The End of a Trip of Research and of course Lunch

I've always wanted to bring the tours to the UK. Kiwi's love England and while I ran to the other side of the world to grow up and discover who I was, I've always appreciated the beauty of England and it's charm to the rest fo the world.
When I left the food scene was changing and growing up. Pubs were listening to what people wanted and while a cheddar ploughmans was still a classic member of the pub grub menu, Thai chicken noodles was making an appearance.
Every year I venture back and this year I'm very impressed with what is on offer. We have of course eaten in a number of places sampling the changes in styles of menu's, the planks of food piles in messy combinations that taste devine, the huge chunks of meat with four forks for everyone round the table to pull apart the slow cook tender pork and bowls of steamed brocolli with a cheese sauce served as a pub snack???
Borough Market was a fabulous delight of tastes and smells. My favourite find was stall of potted game - rabbit, quail, wild boar, pheasant and trout. I love potted anything (except perhaps geraniums!) Potted Shrimp on hot toast spiced heavily with mace is one of the UK's beloved traditional dishes and something everyone should taste.  An unplugged freezer fortunately for us meant we skipped away with 5 pots for the equivalent of $20.00 - bargain!!! Every morning for the next 4 days, breakfast was a feast of hot toast, potted meat and a poached egg. Totally unconventional, but totally delicious.
A Burger Bar in Soho called Honest Burgers was exactly what is said on the door. A meaty patty cooked medium rare with smoked bacon, mature cheddar, pickled cucumber, onion relish and lettuce was exactly what we wanted when there was so much choice dotted around. The Rosemary chips and dill enhanced homemade slaw was comforting, English and served simply in metal white and blue bowl - probably one of the best burgers I’ve had in a long time. Good Luck Honest Burger - fab product!!!
The wonderful town I grew up in has become a foodie haven. The market twice a week has endless fresh produce from fish, cheese, vegetables, bread and olives. Dorringtons bakery has been in the town longer than I can remember. Burtons the butchers were as always more than welcoming with amazing cuts of meat in the window. 6 Pork Hocks for a pound each - I was very spoilt!!! My favourite discovery was the Saffron Grange Vineyard which was planted in 2009. I met Paul Edwards who own the property and he showed my father and I around the 5 hectares of Chardonnay and other vine variety that will go into a local sparkling wine. Paul was using New Zealand methods of growing vines and I can’t wait until 2013 when the first vintage is ready.
So we have a tour, accommodation, cooking school day, trips to the coast and dinner in Paris on the agenda at the moment! Now all we need is people :)

Meanwhile back in Blighty

I'm looking at my annual pilgrimage back to the North of Essex in a different light this year. One year on from The Big Foody going full time, I am focusing on bringing a tour here from NZ and Aus. In the last few years I have seen more and more changes in the food culture in the UK and definitely all for the better. Going into our local Waitrose supermarket is like partying in an enormous delicatessen. Even though everything is prepacked and you can't for the life of you pick you own veg, the variety and standards of food is much much better.

There are of course some stock standard Waitrose products I have an annual appointment with. Firstly the good old British Pork Pie! Moist pieces of pork with jelly around the outside and the perfect cold short pastry. There have been many attempts at pork pies in New Zealand and finally Mowbray cracked it in possibly the smallest commercial kitchen I have ever seen.  The pork pie reached its popularity in Britain in the 1800's where stage coaches between London and Leeds stopped in Melton Mowbray on the A1 for the pies that were best eaten cold so easily removed!

Just along the deli counter from the pork pies is the pickled herring and marinated anchovies sold by the scoop and and both with the ability to transform a plate of bog standard salad into something much more exciting. I have to admit it's a very rare occasion that the fish make it into a salad as I hopelessly devour them straight from the pottle. The scandinavian pickled herrings have a sweetness to them which make them a wonderful addition in a sandwich. Combined with some grated carrot beetroot and spring cabbage, fresh dill, a couple of chopped capers and a dollop of homemade mayonnaise, they make a fab filling for a couple of slices of dark german rye bread. The marinated anchovies, some olives, fresh cherry tomatoes and sautéed potatoes make a quick Spanish style warm salad for a tasty and different lunch.

At the other end of the counter is the amazing cheese section with European cheeses galore and the occasional antipodean variety thrown in for good measure. It was Waitrose that introduced me to New Zealand cheddars and they have a single counter dedicated to cheddars from all around the world. Even though we can get European cheese in NZ there is such a massive variety that I pick whatever is on offer for lunch and a lump of stilton as backup!

Along with some cherry tomatoes, fresh bread a very satisfying home coming lunch!

Winter weekends are the best aren't they? Bright cold mornings that turn into dark gloomy afternoons, with howling winds and pelting rain. Why do I love them so much? Any excuse to get the crock pot out and let something stew for hours, getting thicker and juicer.

Before I get into our Sunday feast, on Saturday night the Bald Man and I went to a Pop Up restaurant in Takapuan run by the two very talent chefs from popupdining.com, Ben Barton and Andreas Eggman. The theme for the evening was bait fish! Some would run for the hills at the very sound of it, but what was on the menu was an intriguing and imaginative array of 8 dishes. The dishes included, squid, mackerel, yellow tail, smoked mullet, sardines (pilchard) and Kahawai sashimi. It was a phenomenal evening with super people, intense and intelligent tastes and a new found respect for the underdogs in the fish world. All enjoyed for $40 / head..... can't do better than that!

Popup Dining have a monthly event - the next one is a French evening on the 6th July - I would definitely check it out.

Some of our closest friends are moving to Fiji and so wave them off, on Sunday the gang got together and tucked into a hearty lamb cassolet dish with dauphinoise potatoes and lemony peas. One of the best butchers on the Shore has to be the Meat Centre on Archers Road. It is a Halal butchery who's prices are incredibly reasonable and the meat is excellent quality. 2 KG of lamb pieces and 2 Shanks for the top came to a whole $24.00 and gave us 12 portions.

To make the cassolet, the lamb was tossed in flour, seasoned with oregano, salt and pepper and some ground cumin. Onions, garlic, tomatoes, butter beans and flageolet beans were layered along the bottom of the crock pot. In a roasting pan I browned off some pancetta pieces and some lumps of honey roast ham and added them to the crock pot.  The lamb was browned in small batches to prevent steaming and the roasting pan deglazed with 1/2 bottle of chardonnay. It all went into the crock pot and left to cook for 8 hours on low.  I've found over the years that you can end up flooding the meat in a crock pot if it is cooked for too long with two much liquid. The meat then becomes gritty and has no texture left. By keeping it on low, once the meat was cooked through, I drained it and reduced the liquid to a thicker gravy.

In a warmed 32CM Terracotta dish, all the lamb and beans were spread across the bottom, with some chopped Italian parsley. In a food processor, I mixed together, 2 anchovies, 1 tablespoon of capers, 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil, the zest of one lemon, 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs ( I had leftover onion bread which was made into bread crumbs. I get some big chunks of bread around the side to soak up some juices and get crispy on top.) Cover the lamb with the bread crumbs with the shanks in the middle. Bake for 20-30 mins until the top is really crispy. The gravy by then had reduced to a thick creamy consistency. Add some chopped rosemary and thyme to add freshness and depth. To cut the richness of the dish I added a splash of lemon juice to the peas which balanced all the flavours beautifully.

Our feast was finished with a lemon tart made by one of the gents, using eggs from his new chickens and lemons from their tree. Totally delicious! All in all a feast for happy tummies and to ward off miserable afternoons.

All in all a relaxing and gastronomic weekend!