All posts tagged: cooking

Lamb en croute

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This started as just an idea… can you even make lamb en croute? First there was confidence, then concern, then a strange conversation with myself. ‘If it doesn’t work first time who cares? Erm.. I care. Well then, why don’t you also cook it sous vide and then if it over or under cooks you can serve that instead and then eat the pastry one yourself later!’…. In the end both ended up on the plate (?!) Ingredients: (Serves 2) one rack of lamb a handful of frozen peas chanterelles one leak pate de foie gras (or any smooth pate) two leaves of savoy cabbage one egg for egg wash pre-rolled puff pastry parsley oil optional Method: 1.  Get your butcher to french trim the lamb rack. Life is too short to be doing this at home. Its also far to short to make puff pastry so just buy that! Cut the rack in half and remove the bones from one portion. Place the one still with the bones attached, well seasoned, in a sous …

Turbot with red wine

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This is a pretty easy dish which plays on combinations which might sound a little odd to some but that actually have a long history together: Turbot, red wine, and mushrooms. It was also one of the very rare occasions in which I managed to make a restaurant quality dish at home. Give it a shot and please be careful with frying the kale – read the full recipe first! Ingredients: (Serves 2) Turbot, about 200g a portion Bottle of red wine – here I used an OK Rioja Kale – one stalk Spinach leaves – bag of Chanterelles – handful Butter Method: 1.  Portion the fish and reserve the bones and skin for the sauce 2.  In a large saucepan, place the bones and a dash of oil on a high heat. Get some caramelisation on them – it makes the sauce much tastier later. When there is some good browning, add an entire bottle of wine and cook down until syrupy. Season and pass through a muslin cloth. Add a knob of butter …

Pork Fest

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Pork is such an amazingly versatile meat and one from which many of my favourite things are derived. Black pudding, jamon, brawn, and pork chops! You can literally use every thing on this noble beast from head to tail, and after all if you are going to kill an animal to eat it, the least you can do is to make use of every single last bit.

80s mackerel

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Around the time I was growing up in London dishes a little like this were all the rage at the poshest restaurants. I know because I spent a large part of that childhood studying a book my parents had on their bookcase, the first Roux brothers cookbook. This is not a Roux brothers dish – I made this one up – but it is well within that 80s nouvelle cuisine style.

Bord’eau

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(18/ 20) Exquisite flavours delivered with an extraordinary subtleness which really sets it apart from the more vibrant delivery of the other top restaurants in town. Strong Dutch influence over a quintessentially French cuisine, with lots from the sea, that has now also found a more successful balance with its light Japanese -inspired flavour combinations. Slicker, more professional, and generally friendly service. An undeniably impressive restaurant, but one which for me somehow still manages to lack a touch of charisma.

Celebration of chicken

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Forget steak and foie gras, the main reason I’m not vegetarian is chicken. To live without the deep savoury umami of a decent roast chicken is to live in grayscale. Today I’m turning up the saturation to fill tilt by cooking every part of the bird, both to showcase its versatility and to get the maximum usage out of this noble animal.