July 15th, 2010
We are going to be asking some of the great people who supply 99 Station Street to share with us some of the unique story of their produce. First in the line up will be Steve Leighton who owns Hasbean near Stafford. Steve created our house blend for us on a Saturday morning over two years ago. We spent the morning with him going over various beans, smelling, tasting, cappucinos and espressos. Eventually we came up with a blend that we all liked and worked with the local water.
www.hasbean.co.uk
But first a cautionary tale about coffee:
“Like all good things in life, the drinking of coffee may be abused.
Indeed, those having an idiosyncratic susceptibility to alkaloids should
be temperate in the use of tea, coffee, or cocoa. In every
high-tensioned country there is likely to be a small number of people
who, because of certain individual characteristics, can not drink coffee
at all. These belong to the abnormal minority of the human family. Some
people can not eat strawberries; but that would not be a valid reason
for a general condemnation of strawberries. One may be poisoned, says
Thomas A. Edison, from too much food. Horace Fletcher was certain that
over-feeding causes all our ills. Over-indulgence in meat is likely to
spell trouble for the strongest of us. Coffee is, perhaps, less often
abused than wrongly accused. It all depends. A little more tolerance!”
All About Coffee, by William H. Ukers, 1922
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July 5th, 2010
If you are lucky, you might catch the very last of the British asparagus season. Should you prefer tastes of a more mediterranean nature, then there are some great finds in the garden at this time of year; garlic, brocolli, courgettes and basil. The only problem with basil, tomato or chilli growth is that you may need to share your crop with aphids. So, as with all things natural and native, is the cycles behind the seasons. While the aphids are gorging on your finest greenhouse produce, you will notice the hatching of ladybirds. If you can capture a few of these and introduce them to your trouble plants, you will have one of best defences in the garden.
Sadly another pest is prevalent at the moment, my arch-enemy, the grey squirrel. The walnut tree is starting to show the first fruit of the year and the tree rats have noticed.
What could go nicer with some of those summery herbs, but lobster, prawns and some of the first scallops (check at the end of the month).
Anyway, just putting the finishing touches to a recipe involving squirrel, beetroot and thyme …
Tags: In Season, july, seasonal food
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June 3rd, 2010
What a great time of the year for lots of gentle flavours. It is almost corny, but sea fish with salads and herbs is June on a plate. A lot of those iron rich leaves are at their best now, adding both crunch and strong taste to the plate. A lot of the freshly available veg is subtle and very good for steaming or stir fry such as new potatoes, broccoli, courgettes and carrots.
Cherries are at their best and the blossom has dropped. One of the first signs of their appearance is the sudden arrival of red bird poo everywhere there are cherry trees. Perfect combination is woodpigeon with cherry sauce, both in peak condition. Very little other game is in season or available.
If fish is your thing, sea fish are at their best. As always, try and source sustainably and locally.
Tags: In Season, June, seasonal food
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May 6th, 2010
This is one of the pivotal times of the year, when the food mood completely changes. Oysters and scallops are out and spring lamb is in. It’s not quite ready for summer and many of the gentler flavours of the earth are at their best. There is very little in the way of fresh fruit available, unless you count rhubarb, which is technically a vegetable. To keep things light, gentle green leaves such as spinach, rocket and lettuce are available.
May is also a good month for foraging. Wild garlic and nettles are coming to their best and will be optimum about the end of the month. Wild mushrooms will be there for the keen eyed.
Most white sea fish is at it’s best as well as samphire and gull’s eggs. Perhaps the best treat, is the short lived asparagus season, especially with a soft boiled gulls egg.
Tags: In Season, May, seasonal food
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April 22nd, 2010
Starting a restaurant at the very beginning of the recession was not one of our brightest ideas. Hindsight is a great predictor of how things work. During that time we have gone from strength to strength. In the first year our proudest moment was winning Best Newcomer of the Year in the Taste of Staffordshire Awards. In 2009 we were listed as a UKTV Food Hero in 2009. The crowning glory was a coveted listing in the Good Food Guide in 2010, only four places in Staffordshire made it.
It’s not been all awards and glory, there have been some real challenges from sacking dishonest staff to vandalism, theft and leaking ceilings. Each of these was dealt with and we have progressed onwards and upwards. A real inspiration for us came at the beginning of 2009 when Daniel Pilkington replaced our outgoing head chef. Dan has taken each new menu to higher standards. Through his knowledge of some great local suppliers and produce, each dish is continuously perfected. Our real key to growing during these difficult times has been in keeping an eye on quality and trying constantly, to improve on what we have done before.
Who knows what the rest of 2010 will bring, but we are looking forward to our 3rd birthday and many beyond that. A big thank you to some great locals who dine with us, supply us and work as a team with us.
Tags: 99 station street, birthday, burton, Food Hero, good food guide, staffordshire, taste of staffordshire, UKTV Food
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April 15th, 2010
Another of my favourites, originally based on an Italian recipe from a deli that used to be owned by our friends Lee and Mimo. This can be used to make a burger or sausage, it’s up to you.
5 lb minced pork
3 ts Fennel seed
2 ts fresh ground Pepper
1 1/2 ts Sage Leaves
5 Cloves pressed garlic
3 ts Salt
1/2 pint red wine
For sausages you can add 1/2lb of fresh bread crumbs and soak in the wine before combining. The traditional italian sausage would possibly not use any bread crumbs as it is a coarser, more “burger like” consistency.
Mix well and stuff into sausages casing or press into burgers. If making sausages, this is best produced unlinked and portioned into 2lb rings. The rings can be cooked just as well in one piece in a frying pan or, crossed through with skewers, on the barbecue.
Any hearty red wine works well with this and possibly a bit of homemade chilli sauce.
Tags: barbecue, bbq, british, fennel, home made, recipe, sausages
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April 8th, 2010
The real stars of the show this month are the early vegetables and fruits. These are mainly the green leaved varieties such as brocoli, purple sprouting brocolli, rocket, spinach, rhubarb and a couple of our own favourites wild garlic and nettles. A lot of iron rich veg to compliment the strong flavours of wood pigeon and salmon.
Jersey new potatoes are being harvested and are lovely on their own as a side dish or to go with some of the more delicate fish on offer as well as spring lamb.
Flavours of this time of year are earthy and green, which will give way to more subtle fruits and salads in the next couple of months. Shellfish will fade away over summer to some extent, certainly scallops and oysters will be in their breeding season.
The arrival of mint will bring in the best of the lamb, but also the start of the Pimm’s season 
Tags: april, In Season, season, seasonal food
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April 6th, 2010
This weekend we had the in-laws over to stay. They live in Yorkshire but there is Welsh ancestry on my father in laws side. The weather was good, so we got the barbecue fired up for the first time this year. On the spur of the moment, we created this new burger recipe to celebrate, part Welsh, part Yorkshire, all Great and British.
500g minced beef (try not to get extra lean as you need the fat to bind)
500g minced pork
1 medium onion, chopped and processed in blender till fine
2tbs Henderson’s Relish (The Yorkshire ingrredient)
1tsp Red Welsh Mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
This is very easy to do, can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge until ready.
Put all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and work together by hand. You will know when you have blended everything together as the mixture will be a constant off red colour, the mustard creates that. Take a handful and press together like a snow ball, press flat to about 1/2 inch on a clean board. Lift with pallet knife onto a plate. Repeat until you have used all the mixture up.
All you have to do it is put them on the white hot barbecue, let them cook and enjoy
Tags: barbecue, british, burger, homemade, recipe
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March 31st, 2010
A bold statement you would think? Burton is indeed only a few miles away from the dead centre of England (a farm near Fenny Drayton), so that’s one part of the claim held up. Another is the nations most popular tipple on a night out, Carling Lager. This is produced at the Coors Brewery on Station Street in Burton and apart from Bass and Marston’s Pedigree, one of our most famous exports.
Although Burton is as far from sea water as is possible in England, it is only a few hundred yards from the water that started the tradition of brewing in the town. No, not the river Trent, but deep welled water, with high level of gypsum. To create the same flavour of beer anywhere else, the water needs to be “Burtonised”, by addition of sulphates which bring out the flavour of the hops used for bitter.
Tags: burton, carling, coors, marstons, pedigree, staffordshire
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