The Hambrough at home in October

Hey, feast your eyes on this! It’s our new cookery section run in association with our fancy friends at The Hambrough – yes, that’s the Ventnor restaurant with 5 AA stars, and swish accommodation. Last month, we showed you how to make mackerel escabeche, charred IOW tomatoes, squid ink and tempura avocado.

This month, we’ve got plenty more to enjoy…

• Great cookery tips from Head Chef Darren Beevers.
• A round-up of the best seasonal ingredients.
• Another fabulous recipe for you to try at home. Head pastry chef Alex Wibberley has come up with this contemporary classic – lemon and poppy seed cake, honeycomb, fresh strawberries and lavender ice cream.

So tuck in, dear reader, and enjoy the feast…

Bite-sized tips from top chef Darren Beevers

1. What are the basics that I should have in my kitchen cupboard?  
Good quality olive oil, a selection of herbs and spices, pasta, tinned beans, tinned tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, sea salt and pepper.

2. How do you make perfect buttered toast?
Thickly cut sourdough bread, grilled and generously smothered in butter!

3. How do you know when pasta is cooked? Do you really have to throw it against the wall?
It’s all down to personal taste. Break one with your fingers and look at the pasta to see if it’s cooked. Generally cook for 1-2 minutes less than the packet says for the Italian style al dente.

4. What can I make for a dinner party that looks really fancy… but is actually very easy?
A goats’ cheese, tomato and caramelised onion tartlet. Buy pre-made puff pastry, onion marmalade, IOW tomatoes and a nice goats’ cheese. Cut the pastry into a rectangle and spread the marmalade on the pastry leaving a small border. Then arrange the tomatoes and goats’ cheese. Bake at 200 °C for 18-22mins. Serve with rocket and balsamic salad.

5. Are there any ‘tools’ or gadgets that you would recommend for cookery enthusiasts?
A couple of tools that I love are…
My Bamix hand blender – great for creating light foamy soups and sauces.
My Isi Whipped Cream Dispenser – put any cream based product inside, and pressurised nitrous oxide gas will whip it up in a couple of minutes. It can be used with hot and cold foods, to make mashed potato foam, whipped custard etc…

6. What’s the best way to cook with garlic?
I always buy a large amount of Isle of Wight garlic (around 1kg) then peel all the cloves and blend with olive oil and a touch of water. I then divide it into small packets, freeze them and defrost when needed. Add at the beginning of cooking for a mild flavour, or at the end for a more intense garlic flavour.

My top three October ingredients by The Hambrough’s Darren Beevers

1. Blackberries: sweet, sour and refreshing… Pick your own fresh blackberries – they’re far superior to those you can buy. Combine with apples to create a scrumptious pudding.
2. Runner beans: Crunchy and nutritious. Runner beans are so versatile and can be paired with almost anything. Try them stir fried with olive oil, garlic, lemon and dill.
3. Kale: one of the only green vegetables to become more flavorsome as it becomes colder. Can be used in any recipe instead of cabbage or spinach. Try it deep fried as a crispy snack… awesome.

Recipe of the Month: Lemon and poppy seed cake, honeycomb, fresh strawberries and lavender ice cream.

This recipe comes from Tunisia and is mega light and sticky.

Cake syrup
50g dry breadcrumbs
75g caster sugar
200g caster sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
100g ground almonds
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
200g oil (olive, sunflower or groundnut)
4 eggs
Zest of 2 large lemons
25g poppy seeds

Combine all ingredients for the cake in a bowl and mix well. There is no need for any fancy techniques or to incorporate air, just mix thoroughly.

Grease and base-line an 8” cake tin and pour the mix in for best results. However strange it seems, put the cake into a cold oven and turn up to 180 °C. Bake for approx. 40 mins depending on the oven. The cake should be golden brown and firm to the touch. Push a small knife or skewer into the cake and hold for 5 seconds. It should emerge clean but, more importantly, hot all over.

Let the cake stand for 10 mins then bring the sugar and lemon juice to the boil in a saucepan to make a syrup. Turn the cake out onto a cooling rack and remove the greaseproof sheet. Spoon the syrup over the cake until covered, allow the cake to absorb all of the liquid and then repeat until all the syrup has gone. Leave to cool but do not chill.

You can experiment by making the syrup with oranges and cinnamon, cloves, or star anise. You could also try using ground pistachios or walnuts instead of almonds.

Honeycomb
2 dessert spoons golden syrup
5 dessert spoons caster sugar
1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Combine the golden syrup and caster sugar in a dry pan. Take it to 160 °C. If you don’t have a thermometer don’t worry – neither do I! You can judge it by the colour and smell. It will become brown instead of yellow and just start to smell caramelised, slightly burnt. Now add the bicarbonate of soda and mix with a whisk, quickly and only long enough to combine fully. It will bubble and expand quickly. You must work quickly, but be careful – it is super hot! You also don’t want to lose all the bubbles, so be gentle so you don’t pop them all. Pour gently onto a sheet of greaseproof paper and leave to set fully.

Lavender ice cream
This works best if you have an ice cream churner, but you can also do it the old-fashioned way, prepared two days in advance: take a large bowl (glass or metal) and make sure it fits in your freezer. Pour an inch of water in the bottom and freeze overnight. Take a smaller bowl and place it inside the other, on top of the ice (preferably one that allows an inch between the two bowls). Place a tin can or something heavy in the smaller bowl (this should be something that is OK to go in the freezer). Pour water in between the two bowls until it reaches the top. Freeze overnight.

500g semi skimmed milk
150g whipping cream
130g caster sugar
80g egg yolks (approx. 4)
1 tablespoon liquid glucose
10-15 fresh lavender flowers

Lavender is going wild all over the island so if you are not lucky enough to grow it at home – get foraging!

Boil the milk, cream and glucose with the lavender flowers. Use the stems as well for a more intense flavour. Leave to infuse for 20 mins. Strain the liquid off and discard the lavender. Mix the yolks and sugar together. Reboil the liquid and pour over the egg mix, whisking all the time. Pour into your churner or alternatively remove your bowls from the feezer and pour the custard into the centre bowl. The thick block of ice in between the bowls will freeze the mix quickly – all you’ll need to do is stir every 5-10 mins until it is set. It will take about an hour depending on the thickness of the ice block, surrounding temperatures etc.

Finishing the dish
Break the honeycomb and place a small amount with a piece of the cake. This will provide a contrasting texture. Dress some fresh strawberries with a squeeze of lemon juice and dusting of icing sugar. Serve with the cake and finish with a scoop of the lavender ice cream.

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We hope you’ll enjoy making this recipe at home. Please email a pic of your dish to and we’ll put the best (and the funniest!) on the website. Next month, we’ll be asking Darren Beevers for a few tips on presenting food (we’re thinking fancy garnishes, swirly jus, the works). If you’ve got any culinary questions that you’d like to put to him, drop us an email at .

In the meantime, check the Hambrough’s website, as they will be offering cookery demos at their restaurant over the next few months.

Buon appetito!

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The Hambrough
Address: Hambrough Rd, Ventnor PO38 1SQ
Tel: 01983 856333
Website

Image of lavender courtesy of Willem Siers / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image of blackberries courtesy of Tom Curtis / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image of lemons courtesy of Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net