Langoustines, Gin and More Chocolate in Fife - Part Two

After our feast of chocolate at the Pittenweem Chocolate Company, it was er...time for lunch!  We headed just along the coast to St Monans, one of the quieter East Neuk villages, well it used to be quieter but it seems to be emerging from it's sleepy image and starting to challenge the tourist packed Crail, Anstruther and Pittenweem.  The focus of our visit and lunch was the East Pier Smokehouse.


I had been to the East Pier Smokehouse about four years ago when my Mum and I bought some smoked langoustines, at that time there was only the shop and it was pretty basic, however things have changed and the East Pier Smokehouse now boasts it's own restaurant as well as selling seafood to take away.


I think you will agree that the views from the restaurant are absolutely stunning and Claire from Foodie Quine and I were treated to an absolute feast, starting with a rich and creamy courgette and goats cheese soup and a box of smoked langoustines, the meat in Scottish seafood is really sweet which  is down to the cold water around our shores!  We also tried the smoked salmon and cranberry Quiche with a turmeric pastry, which was the special of the day, very good indeed.


This was followed by the arrival of a range of the dishes that are served at the East Pier Smokehouse, lobster, crab cakes, salad and smoked salmon all served in cardboard boxes, it's a bit like going for a picnic on the deck of a ship!  All of the seafood was totally delicious and next time I'm in Fife, I'll be making a reservation for an evening meal.


We were quite taken aback when owner, James Robb, opened the door of he smokehouse and we saw just how small it was and really just a cupboard in the wall, but the smell of the cold smoked salmon was incredibly enticing.  It's well worth a visit to the East Pier Smokehouse, but get there early for lunch as you can't book.

Claire and I were now completely stuffed, as we jumped back into our luxury mini-bus, complete with water bottle holders, and were ably driven by Andy through St Andrews and on to the Eden Mill distillery and brewery at Guardbridge.



The Eden Mill is Scotland's only distillery and brewery on a single site, based on the site of a former Haig distillery, it produces award-winning beer and gin as well as small batch single malt whisky.


We started with a taste of a new Chilli Ginger Porter which Eden Mill expect to have on sale for Christmas.  I'll certainly be looking for a few bottles of this brew in my stocking, it was smooth, not bitter at all, but with a lovely warm kick.


We then had a tour of the brewery and distillery with Kathryn Baker, where we learned about the gin basket which holds the botanicals during distilling, and saw the private casks of whisky, one signed by a former First Minister of Scotland. We then moved on to our task for the day; Gin and Chocolate matching, it was a hard job, but someone  had to do it!


Eden Mill have five different types of gin and the chocolates we tasted with the matched gin came from Iain Burnett, The Highland Chocolatier who uses a unique single origin cocoa from the volcanic Island of Sao Tome. This intense cocoa is carefully selected for its exceptional range of fruity aromatic and spicy characteristics and painstakingly matched with unblended fresh Scottish cream from a particular herd of cows in Perthshire.

Original Eden Gin - the interaction between Seabucktorn berries, lemon balm, and bitter citrus results in a light yet complex spirit.  The Eden Gin is classic, crisp, refershing heavily citrus flavoured gin (and my favourite)
This was paired with White Lime and hint of Chilli Velvet Truffle  "Fresh notes of the Lime and sharp citrus of the gin are well matched, with the subtle heat of the cayenne highlighting a similar dryness in the Eden."  Gorgeous combination, the chocolate seemed to bring out the gin flavour and vice versa, suddenly I'm convinced that matching chocolate and gin is a good idea.

Hop Gin - A logical progression from brewing into distilling, using Galaxy hops to craft this first gin, This unique creation has a zesty freshness, and slight bitterness on the finish.  The unusual colouring is as result of he hops, and persists once tonic is added. I quite liked the Hop Gin, although it is an acquired taste and I think would be good with something like ginger ale.  This gin was paired with a Blonde White Langue de Chat "the simplicity of the creamy Madagascan vanilla which let's all the fruity flavours of he gin take centre stage"  I didn't think the white chocolate added much to the gin and felt that the gin overpowered the chocolate.

Love Gin - Bringing together an outstanding blend of local botanicals, Love Gin is also infused with rose petals and whole hibiscus flowers to give it a subtle pink colour.  Rhubarb root and raspberry leaf ensure a delicate sweet finish. This is one of the most popular of the Eden Mill gins, it is very smooth without the 'edge' that I associate with gin.  Paired with a White Raspberry and heather honey Velvet Truffle "an excellent match of both sweet fruit and Madagascan vanilla in the white chocolate play along with the summer fruits and even the honey doesn't dissipate the sweetness of this gin"  The chocolate was lush, but I found the overall effect of the sweeter gin and the sweet chocolate just a bit much for my palate, the honey seemed to dominate the after-taste.

Oak Gin - matured in oak-aged beer casks, this gin carries hints of vanilla and toasted caramel.  With a warmth and spice reminiscent of whisky, this gin can easily be enjoyed neat. Paired with Ginger Velvet Truffle "the warm ginger is reminiscent of the warm spices of the gin and its gentle oak woodiness is as subtle as the oak notes which follow at the end of the dark Sao Tome chocolate."  This combination certainly delivered on the warm flavours.

Golf Gin - flavoured with hickory (reminiscent of the hickory shafted golf clubs made by the St Andrews Golf Company) this gin is described as a modern classic with notes of sweet lemongrass with a burst of mild pepperiness, strong hints of lime, coriander and aromatic spice.
We had two different chocolates to try with the Golf Gin, Garden Mint Velvet Truffle, what a chocolate, it tasted just like fresh mint, I've never experienced anything like this in a chocolate and I would definitely recommend it.  Tasted with the Golf Gin the story is that "this fresh light herb is the perfect segue to the aromatic gin in a ply of pepper and menthol", personally, much though I loved the chocolate, I felt that the strong mint flavour overwhelmed the gin.
The second chocolate was a Lemongrass and hint of Lime Velvet Praline "a strong and heavy introduction to the grass and spices of the Golf"  oh yes, now this was more like it.  Again the freshness of the lemongrass was outstanding but, for me, a better compliment to the gin, of course lemon and lime are very much a traditional match for gin.


The truffles had the most incredible intense flavours, a fresh and fruity explosion in your mouth,  they went remarkably well with the different gins they had been matched to, something I wouldn't have imagined.


The Visitor Centre is well laid out with plenty of space for large groups and these amazing stained glass windows. You can drop in, but if you'd like to have a tour and tasting it's worth booking ahead.

BREWERY TOUR - £7.50 per person (£5 for students/concessions) - 7 days a week - 11am, 1pm, 3pm & 5pm
GIN EXPERIENCE - £10 per person (£7.50 for students/concessions) - 7 days a week - 12pm, 2pm & 4pm
Subject to availability

Chillies and Chocolate in Fife - Part One

Coming in Part Three - Courses for Cooks

Disclaimer: I was the guest of Welcome to Fife and I'd like to thank them and the host organisations  who made this a truly memorable trip.

Labels: crab, East Pier Smokehouse, Eden Mill, Foodie Quine, Gin, Langoustine, lobster, quiche, Seafood, smoked salmon, St Andrews, St Monans, The Highland Chocolatier, Velvet Truffles, Welcome to Fife

posted by Janice @ 19:38 12 Comments

My First Cook Book and Croque Monsieur

I've posted about my first cook book before, but here it comes again courtesy of some nostalgic tweets and Facebook posts from Claire at Foodie Quine when she found was reunited with a copy of The Brownie Cookbook, her own first cook book. Claire and I have set up a Linky so that you can join in and tell us about your first cookbook too.

I thought I would make something from My First Learn to Cook Book by Ursula Sedgwick, illustrated by Martin Mayhew.  The book which was a gift from my Great Aunt and the illustrations are probably my favourite thing about it and probably why I still have it.   The book features a full range of recipes and includes a section on Safety in the Kitchen and Weighing and Measuring.

There is an eggsellent section on EGGS (sorry), Boiled, Fried and Scrambled, then on to the more exotic Ox-eye Eggs and Eggs in Tomatoes.  Then on to Egg and Egg Whisk with instructions on how to whisk an egg white, how to separate eggs and what to do with the yolks leading you on to make...Meringues, Apple Snow and Baked Alaska.  I used to read that recipe again and again, I must have made it too, as there is dried on egg white on the page!  The chapter finishes with a delicious Chocolate Mousse.

More Sweet treats follow with Crispy Crackolates, Peppermint Creams, Marzipan Dates and Coconut Ice.

Fat and Flour...make Pastry, and also Fruit Crumble, Zoo Biscuits (including how to make your own cutters), Quiche Lorraine,  Fruit Tartlets and Sausage Rolls.

Butter, Eggs, Flour and Sugar are for Baking this chapter starts by explaining basic techniques like creaming the butter and sugar, folding in and beating.  Greasing your tin and flouring the tin.  Oven Dos and Don'ts and how to tell if your bakes are 'done'.  Finishing by telling you how to get the cake out of the tin.  Reading this again, all I could think of was how useful this would be for contestants in the Great British Bake Off!
Baking recipes are Chocolate Drops, Fairy Cakes, Birthday Name Cake and Ice Cream Gateau.

 And so to Cheese and Meat are for Lunch or Supper.  Croque Monsieur was another one of the recipes I enjoyed reading and I loved the little cat with his French beret.  So I decided to make this recipe for my lunch the other day.


You will need:  bread, butter, cheese (Cheddar or processed Cheddar), slices of ham.
Spreading knife, slicing knife, frying pan

1. Butter the slices of bread on one side
2. Take half the slices of bread and cover them with thin slices of cheese.
3. Cover each with a slice of ham, and second slice of cheese and finally the top slice of bread - to make a sandwich.
4. Turn on the heat and leave on low.
5. Melt a small knob of butter in the frying pan.
6. Fry the sandwiches slowly, so that the cheese has time to melt,.  When one side is golden brown, turn and fry the second side.

I managed to slightly burn the bread, probably should have had the heat down a bit.  Anyway, it wasn't completely incinerated and I was able to eat the lovely oozing cheese with the salty ham and crispy toasted bread.  Remember there were no sandwich toasters or Pannini makers in the home when this book was written.

Other recipes in this chapter are Cheese Baked Potatoes, Pizza Pie, Hot Dogs, Hamburgers and Kebabs.

The final chapter is about Fruit with some more unusual recipes using fruit jams, fruit juice, fruit flavoured jellies and fruit itself.   Fruit Fried Sandwich, Baked Bananas, Lemon Fizz, Knickerbocker Glory and Fruit Salad.

Apart from the fact that the measurements are not in metric, this book has stood up well and would still be appealing to the child aged 7-12 it was aimed at.  All the basic cooking and baking techniques are there and it's presented in a really fun way.

Labels: Croque Monsieur, First Cook Book, Foodie Quine, Linky, My learn to cook book, toasted sandwich

posted by Janice @ 22:08 5 Comments