Hart’s Barn

I was recommended to visit the Tearoom at Hart’s Barn in Gloucestershire so when I was passing it recently around lunchtime, I thought, why not, let’s go in for lunch.

We pride ourselves on offering excellent quality and service within the beautiful and tranquil setting of the Forest. We are the premier venue in the Forest for enjoying traditional afternoon and cream teas.

We also have a lunch specials board which changes several times a week, featuring light snacks such as an asparagus & fresh cheese tart, to more substantial meals like stews & pies served with British seasonal vegetables whenever possible. All food is made fresh daily on the premises, with our menu being built around the availability of food & drink locally. We list our local suppliers in our menu, so you can see where the food & drink you’re enjoying comes from.

The main menu consists of typical tearoom fare, but they do have a board with daily specials and it from that I decided to make my choice.

My first choice wasn’t available as they had run out of baguettes, so went with the steak and ale pie.

As I waited I drank the coffee I ordered, and wasn’t that impressed, even though they had a proper coffee machine, my Americano wasn’t that good. Ah well, it’s a tearoom I should have had a pot of tea, must remember that.

My meal arrived in a reasonable time, the pie was in a pie dish topped with puff pastry, it was complemented with a portion of mashed potato, a jug of gravy and a decent additional portion of vegetables.

pie

The vegetables were nicely cooked, still some crunch, and the potato was also very nice. I liked the puff pastry and though the pie filling was not as hot as I think it should have been, it was very tender and full of flavour.

Overall I was pleased with the meal and enjoyed it. The service was friendly and efficient.

Flat White

Ever since visiting New Zealand I have had a fondness for the Flat White. It can be challenging to find a decent Flat White in the UK, despite the widespread adoption by coffee chains of the Flat White; unless the barista knows what they are doing, you may think you are getting a flat white, but you get a disappointing cappuccino instead.

Drinking coffee #366photosI was pleased the other day to order a Flat White in my local Costa and I got a really good Flat White, perfect.

The coffee was good, the milk was steamed to the right creamy consistency and even the pattern on the top was sharp and remained as I drank the coffee.

Hopefully the next time I get a Flat White just as good.

Cappelletti

I quite enjoy stuffed pasta, this fresh cappelletti from Sainsburys is rather nice and is one of my favourites.

I served it with some pancetta and courgettes that I had cooked off in a pan, and then stirred into the pasta with some crème fraîche and grated parmesan.

The pasta I cooked in boiling water for a couple of minutes. It’s important not to overcook the pasta otherwise you’ll find it all mushy, and fresh pasta literally needs very little cooking time.

Serve immediately.

Trofie Pasta

It’s surprising how many different pasta shapes there are and how different they can “taste”. Some shapes work better with thick sauces, others with thinner style sauces.

Trofie pasta is quite a weird style for pasta, but I do enjoy eating it, and find it goes well with pesto.

This was a fresh Trofie pasta, a Pizza Express brand that only takes a few minutes to cook. I have bought dried Trofie before, but have been pleased with the Pizza Express fresh Trofie pasta.

I used a jar of pesto and added some toasted pine nuts. To toast pine nuts I use a heavy frying pan, add NO oil and heat on the hob. I then add the pine nuts until they are toasted, not too brown and be careful you don’t burn them.

I find pine nuts quite expensive, usually paying £2.50 for a small bag, but I really do like them in pasta with pesto. They also work well in salads.

Overall a quick and easy, but very tasty pasta dish.

Another one of those bargains…

So there I was in the Sainsburys when I noticed another one of those bargains.

99p each, three for £3

99p each or three for £3.

Now this offer was on all the Sharwoods oriental range and virtually everything else was above £1, most in the £1.40 range.

The reason I think this is an issue is not if you buy one of the 99p items and two more, as you would “save” money, it’s when you buy four or five items and include the 99p item.

For example

Imagine buying three other items at £1.42 and the curry paste for 99p. The 99p item would be included within the three for £3 so you would be charged £4.42. If you bought the curry paste separately then you would then only be charged a total of £3.99.

If you bought three other items at £1.42 and then two lots of curry paste for 99p. The two lots of curry paste would be included within the three for £3, so you would be charged £5.84. If you bought the curry paste separately then you only be charged £4.98.

There is then a false incentive to buy six item, which will cost you £6.

So do I what did, buy just one item for £1.42 that you went into buy and that will save you a lot more money in the longer term. Special offers are really only special to the supermarket, they only save you money if you were going to buy the items anyhow. Buying them because they are on special doesn’t save you money, it costs you money!

Bishops Tipple

TippleThe Bishop’s Tipple has been a legend amongst ale drinkers ever since it was originally brewed to commemorate George Reindorp’s appointment as Bishop of Salisbury.

When I opened the fridge and saw this bottle of beer, my initial thoughts were, that looks nice, but looks a little heavy. I was expecting a dark strong beer that would take time to savour and enjoy.

I was however pleasantly surprised to find that this was a really nice ale with a golden hue and that was both refreshing and light to the palate. I really enjoyed it and hope to find another bottle in the fridge soon.

Blueberry Pancakes

We often have blueberries in the house, but eating them raw I have never been that impressed, much prefer blackberries, raspberries and strawberries.

I make pancakes for breakfast on a regular basis, both the traditional flat ones and the American style small ones. This time I decided that I would have a go at making some blueberry pancakes and see if this would change my mind about blueberries.

I took my usual pancake mix, in a bowl add:

A cup of self-raising flour
½ tsp of baking powder
½ tsp of vanilla extract
1 egg
A cup of milk
1 tbsp of caster sugar

This I whisked into a batter. I then added a handful of blueberries (50g).

Using my non-stick pancake frying pan, which as is getting older, I brushed it with some sunflower oil, after heating it up on the hob. I then poured in a spoonful of pancake mixture. You don’t want it too hot, otherwise the inside of the slightly thicker pancakes won’t be cooked.

I left the pancakes to cook until air bubbles started to appear on the top, then turn them over.

I obviously didn’t use enough blueberries as not all the pancakes by the time I cooked the batter had blueberries in them, this in the end wasn’t so bad as the little people in the house didn’t want blueberries in their pancakes.

I served mine with some maple syrup and if you wanted to you could have added some uncooked blueberries too.

I was really pleased with the results, really tasty and I will certainly be cooking them again. I may even now have a go at cooking blueberry muffins.

Merguez and Baguette Rouge at Café Rouge

Needing a quick lunch in Bristol, I popped into Café Rouge.

LunchI have always preferred having a starter over a desert so I went with one of their Petits Plats, Merguez, spicy beef & lamb sausage with harissa mayonnaise.

I was a little surprised as I was expecting to get a whole sausage, not a sliced one. However I guess it was presented in this way, as the Petits Plats are designed to be shared.

I felt however that as the sausage was cooked (or possibly re-heated) sliced it lost a lot of what makes a decent merguez sausage. I’ve certainly had better at Café Rouge was a little disappointed. It should be noted that the flavour was good, but the cooking process and presentation let the dish down.

LunchFor my main course I went with the chargrilled rump steak baguette with Dijon mustard & oregano mayonnaise, French fries and a salad garnish.

I asked for the steak to be rare, and it was delivered medium! Apart from that the steak was okay, there was no depth of flavour, but I kind of expect that, this isn’t a steak house, it’s a chain! I think I would have preferred the Bavette I have had before.

The fries were crisp and were not overseasoned which is normally my experience, and the salad was fresh.

Overall I enjoyed my lunch and the service was excellent, which made for a nice change and I hope is the norm rather than the exception.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

5oz plain flour
1oz unsweetened good-quality cocoa powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
2¼oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
8oz castor sugar
2 large free-range eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
5½fl oz milk (the recipe actually calls for buttermilk, but I keep forgetting to buy it).

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C and line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda into a medium bowl and set aside.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until smoothly blended – about two minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until each is blended into the batter.

Add the vanilla and beat for another minute. On a low speed, add half of the flour mixture, mixing to incorporate it, then mix in the milk. Mix in the remaining flour mixture just until it is incorporated and the batter looks smooth.

Fill the cupcake liners half full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops feel firm and a metal skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove the cupcakes from the pan onto the wire rack and leave to cool completely.

They can be topped with buttercream if so desired.