Grilled sea bass with rosemary and parsley pesto

Two recipes for a date night in that are easy to cook, look impressive and taste delicious.

If you’ve arranged dinner at yours, cook up these simple yet impressive looking recipes for grilled sea bass followed by mini Victoria sponge cakes, from the experts at delicious. magazine.

Grilled Sea Bass With Fresh Rosemary &Parsley Pesto

Serves 2
25 minutess to make

2 x 300-350g sea bass, cleaned and trimmed
4 small sprigs of rosemary
1 tsp olive oil

For the pesto

Leaves of 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Leaves of a small bunch of fresh parsley
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp of finely grated fresh Parmesan
Grated zest and juice of ½ a lemon
Small bunch of fresh chives, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the grill to medium.   Make two or three slashes through the skin of the fish on each side and tuck the rosemary sprigs into the gut cavities.

2. Brush each lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Grill for 5-7 minutes each side until the skin is crispy and the dish is cooked through.

3. Meanwhile make the pesto.  Put the rosemary, parsley leaves and garlic ina mini chopped for food processor and whizz until finely chopped.  Add the cheese and lemon zest and then whizz again.  Tip into a small serving bowl and stir in the lemon juice, chives, olive oil, and some salt and pepper.

4. Just before serving spoon the pesto over the fish and serve with new potatoes and salad.

Mini Victoria sponge cakes

Mini Victoria Sponge Cakes

Makes 8, and takes 1 hour 10 mins to make

170g unsalted butter plus extra for greasing
170g of caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
170g self-raising flour
284 ml whipping cream
Icing sugar for dusting
Strawberry jam for the filling

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degree C fan oven.  Grease two Yorkshire pudding trays (those with 4 straight sided holes of about 8 cms each). And cur discs of baking powder to sit in the bottom of each of the holes.

2. Put the butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat until fluffy.  Lightly beat the eggs with the vanilla, then gradually beat into the creamed mixture adding a little of the flour. Sift in the remaining flour and gently fold in until combined.

3. Divide evenly between he holes.  Bake for twenty minutes until risen and golden.  Cook in the tins then turn out onto a wire rack and cook.  Peel off the baking powder.

4. Lightly whip cream to soft peaks.  Spread onto 4 sponge bases, top with jam and sandwich with the remaining sponge discs.  Dust each with icing sugar and serve.

The delicious. cookbook, available at Amazon

These recipes are from delicious. magazine’s cookbook, The delicious. Cookbook, packed full of 365 recipes that are effortless to make  whether you’re looking for something to satisfy the family, wow your guests or indulge yourself.  It’s available from all good book shops or you can purchase it from Amazon for £11.98.

Rob and Emma Green from Green's Restaurant, Whitby

Whisk your date off for lunch or dinner at one of this year’s award-winning restaurants.

The winners of this year’s numerous restaurant and hotel awards have been announced, and here are the ones you need to know about.  Bon appetit!

Green’s Restaurant & Bistro, in Whitby, North Yorkshire

If you’re looking for somewhere to take your date in North Yorkshire, head to Green’s Restaurant & Bistro in Whitby. Not only has chef Rob Green been crowned National Seafood Chef of the Year, but the restaurant which he runs with his wife Emma won the ‘Taste of Yorkshire’ award at the White Rose Awards organised by the Yorkshire Tourist Board.

The restaurant always has a menu brimming with bounty from the surrounding coast.  Rob keeps in daily contact with the skippers of the local trawlers to get the best of ‘The Catch of the Day’, which he collects fresh each morning from the Quayside a few minutes away from the Restaurant – and even the name of the boat which caught the catch is on the menu.  Of course all the meat is local too – and even the flour for their homemade bread hails from the county.

A two course menu costs £33.95 and a three course menu £40.95.  To book telephone 01947 600284 or make a reservation online at http://greensofwhitby.co.uk/.

Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms, Nottingham

Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms is Nottingham’s only Michelin starred restaurant and it has now been crowned the 4th best restaurant in the UK at Restaurant Magazine’s National Restaurant Awards earlier this month, just days before it was awarded the prestigious 5 AA Rosettes – the highest accolade from the AA and the only restaurant to achieve the award this year.

A winner of the prestigious Roux scholarship in 1999, Sat Bains opened the restaurant with his wife Amanda in 2002 and won the county’s only Michelin star in 2003.  It was awarded the best UK Restaurant of the Year 2007, and in 2008 Observer Food Monthly voted it Best Restaurant of the Year and number 1 in their ‘50 Sexiest Places to be Fed’.

Sat’s cuisine is based on a philosophy of taste, texture and temperature, and diners can choose from a 5, 7 or 10 course tasting menu.  Throughout Autumn you can also take advantage of one of their Dinner, Bed and Breakfast Packages for £120 – £140 per guest for a Double or Superior room, the 7 Course Tasting menu and of course breakfast.  For reservations telephone 0115 986 6566 or email info@restaurantsatbains.net.

Gidleigh Park, Devon in Dartmoor National Park

Gidleigh Park is a luxury hotel set in 107 acres within the beautiful Dartmoor National Park.  The hotel has won a series of awards this year including gold in the ‘Hotel of the Year’ category at this year’s Enjoy England Awards, silver in the Green Tourism award, 4 Red Stars in AA Inspectors’ Choice, and Condé Nast Johansens Awards for Excellence ‘Connoisseurs List’.

The restaurant holds two Michelin stars and since 1994 the critically acclaimed chef Michael Caines MBE, has been at the helm.  Special offers this Autumn include a garden tour and 2 Michelin star lunch, or a fungi foray and lunch costing £57 and £65 per person respectively.  Up until the 31st November you can also enjoy a special autumn mid-week lunch for £25 for two courses or £33 for three.  For further information telephone 01647 432367 or visit http://www.gidleigh.com/.

The Kitchin, Edinburgh

The Kitchin run by chef Tom Kitchin and his wife Michaela won it’s first Michelin star in 2007 just six months after it opened.  This year it has won a host of awards including second place in Eat Out magazine’s best restaurants in the UK, and the Best in Scotland at the National Restaurant Awards.

Situated in the Commercial Quay in Leith, Edinburgh, the Kitchin’s motto is from nature to plate, and if you’ve ever seen Tom on Saturday Morning Kitchen or The Great British Menu, you’ll know just how passionate he is about this ethos.  The set lunch menu offers three courses for £24.50, whilst main on the a la carte menu are around £30.  To book telephone 0131 555 1755 or email info@thekitchin.com.

Hardwick Restaurant in Abergavenny, Wales

The Hardwick Restaurant owned by chef Stephen Terry is the winner of the Good Pub Guide’s Dining Pub of the Year 2010 for Wales. Stephen makes sure The Hardwick is a place where everyone feels welcome, whether it’s for a quick pint or meeting friends and family for lunch.  So you’ll find ham, egg and chips on the menu alongside roasted Gower Peninsula Sea Bass  – yet the ingredients will be of equal qaulity.

Main courses range from £14 – £25, or you can have the set lunch menu for around £20 per person.  Telephone 01873 854220 or email info@thehardwick.co.uk to make a reservation.

The Vineyard at Stockcross, Newbury

The Vineyard scooped the Hotel Restaurant of the Year title at this year’s Restaurant Awards, and came 6th in the top 100 UK restaurants. This 5-star country hotel has 49 beautiful individually designed rooms and a 2 star Michelin restaurant, so it’s a beautiful destination for lunch, dinner of a weekend away.

The restaurant is now run by French chef Daniel Galmiche who has been described as the ‘king of contemporary French cooking’.   Mains on the lunch menu cost around £20 and the taster menu is £100.  Telephone 01635 528770 or visit http://www.the-vineyard.co.uk to book.

Game is on the menu as the season gets underway

Autumn is game season so take your date to one of these restaurants and enjoy hearty seasonal dishes together during October and November

Chefs at the Great Inns of Britain will be using the freshest local ingredients as the game season gets underway, so if you’re organising a dinner date, try one of these great restaurants.
Feversham Arms & Verbena Spa in Helmsley, North Yorkshire
Farndale Red Leg Partridge, yellow beetroot fondant, girolles and lentil jus will be on the menu,  using locally sourced Red Leg Partridge from the popular Farndale shoot just three miles away.

The Peacock at Rowsley, Derbyshire
You can expect venison loin served with pancetta, sweet potato, brussel sprouts and blackcurrant jus at The Peacock, using Black Norwegian Fallow Deer bred on the Haddon Estate.

The Boar’s Head in Ripley, North Yorkshire
Faithful to its name, this inn is serving a starter of Boar’s Head Terrine with crusty bread, mixed salad and “Crackshot” chutney.  The dish uses locally supplied wild boar combined with Crackshot Ale, which is brewed for the hotel by Daleside Brewery using a 17th century recipe found by in an old housekeeper’s book by Inn keeper Sir Thomas Ingilby.

The Blue Lion in East Witton, North Yorkshire
A Wensleydale favourite, the chefs at the Blue Lion will be treating diners to breast of pheasant wrapped in streaky bacon with pine nut and butternut squash risotto.  This Inn is also running a special mid-week offer of three nights for the price of two.

Barnsdale Lodge in Oakham, Rutland
Here weekly game specials are being served throughout October and November with a complimentary wine list, including Exton Estate pheasant pot roast, served with root vegetables, apricots and chestnuts.  The chefs will use the freshest pheasant, direct from the shoots on the adjacent Exton Estate which is owned by Lord Gainsborough, the father of Innkeeper Thomas Noel.

The Inn at Whitewell, Clitheroe, Lancashire
The Walshall and Lancashire Moors near The Inn at Whitewell in The Forest of Bowland,  are home to some of the best grouse and partridge in Britain.  They will be serving roasted young Lancashire grouse, with bread sauce, game chips, roast potatoes, garden peas and cranberry compote.

The Bell Inn, at Horndon-on-the Hill, Essex
They will be serving their award-winning wild rabbit saddle in herb mousse with fondant potato, rabbit leg ballottine and chestnut mushrooms.  Using rabbit from local suppliers in North Essex, this dish helped the Inn win the Pubchef Food Excellence Award 2009.

The Royal Hotel, Comrie in Perthshire
A favourite haunt with shooting parties, The Royal Hotel in Perthshire will be offering two contrasting game dishes this autumn.  The classic Scottish Highland Venison with roasted root vegetables, Dauphinoise potatoes and a cherry brandy jus uses venison from local stalks on Glen Artney.  They will also add their twist to an old favourite, with their pheasant burgers which are made from freshly caught game from their sister property in Cumbria.

Hundred House Hotel, Shifnal, Shropshire
If you fancy trying your hand in the kitchen, book you and your date on Chef Stuart Phillips unique Game Masterclass on 13th November at the Hundred House Hotel.  You’ll learn to cook a range of game dishes, and you can take home your wares at the end of the day!  Call 01952 580240 to book your place.

You can find directions to all the Inns mentioned here on the Great Inns of Britain’s website.  And if you would like to impress your date with your own culinary skills, here’s a seasonal recipe for pheasant pot roast.

Impress you date with this seasonal recipe for partridge pot roast

If you’ve suggested dinner at yours, wow your date with this seasonal recipe for partridge pot roast.

The partridge season runs from September to February, so October is the month when the first birds start to arrive in butchers and farm shops.

At just half the size of a pheasant, partridge only takes half an hour to roast and you’ll need one per person.   Simply pop a knob of butter in the cavity and either roast the birds upside down, turning them upright to brown at the end, or cover the breast with bacon or larding fat to keep the flesh moist and juicy.

Alternatively you could spatchcock them, marinate in lemon, garlic and olive oil and then put them under the grill for 30 minutes, turning the right way up for the last five minutes so the skin is deliciously crispy.

For a slow-cooked supper that you can prepare before your date arrives, try this recipe for partridge pot roast.

Partridge Pot Roast

Serves 4

2 tbsp light olive oil or vegetable oil
4 oven ready partridges
1kg medium size potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 leeks, sliced
2 tbsps plain flour
300ml chicken or vegetable stock
150ml medium dry cider
1 tsp soft lift brown sugar
3-4 sprigs tender young thyme, roughly chopped
25g butter

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 160C/Gas Mark 4.

2) Heat 1 tbsp oil in a flameproof casserole dish and fry the partridges for about 5 minutes, turning several times until well browned on all sides. Transfer to a plate.

3) Meanwhile par-boil the potato slices in a large pan of boiling water for 2 minutes.  Drain and rinse in cold running water.

4) Add the remaining oil to the casserole dish and fry the leeks for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until browned.  Stir in the flour, scraping up any juices stuck to the bottom of the pan.

5) Remove from the heat. Gradually stir in the stock and then the cider, thyme and brown sugar.

6) Return the partridge to the casserole, pushing them amongst the vegetables. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

7) Cover with overlapping slices of potato and dot with the butter.  Bake for 1¼-1½ hours or until the potatoes are tender and golden brown.