Simon's Blog

So then, do you know what I love most about the internet?

No, thought not.



It allows me to put pictures like this one up!

See, the great thing about living in the digital age is that anyone can write about anything they want.

And because food is such an ace subject, and loads of people think they really know about it, they try to write about it.

Which is fine, but because I really really know what I'm talking about I'm going to tell you how to turn a sows ear into a silk purse.

Well, sort of.                                                                                                                                                          

Now that Mr H has acquired Callow Hall, I've had to start thinking.

Which takes some doing for me!

So, starting at the beginning I thought of our smoked salmon, and how I can kill two birds with one stone, and use all of the fillets and trimmings, for two different starters, on two different menus, at two different hotels.

So, here is some of our Rowsley cure Scottish smoked salmon, served very simply, with some pickled cucumbers, lemon and cracked peppercorn butter, caviar and some micro cress.

I think sometimes the classic, simple flavour combinations work best, indeed, sometimes its exactly what I'm looking for!

However, we also need to show off our creative side, and also find ways to use up any off cuts and trimmings.

As we are now getting through ten sides a week, that's quite a lot of off cuts!

So, how about this then!

Inspired by a classical mille feuille ( which means a thousand sheets ) it normally uses just puff pastry, baked between two flat trays, and then layered with a rich vanilla cream. Fruit can also be added, raspberries are especially good.
If making a sweet one, try to use the off cuts of rolled puff pastry as these will rise less. And, thinking about it, it's another way off using up leftovers!

Anyway, at East Lodge we do use puff pastry as the base layer, as I wanted something more robust.

Egg washed and baked in a hot oven, you can see the compressed pastry, which remains light and crunchy. The other layers are thin North African bric pastry.

Now, I love this pastry, it's so versatile.

Some fancy London chef's even try using as an a little olympic torch holder, which is a little bit silly, in my opinion.

One of the best ways to use it is just as they do in Tunisia, where all you need is an egg, some chopped up meat, vegetables or cheese, or a mixture!

In fact, it's another great way of using up some leftovers!

So, lay out a sheet of pastry and, in a semi circle, spread out some chopped up leftovers, I've used some asparagus, ham and cheese. Crack an egg into the middle, fold over and fry, in hot olive oil, until golden on both sides.


The oil needs to be hot, but be careful not to burn the pastry, but the egg yolk must remain runny!

The idea is to enjoy it piping hot!

I reckon I can eat about five.

Or, maybe six.

Anyway, back to the salmon.

We mince the salmon and press it into a square, the same size as the puff pastry.

The other off cuts are infused in cream and milk, freshly grated horseradish is added, along with salt, lemon juice and cayenne pepper. After cooling down and strained the smoked salmon flavoured cream is set with agar, blended and cooled over ice.



So, it's turned into a light, light light smoked salmon mousse.

Balls of cucumber are compressed in the sous vide machine to alter their texture, and dill is picked.

The bric pastry is baked until crisp, with the top layer coated with fennel seeds, grated lemon zest and chives.

So then we just need to put it all together!

Simple when you know how.

It's the first course on the tasting menu at East Lodge at the moment, and just in case there are any more tail end bits of salmon around you could try this dish.

I was doing a cookery demo, along with Max Fisher, to showcase Derbyshire's amazing produce, and this is one of the dishes.

We got hold of some flowers from the Herb Table, and I was hoping to get my hands on a river trout, but couldn't so got one from the Farm Shop instead.

As we smoke our own salmon I though I could include that as well, a light sabayon was made using our own eggs yolks and home made butter.

Some of our rye bread was dried with bronze fennel picked from the garden, and finally some shaved asparagus was used as a garnish.

I know it's not from Derbyshire but as it's so seasonal, it seemed wrong not to use it.

So, these pictures are for all of you who didn't enjoy today's first picture!



And finally, how the little piggy's ear got turned into a silk purse.






We break down the suckling pig, brine it for twenty four hours and then cook it in the water bath.

Deboned while still warm, it is then pressed over night, ready to be portioned for service.

Warmed in the water bath and served with a tomato and tamarind chutney, to cut the richness, a smooth aubergine puree, some fried onions rings, for some sweetness, some bright green mineral rich spinach, and a pork juice, sharpened with cider vinegar and diced lardo.

It's a dish actually inspired by a pork vindaloo!


Right, that's it.



I've enjoyed talking about the new dishes at East Lodge, and some of the simpler ones as well.






You see, that's what I love about my job, is that we try to please all of our guests, weather they want some plain smoked salmon, or a more luxurious preparation, or something that l really crave sometimes, just a nice simple cheese and pickle sandwich, washed down with a mug of Bovril!

Some people just don't get how perfectly some of these flavour combinations work, and that's why we do them.


Sometimes, the simple things are the best!

Ok, next time I'm going to tell you how even an idiot like me can keep meat moist all of the time, if Big Green Eggs are any good, and if the sun is ever going to come out.




Oh, and this is the Yellow Room at Callow Hall, where I've been spending lots of time lately, nice isn't it!


Not in the dining room you understand, just the kitchen there, as I thought, that just for a while things were going to be normal.

But then S.W.D.

TB is back rolling with the ELBMC, I thought that I might have a settled crew, but then Jake got rumbled, and his lung fell out, or something like that.

Just think what a scouser will do to get out of work!

So there you are, I'm pushing on all over Derbyshire, it's my "Spread Love" project.

Not too sure its working though!

Todays music recommendation - Ming's Incredible Disco Machine (Geeeetaaar & Peeeeeeanno Mix)

Amazing!

Right, it's going to kick off.

I was watching a youtube video of Grant Achatz of Alinea in Chicago, doing an El Bulli inspired tasting menu.

And it all looked fantastic.

So, I watched another.

And it all started going a bit wonky.

The chef's came out into the restaurant, rolled out a mat on the table, and started putting food on it.

Pudding, I think it was.

So, after behaving like a chimp at a tea party, they let the guests tuck in. Can't really see that sort of behaviour taking off in Derby, but here is my own El Bulli inspired dinner.

Served in Shottle.

It's been said that all you should leave behind when preparing a duck is it's quack.

And I agree.


So, I'm starting by making my sofrito.
It's a basic Spanish preparation that uses garlic paste, onions, tomato passata, herbs and olive oil.




Great to have some in the fridge, it will give a real umami boost to certain dishes.


Crushed garlic is sweated down, then lots of onions go in, picked thyme, more olive oil and a pinch of sugar. Easy.


Right, so that can cook down, until just golden and I'm going to push on with the duck.

I've got a whole one, so I can use all of it on two different dishes.

I'm actually in the process of trying to come up with a mini tasting menu, using one chicken, and serving it in four courses. But that's another story.



So, the duck has been dispatched. I've taken off the legs and boned them out, removed the wishbone, scored the skin, but left the breasts on the bone, as this will keep them moist and stop them shrinking, and chopped up the bones for my stock. The heart will be fried, and eaten, as a chef's treat.










Right the onions are ready, Malcolm McLaren's "Double Dutch" is playing and the wine has been opened.

So a packet of passata goes in and that can be left now, to cook, uncovered until it's all nice and thick and jammy.

I've browned off the chopped duck bones, added the onion trimmings and a glass of white wine to make a duck stock. This will be used to cook the rice. You see, I'm going to use all of the duck.

The duck's heart is at the bottom left of the chopping board, by the way.

Now, because I was thinking ahead, I left some of the crushed garlic in my bowl, all I need to do is add some chopped parsley, olive oil and toasted chopped hazelnuts. But I don't have any, so I used some almonds instead. It's funny but it sounds like a Spanish pesto to me.
Wonder which came first?
This will be mixed into the rice later.
See, all about the mise en place.

So the chopped up, boned, duck legs are being browned off now.

Listen, it's going to spit hot fat everywhere, but that is good.
It's show's the pan is hot enough, and I want to really caramelise those duck legs because they will impart a delicious roasted flavour to the dish.



So moving on to the main course, I've peeled a couple of oranges.

I thought this made perfect sense, as duck goes very well with oranges, and remember this blog is all about El Bulli


So, the oranges are sliced, sprinkled with thyme flowers, Maldon sea salt, olive oil and honey.

It would be nice as a little pudding with some dark chocolate and pistachios, and a sorbet.

And, it wouldn't be too bad with some nice fatty, fried confit pork belly.

But, I digress.

I mean, have you seen how nice it is out there, it's like I'm in Spain at the moment.
Except there are no riots going on at the moment in Shottle.

Although the bongo's haven't arrived yet!

Ok, back to the duck legs now.

I've added a couple of spoonfuls of the sofrito, and I'm going to let that reduce down with the duck legs.

And now it all going to get a bit hairy.

Bomba paella rice is added to the duck legs, and the hot duck stock is poured in.


Right, that's it.

I can relax.

Well, sort of.

This is not a risotto, so I don't need to worry about stirring it. In fact the slightly caramelised bits on the bottom of the pan are a delight!



So, now I'm nicely relaxed I can start worrying about the rest of the duck. A nice hot pan is required, and I've salted the duck as well.




You really need to brown the duck in a pan, to render the fat, and as I'm only going to roast the duck for 10 minutes, it will not get enough colour in the oven without some help from me.









See.





Looking good eh?






The nice thing about this dinner is if the timings right, and everything peaks at the same time, it's really easy to sit down together and enjoy it.

And, that's the whole point of dinner.

So, the rice has absorbed all of the stock, and all I'm going to do is stir in a couple off spoonfuls of picada, that's the parsley and almond paste,  and we're off!


First course sorted.








And it's superb.



And now for the breasts.

As you can see, by roasting on the bone, and leaving it to rest, the flesh is nice and pink and juicy and rare and a perfect rich foil to the sweet honeyed orange slices.

So, there you are.

Dinner, inspired by the worlds best ever restaurant.


And we even used plates.


















Right, that's it.


Some of the first English asparagus and Jersey Royals are coming over tomorrow, so that's my Sunday lunch sorted.

Wonder what they would be like in a sandwich?

Perhaps I'll have a  think about it.

Simon's song choice tonight - Dr Feelgood (Groove Junkies Rockin'Dub)

Oh, and this time the pictures look a little less wobbly!

Over easy sunny side up poached fried boiled scrambled smoked green middle back streaky fried slice mushrooms oat cakes tomatoes tinned fresh baked beans black pudding brown sauce tommy k toast butter marmalade jam marmite porridge honey brown sugar cream kedgeree eggs benedict florentine smoked salmon smoked haddock fruit salad prunes grapefruit orange juice bloody mary bucks fizz tea coffee fried haslet

It takes a lot of work to come up with an award winning breakfast!

And how it can be a bit of a complicated serve!

But it is easy though, and as long as you bag some top quality bangers, bacon and eggs you're half way there.

Enough has already been said about the Great British Breakfast, but it is delicious.

And as I love it so much, I wanted to start off the new spring tasting menu at East Lodge with a good healthy fry up.

Well, sort of.

As a good breakfast should be the start of the day I figured I could start the tasting menu with the same sort of flavours.

So, we have bacon, ham, black pudding, fried bread and eggs.

It took quite a while but it all ended up looking a  bit round, and I also wanted to see if I could get the black and gold colours of East Lodge on the menu, and I have!

So here it is.

East Lodge Breakfast 2012 Bradley Style.


Quite simple really.

All we do is slowly poach some ham hocks with onions, carrots and herbs.
When the bone can be easily removed we know they are ready.
It's important to let the hocks cool down in their liquor, as this will keep them moist.
The meat is then removed from the bones, and half is shredded and the other half minced.
We reduce a small amount of the reserved poaching stock and melt some duck fat, and mix with the cooled meat.
What, you didn't really think I would do a fat free fry up did you?
It's seasoned and rolled into balls, ready for the next stage.
The rest of the ham stock is strained and infused with grated black pudding overnight.
It's then clarified, using egg whites, protein and vegetables.
I did try the ice filtration method but the yield was pretty pathetic, so I gave up on that one.
Strained again, we end up with a beautiful, black, shiny stock.
It's weighed and softened gelatine is added.
We place the chilled pork balls on a cooling rack and melt the black pudding jelly.

This is then ladled over the breakfast.

A lot of times.

So, thats the easy bit sorted.

It does, of course, have eggs, bacon and fried bread with it.

Remember it is, after all, a full English!

So, we cook East Lodge egg yolks in the water bath, then cool them down, and whisk them up.

I love this garnish, it tastes so eggy and rich.

White bread is grated and fried and mixed with crispy chopped smoked bacon, chives and grated pork crackling.

And that's it, breakfast, my way.

I'll tell you how a Sunday roast has also made it on to the tasting menu next time.

Right that's it.

I'm off to eat some pasties now, on the way to hang around a petrol forecourt.

And, tonight, due to overwhelming success, starting around 6pm, another extreme blog will take place!

It's going to be quackers!!

Oh, and just one picture, it's of our new white chocolate and rhubarb dessert.

I know it's a bit left footed, but it is quite pretty, eh Jake!

So after having a chat with Matt today about how many bloggers there are out there, and listening

It's been seven hours and forty days, since I last wrote a blog.

I work every day and sleep all night, since I had no time.

Since I've been busy, sorting out my mac book pro,

But now it's back,

I can start again,

'Cause nothing compares to apple,
Nothing compares to apple.

So, there you are.

Now, at last, I can talk about intelligence, and how, I think I might have a little bit.

Unlike Sir Jonny, who. as head of design at the world's biggest company, could not be bothered to make a white wine proof mac book pro!


So, with my new, dry, apple ready, and continuing the Irish theme, I'm going to talk about clever cooking.

As you know we make truffled goats cheese butter at East Lodge, but I wanted to make some of my own butter, from scratch, just to see what is was like.

And I was bored.

Quite easy actually, just over whipped cream.

In fact, any idiot, including me, can do it.


So, what happens is, after whipping the cream, it will split, and leave you with the butter, and also some buttermilk.

After seasoning the butter with Maldon sea salt, and patting it to remove any remaining buttermilk, it was ready to be served.

Which was great, but after thinking about it, wondered what to do with the milk.

Well, well, well!

I thought!

How about soda bread.

I've never actually made it before, but I knew it needed either yoghurt of buttermilk, and as the proud owner of some, thought I'd put it to good use.

It's so easy as well.

Plain flour, some salt, sugar, bicarb and buttermilk.

No boring kneading, just mix to a wet dough, pop in the oven, and job done.

We served it on Saturday night with some of our smoked salmon and a Guinness gel, as a surprise course, to our chef's table guests.

And it really was good, but, you know, most things with warm bread and freshly churned butter are pretty good!

So, there you are, clever cooking.

Here's another example.

It's one of our lunch menu dishes, that saves on washing up, keeps all the flavours together, and is a perfect restaurant dish for cooking a la minute.


A perfect way to cook fish, it keeps it moist, makes a sauce and warms the veg!

We use salmon at the moment, but any fish will do. And by preparing some green vegetables, blanching turned new potatoes, and chopping herbs, it's all ready to be finished when called away.

So, poach the fish, then remove, and keep warm.
Reduce the poaching liquor and add the blanched vegetables.  We also add some sliced tiger prawn tails, but scallops or caviar would be a nice addition.
Finished with a good amount of butter, a drop or two of lemon juice,  and there you go.






A nice, intelligent fish dish, proving that there are, just a few, clever chefs out there!



Not too sure about these two though!



Right that's it.

Next time I'm going to tell you about how my new bread knife is making me put on weight, and if this new mac book pro is red wine proof!


And how a full English breakfast has made it on to the East Lodge Spring tasting menu.

Degustation


Gastronomique


Exceptionnel


Prestige


I think I'll just call mine the tasting menu.

They've been around for ages now, and I think it's a very good way to enjoy your dinner.

Eight or more courses, all showing off different cooking techniques and styles, hopefully with different wine parings, making people really take their time over a good dinner, or lunch!

Anyway here's mine.


As you can see the East Lodge kitchen is an oasis of calm!

I'll soon change that though, look, Tom's having a chinwag with Matt, Ben's doing some colouring in, and Jon's just trying to work out what's going on!

No, actually, all of our diners at the chef's table are amazed at how peaceful and organized we are, but, you know, we are trying to serve eight courses to lots of different tables we have to be well set up.

So, the easy bit first, the bread.

Made fresh every day, we offer a simple brown, a cheese and bacon and a Guinness and rye sour dough.

Served, warm, on a slate with salted farmhouse butter and home made truffle goats cheese butter.

It was inspired by a visit to Tetsuya's restaurant in Sidney where we had butter mixed with Parmesan cheese and black truffles. Delicious.

Easy to do at home as well, just mix soft goats cheese, butter and white truffle oil, and there you go, sorted! Right that's the only recipe I'm doing tonight!

We get lots of positive feedback over these, and it really sets the tone of the meal to come.

Right, lets eat.


I've talked about the bouche before.

It really shows my love of French food, and how we can change it to suit a multi course menu.

Normally served as a main course, "Rossini" is a fillet steak garnished with sauteed duck livers, truffles and a brioche crouton.

This is exactly the same. Well sort of.

We salt beef fillet, leave it, then air dry it, for a "ham". Sugar cured, marinated duck livers are cooked in the water bath, rolled out and pressed.

A beef consomme is made in the classical manor, poured on top of the chilled duck liver, sliced bread wafers are dried in the oven, Truffle oil is mixed with mayonnaise, radishes are sliced and parsley is deep fried.
I think it's lovely, and it allows me introduce a more modern dish, but still with classical roots.


Right, this one's quite healthy!

It's fashionable to be baking whole vegetables in a salt crust (some use clay as well), so we salt bake celeriac. It's flavour is amazing, and it's so white and soft, I'm going to do it all the time now.

Scooped out and dressed with some olive oil, cider vinegar and a touch of salt, it marries perfectly with some slowly cooked turnips.

These are steamed, as I think they would be a bit small to salt bake. Then rolled in onion ash, to give a smoky dark taste.
This is another new idea, I think, inspired by Noma restaurant. It's just burnt onion peelings, blended to a powder, and it's a nice thing to roll cooked root vegetables in. I was trying to capture those earthy, winter smells and tastes. A boned, pressed chicken wing, bacon, brushed with maple syrup, wood sorrel to add some acidity, and a reduced chicken stock and shallot dressing complete the dish.

It's one of the dishes that always gets good feedback, and I love the sense of winter I get when I eat it.

And, in case you're wondering what I do with all that left over chicken, here it is.

Well, some of it. The legs are salted and cooked in duck fat, mixed with ham and turned into this rather wonderful terrine.

The breasts are used as a main course, so as you can see we are using every last bit of the chicken!

Right, now we start the fish dishes.

Now, I love this one.

I think a big, fat, juicy, caramelised tiger prawn is a real thing of joy!

So I serve two. We use the shells to make an intense prawn bisque, made in the usual way, with tomatoes, saffron, vegetables and herbs.

Reduced to an essence, it gives a massive boost to the dish.

It's Ben's sweet potato puree recipe, made with a caramel, orange juice and hazelnut butter, the richness and smooth texture are very important as we are serving some very pretty, pink, Yorkshire rhubarb with it.

Again, cooked at a low temperature, so it does not break up, with some sugar and sliced ginger.

This to me, makes lots of sense. Lemon is often added to fish, to sharpen up the flavour. And gooseberries can be paired successfully with oily fish, so I thought, why not?

And everyone says how nice it looks when we serve it!

Now, I've got a slight problem now.

The other night, I was a little bit "in it", and I forgot to take a picture of the next course.

It's turbot, my second favourite fish, after Dover sole.

And as I didn't want the turbot to feel left out I've included this picture from last summer.


Anyway, this year it's being served with a smooth, sweet garlic cream. Made by blanching peeled garlic three times, and then cooking in milk and butter, it takes all the harshness away, and goes with a big meaty fish like turbot.

And, along the same lines, we serve meaty Portabella mushrooms along side with a reduced red wine sauce.

Listen, I'm not the first chef to pair a dense fish with red wine and other wintery garnishes, but it's such a good combination, I thought I would include it on the tasting menu. It also allows me to make a classical red wine sauce, as there is not one served elsewhere.

And it means we can start serving red wine as well, ready to lead into the main course.

I'm using pig.

It's belly to be precise.

It's a super cut, and works perfectly as a main, being light and rich, and being so popular, everyone is willing to try it.

We remove the skin (this is saved for the garnish) and bones, placed in a pickling brine for 24 hours, we then cook it in the water bath for 30 hours.

Pressed overnight, all we have to do is portion it, warm it up back in the bath, and then sear it on the plancha.

I made a sweet vinegar reduction using red wine vinegar, sherry vinegar and soft dark brown sugar.

It's just to cut the richness of the pork.

I needed to think of a suitable garnish, and as I was already using sweet potato, didn't want to use another potato in the menu. So I ordered some spelt from Sharpham Park, in the hope of doing a side dish with that.

But, it was just a bit too nutty and firm, so I thought of doing a risotto. Now I think a good risotto should be served as a course on it's own, but the creamy rice, heavily seasoned with cracked black pepper and buttery onions, would work well in this case.

And, remember, the pork skin I saved, well that is roasted and grated to sprinkle on top of the risotto, as a sort of crackling!

Buttered Savoy cabbage provides about 10% of your five a day, so I've covered all the food groups as well!


Now, it's got nothing at all to do with me, the water bath does all the work, but that pork is out of this world.

It's soft, yet sort of firm, sweet, juicy, incredible really. I love it.

I mean, just look at it.

Perfection itself.

So I hope you still have some red wine left, just to finish off with the next course.

I'm using goats cheese at the moment, as it's a lighter cleaner taste, after all that dark sweet pork.


Using fennel as a puree and a sorbet as well, it will cleanse the palate.

Black olive caramel, is also present, made by caramelising sugar then adding pitted black olives, and blending, it goes well with the other flavors.

Orange zest is grated over at the last minute, along with thyme breadcrumbs, it gets the diner ready for the pudding course.

Now that I've written about the dish it seems like it has some Italian overtones, which follow on nicely from the pork and risotto.

Lucky, eh!



So, here it is then.

2012.

The Bakewell.

Once, again, all the flavors of a Bakewell, but everything has changed.

I was thinking about changing the frangipane layer to something a bit crisper.

Like a buttery biscuit base.

Base
Base
Base
Base
Base


 But I thought that was a bit silly!

So using cooked rounds of frangipane, with a cooked vanilla custard poured over and finally a layer of strawberry jelly.

A scoop of almond milk sorbet, with a caramel dipped hazelnut and some gold leaf complete this years dish.

On the side are a couple of warm almond sponge cakes, injected with warm strawberry jam. A Derbyshire doughnut I suppose, and some hot custard for dipping them into!

So, you see all hot and cold, and soft and lovely!

Looks alright too!


Right, that's it!


I'll tell you all about the Simon Bradley "spread love" project next time.

And of my new interest in gardening, soil in particular.

And sausage rolls.

Pink socks and hand jiving for me now, can't wait!

If you look at this years AA restaurant guide, it mentions one of the dishes I served last year as

DE? = 564 x 21.13.1.13.9. = bellissimo x 100 ( todays blog) 

 So, it's all about the deliciousness!

The fifth taste, now we know as umami.

We nicked it from the Japanese, and it's one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, sour, hot and salt.

Translated it means delicious, or "pleasant savory taste".

I think the best way to describe it is when you eat something, it makes you want to smack your lips together with all that lovely savoriness.

It's found in lots of things, like dried seaweed, mushrooms, truffles, meats, oily fish and shellfish, fermented sauces and cheese.

So, last week, in memory of Tom, who was always trying to find that big hit of umami, I made this pie.

So while Tom is spreading the East Lodge good vibes all around Europe, I was coming up with this light weekday supper!

2012 is the year that I'm going to make all my pastry at home, and I'm going to use the tried and trusted half fat to flour.

So I used half suet and half butter, just rubbed in and mixed with a little cold water.

I'll start using lard in the spring, but I will always split it with half butter. It's a forgiving pastry to use as well, and if you work quickly, it should not break up.

So, back to seeing how much umami I could pack into my pie.

A couple of days earlier I made a sofrito, using lots of garlic, onions, thyme and tomato passata. It was dark, thick and intense. I used it in a duck paella, an unusual, but, amazing dish, that I got from the new "el bulli" cookbook.

Anyway, I though that the sofrito would add a certain something to the meat filling.


So, I fried some more onions in duck fat, then added some beef mince, then the sofrito, a bottle of dark English beer, beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, a tin of beef consomme and a good blob of my new umami paste

I cooked the filling so it was quite dry, as I wanted to be able to slice the pie cleanly, and anyway, I made a gravy with some more beer and consomme to serve on the side.

And, honestly, have you seen a more beautiful looking pie!




I also thought that such a full flavored pie would benefit from a massive red wine, so I opened a bottle of 2007 Ben Marco, an absolute delight!



Decanted, to let it open up, I knew it would be perfect with all that mouth filling umami!


And can you see you light and flaky the pastry is?


So we managed about half of it, and for ages after we could still taste it.


That's what umami means to me, having the ability to still taste something, after you have finished eating it.


I'm not sure if they do pies quite like this France though!

Anyway, back to the tasting menu that I still have not got around to waffle on about, but here's a little preview.



This was one of the starters we did at Christmas.

It's pressed confit duck livers, topped with a jellied beef consomme, air dried beef fillet, fried ox tongue, croutons and truffle cream.

As all you classical music lovers will realise, its a modern take on the classic "Rossini", where the original dish uses a fried fillet steak, served on a brioche crouton with sauteed duck livers and a black truffle sauce.

And, as we are starting 2012 with our new tasting menus at East Lodge, this is going to stay on as a bouche on the eight course menu.

Oh, and I'm going to be doing a risotto topped with lardo and grated pork crackling, to go with some pork belly that has been cooking for the past thirty hours in the water bath.

I can't wait!

It's going to be mad.

Have you seen the wind out there?

It's going mad today, all grey and cold and wet.

But these might brighten things up a bit!

And I think it would have a hard time blowing these little beauties over!

I made a couple this year, one for Charlie and Ben and one to keep all the front of house staff happy, up at East Lodge this Christmas.

Personally I think they are my best attempt yet, and I'm already thinking of ways to improve them, just in case we are challenged to any competitions this year!

The thing is with gingerbread houses is making sure the bread itself stays flat when you cook it.

And because its made with warm dough, resting, as you normally would, is impossible.

Because if you tried to rest it, it would crack and break up as you rolled it out.

So, the way to do it is, roll it out between two sheets of baking parchment. Incidentally I would always use this method to roll out any pastry, as you use less flour, and you can move the paper around, so its less likely to break the pastry.

Also, you need to roll out the pastry thinly, because if its too thick, it will be too heavy to stick together.

So, when the pastry is rolled out and cut to the desired shape, place another flat baking sheet on top, then bake.

Halfway through baking it, take it out of the oven, and working quickly, cut it again to its original shape, as it will have spread out slightly.

Pop it back in the oven for a few minutes, and then leave to dry out.

So, there you go, you will have perfectly flat gingerbread walls and a roof to build your house with.

All you need to now is go and buy loads of sweets, eat about half of them, and use the rest to decorate your little gingerbread house!

And to think that I am absolutely hopeless at DIY!

Not too sure about these little East Lodge igloos holding up too long though!

We were baking some celeriac as part of our tasting menu on New Year's Eve, and Tom and I made a salt crust.

It's a great way of cooking food as it keeps the flavor locked in, and quite dramatic too!

Made by mixing salt, some flour and egg whites to form a damp dough, all you need to do is pack it around your chosen food, roast it in a hot oven and there you are, easy really!

We cooked the celeriac for one hour, and left them to rest. They would stay warm in their little salt houses for a good couple of hours, and come service time, we just cracked them open, and scooped out the flesh.

And it was superb, served with some steamed Jerusalem artichokes, rolled in onion ash, dry cured bacon, that had been brushed with maple syrup, wood sorrel and a caramelised chicken reduction, it was my favorite dish of the night.

Simple, earthy and warming.

And, it might even be healthy for you as well!

So, after all these years 2012 might be the one where salt is now considered good for you!

Bloody well hope so!

Right, that's it.

Inspired by my very own ramblings, I'm going to make a soothing Shottle soup.

I went over to Ashbourne yesterday, as I wanted to get some pearled spelt, but Waitrose only had spelt flour, so I got a nice plump chicken instead.

I used half last night in a warming Moroccan broth, made with shopkeepers delight, preserved lemons and harissa.

So, left with half a chicken, I intend to made a chowder style soup, with diced potatoes and celeriac, chestnut mushrooms, onions and garlic, and finished with some cream, the only bright bursts of color will come from some blanched sprouts that I picked up this afternoon.

And I need all this food as the next one's going to be massive.

The tasting menu, at last!

It started in Sardinia.

Another little island, fighting off the rest of Europe, just like us!

And, how, their "carta musica" helped me to change Sophie into a Brussel sprout lover.

Originally made for the shepherds, to take to the mountains, its a crisp, light delight!

Some arrived at Shottle a couple of weeks ago, and taking inspiration from a special wedding breakfast menu I wrote for an Italian themed day at East Lodge, and paying no attention to my long term fiscal stability I  ended up with this lot!

The mussels were steamed, just until they started to open, then tipped into a colander, to save their juices.

I made a rich tomato sauce, using lots of garlic, shallots and herbs. I was going to stir in the cooked mussels at the last minute. I also got some fregola, a Sardinian pasta, that I cooked in the mussel stock, to also stir into my sauce.


So, with my "carta musica" and some cured meats, and a hearty mussel stew for my main course, it was a nice sunny midweek supper.

"I dream of you

Sprouts, sprouts, sprouts

Du, du, du, du, du

Alle Ci bum ci bum bum

It's wonderful, it's wonderful"

Do you think, that if, like chips, sprouts had a catchy song written about them that they would be more popular?

No, me neither, but, like Richard the Lionheart, marching through Europe, I'm on a mission to make people love these little green brassicas.

So for my Christmas miracle, I warmed the Sardinian bread in a low oven, and then placed some prosciutto on top.
Doing this while warm allows the fat on the ham to soften and really develop it's flavor.

I got some lovely tight, fresh sprouts, and shredded them as fine as I could, and seasoned them with a touch of lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and some salt and pepper.

I'll tell you what, they were delicious!

Sweet, nutty and crisp, with the bread and ham I think it would turn anyone into a sprout lover, and a drizzle of truffle oil would be a nice addition too!
Meanwhile over at East Lodge I'm serving them like this.

Using celeriac, beetroot, swede, carrots, baby onions and turnips, all cooked seperately, as they have different cooking times, we then saute them all off together, glazed with honey and thyme butter, its a great side dish for our roasted turkey.

The all important parsnips are served as a puree, with a bacon and fried bread "crumble'", chipolatas are wrapped in bacon and roasted, and finally a bread and suet stuffing is served.




Oh, and I nearly forgot, the turkey and roasted potatoes!

So, it a nice, colorful, somewhat heathy garnish for December.

Brussels, they can be loved, and they're not just for Christmas you know!

Right, thats it!

I'll be going all festive next time with our East Lodge Christmas tasting menu, including blitzed up Brussels!

Just because David looked a little bit lonely!



And, just to show there's no hard feelings, and I really do try to include the whole world, have a look at these, that also arrived at Shottle this week.

Ok, that's it, have fun!

Right, thats it!

There's no point in doing anything else now.

After sampling steaks from all around the world I can now announce that the best steaks in the world are served in Rowsley, just down the road from my birthplace!

This beauty on the right was one of a brace I acquired last week, and polished off with Mr H last Sunday at East Lodge. Along with a bottle of 2007 Catena Alta malbec, and, I think, another of first growth claret.

The "Don Pedro". Sixteen ounces of pure, grass fed, Argentinian rib eye steak.

The depth and length of flavor was incredible. Tender as any other prime cut I've tasted. Cooked on a red hot plancha, and then popped in the oven for a few minutes, rested, seasoned heavily with salt and pepper, I thought it was amazing, and something I think we should repeat at least every month.

And, yes, I know Argentina is not that local, but I figure if we can import all of their lovely wine, a couple of steaks won't make too much difference.

And, anyway, I use loads of beautiful Derbyshire beef on the menu at East Lodge.

But I really have tried steaks all over the world, most of them very good, all of them large, some massive!

A few years ago I found myself in New York, wondering just how much food its possible to consume, and also, how to make every waiters job as hard as possible. I was in Dean and Deluca, that famous food store, mesmerized by all the produce on display, I thought I'd grab a coffee. All I wanted was a normal coffee. Actually I'm not sure thats possible now, after being shouted at by the barista, for not making my mind up quickly enough, a New Yorker, pushed past and asked for a "half regular, half de-caff, frappe, latte, to go"!

She was either mental or really cool, I still can't work it out!

Luckily, my next choice was much more straight forward. Arriving at Grand Central Station, bypassing the oyster bar and heading straight to the Michael Jordon steak house, we were offered the days specials. Either a three and a half pound lobster, cooked how you like it, or a thirty two ounce "T bone"!

Job done then, I'll have one of those, rare, house fries on the side and a starter of roasted marrow bones.

Quite full after that!

One summer mum and dad took an old farm house in Tuscany for a couple of weeks, and I joined them for a few days.

Up on the hill was an old castle, converted into a restaurant, it was very dramatic, and a bit off the beaten track.
So there I was, tucking into my starter of linguini with scampi, when this massive, moustached, Italian walked in.

Followed, I presume, by his wife and daughter, and they were pretty big as well!

Half an hour later, two waiters came into the restaurant, and put down this huge steak florentine, carved a slice off each for his wife and daughter, and then just lifted the remaining hunk of beef onto his plate! Brilliant!

The next night we went there again, and dad and myself shared one, and it was, of course, delicious.

So, there you are.

My search around the world for the best steak has ended.

And all the time it was just down the road from where I was born in Darley Dale, how lucky is that!

Right that's it!

Next time I'm going to tell you how I performed a Christmas miracle and have turned Sophie into a sprout lover!



And, how, up at East Lodge, we have had our first snow of the season!

Delicious.


Derbyshire.


December.


Delight.






It all started with 70's disco.

I was listening to a Ministry of Sound disco mix when the song "September" came on.

And it got me thinking. Again!

Could I do a dessert named after a month?

Yes, as it turned out. And as its not long to go, I came up with this. Its everything one would expect to find in a kitchen around December, and now I'm going to tell you what's on it.

I had to have some sort of mince pie on it, but as I'm not a great lover of mince pies, I tried to come up with something a bit less cloying.

So, fitting for Christmas, mincemeat sorbet was born!

I blended mincemeat with a sherry and orange syrup, tipped it into the thermomix and let rip.

Strained, cooled and churned ( sounds a bit like my disco dancing!) it really is delicious.

Grated sweet pastry is the "pie" element.

So, what else then?

We all love a glass of mulled wine, right Lisa! So some pears are poached in mulled wine, made the correct way with cloves, orange zest, cinnamon, brown sugar and brandy. Chilled and compressed, they are like little bursts of December on the plate.
A very light brandy sabayon is made using eggs yolks, sugar and, yes more, brandy. Whisked over a pan of simmering water, until thick, a small amount of melted unsalted butter is whisked in. This will help keep the sauce stable, and of course, make it rich and lovely!
We made a snowball ice cream, using Warnick's advocaat, which really is rather good!
Rolled in crushed meringue, dried orange zest and ground pistachios, it looks a bit like a snowball too!
Our East Lodge apple curd and some marinated apples add a clean note, as do some segments of satsuma.

So, it's December on a plate.

However, I still think it needs some more work doing on it, perhaps more textures, thats why it won't be on the menu just yet.

This one is though.

Another divine December dish!

Using pheasant, we made a mousse with some breast meat. Blended with cream and then passed through a fine sieve, rolled and poached, it's a classic way of making a mousse.

Sometimes served as it is, we cooled it down, sliced it and fried it on the plancha. It gets a nice crust, and its just lovely warm, soft and crisp at the same time.

Right, so what other goodies does December bring?

Port and Stilton are two that spring to my mind. And as the French do a version of this mousse using chicken and the slightly inferior Roquefort, I thought this would work just as well, using produce from Derbyshire!


So, a slice of warm pheasant mousse is served with a piece of cured and smoked pheasant breast, a dice of Colton Bassett Stilton, grated chestnuts, a celeriac condiment, wrapped in a fine pastry cylinder, some Port soaked ripe pears, celery leaves and finally, some parsley cress, oh yes, and some festive slices of red radish!

So, there you are, December on two plates.

And, still on the subject of music, which I am, I'm having some piano paper for my dinner tonight.

Matt would be very pleased!  Its actually Sardinian flat bread, rolled very thinly, that I will serve with some ham, as a little starter.

But, just one last thing.

They have arrived. And they look amazing. Unbelievable. Out of this world. I just cannot wait.

All the way from Argentina.

My new tight, black tango trousers!

No, only joking, two sixteen ounce rib eye steaks. THE DON PEDRO.

Right, thats it, Christmas, it seems has come early in Shottle, so I'll tell you all about it next time!

Bonsoir.

"Qu'ils mangent de la brioche"

So now you know!

Let them eat cake.

Often, wrongly, attributed to Marie Antoinette, it seems that any number of French princess's could have used this phrase.

Also incorrect in it's use of the word cake, when it should be brioche.

It was when the peasants ran out of money for bread, so they thought they should eat brioche. Although if they had access to my new afternoon tea delights at East Lodge, then I'm sure there would have been no revolution, just lots of happy frogs!

Although, just over the Channel, we were discovering the delights of pies.

 Specifically steak and oyster. Amazing, I'm sure, but I just wanted to show this new 2011 version we've done on the tasting menu up at East Lodge. Using sea bass, wrapped in chard leaves, with a celery puree, with a sauce made with reduced beef roasting juices, caviar and bone marrow.

 So, it is sort of, well, a tiny bit, related to the old English pie!

GIVE ME BUTTER, GIVE ME MORE BUTTER, KEEP ON GIVING ME BUTTER!

Another, less famous, but no less important French quote, by the legend that was Fernand Point.

One of the first, and probably, the most important, lessons I learnt in French classical cooking.

In France we used to make brioche with the same amount of butter as flour, resulting in a delicious, rich, buttery loaf.

This one was made with just half the amount of butter to flour, but it still tastes beautiful, packed with chopped pistachios, dried apricots and sultanas.

It will be served , toasted with our autumn rolled game ballotines, that we have been busy preparing.

Using a mixture of pheasant, partridge, pork shoulder, chicken, back fat and bacon.

I minced it twice, and then marinated it with Port and brandy, garlic, thyme and parsley, rolled it in thinly sliced bacon, and cooked it in the water bath. It really need lots of seasoning, and there is no point in being tight about this, lots and lots of  fat.

Pork is best.

And when preparing a cooked terrine the fat is very important.

You don't want to be eating a dry terrine, now, do you?

And it improves it keeping quality, so it will taste better as it matures.

So, a nice simple terrine, ready for next Sunday's lunch menu.  However, over on the dinner menu, we have this rather sexy looking starter, which, finally Tom and myself have got just about right.

Made with slow cooked Goosnargh duck breast and confit fattened duck livers, it is a different style of terrine, where the components are cooked
separately, and then pressed.

In this case, eight perfect layers are served, with a sweet chicory puree, duck juice and sherry vinegar dressing, and a little salad with grated cracked peppercorn honeycomb, giving a nice sweet crunch.  We also serve a brace of little duck pies, just as a little garnish.

So, anyway, back to the brioche, and just one more use for it. As a bread and butter pudding, of course!

With lots of DE4 apples and cream, it shows just how many uses a loaf of brioche has!

And, if you were wondering what my new, revolution preventing cakes were, they are, chocolate and pistachio cup cakes, apple and blackberry crumble tartlets, little 'Bakewell" sponges with almond butter cream with raspberry jam injected into them, scones, of course, and finally, little lemon meringue pies.

Right, that's it!

Off to Italy tonight, where I'm going to try doing a coal miners risotto, and then a chicken, roasted, nice and simple with some rosemary and garlic. With some toasted sour dough, a grilled little gem lettuce and garlic mayonnaise, its a nice easy dinner.


No history lesson next week, although I am going to tell you how my amazing chef de parties have managed to change a Yorkshire pudding into this incredible gluten free carrot and coconut cake.

Bonkers!

I was really excited,  when after spending far too much at Majestic wine, I popped into M and

So, its here then.

At last!

Charlie and Ben brought me this beauty last week, so I carved it into this hideous halloween horror for our guests dining on the chef's table on Monday evening.

And I mean autumn, by the way.

Summer took much longer to finish than usual, which was nice.

But as a cook, I was really looking forward to getting my hands on some lovely, fat, heavy pumpkins, to turn into all sorts of warming, golden dishes to enjoy, now that the nights are getting a little chillier!

So, anyway, I wanted to use them in a couple of dishes on the new dinner menu, and wondered what to do with them.

A few years ago, one of the most popular ways of using butternut squash and pumpkins was in a risotto with Gorgonzola, sage and chestnuts. And, when done well, it's a fantastic dish.

But, I wanted to use my plump pumpkins as a garnish for a main course. The squash will take centre stage, as a dessert, as you will see later.

So, we start with putting the halved pumpkins in a hot oven, with rosemary, garlic and olive oil. Roasted until just charred around the edges, these could be eaten as they are, with some Parmesan grated over, some good sour dough and smoked bacon.

I, of course, have to ponce around a bit more, and so we puree the pumpkins with some butter and grated Parmesan. This adds a salty tang, which I think will marry perfectly with the sweet pigs cheek, rich meaty turbot, slightly bitter, earthy black cabbage, and some fat juicy ceps. Rolled in garlic butter!

Look, its autumn on a plate!

You see, thats why I love autumn, all those colours, and rich flavors, on the same plate, just crying out for a piece of char grilled, garlic rubbed, bread to mop up all the juices. So thats all I'm doing you see, putting together things that are in season at the same time, and turning them into a proper Derbyshire main course!

Just like this one.

Thanksgiving.

As our friends, across the pond,  celebrate Thanksgiving in November, each year, by eating pumpkin pie, I'm pretty sure I can use butternut squash, as a pudding.

So I did!

Poaching the squash in a thyme scented stock syrup, and then compressing, at maximum pressure, we can create a squash fondant.

Going back to the tried and trusted gourd and cheese combination, we add some fromage blanc cream. baked diced beetroot, glazed with an orange and thyme caramel are the other garnishes. Buttery shortbread is placed under the compressed squash, as, remember, it is based on a pumpkin pie!

All it needs then is a swoosh of sweetened beetroot puree and a spoonful of that other great autumn flavor - blackberry. Served as a sorbet, it all comes together as a really original pudding.

Tastes alright too!

And, so finally, the colors of autumn.

The new apple dessert.

See what I mean, its just what I see every day, on my drive to work along the A6.


All those golds, reds, and browns.

And I'm just putting them together on a plate again.

With a big fat slice of caramelised brioche pudding, as a garnish.

And some rum and vanilla syrup.

I'll tell you about the importance of brioche next time,  but I'm off to India now.

Those "Spicentice" curry kits again  - rogan josh and jalfrezi tonight.

Good job I didn't eat too many roast potatoes today at East Lodge!

Right that's it! Another trip around the culinary world, all going on in my little mind!

So I'm now going to tell you all about my "Victorian" garnish for the tasting menu tomorrow night,

So, this ones going out to all my Loughborough home girls, and how its not their fault.




Its all about Sunday lunch you see, and how something as simple as a few eggs, milk and flour can ruin a whole day!

All you need to do is whisk them together, let the batter rest,  pop them into the oven, and hey presto, they are done!

Just like that!

Well, sort of. The thing is you see, no matter how hard you try, no matter how many different recipes you try, if they are coming out like thick, deflated, sad little Yorkshire puddings, then blame the oven!

As you can see, every Sunday at East Lodge I make lots of lovely, light, crispy Yorkies, and they are all perfection itself!

And so can the rest of the brigade, proving any idiot can do it, providing they have the right oven, so there! I know, as I've tried at home, using the same recipe, and its been a disaster, because of the oven.

So, if you want a perfect Sunday lunch, for all your family, and if your husband loves you, he will buy the family a nice new shiny oven, just for perfect Sunday lunches!

Oh, and I will, of course, accept any lunch invitations that come along my way!

As a thank you, for all this wise advice.

And just one more thing, why has Yorkshire claimed these for their own?

Similar to a French sweet pudding, I have heard that it used to be served as a pudding, with jam and cream. Sounds pretty good to me, but the way I love eating them, is red hot, dipped in all the delicious, salty, fatty beef juices, just before a busy Sunday lunch service!

So, anyway, Yorkshire have their pudding, up in Derbyshire we have our Bakewell pudding, and our soon to be world famous Rowsley pie, and the Italians have their carbonara.

Made for coal miners or charcoal workers, in America it became known as "coal miners spaghetti".

Which, is I think interesting, as we, over at East Lodge, have been fooling around with our own version of this, but using potato.

And as we first got our potatoes from America, I think we can somehow link all these dishes together, don't you!

And there used to be a few coal mines around here as well.

By using very fine ribbons of potato, blanching them, just like pasta, and rolling them in Parmesan oil, an egg yolk puree on top and a piece of crisp bacon, we can do a Derbyshire version of an Italian classic, which I think is pretty cool!

So, this then got me thinking about potatoes, which in turn got me thinking about Guinness, and then about oysters.
Actually, do I really think that much?
No wonder I've got a headache most of the time.

Anyway, so after all that , I've now got a new smoked salmon dish on the menu at East Lodge, and its pretty global, and I'll tell you about it next time.

And, yes, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you all about my new steak dishes, but I will, but in the meantime have a look at these little ducky delights!

Finally got some, and they will be part of an Autumn salad on our Sunday lunch menu, so if the sight of our amazing Yorkshire puddings doesn't get you all up the drive on a Sunday, then perhaps the sight of these will!

Sam tried one and said they were Otterly delicious and I'm pretty sure when Lisa comes round for dinner she will love them too!

Right, that's it, I'm off to France now.

Well sort of, pommes boulangeres for dinner tonight, but I'm going to put some very thin slices of smoked air dried ham in mine.

I think it will go well with my plump pork bangers!

See, there I go thinking again.

So I've just finished picking some fresh thyme into my suet pastry, ready for baking around some

So, we've had bats and blood, and now we move onto beetroot!

DE4 2EF.

This is the name of one of the desserts on the tasting menu at East Lodge.
It's East Lodge's post code, you see, and as the beetroot and damsons are grown here, by Mr H, I thought it would be a rather witty way to name our pre dessert after it.
See, and it's pretty local as well.
And, being honest, I was really trying to sneak beetroot onto the dessert menu without anyone noticing.
A couple of weeks ago, John Pemrose, the Conservative minister for Tourism, stayed at East Lodge, whilst doing a tour of the Peak District.
Sensible chap!
So, we cooked a "taste of the Peaks" menu for him and his guests.
The bouche was warm terrine of ham hocks and braised trotters.

A great start to the menu, its made by pressing braised pig's trotters and ham hocks, brushing with mustard and sprinkling with grated pork crackling.

Sort of a picnic I suppose! Garnished with a Bakewell Bitter jelly, some pickled vegetables and a mustard seed dressing, you could almost imagine eating it in one of the fine fields of Derbyshire!

Onto the fish course next, and not a problem for me!

We've been smoking our own salmon, trout and haddock for a few years now, and I think, finally got the cure right.

It's now dry cured with sugar, salt and pepper, left to dry for 24 hours and then cold smoked over oak.  We used trout and salmon for this dish, garnished with a salad of leeks and marinated potatoes, croutons and chives.
Those of you who know about French cuisine will work out its just a chilled Vichyssoise, I just couldn't be bothered to blend it, thats all!

So, you all know about our Derbyshire grouse and we also served some amazing Suffolk Down lamb, reared by Matt and David up at Highfield House Farm.

And, so, finally to the beetroot.
And damsons.
And goats cheese.
First we boil our damsons, strain and mix with an equal quantity of sugar. Boiled like a jam, until thick and setting, its left to firm up. It can be then cut like cheese. Great served with cold cuts and cheese, but I thought it would be nice in a pudding. We also made a sorbet with some of the puree, however being quite tart we added more sugar resulting in a softer setting sorbet, but with great flavor.

Fresh goats curd is whipped with double cream and sugar, to lighten the texture.

The beetroot is sliced wafer thin, and poached in a red wine vinegar, Port and sugar syrup, and left to infuse overnight.

A thyme and orange zest croquant give the dessert texture, while a garnish of fresh blackberries, orange segments and lemon verbena give a feeling of freshness.

Presented with the damson sorbet and paste, I think it makes a really interesting dish, and pretty local as well!

And it looks pretty dramatic, just like the Peak District.

Oh, and the other dessert?

The "Bakewell"!

Right, thats it, I'm going to talk about my modern classics next time, and how to present them!

So it all started on a dark, windy Friday night at Shottle Hall Cottages.

A blood curdling scream rang out from the bedroom, and when I finally made it up there, Sophie was cowering under the duvet!

A mammoth bat had made its way into the house, and it was down to yours truly to sort it out.

So, by opening the window and after a bit of shouting it returned to the depths of hell, where it belonged!

Anyway it got me thinking. I'm all for using local food, and as a bat was flying around my house, it made it pretty local, and therefore fair game!
So after looking for some inspiration all I could manage to come up with was a bat curry!
Not very exciting and not something I could try to sneak onto the East Lodge dinner menu, well not this year anyway.
Bats.
And blood.
It got me thinking about a duck dish we used to do at the Hotel Ritz in Paris, and made famous at
La Tour d'Argent restaurant, also in Paris.

Prepared using Rouen duckling, which have been killed but not bled, allowing the chef to use the blood to thicken the sauce.

I'll tell you how.

The ducks are trussed and roasted, and left to rest. At this stage the breasts and legs are very rare.
The bird is presented to the guests, and the legs are removed, to be finished in the kitchen. These are served as a second course with a curly endive salad.
The breast are removed, and kept warm.  The duck carcass is placed into a very ornate silver duck press and then compacted to extract every last bit of juice and blood. This is then whisked into a duck consomme, along with foie gras and Madeira. Served with pommes souffles, it really is one of the great classical French haute cuisine dishes.
I had dinner there a few years ago with mum and dad, and you can see my duck was number 965730.
And it was superb!
So, now I've got bats, blood, ducks and finally Derbyshire grouse.
And how this seasons dish was inspired by a bat!
The grouse are delivered weekly by our neighbours  over in Rowsley.

We remove the breasts, ready to be cooked in the water bath for 12 minutes at 58 oc.

The thighs are skinned and boned, marinated and braised in red wine and root vegetables, until tender and beautifully glazed. These will be served with some wild mushrooms, button onions, and streaky bacon lardons, as a sort of mini casserole.

We will also smoke some of the breasts, to serve with a little apple and frissee salad, as a palate cleanser.
The breasts are presented with traditional garnishes of fried bread crumbs, smooth bread sauce, grilled bacon and a smooth liver pate on a crouton.

Although we present the dish in a more modern manner.

So, there you are, a bat inspired Derbyshire grouse dish, with a bit of French history thrown in as well!

Oh, and by the way, its our most popular main course at the moment!

You know it really is one of the last seasonal foods and its something I always look forward to, and by using some lateral thinking we can somehow link this 2011 grouse dish to a very classic French duck dish.

Wait until you see my "coq au vin", Fanny and Elizabeth would be turning in their graves!

But, that's the thing you see, we have to keep looking forward, and as long as you know how to do the classics, which I do, we can bring them up to date!

Right, thats it.

I'll tell you about our damson cheese next time.

RED MEAT




AND FIRE




AND HOW THEY MADE THIS BLOG POSSIBLE








As you can see, today I'm going to tell you all about red meat and fire.

You will all probably know of my love of red meats, prepared any way, but grilled over fire is a good place to start.

Because did you know, that because of fire, my brain is bigger!

Not much I agree, but a little. Millions of years ago, some rather resourceful cave man, or woman, discovered, that by cooking food over fire, it made it easier to eat and digest.

This was a very important step, allowing for all us cavemen to start burning things over fire, faffing around and generally wasting time, whilst our good ladies prepared everything else.

And, luckily, not much has changed!

The reason that fire and red meat allows me to create this amazing factual piece of writing is because our bodies didn't have to spend as much time and energy on chewing and digesting raw food, it allowed our brains to get bigger.
And, our stomachs started to shrink as well, although I'm not sure this has happened to me, perhaps I'm one of the last real cavemen!


So what we our new bigger brains we could spend our time inventing things, like this computer, and gas barbecues!

So red meat and fire is all we need really, and perhaps of drop of red wine.

Of course, some of the Far Eastern tough guys didn't even bother cooking their red meat.

The Tartar's were a wild bunch, and didn't feel like wasting time from their destruction of vast parts of Asia, so pushing on, they placed their lunch under their horse's saddle. This was to tenderize it so they could enjoy a tasty snack later in the day.

However, had they have been trained properly with a knife, they could have finely chopped it, added some piquant seasonings and not have had to worry about horse sweat scented meat!

I served our steak tartare with a couple of deep fried quails eggs, celeriac remoulade and toast, as a starter, on my Sunday lunch menu at East Lodge a couple of weeks ago.

Then followed our amazing Sunday roasted loin of beef. As, always, supplied by the legendary David Prince, up at Highfield House Farm.

Roasted hard and fast, rested and sliced its no wonder we all developed so quickly all those years ago.

Just, imagine, there must have been loads of animals to hunt, roast and eat!
So, I'm not sure how we discovered fire, but I'm so glad we did, because it means we can all read my blog!

And, just one more picture, whilst on the subject of red meat.

Beef, fillet and cheek, bone marrow and a black olive caramel.

This was inspired by the classic French daube from South West France.

Right, thats it, a culinary trip around the world!

And the best bit?  Those new season lamb chops, grilled on the barbecue,  in Pilsley, drinking chilled rose, watching the swallows going mental in the garden last Sunday.

Perhaps they are reincarnated Tartar's looking for some action!


So, ta ta for now!

Sorry about that one, couldn't resist!

Its a bit sad really, but its going to start getting darker now.

And the British asparagus season is over, so thats it for another year!

I've just had my final portion, steamed and rolled in the juices of a very fine rib eye steak.
I made a gratin of sliced potatoes, layered with sliced shallots, garlic and cheese.
Each layer was seasoned correctly with salt and pepper and brushed with melted butter.

It was baked for an hour and rested for another half.

 I'm not sure I'd ever say this but it would have been just as nice without the steak!

Although for the impending long dark nights, a couple of plump pork sausages would be a nice garnish!

Anyway, there I was getting all depressed about the end of summer and these bad boys came along!

How wonderful are these going to be on our Summer menu?

I love tomatoes and I wanted to do these ones justice.
And, although perfect,  dressed with the usual suspects of olive oil, Balsamic and basil, I fancied something a little more funky.

Oh, and by the way, tomatoes should never be served fridge cold, always allow them to come to room temperature first. Their taste will improve ten fold.

So after starting with an idea to serve them with some North African seasonings, I moved slightly over to the right and thought about the sub - continent.  Their sweet flesh loves spices, and with a garnish of smoky tomato marmalade, some cooling thick strained yoghurt, mustard and onion seed dressing and dried aubergine crisps, it make a refreshing, colorful starter.

And even one I would eat!

And I'm sorry for all the pictures tonight but from the right angle I think it looks like an amazing landscape somewhere far away!

And I'm not drunk, yet, anyway!

So after feeling a little bit sad today, what with the asparagus season over and too much tennis on television,  I've discovered that some dishes don't always need an 18 oz steak to make them better, that summer is not over yet , and with a little imagination we can create new planets to marvel at.

Brian Cox would be amazed!!

Right thats it, I'm off to enjoy summer, its a hog roast at tomorrow nights wedding at East Lodge so  I might even enjoy a cider as well!

The thing is I love kebabs!

When I was head chef at Odette's, after service on a Saturday night we used to go down to the Edgware Road, where there are lots of Lebanese restaurants, and have a sneaky couple of lamb kebabs.

Just for a late night snack you see, as we had just finished a five hour service, so we needed some food!

I didn't think I could get away with serving up kebabs to our Saturday night wedding guests but it did get me thinking about other popular Saturday night dinners.
So this year I decided to offer a couple of new buffet ideas, dishes from Thailand or India.
And not forgetting our famous "ELFC" - East Lodge Fried Chicken. All we need is some black and gold boxes to serve it in and we'll be sorted! We brine boned, skin on chicken legs for 12 hours, then drain them for another 12. Dredged in our secret blend of herbs and spices and deep fried they really do taste better then the original. And it means I can have my Saturday night fast food fix!

Along with the fried chicken we served a Thai green curry, made with lots of Asian green vegetables, Clay pot rice with sour Thai sausages and tiger prawns and a spicy roast pork belly salad. With the addition of a caramel and tamarind dipping sauce and a red hot birds eye chili relish I think it all looks rather good!
Oh we garnished the pork salad with "son in law" eggs, hard boiled and deep fried I thought they would go well in a wedding buffet!

Eaten all together everything gels together, providing a pleasing range of textures and tastes.

The thing about serving a buffet is that there should be a nice mixture of different cooking methods, meats or fish, salads and textures. And, of course, it should all look appealing.

Thats what I tried to do with our Saturday night Indian delight!

Made up of tikka spiced pork fillet, served with a spicy cucumber and roasted peanut salad, diced lamb cooked with mint and yoghurt and then baked with basmati rice, stir fried cabbage with mustard seeds and finally, butter chicken.


Made with marinated chicken thighs, and then baked in our new ovens at 300 oc they come out nicely charred.
I'm trying to recreate a tandor oven you see.
And its not too bad really.

When mixed in a rich tomato sauce and finished with cream and butter and corriander sprinkled on top you could almost imagine you were in the local curry house!





And the great thing about buffets is that everyone shares, and I love that, getting everyone eating and enjoying themselves.
Its what life is all about!
So you see, all I've done is made sure all of our guests have a proper English Saturday night!

The added bonus is that I get to taste it all as well, so I don't even need my kebab fix on the way home.

Right, thats it.

I'm watching Bear Grylls eat locusts in some rain forest and its got me thinking about next years Saturday night buffets!

So, as last weeks blog was telling everyone about how fish and chips, could in fact, be good for you I thought I'd share something slightly more, well, bad for you!

Roasted marrow bones are, in my opinion, a fantastic way to start a Sunday evening supper. Scooped out and spread on garlic rubbed sour dough bread, some capers and sea salt it reminds me of my time in Paris when we would eat them prepared the same way, as they were so cheap!

Fergus Henderson, of St John fame, really put them on the map over here though.  I've spent many afternoons at the bar there, supping a few pints of Guinness, munching Welsh Rarebit and enjoying his roasted beef bones on toast. A few ice cold oysters turn a Friday afternoon snack into a feast!

No oysters for me last Sunday, although Sophie did make a wonderful cherry crumble. With lashings of cold vanilla custard it really hit the spot.

We cooked the cherries with some sugar and a splash of brandy, to start releasing the juices. With some corn flour mixed in, its a really quick way to make a fruit compote or pie filling.
Meanwhile butter was rubbed into flour and sugar, spread out on a baking dish and baked in a medium oven.
Allowed to cool down, and then broken up it makes an easy, ready to use crumble topping.
Sometimes I churn it into ice cream for a crumble ice cream, sometimes I just eat it on its own, straight from the oven!
This allows us to keep the topping nice and crisp, and of course, if you have some fruit compote around you are never more than 10 minutes away from pudding!

So, as always, it got me thinking about how I could get cherry crumble on the dessert menu at East Lodge.

As our "Hot Pudding" we made some very thin pastry cases, filled them with hot cherry compote and covered them with our now famous crumble topping.

Garnished with a cherry puree, some griottine cherries, cherry syrup and an Amaretto and pistachio praline ice cream, it proved a summertime winner on Monday night!

And its rather pretty isn't it?



So, there you are,  my Sunday night supper, somehow ended up on the menu at East Lodge, good eh!

Right that's it, I'm off to prepare dinner, curry tonight and I'll tell you about our international buffets next time.

Sophie wants to watch a film about dancing black ducks tonight so I'd better get cracking.

Or should I say quacking!!

So then, did you all know that fish and chips might, actually, be good for you?
And before you all start thinking I'm talking a load of old cods wallop just hold a minute.
The perfectly cooked fillet of cod in the picture is, in fact, steamed. So therefore its one of the healthiest  things to eat!
Not so sure about the batter, chips and chunky tartare sauce though!
By dipping the lightly floured fillet of fish in a beer batter and plunging into red hot fat,  it creates an air tight seal and so the fish starts releasing moisture, which cannot escape, and so cooks the fish.
What a brilliant idea and when done well is a real treat.
The problem I have with fish and chips is that the batter will start to go soggy, this is because whatever is inside will continue to release steam.
Like anything deep fried it should be served, piping hot, straight from the fryer, so even though fish and chips is great for a lunchtime dish I wanted to find a way of serving this Great British classic to our dinner guests.
So the idea of the soon to be world famous "inside out" fish and chips was born!
I wanted to serve all the elements of the dish but as a starter, and of course, in a lighter more modern way.

So we made a mousse with some lightly salted cod fillet, and steamed some cod fillet at 55 oc for 15 minutes. This will allow me to have big beautiful
translucent flakes of fish. Thinly sliced potatoes were baked in the oven for the "chips".
Disks of sweet confit tomato are topped with baby capers and baby pickled onions as a nod to the tartare sauce.
Pea puree and home made spicy tomato syrup are dotted around the dish to add freshness.

We made a malt vinegar jelly as well, but I think it was too powerful, overpowering the cod, so I'm going to work on a different palette cleanser.
I like a coke or lemonade with my fish supper, so I thought about doing a sweet and salty frozen lemon granita, served in a glass, topped up with soda water.
I think the acidity will really sharpen up the fish and chips and, of course, help it remain true to its roots!

And, finally, the batter.
Its the whole point of the dish you see!
So all I do is fry very thin, light, wafers of beer batter.
I'm going to use beef dripping when it goes on the menu next week.
And you know, the batter will never go soft or soggy.
Guaranteed . Never. I promise!

So, there you are, it will become world famous.
I'm even thinking of going on The Apprentice to show those jokers how to do it!

Right, thats it, I'm off for a bacon sandwich, I'll tell you about Sophie's amazing cherry crumble next time.