Food & Drink Round-Up: March 2019
In this, my first round-up, I want to share with you some of the food and drink I enjoyed over the previous month. Most of this won’t have featured elsewhere on the blog.
Usually, my posts are detailed recipes, reviews and profiles of producers and suppliers. These pieces are researched and planned well ahead of writing. But I want to share lots more of the food and drink I’ve loved at cafes, bars and restaurants, a few things I’ve cooked, as well as ingredients and products. That’s why I’ve decided to trial monthly round-ups.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and you’ll hear about these throughout the month. But, if you’ve missed any of my social media posts, you can catch up via these round-ups.
Here’s the first one anyway, with highlights from March 2019.
The George at Alstonefield
March got off to a great start with my first visit to The George.
On the Staffordshire/Derbyshire border, from the outside, The George looks like a quintessential country pub. Inside, there’s top notch creative cooking using local and seasonal ingredients. Dishes I loved included perfectly cooked wood pigeon breast and a memorable fillet of beef with braised oxtail and marrow bone crumb. The chips were pretty good too. Read my full review here.
PANCAKE DAY
Pancake Day fell in early March this year and was the first in a while that saw me making pancakes.
I’d seen an awful lot of small, thick American-style pancakes on social media, beautifully photographed and stacked high with this and that. But I was very happy with my simple, British ones with a sprinkle of sugar and a squeeze of lemon. These were the ones I ate as a child. Except the lemon juice would’ve come out of a plastic lemon.
CHESHIRE FISH
I first discovered Cheshire Fish in Macclesfield via their stall at the excellent Rode Hall Farmer’s Market. When I later visited their shop, appropriately enough in Roe Street, I found an incredible range of fresh fish and seafood as well as frozen goodies.
In March we bought fabulously fresh hake, halibut, smoked haddock, crab and clams. I couldn’t resist buying some double smoked cod roe too. It’s currently in my freezer and I’m planning to make taramasalata with some of it.
FRANGLAIS, MACCLESFIELD
Although fish was our main reason for visiting Macclesfield, we also stopped off at Franglais in the indoor market. This is an amazing stall of French delicacies including meats, duck confit and homemade pates as well as dishes to go like dauphinois potatoes, mussels, quiche, soup and cakes.
On my latest visit I bought some garlicky Toulouse sausage which I used to make a cassoulet style stew with smoked pancetta, veg and cannellini beans.
Near the end I sprinkled breadcrumbs and garlic over the top so a tasty crust formed. Proper French cassoulet would normally contain preserved duck or goose as well, but even without those it was delicious alongside mash and greens.
NEW ORLEANS TASTING MENU AT LITTLE SEEDS
In March I made a return visit to Little Seeds in Stone. I went along to their New Orleans tasting menu, available for one night only, in March.
It was a lovely evening, the food imaginative and featuring many things I hadn’t tried before. Dishes included catfish, gumbo, beer & bacon hush puppies, and bananas foster with beignets. Read the full review here.
THE VILLAGE BUTCHER IPSTONES
The Village Butcher Ipstones is one of our regular haunts, stocking up with their quality meats every few months. Specializing in locally sourced, native breed meat, produce at the shop includes grass-fed beef from the family’s own farm.
Some of this beef goes into their sensational homemade pies. I rarely buy ready made items, but make an exception when it’s this good – filled with perfectly cooked chunks of beef in a delicious gravy. Read my review of The Village Butcher Ipstones here.
MINI STOVE TOP SMOKER
I’ve been toying with the idea of smoking foods for a while and in March I decided to dip a toe in by getting a smoker.
It’s a mini stovetop one, which can also be used in the oven. I haven’t had a try at smoking yet, but I’m looking forward to a bit of experimentation.
THE GOOD CATCH FISH & CHIPS
If we fancy a day at the seaside with the dog, the beautiful beach at Formby is where we usually head. A couple of hours’ drive away, it’s about the nearest bit of coast to us.
Towards the end of March we took a trip there and, as always, had fish and chips at The Good Catch in Freshfield.
The fish (I usually have haddock) is always very fresh and perfectly cooked with crispy batter. The chips are fab too. They’ve a couple of outdoor picnic benches, so it’s nice to be able to sit out with the dog.
THE CORNER, HANLEY
March saw the opening of The Corner in Hanley. I went along for an early lunch a few weeks after they’d began trading.
I loved my eggs Benedict with streaky bacon while other half had tasty, perfectly roasted vegetables and hummus in a baguette. Staff were really friendly and dogs are welcome too; ours was given a water bowl and biscuits.
Another great addition to Stoke’s growing Cultural Quarter with its independent shops, cafes and bars.
YU-MA-MI TAKE TWO
Yu-Ma-Mi, Stoke’s fine dining Chinese restaurant, is another place I returned to in March. Once again I was wowed by their combination of traditional and modern Chinese food, the well known and the unfamiliar.
On this visit, I was especially taken with Lo Mai Gai. This was a seemingly simple dish of sticky rice steamed in lotus leaves, but imbued with the delicious flavours of peanut, mushrooms, Chinese sausage and shrimp. Read the full review here.
FULL ENGLISH AT JACKSONS
The end of March saw some wonderful early Spring weather. We decided to take advantage of it by getting on with lots of outstanding jobs in the garden.
But you need plenty of energy for that kind of work (that was our excuse anyway) so we fueled up with a full English breakfast at Jacksons Nurseries and Tea Room while picking up some plants.
It was a perfect, sunny day for eating out on their patio overlooking the pond.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this round-up for March 2019. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to see what April brings.