Nice Cream

So I've finally plucked up the courage to make use of the Ice Cream Machine I bought myself Last Christmas. A patisserie course last year was the inspiration as the ice cream was the simplest dessert we made in the entire two days that I sweated through the intricacies of sugar work, tartes au fruits and royal icing.

After a long cold winter, the sun finally came out and I knew it was time. Some research on the web suggested that I should have bought a Ben and Jerry's cookbook but the wonder of the web is that as long as you don't lose your connection you have access to more culinary advice than you will ever need.

Inevitably, the internet connection disappeared into the digital ether like a feather light sorbet and I was left with the flimsy leaflet of suggestions that came with the machine.

I kept it simple and decided to try a plain vanilla ice cream with a custard base. Whisk egg yolks and sugar, add warmed milk with vanilla essence and gently heat until it thickens. Let it cool, pop it into the machine and drop into a hypnotic state as you watch the paddles turn.

15 minutes later, a thick rich, chilled, creamy nirvana emerged and I was inspired. This is easy, you know exactly what goes in, the ingredients cost half that of a premium ice cream and you can make your own as easily as you make a pot of fresh custard. The only hard part is getting it to the freezer before it's gone.

The Windmill

The sister pub to the Guinea Grill in Mayfair wears its heart on its sleeve. It serves pies. Well actually it serves other things but reading from the restaurant menu that devotes half of it's single page to pies and it's accompaniments you get the sense that no one ever really orders anything else. Even the website photo of the chef offers a look that suggests that if you utter the word gastropub, you will swiftly be asked to leave.

This Young's Public House has won a clutch of relevant awards and has a pie club led by Gregg Wallace, certainly someone who looks as if he ate all the pies though perhaps more famous for lambasting master chef hopefuls than crimping pastry.

And the pies are good. Decent pastry, tender meat with a good whack of savoury gravy only let down by the school dinnerish presentation of the side dishes. Hand pumped ales including Young's and Bombardier round out the traditional offering.

The restaurant decor is heavy on high backed dining chairs, red velour and and faded hunting watercolours. A refurb is in the offing though I suspect it won't extend further than replacing carpet and polishing the wood fittings.

Pie and mash is perhaps the British answer to burger and fries and here you will find a good example served in a traditional boozer. For a pie, a pint and a seat, look no further.

Automat

With an upcoming trip to New York, I thought I would get into the spirit by enjoying an authentic diner experience so took my endangered arteries off to Automat in Dover Street. With the possible exception of Cipriani's, few restaurants can have had so many column inches devoted to the trend setting nature of it's celebrity visitors rather than it's food but it has been going strong for five years so deserves a visit.

The venue's first 15 covers are set in traincar style wooden booths whilst the rear is decked out in brushed steel. Business is brisk and the celebrity count low on a weekday lunchtime with local hedgies hovering over their shakes, fries and macaroni cheese. It is hard to say much about a hamburger. It is either dreadful or decent and Automat displays all of the technical skill required of the latter though TGI's will ask 50% less and Ed's easy diner half a mile away will do you a similar meal at half the price. Leases however do not come cheap in Mayfair and so what you are paying for is the postcode and the opportunity to eat a genre of food with only a modicum of Americana in your face.

The wine list is rather less traditional diner fare listing a hundred choices, around twenty percent of them American and bizarrely, a cru classe claret at £200 with no indication of vintage though given the likely markup, I would guess it needs a few years before it is ready for drinking.

Carlos Almada's joint still offers a dash of trend to a style of food that usually arrives with a generous side of neon or over friendly waiters. Think of this as buying a first class ticket on a train. What you get is ultimately not much different but where you get it is perhaps the point and there's not a plastic tray in sight.

The Old Spot, Gloucester

This restaurant must be a gift to the handsome city of Gloucester containing as it does all the ingredients for a cracking venue. cis a chef with real lineage, has sunk his own money into this venture and chosen a memorable location.

The view of Gloucester Cathedral, handsome Mediterranean hued dining room and framed menus from the chef's previous employers provide a fine setting for high quality Franco Italian provincial cooking.

Lunch is offered as a set menu. A generous and seasonal starter of Wood Pigeon Salad with beetroot and walnuts scored highly whilst a Bruschetta of Aubergine with Ricotta Herbs and chilli jam was well presented but was overwhelmed by a heavy hand when applying the sweet chilli condiment.

Mains of Chicken Fricasse with sorrel bacon and tarragon dripped savoury flavour whilst a dainty little Leek and Montgomery Cheddar Pithiver proved the point that the very best vegetarian dishes are those where the lack of meat is an irrelevance.

The meal concluded with a fine Orange Cake with citrus fruit, mascarpone and Panna Cotta with Rhubarb and pistachio Biscuit.

This was our second visit, our first having been aborted once the 4 year old with us was refused any off menu choice more suited to a childs palate. This minor gripe aside The Old Spot offers genuine West Country fine dining at a regional price.

The Headley

Daniel Clifford of the two star Midsummer House in Cambridge opened The Headley in Great Warley 3 years ago to warm reviews. The countryside pub is modern, large and pleasantly decorated whilst the initial ambitions have clearly been scaled back.

A starter of Welsh Rarebit was cursed with a slice from a dry supermarket sandwhich loaf, with medium cheddar and a sprinkling of Worcestershire sauce and bore no resemblance to the real thing. On the menu, the dish is described in brackets as "warm cheese on toast" and this note is descriptive rather than explanatory. Main courses of Roast Beef and Lamb were both good with freshly cooked vegetables, crunchy roast potatoes and a decent gravy. Sticky Toffee Pudding passed muster but could have been lighter.

The pub was extremely busy and family friendly, so be prepared for a lively atmosphere with a kindergarten feel if you go on a Sunday.

Pret a Porter pub ventures are a tricky thing to pull off. Whilst the kudos lent by association with a well respected venue can add to the allure, execution is key. The Roux brother owned White Hart in Nayland on the Suffolk borders offered a gilded slice of the best in classic french cuisine for many years but was a victim of the recession and, I suspect, the economics of premium restaurants outside of major cities. Ramsey, meanwhile, has probably struck gold with a trio of decent gastropubs in London that benefit from his name.

A three course set Sunday lunch for £22 is not excessive, even outside of London so whilst one doesn't expect the experience to mirror a meal in the couture venue, a little attention to detail in the kitchen and service should be enough to make this a cut above the average. In this case however, the shine of those stars has failed to rub off and our search for the perfect Essex country pub continues.

Kai

Kai was the destination this week and only because a company card funded repast had been cancelled and we were seeking a suitable substitute albeit at our own cost. I explain this because the restaurant was not one I had heard much about though it's first star last year after some 15 years in situ had left it's name paddling around in my subconscious.

A starter of Wasabi Prawns lightly fried in Tempura batter and smothered in the eponymous sauce were pronounced delicious though the reference here is more Nobu's Rock Shrimp Tempura than Chinese. Drunken Pork was cooked to perfection though lost points for presentation as it arrived in a flaming foil pouch, more combustible NASA rocket shrouding than presentational theatre. The set lunch of grilled pork was excellent with a rich savoury sauce however the portion size was comedic in comparison to an a la carte dish. Better to increase the price and limit the set menu than leave diners hungry for more.

Service was polite with table side preparation of some dishes and the dining room is a pleasant five star hotel interior.

Prices here are an eyebrow raising experience though for some diners the sheer extravagance may be the point. Certainly traditional delicacies such as an Abalone and Sharks Fin based soup at £108 will reflect the rarity and cost of their ingredients whether you splash out in Mayfair or Aberdeen Harbour. The bill though outstrips China Tang's at the Dorchester without the kudo's of Alan Tangs's China Club brand and offers a mix of cuisines that puzzle the palate. An amuse bouche of a strawberry and grape salad with cos lettuce in a light dressing was neither seasonal nor oriental. A miso soup accompaniment is well put together but it's classic Japanese flavour contrast attacks the savoury sauces of it's partnered dishes. A standard selection of high end Petit fours at the end of the meal were a missed opportunity to reference the restaurants menu.

Ultimately, the kitchen wins on quality of ingredients and lightness of touch. It can produce some fine examples of classic Cantonese and Northern dishes but fails at the fusion approach when it strays from these.

Boeuf Bourgignon

It's February and it's as dark when you get up in the morning as when you leave the office to go home. There are few things to celebrate at this time of year but stews are one of them. Wherever you go in the world, if there is a winter season there will be a regional stew. Whether it is Lancashire Hotpot, Irish Beef Stew or as in this case, Boeuf Bourgignon the approach is broadly the same. Browned stewing beef, onions, mushrooms, a stock of some kind and a long long time in the oven.

I have been told whilst on holiday in Burgundy that it cannot be "BB" unless it includes Charolais Beef, Burgundy wine, local mushrooms and is left on shelf for a couple of days after cooking to improve. The 3-4 hour cooking time is as delayed as my gratification gets. Red wine and butter (remember you are not in the Mediterranean yet) are the key markers for this dish as far as I am concerned but there are many variations .

Serves 4-6

1 kg stewing steak cubed (the butcher can do this for you)
50g butter
1 medium onion, sliced
2 heaped tablespoon plain flour
375 ml full bodied red wine
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme
Chopped streaky bacon
4 oz (110 g) portobello mushrooms, sliced
salt and black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 140°C, shake the meat in a plastic sandwich bag with the flour to coat it thoroughly. Then brown the beef in your cooking pot in batches to make sure the meat doesn't stew in its own liquid. Keep the meat warm in a separate dish whilst you gently fry the onions, bacon, garlic and then add herbs to your pot. Add the red wine, return the meat the stew, bring to a simmer and pop into the oven for a couple of hours. Then add the mushrooms and put back in the oven for an hour.

This is a staple one pot dish, freezes well and can be served with any kind of root veg for a hearty warming winter supper.