A Gourmet weekend in Newcastle

Gourmet Weekend Trips Away – Newcastle

I’m calling this a weekend trip though, in fact it was from Thursday [very early!] until Saturday. I went to stay with my son and his partner, Melissa, who is from India, originally – and how is that for a challenge when cooking Indian food?

The plan was that we would go to the garden centre and buy broad-bean seeds and maybe garlic suitable for planting in the autumn. As previous Blogs have shown, planting/sowing broad-beans in autumn can be a risky business, especially is particularly harsh winters. If you decide to do this, do choose a suitable variety – I usually plant Aquadulce Claudia but, there are other varieties which can be planted in autumn.

We went to a large garden centre just outside Newcastle – Gosforth Garden Centre, Gosforth Park Newcastle-upon-Tyne. They also run a members club giving regular gardeners and regular customer’s good deals and a significant discount off their purchases [and NO! I’m not a shareholder and as I don’t live in Newcastle, recommending them is no advantage to me]. They are members of the Garden Centre Group, Gardening Club so, membership [which costs nothing] will give you good deals and discounts at any of their centres throughout the country.

Have a look at www.thegardencentregroup.co.uk.

I’m not a huge fan of large franchised or chain businesses – I prefer the small high street shops but, increasingly larger companies or online shopping are providing a better range, better service and better and cheaper products. This can be a downward spiral and I am sorry for it – and – in this Blog, I’m going to promote another ‘Chain’ company.

My son and I spent a long time at the garden centre. We did locate our broad-bean seeds but, in the process, passed so much more that we would have liked to buy. We also bought three varieties of garlic suitable for autumn planting.

We thought we would head straight back to the allotment to clear the potato bed and ready it for garlic and bean planting in a month’s time. It didn’t happen!

I know it is still September but the still-being-set-up display of Christmas goods was enchanting, including a wonderful display of animated reindeer and polar bears. They also had an excellent selection of jigsaw puzzles for adults [probably most are for adults]. Although, I love this activity, I rarely indulge in these projects [my cats also love them and will scatter the pieces everywhere – I have even found them behind my skirting boards when redecorating!

My son and I are definitely coming from the same place! What about a challenging jigsaw, some good wine and a nice meal. Well! I’m up for that any time.

We decided on a homemade Chicken Korma – see below, and a good wine from a small, exclusive wine shop my son knew of in Newcastle - Gosforth,  Carruthers and Kent www.carruthersandkent.com/  . We bought a couple of bottles of excellent New Zealand Sauvignon blanc – Dog Point. For those who have heard of the expensive Cloudy Bay, this wine is much superior and not quite as expensive. If you are looking for party plonk, this is not the shop for you. They also have an excellent though small, range of cheeses and breads. The range of wines is not that of a huge chain or conglomerate but is excellent!   They also organise wine tastings and exciting gourmet evenings with ‘local’ restaurants. Do visit their shop if you are in the area and check their website for gourmet activities they are organising or are involved in.

While there we did buy an absolutely superb blue cheese  - the rich, creamy, sublime Cashel Blue.  Like their wines, the range of cheeses was exclusive and well chosen.

For dinner, we planned to eat at home.

I love to eat at home and I love Indian food. I suggested that, for dinner we would have a Chicken Korma. Between  us we would create an ideal Chicken Korma. The result was sublime. Mel [ my son's partner] and I worked the Korma while my son provided a faultless spiced basmati rice to accompany this dish – I haven’t yet got that skill nor acquired his recipe.

Chicken Korma

For each person, allow 1 skin-free breast portion or a couple of skinless and boneless thigh portions – this recipe is for approximately 4 portions – trimmed of fat and cut into smallish pieces

Approximately 450g tub [1 pint] of set or natural yoghurt

4 – 5 plump cloves of strong garlic – peeled and finely chopped

A piece of fresh ginger approx.  4-5cm squared or [1-2 inches squared] – peeled and finely chopped

2 hot green chillies – try Bird’s Eye or Taiwan peppers [they should have the stalks removed and they seeds if you don’t want you Korma to be too hot and Korma should not be too hot. However, you can also use a wide variety of green or red chillies which may be available to you and, even dried chillies which, I will use during the winter]. – finely chopped

1 large onion – peeled and sliced finely

2 Tblsp. vegetable oil [cold pressed rapeseed oil preferably]

1 good tsp. turmeric

1 sachet creamed coconut

Salt to taste

1 tsp.sugar

150gm  [3 oz ] approx ground almonds

1 good Tblsp. chopped coriander leaves

For the marinade

Put the yoghurt, ginger, garlic, chopped chillies and ground turmeric into a bowl with the chicken pieces and mix thoroughly.

Leave to marinade for 2 – 6 hours – although I have left for only 30 minutes when pushed for time, quite successfully.

For the spice mix

The difference between bought already ground spices and those we grind ourselves is remarkable so do, if you can, use whole spices – don’t even consider jars of Korma sauce or similar!

1 Tblsp cumin seeds

1 Tblsp coriander seeds

1 tsp. black pepper seeds

2 – 3 bay leaves – fresh, if possible

Method

·         Although I use a spice/coffee grinder at home for grinding spice seeds, etc. I will also happily use a pestle and mortar. The results might give a grainier sauce but, that’s okay and you might like to add a couple of spoons of water to help make a paste. [The bay leaves will not break down easily in a mortar although they do in an electrical grinder, in which case crush them and add to the cooking mixture].

·         Grind the spices as small as possible

Method for the Korma

·         Prepare a mixture of the yoghurt, garlic, ginger and fresh chillies.

·         Put the oil into a deep sauté pan and add the onions – fry until the onions are soft

·         Add the spice mixture and fry in, without burning.

·         Add the marinade mixture  to the pan and continue until all pieces of chicken are opaque.

·         Reduce the heat ensuring the meat mixture does not dry out or burn.

·         Simmer gently for a further 30 – 35 minutes until the chicken is cooked.

·         Add the creamed coconut in pieces, allow it to melt in then stir the mixture thoroughly. Add the ground almonds to thicken and cook gently for a few minutes. If necessary add a little hot water to ‘loosen’ the mixture. Add a tsp of sugar and a Tblsp of chopped coriander leaves and mix well. Check for salt.

·         Serve hot with spicy basmati rice.

Following our Sauvignon Blanc - Dog Point and Chicken Korma, we spent a very relaxing evening on our new jigsaw puzzle. We enjoyed a late super of Cashel Blue cheese, toast and homemade chutney which was really not needed with this outstanding cheese.

The next afternoon my son took me to a fish restaurant in Gosforth [ Newcastle-upon-Tyne] www.lochfyneseafoodandgrill.co.uk/locations/newcastle-gosforth‎  – a well respected restaurant in the community. I understand this is a ‘chain’ restaurant group which has restaurants across the country. As I said earlier, chains and franchises are not my preference however, in the Gosforth, Newcastle branch the ambiance, the service and the quality of the food was excellent. I did enjoy an excellent lunch in this  restaurant. I didn’t pay for the meal but I’m assured by my son that it was very reasonably priced.

I do recommend this restaurant.