New Menu Launch

As the weather turns much colder, and the leaves fall from the trees, it is time to move on from our summer menu and create something new to take us through the winter at The Old Red Lion.
It takes a while to create something special for our customers.Many hours spent looking through cook books for ideas, googling ideas and thinking what accompaniments work well with each dish. Then, armed with ideas, ingredients are bought and we make each meal to ensure sure it looks and tastes nice.
After several weeks of ideas and trials, finally, on Friday evening, we officially launched our new menu.
The whole weekend went really well. Most main course dishes were ordered, though sadly, not many starters, and the feedback received was really positive.
Great news for us, and if you fancy having a peek at a few things we have on offer, scroll down the page and see if anything takes your fancy!

Sundried Tomato Hummus served on a bed of vegetables roasted in soy sauce with rosemary and basil and accompanied by handmade mini heart shaped pittas.

 

Courgette & Sweetcorn Pancake Stack filled with melted mozzarella and roasted peppers.

Tuna Steak served on a bed of lime & herb butter noodles and wilted spinach, topped with a tropical fruit salsa of mango and papaya.

Peppered Fillet Of Beef Steak serve on layers of potato rosti and roasted peppers and topped with a creamy peppercorn sauce.

 

Chicken, Choritzo & Prawn cooked in a tomato and basil cream sauce served on Fusilli Lunghi and accompanied with mini, handmade, heart shaped garlic bread.

 

Venison Steak cooked in blackberry sauce and served on dauphinoise potatoes with sprouting broccoli.

                                   

Halloumi Filo Parcel with zesty chilli middle, served on a bed of sweet potato & sesame mash with marinated olives.

Duck Breast cooked in a spiced red wine & redcurrant sauce served on garlic and parmesan mash and ribbons of vegetables.

 

So have I tempted your taste buds?
 Hope so!

Mushroom, Pesto & Halloumi Filo Parcels

What do think of if I say the words "Buffet Food" to you?

For most of you I bet the first thing to come in your head was either sandwiches or sausage rolls?

Funny how traditions are passed down through the ages.Sometimes though it's fun to experiment with new ideas and this is just what I did for last weekends buffet at The Old Red Lion, Litchborough.

Simple, but really effective, and certainly tasty, these mushroom, pesto and halloumi parcels went down really well with the guests and could also easily be considered as an ideal starter for a vegetarian dinner guest.

I layered 4 sheets of filo pastry on top of each other, brushing each one with melted butter, and cut into squares for the parcels. Then I fried off some chopped mushrooms and garlic in butter, stirred in a spoon of pesto and added diced halloumi. Into the centre of each pastry square I put some filling, then brushed the 4 sides with beaten egg and gathered all sides together to form a money bag shape.

3-4 minutes in the deep fat fryer at 180C and they were ready.

 

 

Preparing the filo parcels

Mushroom, pesto and halloumi filo parcels

Very pleased also with the photos from my new camera! 

Mushroom, pesto & halloumi filo parcels

As for following tradition, well yes we do that too!
Delicious homemade sausage rolls.

Sausage rolls

Olive, cheddar and cherry tomato on cocktail sticks.

Olive, cheddar and cherry tomato

Scotch eggs made from our own eggs and sausage meat from the farm and proper breadcrumbs.

Scotch eggs

Mini tarts too.

Mini quiches and red onion and cream cheese tartlets

 

So what's your favourite?



Halloumi Burger Served In Homemade Pitta Bread

Still embracing National Vegetarian Week, todays suggestion would be ideal for entertaining your vegetarian guests at a summer bbq maybe? I am not a vegetarian but I  LOVE these burgers!
 We originally chose to serve them in a bun but, after feedback on the new menu launch night, had the brainwave of serving in homemade pittas so the taste wasn't so "claggy".
Already a success at The Old Red Lion and very easy to make, so go on, give them a try. Recipe below the picture.

Homemade Halloumi Burger served in Homemade Pitta with Skin on Chips, Coleslaw & Salad

Ingredients
2x400g chickpeas, drained
2Tsp Ground Cumin
1Tsp Ground Coriander
2Green Chillies
2Garlic Cloves
1/2 Bunch Spring Onions
1Tsp Salt
2Tbsp Flour
1Packet Halloumi, Diced

Method
Whizz all ingredients apart from the cheese in a processor then transfer to a bowl. Add the halloumi, mix, and form 6 burgers.
Either cook for a few minutes in a frying pan or under the grill.

I'm entering this recipe in a blog link party this week on a great blog I have discovered, Michelles Tasty Creations. Join me through this link to see what other creative recipes fellow bloggers have been trying this week.