3. Great Food Magazine Nov/Dec 2010

greatfood C H R I S T M A S ‘10 £ 3 . 2 0

www.greatfoodleics.co.uk

CELEBRATING THE BEST LOCAL FOOD & DRINK

Leicestershire & Rutland

The geese are getting fat!

Your guide to a delicious Christmas, from Belvoir goose to Melton Sloe Gin

The new magazine all about food and drink in your area

£3.20

Winter Plum Chutney, Christmas Gift Cookies, Twelfth Night Cake...

ISSUE #3

19 GREAT RECIPE S INSIDE

PUB WALK

Tasty Rutland route revealed

Leicestershire’s exotic ‘shrooms Meet the county’s only shiitake farmer

Th e perfect pie!

Local baker shows you how to make the best

PUB & RESTAURANT REVIEWS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

hotel restaurant

The Best Small Hotel and Restaurant in the East Midlands.

Double Gold Award Winner in the ‘Small Hotel’ & ‘Taste of the Region’ categories in the 2010 East Midlands Tourism Enjoy England Excellence Awards Book now for Christmas parties and New Year’s Eve and enjoy our intimate, luxurious surroundings.

Visit www.maiyango.com for more information T: 0116 251 88 98 E: reservations@maiyango.com AA Rosette for Culinary Excellence

MAIYANGO AD.indd 1

13-21 St Nicholas Place, Leicester. LE1 4LD

21/10/10 13:12:58

Welcome

This year every member of my family is going to receive locallymade food and drink as gifts.

Judging by the high-quality goodies uncovered while compiling this issue, everyone’s going to be delighted. The produce that stars throughout the magazine shows what an embarrassment of riches we have in the area, from Scotch Bonnet jam from Charnwood (p6) to exotic mushrooms from Ashby de la Zouch (p38). Then there are Belvoir geese (p18), delicious Quenby stilton (p8 and p32) and a huge range of spectacular, locally-made pies (p6 and p51). That’s to name just a few. I suppose I ought to be buying gym memberships in the New Year.

Of course, if you fancy getting creative you could also make some presents. The jam-making feature on p24 should give you a few ideas. Probably the best gift you could buy, though, is a subscription to Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland! Details on p17.

Have a great build up to Christmas and a very tasty festive break. See you in the New Year! www.greatfoodleics.co.uk

Contents

NIBBLES 4 6 8 10 12 15

Make the perfect pork pie Local foodie products Local cheeses Leicestershire & Rutland drink What’s Cooking? Local food news Win a meal for two! At the Red Lion Inn

STARTER 17 18 22 23

Subscribe! Just £15 for one year Botterills’ farm: Plus goose-cooking tips Reviews: Entropy & The Old Barn Inn Review: The Berkeley Arms

MAIN COURSE 24 25 29 31 32 37 38 39 42

We go on a jam-making course Recipes: Plum chutney & jam; mustard Recipe: Twelfth Night Cake Recipes: Spiced truffles; confit duck Profile: Freddie de Lisle of Quenby Hall Recipe: Tim Hart’s rum punch Profile: The Mushroom Basket Recipe: Exotic mushroom risotto Recipe: Christmas Gift Cookies

BACK FOR SECONDS

Editor

matthew.wright@greatfoodleics.co.uk WRITE TO: Great Food, 7 Victoria Street, Melton Mowbray, Leics LE13 0AR. www.greatfoodleics.co.uk

Twitter: greatfoodleics EDITOR: Matthew Wright ADVERTISING: BPG Ltd Julie Cousins – j.cousins@ bournepublishinggroup.co.uk 01780 766199 PUBLISHED BY: Rocco Media PRINTED BY: Warners CONTRIBUTORS: Mark Hamilton, Matt Gregory, Emma & Chris Ansell, Jan McCourt, Rosemary Jameson, Tim Hart, Sallie Hooper, Sean Hope,

Welcome

Tim Burke, Helen Tarver, Julie Duff, James Goss, Danny Jimminson, Steve Fitzpatrick, Sarah Lyon, Peter Gardner, Paul Freeman, Tim Brown, Vanessa Kimbell, Rupert Matthews; Philippa, Jane and Enzo; Graham & Jill; and, of course, Rocco the Jack Russell.

WEBSITE: Paul Bunkham – www.dobit.co.uk Full terms and conditions, privacy and security policies are on our website.

GREAT FOOD LEICESTERSHIRE & RUTLAND IS BI-MONTHLY: NEXT ISSUE OUT JANUARY 4, 2011 COVER WATERCOLOUR: Christmas Geese by Graham Wright.

43 44 45 47 48 50

Recipe: Christmas Granola The Longhorn Beef Company Sean Hope’s steak tips & recipe Lubcloud Dairy Game guide: By Matt Gregory Recipe: Pan-fried venison & beetroot

PUDDING 51 52 54 57 58

Hambleton Farms Fine Foods Local food history: pears Your Dream Dish The Locavore’s Christmas Recipe: Mont Blanc by Danny Jimminson

PETIT FOURS & COFFEE 60 62 64 65 66

Pub walk: Exton – Fort Henry - Greetham Love This! With the Foodie Gift Hunter Events: Dates for your diary Next issue: What to look forward to Farm Shop Map: Updated Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 3

RECIPE HOW TO...

Make the perfect Melton Mowbray pork pie Have a go at baking your own this Christmas...

I

t’s a great Leicestershire and Rutland tradition to eat pork pie on Christmas morning with a glass of what you fancy. So why do pork pies have such strong connections to the region? Are Leics and Rutland folk pie-addicts, or is there a better reason?

To condense hundreds of years of history into a few words, the pork pie connection exists for the following reasons: good-quality grazing led to lots of milk, which led to Stilton cheese. The waste product of Stilton is whey, which provides economical food for porkers. When fox-hunting became fashionable in the 19th century, hunters flocked to Leicestershire and Rutland because of its fine sport, and wanted energypacked snacks for eating on the hoof.

Bakers decided to wrap seasoned pork meat in pastry and pack it all in with jelly. They sold like hot cakes. Or hot pies. The rest is history.

The Christmas morning pork pie tradition has its roots in farm labourers’ festive celebrations, when they’d eat the pork lovingly raised over summer, while their masters tucked into a bit of swan or goose.

The recipe and tips are provided by Stephen Hallam (pictured opposite) of Dickinson & Morris, Melton Mowbray.

To make a single 1lb pie Pastry * 113g plain flour * Pinch of salt * 50g lard * 30ml water * Beaten egg to glaze

1 2

Filling * 225g lean pork, chopped * Salt and pepper * 125ml pork stock & 15g gelatine

5

Make the pastry Sift flour and salt into a warm bowl and rub in 15g of lard. Gently heat the remaining lard and water together until boiling, then add to flour, mixing until mixture is cool enough to knead.

Knead well. Reserve a quarter of the pastry for the lid. Shape the remaining piece into a ball-like dome and leave in the fridge overnight.

6

3

Raise the pie Remove the pastry from the fridge two hours before making the pie case.

Gently temper the pastry by squeezing so it becomes pliable [1]. Using your hands, carefully mould the pastry up and around a floured dolly or jam jar, ensuring the sides are of even thickness [2, 3 & 4]. Remove the pastry case from the dolly or jar.

7

4

8

The filling

Protected status Melton Mowbray pork pies have had Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status since July 2009. This means the hallowed words ‘Melton Mowbray’ can only be applied to pork pies if they’re: 1) Made within a certain geographical area that focuses on the Vale of Belvoir.

2) Made with fresh, uncured pork – pies containing cured (salted) meat have a pink filling that looks like bacon or ham; genuine Melton Mowbray pork pie filling is not cured and has the same colour as a cooked pork chop or joint.

3) Baked with no support.

4 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

Stephen Hallam Stephen Hallam has been managing director of Dickinson & Morris at Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe in Melton Mowbray since 1992. He’s a passionate baker and advocate of local food.

The logo...

Foods of Protected Geographical Indication – including Melton Mowbray pork pies – must display this logo.

Baking Bake at Gas 4 (220C) for one and a half hours. When baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly [8].

Jellying

Dickinson & Morris Dickinson & Morris has been baking pies at Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe since 1851.

10 Nottingham St, Melton, Leics LE13 1NW, www. porkpie.co.uk, 01664 482068

Chop pork and season with salt and pepper. Place filling into the pastry case [5]. Roll out pastry for lid, damp the rim of the pastry case with egg and press together [6 & 7]. Brush the top of the pie (not the crimp) with egg and make a hole in lid centre. Chill thoroughly, preferably overnight.

Thanks to Dickinson & Morris for its help with this feature. D&M sells a range of awardwinning pork pies.

While baking, make jelly by dissolving gelatine in pork stock. After baking, make two holes in the lid and pour in jelly. Place pie in a fridge overnight.

Eating Eat cold and remove from the fridge at least an hour before serving.

Pork pie Stephen Hallam shows how it’s done

Stephen’s four tips “Have all ingredients weighed and ready before you start. And don’t over-knead your pastry – it’s not bread.”

“Your pastry needs to feel like Play Doh before you start to make the pie case. If it’s too cold it will crack and you’ll have to start again.”

“Using just pork belly meat may create a filling that’s a bit greasy, while leg meat alone will be firm and quite dry. A mix might work well but it’s up to you.”

“Care needs to be taken when baking as no two ovens are the same. Keep checking – opening the door is fine. You may need to lower the oven temperature during the last half hour – to about Gas Mark 2.5.”

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 5

Fosse Meadows Farm turkeys Time for a turkey? Fosse Meadows, a family farm in Frolesworth, south Leics, rears free-range bronze birds alongside chickens.

Farmer Nick Ball – an exLondon fashion designer who used to live in ‘Peck’em’ (so says the press release!) – believes the fact his poultry roams free results in a great flavour.

PRIC £ 3.95 E :

Game pâté with port

You can’t get much more Christmassy or local than pâté made with Leicestershire & Rutland game and laced with port. Created by Val Walker of Hay Meadow Farm in Wing, Rutland, this is perfect for festive starters or snacks.

PRICE8: FROM £

Contact: 07886 340752, www.fossemeadows.co.uk

try this...

Contact: 01572 737193, hmfproduce@aol.com

Local food that’ll turn Christmas into your tastiest yet Chilli jams

PRICE : £ 3.00

Feeling brave? Wake up to some Chilli Lemon Curd or Scotch Bonnet Jam from Charnwood Chilli Company on your toast this winter. The curd’s got an edge, and the jam’s like rocket fuel! Makes a great gift, too.

Contact: 07929 420556, www.charnwoodchillis.co.uk

Hambleton pies

PRICE : £2

FROM

Turn your tea-time table into a Christmas decoration with these awe-inspiring, centre-piece pies. Hambleton Farm Fine Foods (see p51) of Oakham is the proud creator of these duck (above) and pork with black pudding (below) pies, and they’re just the tip of the iceberg. Hambleton has a great range and can cook to order.

6 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

PRIC £ 3.00 E :

Contact: 01507 568235, www.hambleton farms.co.uk

C hr istmas sp ecia l TRY THIS

PRICE : £ 26

Rum, fruit and nut cake Bejewelled with cherries and nuts and laced with rum, this stunner is from award-winning cake-maker (and author) Julie Duff of Church Farmhouse Cakes, Croxton Kerrial (see p29), Vale of Belvoir. Julie, who bakes for Fortnum & Mason, uses free-range eggs and flour from Whissendine Windmill. The price includes gift-wrapping and postage.

Contact: 01476 870150, www.churchfarmhousecakes.co.uk

Goose fat

Festive chutney The Pickled Village of Bulwick, over the border in Northants, produces a mind-boggling array of brilliantly creative preserves, from ‘The Cuban Breakfast’ (lime marmalade made using the ingredients of a Mojito cocktail) to this, The Christmas Cheer – a warming, fruity chutney designed to taste like mulled wine.

Contact: 01780 450774, www.thepickledvillage.co.uk

Seldom Seen Farm of Billesdon, east Leics, is renowned for its free-range geese. It also grows potatoes, so for the most local of side-dishes you could roast Seldom’s spuds in this fat. As it says on the jar, they’d probably be the best roasties in the world.

Contact: 0116 2596742, www.seldomseenfarm.co.uk

PRIC £ 3.50 E : PRICE : £ 3.50

Drunken Jam (Red) Melton Hunt Cake

PRIC £ 8.95 E :

Allegedly made to the same secret recipe since 1854, this fruit, almond and Jamaica rum cake is said to have been originally served to members of the Melton Hunt. “The perfect accompaniment to afternoon tea,” says the blurb. Good for breakfast, too, we say.

Contact: Available at Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe, Melton Mowbray

This is jelly made with wine, which sounds like a rather fine idea. The Red here contains Cabernet Sauvignon and is said to be excellent with roast beef or good when added to onion gravy. Made in Deeping St James, Lincs.

Contact: 01778 347993, www.winejellar.com

PRIC £ 2.00 E : Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 7

C hr istmas sp ecia l

TRY THIS

PRICE :

£19.70 /k g

2

try this...

PRICE :

1

g £12.50 /k

PRICE :

£13.50 /k g

3

A dozen local cheeses to grace your festive table 1. Windsor Red

Mature cheddar infused with port and brandy, from Long Clawson Dairy.

2. Cote Hill Blue Delicious soft, buttery, blue cheese made at Cote Hill Farm, near Market Rasen, Lincs.

3. Thomas Hoe Aged Leicester

PRICE :

g £13.80 /k

Red with a distinctive caramelly, nutty taste.

Another offering from Clawson.

12

4. Long Clawson Blue Stilton

PRICE :

£11.50 /k g

4

Classic, traditionally-made Leicestershire Blue Stilton with an open texture.

5. Lincolnshire Poacher A bit like West Country Cheddar but with its own thing going on. Made in Alford, Lincs.

6. Quenby Hall Blue Stilton Arguably the mildest and creamiest of the Blue Stiltons. More on page 32.

PRICE :

g £15.20 /k

11

7. Sage Derby This version of this famous old cheese has a band of sage leaves running through it.

8. Lincolnshire Red

5

PRICE :

g £13.80 /k

From the same people who make Poacher, with a creamy texture and delicate flavour.

9. Staffordshire Now with Protected Designation of Origin status, this is mild, creamy and universally liked.

10. Stinking Bishop Ye gods! The World’s Smelliest Cheese, made in Dymock, Glos. Tasty, but keep the fridge door shut.

PRICE :

g £ 28.20 /k

10 9

11. Sparkenhoe Farm Red Leicester

PRICE :

Award-winning red made in Upton, south-east Leics.

Nutty taste but different to Thomas Hoe.

12. Cropwell Bishop Blue Stilton Some say this is the strongest of the Blue Stiltons.

It has a salty tang and high moisture content.

6

Thanks to: Melton Cheeseboard, 8 Windsor St, Melton, 01664 562257, www.meltoncheeseboard.co.uk

PRICE :

g £15.30 /k

8 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

£15.00 /k g

PRICE :

8

PRICE :

£13.00 /k g

7

g £12.60 /k

leics handmade cheese.indd 1

25/10/10 16:22:12

C hr istmas sp ecia l

TRY THIS

Melton Sloe Gin Made using sloes that grow wild on infuser Rachel Birch’s family farm in Sproxton, near Melton Mowbray, this sweet, warming liquor is perfect for putting in a hip flask and taking with you on the walk on p60.

Contact: 01476 861058, www. meltondrinks.co.uk

PRIC £14.99E :

PRICE : £ 3.99

Spiced Berry Cordial Add hot water for a comforting, fruity clove and cinnamoninfused winter warmer. Good as a pud ingredient, too.

World-conquering Belvoir Fruit Farms is located in the village of Belvoir.

Contact: 01476 870286, belvoir fruitfarms.co.uk

PRICE : £ 9.99

Azorieblue Coffee Having good coffee in the house is a must during festivities. Azorieblue is made from Brazilian Arabica beans grown in ethically-approved estates, and marketed by Adrian Rose from Melbourne, on the Leics/Derbys border.

Contact: 0207 6925670, www.azorieblue.com

try this...

Drinks with Leicestershire links

Everards Sleighbell, 4.5% Popular seasonal beer from Leicestershire’s biggest brewery, with a rich flavour and ruby colour. Available in selected Everards pubs. www.everards.co.uk

Wicked Hathern Gladstone Tidings, 5.1% A dark, hoppy bitter with a rounded finish brewed only at Christmas. Named after Gladstone Street in Hathern, north Leics, the result of a name that beer competition. www.wicked-hathern.co.uk

Langton Brewery Welland Poacher, 7.5% A well-balanced, powerful ale that’s perfect for Christmas. It’s chestnut in colour and has a satisfying, warm, bittersweet finish.

Brewed in Thorpe Langton near Market Harborough. www.langtonbrewery.co.uk

10 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

Jollydale Sparking Medium Cyder, 6.0% Fruity and quite sweet – even in Medium and Dry forms – this is made at Woodnewton, ten miles south of Stamford. www.jollydalecyder.com

Oakham Ales Mompesson’s Gold, 5% Copper-coloured with a floral hop aroma and taste, and a sweetness that leaps to a long, hoppy, bittersweet finish. Brewed in Peterborough. www.oakhamales.com

Farmer Fear Thirsty Farmer Cider, 5.5% Brewed partly from apples grown in Rothley, this is a traditional-tasting cider: not much fizz and a distinctive Scrumpy flavour. Made to his grandfather’s recipe by local farmer Andrew Fear, who owns the Budgens store in Mountsorrel. www.farmerfear.co.uk

ALSO AVAILABLE AT MAJOR RETAILERS NATIONWIDE dickinson and morris.indd 1

30/9/10 10:16:03

What’s

Cooking?

Asian food will be a crucial part of the new food piazza...

EDITED BY: MATTHEW WRIGHT

Small

... as will traditional British fare

CITY’S FIRST DELI PUB Leicester city centre pub the Rutland & Derby is being refurbished, shortly to emerge as the city’s first ‘deli-pub’. It will offer a range of drinks but also sell “an exciting range of foods, from gorgonzola piccante to prosciutto da cinta”, for consumption on and off premises.

The people behind it are Ssoosh Inns, a Kirby Muxloe-based firm that has developed The Forge in Glenfield and The Willow in Thurmaston.

By Tim Burke (read his food blog at www.riponia.wordpress.com)

PARTY ON IN OAKHAM Oakham’s Victoria Hall will host a series of parties consisting of threeand four-course dinners over the Christmas and New Year period. The food will be sourced from several local producers, including Northfield Farm, Hambleton Bakery, Grainstore Brewery and Leeson’s Butchers. www.silverskyevents.com

LUCY’S NEW FOODIE SHOP Lucy Cufflin, whose new book Lucy’s Food has just been published, is to open a shop at 6 St Francis Street, Leicester. On sale will be “timeless classics and contemporary dishes, plus a range of useful gadgets and storecupboard must-haves”. www.lucysfood.co.uk

LEICESTER MARKET TO CREATE MULTICULTURAL FOOD PIAZZA New square will reflect city’s culinary influences

A

fter winning £600,000 of funding from the City Council, Leicester Market – Europe’s biggest outdoor covered market – is to get a new multicultural food piazza to echo the city’s diverse ethnic mix.

An area of the market will be deconstructed in January 2011. The old canopy will come off to create an open-air square – space for 20 stalls plus seating – with Continental-style umbrellas providing cover. The piazza will be flanked by plants, the aim being to open up an area in which people will shop, sit, eat and drink.

At the heart of the piazza, which is set to open in April 2011, will be around 20 food stalls reflecting Leicestershire and Leicester. An exciting mix of traders – yet to be decided – will sell British, Asian, Caribbean, Italian, Spanish, Chinese and Thai foods. There will also be a guest producer/restaurant stall.

The idea of the piazza is based on the success of recent food festivals held at Leicester Market (25,000 attended the last one

Artist’s impression of the piazza. Right: Joe Harkin.

in May), and inspired by the city’s popular Mela, Caribbean Carnival and Farmers’ Markets.

Joe Harkin, Market Development Manager, said: “The ambition is to attract high-calibre producers of such diversity that Leicester Market will become one of the most talkedabout food centres outside of London.”

Food will dominate the piazza on Fridays and Saturdays; from Monday to Thursday the space will have themed days, such as arts and crafts.

If you are interested in taking a stall in the new piazza, tender applications will be live from mid-November at www.leicestermarket.co.uk, or call Joe Harkin on 0116 2232371.

NEW ABATTOIR A multi-species abattoir will shortly open at Six Hills, between Melton and Loughborough. Currently, most local animals are taken to South Kilworth, near Market Harborough, or Grantham, Lincs, to be killed (and Melton has a lamb and goat facility).

Andrew Nelson, director of Hambleton Farms of Rutland, said: “The new Six Hills abattoir is great news for the area. Animals will have to travel less distance and so undergo less stress.”

12 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

GET SET FOR NOVEMBER 21

Leicester’s Winter Food Festival Save some Christmas shopping for Sunday, November 21, when Leicester Market will hold its second Winter Food Festival.

Last year this event attracted 200 stalls and 15,000 visitors.

Taking place between 11am5pm, and hosted by celebrity chef and Leicester Market

Ambassador Rachel Green, expect local produce and plenty of variety. The festival will coincide with the switching on of the Christmas lights.

Interested in taking a stall?

Call Joe Harkin on 0116 2232371.

Leicester Market, Market Place, Leicester LE1 5HQ

Local food news

In the Kitchen EM TOURISM AWARDS

The restaurant at Hotel Maiyango.

GOLDS FOR MAIYANGO & GC RAILWAY

PUB

THE CROWN AT SPROXTON

Local eateries win medals galore at tourism awards

H

otel Maiyango of Leicester grabbed double gold at the 2010 East Midlands Tourism Enjoy England Excellence Awards on October 7, winning both Taste of the Region and Small Hotel categories.

The boutique hotel and restaurant sources many ingredients locally (see p54), and was recognised for its allround approach and customer service.

There were other local winners, too.

Great Central Railway of Loughborough, which offers fine dining on steam trains, won gold for Best Tourism Experience and silver for Outstanding Customer Service. And in the Pub Experience category, there was silver for the Horse & Jockey of Manton, Rutland, and The Crown of Sproxton

Foodie places

bronze for The Crown at Sproxton (see right).

King’s Arms of Wing (p50) snared silver in Taste of the Region award, the Grey Lady of Newtown Linford bronze.

Barnsdale Lodge of Oakham took bronze in Small Hotel; and Leicester’s Belmont bronze in Large Hotel.

{ } “Mystery shoppers who visited each finalist were so impressed they want to return as customers.”

Ruth Hyde, EM Tourism Director

The Horse & Jockey, Manton

The Crown, between Grantham and Melton Mowbray, has been getting considerable word-of-mouth praise since the new management took over and refreshed the pub a year ago. This has now been crystallised with a bronze at the regional tourism awards (see left). Offering bar meals and restaurant dining, as well as three guest bedrooms, The Crown is rapidly becoming a country pub with a big pull. Watch this space for a full review.

The Crown at Sproxton, Coston Road, Sproxton, Leicestershire LE14 4QB, 01476 860035, www.thecrownatsproxton.co.uk

BUTCHER

JASON’S ORGANIC BUTCHERS, COTESBACH Jason’s Organic Butchers is located at Cotesbach Hall, just south of Lutterworth, and is part of an artisan enclave that also comprises an organic food shop and a stainedglass studio. Jason prides himself on good, friendly service, and all his meat is locally-reared: he farms his own sheep, while his beef and pork is from Oakley Grange, Shepshed.

All butchery takes place on-site.

Jason’s Organic Butchers, Stable Yard, Cotesbach Hall, Leics LE17 4HX, 07754 697577, www.jasonsorganicbutchers.co.uk

New food venues at RSC I

f you’ve always wanted to scoff at Shakespeare, here’s your chance. On November 24, The Royal Shakespeare Company is opening a new rooftop restaurant and riverside café/terrace at Stratford-upon-Avon.

Situated only an hour’s drive from Leicester, the new venues, with their unique surroundings and impressive riverside views, are tempting destinations for anyone who likes a bit of Hamlet after their ham hock.

The two new eateries were a big part of the RSC’s freshly completed, fouryear, £112.8 million Stratford transformation project.

The rooftop restaurant will feature reclaimed pieces from the old theatre, and the design will be contemporary.

“I want a welcoming atmosphere, great food and friendly service,” said new Head of Catering Rob Fredrickson.

{ } “I hope the new eateries will offer something for all customers, budgets and occasions – coffee and snack to special celebration”

An example of a dish served at the restaurant is slow-braised daube of beef with pommes mousseline and roasted roots. Starters will be Rob Fredrickson £5-£8, mains £12-£18.

Bookings are now being taken – www.rsc.org.uk, 0844 8001110.

Cutaway of refreshed theatre – the rooftop restaurant is on the left.

FARM SHOP

BERRY’S, THE CHOLMELEY ARMS, BURTON COGGLES Newly opened, Berry’s Farm Shop is a beautifully converted outbuilding behind The Cholmeley Arms in Burton Coggles, just over the border in Lincs. Cholmeley Arms landlord and chef John Berry has combined pub and farm shop to offer customers something extra. Specialising in meat, much of it from the Easton Estate on which the shop is located, Berry’s also sells veg from the Fens, homemade cakes, and a fine wine selection from Amphora Wines.

Berry’s Farm Shop at The Cholmeley Arms, Village Street, Burton-le-Coggles, Lincolnshire NG33 4JP, 01476 550225, www.tiny.cc/959lo

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 13

What’s

Cooking?

NEW OADBY WAITROSE Rocco Recommends MAKES ‘LOCAL’ PROMISE “Excellent pubs that let me in”

TOBIE NORRIS, STAMFORD “This pub is really rather special. Possibly my favourite in the area, truth be told. It welcomes my canine brethren and I with open arms and full water dishes. But almost as impressive is the ancient interior.

Stretching out on the flagstone floor, one really does appreciate being in a building that dates from the 13th century. It’s undoubtedly one of the finest pub restorations.

The beer is excellent with local representation – Ufford Ales – and master eats the huge pizzas with embarrassing speed.”

The Tobie Norris, 12 St Paul’s St, Stamford, PE9 2BE, 01780 753800, www. tobienorris.com

Store pledges to support local producers and community

A

new 24,600sq ft Waitrose store opened in Oadby on October 21, with a commitment to play a positive role in the community and support high-quality local produce and producers.

The new store will employ 206 people – or partners, as Waitrose refers to its employees – including all 70 who have transferred from now-closed Waitrose Evington.

Talking to Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland on launch night, Amy Hayward-Paine, Waitrose Corporate Communications Manager and Leicestershire resident, said: “Local food and producers are important to us. This store has a small local food section, and we’re always on the search for exceptional new local suppliers.”

Store manager Ian Fraser said: “We’re looking forward to being part of Oadby’s community and continuing to show our commitment to the area.”

The new Oadby store – in addition to other local branches – stocks preserves by The Pickled Village of Bulwick (see p7) and organic pork pies from Brockleby’s of Melton Mowbray.

The shop will have a pattisserie, rotisserie chicken, olive bars and 60-seater café.

CREATE RECIPES, WIN BEER! Ale ice cream, Coq au Beer and Prawn Marie-Booze – three ideas that could make it into the Everards Hero Recipe competition.

The Leicester brewery is inviting cooks to come up with recipes containing the most creative use of Tiger Best Bitter. The ten best will go into a new Everards recipe booklet, with the top three going forward to a cook-off. The creator of the finest recipe will be rewarded

Our noble Chippies…

ROTHLEY FISHERIES & TIME & PLAICE RESTAURANT

Regarded by locals as one of the finest chip shops in the county, Rothley Fisheries and adjacent Time & Plaice restaurant in Rothley, north of Leicester, regularly attract queues that spill out the door. It’s said customers travel from miles around, and booking is advised for the restaurant. The best in Leics and Rutland? You tell us. Email matthew. wright@great foodleics.co.uk.

Rothley Fisheries, 19-20 Cross Green, Rothley, Leics LE7 7PF

14 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

with a £250 gift card and a year’s supply of Tiger.

After consulting local chefs, Great Food has a few ideas up its sleeve and will be entering (more next issue).

We’ll also print some of the best recipes.

To find out more and enter your Tiger recipe, go to www.everards.co.uk/herorecipe.

NEW COOKERY SCHOOL A school for cooks of all levels, from beans-on-toastburners to flambé-ing virtuosos, has opened in Smeeton Westerby near Market Harborough. Purpose-built Bridge 67 Cookery School, located on Binleys Bridge Farm, comprises six Falcon range cookers and a teaching kitchen on one floor, with a dining room to seat 24 upstairs.

Three chefs are on hand to teach a wide range of cuisines and cooking techniques.

Courses range from ‘Basic Everyday Meals’ and ‘Men in the Kitchen’, to ‘Christmas Canapés’ and ‘Italian Cookery’.

“Lessons have a relaxed atmosphere,” said proprietor Jill Vickers. “You learn in a hands-on way using seasonal ingredients, many of them from the farm. We teach small groups so there’s plenty of individual attention,

and we advise where to shop for food and how to store it, too.”

Jill has been holding private cookery lessons on her farm since 2006, but a grant from East Midlands Development Agency – which is due to be wound up in March 2012 and replaced by Local Enterprise Partnerships – has enabled her to expand the business.

Why ‘Bridge 67’? “Because a bridge on the farm spanning the Grand Union Canal wears that number,” said Jill. bridge67cookeryschool.co.uk

San Carlo’s Tigers Pizza Calling all pizzaloving Leicester Tigers’ fans. San Carlo restaurant in the city’s Granby Street has created a special Tigers pizza, topped with Tiger prawns and Leicester cheese, and cooked in the venue’s wood-fired oven.

Local food news

{ } “As well as sandwiches, I sell hot homemade takeaway meals like beef stew with veg grown in Thistleton by my mum-in-law.”

Debbie Hoult

LUNCH ON THE GO

DEBBIE’S MOBILE DINER Debbie Hoult’s Mobile Diner was brought to our attention by a chef who swears by her sandwiches. Debbie, from Thistleton, Rutland, drives her two vans to Market Overton, Sewstern, Melton and Ashwell. “I started the business seven months ago after quitting my factory job,” says Debbie.

WIN A MEAL FOR TWO AT Don’t miss...

THE RED LION, STATHERN To enter, just go to www.greatfoodleics.co.uk and fill in the online form, or send us a postcard

T

he 17th century Red Lion in Stathern, Vale of Belvoir, is a food and drink-lover’s paradise. With its own veg garden, a raft of carefully researched local suppliers, good beer, a fine head chef in Ed Leslie (his boss is Michelin-starred Sean Hope) and an award-winning landlord in Marcus Welford, how could it be anything else?

To celebrate the launch of the Red Lion’s new menu (we’ve tried their steak and it’s fantastic – see p44), we’re offering you the chance to win an all-expenses paid meal for two at this award winning country pub.

To enter, simply go to www. greatfoodleics.co.uk and fill in the form. Alternatively, send a postcard with your name, address, phone number and email address to Red Lion

Competition, Great Food, 7 Victoria Street, Melton Mowbray, Leics LE13 0AR. Full terms and conditions are available on the website.

The dining room at the Red Lion Inn

NORTHFIELD FARM CHRISTMAS FAIR

Saturday, November 20, will see Clarissa Dickson Wright return to Northfield Farm, Cold Overton, for the farm shop’s Christmas Fair and re-opening of its newly refurbished tea room. Expect craft and food stalls, mulled wine, mince pies, a bar and plenty of great sausages. www.northfieldfarm.com

BURGHLEY HOUSE CHRISTMAS FOOD MARKET Buy festive gifts and supplies in the awesome shadow of Stamford’s Burghley House, at a food market that will run from December 3-5, 10am to 4pm.

The market will be in the stable courtyard and is free. There’ll be cookery demos, too. www.burghley.co.uk

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 15

Northeld Farm Shop

THE CROWN AT SPROXTON Restaurant – Pub – Courtyard

Tel: 01476 860035 Award winning Pub and Restaurant Our Christmas Fayre Menu is now available 2 Courses £17.50 - 3 Courses £21.95 Or why not join us for Christmas Day Adults £50.00 - Children (under 12) £26.00

Come and join us for some fabulous home cooked food in a warm and friendly atmosphere

OPEN 7 DAYS

O Rare and Traditional British Breed Beef, Pork, Lamb and Poultry, Game, Turkeys and Geese.

Great British and Continental Cheeses, Fresh LOCAL Vegetables, Bakery … and MUCH more!

O Refurbished TEA ROOM re-opens soon!

O Fabulous Amphora Wine Cellar on site!

Christmas fair and open day 20TH NOVEMBER FREE Entry – Plenty to see, do, taste and enjoy – Bring the family and have a great day! Local Foods and Crafts to buy, and meet CLARISSA DICKSON WRIGHT signing her new book.

WHISSENDINE LANE, COLD OVERTON, NR. OAKHAM, LEICESTERSHIRE LE15 7QF www.northfieldfarm.com 01664 474271 email: marc@northfieldfarm.com In 2010 we have received many accolades including Farmer’s Weekly Local Food Farmer National Finalist Top 10 Farm Shops – The Times Best British Apple Pie – British Pie Awards Gold Great Taste Award – Rutland Panther Bacon

1 Coston Road, Sproxton LE14 4QB

www.thecrownatsproxton.co.uk 10 miles from Grantham on A607. In Croxton Kerrial turn left to Sproxton

Blyth-Richmond Investment Managers is a 100% fee-based, independent family business run by father and daughter team Enzo & Philippa Maffioli. We pride ourselves on investing our clients’ money in the right places. We have many years’ experience in this field and offer a full spectrum of investments. Customer service is top of our agenda and we encourage regular face-to-face meetings with our clients.

-

30 Over

years’ experience

Call us on 0116 230 3663 or visit www.blyth-richmond.co.uk

Blyth-Richmond | Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority

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Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 17

LOCAL PRODUCER

Free to flap!

If the birds on the Botterills’ Vale of Belvoir farm can’t convert you to goose this Christmas, nothing will. Go on, live a little…

ARTICLE: MARK HAMILTON PHOTOS: MATT WRIGHT

R

ichard Botterill surveys the view from his family’s 500-acre farm at Croxton Kerrial near Grantham, on the border of Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. “There’s not much wrong with where I work,” he says understatedly, as we take in the gently rolling patchwork of fields.

The Botterills’ geese (and turkeys and chickens) make it to the table of some of the finest restaurants in the area, including the Olive Branch in Clipsham, and Hambleton Hall on the

Nottingham Goose Fair

Hambleton Peninsula, so you know they have to be good. But why?

“I put it down to one thing,” says Richard. “We do everything on the farm. We’re in control of the birds from day one till customers get hold of them.” The only thing left to the customer is to cook their own goose.

“It’s in our interests to look after them.

Geese have a long association with the area. Nottingham Goose Fair is so called because geese used to be driven to market in the city every Michaelmas from surrounding counties. The earliest record of the fair – which still takes place every October (although it’s more waltzers than livestock these days) – is 1541.

In the olden days it’s said that the geese’s feet used to be painted with tar to protect them on the long journey to Nottingham.

18 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

Father and son...

Richard (right) and Gerald Botterill

We want to produce the maximum number of top-quality birds.”

The Botterills start with day-old hatchlings from a hatchery in Norfolk.

When the birds are fully feathered – at seven to eight weeks – they’re moved to the yards outside, where they’re free to roam, though they’re kept in at night, mainly to protect them from foxes. So the birds spend most of their lives freely wandering around their land in the Vale of Belvoir and don’t leave the farm until they’re ready for customers’ ovens.

Botterills’ geese Cooking your goose Keep it simple and you’ll have a masterpiece on your table Goose has a thick layer of fat that not only makes the meat taste rich but keeps it moist. There’s not as much fat in the legs and wings, so it’s best to cover them with foil to avoid burning.

Rub salt and pepper all over the skin, then roast whole. For flavour, pop a couple of chopped apples and some herbs in the cavity, before putting the goose in an oven dish on a trivet, which will allow the fat to drain.

For a 4kg bird, give the bird half an hour at Gas 7 (220°C), then turn down to Gas 4 (180°C) for a further two-and-a-half to three hours. Baste after an hour and again around half an hour before it’s ready. Ensure the juices run clear and allow to rest for 30 minutes before serving.

You get a lot of fat from the bird, which can be stored in sterilised jars and used for all sorts of things (see overleaf).

The Botterills are so married to this philosophy of ‘birth to plate’ that they’ve invested £150,000 in their own slaughterhouse on the farm, so birds never have to suffer the stress of travelling off-site.

Richard’s grandfather Wilf moved from his farm in the Lincolnshire Wolds to the current location in the early 1930s, then his father took over the tenancy. The farm now comprises 300 acres of arable, on which they grow wheat, oil seed rape and beans, with

Goose tastes richer than turkey, but it’s not as strong on the palate as duck. Serve with red cabbage, roast potatoes and parsnips, other seasonal vegetables and a sauce like gooseberry or apple.

the remaining 200 acres given over to poultry and breeding ewes.

“We’ve been farmers for generations,” says Richard, who’s lived on the farm all his life. These days that means they have to be able to turn their hands to various things.

When we stop for a cuppa in the farmhouse, Richard’s mother Ann sums it up: “We’re jacks-of-all-trades.”

Richard’s wife Jo would agree: she does the company accounts, on top of a fulltime job with John Deere.

From cows to geese

PRICES

The geese are mainly fed on wheat from the farm and locally sourced cereal-based products, supplemented with soya-based protein for six weeks before slaughter to ensure they’re in tip-top condition.

Richard’s 72-year-old father Gerald is still the tenanted farmer – the land they farm is part of the huge Belvoir Castle estate. And it was Gerald who decided to give geese a go back in 1987.

They used to keep cattle on the

The Botterills’ geese are £9.35/kg and turkeys £7.95/kg.

A 4kg goose will serve four; a 6kg bird will feed eight.

A 4kg turkey will be a match for eight, while an 8 kilo gobbler will fill a whopping 15.

TURN T PAGE O

FOR TW22 LOC O RESTAUAL R REVIEWANT S

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 19

LOCAL PRODUCER

Charge of the geese brigade... when the Botterills let the birds out every morning, they make their way to the open fields, where they stretch their wings

farm but the price dropped so much at the time that they were forced to try something else – and they haven’t looked back. “The farm wouldn’t be here if we hadn’t tried something,” says Richard. Customer demand is a phrase that keeps coming up.

Customers kept saying that they wanted turkeys too, so the Botterills added bronze-feathered turkeys a few years after the geese. More recently, they’ve introduced chickens, at the request of a butcher.

Free to roam Botterills’ birds are free-range (very much so), but not organic. “We couldn’t see how it would take things any further on,” says Richard. “And there was a five-year lead time.” Added to that, there was (and arguably still is) confusion about what organic food was and where the benefit lay.

“When customers asked, we explained the birds were free-range and lived outside, and people were happy with that,” adds Richard.

The geese are brought in the night before slaughter and kept overnight in

the dark. They’re all hand-finished and dry-plucked, so they never come into contact with water, which can encourage bacteria. The meat is blast chilled overnight to get the temperature down to below +2°C before being hung in a cooler for 14 days. Richard explains that this assists the maturation process, and that the dry plucking and hanging also help to give the geese a long shelf life of approximately a week.

Conversation turns to local restaurants (instigated by me – I’m obsessed) and Richard admits he doesn’t often eat out. He’s used to home cooking using ingredients from the farm and is often disappointed when he does eat out. He’s horrified by the suggestion that he’d eat anywhere else than round the big table in the middle of the kitchen with the rest of the family at Christmas. He’s equally taken aback by the idea of not having festive turkey or goose. “It’s a family tradition,” says Richard. And that’s what lies at the heart of the Botterills’ birds: family and tradition. Maybe that’s why they taste so bloody good. Q

RECIPE IDEA

Take your goose a step further Bored of just roasting? Try a classic French rillette A classic French recipe for goose legs and wings is a rillette – a coarse paté or potted meat. The meat is rubbed with pickling salt and herbs before being cured in the fridge for up to 24 hours. It’s then cooked in stock and a splash of white wine for four to eight hours until the meat is falling off the bone. Discard the skin and shred the meat, mix with a little goose fat and stock until it becomes creamy, and finish off with thyme and Armagnac or Cognac (or whisky), before placing in ramekins and topping with a touch more goose fat. It will taste better

if you can restrain yourself for up to a week. Spread liberally on hot toast.

Or you could try a classic confit by slow-cooking goose legs in goose fat.

CONTACT WE Botterill & Son, Lings View Farm, Croxton Kerrial, Grantham, Leicestershire NG32 1QP, 01476 870394, www.freerangebirds.co.uk

They’re hand-finished and dry-plucked, before being hung in a cooler for 14 days

20 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

THE KING’S ARMS

TOP STREET, WING, RUTLAND LE15 8SE TEL. 01572 737634 EMAIL: INFO@THEKINGSARMS-WING.CO.UK

W

e would like to welcome you to our shop in the heart of Melton Mowbray. Our aim is to bring you the finest cheese and dairy produce, much of it sourced in Leicestershire and surrounding counties; as well as the best from the UK, and a growing variety of continental cheeses.

Our cheeses from the local area include the complete Long Stilton is our speciality, ours Clawson range, Quenby Hall Stilton, is sourced directly from Long Lincolnshire Poacher, Godminster Clawson Dairy, based just five Organic Vintage Cheddar, Stafford miles outside Melton Mowbray.

Cheese from Bertelin Cheese, and nd e Sparkenhoe For a taste of th e th Farm Red om best cheese fr Leicester. t no y wh , ea

Melton ar ? come and visit us

8 Windsor Street Melton Mowbray Leicestershire LE13 1BU Tel/Fax 01664 562257

Opening Hours Mon 9.00 – 3.0 3.00 00 Tues 8.30 – 5.0 5.00 00 Wed & Thurs 9.00 – 4.0 4.00 00 Fri & Sat 8.30 – 4.0 4.00 00

www.meltoncheeseboard.co.uk oard d co uk k

A 17TH CENTURY COUNTRY INN SET IN THE IDYLLIC VILLAGE OF WING IN RUTLAND.

To experience an authentic ‘Rutland Christmas’ join us this yuletide at The Kings Arms.

Artisan Cooking, using honest local produce to conjour up a taste of the past. 2 courses from £16.50 and 3 from £22.50.

W INNERS OF E AST MIDLANDS TASTE A WARD 2009 & 2 AA ROSETTES

HOME TO JIMMY’S SMOKEHOUSE. SMOKERS AND CURERS OF MEAT AND FISH

COME AND TASTE THE DIFFERENCE

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LOCAL PUBS & RESTAURANTS Menu samples

Entropy, Leicester CUISINE: Modern British/European.

PRICE PER HEAD: £30-£35 (for three courses and drinks).

KIDS WELCOME: Yes (“crayons, paper, toys and books available”).

DOGS: No. CUSTOMER CAR PARKING: On-road parking on Hinckley Road and side streets.

TIMES: Mon to Fri 11.30am–10pm; Sat 10.30am –10pm; Sun 10.30am–5pm.

S

ited on the corner of a terraced street, Entropy may seem like just a neighbourhood gem. But Tom and Cassandra Cockerill’s restaurant and bar, now celebrating its tenth year, is achieving nationwide acclaim.

We visited the Good Food Guide’s Midlands Restaurant of the Year on the first really cold day of autumn and got stuck into some superior comfort food. Roasted vine tomato soup had marvellous depth of flavour, elegantly presented with a swirl of peppery olive oil. A big hunk of homemade sourdough bread filled it out nicely. In contrast to the finesse of the soup, deep-fried Old Spot cheeks were a gutsy treat. The cheeks offer little gobbets of rough and ready-looking but particularly tasty meat. They were well-

matched here with a tart sauce gribiche, combining eggs, capers and herbs.

Mains impressed with simple treatment of high-quality ingredients. Northfield Farm sausages were beautifully herby, and the smooth mash, caramelised onions and pokey red wine gravy did them proud.

We knew a shepherd’s pie here would be out of the ordinary, and it was. Braised

The Old Barn Inn, Glooston CUISINE: British.

PRICE PER HEAD: £25-£35 (for three courses and drinks).

KIDS WELCOME: Yes DOGS: Yes (we met a beautiful gundog called Dylan) CUSTOMER CAR PARKING: At rear.

FOOD TIMES: Tues-Sat 12-3pm and 6-9.30pm; Sun 12-4pm & 6-9pm.

ACCOMMODATION: Three rooms.

T

he Old Barn in the hamlet of Glooston, near Market Harborough, was a wellknown destination for food-lovers in the ‘70s and ‘80s, but steadily went into decline. It is now undergoing a speedy resurgence under new landlady Vivienne French. Since she took over in February 2010, the pub has gained an Enjoy England four-star rating and gone a long way to regaining a good reputation.

We arrived as a local shooting party came in for lunch and were met by a friendly front-of-house team, who immediately made us feel at home. The Old Barn, which dates from the 16th century, is in two parts: it’s a typical country pub at the front, with quarrytiled floor and oak beams. But the surprise awaits when you move into the refurbished restaurant, which is on two levels. It’s

22 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

STARTERS Terrine of Gressingham duck, ham hock and foie gras, £6 Cropwell Bishop Stilton and leek souffle, £6.50 MAINS Salmon fillet poached in olive oil & beetroot risotto, £12 Belly of English lop, spiced apple and prosciutto, £18 DESSERTS Dark chocolate & rosemary mousse, £5.50 Carrot cake, raisin purée & jasmine tea ice cream, £5.50

shoulder and breast of Southdown lamb are combined with sweetbreads to give a rare intensity of flavour. A bit more gravy wouldn’t have gone amiss though.

Chewy pastry disappointed in a pineapple tarte tatin, but other elements were superb.

Caramelised fruit contrasted with a lime and chilli syrup, while coconut ice-cream and a shot of frothy pina colada finished things off.

Friendly, informal – a class act. Tim Burke ENTROPY 42 Hinckley Road, Leicester LE3 0RB 0116 2259650, www.entropylife.com

Lunch menu samples STARTERS Stilton & mushroom tart with dressed salad, £4.95 Creamy garlic mushrooms on garlic bread, £4.95 MAINS Cider-braised ham with two eggs, chips and salad, £7.95 English lamb shank, £12.95 With redcurrant & rosemary gravy, fresh veg and choice of potatoes

tastefully appointed and functional, with attractive, comfortable modern seating, and a superb oak stairway to the lower level.

Vivienne has worked in catering for most of her life and, in conjunction with her chef, she is fulfilling an ambition to produce the best of traditional British food at a competitive price.

From the lunch menu, I chose the chicken liver paté, followed by short-crust chicken and ham pie with hand-cut chips, and lemon posset to finish. The attention to detail and quality was obvious from the start; you can often judge a pub meal by the vegetables, and mine were cooked to perfection. There were three house whites to choose from and we selected a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc.

Most of the kitchen’s ingredients are locally sourced – including award-winning lamb from Lowerfields Farm, Packington (aka The

DESSERTS Choice of puddings or cheese from the menu board, £4.95

Mushroom Basket) – and Vivienne has spent a lot of time and effort creating her supplier list. There are three menus: lunch, dinner and Sunday lunch. It is good to hear that dinner comprises just one sitting.

It was very refreshing to experience the revival of the Old Barn and to see it achieving such a high standard of dining. This is a restaurant that is re-defining itself... at long last! Enzo Maffioli THE OLD BARN INN Andrews Lane, Glooston, Leicestershire LE16 7ST. 01858 545215, www.oldbarninn.co.uk

Out & about

The Berkeley Arms, Wymondham

Excellent seasonal food in relaxing surroundings

STARTERS

CUISINE: British, local, seasonal.

PRICE PER HEAD: £35-£40 (for three courses and drinks).

KIDS WELCOME: Yes. DOGS: Yes – in the bar area when dining by prior arrangement.

CUSTOMER CAR PARKING: Good-sized car park at the rear of the pub.

FOOD TIMES: Mon 6.30pm-9pm; Tues-Sat 12-2pm and 6-9.30pm; Sun 12-3pm.

R

elaxation is hard to find these days.

We’re all so busy replying to emails and answering iPhones that we’re turning into headless turkeys.

Forget therapy. Ditch the spa treatment.

Head instead to the Berkeley Arms in Wymondham, east Leicestershire. It provides an oasis of calm in the form of a traditional country pub serving good beer and outstanding seasonal food.

The beautiful village of Wymondham deserves a pub as good as this, and in husband and wife Neil and Louise Hitchen, the Berkeley Arms has recently gained

Fireplace, quarry tiles and a place to relax.

Menu samples Poacher Twice-baked Lincolnshire .95 £6 fflé sou ast, baby Grilled local pigeon bre ssing £5.95 dre t elnu haz & t troo bee

MAINS

tomato risotto, Fillet of wild sea bass, £16.95 kles coc & mussels ergine & Rump of lamb, spicy aub s cous tomato casserole & cou

£15.95 PUDS

crumble Local apple & blackberry with custard £5.50 with Cinnamon panna cotta r £5.50 pea d che poa rry kbe blac

Lamb with spicy aubergine casserole.

custodians (they took over in January 2010) who understand what makes a superb country pub, and who are passionate about good service and excellent food and drink.

Inside the Berkeley Arms is a quarry-tiled bar area with wooden furniture and cosy fireplace surrounded by comfortable sofas.

The ancient wooden beams on the ceiling point to the building’s age – it was built in the 16th century. In an adjacent room there’s a slightly more formal dining area.

Head chef Neil, originally from Uppingham, uses local, seasonal ingredients throughout his cooking, and changes the menu daily. “Villagers bring me all sorts of ingredients,” he says. “A generous chap brought me some blewit mushrooms the other day, and soon after another friendly regular gave me just about every apple he’d picked from a tree up the road. Vernon Moore, the local estate agent, supplies us with partridge and pheasant from a local

shoot. It’s fantastic that everyone gets involved – we’re really grateful.”

Sitting beside the fire, I tuck into my starter of Lincolnshire Poacher soufflé, followed by rump of lamb served with a distinctly Moroccan aubergine and tomato casserole (pictured). It’s excellent. My dining partner chooses slow-cooked beef brisket, which is packed with flavour and as tender as they come. Louise tells us that the beef has been marinated for two days in red wine and aromatics, before being cooked for 12 hours. That’ll explain it. For pud we can’t resist the apple and blackberry crumble, and cheeseboard, comprising Lincolnshire Poacher, Clawson Stilton and Somerset brie.

Here’s an idea: next time you’re trying to chill out, turn off your iPhone and go to the Berkeley Arms; eat like a king, then doze off on the sofa in front of the fire. Q

PERFECT COUNTRY PUB

THE BERKELEY ARMS 59 Main Street, Wymondham, LE14 2AG 01572 787587, www.theberkeleyarms.co.uk

Louise and Neil Hitchen

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 23

The joy

JAM MAKING

Jam-making is back in vogue.

Why? We spoke to Jam Jar Shop of Oakham to find out and picked up some tips at its first jam-making class

T

here’s something incredibly satisfying about making jam. Only a few years ago, most people saw it as a chore but times have changed. Now it’s regarded as the very height of domestic bliss, the perfect antidote to fast food, the polar opposite of rushing to Tesco after work for a microwave-ready meal.

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland is not alone in revelling in the Aga-and-Labrador wholesomeness of preserve-making. Even ex-Sun editor Kelvin McKenzie loves it. Writing in his Sun column recently, he told readers how he’d discovered Oakham’s Jam Jar Shop during his search for equipment to aid his blackberry jam making. Meanwhile, Waitrose recently reported a boom in sales of preserving sugar (up 181%), and said that the most commonly downloaded recipe from its website was for crab apple jam.

Rosemary Jameson runs Jam Jar Shop, now the UK’s leading online retailer of jam-making kit (she also writes for Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland).

“Keeping up with demand for kit from jam-makers is tough,” says Rosemary. Her husband Trevor, who handles online development, agrees: “We get half a million hits a month at www.jamjarshop.com – which equates to around 40,000 visitors. We have mailed

24 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

of real jam!

Recipes & tips

Winter Warm Plum Chutney To make 6-8 large jars (454g size)

* 1.5kg plums, halved and stoned * 500g cooking apples, peeled and chopped * 250g sultanas * 500ml red wine vinegar * 500g dark brown sugar * 1 tbsp sea salt

Spices tied into a muslin bag * 1 cinnamon stick * 2 tsp all spice berries * 1 tsp cloves * 1 piece fresh ginger, roughly chopped * 2 tsp black mustard seeds 1 Combine all ingredients in a large preserving pan, stirring thoroughly.

2 Place over a low heat until heated through, increasing heat slightly to soften the fruit.

3 Bring to the boil, tie the muslin bag of spices to the pan handle and immerse in the chutney.

4 Turn down the heat to simmer gently until the chutney is dark, thick and spicy. This will take around two hours.

5 Wash your jars in soapy water and rinse, then place them into the oven to warm. Get lids or cellophane cover ready to hand.

6 Turn off the heat and carefully remove jars from the oven, placing onto a board or heatproof surface. Using a funnel, fill jars almost to the top and seal immediately.

Wholegrain Mustard with Beer To make 6-7 smaller jars (225g size)

* 1 teacup yellow mustard seeds * 1 teacup black mustard seeds * 150ml cider vinegar * 1 bottle (500ml) Everards Tiger * 1 tbsp sea salt * 6 tbsp organic runny honey * 1 tbsp freshly grated nutmeg 1 Place the seeds in a large bowl or jug and pour over the beer – cover loosely with a cloth or film and leave to soak overnight.

2 Next day, add all the remaining ingredients and mix together.

3 Place batches into a liquidiser and process to your desired consistency.

4 Pot up into washed, warmed jars and seal immediately.

5 Store for a couple of weeks before use – if you can resist.

Plum Jam

To make 6-8 large jars (454g size)

* 1.5 kgs plums, any variety * 1.5 kgs sugar 1 Wash the plums – if they are nice and ripe, cut them in half and take out the stones. If not so ripe, make a slit in the skins, count the plums, and put them in the pan.

2 Put over a low heat until they start to soften, then increase slightly until fruit is soft. Lift out any stones and put on a plate.

3 Add the sugar, stirring until dissolved, then increase heat and boil together until ready to test for a set. Place a small amount of the jam onto a cold saucer – put in the fridge for 5-10 minutes: if the jam ‘crinkles’ when you push it with your finger, the setting point has been reached. Make sure you have the same number of stones as plums you started with.

4 Pot up jam into warmed, washed jars and seal straightaway. With a nice hand-written label this will make a great Christmas gift.

Rosemary’s top tips When filling your jars with mustard, stop air pockets gathering by gently pushing down on the mustard seeds with a teaspoon. Air pockets are bad news because they provide a place for bacteria to gather.

When making jam or chutney, put your jam jar lids on when the jars and ingredients are still hot. As things cool down and shrink, a vacuum is created. This means the jars will make a satisfying pop when first opened.

HOW TO...

1

2

Make a muslin spice bag Lay out a 40cm square of sterilised muslin (using boiling water) and fill with spice ingredients [1]. Gather up all edges of the muslin, bring together and tie with one metre of string [2]. Knot the muslin securely above the tie, folding in the raw edges to enclose any loose threads. Roll the muslin from the top down towards the knotted string, wrap the string around the roll and then form a loop with the rest of the string [3]. When putting your muslin bag in the pan among the fruit and vegetables, use the loop to secure it to the pan handle so when the fruit or veg breaks down you can easily fish it out. Don’t leave the bag in too long or you’ll overpower the flavour.

3

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 25

JAM MAKING

GET A FUNNEL! Trying to pour hot jam into jars without a funnel is pretty much impossible. “If you get one thing, get a funnel,” says Rosemary. A large metal pan beats trying to use your slightly-too-small saucepan, too. For a special offer on a funnel and pan, turn to p43.

Dry freshly washed jars in the oven on a low heat

Rosemary’s top tip Wash your jars in warm, soapy water and then rinse. Don’t dry them with a cloth but put them in the oven on a low heat for several minutes to evaporate all the water.

This will ensure your jars are bacteria-free.

SUGAR Silver Spoon Sugar is made with sugar beet from East Anglia – a significant saving in air miles over buying cane sugar.

It also makes excellent jam and helps to support British farmers.

Why not use local sea salt, too?

Jam students at The Old Smithy

out more than one million jam jars this year, and it’s So what did the jam-makers make of Rosemary’s class? a growing trend. I ordered 5000 jam jar labels to fulfil “As relaxing as a day at a health spa,” says Philippa Maffioli, orders last year. This year, 5000 labels sold out an investment manager from Melton Mowbray. “The in just under three weeks!”

Old Smithy is a fantastic old building and a perfect Rosemary has now started to run venue for making jam.”

SPECIAL jam-making classes to satisfy the (In fact, The Old Smithy, or a man who once OFFER ON A growing thirst for knowledge. But worked there, is thought to have inspired The PAN & FUNNEL! she’s sharing her years of experience for Village Blacksmith, a poem by Henry Exclusive special offer for Great Food readers. Get a another reason, too: “Running Jam Wadsworth Longfellow. Try Googling it). stainless steel maslin pan Jar Shop is fantastic but hugely time“I also enjoyed meeting other jam makers and funnel for just £29.95, consuming. I want to carry on making jam and the camaraderie of working together,” saving £16.50 on the usual price. Turn to p43 in a hands-on way. I love it – it’s what I do!” says Philippa. “The kitchen is brilliantly for details.

We went along to Rosemary’s very first organised and it felt good to make use of the class – entitled Autumn Harvest – held at The food that grows around us. Rosemary puts on a Old Smithy at Burley-on-the-Hill near Oakham. The brilliant lunch, too!” course lasts a full day and we came away not only with Making use of food growing around us – maybe that’s several jars of delicious jam, chutney and mustard that we’d why jam-making is booming again: it reconnects us with made ourselves, but got lots of valuable tips, too. For nature, natural produce and our instinct to preserve. Q example, it’s said that your jam’s ready to jar up when you CONTACT can run a spoon through it in the pan leaving a clear valley Rosemary Jameson has some Christmas-focused jam-making classes behind. Other tips are dotted around this feature, along coming up. Price: £60. Go to www.jamjarshop.com for more details. with the three recipes we followed on the day.

26 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

Award winning, rustic authentic Italian food served in a relaxed informal atmosphere at

Caffé ITALIA - Deli Italia

10 Church Street, Melton Mowbray, LE13 0PN Tel Deli: 01664 500132 Tel Caffe: 01664 561777 Caffe Opening Times: 9 – 3pm Mon to Thurs, 9 – 11pm Fri and Sat, Delicatessen Opening Times: 10 – 4pm Tues to Sat at Fully License d

Special Friday and Saturday night fixed price menu – two courses £8.95 and three courses £11.95, a la carte available

A FEW SNIPPETS FROM OUR REVIEWS

GILES COREN FROM THE TIMES SAID

“in my top ten restaurants” 8.5/10 BECKY JONES FROM THE LEICESTER MERCURY SAID “culinary

perfection” 5 stars

TIM BURKE OF THE METRO SAID WYMESWOLD LE12 6ST

“more than just a restaurant”

v OUTSIDE CATERING v VIRTUAL DELICATESSEN v MONTHLY COOKERY DEMONSTRATIONS

v IDYLLIC COUNTRY SETTING WITH ALFRESCO DINING AREA

“currently among the best places to eat the East Midlands” 5 stars HARDENS RESTAURANT GUIDE SAID

“Innovative way with local ingredients” 1 star out of a maximum 2 with a special note on the ambience

v BESPOKEE C CELEBRATION ELEBRATION C CAKES AKES yahoo.co.uk www.hammerandpincers.co.uk Contact us... 01509 880 735, email hammerpincers@

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25/10/10 10:11:09

‘Where potions stir emotions’ Hand made Chocolates Chocolate making workshops Wedding Favours Corporate Gifts Coffee Shop 5 Churchgate Mews Loughborough LE11 1TZ

e: info@chocolate-alchemy.co.uk

t: 01509 238113

Swithland Spring Water are celebrating 10 successful years of bottling – particularly for the water cooler market – and now bottling Sparkling and Still water into elegant 750ml glass bottles.

Tel: 01509 891189 www.swithlandspringwater.co.uk

The T he

Old Barn Inn

Warm, rustic and welcoming The Old Barn Inn is exactly how a country pub should be.

The Old Barn Inn serves great fresh British food using a selection of locally sourced ingredients.

We cater for private parties of all sizes in our charming intimate venue.

Give us a call to see what we can do for you.

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS MENU NU FROM 7TH-23RD DECEMBER (Booking required)

E-mail: mail@oldbarninn.co.uk - Telephone: +44 (0)1858 545215

THE OLD BARN INN, ANDREWS LANE, GLOOSTON,LEICESTERSHIRE, LE16 7ST GOOD GO G OOD OOD OD FOOD FOO OOD - CASK CASK CA K ALESALE ALE LESS- ACCOMMODATION SACCOM CC COM OMMO MMO MOD DA ATI AT TIIO ON N

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25/10/10 10:14:19

Recipe

Twelfth Night Cake Julie Duff shares her discovery of a theatrical and historic festive cake Cakes often have amazing histories and Twelfth Night Cake – part of the traditions of Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, London – is no exception.

Over 200 years ago, an actor named Robert Baddeley, on his passing in 1794, left a legacy of £3 a year to provide cake and wine to the theatre. It was Baddeley’s wish that performers appearing on January 6 (Twelfth Night) would always be able to eat cake and to toast each other.

The ritual of eating Twelfth Night Cake at Drury Lane continues today.

An extra twist is that tradition at Theatre Royal states a ‘lucky bean’ is baked into the cake, the finder being crowned ‘King Bean’!

After baking, the cake would be covered with almond paste and iced, ready for decorating, and although no particular design exists, this is where your imagination comes in.

If you like the idea of putting a bean into the cake, please do be careful when eating: being a King Bean might be fun, but being an A&E admission is not quite so jolly!

Serves 8

* 225g butter * 225g dark muscovado sugar * 1 tablespoon black treacle * 225g plain flour * 50g ground almonds * 1 teaspoon mixed spice * 4 large eggs * 225g raisins * 225g currants * 225g sultanas * 50g chopped mixed peel * 50g red cherries, halved * 50g green cherries, halved * 50g flaked almonds * 1 tablespoon brandy * 1 baking bean (optional!) * Almond paste, fondant icing and lots of decorative flair!

1 Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, and then beat in the treacle.

2 Sift the flour into a bowl and stir in the ground almonds and spices. Lightly whisk the eggs and then fold gently into the butter and sugar mixture, alternating with flour, ground almonds and spices. When thoroughly mixed, add the fruits, nuts and brandy, stirring well, and spoon the mixture into a greased and lined 7-inch round cake tin, smoothing the top.

3 Place in the centre of a preheated oven at Gas Mark 3 (160C), baking for approximately 1 1/2 hours.

4 Remove from oven and gently lay a sheet of greaseproof paper

on the cake tin and reduce the temperature to Gas Mark 1 (140C). Bake for around another hour, or until the cake is golden brown and firm to touch. When cooked, a skewer inserted into the centre will come out cleanly.

5 Leave cake to cool overnight, covering it with a cloth, turning it out onto a wire rack when completely cold. If not decorating that day, leave on the baking paper and wrap closely in foil, storing in a cool place.

Twelfth Night Cake is delicious eaten uniced, but decorating it and making it look as ‘theatrical’ as possible is half the fun.

Great for children to help too!

CONTACT: Julie Duff runs Church Farmhouse Cakes of Croxton Kerrial, Leicestershire, and has written two acclaimed cake books. Here she’s pictured with her daughter, Si. www.churchfarm housecakes.co.uk

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 29

ADVERTISEMENT

Give organic a go this Christmas Ask anyone what the festive period means to them and chances are they’ll say a glutton of filthy lush food, possibly overindulging on a suitably seasonal tipple followed by feet up and forty winks before the Queen’s speech has even begun.

O

kay, okay, they might say presents, but food is sure to be not too far behind.

This year let’s all go back to the traditional meaning of Christmas dinner – succulent meat full of flavour, vegetables full of crunch and natural goodness plus the obligatory fine Christmas pudding to top it off.

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And to help get the Christmas spirit pumping in one and all, we’re offering you the chance to win yourself a large Riverford Organic veg box and copy of the Riverford Farm Cook Book to help you gracefully glide through the festive season.

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Return to: Riverford on Sacrewell Farm, Sacrewell Lodge Farm, Thornhaugh, Peterborough, PE8 6HJ

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25/10/10 11:25:41

Recipes

Saint Domingue Winter-Spiced Truffles This recipe is from Peter Gardner (pictured right) of Chocolate Alchemy, an independent, handmade-chocolate shop located in Loughborough.

29-year-old Peter opened the shop in January 2010 after teaching himself to make chocolates. “I make my own ganaches, bars and truffles,” he says.

Examples of his recent creations are Chinese five-spice pralines and Cornish sea salt caramels.

Peter has now started running courses where he teaches chocolatemaking techniques.

PHOTOS: CARLA MUNDY

Enough for 24 chocolates

* 300g 70% Single-origin Saint

Domingue chocolate (available at Chocolate Alchemy) – 200g for truffle filling, 100g for truffle coating * 140ml Lubcloud cream * 1 cinnamon stick * õ tsp ground nutmeg * õ tsp ground ginger * 50g dark chocolate flakes (available at Chocolate Alchemy)

1 Heat the cream in a pan over a low heat until simmering. Don’t boil.

2 Take the cream off the heat and infuse with the cinnamon stick, nutmeg and ginger for ten minutes.

3 Remove cinnamon and return cream to heat until simmering, then pour it into a bowl over 200g Saint Domingue chocolate, causing chocolate to melt.

4 Leave the mixture to set in the fridge for four hours or until firm.

5 With a spoon, scoop out a small quantity of mix and roll into a trufflesized ball. Repeat with rest of mix.

6 In a bowl, heat the remaining 100g of the chocolate couverture in the

microwave on full power for 20-second bursts, stirring each time. When the chocolate begins to melt, microwave it for 10-second bursts until just about liquid. Take out of microwave and continue to stir, letting any remaining lumps of chocolate gently melt under their own heat.

7 Using disposable gloves, roll the balls of the truffle mix in the melted chocolate, giving them a nice, even coat. Before the chocolate sets, roll each truffle in chocolate flakes.

8 Kept somewhere cool and dry, the truffles will stay fresh for around five days. Do not refrigerate.

Want to know more?

For info on Peter’s chocolate courses, call 01509 238113.

Chocolate Alchemy, 5 Church Gate Mews, Loughborough.

Stephen Fitzpatrick’s Confit Duck Legs Christmas isn’t just about turkey and goose – why not try a few new recipes this winter? This dish could be just the ticket to beat turkey malaise. It’s a fave of Stephen Fitzpatrick (pictured right), head chef and owner of the acclaimed Boot Room Eaterie in Leicester.

Serves 8

* 8 large duck legs * 700g duck or goose fat (enough to

Want to know more?

totally submerge duck legs) * 150g sea salt Aromatics * 2 good sprigs thyme * 1 head of garlic, split in half * 4 star anise * 8 black peppercorns * 4 bay leaves

1 Wash and pat dry the duck legs and put into deep-sided roasting tin.

2 Sprinkle with the sea salt and then sprinkle over the aromatic ingredients.

3 Cover with baking parchment and leave for 24 hours, by which time the salt should have drawn the moisture from the duck skin. Pat the duck legs dry and put back into roasting tin with the thyme, garlic, star anise, peppercorns and bay leaves.

4 Cover with the duck or goose fat.

5 Re-cover with baking parchment and foil, and place in the oven at Gas 1/2 (120C) for five hours.

6 Remove from the oven and cool as quickly as possible, leaving the duck legs to set in the cooking fat. If

For information on The Boot Room, go to www.thebootroom eaterie.co.uk or call 0116 262 2555 The Boot Room, 26-29 Millstone Lane, Leicester

submerged in fat these will keep well in the refrigerator for five days.

TO SERVE 1 Remove duck legs from the fat and place skin-side down in a non-stick

roasting tray and put in a pre-heated oven at Gas 5 (190C) for around 25 minutes – until duck skin is crisp and the meat is piping hot.

2 Served with seasonal vegetables, roasted ceps and garlic mash.

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 31

LOCAL PRODUCER

Freddie’s whey Freddie de Lisle of Quenby Hall has coolly turned his Jacobean family estate into a food-producing powerhouse ARTICLE: JAN McCOURT PHOTOS: MATTHEW WRIGHT

D

rive up the long, tree-lined avenue – if you are lucky enough to be invited – leading to Quenby Hall and you will be transported to another age.

From behind the sweeping boughs rises the Hall, built in Jacobean times.

Quenby in the morning of a young autumn. A veil of mist melts away in the sun’s rays from the ragged grassland near Hungarton village. First one, then many English Longhorn cows wander up the pasture near the drive. Quenby has strong historical links with this great old breed of cattle. Ancient paintings clearly show Longhorns grazing in the Hall’s grounds.

Freddie de Lisle took over Quenby in 1997. Although it is Longhorns that most strike those visiting the Jacobean estate, it is Quenby Stilton cheese that Freddie is even more passionate about.

“Of the businesses I have created, Stilton is the one about which I never had any doubt,” says Freddie. “It is probably the only one that’s never given me sleepless nights.”

It’s fair to say that Freddie is a businessman first and most other considerations come further down the list. In addition to Quenby Hall Stilton and Longhorns, he has built, and still continues, a very successful career in recruitment.

“When I took on Quenby, the cattle were a practical solution to an obvious problem,” says Freddie. “How could I manage the 800 acres or so of ancient grassland pasture in a low-maintenance, low-risk yet high-value way? The choice of English Longhorn was made on the merits of the breed rather than its historic links to the family and its estates. I matched breed with land.”

The decision to make Stilton cheese, however, was made with the Hall’s history in mind. There had always been a story within the family that Stilton cheese was first made at Quenby. The legend goes that a lightly pressed blue cheese

ABOUT THE WRITER Jan McCourt runs award-winning Northfield Farm in Cold Overton, Rutland, which he set up after working as an investment banker in the City – www.northfieldfarm.com

32 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

was created by the housekeeper at Quenby, who passed the recipe to her daughter when she married Cooper Thornhill, innkeeper of The Bell Inn in the village of Stilton in Cambridgeshire.

“The Stilton story had always fascinated me and so, much like when I started the Longhorn herd, I researched carefully,” says Freddie. “I am not a cheesemaker, but I saw an opening for a mild, creamy cheese – other Stiltons in the market at the time were drier. But it was not a case of waking up one morning and deciding to make cheese. Quenby Stilton is the result of four or five years of painstaking research, followed by taking expert advice from Steve Peace, former chairman of the Stilton Cheese Makers’ Association.”

Stilton, known sometimes as the King of Cheeses, is protected under European Law. It is a pasteurised, medium soft cheese, and Quenby was the first new member of the Stilton Cheesemakers’ Association for some years. The admission of Quenby to this hallowed membership, established in 1936, bears witness to the readiness of the Association to accept new members, but they may only join if they comply with the rules of the game. The most sensitive of those rules seems to be the issue of pasteurisation.

Unpasteurised Stilton production ceased in 1989. All Stilton must now be pasteurised, and from 20 producers at its height, there are now only six.

No conversation with any food producer is complete without discussing supermarkets. Says Freddie: “My aim is to ensure as many people as possible eat my cheese and say, ‘that’s fantastic’. Supermarkets help me achieve my aim.”

Stilton is essentially a handmade product, yet de Lisle maintains there is no limit to the volume of production that can be achieved. “The limitation is consumer demand,” he says, and does not rule out making other cheeses to complement his 400 tonnes annual production of Stilton.

For more information on Quenby Hall, go to www.quenbystilton.co.uk or call 0116 2595403

One of Quenby’s fittingly-named English Longhorns

Quenby worker Helen Smith in the new creamery

Say cheese... Freddie de Lisle inside Quenby Hall

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 33

LOCAL PRODUCER

Quenby Hall – located 10 miles east of Leicester – was built in 1627

I mention to Freddie that there cannot be many owners of historic houses who have chosen to build a food factory within a stone’s throw of their exquisite home. “First and foremost this place, no matter how beautiful, is a place of work,” he replies. “The Great Hall, though stunning to our modern eyes, was used as the administrative office for the estate. Throughout this and nearby counties, whether in grand houses or farmhouses, cheese was made in and near the actual houses. The new creamery was built as close as possible to the original, which is now a listed building.”

Before talking to Freddie de Lisle, I expected his principal ventures of beef and cheese to have been founded in his

‘‘I’m proudest of all that I’ve been able to create jobs and careers – 20 new ones just recently” vision of history and continuity. I expected him to be bursting with pride for his Stilton in particular. However, my preconceptions have been proved wrong.

“I am proudest of all that I have been able to create jobs and careers – 20 new ones just recently,” says Freddie. “The cheese has been the vehicle for that creation.”

His vision is that his role is one of guardian, his job to make the most of his own talents within the context of this role. What his successors may choose to do, he has no idea – when the next guardian takes over, it will be up to that individual to decide how to take Quenby forward. Freddie says he has no intention of imposing his methods on his successors.

He may not intend that his future ghost will haunt the estate, but I am certain his spirit will live on as part of the amazing tapestry of Quenby Hall. Q

34 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

G

Ever wante to kee d p pig bu your own t don ’t the la have nd - w the an e have swer.. .

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Fresh, local, seasonal food and a warm welcome at Barnsdale Lodge piggy ter your f a k o lo we

Barnsdale Lodge Hotel is set in a unique rural location in the heart of glorious Rutland countryside.

For a monthly fee we will do all the hard work - feeding piglet, and generally making sure he/ she has a good life in our lovely woodland. You can visit your pig if you wish, feed him, and and see what ’s involved in looking after a rarebreed porker.

At about 26 weeks old, we make the arrangements with a local, family-run, butcher to supply you with your succulent, additive-free, rare-breed pork and sausages. It ’s as easy as that! And you ’ll be helping to maintain a rare breed too.

Saddleback and Mangalitza piglets also for sale.

Last few available rooms Christmas/New Year.

Packages available from £420 pp for 3 nights

resh. Org

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01780 720660 WWW.CHATERVALLEY.COM

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At Lubcloud Dairy, our herd of happy and d healthy organic cows graze out in fields that have had no fertilisers or chemicals used on them. The food that they eat is fully traceable and non GM, and the milk and cream that they produce is bottled here on the farm, resulting in a wonderful, fresh product. We have also chosen not to homogenise our milk or cream, leaving everything as pure as it can be, just as nature intended.

When you buy Lubcloud Dairy products, you are not only supporting local business, as we are organic, you are also supporting the environment too.

BUY FRESH, BUY LOCAL For more information and details of stockists:

www.lubclouddairy.co.uk w www.lubclouddair w bc Tel Tele Te epphone: ep ho e: 01509 015 505055 Telephone:

p35_GF_NovDec10.indd Sec1:35

We have a delicious Christmas menu with locally sourced ingredients.

• Morning coffee, lunch, afternoon tea & dinner • Delicious food prepared with fresh locally sourced, seasonal ingredients including beef from Hambleton Farm, berries and asparagus from Manton Farm and Rutland Water trout • Private dining • Weddings • Conferences • Exclusive hire of the whole hotel possible • Vicienté Beauty treatment & therapy room Bring your party to ours! From £25 pp for dinner and disco. For bookings or more info please call, email or visit the website.

The Avenue, Rutland Water, Nr Oakham, Rutland LE15 8AH enquiries@barnsdalelodge.co.uk

www.barnsdalelodge.co.uk

25/10/10 10:17:49

LONG CLAWSON CHEESE SHOP Hickling Lane, Long Clawson, LE14 4PJ

Open from Wednesday 1st December Pat, Mauricia & Lisa are ready to extend a warm and friendly welcome once again this December to the Long Clawson Dairy Cheese Shop.

With a brand new entrance on Hickling Lane and ample car parking for all the shop continues to offer a fantastic range of cheese for the festive season.

Stilton® in a variety of cuts and an abundance of cheese blends to try then buy will be available.

We look forward to seeing you!

Visit our website www.clawson.co.uk for further details & directions.

OPENING TIMES

Stay in touch with us on facebook www.facebook.com/clawsondairy

Monday – Friday 8.30am – 4.30pm Saturday 8.30am – 12.30pm Sunday – Closed

Share a Tweet with us on Twitter www.twitter.com/clawsondairyltd

A celebration of local produce Christmas Market: 3rd-5th December 2011 Markets Spring: 16th-17th April Summer: 28th-29th August The Courtyards • Burghley House FREE ADMISSION

Telephone 01780 752451 • www.burghley.co.uk

p36_GF_NovDec10.indd Sec1:36

25/10/10 10:19:59

Punch up!

Recipe

Tim Hart, owner of Hambleton Hall, recreates the rum punch of his youth

M

y father made punch once a year for the visit of the fox hounds to our house for a lawn meet in December. His punch was much admired and enjoyed. So much so that guests used to arrive early to have a few glasses before setting off.

As a boy I remember being called on to help a large and ancient sportsman back into his saddle when he slithered off his horse after an overdose. I pushed and heaved for a while with no result.

The man was massive. I eventually found a passer-by to help and our co-ordinated efforts propelled him

Tim’s punch * Weak Lapsang Souchong * Cloves * Ginger * Cinnamon * Allspice * Orange & lemon juice plus zest

Infuse the tea with spices in a muslin bag

and then the final assembly took place.

The fumes were excellent and thoroughly intoxicating. However, this punch isn’t too strong, but is very

‘It’s not too strong but is very warming’ upward. He see-sawed over the saddle for a moment before crashing down on the other side of his horse.

The recipe was a secret. Not so much a closely guarded secret as an inadvertent one because my father knew half of the recipe and his righthand man, Phil, knew the other half. They each made their own part of the punch

warming. Luckily Phil was my best friend and I was able to extract the two halves of the recipe from the pair.

Enjoy, and stay away from horses if you have one too many!

HAMBLETON HALL Hambleton, Oakham, Rutland LE15 8TH 01572 756991 www.hambletonhall.com

* Muscovado sugar * Dark Jamaican rum Quantities * 50% tea and spice infusion * 25% juice zest and sugar * 25% dark Jamaican rum

{ } “I was called on to help a large and ancient sportsman back into his saddle when he slithered off after a punch overdose.”

1 Prepare enough orange and lemon juice with zests to make 1/4 of the final mix, and sweeten Tim Hart with muscovado sugar to taste.

2 Make a weak Lapsang tea in a saucepan, wrapping the tea and the spices in a muslin bag.

The spiced tea will make up half of your finished punch.

3 Pour the juice and zests into the tea and keep hot but not boiling until you are ready to serve.

4 When thirsty friends arrive, pour the rum cold into your punch bowl or jug, and strain the hot mix onto the rum.

TIP: If your guests are going to arrive in dribs and drabs (as my father’s did), it’s a good idea to keep the tea/juice mix hot on a hotplate or low flame and ladle into individual glasses primed with rum.

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 37

LOCAL PRODUCER

The taming of the ‘shroom

Since 1985, Leicestershire’s The Mushroom Basket has slowly been mastering the art of growing delicious, exotic fungi

N

orth-west Leicestershire isn’t where you’d expect to find an exotic mushroom farm. Yet The Mushroom Basket has been flourishing in Packington, just south of Ashby de la Zouch, since 1989. It’s not a small concern, either, employing 60 people and producing two tons of fungi a day.

Its 65 on-site polytunnels provide growing environments for a spectacular array of ‘shrooms, namely oyster, enoki, maitake, buna shimeji, shiroshimeji and shiitake.

The Mushroom Basket is run by two brothers, Tim and Simon Livesey, who set up the business in 1985 by converting an 8ft x 6ft coal shed into a fledgling oyster mushroom farm.

Since then, the Livesey brothers have slowly turned The Mushroom Basket into the UK’s biggest fungi farm.

The beginnings It was Tim and Simon’s father Tom who planted the spores that have grown into The Mushroom Basket.

“My father started producing button mushrooms in Smisby [just over the border in Derbyshire] in 1960, when poultry farming got tough,” says Tim. “He converted his chicken houses into mushroom sheds, and I worked with

Livesey Bros’ stand at the 2010 East Midlands Food and Drink Festival

him as a youngster.” Tim then went off to agricultural college in Lincolnshire and on returning expected to join his dad’s farm. “I got home in 1985 expecting to start on the family farm but my father told me to get a job instead. He wanted to retire!”

Tim got down to work and decided to follow in his father’s footsteps, but rather than button mushrooms, he

thought more-exotic oyster ‘shrooms were the way to go.

“People’s tastes had moved on,” Tim says. “We had to offer something more than button mushrooms.”

Trouble was, growing exotic fungi was going to be harder than producing common buttons.

“When we converted that first coal shed in 1985, we didn’t really know

Your quick guide... to mushrooms

Tim and Simon Livesey grow and import all sorts of fantastic fungi. Here are four types that they grow on the farm in Packington, north-west Leics...

ENOKI

BUNA SHIMEJI

Flammulina velutipes.

‘Enoki’ means winter mushroom, as they grow at around 1˚C. Long, thin and with an excellent flavour.

The fourth most eaten mushroom in the world.

Hypsizygus tessellatus.

Versatile mushroom with a unique zesty, nutty flavour and a shelf life of around 20 days. Don’t remove individual mushrooms but cook the whole cluster.

38 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

Brothers Tim (right) and Simon Livesey.

The Mushroom Basket

Oyster and shiitake mushrooms are perfect for bringing risotto to life

Exotic mushroom risotto Serves 4

* 440g butter * 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped

* 300g risotto rice * 1 fresh sprig of rosemary,

leaves only, finely chopped

* 150ml dry white wine * 1.25l hot vegetable stock * 2 tbsp olive oil * 350g mushrooms such as

baby button, chestnut or closed cup, wiped * 100g exotic mushrooms such as shiitake, oyster or buna shimeji * Salt and freshly ground black pepper * 3 tbsp fresh chives, chopped * Shavings of fresh parmesan to serve (optional)

Environmentally friendly

Mushroom Basket from the air

what we were doing. We used compost as substrates [the material mushrooms grow in] and luckily our oysters grew. I took them to Bruce Sangster, head chef at Rothley Court Hotel – back then a Michelin-starred venue – and he agreed to take them.”

Business blossoms At that time, Tim and Simon had a unique product and demand proved strong. “Next stop was North’s deli, also in Rothley,” remembers Tim. “They took our oysters, too, and from

Tim and Simon don’t use pesticides or chemicals on their crops, and return all spent substrates (mainly sawdust) to the soil, which is then grazed by their beef and lamb. The overpicking of wild fungi is a problem, especially in Europe, and farming it protects against this.

there we started to sell them in London wholesale markets. I remember setting off for the capital at 8.30pm, weaving our little VW Golf between the nighttime juggernauts. You could fit 52 trays of mushrooms into that Golf if you packed it right! I used to get back to our farm at Smisby at 4.30am, ready to start work at 7am.”

Between 1985 and 1989, Tim and Simon were the only exotic mushroom growers in the UK. “To keep up

GREY OYSTER

MAITAKE

Pleurotus ostreatus.

These will add a silky texture to your favourite dishes. Particularly good in stir fries, fish dishes and creamy sauces. Shelf life of around four days.

Grifola frondosa.

An intense flavour and a reputation for boosting immunity.

A maitake and bacon omelette is said to be awesome.

Oyster The variety that started it all for the Liveseys

1 Melt 25g of the butter in a large pan, add the onion and gently sauté for three minutes until soft but not coloured. Stir in the rice and rosemary, then cook for two minutes, stirring to coat the grains in the butter.

2 Add the wine and cook, stirring, until absorbed. Add a ladle of stock and cook, stirring occasionally, until also absorbed. Repeat until you have just one ladle of stock left – this takes about 15 minutes.

3 Meanwhile, heat a frying pan, add the oil, then toss in the baby button, chestnut or closed cup mushrooms and sauté over a high heat for five minutes or until pale golden. Stir in the remaining mushrooms and sauté for two minutes more until browned. Set aside.

4 Add the last ladle of the stock and the mushrooms to the rice and cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the remaining butter and chives, then season to taste. Serve in warm bowls, sprinkled with parmesan shavings.

Button Don’t forget the humble button mushroom

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 39

LOCAL PRODUCER

Cooking with exotic mushrooms

“Spoiling mushrooms through cooking is very difficult,” says Tim. “They’re incredibly versatile and easy to cook with – you can fry, grill, bake, batter or eat raw in a salad. Buna shimeji are great in creamy pasta, and all mushrooms are healthy, low in calories and contain protein.”

‘You can fry, grill, bake, batter or eat them raw in a salad ’ HOW TO...

Grow exotic mushrooms “All mushrooms we grow are wooddestroying fungi,” says Tim. “So the substrates we use have to recreate decaying wood. Each type of mushroom has its own needs. We put the mycelium into sterilised sawdust and then alter the conditions – effectively change the climate from summer to autumn – to force the mushrooms to fruit. The Japanese use wood types and rice that we can’t, because it’d be uneconomical to import them.”

40 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

with demand we converted more poultry units at Orton on the Hill. Our growing methods were inefficient but the prices were good and competitors few and far between.”

Steep learning curve All the time, Tim and Simon were learning more and more about exotic mushrooms. After succeeding with oysters, they added yellow oysters to the repertoire, honing their knowledge of growing temperatures, substrates and ideal humidity levels.

“By 1989 we were supplying Waitrose and Sainsbury’s,” says Tim. “To meet demand, and to be able to expand, in the same year we bought our current 18-acre site in Packington and built ten mushroom houses.”

With things going well, but more competition appearing, in the mid-90s Tim and Simon started importing shiitake mushrooms from the Far East.

This enabled them to sell mixed boxes.

“The British public had stopped seeing oyster mushrooms as exotic, so it was important we evolved.”

By 2001, the Liveseys decided to grow shiitake themselves. “We went to Japan to look at the growing processes,” says Tim. “We returned with some kit and started cultivating buna and enoki varieties. Since 2001 we’ve invested £2 million in kit.”

Bright future

Today, The Mushroom Basket produces two tons of fungi a day, a ton of which comprises Japanese varieties. It also imports three to four tons a week. “We’re the only mushroom farm in the UK who make our own growing mediums, and we’re the largest by volume and diversity.

We’re constantly experimenting and don’t feel we’ve got anything 100% right yet – not even oyster growing, which we’ve been doing for 25 years.”

In the future, The Mushroom Basket would like to cut out imports and keep the business a family affair, while continuing to move forward. Tim also sees the need to educate the public.

“Some consumers are afraid of mushrooms and we need to give them the confidence to try them.”

Tim’s favourite dish? “Maitake on filo pastry with tomato purée, camembert or brie. The salt in the cheese really draws out the unique taste of the mushrooms.”

Why not try some of these fascinating – and truly tasty – varieties of fungi and introduce them into your daily cooking?

THE MUSHROOM BASKET Lowerfields Farm, Normanton Road, Packington, LE65 1XA, 01530 415862, www.themushroombasket.com

In the know...

Tim Livesey’s (above) tip for eating out in Leicestershire: “The Old Black Horse Inn at Market Bosworth.” www.theblack horserestaurant. co.uk, 01455 290278

Oakdale Farm Shop

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RECIPES

Vanessa Kimbell’s DIY Christmas Gift Cookies Dark, rich and meltin-the-mouth, these cookies are so easy – just what you need at Christmas. Put in a jar, the mixture also makes a superb gift, especially for young children to make. Simply write the recipe label out (see Step 5) and tie it to the jar with a ribbon – advise that the mix is to be used within eight weeks. The dark chocolate can be substituted for milk or white chocolate, and I love to add a 1/4 teaspoon of extra cardamom powder and use white chocolate drops to make them really festive.

Vanessa Kimbell

Vanessa is writing Prepped! – a cookbook for time-short foodies.

More (plus recipes) at www.prepped.co.uk

42 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

Makes 24

* 220g self-raising flour * Pinch of salt * 120g dark brown sugar * 130g caster sugar * 45g cocoa powder * 60g walnuts, roughly chopped * 150g dark chocolate, chopped * (120g soft butter) * (1 egg)

1 Sift the flour in a bowl and add salt.

2 Mix dark brown sugar and caster sugar. Make sure it is well mixed to stop the brown sugar clumping.

3 Layer the flour, cocoa powder and sugar into a 1-litre jar.

Add the walnuts and chocolate as the top layers.

4 Hand-write a label with the following: 5 “To make cookies, pre-heat oven to Gas 4 (175C). Tip contents of jar into a food mixer. Add 120g soft butter and egg and mix for 2–3 mins.”

6 ”Form into walnut-size pieces and pop on a baking tray.”

7 ”Cook in oven for 10–12 minutes. Remove and leave to harden for a few minutes (the chocolate needs to set), before transferring to a wire wrack to cool off completely.”

Recipe

‘People began asking to take some home, so we started selling it in packets’

Barnsdale Lodge’s Christmas Granola “A version of this has become a favourite with breakfasters here at Barnsdale Lodge Hotel,” says head chef Paul Freeman. “So much so that people began asking to take some home – so we started selling it in packets.”

Great Food picked some up recently. It’s rich and packed with energy – perfect, in fact, for combating festive fatigue.

Makes around 5 portions

* 150g porridge oats * 25g sesame seeds * 50g pecan nuts * 25g sunflower seeds * 25g desiccated coconut * 25g flaked almonds * 25g pumpkin seeds

* 50g walnut halves * 50g dried apricots * 50g dried cranberries * 50g sultanas * 100ml maple syrup * 25ml vegetable oil * 50ml honey

1 Mix non-fruit ingredients together.

2 Warm maple syrup, vegetable oil and honey together and mix with non-fruit ingredients.

3 Spread thinly on trays; bake for 10 minutes at Gas 1 (140C).

5 Cool, stir, and add dried fruit (chopped).

7 Serve with milk, or for a treat with Manor Farm’s probiotic yoghurt topped with spiced fruit compote.

8 The granola will keep up to a month in a sealed container.

BARNSDALE LODGE HOTEL The Avenue, Exton, Oakham, Rutland LE15 8AH, 01572 724678 www.barnsdalelodge.co.uk

www.jamjarshop.com www.jamj jarshop p.com

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Jam Jar Shop, 24 Pillings Road, Oakham, Rutland, LE15 6QF 01572 720 720 - sales@jamjarshop.com - www.jamjarshop.com Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 43

LOCAL PRODUCER

Red Lion & Olive Branch All Stars Each issue, awardwinning sister pubs The Olive Branch of Clipsham and The Red Lion Inn of Stathern introduce their food superstars – partners who help make their menus so renowned

The

Longhorn Beef Company

A local supplier of spectacularly good steak, says Sean Hope

A

t our pubs – The Red Lion Inn of Stathern and Olive Branch of Clipsham – we’re always on the search for the best ingredients and suppliers that the region has to offer. The Longhorn Beef Company of Whatton-in-the-Vale, Notts – just a few miles west of Leicestershire’s northern-most tip – certainly fall into that category. They are the proud suppliers of some of the finest beef I have ever tasted.

The slow-reared English Longhorn breed that they farm is well known for excellent meat, the raw product having regular marbling (the white strands of fat you see in uncooked steak), which is exactly what I’m looking for. During cooking, this

marbling melts into the beef, enhancing taste and texture.

Our new menu at the Red Lion Inn (don’t forget to enter the competition on p15) is showcasing The Longhorn Beef Company’s great steak cuts, from fillet to rump, served simply with twice-cooked chips, grilled heritage tomatoes from the village of Wing, and roasted flat cap mushrooms, deglazed with a splash of Worcestershire sauce.

All this is presented with a perfectly executed Béarnaise sauce.

We are also taking advantage of the less prime cuts, using mince for our Red Lion house burger and cottage pies, and stewing steak for our warming suet puddings.

Sean Hope

Meet the producer

Did you know?

Katherine Player (above) and her family also breed ultra-rare Suffolk Punch horses.

The people behind the Longhorn Beef Company are Peter and Cathy Player – also thoroughbred racehorse breeders – and their son Edward and daughter-in-law Katherine.

Peter and Cathy have kept Longhorns for 35 years, and farmed in Suffolk before moving to their 450acre farm in Whatton. Katherine looks after the beef side of the business, and having worked at award-winning Gonalston Farm Shop for five years, she knows her food.

“Longhorn beef has fantastic depth of flavour, which I believe comes from the way they’re reared: slowly, in a stress-free environment,” says Katherine. “Our cattle are slaughtered

‘To take a 170g steak to medium rare, cook for two to three minutes 54 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 44

Red Lion & Olive Branch All Stars Longhorn bull is sturdy to say the least.

Perfect steak and chips

Did you know?

Michelin-starred Sean Hope (above and left) is partner and head chef at The Olive Branch and Red Lion Inn. He’s passionate about great ingredients and good cooking, and is also Rutland’s first official Food Ambassador.

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland travelled to The Red Lion in Stathern to talk to Sean and try the Longhorn steaks pictured here – we felt it only right and proper! “The key to steak is a good supplier,” says Sean. “Look for a rich, deep-red colour with even marbling. Stay away from bright red cuts. Before cooking, sprinkle with black pepper and sea salt flakes, then place onto a very hot pan, not before the oil or butter’s sizzling. To take a 170g (6oz) steak to medium rare, cook for two to three minutes each side, then remove and rest for the same amount of time each side. The resting is crucial.” To win a meal for two at the Red Lion, turn to page 15.

Good Longhorn steak has regular marbling.

Sean Hope’s English mustard béarnaise Serves 4-6

Before sealing, season with sea salt flakes and black pepper.

at a butcher’s three miles away – Taylor’s of Bottesford – and are taken there in the same vehicle used to transport them around the farm. The meat’s hung for no fewer than 25 days.”

Katherine, originally from Northumberland, worked as an investment banker in the City before moving to Whatton. Her tips for eating out locally? “Apart from the Red Lion and Olive Branch, of course, I like Paul’s in Bottesford, Farndon Boathouse in Newark and the Tollemache Arms, Buckminster.”

If you can achieve a beautiful colour like this, then you’re doing well.

* 2 egg yolks * 1 shallot, finely diced * 1 tbsp sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar

* 1 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped * 1 level tsp English mustard * 200g fresh, unsalted, melted butter 1 Combine shallot, egg yolks, tarragon and vinegar into a round-bottom bowl.

2 Whisk over a bain-marie (hot-water bath), so the heat from the steam causes egg yolk to go fluffy.

3 Take melted butter and very gradually pour into bowl, whisking ingredients all the time until mixture starts to thicken up. If it gets too thick, dilute with hot water.

4 At last minute, add the mustard and season to taste. Serve with your steak.

LONGHORN BEEF COMPANY Manor Lane, Whatton-in-the-Vale, Notts NG13 9EX, 07765 898727, www.thelonghornbeefcompany.co.uk

each side, remove and rest for the same amount of time each side’ Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 45 55

Christmas Party Bookings

Amphora Wines

Importers of Fine Wines Impor

Top quality wines from exceptional small growers – extensive selection of everyday wine and fine wine Shop Open Times: Thursday & Friday 10–5 Saturday 9-4 Christmas in style - using our on-site butchery & herb garden, seasonal fruit, vegetables and wild plants our chefs have created homemade & imaginative menus that reflect the farm and horticultural setting of the garden kitchen. We also have a full drinks licence including a wide wine selection & local beers.

Christmas Lunch Menu Christmas Evening Menu Sittings are 12pm & 2pm Thursdays/Sundays

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The garden kitchen is an ideal venue for a private evening dining function for up to 50 people or we can cater for your own party venue with our buffet & dessert menus.

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From 25th November to 24th December open every day from 10am-5pm At The Wine Workshop, Northfield Farm, Whissendine Lane, Cold Overton, Oakham LE15 7QF Wine tastings at shop or at home to suit individual’s or group’s needs Telephone: office: 01664 474306 shop: 01664 565013 mobile: 07814 747330

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– former Sommelier at Hambleton Hall, L’Orangerie Los Angeles and le Gavroche London – wine expert on “Here’s one I made earlier” – achieved awards such as Egon Ronay’s ‘Best Cellar of the Year’ and this year awarded “Prudhomme (Councellor) of the Jurade of St-Emilion in Bordeaux”

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p46_GF_NovDec10.indd Sec1:46

25/10/10 10:37:13

Local producer

The cream

Why Lubcloud Dairy won’t homogenise WORDS & PHOTOS: MATT WRIGHT

D

o you remember ‘top of the milk’?

We used to fight over it in our house at breakfast time. It was our phrase for the very top layer of milk in the bottle, the part that was creamiest and most delicious, which made even Shreddies taste nice. It was so good and full of nutrients that sparrows used to peck through the foil to get at it.

Sadly, top of the milk, cream top, or whatever you want to call it, is now rarer than a speeding milk float. It’s become exactly the same as bottom of the milk and middle of the milk, and that’s because almost all supermarkets demand that the milk they sell has been subject to a process called homogenisation.

However, I recently rediscovered ‘top of the milk’ in Charnwood Forest, just a few miles from Loughborough. Nestled in lush farmland is organiccertified Lubcloud Dairy, which doesn’t homogenise, and still produces milk the way nature intended (apart from pasteurising, of course) from its herd of Holstein Fresians.

“Homogenisation is an mechanical process designed to make milk completely uniform, so it looks and tastes the same all the way through the bottle,” says Phil Newcombe (pictured), the farmer behind Lubcloud Dairy. “During the homogenisation process, milk is passed through pipes and filters at a pressure of 2500psi. This breaks down the fat into fine globules that remain in suspension and don’t rise to the top. It changes the molecular structure.”

Homogenising, which was introduced in the USA in 1932, also makes milk look whiter, and therefore – so the logic goes – more appealing. In fact, the only reason for subjecting milk to the process is cosmetic, a marketing ploy.

For this reason, in Denmark and Norway the authorities do not allow homogenised milk to be called organic.

“There are some fuzzy health issues surrounding homogenisation,” claims Phil, “which is part of the reason we prefer not to do it.”

The challenge for Lubcloud, however, is reeducating customers used to homogenised milk.

Lubcloud milk is different – thicker, fuller of flavour and, of course, with a creamy top.

In the same way that supermarkets have trained us to avoid curly carrots and bumpy tomatoes, we’ve been conditioned to expect homogenised milk.

Next time you’re at your local farm shop, or even if you’re driving past Lubcloud Dairy, pop in and pick up a bottle of Lubcloud milk. Grab some cereal, pour it over and rediscover ‘top of the milk’.

Above & main image: Phil Newcombe doesn’t use any artificial nasties on his pasture land.

Centre: Lubcloud pigs and the farmhouse

LUBCLOUD DAIRY Charley Rd, Oaks in Charnwood, Leics LE12 9YA, 01509 505055, www.lubcloud dairy.co.uk. You can buy Lubcloud milk and cream at most farm shops on p66.

Or call the dairy for more info.

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 47

WINTER COOKING

Play the

Game season’s in full swing. Oakham’s Matt Gregory, who can pluck with the best of them, advises you to give it a go...

game!

L

ow in fat, high in iron, low in cholesterol and containing lots of omega 3.

No, not a can of pilchards, but venison.

The roll call of game that has positive dietary attributes is as long as the number of edible wild animals. So, apart from being good for us (which, frankly, is not a strong enough reason in itself in my book), why should we eat it? Well, the primary reason is the same as for any food: it tastes fantastic. By its very nature most game is also local, seasonal and, happily, mostly affordable. Your local butcher will have access to all manner of game throughout the season, but you may have to order it. Most butchers will be more than happy to do this for you.

Alternatively, there are game wholesalers who may be willing to deliver to you (see list overleaf) and when it comes to venison, you can also

WATERCOLOUR : GRAHAM WRIGHT

purchase directly from the producer.

You may also know someone who shoots, and although it might be tempting to turn down the offer of fresh game because it will need to be hung/plucked/skinned and generally dealt with, these rural tasks should be embraced.

On hanging The hanging of game is essential to bring out the flavour of the meat.

Enzymes begin to break down the proteins in the flesh to produce a more tender and flavoursome meat.

Hanging times are generally now much shorter than they were historically, resulting in a milder flavour, rather than the occasionally off-putting ‘high’ quality strived for in the past. A cool (not cold), airy and dry environment is needed to prevent the meat going off, and hanging times vary depending on the animal. Only deer

Game facts... seasons, flavours and hanging times DEER

(VENISON )

SEASON: Roe: bucks – April 1 to Oct 30; does – Nov 1 – Feb 28. Fallow: bucks – Aug 1 to Apr 20; does – Nov 1 to Feb 28. Muntjac: all year.

WHAT TO EXPECT: Full-favoured meat with a fine-grained texture.

HANGING TIME: 7-12 days.

48 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

RABBIT & HARE

SEASON: Rabbit is in season all year, but hare is not for sale between March and July.

WHAT TO EXPECT: Hare has more robust qualities than rabbit, but both are mildly gamey and terrific value. Farmed rabbits can taste ‘hutchy’.

HANGING TIME: 1-2 days for rabbit; 3-7 days for hare.

PIGEON

SEASON: All year.

WHAT TO EXPECT: Pigeon is a fairly dense meat with a full flavour.

HANGING TIME: 1-3 days.

Game TURN

Hanging game brings out the flavour

FOR A OVER GR VENIS EAT RECIPE ON FROM A LOCA L CHEF

Sprouts had to appear once

Roast pheasant makes a good festive dish

What to serve with game…

ROAST BEETROOT – See recipe overleaf: keep a stockpile in your freezer.

BRAISED CABBAGE – Toss shredded cabbage in hot oil in a large pan with a glug of balsamic vinegar to finish.

ROAST CHESTNUTS – Score with a knife and roast for around 30 minutes at Gas 6 (200C). Peel before serving.

POACHED APPLES – Keep a stockpile in your freezer.

CELERIAC MASH – Earthier and heartier than plain mash.

ELDERBERRY SAUCE – Perfect with venison.

JAPONICA JELLY – A sharp but fragrant savoury jelly.

Fresh game will need to be dealt with, but these rural tasks should be embraced!

Venison haunch is a top-class cut

needs to be gutted before hanging, otherwise it is guts in, skin on.

Feathers: head up; fur: head down.

Furred game Rabbit, hare and deer have, basically speaking, the same anatomy as all mammals, so keep that in mind if you do find yourself with a whole animal.

GROUSE

SEASON: Aug 12 to Dec 10.

WHAT TO EXPECT: The richest, most expensive and most gamey of the game birds.

HANGING TIME: 3-10 days.

Indeed, when it comes to rabbit and hare then some would argue against getting your butcher to do the work for you because they are more likely to joint them with a cleaver rather than a knife. This can result in shattered bone in the meat, which is very hard to remove. Rabbit and hare will only need a knife, but you will need a hacksaw for taking apart a deer.

Use back legs as roasting or braising joints, loin from either side of the top of the spine for fast cooking and fillet from the underside for posh nosh. Rib meat, front legs and neck are good for stews and sauces. The back leg of a deer provides the noble haunch of venison, which could give a rib of beef a run for its money in the impressive stakes at a festive dinner.

PARTRIDGE

SEASON: Sept 1 to Feb 1.

WHAT TO EXPECT: A relatively mild flavour, but tender and can be excellent.

HANGING TIME: 3-12 days.

Feathered game

You know how to carve a chicken, and game birds are exactly the same, except ducks are a bit flatter. Plucking and drawing birds is not a quick or clean job, but it is simple if you take your time. Don’t try to pluck too many feathers at a time and keep the skin taut to prevent tearing. If you have a few birds and they are destined for a stew pot rather than the oven, then skinning them is even easier. Simply nick the skin at the breast and take it off like a jacket, removing wing tips and feet with poultry shears.

Even faster, if you have a glut of pigeon, is to simply skin the breasts and take the meat off the bird in two neat little portions to cook in the pan.

PHEASANT

SEASON: Oct 1 to Feb 1.

WHAT TO EXPECT: Full-flavoured if not too old and carefully hung. Badly shot birds can be bruised and barely edible. Older, short-hung birds can be tough.

HANGING TIME: 3-14 days.

Further reading

Game: A Cookery Book, Tom Norrington Davies and Trish Hilferty The Game Cook Book, Clarissa Dickson Wright and Johnny Scott Countryman’s Cooking, WMW Fowler

Chestnuts: good with game

MALLARD

SEASON: Sept 1 to Jan 1.

WHAT TO EXPECT: Much more flavour than farmed duck, and less fatty, too. Well worth a try.

HANGING TIME: 0-2 days.

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 49

WINTER COOKING

Sweet, earthy flavours go brilliantly with venison

James Goss specialises in nose-to-tail cooking Making use of the entire beast

James Goss’s pan-fried loin of venison with beetroot Serves 2

* 300g venison loin, in two pieces * 50g finely diced pancetta or streaky bacon

* 8 baby parsnips, halved long ways * 4 beetroot, quartered * 1 apple, cored and cut into eighths * 3 or 4 leaves of kale * 1 tbsp heavily reduced, good stock James Goss is head chef at the King’s Arms in Wing, Rutland. The menu at his pub is firmly seasonal and this venison dish is typical of the fare that James produces: big on The stock flavour, using the best local ingredients, and pretty on the plate. You can’t just knock this up, though – a certain amount of forethought and preparation is required. Most prep can (and should) be done the day before or earlier, otherwise cooking it might take all day.

However, if you’ve made the stock and roasted the parsnips and beetroot in advance, you’re looking at a quick and easy yet posh weekend supper.

The combination of sweet, earthy and gamey flavours make it a real treat.

Preparation: Reduced stock adds great depth of flavour and is the secret of this dish. Time spent on the stock will pay dividends. Make it with roasted

bones – chicken is as good as any unless you’ve butchered the deer yourself, in which case deer bones will be perfect. Layer the bones up tightly in a large pan with a couple of chopped carrots, two chopped celery sticks, a quartered onion, six peppercorns, a few cloves and two or three bay leaves. Top up with three or four litres of water. Boil and simmer, reducing to 400-500ml, which will take several hours. In this state it should set to a firm jelly in the fridge. Skim off the surface fat before use.

The parsnips and beetroot are coated with honey, a little balsamic vinegar and oil, and then roasted for about 40 minutes at Gas 4 (180°C) – separately, otherwise you get pink parsnips. These could be done beforehand and stored in the freezer.

The quick bit: 1 Coat the loin pieces with oil and salt. Pan-fry the pancetta until it takes a little colour and gives enough fat to fry the venison in.

Remove and set aside.

2 Fry the venison over a moderate heat for three to four minutes on each side, and rest somewhere warm while you complete the next stage.

3 De-glaze the pan with a spoonful of stock, and retain. Return the pancetta

Parsnips, pancetta and apple

Tender loin gets 3-4 minutes each side

to the pan with roasted parsnips and apple pieces. Gently sauté until the apple begins to soften and take colour.

Glaze with a little butter.

4 Bring a pan of salted and buttered water to the boil and quickly wilt the kale for less than two minutes.

5 Lay the wilted kale on two plates, followed by the apple, parsnips, beetroot and pancetta. Cut the loin pieces into four or five slices and lay on top. Dress with warmed-through stock mixed with the juices given up by the roasting beets.

King’s Arms Try some of James’s venison dishes at...

The King’s Arms, 13 Top Street Wing, Oakham, Rutland LE15 8SE 01572 737634

Matt Gregory (right) on tasting duties

LOCAL GAMEY CONTACTS Bouverie Lodge: Bison and venison farm with an on-site shop – well worth a detour. To be found In Nether Broughton, near Melton Mowbray. www.bisons.org.

British Deer Farmers’ Association: Looks after the interests of deer farmers all over the country and will be able to help you find your nearest retailer, and restaurant that serves venison. Lots of good recipes too. www.bdfa.co.uk.

50 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

N Cavner & Son Seafoods: Market fishmonger who sells a good range of oven-ready game. See them at Oakham and Uppingham markets.

0780 2494946, n.cavner@fsnet.co.uk.

Cuckoo Farm (aka Rutland Organic Poultry): Raisers of organic fallow deer and poultry. Hare and other wild game available on an ad-hoc basis. No longer attending farmers’ markets, so mail order or collection only. Based in Ketton. www.rutlandorganics.co.uk.

Fen Farm Venison: Farmers of red deer and attendees of farmers’ markets, where they sell fresh meat and cook up a storm with their venison burgers. www.fenfarmvenison.co.uk Keythorpe Game: Pheasant specialist based in Tugby, Leicestershire.

0116 2598472.

Leicester Market: The food hall at this great local food-and-drink institution usually has a selection of game for sale. www.leicestermarket.co.uk.

Melton Mowbray Market: A ‘Fur and Feather Market’ is held at Melton Cattle Market on Scalford Road every Tuesday. www.meltonmowbraymarket.co.uk.

Waitrose: The supermarket with branches in Oadby, Lutterworth, Blaby and Stamford stocks game. www.waitrose.com.

Your local butcher or farm shop: If in doubt, ask here. They’ll be able to help or, if not, point you in the direction of someone who can. See map on p66.

Local producer

Hambleton Farms Fine Foods

A super-butchers with fingers in several excellent pies

I

f you’re ever strolling through Oakham, nip down Gaol Street. On one side of the road is Hambleton Bakery – selling delicious, locally-baked breads, cakes and pasta – and on the other is Hambleton Fine Foods – offering an awe-inspiring array of meats and a fine deli counter. They’re both superb, but the only other thing the two shops have in common is the name.

Hambleton Farms Fine Foods, the Gaol Street deli/butchery, is owned by Andrew Nelson, a business-savvy farmer from Hambleton, Rutland. His Oakham shop is one of six Hambleton outlets. He also has outlets scattered around the east of England, including some in garden centres, like Van Hage in Peterborough, and a few in farm shops, such as Doddington Hall in Lincolnshire.

In addition to produce from their own farmland – comprising 1000 acres in Hambleton, Exton and Cold

Overton – the Nelsons (for Hambletons is a family affair) source meat from other farms, mainly in Lincolnshire. They have to, because they sell enough food through their outlets to slaughter ten beasts a week.

THE NELSONS Andrew and Gill Nelson at home in Hambleton

Large range And it’s these tasty meat products that drive the business. The Oakham shop sells pies, sausages, steaks, chops and more. They’re cut and baked in Hambleton’s engine room in Mareham-le-Fen, Lincs, where six butchers and three bakers create mouthwatering food.

“We bake our pies in hoops to create thin, crisp pastry,” says Andrew. “We don’t use preservatives except salt and pepper. The cooking and processing’s crucial, but so is the sourcing. We know our animals are unstressed, and therefore tasty, but we have to be sure the beasts we get from other farms are the same, so we choose with care.”

If you want to do a lot of Christmas food shopping in one go – and make your festivities special – you could do worse than go to Hambletons.

CONTACT Hambletons, Gaol Street, Oakham LE15 6AQ, www.hambletonfarms.co.uk

LIFE OF PIE! You can buy seven types of pie from Hambletons, plus a range of chutneys, honey, cakes, oils and snacks...

Inside the Oakham shop.

From left: Richard Short of Melton, shop manager Lindsay Cottrell of Oakham, and Sue Meyer of Great Easton

‘The sourcing’s crucial: animals on our farms are unstressed and we choose others with care’ Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 51

LOCAL FOOD HISTORY

The glorious half hour

Pears have been scoffed by Leicestershire folk for thousands of years – but catching them ripe has never been easy, says Rupert Matthews...

I

suppose you know that old saying, “a pear is only ripe for half an hour”. In my experience, it is true. But what a glorious half an hour it is.

When I first met my wife she was living in a little cottage in Bottesford in the northern-most tip of Leicestershire. Her neighbour had a pear tree – a fine old veteran with gnarled trunk, twisted branches and more fruit than you could shake a stick at. One weekend in October when visiting — it was the autumn before our wedding in the following February — there was a knock at the door. It was my wife-to-be’s neighbour.

“Come on,” she said. “I need your help. My pears are ripe.”

We trooped next door to find the good lady’s husband up a Priory Church, Breedon: site of iron-age hill fort

ladder with his head invisible among the old branches and a bag bulging with pears slung from his shoulders. Pretty soon I was put to work ferrying the contents of his bag back to the kitchen where the two ladies had donned aprons and were hard at work wielding knives and juggling with weighing scales. It was a fun afternoon, and I was sent home with several jars of pear jam, a few plastic tubs of stewed pears for the freezer and a truly magnificent pear pie.

Recipes are given opposite.

Hello, old fruit!

I didn’t know it then, but pears are just about the oldest fruit to be cultivated in Leicestershire. It does not matter how far back the archaeologists go, wherever they push a trowel into the rich Leicestershire soil they find all manner of pear pips.

Iron-age hill fort at Breedon on the Hill? Check. Neolithic site in Asfordby? Check. Roman town at Coalville? Check. Roman villa at Rothley? Check.

OOD •F The Romans, apparently, never ate pears raw as they thought this would cause all sorts of stomach diseases. They preferred to stew them with honey, which sounds rather tasty.

The pear is one of the very few fruits native to Britain. The vast number of varieties grown today are all derived from just two wild subspecies: Pyrus communis pyraster and Pyrus communis caucasica. These grew wild in southern Britain, and are

STORY HI

STORY HI

Pears OOD •F

52 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

Pears

Stewed pears

Use as many pears as you have to spare and for each large pear (or two small ones) allow the following...

* 14g white sugar * 1 clove * 1/4 glass ruby port (you can finish off the bottle later) * 1/4 port glass of water 1 Peel the pears, cut them in half and remove the stalks and cores.

2 Place them in a large saucepan and add the other ingredients.

3 Bring very gently to a low simmer, on no account allowing the pears to boil.

4 After about three or four hours, the fruit should be soft and tender. Switch off the heat and allow the fruit to cool.

5 Eat at once with fresh cream, or freeze for future use.

Stilton is left to mature for 12-13 weeks.

Burgundy Pears with Stilton cream

This dessert dish is easy to prepare, but will make any cook look like a world-class chef.

The flavours are very complementary and it’s always good to serve Stilton at a Leicestershire dinner. I’d recommend rustling this up as a dessert at a dinner party to serve after a robust main course involving beef or game.

Serves 4

* 4 ripe pears * 1/2 bottle of good red wine * 57g sugar * 1 bay leaf * Piece of lemon peel * Piece of orange peel * 1/2 cinnamon stick (or 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder)

* 6 black peppercorns * 2 cloves * 113g Stilton * 177ml cider * 148ml double cream

Pear pie

You can’t go wrong with this recipe. It’s a beautiful dish to serve as the finale to Sunday dinner, after a long walk:

Serves 4-6

* 910g stewed pears * 45g shortcrust pastry * Milk * Demerara sugar

1 Roll out half the pastry and use it to line a nine-inch pie dish.

2 Fill the pie dish with the stewed pears.

3 Roll out the rest of the pastry and cut into a circle 11 inches across.

4 Damp the edges of the pie with milk and place on the lid, pressing down the edges to seal.

5 Trim off spare pastry. You could use to decorate the lid with pear shapes.

6 Brush the top of the pie with milk and scatter with sprinkling of demerara sugar.

7 Bake for 40 minutes or so in an oven – Gas 7 (220C).

8 Serve with either piping hot custard or cold cream (or both).

1 Peel the pears, removing the core but leaving the stalks in.

2 Place in a large pan with the wine, sugar, bay leaf, lemon peel, orange peel, cinnamon, black peppercorns and cloves.

3 Gently bring to a boil.

4 Skim off any impurities and simmer for eight minutes until the pears are just cooked. Allow them to cool.

5 Meanwhile, combine the cheese, cider and cream in a pan.

6 Simmer for two minutes, then liquidise.

Place each pear in a dish.

7 Pour a little of the cream over each pear and serve the remainder in a sauceboat.

Pears are just about the oldest fruit to be cultivated in Leicestershire now found most often in Devon and Cornwall, but later generations bred hardier varieties that could fruit plentifully in Leicestershire. Most modern pear trees can survive winters as cold as -15ºC, which should be fine for the foreseeable future. For some obscure reason it would seem

that millennia passed until somebody thought of turning pears into a drink in the same way that apples are turned into cider. What an oversight!

Until the last issue of this magazine, I thought nobody was making perry commercially in Leicestershire any more.

Everards used to supply perry to its houses some years ago, but seems to have stopped. It now appears that Rockingham Forest Cider of Market Harborough makes perry. It’s good that Leicestershire has a producer again, and that we’re not only importing from the West County.

The above recipes are from my wife’s former neighbour. They’re for cooking pears.

Dessert pears will cook much more quickly, in about a quarter of the time or even less.

FURTHER READING...

Fresh Leics fruit on sale at Picks Organic Farm Shop, Barkby Thorpe

Rupert Matthews is author of the excellent Leicestershire Food & Drink. The book contains all sorts of interesting facts about local food history and offers plenty of tasty recipes, too. Try Amazon.

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 53

YOUR DREAM DISH

Flambé! Phillip and Sarah introduce brandy to the mix

YOUR DREAM DISH

Partridge breasts with plum chutney samosas Each issue Phillip Sharpe, head chef at Hotel Maiyango in Leicester, helps a reader to achieve food nirvana…

L

ike a culinary Jimmy Savile, Phillip Sharpe of Hotel Maiyango is in this issue fixing it for Jane McKenna, a management consultant from Birmingham, to enter food paradise.

From now on, Phillip, who’s 32 and lives in Leicester, will become Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland’s Mr Fixit – the man who creates the dishes you’ve always fantasised about but never dared to make at home (he’ll supply the recipes, too). In future issues, Hotel Maiyango’s head mixologist Peter Bailey will also recommend a seasonal cocktail to complement your dish. So if you want Phillip to cook your utopian feast and Peter to shake up a storm, get in touch and it could be you next time.

54 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

Our first guinea pig Jane took no time to decide what she wanted – a festive, fruity game dish, which gave Phillip plenty of leeway. After some thought, Phillip suggested partridge breasts with plum chutney samosas.

“Partridge is in season, is plentiful and the plummy flavours complement its richness, while adding some sharpness,” he says.

Phillip and Hotel Maiyango, who have just won Gold Medals at the 2010 East Midlands Tourism Awards in the Small Hotel of the Year and Taste the Region categories, make a great deal of effort to create fine food and drink combinations using local, seasonal produce. Phillip’s cooking also scooped Maiyango the title of ‘Best Leicestershire Breakfast’.

“There are great ingredients all around us,” says Phillip. “We get superb vegetables from Sarah Field, who grows at Saffron Lane community allotments in the city. She’s passionate about what she’s doing and her veg rocks!”

“Delicious,” says Jane, tucking into her dream dish

READER PROFILE

Jane McKenna graduated from Queen’s University in Belfast and moved to the West Midlands in 1983, where she began a career in the recruitment industry. She now specialises in management training. “I was brought up in Belfast eating meat and two veg,” says Jane. “Now I’ve gone completely the other way and it’s my aim to never eat a boring meal.” Jane’s website is www.thejanemckennashow.com

Recipe FULFIL YOUR DREAMS!

To have your dream dish cooked by Phillip and win a meal for two at Maiyango (full terms online), simply email competitions@ greatfoodleics.co.uk

Partridge with plum chutney samosa Serves 2

Ready to serve: Jane’s dream dish

* 2 partridge * 1 carrot (finely diced) * 1 red onion (finely diced) * 1 tsp chopped rosemary & thyme * 25ml brandy * 30ml ruby port * 100ml reduced game stock * 40ml double cream * 2 plums * spring roll pastry * 2 large baking potatoes * 4 sorrel leaves * 50g butter * sunflower oil * salt and pepper * celeriac, green beans 2 Meanwhile, reduce half the cream and butter, then add mashed potatoes and chopped sorrel.

For the partridge 1 Remove breast from bone and season. In a very hot pan start to cook breasts and add diced carrot and onion. Once you have a nice colour on one side, turn breasts and flambé with brandy and port.

2 Add chopped rosemary and thyme and reduced stock, and cook for about one minute. Remove from heat.

For the samosa 1 Dice plums and divide into two. In a hot pan add half diced plum with 2tbsp of water and a splash of port and cook for one minute until plums are soft.

2 Mix with remaining plums and allow to cool. Cut one sheet of spring roll pastry in half and at the bottom of the sheet place plum mixture in the shape of a triangle and fold over (see below).

For the mash 1 Bake potatoes until cooked; scoop potato out of skins. Mash and season.

Carry on folding until you are at the top. Rub a little oil onto the samosa and cook in a hot pan until you have a nice colour on each side.

To finish 1 Remove partridge from pan, reduce sauce with remaining cream and place hot mash in centre of plate.

2 Put partridge on top Where to buy? of mash and sprinkle “We get all our fish vegetables and sauce from LB Hunt of around plate. Place Leicester Market,” says Phillip. “I’m samosa atop partridge.

{ } addicted to the scallops!”

1

Step by step

3

1

Remove two partridge breasts from the bone, using a sharp knife.

Ask your local butcher to do it for you before buying if you prefer.

Season breasts with salt and pepper. Here Phillip is also adding some pre-made sorrel sauce.

As described in the method above, cut your spring roll pastry to the size pictured and place plum mixture at the bottom of the sheet.

Carefully fold a triangle of the sheet over the mix and then use your best origami skills to create a neat, triangular samosa. Don’t worry if you make a mess – it’ll still taste great – and practice makes perfect.

Cook your samosa in a hot pan to get a nice brown colour on both sides – this won’t take long.

Now for the artistic plating up.

Place a dome of mash in the centre and balance partridge and samosa on top, putting vegetables around the edge (see above).

2 3

2 4

4 5

6

5 6

CONTACT Hotel Maiyango, 13-21 Saint Nicholas Place, Leicester LE1 4LD. www.maiyango.com, 0116 2518898

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 55

Christmas at Stapleford

Christmas at Stapleford Park is magical. Feel the warmth of crackling fires throughout the house as boughs of pine and holly from the estate adorn the grandiose fireplaces and stairs. Whether it’s your office party or a special lunch with friends - where better to experience a happy Christmas?

If you would like further information, contact us on 01572 787000 or visit www.staplefordpark.com

AN EXCITING LEICESTER RESTAURANT The Boot Room is one of only a few independently owned restaurants in Leicester, situated at 27-29 Millstone Lane – a stones throw away from Highcross Leicester and the Town Hall Square.

Wines from all over the world chosen with love

Whether you are just popping into the restaurant for a coffee, a light snack or taking advantage of our great value fixed price menu, you can be assured of a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere by Ian and the restaurant team.

Christmas Wine Tasting Friday 26th November 6.30pm to 8.30pm The Grand Hall, Oakham Castle £5 on the door Open Wednesdays 10am to 2pm Fridays 10am to 7.30pm Saturdays 10am to 2pm 10b Northgate, Oakham LE15 6QS 01572 759735 post@benswineshop.co.uk benswineshop.co.uk

p56_GF_NovDec10.indd Sec1:56

TMAS CHRIS 2010 N SEASO .95 or £19 Lunch £24.95 r e n in D BOOK TODAY

Our philosophy “Buy quality ingredients, treat them well and let your customer enjoy the experience” has enabled The Boot Room to become one of the best restaurants in Leicester city centre.

THE BOOT ROOM EATERIE 27-29 Millstone Lane, Leicester. LE1 5JN 0116 262 2555

25/10/10 10:48:10

Leicestershire Food Links Sallie Hooper Sallie is co-ordinator for Leicestershire Food Links, a group set up to promote local food and drink and its many benefits. When it comes to local food, Sallie’s the oracle

The locavore’s Christmas How much festive fare can you source locally?

Sallie Hooper plans her Christmas menu NIBBLES

PUDDING

To build the appetite we can begin with olives marinated in Welland Valley Rapeseed Oil and local herbs, all from the Olive Tree Company of Fleckney, Leicestershire (www.olivetreecompany.co.uk). Plus we’ll open a bottle or two of Fleurfield Vineyard’s award-winning sparkling wines from Brixworth, Northamptonshire (www.fleurfields. co.uk); or maybe Tickled Pink – a sparkling rosé from Welland Valley Vineyard near Market Harborough (www.welland-vineyard.com).

Christmas pudding is not a favourite chez Hooper in Wymeswold, so this year I’m cheating with a frozen summer pudding made with Wymeswold Fruit Farms berries (01509 880230), Kings Road Bakery bread from Melton Mowbray (www. kingsroadbakery.co.uk), and Lubcloud extra thick cream from Charnwood STARTER (www.lubclouddairy.co.uk). Who could Enjoy smoked trout paté topped with resist mince pies with buttery pastry slivers of smoked trout from Belleau made at home using Claybrooke Mill flour Smokery in Alford, near Louth in from Claybrooke Magna (www.

Lincolnshire (www.belleausmokery. claybrookewatermill.co.uk), served with co.uk), served with homemade blinis made cream from Mount St Bernard Abbey near with flour from Whissendine Windmill (01664 Coalville (www.mountsaintbernard.org)?

474172); garnished with a hefty dose of Those still thirsty can have award-winning Olive Tree Company of Fleckney horseradish cream – horseradish from your back produces baclava and Turkish North Star from Eglantine near Loughborough Delight as well as olives. garden and cream from Manor Farm Dairy in (www.eglantinevineyard.co.uk).

Thrussington (01664 424245).

Pass the cream!

Have cream made by the Cistercian monks of Mount St Bernard Abbey, near Coalville, on your mince pies

Delicacies

MAIN COURSE

CHEESEBOARD

It has to be Stilton, the King of Cheeses, partnered with Sparkenhoe Red Leicester, Lincolnshire Poacher and farmhouse chutney by Brambletree Preserves and toasted sourdough by Paul’s Organic Bakery of Melton Mowbray (www.soyfoods.co.uk).

It has to be Three Bird Roast from Seldom Seen Farm, Billesdon, Leicestershire (www.seldomseenfarm.co.uk).

This is a goose stuffed with a chicken, stuffed with a pheasant, and layered with spiced pork and orange. Serve with roast potatoes, sprouts, carrots, spiced red cabbage and homemade apple sauce. You could get your fruit and CHRISTMAS CAKES veg (and more) from Sacrewell Farm, Peterborough (see Where to start? Creations baked by Church p30), Corner Plot of Thurmaston Farmhouse Cakes of Croxton Kerrial (see p29), (www.cornerplotvegetables.co.uk); Debbie Campbell Cakes of Anstey or extra small Farndon Fields, Market Harborough delicacies from Little Jems of Fleckney. (www.farndonfieldsfarmshop.co.uk); or Raw ‘n’ Pure Organic Box Schemes near Where can you find all of these producers Loughborough (www.rawnpure.org). Or, of and products, I hear you cry? Well, working course, grow it yourself. For banger lovers, with the Leicestershire Rural Partnership, Woodhouse Farm of Elmesthorpe (www.

Why not try a Leicestershire Leicestershire Food Links has launched a Food woodhousefarm.co.uk) produces fine sausages. red with your Stilton? and Drink directory. It’s online at the address More wine? Halfpenny Green Vineyard of below and has a search facility. south Staffs has a selection (www.halfpennygreen-vineyards.co.uk), or try an organic wine CONTACT from Chevelswarde Vineyard of South Kilworth Search for local food and drink at www.leicestershirefoodlinks.org.uk (www.chevelswardeorganics.co.uk).

Perfect combo

Flour power

Claybrooke Mill of south Leicestershire uses water power to grind its flour

Cupcakes

There are plenty of options for cupcakeseeking locavores

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 57

HOME COOKING Danny Jimminson Danny is head chef and owner of the Hammer & Pincers in Wymeswold.

When he’s not creating spectacular puds, he’s out trying to beat the county’s squirrels to the nuts

Chestnut time

Find a source, gather this great ingredient and use it to make some interesting dishes...

W

hen conkers are lying on the floor, chestnuts aren’t far behind. In Britain they’re ready from October, but you can still find them as late as the first week of December. If you have a tree close to you then you should get in there quickly – squirrels are particularly fond of them.

In fact, I have a customer who’s been promising to bring in a squirrel for me to try, so if he makes good on the offer I think a terrine of squirrel and chestnuts would be a fitting way to serve it. I don’t think it will make it on to the Hammer & Pincers menu, mind you. But I digress...

Chestnuts are quite versatile. When I was working in Switzerland we used chestnut flour to make something called spatzle, which is a bit like a pancake batter that’s first poached in strands, then fried in butter. It’s an interesting

alternative to pasta and when you make it with chestnut flour it has a wonderfully nutty flavour.

If you haven’t got access to a tree, or the squirrels have beaten you to it, you can buy chestnut paste, but this stuff is usually sweetened so can only really be used for desserts. The other option is vacuum-packed peeled chestnuts, which are popular because they can be a pain to peel straight from the tree.

My tip for peeling is to run a knife all the way around the nut, then boil them for 20 minutes: they peel a lot more easily when they are still warm, and then you can just dry them off and roast. If you want to roast them raw then you must pierce the shells first or you will effectively be placing little bombs eager to explode into your oven.

What can we do with chestnuts?

A classic dessert is Mont Blanc – a tartlet with a crisp meringue topped with a vermicelli of chestnut purée. In the recipe (see right) I’ve suggested you use the tinned version of chestnut purée and cream, but if you’re feeling adventurous, score 300g of fresh chestnuts and boil them for about 20 minutes, peel, then poach in 300ml milk, 300ml double cream and 100g sugar until they’re soft. Remove the chestnuts and purée in a food processor, adding the milk and cream mixture until you get the required consistency.

HAMMER & PINCERS 5 East Road, Wymeswold, Leics LE12 6ST, 01509 880735, hammerandpincers.co.uk

58 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

Mont Blanc Serves 6

* 50g ground almonds * 50g icing sugar * 50g plain flour, sifted * 50g softened butter * 1 egg * 6 tsp orange marmalade * 6 small meringues, the size of a ball of cotton wool

* 100g sweet chestnut cream (crème de marrons)

* 100g chestnut purée

(purée de marrons) * 6 glazed chestnuts * A little icing sugar from a shaker, for dusting * 100ml whipped cream

1 Preheat the oven to Gas 3 (170C).

2 In a bowl combine the ground almond with the icing sugar, plain flour and softened butter. Add the egg and mix well. Transfer this almond cream to a piping bag and pipe it into cupcake cases, filling them three-quarters of the way up to the top.

3 Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the sponge is cooked and golden brown.

4 Spread one teaspoon full of orange marmalade over each sponge, then place a small meringue on top.

5 In a bowl, combine the sweet chestnut cream with the sweet chestnut purée. Transfer this chestnut cream to a piping bag fitted with a special Mont Blanc nozzle and pipe it on top of the meringues to cover them well.

6 Dust the Mont Blanc gâteau with icing sugar.

7 Spoon the whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe a cream rosette on each gâteau. Top with a whole glazed chestnut.

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25/10/10 10:43:16

PUB WALK

LOCAL PUB WALK

The walk

PARK IN EXTON at The Green and with your back to the Fox & Hounds, walk away from the pub (if you can bear it!) up Stamford Road (the road on the right).

At the T-junction, go straight over the road, following the National Byway sign onto New Field Road.

1

AT THE END of New Field Road, cross the cattle grid and walk forward along the track. Cross a second cattle grid and follow the track into arable fields.

2

Fort Henry in winter

Exton, Greetham and Fort Henry (via three pubs!)

Wrap up and stride out into Rutland for a refreshing 5.5-mile walk through Exton Park. Allow time for pub stops...

Ordnance Survey mapping © Crown copyright. AM44/10.

T

60 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

CARRY ON FOR around 500 yards until you reach a fork in the track. Go straight up the grassy path, following the middle sign. Descend towards the wooded area and join a concrete track.

Follow the track downhill, admiring the lake views to your right and left.

AT THE SECOND public footpath sign, turn left, following the ‘Footpath To Greetham’ sign.

As you walk through the ancient trees, Fort Henry becomes visible on your left.

4

his is the perfect pub walk to blow Greetham is an equally pleasant village away the cobwebs. As you stride but in a different way. With its village shop out into farmland between Exton and pubs it has a slightly less aristocratic air and Greetham, you’re guaranteed than Exton, but is none the worse for that. to be woken up by a refreshing wind that gives the expansive views and big skies OVERVIEW OF AREA added impact. The route’s mainly flat, so the walking’s easy, but remember to wrap up warm and take a hat – you don’t want too many gusts of wind down your lugholes.

Exton (meaning ‘ox farm’), near Oakham, is a beautiful old ironstone village with a memorable rectangular green at its centre, scattered with impressively ancient-looking trees. Overlooking the green, matching the trees for stature, is the Fox and Hounds pub – a grand old chunk of a building.

Exton has been dominated by Exton Hall and Park for 500 years.

Exton Park, which this walk dips in On this walk you pass a mock gothic and out of, started life as a deer fishing folly on the edge of a beautiful park in medieval times before the Noel family (the Earls of lake covered with water lilies and swans.

Gainsborough), developed it The building is called Fort Henry and and built Exton Hall in the Tudor was constructed in 1788 by William Legg period. That burnt down in 1810 for one of the Earls of Gainsborough and a new hall was built, which still remains.

Fort Henry

3

}

FOLLOW THE GRASSY path around the lake and past a line of tall trees. Walk through a wooded area with a tiny brook on your left. Climb the wooden steps, turn right and then immediately left to descend more steps.

5

CROSS A WOODEN bridge and follow the path around Greetham Valley golf course, following the yellow markers.

6

WALK PAST THE driving range and through the golf course car park. Look for a metal gate to the right of the clubhouse. Walk between the wooden bollards to the right of the gate. Carry on to the next yellow post and follow the arrow to walk down the gravel

7

Exton & Greetham

Detailed walk map

Ordnance Survey mapping © Crown copyright. AM44/10.

The Fox and Hounds, Exton

track and go through a small metal gate to the right of agricultural buildings and out into a grassy field. At the end of the field go through a gate and over a stile. Turn right and then immediately left, following a slightly raised gravel path.

path. Follow the track to the right of the trees and at the yellow post go straight on (hedgerow on your right).

A FEW YARDS after a gnarled, dead tree sticking out of the hedgerow, turn right over a stile. Then turn left and walk around the edge of the field. At the marker in the corner of the field, hop over the low fence and drop down to walk over a wooden bridge. Turn right, aiming for Greetham church spire.

8

WALK ALONG the edge of two fields, with a stream to your right, all the way into Greetham. At the end of the second field, follow the very short track and join the main road. Turn left, or alternatively pop in for refreshment at The Wheatsheaf.

Well-deserved!

9

WALK PAST THE Black Horse (closed at the time this magazine went to press) and look out for a garden on the right with a dovecote (when Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland did the walk there was a bird of prey tethered on a perch in the garden). Just past Great Lane, turn left, following a well-hidden sign to the Viking Way and ascending nine steps. Alternatively, carry on to The Plough (see right).

FOLLOW A NARROW path, go through a gate, over or around the stile and onto a broadish, gravelly track. Follow the

12

FOLLOW THE FLAT road and when you reach the tall trees, take the left fork. Stick to the road, go over a cattle grid and towards farm buildings. Follow the road to the left, go through the gate, then right, following the Viking Way sign into Exton.

13

The Wheatsheaf, Greetham

10

11

STICK TO THE PATH as it bends to the right and drops downhill. At the bottom of the hill, climb over the stile, cross a wooden bridge and walk diagonally left over the field to the next stile. Climb over and go straight on uphill. At the T-junction, turn right, following the Viking Way to Exton.

NOTES: We’ve done this walk and believe the instructions to be clear and accurate.

However, do take a map – OS Explorer 234 – and give yourself enough time.

The Fox & Hounds looks like a proud, aristocratic pub from the outside, but inside feels more homely, with farmhouse-style furniture and quarry tiles in the dining room. It’s definitely more of a restaurant than a pub (unlike The Plough below), although you could settle in for a pint in the bar if you want. When we went for Sunday lunch, the food was tasty and filling – a cut above most pub fare – with homemade bread and pasta offering a carb-fest before tackling the walk.

The Fox & Hounds, 19 The Green, Exton, Rutland LE15 8AP. 01572 812403, www. foxandhoundsrutland.co.uk

STICK TO THE ROAD as it bends left, then turn right at the buttermarket and onto the High Street. At the end of the street you’ll see The Green.

14

Spotted near Exton

The Plough, Greetham The Plough calls itself a pub that serves food, rather than a restaurant with a bar. It was named CAMRA’s Pub of the Season last summer and holds its own Pie Night and Banger Wednesday, giving more clues as to its no-nonsense, properale-and-decent-grub approach.

The Plough also has one of the best and most extensive lunchtime sandwich menus we’ve come across – and people we’ve spoken to rate the sarnies very highly.

If you’re a hungry, thirsty walker, The Plough is just the sort of place you want on your route – a proper village local.

The Plough, 23 Main Street, Greetham, Rutland LE15 7NJ. 01572 813613, www.greethamplough.co.uk

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 61

FOODIE PRODUCTS

PRICES FROM: £3.35

Just Soaps Now you can nourish your skin as well as your stomach with fantastic, locally-produced food. This goats’ milk and honey soap from Cossingtonbased Just Soaps is made with Swithland Spring Water, goats’ milk from Keythorpe, oats from Claybrooke Mill and honey from Littleover Organic Apiary. All Just Soaps products are chemical and preservative-free, and even the lavender they use is grown locally.

Contact: 01509 813535, www.just-soaps.com

PRICES FROM: £10

Old bottles and tins

love this...

Add character to your kitchen with old containers that mention local places.

And who remembers Bile Beans?

Contact: Old Bakery Antiques, Wymondham, 01572 787472

Top stuff that’s available locally, plus pressie ideas from The Foodie Gift Hunter Westaway chicken houses Like the idea of keeping chickens, with its promise of fresh eggs from the bottom of the garden? If you’re going to do it, you’re going to need the right kit.

This attractive 1.53m x 1.53m x 1.7m chicken house from Rutland-based Westaway Poultry will house up to 15 birds. Westaway can also supply you with chickens, bedding, feed and all the expert advice you need.

Contact: 01572 737310, www.westawaypoultry.com

Handcrafted pepper grinder Handmade by Grimsbybased woodturner Martin Pidgen, who travels the country selling a range of attractive, food-related items, this grinder is constructed from a wood known as olive ash.

Contact: 01472 873342, mpidgen@aol.com

PRICES FROM: £30 62 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

PRICES FROM £416

Love this...

The Foodie Gift Hunter’s Christmas tips

Rent-A-Porker For a confirmed meat lover, or smallholder without any land, then how about Rent-APorker from Chater Valley of Pilton, Rutland (as featured last issue)? Someone else does all the hard work of raising the pig, takes care of having it dispatched to the butcher and then has it jointed up and sent out. The recipient gets a freezer full of fabulous pork, from a well-looked-after, very tasty local pig.

Contact: 01780 720660, chatervalley.com

There’s something satisfying about finding fabulous festive presents which are just that little bit different. Here are three to please any food lover…

Vale of Belvoir-based Helen Tarver, aka The Foodie Gift Hunter, blogs almost daily about great gifts for food lovers at www.thefoodiegifthunter.co.uk.

She’s got a reputation for unusual gift giving to maintain.

PRICE: £16 FOR 12

PRICE: £45/MONTH

Allergy-busting brownies Buying food gifts for people with food allergies can be tricky, but not so with Gower Cottage Brownies. These impressive award-winning boxes of brownies are available in dairy and gluten-free varieties, and both are deliciously squidgy and chocolatey.

Contact: www.gowercottagebrownies.co.uk

COOK’S ZONE

Spice up Christmas with these clever little kits from Spicentice of Leicester.

Perfect as stocking fillers, or for stocking up a spice lover’s cupboards, these give you all the spices you need for authentic, great-tasting meals. Choose from dishes like lamb rogan josh or Bombay potatoes, or work your way around the world with flavours from Portugal, Thailand, Mexico and Morocco.

Contact: 0116 2672270 www.spicentice.com

AN OLD FAVOURITE REDESIGNED

Cuisipro make tools for cooks who have an eye for design and quality. This innovative baster has a ‘shower head’ that treats your turkey evenly with one simple squeeze. Interchange the spray head with an injector head to inject sauces, marinades or alcohol (for medicinal purposes, of course!). A truly great tool and not just essential for your Christmas turkey, but great for any time of year.

All products here are available at The Original Cookware Company, 12-14 Silver Walk, Leicester, 0116 2512842, www.originalcookware.co.uk

Just in from Switzerland is this new battery powered icing pen with three nozzles. Choose between two speeds for a controlled flow. It’s easy to refill and comes with three chambers, so you can swap over and use different colours. It has a mixing attachment to combine colours and six nozzles for a host of effects.

Spice kits

CUISIPRO BASTER

The Original Cookware Company of Leicester’s Christmas tips

KUHN RIKON FROSTING DECORATING PEN

PRICES FROM: £1.99

PRICE: £9.99

PRICE: £19.99

PRICE: £64.99

JOSEPH JOSEPH ‘INDEX-PLUS’ CHOPPING BOARD SET Joseph Joseph is internationally recognised for producing the most stylish and innovative kitchen products around. The Index-Plus contains four individual chopping boards with four matching knives designed to reduce cross contamination, and to look great.

NEW, FUNCTIONAL AND GORGEOUS

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 63

E ve nts

November & December

Dates for your diary, with a wine theme this issue...

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

November 6

December 1

LUTTERWORTH WINE FAIR Lutterworth Town Hall, Market Square, Leics LE17 4DS. 10am-4pm. Tickets: £5.

Contact: 01455 556616

November 13

Manor Road, Donington-le-Heath, Coalville, Leics LE67 2FW. Booking required. £30.

Contact: www.leics.gov.uk/donington, 01530 831259

November 20

Whissendine Lane, Cold Overton LE15 7QF. Food, mulled wine and more. 9am-4pm. Free.

Contact: www.northfieldfarm.com, 01664 474271

November 20

LEICESTER’S WINTER FOOD FESTIVAL

December 7

Melton Cattle Market, Scalford Rd LE13 1YJ. Which is the finest pig, sheep and cow?

Contact: www.meltonmowbraymarket.co.uk, 01664 562971

December 18-19

Worksop, Notts S80 3AZ. 11am-5pm.

Contact: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ clumberpark, 01909 544 917.

Wine tastings in Rutland

Tastings are being held at Oakham Castle on Nov 26, and at Amphora Wines, Cold Overton, on Nov 12 and Dec 10. Amphora: 01664 565013. Or for Oakham Castle info, call 01572 759735.

BELVOIR CASTLE CHRISTMAS FANTASIA WEEK

Game-themed Gourmet Evening STAPLEFORD PARK

Stapleford, near Melton, Leics LE14 2EF. Six courses. £90. Booking required.

Contact: www.staplefordpark.com, 01572 787000

64 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

BLABY When? Fourth Sat of month, 9am-1.30pm Where? Blaby Social Centre, LE8 4GG

BURBAGE

CASTLE DONINGTON

December 12-17

November 26

When? Third Saturday of the month, 10am-2pm Where? Manor House School, LE65 1BR

Budgens, Granite Way, Mountsorrel LE12 7TZ. Farmers’ market, plus crafts. 10am-2pm. Free.

Contact: 01509 416695.

WANT YOUR EVE APPEANT TO EMAIL ER HERE? ENTS@ GREATV FO LEICS. OD CO.UK

Market Place, Leicester. Free.

Contact: www leicestermarket.co.uk, 0116 2232372

ASHBY DE LA ZOUCH

When? First Sat of month, 9am-1.30pm Where? Windsor St, LE10 2EF

CLUMBER PARK CHRISTMAS FEAST

PACKINGTON FOOD GUSTO

Where’s your nearest?

CHRISTMAS FOOD & GIFT FAIR, MOUNTSORREL

FAT STOCK SHOW AT MELTON

CHRISTMAS FAIR AT NORTHFIELD FARM

November 21

Sutton Cheney, Leics CV13 0AD. Free.

Mulled wine, mince pies & Santa. 4pm-8.30pm.

Contact: 01455 290429.

December 5

MEDIEVAL BANQUET AT DONINGTON-LE-HEATH

Memorial Hall, Packington LE65 1WH. 9.30am-4pm.

Contact: www.food gusto.co.uk, 01530 411337

BOSWORTH BATTLEFIELD CHRISTMAS FAYRE

rs’ ts F ar me marke

Belvoir Castle, Grantham, Leics NG32 1PE. Chestnuts roasting, roaring fires, choirs and traditional Christmas dishes in the restaurant.

Contact: www.belvoircastle.com, 01476 871002

December 19

CHRISTMAS FINE FOOD FAIR AT CALKE ABBEY Ticknall, Derbys DE73 7LE. From 11am.

Contact: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ main/w-calkeabbey, 01332 863822 Always check before setting off.

When? Second Sat of month, 9am-12.30pm Where? St Edward’s School, DE74 2LH

EARL SHILTON When? Third Sat of month, 9am-1pm Where? Wood St, LE9 7NF

HINCKLEY When? Third Thurs of month, 9am-1.30pm Where? The Market Place, LE10 1NT

KIBWORTH BEAUCHAMP When? Second Sat of month, 9am-1pm Where? Kibworth High School, Smeeton Rd

LEICESTER When? First Thurs of the month, 9am-2pm Where? The Market Place, LE1 5GG

LOUGHBOROUGH When? Second Weds of month, 9am-3pm Where? Devonshire Square, LE11 3DW

LUTTERWORTH When? Second Sat of month, 9am-1.30pm Where? Lutterworth Town Hall Car Park, LE17 4EH

MARKET BOSWORTH When? Fourth Sun of month, 9am-2.30pm Where? Market Square, CV13 0JW

MARKET HARBOROUGH When? First Thursday of month, 9am-2pm Where? The Square, LE16 7DR

MELTON MOWBRAY When? Every Tuesday and Friday, 8am-noon Where? Scalford Road, LE13 1JY

OAKHAM When? Third Sat of month, 8am-2pm Where? Gaol Street, LE15 6AQ

STAMFORD When? Every other Friday, 8.30am-3pm Where? Red Lion Square, PE9 1PA

UPPINGHAM When? Second Fri of month, 8am-1pm; and new market now on first Sat of month.

Where? Mercers Yard (Fri); Mkt Place (Sat).

NEXT ISSUE

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Fireside food Warming

recipes from local cooks

PLUS

* Leicestershire & Rutlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cosiest eateries revealed * Meet more local producers

The January/February issue is out on January 4, 2011

The Pantry

From great places to eat to fantastic farm shops to cracking caterers, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll find an excellent selection of local foodie services here. To advertise in this section, please contact Andrea Marshall on 01780 754900 or by email a.marshall@bournepublishinggroup.co.uk

CATERING

FARMSHOPS

LOCAL WINE

The Smithy Farm Shop

White, Red and Rose wines made from grapes organically grown at South Kilworth.

The wines are made and bottled on site in our own winery.

Ideal Christmas present - specially for those who do not think that grapes can be grown in Leicestershire!

Available from our farm shop, together with organic fruit and vegetables. Also from Naturally Good Foods, Cotesbach; Manor Farm Shop, Catthorpe; The Quarter Restaurant, Leicester and others.

Top Quality fruit and vegetables.

Cheese, poultry and meat.

FARMSHOPS $WWÂżHOGÂśV )DUP 6KRS :HOO HVWDEOLVKHG IDPLO\ IDUP VKRS VHOOLQJ ORFDOO\ VRXUFHG IUHVK IUXLW VDODG YHJHWDEOHV EUHDG DQG KRPH PDGH FDNHV $OVR ORFDOO\ IDUPHG IUHVK PHDW SRXOWU\ SURGXFWV DQG D ZLGH VHOHFWLRQ RI IUHVK GDLU\ SURGXFWV /RGJH )DUP &RXQWHVWKRUSH 5RDG :KHWVWRQH /HLFHVWHU 7HO 2SHQLQJ 7LPHV 7XH )UL SP 6DW SP 6XQ SP

HIGHFIELD FARMSHOP Family run farmshop, selling home-produced Rare breed pork, sausage, bacon etc. Farm Assured Lamb and Mutton (seasonal), and Barn eggs. We also sell a selection of quality jams, marmalades, chutneys, Maincrop potatoes when in season. Shop is open Wednesday-Saturday, 9am-2pm.

Tel: 01162880887 or 07759861357 for availability before you set off. Find us on Newton Lane, Wigston, Leics. LE18 3SH.

Christmas Poultry Orders now being taken Opening Times: Mon-Thurs 8.45am-5.45pm.

Friday 8.30am-6pm.

Saturday 8.30am-4.30pm Sunday 9am-1pm

Warton Lane, Grendon, Atherstone, Warks, CV9 3DU Tel: 01827 714216

Chevelswarde Farm Shop, The Belt, South Kilworth Tel. 01858-575309 john@chevelswardeorganics.co.uk

SWEETS & CHOCS SWEET NOTHINGS Homemade confectionary including peppermint creams, coconut ice and a variety of fudge. Handmade gift boxes also available. Based near Melton Mowbray.

Tel. 07951 015502

www.sweetnothings.org.uk

Farm shop map Great-tasting, fresh food that hasn’t travelled far – what’s not to like about farm shops? Give them a buzz to check opening hours before setting off

Keyworth, Notts

We’re surrounded by fantastic food yet we’ve all got into the habit of buying produce that’s 8 CHANTRY travelled half way across the country, or even FARM SHOP Melbourne around the world. Any chef will tell you that the best-tasting stuff is seasonal, fresh and hasn’t been stored in the back of a lorry or jet plane for hours. The best restaurants tend to source A42 their produce from local farmers for this reason. If you don’t already, why not increase the quality of the food you eat THE MUSHROOM BASKET and support local farmers and businesses Ashby de Packington by giving your local farm shop or 23 la Zouch farmers’ market (see p64) a go?

Ashley Herb Farm (herb nursery & farm shop) 45 Main St, Ashley, Market Harborough LE16 8HG web: www.ashleyherbfarm.co.uk tel: 01858 565722

20

MANOR ORGANIC FARM SHOP Long Whatton

A6

BLACKBROOK TRADITIONAL MEAT

Grace Dieu

Loughborough

3

STONEHURST FAMILY FARM & MUSEUM Mountsorrel

32

MEADOW VIEW FARM Sileby

1

COOK’S FARM SHOP

Newtown Linford

7

THE CATTOWS FARM SHOP

Heather

Attfields Farm Shop Countesthorpe Rd, Whetstone LE8 6LD web: www.attfieldsfarmshop.co.uk tel: 0116 2771476

2

Bouverie Lodge (bison and venison meat) Nether Broughton, Leicestershire LE14 3EX web: www.bisons.org tel: 01664 822114 Brockleby’s Farm Shop Melton Road, Asfordby Hill LE14 3QU web: www.brocklebys.co.uk tel: 01664 813200

5

Brooklea Nursery & Farm Shop 1000 Loughborough Road, Rothley LE7 7NL tel: 0116 2302155

6

14

Chevelswarde Organic Growers Chevel House, The Belt, South Kilworth LE17 6DX tel: 01858 575309 Cook’s Farm Shop Markfield Lane, Newtown Linford LE6 0AB web: www.cooksfarmshop.co.uk tel: 01530 242214

Crossroads Farm Shop Eastwell, Melton Mowbray LE14 4EF tel: 01949 860242

11

Fancourts Farm Shop 12 The Square, Ryhall, Stamford, Rutland PE9 4HJ tel: 01780 762698

Chantry Farm Shop Kings Newton Lane, Melbourne, Derbys, DE73 8DD tel: www.chantryfarm.com web: 01332 865698

14

66 Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland

Farndon Fields Farm Shop Farndon Road, Market Harborough LE16 9NP web: www.farndonfields farmshop.co.uk tel: 01858 464838

37

BROOKLEA NURSERY & FARM SHOP Rothley

Grange Farm Shop Poacher’s Rest, Newstead Lane, Belmesthorpe PE9 4SA tel: 07711 205507

15

34

TOOLEY PARK FARM SHOP Peckleton

6

HIGHFIELD FARM Wigston

18

WOODHOUSE FARM SHOP Elmesthorpe

38

33

10

13

8

THE FAT HEN FARM SHOP Stapleton

GE TOMLINSON AND FAMILY FARM SHOP Stoke Golding

9

The Cattows Farm Shop Swepstone Road, Heather LE67 2RF web: www.thecattows farmshop.co.uk tel: 01530 264200

7

10

22

Leicester

3

4

WOODCOCK FARM Rothley

M1

Blackbrook Traditional Meat Springbarrow Lodge Farm, Swannymote Rd, Grace Dieu, near Coalville LE67 5UT web: www.blackbrooklonghorns.com tel: 01509 503276

17

HARKER’S FARM SHOP

Hinckley

ATTFIELDS FARM SHOP

2

Whetstone

M69

Hambleton Farms Gaol St, Oakham LE15 8AQ web: www.hambleton farms.co.uk tel: 01572 724455

16

Harker’s Farm Shop Blackberry Farm, Clipston, Keyworth NG12 5PB web: www.harkers farmshop.co.uk tel: 0115 9892260

17

Fat Hen Farm Shop at Highfield Farm Greenacres Garden Centre 18 Newton Lane, Ashby Rd, Stapleton LE9 8JE Wigston LE18 3SH tel: 01455 290878 tel: 0116 2880887

CHEVELSWARDE ORGANIC GROWERS South Kilworth

MANOR FARM SHOP & TEAROOM Catthorpe

19

9

Farm shop map Bottesford

Meadow View Farm 156 Cossington Road, Sileby LE12 7RT web: www.meadow viewfarm.co.uk tel: 01509 815670

Stamford Farm Shop 2B Gooches Court, Stamford PE9 9FA tel: 01780 767711

22

30

Stamford Garden Centre Farm Shop Road End Farm, Great Casterton, Stamford, Lincs PE9 4BB web: www.stamfordgarden centre.co.uk tel: 01780 765656

31

The Mushroom Basket Lowerfields Farm, Normanton Rd, Packington LE65 1XA web: www.themushroom basket.com tel: 01530 415862

23

CROSSROADS FARM SHOP Eastwell

11

Stonehurst Family Farm & Museum Bond Lane, Mountsorrel LE12 7AR web: www.stonehurstfarm.co.uk tel: 01509 413216

32

Northfield Farm Whissendine Lane, Cold Overton LE15 7QF web: www.northfieldfarm.com tel: 01664 474271

24

BOUVERIE LODGE

4

Nether Broughton

Oakdale Farm Shop 1870 Melton Road, Rearsby, LE7 4YS tel: 01664 424300

25

A46

A607

BROCKLEBYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FARM SHOP

Asfordby Hill

25

Tooley Park Farm Shop Peckleton Common Road, Peckleton, Leicester LE9 7RF tel: 01455 822876

34

5

MARCH HOUSE FARM Great Dalby

21

A606

OAKDALE FARM SHOP Rearsby

RUTLAND FARM SHOP Ashwell NORTHFIELD FARM Cold Overton

FANCOURTS FARM SHOP Ryhall, Stamford

28

Rutland water

24

26 27

GE Tomlinson & Family Farm Shop Station Road, Stoke Golding, Nuneaton CV13 6EU tel: 01455 212199

33

PICKS ORGANIC FARM SHOP Barkby Thorpe

HAMBLETON FARMS

16

12 15

GRANGE FARM SHOP

Belmesthorpe

Oakham

ROOTS AT THORPE FARM Barkby Thorpe

STAMFORD GARDEN CENTRE FARM SHOP

Stamford, Lincs

35

29

SELDOM SEEN FARM Billesdon

A47

31

WING HALL FARM SHOP Wing, Oakham

STAMFORD FARM SHOP

30

Stamford, Lincs

Uppingham A6 36

WISTOW FARM SHOP Wistow

1

ASHLEY HERB FARM Ashley

Manor Farm Shop & Tearoom Main St, Catthorpe LE17 6DB web: www.manorfarmcatthorpe.co.uk tel: 01788 869002

19

FARNDON FIELDS FARM SHOP Market Harborough

Wing Hall Farm Shop Wing, near Oakham, Rutland LE15 8RY web: www.winghall.co.uk tel: 01572 737090

35

13

Manor Organic Farm Shop 77 Main St, Long Whatton, Loughborough LE12 5DF web: www.manororganic farm.co.uk tel: 01509 646413

20

March House Farm Top End, Great Dalby LE14 2HA tel: 01664 563919

21

Picks Organic Farm Shop The Cottage, Hamilton Grounds, Barkby Thorpe LE7 3QF web: www.picksorganic.co.uk tel: 0116 2693548

26

Roots at Thorpe Farm King St, Barkby Thorpe LE7 3QE web: www.rootsthorpe farm.co.uk tel: 0116 2692526

27

Rutland Farm Shop Ashwell Road, Ashwell, near Oakham LE15 7QN web: www.rutlandvillage.co.uk tel: 01572 759492

28

Seldom Seen Farm Billesdon LE7 9FA web: www.seldom seenfarm.co.uk tel: 0116 2596742

Wistow Farm Shop Wistow Rural Centre Kibworth Rd, Wistow LE8 0QF web: www.wistow.com/rural.asp tel: 0116 2590041

36

Woodcock Farm 903 Loughborough Road, Rothley LE7 7NH tel: 0116 2302215

37

Woodhouse Farm Shop 1 Woodhouse Farm, Elmesthorpe, Earl Shilton LE9 7SE web: www.woodhousefarm.co.uk tel: 01455 851242

38

29

Have we missed a farm shop off the map? Email editorial@ greatfoodleics.co.uk to let us know.

Great Food Leicestershire & Rutland 67

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