Minty lamb bake gets Smithfield thumbs up

A Minty Lamb Bake from Dennis of Bexley, Kent, was flavour of the day when it took the supreme prize at the Guild of Q Butchers' 2006 Smithfield Awards yesterday (14 November).

Linda Mulford, who devised the winner, told MTJ that although the dish, which uses Macduff Scotch Lamb, had been available in the shop for sometime, they had only decided this year to enter the product in the awards. "The bake has always been a very good seller and in fact we have a number of ready meal products that are also very popular." The bake is made from de-fatted lamb which is cooked and with mixed vegetables and a minty sauce and topped with saute potatoes and cheese.

Beating off stiff competition from over 540 other products the Minty Lamb Bake also took the Diamond award in the Kitchen Ready category with Dennis of Bexley receiving 13 golds, five silver and three bronze for other products entered.

The award was presented at a special lunch held at Butchers Hall by special guest celebrity chef and restaurateur Ed Baines. Baines said he was pleased to see contemporary butchers doing so well adding: "Butchers are much appreciated not just for the quality of their products and service, but also for their humour and wit. I very much respect and admire what you do and I hope that the link between butchers and chefs continues to thrive."

Other Diamond awards winners were:

Sausages - Stuarts of Buckhaven Fife, pork and cracked black pepper

Burgers - Halls of Hazelmere, Bucks, with quarter chicken burger

Cooked Meats - Boxley's of Wombourne, South Staffs, with ox tongue

Bacon and Cured Products - Walter Smith (Birmingham) Ltd. Cannock with short back bacon

Pies & Bakery - Byford's Traditional Fresh Foods of Rayleigh, Essex with Cornish Pastier

Christmas Products - Buckwells of Southsea with sweet apple stuffed loin of pork.

Awards sponsored by EBLEX for the best products made from English beef and lamb were:

Sausages - Allan Bennett Ltd.. Codsall, Wolverhampton, with lamb and apricot

Burgers - Walter Smith (Birmingham) Ltd Lichfield, with beef burger

Cooked Meats - Boxleys of Wombourne with ox tongue

Pies & Bakery - Geo Middlemiss & Son, Otley, West Yorkshire with Family steak and potato pie

Kitchen Ready - Lidgates of Holland Park, London, with lamb casserole

Christmas Products - Hayman's of Sidmouth, Devon, with steak and walnut pie.

Awards sponsored by BPEX for the best PORK products were:

Sausage - Stuarts of Buckhaven with pork and cracked black pepper

Burgers - The Blagdon Farm Shop, Newcastle, with Blagdon country farmhouse burger

Pies & Bakery - Byford's Traditional Fresh Foods with Cornish Pastie

Kitchen Ready - Geo Middlemiss & son with hog roast

Christmas Products - Buckwell's of Southsea with sweet apple stuffed loin of pork.

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