5 minute read
FOOD & DRINK
Grilled miso mushroom and grain salad
INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp Benecol Buttery Taste spread 11⁄2 tbsp white miso paste 2 tsp clear honey 2 cloves garlic, crushed 4 large portabella mushrooms, cleaned and any thicker stalks trimmed 1 tsp toasted sesame oil 1 tbsp rice vinegar 1 small leek, finely sliced 250g pouch ready-cooked spelt, quinoa, red rice and wild rice 1 tsp sesame seeds 1 carrot, peeled and julienned or coarsely grated 100g radishes, finely sliced 1 small avocado, chopped
Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 10 minutes Serves: 2
METHOD
1. Preheat the grill to high. In a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp spread with ½ tbsp miso paste, 1 tsp honey and the garlic. Arrange the mushrooms on a foil-lined tray and brush all over with the mixture; season and set aside. Mix the remaining 1 tbsp miso paste, 1 tsp honey, sesame oil, rice vinegar and 1 tsp water to make a dressing; set aside. 2. Heat the remaining 1 tbsp spread in a saucepan and gently fry the leek with a pinch of salt for 5-6 minutes until soft. Add the grain mix and cook for 1 minute. Tip into a bowl and set aside. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan for a few moments till golden, then tip into a bowl and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, grill the mushrooms for 4 minutes on each side until golden and cooked through. Toss the grains with the carrot, radishes and avocado and divide between plates. Top with the mushrooms (spooning over any juices), then spoon over the dressing and scatter with sesame seeds to serve.
COOK’S TIP
Any grain would work well in this salad. Try wild rice or quinoa instead of the grain mix if you prefer.
On your marks… Pancake parlour reveals its recipe for success
It is home to the oldest – and the best – Pancake Race in the world. So it seems only right that Olney should be home to the best coffee business and café in Milton Keynes. This year’s race is due to take place, as usual, on Shrove Tuesday (March 1). And Olney Pancake Parlour will be ‘flipping’ ready.
Sisters Gillian and Jennifer Donaldson, who manage the Olney Pancake Parlour, are pictured with kitchen manager Faye Hynes as they received the award for the Best Coffee Business/Café at the glittering Milton Keynes Food & Drink Awards 2021 in November which acclaimed the cream of the local food, drink and hospitality sector.
They put their success down to three factors: Great service. Great food. Great teamwork.
Gillian’s and Jennifer’s dad Barry, who with wife Sandra supports the girls behind the scenes, is delighted that the award is the result of a ‘secret shopper’ judging process. “It verifies the focus that we are giving to the service and the food,” he says. “It is a proper award and really worth shouting about.”
Olney Pancake Parlour lies within a grade II listed building in Market Place. It dates back to 1651 and has been home to a bakery, florist, Chinese restaurant and the café Beans until the Donaldsons took over the building in 2016.
The Olney Pancake Parlour has been a long-standing dream of the family. They have lived in Olney since 1995 and are well aware of the important link between the town and pancakes. There was a gap, they say, for a pancake destination and a stunning mural of the 1948 Pancake Race is a centrepiece of the café, highlighting its importance to the town.
The family converted the building into separate areas: the parlour itself, furnished with booths, and a snug area popular with grandparents, parents and children alike. “Parents bring their kids in and kids bring their parents in,” says Barry. “Everyone loves a pancake.”
Business was doing well until the pandemic struck. “We’d made a profit and we hoped we had sussed it,” he says. “We were looking onwards and upwards but now we have had to adapt to a changing world.”
When the café reopened in between lockdowns, its opening hours reduced from 8am-5pm to 10am-3pm every day. “We cut our hours, we reduced our menu because we had to in order to focus on the quality and we introduced table service. But that proved to be a winner because it means that we are receiving gratuities from customers, which means our service is what they want. It has changed the business.”
Tastes have changed too during the six years since the Olney Pancake Parlour opened. “Gluten free has become more relevant since we opened and more people are choosing a vegan lifestyle so we have more of those options and dishes on the menu,” says Barry. “It is Veganuary this month and we think our menu will satisfy all requirements.”
As the post-pandemic recovery continues, Barry, his daughters and staff have a clear plan to keep Olney townsfolk and visitors fed and watered. “These are changing times but we will move with those times, listen to our customers, continue to deliver great food and service and embrace the town,” he says.
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FOR CHILDREN AGED 6 WEEKS TO 5 YEARS OPEN 7.30AM TO 6.30PM
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Sisters Jennifer (left) and Gillian Donaldson receive their MK Food & Drink Award for Best Coffee Business/Café. Also pictured is kitchen manager Faye Hynes (right).
