Year: 2016

Recipes

How to Cook Aga Made Pancakes Like Jo Wheatley

3209 days ago.

Bake Off winner, Jo Wheatley, is a dab hand at cooking on the Aga – she even has a website dedicated to it called Jo’s Blue Aga!

It’s Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) on Tuesday, 9th February 2016 and here’s a simple recipe that Jo has put together.

You Will Need:

3 eggs
1 cup of plain flour
1 cup of milk
20g melted butter
pinch of salt

Jo Says:

“I find this a really simple method and the easiest way to make pancakes. Just use a cup (any sort of cup, tea, or coffee mug as long as you use the same for everything) of plain flour, a cup of milk and 3 eggs, about 20g melted butter and a pinch of salt. Whisk them all together. I cook mine on the cooler AGA hotplate with a reusable mat, but they come out just as fab in a large non-stick frying pan which is brushed with a little light oil. Ladle some of the batter into the pan or onto the mat, wait until the pancake has a dry appearance and then flip over and cook until golden”.

We Say

These are yummy with freshly simple granulated sugar and squeezed lemon juice.

For Jo’s favourite fillings, see Jo’s Favourite Pancake Fillings

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Recipes

Aga Cooked Steak with Chippy Chips for a Holiday Treat

3210 days ago.

Alice, of Brambleberry Jams, has shared with us one of her favourite treats that she and her family always enjoy when on holiday. It’s a very simple and easy Aga method dinner and is perfect for when you want a quick, but tasty ‘evening in’ holiday treat.

What You Will Need:

  • An Aga!
  • Cast iron frying pan
  • Steaks (whatever your favourite cut is)
  • Chippy Chips
  • A bottle of your favourite red wine

Whilst You are Out Enjoying Your Day:

During your afternoon exploring, pop into the local butcher and pick up some succulent steaks – whatever cut you fancy but ask his advice on what’s the best deal of the day. Later, on your way home, pop into the local chippy as the last thing you do before you head back to your warm cottage. Don’t feel guilty, you are on holiday and chippy chips always taste nicer when you are away!

When you get back to the cottage, keep the chips wrapped up in their paper and pop them into the bottom oven with the dinner plates (this is the warming oven and on most Agas it is on the bottom right).

Method

Heat the cast iron frying pan up in the roasting oven (that’s the top one, usually on the right) for 20 mins so it’s really hot. Don’t worry, it won’t melt and the Aga won’t catch fire! Meanwhile, unwrap the steaks and put them on a dinner plate and place on top of the simmering hot plate lid to warm up to room temperature (that’s the right hand plate – leave it down so you just put on top of the silver cover). Also, don’t forget to get the red wine opened and put right at back of the Aga on the black flat surface to enable gentle warming.

Next, massage a little cooking oil and seasoning into the warming meat. Then remove the hot, dry, frying pan from the oven and it on the boiling plate (that’s the hot hob plate on the left) and drop the oiled meat in. Be careful not to grab the hot handle with your bare hand! Keep turning the steak every minute for a maximum of 10 mins to be medium done. Leave the cooked meat to rest while you get the chips out of the warming oven and onto your warm plates and then pour your wine.

Alice Says:
The secret of this lovely treat is in the warming of the steaks and pre-heating the pan. It really is the prefect holiday dinner that could only be made on an Aga in 30 mins …. and with only 1 frying pan to wash up!

We Say:
Congratulations, you have just learned all about the Aga ovens and hot plates. Now, wasn’t that easy?

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Tips

How to Cook Aga Toast

3224 days ago.

Aga-made toast is out of this world because it tastes …. well, like toast should taste! Toasting bread in an electric toaster or even under a grill in a conventional oven just isn’t the same.

Take toast to higher level with Simon Brown’s demonstration of how simple it is to do. All you need (apart from an Aga!) is a piece of equipment that looks like a large table tennis bat made out of mesh. We’d be surprised if your holiday cottage doesn’t have one but do check in advance as we’d hate you to miss out.

Locations

Five of the Best Market Towns in England

3227 days ago.

Staying near a good, thriving market town is often a key factor for many families who are thinking of holidaying in the UK.

There are numerous towns that can be described as a ‘market town’ but just what is the definition of one? Life After London describe market towns as attractive towns with a well-defined centre and market square and one which holds regular, weekly markets. They will have plenty of independent shops, including cafes and restaurants, clothes shops, a hardware shop, a delicatessen, a butcher, fishmonger and green grocer.

A thriving market town will have a good community spirit and be small enough to recognise fellow residents but large enough to provide cultural entertainment, health facilities and social clubs. Rural peacefulness is often close by, but facilities including a library, a gym, a good bus service and a good cross-section of residents is also apparent.

Here is our pick of the best, based on the locations that our website visitors are looking to spend quality family time together, buying local produce, enjoying good, wholesome food and breathing clean, fresh air.

Marlborough, Wiltshire

According to ‘Your Essential Guide to Marlborough‘, Marlborough has the second widest high street in the country which regularly doubles up as a market place. There’s an extensive choice of highly individual shops as well as elegant, unique and proprietor-managed boutique establishments are thick on the ground on both sides of the High Street and off it. Most of the higher end street fashion chains are here as well.

As well as a choice of formal restaurants, you’ll also find the quintessential English tea room, pubs serving excellent and inexpensive dishes at lunch and dinner, delicatessens producing first class take-away as well as eat-in food, ethnic restaurants of all kinds and the slick, value for money High Street restaurant chains.

Sherborne, Dorset

Sherborne is, without doubt, one of the prettiest towns in England. It has an abundance of medieval buildings, a superb Abbey and two Castles. It is perfectly located on the Dorset and Somerset border and has it has excellent transport links enabling the town to flourish. Sherborne a fine centre for those wishing to explore the delightful and unspoilt Wessex area of Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire.

Sherborne is a busy business and market centre for a wide area. It still retains small and specialist businesses and has a delightful shopping centre with a large choice of handcrafted goods and elegant fashions. It has also become an important town in the region for Art and Antique Dealers.

Winchcombe, Gloucestershire

Often referred to as the ‘walking capital’ of the cotswolds. It is so popular with walkers that there are weekly guided walks around the town every Sunday between Easter and end of october. Winchcombe Market Town is a thriving town with country values and When it comes to eating and drinking you will be spoiled for choice. Winchcombe has ‘Fair Trade’ status and has a high number of good, quality restaurants, a wine bar, pubs, tea shops and a contemporary delicatessan/coffee shop.

With a vibrant Music & Arts Festival in May/June, a Country Show in August and a Christmas Festival in December, Winchcombe also has a busy cultural and commercial schedule.

Ledbury, Herefordshire

Ledbury Market Town has so much charm and tradition to offer. It is one of the finest ‘Black and White’ towns in the country with it’s beautiful, stunning architecture. Situated on a crossroads, this vibrant town has evolved to meet the demands of moden day living but still retains its beauty and character. The Market Hall is Grade I listed and was built by John Abel in 1653 and still hosts two markets every week.

Ledbury is also proud to have its own theatre offering high quality productions and also hosts the internationally acclaimed annual Ledbury Poetry Festival in July.

Tavistock, Devon

Tavistock can best be described as unspoilt, friendly and surrounded by rolling hills. Situated in North Devon, the town is thriving with its ancient Tavistock Pannier Market which was granted its royal Charter in 1105 and is still going strong today 900 years later. Don’t miss the traditional ‘Goosey Fair’ which is held mid October every year too.

Tips

How to make the perfect AGA meringue

3244 days ago.

Alice McIlhagger, of Brambleberry Jams knows a thing or two about cooking on the AGA and here she shares her secrets on how to make the perfect meringue.

Alice grew up with an AGA in the kitchen but it wasn’t until she was in her 40’s that she felt she had the right sort of kitchen to accommodate one. She now has a lovely pillar box red AGA which is at the heart of her jam and sauce making business, brambleberryjames.com. All her jams and sauces are cooked in a large stainless steel jam pan, firstly on the low ring to slowly dissolve the sugar and then boiled on the boiling ring which stays at a steady temperature to ensure it never burns. Alice says “When I’m baking for a craft fair, I can bake 8 loaves of bread in the hot oven simultaneously, while making meringues in the bottom oven. I can honestly say I would not have my business Brambleberry Jams without the AGA.”