Hello
In the Café
Our head chef Dan has created an appetising new menu with delicious dishes freshly prepared and home-cooked in our kitchen. Inspired by our glorious British summer ingredients that are finally beginning to appear there is a choice of salads, such as five spice chicken salad with soba noodles, mange tout, sweet pepper and red endive; Caesar salad with cos lettuce, croutons, anchovies, pecorino and boiled egg and a Niçoise salad made with fresh tuna. Main dishes include a beetroot and soft cheese tart with red watercress, whipped horseradish and beetroot syrup; chicken and vegetable pie and an 8oz home-made burger made with local beef in a bun with hand cut chips. The new menu also includes a Tapas selection for a light snack served with artisan baguette slices.
We also have our popular daily specials menu with a choice of soup, main dishes such as Pearce’s own roast asparagus, chilli and lime couscous with hallumi and pesto, a risotto of the day and choice of desserts, like hazelnut meringue stack with coffee cream and Pearce’s own strawberries. There are cakes of the day too with honeycomb and marshmallow chocolate muffin or iced banana loaf for a satisfying bite.
Please do see the website for copies of the menus and we do hope you can pop in soon to try some of the dishes.
You might also like to try these two recipes that Dan has created making the most of our strawberries and asparagus.
Champagne & Strawberry Jelly
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 punnets Pearce’s strawberries
- 5-6 leaves of gelatine
- 140 ml elderflower cordial
- 2 heaped tbsp caster sugar
- 500 ml champagne
- Basil finely shredded
- You will also need 4 moulds or glasses
Method
- Soften gelatine in cold water, then warm in a pan with the cordial and sugar until the sugar dissolves and the mix goes syrupy.
- Put the strawberries into the moulds or glasses. Add the champagne to the syrup mixture and pour into moulds, pushing the fruit down. Allow 2-3 hours to set.
- Sprinkle with basil and serve with a dollop of clotted cream & shortbread biscuits
Asparagus, Smoked Garlic & Ricotta Tart
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 pack filo pastry
- 2 bunch of Pearce’s asparagus
- 500g ricotta
- 2 red onion finely diced
- 3 cloves smoked garlic very finely chopped
- 1 lemon zested
- 1 egg beaten for egg wash
Method
- Using a 10”x 8” baking tray, brush with plenty of melted butter.
- Roast the asparagus for 10 mins in a hot oven with a good glug of olive oil.
- Mix all the other ingredients with the ricotta until smooth then place half the pastry sheets on the baking tray brushing with the egg wash between each layer of pastry.
- Then spread half the ricotta mix onto the pastry, followed by the asparagus, spread the remaining ricotta onto the asparagus, finally layer the rest of the pastry on the tart egg washing each layer.
- Bake at 170⁰C for 25 mins, cool for 5 minutes before cutting.
- Serve with Jersey Royals and salad. Enjoy!
In the Shop
We are now really beginning to enjoy our wonderful British produce with the early summer vegetables and fruits all at their glossy best – our own strawberries, we are pleased to note, are truly full of flavour and fragrance and our asparagus is being cut daily. We also have broad beans, fresh peas, mange tout, tomatoes Kent and Norfolk new potatoes as well as the stoned fruit like apricots, cherries and the luscious donut peaches.
Cheese for June
Continuing with the British Jubilee theme we are featuring British cheeses this month with an Oxford Blue, a creamy blue cheese with distinct but not strong blue flavour. It is aromatic and spicy with a hint of dark chocolate and white wine with tarragon on the finish. It was developed in 1993 as an alternative to Stilton and is great served simply with bread and crackers, melted on pasta or goes well with bitter green salads.
We also have a Cheddar Gorge, the traditional cheddar made with unpasteurised milk and matured in cloth for up to 18 months to produce a rind that allows the gradual change in texture of the cheese and really develops the flavour. Also a White Stilton with Mango and Ginger, a real treat for those who love the lush sweetness of mango married to the gentle bite of stem ginger.
The Pearces
