The Harwood Arms, Fulham (Again)

I know I have already posted about the Harwood Arms, but we had such a good meal at the weekend that I thought I ought to write about it. I think we were lucky that we wanted to go on Sunday evening, and they therefore had space for the six of us, as they won Time Out new gastropub of the year last week.

There was a lot of negotiation going on as we chose what to eat, due to the rib of beef for two that was available. We all also seemed to go for the same starters, which really caught the eye.

I shared poached salmon with broken egg with my brother. There had been a lot of discussion as to what broken egg, in the context, would be. I think it was a soft boiled egg chopped up, so the yolk made a bit of a sauce. It went very well with the soft smokey salmon, and the shared portion was perfect to whet the appetite for the amount of meat to follow. The other starter we tried was a soft-boiled duck egg with English truffle soldiers. Again, this was a perfectly executed dish, with the egg still runny and the truffle providing a different, earthy, aspect to the dish.

Four of the group then shared the rib of beef, with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and vegetables. This arrived on two big wooden boards, and there was a serious amount of food. We could have just ordered these between the six of us, and still all been full! The beef was beautifully pink and tender, and the horseradish the perfect hit of spicy creaminess. The roast potatoes looked amazingly crispy too, although I never tried them since I was distracted by the arrival of my pork belly.

This was meltingly tender, with a hint of five-spice (we think). My only slight complaint would be that my preference would be for crisper crackling, as this was a little chewy. However, it seems churlish to complain when the dish was so delicious. It came with some stewed prunes for a sweet hit, and to-die-for mashed potatoes. I am ignoring the likely butter content!

By this point we were all stuffed, and yet couldn’t resist the lure of the puddings. My eton mess was spot on, with a large ration of meringue to cream, which is definitely my preference, and the blackcurrants providing a tart contrast. There was also a delicious jelly at the bottom, but my tastebuds had been blown by the blackcurrant (in a good way) and I couldn’t identify the subtle flavours.

My brother’s apple doughnuts had people moaning around the table, and his girlfriend’s burnt Trinty cream (like crème brulee, but slightly runnier cream) was also a hit. R had truffled Tunworth cheese with homemade oatcakes, which he seemed reluctant to share.

This was my parents’ treat, as it was their wedding anniversary, so I don’t know what the damage was. However, last time we went it was pretty good value, and for this quality of food the prices did not seem high.

The service was good too, and they dealt well with my request for gluten-free, coming back to change my order once someone noticed that the mutton I wanted originally had unadvertised breadcrumbs on it. They were also more than happy to bag up our leftover beef so that we could take it home with us.

We have eaten at one of the runner-up pubs in the Time Out competition, the Cadogan Arms, and I have to say that the Harwood is in a completely different class. This is a place that knows what it wants to achieve, and does so using seasonal, well-sourced produce, without being too expensive. I really can't recommend it highly enough.

On our way out we also noticed that they are offering a special grouse menu, if you order in advance. We might be back pretty soon!

Diet and Lunches

I have referred to the diet I have been put on a few times, without really explaining what it is. I have been having stomach problems for sometime now, and had my appendix out in the summer. However, the problems persisted, and so finally I got to see a dietitian at the hospital, who put me on a low-FODMAP diet. This restricts the amount of certain dietary carbohydrates, which have been found to cause some people problems.

In practical terms this means no wheat (I am doing gluten-free, as weirdly that seems easier as it is labelled), no onions or garlic, and also lots of different fruit and vegetables are on the banned list. It means quite a lot of forward planning, particularly if we are eating out. It can get pretty frustrating, although at least I am used to cooking all of my meals from scratch, as ready meals are out.

It has also meant that I have had to be creative with my lunches on weekdays, as virtually all of the sandwich shop/takeaway options are out. If we are having something that will be good cold then I cook a bit extra, e.g. frittata, chicken, rice. Quite often I cook up quite a lot of new potatoes or rice on a Sunday night, and that can then form the basis of my lunch for the next week.

Rice mixed with pesto (homemade with no garlic), with ham or cold chicken, is a favourite, as is potato salad. I also enjoyed a smoked mackerel fillet with lettuce and horseradish today. Cold chicken with mayonnaise and a bit of crème fraiche and tarragon is a good one too. For the days when inspiration is lacking oatcakes and Philadelphia is an option, although a pretty boring one. I also have a bottle of tamari (wheat-free soy sauce) in my desk, so that I can treat myself to sushi. I am sure as the weather gets colder I will be having more soup and baked potatoes too.

I have to have suitable snacks with me for those peckish moments, as the vending machine is no longer an option. It means that I am being a lot healthier, as snacks tend to be carrot sticks or grapes rather than crisps or chocolate!

I have also been getting a Graze box delivered to work. Basically they deliver a healthy snack box, usually containing some fresh fruit, nuts, seeds and dried fruit. It is expensive compared to buying the stuff in bulk, but convenient. I am also low on self-control, so at least this comes in portion sizes. If you want to try it out, click here and you’ll get a free box (and I’ll get some money off mine!).

Shepherd's Pie

I don't normally go in for cutsie individual serving sizes, but I couldn't resist making this shepherd's pie, and anyway there wasn't enough lamb to make a bigger pie. This recipe used up a couple of chops that had been in the fridge for long enough. It's not even really worth a recipe, just whizz up the lamb in the food processor, then fry off quickly with a clove of garlic, then add a good glug of mushroom ketchup. Put in a dish (mini-Le Creuset not compulsory), top with mash potato and then bake in the oven until it's bubbling and the top is brown. Serve with creamy leeks (or other green vegetable). Perfect comfort food.

French Markets and Caponata

Eating out may have been expensive on the Ile de Re, but we knew we were following it with four days of self-catering, and the markets made the whole thing just as much of a treat as going to a restaurant. Even the tiny village that we were staying in on the Ile de Re had a daily market, which put anything local to us at home to shame. It wasn't huge, but there were a couple of butchers, a couple of fishmongers, a few fruit and veg stalls and lots of cheese and patisserie.

We took 3 dozen oysters with us to share with my parents, which cost less than €10! We bought some merguez sausages to go with them, as the hot, spicy sausage makes a great contrast with the cold salty oysters.

Steak was also purchased to go on the barbeque, as well as pate and rillettes for lunch, and a large amount of cheese. It’s no wonder we had to swim 50 lengths every day! I also indulged in my holiday treat of Nutella for breakfast (on oatcakes). It went some way to making up for not being able to eat the croissants and baguette everyone else was tucking into, although not quite the same.

I have to mention the pecorino with truffle that friends of my parents brought from Italy. This stuff was seriously addictive, with a powerful truffle flavour. They also brought figs from their tree, which not only were enjoyed fresh for breakfast, but also stuffed with goat’s cheese and baked in a hot oven. I think I want to go back!

I’ll finish with a recipe, although the quantities are guesswork since there were no scales in the house. Delicious with cold meats, cheese and bread for lunch.

Caponata

2 aubergines
1 medium onion
5 large tomatoes
Glug of vinegar (wine vinegar is traditional, but we only had balsamic)
Dessert spoon of sugar
Dessert spoon of capers
Small handful of raisins
Small handful of pine nuts
Large handful of chopped flat leaf parsley

Chop the aubergines into small cubes, put into a colander with a sprinkling of salt, and leave to drain. Meanwhile chop the onions and cook gently in a little oil. Once the onions are soft remove from the pan, add some more oil and cook the aubergine until soft and golden.

Put the onions back in the pan and add the tomatoes, having peeled and chopped them. Cook gently for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes have broken down and formed a sauce. Add the sugar and vinegar, and cook for another 5 or so minutes. Turn the heat off, add the capers, raisins, pine nuts and parsley, stir well and leave to cool.

Andre, La Rochelle (France)

For some reason I forgot to post this at the beginning of the posts about our trip to France, as that is where it fits chronologically. Andre has been our favourite place to eat out in La Rochelle since we started going to the area, and no trip would be complete without a visit here. When we flew out we ended up on the outskirts of La Rochelle at pretty much lunchtime, so a meal at Andre seemed to be the perfect way to start the holiday.

This place is absolutely huge. Over time they have taken over the adjoining premises, and now the restaurant can do over 500 covers. It doesn’t seem to take the quality away though. They had rebranded since we were last there, and it all looked a bit more modern and freshly painted.

We managed to bag the last table on the terrace, and after a cursory glance at the menu both of us went for a mini ‘fruits de mer’. This consisted of 4 oysters, 4 prawns, 4 langostine and 4 whelks each. Accompanied by bread for R and chips for me, and large amounts of homemade mayonnaise, this was a truly great meal, and came in at about €40 for the two of us, which for the quality was well worth it. There is nothing that says you are on holiday more to me than eating shellfish while being able to smell the sea!

L'Entracte, La Rochelle (France)

Having managed eating out really easily on the Ile de Re, it suddenly became really hard at L’Entracte. I suppose this is because the emphasis wasn’t on seafood in the same way. Still, we managed to explain the problem eventually, and had a great meal. Once we had managed to explain that I couldn't eat flour the staff could not have been more helpful.

This restaurant is part of the Coutanceau empire in La Rochelle, which includes a two Michelin star restaurant, a seafood place and this ‘modern bistro’. There is also a cookery school, and it all reminds me a bit of Rick Stein in Padstow, which certainly is not a bad thing. Gregory has now joined his father Richard in cooking in the restaurants.

L’Entracte has a very modern feel when you walk in, and the waiters were all charming and chatty as we arrived. We decided the set menu looked good (again), although I had to have my smoked salmon without the accompanying potato goufre (waffle). R had it though, and what arrived had been made in an old-fashioned waffle iron, and certainly got full marks for presentation, although apparently it was a bit bland.

I then went for the duck. We had identified that it came with cabbage and mille feuille potatoes, but I wasn’t expecting it to be shredded duck wrapped in a cabbage leaf. Unfortunately it was full of onion and I wasn’t sure what else was in it, so I swapped it for R’s fish. I am the least fussy person when it comes to food, so I hated having to do this, but if the diet makes me feel better then I am determined to get it right. The fish was perfectly cooked, and the potatoes were also delicious. Full marks also to R who was prepared to give up the meal he had chosen for his unhelpful wife!

For pudding I had ice cream and chocolate sauce. My father’s pear wrapped in pastry (I can’t remember the official name!) looked seriously tasty, and he seemed very reluctant to share it! Everyone else had strawberries in orange syrup, which was a light and fresh way to end the meal.

Belem, Ile de Re (France)

We were at risk of total overeating, and so we decided to have a more low-key meal this time around, at Belem, before a bit of a blow out on our last night. In a meal that involved a lot of eating with our hands we followed a plate of prawns with moules and frites. The prawns were plump and juicy, and served with a quite mustardy mayonnaise. The moules were on the small side, which meant a lot of work for your supper, but it was definitely worth it! R went for a traditional marinere while I went for mouclade, which had a very mild curry and pineau sauce. With perfect hot crisp ‘frites’ this was a great meal, although rather lacking in vegetables.

A serious amount of ice cream!

We followed this with ice cream from the stall on the harbour-front. Choosing from the 50-odd flavours took some time, but eventually I went for rum raisin and salt caramel. The rum raisin was good, with the vanilla ice cream and boozy raisins sitting well together, but the star was the salt caramel. It is hard to describe without making it sound disgusting, but I have been dreaming of it ever since! We had to go back the next day so that I could have more.

Le Skipper, Ile de Re (France)

The view from the restaurant

For our second night we ventured a bit further afield, and went to St Martin-de-Re. We had a drink while the sun set, and then wandered about a bit looking at menus before deciding on Le Skipper. Unfortunately we were too late to nab an outside table, but the interior was very smart, with a Ralph Lauren feel.

Again we had the set menu, which was €26. I started with sashimi, which didn’t seem very French, but it did seem appropriate given that we could see the sea from where we sat. It was melt in the mouth, and came with a great coriander sauce as well as soy. R started with six oysters, which were on even the cheapest set menus as the Ile de Re is one of the main French producers. R had never eaten an oyster when we met, so I am rather proud of him now!

I then had dorade, which I think is bream. This was simply but perfectly cooked, and accompanied by a rather bland ratatouille. The fish was definitely the star at this restaurant, and all of the accompaniments were second thoughts rather. It didn’t matter though as we hugely enjoyed our fish.

To finish we had a pave au chocolat, with salt caramel (again). A lot of salt is produced on the Ile de Re, which I think is the reason salt caramel appears on so many menus (as well as in the form of ice cream – more on that later!).

The pave was absolutely fantastic, and for once we had both ordered the same thing, which is lucky or otherwise there might have been a fight! Rich creamy chocolate mousse sat on top of a wafer made of puffed rice and chocolate, with the caramel providing a wonderfully contrasting salty note.

I also need to add a quick note on the service, which was great. The staff didn't really speak any English, and I was trying to explain that I can't eat wheat in my schoolgirl French. We got there in the end, and the waitress was more than happy to check with the chef about the ingredients, and offer me an alternate if there was nothing on the set menu I could eat.

L'Ocean, Ile de Re (France)

We left planning our holiday rather late this year, as we weren’t quite sure how I was going to be feeling, and we had already had to cancel one trip this year. When my parents said they were taking a house near La Rochelle, and there was room for us, we decided to combine this with a few days on the Ile de Re, as we have wanted to go for ages.

After much discussion and internet searching we decided to stay at L’Ocean. No sooner had we booked it than friends turned out to have stayed there, and luckily they highly recommended it. Since we knew little about the area we booked a table in their restaurant for the first night, until we had time to get our bearings.

Everything on the Ile de Re was pretty expensive, particularly with the current exchange rate, but the set menus still seemed to offer good value. Here the three course menu came in at €24. I started with smoked salmon, which was not the most exciting option, but tasty and came with a well-dressed salad.

Then I had a cassoulette de mer. This was mixed seafood and fish, including mussels, prawns, squid and white fish, cooked in a thick tomato sauce with mushrooms and fennel. The sauce and fish were lovely, but the mussels and squid had got rather overcooked and rubbery.

For dessert I had what appeared to be a local speciality – caramalised baked bananas with salt caramel. The bananas had been split in half and sprinkled with brown sugar before being baked in a hot oven, which created a brulee-like crust on the banana. The salt caramel contrasted beautifully with the warm slightly crunchy banana. All-in-all a great end to the meal, and a good start to the holiday.