Page 44 - Phonebox Magazine April 2011

Come Dine With Me THAI PUMPKIN
SOUP from Sam
McCallum
Serves 4 - 6
1.5kg butternut or other pumpkin peeled, deseeded & diced
1 onion, sliced
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 lemon grass, bashed a little
3 tbsp Thai red curry paste (not oil based)
850ml hot vegetable stock
1 cup of desiccated coconut 500ml of skimmed milk
Juice of one lime
Artificial sweetener (if needed)
Place the pumpkin on a roasting tray, spray with oil and bake in oven set at 200c
for 30 min or
until soft.
Meanwhile,
place the
coconut in a
large bowl.
Warm the milk up till hot, then pour over the coconut to soak for 30 min. Pour the mixture into a fine sieve (pressing down the coconut with a wooden spoon) reserving the flavoured milk (will need 400ml).
Fry onion, ginger, lemongrass for 8 – 10 min in pan till soft. Stir in paste, followed by pumpkin, stock, coconut milk and simmering for 5 min.Take out lemongrass then blend. Season with salt, pepper, lime juice and sweetener to taste then serve with a swirl of any leftover milk and scatter with sliced red chilli (optional)
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April is The Soldiers’ Charity Big Curry fund raising event - the best excuse ever to visit any of our superb Indian restaurants around the area - bigcurry.org
phonebox FOODIE
Spoilt for choice?
Sometimes you have one of those months, a month where you bounce from restaurant to dining experience and back again. I love those months! I hope you enjoy the round up of a month in the life of a somewhat fatter and much poorer Foodie! Don’t you just love living here?
NEW TAPAS RESTAURANT IN OLNEY
We visited the newest restaurant in town on their second opening night. If truth be known we had a mixed experience, but we saw and tasted enough good stuff to give them the benefit of the doubt. Oddly, it is decorated more in the style of a posh English restaurant. But then, if they decked it out in traditional Spanish style we would be dining amongst tiles, stainless steel furnishings, flourescent lights, and a large, loud TV in the corner! We enjoyed albondigas (spanish meatballs in tomato sauce) which were perfectly spiced, rich and wholesome and their garlic mayonnaise was superb.We’ll be visiting again soon for a progress report.
JAZZ ON A PLATE
Monday night is jazz night at Cafe Brio, Market Square, Olney and it’s never better than when Melinda Lightfoot is on the floor. Adding to the pleasure of this lovely evening was a new specials menu - I tried the porcini mushroom pizza with white
wine and garlic sauce (no tomato).
Unusual, rich, but very tasty.
FINE DINING AT DONZELLA
By far the best value in town, Donzella offer a two course meal during the week for £11.50. Usually I can’t resist the steak, but for a change this time I tried the salmon which came stacked on top of a fish cake, with shredded vegetables and a lovely creamy sauce. It looked an absolute picture and tasted just as beautiful as it looked.
NEW BISTRO AT ROSE AND CROWN
The Rose and Crown in Yardley Hastings has had a bit of a makeover menu wise. We popped over to see what they had on offer for lunch. They don’t have a lunch menu as such, but offer two courses for £12 and were happy for us just to have a starter. It looks like they have different specials on everyday too. NB had the mussels in a creamy sauce and I chose sauteed mushrooms on ciabatta in a stilton sauce. Both meals were £5 and very tasty although my ciabatta was burnt on the bottom. They also do a nice range of bar nibbles for £2.50 including welsh rarebit, chorizo sausages and various nuts. Their garden has just been done up and I think this could become a regular sunny lunch stop.
IRON STEAK
We rarely eat outside Olney and Newport (why would we?) and even more rarely do I write about it, but an unusual cut of beef at the Embankment in Bedford is worth a mention. Iron steak from the shoulder (also called top blade) is a marbled fibrous cut packed with flavour. Cooked to perfection by the Embankment.
“There once was a Bell and a Bear
Put them together and you get dead good fayre The wine is robust
The beer is a must
Right here by the park, no compare!”
“There was an expat from Kuwait Who ate everything on his plate What’s this on my fork
I hope its not pork
Or Allah will get in a state”
44 Phonebox Magazine
ST PATRICK’S DAY
A quick trip over to the Bell and Bear at Emberton for a pint of Guinness to say goodbye to friends, turned into a lovely
evening meal when we spied the Irish specials for £7 a throw. Bacon and cabbage with potatoes and a cheese sauce, and traditional irish stew with soda bread. As always the food
was fantastic, somehow even basic pub grub turns into fine dining. And it’s not just the food that is getting noticed. The
pub recently won CAMRA’s pub of the season and was joint runner up for pub of the year. Their range of beers ciders and
lagers is superb. I recommend the Wolverton Cider made locally at Wolverton Mill. Tastes like pure apple juice, but be
careful, at 7% it may just take you by surprise!
The evening was concluded with a true irish limerick competition, a selection of the printable ones are printed here!
Loving the boards outside Bacchus wine merchant, Olney! Classic.