Visit Lancashire

Michelin Star Cookery School Experience!

I was extremely lucky to be given the chance to experience first-hand the new Cookery
School at Northcote, the Michelin starred restaurant with rooms located in the heart of the Ribble Valley.

The Cookery School is nestled in the midst of the renowned Northcote kitchens. As the automatic glass doors slide open it’s a bit like stepping into another world, as you enter the calm of this beautifully designed and compact space and the hustle and bustle of the ‘real’ kitchen continues outside.  The school is intimate and cleverly set out and we were encouraged to explore all of the cupboards and drawers - home to every imaginable kitchen gadget I could ever need and more!  The oven doors were a particular favourite of mine you simply press a button and the door slides up and back!

Fun at Farmer Parrs Animal World

With thanks to Helen Davies, visitlancashire.com new regular guest blogger.

The sun was shining as we drove towards Farmer Parrs Animal World in Fleetwood Lancashire. Accompanied by my sister-in-law, friend and my 18-month-old niece, Arya, I was excited for a day on the farm.

We arrived at 11.30am and headed straight for the Pottery Studio where Arya chose a little ceramic dog to paint and we got to work. I'm not sure who had more fun, us or her! Whilst we painted, we had the opportunity to learn the story behind the project. The Pottery Studio is owned and run by the charity, Autism Initiatives, who give employment opportunities to people with autism. They make all of the pottery in house and it allows them to develop skills, both social and practical in a safe and friendly environment. Such a fantastic initiative!

After all that painting, we were hungry so headed off to the cafe for lunch! They had a great menu with everything from breakfasts and burgers to salads, sandwiches and my favourite, jacket potato with cheese and beans! They also had a children’s menu too, so there was plenty of choice for Arya.

Magnificent Millstone

Nestling in the heart of Lancashire just off the A59 in the delightful village of Mellor, this 2 AA star hotel is a real delight. The Millstone is known as the ‘baby’ of the Shire hotels family, but its food is certainly ‘grown up’.

The home cooked menu featured the finest that the Red Rose County has to offer, serving Lancashire’s most popular dishes at 2 AA Rosette quality.  Sunday lunch in the traditional oak, panelled restaurant dining next to a cosy fire was definitely appreciated on a winter’s day by my wife and I.

Tasting of England at Stanley House Hotel

Richard Bampfield, one of only 280 Masters of Wine in the world, is an experienced wine professional with over 30 years of experience in the international wine industry. For the last 11 years, he and his wife Jackie have been running their own business, specialising in wine public relations, corporate wine events and trade consultancy. Richard tells us about his most recent visit to Stanley House Hotel in Mellor for its second annual Tasting of England event.

A masterclass in Risotto making from Lancashire chef Warwick Dodds

Yesterday saw three of our four team entrants head off to the Hastings in Lytham for a cookery masterclass by head chef Warwick Dodds in preparation for the first round of the Great Northern Cook Off Competition. For the amateur cooking competition, attracting teams from all business sectors, our intrepid team of Tim, Justina, Sally and Katie donned their aprons and headed into their first professional kitchen.

What followed was a fascinating display of chopping, frying, stirring and culinary genius – well, in our opinion! Guiding the team through the basics of knife skills as they chopped and sliced onions and vegetables I was ecstatic that no-one lost a finger! Whilst covering the basics of good sauce making – butter/flour/milk or stock/seasoning – Justina audibly gasped at the amount of salt used but conceded the dish tasted perfect.

Eat me, drink me!

Fighting our way through the hoards towards the Rose & Crown for the launch of the first Clitheroe food market, I can only say that this is yet another success for Clitheroe. The market town that put the Ribble Valley on the foodie map with the launch of the Ribble Valley Food Trail has hit the mark again with the launch of its’ fine foods street market. Voted official food town of Lancashire the crowds certainly turned up, maybe it was the free samples of sausage, black pudding and cake that enticed people to the stalls, whatever it was the traders were doing a roaring trade. At the mad hatters tea party themed launch in the courtyard of the Rose and Crown, The Mayor of Ribble Valley presented Nigel Haworth with honorary membership of the chamber of trade. Huge cups and saucers, stilt walkers and even the mad hatter himself, added to the festival atmosphere, the instructions to ‘eat me’ and ‘drink me’ on the varied refreshments were certainly followed to the letter... believe it or not -there are only so many cup cakes one can eat!!

Nikki

For more photos of the day, see Clitheroe Advertiser

Food Show – Fantastic!

When I turned up at Ewood Park, home of Blackburn Rovers, last Sunday in my bright green polo shirt, it wasn’t to support some rival premiership team but to work at Nigel Haworth’s first Fantastic Food Show. And, to quote one of the visitors to the show, it was “absolutely fantastic!”

Guest Blog: Martin Hargreaves, senior chef de partie at Stanley House

Twenty-four year old Martin Hargreaves, senior chef de partie at Stanley House Hotel’s fine dining restaurant Cassis, was crowned Lancashire Young Chef of the Year in at the LETS Awards (Lancashire Excellence in Tourism Skills) in November 2009 before going on to compete in the finals of North West Chef of the Year 2010.

Martin, from Hoghton near Preston, trained at Blackburn College and has worked at Stanley House since it opened nearly six years ago. He started as a trainee in the Cassis kitchens and then moved to the pastry kitchen as a commis chef for two years. He was promoted to senior chef de partie last year. This is his blog:

Flying the flag for Lancashire

Today sees a host of fantastic events happening across the county as we English finally catch on to celebrating our national patron saint’s day. The flag of St George is flying proudly from the top of Blackpool Tower and a weekend of celebratory events is underway in Lytham at the 2nd annual St Georges Day Festival.

Here at the tourist board we have decided to celebrate in a quintessentially English manner by having an afternoon cream tea, all of course using locally sourced produce.

We hope you enjoy your St Georges Day and don’t forget to tell us what you did.

Diane

Obsession Cookbook

Well, the 10 day marathon that is Obsession 2010 has come to an end for another year. The event finished last night with Northcote’s own Nigel Haworth stepping up to the plate with his  “phenomenal blend of textures and mouth-watering flavours”, to quote one of the diners and the wine which accompanied the rhubarb dessert got a real thumbs up – “the wine was perfectly chosen as its bouquet resembled rhubarb”!

The good news is that while you’re waiting until next year’s fabulous festival, Obsession lives on in the Obsession Cookbook. Featuring the original Obsession dishes as well as easy to cook at home recipes from talents such as Heston Blumenthal, Raymond Blanc, Michel Roux junior and Angela Hartnett, the Obsession Cookbook celebrates all things passionate about cooking. The book of over 100 recipes is on sale on Northcote’s website at a price of £35.