Le Manoir – Family lunch

A huge thank you to my mum, Rachel Littlewood, for taking us to Le Manoir for an amazing lunch. First of all we had a walk round the most beautiful gardens, well my sisters walked and my mother and I stumbled as we are weak and weedy. The gardens are absolutely magnificent, kept by 8 gardeners in a pristine condition. What is also wonderful is that they are like fairy gardens, everywhere you look there are the most fantastic sculptures, lots of them hiding in the bushes or behind trees. When we arrived we were made very welcome, my mother was looked after really well and we went and sat in one of the sitting rooms while we looked at the menus. We were offered drinks, including tap water, which I thought was a particularly nice thing to do, again the staff seemed absolutely fine with that. I noticed an amazing sculpture made of sugar, it was a guitar and amp and I would have loved it for my sons who are keen players.

All edible, what a fantastic piece of art!

Then came one of my favourite food groups, canapes.  Just the right amount of crunch and chew with little surprises like the lime mayonnaise and the parmesan sable.

Oh oh my favourite food group. Canapes

There was a miso and potato crisp with sesame see, raw tuna and wasabi cream
A curry ball with lime mayonaise
Parmesan sable with peston and parmesan cream and beef carpaccio
Finally an oat biscuit with goat curd, honey and kalamata olives
They were all divine

Having made our various choices from the Orient Express Menu, with a bit of switching and one of our party having the vegetarian choice (being a pescetarian and still a foodie) we were taken into the dining room.  The Manoir has more than one dining room so that you get an intimate feel to your dinner.  To our surprise we had all received a book, signed by Raymond Blanc, as a present.  I think this is because a) he is a bon oeuf and b) this was all about my lovely mum who is only a few years younger than his maman.  Thank you so much, that was a lovely treat.  I noticed my favourite recipe in there, chicken with morels, which I have made more than once now but had got the recipe from a magazine.

Spiced cauliflower veloute, langoustine, home made poppadum

Our first course was one of my favourites, the veloute was creamy and moreish with little bits of crunch at the top, the langoustine was moist and plump and I could see at least one sister eyeing it up.  More crunch came with the strip of home made pappadom.

Cornish cod, red pepper and chorizo, parsely and cockle vinaigrette

I loved this, there were little tasty cubes of chorizo adding to the dressing that was drizzled over the cod,  the red pepper was, I think, filled with cod brandade and there were cockles scattered over the plate which worked perfectly with the vinaigrette, I could have been at the seaside!  There was also a crispy piece of fish skin which I loved so much I ate all my sisters bits.

Autumn vegetables, butternut squash puree, sage, cinnamon and port

This was the favourite dish of at least one of my sisters.  The flavours were seasonally autumnal, the crispy sage leaf was a nice addition and it was a popular choice.

risotto of wild mushrooms with truffle cream

Absolutely perfect.  The quenelle of truffle cream went perfectly with the richness of the mushrooms, the quantity was perfect and I would come back for this alone.  (Actually that wouldnt be strictly true because if I came back, and I really want to, I would eat loads of everything to be honest).

Roasted Goonargh duck breast, caramelised chicory, yuzu curd, jasmine tea sauce

My sisters asked for this more well done than I would have had it but it was still delicious, moist but with a texture almost like liver.  The sauce was amazing, it had huge depths of flavour with the yuzu cutting through the caramelised chicory perfectly.

Poached pear in caramel, liquorice and vanilla

The perfectly poached pear had a thin layer of crunchy caramel supporting an Italian meringue mixed with creme anglaise (creme chiboust?).  The pear had a little stick of liquorice which was the stalk and it came with pear sorbet on tiny cubes of pear on a caramel sauce.  I was actually full by now and still have the fork marks left by my sisters as they fought over my pickings.

The staff were delightful, the settings were glorious and I would be back like a shot.  If you ever get a chance please visit Le Manoir (and take me).

Bladebone October 13 New menu new customers, thank you blog!

First of all such exciting news.  We went to the Bladebone on Saturday to discover that a lovely couple had visited earlier in the week because they follow my blog!!  Please identify yourselves, I am thrilled and delighted, mostly because I feel I am writing this for myself, friends and family, particularly the piggier ones and to know that there are others out there taking note is truly wonderful.

Yes, the new menu is out and well worth the wait.  I was so torn by the celeriac and salsify soup with parsley oil and the beetroot with whipped goats cheese, blackberries and pine nuts but in the end went for the Laphroaig Salmon with horseradish creme fraiche and soda bread.  It also had an emulsified dressing and some smoked salmon balls of loveliness that exploded in my mouth.  Note, the bread came with butter, brilliant stuff, with salt on it, nice touch.  The salmon was amazing, thick and incredibly tasty.  Possibly the best smoked salmon I have had.

Ooh ooh ooh salmon but no ordinary salmon

For my next starter I had saffron ravioli with trompette de la morte, a sous vide egg yolk, truffle and black olive oil.  Dotted around were little crunchy croutons, the perfect accompaniment.  This is actually a main course that they halved for me and I am SO glad I had it.  It was deeply mushroomy, umami central, and the yolk was perfect.  The home made pastry was silky and smooth and the sauce was spot on, light but could put up a fight with the heavy perfumed earthy mushroomness.

I will put up a picture of Tony’s steak and chips but hey, it was steak and chips and actually they weren’t even fat chips, what is going on?

Tony’s steak

Now back to the good stuff (not that the steak wasn’t good Kiren) but you have so many more interesting things on the menu.  I have had the red plate, venison with red fruits, red leaves, red vegetables and Valrhona before and it was lovely, I quite fancied the whole partridge with butternut squash, kale and sage but went for the cod fillet with a smoked potato terrine, celeriac, savoy cabbage and bacon.  This was really good.  The cod was perfectly cooked to the right side of translucent and fell into big fat slices with a crispy skin and the potatoes were amazing.  They were layers of thinly sliced oblongs of potato, golden brown and crunchy with a delicate girolle sauce that didnt overpower the dish but rather complemented it.  Fantastic stuff.  My only issue is that I had trouble chasing the baby onions around the plate!

new cod dish

As always service was delightful, Carolyn and Alex were considerate and welcoming despite my constant questioning and the chefs were doing a sterling job bearing in mind two of these dishes were brand new and magnificent with it.  If anyone else is reading this then go to the Bladebone, the food is fantastic, as are the staff.

The Newbury June 2013

Terrine of pork rillette with red onion jam and sourdough toast

This was an interesting dish, the cornichons and red onion jam were a lovely addition to what was quite a chunky rillette.  One of the wonderful things about The Newbury is that they make their own bread which is wonderful.  It is great to have a good quality dining place in the middle of Newbury and I am grateful for that.

Hand picked Portland crab meat and fennel salad with Bloody Mary dressing

I am not a huge crab eater but I have to admit that this gave me plate envy.  The presentation was wonderful and it tasted great.

Kitchen, home made bread and an amazing cheese board

Proof that The Newbury does indeed not only make its own bread but also has a brilliant cheese board.  They really do look out for quality.

Beer battered haddock, chips, bashed peas and tartare sauce

There are a few dishes that I will always try because they are great to compare, haddock and chips, steak, pie and pate.  This compared well with a light and crispy batter, crunchy chips and a great tartare sauce.

Whole Roasted poussin, fondant potato, chantenay carrots, green olives and cumin

This was superb, the poussin was marvellous even if you do feel like you are murdering a tiny baby with each mouthful.  The sauce was rich and delicious and the fondant potato is my favourite potato dish ever and was executed perfectly.

All round a great meal and well worth a visit.  We paid for our own food, full price even though there is an offer for businesses to get 15% off at lunch time if you show your business card.

Beth’s 50th Birthday

This is my sister Beth’s 50th birthday party (sorry for letting the world know Boo) and the only time she is only one year younger than me.  The whole thing was magnificent, It was a fifties tea party with the most amazing sandwiches, cakes and biscuits.  Above is Beth outside the pagoda that had different muscial performers in including my talented nieces.  Beth is very musical and works at the Brit School in London.

This is more to show the marvellous biscuit trees that another sister, Kristin, made.  They looked beautiful and were snaffled up really quickly.  We are all foodies and are getting together for a stay at The Vineyard and having lunch at Le Manoir for our girlie weekend this year.

More food, scones, cakes, a traditional Littlewood kitchen overflowing with food of every sort.  If we go into each others kitchens we can normally find anything as we tend to store things similarly, is this true in other families?  I love it that I can go into Miris kitchen and find the forks and Beths kitchen and find the glasses and Krissies kitchen and find the saucepans.

This is Miri on the right, the sister who is most like me physically (though with much better hair and teeth) and on her left is Ed who is volunteering at West Berkshire Mencap at the moment, what a star.

One of the beautifully laid tables with flowers, tea sets, cake stands etc.  It really was a most fantastic party  full of joy and happiness and people that love Beth.

Ok not food (although Rachel my daughter is always talking about eating him, strange girl) but I did have to put in one picture of my bot who just jumped into the pool without a care.  Scarey child, just like his dad, James.

This was the most amazing cake, one carrot cake layer and one chocolate with the most beautiful frosted fruit all around it. Apparently it had Beths name but the dog ate it!!  Great improvisation.  It was phenomenal.

Another day of memories to share and reminisce about later on in life, this is what is important.  What are we if not made up of memories so lets make them good ones.  I can remember being on the front of my dads motor bike in Aden when I was little and going everywhere with him.  I remember my mum making fish balls and turtle egg coconut biscuits (tasted quite fishy but totally legal then).  I can remember fighting with Beth and making up mad fantasies with her where we became two different people.  Memories, children, grandchildren, friends and so it goes.  In all of this food is a major part of my memories and can bring back instant thoughts of where I had it and how I felt when I ate it.

Thank you Beth for inviting me to your birthday party.

 

Oh yes Summer is here and the garden beckons

Despite not having a pizza oven or Green Egg (like L’Ortolan) I still love to eat in the garden whenever I can.  Last week we celebrated Jordan‘s birthday for what seemed the 8th time, she is very similar to my daughter Rachel!  She had some friends and her dad over and we had various friends drifting in and out over the afternoon.

My favourite sort of entertaining is informal, friends popping in, enough food to sink a battleship, home made watermelon juice, so easy and delicious and a jug of Pimms.  The new Blackberry and Elderflower Pimms is wonderful, I am thinking of stockpiling it as I think it is a special edition for the summer and it is lush.  I grow very little, my growing skills (or lack of them) are renowned.  At WBMencap we have a horticultural project called Growing For All and it has a little hidden line that says ‘Not You Leila!’  I have seen Julie, the manager, weep as she puts the plants I buy into the back of my car knowing she is sending them to their death.  My intentions are good, I only grow plants I can eat or smell, mostly herbs.  One year I grew potatoes and onions but got the same out as I put in which seemed a bit pointless, particularly as they were smaller.  Last year I had an operation and in my morphine induced state bought 20 cauliflower plants (I hate cauliflower), 4 watermelon plants, something called chard as well as cucumber, tomatoes and chilli.  I got one chard, two tomatoes (two single tomatoes) and two lacy cabbages (which is what the cauliflower turned out to be).  That would have been one expensive salad if I had had the courage to pick any of it but I couldn’t.  This is a common problem apparently, I have nurtured both tomatoes, how can I pick them and eat them even though I would love to.  It would be like murdering my babies.  Not there yet emotionally.  By the way in the same morphine haze I bought 20 pairs of shoes.  They shouldn’t allow me to have a pc in hospital.

Soooooo  …….. every year we get the garden razed to the ground and I plant some things in the hope that they wont go brown or worse just burrow back down into the brown earthy stuff in the pot desperately trying to get away from me.  It has taken me years to grow the things that apparently are like weeds, mint and one horseradish, no success with the wild garlic though.  I am a plant graveyard.  I spend months nurturing plants that my green friends sweetly tel me are weeds.  I spent years putting lavender on lamb because I thought it was rosemary (although I noticed Daniel Galmiche from the Vineyard recently copied this recipe so I don’t feel so bad).

Once the garden has been razed and I am not at risk of losing children and animals in the long grass it is time to enjoy the garden and the sunshine.  Time to invite friends, prepare food and fire up the barbecue and spa.  I am a great believer that our life is made up of our memories and we need to create good ones.  Family, friends and new friends, these are the things that make our lives so special, not things (yes yes I know, pizza oven and Green Egg) but good times, happy times, shared laughter and joy.  This is what we will remember in times to come, as will those that share those times with us.

Some of the afternoon session

A spa with only three people in, I think we got enough people in later on to make the water go over the edge.

A boned shoulder of lamb from Two Cocks Farm marinated in yoghurt, garlic and ginger then barbecued.

Same shoulder of lamb resting on rice in the giant hand hewn bowl from Aden that my father gave me.  To be honest it needed a yoghurt sauce but I had made two salad dressings using different vinegars, strawberry and mint was one and lime, black pepper and lavender vinegar from Wolmersly which I had picked up at the fantastic Newbury Food Market and they did the trick.

More food included poached chicken (to keep the moistness) charred off on the barbecue, smoky marinated ribs, burgers and sausages from the local butchers.

A large piece of rib eye steak which was charred then sliced, this came on the bone and was just exceptional and especially for my friend Richard who needs protein.

I haven’t done pictures of my ice cubes but I used 1.5 inch plastic tubs, filled them with water, added borrage and mint and froze.  They lasted for ages and looked lovely.

Oh yes, summer is here, now all I need is a pizza oven or Green Egg!!