The Moving Foodie Blog: summer

Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts

Wednesday, 4 July 2018

Review: Summer House Restaurant at Newmarket Racecourse

The July Course from the Premier Enclosure viewing terrace

Every year my blogging seems to follow the same kind of pattern. Summer starts to roll around (yippee!) and, by mid-June, I'm easing into some new-found freedom after I've finished organising the annual Eat Cambridge festival (a fortnight in May which involves indulging in A LOT of excellent local food and drink, plus many long, hard days spent planning and organising and then hosting events). After a few weeks' break from what feels like constant eating and, in between bites, snapping photos to share on social media, I'm getting itchy fingers again - reaching for my phone to Instagram my latest culinary creation, or being tempted by a new foodie opening, and finally finding time to put my laptop down and eat out again. Around this time of year, I find SO much that is good about being a food blogger: beautiful summer produce from our garden and local farms; good evening light for taking photos of supper recipes; and gorgeous sunny days spent exploring the many great eats in our local area. Fantastic timing, then, that this weekend's stunning weather (and a very rare free Saturday to enjoy as a family) saw us donning our fancy threads and venturing over to Newmarket for a day at the races to check out the Summer House Restaurant at Newmarket Racecourse's July Course. And we were so glad we did. We had a blast! Read on to find out what we thought of the food (and more)...

Review: Paris House, Woburn

Woburn Park

Paris House, Woburn

Visiting Michelin-starred restaurants set in acres of picturesque parkland is most certainly not a regular pastime of mine. Yet last Saturday I was fortunate enough to join my best girl friends for a very special lunch at Paris House in Woburn, Bedfordshire. The only Michelin-starred establishment in the county, the restaurant is delightfully hidden away in the huge deer park next to Woburn Safari Park; accessed via an ancient stone archway and long winding driveway through lush green countryside dotted with grazing deer, giving an air of exclusivity even before one's first glimpse of the stunning black and white Tudor-style house. At the front of the restaurant a simple paved terrace with wrought iron tables and chairs offers spectacular views across the park. Inside, the contemporary styled dining room seats ten or so parties comfortably at tables covered by spotless white tablecloths and modern, angular wine glasses. Venture upstairs to the sumptuous washrooms - with lovely touches such as a string of pearls hung on the door to the ladies' room and a single, silk tie denoting the men's - and you can gaze out of the huge leaded windows at the well-tended kitchen garden, from which fresh produce is picked for the day's menu.

Seasonal Eating: August Plums

One of my lovely followers (and a local Cambridge foodie too) asked if I knew what to do with the delicious Mirabelle plums, which are in season in abundance right now. Hailing from the Alsace Lorraine region of France, the flavourful, mostly yellow, small plums are known for their versatility. Available from July to mid-September, and delicious in August, if you can get your hands on a fresh haul, they can be used for eating, cooking and making brandy! I promised some recipe ideas and I'll be the first to admit I'm not a great fan of making desserts so here are a couple of options from a quick internet search and a flick through Paul Waddington's book on Seasonal Food (my bible at the moment!)...

Recipe: Summer Spaghetti

Following my discovery of an amazing book on seasonal eating last weekend, I spent an educational, tiring, yet very enjoyable week trying to create a tasty meal each evening using only home-grown, seasonal produce. I tried to stick to locally sourced ingredients, where possible, and avoided using anything made, grown, reared outside of the UK.

The result of working so hard to avoid the supermarkets, over-packaging and miles and miles of unnecessary transportation? A handful of lovely recipes to share on the Blog (after a week of silence - sorry regular readers!)... like this Summer Spaghetti, with bacon, British mushrooms and seasonal greens.

Recipe: Lemon & Prosecco Ice Cubes

Remember when the weather was gloriously sunny and hot and the Cambridge skies were clear and blue for hours, days even, on end? If you can't recall, it was a couple of weeks ago and I was playing around with some decadent Champagne recipes such as Champagne Cupcakes and Prosecco Jelly. In keeping with the beautiful summer weather, I used the leftover Prosecco to make some ice cubes for cold drinks and cocktails to enjoy whilst sunbathing!

Recipe: Prosecco Jelly

I'm making some decadent and rather girly Champagne Cupcakes for a party and with the excess fizz I decided to try making a fun little boozy jelly. At Christmas I made some sparkling mulled wine jellies for a dinner party, which turned out to be rather potent and very tasty, so I turned to the trusty Delia Smith recipes once more and found this recipe for Champagne Jelly. I'm adapting it slightly and using Prosecco but it works just as well. Next time I'm going to try adding some sparkling water, a la the mulled wine jelly recipe, to give it a bit more fizz!

Recipe: Goat's Cheese, Beetroot and Orange Salad

Another sunny day, another delicious summer salad recipe to keep you going!

I made this for my lunch today and ate it in the garden, feeling very virtuous and trying to ignore the gorgeous aromas wafting over the wall from my neighbours' BBQ...

Recipe: Herb Salad with Pomegranate & Pistachios

When it comes to the weather, I'm unashamedly British. We've enjoyed just one day of sunshine and I'm immediately declaring the arrival of summer, donning my sarong and flip flops, making outdoor-based plans for the foreseeable future, and digging out my favourite summer recipes. As I am (of course) optimistic that the summer weather will continue for a good couple of months yet, here is a delicious salad recipe to whet your appetite for the many picnic, BBQ and light lunch recipes to follow!

Image credit: istockphoto.com

Recipe: Fraisier aux Biscuits Roses

Last summer I found this great recipe in a free magazine from our local Carrefour supermarket in France. I was drawn to the pretty pink dessert like a magpie to sparkly things (as is always the case with me and girly, summery treats) and painstakingly translated the recipe when I got home. I was planning to make it for my guests to enjoy with a glass of bubbly at my upcoming birthday BBQ. Unfortunately, however, I encountered two insurmountable problems along the way: the weather last June was about as good as it is now so my BBQ was rained off, and, more importantly, one of the ingredients turned out to be unavailable in the UK!! Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon the elusive missing ingredient - biscuits roses de reims - in a French supermarket last weekend. Et voila! I can now give this beautiful strawberry, vanilla cream cake a test run before summer finally decides to make an appearance...

Pages

Wednesday, 4 July 2018

Review: Summer House Restaurant at Newmarket Racecourse

Friday, 24 August 2012

Review: Paris House, Woburn

Wednesday, 22 August 2012

Seasonal Eating: August Plums

Friday, 17 August 2012

Recipe: Summer Spaghetti

Friday, 3 August 2012

Recipe: Lemon & Prosecco Ice Cubes

Wednesday, 25 July 2012

Recipe: Prosecco Jelly

Sunday, 22 July 2012

Recipe: Goat's Cheese, Beetroot and Orange Salad

Saturday, 21 July 2012

Recipe: Herb Salad with Pomegranate & Pistachios

Monday, 14 May 2012

Recipe: Fraisier aux Biscuits Roses