Before my recent holiday, I attended an afternoon tea hosted by Scottish brand Baxters to enjoy some recipes developed by Michelin Star Chef Tom Kitchin using their products.
Baxters is synonymous in my mind with a decent tin of soup so I did joke I was taking my tin opener. Happily this was not necessary and the team served up a range of snacks, baking and sweet dishes on pretty vintage crockery.
There’s more to this family firm than soup. Looking at their website, I discovered that Baxters have five of their own shops (in Scotland) and also produce the more upmarket Audrey Baxter range featuring honey and jellies as well as pouches of dessert sauces. It’s funny how stuff you’ve never seen before suddenly pops up all over the place. I’m amused to note my amazing local branch of Spar stocks some Audrey items. The Baxters’ food group also includes products such as Pizza Express salad dressings and Garner’s pickled onions.
The twelve recipes produced in collaboration with fellow Scot, Michelin star chef Tom Kitchin, showcased Baxters’ beetroot, conserves and chutney ranges. Tom was in attendance to chat about the recipes although I was disappointed to discover that the home economist in the background had made the Swiss roll (and presumably everything else) so I was deprived of eating a cake made by a Michelin star chef. Oh well, when I do, at least it won’t be Swiss roll.
With a weighty bag of products, I came away with a renewed interest in beetroot. Many of the “recipes” were actually serving suggestions but nevertheless I was impressed with the flavours and felt inspired to recreate four or five of them at home so I can share them with you over the next week or two. Most of the pictures I took in the dark hotel suite on the day were dismal and even though fellow blogger and awesome photographer Food by Mark was with me, I felt too awkward to start moving plates about in full food blogger paparazzi mode.
I won’t be reproducing their recipes verbatim as quite honestly, the quantities of some ingredients were all over the place. I suspect they were written up by non-cooks but fortunately for you, I have tweaked them to show you what worked for me.
In the other two posts coming up I have some appetisers and canapés but today let’s kick off with this extremely healthy mackerel salad. If I’m feeling guilty about the packet opened sugar fest which accompanied my last post, then here is my penance.
Watercress is stipulated below although I used rocket and you could just as well use one of those pre-packed bags of watercress, baby spinach and rocket combined. I would serve this salad on a large flat dish or plate (my egg shaped Nigella platter would be perfect) for people at a party to serve themselves.
Mackerel is not something you’d immediately expect people to go a bundle on but I can tell you that at Baxters’ afternoon tea, it was the item which had everyone going back for seconds. With walnuts and fresh apple slices here, there is a lot going on to stop it being too fishy. Try telling that to my neighbour’s cat!
Rosebud Beetroot, Mackerel, Apple and Walnut Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients
340g jar rosebud beetroot, drained
1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
10 walnut halves
100g of watercress
4 fillets smoked mackerel
1 apple, cored and sliced
½ x 210g jar horseradish sauce
100ml reduced-fat crème fraiche
Method
1. Place the beetroot in a mixing bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with the salt and pepper. Then add the walnuts and watercress and toss together.
2. Divide the salad evenly between 4 plates and top with the mackerel fillets and apple.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the horseradish cream with the crème fraiche then drizzle over the salad.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the horseradish cream with the crème fraiche then drizzle over the salad.
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sarah dot maisoncupcake dot com 
That looks delicious Sarah. I love beetroot too and it's often hard to find new ways to serve it. I like that this is penance for your last post which I just finished reading!
I never drool over salad, but this one is the exception, that really looks spectacular.
It looks divine and very virtuous. I wonder if it would get me over my aversion to beetroot – I know what you mean about the vacumn packs bleeding everywhere. I do like Tom Kitchin – he always seems so pleasant on Great British Menu, which is the closest I've ever got to him. Shame. Although not so keen on his curly hair.
Love all the things in the background – the flowers, the roses, the styling. Beautiful.
oh sarah! i love this recipe – mackerel is a fave fish and i like the pairing with beetroot and walnuts!
Yowza, this looks fabulous, Sarah! I've been eating fish like mad lately and am always up for a new recipe. This is divine.
Great salad, I'm a big fan of smoked mackerel and although I prefer my beetroot without vinegar, Baxters do make some lovely beetroot pickles.
gorgeous salad! And i love your photos! Your photo skills definitely have improved tremendously!! You've got to hand me some tips!
What a fantastic looking salad-colourful with a range of textures and flavours! And it sounds like you had a great day there too!
Oh goodness – that salad looks so tasty! I love grilled mackerel. Next time I'm grilling extra so I can make this salad…has two of my other favorites, beets and walnuts.
The beetroot is pefect for counter balancing the oiliness of the fish! Superb Salad!
I absolutely love mackerel and this salad is very near how I have mine. I'm now off to make this… Lunch sorted!
this looks stunning! and sounds incredible! mmmm!