Can Do Crumb - 22 Redbank, Manchester

There are many people who will tell you that carbs are the devil's work and must be avoided at all costs. Ignore them.

You need carbs in your life. I'm not going to give you a lecture on the health benefits of including a moderate amount of complex carbs in your diet, as this is an enjoyable (I hope) food blog and not some whiny vegan shite. I am, however, now going to write a post all about bread. Get over it.

When I moved out of my chaotic student house, I took a flat with the girlfriend of one of my housemates; as much as he supported this decision (well, his two favourite ladies in one place, who wouldn't?) he failed to see how this would work - 'but Sarah doesn't eat toast' he exclaimed to my future flatmate. Kat loved bread. She ate a lot of toast and I was a notorious toast dodger. He just didn't see how we'd be compatible (for posterity - we got on very well, one of the best housemates I've ever had).

Until recently, this bread aversion has always been the case, I just didn't eat a lot of bread. I had no urge, no need, no craving for buttery carbiness; I hated sandwiches (still do in most cases), would only eat toast if there was NOTHING else to eat and just didn't get why my sane, intelligent friends would find it so hard to cut out a bit of bakery for a few weeks to get in to a bridesmaids/wedding/party/delete as appropriate dress.

And then I started frequenting a local bakery and making the odd (very worthy but I persevered eating it anyways) loaf - a world of chewy crusts, delicate crumb, sour taste, the crack as the bread knife broke through the freshly baked crust... toast was soon something I was getting excited about before going to bed; I got scarily interested in flour types and even, once, contemplated making a sandwich (I didn't do it).

Can't beat a good loaf

After this awakening, I now perceive my current bread intake to be horrendous, however chatting to colleagues and friends I realise it's only horrendous in relation to the amount of bread I used to eat. I'm not going to name and shame the 'whole loaves in a day by themselves' people I know. They're northern.

A few weeks back I was invited to 22 Redbank; the funky office come bar come photo studio come space that houses The Liquorists and Tone Photography. 'Come and learn to make some bread' they said - not sure I was up for spending my Saturday night being lectured at by some Cheshire-set-WI-wifey who teaches/patronises idiots like me for a bit of pin money, whilst hubby supports the whole shebang by creaming it off the oil industry - 'there will be free food and cocktails from The Liquorists.' Oh alright then, free booze/food always gets me out of the house and my homemade bread is shocking, so I reasoned it was worth it.

Pushing open the door to 22 Redbank (guys, please fix the bell, rapping hurts my little girl hands) I was greeted by a quiet, but friendly bunch of young people with drinks in their hands, making introductions and chatting with one another. Over bounded a petite brunette in an apron with her hand thrust out warmly ('kitchen help girl,' mind thought; oh damn you first impressions/stereotypes). 'Hi, I'm Jess, I'm going to be your teacher and I'll forget your name, so you're called sweetypie.' Suddenly, I realised this was no stuffy bread making class, this might actually be fun....

Bread. Booze. Boom.

Introductions over, we all trooped downstairs, where Jess gave us a little bit of her background (talented lady) and a quick introduction to the mechanics of 'how bread works.' For people like me who need to know why something happens before we can master it, this was perfect; unpretentious, funny and very interesting, I nearly didn't notice a new cocktail being placed in my hands. Nearly.

Next we tasted a few different breads, which had been made fresh by Jess and chatted about what we liked about each, whilst learning about the different technique/ingredients required for each bake. Throughout this, Jess confidently and engagingly fielded numerous questions from novices and those wishing to learn more - why won't my bread rise, the texture is wrong when I bake, why do we need yeast.... and so on - we had a lot to ask.

And then it was our turn to have a go - as we were only there an evening, Jess instructed us on one of the easiest breads around; Irish soda bread (risen with baking soda and not yeast so no need to knead/prove/knockback/etc) (get you with your lingo - Ed).

First off 'taste this buttermilk Sarah', 'er ok;' cue the most screwed up face I have ever made and chortles all round (I was not chortling, damn my curiosity!), a quick instruction on how to make the bread and then it was all bunged in the oven. During baking time, Jess regaled us with tall bread tales and showed us different techniques to use when making a yeast based loaf. AND busted all the myths that you need expensive, fancy kit to make bread. You don't even need yeast! Just hands, flour, water and an oven.

The night was finished off by more cocktails from Jamie Jones, bartender extraordinaire and part of The Liquorists - he even made a passable Chocolate Old Fashioned - in real person's terms, this was AMAZING and should probably win awards; I still don't think you should mess with an old fashioned though. Oh and a nice wee dram of whisky that I'm not allowed to tell Jody we drank...
     

Jamie Jones doing his 'ay ees Massimo' impression

Can Do Crust isn't a night for experienced bread makers to get together and discuss the finer points of flour rising technicalities and neither is it a night for personal, solitary learning - it's a fun, sociable get together, where you learn some pretty useful skills and get pretty tipsy too. Got a birthday/meet up planned, bored of the meat market that town is, want to make some new friends? Get yourself booked on to the next one HERE.

Can Do is part of a monthly series of events organised by Tone Photographer in conjunction with The Liquorists at 22 Redbank. In the next few months they will cover Crumbs (cake), Crunch (biscuits), Cremes (custards) and Confectionery (petit fours) (lovely alliteration there) and each one is priced at £35 for 3 hours full of learning/making/taking home and a selection of cocktails.

Can Do, Tone Photographer, 22 Redbank, Manchester M4 4HF - website - twitter - facebook - shep@tonephotographer.com

Please note, I was given my ticket to this night for free, but wouldn't have written such a glowing report if I hadn't had one of the best nights out that I've had in bloody ages. I implore you to go along, you won't regret it.

3TwentyOne - Deansgate, Manchester

Oh my god; MEAT and BOOZE and MEAT and SMOKE and AMERICA and DID I MENTION MEAT - let's get excited and all love THE IN THING RIGHT NOW.

It seems a week doesn't go by without a burger bar/street food stall/festival/restaurant/supermarket/supper club/excuse for a PR agency in Manchester popping up or jumping on the dirty meaty bandwagon with their, giggle, slightly rude names for foods in plastic trays; so when ANOTHER 'smokehouse and liquor' place opened their doors and invited me along, you can imagine that I wasn't that keen (er...it was free food and you're telling me you weren't keen? - ed).

3TwentyOne has opened above The Deansgate pub and unfortunately my first impressions weren't great - opening night clashed with THAT FA Cup where Wigan gave Man City a proper beating - cue little me trying to cut through drunken, burly types in a dress that was unintentionally too low cut. Fun. Thank god first impressions can be changed, hey?

The restaurant isn't remotely faux dirty Americana - they may have jumped on the smoke/meat/bourbon train, but they've done it in their own comfortable, Farrow and Ball, restrained restaurant way. Maybe proper crockery is not for thems BBQ purists, but I was there for the food and if I can be comfortable/clean whilst eating, then all the better for this old fusspants.

3TwentyOne has their own smoker in-house and this certainly pays off; the chefs have also worked out a pretty good smoke for the food (they've been experimenting and it seems current winner is hickory wood chips) - rather than an acrid tasting crust, the smoke is sweet and subtle, but very definitely there. Deboned chicken wings were a massive hit and the ribs a smokey, tender trio that were incredibly meaty. Lip smacking/finger licking good - just could have done with a bit more....


It would be rude to go somewhere dedicated to meat without sampling the steaks - especially as they were given such prominence on the menu - RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE. The hanger and the rib-eye were both cooked exactly as we demanded (well, asked for in a polite/humble/if it's not too much of a bother British way); both were soft and buttery, great tasting pieces of high quality meat - the rib-eye was better, but at £7 more, it should be.

Sides are worth mentioning because they were delicious and because this is a food blog and you like to know that kind of thing - corn from the griddle was charred, plump and juicy; thrice cooked chips fluffy, crisp and light; smoked garlic butter, DIVINE; chimmicurri, fresh and sharp to cut through the fat on our plate and the BBQ sauce is addictive, so only go there if you can handle having to use everything in reach as a means to getting it in to your mouth, no matter how ungainly (sucked clean rib bones, fingers, bits of celery, the end of a fork... yeah I went there).

Because I wasn't full enough already (that's a lie, by the way) I decided I definitely needed the most hip-hugging puddings on the menu - not like I should be worrying about my weight so I can bag a fella, in this overtly image dominated world we live in. Ah well, you only live once and all that shiz.

The oreo mud pie could have done with some obvious bits of oreo, mainly because I like them, but was  fully chocolaty enough without being super sweet - good thing for this dark chocolate fiend. And we couldn't help but order the sundae, as we were in a sort of American restaurant (and inside I'm actually five). Piled high with delicious Cheshire Farm ice-cream, 3Twentyone had dressed it with a proper chocolate sauce, which went all hard on the ice-cream (ace). One downside was that the cream that was piled on top, it was over-whipped and had vanilla added, which it definitely didn't need it as it made the whole thing a little too sweet. We just pulled the cream off and gobbled the ice-cream instead; then got brain freeze, but that was ok, because, without the cream, it was an ace pudding.

Service was a little first night shakey, the staff are sweet but some of them need to become a little more au fait with the menu/drinks list and they need to learn the table numbers - however, they're friendly enough and that's the important thing. Oh and some of the barmen are super sweet on the eye...

3TwentyOne has taken Americana, worked out that it's the quality of the food, not making a fast buck (refreshing!) that's important; then sat down and had a good, long, hard think about how to produce this type of food and how to make it exceptional. It's Americana for grown-ups, and seeing how I'm meant to be somewhere near grown-up, that appeals to me. There's no need to slather everything in sickly sauces, the food speaks for itself and it's refreshing to hear it speak.

Price for two starters, two mains, three sides, two sauces, two puddings, two large wines and a cocktail - £82.85

Food - 8/10
Atmosphere - 9/10
Service - 7/10 friendly, but needs to settle in
Value for money - 7/10 drinks and starters are a little expensive, but mains are great

Total - 31/40

Go again - Hell yeah! Need some more of that meat in my life; great place to take the carnivores in your family.

3TwentyOne, Upstairs 321 Deansgate, Manchester M3 4LQ - Twitter - Facebook - 0161 839 5215

Please note - I was invited to review 3TwentyOne and my meal was free, but I'm not required to say anything complimentary and you know I'm so vile I wouldn't be nice unless I actually enjoyed myself.

The Cornerhouse - Manchester

There are two surprises in life - those hideously awful ones where you wake up from your little rose tinted bubble to realise the things you thought have been disastrously wrong. And then those lovely simple ones that take your breath away.

Luckily the meal at The Cornerhouse was of the latter variety - life that followed the meal was unfortunately of the former; but that's not a story for this blog.

The Cornerhouse has been a constant staple in the twelve years I have called Manchester home - a cosy, reliable friend that I'm prone to forget about, only to catch up with and then feel like I've never been away. It's been almost a year since we last caught up and in that time it's obvious that we've both done some growing up.

Eating there last month I expected the usual homely cooking and slightly-rough-around-the-edges-but-always-tasty-food that's been the staple of The Cornerhouse kitchen for a long time. Scanning the menu, out jumped the usual favourites - lamb burgers, dips and pitta, pizzas - but this time, there were a few unknown dishes thrown into the mix. Intrigued. Like finding out your other half leads a double life. Unnerving/fascinating/exciting.

Had to have the dips to start - I know they're good here and this time was even better. A gorgeously smokey, creamy borani badejman (bit like baba ganoush) and some sweet, earthy roasted garlic and beetroot hummus, all topped off with a pile of pitta shards - I ordered the small version, there was enough to feed three of us to start. Bargain and beautiful with it.

Arty shot for an arty venue - tremendous trio of dips

Never having seen fish on the menu at The Cornerhouse (or maybe never noticed it?), I jumped on the special of sea bass and was bloody glad I did. Cooked perfectly and accompanied by the lightest, yet complementary tasty caper and shrimp sauce. Lip smacking and only a tenner? What?

Look at how pretty this is! And perfectly cooked! And a tenner!

And so we had to have a pudding, doing that girly thing where we pretend that we're really fat and that we shouldn't, but it's ok 'cos we only had soup for lunch' and then giggling insanely about how terribly naughty we are. Yep, I really do conform to my gender stereotype sometime and in that sentence have just reinforced some patronising, misogynistic view of the female race - but hey, I'm writing a food blog, is anyone really taking this seriously?

Pudding - this tart was so chocolaty - yup, female stereotyping again...

As per usual The Cornerhouse was filled to bursting; with windows foggy, cosseting us from another wet Manchester night. The warm fug of a million conversations hung around us; couples, groups and the odd singleton all enjoying the friendly atmosphere exuded form each other and the attentive staff.

We were there to relax; the mood and food at The Cornerhouse suited this perfectly, however the one small glitch was the wait on food - we were warned by staff that there was a slight slowness to the kitchen, but the wait between courses (and even between ordering and starting) was more than mediterranean. Needs work.

The Cornerhouse has grown up a good 'un and I'm glad we caught up once again - there's an educated nuance to the food; the balance between relaxed and well executed spot on. And the price? Anywhere else and that sea bass dish would have another fiver chucked (at least) on the price. Get there and get well fed by a dear old friend and wonder why you haven't seen them for so long.

Ps The Cornerhouse has started making all their bread and cakes in-house. Another reason to love this friend.

Price for one starter, two mains and two puddings - £30 give or take a few pence.

Food - 8/10
Atmosphere - 9/10
Service - 6/10 (for slowness, otherwise 8 for affability)
Value for money - 9/10

Total - 32/40

Go again? Of course, and I shan't leave it so long for a catch up next time.

The Cornerhouse, 70 Oxford Street, Manchester M1 5NH - 0161 228 7621 - info@cornerhouse.org

Please note I was invited by The Cornerhouse and my meal was free - however you know what a grump I am and how much I like lambasting establishments, so if it was shit I would have said so.

COMPETITION TIME! Foodies Festival at Tatton Park

It’s that time of year again – no not the one where we get a few small days of sunshine and all the fat lasses get their wobbles out; not the one where we finally get a rest from overpaid roustabouts kicking a pig’s bladder round a field and no, not the one where I stop drinking for a bit (that never happens, nor even when everyone else hates themselves in January. I never hate myself).

No, much better than my self love - Foodies Festival has once again returned to the North West, hurrah! The UK’s largest celebration of all things food and (more importantly for Nosh) drink is once again popping up at Tatton Park from the 17-19 May; cross fingers for the return of the sunshine!

Expanding on the well-loved format, this year sees a bigger and better festival, with new stages and areas for you all to explore – including a zeitgeist-y Cake and Bake theatre where, you guessed it, baking and cake chat will happen; including a participant lead bake-a-long, Great British Bake Off’s Ruth Clemens and steampunk Emilly Ladybird whizzing up some Hendrick's inspired treats.

Much to my delight, other new areas for this year include a theatre dedicated to Chocolate, with daily demos from David Greenwood-Haigh of Divine (wonder if he’s single…?); a dedicated BBQ area (another big trend, may go for a snoop with my Guerrilla Eats head on…) and a theatre dedicated to BOOZE, including a cocktail area (dear organisers, please reserve me a seat next to the demonstrator...).

As well as all the new stuff, there’s the usual Producers’ Market, selling all sorts of wonders to take home with you; al fresco dining areas with food served by places such as Ning, Chaopraya and Stolen Lamb; the Kid’s Cook School, so we can get the little ones interested and the Street Food Market (yup, another Guerrilla Eats snoop a comin’) with some wonderful traders like my good friend and producer of actually addictive ice-cream, Ginger’s Comfort.

All in all it’s going to be a great weekend of gluttony and sheer unliscened bacchanalian fun – so get your tickets HERE.

BUT STOP PRESS – I’ve got 2 x pairs of tickets to give away BECAUSE I LOVE YOU (read – am good at blagging things). All you need to do is comment BELOW or on my twitter feed (@northwestnosh) about why I should pick you, funnier the better. I’ll get one of my amazing work colleagues to randomly pick you out of a hat (probably a yoghurt tub, glamorous!) on Wednesday 15^th May.

GET ENTERING!

FREE BOOZE - Cocktails in the City Competiton

Next week is the second year running of Cocktails in the City; a glitzy glam event celebrating everything bar-tending and booze related in Manchester.

Based at the Town Hall, Cocktails in the City brings together 18 bars, 150 cocktails and 600 cocktails enthusiasts. The movers and shakers (pun intended) of the Manchester bar scene will be setting up pop-ups throughout the Great Hall, where cocktail lovers (and booze hounds like myself) can sample drinks, chat spirits and party the night away. As a special treat this year, the Lord Mayor's Parlour (posh or what?) will be taken over by Liar's Club, Hula and Keko Moku (with a little help from El Dorado Rums) to re-create a tiki paradise - COME FIND ME THERE!

Booze - always make people this happy (not scientific fact...)

As well as tiki-time, Cocktails in the City has expanded this year to bring you food from chi-chi burger joint, Almost Famous - probably a good thing considering how much booze is going to be consumed.

Think that's great? Those famous source specialists, The Liquorists, will be on hand to give visitors guided spirit sessions AND there's plenty of cocktail demonstrations going on in the main hall.

Come see bartenders getting crazy creative at Cocktails in the City

This year, visitors can choose from a range of tickets (book HERE):

The Taster: £15 including entrance, two cocktails, main stage demonstrations and a cocktail booklet.

·         The Enthusiast: £25 includes three cocktails, a Liquorists tutored tasting session, main stage demonstrations and a cocktail booklet.

·         The Connoisseur: £45 includes champagne cocktail reception, food from Almost Famous, three cocktails and a Liquorists tutored tasting session.

BUT HANG ON - I've bagged two VIP tickets for you to COME JOIN ME at the biggest party of the year! And it's very easy to enter - just comment below to let me know your FAVOURITE cocktail (and why) - or just follow/tweet me if it's easier @northwestnosh - by Tue 30 April 5pm.

So GET ENTERING.

  
And because I love you so much, I've also gone and got you an exclusive cocktail recipe for the El Dorado House Punch - which is super easy to make at home:

1 bottle El Dorado 5 Year Old Rum

1 mug builders tea (i.e strong brew & 1:1 tea:sugar)

1 carton grapefruit juice

1 carton apple juice

1 egg cup absinthe (or Pernod/Ricard/Ouzo)

Bottle of bubbly

Method:
Add ingredients to a large bowl. Add lots of sliced, tropical fruit BUT NO ICE>
Ladle into glasses full of ice.
Distribute round the party!
ENJOY - whilst guests lavish praise on you for your ace drinks skills.