Home comforts

Jul 11 2008 by Jane Hall, The Journal

Vicky is confident enough in her own abilities to stand up and say when she has bought in. “If it is somebody’s else’s then I always say so. On the whole everything is made here, but Beckleberry’s is superb quality and I’m happy to have it on the menu.

“It is time consuming cooking everything yourself, but I believe that attention to detail is important.”

It’s this attitude that has had the food critics and diners alike reaching for the superlatives since the Grafton opened its doors last November.

The Journal’s own Geoff Laws described Vicky as taking “great care over everything that leaves her kitchen,” and described her treacle tart as “hedonistic,” with “butter pastry and syrupy rich filling so amazingly light it had hardly any gravitational pull.”

He concluded of Vicky: “It’s extra clever stuff when you can make basic ingredients sparkle like this.” Other reviews have praised Vicky’s “well thought out and exceptionally presented menu,” whose “over-riding theme is quality.”

Not bad when you realise this is the first time Vicky has headed up her own kitchen after a 25-year career path that has veered from cordon bleu training in London, to working as a cook for a baroness in Venice, then as a secretary and in public relations, before moving back into the world of food as a freelance chef. Vicky is understandably pleased at the accolades that are being heaped on her, but at the same time is modest enough about her own talents to admit: “I’m not really a professionally trained chef. I consider myself more of a good cook.

“I think you are better cooking what you like to eat. I don’t like food that has been over-tampered with and over-produced. I like simple food with great flavours that let the ingredients speak for themselves.

“And I always try to put an interesting vegetarian main on as a lot of restaurants will only offer things like vegetarian lasagne. It’s boring and unimaginative. Why should vegetarians be treated as second-class diners?

“To help mark Vegetable Week we had a totally vegetarian day and it went down really well. People really appreciated what we did. It’s National Allotment Week between August 11-17, and I’m going to attempt to have a menu that is totally composed of things from my own allotment.

“As far as quality, local food goes, the allotment is as good as it gets. There are few food miles – just the 14 I have to drive from Newcastle to Durham – and I don’t use any insecticides or other chemicals.”

Vicky – born and raised in Embleton on the north Northumberland coast and a pupil at Alnwick’s former Our Lady’s Convent High School – describes falling back in love again with professional cooking as “my mid-life crisis. I wasn’t really enjoying what I was doing, so in the May before I was 40 I left my public relations job and freelanced for a couple of years in Perthshire and at the Ship Inn at Newton-by-the-Sea near Embleton, before getting the job here at the Grafton.

“It’s the first time I’ve worked in a hotel and the first time I have set-up a kitchen from scratch and been a head chef, but I’m really enjoying it.”

Vicky’s boss, Mary Parker, the person responsible for turning a near-derelict home into a bespoke hotel, is understandable pleased to have Vicky on board.

“People are enjoying eating here. Our tremendous location combined with our quality food, is getting people talking about us. Like our diners, I like the fact that Vicky is offering a simple table d’hote menu and that everything on it is fresh.”

It’s time for Vicky to head back to the kitchen to prepare for that night’s influx of diners. She’s expecting a full-house.

Her main worry is how much longer she is going to be able to eke out her dwindling supply of homemade raspberry vinaigrette for the pan-fried goats’ cheese.

:: Grafton House is at 40 South Street, Durham City, (0191) 375-6790, www.grafton-house.co.uk

Sweet Potato & Red Lentil Curry (serves four)

"This recipe is supposed to be made with courgettes, but I have changed it around so it has become my own," Vicky says. "It is one of the most popular dishes we have on the Grafton menu.

"Obviously the sweet potatoes can’t be grown locally, but I feel you need some variety on the menu."

:: 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

:: 250g red lentils

:: 1 tin coconut milk

:: 1 medium onion, finely chopped

:: 3 tbsp sunflower oil

:: 1 tbsp chopped garlic

:: 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

:: 2 tsp ground turmeric

:: 2 heaped tablespoons mild curry paste

:: 200g baby leaf spinach

:: Coriander to garnish

1. Gently fry onions, garlic and ginger in oil until soft, add turmeric and curry paste, stir for a couple of minutes then add the lentils and coconut milk plus a tin and a half of water.

2. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add sweet potato chunks, continue simmering (adding a little more water if necessary) until sweet potato is soft, around 15 minutes. Remove from heat, stir spinach through so it wilts, garnish with chopped coriander, serve with basmati rice.