News

Hi,

It’s that time of the month again for me to write a little something about what’s going on at the restaurants with the seasonal menus.

I have to say sorry first of all as my blog is 2 weeks late due to me being at our new restaurant The French Horn, making sure that the opening was a success and also that the menu tasted as good as it looked!!

This month is an exciting one as it starts to show some of the very best seasonal produce of the year such as English asparagus which is right up there as one of my favourites.  We are seeing the start of the summer berry season with Scottish raspberries and English strawberries coming to their best.  Also in the garden we have elderflower and beautiful smelling lavender which you will definitely see on our menus soon.

The 15^th May 2008 saw the opening of our new site the French Horn in Steppingley near Woburn.  After only 6 weeks of renovation and a completely new kitchen we successfully opened as scheduled to a great response from locals and food lovers from the area.

When Jean Christophe and I started to devise the menu for the French Horn, firstly we looked at what Bedfordshire had to offer in the way of local produce and to our delight there are stacks.  Bedfordshire has some of the best local produce around, so I will be using them at the White Horse too.  From local free range chicken and duck eggs 1 mile away to the most amazing shop at Preistley’s farm which has a vast array of beautiful fruit and vegetables - we are spoilt for choice!

We tried to make the opening menu as seasonal as we could, making sure that when the diners came, each dish on the menu jumped out at them and from the response I think that we have succeeded.

Our new summer menus for the White Horse and the French Horn will be available from July so we will keep you posted to the exact dates.

Anyway I will leave you with a recipe that I hope you will try at home, it’s one of the favourites on the opening menu at the French Horn.

Bon Appetite

Wesley

Strawberries and Cream

Serves 6

This recipe must be prepared in 2 stages with the panna cotta being made first.  Ensure you read the whole recipe first.

Vanilla bourbon panna cotta

Ingredients

450g Double cream

115g Semi skimmed milk

55g caster sugar

1 vanilla pod

3 leaves of gelatine

Method

1.       Firstly place your gelatine leaves into some cold water to rehydrate.

2.       Then take the vanilla pod split down the middle with a sharp knife and scrap the seeds out into a heavy based sauce pan.

3.       Place all other ingredients except the gelatine into the same pan and bring to a slow boil on a medium heat.

4.       Once the cream mix is hot squeeze the gelatine of excess water and stir in until dissolved.

5.       Place the mix into the fridge and allow to cool for about 20 minutes.

6.       Pour into suitable dish or individual glasses then place back into the fridge to finish the setting process.

Strawberry jelly

Ingredients

500ml Strawberry puree

100g water

50g caster sugar

14 g gelatine leaves

Method

1.       Start by placing your gelatine into some cold water to rehydrate.

2.       Then place all other ingredients into a heavy pan and heat to a simmer (about 3 minutes)

3.       Squeeze excess water off of the gelatine and place into the strawberries mix until melted.

4.       Allow to cool in the fridge for about 20-25 minutes and pour on top of the set cream mix.

5.       Place back into fridge and allow to set for 2-3 hours.

To serve crumble some short bread or ginger nut biscuits on top and garnish with some mint.