The Bluestocking is reopening

[ErrolTheDragon]

It's time we reopened the Bluestocking, I think.

This is the FWR pub, situated in the charming village of Badley Fuckitt near the Shady Pines rest home. It has a cannon (for reasons lost in the mists of time), goats in the paddock next to the beer garden and a menu including many soups and cakes. It's open all hours, serving breakfast and tea to all weary women, in addition to being the ideal location to metaphorically drown your sorrows.

Naice coffee ...

😱 No. You heathen.
Beef (usually fillet) and mushrooms in pastry.
Like a posh Cornish pasty.

No, it's a pastry rather than an actual cake.

😂i'll remember that next time I see it on the menu.

But you CAN still stick a candle in it, so for the purposes of savoury things it can damn well identify as a cake - that will be the least of its problems considering its getting eaten!😁

I like the look of this savoury cake

thegoodlifefrance.com/cake-sale-savoury-cake-recipe-from-provence/

Au contraire Raymond Blanc

https://www.raymondblanc.com/recipes/beef-wellington/

Says

The classic recipe has either mushrooms or pâté around the beef with a thin layer of pancakes to hold it all together.

But he goes with parma ham instead. Which I think sounds tastier and a lot less faff. Looks bloody lovely, maybe a little overdone.

The idea of the pancakes, or the ham, is stop the duxelles and meat from leaching moisture into the pastry, so it stays crisp with no risk of a soggy bottom.

I love the idea of that savoury cake - I think Rick Stein had something similar in his French book/programme. Will look that out.

I had leftover steak with onions and mushrooms for dinner yesterday and made a giant pikelet to eat it with - that was v good, and quick to produce. Just saying.

Duxelles! A new word to impress my friends & confound my enemies. Thank you.

Deconstructed beef wellington? See you on MasterChef.

BWIC!

I've just made a fish pie for tea, with a cheesy mash topping. No eggs.

Back to watching the Olympics now...Wonderful Winning Wednesday. Well done all.

@Vegemiteandhoneyontoast My brother had a cheese wedding cake. It was awesome. (Marriage didn't last, but I don't think the cheese was responsible.)

Thank you, that looks good, I might have a go at it.

@Seaside1234 splendid! How did it go down with the guests?

🍻

<flinches>
Not the way DM made it, it didn't.

And 'duxelles' sounds like something ducks are good at.
Do we have ducks? I hope not, unless we have a large pond, as they shit everywhere and turn the banks of small ponds to mud.

Off to make Bolognese for this evening.

Good news is that I've connected the Quokkas' exercise wheel up to the punkah fans!

And how glorious the breeze is now!

I reckon they'll be working overtime though when we have the beef Wellington cook off to see which version tastes better! It's going to get hot!

Hi pretty lady...

Want to see my duck pics?

I have been busy typing up all my mum's recipes - she passed away last year, and I have the file of recipes she used over the years, many typed or written up ages ago. When it's done, I'm putting it online for the whole family to use.

It is mainly cakes, biscuits and traybakes, so I have a lovely new source of treats to bring to the Bluestocking.

I was hoping that her recipe for Cornish pasties would be in there - she used cubes of beef rather than mince, and just potato, no swede in the filling. She wasn't a fan of gravy, so it was quite dry, but I really loved it. I've tried to reproduce it a number of times, and failed, and sadly the recipe isn't in the file, so I shall have to struggle on with my substandard pasties. Wot a tragedeigh.

I've got my mum's handwritten cookbook. (And now I know why on those rare occasions she cooked for us as kids it was inedible).

I will not be typing up her rather suspect 'recipes'. No one should ever be subjected to her marrow based recipes ever again.

Woot!

My DM's were similar: pastry, then a layer of thinly sliced potato, then minutely cubed beef, then finely chopped onion. Pepper and salt, pasty sealed and glazed, shoved in oven.

Mouthwateringly amazing.

Edited to add, wonderful idea to type it all up for the family.