February menu, Valentine truffles and ethical veal

27th January 2015

I hope you had a lovely Christmas and a happy New Year. I wonder if you have made any healthy-eating resolutions for 2015? Mr Supper Table and I resolved to eat wholegrain and whole foods only, but have already made the odd slip with Coca Cola, chocolate and Chinese – oops! Just because I’m a chef doesn’t mean I can resist the allure of a Friday night takeaway occasionally, more’s the pity. Anyway, I’m (evilly) hoping that February’s menu will entice you to make an exception to your diet. At least I can promise that everything is fresh and homemade by me from scratch, no nasty additives or unrecognisable ingredients.

February 21st Menu

As always, the evening starts at 7.30 with a complementary aperitif and nibbles, then everyone sits down together around 8 o’clock. We serve a three-course meal followed by coffee and petits fours, all for £27.50. Come alone or with a group of friends, everyone is welcome.

Aperitif and nibbles
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Mussels in a coconut, chilli & lemongrass broth, with crusty brown bread
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Slow-roast pork belly, balsamic carrots, potato rösti, apple purée, cider jus
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Lemon parfait, sable biscuit & butterscotch sauce
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Coffee or tea with petits fours

Please email me to book your place. When booking, please let me know of any dietary requirements, as I am very happy to provide an alternative so you can enjoy the meal as much as everyone else. And don’t forget to bring a bottle!

Added extras and Valentines day

I have been busy making my award-winning* whisky marmalade and blueberry jam. For those of you who come to supper club, you might want to bring a few pound coins for purchasing a £3 jar.

*in my old, ‘proper’ office job, we had a jam competition one year and my marmalade won! Ok, so it’s not quite Masterchef Professional, but the marmalade was a big hit.

It’s also coming up to Valentines Day. I will be making boxes of truffles for presents, so please let me know if you would like to order one. It will be a box of 6, for £5, and will include G&T truffles, chocolate salted caramels and chocolate ginger truffles.

March menu and the ethics of veal

I am also nearly ready to publish the March 21st menu. Pudding is likely to be good old-fashioned treacle tart, and homemade ice-cream – ginger would go well. I am considering British rose veal for the main course, possibly a brave choice, please let me know if you are interested! Far from the old-fashioned yet brutal methods of raising bull calves for veal meat, British veal is actually an ethical choice for meat eaters. It obviously helps that it also tastes really good too.Bull calves are an unavoidable result of the dairy industry. In the past, they have either been shot not long after birth or raised in horrific conditions across the UK and Europe with no light or access to the outside, sometimes kept in crates where they cannot even sit or turn around. However, British standards are now much higher, and more humane, than in the past, and I would argue it is actually more ethical to eat high-welfare veal, than for calves to die at birth and be discarded because they are no good for milking.

If you are interested in more information, please see the following links, but the main thing is to check that you are eating British rose veal, as this has much higher welfare standards than traditional veal.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/may/27/rose-veal-jimmy-doherty
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/10770703/Why-its-time-to-welcome-back-veal.html

Upcoming Dates

February 21st
March 21st
April 11th

Hope to see you all at supper club soon!

Best wishes,
Clare