Journal installment #10

A patron enjoys pleasant weather outside the Square and Compasses Pub in the Fairstead area of Chelmsford, England.

Excerpts from an English Journal, Part 10

Wednesday, March 18: It’s been a relaxing day so far. The sun is shining beautifully and it isn’t as windy as it has been the past few days. Derek came over for tea this morning and I left him and Richard to visit to while I took a bath and wrote in my journal. Then I walked up to the corner to leave some slacks and a blouse at the dry cleaners and also went into the store next to the cleaners and bought bananas and a couple of other small items while I was out. There’s a surprisingly good selection of produce, baked goods and other things for such a small shop. Very convenient too.

Joanne came over and we picked up neighbors Roy and Josie about 1:00 and drove out to the parish of Fairstead for lunch at the Square and Compasses Pub.

The Squares and Compasses is a beamed 17th century freehouse believed to date from about 1652. The building that houses it was originally two farmer's cottages and the current owners have retained a wealth of original features, including exposed beams throughout and inglenook fireplaces. They serve classic pub food and use fresh local produce as well as beef and game when possible. (I was told my skate was caught in the North Sea off the coast of Essex.)

Open log fires add to the old-world atmosphere, as does the cask conditioned real ales and several wines that are served by the glass. They can serve a large choice of potables because they are a freehouse, meaning they are not controlled by a brewery and can offer a variety instead of being restricted to one specific brand of beer and ale. According to locals, privately owned freehouses are a dying breed in the UK and they were happy to see this one reopen. Their website is at http://www.thesquareandcompasses.co.uk/index.html.

The food was generally good but some of it was a little disappointing. The menu said grilled wing of skate but they served the whole thing. Or it looked like it anyway. And believe me when I say it was not attractive, that’s an understatement! I don’t eat red meat and when home, not a lot of chicken or seafood either, but on the occasions I do indulge, I really don’t want to recognize either of them after they are cooked.

This skate looked like the ray fish it is and had tons of bones, also something I had not encountered in skate wing before. It truly was not very pretty to look at and made me doubly grateful for the generous portions of fresh veggies served with it. Jo and I shared a starter of baked goat’s cheese on a bed of rocket with some very good chutney, cherry I think. We also shared a lovely warm chocolate sponge with homemade custard for dessert. It was delicious too.

After lunch, we walked around the area for a while. We met a very pleasant chap, also named Roy, who obligingly showed us his gardens and collection of antique tools after I commented on his pretty flowers. He was a friendly fellow who seemed very proud that we were interested. The grounds surrounding his house were larger than average gardens, especially those in more urban areas, and he said he had lived there for 50 years. He has built a nice-sized pond for his gold fish and landscaped the property with grass, trees and dozens of flowers. He was most hospitable and a real pleasure to meet, as have been all the Englanders I’ve met thus far.

We’re back home now (4:30 p.m.) Richard has gone over to Jo’s to help her pull her clothes dryer out from the wall so she can get to the electric meter to read it. I started feeling a little sick on the way home and am still not feeling really great so I didn’t go. (Hope it wasn’t the skate. It tasted okay but really was not pretty and I only ate enough of it to be polite.) I think I will lie down for a while though.

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NOTE: After I finished this column, Susan (co-owner) from The Square and Compasses obligingly shared instructions for the excellent goat’s cheese starter and I am inserting her email here exactly as she sent it to me.

Hi Judy,

Many thanks for your email and apologies for not replying sooner.

Our recipe for Baked Goats Cheese with fresh Rocket and Beetroot is as follows:

Chutney
Two red onions
Half kilo red tomatoes - chopped
100ml balsamic vinegar
Half cup brown sugar
One star anise
Pinch cinnamon
Salt and pepper
50ml white wine
Put all chutney ingredients into a pan and simmer over a low heat until it becomes thick consistency.

Main Ingredients:
Half-inch goats cheese
Salt and pepper
One whole egg
50g bread crumbs
Pinch of tarragon

Season both sides of goats cheese with salt and pepper, place in a dish with flour and cover completely. Shake off excess flour and place in beaten egg. Repeat process to get a thick crust. Transfer to bread crumbs and tarragon, cover completely.

Shallow fry till golden brown on both sides and then place in oven to finish.
Serve with fresh rocket leaves garnished with fresh beetroot and chutney.
We do hope that your readers enjoy trying this dish.

Kind regards
Susan

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Roast Skate With Malted, Caramelized Garlic Sauce

2 skate wings
5 T. olive oil
2 t. minced fresh garlic
3 t. malt vinegar
1 pinch of sweet smoked Spanish or plain paprika
Sea Salt
Ground black pepper

While oven is preheating to 425°F make the sauce. To do this, add 3 T. of the olive oil to a small saucepan. Add garlic and cook until it is a dark, nutty brown color. Add vinegar and paprika. Bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half. Season well with salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Drizzle remaining olive over the bottom of large oven safe pan and heat on the stovetop until very hot. Cast iron works well for this. Sprinkle both sides of skate wings with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and slide in the skate, being careful not to splatter hot oil. Put the pan with the skate into preheated oven and cook for about 10 minutes until cooked through.

Remove fish and spoon the warm sauce spooned over it. Add a light sprinkling of paprika and serve immediately. You can make the sauce while you cook the skate but you should start the sauce first since it takes a while to caramelize the garlic without letting it burn.

This recipe is much better than the one I had at Fairstead. I have no idea where one might purchase skate wing but it is common in the UK and I’ve enjoyed it in a couple of good restaurants in Atlanta. It’s a good ray fish and worth the trouble to cook if you can find it. If you do buy it, ask if it has been aged slightly. If not, let it stand in the refrigerator for 1-2 days as the flesh becomes firmer and more palatable as it matures.

This recipe for baked goat’s cheese is not the same as the one at Square and Compasses but is similar and British in origin.

Baked Goat's Cheese with Pear, Pecan Nuts and Rocket

100g (2/3 c.) fine green beans, trimmed

200g Goats cheese (slightly over 7 oz.)

2 Pears

2 T. fresh lemon juice

2 T. cranberry sauce

1 pinch ground cinnamon

15g (1 T.) Butter

200g (1-1/3 c.) mixed baby salad leaves

100g (2/3 c.) Pecans, toasted

1 red chili pepper, deseeded and sliced very thinly

Toss salad leaves with toasted pecans and pepper slices and divide equally between 4 serving plates. Set aside and prepare rest of recipe.

Boil green beans for 2 minutes, drain and rinse under cold running water. Lay cooled beans on paper towels and set aside to finish draining. Cut goats cheese into chunks and set aside. Cut pears into quarters, remove the core and slice each quarter into thin slices.

Combine lemon juice, cranberry sauce, cinnamon and butter in a heavy based frying pan and let get warm. Add pear slices and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add cheese cubes and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes or until you see the cheese beginning to soften.

Top salad leaves with the hot pear and goat's cheese mixture and serve at once while cheese is still warm. NOTE: You can use whatever type pears you prefer but the buttery taste of Comice pears make them a good choice with cheese. Rocha and Conference pears are also good for cooking.

Cherry Chutney

1/2 c. (125ml) sun dried cherries, chopped
1/4 c. (60ml) sun dried cranberries, chopped
2 T. (30ml) chopped red onion
1 t. (5ml) tomato paste
4 cloves roasted garlic
1/4 c. (60ml) brown sugar
1 T. (15ml) balsamic vinegar

Add all ingredients together in a small bowl and stir until well combined. Refrigerate for at least 1 – 2 hours before serving. This simple recipe for cherry chutney is very good and best of all, requires no cooking.

Even though the baked goats cheese was wonderful, I also enjoy baked Brie and would find it different to choose which one I like best. I’ve had some very good baked Brie in different places but my personal, all-time favorite is still the Baked Brie en croute with Honey Peaches and Raspberry Sauce served at Flying Biscuit. However, I have not been able to get that recipe so I am substituting another one here in its place.

This easy version is also good but not many things are in the same class as Flying Biscuit quality and/or taste-wise. I suppose you could just bake a round of Brie by another recipe and garnish it with honey peaches and raspberry sauce but theirs looks to me as though it might also have crème anglaise on it even though that isn’t listed in the description. Also, I have no clue if or how they make the honey peaches they use

Baked Brie

1 large sheet puff pastry or 1 8-ct. tube refrigerated crescent rolls
1 round of Brie with rind
Raspberry or other sweet jam
Brown sugar
1/4 c. maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350º F. Lay pastry out on a non-stick cookie sheet, seal seams if necessary and lay Brie in the center. Spread jam over Brie and fold dough over the top. Trim excess dough and drizzle maple syrup over it. Sprinkle brown sugar over the syrup and bake for 25-30 minutes until pastry is golden brown. Cool 10 minutes before serving with crackers and apple slices. There are more complicated ways to make baked Brie but this simple one is very good and not nearly as much trouble to prepare.

Warm chocolate sponge with chocolate sauce Chantilly

110g/4 oz. dark chocolate, melted

1 orange, finely grated zest only

6 eggs, separated

110g/4 oz. caster sugar

110g/4 oz. ground almonds

55g/2 oz. chocolate cake or crumbs

310ml/11 oz. double cream

140g/5 oz. dark chocolate pieces

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Rub insides of 8 metal pudding molds with butter, sprinkle sugar over the butter and set aside.

Mix melted chocolate and orange zest together in one bowl. In another. Whisk egg yolks and sugar together until thick and pale. Fold chocolate mix into yolks, followed by almonds and cake crumbs. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and then fold into the chocolate mixture.Divide the chocolate mixture between the moulds and cover with rounds pieces of buttered aluminum foil.

Bake in preheated oven in a bain marie (double boiler or water bath) for 20 minutes until cake has risen and is just firm to the touchWhip the double cream with 1 T. caster sugar until stiff and refrigerate.In a small saucepan, bring the cream to the boil and add the chocolate pieces. Turn puddings onto warm plates, spoon chocolate sauce over each one and serve with some of the chilled whipped cream on the side.