Some menus from 2008

Although we often reuse favourite recipes, it is extremely rare that we repeat an exact menu and would certainly not do this for the same guests (records are kept of what has been served on previous visits). This selection of just eight recent menus includes four consecutive nights in July, to illustrate how we achieved variety and balance for a couple who were eating on each of those evenings

Thursday 8 May 2008

No dried fruit this evening

Friday 27 June 2008

No obvious eggs tonight, no nuts and no pork

Friday 11 July 2008

The menu this evening had to avoid raw cheese, spicey dishes, fish, and for one guest, lamb

Organic globe artichoke baked with emmental cheese in the Italian style with a tomato sauce

Baked fillet of lemon sole on a lemon & asparagus risotto

Melon & organic ginger wine cocktail

Poached sirloin of beef

Nutmeg potatoes; braised organic leeks; sautéed breadcrumbed courgettes; braised carrots & mushrooms; broad beans with bacon & onion

Mint ice cream in a brandy snap basket with mango & passion fruit; strawberry & orange salad; macaroon biscuits

Chilled gazpacho with a mezze of baby vine tomatoes, croûtons, spring onions, red pepper, cucumber & avocado

Filet of sea bream with a mousseline of salmon, organic spinach & shallots

Organic melon, cherry & port cocktail

Pan fried breast of guinea fowl (free range, from France) with a pink grapefruit sauce

Pembrokeshire new potatoes with mint; broad beans with parsley sauces; braised organic carrots with freshly shelled peas; stuffed mushrooms with chicken, shallots & basil; breadcrumbed, sautéed courgettes

Lemon ice cream in a brandy snap basket with roast grapes; peaches Penelope (with strawberry mousse & raspberries); orange compote

Vegetable garden strudel (in our own rough puff pastry made from organic flour & butter) with asparagus

Tomato mousse (with basil, chives, mayonnaise & yogurt), spinach soufflé & roast red onion

Mandarin sorbet with organic melon & grapes

Escalope of loin of lamb breadcrumbed & sautéed (alternative: pork tenderloin breadcrumbed & sautéed)

Berrichone potatoes; stuffed mushrooms with cream cheese & shallots; sweet corn & spring onion fritters; sautéed cauliflower with parmesan, parsley & breadcrumbs; baby organic carrots braised

Organic strawberries in strawberry & cava jelly; vanilla panacotta with cherries; honey, Drambuie, raisin & almond petits fours

Thursday 17 July 2008

The first night of our off-road motorbike rally guests, and a family celebration of the mother graduating from Aberystwyth with a first class arts degree; for one guest no meat or fish

Friday 18 July 2008

This menu had to avoid gluten, and for one guest meat; because it was the second of four dining evenings for one couple, we provided an alternative main course for them

Saturday 19 July 2008

Saturdays tend to be our most popular evening, for locals from up to 30 miles away, and for guests on a weekend break

Parma-ham wrapped asparagus (red pepper in place of ham for one) breadcrumbed and sautéed, served with pink and yellow grapefruit

Soufflé mousseline (emmental & parmesan) with roast tomato sauce

Melon, orange & ginger cocktail

Braciole of sirloin of beef with free range chicken breast, herb & mushroom & shallot stuffing OR fillet of organically farmed salmon en croûte with herb & mushroom stuffing

Potato creçy; sweet potato & spinach fritters; courgettes surprise (with cheese stuffing); steamed French beans; broccoli with coconut & lightly creamed butternut squash

Warm bitter chocolate tartlet with ivory ice cream in a brandy snap basket with bitter orange sauce; poached pears & raspberries; meringue nests with blackberries

Roasted pepper timbale & caramelised pear with pecan & Roquefort salad, beetroot & apple with horseradish & crème fraîche

Onion marmalade cheesecake (one with courgette as base) with roast red onions & slow roasted baby tomatoes

Grape & melon sorbet with apple crisps

Poached guinea fowl breast with spinach & juniper berries stuffing, served with spinach & shallot & puy lentils OR pan fried fillet of salmon with puy lentils & spinach OR roast sirloin of beef on a bed of vegetables

Sautéed barrel potatoes; sweetcorn & spring onion fritters; steamed runner beans; braised carrots with spring onions & freshly shelled peas; stuffed cabbage with rice & currants & shallots

Banana & passion fruit soufflé (no flour or dairy in this Le Gavroche/Michel Roux recipe); lemon & yogurt iced parfait; berry & peaches fruit salad

Consommé with chicken & chive quenelles

Fishcakes made with Graig Farm organically farmed salmon, served on a tomato carpaccio with tomato crisps

Chilled cherry & rosé wine soup

Roast leg of lamb with honey & rosemary

Berrichone potatoes; courgette & mint fritters; stuffed mushrooms with spinach & cream cheese & shallots; leeks mornay; sautéed cauliflower with garlic

New York cheesecake with rhubarb & ginger compote; crustade of apples with calvados crème fraîche; warm strawberries in sweet Bordeaux wine

Sunday 20 July 2008

We had a birthday celebration this evening, and for two guests here for the World Enduro Championships, which Llanidloes hosted in 2008, it was their fourth evening of dining with us


 

Thank you so much for making my mother, Dorothy, feel so special on her 93rd birthday. A splendid evening, we all loved the food and the presentation and ambience were superb.

Jacquie, David & Dianna, Caersws, April 2004
Saturday 9 August 2008

We had one guest this evening who must avoid gluten and dairy products (she was happy to skip the bread and the trifle), another who dislikes lamb, and three guests (including a lady celebrating her 75th birthday) who only like fish or chicken

My anything salad (inspired by the chef David Nicholls): leaves, sugar snap peas, asparagus, French beans, sautéed mushrooms & red onions, avocado, salad potatoes, spring onions, croûtons, cherry tomatoes, sautéed chicken breast, Dijon dressing

Goujons of lemon sole on a spiced sweet potato mash (inspired by Steven Doherty), with ginger & spring onion & soya sauce dressing

Melon and parma ham

Filet of beef cooked in herb bread with Madeira sauce (another David Nicholls recipe)

Minted new potatoes; broccoli timbale; carrot & courgette stir fry; steamed green beans; tomatoes stuffed with spiced aubergine

Richard Ekkebus's Revisited lime tart (with lemon custard, lime foam, caramelised rice crispies, lime sorbet and lime peel preserve); shortbread millefeuille with fresh berries & cream; oranges in cointreau with mango ice cream

Thanks very much indeed for an excellent evening. Margaret has received several phone calls of thanks this morning. Everyone was impressed by the excellence of the food, the warmth of the welcome and the general atmosphere. Please extend our thanks to Roy for the quality of the food. We were all certainly well impressed.

Gareth, Newtown (referring to the evening on 12 January 2006) 

Many, many thanks for giving my father a wonderful 80th birthday (referring to the evening on 28 December 2005). The evening was a delight, the food superb and the company and singing a joy.

Ann & family, Llanidloes, January 2006 

 

Gordon Ramsay's roasted tomato soup with brioche

Poached fillet of sea bream with a monkfish mousseline, on a spiced sweet potato mash with ginger & spring onion dressing & poached pear with horseradish crème fraîche (plain for one)

Grape, greengage, kiwi & mandarin cocktail

Roast saddle of lamb (our butcher was a guest at this dinner, with his mother, sisters and aunt, and supplied the lamb) OR pot roast guinea fowl OR pan fried suprême of salmon trout with 'creamed' puy lentils & shallots

Creçy potatoes; steamed runner beans; courgette & mint & feta balls (plan sautéed courgette for one); stuffed cabbage (with basmati, shallots, currants, cinnamon); braised leeks with cornflour thickened vegetable stock sauce

Banana & passion fruit soufflé (see 18 July menu); Heston Blumenthal trifle (sponge fingers soaked in green tea, egg custard, sherry, lemon & lime syllabub); warm strawberries in dessert wine