In this spirit, it was our pleasure to supply samples of Fry’s products for the Willingdon Community School Open Day in Eastbourne. We are delighted to hear that more than 500 students, staff and parents/carers attended the event, with many of that number taking the opportunity to try our tasty, vegan products.

A big thank you to Bill and his team of organisers for allowing Fry’s UK to be a part of this wonderful day.

Fry's proudly on show at Willingdon Community School

Not only were we delighted to support the Brighton-based production any way we could, we were also thrilled to have the opportunity to prove to meat eaters how tasty and satisfying vegan food can be. Our products were used by the production’s craft services and we have heard nothing but glowing reports. Now we can’t wait to see the film!

Click here for information on the film and see testimonials from Once Upon A Crime cast and crew as they sing the praises of Fry’s Vegetarian.

“As a self-certified meat lover, I was somewhat anxious about the food we had on set. However, I needn’t have worried. The spread was fantastic, and I’d pick out the goulash with Fry’s schnitzel as the favourite of the cast and crew.” – Max Denyer (First Assistant Director)

“On long filming days it is essential to have nutritious, high quality food to keep everyone’s energy and focus at a maximum, and this is exactly what Fry’s provided for us. As someone whose diet is largely based on meat products, I was pleasantly surprised and certainly felt the benefits of a vegan diet during the shoot!” – Dave Fricker (Director of Photography & Editor)

“The meat free food supplied by Fry’s food for the shoot of Once Upon a Crime was spot on. Even for a true meat lover like myself the food kept me full and happy at all times. I looked forward to lunch time on this shoot. Top grub.” – Ray James (Actor)

“The Fry’s food we ate on set shooting Once Upon a Crime was amazing! It kept us going on those long days and nights. The food became ‘the thing to look forward to’ and everybody seemed to like it, the vegans and meat-eaters alike. The vegan schnitzels were a personal favourite. Delicious.” – Christian Hearn (Writer & Director)

“I was thrilled to be catering for a film shoot using Fry’s foods as I have been a fan for many years. I had many positive compliments, especially after serving meals using Fry’s Hot Dogs, Schnitzels, Traditional Burgers & Polony – I only wish I could take the credit but truly the products speak for
themselves! My personal favourite though are the Chicken-Style Burgers… so divine!! I highly recommend using Fry’s foods for catering events – they are delicious, easy to cook, easy to handle, very nutritious and a definite crowd-pleaser. Thank you Fry’s!” – Martina Bristow (Associate Producer & Craft Services/Catering)

1 box of Fry’s Vegetarian Braai-Flavour Country Herb Sausages
150g small-shaped pasta
olive oil
1 Tbsp vegetable ghee (or margarine)
170g basmati rice
salt and pepper
1 tin of chickpeas
1 tin of green lentils
1 big onion, cut into rings
2 garlic cloves, minced
250g tin of tomatoes
150ml water
baharat seasoning
chilli flakes or powder to your liking

Start by cooking pasta as per instructions in salted water. Drain, put in serving dish and toss with a little olive oil to prevent sticking.

Melt vegetable ghee (or margarine) in a saucepan, and fry rice for 2 min on med-low heat. SLOWLY add boiling water and a pinch of salt. Stir & bring to a boil. Turn down to low and cover with lid. Simmer 10 min, let sit for 5. (or follow your rice instructions). Spread on top of pasta in serving dish.

Pour chickpeas and lentils into a sauce pan and heat through. Drain and spread over rice in serving dish.

On a low heat with a little oil in a frying pan, stir fry onions for about 10 minutes until brown. SET HALF OF THE ONION RINGS TO THE SIDE FOR LATER. With the leftover onions in the same frying pan, add 2 garlic cloves, minced. Fry on a medium heat until brown.

Add the tin tomatoes, 150ml water, baharat seasoning, chilli flakes, salt and pepper. Simmer until reduced. Pour mixture over chickpeas and lentils.

Mix well and serve with extra onions on top. Cook 6-8 Braai sausages as per instructions and serve alongside.

Check out what Mitsu (of To Happy Vegans) had to say about her latest creation:
One of my favourite dishes is a Japanese dumpling known as gyoza (not to be confused with malignant entity of Ghostbusters fame Gozer). After turning vegan fortunately it was easy peasy to veganise. The dumpling skin is already vegan (usually just flour and water) and for the filling you can use whatever you like… traditionally it’s mince.
With a box of Fry’s mince and a packet of gyoza skins in my freezer (not Gozer thank goodness) I didn’t resist the call to make them for very long.
The dumplings are easy to make once you get the hang of the quantity of filling (too much and it won’t close, too little and you have a sad little dumpling) and the crimping to seal it. Dipped in a simple sauce of vinegar, chilli oil and soy sauce it takes me back to my childhood. I like to pierce the dumpling whilst dipping so that the sauce really gets inside the dumpling. This is a basic recipe but you could use any vegetables you have, you could even marinate the mince before using to give it some extra oomph.
Check out the delicious recipe from Mitsu NOW!

I used a recipe from my friend Rachel’s blog, Thistle & Yellow Rose, as a flavour guide. This serves about three people and I served a jug of vegan packet gravy (Bisto!) alongside it to make the potatoes all gravy-tastic too. This is a little untraditional but, whatever, I’m a gravy fiend!

My husband & I both loved this meal, the gravy that comes with the mince is excellent and I thought that the actual mince was the closest I’d tried, in both taste and texture, to the kind I used to eat in my pre-veggie days. This recipe turned out to be super simple and really delicious, we’ll definitely be making it again.

Check out this fantastic recipe from Jojo right NOW! ]]> http://www.frysvegetarian.co.uk/news/vegan-in-brighton-is-back/feed/ 0 http://www.frysvegetarian.co.uk/news/vegan-in-brighton-cooks-for-us/ http://www.frysvegetarian.co.uk/news/vegan-in-brighton-cooks-for-us/#comments Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:31:47 +0000 Sean http://www.frysvegetarian.co.uk/?p=2358 ...Read more]]> Jojo is one of our favourite vegan food reviewers and cooks, so we were over the moon when she agreed to cook for us.

Here is what Jojo (also known via her blog Vegan in Brighton) had to say about Fry’s Vegetarian and her first recipe for us:

I’ve been a huge fan of Fry’s products for years so when they contacted me to see if I would review some of their products, I was pretty excited. Eat food you love and then write about it? That’s right up my street! Until recently, I’d never tried the Fry’s Vegetarian Chunky Strips and I couldn’t wait to give them a whirl; my bff Holley told me that she always uses them instead of homemade seitan in the recipe for Irish Stew with Potatoes & Seitan from one of our favourite cookbooks, Appetite For Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. This is one of my favourite recipes too, but I’d never considered using such a delicious shortcut before.

The lovely Isa Chandra Moskowitz gave me permission to share her recipe here and I’ve adapted it a little so that you can follow it using the Fry’s Vegetarian Chunky Strips without having to make any substitutions. Also, I always use peas in the recipe instead of the original suggestion of green beans. I always have peas in the freezer and now that I’ve learnt this shortcut, this stew is something I’ll be whipping up even more regularly!

Check out Jojo’s recipe online NOW!

1/2 box of Fry’s Vegetarian Chicken-style Strips
1 iceberg lettuce (or cos/romaine or any other crisp lettuce)
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup eggless mayo (I use Plamil)
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp caper paste
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp lemon juice
tortilla chips

In a blender blitz the pine nuts and garlic into a paste (alternatively you can mince the garlic and leave the pine nuts whole).

Mix together the mayo, mustard, caper paste, nutritional yeast and lemon juice then add the pine nut mixture.

Cook the strips per the instructions, pausing to roughly chop the lettuce.

Once the ‘chicken’ is cooked to your liking, add to the lettuce and toss in the dressing.

Instead of the traditional croutons, crush the tortilla chips into smaller pieces and sprinkle over the top. They are also pretty tasty once a bit soggy from the dressing, so feel free to mix them into the salad also.

1/2 box of Fry’s Vegetarian Mince
26 gyoza skins (also called pastry or wrappers, check the ingredients as sometimes they can contain egg)
1 small clove of garlic minced
1 small carrot diced into small pieces
1 large leaf of cabbage shredded finely
6g garlic chive (or regular chive) cut finely
Dipping sauce
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar (or any other vinegar)
A few drops of chilli oil

To make it quicker I always separate out the skins first.

Mix together all the ingredients for the filling. Take one skin and place about one heaped teaspoon of the mixture (more or less depending on how big your skins are) in the centre.

Then you need to wet the entire outside edge of the skin, a finger dipped in water works well. Fold two sides of the skin over so they meet and crimp the edges to seal it together.

Repeat this till all the skins are used. On high heat a large frying pan that has a lid, add a little oil and place some of the dumplings in the pan. You want the bottoms to go brown.

Pour a little water into the pan, if it is hot enough to brown the bottoms it should now sizzle, this will create steam so you need to place a lid on the pan until the dumplings are cooked. The skins should become translucent when this is done. You may need to do more than one batch to get them all done.

Mix together the dipping sauce ingredients and dip away!
These can be served on their own as starter or with rice or noodles for a main meal.

Serves 4

1 box of Fry’s Vegetarian Chunky Strips
2 TBS olive oil
1 small onion, quartered & sliced thinly
1/2 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 cup good vegan beer, preferably ale
1 1/4 pounds potatoes, cut into 3/4 inch chunks
1/2 pound carrots
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 TBS tomato paste
3 TBS plain flour
3/4 cup frozen peas
2 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat a large, heavy bottomed (preferably cast iron) skillet over a medium-high heat. Sauté the Vegetarian Chunky Strips in 1 tsp of the oil for about 5 minutes until browned. This is a good time to prep everything else. Remove the Vegetarian Chunky Strips from the pan and set aside.

In the same pan, sauté the onions and a pinch of salt in the remaining oil until translucent, 4-7 minutes. Add the garlic, pepper, thyme and bay leaves and sauté for about a minute, until the garlic is fragrant.

Add the vegan beer and remaining salt and turn up the heat to bring to a boil. The liquid should reduce in about 3 minutes.

Add the potatoes and carrots along with 2 cups of the vegetable broth. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender. Mix in the tomato pasta and add the peas.

In a small bowl mix the flour into the remaining broth to dissolve into a slurry. Lower the heat a bit and add the slurry to the pan. Mix well and let thicken for a minute. Add the Vegetarian Chunky Strips back to the pan along with the lemon juice and let thicken further; in about 5 minutes it should be perfectly thick but still smooth. Taste for salt and seasonings and serve!

Serves 3

1 box of Fry’s Vegetarian Mince with Gravy
1 TBS of olive oil
1/2 an onion, diced small
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp vegan worcestershire sauce
1 tsp mixed herbs
pepper to taste
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
3 small carrots, diced
100g of peas
Enough mash for three people. Make it nice & creamy with lots of vegan margarine, this isn’t the place for health mash!

Put the potatoes on to cook, mash when ready.

Start steaming the carrots, after about 7 minutes throw in the peas and steam for three more minutes.

Heat the olive oil in a medium sized pan over a medium heat. Sauté the onion and the Meat Free Mince in the oil for about 8 minutes until the mince is nicely browned. Throw the garlic in and sauté for about a minute until fragrant.

Mix the gravy packet with the 200ml of water (as directed) and pour over the mince. Cook until thickened and then add the vegan worcestershire sauce, herbs, pepper, and salt if desired. Add the steamed carrots and peas and stir until heated through. Flavour with salt and seasonings and serve alongside the mashed potatoes.