The Wild Garlic, Beaminster - a return visit

Last year we went to the Wild Garlic a few times and had some great meals. The word some gives you the impression that all were not great. Well maybe so but that was more a matter of a budding restaurant and inexperience rather than poor food. Each visit got better and so I was really looking forward to see Mat Follas again after a few months and seeing how his restaurant, food and staff had changed. Well, changed it has! Not hugely in some areas but enough to make a big difference. The restaurant looks much as before: relaxed, bright and colourful (alright, just one colour) and the oak tables are ‘breaking’ in well. The staff were excellent. No gold stars for anyone in particular but everyone seems to enjoy working there and it rubs off. Maybe it is Mat’s excellent management skills or just that they are all part of a team that is doing well – I think a combination of the two. Roll on the food! I’m not going to eulogise about each course. I don’t have time and to be quite honest there are others more capable than me. What I will say is that certain aspects stand out. Firstly Mat’s food has improved and has jumped up another level in quality. Secondly, his portions are a little bigger – I’m not complaining here but in some cases they were a little small before.

So why was it so good? Taste and quality, I would say, oh and did I say faultless! It’s not food with foams and dotted sauces (Mat has used these words in the past) but it is still well presented. Just go there and sample the food for yourself.

I have to add that we managed to sneak in a lunch just before we left – Barnsley Chops with Wild Garlic Pesto – what a fitting fish for the Wild Garlic Resto!

Beaminster Revisited......

Well I have been lax, haven’t I. No blog posts for far too long but I shall make amends!

I have spent the last 4 or 5 months of spare time either doing work on the house or finishing off the bodywork on my Alfa Giulia GTV to get it into the paint shop. The former is a never ending job but the latter is now done and the car awaits it paint. Anyway, back to foodie thoughts and what better way to do that than have a week off in Dorset eating enough to ensure that all the notches on my belt get used!

This year we decided to rent a house and base ourselves in one spot, radiating out to those corners of Dorset that lured us with their culinary delights. Where better than Beaminster. It’s has a small village square with an array of essential shops including a really good butcher, a lovely fruit and veg shop and a small co-op that is open most hours. There are some great walks surrounding the area and if you venture far enough you can find those quaint Dorset pubs. Food, however was high on the agenda and whilst I know how to wield a pan on the stove, I prefer to get the professionals to do the job!

In no particular order or any kind, the top venues we visited were:

• The Wild Garlic, Beaminster
• Sienna, Dorchester
• Hix Oyster, Lyme Regis
• The Three Horseshoes, Powerstock
• Riverside, West Bay
• The Acorn Inn, Evershot

I will write up a review on a few of these soon but I must say here that West Dorset is certainly a hotspot for decent food. (Actually the above order is my order of overall enjoyment – a sort of MaisonMattmoo star rating! - but more of that later)

Review - Hix Soho, 66 Brewer St, London

Having heard about this place for awhile now, it was an opportune place to meet up and try Mark Hix’s fare.

We had drinks in the bar downstairs to begin with and meeting up about an hour after work ensured most of the customers were well oiled. The noise levels are very high and its has a buzz – but not the best place to hold a decent conversation. Moving upstairs to enjoy our meal, we were well looked after by very courteous staff and in no time we were seated and the specials / meat options were discussed with us. We were even shown the cuts of meat on offer – one being a T-Bone for sharing. Sharing! I think not! Anyway we ordered a couple of starters for sharing – Wood pigeon with rhubarb and devilled kidneys. I tried the wood pigeon and it was soft and tender – I personally did not think the rhubarb worked with the pidgeon. I didn’t get the chance to try the kidneys (!) For mains, we had Beef salad, Pork chop and Smoked haddock. All three dishes were very good and the portions were generous. However, there were a lot of capers with the breaded porks chops. The posrk chops came ungarnished as well. The beef salad was anything but dainty – not a dish ideally served up to one of the girls. The smoked haddock dish was the only one with no issues.

A round off of special jellies (overated), treacle tart (not very treacly) and truffules (we had to have more..) downed with some Muscat made it all the more pleasurable.

We all though the food was good but may not go back if we wanted to hold a decent conversation.

Beetroot Rosti...

The demands of Mrs. H. are not to be ignored and with a challenge in hand I decided to have a go at Beetroot Rosti. Now, Mrs. H. is rather keen on Beetroot but I have never tried these before. After consulting a few recipes I decided to give it a go. This was going to be the accompaniment to a fillet steak and dauphinoise potatoes!

Ingredients (Makes 3 or 4):

• 2 raw beetroots
• Fresh ground pepper and sea salt
• 1 tbls of plain flour
• 1 medium onion
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp of butter

Peel and coarsely shred both the beets and the onion and place in a sieve over a bowl. The reason for this is we want to remove as much of the retained liquid as possible. Squeeze the shredded veg until most of the liquid has gone. Beat the egg and add this (as required) and some flour to bind the mixture. Season and then form into patties. Heat a frying pan on medium heat and add butter. When hot, add the patties and cook for approx 8 mins on each side until firm and crisp. Serve with the steak or on their own!

The general consensus was that the flavour was lovely but they could have been crisper. Walks off with head in shame!

its all work.....

I don’t seem to be experimenting much with my cooking! I have been slaving away on my Alfa Giulia Coupe restoration and neglecting my stomach! Mind you, additionally, I have been off the booze fore the last 8 weeks and this puts you off food as well. I wish I could say I have lost a shed load of weight but unfortunately Mr Salter seems to be stuck on the same area. Maybe its just the cold weather.

 

I’ll try something new tonight …..

Crayfish Fishcakes

In a desperate try to get a decent spicy fishcake, I tried using a tub of crayfish bought from the local supermarket – a few tweeks here and there, and voila – delish!

Ingredients (Serves 2 hungry people):

• 1 Tub of peeled crayfish tails
• 1 tbsp of Thai fish sauce
• 1 chopped green chilli
• 1 tbsp of red thai curry paste
• 1 small piece of ginger – grated
• 1 clove of garlic – roughly chopped
• 2 tbsps of chopped fresh coriander (inc stalks)
• Juice of ½ lime
• ½ tsp sugar (ideally palm sugar but any will do)
• 1 tbsp of dried breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs – beaten
• 1 tsp chopped thai basil leaves
• Veg oil for shallow frying

Put the crayfish, fish sauce, chilli, paste, ginger, garlic, lime into a blender and blitz for a very short while – but make sure it is roughly chopped and not too fine. Put this mix into a bowl and combine with the eggs, breadcrumbs, coriander, and basil and ensure the mixture is well mixed together. You should be able to form little patties of the mixture and they should keep their shape. If the mixture is a little liquid, add a few more breadcrumbs. Fry the patties in vegetable oil and make sure they are well cooked on one side before turning over. Serve with some sweet chilli dipping sauce and maybe some cucumber relish.

Chickpea Mash!

No, I’m sorry – it just does not do it for me. Tried a couple of recipes and both tasted of nothing! I’ll stick to humous or similar.

Salsa

I’ve been a little off cooking this last month. A sort of winter blues followed by a boringly long cold spell – which is still going on – and my abstinence from booze. Add to that a troublesome root canal job that drains my pocket and you will understand why I’m a little brassed off! Still I’m soldiering on and I feel like conjuring up a few tasty morsels! Maybe spring can be seen around the corner.

I enjoyed a piece of very fresh sea bass the other day and it was served up with some lovely tomato salsa. I’m not sure I recreated it correctly but it certainly made the right impression, so here goes.

Ingredients (Serve 4 as garnish):

• 4 ripe tomatoes
• 1 red pepper
• 1 red onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 ½ Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• Fresh Basil (optional)
• 10 Cheery tomatoes
• Salt & Freshly ground Pepper

Cut the tomatoes in half and deseed and the same with the red pepper. Sprinkle with oil and place on a tray and heat in a 160deg C oven for about 30 mins until soft and cooked. Chop the red onion and fry in oil with the garlic until soft and clear (medium heat). Remove the tomatoes and pepper from the oven, chop and add to the frying pan. Add the balsamic vinegar salt and pepper and stir well. Turn down the heat and the cherry tomatoes which have been halved. Gently fry until the cherry tomatoes are just beginning to soften. At this point you can add a few chopped basil leaves and stir in. Leave to one side and serve with say Sea Bass and Parmentier potatoes.

Review - Wallace & Co, Putney, London

The snow, almost disappeared, still evident in melting snowmen and the sun out like a warm spring day. That was last Sunday morning and had to be started with a walk with Ronnie. He misses the snow you know. Back home and a change before we go off for Sunday Lunch to Wallace and Co. It’s part of a new venture by Gregg Wallace (of Masterchef and Veg fame) and looks promising. A casual style of Café (not restaurant) that you would not feel out of place at just having a cup of coffee and muffin or a full lunch (I’m afraid it has to be the latter for me!)

Mrs.H. and I arrive on the dot of our booking – thank goodness we did – it was very busy. We were met, eventually, by a very polite front of house guy who sat us at our table (a 4 for 2!) “This will give you more room” (makes note – must accelerate diet..) We sat down and a waiter came over fairly rapidly to check the table and take our drinks order – Coffee for me and a glass of the house red, recommended by the waiter. A peruse of the extensive menu gives you the option of any thing from a breakfast to a salad. I wasn’t going to be led off the scent – I wanted my roast beef for lunch. The waiter took our order or should I say attempted to. He was very nice but didn’t quite grasp the English language! Not his fault – he should not have been employed in the first place – anyway he got his marching orders soon after I complained that I had not had my starter when the beef turned up! No matter, the day was lovely and I was relaxed. I ordered an onion marmalade and goats cheese with salad to start. Mrs.H decided she would save herself for the main course. This eventually turned up and was glorious – fresh and tasty. I’m not sure the salad was very good value – an extra £2 or so for a few green leaves. We now awaited the beef. I double checked my order, after the previous waited was no more, to see if they had got it right – ah, not quite. Having explained to the waiter that I wanted medium rare, they still persisted in trying to serve me up well done beef. No matter, this was swiftly and politely remedied and we both sat down looking at two massive cuts of rib of beef off the bone and the trimmings. I’m not going to wax on lyrical about the components of the meal but it was near on perfect for a Sunday lunch. Points were deducted (;-)) for Mrs.H’s slightly dry Yorkshire. ‘Is that it?’ I asked, as two empty plates were taken away and some comment about us not finishing the roasties – all in good humour. We sat back before pudding and watched tables come and go – crikey this place is busy. More coffees, more wine and a treacle tart (a little bit too much lemon in it for me) and clotted cream. Result – two happy, satiated people!

In summary - The food is better than you expect, the service chaotic (but its only early days), the atmosphere is lively yet laid back and the value – very reasonable. Mr Wallace, I think you can relax at putting your name on the front!

HiYa 2010

Well, what a Christmas break that was… I think this is the first time I have actually lost weight over the holiday period! Probably because I didn’t eat one minced pie – they are so fattening, you know. Santa bought me lots of new toys and books for the kitchen so await some new stuff and recipes soon.

Parmentier Tatties - with garlic..

Tasty quick and moreish!

Ingredients (for 2 hungry people) :

• 3 or 4 Maris Piper spuds – peeled
• 1 large clove of garlic – chopped
• 1 ½ Tbsp of vegetable oil
• 10gms of butter
• Fresh ground salt and pepper

Chop the potatoes into roughtly 1cm cubes. Heat the oil and butter in a pan and fry the cubed potatoes for about 10 to 15 mins, Transfer potatoes and oil to a tray, season and place in a 200deg C oven for about 30 to 40 mins – until browned off. At the halfway stage, stir in the garlic and make sure the cubes are separated. When cooked, transfer to a bowl lined with kitchen towel to absorb the oil. Server hot (see photo below on Rissoles..)

Rissoles to you!

These little (well not so little) beauties are just the job for a cold evening. A liberal dollop of homemade relish or ‘tatty’ sauce and parmentier potatoes and voila, a meal fit for a king!

Ingredients - for 2 hungry souls!:

• 1 lb minced beef
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp of dry mixed herbs
• 1 tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 or 2 tbsp of dry breadcumbs (optional)
• Plain flour
• 1 tbsp of vegetable oil

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl (except flour) and work together so they bind well. Portion up so that you get 4 or 6 balls, then flatten slightly so that they will cook more evenly. Dust with flour to help the frying process. Fry in the oil until lovely and brown, serve hot and enjoy. These will keep and can be re-heated if you want them all to yourself – sometimes crosses my mind!

Winter Warmers...

One of the issues with cold weather, apart from the fact I can’t stand it, is that I tend to cook food that is warming and worthwhile. You know, the sort of food like pies, stews and suchlike. The other problem is that it is ‘party-time’. So if we are not blagging a meal somewhere then I am cooking for more than just our household. In fact next weekend is a prime example – a chicken Dhansak for 30 people. I seem to have no problem catering for 6 or 12 but 30 people! Why do I just seem to find it difficult – maybe the fact that most of my catering equipment is designed for not much more than 8! Still that said, it will still work out well (even if it is by the skin of my teeth) – I’ll post the recipe and details soon…..

 

PS If you want to enjoy a cheap cut of beef, like Silverside, cook the joint in an over at about 140deg C for around 3.5 to 4 hours plus – I did this with a small joint last weekend and it was delicious and very tender….