Cornershop Cake

OK. Picture this. The weather is dreadful. There is snow and we are not talking about the sort of downfall that makes you dream of lightly dusted picture perfect mince pies. This is the triple iced grotty stuff, bane of the commuter and the sort of barrier to travel that means that anyone who would even consider going further than the corner shop is clearly deranged.

The day is long, the sky overcast and you need cake to while away the hours before dinner. Cue a recipe for the lazy foodie.



Ingredients
Tin of peaches (or pears, or any tinned fruit knocking around in the cupboard)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
125gr unsalted butter
125gr caster sugar
2 large eggs
125gr sieved self-raising flour

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Grease and lightly flour your ovenproof dish.
Dump the fruit into the bowl and space it out evenly.
Beat together the butter, caster sugar and eggs until light and fluffy. Add the flour and mix thoroughly. If the mixture is a little dry, add some of the fruit juice from the tin and then spread over the fruit. Bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve with any of hot custard, ice-cream or creme fraiche. Whatever you eat it with make sure a large steaming mug of tea is involved.

The above takes all of ten minutes if you have a hand mixer so this leaves you time to flick through your latest copy of Olive, watch Nigel Slater on Iplayer or update your food blog.

With apologies for the poorly lit cake piccies and thanks for the recipe inspiration - adapted from Jamie Olivers "Sheila's Pud".

Murray's

Every so often you watch the Soprano's or the Godfather and you wish you had an authentic Italian restaurant using lemons flown in from Amalfi, vegetables that have been chosen and handled with care and a cracking regional wine list. Well, I have yet to find one, since I live in the fair county of Essex, but if you live near to Weston Super Mare then this restaurant must be visited.

Murray's is principally a delicatessen featuring outstanding Italian produce and the restaurant a few shops down is supplied by them. The Murray family took over this much loved restaurant, then called Olives, seven years ago and renamed it. It is here I was first introduced to wine from Cantine Giacomo Ascheri of Bra, the sort of outstanding local producer whose products they specialise in stocking. The family influence is also about to get interesting as they have recently bought Bordeaux Quay in Bristol so watch out for some interesting changes.

The service is polite in a relaxed local restaurant kind of way, the menu simple, but the output heartwarming and consistent. Canneloni comprised small gently spiced tomato rich mince sausages wrapped in light pasta sheets and a drizzle of melted mozzarella. The pear tart was authentically served with a small glass of Moscato D'Asti, the apple tart pastry was crisp and topped with delightfully crunchy Amaretto biscuits.

The foodies obvious choice for an Italian in the area may be the starred Casamia in Westbury-on-Trym but we were left so satisfied the alternative may have to wait. After all, I haven't made it through to the end of the wine list yet.

Gaucho Grill

I confess the steak bug has not so much bitten as tied a big serviette round its neck and sat down at the dinner table. Gaucho is the daddy of all London steak restaurants and is so succesful it is now a chain owned by a private equity company. The look has not changed. Cow hide covers the walls, the Argentine Parillada feel is maintained by its almost exclusive focus on its main dish and the wine list is primarily Argentinian, a little expensive but helpfully colour coded for those who find the task of choosing stressful rather than a pleasure.

Lighting is still an issue bought on by the heavy wood and shuttered windows. On my first visit some years ago I nearly fell down the stairs it was so dark and every visit since has reminded me why every man can find at least one use for the keyring torch he received last christmas.

Steaks are laid out on a board and introduced at the table. Service is good and the atmosphere is almost exclusively male, enthusiastic and focused on the ubiquitous steak though there is a fair selection of menu choice that differs from the star of the show.

The star in question is excellent. Juicy, a little charred, well tenderised and enthusiastically seasoned before hitting the grill. This is not fine dining, it is civilised carniverosity.

Maze Grill

The cold weather has left me with a primal carnivorous streak which just won't go away so steak has featured large in my diet of late. Medium Rare with chips and a glass of wine, it may be one of the best meals of all time. Now despite what you'd imagine, you can go wrong with steak and chips and a little extra money well spent goes a long way. Take Maze Grill for example. Jason Atherton may have gone the way of most Gordon's protege's, sprinting out of the door whilst the Ramsey empire collapses behind them like an ancient temple from an Indiana Jones sequel but I don't think the lack of a name chef will cause too much pain here.

The meat is displayed on a board that is bought to the table and discussed and no-one is upset if you stick to the set, a fine 3 course set lunch for £21 that usually includes onglet and chips with a solid starter (recently a rather luscious cassoulet) and a decent dessert.

If however you go the whole hog (or cow in this case), a rather larger portion can be yours for the going rate you will pay at any of the restaurants contemporaries.

The formula still works well, a simple grill menu in a slightly habitatish beige room in Mayfair. Service is polite, the wine list and markup is everything you would expect and the lack of trendiness makes for an ideal regular haunt rather than a grand event. The cooking is both good and consistent with a buzzy atmosphere. I last visited in July and looking back I see I was just as enthusiastic. Whilst Goodmans and Hawksmoor with their Josper grills may have stealed something of a march on them, this NY steakhouse inspired eaterie keeps me coming back time and time again. To paraphrase 'ol blue eyes, "A restaurant so good I blogged it twice".

Nicolas - Canary Wharf

Well a refurbishment has had little effect on the decor here but something made a difference because this bargain basic bistro wine bar was packed on a recent Wednesday evening. An enterprising staffer, surely on commission, had packed a dozen well dressed city ladies into a space roughly the size of one of their shoe cupboards and was yelling her way through a tutored wine tasting over the din of clattering plates and clinking wine bottles. It is run by Nicolas, the off license chain which stocks it's resolutely Francophile range and insists on displaying its limited global wine offerings, paltry as they are, in amusingly hard to find corners of their stores. This is perhaps no surprise given it is a French company but it must be the only wine retailer in the UK whose Australian wine range consists of a whole three bottles (count 'em!) and they are all Yellow Tail. Still, each to their own and we have to thank them for this outpost which is a combination wine bar and off license which allows you to select a bottle which is then carried into the wine bar and opened for you. This means no markup on whatever you drink. The menu to accompany this is strictly local french bar fare such as Charcuterie, toasted sandwiches and Duck Cassoulet. Not fine dining but solid and a hearty accompaniment to anything you happen to pluck from the shelves which is the real attraction because although the French seem to be intent on committing Claret infanticide, the selection of fine wine covers an area that is not served by high street chains.



Waiters were polite though slightly stunned by the sheer quantity of customers and we plumped for a reliable bottle of Louis Latour Macon to wash down our starters allowing us the budget to indulge a little on a bottle to marry with our Lamb Shanks. Phelan Segur is a well respected St Estephe Chateau famous for its current owners choice to pull all of the 1983 - 1985 vintages from sale when quality did not meet he standards he aspired to. On the nose, smoke blackcurrant, raspberry, mineral and dried herbs, Medium-bodied, with well-integrated tannins but lacking the complexity of a recent half bottle of the 2004. This is serious Cru Borgouis Claret and at £40 a bottle a relative steal in central London.

Jazz Food

Jazz Food is, I'm afraid to say unlike Soulfood. There is no rich culture of beans, grits or chittlins stewed to perfection. It is, unfortunately, the thoughtless, tasteless, overseasoned and overpriced fare you are required to put yourself through in exchange for the pleasure of sitting down to live music. With due respect to the history of the daddy of them all, even a complete revamp of the menu failed to elevate Ronnie's above the level of identikit airport food. My last burger there could have met the salt intake requirements of a small country for the day, though I was distracted by rivers of grease that flooded out of my bun and onto my trousers. The band was great though.

Now though, I can tell you all about an exception to the rule. Hideaway in Streatham has the benefit of investment by someone who has clearly been to New York Jazz clubs. The entrance is funky, the bar is long and well lit, and wonder of wonders the food is decent. A warm salad of squid, pepper and tomato was well presented and seasoned. Steak was juicy and tender with a little deglazed jus on top and banana pie vanquished the pastry pangs whilst going easy on the sugar.

Oh, and the band was great

Le Figieur de San Esprit

Tucked into the medieval heart of Antibes is an olive scented slice of Provence. Two dining rooms surround a small kitchen visible through a webcam and large plasma screen on the wall. This gives you the novel entertainment of hearing your orders called out and seeing the team leap into action. The second of these rooms is a memorable cobbled courtyard screened with a translucent roof that bathes the diners in light so that all the atmosphere of dining outdoors can be enjoyed with all the benefits of shelter.

We tried a fillet of Dorade with courgette, girolles, Trompettes de Mort and cherry tomatoes cooked entirely correctly and served with a vinegairrete. Pork loin was moist and tender with wonderfully delicate gnocchi, mushrooms and fig.

The dessert left us on something of a sugar high for several hours and included a lavendar creme brûlée, three chocolate gâteau, lemon sorbet, tarte tatin and fig dressed in balsamic vinegar.

All of the above excellent value on the weekday set lunch. The food here is excellent and demonstrates what can achieved with regional ingredients, sympathetic cookery and a striking setting.

Read em and weep

One of the luxuries of a holiday is rolling out of bed and continuing to read the book you laid down the night before. This is why a bag full of them always accompanies me abroad and also why, in the same way that I can rarely finish all the cheese I select in a restaurant, one or two always return unread. I like to think of this as a literary form of Darwinian evolution. The selections from this holiday’s culling process are all wine related. In true vinious tradition this flight of literature is reviewed from lightest to heaviest.

Bacchus and Me – Jay Mcinerney

A light hearted and genuinely funny trip through the literary vineyards culled from Jay Mcinerneys House and Garden wine column, this is an easy but enjoyable read.
Whilst many of the extract s follow the tried and tested methods of a thousand word essay on a grape or region, his observation is never less than readable and his similes range from the chuckle inducing to the laugh out loud.
Above all he makes wine fun, with a welter of literary references and shorthand rules for the enthusiast, he covers the agony and ecstacy of finding good Pinot and the overbearing annoyance of snooty sommeliers. Encouragingly global in his outlook he includes the Northern and Southern hemisphere, with a generous helping of US wines.
Aside from a comment about the dominance of Sancerre and the up and coming New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, this decade old book doesn’t date and will go down well with a glass of Burgundy, or Claret, or... well, pick a chapter and try whatever he recommends.

Confessions of a Wine Lover Jancis Robinson

Though a subscriber to her website I had never read this biography so I was keen to find out more about someone who over time has become the doyenne of British Wine Writing.
Her career in journalism mirrors the transformation of both the trade and the U.K’s appreciation of wine and it is these changes that shape her career and success. She recounts the elimination of common wine faults through technological advances, rise of supermarket buying power, emergence of California, Australia, Chile and Parker. Her description of the Hardy Rodenstock dinners is also interesting given that it would be some years before strong evidence of his forgeries were confirmed.
Self aggrandisement is nonexistent whilst her boundless enthusiasm for wine wherever it may be found which, along with her self deprecation and descriptions of palatial dinners sometimes make you forget her achievements. This consummate professional edited or wrote over a dozen books including the Oxford Encyclopedia of wine, presented most of the successful wine related television series of the eighties and early nineties and continues to win awards.
I read her journalism because her principle take on wine is that first and foremost it should be a pleasure. Her book is also one.

Noble Rot - William Echikson

Echikson, a professional journalist weaves a story of family discord at Chateau D’Yquem against the backdrop of an industry largely composed of family owned firms transformed by the increasing demand for quality over volume, competition from the Southern Hemisphere and the painful but inevitable acceptance of change in vinification bought about by science and progress.
All of the key figures in the Bordeaux story are captured. Mouton Rothschild represents the right bank first growths and Cheval Blanc the left. Michel Rolland speaks for the flying winemaker whilst the Garagistes are painted as a catalyst for change. The experience of a struggling cooperative in the Entre dex Meurs region is included to serve as a reminder that by volume Bordeaux represents merely acceptable quality wine in vast quantities.
Robert Parker’s influence is, of course, featured but on this topic it would be nice to see an opinion backed by insight. Most wine fans know of the pro’s and cons of the Parkerisation of wines but most readers don’t have the intimate knowledge of the wines over time to form our own view nor the industry insight.
Well written and nicely paced with a balanced view , the book was published after the Bordeaux bubble in the years 2001 – 2002. It is interesting to observe the concern expressed over inflated first growth prices by merchants in the context of the ebullient 2005 and 2009 campaigns. Plus ca change perhaps?

Maison Des Vins, Les Arcs Provence

What a fantastic idea this is. A shop that offers 15 wines to taste each week and stocks almost every local producer of note in the Cotes de Provence at vineyard prices. The assistant looked dubious when he found out which wines I would like to taste. “All of them please” I asked. We settled at half of the list and I spent the next hour weedling the rest out of him though I think he was relieved when he found that I really was sampling rather than looking for a free drink.
So for the record these made the final cut. I doubt we’ll find them in the UK. We were looking for a traditional Provencal Rose, A smooth low tannin, local red for drinking with or without food whilst we lolled about on the terrace and an “interesting” white. The lineup demonstrated that well made local wine abounds in appellations, plenty to keep the supermarket led identikit wines at bay I think.

Chateau Les Mesclances Isle Saint Honorat 2008



100% Rolle (Vermentino to you and I), a golden hued intense elegant honeyed lemon pear and apricot wine. Plenty of body with a well rounded finish and a great partner to a dish of Provencal Roast Pork we enjoyed with it.

Chateau Cavalier Cotes De Provence 2009
Roses and blackcurrant dominate the nose of this Classic Regional Rose. Grapes include(deep breath) Cinsault, Carignan, Syrah and Cabernet in this Grenache Dominated Blend. Lychee coloured and a fine match for bright summer days.




Les Vignerons de Saint RomainRouge 2007

Half Grenache with a third Syrah and the balance Carignan, aromas of black fruit, soft tannins, herbaceous eucalyptus notes and medium acidity make this an easy drinking smooth red. A simple ready to drink wine that will appeal to all, particularly at €5.20 a bottle. If you could slap an Ozzie brand on this, it would go down a storm in UK Supermarkets.


Maison Des Vins
Cotes De Provence
RN 7 – 83460 Les Arcs
Argens, Provence
00 33 (0) 94 99 50 20
www.caveaucp.fr

Earning a crust

France just gets some things right in life. Whilst the only sane response to the aggressive driving, strikes and bureaucracy is a large dose of patience, the law that prevents a Boulangerie being so named without a baker onsite is a boon. In this one, I had a wonderful conversation explaining that my desired bread was lurking in the back but it was illegal to sell it to me after the day it was baked. Instead I received an offer to bake my chosen brown wholemeal loaf to order the next morning. Perfectly crisp crusts, croissants so butter rich they seem to melt in your hands before they even reach your mouth. Glass counters laden with tartes, tortes and gateaux of every kind. This must be why the inhabitants look so happy.

Auberge du Eric Maio

There’s really no better way to discover local wines than to set your sights on the nearest top notch restaurant and quiz the sommelier mercilessly until he reveals his favourites and this is exactly what we did. Tucked up in the Var in the upper reaches of Provence, an area that specialises in crisp air and mind bendingly tight hairpin bends we lunched on a beautifully cooked Breast of Duck garnished with three different beetroots. The starter was an artful creation of Potato and leek that cost pennies in ingredients but undoubtedly had a sous chef sweating off pounds to achieve a level of culinary sophistication that would have Ian Mcloud cooing at it's architectual sophistication on an episode of Grand Designs.

As ever I had to be physically restrained from over indulgence when the cheeseboard arrived. A family myth records my boyhood desire for a small red pedal car so strong that one day I climbed in and pedalled it ouit of the shop and up the street. I feel much the same when the afiineur du fromage hoves into view wheeling before him a laden cheese trolley. Sadly seconds are not permitted.

Dessert was an ode to fig, roasted, confit and jellied before being piled high onto layers of chocolate biscuits and honey ice cream. Like jelly and ice cream for grown ups we both agreed. The Dining room was was a well lit in pale provencal sunburnt yellow, Petit Fours, delightfully fairground like jars of marshmellows, nougat and chocolate lollipops. Service was pleasant, particularly given our late arrival and the gallic teeth grinding that inevitably ensues if you turn up for lunch anytime north if 1pm.

And what was the wine waiters secret weapon? A bottle of Chateau Saint Baillon Oppidum 2004. A blend of Syrah and Grenache with a touch of Mourvedre, this blend had length, layers and lashings of dark fruited cherries and plums, the tannins turned velvet with the passage of time.

This gets a Michelin star and deservedly so. If you have an Iphone I can also recommend the Michelin App at a third of the price of the bulky French Edition and the wonder of using it to find, ring, book, and direct you to a good restaurant in no time at all. A boon to the cartographically challenged.

Smoke em if you've got 'em

Barbecues usually makes me think of rainy Bank Holidays, burnt raw sausages and lots of screaming children. In the USA though, it's been elevated to an art form and one that Andre Blais was kind enough to import to the UK last year.

Bodeans BBQ now has 4 branches in London and a rainy day provided a flimsy enough excuse to try out their Soho branch. Twelve hour slow smoke barbecued pulled pork stirred into a sweet savoury BBQ sauce slathered on a decent bun with some generous chunky fries and a soda. The smoky smells drift across the diner (think Aretha Franklins soul food hangout in the Blues Brothers), orders are screamed out when the baskets hit the pass and the Tex-Mex atmosphere is rounded off with screens streaming Baseball and American Football.

If you can't stand the heat, a basement restaurant offers table service instead and whilst vegetarian options are scant, you'd imagine the smells and baskets of meaty snacks would put a veggie off before they got as far as the only offering on the menu, which is a bit of a mix. It includes New England shrimp, Kansas city burnt ends and Deep Southern Boston Butt but the atmosphere is enjoyable, pure Americana and they've even allowed a burrito to slip over the border. I once vowed I would never go to a fast food joint again but if they were all like this, I'd be the first to super size.

Hangover

A wonderfully decadent birthday meal courtesy of a great friend combined with an early start for domestic duties left me sorely in need of simple lunch that would offset the lack of sleep and keep me on the straight and narrow until supper.

This was the perfect opportunity to try out an East London speciality - Robins Pie & Mash shop. There are five branches who have followed the East Enders as they have migrated out to Essex over the years. The pies are made with scotch beef mince from the local butchers and offered with mash and liquor or gravy. For the fussy there is salmon and liquor but other than the ubiquitous jelled eels, that's the extent of the menu.

The pastry is good, the service fast and friendly and the white tiled decor in this kind of place hasn't changed in my lifetime. Straightforward, sound, well made and modestly priced this is the sort of food that if French would be enthusiastically touted by Rick Stein. As it is, we should savour a real East End food hero, get stuck in and not just as a hangover cure.

Definetely Cabernet Sauvignon

"Definitely a Cab with that structure" opined the young wine buyer to my right. His authoritative declaration swung it for the rest of the group. You could sense the collective anxiety and the look on everyones face spoke volumes. If he's so sure, he must be right seemed to be the unspoken declaration. His gaze swung over towards me. "What do you think?". "Maybe a Merlot, - can't be a Carmenere" I said with as much confidence as I could muster. It was, perhaps inevitably, a Chilean, Central valley Carmenere.

I was at my first Wine Diploma class and we were playing a version of Wine Options, the Antipodean game that poses a series of questions of a blind wine taster such as What's the Grape? Is it New World or Old? Whats the age?. The point is well made. Don't guess, practice describing wines accurately and follow the logic based on what you know.

Which brings me to the wine above, one of a number I've bought to practice tasting "classic" wines as a reference point. So for the record, this is clear, medium ruby in colour, has a clean fragrance of youthful crushed dark fruit and vanilla oak on the nose, medium (slightly green?) tannins with high acidity, medium length and is of good quality. Ready to drink and will improve a little in the bottle. Definitely a light Merlot/Cab blend and a tribute to the consistency of the Wine Society to be able to offer this at £6 a bottle. Drink with any roast meat.

Bar Boulud

There is little unique about the launch of a new London restaurant by a French chef laden with stars and accolades. The twist here is that Daniel Boulud's success has, to date been entirely in the US so whilst his casual dining venture attached to the Mandarin Oriental focuses on French Bistro classics, he offers burgers on the side.

The atmosphere buzzes with a genuine west side hangout feel and the charcuterie is excellent. I would encourage anyone to sample the mixed plate with two different terrines, rabbit and slow cooked lamb, a light salami, brawn jelly and a fine duck liver pate. The Fries are nondescript and whoever has the job of salting them is overenthusiastic in the extreme but the NY burgers are, I have to admit, outstanding. The Piggy is beefy and juicy, layered with BBQ pulled pork and green chili mayo.



The tables, whilst well spaced are too small for four people and since they serve a lot of elbows out finger food, the feeling is a little cramped. Service, on our visit was polite but not without flaws. The speed and enthusiasm applied to filling our wine glasses turned what could have been a nice service touch into an exercise in wine sales.

Overall then a nice juicy well broiled slice of Manhattan hangout in a 'look at me' postcode. Just don't ask for a shake to go with your fries.

Corrigans

Expectations are always high when one visits an eponymous restaurant, above all when it's chef has won a Michelin Star, published books, has his own tv series and to top it all has won the Great British Menu. One rarely expects to see evidence of the chef behind the stove but Richard Corrigan was cooking that day, walking through the bar to shake a few hands, even stopping to re-arrange a stack of cookbooks for sale at the entrance to the restaurant.

Service is formal and efficient and the dining area is at the end of a bar in a long clubby but well lit room. Whilst the cooking is robust as one might expect from a chef who wears his home county of Meath on his sleeve there is real technique here as well. A starter of Pigeon was classically presented whilst sweet melon was coddled in Parma Ham, proving why some food combinations, no matter how old fashioned they may seem are timeless for a reason when the ingredients are at their best.

A main of Guinea Fowl included a perfectly pan fried breast with a confit of leg, pressed bread stuffing and creamy mash whilst the venison dish was rich and unctuous. A salted caramel chocolate offering was artful and a little plate artistry even elevated carrot cake on to a pedestal with a bed of sweetly marinaded slices of carrot and ginger ice cream.

Possible one of the Best value set lunches in Mayfair and "like the best roast dinner ever" we concluded. I've already booked a return visit.

A Foodie Manifesto

Foodies spend a lot of time worrying about provenance and there are a plethora of seals, signs and phrases that seem to confuse more than they convince. What if you could always tell where your food came from, what it was made of, how it was made and above all, how good it tastes?

Well, there's a simple answer. Protected Designation of Origin is the European Law that that protects all of these things for you. Whether it's the salty tang of Parmagianno Regianno that acts as a lactic seasoning for much of the Italian palate or the sweet porcine meaty hit of Parma ham, everytime you pick up a PDO product you know what to expect.

Unlike the grading standards that give us perfect but tasteless peppers and acidic watery tomatoes, this kitemark is about quality and what that really means is "it tastes of what it is supposed to". Try a cheap block of cheddar side by side with a sliver of Montgomery's from Gloucester. The first one is bland, rubbery and requires a thick layer of pickle to make it come to life in your mouth. The real thing is a royal, tangy, crumbly luscious cheese packed full of unami that nearly moos in your face when you taste it. They are both cheddar but one of them has PDO designation and is called "West Country Cheddar". You can guess which.

And it's not just restricted to your dinner plate. The wines of Burgundy, the Douro valley and Port are all PDO products.
This is the power of legislation in retaining food culture. The reason that foodies everywhere use these products is because they taste great. The reason they taste great, is because there are laws that protect the way they are made. They are the sign of a society that has pride in its produce, hasn't yet succumbed to the march of agricultural monoculture and values it's artisan producers.

Always been to busy eating and drinking to get round to championing a cause? Well, now's your chance. Keep a food tradition alive and every time you wander down the shops, buy PDO.

Summers over

Summer is over. lets face it. The heating will soon be switching on in houses across the land and though we haven't seen the last of the sun it will now be low in the sky and crisp rather than bathing us in yellow warmth.

On the upside, this clearly means it's time to ditch the salad spinner and tuck into something a little more warming. Here's my vote - maybe more of an Autumn dish but a great excuse to pull out some more powerful wines to go with it.

Pan fried Duck Breast with braised Red Cabbage, apple and sultanas with Baby Roast Potatoes

50g butter
1 medium onion, finely sliced
1 dessert apples, peeled, cored and sliced
half a red cabbage, finely sliced
50g sultanas or raisins
50ml sherry vinegar
salt and freshly ground pepper

Melt the butter in a casserole dish or saucepan over a medium heat, add the onion in then add the apple and cabbage. Once softened, add the sultanas and sherry vinegar.
Place a lid on the pan and cook for an hour, until all the vegetables are tender.

Throw some new potatoes in a hot oven in a roasting dish with a little oil for 45 minutes, season your cabbage to taste with salt and pepper, replace the lid and continue to cook until the cabbage is tender and all the liquid has evaporated.

Now pan fry your duck breast, skin side down with salt and pepper but no oil since the fat on the duck will baste the breast as it cooks. Don't move the duck in the pan until the skin is well cooked and turn to finish for a few minutes in the pan. Let the duck rest for a few minutes before serving. No cooking times for the duck I'm afraid as it all depends on it's size and your preferences.

Paella

There is, of course no definitive recipe for a Paella. Across the whole of Spain, from the valleys of the Basque Provincias to the Andalucian coast, every person you speak to will argue over the "correct" recipe for this dish. As long as you have Calaspara rice, saffron, peppers, onion, garlic and a decent stock, the rest doesn't matter. I prefer the Valencian approach but you should you find your own recipe, if only so you can join in those arguments next time you go to Spain.

Ingredients
•4 chicken thighs, deboned
•2 tbsp olive oil
•1 shallot, chopped
•1 garlic clove, chopped
•½ tsp smoked paprika
•½ red pepper, chopped
•250g Calaspara rice
•A pinch of saffron strands
•500ml hot chicken stock
•150g green beans
•Pinch Chopped Rosemary
•A squeeze of tomato paste
•Salt and pepper

Preparation method

1.Heat the oil in a large frying pan and gently fry the chicken thighs until browned. Add the shallot, garlic, paprika and red pepper until softened.

2.Add the rice and stir until coated in oil. Add the tomato paste.

3.Add the saffron, green beans and stock (enough to cover the rice). Season generously and simmer for 10 minutes, add the butter beans, then simmer until most of the stock has been absorbed.

Red Red Wine

Must think up more eye catching titles for posts even especially when it's the lazy option of a restaurant review. This is a poor starter for 10, but I couldn't help it - UB40 are playing nearby on their 30th Anniversary signing off tour and I've just bagged tickets. There you go, all in one I've given away my age and my musical taste. This post marks a change. I have finally signed up to study the Wine Spirit and Education Trust Diploma, an 18 month immersion in the world of wine at a professional level. "What will it qualify in?" was my mothers concern. "Er... drinking" I replied unhelpfully.

I have been blagging it for many years on the wine front and took matters in hand last year completing the certificate and advanced certificate qualifications. This of course was dangerous. Before, I thought there was a lot I knew about wine. Now I know what a vast amount there is too learn.

In truth, I was a little worried when the textbooks arrived. Five leaf bound A4 books, one per unit looked achievable but then I spied the Oxford Guide to Wine. Surely the 840 page tome was for reference? No - its part of the curriculum. Still, if you want to acquire an encyclopedic knowledge of wine guess what they are going to send you?

I must remember this is for pleasure, not work, so cheers!

And how was the weather?

So in the height of summer we took ourselves to A Grelha for the second time. Since we went last July this may be the start of a tradition. We booked the table and kept a close eye on the weather forecast since this is one of London's few open air restaurants which runs each summer on the patio of The Gun Pub in the Docklands.

The idea of recreating the experience of a beach side Portuguese restaurant is a great one and on our first visit we enjoyed a wonderful long evening filled with fish dishes and light Portuguese wines. What was the magic ingredient we wonder. The Fresh fish bought from Billingsgate each morning? The huge charcoal grill? No, I can confirm it was the weather. This time the sun scurried behind a cloud, the temperature plummeted and all the little niggles took over. The waiter was vague on the menu, didn't know if fish could be filleted, offered to put up an umbrella and disappeared for half an hour whilst more than one of our starters was lost in action and never made it to the table. You could argue that all of these failings are authentically Mediterranean and with perfect weather and a long wine list in front of you wouldn't care.

The wine list however is genuinely Portuguese so we tucked in as the the days of flavourless Vinho Verde are long gone and the countries wines are beginning to show some real character.

Fontanario de Pegões White, Palmela DOC



Made from 100% Fernao Pires grapes which are the most planted in Portugal, this is a clean simple citrusy, slightly spicy and peachy aromatic fresh white ideal for hot days. Good with food or as an aperitif, it is a great example of what a modern refurbished cooperative and an experienced winemaker, in this case Jaime Quendera, can produce. One of the new wave of straightforward but well made Portugese whites. At around £7.50 a bottle retail, it's an interesting summer alternative.



Reguengos de Melgaco Alvarinho Vinho Verde 2009



A fresh, aromatic peachy wine with some real compelexity and minerality, this was commended by Decanter for the 2007 vintage and shows some serious depth. Vinho Verde made from Alvarinho grapes have always had an excellent reputation within Portugal but the rise of the Rias Baixas region in North Western Spain has won this grape many friends in the UK.

In retrospect then, given that the food is all cooked on a barbecue and is served simply with boiled potatoes and salad, I think this restaurant makes me want to ban the burgers put in an order at the local fishmongers, get in a case of Portuguese coolers and invite everyone over to my mine. A Grehla a casa next year perhaps?

Square Squared

Back to the Square on the the glorious 13th to mark the start of the game season. It has been nine months since the last visit and whilst of course nothing has changed other than the menu, I find it's often enjoyable to reflect on how your feelings on a restaurant change between visits. After a recent visit to the high temple that is Ducasse, what I noticed above all was how relaxed the service was in comparison. Ths staff were, of course formal but friendly and charming with it.

Their wine is also relatively good value. 400% markup by the glass is not uncommon at this level but I had a glass of their 2004 Réserve de Léoville Barton at a markup of around 100%. Measures were also a reasonable 175ml, avoiding the other high end markup trick of serving a smaller 125ml measure at a price you might expect for the larger one. With so many fantastic restaurants to eat at and a limited budget its rare that I return to a high end venue (Texture and the Waterside Inn being the other candidates).

The food was excellent as ever, my dining companion swooning over his grouse on the a la carte, whilst I tucked into an excellent set lunch. I hope to return sooner.

Maze Grill

This was far from my first visit to Maze grill, indeed this has turned into my favourite set lunch reccomendation for anyone in Mayfair on a weekday. Stray onto the a la carte and the prices leap upwards but for £21 you can enjoy 3 excellent courses in a well drilled Ramsey restaurant. The dining room enjoys views over Grosvenor Square and though the decor is a little bland, the staff are well drilled and the only inconvenience is the extended trek to the toilets it shares with a Marriot hotel.

A well cooked chicken chausseur married well with a bottle of Château Bauduc as endrosed by Ramsey, Stein and Oz and May (TV wine royalty by today's standards I suppose!). The wine is a straightfoward but well made and rapidly improving Bordeaux AC from Gavin Quinney who has made the dream of every wine fan a reality by buying and improving a chateau in the Bordeaux Appelation, cut out the middleman by offering direct sales to the UK and even finds time to write an informative blog.

No doubt the better value offerings will eventually fade away as the economy improves so for now, take advantage of one of the few upsides of the failing economic environment and pay a visit.

Marques de Riscal

Marques de Riscal is Riojan Royalty. One of the first great houses founded in 1858, it is a major brand, runs an award winning hotel at it's winery in Elciego and is unique in the area for having the right to grow Cabernet Sauvignon (a grape that is not permitted under Rioja regulations) since the planting pre dates the DO rules.

It's range encompasses the full spectrum from everyday to premium so we took the opportunity to visit for a tour and tasting whilst on holiday nearby. Their grapes for their white wine are grown in Rueda, the balance in Rioja Alavesa. Maturation of their Rioja DO is in American oak, traditional for the area and a tour encompasses all of their onsite wineries, though one is not allowed into the hotel. One of the most interesting points of the visit was a walk through their oldest cellar in which they keep a full catalogue of every single vintage for the last 150 years. Jancis Robinson attended a tasting there a couple of years ago and tasted vintages back to 1900 which were apparently still going strong.



The reserva was a classic Rioja, red fruits, sweet oak and a decent amount of tannin with good balance. Their Rueda 2009 is unoaked, aromatic and herbaceous. Both are excellent and due to the size of the winery the range often feature in the major wine chains and supermarkets in special offers.

Bodegas Baigorri

Our annual Spanish trip allowed us the chance to visit a newcomer to the world of Rioja. The bodega, constructed in 2002, is an exercise in clean functional design using gravity fed systems for fruit handling. French oak is used throughout along with quality hallmarks of green harvesting and careful selection at the sorting table to produce US friendly fruit forward wines with a hint of Cali Cabernet about them.



The winery is built underground, the top floor, a striking vacant glass cube just outside the traditional Riojan town of Elciego. As with many bodegas, they buy in the majority of their grapes and select from Rioja Alavesa and Alta.

They also serve a fine lunch if requested. We enjoyed Pate, a Tuna Salad, Chorizo and bean stew, Shin of Beef and an Ice Cream Cake. Happily we had the opportunity to taste the full range of wines with the lunch.

They produce a barrel fermented white, Rose and Crianza but the stars of the show were their 2005 Reserva and 2006 El Garaje.

The former benefits from an excellent vintage, offers leather and cigar box oak on the nose with a whack of deep cherry whilst the palate follows through with good structure and balance that makes it a modern but excellent match to the traditional hearty Riojan cuisine.

The latter is a premium cuvee which does not fall into the Crianza/Reserva/Gran Reserva classification. It offers smoky, overripe sweet cherry fruit, soft tannins and plenty of complexity and length. Both are well made excellent wines though my personal taste is for the reserva over the top wine in which I find the fruit a little confected. Whilst it is not sweet, perhaps this is why they recommend it as both a savoury and dessert wine.

Giaconda Dining Rooms

Now here's a restaurant you would walk straight past without a moments thought. In fact, unless you happened to be out guitar shopping in Soho, you probably wouldn't even see it, tucked away as it is in Denmark Street.

Paul Merrony, the chef, is not the first talented artist to have been here. This room was once the Giaconda cafe which offered tea and fry ups to Bowie and the Clash amongst others.

The menu is a Mediterranean mixture of French and Italian Bistro with a few plates of St John style nose to tail eating thrown in. The dining room is both a little noisy and cramped but the service is polite and friendly and the wine list offers some thoughtful suggestions.

The bread and olives were well above average. Crab Bisque had depth of flavour whilst the Lyonnais classic, Cervelle de Canut was well seasoned and creamy. We matched it with a 2008 Trebbiano d’Abruzzo Gianni Masciarelli which was a refreshing, medium bodied, appley citric wine that extracted far more than the average from it's workhorse grape.

We tried a Cotes du Roussillon “Segna de Cors” Roc des Anges 2007, a Grenache, Carignan and Syrah blend which offered an explosion of purple fruit with soft tannins and good structure to match the Ribeye and Sirloin Steak which came as ordered with decent chips.

A rich Creme Brulee had been dosed with orange zest making it an almost perfect match to a half bottle of Monbazillac Domaine Ancienne Cure, a Sauternes clone without the syrupy undertones but with a hint of the marmalade tang of noble rot creeping through.

The kitchen is so small, it's a wonder the chef can extract more than a Pannini from it but the quality of ingredients and robust flavour filled cooking is a pleasure at a price point that one rarely sees this close to the West End. This is not a venue for a quiet romantic evening and the Michelin starry eyed will feel robbed of the formality that they so often assume to be part of a fine dining experience. Make no mistake however, if you enjoy real food, this is far more than fine.