The Olive Branch & Red Lion Inn, Spring 2014, Pub Magazine

NEWS AND DIARY DATES

Your guide to what’s coming up at our award-winning pubs

PUB WALKS

Details of two appetite-building strolls in Clipsham and Stathern

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– PLEASE TAKE ME HOME The Olive Branch, Clipsham: 01780 410 355, www.theolivebranchpub.com The Red Lion Inn, Stathern: 01949 860 868, www.theredlioninn.co.uk

Welcome...

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ollowing on from The Olive Branch being named Pub of the Year 2014 by the Good Pub Guide, it’s been a hectic start to the year at both pubs for the whole team. On New Year’s Eve some of us found ourselves grabbing two hours’ sleep on camp beds before tackling New Year’s Day at the Red Lion Inn! And things don’t seem to have slowed down since.

Others who have been busy are neighbours Jane and Alan Hewson of Belvoir Ridge Creamery, Eastwell, sole producers of the world’s supply of Colwick cheese. Since Colwick was featured on Jamie Oliver’s TV show in January, Jane and Alan haven’t had a chance to sit down, let alone sleep! Do try their cheese if you get the chance – you’ll find it on the menus at both pubs. Another group who have hit the ground running in 2014 are The Olive Branch hens, who are laying like never before!

TRY OUR GOURMET MENU After the success of our festive five-course menu, we’ve created a Gourmet Set Menu at The Olive Branch. Available from April 1, Thursday to Sunday, it will focus on local, seasonal ingredients.

SAMPLE OLIVE BRANCH GOURMET SET MENU Brown onion and thyme soup, Westcombe cheddar

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Deep-fried cannelloni of Colwick cheese, beets, balsamic, almonds Sautéed lamb sweet breads, pea and mint purée Salt and pepper squid, chorizo mayonnaise

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Fillet sea trout niçoise, sautéed Boston new potatoes Escalope rose veal, fine beans, deepfried free range egg, Madeira gravy Wild garlic risotto, pickled radish

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Passion fruit sorbet

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HOUSE PARTIES AT BEECH HOUSE We’re now giving you the chance to hire out the whole of Beech House for parties. Our luxury accommodation opposite The Olive Branch has six double Inside a Beech House bedroom

BOOK NOW FROM £155 PER PERSON

rooms and is perfect for special get-togethers.

Beech House is available for one- or two-night packages and we can tailor a party plan to meet your needs. You could celebrate with a Champagne reception on arrival, enjoy dinner in The Barn and be served breakfast the next morning. We can also arrange golf trips, spa sessions, tours of country houses and more. Call us on 01780 410355 to discuss.

Hot chocolate fondant, rose water ice cream Iced mango parfait, white chocolate aero, honeycomb Stilton beignets, bramley apple, crispy bacon

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Coffee and petit fours

£29.50 per person

FISH AND CHIPS FRIDAYS

Every Friday night at the Red Lion Inn we serve fish and chips for £6.95 (eat-in 6-7pm; take away till 9pm). Why not get yours served with a side order of pickled quails eggs, a glass of prosecco or a speciality beer?

Enjoy Lunch and Dinner For Even Less!

Running from January 14 until March 30, you can choose two courses from our set lunch menus for just £13.50 at the Red Lion Inn (Tuesday to Saturday) and £15.50 at The Olive Branch (Monday to Friday). Also, at the Red Lion Inn you can indulge in a three-course evening meal from Tuesday to Thursday for just £16.

EXAMPLE MENUS STARTERS Seasonal soup Sardines on sourdough toast, tomato, rocket Sliced lamb breast, mint, basil, salad, aged balsamic

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Valentine’s Day: Fri, Feb 14.

Mothers’ Day: Sun, March 30.

Book early to avoid disappointment!

MAINS Plaice fillet, pink fir apple potatoes, pickled radish Corn fed chicken, broad beans, chard, potato purée Tagliatelle, garden veg, parsley pesto, Parmesan

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PUDDINGS Blood orange crème brûlèe Cappuccino mousse

We have a number of wine tastings and dinners planned for 2014. On February 26 and April 29, our sommelier Pedro will host tutored tastings with nibbles at the Red Lion Inn (£20 per person). We will also be pairing a selection of wines with carefully chosen dishes at dinners held at The Olive Branch on March 25 and May 13, with more dates at both pubs to come.

STARTERS Honey-roast celeriac and orange soup Smoked trout, caper berries, beetroot ketchup, mooli Smoked ham hock terrine, root vegetables, piccalilli

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MAINS Whiting, tomato, caponata, poached egg Lamb shoulder, pearl barley, honey-roast parsnip, garlic Wild mushroom risotto, Jerusalem artichoke

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PUDDINGS Forced rhubarb crème brûlèe, shortbread biscuit Sticky toffee pudding, pistachio ice cream Stilton rarebit, chutney

The Red Lion Inn to Stathern Wood A GREAT APPETITE-BUILDER WITH FINE VIEWS ACROSS THE VALE

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ou’ll enjoy your food after this three-mile circuit, which includes a calorieburning stroll up Stathern’s Toft’s Hill. You start at The Red Lion Inn and walk uphill along a track to Stathern Wood, where you enjoy good views across the Vale of Belvoir. It’s a simple route but a steep ascent and descent will make it tricky for some.

Allow two hours and don’t forget your boots as it can get muddy. Before or after the walk, why not pop in to the Red Lion Inn for a bar snack, sandwich or full meal? Roast beef wraps are available on Sundays, cakes grace the bar on Saturday afternoons, and all can be enjoyed by the fire when it’s nippy or takeaway picnic-style on warmer days.

Stathern church

Start here...

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FROM THE RED LION car park, turn right and look for the Toft’s Hill sign.

the Jubilee Way. Go through a gate and take the right-hand fork in the footpath, following the bridleway sign.

AFTER A FEW yards you find yourself on a ridge looking down across the Vale of Belvoir, with Stathern below to your left.

the wood. As the trees thin out you’ll see another yellow marker, where you turn left.

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WALK UP TOFT’S Hill and keep going towards the line of trees on the horizon for about three-quarters of a mile.

The track gets quite steep.

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AT THE TOP you come to a junction of footpaths. Turn left, following the signpost to

WALK ALONG THE ridge-top pathway for around half a mile until you see a yellow marker pointing left and down.

Follow the sign and descend into Stathern Wood. It’s steep.

KEEP GOING STRAIGHT on for half a mile to the boundary of

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AFTER ABOUT 20 yards turn right, crossing a very small bridge over a dyke into a field. Turn left to walk along the edge of the field, with the wood on your left.

CONTINUE TOWARDS THE house in the distance. Then enter the next field, where you follow the waymarkers towards the house.

JUST BEFORE THE house, the path bends to the left. Simply follow the waymarkers as they

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PUB WALK ONE

MAP ROUTE

FOLLOW THE ARROWS

START

A welcome sight after your walk

bring you out onto another track towards Stathern.

SOON YOU COME to a road. Cross over and you will see a footpath sign. Follow it diagonally through the field.

AFTER YOU’VE CROSSED the field you join a track. Turn left towards Stathern. Go through the gate, following the waymarker, and into the village.

TURN LEFT AND join Main Street.

Continue left past The Plough pub, then the road bends right. Go past David Cox Butchers and you soon arrive on Red Lion Street.

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The Olive Branch to Pickworth A THREE-MILE CIRCUIT TO GET YOU IN THE MOOD FOR FOOD

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his is a walk we know well at The Olive Branch. Ben can often be seen trying to control his spaniel in Pickworth Great Wood! The easy three-mile route takes in pasture and woodland as well as Clipsham quarry, which has provided limestone for the Palace of Westminster, Windsor Castle and King’s College Cambridge. You should allow two hours to complete this walk and don’t forget your walking boots.

Start here...

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CROSS THE ROAD from The Olive Branch and walk towards a public bridleway sign pointing left. Follow the sign and go through the gate, out into the field.

Join us at The Olive Branch after your walk

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WHEN YOU REACH the quarry, turn left, following the sign. Then follow the path around the quarry’s edge.

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SOON THE PATH takes you into the quarry. As the grass turns to limestone, turn right and go downhill. Now cross the quarry road, following the bridleway signs, and then go uphill into a wooded area.

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WALK DIAGONALLY LEFT across the field to another gate and follow the Rutland Round arrow, going downhill between two fences towards trees.

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AT THE BOTTOM of the hill, cross a small wooden bridge and walk uphill, following the path.

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FOLLOW THE PATH, with the old part of the quarry on your left, until you come out into an open

field. Here, turn left and walk along the field’s edge, with Pickworth Great Wood on your left.

CONTINUE ALL THE way to the corner of the field, where you see Rutland Round arrow markers on a tree. Don’t enter the wood here but turn right and you’ll soon see a bridge on your left.

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GO OVER THE bridge and through the edge of the wood before going through a gate and walking diagonally across a field.

PUB WALK TWO

START

MAP ROUTE

FOLLOW THE ARROWS

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GO THROUGH A gate and bear left along the edge of the field until you reach a road. Turn left and enter Pickworth village.

around the edge of the field and then enter Pickworth Great Wood.

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KEEP GOING STRAIGHT on through the trees, ignoring the paths on your left and right, and then exit the wood and walk downhill on the track.

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TURN LEFT AT the first public bridleway sign, walk past farm buildings and enter a field.

Here, follow the path left

WHEN YOU COME to a road, cross over, turn left and then take an immediate right, following the footpath sign. After around 50 yards, turn left and follow the track to a metal gate.

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GO THROUGH THE gate and follow the stoney bridleway for around one kilometre until you reach a field. Then go diagonally across the field to emerge in Clipsham. Go straight on along the pavement, then turn left to The Olive Branch.

NEWS, EVENTS & A RECIPE The Olive Branch tops Great Food Club survey

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embers of Leicestershire-based Great Food Club have voted The Olive Branch as their favourite venue. The pub was mentioned 37 times in answer to the question: ‘What is your favourite Great Food Club restaurant, pub, shop or producer?’ In second place was The Red Lion Inn. Great Food Club has over 4,200 members.

STATHERN DUATHLON Sunday, March 16 is the Stathern Duathlon – an 18km bike race sandwiched between two 5km runs, which starts and finishes in Stathern.

The Red Lion Inn is a sponsor and will be providing cake, soup and beer. Do come along and support the event.

Sign up at stathernduathlon.org.uk

BELVOIR MARMALADE PUDDINGS Makes 6 individual puddings

SEAN’S COOKERY DEMONSTRATIONS

* 250g unsalted butter * 250g caster sugar * 80g egg yolks (approximately 5) * 310g breadcrumbs * 50g Seville orange marmalade * 7.5g baking powder

MARCH 4 & 11 AND JUNE 3 & 10 Head chef Sean Hope has scheduled more cookery demos. Each session includes a demo, a threecourse lunch with wine and recipe hand-outs.

Prices are £40 (Red Lion) or £45 (Olive Branch).

Red Lion dates: March 11 & June 10; Olive Branch: March 4 & June 3. BOOK ON 01780 410355.

Feb 9: Quiz night at the Red Lion Inn, 7.30pm Feb 16: Jazz at the Red Lion Inn, 7.30pm Feb 26: Wine tasting at the Red Lion Inn Mar 4: Sean Hope cookery demo, The Olive Branch Mar 9: Quiz night at the Red Lion Inn, 7.30pm Mar 11: Sean Hope cookery demo, Red Lion Inn Mar 16: Stathern Duathlon Mar 23: Jazz at the Red Lion Inn, 7.30pm Mar 25: Wine dinner at The Olive Branch Apr 13: Quiz night at the Red Lion Inn, 7.30pm Apr 27: Jazz at the Red Lion Inn, 7.30pm

Apr 29: Wine tasting at the Red Lion Inn May 3-4: Artisan Cheese Fair, Melton Mowbray May 11: Quiz night at the Red Lion Inn, 7.30pm May 13: Wine dinner at The Olive Branch May 25: Jazz at the Red Lion Inn, 7.30pm May 26: Graze The Vale, Vale of Belvoir Jun 3: Sean Hope cookery demo, The Olive Branch Jun 8: Quiz night at the Red Lion Inn, 7.30pm Jun 10: Sean Hope cookery demo, Red Lion Inn Jun 22: Jazz at the Red Lion Inn, 7.30pm

1 Cream the caster sugar with the butter until light and fluffy.

2 Beat in the egg yolks, then fold in the breadcrumbs, baking powder and marmalade.

3 Butter your cake moulds, sprinkle with flour and fill each two thirds of the way to the top.

4 Bake in a preheated oven at 180C (Gas 4) in a bain-marie (baking dish filled with about an inch of water) – for approximately 25 minutes.

5 Allow to cool and turn out. Serve with clotted cream and marmalade.