Internet access via WiFi and LAN

Musicast System with a wide choice of genre

Ensuite with Duck Island luxury toiletries & bath robes

24 hour room service

Heated towel rails

Laundry Service, Dry cleaning by arrangement

Hair drier

Safe

Iron & Ironing board

Bedside telephone

Luxury bed linen, down pillows & duvet 

Roses ordered, chocolates bought, card posted. All that is left is to book a table at The Bildeston Crown this Valentine’s Day

14th February

Menu

Glass of Champagne on arrival

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Smoked potato & duck liver espuma

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fish fingers chips & beans

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Pot roast pheasant to share

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Chocolate & cherries

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Pear & toffee bavois

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5 Courses – £50

Top chef Chris Lee launches Cooks & Kids in Hackney school

Leading UK chef, Chris Lee, today served breakfast for excited children at Kingsmead Primary School in Hackney, London to launch Cooks and Kids – new recipe and nutrition book for children and teenagers – that goes on sale today.

Chris, who has a 3 AA Rosette status at the award winning Bildeston Crown in Suffolk, is one of 11 top chefs, who got together with enthusiastic youngsters and some tasty ingredients, to create Cooks and Kids. The book is the brainchild of the National Fostering Agency (NFA), one of the most experienced and long established fostering agencies in the United Kingdom.

Chris was joined by John Woodward, Executive Head Chef for de Vere Hotels and Venues, who helped sort the recipes into a practical and workable series of dishes that could become part of the book. Also there was Katie Kennedy, who worked with Chris Lee to develop her samosas that are featured in the book.

Royalties from the book will go to Magic Breakfast, a food charity ensuring children at Kingsmead get a nutritious start to the day by providing breakfasts. The charity helps more than 5,000 children at schools in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds and Rotherham.

Among the other leading chefs who took part are Lisa Allen, from BBC Two’s Great British Menu; Tom Kerridge, a regular on the Good Food Channel’s Market Kitchen; and leading Indian cuisine chef Atul Kochhar.

The pictures contained in the 96 pages of Cooks & Kids clearly demonstrate the fun that was had by children and chefs alike. Among the tasty recipes are Macie’s fairy cakes, Rebecca’s Dahl and Almonds, Alyssa’s dairy free apricot rock cakes and Dylan’s Sunday leftovers Risotto.

The aim of the book is to improve children’s knowledge and understanding of nutrition and healthy eating, while at the same time having plenty of fun. The NFA is also highlighting the crucial need to encourage more people to come forward as foster carers.

Chris Lee said: “It was wonderful to be involved with such a great initiative for cooking with the children and serving up a magic breakfast. I have been delighted to be involved with the project.”

Carmel McConnell, founder of Magic Breakfast, said: “Cooks and Kids is a fantastic book, not only because of the great recipes and ideas but also because it is for kids and by kids.”

Iain Anderson, CEO for NFA fully supports this initiative and said  “The Cooks and Kids project has not only been a fantastic and fun opportunity for our foster and birth children to be involved in, but has developed their own interest in food and nutrition, and engaged them in an activity to help children who are less fortunate than themselves. The book has been achieved on a time and talent basis, and I am both proud and delighted at the support it has received.

“Cooks and Kids was born out of a passion for food and a fun way to engage children and young people in all the wonderful tastes and combinations you can find on a plate. We were determined to engage and encourage young people to think about food, what is good for them and more importantly to have a go at actually preparing something to eat. Their recipes were wonderful and the chefs helped to hone them to perfection.”

Cooks and Kids, published by Graffeg, is on sale at Waterstones, WH Smith and all good bookshops or on line at Amazon.com or from Graffeg.com. Further details can be found at www.cooksandkids.com

Friday 3rd February

Join us on the 3rd February for the last dinner of the season held in association with BASC

Menu

Game ragu

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Roasted teal, white bean cassoulet

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Loin of venison,confit shoulder chestnuts & bacon

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Apple pie & poached pear

4 Courses – £35 per person

For guests wishing to stay the night after dinner we are offering a B&B rate of £99.00

To book your table & room, call 01449 740510 or email reception@thebildestoncrown.com

One pheasant – prepared

2 L good chicken stock

Garnish:

8 Potatoes thinly sliced

4 Onions, peeled and thinly sliced

100g butter

250g Brussels sprouts

1 pack of vacuum packed chestnuts or fresh or frozen equivalent (approx 350g)

6 baby onions

Double cream to finish

½ lemon

• Prepare the Boulangère potatoes  in advance by greasing a small tray
• Caramelise the sliced onions by cooking slowly until they reduce.
• Add 250ml of the chicken stock and season
• In the greased tray place alternate layers of sliced potato and the onion gravy.
• Finish with a few knobs of butter
• Heat the oven to 160° and cook the potatoes for 30 minutes.  The increase the heat to 180°.  This is a good time to start on the pheasant.
• Bring 1.75L of the chicken stock to simmering point
• Place the prepared pheasant in the simmering stock and poach for 2 minutes breast down and 2 minutes on its back, to keep the meat moist
•  Remove the bird and reduce the stock to a syrup consistency
• Cover the bird with 4 of the rashers and roast in the oven at 180°C for 5 minutes
• Leave the bird to rest whilst preparing the garnish
• Top and half the sprouts and simmer in a pan of salted water for 4 minutes
• Drop the baby onions in boiling water for 2 minutes to cook
• Grill the remaining bacon or pancetta
• Sauté the onions and chestnuts to colour and add the bacon, diced and the sprouts
• Deglaze the pan with the reduced chicken stock and add the lemon zest, seasoning and enough cream to create a sauce consistency
• To finish, remove the legs and breast from the bird.  Place on the boulangère potatoes and garnish with the bacon, vegetables and sauce

-          2 Wild Mallard (or small Ducks)
Pan fry the mallards breast and gizzard sausage, finishing in the oven for around 2 minutes

-          Duck legs

4 duck legs

1 l duck fat

2 sprigs thyme

2 garlic cloves

Split the duck legs into thighs and drumsticks,

Put into an oven proof pan and cover with duck fat, add the thyme & garlic and cover with greaseproof paper.

Place this into an oven at 130c for 2-3 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone

Carefully remove the meat, keeping meat intact.

Keep the fat as it can be used again for the Gizzards

Put the drumsticks in the fridge to set, when firm trim into the desired shape.

The meat from the thighs needs to be carefully picked to remove the bone, fat and skin.

Flake the meat until finely shredded, place in fridge until chilled.

Roll the thigh meat into four balls roughly the size of a ping pong ball, again place back into the fridge to chill.

Once chilled pane (flour, egg wash, breadcrumbs) and repeat the egg wash and breadcrumbs.

These will be deep fried just before serving

-          Dauphinoise Potato

4 Large Maris Piper Potatoes

100 ml double cream

100 ml milk

1 garlic clove

Pinch nutmeg

Peel and finely slice the potato using a mandolin

Heat the milk, cream, nutmeg and garlic in a pan, be careful not to boil just infuse the flavours, then slightly over season the mixture allowing for the potatoes when added

Grease a 5”x3”x2” tray

Layer the sliced potato up the tray to about ¾ of the way up

Remove the garlic from the mixture and pour over the potato

Cover with foil and cook in an oven at 180c for 45minutes to 1 hour, or until the potato is complete soft in the middle

Remove from the oven and place a tray the same size on top of this and then place a heavy sauce pan on top to press the potato down for a couple of hours, return to oven to finish setting when cold

Once set turn potato out onto a chopping board cut into 2”x1” rectangles, put into an oven set at 180c for 5-8 min to warm through before serving.

-          Chestnut squash puree

1 chestnut squash (butternut squash works just as well)

100g butter

50ml hot chicken stock

Peel and deseed the squash, finely slice the squash and place into a vacuum pack machine with the butter, seal the bag and place in a pan of simmering water until the squash is very soft (alternatively sweat the squash off in butter until very soft)

Remove from the bag and put into a liquidiser, switch on liquidiser and add a little of the chicken stock at a time until left with a smooth puree,

Remove this and pass through a fine sieve

-          Kale

200g kale, picked and washed

Blanch kale for about 2 minutes remove into iced water and when cool drain.

To serve simply sauté with butter and season

4 Partridges

1litre of Madeira

1 litre of water

Bring the water and Madeira to the boil in a pan. Drop in the partridge and immediately remove from the heat. Allow the pan to cool with the partridge still in. When cool, remove the partridge from the liquor. Remove the legs and put back into the liquor.  Poach the legs gently until tender. Remove the breast from the crowns and set to one side, also keeping the bones.

When the meat is falling off the bone of the legs remove them all from the liquor. Pick the meat off the bones also taking out any skin and gristle.  This meat should then be mixed with a little chicken mousse to bind, rolled into balls about 15 grams in size and then wrapped in puff pastry to form the pithivier. These should be brushed with egg yolk and then cooked in the oven at 180c for about 8 minutes just before serving.

Put the partridge bones back into the liquor and reduce by half. Strain the liquor through muslin and set to one side.

Crayfish

16 large whole crayfish

Remove the crayfish tails from the heads. You do not need the heads for this recipe but they are well worth saving for stocks and soups. Remove the intestine from the tails and then blanch for 30 seconds. Plunge straight into ice water. When cold peel the tails.

Truffle Mayonnaise

3 egg yolks

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1-tablespoon cabernet vinegar reduction (cabernet vinegar reduced to a syrup)

600ml olive oil

10g finely chopped truffle

2 tablespoons truffle oil

Juice of half a lemon

Whisk the egg yolks, mustard and vinegar reduction together. Then, slowly whisk in the olive oil, a little at a time. When fully incorporated fold in the chopped truffle and the truffle oil. Season with the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Leek Terrine

16 thin Leeks

Salt

Sugar

2 tablespoons Game Glace

Line an approximately 18cm square mould  in cling film. Trim the leeks so that they are just slightly longer, leaving a little of the root on to hold them together whilst cooking. Soak these leeks in cold water for about an hour. Stand them up in a bucket with the root sticking up and allow to drain so any grit drains out of them.

Bring a very large pan of water to the boil. Add salt and sugar to taste. Ensure the water is rapidly boiling and then add the leeks. Cook for about 10 minutes until the leeks are extremely tender. Remove the leeks from the water and allow to cool slightly.

Whilst the leeks are still warm trim the root off of the leeks so the leeks are now the same size as the terrine mould. Now build the terrine. In the terrine mould lay the leeks in alternating directions with 8 on the bottom layer. Grind some pepper over the leeks then brush with the game glace. Now repeat the process of the first layer of leeks on top to form a second layer. Place a flat piece of metal just a little smaller than the mould on top and then a weight on top of this. Leave in the fridge for 24hours.

To serve

In foaming butter colour the skin side of the partridge breasts. When golden brown turn the breasts over. Add to the pan a few tablespoons of the Madeira reduction. Reduce until it is coating the breast.

Grill the crayfish with a little butter for about a minute season with lemon juice.

Slice the terrine thinly and dress with a simple vinaigrette.  Drag a little of truffle mayonnaise onto the plate and put the terrine next to it. Put the breast and the crayfish on top of the terrine with the pithivier next to it.

Finish the plate with a few shiso and tahoon leaves. Finally drizzle on a little of the Madeira reduction and serve.

AUTUMN & WINTER SPECIALS

Subject to availability, until the end of January 2012, but excluding bank holidays and related weekends, unless otherwise stated. Rates quoted are per room (2 sharing). *denotes  Standard room

STAY

Midweek break: Monday-Thursday: Any 2 nights: Bed & Breakfast (B&B) with a five course dinner on one night (drinks excluded) from £295*.

Sunday Dine and Stay: Dinner, Bed & Breakfast (Sunday menu) £125.00* per couple (£150/Executive;£170/Luxury).

TASTING SPECIAL

EAT

Crown Set 3 Course Menu £24
Available Monday to Saturday Lunch.

Crown Select 5 Course Menu £50
Available Monday to Saturday Evening.

Sunday Lunches & Dinners
One Course £15, Two Courses £20, Three Courses £25.

Tasting Menu:
£70; available Monday – Saturday Dinner; £100 with flight of wine.

Bildeston Crown, Bildeston, Suffolk
Don’t be deceived by Chris Lee’s minimalist dinner menu at the Bildeston Crown, which lists dishes such as “lamb loin, shoulder, lettuce”. Lee is working delicate magic here. Each ingredient gets its own little parcel on the plate — perhaps a matchbox portion of belly pork layered with apple, a froth of clementine or some other finaglement. The bedrooms fuse bump-your-head beams and creaky floorboards with way-out wallpaper and saucy drapes; outside your window is classic Suffolk.