THE other night a friend from Scotland arranged for us to meet at The Draper’s Arms Pub in Islington, a place that I am ashamed I had not heard of, but I thought it a very good half-way meeting place.
On the way I remembered why I seldom drive in that direction and that is due to the horrendous speed bumps. I worked out last year that I spent more than three times as much on car suspension repairs than eating out which is something I do regularly due to my job.
But the journey to the pub was worth every hump and bump.
The pub is an award-winner and I am not surprised. It has a lovely natural look with striped tables well spaced round the room and the odd corner with sofas and cosy chairs round an open fire.
Also my test of a good place is if the loos are pleasant. I feel then that the kitchen is probably clean and well run and please don’t ask me why that goes hand in hand but in my mind it does. The loos were fine.
Moving swiftly on, I had a pear and goat-cheese salad to start and then mussels with cider, Crème Fraiche and tarragon and both were delicious.
I am going to vary the recipes a little as I did a goat cheese recipe recently but if you want the real thing I recommend a visit and they even serve food on a Sunday evening.

Autumn Salad
This could be a perfect light supper dish or smart starter for a dinner party.
You could vary the cheese and have any blue cheese or a good crumbly white English cheese such as Cheshire. Come the winter you could use orange segments instead of pears.
Serves 4 for a starter

Ingredients
One chicory;
One large ripe pear, quartered and core removed;
Two medium beetroots, cooked and peeled;
75g of Wensleydale with cranberries;
Extra Virgin Olive Oil;
Rock salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Method
Lay out four plates and place whole chicory leaves over the plate.
Cut each quarter pear into thin slices on each plate. Slice the beetroot and layer on the slices and then crumble the cheese over each plate. Drizzle with olive oil and then season and garnish with salt and pepper.

Mussels with Cider
Make sure that you buy the mussels from a good fishmonger.
All the shells should be tightly shut if they are fresh and I normally buy them washed and cleaned unless I am by the coast.
Serves 4

Ingredients
Four pints of mussels, well-washed and with beards removed;
25g of butter;
One small onion, peeled and chopped finely;
Five fl oz of cider;
A handful of tarragon, chopped finely.

Method
Check through the shells and any open ones should be discarded.
Melt the butter in a large heavy based saucepan and then add the onion. Cook for about one minute and then add the cider.
Cook for a further one minute over a medium heat. Turn up the heat and add the mussels covering with the lid immediately.
Shake the pan from time to time over the high heat for three to five minutes or until all the shells have opened. Discard any that have not opened at this point.
Remove the empty half of the shell from each mussel and place the other side with the mussel attached in a soup bowl. When finished, reheat the juice and add the tarragon. Simmer on a low heat for one minute and then pour over the mussels and serve.

Clare’s Kitchen
41 Chalcot Road
Primrose Hill, NW1
Tel: 020 7586 8433
www.clareskitchen.co.uk