We are delighted to share with you one of Aaron’s signature dishes as inspiration for your home cooking this Easter.

LOIN OF LAMB, LAMB BELLY AND PEPPER STEW

For the slow-cooked lamb belly you will need:

1 lamb belly

Rock salt

Black peppercorns

Rosemary

200ml olive oil

Clove of garlic

Method:

Chop the lamb belly in half width ways, sprinkle with rock salt, whole peppercorns and leave in the fridge for 1 hour. Wash off the lamb belly, put one half on top of the other, place in a vac pac bag, add 1 clove of garlic,1 sprig of rosemary, 200g olive oil and fully vac pac the bag. Cook for 12 hours at 85 degrees Celsius in a water bath until soft. Remove from bag and press bellies between 2 flat heavy trays with greaseproof to prevent sticking, place in the fridge overnight or when set minimum of 2 hours. Slice into rectangles 3cm by 7cm, sear the top until coloured and finish in an oven 160 degrees Celsius until piping hot in the middle. If you don’t own a water bath or sous vide, use this method: How to Sous Vide Without the Machine

For the lamb sauce

1. What is new on your list and what have you removed.

2. Why

Most new wines on our list are favourites that we have been tasting lately they are often wines which will be listed on our first page “wines of the moment” they reflect a varieties of grapes and taste from different countries and represent good value.

Wines which are removed from our list are wines which we cannot buy anymore because of vintage changes and didn’t get our appreciation and liking.

In the case of very fine wines running out of a specific vintage might be very difficult to rebuy with a considerable increase in price range therefore we might look for this wine in a different often younger version.

3. What were guests buying more in September and October than previously.

There was a trend for buying white burgundies such as Chassagne and Puligny 1 er Cru from top growers and also Chablis grand cru. Top Bordeaux grand cru wines have also selling very fast.

It was like a panic attack amongst our guests to catch up with the lost time of lockdown and a desire to drink fine wines also lately 10 pm curfew made

The annual Hambleton Hall October Mushroom Hunt went ahead on Saturday 10 October. As outdoor events remain possible, this was a well-attended occasion, and local Food and Drink Writer, Debs Pennell, was lucky enough to take part.

This popular event was led by expert mycologist Paul Nichol and Tim Hart owner of Hambleton Hall Hotel. Foragers were treated to a morning of hunting for mushrooms in local woods followed by an exceptional mushroom-inspired three-course lunch at the hotel.

Having collected a veritable array of fungi, guests assembled in the woods for discussion and identification. Paul Nichol’s informative and eloquent description of each mushroom and Tim Hart’s witty interjections were interesting and amusing. The morning’s foraging resulted in the group collecting a goodly number of edible fungi, but with one deadly poisonous variety amongst them, and several rather toxic individual species. Mushroom foraging remains a risky business, with around 50 poisonous mushroom varieties in this country, 15 of those being deadly!

After a morning in the woods, everyone was ready to enjoy Head Chef, Aaron Patterson’s Fungi Foray lunch, which was an enviable compilation of exquisite flavours, textures and autumn colours: Cèpe Tortellino, Wild Mushroom Consommé flavoured with Tarragon, Roast Guinea

The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is possibly the most famous equestrian event in the world. Part of the famous Rolex Grand Slam, the annual 3-day event is set in the beautiful grounds of Burghley Estate in Stamford, Lincolnshire.

Naturally, this year it had to be cancelled due to Covid-19. Instead of the usual exciting fast-paced action and huge crowds, the clever people at Burghley have put together all the archive footage from previous years, which will be available to stream online from tomorrow.

Additionally, around 100 of the regular Burghley retailers will have their products available to purchase online, so as not to disappoint the hundreds of thousands of fans who usually attend this English countryside social highlight.

On Sunday 6^th September an “All-Stars Programme” will air live on www.burghley-horse.co.uk hosted by Clare Balding with appearances from Pippa Funnell, Sir Mark Todd, Carl Hester MBE, Oliver Townend and more.

Many of you make bookings for the Burghley Horse Trials a year in advance, and some of you have kept your reservations for this year despite the event not going ahead! So, if you are staying at Hambleton Hall as usual, tune in to www.burghley-horse.co.uk to get the most

Hambleton Hall joined Relais & Chateaux’s global communications campaign titled #DeliciousJourneys this month with its beautiful new video. To watch please visit www.youtube.com/hambletonhall

Filmed over two separate months during 2019 in two video shoots with the talented film makers from The View South, Aaron and his team demonstrated how the menu at Hambleton is sourced locally from a plethora of high quality game, poultry, fish and meat suppliers alongside carefully foraged ingredients such as mushrooms, herbs, edible flowers, sea vegetables and wild garlic.

Very few ingredients travel more than 20 miles, and these are typically specialist shellfish products from the south coast or Scotland or meat products from France.

The #DeliciousJourneys campaign is designed to shine a light on what makes each hotel completely unique. If you search #DeliciousJourneys in your browser you will find many inspiring examples from around the world.

At Hambleton Hall, the unique flavours of the English countryside are what inform the delicious menu, hand-crafted by the expert hands of chef Aaron and his team.

We hope you enjoy the film.

What a phrase, what a statement! But it’s one that we can stand by with absolute confidence.

If you’re not already in the know, Pride of Britain Hotels is a collection of independently owned boutique and luxury hotels throughout, you guessed it, Britain. With never more than 50 members, it’s a rather elite group, and it’s one we have been part of since 2013.

Pride of Britain Hotels is a diverse consortium that ranges from intimate hotels with just a handful of rooms to as-far-as-the-eye-can-see estates with rooms running into three figures. They’re located everywhere from bustling city streets to the peace and seclusion of the remote countryside. In style they could be anything from rustic chic and traditionally elegant to cutting-edge modern. Periods range from baronial, part medieval, art deco, Arts and Crafts, Georgian, Victorian and Modernist. It’s probably fair to say that the one common thread that joins this group together is a commitment to ‘the art of great hospitality’.

Each hotel is unique yet representative of hospitality, accommodation, location and a guest experience that’s quite simply, second to none. Whether you walk out of a Pride of Britain hotel to the peaceful shores of Rutland Water, as

Carols, candlelight and Christmas cheer. It’s almost time to welcome the magnificent Reverie choir back to Hambleton Hall for their annual gathering.

A firmly established Christmas tradition here at Hambleton, The Reverie Choir has brought a magical repertoire of traditional and contemporary Christmas music to our local church since 2013.

Tim Hart first heard the London based group singing at a wedding and made it a priority to shake a hand or two and invite them to Rutland. They’ve joined us every year since for one of the most popular events in the Hall’s calendar.

The choir brings together some of the best young voices in Britain today. Described as a “pure, mellifluous blend for an ethereal sound that fills a room” the group are handpicked from some of the most prestigious choral institutions in the country, with many of the choir’s talented members going on to forge highly successful musical careers. They will be accompanied by musicians playing trumpets and tympani.

In classic Christmas style the halls of St Andrews Church at Hambleton will be well and truly decked with a dressed Christmas tree and candlelight, we’ll be serving mulled wine and mince pies to our festive guests. The

Localism is a hot topic and rightly so. We all want to buy the best ingredients that we can lay our hands on and to source as much as possible in our own locality. But to believe the publicists for some Country Hotels, one might think that every mouthful comes from the kitchen garden and surrounding pastures!
The reality is more challenging. In order to be self sufficient in eggs (for Hambleton Hall, the Bakery and Harts) we need 800 chickens which on a genuine free range plan might need 10 acres.

Luckily our friend Katie Machin from Windy Ridge Farm (pictured) does have more than 800 birds and produces brilliant free range eggs which improve our breakfast, desserts and Bakery products no end.
Nearby Vine Farm has mixed Monbeliard, and Jersey cows with their Holsteins to give a creamier milk which flows through to the panna cotta and custards as well as the capuccino.
Our own kitchen garden makes us self sufficient in many herbs and delivers a shed load of courgette flowers, salads, and berries in season. But come Christmas, eggs, milk, lamb, beef, pheasants,
venison and stilton will still be local …but we won’t be relying on

RUTLAND FOOD WEEK

26^th October – 3^rd November 2019

 

Rutland Food and Drink Week is almost upon us.  This annual celebration of the great and good that our little county has to offer is a must for epicureans near and far.

We may be Britain’s smallest county but what we lack in size, we make up for in local produce to bring to the proverbial table.  Rutland is known as the ‘county of good taste’ for good reason, we certainly have more than our fair share of high-quality eating and drinking establishments, so it seems only right that we’d make an event of it.

Along with several other excellent restaurants in the county we’re joining Rutland Food Week Fixed Menu Event.  We’ll be celebrating Rutland’s excellent food, reflecting the very best of our county’s produce. This is a chance to also recognise the talented, hardworking people who grow, source, provide and prepare the food our county is fast becoming famous for.  From Monday 28^th October – Friday 1^st November we’ll be offering two courses for £31.50, you can add a third course for £8.50 and coffee and chocolates for £5.00.

Hambleton Hall is unique amongst its

Someone on the radio today mentioned that it was only 76 days until Christmas, a fact that divided the room immediately and amusingly. One half in abject horror and the other in tinsel and fairy light delight. Wherever you stand on this most jolly of holidays, the day is fast approaching.
As ever we’re delighted to be playing host to a number of festive celebrations here at the Hall. We do hope you can join us.

 

Private Dining

The Study is available for private lunch or dinner parties for between 6-16 people. This comfortable room is ideal for intimate Christmas gatherings and celebrations. Head chef Aaron’s sought-after menu will be the centrepiece of any event and assure the gathering is memorable and festive too, of course.

“I bought a party of 8 for dinner to celebrate my 65th birthday and I just wanted to let you know how we enjoyed the whole experience…All of our guests were quite effusive in their praise so well done to the whole team.” Ian Hamilton, Nov 2018

Find out more about our Christmas parties

 

Dinner with Even Blakke, Clos De Trias, Ventoux

Even owns the Clos de Trias vineyard in the foothills