Articles

Hotel Refurbishment 2012

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:20:00 +0100

Exciting news filtering through that there will be a full refurbishment of all of the hotel rooms, with work planned to begin on Monday 2nd April 2012. With 5 rooms currently available, plus a delightful cottage, plans are now in place to transform these spaces to create a sumptuous, boutique hotel in Northampton.

This project will begin an exciting time for the Red Lion team, who feel that the time is right to sink their creative teeth into creating an innovative guest experience to match their delicious menu and fine wines. With the catering school moving from strength to strength, it was decided that the time was right for the hotel side of the business to receive the Red Lion 'magic touch', and I for one can't wait to see what they come up with.

Proprietor Nick Bonner, said -

The Red Lion is one of Northamptonshire’s most beautiful old coach houses with parts dating back to the 1700's. We have always been very sympathetic when refurbishing any piece of the building as we need to maintain its old world charm that our customers have grown to love.

Now comes the time when we need to refurbish our hotel accommodation and everyone is working very hard to prepare for the builders arrival on Monday. Walls will be removed, new drainage & plumbing installed, but by May the 21st we will have a beautiful chic boutique hotel. With the restaurant & cookery school to compliment the hotel, we hope to make the Red Lion a wonderful destination for a weekend break, wedding or stop over for the business person.

Over the next six weeks I hope to keep you involved with the progress during the build and involve you in all decisions made. Come the end of May I would like to invite you to a re launch party and show you around what we are hoping to be Northamptonshire’s first Boutique Hotel.

This exciting project will be receive full coverage here, from the initial stages all the way through to completion, and hopefully I may be able to wangle an early stay in the 'executive suite', for research purposes of course!

We will be keeping you up to date with all the latest pictures on how the refurbishment is going throughout the coming months, so stay tuned for all the latest news and reviews here on the Red Lion blog.

No Such Thing as a Free Lunch (or is there?!)

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:30:00 +0000

As the new blogger on the block for the Red Lion, I felt it only fair that I squeeze a free meal from the establishment. Whoever invented the phrase 'there's no such thing as a free lunch' has obviously never met me, so I decided to give an impartial view of what's hot and what's not on the current menu.

First thing's first, for a Wednesday it was fully booked, which is pretty unheard of in the current financial climate, so they must be doing something right. Myself and partner in crime (another aficionado of the free lunch ethos) managed to secure a great table near the fire, so we pulled up a pew and perused the extensive menu.

We went for the beetroot and Ticklemore goats cheese salad and scotch egg with caper parsley mayonnaise for starter. As an absolute scotch egg addict (at least 3 a week!), I was over the moon with my warm free range egg that was still runny in the middle. It came with a good pinch of sea salt that really helped bring out the flavours, and the caper mayonnaise was a welcome addition. If you are planning on ordering the beetroot salad, you better like beetroot! I was hoping for more goats cheese, but to be fair to the mass of beetroot, it was lovely and tender, and there certainly wasn't any left at the end.

There was a great selection of draught lagers and pump beers to complement the extensive wine list, with the ice cold Estrella Dam certainly hitting the spot. I even tried the local bitter, Young's Winter Warmer, and I have to admit that I quite liked it. Drinking bitter eh, what's next now for me in life? Coursing? Pike wrestling? Riding a Penny Farthing around East Haddon delivering baked produce?

Anyway, for main we plumped for a 21 day aged sirloin streak, and grilled mackerel with an apple and potato salad and worcester sauce dressing. I always feel you can judge a good restaurant by their steak, and it's also hard not to order one when you are a man! I had it cooked medium, and it was so tender and juicy I didn't even need to use the Béarnaise sauce on the side, so dipped my chips in it. The twice cooked chips are a heart attack waiting to happen i.e they are heaven in potato form, though if you eat enough of them you will get there quicker than you would probably like! The mackerel was cooked to perfection, with a delicious crispy skin. The apple and potato salad was a great addition to the dish, offering up sweetness to complement the Worcestershire dressing.

Feeling satisfied but not quite at bursting point, we decided on two interesting desserts from the pudding menu. My partner in crime claims to be a crème brûlée expert, though how you become one of those is anyone's guess, eat more than three? The Red Lion take on this classic dessert was interestingly flavoured with Earl Grey tea, which leaves a real distinctive finish to the dish. Whether it's to everyone's taste is another thing, but my crème brûlée 'expert' didn't seem to need much help finishing it, and I did offer. I decided to go for the dark chocolate tart, even though I don't really like dark chocolate. Aren't I a one?! This came with a delicious forest berry sorbet that really cut through the richness of the chocolate, and another empty plate was achieved with the minimum of fuss.

We finished with a pair of coffees on what was a great evening's dining. I have since visited with a table for seven to celebrate my dad's birthday, and everyone else enjoyed the food just as much on that evening. And we were charged full whack! Thanks Nick, thanks a lot!

My main gripe is the same as it was when I first visited the Red Lion a couple of years ago. Why is there no coat hook in the men's toilets?! I'm not the kind of guy that hangs around men's toilets, taking notes, whilst looking for stiff protrusions to hang my coat off. But then again, maybe I am…

Welcome to the Red Lion East Haddon

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:30:00 +0000

Hi there and welcome to the Red Lion blog page, where I endeavour to fill you in with all the latest news, views and cooking course reviews. On top of is, I will also be trying out a great selection of recipes straight from the kitchen of your favourite country pub, so that you can try them out for yourself at home. Anyone who hasn't visited The Red Lion in East Haddon before is in for an absolute treat, as not only do we offer delicious food and drink, but also a selection of cosy hotel rooms, and even a cookery school!

Myself and co-owner Nick Bonner first became acquainted at Booth Lane College some 18 years ago where we both studied a BTEC in Hotel Management and Catering, and what a course it was! Learning how to fold hospital corners and de boning a bucket of chicken thighs in jelly were some of the highlights from my short time on the course, before I decided my career path was not going to be in catering. The final straw came when I was asked to perform a 25 minute formal presentation, with slide show, on chickens... CHICKENS!

Did I leave or was I removed? I can't remember the precise details (nor do I care to), but it's safe to say I was in deep water at home after my parents had just shelled out for brand new whites, waiters uniforms, cookbooks and a full knife set. Thankfully Nick completed the course (in my honour?) and here we are, nearly two decades later, the old team back together again. He, the master of all he surveys, and me, but a humble servant. The Little to his Large, the Nookie Bear to his Orville.

However, I do fully intend to rinse him for all that he's worth, in the name of investigative journalism of course! I shall be reviewing all the latest dishes on the menu, visiting a plethora of the awesome cooking courses at The Shires catering school, and trying out all the kitchen's recipes at home, to see if they really are as easy to make as advertised.

Who's milking who here? Who's the land baron and who's the cash cow now eh, Nicolas?! Thankfully after nearly 2 decades of bickering, the main beneficiaries of our 'odd couple' relationship should be you, the reader, as I'll be as honest as I can be whilst trying out everything the Red Lion has to offer in the way of food, wine and cooking courses. Not a bad deal eh?

I'm already signed up for the Vietnamese cookery course, which should be interesting to say the least as I have yet to step in to a professional kitchen since those fateful college days many moons ago. Taught by Miss Hao from Dangs award winning restaurant on Wellingborough Road in Northampton, I'll endeavour to put the whites back on and give you the full low down on how The Shires cooking courses are run. Should be fun!

So stay tuned for all the latest news and reviews, as I attempt to offer up an honest and open opinion on all The Red Lion East Haddon has to offer. If food's your thing, you've come to the right place…

Alister x

Mulled Wine

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:24:29 +0000

You can't beat a bit of Mulled wine over the festive period. Not only does it fill you with pure, 100% unadulterated Christmas cheer, it also warms the cockles in places other Yuletide drinks fail to reach

The great thing about Mulled wine is the simplicity in it's creation, it only takes 20 minutes in a saucepan. Plus the majority of its ingredients will be in most kitchens over the festive period, so it's simply a case of rustling through the cupboards, wrestling the Peach Schnapps from Auntie Maureen, and you're in business!

Ingredients

1 bay leaf
1 cardamom pod
1 cinnamon stick
3g of cloves
0.5 orange
1g of juniper berries
1 sprig of fresh thyme
750ml of red wine
100ml of water
250ml of orange juice
5g of star anise
50ml of peach schnapps

Method

Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan
Bring to the boil
Simmer gently for 15-20 minutes
Carefully pass the mulled wine through a fine sieve and into a jug
Serve!

What could be more delightful than a steaming mug of mulled wine this Yuletide, and with this recipe fresh from the Red Lion's kitchen, you're sure to be a big hit with the neighbours this Christmas.

Hot Turkey and Caramelised Onion Tart with Melting Stilton Cheese

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:24:29 +0000

Turkey sandwiches? Dry, unnecessary, and unimaginative! Absolutely no need to force feed the family with a measly doorstop this Boxing Day, as Adam Gray has conjured up a delightful recipe to put the wow factor into your leftovers this festive season. This delicious tart it simple to make and should put a bit of zing into the Boxing day lull, it may even wake Granny up from her Gin stupor!

Why waste all that delicious leftover Turkey on a sandwich, when you could be relishing a little slice of heaven with this superb recipe fresh from the kitchen of The Red Lion in East Haddon? A sure fire way to get the taste buds tingling...

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

4 x 9”/22 cm Pre-cooked puff pastry discs
400g Caramelised onions
200g Stilton cheese
100ml Farrington’s mellow yellow rapeseed oil
200g Cooked turkey meat (flaked)
1⁄2 Bunch rocket salad leaves (picked and washed)
Salt
Pepper

Method

Spread the caramelised onions evenly over the pre-cooked puff pastry discs, leaving a 5mm gap from the edge of the pastry
Place the flaked cooked turkey evenly on top of the caramelised onions
Crumble the stilton cheese, then sprinkle evenly on top of the turkey
Place in a pre-heated oven at 180° C for 10-12 minutes until the stilton cheese has melted
Remove from the oven and scatter the rocket leaves over the top of the tart
Drizzle the rapeseed oil liberally over the tart and serve

So there you go, a simple and delicious way to use your turkey left overs this Christmas without sending anyone to sleep. Let the Gin do that, hey Nana!