the swan inn - ProWare Kitchen

Blueberry Cheesecake Soufflé with Cream Cheese Ice Cream by Paul Welburn

July 26, 2023 1:23 pm Comments Off

Love blueberries? Cheesecake? Soufflé? Well this Blueberry Cheesecake Soufflé with Cream Cheese Ice Cream by Paul Welburn is the perfect pud for you! Served in our Stainless Steel Tri-Ply 9cm Mini Pan, it’s a showstopper and ideal for any dinner party. Paul is a longtime friend and collaborator of ProWare; see why he loves using our pans…

“I absolutely love the Pan ranges from Proware, from amazing non stick pans to mini cocotte pans and mini copper pans, the versatility from cooking to serving makes Proware the go to pan ranges for me. As a past Head chef for the late Gary Rhodes, using the amazing Mini Copper for my nostalgic link to his Lobster omelette thermidor keeps the spirit of my mentor Chef Gary within my cooking with the help of Proware.”
Paul Welburn, 2023

Paul is currently the Chef Patron at The Swan Inn, Islip which we were lucky enough to visit for an amazing dinner. Read about our experiences here and book yourself in soon!

Serves: 7-8 individual portions

Ingredients (for the soufflé base)

500g blueberry puree
30g cornflour
25g water
10ml crème de cassis

Ingredients (for the soufflé base)

Blueberry souffle base
60g purée base
7 egg whites (keep yolks for the ice cream)
140 g sugar

Ingredients (for the crumble)

150g plain flour
100g caster sugar 100g unsalted butter

Ingredients (for the cream cheese ice cream)

250g milk
250g good quality cream cheese
90g sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
7 egg yolks

Equipment for Blueberry Cheesecake Soufflé with Cream Cheese Ice Cream by Paul Welburn

Stainless Steel Tri-Ply 9cam Mini Pan
7 bowls or ramekins (size 10.5cm x 7.2cm)
Thermometer
Ice Cream Churn
Sieve

Cooking Method for Blueberry Cheesecake Soufflé with Cream Cheese Ice Cream by Paul Welburn

Soufflé Base

Place the purée in a pan.
Mix the cornflour, water and crème de cassis to a paste and add to the purée.
Bring up to the boil, whisking all the time.
Once the mixture boils and thickens, cook out for 2 minutes and then remove from the heat and pour into a bowl and press down.
Cover in a piece of cling film to prevent a skin and allow to cool.

Soufflé

Butter the bowls (ramekins if using) with softened butter and place back in the fridge to chill.
Pre heat an oven to 180c.
Remove the cling film from the chilled base and beat with a whisk until soft and smooth (this helps to incorporate the whites).
In a stand mixer set with a whisk attachment place the egg whites and turn the machine on to its highest setting.
Once the whites begin to thicken gradually add half of the sugar, continue whisking and when a light meringue forms sprinkle the remaining sugar in to the whites to create a smooth meringue.
Turn the speed to low and allow to mix for 1 minute.
Turn off the machine, remove the whisk and the bowl.
Start to add half of the meringue to the soufflé base and beat in with a spatula to loosen and incorporate, then add the rest but this time fold gently to mix well but to avoid knocking the air out.
Once all incorporated, spoon the mixture into the pre buttered moulds to the top. Afterwards, smooth off the top of each soufflé with a pallete knife and then run your finger around the edge to remove excess mixture.
Place the soufflés on a baking tray and place into the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until they have risen by 1/3.
Remove from the oven and place into serving pans.

Crumble

Pre heat the oven to 180c.
Place the flour, butter and sugar into a bowl and rub together until the breadcrumb stage.
Place on a lined baking tray and spread out evenly.
Bake in the pre heated oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown, forking the mixture every 2 minute to cook evenly.
Remove and allow to cool

Cream Cheese Ice Cream

To start mix the cream, milk and sugar in a medium sized pan.
Bring the liquid to the boil so that the sugar dissolves and then add the lemon zest.
Place the yolks in a separate bowl and mix.
Pour and stir the hot mixture into the yolks to create a custard.
Place the mixture back into the pan and return to the stove over a medium to high heat.
Place a thermometer in the pan and bring the liquid slowly up to 76°C. Once the temperature has been reached, remove from the heat, pass through a fine sieve and allow the liquid to cool down in a bowl over ice.
Churn in an ice cream maker until set and serve.

Serve the souffle fresh from the oven, sprinkled with the crumble and a generous scoop of the cream cheese ice cream.

Cheddar and Ham Scones with Wild Garlic and Hazelnut Butter by Paul Welburn

April 11, 2023 11:41 am Comments Off

Wild garlic season runs from mid-February to April and so provides a great opportunity for creating vibrant, fresh dishes. Paul Welburn’s recipe for Chedder and Ham Scones with Wild Garlic and Hazelnut Butter is a a real celebration of wild garlic and British produce.

With the wild garlic season often covering both February Half Term and some of the Easter Holidays, it’s a great time to get the kids in the kitchen and involved in the cooking! From rubbing the butter and flour together to make breadcrumbs, to mixing everything together for the dough, this recipe has tonnes of tactile fun for the kids to get stuck into.

If you are lucky enough to have wild garlic growing nearby then you can also make this recipe into a whole-day activity!

Paul used our Cast-Iron Mini Casseroles for the scones because they are the perfect shape and look great too. You could bake and serve them in any of our mini range as all are suitable for oven cooking up to 260°C.

The Swan Inn, Islip is Paul’s latest venture and is well-worth a visit! He recently became Chef Patron and offers an amazing tasting menu that is both great value and delicious. You can read our blog piece from our visit to The Swan here and make sure you book in on their website because it’s not one to miss!

Paul baked and served these in our Mini Casserole Dishes but any of our mini range would be perfect for the job!

Serves: 6 (or 12 if you’re sharing)
Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients

For the Cheddar and Ham Scones

225g of self raising flour
1 tsp of baking powder
50g of butter, cold and diced
50g of ham, diced
100g of cheddar cheese
2 tsp of mustard
150ml of milk
Pinch of salt

For the Wild Garlic and Hazelnut Butter

200g of soft salted butter
35g of chopped wild garlic
25g of hazelnuts, crushed
25g of grated paramesan cheese

To serve

Extra parmesan cheese, grated

Equipment

Any of our mini range
Knife
Chopping board
Wooden spoon
Medium sized bowl

Cooking Method (for the Ham and Cheese Scones)

In a bowl, place the flour, baking powder, cheese, mustard, salt, ham and the cold butter.
Begin to rub the butter into the flour with your fingers to form breadcrumbs.
Next, add the milk and mix together until the mixture comes together to form a dough. You don’t need to knead this mixture, just mix it together to form a dough.
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and leave it to rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
After removing it from the fridge, lightly dust the table top with flour and roll the dough to 2.5cm thickness.
Cut the dough into 4 rounds with a cutter that is just a little smaller than the dish you are using for baking. Then re-roll the remaining dough to cut two more scones.
Next, oil and place a disc of grease proof paper into the 6 pots to line them and drop each scone into a pot.
Brush them with beaten egg and then bake them at 180c for 20-25 minutes.
Allow them to cool for 10 minutes.

Cooking Method (Wild Garlic, Parmesan and Hazelnut Butter)

Beat the ingredients together in a bowl until they are combined.
Once the scones are cooled slightly, serve with the butter on top and some more finely grated parmesan.
Enjoy!

A Night at The Swan Inn with Paul Welburn

February 28, 2023 4:15 pm Leave a Comment

On a crisp and clear February evening, we were warmly welcomed into The Swan Inn, nestled in the beautiful Oxfordshire village of Islip.

Headed up by Chef Patron Paul Welburn (who achieved a Michelin Star at The Oxford Kitchen), The Swan boasts cosy and stylish décor with a personal touch. The village’s roots are not forgotten with artwork from the local community up in the bar and restaurant.

The history

Before we get onto the food, a little about The Swan itself. A beautiful 17th century Cotswolds pub, it has frequently changed hands, and never quite found its place in the hearts of the locals. Until now. A group of four couples in the village approached Paul with a proposition – to make something really special – and The Swan was re-born. On arrival, the shiny, open kitchen is the first thing you see and the mouth-watering smells are a promise of what’s to come. The Swan boasts a cosy bar area, which you can relax in before moving through to the Cygnet restaurant and bar.

A must-see feature? The immaculately and inventively decorated toilets. They are themed, one in the style of each couple, and range from a London nightclub-inspired disco to Henley Regatta. The artwork, and sculptures are also captivating.

The impressive bar within the Cygnet Restaurant

The Tasting Menu

The four course tasting menu is £60 per person and changes each week so you have to keep coming back for more. And you’ll definitely want to! With a flight of paired wines at £40 per person, we’ve booked ourselves in again!

Paul’s innovative take on sesame prawn toast

Bread and Snacks

We started off with delicious warm bread, accompanied by salted butter and yeast butter – both divine. Paul created some delicious amuse bouches including his signature trout ceviche tartlets with gin and tonic coulis. A bold and innovative take on sesame prawn toast was plated in our Copper Tri-Ply mini frying pan and elevated a family favourite to fine dining heights. Our Copper Tri-Ply Range is especially fab for serving up dishes. Check out what else we love about it here!

These snacks went perfectly with a bold mango cocktail. The Cygnet boasts an excellent wine and cocktail list, with their bartenders happy to whip up whatever takes your fancy!

Each course celebrated a key ingredient. The carrot for starters, halibut in the fish dish, pork for the main, and pear for dessert. These ingredients absolutely sang and each dish was a completely new take on anything we have had before.

The joy of the Cygnet is that the menu changes every few weeks so there are always new and exciting culinary journies to be had! The produce is all locally sourced and is a real celebration of British products.

Starter

Paul’s starter was a whole carrot, cooked in its own juices, with dukkah, goats curd and black garlic. It was a true celebration of the carrot as we’ve never seen it before!

Charred carrot, dukkah, whipped goat’s curd, black garlic

Fish

The baby gem, caper and raisin puree was a real highlight of the halibut dish, which was topped off by a lemongrass velouté. The fish was melt-in-the-mouth, and combined with the rich flavours, was probably my favourite dish!

Main

A pork fillet and slow cooked collar, sage dumplings, ‘chutney’ sauce and radish was the main event. Impressively topped with a crackling tweel, the slow cooked collar melted in the mouth and, combined with the sage dumpling, was a real winter treat.

The ‘chutney’ sauce packed a punch and was full of flavour. The sage and radish cut through the rich pork. If you’re doing the wine pairing, you won’t be disappointed. Accompanying this wintery main was a full-bodied German 2020 Pinot Noir. It’s a testament to the thoughtfulness behind the wine pairings that we had never had a German Pinot Noir before, and it complimented the dish perfectly.

Dessert

Continuing along the theme of warming winter flavours, the sticky pear pudding with butterscotch sauce and iced pear was joyous.

This little corner of culinary heaven is just what the area needs. It’s delicious fine dining at affordable prices. The welcoming, friendly atmosphere of a village pub lives on, but it is now so much more than a pub. The Swan is also a 10 minute walk from the train station, with direct trains to London in just over an hour. It really is a must-visit destination, perfect for family dinners, celebrations, date night, or just a bit of a treat. Book on their website now!

Written by Eliza

Tag Archive: the swan inn