Hen party pan-asian theme menu cookery event in Stratford (the Warwickshire one)

Who needs chef whites when you can wear a pink feather boa in the kitchen like the hen did at this hen party we did a cookery event for in Stratford-on-Avon a few weeks ago.

Mr. Burns' dodgy iphone pics
Top left - the hen herself (resplendent in feather boa) finishes her lamb massaman curry
Top right - Putting together the pan-asian chicken lettuce wraps
Middle left  and right - plating caramel pork (so popular each time we have served it)
Bottom right - trio of desserts - the tup tim grob is one of those marmite things - love it or hate it. I love it! Actually it turned out to be the best version I had seen/ tasted.

What fun these hen party cookery events are! It's amazing how hesitant everyone is at the beginning. It seems so many people think they can't cook. But give them recipes, ingredients, guidance and encouragement and it's amazing what they can achieve! I've seen that at every single cookery event we have done and this one was no different. 

With the cook-your-own-dinner-party events we split the group in to 3 and each team takes charge of preparing one course - starter, main course and dessert. Then later in the evening, after time to change and time for pre-dinner drinks, each team is back in the kitchen to plate up their course and see how it runs behind the scenes!

When I got back to base after midnight the computer had frozen from too many days use without being shutdown (so busy!) and when I re-booted it - all the recipes we had used that day had been lost. So I will have to re-do them for everyone at that event - they all want to try everything again - never a bad sign!

Menu

Homemade pan de sal bread rolls + GLUTEN/ WHEAT FREE VERSION

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Homemade crispy duck spring rolls with suitable dips + GLUTEN FREE

Sesame prawn toasts + GLUTEN FREE

Black sesame salmon balls + GLUTEN FREE

Asian chicken in lettuce wraps

Caramel pork

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Blackened cod

Massman lamb curry

Vegetable pad thai + GLUTEN FREE

Coconut and lime pilaf

Homemade lime pickle

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Trio of pan Asian desserts

Chocolate and mango mousse

Lychee and pomegranate panna cotta

Shotglass of tup tim grob

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Coffee, tea and homemade pistachio barfi

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Wales vs England - Hen party canapé cookery competition - a fight to the bitter end! .... or not :)

Hi James, I just wanted to write and say thank you so much for what was incredible activity on Saturday. The girls had such a brilliant time and it was exactly what we wanted. The canapes were fabulous and all the girls have commented on how brilliantly you organised us all! You have such a wonderful business and we wish you well!

We will all be recommending you to friends of ours as it was such a perfect event for a hen party. The bride to be loved it! 

Vicky
[There's a PS right at the end of this post - wait till then.......]

The 'before' team shot - Let's go!

"Suprise!.... Today we're all doing a cookery lesson"

"I don't cook!" said the horrified hen's mother

"You do today!"

"Ooh - I love an assertive man!....."

Oh yeah - you've got to love hen parties!

Somehow the hen's friend who had organised the whole weekend had managed to keep this part of it a secret - to everyone. They'd all paid for something, just didn't know what. 

Once again we were crossing The Apprentice with Hell's Kitchen - a cookery event is good, but it's so much more fun when you're competing against your friends. In this case there was a welsh team and an english team. 

Snowy Cotswold hills from the terrace of hill house - like you're transported to the Dolomites

After a few demonstrations from me of techniques they would find useful it was over to the team captains to organise their teams. It may look daunting at the beginning, but actually - as they quickly found - when you split your group up into sub groups which take on one canapé each, actually it's quite straight forward - and rather enjoyable.

As always they had their trusty recipe booklet with all the info and I was going round everyone to give a bit of help, support & tips.

Complete with recipe booklet

Cold Canapés

Vegetable sushi

Mini beetroot rosti with smoked salmon and dill mustard

Hot Canapés

Saffron risotto balls
Mini Yorkshire puddings with roast fillet of beef

Spoon of scallop wrapped in pancetta with asparagus puree and shiitake mushroom

Beetroot and potato on the mandolin to make beetroot rosti

Making smoked salmon rosettes to go on rosti  & cutting brie for risotto balls - eyes down!

When you run out of space in one kitchen you overflow into the next kitchen. Making  asparagus puree here.

Yorkshire puddings fresh from the oven - haven't they risen well!

Seasoning sushi rice - vitally important you taste it! Their's tasted great!

Rolling arancini

Plating up time (note the beer bottles - these events are relaxed affairs!)

And when you run out of space in both kitchens you spill over into the dining room to make your sushi!

Judging time!

• Vegetable sushi

We judge on presentation & taste. On the left was the english team - much more uniform round shape. But the seasoning of the rice of the welsh team (right) was much better - don't forget the seasoning dulls down as the rice cools, so it needs to be slighty more seasoned than you think it should to take account of this. This is why supermarket sushi tastes so awful - it's too old by the time you buy it. 

The carrot decorations got bonus points though!

• Mini beetroot rosti with smoked salmon and dill mustard

The hen with her beetroot rosti & smoked salmon.  "Good enough to be on Ready Steady Cook!" I quipped. Actually she had been. "Ainsley Harriot!" gushed the hen's mother "Such a lovely man - gave me a great big hug!" Everyone loves Ainsley!

The english team on the left again, and the welsh on the right. Equal points on taste - it's just so good. But on presentation -  maybe the english teams rosti could have been a bit more bite size - such a good effort & labour of love though! Great result from the welsh team!

• Saffron risotto balls (arancini)

The welsh team above - an iphone is never far away......

Any dip? Quick ransack of the fridge turns up some tomato salsa - great dip!

The english team goes more rustic (above).

Well presentation-wise the welsh teams were much more uniform shape. Also turned out more flavoursome risotto. The english team's risotto maker had added a lake of stock half way through to try and speed it up. Turns out it's better just to wait and let the rice absorb the stock naturally - rice ends up more creamy: well you live and learn! :)

• Mini Yorkshire puddings with roast fillet of beef

What a great job on these - everyone's favourite canapé. The english team (left) went for a bite size canape version, while the welsh team went for a more rustic brunch size version. Who's right? Both are good! Slight overcooking on the beef though for the welsh team - not sure what my wedding guests would say if I served them like that - so I think the english team won through on the taste there - judging's a hard thing!

• Spoon of scallop wrapped in pancetta with asparagus puree and shiitake mushroom

Welsh team above and below right. English team below right.  On this one both were as good each other! A national tie!

Final results though as I added up the marks - the welsh team won by 5 points - hoorah! for Wales. And hoorah for all my canapé chefs and their wonderful creations - you all did a wonderful job! Amazing what you can do really - isn't it!

The 'after' group team photo - cheers!

"Seemed like a lot of faff at the beginning" said the hen afterwards "... but then you get going, and get into doing your own thing - and it's really quite easy and so worth it - it all tastes amazing!"

Yay - fun time was had by all!

PS - Thanks for choosing Wales as winners - always good to get one up on the old enemy!

Well... 'choosing' had nothing to do with it - it's a fair & honest contest!



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30th birthday canape cookery event
Cook your own dinner party - a corporate cookery event

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30th birthday canapé cookery event - learn how to make canapes in your own home

Dear James,

I just wanted to say a big thank you to you and Gill for such a fantastic day and evening on Saturday. The canapé making was absolutely brilliant and everyone really enjoyed it. The food in the evening was delicious. 

I will certainly be recommending you to people in future and I expect we will be back at the house at some point.

Many many thanks again and please do pass my thanks on to Jill and the 2 waitresses.

Best wishes, 

Victoria

Another cookery event success! We seem to be going cookery event mad - this canapé one was followed by a corporate one 3 days later and the next canapé one is a week on Saturday - rock and roll!

For this one we went for a mix of The Apprentice and Hell's Kitchen - I did a few canapé demonstrations at the beginning to help everyone out, then we split the group into 2 teams in two different places in the kitchen. Then those 2 teams had to split themselves into teams of 2 or 3 to take on one canapé each (we gave them recipes in a recipe booklet), do all the preparation (enough for about 20 portions to have later) and do one good one as a display canapé which would be judged at the end in a grand finale. After this we were going to serve their own creations as canapés mid evening before also serving their evening dinner party. 

With so many people to go round helping out & showing things to, clearing up a bit in between we didn't really get too many pics - usual story, too busy. I'm hoping one of the party might send some ;)

 Cold Canapés

Sushi – vegetable and cooked prawns

Sushi making corner

Using their initiative they came up with a creamy wasabi paste to  add to the sushi. The 2 sushi teams were most excited - they'd both always wanted to know how to make it........

One canapé chef decided to marinade smoked salmon in pickled ginger juice. When I saw it I thought it would make a great wrapping for the sushi. So prawns and spring onion were wrapped in nori and this became the centre - turned out very well!

 Mini beetroot rosti with smoked salmon and dill mustard

Rush hour at the stove. Play nicely now! Beetroot rostis are in progress. I gave away my rosti tips. The last rosti was a large whole pan size which magically disappeared - some people couldn't wait for their canapes.

 Hot Canapés

Saffron risotto balls

See these above next to the ginger-smoked salmon wrapped sushi. They had to make risotto from scratch. When we ran out of space on the stove one pair used the microwave. Innovative! 

One guest took the name of the recipe 'risotto balls' and went off on a tangent...... her results are x-rated. Won bonus points though!

Mini Yorkshire puddings with roast fillet of beef
Everyone's favourite canapé. Think that's definitely one they'll be trying at home - you get the recipe booklet to take home.

Spoon of scallop wrapped in pancetta with asparagus puree and shitake mushroom

Searing scallops

 2 different presentations from the 2 teams. We had to judge on presentation and also taste. The first one looked more messy, but had more puree so you got more of the asparagus flavour. The second looked much better - less is more - but you missed out a bit on the apsaragus hit..... judging's not easy..... :)




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Corporate cookery event - learn how to cook your own dinner party

Results time!

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Corporate team building cookery event - cook your own dinner party!

Go team!

Team photo. Eyes left! Someone else was taking their photo next to me on an  iphone - I  tried  the iphone, phew - technology!

 Last night's team building cookery event at  Hill House. "If only we worked together this well back at work" said one. They were cooking their 3 course evening meal from scratch in 2 hours. Everyone seemed to have a great time - it's amazing what you can do in such a short time when you work as a team!

Grilling prawns

We split the group into 3 teams - one team each taking a course each. Starters and desserts being prepared in the main kitchen and the main course in the second kitchen at the back of the house. We had made them a recipe booklet with all the recipes they needed and some plating up tips, so 'all' they had to do was come up with a plan of action and make all the components of their course come together at the right time. Gill and I were on hand to give them guidance and show them techniques, but they were in control.

Making carrot ribbons on the mandolin - no cuts. Note the glass of wine on the table there - cookery events are great!

 With all the preparation ready, it was time for the teams to check the football score quickly before sitting down for dinner. Each of the 3 teams were in charge of bringing their course together so were back in the kitchen to plate it up.

Finishing touches on the starter

Starter

 Trio of fish starters

Crab salad with pink grapefruit, salmon ballottine wrapped in smoked trout and grilled tiger prawns with fennel and apple salad

Prawns are the last thing to go on the starter. "Service!"  "Oh  that's us!"

Main course

 Free range chicken wrapped in pancetta

Garlic roast potato parisienne

Roast carrot ribbons with cumin seeds

Ras-el-hanout roasted cauliflower

The turn of the main course team. "So what do you want me to do?" I ask them "Gill's here too - what  do you want her to do?" There's not much time because the food has to go out hot and they have to decide where everything goes on the plate without it looking overcrowded. They bring it off pretty slickly.

The dessert team - glazing the lemon tart - everyone's favourite job!

Last thing to go on the plate is the orange sorbet - the first thing the dessert team had made  at the start of the evening. It just froze in the nick of time. Special touch on the tirimisu - a nip of amaretto on the top. 

Dessert

Trio of desserts

Glazed lemon tart

Shotglass of amaretto & coffee tirimisu

Homemade orange sorbet

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Cooking lessons in your home and team building / hen party cookery events

Looks like the first cookery lesson of 2012 will be on this aga:

It's going to be for the boxer's owner - a birthday present from her husband. We were there last night cooking a birthday meal.

Our whole business is built on things clients have asked for - catered dinner parties in the first place, weekend catering packages, assiette desserts, whole lamb roasts - they've all come from clients' requests. As have cookery lessons, demonstrations and team building events.

Each cookery lesson, demo or cookery / team building event is designed around what the individual clients would like. They have included:

• How to prepare lobster and crab from live to a finished dish demo for a couple of corporate dinners (this was their starter).


• Preparing pigeon (still in feather) and pheasant from scratch to their finished and plated up meal - stag party event. A different team of stags also helped prepare and plate up each course in the kitchen.


• Barbecuing tips - a summer event naturally. Another popular hen party one.


• Cook your own dinner party - popular one for groups of friends and hen parties


• Home cooking lessons - I have taught clients with a range of abilities from beginners  who want learn the basics to advanced cooks who want to give their home cooking more of a proffessional look. During making a series of dishes we normally discuss top tips, practical advice and all the answers to the cooking questions they've always wanted to know.

Complete with recipe booklet

Ones coming up in January:

• The cooking on a aga one (above)


• A Hell's Kitchen style comp for a hen party - I'm going to be doing a canape demonstration then we're going to be splitting the hens into 2 groups and they're going to be resposible for making their own 5 types of canape for their pre-dinner drinks based on the demo. Then we get to judge the 2 teams at the end. 


• A corporate team building event where we are going to split the group into 3 and each is going to be responsible for a different course - complete with recipes and guidance. Then each team will be back in the kitchen when it comes to plating up their course. 

Contact us for more details.

Birthday dinner preceding a cookery lesson

This dinner party we cooked for last night was for a birthday - during which I announced to the birthday present of a cooking lesson in the home.

Another outing for the seabass and cauliflower poached in saffron with cauliflower gremolata dish  I created on Tuesday

Honey and lavender marinated butterflied leg of lamb, aga cooked dauphinoise potato, french beans  wrapped in pancetta and roasted carrot ribbons

Then it was time for the fake dessert. Family traditions are great aren't they! Apparently this is their family custom - no birthday can go by without a caterpillar cake!

At this point I also made the birthday present announcement - I'l be coming back in January and we're going to be doing a cookery lesson with your aga!

Then time for the real dessert:

Assiette of desserts - each addition being watched carefully should any crumbs drop. This one was:  lemon meringue roulade, shotglass of tirimisu, raspberry shortbread, mini blueberry cheesecake and spoon of crème brûlée  

Is that someone's alarm going off? Nope - the tweeting sound comes from up there! A kitchen full of wildlife is always fun.

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