The Cotswold Food Year: chef

Showing posts with label chef. Show all posts

Burns Night in Loch Lomond, Scotland

Thursday, January 10, 2019

I'm taking you back. Way back. The year is now 2016. It's taken that long to get round to posting this!

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Did I want to cater for a Burns weekend in Scotland? Try stopping me! We spent summer holidays from when I was aged 10 - 18 in different parts of the west coast & islands of Scotland. It was so good to be back!

We had catered for this group before in the Cotswolds - 3 families, one Irish, one Scottish, one Welsh. Last time they had met in the Cotswolds, but this time it was Scotland, and we must have done a good job, because they wanted us back for their next event, celebrating, among other things, Robbie Burns.

Stuckgowan House sits above Loch Lomond, looking over Ben Lomond. WHAT A DREAM HOUSE! The pic below really doesn't do the house justice - it's huge!

The view over Loch Lomond. As walks to work go - this sure has it!

Having worked in 4 and 5 star hotels for 10 years, it comes as a surprise when a hotel says 'no'. Can I plug my refrigerated van in, while we're staying with you? No.
OK, well that was fine. After driving 9 hours up to Loch Lomond, I plugged the refrigerated van into the house we were working at, then hiked the 4 miles back to the hotel in the dark along the main road, and back again in the morning, this time finding the coastal route - bliss!

The old road right on the water's edge has been turned into a footpath, replaced by the road I had followed in the dark the night before.

Ben Lomond

So much of the time, you walk around and everyone's either talking into their phones or they have earphones in with the music they're listening too drowning out the real world. Take the earphones out, and you catch the sound of a waterfall, the lapping of the waters of Loch Lomond on the shore, the sound of the firs high above shimmering in the slight breeze. That's the sound of nature. Magic moments. Why do we make everything so complicated?

Soon enough, of course, it was time to get into the kitchen....,.,.,

Love the lighting behind the Everhot range - there's a remote to change the colour. We didn't test it of course..... much.

A kitchen with a view!

We started with Saturday brunch. Most of the rest of the pics are quite bad quality as they were taken by the guests with flash. Oh well, maybe next time......

Homemade Bagels with Cream Cheese and Smoked Salmon

Poached Eggs Florentine

There was also American pancakes with maple syrup and a platter of bacon, potato rosti and grilled tomatoes.

Later that night it was on to the main event.......

Catered 5 Course Burns Night Supper
One of the main reasons for celebrating, as well as being Burn's Night was the hostess of the event had been given a diagnosis of the remission of cancer - always a good reason to celebrate! They did so in style with a bottle of Cristal champagne.

... which went nicely with some Burn's Night and Scottish/ Irish inspired canapes

Potato Wafers with Scottish Smoked Salmon, Watercress and Horseradish

Spoon of Slow Roast Duck with Apple Sauce and Crisp Walnut Crumble

Figs with Honey and Lanarkshire Blue Cheese

Spiced Roast Pheasant with Redcurrant Compote on Homemade Mini Aberdeen Butteries

Aberdeen Butteries are really something you need in your life!

Cullen Skink with Toast Spoons
They had liked it so much the last time we served it, they wanted it for this event too.

Grilled King Scallops with Goats Cheese and Hazelnut Crust

As tradition goes, before the main course goes in, the haggis was paraded around the room behind the piper.

Chicken Balmoral with Neeps 'n Tatties & Drambuie Cream

Aka Free range corn-fed chicken filled with haggis, wrapped in pancetta with creamed potato, swede fondant and sauteed kale.

They had also like the Hendrick's gin & tonic sorbet so much last time, we served it this time as well (I took the sorbet machine up there). This time I added raspberry coulis to the mix. Laying it out flat on a tray in the freezer it was just frozen in the nick of time - love living on the edge!

Dessert as a trio of desserts:

Steamed Clootie Dumpling with Clotted Cream

Apple Tart with Whisky Caramel Pecan, Walnut, Pine Nut and Hazelnut Topping

Plum Tarte Tatin with Dundee Orange Marmalade Ice Cream

Sunday Lunch

After a continental breakfast/ hangover cure, later in the afternoon there was just time for a restorative late Sunday Lunch.

Butternut Squash Soup served in a Homemade Bread Roll Bowl

Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding - how English!

Followed by Apple pie.

And that was that. A good night's sleep on Sunday night, and then the drive back to the Cotswolds on Monday, then Tuesday it was on to shopping for the ingredients for Friday and Saturday nights parties. And then 350 people the week after. Go, go, go!

7 Course Tasting Menu in Chipping Campden

Monday, May 08, 2017

What better thing than to come away to the Cotswolds for your birthday weekend and be cooked a seven course tasting menu in your holiday house?

We have done many of them now - it's great for people who enjoy their food & wine. Some have friends who match wines to the menu, or know a sommelier who comes along for the evening as well with their selection of matching wines - you have to do these things in style.

I introduce each course to the guests at the table as we go along - highlighting where the ingredients come from, or sometimes preparation methods/ techniques. They also get to ask questions as we go along - it's quite fun & interactive!

Tasting of Evesham Asparagus - Roast spears, asparagus puree and raw asparagus carpaccio (which went on the plate after this photo). With rosemary flowers picked outside another venue I had dropped food off on the way & flowering sprout leaves.

Bit blurry picture - but the first course is always the most stressy. Once you're a few down you've got more space on the kitchen work surfaces.

Although the asparagus season is strictly mid April to mid June, and this was March, you can still find asparagus around here grown locally. This was from Evesham - home of asparagus growing in the UK. If you've been in this area long enough, and know where to go, you can get asparagus long before the official season starts and ends - it's limited supply, so it tends to stay local.

Home Cured Bresaola with Pink Grapefruit and Celeriac Carpaccio

Had this maturing in my friend's Cotswold cellar - keeps it cool. It's approximately 10,000 times better than anything you can buy in a deli or supermarket - but so is anything homemade really.

Underneath is lemon dressed raw Jerusalem artichoke. So often we spoil vegetables by cooking them, in this dish they're all raw.

Roulade of Bibury Trout poached in Elderflower

Raw veg features in this dish too - crudites wrapped in courgette carpaccio with pea shoots grown on my windowsills.

There's grilled leek on the trout, pea puree brushed on with sprouting lentils & herbs dotted on top. Beetroot coulis dots finish the array of flavours.

This was followed by our Cotswold Gin and Cucumber Sorbet - it's so popular each time we serve it. I give them the gin bottle on the table to pour on a bit so they get the gin hit. Last time I forgot the bottle, had to go back the next day for it, and the hosts found it on their bookshelf hidden behind a book. Lol. The time before that, one guest liked it so much they brought the rest of the bottle from me.

Free-Range Duck with Nettle Gnudi and Rhubarb Compote

served with;

Fondant Potatoes

Roast Carrot Ribbons with Cumin Seeds

French Beans wrapped in Pancetta

But why is it called gnudi? Well that was the story for this dish. Picked the nettles by the river Severn here in Gloucester that morning (further up the river than the duck live) - couldn't be much fresher.

There's also orange powder over the duck - with the rhubarb they both give it a little tartness.

Lemon and Blueberry Tart

First time try out with the deco spoons - takes a bit more practice.....

Cerney Ash Goats cheese with honey and walnuts
No pic for this one - rush, rush. You know how this cooking malarkey is......

Plating plan needed for tasting menus so it runs smoothly.

Barbecue for your open day in the Cotswolds

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Bringing a bit of summer to your open day, like this one last Saturday at JCB in Hereford

Unlike other catering companies we use charcoal barbecues so you get that authentic flavour & aroma.

You only need a few sales of these beauties on your open day to make the whole thing worthwhile!

This is the most high-tech JCB around right now. What a mean machine - a 4 year old boy's dream!

Afternoon Tea Catering in Hardwicke, Gloucester

Forget the evening meal, the best thing next to a brunch menu has to be afternoon tea, surely?

Feedback from a recent wedding 😀

It's always good to know a chef! These guests that we know were having family over for afternoon tea, so we volunteered out services, if we could photograph the food we were serving.

They say less is more, but on this day it proved that actually, more is more.......

Afternoon tea is all about the best sandwiches, but simple works best, as you don't want to confuse the taste of the tea too much.

Here we have ham & watercress, Smoked salmon & chive marscapone, beef & rocket, cucumber & cream cheese and everyone's favourite egg & cress

Savoury style homemade crumpets with parma ham and lemon chutney

We normally serve a couple of savoury items along with the sandwiches, scones and cakes - it's the way my Grandmother used to do it, so I kind of keep the family tradition going!

Homemade lattice sausage rolls - everyone's favourite when they go out slightly warm from the oven!

Melty chorizo and gruyère cheese danish.

Last year I went on a croissant & danish pastry making day course. Making your own is time consuming, but infinitely better quality and taste. Plus you get to choose your fillings!