A Field Trip and Learning Experience: How Eating Out Can Improve Your Eating In

No dinner for two again last week as SD took me away for the weekend. That isn?t to say we didn?t eat but we certainly did not cook.

We hadn?t seen each other for two weeks when we met up in Stratford-Upon-Avon. This is about mid-way between where we each live. Well near enough to half way where there was some place interesting and picturesque.

SD grew up in the area and it was great being chauffeured around and gawking at all the sites. On Friday night he treated me to a special dinner at Lambs of Sheep Street. (BTW Lambs isn't paying me for this or anything)

I know that this is not quite on topic as I have not done any of the cooking but I think it provides a very good lesson: Simple, fresh ingredients that have been properly cooked, gracefully presented, and served in an inviting atmosphere can create a special and elegant meal. It does not need to be expensive or fiddly or out of season.

This is something that, with this project, I want to learn how to do better. To look at fairly plain and inexpensive raw materials and turn them into something exceptional through good planning, timing, and execution. It all takes practice.

H'or d'oeuvres

They started us off with some ciabatta melba toast and tapenade. A lovely little taster that whet our appetites.

Appetisers

Me: Deep Fried Goat?s Cheese with Beetroot Puree

Ok, not too adventurous but I love goats cheese and hardly ever have it. I also NEVER deep fry anything. For one person or ten I think it is just too messy and dangerous and unhealthy. So this was a real treat for me. Cooked to just the right semi liquid consistency it was not greasy at all. Loved the beetroot puree. Its sharp coolness cut through the richness of the cheese.

SD: Pan seared scallops with sweet corn puree and ham.

He was more adventurous with all his choices. But I thought he was going lick his plate with this one! Scallops are one of my favourite foods but are so difficult to cook properly. One of those things you just get a feel for.

Entrees

Me: Roast Duck breast with potato croquets and Savoy cabbage and bacon

The duck was pink, tender, and tasty. Cooked just right! You cannot go wrong with Savoy cabbage in season with bacon. The trick with cabbage, as with duck and scallops, is that you are better off with it being slightly underdone than risk it being over done. I love potato croquettes. They were lovely and squishy and not greasy. Another deep fried treat!
SD: Monkfish with chick pea and spinach curry.

I was sceptical. Monkfish is lovely. It has a very delicate flavour and putting it with curry seemed a bit wrong to me but it worked really well. The curry was very mild and the texture of the chick peas and their nuttiness complimented the fish.

If you have never had monkfish it is the best of both lobster and halibut. It has a robust white flesh like halibut but the texture is more like lobster and it has that sweeter taste distinctive to crustacean meat. SD?s fish was just grilled and then laid on the curry. No messing around with marinades or sauces. Monkfish can stand on its own.

Dessert

Me: Sticky Toffee Pudding

Had to have a sweet and this was warm and rich. Couldn?t finish it. SD said it was quite like something called Parkin which is a regional food from the north of England similar to gingerbread cake. It most definitely had molasses in it. Despite being in the UK for almost nine years this was actually the first time I had tried this traditional English dessert. Don?t know if I would have it again. Not because it was not good but because a hot rich dense cake is not one of my favourite things in general. But as I was there and it was on the menu I wanted to try it at least once!

SD: didn?t have a sweet and finished off with an ounce of very good scotch. (Glenmorangie)

For wine SD ordered the Fleurie La Chapelle de Bois, a Beaujolais with flavours of soft red fruits. It was mellow and light and went well with the duck and goats cheese and was strong enough to withstand the curry.

Service was great and the atmosphere was warm, intimate, and elegant with out being uptight and pretentious. The staff were friendly, efficient, and unobtrusive.

I am NOT a food expert, but even if the food had been more complicated or incorporated expensive hard-to-get ingredients it could not have been any better.

Truffles can?t save you if you burn the sauce and the single drop of 100 year old vintage balsamic vinegar placed at exactly the centre of the plate perpendicular to the three grains of Sahara desert cultivated rice cannot disguise a tough over cooked scallop. Likewise the perfectly cooked fillet of Kobe beef is still just steak if you are sitting in a draft and you can?t get the waiter?s attention to bring you the ketchup.

It was a lovely night out and a great learning experience. I am inspired to persevere with my experiment and I hope you will keep joining in with me.