A gastronomic tour of East Devon

I've spent the last couple of weeks in Devon assisting with the re-opening of the catering services in seventeen schools across Torquay and Exmouth. Last week I ate out at Beefeater... I got bored of the generic bland steakhouse and decided to explore what my options were in terms of restaurants in the local area.  My first search on the internet pulled up Elephant Restaurant, a Michelin starred restaurant in Torquay and I got a little excited. It looked like my search might bare fruit!

The fun began when I started trying to find restaurants that were open. You see, I was in Devon from Sunday evening through Tuesday evening and I discovered that almost everywhere in East Devon is closed on Sunday and Monday. My search continued and I eventually found my Sunday evening dinner spot. It turned out that the Devon countryside, even the touristy seaside, is seriously sleepy. It was me, the seagulls and a couple of locals walking their dogs on the beach... and that was it!

 The Owl and the Pussycat is a quaint little restaurant in Teignmouth. An unassuming decor meets the eye when you walk in as you are instantly greeted by the friendly owner who leads you to your table. Menu and drinks quickly follow, which is nice. The menu was interesting, especially in the mains and it took me a while to decide, but decide I did. I went for the Boudin of Free Range Chicken with Braised Ham Hock, Peas and Pea Shoots and the Creedy Carver Duck Dreast with Red Cabbage, Carrot and Ginger Puree and a Blood Orange Sauce and finished with Sticky Toffee Pudding.

The starter was seriously good. The boudin stole the day for me as it was light and creamy with a delightfully mild chicken flavour mingling with a subtle hint of cream. The ham hock and peas was flavourful and hearty, however when combing the boudin and ham hock together, I totally lost the boudin. I couldn't have that! So I ate the two separate elements on the plate as two different dishes. Not complaining at all as they were both delicious and not at all at odds with each other. The pea shoots added a fresh lightness to the plate which I thoroughly enjoyed too.

My first thought was, "That looks pretty" and then I noticed the duck breast. Slightly over cooked... It still had a gentle pink tinge, so I gave the chef the benefit of the doubt and tucked in. I'm glad I did! The duck was soft, melt in the mouth soft and oh so tasty! Yes, it was a touch overcooked, but that was easily forgiven by my palette as the duck was that good. The blood orange sauce was intense and complemented the duck beautifully, as did the red cabbage. I tried a bit of the cabbage on its own and it was super sweet, but when combining on the fork with the duck, everything melded into one smooth finish. The fondant potatoes were ok, but the revelation was the puree. An explosion of ginger flooded my tongue and I was honestly astounded. Just loved it! I am a fan of ginger, so maybe that influenced my decision. A really good dish and it was very easy to overlook the error in the duck.

First impressions of the dessert was a little disappointing because I was expecting the same elegance in the presentation as demonstrated with the first two courses.  Also, the ice cream was not home made... maybe I'm too fussy! However, biting into the sponge was just lovely. Very soft, warm and moist with a traditionally sticky sweet sauce which juxtapositioned beautifully with the cold creamy vanilla ice cream. A cup of coffee was called for after licking the plate clean, just to wash away all the richness lingering in my mouth.

Night two and a new restaurant. This time I went to Orestone Manor, a fine dining restaurant attached to a small hotel overlooking the ocean. Pity the weather was a bit rubbish as it ruined our view of the sea from our table. I'd arranged to meet up with Andy and Emma, a couple Sheila and I had met whilst on honeymoon in Cambodia. After a drink and a quick catch up, we were shown to our table and orders were placed. I chose the Pan Fried Brixham Scallops, Pancetta, Pearl Onions and Pea Cream to start, Roasted Rump of Hatherleigh, Herb Purée, Spring Cabbage and Braised Baby Vegetables in a Tarragon Jus for mains and Passion Fruit Crème Brulee with Coconut Sorbet and Mango Coulis. Sounds good, huh?

Just beautiful! A very pretty looking plate even with the pea cream poured all over it by the waiter. The scallops were gorgeous, caramelised on the outside and opaque on the inside, perfectly cooked. The pea cream was sweet and the pancetta salty which created a beautifully balanced dish. Seconds please?

First glance and presentation was a little untidy however when I put the lamb in my mouth, it was soft and succulent and very tasty. Nothing else really jumped up and grabbed me though... the herb purée was very bold and earthy in its flavours but the rest was, well... just there, on the plate, making up the numbers. Still, the lamb was gorgeous.

Man... untidy, untidy, untidy. Having said that though, my spoon cracked audibly through the sugar and that made me smile. The passion fruit brulee was sharp and sweet and very smooth. Add in the texture of the crunchy caramel and it was delicious. The coconut sorbet was delicious too. It was ever so creamy with a beautiful coconut flavour washing over my tongue with every spoonful. Add a little of the mango coulis to the spoon and I went quiet. Didn't speak again until the end of my dessert. Just a pity about the initial impression... what's that they say about books and their covers?

Impressions? Yeah the food was good, better than the chain restaurant at my hotel, but I felt flavours in the main course and the presentation of both mains and dessert let them down. The starter was a triumph though and the flavours in the dessert were exquisite.

Tuesday evening and I went into Torquay to try my luck for The Room at the Elephant Restaurant. The restaurant is divided across two floors with the Michelin starred The Room on the first floor and The Brasserie on the ground floor.

I walked in and asked for a table in The Room and was politely informed that it was closed due to no bookings. I wonder if I had booked, whether or not they would have opened for me? I was shown to my table and presented with The Brasserie menu. I just couldn't decide what to have... I was toying between the Gnocchi and the Mackerel Pate for starter. Then for some reason I thought, hang on, I'm in a posh restaurant, let's see what they do with common grub.

So I ordered Scotch Egg for starter, Fish Pie for main and Cheesecake for dessert.

I was honestly surprised when what arrived at my table was exactly as promised on the menu. It was a Scotch Egg. I was expecting the chef to play a little and maybe deconstruct it or... Oh, I don't know, I just wasn't expecting a perfectly fried little Scotch Egg on my plate. It was immaculately cooked with the yolk, as shown in the picture, silky soft and oozing out everywhere after my first slice. A little different to the store bought scotch eggs, right? So, a beautiful boiled egg, tasty pork sausage, crispy golden crumb, fresh salad and a creamy grainy mustard mayonnaise. Yeah, all very good, but I still can't help feeling like I was cheated...

The Fish Pie arrived and, yes please, it had been played with! The mash on top was stuffed full of parmesan cheese and very very tasty.The fish was cooked perfectly and was flaky and light. The hot tartare sauce was more of a light parsley sauce and it was a pleasantly light sauce, however I felt it could have had a touch more depth but I loved the mussels, mini capers and cubed egg white in the sauce.

I was really looking forward to dessert. The menu described it as Lemon Curd Cheesecake with a Raspberry and Basil Compote. The dessert arrived and it was certainly pretty on the plate. My first taste was of one of the lemon curd balls on the side of the plate. Yum! Bursting with flavour, it just exploded in my mouth with sweet and sour lemon. The rest of the journey was downhill to be honest... The cheesecake was nicely cheesy and tacky in the mouth but lacked any lemon flavour. The menu led me to believe that the cheesecake itself was lemon curb, but instead it was a standard cheesecake. Moving onto the compote, I was excited to try the combination of basil and raspberry compote (as described by the menu) and was expecting to get a wash of sweet basil and sour raspberry across my palette. Nope, there was no basil that I could taste in the compote. The basil was only artfully arrange around the plate. Disappointed...

Maybe I was expecting more from this restaurant because my mind was set on The Room upstairs. Don't get me wrong, the food was good, well presented, quality produce, etc. but I left feeling let down. We have booked a table for The Room upstairs at the end of May and I will, of course, let you know my thoughts.

Overall thoughts?

I loved The Owl and the Pussycat. Gorgeous food, quaint, friendly staff. Just great. I enjoyed all three courses here immensely, even the basically presented dessert. Orestone Manor let me down on presentation, except for the starter which was fantastic. Elephant Restaurant left me feeling a little flat, yes the main course was brilliant and the starter was pleasant, but the lack of flair and the misrepresented dessert let me down. Remember though, if I had my critic's hat off, the comments for all three restaurants would have been,"Yeah, fantastic, I'd go again!". I'm just being picky for the benefit of this blog.

My favourite courses: The scallops for starters (by a hair over the boudin), the duck for mains (outright favourite dish of the three nights) and the passion fruit brulee for dessert even though it had been thrown on the plate because the taste was superlative.

So, after three fantastic evenings spent out in Devon exploring some of their finer restaurants, I ended up back in London a couple of kilo's heavier but happier for the experience. If you get the chance though, check out The Owl and the Pussycat, it's truly great.

Le Farcon - Michelin Star Restaurant - La Tania, France

It is Tuesday evening in La Tania and the chalet staff have their day off.  In other words, we have to fend for ourselves! Luckily enough, when we were at the ski show last year, we found out about a Michelin starred restaurant in La Tania itself called Le Farcon.  We quite like posh food, so booked ourselves a table for 8pm.

The restaurant looked quite non-descript from outside, however as soon as you walk in, you know you are in a fine dining establishment. Soft music, impeccably laid tables and polite attentive staff are your first experience and it is there to stay. To be honest, it took a while to actually place our order, but is that just because we are used to restaurants that turn tables twice and even thrice in an evening and we are not accustomed to having a relaxed chance to peruse and digest the menu at leisure?

We decided to be a bit extravagant... We are after all at a Michelin star restaurant so lets take advantage of the fact and be daring and a little adventurous. This decision taken, we moved past the a la carte menu and went straight onto the set menu's and tasting menu's. We decided on 'A Family' menu, 6 courses of scrumptiousness inspired by the chef's family. 

First to arrive at our table was an Amouse Bouche... a tasty little morsel to wet our appetites! It was an odd concoction to say the least. I got pumpkin flavours flowing through a seafood stock and topped with a lemon foam.  The pumpkin and fish combination I found surprising on my palette, but not unpleasant.

Next to arrive was the first course. When placed in front of us, it looked beautiful. Clean, fresh and colourful... then the waitress poured Parmesan sauce all over it! I should have taken the picture before the mutilation. Having the aesthetics mildly destroyed, we had to rely on flavour. The pumpkin mousse was light and mildly flavoured, the passion fruit sorbet added a sharp and cold surprise that was delectable, the Parmesan sauce was strong and dare I say it, over powering? The stand out on the plate to me was the roast garlic biscuit that the passion fruit sorbet was sitting on.  Absolute heaven, I can still taste the biscuit and my mouth is salivating at this moment! I did enjoy the dish, but felt the Parmesan sauce dominated too much and the truffle was, in my view, obsolete.

The scallop dish was a delight.  Sheila was looking forward to this dish from the beginning of the evening and it did not disappoint. After appreciating the very pretty presentation, we tucked in. The scallop was perfectly cooked, caramelised on the outside with slightly translucent flesh inside. The apple was sweet and combined with the mild wasabi heat in the sauce, it proved to be a perfect accompaniment to the scallop.  Seconds please, chef?

I was looking forward to the lobster course purely because it had a 'cloud' of white chocolate. The total dish was a layer of surprises from first to last spoonful. The white chocolate was sweet and airy and the lobster was gorgeous, tender and full of flavour. The first surprise was the green pepper sauce that suddenly poked it's way through the white cloud and shone with it's vibrant emerald hue. The sauce was quite sweet and I'm sure this came mostly from the chocolate foam. Second surprise was to suddenly bite into a pink peppercorn and get the explosion of heat across your tongue. Next surprise was a wedge of lemon flesh that suddenly added a sour element to your mouth, totally contrasting with the sweet green pepper and white chocolate. All in all, a tasty, clever dish that tested your senses constantly.

Rabbit? Three years ago, Sheila would have had a heart attack looking at Bunny Foo Foo on a plate. Now, the food world is her oyster and she'll happily munch away on most things at least once.  Notable exception being ginger... I found the Rabbit course to be exceptional. Rich and hearty and moreish and earthy and yum! The rabbit loin was rolled and stuffed with a little Beaufort cheese which added a delightful creaminess to the rabbit. The polenta was smooth and creamy and the sauce rich and decadent. I just loved the earthy richness of the mushrooms. My only comment was the crayfish tail... why was it on the plate? The chef here obviously loves seafood and seems to add it where ever he can. In my view, the rabbit did not need a crustacean playmate for this dish.

Interesting dish... melted Raclette cheese on a bed of lettuce leaves smothered with creamy mashed potato... Whilst it was lovely, it felt a little out of place.  Beautiful smooth mash mixed with stringy, creamy cheese? How can you go wrong? Also, the now expected surprise on this dish was a tiny cube of red wine vinegar jelly hiding beneath the lettuce. It cut through the creaminess of the dish beautifully. Still not sure that this dish should be on this menu though... A plate of cheesy mash after our main course and just before dessert? Mmmm...

Now we're talking! We were all looking forward to dessert and I must say that this surpassed all of our expectations. It is in essence, a Vietnamese inspired Baked Alaska. Caramelised banana base, topped with a passion fruit biscuit, a scoop of pineapple sorbet and finally smothered by coconut meringue. Serious orgasm material and quite honestly a perfect end to a lovely evening! The bananas were sweet and squidgy, the biscuit slightly sour and crisp, the sorbet sweet and cold and the meringue creamy with a mild crunch of coconut. Just delightful! I thoroughly enjoyed watching Sheila circle her arms protectively around the bowl while she blissfully spooned her way through the dessert, following the waitress's advice of making sure you get a little of each layer on each spoonful.

All in all a very very good evening and a perfect birthday meal for my lovely wife!

Pig Feast

Last week Saturday, Sheila and I invited a few friends and family around as a thank you for their open arms and accommodation during the Christmas holidays.

I decided to have a little fun and created a Pig Feast menu. I geared everything around the humble porker and tried to be adventurous with it. I even created a fun little flyer to send to all the invited guests! 

I will be concentrating on two of the recipes prepared on the evening; namely the Pork Liver Paté and the BBQ Ribs. I will point out here that Sheila made dessert (as per our new rule) and it was heavenly! Her food got quite a few more mmmmmm's than mine did and that is the nature of dessert.  To be honest, the combination of syrupy sweet crunchy bacon with hot moist sticky toffee style sponge and cold creamy ice cream was delectable and if there was more, I'm sure we all would have been in the queue for seconds!

So, onto the Pork Liver Paté...

Serves 8

Ingredients:

8 slices Streaky Bacon

500g Pork Liver

250g Pork Mince

30g Dried Apple, finely chopped

100g Onion, finely chopped

2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped

100g Breadcrumbs

20g Fresh Sage, finely chopped

1 pinch Nutmeg

100ml Madeira Sherry

Salt and Black Pepper

To put the paté together is relatively easy. To start of with, I finely chopped the pork liver up into a very fine dice, almost a mush really.  You could also use a mincer if you wish, but I decided not to get mine dirty for just 500g liver!  

Following this messy little job, everything, with the exception of the streaky bacon, is added into a bowl and mixed together well. Once very well mixed, I would advise cooking a tasty morsel in a frying pan to check seasoning.  Adjust if required.

Taking a 1lt loaf tin, I greased it with a little butter then lined the tin with the bacon, making sure that the sides and base of the tin was totally covered in bacon. I added all of the mix to the tin and covered it tightly with tin foil and then placed it into the centre of my oven preheated to 170C. This stayed in there for about 90 minutes after which I pulled it out to check if cooked. It was so I put the tin to the side to cool down before placing it into the fridge for a couple of hours to set nicely.

Served with freshly baked baguette and a mildly spicy apple chutney, the paté was scrumptious!  I could have left it in the fridge for slightly longer as I feel it hadn't set quite enough, but this didn't affect the taste or rustic appeal of the dish.

Onto the ribs then?

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1.5kg Pork Rib

Rub:

1 tbs Brown Sugar

1 tbs Salt

1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Mustard Powder

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp dried Oregano leaves

100g Onion, very finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped

Cooking Marinade:

1 cup Brown Sugar

250ml Cider Vinegar

50ml Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Mustard Powder

1 tsp Paprika

2 tbs Ketchup

2 tbs Grainy Mustard

150ml Whiskey

I started off by mixing all the rub ingredients together and vigorously rubbing this into the ribs, trying to get the mix into every nook and cranny. The ribs were then covered and placed into the fridge overnight.

The next day, I mixed all the marinade ingredients together in a pan and placed this on the stove to bring to the boil. I allowed the marinade to reduce slightly. I then removed the ribs from the fridge and sealed them on a grill for a couple of minutes before placing them into an oven proof dish.  The marinade was poured over the top of the ribs and I sealed the dish using tin foil. The dish was then placed into the preheated oven (180C) for about 90 minutes. During this time, at 30 minute intervals, I basted the ribs with the marinade in the dish.

After 90 minutes, oven went ping and done!

Onto my plate went a spoonful of grainy mustard mashed potato made with lashings of butter, sautéed cabbage with crispy bacon lardons, a couple of pears roasted in the pork belly juice, a portion of the roast pork belly with crackling and chunk of BBQ pork rib. Time to get stuck in!

After dinner, we had a good 30 minute wait until dessert... it was needed.  The ribs were great as was the pork belly and the mustard mash. The sweet pear offered a pleasant slant on the usual apple accompaniment.

Dessert arrived and honestly, Sheila out did herself and it was just the perfect end to a delightful evening!

The Pig Feast was an unmitigated success and I'd like to explore how else single ingredients can be used to marry a dinner evening together. Anyone interested in helping out as tasters?

Pandoro Cheese Cake with Amaretto

Being foodies and recognised as such by our friends and family, Sheila and I often get presents to do with food.  This Xmas, one of the pressies we received was a Pandoro. A Pandoro is a traditional Italian golden bread enjoyed at Christmas and is baked in a star shaped mould and is traditionally served sprinkled with icing sugar and then sliced and displayed with each slice slightly offset to create a Xmas tree effect.

I decided to use the Pandoro in a slightly different way and I based my idea on a dessert we made about 2 years ago using panettone for a Xmas Dinner Party with a whole bunch of friends.  When making this dessert, bear in mind that it will serve about 10 people, if not more. It is big when finished!  The dessert is basically a Tiramisu/Cheesecake hybrid. Sort of...

We decided on having two flavoured cheese mixes in the dessert; the one being mint chocolate and the other a mixed nut and cherry flavour but you can honestly do what you like with this dessert.  

So to the  ingredients:

1 x Pandoro (or Panettone)

500g Mascarpone

500g Ricotta Cheese
100g Mint Chocolate
40g Almonds
40g Walnuts
40g Glacé Cherries
200ml Amaretto
200g Caster Sugar
Vanilla Essence

To start, I selected a suitably sized bowl for the dessert and lined this with cling film, leaving a large enough overlap to cover the base of the dessert when finished.  This serves two purposes: it allows easier removal from the bowl and protects the base of the dessert when adding weight to it in the fridge.

Next, I sliced the Pandoro into 1cm width slices and layered these into the bowl, making sure to cover the bowl completely. Next is an indulgent bit! You can use any tipple you like for the drizzle, but we just love Amaretto. You could even use coffee (espresso) or a thin flavoured syrup of your choice for this. Also, use as much or as little as you like.  We use about a quarter bottle when making this dessert and the alcohol hit when eating is just yum and feels quite decadent.  Make sure you soak all of the bread with the liquid.  

I really loved the star effect that was being created using Pandoro instead of Panettone, which is a round bread.  The aroma of the Amaretto was quite honestly making me salivate at this point!

Next, I moved on to the first of the two cheese mixes.  Grabbing the chocolate, I started finely chopping it all to fold into the cheese. Needless to say, a couple of small pieces had to be tested for quality control. Remember that you can choose whatever flavours you like to make your cheese mixes. If you used coffee as you soaking liquid, you might use nuts in one cheese and plain cocoa in the other to create a Tiramisu feel. If  using brandy, maybe caramelised oranges would work well in one of the cheese mixes.  The choice is honestly yours!

Once all of the chopping was complete, I added 250g each of Mascarpone and Ricotta to a bowl, added 5ml of Vanilla essence and 100g of sugar. This mix got a good beating to blend everything together.

The mix was added into the bowl with the Pandoro and spread out evenly.  A slice of Pandoro was placed on top, with little bits of the bread filling in any gaps and, of course, was liberally sprinkled with Amaretto!

Moving onto the second cheese mix, I chopped the almonds and walnuts into a rough small dice and then cut the cherries in half. This was added to a bowl with 5ml Vanilla and 100g sugar.

A good beating ensued!

The mix was added to the Pandoro dessert bowl and spread out evenly. Be a little gentle here as the cheese is quite sticky and thick and can easily pull or rip away the softer soaked Pandoro.

Add the final layer of Pandoro, fill in the gaps and, yes, you guessed it, sprinkle on yet more Amaretto!

Fold the cling film up over the base of the dessert and seal it completely.

Press down evenly and gently on the cling film base to compress the dessert a little, then add weight to it. I used a plate and a couple of tins. Place the dessert into the fridge overnight.

For service, remove the cling film base and turn the bowl upside down on your serving platter. Using the flaps of cling film created when opening the cling film, gently lever/pull the dessert out of the bowl.  Once out, remove the rest of the cling film and Voila!

You can now sprinkle on a little icing sugar or powdered cocoa, but not too much as you will lose the beautiful star pattern created by the Pandoro.

Enjoy!

We did...

Indian evening with some friends...

What an absolutely amazing experience this whole event was!  This includes my shopping trip on the Friday before with Nasim and Sumrah from work.

Indian food is very new to me.  I have never been huge into chilli (I liked a little heat, but to a limit) and because Sheila wasn't either, curry's and the like never featured on our menu's at home.  Then we went to Thailand... Ever since our honeymoon, Sheila has been getting steadily hotter and hotter.  About 2 months ago I bought Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible.  Needless to say, we started of light.  Korma's and Coconut, Almond style curry's were the order of the day.

Sheila made the suggestion of a fully Indian themed dinner party.  I was a tad dubious to start of with and then got into the whole idea of it.  At work, one of my colleagues, Nasim is regarded as a brilliant home cook for everything Indian and has brought in various offerings for the office to try on occasions. I decided to use her as my mentor and she just jumped at the idea and was very excited to teach me a little about her food culture.

I went to her with a menu in my head...

Beef Samosa's with a home made chutney to start.  Main course was a Green Coriander Chicken Curry from the Curry Bible.  Dessert was an Indian flavour inspired Coconut Ice Cream with Mango Sauce.  Following a short discussion with Nasim, the menu matured into:

Curried Lamb Samosa's, Phakora and Pappadam with Chilli and Coconut Relish, Tamarind and Date Dip, Cucumber and Mint Raita and Mango Chutney

Green Coriander Chicken Curry with Basmati Rice and Naan Bread

Coconut Ice Cream with Mango Sauce in an Amaretto Snap

As you can see, almost all of the influence was into the starters.

Next on the food journey was a quick visit down to VB & Sons in Greenford.  Nasim was like a little child and was running around the shop showing me all sorts of things and appeared to be loving it!  Stopping in front of the chilli section, she grabbed a plastic bag and put a whole handful of green chilli's into the bag and proceeded to add another handful.  I asked, "What's that for?".  "The chilli dip!" she replied.  My mind boggled!  There were only 8 people enjoying dinner at ours and Nasim had at least 20 chilli's in the bag already and was putting in more! "Ummm... I think that'll be enough..." I stammered.  She looked at me and said, " Don't worry, they're not as hot as those ones there," pointing at the scotch bonnets and bird's eye chillies.  Sheila and I usually put two bird's eye chillies into our dishes now and even if these chillies were milder than the bird's eye, I was still seriously struggling to comprehend 20+ chillies in one dip used only for starters... Bless Nasim though, she did stop putting chillies into the bag!

At home that evening, I prepared the Lamb Curry for the Samosa's and the marinade for the chicken curry. I was informed by Nasim that the mix for a samosa has to be dry.  Following her instructions (hastily written down) I browned off the lamb in a frying pan, added Garam Masala spice and salt and allowed this to cook off completely, so that no liquid remained in the pan.  I checked the seasoning and added more spice because I didn't think the kick was there.  To the cooked meat, I added very finely chopped onion and coriander and finally some frozen peas.  All I did was stir this around until mixed and then the pan came off the heat.  I was told to not cook the onion or peas, as the frying the next day would do this.  Also, Nasim said to use the coriander stalk as the stalk holds loads of flavour.  So, the mix was allowed to cool, placed into a sealed container and then into the fridge.

The chicken marinade involved a whole bulb of garlic, huge chunks of ginger (sorry, Sheila!), the juice from 2 lemons, salt and a little water. This was blended together thoroughly and massaged into the chicken cubes and placed, covered, in the fridge overnight.  

About a month ago, I made an ultimatum to Sheila.  Dessert's were no longer part of my realm and it is now her job.  This obviously caused a little anxiety in the beginning, however she rose to the challenge and after delving into several recipe books and putting a few ideas out there, she decided on the dessert you see here.  On the Friday evening, Sheila joined me in the kitchen and made the custard for the coconut ice cream so that it could spend the night in the fridge and get lovely and cold before being churned.  It is nice spending time in the kitchen with my wife, however I have to learn to keep my trap shut.  Rolling pins hurt... I can also honestly say that she is one messy cook!

On Saturday, I started on the dipping sauces.  I started by putting Tamarind and Date (about 200g each) into water and bringing this to the boil.  Whilst the fruit was boiling away, I started on the Green Chilli and Coconut Relish and I dumped a handful of (6) green chillies into a blender. On top of this I added a whole bunch of coriander, about 150g of dessicated coconut, some lemon juice, salt and a couple of cloves of garlic.  Turning the blender on, I added a couple of spoons of water through the top of the lid.  Whizz, whizz, whizz...  stop, spoon in, taste...  BANG!  Wow, it was hot! My reaction caused loads of hilarity from Sheila until it was her turn to taste.  I deviated slightly from Nasim's recipe here and added some coconut milk and sugar which I believe really helped the sauce.  So much for Nasim's comment that these chillies are milder than Bird Eye chillies...

Onto the Tamarind and Date sauce then.  I strained off the liquid into a bowl and squeezed out the remaining liquid from the soft fruit pulp.  I discarded this pulp and put the liquid back onto the stove.  To this I added 1 tbsp tomato sauce, salt,  1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp cayenne pepper.  The sauce was then allowed to reduce a little to develop the flavours.  Tamarind, I found with jaw clenching intensity, is very bitter on its own, however the finished sauce tasted amazing!

The Raita was easy.  Grate the cucumber, finely chop the mint leaf and stir both into plain yoghurt.  Add a little seasoning to taste and done!

One of our guests jumped into action cooking the pappadums.  Easy easy easy!  1 minute each in the microwave and done.

Onto the Pakora.  This is essentially an Indian batter and I was introduced to this delectable fritter at work at a colleagues leaving do.  Yes, Nasim had made them!  Well, I nabbed her recipe and set about creating it.  You start off with finely chopped onion, very small diced potato, finely chopped Methi (fenugreek) and Gram flour.  This is all mixed together with a little water, salt and chilli powder to create a moist yet firm batter.  Just before frying, I was instructed to add 1/4 tsp bicarb of soda.

To fry, use a dessert spoon to portion the batter and plop into the oil.  Do not have the oil too hot.  We had it set at about 180C and this worked fine.  Remember that the potato is raw in the batter, so this needs to cook through and is why a very small dice is a perfect cut for the potato.

Whilst Sheila was diligently acting as my commis chef frying off the pakora, I started on filling the samosa's following Nasim's folding instructions from the day before.  I must say the shape came out wonderfully even if it did take me quite a while to complete all the filling and folding.  A paste of flour and water is used to glue the samosa pastry closed.  We fried the samosa's off to a beautiful gold and starters were ready!

Our guests loved it all!  17 samosa's gone, about 40 pakora gone, a dozen pappadum (almost) gone with many a comment on the sauces, especially the green chilli and coconut fire bomb.

Just before starter service, I started the Basmati rice going in the steamer and place the naan bread in the oven (covered in foil) to warm up.  I removed the chicken in marinade from the fridge and added this to a hot pan on the stove.  I then let it do its thing as I enjoyed starters with our guests.

Returning from starters, I stirred the chicken salivating at the wafting garlic and ginger aromas coming from the pot.  The rice cooker had finished its cooking cycle and I let the rice continue to steam and keep warm in the steamer.  Into a blender I added 400g tomato, 1.5 bunch coriander, 4 whole green chillies and a couple of teaspoons tomato puree.  Once blended thoroughly, I added this whole lot to the pot with the chicken and brought everything back to the boil.  I just love coriander and was really looking forward to tasting this dish.

After allowing about 15 minutes for cooking, I added 400ml yoghurt, stirred it all together and brought it back to the boil.  A quick taste and adjustment of seasoning and we were ready to eat.

Once again satisfied guests...  The coriander chicken was amazing.  I just loved it, especially when wrapping the chicken and a little sauce up in some naan bread and munching it like a wrapped pancake!

Dessert was next.  Sheila jumped onto the Mango sauce and all of a sudden I was the commis chef!  I was instructed to go out and fetch the ice cream basin from the freezer and set up the churning machine.  The sauce was finished in no time at all (a little lemon juice added for sharpness) and the custard had been poured into the churner and was whirring away.  We then spent the next 20 minutes making Amaretto snaps whilst the ice cream churned away.

The sweet creamy coconut and slightly sharp mango was quite honestly just perfect to finish off our firey yet morish meal.

Thanks sooo much to Nasim!  I will be speaking to her again soon about our next Indian evening.

Cookbook Lottery #5 - Gordon Ramsey's Pheasant and Ginger Casserole

A new role at work has severely limited my time over the last couple of months and writing the blog has been low on my list.  I do have a couple of sessions from last year to write about (the blog below plus a Christmas dessert created for our family). These will be first catch up blogs followed by Roast Duck in Cider which I am cooking tomorrow.

Sheila has been her usual self and filled up the diary, so over the next 4-5 weeks we are hosting 3 dinner events for friends and family.  First is an Indian evening, followed by a Pig Feast (nothing but pork dishes on the menu!) and lastly an Asian inspired evening.  I will write about these evenings too and let you all know how we got on.

So, Pheasant and Ginger Casserole then?

Sheila and I visited a farmer's market last week just because we had nothing better to do on a Sunday morning.  I had no plan at all to buy anything, yet left with a couple of bags full of pork belly, mallard duck, sausage, smoked cheese and pheasant.  All of this cost about £17... Well worth it!

So, after buying all this wonderful produce on a whim, I decided to add a new rule to the Cookbook Lottery challenge.  I can now go out and buy produce that I have never used before, then from within the cookbook list and recipes, I would choose a recipe to match the product.

So, the only recipe I could find in the cookbook collection was from Gordon Ramsey's Healthy Appetite.  On page 97, I found Pheasant and Ginger Casserole.  Sorry, Sheila, I know it's ginger and you hate it, but it's for the good of our foodie growth!

The only shop open at 5pm on a Sunday is the Co-op so I shot off there to buy a couple of ingredients I would need to complete the recipe.  This proved to be a bit of a struggle...  No fresh thyme or fresh ginger, no cloves and no star anise.

Time to get a little creative then.  Our Chinese 5 spice mix at home contains fennel, garlic, ginger, cloves and star anise so that covered the star anise and clove route, plus I was already putting garlic and ginger into the dish, so that was fine.  What could a little extra fennel do to anyone?  Fresh thyme became dried thyme and fresh ginger became lazy ginger (prepared in a jar!)

I rough chopped all the vegetables as instructed by the recipe, then rubbed a little salt and pepper into the skin of the bird.  

The pheasant was plonked breast side down into the casserole dish. I then added everything else to the dish, spreading it all evenly around the bird.

I was a little naughty and deviated slightly from the recipe here.  Instead of adding water, I added vegetable stock purely because I wanted more depth of flavour in the cooking liquid.

The casserole dish was put on the stove and the stock was brought to the boil.  Once boiling, the heat was turned down to the minimum and a lid was put onto the dish.  I then then set the timer for 20 minutes and moved into the lounge to have a beer with Sheila.

The "Beep Beep!" of the timer necessitated a quick excursion into the kitchen to turn the pheasant over and give the stock a bit of a stir.  Timer set again for 15 minutes, couch calling, beer waiting...  you know the drill. 
As usual, Sheila's timing is perfect and about 30 seconds after her comment, 'I'm hungry!' the timer beeped at us, Sheila grinned happily and we went into the kitchen to dish up.

I removed the pheasant from the stock and placed it onto a chopping board to portion. We were warned to expect shot in the bird, so I wasn't surprised during the portioning to remove two small metal balls from the breast meat.  I removed all the cooked flesh from carcass and discarded the skin and bones. 

The portions of pheasant were placed into a bowl, followed by ladles of cooked vegetables and lashings of the sauce.  It seriously smelt heavenly!

Serve with fresh bread and dinner is served!

Thoughts?

Ummm...  not sure really.  The sauce was amazing, the vegetables were soft and had loads of flavour and overall it was beautifully hearty and perfect for a winters evening.  I just loved dunking the bread and munching on the soggy, doughy, warm, gorgeously tasty goodness!

The question point is on the bird.  It was ok really. Slightly gamier taste than chicken, to be expected, but not the wow I was expecting.  Also, it was still a little tough.  Longer cooking time required?  The vegetables would not have held there shape much longer in the stock so I reckon it must have been that this particular bird was a little tough one, building wiry strong muscles by constantly running around his little habitat or pheasant is naturally a tougher meat..  

Mmm... Maybe I just expected too much from a little humble bird that runs around in the grasslands.  Might try a roast next time, see if there is any difference to our experience.