Canadian Thanksgiving, European style……

Well, it wasn’t nut loaf after all, for which C was extremely grateful.  Rather, we sourced two large free-range chickens, accompanied by mashed potatoes, roasted root vegetables, home-made bread, browned brussel sprouts with walnuts, finished off with apple pie and cream.  No, there was no cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy, or pumpkin pie, although we did have a traditional Canadian dip made out of chickpeas and sesame paste…… Like we said, this was Thanksgiving European-style.  There was, however, talk of the impending Canadian election, and the sad realisation from one of our guests that after 5 years away from the homeland, you are no longer eligible to vote.  I gave thanks for still being allowed to send in my ballot, in its multiple layers of envelopes.

But getting back to food…

Our chickens were named Hilda and Frida, and the intrigue of the afternoon was provided by asking our guests to choose which one they preferred, before revealing the chef responsible for each chicken.  Frida was stuffed with lemon, onion, butter, LOTS of garlic and mint, while Hilda enjoyed an orange and rosemary.  We’re still not sure what the overwhelming favourite was, but I’m convinced Frida’s garlic aromas tainted Hilda’s delicate citrus tones.

Four days later and we’re still eating mashed potatoes, vegetables and chicken.  Clearly we still have work to do in estimating how much food is required for 6 people!

Note the elaborately carved maple leaf...

The Hoxton Apprentice

The Hoxton Apprentice, 16 Hoxton Square, London N1 6NT, http://www.hoxtonapprentice.com/

After much deliberation about where to go for dinner on my birthday, we finally settled on this place, which I’d wanted to try for some time.

Set in trendy Hoxton Square, the eponymous Apprentice is housed in a converted primary school, now a modern restaurant with a popular bar, exposed brick interiors and a mezzanine. The restaurant provides training and jobs for the homeless and long-term unemployed in the community, helping them to find jobs in the hospitality sector. The menu was designed by the legendary Prue Leith (she of the annoying trio of judges in The Great British Menu), who also serves on its board.

The Apprentice serves what I think is nowadays referred to as “modern” British, presumably to differentiate it from the pile of boiled mush that British restaurants of the non-modern kind used to serve. “Modern” also means that things come in stacks, or what in culinary terms would be referred to as a Crip restaurant. [Editor's note: 'Modern' also means that some dishes came with the ubiquitous FOAM, which looks less like something edible and more like something my cat threw up].  The good thing about the menu is that a lot of the dishes are available in both large and small portions, so you can either have the traditional appetizer and main, or choose several small dishes to share around with friends. Or if you’re complete pigs like us, choose lots of small dishes to share around and then have a main.

On the whole, the meal was good, although both meat and fish were slightly overcooked for my liking. Some dishes were a bit unbalanced; roasted fennel was too overpowering as an accompaniment to scallops. The macaroni with black truffles and Arbroath smokie fish cakes were delicious, but the best dish of the evening was the bread and butter pudding (with candle) – warm, moist, not too sweet. Excellent. Service was friendly, informative, but unobtrusive, and we befriended the couple at the neighbouring table, who seemed rather amused at our continual food photography. They turned out to be interesting company, even if the man called G an American (AR called him a Scot, so fair’s fair…..), and we had coffee with them until closing time!

Scallops with roasted fennel and pea cress

Pork loin with black pudding and chorizo hash

Bread and butter pudding