What a nice weekend that was and there is no holding up this week either.
Had a rather nice day yesterday over at the Penta hotel in Reading. It's of course a shame that Reading FC didn't win their match but I'm not sure our little party would have picked up any more if they had of done such was the awful weather.
There were a few people there however including some ex Reading players and it's always a great time when I get to share the music honours with my good buddy Kevin.
I really do think there is potential at the Penta for a Saturday evening party. Nothing major perhaps 7pm until 11:30pm to cater for those who want to just come out and be able to have a drink and listen to some good quality music before getting home at a decent time. For the size of the bar area there isn't anything like it in Reading so I think they should give it a go, it'll probably take a while to get it going but if they stick at it I can easily see 100+ people in there. Would be a useful pre-party venue too for some of the clubs in town.
We finished up there at about 9pm and I really wanted a Burrito from The Mission but it shut at 9pm so I just missed out and had to settle for a KFC instead. I did think about going to sit down and eat somewhere nice but I was just too tired.
Felt a bit sicky this morning but work soon took my mind off of that and I've been fairly productive which is good because I have a half day booked off tomorrow as I've been invited to the Eat Reading opening gala lunch at the Hilton in Reading. Five of the towns top chefs and cooks are providing the food and I'm particularly looking forward to seeing what Alan Murchison comes up with. Of course with him being the towns only Michelin starred restaurateur (L'ortolan) my expectations are high.
I've also been asked if I wouldn't answering a few questions after the meal which could be quite scary given the audience but I better get used to it I suppose cause there will be plenty more of that to come at the food festival on Saturday & Sunday.
I purchased another domain name today which will be an add on to my www.benzagorski.com website. This one is for restaurant reviews and discussions. The site is www.talktables.com (thanks DW). Still to be set up but I'm hoping that I can get some tie ins and offers for the site visitors.
One restaurant I've always liked in town is Strada (Cucina Italiana) and they will be the folks I'll be introducing to the Town Hall stage for Eat Reading Live at 12:30 on Saturday. They are a big restaurant chain who operate around 90 outlets in the UK. Big chains like this often get snubbed simply because of what they are but I've always found the menu at Strada very true to the authentic Italian cuisine I remembered from my time spent living in Rome and that sets it apart from the others in my opinion.
I've not been in there for a while though and with the opening of Jamie's Italian just along the Riverside I should expect that they have had to up the game even more and I'm looking forward to seeing what they create and how they view the business competition. Standards are beginning to slip at Jamie's and I'm not hearing many positive comments of late so maybe it's Strada's chance to seize the initiative.
Tuesday 31 May 2011
Sunday 29 May 2011
Winning draw......
Well what a day it was on the cricket field yesterday. Not down at Cardiff with that boring international cricket I mean over at Reading Blue Coat school where we (Sonning 3rds) took on the might of Mortimer West End. It was an overcast day which mean't that there was a lot of movement with the ball but we still managed to score an impressive 256 off our 45 overs.........my contribution......5 not out.
That has boosted my seasons average right up now to .....................erm........5
Mortimer batted through their 45 overs with just one wicket to spare. They could only score 165 because our bowling and fielding was superb so under the league rules that means we had a winning draw which gave us 15 points but we also got bonus points for restricting their total to less than 75% of ours and we got 9 wickets. So in the end we got 24 points which is very good for us. Cricket is certainly a confusing game even at the best of times.
Of course next weekend I shall be unavailable because of my commitments to Eat Reading Live and I'll pick up there with a little write up about the people I'll be introducing on the Town Hall Stage at 13:30 on Saturday 4th June.
Vintage Roots are an organic wine merchants based in Hook. They are a home delivery service and although their speciality is in wine they also sell beers, spirits and champagnes, all of which are organic. Just looking at their website I can see that they stock at least 700 wines and you can even search for vegetarian, vegan and biodynamic variations.
I'm quite a big fan of organic wines, especially organic reds because they contain very little or no sulphates and it's those sulphates that contribute greatly to the red wine headache the following day. Try it and see for yourself........by the way drink responsibly, always use a big glass with a large base so you don't spill any!
I'm really interested to see what they are going to demo but at the same time I'm a bit scared because I could be parting with a few quid too.
Plans for today are to finish this blog, catch up with Two Greedy Italians on the iPlayer, complete a few missions on Assassins Creed Brotherhood then I'll pop up to the cricket club to watch the Sunday 2nds and have a few beers.
So so so looking forward to meeting Gennaro on Saturday !! Mum if you are reading we'll try and get another signed book for you.
Tomorrow of course is a national holiday in the UK and it's also the championship play off final at Wembley between Reading and Swansea. Should Reading win then the town will be buzzing and with that in mind we're having a little party at The Penta Hotel. They'll have a big screen (and when I say big I mean mahoooooosive) showing the game itself then afterwards I'll be reuniting with the rest of the original House Party DJ team and turning up the tunes to have a good old fashioned party. All are welcome.....except if you're a k**bhead. We don't like them at our parties :-)
There will be some old Reading players coming along so if your a fan and couldn't get to Wembley then this surely has to be the next best thing.
Had an idea for a breakfast today that turned out brilliantly and once perfected I shall add some photos and a recipe but for now that's it and I bid you adieu.......toodlepip xx
That has boosted my seasons average right up now to .....................erm........5
Mortimer batted through their 45 overs with just one wicket to spare. They could only score 165 because our bowling and fielding was superb so under the league rules that means we had a winning draw which gave us 15 points but we also got bonus points for restricting their total to less than 75% of ours and we got 9 wickets. So in the end we got 24 points which is very good for us. Cricket is certainly a confusing game even at the best of times.
Of course next weekend I shall be unavailable because of my commitments to Eat Reading Live and I'll pick up there with a little write up about the people I'll be introducing on the Town Hall Stage at 13:30 on Saturday 4th June.
Vintage Roots are an organic wine merchants based in Hook. They are a home delivery service and although their speciality is in wine they also sell beers, spirits and champagnes, all of which are organic. Just looking at their website I can see that they stock at least 700 wines and you can even search for vegetarian, vegan and biodynamic variations.
I'm quite a big fan of organic wines, especially organic reds because they contain very little or no sulphates and it's those sulphates that contribute greatly to the red wine headache the following day. Try it and see for yourself........by the way drink responsibly, always use a big glass with a large base so you don't spill any!
I'm really interested to see what they are going to demo but at the same time I'm a bit scared because I could be parting with a few quid too.
Plans for today are to finish this blog, catch up with Two Greedy Italians on the iPlayer, complete a few missions on Assassins Creed Brotherhood then I'll pop up to the cricket club to watch the Sunday 2nds and have a few beers.
So so so looking forward to meeting Gennaro on Saturday !! Mum if you are reading we'll try and get another signed book for you.
Tomorrow of course is a national holiday in the UK and it's also the championship play off final at Wembley between Reading and Swansea. Should Reading win then the town will be buzzing and with that in mind we're having a little party at The Penta Hotel. They'll have a big screen (and when I say big I mean mahoooooosive) showing the game itself then afterwards I'll be reuniting with the rest of the original House Party DJ team and turning up the tunes to have a good old fashioned party. All are welcome.....except if you're a k**bhead. We don't like them at our parties :-)
There will be some old Reading players coming along so if your a fan and couldn't get to Wembley then this surely has to be the next best thing.
Had an idea for a breakfast today that turned out brilliantly and once perfected I shall add some photos and a recipe but for now that's it and I bid you adieu.......toodlepip xx
Friday 27 May 2011
LSQ2 review......
Right off I'll say that it was a collective 6 out of 10 but even though that's a middle of the road score I stress that it was only in the finer details that the marks were lost.
From the start there was a warm welcome and the staff throughout the evening were impeccable. The restaurant was full but there was no stressing and nothing was too much for them.
We were greeted with Kir Royale cocktails (Fruit cocktail substitute for Carley) and with our meal we had the La Serre Sauvignon Blanc which was a very nice drop. It's light with a bit of citrus and at £17.95 a bottle it is very nicely priced too.
Upon being seated we were given a pre-started which consisted of some well prepared nibbles with flavours and textures that got your taste buds going. There was some refreshing dressed Melon, a couple of wonderfully light puff pastry sticks and some cheesey treats so plenty going on in the mouth and on the plate and that's really the way the rest of the menu goes.
I can only really comment on my meal although we did all (4 of us) choose differently and we did all have a bit of each others. I won't review each dish that came to the table in full detail apart from my own because that would be unfair but I will add small notes for praise and suggested tweaks to dishes by the people that had them.
One thing we all agreed on was that the cooking of each individual component was pretty much spot on and could not be faulted.....unless being extremely picky.
Starters -
Wild Local Rabbit and Meon Valley Pork Faggot with braised leeks and spicy butternut broth
First impression is very good, very pleasing and vibrant colour. The faggot is well sized which given the richness of the meat is good, anything bigger would fill you up too much. I loved the braised leeks they added a slight sweetness to the dish which rounded it off nicely.
The butternut broth which gave the dish such a nice appearance was slightly lacking in spice and could have done with a pinch more. However the other downside was that the bowl it was served in which was quite deep so it mean't you had to kind of dig the faggot out and with the faggot being wrapped in caul this just made it very difficult to actually eat.
It does seem like a petty criticism but I think that if this was served in a bowl in which you could actually get a knife into then it'd be a real winner.
Ostrich Carpaccio - Diner felt there was too much wasabi mayonnaise used on the presentation, could have done with less on the plate and then a separate dish containing extra for the eater to choose to add if they wish. Only criticism to an otherwise lovely dish.
Potted Duo of Fresh and Smoked Salmon - Very nice simple and fresh tasting dish, good smokey flavour that lingered nicely on the palate.
Cornish Scallops and Black Pudding Fondant - Strong flavour in the black pudding and fondant which the diner really enjoyed. Scallops perhaps a little on the small side.
Mains -
Pan Fried North Sea Cod with star anise braised oxtail and oyster mushrooms
The oxtail and mushrooms had a really strong and rich flavour which cod can hold up too although I thought it was maybe a bit too sweet. It had a madeira like flavour which masked any aniseed hint which I was expecting from the star anise.
The cod was presented skin side down which being laid over the oxtail made it look untidy, maybe this was because the skin was a little over crisp (shall we say). For me the fish was a little overcooked too but I do like mine barely cooked, almost opaque so maybe a harsh criticism.
I chose this dish because I thought it'd be a good light option after such a rich starter but in the end I couldn't finish it as it was rather heavy. A nice dish but not a strong one.
Isle of Wight Lamb Two Ways - No complaints regarding the Lamb however in the diners opinion the Asian sauce really didn't work.
Venison Wellington - Huge portion and cooked rare which it needs to be. Left me wishing I'd have chosen it.
Wagyu Beef Burger - The biggest criticism here was that the burger sat atop the salad with in turn was atop the brioche base. The problem with this was that the brioche soaked up all the moisture and became very soggy. Big plus though was the chips. The diner having been to Heston's Hinds Head pub only a week or so ago said LSQ2's were better :-)
Desserts -
Petit Fours -
I'm not a bit fan of desserts. I normally only go for either cheese or a liqueur but as I was still feeling pretty full after my two rich courses I thought better of going for the cheese and thought I'd give the petit fours a go. They are only priced at £2.00 so I was expecting something small.
I was pretty pleased when they came to the table. Four individual bigger than bite size home made delights served on a long dish with some raspberry sauce drizzled over. I had a bit of each before passing the rest around and I felt that it was a lovely end to the meal. The effort that must have gone into creating them is worth more than the 50p a pop they charge for them.
Toblerone cocktail dessert - Diner was in heaven with this.
Rhubarb and Champagne Trifle - Perhaps a little too sweet but it all went pretty quickly!
Cheese Board - Good selection of cheese served up with the usual crackers and grapes. Also had some kind of fruit jelly accompaniment that the diner had trouble working out what it was. I thought it was peachy in flavour with maybe a hint of cinnamon, whatever it was I liked it.
The overall impression of the new menu was that it was perhaps a bit confused. It's very extensive which makes for very difficult ordering which is no bad thing. Each dish has very different fusion elements and whether they all worked or not is down to the individual person. I'd certainly recommend more tasting sessions to really find out what works, what doesn't and if there should be any tweaks. There is obviously a great deal of talent in that kitchen.
LSQ2 will be demonstrating on the Market Place stage at 1pm on Saturday 4th at Eat Reading Live. Check out and like their Facebook page to keep updated with their ongoing offers and future tasting sessions
I'll save my blog about Vintage Roots organic wines until tomorrow as I'm getting distracted by the cricket now......toodlepip xx
From the start there was a warm welcome and the staff throughout the evening were impeccable. The restaurant was full but there was no stressing and nothing was too much for them.
We were greeted with Kir Royale cocktails (Fruit cocktail substitute for Carley) and with our meal we had the La Serre Sauvignon Blanc which was a very nice drop. It's light with a bit of citrus and at £17.95 a bottle it is very nicely priced too.
Upon being seated we were given a pre-started which consisted of some well prepared nibbles with flavours and textures that got your taste buds going. There was some refreshing dressed Melon, a couple of wonderfully light puff pastry sticks and some cheesey treats so plenty going on in the mouth and on the plate and that's really the way the rest of the menu goes.
I can only really comment on my meal although we did all (4 of us) choose differently and we did all have a bit of each others. I won't review each dish that came to the table in full detail apart from my own because that would be unfair but I will add small notes for praise and suggested tweaks to dishes by the people that had them.
One thing we all agreed on was that the cooking of each individual component was pretty much spot on and could not be faulted.....unless being extremely picky.
Starters -
Wild Local Rabbit and Meon Valley Pork Faggot with braised leeks and spicy butternut broth
First impression is very good, very pleasing and vibrant colour. The faggot is well sized which given the richness of the meat is good, anything bigger would fill you up too much. I loved the braised leeks they added a slight sweetness to the dish which rounded it off nicely.
The butternut broth which gave the dish such a nice appearance was slightly lacking in spice and could have done with a pinch more. However the other downside was that the bowl it was served in which was quite deep so it mean't you had to kind of dig the faggot out and with the faggot being wrapped in caul this just made it very difficult to actually eat.
It does seem like a petty criticism but I think that if this was served in a bowl in which you could actually get a knife into then it'd be a real winner.
Ostrich Carpaccio - Diner felt there was too much wasabi mayonnaise used on the presentation, could have done with less on the plate and then a separate dish containing extra for the eater to choose to add if they wish. Only criticism to an otherwise lovely dish.
Potted Duo of Fresh and Smoked Salmon - Very nice simple and fresh tasting dish, good smokey flavour that lingered nicely on the palate.
Cornish Scallops and Black Pudding Fondant - Strong flavour in the black pudding and fondant which the diner really enjoyed. Scallops perhaps a little on the small side.
Mains -
Pan Fried North Sea Cod with star anise braised oxtail and oyster mushrooms
The oxtail and mushrooms had a really strong and rich flavour which cod can hold up too although I thought it was maybe a bit too sweet. It had a madeira like flavour which masked any aniseed hint which I was expecting from the star anise.
The cod was presented skin side down which being laid over the oxtail made it look untidy, maybe this was because the skin was a little over crisp (shall we say). For me the fish was a little overcooked too but I do like mine barely cooked, almost opaque so maybe a harsh criticism.
I chose this dish because I thought it'd be a good light option after such a rich starter but in the end I couldn't finish it as it was rather heavy. A nice dish but not a strong one.
Isle of Wight Lamb Two Ways - No complaints regarding the Lamb however in the diners opinion the Asian sauce really didn't work.
Venison Wellington - Huge portion and cooked rare which it needs to be. Left me wishing I'd have chosen it.
Wagyu Beef Burger - The biggest criticism here was that the burger sat atop the salad with in turn was atop the brioche base. The problem with this was that the brioche soaked up all the moisture and became very soggy. Big plus though was the chips. The diner having been to Heston's Hinds Head pub only a week or so ago said LSQ2's were better :-)
Desserts -
Petit Fours -
I'm not a bit fan of desserts. I normally only go for either cheese or a liqueur but as I was still feeling pretty full after my two rich courses I thought better of going for the cheese and thought I'd give the petit fours a go. They are only priced at £2.00 so I was expecting something small.
I was pretty pleased when they came to the table. Four individual bigger than bite size home made delights served on a long dish with some raspberry sauce drizzled over. I had a bit of each before passing the rest around and I felt that it was a lovely end to the meal. The effort that must have gone into creating them is worth more than the 50p a pop they charge for them.
Toblerone cocktail dessert - Diner was in heaven with this.
Rhubarb and Champagne Trifle - Perhaps a little too sweet but it all went pretty quickly!
Cheese Board - Good selection of cheese served up with the usual crackers and grapes. Also had some kind of fruit jelly accompaniment that the diner had trouble working out what it was. I thought it was peachy in flavour with maybe a hint of cinnamon, whatever it was I liked it.
The overall impression of the new menu was that it was perhaps a bit confused. It's very extensive which makes for very difficult ordering which is no bad thing. Each dish has very different fusion elements and whether they all worked or not is down to the individual person. I'd certainly recommend more tasting sessions to really find out what works, what doesn't and if there should be any tweaks. There is obviously a great deal of talent in that kitchen.
LSQ2 will be demonstrating on the Market Place stage at 1pm on Saturday 4th at Eat Reading Live. Check out and like their Facebook page to keep updated with their ongoing offers and future tasting sessions
I'll save my blog about Vintage Roots organic wines until tomorrow as I'm getting distracted by the cricket now......toodlepip xx
Thursday 26 May 2011
A bit of a tasty evening ahead....
More foodie exploits ahead tonight when I'll be attending a taster evening at LSQ2 for the launch of their new menu. I'm really glad I managed to get a table because the whole event sold out within around 90 minutes of it being announced.
I've eluded to the website and Facebook page on the blog before but I'm still impressed by their design and the photography in both. The same company are going to be looking after my sites.
The menu itself is so varied and it all sounds wonderful so I'm going to have a struggle choosing what to have !! Best get there early I reckon, especially as there is a Champagne reception.
Following that I'll be heading over the The Forbury Hotel where my buddy is having catch up drinks. He's been away for 5 months working in Indonesia and I picked him up from Heathrow this morning. I'm informed that 10 bottles of Dom Perignon have been pre-ordered and are all expected to be consumed.........booking tomorrow off work really was a good idea.
Following on from my write up about the West Indian Womens Circle yesterday I'm going to keep working back through my schedule and put down a few words about The Warwick Thai Bar & Restaurant.
I believe that the bar used to be operated by Greene King as a friend of mine was the tenant there for a while but since then it's changed hands an is now being run by Spirit House.
Their website states - "Just in case you were wondering, a Spirit House is a Thai home for any previous Spirit occupants of your building. So as not to anger the dispossessed beings, suitable accommodation is thus provided, allowing a harmonious living arrangement for all."
The Thai influences are seen in the decor and of course in the food. I've not actually eaten in the Warwick but I have indulged myself plenty of times at their other establishment The Moderation in Caversham. In fact the only time I have been in the Warwick since Spirit House took over was to take part in the first round of Reading, steady, cook 2010.
The Lyndhurst Arms just on the edge of Reading town centre completes Spirit House's pub triple making them a big name in the Reading independent pub circuit. I certainly remember my first ever experience of The Moderation which was during my very first trip to Caversham when I was considering moving down from Watford. I had a room viewing just around the corner and I was a little early so I popped into the pub for a pint.
There we're guys in there with tattoos on top of tattoos. Well at least they looked like guys. I was wearing far too little leather and felt just a little bit to hygienic to really fit in so supped up quick and decided it was probably best to wait outside the house.
I also remember going in there once before heading into Reading festival. I ordered a pint of Guinness and I noticed that the glass actually had a hole in the bottom of it, not sure how that happened, maybe it hit a pointy object but anyway I pointed it out to the person (again not sure of actually sex) behind the bar to which the reply was "Well you better drink it a bit bloody faster then ain't ya"
Aaaah those were the days.........Anyway now it's completely different. The decor is stunning, the outside area is nice and cosy and the food is way above average in standard and very reasonably priced. You can have two courses and a drink for £10 on Monday night over at the Mod anyway.
As it happens the day before the RSC 1st round at The Warwick I was speaking to Andy (Part owner of Spirit House) at The Moderation and I was delighted to hear him say that they always try, whenever possible, to source their produce locally from local producers and I was even more delighted to see that they stocked wine from Twyford's Stanlake Vinyard. I live just down the road from the Stanlake Park Wine Estate and they really do make a good drop of English wine which can quiet easily compete with some of Europe's best.
So that's it for today. I'll be back tomorrow with not only a stinking Champagne hangover but a review of the evening at LSQ2 and some words about Vintage Roots Organic Wine Merchants......toodlepip xx
I've eluded to the website and Facebook page on the blog before but I'm still impressed by their design and the photography in both. The same company are going to be looking after my sites.
The menu itself is so varied and it all sounds wonderful so I'm going to have a struggle choosing what to have !! Best get there early I reckon, especially as there is a Champagne reception.
Following that I'll be heading over the The Forbury Hotel where my buddy is having catch up drinks. He's been away for 5 months working in Indonesia and I picked him up from Heathrow this morning. I'm informed that 10 bottles of Dom Perignon have been pre-ordered and are all expected to be consumed.........booking tomorrow off work really was a good idea.
Following on from my write up about the West Indian Womens Circle yesterday I'm going to keep working back through my schedule and put down a few words about The Warwick Thai Bar & Restaurant.
I believe that the bar used to be operated by Greene King as a friend of mine was the tenant there for a while but since then it's changed hands an is now being run by Spirit House.
Their website states - "Just in case you were wondering, a Spirit House is a Thai home for any previous Spirit occupants of your building. So as not to anger the dispossessed beings, suitable accommodation is thus provided, allowing a harmonious living arrangement for all."
The Thai influences are seen in the decor and of course in the food. I've not actually eaten in the Warwick but I have indulged myself plenty of times at their other establishment The Moderation in Caversham. In fact the only time I have been in the Warwick since Spirit House took over was to take part in the first round of Reading, steady, cook 2010.
The Lyndhurst Arms just on the edge of Reading town centre completes Spirit House's pub triple making them a big name in the Reading independent pub circuit. I certainly remember my first ever experience of The Moderation which was during my very first trip to Caversham when I was considering moving down from Watford. I had a room viewing just around the corner and I was a little early so I popped into the pub for a pint.
There we're guys in there with tattoos on top of tattoos. Well at least they looked like guys. I was wearing far too little leather and felt just a little bit to hygienic to really fit in so supped up quick and decided it was probably best to wait outside the house.
I also remember going in there once before heading into Reading festival. I ordered a pint of Guinness and I noticed that the glass actually had a hole in the bottom of it, not sure how that happened, maybe it hit a pointy object but anyway I pointed it out to the person (again not sure of actually sex) behind the bar to which the reply was "Well you better drink it a bit bloody faster then ain't ya"
Aaaah those were the days.........Anyway now it's completely different. The decor is stunning, the outside area is nice and cosy and the food is way above average in standard and very reasonably priced. You can have two courses and a drink for £10 on Monday night over at the Mod anyway.
As it happens the day before the RSC 1st round at The Warwick I was speaking to Andy (Part owner of Spirit House) at The Moderation and I was delighted to hear him say that they always try, whenever possible, to source their produce locally from local producers and I was even more delighted to see that they stocked wine from Twyford's Stanlake Vinyard. I live just down the road from the Stanlake Park Wine Estate and they really do make a good drop of English wine which can quiet easily compete with some of Europe's best.
So that's it for today. I'll be back tomorrow with not only a stinking Champagne hangover but a review of the evening at LSQ2 and some words about Vintage Roots Organic Wine Merchants......toodlepip xx
Wednesday 25 May 2011
Steel drums and goat filled pots......
After writing yesterdays blog I started having memories of my youth and in particular the Caribbean nights held by the Watford Antilles Club. Of course I'll recount those memories in a bit but I thought I'd also use the blog as a learning tool for myself in preparation for Eat Reading Live.
Over the next few days I'll write a bit about the company, organisation or people doing the demonstrations that I'll be introducing at the festival and I'm going to start today with the West Indian Womens Circle and that ties in nicely with my Carribean night memories.
For as long as I can remember my Mum has been friends with Ricky (or Charles Winston Ricardo Lloyd to be exact). I can only recall ever seeing him with a smile on his face and it was always a treat when we went to visit him. I suppose around the late 70's and early 80's it was seen as a bit strange for a single white Mum to be close friends with barely 5ft tall black dude with a huge afro. It was a proper disco afro too, dead cool.
I can liken that friendship to my own with my buddy Jo. We used to (and still do occasionally) enjoy going out and dancing the night away just a mum and Ricky did at the Top Rank Club. Nowadays of course clubs are repetitive beats in dark rooms with flashing lights but back then people/acts like Elton John, Otis Redding or The Temptations used to play gigs on one level of the club while there was a disco on another......and this was in Watford High Street!
It's obviously here that was the basis for my love of music. I grew up to the sounds of Motown. Mum had a huge record collection and hardly a day went by without us having a bit of Otis, Marvin, Issac, Smokey, Stevie etc etc filling our eardrums.
Anyway there was, and maybe still is, a rather large Caribbean community around the Watford area and some of those people got together and formed the Watford Antilles Club. Ricky was a member of this club and my Mum used to go along to the functions with him and I'm guessing at around the time I was 14 or 15 I used to go along with her.
The first time I went I was so amazed. There were these beautifully dressed men and women, fully clobbered up in the Sunday best just laughing with each other, enjoying the company and dancing along to the steel band playing on the stage. These weren't all young people either, I'm talking 60, 70 even 80 year olds too properly getting their groove on and all night not just a little bit here and there! Must have looked so funny with me standing there as a skinny little white boy watching these people and just grinning.
Apart from the brilliant party atmosphere and the warm welcome we always got I really remember the food. There was always a kitchen full of large colourfully dressed ladies preparing big pots of the most amazing goat curry. They'd be chatting away putting the world to rights and stirring the pots while at the same time the other hand would be in the air and those big old bottoms would be swaying to the music. That's how I remember it anyway.
Whether it'll quite be the same when the West Indian Womens Circle get on Stage at Eat Reading Live is yet to be seen. I've certainly not heard of any steel band being booked but it might be worth them looking into booking one....(hint hint)
The WIWC (or the Circle as it's more commonly known) is a charitable organisation in Reading founded in 1979 and it achieved charitable status a year later. It serves as social welfare service for the Afro-Caribbean elderly and they help people in times of need and also encourage advancement in education.
The Circle has a day centre in operation 4 days a week from 10am until 4pm and they also a Caribbean lunch club 3 days a week which is freshly cooked and prepared by just 2 part-time kitchen staff.
Their base at Asantewa house in Fobney street, Reading can offer sheltered housing for up to 30 residents at a time and is completely managed by volunteers. As well as the more serious side to the care and support they offer there are other activities people can get involved in too such as Tai Chi, gala evenings, fetes and excursions.
If the Gala evenings are anything like the Antilles nights in Watford then I might just have to book myself into one!
As with all organisations such as this they could always do with a helping hand so if you have some spare time and fancy making use of it by helping out others then pop along to their website, have a read up and see if it's something you would like get involved in. I'm sure it's very rewarding.
These folks will be the last people I introduce to the Town Square Stage at 14:30 on Sunday 5th June so do pop along and show your support :-)
Over the next few days I'll write a bit about the company, organisation or people doing the demonstrations that I'll be introducing at the festival and I'm going to start today with the West Indian Womens Circle and that ties in nicely with my Carribean night memories.
For as long as I can remember my Mum has been friends with Ricky (or Charles Winston Ricardo Lloyd to be exact). I can only recall ever seeing him with a smile on his face and it was always a treat when we went to visit him. I suppose around the late 70's and early 80's it was seen as a bit strange for a single white Mum to be close friends with barely 5ft tall black dude with a huge afro. It was a proper disco afro too, dead cool.
I can liken that friendship to my own with my buddy Jo. We used to (and still do occasionally) enjoy going out and dancing the night away just a mum and Ricky did at the Top Rank Club. Nowadays of course clubs are repetitive beats in dark rooms with flashing lights but back then people/acts like Elton John, Otis Redding or The Temptations used to play gigs on one level of the club while there was a disco on another......and this was in Watford High Street!
It's obviously here that was the basis for my love of music. I grew up to the sounds of Motown. Mum had a huge record collection and hardly a day went by without us having a bit of Otis, Marvin, Issac, Smokey, Stevie etc etc filling our eardrums.
Anyway there was, and maybe still is, a rather large Caribbean community around the Watford area and some of those people got together and formed the Watford Antilles Club. Ricky was a member of this club and my Mum used to go along to the functions with him and I'm guessing at around the time I was 14 or 15 I used to go along with her.
The first time I went I was so amazed. There were these beautifully dressed men and women, fully clobbered up in the Sunday best just laughing with each other, enjoying the company and dancing along to the steel band playing on the stage. These weren't all young people either, I'm talking 60, 70 even 80 year olds too properly getting their groove on and all night not just a little bit here and there! Must have looked so funny with me standing there as a skinny little white boy watching these people and just grinning.
Apart from the brilliant party atmosphere and the warm welcome we always got I really remember the food. There was always a kitchen full of large colourfully dressed ladies preparing big pots of the most amazing goat curry. They'd be chatting away putting the world to rights and stirring the pots while at the same time the other hand would be in the air and those big old bottoms would be swaying to the music. That's how I remember it anyway.
Whether it'll quite be the same when the West Indian Womens Circle get on Stage at Eat Reading Live is yet to be seen. I've certainly not heard of any steel band being booked but it might be worth them looking into booking one....(hint hint)
The WIWC (or the Circle as it's more commonly known) is a charitable organisation in Reading founded in 1979 and it achieved charitable status a year later. It serves as social welfare service for the Afro-Caribbean elderly and they help people in times of need and also encourage advancement in education.
The Circle has a day centre in operation 4 days a week from 10am until 4pm and they also a Caribbean lunch club 3 days a week which is freshly cooked and prepared by just 2 part-time kitchen staff.
Their base at Asantewa house in Fobney street, Reading can offer sheltered housing for up to 30 residents at a time and is completely managed by volunteers. As well as the more serious side to the care and support they offer there are other activities people can get involved in too such as Tai Chi, gala evenings, fetes and excursions.
If the Gala evenings are anything like the Antilles nights in Watford then I might just have to book myself into one!
As with all organisations such as this they could always do with a helping hand so if you have some spare time and fancy making use of it by helping out others then pop along to their website, have a read up and see if it's something you would like get involved in. I'm sure it's very rewarding.
These folks will be the last people I introduce to the Town Square Stage at 14:30 on Sunday 5th June so do pop along and show your support :-)
Tuesday 24 May 2011
Still Building....
OK the webpage is still being built but at least it's getting there and I do want it to look good so it'll be worth the wait.
I've been given my timetable for Eat Reading Live and I'm pretty much going to be involved from 11am right through to the close of each day.
Saturday 4th is opening day and first to open on the Market place stage will be the one and only Gennaro Contaldo.
Gennaro has links to Reading through his involvement in the Jamie's Italian chain of restaurants. I've been loving his latest TV show Two Greedy Italians with Antonio Carluccio and I simply cannot wait to meet him.
I probably won't be able to catch all of his demonstration though as I'll be heading up to the Town Hall square stage for 11:30 to introduce the first demonstration on that stage from Tampopo.
(I'll give a full list of the demonstrations and times for both stages for both days at the end of the blog.)
Up next on the stage at 12:30 will be Strada followed at 13:20 by organic wine merchants Vintage Roots.
My next action is not until 16:00 when I go back down to the Market Place stage to introduce and judge the semi-finals of Reading, Steady, Cook 2011. Luckily for me that means I do not miss the demonstration by the amazing Daniel Galmiche.
I didn't really get to enjoy his demo last year because I was so nervous about my own semi-final so it'll be brilliant to be able to see this Michelin starred chef in action.
That'll be the end of day one so I'm guessing a few relaxing glasses of vino will be in order ready for the next day.
Sunday 5th at 11:00 I'll be kicking off the Town Hall Square stage introducing an as yet unnamed food demo which is followed at 12:30 by The Warwick which is a pub that specialises in Thai cuisine. They also run The Moderation in Caversham and The Lyndhurst just on the edge of the town centre.
Then............at 13:30 it's my own demo :-) very much looking forward to it too.
Finishing off the Town Hall Square for this year is the West Indian Women's circle. I have a soft spot for West Indian food although I don't really know too much about it other than the Goat curry we used to have at the Watford Antilles club functions that we used to go to with my mum and her buddy Ricky. Introducing the ladies to the stage will be a real treat and I cannot wait to see what they cook up.
At 16:30 I'll be hot footing it over to the Market Place stage to introduce and judge the final of this years Reading, steady, cook and I'll be doing this alongside Reading's very own food hero Paul Clerehugh.
Paul is the owner of both London Street Brasserie in Reading itself and also The Crooked Billet Gastropub in Stoke Row. It's going to be quite surreal sharing the stage with the person who was judging me last year and the person who gave me such high praise backstage after the final. It was those comments that really made me decide that I wanted to take my cooking to another level so if I use the word "inspiration" to describe him then it's fully justified.
That wraps up the Eat Reading Live festival for 2011 but I'm expecting some more events to spring up out of it as the year goes on so hopefully I can play a part in that too.
As promised here is the full schedule for the Eat Reading Live stages -
Saturday 4th
Market Place -
11:00 - 11:39 - Gennaro Contaldo
12:00 - 12:30 - Pepe Sale
13:00 - 13:30 - LSQ2
14:15 - 14:45 - Cilantro
15:15 - 16:00 - Daniel Galmiche
16:30 - 18:30 - Reading, steady, cook! Semi-finals
Town Hall Square -
11:30 - 12:00 - Tampopo
12:30 - 13:00 - Strada
13:30 - 14:00 - Vintage Roots
14:30 - 15:00 - CEBEP young chef 2011
16:00 - 16:30 - Déjá Vu
Sunday 5th June
Market Place -
11:00 - 11:30 - Las Iguanas
12:00 - 12:30 - Malmaison Brasserie
13:00 - 13:20 - Mya Lacarte
14:15 - 14:45 - River Spice
15:15 - 16:15 - Paul Clerehugh
16:30 - 17:30 - Reading, steady, cook! Final
Town Hall Square -
11:30 - 12:00 - TBC
12:30 - 13:00 - Warwick Thai bar & restaurant
13:30 - 14:00 - Ben Zagorski (That's me just incase you we're unsure)
14:30 - 15:00 - West Indian Women's Circle
I've been given my timetable for Eat Reading Live and I'm pretty much going to be involved from 11am right through to the close of each day.
Saturday 4th is opening day and first to open on the Market place stage will be the one and only Gennaro Contaldo.Gennaro has links to Reading through his involvement in the Jamie's Italian chain of restaurants. I've been loving his latest TV show Two Greedy Italians with Antonio Carluccio and I simply cannot wait to meet him.
I probably won't be able to catch all of his demonstration though as I'll be heading up to the Town Hall square stage for 11:30 to introduce the first demonstration on that stage from Tampopo.
(I'll give a full list of the demonstrations and times for both stages for both days at the end of the blog.)
Up next on the stage at 12:30 will be Strada followed at 13:20 by organic wine merchants Vintage Roots.
My next action is not until 16:00 when I go back down to the Market Place stage to introduce and judge the semi-finals of Reading, Steady, Cook 2011. Luckily for me that means I do not miss the demonstration by the amazing Daniel Galmiche.
I didn't really get to enjoy his demo last year because I was so nervous about my own semi-final so it'll be brilliant to be able to see this Michelin starred chef in action.
That'll be the end of day one so I'm guessing a few relaxing glasses of vino will be in order ready for the next day.
Sunday 5th at 11:00 I'll be kicking off the Town Hall Square stage introducing an as yet unnamed food demo which is followed at 12:30 by The Warwick which is a pub that specialises in Thai cuisine. They also run The Moderation in Caversham and The Lyndhurst just on the edge of the town centre.
Then............at 13:30 it's my own demo :-) very much looking forward to it too.
Finishing off the Town Hall Square for this year is the West Indian Women's circle. I have a soft spot for West Indian food although I don't really know too much about it other than the Goat curry we used to have at the Watford Antilles club functions that we used to go to with my mum and her buddy Ricky. Introducing the ladies to the stage will be a real treat and I cannot wait to see what they cook up.
At 16:30 I'll be hot footing it over to the Market Place stage to introduce and judge the final of this years Reading, steady, cook and I'll be doing this alongside Reading's very own food hero Paul Clerehugh.
Paul is the owner of both London Street Brasserie in Reading itself and also The Crooked Billet Gastropub in Stoke Row. It's going to be quite surreal sharing the stage with the person who was judging me last year and the person who gave me such high praise backstage after the final. It was those comments that really made me decide that I wanted to take my cooking to another level so if I use the word "inspiration" to describe him then it's fully justified.
That wraps up the Eat Reading Live festival for 2011 but I'm expecting some more events to spring up out of it as the year goes on so hopefully I can play a part in that too.
As promised here is the full schedule for the Eat Reading Live stages -
Saturday 4th
Market Place -
11:00 - 11:39 - Gennaro Contaldo
12:00 - 12:30 - Pepe Sale
13:00 - 13:30 - LSQ2
14:15 - 14:45 - Cilantro
15:15 - 16:00 - Daniel Galmiche
16:30 - 18:30 - Reading, steady, cook! Semi-finals
Town Hall Square -
11:30 - 12:00 - Tampopo
12:30 - 13:00 - Strada
13:30 - 14:00 - Vintage Roots
14:30 - 15:00 - CEBEP young chef 2011
16:00 - 16:30 - Déjá Vu
Sunday 5th June
Market Place -
11:00 - 11:30 - Las Iguanas
12:00 - 12:30 - Malmaison Brasserie
13:00 - 13:20 - Mya Lacarte
14:15 - 14:45 - River Spice
15:15 - 16:15 - Paul Clerehugh
16:30 - 17:30 - Reading, steady, cook! Final
Town Hall Square -
11:30 - 12:00 - TBC
12:30 - 13:00 - Warwick Thai bar & restaurant
13:30 - 14:00 - Ben Zagorski (That's me just incase you we're unsure)
14:30 - 15:00 - West Indian Women's Circle
Monday 23 May 2011
Nothing big today....
Blog is moving to my own domain so no big post from me today. It's being designed so it's just a holding page for the time being.
Hat Club went well at the weekend and I have a recording so share. It's firstly going up on www.itsonlyamixtape.co.uk then I'll send it out to whoever wants a copy.
Just 3 weeks to go until we find out if our little Bumpski is going to be a boy or a girl and I think we're now settled on names for either, first names anyway.
Looking forward to the taster evening at LSQ2 this Thursday and I know I have other things planned but I really cannot think of them at the moment.....which is rather annoying.
Pretty much settled on cooking Lamb & Lentils at the food demo so I'm sure Carley won't mind having it a few times between now and then so I can perfect it.
Anyway work to do so must dash...toodlepip xxx
Hat Club went well at the weekend and I have a recording so share. It's firstly going up on www.itsonlyamixtape.co.uk then I'll send it out to whoever wants a copy.
Just 3 weeks to go until we find out if our little Bumpski is going to be a boy or a girl and I think we're now settled on names for either, first names anyway.
Looking forward to the taster evening at LSQ2 this Thursday and I know I have other things planned but I really cannot think of them at the moment.....which is rather annoying.
Pretty much settled on cooking Lamb & Lentils at the food demo so I'm sure Carley won't mind having it a few times between now and then so I can perfect it.
Anyway work to do so must dash...toodlepip xxx
Wednesday 18 May 2011
What to do.....
Well I always thought it might happen soon and even though I do have one small task to do today after work I actually have a free evening to spend at home.
Yesterday saw the last semi final of Reading, steady, cook and the next action on that front is during the Eat Reading Live food festival on the 4th & 5th June. I'll be doing little bits and bobs throughout the whole weekend with some comparing and also a demo on stage on the Sunday between 13:30 & 14:00.
Eat Reading have secured Gennaro Contaldo to come along and open the festival. He of course has links to Reading through Jamie's Italian where he is a partner with Mr Oliver.
I really like that Eat Reading have decided to avoid going down the whole TV celeb route because then it becomes more about them than about all the great talent and produce our wonderful town has at it's disposal. Henley food festival took the TV celeb route and unfortunately that seems to be struggling to get off the ground due lack of funding. It would be such a shame to lose an event like this which means so much to all the local farmers and restaurants that put in all the hard work.
The next thing in the diary for me is a DJ set for Hat Club at Bar Mango, Reading this coming Saturday. I've got the 11:30pm - 1am slot which is probably my favourite so I'm dead chuffed about that. Hat Club is just one of the clubbing brands that I really like because they are all about having fun and not too pretentious about the whole clubbing experience.
Following that however I will be doing something with Bora Bora which if you didn't already know is one of my favourite places in the world.......not the paradise islands of French Polynesia but the beach bar in Playa Den Bossa, Ibiza. I'm not sure who they are having as the main guest but I really hope it's Alex Miles as he's my favourite resident there so hopefully he'll come and make and appearance in our not so sunnier climes.
Not quite sure of just how much fun Bora Bora is.........
And nobody has more fun than this man.......LEGEND is not the world..
That's it from me....toodlepip xx
Yesterday saw the last semi final of Reading, steady, cook and the next action on that front is during the Eat Reading Live food festival on the 4th & 5th June. I'll be doing little bits and bobs throughout the whole weekend with some comparing and also a demo on stage on the Sunday between 13:30 & 14:00.
Eat Reading have secured Gennaro Contaldo to come along and open the festival. He of course has links to Reading through Jamie's Italian where he is a partner with Mr Oliver.
I really like that Eat Reading have decided to avoid going down the whole TV celeb route because then it becomes more about them than about all the great talent and produce our wonderful town has at it's disposal. Henley food festival took the TV celeb route and unfortunately that seems to be struggling to get off the ground due lack of funding. It would be such a shame to lose an event like this which means so much to all the local farmers and restaurants that put in all the hard work.
The next thing in the diary for me is a DJ set for Hat Club at Bar Mango, Reading this coming Saturday. I've got the 11:30pm - 1am slot which is probably my favourite so I'm dead chuffed about that. Hat Club is just one of the clubbing brands that I really like because they are all about having fun and not too pretentious about the whole clubbing experience.
Following that however I will be doing something with Bora Bora which if you didn't already know is one of my favourite places in the world.......not the paradise islands of French Polynesia but the beach bar in Playa Den Bossa, Ibiza. I'm not sure who they are having as the main guest but I really hope it's Alex Miles as he's my favourite resident there so hopefully he'll come and make and appearance in our not so sunnier climes.
Not quite sure of just how much fun Bora Bora is.........
And nobody has more fun than this man.......LEGEND is not the world..
That's it from me....toodlepip xx
Monday 16 May 2011
And we move on.....
I'm freshly back from a meeting with my web designers. I say freshly in the timing sense rather than in the well being sense as I'm feeling a little fragile from yesterdays wine consumption.
All is looking well with the site and you can expect to see wonderful food related blogs, picture and videos at www.benzagorski.com very soon :-)
Another pretty hectic weekend completed. It all started on Friday after work when I began prepping salads and marinading meats for the 70 head BBQ on Saturday. I was up until near enough 4am getting it all ready and I'm glad I did because there was no way I'd have been able to do it at the cricket club due to lack of available kitchen space.
The actual BBQ was fun although the amount of smoke that kept getting in my eyes eventually gave me a headache. It was also quite difficult because the only about 1/3 of the BBQ actually gave out enough heat to cook anything. I'd have actually had more cooking space of one of those disposable BBQ's so cooking burgers, sausages, ribs, chicken and prawns for 70 people took much longer than anticipated. Still we got it done and all thanks to Carley because I'd never have been able to do it on my own.
Check out just one of the piles of meat and notice the hot spot at the back under the resting rack, that was all I had to cook on....
It also got very dark so it was tricky trying to work out if half the food was actually cooked through. No complaints though in fact all feedback has been extremely positive.
The meat I'd got from Devon Rose was perfect, really top quality and it showed by the comments that we received. I've only just noticed that they have a B&B on their farm and I'm definitely going to book it up for a weekend.
After such a long day on Saturday I had some judging to do for Reading, steady, cook but before that I treated us to a nice lunch at Jamies Italian. I did want to go to Pepe Sale but alas it was closed which was a shame, I will get there to sample some of that wonderful Sardinian cuisine.
The meal at Jamies was so so, I thought my pasta was a little overcooked, no real bite to it. The olives and music bread were lovely though and I do like their tapanade that it comes with.
The cooking comp was this time being held at The Royal Tandoori in Reading which for me is the best Indian restaurant in town by a country mile. They have some very authentic and varied dishes which sets it apart from the standard curry house. I'm yet to try the Devil Lamb which by all accounts is dynamite hot.
The judging was extremely difficult and both contestants could have made it all the way to the final had they not come up against each other at the quarter final stage. Cyril's halibut and baked goats cheese was just edge out by the narrowest of margins by Martin's duck curry. Cyril showed what a great technical cook he was and I hope we'll see more of him. Lots of support there too which was nice to see.
Back on judging duty again at 7pm tomorrow when the last quarter final takes place a La Tasca in Reading town centre but before that I have a radio interview with the lovely Helen Wright at 12pm on Reading4u.
Anyway must dash....house to view....toodlepip :-)
All is looking well with the site and you can expect to see wonderful food related blogs, picture and videos at www.benzagorski.com very soon :-)
Another pretty hectic weekend completed. It all started on Friday after work when I began prepping salads and marinading meats for the 70 head BBQ on Saturday. I was up until near enough 4am getting it all ready and I'm glad I did because there was no way I'd have been able to do it at the cricket club due to lack of available kitchen space.
The actual BBQ was fun although the amount of smoke that kept getting in my eyes eventually gave me a headache. It was also quite difficult because the only about 1/3 of the BBQ actually gave out enough heat to cook anything. I'd have actually had more cooking space of one of those disposable BBQ's so cooking burgers, sausages, ribs, chicken and prawns for 70 people took much longer than anticipated. Still we got it done and all thanks to Carley because I'd never have been able to do it on my own.
Check out just one of the piles of meat and notice the hot spot at the back under the resting rack, that was all I had to cook on....
It also got very dark so it was tricky trying to work out if half the food was actually cooked through. No complaints though in fact all feedback has been extremely positive.
The meat I'd got from Devon Rose was perfect, really top quality and it showed by the comments that we received. I've only just noticed that they have a B&B on their farm and I'm definitely going to book it up for a weekend.
After such a long day on Saturday I had some judging to do for Reading, steady, cook but before that I treated us to a nice lunch at Jamies Italian. I did want to go to Pepe Sale but alas it was closed which was a shame, I will get there to sample some of that wonderful Sardinian cuisine.
The meal at Jamies was so so, I thought my pasta was a little overcooked, no real bite to it. The olives and music bread were lovely though and I do like their tapanade that it comes with.
The cooking comp was this time being held at The Royal Tandoori in Reading which for me is the best Indian restaurant in town by a country mile. They have some very authentic and varied dishes which sets it apart from the standard curry house. I'm yet to try the Devil Lamb which by all accounts is dynamite hot.
The judging was extremely difficult and both contestants could have made it all the way to the final had they not come up against each other at the quarter final stage. Cyril's halibut and baked goats cheese was just edge out by the narrowest of margins by Martin's duck curry. Cyril showed what a great technical cook he was and I hope we'll see more of him. Lots of support there too which was nice to see.
Back on judging duty again at 7pm tomorrow when the last quarter final takes place a La Tasca in Reading town centre but before that I have a radio interview with the lovely Helen Wright at 12pm on Reading4u.
Anyway must dash....house to view....toodlepip :-)
Tuesday 10 May 2011
New direction......
So yesterday I was all excited about getting my first product review posted on my website but I was not to know that I was just one large cappuccino away from a completely different path.
This will now just form one part of a much larger site being built and maintained by a professional company. It'll be a site focussed on myself and on my cooking with subsections for product reviews, recipes, blog, photos, videos and cookery advice and there will also now be booking information for private catering and public demonstrations.
All very positive stuff and cost wise it's no more than I'd already set aside for my own basic site and although I will be submitting content it'll mostly be run for me and therefore a massive step in my quest for outsourcing aspects of my life.
I already feel like a weight has been lifted because even though I'm really happy that I've taught myself how to get a site running the fact that I'll be having a professional company who already have some huge worldwide brands as clients is much more reassuring.
I have a few things coming up that will get some local media coverage so it's probably the right time to make use of the publicity before the opportunity passes. I have nothing to lose and all to gain..............I like that scenario :-)
However that's enough of that.
I finally got my hands on some Ox cheeks yesterday. I saw them on the menus of virtually all the restaurants I went to in Melbourne and I've wanted to experiment with them ever since.
They look quite tough as I'd expected so I've decided to give soak them in a light brine (Water, salt, sugar and some pink peppercorns) before cooking in the water bath for 12 hours. The brining helps to breakdown the muscle fibres and helps the meat retain more moisture which in turn results in a nice juicy and soft texture. It works really well with lean meats cut too which are more susceptible overcooking and drying out. There is plenty of advice on how to do this out there on the internet so give it a go.
Well I really must finish up as work is crazy today......it's going to be a looooooooong day.....toodlepip xx
This will now just form one part of a much larger site being built and maintained by a professional company. It'll be a site focussed on myself and on my cooking with subsections for product reviews, recipes, blog, photos, videos and cookery advice and there will also now be booking information for private catering and public demonstrations.
All very positive stuff and cost wise it's no more than I'd already set aside for my own basic site and although I will be submitting content it'll mostly be run for me and therefore a massive step in my quest for outsourcing aspects of my life.
I already feel like a weight has been lifted because even though I'm really happy that I've taught myself how to get a site running the fact that I'll be having a professional company who already have some huge worldwide brands as clients is much more reassuring.
I have a few things coming up that will get some local media coverage so it's probably the right time to make use of the publicity before the opportunity passes. I have nothing to lose and all to gain..............I like that scenario :-)
However that's enough of that.
I finally got my hands on some Ox cheeks yesterday. I saw them on the menus of virtually all the restaurants I went to in Melbourne and I've wanted to experiment with them ever since.
They look quite tough as I'd expected so I've decided to give soak them in a light brine (Water, salt, sugar and some pink peppercorns) before cooking in the water bath for 12 hours. The brining helps to breakdown the muscle fibres and helps the meat retain more moisture which in turn results in a nice juicy and soft texture. It works really well with lean meats cut too which are more susceptible overcooking and drying out. There is plenty of advice on how to do this out there on the internet so give it a go.
Well I really must finish up as work is crazy today......it's going to be a looooooooong day.....toodlepip xx
Monday 9 May 2011
MEAT.......
I know the weekend is going to creep up pretty quickly so I've ordered my meat in preparation for the BBQ I am catering for on Saturday. I think burger, sausage, pork belly rib, two chicken wings and a king prawn kebab on each plate should be a welcome repast. With some home made potato salad, coleslaw, roasted vegetable cous cous and some tomato & fennel salad I think that's quite a spread.
Perfectly manageable for 70 people too as I'm going to pre-cook most of it in the water bath meaning that I'll only be colouring an heating through on the day ensuring that everything is fully cooked and bacteria free whilst at the same time getting that smoky BBQ flavour. Sous vide.....it's the future (I've said that before haven't I?)
Cooking this way is not only going to make my life easier and ensure there are no meanies in the meat it's also going to make the wings and ribs so amazingly tender. They be nothing like the normal chewy quickly cooked hardly in-edibles you get at garden BBQ's. The wings will be cooked for a minimum of 1 hour at 76.5C and the ribs at 68C for 24 hours before they even see a flame.....melt in your mouth yummyness.
Luckily my water bath is nice and big otherwise doing all this in many batches would be cutting it a bit fine. I reckon I'll have 55 hours to prepare......if I don't sleep :-)
I ordered all the meat (apart from the prawns) from www.devonrose.com they are a fantastic free range and organic farm based in Devon. Tremendous value and great produce, they supply many high end London butchers shops as well as directly to top chefs including the amazing Michelin starred Tom Aikens and also Mark Hix.
Take a look, they do a delivery hamper which you can have direct to your door each week.
In other news the weekend went well. Played cricket on Saturday and although we lost it was a tremendous game and despite scoring zero off the bat I did take a couple of catches and felt I was pretty faultless in the field working hard for the bowlers and not letting any stray runs pass me by, also didn't end up in A&E this time around.
Website hosting is done and it's as such it's live although it has only a basic wordpress theme at the moment and it's not really the look I want so I'll be speaking to somebody about jazzing this up prior to adding proper content. I can't have it looking shoddy. I want it very basic in format but still vibrant and pleasing on the eye.
Only a few weeks now until we find out if we need to get blue or pink stuff for little Bumpski. My Mum has been clickety clicking away with the knitting and crochet needles making some dainty little goodies and Carley is looking beautiful as all expectant mums do......except better because she's mine :-)
Anyway must dash......toodlepip xx
Perfectly manageable for 70 people too as I'm going to pre-cook most of it in the water bath meaning that I'll only be colouring an heating through on the day ensuring that everything is fully cooked and bacteria free whilst at the same time getting that smoky BBQ flavour. Sous vide.....it's the future (I've said that before haven't I?)
Cooking this way is not only going to make my life easier and ensure there are no meanies in the meat it's also going to make the wings and ribs so amazingly tender. They be nothing like the normal chewy quickly cooked hardly in-edibles you get at garden BBQ's. The wings will be cooked for a minimum of 1 hour at 76.5C and the ribs at 68C for 24 hours before they even see a flame.....melt in your mouth yummyness.
Luckily my water bath is nice and big otherwise doing all this in many batches would be cutting it a bit fine. I reckon I'll have 55 hours to prepare......if I don't sleep :-)
I ordered all the meat (apart from the prawns) from www.devonrose.com they are a fantastic free range and organic farm based in Devon. Tremendous value and great produce, they supply many high end London butchers shops as well as directly to top chefs including the amazing Michelin starred Tom Aikens and also Mark Hix.
Take a look, they do a delivery hamper which you can have direct to your door each week.
In other news the weekend went well. Played cricket on Saturday and although we lost it was a tremendous game and despite scoring zero off the bat I did take a couple of catches and felt I was pretty faultless in the field working hard for the bowlers and not letting any stray runs pass me by, also didn't end up in A&E this time around.
Website hosting is done and it's as such it's live although it has only a basic wordpress theme at the moment and it's not really the look I want so I'll be speaking to somebody about jazzing this up prior to adding proper content. I can't have it looking shoddy. I want it very basic in format but still vibrant and pleasing on the eye.
Only a few weeks now until we find out if we need to get blue or pink stuff for little Bumpski. My Mum has been clickety clicking away with the knitting and crochet needles making some dainty little goodies and Carley is looking beautiful as all expectant mums do......except better because she's mine :-)
Anyway must dash......toodlepip xx
Friday 6 May 2011
Got going......
Rather tricky morning so far but it's brightened up. Had a little pickle getting out of the wrong side of the bed this morning which was a little testing but alls well that ends well, it's usually a sign that she's coming down with something so I hope it passes.
Now however I'm feeling rather jolly and I'm looking forward to the day and weekend ahead. At present I'm playing cricket for the 2nd X1 away at Stoke Green cc. First official game of the season so I'll be taking an early night tonight and doing a few stretches to limber up my knackered out body.
Not sure it can get any worse than the last time and the visit to A&E but lets not curse it......or did I just do that? Maybe I should call Royal Berks now and make an appointment for about 4pm.
Not sure if I'm playing Sunday yet. Usual protocol is to pick people not picked to play on the Saturday to ensure everybody gets a game but even with over 100 players signed up it's still difficult to get 11 on a Sunday due to family duties. It's at home anyway so I'll either be there watching or be there playing. It's a last minute friendly against a touring team from Ludlow so should be a giggle.
Having a slight delay with the website launch absolutely everything to do with teh way I set it up..........or didn't as the case may be so I had to start again. It's all a learning curve :-)
The only other thing I have booked is to head over to Wokingham to have some welcome back drinks with our lovely buddy Snotty who's been travelling far and wide. It's always nice to see her and hopefully a few drinkeepoos won't get out of hand......however it's very likely it will.
So until next time.....toodlepip xxx
Now however I'm feeling rather jolly and I'm looking forward to the day and weekend ahead. At present I'm playing cricket for the 2nd X1 away at Stoke Green cc. First official game of the season so I'll be taking an early night tonight and doing a few stretches to limber up my knackered out body.
Not sure it can get any worse than the last time and the visit to A&E but lets not curse it......or did I just do that? Maybe I should call Royal Berks now and make an appointment for about 4pm.
Not sure if I'm playing Sunday yet. Usual protocol is to pick people not picked to play on the Saturday to ensure everybody gets a game but even with over 100 players signed up it's still difficult to get 11 on a Sunday due to family duties. It's at home anyway so I'll either be there watching or be there playing. It's a last minute friendly against a touring team from Ludlow so should be a giggle.
Having a slight delay with the website launch absolutely everything to do with teh way I set it up..........or didn't as the case may be so I had to start again. It's all a learning curve :-)
The only other thing I have booked is to head over to Wokingham to have some welcome back drinks with our lovely buddy Snotty who's been travelling far and wide. It's always nice to see her and hopefully a few drinkeepoos won't get out of hand......however it's very likely it will.
So until next time.....toodlepip xxx
Thursday 5 May 2011
Many things.......
I've actually got quite a bit to blog about today but stick with it because you absolutely have to try the recipe at the end.....that is unless you have a shellfish allergy :-/
First and foremost thank you to the team at Pepe Sale in Reading for being so welcoming and hospitable in hosting yesterday evenings 2nd round heat of Reading, steady, cook! I was rather pleasantly surprised by the restaurant having never been there before.
It has a really authentic, family run and genuine Italian feel to the place which of course comes from owner Toni Sale, his family and the kitchen team who produce some wonderful and classic Sardinian cuisine.
Oh look and here's Toni himself......
The music bread was to die for. (knocks Jamie's out of the park......shhhh don't tell him I said that) Just couldn't stop munching away on it and the black olives were like sunshine in your mouth :-)
Congratulations to Rick on winning the heat and progressing to the semi finals. His pan roasted poussin with spring vegetables was superbly sourced, excellently cooked and very well presented.
Commiserations to Marc who lost out narrowly with his fusion styled lobster with pappardelle but it was a very tricky decision as was entirely expected at this stage of the competition and ultimately somebody had to go through.
Marc is extremely passionate about food and has been a great and enthusiastic supporter of the competition attending many of the heats so hopefully he'll be back in some form or another. Well done buddy :-)
As Guy Douglas (BID Manager for ReadingUK CIC) commented it really was a brilliant advert for the Reading community all showcased through food. We had Rick's use of local ingredients, Marc's multi cultural culinery background and Pepe Salé's family business all rolled into recipes and restaurants, it's really what this whole competition is all about so well done to everyone involved.
From one fabulous Reading, steady, cook venue to another and I was amazed at seeing the new website and facebook page for LSQ2. Having recently been vote the best restaurant in Reading by the Pride of Reading awards perhaps I shouldn't have been so taken aback. Very sleek design and fantastic photography. I'm absolutely sure the food matches up but I shall let you know soon because I'll be reviewing it at some point soon......watch this space. In the meantime pop along to their website and see for yourself.
Here's a little piccie of yours truly announcing the winner of the heat that LSQ2 hosted....
I've also been asked to do another interview for Helen Wright's local lunch show on the community based Reading4u radio station. This will happen on the 17th of May. It's an internet based station so you can listen live from that link on the day. The date also corresponds with another heat of the Reading, steady cook competition being held at La Tasca in the town centre so great synergy there.
It's also been confirmed that I will be doing a cooking demonstration on the Eat Reading Live festival in July. I understand it'll be right before the professional chef cooking final.............no pressure then!
I was thinking that I might cook the wonderful prawn balls that I am about to give you the recipe for but who knows? I tend to mostly act upon inspiration for these kind of events so I'll choose closer to the time.
I'm just going to do the prawn ball recipe and not the dipping sauce because you can choose your own for that. We had them with some chilli oil which was fantastic but I'm sure there are plenty of others you can experiment with.
To feed two people what you're going to need is two or three handfuls of peeled and de-veined prawns. You can choose which ever variation you like but they must be uncooked. When I created this dish I used previously frozen and uncooked tiger prawns but you don't need to limit yourself just to these because ultimately they are going to be blitzed up with other ingredients.
Dipping Prawn Balls
Serves two and it's a bit fiddly so get everything prepared in advance and perhaps search Google for a video on how to form quenelles if you don't already know !!!
Ingredients -
For the filling
3 x Handfuls of raw, shelled and de-veined prawns.
1 x Fresh red chilli, stalk removed, seeds in....man/woman up.
1 x Handful of fresh coriander.
1 x Clove of garlic, peeled.
1 tsp x Thai fish sauce.
Half tsp x Paprika.
Half tsp x Garam Masala.
800ml x Rapeseed oil for deep frying. (I love using rapeseed oil as it's virtually flavourless but you can use other sunflower or vegetable oil if you like)
For the coating (and into separate bowls)
1 x Crust ends of sliced bread blended into crumbs.
2 x Eggs, whisked.
100g x Plain flour (maybe more if needed)
1. Put all the filling ingredients into a blender. Before pulsing decide if you'd like a smooth filling or something with a little more texture, it's entirely up to you but of course you can't go back if you whizz it up too much so pulse accordingly. You may also need to add a bit more moisture by way of a few drops of water if you find the blender doesn't quite grab the contents but use sparingly as these will be deep fried and water + hot oil is never a good mix.
2. Once blended empty the mixture into a bowl and let it rest in the fridge for about 10 mins to firm up a little, this will help with forming the filling balls as they will be quite delicate even after chilling making coating them a bit sticky and tricky.
3. Ideally you want the finished prawn balls to be about the size of a golf ball. That makes them just a little too big to eat in one mouthful but not so big that they take far too long to cook so using a dessert spoon scoop up enough filling you think will be enough to create a ball just smaller than the desired golf ball size. Using another dessert spoon pass the mixture between both to form a quenelle.
4. Drop the quenelle of filling into the bowl of flour and using a clean spoon roll it around very gently until it is completely covered in a dusting of the flour. At this stage you can delicately pick it up with your fingers and form it into more of a ball shape.
5. Lightly drop the floured ball into the egg bowl and again using another clean spoon gently cover the entire ball in a coating of egg. Once covered lift the ball out and again gently drop it gently into the bowl of breadcrumbs and roll around until completely coated. (I'm instructing you to drop the ball into each separate bowl because you want to keep the rolling spoons as free from the other coating ingredients as possible)
6. Take the breadcrumbed ball and again drop it into the egg bowl, roll it around and breadcrumb for a second time. This is often referred to as double dipping, it creates a bigger barrier between the filling and the hot oil so that it doesn't seep into the ball and make the contents greasy. It also makes the coating that little bit crunchier.
7. Set the fully coated prawn ball aside while you repeat the process until all the filling has been used up.
8. Heat the oil up to 375F/190C this needs to be quite accurate because any higher and the coating will cook to quickly and the filling will be undercooked any lower and the oil will seep through the coating before it has time to seal up making the filling greasy.
9. Deep fry the coated prawn ball in small batches until they are golden brown setting aside to drain on kitchen paper when done.
10. Put all the finished prawn balls in one big bowl, serve with dipping sauces of your choice and share with your friend, partner or whoever else as a nice and jolly evening repast.
If you are worried about the filling being undercooked perhaps if you are an expectant mother or just don't like the thought of eating a undercooked prawn then you can always preheat an oven to around 280F/140C and after deep frying leave them in the oven for about 10 mins before serving.
Ideally they should be served warmed through as the filling will be moist and juicy however they could also be served cold as a picnic alternative to mini scotch eggs.
That's it for this epic post so ..... toodlepip xxx
First and foremost thank you to the team at Pepe Sale in Reading for being so welcoming and hospitable in hosting yesterday evenings 2nd round heat of Reading, steady, cook! I was rather pleasantly surprised by the restaurant having never been there before.
It has a really authentic, family run and genuine Italian feel to the place which of course comes from owner Toni Sale, his family and the kitchen team who produce some wonderful and classic Sardinian cuisine.
Oh look and here's Toni himself......
The music bread was to die for. (knocks Jamie's out of the park......shhhh don't tell him I said that) Just couldn't stop munching away on it and the black olives were like sunshine in your mouth :-)
Congratulations to Rick on winning the heat and progressing to the semi finals. His pan roasted poussin with spring vegetables was superbly sourced, excellently cooked and very well presented.
Commiserations to Marc who lost out narrowly with his fusion styled lobster with pappardelle but it was a very tricky decision as was entirely expected at this stage of the competition and ultimately somebody had to go through.
Marc is extremely passionate about food and has been a great and enthusiastic supporter of the competition attending many of the heats so hopefully he'll be back in some form or another. Well done buddy :-)
As Guy Douglas (BID Manager for ReadingUK CIC) commented it really was a brilliant advert for the Reading community all showcased through food. We had Rick's use of local ingredients, Marc's multi cultural culinery background and Pepe Salé's family business all rolled into recipes and restaurants, it's really what this whole competition is all about so well done to everyone involved.
From one fabulous Reading, steady, cook venue to another and I was amazed at seeing the new website and facebook page for LSQ2. Having recently been vote the best restaurant in Reading by the Pride of Reading awards perhaps I shouldn't have been so taken aback. Very sleek design and fantastic photography. I'm absolutely sure the food matches up but I shall let you know soon because I'll be reviewing it at some point soon......watch this space. In the meantime pop along to their website and see for yourself.
Here's a little piccie of yours truly announcing the winner of the heat that LSQ2 hosted....
I've also been asked to do another interview for Helen Wright's local lunch show on the community based Reading4u radio station. This will happen on the 17th of May. It's an internet based station so you can listen live from that link on the day. The date also corresponds with another heat of the Reading, steady cook competition being held at La Tasca in the town centre so great synergy there.
It's also been confirmed that I will be doing a cooking demonstration on the Eat Reading Live festival in July. I understand it'll be right before the professional chef cooking final.............no pressure then!
I was thinking that I might cook the wonderful prawn balls that I am about to give you the recipe for but who knows? I tend to mostly act upon inspiration for these kind of events so I'll choose closer to the time.
I'm just going to do the prawn ball recipe and not the dipping sauce because you can choose your own for that. We had them with some chilli oil which was fantastic but I'm sure there are plenty of others you can experiment with.
To feed two people what you're going to need is two or three handfuls of peeled and de-veined prawns. You can choose which ever variation you like but they must be uncooked. When I created this dish I used previously frozen and uncooked tiger prawns but you don't need to limit yourself just to these because ultimately they are going to be blitzed up with other ingredients.
Dipping Prawn Balls
Serves two and it's a bit fiddly so get everything prepared in advance and perhaps search Google for a video on how to form quenelles if you don't already know !!!
Ingredients -
For the filling
3 x Handfuls of raw, shelled and de-veined prawns.
1 x Fresh red chilli, stalk removed, seeds in....man/woman up.
1 x Handful of fresh coriander.
1 x Clove of garlic, peeled.
1 tsp x Thai fish sauce.
Half tsp x Paprika.
Half tsp x Garam Masala.
800ml x Rapeseed oil for deep frying. (I love using rapeseed oil as it's virtually flavourless but you can use other sunflower or vegetable oil if you like)
For the coating (and into separate bowls)
1 x Crust ends of sliced bread blended into crumbs.
2 x Eggs, whisked.
100g x Plain flour (maybe more if needed)
1. Put all the filling ingredients into a blender. Before pulsing decide if you'd like a smooth filling or something with a little more texture, it's entirely up to you but of course you can't go back if you whizz it up too much so pulse accordingly. You may also need to add a bit more moisture by way of a few drops of water if you find the blender doesn't quite grab the contents but use sparingly as these will be deep fried and water + hot oil is never a good mix.
2. Once blended empty the mixture into a bowl and let it rest in the fridge for about 10 mins to firm up a little, this will help with forming the filling balls as they will be quite delicate even after chilling making coating them a bit sticky and tricky.
3. Ideally you want the finished prawn balls to be about the size of a golf ball. That makes them just a little too big to eat in one mouthful but not so big that they take far too long to cook so using a dessert spoon scoop up enough filling you think will be enough to create a ball just smaller than the desired golf ball size. Using another dessert spoon pass the mixture between both to form a quenelle.
4. Drop the quenelle of filling into the bowl of flour and using a clean spoon roll it around very gently until it is completely covered in a dusting of the flour. At this stage you can delicately pick it up with your fingers and form it into more of a ball shape.
5. Lightly drop the floured ball into the egg bowl and again using another clean spoon gently cover the entire ball in a coating of egg. Once covered lift the ball out and again gently drop it gently into the bowl of breadcrumbs and roll around until completely coated. (I'm instructing you to drop the ball into each separate bowl because you want to keep the rolling spoons as free from the other coating ingredients as possible)
6. Take the breadcrumbed ball and again drop it into the egg bowl, roll it around and breadcrumb for a second time. This is often referred to as double dipping, it creates a bigger barrier between the filling and the hot oil so that it doesn't seep into the ball and make the contents greasy. It also makes the coating that little bit crunchier.
7. Set the fully coated prawn ball aside while you repeat the process until all the filling has been used up.
8. Heat the oil up to 375F/190C this needs to be quite accurate because any higher and the coating will cook to quickly and the filling will be undercooked any lower and the oil will seep through the coating before it has time to seal up making the filling greasy.
9. Deep fry the coated prawn ball in small batches until they are golden brown setting aside to drain on kitchen paper when done.
10. Put all the finished prawn balls in one big bowl, serve with dipping sauces of your choice and share with your friend, partner or whoever else as a nice and jolly evening repast.
If you are worried about the filling being undercooked perhaps if you are an expectant mother or just don't like the thought of eating a undercooked prawn then you can always preheat an oven to around 280F/140C and after deep frying leave them in the oven for about 10 mins before serving.
Ideally they should be served warmed through as the filling will be moist and juicy however they could also be served cold as a picnic alternative to mini scotch eggs.
That's it for this epic post so ..... toodlepip xxx
Wednesday 4 May 2011
On the web....
So I'm very close now to getting one of my websites up and running. I've sorted out my web hosting and I've got www.designerkitchengoods.com registered in my name. Just waiting for it all to get linked up then I'll be ready to start the website design.
Having never done this type of thing before it a great learning curve. As a novice it all seems very confusing from the start and you tend to go off track and lose interest when things go over your head but all of a sudden the penny drops and you find yourself enthused once more and ready to take on the world again.
Just getting a site up takes a bit of time and effort but then after that you have to really get involved with learning how to promote the site and the products on it and that's the bit I'm starting to get to grips with now. It's all about keywords and phrases that get you up the rankings in Google ultimately in search of that all important number 1 listing.
Thankfully there are many programs out there that can help you out with this including Google itself and there are some other software applications that will automatically do it all for you, of course you have to pay a premium for this and if it makes financial sense to use them I think I may very well do that once I get more websites launched and more products to sell.
Selecting the products and choosing your market is also very important because aiming the wrong product at the wrong person is obviously bound to fail so it's all about research and using the tools provided to try and exploit that all important niche.
It's not about taking on the big boys like Amazon and making millions because that'd just be a ridiculous thing to attempt. For me it's about learning something new and nurturing something from the ground up, ultimately if it ends up earning a few quid then great but that's not my immediate goal.......it'd be bloomin brilliant if it did though :-)
I really need to get the design right though because I've already made enquiries with several brands who like my idea (as I'm sure they do thousands of others each and every day) but they want to see the site first so once the hosting is linked to my domain I'll be able to get cracking. What brands I hear you ask ?!?!? Well John Lewis and Cath Kidston are just a couple. Why them? Because I like them and for no other reason than that. I'm not going to go promoting something that I don't like just because I'll get a good commission, probably not the best entrepreneurial approach but doing that would be dishonest and that's not me at all.
This blog is already too long and I was going to give you a recipe on a rather wonderful prawn dish I rustled up last night but that can wait until tomorrow.
Toodlepip xxx
Having never done this type of thing before it a great learning curve. As a novice it all seems very confusing from the start and you tend to go off track and lose interest when things go over your head but all of a sudden the penny drops and you find yourself enthused once more and ready to take on the world again.
Just getting a site up takes a bit of time and effort but then after that you have to really get involved with learning how to promote the site and the products on it and that's the bit I'm starting to get to grips with now. It's all about keywords and phrases that get you up the rankings in Google ultimately in search of that all important number 1 listing.
Thankfully there are many programs out there that can help you out with this including Google itself and there are some other software applications that will automatically do it all for you, of course you have to pay a premium for this and if it makes financial sense to use them I think I may very well do that once I get more websites launched and more products to sell.
Selecting the products and choosing your market is also very important because aiming the wrong product at the wrong person is obviously bound to fail so it's all about research and using the tools provided to try and exploit that all important niche.
It's not about taking on the big boys like Amazon and making millions because that'd just be a ridiculous thing to attempt. For me it's about learning something new and nurturing something from the ground up, ultimately if it ends up earning a few quid then great but that's not my immediate goal.......it'd be bloomin brilliant if it did though :-)
I really need to get the design right though because I've already made enquiries with several brands who like my idea (as I'm sure they do thousands of others each and every day) but they want to see the site first so once the hosting is linked to my domain I'll be able to get cracking. What brands I hear you ask ?!?!? Well John Lewis and Cath Kidston are just a couple. Why them? Because I like them and for no other reason than that. I'm not going to go promoting something that I don't like just because I'll get a good commission, probably not the best entrepreneurial approach but doing that would be dishonest and that's not me at all.
This blog is already too long and I was going to give you a recipe on a rather wonderful prawn dish I rustled up last night but that can wait until tomorrow.
Toodlepip xxx
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