Everyone has ‘that’ restaurant. For some ‘that’ restaurant can be a guilty pleasure, shrouded in memories or just because you love it and can’t quite put your finger on it. For me, The Valle D’Oro at Newbury is the restaurant I always call upon when I need something. Sometimes it’s to fill a hole with so much cheese I can barely walk, other times it’s just because I love it. Why do I love it? I cannot be specific as all the aspects of being there work together to ultimately provide an evening you cannot leave without feeling satisfied.
Archives for April 2012
Cookery Demo
My demonstration was all about asparagus; three different ways to cook it and three different flavours to complement it. Firstly boiled asparagus with lemon, orange and black pepper butter, secondly griddled asparagus with crème fraîche and chive dip and lastly raw asparagus salad. The boiled asparagus had to sadly be left out of the demo as I was using an induction hob and the pan I had brought to boil in wouldn’t work. Luckily my griddle pan was hob compatible so there were two bunches griddled and one bunch raw. It was remarkable that I managed to get it all ready at the same time, I didn’t leave anything out and it even looked slightly presentable.
Three ways with Asparagus 3 of 3: Raw Asparagus Salad
You will need (for two):
A bunch of asparagus Rapeseed Oil Old Winchester (or Parmesan) Juice of ½ lemon Black pepper Peeling the asparagus with a hand peeler is actually quite easy; you can attack it full force, bits of asparagus flying everywhere, and it seems to work pretty well. You could try it with a mandoline but I have too much affection for my fingers to try it.Remove the woody ends of the asparagus but leave enough to hold on to. Peel the asparagus from stem to tip, keep the stems (non woody) for making into a soup, or if you’re really adventurous a soufflé or sorbet. Pile all your peelings into a bowl, drizzle over some rapeseed oil, lemon juice, pepper and a healthy shaving of Old Winchester. Old Winchester is our answer to Parmesan and if you’ve not tried it before it has a similar texture but a bit more bite and acidity.
Three ways with Asparagus 2 of 3: Griddled with crème fraîche and Chive Dip
The second part of my cookery demo is all about griddled asparagus. This is a great way of cooking asparagus as you can do it on a griddle inside or outside on the BBQ if the weather is on your side! Whichever way you choose you will get a wonderfully smoky, almost nutty flavour to the asparagus. It’s fantastic on its own or on the side with some poached fish, especially with the chive and crème fraîche dip!
Three ways with Asparagus 1 of 3: with Orange, Lemon Zest and Black Pepper Butter
This weekend I am doing my first proper cookery demo at The Greener Living Show in the New Forest. To make things as easy as possible I am keeping it simple and seasonal. I will be cooking asparagus three different ways to show how one vegetable, if prepared differently, can taste completely different.
First and foremost; boiled asparagus. A great way of cooking asparagus but it’s hampered with the lingering fear of over cooking it and ending up with a soggy, limp green stalk. I don’t bother putting only the stems in the water so the heads can steam gently, I just throw it all in and it works every time.
Leftover Sloe Chocolate Truffles
You will need:
A large handful port soaked sloes, de-stoned (recipe for making sloe port here)
150g dark chocolate
150ml double cream
25g butter
Cocoa Powder
Heat the cream up gently until almost boiling, stirring often so it doesn’t catch.
While the cream heats up, grate the chocolate into a bowl, cut the butter up and put this in the bowl too. To be honest I did this before I heated the cream otherwise I knew the cream wouldn’t get the attention it deserved and I’d still be cleaning the kitchen now.
Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Mixed Mushroom Risotto
An Italian deli has recently opened up nearby and I am lucky to have access to many interesting ingredients that I didn’t before. This also means I have another local shop to happily support and one of the many reasons for returning is their mushrooms. Similar to mushrooms you can buy in a jar but you don’t pay for oil you don’t use. You get all different sorts of mushrooms in a light oil with herbs and a slightly acidic taste. These earthy mushrooms would make a brilliant partner for my sweet broccoli to top a white risotto.
Sloe Port: The Taste Test
My Sloe Journey
Gin – first of all the sloes were steeped in gin. This particular batch included some blackberries which have to be removed after three months to stop them turning bitter. At this point I had a litre of glorious hedgerow gin and some plump, gin filled sloes that couldn’t be simply thrown away. Port – the berries leftover for the gin weren’t going to be wasted so they were made into sloe port. Chocolate – once the port is finished the berries will be used again to make some sloe chocolate truffles.So now I have a Rumtopf full of sloes swimming in ruby red port. The port is fantastic; a more rounded version of the sloe gin. You get the flavour of sloes, the warmth of the alcohol and the richness of red wine. There’s nothing else quite like it. I can’t wait to have some with cheese, add it to gravy for richness and put a little in a hip flask for a calm evening walk. My sloes and I have been on a magnificent adventure thus far but where can I go from here? I have a few ideas up my sleeve to ensure that the sloes are used to their full potential. Out of 2kg of sloes I have produced 3l of elixir and I don’t intend to stop there.
The Real Italian Pizza Company at Bath
The last time we were in Bath there was a tiny little restaurant which had people queueing out of its doors; there wasn’t a hope of getting in. This time however The Real Italian Pizza Company had a few spare tables that we were grateful to sit at and get out of the rain.
The menu is unsurprisingly dominated by pizzas; without tomato, without cheese, with whatever you want. If you don’t fancy a pizza, there are a few other options but I would wonder why you would be in this restaurant if you didn’t want pizza.
Hot Cross Bun Bread and Butter Pudding
Slice the hot cross buns into four or five slices and butter on one side. I thought I’d be lucky to get three slices but four or five can be easily accomplished with a little perseverance. If you want you can put marmalade on the buttered side too for an extra citrusy zing. Put the buttered slices into an oven proof dish.
Whisk together the egg, egg yolks and sugar with until well combined. Empty the condensed milk into a saucepan and add two tbsp milk. Heat gently until almost simmering and then pour into the egg mixture whisking all the time. If you’re particularly exuberant with the whisking and subsequent calorie burning it would be rude not to reward yourself with extra pudding. Pour the custard over the bread and leave to soak in for a few minutes.If the pudding is looking a bit parched and there’s not a drop of custard visible, pour over a little extra warmed milk. This will depend on the size of the hot cross buns you use. Put a few small knobs of butter on top of the pudding.