by Cedric | Apr 23, 2018 | Food and Drink, General
What can I say about Birtelli’s? The satanist recommended it to me. He and I were in Leamington one evening on nefarious business when we were struck by pangs of debilitating hunger. What could sate our stomachs? As in most cases: pizza.
On nearby Clarendon Avenue, we found the tried and tasted haven that is Britelli’s. I had an in depth conversation with the pizzaoilo about the gluten content associated with the 00 flour he uses for the dough. Now assured about the authenticity of Chef’s recipe, I ordered my Margarita. One must always order margherita when trying out a new pizzeria. If they pass the margherita test, you can be certain everything else on the menu will either match the standard set or surpass it. You’ll be pleased to know that Birtelli’s passed the test with flying colours.
On my next visit, I ordered two pizzas. The first can be seen in this post’s ‘featured image’. The Aubrey Allen Cornish Spring Lamb pizza was, frankly, inspired. Whoever thought putting lamb on a pizza with strips of onion would work so well? It doesn’t feel right putting lamb on a pizza but for some reason it was extra delectable here.
Above is the Mackenzies Yorkshire Smokehouse chicken, with sweetcorn and Sun-blushed tomatoes. Again, I would never stoop to putting chicken on a pizza, even if the chicken is from my own home, Yorkshire. And yet, this combination was a sensation. I’ve spoken at length about how irate mozzarella grate makes me, but here it worked to boost the flavour of its fellow ingredients. The crust is thin and crunchy as it should be. The toppings are of the highest quality sourced locally in Britain.
The level of service I have received in Birtelli’s is consistently excellent. From the staff on the phone to the shop tenders and finally the delivery boy. The whole operation is highly skilled in customer service and it makes all the difference.
Next time you’re feeling peckish for a slice of pizza or six, choose Birtelli’s. Satisfaction guaranteed.
by Cedric | Apr 20, 2018 | Food and Drink, General
From whichever direction one enters Stockton proper, 12 Harland Place cannot be avoided.
Far be it from me to suggest this is a negative, quite the opposite. I had the pleasure of eating here in August. It is a convenient distance from Newcastle, where I, then, resided. With my sister’s birthday coinciding with an influx of free time – I made my way to Northumbria from Warwickshire.
The family met in this idyllic village and celebrated my sister’s 20th birthday. A momentous occasion indeed.
We started with some cheesy garlic pizza for the table. I have eaten pizza from here before so had high expectations.
This pizza generally satisfies, but this one had a little extra something which made it more delectable. Not true pizza by any means but still delicious.
I feasted on Parpadelle Pollo funghi. A grand combination of c
Next up was Mother’s goats cheese and red onion marmalade pizza. Conceptually viable but poorly executed. The pizza was over cooked and the ingredients did nothing to counteract the dryness of the crust. It was gag-worthy, but not in the pleasantly surprising way. (For all the beastly people out there, that was a reference to RuPaul’s Drag Race, nothing crass.)
My sister’s white truffle and wild mushroom risotto felt right. I would say the grains were a little under cooked. It was just short of being optimal but on the whole a delight to eat. Just the right lightness of flavour from white truffles mixed with the earthy nutty tones of organic wild mushrooms.
Finally, we moved onto dessert. Banoffee cheesecake; salted caramel cheesecake and blueberry cake. All homemade, all home runs. Excellent all round. The salted caramel cheesecake is better shared between two. It can be overwhelming in excessive quantities.
I’ve been somewhat critical of this restaurant’s cooking timing but honestly, 12 Harland Place is a delight. The staff are friendly and attentive as well as efficient. The decor is well thought through and maintained to a high standard. The location is lovely and the food is not too expensive.
My family & I had a great time, and so too shall you.
by Cedric | Apr 17, 2018 | General, Recipes
It has been a while since I published one of my recipes. Perhaps it is the realisation that I have neglected finishing my recipe book (Fabulous Food for the Famished Student). Perhaps because I have become addicted to peeled Italian plum tomato soup and cannot find an angle to make it seem appetising. Regardless of my reasoning, here for you is the recipe for my Easter Sunday Roast Lamb.
Of course you may consume it any other Sunday you like. The title is not meant to be blasphemous so much as celebratory. Easter is a time of joy and unity. It is also one of the most highly celebrated events on any Catholic’s calendar. A time where one is reminded of sacrifice and the nature of goodness. One is kind to their neighbour on Easter Sunday. It is almost a shame that Easter cannot occur every Sunday.
I designed this dish to emulate the Garden of Eden. Setting the lamb on a (hidden)bed of carrots. I surrounded it by a sea of cannellini beans. Amid them were trees of brocolli with sliced onions from the lamb gravy I made on them to denote fruit. The forbidden fruit lays at the foot one of these trees, partially quartered. I should have thought to include two stalks of thyme as Adam and Eve. Nobody’s perfect.
Ingredients:
-1.5kg lamb shoulder, with the bone taken out; put back in and sewn up with a butcher’s knot. Your local butcher will know what to do.
– 400g cannellini beans, preferably fresh.
– A large bunch of broccoli
– 3 British carrots, peeled and diced.
– one red onion
– Fresh garlic cloves, halved
– Fresh rosemary
For stock:
– one white onion chopped finely (to make lamb stock)
– Some lamb bones with a little meat and fat still attached to them (to make the stock)
– white cooking wine
– 500ml water
– salt and pepper to taste
For overnight glaze:
– Two tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
– one teaspoon dijon mustard
– two garlic cloves, crushed
– juice of half a lemon
– Fresh chopped parsley and oregano
– Salt & Pepper to taste
Method:
Firstly you’ll need to soak your fresh cannellini beans overnight. Then boil them for ten minutes. Drain and set aside.
Next, combine the ingredients for the glaze and mix them together in a bowl. Pour over the lamb shoulder in a dish, cover and leave overnight. Preferably outside of the fridge if you have room.
Next make the lamb stock, fry the onions in a little oil until they are soft. Then add the water; bones and white wine. If you’re impatient, you can combine a tablespoon of cornflour with water and add it to the mix. Bring this to the boil. Cover and leave to simmer for 3 hours. Or two if you’re willing to sacrifice flavour to save time.
Take out the lamb when you’re ready for the grand finale. Stab little holes in it and put one half of garlic and a sprig of rosemary in each crevice.
Place the carrots diagonally in a corner of your baking dish. Lay the marinated, perforated lamb on top of them and cover the rest of the space in the beans. Place your trees of broccoli around as you prefer. Quarter your red onion but don’t slice all the way through. Leave 1mm space for it to unfold beautifully. Pour over your lamb stock.
Cover with tin foil and cook for 1.5 hours at 190 degrees centigrade.
Goes Well With:
Cotswold potatoes roasted in goose fat.
Balsamic asparagus stalks.
Homemade garlic mayonnaise
by Cedric | Apr 14, 2018 | Food and Drink, General
My grandmother made a spontaneous decision to come to Warwick with me after I drove to Yorkshire to celebrate my sister’s 20th. I felt duty bound to take her to my favourite tearooms in Warwick town: Oken Tearooms.
Built 500 years ago by Thomas Oken as his then home, this tea house stands firm. Anyone who has read this blog knows I have an unreasonable weakness for aged oak beams. Oken have them as far as the eye can see.
I wish I could show you the divine cakes found therein but my grandmother and I ate them too quickly. I can only say of the carrot cake that it was prepared to perfection. Soft but not to the point of crumbling. Cream filling rich but not past the bounds of taste. In all, a true British treat.
Quaint would be an understatement. Oken Tearooms embody and exude Britishness.
The Oken cream teas are the stuff of legend. As is the crockery team’s choice of fine china. What extraordinarily adept craftsmanship. What delicate shading. That’s to say nothing of the details on the ceramic-embedded table (pictured below).
But something in this tearoom which set them apart from others is that they sell alcohol. Do not adjust your spectacles, they do indeed sell booze. I have enjoyed many a cider here. Not all in one visit, mind. Alcohol does not feature in my roster of addictions. All their alcohol, to the best of my knowledge, is locally sourced. I laud most highly businesses which support the local economy.
In summation, Oken Tearooms provides nourishment as exquisite as the service one receives from the charming waitresses. I recommend it for those of you longing for a touch of forgotten British glamour. The place has an enigmatic charm which never fails to impress me.
by Cedric | Apr 8, 2018 | Food and Drink, General
It’s the day after Mothering Sunday 2018. I have driven four hours to see my mother. Having rested the night, my stomach clamoured for breakfast. I call my sister, who lives 10 minutes away. “Go to Earnest and take me with you”. I’m paraphrasing of course.
So off we went. Grace (my car); Mother; my sister and I arrived in what can only be described as a developing neighbourhood. Tall grey apartment complexes which had replaced a myriad of paint factories surrounded us as we were seated in Earnest.
The bar itself was an oasis in the desert. Beautifully decorated. Sparse yet ornate in a way. There are red supporting pillars abounding. There is a generous selection of alcohol and a wide variety of art on the wall. Encased in an oblong glass panel running alongside one wall is a complete set of collectable Star Wars figurines.
I order my breakfast: a Chorizo and Halloumi Hash Bowl (featured image). Mother takes Eggs Ernesto with Smoked Salmon as opposed to halloumi (pictured below). My sister, in her millennial wisdom, decided to have something called “avo toast”. Likely for a catchy hash tag on one of the innumerable social platforms which people disseminate their every move on today. Like this blog, for example.
My portion was enormous and reflective of the price. Value for money if ever I saw it. And let me tell you, the combination of chorizo and halloumi is nothing less than inspired. I make the same observation as I did at En Diagonal in Barcelona: there is such a thing as too many potatoes. They’re extremely filling and lead to what we call “wastage” when you have to throw away half the food. However I will say that I have rarely seen so pretty a poached egg. Cooked just right.
My mother and sister too enjoyed their meals. I can’t give an in depth analysis of either because a) I deplore of millennial trends like “avo toast” where more value is ascribed to how succinct and Instagram-friendly the title of the dish is, rather than focusing on quality of food or appropriate portion sizes. And, b) I’m extremely apprehensive of eating fish in this country. However I will say they photographed very well.
On finishing my delicious breakfast, I moseyed around the back of the bar. There I found some delightful artwork on the wall from local art company Dove Illustrations. Reminiscent of early 2000AD comics, this really impressed me. I will have to invest in one before long. And so too should you.
The back room was covered by wonderful illustrations such as the one pictured to the left.
In all, this was a delightful surprising experience. Proving the mantra of not judging books by their cover. While this may be in a questionable area of Newcastle for those of us brought up in conservative (small C) households, it is most certainly worth a visit.
Just don’t order the porridge. Nobody should have to pay $5.50 for oats and warm milk.
