I’ve been sent a parcel of festive meat to use over the Christmas holidays by award-winning online butchers Farmison & Co. Have you got all your meat sorted yet? If not, I thought you might be interested to find out about what Farmison have to offer this season.
Who are Farmison & Co?
- They source their meat from small, traditional farms and outdoor reared flocks and herds reared to their full potential on lush pastures
- They use traditional British heritage breeds to try and preserve them
- They bagged the prestigious award of Best Online Butcher’s Shop Of The Year 2016
- They pay farmers a fair price for their meat and support traditional animal husbandry
- All of their products are delivered fresh not frozen and are expertly cut to order
What did they send to us?
Here’s what we were sent for our Christmas Day feast:
Free Range Individual Plum Stuffed Turkey Parcels
250g, Serves 1, £12.95
I love the simplicity of the Turkey parcels which are perfect for our hotch potch family of dietary requirements with some vegetarians and some meat-eaters. It’s so straightforward to just bung a few of these in the oven, rather than faffing about with a whole bird – especially when you have vegetarian options to prepare, let alone the gazillion sides!
I was keen to try one out before the big day so popped one in the oven for my lunch. I also wanted to show you what it looked like once I’d cooked it myself.
The turkey was soft, tender and full of flavour, wrapped into a neat parcel with delicious home-made plum stuffing inside. The portion is pretty big so I only ate half and then had the rest the following day chopped up and fried with button mushrooms, peas and a little mango chutney for a rather winning jacket potato filling. I love leftovers!
Pork, Sage, Crushed Chestnut & Apricot Pigs in Blankets
Pack of 12 £5.95
These exclusive pigs in blankets are just a little bit different. The ‘pigs’ are chipolatas, made with chestnuts, sweet onion, and winter garden sage, and wrapped in matured Nidderdale streaky bacon. I’m looking forward to tucking into these little beauties – they’re always the fastest thing to disappear on the Christmas table in our house!
New Year’s Day lunch
Chateaubriand Beef Joint
We’ve got our very good friends coming to stay for New Year, so what better way to celebrate the first day of 2017 than with a wonderful joint of beef.
The Chateaubriand joint is perfect for smaller tables, and gets its name for being the favourite food of the French politician François-René de Chateaubriand. This classic roasting joint is a thick cut of the tenderloin from the fillet head, and deliciously flavoursome and tender. One of the most prized beef cuts, and often the first to sell from a beast, this French joint is cut from the front end of the fillet, an underworked muscle of the beast which promises lean, exquisitely tender meat.
Farmison & Co Website
Unlike some of the other rather chaotic butchers’ websites out there, I found the Farmison site easy to navigate and very informative. I especially liked the ‘Butcher’s Block’ feature which educates customers about the exact cut you’re looking at.
In terms of cooking your meat, there’s a Chef’s tip and recipe card for everything on the website which is useful. It’d be good to have it in the box too though as my meat arrived without cooking instructions.
Value for money
It’s at the premium end of the market but not ridiculously expensive, so if you prioritise high welfare and top quality products then this site is definitely worth investigating. We don’t eat a huge amount of meat in our family, but when we do I want it to be the best quality it can be. I would definitely use this site again when cooking for special occasions, or to fill the freezer ahead of BBQ season!
Disclosure: I was sent a parcel of meat for the purposes of this review. I was not required to write a positive blog post, but to give my honest opinion.
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