North Wales part 1 - Review; The White Eagle, Rhoscolyn

A couple of months ago Manc Mike mentioned that his family had a place in North Wales that they were interested in letting it out. Never one to pass up an opportunity, I offered our services to stay for a weekend and we agreed on a date in October. It is in Rhoscolyn, North Wales and sounded just up our street with peace and quiet, quality walking/ running, water features and a local pub serving good food - more on all of this later.

So after a lovely breakfast at The Spotty Blue Teapot in Hoylake we started the 2 hourr drive to Rhoscolyn with a plan to stop on the way in Conwy on recommendation from Mum.

My breakfast plate accompanied by a flat white

 It took about an hour to get to Conwy, and we were pleased we decided to stop. There isn't a huge amount to see, but what there is is lovely! The best thing was the Conwy Castle and walking all the way around the town on the castle walls.

Joe on the pier in the harbour

Jo on the wall, with a brilliant view

 As we strolled the cobbled streets I was delighted that we stumbled on a butchers with the accolade of the 2011 North Wales Champion in the Pork Pie Category. Unfortunately it was probably the worst pork pie I have had on the Pork Pie quest - it tasted just like one that you would buy in a supermarket and was the total opposite of what I want in a Pork Pie - bland and tasteless meat (although the pastry was quite good).

The award - no idea how they got it!

 We then continued our journey to Rhoscolyn and the below is what we found on arrival. There will be more pictures on the next post, but we were both really really impressed! The house is the very last one down a narrow dirt track and is surrounded by grass, cliffs, the beach and sea - awesome!

The house we stayed in in Rhoscolyn

After a couple of hours exploring, Frenchie Dog Eyes and Sam arrived, and it was great to see them both. We have been on weekends away with them a few times now, and we always have fun and there is never any drama!.....at 7.30pm I strapped on my head-torch and led the way as we all walked along the beach to the White Eagle pub which we had heard really good things about - over to Jo for the words here. 

One of my favourite things is finding a brilliant pub/restaurant in the middle of nowhere.  The White Eagle is in Rhoscolyn, which honestly looks like it has a maximum of 50 houses and is just down the road from Trearrdur Bay.  During the week, it opens at 6pm and serves food until 9pm, along with a range of ales and vino.

Joe and Frenchie Dog Eyes got stuck into the ale, trying brews from Llandudno, Conwy and Chester while Sam and I stuck to the rose (in a bag!)  The food on the menu is more restaurant than traditional pub, with a number of specials on offer. 

Ale from Chester

Rose in an ice bag

Drinks sorted, there were a lot of tasty sounding food on the menu.  Joe and Frenchie plumped for a warm cheese and chive scone with ham hock and leek and cheese sauce.  Although they said it was nice, the fact that it was an actual scone slightly threw them (I think they were expecting something along the lines of a potato scone perhaps...).  I had the prawn cocktail and Sam went for the coarse country pork liver pate.  Mine was lovely, and Sam's was a proper home made terrine.  A good start.

The ham hock scone - definitely a scone!!

Sam's coarse pork liver terrine, which came with gherkins which were amazing!

My prawn cocktail - a nostalgic moment

For mains, Joe and Frenchie decided to match again!  They went for a barnsley lamb chop with pearl barley risotto with chorizo (we were told it was called a barnsley chop because the meat is shaped like a B, but the more likely story is that it originates in Barnsley!).  This tasted absolutely amazing - really tender and rich, almost like a good steak, and the pearl barley risotto was a very nice surprise.  Sam opted for fish and chips, which was also really good, and I had the slow cooked belly pork with stir fried vegetables, which was also very good.  The belly pork was perfectly cooked, and went really well with a savoury soy based sauce.

The Barnsley chop

Fish & chips

Pork belly cooked in soy with stir fried vegetables.  My only slight critcism was that there was too much liquid, which was more like a broth than a sauce.  It was still good though.

Frenchie Doy Eyes enjoying his ale and lamb

Quaffing Joe

A good espresso - another sign of a good pub

And would you believe the boys even made room for dessert?  Eyes definitely bigger than their bellies, Joe went for chocolate bread and butter pudding with chocolate sauce, while Frenchie had raspberry ripple icecream in a brandy snap basket.  Admittedly, they were both really good desserts and between the four of us we did finish them both...chubby kids.

Chocolate bread and butter pudding

Raspberry ripple icecream in a brandy snap basket

The White Eagle pub - if you're ever in the area, seek it out!

And all the info you need...

Oh, and as they were not full enough after all the ale and food, Joe and Frenchie then returned to the house to finish Frenchie's Johnnie Walker Blue Label, which he has been savouring for a year now.  Boys will be boys...

Johnnie Walker's blue label, based on the original 1867 blend

Sunday - Slow Cooked Stuffed & Rolled Pork Belly and recipe for French Onion Soup - as promised!

One of the few positive features from the Holmfirth Food Festival was Joe's purchase of some pork belly from Two Valleys Fresh Produce - see website here.  The plan was to slow roast it, taking inspiration from the pork we had at Jamie's Italian in August (see post from 16 August 2011).

Joe stuffed the belly with sausage meat, dried fruits and pine nuts and expertly rolled it up.  He had intended to do the traditional high temp and then slow cook to get some crackling, but the element on our oven blew so we had to rely on our ever-reliable crock pot! We're not keen on crackling anyway, so after five hours we had melt-in-your mouth seriously tasty pork.  Served with fresh new potatoes, savoy cabbage, slow cooked veg and home-made apple sauce and gravy, this was a serious treat!  I felt very spoiled!

Please also see the bottom of the post for the french onion soup recipe, as promised yesterday.

Slow cooked veg, potatoes and savoy cabbage

Slow cooked, stuffed and rolled belly pork

Joe's home-made apple sauce

A close up of the pork - very tasty

Joe's plate

pork cooking liquor - some yummy cider!

French Onion Soup for two

750g onions
1 pint beef stock
1 glass white wine
garlic clove
thyme
bay leaf
2 table spoons of flour
pinch of sugar
baguette
gruyere cheese

1.  Finely slice the onions, as thin as you can.  I used a mixture of white organic and some red for added sweetness.
2.  Heat a knob of butter with some oil in the pan, until the butter is foaming.
3.  Add the onions and turn the heat down low.  The aim is to cook the onions for at least 15/20 minutes on a low heat so that they caramelise and all the natural sweet flavour is brought out.
4.  When the onions are turning slightly golden, add finely chopped garlic and continue to cook for a few minutes.  Try an onion to check for sweetness and add some sugar if it needs it.
5.  Sprinkle the flour over the onions and cook out for a few more minutes. There should be no lumps of flour.
6.  Add the glass of wine, stir through and add the thyme and bay leaf.
7.  Add the beef stock and cook on a low heat for about 30 minutes.  Check your seasoning about half way through and adjust accordingly.
8.  Slice the baguette into thick slices.  Heat the grill to medium and grill the baguette slices on both sides until golden brown.  Top one side of the baguette with grated gruyere and grill until golden and bubbling.
9.  Ladle the soup into bowls (heat proof is best!).  Place the cheesy croutons on top and then sprinkle some more gruyere on top.  Put the bowls under the grill for another minute (be very careful if the bowls aren't heat proof as they won't stand much heat under the grill) and then serve while piping hot.  A big hug in a bowl.