Thursday is Market Day in Ampthill

Ampthill Country Market stall is on the market every Thursday from around 8 until 12 every week, we close from Christmas until the first Thursday in February.  We find our customers are giving eating baking 'a rest' following Christmas and also as it can be very inclement weather we like to have a rest too.

We have recently moved the stall to the 'other end' as the market is only small (but perfectly formed) this wasn't an amazing distance, but thought it would be a nice place to be.  We have now got some new stands, have made enough room for customers to shelter and shop inside, and have even put some flags up.  It would be lovely if you visit us each week, all of our products are made or grown locally.

Chutneys, Pickles & Jellies

Chutneys and pickles are available around Christmas time and then are available whilst stocks last.  They are made in the autumn to preserve the bounty of fruit and vegetables that are available in late summer.  As they are best eaten after the flavours have matured for a few weeks this makes Christmas the perfect time to start the new chutney.  They will last for months unopened.

Perfect to eat with cold meats, quiches, sandwiches, cheeses.  So of course perfect to eat with your cold turkey on Boxing Day.

We often have jellies, such as quince and crab apple jelly which are perfect for savouries dishes and roast meats.

So I thought you would like to see a quick step by step making chutney :)  Lots of fresh ingredients from the garden, along with some other items that are grown a long way away.





Then all chopped up and ready to start cooking, I bet you can almost smell the aroma of it starting to cook now.









Then after a lot of cooking it is then put into jars.

Then it has to sit on the shelf for a few weeks, to let all of those flavours mature, it will be perfect for Boxing Day.

Jam

We sell a wide variety of homemade jam throughout the year, and is made mainly from home grown fruit.

Homemade jam is special and the quality is far superior to any mass produced jam in the shops - come and buy a jar, so that you can taste for yourself.  It doesn't have any artificial preservatives or colours.

A selection of varieties like raspberry, damson, victoria plum, gooseberry, blackcurrant are often available. 



There is the most variety following the summer months when fruit is in abundance, what is your favourite variety and how do you like to eat your jam?

Sometimes we have scones on the stall too, a perfect partner, and we often have a victoria sandwich with homemade jam inside.

Toast and marmalade

Did you know that in 2003 Leeds university researched how to make the perfect piece of toast?

They came up with an equation, as scientists should, and gives the details butter and toast temperature.

Researchers' found that people think the perfect piece of toast should have partly melted butter patches on it, improving its taste and texture.



For this to work, the butter should be applied at fridge temperature of five degrees Celsius.

The formula was developed following research commissioned by Lurpak.  They wanted to know how the properties of melting butter affects the taste of toast.

They studied thickness, specific heat, density, the initial temperature of the toast, the weight.  All this lead to this statement:

Professor Bronek Wedzicha
"To produce the patches of butter most people said they preferred, the bread needs to be heated to at least 120°C, and the butter should be used straight from the fridge, applied unevenly within two minutes of the bread coming out of the toaster.

"The amount of butter should be about one-seventeenth the thickness of the bread," he said.

So next tome you sit and have your morning toast and marmalade from the Ampthill country Market you may need to rethink your strategy :)