Ruth

    Ruth

    Sunday, 11 May 2014 14:37

    Petta Fiesta - Yeehaw!

    Find us at Petta Fiesta on July 4th - 6th where our gnarly ole chuck wagon will be popping up. There will be camp-fire cooking, food from the Wild Wild West, mexican breakfasts and delicious afternoon teas by the moat. We promise that you won't leave hungry.  Book your tickets here!

    Friday, 09 May 2014 18:51

    Diamonds on the soles of our shoes

    Smart Casual - jacket not required. Smart - no jeans, no trainers, no shorts but ties not necessary. Casually Smart - jeans and trainers acceptable, jacket and standard shirt collar, tie not required. No sneakers... I do not want to be told what to wear when I eat out. Daft dress codes in dining rooms make me mad. A scruffy suit, an un-ironed shirt and a bad tie can look far worse than a smart pair of jeans and sneakers. There are many different pedigrees of jeans and sneakers and who is to tell me if mine are acceptable?

    We called in at AquaShard last week - you don't need to book to get into to the bar on the 31st floor! We made it through the welcome party on the door to the fast and direct lift up to the bar. 'Sorry, I can't let you in' said the Maitre D' at the door. 'You are wearing sneakers'.

    'Young man', I said in my best Suffolk dialect, 'there are people inside wearing sneakers'.

    'They booked a table' replied the Maitre D'. 'If you had booked, we wouldn't turn you away, but as you have not booked, I cannot let you in wearing sneakers'.

    We thought for a minute, then went up one more floor, in our sneakers, to Oblix, the bookings-only restaurant. We told them we had diamonds on the soles of our shoes. They let us in.

     

    Wednesday, 07 May 2014 22:29

    Let's be 'avin' you

    Delia isn't very happy as Norwich are relegated from the Premier League this week, but us Tractor Boys are. We are also happy that there is now a monthly street food event at The Forum in the centre of Norwich - who are ya?

    Saturday, 26 April 2014 11:25

    Treacle, Ginger and Orange Bundt Cake

    Treacle, Ginger and Orange Bundt Cake

    200g/7oz butter

    200g/7oz dark muscovado sugar

    175g/6oz black treacle

    2 tbs ginger syrup from the jar of stem ginger

    250ml/9floz milk

    2 large eggs (beaten)

    330g/12oz plain flour

    1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

    2 tsp ground ginger

    75g/2½ oz stem ginger (chopped)

    zest of 1 orange

    4tbs orange curd

    for the icing

    zest of 1 orange

    4tbs orange juice

    140g/5oz icing sugar

    Preheat the oven to 160C/140C/Gas 3

    Grease a 10” round Bundt tin and dust a little flour in to ensure a non stick finish.

    Place the butter, sugar, treacle and ginger syrup in a saucepan and melt together over a very low heat, until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool.

    Whisk the milk and the eggs together.

    Weigh out the flour and add the bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, stem ginger and orange zest.

    Whisk the milk and eggs into the cooled butter, treacle and sugar mix, stirring well.

    Now add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, a little at a time, mixing to a smooth batter.

    Pour into the cake tine and bake for 45 mins, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

    Leave to cool a little in the tin then turn out onto a wire rack.

    Slice the cooled cake into three layers and spread the orange curd between the layers and sandwich back again.

    In a small bowl mix the orange zest and orange juice and heat in the microwave to warm.

    Stir in the icing sugar (you may need to add more icing sugar or more orange juice) to get the right drizzling consistency.

    Drizzle over the cake and decorate with stem ginger or crushed sugar crystals.

    Thursday, 24 April 2014 13:53

    Our May Dish of the Day is Mrs Bennett

    Thank you Mrs Bennett for sharing your Mango Chutney recipe with us. Keeley Bennett makes pickles and chutneys from her home in Polstead, Suffolk using recipes handed down through four generations of the family. You will find Mrs.Bennett's Pickles and Chutneys at Lavenham Farmer's Market or look out for her products in farm shops and local deli's. Keeley says that she finds most people like a mango chutney with their poppadoms even if they don't like a chutney with their cheese!

     

    MANGO CHUTNEY

    Ingredients:
    900g ripe mangoes - peeled, stoned and chopped
    300ml of cider vinegar
    225g cooking apples - peeled, cored and chopped
    1 large onion, finely chopped
    1 large clove of garlic (or two small ones) - crushed
    200g demerara sugar
    5cm root ginger - peeled and grated
    1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

     

    Method:
    1. Prepare the mango and place in a bowl with the salt. Set aside while
    you prepare the rest of the vegetables.
    2. Place the vinegar in the pan and heat gently (do not boil). Add the
    sugar slowly until all of it has dissolved.
    3. Add all of the remaining ingredients to the pan and bring to the
    boil, stirring frequently so that the ingredients do not catch on the
    bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 1 hour,
    stirring occasionally and until the chutney is thick.
    4. Place into sterilised jars*. Leave for approximately 3 weeks to
    allow the ingredients to mature.* You can easily sterilise jars by placing clean jars (and lids) into a hot oven for 10 minutes. Obviously taking care when handling them.

    Thursday, 24 April 2014 12:44

    May 3rd Pop Up at The Chequers. Gazeley

    We are pleased to tell you that we will be popping up again at The Chequers in Gazeley on Saturday May 3rd  with our "one great price, one great menu" supper.

    Saturday May 3rd from 7pm

     

    One Great Price - One Great Menu

    £20.00 per person

     

    Mushroom Soup

    with Rye Bread

    ----------*----------

    Chicken, Ham Hock & Parsley pie

    or

    Leek & Mushroom Pie

    with carrots, peas & new potatoes

    ----------*----------

    Pineapple & Raspberry Layer Cake

    ----------*----------

    Limited number of tables so please book on

    01638 551511 or via the online booking form

    Thursday, 10 April 2014 08:04

    Rocket and Squash

    rocket and squash

    Brilliant writing, always updated and covers London food.  This is such a well set out food journal....quite envious really.

    Sunday, 06 April 2014 13:42

    The Fray Bentos story - In Deep

    We went "In Deep" at the Grapesense wine class this week, we went to South America. We tried Atlantico Sur, Marselan from the Garzon Vineyard in Uruguay. Then we started talking about Uruguay and how it's remembered for Fray Bentos meat pies. Fray Bentos is a large Uruguayan town where the Liebig Company produced tinned meats and beef oxo for export to the UK. The Fray Bentos brand was launched in 1899, initially for corned beef, then later pies. By 1961, when Fray Bentos Steak and Kidney was launched, pie production had shifted to Hackney. From the dozen or so of us at the wine class, no one admitted to having ever eaten one of the pies! I remember my Grandma always had one in her kitchen cupboard but I have never tried one, so for the sake of my Grapesense friends - here is the photo story of the Steak and Ale pie that I bought and ate.

    I chose the Steak and Ale pie as it had the highest meat content (25%) and by the way the pastry is 24% so not sure what the rest is?! The smell of the pie still lingers in my kitchen an hour or so later, that kind of school-dinner, cheap chip-shop pie smell, like kidneys cooking, although the pie doesn't have any kidneys in it. The pastry looked revolting when I took the lid off the tin but had an impressive puffiness to it when out of the oven, which soon deflated leaving a soggy under layer. The gravy was very salty with scruffy small pieces of beef that were all on one side of the tin.

    Interesting Fray Bentos Facts!

    Sales of the pies plummeted during the Falklands War. Uruguay being the neighbour of Argentina.

    Sean Bean (the actor) always has a Fray Bentos pie on hand when filming abroad, he loves them.

    The empty tin makes a good dog bowl.

     

    Sunday, 06 April 2014 13:02

    The Dark Horse

    The Dark Horse in Stowlangtoft has re-opened.  Anyone been? Please let us know via the comment link.

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