After a minor setback yesterday evening my preparation of my take on meat and two veg for the Reading Town meal demo can get back on track today.
I've already had a run through of the dishes and I now have a clear image in mind of how it all should proceed, the only thing I'm really concerned about is getting the crackling right on the Pork......or not if the case maybe.
Because it takes such a long time to cook I had to purchase a rather large pork belly joint from my local butchers (Jennings in Hurst) so that I could prepare half for the actual demo and half for further practice and variations on how to get that crunchy crackling.
My idea so far has been to separate it into two joints, rub the skin side of each with sea salt the rest skin side down on a bed of salt for 24 hours to draw out any excess moisture. This is done and I think it's been a success, the skin feels more rigid and it's changed to a more pale colour.
The problem then was that I went to vacuum pack them and realised I'd run out of plastic vacuum seal bags! What followed was a manic drive to Waitrose to pick up all kinds of things I thought might do the job but none could. Thankfully an internet search pointed me to the Lakeland store in Reading where they stock a different brand to my normal supplier but I assume they are all much of a muchness. I'm glad I gave myself that extra day to prepare.
The added bonus of using my local butcher was not only the fantastic piece of locally reared pork that I purchased but I also bagged the rib bones. I had the butcher cut these out and from them I've made a terrific stock which will be perfect for making the rich Calvados sauce that'll accompany the meat and two veg.
The veg for the dish will be a simple savoy cabbage and bacon mix with an equally simple celeriac mash/purée. I took a trip up to Waltham Place farm shop on Tuesday to see what I could grab from there to use in the demo and I came out with some of their own back bacon and a couple of tremendously well packed cabbages.
The bacon is very nice indeed, of course I got far more than I needed because it's absolutely necessary to try it in a bacon sarnie before using it in a dish as elaborate as meat and two veg :-)
It's not organic bacon as it does contain sodium nitrate, this is very clearly stated on the packaging so it gives me confidence that they are trying to be transparant in all they do. As a small farm slaughtering maybe a pig a month I'm guessing this is necessary for preservation purposes. Having said that when I cooked it there was none of that white gunk you get streaming out of cheap supermarket bacon and the meat was firm and not at all likely to rip apart like some type of wafer thin processed ham. I really need to look into bacon production some more to get a proper understanding of the processes they use.
Best of all when I enquired as to whether they had any savoy cabbages the guy there jumped to his toes and exclaimed that this years crop were the best he'd ever had and ordered me to wait while one of is farm hands ran off into the fields to cut a couple fresh off the land, I'm really looking forward to using these, I think the could make the dish!
The real highlight of the demo preparation has to be concerning the dessert. I'm going for an incredibly simple dish of poached pears with raspberry sauce. It was the addition of a raspberry leaf tea bag into the poaching liquid that has proved to be a winner and I think with it's simplicity, it's taste and it's presentation I'm onto a real winner.
Overall I think I've hit the brief right on the head here. I'm cooking a classic family staple of meat and two veg using very affordable ingredients that have either been sourced within a 5 mile radius of where I live or are from the independent producers whom themselves are taking part in the event.
It's all kicking off in Forbury gardens from midday on Saturday (1st Oct) and you can get all the information from here
My demo is first up at 12:15 then I'll be followed by this years RSC finalist Rick Wyatt who'll be cooking up something that he's paid absolutely nothing for, his approach to food and cooking is really quite inspirational and it's well worth listening to his thoughts on foraging for food and using game.
After Rick it'll be Paul Clerehugh, owner of London Street Brasserie and the Crooked Billet in Stoke Row. He was voted Reading's first "Food Hero" and his work providing his local school with meals way before it was a twinkle in Mr Oliver's eye is just one of the reasons why this was awarded.
There is just so much going on for everybody to enjoy and the first 1000 people get a two course meal absolutely free which is being cooked up by the students at Reading catering college.
It might all sound a bit Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and it really is. It's all about what we can all do to help ourselves and of course it's mostly about the town of Reading and it's wonderful people.
Showing posts with label Paul Clerehugh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paul Clerehugh. Show all posts
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Friday, 24 June 2011
Part 2 - Main Course......
Yesterday I gave you part one of the easy seasonal dinner party menu and today I give you the main course, again it's very easy to do, it takes little effort but gives a great result.
I'm using Lamb which we're told is best at this time of year but as renowned chef Paul Clerehugh will tell you however this is not necessarily true. The notion of British spring lamb is really just a bit of a marketing ploy originally intended to push the sales of New Zealand lamb in the UK because for a Lamb to be ready to eat in spring it needs to have been born in November.
Anybody with even the slightest knowledge of seasonal Britain will be all too aware that weather conditions in November really do not tend to produce the lush green fields necessary for good grazing. Around the end of March is when most lambing occurs so in fact the ideal time to really be eating British lamb is around September or October when they have had a whole summer of lush vegetation to eat rather than being bred mainly indoors and fed on protein pellets which only diminishes the flavour and texture.
Nevertheless good lamb can be found but you need to be picky. Don't go for the cheapest you see on the shelf. Look for something with pedigree and preferably organic. Better still go to your nearest specialist butcher rather than the supermarket.
My defence for calling this a seasonal dish comes from this public perception of spring lamb and because the flavour of lamb really does lend itself to a warm sunny day especially when using rack of lamb which I do in this dish.
It comprises of three elements and I'm starting with the lamb element but you could easily prepare the vegetable and broth parts in advance because they only need re-heating prior to plating up.
Like I keep stressing this whole menu requires very little cooking on the day which leaves you to be the stress free and cool as a cucumber host that makes other people jealous.
Rack of Lamb with summer vegetables and lamb broth
Serves 4
For the lamb -
2 x Rack of lamb
Unsalted butter
Olive oil
Dried thyme
Salt & Black Pepper
1. French trim the lamb (video) and cut each rack in half leaving 4 joints with equal amounts of meat, usually works out at 3 or 4 cutlets per person. Season each half rack all over with some salt and pepper.
(If you think there is too much fat on the topside of the meat then shave some off with a sharp knife. Some of the fat will render off when cooking but anything more than about 5 millimetres won't be pleasant when eating)
2. Set the oven to 140C/285F to preheat then take a frying pan and put on the hob over a medium heat. Add in a good knob of butter and a glug of olive oil and let this melt down until the butter/oil mixture starts to bubble.
3. Brown off the lamb on all sides in the butter so it they have a nice uniform colour all over then transfer to an roasting tin.
4. Before putting in the oven sprinkle over some of the dried thyme then place in the middle of the oven. It'll take around 20 minutes for the lamb to cook rare and around 25 minutes for medium which is what I would recommend. It's important to let the lamb rest for at least 5 minutes (preferrably 10) before carving into individual cutlets.
Summer Vegetables
400g x Jersey royal potatoes
300g x Asparagus
200g x Shelled fresh peas
200g x Fresh Broad Beans (skinned)
1 x Bowl of iced water
1. Wash all the vegetables under cold running water then boil the potatoes until they are tender then drain and transfer to bowl of iced water.
2. Put the peas and broad beans into a saucepan of water and bring to the boil. While they are boiling remove the woody root ends from the asparagus by holding them lightly at each end and bending them until they snap (discard the woody bits). Cut off the whole of the tips then slice the remaining stems into 1/2 inch thick pieces before adding to the pan of peas and broad beans.
3. Boil the vegetable for a further 3 minutes then drain and tip into the iced water bowl along with the potatoes. This halts the cooking process as well as keeps the brightness of colour.
As I mentioned before this can be done a few hours in advance because the final process before serving is to simply drain them off and heat them through in a frying pan over a medium heat with some butter and seasoning. (Cutting the potatoes in half before heating through is a good idea)
If you do decide to prepare them early then once they have fully cooled in the water drain them off, transfer to another bowl and toss in a little lemon juice. This will also preserve the colour of the veg.
Lamb Broth
500ml x Lamb Stock
1 x Small onion
1 x Small carrot
1 x Celery stick
1 x Clove of garlic
Fresh mint
Salt & black pepper
Olive oil
1. Heat a little olive oil in a pan over a medium heat.
2. Slice up the onion, carrot, celery and garlic and then add to the pan and allow to cook a while until the onions soften then pour in the stock and allow to simmer. There is no need to be dainty with the veg, it'll be sieved off later.
3. After a minute or two throw in around 8 or 10 chopped mint leaves. You could use dried but if you do bear in mind that dried herbs are stronger than fresh ones and for me they lack the zesty zing you get from fresh herbs.
4. Keep it simmering away making sure you taste regularly and add seasoning as you go. The stock I've pictured is from the cooks ingredients range at Waitrose. You could make your own, buy one like I have mentioned or if absolutely necessary use a stock cube or two although I find these very salty and nowhere near as good as decent liquid stock.
5. Once you are happy with the taste strain the broth through a fine sieve and either leave to cool for heating up later or keep warm until you are ready to serve.
Again presentation is up to you but because the broth is involved you will need fairly high sided serving plates and large pasta bowls would work perfectly.
Just pile up some of the warmed vegetables in the centre of the then on top of these rest your carved lamb cutlets. Finally spoon over the liquid broth. Maybe sprinkle over some finely chopped mint to garnish and there you have a wonderfully light and tasty seasonal main course.
And what do we have in tomorrows blog? Dessert of course.............
Crème caramel with dark chocolate
Yes I did have a little difficulty getting them out of the moulds but because I did I can explain why you don't have too :-)
.............toodlepip xx
I'm using Lamb which we're told is best at this time of year but as renowned chef Paul Clerehugh will tell you however this is not necessarily true. The notion of British spring lamb is really just a bit of a marketing ploy originally intended to push the sales of New Zealand lamb in the UK because for a Lamb to be ready to eat in spring it needs to have been born in November.
Anybody with even the slightest knowledge of seasonal Britain will be all too aware that weather conditions in November really do not tend to produce the lush green fields necessary for good grazing. Around the end of March is when most lambing occurs so in fact the ideal time to really be eating British lamb is around September or October when they have had a whole summer of lush vegetation to eat rather than being bred mainly indoors and fed on protein pellets which only diminishes the flavour and texture.
Nevertheless good lamb can be found but you need to be picky. Don't go for the cheapest you see on the shelf. Look for something with pedigree and preferably organic. Better still go to your nearest specialist butcher rather than the supermarket.
My defence for calling this a seasonal dish comes from this public perception of spring lamb and because the flavour of lamb really does lend itself to a warm sunny day especially when using rack of lamb which I do in this dish.
It comprises of three elements and I'm starting with the lamb element but you could easily prepare the vegetable and broth parts in advance because they only need re-heating prior to plating up.
Like I keep stressing this whole menu requires very little cooking on the day which leaves you to be the stress free and cool as a cucumber host that makes other people jealous.
Rack of Lamb with summer vegetables and lamb brothServes 4
For the lamb -
2 x Rack of lamb
Unsalted butter
Olive oil
Dried thyme
Salt & Black Pepper
1. French trim the lamb (video) and cut each rack in half leaving 4 joints with equal amounts of meat, usually works out at 3 or 4 cutlets per person. Season each half rack all over with some salt and pepper.
(If you think there is too much fat on the topside of the meat then shave some off with a sharp knife. Some of the fat will render off when cooking but anything more than about 5 millimetres won't be pleasant when eating)
2. Set the oven to 140C/285F to preheat then take a frying pan and put on the hob over a medium heat. Add in a good knob of butter and a glug of olive oil and let this melt down until the butter/oil mixture starts to bubble.
3. Brown off the lamb on all sides in the butter so it they have a nice uniform colour all over then transfer to an roasting tin.
4. Before putting in the oven sprinkle over some of the dried thyme then place in the middle of the oven. It'll take around 20 minutes for the lamb to cook rare and around 25 minutes for medium which is what I would recommend. It's important to let the lamb rest for at least 5 minutes (preferrably 10) before carving into individual cutlets.
Summer Vegetables
400g x Jersey royal potatoes
300g x Asparagus
200g x Shelled fresh peas
200g x Fresh Broad Beans (skinned)
1 x Bowl of iced water
1. Wash all the vegetables under cold running water then boil the potatoes until they are tender then drain and transfer to bowl of iced water.
2. Put the peas and broad beans into a saucepan of water and bring to the boil. While they are boiling remove the woody root ends from the asparagus by holding them lightly at each end and bending them until they snap (discard the woody bits). Cut off the whole of the tips then slice the remaining stems into 1/2 inch thick pieces before adding to the pan of peas and broad beans.
3. Boil the vegetable for a further 3 minutes then drain and tip into the iced water bowl along with the potatoes. This halts the cooking process as well as keeps the brightness of colour.
As I mentioned before this can be done a few hours in advance because the final process before serving is to simply drain them off and heat them through in a frying pan over a medium heat with some butter and seasoning. (Cutting the potatoes in half before heating through is a good idea)
If you do decide to prepare them early then once they have fully cooled in the water drain them off, transfer to another bowl and toss in a little lemon juice. This will also preserve the colour of the veg.
Lamb Broth
500ml x Lamb Stock
1 x Small onion
1 x Small carrot
1 x Celery stick
1 x Clove of garlic
Fresh mint
Salt & black pepper
Olive oil
1. Heat a little olive oil in a pan over a medium heat.
2. Slice up the onion, carrot, celery and garlic and then add to the pan and allow to cook a while until the onions soften then pour in the stock and allow to simmer. There is no need to be dainty with the veg, it'll be sieved off later.
3. After a minute or two throw in around 8 or 10 chopped mint leaves. You could use dried but if you do bear in mind that dried herbs are stronger than fresh ones and for me they lack the zesty zing you get from fresh herbs.
4. Keep it simmering away making sure you taste regularly and add seasoning as you go. The stock I've pictured is from the cooks ingredients range at Waitrose. You could make your own, buy one like I have mentioned or if absolutely necessary use a stock cube or two although I find these very salty and nowhere near as good as decent liquid stock.
5. Once you are happy with the taste strain the broth through a fine sieve and either leave to cool for heating up later or keep warm until you are ready to serve.
Again presentation is up to you but because the broth is involved you will need fairly high sided serving plates and large pasta bowls would work perfectly.
Just pile up some of the warmed vegetables in the centre of the then on top of these rest your carved lamb cutlets. Finally spoon over the liquid broth. Maybe sprinkle over some finely chopped mint to garnish and there you have a wonderfully light and tasty seasonal main course.
And what do we have in tomorrows blog? Dessert of course.............
Crème caramel with dark chocolate
Yes I did have a little difficulty getting them out of the moulds but because I did I can explain why you don't have too :-)
.............toodlepip xx
Monday, 20 June 2011
Motivation zero.....
The weekend has kind of left me with a lack of any get up and go today. I really didn't feel like getting out of bed this morning but that was partly to do with wanting to see Rory McIlroy claim the US Open gold title. What an amazing achievement for somebody so young and he handled the post tournament interviews like he'd been winning majors for years. I never thought that I'd see anybody as good as Tiger Woods again in my lifetime but this victory for Rory was the best golf I've ever seen, even eclipsing the great Woods' 13 shot victory of a few years ago.
One fellow player even commented that you couldn't have wished to play better golf on the Playstation let alone on a real course.
So back on blogging track (quite literally) and Fridays antics mainly involved comfort food, red wine and the afore mentioned Playstation. After a rather fast paced and speedy day at work I returned to my empty home (my girls were off camping in the new forest) via Waitrose to pick up some Chicken Kievs. These are my favourite home comfort food at the moment and they have been for a while. I actually ate around ten different supermarket Chicken Kievs in ten days once just so that I could compare them and find out which were the best. Waitrose won closely followed by Marks & Spencer. I'm talking the best quality own brand Kievs too and not the cheap kind that use reformed minced chicken.
Chicken Kievs generally come in packs of two and I just can't leave one Kiev on it's own so out of mercy (OK....greed) I have to eat both. I've also discovered the perfect accompaniment to these timeless family classics and that is chilli peas. I'd seriously recommend trying this combo. Adjust quantities to your taste but I just get some smoked streaky bacon and chop it up into small lardons and fry them in a little unsalted butter until they have a bit of colour, then add in some finely chopped red chilli before finally adding some frozen peas and cooking the through. Bit of cracked black pepper to taste and there you have the perfect match for chicken kievs. That is all you need, forget chips just chicken and peas.
This good feed I washed down with a rather yummy Rioja reserva which put me in firm mood to complete the next endurance race on Gran Turismo 5....a 1000km challenge around the Suzuka curcuit. I raced for a full 4 1/2 hours before having to put it on pause and heading to bed.
I woke on Saturday at around 7am then went straight back downstairs for a cup of tea and a further 2 hours of racing to complete the remainder of the 172 laps necessary to claim the 5 lap victory. In fairness I could have completed it about 45 minutes quicker had I chosen a faster car but I wanted to keep it fairly competitive so rather using my Pescarolo Le Mans series car I went for my GT2 Corvette.......Oh if only it were real life.
Saturday daytime was a food filled affair. I got myself over to Wargrave for their first ever taste festival. They'd arranged for a few demos to be done and first up was a master butcher from Jon Thorner's who are based in Shepton Mallet but have an outlet just down the road at the Sheeplands farm shop in Hare Hatch.
Their demo was to butcher a whole lamb and describing each cut and it's uses along the way. It's a rare glimpse at how this is done and the skill involved is incredible.
Following them was the Haweli Indian restaurant from Twyford. These guys are my locals so I was very much looking forward to seeing them on stage and they did a great job. I was very interested to know that they marinade their Lamb for over 24 hours before cooking and that they use only the leg meat from baby lambs which will explain why their meat dishes differ in texture so much from other restaurants. They did actually give me the marinade recipe but I've only gone and forgotten it! Looks like I'll be having curry at some point this week then......Oh well :-)
The restaurant does get very busy and I was eager to know just what goes on behind the scenes during these hectic weekend services. I was amazed when they said they have a minimum of 11 chefs cooking on 12 six burner ranges. Quite extraordinary when you consider the size of the place.
The last demo I stayed to see was from the irrepressible Paul Clerehugh (Crooked Billet, London Street Brasserie, Market Kitchen & BBC Berkshire). You can clearly see he loves doing these food festivals and most of all showing his passion and support for local and British produce. I knew what to expect as he'd bought with him all the props he'd used at the Eat Reading festival just a couple of weeks previously but he'd slightly adjusted the routine to fit the different audience leaving out the references to the "Porsche Cayenne driving hooray Henrys" which he'd used in the Reading show.
All in all it was a very nice little food festival, good first effort and I see no reason why it can't get bigger and better next year. The weather wasn't great but it was pretty much all contained under a huge marquee and it did brighten up throughout the day, so much so that instead of jumping on the train back to Twyford I decided to walk.
Saturday evening was always going to be a messy affair. Not only was I DJ'ing for one of the most recognisable brands in worldwide clubbing (Bora Bora) at my favourite place to DJ (Mango Garden) but it was also the first time in ages that I'd be catching up with a very good buddy who'd been off travelling the globe.
Everything went pretty much as expected which was bucketfuls of beer until well into the Sunday morning daylight followed by a slap up breakfast and a train home to bed.
Our normal brekky of choice is taken at the Ibis hotel on Friar Street but we were a bit too early for that so after a bit of a wait and some no doubt pointless banter it was over to McDonalds.
Now as gastronomic as I want to think I am I do concede that for all it's other failings Ronald and his team at McDonalds have really hit the nail on the head with their Sausage and Egg muffins. I can't say I'd honestly want one every morning but for times like these they are perfect. If the hash browns are piping hot too then hungover/still drunk satisfaction is guaranteed.
Sunday wasn't the complete write off I'd been expecting. I did manage to get myself up to the farm shop and back home to the sofa by about 1pm. After a couple of hours rest I made us a rather yummy and very vast roast dinner. I even attempted to make some Crème Caramel desserts.......would have been great too had I not turned the oven off !!! Still at least we'll have dessert tonight :-)
I'm thinking it might have to be Chicken Kievs and chilli peas again.
Toodlepip xxx
One fellow player even commented that you couldn't have wished to play better golf on the Playstation let alone on a real course.
So back on blogging track (quite literally) and Fridays antics mainly involved comfort food, red wine and the afore mentioned Playstation. After a rather fast paced and speedy day at work I returned to my empty home (my girls were off camping in the new forest) via Waitrose to pick up some Chicken Kievs. These are my favourite home comfort food at the moment and they have been for a while. I actually ate around ten different supermarket Chicken Kievs in ten days once just so that I could compare them and find out which were the best. Waitrose won closely followed by Marks & Spencer. I'm talking the best quality own brand Kievs too and not the cheap kind that use reformed minced chicken.
Chicken Kievs generally come in packs of two and I just can't leave one Kiev on it's own so out of mercy (OK....greed) I have to eat both. I've also discovered the perfect accompaniment to these timeless family classics and that is chilli peas. I'd seriously recommend trying this combo. Adjust quantities to your taste but I just get some smoked streaky bacon and chop it up into small lardons and fry them in a little unsalted butter until they have a bit of colour, then add in some finely chopped red chilli before finally adding some frozen peas and cooking the through. Bit of cracked black pepper to taste and there you have the perfect match for chicken kievs. That is all you need, forget chips just chicken and peas.
This good feed I washed down with a rather yummy Rioja reserva which put me in firm mood to complete the next endurance race on Gran Turismo 5....a 1000km challenge around the Suzuka curcuit. I raced for a full 4 1/2 hours before having to put it on pause and heading to bed.
I woke on Saturday at around 7am then went straight back downstairs for a cup of tea and a further 2 hours of racing to complete the remainder of the 172 laps necessary to claim the 5 lap victory. In fairness I could have completed it about 45 minutes quicker had I chosen a faster car but I wanted to keep it fairly competitive so rather using my Pescarolo Le Mans series car I went for my GT2 Corvette.......Oh if only it were real life.
Saturday daytime was a food filled affair. I got myself over to Wargrave for their first ever taste festival. They'd arranged for a few demos to be done and first up was a master butcher from Jon Thorner's who are based in Shepton Mallet but have an outlet just down the road at the Sheeplands farm shop in Hare Hatch.
Their demo was to butcher a whole lamb and describing each cut and it's uses along the way. It's a rare glimpse at how this is done and the skill involved is incredible.
Following them was the Haweli Indian restaurant from Twyford. These guys are my locals so I was very much looking forward to seeing them on stage and they did a great job. I was very interested to know that they marinade their Lamb for over 24 hours before cooking and that they use only the leg meat from baby lambs which will explain why their meat dishes differ in texture so much from other restaurants. They did actually give me the marinade recipe but I've only gone and forgotten it! Looks like I'll be having curry at some point this week then......Oh well :-)
The restaurant does get very busy and I was eager to know just what goes on behind the scenes during these hectic weekend services. I was amazed when they said they have a minimum of 11 chefs cooking on 12 six burner ranges. Quite extraordinary when you consider the size of the place.
The last demo I stayed to see was from the irrepressible Paul Clerehugh (Crooked Billet, London Street Brasserie, Market Kitchen & BBC Berkshire). You can clearly see he loves doing these food festivals and most of all showing his passion and support for local and British produce. I knew what to expect as he'd bought with him all the props he'd used at the Eat Reading festival just a couple of weeks previously but he'd slightly adjusted the routine to fit the different audience leaving out the references to the "Porsche Cayenne driving hooray Henrys" which he'd used in the Reading show.
All in all it was a very nice little food festival, good first effort and I see no reason why it can't get bigger and better next year. The weather wasn't great but it was pretty much all contained under a huge marquee and it did brighten up throughout the day, so much so that instead of jumping on the train back to Twyford I decided to walk.
Saturday evening was always going to be a messy affair. Not only was I DJ'ing for one of the most recognisable brands in worldwide clubbing (Bora Bora) at my favourite place to DJ (Mango Garden) but it was also the first time in ages that I'd be catching up with a very good buddy who'd been off travelling the globe.
Everything went pretty much as expected which was bucketfuls of beer until well into the Sunday morning daylight followed by a slap up breakfast and a train home to bed.
Our normal brekky of choice is taken at the Ibis hotel on Friar Street but we were a bit too early for that so after a bit of a wait and some no doubt pointless banter it was over to McDonalds.
Now as gastronomic as I want to think I am I do concede that for all it's other failings Ronald and his team at McDonalds have really hit the nail on the head with their Sausage and Egg muffins. I can't say I'd honestly want one every morning but for times like these they are perfect. If the hash browns are piping hot too then hungover/still drunk satisfaction is guaranteed.
Sunday wasn't the complete write off I'd been expecting. I did manage to get myself up to the farm shop and back home to the sofa by about 1pm. After a couple of hours rest I made us a rather yummy and very vast roast dinner. I even attempted to make some Crème Caramel desserts.......would have been great too had I not turned the oven off !!! Still at least we'll have dessert tonight :-)
I'm thinking it might have to be Chicken Kievs and chilli peas again.
Toodlepip xxx
Monday, 6 June 2011
Win Win.....
Loads to catch up on since my last post. We've got 20 week scan results plus other congratulations. Also there's the Eat Reading Live festival write up and Reading, steady, cook 2011! finals summary then some rather fantastic news regarding my own culinary journey.
So we found out on Friday that we'd be having a little girl in about 20 weeks time. We did try all the tips and tricks for a boy but I think all of Emily's wishing had been listened too by the baby fairies. Would have been nice to have one of each and an heir to the family name but to be honest I really don't care a jot about that because it's just such a wonderful feeling being an expectant father for the first time.
Emily came with us to the scan and afterwards she was just so excited and overcome with joy she could hardly speak, in fact she was mostly just saying "I'm so happy". She going to be a brilliant big sister. We have a name in mind but we're keeping it to ourselves just for the time being until we've actually got used to it cause it'll seem a bit strange for other people to be referring to her by her name until that point.
So onto Eat Reading Live and what a fantastic event it was. It has almost trebled in size from last year and it all ran very smoothly thanks to a big effort from Abby, Guy and all the team from Reading UK CIC.
There was great support from the very best of Readings restaurants and producers notably LSQ2 who had a stall did a demo and also helped us out by coming up to help judge our 2nd semi-final of Reading, Steady, Cook. There were others too that also had stalls and performed demos - River Spice, Malmaison, Warwick Thai Bar...I'm sure they are more but it escapes me for now.
Eat Reading despite it's name is not all about food and there was also some drinking involved, thankfully at the times when I was presenting. Vintage Roots were first up and they did a really good demo on food and wine matching. I've known for while now that organic wine is no longer something up and coming, it's really up there now with non-organic wines in terms of flavour and Sam from Vintage roots bought along some real crackers to accompany some of the dishes that had been provided by restaurants from the town.
Sahara cocktail bar also came along to show us what they can do. Rik was excellent at explaining the real complexity and skill that goes into creating a proper cocktail. Too often you go into these new bars and they have a vast cocktail menu but in comparison they are like the fast food of cocktails whereas Sahara is like L'ortolan or Myalacarte. It was really interesting to hear the history behind the cocktails and the ingredients and Rik showed during the demo just how educated and passionate you need to be in the art of Mixology in order to reach those levels.
Back to the food and even before the festival opened I got a chance meeting with the opening chef Gennaro Contaldo who is just such a wonderful man. When I knew he was going to be opening the festival I though to myself that I'd get a copy of his new book and ask him to sign it for my mum so about 30 mins before the show started I popped into Waterstones to get a copy but they had none in stock. Not deterred I thought I'd just walk down to Jamie's Italian and pick one up from there, I had an idea that they wouldn't be open but seeing as I wasn't going there to eat I figured they wouldn't mind selling me a book.
Anyway off I went with a couple of buddies over to the restaurant and as we approached I noticed a little bald head through the window and sure enough it was Gennaro getting the last final bits for his demo. Well they let us in and I got the book but what was great was that Gennaro come over to us and introduced himself then stopped for a chat telling us all about the shooting of Two Greedy Italians and making jokes etc etc of course he signed the book "To Mamma - Big Love Gennaro"
Due to my presenting commitments I didn't get the chance to see most of the demos on the market square stage however I was eager to see the one from Daniel Galmiche firstly because I missed his one last year as I was too busy preparing for my semi-final and secondly because he's just a fantastic chef. He cooked a Monkfish tail with mussel ragout which just looked and smelt amazing, I didn't get a chance to eat any of it unfortunately, maybe I'll just have to go to his restaurant.......
My MC'ing duties were somewhat delayed on day one as the chef from Tampopo was unfortunately held up in his train travel as some delightful scallywags had decided to pilfer signalling cables from around the Twyford area. I've heard really good things about these guys (Tampopo...not the scallywags) so I was a bit disappointed not to get a taste but I'll go there soon.
So With their demo moved to later in the day my first introduction was to Strada who are an italian restaurant situated on the riverside and who provide excellent competition for their rivals just a few yards away.
Their Head Chef Tom treated us to a pasta dish with Italian sausage and brocolli and also to a wonderful lamb dish with roasted new potatoes. Absolutely brillinat demo and superb food. I actually went there afterwards for a meal and I will review that probably tomorrow.
The next food demo was not until the following day when we had Nich (phonetic spelling) from the Warwick Thai Bar come up and cook a stir fried prawn dish for us. It was so nicely flavoured and so well cooked, it took hardly any time at all before it had all been munched up by the baying crowd. They even gave me a free Tiffin holder after I asked where they got theirs from.
I was up next cooking a herbed rack of lamb with lentils and wild rice and while that was cooking away I also whipped up a quick spaghetti dish because I wanted to show just how quick and easy some things are. It was just spaghetti with olive oil, chilli and garlic, a true Italian classic but using very cheap but tasty ingredients. The recipes are ones I've already added to the blog so you can back track and find them alternatively just leave a message at the end of this post and I'll get it off to you.
Apparently I'm a natural on stage !!...Who have thought that? Certainly not my drama teacher at school.
Just before my demo I introduced a couple of tutors from Reading catering college who have just had a new block built and were set up around the corner offering prospectus' to the future cooks and chef of Reading. Some of the students had come along to help out during the day and a wonderful job they did too.
I think perhaps the most fun demo came from the West Indian women's circle. Judy came up on stage to some Caribbean music all brightly dressed and bubbly. She then showed up how to make deep fried fish balls which she served up with some salad and hot pepper sauce. After a bit of a nervy start we we're soon whining our bootys on stage and people were crowding around to taste the food that just kept on coming.
Of course the main reason I was involved in the festival was as a judge for Reading, Steady, Cook! and Saturday's semi-final proved to be as tight as we'd always expected them to be. As the weather was really sunny and warm so there we plenty of people about to watch them too which just adds more pressure to the already nervous amateur cooks.
Ultimately after some seriously hard judging and having to get help in making the decisions it was Farid Singh and Rick Wyatt who made it through to the final. Martin and Marc who both missed out made it very hard especially where Martin's Chicken casserole with chocolate was concerned. Such a wonderfully thought out dish and I think it was the longest deliberation Hilary (my co-judge and deputy editor of the Reading Post) had to make during the whole competition.
Come the final though and it's all about cooking on the day and with the ever exuberant Paul Clerehugh on stage that was going to be fun for me however the added pressure of having a top chef watching your every move just piles on the nerves for the guys cooking.
(Paul, Rick, Myself and Farid)
Farid outcooked Rick on the day and I was personally pleased that he'd taken himself a little further out of his comfort zone by cooking a fillet of fish which is something he'd only tried that very morning and he did it very well. He'd also created a rice dish and a spiced cabbage vegetable dish to go with it so he was very productive.
It's really difficult to make a decision on finals day because the other judges had not been around to see or taste any of the contestants previous food. I have to say that even though Rick lost on the day I felt he was the better cook throughout the competition. He is very knowledgeable about his food and excellent at sourcing local and seasonal ingredients and that was a fact that was considered during the judging and very nearly got it for Rick.
Next year I think the competition will be even bigger and better. We're constantly thinking of ways in which we can improve the format so that it's more entertaining for the people coming to see, for the venues that host and most importantly so that we get the absolute best out of the cooks wanting to make it to finals weekend. I'm already excited about next years competition.
So onto my news and I'm delighted to have been asked if I would like to start writing about food for Hilary. As I mentioned before Hilary was my regular co-judge for this years competition and she is also deputy editor for the Reading Post as well as another good food magazine so maybe soon I can officially call myself a food writer. Who'd have thought that? Certainly not any of my English teachers at school!!
I've also had a tentative enquiry about putting on a monthly food theatre evening with a top local restaurant so watch this space :-)
Now I really must dash so toodlepip xx
So we found out on Friday that we'd be having a little girl in about 20 weeks time. We did try all the tips and tricks for a boy but I think all of Emily's wishing had been listened too by the baby fairies. Would have been nice to have one of each and an heir to the family name but to be honest I really don't care a jot about that because it's just such a wonderful feeling being an expectant father for the first time.
Emily came with us to the scan and afterwards she was just so excited and overcome with joy she could hardly speak, in fact she was mostly just saying "I'm so happy". She going to be a brilliant big sister. We have a name in mind but we're keeping it to ourselves just for the time being until we've actually got used to it cause it'll seem a bit strange for other people to be referring to her by her name until that point.
So onto Eat Reading Live and what a fantastic event it was. It has almost trebled in size from last year and it all ran very smoothly thanks to a big effort from Abby, Guy and all the team from Reading UK CIC.
There was great support from the very best of Readings restaurants and producers notably LSQ2 who had a stall did a demo and also helped us out by coming up to help judge our 2nd semi-final of Reading, Steady, Cook. There were others too that also had stalls and performed demos - River Spice, Malmaison, Warwick Thai Bar...I'm sure they are more but it escapes me for now.
Eat Reading despite it's name is not all about food and there was also some drinking involved, thankfully at the times when I was presenting. Vintage Roots were first up and they did a really good demo on food and wine matching. I've known for while now that organic wine is no longer something up and coming, it's really up there now with non-organic wines in terms of flavour and Sam from Vintage roots bought along some real crackers to accompany some of the dishes that had been provided by restaurants from the town.
Sahara cocktail bar also came along to show us what they can do. Rik was excellent at explaining the real complexity and skill that goes into creating a proper cocktail. Too often you go into these new bars and they have a vast cocktail menu but in comparison they are like the fast food of cocktails whereas Sahara is like L'ortolan or Myalacarte. It was really interesting to hear the history behind the cocktails and the ingredients and Rik showed during the demo just how educated and passionate you need to be in the art of Mixology in order to reach those levels.
Back to the food and even before the festival opened I got a chance meeting with the opening chef Gennaro Contaldo who is just such a wonderful man. When I knew he was going to be opening the festival I though to myself that I'd get a copy of his new book and ask him to sign it for my mum so about 30 mins before the show started I popped into Waterstones to get a copy but they had none in stock. Not deterred I thought I'd just walk down to Jamie's Italian and pick one up from there, I had an idea that they wouldn't be open but seeing as I wasn't going there to eat I figured they wouldn't mind selling me a book.
Anyway off I went with a couple of buddies over to the restaurant and as we approached I noticed a little bald head through the window and sure enough it was Gennaro getting the last final bits for his demo. Well they let us in and I got the book but what was great was that Gennaro come over to us and introduced himself then stopped for a chat telling us all about the shooting of Two Greedy Italians and making jokes etc etc of course he signed the book "To Mamma - Big Love Gennaro"
Due to my presenting commitments I didn't get the chance to see most of the demos on the market square stage however I was eager to see the one from Daniel Galmiche firstly because I missed his one last year as I was too busy preparing for my semi-final and secondly because he's just a fantastic chef. He cooked a Monkfish tail with mussel ragout which just looked and smelt amazing, I didn't get a chance to eat any of it unfortunately, maybe I'll just have to go to his restaurant.......
My MC'ing duties were somewhat delayed on day one as the chef from Tampopo was unfortunately held up in his train travel as some delightful scallywags had decided to pilfer signalling cables from around the Twyford area. I've heard really good things about these guys (Tampopo...not the scallywags) so I was a bit disappointed not to get a taste but I'll go there soon.
So With their demo moved to later in the day my first introduction was to Strada who are an italian restaurant situated on the riverside and who provide excellent competition for their rivals just a few yards away.
Their Head Chef Tom treated us to a pasta dish with Italian sausage and brocolli and also to a wonderful lamb dish with roasted new potatoes. Absolutely brillinat demo and superb food. I actually went there afterwards for a meal and I will review that probably tomorrow.
The next food demo was not until the following day when we had Nich (phonetic spelling) from the Warwick Thai Bar come up and cook a stir fried prawn dish for us. It was so nicely flavoured and so well cooked, it took hardly any time at all before it had all been munched up by the baying crowd. They even gave me a free Tiffin holder after I asked where they got theirs from.
I was up next cooking a herbed rack of lamb with lentils and wild rice and while that was cooking away I also whipped up a quick spaghetti dish because I wanted to show just how quick and easy some things are. It was just spaghetti with olive oil, chilli and garlic, a true Italian classic but using very cheap but tasty ingredients. The recipes are ones I've already added to the blog so you can back track and find them alternatively just leave a message at the end of this post and I'll get it off to you.
Apparently I'm a natural on stage !!...Who have thought that? Certainly not my drama teacher at school.
Just before my demo I introduced a couple of tutors from Reading catering college who have just had a new block built and were set up around the corner offering prospectus' to the future cooks and chef of Reading. Some of the students had come along to help out during the day and a wonderful job they did too.
I think perhaps the most fun demo came from the West Indian women's circle. Judy came up on stage to some Caribbean music all brightly dressed and bubbly. She then showed up how to make deep fried fish balls which she served up with some salad and hot pepper sauce. After a bit of a nervy start we we're soon whining our bootys on stage and people were crowding around to taste the food that just kept on coming.
Of course the main reason I was involved in the festival was as a judge for Reading, Steady, Cook! and Saturday's semi-final proved to be as tight as we'd always expected them to be. As the weather was really sunny and warm so there we plenty of people about to watch them too which just adds more pressure to the already nervous amateur cooks.
Ultimately after some seriously hard judging and having to get help in making the decisions it was Farid Singh and Rick Wyatt who made it through to the final. Martin and Marc who both missed out made it very hard especially where Martin's Chicken casserole with chocolate was concerned. Such a wonderfully thought out dish and I think it was the longest deliberation Hilary (my co-judge and deputy editor of the Reading Post) had to make during the whole competition.
Come the final though and it's all about cooking on the day and with the ever exuberant Paul Clerehugh on stage that was going to be fun for me however the added pressure of having a top chef watching your every move just piles on the nerves for the guys cooking.
(Paul, Rick, Myself and Farid)
Farid outcooked Rick on the day and I was personally pleased that he'd taken himself a little further out of his comfort zone by cooking a fillet of fish which is something he'd only tried that very morning and he did it very well. He'd also created a rice dish and a spiced cabbage vegetable dish to go with it so he was very productive.
It's really difficult to make a decision on finals day because the other judges had not been around to see or taste any of the contestants previous food. I have to say that even though Rick lost on the day I felt he was the better cook throughout the competition. He is very knowledgeable about his food and excellent at sourcing local and seasonal ingredients and that was a fact that was considered during the judging and very nearly got it for Rick.
Next year I think the competition will be even bigger and better. We're constantly thinking of ways in which we can improve the format so that it's more entertaining for the people coming to see, for the venues that host and most importantly so that we get the absolute best out of the cooks wanting to make it to finals weekend. I'm already excited about next years competition.
So onto my news and I'm delighted to have been asked if I would like to start writing about food for Hilary. As I mentioned before Hilary was my regular co-judge for this years competition and she is also deputy editor for the Reading Post as well as another good food magazine so maybe soon I can officially call myself a food writer. Who'd have thought that? Certainly not any of my English teachers at school!!
I've also had a tentative enquiry about putting on a monthly food theatre evening with a top local restaurant so watch this space :-)
Now I really must dash so toodlepip xx
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
Friday, 23 July 2010
Another weekend has begun.....
Well it's everybodies favourite day of the week. Glorious Friday :-)
Today I shall mostly working but looking forward to this evening when I'll be helping out my fellow DJ cohort Keith Newman down at Mango in Reading. After last weekend perhaps it might be a good idea to pace it out a bit rather than get a bit too wobbly a bit too early. Still very good times and I'm actually fooling myself if I think tonight will be anything different.
This time however we will be inside giving the main room some serious old school classic house party vibes. should imagine that'll kick off at about 10:30pm but the garden is open from 9pm and it'll be free entry up until 10pm.
Before that however I think I shall go and have some rather lovely and tasty tucker over at the London Street Brassierre. Been a few times now and it really is right up there with the best Reading and the surrounding area has to offer.
The Chef de Patron Paul Clerehugh was one of the judges at the final of the cooking competition that I took part in and his comments about my dish after the event backstage we're just so inspiring. I was always acutely aware that I could cook a bit but what he said really made me realise that their was something inside of me, a talent I suppose, that need to get out hence why we're more actively seeking pub/restaurant opportunities than ever before.
After the final Paul wrote me a voucher entitling me to a meal for two at his restaurant for whenever I wanted to use it, and we did. It was completely VIP, champagne on arrival, whatever drinks we wanted throughout the meal and all the food we could eat. It was brilliant and such a fantastic and completely unexpected gesture.
Whenever I go to a restaurant I really try to have something different from the previous visit but I already know what I'm having tonight for a starter and that's the diver caught Scallops with Cauliflower Purée, simply amazing! I could eat that dish everyday for the rest of my life and never bore of it.
While in Ibiza a couple of weeks ago we (Carley & I) introduced Emily and Grandad to Aioli which you may know as the Garlic Mayonnaise stuff you get delivered with bread to your table at virtually all Spanish restaurants.
Well they both absolutely loved it. When you consider that at the time Emily was just 6 and Grandad would turn his nose up at the mere mention of the word Garlic this was some revelation. Emily asked if we could get it at home which of course you can from most supermarkets but thats the processed stuff and nowhere near as good. So you can imagine my surprise when I got home after a rubbish day stuck in traffic to find lashing and lashings of Aioli handmade my Carley & Emily. Let me tell you it was beautiful too, easily as good if not better than any I've had in Spain. So massive thumbs up to the girls. I'll get the recipe and have it posted on my facebook page very soon.
Following up the Aioli was a traditional Spaghetti Carbonara which again was perfectly executed by Carley and such a great comfort dish, so much so that I was asleep on the sofa within minutes of finishing it. I think it came from a Hairy Bikers recipe but I'll have to ask Carley and then if I can find a link to their site I'll stick that up too.
Only a couple of days to go and then we're off to Norfolk for some seaside shinanighans......can't wait to dip my toes in the cool, greeny brown waters of the North Sea.
Mind you one of my absolute favourite chefs Galton Blackiston has a Michelin starred hotel and restaurant up that way................hmmmmmmmm
Today I shall mostly working but looking forward to this evening when I'll be helping out my fellow DJ cohort Keith Newman down at Mango in Reading. After last weekend perhaps it might be a good idea to pace it out a bit rather than get a bit too wobbly a bit too early. Still very good times and I'm actually fooling myself if I think tonight will be anything different.
This time however we will be inside giving the main room some serious old school classic house party vibes. should imagine that'll kick off at about 10:30pm but the garden is open from 9pm and it'll be free entry up until 10pm.
Before that however I think I shall go and have some rather lovely and tasty tucker over at the London Street Brassierre. Been a few times now and it really is right up there with the best Reading and the surrounding area has to offer.
The Chef de Patron Paul Clerehugh was one of the judges at the final of the cooking competition that I took part in and his comments about my dish after the event backstage we're just so inspiring. I was always acutely aware that I could cook a bit but what he said really made me realise that their was something inside of me, a talent I suppose, that need to get out hence why we're more actively seeking pub/restaurant opportunities than ever before.
After the final Paul wrote me a voucher entitling me to a meal for two at his restaurant for whenever I wanted to use it, and we did. It was completely VIP, champagne on arrival, whatever drinks we wanted throughout the meal and all the food we could eat. It was brilliant and such a fantastic and completely unexpected gesture.
Whenever I go to a restaurant I really try to have something different from the previous visit but I already know what I'm having tonight for a starter and that's the diver caught Scallops with Cauliflower Purée, simply amazing! I could eat that dish everyday for the rest of my life and never bore of it.
While in Ibiza a couple of weeks ago we (Carley & I) introduced Emily and Grandad to Aioli which you may know as the Garlic Mayonnaise stuff you get delivered with bread to your table at virtually all Spanish restaurants.
Well they both absolutely loved it. When you consider that at the time Emily was just 6 and Grandad would turn his nose up at the mere mention of the word Garlic this was some revelation. Emily asked if we could get it at home which of course you can from most supermarkets but thats the processed stuff and nowhere near as good. So you can imagine my surprise when I got home after a rubbish day stuck in traffic to find lashing and lashings of Aioli handmade my Carley & Emily. Let me tell you it was beautiful too, easily as good if not better than any I've had in Spain. So massive thumbs up to the girls. I'll get the recipe and have it posted on my facebook page very soon.
Following up the Aioli was a traditional Spaghetti Carbonara which again was perfectly executed by Carley and such a great comfort dish, so much so that I was asleep on the sofa within minutes of finishing it. I think it came from a Hairy Bikers recipe but I'll have to ask Carley and then if I can find a link to their site I'll stick that up too.
Only a couple of days to go and then we're off to Norfolk for some seaside shinanighans......can't wait to dip my toes in the cool, greeny brown waters of the North Sea.
Mind you one of my absolute favourite chefs Galton Blackiston has a Michelin starred hotel and restaurant up that way................hmmmmmmmm
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