Friday 8 May 2009

The Cheerful Soul starts to take shape...

We finally have a home for The Cheerful Soul and as you can see from the picture above we couldn't wait to get stuck in!
Turning the new premises into The Cheerful Soul is proving to be very exciting. We have been planning for a long time but of course there is always the worry that we may have made the wrong decision or our ideas won't work but so far it is great and the place (even though it looks like a building site) is really starting to look good!
This is the Novus detail Team who played a big part in helping us plan the work for the restaurant and are now all hard at work making the transformation from The Hare and Hounds to The Cheerful Soul happen...

LEFT: Bradley & Dan

RIGHT: Simon (Michele's Brother), Gerald***** & William


We will keep you posted!

Saturday 2 May 2009

Yorkshire Pudding...

Wow that inbox is pretty full!
We would like to say a huge thank you to all our American cousins for all the messages of support and congratulations that we have received. The series has just finished showing in the states and even though for us it seems a long time ago now that filming finished, we are still travelling down a pretty tough road and it means a lot to know you guys are rooting for us.
Here is a video of Raymond and I cooking up a Yorkshire pudding which is a traditional food form the county of Yorkshire in the north of England. I don't know if this recipe has made it across the pond. It is basically an egg batter cooked in hot fat, either dripping or now usually just vegetable oil. Over here it is traditionally served on it's own before a meal but it is very versatile and here we have made a stew to serve in it. You could also fill it with sausages, roasted onions and gravy or even try it as a sweet with some fruit compote or jam. I really hope I'm not committing some sacrilege and alienating the whole north east of England with these suggestions!


The recipe is really simple:

For 1 great big pudding or 12 smaller ones:

Pre-heat the oven to 210c (410f) and put in your pudding pan or muffin tin which should be 1/4 full of fat

Break 3 eggs into a measuring jug and make a note of the volume.

In a mixing bowl put plain flour in equal volume to the eggs, add a pinch of salt, whisk in the eggs then stir in milk , again of equal volume. Try not to over mix as this will develop the glutens and make the batter chewy.

Leave to rest at room temperature for about an hour to help swell the starch molecules.

Cook in the hot oven in very hot fat (please take care) until well risen and golden brown, drain on absorbant paper before serving.