Chef But with Phillip & Holly

He was on the ITV This Morning show as part of their “Chinese New Year” celebrations. A quick demo of his prowess at making hand made noodles was then quickly followed by presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby having a go themselves! Check out the demo here If you go to 01.05.00 it should be about the spot in the programme! You can still see the demo he gave at our dinners on You Tube.

It was fascinating at seeing how the programme is put together and it seems like organised chaos but very professional in it’s execution.

Full swing...

I did talk to Mr But about doing a return visit to our supper club later in the year and so watch this space!

As promised to the those attending I have put togther the following recipe that you can view here

Please feel free to share and your comments are always welcomed…

Hari C

PS… Feb Menu coming soon so watch this space

Well we have just completed our January dinners and I have to say it was a real pleasure to work in conjunction with a couple of like minded passionate individuals to deliver what we hope our diners found to be an exciting and memorable event.

I must firstly say a big thanks to Sarah Crysell the owner of the Olive Stores in Brenchley who agreed to allow me to host the event here so that we could serve the alcohol we had planned to serve and incorporate with this special vegetarian inspired menu. Sarah opened this little cafe & deli in late summer 2011 and she has quickly established the place as a venue for “ladies who lunch” and also is keen to establish regular evening events with a difference. It meant we were able to offer more places as the venue is not only bigger but the set up provides an intimate atmosphere that lends itself to our covert theme. I am sure we will return for a future events and I look forward to attending one of her own events…

Having become aware of Moodley’s last year and helped to introduce founder and brewer Yudhistra Moodley to a few foodie contacts I have been keen to incorporate and introduce his beers to a wider audience and what better way than at one of our dinners.

Well this month we had a private dinner at our home venue on the Friday night and then decamped up to Brenchley for the Saturday night. We decided the menu this month would also since the excess of the festive period would be a recent memory so a good idea if we  went the route of a vegetarian theme. So this we duly decided upon and also with a unique selection of Moodley’s Beers to go with the chosen dishes.

We kicked the dinner off with a welcome drink of Sparkling Perry that we mixed with a shot of the Moodley’s Winters Solstice making a version of a “black velvet” and with this we served some nibbles, some black olive tapenade and some crispy cauliflower cheese fritters and some shot glasses filled with curried parsnip soup.

Well as guests settled in for the six course feast we served the first course, cold smoked tofu that was served on top of cold rice noodles and a julienne of cucumber. This was all coated by a peanut butter and sesame oil sauce that with the drizzle of chilli oil made up the the Bang Bang element of this oriental inspired dish. The beer we served was a Mr Toad’s Tonic a pretty effervescent brew that was lively as we pored it but slipped down well and got the party going!

Next came the freshly made roasted butternut squash risotto that was served topped with some crumbled goats cheese and deep fried sage leaves. With this dish we served a new beer that Yudhistra had brewed specifically for the night. This one had no name and we had run a competition to come up with a name… there were five names shortlisted for the night and voting forms given to guests resulted in a winning name being chosen.

I can now reveal the winning name submitted by Sarah Kennaird of Tunbridge Wells is “The Thirsty Bear”… so we will now invite her to attend a special tasting of the beer and a plate of the risotto.

So the next dish of this veritable feast was a mushroom and chickpea burger that we served with a mint,cucumber and yoghurt relish and a this we drizzled some olive oil and truffle balsamic vinegar over the garnish of pea shoots…. the Moodley’s Autumn Leaf was the beer we served for this course!

Then it was the main course… a mixed bean chilli that was in a rich tomato based chilli sauce, we served this with some rather special homemade bread, a simple beer bread made with some Moodley’s Penshurst Pleasure and then a simple side salad of green beans with toasted Kentish cobnuts and cobnut oil dressing. With this we served the second special beer of the night especially brewed for the occasion. This one named Olympic had a little citric tang that went well with the chilli. The use of overseas hops namely the Czech Saaz and German Halltauer  gave it a unique perspective.

With the cheese course we served four cheeses just some of the extensive selection the Olive Stores have for sale or use themselves for their cafe customers. We had a neat little selction of British and French… a runny ripe Somerset Brie, a black wax coated Welsh cheddar called the Black Bombardier, a classic Stilton and then a garlic & black pepper cheese from the Auvergne in France called Gaperon.

Finally it was the dessert, this we kept nice and simple and we had made a lovely dense gooey chocolate brownie that we served with a dollop of  creme fraiche. This we served with the Winters Solstice beer that seemed to go down very well indeed.

Some freshly baked shortbread biscuits with coffee rounded the evening off and we had completed yet another Hari event. It is always a bit daunting when we have an idea for an event and how are we likely to pull it off but I think I an say this one was a success and we had some delightful comments in our Guestbook that was circulated around the tables on the night!

Now we are busy planning for our February dinners – will be announcing the menu soon and then also some further news on some big charity/fundraising ones as well!!

Keep watching this space…

We have teamed up with Brewer Yudhistra Moodley who will be on hand to talk about his beers and the story behind what is one of the UK’s smallest micro breweries.

The beers we will be serving with the dinner will be as follows…

“Winter Solstice”… we will use this dark “Porter” like beer with a sparkling Perry as a “Black Velvet” for the aperitif and then again later with the chocolate dessert…

With the first course of a Smoked Tofu Salad we will serve  his  “Toad Rock Bitter”.

With the second course the Butternut Squash Risotto topped with Goats Cheese,  we will be serving a brand new beer with the Production title of “No Name Beer” that has the addition of two Kentish Hops… Organic WGV and Fuggles. This beer we are planning to name on the night with a name that will be chosen from the competition we are currently running. Submit your entries if you want to via our Competition Page…

The next beer has the production title of “Olympic” which reflects it’s international slant as the addition of Czech Saaz Hops and German Hallatauer Hops that gives this beer another dimension.

“Autumn Leaf” will be the beer served with the main course the Mixed Bean Chilli and then finally we will have some “Green Goldings” to go with the selected cheeses.

That makes six beers in total that will show a diverse range and style.

We still have a few spare places for those interested in sampling what will be a very unique event!

Well it has been a busy year during 2011 here at Hari Covert’s and we have now finished the year with an Xmas flourish… we served some 50 plus people with a festive menu both here at our secret venue as well as also at an out of the house location in deepest Kent!

It has been quite a challenge to serve up the festive menu that ranged from our Christmas dinner terrine to smoked salmon rillettes and then a smoked salmon & horseradish flan. We also served many legs of duck confit to our guests either with a Mixed Bean & Chorizo stew or  some tasty Puy lentils… We were delighted to see many returning customers and also welcome so many new faces with our meals.

2011 was a journey of discovery for us as we provided meals of many styles and in some very unusual locations… we hope all those that attended our events enjoyed them and we certainly do thank all for their support and encouragement.

Our reputation we hope continues to grow and we have worked hard to maintain what we hope is good food cooked well and served to you in a friendly and inviting atmosphere. I sit here at this moment thinking about what have been highlights for me and have to say there have been so many.

We have tried to ensure we have cooked with not only some great local sourced produce but also tried to proved some more unusual experiences to our followers. Who would have guessed a right royal feast back in late April 2011 would be so popular or then the fundraising we have done for the Hospice in the Weald with our Prize draw for the Bjorn Again package and then the special Afternoon tea we did for them at the Stuff and Good Sense shop in Tunbridge Wells would help such a worthwhile cause.

Dinners we hosted here at our secret location ranged from a “Game night” to Fish suppers and a summer BBQ with produce we bought back from a trip to Germany. An extra special Chinese themed night with guest chef Mr Kam Po But was something we will long remember and hopefully repeat again.

All were well attended and provided much to challenge us. Our most ambitious though has to be the dinners we did in the Cheese cellars of Winterdale Shaw… it was a challenge that we rose to and we hope we pulled off.

We have had some great publicity during 2011 as well – we were asked to speak at the first Pantiles Food Festival held in Royal Tunbridge Wells and then a great write-up in the much read Saga Magazine in September meant we attracted a whole new group of interest.

Now as we start to plan for our next dinners in 2012 our first one will be a totally vegetarian Feast – we will be linking with Penshurst based brewer Yudhistra Moodley who will be supplying the beers we will be matching to the food and serving it all at the Olive Stores in Brenchley. We still have some spaces left so check out the menu here. You an also enter our special competition here to name one of the beers we will be serving and also a plate of the butternut squash risotto we will be serving it with!

We will be finalising some of the other plans for later this year soon so keep an eye out for more details… we will be taking our Hari Covert concept to new heights and also we hope helping our local communities in a new and novel way. There will be something for everyone so please do watch this space and thanks for all your support so far!

Hari Covert

From a wet and chilly Kent!

Seasoned Greetings….

We are keen to showcase the beers brewed by this small micro brewery based in Penshurst in a novel and interesting way. When discussing with Yudhistra about his beers he was proud to stress their vegetarian credentials and so it seemed natural to try and match them to a range of vegetarian dishes.

So with some thought we have put together what we hope will be a novel and interesting menu…

The beers we will showcase will be current Moodley’s Beers “Toad Rock Bitter” “Mr Toad’s Tonic” and the amazing Porter like beer called “Winter Solstice”… we will also have two completely new beers that will be brewed and launched at the dinner.

The first is currently called “A No Name Beer” and will be a beer brewed using a mix of two Kentish grown hops, “Organic Whitbread Golding Variety” and “Fuggles” (a wonderful name) This beer we will be served with the Butternut Squash risotto but more important we will be asking diners to give this beer a proper Moodley’s inspired name fitting of the beer. Even if you are unable to make the dinner why not suggest a name and we will put it to the vote on the night and the winning name will win a bottle of the said beer along with a plate of the risotto to go with it! Please go to our competition page to enter your suggestion!

Yudhistra is also planning to brew a second beer for this event and will be using two foriegn hops in this one. One called Saaz a Czech variety then a German variety called Hallatauer. This beer also yet to be named will be served with the Mushroom and Chick Pea Burger.

We will also be using the Autumn Leaf brew as well with the Beer Bread we will be making to serve with main course mixed bean chilli so will be using just about all the range of Yudhistra’s Brews!

So get cracking and book your places at this very unique event.

Cheers

Hari C

www.olive-stores.co.uk Brenchley

We were so excited about the plans to showcase the beers of Penshurst brewer Moodley’s we felt we just had to try and do something with them.

Well after much deliberation we decided having discussed menus with Brewery owner Yudhistra Moodley we would try to showcase the beers along with a complete vegetarian feast as he pointed out his beers are also completely vegetarian friendly.

We also have had many requests since we opened for a totally Vegetarian meal.  We do try to accommodate diners when they request a vegetarian option but the challenge this night will be a menu that will be Veggie from start to finish! We felt it was about time we illustrated the food can be interesting and the challenge for us it to ensure the menu will be matched to the beers. Some of the beers will have been specifically brewed just for us and this event making it a very unique event.

We will kick the evening off with some veggie inspired nibbles along with a glass of  Black Velvet.  This will be made using a sparkling perry and a measure of Moodley’s Winter Solstice.

The menu planned will then be as follows:

Smoked Tofu Bang Bang Salad

Cold Smoked tofu served on a bed of cold rice noodles & cucumber topped with a peanut & sesame oil dressing

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Beer: To be confirmed

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Roasted Butternut Squash & Goats Cheese Risotto

A creamy freshly made risotto with roasted butternut squash and a topping of crumbled goats cheese.

Beer: To be confirmed

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Mushroom & Chick Pea Burger with Greek Yoghurt & Mint

A spicy mushroom and chick pea burger served with a light yoghurt and mint sauce

Beer: To be confirmed

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Mixed Bean Chilli served with Homemade Beer Bread

Green Bean & Cobnut Oil Salad

A rich mixed bean fiery chilli for a cold winters night served with freshly made beer bread – Cold green bean salad with toasted cobnuts dressed in Kentish cobnut oil

Beer: To be confirmed

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Cheese Plate with Porridge Oat Biscuits

A selection of cheeses served with Hari’s special biscuits

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Chocolate Brownie & Chocolate Chunk Blondie with Crème Fraiche

Beer: Winters Solstice

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Coffee & Homemade Muesli Biscuits

Menu subject to Market purchases and ingredient availability.

Suggested donation £40 per person will include beer served with each course. Please note a small list of assorted wines and soft drinks will be available for a separate charge. Service charge is not included and left to guests discretion.

Bookings opened at 9am Monday 12th December. Tables are limited and some guests may have to share depending on numbers and configuration. Book Here

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“Christmas Dinner” Terrine with spicy homemade chutney

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 Crispy Confit Duck Leg with a Mixed Bean and Chorizo Stew

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 Hari’s Cheese selection

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 Rich Chocolate Truffle Torte with a Winter fruit compote

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 Coffee & Petit Fours

 We will be serving a Christmas inspired menu to guests for two nights only… Friday 9^th and Saturday 10^th December

Arrival: 7:30pm for welcome drink & nibbles

Dinner: 8pm Prompt

We will kick the evening off with a welcome drink and some specially chosen seasonal nibbles and then the first course will be a “Christmas Dinner” inspired terrine…I love the challenge of combining all those Christmas favourites… Pork, Turkey, Gammon, Cranberries, Chestnuts and a hint of sage… it will we hope put you all in the mood for the festive season… served with some spicy homemade chutney.

Next we will serve a crispy confit duck leg on a mixed bean and chorizo stew that will be a great flavoursome winter warmer.

Next we will serve some assorted cheeses and our homemade porridge oat biscuits. We are hoping to serve a rather special version of  Winterdale Shaw one of our favourites… subject to availability we hope to serve a vintage version that has been matured for we believe two years!

Finally we will complete this meal with an individual rich chocolate torte that will have the addition of a winter fruit compote to cut the richness of the chocolate.

A suggested donation of £30 per person inclusive of welcome drink and glass of dessert wine with the pudding. Please bring your own drinks to go with dinner. Glasses and water provided.

We will have our dining area decorated and the tables will be decked with some festive cheer… all we need now is you as our special guests…! Book Now here

The following are our proposed dates for next year… please note these will be subject to change and alteration…so please do keep a check on our web site “Dates 2012″ section when we update.

The themes for each of the dinners, as yet is to be finalised.

January 13^th and 14^th

February 24^th & 25^th

March 23^rd & 24^th

April 20^th & 21^st

May 18^th & 19^th

June 8^th & 9^th

June 23^rd – Charity fundraiser

July 13^th & 14^th

August - No dinners

September 14^th & 15^th

We will be posting more details soon.