The Olive Branch Pub Newsletter: Winter 2016/17

Winter 2016/17 Your pub newsletter – free to enjoy and take home

COUNTY PUB OF THE YEAR!

We’re a Good Pub Guide winner

Menus & events Reasons to visit The Olive Branch this winter

The Olive Branch: 01780 410 355 – Leicestershire & Rutland Dining Pub of the Year 2017

Welcome..

... to your Winter 2016 Newsletter

WE’RE LEICESTERSHIRE & RUTLAND DINING PUB OF THE YEAR 2017 The Good Pub Guide gives us county award e are proud to be named Leicestershire & Rutland Dining Pub of the Year in the Good Pub Guide 2017. Our entry reads: “Once again, this first class, civilised inn gets top marks from our

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readers, who enjoy every aspect of the place.”

It’s always lovely to receive recognition, especially because the whole team works so hard to try to ensure we’re always at the top of our game.

hings always seem hectic at The Olive Branch! Summer is flat-out and made even busier by the holidays, then Burghley Horse Trials weekend is upon us in early September. And next, before you know it, Christmas creeps into everyone’s thoughts! It’s a non-stop rollercoaster! We love it though, and as

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THE ULTIMATE ACCOLADE! We may have won a Good Pub Guide dining award (as well as being listed in The Good Hotel Guide 2017 and The Good Food Guide 2017), but – at least according to our children – that pales into insignificance compared with being featured on Pokémon Go. Apparently, when players walk near The Olive Branch during their mobile phone-guided hunt for Pokémon creatures, the caption reads: “Usually voted the best pub in the country”.

What more can we say?!

if we weren’t busy enough, we’ve now got the new kitchen garden over the road to look after!

We also intend to add to our schedule of events with even more cookery demonstrations, wine dinners and cookery masterclasses. We’re planning an interior refurbishment, too.

Thanks for keeping us so busy!

KITCHEN GARDEN UPDATE We’re excited about our kitchen garden (next to Beech House).

We’re planting all sorts to improve our menus and the aim is to become as self-sufficient as possible. The following are doing particularly well: purple sprouting broccoli, curly Russian red kale, heritage carrots, rainbow chard, celeriac... and our Araucana chickens!

WINE MASTERCLASS You don’t have to be an expert to enjoy our laid-back Wine Masterclasses, accompanied by tapas-sized dishes. On Saturday October 15 it’s ‘Discover Rioja’ with Katie Rodway from FMV Wines. And on Saturday December 3 it’s ‘Christmas Wines’.

KITCHEN W MASTERCLASSES

e have some Kitchen TO BOOK Masterclass sessions AN EVENT coming up and a few OR A TABLE, places are available. Each CALL 01780 session starts at 8am and lasts 410355 for the morning. You’ll learn invaluable practical kitchen skills from head chef Sean, such as the best way to prepare and cook fresh fish, plus how to make stock, dripping and sauces. You then have the option of sitting down for a meal, before returning home with the food you’ve prepared, all vacuumsealed and ready for the freezer. You’ll also get some recipe notes. These sessions cost from £150 (for tuition, light lunch, recipe sheets, stocks, sauces and a choice of ingredients from your morning’s work). Dates are: October 18 & 25, November 1, 22 & 29, with more coming in 2017.

COOKERY DEMOS

Get great recipe tips, then tuck into a delicious meal ean’s got more of his two-hour seasonal cookery demonstrations coming up. They kick off at 10am and are always followed by a wonderful three-course lunch, where you get to eat what you’ve just seen being cooked.

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TO BOOK AN EVENT OR A TABLE, CALL 01780 410355

Winter dates are as follows...

Tuesday November 8 – FULLY BOOKED Tuesday November 15 – tickets available Tuesday December 6 – FULLY BOOKED Tuesday December 13 – tickets available Tuesday January 17 – tickets available Tuesday January 24 – tickets available Tuesday March 7 – tickets available Tuesday March 14 – tickets available

NEW CHILDREN’S MENU

Our new little ones’ menu to keep them happy, fed and nourished

Mains

Breadsticks with chickpea hummus or olive oil & balsamic dips Cheese & ham omelette with crispy sweet potato Lamb and rosemary meatballs with penne pasta and tomato sauce Cottage pie with grilled red Leicester and seasonal vegetables Salmon and dill fishcakes with gem lettuce and salad cream Mild chicken curry with basmati rice and naan bread Mini steak (4oz) and chips with pesto grilled tomatoes Battered fish and chips with minted peas

Desserts

Chocolate fudge sundae Coke float Apple and blackberry crumble with custard

WREATH MAKING Vicky Marriott from Mulberry House Flowers in the Vale of Belvoir will be hosting two wreathmaking workshops at The Olive Branch on Wednesday December 7 and Thursday December 8. Guests enjoy tea and coffee, a twocourse meal with a glass of wine, and get to go home with the wreath they have made. Book on 01780 410355.

Gift Vouchers

An Olive Branch gift voucher makes a brilliant Christmas gift. The recipient can use their voucher to grab a place on one of our demos or classes, or exchange it for a great meal out. Go to theolivebranchpub.com, click ‘Make a Booking’ and follow the steps.

AUTUMN

WINTER WINES When ordering wine with us this winter, we recommend the rich Malbecs from Cahors, country reds from Languedoc and Lirac, and luxurious Carignan from California, Chile and Australia. For white, try something aromatic from Hungary and Spain, or a rich and buttery Chardonnay from California. We also have rarer varietals such as Treixadura, Godello and Albarino. If you crave something stronger, ask for plum sake or aged Mouchao Licoroso.

Here’s an idea of what to expect from

Starters

Roast pumpkin soup, chilli & pumpkin-seed toast Wild mushroom soup, fried chanterelle mushrooms, Stilton biscuit Warm polenta, apple & beetroot salad, pickled quail’s egg Citrus-cured mackerel, cucumber tartare, horseradish Crab & cucumber roulade, watermelon, sorrel gel Roast monkfish tail, balsamic tomato, tomato consommé

A CULINARY BICYCLE TOUR OF RUTLAND

Pork cheek terrine, pickled pear, rosemary crouton, crispy bacon Pan-seared pigeon breast, almond purée, game chips, hazelnut

Google Maps & Ride With GPS

We’re big fans of cycling (well, co-owner Ben is anyway!) and we’re always happy to share routes with you. In fact, we’d be pleased to come out on your ride with you! One of our favourites is a food tour of Rutland that takes in Hambleton Bakery, Grainstore Brewery, Rutland Charcuterie, Northfield Farm, Whissendine Windmill, Launde Farm Lamb, Bottle Kicking Cider Co, Bisbrooke Ostrich Farm, Jimmy’s Smokehouse and, when in season, Rutland Water Strawberries. It’s 65 miles so you really earn your food and drink! We’ve got much shorter routes too – to view them all just click on the ‘Ride With GPS’ logo at the bottom of our website.

& WINTER DISHES our menus at The Olive Branch this autumn and winter

Mains

Desserts & cheese

Fillet of hake & cockles en papillote, apple & celery salad, dill mash

Coffee & walnut mille-feuille, walnut aero, candied walnut

Baked lemon sole, braised gem lettuce, mustard & tarragon sauce

Lemon posset, blackberry compote, pistachio custard cream

Roast guinea fowl/pheasant breast (subject to availability), baked celeriac, pinhead oats, braised celery

Chocolate & whisky cremeux, smoked marshmallow, cherry

Maple-glazed bacon belly, pickled plum, cavolo nero, smoked butter mash Chargrilled pavé of beef sirloin, slow-cooked brisket, shallot purée, glazed carrot

Pear bavarois, puff pastry tuile, walnut gel Sous vide banana, raisin purée, cinnamon madeleine, peanut butter ice cream Spotted dick, cinnamon ice cream, custard

Haunch of venison, beetroot pan haggerty, butternut squash, soused blackberry gel

Quince jelly, hazelnut meringue, lime sorbet

Roast cannon & slow-cooked shoulder of lamb, Jerusalem artichoke fricassée, pickled walnut

Pink onion tart, Bosworth Field cheese, thyme hollandaise

TO BOOK AN EVENT OR A TABLE, CALL 01780 410355

STAY WITH US! Luxuriate in an overnight gourmet stay at Beech House elicious food, mulled wine, beautiful country walks, open fires in the pub, luxurious bedrooms... if you like the sound of those then book a stay at Beech House. Our award-winning accommodation opposite the pub has deep baths, luxurious Egyptian cotton sheets and hand-sprung mattresses.

It’s the perfect place to recharge. You can book a one-night stay in a superior room including a five-course gourmet dinner and breakfast for £240 (Sun to Thurs). Book at theolivebranchpub.com or call us.

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TO BOOK AN EVENT, ROOM OR TABLE, CALL 01780 410355

SEASONAL BEERS Special winter brews to keep out the cold Our beer list features some stunning brews that are perfect for cold evenings. For example, Vander Ghinste Oud Bruin (5.5%) from Belgium was named the World’s Best Dark Beer 2015 and is a dark rubyred beer with dark fruits on the nose and a little sourness on the tongue.

Samuel Smith’s Organic Chocolate Stout (5%) from Tadcaster in

Yorkshire is smooth and creamy with deep chocolate and nutty flavours.

Hazelnut Brown Nectar (5.6%) from Oregon’s Rogue Brewery in the US is rich, full and dark with flavours of hazelnut, pecan and sweet hops. And Trappistes Rochefort 8 (9.2%), another Belgian brew, is a real classic with a complex, rich flavour full of fruit, spice, leather and figs.