Yorkshire’s SNAP! Recipebox -A Review

As you know I love to support local independent businesses on my blog and when the lovely chaps at SNAP! Recipebox from Thirsk, North Yorkshire got in touch (you can read more about them on my earlier blog post) I was really pleased to be able to get involved!

I have sampled similar delivered recipe boxes in the past but what’s different about SNAP! Recipebox is that they curate their produce from local independent sources wherever possible. They work with over 30 local farmers and food producers making the box a truly Yorkshire offering. It’s brilliant to know exactly where your food is coming and that it is all local and farm fresh.

The way it works is that you pre-order your recipe-box for the day you want it delivering, you chose which meals you would like including, from a selection of five or six. The box is then delivered to your door (you don’t need to be in to accept it) and it’s filled with all the finest fresh ingredients and a recipe card for you to make the meal at home.

Charles, who is a co-owner of the business, kindly hand delivered my box for me. Recipe boxes are always so lovely to receive as they almost feel like a surprise present and opening it up is a real treat, as you eagerly anticipate what’s inside. The Small  Boy loved opening it with me and was happily reciting all the vegetables as we pulled them out.

It’s astonishing to see what comes out. It’s carefully packed with a separate insulated bag for all the chilled items, that can be recycled.

Once we’d laid everything out on the table we were amazed by the volume of the content. We had one meal for four (a family meal) and a meal for two (as we can’t always get to eat together as often as we’d like).

I loved that the onions came covered in soil (in a way that they don’t from a supermarket) so you knew they were properly from the earth somewhere nearby.

Our first meal was a family dish, Lean Selby Turkey Burgers with Tzatziki and Parsnip Crisps. The menu cards were all really clearly laid out and helped you to prepare your vegetables before you started with descriptions about how to chop each one. The recipe cards also detail on the back exactly where your lovely local produce has come from!

Mostly the ingredients all come pre-measured so there is hardly any weighing or measuring  necessary – and of course you have all the ingredients needed to hand, so no rummaging around in cupboards for that hardly used item.

I laid all the ingredients for our Turkey burgers out so you can see what exactly went into them – it looked really fresh so I was pretty confident it was going to taste good. All the herbs had come from Thirsk where Herbs Unlimited grow their own, the tasty bread rolls from Bedale Community Bakery  and the Turkey from Lister’s Farm Shop in Boroughbridge.

I followed the recipe cards faultlessly, and everything seemed to work out as instructed. I think it took a little longer than stated (possibly because the family were all starting to get hungry and kept coming to ask me when it was ready – which then delayed proceedings). Also our grill is really underused in our house, and this recipe was all about the grill, so I think my timings were a little off having not being used to using it that much.

The finished result was pretty spectacular if I do say so myself, and there is always enormous pride in having created a meal from scratch – especially when you have small children at home to look after at the same time.

The great news was that everybody (bar the Small Boy – as he is a fuss of an eater) loved it! The girls wolfed theirs down and gave it ten out of ten! Mr P is a big Turkey fan anyway – so he was easily pleased and I thought the whole meal was a great success! Sometimes it’s so hard to keep everyone happy at mealtimes that a good win is a rare achievement. The girls commented on the Tzatziki and said they had really enjoyed it, despite their first concerns of trying something ‘new looking’ and we all enjoyed the bread baps, the seeded rolls were really delicious.

Our second meal was the Yorkshire Coley and Chorizo Stew. I had totally miscalculated that Mr P was heading out to do the Tour de Yorkshire so our meal for two easily stretched to a meal for one adult and three kids.

The ingredients for this dish looked equally as fresh and the coley was so delicate and easy to cut. The Yorkshire Chorizo comes from Town End Farm shop in Malhamdale, they are fifth generation butchers and use the pork from their family farm to make the Chorizo. The beautiful fish was from Thundercliffes Fishmongers in Helmsley. Even the chillies were from Yorkshire at Yorkshire Chillies in York.

The recipe card was simple to follow again, and this was an easy preparation dish with minimal chopping and best of all it all went in one pan so there was hardly any washing up!

The recipe made plenty and more than enough for two people! I have never made a fish stew before and one of the things I find rewarding about using recipe boxes is that I learn new tips and tricks all the time and it really improves my cooking skills. I think I would have been nervous to cook Coley in a stew for only five minutes before reading this recipe (as I always like to make sure things are really cooked well if I’m serving it to the kids) but the fish was amazing. It tasted beautiful and it was so flakey – even the girls commented on how nice it was and they were delving into their bowls trying to retrieve it first before enjoying the rest.

I chose to serve it with bread as I thought the kids would enjoying mopping up the stew with it – but it wasn’t strictly necessary. They all polished it off in no time and I was really surprised that they liked it as it was quite spicy with the chorizo and chilli flakes. This is a recipe I will definitely make again – even the Small Boy ate his fish – unheard of!

So overall, my SNAP! Recipebox experience was a really positive one, the food was really fresh and I loved to see where locally it had all come from. The recipe cards were really easy to follow and the recipes not too complicated. Best of all both the meals we tried were delicious and are meals I would make again for all the family.

Amongst some of the things I love about ordering recipe boxes is that they spice up your menu repertoire, when you’re looking for some new inspiration for meals, they’re perfect. The box also helped remind me that I do love to cook and finding the time to do that is really important, it’s great for the kids to see me cooking from scratch and it’s such a healthier way to eat.

It’s ideal not to have to think about what the meals are going to be for the week and better still, not have to shop for them – it all comes to you. There’s something really comforting about knowing the provenance of the food you are eating, and that ‘eating local’ at home is a return to the way past generations used to dine. You also get a really good ‘feel-good factor’ with SNAP! Recipebox as you know as well as getting farm fresh food you’re also  supporting local food producers and a local business which is good for the whole community in so many ways!

SNAP! Recipebox is a relatively new concept so it’s only available once a month at the moment. Three meals for two people costs £35 and three meals for four people are £55. The next boxes are being delivered on Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th June and then on 12/13th July.

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(All photos copyright © Lucy Playford)

Disclaimer: SNAP! Recipebox offered me a recipe box for free in order for me to review it.

For anyone who knows what a bad vegetarian I am (!) I did eat both the meals though left off the Chorizo on mine (though I did obviously cook it in the same pan as the dish I ate). Vegetarian options are available from SNAP! Recipeboxes (for people who are actual proper vegetarians)!