The Olive Branch

Owner/licensees:​ Ben Jones and Sean Hope

Tenure:​ Freehold

Head chef:​ Sean Hope, chef proprietor

Turnover:​ £1.1m

Covers:​ 48, plus 24 outside

Covers per week:​ 700

Wet:dry split:​30:70

Best-selling dishes:​ Tempura-battered tiger prawns, sweet chilli sauce (£7.75); Olive Branch fish & chips, tomato sauce & minted peas (£12.50); roast loin of venison (Corby Glen), chestnut mash, stir-fried Brussels sprouts and bacon, (£22.50).

On the menu:​ Olive Branch Bresaola, celeriac remoulade; oven-baked sardines, soused aubergine; stuffed fillet of Dover sole, crab and scallop mousse; game casserole, rosemary gratin, juniper dumplings; rice pudding, crab-apple jelly.

New for 2008:​ Plans for small recycling site to be used by pub, customers and villagers, and a possible smallholding in the paddock opposite the pub.

Best business idea in 2007:​ Our own cookery book.

Chef's favourite ingredients:​ Inspired by whatever is in season and local - at the moment, quinces, crab apples, local game (venison and hare), sloes.

Three things that make your pub stand out from the crowd:​ Friendly, knowledgeable and informative staff, a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere and a passion for the product.

Best-selling beer and wine:​ Olive Oil House Bitter, £2.50; Domain du Laballe house white, £14.50; mulled wine, £2.50 a glass.

Extras:​ A pub shop list (a list of pub-made and local produce available to buy from the pub) and take-away wine list; a house across the road (Beech House) with three small suites and three bedrooms, with breakfast served in the barn at the Olive Branch; we have written and published our own small cookbook; we offer an at-home dinner-party service providing chefs and waiting staff; seasonal cookery demonstrations.

Recipe

Shallot Tatin - Serves 4 people

Ingredients:​

8 medium sized banana style shallots (approx weight =45 gm each)

For the braising stock:

50 ml white balsamic vinegar (cider vinegar will suffice)

1 tea spoon of pink peppercorns

50 ml olive oil

20 gm dark soft brown sugar

300 ml of chicken stock (or 1 stock cube)

2 pinches of salt

2 pinches ground black pepper

1 sprig of thyme

1 sprig of sage

Method:​

Peel the shallots and place into a saucepan with the above ingredients , bring to the boil then simmer for approx 15 mins or until soft, then allow to cool and remove shallots and pat dry.

(NB- use a 10 cm diameter round cooking tin and smear with a knob of unsalted butter/splash of the braising stock and half a teaspoon of caster sugar).

Puff pastry- use 4 x 16 gm of rolled out puff pastry 3mm thick in 10 cm diameter

Assembly and cooking:​

Place the shallots into the prepared tatin tin, lay the rolled pastry over the shallots and mould the pastry around the shallot.

Bake in a preheated oven at 210 degrees celscius for approx 8-10 mins

When cooked to golden brown remove from the oven ,turn out and allow to cool slightly,

Serving suggestions:​

Dress a little mixed salad leaves in a bowl with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and place on the plate.

Take a thin slice of good quality stilton (I prefer colston bassett) and grill on top of the tatin.

Place tart on the dressed salad leaves with a little seasoning and serve whilst still warm.

Olive Branch Main Street, Clipsham, Rutland, LE15 7SH 01780 410355 www.theolivebranchpub.com​