I’ve been very fortunate over the past 8 – 9 months, with lots of hard work achieved a couple of paid ‘reward’ trips through work. The first was Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi Island, the flights were hard work but the effort was worth it, time to visit sites of personal interest in-between organised entertainment, including a Police Bike Escorted Tour across the City on the back of Harley Davidson Motorbikes as well as high end restaurants and a personalised tour of the Petronas Twin Towers!!
More recently, just a week ago, the destination was a few days in New York, a place our family was due to visit last Christmas but due our son being ill we had to cancel, so the trip was on again, but the family was going to be staying at home this time.
It was by sheer chance that the trip coincided with the 9Th Avenue International Food Festival, a two day event that was started many years ago by Lili Fable that attracts THOUSANDS of visitors over the 2 days it is held, she is still active at the 3rd generation family run Greek ‘Poseidon’ pastry shop, they still make Phyllo Pastry by hand, and I had the pleasure of meeting her and her retired husband on this trip, a true honour.
We were fortunate to have a ‘free day’ which provided the opportunity to look at other food options and I was lucky enough to discover ‘The Brooklyn Culture and Food Tour’, a 4 1/2 hour excursion across the river to see another borough of New York, and experience the imigrant food culture that had developed over the years, this trip was working out really well and I discovered a fellow foodie in our group who was keen to join in, perfect.
The morning of the Brooklyn food tour was wet, very wet, in fact it rained almost the whole day. Luckily for me and my new foodie chum our tour was in a very comfortable mini-coach, which took us over the Williamsburg Bridge to Brooklyn where we started things off with BALLs, Meat Balls!
This establishment had pedigree, being owned by chefs with Michelin star experience, and the Balls were GREAT. The restaurant concept was explained by the Manager, we were to bump into the ‘BALL’ brand again during the Food Festival the following day! You pick your preferred ‘BALL” add sauce and away you go, but there are more options including Balls Benedict, all available until after 2:30 a.m. in the morning!
Just around the corner was another ‘Ball’ establishment, this time Middle Eastern and Falafel were the order of the day at OASIS in Williamsburg. They were delicious and just cooked, if Falafel are older than 20 minutes then bin them Rick explained, as he pointed out the closeness of both the restaurants to the Metro and constant footfall. Great food and passing traffic enables both these restaurants to do a roaring trade. I have NEVER seen Labneh for sale, another first!
The next stop took us to Poland, another first and we ploughed through locally made Sausage and mashed Potato, Pierogi and various other delicacies at Krolewskie Jadlo (King’s Feast), which were really tasty. The sausage was nicely spiced and had a firm texture the mash smooth and silky.
Pierogi is something I have always wanted to try and luckily it was on the menu, stuffed with Potato and Cheese they were absolutely yummy, crispy cases and soft fluffy insides.
America seems to like Pizza, it’s probably a staple of the diet and there were lots of small Pizza stores all over the city selling flabby looking cardboard bases, coated with not particularly nice looking toppings!
Table 87 was a ‘proper’ Pizza Restaurant, we watched the artisans stretch, spin and coax the freshly hand made bases before adding a San Marzano Tomato Sauce, and Fresh Mozzarella before putting into a 500Deg coal fired oven! They skilfully watched the Pizza cook and turned to ensure an even cook, removing when ready and finishing with fresh Basil and Olive Oil.
The result was outstanding, very crisp base, full of flavour, a beautiful Tomato Sauce, chewy Mozzarella Cheese and the waft of Basil which had been wilted by the heat of the Pizza and nothing else, Wowzer!
What do the Italians excel at? Cakes. The next stop was an artisan bakery which had shelves of amazing looking cakes, pastries and Marzipan crafted fruit, our next taster was Cannoli and my they were really very good indeed, freshly made and filled with slightly sweetened Ricotta Cheese.
This establishment had been the in the neighbourhood for years, in fact as we had driven round Brooklyn Rick was explaining the importance of each area and how they had developed over time, it was really fascinating.
The last stop was DUMBO! Down Under The Manhattan Bridge Overpass, and we were all well fed and educated on all things Brooklyn, a borough I personally think has a lot to offer and would be missed by many visitors to New York as most will go for the more ‘famous’ sites.
Jacques Torres is also known as Mr Chocolate and we were to try a couple of his ‘specials’, very tasty they were too. We had the option of walking back over Brooklyn Bridge but the weather was still pretty poor so any photographic opportunities would not have produced any where near decent results as you can see from the couple of touristy pictures I took whilst the opportunity arose.
The food tour can be found HERE and it was worth every $, Rick our guide was very knowledgeable and made the 4 1/2 hours really interesting both from a food and culture perspective so if you ever find yourself looking for something different to do whilst in the Big Apple, give it it a go, its great fun.
OMG! Argentinian, Brazilian, Cajun, Cuban, Spanish, Dominican, Ethiopian, Greek, Haitian, Irish, Moroccan, Ukrainian, and many other kinds of cuisine are being cooked during the annual two-day festival on 9th Avenue in New York during May! Apart from the nights out on rooftops bars and fantastic restaurants I had managed to squeeze in Dr Laser (holographic studios) and the Brooklyn Food Tour already and it was the last full day in New York.
The morning had taken us to Grand Central Station for a tour, followed by a tasty brunch at Cipriani Dolci and I did have breakfast that morning, something I was to later regret! Our tour guide helped me find some Graham Crackers, a present for our son to make some ‘proper s’mores’ and during the conversation I remembered the Food Festival, which happened to start just around the corner from he lived so he walked me to the start and introduced me to the founders of the event, owners of the Greek Restaurant Poseidon, it was great hearing of their enthusiasm to get visitors to come to Hells Kitchen and taste the world!
It was VERY busy, I remembered my foodie friend and dropped him a text message, he was on his way within minutes and on arrival made similar comments to me, OMG, what a MASSIVE festival, there were thousands of people walking up and down 9th Avenue smelling and tasting food from all over the world.
Unlike the previous day it was hot and sunny, with a threat of a thunder storm we hoped the rain would stay away and it did, we wandered up and up and up looking at all the different cuisines on the way. Unfortunately I was stuffed from breakfast and brunch so it was smelling and drinking water for me as we were out again that evening!
We had never seen so much food from so many different countries, it was overwhelming but in a positive way, it was sheer chance that the even coincided with the trip and we were both so glad it did.
As we were walking back my friend was tempted at one particular stand selling ‘Fried” Ice-Cream, yep you read that correctly, tennis ball sized and covered in breadcrumbs before before frying and crispy brown and icing sugar added!
I declined the opportunity but it was apparently absolutely delicious, they certainly smelled very good indeed. we had walked what seemed miles in the heat but had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon, on neither of us will every forget so it ever you find yourself in New York around the week after Mothers Days, check your dates and try and get to this awesome event, and maybe do the Brooklyn Tour as well.
…………………………Until next time……………..L8ers………………
January has been very difficult, Flu has been the significant event and I think I have seen Floyd cooking in India, The Far East, France, Italy and South Africa to name but a few! There is a common thread in many of the recipes he shows, the 
To shape the Pie I used one of those White Enamel tins, lined with some cling film after I had rubbed some oil over the surface, the Pastry was then laid into the dish on the film, add the (cooled) filling and cover. The Pie can then be (gently) lifted out, inverted and the edges sealed with a fork, It worked a treat as you can see above adding an Egg Wash to brown before cooking.
Stuffed Mediterranean Vegetables are another one of those dishes that can be ergh, nice or amazing. I’ve done them a few times but decided to see what could be done with some refinement and playing with flavours. Previously I have only done a Pepper version as they are easy, just cut the top off and bake with a filling, job done.
Let’s introduce the Aubergine into the recipe and look at the process of baking and using the centre as part of the stuffing. I used the paring (small) knife to gently cut around the edge of the Aubergine about 1 cm in, you can see in the top right picture, then carefully cutting a criss-cross pattern using the larger knife, remembering the shape and altering the depth as you cut, the middle is deeper than the edge! 
Brushing liberally with Olive or Rapeseed Oil and seasoning with Salt and Pepper they were baked for about 30 minutes at 180 degrees. I turned them over flat side down and gave them another 15 minutes after another brushing of Oil as the top did not seem cooked, you can see the final result below. You then need to carefully scrape out the cooked centre and chop, ready to add to the filling later.
So we now start with the Mirepoix again, this time I swapped an Onion for a large Shallot, which is a bit sweeter. Add the Lamb and brown, some Garlic to taste, the chopped Aubergine, some Tomato Paste. Going for a Middle Eastern angle further enhancements included Rose Harissa, Coriander, Cumin and Preserved Lemon finely sliced and some chopped Mint and Coriander Leaf. Texture came with some toasted Pine Nuts.
The lamb mixture can then be used to fill the hollowed out Aubergine and in my case Red Pepper’s with the tops and pith/seeds removed, then baked in the over for about 35-40 minutes. 
Served with some Greek Yoghurt with added Rose Harissa and chopped Mint its absolutely delicious and worthy of any dinner table as you can see below.
A new book came through the letterbox and hit the floor over Christmas, 
Firstly, a baked Potato which I always start by piercing all over with a fork, and then rubbing butter all over the skin to ensure a crisp finish, followed by a sprinkling of Sea Salt.
I had some red Romano Peppers in the Organic Veg Box so started to think about a nice Piquant Sauce to make, so popped one in the oven to roast for about 15 minutes, this makes removing the hard indigestible skin easy and heightens their sweetness.
A couple of pieces Cod had been removed from the Freezer earlier and popped in the Microwave to cook, not ideal but time meant that it was the easiest thing to do and as the Fish was going to be mixed with Potato it was the way I went on this occasion. Once cooked it was mixed in with the scooped out potato and Ras-Al-Hanut spice added along with Salt and Pepper to season.
Once the Mirepoix/Pepper/Tomato mix was cooked it went into the Ninja processor and got a good whiz as you can seen above.
The Potato Skins were fried to make them crispy again, and then filled with the Potato?fish mixture before being topped with the Breadcrumbs/Cheese and going in the oven to finish. The sweet (piquant is more appropriate) Pepper Sauce was gently warmed on the hob and we were soon ready to serve.
So what started out as a John Waite dish (which I do intent to make), turned out as my own version with a quite spicy Sweet Pepper Sauce, with the crispy Potato and Fish filled skins it tasted delicious.
It did not take long after the trip to Malaysia to get the urge to cook something that would remind me of fun times. I have cooked 
I have several Malaysian cookery books in my ever growing collection, one being Normans’ 
To accompany the Rendang I decided on plain Basmati Rice and Pak Choi, enhanced with some of the flavours above, 
A unique flavour to Malaysian cuisine is 
You can see the start and the end of the process in the pictures above. The aroma of Kerisik is like a ‘Toasty Caramel Coconut’ flavour and to me Is very unique in this style of cuisine. I am working on a dessert using Kerisik at the moment and have been publishing the ‘slow’ progress, it is heading in the right direction nicely though and the full version will get released when it’s completed over the next few months.
The spice paste, once processed in the bender needs to be fried off, the deep orange colour is due to the fresh Turmeric I used, rather than powdered it’s more intense in both colour and flavour being very ‘earthy’! The recipe calls for 20 dried chilli’s soaked in water which might seem a lot, but the dish was not as hot as you might think.
The Chicken is then added and given a good mix to cover the meat in the delicious spices, then some bruised Lemongrass to add some freshness, finally the Coconut Milk and the whole thing bubbles away until all is done.
The Tamarind, Kerisik and Kaffir Lime leafs are almost used as a seasoning, I found the dish needed more Tamarind to balance the flavours but that may just be my palate, it was a delicious dish with flavours dancing around on the tongue, I think the best Rendang I have done so far by a long way.
The Pak Choi is simply put into a saucepan with a little water and as it cooks add some Kecap Manis and sprinkle the Sesame Seeds. It only needs a few minutes to cook and adds a slightly bitter, irony dimension to the whole meal.
If I had a New Years resolution, it would be to practise plating, and remember to wipe things clean before taking pictures but I usually end up just wanting to serve and eat, and things end up a bit rushed #musttryharder!!
In this weeks Organic Veg Box delivery there was a surprise, Oca, what the hell is Oca!! There was a description on the box and a quick look on the internet and all was clear, 
So I decided to cook some for tea just to see what they were like, not really expecting much as they don’t look particularly appetising, but how wrong that was to be!
I think it’s the Chef James Martin that says everything tastes better with Butter! In a small pan they went with some Oil and a bit of Butter, roasting for about 25 minutes and giving them a shake every 10 minutes to make sure they were cooked all the way through, then briefly drained on some kitchen paper.
So, Oca, wow! They were absolutely delicious, slightly crispy on the outside, tender flesh in the middle, with a hint of lemon. I had noted some people commenting on there being no Lemon flavour, with ours it was definitely present, and very nice too. They could probably have been seasoned a bit harder with s touch more salt, but this is one vegetable I will be looking our for, thank-you 
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is on, streaming to my iPad as I pen the 1st blog of 2018. River Cottage HQ is about to open and rather than let one of his prize pigs go, the menu will be based on Beef rather than Pork, along with an Asparagus starter, all 40 portions. Fish is also on the menu, trying to find a ‘monster’ Lobster in the locale fails and it’s actually a massive Conger Eeel that ends up on the plate!
I have very fond memories of past trips to the South of France where my brother lives, the preferred time being late Autumn when the Olive picking season is in full swing. He has some trees in his garden and the process of picking and taking down to the ‘Olive Pressing Co-Operative’ is an annual ritual. It was during one of these trips that I discovered 
Taking 1Kg of cheap pork cuts (shoulder and belly), and some Duck or Goose fat a very slow confit takes place over several hours, the addition of flavours such as Garlic, Thyme and Rosemary add extra interest to the final dish.
You might find, as I did that the Pork had not broken down completely due to the low and slow process (3 – 3/12 hours give or take), the temperature was not high enough to break down the connective tissues so I turned the heat up a bit and within 30 minutes the job was done.
At this stage you will need to KEEP the cooking fat AFTER draining it, don’t throw it away, it’s integral to the dish!! The Pork does not look particularly tasty at this point but carefull pulling and tugging to seperate the meat from any unedible bits and we are nearly there.
Given some time to cool a bit you will have a dish of ‘pulled Pork”, the drained and strained Fat, and Salt and Pepper. I added 60%-70% of the fat into the meat before starting the next process, I did warn it’s fatty stuff but believe me, it’s delicious and you don’t have it that often.
I had some Kilner jars which were sterlised in the oven for about 20 mins at 115 degrees. In Richard’s book there is a section where it talks about various ways of potting the Rillettes but you will have to invest a few pounds to find out like I did, it’s worth it, it’s a very good book with lots of hints and tips.
Once the Rillettes is packed into the jar, some of the Fat is poured over the top to seal in the goodness before adding the lid and popping into the fridge to cool down, job done.
The dishes were varied and delicious taking in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam tastes dancing over the pallette. During lunch we had a tropical downpour which was a welcome release from the heat, it poured it down.
The following day we were on the island of Langkawi and had some free time to wander around. A group of us hired a taxi for the most of the day and toured around the island a bit which was great fun, especially finding the hawker stalls selling home made fresh food to passsers-by.
Things have been a bit manic since the last post. A trip to Kuala Lumpur, busy at work and sporadic cooking has meant the blog has been a bit sparse despite time in the kitchen so hopefully with time off, over the next few days I can catch up and share some of the kitchen experiments and food experiences.
Some free time enabled us to explore for ourselves and I put together a fews hours of time to visit numerous temples and markets which was great fun. Back street butchers provided an interesting insight into the daily life of Malaysians, along with the Fish Head Curry Restaurant and numerous hawkers selling an array of amazing tasty food at affordable prices.
I have never had such a beautiful soft, packed with flavour prawn in my life, it was stunning!
So, back to the U.K. and with a team meeting on the horizon I was looking for something to bake for the team, alongside the obligatory Moroccan Sausage Rolls which are are demanded, I wanted to do something a but different, and was inspired by a Toffee Apple Cake Recipe by Sophie Thompson, a Celebrity Masterchef Winner, you can find the original 
You start by making a batter as per the recipe, flour, eggs, ground almonds etc. My additions were to make it a bit more festive and I added the zest of 1 Orange, 1 Lemon, a sprinkling of Mace and some Cardamon (remove the green outer and crush the seeds, about 2 – 3 Cardamons should do it).
I used two types of Apple, Pink Lady and Bramley, the 1st going in the centre and the 2nd on top. My other change to the original recipe was to add a Streusel topping on top of the Apple and Toffee Sauce top layer. I used 25 grams Flour, 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon, 50 grams cold Butter and 45 grams roasted chopped Hazelnuts. 
The result was delicious and the team loved it as much as I enjoyed making it, I also provided some Clotted Cream to serve, well it was the Christmas meeting!
The continuing saga of dessert development goes on! The 1st bash had gone ok, but there is much work to do to get things to the point I would be happy, and make a completed version of Pistachio Dacquoise, Roasted Pineapple Jelly, 
The 1st version used Pineapple that had been roasted with some sugar in the oven, it was ok but quite sharp. I could add more sugar, like 
The spicing would come from a range of aromats, added once the Caramel is made and cooled a bit to prevent burning the spices, the sugar mixture is EXTREMELY HOT. The Sugar/Water mixture started to boil rapidly and change colour from White, to Tan to Brown, job done.
I source my herbs and spices from 
I let the Caramel cool for quite a while and then added the spices as you can see above, I used about 1/2 a grated Tonka Bean, the flavour is similar to Vanilla but subtly different, buy some to see what I mean. The Japanese Pepper adds a delicious bite to the Pineapple and an extra edge!
I used two fresh Pineapples, removed the core and skin and cut into rough chunks as above. The oven was set to 180 deg, I poured the caramel over the apples and mixed well, removing the spices with a sieve beforehand and set the timer to 2 hours. I checked the Apples every 30 minutes and gave then a good mix up to make sure the Caramel was coating them well.
It was noticeable that the moisture from the Pineapple had ‘diluted’ the Caramel so unlike last time, the cooking was extended to about 2 hours and 20 minutes, you can see the results above. I think in hindsight I could have taken the Caramel to a much deeper colour in the first stage to make it even richer but thats the point of experimentation in the kitchen.
I didn’t go through the jelly stage this time round, we had the Pineapple warmed through with some clotted cream and it was really very tasty. Learnings for next time are:
Lets start by saying I am NOT a vegetarian, but Vanilla Black IS a Vegetarian and Vegan establishment situated in Tooks Court near Chancery Lane in London.
I was presented with a glass of bubbles shortly after arrival which was a nice surprise, and some home made bread and butter to nibble on to get things going. The 1st of 2 amuse bouche was a delightful mouth cleanser as my waitress explained, a Carbonated Apple drink with small pieces of Celery and a dusting of Parsley powder it certainly did the trick, refreshing with some lovely texture it set me up for what was to come.
Hmm, here we go, course number 1: Cucumber, Sticky Rice and Ginger Purée, Pickled Cucumber Ketchup and Seaweed, what the hell was going on in my mouth, it was just stunning. When you read the ingredients and think, sounds a bit, you know…The Sticky Rice was surrounded in a crumb so you got oodles of texture, all the other flavours just danced around, it was very good indeed, the ginger doing a really good job of reminding you it was ever present. The wine that accompanied this dish the waitress explained was a Hattingly Sparkling Wine which really worked very well with the various flavours.
So onto dish no.2: Baby Fennel, Creamed Lemon and Toast, Fennel Purée and Ice, Basil and Lime, served with a Tempranillo Blanc. I was writing notes in between each course on my iPhone, to remind me what I was tasting. I particularly remember this dish as the contrasts between the temperatures were a real hit, quite magical on the palate.
Things were getting interesting, if not already exceeding all my expectations. The service from the young Hungarian waitress was impeccable, taking time to explain each course, and why the particular wine matched. I asked for a list of the wines as I had not taken detailed notes and she arrived back with a piece of paper with them all written down for me, she was very passionate about the food being served.
It was all going very well, nothing to get the slightest bit ‘oh, not sure about that’, and before too long it was course no.4: Baked High Cross and Charred Spring Onions, Roasted Onion Purée served with a Rioja Promesa, very nice too. The only ‘minor’ challenge with this dish was the Spring Onions which were slightly stringy, but otherwise another amazing piece of food engineering.
Unfortunately it was time for dessert, and I am Type 1 diabetic, but on occasions and this was to be one of the them (two actually, more in a moment) I thew caution to the wind as the Cep Mushroom Fudge, Roasted Cocoa and Honey Ice Cream, Salted Lavender Honeycomb and Brioche landed in front of me, complete with a Tokaji Dessert wine. Bugger, it was so so so delicious, I could argue at least one of my five a day was on the plate. Cep Mushroom Fudge WTF!! Just Brilliant, the sweet wine a perfect match that was me done for the evening, or that’s what I thought!
Next thing I knew I was presented with another dessert, this one from the Vegan menu! Coconut Sorbet, Toasted Rice Mousse and Coffee Coconut Crumble and Coffee Sponge, thank-you Chef a really nice touch it was another stunner, but for me the Cep Mushroom Fudge is definitely the winner on this occasion.
Selim Kiazim was on Saturday Kitchen this morning on BBC1, she is a fantastic Chef and I was lucky enough to get a place at her restaurant Oklava a few weeks back, with a book recently published of the same name it sits proudly on my shelf nestled amongst Yotam Ottolenghi, Sabrina Ghayour and Bethany Kehdy, to name a few middle eastern favourites.
I was given the option of sitting at the end of the bar and had a fantastic view of all that was going on, which was really great. Seeing Selim and her all female team in action was really interesting as the orders were placed, and the food prepared in front of me, the open fronted oven in the background used for roasting various menu items.
I was being looked after by a lovely American lass, who had arrived in the UK about 3 months previously and certainly knew the menu well, making recommendations and suggestions as to what would work. To go with the food i picked a Turkish Wine from Northern Anatolia, Diren Collection 2015 which is made from a grape i had not heard of, Narince which was very tasty.
For the main even i went for 
I was sitting in Cafe Lucca in Bath and my heart was pumping for a couple of reasons, I had just walked up the hill from the station which is something not attempted before, and I was going to be spending a day learning from a food hero Angela Hartnett MBE, who also happens to have a Michelin Star, no mean feat!
It was a really tasty plateful, Pancetta, Boiled Eggs that had been coated in Parmesan and stuck under the grill, Roasted Tomatoes, Toast and Marmalade with a pot of Assam Tea, it was all very tasty.
So the menu for the day included Pumpkin Tortelli, Partridge with Turnip and Mushrooms and Plums with Ricotta, seasonal dishes that as we found out, would require a lot of skill and technique to prepare, no ready made Pasta, that was to be done by hand along with preparing the Partridges, they were whole, Heads, Wings and Guts!!
Angela is an absolute delight, taking the 12 of us students through the process of making the pasta by hand, understanding the look and feel once it was ready to roll, cut and shape as required, imparting lots of tips on the way it was great fun. We were grouped into fours and encouraged to interact our group starting chatting away sharing experiences as we went on.
I have made Pasta by hand before in Italy, but it was over four years ago (sorry, my food experiences have meant that I am never trying a particular country or region for that long)! It was a really good session, I had never used a Pasta Machine before similar to others in the group so it was interesting to see the difference not having enough Flour in the mix made, it was slightly too wet and produced interesting results when put through the Pasta machine.
I’d never heard of Tortelli before, they are like a rectangular Raviolli, where you place the stuffing close to the edge nearest you, flip over, egg or milk wash the front and sides, and in between the covered filling and flip over the other side like a blanket, mine were by no means perfect but the looked ok once finished.
Before preparing the Pasta, we had quartered a Pumpkin, seasoned and placed on oiled baking trays for a session in the oven to soften. Angela encouraged us to answer questions and shared many of the experiences working with the likes of Gordon Ramsey and Marcus Wareing which was really interesting and very amusing indeed !!
I LOVE Partridge, in fact our 11 year old son loves Partridge too, and cooks it himself when available (with parental assistance of course). We were each given one to prep after being shown how to do it by Angela, removing the legs in the right place, (you can go further down the joint towards the body which makes for an unstable cooking experience as it wobbles in the pan)!
We were prepping and cooking for several hours, it was hard work but really good fun. One of the students had come all the way from Norway to attend the 1 day course, she owned a Bakery and had been to the school before to learn advanced bread making techniques which the owner Richard Bertinet is a master at, this is an awesome cookery school and Richard attracts some seriously good chefs to come along and share their knowledge and experience.
We worked tirelessly from about 10:00 till 12:30, then a break for refreshments, and a quick snack of Cheese and Ham Toasties with Bechamel using Richards famous Bread, they were very tasty indeed. The ‘Baker Girls’ or Bertinet Backstage are the great team that assist, wash up, clean and generally help things go smoothly and as usual, they did an exceptional job.
Earlier, we had removed the legs from the Partridge ready for a bath in Duck Fat, Garlic and Thyme, we were going to confit the legs and add to a Salad with Pickled Walnuts. Before the ‘Duck Fat Bath’, the legs were fried in Olive Oil to colour, there was lots going on during the course, loads of different cooking techniques were learnt on the way it was excellent value for money and everyone was sweating in the heat of the kitchen.
The Partridge Crowns got the Pan treatment, in LOADS of Butter and Thyme, a few minutes before hitting the oven for finishing off.
Angela was more than happy for us to video, take pictures, selfies and was a real joy to spend time with, her knowledge and experience is just something you don’t often get the chance to access, I need to practise my photography from a selfie perspective although we were right by the hob, and everything was hot in the kitchen.
Where to go to celebrate my Birthday? It took less than 10 seconds to reach a decision and a booking at the local Michelin starred restaurant, ‘The WoodSpeen’ was completed online. I’ve eaten here before with a good friend, but only for lunch and we had their lunchtime special which was very good, this time it was to be the ‘Full Monty’ a la carte.
Sat at our table an Amuse Bouche arrived, Courgette Soup with Black Olive. I am not sure about Courgettes, I eat them a lot but they tend to be part of a dish and not going solo, the soup was really very tasty, quite a surprise but a good one. We had been given some lovely home made bread and polished off the dish before more bread arrived, very good attentive service.
For starters I opted for the Roasted Scallops, with Chicken Thigh, Cauliflower and Hazelnut, OMG it was so very tasty. The Scallop was perfectly cooked, the Chicken tender as it could be and really rich the whole dish just sung ‘eat me’.
My partner in crime opted for the Woodspeen Smoked Salmon, Beetroot, Goats Curd and Apple which was apparently delicious and was demolished quite effortlessly, with a big smile of satisfaction to finish.
We were then surprised with another Amuse Bouche, Buratta with Heritage Tomatoes and Olive Crumb, another exceptional taste bomb that really cleansed the taste buds, this was going really very well indeed.
I adore fish and the Bass did not disappoint, with Clams, Squid Ink Gnocchi, Fennel and Champagne Sauce. Everything was cooked perfectly and the Champagne Sauce is THE best I have ever had, seriously tasty and moorish, I could have drunk it out of a cup it was that tasty.
Steak was the choice for Mrs R, with Garlic Mushrooms, Onion Ring, Triple Cooked Chips and Bearnaise. We usually find steaks are ‘OK’, either the meat is not the best or the cooking is not quite right, this was spot on perfect, and the chips, oh my we thought we had found the best chips locally and they are very good, but these WERE the best, praise indeed.
It was my birthday so I WAS having a dessert, the Pina Colada sounded really nice. Coconut Parfait, Macadamia Crumble, Pineapple and Lemongrass Sorbet. I was in heaven, it was yum yum yum the tastes and textures dancing around on the tongue it was a perfect end to a perfect meal.
My mojo has been depleted for a few months, close deaths on both sides of the family, our 11 year old who has been unwell for several years has finally been diagnosed with suspected 
I had a number of thoughts about savoury and sweet and as most of my posts have been on the savoury side, I have opted for a dessert, something hopefully a little bit different, using some of the flavours that I love so much such as pistachio, pineapple, coconut etc. but it needs to be edgy, not out of the box.
Not so long ago I was in the safe hands of Jackie Kearney on a Vegan cookery course, we used an ingredient in the Green JackFruit Rendang which was called 
The aroma of Kerisik is amazing, toasty Coconut both rich and slightly sweet. This could be a perfect component for the dessert so a quick tweet to Jackie asking if she had used it in such a way, yes in a ‘
I invested in a bag of really good quality Pistachios a few months back, I use them a lot (when I am cooking and the mojo is not missing!) and recommend 
I’ve never made a Dacquoise before and unfortunately got disturbed by an excited son just as I was at what I suspect was an important stage. I had not ‘set’ the whisked egg whites enough and the mixture ended up sloppy rather than firm enough for piping so I am going to have to have another go at this stage of the dessert, that’s development for you!
The next thing to consider was other flavours and textures, Coconut, Pistachio and……Pineapple. Not any old Pineapple, this was to be roasted in Brown Sugar, Rum, Vanilla and Lime Zest and made into a Jelly using Agar Agar, something else I had not used before, the idea of this exercise being to teach myself new skills on the way.
Time to finish, I decided that I had learnt enough, made a few mistakes but was a good way forward to creating something really tasty, I had been in the kitchen over 4 hours so I decided to cook the Dacquoise by sitting a large cooking ring on baking paper, and slowly pouring in the mixture hoping it was thick enough not to leak out everywhere!!
I’m very familiar with the setup at Richard’s School, this would be my six course, having spent days with the likes of Mark Hix, Dhruv Baker, José Pizzaro and Omar Allibhoy as well as the master Bread Maker himself Richard, you are always guaranteed high quality chefs, a relaxed atmosphere, great support from the team of lovely ladies that organise and clean (esp. newby Charlotte), and teaming up with like minded enthusiasts all ages, and from all walks of life who want to learn new skills. After the usual Tea, Coffee and Toast (Richards Bread is just fab) with home made conserves we were introduced to the menu we were going to prepare, in 2 groups of 4 people. Anjum explained that we were going to be all hands-on, no demonstrations as she would be working with us, explaining the necessary techniques on the way which sounded just perfect, and just ask questions if you are not sure.
So we started to prepare the Goan Prawns and accompanying Chutney, this is where being with the author of the book really helps, as it’s very difficult to explain texture, smell and flavour in a book, preparing it with the cook in the room and you start to pick up all the important hints and tips to get the best out of the recipe. This was a case in point with the texture required for the Prawn Cakes which needed blending, but not to extinction!!!! The correct balance of ‘glue’ to texture would provide the desired effect and so we took a step by step approach so we could see what was required.
There is only one book (that I am aware of), that takes this issue full on and that’s Marcus Wareings’ “How to Cook The Perfect”, which goes a good way towards addressing the challenge of subtle technique, and is highly recommended.
As we carried on with our preparation more questions followed, the subjective issue of herb quantities for the Chutney, to join the Goan Prawn Cakes we were making a Tangy Coriander Chutney, the ‘Tang’ provided by Lemon, with some texture from Pistachios, with Mint and Garlic to add to the flavoursome accompaniment. The consensus was that at the end of the day, everyones palate is different and adjust to what YOU like but we all agreed testing the Chutney without having some Goan Cake at the same time was the only way to ensure the flavour profile was appropriate. 
Shock, Horror, OMG, its delicious, we made that!!
I love Biryani but here in the U.K. we have a little problem, I am yet to have eaten a Biryani in a restaurant or takeaway, nope, definitely not a proper Biryani, not one that even comes close. Today we MADE A BIRYANI, a proper one, from the Kutch region of India, a result.
Kutch district (also spelled as Kachchh) is a district of Gujarat state in western India. Covering an area of 45,674 km², it is the largest district of India. The population of Kutch is 2,092,371. And THEY know how to make a proper Biryani.
Anjum is an absolutely lovely lady, patient calm, full of enthusiasm and abound with knowledge about the food and region, her life story is really interesting and forms the start of her book I love India where the recipes for the cookery session came from. She was really happy to answer all the questions we threw at her, at times it must have seemed like a ‘barrage’ during a 17th century attack on a ‘Fortified Castle’, relentless!!
Those that have been to Richard’s School will know about the late morning break, those of you that don’t, pick a course, book it and find out for yourself as it’s part of the experience, ’nuff said.
So what about dessert. Charlotte, one of the lovely ‘BackStage Girls’ as they are know who clean, make tea, prepare as necessary mentioned ‘Frogspawn’ a couple of times!!!
The Goan Prawn Cakes and Tangy Coriander Chutney were outstanding, really tasty and the Tang of the Chutney went very well indeed. I reckon (only a personal opinion), this could be served with the addition of a Kachumber, a salad of Onion, Tomato and Cucumber (with a Tamarind Dressing), which would be a perfect match and make a lovely lunch or light supper.
It was so nice to be eating a proper Biryani again, light, fragrant with textures and pings of flavour from the addition of Currants and Almonds fried in Ghee, and the Fried Onions I had prepared earlier. It was bl@@dy tasty as they would say in Australia!
We were all so busy commenting on the starter and main, asking Anjum so many questions and having a great foodie conversation I forgot to take a picture of the dessert. We could not get ‘proper’ Mango’s and those we had didn’t have the best flavour, although the result actually tasted Ok.
The weather is getting better and better (and hotter), it’s breakfast on Wednesday and we are all still talking about the previous nights amazing dinner and the theatre involved in its delivery.
The story goes that a Monk called 
We were going to visit a small local family producer in Limoux that makes the two varieties of wine, 
Behind the simple (but very thick) walls of 
I recently learnt how to temper Chocolate the modern way using ‘
Once the process has been completed which took quite a while as, despite the thick walls the room was still too warm, you can use the Chocolate to fill moulds and Jean-Claude started with small simple shapes.
After dipping some Marzipan to make some traditional treats we were shown how to deal with moulds, which is not as easy as you might think. Done properly you will end up with a glossy sheen and no ‘bloom’, or white markings which is the Cocoa Butter that has not been tempered properly.
It was unfortunately time to move on so we all clambered into the mini-bus again and headed to the small village of 
As we headed down a steep windy road (there are quite a few of those around here!), we turned a sharp corner and before us was a significant building, an ex textile factory nestling against the backdrop of the Montagne Noire, the ‘Black Mountain’ with the River Orbiel running alongside.
Jean-Marc Boyer achieved his Michelin Star in 2007 after years of training in some of the best 2* and 3* restaurants in France, and has continued to receive the accolade on an annual basis to this day, as well as the restaurant he also runs a Bistro, 
The 
The starter was simply delicious, perfectly prepared and beautifully presented. VERY fresh Asparagus, served in a lovely light, crispy Puff Pastry case (Jean-Marc does not buy Pastry, it was home-made and FULL of buttery richness), the sauce was Mustard and Citrus, Lemon in the Sauce but with some strategically placed Orange confit tricked the palate, damn it was really so good. SIMPLE done Brilliantly!
The mains arrived next, 
Finally dessert, and there were two of them. Firstly, an imaginative crispy pastry base, with a Strawberry Soufflé filling, never had this before and it was very good indeed, offset by a home-made caramel Ice-cream. A lightly macerated Strawberry ‘Stew’ with more home made ice-cream finished the meal off, a very satisfying finish to a really good day.
C’est Tout, that’s it. Another adventure over, more foodie friends made. Vasily, the Russian from Switzerland who was a Cheese addict and made us all laugh in so many ways, Paul and Sue from the U.S., our political commentators ably joined by Marc, the ex Chef, Journalist and Travel Writer. And the adorable Ali and Sue, keen foodies who had met on a previous cooking vacation, kept in touch and carried on the tradition.
