The Beckford Blog

What we are up to

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 17:14:36 +0000

We have some amazing Hereford rib-eye steaks in at the moment and so we took the opportunity to take some pictures to show you how good they are.

Also we have had our weekly order from the Uncommon Pig Company as well so we have been spit roasting the shoulders and heads in the bar to pick down for a pressed terrine. The Uncommon Pig Company also supplies us with our fantastic Sunday belly of pork. The pigs are free range Berkshire pigs, free to roam their 300 acre farm in Stour Provost just west of Shaftesbury.

Chefs day out

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:19:36 +0000

We had a the pleasure of being invited to go and visit one of our new suppliers today. Happy valley organics or New Leaze Farm who have started to rear Hereford cattle, Hampshire down sheep, Black welsh mountain sheep and rare breed chickens. The farm is still very new but this means the amount of stock they have at the moment is very low so the quality is very high. We were shown around the calving pens also looking at the cattle they have at various ages across the farm. Herefords have been breed since the 18^th century making it one of the oldest breeds in the uk. They produce very good meat because of their adaptability to the climate and how docile they are with reduces the stress on the meat. The trip was greatly appreciated but us as it’s always nice to see the produce we deal with being looked after in such a good way.

Home Smoked Salmon

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:59:44 +0000

We have started smoking our own salmon by buying in whole sides of salmon and curing them down before smoking them with pine needles and hard herbs. We have been serving this with set sour cream, a small new potato and caper salad with shallot rings and dill to garnish.

New Ideas

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:51:54 +0000

Seared scallop with crab rolled in beetroot, samphire, soft poached quail egg and a salmon roe vinaigrette.

Sourdough

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:40:48 +0000

We have our sourdough culture going now and have baked our first batch of sourdough rolls.

Rhubarb season

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:16:11 +0000

Poached rhubarb with vanilla cream

For the Chantilly cream

· 250ml Double cream

· 1 Vanilla pod

· Icing sugar to taste

For the crumble topping

· 200g ginger nut biscuits

· 200g Shortbread Biscuits

Poached rhubarb

· 4 large sticks of rhubarb

· Small glass of white wine

· 100g caster sugar

· ¼ lemon

· 300ml water

For the rhubarb: - Peal the sticks of rhubarb placing the peelings into a large sauce pan with the sugar, water and wine. Place the pan on a low heat and simmer for 15 minutes letting the ingredients infuse. Meanwhile cut the rhubarb into 4-5cm long sticks. Strain off the liquor through a chinois into a separate pan checking the liquor is sweet enough. Place the sticks of rhubarb into the liquor and back onto the heat checking every minute with knife until there just cooked. Take the rhubarb out of the liquor and onto a cold tray. Placing the liquid back onto the heat until reduced down to syrup.

For the crumble topping: - Smash up the biscuits in a food processor until in to crumbs.

For the cream: - place all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk until you have soft peaks checking the sweetness adding more icing sugar until desired

Place 4 or 5 sticks on a plate warm with some of the syrup and scatter some crumble topping on to them. Softly place a quenelle of the cream on top.

Chef's Winter Recipe

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 14:16:41 +0000

Whole roasted Fonthill Estate pheasant with creamed Brussel sprouts, Louise’s pancetta and fried potato, onion and sage hash.

For 2 people (or 1 hungry one!)

The bird:

1 whole pheasant, oven ready (pluck and make sure you remove any shot!)
3 sprigs of thyme
2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
knob of butter

Place the pheasant on a roasting dish and rub in the butter, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven at 160C for approximately 25mins (depending on size). Remove from the oven and allow to rest in a warm place (on top of the stove wrapped in foil usually works quite well.) Once rested for 10mins serve on a board and carve at the table (the bird should be slightly pink when carving).

The sprouts:

2 handfuls of sprouts
150ml of double cream
knob of butter
Clean and remove and bruised or discoloured parts of the sprouts and slice thinly.
Get a hot pan and add the sprouts. Fry for 2min, stirring regularly and add the cream. Let the cream cook for about 5min until the sprouts and cream have thickened to desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper and serve (this can be prepared in advance and reheated when desired).

The hash:
2 large Maris Piper potatoes , grated
1 onion
10 sage leaves
rapeseed oil

Peel and slice the onion thinly. Fry until the onions are nice and golden brown and add to the grated potatoes. Chop the sage leaves finely and add to the mix. Season with salt and pepper.
Mix it all together and fry in a hot pan with rapeseed oil.
Once golden brown, flip and cook the other side. Once completely cooked, serve.

The pancetta:
100g of pancetta, diced (our pancetta comes from Louise Trowbridge at The Uncommon Pig and her Berkshire Pigs. Her pancetta is salty, smoky and fatty which tastes delicious.)
Fry the diced pancetta until nice and crispy and serve straight away.

To serve as a sharing dish:
Serve the pheasant with the pancetta scattered over, on a board with carving knife and fork. Serve the sprouts , hash and gravy on the side in nice side dishes.

Cheese of the Week - Blue Wensleydale Cheese A delicate creamy...

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:19:03 +0100

Cheese of the Week - Blue Wensleydale Cheese

A delicate creamy blue cheese from Yorkshire with a mellow yet full flavour from cow’s milk.

Wensleydale cheese was first made by French Cistercian monks from the Roquefort region, who had settled in Wensleydale. They built a monastery at Fors, but some years later the monks moved to Jervaulx in Lower Wensleydale. They brought with them a recipe for making cheese from sheep’s milk. During the 14th century cows’ milk began to be used instead, and the character of the cheese began to change. A little ewes’ milk was still mixed in since it gave a more open texture, and allowed the development of the blue mould. At that time, Wensleydale was almost always blue with the white variety almost unknown. Nowadays, the opposite is true, with blue Wensleydale rarely seen. When the monastery was dissolved in 1540 the local farmers continued making the cheese right up until the Second World War, during which most milk in the country was used for the making of “Government Cheddar”.Even after rationing ceased in 1954, cheese making did not return to pre-war levels.

Recipe Tribute - Elizabeth David’s Ratatouille

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:15:28 +0100

As a tribute to great chefs or food writers we are including a tribute to one of them on our menu at The Beckford every month. The first is an attempt to prolong summer, particularly while the ingredients remain in season - just about!

Ingredients: 2 onions, 2 aubergines, good olive oil, 2 red peppers, 5 ripe tomatoes, 2 garlic cloves, a handful of coriander seeds, parsley and basil.
Cut up the aubergines into cubes, sprinkle with sea salt so draw out some of the water. You can gently squeeze in muslin to take more of the water out. Chop up the onions smallish and gently saute in a heavy caste iron pan in lots of the olive oil.

When the onions have cooked (about 10 mins) and are beginning to get soft (but not fried), add the aubergine, and then the peppers, also cut into small pieces. Cover the pan an let them simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Now add the chopped tomatoes, the garlic, and the coriander seeds. Continue cooking until the tomatoes have melted in but the ratatouille is not mushy. Add the chopped parsley and torn basil.

Eizabeth David writes about the coriander seeds coming from the Moorish influence on Provencal food and they really add depth to this simple but delicious recipe .

Beckford wins Best UK Dining Pub Award

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:14:20 +0100

To have received this award from The Good Pub Guide in the first year of being open again after the fire, is an achievement our kitchen staff can be proud of. Creating great pub food at normal pub prices is something they do everyday so they won’t be resting on this small ‘laurel’ for long as we know we are only as good as our last plate of food! Pravin Nayar, our head chef, is passionate about classic English food, but his truly international background (he is half Malaysian, half Swedish and grew up in Spain) also gives him distinct objectivity. He is a regular visitor to his suppliers so he can see animals’ breeding conditions and is currently exploring foraging some unusual local ingredients, something he would do regularly working at Michelin starred restaurants in Sweden. We will keep you informed as to his antics!

Head chef Pravin and Toby made the most of the lovely sunshine and popped up to Pythouse Kitchen...

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 15:01:53 +0100

Head chef Pravin and Toby made the most of the lovely sunshine and popped up to Pythouse Kitchen gardens.

Pythouse Kitchen Garden supplies us daily with fresh fruit and veg as well as the flowers for our tables and bedrooms, just up the road from us the café and shop is open every day except Tuesdays 9 -5.30pm

www.pythousekitchengarden.co.uk

Pravin and Toby found some lovely courgettes, nasturtium and beans today and after 10 minutes of hard picking labour they were ready to be turned into a nice salad.

Raw and grilled Pythouse courgettes with beans, nasturtiums, pumpkin seeds and courgette flowers

MaiTais lovely review

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 13:32:31 +0100

MaiTais lovely review

Fancy a Pimms?…

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:45:22 +0100

Fancy a Pimms?…

American BBQ food hits The Beckford with a slow cooked...

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 14:12:48 +0100

American BBQ food hits The Beckford with a slow cooked pulled-pork sandwich and our very own apple sauce made with a touch of Ashton Press cider. Pure deliciousnous.

The fields around the Beckford are bizarrely festooned with...

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 14:10:33 +0100

The fields around the Beckford are bizarrely festooned with beautiful poppies and the odd, off-duty waitress.

The Beckford Arms' Blonde Mary

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:39:00 +0100

There is some disagreement as to the origin of the Bloody Mary – however it was most probably invented as equal parts vodka to tomato juice by Fernand Petiot, a bartender at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. After prohibition in the America, the drink travelled to Manhattan where Petiot got a job at the famous King Cole Bar in The St. Regis Hotel. Here, Petiot threw in a few more ingredients, such as Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, black pepper & cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and Tabasco sauce to spice up the drink for Americans.

On how it came to have such an unusual name, Petiot himself comments, “One of the boys suggested we call the drink Bloody Mary because it reminded him of the Bucket of Bloody Club in Chicago, and a girl there named Mary.”

To honour the one year anniversary of Country Calling The Beckford Arms has recently updated the cocktail to use a yellow tomato juice and named it “Blonde Mary” – as frankly she may have been!

Ingredients:

Vodka – we use Stolichnaya as our house Vodka

Yellow Tomato Juice, ours is from The Tomato Stall on the Isle of Wight

Worcestershire Sauce

Tabasco

Celery salt

Lemon

Black pepper

Fresh Horseradish Route

Mix 1 part vodka to 2 parts tomato juice. Then season according to taste by adding the Worcestershire Sauce, tabasco, celery salt, a squeeze of fresh lemon and a twist of fresh black pepper - there is no exact recipe here as it is a matter of personal preference. Just before serving grate some fresh horseradish into the drink – this gives a heat that adds a real kick to the drink. Horseradish is sometimes hard to find so we grow our own in the garden at The Beckford.

Steamed gooseberry pudding with vanilla custard

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 16:34:28 +0100

With all this horrible wet weather we have been having I thought this yummy steamed pudding would make you all feel better!

Makes 10 small pots (or 5 greedy)

250g       butter (room temp)
250g       caster sugar
250g       self raising flour
10 tbsp gooseberry compot (or any stewed fruit)
3 eggs (lightly beaten)
zest from 1 lemon

Beat the butter and sugar till white and creamy.
Add the eggs, one at a time.
Fold the flour gently into the mix, and add the lemon zest.

Spoon 1 tbsp of compote the mixture into each mould (make sure they are greased first) and place in a roasting tray.

Pour boiling water so it comes u p1/3 of the moulds and cover the tray with foil.

Bake in the oven at 150C for about 30min for small, or 60min for big ones.

Always check first and trust your instinct. If they look like they need a little longer, they most probably do.

Serve the pudding warm with plenty of custard on the side.

Enjoy.

New Exhibition: Jazz pictures at Ashley Wood

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:48:12 +0100

New Exhibition: Jazz pictures at Ashley Wood

The Beckford Arms Diamond Jubilee Garden Party - Sunday 3rd June...

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 15:16:00 +0100

The Beckford Arms Diamond Jubilee Garden Party - Sunday 3rd June 2012

Old News

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:51:12 +0100

“History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.” Now, whether you concur with Mr Bonaparte or not, the thought of spending a few days of the great British summer in Wiltshire’s picturesque Chalke Valley listening, watching, touching and essentially wading knee deep through loads of lovely history is fantastic.

Now in its second year, The Chalke Valley History Festival is the UK’s only festival devoted entirely to history. Set in a 22 acre field in the heart of Wiltshire, the celebration runs for six days and has over fifty events on show; varying from battle re-enactments to seminars from some of Europe’s leading historians and writers. Founders James Heneage and James Holland have a passion for all things past, and want the festival to be the start of an improvement in historical education in the UK. As they say, they want “children to reach adulthood with a proper sense of the past so as to make better sense of their future.”

The festival features a living history area, where there’ll be demonstrations of how people dressed, fought and lived throughout the ages, so there’s plenty for the kids to get their teeth into. For the adults, the list of speakers performing at the festival is as impressive as it is long: Sebastian Faulks, Helen Castor, Ian Hislop, Jeremy Paxman, Alison Weir and of course the heart throb of history, Dan Snow.

This year the festival is running The Chalke Valley History Prize; an historical writing competition for young authors in which Michael Morpurgo will be leading the judges. The prizes include a Kindle, £100 worth of Penguin books and even a consultation with the Conville and Walsh Ltd Literary Agency. So if any budding young history novelists are reading this, and I’m sure they are, it’s time to get scribbling.

Finally, all of the profits from the festival go into The Chalke Valley History Trust, set up to improve the quality of history education in this country. So not only is the festival a motte and bailey castle full of fun for all the family, but it’s all for a good cause!

The festival runs from 26^th of June to the 1^st of July, tickets and information available from cvhf.org.uk.