Congratulations to our Head Chef, Paul Halmshaw and his kitchen team who received a bronze accolade in the Flavours of Herefordshire Gourmet Award category in January this year. Since Paul joined us the Lion has also been listed in the Michelin Guide. Paul has a passion for using seasonal local ingredients to create exciting freshly cooked dishes and his daily specials boards reflect the best of the produce available every week.

Paul writes:

After a long and wet winter we are all looking forward to Spring and the wonderful delicately flavoured ingredients the Spring months have to offer, but still appreciate warming dishes for these cooler early months of the year.

In my latest menu I have combined some typically seasonal ingredients with annual staples to create dishes which are hearty and flavoursome with just a promise of the warmer months to come. Butternut squash teamed with sage in our tortelli is served in a creamy mascarpone and white wine sauce. New season purple sprouting broccoli accompanies chicken breasts and parma ham polenta cakes. Delicious Jerusalem artichokes with their sweet almost garlicky, mushroomy flavour make a perfect base for our risotto starter, and tender wood pigeon breasts served with warming puy lentil and chorizo cassoulet and game chips are a really pleasing start to a meal.

This menu’s desserts include a delightfully rich bitter chocolate and clementine tart, banoffee and rum cheesecake and a lightly spiced rhubarb strudel, all full of flavour, sumptuous and tempting to end your meal.

After a very busy Christmas season we are busy with plans for Valentines Day, Mothering Sunday, and Easter, devising menus to share with loved ones, friends and family.

Tuesday nights from February will see the launch of our special Steak nights, when guests can enjoy a steak dinner and a bottle of wine for just £30 per couple.

To view the steak night menu, please download the PDF.

Chef's recipe

Glazed Lemon Tart with Mascarpone and Elderflower Ice Cream

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Ingredients:

For the pastry:

120 g unsalted butter, at room temperature, diced
75 g icing sugar
3 large egg yolks
250 g plain flour
2 tablespoons water

For the filling:

3 large eggs , plus 2 medium egg whites
140 g icing sugar , plus extra for dusting
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (about 4 lemons)
125 ml lemon juice (from 4-5 lemons)
200 ml tub crème fraîche
Caster sugar to glaze – need a blowtorch for this process

For the ice cream:

150 ml mascarpone
75 ml milk
3 egg yolks
2 oz caster sugar
35 ml Elderflower cordial

Method:

First of all make the ice cream
Beat the egg yolks & sugar together put to one side, heat the milk making sure it doesn’t come to the boil. Add the hot milk to the eggs and sugar and leave to cool. When chilled beat in the mascapone and the elderflower cordial and churn in an ice cream maker until thick. If you do not have an ice cream maker put the mixture in the freezer and stir regularly until frozen.

For the pastry
Mix together the butter and sieved flower until a breadcrumb consistency is formed, add the sieved icing sugar and fold in the beaten egg yolks. Add the water little by little to create a smooth pliable pastry. Cling film the mix and leave to rest for a couple of hours.
Once rested, roll the pastry out and line a shallow tart case or flan tin and bake with baking beans at 200’c for 15 minutes. Remove the baking beans and reduce the oven temperature to 180’c and bake for a further 10 minutes or until golden brown

For the filling
Beat the eggs and egg whites together until well mixed. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, then gradually beat in the eggs until smooth. Stir in the lemon zest and the juice. Beat the crème fraîche in a medium bowl until smooth, then slowly stir in the lemon mix until well blended. Transfer to a jug, then pour two thirds into the warm pastry case. Place in the oven with the oven shelf half out, pour in the rest of the filling. Reduce the heat to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Bake for 25-30 mins until barely set with a slight wobble in the middle. Cool for about 1 hour, then serve

Glaze
To finish portion sprinkle with a light dusting of caster sugar and brown with a blowtorch until crystallised and golden brown.

Recommended wine to accompany this recipe:

Royal Tokaji Late Harvest, Nungary

Tasting Note:

Pale green colour, with a delicate flowery nose, showing hints of white peach. On the palate it is of medium weight, sweet but with a good acid balance. Flavours of exotic fruits and clean finish of medium length.