Recent Eats - the lockdown 2.0 edition

This post has been sitting in my drafts for a while. I started on it a couple of weeks ago, but kept losing heart. I would start a sentence and then drift off, only to find myself staring blankly at the screen.

It's been so long that the title now only just applies. We are, apparently, approaching the end of Lockdown 2.0 in England, although given that my area (along with many others) lurches straight into Tier 3, we probably won't really notice. 

Gah, I don't want to moan. I really don't want to moan when I am safe, my family are safe, I am gainfully employed, able to work from home and, delighted that someone (either the supermarket supply chain managers or the Great British Public, who knows?) seem to have learned the lessons of Lockdown 1. We have been able to get supermarket delivery slots throughout and last week, the shopping contained flour! Two types! So, you know, what's to complain about?

Still, (because it is my blog and if I can't be self indulgent here...) my mood has really plummeted this week. One of the first signs is when I struggle to read and I haven't (until last night) managed to pick up a book in days. I've watched quite a lot of Christmas films - and even a Christmas sitcom - on Netflix, which has been nice. But I've still found myself sitting in floods of tears for no reason whatsoever. It feels terribly selfish and not a little pathetic when so many people are experiencing real problems and real heartache but I think all of us have taken a bit of an emotional bashing recently. I'm missing my family and my friends terribly - I've seen my Mum and Dad once since March and my father in law once and, other than that, it's been D and the cat. 

Sorry - this all turned into a bit of a pity party. It was my original intention to write about what we've been cooking lately, not snivel into the ether. When I flicked back through my most recent photos, all I managed to find were pita breads and stew and dumplings, which makes for rather beige pictures (not that anyone is here for the food photography!)

Pita or pitta?

The pita breads are by Dan Lepard, and the recipe can be found online here as well as in his book "Short and Sweet". I am finding, more and more, that I turn to Lepard for baking queries and this book is an absolute godsend. His brief-knead-and-leave method of bread making is unconventional but works very well - I would certainly urge you to forever eschew the store bought pita and go for these instead. They are a leetle labour intensive, but well worth it (and, I can confirm, they freeze beautifully).

Stew and, more importantly, dumplings

The stew in question is my late mother in law's panacalty. Or, rather, our take on it. Corned beef, and chunks of root veg in oxtail soup (!) with suet dumplings on top. I make it slightly faffier than just bunging everything in a single pan - roasting off the veg for a bit of extra flavour, caramelising onions for sweetness, finishing with a little mustard. We also use D's homemade corned beef rather than the tinned stuff...altogether, it's a lovely, lovely thing. And very much of the North East. 

I'm sure that there are more things to share but I have bored on quite enough for one Friday afternoon. Sending huge love and virtual hugs out into Tinternet to everyone out there who is struggling, be it a little bit or a whole lot. I wish you all a weekend of good food, cat cuddles and Strictly (or whatever it is that makes your world feel a little less crap). 

Recipe corner: Carrot, apple and date muffins

Back when I used to work in an office (remember that time?) we had a Starbucks open just thirty seconds from the front door and, I must admit, initially the novelty factor was such that I was in there most mornings. And what better way to start the day with a milky coffee big enough to bath a kitten in, and a nice chunk of cake. For, let us be clear, we all know that the word muffin (in the non-English sense) is just a sneaky way to legitimise cake for breakfast.

I eventually managed to (more or less) ditch the Starbucks habit (although consumption used to creep up again around this time of year when the gingerbread lattes hit the store. I love a gingerbread latte, sickly as it is, and I love the announcement that the red cups are coming because - Christmas. But we won't go there yet). 

To return to the original thought - I eventually stopped the daily detour. And one of the things that helped break the habit is that they stopped doing two of the best muffins - apple and cinnamon and, for high days and holidays, "breakfast" muffins. I have only a limited idea what was in these latter but they were good - fruity and spicy with a sprinkle of seeds on top to indicate virtue.

I don't think these are quite the same, but they come pretty close. I don't generally eat breakfast much now - most of the time we do intermittent fasting to only eat between the hours of 12 and 8. (And yes, I realise that the first meal of the day is breakfast whatever time you choose to consume it, but I mean to say that I don't often eat breakfast type foods at noon.) However, a nice muffin is perfect with a cup of tea mid afternoon to get you through a sugar slump. This makes six decent sized muffins, but there is no reason why you could not miniaturise them if you felt so inclined. They contain some fruit and veg not to mention are partially made with wholemeal flour, so you can almost convince yourself that they're a health food - again, if you feel so inclined.

Ingredients

70g wholemeal flour

90g plain flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

Tsp mixed spice

50g soft brown sugar

Eating apple, peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks

Carrot, peeled and coarsely grated

50g chopped dates

150ml milk (I always use skimmed which works fine)

1 egg

55g butter

3 tsp demerara sugar

3 tsp pumpkin seeds (or similar)

Makes 6 muffins

Preheat your oven to 200 (180) fan and prep a tray - I use a silicon muffin tray which I brush very lightly with vegetable oil, but you could use a metal tray with paper liners,

Combine all the dried ingredients (flours, baking powder, spices, sugar) in a large bowl. Add in the apple, carrot and dates and mix well so they are thoroughly coated.

In a small jug or similar, melt the butter (I do this in the microwave for ease). Whisk in the milk (which will immediately cool the butter) and then the egg.  Pour this into the dried ingredients and stir to combine.

Seasoned bakers will know - you want the ingredients to be only just mixed - don't overwork. I tend to use a spatula to fold the wet ingredients in, rather than stirring with a spoon, and I find this helps. Fold through four or five times until you can't see much by way of dried flour anymore.

Put the mixture in the cases (it will fit although they will be full) and sprinkle over the demerara sugar and the seeds. Bake in the oven for around 35 minutes until a skewer comes out clean (it may take slightly longer - my oven is a beast).

Serve for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks. Cake is good at all times of the day.

Restaurant Inver, Strathlachlan

Before moving on to discuss our recent meal at Inver I first just have to say PARKIN. I currently have parkin in the oven, in readiness for Bonfire Night and have decided that it is officially the Best Smell in the World. Forget about baking bread or roasting chickens, this is what you want wafting from your kitchen when you invite people round. Of course, if I was an organised housefrau, I would have baked it at least a week ago so it had time to mature a little bit, but heigh ho. I am sure it will still be delicious.

Now, talking of lack of organisation, I am very annoyed at myself for not writing about Inver when we went in March of last year. It's an absolute little gem of a place which deserves to be better known (AND they served us a potato ice cream which was exciting enough to justify a post just by itself). Anyway. Better late than never, let me introduce you to a small but perfectly formed monument to modern Scottish cuisine.

The restaurant itself is situated on the shores of Loch Fyne and feels incredibly isolated, although if the roads are clear you are only an hour or so outside of Glasgow, and the town of Inveraray is not too far over the lway. But when you stand and look out over the waters, you could be a million miles from civilisation which is just how we, increasingly misanthropic as we age, like it.

Next door to the dining room, the owners have put up four shepherd bothies to allow guests to sleep over. We've stayed in two of the four and can report that they are extremely cosy and comfortable, with a slight Scandi feel to the decor, and floor to ceiling windows to allow dwellers to fully immerse themselves in the view.

The Scandi feel extends into the food served as well, and it did not come as a particular surprise to me to learn that the chef spent some time at Noma. That particular style of food - elegant, sparse, inextricably tied to the surrounding landscape - is becoming, if not ubiquitous, then certainly very prevalent in a lot of modern restaurants but when the cooking is on point, that is no bad thing. There's a lovely article on Great British Chefs that talks a little more about chef Pam Brunton's approach to food and her involvement with local suppliers and local produce. Certainly, the care she takes in sourcing her ingredients is repaid a thousand times over when you come to eat.

The highlight this time around was pheasant with apple and pear, which was an absolute masterclass in balancing sweet and savoury elements in a single dish. The breast was served with the veriest hint of blush, the leg was wrapped around sausage-meat with a little pheasant heart perched on top to add a kick of iron. Meanwhile, the buttery sourness of the apple and pear, alongside a crisp pastry, added both texture and the distinctively bittersweet notes of autumn. I must admit, I am not always a fan of fruit with meat but I couldn't get enough of it here. And, actually, one of the other showstopper moments was an amuse-bouche of duck with plum on a speculoos biscuit which, again, showed a flawless touch in harmonising ingredients of this sort.

Guests in the evening are served the tasting menu, which at £65 a head is pretty stupendous in terms of value. When we were staying, lockdown restrictions in Scotland meant that we were unable to drink wine with the meal but they did offer a juice accompaniment which D sampled and seemed to enjoy - particularly a coffee kombucha which came with the peppered doughnut dessert (and, fear not dear reader, we did manage to have some wine in the bothy before dinner).

The first time we went to Inver, I remember that as we drove away I told D that I had found my happy place, and I had a similar sense when we returned. It is not just the stunning landscape that surrounds it, or the quality of the food, but the ambience is absolutely second to none - warm and welcoming, a true haven. This year has been a particularly tough one for the hospitality industry, but I do hope that Inver weathers the storm and that we find ourselves there again soon. The world needs more Happy Places in it.

Inver

Strathlachlan

Strachur

Argyll & Bute

PA27 8BU

01369 860537

A brief escape

Usually, D and I manage to mistime everything but the gods were obviously smiling on us last week as we sneaked in a few glorious days in Scotland before the country heads back into lockdown. 

We've really toed the line this year, and have barely left the house, let alone ventured abroad. We had one night in Whitby back in September, and one lunch at our beloved Reliance a few weeks ago, and that's been pretty much it. Both of us are cautious by nature anyway, and given that we've been able to work fulltime from home, it seemed foolish to tempt fate in other ways. But, increasingly, we were getting cabin fever, and the opportunity to escape for a few days, in celebration of D's birthday, was just too good to pass up.

On Friday night, we dined at the wonderful restaurant, Inver. We first went last year and I can't see that I ever blogged about it - so I think it only fair to let it have its own post.

For the rest of the time, we mainly contented ourselves with eating glorious seafood. We were staying in a cottage on the shores of Loch Fyne, which is a name that may well be familiar to you from the restaurant chain. We went to the original Loch Fyne oyster bar and, well, you see for yourselves...

D loves a seafood platter and this one was incredibly good value, featuring a vast array of mussels, clams, langoustine, oysters, crab and lobster for £60. Me, I don't tend to go in for platters so much, but I couldn't resist sampling some oysters and it turns out that if you add a bit of smoked cheese and chilli sauce and whack them under the grill they are just as delicious, in their own way, as if you go for the naked-but-for-a-slick-of-shallot-vinaigrette version.

We spent a good few hours mooching round the little town on Inveraray which boasts not only a castle but an extremely interesting and well preserved jail and courtroom experience as well. In between learning about prisoners, and buying old fashioned sweets on the tiny high street, we repaired to the Brambles Cafe & Bistro, which did an excellent line in breakfasts and cake. In fact, D celebrated the day of his birth with a vast slab of apple and bramble pie, and wore an expression of unashamed glee throughout the consumption of the same.

It rained pretty much continuously, which, given the unremittingly gloomy news coming through, began to feel like pathetic fallacy. But then, on our last day there, the sun fought back and the most glorious rainbow appeared in the sky, soaring up over the grey expanse of loch. Which I take as a timely reminder of the Dolly Parton quotation - if you want that rainbow, you do have to put up with the rain. My goodness, but we've had some rain this year, haven't we? But there is still loveliness and beauty out there and I hope that all of us can hold onto that as we move into the darkest days of winter.