Saturday - A good Scottish feast

I'm extremely proud of my heritage.  I was born and brought up in Edinburgh, and much of my family still live there.  I think it's one of the most beautiful cities in the world and there is nowhere quite like Scotland.  I'm also trying to fight against this impression that lots of people have (boosted by frequent media hysteria) that food in Scotland is terrible.  I get the jibes about deep fried mars bars, deep fried pizza and deep fried creme eggs (only at Easter, thanks) but believe it or not, that's not all Scotland has to offer.  Edinburgh has some of the best restaurants restaurants in the country - the highest concentration of Michelin starred eateries outside of London - and the produce is fantastic.  We have a bountiful supply of game, meats, fish, fruit and vegetables and to malign that is to be totally ignorant.  Rant over.

As part of my mission to open peoples' eyes to Scottish food, Joe persuaded me to cook a Burns supper whilst his mum was staying.  Neither she nor Dave Bro had ever tried haggis before, EVER!  So this was not an instance of preaching to the converted and I did feel a little under pressure to make sure they liked it. 

So issue number 1 - what haggis to get?  I thought automatically of Macsweens.  It's famous for being the best haggis, which may or may not be because it's also the most commonly supplied in England.  But that probably is for a reason: the Macsween family used to own a butcher's in Bruntsfield in Edinburgh and manufactured their own haggis.  The haggis became so popular that they closed the butcher's to concentrate on haggis production alone.  And lucky for us as far as I'm concerned. 

I did have a look at whether we should get a different haggis but given our time constraints (last minute planning as usual) it was Waitrose Macsweens to the rescue!

Traditional accompaniments are neeps and tatties (turnips, or swede to the English and potatoes), so both of these were automatically in.  I did my potatoes a little differently - baked in the oven and scooped out, mashed with cream and butter.  I also did some roasted chantenay carrots and a redcurrent gravy (which may be a little blasphemous with a Burns supper but ho hum!)

So food cooked, I persuaded Joe to address the haggis (first and last verse of the "Ode to the Haggis" only - it's about 25 verses long!) and we toasted with a little Dalmore whisky each.  And drum roll....they all loved the haggis!  It's rich, meaty and peppery, and roasted in the oven it falls apart like a dream.  The neeps are also peppery and a little bitter, and with creamy mash they come together perfectly.

Macsween haggis

Roasted chantenay carrots

Mashed swede

Haggis, neeps and tatties

Creamy mash

To follow, after quite a break, we had some traditional cranachan as well.  This is a traditional Scottish dessert made with whipped cream, honey, more whisky, toasted oats and raspberries.  I also threw in some toasted almonds for a slightly different texture.  The best trick with cranachan is to leave stirring in the oats to the last minute so they retain their crunch.  A tiny sprinkling of salt also brings out the flavour of the oats. 

After even more of a break, we also had some crowdie, a creamy Scottish cheese, to round off the meal.  Ok, it might have been a fairly rich meal, but it was full of amazing flavours, and I'd defy anyone not to enjoy it.

Cranachan

Crowdie and crackers - thanks to Haley in Clifford

Wednesday Baked Potatoes

I'm weirdly proud of my baked potatoes.  I rarely get them wrong and a good baked potato is a fine thing.  Well skewered, salt rubbed into the skin and put into a high oven for an hour.  Take it out, hit it on top with a karate-esque chop so the filling bursts out and et voila - the perfect fluffy baked potato!

This week we had it with prawns and salad in a spicy marie rose sauce - a classic for a reason!

As it was Joe's dad's birthday, we also raised glass of whisky - a fitting drink for Burn's night (which we will be celebrating at the weekend).

Baked potato with spicy prawns

Joe's favourite whisky - Dalmore

Saturday - New Years Eve (Jo Girl)

Joe and I had a brilliant Christmas period on the Wirral and in Edinburgh, so it was a sad goodbye on New Years Eve when we headed back on the train to Leeds.  After such a busy few days, a low key night was definitely in order - a few drinks and some nice food close to home!

Me and Tom - who is clearly much more photogenic than me!

A post train snack - excellent cheese and crackers, courtesy of Cousins Rosie and Tom and Uncle John - really good cheese!

So close to home we did indeed go - to Sweet Basil in Roundhay!  Rock on!  But it was a good way to spend new year - tasty Chinese treats and some wine - great stuff.

We decided the least we could do is go a bit "off-piste" and not order our usual choices!  We also steered clear of the Thai dishes, as we have Thai food so often.  So for starters we had the lettuce wraps with minced chicken and stuffed crab claws.  The lettuce wrap was quite possibly the largest starter I have ever seen - a iceberg leaf full of chicken and mushrooms - with more leaves on the side!  It was really tasty, although challenging with the chop sticks.  The crab claws were stuffed with crab and prawn meat and deep fried.  It was a little underwhelming compared to the lettuce leaf, but still a good shout.

Pre-dinner rose bubbles

The obligatory prawn crackers

Stuffed crab claws

Lettuce wraps with chicken

For main courses, we went for sizzling fillet steak with green pepper and black bean, and peanut and chilli hot bean sauce with chicken, and some fried rice (a new year treat for Joe!).  The sizzling fillet was really good - lots of beautiful soft steak with a punchy sauce, juxtaposed with crunchy green peppers, and the chili hot bean chicken was a great match - equally hefty, packed with burning dried red chillis, fiery ginger and a sweet and savoury sauce. 

We gave the desserts a miss (sorry Hunter Pig!) - despite our intentions there was simply no room for the banana fritters we had promised ourselves.  We strolled home and settled down in front of Match of the Day, celebrating a crazy day of football with a limoncello and a whisky - starting our party-animal 2012 as we mean to go on!!

Sizzling beef with green peppers and black bean sauce

Chicken and peanut chilli hot bean sauce

limoncello and whisky - cheers to a new year!

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