Another Food Blog

Actually it could be six vegetables if green and red peppers are counted separately.  There were peppers (green and red), purple onion, courgettes, mushrooms and carrots (par-boiled for 8 minutes).  I chopped up lamb leg steaks and seared them in oil to seal in the juices and flavour.  I added half a pint of seasoned stock and garlic, mixed in all the chopped vegetables, and put everything into a lidded casserole for just under an hour in a 170 oven.  It came out as a very appetizing combination, with lots of different tastes.

I have been trying pinot noir from a variety of countries recently, and quite often scan a wine list to see if there’s a pinot noir, preferably a New World one.  It is the red wine grape of Burgundy, now used worldwide.  Its name derives from the pine-shaped bunches of grapes that the vine produces.  The grape’s character can vary widely according to the ‘terroir’ it is grown amongst.  Used as a permitted constituent of many champagnes, it makes some luscious, intensely-perfumed deep reds, especially in New Zealand.

Its characteristic strawberry and cherry aromas can become the deep red (almost blue) of stewed black cherries, sometimes with tones of leather and violets.  A skilled vintner can vary the length of fermentation, oaking and temperature to vary the fruit and tannins of the wine.  Stoneleigh, from Marlborough, New Zealand, is typically complex with a fragrant nose and a deep cherry body.

We gave Mike a good send-off after 8 years and 3 degrees at Cambridge.  He is now Dr Mike, and we celebrated with one last BBQ.  We had Lincolnshire sausages, quarter pounders, and vegetable skewers.  We drank a New Zealand pinot noir and a Penfold’s shiraz cabernet.  Finally there was my English summer pudding, and then cigars…

Seafood and steak on the plate is something I used to like in the States.  Surf and turf, often with lobster and fillet steak, but sometimes with jumbo shrimp and sirloin, was a regular favourite.  At Cote I had them on separate dishes, but the principle was similar.

One course was breaded calamari, done nicely with crumbly batter and not-too rubbery squid, and with a pot of homemade tartare sauce.  My companion ate the steak tartare and said it was very good.  Then we both had 10 oz sirloin steaks cooked rare (mine rare, the other one blue), and I ate mine with Dijon mustard.  We drank Largarde rouge and thought it a very satisfying meal.

The Chop House never disappoints.  This time I began with the leek, red Leicester & Cornish blue tart.  It was simply correct.  It is how a cheese tart should be.

For my main course I ordered lambs liver, garlic & thyme potato cake, with braised peas sand bacon.  There was, of course, delicious, but more than I could eat.  I had help.  The wine was a Centelleo tempranillo rosé.

I bought a large field mushroom on the market.  I chopped it into quite small pieces and cooked it in a mixture of oil and butter in a non-stick pan (the oil stops the butter from burning), adding garlic.  I toasted two pieces of wholemeal bread and spread them with green pesto before putting the mushrooms on top.  I ground some sea salt and black pepper on it and enjoyed a tasty (and quick) lunch.

Four of us dined at Boisdale in Belgravia. I began with the Loch Duart gravadlax, with a dill & sweet mustard dressing.  It was completely delicious.

I went in to enjoy an uncharacteristic vegetarian dish at this most carnivore friendly restaurant.   I had field mushrooms, spinach and fennel strudel with basil pesto.  Again, quite excellent.  Then we went to the top deck for Royal Loch Nagar malt whisky and Lord Madsen cigars…

The seabass looked decidedly as if the heat had been overdone.  It was served correctly skin side up, but with black scorch marks on the skin. No problem, though, because it was perfectly cooked.  It was moist and tender.

At the Loose Box on Horseferry Road we often have the Boor’s Kloof chenin blanc, but this time we chose the Wairau River sauvignon blanc from New Zealand.  It manages to combine the tangy fruitiness of gooseberry and citrus with a smooth body that has melon tones.

I was at a wine-tasting at the Cork and Bottle, with the focus on rosé wines, appropriately enough for summer.  The two wines I liked best were a Provence rosé which conjured up memories of seafood and sunshine in Nice and Villefranche.  The pleasant surprise was a Yalumba rosé made from sangiovese grapes.  They are grown in three distinct vineyards, each of which has a different type of soil (and therefore terroir).  The combination gives the wine a marked minerally texture and depth of flavour.  The wine is a deep, almost ruby colour, with a bouquet of fresh strawberries up front, then raspberries and vanilla, with an almost silky texture, and quite dry.  What a superb discovery.

In between a Radio 4 debate at LSE and a planned meeting at the Old Bank of England pub in Fleet Street, two of us picked on Daly’s Wine Bar and Restaurant in the Strand for a quick bite to eat.  I chose the croque monsieur, which came with a satisfyingly large amount of ham and cheese.

My fellow snacker chose their goat’s cheese tart with peaches, which were reported to go well together.

We drank Klippenkop, a chenin blanc from South Africa’s Western Cape. We both thought it a good wine, very fresh and clean tasting with the familiar citrus and melon tones.