What are you eating and drinking tonight?

[boltonboris]

Can't see any Samphire there...

[thebish]

went out for pub lunch today..

first course - average - nut roast (described as "traditional"!)

but followed by a rather fabulously tart lemon tart:


lemon tart by revnev, on Flickr

and all washed down with a couple of pints of otter...


pint of otter by revnev, on Flickr

yum!

[Little Green Man]

That's a very nickable pint glass. Not that I'd condone that sort of thing.

Beef and barley stew tonight. Might be later rather than sooner.

[Bruce Rioja]

and all washed down with a couple of pints of otter...


pint of otter by revnev, on Flickr

yum!

Southern piss-water.

[William the White]

So, my friend Le Chef, who did three years of cookery training, invited us for a meal round his place. This is not an invitation to turn down. And is one to bring wine you really like along. So there we are, four Bolton season ticket holders, four partners who don't give a flying one about football, but have got used, over the long years, to tolerating it...

This is a bunch of friends who really know each other well... And we know when Le Chef is cooking it is going to be good...

So, at three we sit down and get served a first course of mackerel pate and tomato and anchovy salad... We have this with a New Zealand Pinot Noir and a really nice, nice Cava. You know, 'salad' makes me sigh a little... This one was explosively good... the dijon mustard dressing, the salty anchovies, the juicy tiny tomatoes... brilliant...

We have the second course an hour later - why rush? we are enjoying each others company, the wine is brilliant... Le Chef, to meet the dietary requirements of all his guests, offers a nut roast, a fish pie, and a chicken casserole... I had the fish pie big time... This is the ultimate comfort food, and this is a seriously good version of it... I had more pinot noir, others had white wine... And I had a taste, a little more, to be honest, of the chicken, which was fantastic, lovely clean taste, nice chilli zing...

Puddings were delivered by guests... a pavlova that was delicious, a seville orange cake that was sublime...

And then the cheeseboard... I had red Leicester and blue Stilton... Lovely port wine to go with it...

The meal finished about 7.30... The chat had an hour to go...

Much talk, much laughter, much good company... I feel privileged...

[Lord Kangana]

Oily fish and Pinot Noir?

Cheese and port?

Does he not like you or something?

[thebish]

I feel privileged...

bloody Tory!

[William the White]

Oily fish and Pinot Noir?

Cheese and port?

Does he not like you or something?

Enlighten. I'm listening.

[jaffka]

Oily fish and Pinot Noir?

Cheese and port?

Does he not like you or something?

Enlighten. I'm listening.

LK does a real mean cheese on toast.

If he really like you then you get beans as well with it.

[Prufrock]

and all washed down with a couple of pints of otter...


pint of otter by revnev, on Flickr

yum!

I've quoted you in here coz it's just about beer. And kind of just about you.

Firstly. Had a few pints of the Otter bitter the other week. Very nice.

Also, had a taste of our new guest...Bishop's Finger. Fnaaar fnaaar. Very bitter.

[Prufrock]

Went to Prezzo after Skyfall, had never been before, not particularly impressed. There are lots and lots of chain 'Italian' places about, from the super cheap Pizza Hut through cheap and OK Pizza Express up to the much nicer but waaay more expensive Ask! This was £30 for the pair of us with a voucher code, probs about standard. Too pish starters (she had what appeared to be king prawns, a can of tomatoes and a few herbs microwaved, I had bland chicken wings) and two decent mains (she had a light pizza and I had chicken and salami pasta bake). Took nearly an hour for the starters to come, though not too much of a wait after for the mains. Meeeeeeh.

[thebish]

I've quoted you in here coz it's just about beer. And kind of just about you.

Firstly. Had a few pints of the Otter bitter the other week. Very nice.

Also, had a taste of our new guest...Bishop's Finger. Fnaaar fnaaar. Very bitter.

I've only ever had the bottled variety Bishop's Finger - jury still out for me...

but the Otter - as you say - very nice indeed - my tipple of choice at the moment - and I might work my way through the rest of the Otter stable...

[Lost Leopard Spot]

In between going to lovely country pubs at the very ends of the earth last week, we stumbled upon the Grunards Head out near Zennor. Thinking it was just another country pub (next in line after The Tinners Arms) we went in for a pint and a meal. It was not a country pub, it was Fine Dining: waitresses serving at table, tiny portions costing barrow loads of dosh, stunning food. I had the Gurnard Goan Curry (and was politely warned that the gurnard was cooked on the bone which made me all the more determined to show them. Actually I can't stand fish served with bones in, usually) followed by Turkish Delight. Scrumptious.

[Lord Kangana]

Oily fish and Pinot Noir?

Cheese and port?

Does he not like you or something?

Enlighten. I'm listening.

The tannins and the oil clash, producing a metallic taste. You might get away with it with salmon (and I'm not a fan), according to received wisdom.

Oily (and moreover, oily smoked fish) fish requires an acidic white, like a Riesling or something. I'm pretty sure it'd taste fairly horrible as a combination.

And you already know my thoughts on cheese and port. A quaint old English tradition that sticks even though its rubbish.

[William the White]

Oily fish and Pinot Noir?

Cheese and port?

Does he not like you or something?

Enlighten. I'm listening.

The tannins and the oil clash, producing a metallic taste. You might get away with it with salmon (and I'm not a fan), according to received wisdom.

Oily (and moreover, oily smoked fish) fish requires an acidic white, like a Riesling or something. I'm pretty sure it'd taste fairly horrible as a combination.

And you already know my thoughts on cheese and port. A quaint old English tradition that sticks even though its rubbish.

Ah - I see... But the Cava would work well with the pate and the Pinot Noir with the tomato salad...

I follow your lead - and thank you for it - on sweet white wine and blue cheese...

[Lord Kangana]

Tonight was Fillet Steak night, with a lovely bottle of Chateau Aydie Madiran. Then some Cremant de Limoux with chocolate.

Happy Monday everyone.

[Gary the Enfield]

Home made Parkin 'cos they don't sell it down here.

Have had to have my Black Peas posted down, too.

Bloody Phillistines!

[General Mannerheim]

aww, phuqing love parkin. i have just sent instructions home to have parkin baked upon my return.

[Bruce Rioja]

Had the Chef's Reco five course dinner at Nørrebro Bryghus in Copenhagen. Each course is served with a half a litre of brewed-on-the-premises beer, each beer being the most perfect accompaniment for each course. Loose/almost translation of each course is;

Landpaté with pickled vegetables.
Easy marinated salmon with cauliflower cream, ølglaseret
cauliflower and crispy cabbage.
Beef stew prepared with the house dark beer, served with root vegetables mash.
3 kinds of cheese with sursødt and crunchy.
Caramel pannacotta with ølsirup, rosehips and honey crunch.

Stuffed tert' top, a bit giddy, up in five hours. Night night, All.

[Bruce Rioja]

^^^ At yonder restaurant the other night one of the cheeses was the most magnificent Danablu that I've ever eaten. None of your Castello stuff this (which is still lovely anyway). As such, I asked the waitress if it'd be possible for me to buy some to take home. So, she only went into the kitchen and came back with this little lot for me, on the house

I have some thins from Tebay and some Barbera from Italy (well, from AB Asda, but you know what I mean)