And that was 2014

With a month to go before our Christmas parties were due to start we placed our order for crackers, they may not be the most exciting but they do help dress the table and the customers seem to have fun whilst pulling them and relaying the terrible jokes and ditties, so you can imagine our frustration when a week before the first of our parties on the 3^rd were due, we were informed the crackers would be with us on the 5^th!!! Not a good start, so many phone calls later we were promised enough to see us through (even if the manager had to go to the local supermarket and buy them himself) and after all that the said crackers arrived the day before they were needed.

With that said they were willing to go the extra mile and make sure we had what we needed and in that respect we are extremely lucky with all of our suppliers, we’ve had deliveries at all times of the day from 6am until 10pm with some of these guys still 2 hours from home. I myself don’t seem to have left the pub for weeks, so I take my hat of to all of these delivery men and woman, ah and of course our lovely postman for getting all of our orders and Christmas shopping to us at this maddest time of year, thank you all.

This month most definitely has gone in a flash, from putting the decorations up on the 1^st and 3 parties arriving on the 3^rd we haven’t drawn breath, we’ve had a mix of small parties of 4 and parties of 45 taking up the downstairs of the pub, along with a steady stream of B&B guests its not surprising that all the days seem to have merged into one.

It does feel a little like nothing has really happened this month, but I suppose what I mean that nothing out of the ordinary has happened as compared with the last few months.

We have had some interest in taking on an apprentice, which is something we will be looking into in the New Year, now is not the time it might put them off for good.

With the New Year fast approaching it’s a time for new starts and changes, plans for some decorating and furnishings are being discussed. New items will start appearing on the menu as we subtly change from the Christmas season, as well as creating a joint venture with a couple of the south west best places for a unique dining experience. this will be a one night event, its early stages but we are all really excited about the idea. Its great to see others approach to things as in this trade you never stop learning or picking up ideas, I’ll definitely keep you informed as to how the planning is going.

So for now all that is left to say, is that I hope you have enjoyed some of the tales from the pub and all at The Swan hope that you had a fantastic Christmas and wish you well for the New Year.

After all the excess of Christmas and the New Year, I thought I’d give you a recipe for my favourite soup, something that’s warming and filling, especially with a hunk of bread with lots of butter

Split yellow pea and ham soup

FOR THE HAM

1 ham hock

1 carrot

½ onion

2 cloves of garlic (optional)

1 stick celery                                             }Leave

parsley                                                         } whole so

a few strips of leek the outer skin is fine}you can                                                                                      take them out    

FOR THE SOUP

250g split yellow peas

1.5 litre ham stock

1 carrot

½ onion

1.   Place all ham hock ingredients in a pan, cover with water and simmer slowly for 2 hours, until the meat is falling of the bone

2.   Strain ham stock and set aside the hock

3.   Place all soup ingredients in a pot, cook for about an hour over a medium heat, until the peas burst and the stock begins to thicken

4.   Once cooked remove the vegetables and blend, add a knob of butter and season to taste

5.   Add chopped ham hock meat

6.   ENJOY

An easier option and to use some of the left over Christmas ham, is follow step 3 using chicken stock, if using cubes be careful it doesn’t become to salty, add your chopped ham and maybe even a dash of cream. 

I know it sounds Mad but I'm sitting down thinking about Valentines Day menu. 

Thats the life of a publican.  

Gluten Free Cake

After surviving our 8^th Bampton Fair at the end of a glorious October, we launched straight into a coffee morning on the Saturday, well done to Bampton Afc for the hundreds of cakes and the boys doing the washing up, very impressive, with over £300 raised. Morris men and folk entertainers surrounded us; the music continued into the early hours, so a massive welcome back to ‘After the fair- folk festival’ you were missed last year.

The following Sunday was Remembrance Sunday and is always a well attended event at the war memorial followed by a service in the church, its nice to see the little ones from the cubs and scouts get involved.

The next weekend sees a practice run of the Christmas menu, one of the local cricket clubs hosts their end of season do and awards ceremony, they get a set menu minus the Christmas pudding and we get the practice. I’m glad to say it was a success all round, nothing was to stressful in the kitchen and they all had a great time.

The next day is the Third Sunday in the month when we hold a quiz night, for a local group or charity, this months was arranged by Katrina from Bampton Business Group and The Toucan in aid of festive decorations for the town, with such a fantastic turn out we had to borrow the chairs from The Bridge House (a great place for something really tasty) thank you Nigel and Caroline, also a BIG thank you to Les who stepped in at the last minute as quiz master, he did a brilliant job. All in all with a group holding a fundraiser of there own upstairs a massive total of £800 pounds was raised.

With all this talk of Christmas, Paul and I feel a little like all our Christmases have come at once, it started out on the 6th at Sandy Park with The Devon Life Awards; it was like the Oscars the tinkle of glasses and the ring of laughter as we awaited to be seated for our meal, everything was supplied and sourced locally, including the wine, bubbly and soft drinks. As the time approached for the awards the only thought on my mind was how terrible was I going to look and sound on the big screen of the previously recorded clips all the finalists had had to make. So when the golden envelope was opened and the immortal words were uttered “and the winner is “… best Devon Gastro Pub is The Swan, I didn’t even hear it, to say we were shocked is an understatement.

You will find us about 12 mins in 

On the 17th  we were invited to The Trenchermans awards at The Watergate Bay Hotel Newquay as finalists in the Dine and Stay category all courses were cooked by chefs from the guide, Mark from the Masons Arms Knowstone presented the fish course, which was simply stunning. We came runners up which we find truly amazing.

We think this is amazing to watch.

The 19th saw us at High Bullen Golf and Country Club, as finalists in Devon Tourism Pub of the Year, with over 140 entrants we were excited to walk away with a bronze.

Mixing it up with the cream of Devon

So for The Swan and all its team and customers it has been one truly exciting month, now we look forward to the Christmas festivities, which brings me to this weeks recipe and with new laws being introduced regarding allergens one of which is high on the list is gluten

GLUTEN FREE CHRISTMAS DOUBLE CHOCOLATE TORTE  (looks like a brownie and tastes lush)

225g dark chocolate

5 eggs

175g caster sugar

½ tsp mixed spice

140g ground almonds

2 tbsp cornflour

50g white chocolate

1.  Melt dark chocolate over a pan of hot water or gently micro wave, leave to cool slightly

2.  Meanwhile whip the egg whites to soft peaks, add half the sugar a spoon at a time to form a soft meringue

3.  Whisk the egg yolks, mixed spice and the rest of the sugar until doubled in volume.

4.  Fold half the white into yolk mix

5.  Then add the remaining ingredients, gently folding in, firstly the melted chocolate, then the remaining egg whites, ground almonds cornflour and finally the roughly chopped white chocolate

6.  Place in a greased and lined 21cm cake tin. Cook for 30mins  at 170 oC gas mark 3, then turn off the oven and leave for another 15 mins

7.  Leave to cool

8.  Serve with any of your favourite Christmas treats, rum soaked fruits, liqueur cherries, brandy cream or butter, or even whip up your own liqueur cream using 3-4 tbsp of your favourite tipple, 225 ml double or whipping cream and 2 tbsp of icing sugar (just Whisk together)

Simply not Christmas

Simply not Christmas

Christmas Eve Evening 

A Three course menu thats a surprise on the night 

You wrapped the presents stuffed your turkey nows the time to give your feet a rest and let someone else do the cooking. We promise that there be no turkey or sprouts in sight.  

A choice from 5 starters 6 mains and 5 puddings

and coffee £24.95 

Mark Twain

Mark Twain once said, “Truth is stranger than fiction” my opinion is that fiction is loosely based on the truth. With the likes of “Chef “with Lenny Henry, the world renowned Faulty Towers and even “Psycho’s Bates Motel” believe you me, most of this came from hearsay or personal experience. So with only 2 days to go to Bampton Fair I was reminded of some of the disasters that have happened to me over the years within the catering industry.

The reason for the reminiscing …Tuesday lunch, just starting to get busy and the dish washer decides to be over taken by gremlins, water is cascading all over the place, there’s plates and pans every where with orders to be taken out too, so to sum things up it took twice as long to clear up as usual with a bit of water aerobics thrown in, thank you nice man from Western Refrigeration for sorting us out.

In the past I’ve had fridges, freezers, cookers, etc blow up on me, but only on important days of the catering calendar, Easter, Fathers day, a ceiling collapsed just as I was taking the roast out on a Mothers Day, a New Year and Christmas are the times for the ice machines and glass wash and I’ve seen a pied piper effect of rats gamboling over bins just as a large party were due to arrive (all because a new property were installing their sewage system 3 doors away and disturbed them) and an unfortunate body having to be moved, because the coach had arrived early before the funeral directors had turned up. But the customer never knew. These are but a few stories there are so many more.

Along with these memories you have memories of people that felt like your family at the time. Its probably the only industry that you could possible work in that you spend more time with your work mates than you do your own family. You know more about them than anyone, you hear about family, friends, plans or surprises long before the intended ever does, you share the highs and lows, the births, deaths and marriages, plus you gel together through the tough and manic services, take the knocks from both customers and staff, but manage to come out the other side, truly there is nothing like it, with a strange language and a sort of code, this is really the best or worse industry to be in. So in saying goodbye to 2 long serving family members this month, we start again with some new additions, so good luck to you all.

Next month sees me learning more about taking on an apprentice and looking into the goings on at Petroc with the help and advise of Hospitality Lecturer Karen Rivers, learning what the students get up to now as to opposed to my days at college many years ago.

Paul and I also have 3 awards ceremonies to attend, of which are very excited, surprised and very grateful to all of you that voted for us, it feels like the Oscars, we have been nominated in “The Devon Life Awards” “SW Tourism Awards ” and “The Trenchermans Awards”

This week’s recipe is for Moist Carrot Cake, the reason for this recipe is that The Ladies Of Bampton run a Tea Room on Fair day, for charity, this year for the OAP Christmas lunch and with the intention of holding a Christmas party for the children, and this is my usual donation

MOIST CARROT CAKE (adapted over the years)

¼ pt sunflower oil

4oz dark brown sugar

2 eggs

3oz black treacle

6oz SR flour

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp ginger

1 tsp bicarb

7oz-grated carrot

3oz sultanas

1oz coconut

1.Really easy, mix all ingredients in order of list

2. Place into a greased and floured tin

3. Cook for 20/25 mins on gas mark 4 or 180oc

Serve with a frosting or cream as a whole cake or slightly warm with ice cream or custard

Ps 

We Just attended The Devon Life Food and Drink Awards at Sandy Park and what a night it was. We cant believe that we won Best Gastro Pub its still sinking in.

This award can only be down to you the customer for voting for us .

Thank you so much

  

Proud Moments

Just a quick bee update from last months column, I’ve been reliably informed from Humphrey himself that the bees I saw actually have a colony in the church and swarm every year, so I apologize to Humphreys well behaved bees and have learnt something new in the process.

I’ve been reminded these last few weeks of things you miss when you’re children grow up, ‘the teenage years” and actually it’s a bit sad. The end of term, sees a flurry of activities, school reports, fetes and fairs, discos and sports days, do you remember beaming with pride as your little ones ”take there marks” for the first time? There are always some major disasters; the egg falls off the spoon, falling over or the sacks to big, in the sack race and that’s just the parents, who always seem to be so much more competitive than the children! I’ve been lucky enough to witness two of Bampton Schools leaver’s assemblies which are notoriously emotional, the children are given a brilliant send off to there new schools with a mixture of heartiest praise and lists of achievements, both good and bad in there years at primary school. The well-planned event by the amazing staff and teachers is full of giggles and roars of laughter, well that way some dads and us mums can disguise the tears as tears from laughing too much. The children are always made to feel good about themselves and some how seem to stand taller when they leave to a huge round of applause. Of course you end up with the obligatory shirts scrawled with well wishes that you must promise to never wash. So even though these are hectic times and you’re not sure how you’ll ever manage to fit it all in, enjoy.

Its strange the things you do as a parent, but what we all want is the best for our children, as a group of parents demonstrated this week as they took matters into there own hands and spruced up the children’s play park, maybe a bit of an understatement as 10 bin bags later they were still going strong, but what an amazing transformation, you should all be very proud that your little one can now play safe. So LITTER BUGS BEWARE!

Another group of people that should also feel proud are the residents of Bampton themselves and the team from Bampton In Bloom, as judging commenced this week there seemed to be a flurry of activity in the pruning and watering department, not that a few last minute tweaks can detract from all the hard work that has been going on for months. Which I’m sure the judges could see for themselves. We often hear or have comments made to us in the pub about how beautiful and cared for Bampton looks, with the wonderful array of baskets, pots, planters and troughs through out the village. Our baskets and pots are at their prime at the moment and our small outside terrace is looking stunning, it really does add a touch of cheer and a wonderful splash of color. Honestly whether you win anything or not all your hard work has definitely been noticed so you can all pat yourselves on the back.

These last two weeks we’ve been playing with our Chocolate Brownie recipe, week one saw the addition of Oreos and this week had Jaffa Cake and orange, strange my kids hung around for the tasting of these mmmmm

CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

400g plain chocolate

300g unsalted butter

250g caster sugar

4 eggs

100g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

Method

1.   Set oven to 180o/ gas mark 4. Lightly butter a 20cm baking tray and line with greaseproof paper

2.   Melt 175g of chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan (or microwave) Chop the remaining chocolate into chunks and leave to one side

3.   Once melted and the butter and stir till blended

4.   Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Add the beaten eggs and mix well

5.   Mix the sieved flour and baking powder until all combined

6.   Stir in the reserved chocolate chunks

7.   Pour mixture into the prepared tray and bake for 25-30 minutes until firm

8.   Leave to cool a little, then turn out on to a cooling rack

9.   Cut into squares and serve, approx 12 portions

We replaced the chunks of chocolate with the oreos/jaffa cakes, but instead of mixing in we placed them on the top. I recon you could try almost any of your favorite sweets, suggestions have been, smarties, peanut m&ms and rolo, what will you try?

Bees, balls, birthdays and bananas

As I turned the corner into the churchyard, on a quick dash to the launderette, I noticed The Heritage Center A board had been moved from the gate to under a tree. Strange I thought, until I read the sign “Bees escaped” with an arrow pointing upwards, as I looked up I realized Humphrey’s bees had left their hive and taken up residence in the tree, WOW what a sight. This is a reasonably regular occurrence, but they normally cling to the church walls, so to see them all hanging in a mass formation was quite a sight. By the time I returned only a few minuets later, quite a crowd had gathered and some gent had already set up his tri-pod and was merrily snapping away. A touch of country life.

 World Cup fever has grabbed the majority of the nation, but obviously not everyone is a fan, so what does a country pub do?  With over 7 years of being in Bampton, we have learnt that the summer and sunshine is not always good for business, with weddings, music festivals and the opportunity to have mates around for a bar-b-que, the pub can sometimes feel a little deserted.

Paul and myself both enjoy football, so we decided to show every game, mainly in our upstairs room, which is normally used for dinning, meetings or private parties of up to 20 and show the England games downstairs in the bar. Oh how the tabloids get the picture so wrong, we had no topless men, big flags or drunken yobs, but a great bunch of male, female, young and old supporting their nation. Some people elected to eat upstairs but the majority elected to eat in the bar and soak up the atmosphere, which was great if sometimes a little loud.

We supplied food at half time on the first England game, well it was late and some were starting to flag. The next game saw us up against Uruguay, Paul tracked this down, Chivito is the name of a sandwich-style national dish in Uruguay, and consists primarily of a thin slice of steak with mozzarella, tomatoes, mayonnaise, black or green olives, and commonly also bacon, fried or hard-boiled eggs and ham. We sold a fare few of them at half time and what a sandwich it was. For the last tea time game we offered fish and chips at £5 we had at least 20 takers and even though the squad was on its way home we had a good crowd in, who says we’re not patriotic?

The Monday saw a “zero” birthday for me and Paul whisked me off to Dublin for 2 nights, the pubs there were packed and lively, well it would have been rude not to have looked. We did invite everyone to a disco the following Sunday to help me celebrate, so thank you all and a big thank you to our understanding neighbours, we did warn them.

With the hot weather arriving, food doesn’t keep so well and this is an old favorite I put together this week to use up those black squishy bananas (honest for this recipe its best that they are like that)

MOIST BANANA CAKE

4oz butter

6oz sugar

2 eggs

2 well mashed bananas

1-teaspoon bicarb

2 tablespoons boiling milk

1 teaspoon baking powder

8oz plain flour

Method

Set oven at 350 F  (gas mark 4)

 Cream butter and sugar, beat in eggs 1 at a time, add bananas, followed by the bicarb dissolved in the milk. Sift in flour and baking powder. Bake in 2 greased sandwich tins for 20 minutes, or add a touch more baking powder and bake in a deeper tin for about 50 minutes.

The smell is delicious, we served ours with homemade pistachio nut ice cream, and you could serve it with any of your favourites, cream, custard or vanilla ice cream. Enjoy, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Donna 

Chocolate brownies

I often get asked about our chocolate brownie. Do we make it or buy it in, well I can safely say we make it. We are also often asked if we can let the customers have the recipe.

Well our usual reply is yes for a small donation to either the Guide Dog box or Devon Air Ambulance and I'll happily print a copy off, to be fair often they get a few more recipes out of me for there pennies.

I've had the same recipe for probably 15 years and it works for me, I don't think its any much different to many out there online or in cook books buts its the one we use here at The Swan
So for no cost at all we have printed it online.

Ingredients

1. 400 grams of good plain chocolate
2. 300 grams of unsalted butter plus a little extra for greasing the tray
3. 250 grams of castor sugar
4. 4 free range eggs (med size)
5. 100 grams of plain flour
6. 1 Teaspoon of baking powder 

Method

1. Set oven to temperature 180c or gas mark 4
2. Lightly grease a 20cm square baking tray and line with baking parchment 
3. Melt half the chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. and keep the other half of chocolate . You will need to cut the chocolate into small lumps.
4. When the chocolate has melted add the butter and stir until it has all melted.
5. remove the mixture from the heat and add the sugar and beat in the eggs into the chocolate mixture until its really well mixed in.
6. Sieve the flour and baking flour into a large mixing bowl and slowly fold in the chocolate mixture.
7. Add the rest of chocolate pieces and if you so wish add some hazelnuts or peeled pistachio nuts.
8. Pour the mixture into your baking tray and bake for 25-30 mins until it feels firm.
9. Leave it to cool and then turn out on to a wire rack and allow to fully cool down
10. Cut it up into squares and and bingo you have brownies 
11. If you prefer it warm when its cooled down just place into a warm oven for 5 mins             

This recipe can be great fun to make with kids and as most kids love chocolate you bound to be a hit. 

We do hope you enjoy making it.