Landlord's Fish Bites

Beer-battered Fish is a beercooking classic – and rightly so. This isn’t an original recipe by a long shot but is easy and tastes great. Cook in as large quantities as you need for guests at a gathering. Serve –of course – with handcut, beef-fat fried chips.

You will need (to serve four):
Three large fillets of white fish, cut into hearty chunks – (Cod,Haddock or Pollock are good)
250g plain flour (plus extra for dusting)
¾ pint of Timothy Taylor’s Landlord Pale Ale (well chilled)
Pinch of salt
3 tsps of baking powder
A pinch of chilli flakes, a pinch of black pepper and a good sprinkle of paprika
Sunflower oil to fry in – I mix half oil with half dripping or even goose fat!

1. To make the Batter, simply sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the beer and stir well. You want a thick emulsion – but not too thick. You’ll know when it’s ready.
Heat up your oil – it needs to be good and hot – about 160c. To test, simply fry a chunk of bread. If it fries cleanly and floats to the top, you’re done.
2. On another plate, sprinkle some of the flour and season this with pepper, chilli flakes and paprika. Dust the fish in this before dredging through the batter.
3. Drop the fish into the oil (away from you) and fry for about 5-6 minutes, or until golden brown. Don’t overcrowd the pan – only do a couple of pieces at a time. Take care not to overcook – you want the fish to stay moist.
4. When ready simply leave to drain for a minute or so on some kitchen paper. Serve with slices of lemon and a good dose of salt and vinegar!

I've used Timothy Taylor's Landlord here because it's an assertive beer that punches through the batter. However, any beer that you feel fits this bill will do. Experiment! I can also recommend Moorhouses's Pendle Witches Brew for good beer-batter, too.

The Midweek: Wylam's Northern Kite

I have this compulsion in Beer where I'll get seriously hooked on one brewer, and as soon as I see thier pump clip gleaming up at me from a just-wiped bar, I gotta have it, regardless of style or mood. Last month it was Elland - this month it's Wylam.

I simply have yet to taste a less than excellent beer of thiers. Northern Kite is no exception. Wylam bill this luscious beer are a Ruby Ale, and in some respects I can see where they are coming from. Northern Kite is a mahogany, soft-tasting beer with a massive malt character and not much hops coming through. In that respect, I actually likened it to a mild, but one with a bigger a.b.v at 4.5%. This is one pint I could drink a lot of.

Wylam are a family-run brewery, and have been about since 2000. Long may they continue. Cheers.

I enjoyed this pint, and many others, in great nick at my local, The Abbey, in Leeds. I'll be reporting on this fine establishment in greater detail in the upcoming weeks.

Breakfast of Champions

Good Coffee. Two warm, sticky Baklava. Holiday Breakfast.

The Midweek: A Couple from Cairngorm

A relative of mine recently brought me back a couple of gems from a touring trip to Scotland - Cairngorm's Wildcat and Stag beers.

I've never tried Cairngorm's stuff before, but based on this bottled sampling, it'll be one brewery i'll keep an eye out for. My favourite, Wildcat (5.1abv) was the tastiest; a clear, bright ruby beer that had a well-rounded, fruity malt taste with a long, bitter finish. The stronger of the two, Wildcat's alcohol kick doesn't come through until the end, resulting in a supremely drinkable and lively pint. Stag (4.1abv) was quieter in profile -darker in colour, with a much softer malt palate than its' colourful cousin. Much more caramel comes through, and this means a longer, quaffable beer.

Both were very welcome at the end of a long day and I can certainly recommend Cairngorm's wares. I understand their Trade Winds to be worth seeking out, also.

Cairngorm Brewery

Easy Moroccan Chicken with Sweet Potato and Garlic Mash

...Does what it says on the tin. Chicken's one of those meats that lends itself to being marinated the hell out of, and this is one of my favourite 'easy' recipes - perfect when you don't have much time, but want to create something impressive.

Serves two.

You will need:

Free Range Chicken Breasts, skin on, please.

Marinade: A couple of teaspoons of turmeric, ground coriander, a good chunk of chopped fresh ginger, some chilli flakes (as many as you like), a dash of lemon juice, a little olive oil, and a little ground black pepper and some salt.

1. Firstly, make some slashes in the chicken breast, and cover liberally in the marinade above and leave to rest in a large dish or bowl for at least an hour. The longer, the better.

Meanwhile, you can make the mash:

Peel four large redskin sweet potatoes, and chop into roast-sized chunks. Arrange in a roasting dish with a good drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of good salt and a little fresh Rosemary. Add the whole cloves of garlic, and make sure the skins are left on.

Roast the sweet potato and garlic for about 30 minutes; they will turn pulpy when done.

Then, whack the chicken breasts under a hot grill and cook until done. When the meat is ready and resting, you can pull the veg from the oven, place in a bowl and mash. Pop the garlic from thier jackets and work this into the sweet, orange mash.

Arrange as you like and you're done.

Not only does this meal look like a lot of effort but if you're a garlic lover (who isn't?) it's heavenly. The sweet mash compliments the sweet notes in the chicken marinade, and isn't too heavy a meal either. As a beer match I chose William's Red, a fruity- peppery, full-on beer that is robust enough to take on all that garlic and spice and still come through.

This recipe was inspired by A Merrier World's campaign to heighten awareness of the importance of buying free-range chicken. For the record, I buy my chicken at Hunt's Game & Poultry in Leeds Kirkgate Market. We all know the importance of buying free-range meat, not just from a moral standpoint but from a quality one, too. It simply tastes better, and the people that produce free-range meat - and independent food and drink producers in general - need our support wherever possible. Without them, we'd be in a really depressing state.

A Postcard from Bulgaria #2 - So, What's to Eat?

So, there’s not much out there about food in Bulgaria worth reading, so I thought I’d cobble together a few words and pictures, should any of you ever visit.

Food in Bulgaria is a strange mix – the heat and the setting feels distinctly Mediterranean – indeed the first glances at menus reveal kebabs, souvlaki, fresh salads, grilled meat and fish – but then you’ll also get a wide range of soups and stews. This reminds you with a jolt that you are in fact in the Balkans.

First up, the salads. Why do tomatoes always taste better in the sun? Shopska Salad, a Bulgarian version of ‘Greek’ salad, with tomatoes, onions, cucumber and mild, creamy sheeps’ cheese, is actually – gulp – nice. Very nice, in fact, I formed a slight addiction whilst over there. And I generally don’t eat salads on their own.

One thing that surprised me greatly was the seafood – the quality of the fish where we were based (the very bottom of the Black Sea coast) was excellent, and much better than our recent forays to Greece and the sadly depleted Med. The Bulgarian classic ‘Fish On A Roof Tile’ (translated) was an outstanding example of Bulgarian cuisine. Whole fish, usually Mackerel, laid in an earthenware, trough-shaped tile, topped with a rich, red-wine and shallot sauce, then slow baked. Like a fish Stifado, if you will. And possibly one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten. It’ll pop up here sometime soon as I try to recreate it in my own cack-handed way.

However, the real deal for me was lightly battered and quick-fried clams, mussels and squid – doused in lashings of salt and squeezed lemon. Lip tingingly good. A bowl of this in an open-air seafood place and the sun going down...that’s me. Kill me there and then, I’m done. All that was missing was a good, zingy Weisse to wash it down with. Clams and smoked, sweet bacon were often stirred into fried rice with tonnes of fennel and parley, to result in a kind of Balkan risotto. Wonderful.

As if that wasn’t enough, pork was often eaten chopped, fried in a huge pan with gherkins, mushrooms, peppers, and topped with smoked cheese. Then delivered to your table, spitting all over you but you don’t care because it’s a loaded skillet of pork and smoked cheese. I didn’t make a note of what this dish was called – if anyone knows, help me out!

I’m slightly obsessed with Gyro; but we found that Bulgarian gyro tends to have sour cream instead of tzatziki, and use chicken and pork instead of lamb. For me, although a great snack, the garlic and fennel suckerpunch of Greek tzatziki was missing, big time.

Sozopol is divided into two parts; new and old town. All the best restaurants are in the Old town; Check out Neptune for the best seafood (in fact, the best food) on the Island, although Rusalka runs a close second. The Windmill offers a great dining area and good, hearty soups and stews, and Tavern Chuchura for the sizzling pork/cheese skillet. Finally, El Greco (next to Rusalka) does an amazing creamy seafood pasta, and has wonderful fresh Anchovies.

....And as for Beer...well, forget it. Nothing at all except generic Bulgarian lager that goes down ok when you’re baking alive reading Dave Gorman’s America Unchained on the beach. Instead, opt for Bulgarian wine – it’s damn good and maybe slightly unappreciated. Mavrud is a really good red grape variety unique to Bulgaria (I think –I’m a beer obsessive, not wine!) and the Traminers and Chardonnays from nearby Pomorie were not only reasonably priced but delicious too.

Leeds Brewery Are Now Bottling...

...And they win the award for 'July's Sexiest Label'! Mock Copperwork? Yes, please!

A Cheeky Bit of News

...It's taken a while, but the winners of the Leeds Beer Festival have been announced, and are as follows: Beer of The Festival - 1st: Hopstar Smokey Joe's Black Ale, 2nd: TSA Highland Fling...Mild of the Festival - 1st: Milton's Minotaur Mild, 2nd: Hobson's Mild.
Well done all - and i'll be there next year.
Another haunt of mine, Foley's Cask Ale House in Leeds are holding their First beerfest - it'll be happening on the 15th - 21st of August and I'll keep you updated if I find out more...If in Leeds, pick up a copy of Leeds CAMRA's Full Measure Magazine...there's now a food and beer column hosted by yours truly...and finally, happy 10th anniversary to Beer-Ritz - keep up the stellar work, chaps.

Beers of The Year - Six Months In...

Ok, the year is halfway through and I've found myself in a reflective mood this morning. Here's what I've enjoyed this year, out of all those pints of sweet (and some not so) sweet ale....

1. Leeds Brewery: Midnight Bell. Looks like there's not only me who has been astounded by these guy's ascent in 2008 - A Swift One is also a big fan and so it seems, is the rest of Yorkshire. Midnight Bell is, in my opinion, their best - a sweet, light, malty mild in the true sense of the word.

2. Purple Moose's Dark Side of The Moose - seems everyone likes this, too! Again, another flavoursome and seriously moreish dark mild, in excellent nick at the Camra Leeds Beer Festival.

3. Kelham Island Brooklyn Smoked Porter - I think I said it all here.

4. Brasserie Lefebvre Blanche De Bruxelles - It's not all been dark for 2008! I thought this fresh, citrus-loaded Wit was in excellent form at North's Belgian Fest.

5. ...And bottled - well, Cain's Raisin Beer. A bit of a surprise, maybe, but i really do like this stuff. It's not one to drink a lot of, but the fruitiness of it makes for an intruiging pint that has grown on me in 2008.

Let me know what's been going down well in 2008 for you - what should be looking out for?

A Postcard from Bulgaria # 1 - Crepes At Any Time

Our first morning in Sozopol, Bulgaria. An almighty thunderstorm woke us early, and there was nothing to do but lay in bed in the darkness and wait for the next inevitable blue flash to illuminate the room and jar us from our interrupted sleep.
When the storm moved upwards along the coast and left us with a blue sky again, the people of Sozopol emerged from their houses and opened their businesses. Newspaper stands are brought out onto freshly-swept and rapidly drying pavement, those early-morning cigarettes dangling from downturned mouths, the fruit stands stock up, the displays and menus for the tavernas placed in windows.
Then the crepe-lady appeared.
Her tiny crepe stall sat directly opposite our hotel. No seating, just a serving hatch straight onto the street. Upfront, two oiled crepe-pans smoked, and jars of preserves and toppings were placed on the sill, every colour you could imagine.
I took a seat on the balcony with a coffee and watched the first customer appear – a smartly-dressed man, on his way to work no doubt. A few words, then the show begins. The pan is oiled. A dollop of batter dropped onto the middle, and spread effortlessly out in ever-increasing circles until its paper-thin edge runs out. A little while, then with a deft flick of a pallet-knife the crepe is on its back; a new, crisp bullseye adorning the cooked side. Then, another movement of the long knife, the crepe is flipped onto a traditionally-painted dish to be spread with whatever topping the customer wanted. Cheese, ham, chocolate, sugar, honey, preserves... We opted for Chocolate or Fig preserve – the Fig preserve seemed to be very popular.
More customers arrived, some queuing patiently, other walking past, then back, and then ordering. It’s hard to pass a crepe stand without ordering, isn’t it? The stand opened before 8am, and often didn’t close until after 22.00. Everyone, it seems, loves crepes. The town didn’t seem awake until it had scoffed its morning pancake.

And yes, they tasted as good as they looked.

Kelham Island Brewery

A few weeks back, I posted this article waxing lyrical about The Hunter's Inn, a pub that truly made my day. More particularly, a certain beer that I enjoyed there made my day.
Kelham Island's Brooklyn Smoked Porter really knocked me for six. I have tasted beers with the word 'smoked' in the title before and found the majority of them to be shocking. If you're going to accentuate a smoked aspect of a beer, then it's got to be balanced; I find this small, yet vital, point is missed all too often,. There's nothing worse than a pint that tastes likes a packet of Bacon Fries.
But this is balanced. Wonderfully so, in fact. The smoke comes through the initial bone-dry coffee and bitter chocolate hit - not on top of it. As you would expect form a porter, it packs a hefty 6.5 abv - although you would never know from the taste. Give me a pint of this and a slice of Chocolate Brownie on a cold day ( a strange thought to have on a summer's day but bear with me) and I'm laughing.
I know taste is subjective, but this truly was a gorgeous pint - and surely a flagship for this well-known Sheffield Brewery. Seek it out.

* By the way, any brewery that has a couple of beers named after Springsteen songs are OK with me. Whoops, just outed myself as a fan of The Boss.

Easy Calzone

Calzones, contrary to popular belief, are easy to make (with a little forward planning), and don't have to be the bloated, over-filled monstrosities you often get from restaurants that require the next day off work simply to digest. At their best they can be filled with anything, slammed in the oven and, when drizzled with some catch-all tomato sauce, an easy dinner. So here's what to do:

First, make your tomato sauce. I prefer mine as garlicky as possible: Simply drop some tomatoes with their tops scored (about a pound of small ones, or four or five large ones) into some boiling water and leave for five minutes. The skin will then peel off easily. Split, take out the seeds, and then dice. Chop five large garlic cloves and dice an onion. Put the tomatoes and onion into some warm olive oil in a pan, and gently simmer. When broken down, add the garlic, along with loads of black pepper, a good pinch of salt, sugar and some fresh herbs - I like Oregano, Thyme and Basil. Rosemary works well too. Simmer gently, and then leave for a as long as you like. This sauce is just my basic one - you can add chilli, roasted vegetables or anything you like. I make this a day in advance - trust me, it's worth it. You can leave it chunky or blend it to make it a little smoother - the latter works best for this dish.

Right, onto the Calzones: To start, a pizza dough can be made by sifting 500g of strong plain flour, 2 teaspoons of easy-blend yeast and 1 teaspoon of salt into a bowl. add about 300g of lukewarm water and a good glug of olive oil - about 3 teaspoons. Using your hands, mix it up gently, then turn onto a floured surface and knead for about five minutes. Once its looking good, return the the bowl (greased with olive oil) and leave somewhere warm to rise for about an hour.

I made two, with different fillings in each - one had some sauteed Squid and Anchovies with Mozzarella cheese, the other with Prosciutto, Parma Ham, Salami and a little smoked cheese along with the mozzarella. I actually find that most cheeses work here - just match the flavours with what you like. To assemble, just roll your dough into any shape you like (Don't worry about that classic half-moon shape - as long as it tastes good, that's all that counts. Life's too short.)

Pre-heat the oven to pizza-blasting temperature, about 200-220c, and, using a spatula, slide your Calzones onto a greased baking tray (I've started using Polenta instead of oil on baking trays - it's great - give it a whirl), and bake until golden.

To serve, warm through some of that tomato sauce and drizzle over those awesome, split Calzones.

I washed the good stuff down with a bottle of Eggenberg's HopfenKonig Pils - a sweet, light Austrian Pils that refreshed after the powerful garlic and smoked meat flavours of my Calzone. Nothing spectacular, but a good alternative to the slew of Italian lagers one might find to accompany Italian.

The Hunter's Inn/The Dyneley Arms, Otley, Near Leeds

Life has a funny way of turning full circle at times.
The Hunter’s Inn, in Otley, near Leeds, was the scene of, or rather the cause of, my first real hangover. A real, adult, honest to god, head-throbbing, stomach churning, muscle-tremoring hangover. We were only young, and maybe that made The Hunter’s scarier than it actually was – although in those days it was clearly a Biker’s hangout; the pool table and jukebox were the most important things there - not the bar. Lord, not the bar. If I remember correctly, Newcastle Brown was the tipple of the evening that will forever be scorched into my mind. And forever scorched onto my friend's mum's lawn the next morning.

We drive past it often, and I had recently noticed subtle changes– a Theakston’s sign was up, and a notice telling me that up to 9 rotating cask ales were on offer. It ticked away in my mind, and last month, on the way back from The Leyburn Festival of Food and Drink, we dropped in - quite unsure of what to expect.
I don’t know the two landladies, but they have done a great job. Firstly, the place is way more welcoming, and there are no bikes in the doorway (sorry, bikers – no offence) - but the ales spoke volumes. My heart sank when I saw Rooster’s Yankee available – not only would I have to try it (being one of my all-time faves), but if it was in bad nick then it was game over. I’m outta there.
I lifted the glass to my lips and drank – perfect. A great pint. The bar stocked - to name a few - beers from Kelham Island (more on them later), Roosters, Old Bear, Goose Eye, Marston Moor, Barnsley and Sharp’s...a better choice than you would expect, to say the least. The fire was roaring, people were smiling and laughing – hey, we were in a good pub. Not a bar. A pub.
I’ve not written a pub review in a while, simply because I had nothing to say on the matter. The Hunter’s has improved so much, it’s a little beacon of hope for a time when the pub trade seems to be in a bad way. Put it on your beer map – it’s a worthy destination. There’s also an excellent farm shop next door if you need something for tea on your back home.

Another Otley pub from my youth, The Dyneley Arms, has been reincarnated as a Sam Smith's pub. We dropped in, lured by the prospect of a pint of Smith’s Wheat Beer (which I believe to be greatly underappreciated) and found a much changed pub to the Dyneley of the past. The place is immaculate; and luckily the beer is too. Well kept, honest beer, in a cavernous , suitably rustic setting. My only reservation was a silly one – it all seemed a little too new. I’m used to enjoying my pints of Sovereign Bitter in slightly rougher surroundings. Oh well - I’ll get used to it. Drop by, see what you think.

· But aren’t the beer mats the greatest you have ever seen? You really don’t get them like that anymore. Well done, Sam Smith’s design guy (or Girl).

The Hunter’s Inn - Harrogate Road, Pool in Wharfedale, Otley, West Yorkshire, LS21 2PS, Tel: 01132 841090

The Dyneley Arms - Otley Road, Otley, LS21 1ET Tel: 0113 2842887

Pork Pinwheels with Skylark Pale Ale

A few weeks back, I received a nice surprise in the post; A couple of bottles of home-brewed beer from John of John's Random Ramblings. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect; but to say I was amazed was to say the least. One of the beers, Skylark Pale Ale, was an absolute revelation - I set about creating a little snack to go along with this fantastic pint.

My Grandfather was a butcher, and I spent many early years in a little smock and apron making these things in the back of the shop. They would sell well in the barbecue season, and were one of the few concessions to modernity that my (very traditional) grandad would make for his customers. I've done my best to replicate it.

Pork Pinwheels (makes two foot-long rolls, enough for about 4 people)

You will need:

1 & 1/2 lbs of Minced Pork

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 red onion, finely chopped

4 Spring Onions, chopped

1 Chilli, deseeded and chopped.

Flaky pastry, about 300g worth

Eggwash or clarified butter, to glaze

Seasoning: a little salt, white pepper, fresh thyme and parsley

1. Mix the chopped/diced veg with the pork in a large mixing bowl.

2. Roll out your pastry, and lay flat on a floured surface. With your hands, spread the mixture across the pastry, leaving a gap of about half an inch at the edges.

3. Very carefully, roll the pastry up like a swiss roll (a meat swiss roll!) tightly. Too loose and it will not hold together. You'll have a big pinwheel log at this stage.

4. Repeat with s much pastry and meat as you have - I reckon at least two logs.

5. Place in the fridge to firm up and chill for at least an hour.

6. When ready to cook, simply eggwash the top (or butter, I guess) and with a very very sharp knife (Not a serrated one), slice into portions and arrange on a baking tray. The knife must be sharp and you must use a smooth action - if you've made sushi, you know what I mean.

7. When on the tray, you can apply a little eggwash to the undersides, and bake in a preheated oven at 180c for about 30 minutes, or until golden.

There you go. Tasty, savoury bites that are surprisingly filling. Ideal for making for large groups as you can make the things the night before and then simply cook on the day. They also freeze excellently, providing you are using fresh pastry and meat.

The savoury, peppery pork paired really well with the Skylark Pale Ale; the Skylark was full of floral, honey aromas but tasted less so; to taste, a malty bite came through at the end. If this is the standard of beer being made in homebrew setups in Darlington then I, for one, am gladdened.

Obviously I am aware of the fact this pairing isn't possible for everyone. For a beer that I thought was surprisingly close in taste, I can recommend St Peter's Best Bitter for the malt profile, or Durham's Rolling Hitch - for the more floral, hoppier aspect of the Skylark.

Cheers, John!

The May Midweek Mild

...See what I did there?

Seeing as though CAMRA have deemed May the month of Mild, here's what I can recommend if you feel like sampling the wonders of that dying breed, Mild.

Personally, I've been drinking a lot of Leed's Midnight Bell. Not only is it a gorgeous pint full of dark fruit and roasted malt goodness but it's the best beer Leeds produce - in my humble opinion. Leeds are becoming more popular across the region and if you see Midnight Bell up for grabs, nab yourself a pint.

Another old standby is Timothy Taylor's Golden Best. Landlord gets the most press these days but Golden Best is a wonder - light and incredibly moreish. I waxed lyrical about TT's Dark Mild here. Again, keep an eye out, but head toward Keighley and you'll soon see all those Smith's pub signs transform into the familiar gold and green of Timothy Taylor.

I've chosen beers that should be relatively available (In Yorkshire, at least) - but take the plunge in May. Support your brewers.

Have a mild.

The Midweek: Schneider-Brooklyner Hopfenweisse

First bands, now brewers - I'm talking Supergroups.

When I first heard that Brooklyn and Schneider were brewing together and sharing each other's hops, my interest was naturally piqued - as a lover of both brewhouses. Surely this would make the brewing equivalent of Hendrix jamming with Led Zeppelin, Or Jeff Buckley duetting with Janis Joplin? (What can i say, I'm a child of Grunge...)

Maybe. I had to drink this beer; this month I managed to get my mitts on a couple of bottles (Thanks, Zak!)

Essentially, Schneider and Brooklyn have created a new beer style; and to be honest, it's a good, solid beer. The use of Halletauer hops give it a sharp edge, and a somewhat astringent aroma. However, upon tasting you see where the joins are - on one hand you get a citric, tropical burst with much less Banana and Cloves than you'd expect from a weizen - but then those hops come through and give you a high, high bitterness. It drinks really well, smooth and long - but toward the end of the glass it does become a bit of a struggle to drink - possibly simply due to its up-front flavours. This is no shrinking violet of a beer - 8.2abv with attitude to match.

Seek it out, even just to try it - it certainly is worth that. Supergroups - always interesting, but never as good as the original bands. If I can get my hands on the Brooklyn - Schneider version, I will let you know...

Braised Red Cabbage with Sausages and Bacon

I'm always on the lookout for hearty alternatives to a Sunday roast, even at this time of the year. This makes a great bank holiday meal; a slow, lazy meal packed with flavour.

Braised Red Cabbage with Sausages & Bacon with St Peter's Organic Ale. (Feeds two very well!)

You will need:

1 Medium Head of Red Cabbage, chopped

8 Pork Sausages

4 Rashers of Smoked Streaky Bacon, chopped

A knob of Unsalted Butter

2 tsp Caster Sugar

White Pepper

A little Salt

1/2pt of Chicken Stock

1. Pre-heat your oven to 160c.

2. In a large casserole that can take direct heat, melt the butter. Add the cabbage and coat in the fats and butter. Dust with the sugar, white pepper (A couple of pinches) and a little salt. Add the Bacon. Stir well, cover with stock, and bring to the boil.

3. Transfer the Casserole dish into the oven and braise for at least two hours. It's ready when the stock (or most of it) is absorbed.

4. Cook your sausages as normal, and serve on top of the cabbage.

That's it. A slow-cooked gem that tastes great. As usual, I can only advise you to buy the best-quality sausages you can get - there's no excuse for poor meat and the simple flavours of this dish rely on the quality of the ingredients. You can use whatever flavour sausages you like; by all means, experiment. And it's very cool to see your bacon turn purple!

If you don't have a casserole dish that you can use direct heat on, then do step one in a pan, and transfer to an oven-proof dish once ready to go in the oven.

For Beer, I chose a beer that for me, is fast becoming a modern classic: St Peter's Organic Ale (4.5abv). This forward-thinking brewery produce some great beers, but this is my favourite and perfect to compliment the deeply savoury tastes of the sausage and cabbage - medium bodied, low carbonation and a really malty, biscuity taste. Perfect.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Onion Soup

...Preheat your oven to 200-220c...take one halved butternut squash, a red onion, and a pound of tomatoes (halved) and arrange on a roasting tray...add 6 unpeeled cloves of garlic...drizzle with olive oil, fresh Rosemary and Thyme and roast for 35 (ish) minutes, turning the tomatoes and red onion occasionally.

When roasted and soft, stick all the vegetables in a blender, and squeeze the mushy garlic from their shells. Add this garlicky mess to your veg, along with two pints of chicken stock, and blend until pureed. Transfer to a large pan and bring to the boil; then simmer until ready to eat.

Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche and black pepper to taste.

It's not often I get excited about soup but this one, made by my long-suffering girlfriend this week, really took me by surprise. Thick, hearty and with a real depth of flavour. My old mate John waxed lyrical about simple soups here and I totally know where he's coming from. If there is one theme with this blog it is this: when it comes to good food and good beer, keep it simple.

Zak Avery: Without Beer Ritz, This Blog Wouldn't Exist

As you can read here, I've been an advocate of Beer Ritz in Leeds for some time. In fact, 99% of the beers you read about on this blog are from there; my monthly trip over, returning with a large box full of goodies, really is one of life's pleasures.

A chance meeting over on Beer Advocate with a knowledgable chap called Zak, and then seeing the name again (funny how life works, innit...) in Beers of The World Magazine led to the dawning realisation that Zak actually manages Beer Ritz, and he's up for doing a little interview for TGS

Not only that, but he hosts beer-tasting evenings on his site The Beer Boy (Link over there on the right) which also contains some snippets of his top-notch beer writing. We enjoyed a virtual pint:

Leigh: How's things?
Zak : Very good, thanks. Busy with the shop, the beer tastings, the video blog, and quite a bit of freelance writing at the moment.
You've met Garret Oliver - how was that?
It was great! He's such a passionate, eloquent and intelligent chap that it would be hard not to enjoy meeting him. I met him at a beer & food lunch at Anthony's in Leeds, and then he was good enough to show me round the brewery in Brooklyn a year or so later.
Off the top of your head, whats popular Beeritz at the moment?
Well, our best selling bottled ales are Copper Dragon Golden Pippin and Saltaire Cascade, so it's nice to be doing our bit for local producers. We also stock the hard-to-find Sam Smith's beers, which go well, and generally, the American "craft" beers are doing well. We get through about a pallet of specialist bottled beer a week, so happily the response to "what's popular?" is "good beer!"
...Any beers you still haven't been able to get your hands on?
Not really, we will try to source anything,a nd are pretty good at it too. We've just sourced Kasteel Cru, the "champagne lager", and we sell Deus, the "champagne beer". We get asked for the rare Trappist beer Westvleteren sometimes, but that is really pushing it - by which I mean, I have some at home, and it's mine!
What's coming up for Beer Ritz in the next few months?
It sounds very geeky, but we're going to re-arrange the British beers by colour (light to dark, left to right) and strength (strong to weak, top to bottom). That way, beers near each other will be broadly in the same style, and hopefully will give people confidence to try something next to their favourite beer. Now I've written it down, I have to admit that it looks mad, but I'm sure it will encourage people to try soemthing a little different.
We both espouse beer and food matching - whats your all-time perfect matchup? I'm not really a fruit beer person, but I think that Belgian kriek (cherry beer) and chocolate torte is pretty hard to beat - actually, on the local front, Sam Smith have just starting doing fruit beers, and their cherry beer is pretty good too. Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout and vanilla ice cream is mind-blowing. Vintage Lincolnshire Poacher cheese and a good strong, hoppy ale is pretty high up there too.
Where do you drink?
I run a specialist beer shop selling about 600 bottled beers, so mostly at home! But when I do haul myself off the couch, The Rosebud in Carlton (I live in Rothwell) is a fifteen minute walk - it's a good, traditional public house, in the old sense of the phrase, that always has a good range of ales on. In Leeds, North Bar, the Cross Keys, the Palace, the Scarborough Taps. I like the fact that you can still walk into North and they'll have something new and exciting on tap.
Running a beer specialist supplier seems to many like a dream job - is it? Have you noticed any trends in trade of late?
I always say to people that apart from the hours and the pay, it's the best job in the world. Trends - hmm, people generally seem to be getting more interested in the idea of good quality bottled beers, and maybe drinking less but better quality, stronger and more flavoursome beers, although that might be wishful thinking on my part.
Ever tried brewing yourself?
It's very close to the top of my "To Do" list. I'm going all out for a full-grain mash rather than using an extract kit - I guess that's the foodie in me - so I want to make sure that I've researched everything carefully.
Go on then - Favourite beer of all time?
No chance! And my top ten has about fifty beers in it!

Zak can be contacted via The Beer Boy.

Bistro Classics: Scallops wrapped in Ham with Alhambra Reserva 1925

I've been really getting into 'Bistro' style food recently, which for me means a really hot pan or griddle, some unadulterated meat and lots of Garlic. Maximum flavour, minimum effort. For the ham, I have opted for Serrano - Prosciutto seems to be the 'classic' but I sometimes find it a little salty. Smoked, streaky bacon would also give a new variant on this.

Pan-Fried Scallops wrapped in Ham (Serves two)

You will need:

6 Fresh Scallops

50/60g of Parma or Serrano ham

6 Cocktail sticks

1. Heat your pan, with a little olive oil and if you want, some crushed garlic.

2. Carefully wrap each scallop in the ham and secure with the cocktail stick. This is often harder than it looks but persevere!

3. If you have put garlic in the pan , scoop it out (it would have burned off by now) and throw in the scallops. They'll need about 4-5 minutes on each side. Season with a grind or three of black pepper.

4. Serve with some crusty bread rubbed with garlic and oil.

I had a few large prawns in reserve, so I simply chucked them into the hot pan and dolloped on a spoonful of chili jam - after spitting furiously at me for a couple of seconds the prawns took on that coating really well - sticky sweet with a lethal chilli aftertaste!

A great tapas-style supper, and you can instantly see why this is a Bistro classic. The creamy, firm scallops don't need much other that the sweet, slightly salty ham to set them off.

With this in mind, my beer choice was Alhambra's Reserva 1925 - a lofty title for possibly the most complex 'lager' I have ever tasted. In fact, to call it a lager doesn't really do it justice; below the dry, super-resiny hoppy tang lies a much darker, boiled-sweet body that disguises its hefty abv (6.4) well. Really moreish and thirst-quenching, I'll be reaching for this great beer again this year, and I recommend you do the same if you're serious about having a home beer cellar.