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.