Well, it certainly feels like we’re on the countdown to Christmas, doesn’t it?! We’ve got Halloween out of the way, Black Friday is in full swing, and the Christmas Lights are being switched on in Skipton next week (Sunday 27th November). Also, if you’re in an energetic mood, the now traditional Santa Fun Run is also taking place, so if anyone fancies getting their costumes on and partaking in the 5km run, Santa hats off to you!
Back here at the pub in Gargrave, we’ve been quite busy ourselves over the last few weeks. Our winter menu is now in place, and it seems to be going down well with everyone. It’s the time of year for heart-warming dishes, with the strong, robust flavours our chefs are renowned for. There are already a few firm favourites, so we thought we’d take this opportunity to run through our recommendations and ‘must try’ dishes, as well as highlighting the abundance of fresh, seasonal produce which our chefs will be working their magic with throughout the Autumn and Winter months.
A Taste of The Mediterranean
Perhaps not where you’d expect me to start a run-down of our Yorkshire pub menu but bear with me on this one! Just because we’re a traditional pub in Gargrave, doesn’t mean we can’t expand our palates a touch, does it? On a serious, note, Head Chef Chris has brought a couple of Mediterranean dishes to our menu this winter, namely the Mozzarella & Tomato Foccacia Pizza and the now famous Catalan Prawns. Both of which are going down a storm in the pub.
If you’ve never tried Foccacia (pronounced fo-kah-cha) bread, it’s a kind of flat bread which is seasoned with herbs and topped with lashings of extra virgin olive oil. It has small divots across the surface of the bread, which are pressed by hand, in order to capture all the lovely toppings that adorn it. In this case, we use mozzarella, tomato and homegrown basil leaves. Find it on our main menu on the starters section. It really is a showstopper!
The second Med dish to grace our winter menu, is a Masons Arms old favourite, Catalan Prawns. If you’ve ever been to Spain, you’ll probably have either tried this dish or something very similar, or seen the locals mopping up the delicious juices with a load of fresh bread! It’s made with King Prawns, lots of garlic, butter, chilli, parsley and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Well, here at the Masons it’s no different. We’ve emulated the Spanish classic, just in case you’re missing the summer holiday vibes too much over the long winter months!
The Pie Shop
A brand new addition to our menu is The Pie Shop. Now, don’t get me wrong, we’ve always been famous for a homemade pie here at the Masons. But this year, we’re really going to town. After the success of Pie Week earlier in the year, we thought what would be better than making the favourites a permanent fixture on our menu. One that I must encourage you to try is the Homemade Steamed Steak ‘n’ Kidney Pudding, which is served with mashed potato, Yorkshire caviar (mushy peas!) and a rich ale gravy. What’s better than suet pastry filled with tender steak and kidneys on a cold dark evening, perhaps washed down with a pint of Timothy Taylors Landlord. Now we’re talking!
For all you fish lovers, we’ve not forgotten about you! We’ve still got our classic Fish Pie, which is generously filled with haddock, salmon, smoked haddock & prawns in a creamy sauce, and topped with mashed potato and a parmesan crust. And just to make sure we’re being healthy; it’s served with garden peas! Can you really get more British than these dishes? We recommend a lovely, chilled glass of Pinot Grigio to go alongside this dish. Perfect!
The Classics
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Masons Arms menu without our Classics making an appearance. To name just a few we have Salt & Vinegar Battered Haddock, Pan Fried Calves Liver, and Chicken Breast with Wild Mushroom & Garlic Cream, Creamy Mash and Steamed Kale. But one dish from our classics that I think really deserves a mention is the delicious Bangers & Mash, which are served with a wonderfully sweet, caramelised onion gravy. Now, the reason I mention this dish in particular is the fact that every week, we change up the flavours of sausages that are on the menu. So, one week you could be having juicy, thick Cumberland’s, the next week you could be enjoying Pork and Leek Chipolatas! The possibilities are endless with this one!
In Other News…
We hope you enjoyed reading about some of the delicious dishes on our brand-new Winter Menu. Of course, if there’s one thing that’s better than reading about food, it’s eating food, so come in and join us!
Just before we leave you, we do have some news…! The pub will be closed from Sunday 27th November until Thursday 1st December due to some major work in the bar, cellar and kitchen. We’re really excited about the changes, and we’ll keep everyone posted with progress photos, so watch out on our Facebook page for more of that!
Thanks for reading,
The Masons Arms Team