Broad Bean And Basil Pate

It's a short harvesting season for Broad Beans, also known as Fava Beans, I learnt this evening, spanning from late May to early September.
Known as King of all beans they have a flavour smoother, sweeter and richer than all beans. According to Hannibal Lecter they are eaten well with liver and a nice bottle of Chianti!




Broad Beans, also known as Fava Beans.

 

 

 

Here at The Nook we like to work with seasonal food on the weekly menu.
This week I sought inspiration to use these fine beans for a dish and attempted a new pate, and boy the result was lovely.  

Broad Bean and Basil Pate accompanied by Mushroom Pate, Humus and Various selection of breads.

As with my mushroom pate I sweated some onion and garlic with butter in a pan then added some boiled broad beans. Unlike Hannibal Lecter I didn't reach for the chianti, instead I poured some pinot grigio in the pan with some basil leaves and allowed it to reduce down.
After allowing it to cool a little I placed the mixture into the processor with some cream cheese and seasoning and whizzed together.
I left to set overnight and it turned into a lovely smooth paste and soooo tasty.

Broad bean and basil pate on todays menu

The pate served up nicely in a bowl and accompanied on a rustic board with my chestnut mushroom pate, hummus and salad. On the side I served pitta bread, toasted focaccia and baked shortcrust pastry biscuits.
A big winner on the menu this week, I definitely recommend giving it a try .    

Broad Bean and Basil Pate

Linking up this week with:

Tasty Tuesday

Veggie Wednesday 

Foodie Friday and Everything Else

Mushroom, Feta and Roasted Pepper Pate

I had a bit of a busman's holiday this week on my days off and went for tea and cake at a local café.
Looking at their specials board I noticed they had Mushroom and Stilton Pate on their lunch menu. Sounded lovely.
I often make mushroom pate at The Nook but never thought of adding cheese.
I had feta left over in the fridge this week so thought I would adapt my usual pate recipe and include it.

I chopped some mushrooms and pan fried them in lots of butter.

Sauté Mushrooms in Lots Of Butter 

 

 

 

Then I crumbled the feta in and cooked until melted. 

Mushrooms and Feta

I had some roasted peppers in the fridge and had a brainwave to throw them into the mixture. It seemed to be drying out in the pan so I added some cream and seasoned.
The mixture looked gorgeous and, if you didn't want to blitz into a pate, it would have been equally as gorgeous to stir through some pasta.
But for this recipe I put all the mixture into the food processor and blitzed until smooth, then refrigerated.

Mushrooms, Feta, Roasted Red Pepper and Cream

And here is the finished product!
 Feedback from our customers was very positive. Great to have another vegetarian option on the menu.

Mushroom, Feta and Roasted Pepper Pate served with Rhubarb, Fig and Ginger Chutney, toasted breads and salad.

I served it with my Rhubarb, Fig and Ginger chutney, toasted red onion focaccia from The Revel Bakery, and my own Lemon and Poppy Seed bread.

Mushroom, Feta and Roasted Red Pepper Pate.

Linking up this week with:
Tasty Tuesday
Veggie Wednesday
Foodie Friday and Everything Else.

Parsnip And Horseradish Pate

During the 80s If I dined out, and had a starter, I would always look for chicken liver pate on the menu as it was my firm favourite.
Chicken livers cooked in heaps of butter and an alcoholic beverage, such as sherry, and compact into a tight mold to eat with warm toasted breads was my idea of heaven.
Over the past 3 or 4 years as my interest in food has developed I have moved on from the traditional meat pate to other vegetable and fish varieties.
It was at The Old Red Lion that I first made mushroom pate to go on the main menu. So easy and quick to make and so tasty.





Mushroom Pate, Onion Chutney and Toast

 

 

I can remember during my interview for the head chef position at The Nook On The Square I witnessed Eli whizzing together her own recipe for salmon pate. Frequently on the menu it is a huge hit with the customers as a light bite.



Eli's Smoked Salmon Pate with Cucumber, Cress and Celery salad and Toasted Breads

This week I thought I would try something new. Amongst our vegetables I had a couple of parsnips and a horseradish that had been bought in for another dish but not used.
I used a similar concept to the mushroom pate recipe and fried off some chopped shallots and garlic in a pan in a rather generous helping of butter!
I peeled and grated the parsnip and added to the pan with some salt and pepper. Not really knowing how much horseradish to put in, as I hadn't used it in it's raw form before, I grated 2 heaped tablespoons and added to my mixture in the pan. Adding more butter, so that the parsnip didn't burn, I left to cook until soft. This was probably about 10 minutes.
I transferred the mixture to the food processor and added a small tub of cream cheese and whizzed to a smooth paste.
The taste was lovely, although I did add a teaspoon of horseradish cream from a jar as it needed just a little more taste.
I served the pate on a bed of roasted, mixed veg and toasted sourdough.




Parsnip and Horseradish Pate served on a bed of roasted vegetables with toasted sourdough

And the verdict?
The customers loved it!
I was surprised how many people ordered it but so pleased with the feedback.
Would definitely recommend you try this one!
I have now made 2 batches and they have flown out of the kitchen .

Successful Summer Menu Launch

For the past few weeks at The Old Red Lion, Litchborough we have been discussing new dishes for the summer menu.
 It's lovely to be involved in the planning, and exciting to think something you have designed will be eaten and enjoyed by others.
So after weeks of planning it all came together on Tuesday night with a handful of invited customers. We finally launched our summer menu and asked our guests for constructive feedback.
The evening started very calmly as you see from the photo below.
This is Toby demonstrating his skills on the hob.

Toby, Chef At The Old red Lion

As the evening got underway it was very busy in the kitchen.
We did a lot of Mushroom Pate starter served with our own homemade seeded loaf and red onion chutney.
Quite a lot of feedback on this one from not enough bread to too much pate. Nothing major which was great.

Mushroom Pate, Homemade Seeded Loaf And Red Onion Chutney

Meatball starter with warm cheesy dip was also very popular. No negative comments at all on this one, a firm favourite it seemed.

Meatballs And Warm Cheesy Dip

A very popular choice was our crab burger, mini fries and sweet chilli dipping sauce.
My favourite item on the menu I must confess. Very proud of the concept that we achieved here. The crab burger is homemade (secret recipe!) and works very well with my homemade lemon and poppy seed rolls. I think this one will do well in future!

Homemade Crab Burger in Lemon And Poppy Seed Bun with Mini Fries And Sweet Chilli Dip

On to our main courses and Toby worked very hard on the presentation of his fillet of beef filled with a slightly spiced parsnip filling, served with horseradish mash and bean bundles. Beautiful fillet produced by Radmore Farm!

Stuffed Beef Fillet With Horseradish Mash And Bean Bundles

Next came the confit duck wrapped in parma ham and served with our "straw" potatoes and carrot and bean bundles.

Confit Duck Wrapped In parma Ham Served With Mini Fries, Carrot & Bean Bundles

Belly Pork seems to be very much in fashion at the moment in many restaurants so we have included in our menu this tasty slow cooked belly pork filled with a spicy paste and served on chorizo mash and topped with julienne vegetables.

Slow Cooked Belly Pork served on Choritzo Mash and Topped With Julienne Vegetables

It was a hard night and we served about 40 staff ,family, friends and loyal customers with 2 courses each, AND we lived to tell the tale!!!

The new menu is now in full swing and if you fancy trying any of these dishes why not pop along to The Old Red Lion, Litchborough and we'll be happy to cook for you.