Food | 99 Station Street

Posts Tagged ‘Food’

Visit form the Midlands Food Bloggers

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

On Saturday 4th May 2011, we are having a visit from a group of folks from the Midlands Food Bloggers for lunch. Given that we have chatted with a few of them on Twitter, we are quite looking forward to putting faces to names. After lunch they will be coming up to our home to learn and experience some techniques we use at Staffordshire Fine Foods such as; curing, brining and smoking. Weather permitting, it’s a trip into some of the village woods to do a bit of foraging and back to the house for some impromptu hedgerow cooking.

There are generally three types of food bloggers; food geeks, food lovers and the other type which we never talk about. The one thing we all share are a unique passion about food, whether it is cooking, producing, recipes, details of food shows or the occasional book review.

Tags: bloggers, Food, Midlands
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Christmas Senses | Ahead by a nose ?

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010

When you think of fantastic festive fragrances, which ones jump out? Mulled wine? The bird coming out the oven? Christmas pud? Gravy? Brandy sauce? Stuffing? Roast vegetables? An open fire? The overcooked sprouts? All of them evoke strong feelings of memory of winter, but why? In a word, warmth. When materials get warm, the molecules move quicker and at certain temperatures, odours peel away into the free air. Try a cold turkey sandwich in cold bread from the convenience store fridge. Certainly not as nice as was when it was being carved on the Christmas table?

Heat and smell go hand in hand, as does taste and smell. If you pinch your nose even the foulest medicine will be more palatable, though Mary Poppins tells us to use a spoonful of sugar instead. Freshly brewed coffee sells houses as does bread straight out of the oven. A smell can take you back to a beautiful moment in your life just the same way a favourite song can.

Have a Very Merry Christmas from,

Susan, Helen, Katherine, Kelly, Molly, Anthony, Daniel, Rob, Michael and Ross xx

Tags: Christmas, Food, smells, taste
Posted in In Season | 1 Comment »

Beauty and the Beet(root)

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

This time of year, the most visible form of beetroot is in the pickled form. Although a great accompaniement to pot roasts and stews, it is surprisingly versatile elsewhere. This root vegetable has a number of health giving properties and also has some history as a source of red dye. However, this is about it’s use on the plate.

A beetroot can be used in two forms in salads, the main veg finely cut and the leaves. There is little waste with a beetroot apart from the stalk, skin and base, which go wonderfully well in the compost or wormery.

If you are going to use it for a warm dish, you will first need to boil it till the point you can poke it with a skewer (1/2 hour plus) or peel, parboil and roast. The roasted vegetable works very well with game dishes. The only downside is the after effects of the beetroot, in it’s more raw form, one of the chemicals responsible for the dye use, is passed straight through the body. Apart from the initial shock, it is completely harmless.

Boiled beetroot works well with dried fruit and wine to build a risotto. As discussed before, it’s worthwhile keeping most of the ingredients in the dish red as they will be turned that colour anyway.

A warming winter soup is magnificent, think cream of tomato but made with beetroot. The real trick is to make sure you can keep your best tablecloth safe from the spills.

Beetroot has a fairly long season, really only unavailable fresh between the start of spring and early summer.

Tags: beetroot, Food, root, seasonal, vegetable
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Local Food, Is it just a British problem?

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

I sometimes get sent to nice places around the world for conferences and this trip was no let down. This is the first time I have visited Spain and being sent to Barcelona as an introduction to the country was great. The picture above is one of the longest building projects in the world, starting sometime in the mid 19th century. It is still a building site today and is a mix of architectural style from ancient to modern. So, I set off on foot from my hotel on the edge of the city to find this place, over a 2 mile walk down a lovely avenue of trees and then a few side streets to this amazing square. The cathedral is awe inspiring and maybe could also be described as eccentric or even barking mad. Sadly it had also inherited the same neighbours as many historic places around the world. On one corner stood the burger place, then on another, the chicken place and finally one of the pizza places.

So where was all this great local food that the Spanish produce? Luckily, that had been a treat on the way to the square before I got hit by the high street anytown fast food joints. A slim but deep bar / restaurant which was buzzing. The main bar had a local cable type lotto thing going on, buy a ticket and watch live draws several times an hour. For me it was about the food. Three types of Spanish omelette (potato, courgette and mushroom), chorizo, small warmed up morcilla (black pudding, but the guy said it was blue pudding), ham and a beer. So let me run through that again; omelette, sausage, black pudding and ham. Almost sounds like a British pub snack? But this was really nice Spanish food, done their way and in no way comparable to a fry up or a grill.

How is this different to British food? If you came from overseas looking for local food where would you go? Pie and eel shops, tea rooms, sandwich bars, greasy spoons and fish and chip shops. It might not be high end, but this is the kind of food enjoyed all over the world in local neighbourhoods. The tapas place was no different to this, people coming out for a snack, a chat, a cigarette, a flutter and a beer.

Tags: british, fast food, Food, local, spanish, tapas
Posted in Local Food | No Comments »

Menus, please the crowd, or specialise? Discuss …

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

Before I begin, I was raised as a vegetarian. My late father was a vegetarian and my uncle is still one. I have nothing against vegetarians, it’s a fair and reasonable, ethical or health related life option. My beef is with the bias of menus and the lack of focus across the table. There are various estimates of the number of vegetarians in the UK, but generally seems to fit at less than 3%. If you offered 10 menu options per course on a menu, you would expect to see at least 1 of these being vegetarian. Quite often, this is not enough for some people and they want to see 2 or more, non-meat dishes. I went on to ask one of the most famous vegetarian restaurants in the country if they has a meat option on the menu. The answer was of course … NO. My own belief is that we risk diluting our dining experience if things are labelled in such a way. Why not call a vegetable dish by it’s name rather than tag it lamely as vegetarian. Put some effort in and create something delicious rather than a token offering. Many more diners prefer a non-meat option than there are vegetarians out there.

This however, is endemic in food everywhere. A good friend of mine rated a local Chinese because it did a great steak, the only thing he would eat there. This was not a Chinese steak, it was grilled sirloin served with chips. If John had said a steakhouse did a great steak, this would be fantastic. There is so much amazing food out there that is Chinese, Indian, French, Italian, Vegetarian, Thai etc, there doesn’t need to be scampi and chips on these menus. Food should be about uniting people, not about diluting bonds or trying to please everyone. I know a brilliant seafood restaurant in the South West. They don’t do vegetarian dishes, they have some delicious vegetable dishes. They don’t do a solitary steak, but surf and turf. It is a balanced menu and a vegetarian is not going to be disappointed with the off-handed dish of chili non carne or the like.

I am actually glad the vegetarian restaurant stuck to what they do, why would you want anything else if you have gone there out of choice.

Now don’t get me started on Childrens’ Menus …

Tags: equality, Food, menu, non meat, steak, vegetarian
Posted in Rants | No Comments »

A brace of awards …

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

The kind people at Taste of Staffordshire awarded us with another two certificates (ooooohh and a decanter and a bottle of fizzy stuff) last night at the presentation evening. We were warned that we had been short listed but beyond that knew nothing else.

Out of the hat came the 2nd place in Brasserie of the year, which we had attained for the 3rd year in a row. The competition was much harder this year as they had introduced an accreditation scheme to get into their guide, which gave zero cost entry into the awards. This meant many other venues entering the fray. We got beaten by another place, the Three Horseshoes, a brasserie in the Staffordshire Moorlands, who had beaten us two years prior.

Next came a 1st in the NFU Local Food Champion Award. This was great news as it put a tick against our commitment to buy from enthusiastic local suppliers. We have always believed that when you know the product and the person behind it, you will have a consistent ingredient and a strong relationship with the supplier. So it was almost a mirror, the National Farmers Union giving us an award.

Tags: award, brasserie, champion, Food, local, NFU, taste of staffordshire, year
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Book Review | Mark Hix | Oyster and Chop House

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

Hix Oyster & Chop House (From Amazon UK)

I thought I was going to be impressed with this book from opening the box and finding a beautifully embossed cover and place-holding ribbon.

Mark Hix is probably more famous as a proponent of British cooking and helping to throw aside some myths surrounding our ability in the kitchen. He was also the man that put institutions such as Le Caprice, and The Ivy on the map. From these great venues, Hicks has gone on to produce his own name in his own restaurants. This title is all about as it says, Hix Oyster and Chophouse. The book is written in a style which makes it easy for people to step through and learn about the ingredients and their treatment. The most unusual part of this is the whole chapter dedicated to the explanation of oysters, how to prepare them and also the varieties of Oyster their difference.

The content also goes on to explore and to explain bar style finger snacks, drinks, soups, salads, sides and a few home favourites. One of the things which comes across very clearly in this book is the passion that Hicks has for British food. Ingredients are explained very well. The cuts of meat are dealt with in great detail, but not only in where they come from, but in the preparation and cooking. Predominantly the book is focused on oysters and also single pieces of meat, but does the full meal as explained in some detail along with sides, salads, soups and finally deserts.

The cover doesn’t differ much to content, the total package, a great book not just for the coffee table but a working volume for amateurs and professionals alike. Highly recommended.

Tags: british, chop, Food, house, mark hix, oyster
Posted in Book reviews | 1 Comment »

March – What’s in Season

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

The first promises of Spring and some sunny weather sees bulbs breaking the ground and the last of the hard fruits will be leaving the store room. Hardier game such as wild rabbit and wood pigeon are on the menu as long as those kind folks at DEFRA keep them classified as crop pests for the shooting fraternity. Such strong meats work well with one of the seasons real treat, rhubarb and quite luckily as there is very little other fresh fruit available, just yet.

Just over a couple of months left on some of the finest shellfish in our waters and then hands off until September. Oysters are at their best and careful farming around the UK has led to more choice. Another real treat, but certainly one for the enthusiast, the black truffle. Unknown to many, this is found in British soil and can now even be cultivated at home, Wiggly Wigglers have them in their catalogue. The only snag, is you have a couple of years to wait, but probably time to train up the family dog to find them

Of course, it would be rude to miss the sturdy veg that has survived the cold winter; cauliflower, celeriac, parsnips and two short lived finds, Jerusalem artichokes and purple sprouting broccoli.

Tags: Food, In Season, march, wild rabbit, wood pigeon
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