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Homebaked - Anfield

Posted by Unknown Thursday, February 6, 2014 0 comments

Today I've come to Liverpool. I've not come to Everton (famous for its mints), but not far away from there (just on the other side of Stanley Park), is a place called Anfield...

I've not come to see the Anfield Rooster:

although I did think it's was rather fine.

It was rather sad to see the rows of unoccupied derelict houses nearby:

Why are we building on green fields everywhere, when there's once good property like this standing derelict?

The shops weren't doing much better:

but there's a ray of hope.

Opposite Georgy Porgy, which reminded me of the Hole in the Wall

(it doesn't sell Staffordshire Oatcakes, but does sell pies etc.) is where Mitchell's Bakery used to be:

Mitchell's Bakery closed in 2010, after trading for nearly 100 years.

However last year something wonderful happened. The shop re-opened as a community bakery.

Here you can buy real bread, made on the premises:

Like this muti-grain loaf:

There's a pie menu:

where you can choose pies like The Shankly or The Scouse

and even a Liver Bird pie!

There's not just bread and pies, you can buy soup, toasties, sandwiches, sausage rolls:

They make bagels:

and delicious cakes like these Danish pastries:

When I called they'd got some left over bread and scones from the day before - which were half price.

I was glad the loaf was a day old, it was easier to slice! The scones were also delicious:

Left over scones crumbled over fruit with lots of butter make a wonderful crumble topping.

I'm delighted to report there's an initiative called The Anfield Project which is going to breathe new life into this area.

At the hear of this there will be a Food Hub - I think this community bakery is a wonderful start to this regeneration and I'll make a point of calling in whenever I'm in the area.

Homebaked
199 Oakfield Road
Anfield
Liverpool
L4 0UF

Tel: 0151 263 3117

Web: www.facebook.com/pages/Homebaked-Anfield/199143160180798

Wallasey - Dodgshon's Bakery

Posted by Unknown Thursday, September 19, 2013 0 comments

It's Sourdough September, so I thought I'd start this post with a picture Dodgshon's Sourdough. Baker Ian Jones has even been to San Francisco to perfect his sourdough technique.

In case you don't know, Dodgshon's are a traditional bakery on the Wirral, who were featured last year in ITV's Britain's Best Bakery.

There's an interesting display of cakes in the window:

and a great choice of bread and cakes in the shop:

The bread here is proper artisan bread which is made on the premises.

I think it tastes better, and keeps better, than bread from large bakeries that's full off additives.

I rather enjoyed their pork pie:

which was consumed before I even got home!

There's bread and butter pudding:

Bath buns and Belgian buns:

and Danish pastries:

and tray bakes like carrot cake, coconut cake, lemon cake raspberry cake and toffee cake.

Dodgshon's Bakery
Magazine Lane
Wallasey
CH45 5AD

Tel: 0151 639 4122

Web: www.facebook.com/pages/Dodgshons-Bakery/213726008654002

Liverpool - Lunya Catalan Restaurant and Deli

Posted by Unknown Thursday, October 25, 2012 0 comments

I fell in love with Lunya the moment I stepped through the door! It's a Catalan Deli/Bistro/Restaurant in a converted 18th century warehouse on College Lane, near the Blucoat Arts centre, in the heart of Liverpool One.

Opposite the deli there's a wine bar:

and upstairs there's a restaurant (if you pick the right time there may also be a flamenco guitar player in a gallery above):

Also upstairs there's a wood fired brick oven, in which they bake their own sourdough bread:

Dotted around the place are various pieces of art work (which are also for sale):

The food is mainly Catalan, and made on the premises, although I did spot some fine Quaranta nougat from Italy:

in the window and also some good French garlic:

I've been reading about garlic in Joanna Blythman's excellent What to Eat. Apparently the dreaded "garlic breath" is caused by old and tired garlic, and truly fresh garlic never has this effect.

They also sell teas from the Fun Tea Company, like Expectancy Tea, Inspiration Tea and Sleepy Tea!

Back to Catalonian food, there's Jamón Bellota, Ibérico and Serrano:

carved off the bone to order:

There's an excellent selection of cheeses, from Spain's leading artisan cheese makers.

I tried some Torta de Barros, a soft cheese made with unpasteurised ewes' milk, which is suitable for vegetarians. To go with it I also bought some Naranja:

a fabulous flavoured orange jelly from Catalonia.

I also bought some Cabrales pâté (a blend of Cabrales blue cheese, Asturian cider and creamed cheese), some Albondigas (Spanish meatballs) and some really nice croquetas, all made on the premises:

My purchases were clearly labelled with preparation instructions where necessary. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. I didn't know much about Catalonian cuisine before I went, but already feel I know a lot more now. I'll definitely be back for more!

Lunya Catalan Restaurant and Deli
18-20 College Lane
Liverpool
Merseyside
L1 3DS

Tel: 0151 706 9770

Web: www.lunya.co.uk

Liverpool - Delifonseca

Posted by Unknown Tuesday, August 21, 2012 0 comments

Delifonseca was one of the first places I covered in Liverpool, back in 2008. So when I heard they'd opened a new venture, with the award winning butchers Broughs (who I visited earlier this year), I had to go and visit!

It's a large attractive shop, with a particularly good selection of cheese:

and of course great meat from Broughs:

There's also a good selection of wines:

and other nice items like Cheshire Apple Juice from Eddisbury Fruit Farm. There's a phenomenal range of deli ingredients, many of which I've never seen before.

If you can't decide what to buy, there's also a restaurant which uses items that are also for sale in the shop. I was going to have one of their platters (choose from Great British, Spanish, Italian, charcuterie or vegetarian) but ended up trying their spin on Surf and Turf:

with prawn skewers and belly pork on an oriental broth. It was superb!

Delifonseca Dockside

Brunswick Quay

Brunswick Way

Liverpool

L3 4BN

Tel: 0151 255 0808

Web: www.delifonseca.co.uk

Birkdale - Broughs Butchers

Posted by Unknown Sunday, July 8, 2012 0 comments

I first met Dave Allen, who manages the Broughs butchers shop at Birkdale, when I was helping to judge the Fine Food Food Northwest Awards and instantly knew I had to include this Merseyside chain of butchers in this blog.

They've won numerous awards for their bacon, sausage:

and other products. Their free range pork come from Anna's Happy Trotters, their free range chicken comes from Packington Free Range.

Their pork pies are made by Satterthwaites Bakery in Crosby:

If you're in a hurry there's also some ready prepared dishes, like beef stroganoff, pork fillet medallions in a honey-mustard sauce or sweet chilli beef:

Broughs
20 Liverpool Road
Birkdale
Southport
PR8 4AY

Tel: 01704 567073

Web: www.broughs.com

Paul Hallidays of Birkdale

Posted by Unknown Tuesday, July 3, 2012 0 comments

One of my favourite food writers is Matthew Fort. In his blog, Fort on Food, he recently had a recipe for a brown shrimp salad, and mentioned that the shrimps in Waitrose came from Holland and were not quite as good as the ones he used to get from Morecambe Bay.

I was recently in Birkdale, so went to Paul Hallidays fishmonger:

to check you can still get Southport shrimps. And yes they sell fresh brown shrimps (pictured at the top of this post), and also the potted variety.

I'm fed up of seeing not much more than salmon in some fish counters at supermarkets, but here you can buy a wide range of in season fish like hake, lemon sole, plaice, skate wings and turbot. They also some freshly boiled wild lobsters and crabs and also samphire.

They also sell poultry and game and do ready prepared sauces and meals.

Paul Hallidays
Fishmonger
28 Liverpool Road
Southport
PR8 4AY

Tel: 01704 551524