CHIANG MAI CURRY PASTE - NAM PRIK GAENG HANGLAY

Another great Thai curry paste, a good paste to start learning with as the ingredient list is not exhaustive.

3 long dried chillies seeds removed and reconstituted in water for 8-12 minutes
1/2 tsp of salt
2 tbsp galangal- skinned and chopped
2 tbsp lemongrass lower 1/3 chopped
2 tbsp purple asian shallots chopped
1 tbsp garlic smashed
1 tsp shrimp paste
1 tsp turmeric skinned and chopped or pwdered if unavailable

METHOD;

Using a pestle and mortar pound all of the ingredients, starting with the hardest first until you form a smooth paste. Alternatively make the paste in a blender/liquidizer with a touch of water if too dry.

Makes 3-4 tbsp

YELLOW CURRY PASTE - NAM PRIK GAENG GAREE

Another great paste from Thailand, less ingredients than the previous two, but just as delicious!

1/2 tsp salt
12 big red dried chillies - seeds removed, soaked in water for 8 - 12 minutes, then finely chopped
1 tbsp galangal- skinned and chopped
4 tbsp lemongrass- lower 1/3 finely chopped
1 tsp shrimp paste

METHOD;

Pound in a pestle and mortar, until smooth. Alternatively for an easier but not so good result place in a blender/liquidizer to form a smooth paste, a touch of water may be needed!

Will make 4-5 tbsp

THAI GREEN CURRY PASTE - NAM PRIK GAENG KHEO WAN

As in most curry pastes a mix of dried and fresh ingredients are used. This is a good and versatile green paste, that is made in the same way as the previous red paste!

INGREDIENTS;

1 tsp coriander seeds - roasted until fragrant and coloured
1/2 tsp cumin seeds -roasted until fragrant and coloured
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp galangal
3 tbsp lemongrass-white lower 1/3- finely chopped
1 tsp kaffir lime peel- chopped or 2 finely shredded lime leaves
2 tbsp coriander root- chopped(see note)
2 tbsp asian shallots(purple)- chopped
1 tbsp garlic - smashed
1 tsp shrimp paste
1 tsp turmeric- skinned and chopped or dried if fresh not available
20 small green chillies
1 good handful of sweet basil leaves

METHOD;

As with the red paste start with the hardest ingredients first, which in this case would naturally be the dried spices. Pound to a powder, then add remaining ingredients, starting with the hardest(lemongrass). Pound until paste is smooth - 10 -15 minutes. Alternatively place in a blender/liquidizer, you may need to moisten with a touch of water.

Makes 4-5 tbsp

NOTES;

If coriander root is unavailable, use the stems from a coriander plant, or nearest to where the root was to be found. Unfortunately most shops and suppliers sell coriander rootless! The logic behind using the roots is that the coriander plant draws its nutrients and flavour through the roots therefor these will provide a superior flavour!

THAI RED CURRY PASTE - NAM PRIK GAENG PHED

Who doesn't love Thai curry, this recipe was shown to me by a Thai, so is pretty authentic. The paste is made up of dried and fresh ingredients, and is worth the effort to make, shop bought pastes and sauces will not even come close to this paste. In Thailand cooks learn to judge the balance by smell, but that is best left to Thai's, or David Thompson, that practice is far too advanced for myself or novice paste makers. If you do happen to make this paste, i would not worry first time round about tring to judge the balance as you can correct this at the cooking stage. After a couple of attempts you can taste as you go!

RECIPE;

Dried ingredients;
1 tbsp coriander seeds (roasted until fragrant)
2 cardamon pods (roasted until fragrant)
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon of salt
10 big dried red chillies - seeds removed and pre-soaked in water for 10 minutes, then finely chopped.

5g galangal
5g lemongrass-chopped (white bottom piece)
5g kaffir lime peel - (alternatively use 2 lime leaves center stem removed and finely chopped. Kaffir limes are harder to come by in the west, kaffir lime leaves are easily bought frozen).
10g coriander root - chopped i(f not available use 10g of the stems closest to the roots)
15g shallots -(chopped) small asian shallots with pink skins
15g garlic - crushed
5g shrimp paste
10 small red chillies

METHOD;

Place the dried ingredients into a pestle and mortar,grind to a powder. Add the rest of the ingredients,hardest first and pound to a smooth paste. This can take long time but the result is well worth the effort.
I find that adding an ingredient at a time and pounding is easier to work with, else the mortar is overloaded. Alternatively add all of the ingredients to a blender or spice grinder, and blitz to a smooth paste. You might need to loosen the ingredients with a little water. This method is not as good as the latter but does make a suitable paste.

YIELD;

4-5 TBSP

The paste can be stored in the fridge for up to a week in a sealed container and can be frozen, but the flavour will diminish.

THAI SWEET CHILLI BURGER WITH CUCUMBER

My finance has an aversion to chilli and fish sauce yet eats these two wonderful ingredients unknowingly quite often. "why you putting fish sauce in everything?" she said. So i have to go through the monotony yet again of explaining why for one i do not put fish sauce in everything and for two, the use of chilli does not have to mean HEAT! After yet again explaining that the fish sauce has a purpose, and yet again that "no it won't taste fishy", i eventually with some simple explanations manage to make some inkling of sense. You see when i cook food containing Fish sauce or chilli she is normally busying herself elsewhere, so does not see what goes into the dish only the finished meal. Then i go through my usual response and try to remind her that Worcester sauce is in fact made with Anchovies, and this super ingredient she uses quite liberally, in different dishes, with no ill effect.
Anyhow back to the burgers. For a while now i have been wanting to make beef burgers with sweet chilli sauce, and serve them in buns with sliced cucumber! Nothing special, probably bizarre to your average fast food customer, but the result was pleasing and the Fish sauce fiance enjoyed, for me it was just taking ingredients that i enjoy and bringing them together. If you have had the pleasure of eating cucumber in a fish sauce based Thai dipping sauce, then we will more than likely be on the same wavelength!

MAKES 6-8 - DEPENDING ON SIZE

RECIPE;
500g lean mince beef
2 tbsp of Thai sweet chilli sauce(shop bought condiment)
2 tsp of Thai fish sauce
1 small onion (finely chopped)
Sea salt and ground black pepper
Sliced and peeled cucumber

METHOD;
Place the finely chopped onion and mince into a food processor and pulse till it forms a ball. Remove and place into a mixing bowl make a well in the middle and add the chilli and fish sauce, and black pepper to taste. Mix using your hands and form into patties of your desired size , season with salt and pepper. Best cooked on a griddle or griddle pan. Cook to your liking, about 6-8 minutes does the trick! Of course you can cook these under the grill or shallow fry.

TO SERVE;
Rest the burgers for a couple of minutes, meanwhile wipe the griddle of excess fat, then toast your buns or alternatively grill the buns and serve with a little melted strong chedder if desired and sliced cucumber.

SUPER SIMPLE OVEN CHIPS VERY FLUFFY INSIDE AND WONDERFULLY CRISP

Please excuse the title, but imagine if your regular frozen oven chip was big, i mean big, not the size of some pathetic overweight matchstick but nice and fat, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, you would be over the moon right? Well I'm going to tell you how......................OK, enough of the sales talk but i got your attention with my cheesy 80's sale's pitch eh! Well since our seldom used deep fat fryer was relegated to the recycling plant or maybe even revitalised by one of the ever numerous totters , we have been without chips! Not fries but Chips, big fat humdingers, maybe not Mr Blumenthal quality but definitely bloody good chips. Do not do frozen, so homemade oven chips it is, again lest i bore you - big fat chips! Now too the point , honestly i feel that the key to great homemade oven chips is the size. Size is everything right girls, well and technique some might say, but size is the key here. You need enough surface area for the crisping process and enough inside to benefit from the full fluffy effect, not enough and your not going to notice the creamy fluffiness that melts on your tongue after biting through the crispy exterior! Now debates rage on about potato varieties that are best suited, but personal choice for me is King Edwards, followed by Maris Pipers, but other varieties of floury spuds will do the trick.

RECIPE;
Choose your potatoes, give them a peel, and slice into big chips. Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil, whilst waiting, heat the oven to 220C/gas 7/450 F. Find a suitable tray or roasting tin and place a film of sunflower oil or olive oil over the base(3-4 tbsp). Place the tray into the oven. Once the water is boiling place your chips into the water, bring back to the boil and cook for 5 minutes. Drain then place into the hot oil, coat with the oil and season with sea salt and ground black pepper, back into the oven for 35- 40 minutes or until golden brown. Turn occasionally.

PARSNIP AND LENTIL SOUP WITH FENUGREEK AND ALMONDS

I like to eat this as a soup but allowing to thicken will give a wonderful lentil - curry like texture. The parsnips are added to the pan first to ensure thorough cooking to the point of overcooked. This is the beauty of this dish, the contrast in textures between the lentils, parsnips and blanched almonds, giving an incredible crunch against the softness of the parsnip and slight give in the lentils.

Serves 4- 6

RECIPE;
3 tbsp olive oil
25g unsalted butter (optional)
6 parsnips (cut into bite sized pieces)
300g red split lentils (washed)
1 large onion (finely sliced)
2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1 tbsp of tomato puree
1 litre of good chicken stock
1 tsp of red wine vinegar
sea salt
whole blanched almonds
fresh coriander to garnish

SPICES;

2 tsp garam masala
1 1/2 tsp of ground coriander seed
1 tsp of ground cumin seed
1 tsp of black peppercorns (finely ground)
1 tsp of fenugreek
1 tsp of turmeric

METHOD;

Saute the parsnips in the olive oil until starting to colour, add onion and garlic, add the butter allow the onion to soften then add all of the spices, stir to combine then add tomato puree. Allow to cook for 1 minute then add stock and lentils. Bring to the boil for ten minutes then turn down to a simmer. Add 1 tsp of red wine vinegar and allow to simmer for 25 - 30 minutes or until lentils are cooked . If a soup consistency is preferred, top up with boiling water. Check for seasoning throughout cooking, be mindful of saltiness if using bought stock.

TO SERVE;
Ladle into bowls or similar receptacles sprinkle fresh chopped coriander and blanched almonds.

SPICED RED LENTIL SOUP WITH CARROT

Is it not funny how some ingredients you eat time and time again but never actually cook. This has always been the case with lentils, but boy can i eat them, but never have i cooked them -that is until now! I am not ashamed to admit that i have nearly purchased on many occasions but shy away, probably through fear of a kitchen disaster. So i found myself with a 500g packet of red split lentils, a handful of ideas - but the last of the weeks shopping. Not a problem as i have always prided myself on the ability to make good use of leftovers and sparse ingredients!

THE RECIPE;

SERVES 6;
250g red split lentils (washed and drained)
6 medium carrots (roughly chopped)
3 tbsp of olive oil
1 large onion (sliced)
1 litre of good chicken stock or veg stock
1 tbsp of tomato puree plus 1 teaspoon
2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
2 cm piece of fresh ginger (finely chopped)
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp of cumin (freshly ground)
1 tsp of coriander (freshly ground)
10 black peppercorns (freshly ground)
1 tsp of turmeric
Sea salt

METHOD;
Heat a large enough pan with the olive oil, once hot add the onions,garlic and ginger and saute for 5 minutes (do not allow to burn). After 5 minutes add the spices and tomato puree - cook for 1 minute, add the carrots cook for a further minute then add the stock and lentils. Bring to the boil and allow to cook for 10 minutes, then turn down the heat and simmer for a further 35 minutes. You will more than likely have to top up with boiling water during simmering, how much depends on how thick you like your soup. Check for seasoning during cooking, but be aware of salt levels if not using homemade stock.

NOTE;
This is a very economical dish to make, and very healthy, you could cut back on the olive oil to 2 tbsp. You do not have to stop at just the soup. Various garnishes could be added on serving or just eat with Naan or flat bread. A small knob of unsalted butter in each dish is a welcome addition and some crisp fried onions could be added great texture.

LE CHAMPIGNON SAUVAGE

Birthdays, believe it or not this one time of year that most thirty plus people dread need not be such a time for depressive episodes or those sleepless nights staring into space that even sheep counting cannot pacify, tossing and turning whilst worrying about wrinkles and such. Use this magical time in your life as an excuse to visit a top restaurant, this is exactly what we did recently. The restaurant in question Le Champignon Sauvage just happens to be an all time favourite of ours, so much so that it could possibly leave us in danger of not visiting any other establishments for the foreseeable future. I do not feel for this reason that i can give an unbiased account of our meal this time or on the previous visits but what i can do is tell you about the wonderful experience that Le Champignon Sauvage offers, the beautiful cooking, the warm welcome and great ambiance.

First a little background Le Champignon Sauvage is located in Cheltenham - Gloucestershire, nestling on the edge of the delightful Cotswold's. The restaurant is run by a husband and wife team with a very small brigade in the kitchen and two extra staff front of house. The couple are probably one of the most respected in the restaurant industry, due to there dedication to there restaurant with David never missing a kitchen service since opening. Helen his wife deserves equal credit for the way she runs the front of house. With two Michelin stars , 8/10 in the good food guide, 4 AA stars, Cateys,chef of the year and a list of awards and achievements too long to list, this is a serious restaurant at the top of it's game but without a hint of attitude. As paying customers you are made more than welcome. The meal will start with elegant little Gougeres, lovingly handmade at the restaurant, then a shot glass of soup with a froth or foam on top. Pea and coconut is just one of the few we have had. These two amuses are as much a part of the restaurant as the two michelin stars. Breads are too die for, normally presented in 3 -4 different variety's, and all hand baked on the premises. There is a choice of two menus one priced at £25 for two courses and £30 for three courses, which allows you to substitute a cheese course for dessert or cheese as a separate course for £9 supplement (cheese comes with handmade biscuits and bread ,made on the premises).The second menu is priced at £45 for two courses, £55 for three courses or £64 for three courses and cheese. The second menu naturally makes use of more expensive ingredients such as scallops. Coffee and petit fours are £3 per a person and really showcase the skill that this establishment operates at. Mini rum baba, chocolates and nougat can be found among the offerings. The style of cooking is French with inspiration coming from across the globe. Although the cooking has it's roots in the Terroir modern methods are embraced but not abused, and clever use of wild and foraged foods abound. This restaurant proves that good ingredients, skills and knowledge can produce exceptional food from sometimes humble ingredients. On my last visit to start, i ordered a Thai vegetable broth with lemongrass oil which actually tasted of Thailand rather than a miss matched grouping of south east Asian ingredients, for main course i had lamb with Moroccan spices and a chick pea puree, which had been elevated to new heights.

David Everitt Matthias is perhaps one of the only truly world class chefs that Britain has produced as not many can claim the level of skill, knowledge and expertise across all departments in the kitchen and not forgetting skills in wild foods and butchery. I like to think of David Everitt Matthias as Britain's answer to Thomas Keller, but as the saying goes behind every great man is a women and this truly is the case. What would Le Champignon Sauvage be with only excellent cooking, the whole experience is not just based on food alone. The service from the start to finish is truly great with everyone made to feel a part of the restaurant experience.

But the one question i have and i do know others often ask, is why do they only have two Michelin stars? Is it because thirty staff are not on hand? The cooking is of three star quality and the service can match. It is about time Michelin gave this restaurant the credit that is so deserved.

• http://www.lechampignonsauvage.co.uk/

24-28 Suffolk Road

Cheltenham

Gloucestershire

GL50 2AQ

• Tel . 01242 573449

Open for lunch and dinner tuesday to saturday.

CASAMIA - RESTAURANT WESTBURY ON TRYM

Finding westbury to the north of Bristol was not in its self a big problem, finding Casamia proved to be a little harder. Set back from the high street behind a wrought iron gate you find a rather quaint alley leading to the entrance door of the restaurant. Casamia is a family run restaurant with Dad front of house and the two sons in the kitchen, originally a main stream Italian but now following the Molecular gastronomy route with ultra modern cooking. Italian influences are still evident amongst the menu which recently helped the restaurant and cooking to achieve a coveted michelin star in the 2009 guide.

With two different menu's on offer this lunch time, we opted for the lunch menu as time was not to our advantage, this menu was then offered at £20 for three courses. On being seated we were presented with a small loaf of bread cut into five slices, apart from the odd number and ensuing argument as there was two of us and five slices, the bread was exceptional , moist, warm and great textured, a real treat, seeing how two of our Michelin 3 starred restaurants buy there bread in!

Although a little slow to start with, the service gradually improved once the wait staff eventually ceased handing out little glasses and showing off with isi syphons, although not a part of the lunch menu some tables were seated after us and received the gas drinks while we were seated empty handed. For first courses my partner had the pigeon and i opted for the beetroot risotto with pickled fennel, pistachios and iced yogurt. The risotto was flavourful if a little pungent, resulting in a good cough on a couple of occasions. The dish was good but the very small portion size, made it a struggle to eat, with all of the accompaniments a deeper beetroot flavour would have been more welcome. Second courses arrived with my partner opting for slow roast pork and salisfy, myself olive oil poached salmon, chicken wing and Jerusalem artichoke puree the salmon had benefited from the olive oil poaching no doubt sous vide leaving a very agreeable moist piece of fish that deserved recognition, as for the inclusion of the chicken wing was it there to make up the numbers we shall never know. My partner's slow roast pork was succulent and a little try of the salisfy was a first for us both, on too dessert i opted for the chocolate tart with beetroot ice cream, it struck as strange in a restaurant cooking at this level to have principle ingredients repeated, although the ice cream had a wonderful texture and good flavour, sadly you needed a magnifying glass to spot the chocolate tart. The chocolate tart was fair showing good technical
skill, but sadly did not pack a big enough punch to warrant it minuscule size. On the other side of the table an angelica ice cream with mango was duly finished and so i am told was rather good.


Not a bad meal but not exceptional either, while far better than any offering in my home town of Plymouth. Following the route of molecular gastronomy is not an easy path. Judgments become clouded, portions become small and sometimes you just want something to eat! This establishment has great potential, and maybe i have lost my patience with Ultra modern cooking, but flashes of brilliance are most definately in the background with the bread and the salmon, while the presentation could hold it's own in any establishment in this country!

We paid approximately £60 for two with two bottled beers and one glass of house wine. At present the lunch pricing is slightly higher starting at £25 per head. Two menus are offered with vegaterian dishes on request.



CASAMIA

38 HIGH STREET
WESTBURY ON TRYM
BRISTOL
BS9 3DZ
ENGLAND
TEL : 0117 959 2884
http://www.casamiarestaurant.co.uk/

TAHINI SAUCE

A simple sauce made from that staple of the middle east, Tahini. Tahini is made from sesame seeds and is an essential ingredient to various dishes from the middle east including hummous and Baba ganoush. Tahini sauce can be a wonderful accompaniment to grilled or roasted veg, or even crudite, Fish and falafel pair well, but if like me you can throw out the rule book and eat the sauce with what you fancy or use as a salad dressing!

RECIPE;
3 tbsp of tahini paste
2 cloves garlic
1 lime or lemon if preferred
Water(cold)
Sea salt and pepper to taste

METHOD;
Using a pestle and mortar pound the garlic with a small pinch of sea salt, when pounded to a paste add the Tahini and combine. Add the lime juice, taste and adjust to preferred seasoning. To achieve the right consistency thin with a little water adding a tablespoon at a time, the consistency should resemble thick cream.

FIVE SPICE POTATO AND ONION KEBABS

Absolutely delicious and very simple to make these kebabs ooze flavour. You will need kebab skewers preferably metal ones long enough to hold four baby new potatoes each. First make the marinade/basting liquid.


BASTE/MARINADE;
3 TBSP OF VEGATABLE OIL OR GROUNDNUT OIL
2 TSP OF CHINESE FIVE SPICE POWDER
VERY SMALL PINCH OF SALT

KEBABS;
4 METAL SKEWERS
16 BABY NEW POTATOES
ONION CUT INTO WEDGES
SALT AND FRESHLY GROUND PEPPER
HALF A LIME


Blanch the new potatoes for 7-8 minutes in boiling water, drain. When cool enough to handle thread an onion wedge then a potato and so on till you end with an onion wedge, you should have four potatoes and five onion wedges. Place on a grill rack or in a roasting tray and baste all over with the marinade, season with salt and pepper, then place into a pre - heated oven (190c/375f/gas 5) for 35 minutes. You should have enough marinade for two more bastes during cooking.

TO SERVE;
Half a lime for four kebabs. Place the skewers onto a plate, and squeeze the juice of half a lime over the kebabs. This is a great side dish to serve with filled pitta breads or eat alone as a tasty snack.

RESTAURANT GORDON RAMSAY

Amongst many people i know, the mention of Gordon Ramsay fields mixed reviews. A lot of people know him as the celebrity chef with lots of restaurants, and a big mouth, but not many in my circle realise the level that he cooks at, or should i say the level of cooking that his establishments strive for! Gordon Ramsay currently holds the third highest amount of Michelin stars in the world, which puts him in double figures with an empire that stretches from the far east to the US via Europe and South Africa. Gordon Ramsay's flag ship restaurant is where we found ourselves recently, situated in the heart of London's Chelsea amongst the six figurered price tag properties - with a wine list to match the wealth of the area and a well heeled clientele, hence Mr Ramsay's jacket required dress code. Being made to wear a jacket was not a good start for me as i am not and never will be a fan of wearing a jacket to lunch or dinner, so i was praying at the least for something spectacular. Now i must say in top restaurants there will normally be at least one embarrassing incident and not always the other half's fault, but for once this was plain sailing! With the wealth of experience and professionalism front of house, we were put at ease and made to feel more than welcome! The old saying first impressions count certainly rang true, but what is unique is the fact that this restaurant realises you have travelled to be there, realised that you have saved up for this meal and that there is every chance that it is a special occasion! These little touches are what make this establishment worth every little penny that changes hands, not an obnoxious waiter in sight or a snivelling Sommelier trying not too laugh at our poor choice of wine which incidentally was one of the cheapest on the list at £30 a bottle. Menu options were presented by the Maitre D - Jean Claude Breton along with general small talk about our visit and if a special occaison was being celebrated, which it was my birthday! We settled on the lunch menu at £45 per three courses. First we were presented with an amuse of sun dried tomato consomme with summer vegetables and langoustine which had a great depth of flavour, but a clean taste. First courses arrived shortly after with the Diane opting for a gratin of ceps and salad and myself a saffron rissotto with seafood, presented by three waiters and sauced at the table. Main courses of Daurade royale, navet carrots ,radish, baby gem lettuce and artichoke barigoule and slow roast pork belly with apples and Madeira jus followed quickly. The pork wonderfully tender and moist with the jus perfectly complimenting the dish. After declining the invitation of cheese(£8 supplement) we moved on to dessert. Rum baba ,gariguette strawberries ,lemon balm with vanilla ice cream was very good, but deep down i was envious of Diane's Banana parfait, passion fruit and salted caramel ice cream which looked delicious and sublime and of which i was duly informed was in fact excellent. On to coffee and chocolates and an unexpected surprise. White and dark individual chocolates presented on little spikes mimicking a tree of sorts were clever and very well made, these were closely followed by a small container spilling dry ice which contained white chocolate covered strawberry ice cream. Then a birthday surprise from the kitchen a little raspberry sorbet with a candle which was very novel and much appreciated but best of all you could taste the essence of raspberry. This was a nice touch from the restaurant as little thoughts like this do not cost much, but last forever in memories. As for embarrassing incidents we left unscathed apart from the the photo session, and a trip to the kitchen to meet the extremely talented head chef Clare Smyth.

In this day and age of odd flavour combinations that for the most part do not work and chemistry labs replacing kitchens and not forgetting the need for the periodic table on a plate, this was a welcome experience even if i had to wear a bloody jacket. The cooking is outstanding and the service excellent, with well executed and thought out dishes, presented nicely without the need for interference from picasso. Recent articles and reviews in cyberspace nod towards the vibe that Royal Hospital road is dated and not adding the wow factor, while this may be true for some, for others the cooking is excellent, classical and refined with enough modern touches to keep up to date with the avent garde of today.



Set lunch £45 - 3 courses
A la carte £90 - 3 courses
Menu prestige £120 - 7 courses


12.5 % gratuity on top of bill


Opening times: 12-2.30pm
18.30 - 23.00

Address: 68 Royal hospital road
London
SW3 4HP
TEL: 020 7352 4441
FAX: 020 7352 3334

Reservations on above number up to 2 months in advance, or 1 month on new online reservation system (lunch bookings only)


Dress code: Jackets preferred- no jeans

Restaurant website: http://www.gordonramsay.com/

PICKLED BEETROOT

Pickling and preservation have been such a part of our lives in times gone by - that cheap supermarket shopping and year round produce has not only de - skilled us as a nation but has removed the need to preserve what is at it's best when in season! The point of preservation was to preserve what would not be available and is somehow ironic now that the methods that were employed years ago that produced slightly different flavours to the original fresh product have become fashionable accompaniments. Here is our Pickled Beetroots, very easy to make!

TO COOK;

6 Beetroot

Wash the beetroot in cold water, then cut off the top and tail end leaving the skin intact. Place into unsalted boiling water for 1 1/2 - 2 hrs depending on size, if the skin comes away easily they are cooked or alternatively pierce with a sharp knife, if there is no give in the beetroot and the knife glides easily through they are ready.


TO PICKLE;

You will need the following;

1 litre/2 pints of malt vinegar

15g 0f Allspice

15g of Tellicherry black pepper corns or black pepper corns

2 bay leafs

6 cooked Beetroot

1 large jar or two medium (enough to hold the beetroot and vinegar)

Bring the pepper,spices,bay and vinegar to the boil, once boiling turn off the heat and allow to infuse. Allow the vinegar to go cold and strain. Slice the prepared beetroot into 5-6mm slices and place into sterilized jar/s, then pour over the cold vinegar, and if desired place the bay leaf/s into the jar/s or discard. Cover with clingfilm if using metal lids and close with a tight fitting lid. Allow 1 week before eating. Pickled beetroot will last up to 9 months in a sealed jar.

NOTE;

To sterilize the jars before use, place jars in boiling water for 10 minutes and allow to dry upside down on a clean tea towel or place into a dishwasher and allow a full cycle.

SIMPLE SALAD CROUTONS

Take day old bread, cut into cubes and place on a lightly oiled baking tray. Place into a pre-heated oven at 150c/275-300f/gas mark 1-2 for 25-30 minutes, turn croutons after 15 minutes to ensure even cooking. These are the absolute basic of croutons and will need seasoning and additions of other flavours such as oil or herbs. Use for salads or soups. Croutons can be frozen or stored for a couple of days in an airtight container.

OLIVE OIL CROUTON SALAD WITH BABY PLUM TOMATO AND BASIL

Wickedly tasty salad that can be eaten as a snack or a starter in summer. Food cannot get any simpler than this, although this salad is dry you have a back ground of olive oil from the croutons and enough moisture from the the baby plum tomatoes to make this salad work!

RECIPE;

PER A PERSON - LET YOUR COMMON SENSE PREVAIL IF SERVING MORE THAN ONE AS A STARTER!!

12 olive oil croutons
2 baby plum tomatoes
5 basil leaves torn
1 tbsp of parmesan cheese
1 tsp of lemon
Pinch of sea sal and one good turn of the pepper mill.

Place the croutons and tomatoes in a serving dish/bowl, season with the salt and pepper. Scatter the basil leaves and grated parmesan then add the lemon. Serve!

NOTE;
Croutons can be frozen or stored for a couple of days in an airtight container.

CHILLI CON CARNE

Simple cooking at it's best! No claims here for authenticity, because like a lot of popular dishes there will always be elements of controversy, over origins and correct ingredients. The purist will go for no beans and some no doubt will claim small dice of meat over mince. But this is Britain and we are more concerned with feeding ourselves in this financial crisis, rather than having a petty spat over right wrong and who created. Talking controversy my recipe calls for instant coffee, preferably a rich coffee such as Gold Blend. Although first reactions from people at the mention of coffee in savoury dishes normally hails disbelief but believe me in the right quantities(very little) it gives a wonderful depth of flavour, reminiscent of beef!
Serves 4
RECIPE;
2 tbsp of Veg oil
700-750g beef mince
100g pancetta or bacon
1 x 400g tin of tomatoes
1 tin of red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
2 tbsp of tomato puree
150 ml of water or beef stock
1 medium onion (fine dice)
2 cloves of garlic (fine dice)
1 green bell pepper (fine dice)
1 long red chilli (de-seeded and finely chopped)
1 tsp of gold blend or similar coffee
1 tsp Worcester sauce
1 tsp of dried oregano
Sea salt and Freshly ground black pepper

SPICES;
Half teaspoon each of chilli powder and paprika
1 tbsp of coriander seeds (freshly ground)
1 tsp of cumin (freshly ground)

METHOD;
Fry mince and drain, wipe out the pan and heat the oil, once hot add the onion and peppers, cook for roughly two minutes, then add the de-seeded chilli and garlic. After 1 minute return the mince to the pan (season)and add the tinned tomato, tomato puree, and kidney beans - stir to combine. Add the spices and coffee and Worcester sauce. (season)
Allow to cook for 5 minutes then add 150ml of water or stock if using, cover the pan and simmer for half an hour. Check for seasoning before serving!
TO SERVE;
The serving of chilli con carne is nothing more than a personal choice in my eyes. Baked potato, chips or rice or whatever you fancy! It can be eaten on it's own or with simple accompaniments, left for a day to improve or eaten straight from the pan the choice is all yours. I like a little sour cream, quartered tomato and some strong grated Cheddar with mine, but this is food memories!
For a richer version add a big knob of butter to each serving dish, but whatever you choose enjoy!

SIMPLE CHOCOLATE SAUCE

100ml double cream
150g dark chocolate 55% cocoa solids (broken into small pieces)
1 tsp of caster sugar

Heat the cream with the sugar, once hot but not boiling, remove from the heat then add the small pieces of chocolate. Stir well, making sure that the chocolate has thoroughly dissolved into the cream. Serve at immediately if hot chocolate sauce is required if not leave to go cold!

TOMATO SAUCE WITH RED WINE ( v )

A very versatile Tomato sauce suitable for vegetarians. Good quality tinned tomatoes can be used or the equivalent weight in fresh ripe tomatoes. Although good for vegetarians this sauce is suitable for most uses requiring a tomato sauce.

RECIPE;
800g tomatoes
(If using fresh make an incision at the vine end, plunge into boiling water for a maximum of 10 seconds then peel. De-seed then finely chop)
125g tomato puree
125ml red wine
2 cloves garlic (crushed with the back of a knife with a little coarse sea salt)
2 shallots
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp of fresh oregano or 1 tsp of dried
salt/black pepper

Optional;
handful of flat leaf parsley
1 tsp sweet paprika

METHOD;
Heat a skillet or large saucepan with the olive oil over a medium heat, add the shallot and cook until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds before adding the tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes for 5 minutes- season. Add the tomato puree and red wine. Allow the sauce to absorb the wine, then add the oregano and parsley if using. Stir and adjust seasoning. Add the paprika if required stir again and allow to simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes.

SPAGHETTI WITH MEATBALLS AND TOMATO SAUCE

I have made more meatballs than i care to remember, different styles and different meats, but however much the recipe changes, however many times i vary the sauce, i always end up back with what i enjoy the most - meatballs,tomato sauce and spaghetti. I would like to think that cross cultural boundaries can be put aside, so that i can call these Italian meatballs, with the inclusion of fresh Parmesan, a good fistful of parsley, images of Italy are sure to be evoked, but whichever way you look these are quality meatballs that hit the mark, authentic or not who cares, they are good. Serves 4-6 give or take a bit!





RECIPE - MEATBALLS;


500g beef mince or 250/250 mix of pork and beef mince
75g bread (day old fresh loaf)
50g Parmesan
Good handful of fresh flat leaf parsley
1 clove of garlic
Salt and pepper
Milk (enough to just cover)
Olive oil


METHOD;


Blitz the bread in a food processor, when finely crumbed add a touch of milk, enough so that all of the crumbs are coated. Once the bread has absorbed the milk add the parsley and garlic - blitz. Add the mince and Parmesan blitz again to break down the mince, then season with salt and pepper. The mince is now ready to be formed into meatballs, this recipe will yield 32 meatballs of the size of a golf ball. Reserve.

NOTE;

If you do not have a food processor, use your hands and a mixing bowl. The food processor is used for a finer texture.

Now that the meatballs are made they will need a nice , rich tomato sauce. As you have 32 meatballs you could use all of them or save some for a rainy day! The tomato sauce recipe is adaptable, i will normally only use 1 can of tomatoes, but 2 cans give an excellent result.

RECIPE;

2 x 400g good quality tinned tomatoes

125g tomato puree

125 ml red wine

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic (crushed or minced with a little salt)

2 shallots (finely chopped)

1 tbsp of fresh oregano or 1 tsp of dried

Sea salt/ black pepper

METHOD;

Heat a skillet or large saucepan over a medium heat, add the shallot and cook until softened, add the garlic, cook for 30 seconds before adding the tomatoes - season. Cook the tomatoes for 5 minutes before adding the tomato puree and red wine. Allow the sauce to absorb the wine, then add the oregano - season. Allow to simmer on a low heat for 30 - minutes.

BRINGING THE DISH TOGETHER;

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. While waiting for the water to boil heat a large frying pan with enough olive oil to make a film across the base. Fry the required amount of meat balls for 5 minutes to give good colour, transfer to the simmering tomato sauce for a further 15 minutes. 12 minutes from the end of cooking place the desired amount of spaghetti into the boiling water. Garnish with freshly torn Basil.

NOTE;

If only using, say half the meatballs the sauce can be reduced from 2 cans of tomatoes too 1, with excellent results. Remaining meatballs can be frozen.

TOMATO AND MOZZARELLA SALAD

Simplicity is sometimes all it takes to awaken those taste buds. Take five good quality ingredients, some quality sea salt and a touch of black pepper, add the time it takes to slice some tomatoes, tear a little mozzarella, then add the oil and vinegar, and i guarantee nothing short of heaven! I will not give measurements for this but rather a guide as success will depend fully on your appreciation of quality produce and especially your own palate. I prefer more oil than most!

RECIPE;

Tomatoes (assorted varieties if possible).

Mozzarella

Basil

Balsamic vinegar (best you can afford, a little goes along way)

Extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and Freshly ground black pepper

Method;

First slice your tomatoes, arrange as you wish, cut side up. Season to your liking. Tear the amount of mozzarella you desire and place randomly around the plate and over the tomatoes. I like to allow a tablespoon of oil per person, a little less if serving as a starter. Drizzle the oil around the plate, then do the same with Balsamic vinegar allowing a teaspoon per a person. Tear fresh basil leaves to finish the dish. Finish by randomly scattering the leaves around the plate!

FOODIE WEEKEND - EATING THE MICHELIN GUIDE

My birthday has been and gone yet again. Every year seems shorter and shorter, Not only are the years gaining fast, but maturity, although kept at bay for many years has made that appearance. No longer do i drink the bar dry on this day that would in years gone by be eagerly awaited, only to deposit 30 quids worth of booze down the toilet pan or even worse the neighbours garden.
Now as i have come of age, well the last couple of years really, we seek out high end food, experiences that will be remembered, hopefully for years to come. The weekend was planned weeks in advance, phone calls were made- a table for two at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, a table at Casamia in bristol and lunch on the way home in my all time favourite restaurant Le Champignon Sauvage. The idea was to experience a 3 michelin star restaurant for the first time, we have eaten in two starred restaurants and a handful of 1 stars, we have even managed a couple of entries in the worlds 50 best restaurant category. The idea was to take our Champagne tastes on beer money budget through the michelin stars, 1-3 in four days, then disaster struck.
A couple of days prior to leaving we needed to make a reservation for Le champignon sauvage, to find that on the tuesday we had planned they were closed for 3 weeks for summer holidays.
A quick scan of available 2 stars in the area, came up with some nice options, but being a little stubborn it was Le champignon sauvage or nothing, my birthday my choice!
The weekend started with a 3 course meal in bristol at Casamia (Review to follow), a restaurant that is family run with the distinction of winning a michelin star in the 2009 guide, then on too swindon to our base for the weekend and one of my favourite places to eat - my sisters.
Sunday was a day of rest, in prepartion for our first 3 * dining experience, monday came with a short train journey to london and a long walk from Paddington to Restaurant Gordon Ramsay (review to follow), then a stroll along the the Chelsea embankment to the houses of parliment.
Not knowing London too well, as Heathrow is normally my first and last stop, we headed for Harrods with only one department on the agenda - you probably guessed right the food hall!
The hunt for a reasonable quality Balsamic vinegar and a small bottle of Truffle oil, finally came to an end at the checkout, before heading back to paddington, via Notting Hill on a reconnaissance mission to find the location of two bookshops Books for Cooks which was closed mondays and the Travel bookshop. A great four days with a couple of small mishaps Le Champignon Sauvage being closed for holidays and Books for Cooks not being open! I am sure next birthday we will try again, but be sure it will be better planned!

LEFTOVER BOLOGNESE

What to do with leftover bolognese? If greed runs through your veins like myself you will probably wait until all is quiet, grab yourself a spoon, and devour all that is left for yourself!
There are ways you can actually spread out what is left, possibly even stretch the leftovers for a lunch time treat. Try warming the bolognese, toast some thinly sliced bread, rub with a little garlic, drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil onto the slices, spread a thin layer of bolognese on each slice, a little torn basil and some cheese. Parmesan, Pecorino,Mozzarella or your favourite Cheddar. Pop this under the grill, melt the cheese, you have lunch! It is important that the bread is thinly sliced and the layer of bolognese is spread evenly. Eating will become a chore unless you have a mouth the size of jordan. Of course you could sit and use a knife and fork but where is a the fun in that!

FAMILY MEALS - SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE

A firm family favourite, more than likely in the repertoire of most people, some will claim to have the family secret, others will be happy to use a branded jar. If you really take a step back and weigh up the pros and cons of say this recipe, how much longer does it actually take to make? what 10 minutes maybe 15 at most. I know of very little people who just empty a jar of sauce onto the beef mince, most will at least add a little extra garlic, perhaps chop an onion, slice a few mushrooms, so the extra time is really only spent at the chopping board! Although this version will push the cost of this meal up a little, the addition of a little red wine gives an added depth of flavour you, just will not find with the shop bought sauces!
The beauty of Spaghetti bolognese - especially for me, is the nostalgia of this hybrid of a dish, with no real version's existing anywhere, the closet being the Italian Ragu (recipe soon), you really could use my own personal recipe as a base to launch all manner of additions.
Serves 4

RECIPE;
100g pancetta (diced or cubed)
700g beef mince ( increase mince to 1000g for a six person serving)
1 400g can of good quality tomatoes
200ml of red wine
1 lge onion (finely chopped)
1 carrot (finely diced)
1 stick of celery (finely diced)
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp sweet paprika
3 tbsp of tomato puree
3 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic ( crushed with a garlic press or minced with the back of a knife and a little salt.
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
optional mushrooms 6-8 quartered

METHOD;
Cook off the mince and drain excess fat. Using the same pan(wipe out if desired, i do not wipe out, as i like the flavour from the small amount of beef fat that remains in the pan) add 3 tbsp of olive oil, when at a medium heat, add the onion,carrot and celery, cook for 5 minutes or until softened, now add the diced pancetta. Cook for 2 minutes, add the mushrooms if using, once the mushrooms have softened add the mince and garlic. Give a good stir, then add the wine, when the wine has reduced to a sauce consistency add the canned tomatoes, tomato puree and paprika. Add the red wine vinegar and give a good stir before turning down the heat and allowing to simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Before serving allow enough time for a large pan of water to boil and cook your spaghetti according to your liking, allowing 80 - 100g per a person.

TO SERVE;
Fresh Basil leaves torn. If preferred roll into a cigar shape and finely slice to produce a chiffonade, a good pinch for a person.

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

NOTES;
Try to season at regular intervals, and do not be afraid of the salt, this is not processed food. If you desire a wetter sauce you can add 100 ml of hot water during cooking or some good quality beef stock. I prefer too use hot water if the sauce is too dry.

MUSHROOM RISOTTO

Dare i say vegetarian? This robust ,gutsy, meaty dish is a vegetarian delight. So what? Consider that most vegetarians that i know well, will not let much in the way of vegetable matter pass their lips -resulting in a diet consisting of Cheddar, bread and confectionery, while the other end of the spectrum consists of my carnivorous friends who just do not understand that vegetarian can = great taste! On several occasions friends have shown up after work for a cup of chai and a chat, resulting in an extra place happily laid at the table. An hour or so would pass after the unexpected guest had eaten for the subject of say, vegetarian food to be raised.

First reaction from unexpected guest would normally warrant ;

"Not for me, can not stand the stuff"

"What do you class as vegetarian - then mate"

"Well bland comes to mind"

"Did you enjoy your unexpected supper?"

"Yeah- great mate"

"That was vegetarian"

"Yeah right!"

"Honest mate- you see, that dish you just ate unexpectedly, did not contained one meat based product"

"Well i never thought about it like that, it never crossed my mind that we were eating veggie food"

So the story goes that veggie food is bland, unexciting and certainly given a bad name by silly products that veggies buy to avoid the issues of eating you guessed - VEGETABLES. Eventually the conversation arrives at the phrase vegetarian - With a conclusion that the term is used and abused for the wrong reasons, with the term itself misleading people, and not actually guiding people to what vegetarian food can be!

While i will never be a vegetarian, i do eat a lot of vegetarian home cooked food and will actively seek out, if available the vegetarian options in good restaurants. I know how to cook meat, after years of experiments i know what i like, a fish cooked by a top chef will more than likely be great if not fussed over and fresher than most people will be accustomed too, but i want to know what these guys can do with the humble carrot or a basket of beets or a wonderful risotto made without meat based stock, this too me in some ways is the essence of good food and cooking, which in turn brings us too this humble but welcoming mushroom risotto made without anything with a face!

RECIPE;

500g arborio or risotto rice

1.5 Lt's of good vegetable stock or very good quality veg stock cube with a low salt content

500ml mushroom stock(reserved from reconstituted dried mushrooms)

1 large white onion - finely chopped

1 medium clove of garlic- very finely chopped

100 ml dry vermouth

150g open mushrooms(Chestnut or field) - sliced

20g- 40g dried porcini (reconstituted in boiling 500ml boiling water)

80g unsalted butter

1 tbsp of olive oil

2 tsp of fresh thyme

50-60g freshly grated Parmesan + extra for the table

Freshly ground sea salt and fresh black pepper

METHOD;

Have at the ready a pan with your vegetable stock at the boil, drain the reserved mushroom stock into the pan of veg stock, and bring back to the boil. Heat a large enough saute pan with half the butter and the olive oil, once at a medium heat add the porcini mushrooms, saute for a minute before adding the onion and garlic. Allow to soften, but do not colour, once softened add the sliced mushrooms. Saute for two minutes or until the mushrooms lose there raw edge - Season. Add the dry vermouth and allow to bubble before adding the risotto rice. Allow the rice to absorb the vermouth and fats that remain in the pan. This stage is now the crucial act that will determine the end product. The risotto will require your undivided attention and constant stirring for a minimum of 15 minutes but anywhere as high as 20 minutes is not unknown.

Once the vermouth has been absorbed, you will add a ladle full of boiling stock, waiting for the rice to absorb all liquid before adding the next ladle. The rice requires stirring at all times. You will continue to ladle stock until you have achieved a creamy consistency, the rice will need to be soft on the outside with an al dente middle.

A minute before you feel the rice is ready, remove from the heat and stir in the remaining butter and Parmesan cheese, once combined the rice will look glossy and extra creamy, now add the fresh thyme and repeat the stir, adjust seasoning if needed and serve immediately as if you have not eaten for weeks. This part is important!

If feeling flush add truffle, for the rest of us a good drizzle of truffle oil will lift the taste to new heights. While not essential truffle oil will give a luxurious edge to a rich warming robust dish that invokes memories of the land!

NOTES;

DO NOT WASH RISOTTO RICE BEFORE USE!

click on bad photograph, to view close up of finished texture!

RICE FRIED WITH CHICKEN THIGH AND CURRY POWDER

I have adapted this recipe from Vatcharin Bhumichitr's book a taste of thailand. Having cooked the original recipe many times, it was time for a little adaption. While some of the original elements have stayed i have included fresh ginger, cooked onions,palm sugar and red chilli. A great dish that is not fiery hot but gives a nice balance salty, sour and hot!

Serves 4 as a side dish - or 2 hungry people.

RECIPE;

500g cooked long grain rice
3 tbsp of vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic
1 red chilli
10g fresh ginger
90g chopped onion
175g finely chopped free range chicken thigh
2 tbsp of mild curry powder
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
1/2 tsp of palm sugar

GARNISH;

Fresh coriander
Spring onion
Optional fresh lime wedge for each plate
Optional peeled cucumber slices
A Turn of fresh black pepper for each plate

METHOD;

Heat a large frying pan or wok with the oil - until hot. Once hot add the garlic,chilli and ginger and stir fry till the garlic is golden. Add the curry powder and stir fry for 10 seconds, now add the onion's, cook for a further minute, before adding the chicken. Once the chicken has coloured add the cooked rice and stir fry -3 minutes. Add the soy sauce stirring through, then repeat with the fish sauce and palm sugar. Stir fry all of the ingredients till you are sure that the chicken is cooked through and the rice thoroughly reheated.

Turn out into bowls and garnish with shredded spring onion(scallions), chopped coriander and a turn of freshly ground black pepper. Place a lime wedge if liked for squeezing over rice and add some peeled and sliced cucumber for texture.

AIDEN BRYNE - MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN

Although purchased before Christmas i have not in all honesty had the time to have a browse, but the book has been staring me in the face for the last five months from one of the numerous overcrowded bookshelves, but what prompted me to eventually pick up this volume is BBC 2's current series of the Great British Menu(see note). Aiden bryne is one of this weeks contestants in the regional heats of this brilliant series, until recently cooking at the Dorchester hotel in London with a Michelin star to his credit, and now with his own gastro pub in Cheshire -northwest of England.

The book with it's clever outer cover conjures up images of denim with a nifty little tag proclaiming the books title, in the style of very famous branded jeans - red tab anyone! A big picture of the man himself plating a dish also adjourns the front cover with two very influential write ups on the back cover from Mr jay Raynor(Observer food critic) and Marcus Wareing(multi Michelin starred chef), the two statements on the back are shouting this is a serious cook book, not to be taken lightly and certainly not for the kitchen novice.

Recipes are inventive with clever use of flavour pairings and great use of micro herbs and salads. With just over 220 pages and some great food photography this book nearly reaches the food porn category, but is clearly aimed at the serious home cook with big ambitions. I would expect to find this on every budding Masterchef contestants book shelve.

Recipes include Halibut with Beetroot and Orange salad, Roasted Scallops with Apple and Ginger puree with Fennel Sauce, Roasted Smoked Fois Gras with Onion Mousse, Beef Fillet with Parsley Risotto, Braised Snails and Red Wine Garlic. Desserts include Apple and Rosemary Mousse with Calvados Ice Cream, Strawberry and Red Pepper and Orange and Olive Oil Cake with Candied Celery. This is just a selection of many recipes with a good section at the back on fundamentals which include sorbets,stocks and purees. My only gripe with this book is,
that you have to consult other pages during a recipe for components of different dishes.

A really great book with wonderful use of seasonal ingredients, a must also for connoisseurs of fine food and cookbook junkies alike!

• ISBN : 978-1-84773-160-9
• £25 UK price
• newhollandpublishers.com

NOTE;

The Great British menu is a TV series on BBC 2 in the UK. This current series has Chefs from around the UK challenging each other for a place to cook for homecoming troops returning from Afghanistan. The banquet that they will cook for will contain four courses and the winner of each course will cook.All contestants are at the top of there game and most have Michelin stars. Previous series have seen the winners cook for The Queen and French Ambassador.

FIVE SPICE POWDER

Five spice is a Chinese spice blend used sparingly in the cuisine of china. All though i can not claim this recipe as my own, as i do not know the origin, i do feel that it is a shame not to share this with others. Use with caution and as recipe dictates.

THE BLEND;

1 tbsp star anise
1 tbsp sichuan pepper
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp cloves

Grind all of the spices in a pestle and mortar,clean coffee/spice grinder or use the blender attachment on the food processor. Once ground to a fine powder the blend can be stored in an air tight container for 2-3 months after which freshness will be lost leading to inferior five spice, like wise it is essential to use spices that are in date.

BANGERS AND MASH

Whenever i find myself abroad, and tired of the local fare or maybe a little homesick, you can be sure that the taste from home i crave is good old Bangers and mash with onion gravy! Hits the spot time after time, although not sure if some of the versions i have tasted around the world were actually that good, they tasted like heaven when sampled, a real taste of home to subdue the subconscious - whilst sufficient fodder to keep the homesickness at bay. At home this is a dish that i only eat rarely, with the expanding waste line to think about, and the old arteries that are narrowing of there own accord, i am pretty sure they don't need much help! Health issues aside good Bangers and mash, done right, can not be a healthy dish - nor should it be in my eyes. There are many versions some good, some bad, but the bangers for starters have to have a higher enough fat content to remain moist and succulent while a good mash just cries out for a good dose of the coronary inducing butter. I am partial to a nice olive oil mash, while healthier and still tasty, the depth of flavour is not apparent or the creaminess, that unfortunately butter provides. So for a dish that is only eaten a couple of times a year, surely it will not hurt to go the whole hog, but throw caution to the wind as this version is damn good, and temptation to over indulge could be fatal in the long term!

THE RECIPE;

ONION GRAVY;

500G red onion
500ml beef stock
25 g unsalted butter
20g beef dripping
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2ml red wine vinegar
sea salt and ground black pepper

METHOD;

First slice the onions into rings. Heat a large saute pan over a medium heat and melt the dripping, once hot add the onion and saute for 3 minutes, season with salt and pepper, then turn down the heat a little and allow to cook down for 20 minutes, add the butter and Dijon mustard cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a gentle simmer adjust the seasoning and add vinegar if required. The gravy should now be ready, or simmer for longer for a thicker consistency.
Serves 4-6

MASHED POTATOES;

1.2 kg Maris piper
150 ml of whole milk(warm)
150g unsalted butter
Sea Salt and freshly ground white pepper

METHOD;

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut into even sized chunks. Add to the boiling water. Once cooked through but not falling apart(check with a sharp knife- pierce the potato, if the potato slides off the blade easily they are done). Pass through a potato ricer into a bowl or sauce pan, now give the potatoes a good mashing with a potato masher to ensure that it is lump free. Warm the milk to just below boiling and add to the potato, start to fold in from the outside, once incorporated fold the butter into the potato in four stages until all used. Season to taste. ( If the potato cools to much add to a non stick pan and gently heat ensuring that the potato is kept moving at all times. A spatula is a good choice of utensil for moving the mash).

SAUSAGES;

A pork sausage with a good fat content would be my choice, but beef sausages can be used with good results. My preferred method of cooking sausages for this dish would be fried, in a little oil to give good flavour and colour. It is a naughty dish so NO half fat sausages, and the best bangers
you can afford!

NOTES;
A potato ricer although not essential, is a handy piece of kit. If you can imagine a giant garlic press, then you have a ricer. The potatoes are placed into the chamber then pushed through a series of small holes with the aid of the press attached to the handle, thus resembling rice!
In all honesty a good old potato masher is sufficient for the job if no ricer is to hand!

THE BEST NEW POTATOES

With the season for jersey royals upon us, you have to make the most of the crop when available. Although over 90% of the crop is exported to mainland Briton the season is so short you have to be quick, by the end of may they will all but disappear, until the eagerly awaited season next year. But the question remains what to do to them? It would be a sin to do to much to such a superior product, when produce tastes this good keep it simple!

Boil to just tender, season well with Sea salt and ground black pepper add a couple of pats of unsalted butter(good quality) and a sprinkle of fresh chopped flat leaf parsley. If so desired a hint of lemon can be added, but not to much only a little to help along the butter.

NOTE;
Anya is another superb variety of new potato that is a rather odd shape with a knobbly surface and skin, taste wise Anya has a masculine nutty note and fine texture. Again keep it simple.

CARAMELISED ONIONS

Slow cooked onions caramelised in there own sugars make a wonderful accompaniment to savoury foods. Caramelised onions can lift the mundane to new heights, perfect with sausages or added to onion soup, they are the last word in a simple and inexpensive condiment, that can be used to bring new pleasure to the table.

Cooking time up to 45 minutes for 400g of sliced onions

RECIPE;
White onions - allow 100g per a person
Optional - 1 tsp granulated sugar
A pinch each of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
METHOD;
Coat the bottom of a skillet or suitable sized saute pan with a film of olive oil, place on a high heat, add sliced onions and lower the heat to medium, stirring from time to time to ensure even cooking. After 15 minutes season with sea salt and black pepper, additional sugar if using, then turn down the heat to low. Cooking times will vary but allow up to 45 minutes and a reduction in mass of at least a third. Drain any excess oil before serving.

NOTES;
Please do not be fooled by the amount of sliced onions that you start the recipe with. They will eventually with a little patient on the part of the cook, reduce down to at the minimum a third of there original mass.

Suitable for vegetarians.

SALAD

What can be better on a summers evening than freshly picked leaves from the garden, soft boiled eggs and croutons with a little fresh dressing made in the present. Well lots really but those things that are better are normally not attainable. What little summer we actually have in the UK, we better make the most of , as like all good things they don't tend to last. With the short season for asparagus and new potatoes nearly over, and fresh broad beans and peas making an appearance it will not be long before autumn will be upon us with the next batch of fresh ingredients. Back to the present do our salads have to be complicated or will simple really do? Simple is best, what do you really need too do, to freshly picked produce? Now freshly picked is a new term being coined in our household having taken the plunge to try and grow some of our own food. With the allotment on the go, some enthusiasm and a very heavy handed fiance who at the beginning of our foray into the garden was more akin to killing off our baby plants while trying to transplant them into larger pots(it should be noted that i have not put as much effort in as the baby plant killer and neither do i possess her new found skills in the world of horticulture, and all references to this homicdal maniac are purely of a light hearted note). After the first mishaps, we reluctantly replanted and lo and behold we have our first crop, and boy is it good too eat fresh leaves that we have actually grown, but what to do? Keep it simple, in all honesty the leaves only need a light dressing of oil and vinegar, a little seasoning then on to the fork into the mouth. I love simple salads, spend some time in Italy and you get a salad of leaves with a dressing nothing complicated just fresh. When we do buy in asparagus we pair with a little butter and lemon, this believe me is heaven. If we feel the need to impress a little hollandaise sauce or a nice buttery sabayon, but why go to all that effort when the ingredients are fresh and so bloody tasty. When the tomatoes come -again a light dressing and some torn basil leaves, salt and pepper, leaves paired with soft boiled egg and croutons are a delight. Try Making your own croutons -it's dead easy, what i do is find some day old bread cut into cubes, rub a baking tray with some garlic for a hint of background flavour, pour a little olive oil on the tray and toss your bread in the oil so that it just coats but not saturates, season then put into a pre - heated oven for 8-10 minutes or until as crispy as required. I have debated about giving recipes for salad, but leaves, oil and acid can not really be described as a recipe more a method. Fresh herbs can be used in your salads and what you have to hand rather than a regimented amount or type. In reality there are well known herb combinations like cucumber and mint, fresh peas with mint will make a great salad with a little ham but dill is just as famous as a pairing for cucumber as well as fresh broad beans, dill is also great with finely sliced fennel. Tomatoes and basil is another well known combination, try chives with tomatoes, and a little shallot or red onion. A little chervil or parsley with your leaves or a hint of thyme in your dressing will all work wonders or use a little thyme with whatever leaves you choose. Parsley and garlic a classic Italian combination, try finding a way to incorporate these into your fresh produce and you will be happy. A little cheese combined with your salad can lift a simple salad to new meaning, and being realistic a little good quality mozzarella with fresh tomatoes and olive oil is tasty as can be, feta is a well known cheese used in salads although not to my taste. Fresh rocket with a little hard cheese such as grana pandano,parmasen or a nice pecorino is a loving match, tart this up with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar a nice hunk of crusty bread, sat in the garden or failing that anywhere you like your front room if need be, you could be forgiven for feeling all Mediterranean.

The health giving benefits of a fresh salad are not to be dismissed, but be aware even the so called fresh leaves in sealed bags harbour chlorine and crap to keep the product fresher for longer. We actually stopped buying salad packed like this two years ago, and will now only buy open lettuce. Back to oil and dressings with all the crap that is found to be circulating about oil being bad for you, the high calorie content, people still go and stock there fridge with store bought processed dressings that harbour all kinds of unsavoury ingredients such has saturated fats and trans fatty acids. A home made dressing is not only better tasting but cheaper, less calorific and actually good for you. Remember you control the sodium not some board room director with huge profits in mind at the expense of your health and waistline. I think even worse are the half fat dressings, although they might contain half the fat they usually contain twice the sodium, and encourage people to use twice as much, which in turn defeats the object as you are back to square one. So the moral of this long winded rant would be buy some cheap pots and a little compost, a packet of salad leaf seeds(cut and come again variety) and plant your own, then reap the benefits! Not only is this healthier and more tasty there is a certain amount of satisfaction to be had from seed to table in the comfort of your own backyard, or failing that a window box or sunny window sill!

OLIVE OIL CROUTONS

Don't just throw your stale bread out, it makes wonderful croutons! This recipe for Olive oil croutons makes unbelievably tasty croutons that are a welcome addition to salads or soups or eaten alone as a snack, they are that good!

Pre - heat your oven too 200c/400f/ gas 6. Cut the crusts off your day or two old bread cut into cubes about 1" square place on an oiled (olive) roasting tin or a tray and toss to coat in oil. The croutons will need to be liberally coated. Place in the hot oven for 5 minutes, remove and turn the oven down too 150c/275-300f/ gas 1-2, turn the croutons over and place back in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, season with sea salt and a touch of ground black pepper. Can be frozen or will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container.

CHICKEN THIGH WITH FRIED RICE AND LIME

Succulent chicken thighs marinaded with lime,soy and ginger then stir fryed with rice. A nod towards the orient but simple and achievable in the home kitchen! Serves 3-4

INGREDIENTS;

2 chicken thighs
juice of 1 lime
2" piece of fresh ginger
1 medium green chilli
400g long grain rice
75g peas
3 garlic cloves
1 carrot
1 bunch of spring onions/scallions
2 tbsp of light soy
1 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp of veg oil
optional egg x 2

MARINADE;

Bone and dice two chicken thighs into 1cm pieces, place into a bowl with the juice of one lime, 1 tbsp of light soy sauce, half of the ginger and one medium green chilli. Cover and leave to marinade for a minimum of 1 hour.

RICE;

Bring 2 lts of salted water to the boil, add the rice and cook for approx 10 minutes. Reserve.

THE DISH;


PREP;
Finely dice the carrot,garlic and remaining ginger then slice the spring onion diagonally.


TO COOK;
Heat a wok with 1 tbsp of oil. Stir fry the chicken and marinade for 2 minutes then set aside . Wipe the wok clean and return to the heat - add the remaining 2 tbsp of oil, add the garlic,carrot,ginger and chopped spring onion, cook for one minute, then add the peas. Stir fry for a further two minutes then add the rice and coat with the oil in the wok. Cook for a further 2 minutes then add the reserved chicken and marinade, season with salt and pepper to taste, cook for a further minute before adding 1 tbsp of soy and 1 tbsp of sesame oil. Toss or stir to combine and you are ready to serve.

If using the eggs, give a quick whisk, then add at the same time as the rice.

LAMB BURGER

RECIPE;
400g boned leg of lamb or lamb mince
1 medium onion
1 clove garlic
2 tsp Dijon mustard
10g fresh mint
Sea salt and Ground black pepper
olive oil

METHOD;
If using boned leg of lamb place the lamb into a food processor and blitz to break down. Now add the rest of your ingredients and season well. Turn off the processor at the mains and remove the blade, and form the mixture into burgers. Heat a skillet or frying pan and season the burgers again if so desired, now add to the hot oil and cook on both sides to your desired liking. Two - three minutes a side is more then sufficient.


Alternatively if using lamb mince place all the ingredients into a bowl and combine using you hands, the inclusion of an egg will help to bind the mixture.

Recipe makes 4 - 6 burgers depending on size.

LAMB AND PARSNIP CURRY

Consider a variation on a theme, could this be true of all curries? Each and every curry appears on the outside as a variation within a region! Cast your mind to a matinee performance. A matinee will be made up of several components, with the behind the scenes crew, minor actors and of course the stars of the show! How does this relate to a curry, well if you think of behind the scenes, spices come to mind, with the stars of the show being the main ingredients in this case the lamb and parsnip. I don't agree with that statement for one minute surely the stars are behind the scenes, these are the components that bring this dish alive! If the crew behind the scenes are musty, old and past there sell by date what hope have the so called stars of the show to shine.

I have been cooking curries for as long as i can remember with varied results. In truth i am a little scared of curries, not the heat but the margin of error that can be achieved with little effort.

It amazes me that friends of mine who are not usually associated with the kitchen claim to be a deft hand at the humble art of the curry! In my eyes it takes a good cook to make a good curry. In the west we were not bought up to watch mother, auntie or uncle lovingly prepare masala, spice blends or curry pastes! We were bought up with takeaways cooked by migrant workers, which in Britain gave birth to the anglicised curry! Which in it's own right has been voted the nations favourite dish. Tikka masala with it's roots emerging from that old Delhi favourite butter chicken, madras and Balti to name but a few, are all curries that were adapted to suit palates and environment, so here we come to my Lamb and parsnip curry although an anglicised curry and tasty one at that, it is worth a try with little skill required.



THE RECIPE;

Serves 4



SPICE MIX

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

5 cloves

6 black peppercorns

8 green cardamon pods(pods discarded)



GARLIC AND GINGER PASTE

10g fresh ginger

10g garlic

Pinch of salt

Using a pestle and mortar grind the ginger and garlic together with a pinch of salt until you achieve a smooth paste.



THE REST

4 tbsp of veg oil

400g lamb( i prefer to use boned leg)

4 medium parsnips(woody cores removed)

4 tbsp of plain yoghurt

2 bay leaves

1 lge onion(cut into slices)

1 400g tin of tomatoes

1 tsp of chilli powder

1 tsp of turmeric

1 medium green chilli( seeds left and sliced into rounds)

200 ml of water

salt

GARNISH

1 handful of fresh coriander

1 handful of fresh mint(optional)

A handful being a bunch finely chopped and scrunched up in the hand until you make a fist.

METHOD;

Prepare the lamb,parsnips and onion and set aside. Grind the spice mix in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder, and set aside. Heat the oil in a heavy based saute pan and add the the garlic and ginger puree, fry for 1 minute then add the onion and cook until softened, add the spice mix and the lamb, cook for a further two minutes before adding the tomatoes, chilli powder and turmeric, stir to combine then add the water and bay leaves. Add the parsnips and allow to simmer until tender(30-35 minutes). Towards the end add the yoghurt and green chilli and stir through, cooking for a further 10 minutes before adding the coriander leaves. If using the mint add when plated as a garnish to avoid the unpleasant discolouration.

HUMMUS RECIPE 2

I have come to the conclusion after a little experimentation with this dish that dried and soaked chick peas give a far superior flavour to hummus than tinned, although tinned still give excellent results. On the downside there is a lengthy wait with overnight soaking and a rather long simmering time, but worth the wait to the patient cook, with the flavour not diminishing quite as fast as when made with tinned chick peas


THE RECIPE;
Serves 4

200g dried chick peas(soaked overnight)
2 tbsp tahini
1 lemon
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp of reserved cooking water
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

METHOD;
Soak the chick peas overnight, then drain and rinse well. Cook according to manufactures instructions or approx 1hour 30 minutes.( place the chick peas in 2lt of cold water with no salt. Bring to the boil, boil for 15 minutes then reduce the heat and simmer until cooked through) Drain and refresh in cold water. Add the drained chick peas to a food processor, then blitz. Add the tahini paste,garlic, paprika, and half of the lemon, then blitz again. At this point use the 2 tbsp of reserved cooking water to loosen the hummus, blitz again and taste. After tasting, adjust seasoning with sea salt and ground pepper and add the other half of the lemon if required. Serve in dish with the remaining extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top!

NOTE;
This dish is at it's best within 4 days, but is not suitable for home freezing. Suitable for veggies and vegans.

MINT AND YOGHURT DIP

6 tbsp of natural yoghurt
2" piece of cucumber chopped finely and skin peeled
2 tbsp fresh mint
Optional fresh green chilli( 1/4 of a medium chilli is sufficent for flavour)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

TO MAKE;
Add the yoghurt to a bowl then the finely chopped mint, cucumber and chilli if using. Taste and adjust seasoning to your preference. This dip improves once the flavours have infused, so if possible make in advance.

A squeeze of lemon can be added for a sour note.

SPICED POTATOES

SPICED POTATOES
Spice mix;
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp paprika
2 cloves garlic
vegetable oil or olive oil
Sea salt and ground black pepper
Potatoes
METHOD;
Grind the whole spices, then add the paprika and garlic with a touch of oil to make a paste.
Leave the skins on small to medium sized potatoes, and toss in a little oil, season, then give a thin coating of spice paste. Place into a pre-heated oven 190c/375 F/Gas 5 in a dish covered with tin foil. Cook for approx 1 hour or until a knife will glide through.
TO SERVE;
Cut the potatoes length ways, season with salt and pepper, garnish with fresh coriander leaf and a squeeze of lemon.
NOTE;
As only a small rub of spice paste is required this mixture will coat a large amount of potatoes, so is ideal for large gatherings, and parties where simple,healthy and tasty food is called upon. With little effort!

SHEPHERD'S PIE

Although similar in composition to cottage pie, a shepherd's pie is actually made with lamb rather than beef! A quick recipe search on the net earlier turned up an alarming amount of shepherd's pie recipe's that called for the inclusion of beef. Left over meats were traditionally used, with the dish often making an appearance in the preceding days after a roasted joint had been cooked. This is a very simple recipe, that does not call for much skill on the part of the cook!



THE RECIPE;

serves 4

500g lamb mince
1kg of floury potatoes
Butter
Optional milk for mashing
500ml lamb stock or chicken stock
250 ml red wine
3 carrots
2 sticks of celery
2 onions
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp tomato puree
3 tbsp Worcester sauce
1 tbsp of plain flour
1 tbsp of fresh thyme
1 tbsp of rosemary
2 tbsp of olive oil or vegetable oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper


METHOD;

Finely chop the garlic and dice the vegetable's into small cubes, reserve. Brown the mince in a saute pan, once browned drain the fat and reserve the mince. Add 2 tbsp of oil to the pan and saute the carrot for 2 minutes followed by the onion and celery, once softened add the garlic, and season, then cook for 2 minutes and return the mince to the pan, cook for 2 minutes before adding 1 tbsp of plain flour(sieved). Cook for a further minute and add tomato puree and Worcester sauce, stir to combine, cook for an additional 2 minutes before adding the red wine and stock, add the thyme and rosemary and allow the pan to simmer on the hob for a further 35 minutes, while checking for seasoning from time to time. Peel and boil the potatoes until tender and mash with the butter and milk if desired, and give a good seasoning of salt and pepper.
Transfer the lamb to a suitable oven dish and top with mash potato, forming a pattern with the back of a fork or leaving the potato rough! Transfer to a pre-heated oven (190c/375F/gas 5) and cook for 35-40 minutes and the top is nice and browned.

Good served with seasonal vegetables.

NOTE;
Mashing the potato with olive oil instead of butter will give a lighter and healthier version, and will assist the mash in browning during the oven cooking phase of this dish! The mash can be added with the aid of a piping bag, or spooned over the top the method is a personal choice!

LAMB KEBAB

After the bad press that the local kebab houses have received recently, and having been relegated to post piss up fodder, we at home have been looking at healthy alternatives. Although we would not visit a British kebab shop while sober, and at 2000 Cal's a pop, i would rather eat food that is less greasy and more tasty, but temptation is never far away.

Here we have lamb kebabs made with minced lamb, these are just perfect for the barbecue or as part of a feast with friends. Although not true too one geographic region these kebabs nod towards the middle east, with a little Indian spice included for good measure!



THE RECIPE;

500g lamb mince

2 tbsp fresh mint(optional)

3 cloves garlic(minced with sea salt)

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp of black pepper corns

1 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp sweet paprika

1/2 tsp mild chilli powder(for a hotter version try a stronger powder, but do not increase amount)

Good pinch of sea salt



THE METHOD:

First grind the coriander,cumin and black pepper corns in a blender, spice mill or pestle and mortar. Place the lamb mince into a bowl with the minced garlic( to mince the garlic crush with back of a knife and add a sprinkle of sea salt, then run the blade of a knife across the garlic to achieve a smooth puree) and chopped mint if using. Add the ground spices to the lamb mince along with the paprika,chilli, turmeric and a large pinch of salt, using your hands(clean) incorporate all of the ingredients until combined and thoroughly mixed.

This amount of mixture will make 6 skewered kebabs at approx 8" in length. If using wood skewers soak for ten minutes before moulding the lamb to form kebabs. If using metal skewers please be aware the the metal will heat during cooking therefor cooking the inside of the kebabs and shortening the final cooking time.

To mould the kebabs onto the skewers place a sixth of the mixture into the palm of your hand and form a cigar shape around the skewers, making sure you have a uniformed thickness.



TO COOK;

Cooking times will vary depending on how thick you make them,the level of doneness you prefer and which method you use!

The kebabs could be placed on a griddle, barbecue or preheated oven. Or alternatively you could form into small patties or burgers.



VARIATIONS;

This method of cooking lamb mince is really open too your own imagination. You could add breadcrumbs to bulk out the mixture, lemon juice will work very well, or a touch of yoghurt in with the mixture.



TO SERVE;

Great served with hummus or mint and yoghurt dip, and home made spicy potatoes. A simple salad of tomato,onion and coriander leaf with a sqeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil, and warm pitta bread.



MINT AND YOGHURT DIP;

6 tbsp of natural yoghurt or greek style yoghurt

2" cucumber chopped finely and skin peeled

2 tbsp of fresh mint

Otional fresh chilli( i like to use a 1/4 of a medium sized green chilli)

Salt and pepper to taste



TO MAKE;

Add the yoghurt to a bowl then the finely chopped mint,cucumber and chilli if using. Taste and adjust seasoning to your preference. This dip improves once the flavours have infused, so if possible make a couple of hours before.



SPICED POTATOES;
Spice mix;
2 tbsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp paprika
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil

Grind the whole spices then add the paprika and garlic with a touch of olive oil to make a paste.
Leaving the skins on small to medium sized potatoes coat in a little olive oil , and season,then give a thin coating of spice paste, place into a pre heated oven 190c/375 F/Gas 5 in a dish covered with foil, cook for one hour or until a knife will glide through, and the potato is cooked. Season with salt and pepper on serving, or cut in half and garnish with fresh coriander and a squeeze of lemon.

NOTE;
As only a small rub of spice paste is required this mixture coat a lot of potatoes, so is ideal for large gatherings, and parties where simple,healthy and tasty food is called for, with little effort!

HUMMUS(HOUMMUS) RECIPE ONE!

Although middle eastern in origin, Hummus is now widely known throughout the world. It is said that Hummus has been with us since the birth of Delia or more to the point a time span somewhere in the region of 7,000 years - whichever is true you can bet your mother in law that a food would have to be very special to last that amount of time and still evolve. Unfortunately the big stores have added their mucky paws to the evolutionary process, with there own chemical glop being passed off as hummus, and worse still they are selling them at prices, that when added up- probably work out cheaper than making your own.Worrying as it is there is a solution to this travesty. Regain your sense of pride and make your own, the extra little bit of cost will not break the bank. The taste will be far superior to supermarket slop.
This recipe requires the use of tinned chick peas, but is still very good. Hummus recipe 2 will be using dried chick peas that are soaked overnight!

THE RECIPE;

2 x 400g tins of chick peas

2 x tablespoons of tahini

1 x lemon

1 x clove garlic

1 x tsp paprika

2 x tsp of extra virgin olive oil

Black pepper to taste

METHOD;

Drain the chick peas in a colander and rinse thoroughly, then drain again! Add the clove of garlic to a food processor with the knife blade fitted, and pulse on full power until finely chopped! Now add the chick peas, lemon juice, tahini - plus the salt and process on full power until a paste is formed. Add the paprika and pulse again. Taste and adjust seasoning adding more salt and a little pepper if required then finish with extra virgin olive oil, give this another process, depending on the consistency that you desire! Serve as you wish but especially good with pitta or flat breads.

NOTES;

Suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Not suitable for home freezing and is at its best during the the first 24 hours, when placed in a refrigerator it will last 3-4 days, but a loss of flavour is to be expected. Tahini is a paste made from ground sesame seeds, that is common in ethnic grocers and supermarkets. Tahini is liable to seperate during storage, stir well before use.

PLYMOUTH FARMERS MARKET : DATES REMAINING 2009

MARCH 14th

MARCH 28th

APRIL 11th

APRIL 25th

MAY 9th

MAY 23rd

JUNE 13th

JUNE 27th

JULY 11th

JULY 25th

AUGUST 8th

AUGUST 22nd

SEPTEMBER 12th

SEPTEMBER 26th

OCTOBER 10th

OCTOBER 24th

NOVEMBER 14th

NOVEMBER 28th

DECEMBER 12th

DECEMBER 19th

Plymouth Farmers Market is hosted on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month, opening times are 9am - 4.30pm/16.30. The market is situated around the sundial in the city centre.

A selection of stores are always on show, ranging from small producers of artisan foods to fresh produce.

FAT MAMMA'S BURGER BAR

Tucked away in a small premises on Drakes circus, with little frontage to do this business justice, walk through the doors of what was once a record shop you may be pleasantly surprised.
"THE WORLDS GREATEST BURGER" as proudly displayed in the small window is serving as the name would suggest- well burgers! The burgers are not the worlds best, but there is no harm in selling your product, you have to survive in this day and age with the bankers living on there fat cat pensions and the rest of us struggling to survive, you can be forgiven for selling and thinking big, it's the only way to go!
What these burgers do have is realism! Yes you heard it here first -real burgers in Plymouth. I witnessed with my own eyes these being made! What a revelation, beefburgers being shaped by the gloved hands of the one guy behind the counter, this is just getting better! Being the only customer at the time, another 4-5 we would have been struggling to sling the proverbial cat, the place is small, but welcoming with the guy behind the counter happy to discarded his disposable gloves to take my order. Now the menu board is up high, very well placed for the Plymouth raiders basketball team or those with good vision, but still manageable for the rest of us, let us not forget space is an issue here! With a choice of burgers all at £3.50 and wraps from £3.95, the menu is more than adequate. I decided on the English burger. A beefburger that is topped with bacon and an egg. Very British indeed with a side of beer battered chips with choice of dips.(Sides from £1.50, Coffee 95p)
As i waited for my order i had a good scan of the premises, it didn't take long but i liked the set up. For those with a liking of nostalgic signs you will be catered for. There are of course other burgers on offer, amongst them i noticed the Swiss, American, lamb and mint and of course the Hawaiian burger topped with the old favourite of the pizza shop the "the pineapple slice".
My order arrived wrapped in white paper and handed over the counter, good to go or if you like make use of the seating, which i did, as time was not of importance on this day
The first bite was good the second better, a nice burger at an acceptable size that screamed well made(i hate massive burgers). The burger being topped with a thick slice of bacon and an egg, plus the usual salad, that hid a lovely little surprise, a wonderful cornichon. Now most of us know this is the secret weapon of the high street burger chains, but it amazes me that hardly anyone else serves these with their burgers. Take the cornichon out of high street fast food burger and what are you left with, a pretty dismal beef pattie that cost next to nothing to make plus a couple of limp pieces of salad and a clump of mayo. If we were to do the cornichon test on the average Burger king or McDonald's customer, most when faced with a cornichon would probably run a mile let alone taste one, yet they don't question the actual taste that makes ,what they eat palatable. This has nothing what so ever to do with the big companies promise of wonderful ingredients, it is a unique secret weapon that i am glad to say has found it's way into the better burgers that can be found at Fat Mamma's. At £3.50 i would much rather spend my money here, and get the real McCoy, than give the big corporations my hard earned cash and grease the palms of the nasty fat cats. My only gripe with Fat Mamma's is that they need a menu placed outside. I have stopped on many occasions and walked on because i couldn't see what was on offer, i am glad that i did venture inside, and i will be back!

FAT MAMMA'S
DRAKES CIRCUS
NORTH HILL
PLYMOUTH
PL4 8AY
TEL: 0781 9615097

BEEF RENDANG- PICTURE SEQENCE

Spices blended with a pestle and mortar. A spice mill or blender attachment can be used in lieu of a decent pestle and mortar. Onion,garlic and ginger passed through a blender. Blended to the consistency of a puree.

Coconut bought to the boil at the first stage.

Coconut milk with the addition of spices and onion puree. This is the first change of colour to be experienced during the cooking of this rendang.

You will notice the slightly darker colour of the dish at this stage. Do not give up at this stage and serve the dish a little patience is all that is required. Believe me the dish will change to the desired colour.

Towards the end of cooking time you will notice that most of the coconut milk has been reduced and absorbed by the beef. This is the stage that requires a little more attention. You will need to keep a close eye on the beef to prevent the beef from burning and drying out. Believe me at this stage it is possible to lose the dish. When most of the sauce has been absorbed and you are left with a dark mass of beef with a thick coating of sauce. You are ready to serve!

The final product. At the beginning of cooking you will wonder whether the dish is too light in colour, will it ever reduce, be patient the dish will happen!

BEEF RENDANG

This dish is great, but is adaptable in the amount of beef you use. I allow 250g of beef per a person up to 1kg for this recipe. Allowing 250g of beef per a person is really not that much if you consider this dish is not bulked out with other ingredients like most curry dishes. You can cook this with 500g or 750g if desired, as the rest of the ingredients remain the same. Beef Rendang originates from Sumatra in Indonesia, with Malaysia having similar versions. During research for this dish, i did come across many versions with different recipes claiming to be authentic. My recipe is not far off the mark, but this aside it is still very tasty and a dish that is cooked many times in our household. The Rendang method was originally created as a way of preserving meat before the times of refrigeration. This dish does require a lot of time to make but the results are worth the wait. The puree of onion,garlic and ginger that is used to help thicken this dish is very adaptable for other curry dishes, and is a wonderful method of thickening and developing flavour.

THE RECIPE;

The puree;

250g onion

3 cloves of garlic

10g ginger

Small pinch of sea salt

2 tbsp of water or c/milk

The spice mix;

2 tsp coriander seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp turmeric

2 black peppercorns

The rest;

1 kg Beef steak(cut into decent chunks)

400ml coconut milk

1 bay leaf

1 stick of lemon grass

1 tbsp fresh lemon

4 chilli peppers(de seeded)- Depending on the amount of heat required seeds can be left!

2 -3 tsp of palm sugar

Optional Garnish;

Fresh tomato

Spring onion
Sliced chilli

THE METHOD;

Ground the spices in a pestle and mortar or spice mill to a fine powder, Reserve.

Chop the onion, garlic and ginger and add to a blender to make a puree. You will need to use the water or coconut milk to loosen the mixture and help the puree along. Season with a pinch of sea salt, reserve.

Add the coconut milk to a suitable skillet, and bring to the boil, after a couple of minutes add the spices, cook for 2 minutes before adding the onion puree, cook for a further 2 minutes before adding the chilli,lemongrass and bay leaf. Allow too cook for a further minute then add the Beef. Coat the beef with the coconut then add the lemon and palm sugar.

Over a low to moderate heat allow the dish to cook until all the sauce has been absorbed by the Beef, this will take somewhere between one and one and a half hours. Do not worry during cooking as the sauce will not take on the dark Rendang colour until all of the sauce is absorbed. During the last 10 minutes of cooking more attention is required as the sauce is absorbed to prevent the Rendang from burning.

The finished dish will look like a sticky dark brown mass, lovely and rich. Turn out into bowls and serve with boiled rice.

I like to eat Rendang with a garnish of tomato, spring onion and sliced deseeded chilli.

FOOLPROOF RICE

Not a recipe but a method for long grain rice. Bring 2 lt of salted water to the boil, add 400g of long grain rice(4 x 100g, allowing 100g per a person), stir to ensure the rice does not stick, bring back to the boil. The rice will cook perfectly in approximately 10 minutes. You will need to check for precise cooking by taste. The rice should be firm to the bite but giving a little.

CHOCOLATE CHILLI PANCAKES WITH HOT CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Pancakes and chocolate sauce with a dusting of chilli, nearly heaven but not quite! The chilli is a good match with the chocolate but if not to your liking you can leave the chilli out. The chilli does add a new dimension to chocolate but a sprinking is all that is required.

THE RECIPE;
For the chocolate sauce;
100ml double cream
150g of dark chocolate 55% cocoa
1 tsp of caster sugar

For the Pancakes;
4 pancakes(made from the previous recipe which you can find on this site)
Hot chilli powder
Sugar optional

METHOD;
Heat the cream with the tsp of sugar, once hot but not boiling add the chocolate in little pieces, stir until the chocolate has melted, keep warm until required.

TO PLATE AND FINISH;
You will require 4 pancakes. Spread a little chocolate sauce on each of the pancakes and a sprinkle of sugar if using, then roll into tight cigars, cut each pancake into 4 or 2 if desired, add to a plate with a drizzle of chocolate sauce and a sprinkle of hot chilli powder.

PANCAKE FU YOUNG

A vegetarian version of a Fu Young dish. This recipe is using a pancake as a base rather than the traditional egg omelette. The beauty of this dish is that you can use any vegetables you have to hand. The Fu young is really a folded omelette with an assortment of Chinese ingredients.

THE RECIPE;

4 pancakes

2 cloves of garlic(finely chopped)

1 chilli- seeds removed and sliced

1" piece of fresh ginger(finely chopped)

8-10 chestnut mushrooms(sliced)

4 spring onions(sliced on the diagonal)

1 medium onion(roughly chopped)

1 red pepper- sliced and seeds removed

4-6 mangetout

4-6 baby corn

A handful of fresh beansprouts

1 tbsp plus 1 teaspoon of light soy sauce

Juice of half a lime

1 tsp sesame oil

sweet chilli sauce to taste

sea salt and black pepper to taste

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS;

1 tsp of 5 spice

1 tsp of sugar

METHOD;

Stir fry the garlic ,onion,ginger and chilli for 1 minute, add the mangetout and corn and cook for a further minute, then add the bell pepper and mushrooms cook for a further 2-3 minutes then add the soy sauce and lime. Continue to stir fry then check for seasoning, adjust as necessary. Finally add the beansprouts and spring onion and cook for a further minute, then add a tsp of sesame oil before serving.

TO SERVE;

Place a 1/4 of the stir fry on each pancake and roll into a cigar shape, cut in half and plate with a garnish of sweet chilli sauce and a drizzle of the pan juices.

PANCAKE WITH PANCETTA LEEK AND PARMESAN SERVED WITH LEMON VINAIGRETTE

A nice thick pancake served with Pancetta cooked with leeks and Parmesan cheese and finished with a drizzle of lemon vinaigrette. This recipe could serve 2 big portions but due to the richness of the dish and the dish itself being very filling, i would recommend a serving of four. Basically this is a tarted up version of a ham and cheese pancake, but all the better for it!

THE RECIPE;

4 pancakes

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp of unsalted butter

6 slices Pancetta

50g leek(white and light green part)

25g onion

20g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3g flat leaf parsley

4 tbsp of double cream

1 clove garlic

A splash of dry vermouth/ noilly prat

1/4 tsp of lemon vinaigrette

GARNISH;

Leaf salad

Lemon vinaigrette

TO MAKE LEMON VINAIGRETTE;

Place 2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice into a shaker or squeeze bottle, add a small pinch of sea salt and shake to dissolve. Now add 5 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, shake again and add a pinch of sugar.

Taste and if required adjust seasoning. A pinch of freshly ground black pepper can be added if desired.

METHOD;

Add the olive oil and butter to a pan once hot add the onion and leek cook for 1 minute add the garlic cook for a further 30 seconds, then add the Pancetta. As the Pancetta starts to cook add a splash of dry vermouth, once the pancetta has crisped a little add the cream and 1/4 of a tsp of lemon vinaigrette, cook for a further minute then add the Parmesan and chopped parsley. Cook for a further 2 minutes and take off the heat.

TO FINISH;

Fold a pancake in half and spoon a 1/4 of the Pancetta filling into the middle, now fold again so that it looks like a little horn, place onto a plate. Dress the salad leaf with lemon vinaigrette and place alongside the pancake and drizzle some vinaigrette around the plate.

PANCAKES - SHROVE TUESDAY

For century's throughout the world, Christian community's have been celebrating the Tuesday before lent. In the Catholic communities of the Americas Mardi Gras is one such festival, closer to home it is called shrove Tuesday but more commonly known to us as pancake day. Traditionally pancakes were served with a meat based stew on the day before lent, now days you are more likely to find the sweet and sour combination of lemon juice and sugar. Possibilities for fillings are endless as pancakes can brace the worlds of sweet and savoury. Here is my Pancake recipe, which incidentally is a good time to get tossing, that is pancakes of course!

THE RECIPE;

Makes 4 thick or 6 thin pancakes.

150g plain flour(sieved)

350ml whole milk

1 large egg(preferably free range)

pinch of salt

1 tsp of oil

METHOD;

Sieve the flour and add the milk. whisk to combine and break in the egg, whisk again until all ingredients are nice and smooth and the consistency of thick cream. Season with a pinch of salt.Heat a non stick pan/skillet with the teaspoon of oil, swirl this around the pan. Once hot pour a quarter of the batter into the pan and make sure that it covers the whole of the base, after a minute loosen the edges with a spatula, give the pan a shake. If you are a tosser it makes life a little easier at this point as a good flick of the wrist will turn the pancake. If you are not a tosser, you will have to find away of turning the pancake over, if this fails you could place the pan under a hot grill till slightly coloured. Once the pancake is slightly brown it is cooked.Turn each pancake onto a plate, if desired serve with lemon wedges and a sprinkling of sugar, or alternatively serve with a nice fruit jam.

NOTES;
If you desire less oil, place 1 tsp of oil , once hot give the pan a very light wipe with a kitchen towel, but please be careful of your fingers.

MOORISH CUSTARD TART

Who doesn't like the odd tart. Well i am sure I'm not alone in the pursuit of happiness, a well made tart certainly delivers in the happiness stakes. But unfortunately only temporary happiness can be achieved with this comforting Moorish custard tart, reason being it will not stay in the fridge for long, it will be gone before you finish the oohs and ahhs of moorish delight.

THE RECIPE;

1 quantity of pine nut pastry- this recipe makes three batches!

2 cups/10oz pine nuts
1/3 cup of sugar(approx 75g)
3 cups of plain flour
8oz/250g unsalted butter(room temp)
1 large egg
1 tsp of vanilla extract/essence
Extra butter and flour for greasing the tin.
METHOD;
Pulse the pine nuts in a food processor, add the sugar and flour then pulse again until the nuts are finely ground and the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Place this mixture into a mixing bowl, add the softened butter,egg and vanilla extract/essence. Mix to combine(a ball of dough should form at this point), and divide into three equal parts. Wrap each dough mixture in cling film. Place one quantity of dough into the fridge and freeze the other two if not using within 24 hours. You will require a 9" tart tin/sandwich tin with a removable bottom. Grease the tin with butter and give a light dusting of flour, now place into the fridge for ten minutes. Pre heat an oven to 180 c, take out the tart tin after the 10 minutes and mould the pastry into the tin with your fingers, making sure that a uniform thickness is achieved throughout. Place in the centre of the pre-heated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Turn the tin 180 degrees after the first ten minutes to allow for even cooking. Remove from the oven after 20 minutes, and proceed with the rest of the recipe.

THE CUSTARD;
1 pint double cream
8 lge egg yolks
80g vanilla sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Nutmeg to taste(grated)

METHOD;
Seperate the eggs and place the yolks into a bowl with the vanilla sugar. Warm the cream in a pan, once warmed through but before boiling pour onto the whisked eggs and sugar and whisk again to combine. Add the custard to the tart shell and bake for 45 minutes at 120 c/ 250 f/ gas 1/2. After the 45 minutes baking remove from the oven and allow to cool, once cool place in the fridge and allow to chill for 2 hours or until set.

CURRIED NOODLES WITH CHICKEN AND PRAWN

In reality this dish is more about the addition of curry powder to noodles than what ingredients are actually used. This recipe is similar to a dish called singapore noodles, although the origin of singapore noodles is unknown to myself. On undertaking a little research, my findings have lead me to believe that singapore noodles are a north american adaption, with the name singapore referring to the use of heat or the blending of oriental cuisine with that of the indian use of spice. This dish can be made with other meats or poultry.

Serves 4-large portions

RECIPE;

225g raw prawns

100g chicken thigh or breast(sliced into small pieces)

250g cooked noodles

1 small onion(roughly chopped)

2 cloves garlic(finely chopped)

8-10 chestnut mushrooms(sliced into 1/4)


1 tbsp of fresh ginger(finely chopped)

1 red bell pepper(roughly chopped)

2 chillies(de-seeded and finely chopped)

1 tbsp mild curry powder( if using hot curry powder omit one of the chillies)

1/2 teaspoon of five spice

1 handful of beansprouts

1 lge pak choi(cut on the diagonal)

1 tbsp of light soy

3 tbsp of veg oil

sea salt and black pepper to taste


OPTIONAL GARNISH;


Shredded scallions/spring onion


Fresh coriander(finely chopped)

METHOD;

Add the oil to a wok or suitable saute pan and heat to hot, add the garlic,ginger,onion and chilli and stir fry for 1 minute, add the pak choi,mushrooms and peppers, then stir fry for a further minute. Now add the chicken and cook for a further minute, before adding the beansprouts and prawns, cook for 1 minute, add the curry powder, keep the ingredients moving in the wok and season with 5 spice and soy sauce, now add the cooked noodles then stir to combine. Check for salt and pepper then turn out into bowls and garnish with shredded spring onion and fresh coriander.

NOTES;

For a wetter version please use your imagination, the addition of 100ml of appropriate stock or a small amount of coconut milk will provide the desired wetness. Unfortunately myself, i am rather fond of dry noodle dishes, although i would never say no to a noodle soup- That would be rude!

BEEF CHOW MEIN

Fried noodles(chow mein) can be served with most forms of protein, a favourite of mine is beef.

In this recipe i am using rump as the beef is seared in a wok first, then cut across and tossed with the noodles when ready to serve. My version of beef chow mein is rather dry, but by increasing the soy,oyster and rice wine too 2 tbsp each you will achieve a moister chow mein, if that is your preference.

RECIPE;

serves 2

150g egg noodles

175g rump steak(APPROX)

2 tbps groundnut oil or vegetable oil

1 tbsp light soy

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp of rice wine(shaoshing)

1 large clove garlic

1 pak choi(sliced on the diagonal)

6 chestnut mushrooms

pinch of sugar

beansprouts(1 handful)

sesame oil

salt(to taste)

pepper(to taste)

METHOD;

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, meanwhile add a tbsp of oil to a wok or saute pan and cook the beef for 2 minutes a side, then set aside. Reserve the cooking juices in the wok. Add the noodles to the boiling water and cook according to the manufacturers instructions. Now reheat the wok and add the other tbsp of oil and stirfry the garlic then add the mushrooms,pak choi and the bean sprouts, cook for 2 minutes. Then add the oyster and soy sauce, stirfry and add the rice wine and a pinch of sugar. Drain the noodles and add to the wok, toss to combine then add the sliced beef,toss again then adjust the seasoning if required and turn out onto a plate with a drizzle of sesame oil to taste.

NOODLES - PRAWN WITH CHILLI AND GINGER

A simple meal for one that can be increased in quantity. Egg noodles cooked with chilli and ginger with a garnish of fresh coriander and spring onion. A lovely combination that is simplicity in itself.

RECIPE;

6 prawn/shrimp(cooked)

2 tbsp groundnut oil or veg oil

1 chilli( deseed, if required)

5 g root ginger

1 clove of garlic

3 spring onions

125g egg noodles

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp rice wine(shaohsing)

1 tbsp fresh coriander

Pepper (to taste)

Salt (to taste)

METHOD;

First cook the noodles according to manufacturers instructions. While noodles are boiling, finely chop 5g ginger, 1 chilli, 1 clove of garlic. Reserve the white part of one of spring onions for garnish and cut the rest of the spring onions on the diagonal(green leafy part as well). Heat a wok or saute pan on a high heat add the oil, once hot add the garlic, ginger and chilli cook for one minute add the spring onion and prawns cook for further minute then add the noodles. Toss all of the ingredients to combine now add 1 tbsp of light soy and 1 tbsp of rice wine. Cook for a further 2 minutes while keeping the ingredients moving! Add a turn of black pepper and check for salt. Turn onto a plate and garnish with 1 tbsp of fresh coriander and shredded spring onion.

Note; When checking for salt bear in mind that soy sauce is salty! You might not need as much as you think.

VANILLA ICE CREAM

A great classic that can stand alone or become part of a more elaborate preparation. Unfortunately due to commercial preparations, real vanilla ice cream is rarely eaten or understood. By omitting the vanilla you have the base for many different ice creams and flavour combinations. Once you have tried this you will understand what ice cream is all about.

RECIPE;
600ml whole milk
600ml double cream
100g vanilla sugar
12 lge egg yolks
2 vanilla pods

Makes just over 2 pints of ice cream

The beginning of the preparation is the same as for creme anglaise, at the end stage when the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, you will need to allow your custard to cool. Once cool add the custard mixture to an ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturers instructions. Place the firm mixture into a seal able container and place into the freezer until set firm(2-3 hours).
If an ice cream machine is not to hand, place cool/chilled mixture into a seal able container place into the freezer and remove every 2 hours and whisk or beat with a fork to break down ice crystals.

Note;
Make sure that the ice cream is covered in the freezer to ensure that odours from other foods do not find there way into the flavour.

APPLE CRUMBLE

What is the key to a good crumble? Well apart from the obvious a crumble in my mind should have at least an equal balance of fruit to crumble. Too much fruit, stewed for too long you just as well eat baby food, too much crumble you just as well have a giant biscuit! A crumble should be buttery,rich and well- crumbly. The dish itself can be forgiving and lends itself to many different seasonal fruits. Here we are using apples, but many combinations are known and have become classics in there own right.

Recipe;



CRUMBLE TOPPING;

150 g plain flour

100g sugar

100g porridge oats

100g unsalted butter - softened and cut into cubes

small pinch of sea salt

grating of nutmeg optional( half a grated nutmeg used in my recipe)



FILLING;

500 g apples- this recipe uses braeburn

100g vanilla sugar or caster sugar

1 tsp of ground cinnamon



Method;

Add the oats to a food processor and blitz a couple of times, add the flour and blitz again, now add the softened butter,sugar and optional nutmeg, and pulse until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Peel and core the apples, cut into bite size pieces and place into a mixing bowl, mix with 100g of vanilla sugar/caster sugar - add 1 tsp of cinnamon and combine until all of the apples are coated in sugar and cinnamon, now place into a suitable oven dish that will hold all of the ingredients.

Cover with the crumble topping and pat down with the back of a spoon. Place in a pre-heated oven at 180c/gas 4 and cook for 35-40 minutes.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or creme anglaise

LAMB AND KIDNEY HOTPOT

Comfort food at its best. This dish is a treat and not so far from a lancashire hot pot as one would think. There are so many recipes for lancashire hot pot, that one would become confused and muddled just trying to find an authentic version. This is my version that can serve as a complete meal or part of a larger meal with vegetables or even pickled cabbage.

Recipe;

900g lamb

4-6 lamb kidneys(cleaned)

600 ml lamb stock

1 lge onion(roughly chopped)

1.2 kg potatoes -Maris piper preferably

2 bay leafs

1 tbsp of tomato puree

3 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp of fresh thyme

1 tbsp of fresh rosemary

small glass of port

olive oil

unsalted butter

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

plain flour

1 medium carrot

4" piece of celery

1/3 of a leek(white)

Method;

First prepare the carrot,leek and celery. Chop as finely as possible and reserve. Peel the potatoes and reserve in clean water.

Clean the kidneys and cut, along with the lamb into bite sized pieces. Coat in seasoned flour, heat a large skillet or saute pan with a little olive oil, brown the lamb and kidneys then remove and reserve till needed. Add a dash of oil to the pan and saute the onion and garlic(being careful not too let the garlic brown) then add the carrot,celery and leek cook for a further 2
minutes, pour on a glass of port and deglaze the pan. Once deglazed return the lamb and kidneys, add the tomato puree and combine. Pour on the stock and add the finely chopped herbs and bay leaf.
In a suitable oven proof dish grease the bottom with a little butter and line with potatoes that have been cut into thin rounds. Now add the lamb and kidney filling adjust the seasoning and top with the rest of the potatoes. Brush the potatoes with melted butter and place in a pre-heated oven 200c/gas6 for approximately 1 hour.

Note; Frequent brushing of the potatoes during cooking will give a better crisp finish,but will prolong the cooking time.

CREME ANGLAISE- POURING CUSTARD

Given a french name this still oozes Britain, British to the core me old son!
I can not really think of many dishes or preparations from the sweet world that i absolutely adore, but a well made custard has to be there right at the top, combine this with a treacle tart or lovely homemade crumble and you experience the kind of sensation that chocolate lovers so fondly describe- heaven!

The recipe;
For roughly 1 pint of custard,

300 ml whole milk
300 ml double cream
6 eggs yolks
1 vanilla pod
50g vanilla sugar

The method;
Cut the vanilla pod length ways and remove the seeds with the tip of a small knife(flattening the pod first with the back of a knife will loosen the seeds).
Add the milk,cream and vanilla(seeds and pod)to a decent saucepan and bring to the boil!
Mean while separate the eggs and whisk with 50g vanilla sugar to a creamy texture has been achieved and a slight change of colour(2 Min's).
As the liquid comes to the boil pour half onto the eggs and sugar and whisk then add the other half and whisk again.
Return this to the pan on a very low heat. Continue to stir until the custard thickens, but be very careful of the temperature as the eggs are liable to curdle!!!!!!!
As soon as the custard coats the back of a wooden spoon and leaves an impression, if a clean finger is drawn through - the custard is ready.
Strain through a sieve into a clean bowl, allow to cool and refrigerate. Once chilled enjoy!

Notes;
Plain caster sugar can be used and will give an exceptional custard, adding vanilla sugar is my own twist on a great classic. This custard can be made successfully with 5 eggs, and quantities can be doubled.
Once the custard has been sieved you can discard the vanilla pod but better still, dry with a kitchen towel and add to a pot of caster sugar.

ESSENCE- RECIPES FROM LE CHAMPIGNON SAUVAGE BY DAVID EVERITT MATTHIAS

• Biased about this book - no chance. What is there to be biased about i've only eaten there 4 times, bought the book from the restaurant, went to school down the road , had the book signed from the chef, got invited into the kitchen to make bread which i declined, silly now but fear was the reason. So of course I'm biased, this is the best damn restaurant in the world in my eyes.
  
  It was on our first visit to this establishment that i saw the book for sale. Not only was it amazing to be eating in our first 2 Michelin starred restaurant, but a chance to purchase the man's book was somewhat exciting, making the whole experience that little more special.
  
  
  When Essence was first published it was widely claimed to be the English equivalent of The French Laundry Cookbook, and rightly so. David Everitt Matthias is not a celebrity chef, although very well known and respected in culinary circles, David is a chef who has not missed a service for 17 years in his restaurant, a distinction not many could surpass. The food he produces is excellent while his wife Helen runs a faultless front of house. Why the Michelin guide still has them down at two stars is beyond many, and belief.
  
  With the authors cooking firmly rooted to the terroir(land), this shows throughout the book with recipes using foraged wild foods and a quirky little section at the back devoted to identification.
  One of the strong points of this book is the break down of each recipe enabling the user to adapt parts to other ingredients. The author explains throughout that most preparations can and will work with other related ingredient parings, which in turn makes this a very user friendly cookbook at the high end of the market!
  Another surprise is the authors love of cheaper cuts and little used fish. This shows the authors great understanding of cooking and ingredients, and how with the right skills the cheaper fresh ingredients can be turned into the sublime. A section at the front describes some of the pre-starters such as crispy pigs ears,gougeres, and a lovely vichysoisse of alexanders. All of this is supported by good photography and wonderful recipes.
  
  Retailing at £25/$40 - a book that is honest and sincere and lives up to it's title Essence!
  
  191 pages
  isbn- 1-9045735-2-5
  http://www.absolutepress.co.uk/
  
  Le Champignon Sauvage
  24-28 suffolk Road
  Cheltenham
  Gloucestershire
  GL 50 2 AQ
  TEL (44) 01242 573449
  http://www.lechampignonsauvage.co.uk
  

MAZE- THE COOKBOOK BY JASON ATHERTON

Not another cookbook from a Michelin starred chef! Well yes in fact! A little different than your average chef cookbook with recipes actually having three variations rather than the impossible to achieve one recipe!
Having been a keen follower of Jason Atherton's cooking and impeccable credentials, i was rather pleased to find this book amongst the shelves of the local bookstore.
Jason Atherton has worked in some of the finest kitchens in the world el Bulli and Gordon Ramsay being just two of the many. His creativity and genius in the kitchen are quick to shine through in numerous recipes that adorn the pages of this beautiful book.
Mr Atherton is not afraid to say how he chanced upon some of his recipes from mistakes , this alone lets you know that this guy is human and not a culinary machine. A trait that is unfortunately evident in many high end cookbooks. Mistakes lead to excellent discoveries as in the perfect scrambled eggs page 69. Innovative recipes stand along side classics that have been adjusted to suit the modern times with a little science showing from time to time, but most recipe's relying on the skill and intuition of the chef.
A great touch within this book is the three variants of the principle ingredient. Although the recipes do not necessarily become easier, while you may feel that certain recipes are served in the restaurant while other's are for the table at home they are not impossible to achieve with a little skill. With outstanding photography from Ditte Isager this alone places the book in the 5 star category while complimenting the recipes to provide an excellent cookbook.
If you like innovative cuisine and like the idea of black olive caramel with your strawberry's or chilled pea soup with Parmesan ice cream, this is the book for you. The book has 254 pages with a foreword by the man himself and an introduction by Ferran Adria. With a small section on cocktails at the back of book followed by a comprehensive section on the basics you can't go far wrong! Retailing at £ 25 it is a little on the expensive side but worth every penny.

Isbn 978-184-00-597-0

www.gordonramsay.com/maze

www.ditteisager.dk

CHOCOLATE TART WITH PINE NUT PASTRY

Ahh chocolate, Ohh chocolate or just chocolate, you decide! For a long time now I've been contemplating making a tart! A chocolate tart! You see the thing being, i just love to cook with chocolate, i like the mess- i like messy things, not just any old mess but gooey, sticky high calorie mess, the kind of mess that only chocolate can provide! But the problem being, i don't really like eating chocolate i don't know why but I'm more of a savoury kind of guy. All is not lost though as i seem to be surrounded by an ever increasing supply of chocolate testers, always at the ready with spoons and open mouths.

Admittedly my chocolate making skills are put to good use around valentines day. When brownie points are needed for the coming year to secure the much coveted Beer tokens for the coming months- but beer tokens aside this is really a special tart! With Febuary around the corner i might be making this again! After my small slice i was tempted to pilfer the rest and stash it somewhere safe, somewhere only i knew! Now that is unusal for a savoury toothed guy.

Now the good part i am going to tell you how to make this! But first a little on the pastry, the pastry recipe is from The french laundry cook book, a recipe i have used on several occasions when the need to impress arises. The dessert that this wonderful pastry hails from is a Lemon Sabayon tart with pine nut crust, another of Thomas Keller's delightful treats. Having cooked the lemon tart last week, and with two batches of excess pastry in need of use, a chocolate tart seemed the right choice! An excellent marriage between nutty pastry and dark chocolate, rich with a biscuit base that softens and cuts through the richness - kind of like eating a giant chocolate digestive.

THE RECIPE;

Pine nut pastry;

2 cups 10 oz pine nuts

1/3 cup of sugar(approx 75g)

3 cups of plain flour

8 oz/250g of unsalted butter at room temperature

1 large egg

1 tsp of vanilla extract

Butter and flour for greasing the tin

Pulse the pine nuts in a food processor, then add the sugar and flour, Pulse again until the nuts are finely ground. Place this mixture into a mixing bowl, add the softened butter, egg and vanilla extract and mix to incorporate all ingredients. Divide the pastry into three parts and wrap in cling film. Place one quantity of pastry into the refrigerator and freeze the other two for future use, if not using within the next 24 hours. Using a 9" tart tin with a removable bottom, grease with butter and a light dusting of plain flour then place in the fridge until needed(approximately 10 minutes). Pre-heat the oven to 180c, when the oven is ready remove the pastry and the tin from the fridge. Mould the pastry into the tart tin with your fingers making a uniform thickness throughout, trim the pastry from the edges with a knife and place into the oven for 20 minutes. After 10 minutes turn the tart tin 180 degrees to allow for uniform cooking. Remove after allotted cooking time and allow to cool while you make the chocolate filling. Turn the oven down to 100c.

THE CHOCOLATE;

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

55g vanilla sugar(caster sugar is fine to use)

250g dark chocolate(55% cocoa solids is used in my recipe)

200g unsalted butter

Melt the chocolate and butter in a large bowl over a saucepan of boiling water(take care not let the bowl touch the water), once melted reserve. Starting again with cold water, place a large heatproof bowl over the saucepan and add the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla sugar and whisk till light and fluffy(approx 10 minutes). Remove from the heat and pour the egg mixture into the melted chocolate and butter. Fold this mixture in from the edges to return to a deep brown colour. Once the mixture is completely folded into itself, pour into the reserved tart tin and return to the oven for ten minutes. Remove and allow to cool, once cool place into the refrigerator until fully set. Eat and Enjoy, without trying to think about the coronary inducing amounts of butter!

WHAT BETTER TIME TO INDULGE IN AN IRRESISTIBLY CHOCOLATY TARTY ! JUST SAY NO, " OH GO ON JUST ONE SLICE" NO NO NO! I SHALL NOT SUCCUMB TO TEMPTATION, OH JUST ONE SMALL SLICE THEN"

VANILLA SUGAR

A method rather than a recipe. Place caster sugar into a kilner jar or screw top jar, and add Vanilla pods after using, rather than throw them away. Over time the sugar will infuse with a Vanilla flavour which is great to use in desserts. The jar will keep for ever and only needs to be topped up when running low on sugar. You can also keep adding Vanilla pods, when ever available. This is a great method to use, as Vanilla pods are not cheap. I have even used this instead of normal caster suger and omitted Vanilla essence, when essence was called for with good results.

AMERICAN CUP MEASURES

• 1 cup of flour = 5 oz = 150g
• 1 cup sugar(caster/granu) = 8 oz = 225g
• 1 cup brown sugar = 6 oz = 175g
• 1 cup butter/marg/lard/dripping = 8 oz = 225g
• 1 cup ground almonds = 4 oz = 110g
• 1 cup currants = 5 oz = 150g
• 1 cup sultanas/raisins = 7 oz =200g
• 1 cup uncooked rice = 7oz = 200g
• 1 cup grated cheese = 4 oz = 110g
• 1 cup syrup = 12 oz = 350g
• 1 stick butter = 4 oz = 110g

CONVERSIONS - LENGTH

METRIC IMPERIAL
3mm 1/8 in
5mm 1/4 in
1 cm 1/2 in
2 cm 3/4 in
2.5 cm 1 in
3 cm 1 1/4 in
4 cm 1 1/2 in
4.5 cm 1 3/4 in
5 cm 2 in
6 cm 2 1/2 in
7.5 cm 3 in
9 cm 3 1/2 in
10 cm 4 in
13 cm 5 in
15 cm 6 in
18 cm 7 in
20 cm 8 in

CONVERSIONS DRY MEASURES - PART 2

METRIC IMPERIAL
550G 1 1/4 lb
750G 1 1/2 lb
1 KG 2 1/4 lb
1.25 KG 2 1/2 lb
1.5 KG 3 lb
1.75 KG 4 lb
2 KG 4 1/2 lb
2.25 KG 5 lb
2.5 KG 5 1/2 lb
2.75 KG 6 lb
3 KG 7 lb
3.5 KG 8 lb
4 kg 9 lb
4.5 kg 10 lb
5 kg 11 lb
5.5 kg 12 lb
6 kg 13 lb
6.5 kg 14lb
6.75 kg 15 lb

CONVERSIONS- DRY MEASURES - PART 1

METRIC IMPERIAL
5g 1/8 oz
10g 1/4 oz
15g 1/2 oz
20g 3/4 oz
25g 1 oz
40g 1 1/2 oz
50g 2 oz
65g 2 1/2 oz
75g 3 oz
90g 3 1/2 oz
100g 1/4 lb (4 oz)
120g 4 1/2 oz
135g 4 3/4 oz
150g 5 oz
165g 5 1/2 oz

175g 6 oz

185g 6 1/2 oz

200g 7 oz

215g 7 1/2 oz

225g 1/2 lb (8 oz)

250g 9 oz

275g 10 oz

300g 11 oz

350g 12 oz

375g 13 oz

400g 14 oz

425g 15 oz

450g 1 lb (16oz)

ROOT VEGETABLE BROTH

A very simple yet tasty root vegetable broth. It is amazing how a dish so simple and cheap can be so Delicious. Very rustic in appearance, almost a stew, but more a soup with chunky veg.
Recipe;
2 tbsp of olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 onion
1000ml good vegetable stock or decent stock cube
120g leek(white)
1 tbsp of fresh Thyme
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Root vegetables;
200g swede/turnip
1 large parsnip
2 medium potatoes
5 carrots
1 medium sweet potato
METHOD;
Peel and cut your root veg into bite size chunks. Roughly chop the onion and leek, and finely chop the garlic. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large saute or sauce pan(large enough to hold all of the ingredients comfortably), add the onion and leek and cook until soft, now add the garlic, and cook for a further minute without browning. Lightly season with sea salt and pepper, and add the bay and thyme. Now add the carrot and cook for a further 5 minutes, then add the other root vegetables, pour on stock and simmer untill all veg are cooked to your liking. Adjust seasoning whilst cooking. This will serve 4.

LIQUID MEASURES

METRIC / IMPERIAL
15ml 1/2 fl oz
20ml 3/4 fl oz
25ml 1 fl oz
35ml 1 1/4 fl oz
40ml 1 1/2 fl oz
50ml 2 fl oz
60ml 2 1/4 fl oz
65ml 2 1/2 fl oz
85ml 3 fl oz
100ml 3 1/2 fl oz
120ml 4 fl oz
150ml 5 fl oz(1/4 pint/1 gill)
175ml 6 fl oz
200ml 7 fl oz(1/3 pint)
250ml 8 fl oz
275ml 9 fl oz
300ml 10 fl oz(1/2 pint)
325ml 11 fl oz
350ml 12 fl oz
375ml 13 fl oz
400ml 14 fl oz
450ml 15 fl oz(3/4 pint)
500ml 17 fl oz
600ml 20 fl oz(1 pint) approx
750ml 1 1/4 pints
900ml 1 1/2 pints
1000ml 1 3/4 pints(1 litre)
1.2 litres 2 pints
1.25 litres 2 1/4 pints
1.5 litres 2 1/2 pints
1.75 litres 3 pints
2 litres 3 1/2 pints
2.75 litres 5 pints
5 litres 9 pints

1x1.25ml spoon = 1/4 teaspoon(roughly a pinch) tsp - teaspoon
1x 2.5ml spoon = 1/2 teaspoon
1x5ml spoon = 1 teaspoon
2x5ml spoon = 2 teaspoons
1 x15ml spoon = 1 tablespoon tbsp- tablespoon

OVEN TEMPERATURES

OVEN TEMPERATURES

These are only a guide for conventional ovens;

• VERY LOW 120 C =250 F =GAS MARK 1/2
• LOW 150 C-275/300 F = GAS MARK 1-2
• MODERATELY LOW 170 C = 325 F =GAS MARK 3
• MODERATE 180 C = 350/375 F = GAS MARK 4-5
• MODERATELY HOT 200 C = 400 F = GAS MARK 6
• HOT 220 C = 425/450 F = GAS MARK 7-8
• VERY HOT 240 C = 475 F = GAS MARK 9

For Fan-assisted ovens check the manufacturer's manual.

VINAIGRETTE

Vinegar-Oh what a wonderful ingredient. Versatile yet on it's own sharp, mix with other ingredients you can balance the taste to suit your needs, add oil you have a vinaigrette. A dressing that is wonderful with all manner of foods, and a lot more healthy than shop brought dressings that harbour all sorts of unsavoury ingredients. Most recipes for vinaigrette will have quite substantial volumes of oil and vinegar, which is not really practical in the domestic kitchen. With these recipes you can cut down on the amount and still achieve a wonderful dressing that is at home with a salad as it is used as a sauce.



HOUSE VINAIGRETTE;

This is our standard vinaigrette we use during the summer months, which is made every couple of days!

3 tbsp of extra virgin oil

1 tbsp of white/red wine vinegar(best you can afford)

Half teaspoon of Dijon mustard

pinch of salt

pepper optional

Method;

Put the vinegar into a dish,shaker or squeeze bottle and add the salt(salt dissolves quicker in vinegar than oil). Dissolve the salt, then add the oil, whisk or shake to make an emulsion, then add the Dijon mustard shake again. Vinaigrette will last for at least 1 week maybe longer if refrigerated. The emulsion will split when stored, but not to worry, a quick shake and the dressing will emulsify again.

LEMON VINAIGRETTE;

2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

season to taste with salt,pepper and a pinch of sugar

Optional ingredients mint,Dijon mustard.

HORSERADISH VINAIGRETTE;

1 tbsp of white wine vinegar

3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Half a tsp of Dijon mustard

1/3 tsp horseradish sauce/cream

Sea Salt

Method;

As for house vinaigrette above, but add horseradish at the same time as the Dijon mustard.

BALSAMIC AND OLIVE OIL DRESSING;

1 tbsp of Balsamic vinegar

t tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Incorporate to form an emulsion and season if desired.

A simple salad using Balsamic dressing;

Rocket leaves

Shaved Parmesan

Sea salt(small pinch)

Balsamic dressing

Very simple, not even a recipe. Season the rocket leaves with salt, add shaved Parmesan and toss, then dress with Balsamic dressing. Serve!

A standard vinaigrette has many possibilities with the addition of garlic and fresh herbs. Different oils can be used, flavoured vinegars with the exception being malt vinegar which we would not use. They can be changed according to what you cook and prepare. The key to good dressings start with the ingredients, good ingredients = good dressings!

PLYMOUTH AND THE CHINESE BUFFET

Now let me tell you a bit about my home town, being situated at the start of a peninsula and being the last city of any size, although small, by most standards, we are the last big population of the south of England. Due to our geographic location we always seem to be the last place that branded businesses set up shop. With this in mind we also seem to be the last or at least a few years behind other cities in culinary concepts.

If i remember rightly it took a long time for the fast food chains to set up shop, first one then lots throughout the city. We only got Starbucks 2 years ago, now we have two maybe three along with the other coffee brands. Now we come to the point of the post- The Chinese buffet.

Back in 2005 we had a small Chinese buffet in a dank basement in the student area of the city, although the food was certainly not of any note, it was a new concept in Chinese dining at the time, a chance for people to taste the different dishes on offer with out breaking the wallet. This place was eventually superseded by another small buffet in Cornwall street which appeared for a time to have the monopoly on buffet dining, until 2008 when two super size buffets opened within the city - Water dragon and Buffet city.
Water dragon easily has the edge of the two but is certainly not serving much in the way of great food.
What is the point of the Chinese buffet i ask? Is it so that you can try lots of dishes of a different cuisine or a chance to be a glutton of mammoth proportions.
Seeing how the Chinese food that we eat in this country, or should i say the food that is cooked for the westerner, bears little resemblance to the food of china or the depth of skill that Chinese cooks reach. Then why are these places full, is it so that people feel they are receiving a bargain or is that we have gone the way of most of the western world and need to eat as much food as possible in one sitting. Quantity over quality appears to be the order of the day.
Plymouth has always had it's share of Chinese restaurants, some not so good, and others serving slightly better, but this not London or any of the other size able cities,but a small city with a reasonable Chinese population. It would be nice to see a Chinese open one day that went a little more authentic than dishes that all taste the same with liberal use of MSG. If the buffet restaurants are making a claim what hope is there for that special little Chinese restaurant to open where you have to actually pay a reasonable amount for good quality well cooked food with a little imagination behind the stove and plate.
For those that have tasted high end Chinese it is in a completely different league to what is served as the normal British Chinese restaurant fare. Maybe it's me or maybe I'm wrong, but the chance to go out in this city and eat real Chinese food would be as welcome as a big win on the lottery. Chances are neither will happen!

Note;
This is in no way intended to offend or upset anyone, it is just an honest account of how i see things at the moment! If and when things change you can bet i will be the first comment!

CORRIANDER OIL

Flavoured oils are a delight, not only visually, they can also lift a dish beyond the norm.



CORIANDER OIL;

100ml extra virgin olive oil

20g fresh coriander

Grain or two of sea salt

METHOD;

Blanch the fresh coriander in rapidly boiling water for 30 seconds then refresh in an iced water bath to stop the cooking and preserve the colour. Pat dry with a cloth or paper towel.
Add coriander to the liquidiser with a little of the oil. Liquidise till smooth, then gradually add the rest of the oil, into the mixture is smooth,lump free and a vibrant green colour.
Refrigerate till needed. This oil will only keep for 2-3 days maximum.

BASIL,PARSLEY AND MINT OIL

Method;
As above but reduce the blanching time to 15 seconds.

RISSOLES

Rissoles a comfort food not so far from the beef Pattie to be alien, but somewhat different. The beauty of the rissole is that, it can take many forms with ingredients you have to hand or more elaborate preparations. Rissoles are known the world over. Here is a standard from my kitchen.

Cracked potato Rissole

Recipe;

400g beef mince

350g waxy potatoes

1/2 medium onion finely chopped

15g unsalted butter

2 tbsp chopped parsley

2 tbsp of sweet pickle

1 tsp lemon

Half a large chilli de-seeded and finely chopped

Dash of Worcester sauce

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Oil for frying

Method;

Peel and dice the potatoes into 5cm cubes.Bring a lightly salted pan of water to the boil and cook the potatoes until just cooked but holding there shape, drain and reserve.
Brown the mince with the finely chopped onion and add the butter to the pan, once the onions have softened season with a pinch of salt and a turn of pepper, now add the lemon, parsley and chilli cook for a further minute and add the Worcester sauce. Cook for a further 2 minutes and transfer to a dish large enough to hold all the mixture. Combine with the potatoes and sweet pickle and form into small patties.
Heat a skillet with your choice of oil and fry the patties for 2 minutes a side or till golden brown.

These rissoles are wonderful as a stand alone dish, or could be used as part of a meal or even made into tiny patties they could become part of a buffet.

COOKING THE BOOKS-PART 2

Is this the year i hunt for old copies in charity shops, it certainly will be, but before we head for the old books, several new purchases have been made. In all honesty i headed for the sales armed with my christmas book tokens. Smugness and guilt aside i could buy happily in the knowledge that what i was spending was gifts from people close to myself. So i headed for the sales on the hunt for half price books. Half price books i found,but i was looking for specifics. I harbour a certain fondness for asia, mainly the orient with the food of south east asia and china being my greatest passion with the culture of the far east a close second. Although i cook asian food at least once a week i have never had the inclination to post my recipes,photos and mishaps.There are some wonderful Asian food blogs around written by people in the know, people who have lived or live in Asia, or from Asian descent. How could i compete with these people with my limited knowledge of asian cuisine. Back to the book tokens, with Asian in mind the hunt began with my first purchase being Balance and Harmony by Neil Perry. A wonderful book that shouts passion and knowledge of this wonderful cuisine, second purchase was non Asian but French - Ripailles by stephane reynaud. Third purchase was back to Asian with Sri Owens Indonesian Food. A delight to read with good insight into the food of Indonesia,a food that is often overlooked by the western world in favour of the well known south east Asian nations or china. Next up was a basic chinese cookbook that accompanied a Tv series here in the UK, at half price Chings- chinese made easy, fitted the the bill just perfect. There were other books i wanted, but maximum paper for minimum money was the order of the day.

So why Asian cookbooks? Well i want to take my knowledge to the next level, while using the Wok at home is not without it's problems, there is a lot more to oriental cooking than meets the eye, complex flavours and balance among many. In effect i am starting from scratch with oriental cuisine with a view to develop an in depth knowledge of skills,techniques and tastes. Most people purchase a wok and stir fry till there heart is content, but they are using a technique, rather than a style of cooking, but to many this technique is often abused, ingredients are thrown in the wok, soy sauce is dumped on top then emptied onto the plate only for the clueless eater to pour salt by the tablespoon in the hope of eating a meal that is edible. In my last cooking the books post i followed a recipe, although in the first post i said i look for inspiration rather than a recipe, i feel to achieve an acceptable level of knowledge as a non asian i need to cook the books.

COOKING THE BOOKS - PART ONE

Okay so this does not relate to Stockbrokers,Bankers or Bernie Maddof, this is a food blog for Christ sake not a hedge fund conspiracy. We are talking greed in a way, but forces that are darker and far worse are at play- Obsession, lust, betrayal and porn! What the hell am i talking about the latest blockbuster thriller or the darkest of Evil,or is it just one mans obsession with cookbooks!
It's a bad pre-occupation you know-just got have it the latest release,sometimes even before they are published- thank god for the net! Haven't tried therapy yet, and the other half is worried, no not about me, but space for Christ sake, where are we gonna store them!
OK an average month will see at least a couple of new editions but the last 2 1/2 months have seen a mini bookstore sprout up like a bean stalk, new shelves have been built and they are now full. During October my pre-orders arrived The Big Fat Duck Cookbook,Alinea and Under Pressure by Thomas Keller, along with November/December releases- A Day At el Bulli, Rick steins latest creation Coast to Coast and Indian made easy by Anjum Anand. You see i have no loyalty, this is the betrayal part I buy what i like, ok there is some writers i don't buy, maybe they are too girly and i'm too alpha, but truth be known i like restaurant cookbooks, expensive one's that are hard to purchase, that is the porn part in case you were worrying!
Just last week on a pre Christmas visit to my sister and family i managed to buy no less than 6 books, 5 of them on cooking, the 6th on photography(this will be used to hopefully take better food pictures).
But why, most of these books i will not use, for reasons other than skill levels, i do not possess the time or the equipment. Take under pressure(Keller) all the recipes use a sous vide water bath and require a vacuum packer. I do not have this equipment, and i knew what the book was about,before i bought it. Hestons latest book, his life in print, will it go to the kitchen -fuck no, it will stay on the shelf, and only come out for reference or too marvel at the culinary genius of this man.
I can't honestly remember the last time i cooked from a recipe, but i do use the books for inspiration, so we now come to the lust part. Yes there are books i lust after a couple more el Bulli books would be welcome, oud sluis from the restaurant, i want along with many others, but this will take time and money, luckily we still have the obsession part. Books old and new grace my shelves to be plucked from obscurity to find that somewhat lacking inspiration that creeps in from time to time. This coming year i have decided to collect old cookbooks, not antique but as old as i can afford, i will stalk the charity and thrift shops looking for the unwanted, and build shelves all over the house, ok the last part about the shelves is fiction, but i'm sure my collection will grow. I have read somewhere that Gordon Ramsay has over 3,500 cook books that's a serious amount of paper and serious cash. I'm not going for that amount but.......................

MOOR & MORE BEER SHOP

At long last a shop for the serious consumers of that wonderful drink from the gods, you know the one i mean - no not champagne or wine, you still guessing, well it's the one and only BEER.

As luck would have it, right on my doorstep as well, a shop devoted to the beers of the world 300 different kinds, plus local brews that are unique to the west country, they even carry stock for people with dietary conditions. Now i will warn you, if you want quality you have to pay, this shop will not appeal to the weekend abusers of this great treat, who universally give Beer a bad name through lack of tolerance and the need to consume far more than they could possibly handle. This is a shop to frequent when you want something quality, maybe for an evening with friends or too reminisce about distant shores you have travelled or even a great beer after a hard day at work. A good selection of beers are carried from the continent with the better known names taking pride of place between the smaller brewers. Approximately 38 different country's are represented and a selection of ciders and Perries. Gift sets can be purchased for that special person in your life, with a selection of your choice! There is a beer for all pockets and all occasions at this delightful little shop.

• www.moorandmorebeer.co.uk

Moor&More Beer

11 Frankfort gate

Plymouth city centre

01752 2222oo

Check out the website from the shop for more information and useful links to all things Beer!

BEER LAO - THE NATIONAL BREW

When a country does not produce much apart from rice,opium and graceful women, it yearns for some sort of identity. Having Earned the accolade of the most heavily bombed place on the face of the earth courtesy of uncle Sam, the country and population have always needed something more stable , a product that identifies the plight of the people and reaches further than the eye will ever see, straight to the heart of the nation . A product that can play with the big boys of the brewing world and rightly so. Without a doubt the boys at beer Lao who first initiated the idea of a national drink probably did not envision the success that this brew would achieve or the pride of place that the nation would hold there national brew. Established in 1971 with production starting in1973.Brasseries et glaci e res du Laos(BGL) was formed as a joint venture between a French investor and locals, following political change in 1975 the Laos government bought back all foreign shares and established a state enterprise which has grown considerably over the ensuing years. Joint ventures were undertaken at later stages of the companies growth, but 1993 saw two investors pull the plug, and a return to Laos government ownership in 2002, immediately Carlsberg Asia and a Thai company TCC a business partner of Carlsberg Asia bought 25% each leaving the Laos government with the remaining 50%.
Beer Laos is made with local jasmine rice that has been polished, with malt being imported from France
and Belgium which are used along side quality German hops and yeast. Luckily Beer Laos take quality control seriously and it shows in the final product, with regular tests from the HACCP(Hazard critical control point), and CILAS(Carlsberg inter laboratory analsysis). Thank god for those tests the finished product is far superior to the competition over the border, with a sensible strength beer coming home at 5%. The drink itself is clean tasting and does not feel syrupy and thick on the palate, a great beer.
Beer Lao original can be bought in 330ml bottles/cans and super size 640ml bottles which are unique to south east Asia these cost $1/70p for a small bottle and $1-40/92p for a large 640ml size, these prices are pretty standard for bars as well. Beer Lao also market a lite version at 2.9% alcohol, plus a Beer Lao dark at 6.5% both these come in a standard 330ml bottle. Draught beer called Bia Sot(fresh beer) can also be purchased in bars, plus there own brand of drinking water tiger head. If in Lao you could always try the local rice wines ,but believe me Beer Lao is easier on the head. If your not in South East Asia beer Lao can be purchased globally -You have no excuse to not try this excellent smooth brew. Beer Lao is available in Plymouth, England from Moor&More Beer down at Frankfort gate- no 11. http://www.moorandmorebeer.co.uk/, retailing around £1.70 a bottle(330ml).

Beer Lao websites;

• http://www.beer-lao.com/
• http://www.beerlao.co.uk/
• http://www.beerlao-usa.com/
• http://www.beerlao.nl/
• http://www.beerlao.co.th/
• http://www.beerlao.com.hk/
• http://www.beerlao.ch/

ENJOY ALCOHOL SENSIBLY - TRY NOT TO SPILL ANY!

PICKLED ONIONS

Yuletide is upon us, approaching faster than a Hurricane. Too many, the festive period is a time for eating,drinking and much merriment, and what better way to enjoy those cold cuts and abundant cheeses than with homemade pickled onions!Pickling is a way of preserving foods that is used worldwide, and varies between different cultures and country's, and certainly in the use of ingredients that are pickled. Pickled onions are a good old British favourite that put an appearance in around the festive season, but are also sold as snacks in pubs, over the counter in Fish and chip shops or in jars ready made in supermarkets. There are many recipes, for pickling here is ours!

The peel;

First the tedious task of peeling the onions. It is important to try not too bruise the onions whilst peeling, a simple top and tail with a sharp knife should be sufficient to enable peeling.

The brine;

Allow 500g of salt to 1.5lts of water. Dissolve the salt in the required amount of cold water. Quantity's will depend on the amount of onions/shallots you wish to pickle. This is an easy ratio to half or double as required. Place the peeled onions into the brine solution, with enough solution to cover and leave to soak for at minimum of 24 hours up to a maximum of 72 hours.The spice mix;

8 cloves

8 allspice

8 coriander seeds

16 peppercorns

3 bay leaf

5 dried chilli's

2 cinnamon sticks

3 tablespoons of sugar

The vinegar;

NOTE; This recipe calls for unspiced vinegar, if buying ready spiced, omit the spice mix and follow the rest of the recipe.

You will need to measure the amount of water you used for the brine as this will be the amount of vinegar required to pickle the onions. You have a choice of vinegars to use, the vinegar of choice is normally malt, but clear vinegar, white wine vinegar or a 50/50 mix of white wine vinegar and malt is used depending on the recipe. Here we have used a mix of white wine and malt vinegar.

To make;

You will need adequate jars for storing the pickles, kilner jars are probably the best but not necessary, as old coffee jars and sweet jars make an excellent alternative, any jar of sufficient size can be employed for the task as long as it has a lid. Place a small sheet of cling film/wrap between the onions and the lid, before bottling as vinegar is corrosive to certain materials.

First the jars will have to be sterilised this can be done by placing them through a full cycle in a dishwasher or alternatively place the jars into boiling water and boil for ten minutes.

In a non aluminum pan Bring the required amount of vinegar and spices to a simmer and leave simmering for 30 minutes, remove from the heat and leave to infuse for a further 30 minutes. Whilst the vinegar is standing the onions will need to be rinsed. The onions will need to be rinsed completely, too rid them of the brine. When the 30 minutes is up, strain the vinegar and dispose of the used spice. Bottle once the vinegar is cold.



Leave for a minium of 1 week in a cool place before opening, but the onions are better left for a month before eating.

SPICE MIX FOR PICKLES

Basic pickling spice mix for onions,eggs,beetroot and so on............................
The Mix;
8 cloves
8 allspice
16 peppercorns
3 bay leaf
8 coriander seeds
5 dried chillies
2 complete cinnamon sticks
Place all the spices into the desired vinegar that you are using, add 3 tbsp of sugar then bring to a simmer for 30 minutes. Take off the heat and leave the vinegar to steep for 30 minutes before straining. Spices can now be thrown away. The vinegar is now ready for bottling with the desired
ingredients.

BASIC BREAD RECIPE

To make 1 loaf;



500g strong white flour plus extra for dusting

300ml water

25g unsalted butter plus a little for greasing

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar or 2 tsp for a crusty loaf

1.5 tsp dried yeast



A standard bread recipe that will make 1 loaf or 6 rolls.



Method;



Bring together flour,butter,salt,sugar and yeast in a mixing bowl, incorporate 300ml of warm water(use a 3rd boiling to 2/3 rds cold water), now form a dough. Once the dough is pliable, lightly flour a work surface and knead for approximately 10 minutes, you will need to put some effort into this part. Using the heels of your hands press down and stretch then fold and repeat.

After kneading the bread will have to prove. Grease a loaf tin with butter, of if making bread rolls form into the desired shape. Place in a warm place for 1 1/2 t0 2 hours until doubled in size. 15 minutes before baking pre-heat an oven with a small bowl of boiling water placed in the bottom. Oven temperature to reach 225c. Place the bread into the middle of the oven and bake for approx 35 minutes for a loaf and 15 minutes for rolls. Turn down the oven to 200c after 10 minutes of baking. Turn out onto a wire rack.

To test the bread, to see if it is cooked through, tap the bottom of the loaf, if hollow leave to rest on the rack, if not cooked through return to the oven with out the tin and cook for a further 5 minutes. Alternatively you can remove the bread from the tin for the last 5 minutes of cooking and return to the oven with a light dusting of flour.

Notes;

The bread is cooked at a higher temperature to start with to compensate for loss of heat once bread is placed in the oven. A bowl of water is placed in the bottom of the oven to create steam which gives the bread a thicker crust.

CARROT SOUP WITH CORIANDER OIL

Carrot soup anyone? To many this must sound at the fore front of bland. Carrots like the humble parsnip must be among the most versatile of root vegetables, not only can we cook them in a multitude of ways they also appear in desserts in the form of cakes!

Growing up, like most kids i was put through the torture of carrots cut into rounds, then cooked to affinity till all of the goodness had leached from the poor vegetables to form an orange tinted water that was then thrown away. I'm still convinced to this day that pouring that water on the garden would have made you king of horticulture. Many a year was spent wondering how Bugs bunny enjoyed this humble veg!

As years have passed my taste buds have developed thank god! A carrot is no longer held or seen in the light that was previously shown to it, but to reach this stage of carrot enlightenment you have to ban all carrot killers from the pot, take up the apron or find a cook that understands the humble root veg!



A recipe for Carrot soup that is lightly spiced, with the addition of coriander(cilantro) oil.



Serves 4 as a starter( Quantities can be increased, but try to keep to the figure of 250 between the carrots and liquid i.e. 750g carrot to 1000ml liquid, increase to 1000g of carrot to 1250 ml liquid and so forth), reason for this is texture and thickness. This ratio works well with a good silky texture.



Recipe:



Roast carrots:



750g of carrots

Olive oil

Sea Salt and Freshly Ground pepper



Carrot soup:



1000ml of good chicken stock preferably homemade. For a vegetarian version omit chicken stock and replace with vegetable stock.

750 g of roasted carrots

A good handful of fresh coriander

1 teaspoon of roasted and ground coriander seeds

Half a teaspoon of cumin powder

Sea salt

Freshly Ground pepper



Coriander(cilantro) oil:



100ml of extra virgin olive oil

20g of fresh coriander(stems and leaf)

A grain or two of sea salt (no more)

Method:



Top and tail the carrots and clean as necessary trying to leave skins intact. Pre-heat your oven to 190c and lightly coat the carrots in a roasting tray with the oil. Season well.Cook for 40 minutes of until roasted and cooked through.

While the carrots are roasting make the coriander oil. Bring a big pan of water to the boil and blanch the coriander for 30 seconds then plunge into an iced water bath. Pat dry and add to a liquidiser with some of the EVO oil, add the small amount of salt and blitz in the liquidiser adding the rest of the oil until a vibrant green oil is achieved that is free of coriander pieces. Transfer to a container and refrigerate till needed.

In another pan bring the desired amount of chicken stock to the boil, once the carrots are cooked add to a liquidiser with the stock, and puree. Add fresh coriander then season, add ground roasted coriander seeds(see note), and cumin and continue to puree to a smooth consistency is achieved!

Transfer to a clean pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer for at least 15 minutes, stirring at intervals.



To serve:



Transfer to serving bowls, and add a teaspoon of coriander oil to each bowl.



Notes:



To roast the coriander seeds, place a skillet or frying pan onto a hob, place the seeds into the pan and lightly toast till the aroma is released. Once the aroma is released remove from the source of heat and pound to a powder in a pestle and mortar.



The coriander oil will yield a lot more than is needed for this soup, but is very versatile and can be used as a sauce for other dishes or as an ingredient.

QUICK GUIDE TO DINING VIENTIANE

Thinking top dining destinations, I'm sure Vientiane does not even enter the list, well think again as all this could change in the coming future!

Ok, so London,New York,Tokyo and Paris first come to mind, but this charming south east Asian capital has more to offer than first meets the eye! When thinking south east Asian you automatically assume the cuisine of the big culinary destinations in this part of the world and rightly so with the vast array of delights to be had in Singapore, the fragrance of Thailand or the in dept flavours of Vietnamese cooking, Laos being a minor cousin, and often overlooked is stating it's claim as fast as the country embraces democracy and peace.

All of these country's have there famous dishes, but Lao's national dish laap pronounced larp is probably little known outside of the country or the Laotian community's that have settled in the USA. With tourism and the high numbers of Aid workers on the increase it could even grow in popularity world wide. Laap is a dish of minced meat normally pork, but can be made with fowl or fish,which is then tossed with lime juice,garlic, roasted sticky rice(that is ground to a powder),scallions,mint and chillies. Authentic laap is made with raw pork that is then minced, but to cater to different tastes you will normally be served the pork at least cooked. Laap can be fiery hot, but most restaurants will tone down the mak phet(chili) to western palates.
Laap is served on a salad of leafs, normally consisting of lettuce with lao sticky rice being the normal side order, Another favourite lao dish is papaya salad. Lao cuisine is very similar to Thai in its use of fresh ingredients that are balanced to achieve healthy and delicious meals that can be a little too hot for the western palate, but still achieve that perfect balance of sweet,sour,salty and hot. Vietnamese and Chinese influences are to be found throughout Lao with the noodle being a firm favourite, but Laotian food is not only confined to eastern influences with the french making an impact during there colonisation of french indo china. Not only are there french restaurants of note in Laos but the humble baguette is big on the agenda often being eaten for breakfast with condensed milk and throughout the day with lao pate( think pork luncheon meat). Baguettes can be found from street vendors throughout the day. For exceptional baguettes along the river front you will find PVO opposite the BCEL bank they have some of the best in town, along with tasty spring rolls. Full size baguettes are cheap and very filling. Bakeries are good and have a loyal following throughout the city with some great eats on offer and tasty pizzas.

A good place to ease your self into the complexities of Lao cuisine is Ban Lao beer garden on Th Francois Nginn, with a menu consisting of Lao staples with the odd western dish, the food is honest fare over seen by villay and her female cooks. With many dining options to choose from on this street, you could eat modern tapas at the Full Moon cafe, then head next door to stickies for a modern take on food that would not be out of place in the trendiest of eateries. Along the street you can dine on a mix of Lao and french fare at Douang Deuane or eat barbecue Lao style at the entrance for 50 cents a piece. For a drink in good company head further along the street to the Hare and Hound pub where john will keep you amused with his good humour and tales of south east asia, and his graceful wife will feed you if your hungry, good for imported steaks and British fare. Tasty Indian can be found around town with the Taj mahal being a popular choice and very reasonable on price, just be careful with the rice, somtimes it moves!

Dining options are endless in Vientiane with good lao food from vendors and the riverfront providing sun set dining from the numerous restaurants along the mighty Mekong. Word on the street being Le Belle Epoque is one of the best options for fine dining with other good french restaurants about town, La Vendome and Le Cote D'Azure being very popular with ex-pats. You can find Japanese, Korean, Italian, Chinese and most cuisines in some shape or form in the capital. A quote from an ex-pat living in lao and written in a top guide book, read as " Dollar for dollar the best dining in the world" He is not far wrong!

PHOTOS FROM MAKPHET TRAINING RESTAURANT -LAOS

Makphet training restaurant,Vientiane Laos.

Front sign with a description of the restaurant.

"Yum mak nee" Banana flower salad with grilled pork

fillet,tamarind and chili.

Coconut lime cake with "mar not" sorbet and Red hibiscus

flower syrup.

"Mar not" Sorbet

MAKPHET TRAINING RESTAURANT -LAOS

Modern Lao food for the uninformed can take many guises, but none more so than at Makphet restaurant in Vientiane Laos. I chanced upon Makphet after leaving the restaurant next door, although not dissapointed with what i had just eaten, deep down i was a little annoyed at not having found Makphet an hour previously. I made a note to have lunch there the following day, as a sign outside informed the public that they were to shut the day after for a ten day break!

Makphet translated as Chili in Lao language is very unique in that it serves as a training restaurant for former street children. The restaurant is overseen by the teachers with the former street kids cooking and tending front of house. Students and teachers alike are adorned in identical green t-shirts with the Makphet motif and respective grade adorned on the front.


Makphet is overseen by a charity Ngo called Friends international, a charity committed to helping former street children and there mothers through training in the hospitality industry and the making of handicrafts. http://www.friends-international.org/laopdr.html

Friends international have a similar set up in Cambodia with training restaurants in the capital Phnom penh. Makphet has a second floor that sells handicrafts made by parents with 70% of the profit being retained by the crafts person, while the other 30% is injected back into the enterprise.

The very modern menu with it's culinary roots ingrained in Lao cooking and culture is a revelation. The menu you are handed by your Laotian waitress is given with a gracefulness that could hail from the former royal courts, only this is a former street child with the determination to make good fortune of one self. If other restaurants could put the thought into the design, that has taken place with the menu you are handed at Makphet i'm sure there clientele would be back for seconds! The menu itself could hail from a Sydney cafe at the height of fashion, only this comes from a training restaurant. You are handed a lime green coloured professionally designed booklet with amazing food photography and delightful writing that describes the dishes on offer. With dishes starting in the range of 40,000 kip and ranging to 55,000 kip for mains, and desserts starting from 30,000kip(exchange rate at time of meal 8,500kip to the $) this is a little bit on the pricey side for Vientiane but offers extraordinary value for money once you have sampled the goods on offer, if you could sample food of this quality in a major western city you would be sure to pay a small fortune!

The food on offer is inventive sounding with good use of local ingredients. I opted for a banana flower salad, grilled pork fillet and chili and tamarind called yum mak nee. The dish it's self was lovingly presented, without the need to be pretentious. A nice background of sweet sour flavour with a gentle kick of chili, this salad is tantalising to the palate with the pork fillet beautifully cooked and moist with a succulent bead of crisped fat still attached. For dessert i found it rather more difficult to choose as they all jumped out to grab your attention and shout EAT ME!!!

Dessert is a big let down in south east asia with many desserts in the asian repertoire, a lot of places offer some abomination not native to the region, when all most people want to eat is authentic cuisine! For my dessert i was faced with a task of mammoth proportions-what to order! The selection starts at 30,000 raising to 35,000 kip, with Red Hibiscus,Passion fruit sorbet with Meringue and Pineapple in Palm Sugar Caramel with Coconut Gelato and chili amongst some of the selection on offer, i opted for Coconut Lime Cake,Hibiscus flower syrup and a sorbet made from a local fruit called Mar not. While not over the top with the presentation, enough effort had been taken to plate the dessert but the taste was Divine, overshadowing the presentation by a long way. The sorbet with a taste i can only describe as being somewhere between Mango and Passion fruit, was technically perfect and would not be out of place in a Michelin starred kitchen, and i would say probably the best i have ever eaten yet, the lime coconut cake was a good texture, moist and full of flavour. A sauce of Hibiscus flower syrup remained in the background ,but was a welcome taste although the dish could stand alone, if needed.

My view might read as biased, but this a genuine review and i am in no way associated with Friends International or Makphet restaurant. The food is really of exceptional quality being served from a rare little gem of a place, with happy smiling faces serving and not a hint snobbery to be found!

One main course, one dessert, a side of Laos sticky rice and two coffees 109,000kip, approx £12.50/$20 us

If you are fortunate to be visiting Vientiane be sure to drop into Makphet, and don't forget to leave a jolly good tip!!!

Makphet is located down a side street off Th Francois Nginn, next door to Ban vilaylac restaurant, directly behind Wat Ong Teu Mahawihan. Open monday to sat for lunch and dinner.

KOBE BEEF @ kABUKI: SIAM PARAGON

The search had started months before the scheduled flight to Krung thep a.k.a the city of angels but better known to you and i as Bangkok for that mythical piece of beef known as kobe. This may seem a long way to go for a sample of the worlds most expensive beef, but their was a method behind the madness. For one i would not be able to afford to sample Kobe beef in London, without a second mortgage. Bangkok seemed to be a good choice to start, seeing as japan would not be on the culinary radar for at least a couple more years, and a large Japanese presence in Bangkok, means good Japanese food. Bangkok must at least, be one of the major culinary destinations in our modern world, with some very good restaurants to boot,fabulous local cuisine, extraordinary street food that turns even the most ardent of food snobs into drooling animals whilst dripping namh prik down the front of there overpriced and over sized designer labelled clothing.


I started my search on that trusted friend google, with results showing a smattering of establishments that serve imported Kobe beef. The first was a joint that specialized in steak of all kinds and at reasonable prices with the Kobe steak coming in at 13 Thai baht a gram, on the other side there was the big hotels with even bigger names that import Kobe but again the problem being the big price! I eventually settled on Kabuki restaurant in the Siam paragon mallhttp://kabukithailand.com/. Kabuki was offering Kobe for 20 Thai baht a gram while not the cheapest, in my mind it would offer the better experience being a Japanese restaurant, and association was to be a key element of this dining experience.


To be classed as Kobe beef the cattle must be born in hyogo prefecture, fed by a farm in hyogo prefecture and be slaughtered in hyogo prefecture. The cattle being Tajima ushi breed of wagyu cattle. WA- meaning Japanese and Gyu meaning cattle, so wagyu translates as Japanese cattle. Tajima cattle originated from ancient stock, called kuroge wagyu translated as black haired Japanese cattle. Wagyu cattle are now bred in Australia,America and Britain but cannot be classed as Kobe due to the strict breeding measures! Kobe cattle and associated products still retains an air of mystery with the strange breeding practices you read about being true. The cattle are fed beer, but not as a luxury. The beer serves a purpose, and is used to help stretch expensive feeds, increase the appetite in the summer months and fatten the cattle. Another practice that is employed is massage with the use of sake! Massaging the cattle may sound extreme, but one purpose of this technique is to make the meat more tender as tajima cattle are prone to inactivity, therefor the massage stimulates the effect of muscles being worked.

Kabuki restaurant is located on the ground floor of Siam paragon an ultra modern top end mall, with the ground floor being dedicated to food.

On entering Kabuki you are greeted immediately then shown to either a private booth or a central seating area. In my case i was shown to a private booth with seating for four, probably on account of my enquires seconds earlier about the availability of the infamous and elusive Kobe beef, which incidentally is hard to find. Kobe was offered in two different cuts sirloin or fillet.

Fillet being 25 Thai baht a gram, i decided on sirloin at 20 baht a gram which was bought out on a platter with the best part of £500 worth of steak on show, the marbling of each piece being an extraordinary off white colour, with a good ratio, almost equal of red meat to white fat. My choosen steak being priced at 3900 baht for a 190 gram steak roughly- £69/$115 us.

I started my meal with an 8 piece sushi roll set that was moist and succulent with the rice clinging to the roll providing a lovely texture. A small piece of toro sushi nigiri that cost 250 baht was next and a new experience for me. The tuna belly melting into the mouth and dissolving on the tongue like a pillow of air, giving me an insight into the Japanese Psyche about quality fresh tuna of superior grade!

The Kobe arrived on a small black plate with three pathetic chips and a garnish of julienned vegetables. When you are paying this much for a steak the garnishes make little difference, a little soy would have been a better gesture, rather than an attempt at haute cuisine arrangement with crap chips that a fast food restaurant would be happy to serve!

My steak was very good but unfortunately did not compare to a wagyu meal i had in Singapore several months previous. Now don't get me wrong this was far superior to what your average person has ever eaten or will probably eat with out taking the plunge and parting with serious money, but something was lacking the steak was a little over done, and a little seasoning would have benefited the meat rather than trio of crap chips! While melt in your mouth tender, i struggled a little bit with the amount of fat content!

If i was to compare wagyu and kobe to 4 and 5 star hotels obviously Kobe is the 5 star, but i prefer to stay 4 star, much more comfortable!

I have eaten in some very top restaurants around the world, but have never managed to spend £92 on a complete meal and be in and out of a restaurant in under 40 minutes. Incidentally on leaving the restaurant prangs of guilt set in with the amount i had payed and the less fortunate i passed on the streets of Bangkok, becoming a top concern. With no access to welfare, i dug deep into my pockets and spent half that amount again in handouts to the needy and not the greedy, as i was feeling the wrath of greed!

Kabuki(Thailand)co.ltd

• Siam Paragon
• G27 ground floor. 991/1
• Rama 1 rd. Pathumwan
• 10330 Bangkok Thailand
• Tel: (66) 0-2129-4423
• Fax (66)0-2129-4424

Open daily from 11.30-2115(last orders)

Sky train stop Siam BTS.

info@kabukithailand.com

http://www.kabukithailand.com/

LOW TEMPERATURE COOKING

Consider this lovingly cooked piece of beef.Would you believe that this has been cooked for 17 hours! Welcome to low temperature cooking.

A method of cooking i have utilised for the past 5 years, which gives surprising results. Cooking at low temperature for long periods is not a new practice and is used extensively in the restaurant world, with many top restaurants using sous-vide water baths to cook for extended periods, with results far behind the reach of the normal oven.Now the problem. Like most people, myself included i do not have access to sous-vide, but by cooking at very low temperature in a domestic oven you can achieve wonderful results, and even turn lower quality beef, lamb into a special treat. I will not urge people to buy cheap meat or even intensively rear meat that sees the animals living in below standard conditions, but it is a fact of life for many of us who struggle on day to day that at some point we will buy supermarket beef, and globally we are having to watch the Penny's more, with the recession that appears to be taking a grip. In the UK the main supermarkets have taken to selling joints of beef which are only marked roasting joint, this is not a lot of help to the home cook. Think beef wrapped in netting then sealed in plastic, the consumer has no say in what they are buying or the quality which appears to be hit and miss at times. Independent butchers that care about the product they sell are always going to be the best bet for quality, with the major advantage of being able to see what you buy, with advice as part of the purchase! You can't go far wrong in this scenario but we do not live in an ideal world, and unfortunately for the majority, expensive beef is beyond everyday reach.

I first started to use low temperature cooking after an accident in the kitchen left me with a shorter index finger. I was preparing to cook a lamb dish not much different in execution than Kleftico(traditional Greek bandits meal), when a three legged cat ran across the garden shed roof. This was in my field of vision, which resulted in a fraction of a seconds loss of concentration, which caused a slip of the knife. After this little accident a rapid loss of appetite ensued, so a haphazard approach to the rest of the prep occurred with the lamb shanks being thrown into the oven on the lowest possible setting! With the oven temperature set around 50c, i trundled off to the pub for local anaesthetic. Six hours later i returned to the oven feeling no pain to retrieve my lamb, and what a delight! That was my introduction to low temperature cooking. Of course over time we adapt our methods, so i adapted this for roasting with the theory being that what ever the oven temperature is set to the meat will not reach a higher temperature inside. This theory is OK as long as you use an oven thermometer to calibrate your oven as most ovens vary quite a few degrees in their true cooking temperatures. With science playing a bigger part in our cooking today i could waffle on about collagen and molecules but that is best left to the super cooks!

Method:

Pre- heat your oven to the required setting somewhere in the region of 53c-63c. Season your meat all over with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.Take a skillet or saute pan big enough to brown your meat. Brown your meat, in a little oil on each side for a minute or so or until a dark brown. Remove from the pan and place in the centre of the oven, direct onto the oven rack, with a roasting tin placed at the bottom to catch drips!

Sit back and relax!

Notes;

For fan assisted ovens i have not got a clue! I have utilised these methods with gas and electric only.

If your not the one cleaning the oven, tell whoever is that you got this method from some telly chef, and not this dodgy blog!

If you crucify your nice expensive joint of beef don't blame me, because it was obviously you who messed it up as i was not there!

This method of cooking is not really used for expensive lean cuts, it is best used for cheaper cuts or cuts with good marbling.

Cooking at 53c will give you rare beef, so please bear this in mind if you decide to cook this way!

Using this method to cook at 100c is stupid so don't bother!

Cooking at 63c will give superb results!

ROAST POTATOES

What can beat a well roasted potato, an essential part of the British roast dinner with variations around the world! It is important to choose your potato well as not all varieties of potato are suitable for roasting! Waxy potatoes in particular are not really suited, neither are new potatoes but good floury potatoes are by far the best roasters!


Maris pipers and king Edwards being a good choice here in the UK, the latter being my preferred choice. Potato varieties globally tend to go by different names, so at least try and stick to a Floury variety!

Once you have your choice potatoes you need to give the cooking medium some consideration, plus your choice of cooking vessel! I will start with the cooking medium!

For the most adorable potatoes goose or duck fat will make you many friends, but that is only if you can persuade your guest of the health giving properties of this wonderful full flavoured animal fat, that just so happens to be low in saturates.

Beef dripping is another tasty choice for potatoes especially if rendered from meat just cooked, but unfortunately suffers from being very high in saturates, lard will achieve a very good potato but again very high in saturates, with a mix of fats you could still use a little dripping, but combine with oil for a healthier and tastier choice! Personally i would not use butter for roasting, unless mixed with another oil(this should prevent the butter from burning), but even then i find that the potatoes can be too rich!

Olive oil is another healthy option and yields good results as the photo above is testimony, vegetable oil, sunflower oil all coming in close behind! Mixtures of oils at about a 50/50 mix for example olive and vegetable or sunflower/olive and so on will give good results. Olive oil with the a small amount of rendered meat fat or juices are a delight!

The cooking vessel should at least be a good size with ample room to provide space for the potatoes to crisp, overcrowding is never a good practice! A good metal roasting tin /tray should be sufficient, as long as it is of appropriate size.

To cook;
Pre-heat oven to 190c, place a appropriate sized roasting tray into the oven with approximately 5mm of your chosen cooking medium. while your roasting tray is heating up, bring a pan of lightly salted water to the boil.
Peel your potatoes, once peeled run under the cold tap to remove excess starch(2-3minutes approx). Par boil your potatoes for approximately 8 minutes, then drain. Shake off all excess water. Remove the roasting tray from your oven, and add your par boiled potatoes, shake the tray or use a spoon to make sure all potatoes are liberally coated with fat. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper,now place the roasting tray into the hot oven for approximately 1-1 half hours.

Note:

Roast potatoes are very giving, so you will be able to get away with overcooking. For extra crunchy roast potatoes rough the potatoes a little after boiling, this can be achieved buy vigorous shaking of the tray or draining colander.

MORO - THE COOKBOOK

My copy looks how a cookbook should look, stained dirty and lived in. This is not a book for the shelf as my copy is testament, it should live in the kitchen and be used regularly!

Moro; from the Spanish word meaning Moor

Moro is a restaurant in London's clerkenwell road that specializes in Spanish and middle eastern food, run by a husband and wife, incidentally with identical names- Sam and Sam Clark. Without writing a mills and boon they met, shared there passion for Spanish and Mediterranean middle eastern food then embarked on a culinary tour of there favourite places, opened a restaurant to great reviews and three books later................. as they say the rest is history!
I dare any aspiring cook to try the saffron rice recipe on page170 it is a delight to eat, lovingly spiced with an appealing hue that tantalises the taste buds. Most of the recipes grab at you from the well crafted pages, even the non middle eastern food fans might even be inspired to cook this wonderful lightly spiced cuisine that is so often overlooked in favour of the nations you could only class as the culinary big hitters. If there is one book to convert the masses this surely is the book. Peppered with stories throughout, and quality insight into products with a suppliers list at the end. Recipes that are not only simple in their construction but approachable and cook friendly!
Spanish recipes abound with a section devouted to Tapas and Meze, a good introduction to sherry, not the cheap stuff British Granny's guzzle with such fervour that you end up questioning which group of people actually started the binge drinking culture. Since the publication of this book sherry has become more widespread,with appreciation reaching new proportions, due too it's ability to enhance other flavours and tastes.

The marriage between Spanish and the middle east is probably not a well known one, but read the history, you might just be surprised! With occupation by the moors in Spanish lands between eighth and fifteenth century's a culinary legacy and cooking style was mixed with surprisingly earthy and beautiful results.
Weighing in with 280 pages, and a retail price of £15 it is wonderful value and a fantastic read, a must have for any home cook with a passion for great food. Recipes in this book may appear to some as simple, but it is the importance of quality ingredients that make these dishes so special!

FRIED RICE WITH EGG

A simple standby fried rice with egg that will satisfy your soul, at any meal time!
This recipe will serve 4 people, or alternatively leftovers are wonderful eaten cold!

Note;
Traditionally rice is fried after being cooked and left for a day or maybe a little longer. This dish calls for rice cooked in the present and makes a wonderful supper dish or standby!



400g American long grain rice

2 large organic eggs

100g peas

1 bunch spring onions/scallions- approx 8

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp sesame oil + more if desired

1 tbsp light soy sauce + more if desired

3 tbsp sunflower oil

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper(preferably white) to taste



Bring 2 litres of lightly salted water to the boil.

Whilst waiting for water to boil;


Lightly whisk 2 eggs with a dash of soy sauce, heat a saute pan with 1 tablespoon of the oil, over a medium heat, cook the eggs as per a plain omelette, once eggs are set fold each side into the middle and slide onto a plate, reserve.

Trim the spring onions reserving the green ends(make sure green ends are cleaned and free of dirt and grit). Finely slice the whites of the onion on the diagonal, and cut the green ends into slightly larger pieces, now finely chop the garlic.


Add rice too boiling water and cook for approx 10 minutes or until cooked but still giving a little.

It is important to keep an eye on the rice whilst cooking. Loosen the rice from time to time, and check to see if rice is cooked.


Once cooked strain the rice into a colander and run under the cold tap for 1 minute to remove excess starch and stop the cooking process. Set aside.


Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a wok or high sided saute pan, once hot add the garlic and stir fry for 1 minute or until a slight change in colour, add peas and cook for a further 2 minutes then add spring onions and cook for 1 minute before adding cooked rice. Do not dump all of the rice into the wok in one go, add a little at a time until all the rice is coated with oil. Add 1 tbsp 0f sesame oil, toss then add 1 tbsp of soy, again toss. Once happy that all rice is thoroughly coated, taste and adjust with either more soy or sesame oil or both.


Add cooked egg and toss, add a turn or two of pepper and salt if required-Serve.

THE ROAST DINNER

A Sunday roast is almost ritual for many, the only chance for a group gathering during our hectic lives. Traditionally the males went to the pub for Sunday lunchtime ale and the womenfolk tended to the roast dinner. Now days this would sound almost chauvinistic that the man is in the pub, with the women at home, but god help any man who was not back at the desired time. Many a last laugh was had at the expense of the alpha male who decided to have that extra pint!If you were foolish enough to stay drinking there was a very good chance that the wife would march to the pub,and you would wear the dinner. That would be the unlucky version of events. If the wife was in reasonable spirits you might just be dragged out by an ear, at least with the latter you still managed to partake your dinner, by which time your humiliation might have subsided enough to sleep the rest of the afternoon in the armchair!
The Sunday roast not only has a history with traditional Sunday public house opening hours but also a meal that was eaten after church in the more traditional days.

In days gone by the Sunday roast provided a lot more than a meal for the family on Sunday, leftovers could be utilised for the following day. Shepard's pie being a dish that would be made with leftover lamb, bubble and squeak with leftover vegetables, possibly with the inclusion of a little dripping or fat that had been rendered from the cooked meat. Rendered fat being used as a cooking medium.
Dripping would be spread on bread for supper, and left over meat could be sliced for sandwiches for the children or the breadwinners lunch the following day. Even the dog normally gets lucky!
The roast is not only about the choice of meat but vegetables, gravy and accompaniments. Before the supermarkets held society to ransom with mass choice,our vegetables would be seasonal, with what you ate being governed by the harvest and what was available at the time . Accompaniments have always played a great part of the Sunday dinner. Accompaniments playing the part of making a marriage of flavours that might not be too welcome on there own. The classic Lamb with mint sauce, a sauce made from fresh mint, vinegar and sugar which provides an acidic note to cut through the fattiness of the lamb, or a nice white onion sauce to accompany roast lamb. Roast Beef with horseradish or mustard, just has to be a match made in heaven, that slight background of heat which somehow manages to bring all those wonderful tastes and flavours together! Roast pork with apple sauce and crackling, is another classic combination, made even more wonderful if made useing freshly picked apples.
Yorkshire puddings with the roast, although traditionally eaten as a starter, have eventually progressed to being eaten as part of the main roast Beef dinner. Now a lot of households will eat them with any roast, this is not to be condemned by the purist! It is a truly worthwhile part of the experience that i must confess to. Being of the persuasion that now views Yorkshires as a part of any roast! Suet crust pudding has lost appeal now days in our more health conscious society, but what a treat to eat with homemade gravy.
Gravy made from the pan juices, then thickened and poured over the dinner as an almost self contained sauce, helps to lift the roast to new heights and i almost forgot the tatties. Roast potatoes crispy on the outside and soft and moist inside are an absolute joy to eat. King Edward potatoes being my choice for roasting, preferably cooked in goose or duck fat, that incidentally is not as unhealthy as people assume!

A fond memory from my childhood, would be the Sundays spent at my aunts who cooked the roast whilst the men would go to the rugby club, a dinner would be cut out for a relative that lived alone, and then be delivered on foot, by whoever was old enough or available.
I was young then and like most children, had a dislike for vegetables but i would enjoy roast dinner cooked by my aunt.
Traditionally roasting was a method of cooking meats before the invention of the domestic oven, the meat would be cooked in front of an open fire using the spit roast method with a tray placed underneath to catch the juices, which could then be used to baste the meat. Basting being a method that is still in use today. The juices from the meat are spooned back over the meat to provide moisture, and stop the meat from drying out. Although sometimes fat from the animal or a fatty product such as streaky bacon is used to provide ready hands free method of basting.
In my opinion a roast dinner needs care and attention. An element of cooking skill is needed, maybe some flair and an understanding of basic techniques also. This is not a meal to be taken lightly- Done well a roast can be sublime, with the recipient experiencing all of the major taste sensations. Done badly a roast is nothing short of a minor catastrophe.
Sunday meats would normally be either Beef,Lamb,Pork or Chicken, this remains the same today in average households,with Seasonal game sometimes eaten by the more affluent family's or large estates. Rarely in normal circumstances, would this extravagance extend to the working class home. I feel that the soul of the roast dinner remains firmly with the mid to lower classes, but this was not always so. Many years ago when people were employed in the service of large households, meats were too expensive for the workers, or working class, so remained for a long time a food for the affluent.
Over the years society has changed with the advent of better wages, mass production of meat and poultry plus better and easier cooking methods. These changes are not necessarily for the better, years ago when the eating of this important meal became widespread and food was not wasted, we cared more for what was provided on our plates. The roast was viewed as a special meal to be enjoyed by the family, while not being cheap the cost of produce for this meal had to be justified with leftovers not going to waste, and the cost to the family eating and conversing together could be wholly justified and beneficial rather than the TV dinner that so often is a focal point of modern times. Modern times has produced a consumer society where excess is paramount, and society no longer cares for the old methods that we used through need and necessity, in modern times the housewife no longer has to worry about what is in the larder, what will be eaten Mondays, or if foods will spoil. Although times have changed, the roast is still a central part of British culture, and like most cultures the ritual of eating and bringing family and friends to the table remains central to ones identity.

PESTO WITH COUS COUS

This simple recipe came to light with the need to use the last 4 tablespoons of homemade pesto!

Serves 4

100g pancetta
1 medium onion
olive oil
4 tablespoons 0f homemade pesto/shop brought pesto
400g cous cous - cooked to the brands instructions
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan, over a medium heat, add the pancetta, once coloured a little
add the finely diced onion. Cook the onion until soft and translucent, then add cooked cous cous and toss. season with salt and pepper to taste then stir through the pesto, serve ! A quick easy supper.

MADE IN ITALY FOOD AND STORIES - GIORGIO LOCATELLI

Sceptical at first about this book, as i was looking for a real italian cookbook, i did not want another book on restaurant cooking at that time, especially one from a Michelin starred chef. I was after a book offering authentic italian food, with reference to the country's relation between food, people and culture!
Having passed this book on the shelves on more than one occasion, i thought i just as well have a look, well how wrong could i have been? Very wrong- a quick glance was enough for me to make for the counter, and part with £19.99. This book is a masterpiece of food writing, an italian cookbook through to the core, probably the mother of all italian cookbooks(coincidentally this book along with david thompsons thai, are probably my two all time favourite food related books, both very similar in composition, and focused purely on the country in question).
A nice thick book that delivers for your hard earned money, 615 pages not including some photos at the end, like most books on italian food it is broken down into chapters with an outstanding first chapter on antipasti, which runs to 128 pages, a small book in itself! Other chapters include zuppa(soup),pesci(fish),pasta,carne(meat) and dolci(sweet). A stand alone chapter devoted to rissotto, running at 72 pages is passionate, but you wouldn't expect any less from a northern italian. This chapter like the others is more than just rissotto, included within are pages on the foundation of all good rissotto's. Pages on stock, porcini and for the wealthy amongst us truffle! To see rissotto with it's very own chapter is special, normally rissotto is tagged onto the end of a chapter on pasta, which i find infuriating.
Amongst the individual chapters you will find random pages on produce, food stories from the authors childhood, and a real sense of seasonality that has founded italian cooking, of course there are references to the restaurant(locander locatelli), but these are welcome, a nice touch that allows the reader to put the dishes in perspective.
A wonderful read with only one gripe, it's a pain in the backside to read in bed! An easy way to counter this is to take the book into the kitchen, start cooking the recipes and enjoy. I have!

WOW- WHAT A MONTH

Plunging head first into iced water, might well have been an easier undertaking, than putting my thoughts and recipes into print! A month on i still feel out of my depth, but out of the iced water. Along the way there has been quite a lot of highs, and of course some lows.
Seeing a recipe i have constructed, with one of my not so good photos alongside, has certainly been a worthwhile investment of my time and patience.
On the couple of occasions the damn computer has refused to behave, i have managed to keep my chin above the water, and not drown. I will continue to hold my head above, even when misbehaving gadgets with keys refuse to perform but neglect to inform the incompetent user
how to operate them.
So back to the blog- so far i have achieved a lot more input than at fist expected, although no order as of yet, has happened.
This month has also seen me take the plunge and try my first raw fish- in a japanese restaurant. In the past i have been no stranger to the delights of japanese cooking, so naturally the next step was raw fish sushi. Did i enjoy it? You bet i did, it was a revelation!
On a sour note this month, i somehow managed to go against the grain of my kitchen philosophy, and dare i say the word waste, well unfortunately this was the case. I'm not proud, somehow i managed to overbuy a little, maybe not super shopper style, and all the produce was fresh. Mistakes are made, with not allowing for a 4 day break in between i arrived home to bell peppers,carrots and salad produce all past its best!
Considering our track record the last three years with minimal waste it is not all bad! But again a mistake i would not like to repeat to often, somehow ironic that our first real wasteful week occurs the month i start to write.
This month also saw the arrival of a relative, who duly informed us that he does not eat anything apart from microwave meals, and finds a sandwich to much of a chore to make???
Since departed i now have a freezer full of frozen snot- with no takers for meals! More waste, but this stuff i would rather see not eaten, although more waste in the packaging for the environment!
On a good note we have just found out from other relatives, that we can have a half share of their allotment whilst we fester on a long waiting list somewhere in the depths of a local councils filing system, for our very own!
So all in all a very good first month blogging and an unfortunate incident of waste!

MAFALDINE PASTA

Mafaldine - Ribbon shaped pasta that is approximately 25cm long by 1cm wide. Mafaldine is a flat pasta with wavy edges, it holds it's shape very well after cooking, and retains it's al-dente texture.

Mafaldine has a colourful history behind it's origin, being named for an Italian Princess by the Neapolitans. Princess Mafalda di Savoia, who was married to a German aristocrat, before the second world war, unfortunately she met a gruesome end whilst incarcerated at the hands of the German Nazis, in a concentration camp. A bomb blast next to where she slept eventually claimed her life.

Some say that Mafaldine resembles old lace, which gives this delightful pasta a touch of elegance.

Mafaldine would normally be used with a delicate sauce, that would showcase the pasta in all it's glory. I have used it here instead of spaghetti for a tomato sauce.

A SIMPLE TOMATO SAUCE FOR PASTA

A tomato sauce that uses fresh tomatoes, although 2 decent tins of plum tomatoes can be substituted. This sauce will serve four with pasta.

10 ripe tomatoes medium size(peeled & crushed) This can be done with a potato masher or More fun but very messy is to crush them in the palm of your hands!

2 tbsp fine chopped onion

2 cloves garlic

80-100g pancetta (cubed/diced) or equivalent cured bacon

1.5 tbsp of good olive oil

1 tsp of red wine vinegar

10 torn basil leaves

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

First peel your tomatoes; Make a small star shape incision at the vine end of the tomato, place into a pan of boiling water for 10 seconds, remove from heat, and plunge into iced water to stop the cooking process, your tomatoes will now peel easily! If using tinned tomatoes, there is no need to peel.You will still need to lightly crush.

Heat the oil in a saute pan, then add finely chopped onions. Saute the onions until they start to change colour a little, add pancetta, saute for 2 minutes, then add the garlic, but do not let the garlic colour!

Add your tomatoes to the pan and turn down the heat a little, once the tomatoes take on a sauce consistency add a splash of red wine vinegar.

This sauce should take roughly 30 minutes, at the end of the cooking and off the heat add the torn basil leaves.

Season throughout cooking at intervals - but be aware that the pancetta will provide, an element of salt already, plus a grating of fresh parmasen will add another element of salt.

Once sauce is cooked add your pasta of choice and incorporate, so that the pasta is coated in the tomato sauce. Serve immediately, with a grating of fresh hard cheese such as parmasen.

Note;
Omit the pancetta for a vegetarian tomato sauce. Without the pancetta this sauce is still very good. I have used a pasta called mafaldine with this sauce but others such as spaghetti or penne are all excellent.

PAPARDELLE WITH HOMEMADE PESTO

Allow 100g of Papardelle per a person and a tablespoon of pesto.

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil(allow 1 litre of water for 100g of pasta), cook pasta to preference or packet instructions. Drain pasta and add back to the pan, add a table spoon of cooking liquid, then stir through the required amount of homemade pesto(recipe can be found under the heading pesto) if using.

Finish with a grating of Parmesan, and season with freshly ground salt and pepper.

Shop bought pesto could be used!

FETTUNTA

Fettunta is tuscan bread and oil. Fettunta translates as slices oiled.



A very basis preparation which relies on good quality ingredients.



Often eaten with antipasti or as a stand alone snack, i sometimes wonder if this the original garlic bread.







Method;







Country bread



Garlic



Extra virgin olive oil


Half a ripe tomato



Salt and pepper(freshly ground)



Lightly toast the bread on both sides, rub with garlic on one side then drizzle with oil, an optional rub with half a ripe tomato, gives this bread a nice colour as can be seen in the above picture.
season with salt and pepper.







I like to add a little finely sliced basil to this bread!

PESTO

This recipe for pesto, is wonderful for the home cook to attempt, although made with the help of a food processor, the result is very robust with good flavour!

Better results would be achieved with a pestle and mortar, but just the small step from shop bought to homemade is a revelation!

100g pine kernels/nuts(lightly toasted)

200ml extra virgin olive oil

50g fresh basil leaves(approx 2 handfuls)

25g Parmesan(freshly grated)

3 medium cloves of garlic

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method;



First lightly toast the pine nuts in a saute pan without colouring or burning, toast until they release a little aroma!

Place basil leaves and garlic cloves into a food processor, and pulse gently, until roughly chopped, now add the pine nuts, pulse again, add a little oil to loosen then lightly season. Now add the parmesan pulse again, and add the rest of the oil in a steady stream.


Taste and adjust seasoning!


This will make approximately 350g

This pesto will keep in an airtight container, for about 7 days.



Note on pesto:

Pesto is a ligurian speciality, that is now wide spread throughout italy. A measure of pesto's success and taste is revealed by it's use all over italy, and it's rampant spread across the world.
Pesto is a sauce, with vivid green colour, that can be used with pasta, minestrone and other dishes to add colour and flavour. Pesto can be made with other varieties of nuts, sometimes.
walnuts are used, and some commercial varieties might include inferior nuts!
There are many versions of pesto, with each recipe being personal to the cook, some remain secret to this day!

If ligurian oil is available, please use as pesto is a ligurian speciality. Each oil brings it's own unique taste, and pecorino could be substituted for parmesan, the variations are many!

BRUSCHETTA

Bruschetta from the word brucare meaning to grill or toast over coals, possibly originated in central italy's Abruzzo area around the 15th century.

Usually served as an appetizer or sometimes part of antipasti or a lunch dish in it's own right, Bruschetta has become a food for the global community, elevated to posh in some restaurants with the inclusion of finer ingredients, or rustic among others. Bruschetta in it's most basic form is toasted bread with garlic and oil, in America it might include chopped tomato, basil and mozzarella.

Method:

Country style bread or ciabatta

Good ripe tomatoes

A clove of garlic

Basil leaves

Slices of buffalo mozzarella

salt and pepper

Lightly toast the bread on each side, remove from the grill and rub the clove of garlic over one side between 2 and 5 times, depending on your tolerance for fresh garlic!

Add tomato and mozzarella slices to the top of the bread and pop back under the grill for a short while,but not long enough to melt the mozzarella!

Remove and season with salt and pepper and garnish with torn basil leaves.

CONCHIGLIE WITH PORCINI AND PARSLEY

Conchiglie is a shell shaped pasta originating from campania, due to it's shape, it is good to use with sauces, although this recipe does not hold sauce, the shape of the pasta proves to be worthwhile host for all the flavours from this dish.

This recipe calls for dried porcini mushrooms, which are reconstituted in boiling water. Pour enough boiling water to cover the mushrooms and a little more, for good measure. Your drained water can then be used as a mushroom stock.
This recipe is suitable for vegetarians.



Serves 4



Ingredients;



2 lts lightly salted water

400g conchiglie pasta (100g per person)

40g dried porcini mushrooms( 10g per person)

60g pecorino cheese(15g per person)

2 medium cloves of garlic

25g unsalted butter

olive oil

a large pinch of mild chilli powder

2tsp fresh lemon

2 tbsp of mushroom stock- reserved from reconstituted mushrooms

A handful of fresh- flat leaf parsley(if using a small hand, please use a large handful)

Sea salt and ground pepper



Method;

You will need to reconstitute the dried porcini mushrooms in boiling water, for approx 30 minutes. Once reconstituted, pass the mushroom liquid through a fine sieve or strainer, and reserve.
Bring 2lts of lightly salted water to the boil, once boiling add 400g of conchiglie.

While waiting for pasta to cook, peel 2 garlic cloves, and wrap your parsley into a nice tight bunch, finely chop the parsley and garlic together.
Add 25 g of butter and a splash of olive oil to a large skillet/saute pan, once hot add porcini and cook for a couple of minutes, then add parsley and garlic, keep the pan ingredients moving, after a minute add a pinch of chilli, incorporate, add 2 tbsp of mushroom stock to loosen the ingredients,then add 2 tsp of fresh lemon.

Be cautious when seasoning this dish as you will have salt from the cooked pasta and pecorino, a turn or two of the pepper mill will be more than sufficent!

Check the pasta to see if cooked to your liking(personally i like pasta very firm to the bite), if happy, turn off heat and add a cup of cold water to the pasta pan to stop, the cooking process!
Drain the pasta and add to the saute pan and toss to mix through. (do not rinse the pasta under a running tap, as this will impair the flavour).
Turn onto desired serving wear, and then add freshly grated pecorino, and serve at once.

Note;

These are guideline amounts, feel free to vary. The amounts shown work well in this dish.

Any other hard cheese could be substituted for the pecorino.

A NOTE ON BUILDING BLOCKS

Stock while essential to an honest restaurants kitchen, is sometimes overlooked by the home cook. Often stock is viewed as a complicated chore, at times when a recipe calls for veal stock, can we actually acquire the the veal bones? Supermarkets do not usually carry bones as a matter of course.
Stocks form the basis of most soups and sauces, and can be made from beef,veal,lamb,chicken,rabbit,fish and vegetables.
The japanese have a version of stock called dashi, which requires the use of kombu(seaweed) and bonito(dried tuna).
You will find during a search as many different recipes for stock as uses. Stock is a personal thing, i like to include star anise in my meat and chicken stock, with aromatics such as parsley, bay and thyme. I like to include carrot,onion,garlic and sometimes a parsnip, a couple of pepper corns as well. Some people like to include celery, some don't because it can leave a bitter note. I have found recipes for stock that includes only two ingredients bones and water, these recipes are striving for a pure unadulterated stock. A great many cooks will roast bones first, to develop colour and flavour,some even coat them in tomato paste! I make my stock using a big saucepan, but use a pressure cooker and you can develop great flavoured stock in under an hour!
For me stock is about my mood, i don't have to abide by rules in my kitchen, so i can tailor my stock for what ever use i intend! This is the beauty of cooking, you can break the rules, as long as the end result is good! If i will be cooking an Asian dish and require a light chicken stock i can change the aromatics maybe include lime leaves instead of bay, a little lemon grass,the choice is endless!
Recently when i have simmered a ham, i have included aromatics and vegetables, after removing the ham, i will let the cooking water reduce- then strain and bingo, a ready made stock, i like to clarify this as much as possible to use with pea or pea and ham soup. This is not cutting edge cooking, just minimising waste, the cooking fluid would have ended up down the drain and i have a pea soup with a lot more body!
Most people i know will use cooking water from the veg on a Sunday to add to the gravy, again this is a kind of stock- a building block.
A little while back when experimenting with carrot soup i made three side by side. The first was made with chicken stock, second with beef stock and the last with the cooking water!The object of that exercise was to try and make a very tasty soup without a meat based stock, they were all exceptional soups, the beef had the most body with out a doubt, but the use of a vegetable stock would have been great, but i achieved my goal i made a soup that was exceptional without any stock and at the point i knew if i hit hard times i wouldn't go hungry!
Stocks can often be reduced, to develop a great flavour, therefor they become a building block of a great sauce. I have often thought of using juiced fruits, such as apple as a stock for a pork or a ham dish. Maybe this would not work, but with an understanding of flavours it could.
The building blocks of good dishes are endless, we have traditional stocks for a reason, they build flavour!

A NOTE ON FLAVOUR BASES

Flavour bases come with many names and disguises, although essentially they all serve the same purpose - to add flavour!

In some asian cooking garlic is added to very hot wok, then stirfried until golden brown, this then adds a nutty note, which is essential to some dishes, but not all. In other dishes this nutty note, would be a very dominant flavour that would not be desirable.

Flavour bases worldwide, have different names, in the dessert world a sugar syrup is a form of flavour base - a simple combination of sugar and water!

In france a flavour base is often referred to as THE TRINITY-(meaning the state of being or a group of three). The trinity consists of three ingredients onion,carrot and celery. Cajun and Creole cooking have a similar combination, named THE HOLY TRINITY- a slight variation consisting of onion,celery and green bell pepper, with the carrot omitted. This would be found throughout cajun and creole dishes. The italians have there version the soffritto, translated means sauteed. A spanish version might consist of garlic,onion and tomatoes cooked in olive oil. Although i have mentioned four different countries the onion remains constant.
A french culinary term MIREPOIX is often referred to when talking of flavour bases, this would sometimes contain onion,celery,carrot- (the trinity) plus cubed ham or sometimes bacon. All these bases add wonderful flavour to stocks and sauces or individual dishes.
A mirepoix or savoury vegetable base can start with any number of different vegetables, including leeks,shallots and garlic. Herbs are sometimes included, parsley and thyme being the most popular.
By cutting the vegetables into very small dice we increase the surface area to be cooked therefor maximising the extraction of flavour. Small diced vegetables are more suited to shorter cooking times, meanwhile large cut vegetables have a place,especially in stocks and stews. The larger area being more suited to the longer cooking times.

COTTAGE PIE

This, a basic recipe that will yield a very tasty pie. Of course other ingredients can be added at your whim, the inclusion of a little brown sauce works a treat, a member of my family will often add peas, what ever you do, this is a treat to eat. A time consuming dish to make, but the results are superb. A hearty meal that all the family can enjoy with seconds, if you desire! There are several methods, which include browning the mince first, then removing , then adding your flavour base, removing and a simple de-glaze,with red wine. We like to stick to this recipe as it's simple.





Here is our recipe;



2 tbsp of vegtable oil

1000g beef mince(lean)

1lge onion

2 sticks of celery

2 lge carrots

2 cloves of garlic

200ml of red wine

300ml of beef stock

1 tbsp of plain flour

2 tbsp of tomatoe puree

3 tbsp worcester sauce

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

You will need to finely dice the carrot,celery,garlic and onion, as this will be your flavour base.
Once you have prepped your vegtables for the flavour base, you will need a good size skillet or saute pan, add 2 tbsp of oil, place on the heat and add your onions, saute for 2 minutes, then add your carrots and celery cook for a further 2 minutes, add a good pinch of sea salt, and a good grind of pepper, now add your garlic and saute for a further 5 minutes.
Add your mince, cooking to the mince changes colour(you will need to keep the ingredients in the pan moving, to avoid sticking and clumps of mince forming).
Once the mince has changed colour, turn down the heat to low, add 1 tbsp of flour, passed through a sieve, cook for a further 1 minute till the flour is mixed. Add 2 tbsp of tomatoe puree, whilst keeping the ingredients moving, cook for a further 1 minute, before adding 3 tbsp of worcester sauce. Incorporate the worcester sauce, before adding red wine and beef stock.
The cottage pie mixture is now covered and left simmering for 40 minutes, check regularly for seasoning,with a stir now and then being a good idea.

Mashed potato topping;

1.2 kg potatoes

25g unsalted butter

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

Whilst the cottage pie filling is simmering, you will need to bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, prepare the potatoes, cutting into pieces the same size to encourage even cooking. Once the potatoes are cooked and tender(pierce a potato with a sharp knife, if the potato, easily slides off the knife, they are ready). Drain, then mash with the butter and olive oil and season to taste.By this time, you should be ready to remove the cottage pie filling from the hob, place in your desired dish, allow to cool a little. Then spread your mashed potato evenly over the top of your filling, i will leave your desired pattern as a personal choice.

Place your pie/pies in a pre-heated oven about 190c/375f/gas 5 this should be sufficient. Cook for approximately 35minutes or until your topping is golden brown, and the inside of the pie is very hot.

This will serve 4 very hungry people, or six average sized portions.

Note;

This recipe does not require the fat from the mince to be drained. Lean mince is used, and the inclusion of a little that adds wonderful flavour.

We like to eat this, with seasonal vegtables.

Please see note in archive on flavour bases!

REAL YORKSHIRES

The key to excellent yorkshire puddings, is heat. You need a very hot oven.

Eggs are an essiential ingredient, but a lot of recipes call for only one egg. I have used up to six eggs with this recipe , with really good results, i now find three large eggs to be more than sufficent. This recipe will see your yorkshire puddings rise to new heights.

Suitable for vegetarians if using vegatable oil.

Note; Measuring in cups, from your cupboard, use the same size(standard mug is good) for liquid and flour.

1 cup of plain flour

1 cup of milk

3 large eggs(preferably organic)

Beef dripping or vegatable oil

A pinch of salt

You will need to make your batter at least an hour in advance, i often leave the batter for longer so that a good whisk from time to time , will allow the incorporation of air.

You will need a mixing bowl of sufficent size to allow all of the ingredients to be mixed without spillage. Place a sieve over the top of your bowl, and pass the flour through the sieve and add your pinch of salt.

Slowly incorporate your milk until you achieve a batter with a smooth consistency, add the eggs one at a time, until you achieve a lump free batter. The batter should be the consistency of double cream, if your batter is to thick add tepid water until you have the correct consistency.

Allow to rest for 1 hour minimum.

Heat is the key to good puddings, so pre-heat the oven on maximum. Once a good heat has built up, you will be ready to place your yorkshire tray into the oven, when the oil is smoking hot and only when smoking hot, you are ready to pour your batter.

This is the tricky part, you need to maintain the tempature of the oven, so pour the batter into a jug, that is easy to pour from, and keep at the ready.

Take out yout tray, only when the oil is smoking, shut the oven door to maintain oven tempature, and quickly pour your batter into each hollow so that it is level with the top of the tray. Open the door and place on an oven shelf above halfway. Only keep the door open for the shortest possible time.

These will take 20-25 minutes depending on your oven. For the first 5 minutes leave the oven tempature as it is, then turn down to 200c/400f/gas 6, for the remaining cooking time.

Note; Opening and shutting of the of the oven door during cooking, will cause the loss of heat, resulting in the puddings losing height and volume.

EGGS

Potato omlette



6 large organic free range eggs

300 g waxy potatoes

150g cooked ham (omit ham for a vegetarian potato omlette)

1 medium red onion

10 cherry tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 pinches of paprika or mild chiil powder

2 small pinches of cumin

10 basil leaves (torn)

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

sea salt (to taste)

freshly ground pepper (to taste)



pre heat oven to 190c/375f/gas mark 5, and place a saucepan of salted water to boil.

Cut your potato into dice, and add to a pan of salted boiling water, cook the potato till

tender but holding there shape.While potato is cooking finely chop the red onion, garlic,ham and tomatoes, and reserve until called for.

Lightly whisk the eggs,season and add torn basil leaves 2 pinches of paprika/chilli and 1 pinch of cumin. Reserve

Drain the potatoes in a colander and shake excess water until dry. Heat a 12"/30 cm saute pan or skillet with the olive oil until hot, place potato into hot oil and saute for 2 minutes, then season with salt and pepper, and 2 pinches of chili or paprika and 1 pinch of cumin. Saute for a further minute then add chopped onion, continue to saute until onion has softened, season and add garlic, saute for a further 2 minutes, then add ham, continue to saute until all ingredients in the pan are mixed then pour on seasoned egg mixture, continue to cook until bottom of omlette has set, transfer saute pan to a hot oven 190c/375f/gas mark 5, with the door left open so that the top sets, as soon as eggs are set it is ready.

Slide the omlette out whole on to a large plate, serve immediately.

BREAD

Who doesn't like bread?

Malta although not noted for culinary wonders, like all countrys they have hidden gems, there use of rabbit, little pastizzi(small filled cheese cakes, made with a flakey pastry but bearing no resemblence to english cheesecakes), and of course the bread.
Maltese bread is special, very special, that special that your average maltese is said to consume roughly 1 kg a day.
Loafs are big, and for just over half a euro you can eat one yourself...............if your in malta.
Maltese loafs are based on an old tradition of bread making, probably originating from the knights of the order of saint john, similar breads exist in Rhodes.
Methods used are similar, but not identical to the true sourdough bread, made famous by San Francisco.
A maltese loaf is a textural revelation, a thick heavy crust, with a slight burnt note, chewey, moist and slightly sour, which is not devoid of the odd air hole. Most breads would be kocked back, a method used to knock the air out of the dough, during rising, this results in less holes in the finished loaf, this part of the process is omitted with maltese bread.

I have flirted with bread baking at home, with varying degrees of success, it's a very emotional process, almost theraputic, the kneading, then the wait for your loaf to prove, with the baking filling the kitchen with that lovely aroma from the alcehmic process that has happened during incorporation of yeast,flour and water, then introducing your creation to very hot oven.

My last attempt this weekend past, will be my best effort yet, the result was a lovely granary loaf, with a reasonable crust, one that i would be proud to share..........only i didn't.
Bread making so far for me has consisted of the use of dried packet yeast, and well known brands of bread flour. I want more, i want the real deal, i want sourdough .

I have had a recipe for a starter dough for a couple of years, but have never had the courage to take the plunge, after our trip to malta i bought back another starter recipe, i now have two so it's time, the time has arrived!

Over the coming weeks i will make the starter, hopefully with regular feeding i will produce a starter dough that will remain with me for many years, i will post the recipe and progress of my efforts, hopefully daily.

Watch this space.............

French laundry cookbook

Five years ago, i chanced upon an article, featuring a restaurant in the Napa valley, california's wine country. The restaurant being reviewed was the French laundry. To say i was taken in by this review would be an understatement, so you can imagine my surprise 2 years later when i found a copy in my local bookstore. This book had to be bought, even though it was £40.

Is this the book that single handed changed the face of the modern cookbook.

What do you look for in a cookbook?

I think most serious amateurs would be looking for a lot more than just recipes. We all have our books jam packed with recipes, some handed down from relatives others bought secondhand or new, but there comes a point in every cooks journey, when an extra little bit of insight is needed, into the workings of an excellent chef and restaurant, in simple terms a culinary genius!



The whole book feels right,looks right, and reads very well. A well structured book, with outstanding food photography, shot with a flair that draws you into it's beautifully crafted pages!
The book takes you in a journey through the finesse of the restaurant and the special people who make it happen.

There are some wonderful recipes, although you would need a lot of skill and patience to undertake such offerings, but this is a book, from one of best restaurants in the world.

The recipes are not traditional recipes as you might find in your run of the mill cookbook,but rather plates of food, sometimes small bites, some complete courses. This approach really appeals and with the stunning photos to back up most dishes you are able to see the courses as they would be presented.

I have often broken down elements of each recipe, i once took the orange glaze that is served with pacific moi, and recreated this glaze to be used with pan fried duck, which worked wonderfully! I have used basil oil, instead of chive oil in a tomato dish, this is allowed, you are not trying to match or better Mr keller, but learn from him, you are not cooking 3* michelin cuisine at home,but you can sure impress!
A favourite recipe that i have adopted time and time again would have to be lemon sabayon tart with a pine nut crust, absolutely adorable!

The french laundry cookbook is large, it contains 325 well crafted pages and a total- 100 recipes, this does not include the several pages on purveyors a first for a cookbook, which highlights the intense relationship between nature,purveyor and cook. There are pages on how to make flavoured oils, braising,stocks,sauces,powders, how to stain and use kitchen tools properly! There are six pages titled the importance of......................
These pages refer to ingredients or techniques, giving an insight to often overlooked, but important cooking practices.

If only you read the page on salt,pepper and vinegar, you would gain a great deal of knowledge, i sure did!

NO doubt professional cooks the world over have benefited with insight and knowledge, now not a lot of cookbooks can make that claim!
I have seen this book grace shelves across the globe from delhi to valetta, then back to singapore.
Most memorable sighting was in a restaurant cum guesthouse, which sported a bookshelf in the dining room, this was north india, the guest house was so-so, but the food serious!
Unfortunately for myself this is probably the closest, i will ever come to the French Laundry, but for now i can live with that, if only for a while!

Probably one of my best investments to date, and without a doubt an eye opener!

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to The city kitchen blog. In time we hope to recreate recipes of old and post the new.
I have a passion for the culinary world, whether it be recipes or their execution, food related issues, restaurants and of course eating.

Sometimes my food is rustic, traditional, occasionally classic, but always enjoyable.
I like to play in the kitchen, and have an interest in the science behind the cooking, but only in a practical sense.
Most of the time we stick to practical, why? Because it works.

At present, in this diminishing financial climate, plus the need to be more aware of humane issues surrounding our larder, we still need to feed ourselves,familys,friends and loved ones.
At home this is what we do. By trying our hardest to minimize our waste, buying sensibly with the need to maintain a healthy unprocessed robust diet, that we enjoy and gain pleasure from. Surely if you are here reading this,you share our views, if you are here by mistake take a minute to read our thoughts and recipes.
At present i have certain goals, some achievable, some more difficult. In a perfect world we would shop at farmers markets, buy from independent sources, but we all know the world is not perfect, but every little change no matter how subtle whether it be a boycott of caged hens and chickens, or the odd item that is organic,it is all positive.
On recent trips to the stores,i still see trolleys laden with junk, full to the brim, with a hefty price tag to match,but these super shoppers stand in the aisles bemoaning the price hikes, without realising that a change of eating habits could mean a considerable saving to health and pocket.

I will endeavour to change my ways, will you?