croissant bread and butter pudding

Croissants left over from breakfast and too dry to eat?

Mix eggs and milk - add a little sugar.

Grease dish and break croissants up and place in.

Add eggs and milk mix.

Bake in oven 180 celsius for around thirty minutes or until golden.

Serve with English custard.

kokob, brussels, belgium

Over to Brussels, Brugge and Gent in Belgium for a short break via the Eurostar train.

Cor, a buzzin', busy few days that took in the European Parliament, the strange urinating statue that Japanese tourists love to photograph so much (Mannekin-pis), the Great War battlefields, cycling through Flanders countryside and a Flemish bagpipe rock band in Gent. And generous tastings of Belgian beer.

And meals out in another European country. How did they cope with vegetarians?

Well, as you would expect, Brussels did best with the outstanding Ethiopian restaurant Kokob.

Meals are served on a millet pancake. Lentils, crumbly cheese, tofu, aubergine curry and salad and rice. More of the millet pancakes rolled and ready to dab in. Plenty more in dishes on the side.

Dessert was a delicious chocolate cake. Then coffees. I completely forget the Belgian beer I drank but do remember that the music of Jan Garbarek featured which always improves a dining ambiance.

The exchange rate makes dining out and drinking in Belgium hugely costly these days. For example a cup of tea cost £3.00. Ouch - for a man whose motto is 'Every Pound a Prisoner' this was a punishing week. But this restaurant was special.

Kokob recommended!

Benton's Brasserie, Heathcote Street, Nottingham

Due to kitchen refurb/demolition we are having to eat out at friends or at favourite restaurants at the moment. Great hardship!

So, to Benton's Brasserie on Heathcote Street Nottingham last night.
Benton's is one of those places that we return to. We are fans. Julian Benton and his team were having to go pretty fast to meet the huge demand tonight. There was hardly a spare seat in the house.

Today I chose a pleasant sweet pepper, sweet corn and spring onion cake with chilli and tomato salsa. Nothing to knock my hat off, here, but enjoyable none-the-less.

Then onto a tasty butternut squash, pine nut and rocket risotto with Parmesan biscuits. Creamy, flavoursome risotto - and the parmesan biscuit was a tangy delight.

Benton's don't do a real ale on draught (my only gripe) so I had a couple of cool pints of stella.

We took advantage of the special offer and so paid only £9.00 per head for drinks and a two course meal in Nottingham Centre. Quality and value.

Benton's - we'll be back!

moulin inn, pitlochrie, scotland

Visits to wonderful Scotland were blighted, years ago, by awful food and terrible beer. The culture has not changed radically, but there are now nuggets of gold, waiting to be panned. or plated. Hurrah, for the Moulin Inn. It brews it's own excellent beer and serves excellent food to everyone, including vegetarians!

The pub was very busy on a Saturday night, but the staff quickly found our party of six a table.

And facing us was a beagle type dog. Too many pubs and restaurants exclude dogs in my view. This one did not really want to be there, but I wanted to see him!

Anyway, onto the food. My choice was 'Mushroom Pancakes'. Okay, the pancakes were crepes, but they were tasty. The 'salad' that came with the meal was a throwback to those other days. A small pile of chopped cress does not constitute a salad!Then onto a bread and butter pudding for afters. My favourite!

This was a fun and busy place and I intend to go again on my next visit to the Scottish highlands.

'Are you still a vegetarian?' Came the question this week.
And the question was prompted by my not posting on this blog for ages.

Well, the answer is that I am still a vegetarian, and still eating out, but just such a busy time at work that I'm not getting time to blog.

To keep you up to date:
Last night......
Tamatangas, Trinity Square, Nottingham: .....is the new Wagamamas and still enjoying it. Vegetable Thali and nice little cheesecake for dessert was £9.00 excluding drinks and tip. That's not bad for Nottingham centre. I could live on dall and naan.

At a pre-wedding celebration and took my share of wearing his pimps hat. I think that red is my colour!

creme, stapleford, nottingham

Incongruously, an elegant restaurant set in prosaic Stapleford, Nottingham.

But Creme restaurant is worth a visit.

The decor is modern and stylish. The service is excellent.

Two vegetarians and a coeliac turned up and the staff couldn't have been more helpful. A special menu for the nobbly vegetable and each option was mouth-watering.

My choice was soup and homemade roll followed by a delicious butternut squash strudel that resembled the Stonehenge monoliths.... then a spectacular desert that looked like a mad science experiment. I half expected to be catapulted back to the future as I entered it! But it was gorgeous.

Peroni lager and then a delicious cappuccino.

Thirty pounds a head and then tip.

Expensive - but I'll be back.

La Capanna, Nottingham

Everyone has their own favourite Italian restaurant. We've got used to La Capanna in Sherwood Nottingham. It's been going for years and has maintained impressive consistency of quality over all that time.

For vegetarians there is always a good choice and it is always served piping hot. My dad's crtierion for a good meal!

My starter was a delicious mushrooms stuffed with spinach and served in a rich tomato sauce.

My main course was a spicy pasta.

Go there. You won't be disappointed.

eating out in derry and county londonderry

When I visited Belfast three or so years ago, I was very disappointed by the choice and quality of restaurants. I wasn't even vegetarian then! Was it the old Presbyterian ethic that if it's fun, it shouldn't be done at work?

How would Derry and County Londonderry compare now that I was a weirdo and in an area in which tourism may not be well developed?

It's brilliant!!!!!!!

Flaming Jacks in Derry is a lively young place offering good value but not with reduced quality. I had a nice crunchy caesar salad followed by vegetable fajitas. Fast, friendly service.
Two courses for £11! Beer extra.
With this price and quality - highly recommended.



Next night we sought out La Sosta, Carlisle Road in Derry. Described to us as authentically Italian, we were not disappointed. The ambience was gentle, in contrast to Flaming Jacks and the food was excellent.
My starter was marrowfat pea and asparagus risotto. Creamy and the addition of the marrowfat peas (a favourite) made it a little different. My main course was ravioli . Beautifully presented and tasted superb. Friendly and attentive service.
Two courses plus Peroni lager £25.
Recommended.
But was is more than twice as good as Flaming Jacks?

Then, as a finale, over to The Lime Tree at Limavaddy. Here we get serious about food. Three courses - mushroom soup was okay, but then onto two real delights. My main course was a spinach and sun dried tomato roulade with beautifully cooked vegetables. The acid test of a good restaurant can be measured by the quality of vegetables presented and the quality of the bread brought to table. The vegetables were just right, I liked the cauliflower in a light batter and the lyonnaise potato was excellent. And the wheaten soda bread was gorgeous. You know I like good bread! Then onto a wonderful seville orange sponge and vanilla pod custard. I was now officially in heaven.

It was great to meet owners Stanley and Maria who clearly have a mission to bring great, locally sourced food to this corner of County Londonderry.

Three courses and Stella Artois lager £26.

I love The Lime Tree and would recomend anyone in County Londonderry or Armargh to go out of their way to visit.

derry soda bread

>
Just back from Derry, Northern Ireland: a 'must visit' place.

Each culture has its own bread tradition and in Ireland, the soda bread tradition is strong.

Soda breads are not made with yeasts but with bicarbonate of soda as the raising agent. The bread has a distinctly different texture and flavour. One real advantage of soda bread is that the mixture is immediately placed in the oven without the time needed to 'prove' yeast doughs.

I just had to go into this wonderful small bakers and bought this large fruit scone and ate it without butter.

The other pictured loaf is a wheaten bread - the traditional soda bread made with a mixture of white and brown flours and buttermilk raised with bicarbonate of soda.

Since I changed the template for this blog, I've lost the code for the tracking data. Is there anyone out there?!

dumb waiter?

At The Lakeside, for mum's 80th birthday.

I had a vine tomato and pepper soup followed by an open lasagne. The lasagne was tasty but too stuffed with sun dried tomatoes for my taste. Tomato soup followed by sun dried tomatoes. My face was becoming florid by the end of the meal.
And this left me wondering about the lost art of waiting at table.

There was a time, I am led to believe, when front of house carried as much status as cooking. It was a profession to be honoured, with its own skills. The waiter's advice was sought after and he had status.

In modern times, those who wait at table merely take orders and bring and collect dishes. They have become little more than the culinary equivalent of shelf-stackers.

Why didn't my waiter advise me that both dishes were heavy on the tomatoes? It could be, of course, that I absolutely live for tomatoes and want them with every course. It is, after all, a free country, and who are we to sniff at such tomatoholics who wish to indulge their scarlet passion?

There are many more people for whom tomatoes followed by tomatoes would be too many tomatoes and I find myself in that constituency.

So, bring back the waiter.

Tesco Butternut and cranberry roasts

I know what you're thinking. I'm thinking it too.

"What can I buy from the supermarket to feed my hungry vegetarian"?

Well, in this post I won't tell you what you can buy, but I'll tell you what you must, most certainly, never, ever buy... That is Tesco Butternut and cranberry roasts. 'Mixed vegetable patties with pumpkin and sunflower seeds flavoured with maple syrup'.

The box shows an appealing concoction. If I were less of a drongo I would have photographed what the actual thing looked like as it was placed on my plate.

Imagine a slice of some bland, grey extrusion. It looked and tasted just so.

But then I examined the packaging.. and this is where Tesco have been very clever. Nowhere could I find this described as food. I made the mistake of eating it.

tamatangas, corner house, nottingham

Off to see Pete Docherty (late of The Libertines and Babyshambles) at Rock City, Nottingham on Wednesday. Last time I was at Rock City (to see Dawn Trader) I suffered a collapsed lung. Oh, happy times..

Warmed up with first visit to Tamatangas. It is a city fast food place based on the Wagamamas noodle bar formula.

Let me report (lest previous posts have suggested that a curmudgeon is emerging from the caterpillar of positivity that is me) that I loved Tomatangas.

Staff excellent and helpful.

I had a vegetable thali and it was great! Usual rice, chick peas, dhall, paneer, bits of poppadom, bhaji etc..... with glass of fizzy lager total cost £11.00 per head with Gourmet card discount.

Will be coming back. Wagamamas - sit up!

Docherty - loved by the exuberant, bodysurfing, beer throwing crowd. Libertines and Babyshambles stuff received with delight, lost pace with some songs from new cd. But, nice one Pete.

the hemlockstone, wollaton, nottingham

We all have off days. I certainly do. The poor old Hemlock Stone in Wollaton certainly did on Monday.

First impressions are promising. Cask marque bitter and pleasing decor. But this quickly became a case of 'fur coat, no knickers' as we would coarsely put it in Nottingham.

I know I sound like the customer from hell here - but really, the service at this place was atrocious.

Here goes.........

I started with a pint of Adnams Southwold bitter. At this cask marque pub I expected a good pint. This was tired and lacked life.

Mum and dad are now in their eighties and so we had asked for a table away from any large parties if possible. Background noise from large parties sometimes spoils their enjoyment. In the otherwise empty pub we were placed next to a party of ten.

My soup of the day was leek and potato. Who put the strong cheese in it?? What was that strange note that lingered in the palate? My guess was that cream had been added that was past its best. It had to go back - I couldn't bear another spoonful after the third.

Then onto a tomato pasta. This was pasta its best by some time. The pasta was overcooked and amorphous, the tomato sauce a strange gloop ... and it came to the table dressed with Parmesan without them asking if I wanted it.

Others found their new potatoes sauteed or no vegetables offered.

Then they gave us the bill for the party of ten.....

Then they changed the bill but still tried to charge us for the soups that had been sent back.

£10 for a poor main course and a pint of flat bitter. Get me back to the Caunton Beck.

Avoid this place.

are they taking the ...?

Back to the Caunton Beck for another try at their delicious menu. You may remember that last time I didn't get round to working out the cost. I did this time and it hit me like a train.

But before that...

My starter was a cream of onion soup with rosemary. Nothing special there, in fact our own roasted butternut squash soup with homemade white bread with sunflower and pumpkin seeds at lunch was its equal, at least.

Then onto a pithivier. I did complain that our chefs are giving us the same each time we unfold the serviette - but not this time. My choice was almost unpronounceable to some in the party. In case you are new to the pithivier world, mine was a beautifully presented flaky pastry base with roasted peppers and mozzarella cheese. It came with mashed potato, new potatoes and vegetables. Bravo Mr Chef! Although rather dry and didn't knock my tonsils back with taste, (I'm a northern boy and like my dinners moist!) it was a change.

My dessert was a posh variation on ice cream and cake. The Caunton Beck is one of these smart places that offers a complementary wine with each menu choice. Peter gets me up to all sorts of mischief and we had a complementary dessert wine. Quite what we chose to accompany our dessert I haven't a clue. But it was very good.

But then came the sting. Are you ready for this??

Understand that I also had two pints of excellent Castle Rock Golden Pale bitter... Others had wine or hogsheads of beer ........ but the cost with tip was a staggering £40.00 per head!! I wish I was an expert at HTML and could make that figure flash in neon colours accompanied by a klaxon. The cost of the meals without drinks was averaged at £27.50, although actual cost of veggie main courses would bring this down a bit.

Enter the Caunton Beck with care and not too thirsty, unwary diners...!

I pass the test...........

In November 2007 I crossed to the dark side and became vegetarian.
I wondered then how long this would last and whether I would be able to pass the ultimate test: a visit to the famous Magpie Cafe in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England.

The Magpie is known throughout the land as the place to get the best fish and chips. Believe me when I tell you that their fish is gorgeous. Would I be able to visit and not eat the fish?????

I visited The Magpie on Wednesday and here I am with chips and mushy peas. No fish.