Tomato Salsa (Dip)

This can be varied as and how you like but I will give you a basic outline below

Ingredients:

• 1 x 440gms can of chopped tomatoes (or fresh is you want but remove seeds)
• 1 small chopped onion
• Small handul of chopped fresh coriander
• 1 tbsp of tomato ketchup (or homemade)
• 1 chopped fresh chilli – to suit
• 1 half small green capsicum pepper – chopped (optional)
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp of caster sugar – depending on the sweetness of vegetables etc

Simply chop all the ingredients and mix in a bowl. Cover and allow the coriander to infuse.

Server with Fajitas or corn chips – or both!

Hersham Winos - Inaugural Event 21.08.09

The evening went off well!

We tasted 5 different red wines (all from South America, mostly Chile) and had one mystery guest wine – which was white. Each ‘tasting’ was interlaced with a crouton and a tuna/pepper spread (recipe to be put up shortly). At the end of the first round we gave a score.

Food was then served (Thai chicken salad) and another round was done!

After the final round we then had a glass of the mystery wine (or was it half time?) This turned out to be a swiss white wine – not common at all and very enjoyable. (Le Moulins du Valais 2008)

The results of the tasting were as follows:

Winner: Pehuen, Apalta, Chile – Carmenere 2004

2^nd: Errazuriz Estate – 2008

3^rd: Don Maximiano Estate (Errazuriz) – 2007

These wines scored 40, 39 and 37 respectively so the scoring was close. Then came the time to carry on the ‘tasting’ and enjoy some good cheeses.

A good evening was had by all and we look forward to the next one!

Should we taste all the wines blind ?

Hersham Wino's

Tomorrow sees the inauguration of the Hersham Wino’s – a sort of Wine Appreciation Society.

The idea will be to have a tasting hosted at a different place each time. The host will supply Canapes etc and the guest bring a bottle of wine of the chosen region and colour. So tomorrow I will be hosting the event with probably about 8 attendees. The wine will be red and from South America. Hopefully we may actually taste wine and not just get drunk!!

I have some ideas for food so will post up after the event.

My Mother ....

On Saturday, my mother, Joyce Harrington passed away after a short illness. 90 years old is not a bad innings but it is still sad to see her go.

I was leafing through her old recipe book yesterday and there are a few meals that I intend to russle up in memory of her…….

Chicken, Chorizo and Bacon

Sounds like I’m using up left overs – well sort of. I didn’t want to waste items in the fridge and came up with this recipe. I make no apologies for the poor photos - but at least I am trying! It can only get better!

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
• Chorizo – say 150cm x 2.5cm piece - chopped
• 2 chicken breasts
• Pack of Bacon lardons or similar
• 1Tbsp of Tomato Paste
• 1 Chilli - chopped
• 1 Onion – diced
• ½ Tsp of Smoked Paprika
• 1 Tsp of Sugar
• 1 440gms tin of chopped tomatoes
• Salt & Pepper

Heat oil in a pan and add the chorizo, onions, bacon and chilli. Stir constantly making sure nothing burns. As the chorizo cooks it will release oil. When it is looking cooked – ie onions are soft, add tomato paste and paprika and stir for a few minutes. Chop the chicken breast and add for a few minutes. Then add the chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper and reduce the heat and cover. Cook for about 20 minutes until chicken is well cooked. Serve with rice or pasta – either way it was very good!

Chilli Chocolate Fudge

Just tried some – gift from the missus – its fab! But like any chilli based chocolate - small doses!

Padron Peppers & Chorizo

And what have we here, I thought whilst rummaging through the vegetable section at my local supermarket. Padron Peppers! 1 in 30 has a kick, is the slogan. Anyway, fried some chorizo, removed from the oil and used the oil on high heat to fry the small peppers (whole) for 3 or 4 minutes. Remove from oil and combine with chorizo and serve immediately. Wow! I’ll have those again!

Thai Style Chicken Salad Starter!

I lost my way trying to decide what to do as a starter yesterday, so made up something that turned out to be really enjoyed by everybody (Mrs H wants it again this week!)

Ingredients (serves 4 – 6):

• 1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Lime Juice
• 1 Tbsp of palm sugar
• 1 large red chilli – chopped
• 1.5 Tsps of ground dried shrimp
• Handful of Chopped Mint
• Handful of chopped coriander – a little more than the mint
• 4 shallots – finely sliced
• 6in length of cucumber – peeled and deseeded then sliced
• 4 spring onions chopped – include some of the green bits
• 4 decent chicken breasts
• Half an Iceberg lettuce

Mix the fish sauce, lime, sugar, chilli, shrimp in a bowl and ensure the sugar is dissolved. This is kept to one side and added to the salad just before serving.

Fry the chicken until golden and then allow to cool. Slice/chop and add to the coriander, onions, cucumber and mint. Mix well. Just before serving, arrange chopped iceberg onto plate and then add sauce to the salad mixture, mix well again and spoon onto lettuce pre plated.

I also made another sauce similar to the above but with a few extra spices and some hotter chillis together with a little rice wine vinegar and a little more palm sugar – this can then be added to the salad for the braver ones! Enjoy!

Review - The Wild Garlic, Beaminster, Dorset

Review of: The Wild Garlic Restaurant (04/08/09)

Mat Follas – Owner / Chef

I felt I knew Mat even before I met him at his new restaurant in Beaminster, Dorset having seen him on Macterchef 2009 and other TV spots. Mat is a true devotee of modern communication media – including websites, blogs, Twitter and Facebook (and probably others!) and that has helped in spreading the word about his new venture from the day he won Masterchef 2009 to getting him booked up weeks in advance already. Is it him or the restaurant people are coming to?

With this infamy it was a little difficult to turn up to his restaurant with an open mind, trying to ignore any pre-conceptions and earlier reviews.

We arrived to be warmly greeted by his front of house – someone I had met earlier in the year at the European Inn so that made me feel even more welcome. The ambiance is just right and the décor together with pastel green (a shade of which is seen all over Dorset!), good lighting and subdued music (to be honest it isn’t necessary) made us relax very quickly. The tables are made from ‘green’ oak – the type that will warp, shrink and crack and look really good with age. Chairs are of the Christine Keeler variety (I see Mat as the Christmas centre fold like Ms Keeley, straddling the chair – well, not really!) and although Mrs H thought they looked a little out of place, I thought they were comfortable – I probably have a little more padding where it matters!

Mat is trying to make the restaurant casual and informal and it works like that. That said, I do like a better glass to drink wine from and a better napkin – not bad if those are the only faults I can find there!

The menu is short and supplemented by a few specials on the blackboard. ALL the specials looked good and I should have gone for the lot – but my jeans are already a little snug and I am trying to lose some weight! My shoulders did drop a little when I didn’t see any of this signature dishes on the menu.

Mat came out to serve the starter himself to us. Blimey he’s lost some weight (and I have put some on) – such is life in the stress lane. He is relaxed, polite and genuinely pleased to come out and mix. How refreshing. Mat is after as much feedback as possible – he really wants to succeed and I think if he carries on the way he is doing, he will. ‘We have got some way to go yet’ he admits.

My starter is a pea,winkle and scallop fritter. Conjured up earlier in the day – that’s what I call an adventurous chef. It was a very tasty dish – I was worried it may taste too much of one thing – normally egg! It didn’t and I enjoyed the lot. It was garnished with a fantastic salad – mostly of herbs and flowers – again a delight to look at and eat. Mrs H went for the goats cheese starter – I managed to prise a forkful from her and It was very good. Next we ordered a mussel gratin. I’m not sure if my dish was going to be delayed but out came a pea based dip and rustic crackers. Only then to quickly get my gratin. The dish was different in the fact it had spinach in the gratin and yes, more fabulous salad to the side. Maybe a slightly too sweet a dressing but not so much. A little rest and then it was on to the main courses.

I chose a ribeye steak and MrsH a lamb dish. The lamb dish was served with a minted pea puree, small roated potatoes and mange tout. It was a resounding success. My steak dish turned up and I did feel a little overfaced – my fault really as I sneaked in most of the gratin! The steak looked a little odd for ribeye. I immediately dipped my fork into the smoked mash as it was a new taste for me and good it was. Roasted veg and a princely dollop of tarragon butter on the meat. The meat was rich and succulent, not the most tender piece in the world and a little bit more rare than I would have ordered but the taste was great. When Mat came out to ask me if all was OK, I learnt I was eating water buffalo – that explained it! It is difficult to know whether a few spoonfuls of pan juices with decent stock as a sauce would have improved the dish – I think maybe it would – but I was OK about that. Mrs H opted off the pudding section (and I couldn’t eat 2! So I went for the poached pear with geranium and ice cream. What a delight and a very slight hint of geranium a really good finish. After a little toing and froing, I also managed to get a desert wine to wash it all down.

Mrs H thought the restaurant was fabulous. “I didn’t think it was going to be anywhere that good – what with him not being a proper chef” Mmm, well I see her point.

The atmosphere was great – in fact it was good to see tables talking to one another.

I think it all works. Mat comes across as a decent guy who really wants to see people enjoying his food. A man after my own heart really – well done, we’ll be back.

Restaurant Review - The European Inn, Piddletrenthide, Dorset

Review of The European Inn (04/08/09)

Owner/Chef: Mark Hammick

There is something about the European Inn that appeals to me.

The restaurant is very laid back and simple – in fact it joins forces with the bar which has a few stools for the regulars – I can’t imagine it attracts too many regulars just for a beer – don’t get me wrong, I’m sure in the winter it makes for a cosy pub scene but it stikes me you would go there for the food! And Mark Hammick certainly can knock up a very good plate of food.

The simple décor does lead you into a false sense of security and hides the fact that the food is of a high quality.

The menu had changed from the last visit we made about a month ago and still just as tempting. My starter was Scallops (hand dived) with a rocket pesto – light and full of flavour without being over powering. Mrs H had a goats cheese starter – a especially light cheese at that with salad and balsamic vinegar. Both starters went down well.

For the main course I chose a slow braised mutton with ‘oniony potatoes’ and roasted beetroot. The tender lamb appeared to be compressed into a rondel shape and was served with pan juices. The beetroot variety was long and thin (no idea if it is meant to be like that!) rather than round but matched the lamb perfectly. The other main was pork - perhaps a little overdone for Mrs.H but the dish was good.

A tray of Dorset cheeses was then eaten and then I managed to squeeze down a Chocolate Fondant – I was glad to see this was still on the menu from the last time!

The wine list is not extensive but they are good ones. We, however, are rather partial to the Sherborne Estate (Dorset wine) white wine. A sauvignon blanc style of wine – and easy to drink with or without food – need I say more?

As we were booked in to stay the night we eventually drifted upstairs to a very comfortable room beautifully appointed, recently refurbished room - spacious, really comfortable bed and lots of welcome extras such as bottled water, sherry (!) and dressing gowns- we always get a good nights sleep there. We’ll be back there again!