The sun continues to shine as if there’s no stopping it. Whoever
polished it on June 1st should’ve done so long ago… This week’s work
is going to be a proper seaside extravaganza! And Tenby's a sweet place too. Perched atop a cliff peak there's a lovely, light and airy museum with a great space to sit and write or look over the sea to Caldey Island or down to the rather pink humans bellied on the hot beach below. There's a rather cool bar and place to eat, the Plantagenet Restuarant at the Quay Room. Or there's warm Welsh cakes at the Caldey Cafe. The little Caldey Shop sells an array of quirky Island memorabilia. My favourite are the bottles of scent made by the monks in their tiny perfumery on the island. I bought two bottles of ‘Island Rose’. There's a brilliant fishmonger working out of a tiny shed at the harbour selling glistening beauties such as megrim sole and 'witches', squid and cockles, samphire and laverbread. There's a great butcher where I bought and cooked some of the best lamb and rib of beef i've ever tasted. And best of all they sold butter in breezeblocks! It's made on a farm nearby and the butcher carves it like a hunk of meat when a customer asks for some. I made a cottage loaf just to have with the butter! And we had a sunny and fruitful trip mackereling. Too many lovely things and seasonal ingredients to pick and play with, so the gist of the weeks menu is here; a little celebration of Welsh bounty and a sunny start to June...
Asparagus and hollandaise
Hot ham, green veg from the garden, bay new pots
Marsh samphire and melted ‘potted’ shrimps
Poached salmon with cucumber 'scales', homemade cottage loaf & Pembrokeshire butter, homemade mayonnaise with the garden’s herbs and a flowery salad.
Raspberry ripple meringues
Mackerel ceviche with rock samphire
Roast rib beef with alexander hollandaise
Strawberry mousse
Mackerel for breakfast, rolled in flour and fried in 'butcher butter'.
Pembrokeshire cheese souffle
Hand picked white crab meat and homemade chips from last nights beef dripping. Asparagus sprue salad. Laverbread mayonnaise.
Melon salad with mint sugar
Crab cakes with rock samphire
BBQ butterflied leg of lamb (marinade in soy and red wine) with homemade herb mayonnaise (and laver on the side...) broad beans and spinach, Pembokeshire new pots.
Cockles and samphire
Chicken pithivar with ricotta and watercress
Rhubarb and elderflower cream crumble
"A quick note to thank you for making our holiday 'down memory lane' at
Tenby such a success !
We all loved your innovative creations including the best Salmon
I have ever had(!) and all the other Welsh local produce that you had so
successfully sourced.
Thank you again for being such a star ....and I would highly recommend
you to anyone." Annie Gabb