Mike Robinson

I had lunch at the Harwood Arms recently, and arrived late :0) What a marvel – to arrive late and to be presented with a gorgeous Scotch egg within moments of being seated, and having spent nearly an hour in traffic to travel about four miles! It was delicious, spicy, well flavoured and with a soft gorgeous yolk in the centre – yummy!

The Harwood Arms is London’s only Michelin starred pub, and jolly good it is too. The pub is part owned by Mike Robinson of the PotKiln (we’d also had Mike’s venison at the Royal Berkshire Shooting School – excellent produce). Hubby wasn’t with me that day, which is a shame, as he’s much more into Scotch eggs than me – this made me determined to make him some. When I googled ‘venison Scotch egg recipes’ I was delighted to find Mike’s own recipe in The Field magazine!

Ingredients
8 medium hen’s eggs
150g (5oz) venison mince
300g (101⁄2oz) pork sausage meat
Salt and pepper
Herbs
200g (7oz) plain flour
100ml (31⁄2fl oz) milk
3 eggs, beaten
250g (9oz) coarse white breadcrumbs [I used Japanese panko breadcrumbs]
Makes 8 scotch eggs

Start by removing your eggs from the fridge at least an hour before cooking. Cooking from room temperature is the key to getting the yolks just so. Boil the eggs in water for five and a half minutes exactly. If you are at high altitude, this timing may change. Take the eggs out of the water and plunge into iced water to stop them cooking. When cool, peel them carefully and leave the peeled eggs in water. [I definitely overcooked my first batch of eggs, but I was using Clarence Court legbar eggs, which are perhaps a little smaller. On the second batch I cooked an extra egg, whipped it out and cracked it open before removing the others, to double check the state of the yolk. I also found it difficult to peel my eggs as they were so fresh, so I cracked the shells a little, leaving the eggs in the water for a few minutes. Once the cold water seeps around the egg, it’s a lots easier to peel them]

Prepare the sausage meat by mixing the venison and pork together. Season the mix with salt and pepper and any herbs you choose. Form the meat into balls the same size as the eggs.

Flour the eggs. Squidge the balls of sausage meat into flat circles about 5in in diameter and encase each egg in a thin layer of meat. Mix the milk and beaten eggs together, then flour the enrobed eggs again and dip them in the mix before dunking the lot in breadcrumbs.

Repeat the process so the crumb armour is two layers thick. Deep fry the eggs in plain oil at 175°C/347°F for six minutes. They should be deep brown in colour but not burnt. Serve hot and whole with a sprinkling of sea salt on the top. [These timings and temperature worked perfectly for my eggs – the yolk was still runny, but they were definitely warm and heated through]

Do give them a go, they were yummy.

Homemade Scotch eggs…

The Harwood Arms is the perfect kind of local pub. Set in a nondescript street in Fulham, it looks completely unassuming and decidedly local. People were popping in and out all afternoon, and from what I saw, the majority appeared to be on foot and knew the staff well. The interior is all stripped down wood and feels airy, and light. However, a quick glance under the bonnet reveals a much racier engine – Harwood is actually a joint collaboration between Mike Robinson, chef patron of the Pot Kiln pub out in Berkshire, and Brett Graham of the Ledbury.

I’d been speaking to a well known food blogger and @Hermanoprimero on twitter for a while now – we’re all techies, we’re of a similar age, and we’re all obsessed with food. I thought it would be fun to organise a lunch, so when one of them suggested we meet there, it seemed like a very good choice. I’ve eaten Mike’s venison before (some of the best I’ve ever had), and The Ledbury is one of my favourite restaurants in London.

The man currently behind the stoves at is Barry Fitzgerald, who’d previously worked at Arbutus and Honey. He recently took over the mantle from Stevie Williams, who’d made the Harwood Arms the only Michelin starred pub in London.

We began with an amazing venison scotch egg – crispy panko breadcrumbs, delicious meat, perfect egg. I think the picture speaks for itself…

Venison Scotch egg

I had the Cornish crab on toast, with a chilled courgette and basil soup. The soup was packed full of flavour (and not too courgetty actually), a bowl of green seasonality, with spiky basil, and clean herby flavours. The crab toast was delicious! The light white meat on the top was delicate and sweet, but the bottom of the toast contained a rich layer of brown meat. It wasn’t just that the brown meat was packed full of flavour, it tasted as though it had actually been dressed in a reduction of shellfish. It tasted of the best bisque, a sort of ground shell intensity that worked perfectly on the toast and was a perfect foil for the verdant soup.

Cornish crab on toast, with edible flowers

Chilled courgette and basil soup, with Cornish crab on toast

Next I had the plaice – perfectly cooked fish, lightly dressed vegetables, salty samphire, sweet baby gem lettuce. A lovely dish, clean and yet packed full of flavour.

Roast plaice on the bone, with smoked potato, baby gem and potted shrimp butter

There were lots of amazing puddings on offer, but I’m a bit addicted to sea buckthorn after my travels to Paul Foster at Tuddenham Mill, so there was no way I was going to turn down any dish that contained it. In this case there were perfect tiny doughnuts, dusted in sugar and cinnamon. The sea buckthorn came as dipping sauce, and also mixed with sour cream. Light and fresh, they complimented each other perfectly.

Brown sugar doughnuts, with sea buckthorn curd and sour cream

The staff at the Harwood Arms, headed by Alex Sergeant, were charming and attentive. We were there for hours talking about all manner of things, and they kept us topped up, fed and watered in a friendly but unobtrusive way. The food is of very good quality, and well executed. Actually I think it’s very good value too – I wish I lived next to the Harwood, it would definitely be my local – I wish it could be my local… As it is, it’s definitely going on my regulars list.

@Hermanoprimero‘s Lunch