I was sent a hamper by The Lake District Dairy Co. recently. It was no ordinary hamper. It was brimming with food!
The Lake District Dairy Co. has launched a new range of cooking sauces using their Quark. Quark is a naturally low-fat, protein-rich alternative to other creamy delights that you may add to your meal. There are three different flavours; tikka, garlic and herb and tomato and basil.
It was interesting to receive them. I am a cook from scratch type and would not normally be interested in buying a cooking sauce like this. I would normally opt for the plain Quark to add to a sauce of my own making. However, having said all of that they are a very good way of making a very quick, nutritious meal when you simply stir the sauce into a bowl of hot pasta. Perhaps most importantly Mr OC was a big fan of the baked gnocchi that I made by stirring the Garlic & Herb Quark into cooked gnocchi, adding wilted spinach and some chopped basil and coriander, pouring it all into a heatproof dish and topping with grated cheddar and pine nuts. I grilled it until bubbling and brown. He really enjoyed it. It was in his words “the combination of stodgy, cheesy and garlicky” that did it for him. In fact he enjoyed it so much I started to wonder why I cook from scratch as much as I do!
The tikka sauce was added at the end of my normal curry and added a fresh kick.
The tomato and basil Quark was added to my rice stuffed tomatoes, using some huge beef tomatoes that we have grown this year in the greenhouse.
All in all it made for an interesting week of meals and although I still prefer to cook from scratch I can really recommend these stir in sauces for those times when time is precious and you want some tasty comfort food that is also good for you.
I was sent a free hamper by The Lake District Dairy Co for review purposes. I did not receive a fee to write this post. All opinions in the review are my own and are honest.
Like you, I’m a from-scratch cook. Might be worth adding these to a holiday hamper for those times when the holiday cottage isn’t quite as well equippped as you hoped it would be?
That would be a perfect use Margaret. I hope you are well. x
interesting hamper of goodies, indeed. Like you, it’s scratch for me—but sometimes you can be surprised by the quality of these products.
I like Mr. OC’s words of approval “stodgy-cheesy-garlicky.”
Nancy, it’s stodgy and cheesy that I tend to avoid so it was a rare luxury for him to be indulged.
Well ….. I do usually just bung in a jar of somebody or other’s sauce, so these would be ideal for my kind of cooking. I normally pass straight by things like Quark in the supermarket, but will have a good look next time and give them a try. Just doing a tikka curry as I write! xCathy
Give them a go. How was the tikka curry?