The hotel’s kitchen gardener and forager David Lewis has joined forces with the rest of the team to create some delicious specials during the Halloween weekend.
Executive head chef Andrew Baird says that Halloween has presented the perfect opportunity to combine sweet and spicy flavours in their specials this weekend.
These include pumpkin and passion fruit jam, using pumpkins from the kitchen garden, and spiced parkin cake, a traditional cake from Yorkshire.
Saturated in sticky treacle, golden syrup, ground ginger and mixed ground spice, the cake is best served with vanilla custard.
‘I was born and bred in Yorkshire and Halloween would not be the same without parkin,’ Andrew said.
‘Try the basic recipe and once you have mastered it, you can develop it by adding anything from poached pears to stem ginger.
‘I developed the pumpkin and passion fruit jam with just a slight sweetness and a little zing to get the tastebuds going.
‘Pumpkins are plentiful but try to get hold of a Queensland Blue or alternatively use squash at this time of year.
‘Nice large passion fruits should be available right now in most stores.’
Guests will also be able to enjoy Spiced Cloudy Lemonade with fresh ginger and lime, or warm Spiced Apple Cider with cinnamon and cloves – just the thing as you curl up by the fire to listen to haunted tales.
Hoste Nicole, Seigneur of Longueville Manor from 1546 to 1564 and Bailiff of Jersey, has been the topic of many ghost tales in which he sends a butcher to his death.
This hot pink Halloween soup recipe from lovebeetroot.co.uk is the perfect winter warmer. Serve with cheesy dipping toasts for an extra tasty treat.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS – Serves 4
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 sticks celery, diced
- 1 clove garlic, finely diced
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 800g pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and chopped small
- 800 ml vegetable stock
- 4 traditional beetroot (cooked beetroot dipped in vinegar), roughly chopped
- 4 slices of bread
- 4 slices Godminster cheese
METHOD
1. In a large saucepan heat the oil over a low-medium heat and cook the onion, celery and garlic with the lid on, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes until they are soft.
2. Sprinkle in the nutmeg and cinnamon, then add the butternut squash and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the beetroot and continue to cook for another five minutes until everything is soft.
3. Allow the soup to cool a little and then blend until smooth. Add extra stock if it’s too thick. Season well and reheat when ready to serve.
4. Toast the bread, butter if desired, then under a hot grill melt the cheese on top until bubbling and browning at the edges. Cut the toast into soldiers and serve with the hot soup.
This recipe from loveradish.co.uk is a great meal for all the family though you may like to serve the youngest in the family before scattering the chopped chilli on top!
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
INGREDIENTS – Serves 4
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic sliced
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tsp black onion seeds
400g basmati rice
400g pumpkin diced
800 ml hot chicken stock
Salt and pepper
100 ml Greek yoghurt
100g radishes sliced
100g roasted almonds, crushed
Small bunch mint, roughly chopped
Small bunch coriander, roughly chopped
1 chilli chopped
METHOD
1. Heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, add the onion, garlic, cumin, fennel and black onion seeds, cook for three minutes, stirring every now and then until the onions are translucent.
2. Add the rice and cook for a further two minutes until the rice has also turned translucent, stirring the rice all the time.
3. Add the pumpkin and stock, bring to the boil and turn down the heat to a gentle simmer. Season and place the lid on the pan and leave to cook without stirring for ten minutes, or until all the stock has been absorbed. Turn off the heat and leave to stand for five minutes to finish cooking.
4. Remove the lid and give a gentle stir. Top with a spoonful or two of Greek yoghurt and scatter the sliced radishes and remaining ingredients over the top. Serve immediately.
Ingredients
220g butter
2 eggs
50 ml milk
250g golden syrup
100g treacle
100g dark brown sugar
100g oatmeal
250g self-raising flour
2 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp mixed ground spice
METHOD
1. Preheat your oven to 140C / 120C fan / Gas Mark 1. Grease a loaf tin.
2. Place the butter, sugar, golden syrup and treacle into a pan and gently heat until the butter has melted, then remove from the heat and place on the side.
3. Sieve the flour together with the mixed spice and ginger. Place in a bowl and stir in the oatmeal.
4. Make a well with the dry oatmeal mixture and slowly add the butter and sugar mix.
5. Beat the egg and add to the mixture with
the milk. Lightly mix until it all comes
together.
6. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin.
7. Place in the preheated oven for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven but leave in the tin.
9. Once cool, cover the Parkin cake with cling film and leave for a minimum of 24 hours. This will allow the cake time to develop a delicious moist and sticky texture.
10. Remove from the tin and it can be eaten at any time of the day. Enjoy!
Ingredients
1.5 kg pumpkin, diced with skin and seeds removed
1.3 kg sugar granulated
120g passion fruit pulp
10g pectin
METHOD
1. Mix the powdered pectin with 300g of sugar and leave to one side.
2. Place the diced pumpkin in a moderate oven and bake at 140C for about 20 minutes.
3. Place the baked pumpkin into a heavy bottomed pan with all the juices, this will help dissolve the sugar.
4. Add the sugar, if the pumpkin is quite dry add a cup of cold water to help it along.
5. Gently heat and stir occasionally to prevent sticking or burning.
6. Heat to 105C, test using a thermometer.
7. Add the passion fruit and the remainder of the sugar and pectin mix – stir well.
8. Remove from the heat and do a little set test: Take a small amount of jam and place it in a small dish. Place in the fridge until it’s cold, remove from the fridge and check the consistency. If it’s too runny add another 5g of pectin to 50g of sugar to the mix until you get the required amount of set.
9. Once cool, store in sterilised jam jars
or keep in an airtight container in the fridge.
