Yesterday I attended the Masterclass on 'Stocks and Sauces' at the Masons Arms, Knowstone.  This is a lovely thatched pub, just off the North Devon Link Road (A361) in a very quiet village location.

There were 6 of us and we enjoyed sitting in the lounge, next to the woodburner, chatting to Sarah, eating her homemade biscuit and having a coffee. It was great to watch Mark Dodson, the Michelin starred chef, work his magic in the kitchen, alongside some very dedicated and professional members of staff.  Mark used to work with Michel Roux at the Waterside Inn, Bray.

I learnt lots of little facts about the basis of making good stocks and sauces.  I think everyone was surprised at how easy the sauces were to make (e.g grain mustard sauce, red berry coulis).  I liked the fact that both savoury and sweet sauces were covered.  I also liked being able to taste the sauces as they were being made.  It was also really interesting to see a commercial kitchen in action.  I think there were 5 chefs in there - it seemed to us to be a small area, but apparently it is comparitively quite a large kitchen.

Pictured below are the veal stock (complete with 4 pigs trotters) and the chicken stock.

At about midday we were ushered through to the dining area for a three course slap up lunch and then coffee with petits fours.  The views of the Devon countryside and Exmoor were stunning.  A big surprise was the ceiling - covered in paintings - a unique touch.  Apparently they have been there approximately 40 years.  The chap who sat opposite me was local and filled us in on some of the local news and we could see his hedge being laid through the window!  There is also a bar area that is separate from the dining area.

During this lunch we were able to sample all the sauces that had been made during the morning's class - I think there were 6 in total - all delicious.  We also got to try out some of Mark's creations: mushroom tartlet, pork loin with vegetables (and mustard sauce) and a panna cotta served with the three sauces that we had seen being made.

I recommend this place as a venue for honing some cookery skills, and also as a place to eat,  It is not local to me (about 50 min drive away) but ideal if you are based in Barnstaple, Tiverton, Dulverton or South Molton.  This might sound awful, but it would be a good place to stop and have a break if you were travelling on the North Devon Link road too.

I was a guest at the cookery class and lunch, and I have written an objective review of the day.

http://www.masonsarmsdevon.co.uk/

Devon Restaurant Review: The Elephant, Torquay

Drinks in the bar beforehand

As a guest of Dobie's of Devon Seeds and The Elephant, I enjoyed a feast from the tasting menu when I visited the restaurant in July.  The tasting menu was superb and we were seated in the new conservatory, around a private dining room that has been created.  The table is glass topped and has many of the micro herbs growing within it.  The spelt bread was homemade, served warm one loaf between two and the accompaniments were rillettes, mushroom hummous and butter served in mini flower pots - lovely!

This chilled lovage vichysoisse soup with apple and celery was refreshing yet tasty

The heritage carrots course - everyone's plate was different!

A poached egg with crunchy red quinoa

                             

The hake topped with an amazing tuile of squid ink.  Very tasty

The two types of lamb - the only meat that appeared (after the rillettes with the bread)

The amazing dessert: wild mini strawberries and a coulis plus a homemade lemon verbena panna cotta plus meringue.  The pre-dessert (not pictured) featured cherries with a green water ice made from sorrel.  Amazing and perfect for the hot summers day.

Each course was enhanced by a matching wine, I won't be discussing this as I chose water!  The standard was incredibly high and everything was so beautiful.  I seem to have omitted photos of two dishes: the beetroot dish with apple mustard and elderflower - I must have just tucked in!  It was a lovely dish that was healthy and beautiful.  Also the scallops with coconut, basil and langoustine cream.  Yum.

I was a guest of Dobies and The Elephant but I was free to write anything I wished (or nothing)  for my review

Michael Caines Restaurant at Abode Exeter: Amazing Graze

I was drawn to this 'Amazing Graze' menu offer by doing an internet search for my own website and stumbled upon this fantastic offer at Michael Caines' restaurant at Abode, Exeter:  three course lunch for £9.95.  A few days after our trip to Caines' other establishment, Gidleigh Park (more luxurious, more traditionally English country house) we treated ourselves to lunch at Abode overlooking Exeter Cathedral.  After the whopping bill from Gidleigh, we kidded ourselves that eating here would balance out the average of the two meals.

This restaurant is in the hotel (the left hand door half visible in the picture - not the cheaper cafe, MCs next door) and is modern: light and airy with wooden floors and no tablecloths.  The waiting staff were efficient with dealing with a jam-packed dining room.  A slight delay with bringing the bill, but I could hardly blame them as it was so busy.

I chose the confit salmon that I had enjoyed at Gidleigh a few nights previously, just to compare it.  It was not identical, but pretty damn close, and at a fraction of the cost.  My husband had the mushroom risotto - a small portion of deeply flavoured goo.  After this tasty morsel, he wanted to upgrade to five courses for an extra £8, but I wouldn't let him.  Still had to collect the kids from school at 3pm.

The mains were spot-on for lunchtime: seasonal, well-cooked and delicious.  Pollock with a creamy saffron sauce and pork with boulangere potatoes.  Desserts were lovely: glazed lemon tart with lemon confit sorbet (tres tangy) and pistachio nougat glace with chocolate grue.  Yes, we had to ask what 'grue' was - a type of cocoa bean, the waiter informed us.

The petits fours with the coffee were wonderful - two wonderfully large round, sugared fruit jellies that reminded me of the boxed sweets my grandparents used to get at Christmas.  These were passionfruit and apricot flavour served alongside two dinky little chocolate and pistachio madeleines.  These have got me seeking out a mini-madeleine mould on Amazon.  Going to have to mimic them at home.

Since yesterday the price of Amazing Graze has gone up a little.  At £9.95 for three courses, it represented exceptional, unbeatable value for money.  At the new price of £13.50 for three courses it's still highly competitive and for food, service and location like this, it's definitely worth it and recommended.

You can book a table online, which I really liked.  You can see all the times that are available and you get a confirmation email - and you get to see all the special offers - early dining in the evening (be seated by 7pm) also seems good value.

Gidleigh Park, Chagford, Devon - Restaurant Review

I realise that I may have to change my profile description that says I enjoy eating at 'unpretentious' and 'good value' places.  Gidleigh Park does not exactly fulfil either of those criteria.  This was an incredibly special treat - a gift to my husband for his fortieth birthday. I said I wouldn't blog about it, but then out came the camera and, yep, in true food blogger style, I wasn't taking pictures of my husband (attractive as he may be), but of the beautiful food.

Gidleigh Park is a posh country house hotel par excellence: two Michelin stars, Executive chef is Michael Caines MBE, and number one in the Sunday Times Best Restaurant List 2010 - it feels as if you're eating in a National Trust property.

Drinks in the lounge....oops before we knew it, no we weren't sticking to our 'local food' credentials and ordering some Luscombe apple juice or Camel Valley sparkling wine.  For me a glass of Champagne (NV, thank the Lord) and for him, a Vodka Martini.  I almost guffawed.  So not a Peroni then. 

The service was wonderful - not at all stuffy.  The staff were friendly, chatty, knowledgeable and so enthusiastic about the food and wine.  Special mention to the cheery 'cheese waiter'  (apparently they're called cheese sommeliers in the States) who brought round the fantastic cheese trolley resplendent with many Devon and Cornish cheeses, plus some oozing French ones.

We chose the five course Seasonal Tasting menu with a couple of glasses of appropriate wines.  My first taste of the amuse-bouches and I was in heaven:  a crispy morsel of Cornish sea bream with a Thai froth on the top (far right of picture below).  It was a riot of flavours and made me smile to know that I was going to have such a gourmet evening.  The middle one was an aubergine mousse and on the left a piece of foie gras with a Sauternes jelly.

Matthewsfoodblog has asked me to comment on the bread (one of his fave things about eating in high-end establishments.)  A basket of three types of home-baked , incredibly fresh bread:  a small rustic French-style roll with pointed ends was delicious, my favourite was a small brown round roll containing honey and burnt 'bran' or 'prawn' or 'brown'- (after asking the waitress to repeat the phrase three times, I gave up), and a slice of sun-dried tomato bread which was very nice on its own but so full of flavour that it wasn't good to accompany the delicate food.

The food was superb:

Confit of Salmon, followed by Boudin of pheasant with foie gras, couscous and bouillon (pictured below)

.....then Langoustines with leeks and truffle, Lamb with Boulangere potatotes, Chocolate and Orange Three Ways, Coffee and Petits Fours.

The food was exciting, full of flavour, beautiful on the plate and felt like a culinary adventure.  I could go on about the individual dishes but will just mention the highlights:  the sweetness of the langoustines with the backnotes of a truffled sauce, the melting tastiness of the tender, herbed lamb, the bitter orange sorbet served in a dark chocolate shell and the caramel chocolates served as part of the petits fours.  

My Dad joined us for coffee and petits fours in front of the fire in the lounge (thanks for the lift home, Dad!).  The entire bill came to.......ahem..... £352 (without tip) which is the most I have ever (and will ever) pay for a meal in my life.  We will need some post-traumatic counselling to deal with that.  The coffee and petits fours cost £6.  And there's the 'good value' part of my review.  You get three mini desserts on a wooden platter, plus a handful of chocolates and a pot of coffee or tea, that you don't have to strain your wrist to pour for yourself, for six quid.  A superb end to a memorable meal.  It wasn't just a meal, it was an event that we will remember.