La Hogue is adopting and looking after some baby orphan lambs and we’re giving kids and grown ups the opportunity to bottle feed them milk.

The feedings will take place everyday at 11:00 am and 3:00 pm (except Mondays and Easter Sunday) between the March 31st — April 15th. There will be feedings however on Easter Bank Holiday Monday 9th April.

The Lamb feedings will be FREE however there will be a donation bucket which will be split between the voluntary feeding supervisor, some feed costs and our charity for this year the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

The lambs are orphans either because sadly their mums died whilst giving birth, rejected them or had 3 lambs or more so didn’t have enough milk to feed them all.

The lambs belong to a local farmer and once old enough will be returned to go onto a free range life on open pastures.

So come join in the fun and make some little lambs very happy!

Please note: All children must be accompanied by an adult. There will be hand washing and anti bacterial facilities proved and notices on hand washing and hygeine which you must adhere to.

La Hogue is hosting an exciting new Garden & Lifestyle Show themed the Good Life on Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th May 2012 (from 10:00am – 4:00pm) including FREE entry and car parking!

The show will also include specialist Garden Nurseries, Country Furniture, Crafts, Sculptors, local Bee Keepers, Chicken Keepers, garden machinery and lawn care and flower and cookery demonstrations.

Oh, and don’t forget to meet our newborn lambs!

Photo courtesy of Hannah Pemberton

In recent weeks following a feature on the ever popular BBC Countryfile Programme, Rosé Veal has hit the headlines and demand has rocketed. “The response since the Countryfile programme has been unbelievable” Neil from @heavesfarmveal in Cumbria said.

So why has it taken 20 years to bring Rosé Veal to the limelight? Undoubtedly it was and still is battling against the old stigma of production methods of White Veal, but also as with much of the excellent food we produce in this country has suffered from crap marketing. Irish beef, New Zealand lamb, Scottish Aberdeen Angus, Danish Bacon, Bernard Matthew bloody Polish turkeys. They all have brilliant marketing campaigns which almost make the consumer think there’s no alternative.

The next difference is taste. I think it’s clear from my own taste tests and the views of many chefs that White Veal is more delicate, Rosé Veal has a beefier flavour, but is still tender with miniscule amounts of fat. To be honest I liked both for their subtle differences although felt the White Veal needed more flavour enhancing accompanying ingredients.

Photo courtesy of Hannah Pemberton

I did ask @raymondblanc for his views however he never came back. To be honest it was an ass of a question to ask him because if said he preferred the French White Veal, UK animal lovers would have lambasted him, and if he’d said he preferred the Rosé Veal he would have been hung from the Arc De Triomphe by his fellow Frenchmen.

However, Michelin Star chef Russell Brown who featured on the Countryfile programme said to me, “It’s a brilliant product — English Rose Veal Rump has been one of my signature dishes for several years. Amazing offal too!”.

Former Masterchef winner @matkiwi, owner of the Wild Garlic Restaurant in Dorset said, “I would only ever serve Rosé Veal, morally and for flavour.”.

Other leading Chef @granthawthorne was slightly more balanced saying, “Milk fed veal is more delicate. Rosé veal is more meaty. Both excellent in my opinion.”.

Photo courtesy of Hannah Pemberton

So my conclusions, I think in France & Holland White Veal still has a place. I’m not going to be sanctimonious and say it should be outlawed, the same as I won’t tell people to stop hunting foxes on horses even though I have no desire to do so myself. However in our modern UK world I believe with the correct marketing (which @heavesfarmveal definitely demonstrate) Rosé Veal truly has enormous potential. Research continues on the nutritional and health benefits of Rosé Veal against other meat alternatives however the leanness of it to me only leads to one answer.

I also believe the Welfare of Animals is paramount and therefore Rose veal ticks this box on so many counts.

However Neil from @heavesfarmveal knows there are challenges ahead:

Personally I think Rosé Veal is a potential superstar in the making and you’ll be able to find it at La Hogue very soon!

You can also see celebrity Chef Mike Robinson’s feature on ITV’s Countrywise kitchen.

There’s also a food blogger called Hannah Pemberton in Manchester who makes some very different recipes with our rose veal -  not tried any yet but they look amazing!

Gorgeous handmade quality gifts, cards and home ware. If you can’t think what to buy for your dear mum on mothers day, then come along to our special mother day event, where you can browse through the beautiful array of stalls in our exhibition barn, where you are sure to find something very special!

As always, parking is free!

2 courses for £15.95
3 courses for £19.95
Children under 10 – main course & dessert for £8.95

Price includes a small gift for mums!

Starters

• Tempura battered king prawns, mixed baby leaves and a sweet chilli dip
• Breaded brie served with a redcurrant and port jelly
• Homemade duck liver pate with melba style toast and apricot & ginger chutney

Mains

• Roast sirloin of Suffolk beef and homemade Yorkshire pudding
• Tender slices of Suffolk chicken breast in a champagne and mushroom sauce
• Homemade spinach, mushroom and ricotta lasagne

Desserts

• Choice of La Hogue’s sumptuous homemade desserts
• “Best of British” cheese platter (£2.95 supplement)

Drinks

• Selected house wines from £12.95/botte or from £2.75/glass

I’d realised that astonishingly we had never been in the 10 years of being in the area, had heard various reports ranging from brilliant to not so good and really ought to see what all the fuss was about.

Accompanied by my cantankerous 82 year old farmer father and slightly fussy 70 something mother off we bravely set into the Cambridgeshire Fens on a cold Tuesday evening.

We were greeted by a slightly shy but personable chap, a roaring wood burner and cleverly set out dining areas with tables presented to perfection. It felt sophisticated yet relaxed and homely, which was a good start, although I feared my father might become too comfortable and fall asleep as he hadn’t had his afternoon kip that day.

The slightly shy personable chap turned out to be Adrian Smith (left in the above) the chef/proprietor, who had taken a leap of faith 10 years ago and purchased the Merry Monk.

Adrian presented us with a fine looking à la carte menu that on paper would grace any aspiring Michelin Star restaurant. Through experience I didn’t let myself run away with excitement as I’ve seen pie & chips described as some unfathomable delicacy!

Dad blindly plumped for a starter of warmed Thai pork balls with lemon grass, ginger, chilli, coconut and peanut curry. Mum and wife opted for steamed Shetland mussels with a Thai spiced cream (£5.95) and my eyes were drawn to king scallops with sweet corn puree, chorizo and apple jam (£9.50).

Whilst waiting, a delightful waitress (with plenty to match my cantankerous Dad) delivered a small surprise of sweet carrot & parsnip soup with dill pollen. Dad looked at me as if to say “What the bloody hell is that?!“. However, once consumed declared rather too loudly, “bugger that was good!”.

Our starters were sublime… The subtlety of the Thai spiced cream with the taste vulnerable mussels was genius, and the balance of my beautifully cooked scallops with the mild chorizo burst, filled me with pleasure.

For main we plumped for:

• 12 hour slow roast dingley dell pork on mashed potato with braised red cabbage, crackling and suffolk cider jus – £14.95
• Pan fried sea bass with king scallops – £22.95
• Slow roast breast of duckling with duck leg hash with an orange, honey & red pepper sauce – £16.95
• A side dish of “agria” hand cut chips and mixed vegetables – reasonably priced at £1.50 each

This prompted a debate on variety of potatoes between myself & Adrian as it turns out we use the same Fenland Potato producer (Jonathan Walters) but different varieties. I still think Maris Pipers make the best roasties and chips but the flavour of the Agria’s was superb.

People who know me would tell you I don’t blow sunshine up people’s bottoms for no good reason, but my slow cooked duck breast (which was still pink) was as good as it gets and certainly as good as I’d got.

All was fabulous, and the care and attention to detail belonged on a particularly strong edition of Professional Masterchef.

All of us were too plentified to be tempted by the honey trap dessert menu (a frequent criticism of modern food is leaving hungry) but this was traditional-modern using the finest local ingredients with richly filling accompaniments.

The acid test for any food business is when the bosses are away is everything as it should be. Adrian had hurt his back so wasn’t our chef but the food presented & cooked (admittedly under Adrian’s beady eye) was first class and all involved should have been very proud.

Proud (and that overused word passionate) is what I believe Adrian is, however I got the sense that as he is not flamboyant (otherwise known as cocky) as many top class Chefs, he’s possibly become somewhat of an unsung hero.

On busy nights there are up to 5 accomplished chefs hopefully ensuring the consistency. Consistency is the key for any restaurant and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Merry Monk has been there under Adrian Smith for 10 years. If he and his talented band of Chefs keep producing food like we experienced, he’ll be there for another 10.

It certainly won’t be 10 years before we visit again!

To celebrate national farmhouse breakfast week (22nd – 28th January 2012) we’re running serveral exciting promotions in both the farm shop and cafe.

National farmhouse breakfast week is a promotion to encourage us all to eat what many consider to be the most important meal of the day. To celebrate this, we’re joining in with some amazing offers and special promotions in both the farm shop and farm cafe from Tuesday 24th – Sunday 28th January (inclusive).

In the farm shop

• 25% off all our Suffolk dry cure & streaky bacon all week
• 25% off our free range chicken and duck eggs
• Special breakfast packs from our butchery

In the farm cafe

Farmhouse breakfast week

All day giant La Hogue breakfast (9:00am – 3:00pm Tuesday to Saturday and 10:00am – 11:30am Sunday) including the following:

• 2 Suffolk dry cure back bacon
• 2 homemade free range breakfast sausages
• Local free range egg
• Black pudding
• Tomato
• Mushrooms
• Baked beans
• Fried bread
• Hash browns
• Free pot of loose leaf tea or cup of filter coffee

All for only £7.99!

Special La Hogue Welsh Rarebit

Homemade bread topped with melted farmhouse cheddar accompanied by fried or poached free range eggs with drycure bacon or black pudding.

All for only £5.49!

Ho ho ho!

There’s nothing more magical for children and adults alike than the visit of Father Christmas.

This year Santa’s visiting us in his special grotto in our Christmas Barn (situated behind the Farm Shop & Cafe). Each child will get individual dedicated time to discuss their Christmas Lists and they’ll also be able to post their letter to Santa in our special post box!

Father christmas will be visiting on Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th December from 10:30am – 12:30pm and 1:30pm – 3:30pm on both days.

Price is £2.50 including a small present.

It’s our biggest tasting of the year, giving you the opportunity to taste for free the different breeds of free range Christmas turkeys, geese, cockerels, local hams, homemade Christmas sausages, homemade and Coles’s Christmas puddings, stuffings, bread sauce and lots more at our Christmas Fayre.

Also on Saturday ^5th November- Grand opening of this year’s Magical Christmas Barn — a whole new range of exciting Christmas decorations, gifts, wreaths and festive paraphernalia.

La Hogue Christmas Barn opens every day – except Mondays – right up to Christmas Eve!

Don’t forget to visit our Farm Cafe and taste the free range Bltyheburgh Farm hog roast on both days.

Why not check out last years pictures on Facebook?

Visit our Facebook page

When we announced that Tim would be headlining our Regional & British Producer Fayre on the 17th & 18th September 2011, one of our customers came to me and said, “Is that the tall jolly one off Masterchef?”.

Indeed, when getting to the final of MasterChef in 2010 I think Tim endeared himself to the whole nation as the thoroughly nice Children’s Doctor who made it to the last 3 contestants. You could see he was continually self doubting but had an inner strength (and an extraordinary cooking ability!) that had to be necessary to get to the final of one of the toughest competitions on T.V.

Tim grew up in Oxford and Norwich. He studied medicine at Birmingham University and then went onto a career in Paediatrics becoming a consultant in Norwich aged only 33. Tim’s expertise was the management of Children and young people with development and behavioural problems. Another glimpse of that inner strength, and a good deal of compassion.

Tim met his wife Rachel, who’s a G P in Norfolk, at medical school and they have two children Abi and Noah. Tim’s love of food was evident at a young age as he taught himself to cook from his mum’s Good Housekeeping cook book for children. He loves the detail & complexity of fine patisserie that would drive many of us amateur cooks to distraction!

Following his roller coaster ride on Masterchef, so it was that he took the leap of faith and set up his own patisserie business in Norfolk called Macarons & More(@macaronsandmore). The business has flourished, and Tim has rapidly built up a reputation as the Macaron Master.

Tim always appears bemused by the attention he’s received since MasterChef. Claire (@breckland) told me she was with him at a food show once and people were clambering to speak to him. He turned to Claire and said, “Why do all these people want to talk to me? I don’t understand?”.

There’s also a fantastic interview with Tim by the brilliant food blogger @meemalee that demonstrated his sense of humour, and is well worth a look – it made me chortle!

So all in all we’re pleased that Dr Tim is headlining our Regional & British Producer Fayre next week and if you’re a foodie of any kind do say “Hi!” to him, and also don’t walk away without his Macarons – they’re stonkingly good!