Waterdine Restaurant with Rooms

FOOD SNOB

FOOD SNOB Whilst browsing I came across this foody blog! I was fascinated by the treatment of wild foods in the two Michelin starred San Francisco restaurant COI. The photo is of  Nettle-ricotta cannelloni; wild mushrooms, oxalis flowers. Described by the reviewer as; A cannellono of nettle, crammed full of ricotta cheese, littered with yellow oxalis flowers, lay alongside sautéed chanterelle, hedgehog and trumpet mushrooms in blended green and brown swirls of nettle and mushroom jus. The nettle jelly wrap had a hint of pepper and hardier savour to spinach that balanced well with the soft, warm, savoury-sweet ricotta. The meaty mushrooms, ...

To be Organic or Not to be

As reported in the Times; a report commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has concluded that organic food has no more nutritional value than factory-farmed meat or fruit and vegetables grown using chemical fertilisers. Reading the article in the Times one is therefore asked to believe that the FSA report finds Organic food is no “healthier” than factory farmed or chemical fertilised food. However the frame of reference for this study excluded the effects of pesticide residue in food (This report does not address contaminant content (such as herbicide, pesticide and fungicide residues) and as more than one commenter mentioned “To ...

Champagne Mice and Alarms

  In the catering industry, as you know we sometimes get weeks when Murphy’s law comes very much to the fore,  if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong, and usually at the most inconvenient times. This has been just such a week, our problems really started last Sunday when we noticed that the drains were blocked, so that was a pleasant job for Isabel to accomplish, whilst I sorted out my work for Monday. This week I had to finish the accounts for the dreaded VAT, which had to be in the VAT office by Friday. Well finish is perhaps too ...

Tapas and Nightingales

Perhaps because I studied classical guitar I have always held an affinity with Spain and in particular that part called Andalusia which is the heart of Flamenco and the birthplace of Andres Segovia. We visited an area where the Tejeda and Almijara mountains tumble down to the Mediterranean, a land where in spring, the lilac blue Jacaranda the vermillion bougainvillea and the pink carpet of cornflowers enhance the olive green and sky blue backdrop with little  pools of brilliant colour. Drive inland away from the coast and you find yourself in a landscape dotted with little whitewashed villas and fincas strung ...

Rejected By Swallows

Rejected By Swallows: It was only after we had begun to demolish the old garage that Isabel remembered the Swallows which always nested in the rafters. What are they going to do this year?  just imagine how disappointed they are going to be after flying all those thousands of miles only to find that their homes has been destroyed, she said, as she headed out the door to ask Rob to please take the nests down with care. The intention being to put the nests back on the side of the lodge in the hope that the swallows would be prepared ...

Food Blogs

Links to Food and Travel Blogs

Isabel wants a Duck

Isabel has been on at me for about two weeks because she fancies duck for dinner, not just any old duck but an Aylesbury duck, now this believe it or not is quite a problem. Since George retired and his daughter moved into the new Ludlow Food Centre we have been unable to find a reasonably local duck producer, well reasonably local and reasonably priced to be more exact. The afore mentioned LFC does have some superb duck, but the price is likewise superb, too superb in fact to allow us a profit. Cathy, a local lady who does a ...

Courgette and Mint Soup

Courgette and Mint Soup Ingredients ·    500g courgettes diced (small). ·    1 medium onion peeled and diced ·    Olive Oil for frying onions. ·    Small bunch fresh mint. ·    125ml water or vegetable stock. Hot ·    Tablespoon double cream ·    Salt and pepper Method 1.    Heat oil in saucepan and fry onions until they are soft but not browned. 2.    Add courgettes. 3.    Soften the courgettes over a medium heat for about 5 minutes. 4.    Pour in the stock and bring to the boil, stirring frequently. 5.    Increase heat and boil rapidly for about 2 minutes 6.    Add ...

Spiced Organic Mutton

  Spiced Organic Mutton I got this leg from Welsh Farm Organics, it should be treated in exactly same way as ham i.e. cover with water add aromatics (vegetables herbs whole spices and a splash of white wine) bring to the simmer and cook slowly for about three hours. It can then be served hot with a mild Dijon mustard sauce some new potatoes and sliced beans perhaps, or as I did, allowed to cool completely in the stock then any fat scooped from the surface of the stock, the meat removed and diced, the stock which was very clear reduced, gelatine ...

Fly Fishing

    There is a nice head of wild brown trout and I believe some grayling, in the upper reaches of the River Teme above Knight on, other than the stretches running under the various bridges none of the other river stretches have been fished in recent years, so we have a free rising head of natural wild brownies right on our doorstep. These are not massive fish but when hooked they do tend to give a very good fight and the water is fast flowing and difficult,  with many areas of  ovherhanging branches, so this fishing is will not suite the amature ...

Fruit Compote

Raspberry and Blueberry Polenta Cake

Raspberry and Blueberry Polenta Cake Cake 125 gram unsalted butter, softened 225 gram castor sugar 3 large eggs 150 gram plain flour ½  teaspoon baking powder 125 gram fine polenta 60 gram ground almonds 70 gram plain yoghurt Rind of 1 lemon, grated Rind of 1 orange, grated 60 ml squeezed lemon juice Grease and line two 20-centimeter / 8-inch cake tin and preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F). In a medium bowl, whisk the butter and castor sugar together until pale. Continue whisking as you add the eggs one at a time. Add the yoghurt lemon zest ...

The Tardis an Octopus and the Bluebell

I am sure that the local people must have thought Dr Who had arrived in Llanfair and parked his time machine at the Waterdine. None of us had seen anything like it before, Rob who had seen several of its type, thought that it had possibly been made in Russia. I must say its photo did not do it credit, it was certainly a lot bigger in the flesh than any of us had imagined, probably because at the last moment I had opted for the bigger version, not realising exactly how much bigger it was going to turn out ...

Bumbles New Home

Bumbles New Home Winter 2006 If the males of the species visit the Waterdine, behind the gent’s loo door they will see a picture of  the local hunt gathering for a days hunting, the picture was taken I would guess some time around the late fifties  early sixties, in plain view is the old garage, which we belive was once the stables. When mother in law decided to sell up and move in with us, it was only on the condition that she had her own little home. Our first thought was to convert the garage, there are several firms that specialise in ...

Pam Nicks the best Birds

Pam Nicks the best Birds Whilst Pam’s lodge is being prepared she has moved in  the house with us, she has also commandeered the large cherry tree which is now festooned with her various bird feeders,, We have two sorts of woodpecker in the vicinity and it is the Greater Spotted Woodpecker which  has been visiting her feeders, but ignoring ours. It’s a very wary bird and always approaches the feeder by an indirect route, landing initially on one part of the cherry tree it gradually makes its approach by climbing along the back of the branches with occasional quick little ...