Harts Kitchen
Menu à la Harts
Roll of Honour
Former MD of Waitrose, Lord Mark Price calls himself
the `Chubby Grocer’. Never a sandwich short of a picnic
he loves writing about the best sites and snacks in Dorset
I
first became a fan of picnicking as a kid.
In 1960s Crewe there were few places
for young families on a budget to eat
out. We, therefore, packed Thermos
flasks with soup and hot drinks, and
filled Tupperware with ham sandwiches,
sausage rolls and homemade cakes.
Although the ham would bake in the boot
of the car on hot summer days, we never
fell ill, as salmonella hadn’t been invented
back then! It is a tradition my family gladly
accepted and since we moved to Stur we
have found many new picnic locations in
this beautiful county like Thomas Hardy’s
cottage garden, Ringstead Bay and my
all-time favourite, Lulworth Cove. If ever
I have to do something stressful at work,
say delivering an important speech in some
far flung corner of the world, I find a quiet
space, shut my eyes for a few moments
and imagine being with Judith, the girls
and dogs at Lulworth Cove on a bright
sunny day, the water azure blue and boats
bobbing at anchor. It’s incredibly calming
and puts everything into perspective.
There are so many beautiful picnic
locations near to Sturminster Newton.
I featured many in my book, The Great
British Picnic Guide. The reason the area
had such a high hit rate is that although
Judith and I have lived in Stur for just 6
years now, Judith and her family hails
from the area. Because of that, I have been
no stranger to the beauties of the Jurassic
coastline or ancient sites such as Cerne
Abbas or Shaftesbury Abbey.
The book also has many of my favourite
picnic recipes, like the sausage roll with
cranberry and sage stuffing. A hot sausage
roll wrapped in tinfoil, a cup of tomato
soup and crusty bread with local cheddar is
unbeatable on a blowy, bright, winter’s day
on the beach at Burton Bradstock.
All my picnicking needs are met brilliantly
by Harts of Stur. How lucky are we to have a
shop that is still able to kit out your kitchen
and so much more? Thank you Harts, for
keeping my picnic obsession alive.
Sausage Rolls with Cranberries and Sage
Makes 20
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
375g (12½ oz) ready-rolled puff pastry
450g (1lb) pork sausagemeat
2 tbsp honey
75g (3oz) dried cranberries, roughly chopped
½ tsp dried sage
1 beaten egg, for glazing
Oil, for greasing
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 220°C, gas mark 7. Unroll the pastry and cut it
in half lengthways.
Place the sausagemeat in a bowl with the honey, cranberries and
sage, season well and combine with a fork. Divide the mixture in
half and roll each into a long sausage the same length as the pastry.
Place a rolled ‘sausage’ along one-half of the pastry and fold the
pastry over to cover the filling completely. Wet the edge of the
pastry with a little of the beaten egg and press down firmly to seal.
Repeat with the remaining sausage and pastry.
Brush the rolls with the beaten egg and cut into 10 pieces. Place on
a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 200°C,
gas mark 6, and cook for a further 15 minutes, until the pastry is
golden and risen, and the sausagemeat is fully cooked.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool then pack in an ai