More than just mash......

I was hoping to bring you all some jolly news about my July menu starter attempts last night but I forgot to pick up some Parma ham on the way home so those plans were scuppered.

But fear not for another success was born......

There's something very comforting and very nurturing about British food. When I think of traditional British dishes the first things that spring to mind are big family meals, one pot wonders that form the centrepiece to the dining table. I envisage Mum or Dad being responsible for portioning it out or perhaps everybody in turn getting a chance to tuck in for themselves.

British cuisine is very much maligned throughout the world but that is completely unjust because we have just as much regional variation in our traditional dishes as Spain, France or Italy. One of our hearty stews is a match for any variation of Estofados, Cassoulet or Osso Bucco (Does that count a stew?)

We may have only the Fat Duck still in the worlds top 10 restaurants but that matches the Italians and the French too have only Le Chateaubriand in Paris up there and had that not have jumped two places from last year those Gallic Gastronauts wouldn't be represented at all.


To me there is nothing more comforting than a portion of Shepherds or Cottage Pie and it's the latter that I whipped up last night. Just to clear any confusion a Shepherds Pie uses Lamb and a Cottage Pie uses Beef and as long as either is topped off with some mashed potato then the rest of the filling is up to you.

It was the topping yesterday that made my one so special. Instead of using the traditional boiled potato mash I made up a healthy portion of potato mousseline, well I say healthy but perhaps that should be "generous" as there really is nothing healthy about using nearly a full block of butter and around 200ml of double cream in anything......but this is comfort food.

Potato mouselline is really easy to make, the ingredients and quantities are also really simple to remember. The real difference from this type of mashed potato versus the standard is that instead of boiling the potatoes you bake them and then scoop out the insides once completed. This really gives a great potato flavour because rather than all that potatoey goodness dissipating in the boiling water it gets concentrated inside the skin giving it an almost nutty taste.

For 1kg of baking potato flesh (King Edwards or something else floury) you need 200g of unsalted butter, 200ml of slightly whipped double cream, 4 egg yolkes and some grated Nutmeg plus seasoning to taste.

Very simple numbers to remember and then divide or multiply dependent on how much you need.

Method is simple too........

1. Tip the potato flesh into a saucepan and give it a good mash (Larousse instructs you to pass it through a fine sieve first or you could use a potato ricer but I like the odd lump in mine)

2. Put the saucepan over a lowish heat and add in all of the butter giving it a stir until it all melted and fully combined with the potato.

3. Slowly add in the egg yolks stirring all the time so that they don't form big lumps of scrambled egg.

4. Remove from the heat and then fold in the cream again until it's fully combined.

5. Add the grated nutmeg and seasoning to your taste and then it's ready to pipe on top of your filling.

6. Heat the oven to around 190/210C and cook it until the top has a nice golden crust. Perhaps stick some grated cheese on top......

Potato mouselline can replace standard mashed potato in any dish, try it and think about how else it can be used...............

Toodlepip xx

Greetings......

Well hello and thankyou for popping along to read these beans of wisdom that I am about to spill.

Since my last blog I've been thinking tirelessly about the starter for my July menu and it's really giving me some problems. I'm just struggling to think of something to make with the ingredients I've chosen so I've decided to bring some chicken livers into the equation.

I'm thinking that a light chicken liver mousse coated with a layer of wild mushrooms then edged with Parma ham and topped with a couple of poached Quail's eggs might be the way forward.

I'm researching hard to try and get some inspiration and I think that tonight I'm just going to experiment and see what I can come up with.






The weekend just gone was all jolly good fun. It was mostly spent celebrating our little ones 8th birthday. My better half did some serious baking and the birthday cake was brilliant. I should really say "cakes" because there were loads of little ones on a stand and they were all beautifully decorated as you can see by the picture.






We had family over for a few nibbles on Friday then on Saturday a hall was hired along with a street dance instructor and I think the kids really had a great time.......the adults did too, especially when I got the tea trolley out and walked across the hall like an old lady. I wish I'd have dressed up properly for that now, the kids would have loved it.

On Sunday we had a table booked for lunch at LSQ2 and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. They had a guy playing guitar and singing in one corner and although it's a bit of a novelty I really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere it created. Mind you it helped that the guy was really good, can't imagine it'd be all that great if he couldn't sing or was better at plucking chickens than he was at guitar strings.

Foodwise I was happy with what I had. I went for the hot scotch eggs to start as I've been dying to try them for ages and I followed that up with the pork shoulder roast dinner. Carley had the same as me but Emily started with the pork cracking sticks and opted for the chicken roast dinner.

Loved the scotch eggs, absolutely adored them actually as did Carley and Emily happily munched her way through a stick or two of the pork cracking although she did mention that she thought it could have done with a bit more salt. When asked why she thought this she replied "because it'd make it have more flavour of course"..........Couldn't really argue with that even if it was from an 8 year old! Actually made me warm inside :-)

The pork shoulder roast was very nice and for me the perfect amount on the plate however I could envisage some people thinking there wasn't enough there to warrant the £9.95 but like I say it was perfectly portioned for me and I'm certainly no glutton.

Emily didn't finish hers as I think she was still a bit full from eating earlier on but she did start it off by saying it was the best chicken she'd ever tasted. I tried a bit myself and I have to agree it was pretty delicious. Kids under 10 years old have the roast for free anyway and that really goes give it incredibly good value.

Dessert for the girls was the baked Alaska and even though meringue and ice cream are Emily's favourites I reckon it probably wasn't a 50/50 split on the shared consumption!!!

I went for something off the cocktail menu to finish lunch off with. I reckon they knew that I am a sucker for a Negroni because I've not seen that on a restaurant menu in the UK let alone Reading. (They do have it at Sahara though as you'd expect them too being a cocktail bar and the Negroni being the cocktails makers cocktail of choice) I just had to have one and it took me back to my time spent in Rome.....as they always do. Perfect end to a pretty darn good lunch.

Emily's inspired comments didn't stop at seasoning either because we got her to fill out the customer feedback form and she made some very good comments.

Firstly she suggested that they could make the welcome a bit warmer by perhaps have a sign up saying "Hello". OK not particulally useful but I do think they entrance could do with a bit of a re-vamp myself. Perhaps not with neon signs though.

Secondly she said she felt a bit uncomfortable having to choose from an adult menu because it felt like it was a restaurant only for grown ups and she would have preferred a kiddies menu.

Lastly and this is my favourite because she suggested that they have brighter lights over the kitchen area so you could really see what was going on a lot better. I'd not really thought of that until she said it and I found myself in agreement. I love seeing the chefs working away as I think it adds extra theatre to your meal. I'd even go one further and have mirrors pointing down too but I don't think the ceiling design could cater for that.

So to finish up if you are looking for somewhere a bit different to take the kids on a Sunday lunchtime I cannot recommend LSQ2 any higher. It is the complete opposite to any Hungry Horse or Toby carvery. You might not get to go and help yourself to mountains of overcooked cheap vegetables but you do get probably the best roast dinner I've had in a restaurant or pub ever (OK at least approching par with The Pot Kiln) with real flavour and quality. Then there's the atmosphere, especially with the musician, it's just different class.

So that's it. Blog will be migrating soon to my own personal domain, we're just finalising some of the design and it's looking really nice and professional so I'm excited about that.

Apologise for the irregularity of the posts lately. I've gone and got myself engrossed in another game of Football Manager 2011 and in between trying to create a July starter it's taking over my life :-) ......Come on Sutton United!

Mushrooms gone wild.....

So I gave the July starter a go last night. It's still going........

It's actually turned out better than I thought it would because I didn't do it as I intended simply because I wasn't paying attention.

I should have guessed it would give me difficulties from the start because I couldn't get fresh wild mushrooms from the supermarket and had to plump for some dried ones. I'm not sure that they are too bad either because there is a great variety in them, much more than I'd get if I'd found one or two wild ones packaged on the shelves

My idea is to make a kind of mousse from some cooked chestnut mushrooms (with a little shallot, chopped garlic and a dash of marsala) whizz that up with soft cheese an egg yolk and some double cream to give the setting part of my terrine.

Then I want to take my coarsely chopped fresh wild mushrooms, give them a quick sauté in a little butter and combine these with the mousse a whisked up egg white to lighten the texture up a bit and then finish it of with some dill.

For some reason or another I forgot that I wanted to cook this and when making the first part I added melted butter and omitted the soft cheese as if I was going to make an uncooked pâté. Oh well it was too late now so I just carried on with cooking it in a bain marie and hoped that the butter wouldn't split out and ruin it.

After 90 mins I took it out and it actually looked fine so after letting it cool it went into the fridge and there it remains. I'm hopeful that it'll actually be rather good and that the mistake of adding in the butter might have been a lucky one.

Whether it sets fully is another matter, if not then perhaps I can rescue it by folding in the soft cheese and then remoulding it......now there's an idea !!!

I also tried the Quails Egg in the water bath for the same amount of time at 62C but I'm not convinced on that and I think just a minute in boiling water followed by a quick cooling in some iced water will work for this recipe just as well if not better.

The flavours will definitely be there no matter so regardless of how this first try comes out I'll be able to see if the combinations work. That really is the great thing about creating your own dishes you get to experiment with technique and with that brings increased knowledge ultimately making you a better cook each time.

So onwards and upwards....toodlepip xx

Laptop back.....

After an incredible amount of laziness I finally have my laptop back.....yippeee.

Friday was my only source of blogspiration from the weekend. I knew from the moment I left work that it was going to get a bit out of hand due to it being a birthday and leaving celebration for my friend who had been visiting for a few weeks but was now back off to his bar in Thailand.

Earlier in the day I'd noticed a 25% discount offer on Twitter for one of my favourite Reading restaurants LSQ2 and thought there really could be no better way to start out than to have a tummy full of delicious grub so a table for two was booked for 7:30pm.

With me was a friend who is not normally known for his adventure with food so I was interested to know what he thought of the place. The menu at LSQ2 is one of fusion so for him some of the combinations may have seemed a bit exotic or perhaps even a little obscure.

I started with the Romsey Free Range Duck Egg (£8.95). This is served up with some white asparagus, air dried ham and some wonderful little wild mushrooms. The egg was cooked perfectly with a touch of crispiness around the edges and the texture those mushrooms gave was like little explosions going off in the mouth. I especially liked the enokitake mushrooms, well that's what I think they were!

My friend opted for a starter version of the Hot Scotch Egg (£3.50) which came cut in half to reveal the runny yolk and juicy Meon Valley pork casing. It looked vibrant on the plate as most dishes here do and I think the orange pumpkin ketchup in contrast to the white plate and golden yolk colour gave it a really nice first impression which he said carried on through the eating of the dish.

We'd (read I'd) decided that best for drinks would be a bottle of white wine and as they'd run out of the Sauvignon Blanc that I usually have we instead chose the Saam Chenin Blanc, 2010, South Africa (£21.00) which had lots of fruit and nice aromatics but was still fairly light to drink and certainly complimented my starter.

For main course I fancied something fishy so I went for the Roasted Cornish Monkfish (£14.50). The Monkfish comes wrapped in panchetta which keeps it as moist as you could hope for and it's served inside a very light Yorkshire pudding. The cider, chorizo and caper sauce was quite rich but very tasty and packed with flavour.

All classic combinations but my only gripe would be with the Yorkshire pudding. It was so incredibly light which made me question why it was actually there. Sure it looked nice and did give a slight bit of crunch but I couldn't help but think that a piece of fried bread underneath the monkfish (Steak Rossini style) might have been a bit better because it would have made the fish more of the centrepiece rather that the Yorkshire pud..............was a fantastic piece of delicate cooking though, take nothing away from that.

My fellow diner went for the Isle of Wight Lamb Two Ways (14.95) again I think he thought he was playing it safe and was surprised when the dish actually came out because again it looked very vibrant and was well presented. Judging by the "mmmm's" and "ooooh's" I'm guessing it was tasty too. He did have to ask me what the ravioli was, I'm sure he was expecting something you'd get out of a tin and not a 10cm disc sized parcel :-)

We couldn't hang around for dessert as there was some serious drinking to do elsewhere but it was pretty much a perfect start to the evening. It was the first time my friend had been to the restaurant and I'm absolutely certain he'll go again.

Not that my last experience was all that bad but I did mark it down on the finer points to give it a very good 6 out of 10. This time however I'd happily give it and extra 2 points to make it a very good 8 out of 10........high marks indeed for me and I'm looking forward to the restaurant that can give me my first ever 9 out of 10.

Like I say the rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. In hindsight it probably wasn't a great idea to go out on Friday because my right leg was very sore after bashing it during a cricket match. I'm currently having to wear flip flops to work because shoes and socks are a no go. I think I twisted my ankle, bashed my calf and my shin all at the same time.....





Oh well, sport hurts and effort is required.

Going to start experimenting with the starter for my July menu this evening so I'll let you know how that goes..

Toodlepip xxx

With distinction..........

I do get confused by some company advertising and in particular the use of phrases associated with certain trades. One that really got on my nerves yesterday was a butchers in Watford who used the phrase "Butchers of distinction" under their company name.

After going in I have to ask myself what criteria does a butchers shop have to meet to become a "Butchers of distinction"?

I this case I think the only thing that set it apart from any other in the locality was that is was not at the back of a supermarket next to the deli counter. It was quite possibly the most pointless butchers I've ever been in.

If you wanted beef, pork, chicken or lamb you'd find what you need or if you wanted to be adventurous you could always take a peek into their deep freeze containing frozen exotic meats such as wild boar or kangaroo but these days I'd hardly called that distinction.

The lamb was all from New Zealand too! What's wrong with the produce on our own doorsteps?....knocks the spots off this imported rubbish.

Where was the game? An independent butchers of any pedigree should have venison, rabbit, hare, pigeon, pheasant etc but there was absolutely none of this to be seen. I want to see it hung up in the windows. I want to see kids pointing at it and wondering what it is and maybe saying "eeeeeewwww I can't eat Bambi" or "Is that a little bunny rabbit?". I want to see grandparents telling children how they used to eat it when they were kids.

The (red) meat on show at this "butchers of absolutely no distinction at all" was bright red in colour with hardly any marbling. To me that means no ageing, intensive (predominantly indoor) farming and protein pellet feeding, these combined means no flavour.

Meat needs to be hung (aged) for a period of time to break down enzymes and muscle fibres which in turn makes the meat more tender. Cheap meats come virtually straight from the slaughterhouse and because they are not hung they have more moisture in them adding up to 15% more in weight and what happens when you cook this? The moisture comes out, it shrivels up and it becomes tough.

The butchers who sell this know exactly what they are doing, they know they can sell more per kilo for a mass produced poor quality product than they can for something locally sourced and well farmed. Low end supermarkets do exactly the same so where's the "distinction"?

So what are my tips for buying good red meat?............

Look for a darker coloured meat, more deep, dark red than bright red. This shows some signs of ageing. An aged joint of similar size to a non-aged joint will weigh less as it has less excess moisture, it'll also shrink less when cooked and it'll have bags more flavour. Don't be afraid to ask how long it's been aged for, a good butcher will gladly tell you, two weeks should be minimum. If they can't or won't give you an answer walk away......this includes supermarkets!

Think of what you are going to cook and how long you intend to cook it for before buying. Meat from the harder working parts of the cow are cheaper to buy but will be tougher as they have more well used muscle fibre and these will take longer for the heat to break down.

Cuts from the less used part of the animal are usually sold at a premium because they are the most tender and take less time to cook but that does not mean they will have a superior flavour, quite the opposite. One nice beef middle fillet medallion for one might set you back the same amount as a whole beef brisket for 8 people. Cooked the right way the brisket will have much more flavour and can be equal or even better in texture.

When buying a roasting joint or thick steak look for thin layers of fat weaving between the meat. This is know as marbling, it's a natural baste for the meat, as you cook it the fat will melt into the joint keeping it moist and giving it extra flavour. Joints with little or no marbling will go dry unless you thread other fat pieces through it using a process called "larding", even then it's usually pork fat that is used.

Where possible with any meat if the budget allows do yourself a big favour and by something that is 100% organic and certified as such. It's more than just a marketing ploy because it really does reflect in the flavour and texture of the meat.

One day I'm really going to go into the science of meat in a blog because it's fascinating once you really take a look at it and understand how it works from field to table.

Toodlepip xxx

Ooooh my legs...

So another action packed weekend has drawn to a close. Lots of fun was had but today I'm shattered, absolutely pooped. However I am looking forward to the week ahead, not that I have much on.

Saturday the girls and myself packed up a yummy picnic and headed into Henley to soak up a bit of regatta atmosphere. We stay right out the way of the main event because it just gets too busy and it's darn expensive too.

It's a great place to people watch. Of course you get your Hooray henrys and your Ra Ra Rachels but the best ones are the common folks who dress up in their best Primani and actually look the part until they open their mouths.

We sat by a boat which had some girls quaffing champers on the bow and their lads at the stern drinking cans of lager. The girls we're laughing with extra energy and the guys we're probably just talking about bricklaying or football.

At one point the girls all stood up to sing Happy Birthday to one of the guys and it was at that point you realised that it probably wasn't their boat! This rendition had no "H" in happy and birthday was spelt with an "F"..............

"Appy burfday to you, appy burfday day to you, appy burfday dear Daaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrreeeeenn, appy burfday to yooooooooouuuu"

Another lady (I'm being polite) disembarked from the boat with the jazz band, immediately lit a cigarette then proceeded to stand with loads young kids at a kiosk and then ordered a hot dog, still puffing away. Really classy.

Still we had a good time and Emily got to work on her cricket bowling which I have to say is coming on well, she's getting her arm straight and showing signs of good accuracy....which is quite amazing seeing as it's me giving the tuition.

Saturday afternoon and evening was a musical affair. Firstly a quick warm up and a few beers at my buddies house followed by DJ'ing at Bar Mango in Reading. It was great fun being out in the garden with like minded people. I think we all did well musically and created a really nice party atmosphere which was almost like it used to be.

I'm not sure how or when I got home, I think it was about 6am via a little after party at a friends house (sorry neighbours). Getting in at that time isn't unusual for me but then playing cricket for the whole day after doing so is normally not my idea of fun.

For some reason I thought the game was starting at around 2pm but I upon arrival at 12:30pm I soon realised that I was wrong....by 2 hours. Worse still was that I was informed that my chat to the journalist during the week had made it to the paper and lets just say the teachers at the club gave me some stick for it.

I stand by the comments I made although I'm pretty sure they changed a few words and I'm definitely not 36 years old. I won't go into to much detail on the article but it was concerning the teachers strike and as someone who pays quite a lot of tax I think I'm entitled to an opinion on how the public sector workers behave.

My friend wrote an excellent blog on the situation here and it echoes my thoughts exactly. I'd much rather people read this than what was in the paper as I do feel a little empathy (but not a great deal) for some of the strikers which doesn't really come across in the newspaper article.

Anyway they'll get over it :-) I do enjoy the banter though.

Once cricket was finished I went straight home to the sofa and some good old fashioned sleepy TV. First off it was the Goodwood festival of speed coverage on Sky which gave me a few nod off moments then Top Gear which is just so boring and predictable one can't help but feel sleepy. Coast followed that and I absolutely love that program but it always sends me to sleep, I find myself having to catch up on all the bits I've missed on the iPlayer.

I didn't actually get off the sofa until 1am. I blame Robson Green and his extreme fishing for that one.

I had a craving for a hot and spicy lamb curry yesterday but my laziness mean't I had to settle for cold pizza. It even had Pineapple on it !!! Pineapple on pizzas is just so wrong, I feel dirty for eating it! Best satisfy the curry craving tonight although I'm going make it myself rather that get one from uncle Raj.

Toodlepip xx.....