Buxton Tap House

Buxton Tap House
George St

Buxton SK17 6AT

Let's be honest, I am so behind that it no longer makes sense to try and do posts in order. So here's something from last Friday, when we were on our way to G&H's wedding in Manchester. Since we were driving, we decided to spend a night in Buxton so that we wouldn't have to get up quite as early on Saturday to make it to the party. Buxton is small - with a great park, opera house, and other villagey charms. For the size of the place, there are an awful lot of drinking spots - but we settled on the Buxton Tap House due to their large selection of beers that they produce themselves. For those of you curious about the beers, follow A on Untapped - I'm just going to cover the food. We had the night's special of smoked salmon (smoked on site, which you could certainly taste!), along with a couple of "sliders" which were more like full sized sandwiches - stuffed to the brim with pulled pork, bacon, sausage and cheese. That was actually overkill - I picked out the bacon and sausage and had that with the top half of the roll, then got through the generous and tender pile of pulled pork. We also had the mac and cheese, which I would skip - it's not bad but it's not worth the calories either. Not a bad option for some dinner with your interesting beers - wish we had more time to explore Buxton properly but oh well.

Colcannon Soup

I've probably already made this soup three or four times since discovering it. It's full of flavor from all the leeks and chicken broth, and feels healthy because of the kale and the cabbage, but not too healthy - the richness of potatoes and cream and butter still make it a really enjoyable soup. Proportions are a bit different from the original since I tend to use entire packages of things and this is based on the usual sizes I can get from my grocery shops.

Colcannon Soup

Based on this recipe from Simply Recipes
Serves 8

Ingredients

75g butter
600g sliced leeks
1/2 head sliced and chopped white cabbage (approx 500g)
200g sliced and chopped kale or cavolo nero
6 medium peeled and diced white potatoes
6 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
170ml double cream
4 green onions, thinly sliced

Method

1. Melt butter in a large, heavy bottomed soup pot on medium heat. Add the sliced leeks, cabbage, and kale, toss to coat with the butter. Lower the heat to low, cover and gently cook until the greens are wilted, about 12 to 15 minutes.
2. Add the diced potatoes to the pot, along with the chicken stock, bay leaves, and salt. Increase heat to bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer, and cook until the potatoes are softened and falling apart, about 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Remove from heat. Swirl in the white pepper, double cream, and sliced green onions. Taste and add more salt and pepper to taste.