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.

Antique Spaghetti, 1st February 2012

On this night our chef came up with a surprise meal from the past. Yes it was Spaghetti Bolognaise and was created from a secret recipe known only to our chef and Heinz 57. It turned out to be a perfect replica of the meals gone by and was very much enjoyed by all the family in those olden days. Today's meal gained a mark of 8/10, and would have scored higher if we had been allowed (good health reasons) to have grated cheddar cheese on the top. Well done chef.