Food & Drink Round-Up September 2019

In this post I share some of my food and drink highlights from last month, bringing together the best of the blog and my social media during September 2019.

Read about Love Lamb Week, dog friendly eating and drinking in Staffordshire, two  great value restaurants, Great British Bake Off inspired recipes, homemade bread, seasonal preserves and more.

Love Lamb Week

1st – 7th of every September is always Love Lamb Week. Taking place largely on Twitter, it seeks to promote British lamb. If you follow hashtag #LoveLambWeek you’ll see lots of lamb producers sharing what they do as well as suggestions for recipes.

Fittingly, our dinner on the first day of Love Lamb Week (cooked by other half, not me) was some local heritage breed lamb from Troutsdale Farm. We had chunks of leftover slow-cooked leg in the freezer and he made them into a fab spicy stew with tomatoes and peppers. With it, we had mixed grains plus salads which included some homegrown veg: tomatoes and yellow courgettes.

As usual, a number of anti-meat protesters tried to take over the Love Lamb Week hashtag. One of my tweets was doctored to say I was advocating murder. I was called a ‘dumb ass’ and a ‘twerp’ who was promoting ‘carcinogenic’ food that was destroying the planet. Oh, and they also superimposed the heads of dead sheep over the stew picture above.

Clearly, they’re not going to win any arguments like that and are really only preaching to the already converted. I was vegan over thirty years ago but am now perfectly comfortable with my decision to include moderate amounts of quality, ethically raised meat in my diet along with dairy and free range eggs.

So I’ll be continuing to eat, and promote, produce from the family farms I buy from – all of which, without exception, treat their animals and the environment  with huge respect.

Thalii

In September I was excited to discover the best Indian food I think I’ve eaten since I left my old home of Leicester.

Thalii in Stoke-on-Trent serves tapas-size Indian food on traditional thali trays. This means you get to try a great range of their perfectly cooked, expertly spiced dishes all in one sitting. It’s fantastic value for money too. Read my review of Thalii here

Dog Friendly updates

Since October 2018 I’ve been posting about my favourite dog friendly places to eat and drink in Staffordshire. I’ve brought them all together in one blog post which I update as I discover new venues I love.

I admit I had a bit of a backlog to add, but caught up in September. Those in the most recent update include Eden in Lichfield, in Hanley: Slamwich Club and The Corner, plus The Tea Junction at Hulme End, the Ramblers Retreat in Dimmingsdale and The Abbey Inn, Leek (read more below about the latter).

But I was particularly pleased to be able to add the café at Denstone Hall who now have ‘the dog house’. This is a very smart, dog-friendly lodge out the back. The outside space has always allowed dogs, but this means you can now eat there with your pooch even when the weather isn’t so good.

Mind you, when I had my first view of it one Sunday in September (after walking the dog nearby then stocking up at their brilliant butchery counter) the day was fine so we ended up sitting outside for brunch.

Eggs Benedict is probably my favourite egg dish and this was a corker: granary toast topped with Denstone’s own ham, perfectly poached eggs and buttery but tart hollandaise sauce. My kale and spinach smoothie had lots of mango in it too so was nicely balanced. Get my guide to dog friendly eating & drinking in Staffordshire here

September Craze #1: French Toast/Eggy Bread

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to get heavily into French Toast (otherwise known as ‘eggy bread’), but September saw me wanting to make it at every opportunity.

What started it off was a recipe in the previous month’s edition of Delicious magazine, taken from The Greek Vegetarian Cookbook by Heather Thomas. As soon as I saw ‘Green french toast with honey drizzle’ I knew I’d be making it at some point.

The idea sounded an odd one: bread soaked in egg, milk, spring onions and herbs (parsley and mint in my case), fried in olive oil then served with a drizzle of honey, yogurt on the side and everything sprinkled with cinnamon.

My favourite so far is the one you see above. Here I added a little vanilla extract and cinnamon to the beaten eggs and milk. After soaking and frying the bread I drizzled it with maple syrup and topped with blueberries and raspberries which I warmed just until the juices started to run.

Gorgeous with a big dollop of homemade yogurt and more cinnamon.

Great British Bake Off Twitter Bake Along #1: Biscuits

I’m not one of those people who’s always been a fan of The Great British Bake Off tv show. Someone will probably come knocking on my door to take me away when I post this confession, but I’m afraid I can’t be doing with Mary Berry or Mel and Sue. Paul Hollywood I can take or leave.

But when it moved to Channel 4 I did catch a few episodes and got to quite like it. Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig make me laugh and I have a lot of time for sensible Prue Leith (she also reminds me, with her multicoloured hair-do, of a friendly Yorkshire terrier). Paul Hollywood I can still take or leave. Anyway, I’ve now found myself watching every episode of the 2019 series.

One thing I’ve been following for a while is the community of bakers who take part in the weekly #TwitterBakeAlong sharing of bakes. When The Great British Bake Off is on air it becomes #GBBOTwitterBakeAlong. Even though I haven’t taken part that often, I love seeing what other people have produced based around that week’s challenges.

The result, during ‘biscuit week’ was my Coconut Chocolate Biscuit Bars, pictured above. These are three layers of buttery coconut biscuit sandwiched together with buttercream. The whole lot is then dipped in melted 70% chocolate.

The biscuits themselves are based on a simple dough to which I added desiccated coconut. Making these prompted me to write a post sharing my Basic Biscuit Dough with ideas for add-ins to create a whole range of different biscuits. Get my recipe for Basic Biscuit Dough & Add-Ins here

Abbey Inn, Leek

The Abbey Inn, on the edge of Leek, had been on my list of places to try for ages, not least because it’s dog friendly. In September, I finally got around to having lunch there after some shopping in the town.

It’s a lovely old place, full of character and we found the staff very friendly. We sat in the small side room where it was nice to be able to have one of my favourite beers while looking at the menu: Sir Philip from the nearby Wincle Brewery.

After an enormous halloumi starter that must’ve had a whole block of cheese in it, I had a tasty cheese burger with bacon on a quality bun with good chips, fresh salad & coleslaw.

Our dog enjoyed a fuss from staff who also brought him a big bowl of water.

We were happy with everything we had, so I was pleased to be able to add The Abbey Inn to my guide to  Dog Friendly Eating & Drinking in Staffordshire.

Preserve Season Continues

My Smoky Tomato Chilli Chutney continues to be one of my most popular blog posts and it’s definitely my favourite homemade preserve.

For this year’s batch, I ramped up the flavours even more than usual. I doubled the amount of coriander and mustard seeds and added lots more chilli. I also included some chipotle dried chilli flakes which should increase the smokiness brought by the smoked paprika.

As you have to mature chutney for a couple of months, I won’t know the results for a bit so I’ve left my original recipe on the blog unchanged for now.

The other chutney I made in September was an experimental hot and spicy courgette chutney. We had a massive overgrown yellow courgette in the garden (which my other half named ‘Boris’) and I flavoured it with Indian spices: coriander, cumin, cardamom, chilli, turmeric, and nigella seeds.

I’ve not put the recipe on the blog yet as I won’t know whether it needs tweeking until a bit of maturing’s gone on.

But I did post instructions on my Facebook page here for anyone who wants to experiment along with me.

The chutney certainly tasted and smelled fantastic when I potted it up. I’m imagining it on mini poppadoms with some minty yogurt.

CAULIFLOWER & POTATO CURRY WITH CRISPY CHICKPEAS

Great British Bake Off Twitter Bake Along #2:  Star Bread

During September I took part in another Great British Bake Off Twitter Bake Along and that was during bread week.

I took on the ‘tear and share’ challenge and, inspired by one of the contestants, made a star bread.

Filled with salami, roasted onions, sun-dried tomatoes and cheese, I was really pleased with how this turned out. Although it looks quite intricate, it was actually pretty easy to make. Get my recipe for Savoury Tear & Share Star Bread here

Beirut Restaurant

The second Stoke-on-Trent restaurant I discovered in September deserves to be so much more well known.

Beirut, a small and friendly place on Snowhill, serves up beautifully cooked Lebanese and Mediterranean food to eat in or take away. Choose from great value mezze small plates, salads, kebabs and Arabic dishes with incredible flavour. Read my review of Beirut here

Green Bean, Tomato & Coconut Curry

After a slow start, our homegrown runner beans began producing much more steadily during September. But I still didn’t have quite enough to pick for a fantastic Green Bean, Tomato & Coconut Curry.

Thankfully, I had some good quality green beans in the freezer which, like peas, are a great standby. I think they went really well together in the spicy stew which was inspired by a Sri Lankan dish. Get my recipe for Green Bean, Tomato & Coconut Curry here

Gotcha at Primo Piano, Leek

When I’m eating out, I try not to be too conspicuous and don’t go around giving out my Moorlands Eater business card. That’s because I wouldn’t want to get different treatment to anyone else simply because I might be reviewing a place.

But I was confronted with the question, ‘are you Moorlands Eater?’ after we’d eaten at Primo Piano in Leek one Saturday lunchtime. I think they’d recognised me from a photo posted online by BBC Radio Stoke’s The Takeaway after one of my appearances on the foodie show.

We’d thoroughly enjoyed the lunch but I can honestly say, hand on heart, it wasn’t because I was treated differently. I know that because I ordered exactly what I’d eaten the last time I was there, unrecognised, and it was equally good on both visits.

My starter was creamy garlic mushroom bruschetta, which is actually from the ‘sides’ section of the menu and a bargain at £2.80. I followed this with their chicken Caesar salad. I also ate more than a few of other half’s very good chips.

Second September craze: Egg Foo Yung

Like my first September craze of eggy bread/French toast, eggs played a part in my second craze of the month.

In truth, I wasn’t sure what I was making when I started cooking my lunch one day. But I think it turned out to be egg foo yung.

I knew I needed something quick and tasty so, as I frequently do, reached for eggs. But I fancied something green & fresh too. I quickly fried shredded savoy cabbage and spring onion with chopped garlic, then poured in 2 eggs beaten with soy sauce. Cooked for a few minutes on each side until browned, it was so good and savoury.

I’ve cooked it loads of times since, including with the addition of ginger and pak choi, served for dinner with spicy stir fried veg and homegrown courgette ‘noodles’.

Another old favourite: Spiced Fruit Sourdough

Although I bake bread almost every week, I hadn’t made sourdough for a while and my starter had been languishing in the fridge for a few months.

So in September it took a few days of feeding my starter (amazingly, nearly 10 years old) to bring it back to life.

Mixing up a dough and leaving it overnight, I found a wonderful bubbly mixture waiting for me next day. My starter was definitely alive and kicking again!

This was a spiced dough as I was making a loaf of Spiced Fruit Sourdough. This bread is consistently one of my most popular recipes on the blog and I get great feedback from people who’ve made it.

For this one, I used a combination of white and malted grain flour and it turned out beautifully.

I decided to update the original blog post with a few new pics – the old ones are not great and the writing is a bit more rambling than I like these days – but the recipe’s still a good one.

By the way, you can make Spiced Fruit bread even if you don’t make sourdough. Just use 1.5 tsp of dried fast-acting yeast instead of the starter and add it to the flour at the same time as the salt and spices.

Butter is not a health hazard

I thought it interesting, towards the ends of the month, that when I posted this lovely Sunday breakfast on my social media, I got a couple of jokey comments about it requiring a trip to the cardiologist and its presumed fattening qualities.

Admittedly, I’d emphasised that the eggs had been scrambled in lots of butter, the mushrooms had been cooked in butter and that the toasted homemade sourdough had been spread with butter.

But the thing I found interesting was that I never get comments about the ‘unhealthiness’ of the sugary treats I post about like cakes, biscuits and scones.

As I commented in response, ‘sugar and carbs will get you before the butter.’

I hope you enjoyed my highlights for September. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to hear about my October food & drink.

All images © Moorlands Eater & not to be reproduced without permission