Fort William & Ben Nevis

Posted on 26/09/2008 by cwildman

Spent a couple of days in Fort William in the Highlands of Scotland last week, tried a few restaurants and cafes before scaling Ben Nevis, variety and quality of food varied but included some great local produce, fresh seafood, crab & langoustines (Scotland has some of the best Seafood but most is exported!) Scottish beef and venison and of course the odd Scottish Breakfast here are a few photos of the better ones.  Food at the Glenelg Inn, Kyle of Lochalsh was particularly good let down only by the tomatoes!

Also tried a few local ales which is essential carbo loading the night before a big walk! Some of the beers I can remember include the following selection.

Latitude 3.6% abv.

Latitude Pale Ale is a straw-coloured session ale with a pronounced fruitiness and hoppiness. Brewed with best Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt and a little of our own Atlas Lager Malt, this beer exhibits a brilliant, crystal-clear pale straw colour

Fraoch – Heather Ale 4.1% abv

A light amber ale with floral peaty aroma, full malt character, a spicy herbal flavour and dry wine like finish.

Kelpie 4.4% abv

Rich chocolate ale with an aroma of sea breeze, a distinctive roast flavour and a crisp salty finish. Perfect with seafood and breads.   (This was really not to my taste not sure seeweed is suited to brewing!)

Deuchars IPA 4.4% abv

An extremely tasty and refreshing, amber coloured session beer. Hops and fruit are very evident and are balanced by malt throughout.  (an old favourite of mine)

Red Cuillin 4.2% abv

Smooth, malty and slightly nutty; lightly fuggles-hopped for aroma. Named after the famous hills of the Isle of Skye, Red Cuillin is a premium ale, which has won many awards. Like the hills, it is rounded and pleasing.

Caledonian 80/’ 4.1% abv

A predominantly malty, copper coloured beer, well balanced by hop and fruit; a complex Scottish heavy with the hop characteristics of best bitter.

 

 

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Variations on a theme – the best burger

Posted on 25/09/2008 by cwildman

Or is that the greatest burger or even the ultimate burger, I can remember living in London in the early 90’s we all thought the best burgers were from Fulham! either from Vingt Quatre, 325 Fulham Road (looking at today’s website they don’t even serve burgers anymore!) or from the American Diner Ed’s and those wet fries were the best!

If you want to make your own burgers it’s not that big a deal, here are a couple of different recipes to try otherwise just order some proper burgers full of Yorkshire Beef and a bit of seasoning and nothing else from our website at www.paganum.co.uk

Hairy Bikers Ultimate Burger

Ingredients:-

500g minced rump steak,
4 shallots or small onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped of Thyme
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 dash of Tabasco sauce
3 pinches Maldon flaked sea salt
1 egg, beaten

To serve:-

tomato relish
red onion, thinly sliced
white bun (from the local bakers)
mayonnaise (homemade if you can be bothered)

Method:-

 1. Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Cover with cling film and pop in the fridge for 30 minutes.

2. Shape into patties, brush with olive oil and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side (for rare), or until cooked just the way you like.

3. Spread each side of the bun with mayonnaise.  Add the burger to the bun, top with the sliced onion and tomato relish, and serve.

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Hogroast at Bentham Auction Mart

Posted on 23/09/2008 by cwildman

Our most recent Hogroast was at Bentham Auction Mart, a full hog served with apple sauce & stuffing, green salad, coleslaw and potato salad and Classic Pork Sausages and Burgers.  It was a full day as the Hog had to go on at about 10am to ensure it was cooked through for serving at 6.30pm and to guarantee that fantastic crispy crackling!  Our Classic Pork bangers and burgers were also served along with the pork sandwiches.

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Mr Oliver has a new project – Jamies Ministry of Food

Posted on 23/09/2008 by cwildman

Jamie Oliver has a new project starting on Channel 4 at the end of September – “Jamies Ministry of Food“, he is attempting to educate the nation in healthy eating, how to cook basic, quality, healthy and nutritious food, he is starting in Rotherham and the tv show is accompanied by a new book Anyone Can Learn to Cook in 24 Hours and is part of the “Pass it on” campaign, this is basically Jamie’s plea to you – if you have a friend or relation who can’t cook then buy them this book, get them to watch the tv show and help them learn to cook few basic meals.  As Mr Oliver says “Nice One!”

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Bumper crop of Tomatoes?

Posted on 23/09/2008 by cwildman

My tomato plants have been a complete failure this year, but Dad has had a bumper crop but in a proper greenhouse, whats the secret to a good crop of toms?

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Austrian favourites

Posted on 16/08/2008 by cwildman

A few photos of some typical Austrian dishes from our holiday in Kitzbuhel.

The mountain restaurant Adlerhütte on the Kitzbuhler Horn was offering free milk from the Alpine Cows, we got our free glass of milk and then stayed for Lunch, cost me €40 but was an excellent meal, traditional cured ham with pickles and horseradish sauce, Wiener Schintzel and Apricot Dumplings.

The cheese pasta dish is Spaetzle with Gruyere and Caramelised Onions served at the top of the Hahnenkamm above Kitzbühel.  See recipe here Spaetzle with Gruyere and Caramelised Onions 

Fantastic fresh Pretzels were available everywhere, great as a snack with a coffee or beer.

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Pretzel & Coffee?

Posted on 10/08/2008 by cwildman

Another way to relax, by an Austrian Lake, water temp 23 degrees! after a dip a Pretzel and a Latte…

Austrian Coffee break

Austrian Coffee break

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Random Latte and Chocolate Cake

Posted on 18/07/2008 by cwildman

When in doubt or needing inspiration this usually does the trick for me!

Latte Coffee and Choclate Cake

Latte Coffee and Choclate Cake

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Great Yorkshire Show

Posted on 10/07/2008 by cwildman

Went to the Great Yorkshire Show at Harrogate on Wednesday and the weather held out until 5pm.  Another very good show and very busy.  The Food Pavilion was full to bursting with both large and small scale suppliers and lots of people.  Everything on offer including, Yorkshire Crisps, Burdass Lamb, Pork Scratchings, Pork pies and more pies, fruit, veg boxes, all sorts of sausages, cakes, soups, curry sauces, a little bit of everything really.

I also just happened to be passing the cookery theatre as Bruce Elsworth from the Angel Inn at Hetton and Robert Phillip from Hellifield Highland Beef were about to start there demonstration.  it was very good with both Robert & Bruce working well with each other, one from the Chef’s point of view and the other farmer, producers angle.  The meat looked fantastic, rich ruby red colour with a nice marbling of fat, well hung and just how real beef should look.

Bruce managed to cram a lot of dishes into his half hour slot and included his own twist on the use of various cuts like mince, brisket and oxtail,  all good value cuts.

First Bruce commented on the quality of proper mince, good quality, ruby red, minced coarsly not too fine and he preparerd homemade beefburgers, like this:-  best coarse mince, a little finely chopped onion, garlic puree, salt & pepper, fresh thyme & parsley and a dash of Worcestershire Sauce, gently mixed together by hand and then formed into a ball and pushed into a metal ring to form a nice thick burger.  Cooked for 2 or 3 minutes on each side to leave a nice juicy burger.  if you fancy a cheeseburger Bruce suggested incorporating a ball of blue Wensleydale into the ball of burger meat before pressing into the burger shape so the ball of cheese is in the middle of the burger and will melt and ooze as it cooks.  Served in a bread bun with a green salad and home made salsa.    The salsa was just skinned & deseeded tomatoes, chopped red onion or shallot, salt & pepper and olive oil.

I will add the photos and info on the oxtail soup and braising steak recipes later, off to play cricket now…

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Crispy Honey Roast Belly Pork

Posted on 05/07/2008 by cwildman

Thought I would try out Marco Pierre White’s Belly pork recipe from his current Great British Feast tv series.

scored Belly Pork

scored Belly Pork

Ingredients:-

  • 1 kg belly pork
  • sprinkle of sea salt flakes (I use maldon sea salt) 
  • 600g runny honey, English if possible
  • 4 medium brown onions (British)
  • 6 star anise
  • 1 tbsp cracked coriander seeds
  • 2 stock cubes
  • bunch of sage
  • 4 bay leaves
  • sunflower oil
  • 400ml cold water
Method

Rub sunflower oil into the belly pork and sprinkle with a little flaked sea salt

Pour half the water into your roasting tin and add a stock cube, place the belly pork on a rack over but not in the water and roast on the bottom shelf of a medium oven for approx 2 hours (I put in the bottom oven, bottom shelf of the Aga)

Now make the Honey glaze, add 200ml water, honey, coriander seeds, stock cube and star anise to a saucepan and simmer until reduced by a third or sauce thickens and becomes syrupy

Top and tail the onions and cut in half (Marco leaves the skin on but you can remove if preferred).  Gently fry the onions split half down in a pan with a little sunflower oil, add the bay leaves and sage and leave for a few minutes to brown then transfer to the oven for 20-25 minutes until the onions are golden brown

When pork is cooked remove from oven and leave to rest, meanwhile sieve the meat juices and reduce by a third to create a gravy

When ready to serve glaze the pork with the honey reduction and then cut into strips approx 1 inch thick and arrange on plate with onions, pour over meat juice gravy and serve…

Mine was so good, I forgot to take a photo of the finished product but was enjoyed by all.

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