Landmark in Blogging.....

Hey all, just noticed that I'm nearly at the landmark figure of 1000 blog views. 990 at this very moment to be precise, makes me very happy. Thankyou all.

So two things this morning.

Firstly I'll write up about my fish course from yesterdays Sunday lunch and then secondly I want to type a few words about probably my favourite chef and the inspiration behind the dish Raymond Blanc.

So the food, again something I had done before and it's so simple but incredibly tasty, such a good dinner party dish. There is very little or even no cooking involved at all if you buy prepared ingredients and it can be make a few hours in advance of when needed apart from some finishing touches so it gives you more time to spend on other menu components or whatever else it is you have planned.

The dish itself is Hot Smoked Salmon with Beetroot Salad and a Horseradish Crème Fraiche.

I start by cooking the Beetroot in boiling water, you can of course buy packaged cooked beetroot if you like but I' much prefer to use the fresh stuff.

Now I'm only a recent convert back to Beetroot after years of dismissing it as a food that I don't like. The reason for this previous dislike of Beetroot stems back to summer times as a child. We used to have cold salads which invariably contained one of my absolute favourite summer comfort foods cold Mashed Potato......yes that is typed correctly....

Anyway my issue with the Beetroot is that it used to leak pinky red juice into my perfect Mashed Potato and that is it, no other reason whatsoever. It's irrational but I do have a friend who's reason for not eating Peas is that they are ill disciplined so maybe my irrational loathing isn't so madcap.

So I boil up the Beetroot (1 medium sized Beetroot for 2 people is more than enough) and I do it for quite a while. I'm sure most chefs and cooks would say that you should cook it to a point where it still has a crunch but personally I like it soft and with a more subtle taste, it's a personal preference and can of course be altered if you want to try it at home.

Once boiled I take it off the heat and let it cool completely.

The rest of the ingredients can be bought from any supermarket or specialist store. I've linked to the exact products I used incase readers in the UK want to give it a go. They we're bought in either Waitrose or Sainsburys but I'm certain that they can be easily bought elsewhere and all over the world too -

1 x Packet of good quality Hot Smoked Salmon. You can see from the picture how much you need per portion.
1 x Small tub of Créme Fraiche.
1 x Jar of Strong Horseradish.
1 x Packet of Microshoots.
Crushed Black Peppercorns.
Balsamic Vinegar.

Skin the cooked Beetroot and cut into pieces. I made small squares this time but the presentation is entirely up to you, imagine how you want it to look on the plate and stick to the image on your head or even jot it down on a piece of paper if you don't want to copy my suggestion.

I'd tend not to have Beetroot pieces that are too big because it makes getting fork full of all the ingredients together quite difficult and they work so well that it just has to be tried and enjoyed with the minimum fuss.

Set these Beetroot pieces aside and divide up the Salmon pieces between the serving plates, again with the presentation in mind.

Take the Microshoots and add a small pile to the plate. On top of these liberally dot some Beetroot pieces but be careful no to let them spill around to much because you'll get Beetroot juice over the plate and certainly if using white plates it won' t look very pretty. Add a few more microshoots on top of this to soften the appearance.

You can either put this in the fridge for later or if serving right away finish off by doing the following -

Mix the equivalent of a heaped teaspoon of Crème Fraiche per person with approximately a quarter the amount of Horseradish. I do like might quite strong so I'd suggest adding it a little at a time tasting as you go.

Add a teaspoon of the mixture onto each plate.

Dress the Beetroot salad with a small dash of the Balsamic Vinegar and sprinkle a pinch of the Crushed Black Peppercorns over the whole plate.

The reason for doing this just before serving is because if they were added prior to doing so (i.e. pre-preparing) the Créme Fraiche would flatten out on lose it's shape and also the Balsamic Vinegar would run out of the salad.

What you should end up with is something like this -



Such a simple dish that has maximum flavour and great for entertaining.

So onto the inspiration for this dish and that came from Raymond Blanc. He a completely self-taught chef and one of the most respected in the world. You can see his full biography here.

What I most like about Raymond apart from his fantastic cooking which has won him numerous awards and an OBE is his wonderful personality, he's smiling all the time and you can tell that he's just so in love with food, life and people. He's got that same homely character that I also see in another favourite of mine Rick Stein.

For me his program "Raymond Blanc's Kitchen Secrets" was the most important cookery program I feel I have ever seen on British TV and I recommend that anybody remotely interested in food and cooking should give it a viewing.

The insight he gives into kitchen life and his own life come through but most of all is his passion for simple, local produce and making something extraordinary out of them.

The dishes he creates all have a real level of beauty with vibrant colours and beautfully artistic presentation. Just look at some of the images from his flagship "Manoir aux Quat Saisons".

I've not eaten there, I will do one day and I want you all to come with me.......however we will be going Dutch !!!! And when I win the lottery I will definitely be booking up slots for all three levels of the residential cookery course too......I suppose buying a lottery ticket in the first place might accelerate this.

While waxing lyrical about the man I might as well do the same about the saucepan set that I bought the bear his name.

They are amazing !! They are just perfect for all the kitchen needs. Each pan is completely made from top quality stainless steel and they have a thick copper base for perfectly even heat distribution. The fact that they are 100% metal means that they can go straight from stove top to oven.

Perfect for finishing off seared meats or simmering casseroles and curries.

At the moment if you visit Raymond's site you can get 25% off all purchases. I urge you all that have cheap wooden or plastic handled saucepans to upgrade to these, the difference is just amazing and they also carry a lifetime guarantee.

Next post I'll go on to the Main meat course of the lunch which could be a very long post !!!