Tis the holiday season

Tis the holiday season and we’re shortly to head off to Pembrokeshire for, to my mind, a well earned rest. We’ll be hunkered down on the quayside, Lower Town, Fishguard along with a host of family and friends. Bee’s family own three of the cottages on the quay and run them as holiday cottages, should you ever want to explore that part of the world. They are a great place to base yourselves and the Pembrokeshire coastal path is apparently one of the modern wonders of the world! They get booked up for the summer, years in advance, but are all well-equipped and with wood burners and open fires are really cosy out of season. www.quaystreetcottages.com

With long walks on Newport sands, just up the road and gatherings on the banks of the river Nevern, thoughts will inevitably turn to what to eat and how to cook it, and here’s the answer;
https://www.weber.com/GB/en/barbecues/portable-barbecues/go-anywhere-series-/1131004.html
it’s a tried and tested piece of kit and has been coming out annually for the last ten years, but up until now, always someone else’s. I’ve put that right and just ordered one for this year’s excursion. Freshly
landed mackerel will be the order of the day.
Talking of BBQ, it’s on the menu for one of the weddings we’re doing next year, with a piece of beef I’ve never cooked before, so I thought I would try it out this week and get some feedback.

LOW AND SLOW SMOKED BEEF BRISKETT, PICKLED VEGETABLES

First, marinade a slab of beef brisket in your proprietary rub, ours is top secret as is everyone else’s.  Let it rest in the marinade for 24 hours.  Then spark up the BBQ, ours is a ‘Drumbeque’ and throw on some wet oak and apple wood chippings to get some quality smoke circulating.  Cook/smoke, off the flame for about five hours at about 140 degrees.  Transfer to a roasting tray, add a litre of your best quality, home made beef stock, cover with foil and cook in an oven at 140 degrees for a further seven hours, basting regularly.  Eat hot or cold, we’re suggesting cold with pickled vegetables and a lovely Spanish potato salad.

Ingredients (allergens in brackets) Beef, Olive oil, Rosemary, Thyme, Pepper, Paprika, Cumin, Garlic – cloves, Worcestershire sauce (gluten, fish), Sugar, Beef stock (celery), Salt, White wine vinegar (sulphour dioxide), Shallots, Fennel, Carrots.

£10.50

SPANISH POTATO SALAD

Three things I love, anything Spanish, most potatoes, all things salady.  There are other things, wife, children etc but the above combination is a super comforting plate of deliciousness which goes with pretty much anything

Ingredients (allergens in brackets) Potato, Egg (egg), Olives, Chives, Mayonnaise (egg), Mustard (mustard), Lemon, Paprika

£3.00

NASI GORENG

It is the tail end of July, heading into August and a Nasi just seems so appropriate.  It positively glows with ginger, fresh red chilli, peppers, prawns, bacon, chicken, baby octopus, spring onion, rice and a sensational sauce stirred through it.  Silly not to.

Ingredients (allergens in brackets) Rice, Egg (egg), Sesame oil (sesame), Chicken, Bacon, Prawns (fish) Octopus (fish) Onion, Peppers, Vegetable oil, Garlic, Chilli, Ginger, Coriander, Shrimp paste (crustacean), Pepper, Chilli bean sauce (gluten, soya), Oyster Sauce (gluten, fish, soya), Soy sauce (soya, gluten), Sugar, Spring onions.

£9.50

MULTI-VEGETABLE PAELLA, PEPPERS, FENNEL, ARTOCHOKE, MUSHROOMS, OLIVES

An Ottolenghi special, a kaleidoscope of colour and flavour.  We cooked this dish for Vicky Collier’s 40th birthday some years ago, on a clifftop on the Jurassic Coast.  It poured with rain most of the time but that didn’t dampen spirits.  Someone had the bright idea to set fire to a pile of straw bales in the middle of the canvas encampment, just to warm us up I suppose.  You can imagine how that went down with the campers, mentioning no names Matt Scalway.

Ingredients (allergens in brackets) Olive oil, Onion, Garlic, Bay leaves, Paprika, Turmeric, Rice, Saffron, Vegetable stock (celery), Broad beans, Lemon, Peppers, Fennel, Tomato, Parsley, Sherry (sulphur dioxide), Artichoke, Olives, Cayenne pepper, Mushrooms

£8.50

COURGETTE CAKE, LIME ICING

This is a divine ‘village fete’ number.  A perfect afternoon tea with a cuppa, nugget of sparkling sugariness.  A great ending to a great meal, it has greatness baked into it.

Ingredients (allergens in brackets) Courgettes, Egg (egg), Vegetable oil, Sugar, Flour (gluten), Bicarb of soda, Baking soda, Lemon curd (milk, egg), Cream cheese (milk), Lemon

£4.50