Archive for the ‘The Epicurean’ Category

The Epicurean – No3 Blue Stilton Panacotta and Malbec

Monday, November 15th, 2010

Following on from our first instalment of recipes, we have invited Katy and Tim Neal, owners of The Chequers Inn, Rowhook to come up with a delicious dish to enjoy over the winter and festive period!
Tim and Katy are long standing customers of ours at The Chequers Inn, and have a fantastic reputation and following for the wonderful dining experience at this great pub restaurant. If you have not already been then have a look at  their website www.thechequersrowhook.com

The Foodie: Tim Neal, The Chequers Inn.

The Wineys: Katy Neal (The Chequers Inn), Matthew Hennings, Nathan Fynes (Hennings)

The Dish: Blue Stilton Panacotta with Honey Roasted Figs and a Walnut Dressing

The Wine: To celebrate the fantastic quality of Argentina, we decided upon the stunning Felino Malbec 2008 from Viña Cobos – cracking value at £9.99

Blue Stilton Panacotta with Honey Roasted
Figs and Walnut Dressing. Serves 5-6


Ingredients:
375ml double cream
175ml semi-skimmed milk
3 ½ leaves gelatine
60g blue stilton (crust removed)
Salad leaves
5 purple figs
2tsp honey

Walnut dressing:
3oz toasted walnuts
(toasted in grill or oven)
2floz walnut oil
3 medium shallots
2tsp sherry vinegar

Panacotta:
Soak gelatine leaves in cold water
Place the cream and milk in a pan and heat
until almost simmering.
Remove from the heat and add the stilton
cheese, squeeze out the gelatine and add.
Whisk and season.
Place into dariol moulds and refrigerate until set
overnight or for 2-3 hours
To remove from the moulds, warm under hot
water, then turn out.

Walnut dressing:
Finely dice shallots, heat walnut oil and add
shallots and cook until soft.
Remove from heat and add chopped walnuts
and sherry vinegar and season.

Figs:
Cut figs in half, cover with honey and bake in
oven until soft (140°C for approx 15 minutes)

The Verdict: What a wonderful twist on what is normally a dessert base! Tim wanted to come up with something a little different whilst remaining relatively simple to prepare. A great festive starter, lovely and creamy coupled with the rich flavours of the walnut dressing and roasted figs.

The refined Felino Malbec proved to be a great partner, whilst full in flavour it has great balance and a subtle character coupled with a hint of spice. Katy particularly remarked on how smooth the wine was and, infact, was keen to offer it to their customers as a partner to the Stilton Panacotta, which is on their Menu – a ringing endorsement!

All of the above ingredients were sourced locally, where possible.

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The Epicurean – No2 Salad of Tomatoes and Sauvignon

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

Salad of Tomatoes with whipped goats cheese, black olive and anchovy vinaigrette and lemon thyme wafers. Serves 4

The Foodie: Daniel Howes, Chef de Cuisine, Stuarts Events, Pulborough

The Wineys: Matthew Hennings and Nathan Fynes.

The Dish: Salad of Tomatoes with whipped goats cheese, black olive and anchovy vinaigrette and lemon thyme wafers.

The Wine: Travesia Sauvignon Blanc 2009, Chile

Salad of Tomatoes with whipped goats cheese, black olive and anchovy vinaigrette and lemon thyme wafers. Serves 4

4 plum tomatoes
4 Large beefsteak tomatoes
16 yellow (or red) cherry tomatoes
300g soft goats cheese
3 tbsp crème fraiche
Few sprigs of lemon thyme, leaves only
45g shallot, finely chopped
30g black olives, pitted and diced
2 cloves garlic, 1 thinly sliced and 1 finely chopped
50g marinaded anchovy fillet, chopped
200ml extra virgin olive oil
½ lemon juice and zest
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
A few sprigs basil, mint and parsley, chopped and whole
200g young rocket leaves
20g toasted pine nuts
2 sheet filo pastry
A little melted butter
Sea salt and black pepper

Pre-heat oven to 90°C
Halve the plum tomatoes and place on an oven tray, drizzle with a little olive oil, chopped garlic and thyme leaves, season with salt and pepper and place in oven for about 2 hours until soft but still holding their shape – leave to cool.

Make a small incision in the base of the beef tomatoes and immerse them in a pan of salted boiling water for about a minute (until you see the skin start to blister) then transfer to a bowl of iced water, when cool remove the skin from the tomatoes. Repeat with the cherry tomatoes.

In a small pan warm 70ml of the olive oil add the shallots, lemon zest and garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook gently until translucent, remove from the heat and add the anchovies and olives to infuse. When cool mix with the mustard, lemon juice and some chopped herbs, taste to check the seasoning.

Put the goat’s cheese and crème fraiche in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth, season with pepper and add a few chopped lemon thyme leaves.

Pre heat oven to 180°C
Lay the sheets of filo onto a lined baking tray and brush with melted butter, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with a few chopped lemon thyme leaves. Cook in the oven until golden brown – when cool break into large pieces.

Slice the beef tomatoes as thin as possible and arrange onto four plates and spoon the dressing generously over the top. Dress the cherry tomatoes with a little olive oil and seasoning and place on the plates, along with the roasted plum tomatoes. With two spoons shape the goat’s cheese and put four spoons on each plate. Sprinkle the plate with a few leaves of rocket, the fresh herbs and toasted pine nuts, finally lean the thyme wafers against the goat’s cheese and serve.

The Outcome: As usual, Dan has wowed us with some fantastic flavours, he prides himself on using local, seasonal ingredients. The wonderfully refreshing Salad of Tomatoes work very well with the crisp and cleanly styled Sauvignon. It is amazing to get so many flavours and textures out of three types of tomato, that works so well with the whipped goats cheese! A great Lunchtime treat!!

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The Epicurean – No1 Spiced Venison and Syrah

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

A real coup de grâce with our first salvo! We have snared the fantastic skills of Stuarts Events, amazing party designers with the finest foods. Have a look at their stunning work at www.stuartsevents.com

The Foodie: Daniel Howes, Chef de Cuisine, Stuarts Events, Pulborough

The Wineys: Matthew Hennings and Nathan Fynes.

The Dish: Spiced Fillet of Venison with pickled carrots, roast beetroot, celeriac purée. roast charlotte potatoes and port sauce.

The Wine: Tabali Reserva Syrah 2007, Chile.

Spiced fillet of venison with pickled carrots, roast beetroot, celeriac purée, roast charlotte potatoes, and port sauce Serves 4

Pickled carrots:
200g chantenay carrots, washed, trimmed
80ml white wine
75ml white wine vinegar
80ml olive oil
40g caster sugar
200ml water
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 star anise
1 orange, zest and juice
pinch of salt

800g venison fillet
For the spice mix:
1 tsp each crushed dried juniper berries,
crushed fennel seeds, black pepper,
sea salt, chopped rosemary

200g medium sized golden or red beetroot,
washed and trimmed
200g celeriac, peeled and diced (diced weight)
20g butter
80g double cream
500g charlotte potatoes, washed and cut in half
Olive oil
4 garlic cloves, skin left on
Sea salt and black pepper
300ml Brown chicken stock / veal stock
200ml port
A few cubes of butter

For the pickled carrots place all the ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil, simmer for 2 minutes then cool in the pan, leave in the pickle for at least 2 hours. These can be left overnight and the pickle can be re-used.

Pre-heat oven to 190°C.
Rub the beetroot with a little oil and seasoning, wrap in tin foil and roast until tender (about 40 min) unwrap and using a cloth rub the skin off the beetroot, cut the beetroot in half.

Rub the venison in the spice mix and cover for 1 hour.
Melt the 20g butter in a pan add the celeriac and some seasoning, cook for 4-5 minutes until it starts to soften. Reduce the heat, add the cream, cover and cook for about 15 minutes until the celeriac is very soft, transfer to a blender and puree until very smooth, check the seasoning and put in a small pan.

Heat a tray large enough to hold the potatoes in the oven with some oil, when hot carefully add the potatoes and garlic cloves, season well and toss with the oil. Roast for around 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes to achieve a good golden crust.

In a hot oven-proof frying pan sear the venison in a little oil until browned all over, place in the oven and roast for around 10 – 20 minutes (depending on size) for medium rare – check the venison by sticking a small knife into the middle of the fillet then touching it on the back of your hand, when the knife feels warm (not too hot) it can come out. Rest in a warm place for 15 minutes.

In a pan reduce the port by ¾ then add the stock and reduce until sauce like consistency. Keep warm. Add any juices from the resting venison to the sauce.

Whilst the venison is resting, warm the beetroot and carrots in a pan with a little butter. Gently warm the celeriac purée. Remove the potatoes from the oven and arrange all the vegetables on the plates.
Slice the venison, arrange on the plates and spoon over some sauce.

The Outcome: As usual, Dan has wowed us with some fantastic flavours; he prides himself on using local, seasonal ingredients. The Venison was the ‘pièce de résistance’ A wonderfully seasonal choice with real class. I must admit, we were all a little concerned about the Port Sauce, but the Tabali Syrah coped with this admirably. In particular, the Syrah worked extremely well with the spice mix the venison was prepared in.

I have already resigned myself to the fact that my dishes will not look as pretty as these, but the flavours were just stunning and I will be doing my best to recreate them… Why not try for yourself?!

All of the ingredients were sourced from local farm shops, butchers and supermarkets. You may need to pre-order venison from your butcher.

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