Fruit Tarts

We have an abundance of fruit in the village store at The Old Red Lion today so I got creative!
Sweet pastry tart cases filled with custard and topped with a mixture of fresh fruit glazed with apricot jam. Find them on sale at Radmore Farm Shop, Cambridge tomorrow afternoon.

Fresh Fruit Tarts

Fresh Fruit Tarts

A Fishy Tale (or How To Oven Cook A Side of Salmon!)

As the sun shone, and the church bells rang, late morning today, 50 guests crossed the road from St Martins Church, Litchborough to The Old Red Lion to attend a christening party and a buffet lunch of the pubs finest food.
Buffets are renowned in the catering trade for being hard work and very time consuming but, it is immensely satisfying when seeing the end result of all your hard work spread out on one long table.
I have spent many years preparing buffets so basically know what I'm doing by now, however, for this particular buffet, along with the beef, pork and hot new potatoes was also a request for whole salmon. There was a slight SHREAK inside my head on hearing this news as I have never cooked such a big fish before but I'm always up for a new food challenge and set out straight away to find out how to achieve the best results.
Usually, it seems, most cooks use a fish kettle to cook salmon on the hob but, as we don't have a fish kettle at the pub, I decided to do my research on oven baking.
 Having  googled loads of recipes and ideas, and making pages of notes, this morning I very nervously put it all together and prayed for great results!
I had a beautiful fish to work with. Weighing 10lb and having been gutted and pinned I was left with 2 large, clean and very pink sides of salmon.

10lb Salmon gutted, pinned and ready to cook.

 

 

First I laid out 3 large pieces of foil on a baking tray and covered with slices of lemon.

Slices of lemon on a bed of foil.

To the lemon I added slices of onion, rosemary and bay leaves.

Lemon, onion, rosemary and bay leaves on foil base

 

I rubbed the skin on the salmon with olive oil then laid the fish, skin side down, onto the foil and seasoned the top with sea salt and cracked black pepper. I then wrapped the foil around the fish, like a parcel, and, just before totally closing the top, poured white wine over the fish. The "parcel" was then transferred to the oven for about an hour until we were ready to serve it.

Sides of Salmon on a prepared bed of lemon, rosemary, onion and bay leaves.

 

While the salmon cooked I prepared a few items of decoration for when it was on display on the buffet table. On removal from the oven it took 2 of us to very carefully transfer both sides to a display slate, and I mean CAREFULLY as it was a tricky manoeuvre to lift the fish!
I quickly got to work decorating.
I had made tomato roses with halves of lemon and cucumber for the top.

Tomato rose decoration with cucumber and lemon.

 

Lots of cucumber and lemon!

 

I piped some flowers out of cream cheese and paprika directly onto the slate to the side of the salmon, and added a finishing touch of king prawns.

2 decorated sides of salmon with tomato roses, cucumber and lemon.

 

Finally completed and our young restaurant manager Chris had the rather important task of delivering this large platter to the buffet table. No Pressure on that task at all!!

Dressed salmon with cucumber, lemon and tomato roses with cream cheese and paprika piped flowers with king prawns.

 

The party hosts and guests were extremely complimentary about all the food and service today. It's lovely for us all to receive such praise when we have worked so hard. Good job done once again by Team Red Lion!!!

 

 

The Northamptonshire Food & Drink Awards 2013-2014

I have never considered entering a food competition before and, to the best of my knowledge, have never worked in an establishment that would aspire to win any kind of award for their business. I have now!!!!!
The Rogers family have spent years of hard graft building their businesses and take great pride in everything they do. As an outsider looking in I can see they set themselves goals and, as each goal is achieved, set the bar just a little bit higher!
Now that The Old Red Lion seems to be establishing itself as quite a popular and well liked village pub with a reputation for serving good, quality homemade food in a warm, friendly atmosphere it is time for the next goal- To Win Awards!
We were made aware of The Northamptonshire Food & Drink Awards in the form of a letter from Heygates , our local mill, from where we are supplied with all of the flour we use in the pub.
It seems that Heygates are sponsoring 'Artisan Local Product of the Year' within the competition and suggested that it might be a category that we considered entering.
"Artisan" we discovered on research, describes a product handmade by traditional methods.
Vicky & I, to say the least, got a little excited at the prospect of entering this category. With her passion for homemade cakes and mine for pies we knew we wanted to have a go.
  The entrance forms were daunting I must say. Lots of writing to describe the product, why it was considered Artisan, where ingredients were sourced from, why it was value for money and proof that it was made locally in Northamptonshire.
But we did it, and the forms are signed, sealed and, hopefully by Monday, will be delivered.
So I guess you now all want to know what our entrance products are?
For Vicky, she decided that her lemon drizzle cake would be best to enter as it sells best out of all her cake range. With flour from Heygates and free range eggs from Radmore farm it certainly is made with local produce and all the beating, whisking, lemon zesting, juicing  and baking certainly make it eligible as an "Artisan" product.

Vicky's Homemade Lemon Drizzle Cake

And for me? Well I chose from the many pies that I make to enter my steak and ale pie with bubble and squeak topping. Made from the best beef from Radmore Farm, flour from Heygates and even potatoes grown on the farm it also is certainly made from local produce and with the braising, rubbing ,rolling, mashing, and chopping I certainly would consider it "Artisan" also!



 

Steak & Ale Pie with 'Bubble &Squeak' Topping

So for now all we can do is wait, with our fingers tightly crossed!!!!!!!

In addition to these entries we have also entered Toby into "Young Chef Of The Year" so best of luck to him and The Old Red Lion is entered into "Food Pub Of The Year". We await our mystery customers to dine with us in the very near future!

Quiche Of The Day

As summer approaches (yes it is really coming!) it's time for salads and light meals. So the new menu at The Old Red Lion, Litchborough now contains "Quiche of the Day" which will always be a vegetarian choice, perfect for National Vegetarian Week.
Fresh from the oven here's todays choice - Tomato,Courgette,Basil and Mozzerella

Tomato, Courgette, Basil & Mozzerella Quiche

This is a photo of yesterdays choice - Broccoli, Pesto, Cashew & Goats Cheese

Broccoli, Pesto, Cashew & Goats Cheese Quiche

So what's your favourite flavour?
 Please feel free to share your favourites in the comments box below

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.

National Vegetarian Week - May 20th - 26th

In todays society it is important to consider many different food types when designing menus in eating establishments. It's amazing how many people now inquire about gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian and vegan options for meals.
 Here at The Old Red Lion, Litchborough we are always happy to discuss alternative options to the menu with customers and try to include a variety of vegetarian meals on our menu.
 As we enter "National Vegetarian Week" I thought I would share with you some of the meat free options on our current menu.

Todays dish is Vegetable Tagine with Toasted Almond Couscous.
A "Tagine" is traditionally a Moroccan dish and would be described as a slow cooked, sweet and spicy stew.
I got this recipe originally from the BBC Good Food website and the dish is proving to be very popular already on the new menu.
We even managed to find some lovely, white, mini tagine dishes which matched our plates perfectly!!
We love good presentation for all our dishes!

There are some lovely ingredients found in this dish including dried apricots and chick peas. It's also a very healthy meal if you are watching your weight at the moment!

When reading the recipe, one of the ingredients is Harissa paste which I had never heard of before. We found a jar in Waitrose to begin with but it's very easy to make your own version. You can find a recipe HERE .
It certainly does give the stew a very distinctive unique taste.

The great thing with the mini tagine dish is that the stew forms a great shape which remains in place when the lid is removed!!

Have a go at the recipe yourself or, if you fancy being treated, pop by the Old Red Lion and let us do the cooking for you!

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.