Frances Atkins Archives - The Stray Ferret

Sneak Peek: Paradise arrives in Killinghall

Killinghall, the large village near Harrogate with little to offer visitors, is having a moment.

A Tesco Express opened today on the site of the former Three Horseshoes pub on Ripon Road. Tomorrow, an 80-seat cafe offering food cooked by a Michelin-starred chef will open a short stroll down the road at Daleside Nurseries.

On April 8, the Old Spring Well at the other end of the village will re-open as The Curious Cow of Harrogate, promising a high-end dining experience.

Finally it seems people may have a reason to visit Killinghall other than to view new houses.

Large plants grown in hothouses are a prominent design feature.

Plants to buy and eat

The creation of Paradise Cafe has particularly caught the imagination because it fuses two successful local businesses on one site.

Daleside Nurseries has been operating in the village since 1958; Frances Atkins, Roger Olive and John Tullett forged a formidable reputation for food 20 years ago at the Yorke Arms at Ramsgill, where Ms Atkins became the first British female chef to win a Michelin star in 2003.

For 18 months the trio operated out of a van in the Daleside car park, which seemed as incongruous as seeing Ronaldo having a kickabout on The Stray.

But finally the long-planned 80-seat cafe is ready to welcome its first customers.

Situated at the rear of the nursery, the cafe has a light and airy modern feel, with large plants grown in hothouses liberally dotted around. The plants, like the art on the walls, are for sale.

The chef’s table at Paradise Cafe.

The cafe will open from 9am to 5pm six days a week and on Friday evenings.

An outdoor area overlooking the lake outside the café is due to open later this year, catering for another 80 people.

Main courses from £14 to £20

On arrival, diners are able to sit at the chef’s table directly opposite the kitchen and watch the food being prepared.

As for the menu, it includes several small plates for starters, main courses, sandwiches made with home-made bread, pastries and pudding.

Main courses include limed and ginger seared scallops, Swiss potato cake, artichoke and apple for £14, crispy duck pancake, crunchy greens and red orange gel for £15 and dry-aged Yorkshire beef steak, baked stuffed garlic potato, crisp leaf and aubergine relish for £20.

A scallops dish

Ms Atkins says the menu will change frequently but the idea is to combine plant-based food with produce from local farmers. Local cheeses will be sold at a later date.

“This is what we perceive as being healthy food, full of flavour, made with great ingredients.

“We want people to be relaxed. It’s not about how great we are. It’s about how great the food is.”

Chefs Frances Atkins and Roger Olive in the kitchen.

Stuart Townsend, managing director of Daleside, said this was the biggest improvement in Daleside’s 64-year history.

“It broadens our offering. I love growing good quality plants and Frances and her team enjoy serving good quality food so it seems the perfect fit.

“People expect more from nurseries and garden centres these days. We want to grow top quality plants and we want to sell top quality food.”

Michelin-starred chef’s new cafe to open at Killinghall nursery this month

Michelin-starred chef Frances Atkins is to open her new Paradise Cafe at Daleside Nurseries in Killinghall this month.

The cafe, run by Ms Atkins, chef Roger Olive and front of house manager John Tullett, will be open six days a week from 9am until 5pm. It will be closed on Mondays.

The trio, who have all worked together for 20 years, have been operating out of a wagon at the garden centre for the last 18 months.

The Paradise Cafe wagon at Daleside Nurseries in Killinghall.

The Paradise Cafe wagon has served its last meal.

The wagon has now finished trading as attention turns to the new venture.

A post on the Paradise Cafe Facebook page said:

“It has taken longer than we anticipated to finish the cafe given the various curveballs we have all been thrown in the last two years.

“From today we are using all our time to be fully prepared for our opening date.”

The post added:

“To begin with, Friday evening will be open for a series of special dinners, these will be bookings only and there will be more information coming shortly.

“We look forward to progressing our opening times and our takeaway business in the future as we develop.”

Stray Foodie: Harrogate Café Culture with a difference

In the Montpellier area of Harrogate there are at least six eateries, all serving to a high standard and all managing to have their own individuality. They offer a variety of interesting experiences including loaded sourdough toasties, classic brownies, jam-packed sandwiches and nutritious, delicious smoothies, cajun chicken skewers, or perhaps eggs benedict, eggs royale or eggs florentine?

Years ago I used to frequent a café in Edinburgh that served fantastic vegetarian dishes reasonably priced and became very much part of my lifestyle. It was stimulating and tasty.

With that in the back of my mind I set off to investigate Nourish Plant Kitchen on Mayfield Grove, an inspirational vegan café. I set off with great enthusiasm looking forward to a different experience. Unfortunately so did many other people which says a lot for this atmospheric neighbourhood café.

By the very name Nourish one would expect it to be a comforting, fulfilling experience, which it was, but if in a hurry not a good idea. Juices, smoothies, seeds and all things that are good for you it revealed a very tempting menu. With yoga mats and wellbeing influences adding to the atmosphere.

Yoga and wellbeing seem to be the order of the day at the moment as they are on offer at Gron Café, one of the cafés in Montpellier, in the form of a Yoga Brunch, a gentle vinyasa flow sequence with guided meditation at GoYoga followed by Juice and Brunch at Gron. Or perhaps a vegan cocktail that are also on offer.

I worked out I could have breakfast at Hoxton, elevenses across the road at the Brownie Café, Lunch at Gron and Supper at The Old Bell Inn. Aren’t the residents of Harrogate lucky? This is all in the space of a concentrated area.

Stray Foodie review: DOMO Japanese Cuisine

Stray Foodie reviews are brought to you by Deliveree, and written by Michelin-starred chef Frances Atkins. Frances independently chooses which restaurants she will visit. This month, she was impressed with Harrogate’s DOMO Japanese Cuisine.

A good friend of mine whose culinary expertise I have great respect for told me I should visit Domo Japanese Cuisine on Montpellier Walk here in Harrogate. He had a fabulous takeaway as a birthday treat at home, so intrigued, I made my way to Domo. Domo is on the site of what was Lord’s Restaurant, which then became Van Zellers Restaurant. Tom having a terrific reputation as a chef and was lorded by the eminent food critic Marina O’Loughlin. Much has changed since then, as one would expect, and the style is now dark, atmospheric and simple. It makes a nice change from so many overgilded establishments.

This is an authentic Japanese restaurant and before the pandemic Japanese style of food was very in vogue amongst the great chefs of our country. As all chefs tend to do to cement their own style and identity, they play with styles and tastes. With the very warm weather that we have had recently, there were two little tables and chairs outside, one of which my young man and I took watching the world go by. Interestingly enough we watched Fisk, the fish restaurant opposite, fill quickly and easily.

It was a warm summer lunchtime as we studied the menu and on offer was a Bento Box. The choices of chicken, salmon, spicy BBQ beef or sushi, all served with a miso soup came in the form of a Bento Box.

The spicy beef bento box

There was of course an extensive menu with the style of dishes you would expect.

My young man chose the spicy beef bento box at £9.50 and myself the spicy tuna with sesame and ponzu with a bowl of rice at £14.00. The charming lady taking my order explained to me that the tuna would be rare – and I would have been disappointed had it not been so! The arrival of this dish was beautifully presented and the flavours were sensational. It reminded me of a dish that I experienced in a Michelin Starred restaurant that was beautifully crafted – but it didn’t have the wow factor I was experienced Domo. This was a lovely dish and if this is an indication of all the other dishes on offer, Harrogate is a very lucky place!

Frances’ spicy tuna with sesame and ponzu, with a bowl of rice

While on the subject of how food should be cooked, often the opinion of the chef seems to differ from the opinion of the guest. As we always ask guests how they would like their red meat cooked, perhaps we should do the same with fish?

My young man’s Bento Box came with the miso in a lovely little bowl and was once again so refreshing and stimulating to the palate. The actual box contained tofu, rice, sushi, BBQ beef and a little salad. At £9.50 for the complete meal, it was excellent value.

We were left feeling that we had a healthy and satisfying lunch and look forward to revisiting.

Stray Foodie reviews are written by Michelin-starred chef, Frances Atkins. In 1997, Frances opened the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge, where she was the owner for 20 years. During her ownership, she held her Michelin-star status for 16 of those years. Frances now runs Paradise Food at Daleside Nurseries, alongside fellow Michelin-starred chef Roger Olive and front of house manager John Tullett.

Stray Foodie: Catch Harrogate review

Stray Foodie reviews are written by Michelin-starred chef, Frances Atkins. In 1997, Frances opened the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge, where she was the owner for 20 years. During her ownership, she held her Michelin-star status for 16 of those years.

Frances independently chooses which restaurants she will visit. This week, Frances reviews Harrogate’s new fish restaurant, Catch.

More years ago than I care to remember, I have happy childhood memories of what a big treat it was to go to the original Harry Ramsden’s in Guisley. It was a warm, vibrant, exciting place through a child’s eyes, with great greasy smells and wonderful crunchy fish with a succulent interior. Harry’s had two sides to it, one was a takeaway in newspaper which added to the excitement and the other was where you had the vinegar and tomato sauce on the table, with bread and butter and you ate off a plate! The plate side never tasted so good as the newspaper!

Catch Harrogate has a great takeaway business with all those attributes I have just mentioned. On arrival at the seated side, no expense has been spared as far as the interior is concerned. It cuts a modern, clinical and safe impression. Hospitality at the moment is suffering in more ways than one, its latest problem is the lack of competent staff. Not so here at Catch, as its name suggests. The staff were charming, helpful and knowledgeable.

It’s ‘posh’ side with its Oyster Bar, which I am sure is very joyful experience at any time, leads on to its very extensive menu with breads, bao buns, prawn and crab nachos, sea salt and pepper squid, tempura of tiger prawns, monk fish wings and smoked salmon. These are all starters ranging from £4 – £8.

Then on offer, ‘Bigger’, as they call it, are platters of fish, fish pie, mussels, grilled steak sandwiches and grilled halloumi open sandwiches, traditional fish and chips and ‘sides’ galore. The ‘Bigger’ varies from £25 for a platter of fish down to a halloumi open sandwich at £12. The choice of 6 different desserts are around £6 each.

Frances chose the cod with seafood curry and monkfish pakora

I was reminded of a restaurant that I once went to where you chose your meat and you had the choice of two sauces to put with it, which always struck me as being somewhat odd, as trying to please all tastes was rather prostituting the experience of a kitchen. After being seated at a very comfortable table, I was told that I could have cod, salmon, sea bass or swordfish, all costing around £18. Having chosen my fish, I could have it with a choice of garnish: seafood curry, coriander rice, monkfish pakora and raita; Moroccan roasted vegetables, toasted giant couscous and halloumi salad; seasonal vegetables, new potatoes and herb butter (gf); or beef dripping chips with dressed house salad and salsa verde. Any of the said fishes would be finished with a Catch spiced blend and served with the garnish of your choice.

The Verdict: 2.5 stars

StrayFoodie verdict 2.5 stars

I opted for the cod with the seafood curry, and found myself dreaming of the succulent interior of deep fried fish of the aromas coming from the takeaway next door. Then I wondered, although very tasty, if the monkfish pakora was not a little on the ‘too crispy’ side, along with my chosen cod. Fish can be a very temperamental thing to cook and it needs care and attention, as does presentation of one’s food on the plate. This is a menu that tries to please everyone, but perhaps smaller offerings and a fresh fish dish of the day would be less stressful for the kitchen to produce, and to the customer’s advantage.

Opening a new restaurant in these times is a very hard thing to do and I take my hat off to Catch for what they have done. I look forward to returning as there is such a great need for an honest fish restaurant in Harrogate, and these are early days.

Stray Foodie: Chicken & Oregano Patties with Mozzarella, Asparagus & Broad Beans

Stray Foodie Lockdown Recipes are written by Michelin-starred chef, Frances Atkins. In 1997, Frances opened the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge, where she was the owner for 20 years. During her ownership, she held her Michelin-star status for 16 of those years.

“I’d love to see how you make the recipes your own – let me know by using #StrayFoodie or tagging @thestrayferret in your social media posts.”

At this time of year when our weather seems to be cooler than expected, I am always delighted to see the resilience of oregano and experience the delight of this flavoursome herb.

Oregano is a flowering mountain herb related to marjoram, sometimes referred to as wild marjoram. It is a perennial and seems to be fairly resistant to our climate even though it has Mediterranean origins. Like most herbs, its flavour is in the leaf and can sometimes be more powerful dried than when used from fresh. It has warm, aromatic and sensual flavours and its leaves are just stunning when put through mixed salads. I love this herb and grow it in abundance.

This recipe is for Chicken and Oregano Patties. Once again this recipe can be built on and extended to suit your individual requirements.

For 4 Starter Size Portions, you will need:

4 Chicken Thighs
50g Smoked Ham or Parma Ham
1 Onion or 4 finely chopped Spring Onions
Zest of 1 Lemon
4 Tinned Anchovy Fillets
20g Brown Breadcrumbs
A Handful of Chopped Oregano, approx.. 10g
1 Egg
Black Pepper
1 Tablespoon of finest Olive Oil
½ Pint Chicken Stock
Tablespoon of Flour
To Garnish: Sliced Mozzarella, Asparagus and Broad Beans and plenty of fresh Oregano.

Frances’ chicken and oregano patties

Method:

Bone out the chicken thighs and mince (or very finely chop) the chicken, ham, anchovy fillet, breadcrumbs, onion.

Mix well and add the lemon zest, pepper and the herbs.

Separate the egg, whisk the egg white until stiff, mix the yolk into the chicken mixture and lastly add the whipped egg white. The whipped egg white ensures that the patties are light and soft when cooked.

With a little flour, shape into small, round patties.

Put the olive oil in a small roasting pan, heat through and place the patties in the roasting pan. Give them a good shake so they don’t stick!

Put them in the oven on 180c – 200c, dependant on oven variation, for 20 – 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven, take out the chicken patties and keep warm.

Place ½ pint of chicken stock in the still warm pan. Reduce by half with a squeeze of lemon juice and pour over the Chicken Patties.

Serve with sliced Mozzarella, Broad Beans, fresh Asparagus and Lemon Zest.

Stray Foodie recipe: the joy of Wild Garlic

“I’ll be bringing you some of my favourite recipes each week. I’d love to see how you make the recipes your own – let me know by using #StrayFoodie or tagging @thestrayferret in your social media posts.”

Wild Garlic grows in abundance in Yorkshire at this time of year. It loves damp conditions, especially around rivers, streams and boggy woodland. It has green pointy leaves, not to be confused with a snow drop leaf! It is at it’s best now before the white flowers come as it’s flavour is mild and fresh. The flowers, however, look very attractive garnished with peas and young vegetables. In a few weeks’ time you will spot it everywhere in this area and the smell becomes overpowering with the leaf becoming strong and coarse. It has other names, such as Bear’s Garlic, Ramsoms and Wood Garlic. The leaf makes amazing Pesto that can be added to most types of cooking for flavour enhancement. The young shoots are great to be included in herby, leafy salads or stirred through warm vegetables for another dimension. It also makes a lovely green oil that always looks very pretty on a plate along with a little balsamic vinegar to create a flavour balance.

This week’s recipe is for a Wild Garlic Crust, which placed on some seared best end of lamb makes for great complimentary spring flavours. It can also be used on top of a vegetable lasagne, fish, or stuffed butternut squash to name but a few other ideas.

For a Wild Garlic Crust

Ingredients:

A Handful of Wild Garlic Leaves
100g White Soft Breadcrumbs
50g Gruyere Cheese
50g Melted Butter

Method:

Pulverise the garlic leaf with the melted butter.

Add the breadcrumbs and cheese.

Blend until smooth

Mix into a ball.

Place between two sheets of acetate and roll.

Set up in the fridge and then cut to the desired size.

Stray Foodie recipes: Some like it hot!

A little heat in our daily diet is nourishing and comforting. As I have mentioned before, my extremely talented Grandmother would always have a glass of Crabbie’s Ginger Wine in the winter after a walk, often followed by a hot and spicy vegetable soup, stacked with ginger.

Ginger has been cultivated for centuries, its popularity as a spice gradually spreading from China and India to the west. Today it is probably one of the most used and universally popular spices. The tuberous root stock joints are laterally compressed, producing amazing flavour that once again can also produce oil that is used for medicinal purposes. Ginger is now very commonplace and, perhaps because of its availability, slightly undervalued. It belongs to the same family as turmeric, which again is a root which also serves many health benefits.

As a chef I would not be without fresh and dried ginger in my larder; it is one of my flavour building blocks. As a strong root it is a great base for complementing herbs such as lemon thyme, crushed lemon grass, coriander and cardamom seed to name but a few. So when slow cooking, such as stews, belly pork and stir fries, grated ginger should be part of one’s aromas.

Dried ginger is a great additive to cakes and puddings, again stimulated other spices and sugars. Watch out, ginger can be addictive! The more you use it the more compelling it becomes.

Yorkshire Parkin

Last week I gave a recipe for Seville Orange Marmalade. This week I have a Yorkshire Parkin with lots of ginger and a Seville Orange Marmalade topping. Yorkshire Parkin could be classed as a gingerbread with oatmeal and has a wonderful nutty flavour and is great to eat as a sweet or a savoury. A very competitive cake in Yorkshire households and so therefore many different views, recipes and opinions on it. A lot of people will argue that it should have treacle and dark sugar, but I prefer to produce it with a lighter, more fragrant and modern touch.

Yorkshire Parkin

Ingredients:

225g medium oatmeal (NB not rolled oats!)
110g self raising flour (can be gluten free)
Pinch of salt
200g golden syrup
110g butter
110g light soft brown sugar
3 large teaspoons of ground ginger
1 beaten egg
1 tablespoon of milk

Method:

To make the batter, place the butter, sugar and syrup in a saucepan and melt down, do not boil. Stir in the oatmeal, flour, ginger and salt until all blended together.

Add the beaten egg and milk and pour in to an 8 inch square silicone paper lined tin. Bake at 150C for 35 – 40 minutes.

Let it cool before removing from the tin.

Frosting

Ingredients:

100g softened butter
4 tablespoons of icing sugar
1 teaspoon of Crabbie’s Ginger Wine

Method:

Add together and beat well. Spread on top of the Parkin and top with Seville Orange Marmalade. This is delicious!

Stray Foodie recipes: The joy of oranges in January

The Seville orange is prized for making British marmalade as it is higher in pectin than the usual sweet orange.

Introduced to Spain and many other parts of the world, but native to South East Asia, there are many varieties of this beautiful bitter sweet orange. For example some are used in essential oils and herbal medicines. The peel can be used for the production of bitters and also dried, ground and candied.

There is just so much you can do with this wonderful orange as well as the much publicised British Seville orange marmalade that we make at this time of year. Some recipes seem to me to be very complicated with others being relatively simple. The red orange is far more beautiful to look at but in my opinion does not have the versatility of the Seville. The Seville’s depth of flavour it is a wonderful accompaniment to fish, meat and vegetable dishes.

For a classic Seville Orange Marmalade:

Ingredients

1 kg of Seville oranges
Juice of 1 lemon
2kg of granulated sugar

Method

Wash the oranges well and place in a pan with approx. two litres of cold water. Cook slowly whole.

When cool, remove the oranges from the liquid, reserving the liquid. Cut the oranges in half, spoon out the inside of the orange and place in a piece of muslin. Tie with string forming a bag.

Shred the orange and place back in to the reserved liquid. Add the sugar and the muslin bag and the lemon juice. Bring to the boil for approx 10-20 minutes until it sets.

To check is has set, drop a little of the marmalade on to a saucer with a drop of water and it should wrinkle. Remove the muslin bag and discard.

Place your marmalade in sterilised warm jars.

For a Red Orange Gel

Ingredients

4 red oranges
100g water
130g sugar
Approx 1 teaspoon of agar according to packet instructions, optional.

Method

Zest one of the oranges and juice all. Add all the ingredients together. Reduce by half, making a syrup, and pour through a sieve. Add the teaspoon of agar for a gel, or just use the syrup.

Cheese Fritters with a Red Orange Dressing

Ingredients

150g of chickpea flour
½ tsp baking powder
3 tbsp of finely grated manchego or a similar cheese
Chopped parsley
Chopped thyme
2 spring onions, chopped
1 tbsp of olive oil

Method

Place the flour in a bowl with the spring onions and baking powder. Season.

Add 2ml of cold water and mix together to form a batter. Stir in the grated cheese and chopped thyme and parsley.

Heat the oil in a sauté pan and drop the fritters in as if you were making scotch pancakes.

To make the dressing:

1 tsp of mustard
2 tsp of sherry vinegar
4 tsp of olive oil
Red orange syrup

Beat all ingredients together.

Serve the fritters with a salad of your choice – avocado, crunchy leaves, red chicory and finely diced fennel is delicious. Lastly, your red orange gel and dressing.

Stray Foodie: Rhubarb! Rhubarb!

January is rhubarb time in Yorkshire. The Tomlinson family have been growing forced rhubarb in Pudsey, West Yorkshire for four generations. It is known as the Yorkshire Rhubarb Triangle with excellent growing conditions. The plant is initially grown outside and subject to a specified number of frosts. Each winter acres of Rhubarb plants are transferred into long nursery sheds to be forced. Harvested in the dark by candle light according to an age-long tradition. The stalks are almost fibreless and bright pink in colour and has the most amazing flavour, unlike the rhubarb we get later in the year which can often be green and tough – this is not! It is one of the colourful joys of January.

Fresh local rhubarb is one of the joys of January

My Grandmother had a larder and as a child it sticks in my memory and was a source of inspiration. It was full of colour with bottled fruits of every variety, preserved in the summer to be enjoyed in the winter.

Japanese cuisine that is so fashionable contains a lot of preservation of varying sorts. Pickling, fermenting, smoking and drying, all to achieve the wonderful fifth taste, as has other culinary cultures, which brings to mind the preservation of this great January ingredient Yorkshire Rhubarb.

Here is a recipe for a rhubarb dessert and a pickled rhubarb. Sweet and Sour, you have your choice.

For the pickling liquor:

Ingredients

100g Sugar

100g White wine Vinegar

The zest of 1 Orange, 1 Lemon and 1 Grapefruit

10g Ginger Root

Method

Place all ingredients into a pan and bring to the boil to make a pickling liquor.

Bring to the boil and add a couple of sticks of chopped Rhubarb, take off the heat and cover with cling film until cool. When cool, remove the rhubarb from the pickling liquor and serve with cold meats, pates, cheese etc.

For the Rhubarb Semi Fredo:

A semi iced mousse, which is extremely useful as you can use it to embellish other puddings.

Ingredients

175g Rhubarb Puree – for this you will need 7 sticks of rhubarb and 250g sugar. Add the sugar and the rhubarb to a pan, cover with cling film and cook slowly until it falls and drain of the liquid and reduce to thick consistency. Put through a food processor until smooth.

20g White Wine

40g Sugar

2 Egg Yolks

170g Whipped Cream

Method

In a bowl over a pan of hot water, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and wine to a thick mousse like consistency over a gentle heat. Fold in the rhubarb puree and whipped cream. Pipe or spoon into finger moulds and place in the freezer.

As you will see from the image, decorate your Rhubarb Semi Fredo fingers with whipped cream, poached rhubarb, donuts, jam, tuille biscuits, and a little chilli should you feel adventurous!

Rhubarb semi fredo by Frances Atkins

Plants to buy and eat

Main courses from £14 to £20

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The Verdict: 2.5 stars

Read More:

For 4 Starter Size Portions, you will need:

Method:

Read More:

For a Wild Garlic Crust

Read More:

Yorkshire Parkin

Frosting

Read more:

For a classic Seville Orange Marmalade:

For a Red Orange Gel

Cheese Fritters with a Red Orange Dressing

For the pickling liquor:

Ingredients

Method

For the Rhubarb Semi Fredo:

Ingredients

Method