Vittles (food & drink

THE HE HORSE WI WITH THE HE RED RED UMBRELL UMBRELLA

A friendly welcome to dogs and humans Mon-Sat 8am-3.30pm

10 High East St, Dorchester DT1 1UJ 01305 262019

Serving up delicious cakes & lunches in Dorchester for more than 50 years!

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PoCo makes us

By Karen Bate

newsdesk@westdorsetmag.co.uk

With Easter around the corner there is no better time to dive into the delicious world of chocolate. Enter Helen Dent, the passionate chocolatier who is creating chocolate alchemy from her ‘PoCo’ kitchen in Dorchester. PoCo Chocolate began in 2020, amidst the mayhem of the coronavirus pandemic and a redundancy from a senior position at the RNLI, but the seeds of a career in chocolate were sown a year before, when Helen took a trip to Switzerland to visit her best friend. Helen said: “My best friend lives in Switzerland so my husband, daughter and myself went on a road trip to visit her in Lausanne. We went via Luxembourg on the way, and Brussels on the way home. Our son Monty was studying and so was unable join us and so, feeling guilty, we decided to placate him with chocolate from every stopover. This was no hardship in fact, it was fabulous! “We fell in love with the beautiful shops on our travels, the way the chocolate is crafted and presented. We eat with our eyes. It is harder to find chocolate like that over here, so when I was made redundant our Swiss journey kept returning to my thoughts. “My husband bought me a chocolatier’s course, so I could learn to make chocolate and my gosh, it was intense.”

loco for choco

Helen learnt the art of creating world-class confectionary, working with chocolate in its purest form, revealing its potential and releasing the flavours of the cacao bean. She turned her farmhouse pantry into a magical world of moulds, melangers, roasters, brushes and whisks as she set to work on turning the cocoa bean into something exquisite. PoCo Chocolate was born. Named over ‘a glass of wine or two’ as a post covid new business, poco also means ‘a little bit’ in Spanish, which Helen says describes her chocolates perfectly. “I encourage everyone to take just two bites. The first bite will give an intense hit, the second will allow the complex flavours to come through the palette. These chocolates are very rich and very intense, one or two is perfect. Just a little bit of indulgence to put a smile on your face.” Helen grows as many of her ingredients from her kitchen garden and when this isn’t possible, she sources then from local growers and suppliers as she is conscious to leave as small a carbon footprint as is possible. She added: “With the destruction of the rainforests at the forefront of our minds, we only source our cacao from companies that are supporting local people to earn an income without having to destroy our beautiful planet.”

George Albert Hotel and Spa George Albert Hotel and Spa

... defi nitely more than just a great night’s sleep

Sunday Lunch Carvery

Sundays are meant to be spent tucking into good food with great companyand The George Albert Hotel is delighted to offer a mouthwatering lunchtime Carvery. Our traditional Sunday roasts feature locally sourced meats, roasted roots, seasonal greens and larger-than-life Yorkshires. For those that prefer there is always a tasty vegetarian option available too.

Booking your table is recommended

Wardon Hill, Evershot, Nr Dorchester, Dorset DT2 9PW 01935 483430 www.gahotel.co.uk

Karen Broad lives in Burton Bradstock, with her husband and two mad dogs. She ran The Mousetrap in Dorchester, has lived in France and loves discovering new food producers. Village shop’s a lifeline in many ways

All of us recognise the value of the village shop, especially when you run out of something, it’s a convenience, but it’s so much more than that! I hold up my hands, I should use it more. Yes, I use the Post Office and shop, but I do tend to take it for granted…it’s always there, but one day it may not be, and that’s a worrying thought. A local family run village shop, and quintessentially English. Chatting to Gill Mayo from the Maydown Farm shop and Post Office in Burton Bradstock, I recognised this is not ‘just’ a local service provision, it fashions a community. In all weathers, news and gossip is exchanged in cheerful banter, the Methuselah’s pause, watchful like old Deuteronomy they patiently wait, conversing on ‘whatever’ is topical. This is village life at its best, and the village shop is both its engine room and driver. For many it is a lifeline for socialisation. Maydown Shop and Post Office in Mill Street is a pretty building with bow frontage, painted rubble stone walls and a low thatched roof. The door, framed by roses, is always open, literally and metaphorically. There is always a warm welcome, someone’s always there to help. Gill and Pete Mayo’s farm stretches 120 acres across the Bride Valley, producing grass fed beef and lamb. Their pigs produce the meat for the lean and tasty sausages that Gill makes for the shop, amongst many other traditional delights, including curing her own bacon, faggots, and black pudding. Goodies from Charmouth bakery tempt the pallet and daughter Laura’s quiches and cakes are a feast to the eye. From daily papers to basic essentials, fresh vegetables, home deliveries and prescription collection point, this hardworking business provides unfailingly for the community. That is deserving of our acknowledgement and appreciation. Belly pork is a ‘Marmite’ cut of pork but it’s versatile and good value. The recipe can be eaten hot, but it’s delicious cold with a crisp green salad.

Slow roasted herbed belly pork 1.5 – 2kg piece of belly pork 2 cloves Garlic Mixed herbs Olive oil, seasoning. Method Place your piece of pork fat down on a flat surface with some butchery string underneath it Mix herbs and garlic and spread this mix on the meat side Roll up, tie tightly, oil the fat and sprinkle with salt Slow roast for 4 hrs When cooked refrigerate and slice thinly

Mum’s Kitchen...

Asparagus Quiche Serves 6

This lovely summery treat goes well with buttered new potatoes and colourful salads.

Ingredients: Ready-rolled shortcrust pastry, or homemade if preferred 100g ricotta cheese 2 large eggs 2 egg yolks 200ml double cream 100g parmesan cheese, finely grated 150g asparagus spears, woody ends removed Black pepper

Method Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Boil or steam the asparagus for 2 minutes, then drain and leave to cool. Butter a 20cm quiche dish and line with the pastry of choice and prick the base with a fork. Put it into the fridge to chill for 20 minutes or so, then line with nonstick paper and baking beans. Bake blind for 16 minutes, then remove the paper and baking beans and cook for another 5 minutes.

Lizzie Crow – AKA Lizzie Baking Bird – is a self taught baker, who has a stall outside her home in Upwey each Saturday. See her scrumptious eats at lizziebakingbird.co.uk or find lizzibakingbird on Instagram.

One way or another you have to make blondies

You will likely all have made brownies but have you tried blondies? They’re made with white chocolate. As Easter is approaching, I’ve thrown in a few mini eggs to keep the children interested, however you can leave them plain. And use rice flour if you want to make them gluten-free.

Ingredients Makes 9 pieces 225g butter 300g white chocolate 3 eggs 300g soft light brown sugar 100g plain flour, or rice flour 150g mini eggs

Method Preheat the oven to gas 4/ 180C. Grease and line a 20 cm square tin. Put the butter and white chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Sit this over a saucepan with about an inch of water in it (a bain-marie) and place over a medium heat. Melt butter and chocolate together whilst constantly stirring. Or, if like me you crave an easy life, pop them in a microwavable bowl and microwave for three minutes until melted. Put the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat for at least five minutes, using an electric mixer, until the mixture is pale and fluffy and doubled in volume. Add the melted chocolate, along with the flour, to the whisked eggs and fold in gently, until they are combined. Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Spread the mini eggs evenly over the top. Chances are that these will sink – that’s fine. This way they will be nicely dispersed in the blondies rather than drop right to the bottom, as they would if you stirred them into the batter. Put the tray in the oven for about 40-45 minutes. When a skewer is inserted it should come out clean. Take the blondie out of the oven and leave it to cool. Once cool, pop it in the fridge and leave overnight (or at least 4 hours). Take it out of the fridge and cut into nine pieces. The blondies will keep in an airtight container for at least a week. Serve with a cup of tea... Perfect.

You can find Lizzie at The Old Ship Inn, Upwey, every Saturday morning with her bakes. Follow her on instagram lizzibakingbird or at lizziebakingbird.co.uk

with Diana Holman

Meanwhile, make the filling. Whisk together ricotta and whole eggs, the add egg yolks and double cream. Stir in the grated parmesan and add a good grind of black pepper. Arrange the asparagus spears in the pastry case and pour over the filling. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until it has just a slight wobble in the middle. Delicious warm or cold.