An idea...

Wouldn't mind some feedback on this one.
We've been asked so many times about our Blue Moon evenings and whether we'll ever revive them. Well, we've thought about it and have come up with an idea. How about a Secret Supper Club? The idea is basically that we host a dinner party at Peppercorn Kitchen once a month. We'll provide a three course meal (there will be a choice of dishes and guests will have chosen beforehand) and you can bring your own wine/beer. There will only be about 22 tickets available for each event and everyone would eat at the same time at one huge table.
We may even theme some or all of the evenings; so we could start with a Moroccan evening and next time maybe move on to the Middle East etc.
 It's a way for us to see you in a more relaxed, convivial and social setting, and it's also a way for us to pilot some of our new recipes.
At the moment we're compiling a database of contacts who are interested in hearing more about the idea, so if you'd like to be on the list- please let us have your e mail and if there's enough interest for the idea to run then we shall e mail you with the menu for the first evening and any further details.
Other than that it's business as usual at Peppercorn. The recession is really affecting us all now, the price of raw materials has rocketed and so some of our prices have gone up a little- but we hope that we still offer real value for money and dishes that you won't find anywhere else! We are so appreciative of our loyal local trade - we absolutely love seeing our regulars and value your friendship as well as your custom! Trade is still good at Peppercorn and we love coming to work every day - we have such FUN!
Amy (our wonderful manager), Becca and Toby have all officially started their various apprenticeships now. Toby attends Cornwall College once a week and works with us for the rest of the week, whereas Amy and Becca are both completing their courses in house.
The Lamb Kofte disappeared pretty darned quickly so we'll be making more of that soon, but meanwhile how do you feel about Parsnip and Potato Latkes (a bit like a rosti) with soured cream and salad, or Spiced Salmon fritters with sweet chilli sauce, pitta and salad, or local Sausage Hotpot with crusty bread to name but a few; and follow them up with Cardamom and rosewater rice pudding with pistachios, or Caramel giant meringues and clotted cream- and Lisa is really keen to make a Sticky Toffee Pudding........

Gorgeous September

What a stunning week of sunshine we've had - truly champagne days.

 Trade is still pretty darned good - the garden is full every day and we are blessed with people who really seem to love the food we offer, rather then asking us for something which isn't on our menu!

We've had a busy time of it this week - catering for teachers in Nancledra on Monday, catering for more teachers in Ladock on Thursday and Friday and a beautiful wedding feast tomorrow for 36 guests. The food for the wedding has been an absolute joy to plan and prepare because the bride and groom want Middle Eastern food - hummus, mackerel pate (OK- bit of a local twist, that one!)lamb kofte with a pistachio and tahini sauce, roasted aubergine salad with feta and a fresh herb and olive oil dressing, sweet labneh with rose petals and cardamom, rich yoghourt with dried fruits and honey - it will be beautiful to the eye and in the mouth! We'll post some pictures of the dishes so that you can salivate! We also wish Gail and Chris every happiness for their wedding and their future  life together.
We'll be losing some of our staff soon as they go off to university and start a new year of exciting developments in their lives. We shall hear all about their adventures when we see them again at Christmas - and then we shall tell them all about OUR adventures at Peppercorn - we have quite a few exciting things planned ourselves which we shall be revealing in the fullness of time.......!

Lavender Blue!

We have at long last discovered culinary pure lavender extract - we have one for hot food and one for cold (don't ask us what the difference is - we simply do what we're told!).
So - the latest additions to our summer menu are:

• Lavender meringues  - snowy white and beautifully fragrant
• Lavender and honey ice cream - a rich blend of the two flavours- very evocative of lazy hot summer afternoons.

We also have a new dish on the savoury menu this week - Pan fried blue shark with a rose petal salt and black pepper crust and served with an avocado and crisp leaf salad.

We had never tasted shark before and were impressed with the softness of the raw flesh - almost like scallop - and the meaty toothsomeness of the cooked fish - it's lovely!

For the sweet toothed, we have individual Summer puddings on at the moment. They are - as are the meringues - entirely fat free.....until you add the oodles of Chantilly or clotted cream, of course!

Business is thriving - and we seem to have just as many of our lovely local customers this summer as we normally expect at the end of the season, it's just what we'd hoped really; it's great to meet new customers and fantastic to see loyal and valued friends- a perfect balance.

We seem to be attracting more and more gluten intolerant eaters, too - since the majority of our dishes contain no gluten.  This is great news - although we do always point out that all food is prepared in the same kitchen so we can't claim to be a gluten free kitchen, but we do make delicious dishes which do not contain gluten. (Does that make sense?)

Thank heavens that the weather has perked up a bit and the children (and adults!) can have some outdoor fun before they get back to school in September. Here's to the rest of the summer - may it remain warm, sunny and full of fun and colour.

Sunshine Salad!

Hoping for some magic- we have created Sunshine Salad. If it doesn't bring out the sun, it should at least bring a smile and some sunshine into your life.
Also - Beetroot, cardamom and cherry salad.....really middle eastern flavours, with beautiful rich and glistening reds and purples; absolutely gorgeous.- and topped with some creamy, thick Greek yoghurt.
The geraniums outside the cafe are flowering at last, and our favourite - the fragrant and edible Pelargonium Graveolens - is making an appearance as a garnish for several of the Peppercorn Puddings.
We are delighted to welcome the delightful Toby Costelloe onto our staff (and hopefully as another apprentice). We count ourselves very lucky to attract such loyal, diligent, fun loving and honest staff - maybe we should post a staff photo onto our blog - what do you reckon?????

Last week we entered the world of preserving our own meat - we rubbed rose petal salt into a large piece of beef and then left it covered in the fridge to marinate for 4 days; we finished the process by washing off the salt and braising the meat gently for a few hours. We then pressed it for a couple of days and today we were rewarded with a delicious piece of home salted beef which we are slicing very thinly and serving in another of our Peppercorn salads.
By the way - if you haven't yet tried our new salads then you should get down here post haste; they're the most popular thing on our menu!

Oh yes- and a very Happy Birthday to Lisa!

Flaming June???

Hmmmm - June's been a bit of a damp squid so far; let's hope that today was the start of summer proper. Worrying that midsummer's day is only 3 days away though.....! However, trade at Peppercorn has been better than ever so there's a lot to be thankful for.
The ice cream machine is on nearly every day now- and we have added apricot and cardamom; and raspberry, vanilla and white chocolate (very rich and very, very yummy!) to the pudding menu. We also tried a new middle eastern dish called Turkish rose pudding; it's basically a smooth rice pudding flavoured with rose petals and cream and topped with fresh raspberries.

The selection of salads is also going down a storm, we now offer a very colourful Greek salad (whilst the sun is shining) and sesame crusted halloumi slices topped with roasted vine tomatoes and home made pesto on a chilli couscous base. They really do look spectacular displayed in our huge white bowls.
The amount of fresh veg that John Skewes is delivering to us daily has now reached impressive proportions. Every day we arrive to a display of butternut squash, boxes of shiny purple aubergines, scarlet fragrant vine tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, huge red chillies and the usual carrots, lettuce and red onion for our house salads.
So - since writing the last couple of paragraphs we have made dark chocolate and cardamom ice cream which is extremely rich and fragrant and has a mousse-like texture.When I finally learn how to work this b..... blog I shall add a few photos of the dishes mentioned here, because they really are spectacular; but in the meantime please enjoy the over-sized  (why? WHY?) pictures of our cafe open sign and some figs ready to be baked

a taste of summer....

It's been really warm for a few days - is this what summer will be like?

We have finally bought an ice cream maker- and it's very exciting! So far we are offering Orange Curd ice cream and today we've made Lime and Basil ice cream (so far, this one is my favourite). These are on sale as part of our pudding menu and we are full of ideas for more delicious flavours. We both absolutely love the opportunity to invent new and unusual produce for our cafe and with the gorgeous fruit which is available at the moment, the ice cream future for Peppercorn looks promising!

Speaking of inventing - Ollie is a bit of an inventor, too - if unintentionally!

 He has been known to confuse a clove of garlic with a bulb of garlic. There is quite a significant difference between the two. About 25 cloves worth of difference, in fact! So when Ollie prepared a surprise Mothers' Day meal for his unsuspecting parents, you can imagine what the surprise was. I think they had a take away that evening, and had to fumigate the house........!
SO - when I found a tub of interesting looking sauce in the fridge and was told that Ollie had made it to accompany one of our new salads, I should have been prepared - but I wasn't. Neither was Faye; nor Amy - it nearly blew our heads off! It dawned on me that I was about to leave work to go to a singing rehearsal in someones house and that Faye would be dealing closely (!) with the public at the cafe for the rest of the afternoon - so we really had to do something about our horrendously garlicky breath. Faye reminded us that parsley was nature's answer to our problem - so we ate about 3 tablespoons of parsley, each............
have you ever tried to chew 3 tablespoons of parsley?
Or swallow it?
Or get it out of your teeth?
 Don't ever, ever try this at home -  unless it's a party game!

Or you'll end up looking something like this!!

Salads to die for!

You have to come and try the salads - they're amazing. We have 4 main course salads at the moment and they have been receiving great reviews. They are all vegetarian at the moment and all but one of them is gluten free - so to add to the 

• Butterbeans with sweet chilli sauce and fresh herbs
• Marinated aubergines with fresh oregano and chilli

we have

• Couscous with dried apricots, butternut squash and almonds
• Fennel, Feta and pomegranate with roasted potatoes, lemon and fresh sage

Miss them and it's your loss - honestly!

We are wishing madly that the warmer weather would arrive and stay awhile - I'm sure it will....soon!