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.

Greek Lamb,aubergine bake, 14th March 2012

This meal was a challenge as it came from a cook book entitled, "Readers Digest Amazing Meals for less than £2.50".
The ingredients were mince lamb, aubergine, garlic, tomatoes, fresh mint, dill, spaghetti, yoghurt & egg, and served with a fresh salad. (In Greece the dish is made with Orzo, a small tear shaped pasta, difficult to obtain, but Waitrose do sell it)
Now here's the good news..................It's a healthy meal, with less than 5% fat
It was unusually tasty considering it was a 'healthy meal'  but only achieved a mark of  9/10 because I was hungry an hour later and needed to stock up with a peanut butter sandwich!
Yes, the challenge to cook for less than £2.50.......  Failed......  Either our Chef Christine is going to the wrong suppliers for the ingredients or the book was published in the 1970s

Ginger Biscuits (the best ever) 11th March 2012

Special thanks for these biscuits must go to the local church who unwittingly had a hand in the creation of these 'best ever' home made ginger biscuits. How?......Today the church held a book sale and chef contributed to church funds by buying a cook book (3 actually), and there it was, inside one of the books, waiting to be re-discovered, a fine recipe.
And so with some haste, the oven was warmed up, and with religious intensity Chef set about recreating the latest project.  Fortunately the kitchen had all the ingredients namely; plain flour, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, an egg, and black treacle.
The result was the 'best ever' ginger biscuit, with a crisp outside and soft inner, with a taste strongly reminiscent of Brandy Snap.  No problem here with the mark of 10/10. Well done church and well done Chef.

Roast Chicken (butchers of course) 11th March 2012

Our peripatetic  Chef, Christine created another wonderful meal of roast butchers chicken, with homemade Yorkshire pudding, roast parsnips & potatoes, Lincolnshire fresh curly kale & carrots. On hearing of yet another award our shy chef said," It was the gravy that 'med' it". Quite true.
And then......for afters I indulged in a little bit of history, the two spare Yorkshire puddings were served with treacle.  Before obesity arrived in the uk  I regularly indulged in this hobby of 'afters'. Wonderful!!          A well deserved mark of 10*/10
Note the product placement

Elissa's Gift.......to inspire the author

Elissa, one of our regular Diners at the Lincolnshire Pantry and the Broadstairs Cafe with just two of the food books she has presented the author. How she finds these titles I do not know, they are exceptional. Although, "The man who ate everything" may be a bit sarcastic as the author can eat everything............oh, except, liver, gooseberries, and raw fish!

Our Chef, "with a little help from her friends"

A little secret here; Part of our Chefs stock of inspirations. They make great reading for any food lover.
Sounds like a Beatles song from 1967 sung by Ringo................the last verse;
Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mmm, gonna try with a little help from my friends
Ooh I get high with a little help from my friends
With a little help from my friends
Maybe it wasn't a drug song, maybe it was for chefs everywhere!

Fish & Chips by the seaside, 6th March 2012

Not the best photographs, but I needed to protect the food with the box lid to stop the thieving seagulls from diving down and stealing my lunch. Yes a day at the seaside is not complete without fish & chips on the sand and maybe a stick of Scarborough rock for afters.
So when its not a regular meal you should go for the best, which we did. The 'World Famous' Harry Ramsden's on Scarborough sea front was chosen. We concluded it was ok but the chips while perfectly cut and shaped  didn't taste of a good old fashioned chip. Maybe its because no one uses beef dripping anymore or my taste buds are wearing out. Sorry Harry but you only scored 7/10. You should take note from the New Goxhill Chippie, now that is quality ( see the first entry on December 2011)

Cannelloni & Spinach, and Thai Fish Cakes, 4th March 2012

A reasonably healthy meal was the order of the day (well the spinach & fish anyway) on an outing to Scarborough (The Queen of the Yorkshire Coast). There wasn't a lot of restaurants open on this miserable rainy day so Chef and I settled for a good looking specialist coffee cafe called Roasters.
The food was nicely presented but wasn't a lot to write home about. A gracious award of 5/10 was therefore given for the food. The coffee was good and strong and deserved an award of 9/10

Sausage & Mash, 1st March 2012

As I awoke this morning I said, "White Rabbits", an old superstition to bring me luck for the rest of the month. And yes it worked, because later in the day Chef Christine said she would be cooking sauasage and mash for tea (evening meal, Elissa). One of my favourite meals made even better on this 1st day of March by a special gravy made by Chef using a secret formula known only to her. I can reveal amongst other things it contains cider, sherry, & Dijon mustard.
Chef Christine is getting used to compliments  because when complimented this time she said, "Oh its not my doing its Rooks". now Rooks is a butcher in East Kent who produces some really excellent sausages.  Neverthless a top score or 10*/10
The alternative meal on this night was Salmon, which looked great but cannot be compared with "Rooks"

Tomato & Basil Pasta, 29th February 2012

Home made Tomato & Basil Pasta with home made garlic bread was the meal tonight, and it looks as if that Italian Red wine bottle has made another appearance. No doubt a good mark will be obtained. Yes 10/10 is the score. Well deserved.
And now for the surprise. After a hard days shopping our Chef Christine returned with a cheapo supermarket trifle.  It can't be healthy, but every now and then I enjoy the indulgence of a trifle. (it helps me make comparisons with the much better food I'm used to!!) No marks awarded as I feel guilty about eating it.

Hungarian Goulash, or, Mussels in White Wine, 27th February 2012

What a choice; Goulash or Mussels? First things first, the Goulash has been a regular feature at the Lincolnshire Pantry and other fine establishments where our Chef Christine has served up quality food. A fine meal was enjoyed by the author, and it was accompanied by fresh Lincolnshire Curly Kale, local carrots and splendid mashed potato. A definate 10/10. Fresh produce scores everytime.

And now the Mussels in White wine; it sounds good, it looks good, and is even accompanied with a bottle of Italian Red Wine, but..................................Its a Tescos finest! Cheating? Yes.  Actually they were pretty good, but when you know they've come out of a plastic bag, rather than fresh it spoils the experience (until the second glass of red wine takes effect, then who cares) Anyway, well done Tesco but you only get 7/10.

Lincolnshire Yorkshire Pudding & Roast Beef, 25th February 2012

At the Lincolnshire Pantry today our chef Christine served up a lovely meal of roast sirloin, roast potatoes & parsnips with fresh local Kale, beatroot and yorkshire pud. An ideal cold weather meal. It was very enjoyable, but you'd be surprised to find out that it only achieved a score of 8/10. Why, when this is a regular meal often served up to the good people at the Lincolnshire Pantry. Well, we had run out of plain flower for the Yorkshire pudding, and because it was too miserable to walk out to the local shop, white bread flower was used. Hence, the lower mark because the pudding was very edible, and looked the part, but was too heavy. (a bit like bread really!)
Note; Curly Kale (or Borecole)is a form of cabbage either green or purple in which the central leaves do not form a head, and is known as one of the healthiest vegetables around. The author has found that Kale is only good if its fresh and young, otherwise it can be bitter.

Shrove Tuesday, pancake day, 21st February 2012

Being good Christians we just had to have pancakes on this Shrove Tuesday. This is the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. In most traditions the day is known for the eating of pancakes before the start of Lent. Pancakes are eaten as they are made out of the main foods available, sugar, fat, flour and eggs, whose consumption was traditionally restricted during the ritual fasting associated with Lent................So that's the excuse, a pity we don't have them every Tuesday. Yes, a definite 10/10

A choice, Goulash or Paprika Chicken, 20th February 2012

Can photographs lie?.......Looking at the Goulash photograph you could be forgiven for thinking it's something 'Cheviot' left behind!  This most certainly isn't the case, as it was a beautiful meal presented by our chef, Christine to our diners from the 'London Grill'. It consisted of; cubed beef, green peppers, onions, nutmeg, beef stock, paprika, & tomato puree.  Another choice was, Paprika Chicken which was equally delicious and made more savoury by being cooked in cider & sherry.
The sweet was our chefs newly created speciality; Home made lemon ice cream made with natural ingredients, none of that packet stuff.  All in all a well deserved 10/10. A lovely meal to end a lovely day. (you may note that while we ate baby Eden was being observed on the baby monitor, he doesn't know this but he has all this to look forward to.........when he can give his milk diet up!)
Final note;  Cheviot did actually pay us a visit earlier in the day!!

Roast Ham, also Salmon sandwiches, 19th February 2012

Mine hosts, Neil & Emma and baby Eden  from 'The London Grill' visited the Broadstairs Cafe for high-tea and were presented with a selection of Roast Honey Glazed Ham and John West's salmon sandwiches, plus sausage rolls from the newly opened 'Old Bake House' in Broadstairs. Although the meal was quite tasty I thought the granary bread from the Old Bake house was a disappointment. The large loaf was very light in weight, didn't have any substance to it, and gave the impression that air had been injected into it. Considering that the company appear to market themselves as an Artesian bakery their bread was just better than bread from 'Crusty's or  Tesco's, but nowhere near as good as that baked fresh by our chef, Christine .However their bread cakes and sausage rolls were pretty good. So, overall a mark of 7/10 was awarded

Home made Pizza, 16th February 2012

Our ex-Commis chef Elissa, now a chef in her own right with a good repertoire of meals, (mainly healthy options) stepped out of her comfort zone tonight and produced a completely home made pizza, using, freshly prepared dough, homemade tomato sauce, chorizo, spinach, yellow pepper, mushrooms, mozzarella, & goats cheese.
It was truly delicious, with a crispy edge, and a softer inside, with lots of variety in the topping. I travelled 250 miles to try out this meal at the Cafe Broadstairs, and it was worth every mile. However Elissa, ever the perfectionist, thought that there may have been too much tomato sauce or it needed baking for a few more minutes.This may have been so. Her meal was awarded a mark of 9/10 with
the hope she may produce another tomorrow night to gain full marks!
A great effort; eat your heart out Pizza Express.

Sea Bass, 15th February 2012

Pan seared locally caught fresh Sea Bass was today served up by chef Christine to two discerning diners. I enjoyed the fish with jacket potato, & a mixture of vegetables, the other diners enjoyed the fish with vegetables & ratatouille. A lovely meal enjoyed by all at the sea-side.
A mark of 9.5/10 was gained. One cheeky diner suggested the meal would have been marked higher if it had been served with french fries & peas! Completely untrue, as a fair mark was given.

Bacon & Onion Pasta, 14th February 2012

Yes, this meal tastes as good as it looks. Our chef, Christine has been cooking and delighting diners with this meal for years (some say as many as 30 years!) It originally came from an old fashioned cheese recipe book and was called, 'Italian Pasta'. It is made from spaghetti, cheese, herbs, bacon. After cooking it is topped off with cheese and crushed potato crisps which are then browned & crisped under a grill.
The second course was another old established recipe of Lemon Meringue Pie. I was lucky enough to be present during the preparation of this dish, and the smells of the freshly pared lemons and other ingredients was something to savour . (I was even luckier later to enjoy a slice of this pie!)
This combination of food easily gained a mark of 10/10
note; I've never known this meal to disappoint, its always excellent.

Baked Potato, 14th February 2012

Well, what do you eat at lunch time when driving? Today we called in at Downtown on the A1 to check out the sales, and to eat a light snack in their cafe. Our choice was baked potato with Cheddar cheese and Cottage cheese. The potatoes are cooked in one of those special ovens which crisp the skin and help the flavour, unfortunately today's offering wasn't up to previous standards. Neverthless it was as cheap as a sandwich, and warmer!! The event was not memorable and scored a poor 3/10. The sales however was very good with some quality purchases, (which meant our cheap meal ended up costing the price of a 5 star menu!)

Salmon sandwiches, Sunday tea, 12th February 2012

Tonight we enjoyed salmon sandwiches made with freshly baked white bread, together with a few tomatoes and some hand cooked 'Real' sea salt crisps cooked in sunflower oil (that's what it says on the bag anyway). Plus a glass (or two) of chilled Spanish Cava. Delicious. If you closed your eyes it would take you back to those lovely sunny summer afternoons. Its known as a Mum's speciality sandwich, only she can make them as good as this.

Wim-Wams, Saturday night 11th February 2012

Today was our chefs day off, and so it was down to me to cook something special as a way of thanks for all the really top class meals she prepares for me and our family. The meal has now been given the name of 'Wim-Wams' because throughout the day I was forever being asked what I was making for tea. Now I happen to know that when our chef was a young girl she used to forever ask her mother(Peg) what she was cooking for tea. Peg would invariably reply, "wim-wams". I think this used to satisfy the young Christine who would run off happily to play, hop-skip-and-jump until her tea was ready.
The meal of Wim-Wams consisted of, large prawns, mussels, small tomatoes, bean sprouts fried quickly in a wok in a rich sauce of ginger, garlic, & 5 chinese spices (yes, from Tesco's). Plus a diet buster of freshly baked garlic bread, all washed down with a Spanish wine from La Mancha.
So what did this gourmet meal score?.....8.5/10.   Not bad. May have scored higher if I'd supplied serviettes, and a better candle!

Shall it be Salmon or Gammon? 10th February 2012

Our Chef, Christine tonight presented me with a choice between pan seared fillet of salmon with couscous, with fresh Lincolnshire cabbage & carrots, or pan seared gammon with veg & potatoes. Despite both platters looking extremely tasty I chose the meat dish as I don't care for couscous (especially if its Ainsley Harriet's, which this wasn't)
Both dishes scored 9/10, but the chef was heard to comment that the Salmon from Lidl was much better than Tesco's, and none of this was as good salmon she could buy in Spain.

Fish Cakes & a long forgotten sweet for afters, 8th February 2012

Yes, fresh home made fish cakes and Angel Delight, what could be better on a dark, miserable winter's night.
Fresh cod cheeks, mashed potato, mixed herbs all rolled together in home made bread crumbs and then fried in Cholesterol free rice bran oil. Served on a plate with a slice of freshly baked homemade bread, and not forgetting a healthy measure of Heinz tomato sauce. I almost forgot to include a serving of local steamed broccoli, for the health freaks!
And to round off a lovely meal, who can forget those Sunday teas of 30 years ago, when we had a dish of cold Angel Delight. Tonight's meal with a difference scored 9/10.  Ah, nostalgia!!

Healthy Lo-Cal., Rolled Chicken Breast, 7th February 2012

Our chef, Christine presented this low calorie main meal which had been adapted from a Gino D'Acampo recipe. (I know there are some chips on the plate, but that it's what the diner's asked for!).
Two chicken breasts were beaten to an inch of their lives with a rolling pin and were rolled around a mixture of fresh carrot, mushrooms,a seedless beef tomato, red pepper, garlic, & rosemary which had all been been ground together. Each breast was wrapped in baking paper in the shape of a cracker & then placed into a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes at 200oC.
After cooking, the Rolled chicken breast was sliced into sections and served with home cooked chips.
Considering that the roll was only 125 calories it was very tasty.  After consultation, our chef and a diner agreed a score of 7/10. The dish would actually have been much better with less roll and an assortment of vegetables.  This dish is a well worth repeating 

Healthy Breakfast ? 6th February 2012

On this cold winters morning with snow & freezing fog the choice of breakfast was difficult. Should it be a 'Full English' or a healthy 4 weetabix with banana and semi skimmed milk? I like to keep healthy so the choice was easy; there wasn't any bacon in the cupboard, so it had to be cereal.
This modest breakfast 'snap' gained a mark of 7/10, but more marks could have been gained if I had served the meal on a bed of Grapenuts. Remember them? Delicious.