The Red Lion at Stone Edge

Sunday Bistro Dinner with Family

Photo from The Red Lion Website

As a celebration for my grandparents finally moving into the cottage next to us, we went out for a delicious pub dinner at The Famous Red Lion at Stone Edge. If you have ever visited Derbyshire then you have probably visited the pub-come-functionroom-come-bistro. Or if you are ever in the region then it is well worth a visit for quality food and a lovely rustic setting.

Right up on the hillside between Chesterfield and Matlock, in a lovely stone building with rich wooden beams and furniture inside, The Red Lion at Stanage (as everyone calls it) is relaxed and typical of the area, while still upholding a sense of quality. Luckily for me, my parents house is close enough to this pub that I can call it my local!

As there was a large group of us, we managed to test most of the small Sunday Bistro menu. One thing to be aware of with this pub, though, is that they change their menus regularly so don't have your hopes up for one of these tasty looking dishes!!

Starters

We had a selection of starters ranging from Foie Gras to Fishcake, Black Pudding and Poached Egg to Salmon Tartare, and even a good ole Tomato Soup.



I had the salmon dish which was served with quails eggs and onions - it was absolutely delicious. The salmon had a great texture, not too rubbery as it sometimes can be when its uncooked, and a lovely flavour combination with the delicate eggs and my favourite ingredient, onion.

Everyone enjoyed the starters, but I think there were some envious of my Salmon Tartare... Comparing it to the tasty but not particularly special fishcakes, it seemed to be in a different league!!

 Mains

The main course was a lot more like the typical pub food that we might expect from an English countryside pub. A couple chose to try the roast dinner dishes, from tender beef to tasty pork with apple sauce, both served with crispy Yorkshire puddings.

Others were tempted by gammon steak with fried egg and chips, or the more delicate mushroom risotto or sea-bream with capers.

I opted for a very basic, but very yummy fish and chips - the chips were fat chunks of potato with a gorgeous colour and a crunch to match, while the haddock was flaky and delicious with a light and crispy batter, and the best part of the dish was the proper mushy peas which hid under the fish.

Desert

And this needs no introduction...

All in all a great family meal, a fabulous pub and a relaxed place to go for a good quality meal. The Red Lion at Stanage... proving that sometimes the local is the best! 

Beet Soup and Krakow Style Pork

Interrail Stop Number 2

Our second city stop was the lovely Polish city, Krakow. We toured around the castle, admired the Old Town streets, square and market, as well as paying our respects in a visit to Auschwitz (which was truly haunting but I would strongly recommend it as I learned so much from our tour guide and cannot begin to describe the scale and feel of the place in words or photos).

The day and a half we had in this city felt short, and it is somewhere that I would like to revisit for a longer period, but it was a great stop and we tried some traditional food...

After the yummy dumplings we tasted in Warsaw on the first of our interrail stops, we were looking forward to sampling more Polish cuisine in Krakow. We went to a tiny restaurant/cafe called Kuchnia u Doroty, recommended by the free walking tour group, and shared the famous Polish beet soup with croquette (Barszcz z krokietem) as a starter before two hearty main dishes - a Beef Stroganoff (Strogonoff) and Roast Pork with toast and Krakow style gravy (Maczanka po krakowsku).

Beet Soup

Croquette

We were unsure about ordering the the starter - beetroot soup, what was that going to taste like? But it was on nearly every Polish menu, so we went for it and it was absolutely delicious!! Satisfyingly salty and full of rich flavours, this warming soup had a winter food feel but without the stodge. The croquette was unusual, with undefinable meat in a pasta-come-pastry-come-potato roll, in a light crispy batter. It was a nice accompaniment to the soup, and soaked up the beetroot flavour when dipped in, but perhaps not the tastiest thing on its own!

Beef Stroganoff

Krakow Pork

The main courses were very large, very filling and unnecessarily carby (as was the case with a lot of the local food!). The stroganoff was good, but quite watery and lacking in flavour. The Krakow style sauce had plenty of flavour, but not entirely sure what flavours they were!! The pork was nicely cooked, as were the mushroom and potato accompaniments,but the toast was literally two slices of plain white bread sandwiching the pork. Obviously, with this much sauce it was just soggy bread, resulting in a very strange main course! 

So all in all, we were pleasantly surprised with the beet soup, and unpleasantly surprised with the mains!! Perhaps we were a little adventurous in ordering one of the only dishes on the menu that we had not heard of, but isn't that the point of trying food in new places?? Anyway, we had a great time, the staff were very friendly, the price was unbelievably low, and the cosy traditional setting made the meal a good one!

Nana & Grandad's Feast cont.

 

 

This was my plate full... and I'd only literally picked one of each!! Absolutely delicious though!

Desert

Now there were some beautiful deserts as well, but unfortunately by the time I got to them with the camera...

So there you have it... a yummy homemade feast for 60people!!

Made-up Make-Me-Better Salad

So tonight I wasn't feeling my best - probably just overtired from my exciting weekend (which I will write about tomorrow), and a nasty sore throat making itself apparent. So I wanted a quick, easy, healthy dinner that would make me better! My mum always used to say that oranges would cure any sore throat, so I was determined to use oranges of some kind! I also had a couple of pork medallions and some feta left over from last night which I wanted to use. So I had a fumble in my fridge and decided on this...

Ingredients

Pork Medallions
Satsuma
Splash of Fresh Orange Juice
Generous Dash of Balsamic Vinegar
Pinch of Sugar
Mixed Lettuce Leaves
Red Onion
Cucumber
Feta Cheese

Recipe

Sear the pork for a few minutes on each side, then continue to cook it on a lower heat.

Add the satsuma segments, orange juice, balsamic and sugar to the pan when the pork is starting to look cooked.

Prep the salad. (I love red onion so had a good portion!) Crumble or chop the feta into small pieces.

When the pork is cooked through, add to the salad and pour the sauce over.

Verdict

This was exactly what I fancied tonight, and for a bit of a concoction, it was fairly good! The recipe definitely still needs some tweaking, so any suggestions would be most welcome! I added the sugar to try and avoid it being to tart, but it still had a bit of a twang (actually quite nice to spark some feeling into my numbing throat!) So it's an idea I'll revisit when I next need a Make-Me-Better Salad!

Cooking for a Friend

Hoisin and Garlic Pork Medallions with Feta and Coriander Stuffed Sweet Potato

My friend came for dinner last night and I created a bit of a concoction, borrowing from a couple of different recipes. Everyone had been chatting about pork at work, so that was my starting point - pork medallions from the Tesco Finest range (on offer obviously!) My sauce was actually inspired by the recipe on the back of the pork pack, and adapted to use ingredients I already had. The sweet potato recipe is a variation of one of my absolute favorites from Jamie's 30minute meals - he mashes sweet potato and normal potato with feta, chilli and coriander (and it's delicious!). My friend isn't keen on chilli so I ditched this part and decided to bake the sweet potatoes as a change. It all took me less than half an hour, and received great reviews from my friend!

Ingredients

Pork Medallions
Hoisin and Garlic Sauce (I used ready-made because I already had some, but would be nicer homemade!)
Dark Soy Sauce
Garlic (fine chopped)
Ginger (grated or fine chopped)
Spring Onions (rough chopped)
Sweet Potatoes
Feta Cheese
Coriander
Veggies (carrots and broccoli for me!)

Recipe

Put the sweet potatoes on a baking tray into a preheated oven (about 180degrees).  They need about 20-30mins depending on the size of the potato.

Sear the pork in a hot pan for a couple of minutes each side, then put to one side.

Get a pan of water boiling for your veg.

Mix the hoisin and garlic sauce with a few dashes of soy sauce in a bowl. Fry the garlic and ginger in a drop of olive oil until just turning golden, then add the sauce.





Put the pork into the pan with the sauce and keep the heat on fairly low to cook through for 5-10mins.

Put the veg in your boiling water, or better steam it if you've got the right utensils (which I don't unfortunately!)

Take the potatoes out of the oven and cut in half. Cut slices through the inside of the potato, not cutting through the skin.



 Chop the feta and coriander together to mix all the flavours.

Then use your knife to push the mixture into the gaps you've just cut into the sweet potatoes. Pop back in the oven for a few minutes.

Then voila! Dish up, sprinkle the spring onion on top of the meat...

Eat!