Thierry's Meat Pie

So I finally understand twitter. It's only taken me 2 years, but now I get it. And love it! Excitement of new followers, being able to follow all my favourite chefs and restaurants, amazing! And so many people put links to recipes, it's brilliant and I will be baking Nigella's banana bread this weekend!

Going straight to work after the gym means that we normally have quite a rubbish dinner when we get home. But luckily for us, mum brought us one of Thierry's meat pies at the weekend.

Thierry and his family run a cafe (TC Patisserie) in Beverley, the town nearest to my parents house. They have been talking about it for ages and seem to spend most Saturday mornings there. I just assumed it was probably a normal cafe, and mum and dad were just excited about somewhere new and different. But after going there for breakfast, I do understand. It's quite a small cafe with a real homely atmosphere and from the moment you walk in, you feel at home. It can be hard to get a table sometimes as it is very popular, but definitely worth the wait. I had poached eggs for breakfast and they were so delicious.

However, the actual best thing about TC Patisserie (or Thierry's as my parents call it) is the meat pies which my mum has been serving us at home for ages. Any occasion is good enough for a meat pie, birthdays, xmas, meeting my hubby's parents!!

The steak pie is out of this world! Somehow he manages to get them to taste savoury but sweet, crunchy but soft, filling but surprisingly light. They are full of chunks of steak, delicious gravy and for someone who doesn't love pies, I'm a convert. Everyone should try one.

And he's a nice man too. He gives my mum big pots of leftover gravy from making the pies, which she makes good use of at home - she always gets in with right people!

If you're ever in Beverley, make sure to pop to TC Patisserie. They has a bakery as well as cafe, serving meals all day.

http://www.beverleypeople.co.uk/cafes/cafes-snack-shops-and-tearooms/t-c-patisserie/business-10942271-detail/business.html

Lunch at the Berkeley

Annually (well I say annually, but this is only the second year we've done it) my good friend Carole and I take an afternoon off work and treat ourselves to a nice long lunch. One of the great things about London is that some of best restaurants do amazing lunch menus which are also very affordable, and many of them include some drinks which a bonus.

Last year we went to Le Gavroche, which fulfilled a longstanding dream of mine and didn't disappoint.

This year, we decided to try Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley in Mayfair. I've been a fan of MW for a while, as he's a regular feature on MasterChef and Great British menu, 2 of my favourite shows. His 'how to cook the perfect.....' cookbook is one of my staples, and is how I've perfected my risotto, scallops and scones!

From the moment we entered, it was lush. The staff were attentive, but not annoyingly so (and one of the hosts had the most gorgeous scottish accent!)

We decided to start to a glass of champagne to add to the treat, which was lovely. I learnt that the Ruinart bottle (which is shorter and fatter than conventional champagne bottles) was the original shape of champagne bottles and all other suppliers moved to the now conventional bottle shape apart from Ruinart. Always good to learn something new! We were then greeted with a fish croquette which was really yummy. Following that we were given some homemade bread and butter, yum yum!

It was at this point that I remembered I was supposed to be taking pics of everything - so there will be visual aids for the rest of the blog.

We ordered off the set lunch menu, with the matching wines. Our Amuse Bouche was a cold Watermelon soup with ginger cubes. Now before today I would said that I didn't really like ginger, and would not have chosen to eat a cube of it, but who knew how much I'd like it!

Starters for us both were Dorset snails with garlic and a cream sauce. Wow. Neither of us were sure about snails but through we should try something new. So pleased we tried them - literally melt in the mouth, deliciously garlicky! And the charred brioche - beautiful!

Then we both ordered the sole. It came on a bed of pomme purée, fried capers and spring greens. Like ginger, I've never been a fan of capers. I've always found the taste quite harsh, but fried they taste so different. The fish was so moist and soft, and they were by far the best potatoes I've had in a while -I'm guessing you get them that smooth by adding lots of butter and cream!

During this time, we'd polished off our fizz and wine, 2 nice glasses of white wine, not too dry.

Our dessert orders taken (Carole - popcorn, yoghurt, caramel. Me - raspberry, chocolate caramel). We weren't really sure what we were getting but if the other courses were anything to go by, we knew it would be good. Then in front of us appeared 2 slices, generous slices, of custard tart and passion fruit sorbet. Compliments of the chef. This is the place where you get pre-dessert. Brilliant.

(I will add here - MW is famous for his custard tart, and I made this from his recipe a few months ago. And failed miserably. It was gross).

Custard tart devoured, we were both starting to feel very full. And then the real puddings arrived. Mine was just pure indulgence. Lots of chocolate with crumble and raspberries. Devilishly naughty!

We orders mint teas - somehow it has the power to make you feel clean and fresh when you have full tummy. And with our tea arrived the chocolate trolley. Unbelievable. Choices of chocolate - madasgacan or Ecuadorean salted caramel. Salted caramel it was! Perfect scrummy end to an amazing meal. And if that wasn't enough, we each got a gorgeous bag of chocs when we left. Suppose I'll have to give those to the hubby, to save my waistline if anything else.

The atmosphere was quite formal (anywhere with tablecloths is posh to me), but still managed to feel relaxed and the service from the staff was amazing. I knew it would be good, but lunch at the Berkeley definitely exceeded my expectations and we had a lovely time. Before we knew it, we'd been there 3 hours - sign of a good time! Thanks Marcus!

WD50 - reliving the best meal ever!

We went to NYC for our honeymoon. From the moment we made the decision, I started lobbying the hubby to take me to WD50 for dinner. Ever since seeing Wylie Dufresne on Top Chef (brilliant US cookery competition, basically Masterchef on speed!), I had been desperate to taste his food.

After asking for the 100th time, and threatening to call off the wedding, hubby agreed and we booked a table. And I can honestly say I was as excited about going there for dinner as I was about the whole honeymoon. Fact.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we realised what the name meant. We'd had lots of ideas - was it a play on WD40? Who knows. Anyway it became clear that WD were the chefs initials and 50 was the street number. Simples

We were greeted by really friendly staff and on request, they gave us a lovely table. The restaurant has a real relaxed atmosphere, and felt like a place where people just dropped in for a bite to eat. Really cool. We decided to just go for it, 12 course tasting menu with wine pairing. And what followed was mindblowing! Course after course of amazing food! Words really can't do it justice. The staff were amazing, the wine kept flowing and every course was so different.

We talked about our favourite course. I couldn't decide on one, so I picked two:

1) Poached egg in shell, pumpernickel, Caesar dressing, lily bulb - perfectly poached egg in an edible shell, and gorgeous Caesar dressing.

2) Lamb loin, 'red beans and rice', chayote squash - I have never tasted lamb like it, and doubt I ever will again!

Hubby picked Everything Bagel, smoked salmon threads, crispy cream cheese - which was basically what looked like a bagel but turned out to be frozen cream cheese - amazing! Definitely my third favourite.

To top off an amazing meal, we were invited into the kitchen to meet the Chef. I had it all worked out, would get him to sign my menu and ask him how he gets his lamb so tender. But as usual, when in the presence of celebrity or cooking god, I just managed 'You cook good'. At least we got our picture with him (currently twitter profile pic!)

We both loved it, and even when the bill came, hubby paid it happily with a big tip, which in unheard of, so Mr Dufresne must have done something right.

It's not a cheap night, but for anyone going to New York and looking for a fantastic experience, and also great food, WD50 is a must!

Celebrating Father's day with Dad!

With family living all over the country, it isn't always easy for us all to get together. With one sister working in Ghana and one helping mum in London navigate her way to Olympic training, it was down to me and the youngest to entertain Dad today.

Living in Newark, we're lucky enough to live near to some lovely villages with some gorgeous pubs which I'm sure you'll hear about in future blogs. Today we went for a lovely Sunday lunch in Farndon.

Farndon Boathouse is part of the same group who owns Tom Browns in Gunthorpe and the Riverbank on Trent Bridge. All are great pubs, serving great food in an atmosphere that feels nice but not too formal. If you live in or about Nottingham, you have to try one of these!

http://www.farndonboathouse.co.uk/

We have been to Farndon Boathouse once before for dinner. We went to one of their Sunday sessions, as the band playing at our wedding (The Herb Birds) were playing so we wanted to have a sneak preview of some of their songs. So we decided to take Dad there again today. And it was a big hit.

We had a great table by the window overlooking the river. The menu was a good mix of Sunday lunch and other dishes, but we all opted for Sunday lunch.

We ate:
Dad: roast chicken terrine, roast leg of lamb, Cromwell bishop Stilton wrapped in Parma ham
Ellie: Deep fried whitebait, roast sirloin of beef, lemon tart with raspberry sorbet
Chris: Broccoli soup with goats cheese ravioli, roast leg of lamb, chocolate parfait
Me: Broccoli soup with goats cheese ravioli, roast sirloin of beef, lemon tart with raspberry sorbet

All delicious, Dad was happy and a lovely lunch all round. For anyone who lives nearby or is passing through, the Farndon Boathouse is a definite must for a lovely lunch by the river. Perfect way to celebrate having such a wonderful dad!

We will be there again soon - maybe for a boozy Friday brunch where they have live music - cant wait!

Back with chocolate cake

Well it's been a while for the blog. In between there's been an engagement and a wedding, and now that's all done with, I can finally get back on with everything.

The two areas of my focus for this year:
1) pass stage 1 of my tax exams
2) have 100 followers on twitter and 100 readers of the blog

This morning, my sister was here and I'm always inspired to bake when around her. Follow @beesloveteas on twitter for great recipes and baking tips, as well as fab blog entries

One of the great things about getting married is all the lovely gifts and we have been so lucky, as we were really spoilt. I couldn't resist adding lots of baking and cooking things on our registry and by far my favourite item has been my glass cake stand, with cloche! May sound wierd to many but I've wanted one of these for ages and I love it!

So what better way to start back on the blog but to bake something worthy of the cloche. I was given Lorraine Pascale's 'Baking Made Easy' book a couple of xmases ago and its so good. Today I decided to make the 'I don't give a damn choc cake'. Wow - easiest cake I've ever baked and hubby proclaimed it as the best cake ever. Just throw everything in a bowl, no faffing with creaming or sifting, and it is so moist and delicious. A definite must for any keen but novice bakers!