Time for a coffee

July 12, 2011

Theakston’s Lightfoot

Mention Theakston’s and most people think of Old Peculier, of course it’s not the only beer they brew.

I have drunk Old Peculier, Best and XB before, but when I recently saw a bottle of Lightfoot, I hadn’t seen it before, so bought a bottle.

Lightfoot Bitter was created as a tribute to Lightfoot Brewery, Masham which we acquired in 1919. The label and pump clip depict the original Brewery site, here in Masham, at the heart of the Yorkshire Dales. This is a delicious and refreshing, golden ale – brewed in the time honoured Theakston fashion.

It’s light in colour and though the website describes the smell and taste as floral, this is no Golden Glory!

I really enjoyed it, very light and refreshing, an ideal beer for the summer.

July 11, 2011

Four Seasons

On a recent visit to Pizza Express (had some Tesco vouchers to use up) I chose for my starter, the Bruschetta Salami, for my main course I went for the Four Seasons pizza.

Four different quarters: mushrooms, pepperoni, anchovies & capers, mozzarella, finished with olives.

As is usually the case with Pizza Express the base was thin, in the Italian style and generous toppings without too much cheese. I really enjoyed the different toppings, but had forgotten how salty anchovies can be, but enjoyed that quarter. The sliced big field mushrooms worked well, as did the mozzarella. I thought the pepperoni was a little too thin, so was crispier than I liked, but had a good flavour and not too much heat. The olives finished it off.

I do like the pizza at Pizza Express and compared to other pizza chains, it is a much tastier and more authentic experience.

July 10, 2011

Fluffy Pancakes

After posting on Twitter yesterday that I had pancakes for breakfast (well that is what the Twitter was created for) a reply from a friend asked if I had had the flat English ones, or the fluffy American style?

I had cooked the flat English kind, but inspired this morning I looked in the cupboard for the Bicarbonate of Soda… A yes I remembered that we had done some science experiments with it a while back… Hmmm, there was some Baking Powder though, not quite the same, but should have the same effect.

I added a teaspoon to my usual mix of plain flour, egg, spoonful of sugar, vanilla and milk. With the pancake pan, I did lower the heat, as these would be thicker than the flat English kind.

The result was pretty good, light, thick and fluffy. Slightly different taste, which meant though I enjoyed them, the little people were less impressed… It was a good thing I had cooked some of the flat English kind too.

July 9, 2011

Doombar

My first experience with this Cornish beer was in Somerset, I also enjoyed a few pints in Devon, more recently I enjoyed a bottle at home here in North Somerset. One day I might get to enjoy this Cornish beer in Cornwall itself.

It’s a very nice bitter and very smooth, making it a refreshing and enjoyable beer. Glad to find it in bottles to making it easier to drink at home.

July 8, 2011

Poached Eggs

This morning I had poached eggs for breakfast. I don’t use a egg poaching pan, simply a pan of simmering water.

Bring a pan of water to the boil, I then stir the boiling water into a “spin” and crack the egg into the spinning vortex. Turn down the heat to a simmer, put the bread into the toaster, when the toast pops up, usually the eggs are done, firm white and soft yolk.

A lot of books I have read (and seen on cookery programmes on the TV) say that you should add vinegar to the water to “stop the egg from breaking apart” as you cook it. Personally I don’t add vinegar as I find it has a minimal or negligible effect (in other words I have seen eggs break apart even with vinegar in the water) and it has to be said it adds a vinegar flavour to the egg. I certainly noticed this when I last had poached eggs in a hotel recently.

I find that actually the best thing is to use really fresh eggs, it is old eggs that fall apart when poaching and not the use of vinegar that keeps it together, as you can see in the picture of my eggs above, still nice and whole! Just some freshly ground black pepper and serve.

July 7, 2011

Bruschetta Salami

On a recent visit to Pizza Express (had some Tesco vouchers to use up) I chose for my starter, the Bruschetta Salami at £4.75, the menu said it consisted of mozzarella, cured Italian meats, olives, rocket and grana padano.

Reading the menu and seeing bruschetta, I anticipated seeing some toasted ciabatta topped with all the other ingredients. So I was quite surprised when it arrived…

Using a pizza style base was certainly not what I expected and was quite surprised by. However the dish as a whole worked well and I really enjoyed it.

July 6, 2011

Puxton Park Burger

Anyone who has small children will know that they really like going to animal or country parks. The place will generally be based around a farm and within it you get animals (mainly farm animals and the odd small rabbit), usually there will be a barn filled with large slides and playground equipment and more often then not a café of some sort. Anyone who goes to these cafés will know that nine times out of ten the food is either crisps and biscuits, uninspiring sandwiches or kiddie food, ie fish fingers, chicken nuggets, etc….

Our local park, Puxton Park, has the animals, the play areas, but also has a rather nice café. It serves very nice food at reasonable prices. It is not just visited by families with small children, due to its proximity to the M5, it is used as a motorway service station by coach tours who descend on just the cafe with hordes of holiday makers.

If you are unlucky you may find that what was going to be a quick lunch is scuppered by a horde of old people in front of you desperate to buy a pot of tea, order dinner and get some chocolate bourbon biscuits. So desperate that they are willing to push aside anyone who gets in their way….

However if you are lucky and miss the coach trip you can choose from the menu and the specials at your leisure. On a recent visit I went with the burger.

The burger arrived, I was pleased to see that it had come in a seeded bun, but this was no plastic sesame seeded bun, this was a proper bun with a range of seeds. Removing the top of the bun showed a proper homemade burger, just slightly too chargrilled for my liking, but not too much to impair the flavour.

Within the bun was some fresh onion and tomato. To be honest with the top of the bun removed it didn’t look that appetising, but with the top back on of course you didn’t notice how it looked, and the bun did look nice. Served alongside were some very nice crispy chips and a simple salad. The only thing I didn’t like was the sticky BBQ sauce served alongside, so that go moved off the plate.

Overall it was a really nice burger, tasted great and well presented and good value at £5.40 too. Recommended.

July 5, 2011

Brasserie Blanc

In the far and distant past I remember watching a cookery programme (or probably a series) featuring Raymond Blanc. His restaurant, Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons, always came across as a place of excellence and I use to think if I ever had the money, the time and lived near Oxford then I would probably visit it at least once.

I was also given for a Christmas Present one year, his book, Recipes From Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons which was full of amazing recipes and cooking techniques that to be honest I knew I didn’t have the skill or experience to even try! I just read it for the experience and knowing that even though I enjoy cooking, I am no chef.

I had seen his new chain, Brasserie Blanc, advertised somewhere on the web, but hadn’t ever sought out a branch. There is one in Bristol, but I had never been there.

“I am often asked what a Brasserie Blanc is. Well if the Manoir is a delicate waltz then the Brasseries are the Can Can. For sure, this is not a place for refined haute cuisine and three course meals. Rather, Brasserie Blanc is a place for relaxed enjoyment where I can offer you simple, high quality food that comes as close as possible to the meals that my mother prepared for me at home in Besançon and at a price that encourages you to visit us regularly. The real origins of French brasseries are lost in time and probably in several litres of beer but nowadays in France they are the bastions of good eating and drinking, locally and informally. I want my Brasserie Blancs to be a central part of the local community where you can have fun and enjoy particularly good food. So sit back and relax”

Raymond Blanc

So when out in Cheltenham with David Sugden recently looking for somewhere to eat, we saw it and having looked at the menu went in for a meal. Now David has already blogged about this meal and you can read that here.

Initially interested in the fixed price menu, both of us did indeed prefer the starters on the main menu. Asking the waiting staff and found that this wasn’t going to be a problem.

For my starter I went with the grilled squid and courgettes, parmesan and roquette salad.

The squid was fresh, had been grilled in chunks. It was very nice, though I felt there was a little too much chilli for me, but certainly not excessive enough to ruin the dish. The thinly sliced courgette worked well in the dish and I really quite enjoyed it.

For the main course I went with confit of pork, caraway cabbage, roast tomato sauce.

Now I have to admit I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, I am not sure I have even eaten duck confit, but I have read about it…. So when it arrived I was a little unimpressed. It appeared to be a reheated large slice of roast pork. It was on a bed of cabbage with caraway speeds, a very nice tomato sauce and a few roast potatoes. The pork had some flavour, but wasn’t what I was expecting and I don’t think I would order it again. Difficult to say whether it was good or bad, as there wasn’t anything I could compare it with. I did like the accompanying cabbage, and it went well with the pork, the sauce was good too.

For the dessert, we went with the cheese platter. Traditionally made, seasonal French and English cheeses specially selected by Eric Charriaux, “Premier Cheese Company” (Cabécou, Pavé Correzien, Deauville, Shropshire Blue). As David mentioned in his blog, there was a bit of theatre in the serving of the cheese. Apart from the slightly stingy portions I really enjoyed the different cheeses, but then I always like cheese and biscuits.

Overall I did enjoy the meal, it certainly was not the best I’ve had, but was very enjoyable, of course the atmosphere and the company was what made it more enjoyable. Would I go again? Hmmm not sure, possibly.

July 4, 2011

Simple Pesto Pasta Salad

I do quite like pasta based salads which are basically can be best described as cold pasta! Though there is a little more work required than just letting cooked pasta going cold…

For this salad I cooked some fusilli pasta twists and after they had cooked, I immersed them in cold water. Iced cold water would be better, but I had no ice, so just plain cold water would do. This is for two reasons, firstly to make the pasta cold, ready for the salad, secondly to stop the cooking process. If you just cooked the pasta an let it go cold, it would go all soggy as it continued to cook after you drained it. So even if you intend to eat your pasta salad later, still plunge it into cold water to stop the cooking process. Just as an aside this is often how restaurants “cook” pasta. They cook the pasta until just about done, before plunging the pasta into ice cold water. They can then finish the cooking of the pasta when needed and it will only take a minute to finish the pasta before adding a sauce.

So with the cooked pasta I added a couple of spoonfuls of basil pesto and some chicken.

Mixed and served.

You could add some fresh basil leaves to up the basil flavour. Another option would be to add some cooked spinach.

July 3, 2011