Tag: The Culbone

The latest from Exmoor4all

We have been busy…

The Exmoor Food Fest preparations are gathering pace.  We have just signed off a campaign on The Breeze starting on 4 January 2016 to shout out about a month long celebration of the best our region has to offer.  

Participating restaurants will be offering two courses for £10.00/ three courses for £15.00, and we are finalising exciting events which include gin tasting, oyster and champagne feasts, evenings with local authors, dining experiences in unusual locations and so much more.

The Dunster Food Festival, which is taking over the whole of Dunster at the end of February, is going to be foodie heaven.

Fingers crossed we will be able to give you all the details about the Gourmet Trains which will be run by West Somerset Railway in February – all we can say at the moment is that award winning chefs will be cooking on these trains.

The website www.exmoorfoodfest.com will be updated regularly – please keep checking it out for the latest information.

The Exmoor Food Fest (or Exmoor4all for that matter) does not receive any official funding. Without the generous help from Arthur David –  Food with Service we would  not be able to run this food festival. 

Thank you all for your ongoing support!

PS You can subscribe to our newsletter here – that way you will not miss out on any updates.

***

Here are some of our upcoming events:

1£30.00 per person (incl. two course dinner)

The Beatles and The Stones – The two bands that have defined popular music were often pitted against one another during the Sixties.
Richard Havers, who has written extensively about both bands and worked for them on various projects, delves into their enduring appeal and unravels some of the mystery as to what makes them so timeless. With music and photographs.

Tickets are available from The Culbone: Call 01643 862259

Exmoor on a Plate: Oysters & Champage

3More details coming soon…. It will be a great opportunity to taste Porlock Oysters. Make sure you don’t miss out and book your place now.

Call 01643 862259 (The Culbone)

“Barn Food” with Claire’s Kitchen

2An amazing meal in very unusual surroundings, that’s Claire’s Kitchen’s pop-up restaurant in one of the medieval barns at the Exmoor Owl & Hawk Centre in Allerford on 10 February. Tickets are selling fast – don’t leave it too late.  Click here to book your place.

Photo of the Week

04 Dec Bob Cowlard

Early November morning. Photo by Bob Cowlard.

Date for the Diary: An Evening with Richard Havers, 21 January 2016

Tales by the Fire:  An Evening with Richard Havers

21 January 2016,  7pm at The Culbone

“It’s all Rock’n Roll: The Beatles and The Stones”

£30.00 per person
(incl. two-course menu and canapés on arrival)

The Beatles and The Stones – The two bands that have defined popular music were often pitted against one another during the Sixties.
Richard Havers, who has written extensively about both bands and worked for them on various projects, delves into their enduring appeal and unravels some of the mystery as to what makes them so timeless. With music and photographs.

Canapés

Butternut squash and baby spinach fritters
with cucumber and turmeric yoghurt 

Home cured salmon gravadlax bilinis with lemon jelly and dill

Smoked venison loin crostini with fresh horseradish and cress

Mains

Devon red beef shin stew with smoked bacon, kale colcannon and truffle oil

Pan fried sea trout fillet with purple sprouting, brown shrimps, crushed new potatoes and lemon dill butter

Stuffed butternut squash with wild mushroom, Devon blue, hazelnut and   baby leafs and parsnip crisps

Desserts

Somerset apple and ginger crumble with stem ginger ice cream

Sticky toffee pudding with Devon clotted cream and toffee sauce 

Styles ice cream selection

Richard Havers

Writer and jazz producer Richard Havers

Writer and jazz producer Richard Havers

Richard spent twenty years working in the airline industry before deciding to pursue his passion for music. He worked advertising, writing and producing over 2,000 ads and jingles. He has written and produced in-flight radio shows, launched Turkey’s first commercial radio station, and produced concerts for artists that includes, Paul McCartney, The Beach Boys, Chicago and America. 

His books about music include, Bill Wyman’s Blues Odyssey, which won the Blues Foundation’s Award For Literature in 2002. Richard wrote, co-directed and produced the Peabody Award nominated TV series based upon the book. He has co-authored Rolling with the Stones (2003), and The Stones – A History in Cartoons (2006) with Bill Wyman and written The Stones in the Park (2009) about the band’s pivotal 1969 concert, as well as The Rolling Stones – In The Beginning (2006) a book by Danish photographer, Bent Rej. He compiled and edited Rolling Stones 50, the band’s official anniversary book in 2012. His other music related titles include, My Take (2006), Gary Barlow’s autobiography, Bowie, Bolan & The Brooklyn Boy (2007), legendary record producer Tony Visconti’s autobiography, Woodstock – 3 days of peace and music (2009), Jazz – The Golden Era (2008), Blues  – The Golden Era, (2008) Rock ‘n’ Roll – The Golden Era (2008), The Beatles – The Days of Their Lives (2010), and Read’s Musical Recitor (2004). His biography, Sinatra (2004), according to Marella Fostrup on BBC Radio 4, “Stands out as one of the best books ever written about Frank Sinatra.

His most recent books are Verve – The Sound of America, the 2013 book on the American record label. Uncompromising Expression, that tells the story of 75 years of Blue Note Records was published in November 2014.

His other books include Here Is The News, about the BBC in World War II, Treasure Island, Airline Confidential, Pop!, When Football was Football (nominated for illustrated Sports Book of the Year 2008), Dreamboats & Petticoats – Music & Life in Pre Beatles Britain, Titanic – History As It Happened, When Britain Went To War, Better Late Than Never, Len Goodman’s autobiography, Len Goodman’s Lost London (2013) and Len Goodman’s Dancing Round Britain (2014). He has also co-written As Much As I Can (2010) – The life of film and stage director, Peter Glenville.

His articles have appeared in The Daily Telegraph, The Times, Goldmine and Record Collector; he also appears regularly on radio and occasionally on TV, usually talking about music. He has produced box sets Universal Music, including, 100 Years of the Blues, as well as Satchmo: Louis Armstrong – Ambassador of Jazz (10 CD box set and 200 page illustrated biography), Ella – The Voice of Jazz, Verve – The Sound of America, Blue Note’s Uncompromising Expression and a 10 CD career retrospective of Nat King Cole in 2015. He has written numerous sleeve notes and books to accompany album and DVD releases, including many for The Rolling Stones and in 2015 wrote the historical notes for The Beatles 1+ DVD rand CD reissue. He is Universal Music’s jazz consultant and Editor-in-Chief of Universal Music’s online music marketing site – udiscovermusic.com 

BOOKING ESSENTIAL

Tickets are available from The Culbone – Please call 01643 862259

NewsFlash: Pips Fish Opens in Minehead 9 July

Basic CMYK

 

New restaurant & takeaway promotes fresh and sustainable seafood menu

 

Pips Fish (www.PipsFish.co.uk) a brand new fish & chip restaurant from the team behind award-winning The Culbone, opens its doors just in time for the summer season in Minehead on Thursday 11 July. This exciting new 36 seat licensed restaurant and takeaway at 35, The Avenue fulfils a long-held dream of Executive Head Chef Jack Scarterfield who is determined to share his passion for fresh and sustainable sea food.

 

“The seafood available in the South west is excellent,” says Scarterfield, a Somerset lad whose experience in London and Thailand and famous restaurant group Fishworks has already stood him in good stead during themed Seafood Nights and Cookery master- classes at The Culbone. “We have done our research and will be able to offer a great choice of top quality fresh fish all from sustainable and responsible sources. Our Bass and Bream are farmed locally from the sea to the plate in hours, succulent Scallops come from Lyme Bay, and fresh Squid, Sole, Pollack, Whiting, Mullet and John Dory (to name but a few) come from the Brixham day boats. Cod and Haddock will arrive from Norway – the only MSC approved sustainable fishing grounds at the moment. And our smoked fish (salmon, haddock, sprats and eels) is to be cured and smoked by Jacqui of local company El Pescadero.”

 

All the battered takeaway fish will be coated in Jack’s Exmoor Ale batter and fried in a flavoursome oil which can be enjoyed by all. The Team carried out an extensive local survey to ask whether Pips Fish should use oil or beef dripping and the response was overwhelmingly in favour of the oil.

 

Listening to their customers is something that The Culbone team do very well and has already contributed to the success of Exmoor’s highest restaurant with rooms. “Very early on we created Pips Club at The Culbone to encourage local people to get involved with the business,” says General Manager Mark Sanders. “We now have over 1,200 members and their suggestions have been invaluable to us. In return we make sure that they get to hear first about our very best special offers and new ventures.”

 

Mark is committed to keeping it local and Pips Fish will be supporting the RNLI service and the essential work they do by donating 10p from every purchase of local fish to the Minehead station. They will also be supporting Minehead Cricket Club and Bowling Club with annual sponsorship. A new team of talented young people from Minehead and Watchet are being trained up to staff the premises.

 

The restaurant site has been completely refurbished and a new skylight added which will provide a light and airy interior. The décor has been influenced by the clean blue and white designs of the Brixham Fish market which sells some of the finest fish in the UK. There are 36 seats inside and 32 outside where those ordering from the takeaway service are welcome to use. The restaurant and takeaway will be open from 9 July onwards Tuesdays to Saturdays 12 noon – 10pm and on Sundays 12 noon to 5pm.

 

Pips Fish, 35 The Avenue, Minehead, TA24 5AY www.pipsfish.com 01643 708353 (Taking bookings from 24th June)

 

 

Date for the Diary: Join us for dinner and support North Devon Hedgehog Rescue

Charity Dinner 

in support of North Devon Hedgehog Rescue on 28 April 2013 

3 courses for £30.00

Poster

Starters

Crisp fried Somerset Brie with wild leaves and red onion jam

Hot smoked Salmon Salad with candy beetroot and horseradish cream

Devilled Exmoor Lamb Kidneys with cayenne and Devon cream

Mains

Homemade Gnocchi with roasted peppers, stewed cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and baby basilhoglets 007

Whole roasted Lemon Sole with new potato champ and brown shrimp butter


Whole roasted Poussin with sweet potato chips, gremolata and aioli

Dessert

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Somerset clotted cream and toffee sauce

Panacotta with local berries

Styles Ice Cream selection

Recipe: Roasted ray wing with black butter, capers and parsley

This is another recipe of Jack Scarterfield, Chef at The CulboneJack Scarterfield

“This is one of my all-time favourites . I first saw this dish cooked by rick stein around 20 years ago, it inspired me to cook fresh fish and have done ever since!”

 

Serves 2

Ray700g ray wing skinned cut into 2 pieces your fish monger will don this for you

(Also known as skate)

100g salted butter must be salted

50g capers rinsed of any salt

1 table spoon of chopped parsley

Salt and pepperCapers

50ml red wine vinegar

1 lemon

olive oil for frying

 

Method

Heat a non stick frying pan on medium to hot heat, season fish with salt and pepper.

Add oil to the pan just enough to coat the bottom. Heat until lightly smoking, add fish thick side first (this will be the presentation side) and fry until golden brown (do not shake pan or if stuck just leave it for a further minute) – turn fish and fry again using same method.

Transfer to an oven proof tray and roast for 4/5 minutes depending on the thickness. Check if your fish is cooked (take a small knife and drop through the thickest part of the fish – if the knife goes through the bone in the middle it’s cooked).

For the sauce, heat butter in small pan on high heat until dark brown (not black), add vinegar, capers and chopped parsley .

Pour sauce over fish and enjoy!

I  like to serve serve this with mash and sautéed spinach

logo

Recipe: Goulash Hungarian Style

Norbert Dobos, one of the chefs at The Culbone, has kindly provided us with this recipe.

paprika schoteServes 4-6

Ingredients: 500 g beef shin cut into small cubes, 1-2 onion diced , 1 spoonful oil, 1 spoonful Hungarian paprika, 2 clove of garlic crushed, 1 teaspoon of caraway seed , black pepper, salt, 1-3 bay leaf, 1-2 carrot diced, 1 Hungarian green pepper (zöldpaprika) diced, 2 tomatoes finely chopped, celery leaf, parsley chopped, 1-2 parsnip diced, 3-4 potatoes diced,200ml beef stock

1. Add a good splash of oil to a large pan and gently saute the onions, garlic and pepper until softened. Add the beef and continue to cook until the meat is browned and the vegetables are cooked. Stir in the paprika and cook for 2 more minutes (be careful with a paprika do not burn it), then add 200ml of the beef stock. Bring to the boil and cook until reduced by half. Add the parsley,celery leaf, caraway seeds, the tomatoes and season well.
2. Add enough stock to cover and simmer until the meat and vegetables are tender, about 1½–2 hours. Add the potatoes,carrot,parsnip plus any remaining stock and a little water if it’s looking too dry, and simmer until the vegetables are cooked. Serve fresh bread,or if you like  with hot chili pepper  (dried or sauce).

Note: The best way of this dish when make it outdoor, in three legged hanging stew-pot, over fire.(bogracs)

200px-Gulyas080PS: If you like Goulash, but prefer if somebody else cooks it for you, then come to The Culbone tonight, 26 February, for their Hungarian Night. More info on the website.

Recipe: Pheasant Chowder

Serves 8

Ingredients

4 whole breasts of pheasant

250g diced pancetta

1 whole onion

3 carrots

3 cloves of garlic

thyme/parsley

rosemary

1 tbs English mustard

1tbs Worcester sauce

600ml double cream

Method

In thick based smoking hot pan start to caramelise pancetta, until a golden colour.

Add diced onion, grated carrots, chopped garlic and all the herbs.

When the onion is nicely coloured and tender, add diced pheasant breasts.

5 minutes after adding the pheasant add a splash of Worcester sauce, together with the mustard.

Following this you need to add the double cream and cook no longer than 20 minutes.

Served best with a fried (Duck, Quail or Chicken) egg, with some nicely toasted sour dough bread.

Absolute Exmoor perfection!

Thanks to Jakub from The Culbone to let us have this recipe!

 

Newsflash from The Culbone

logo

“We were nominated for a “Rural Oscar” by some of our Pips Club Members, for this years prestigious Countryside Alliance Awards. I’m thrilled to tell you that we have been crowned – South West of England Champions 2012 (start up category). We are through to the National Final, March 13th where we will proudly represent Exmoor. It is incredibly rewarding to be recognised for celebrating the very best of Exmoor. ”

 

 

Recipe: Venison Carpaccio with foraged wild mushrooms, wild leaves and black truffle cream

Serves 4venison

1 whole fillet of venison well-trimmed

200g wild mushroom (brush off any dirt)

2 table spoons crème fraiche

1 black truffle half thinly sliced and half grated

200g washed wild salad leaves

1 table spoon olive oil

1 tea spoon white truffle oil

Salt and pepper

Method

Heat a dry non-stick frying pan for 2 mins until you can see smoke coming off the pan.

Brush the venison fillet with olive oil, salt and pepper, sear the fillet in the pan, rolling it around to seal in all the juices and set to one side.wild20mushroom

Sauté the mushrooms in olive oil for 2 mins until golden and sweet.
trufflesMix the grated truffle with crème fraiche.

To serve take a large board or platter, thinly slice the venison and lay down in no particular order, scatter over the mushrooms and the wild leaves .

Dress the dish with the truffle crème fraiche, sea salt,pepper and truffle oil

* * *

Jack Scarterfield, Executive Chef at The Culbone, kindly provided this recipe.  If you’d rather sit down to a prepared meal instead of slaving over a hot stove, then book a table at Exmoor’s highest restaurant with rooms. You can also join Jack at his Exmoor Cookery School.

Coockery School