/">News From The CountryMan Inn

The Countryman Allotment

As you know, all the food we serve is grown locally. You can’t get much closer than The Countryman allotment.

So far we have planted swiss chard, beetroot and courgettes. Unfortunately, we had to replant our carrots as the frost got them before. You see, things like this happen to landlords too!

So keep an eye out on our menu for our allotment offerings.

The Countryman Pub and Restaurant, Shipley, West Sussex

St. George’s Day – Friday 23rd April 2010

Come and celebrate St. George’s day at The Countryman pub in Shipley, West Sussex.

We will be joined by the Sompting Village Morris Dancing Men from 7pm followed by BBQ (weather permitting) http://s-v-m.moonfruit.com/

Alan Vaughan on the Jo Talbot Show, Radio Sussex

Catch up with Alan on BBC radio Sussex and Radio Surrey on ‘Dig It’ with Jo Talbot on Sunday 25th April.  Alan’s subject is called “From the plot to the plate” and it is on between 11.30am-12pm. This show is on BBC iPlayer, so if you miss it, Click here to log on.

You can meet Alan in person if you come on down to The Countryman! Experience fine country food, ales and wine at this beautiful West Sussex pub.

The Countryman Pub and Restaurant, Shipley, West Sussex

Get 10% discount on restaurant bills for tables of up to 6 persons and 10% off all farm shop purchases. If you haven’t seen our menu yet, click here.

All you have to do is log on to our website and join our VIP Privilege area to become a member. It’s easy peasy.

We look forward to seeing you at our The Countryman soon!

Check out & join the Countryman group on facebook be the first to hear about our special offers  & latest news

Facebook is a popular social networking site which enables users to communicate in a quick and direct way.

Click here to visit our facebook page.

If you don’t have a Facebook account, you can set one up here. We hope to see you soon!

Take Away Food at The Countryman

The Countryman restaurant and pub located in West Sussex are pleased to announce that they have recently launched a new take away menu.We listened to what our customers told us. We found out that you want to enjoy the fresh, homecooked country food, but sometimes you don’t have time to spend the whole evening relaxing – you need to get on with work or you want to stay in and catch the latest episode of EastEnders. So our takeaway service is serving the heart of Shipley, Southwater, Dial Post and Partridge Green communities! Don’t delay, give us a call and enjoy a scrumptious burger or pizza. Yum!

The moral of this story is that we take your feedback seriously, so if there is anything else you want to tell us, do please contact us via email or phone 01403 824229.

CHIPS £1.50

GARLIC BREAD £1.50

CHEESY GARLIC BREAD £2.00

MIXED VEGETABLE SELECTION £2.00

CHEFS SALAD £2.00

COUNTRYMAN FISHCAKES & CHIPS £5.00

SCAMPI & CHIPS £6.00

BATTERED FISH AND CHIPS £6.50
(Cod or plaice)

COUNTRYMAN CHEESEBURGER & CHIPS £5.50

BBQ BACK RIBS £6.50

CUMBERLAND SAUSAGE (2) & CHIPS £4.50

BATTERED SAUSAGE (2) & CHIPS £4.50

STEAK AND ALE PIE & MASH £7.00

ROAST BELLY OF PORK WITH BUBBLE & SQUEAK £7.00

CHICKEN CURRY & RICE (mild or spicy) £6.50

SPICY MEATBALLS & PASTA £6.50

PASTA WITH FRESH TOMATO SAUCE £5.50

HOMEMADE PIZZA 9” £6.00
(Tomato sauce & Cheese)

EXTRA TOPPINGS £1.00 each
Ham, Chicken, Sweet corn, Tuna, Chorizo, Peppers, Anchovies
Olives, Feta, Jalapenos, Fresh tomato, Extra Cheese

All this delicious food served straight from the kitchens of The Countryman Pub and Restaurant, Shipley, West Sussex.

Over the Moon at The Countryman, West Sussex

We are pleased to announce that we will be selling a a new winter brew called ‘OVER THE MOON’ now being sold until end of February. It is brewed by the Dark Star brewery in Partridge Green.

A brief history on the Dark Star brewery

Dark Star was originally the name of a porter developed by Rob Jones when he was emoloyed by the Pitfield Brewery. The name ‘Dark Star’ comes from the Grateful Dead stong and was highly successful, being voted Champion Beer of Britain in 1987. Rob Jones took the ’secret’ recipe with him when he moved to the brewery based at the Evening Star. The beer itself is now known as Dark Star original.

The Dark Star Brewing Company was launched in 1994 in the cellar of The Evening Star Pub, Brighton. It became apparent that the brewery could not keep up with up with their customers, so in 2001 the brewery relocated to a new purpose-built brewery in near Haywards Heath, and finally, a third move to a 16,000 square foot site in Partridge Green, which makes the Dark Star Brewing Company our closest brewery.

Enjoy great ales at The Countryman pub in West Sussex

Over the Moon is 3.8 ABV so you can enjoy a few without falling over. Remember that The Countryman is in the CAMRA guide and is a popular pub in West Sussex with a wide range of good quality ales and great food.

Farm Shop at The Countryman West Sussex

Due to popular demand, we have started planning to start work on the Countryman Farm Shop. The Countryman Farm Shop will consist of a new area dedicated to showcasing produce from local suppliers. As well as our own homegrown produce there will be fresh vegetables from keen local gardeners, homemade chutneys and preserves, local cheese and cold meat selection, homemade bread and cakes, and fresh milk, cream and eggs from various farms.

Many of the vegetables that you will see are from the same suppliers that we use for our freshly cooked food at The Countryman – the best country pub in West Sussex.

A few interesting facts about Farmers Markets

The first farmers’ market started 13 years ago in 1997 and there are now over 500! This proves the greedy supermarkets haven’t completely won! On the contrary –  these statistics prove that the public want fresh, high quality food and they want to support local farmers and suppliers. Farmers markets are usually held on a weekly or monthly basis – the emphasis being on quality and freshness. When you talk to the stallholder, you will normally find that you are talking to the actual farmer that grew the produce for sale!  Source: Alliance & Leicester Commercial Banking news.

Our Farm Shop will be open every day!

Once our farm shop is open, you will not have to wait a whole month to buy your fresh food, as our shop will be open every day during The Countryman pub opening hours. We will update you on the progress of the our new farm shop regularly.

Burns Night at The Countryman in Shipley, West Sussex

We can’t believe it’s been a year since the last Burns Night! Yes, it’s true – our sell-out event has arrived once again! Tickets are now available for the 2010 Countryman Burns night which is on 25th January. You will enjoy our traditional Scottish menu. Plus our very own Highland Piper will be playing throughout the evening and addressing our special haggis. The evening will be completed with live entertainment by the Falloons.

Just in case you didn’t know this, Burns Night is named after Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) who was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. Burns is believed to be Scotland’s national poet and he is celebrated across the world. His poems are written in Scots but is understandable in English!

So come along to our fine dining pub in Shipley, West Sussex to enjoy a night of tradition, great food, beers, ales and fine wines. Phone 01403 741383 to buy your ticket.

Brookland White chickens served at The Countryman

We are pleased to announce that we are working with a new supplier called Brookland White Artisan Poulterers who are based in South Godstone.

Brookland White hold old fashioned values of high animal welfare, traditional outdoor rearing and low food miles. They raise and process all their birds (capons, ducks, chickens and turkeys) so you know exactly where the chickens have come from, and that they have had a good life. Brookland White chickens are not the normal ‘Free Range’ chickens that are being mass produced on large units. Instead, the chickens return to past times where traditional methods and home milled feed are used. All the food is GM free including wheat, peas, barley, oats and triticale are home grown on the farm, along with GM free soya, minerals, vitamins and spices to balance the ration. Unlike many other free range chicken producers, Brookland White do not routinely use antibiotics, instead they rely upon helping the birds to develop a healthy immune system.

Birds are naturally shy and if they have food and drink inside will often never venture out of the hut. To overcome this, the feeders and drinkers are outside to ensure that the birds spend as much time in the field as possible. In fact, the chickens have 24 hour access to the field and they are often grazing or sleeping in the moonlight. It almost sounds romantic!

When the birds are ready around about 12 weeks old (shed birds are killed at about 6 weeks) they are killed, plucked, dressed and wrapped on the farm. The birds are hung in the chiller for at least 3 days.

So when you eat chicken at The Countryman, you know that your chicken had the best life a chicken could have.

Call 01403 741383 to reserve your table, or you can click here to book a table through this website.

Catch the last glimpses of autumn with our delicious Autumn crumble cake. Did you go a bit mad and pick too many blackberries this autumn? Are they hogging space in your freezer? If so, our autumn crumble cake is an excellent excuse to use up your frozen blackberries! If you don’t have blackberries, simply use up whatever frozen fruits you may have kicking around in your freezer.

At the Countryman, we LOVE FOOD and HATE WASTE. Have you seen the website called www.lovefoodhatewaste.com? This is an excellent website which is loaded with recipes to use up your left overs plus any odds and ends which may have gone a bit manky in your fridge.

If you simply can’t be bothered to cook, or you fancy treating yourself to a night out,  then why not phone 01403 741383 and book a table so you can sample the chef’s version of our Countryman Autumn Crumble Cake.

Ingredients:

175g unsalted butter
160g golden caster sugar
4 eating apples, (Cox’s or Braeburn) peeled, cored and cut into 8 wedges

OR…
4 pears (conference or Williams) Peeled and cut into wedges
3 large free range eggs, beaten
200g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
150g crème fraîche
150g blackberries
3-4 tbsp clear local honey
Double cream to serve
FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING
50g unsalted butter
50g soft brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
75g plain flour
50g blanched hazelnuts toasted and roughly chopped
METHOD

1. Heat the oven to 180C (fan 160C) or gas 4. Butter and line a 20cm springform tin with baking parchment.
2. To make the crumble topping, melt the butter, then mix in the soft brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and chopped hazelnuts.
3. Heat 25g of butter in a large frying pan. Add 1 tbsp caster sugar and the apple/pear wedges. Cook for about 10 minutes until the apples/pears are tender and golden. Cool.
4. Beat together the remaining butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually blend in the eggs. Using a large metal spoon, fold in the flour and baking powder. Add the crème fraîche and mix until smooth.
5. Spoon roughly two-thirds of the cake mixture into the tin, spread level and scatter over one-third of the crumble and the blackberries . Top with the remaining cake mixture and level again. Scatter on another third of the crumble and arrange the apple/pear wedges on top. Finally top with the remaining crumble.
6. Bake for about 90 mins. Loosely cover the top of the cake with a sheet of baking parchment or foil halfway through the cooking time if it is browning too quickly.
7. Cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes and then transfer to a serving plate. Warm the honey and drizzle over the cake. Serve warm with double cream.

How can you not resist!