The autumn card: pies, and one new pudding
The autumn card has arrived at the lounge, with two new pies, a new soup and a pudding that the regulars have decided is theirs.
What Stuart changed
Stuart Butler changes the card twice a year, and he does so with the air of a man making an unwelcome announcement. This autumn, he says, he has changed very little. The soups are the same, the roast is the same, and the pastry is still rolled by hand at nine every morning. What is new, in his view, is only the filling.
There are two new pies. The first is a mushroom and leek pie for those who do not eat meat, made with field mushrooms and a little cheese. The second is a beef pie built around the local chuck steak, slowly cooked in a dark gravy. Both arrive in short pastry cases with a lid of puff, and both come with mash and buttered peas.
There is also a new soup, chicken and corn, which Stuart describes as a country kitchen standard. It is thick, pale gold and served with a slice of bread. It was tasted at a staff supper before it was added to the card, and Denise pronounced it the best she had eaten since she was a girl.
The pudding the regulars adopted
Butterscotch tart
The new pudding is a butterscotch tart: a crisp pastry case, a soft butterscotch filling and a little cream at the side. It was meant to be a trial, appearing on the board for a week. By the second night, three regulars had asked for it by name, and by the weekend it was impossible to take it off.
How it is made
Stuart cooks the butterscotch slowly, stirring until it is the colour of dark honey, and pours it into the case while it is still warm. It sets in an hour and is served at room temperature. The pastry is the same short pastry as the pies, rolled thinner, and baked until it snaps.
A note on the puddings
The steamed jam pudding, the apple pie and the lemon delicious pudding are unchanged, and I have been told firmly that they will remain so. If you are unsure which pudding to choose, ask Denise. She has eaten all of them, and she is entirely honest about which she prefers.