jamesclay, Author at Time for a coffee

June 4, 2023June 3, 2023

Smoked Salmon and Prawn Cocktail

When I go somewhere to eat and if there is a specials board, I do like to try something from the board, as if I go again, it probably won’t be on the menu again. Not all places have a specials board, and most chains don’t. Of course you then have something like Bills where the menu changes on a regular basis, they probably don’t need a specials board.

I am a semi-regular visitor to a couple of Fullers’ hotels in London, Drayton Court and the Fox and Goose. Now and again they will have a specials board (or menu). On a recent visit to the Fox and Goose they had their specials board and I had a look over it.

Two of the items on the board were standard menu items, they were just telling punters what the soup was and what the pie was.

The chicken shnitzel (sic) was something I had before at Drayton Court. I did though quite like the sound of the starter on the specials board.

Fullers’ London porter smoked salmon & prawn cocktail with Bloody Mary sauce and sourdough. So I went with that.

The dish arrived, without the bread! So I asked and out it came. It was a large sized starter, bigger than I thought it would be.

I did think that the smoked salmon was more like smoked mackerel. This wasn’t slices of smoked salmon, more chunks of salmon.

The prawns were plentiful and good. I did wonder about the sauce, I didn’t really taste the vodka in there, and I felt there needed to be more sauce. I did like the addition of the cucumber and the tomato.

I think the sourdough could have benefited from being toasted, it felt slightly stale and dry.

Overall it was an interesting dish and an interesting interpretation of a prawn cocktail. I think though it could have been a much better dish with a few tweaks.

June 3, 2023

Dyrham Park

We were visiting Dyrham Park, a National Trust propety, and after walking the grounds and visiting the house, we made our way to the stables for a cup of tea and something to eat.

It was half term, so the place was quite busy, and there was something of a queue. It would appear it was busier than expected, as they had sold out of a lot of their menu items, and it was only approaching one o’clock.

In the end the only items left were a vegan sausage roll, and a spicy cauliflower pasty. So we had one of each, mine was the cauliflower pasty. I also ordered for myself an espresso and a can of 7Up.

The pasty was served to our table, on its own on a plate. I wonder if they use to serve a salad garnish with it? I think it would have been enhance with a little salad on the plate. To be honest I might have even paid extra for some salad.

Well the pasty was nice and hot, the wholemeal pasty was excellent, and I really liked the spicy filling, the spices did somewhat overpower the flavour of the cauliflower, but I could still taste the cauliflower in there.

The coffee was nice.

This wasn’t a meal, more of a snack. Having visited a lot of National Trust properties this year (the benefits of membership) I have been wondering why the menu at these places are quite limited. As well as scones and cakes (naturally) the main menu items are pasties, baked potatoes, and soup. They sometimes have meals, but often the choice is only one or two. At Dyrham Park they did have a nice sounding Italian sausage casserole on the menu, but yes, you guessed, it had sold out.

I suspect that the menu has been derived from what sells, what was popular, and what makes money. Cooking a pasty and keeping it warm is much easier than cooking a meal. People are probably more likely to pay £4.55 for a pasty, then say £9.95 for a meal when visiting a property. I suspect the profit margin on the pasty would be much higher than the meal as well. Of course the profits from the cafe does support the property as well.

Overall I did enjoy our snack and drinks.

June 2, 2023June 1, 2023

Chicken Schnitzel Caesar Salad

I was staying over at the Drayton Court Hotel in West Ealing. This is a place I stay regularly when working away in London.

For my starter I had gone with the Beef Short Rib Bao Buns and had wanted the pan-fried lemon pepper chicken breast for my main course, but they had run out, so I went with the Norfolk chicken schnitzel with Caesar salad, anchovies and Parmesan.

It wasn’t my first choice because I didn’t really want a schnitzel. I thought it might be quite dry.

When the dish arrived it did look rather good.

The chicken schnitzel was on the bottom of the plate and placed on top was some baby gem lettuce, croutons, anchovies, and dressed with a Caesar salad dressing.

I really enjoyed the Caesar salad aspect of the dish, but the chicken schnitzel really let the dish down, it was slightly overcooked and as a result was quite dry. I think the dish would have worked better with a chargrilled chicken breast rather than the chicken schnitzel.

June 1, 2023February 5, 2024

It’s back, that Lidl Coffee Ice Cream

It’s back, that delicious Lidl coffee ice cream.

As part of their Flavours of Italy week Lidl are back selling their small tubs of coffee ice cream

When I first started buying these tubs, they were selling them at 99p per tub. The cost of living and inflation has obviously hit, as they are now £1.49 per tub.

They are not huge tubs, but what you get is a tasty creamy coffee ice cream, with a little chocolate in there as well.

We also like the amaretto tub and the lemon sorbet one is nice too

June 1, 2023

No.1 British Free Range Pork Ribeye Steak again…

Having enjoyed the pack of No.1 British Free Range Pork Ribeye Steak from Waitrose on our barbecue the other day decided I would get another pack to cook.

This time though I followed the instructions.

They said…

Remove bag from box. Place the bag in simmering water for 15 minutes, remove from bag and pan fry on a medium heat for 6-8 minutes using butter to baste.

Now it may just have been that pack, but I think it might have been the way I cooked it. It wasn’t as good as the first time we had it. It was not as tender and lacked flavour compared to the barbecued version I had done.

Not sure I will make the effort to get it again, especially after the special offer period is over; it’s currently 20% off.

May 31, 2023May 31, 2023

Ô Craquelin Pâtisserie

As I walk around London there are quite a few posh looking pâtisserie shops selling exquisite cakes and pâtisserie. I might look in the window, but I rarely spend my pennies (well pounds) in there.

I was having a look around the TooGoodToGo app and saw that Ô Craquelin Pâtisserie had a magic bag. £18 of cakes for £6. I checked their website and quite liked the look of their offerings. I saw this magic bag as an opportunity to try out the cakes without spending a large amount of money.

Ô Craquelin Pâtisserie is a specialist pâtisserie close to Covent Garden. It describes itself as a micro-pâtisserie offering modern, hand-crafted desserts.

I had to wait around a bit to pick it up after work, but it was a nice sunny day.

I was given a warm welcome and went inside and told them I had a TooGoodToGo deal. After tapping and swiping, they popped into the fridge for a box, for a second I thought that was all I was going to get, then they picked up another box. I got a bag and placed them both in there.

Overall I got four cakes. Two chilled fresh cakes and two ambient cakes.

Now I actually have no idea what I actually got, as there were no labels. Now checking their website I can check what I had.

This was the Matcha Orange canapé.

Orange Madeleine enclosed within matcha mousse with white chocolate sable. It was quite nice, and you could taste the orange.

This was the 100% Pistachio canapé.

Pistachio Financier, pistachio cream and pistachio sable. This one I did guess as pistachio and was similar to the Matcha Orange canapé. I didn’t feel it had that intensity of pistachio flavour I would expect from pistachio pâtisserie.

I also got these two pâtisserie, which I have no idea what they were.

This was very nutty.

This had nuts and ganache.

Both were very nice.

I did enjoy the pâtisserie, but I am not sure I would go out of my way to get them again. They were good, but maybe I had high expectations, I was expecting excellence, what I got was delicious, great looking pâtisserie. What I didn’t get was an amazing pâtisserie experience. Maybe it might have been different if I went to the cafe there and had the pâtisserie with coffee, soaking in the atmosphere and the ambiance.

I quite like TooGoodToGo as a mechanism to try places out, see what they sell and how good it is. So in this instance, yes I felt I got a good deal, nice cakes, but would I go back, probably not.

May 30, 2023May 29, 2023

No.1 British Free Range Pork Ribeye Steak

I had seen this pack in Waitrose a few times now and was intrigued.

British pork ribeye steak with sage leaves and thyme sprigs. Free range pork ribeye steak, tender, succulent and full of flavour, from pigs sired by pedigree Hampshire boars, a breed renowned for excellent meat. All our pigs are reared to higher welfare standards by British farmers who share our values

I was planning a barbecue with a mix of meats, so decided I would add this pork steak to the mix.

In the box was a sealed plastic pack containing the pork. I cut it open and was pleasantly surprised to find two steaks in the pack.

I then read the instructions on the back of the box…

Ah…

It said…

Remove bag from box. Place the bag in simmering water for 15 minutes, remove from bag and pan fry on a medium heat for 6-8 minutes using butter to baste.

Well I didn’t do that!

Anyhow I cooked the steaks on the barbecue and they cooked well and were very tasty.

May 29, 2023

Barbecuing a whole chicken

We had a barbecue today and I cooked a whole chicken on the barbecue.

I have done this method of barbecuing a whole chicken many times now and each time, the end result has been delicious tender moist chicken full of smokey and chargrilled flavours.

The first part of the process is to spatchcock the chicken. I don’t have a pair of poultry shears so I usually use a big cook’s knife to cut out the backbone. I also don’t use skewers to secure the legs or keep it flat, but you just have to be more careful when turning the chicken when it is on the barbecue.

This time I seasoned and marinaded the chicken with garlic, salt and pepper, herbs, lemon juice, and some olive oil.

Though you can cook a spatchcocked chicken directly on the barbecue, it can be quite challenging to ensure that the chicken is properly cooked, through, without burning or overcooking the outside. Part of the issue is that it is difficult to control the temperature of the barbecue unlike a normal grill. The key process is to recreate some aspects of a “normal” oven as opposed to the usual way of using a barbecue as a grill.

As for the barbecue, the key here is to avoid cooking the chicken over a direct heat. After lighting the charcoal, once the flames have died down, and they are covered in grey ash you can start to cook. However the first thing you need to do is to move the coals to the sides of the barbecue leaving the middle empty, the chicken will be placed over this empty zone. Moving the coals can be tricky as they will be really hot, but the aim is to create a circle of hot coals around a clear area. This will allow the chicken to be cooked via in-direct heat without overcooking or burning.

The chicken is placed down on the grill carcass side down. I then use a wok lid to cover the chicken. This creates an oven effect and helps to stop the chicken drying out. You could of course if you have one use the lid on your barbecue.

Turn the chicken after 15-20 minutes and cook the skin side. Take care when turning the chicken, especially if you like me didn’t use skewers.

Actual timing will depend on the heat of the barbecue and the size of the chicken.

Re-cover with the wok lid and cook for another 15 minutes, ensuring that the chicken doesn’t burn.

Check the chicken is cooked and then remove from the barbecue.

The end result is delicious moist barbecued chicken.

I served mine with salad and bread.

May 28, 2023

Ye Olde London

This was not a planned meal, I had been attending a training course in London and a few of us decided to head out for a beer and a meal.

We ended up at Ye Olde London, a Greene King pub situated on Ludgate Hill in the City of London close to the spectacular St Paul’s cathedral.

We went downstairs and I looked over the menu, lots of pub food. I chose the 28-day aged flat iron steak served with rosemary & sea-salted fries, blistered vine tomatoes and salsa verde.

The steak was pre-sliced and was was cooked well. I quite like a flat iron steak. Not sure if there was any rosemary on the fries, but they were nice and crisp. The salsa verde was fresh and zingy.

Overall I liked the plate of food and we had excellent service.

May 22, 2023May 21, 2023

It was a little disappointing

We had made the trip to Lynton and Lynmouth. A place we have been to many times.

We went to the Coffee Mill for a drink and something to eat. We thought we had been there before, which is the main reason we went. There was no indoor seating so we sat outside and I went to the counter to order.

We had some tea, a scone and a sausage roll. Even though we were eating on site the tea came in disposable card cups.

Though there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the tea and food, it was more we were charged, what I felt would have been for eating in and we had china crockery. However for what was basically takeaway I thought it was quite expensive.