Birthday lunch

well I’m back after much to long away from here I’ve finally got something to say again and yes you guessed its another piece on somewhere I have been to eat, what can I say it’s what I love to do and why not share the experience with all that want to read about it. Hopefully it will inspire others to blog and maybe we will find the next Jay Rayner or Matthew fort amongst our mist.

So for my birthday my wonderful missus took me to Launceston place, a D&D restaurant in Kensington headed up in the kitchen by Tristan Welch. We arrived and what a beautiful little restaurant it is, staff we smiling and chatty without feeling fake or rehearsed which is not always the case. We settled into a lovely table in the window and giving menus and the wine list, as it was my birthday I had a glass of bubbles to start with. The bubbles I had where a Nyetimber classic curve 2005 which was clean and refreshing setting me up perfectly for the tasting menu the missus has suggested we have.

The bread arrived on a board with handmade butter and pickled herrings in little kilned jars, great touch the acidity of the herrings, warm bread and richness of really good butter.

For our amuse bouche we had “celery sorbet, walnut foam & apple salad”. Clean, fresh and fun this I really enjoyed despite the fact that I would steer clear of celery at all other times maybe a turning point in my hate of celery.

Next up was “Beef tartare, anchovy and wild chervil”. I love beef tartare but was not sure about the missus but she managed to finish the plate first and proclaimed her love for this classic dish, not served as traditionalist would like but really beautiful, the beef was the right temputure and the classic garnish reworked to Tristan vision of the dish.

This was followed by “West coast scallop roasted with aromatic herbs from the coastline”. This was explained to be one of the signature dishes and been on the menu for a good while and eating it explained why. The smell of scallops cooked in there shell is wonderful and the aromatic herbs and butter lift it to that next level without being over complicated.

So the next dish for me was the highlight of the meal “Truffled duck egg on toast”. The egg cooked long and slow was soft all the way though the yolk nearly a puree rich & decadent with the addition of truffles used in a couple of ways and crisp sour dough toast. So good when I go back I would have whichever menu this dish was on just to eat it again.

Following next “Baked Cornish sole, shrimps, coastline herbs, early potatoes”. Again beautifully cooked fish with little cubes of potatoes and shrimps cooked in there shell for extra flavour and again that smell you get roasting or sautéing seafood in its shell.

For my main course I had “Roast venison loin, golden beetroot and Jerusalem Artichoke”. It has been a while since I last had venison which was why I ordered it. The meat was cooked perfectly and the garnish of beetroot and Jerusalem artichoke added an earthy touch that the rich meat needs,

The fine lady with me had “Seven year old Herdwick mutton best end, seasonal cabbages, caper sauce”. Which arrived again perfectly cooked with a strip of very crisp mutton skin that had her talking about it for most of the day, the dish was nicely balanced and the capers adding a nice acidic touch.

Right on to the sweet bits as a pre dessert we had a lemon posset, which after the wines the sommelier had matched to my meal meant I was not concentrating and devoured it before we got a picture but never the less great little palate cleanser.

The missus had the dessert from the tasting menu “Dark chocolate soufflé, Laphroaig whisky ice cream”. This was the only dish she was not over the moon by but it’s also the first soufflé she had ever eaten and doesn’t really like whiskey.

Maybe she should have followed my lead as I asked to have a dessert from the lunch menu “Baked egg custard, rhubarb and crumble”. Rich and creamy with the bite of rhubarb and the crunch of the crumble mix.

At the end of the meal I was given a small cupcake with a candle a lovely little touch & warm lemon sponge cakes as petit fours.

Right well that was my birthday present form the missus and what a meal it turned out to be. I wines I enjoyed where a Sancerre 2008 ‘Le Rochoy’, Domaine Laporte and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Lurton, Bodegas Lurton from Mendoza, Argentina wonderful selections from the friendly sommelier

So that’s the end of this post, will post again soon I promise.

But remember live to eat don’t eat to live

Lunch In Rural Sussex

#

Right here we go, so it’s been a while since I posted something on here but have been busy at work and not had enough time to do anything else but did manage to get out for lunch so I ventured down to cuckfeild to check out Ben goldsmiths “the Talbot inn”. 

Having noone to have lunch with I put it out there on twitter and was pleasantly surprised to see that  Bens sous chef Greg would be able to join me for lunch, so knowing we would be well looked after I headed down full of excitement. I met Greg in the bar downstairs and Ben came out to say hi, it’s always nice to put a face to names so meeting @ben_goldsmith & @gregchef was a nice way to start lunch.

 Right onto the food, having looked at the menu online the night before I had a fair idea of what I was going to order  but ended up changing my mind on the main after speaking to Greg. To start we were served some nice homemade bread and then the first course hit the table.

Ox Tongue, Broccoli Puree

This was amazing, it’s the first time I have had tongue and was blown away;  the flavour and texture were a lot softer and richer than I had imagined, lovely little rounds of pickled broccoli stem was a nice touch and added a little acidity

Then on for my starter I picked

Eggs and Bacon, Smoked bacon & Carrot

 

This was the stand out dish for me, a big round of pork belly  pork tender, soft boiled egg that had been breaded and fried crisp, beautifully smooth carrot puree & a smoked bacon emulsion. I could have eaten this couple of times over. The incredible flavours in this dish made it really stand out.

 

Greg’s starter was

Cured Mackerel Tart, Fennel, orange & Shallot

 

Again faultless presentation

 

 

For my main course I ended up deciding on

Cod Cheeks & Chicken Wings, Maple Syrup, Kohlrabi, Roast Potatoes

 

A hearty plate of cod cheeks in a crisp beer batter beautifully moist fish resting on boneless chicken wings (very very good), silky smooth cauliflower puree, crisp cauliflower beignet nestling between the cod cheeks and some roasted potatoes all the elements cooked perfectly and combing on the plate to trill the taste buds

 

Greg chose

Roasted Wood Pigeon, Beetroot, Parsnips and Potato Terrine

 

Although I didn’t try this you could see the pigeon was cooked perfectly and was beautiful on the plate as well.

 

 

Before dessert arrived we were treated to a portion of bens chocolate brownie as Ben and Greg seem to be having a little chocolate battle, the brownie was moist, rich and decadent the vanilla ice cream severed with it also loaded with vanilla seeds.

 

 

For my dessert proper I had picked

 Valrhona Chocolate, Cornflakes and Milk

 

I know it’s another chocolate dessert but didn’t know I was getting the brownie too so, this dish was layers of different items including crushed cornflakes and a coffee mousse all covered in Valrhona chocolate but the stand out element for me was the milk ice cream that had been rolled in powdered cornflakes making it taste like a bowl of breakfast cereal but in a totally different way.

 

 

Greg had

Melon Jelly, Passion Fruit and Blood Orange

 

This again was beautifully presented and looked like a really nice way to end the meal.

 

Right that was my lunch which I really enjoyed great food, great company but don’t take my word for it get yourselves down to

 

The Talbot inn

High St

Cuckfield,

 Haywards Heath,

Sussex

 RH17 5JX

             01444 455 898            

 

So no time for a recipe post today but maybe next time but thanks for reading and I won’t leave it so long till the next post.

 

But remember live to eat don’t eat to live

 

So 2011 Is Here Then

So here we go again time for some more of my thoughts and ramblings about food. I have been on holiday this week which is lovely a chance to catch up with some zzzs and relax to get the creative juices flowing again. So during my week off I have spent  a vast amount of time online reading other chefs blogs and catching up with all that’s been going on with the staff canteen most of which has focused on Simon Holstone Boucse D’or  competition entry in Lyon.

 It’s been really refreshing to see the amount of support being giving to Simon and the team as he is getting no funding from the government but lots of support from chefs and catering industry. He has even got the support of a certain Albert Roux, so we have one of this countries god father of cooking and a Frenchman at that supporting our entry to the Boucse D’or.

I know it’s a bit late in the day but here is the interview of Albert & Marco showing their support for Simon and the British Boucse d’or team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tBfivjYAtA

I managed to get to London on one of my days off and went to eat at the brilliant arbutus. The food was outstanding (again), as I have said before I personally think that Arbutus has the best lunch deal anywhere in London if not the country.

 So for £16.95 you get 3 courses, a choice of 2 starters -2mains and 2 desserts. On the day I went the 2 starters where

Rabbit & smoked eel terrine or winter vegetable soup

Slow cooked beef, mashed root vegetables & or warm salt cod brandade, parsley salad

Custard tart or comte

So the descriptions above don’t do the food justice at all. I had the rabbit terrine to start which had a rich and luxurious feel in the mouth but was full flavoured and beautifully presented. I was not alone in my lunch at Arbutus I had my friend “ginge” with me so I will throw the pictures of his lunch up as well, he also had the rabbit terrine so here is that beautiful dish in all its glory

For Ginge’s main he had the brandade of cod which was presented in a wonderfully copper sauté pan with some ciabatta crisps & parsley salad. The slight smokiness of the brandade and the wonderful aroma where something to behold, this dish was expertly put together and with a restaurant full of guests having fun I could see why this dish works well at lunch. You can smell it from 3 or 4 tables away and it makes your mouth water, the parsley salad worked well by countering the richness of the brandade with the freshness that you get from parsley and bitter note from radicchio.

I enjoyed a fine plate of slow cooked beef, mashed root vegetables, the beef was cooked so well that the slightest pressure with a spoon and lovely hot tender chunks of beef where mine to feast upon. The mashed root vegetables where perfectly seasoned and very nice with a couple of different textures and a few different flavours, also the cabbage served with the dish cut thought the richness to balance the dish perfectly, I could eat this everyday and I’m sure it would never get boring.

Again we both chose the same for the next course, the custard tart which came with a good covering of nutmeg and a very light wobbly custard filling more along the lines of a classic brulee just not as rich than the traditional English custard tart that is heavier and abit more stodgy. The tart was so good Ginge and I would have both quite happily eaten another slice.

To go with our lunch Ginge picked a bottle of montepulciano, villamedoro, abruzzo. This is a wine I had never tried before and it really went well with the beef and was not too much for the custard tart either. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is a type of red wine made from the Montepulciano wine grape in the Abruzzo region of east-central Italy. Up to 10% Sangiovese is permitted to be added to the blend. It is typically a dry wine with soft tannins, and as such is often consumed young.

So it’s that time again for a recipe and as it is that time of year when people are trying to be healthy and lose those winter pounds I thought I would put a salad up but not some boring old salad something vibrant and interesting, please let me know what you think.

Thai style salad

Serves 4

Salad mix

100g bean sprouts

1 head frisse/curly endive

1 baby gem

100g red cabbage

1 green chilli

50g unsalted peanuts

2 shallots

1 orange

2 carrots

2 tbs sesame seeds

Put bean sprouts, shredded frisse, ripped baby gem & finely sliced red cabbage in a bowl. Finely chop the green chilli & shallots add to the lettuce mix. Peel and segment the oranges put in bowl finally add the sesame seeds and crushed peanuts (to crush the peanuts, pierce the bag and bash with a rolling pin), finally mix in dressing and serve straight away

Great on its own or with a piece of steamed fish/char grilled chicken on top

Dressing

1 lime juiced

1tsp fish sauce

½ tsp grated ginger

1 chilli finally diced

1tbs rice wine vinegar (white wine vinegar also works)

1/2 tsp sugar

1tsp sesame oil

4tbs good olive oil or English rapeseed oil

Put lime juice, fish sauce, vinegar, chilli, garlic & sugar in a pan, heat till sugar dissolves then add oil use straight away or flavours will be lost

But remember live to eat don’t eat to live

Silly Season Thank God Its Over

Hello everyone, sorry it’s been a while but it has been a really hectic couple of weeks with Christmas parties and losing a close friend, so i am going to take this opportunity to say “Mr Ford You will never be forgotten  and you will be missed mate hope your enjoying it up there”.

Right on with the food, the past 4 weeks has been turkey, turkey, turkey so as you can imagine I am about as bored of cooking this bird as one can possible be! We have also been serving a smoked chicken mousse on sun dried tomato bread, roasted red pepper salsa which has gone down a storm. As you might guess this is being written in 2011, so happy new year everybody and to all those chefs out there no more turkey for another 11 months unless like me you have rebooked parties because when it snows the uk comes to a grinding halt (rant over).

 This is one of the most enjoyable times of the year for me as you have so much to look forward to, a few more months of cold and then into spring which I’m sure is most chefs favourite month with so much good food coming into season. But hay ho we are still in winter so the new menu I’m writing as we speak shall hold on to warming grub that keeps you satisfied regardless of how cold we think it is, to this extent I’ve been working on a braised shin of beef dish . The bits we have been trying are the cooking liquid (beer/stout instead of wine base), marinating before we cook & what herbs/spice we put in the braising stock, it’s been fun working on these ideas and seeing what happen and what I prefer.

 Another dish I have tried tweaking is Confit duck legs which another chef at esenses was good enough to share his way of doing it with me and we have tried to work along those lines with the equipment/time we have and it’s come out well so I am really pleased.

Writing this menu has been really interesting after doing some food over the Christmas period that I had not done in a while and realised how good it all is, I have the upmost respect for chefs like Heston Blumenthal , Sat Bains & Claude Bosi but I was not trained that way and need to stay true to my roots. So maybe this year is more about getting my style where I want it and not being so worried about what others are doing. That said Claude Bosi Hibiscus restaurant is the 1^st on my list of where to eat this year closely followed by Simon Rogans L'enclume.

I want to take this chance to offer all those who will be sweating away at the stove and in the kithen during 2011 a happy and successful year.

Here is a recipe to try in the cold months:

Hot chocolate fondant

300g 70% dark chocolate

150g unsalted butter

25ml Bacardi

200g egg whites

120g egg yolk

40g sugar

50g flour

Put the chocolate, butter and Bacardi in a bowl and melt over simmering water, until the chocolate is smooth and silky.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until the ribbon stage is achieved.

Whisk the egg white to stiff peak.

Gently fold in the egg yolk mix into the chocolate stirring gently.

Then fold in the flour slowly in a figure of 8 movements until all is incorporated.

Now gently fold the chocolate mix into the egg white.

Place mix in piping bags and rest for at least 30 mins

Pipe into dariole moulds and bake at 180oc for 8 mins.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or fresh pouring cream

So It Starts

Hello again, well what a week it’s been. Had our first Xmas party so the long haul of turkey has begun, the party did not go as smoothly as expected, but it happens and we will learn and get stronger from it. I’m sure there will be more from me about Xmas in the future but let’s try and stay away from it for a few more days at least. On another note we had some amazing Brill delivered this week and really enjoyed getting them on the specials menu.

We served them with a celeriac puree, sautéed wild mushrooms, truffle mashed potato & a red wine reduction, it was well received by those clever enough to order it and not the usual fish & chips. This Xmas is going to be interesting, it will be my first where the buck starts and finishes with me, should be fun, well I hope its fun or the last 14 years of training will be worth as much as a Tesco value mince pie!

 On a lighter note, I spent my spare time this week playing with chicken. It seems to be the meat that people who don’t really know what they like to eat order most of the time, so I am trying to play with the garnishes and hope that it broadens peoples palate enough to try something a little different and learn to enjoy food instead of using it as fuel.  I’m always looking for new ideas and love chatting to different chefs about what there up to.  I have been looking at current trend in food and restaurant culture, to the extent that I have started tweeting and conversing with chefs from all over the country and even a couple from overseas, its really pleasing to see that no matter how big the name chefs will answer your questions and queries (well most big names).

 Also i have found possibly the best website a young chef could wish for; its called the staff canteen http://www.thestaffcanteen.com/ the guys using this site are very forward with their advice and if you post a question or ask for some advice someone will reply to you and for young enthusiastic chefs that is the best thing you can ask for. So from me I would like to thank you to @alexw @benchef @chef1, @chefbennett01 & @chefzilla their advice has really helpful.

So where is this week’s recipe I hear you guys asking, well here it is. This soup is a real winter warmer and if you didn’t like Jerusalem artichokes before this soup could easily change your mind. To make it a bit more of a dinner party starter the addition of truffled crème fraiche goes a really long way. I really hope you guys try this and enjoy it, leave me some feedback if you do, I would love to see what you guys think.

So until next time have fun, stay safe in the cold weather and cook yourself some really tasty bits for you and the one you love.

Jerusalem artichoke soup

400g Jerusalem artichokes

100g chopped shallots

100ml dry white wine

1l vegetable nage/stock

150ml double cream

Salt and pepper

1 lemon

Fill a plastic container with 2l water and squeeze the lemon into the water. Peel the artichokes and place in the lemon water. Dry the artichoke and slice. Sauté the shallots in a pan for 3 mins until golden in colour, add the artichokes and cook for a further 5 mins. Add the wine and cook until all wine has evaporated, add the vegetable nage/stock and bring to the boil and cook until the artichokes are softened. Blend the soup and pass return to the stove and add the cream check the seasoning cook for 5 minutes and chill till needed.

But remember live to eat don’t eat to live

So Winter Is Here

Hello guys, welcome back to the wonderful world that is my blog! Hoping everyone is well and had a good few days. Right let’s get started, For the first time in my career I got to use monkfish cheeks which turned out to be amazingly versatile and delicious, we did the two dishes with them. The first dish was pan roasted monkfish cheeks, spinach, cauliflower puree, beer battered shallot rings & red wine jus.

The second was a lightly spiced beer battered monkfish cheek, crushed peas & tartar sauce, again it went down really well.

This week has been a bit of a trial really but we got though served some great food and also managed to have a smile and laugh though it all. Like the evening when our oven decided that it didn’t want to set at the temperature that we wanted it too. So thinking about the coming weeks we start our Christmas parties soon, so I’ve got a whole lot of turkey to look forward to not to mention the Brussels sprouts. This will be my first Christmas in charge of everything myself which I’m really looking forward to, having written the menus back in April we have had plenty of time to get a game plan into action. So got all my ducks in a row it seems just missing the vital ingredient of a great sous chef to work alongside me.

As promised another little recipe for you guys to try out

Goats cheese crème brulee

Half a bunch of thyme

400ml double cream

150ml milk

6 egg yolk

250g goat’s cheese

50g parmesan grated

White pepper to taste

A pinch of paprika

Break up the goat’s cheese with no rind

Bring the milk and cream to the boil with the thyme

Take of the stove cover and leave to in fuse for ten minutes then strain in to a new pan

Put back on the stove and bring to a simmer

Pour over the egg yolk and stir return to the stove and cook to thicken slightly

Take off the stove and gently whisk the goat’s cheese and parmesan in

Season with pepper and paprika (the parmesan should have enough salt in it already

Pour into ramekins and chill

To finish and serve make some caramel glazed hazelnuts and when cold blitz into a fine powder to put on top the brulee to act as the crunchy sweet crust.

I like to serve this with really good sour dough and red onion chutney.

Right hope you enjoyed this short post and hopefully will be back soon with another recipe and a few words about the life of a chef.

But remember live to eat don’t eat to live

My Day Out Up In The Smoke

Hello everyone, well the four of you guys following anyway (cheers for that). So what’s been going on in my life the past couple of week? Well last week I had lunch at l’autre pied in London; the food at l’autre was so good I thought I should share it with as many people as possible. Set on Blandford Street London W1U 3DB, the restaurant is really cosy and the welcome is warm. I was dining on my own but was immediately set at ease by the host and staff which set the tone for a really good lunch.

 Feeling like I wanted to see as much of what the boys & girls out the back under the guidance of Marcus Eaves get up to and what makes this restaurant special.

So I opted for the tasting menu and away we went the first dish to hit the table was an amuse bouche of “warm celeriac mousse with puffed rice, crispy quail egg”, great clean flavours.

Next course to hit the table was” Jerusalem artichoke veloute, chanterelle mushrooms, hazelnut oil”, again wicked flavours and a nice surprise of fresh pasta sheet hiding in the soup to give a different texture.

The two fish courses where next, first up were “line caught Cornish mackerel, organic ginger carrots, shaved fennel salad, coriander cress”. The mackerel tasted like it had been caught that day and giving a brief bath in a picking liquid of some kind, but was not overly strong with vinegar but was really fresh and sweet.

Second up in the fish courses was the highlight of the meal for me, “pan fried cod, roscoff onions, ragout of sweetcorn, girolle mushrooms, and lightly smoked sabayon”. This dish was so well executed that I was generally gutted when I finished it, the cod was just cooked to the point, the sweetcorn ragout out of this world, girolle mushrooms need I say more and the most delicate smoked sabayon which was a completely new idea for me.

My meat course came next which did not disappoint, “roasted breast of Gressingham duck, shallot fondant, slow cooked figs, pistachio jus”. The duck was cooked perfectly and as with all the other dishes it was perfectly seasoned, the garnish with the duck where beautiful and complemented the dish really well.

Cheese came after the duck and six choices were presented to me to chose from, I chose two chesses which where

Brillat-Savarin which is a triple cream cow’s milk cheese from Normandy, this is a cheese that I love and have had on many a cheese trolley at work and always have if its available on a cheese course whilst out.

The other was if my memories serve me was buchette d’anjou which is a raw goats milk cheese from pays de la Loire. I enjoyed my cheese plate so much and the theatre of having the basket shown and explained to me that I forgot to take a picture; they served the cheese with lovely homemade biscuit and a cumin crisp bread, stunning.

Then started the sweet courses, first up were “vanilla panacotta, blackberry puree, pear and star anise”. This was a really amazing little dessert packed full of flavours and lots of textures. It also acted as a palate cleanser for the last course.

The last course was “caramel parfait, chocolate streusel, black treacle ice cream”. After seven courses I sometimes feel jaded and ready for a long lie down but at l’autre I was still ready and willing to be feed, this dish was a great way to finish the meal, sweet but also a little bitter from the black treacle ice cream which played nicely of the caramel parfait and the chocolate streusel.

So at the end of the meal I was so happy to have found this lovely restaurant to add to a small list of places that I love and recommend to friends and colleges. I will be back very soon, a little note about what I’ve missed out. The bread was absolutely superb a selection of four types of which I tried the poppy seed and the wholemeal; it kept coming out the kitchen throughout lunch so was warm at all times a small thing but something most places over look. Also when asked to pair a wine with my main the sommelier picked a lovely merlot and at £4.90 it was amazing value which is hard to beat at this level of restaurant anywhere in the country not just London.

A top meal served by well informed but unfussy staff with incredible cooking and flawless food.

L,autre pied thank you very much.

Normal blogging will be back next time with a recipe or two, well unless I go out for lunch again.

But Remember live to eat don’t eat to live