Tante Marie

The Tante Marie Pumpkin Festival 2016

JemimaDitum — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 13:09:57 +0000

As the perfect pre-cursor to a night of trick-or-treating on Saturday 29th October, The Restaurant at Tante Marie is inviting children and adults to take part in an exciting pumpkin carving extravaganza - with fantastic prizes in store for the best creations.

Families can spend a fun afternoon transforming pumpkins into an array of spooky jack-o’-lanterns that will be displayed outside The Restaurant over the Halloween weekend, whilst enjoying ghoulishly-themed drinks and specials menu. What’s more, participants wishing to put their skills to the test can post a photo of their creation on the #PetrifyingPumpkin backdrop, to Facebook or Twitter, to be in with the chance of winning a Tante Marie treat!

Adults will also be able to get creative with carving over festive cocktails in Tante Marie’s Live Kitchen, with Sunday lunch for 2 up for grabs for the best carving. With a dinner menu featuring a variety of themed dishes, there is no better spot to spend the evening!

All participants can enter in return for an open donation with proceeds going to the Woking Sam Beare Hospice. Tante Marie’s Kids Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza from will take place from 12pm to 4pm on Saturday 29th October, with evening Carving and Cocktails from 6:30pm to 9pm. Walk-ins are welcome.

To reserve a table for lunch or dinner, call The Restaurant at Tante Marie on 01483 724 173 or visit tantemarierestaurant.co.uk.

SRA Accreditation for Tante Marie

Andrew — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 16:01:25 +0000

We are hugely proud to announce that Tante Marie has earned not one but two accreditations from the internationally acclaimed Sustainable Restaurant Association: one for The Restaurant at Tante Marie and one for Tante Marie Culinary Academy.

We have built an impressive set of relationships with its suppliers over the years. There are certain priorities for us in this area of the business: a supplier must be able to demonstrate traceability, they must be local and understand the importance of sustainability in this wasteful world.

The suppliers page of the Academy website showcases some of the fantastic relationships we have built with our suppliers and links to their websites. Students on our diploma courses visit some of them during their courses and we are proud of our local network.

A huge congratulations to the Restaurant and Academy teams, and thanks to all our wonderful suppliers.

Click here to visit the SRA website

Festival of Pig 2016

JemimaDitum — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 09:41:33 +0000

After a very successful week last November, the time has come for ‘Festival of Pig’ to return.

This 5 day event is our Graduate Chef, Matthew Brook’s final assessment project, working towards his level 5 qualification in Hospitality Management in The Restaurant at Tante Marie.

In the spring, Matt was tasked with sourcing a pig from a local farm with the aim of using its every cut to create a 'guest' menu for The Restaurant.

This week Matthew arranged for his Saddleback pig to be butchered in a live demonstration at the Academy. Master butcher, Ian Wood skillfully broke down the carcass into its individual cuts, while sharing his wealth of knowledge with the audience.

Now for the best bit! From Thursday 30 June to Sunday 3 July, Matthew will be leading our talented team of Cordon Bleu graduates in creating a mouth-watering menu for all of our restaurant guests to enjoy.

Our magnificent Piggy Feast includes:

Starters

Pea and mint soup with crispy pig ears £5.50

Raised pork pie with pineapple chutney £7.00

Crispy pig head croquettes with caramelised apple puree and black pudding £6.50

Sweet potato and pulled pork hash with fried duck egg £6.50

Mains

Crispy pork belly with celeriac remoulade, black pudding, and apple puree £16.50

Pulled pork in a brioche bun, crackling and apple sauce £14.50

Coffee rubbed pork tenderloin, crispy new potatoes, mixed leaf salad with watermelon rind relish £16.95

Bacon and leek pie with colcannon mash, seasonal vegetables and cider sauce £14.50

Gammon steaks with, triple cooked chips, pickled onion rings, BBQ sauce and a fried egg £16.95

For more information and to book your table, please call The Restaurant on 01483 724173.

Boudin Blanc with pomme mousseline and beetroot port jus

Lauren — Tue, 03 May 2016 08:55:51 +0000

Don’t feel you have to make your own boudin blanc. You can buy it, and if you struggle to find it, just use good quality regular sausages!

Learning to make sausages is an important part of the training for our professional Diploma students at Tante Marie, and we teach a number of versions. Boudin noir is better known as black pudding. Boudin blanc would traditionally be very similar but made without the blood. This version is a little more ‘friendly’ since it does not include the traditional heart and livers.

For the boudin blanc:

1 shallot, finely chopped

40g butter

4 slices white bread, crusts removed and chopped into cubes

125ml milk

400g chicken breast

200g pork backfat

500ml double cream

3 eggs

50ml sherry

20g cornflour

50g brioche crumbs

1 pack of sausage casings (soaked)

Pomme mousseline:

300g dry mash (Maris Piper)

400ml double cream

100g butter

Salt and pepper

Beetroot Port Jus:

1.2ltrs veal/beef stock

200g banana shallot, thinly sliced

200g white mushroom, thinly sliced

500ml red wine

300ml ruby port

1 red beetroot

For the Boudin Blanc:

Sweat the shallot in the butter until soft, do not allow to colour. Once soft add the milk and the bread, , and leave to soak for 15 minutes

Blend the chicken, back fat and 1 egg white together, push this mixture through a fine sieve to remove all the sinew and tendons

Return the smooth mixture into a blender and add the soaked bread mix, blend in the remaining eggs and with the machine running pour in the cream in a steady stream and mix until it thickens slightly

Place the mixture into a bowl and stir in the sherry and cornflour and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg

Pack into a sausage stuffer or piping bag with a long ridged nozzle and put the sausage casings over the nozzle

Carefully pipe the mixture into the sausage casings, making sure there are no air-pockets. Be careful not to overfill the casing or they may burst during cooking

Twist the sausage skins into 8cm sausage links. Once all the sausages have been shaped, tie the casing with a knot at both ends

Poach the sausages in a pan of hot water (80°C Max) for 15/20mins until firm to the touch. (A mirepoix and bouquet garni can be added the pan for extra flavour) Do not boil or the sausages will burst

Once poached, carefully removed the sausages from the pan and plunge into ice water to stop the cooking

When cool remove from the ice water and leave to firm up in a fridge for 6 hours or overnight

Cut the boudins into their separate sausages and remove the skin from the boudin. Roll the peeled boudin in the dried brioche crumbs to completely cover it

Using a small none stick frying pan heat the butter and oil until foaming, add the boudin, reduce the heat and carefully cook until golden brown all over. Once you have a good colour place the pan in an oven, at 180°C for 5-6mins, to heat through

For the pomme mousseline

For the dry mash: bake the potatoes and scoop out the cooked flesh and measure 300g

Pass the potato through a fine mouli, cover and keep to one side

Bring the cream to the boil and reduce by ½

Transfer the mash into a pan and stir in the cream a little at a time, heating through gently. Beat the butter into the mixture gradually until you obtain a soft smooth consistency

Keep the mousseline warm until required. Do not allow boil or you will split the butter from the mash

For the sauce

Neatly dice the beetroot into 1cm cubes and simmer gently in the veal stock until tender

Strain the beetroot cubes from the stock and reserve both for the sauce

Sweat the onion and mushroom in a little oil and cook until the shallots are golden brown. Deglaze the pan with red wine and reduce by half

Add the port and reduce by half, finally add the reserved stock. Bring to the boil and reduce to an almost syrupy consistency. Pass the sauce through a fine chinois into a clean saucepan and stir in the cooked beetroot, season to taste

To serve:

Remove the boudin blanc from the oven and leave to rest for a minute on some kitchen paper

Warm through the pomme mouseline and spoon into the centre of a bowl, use your spoon to make a little trench in the centre for the boudin to sit in

Place the boudin on the mousseline and spoon over a little of the jus

Cornflake Cluster Easter Cakes!

Lauren — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 16:51:23 +0000

These little Easter cakes are perfect to make with children over the Easter weekender!

Ingredients

225g chocolate of your choice- white, plain or milk

2tbsp golden syrup

50g butter

90g cornflakes

36 mini eggs for decoration

Method

-Melt the chocolate, golden syrup and butter in a bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water (make sure you do not let the water touch the base of the bowl.) Stir the mixture until smooth.

-Remove the bowl from the heat and gently stir in the cornflakes until all of the flakes are coated in chocolate.

-Divide the mixture evenly between your choice of cases. Decorate the cakes with mini eggs.

-Chill in the fridge for 1 hour. Remove from the fridge and serve immediately.

Tip- you may substitute cornflakes for puffed rice cerals or shredded wheat!

ENJOY and Happy Easter!