The Mulligang Pt.3 Feat. Cafe Fish

August 19, 2014 - Michael 2 Comments

The Mulligang Pt 3: Café Fish

For those who don’t know, Café Fish is one of the best fish restaurants in the country. Everything they serve is 100% freshly caught that day. Which means that the specials change often and sometimes they may not have something. Out of thanks for me sorting the cottage the group all graciously said they’d pay for my meal, which was wonderfully kind of them.

To start I went for Queen Scallops with Garlic Butter and crusty homebaked bread. They were delightful, as scallops when cooked properly should be. Melting wonderfully in the mouth.

I was sorely tempted to go for the Smoked Salmon Poached Quails egg but the scallops won over simply because I’d had smoked salmon the day before. My friend Mike had this though and assured it was great.

For main I was spoilt for choice, but eventually went for Grilled Halibut with Crab, Avacado & mint salad and brown crab aioli. The fish was possibly the whitest I’ve ever had. You just can’t beat properly fresh fish. The flavours worked perfectly and it looked superb.

A selection of the other mains people ordered included Lobster, fish pie (hands down the best I’ve had, if a tad heavy) and Seafood Stroganoff.

For dessert I had the Chocolate pot (which I usually do when I go to café fish), it’s small, intense and smooth.

The meal was fantastic, I think everyone enjoyed what they chose. The staff were friendly and accommodating as usual. Managing to fit 9 of us in as well as coping with a couple of Vegans well in a place that is usually so fish focused. One of the things I love about Cafe Fish is the fact that while the food is great, the atmosphere is always relaxed. You always get a mixture of people from those dressed up and treating themselves to people straight off of a boat or a walk.

After the meal we piled into the minibus and drove to the west of the island in search of a sunset. We just about managed it, and watched it go down over Treshnish point.

The next morning they all left, leaving me to myself for a full day until my parents arrived. It was perfect to unwind so I used it to read and write up the first in this series of blog posts.

Unfortunately the day my parents arrived I caught a stomach bug so despite a trip to Ulva, my last day on the island was a bit tarnished. It also meant we had to cancel a second outing to Café Fish and my trip to Ulva Boathouse café wasn’t as indulgent as I’d hoped.

The Mulligang Pt. 2

August 16, 2014 - Michael Leave a comment

It’s time for the second half of my Mull post. The Monday through to the Tuesday of the week.

After the more quiet day of the Sunday after the driving up, I’d planned in a more hectic itinerary for the Monday. Including waterfalls, a walk, beach, distillery, Café Fish and sunset chasing. This meant that we needed an early start (about 9.30). So, rolling out of the gate at about 10.45 while the rain was still coming down, we drove out around the loch towards Ulva. Just past the Ulva school you reach Eas Fors. A breathtaking set of waterfalls that run under the road, culminating in a 100ft fall into the sea. With the amount of rainfall the island had endured over recent days the falls were completely bursting.

I may have slipped a couple of times, because I thought “hey, I don’t need to wear my walking boots just to see a waterfall”. Vans, don’t wear them in rain. But it’s ok, I’m still alive.

From here I’d planned for us to jump back in the minibus and up to Treshnish point, where we’d do (part of) the walk that heads out around the end around the headland, getting views out towards the Treshnish isles. We were exceedingly fortunate and as we started walking the sun poked its head out and stay all the way through for the rest of the walk. We walked out for about an hour, took up camp on the end of the headland for lunch and walked back again. A few of the people in the group aren’t strong walkers for one reason or another so we decided to keep it short. It also meant we could fit more in.

After this we drove a little further around the coast to Calgary beach. Which is one of the island’s famous white beaches. Being summer it was a bit busier than I’m used to (I’m usually up out of season), so we didn’t stick around for long before heading to Tobermory, where we managed to get to the Distillery bang on 4pm for a whiskey tasting. A potter around Tobermory (I grabbed myself a candle from the Isle of Mull Soap Company and a few others got some odds and ends from the Isle of Mull Chocolate shop).

I grabbed an ice cream from Isle of Mull ice cream and a couple of friends got Deep Fried Haggis from the fish and chip van by the pier. Eventually it was time for Café Fish. Which I’d been going on about for most of the holiday. I was desperate for it to not disappoint. The review is in the next post.

Chocolate Swiss Roll

August 14, 2014 - Michael 2 Comments

Chocolate Swiss Roll with Buttercream filling & Salted Caramel

So the Great British Bake Off has started up, and there is totally a guy stealing my vibe coughIaincough. Now a great many of you pestered me last year about applying, my friend Matt even said he was going to send in my application for me. I didn’t, and I am glad I didn’t. Yes, I can bake, but what I bake is all relatively niche and just the very first episode of this years highlighted a few things to me. I am not experienced at a great many of the more traditional techniques and bakes which are seen as “standard” things to bake.

My first example of this, the Swiss roll. I haven’t really considered making one before, and it wasn’t until they did last week that I thought; “You know what? I’m gonna give that a go.” So I’m starting with a simple one. None of the faff that some of those entrants attempted (I assume in a desperate attempt to be “impressive” in the season opener), but simply a standard chocolate Swiss roll. I’ve even gone and bought a new tray and everything.

I am pretty pleased with how it turned out for a first attempt. It cracked a tiny bit while I rolled it, partly due to rushing it and partly due to (ever so slightly) overbaking. It still held very well and rolled properly in about 95% of it. I’ve a decent amount of Salted Caramel leftover so I think I’m going to try again later in the week. I’m also tempted to give some of the biscuits a go from this week’s episode. I’ve made Caramel before on the blog but wanted to go for the saltier kind this time around.

Chocolate Swiss Roll

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

25 mins

Serves: 12

Ingredients

For the Caramel:
200g granulated sugar
90g salted butter
120ml heavy cream
Salt to taste
For the Swiss Roll:
3 large eggs
75g caster sugar
50g plain flour
25g cocoa powder, plus extra to dust
For the Buttercream
75g butter, at room temperature
125g icing sugar

Instructions

Start with the caramel, preferably the night before. In a medium saucepan over medium heat melt the sugar. Stirring with a rubber spatula. Lumps will form but keep melting and stirring until it becomes a see through syrup. Be careful not to let it burn.
Add in the butter, it will bubble at this point so be careful. Stir until it completely melts and combines.
Pour the cream in slowly, again, it will bubble. Mix and boil until it reduces slightly. Be careful not to let it catch. Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl. This will last in an air tight container for a couple of weeks in the fridge.
For the Swiss Roll. Preheat the oven to 200°C(180°C fan assisted) and line a swiss roll tray with paper. Whisk together the sugar and eggs for 5-10 minutes until it forms a pale, creamy mixture. The whisk should leave trails.
Sieve in the flour and cocoa powder and mix well. Be careful not to knock the air out but make sure it is well combined with no clumps.
Spread the mixture out evenly into the prepared pan. Using a palette knife to ease it into the corners. Place in the centre of the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes (or until the cake is springy to the touch. I could have baked mine for a minute or so less).
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan, covered with a damp cloth. In the meantime, lay out a large piece of greaseproof paper and dust with cocoa powder. Transfer the cake to this.
While it cools on the new parchment, make the buttercream. Cream the butter until smooth and add the icing sugar. Beat until combined.
Using a palette knife evenly spread the buttercream onto the cooled cake. Top with the caramel, again smooth evenly.
Using the greaseproof paper, slowly roll it up.

The Mulligang Pt. 1

August 9, 2014August 9, 2014 - Michael 2 Comments

We Are The Mulligang: Pt. 1

Well, what an eventful couple of weeks. Last week I wasn’t home for longer than a couple of sleeping hours each day. I played football, went to a gig, my sister’s husband’s stag do, their practise meal and then their wedding. It was all fairly hectic, especially as I had work in between. I’ll do a proper post about their wedding at a later date, when I have photos etc to share with you all. Needless to say, it was fun and my sister looked incredible. Congratulations to the both of them and I wish their continued happiness well into the future.

Anyway, that turned into a longer ramble than I intended. The morning after their wedding, I had to force myself up early once again. This was, however, so that I could get picked up by the Derby lot to head north to my parent’s holiday let on the Isle of Mull (the one I’ve mentioned a lot). I finally had a chance to show my friends why I loved this place. So they could live what I’d talked at them about far too much over the last few years. The drive was long, Leeds to Oban on a good day being 5-7 hours. We did of course, hit traffic and as soon as we got near Glasgow, the rain began. And I don’t just mean rain. I mean torrential downpour. It held up all the way from Glasgow to Oban. Making for a, shall we say, atmospheric drive.

As much as the scenery was still beautiful in the rain, it did fill me with a slight sense of dread. What if I finally got to show these places to my friends, and all they saw was grey and miserable?

The weather ended up causing our ferry to be delayed. However while we were waiting the rain subsided. We had a mad dash around Oban Tesco for supplies before queuing for the delayed ferry. The crossing was nowhere near as bad as expected. Once we reached the other side the sun had started going well and truly down. Meaning that by the time we reached Loch Na Keal (the sea loch which the cottage is on) it was a bit on the dingey side, especially combined with the grey/cloud/rain. It mean that they didn’t get to see the glorious view I’d been hoping for.

Then when we woke up the next day, everything had changed. I will let these photographs tell the tale themselves. It did mean, however, that the darkness/bad weather had worked in our advantage. It meant they had never suspected that the views would be quite so stunning, or to quite that scale.

We started the day slowly, mainly due to the large amounts of travelling the day before. Then decided to visit Duart Castle, a place I’ve only been once before when I was much, much younger. It’s one of the island’s main tourist traps, and usually I’d not have paid in (and have just pottered about outside) but they had some Scottish marching bands and dancers performing so it made slightly more sense to do so this time around, and hey, who doesn’t love a castle?

That evening we decided to BBQ, so picked up some last minute supplies from the Spar in Salen, and bumped into one of the Hairy Bikers. Yup, really. He was driving a campervan. The second part of my post will follow soon.

There are more of these photos on my flickr. Have you ever been to Scotland? Tell me about your Scottish adventures below.

The Bearded Bakery

Bake | Explore | Eat

Month: August 2014

The Mulligang Pt.3 Feat. Cafe Fish

The Mulligang Pt. 2

Chocolate Swiss Roll

The Mulligang Pt. 1