Marcus Seaman and Amelia Nicholson, owners of The Brisley Bell, will be celebrating with locals this Christmas after scooping the Best Pub award, sponsored by Lacons Brewery
There are few better places to embrace the festive spirit than at the bar of your cosy, village pub, and at The Brisley Bell, near Dereham, it is quickly becoming a Christmas Day tradition.
“Our favourite bit of Christmas Day is when we open the bar for a couple of hours late afternoon and the locals pop in for a drink. There is great banter and some proper festive cheer which we absolutely love,” says Marcus. “Amelia and I have got to know a lot of people since we came to the pub and we love that aspect of owning a pub, being part of a community.”
For Christmas Day opening he says it will be him and Amelia manning the bar.
“Unlike a lot of other pub restaurants we won’t be opening to serve lunch on Christmas Day but there will be a very warm welcome for everyone when they pop in. We think it is really important for our staff to have some time off and to be able to spend the day with their loved ones. We will still be embracing the full festive spirit though and will have a great menu in the weeks running up to the big day. It will be our own take on Christmas dinner, not so much traditional roast turkey, but a lot of seasonal game; rich hearty flavours with a twist, and some indulgent desserts.
“This is one of my favourites at Christmas – our head chef’s take on a traditional bread and butter pudding.”
Recipe: panettone bread and butter pudding
Ingredients (serves eight)
- 1 panettone
- 100g butter
- 500ml double cream
- 500ml milk
- 200g sugar
- 1 vanilla pod
- 10 free range eggs.
Method
Slice the panettone into 1cm thick slices and carefully lay them out on a baking tray. Boil the milk, adding the vanilla pod to infuse. Mix the eggs, cream and sugar with the milk until smooth then sieve the mixture on to the sliced panettone. Let the panettone soak the mixture up for 20 minutes then dice the butter and lay on top. Heat oven to 165C and cook for 45 minutes. Serve with love and festive cheer (and custard or vanilla ice cream).
The Green, Brisley, Dereham NR20 5DW; thebrisleybell.co.uk; 01362 668040
