La Cuisine Bertinet with Dhruv Baker (MasterChef 2010 Winner)

Posted on October 26, 2015 by julianrolfe

It has been a while since my last post, a combination of busy and tired has eaten up much of my spare time so it was really exciting to be joining a class at Richard Bertinets’ Cookery School in Bath, and spending a few hours with Dhruv Baker, who won Masterchef in 2010. The course was booked some time ago, just after I had suffered a seizure and woke up in an Ambulance so I though transport was going to be a problem, but in the end it was very easy and after an hour on the train and a short Taxi, there I was.

I usually arrive on cooking courses as the only ‘bloke’, which can be both enjoyable and frustrating (I really wish more men would have a go at cooking), this time there were 4 of us, equally balanced by 4 lovely ladies. As we arrived we were provided with Richards’ famous Bread, freshly toasted, with Butter and Jam, and Tea and Coffee and we started to introduce ourselves and get to know each other. Dhruv and Richards’ team of helpers were finalising the preparation and we were good to go.

The menu we were going to prepare was really interesting, Sweet Chilli Squid with Samphire, Chennai Spiced Poussin, Cumin & Chilli Potatoes with Curry Leaf and Coconut Cavalo Nero. As we looked through the menu Dhruv went about explaining the dishes and the order we would use to create each one. The Spiced Butter for the Poussin was going to take the longest so we set about toasting coconut and spices which would be ground into a paste (by hand) later on.

We were given many words of wisdom and encouragement by Dhruv, one of the participants said he could not cook (his wife also present agreed!), but comments like ‘T.V. Chefs like to make things look more complicated’ helped relax everyone as we all settled down to preparing each of the dishes. I won’t go though the detail of each dish, just book a course yourself and learn from a master and have some fun at the same time.

At the beginning of the day we were grouped together in ‘teams’, I was lucky enough to join Claire and Jin, who both had been on previous courses (Claire had been on 16), as we prepared each part of the recipe we laughed and joked as if we had known each other for years. It’s amazing how when individuals are thrown together with a common interest it seems to break down barriers in seconds. The other ‘students’ were from Belgium and there was a real friendship developing (call it a competitive bond if you will), this turned out to raise even more laughter towards the end of the day.

Because of time, there were a couple of ‘hiccups’ which in reality did not cause issue. The Spice Paste is made of hot ingredients, Tomatoes, Red Onions etc. and we could have done with a bit more time to let it cool, add cold Butter and…………It Melts! We ended up stuffing the Poussin with a semi Liquid mix but it worked fine in the end. We served up the starter as the Poussin roasted in the oven, the Sweet Chilli Squid with Samphire was a delight, tender, delicate and the slight saltiness of the Samphire negated the need for seasoning, amazing.Mid morning we had a quick break, Tea and Coffee and some delicious Almond Croissants, and the owner turned up to greet us, Richard Bertinet. Richard started the school about 9 years ago, and takes some of the Bread making courses as well as inviting guest Chef’s to come a teach their specialist skills. Richards Bread is VERY good, and if you are lucky enough to live West of Windsor, you maybe able to find some in your local Waitrose, I get mine in Newbury if I fancy a treat.We prepared all the dishes to the point where we could eat the starter whilst the main was cooking, finish off the Vegetables then serve the main etc. In between copious amounts of Red and White Wine flowed, the generosity and spirit was certainly in abundance, and I was glad it was a train home, and not the car!!

The potato dish seemed to cause a bit of competition, one of our Belgian colleagues was a bit heavy with the Chilli, and the double doors at the back of the school had to be opened to let the ‘hot’ steam out. We then realised during tasting that that team had also forgotten to season, and not quite par boiled long enough. It seems Team Claire, Jules and Jin had won the ‘best potato dish’ competition. Yay.The Poussin were smelling delicious as they rested whilst we finished of the Vegetables and put the desert on to cook. Ah yes, forgot to mention the Chocolate Brownie with Cassia Custard,and hints of Cardamom!All the dishes were very clever, you can find several of them in Dhruvs’ Book Spice: Layers Of Flavour I am very proud to have a signed copy. Dhruv carefully explained the reason behind each component, acidity, saltness, sweetness, etc. and the smells and aroma’s circulating the kitchen were amazing.It was One of our Belgian friends birthday so as the Chocolate Brownies were served complete with candles we all sang Happy Birthday. Richard treated us to some more ‘specials’ as we ate our fill, Prunes Steeped in Rum, perfect served in Coffee or just eaten on their own, and the ‘old’ bottle of Vanilla Vodka, which was so full of Vanilla pods there was not much room for Vodka!So after quite a few hours cooking, much laughter, a few glasses of Wine we had accomplished what one of our Belgians friends had not seemed possible, knocked up a pretty decent (I would probably say cooked a high quality!) 3 course dinner delicately spiced, packed full of flavour and learnt quite a few more cookery skills. Using Lemon as a ‘condiment’ featured quite a lot and worked REALLY well, even on the Potatoes which was quite a suprise.

Richards Cookery School website can be found HERE and Dhruvs’ Gastro Pub The Jolly Gardeners HERE,

Just to be clear, I paid full price for this course and have received no incentives etc. in order to write this review, its my own experience and one that I will not forget, a truly wonderful time. There is no doubt I will be returning to Richards School in the future to learn new skills and share a great time with new friends.

Till Next Time………………..l8ers……………………

The Christmas Challenge Part Deux – KugelHopf My Way

Posted on October 13, 2013 by julianrolfe

The last couple of weeks have been challenging, lots of travelling and fighting a virus which is not very pleasant, and particularly hideous when its your birthday. I had planned another baking session but did not feel up to it, so postponed the event for a week hoping the virus would have started to clear. I had already starting preparing by putting Raisins and Kirsch In a bowl and covered with cling film, which would macerate for 1 week in the fridge to seriously plump up! So back to the Christmas challenge and another recipe, this time modelled on the ‘Alsacian Kugelhopf‘, an enriched cake made with yeast and butter, and in my case a number of spices and fruits. I have recently acquired a ‘Bundt’ baking tin, a round tin with a hole in the centre and fluted edges, and intended to put it to good use with this recipe. You can see it in the picture below, with most of the ingredients.

The process to make this recipe is quite long, you will ideally need to prove the dough mixture 3 times so allow plenty of time, the 1st proving stage can take 2 – 3 hours, with the 2nd and 3rd another 1 1/2 – 2 hours each. For this recipe you will need the following ingredients:

3 Cups Plain Flour
120 Grams Butter
3 Large Eggs
1/4 Cup Warm Water
1/2 Cup Warm Full Fat Milk
I Sachet Dried Fast Acting Yeast (7 Grams)
1/2 Cup Castor Sugar (preferably Vanilla infused)
1/2 Tsp Vanilla EXTRACT
3/4 Cup Raisins (Preferable Soaked for a week in 1/4 Cup of Kirsch)
1 Teaspoon Maldon Sea Salt
Zest of 1 Lemon
Zest of 1 Lime
Zest of 1 Orange
75 Grams mixed Peel (Orange & Lemon)
2 Cloves ground in pestle & mortar
1/2 heaped Tsp Ginger
1/2 heaped Tsp Ground Allspice
1/4 Grated Fresh Nutmeg
30 Grams chopped Hazelnuts
30 Grams flaked Almonds

Firstly, put the Milk and Water into a jug, add the Yeast and stir. Leave in a warm place for 10-15 minutes until a froth starts to develop on the surface.

Put the Butter, Orange, Lemon, Lime Zest, and Sugar in the bowl of a Kenwood Chef with the Dough Hook attached and mix on a medium speed until pale in colour. It takes between 5 & 10 minutes depending on how cold the butter is.

Now add the Eggs, Vanilla and Yeast mixture and mix thoroughly, then add about half the flour, with the Kenwood set to medium speed. Don’t forget to add the ground Cloves, Ginger, Ground Nutmeg and Ground Allspice at this stage.

It should resemble something like above at this stage, once combined, wipe the side of the bowl down with a spatula and add the rest of the flour, and thoroughly mix for a good 10 minutes, you should end up with a soft sticky dough like the picture below.

Now the mixture needs to be left in a warm place covered, until doubled in size, this takes 2 – 3 hours. I put mine by the fire to help the process along.

After the 1st rise, your should end up with silky smooth mixture that looks like the picture above. You can just see flecks of zest dotted about. The next stage is to ‘knock back’ the mixture to get rid of some of the air, I used a spatula to assist with the process. The mixture will deflate and look like the next picture.

Now repeat the process, covering the mixture with a tea towel and again, the rise should double in size just like before.

Whilst the rising is happening, heavily butter the Bundt Pan, and sprinkle with the flaked Almonds, once the 2nd rise has completed, you need to knock back the mixture and add the Hazelnuts and Fruits making sure they are evenly distributed.

The Mixture needs covering again, and left in a warm place to rise for the 3rd time. It should look like the picture above.

When its done, it should be close to the surface of the tin. You need to bake the Kugelhopf for approximately 35 Minutes at 160 deg (Fan Oven), or 180 deg (Convection Oven). After 15 Minutes cover the top with some tin foil to prevent it from browning too quickly, a side effect of the quantity of butter in the mixture.

When its cooked, leave to rest for 5 – 10 minutes, it should ease away from the sides of the tin, then release from the mould and allow to cool on a wire rack. You can see the effect of putting the flaked Almonds on the tin before adding the mixture in the picture above.

You can decorate the Kugelhopf with plain icing sugar, or make a icing drizzle by adding Icing Sugar to Orange or Lemon Juice, depending on your preferences.

You can find out what it tastes like by having a go at making one yourself, Now I have tested the recipe I will be making another one for my colleagues at work later this week, I hope they enjoy it As I much as I enjoyed creating my own version of this spectacular cake.

Middle Eastern Chicken on Flatbread with Fattoush

Posted on August 10, 2013 by julianrolfe

Another busy week this week included William Curleys‘ Patissiere, awesome Massamam Curry at Chaophraya in Manchester, amazing Arnavut Cigeri (Albanian Style Lambs Liver) & Kaniyarik (Aubergine stuffed with mince meat, onions, peppers, tomatoes cooked in the oven and served with rice), at Meze in Darlington. Oh, and a couple of full english breakfasts!!

It’s me and the ‘Bosses’ 25th wedding anniversary this year, and to do something a bit different we are planning a trip to Padstow, to attend a two-day Indian course at Rick Stein’s Cookery School, watch this space for a review if we manage to make it.

Back to the kitchen and more middle eastern inspired food, this time chicken….

WARNING, ITS GOING TO GET GORY AND MESSY, SPATCHCOCKING A CHICKEN IS NOT PRETTY

Every time I am in the kitchen I try to do something new or different (or both!), this time was the art of spatchcocking. Before dealing with the Chicken, I prepared a marinade. A pot of Yeo organic Yogurt is put into a bowl with a good generous handful of chopped fresh Thyme, the same of coriander, 4 tablespoons of Harissa paste, a teaspoon of Sumac, a teaspoon of Coriander powder, 1/2 a teaspoon of Cumin. Add the grated zest of a Lemon, and its juice and mix together well. Set aside whilst we prepare the chicken.

Take your chicken and turn it over so that its Breast side is facing away from you and the open cavity is on the top. Take a sharp knife (Or kitchen scissors if you have them), and cut close to the bone that runs down the centre of the chicken. You should end up with a cut like above. Turn the Chicken over so you can finish the cut safely.

Next, place the Chicken with the open flesh face down on the chopping board with the breast side up. Put your hands on the body, pushing down to flatten and ‘break’ the spine firmly.

It should look like the picture above, I was a bit nervous about this process but its actually quite easy to do if you take it steady and be careful with the knife!

So that’s the Chicken and marinade sorted, you now need to cut through and ‘slash’ the Chicken in several places to let the marinade penetrate and impart its flavour. Mine looked like this after the next element of butchery!!

The next stage is to place the Chicken on a roasting tray and smother it in the marinade, a lovely messy job but very satisfying. Make sure you massage the marinade into the cuts to make sure the flavours penetrate right into the meat. I put mine in the fridge after this stage and left to rest for about 7 hours….

Next step is to prepare the Fattoush, a Middle Eastern Salad of toasted Bread, Tomatoes, Onions, Radishes, Dill, Parsley, Sumac, in fact loads of delicious flavours. There are many different variations on this dish and the one I chose was a variation on the lovely Bethany Kehdy, and her new book ‘The Jewelled Kitchen’, its beautiful and one of my favourites at the moment.

It’s an exercise in ‘Mis en place’, a phrase used in professional kitchens meaning put in place or preparing everything ready for cooking or construction, in the ways of salads.

As an experiment, I changed some of the ingredients slightly, adding about 150 grams of mixed Red Quinoa, White Quinoa and Bulgur Wheat that had been boiled for 10 minutes and left to cool. I made a dressing from thinly sliced Red Onion, 60ml of Rapeseed Oil, 4 table spoons of Sherry Vinegar, some Salt and Pepper and massaged it all together leaving it to marinade for 10-15 minutes.

My Fattoush looked like this when completed.

Prior to starting cooking, I had popped into Waitrose to pick up some bits and pieces (read wine!), and was considering what and how to serve the Chicken. Not being inclined to spend too much time on making bread I found some interesting looking Italian Flatbreads that were thicker than a Tortilla, and had some body and texture to them. These were going to be the ‘blanket’ for the dish.

I came up with an idea to make them even more interesting, and it involved a 1/2 inch paint brush!!

I had some Ghee in the cupboard so took my trusty brush (that is really handy in the kitchen), and brushed each Bread with the Ghee all over. I then sprinkled Dukkah and Za’atar over both, giving them a good covering as evenly as possible.

Prior to serving, the bread’s were put together with the clean side on the outside, and heated through in a frying pan for a couple of minutes before turning over and repeating on the other side.

The Chicken needs about 1 1/2 hours in the oven, I used a temperature of 170 degrees in our fan assisted beast. The smells coming from the kitchen invoked memories of wandering around Jemaa el-Fnaa in Marrakesh, Morroco. The market square is famous for the food stalls that start cooking late afternoon and swamp the area with amazing aromas and exotic spices.

The Chicken was roughly divided and placed onto the warm Flatbread and served with the Salad. It was absolutely delicious and actually really simple to make. You can prep the Chicken in the Morning and leave to marinade. The Salad is mostly a construction exercise, the results will delight the palate.

Have a go yourself, I am pleased I did.

L8ers, till next time.

Jules

Sardinhas em brinde, meu caminho or Sardines On Toast, my way!!!!

Posted on June 24, 2013 by julianrolfe

There is a heady aroma in the house this evening, Garlic, Thyme, Rosemary, Lamb, Wine, Red Currant Jelly & Port, braised Lamb Shanks are on the menu with ‘Butter’ Mash and Green Beans wrapper in Pancetta.

Last week was hectic, manic and downright crazy with lots of travelling, eating, workshops and courses so the energy levels were rather low this weekend and cooking was not on the agenda. The benefit of travelling was the chance to try some great food, Meze in Darlington is really worth a visit and my review is already on Tripadvisor. Pauline and Cem made me most welcome, they don’t normally open on Monday evenings but my booking was accepted over the internet and the restaurant was all mine for the night. After a delicious starter of Feta stuffed filo ‘cigars’ with a selection of side dishes the main of Izmir Kofte returned fond memories of our two holidays to Turkey, eating proper home cooked food.

The Delicious Starter of Feta stuffed Filo, Yummy!

A real treat was when being cheeky, and mentioning I was ‘into’ food, could I see the kitchen and meet the chef, within minutes I was sitting with Cem, drinking coffee and talking food, a lovely end to a fantastic evening, thank-you both for your warm Turkish hospitality.

Another treat was some ‘posh nosh’ at the 5* Rockliffe Hall Hotel just outside Darlington, imagine Wild Garlic and Smoked Potato Veloute with crispy Frog’s legs, it was beautiful. The main was a difficult choice as there was lots to choose from, in the end it was the Sea bream ‘French style peas’ Pancetta & Parmesan Dauphine that got me, beautiful cooked. Dessert was ‘Rhubarb and Custard’ you will have to eat their to try it, it was fab.

So back to this weekend, feeling rather ‘zonked’ the only outing was a trip to the New Forrest to get some fresh air, see the Ponies and surprisingly, find a fab Fish and Chip shop in the centre of Lyndhurst which was just brilliant.

On getting home, a snack was in order but not feeling up to much a quick look in the cupboard to see what could be thrown together quickly.

Sardines, what could we do with a couple of tins and some half decent Rye Bread and a few brain cells kicking into action, so here goes!!!!

Take some Ras-al-Hanout and Dukkah spice (about a tea spoon of each) and stick into a cup with some olive oil and mix to make a marinade, you will need to adjust the quantity depending on how many people you are making this for.

Put the marinade into a flat dish and add some sliced Tomato for 30 mins or so. Empty the Sardine’s and Oil into a dish, add some chopped Garlic and sprinkle over some Dill, Thyme and some Black Pepper from the mill. Grate some lemon zest over the top, and squeeze half a lemon’s juice, turning the Sardines over to ensure both sides get the treatment.

Butter the bread (or brush with Olive Oil), and bake in the oven until crispy (about 7 mins at 180 deg fan). Remove from the oven and lightly spread some tomato paste (the stuff in the tube) over the bread, you need about 2 inches worth for each line.

Layer the marinated Tomato over the tomato paste on the Bread and bake for another 2 mins.

Split the Sardines into two, removing any eggs and place 2 slices on each piece of bread and bake in the oven for about 5 – 7 minutes.

The end result is just delicious, crispy buttery Bread, soft Tomato with a kick of spice and added flavour from the Tomato paste, and the Sardines with a hint of Lemon, Dill and Garlic. Good food does not need to involve expensive ingredients, I have added this one to the memory banks for later.

Hope you all have a great week, until next time.
Jules

Julian Rolfe

My Foodie Life

Tag Archives: Lemon