Monday 18 August 2014

Meal Planning Monday and Eating Out in Northumberland

So I've had a really cool couple of weeks. I started the two weeks with a trip to Paris, I didn't really take any pictures and didn't have all that much remarkable food, and I completely forgot to take a picture of any of it! However I did rediscover Kir in the hotel bar!



And we found Percy Pigs in Marks and Spencer, which made us giggle!




I then spent 10 days in Northumberland, where I did have some delicious food. I spent the first few days helping my parents clear two rooms that are being renovated in their house. Then my Mum and I spent a few days eating well!

The first place we visited was The Running Fox at Felton, where we had melts, I had a goat's cheese with beetroot and apple chutney and my mum had cranberry and brie. They were slices of bread with cheese on top and then the chutney. The portions were very generous with a lovely side salad. Of course, I forgot to take any pictures! We also bought a loaf of corn bread and some rocky road to take home.

The next day we went for lunch at The Angel in Corbridge. I had the burger



Again it was a generous portion, the chips were lovely and thick and the burger was fantastic and juicy. We spent the day in Corbridge and had a look round the shops, my favourites are the Cookshop, which seems to sell everything you could possibly want and The Corbridge Larder which has a fantastic selection of Northumbrian cheeses as well as lots of other foodie items. I really love visiting Corbridge and try to do so every time I get the chance to go up north.

Our last foodie outing was to the The Treehouse Restaurant at Alnwick Gardens. This was a really cool experience.



The restaurant is up in a huge treehouse. We had the set lunch menu and shared a started and pudding. I only managed to take pictures of our main courses, to start with we shared kipper pate with toast, for the mains I had fillet of Red Mullet with Summer Veg and a Bouillabaisse Broth, 




My mum had sausages and mash, with the sausages coming from a local Alnwick butchers



There was a bit of a discrepancy in portion sizes though, my mum's was huge and mine was tiny, she had three sausages. For pudding we had a trio of strawberry puddings; strawberry crumble, strawberry sorbet and a strawberry daiquiri. The food was ok, not out of this world but pretty good.

Out of this world was the hot chocolate and chocolate and almond croissant from a tiny chocolate shop called Cabosse in Warkworth, oh my god, so so so good. The hot chocolate was lovely and thick and rich and the croissant was just awesome. It has totally converted me to almond croissants, I had another one yesterday!



I also tried white pudding for the first time whilst away and I bought some more from Moorhouse Farm Shop, I had it for lunch a couple of days ago in a stottie with mushroom and ketchup, so so good.














Now on to this week. I have a fairly slow week, I'm going to the Park Theatre on Tuesday to see Crystal Springs and then I start my new job on Thursday, which I'm really excited about. I'm also hoping to go blackberry picking when it stops raining as they seem to be ready already! And to the Jean Paul Gaultoer exhibition at The Barbican. Then I'm meeting a friend to go to Kew Gardens on Saturday, really looking forward to that. This weeks meals are sort of adventurous and kind of clear out the freezer a bit so that I can fit more courgette based dishes in!













Monday
Courgette and Brie Soup with bread (Covent Garden Soup Book)
Thai Yellow Prawn Noodles

Tuesday
Sea Bass with Saffron Braised Broad Beans and Peas (Waitrose Recipe Card)

Wednesday
Israeli Couscous Salad with Merguez Sausages (Salads Book)
Rice Stuffed Courgette (Plenty - Ottolenghi)

Thursday
Cheese and Pickle Sandwich with Crisps

Friday
Out with work
Mackerel with Tomato and Quinoa (Jamie's 15 Minute Meals)

Saturday
Carrot and Lentil Salad with Freekah Pilaf (Plenty - Ottolenghi)

Sunday

3 comments:

  1. Glad you had a great time in my neck of the woods...hehehe The Treehouse at Alnwick is brilliant....

    Sounds like you have a busy week planned! Good luck with the new job.

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  2. I popped up to Northumberland too (and we stayed in Corbridge), though having kids only one meal out was had - unless you count the sweet shop!!

    Plan looks great

    BNM

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