Hixter’s Rapeseed Oil Menu with Hillfarm Oils
If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that I am a bit geeky about some food products and am partial to healthy ingredients and like to think of food as medicine. While researching healthier fats a while back, I read that a good alternative cooking oil was cold pressed rapeseed oil as it has a much higher Omega 3 than other vegetable oils and a much higher smoking temperature, which is perfect for Asian cooking, especially stir frying. Most other vegetable oils have a higher Omega 6 content which causes inflammation, which you should try and avoid.
We are lucky here in the UK that we have a good crop of rapeseed and it’s easy to buy virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil now even though it has only been on the market for 10 years. Recently, I had the opportunity to taste Hillfarm’s rapeseed oil at a meal by Mark Hix to showcase the versatility of this oil. Mark has been a fan of Hillfarm Oils when he discovered them while writing his book, British Regional Food.
About Hillfarm Oils
Hillfarm Oils are celebrating their 10 year anniversary, started by Sam and Clare Fairs on their family farm in Suffolk. In those years, they have seen an increase in demand as more chefs are using it and recommending it. It also has much more nutritional benefits than olive oil. They now have nationwide distribution for their oil and is available in many supermarkets.
Theirs was the first commercially available oil on the market. In the beginning, all the bottles were hand filled and labelled. Their oil is fully traceable and sustainable, non GM and single estate. Beside the oil, they also make rapeseed oil garlic and farmhouse mayonnaise.
Nutritional and Health Benefits of Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil
Note: The nutritional information here is referring to cold pressed rapeseed oil and not to the commercial rapeseed oil which is heat treated and has a totally different chemical profile.
Virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil has half the saturated fat of olive oil. It is high in Omega 3 &6 and Vitamin E.
It has a high burn point of 220°C which is perfect for roasting and frying. I use it in all my cooking now as I cook a lot of Asian food where a very high heat is needed especially in Chinese stir fries. Olive oil would burn and oxidise (which is very unhealthy) before the wok can get to a hot enough temperature for cooking.
At this celebration lunch, we had the rapeseed oil as a dip with bread to start. This is followed by a really impressive menu using the rapeseed oil in various different ways.
The first course was Suffolk Asparagus with Rapeseed Oil Duck’s Egg Mayonnaise. The mayonnaise was rich and creamy which was a great dressing for the crunchy asparagus.
The next course was rapeseed tops or greens with mushrooms. The rapeseed greens are hand plucked from the new shoots of the rapeseed plants and had a really delightful flavour, like a herby spinach. Unfortunately, this is not sold as a vegetable although you could always ask your local rape farmer if you could pick some for yourself.
For the main course, we had a Salmon poached in a paper parcel with foraged sea vegetables. This was served with the most delicious boiled new potatoes that was dressed with the rapeseed oil and lemon. Seemingly very simple ingredients but cooked with precision and balanced flavours.
For pudding, we had a light rapeseed oil lemon cake and unusual seed ice cream. The oil is very versatile and can be used lactose free baking too. I have used the mayonnaise to make Rapeseed Oil Brownies.
It was a terrific showcase of the versatility of Hillfarm’s rapeseed oil delivered in style by Mark Hix and his team at Hixter.
You can find Hillfarm Oils in many supermarkets and get more information and on their website: http://www.hillfarmoils.com/
Hixter
9A Devonshire Square,
London EC2M 4YN
020 7220 9498
EatCookExplore was a guest of Hillfarm Rapeseed Oils at Hixter