A Foodie Weekend in Somerset Taking Cookery Lessons
Jan 15th, 2012, 12:59 PM
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A Foodie Weekend in Somerset Taking Cookery Lessons
We have just returned from a fabulous weekend away from London in Somerset. As it was Bikerscott’s birthday earlier this month I planned a weekend away with 4 of our friends at a B&B in Somerset that hosts cooking classes. It was fantastic!
I had given Bikerscott a card on his birthday telling him we were going away for the weekend but that’s it. No details. He (wrongly) assumed it was just the two of us, and that as we were meeting at Clapham Junction that we were going to Gatwick so were flying to Europe. NOPE!
Rewind to Oct – Bikerscott l¬¬oves to cook, and I thought it would be a great idea to do a cookery class in the countryside. So I spent some time doing research and found this place: http://www.streamcombecookery.co.uk/default.html It was perfect – 4 hour drive from London and if we brought 6 people we could rent the entire B&B and get a whole day’s cooking course custom organised! Perfect!!!
So I invited 4 of our foodie friends and the plans were made. The only hard thing was keeping it secret until Jan….
I had given Bikerscott a card on his birthday telling him we were going away for the weekend but that’s it. No details. He (wrongly) assumed it was just the two of us, and that as we were meeting at Clapham Junction that we were going to Gatwick so were flying to Europe. NOPE!
Rewind to Oct – Bikerscott l¬¬oves to cook, and I thought it would be a great idea to do a cookery class in the countryside. So I spent some time doing research and found this place: http://www.streamcombecookery.co.uk/default.html It was perfect – 4 hour drive from London and if we brought 6 people we could rent the entire B&B and get a whole day’s cooking course custom organised! Perfect!!!
So I invited 4 of our foodie friends and the plans were made. The only hard thing was keeping it secret until Jan….
Jan 15th, 2012, 01:13 PM
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Happy birthday, Bikerscott! This sounds like a wonderful birthday gift!
Jamie, there's a pretty good chance we'll be in Lyon and environs end of July/beginning of August, so if there's any chance you'll be in France, it would be fabulous to get together!!!
Jamie, there's a pretty good chance we'll be in Lyon and environs end of July/beginning of August, so if there's any chance you'll be in France, it would be fabulous to get together!!!
Jan 16th, 2012, 01:57 AM
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So Bikerscott’s birthday is early Jan. For his birthday I took him out for dinner and gave him a card explaining that we were going away this weekend and he needs to pack a small overnight bag, but that’s all he was allowed to know until the day. This was soooo hard to keep a secret because we usually have a birthday dinner with all our friends for his birthday so this was a bit strange. But he rolled with it and had no clue.
Thursday we started packing and I told him to pack like we were staying in London – I didn’t want him packing t-shirts and shorts thinking we were going to the Canary Islands! I put our passports in my purse like I always do when we travel to the continent, and he dutifully put all his toiletries into a small plastic bad to ensure they safely went through security. HA!
Ian had sent us the fabulous menu we were going to prepare and suggested wines:
We will make something fishy for lunch, some filled pasta (tortellini) as an evening starter, some bread (probably foccacia/flatbread) and fruit tarts for dessert. All of that is quite individual and so the main will probably be a bit of a team effort and be a slow roast, spiced shoulder of lamb with a whole load of accompaniments. So we should cover; breadmaking, pasta making, fish filleting and cookery, dressings, pastry, some general stuff on taste and presentation plus a load of other bits and bobs along the way.
If you are thinking about wines to bring, I would suggest crisp dry white for lunch (e.g. Muscadet or perhaps Cava), then either a full bodied white (perhaps an Italian Gavi or South African Chardonnay) or a light red (e.g. Chilean Pinot Noir) for the starter and a full bodied red for the main (a good Rioja would work or an Italian Primitivo or a Chilean Carmenere).
So on Friday we split up the wine between those of us in the know and met at 6pm at Clapham Junction. I told Bikerscott to meet me on platform 13 (which is the platform to catch trains to Gatwick haha). He got there before me and proceeded to text and call me to ask if I wanted him to get the tickets (umm..no!) and to tell me to hurry up the next train was for 6:12. I finally got there and the train was delayed, which was perfect and allowed everyone else to meet at our 9 seater van in the parking lot behind the station.
The train finally pulled up and as Bikerscott went to get on I told him we weren’t going to get on the train to Gatwick and he was to follow me. Stunned silence…then ‘I don’t understand’! So I dragged a very confused husband to the back of the station and walked by the van ‘SURPRISE!!!!!!’ hahaha I think he almost had a heart attack! He was SO CONFUSED! Hilarious start to the trip. Of course we still didn’t want to tell him because it was much too funny so we made him wait until we got where we were going.
We jumped in the giant van and drove out of London…
Thursday we started packing and I told him to pack like we were staying in London – I didn’t want him packing t-shirts and shorts thinking we were going to the Canary Islands! I put our passports in my purse like I always do when we travel to the continent, and he dutifully put all his toiletries into a small plastic bad to ensure they safely went through security. HA!
Ian had sent us the fabulous menu we were going to prepare and suggested wines:
We will make something fishy for lunch, some filled pasta (tortellini) as an evening starter, some bread (probably foccacia/flatbread) and fruit tarts for dessert. All of that is quite individual and so the main will probably be a bit of a team effort and be a slow roast, spiced shoulder of lamb with a whole load of accompaniments. So we should cover; breadmaking, pasta making, fish filleting and cookery, dressings, pastry, some general stuff on taste and presentation plus a load of other bits and bobs along the way.
If you are thinking about wines to bring, I would suggest crisp dry white for lunch (e.g. Muscadet or perhaps Cava), then either a full bodied white (perhaps an Italian Gavi or South African Chardonnay) or a light red (e.g. Chilean Pinot Noir) for the starter and a full bodied red for the main (a good Rioja would work or an Italian Primitivo or a Chilean Carmenere).
So on Friday we split up the wine between those of us in the know and met at 6pm at Clapham Junction. I told Bikerscott to meet me on platform 13 (which is the platform to catch trains to Gatwick haha). He got there before me and proceeded to text and call me to ask if I wanted him to get the tickets (umm..no!) and to tell me to hurry up the next train was for 6:12. I finally got there and the train was delayed, which was perfect and allowed everyone else to meet at our 9 seater van in the parking lot behind the station.
The train finally pulled up and as Bikerscott went to get on I told him we weren’t going to get on the train to Gatwick and he was to follow me. Stunned silence…then ‘I don’t understand’! So I dragged a very confused husband to the back of the station and walked by the van ‘SURPRISE!!!!!!’ hahaha I think he almost had a heart attack! He was SO CONFUSED! Hilarious start to the trip. Of course we still didn’t want to tell him because it was much too funny so we made him wait until we got where we were going.
We jumped in the giant van and drove out of London…
Jan 16th, 2012, 04:01 AM
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Great report--and as one on the receiving end of some similar surprises from hubby, I can fully relate to bikerscott's confusion--and to his I'm-sure-soon-to-be-related sense of overwhelmededness (is that a word?) and appreciation! Brilliant, jamikins! Such machinations are the spice of married life (one of the spices, anyway!).
Jan 16th, 2012, 04:05 AM
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texasbookworm - you have it exactly right! Completely stunned into confusion hahaha!! 5 mins after the intial surprise he still didnt realise that we were going somewhere in the van and that the other 4 people were joining us. So funny!
I guess I now know that he trusts me completely...or he did!
More to come...
I guess I now know that he trusts me completely...or he did!
More to come...
Jan 17th, 2012, 06:42 AM
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Traffic out of London was pleasantly light and we zoomed out towards Salisbury in no time. Bikerscott still had no idea where we were going. The plan was to stop off along the way and grab dinner. We drove through the relatively light traffic on the motorway past Stonehenge. Now there were 6 of us in the van, 2 Australians, 2 Canadians, 1 South African, and 1 British – guess which one had never seen Stonehenge???? It was already dark but we promised our British friend that we would return on Sunday in the light so that she could see it!
We stopped just past Stonehenge at a rest stop that had a Harvester. Now I had never heard of Harvester before but at 8pm on Friday night on the side of the motorway it was PACKED! http://www.harvester.co.uk/ Now fine dining this isn’t, but if you are looking for a BIG meal for a small price this is the place for you! You get unlimited salad bar (very North American if you ask me), your choice of grilled meats, a sauce, and a side. We all had beer and wine, with the exception of our driver of course) and the total came to £12 each!!!!???? I was trying to split the bill and I just could not accept that it only came to £12 each. Ridiculous! So if you are out and about in England and need a hearty Denny’s style meal Harvester might be an option for you!
After a huge meal we rolled back to the van and headed west. It was getting on, about 9:30 by this time and we still had over 2 hours to drive. We got a bit carried away chatting at dinner! As we headed closer to the Somerset border the fog started to roll in. And roll in. And roll in! By the time we hit the M5 we could barely see 10feet in front of us and were averaging about 25 miles an hour. Not a lot of fun. We struggled on slowly and finally made it to Tiverton, and then onto tiny B roads to the farm.
The B roads were also interesting, twisting, turning, one lane and we couldn’t see anything farther than the front of our hood! We really and truly had no idea where we were and were completely reliant on Gavo, our trusty satnav. Unfortunately Gavo wasn’t on form that night and tried to lead us offroading through a farmer’s field! At this point we were not able to turn around so had no choice but to continue down the road and see where it led us! Oh, and there was no mobile coverage – where on earth were we!!!!
We inched our way down the ‘road’ and low and behold – a sign for our B&B right at the end of the hill! Bonus and relief!!! We pulled in just after midnight! Ian was there to greet us with a corkscrew (wine was desperately needed by all at this point), tea, a meat and bread platter with oil and vinegar and some lovely chocolate bisquits! Great way to settle in! After polishing off the bottle of wine we all headed up to bed – Saturday was our big day of cooking!
We stopped just past Stonehenge at a rest stop that had a Harvester. Now I had never heard of Harvester before but at 8pm on Friday night on the side of the motorway it was PACKED! http://www.harvester.co.uk/ Now fine dining this isn’t, but if you are looking for a BIG meal for a small price this is the place for you! You get unlimited salad bar (very North American if you ask me), your choice of grilled meats, a sauce, and a side. We all had beer and wine, with the exception of our driver of course) and the total came to £12 each!!!!???? I was trying to split the bill and I just could not accept that it only came to £12 each. Ridiculous! So if you are out and about in England and need a hearty Denny’s style meal Harvester might be an option for you!
After a huge meal we rolled back to the van and headed west. It was getting on, about 9:30 by this time and we still had over 2 hours to drive. We got a bit carried away chatting at dinner! As we headed closer to the Somerset border the fog started to roll in. And roll in. And roll in! By the time we hit the M5 we could barely see 10feet in front of us and were averaging about 25 miles an hour. Not a lot of fun. We struggled on slowly and finally made it to Tiverton, and then onto tiny B roads to the farm.
The B roads were also interesting, twisting, turning, one lane and we couldn’t see anything farther than the front of our hood! We really and truly had no idea where we were and were completely reliant on Gavo, our trusty satnav. Unfortunately Gavo wasn’t on form that night and tried to lead us offroading through a farmer’s field! At this point we were not able to turn around so had no choice but to continue down the road and see where it led us! Oh, and there was no mobile coverage – where on earth were we!!!!
We inched our way down the ‘road’ and low and behold – a sign for our B&B right at the end of the hill! Bonus and relief!!! We pulled in just after midnight! Ian was there to greet us with a corkscrew (wine was desperately needed by all at this point), tea, a meat and bread platter with oil and vinegar and some lovely chocolate bisquits! Great way to settle in! After polishing off the bottle of wine we all headed up to bed – Saturday was our big day of cooking!
Jan 17th, 2012, 06:44 AM
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Oh forgot to mention - Bikerscott was not informed of what we were doing until we saw the sign with the name of the B&B on it! He was really confused by all the country roads and assumed we were heading for Exeter...or his request Yeovil (because the name sounds cool)! Let's just say he was completely stunned and excited about cooking!
Jan 17th, 2012, 07:23 AM
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I can't explain how surprised I was. Absolutely gobsmacked.
I'll let Jamikins continue with the report, but let me just add that it was a fantastic weekend, absolutely a brilliant birthday surprise!
I'll let Jamikins continue with the report, but let me just add that it was a fantastic weekend, absolutely a brilliant birthday surprise!
Jan 17th, 2012, 08:22 AM
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Ah, "Harvester". They used to run an ad with the words "You can choose anything you want from the menu...." Other restaurants had never thought of such a USP.
I thought they were going the way of the Little Chef.
I thought they were going the way of the Little Chef.
Jan 17th, 2012, 08:25 AM
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Chartley - if Friday night was any indication, they are doing just fine!
Glad everyone is enjoying the report
We woke up and headed to breakfast. Even knowing we would be cooking and eating all day most of us gorged on a lovely Full English breakfast with farm fresh eggs, locally made sausages, homemade sourdough toast, and of course, bacon and fried mushrooms and tomatoes – YUM! Thoroughly stuffed we headed out to the barn to get started.
We were each given an apron and we sat down to our introduction. First on the list was a lesson in taste. We each had 5 plastic cups filled with a pure taste each (sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami). Ian led a discussion on what each taste was, how it impacted creating a balanced meal and the importance of aroma. The craziest thing was holding our noses and chewing on some cardamom seeds…you couldn’t even taste anything until we unplugged our noses and then we were hit with a huge blooming taste of cardamom – try it!
From there we got started right away on our prep for dinner. First off was making the flat bread. We each got to make our own flatbread, half of us making focaccia, half of us making more of a middle eastern bread…the bread itself was the same, just the toppings were different. We made it ourselves, formed it on the pans and then set it aside to let it rise.
Next we moved onto one of my favourites – brownies for our lunch dessert. The recipe was absolutely delicious and we used pure cocoa http://williescacao.com/fine-chocolate/products/ so decadent and chocolatey!
Once that was in the oven it was time to prep the shoulder of lamb. Before starting that we learned some great knife tips and practiced on some onions. Once that was done we pounded the spices to create our spicey coating and massaged it into the big shoulder of lamb. Ian was great about explaining why you would choose the shoulder and how to treat it. We added onions, apricots, tinned tomatoes, ginger, and garlic to the pan; put the lamb on top and it went into the oven for about 6 hours!
By now it was definitely time for a tea break. While we were cooking Ian’s lovely wife Karen had cleared the tasting cups and set the table for tea, including some lovely lemon drizzle cake! We chatted over tea and admired our lovely bread that was rising on the table beside the oven.
Then it was back to work! Lunch had to be made! Ian gathered us around to discuss how to choose your fish and then got to work with the knife and demonstrated how to fillet the fish. Of course he made it look sooooo easy! No problem, right? Wrong! Apparently fish filleting is not my forte! We were all given boning knives and Ian supervised us. Most of us got ‘most’ of the meat off the bones, but our South African friend put us to shame, barely a speck of flesh left on the bone!
The fillets were then cut into ‘fingers’ and dipped in a mixture of flour and hot paprika to create a devil coating. In the meantime, Ian had prepared some garlic toast. The fish were placed under a hot grill and then served up with the garlic toast for lunch. This was followed by our brownies that had been beautifully plated with raspberry coulis and clotted cream by Ian as we ate the fish. Lunch was accompanied by a lovely muscadet…ok maybe 3 bottles of the lovely muscadet! And the day is barely half over…
Glad everyone is enjoying the report
We woke up and headed to breakfast. Even knowing we would be cooking and eating all day most of us gorged on a lovely Full English breakfast with farm fresh eggs, locally made sausages, homemade sourdough toast, and of course, bacon and fried mushrooms and tomatoes – YUM! Thoroughly stuffed we headed out to the barn to get started.
We were each given an apron and we sat down to our introduction. First on the list was a lesson in taste. We each had 5 plastic cups filled with a pure taste each (sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami). Ian led a discussion on what each taste was, how it impacted creating a balanced meal and the importance of aroma. The craziest thing was holding our noses and chewing on some cardamom seeds…you couldn’t even taste anything until we unplugged our noses and then we were hit with a huge blooming taste of cardamom – try it!
From there we got started right away on our prep for dinner. First off was making the flat bread. We each got to make our own flatbread, half of us making focaccia, half of us making more of a middle eastern bread…the bread itself was the same, just the toppings were different. We made it ourselves, formed it on the pans and then set it aside to let it rise.
Next we moved onto one of my favourites – brownies for our lunch dessert. The recipe was absolutely delicious and we used pure cocoa http://williescacao.com/fine-chocolate/products/ so decadent and chocolatey!
Once that was in the oven it was time to prep the shoulder of lamb. Before starting that we learned some great knife tips and practiced on some onions. Once that was done we pounded the spices to create our spicey coating and massaged it into the big shoulder of lamb. Ian was great about explaining why you would choose the shoulder and how to treat it. We added onions, apricots, tinned tomatoes, ginger, and garlic to the pan; put the lamb on top and it went into the oven for about 6 hours!
By now it was definitely time for a tea break. While we were cooking Ian’s lovely wife Karen had cleared the tasting cups and set the table for tea, including some lovely lemon drizzle cake! We chatted over tea and admired our lovely bread that was rising on the table beside the oven.
Then it was back to work! Lunch had to be made! Ian gathered us around to discuss how to choose your fish and then got to work with the knife and demonstrated how to fillet the fish. Of course he made it look sooooo easy! No problem, right? Wrong! Apparently fish filleting is not my forte! We were all given boning knives and Ian supervised us. Most of us got ‘most’ of the meat off the bones, but our South African friend put us to shame, barely a speck of flesh left on the bone!
The fillets were then cut into ‘fingers’ and dipped in a mixture of flour and hot paprika to create a devil coating. In the meantime, Ian had prepared some garlic toast. The fish were placed under a hot grill and then served up with the garlic toast for lunch. This was followed by our brownies that had been beautifully plated with raspberry coulis and clotted cream by Ian as we ate the fish. Lunch was accompanied by a lovely muscadet…ok maybe 3 bottles of the lovely muscadet! And the day is barely half over…
