Our Summer Sale Launches on the Open Seas

Why Set Sale?

Some small businesses shy away from sales events, but I find them a really exciting part of the year. For us, it's really important to strip out bits from our collection so we can refresh it. We've already spent much of the year lining up new potential suppliers. We spend what adds up to a couple of weeks a year at trade shows - we're even off to one in Denmark in August. To keep the business fresh and alive the Summer Sale is essential as it clears way for new designs and designers.

Why do anything if you don't do it in style?

We're really lucky to have a close collaboration with the House Doctor group and we're starting to stock their gourmet food brand, Nicholas Vahe. They helped provide ingredients for nibbles and drinks including a Sangria de Cava with rhubarb and raspberry lemonade and an Amaretto iced coffee - really simple but crowd pleasing cocktails great for a summer party. 

Sangria de Cava

60ml Cava

60ml Raspberry and Rhubarb Lemonade

15ml Brandy

Seasonal fruits and ice to serve

If making this in a glass put the ice and fruit in a glass, measure and carefully pour the other ingredients down the side of the glass so not to lose too much fizz. Stir.

Iced Amaretto Coffee

30ml Creme Caramel Espresso Coffee

100ml almond milk

30ml amaretto

Crushed Ice

Mix the ingredients in a jug or shaker. Pour over a glass of crushed ice.

Tofu Sticks Served with Spicy Mango Sauce

250g pack of firm tofu

Juice of half a lime

2 tbsp light soya sauce

1 tbsp agave nectar

1 tbsp sesame oil

Oil for frying

Slice the block of tofu into 2.5cm “steaks”. Place in a shallow bowl or food container. Mix the marinade ingredients together and pour over the tofu. Leave to marinade overnight or for 4 hours, turning halfway to marinade all over.

Fry the tofu steaks on a medium-high heat. Let them go brown on each side before turning. At the end, add the marinade to the pan - it’ll sizzle so be careful but let it reduce to form a sticky coating for the tofu. Once the tofu has cooled, cut into 2.5cm cubes and stab with a cocktail stick. Serve with Nicholas Vahe spicy mango gourmet sauce or another dip of your choosing.

Summer Rolls

250g celeriac - julienne cut or grated 250g white cabbage - finely sliced 40ml Nicholas Vahe mango vinegar 40ml cold pressed rapeseed oil ½ a cos lettuce

Coriander, mint or Thai basil to taste 12 rice paper wrappers for rolls Nicholas Vahe salad topper We developed this recipe to give people at our Summer party a salad they could eat as finger food. Mix the cabbage and celeriac with the mango vinegar and rapeseed oil, plus a pinch or two of salt. I like to let this mix “marinade” for a few hours if possible as it softens the slaw. Cut the lettuce and prepare the herbs so that they are in pieces about half the diameter of your rice papers. This makes it easy to assemble the rolls To assemble the rolls, make sure you have all your ingredients laid out and space to roll as the papers get sticky quickly. Dip a rice paper in a bowl of boiling water with tongs, remove it as it starts to soften. Lay out some lettuce, slaw mix and herbs in the centre of the roll leaving exposed paper all around. Fold the base and top of the circle in towards the middle, then roll from one side, keeping them tight. It takes a little practice. We cut the rolls diagonally and dip them in a seed mix to serve.

Simple Tartlets

We also made some simple pastry (shop bought - it's Vegan so made it easy for those who like plant-based food) pastry cases and filled them with Nicholas Vahe fig jam and Nicholas Vahe coconut and passion fruit jam, topped with a strawberry. Simple but delicious.

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Winner, Winner, Plant Based Dinner

Check out our social media for the chance to win a Nicholas Vahe hamper until 23rd July 2018.

Fig1: the Party Season

Christmas is coming so naturally our thoughts at Fig1 are turning to the party season ahead. We get really busy at this time of year, but Christmas has always been the high point of the calendar in my family and I fully intend not to miss out, which means getting organised early.

When we were growing up my family owned busy restaurant businesses, but Mum would always insist on closing Christmas Day. Despite the heavy workload she never lost her enthusiasm for Christmas and all my 3 siblings have inherited the Christmas bug. Presents in our family are carefully chosen and beautifully presented, given with love and often homemade. Everyone takes part in preparing the Christmas meal - we have also all inherited a passion for good food from Mum - and this year I am officially putting myself in charge of cocktails.

I wanted a little bit of winter sun for Christmas day, so have made up an Orange and Rosemary syrup recipe to use as the basis for 2 different cocktails. It also has the advantage that rosemary sprigs used as decoration, plus a couple of frozen raspberries in the champagne version, make them look very festive too.

Orange and Rosemary Syrup

Ingredients:
Zest of 2 oranges
1 pint Orange Juice
60g Rosemary
1/2 pint sugar

I remove the zest from the oranges in strips using a peeler for ease. You can use the juice of the oranges as part of the pint of orange juice, or eat them and use it all from a carton, but I usually use a good quality fresh orange juice.

Put all the ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minute and then allow to cool. If you have time leave overnight, covered, in the pan to infuse the rosemary flavour further. Strain.

The syrup will keep for a  couple of weeks in a clean jar in the fridge.

Below are two recipes that use the syrup. You can also drizzle it over vanilla ice cream, add fizzy water for a non-alcoholic festive drink or ... think of something else entirely.  It's Yummy!

Orange and Rosemary Margarita

Prepare your glasses and decoration first. I put half and half fine sea salt and caster sugar mixed on a saucer so there is a fine covering. For each cocktail I choose a sprig of rosemary long enough to stick out of the top of the glass you are using, in my case these funky martini glasses by Sagaform. I use a wedge of lime to rub a little juice round the rim of the glass and on the end of the rosemary sprigs. I then dip the glass in the salt / sugar mix and do the same with the end of the rosemary twig, making it look like a snowed-on Christmas tree.

Mix in a cocktail shaker with ice, per person:
1 shot / 25ml syrup
1 shot tequila
1 shot lime juice
1 shot triple sec

Serve in the glass over crushed ice

Champagne, Orange and Rosemary Cocktail

Prepare the rosemary twig as above. I also like to add 2 or three frozen raspberries to the cocktail at the end as the red and green give it a really Christmasy look. Use a champagne flute.

In the base of your glass tip 1 measure (25ml) or syrup and 1 measure brandy. Top up with a dry Champagne, Cava or Proseco. Give it a stir, gently or it will loose all its lovely fizz. Decorate the glass and serve.