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Mid Summer Nights Dream
As we have passed the summer solstice, the nights have begun to draw in again towards winter, but there is still plenty of late summer, local Cheshire produce to be utilised. It would be easy to suggest ideas and recipes for barbeques, but I think Jamie Oliver has that market well covered and that would be cheating! In my kitchens this month we are still seeing loads of fantastic asparagus from cherry orchard farm and is fantastic lightly blanched, then char grilled and served simply smothered in butter with some good bread and Cheshire smoke house smoked salmon, or alternatively, used for dipping into a soft boiled egg, a simple dish which appears on our market menu at Peckforton Castle and is a favourite starter with our customers. There are still plenty of late season strawberries available from Willington fruit farm and are fantastic with clotted cream and of course champagne! So this is the recipe i have chosen to give you this month with my usual twist and is an unusual way to get the kids interested in modern food
Willington Farm Strawberries, Champagne Jelly and Whipped Cornish Cream
Serves 4
For the jelly
4×4oz cooking moulds or darioles (available from Lakeland)
250g Punnet of strawberries (preferably picked yourself!! Why not take the kids and make an afternoon of it?)
50cl Champagne, preferably pink (don’t worry about the kids having alcohol- we cook it out)
1Vanilla pod
50g Caster sugar
4 Leaves of gelatine, soaked (always soak gelatine in ice cold water before use)
8 Leaves fresh picked mint
Firstly, wash and hull the strawberries. (This means remove the green stalk) ensuring you don’t take off too much strawberry in the process! Cut the strawberries to an even size depending how big they. A chef’s trick is to twist a tiny amount of fresh pepper over them to bring out the flavours but be careful you don’t want spicy strawberries! Then split them between the four moulds making sure they don’t protrude from the rim and set to one side.
Next heat a heavy based saucepan and add the champagne, sugar and seeds and pod of the vanilla. Simmer gently on a low heat for appprox 5 mins. Check sweetness to taste. Add the gelatine leaves and whisk until melted. Remove from heat and cool a little, then pour over the strawberries to the top of the mould, then refrigerate for two hours until set, in the meantime, make the Cornish cream mousse.
For the Cornish cream mousse
200g Clotted cream
200ml Whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks
3 Leaves soaked gelatine
Melt the clotted cream in a pan and add the mint leaves and very gently simmer until you can taste the mint in the cream. Whisk in the gelatine until dissolved. Strain to remove the mint and cool to room temperature.
Fold into the whipped cream and pour into a suitable container. Chill until set.
On the Plate
In a bowl of warm water, sit the jelly mould in it up to the rim for ten seconds to loosen, then turn out onto a plate. Top with a spoonful of the cream and serve. In the restaurant we finish with fresh lemon zest, cooked in stock syrup and dried over night, and deep fried crispy mint.
A fresh slightly more extravagant version of strawberries and cream with a touch of opulence, perfect for all the family on a warm summer afternoon
Its’ been a busy start to the year here at Peckforton Castle. We’ve had two engagements, a huge 60th birthday celebration, a new baby and lots of new staff join the Castle family. I wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy Spring and keep you updated of our Spring program of events. To enquire about any of the below please call 01829 260930.
The Castle doors are always open to the local community so feel free to pop up and visit anytime. We hope to see you all soon!
Spend Easter Sunday at the Castle Sunday 24th April 2011
Meet and greet with our beautiful Snowy Owl
Then move through into our award winning 1851 restaurant where each child will receive a chocolate egg and the whole family can enjoy a 3 course Sunday Lunch.
£25.00 per Adult and £12.50 per child (4- 12 years)
Why not extend your castle experience with our Easter Package of Lunch, Bed and Breakfast at £160.00 per couple and a great deal of £30.00 per child
Gourmet Evening Friday 13th May 2011
Hosted by Simonsig Estate
Exotic South African wine, Quintessentially English Cuisine…
Peckforton Castle’s gourmet evening promises to offer a fine dining experience; complemented by our convivial team, beautiful surroundings and exquisite food.
The evening will be hosted in our award winning 1851 Restaurant by the Simonsig estate, pioneers of South African wine excellence.
The Simonsig estate holds a passionate commitment for quality and innovation in wine production, and will be providing you with the perfect wine to harmonise your five course dining experience; a sure gastronomic delight.
This evening can be enjoyed by all, connoisseur and novice alike.
Tickets for the banquet available at £65.00 per adult
We are offering you the chance to extend your stay with our special package deal of £249.00 per Couple (include event, breakfast and bedroom).
Murder Mystery Evening Saturday 21st May 2011
Presented By NRG Theatre
A Murder has been committed but who did it?? Each table is a team.
The Evening starts in our Wine Cellar at 7pm and then the teams are moved through to the Drawing room for dinner at 8pm
The Teams will View the crime scene, solve the puzzles, Interrogate the suspects, and sort the clues from the red herrings:
Who did it? Why and How?
£45.00 per person
To extend the evening why not take advantage of our Murderous package of £195.00 per couple Event, Bed and Breakfast.
Fathers Day Sunday 19th June 2011
Treat your Father to a wonderful Sunday Lunch at the Castle, receive a glass of Sparkling wine on arrival and a gift for all the Fathers. Followed by a three course lunch in the Castle’s award winning 1851 Restaurant.
£22.00 per Adult and £11.00 per child ( 4-12yrs)
Bolton Wanders Captain Kevin Davies has announced a celebrity packed line-up for the first KiDs of Bolton Masquerade Ball taking place in the prestigious Premier Suite at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday 5 March.
Britain’s Got Talent sensation Escala will open the star studded event by fusing contemporary sounds with classic instruments followed by Bolton boy and presenter of Saturday night’s ‘Take Me Out’ Paddy McGuinness providing the comedy for the evening. Pop rock band McFly, with fifteen Top Ten hits to their name, will headline the fantastic evening of musical entertainment before Radio One’s DJ Spoony closes the night with some tunes.
Selfridges, Trafford Centre – recently voted the world’s best department store – have also pledged their support for the charity fundraiser of the year by donating gift bags for all dinner guests. There will also be an auction of signed sporting memorabilia.
Kevin Davies said, “We are very excited about the Masquerade Ball and are delighted that such high profile entertainers have offered their services to support KiDs of Bolton.
“Every penny of the funds raised from the evening will go towards helping those under the age of 18 who find themselves affected by difficult circumstances whether they are poverty, disability or social and economic troubles. If KiDs of Bolton can help in some small way to make a child’s life better or easier for them, then we will be achieving our aims.”
KiDs of Bolton was officially launched with a golf day in October 2010 by Kevin and his wife Emma. The aim of the charity is to offer support and activities to youngsters under the age of 18 living in the Bolton area to help develop their skill and capability to participate in society as independent, mature and responsible adults. The charity is particularly interested in helping those who would like to get involved in sport, but may be held back by financial constraints.
Tables of 10 are priced at £1000 and there are a limited amount of VIP tables available at £1250 which will be in prime locations and also include a ticket to the exclusive VIP Casino after-party in the Lion of Vienna Suite.
Well, I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas and the year’s nearly over. What a great year it’s been here for us at Peckforton Castle. We’ve been so busy; it feels like we just haven’t stopped! There are plenty of highlights for me and here are a few.
The restoration from January to July was a challenging yet rewarding project, which saw the launch of our new facilities including the 10 new bedrooms, the 2010 Brasserie and the beauty treatment rooms, Tranquility. The launch events went really well and the feedback was excellent. The rooms have been fully booked since they opened!
Other highlights include the many beautiful weddings we are privileged to host. We’ve seen as many as 180+ couples tie the knot here this year; from small weddings through to huge ones. Each wedding is unique and very special. We’re expecting next year to be equally busy, especially now that we can stage ceremonies in our delightful grounds from April through October.
Seeing lots of local children at Peckforton Castle is always a highlight. This year we had pupils from Tarporley C. Of. E. Primary School here after they won our competition to help design the Knights and Maidens menu and then we had the 2nd Tarvin Brownies here after they won the competition to name our new baby owls.
We’ve also had lots of journalists come and visit us this year and Peckforton Castle has appeared on television a few times and even starred in the Coronation Street 50th anniversary DVD ‘A Knight’s Tale’, which was released in November.
But, back to Christmas. The Castle is looking very festive and we’re looking forward to a very busy time with lunches and parties. We’re open to non-residents right throughout the holiday period, so if you’re in the area pop in and say hello.
I’d like to take this opportunity on behalf of myself and the Naylor family to thank you all for your continued support and custom. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2011. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Our wedding services just got even better, thanks to a new permission granted by Cheshire East Council.
I’m delighted to announce that couples who want want to get married at Peckforton Castle can now stage their ceremony in our beautiful grounds, from April through October.
You’ll still be required to use one of our lovely rooms inside the Castle to exchange legal vows because the law requires that legally-binding words of a ceremony are spoken within a room approved for marriage or civil partnerships. Luckily, our designated rooms – The Great Hall, the Library, the Hexagonal Room and the Drawing Room – are all equally stunning, so you can’t go wrong.
Remember too that we have our own Chapel, where you can have your wedding blessed by the local vicar. The perfect combination of a civil ceremony and a church-type wedding. I don’t know many places that can offer that!
I might be biased, but I’m struggling to think of a venue that can beat Peckforton Castle for weddings, or any other events. Our new bedrooms, the 2010 Brasserie and beauty treatment rooms Tranquility with full bridal packages mean we can offer even more than before and with such a stunning venue, no matter what the weather, wedding photos and videos always look amazing.
We’re very flexible in our approach and we can accommodate all types and sizes of weddings and civil partnerships, from large traditional Asian weddings, to themed weddings and of course, the quintessential English wedding. We cater for small weddings of just a few people through to large weddings of 165 guests plus. You can literally have whatever you want, even exclusive hire of the entire Castle!
Our wedding co-ordinators Lucy and Jo-Anne help you every step of the way and make sure that everything runs like clockwork on the big day. They love organising weddings and are only too happy to discuss options with prospective brides and grooms, so why not give them a call on 01829 260 930 or visit www.peckfortoncastle.co.uk.
Well, it’s been a little while since the last instalment. I thought things might quieten down after the launch of the new facilities, but no way! We’ve been extremely busy.
After the new facilities opened at the beginning of July (where did the summer go?) we held two launch events and invited about 300 people in total. We had a fantastic turnout for both and they went really well. The feedback we received was wonderful and after the build up it was lovely just to share everything with our guests. We even had a few celebrities turn up. Has anyone seen the photo of Chris Bisson of Emmerdale Farm holding one of our eagles? Check it out on Facebook.
From a very busy July with the new facilities opening we moved into an even busier August. In fact August was our best month since we took over Peckforton Castle in 2006. As a hotel we expect August to be good, but we weren’t quite expecting just how great it was.
We know we’re a popular wedding venue, but we’ve also got fantastic facilities for business events and conferences and we’ve been keen to grow this market and we have! We noticed a very healthy growth in this market, which is wonderful and shows we’re giving businesses what they need.
It’s also been wonderful to see the number of non-residents around the Castle. More and more people from all over Cheshire and further afield are popping in for a meal in the 2010 Brasserie and for a beauty treatment at Tranquility. We’re so pleased that the local community is visiting us far more often.
We’ve had quite a few well-known Coronation Street characters filming at Peckforton Castle. That’s been wonderful. They’ve been filming their 50th anniversary DVD ‘A Knight’s Tale’ with us. It’s due out in November and it going to be great. If you’re a fan of Coronation Street and Peckforton Castle you’ll be in heaven!
Well now summer has truly been and gone and we’re settling into autumn. I hope everyone had a lovely summer and a nice holiday somewhere. I got to go to France to find a new champagne for the hotel. All work, of course! We found a gorgeous house champagne from the Joseph Perrier House in Châlons-en-Champagne, which has been producing fine champagnes since 1825. You’ll have to come along and sample it, providing you’re over 18, of course.
We’ve got a few events coming up for you. There’s a gourmet night this weekend and then of course there’s Halloween; that’s going to be a lot of fun as we really get into the ‘spirit’ of things!! Check our website for details.
We’ll be announcing the winner of our competition to fins some names for the new baby owls. Have you entered? You could win a meal for two people in the 2010 Brasserie. The details are on Facebook. If you have some names to suggest send them to Jessica at jjohnson@peckfortoncastle.co.uk. The competition ends on 30 September.
I know Christmas is still a little while off, but if you’re looking for ideas how about some gift vouchers for Peckforton Castle? We’ve also got some cracking menus from 1 December and of course everywhere will be beautifully decorated for you.
Well that’s all from me until next time, hopefully I’ll post something before Christmas!
Hope to see you soon.
Last time I posted a blog it seemed like we still had loads of renovation work to do and now it’s all done! It was great fun but I’m glad it’s all over. Talk about stress…
It’s certainly been a challenging project. Working with a Grade I listed building with a rare breeding colony of bats is no easy task, but we all pulled together and opened on schedule (don’t mention budget!).
We launched 10 new stunning bedrooms and the 2010 Brasserie on 2 July. All rooms sold out straight away and have been fully booked since, which is great.
There’s a real buzz about the 2010 Brasserie and its secluded courtyard. The menus have gone down really well and everyone’s commented on the quality of the finish and all the original features of the new facilities.
In the 2010 Brasserie there are two original ranges and many of the new bedrooms have original fireplaces, amazing vaulted ceilings, fully restored windows with amazing views of the Castle grounds or the Cheshire Plains.
Then there’s the beauty treatment facility, Tranquility. Tranquility’s got a double treatment room and a single treatment room, plus a spray tan booth and nail bar area in the reception. Tranquility uses all the best products, like Elemis, and offers everything you’d expect to find in a first class venue.
So now you can pop in for a light lunch, manicure and spray tan!
We’ve also launched a new website. If you take a look you’ll see some photos of the new bedrooms, the 2010 Brasserie and soon we’ll post some for Tranquility. You’ll also be able to check out our special offers and if you leave us your contact details so we can send you information in the future you’ll be entered into a competition to win a 2-night stay with us.
So much new news! What else? Oh yes, we’re now using event company G3 for lots of our activities and team building events. Check out the Muddy Good Fun bit of the new website.
I’ll be seeing lots of you very soon for our launch events. I’m really looking forward to that. If you’re not coming for some reason, be sure to drop in soon and tell us what you think of the 2010 Brasserie, the menus, the new rooms, Tranquility, everything!
It seems the time between these blogs is getting wider! No wonder, given everything we’ve got going on. I’ve been spending so much time overseeing our £1.7 million renovation project and every day now I can see how it’s all really coming together and I just can’t wait until we launch everything in July! It’s going to be amazing.
One of the really nice things that’s come about as part of this project is the new children’s menu. As a business we’re really keen to work closely with the local community and local schools and we thought that asking local school children what they would like to see on a children’s menu would be a fun way to do it and a good way to listen to our customers. So, we invited children from the Key Stage 2 age group to design their own menu.
We put a competition together asking for 3 starters and 3 main courses with emphasis on using local, seasonal produce, because that’s what Peckforton Castle’s all about, and we sent it to schools within about a 10-mile radius.
The response was fantastic. Teachers told us they thought it was a great idea and the children were really enthusiastic about it. Our Head Chef Mark Ellis went to a few schools and talked to the children about the competition, Peckforton Castle and how we work with local producers.
When we started going through all the entries we were literally blown away by the effort made by the children – and no doubt some helpful parents – and the talent they’ve got! We had originally decided to award the winner a prize of a meal for 4 in the new Twenty10 Brasserie when it opens in July, plus a trip to Peckforton Castle with a tour, falconry display and picnic for the winner’s class, but when it came to judging it turned out differently because of the high standard of entries.
In the end we decided to have 2 joint first winners, both from Tarporley CofE Primary School. We’re using one for the actual design of the menu and the other for the starters and main course suggestions and there’ll be 2 classes that come for a trip to the Castle.
We can’t wait to see the menu all printed up and in action in the Twenty10 Brasserie and of course the 1851 Restaurant. So, when you see it you’ll now know the lovely story behind it!
Huge thanks to everyone who took part; teachers, parents and children.
See you soon, have a lovely bank holiday.
No doubt the next instalment will be all about the new facilities! Can’t wait for you to see them.
Spring is here at last and we’re certainly very grateful for the nice weather we’ve had. It means the work on the refurbishment is progressing nicely. What a project! Did you know we’ve had to call in bat man??
We’ve got bats at the Castle, so before going ahead with any renovation we had to call in Stan Irwin, aka, The Bat Man. Stan’s a man who knows everything there is to know about bats and their conservation and he’s been a great help to us.
Stan identified two colonies of bats at Peckforton. The main colony of about 100 bats has been identified as a breeding colony of Natterer’s bats, which are really quite special. The British population is of international importance and a fully protected species under UK and European wildlife legislation, no less.
They use Peckforton Castle to breed and raise their young after the winter. Apparently, the combination of cavities in the old stone walls and the nearby foraging habitat of the surrounding woodland make the site ideal for their specific requirements. So, they just love it at Peckforton!
So special are these bats that all work on the refurbishment must be scheduled so they’re not disturbed. This means that their breeding patterns won’t be upset and their lives will continue as before, only with upgraded facilities!
Stan also discovered two brown long eared bats in a room that forms part of the refurbishment project. These only visit occasionally so Stan is sorting some bat boxes for them. In fact, we’re going to have about 16 bat boxes in nearby woodland in the hope that in the future they will provide places for a greater number of bats to aid their conservation.
Once the bats are safely settled in their new boxes we’ll be able to renovate the room, which will mean another new en-suite bedroom for us and nice new homes for the bats!
We’ll keep you posted.
Well it’s been longer than I was expecting to this blog. It’s just been so busy, but all good. We’ve hosted loads of weddings already this year and work on the new brasserie, bedrooms and beauty treatment rooms is coming on nicely. It’s a tricky business renovating a Grade I listed building as everything has to be just so. We’re preserving everything possible and adding all mod cons. We’ve also been busy with the finer details such as the interior design, menus and other bits. One thing we’re really excited about is a competition we’re running with local schools.
We’ve been considering what to put on the brasserie menu and when it came to the children’s menu we thought it might be nice for local children to decide what they want to see on their menu, so we’re running a competition with local schools. It’s for 7 to 11 year olds and from the feedback we’ve received, it’s gone down really well and the children are all geared up for it. It’s great to be working with the local community in this way and we want as many of you from our local community to get involved with your local castle.
So, if you know of a child in Key Stage 2 from a local school, please make sure they and their teacher know about it. We’re pretty sure we’ve contacted everyone, but you never know.
We’re asking the children to suggest their ideal menu – a choice from 3 starters and 3 mains.
The winner will receive a great prize. We’ll invite the winner’s class to the Castle for a trip including transport to and from their school, a tour of the Castle, a nice picnic and a falconry session. Plus, the winner plus 3 people will be invited for a meal in the brasserie to east something from his or her menu!
As you might know, our 1851 Restaurant has won some awards for the quality of its dining experience, which covers everything from field to plate to stomach. We like to use the best local produce as far as possible. It’s the best thing to do for so many reasons. We figured on that basis we’d like to get children involved in putting their own menu together.
So, if you wouldn’t mind, if you know any local Key Stage 2 pupils and teachers please mention it to them
Thanks.
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