Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Madeleines
Fennel Cheesecake With Poached Rhubarb.
Not much in season in the way of fruit at the moment, Rhubarb and ?????????? well I think that's about it!
I found a recipe for cheesecake at the back of a Sunday magazine, as rhubarb cheesecake is beautiful, I wanted to do something a bit different.
So I (to my knowledge) invented a fennel cheesecake! And served it with poached rhubarb and saffron syrup.
Works really well, the sourness of the rhubarb and the sweetness of the cheesecake and rhubarb.
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Chefs Night In......It All Makes Sense!
Wild Garlic, Watercress & Purple Potato Soup.
My mate Ian popped into see me yesterday, he's a very fit and healthy vegaterian, so I knocked us up an interesting Wild garlic, wild watercress & purple potato soup.
All three ingredients bang in season, it was fantastic, one of those moments that a foodie experiences every few months or so, when a fantastic ingredient, that can only ever be found at a short period throughout the year, arrives in season, like Grouse, Heirloom tomatoes, English raspberries, that sort of thing.
Chefs Night In....About Time He Cooked For Me!
Me old mate Miko (Head chef of D&D's The Avenue) came to mine for dinner the other night.
As he spends all his time cooking Jazzed up British food, I thought I'd cook him something a bit different.
So I made a Chicken Pilaf served with a salad of butter lettuce, papaya, cucumber & lemongrass , and some chickpea bread.
Pork Belly
Pork belly is amazing, my secret tips on a really crispy pork belly are,
1). Always buy pork belly from a butcher, supermarket pork belly is full of water and basically shit! Pork belly is reasonably priced, so a few £'s extra gets you top notch pork belly, but always from a butcher! If it is full of water, you wont get a nice crackling.
2). You need a bit of time to cook pork belly really well, like 5 hours, not the cooking but the drying out! When you arrive home from the butchers, score the skin with a sharp knife or Stanley knife, then rub salt (Maldon sea salt is best) all over the skin, leave for 20 minutes and allot of water will have been released, pat dry with kitchen paper. Repeat this process about 5 or 6 times.
3). After drying the belly out, place on a wire rack, on a tray and place in a pre heated oven at 200 degrees c or as hot as you oven heats to (no more than 220) and roast it for about 30 plus, minutes, until really crispy.
Works every time, enjoy.
Ecuadorian Chocolate
My Mrs, is from Ecuador, a country of many amazing food items, 1 of which is chocolate,
I persuaded her to get her mum to send me some,which is the easy part!
She really gets the needle when she has to travel across town to Camberwell to pick it up from an amigo in a dodgy high rise flat!
But all the ear ache is worth it, as it is so amazing! And I pay next to nothing for it! Chocolate of about 70% cocoa in London is about £60 a kilo, this is about 90ish% (not sure as it arrives in a clear plastic bag), and it cost just £20 (delivery charge) for 2kg! Amazing.
I made some lovely Ecuadorian Chocolate Madeleine's.
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