Hand & Flowers

The Hand & Flowers

Licensees: Tom & Beth Kerridge

Tenure: Greene King leasehold

Head chef: Tom Kerridge

Total covers: 40 people in the dining room, 20 people in the bar. Large garden and patio seating 20.

Covers per week: 500

Wet:dry split: 30:70

Best-selling dishes: Braised shin of beef (£15.50), Oxfordshire fillet steak with Hand & Flowers chips, Béarnaise sauce (£22).

New for 2008: New pub kitchen; launch of demo kitchen and cookery demonstrations; two more bedrooms opening.

Best business idea in 2007: The launch of two bedrooms at Flower Cottage, adjacent to the pub.

On the menu: Glazed smoked haddock omelette (£8.50); spotted Dorset crab (£8.50); Squab pigeon and foie gras en croute (£19); haunch of venison with golden raisins and red cabbage (£17.50); rhubarb and ginger crumble (£6.50); apple tart with caramel ice cream (£6.50).

Chef's favourite ingredient: Bone marrow, served with braised shin of beef or with a tartare of tuna.

Three things that make your pub stand out from the crowd: Quality of the food and the sourcing of the ingredients. High volume of repeat customers giving the pub a great atmosphere. Friendly, relaxed but efficient service.

Best-selling beer and wine: South African Whole Berry Cabernet Sauvignon Springfield Estate Robertson (£33).

Recipe​

Potted Dorset crab with cucumber chutney

Serves 8

Ingredients: 2 cucumbers, 2 tbs mustard seeds, 200ml white wine vinegar. 100g sugar, 4 bay leaves, 10 white peppercorns, 2 star anise, 10 coriander seeds,6 tbs malden seasalt, 300g picked white crab meat, 100g brown crab meat, 2 egg yolks, 1 tbs Dijon mustard, 1 tbs white wine vinegar, 200ml olive oil, 100ml double cream, 1 shallot - finely chopped, 1/2 apple - peeled & diced, 2 tbs chopped chives, 150g melted butter.

Method:

Cucumber chutney: Peel and de-seed the cucumbers and dice them into 1/2 cm cubes.Place in a bowl and mix in the 6tbs of malden salt

Put in the fridge and leave for six hours. Bring to the boil 200ml of white wine vinegar, the sugar, bay leaves, white peppercorns, star anise and coriander seeds, and reduce by a third. Pass through a fine sieve and leave to cool. In a frying pan, dry fry the mustard seeds until toasted. Take off the heat and leave to cool.

Wash off the salted cucumbers and drain in a colander. Mix together the mustard seeds, the cucumber and the vinegar mix and leave to one side.

Crab: In a food processor, blend together the brown crab meat, egg yolks, Dijon mustard and one tbs of white wine vinegar. Slowly add the olive oil to make a crab mayonnaise, season with salt and pepper, pass the mixture trough a fine sieve. Whip up double cream to soft peaks. Fold together the crab mayonnaise, double cream, shallot, chives and apple, then fold in the picked white crab meat. Season and spoon into ramekin moulds to set. Once set, cover with melted butter and place in the fridge. Serve with toasted brown bread, the cucumber chutney and some chopped dill.

The Hand & Flowers 126 West Street, Marlow, Bucks, SL7 2BP 01628 482277 www.thehandandflowers.co.uk​