Tag Archives: seasonal

Plum and cardamom cake

We wait all year for our home-grown fruit to ripen and when it does you have to act fast! Jane has some plum trees so we have been making sorbets, tarts, cakes, plum butter and roasted-plum crumble. Here cardamom complements the sweetness of the plums. This cake is perfect with a cup of fresh coffee or serve warm with fresh cream or custard for a dessert.

Ingredientsplum and cardomom cake_6x9

200g butter, at room temperature

200g vanilla sugar or 200g castor sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs, beaten

200g self-raising flour

750g fresh ripe plums, stoned and quartered

seeds from 8-10 cardamoms, ground

1 tbsp golden castor sugar

Line a 22x24cm baking tray and pre-heat oven to 180°C /160°fan/gas mark 4

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Fold the egg and flour into the mixture a little at a time. Stir in half the plums and the ground cardamom and spoon into the baking tray. Top the mixture evenly with the remaining plums and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until firm to touch and golden.

This cake will only keep for a couple of days because of the high water content of plums.

plums

Text and images Shirlee
Text and images Shirlee

Toby Cottage Restaurant

toby_cottage_exterior High Street, Ripley, GU23 6AF

 A charming, old-fashioned restaurant with a contemporary twist

 Go there for: Retro classics, heaps of fresh vegetables and flambé specials.

Avoid: Being influenced by the website, which suggests a more modern vibe.

Is it worth the calories?: You get a well-balanced plate here.

Tips: This is perfect for those who appreciate service and a dessert trolley.

Toby Cottage welcomes you to the food culture of the 1970s (the good bits), the era it opened. The sixteenth-century oak-beamed interior may be intact but subtle changes to the menu and a change of ownership have ensured its continued existence.

Classic flambé dishes Crêpes Suzette and Steak Diane are firm fixtures alongside a heaving dessert trolley.  Our amusing waiter Daniel (the flambé expert) was happy to tell us he’s been waiting tables here for 22 years – a rare loyalty that we saw as a jolly good sign. Choosing from the lunch menu (3 courses for £19.50 or 2 courses for £15.00), we kicked off with a tapas-style starter of chorizo cooked in red wine with olives. The chorizo was spicy and tender, suggesting authentic, quality ingredients. The plump olives added a satisfying richness to the piquant sauce. We used the fresh bread from our basket to mop it up. It was to good to see melba toast here too, another nod to a former culinary era.

toby_cottage_trio_1

We shared the starter so were ready to wade into our substantial mains. My calves’ liver was cooked pink as requested; and although the gravy may have had a run in with the gravy browning it was robust and complemented the meat. The crunchy bacon added texture and saltiness to the dish. My daughter’s salmon was perfectly cooked: moist, fresh and flaky and enhanced by a knob of herb butter and a heap of fresh rocket. The meal was fully elevated when the fresh vegetables arrived. These had clearly been cooked to order, arriving vibrant in colour and steaming.

toby cottage_main_dessert_trio

We so enjoyed our lunch that we decided to share a light dessert from the trolley of pudding heaven. Our crème caramel had been cooked in a slightly hot oven but had the ‘we made it from scratch’ flavours of a proper pudding. It wasn’t too sweet and had just the right amount of eggy resistance on the tongue. We could have gone for any of the chocolaty creations, a summer jelly or a fresh-fruit salad – perhaps next time.

Here you feast on more that just food. For me it brought backs lots of memories of eating out with my parents. My dad, who hated the pretention of modern fine dining (which I love), would have felt at home, particularly as he liked having food cooked for him at the table. Few waiters are trained to do this now.

When Spaniards Tony Trias and Tony Trillo bought The Toby Cottage as a going concern they decided that change was unnecessary.  With an established clientele and brisk trade this seems to have paid off; six years later they are pleased with the addition to their portfolio. Their ethos is to buy top-quality ingredients – Smithfield for meat and a fish supplier who delivers daily. Their regulars love Dover sole, sea bass and lobster from the à la carte menu.toby cottage_9x6

They don’t like to experiment too much with food here and that seems to be their selling point. However you will find some more modern classics (scallops and pea purèe) alongside more traditional dishes. If you can get past the Toby jugs and dated décor, it’s worth giving this eatery a try. I’m glad I did.

www.tobycottage.co.uk

Tel: 01483 224225

Shirlee Posner
Text and images Shirlee

 

 

Pop up Café Beetroot Hummus Recipe

Beetroot hummus with smoked oil and roast spices

I found this lovely recipe in the Guardian food section ‘Cook’, edited by Felicity Cloake.  It’s an unusual take on a dip we love: beetroot gives this version an intense, irresistible, deep-pink hue. Use freshly cooked or roasted beetroot – pre-packs give a watery finish. The original recipe suggests that you peel the chickpeas but buy a good-quality brand so you don’t need to. A food processor or blender gives the best result. We have also used a locally grown and pressed smoked rapeseed oil which adds an additional flavour layer.

Ingredientsbeetroot_hummus_6x9

250g cooked, peeled beetroot, roughly chopped
1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained
75ml tahini
Juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp roasted ground coriander
3 large garlic cloves, crushed
1-2 tbsp smoked rapeseed oil
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the beetroot in the food processor with the drained chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, coriander and crushed garlic. Process until the mixture is smooth enough for you.

Heat the rapeseed oil in a heavy frying pan and fry the sesame and cumin seeds, stirring continuously, for no more than 2 minutes, making sure they don’t catch. Add about two-thirds of this to the food processor, along with some seasoning, and blend.

Place the hummus in a serving dish and make a swirl in the centre. Spoon over the toasted seed-and-spice mix and serve with crudités.

We served this with our Taste of Surrey Platters with beetroot that was grown locally by James and Catherine Dampier and their team at Village Greens. They have two farm shops in Surrey where they sell produce from local producers and from their own land. We used them for all the fresh produce for our event plus tomatoes from Nutbourne.

Beetroot hummus recipe

veg_platter

Jacobs Well Country Market

Jacobs Well Village Hall, Nr Guildford, GU4 7PDJacobs_well_checkout_

Go there for: Freshly baked cakes, bread, savouries, pies, free-range local eggs, meat and cheese.

Avoid: Arriving late! Only open Friday from 10 -11.30 am, regulars snap up best buys fast.

Is it worth the calories?: A social enterprise that helps the smallest producers sell their wares – of course it is!

Tips: You can order goods in advance, including meat – remember it’s cash only.

This little community market is one of 350 in the UK and Channel Islands, including eleven in Surrey. Established in 1919 as a co-operative social enterprise, Country Markets provide a unique opportunity for individuals and small producers to sell their products locally.

Only open on Fridays between 10 and 11.30, Jacob’s Well Market is a complete treat. We found tables of home-baked cakes, breads and biscuits; savouries, including quiche, beetroot and goat’s cheese tarts and lentil tray-bakes; preserves, honey and chutneys; and culinary delights like bacon and cheese bread (heavenly toasted with butter). One lady runs a stall for award-winning local butcher Conisbee, another sells free-range eggs and cheese. In summer stall-holders sell the glut from their vegetable plots as well as plants and flowers. The stock here rightly changes with the seasons.

products on sale

On arrival you are furnished with a shopping sheet and a basket. Each time you select an item your form is updated and you pay at the cash desk. The market records all the sales and pays the vendors after removing their ten percent. A small stall in North Street market in Guildford will cost you £60 a day. This community marketplace charges a nominal membership fee of just 5p a year. To bag a stall you have to join the waiting list and bring something that other traders aren’t already selling.

Jacobs_well_products

There’s a craft market too: we found beautifully sewn babies’ bonnets, toys and greeting cards. Everything is homemade and unique – an experience that cannot be replicated on the high street.

crafts for sale

Country Markets offer a low-key but essential outlet for people who want to make a few items to sell once a week. They provide camaraderie, a modest income and a way of making a contribution to the community.

If you need an antidote to chain-store shopping, check out your local market – knowing the money you spend goes straight in the producer’s pocket.

www.jwcountrymkt.free-online.co.uk

National Country Markets 01246 261508

www.country-markets.co.uk

Crumbs of Capel

Crumbs of Capel The Old Brickyard, Coles Lane, Capel, RH5 5HPdineke_soda_bread

A small artisan bakery in Surrey Weald supplying totally handmade bread.

Buy from: Village Greens or the Dorking Food Float.

Avoid: Inferior factory-made imposters.

Is it worth the calories?: Traditional slow-fermented bread using ingredients with provenance gets an undisputed thumbs up.

Tips: Book onto Dineke’s course and learn how simple it is to prepare artisan breads at home.

Having sampled Dineke’s breads and fruited buns at Village Greens’ food festival last summer I snapped up a place at one of her bread courses. Offered in partnership with Village Greens in Ockley, the principal retailer for Crumbs of Capel, it seemed a perfect foodie night out. In confidence, luck has not been on my side in the sourdough department so I was secretly hoping this would turn things around.

dineke_trio

At a cost of £25 (including ingredients and dinner) I attended ‘Soda and Sourdough’ at the community hall in Capel. The evening started with a run through of the principles of sourdough starters. We prepared a sourdough bread first, which needed a couple of hours to rise, and then a speedy soda bread. While waiting for the bread to rise and prove, we had dinner and a chance to chat. Catherine Dampier, our Village Greens’ hostess, had put together a buffet of scrumptious products from the shop, all served with Dineke’s wonderful bread. Everything was local, carefully sourced and in perfect keeping with the ethos of the evening.

Nutbourne tomatoes, charcuterie, soft ewes milk cheese from Golden Cross Cheese Company and English Regional wine from Denbies

Making sourdough is a lengthy process, not to be confused with bread machines and easy-blend yeast. No, sour dough breads take time, a long time: when Dineke is baking for her retailers she makes the dough in the evening and ferments it all night. In the morning the dough is knocked back, kneaded again, formed into loaves and proved for another two hours. Then it’s ready to bake. But all the decisions are based on experience and timings can change each time you bake.

We were all provided with a portion of bubbling starter, which takes a couple of weeks to make. Warm water is added to flour to start the process, which encourages the growth of naturally occurring yeasts. This is fed with fresh flour and mixed and hibernated to create (eventually!) the bubbling, fermenting mass of batter characteristic of sourdough. Flour choice affects the result. We used Sharpham Park’s organic spelt flour for the sourdough and Doves Farm white organic for the soda bread.

making sour dough

Dineke’s course was jam packed with bread-making wisdom and tips but the most important was that to make your starter all you need is good-quality flour and some hand-warm water. It really is that simple. So why had I and so many other would-be sourdough bakers been sold the idea of fresh orange juice, raisins, bottled water and other mixtures? No wonder my previous efforts with strange concoctions in my airing cupboard had been a disaster.

sour_dough_rolls6x9Armed with a cup of starter, we added flour and a little more water and salt. We kneaded this for 10 minutes and formed it into four equal-sized rolls. We had a choice of seeds for toppings to add texture and nutrients – and to make it look good. We left this to rise while we got on with our soda bread.

For the soda bread we added bicarbonate of soda, the raising agent that gives soda bread its name, to white flour, then our choice of liquid: natural yogurt, milk, buttermilk or water. Kneading isn’t required, just a quick mix to form a soft dough. Ready to bake as soon as it’s made, we put our loaves in the oven while we tucked in to our dinner. Afterwards we had time to check our breads and troubleshoot.

If you don’t want to bake your own bread, Dineke supplies over a hundred loaves of bread a week to Village Greens (available fresh every day) and at the Dorking Food Float on Saturdays. Her gluten-free cheese biscuits and nibbles are available from Tanhouse and Kingfisher farm shops. Working to full capacity, Dineke has plans to convert her garage to a larger bake-house to increase production.

There are plenty of reasons why you should go to Village Greens in Ockley but this bread is near the top of the list for me.

www.crumbsofcapel.co.uk

01306 710087

Blueberry and lime cheesecake

Blueberry and lime lower fat cheesecake

This is a perfect make-ahead dessert for the holiday season. Using lower fat cream cheese makes it lighter without losing the wow factor of a freshly baked cheesecake.This freezes well and will keep for up to 4 days in a refrigerator after baking.

Serves 8-10

Blueberry and lime cheesecake

400g extra-light cream cheese

500g ricotta cheese

4 medium free-range eggs

250 – 300g vanilla sugar

Zest and juice of 1 large or 2 small limes

25g cornflour

200g fresh blueberries

For the base

60g ground almonds

100g plain flour

60g vanilla sugar

100g chopped butter at room temperature

Preheat oven to 150°C / 130°C fan / gas mark 3 .

Prepare the base first. Combine ground almonds, flour, sugar and butter in a bowl. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until a dough forms.

Grease a 20cm non-stick round spring-form tin. Press the mixture evenly into the base. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Set aside.

To make the filling, place the cream cheese, ricotta, eggs, sugar and zest in the bowl of a food processor.

Combine the cornflour and lime juice until smooth and add to the cheese mixture. Process the mixture until smooth. Place half the mixture on the base. Evenly scatter half the blueberries over the mixture. Top with the remaining filling and finish with the remaining blueberries.

Gently shake the tin to pop any air bubbles. Bake for 1 hour and cool to room temperature before chilling in the refrigerator.

Serve with fresh berries and a spoon of half-fat crème fraîche. Sprinkle over a little fresh lime zest.

Rosewater and pistachio cake

The Tea Shop at Watts Gallery

Minestrone soup with warm breadDown Lane, Compton, Guildford, Surrey, GU3 1DQ

A delightful café in the old pottery on the North Down’s Way with a changing seasonal menu.

Go there for: Scrumptious English nursery classics like Welsh rarebit and generous slices of home-baked cakes.

Avoid: Mondays – they’re shut (and on Tuesdays after a bank holiday weekend).

Is it worth the calories?: Heart-warming soups and salads complement the house specials of rarebits and cakes. Indulging is fine – especially if you walk to the chapel!

Tips: A great stop on the North Downs Way for walkers and bikers – or visit the gallery or astonishing chapel.

This charming eatery is in the grounds of the gallery that celebrates the work of the renowned Victorian artist Frederic Watts. Established 25 years ago, the tea shop was given a facelift when it was taken over by the gallery in 2009.

New manager Agnieszka Czabak started in 2012 and keeps the front of house moving at a crisp pace, tables are cleared efficiently and orders taken swiftly. Head chef Aly Breakwell’s cooking is creative, homely and extremely good. The menu is temporarily smaller than before and the café’s famous rarebits (from £4.95) are on the specials board.

A new menu is about to be launched and Aly has been testing innovative dishes like confit of duck and cabbage leaves stuffed with barley, walnuts, sultanas and dill. Buying local foods where possible is high on the agenda here and drinks such as cider are sourced locally. They also use an ethically sourced coffee and have their own blend of ‘Potters tea”.

Butternut squash and feta tart, table flowers and chicken and mango sandwich

I was sad the celeriac soup with walnut and parsley pesto had run out but the minestrone was thick and hearty, using barley and red kidney beans instead of pasta (£5.50). Packed with vegetables and garnished with fresh Pear & custard tart with cinnamon and clotted cream herbs and local rapeseed oil, it was the best I’ve had in a long while. My daughter ordered a grilled chicken and mango sandwich on white bread (£5.50) the chicken succulent and the mango delivered a  tangy sweet finish . My butternut squash and goat’s cheese tart (£7.50) had crisp thin pastry, the squash was soft and buttery, and the cheese added a deliciously salty kick. It came with a generous selection of salads. There is also a pudding on the specials board each day and we sampled a complimentary slither of pear and custard tart with cinnamon, clotted cream and toasted walnuts, it was gorgeous (£5.25).

Aly said they can’t bake enough cakes on site to meet demand but she does as many as possible. On display was a handsome Victoria sponge, a coffee and walnut and a gluten-free chocolate all at £3.00 a generous slice. But what caught our eye was a spectacular rosewater and pistachio cake; a creamy sponge topped with rose-scented icing and a sprinkle of pistachio and rose petals – and it’s gluten free. It lived up to its enticing exterior and was meltingly light and delicate.

Rosewater and pistachio cake

The tea house has big plans for the future, with an extension to the café planned for spring 2013. Aly is keen to add more vegetarian options and experimental specials to the new menu. The cooking we sampled was great, so expect good things here in the future.

www.wattsgallery.org.uk

Phone:01483 813590

Tanhouse Farm Shop

Tanhouse Farm Shop, Rusper Road, Newdigate, Surrey, RH5 5BXOutdoor covered seating area

 A stylish little farm shop and café selling their own cakes and pies alongside select groceries.

 Go there for: Lovely savoury pies, cakes and soups made with local produce and their own free-range meat.

Avoid: Ignoring this venue: even if it’s off your beaten track this little gem won’t disappoint.

Is it worth the calories? Pies are a sensible size and salads generous so they have the balance just right.

Tips: The farm sells its own jams and honey: great for unique foodie gifts. Or call in for a takea-way pie and coffee.

What a treat to find this farm shop and café just as my internal lunch bell rang. The vibrant covered outdoor seating area overlooks over the playground so you can keep an eye on your brood while they play. Inside, you can peruse the shelves while enjoying a home-cooked treat or two from the kitchen. They are big on traditional cooked breakfasts here and serve delicious pies and pasties for lunch, complemented by a selection of salads.

Their chicken and wild mushroom pie (£6.50) is a world away from commercial imposters with pale gloopy middles. Here a handsome pastry encases free-range chicken chunks and flavour-packed mushrooms in a light creamy sauce. A portion of roasted Mediterranean vegetable salad and some green leaves turns the meal into a balanced plate. Home-made soup with bread (£4.85) also makes a delicious lunch.

Wild mushroom and chicken pie, play area and tea with florentine slice

The cakes were all saying ‘eat me’ but I was tempted by the lovely Florentine slice (£2.50), a layered affair of shortbread topped with caramel, fruit and nuts.

Sausage rolls and pasties, scotch eggs, meat from the freezer and carrot cakes

All the food served here is made by a team of chefs who also manage outside catering events such as weddings plus preparing hampers for those enjoying the local fishing.

Tanhouse honeyThey serve Higher Nature tea and single estate coffee from Coffee Real, craft roasters situated just behind the farm. Luckily you can buy their ethically sourced and expertly roasted coffee in the farm shop to take home too. They sell a small range of jams, chutneys and marmalade produced on site plus honey from their own hives. A bank of freezers house their free-range Aberdeen Angus beef, lamb and Gloucester Old Spot pork; I made a gutsy cottage pie from their minced beef (£5.13 for 750g). Potatoes and seasonal vegetables from the farm are on sale when in season. They also sell old-fashioned sweets in jars and a few really useful items like liners for food-waste bins.

Located in some of the prettiest Surrey countryside, it’s a joy to travel to this lovingly thought out little café.

01306 631 891

www.tanhousefarmshop.co.uk

 

Free range pigs at Joe's farm shop

Joe’s Farm Shop

Joe’s Farm Shop, Elm Nursery, Sutton Green Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU4 7QDEntrance to the farm shop

A delightful family run business with delicious home-reared pork and local lamb and beef  

Go there for: Local beef, lamb, pork, sausages, milk and free-range eggs – and hanging baskets!

Avoid: High expectations: this is a small shop with a limited range of produce.

Is it worth the calories?:  Our rib of beef was heavenly and surely special treats don’t count!

Tips: This is a small farm shop with big plans: support them to make their expansion a reality.

It’s really all about the meat here. The story began 31 years ago when Emma and Kate’s mum wanted a bigger back garden: she acquired a small farm shop and continued to grow and sell their produce. When a large supermarket opened in Burpham they lost all their trade overnight. Forced to diversify, Rita Thorpe bought herself some books on growing plants and Elm Nursery was born. Thanks to Rita’s green fingers, it’s now a thriving business and they offer a friendly bespoke service you can’t get in bigger nurseries. Over filled hanging baskets start at just £20.

The alarm clock, freshly laid eggs and Emma with some free range pigs

Things were ticking over when Joe, a local farmer needing a retail outlet for his small supply of beef, pork and lamb, popped in for a chat, the timing was right so they went ahead. Animals are free-range and slaughtered as A selection of fresh meat for sale needed by a local abattoir using humane methods that don’t stress the animals prior to slaughter. Hung after slaughter for the optimum time, the meat is mouth-wateringly tender and flavourful. Fridges and freezers were installed and they now stock local milk and cheese (Norbury blue, Dirty Vicar and a selection from High Weald) and their own eggs. They grow a small selection of fresh produce on site – next year they want to grow more in their polytunnels.

To complement the core business Emma and Kate also sell a limited range of locally made cakes and preserves. Jams are made by a local lady Tina who gives 75% of her proceeds to a local hospice in Woking and they are keen to expand what they offer in the future.

Joe’s farm shop is a low-key operation, but there’s a lot to like. Maybe it’s the way the chickens wander in the shop, or that Rita, Emma and Kate always offer such an energetic welcome. There is also the added satisfaction that whatever you buy is helping the local economy stay afloat – at prices that are competitive.

Joe’s farm shop and Elm Nursery

01483 761748

The Parrot Inn

The Parrot Inn, Forest Green, Surrey RH5 5R2

A pleasing country pub with locally sourced food on the menu.Parrot Inn Forest Green

Go there for: Hearty pub food with a modern tweak featuring the owner’s farm- reared meat and produce.

Avoid: Thinking this too far off the beaten track to travel too: the journey is well worth it.

Is it worth the calories?: We think so! But careful, the portions are generous here.

Tips: Make sure you try the unique air-cured ham made in their own butchery. Request that your pudding is heated in the oven and not the microwave.

This has the double whammy of being a highly regarded gastro pub and an award winning farm shop. This is a Gotto family affair and they have a wealth of experience from enterprises in London and Surrey. Enjoy a sandwich from the specials board at the bar or order from the main menu in the dining room or pub itself. On sunny days, sit in the garden and gaze across the green into open countryside: it’s a tantalisingly relaxing location to watch the world go by, on horseback, horse-drawn carriage and other modes of transport.

We visited last November on a crisp autumn day: Jane ordered a deep dish steak and ale pie with a puff pastry crust, mashed potato and vegetables. The filling was perfectly cooked, full of autumnal feistiness, the meat mouth-meltingly tender. I had the pork and pistachio terrine with goose rillettes and toasted sour dough. The terrine was a little dry but perfectly balanced by some wine jelly and they were happy to bring some more. The waitress also bought us a sample of their homemade soup to try, which was delicious. For dessert we shared a chocolate and cognac flan with salted butter caramel sauce with a hand made biscuit and ice cream.

Pork and pistachio terrine and Beef and Ale Pie

A disappointing finish, as the flan had been microwaved (a pet hate of ours), which made the pastry soggy. We didn’t finish it and explained why we had left it. Without hesitation the dessert was removed from our bill. We felt that they had been extremely professional as the meal had been delicious apart from the dessert.

Bar menu, Pub from the road and Cognac and chocolate flan

On a summer visit I sampled a starter from the main menu: scallops in sauce vierge. This was an interesting version of this sauce, a little more cooked than you would expect a true vierge to be. It worked well, as the bacon and tomato flavours accented the fat juicy scallops with great aplomb. It was essential to try another dessert: this time I couldn’t resist lemon sponge with vanilla ice cream and lemon curd. The lemon curd was tart and sweet, a perfect match for the warm sponge and cold ice cream.

Scallops in sauce vierge, cut juicy scallop and lemon sponge pudding

I have a niggling feeling that the sponge might have also had its molecules realigned by waves generated by a magnetron, but the food is good enough to withstand this very slight criticism. I got chatting to some American tourists, who had also had a great lunch. We agreed that the setting and food in this pub was worth the journey through some gorgeous Surrey countryside.

01306 621 339

The Parrot Inn