Homage2Fromage 5! Yorkshire Cheese @ The Adelphi

Tonight's Homage2Fromage was our favourite so far and not just because the focus was on delicious Yorkshire cheese!....I think the venue made all the difference - the Adelphi was spacious but not too big, which allowed for more relaxed and informal cheese munching. It was good to be able to catch up with some old and new twitter buddies - you know who you are!

A special mention goes to the man who makes Ruby Gold Rubarb cheese who gave us a very informative talk on......er.....CHEESE!!!

Barncliffe Brie

Buffalo Blue

Yorkshire Fine Fettle

My first plate - one of three!! (or four maybe)

Wednesday Peppers

Joe and his friend Paul have a fairly long running squash rivalry and play every couple of weeks.  The last time he came back and I had already eaten, so treated himself to a particularly rubbish post-squash dinner of hummus on toast. 

This time round I was slightly more patient, and made him the more appropriate post-exercise dinner of roasted peppers stuffed with cherry tomatoes and mozzarella with ribbon courgettes.  Tons of vegetables, some protein and some dairy all thrown in together.  Just don't mention to anyone that we've rounded off the meal with three bits of Toblerone each!!

Stuffed peppers and courgette ribbons

Tuesday - Chicken Fried Rice & Vegetables

Jo and I are postponing valentines until the weekend as we want to make a day of it....to be honest it's another excuse (as if we need one) to eat good food, drink merrily and have fun!! So tonight was a staple of ours - the trusty stir-fry!! This time with chicken fried rice - excellent work Jo! See you on Saturday for valentines treats when I am in the kitchen!

The vegetables

Chicken fried rice

The whole show!

Monday Sausages for girls and boys

Every now and again Joe makes pleading requests for childhood treats (egg and chips, sausages and chips and beans, fish fingers etc.) and I find myself losing all resistance.  I do at least try and find nice sausages, but the chips are straight from the freezer and the beans from a tin!  It's what seems to be a proper boys dinner and Joe runs long distances so he can eat what he wants.

Me, on the other hand, well I need my vegetables, but I'm not too much of a glutton for punishment so the chips are in and the beans are out in favour of some some tasty veg!  That's the girl's version.

Sausages, chips and beans (for boys)

Sausages, chips and vegetables (for girls)

Sunday - Half Marathon and Salmon!

Today was an early start as I was running the Liversedge Half Marathon at 11am.....it was my second half, and I was hoping to get round in sub 1hr 40mins which would have been 6 mins better than my first time out. In the end, the hills defeated me and it was a 1hr 40mins 49secs finish which was close but no cigar.....!! There is always next time!!

After an afternoon of relaxation with nibbles, a couple of drinks and the papers Jo prepared us a very pretty dinner of salmon on a bed of spinach with baked sweet potato in canjun spices - DELICIOUS!!

Saturday Night at the Deer Park - 8/10

On Saturday night we took a stroll to the Deer Park on Street Lane in Roundhay.  Perhaps strolling was a slightly daft idea (my mother and I attempting to get through Roundhay Park in the dark, in heels, on a virtual ice rink, was quite funny but I don't think she enjoyed it all that much!) but it made the cosy wood fires and animal hide all the more appreciated.

Joe and I have eaten at the Deer Park on a few occasions and generally have a good time.  It is effectively a restaurant with pub styling.  The food is traditional with a twist, the wines are reasonable and they do a good line in cocktails.  It's also somewhere that I have happily spent a few hours on a Sunday enjoying the papers and a glass of wine.

Having indulged rather a lot with Indian treats on Friday, none of us were looking for a full three course dinner so we made the most of the sharing plates on offer.  We had the antipasti, which comes with dolcelatte, cured meats, marinaded vegetables and flat breads, and rustic breads with olives, roasted garlic, olive oil and balsamic.  The big star of the antipasti was the creamy and sharp dolcelatte (a bit of a nose bleeder), while the breads with roasted garlic were fresh and tasty. As is always the case, I felt a little short changed by the oil and balsamic - they never give enough for the amount of bread!

Antipasti with cured meats, marinaded vegetables and flat breads

Rustic breads with olives, roasted garlic, oil and balsamic

The menu has quite a broad spectrum of main courses, including pizzas, salad, pastas, fish and grills, so we were able to try things from across the board.  Joe opted for the carne pizza, with luganega sausage, chorizo, pepperoni, roast chicken, and swapped the chilli for rocket (he was running a half marathon the next morning so wasn't eating anything too challenging!).  My mum opted for linguini with prawns, chorizo, crab and chilli while my dad went for the fish pie.  Everyone else having chosen the items that I really wanted from the menu, I went for a naughty burger with chorizo and gherkins.  While nice, I had massive food envy which is always disappointing!  My mum said that the linguini was really good, and came with very generous seafood portions and a nice warming chilli.  The pizza was also very good with a thin and crispy base and nice quality ingredients, while the fish pie was a winter warming winner.

Fish pie

Carne pizza

Burger

Linguini with prawns, crab, chilli, chorizo and tomatoes

Because my burger wasn't naughty enough, my dad and I also chose churros for dessert!  I still haven't had proper Spanish churros, but Joe is a bit of an aficionado and agreed with my judgment that they were a little undercooked and doughy.  They did come with an excellent chocolate sauce though. We also had coffees, and both the flat white and the espresso were fairly poor (badly made, weak coffee).  It was a shame as the meal started so well, and just fell short at the final hurdle.

I would definitely recommend dining at the Deer Park.  The atmosphere is great, which is reflected in just how busy it always is both in the bar and the restaurant.  The savouries are always great, but they do need to work a little on the afters.

Churros