Win a £400 voucher to spend at Hawksmoor!

Your October update from matchingfoodandwine.com

Whoops! I’m a bit late letting you know about this month’s comp - blame it on the day job (it’s PEAK tasting season) but it’s by no means too late to go in for it and win a whopping voucher for an utterly memorable meal. 

For those of you to whom the name Hawksmoor means nothing it’s an award-winning group of steak restaurants which just happens to be run by my son Will whose arm I can occasionally twist for an outrageously good prize.

They have seven restaurants in London, one in Edinburgh, one in Manchester and one opening shortly in Liverpool. Oh and one in New York but the voucher doesn’t apply to that, I’m sorry to say.

You can use it in any way or in any one of the UK restaurants you want. A splash out meal for two (though that would take some doing), a slap-up meal for four or spread the love with a feast for six, eight or even 10 by taking advantage of one of the lunch or early evening meal deals.

If you worry that you’re not much of a meat eater - although Hawksmoor is the perfect place to enjoy a great steak - they also have a fantastic seafood menu.

Here’s the link you need to click to be in with a chance of winning it.

I know there are a lot of you Hawksmoor fans out there so good luck!

Last month’s top wine pairings

My top pairings last month were

Monkfish and Meursault
Yes, I often pair monkfish with red wine but it goes brilliantly with a rich chardonnay like Meursault too.

Sauvignon blanc and salsa verde
Proving that you can drink white wine - even a crisp tangy white wine - with lamb. (Tip - it’s all about the herbs!)

Roast pork with an alcohol-free IPA
The absence of alcohol makes no difference - it’s the hops that are the key to the pairing.  

Recipes you might want to make

Baked polenta with feta, béchamel and za’atar tomatoes
A pizza that’s not a pizza from the brilliant new Ottolenghi cookbook (which is our giveaway for paid subscribers this month).

Cavatelli with sausage, mint and tomato
From the brilliant Rachel Roddy’s A-Z of Pasta

or, for the last few days of this Indian summer, how about Sabrina Ghayour’s chicken and cucumber salad with pul biber and tahini lime dressing

Drinks you might want to try

I was frankly overwhelmed with choice but here are my highlights from September.

Meanwhile in the Guardian I took a look at wines chefs have put their name to, suggested (controversially) that it’s OK to dilute your wine and picked out my best buys from Lidl’s latest wine selection.

Posts you might find useful this month

Meanwhile as we hurtle towards winter it might be worth reminding you of

The best wines and beers to pair with meaty stews and casseroles 

Top wine (and other) matches for sausages

What to drink for Diwali

And with Hallowe’en coming fast up the track the perfect pairings for pumpkin pie

Finally, a reminder for those of you who are paid subscribers to Eat This Drink That to look out for tomorrow’s Friday 5 which includes a new coffee I’m crazy about, a very sexy mourvèdre (that’s a grape btw!) and some bargainous Morrisons wine buys …

Fiona

Why am I getting a newsletter from matchingfoodandwine.com?

As some of you are new to this list just a quick explanation that matchingfoodandwine.com is my free-to-use website where you can find pairings for all your favourite food and wines and Eat This Drink That is the subscription newsletter I’ve set up to help fund it. 

So if you do find the website useful it would be great if you’d take out a paid subscription to the newsletter which will gain you extra benefits by way of recipes, restaurant and wine recommendations plus cookbook giveaways and exclusive subscriber discounts.