The Globe Troffers

Stag weekends aren’t usually famous for the culinary exploits and to be fair this one is no different. However, we did unearth a couple of local Geordie gems that were more than adequate for the soaking up of the copious quantities of alcohol that is par for the course for a night out in Newcastle.

At lunchtime we slid along in the snow to a cheeky little family Italian place in the centre of town - I have no idea what it was called nor would I even be able to find it again. All I do know is there was a two course lunch on offer for £6. Yep, six quid. And do you know what? It was absolutely perfect for whatt we needed - homemade soup and the garlickiest (is that a word) bread I’ve ever had, followed by two monster calzones. Including two bottles of servicable Venetian house merlot, the bill came to £33!! We nearly cried and kissed the waiter, but given he had a tattoo on his neck that said Mamma, we decided against.

After lunch it was on to the evening of carnage that was the stag do. Suffice it to say, I’m a little green on these matters and I don’t usually frequent bars that have a dentist’s chair actually on the bar, with punters paying for the privilege of a scantily clad dancer pouring shots down their necks whilst shaking their booty. Really.

The music was so loud it made my ears bleed and there was the customary scuffle with bouncers/run in with the law that seems to be part of the standard stag do agenda these days. Paul and I being two of the more mature members of the party excused ourselves realtively early, determined to try out a local curry house (frequented by Jackie Charlton’s sons no less).

What happened next was one of the best curries we’d ever had. The place didn’t have a licence and after a quick diversion into one of the scariest offies I’ve ever been in my life for some Cobra, we settled down to a cracking Indian meal. Taking the waiters recommendation for mains (special lamb and chicken) with the obligatory lamb chops to start, we were treated to a superbly fresh and vibrant exercise in how to do Indian food properly. It wasn’t super cheap (probably Akbars prices) but it was far superior (or maybe it was the Sailor Jerry’s talking).

I’m sure that Newcastle has a proper restaurant scene that’s well worth appraising further, but these two experiences were absolutely spot on and seriously contributed to the enjoyment of the weekend.

If we do come back however, I wouldn’t recommend the hotel we stayed at. Given it was one of the few hotels in Newcastle that accepts a group of 22 lads from West Yorkshire hell bent on booze, it wasn’t too bad. I did take umbridge though at the extra costs levied: Example: “£50 if you wet the bed”. Anyway the staff lived up the legendary geordie friendliness, so it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. It did have a rather impressive frontage…

The first lunch of my ‘extended period with no fixed job of work’ was spent in The Reliance in Leeds. And I can think of no finer place to spend it. It was an off-the-cuff affair (always the best, of course) and I met Mr Street for a quick pint and a bite.

I think Reliance is one of Leeds’ hidden gems. Situated just on the edge of the city on North Street, it has an unassuming frontage next door but one to one of Leeds’ legendary curry houses - Hansa’s. The atmosphere is chilled and laid back, with a bohemiam chic that is conducive to a relaxed approach to eating and drinking.

On this occasion, a pint of their own brew - ‘Reliance Bitter’ of course - and beer battered fish and chips were juts the ticket for a cold winter afternoon. The chips were advertised as twice fried and they were crisp on the outsided and fluffy inside. the mushy peas combined traditional mushed green marrowfat with garden peas and the accompanying tartare sauce was homemade, caper filled and zingy. On to the fish - a small but perfectly cooked piece of haddock was a joy. The batter was perfection, made with one of the bitters on offer (can’t quite remember which). Mr Street has a ciabatta chip butty which he declared spot-hittingly good.

Next time you’re around the top of Leeds, I would recommend at least a beer or two in Reliance and if you have the appetite and the time, stop by for some lunch. You’ll discover one of Leeds’ little treasures.

We decided to join some friends for a guaranteed white Christmas by having a week in the Austrian Tyrol town of Seefeld. How did we know the “great freeze” was about to start back home!

We flew into Innsbruck and the approach is amazing with the plane twisting and turning in between the mountains making it feel as if you could reach out and touch the snow covered peaks. Seefeld is 40 mins from Innsbruck nestled between the mountains on a high plateau, very beautiful.

 Anyhow this is a foodie blogsite not travel so we’ll start with the Alpen Park Hotel(part of the Karlschmidt Family Group) where we had opted for a half board package. The hotel facilities are just amazing, spa’s, pools, tennis,bowling and lots more but the restaurant was deceptive! On walking into the restaurant it appears just like a well presented big hotel food hall including the obligatory buffet. However breakfast was just fantastic with every type of local bread, eggs cooked in front of you in any which way, fruit juice squeezed as you watch, cold meats, cheeses, cereals galore, hot meats……………and Champagne!

Dinner was a four course affair every night except Christmas Eve when it was 8 courses(Austrians celebrate the main feast on Christmas Eve) and Christmas day was ONLY 6 courses. If a picture speaks a thousand words the feast your eyes;

The holiday period was a bit of a confusing blur with all the days merging into one and on top of this, a few of us headed down to Cornwall for the New Year. As usual, it was all absolutely brilliant and we are ll truly blessed to enjoy the lives that we have.

I thought a little photographic round up might be in order as Christmas Eve seems ages ago and the piccies will jog the old memory into action.

First up, home made sausage rolls inspired by Delia’s peerless Christmas bible. These were quickly hoovered up by the descending hordes and it all nearly went Pete Tong when we’d not had enough to eat and plenty to drink too. I’m not usually good with baking (I leave it to J - she’s much better than me and far tidier of course) but they turned out pretty good. Delia rocks.

J returned to the house pre Christmas to discover this magnificent brace of Pheasant on the front door handle. We knew this could only be the work of our good farmer-friend Jonathan and after a call was made, it was indeed the case. I planned to cook these for lunch on Christmas Eve, but the afternoon rather ran away with itself as the the snow fell in the morning and friends arrived in the afternoon. In fact the birds were plucked and drawn in the garage by a gang of little helpers (children, not elves) and we ate them for supper. I find them hard to gauge and as much as I try to keep them pink and moist, they were a little dry - note to self, don’t drink industrial quantities of G&T prior to cooking Pheasant.

The Christmas day turkey, resplendent. This year, I was slightly disappointed with the breast (not as moist as last year’s wallet busting organic bronze I have to say), but the legs were good and I’m a leg man.

I think I’ve just invented a new term that perfectly sums me up - Gravy Geek. Everything but the kitchen sink went into the gravy this year and was it worth it? Oh yes. And there was gallons of it too, a savoury and sweet nectar that saved the turkey from the dreaded announcement for around the table “it’s a bit, well, dry”

These roasties got more TLC than my first child did, I can tell you. I tended them like new born lamb and boy did they deliver - crisp and sweet on the outer and floury and light on the inside.

Moving on to Cornwall, we spent a few evenings in the deeply comforting Blue Bar in Porthtowan. In the summer, it’s surfer heaven and the door are open and it’s simply cool and laid back. The winter brings a different vibe - hunkered down in the twilight whilst the waves batter the shore, all that was needed was a pint of Tribute from St Austell Brewery. We’ve been going there for so long it seems like a home from home to us.

Finally we paid our annual visit to Fifteen Cornwall. It’s a long way to go for lunch if you live in Yorkshire (and it would be worth it) but if you’re in Cornwall at any point,I would say that you would be a ridiculous fool not to eat there. It’s not super expensive at lunch time (dinner has the more expensive tasting menu on) and there’s a three course fixed price lunch at £26 that is immense value given the quality of the produce and the cooking.

J nearly manhandled my plate of potted crab off me and it was only the fact her chowder (below) was so delicious, it took her mind off the fact she wasn’t having the crab for once.

I don’t normally go for boring soup, but I would have made an exception in this case.

Pan fried scallops and belly pork on a bed of puy lentils. Hello!!?? This was truly fabulous (surf, turf etc) and J nicked half of it on the basis she had lost her mind and ordered the wrong dish (see below). She knew exactly what she was doing - but it didn’t matter, I had won by ordering the most delish dish on the menu. No contest.

This Porchetta was gorgeous - but you know what? I’d stick out my neck and say that I think mine is better! It lacked the spice and kick of the true Porchetta we’ve had in Tuscany and the version I’ve done. But obviously, I don’t have to cook for 500 people on a lunchtime, so I’ll let them off. It was still great though.

Last Sunday evening saw a full Troffer complement attend the annual Harvey Nichols Carol Evening in the Victoria Quarter in Leeds.

It was a big hit last year, so we decided to repeat the event this year and it really is special. This time of the year, the VQ does look fab and by candlelight it looks even better. After a pre dinner pint in Whitelocks (Ilkley Best, from The Ilkley Brewery) we headed over to Harvey Nicks.

The VQ is closed to the general public and a ‘professional choir’ do their bit whilst a light supper is served of breads, broth and mince pies. All very pleasant. I was glad to see the restaurant in the arcade full of fellow revellers enjoying the atmospheric evening.

The food was of the high standard we’ve come to expect from the HN restaurant - and although this wasn’t strictly a ‘full’ dinner, the chicken broth was excellent. Harvey Nicks Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Malbec were sampled - happy days.

I tried a new feature on my iphone that stitches together images to create a panorama - I thought this might be a nice way to get the atmosphere of a lovely evening across.

I’ve been road testing a few new recipes from the River Cottage Everyday book (put it on your Christmas list)

First up is the slow roasted shoulder of lamb cooked with Merguez spices, which I can highly recommend. This is a perfect dinner party dish that you bung in the oven early in the day then forget about it for around 6 hours. What comes out the other end is meltingly tender meat that is nicely spiced on the outside and beautifully moist lamb. We cooked this for some friends recently and finished it off with a limited but exceptional cheeseboard from Anthony’s Fromagerie.

Whilst I was in Bentleys in Pudsey, I spied a brace of Pheasant that really did look too good to miss out on.

I unwrapped them from their plastic to prevent them sweating and they kept happily in the fridge for a few days. These babies provided a lovely midweek treat. I pot roasted them, coverered to keep them moist, threw in potatoes, celery and smoked bacon. Simple and delicious. I think this recipe came from Nigel Slater’s unassailable Kitchen Diaries. This book is always good for those quick, seasonal suppers and always has a recipe that fits the mood or unusual ingredients.

Winter has properly set in. The relentless gloom of this the shortest days of the year drive us all indoors to seek the comfort of food, friends and fires.

We’d heard about the full rib Sunday roast on offer at The Cross Keys and decided it was a suitable way to while away a winter afternoon. The Cross keys has appeared a number of times on this blog and I make no apologies for its reappearance in the context of what I believe to be the best traditional Sunday lunch experience in a restaurant for a long time.

Almost a full Troffer contingent gathered to worship at the altar of that king of roasts - forerib of beef. If you’ve never tried it, you must waste no time (Bentleys of Pudsey is a good butcher for a start) and I guarantee that you’ll never turn back to silverside *shudder*. Anyway, for £95 you get a full roast joint which you carve yourself, stacks of roast potatoes, veg and gravy. It would easily feed 10 people - there were only 8 of us, but we’re greedy and there was still some left over.

Good local beers were on offer (a particularly toasty brew from Saltaire) and the wine list was great value with a young Rioja delivering plenty of fruit to combat the beefyness of the main course.

It was an old fashioned, traditional and long lunch that saw us dining into the darkness of the early evening and then we wandered up into the city to explore the German market and enjoy a chilly outdoor digestif at Casa Mia. Perfect.

We travelled over to York last weekend for a relaxed afternoon of pre Christmas shopping and a well overdue day trip. We used the train and it was top tip number one - looking at the hordes that crammed into the city, I don’t think you’d be parking a car anytime soon. Plus it was altogether more relaxed and we’d be able to enjoy a nice lunch without worrying about who was going to drive.

Having to battle through crowds of Christmas shoppers isn’t conducive to a relaxed afternoon, so we soon decamped to The Blue Bicycle for lunch. I was told we were lucky to get in there but we took our chances and they had a table for two, so were were sorted! I omitted to take any photographs, so apologies for that - but I can confirm that we had a very agreeable lunch and managed to polish off a couple of bottles of a quite accepatble Chardonnay in the process.

Starters were a mixed bag - Julie’s veggie potato cake things were a bit lacking in the promised coriander bite and my belly pork and cod cheek was an adventurous failure: the individual elements were a success but together, they didn’t quite work. Mains were excellent - I had the sea bass on a bed of spring onion risotto (portions were very generous too) which worked very well. Julie had the same and was equally please with her choice: the combination of sea bass and risotto offering the kind of glamorous comfort food that we enjoy so much. We skipped dessert (although I quite fancied one, Julie insisted we’d eaten and drunk far too much already) and readied ourselves for the crowds once more.

All in all, The Blue Bicycle is a very pleasant lunch experience (and I expect dinner’s pretty good too). There’s an informal atmosphere, friendly staff, efficient and speedy service too. The prices not overly excessive either for city centre York where the tourist Dollar or Yen rules and the wine list was pretty good value. Although this city centre restaurant clearly caters for the out of town diner, it clearly serves the locals well too and it’s good to see a small, successful independent restaurant continuing to do so well.

This ‘traditional’ pub has actually only been open a few years as it’s part of the regeneration and creation of ‘Holbeck Urban Village’. I was told by the developers that part of the planning deal for the entire mixed use development, it had to include a old fashioned pub.

Well it was certainly a good move.

The Cross Keys is a welcome break from ’style bars’ and is an enjoyably authentic place for a few beers after work or a longer session with food thrown in for good measure. A couple of weekends ago, the boy and I were in town for  few cheeky ones and decided to meet J&L for a light lunch and a beer or two.

The corned beef hash came highly recommended - so it had to be that washed down with a few pints of ‘Night Screamer’ (or something similar). The portions were very generous and it was a great value lunch - the price is definitely right in The Cross Keys.

After our visit to the Pheasant/Star Inn with Pat and Tony we drove to Whitby via Pickering. Whitby is slowly changing and Tony had spotted a possibility for accomodation if the Globetroffers decided on a group outing to Whitby. Reported in the Yorkshire Post “The Albany Hotel” looked quite classy and for a group, paricularly out of season, very good value. However finding it became a lost treasure hunt even after much walking, not having the address and a goose chase advised by the local tourist board didn’t help. On a positive note we saw a part of Whitby that is both elegant and quiet,  just a stones throw from the harbour front!

We would not be true Globetroffers if we hadn’t have popped into a restaurant and as P&T had never quite managed to get to the renowned Greens we decided to call in for a light lunch. We were the only one’s in but Chris the very helpful waiter did advise booking for evenings as it a popular establishment even out of season.

Their signature dish is Chilli battered squid so T and G had starter portions, the girls opted for starter portions of Moules Mariniere. All I that needs to be said is WE ARE OFF BACK and recommend everyone else should.

Blackboard menu, hung York Hams(for sale), wood and stainless steel very French Brasserie nice ambience.

A glass each of Suavignon for P&T and Rose for D.

D,T,P&G