A Four Course Meal. Saturday 24th March 2012

Chef Christine's day off seems to come around very quickly these days, and so it was this weekend. So the author spent some time designing a special menu, which he presented for the evening meal.
First (naturally) was the entree, namely mussels in garlic butter with garlic bread. Followed by Salmon fillets, seared on both sides,& served with snap peas, with a dressing of chilli, Lime & Ginger.
Then, Fresh grapes and strawberries, finally followed by cheese & biscuits.
Not bad even if I do say myself.  The slightly sweet chilli dressing was a little unusual but was enjoyable.......................Now then, the big let down was;..................the tiny Tesco mussels, they were miniscule and were quite a disappointment, a bit like eating a savoury frozen pea! A glass or two of Pinot Grigio helped me forget the 'dinky' mussels.  Because of Tesco this meal only scored 8/10.
 I'm Gutted.

Lemon Sole, freshly caught. 21st March 2012

Lemon Sole Jamie Oliver style. These fish were so fresh when I bought them from my favourite fish monger that they were practically still jumping. They were perfect specimens, the cooking and presentation was equally perfect, from a perfect recipe, and then the meal went down hill.........There were just too many bones in it, and it felt that a lot of the fish was being wasted,
Such a shame as Chef Christine put a lot of effort into it. The fish was cooked on a bed of tomatoes, basil, spring onions, zest of lemons in an oven set at 200o, and was served on a bed of wild rice with salad.
You can see that one of our younger diners gave the meal the thumbs up. But.........in this world of strict accurate marking and only because the fish itself was difficult to eat, a mark of 8/10 was awarded. Chef Christine was stoic on hearing the news, as I said at the time, I blame the fish!

Pork chop or chicken curry 19th March 2012

A big pork chop was the order of the day, and for other diners chicken curry. Both came with a healthy amount of fresh kale and purple sprouting broccoli with fresh carrots, plus mashed potato if requested.
A good meal enjoyed by all, and a score of 9/10

Cupboard Food, 17th March 2012

Well yes, we were starving this night, and what should we eat, with no definate idea & without anything substantive in the larder Head Chef Elissa at the Broadstairs Cafe volunteered to 'knock something up' And what a job she did. Found in the larder was spaghetti, mushrooms, & bits of all sorts. Hey presto 10 minutes later the diners were presented with this dish. A certain mark of 10/10

Macaroni Cheese with chicken & mushrooms, 16th March 2012

Our traveling Chef Christine visited the London Grill taking with her "something she had prepared earlier". It was a part cooked Macaroni cheese dish that was given a final 30 minutes cook in the London Grill's oven. This was served with freshly baked olive bread from the Blackbird Bakery. I highly recommend this bread and its worth traveling quite a distance for.
Whilst the meal was up to its usual high standards some of the diners (including Chef) thought it was a little dry, probably caused by being cooked twice. But this does not take away the succulent savoury taste of the dish. A mark of  9/10 was awarded

Birthday cake surprise, 16th March 2012

Now, you can't have too many birthdays, and you certainly can't have too many birthday cakes.

A surprise was in store when the author visited the London Grill to meet up with those lovely people, mine hosts, Neil & Emma & their young son Eden. As everyone knows the author keeps his birthdays quiet as he doesn't like a fuss, and so was very surprised during afternoon tea when he was presented with a Victoria Sponge Cake (locally sourced of course) to mark the recent passing of such an important event. Despite raising a delightful child, Emma (or affectionately known as EC2) was able to obtain one of my favourite cakes. All guests at the London Grill enjoyed the cake & the occasion, I even managed a 2nd helping later when Neil declined the last piece.
A well deserved 10/10 for the cake & thoughtfulness.

Garlic Tiger Prawns with Puy Lentils, 15th March 2012

Chef Elissa was at her best when serving up this dish to the diners at the Broadstairs cafe. Its a recipe from the BBC good food guide, and if, Jules, Frantic Flapjack, Joanne, Ciaobella13, Tasty Tash, & RioRita on the web site's comments page thought it good, then it must be worth a try.
Top Tip; use Asian Puy lentils in this dish as they hold their shape when cooking.
The ingredients are; Raw prawns marinaded in Lime with finely chopped chilli, garlic & oil. Boil the lentils for 15mins, & make a dressing from chopped chilli, soy sauce, honey & vinegar. Lightly fry the prawns then pour in the marinade. Then serve to your expectant Diners. The Diners were full of praise for this dish that more than met expectations, a fully deserved 10/10 for this young Chef.
Jules, Frantic Flapjack & the gang were spot on with this recipe, as was our Chef Elissa, well done.