Making magic for your one special day!

It makes all the hard work worth it when everyone enjoys the wedding! This was one near Tewkesbury where we made the Dairy free Eton Mess for the first time.

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Catering for a wedding near Banbury - Greek style meze and whole lamb roast

Dear James

I'm sorry it has taken a couple of weeks for us to contact you to say a HUGE thank you for the catering you provided for Sarah & James' tipi wedding at Old Manor Farm on the 12th September.  A few days after the wedding, the newlyweds returned to Grand Cayman and I have travelled back to Zambia with Rebekah and my two grandchildren for a 3 week stay.

Once again, Bensons pulled out the stops and provided a fantastic service and fabulous food, despite travelling considerably "off patch".  The theme of slate platters for the mezzes and desserts worked really well, as did the sharing of salads and meat on the tables, creating the friendly, casual feel which we had aimed for in the tipis.  We have never been able to fault the food you have created for our events, or others we have attended, and we will certainly contact you again should we be planning any further events (we have no more daughters, but maybe "big" birthdays will be the next event).

During the months of planning for the wedding we have received very prompt and friendly replies from Anton in response to our many queries, which has helped us enormously.  Thanks to you James for all your hard work behind the scenes, your trips to Stratford to discuss the details, and for tidying up so efficiently well into the night.  It made everything so much easier for us the following day or two when we had to clear the field.  And a special thanks to Julie and her colleague for the construction and dismantling of the catering tent on the Friday and Sunday.  

The whole day was truly magical and luckily the weather was great, despite a few dark clouds hovering as the Pimms and canapés emerged!  Thank you to all your team for playing such a large part in making it so perfect for Sarah and James.  

Very best wishes

Di, Sarah & James

From top left to right:
1 - Dolmas - homemade vine leaves. Had great fun rolling those - recipe from the Supper Club book. Luckily there's a Turkish food shop a few streets away which sells the leaves. Thought we'd made too many - but they all went!
2 - Chillis growing for stuffed chillis
3 - Falafel and cherry tomatoes - recipe from Ottoleghi - seriously one of the most popular things we served this summer at different events. Homemade falafel are about 10.3 million times better than shop brought ones!
4 - More dolmas with olives and caperberries in pesto marinade
5 - Garlic and thyme pitta crisps and homemade spicy bread sticks with homemade hoummous & tatziki
6 - Grilled halloumi with lime & capers - again, thought we'd cut way too much halloumi, but as soon as the plates went out, they came back empty, guests just couldn't get enough. Same thing happened with halloumi at other barbecues we served throughout the summer.
7 - Greek style meatballs
8 - Baba ganoush - burn those aubergines!
9 - Flavoured butter to go with bread rolls as the bride requested - we made Black olive, sun dried tomato & basil, horseradish & chive and chilli, lime & coriander.
10 - Whole lamb roast for main course served on platters with individual dauphinoise potato with salads served on the table: Beetroot, Rocket, Fennel Radish and Apple Salad with Cider Vinaigrette, Lebanese Salad, Roast Butternut Squash Salad with Pomegranate, Crispy Squash Seeds, Olives, Rocket and Walnut  
11 - Trio desserts: Lemon and raspberry meringue roulade (made at 2am that morning), shotglass of tirimisu and their wedding cake made by the bride's mother - always good when the wedding cake actually gets eaten!
12 - The next day was Mamma Benson's 70th birthday, and what better way to spend your birthday morning that help clearing up a wedding venue! I did take her out for lunch afterwards though! 

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Pesto recipe

What is it suddenly about guests asking for recipes? Must be  doing something right - lots of them keep asking atm, even when you're in the middle of serving 82 covers (not quite the right time).

Nettle and chorizo risotto with grilled scallops and nettle pesto

If you're a purist you believe in only basil pesto. Go beyond the boundaries, however, and in Pestoland there are as many variations as you can dream up: beetroot, parsley, nettle, walnut, tarragon, pistachio, red pepper, sun dried tomato, kale, pumpkin seeds, courgette, even sweetcorn (apparently). Take a look at some here!

Pine nuts or Cashews?

If you look at the ingredients on a jar of shop brought pesto you'll often see cashews on there. Pine nuts are one of the most expensive nuts so they add cashews to lower the price. Adding cashews also gives you a smoother flavour. It really depends how you want it to taste. 

You can use plenty of other nuts as well - pistachios (if you're feeling decadent), walnuts, brazil nuts, almonds etc.    

Top tips to a good pesto? 

• Extra virgin olive oil can be a little strong & pungent for pesto - if using extra virgin consider using 1/2 and 1/2 with vegetable oil or low grade olive oil to tone it down. 
• Like a good stew, pesto seems to taste better the next day when all the flavours have developed. 
• If you want to keep it for a few weeks in the fridge transfer to a jar. Add oil so the herb/ nut body of the pesto is covered - this prevents the air getting to it and it will keep. 
• If you want to turn the pesto in a dressing simply add more oil. 

Pesto recipe

125g ish of herbs, depending on what you have growing. The version I made a few weeks ago was heavy on the basil, also with spinach, rocket, parsley, tarragon and nettles which all add a bit of depth.
75g Nuts - I used a mix of half pinenuts, half cashews.
75g Grated parmesan
75ml Extra virgin olive oil
75ml Regular blended olive oil, or vegetable oil
1 - 2 Garlic cloves, depending on size and pungency.

1. If you need to wash the herb leaves, make sure they are well dried on a clean dry cloth before using. Water mixing with the oil in the pesto makes it go white as it emulsifies, after it settles it splits - not good!
2. Traditionally you would use a pestle and mortar. Now we have food processors and vitamixes and life is all good. You can choose how fine you want your pesto: a blunt charity shop food proccessor will make a coarse pesto, and slightly darker, as the more herbs are chopped and bruised the darker they go. The vitamix will whizz it into a fine bright green puree in seconds. The Kenwood mini chopper seems to go somewhere in the middle. It really depends on what you want to use your pesto for. 
3. Blend all the ingredients till your desired texture is achieved. 
4. Taste for seasoning.

Pesto baked salmon with orange and feta

Dairy free and nut free alternatives

Yes - we have it all these days, including garlic free. Anything's possible!

Dairy free pesto - replace parmesan with a splash of lemon juice, or adding nutritional yeast. I've tried it with vegan 'cheese' and it's not nice (soy cheese tastes too weird). A few cannellini beans are another cheese replacement possibility. 

Nut free pesto - replace nuts with brown rice, bulgar wheat, chickpeas, soy beans, sunflower or pumpkin seeds. Also check the oil you are using - blended oil can include nut oils!

Disclaimer

Links to the Vitamix and Kenwood above certainly weren't paid for - they're just great machines which make the kitchen a happier place......

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Bring the bistro to your home for the night - bistro dinner in Churchdown, Gloucester || Pea & mint soup recipe

The lady of the house must have know I was coming.....

Sometimes simple things are the best, especially when made from scratch. The pea soup starter went down so well at a Sunday night family reunion dinner party the host asked for the recipe, so here it is!

Bistro classics for simple food done well: Pea & mint soup; Longhorn rib eye steak with lemon roast new potatoes, red pesto and french beans wrapped in pancetta; Strawberry daquiri cheesecake

Pea and mint soup

A soup needs a good stock. For that you have to make your own! You can also use chicken stock for the base instead of vegetable – roast your chicken bones and add to the rest of the ingredients below.

Vegetable stock:

You can vary the stock depending on what vegetables you have in your fridge to use up. But note – it should always include onion, carrot & celery as a base. Never add starchy vegetables e.g. potatoes, parsnips as they will make the stock go cloudy and it will turn into more of a soup. Remember that all the flavours you added to your stock will go into whatever you make from it – so depending on what you make you may go easy on some ingredients e.g. garlic, coriander, lemongrass trimmings etc.  You can make a large batch by multiplying the ingredients below and freezing the stock in batches or ice cubes for whenever you want to use it in your cooking.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

Handful of carrots

2 onions

4 celery sticks

2 leeks

1 bulb fennel

2 handfuls mushrooms

3 tomatoes (optional – depending on what you are using the stock for)

3 cloves garlic (check your guests for garlic allergies)

1 bayleaf

Large sprig of thyme

Parsley stalks

1 tsp peppercorns

1 tsp coriander seeds (optional – depending on what you are using the stock for)

½ lemon cut into slices

Other leftover vegetables or veg trimmings to taste

1.5 litres of water

1. Cut all the vegetables into roughly 1cm dice.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add all the ingredients.
3. Cook on a medium heat without colouring for 5 minutes, allowing the vegetables to soften slightly.
4. Add the water and bring to the boil.
5. Once boiling turn down to simmer and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
6. Strain through a sieve. Taste it. If there is not enough depth of flavour you can bring it back to the boil and allow it to reduce till you are satisfied with the taste.

This recent crop of pea shoots had passers by looking in from the street when I had them growing on the front window. It's a wonder more people don't grow them - it's so easy from dried peas.

Pea and mint soup

1 medium onion, diced

2 - 3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp vegetable oil

400g fresh peas + few pea pods

750ml vegetable, chicken or gammon stock

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Crème fraiche to taste: 2 – 3 tbsp +

Handful of mint

Grating of nutmeg

½ tsp ground coriander

Knob of butter

½ Lemon juiced

Top Tips: To keep your pea soup green you want to boil the peas for as short a time as possible – once they are soft they are done. The bicarbonate of soda is a magic ingredient which helps keep the green colour too.

1. Sweat the onion in the vegetable oil till soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and cook for another minute till garlic is soft but not coloured. Add the stock and bring to the boil.
2. Make sure the onion is soft enough to blend in to a puree before you add the peas, as the peas don’t take long to cook.
3. Add the bicarbonate of soda to the boiling stock , then add the peas and return to the boil.
4. Once boiled reduce to simmer and cook for about 5 – 8 minutes till peas are soft.
5. Add mint and allow to wilt in the soup, then blitz in a blender till smooth.
6. Return to the pan, and then finish it with seasoning, crème fraiche, butter & lemon juice. If you think it needs it you can also add a bit of nutmeg & ground coriander.
7. Depending on how powerful your blender is you may want to pass this, or you may not – the choice is yours!



The host had grown up in Bermuda and retired to Churchdown in Gloucester to be near the other half of her family, so there were reminders of Bermuda everywhere - like this recipe for Pawpaw (Papaya) Mostespan which sounds like it has to be made! 'Top round ground' is minced beef btw.

I rather like the look of this recipe too which was hanging on the wall because the amounts are rather relaxed - if you have an abundance of citrus left from a large event this would be a good use for it!

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Clams, mussels, squid and tiger prawns in black bean sauce for a 21st birthday pan asian theme buffet in Minster Lovell near Oxford

Anton,

Please pass on our thanks to James and the rest of the team – the food was fantastic (asparagus tempura and crispy shredded beef were highlights!) and Jessie was really pleased with everything.

Thanks again

Helen

Of all the things we've cooked this year (that's a lot of things) I think this has been my favourite so far! It's all in the sauce, so don't go thinking you can use a brought ready made one. 

Black bean sauce is actually surprisingly easy to make, so much so you kind of wonder why you've never got round to it before. It helps, of course, now being based round the corner from all sorts of different ethnic food shops. I used this black bean sauce recipe and dropped the seafood into it to cook & take on the flavours - wild! This was served in chafing dishes, buffet style in the barn.

Sushi as a canape, made on site, minutes before it went out - can't beat the freshness! Vegetable maki rolls, cooked prawn uramaki rolled in sesame, tuna rolls in (raw) savoy cabbage leaves, salmon nigiri, gunkan maki with keta caviar, and swordfish nigiri. 

It's amazing how often people think you just turn up on the day and that's it. They don't see the 7 day industry that goes behind all the setting up, and clearing away. This party took 10 days in total from beginning to end. The pan asian menus especially take a lot of food preparation, both before and on the day, but it's all worth it for those fresh flavours - you can't get that with ready made sauces etc. It must have made on an impression on the birthday girl's aunt as well - as she has since booked us to cater for her wedding at the same venue next year!

So after a pan-asian style main, the birthday girl had decided on a more english style dessert with lemon & raspberry meringue roulade, chocolate eclair and shotglass of raspberry sorbet. Mix and match the styles - that's what it's all about!

Canapés

Sushi Selection;

including vegetable and avocado, cooked prawn, raw salmon and tuna, keta caviar

Served with Wasabi, Soy Sauce and Pickled Ginger

Catered Buffet Menu

Sharing Platters Starter

Crispy Confit Duck Spring Rolls with Hoi Sin Dip

Stir Fried Salt and Pepper Squid

Asparagus Tempura

Beef Tataki

Prawns in Lemongrass and Coconut

XXX

Selection of 4 main courses

Chicken Katsu Curry

Pad Thai Noodles with Tofu

Crispy Shredded Beef with Honey Chilli Sauce

Mussels, Clams, Squid, Prawns and Edamame in Black Bean Sauce

served with;

Plain Steamed Rice

Pak Choi with Garlic, Ginger and Oyster Sauce

XXX

Trio of desserts;

Mini Chocolate Éclairs

Mini Lemon Meringue Roulade

Shotglass of Homemade Raspberry Mojito Sorbet 

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Barbecue falafel kebabs

By far the runaway most popular barbecue item of this year! Has falafel been on TV or something?

You have to serve them with hoummous to get the whole experience. We had to make extra for every barbecue we served because those naughty meat eaters wanted to eat them too! 

Used the Ottolenghi recipe from his Jerusalem book. I remember the first time we ever tried making them in 2007, and every attempt kept disintegrating in the deep dryer till we gave up in rage. The trick, as it turns out, is to keep pulverising the raw chickpeas in the food processor till they come together in a ball in your hands. When it's ready, you just know. You just have to keep practicing! It's worth it though - the homemade ones taste about 10 million times better than anything you can buy. 

Also nice with tatziki - who needs meat?!

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Dairy free eton mess for a wedding near Tewkesbury

A record number of dietary requirements this year. Unlike a lot of people I do try and go out of my way to make sure they have as near to what everyone else is having as it can be. If you research recipes, and hunt down ingredients, anything is possible really, it just takes time and care! Far too many other chefs don't bother, so the gluten free, dairy free etc guests we cook for are always amazed at what we serve up for them!

Dairy free whipped cream? Easy! With a bit of help from @CocoPazzo .

Chill a tin of coconut milk in the fridge overnight. It has to be good quality coconut milk with high fat content. Refrigerating it makes it split between the coconut fat and thin water at the bottom.

Scoop off the coconut fat into a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric whisk till thick. If you've really thought in advance you could chill the mixing bowl too - to prevent it heating and splitting. You can add sugar and vanilla if you want to make it slightly sweeter, like I did here.

It pipes beautifully. All the chefs and waiting staff liked the coconut whipped 'cream' version better than the normal dairy cream version - the piping bag and mixing bowl were wiped completely clean - you can't get much better recommendation than that!

If you're being hi-tech you can also use an isi gun for this. According to information received the isi gun likes 35% fat content and the average can of coconut milk is 20%, so add 2 tbsp of coconut oil to the coconut cream and mix at room temperature, then chill overnight in the fridge before putting in the isi gun. Using coconut milk with added guar gum is also another tip to help prevent the coconut cream and coconut oil from separating while chilling.

We finished this one off with dried coconut flakes and toasted coconut. Despite the fact that it helps distinguish the dairy free version from the normal one, it also adds a bit more coconut flavour! Should have added malibu!

 

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