Dinner At Ansill Food and Wine - Part 3

Almost past the halfway point of our dinner at Ansill. Before I say more about the next course, I'll mention that they offer marinated olives as something to both reset your palate and keep you occupied as you wait between courses (see first post pic). I recommend them. The variety is good and they are just the thing with so much of the food being velvety and a little rich.

The crispy pig trotters (above) with pickled red onions were no exception to this rule. I wasn't sure what to expect; what came was a set of three medallions of pulled or diced meat held together most likely (I didn't ask David so I can't be sure) by the cooked gelatin of the feet themselves. Capturing the combination of fried-comfort-food and meat melange appropriately without making it come across as some sort of high-class version of scrapple or fish sticks has proven elusive, so you'll just have to try them if you find yourself there. They were served with Nottage Hill 2007 Pinot Noir, which we also kept for the next course...

...which was skewered bacon and kidneys served over small lentils. Honestly I thought the kidneys probably could have been pulled off the grill 30 seconds earlier, but this is a small complaint for what was a happy combination. It was a special treat, too, because David had ordered the kidneys specially for us (!) so not only was it off the menu, it was off the ingredients list. Talk about making a guest feel special. I was grinning from ear to ear. (OK, Phil says that was true all night). I liked and will try this on Minizawa (the small Egg) - very simple, just good ingredients quickly grilled. The sauce from the lentils was enough to flavor the skewers or, if we'd wanted to, we could have mixed it all together. But I wanted to enjoy the kidney all by itself.

This weekend: The rest of it all: Brussels sprouts and sweetbreads (yay!); baked egg with truffles served with venison spaetzle; dessert and cheese.