The best of Abergavenny Food Festival

I NEVER tire of Abergavenny Food Festival. I went for the third year with my mum and Auntie Sue and discovered some great products.

It takes over the whole of the market town, which has the beautiful black mountains hovering in the background. There is so much to see and do. We arrived at 9.30am and didn’t leave until 5pm, and that was only because we were tired of walking!

We went to two talks- the first one was with Nick Tonkin of Coedcanlas honey and Hattie Ellis, who is a food writer. They spoke about the wonder of bees and how much they love the humble honey. We tried about 12 different honey, which were so varied.

My favourite was the Sicilian lemon honey, which was delicious, fragrant and light. The lavender was very fragrant and sweet as you would expect. The buttercup honey was very strange- as you would expect!

Nick is passionate about bees. He has 90 hives in the west of Wales. He said he is not overly concerned about the future of bees as they have been around for 70 million years in their current form and are very adaptable. It take two million plants to make one pot of honey, which made the sweet stuff seem even more special.

Later on we went to Ben Tish and Simon Mullins’ Food and Wine of the Basque Country. It was pretty chaotic and organised but that added to the charm of the event. They talked about their restaurants (Salt Yard Group) and their visits to the Basque country.

They cooked eggs on a tomato and pepper base, seasoned with paprika. It was tasty and had a good kick and was served with a delicious wine called Txakoli, which was very light.

They then cooked hake on the bone with mussels, which was also lovely. The fish was meaty and had a depth of flavour. I would recommend this fish again.

As for the products I bought- I would recommend all of the ones I bought.

The Potted Game Company (www.pottedgame.com): Delicious morsels of tender meat in a rich butter. I opted for the Partridge- great with warm, crusty bread.

Wye Valley Granola (www.wyevalleygranola.co.uk): Oats, seeds and nuts gently baked by hand and a lot less sugar than commercial brands.

Coedcanlas honey (www.coedcanlas.com)– some of the best I have ever tried.

Neal’s Yard goat’s cheese (www.nealsyardcreamery.co.uk) I am not even a big fan of cheese but this is lovely- really creamy, zesty and light.

The Port of Lancaster Smokehouse (www.lancastersmokehouse.co.uk) Great smoked mackerel with chilli and lime. Great with pasta.

The Garlic Farm pork scratching (www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk) Incredibly moreish.

British Cassis (www.britishcassis.co.uk) Absolutely delicious raspberry alcoholic drink.

For lunch I had a brisket roll with pickles, Jalepeno’s,  cheese and gravy from the Hang Fire Smokehouse (www.hangfiresmokehouse.com). The meat was tender and flavoursome and I liked the added extras.

And for pudding I would hesitate to recommend Gower Cottage Brownies (www.gowercottagebrownies.co.uk). It was everything you want in a brownie and I would highly recommend this and a visit to Abergavenny Food Festival next year. 

Falafels with houmous and tabbouleh

THIS is another recipe from the healthy pull-out in the BBC Good Food Magazine. It is easy to do. I have always wanted to make falafel and I wasn't disappointed. They didn't look great but I was happy with the flavour. I also loved the tabbouleh- it is so fresh and the flavours work so well together- it would be a great salad to have at a barbecue. I cheated and brought my own houmous.

Serves 2
Ingredients
For the falafel:
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
400g can chickpeas, drained
400g can butter beans, drained
Juice 1/2 lemon
Small pack coriander, including stalks
1/4 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 egg yolk, beaten
Small pack parsley
4 tbsp wholemeal flour

For the tabbouleh
50g barley couscous
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice 1 lemon
Small pack each parsley, mint and coriander, finely chopped
2 spring onions, white parts only, finely sliced
1/2  cucumber, deseeded and cut into small pieces
3 tomatoes, quartered, deseeded and cut into small pieces

1. Heat oven to 180C/ 160C fan/ gas 4 and out a non-stick baking tray inside. For the falafels, heat a large non-stick frying pan, add the cumin and coriander seeds and dry-fry until fragrant (1 to 2 mins) stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Remove from the pan.
2. Put the seeds, the remaining falafel ingredients and some seasoning into a food processor and blitz until you have a chunky past. If it seems too dry, add 1 tsp water and blitz again until you have the consistency of damp sand. Using your hands, divide the mixture into 12 falafel balls and chill for 30 mins.
3. Heat a non-stick frying. When hot, add the falafel balls, pressing down into the pan to make patties. Leave to cook, without turning, for two to three minutes, then check to make sure they're brown and crisp. Turn and cook the other side for two mins more. Remove from the pan, transfer to the baking tray in the oven and cook for a further ten minutes. Meanwhile prepare the barley couscous following pack instructions.
4. For the tabbouleh, mix the olive oil, lemon juice and some black pepper in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, combine the rest of the tabbouleh ingredients, along with the cooked couscous, and add the dressing. Mix well.
5. Put aside 4 falafels and 4 tbsp houmous in the fridge for tomorrow's lunch. Serve the remaining falafels with the remaining tabbouleh.

Prawn, butternut and mango curry

THIS recipe is from the BBC Good Food Magazine and was in a special healthy eating section. I am a big fan of prawns- I think I could eat them every day- and I also love mango, so it seems like the perfect recipe for me. It is easy to do and makes a good low calorie mid week supper.

What you will need:
200g butternut squash, deseeded, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
75g quick-cook brown basmati rice
1 tbsp rapeseed oil (I used vegetable oil)
1 onion, finely chopped
1cm piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely sliced
1 lemograss stalk, woody tip and outer leaves removed, bulbous end lightly bashed (to help release oils)
1/2 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1/2 tsp tumeric, ground cumin and ground coriander
1/2 ripe mango, peeled, stoned and cut into chunks
200g spinach
150ml vegetable stock (or  water)
150ml low-fat coconut milk
175g raw king prawns
1 tsp low-salt tamari or soy sauce
Juice 1 lime
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander

1. Heat oven to 200C/ 180C fan/  gas 6. Tip the squash into a non-stick roasting tin and roast for 15 to 20 minutes or until almost soft. Remove and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, cook the rice following pack instructions until tender. Drain and cover to keep warm. Heat the oil in a wok or large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for two minutes until soft but not coloured. Add the ginger, garlic, lemongrass, chilli and spices and cook for three minutes.
3. Stir through the mango and roasted squash, then add the spinach  and pour over the the stock and coconut milk. Gently stir to combine, slowly bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for a few mins until the spinach starts to melt.
4. Add the prawns and stir. Once the prawns are pink through (about three mins), remove the lemongrass and discard. Add the soy sauce, lime juice and coriander, and stir well. Just before serving, check the seasoning, adding more lime juice or soy sauce if needed. Serve with the rice.

Quick, tasty Thai in London

TUK TUK is a great place to go for a quick, tasty dinner, or a more leisurely one if you would prefer. It’s a 56, Old Compton Street in London, with Leicester Square tube station close by.

It’s quite small with really friendly, happy staff. The decor is plain and simple and it has more of a canteen style but it’s a bargain! For drinks and a two course meal, it was £12 a head.

Between five of us we shared crispy duck pancakes, satay chicken and tempura vegetables. The satay was particularly good and very tasty, as was the duck.

For the main course I had pad Thai, which was well done and I opted for it with prawns. The portion was good, with a limey tang, nuts sprinkled on top and great flavours all around.

My friends opted for noodle soup and three out of the four of them were defeated due to the portion size. Great food at great prices. 

Exciting new find for great tea and cake in Bucks

IT is official. My friend Lara appears to know all the best places for tea and cake. 

'Have you heard about the pop-up cafe at Peterley Manor Farm in Prestood,' she says. 

'It has pick your own too.'

So along we went one Saturday on a beautiful sunny day and it was amazing!! The cafe is in a yurt and it is charming. The china is lovely, the decor is floral and vintage and the food is amazing!

It serves brunch, lunch and tea and cake, and I combined two of these. I had the scrambled egg and smoked salmon on brown bread (£6.15), which was so well done. The eggs were creamy and cooked just right and the salmon was a good quality. 

I also treated myself to a pot of tea (£2.30), which tasted like no other tea I had tried and was loose leaf. It was realy fragrant and quite fruity, in a good way.

I also had a slice of the strawberries and cream cake (£3.75), which was deliciously rich.  There were layers of cream between moist sponge, all with a strawberry flavour. It was amazing.

We then picked our own fruit, and went away with a smile on our faces. I would highly recommend this place. I hope I will be going back for more cake soon. 

The Eagle in Farringdon

TOM took me to The Eagle in Farringdon. It’s uber cool, with high ceilings, tables very close together, an open kitchen with the menu on chalk boards above.

It’s a bit of an assault on the senses at first as it is so loud, noisy and busy. But once you get used to it, it feels fun and exciting. There are about ten dishes which the chef writes up on the boards each day so it is regularly changing.

Tom and I were perched on stools in a window seat right next to the bar/ kitchen so it didn’t feel particularly relaxed.

But the food was great. We both had a steak salad with rocket, new potatoes and capers. The portions are a tad on the small size. It was about £15, but the quality was superb. The steak was cooked medium rare and was tender, well seasoned and delicious. The other ingredients all married well together and it was a great dish. I would recommend to go there for lunch.

Go to www.theeaglefarringdon.co.uk. 

Filling up on more afternoon tea

ANOTHER afternoon tea beckoned. And this time to Holme Lacey House in Herefordshire. It started off badly when the receptionist was quite rude to my mum and I, but once over that little hiccough the staff were friendly.

We were seated in a very quiet room overlooking the grounds and OAPs sipping on drinks. There was no atmosphere and some music would have been appreciated, as there was only one other couple and we felt we were whispering.

The waitress told us the chef was preparing our afternoon tea but when it came out it had clearly been in the fridge, which was fine, but felt it was an odd thing to say.

But as for the afternoon tea, it was really good. There was a selection of sandwiches from smoked salmon, egg mayo, cucumber and cream cheese and ham and mustard. The ingredients were all a good quality and there were five fingers each, which is more than you would usually expect.

There were also six cakes- a mixture of pastries, carrot cake and sponge and they were all really good- no dry cakes here. An odd addition was two small cups of raspberry liqueur with a splodge of whipped double cream on top. It was so rich and rather odd! I like the liqueur but not with the cream.

The scones were really big and served with Tiptree jam and clotted cream, which was delicious.

And then, as if this wasn’t enough, we were given strawberries and yet more cream.

We were stuffed and they kindly packed the cakes up for us to take away, which was very much appreciated.

We finished the visit with a walk around the nice grounds. This is £35 per couple, which considering how much you get seems fairly reasonable.