Food & Drink

How to BBQ the perfect steak

Enjoy the theatre of a night out at the Eversfield Organic Dartmoor Inn, Merrivale. Watch the chef sear your steak to perfection on the open fire grill from the comfort of your table, with a glass of wine or a local organic ale from the barrel. The menu is 100% organic with everything sourced from the Eversfield organic farm and market garden, or from a wonderful selection of small, local producers. Head chef Tom has put together the following instructions so you can re-create this delicious barbeque experience in your garden and cook the most succulent steak to impress your guests this summer.

Eversfield Organic is an award-winning, nationwide organic grocery delivery service based on the family farm in Devon. Every single one of their steaks is 100% grass-fed, organic and freshly hand-cut and trimmed by expert butchers. Experience the best of organic produce at either of the Eversfield farm shops in Tavistock and Totnes, or indulge in an evening at the Dartmoor Inn, Merrivale - the perfect location for an overnight stay where you can relax and enjoy a delicious breakfast before going out to explore Dartmoor on your doorstep.

Method

1. Allow the steak to come to room temperature Leave the steak out of the fridge for approximately 10 to 15 minutes before you’re ready to cook. Allowing the meat to come to room temperature allows for a more even cook all the way through. If your meat is cold when it hits the grill, it can cause the muscle fibres to tense up.

2. Heat up your coals Light the charcoal on your barbeque and wait until the coals turn white before cooking. This will take approximately 10 to 15 minutes. 3. Oil the steak Rub a generous amount of oil into the meat to ensure that perfect outer texture once cooked, and of course so it doesn’t stick. 4. Season your steak The best way to do this is to sprinkle with salt on both sides immediately before popping on the barbeque. Cooking times Pop your steak on the grill and sear for 3 to 4 minutes each side for medium rare. Don’t forget to rest (the meat) This is the final, but most important part for your perfect tender steak, and it gives you time to dish up your sides and pour your wine! Rest for 5 minutes. Timings are based on a 10oz steak.

Pairing wines with barbecued foods

Dave Anning has some summery suggestions

Much has changed since I last wrote - welcome back! Locked down or living it up, we’ll all be firing up the barbecue this summer. After all, we’re British and reducing succulent meat and vegetables to charcoal is what we do at this time of year - sadly not much pairs with carbon, so keep an eye on that barbecue! You may recall sauces are critical when it comes to pairing food with wines, because they have strong flavours - especially trendy, hot sauces. With spice, red wine drinkers should look for something fruity and juicy like sangiovese. The easier option is a cool, low alcohol white - maybe even with a little sweetness to counter the heat. With sweet sauces, a smoky Rioja or pinotage are good red choices, while the best all-round white is probably sauvignon blanc, aromatic and with clearly defined flavours. Meat forms the basis of many barbecues. Primitivo has deep, dark fruit that can be so intense it gives an impression of sweetness despite being dry. It has enough tannin to balance both fat and strong umami flavours in stronger barbecued red meat such as beef (umami means savoury and salty). Don’t forget - the more crispy and flavoursome the meat, the more tannic the wine can be; big cabernet sauvignons and cabernet-based Bordeaux can really shine - just watch the alcohol!

Lighter (or less burned!) meat such as pork or chicken is similar for pairing purposes when barbecued, so drink lighter reds with them, or whites with body. Red lovers could consider bonarda. Overshadowed by malbec, Argentina’s bonarda is more obviously fruity than its famous neighbour, and is great easy drinking so merlot drinkers will love bonarda! White fans should consider full-bodied viognier or fresh, zesty chenin blanc. Don’t forget rosés. Hints of red fruit add a dimension, especially if you’re making a sticky sauce. Fish is challenging on the barbeque - hence it often ends up IN the barbeque - but can be delicious. The right wine will refresh your palate to appreciate those light, delicate flavours. Zippy picpoulde-pinet works brilliantly and grows overlooking the sea. Grilling fish adds flavour so you can also increase body and flavour in a wine so try finding an appassimento grillo from Italy. Vegetables, alone or on a kebab, become deeply flavoursome when seared, so you can drink a more robust wine than you might think. White Bordeaux has a wonderful combination of aromatic, nicely balanced acidity from sauvignon blanc and softer, honeyed chenin blanc.

Salads often have strong sauces too. For Italian dressing think verdicchio, a Caesar dressing deserves a Loire Valley sauvignon blanc - and blue cheese dressing needs real acidity to cut through the richness - better hope the guests haven’t drunk all the picpoul!

Dave Anning

£10OFF

BBQ BOTTLES

APPASSIMENTOGRILLO

PICPOULDEPINET

BONARDA

PRIMITIVO

£48.75

WITHCODE: BBQ10

ROSE

RIOJA

SW

bottle shop

tavistock

swbottleshop.co.uk FREELOCALDELIVERY

Saturday 28 August, 5:30pm Tavistock Street Food Festival

We’re bringing a host of street foods and drinks, many from local producers right here in the West Country for a delectable evening of food, drink and music in Tavistock’s historic and very beautiful Bedford Square. An array of mouth-watering street food will be on offer, including seafood, vegan, posh hotdogs, Mediterranean, Jamaican, and lots, lots more. This is the perfect chance to meet friends and family for a scrummy start to a summer Saturday evening. Grab some food, find a sunny spot, laugh, dance, hug (in your bubble), and have some long-overdue fun. Try new foods and chill whilst listening to live music – drink in hand! There’s loads of free parking nearby and plenty of space for social distancing too. Entry to this event is entirely free of charge, so clear your diary of other commitments, shelve the diet for another time and join us for a fun evening this summer.

Saturday 11,18,25 September Italian Jack’s Supper Club

Italian Jack, aka chef Davide, presents three evenings of authentic Italian food at Tavistock Parish Centre, PL19 0AD. All menus include two options for starters, mains and desserts, and bookings are taken for 6.30 to 8pm, with carriages at approx. 10pm. You can bring your own bottle or have wines paired with the meal and delivered from SW Bottle Shop.

11 Sep: Seafood Night; 18 Sep: A Night in Milan; 25 Sep: Road to Apulia

For details visit italianjack.co.uk and for bookings email hello@italianjack.co.uk The Parish Centre

The Parish Centre for St Eustachius’ Church Tavistock (on Plymouth Road opposite the church) has recently had a complete refurbishment funded by the Friends of St Eustachius’. The main hall has had the walls fully lined and freshly painted, dimmable lights fitted, and 75 new chairs have been procured. In addition, a substantial amount of rewiring was carried out and new sockets fitted. The toilets have also been modernised. The centre already has a well-fitted kitchen, suitable for professional catering. Rick Crawford, chair of the Friends of St Eustachius, said: “I am delighted that we took the opportunity to modernise and redecorate the Parish Centre during the closed period required by the pandemic. It is now fully suitable for a wide range of functions, from fine dining to aerobics!”

For venue hire details see tavistockparishchurch.org.uk

Stannary Brewing Co. Tavistock’s own brewery

Based in their hometown of Tavistock, Chris John, Mark Stephens and Garry White have run Stannary Brewing Company since 2017. Starting as home brewers with a passion for full flavoured beer they have grown to run a fully independent craft brewery right here in the heart of West Devon. On a recent visit to the brewery, Chris, Mark and Garry spoke to us about their journey so far:

“Stannary Brewing Company was first talked about over a few beers in a pub. We thought, why not start our own brewery and brew the modern, full flavoured beers we love but can’t buy locally?” said Chris. “From the start we had great local following. We were only brewing 200 pints in each batch, but we felt like we’d started our brewery,” Garry explained.

Very soon pubs in Plymouth, Exeter and Bristol were taking Stannary beers and Chris, Mark and Garry realised they would have to grow to keep up with demand. 2019 was a big year for them as Stannary moved into its current premises and their new brew plant was finally installed, which is now capable of producing 8000 pints a week. Everything was going well and they were shipping their beers far and wide. 2020 was planned to be another year of growth, or so they thought. But then the pandemic started - we asked the guys how the Covid lockdown had affected them.

“Yeah wow, that was a surreal and scary moment - we thought we were finished,” said Chris. “But local support from our home deliveries and take-away service dragged us through.” Mark continued: “Local support over the past 12 months has been amazing and humbling. It gave us the kick we needed to refit the brewery taproom while we were closed - we’ve also created an undercover area in our yard and our warehouse becomes a seated barrel room at weekends. Things have gone from strength to strength since the rules have started to relax again. Our visitors create a cracking family atmosphere whenever we open the brewery and it will be great to see even more friendly faces back at the brewery again. We now have a chef cooking street food and a pizza company onsite at weekends and as the covid restrictions start to relax further we are planning live music events.”

Stannary Brewing Co is a 10-minute walk from Tavistock town centre, and the brewery is open from 3-10pm on Fridays and 12-8pm on Saturdays. Visit Stannary Brewing Co. at 6 Pixon Trading Centre, Pixon Lane, Tavistock, PL19 8DH or online at stannarybrew.shop; Facebook: The Stannary Brewing Co; Instagram: stannarybrewingco; email: hq@stannarybrew.co.uk

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