The Leconfield, Petworth, West Sussex

Lunch out is always a treat, more so when with a dear friend and in celebration of my birthday.  I hadn't been to the Leconfield in Petworth before and purposely hadn't read any reviews on Trip Advisor so as not to have any preconceived ideas.  The reality was a smartly decorated but relaxed restaurant where we had a table in the conservatory and enjoyed a totally delicious meal.  Lisa, the excellent waitress, ensured that the service was exactly as one would hope - friendly, informed and efficient.  Ingredients are sourced locally and reflect the best of the season.  My razor clam first course was superb, although Linsi's choice of cucumber-wrapped soused and smoked mackerel, radish and red onion salad, dill mayonnaise, and cumin rye croutons looked more of a work of art.  The menu provided a good selection of starters and main courses with an additional lunch menu to supplement the a la carte.  I couldn't resist the trio of beef sliders, three delectable Goodwood mini beefburgers, cooked to perfection and served with the house special sauce (tomato based with a mustard kick), garnished with large chips.  Dessert seemed totally indulgent but sounded too good to miss.  Lisa recommended the dessert plate of mini-sized portions of the popular choices, although the idea to share went out the window when Linsi was drawn to the praline and dulce de leche semi-fredo, caramel ice cream, chocolate macaroon and broken honeycombe.  Consequently I had the selection of tasters all to myself.  Just as well diets always begin tomorrow...

Courgette Fritters

Allotment owners often have a glut of Summer produce and only having a small courtyard garden myself I'm always grateful to be the recipient of friends' excess crops.  Courgettes seem to be running rampant with so much rain lately, so I've enjoyed experimenting making courgette fritters.  They make a wonderful supper served with crisy bacon, along with an avocado and tomato salad.  The following ingredients will make approximately 12 fritters:

3 or 4 courgettes depending on size
1 large onion (white or red - whatever you have to hand)
1 red chilli pepper (optional)
3 eggs
125g self raising flour (or a couple of tablespoons if you don't have scales to hand)
125g (half a tub) of ricotta

Firstly chop the onion and soften this in a good glug of olive oil in a frying pan for a few minutes. If you're using the chilli to give a peppery kick chop this finely and add to the onion so they cook together.  Meanwhile grate the courgettes and place in a large bowl along with the lightly beaten eggs and ricotta.  Once the onion is ready combine this with the courgette mixture.  Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in the frying pan and over a medium heat fry the fritters in batches.  Depending on the size of the fritter they will take three minutes or so each side.  If you're serving with bacon this should be cooking at the same time and it's a good idea to prepare the avocado and tomato salad in advance, or whatever else you may be serving the fritters with, to avoid that last minute rush of trying to get everything ready on the plate at once.  These fritters really are very quick and easy, as well as more exciting than courgettes in their own right. 

The Pearl of Dorset

Moving and dramatic, Lyme Regis is famous for the iconic scene featuring the harbour, or Cobb as it's called, in the film 'The French Lieutenant's Woman' starring Meryl Streep.  The film was released in 1981 but Lyme Regis is ancient, being part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site spanning 185 million years of the earth's history.  Visitors travel from far and wide to experience the area, enjoy the beach and in my case make a pilgrimage to the excellent Town Mill Bakery.  On my way to and from Devon for a short holiday I purposely made a detour each way so I could enjoy the delights of this artisan bakery.  Lyme Regis is known as the 'Pearl of Dorset' and this is truly a pearl of a bakery, the type you wish you had in your own town.  Using local, organic ingredients with everything prepared from scratch on site, the warehouse style premises are an open plan kitchen workshop area with simple long wooden tables and benches for customers to sit and enjoy coffee or a snack, as well as make their purchases.  Even if you can't get to the bakery in person their website includes recipes and inspiration to recreate their ethos at home: http://www.townmillbakery.com/ and would you believe the owner's name is Clive Cobb, a double co-incidence fitting not just for a baker, but based in Lyme Regis too.  Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a fan and so am I.

Summer Crostini

Inspired to make a selection of crostini to serve al fresco with glasses of chilled Prosecco to friends on Saturday, the pea and broad bean crostini was the hit of the evening.  With no recipe in mind, I made it up as I went along and the result was delicious.  The following ingredients make a generous quantity that would be enough for 12 people.  I didn't weigh anything, just tasted as I went along and adjusted seasoning accordingly.  (The beans and peas were seasonal English crops in packs from Waitrose - hence using the whole bag of each).The method is quick and easy with a Magimix food processor, otherwise will take longer with a large mortar and pestle, along with the energy to pound by hand:

500g Broad beans (weight in their pods)
500g Peas in pods
1 handful freshy grated Pecorino (or Parmesan) cheese
good glug of extra virgin olive oil
2 handfuls fresh mint leaves (de-stalked)
salt and pepper to taste

Shell the peas and beans, then blanch in boiling water for a minute or so.  Drain.  Put the peas and beans in the food processor with the cheese and pulse to combine well together.  Add the mint leaves and a generous pour of olive oil to give a smoother texture.  Blitz again.  Once the texture is to your liking, taste to decide how much seasoning is required.  Ready to serve.

For the crostini I simply sliced a ciabatta loaf, spread the slices over a baking tray, drizzled the bread with olive oil and baked at the top of a heated oven (180 degrees C) for 10 minutes.  This made a lovely crispy base for a variety of toppings.  In addition to the pea and bean spread, I prepared buffalo mozzarella with with homemade wild garlic pesto; along with finely sliced flame roasted red peppers (courtesy of my local delicatessen, as well as a bowl of marinated black olives from Provence).  I completely forgot about the melon and parma ham I was also intending to serve, but no one realised anything was missing.  Guess what I'm having for my lunch today. 

Lavender Shortbread

Delightfully heady the scent of lavender is truly uplifting and the plant has made a valuable contribution to well-being for centuries.  In Maggie Tisserand and Monika Juenemann's book "The Magic and Power of Lavender" they state in the introduction how "Ancient medical texts extol its healing powers.  From the history of the Middle Ages we learn that people handling lavender never fell victim to the bubonic plague". In addition to enjoying the beauty of growing lavender and the many uses for lavender essential oil, lavender is also a welcome ingredient in cooking both savoury and sweet, from enhancing roast lamb to baked in cakes and biscuits.  I was inspired by an article in the Saturday Telegraph magazine recently about a couple in Kent who have turned their hop farm into a "lavender paradise".  At the time I didn't have any 'hot' lavender essence to hand, so improvised in making some lavender shortbread and used a proportion of lavender infused caster sugar which worked perfectly well. The end result was delicious, (so much so that by the time I came to take a photo to illustrate my blog there were only three pieces of the original 18 left). Based on William and Caroline Alexander's original recipe, my variation is below and you too may like to try this wonderful taste of Summer:

150g butter (room temperature)
75g caster sugar (I used half lavender-infused caster sugar and half regular caster sugar)
150g plain flour
75g rice flour (really makes a big difference to the texture, so well worth using)
tablespoon of dried or fresh lavender flowers

Heat oven to 150 degrees C / gas mark 2 and line a 27x18cm baking tray with silicone paper.  Cream the butter and sugar, then add the flour, ground rice and lavender flowers.  Combine well and press mixture into the lined tin.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until pale golden colour.  Remove from the oven, sprinkle with extra caster sugar and lavender flowers if desired.  Allow the shortbread to cool in the tin, but whilst still warm cut into fingers. Keep in an airtight tin to retain crispness. 

Apart from being great as it is, the shortbread is an ideal accompaniment to gooseberry fool. I make mine using stewed gooseberries with elderflower cordial, sieved (if you want a smooth texture), then folded into a combination of thick yoghurt and vanilla custard combined. 

Field & Fork at Pallant House Gallery

Some years ago (well the late 1980's to be precise, but that dates me...) there was a memorable advertising campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi promoting the Victoria & Albert Museum in London as "An ace caff, with quite a nice museum attached."  That's very much how I feel about the fabulous Field and Fork restaurant at the Chichester based Pallant House Gallery.  I've been countless times to eat there but never ventured to look around.  Home to an award winning collection of 20th Century British Art, I know there will be lots of interesting things to see.  I shall remedy my neglect by starting with a first visit to the forthcoming special exhibition on Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera (9 July - 2 October).  It looks set to be stunning.

The Field & Fork restaurant is one of those gems which works well at any time of day, whether for coffee and pastries, a tempting lunch menu, tea and cake in the afternoon, or evening dining.  In good weather the courtyard adjacent to the restaurant is an ideal place to relax in the open air, surrounded by London plane trees and sculpture.  All very inspiring.  My lunch choice on Saturday was a taste of Summer on a plate.  Beautifully cooked turbot with pea puree and clams, with a crab stuffed courgette flower displayed as a prize jewel on top.  Delicious and worth sidestepping my usual favourites of crayfish omlette with lobster sauce, or the red mullet open sandwich.  The starters, main courses and desserts are all well put together and reflect the Chef's passion for local, seasonal ingredients - often sourced from F&F's new half acre greenhouse providing the restaurant with the freshest vegetables, salads and soft fruit.  Well worth a special journey (and essential to book to avoid disappointment), I think Field & Fork is the best place to eat in Chichester.  

La Dolce Vita

Residents living near Sheen Lane, London, SW14 are lucky indeed to have such a fabulous authentic Italian restaurant on their doorstep.  I met a friend for dinner on Thursday evening at the recently opened Zia Pia and really enjoyed the wonderful menu.  The choice changes weekly and if I lived locally I'd have to go regularly, so as not to miss out.  It's rare to eat at an Italian restaurant in the UK and feel transported to Italy.  The menu is relatively simple, based on excellent, seasonal ingredients which are well prepared to showcase their natural flavour.  After our aperitivo of Prosecco served with minted pea crostini, we shared an incredibly fresh whole burrata (the king of buffalo mozzarella cheese with a creamy but firm texture and soft centre).  Served with capers, anchovies and a superb salsa verde with toasted ciabatta, this was a heavenly combination.  Usually I'm not a fan of antipasti but the selection at Zia Pia converted me and included salads with rocket, grated carrot and date, along with slow roasted red peppers, tomato, and fennel, plus two different types of salami served with a dish of mostarda di frutta, not forgetting the black olives.  We then progressed to Spaghetti Vongole which was less than half the price and infinitely better than the rather dry version served at the renowned Bentley's in Swallow Street, London, which I'd experienced two days before (£7.50 at Zia Pia compared to £18 at Bentley's).  It transpires the two restaurants use the same fish supplier.  We'd also ordered a special dish from the blackboard of Melanzana Parmigiana - a gratin of baked aubergine in tomato sauce, which had been slow cooked so that it virtually melted in the mouth.  Dessert was a home made (in the good sense) polenta cake served with a blood orange compote and cinnamon mascarpone.  Having asked advice on the best white wine to accompany the meal, the recommended Santa Barbara from Le Marche region of Italy, made from the Verdicchio grape, was the perfect choice.  The appeal of going to the regular wine events which pair a different wine with each course is tempting to say the least.  The next evening is on Wednesday 15th June and at £45 per head offers real value for money.  As a complete Italophile I'm very happy to have enjoyed the delights of eating at Zia Pia and look forward to returning.  If you're looking for a relaxed, sensibly priced neighbourhood restaurant, serving unpretentious delicious food and an inspired selection of interesting wines, the chances are you'll be besotted by Zia Pia too.  Buon Appetito!