Chef Rich Shows How to Make Perfect Pancakes
Are you a fan of sweet pancakes? Then you will love this video, where the chef of Hackett’s Bistro – Richard Lenik – is making cappucino ice-cream and Amaretto syrup pancakes. He not only shows you how to make pankakes, but also provides great little tips and suggestions meanwhile.
This video was filmed last January, when Witney TV came to film Hackett’s Bistro in Witney. We thought it’s worth refreshing it a little bit, as we have so many new people reading our blog since then. Besides.. the cappucino ice-cream and Amaretto syrup pancakes still look amazing! Enjoy!
Like this:
Our local deli in Witney, Hackett’s To Go, stocks the Rolls Royce of Brownies!
We know just how much you all need your chocolate treats and we’ve added to our list of sinful treats to bring you Blue Basil Gourmet Brownies!
These chocolate brownies are gorgeously rich, dense and divine – quite simply they taste fantastic. Beautifully presented in a box with paper straw, ribbon and a tag, we promise these brownies will put a smile on the face of just about anyone.
They’re choc full of goodness with local organic eggs, local organic flour and local butter with a fine quality 70% European Chocolate used as well as divine chocolate chunks in the Classic chunky chocolate and Chunky white chocolate brownies!
Come on in and have a taste!
10 Best Picnic Ideas and Recipes
We selected top 10 easy summer picnic recipes that are seasonal and tasty including delicious cold snacks, healthy salads, non-soggy sandwiches, and even some desserts! With a little effort and no more than 20 minutes of your time, you can prepare the kind of picnic that will put the ready food from nearby supermarket to shame while saving you a small fortune. The end of summer is approaching very soon so make the most of it!
Whether your picnic is taking place on the beach, on a boat, in a nearby park under a tree, or even in your own backyard, these ideas will make eating outdoors a true celebration.
1. Roast beef and blue cheese
Start with whole-grain rolls. Smear blue cheese on one side and prepared horseradish on the other. Add red onion and sliced beef, pork or lamb. Pack lettuce, tomato and crisps on the side.
2. Potato salad with mayonnaise
That’s a picnic classic! You can add crumbled bacon, grated cheddar, celery, onion and chopped egg.
3. Shredded prawns, crab or lobster with avocado
Toss with lemon juice, chives, salt and pepper. Fill avocado halves.
4. Muffuletta sandwich
A muffuletta is an Italian sandwich, with lots of meat and cheese layered with olivada, which is an olive paste. Take a round cob of bread. Cut in half. Hollow out one half and fill with mozzarella, tomatoes, pesto, pastrami and pickles. Stack them in layers (ideally three) so you get an even mix. Top with other half of bread and push together. Wrap in a tea towel and put a brick on top to really squish it together. When you’re ready, remove tea towel and cut into wedges.
5. Your favorite wrap
Forget boring, soggy picnic sandwiches…wrap is easy to eat and doesn’t get soggy. We love with chicken, grated cheese, red peppers, cucumber, onions and houmous. Play with meats or fish, sauces, vegetables to create your own version.
6. Pasta salad
Cook fusilli or other cut pasta; rinse in cool water, but don’t bother to chill. Combine with chopped seeded tomatoes, cubed fresh mozzarella, chopped basil, olive oil, salt and pepper. (Good with olives, too.) Do not call this pasta salad, because pasta salad is no good, and this is.
7. Cold meat
Pack in three containers: grilled sliced beef or pork, with its juices; watercress or rocket tossed with mint, basil and/or parsley; a dressing of lime juice, sesame oil, fish or soy sauce and sugar. Dress greens; put meat and its juices over all.
8. Fruit salad
Make however you like it. Or take papaya halves and add to salad, drizzled with lemon.
9. Strawberries
Husk and quarter; at the last minute, combine with a little chopped tarragon, black pepper and balsamic vinegar. Goats’ cheese is good, too.
10. Peanut butter and cream cheese
Mix and sandwich between two good cookies. Or mix honey, lemon zest and cream cheese. You could use ginger snaps. Mmm.
What are your ideas and recipes for a perfect picnic? Please comment and let us know here on our blog or share your thoughts and recipes on our Facebook page. We would love to hear from you all!
What are your plans for the upcoming Bank Holiday Weekend this August? 
Hackett’s Bistro and Coffee Bar kicks off the weekend with a biggest music event in Witney!
We have a fantastic The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band playing at Hackett’s on Friday, 26th August!
The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band is an Oxfordshire seven-piece jazz band playing original material influenced by 1920s and 1930s jazz and 1940s jump blues alongside classics and standards. The band has been cited for its “extraordinary enthusiasm” and their rising star was seen at this year Glastonbury festival.
It’s the only chance to see the band here in Witney so make sure you will join us… it will be a truly memorable night!
Spot Yourself in Hackett’s Witney!
We have selected another random photo for you… Do you see yourself this time?
Let us know if you do, as we would like to give you a treat to say thank you. All you need to do is to print this page and bring it with to our lovely restaurant in Witney. Who will be the lucky winner this time?
If that’s not you, than have a look at previously posted photos:
Hackett’s Summer Sweepstakes
We came up with a little fun game for all you called ‘Hackett’s Summer Sweepstakes’*
All you need to do is to post a photograph of yourself eating or drinking at Hackett’s on our Facebook page and help fill our Summer Sweepstakes virtual jar!
On the 6 th of September, one lucky Facebook Fan will win a Hackett’s Summer Sweepstakes voucher for the amount equal to the content of the imaginary jar.
We’ve already started the ball rolling with £20 in the jar and you can help make it so much more by September just by participating and posting up your photo on our Facebook page. For every new photo added to our Facebook page, Hackett’s will add 20p to the jar. Each photo is to be of you and/or your loved ones in Hackett’s this Summer (including Hackett’s Bistro in Witney, Hacketts To Go in Witney, Hackett’s in Summertown), it also needs to be ‘tagged’ with your name and a brief description added.
Imagine how you could use that money! Dinner for the whole family at Hackett’s, lunch with friends, little treats for you throughout the year? It’s yours to decide. We just want to reward you all for being so loyal.
We look forward to seeing your photos!
*Promotion runs until 5 th September. The draw will be on the 6th September and is totally at the owners discretion. No correspondence will be entered into. All entries must be posted before the 6th September 2011 to be considered and must be tagged with the name of the person in the photograph showing that they are eating or drinking at Hackett’s in Witney or Summertown, Oxfordshire.
The Healthier Take Away Sandwich in Witney
More and more people gets little time to eat healthy as they life gets busy. Lunch on the go? Most of us think… a sandwich. But do you really know what is inside this sandwich from your supermarket or how long has it been on that shelf?
Hackett’s to Go Sandwich Deli was started so that we could provide healthier take aways option for Witney Residents who don’t have time to cook a meal during the day or even think about one in the evenings.
Unfortunately, most takeaways are heavy on the fat and light on the nutrition. On average, take away food contains up to 40% fat. Many take aways are cooked in what’s known as transfats, that is fat that was once unsaturated but has been made saturated through chemically processing. These transfats are now thought to be an even greater cause of heart disease than saturated fat.
The other worry, particularly with regards to meat, is that you can’t be too sure where it came from, or just how long that kebab spit has been turning.
At Hackett’s to Go, our food is freshly made on the premises daily. It’s true that a lot of sandwiches can be high in calories but that really depends on what you fill them with. For example, a chicken salad sandwich contains approximately 132 calories per 100g as compared to 268 calories per 100g for a ham and cheese toasted sandwich.
We use low fat spreads and dressings at Hackett’s to Go to ensure that you get a ‘lower’ calorie sandwich or baguette. There are a few things you can remember to ask for such as brown bread which has lower calories and more fibre, which is good for your digestive system, rather than white bread. Also always try to make sure that your sandwich is freshly made as fresh produce has greater nutritional value and you’ll avoid food poisoning.
We also offer great variations of wraps, panini, baguettes and toasties. You can find our full menu here.
Next time you are around, pop in and have a look. It’s all freshly made, delicious and really healthy; guilt-free!
What’s in Season in July?
It’s all about courgettes in July! You can do almost anything with this wonderful vegetable: fry, grill, bake, steam or simply eat raw in thin julienne strips.
Here at Hackett’s Bistro in Witney, we have selected top 10 courgette recipes, which you can try throughout the season – all delicious and very easy to make. Our favourites are spicy courgette chips and wrapped cod!
Let us know how do you like your courgette and share your favourite recipe on our Facebook page. We are always looking for inspiration for our daily special boards!
Happy cooking!
1. Courgette Crostini
Create a healthy and easy appetizer by broiling thick zucchini rounds until slightly tender. Sprinkle with pinches of salt and freshly ground pepper. Top each round with a small dollop of light ricotta and sprinkle with nutmeg. Serve immediately
2. Courgette Ribbons with Chilli and Crab
Peel a courgette into ribbons. Season, drizzle with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. Add chopped red chilli and fresh crabmeat.
3. Grilled Courgette Ratatouille
Grill ratatouille vegetables, such as courgette, eggplant, tomatoes and peppers. When cool enough to handle, coarsely chop. Toss with fresh lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, chopped fresh oregano, salt and pepper. Boost the protein by adding navy beans or top with cheese such as goat or feta. Great served warm or at room temperature.
4. Cheddar Frittata
Pre heat the oven to 180oC / gas mark 4. Whisk 4 eggs; fold in grated courgette and plenty of grated cheddar. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper; bake for 15-20 mins, until it is cooked through.
5. Wrapped Cod
Pre heat the oven to 180oC / gas mark 4. Peel a courgette into ribbons. Season a boneless, skinless cod loin and sprinkle with chopped basil, wrap the courgette around the fish. Place in an oiled baking tray, roast with cherry tomatoes for 25 minutes.
6. Spicy Courgette Chips
Slice a courgette into 6 cm x 1 cm fingers; soak in milk. Season some fine polenta with salt, pepper and paprika; roll the fingers in it. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan. Cook until golden.
7. Courgette Carpaccio
Create an impressive appetizer by slicing zucchini into thin rounds. Whisk 1/4 cup (50 mL) white-wine vinegar with 1 small dollop of honey and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in 1/4 cup (50 mL) extra-virgin olive oil. Drizzle zucchini with just enough vinaigrette to lightly coat. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving to allow flavours to infuse. Top with shaved asiago cheese. Serve at room temperature.
8. Courgettes with Goat’s Cheese
Grate a whole courgette. Toss in oil and seasoning. Crumble ash-coated goats cheese over. Add chopped, toasted pecans and serve.
9. Minted Kebabs
Cut a courgette into cubes. Marinate in chopped fresh mint, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, salt and pepper for 30 mins. Skewer with hunks of halloumi. Grill on each side briefly.
10. Grilled Zucchini Parmesan
Layer thick slices of grilled zucchini with warm tomato sauce, basil leaves and grated Parmesan for a delicious meatless main course.
Like this:
Chocolate Age Calculator will Tell You the Truth
Do you like chocolate? Do you like games?
Then play Chocolate Age Calculator and let us know if you were as surprised with the results as we did…
It’s brilliant! Are you ready?
YOUR AGE BY CHOCOLATE MATHS !
This is pretty neat.
DON’T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST!
It takes less than a minute.
Work this out as you read.
This is fun!
1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate (more than once but less than 10)
2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)
3. Add 5
4. Multiply it by 50 — I’ll wait while you get the calculator
5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1761 ..
If you haven’t, add 1760
6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.
You should have a three digit number
The first digit of this was your original number (i.e., how many times you want to have chocolate each week).
The next two numbers are YOUR AGE! (Oh YES, it is!!!!)
Did you like The Chocolate Age Calculator game? Than share it with your friends and let them have some fun too!
Sunday, July 24 is a Parents Day, a day of observance to recognize and celebrate responsible parenting and positive parental role models.
On this special day, Hackett’s To Go in Witney would like to support the idea of the family day out and offer parents with a discounted deal on a healthy children’s lunchboxes.
Special offer on Sunday, 24th July:
When one parent purchases a sandwich, Panini, baguette or a wrap together with a drink, a lunchbox for the child is half price. Please not that only one half price kids lunchbox is allowed per one adult purchase.
Hackett’s To Go children lunch boxes consist of carefully selected healthy (and delicious) treats for children including: juice, half sandwich (fillings to choose from), potatoes snack and yogurt.
Happy Parents Day! Hope you will have a wonderful family day out on Sunday!
Helen manages Hackett's to Go and is Dave's right hand in all aspects of Hackett's from franchises to staff. Hackett's to Go is a sandwich deli under the Hackett's brand and offers the same quality foods and drinks as take away catering to the busy local and also offering business catering. 
