Restaurant review - The Merry Harriers, Westcott, Devon

Having a 'local'...

It's one of those things that is increasingly hard to do when you live in a city. And it's one of the things that we love about living in Devon. There are 3 or 4 pubs within 5 miles of where we live where we are recognised and the welcome is warm.

None more so though than our favourite of them all: The Merry Harriers.

And it's about time that I reviewed them really because, warm welcome aside, their consistently great food is the main reason that we go there.

This country pub really is more of an eatery now that happens to serve drinks too and it is perfect for it.

We discovered it when having work done at our cottage and I effectively had no working kitchen. It's fair to say we went there 3 or 4 times a week. We got to know the lovely landlord and his wife - John and Lynn and they looked after us as only a true local can and would.

The vegetarian options on the main menu are limited to 4 or 5 items - but, bless them, once they knew of our predicament they began adding veggie options to their specials and if we called in advance (or even en-spec quite a few times) they would cook something different, just for us.

You just can't get service like that in so many 'chain' owned pubs these days and we knew then that the Harriers would forever be our local.

And so it was that after racking our brains for somewhere different to go for an evening meal last Sunday, we gave up and resorted to this good old favourite. Boy were we glad we did as it turned out they have extended their veggie offering for the Sunday menu and we tried two new main meals whilst they keenly waited for our opinion.

We ordered:

Cheesy garlic bread & 

deep fried brie to begin with...

Homemade nut roast with roast potatoes, seasonal veg and vegetarian gravy & 

homemade spinach and ricotta filled ravioli with a roasted red pepper sauce and salad...

The first thing to say about the Harriers is that all of the food is freshly prepared - sometimes there is a little wait (15-20 minutes or so) but its worth it to get piping hot, fresh food cooked to order for you. AND joy of joy, the plates are always piping hot too (regular readers will know cold plates are a bug bear of mine).

The cheesy garlic bread was (as ever) delicious. Really garlicky and really cheesy and NB this is a pub that knows about veggie cheese - so all is OK with this. I could eat bowlfuls of it quite easily and die a happy woman.

Dave loved the Brie because it was properly cooked and gooey and came with a delicious relish and a large crisp mixed salad (not some wilted after thought, like so many places serve).

My roast consisted of 3 slices of the nut roast, 4 roasties, a yorkie, onion gravy and a side dish of FIVE different veg! The nut roast was one of the best (if not THE best) I have ever had. Just the right texture and really tasty. Potatoes were fab and the veg is a joy because its just wonderful to have that kind of variety.

I have to say that Dave's pasta was incredible. John had been worried that they had rolled the pasta a little too thick - but we felt that it was just right as the parcels were actually full of filling (very rare when you buy ready made) and had held together perfectly when cooked and the sauce was rich, piquant and yummy! Now Dave, is not a pasta man. He felt that he should try this new dish as they had made such a great effort and even he said he would order it again in a flash. Result.

[p.s. note the sneaky portion of chips that Dave ordered when I wasn't listening! can't blame him though, Harriers chips are to die for and a few of them found their way onto my plate!]

 

[another quick note: As you can see from the photos, the only downside to eating at the Harriers is that the portions are so generous that we can never make it to dessert - and the desserts are also homemade and sound wonderful. One of these days I'm going to go in and just have pud. Maybe even two.]

I should mention also, as in all of my reviews, the ambiance. Well, its laid back and relaxed. The greeting is always warm, John and all the staff always have a little chat with you and dogs are welcome - as long as their owners are well behaved...

The pub has a small bar and then a bar lounge area where you can also eat and sit next to the open log fire on a cold day, as well as a more formal dining area where a mix of tables allow them to cater for couples having a quiet romantic meal or groups of friends enjoying a lively chat. It's the perfect combination.

And where else could you go where not only does the landlord serve a fine tipple and some fine fayre with a helping of warmth and friendliness, but also fixes your bike?! (he was helping a lady customer in trouble with hers)

So here's to our local - thank you for the welcome and for making the effort to offer more vegetarian food.

"You know you want to go where everybody knows your naaaaame, la la la la and you're always glad you caaaaame, la la la - you wanna go where people know, people are all the saaame, you wanna go where everybody knows your name - la la la la la la...  " [theme tune to Cheers in case you were wondering - yes it does show my age!]

Chantal xx

Amy - a tribute to our special chatty hen...

Sad news at the 'secret cottage' this week - Amy one of our beautiful exbat hens, whom we've looked after for 14 months since her release, has sadly passed away.

We awoke to her clearly not looking herself. She was quiet (a very drastic change, as she was our chattiest girl - always talking to us when we were near), head lowered and feathers all fluffed out with her tail down (a sure sign when a hen is very poorly.) Feeling that her abdomen was very swollen we rushed her to the vets, who scanned her and then drained some fluid. But she went downhill and when her breathing got worse we were called in fearing the worst and she could not be saved. Stoic to the end, it's such a shame that the prey-nature of hens means that they often mask illness until its too late to help them. She was literally leaping about one day and gone the next.


This post is in honour of her, because she taught us so many surprising things about an animal that humans are indoctrinated to believe is stupid and that exists for no other reason than to provide people with eggs and meat.

Don't get me wrong - our other hens have taught us this too - but Amy, more than any other, formed a bond with us and crossed a line that was so profound that I think it's fair to say she massively contributed to our inevitable decision to become vegetarian.

Amy was intelligent. Very intelligent. She was also communicative and aware that, although we spoke different languages, she could make herself heard and could understand (some of) what I said in return.

She also showed a keen sense of observation and logic.

In the beginning when we picked Amy up from the BHWT (British Hen Welfare Trust - formerly the Battery Hen Welfare Trust) the lady passed us to her and said - she's a feisty one' and boy was she right! The other hen she was with was timid and meek - a shattered soul.
But Amy had the survival spirit in shed-loads. She fought and fought to get to food first when we fed them - so much so we had to feed the other hen (Hermione) separately so that she could build up her strength too.


 pic of Amy (right) and Hermione the day we collected them from BHWT

The minute I opened the door to their run Amy would hop out vertically and keenly explore her garden surroundings - chattering constantly as she did.


Her spirit was incredible.

We knew that integrating Amy and Hermione with our existing flock was going to be problematic. Preliminary 'meetings' saw feathers rise, chests puff out and strange guttural noises from the two chief hens of the other flock and Amy. Hermione stayed very much in the background. But come the day that we did need to integrate them we just had to bite the bullet and let them battle it out.

It turned out to be less traumatic than we feared. A few brief fights ensued but I think Amy had to bow to seniority and our chief hen was having none of it from this feisty young upstart.

As time went on though I observed Amy putting up with not being boss, as she realised that taking 3rd place to boss and deputy was OK and in reality she could manipulate them and situations  anyway, so she opted for less stress of letting them 'believe' they were in charge! This was classic Amy.

Such was the amazingly interesting dynamic that we observed when she joined our flock.

Amy (back left) going for a walk with the other girls ...

And so life went on and she never changed - only got brighter. She was always the first to greet us, talk to us, be out of the run. .

But a real connection was made when, rightly or wrongly, I started mimicking her clucks to me of a morning. 'ba bo, ba bo' she would say and I would say it back and then she would say something else and tilt her head on one side as if to say - why the hell are you just repeating me?!

 Amy coming up to me for a chat...

She never really integrated with the flock it has to be said. Amy was a true free spirit.

Yet for all her strength, when we moved house something so startling happened that I will never forget it. We put all of the hens in a portable run that we had made for quarantine purposes / new hens prior to integration etc. in the back of a hire van. We stopped regularly on the way between Staffordshire and our new Devon home to water, feed and reassure - and the hens seemed OK. But when we placed them in their new home Amy jumped from the ground direct into my arms - and I'm tall at 5'9". She literally clung to me. Obviously through fear. Clearly the trip had terrified her. At the time it crossed my mind that she thought we were taking her to somewhere awful - perhaps she had a comprehension of other hens being taken to slaughter? or that perhaps the whole transfer thing before had been terrible for her. Whatever it was, she clung to me for the next 24 hours.

Beyond that, when she realised she had a wonderful new home - she was fine.

That was until she went through a moult.

To explain a moult - it's like a girl losing her hair and then all of the kids in the playground at school bullying her. When hens moult some of them don't know what to do with themselves. They know they feel scruffy and they probably feel insecure that they look weak and are therefore susceptible (in the wild) to being more prevalent prey victims.
It's not helped by the fact that the rest of the flock may bully them. In Amy's case the others did just that - they pecked her constantly and shooed her away from food at every opportunity. She lost weight and her spirit looked broken. She was so poorly that at one stage we had to separate her from the others and it looked as though she had a virus and she needed 1-2-1 care for a few days.

 

Amy in the living room on my lap when she was poorly - we watched the afternoon film on 5 together and she dozed for a bit...

But bless her she pulled through and gradually with additional feeding (out of the sight of the others) she started to regain weight and confidence and as her full feathers came through - really I would say, for the very first time properly - she looked amazing.

With her confidence back she continued to blossom further still - she would follow me into the feed shed all of the time - and learnt to jump up onto the feed bins, the work table and the food tubs! She would ask me for food very specifically and knew her favourite things.
It was so endearing and so hilarious that I guess I let her do it because I enjoyed our interactions. Yes it was cupboard love I suspect - but I got used to her different phrases and I don't hesitate to say that we had a bond.

 A now fully-feathered Amy gardening with me..

That bond was also evident when I was gardening. I always let the girls out when I'm working the garden as I can keep an eye on them and deter Mr fox (who visits during the day where we live). Amy was the first to clue into the fact that where I might be digging there would be a better chance of worms, without her having to do any hard work!

And yet when I was clearing the flower beds of leaves and cutting old dead foliage back she would scratch away the leaves for me - with no pecking for worms - just to copy what I was doing and / or to help with my work. What a joy to have a hen literally by my side while gardening - chatting away to me like an old friend all the time.

I could go on and on and had she lived longer I'm sure there would have been tales to tell of our lovely chatty girl.

Hens can take you by surprise - all of them totally different in their personalities. And rather than be sad I'm trying to think of how much she made us smile and I'm so glad that she got the chance to be a real chicken - the bright intelligent bird that she was meant to be.

I hope that wherever she's running along now that she's with the other girls we have shared our lives and many laughs with, and that the sun is on her back, the grass is lush and the worms plentiful. 

 

Ah these meal worms look nice!

(note the galvanised feed bins rhs - she jumped up on to get on the table!)

Now to find a way in...

Just need to open these pesky blue clips...

Recipe - stuffed peppers a la noughties.

Stuffed peppers always seemed to me to be something from the 70's that Delia would rustle up. Feeling they were a little old fashioned I had never tried them.... (food snob or what?!).

But during cottage renovations and a kitchen that was knee-deep in dust, I opted to buy some ready made ones from Waitrose, as I was quickly running out of ready made veggie food options.

AND needless to say they were delicious and I instantly regretted having turned my nose up at them for all these years.

Anyhoo, delicious as they were I knew I could do better - so with inclination and ingredients gathered, I made some yesterday evening. They were rockin' if I say so myself and so here's my own personal take on them for the noughties (not quite tweenies I fear, unless I use dehydrated mushrooms, cook them sousvide first and add popping candy). Enjoy!

[serves 2]

Gather

2 large bell peppers (ideally different colours)

1 to 2 tsp oil (I used vegetable)

1/2 onion - finely chopped

4 chestnut mushrooms - finely chopped

1 clove of garlic - finely chopped

small handful chopped mixed nuts or seeds that you like (I just had sesame to hand)

small handful chopped mixed herbs (optional - I had none fresh, I think parsley would be a winner)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

250g couscous (make lots because then you can have it for lunch tomorrow)

400ml veg stock (I used 1 organic garlic and herb stock cube from Kallo)

4 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs

60g strong organic cheddar - finely grated (leave out or subs for vegan cheese to go vegan)

Spritz of oil (I always have sunflower on the go)

Create

1. Preheat oven to 200C / 180C fan (I made these in the aga on 'hot')
2. Gently sautee the onion, garlic and mushrooms in the oil until softened. Add any herbs and nuts.
3. Meanwhile, bring the veg stock to a boil, pour over the couscous, cover and leave to steam for up to 10 mins.
4. Halve the peppers lengthways cutting through the stalk and keeping it attached if you can. Remove seeds and pith.
5. Mix 4 heaped dessert spoons of the cooked couscous with the mushroom and onion mix and season to taste.
6. Stuff the peppers by spooning in the couscous mix and pressing down so they are really packed.
7. Top each with a 1/4 of the cheese, then a spoonful of breadcrumbs and a spritzing of oil.
8. Place on a baking tray in the middle of the oven and bake for approx 30 mins or until golden on top.

Devour

These would be lovely served with a crisp fresh green salad - but I was in the mood for more cold-night comfort, so I made some paprika roasties (skin on) instead, added a dollop of mayo and wallowed in the carb-fest! TFI Friday! :)

p.s.Remember that red peppers are the ripest and sweetest and also the softest, so may need less cooking time. I preferred the yellow pepper as it was slightly firmer.

Chantal xx

Veggie food review - The Gate (pub), Chorleywood...

It happens to us all.....getting older...

And with that come the inevitably difficult choices of where and how we want to live. Security is key, companionship may be important and continued fun and joi de vivre (dare I say it) has got to be a necessity! We're only on this mortal coil once (I think) so gotta make the most of it I say!!!

And so it was that we went with David's mum to (what turned out to be) a wonderful assisted living complex - with a view to it perhaps being the place for her to move to.

What made it wonderful was that it felt lively, warm and homely. There was a buzz about the place and the residents in the bar having a pre-lunch tipple certainly seemed to be relaxed and in their element!

This is how later life should be...

When I heard that they frequently go out to the local pub for a bit of a knees-up of a nighttime - I just couldn't resist seeing where these young-at-heart people go.

And so to my review...

The Gate - Chorleywood, Rickmansworth

[NB Whilst I can't account for the over 60's night out experience - I can account for a leisurely lunch discussing the merits of assisted living with all mod-cons.]

The Gate is smart and attractive and looks like one of those gastro-type pubs that you are going to feel safe in. It's what I call 'contemporary rustic' inside, clean and welcoming, with wood floors, coir mats and with a distinct bar and restaurant area. You can eat in both areas and dogs are welcome in the bar section (great as we had our two girls with us).

It's service at the table and swift at that - barely time to consider the required tipple - but I really liked the fact that there was a separately printed vegetarian menu - so that we didn't have to do the usual trawl for the (v) on the general 'war and peace' one.

This makes it much easier and shows that they have though about catering specifically for vegetarian customers. Great start.

On the menu:

nibbles, starters, sharers, leaves, pasta, pizza, sides

 

'Rustica Fired Pizza' £9.45 with fennel and pomegranate side salad £2.95

The pizza was...

absolutely yummy!

The plate the pizza was on was...

absolutely stone cold!!

The salad was...

a weird combination of bitter leaves, pomegranate seeds, a non-descript dressing and fennel seeds!

So this meal was a very strange combination - like I say, the pizza really was delicious (if a little anaemic looking) but served on a cold plate it naturally cooled very quickly. I had visions of a delicious crunchy fresh fennel salad to go with it - but mouthfuls of fennel seed and bitter leaves just tasted like an extremely strong oily aniseed ball! To me, it was inedible.

We gave our waiter feedback on the plates which he accepted with genuine concern and said he would raise with the chef. I didn't mention the salad, as bizarrely, Dave said he liked it! (sometimes I do wonder about him...)

Mum had scallops with couscous and said it was delicious and Dave had a pizza too which he also enjoyed - but it would have been wonderful had the plates been less arctic.

I'd love to waffle on more about the ambiance - but a certain two girls (it turns out) aren't very good at sitting still in bars while we eat pizza and they don't. Oooops.

BUT, the Gate seems lovely - its clean, toilets were good (always important), staff were efficient and pleasant and if I were 83 I think, yes, I'd be there once or twice a week for a sherry or two :)

Ye ha grandma!

Chantal xx

Recipe: tasty soda bread in a flash...

If, like me, you can be a little impatient with the whole bread-making process, then you'll love this super-quick, super-tasty recipe as much as I did. It's pretty nutritious too.

Gather:

450g wholemeal flour

225g fine (pinhead) oatmeal

65g  plain white flour

65g  wheatgerm (+ extra for dusting the tin and loaf top)

65g  wheat bran

2.5 tsp bicarb

2 tsp soft brown sugar

1 litre buttermilk

2 tsp sesame seeds for topping the loaf

Create:

1. Heat the oven to 230C  /  210C [fan]  /  Gas 8
2. Grease 2 x 900g loaf tins and dust with some wheatgerm
3. In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients together well
4. Add the buttermilk to the dry ingredients and mix well to form a wet dough
5. Split the dough between the two tins, smooth the tops, slash with a floured knife, sprinkle with the sesame seeds
6. Bake the loaves for 10 mins at the above temp then lower to: 130C  /  110 [fan]  /  gas 1 - and bake for 1 hour
7. Skewer test the loaves to see if ready or knock on bottom for a hollow sound to indicate cooked
8. Allow to cool in tin for 10 mins then turn out on a wire rack and resist the temptation to try it straight away - at least until its cool enough to slice!

Devour: 

Enjoy with lashings of your favourite toppings - sweet or savoury goes equally as well!

Eat within 2 days and freeze if you have any left over - but you won't.

Notes:

As you can see from the pic mine came out a bit anemic - but I'm getting used to a new oven. I think in future I would not drop the temp so low for the last hour and maybe give it less time.

Buttermilk is generally sold in 284ml tubs and so buying 4 meant that I had 136ml (approx) spare. If you have the time and the inclination you could up the proportion of the dry ingredients pro-rata so that all of it got used. If I ever get round to it i will re-post!

Enjoy!

Chantal xx

p.s.

I made this before trying to live vegan - so I shall try it with soya yoghurt instead - if you have any suggestions for a different method then please get in touch - I'd love to hear from you!