Bacchanalia - 17/08/2010

Another night out in Manchester, this time the meal was on an offer. And what an offer it was too. Via My City Deals or Groupon we managed to get a £20 voucher for Bacchanalia that gave us a starter, main and a glass of champagne or cocktail each. Plus, as I'd already asked the restaurant about their gluten free dishes, and there were loads. Surely there must be a catch.
I was quite sceptical about the whole, but the voucher was recommended by the restaurant itself, so we booked a table for last night.

I thought to start with, looking at the menu, that I may be disappointed with the food, as it all seemed to be normal enough stuff, and nothing looked like it would have the same pizazz as Room. Then my starter arrived.

Char-grilled Green Basil Chicken Skewers

Yes, the clue is in the title, but they were bright green. Interesting. And a bit odd. Tasted nice though, and were lovely and moist. They were served with homemade tomato and chilli jam, which looked like squished tomatoes, kind of tasted like jam, but them had a big chilli kick.

Three Cheese and Sun-Blush Tomato Tart

Tim's starter was the Cheese and Tomato tart. Despite not looking like a lot, I am assured that this was very tasty indeed, very cheesy, plus the pastry had an added savouriness. Even as a partial convert, the tomatoes were even nice.

For mains we ordered the Pork Wellington and the Sea Bass. My sea bass was very nice. Very nicely cooked with a crispy skin. I thought the dish would be a little dry, given the description "puy lentils coated in a tomato sauce" rather than in a tomato sauce, but they were actually quite saucy. The Pork Wellington looked huge, and again, Tim enjoyed this. It all looked rather nice, but rather than risk even trying the sauce on a non-gluten free dish, I let him keep it all.

Sea Bass

Pork Wellington

We ordered a side of hand cut chips, which perhaps we didn't need. But they were just right, not underdone - which is the worst possible state of chip in my mind, and already seasoned with salt.
On the subject of salt, we did notice an odd thing really. The waitress asked if we'd like any salt or pepper without us even trying the food, and there were none on the table already. There must be reasons behind this, unknown to us. (Odd the things that stick with you isn't it?!)

After checking and re-checking, those courses were really and truly (and impossibly really) covered by the £20 voucher. So we thought we'd blow the budget and ordered a dessert. Tim ordered the summer fruits pudding, and I had the only option, which wasn't really a proper dish, available to people eating gluten free. The Passion Fruit, Mascarpone and Biscotti Eton Mess, without the biscotti. So basically a massive lump of mascarpone with a bit of passion fruit. And the restaurant was doing so well! The waitress did bring over another half of Passion Fruit (which wasn't ripe) and we suspected she heard me commenting on the "lump of cream".

Summer Pudding

Lump of Mascarpone and Passion Fruit

Irish Coffee and Basil Grand Cocktail

We finished the meal with cocktails included on the £20 voucher, well, one cocktail and an Irish coffee and settled the bill. We were going to be charged £18 for what we'd ordered (bottle of wine with the meal, side of chips and two desserts), but we are too honest. Or just honest. And after we pointed out the mistake, we were charged around £27. Still a bargain. Next time we get the chance to get a "Groupon" for somewhere we fancy we probably will, as it does seem to work, and next time we get the chance to got to Bacchanalia, whether it is for food or cocktails (massive cocktail menu, buy one get one between 5:00 - 8:00!!) we probably will too. Apart from the dessert for me, the food was very good, and so was the service. The atmosphere was very nice, rather cosy and romantic, even on a Tuesday night.

Garlic and Basil Drenched Chicken

And now for something a little bit healthy.  Fran normally likes a lot of sauce with her food so I took a chance with this one.  I caught a glance of a lovely looking healthy coleslaw by Rick Stein while half watching Good Food the other day.  He had served it as part of a Greek plate with kebabs and tzatziki but I didn't really fancy that so I searched for a recipe based on what I had in at the time.

In the end I went for a Garlic and Basil Drenched Chicken.  It is a very simple marinade and made use of the basil we had left from last week's fish dish.

First I prepared the chicken:

3 Cloves of Garlic
1 Tsp Salt
Handful of Chopped Basil
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Lemon Juice (a few drops)
2 Chicken Breast Fillets
Black Pepper to taste

Method

Blitz the garlic, salt, basil and pepper in a mini chopper
Add the oil and mix till it becomes a paste
Flatten the chicken in a freezer bag with a rolling pin and add the paste to coat the chicken
Keep in fridge till ready to cook

Then I prepared the Carrot Salad / Coleslaw:

2 large carrots
Quarter spring cabbage (Rick used Kohlrabi but I shop at Morrison's!!)
2 Tbsp Sunflower Oil
4 Tsp Cumin Seeds
4 Tsp Lemon Juice (about half a good sized lemon, juiced)
1 Tsp Salt

Shred the carrots and cabbage, add salt and mix.  Heat the oil and add cumin for about 30 seconds.  Mix with veg and add lemon juice:

Carrot Salad

When you are ready to eat cook chicken for 4/5 mins on each side on a hot griddle and serve with the salad:

Basil Drenched Chicken and Carrot Salad

The proportions in the salad make about 5 times what you see served here.  I am not sure how long it will last covered in the fridge but I reckon it would be ok for a few days.

Carluccio's Spinningfields Manchester

After work on Wednesday last week we decided to go out for tea and some drinks. We had planned to go elsewhere, but the walk into town took us through the Spinningfields area. We stopped to look at a few menus, mainly just to see the sort of thing on offer, but the deli at Carluccio's enticed us in.
We asked if they sold any gluten free pasta - which they don't, then asked to see the menu. Impressively they have quite a number of their normal dishes included on the gluten free menu, all with gluten free pasta. This was too good to walk past.

Carluccio's Deli

We were one of 3 tables in the restaurant and sat near the window. With the staff going about their business, and the odd customer in the deli, together with the clean white feel (if white actually feels) and high ceiling, it didn't seem quiet or dead at all. Tim says it was clinky - in a good way. He knows what he means. (You can hear noise from the kitchen and don't feel self conscious.)

We ordered the large mixed antipasti for two as a starter, but also some olives and bread to nibble on. Then the Pasta Alle Vongole in Bianco from the gluten free menu and the Penne Giardiniera.
The waiter then returned and pointed out that bread and olives were part of the Antipasti anyway, and that he'd put the bread on a seperate plate - so they are ovbiously taking this non-gluten thing seriously.

The Antipasti was lovely. And the higlight of the meal for Tim. With artichokes, peppers, and other lovely lovely things. The best being the little pots of caponata, which we'll be trying to re-create at some point.

The main of the Vongole Bianco I thought was lovely. The first time (I think) that I had eaten clams and they were lovely. The whole dish carried the subtle flavour of the shellfish and was lovely and buttery. The pasta was yellow in colour and I asked it if was corn pasta - the waiter said he didn't know but would find out. I did say it didn't really matter, maybe he thought we were journalists or something, since we were taking pictures of the food. He returned and said it was a mixture ofrice and corn pasta. I normally have rice pasta, and this was far superior. Maybe its the way they cook it, or it is actually from Italy, (where I've read the GF pasta is much better) or it was just a better brand than what you find in supermarkets.

The Penne Giardiniera looked exciting with the spinach balls, but knowing that was one of the items of that dish that contained gluten (the other being the pasta), I didn't try them. Tim particularly enjoyed those spinach balls but felt the rest of the dish was a little bland to be brutally honest.

Clockwise from top left: Antipasti, Penne Giardiniera,

Ricotina al Linone, Pasta Alle Vongole in Bianco

For dessert we ordered the Ricotinna al Limone with two forks, which was pleasant enough, although the "tart lime syrup" that accompanied the slices of Ricotta wasn't as tart as expected.

A double starter, 2 pasta main courses, a shared dessert and a bottle of the Verdichio Classico came to about £47. Bargain. The verdict is, hurrah for the gluten free pasta, and fantastic value for the quality of the food. I say we'll be going again, Tim says he'll get a different main course next time.

Prawn Saganaki and the Loss of a Vintage

As the tradition goes and due to Tim being at work, last night was another "Champagne Friday". Not sure where or when it started, but it did have something to do with Lost.
Anyway, recently having to sacrifice some potentially lovely vintages to the god of the sink following some very upsetting sherry tastes, a friend and I have decided not to save the posh stuff for special occasions (I don't know, the Pope visiting, or Daniel Craig/George Clooney/Brad Pitt turning up on the doorstep) but to drink and to experience the posh Champagne we've been hording for a couple of years since our last trip to Reims.
We had a rather posh 1995 Joseph Perrier "Josephine" cuvee, and either a Joseph Perrier Blanc de Blancs or Rose to go at, and we decided to try and team it with food that wouldn't detract from the champagne flavours.

1995 Joseph Perrier "Josephine"

Again, we are not pretending to know anything about food and wine matching, but the normal Friday night food of pizza, pringles and dip and cheese stuffed chilli type things probably wouldn't work with the vintage. After a quick google, we found that fish, seafood, cream and other lovely things were supposed to work with champagne (although the more you look into it, everything seems to go with it, and don't even ask about what goes with different vintages as opposed to blanc de blancs!). So here was another opportunity to cook the lovely version of Prawn Saganaki we found since returning from Crete.

While in Crete we were told by a very helpful waiter (more about him and the food over there when we get round to posting about it) that Saganaki means sauce, and that there are large and obvious differences between Cheese Saganaki and anything else Saganaki. Everything apart from Cheese Saganaki has, like the name suggests, a sauce.

We discovered Prawn Saganaki on our last day in Crete, and we're rather glad we didn't leave without trying it. It was lovely. Cheesy, tomatoey, with lovely large prawns. The setting was great too, this was eaten at the Blue Sea Restaurant in Elounda, on a jetty type arrangement, with the sea lapping below us.

Prawn Saganaki at Blue Sea Restaurant, Elounda

After loving this dish out in Crete I decided I would try and recreate it at home, and started by googling the recipe. The first that came up was this so I tried it. We also cooked the Stifado recipe from that site, and even though it was different that what we had tasted, somehow all the ingredients and flavours came through in the finished dish so we thought the Saganaki should be good too. The result was first tried out on the parents who enjoy food with flavour, and was a great success, so I thought it would work nicely for "Champagne Friday".

While it was in the oven, and the Josephine was chilling, we decided on the Blanc de Blancs. This was lovely, and re-affirmed our faith in that all our champagne that was bought a couple of years ago would not be of the sherry variety. It also re-affirmed our faith in the Joseph Perrier brand. We'd had a couple of bottles of the brut and vintage that hadn't been as good as we remembered, but this BdB was far nicer than any we'd tried before.

Joseph Perrier Blanc de Blancs

The Prawn Saganaki was done, so out of the oven, served with leaves and bread. This was different to the one from Crete, which had a smoother sauce, maybe blended, but we didn't really care!

I forgot to take pictures as soon as it came out, so the resulting few don't look as appetising as I'd hoped. But believe me, it tasted yummy.

Homemade Prawn Saganaki

The Josephine. Well. The cork popped - we have perfected the art of opening without a pop, and therefore no potential wastage. That was the first sign. Then the cork was rather brown at the end. The second sign. And didn't expand. the Third sign. We are, rather upsettingly, used to certain signs of off champagne.

The wine did have the sherry smell, and a slight sherry taste, but after a while - and a few mouthfuls this went away. We were very disappointed as this had been waiting to be drunk for a year since a 30th birthday party, (sorry 28th ;-)). We don't feel we can comment on the taste etc as we don't think, sorry we know, that it wasn't supposed to taste like this. After a period of grieving for the Lost Vintage, we did decide to finish it! And as with most champagnes, no hangover the morning after.

Josephine

Moral to the story, champagne is to be drunk, not kept for a special occasion that may never happen.

Sweet Chicken Casserole

One thing me and Fran like to do is make batches of meals to take to work.  Fran normally makes soup whereas I choose manly things like casseroles.  No doubt Fran will attempt to inspire you with some of her creations but I thought I would share a simple casserole that I have made this morning purely for freezing.

The idea came from a fish dish that I changed into a chicken casserole.  Often when I make things spontaneously they turn into a casserole!!  I have also done this Gluten-Free so Fran can steal some too if she fancies:

 Sweet Chicken Casserole

The molasses and soy give it an interesting twist to the usual casserole flavour.

Prep 10 mins Cook 2.5 hrs

Ingredients

6 Chicken Thigh Fillets
3 Large Salad Tomatoes Chopped
1 Large Onion Chopped
3 Medium Carrots Chopped
1 Tablespoon Oil
1 Tablespoon Molasses
1 Tablespoon Tomato Puree
1 Tablespoon Gluten-Free Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano
200 Ml Gluten-Free Chicken Stock
Black Pepper to season

Method
Preheat oven to 180 Degrees C
Oil in pan
Brown the chicken in a heavy based oven-proof pan and set aside
Fry onions in the juices for 5 mins then add mollasses
Allow onions to caramelise in the molasses a little then add tomato puree
Cook for 5 mins then add chopped tomatoes, soy sauce and oregano
Cook for a further 5 mins then add carrots and combine
Return the chicken to the pan and season
Add stock and bring to the boil

Put in oven for 2 hours

Enjoy

Note: the chicken will fall apart a little so does not need to be 6 portions - serves 4 hungry people like me - or 6 people with veg and potatoes.