radishfoodmag.co.uk
Radish Spotlight On... The Brewery Tap
The food magazine
May 2011 ÂŁ3.20
Supermarket
Battle!
Radish takes a trip to the Cheshire Food, Drink and Lifestyle Festival! Plus.. .
5 Minutes with
Something for the Weekend’s
Simon Rimmer
Delicious recipes with the help of your local supplier
Radish Contents Editor’s Note: Welcome to this month’s regional edition of Radish food magazine: your one stop for all things delicious! Step into the land of Cheshire, where friendly food suppliers dwell and renowned festivals are held to record crowds! Meet award-winning chefs and landlords, before relishing in some ravishing recipes. Enjoy!
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For the Weekend
A Weekend in
Pictures
At the Cheshire Food, Drink and Lifestyle festival! Words and pictures by Rachel Collings The Cheshire Food, Drink and Lifestyle Festival celebrated its tenth anniversary this year – and in such style! Simon Rimmer returned once again with a flourish, wowing a packed-out audience with his demonstration meals (turn to page 8 for our exclusive interview) alongside two Michelin-star chef Michael Caines! (pictured right) Stephen Wunkey, organiser of the event, said: “We’ve had record numbers of people this year!” The weather didn’t disappoint either as the colourful displays of food, drink, appliances, furnature – you name it – set up to show off their stuff. Including Coronation Street star Sean Wilson, who managed to sell us a fair bit of cheese before setting off for his own demo (whilst close pal Mark ‘Rev’ Reville said: “Meet us in the Pied Bull at half six!”) Needless to say we had fun. Visitors were greeted by performers and friendly staff; most notably two gigantic replicas of Prince William and Kate Middleton, in preparation for the wedding of the century! R
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For the Weekend
Clockwise from above: Local suppliers show off their offers; performers splash out in celebration for St George’s Day; staff entertain the children and adults alike; stalls illustrate their artistic flare; Riverford Organics exhibit (see page 10); Michael Caines creates a beautiful chicken dish for the audiences; the crowd packs into the picnic and bar area; Sean Wilson shows some skills; Gold luring in the public with glittering alcohol; the band leads giants Will and Kate; Nutella feed the world their crepes; and Pipers crisps put on a colourful display.
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Spotlight On...
The Brewery TAP (Award Winning)
By Rachel Collings
Two-time winner of “best pub� at the Cheshire Food, Drink and Lifestyle Festival, The Brewery Tap is a hot-spot for eating and drinking tourists and locals alike. Naturally, Radish wanted to investigate...
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Photograph by Rachel Collings
Spotlight On... After having opened in 2008, The Brewery Tap has caused a stir amongst residents and visitors within Chester’s walls. Not only is it a haven for real ale lovers, but it’s one for the foodies, too. If you’re looking for something rustic, different and almost old-fashioned (much like beloved
ing a trade-friendly bond that is probably very important to both businesses, since Joinson often provides normally unwanted cuts of meat. And the Brewery Tap makes them into something delicious. Dave Joinson is also responsible for supplying the sausages, which have won him several awards. “The sausages never come off the menu,” said Thomas, “or the steak and Wavertonian (ale) pie.
‘‘Because life’s too short for crap beer.’’ Chester itself) then this quirky pub may just be the place to go. I have to admit that, in all the time that I’ve spent in the city centre, I’ve never seen a menu like this. Braised goat’s leg, crispy rabbit liver salad, ox tongue sandwiches.. Whether or not you’ve seen these in Chester before, I certainly hadn’t. And it made quite a nice change. John Thomas, manager at the Tap, said: “The calf ’s heart is popular and you don’t see it on many menus. It’s one of my favourites.” The chef at the Brewery Tap, I’ve learnt, has become friends with their supplying butcher, Dave Joinson; form-
Photograph by staff at the Brewery Tap
They’re immensely popular.” The all-important sausage-providing pigs are bred on a local farm , which just so happens to also be the Spitting Feathers Brewery - home to the ales that the Tap pride themselves in selling. Thomas said: “The pigs live on the farm where our beer is brewed. They eat the grains that are produced in the brewing process – it’s like a cycle.” Being the overt food critic that I am (sometimes) I couldn’t resist a taste. Choosing a ‘lite bite’ portion of whitebait, I was amazed at how much – perhaps too much – there was. Whitebait itself is something I don’t see around
much; salty, incredibly fishy and eaten whole, it’s one for true seafood. And despite the size of the portion, I managed to eat it all. The star of the dish, however, was the tartare sauce. The Brewery Tap makes at he majority of its sauces in-house, and this was the first time I’ve ever felt I’d be happy enough to sit and eat the whole pot. I was content with my ‘small’ dish and cheeky half pint, but was even more excited to learn about…
The Tour
When John Thomas first told me about the tour, I was half expecting for it to be extortionate. But, I was pleasantly surprised. For a mere fiver I had travel to and from the Spitting Feathers brewery, as well as the tour. There was more to come, though. Not only did the brewery’s owner, Matthew, get me interested in the process of making bitters, but he gave us food which included the most incredible sausages. After many a (free) pint, the rest is a slight blur, but I went to sleep that night knowing I’d tasted the most delicious sausages I’d ever had.
Highly Recommended. R For more information, and for directions please visit www.the-tap.co.uk or pop in to try it for yourself. Please check the website for tour times. Visit radishfoodmag.co.uk for more tour photos.
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Simon Rimmer Radish Exclusive
Five minutes with Something for the Weekend’s
Rachel Collings caught up with the lovely Simon Rimmer, after his demonstration at the Cheshire Food, Drink and Lifestyle Festival! This months’s time: 4mins 49secs - Close call!
How do you like your steak cooked, then?
I take it this isn’t your first Cheshire Food Festival!
Fair enough! So, how many TV appearances have you done?
I think this is about my tenth. I’ve been doing it since the very first one, and to me it’s always kind of been a regular on my calendar. I’ll come back and do it every year and I think it’s a great festival.
Oh, God. [Laughs] Well Something For The Weekend… Done about 250 episodes of and commissioned through until March next year, which is at least another what? 50 of that, and I’ve done telly on and off for kind of ten years so I’ve absolutely no idea!
Are you based in London now, then? I’m actually based in Manchester, God no I wouldn’t live in the South! [Laughs] You have a restaurant in Manchester, is that right? Two. I have one in Manchester and one in Cheshire. Is one of them a vegetarian one? Yeah, Greens is a veggie. You’re not a vegetarian yourself ? No, it’s been there for 20 years, it was purely business. It was just kind of the right time right place, really. 8 radishfoodmag.co.uk
[Laughs] Medium rare. I’m not that fussed about it. I think if someone wants to have their steak well done, then so be it; it’s their call really.
most memorable one… We did a show in Salford and Ricky Gervais was on the show – the oven managed to turn itself off so we basically had a piece of raw fish with a load of uncooked salt around it. It wasn’t my finest moment! What’s your favourite dish to cook? It changes all the time really. I think to eat it’s probably Indian food, but to cook it changes all the time. I think most chefs will say that fish is the most rewarding thing to cook, because it’s quick and it takes on lots of flavour and it’s incredibly versatile. But I think as a specific dish it changes all the time, really, but always would say it’s fish in some way.
‘‘ I think most chefs will say that fish is the most rewarding thing to cook..’’
You went on Mastermind, didn’t you? What was your subject? I did Tranmere Rovers because they wouldn’t let me do Liverpool! Someone had done it in a previous series, so I did Tranmere. I came second by two points unfortunately and I was gutted. You ever had any bad experiences in television? Loads, absolutely tons. Probably the
Do you have a signature dish?
I don’t really! I think the thing with appearing on telly all the time is you cook things all the time. We’ve got dishes that don’t really go off the menu in the restaurant; there’s a ‘lamb three ways’ dish that’s on most of the time – it’s lamb chops, it’s lamb hotpot and then it’s lamb’s kidneys – that’s kind of quite a nice dish. And then at Greens, we have an oyster mushroom dish – if you imagine crispy duck, we use mushrooms rather than
Radish Exclusive duck – that kind of element, really. So they’re probably the closet thing I have to it. Do you ever eat at your own restaurants? Yeah, not as often as I should, probably. I think there’s a huge validity in doing it, to be there as a consumer rather than being there as a chef, it’s very different. I think one of the dangers sometimes about being a chef – chefs in general – is if we’re not careful we’ll tend to cook menus for cooking rather than menus for eating so, you know, you’ll decide you want to use a certain technique or “we’ll do that, because that’ll be good for prep”, whereas in reality what we should do more often is sit down as a customer and say “right, ok, well how does that feel? Does it work?” because you never really taste a dish. You taste bits of it, you taste elements of it rather than sitting down and saying “right, that lamb dish for example, we have that on the menu right now, but I’ve never eaten a whole one so I’ve no idea if it eats as a whole dish.” But you hope it does! Yeah? Yeah. [Laughs] Ok, finally, do you have a favourite restaurant in Chester? Yes! I like the Harkers Arms. It’s a pub on Queen’s Street. Cracking pub, go there quite a lot! R
Simon’s newest book, Lazy Brunch, is available now from all good book stores.
Simon Rimmer signs books for a queue of fans (left) by Rachel Collings. Picture above used with permission by Ant Clausen. radishfoodmag.co.uk 9
Greener Living
Take a Look Inside The
Box
What you get...
The Meat Box
Available in two different sizes depending upon your family size, these boxes provide an array of different meats, enough to keep any carnivore happy!
The Fruit Bag
The fruit bag (also available in larger boxes) demonstrates its freshness in that the fruit changes according to season each and every week.
The BBQ Box
Out in the garden this summer? The BBQ box has everything you need for a hot day outside with friends. Including sausages, burgers, steak, kebabs and ribs, all you need to add is a cheeky cocktail!
The Veg Box
Depending upon which size you go for, you could receive up to twelve varieties of vegetables. Sizes range from mini to large to suit a range of homes and there are favourites boxes as well as seasonal ones to satisfy any family!
The Salad Box
If salad is more your thing then try the salad box (or bag). You’d receive enough for light meals each week, freshly picked and ready to roll onto your plate. Perfect for the ultimate healthy dinner. 10 radishfoodmag.co.uk
Photographs courtesy of Riverford Organics. For more information and to find you local farm, please visit www.riverford.co.uk
Produce Profile
Story of the
Red Poll Cow Winner of the North West Future of
Farming award, The Grange Farm and their beautiful Red Poll Cows have been an important part of Cheshire’s farming industry for many years. Since rearing the Red Polls for eight years, and having been up and running since 1947, The Grange is part of the prestigious High Level Stewardship Scheme – a government-funded agri-environmental programme led by Natural England. It is home to 135 cows and four bulls, who are often sent to graze for conservation purposes, with links to the Cheshire Wildlife Trust. It is said that this gentle breed provides an incredibly tasty beef, and within the care of the farm this is highly accentuated.
Farmer Huw Rolands, owner of The Grange Farm, said: “The taste of beef depends on many things; the breed, the cow’s diet, their handling, and the amount of stress the cow is under at the same of slaughtering. The more stressed a cow is, the higher the amino acids in their body. And that changes the taste.” Red Polls on The Grange are slaughtered locally, meaning they don’t become stressed travelling for too long. Only cows that are over 3 years of age are killed for meat, before being hung for two weeks. This is said to give not only a mature taste, but also a wonderful marbling and texture. Supporting the local businesses, The Grange provides its beef to Harvey’s Pies – a small establishment based in Cheshire.
Farmer Huw Rolands
Supporting the local businesses, The Grange provides its beef to Harvey’s Pies – a small establishment based in Cheshire. They also distribute their meat just down the road… To the local pub, the Nags Head, situated along Chester Road in Bridge Trafford. As well as providing delicious beef through their farm shop, The Grange also produce and send out boxes of their prized meat. Perfect if you want to treat yourself (or indeed, someone else!) Throughout the years The Grange has built a reputation of providing an educational outlook for children on school trips, and now have a purposebuilt building for this. When not housing school kids, the farm hosts a produce fair every last Saturday of the month. R
If you are interested in booking the fuction room or attending the produce fair, please contact Huw via his website: www.redpollbeef.eu radishfoodmag.co.uk 11
Radish Recipies
Yummy Fruit Tartlet Fresh fruits set on an English custard tart with clotted cream Ready in 45 minutes plus chilling:
Red Poll Beef Special Mustard ‘Poll’ in the hole Ready in 45 minutes: 8 RED POLL sausages 2 onions, cut into wedges 2 tbsp olive oil 150g plain flour 2 tsp English mustard powder 2 eggs 300ml milk To Cook: 1. Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Put the sausages and onion wedges in an ovenproof baking dish. Drizzle over 2 tbsp oil, season then cook for 20 minutes until everything is browned a little. 2. While the sausages are cooking, put the flour and mustard powder in a bowl and season. Gradually whisk in the eggs and milk to make a batter. Pour into the hot dish with the sausages then cook for another 3040 minutes until crisp and golden.
200g sweet pastry 1 egg yolk 1 tbsp caster sugar 1 tsp cornflour 200ml crème fraîche ½ vanilla pod , split down the middle To Cook: 1. Roll the pastry out thinly on a lightly floured work surface. Stamp out 12 x 8cm discs with a cutter and line a 12-hole mini-muffin tin (available from good cookshops and lakeland.co.uk). Prick the bases with a fork and chill for 30 minutes. 2. Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and put in a baking sheet. 3. Line each of the tartlets with a small square of foil and 1 tsp of rice. Put on the heated baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes until golden. Cool. 4. To make the custard, whisk together the egg yolk, sugar andcornflour in a small bowl. Heat the crème fraîche and the split vanilla pod in a small saucepan until just below boiling point. 5. Pour the hot crème fraîche over the egg mixture, stirring constantly. Return the custard mixture to the pan over a low heat. Stir constantly until the custard thickens and just starts to bubble. Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl, discard the vanilla pod and cover the surface of the custard with clingfilm to prevent a skin forming. 6. To make the pistachio praline, put the caster sugar and 2 tbsp water in a small pan over a low heat to dissolve the sugar. Bring to the boil and continue to cook, without stirring, until the caramel turns pale amber. 7. Add the pistachios and cook until the caramel turns deep amber coloured. Remove from the heat and tip onto a greased baking sheet to cool. When cold, chop into pieces. 8. Fill the tart shells with the custard and top with the Strawberries, kiwi and pineapple, before adding the clotted cream to finish.
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Photographs by Rachel Collings
Specials
Barlounge Chester’s Famous Forest Platter “Appleton Pears. Rich Caribbean beginnings, climbing to the top with an orchard fruit finish!”
Front Cover Recipe Simon Rimmer’s Pesto Gnocchi with tomato and asparagus Ready in 30 minutes: For the Gnocchi: 750g floury potatoes 125g plain flour, plus extra for rolling 1 egg yolk, beaten salt and black pepper For the pesto: handful of rocket, finely chopped 1 lemon, zest and juice only 5-6 tbsp olive oil
2. Lightly beat the egg into the potatoes then gradually beat in the flour until you have a slightly sticky dough (you may not need all the flour as the potatoes will vary in moisture) season the dough with a little salt and pepper. 3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it lightly. Divide the dough not 4 and roll each quarter into sausages around 1 cm thick. Cut the sausages into pieces 1.5cm-2cm long. Place each piece on your thumb and with a fork lightly mark over the top so that you have ridges on one side. Place the gnocchi on a floured container in a single layer as you prepare them. Refrigerate until ready to cook.
4. Bring a large saucepan of boiling water to the boil, reduce done to a strong simmer. Cook the gnocchi in the water in batches until they just rise to the surface then remove with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl while you cook the remaining gnocchi (if partially cooking in To Cook: advance to reheat in a hot sauce, plunge them 1. Place the potatoes with skin on in a saucepan in a bowl of iced water). with cold water, bring the water to the boil and 5. Stir together all the pesto ingredients. boil the potatoes for 20-30 minutes, until they are tender. Alternatively microwave them for 6. Add the olive oil and Pesto sauce to the bowl 8-10 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the saucepan or microwave and allow them to cool and gently coat the gnocchi with it. so that you can handle them. While the potatoes are still warm peel them and put them through 7. Finally, add the tomatoes and cooked asparagus. a mouli or potato ricer into a bowl.
What you need: Generous shots of Appleton Rum, Briottet Chestnut Liqueur, Pear Puree and Apple juice. Serves 6-8 shots 3 VERY simple steps to get this amazing taste: 1.Fill a large teapot with ice. 2.Mix the rum, liqueur, puree and juice together and shake well. 3.Pour over the ice, into the teapot. And serve between friends.
*Ordinarily, the bar man would
at this time place the teapot onto a tray with shot glasses, and set the whole thing alight. Radish recommends that you DO NOT try this at home. Although pretty, it tastes delicious with or without the flames*
For more delicious recipes please visit our website: www.radishfoodmag.co.uk/food radishfoodmag.co.uk 13
Feature
Battle of the upermarkets Radish takes a look at what some of the biggest food distributors have to offer online With a near-complex search system, we would say this site is for the slightly more advanced cook. Helpful, though, if you’re feeling particularly specific about your choice of cuisine. The dishes give the feeling of the Sainsbury’s motto: “Try something new today”, appearing to aim for recipes it assumes we haven’t tried before. The result is a seemingly professional approach. And a bit of Jamie Oliver style thrown in.
Has a series of featured recipes pictured with suitable wine on their front page, but also a simpler search with which you can find a perfect meal. With a tick box approach the site is easy to navigate without being inundated with hundreds of recipes at any one time. The food itself looks delicious and well suited to different occasions. If you just need a bit of inspiration, check out their meal ideas section.
Using their ‘ever-so-helpful’ touch that has captured so many customers already, Tesco have opted for a consumer-related setting, introducing public ratings. Great for those who like the opinions of others, or for those who want to see a dish from the at-home point-of-view. The food has got a good range difficultywise. Simpler recipes for the beginners, with recipes escalating to kitchen genius level. R
Their best recipe?
3 Ways With Mackerel Roast Rib Of Beef with a fresh green salad
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with horseradish Yorkshires
Caramel Pear Cake
with cream or custard
Photographs sourced from respective websites
Radish Review
Radish
Recommends
Something
you’ll love or hate
Whichever way you feel about this jar of golden-oldie-goodness, The Marmite Cookbook is a fabulous little book packed with tasty recipes, colourful illustrations and quirky anecdotes that will appeal to even the most stubborn of haters. This little beauty shows every potential behind the tar-looking king of opinion-splitting and belongs in any food lovers’ kitchen.
Something for the weekend Exactly what it says on the cover! Inspired by the beloved Sunday morning live television program, this book is brought to you by Something for the Weekend’s Simon Rimmer (and Tim Lovejoy, although Simon says he has yet to find a word by his hand!). Packed with fabulous recipes spanning from starters to desserts for every occasion, this book is the perfect gift for someone who truly loves their weekends off.
Something
Something
for every day as a joke You’ve seen the adverts, now it’s time (we hope!) to own the book. The Ultimate Philadelphia Cookbook is the culmination of all of the Philly recipes out there – and it really opens your eyes! There’s stuff in here you could use literally every day, and it’s incredible to see how perhaps mundane dishes can be made into something special. If you’re going to own a Philadelphia cream cheese book, make it this one.
Discovered by us purely by accident, this book was too bizarre not to share. It’s not kidding when it says ‘semen-based recipes’; scarily they include ‘cream éclairs’ and ‘high protein smoothies’. Advertising its star ingredient as complex, dynamic, inexpensive and commonly available, we recommend purchasing this only if your partner/housemate/family has a good sense of humour!
Star Buy Something inspirational Known as a “book every home should have”, this recipe bible is absolute gold. Written by a host of top chefs, they provide simple but fine-tuned step-by-step instructions - clear enough for beginners, yet advanced enough for the genius in the kitchen. A book for food lovers of all types, every detail for every recipe, for every course is explained with crystal-clear quality. Simply brilliant, enough said. radishfoodmag.co.uk 15