Another Food Blog

Returning to the original Chop House on King’s Parade, I did a most un-Chop-Housey thing by ordering two fish dishes.  I say that because the place is justly famous for its game, its sausages and its meaty puddings.  And here was I eating fish and fish.  The smoked mackerel had a really nice taste; the smoking was just right, and the texture was firm.  I did have to negotiate my way around the bones, but with some fish you do.

My salmon salad was good, with the fish moist and firm and the salad adorned with boiled eggs.  The wine was chosen for my companion’s meal, and was a Nostros Reserva Chilean pinot noir I’ve often had.  Salmon is a strong tasting fish and had no trouble holding its own even against such a full-bodied wine.

There’s a very varied menu at Balls Bothers Victoria wine bar and restaurant. I was content with lovely roast beef sandwiches and horseradish sauce on wholemeal bread.  They were very good, with the beef nicely pink and soft.

One companion had Scottish rib-eye steak with béarnaise sauce, and said it was excellent.

Another, new to the place, went for the fish and chips everyone had praised, and loved it – especially the huge chips, which are almost certainly pre-cooked before being flash-fried.

The wine we all settled on was a Wide River shiraz, more suitable for the two meats than the fish.  This was a very good lunch we all enjoyed.

Preparing dinner for guests, I decided in two very familiar dishes, mushrooms on toast followed by butternut squash, blue cheese and pecans.  While the wholemeal bread was toasting, I chopped up a large field mushroom into chunky pieces, and simmered it in a mixture of butter and olive oil in a lidded pan.  I spread the finished toast with green pesto, and poured the mushrooms over it, complete with their juices.  I sprinkled sea salt and black pepper on top.  It was excellent.

For the main course I peeled and de-seeded a butternut squash, chopping it into about one-inch pieces.  I brushed each one all over with olive oil and placed them on a tray similarly brushed.  I sprinkled dried thyme over it and put it in the oven for about 40 minutes.  When it was done, and completely soft, I tipped the pieces into a casserole dish and stirred in some crumbled Danish blue cheese and pecan nuts, finally sprinkling with more thyme just before serving.  With the meal we drank a Jules Provence rosé, and finished up with some of my mixed fruit pie, reheated and served with crème fraiche. Incidentally, the first two courses were vegetarian; the pie pastry had some goose-fat in it.

It started out as a way of saving the leftover cherries after I’d made summer pudding.  I halved and stoned them, then cooked them with apples and plums to make a compote.  Very good it was, too.  Then it occurred to me that what was left might make quite a good fruit filling for a pie.  I used my new “Rosemary Shrager Kitchen Machine” for the first time.  It was reduced in Arthur Dyas from £169 to £99, and comes with beaters, pastry mixer, and dough-hook.  What’s more, it’s very quick and easy to clean.

I made pastry dough in it, using sieved white flour and a mixture of goose fat and sunflower spread, in a 2:1 mix, adding just enough water to let it cohere into a dough.  I lined a greased pie dish, cut a disc of baking parchment to shape, held in place by ceramic baking beads, and ‘blind-baked’ it for 12 minutes.  I let it cool a little then put the fruit in, and poured some of the leftover liquid from the summer pudding.  I put the pastry top on, crimped the edges, and brushed it with beaten egg.  It had 30 minutes in a 180 oven and came out beautifully golden.  I served it hot with crème fraiche.  The pastry was succulent, the fruit gorgeously tangy.  Wow! – this was one of the best fruit pies I ever made.

I cooked my loin of pork leg on a rack at the bottom of the grill, with the heat on medium.  I first rubbed the slices on both sides with garlic and pepper.  Then I grilled it for 20 minutes, and that included several turns to have it evenly and gently (but thoroughly) cooked.  It worked, and the pork was moist and juicy with a really good texture.  I baked a potato, with the skin pricked and rubbed with olive oil and sea salt.  It had an hour, just on a rack in a 175 oven, and turned once.  I sautéed sliced leeks and mangetout in a little oil and butter, adding mushrooms near the end.  The meal was excellent, served with Bramley apple sauce and accompanied by a White River chenin blanc.