New chef means new review! The Chancery- revisited.

If you’ve ever found out that your favourite restaurant has replaced their head chef, you may well understand my feelings of disappointment and loss when I found out that the Chancery’s executive chef Daniel Guerrero has been replaced with Steven Englefield. While I was a little nervous, I decided to revisit the Chancery but with a completely blank culinary canvas in mind! In a party of 6, consisting of me, my boyfriend and his family we arrived at the Chancery on a busy Friday evening.

The restaurant looked as welcoming as ever, with dim but warming lighting complimenting the slick black and white decor. Home-made bread and butter arrived at the table very quickly and we were pleased with a swift service at the start of what was panning out to be an impressive evening. The little touches were charming, like if you for any reason leave your seat you can expect to return with your napkin swiftly refolded! It was a lovely moment when an amuse bouche of a smooth wild mushroom soup arrived, which was when I realised that even if the chef was different, the restaurant has kept its values!

The creamy mushroom concoction glided in the mouth, leaving me with an intensely packed combination of rich mushroom and delicate crème fraiche flavours, pretty impressive for something arriving in a ceramic shot glass. The silky texture meant that even the mushroom-phobe of the group gave the soup a thumbs up! I selected a starter of ‘Foie gras, ham hock and white bean terrine’. The foie gras was at the centre of the terrine, which to me symbolised the highlight of the dish! The flavours of this velvety pate supplied the central character of decadence while the surrounding ham hock and white beans added weight to the terrine. The chef chose to pair this with a side of piccalilli, making the dish even more British (a good idea, as the terrine came with toasted brioche instead of the crispy country bread suggested on the menu!). I’m still uncertain as to whether the terrine and the piccalilli tied together. With something as delicate and refined as foie gras, you would expect a subtle yet sweet chutney to lift the dish so overpowering does not become an issue. However, I felt the acidity of the piccalilli slightly overpowered the foie gras, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I didn’t like it. I though the piccalilli on its own was pungent and tantalizing and combined well with the ham hock element which was meaty- and very British! Maybe I’ll never make up my mind! Our wine of choice was Momo 2007 Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, which had subtle acidity lifted by refined aromas of citrus and gooseberries.

The main course of monkfish, tiger prawns, peperonata and a banyules vinegar dressing was a tongue-tingling choice. Although the portion was on the small side, I enjoyed that the dish was light with a Spanish kick, made me wish it was summertime and I was chilling by the beach in costa blanca! Saffron potatoes were a cheeky addition that cut through the acidity of the vinegar dressing as well as adding certain opulence to the dish.

The palate cleanser that arrived at the table was a slightly controversial basil sorbet with sweet tomato granita. It agreed with my taste buds, but did it agree with my brain, that was in the process of preparing itself for something sweet and calorific?  I thought it was an interesting idea and certainly refreshing and flavourful, but some of the guests and I agreed that it would have been more appropriate between the starters and the main courses.

My dessert, a smooth rich and super-indulgent chocolate marquise, on the other hand, caused no doubts what so ever. Paired with crushed hazelnuts, a frangelico and coffee ice cream as well as a thin caramel bar for extra ‘crunch’ it was a sensational end to a meal. The chocolate was not as bitter as you might predict in a decadent dessert like a marquise. I was really pleased with this as the soft bitterness of the coffee ice cream gave the dessert just enough of a kick without taking away the sweetness, while the drizzle of cream was adequate in bringing together and calming the flavours.

The meal ended in a slightly slower and less efficient service with coffee and liqueurs taking some time to arrive; nonetheless it was a very pleasant meal. The petit fours we received with our coffees included mini coconut macaroons and melt in the mouth dark chocolate truffles.

So The Chancery remains a restaurant I would recommend to all Londoners. While my last review was suggesting the portions were slightly too big, I find myself eating my words. Now even though I’m not raving about the size of my monkfish fillet, I can’t help but wonder, if it had been bigger would I have been able to sample the delicious chocolate marquise? Probably not. Lesson learnt; stop being greedy and just enjoy every bite. You know it’s a good sign when you are left wanting more!

http://www.thechancery.co.uk/

Fine Wine and British Seasonal Food at the White Swan: an evening to remember!

Every so often I come across a restaurant that I just have to rave about to everyone who is around long enough for me to say hello. The White Swan happens to be one of them. I discovered this little gem near chancery lane two years ago, when my boyfriend booked a valentines dinner there as a surprise. When I walked in, my initial reaction was “A pub? Really?” but as we were led upstairs, to a warm and contemporary dining room was when I started to appreciate the sheer simplicity, warmth and ambiance of the place. Two visits later, I sit here writing about my most recent visit to the one of the White Swan’s wine and food tasting evenings.

 5 delicious courses, 5 fantastic glasses of wine, carefully paired together to create an unforgettable dining experience. The stars of this evening were a wide variety of award winning ‘Hunter’s’ Marlborough wines, and we were privileged to learn so much about it as the founder of Hunter’s came all the way from New Zealand to promote her gorgeous wines. I would love to share some of the interesting facts and history of Hunter’s but as I have 5 different courses to discuss I will just direct you to their website http://www.hunters.co.nz/

Citrus-cured Isle of Man king scallop, apple and fennel salad

This was the first dish to arrive at the table so I knew it would be the dish that would either heighten or lower the expectations of the evening. The dish was simply but gracefully presented as disks of cured (thus raw!) scallops were centred in a circle on a white plate with thin shavings of apple and fennel positioned on top. It tasted just as delicate as it looked, with a hint of citrus coming through the subtle taste of the scallops. The fennel and apple shavings contributed a fine tanginess to the dish, creating a palate-cleansing marriage! A starter like that does exactly what it’s supposed to do; tickle the taste-buds, refresh your senses and make you crave more. The wine accompanying the dish was a 2009 Sauvingon Blanc, winner of 13 wine awards, including a gold award in the global sauvignon blanc competition “Concours Mondial du Savignon Blanc 2010”. It really wasn’t difficult to see why it won so many privileges. The wine was preserved in a stainless steel container and lacked any oak quality, thus exposing fragrant tropical fruit aromas as well as some crisp characters of gooseberries. The wine had an acidic element which paired wonderfully with the citrus aspect of the dish.

(Picture unavailable due to impatience,hunger and an unreliable memory!)

Braised south coast brill, truffle crushed celeriac, oxtail beignet.

This dish was definitely one of the highlights for me (just brill-iant). The fillet of Brill was so tender and delicious, one of the best fish dishes I have ever eaten. Matched with the celeriac, which was cleverly infused with truffle aromas to add a tantalizing flavour to the dish, the brill almost melted in my mouth while the oxtail beignet was a fantastic addition of texture and meatiness. The juxtaposition of the soft , silky brill paired with a multi-dimensional oxtail beignet, so crisp on the outside and meaty and rich on the inside is a true celebration of British food. The wine match was a barrel fermented Kaho Roa Sauvignon Blanc (2007), which had a more dry and oaky quality, a less fruity wine than the previous Sauvignon Blanc but more crisp with a lingering finish which worked particularly well with the oxtail part of the dish.

Pot roasted Yorkshire quail, quail sausage roll, chanterelle and artichoke ragout.

This dish was a complex combination of four different elements that went so brilliantly together! The quail, done in two ways, provided the hearty factor. The breast was pink and tender while the quail sausage roll put the seasonal aspect back into the evening- so warming and wholesome, just what I would expect on a chilly autumn evening! The chanterelles and artichokes also played on the seasons, as the vivid wild mushroom taste and the rooty grilled artichoke almost brought out an image of walking through a forest with all the fresh smells of mushrooms and earth. Hence why the wine, a Pinot Noir, was such a brilliant match as the rich red wine had a definite forest fruits overtone which really captured that woodland walk image for me! The wine was fragrant and light compared to your typical red, my first impression was “cherries!” which underpinned the forest floor aromas. Sensational!

The cheese and the dessert

The last two courses consisted of May Hill Green cheese with some grapes and toasted bread followed by tantalizing lemon parfait. May Hill Green cheese, despite its preconceptions of being a mature perhaps blue-type cheese, is a soft, pasteurised cow’s milk cheese with a somewhat pungent quality, not dissimilar to that of stinking bishop! It gets its colourful name from the green appearance of the rind, which is coated in nettles. While the previous course had transported me to a forest, this cheese course had no trouble in taking me to a farmland! The creamy and delicate texture of the cheese was cut through by the 2009 Hunter’s Gewurztraminer, a dry and weighty white wine. I always find that something as rich as cheese needs to be balanced out (perhaps a nice chutney could have helped) but luckily the crisp, almost zesty wine did just that, as well as prepare the taste buds for the final course!

The lemon parfait was a perfect finish to a perfect meal. Acting as a pudding as well as a palate cleanser, the parfait was cold and creamy and did not compromise on texture which was smooth yet riddled with strands of lemon zest to give the taste buds a refreshing kick! The pudding factor came in the form of three homemade honey madeleines. While rustic in appearance, these sweet, sugary treats really spruced up the dessert and gave me something to use as a dipping device once the parfait began to melt. To complete the dish, the raspberry sauce tied together the sweet and the sour and established a perfect balance for the palate. Now, I have never been a huge fan of dessert wine, I mean why have something even sweeter than the pudding? I normally choose to have a coffee or a tea to compliment my dessert but as this was not arriving until later with the petit fours, I had no choice but to sample the Riesling Hukapapa (2009). Good thing I’m not stubborn, as that wine was delicious with a capital d! A late harvest Riesling, Hukapapa is sweet and fruity wine, with subtle undertones of honeysuckle and caramel. The combination of the wine and the dessert created a sweet but sharp finish and left me (and all the other diners around me) perfectly satisfied!

If you are a lover of great food and great wine, hurry to one of the white swan’s tasting evenings! For a party of 2, expect a bill around the £100 mark (including service charge.) but when you think of just how much you will get for your money, you will leave with that ‘money well spent’ feeling. Fresh bread on arrival, five enticing taste sensations, five different wine tastings (expect your glass regularly topped up too!), coffee and petit fours, friendly customer service and a talk with a winemaker or sommelier; bring a good friend and you will have great company for a very special dining experience.

Toad in the hole on a sunday

This should be the dictionary definition of comfort food! It’s strange to think that not many people (including myself just a few days ago) realise just how easy it is to make! If you spent your Sunday afternoon out and about instead of slaving over a roast dinner, this could be the perfect replacement for you!

·         6-8 quality sausages (I used tesco’s finest pork and bramley apple)

·         1 medium onion

·         1 cup of plain flour

·         2 Eggs

·         ½ a pint of full fat milk

·         2 tbsp olive/sunflower oil and more to drizzle

·         2 bay leaves

·         1 teaspoon of nutmeg

·         Salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 200C and coarsely chop your onions. Put your sausages snugly into a baking dish and throw in the onions and bay leaves, pour over a drizzle of oil and bake for 10-12 minutes. Meanwhile, make the batter using the flour, eggs, milk and oil- the best way to do this is to sieve flour into a large bowl, make a well in the centre, smash the eggs into the well, followed by the milk and oil and mix by slowly bringing flour into the well until all lumps are gone! After the 12 minutes, take out the tray and turn the sausages, removing the bay leaves, then pour over the batter. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and put your tray back in the oven for approximately 30-40 minutes or until the batter is risen around the edges and nice and golden all around.

And if you're struggling for ideas on what to do on your sunday afternoon, why not visit kite hill in hampstead heath for some panoramic views over London!

Mischievous Chicken Pot Pie

My chicken pot pie started off very experimental and ended up a real hearty delight! My naughty additions of cream and ale make this traditional pie a real indulgent little treat!

My recipe makes 2-3 individual pies.
You will need:

·         1 or 2 puff pastry sheets and 1 whisked egg for egg wash

·         4 boneless, skinless chicken thigh fillets

·         1 large carrot

·         2 celery stalks

·         2 handfuls of chestnut mushrooms (aprox. 6 medium mushrooms- I have small hands!)

·         Half an onion (I use red for vibrant colour!)

·         A handful of fresh, chopped parsley

·         3 garlic cloves

·         2 bay leaves

·         1 teaspoon of nutmeg

·         5 whole peppercorns

·         125ml of single cream

·         2 tablespoons of plain flour

·         100g of butter

·         Chicken concentrate/stock/broth (about 300ml)

·         75ml of good quality ale

First prepare the veg by chopping up the carrots, celery, mushrooms, onions and garlic. Set aside and prepare the chicken, cutting into bitesize chunks. Preheat the oven to 200C and put oil into one frying pan as well as a saucepan and heat. When hot, add chicken to the frying pan and fry for 5 minutes, stirring regularly and spice with the nutmeg (about a teaspoon). Meanwhile put onions and garlic in the saucepan and sweat for 5 minutes before adding the carrots, celery, parsley, peppercorns, bay leaves and top with the chicken stock- simmer for 10 minutes. Add mushrooms to the frying pan and stir with the chicken regularly. Once the mushrooms have shrunk and browned, add and melt the butter in the pan before gradually adding 2 tablespoons of flour (to make a roux).

A roux is a mix of butter and flour which gives it that pie texture.

 Add the single cream and then pour all the contents into the saucepan. For the mischievous part, ladle 75ml of good quality ale (that’s about ¾ of a ladle) before simmering for 5 minutes.

Remember to taste your pie filling before seasoning accordingly! Cool for a few minutes before pouring into your oven-proof pots (or casserole dish) to avoid the steam from the filling wetting the pastry. Roll out your pastry so that there is enough to hang over the edges of the pot/dish. If you have some pastry left over, create some shapes for extra decoration! Place the pastry over the dish and egg wash before putting in the oven for 15-20 minutes (until the pastry rises and turns golden). I served this hearty dish with roasted baby new potatoes which were a great crispy addition to the meal!