Some of our chef's secrets

Vegetarian

Brie "en croute"

A lovely rich dish using a lovely local brie, also pecan nuts which grow abundantly in the area.

Cut the brie into cm thick slices and coat with the crushed pecan nuts. Paint the sheet of phyllo pastry with the melted butter and fold once, place the brie in the middle of the sheet and paint the butter around the edges, fold until the pastry fits snugly around the cheese.

Put the wine and the jam into the pan and bring to a simmer, add a touch of arrowroot to steady the sauce. Bake the cheese in a hot oven until golden brown, please be careful not to overcook, phyllo pastry is a very delicate pastry and burns easily, put on a plate and pour the warm sauce around.

Brie, pecan nuts, glass of red wine, two tablespoon of strawberry jam, phyllo pastry, butter, arrowroot.

Warm Goats Cheese Salad

This is a dish using the lovely endive that is grown by a local farmer who has been here for around fifty years and whom I’m sure would never want to go back to the hubbub of city life.

Slice the goats cheese about two cm thick and place under a very hot grill, the cheese should be nearly touching the grill to get the desired effect which is to gratinate the cheese without melting it.

Goats cheese, fresh crisp endive, garlic or any type of vinegarette you would prefer.

Pick the endive into two cm square pieces put on the plate place the cheese on and liberally douse with a garlic vinegarette.

Vegetable Stroganoff

Vegetarians are now being taken notice of as there are far more, I also find that vegetarians are far more willing to accept food that is different and more experimental, there is also no reason why they cannot eat the same as the rest of the table whilst replacing the meat with a vegetable.

Cut the courgette into large chunks douse with garlic and dry roast in the oven.

Sweat the onions, mushrooms & garlic off without browning , add the cream, mustard, paprika & brandy steady with the arrowroot and mix with the roasted courgettes, to served place on a bed of braised rice & finish with salad greens

Courgettes, brandy, English mustard, paprika, onion, garlic, cream, rice, mushrooms

Stuffed Peppers

Take the vegetables and chop, place in a hot skillet pan and cook until soft, add the rice, tumeric & pecan nuts and place in the oven for about one hour, take out and serve from the pan.

Pecan nuts, tumeric, carrot, onion, garlic, spring onion, celery, leeks, mixed peppers, parsley.

Fondue

On Sundays we sometimes celebrate national days to make people feel as if they are not too far away from home, and one of my favourites was definitely the cheese fondue to celebrate the Swiss national day.

Get a mixture of gruyere & emmenthal cheese, rub the fondue pot with half a bulb of garlic put onto the heat with the white wine & kirsch , reduce down by half, slowly add the cheese mixture whilst stirring continually until all the lumps have gone. To eat use dried bread chunks and dip, if anyone drops the bread into the pot they usually have to do a forfeit which is normally up to the host, so a fun evening can be had by all.

Grated emmenthal & gruyere cheese, garlic bulb cut in half, white wine, kirsch, dried bread chunks.

Brinjal Tower

Look at the earlier tuna dish for the preparation of the brinjals & sauce.

Chop the vegetables finely & sweat off in a hot pan add the red wine , plum tomatoes & tomato paste and reduce until thick. Layer with the brinjal, top with the emmenthal cheese and grill until melted, surround with the sauce and serve.

Brinjal, plum tomatoes, tomato paste, carrot, celery, onion garlic, broccoli stalks, leeks, butternut, emmenthal cheese, balsamic vinegar, rock salt, fennel, red wine seasoning.

English Herb Oat Cakes

Cook the onion until soft, allow to cool, add the grated cheese, nutmeg, mustard, herb’s, breadcrumb’s, beaten egg shape into balls about the size of a squash ball, roll in flour, dip into beaten egg and coat with the oats.

Cook the spaghetti, and toss in a tomato sauce scented with a touch of red chilli,. Shallow fry the oatcakes and serve on the spaghetti , this dish can also be served with just a mayonnaise dip.

Rolled oats, English mustard, nutmeg, cheddar cheese, mixed fresh herbs, egg, flour, spaghetti, tomato sauce, chilli, breadcrumbs, onion.