It's really Autummy out there now, I don't know if you'd noticed, and Tesco are passionate about bringing us seasonal flavours to enhance our meals. Not only this but they like to ensure all their harvested fruit and vegetables is fresh and of the highest quality. If you see the Red Tractor logo on their products you can be assured they are working with suppliers who have passed rigorous production standards to bring you the best possible food. It's no secret where Red Tractor food comes from, you can trace it all back to the farm it originated on.
Confident of their products Tesco set some of their Orchard Club members a challenge, to use their freshly harvested products and let everyone know about them.
So picture the scene it was a Sunday morning, the smoked gammon is already cooking away in the slowcooker with a dilute litre of orange, lemon and pineapple squash in it to give it a lovely flavour. We've all cooked it in coke or orange juice, but I didn't have either of these so this was the first thing my eyes fell on. Every good chef will tell you if you don't try you'll never know and if you've not tried this combination you must.
With our vouchers in hand me and the boys headed to our Tesco to stock up on the freshest vegetables for our Sunday dinner. The shelves at Tesco looked full and so pretty with plenty of the autumnal colours you would expect and the selection was extensive.
Challenge 1 - seasonal vegetables (Carrots and root veg)
This was an easy choice for us ...... carrots. The one vegetable that is so versatile yet the one
vegetable my boys will eat (after their Yorkshire puddings) without a fuss.
Being Savvy shoppers I always by Tesco Value Carrots, this time however I wanted to challenge Tesco to see if more expensive really were nicer ...... as you can see my kids weren't convinced and we ended up buying both British Chantenay Carrots and a bag of value ones.
Unlike large carrots there is no hour long wait for these to cook on the hob and they are ready in
just 5-6 minutes. Like all other cooking occasions in my house carrots have to be eaten raw as you cook and we were not disappointed. The flavour of the Chantenay Carrots compared to value one is second to none, they were sweet and delicious and very moreish.
We may have eaten rather more then planed during the preparation stage so I dished them up with some bright sweetcorn, which not only made the plate a bit more colourful but worked so well together.
Challenge 2 - Tesco Finest Elfe Potatoes
I was really looking forward to making a mash to go with the gammon but unfortunately my local
Tesco only held the salad potatoes in the Finest Elfe Range (that I could find). I found these really expensive at £1.65 for 750g (I again normally by the cheapest at around £1 a kg).
We had a little trouble at checkout with the assistant telling me my voucher wasn't valid as I'd not bought the correct potatoes (oh yes, just what you need when you are hungry and have 2 kids getting bored) but he eventually agreed the bag did say the same as the voucher and let it through.
We boiled these up instead for tea with mint and again the flavour really won through. They had so much flavour and buttery... as you can see in the picture I did put a small amount of butter with them as I would with any salad potatoes but it really wasn't necessary.
I would love to be able to show you a picture of our lovely Sunday dinner ..... but unfortunately it was a bit too tasty and it was gone before I could get to the camera. What I can guarantee tho is it will not be the last time we use Tesco vegetables to accompany our meals and next time we have the dish I'll remember to document it.
Challenge 3- Apples and Pears
But I can't let you into that little secret just yet, you'll have to come back to see what we did there. I promise you tho, we were not disappointed. I'll give you a little hint which we choose.....
Disclaimer: I was given money off vouchers enabling me to get the above selection of vegetables for free as part of the Orchard at Tesco Programme. The thoughts and opinions remain my own.
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