wellhouse   

    

  

 

 

         Asparagus... it's coming! 

Wow - what a lot of growers !

Posted Wed, 31/03/2010 - 9:59pm

 What a marvellous turnout for our local growers and producers meeting this evening !

Thanks to all who came, and we hope that amongst all the chat and info you found out something of use and interest.

There is obviously a lot of potential out there in the Colne and Holme valleys beyond.

Highlights of the evening include -

the promise of a Slawit blueberry harvest

a possible Preserving Group with the aim of sharing all the old skills to keep the harvest going year round

garlic from Taylor Hill

and maybe even some Crimble honey ( next year ..... I can hardly wait !)

and lots lots more.

So, this is just the beginning - and we have a wonderful season of local produce to look forward to !

If you couldn't come to the meeting, and are interested in getting involved in growing and producing for us, email us  - helen@slaithwaite.coop or call on 01484 598050

STOP PRESS: Green Valley Grocer and Vanilla Bean take top awards !

Posted Wed, 24/03/2010 - 10:31pm
| Image 1 of 5 |
The Mayor of Kirklees, Cllr Julie Stewart-Turner

Monday night was a night of celebration for The Green Valley Grocer when we were awarded the prize as  Retailer: Local Food in the Mayor of Kirklees' Local Food Awards 2009-10.  Special mention must be given to the excellent folks at The Handmade Bakery who have shared this mad, exciting journey with us from the beginning, and who's commitment to their craft and who's excellent bread received special recognition by the Mayor of Kirklees, Cllr Julie Stewart-Turner.

Our friends at The Vanilla Bean were also honoured with the award for Local Menu - a testament to their efforts to source as much of the produce used in their cafe locally as possible.

Manager Carol Wood attended the glitzy award ceremony accompanied by board members Graham Mitchell and Jenny Stein and Local Food co-ordinator Helen Coxan. They were in good company with Janis, Amber and Natalie from VB, Dan and Johanna from The Handmade Bakery and friends from MASTT.  It was a great evening with opportunities to meet other local food producers and suppliers, including the lovely Mike from The Good Soup Co and Jackie, the magnificent school cook from Marsden Infants, who was commended for her use of local produce (from GVG) in her school menu. The icing on the cake for us was of course the announcement at around 10pm the The Green Valley Grocer had won such a great award. A true testament to the support of the shop's shareholders and customers.

The Award Certificate and Trophy are on show at the shop - pop in and have a look (and while you are there, we have fresh rhubarb in and an organic delivery due tomorrow, not to mention Dee's muffins and the HMB's fantastic NY Rye Special .......)

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