BlueApronChef

Macaron making

2013-02-01T12:45:00.000-08:00

For our anniversary Laura got me a voucher for a macaron making course at the On Cooking school.

The On cookery school is run by Loretta Liu, who trained in Raffles, Singapore, under the guidance of Pierre Gagnaire (Gagnaire is an iconoclastic chef at the forefront of the fusion cuisine movement) His thinking has inspired her approach to the unique flavours in "facing tomorrow but respectful of yesterday".

Liu has a her own distinct range of macarons with flavours including jasmine tea and charcoal, and mango with yuzu cream cheese. These are stocked in Harvey Nichols and retail at £1.75 each, alternatively you could get them from their own website here.

Anyway back on topic, on Wednesday I went on the course and had a great time, the course was good fun, light hearted and informative. The macarons turned out really good, and have left me chewing at the bit to get experimenting and making some of my own flavours.

Here are the fruits of my labor, not bad for a first attempt!

11 Madison Park

2013-01-21T08:32:00.001-08:00

After the first meeting with the chefs at Christopher's it was suggested we all start reading more and come up with some fresh and exciting new ideas, Chef recommend reading 11 Madison Parks cookbook.

It arrived today and has blown me away, the food combinations are amazing and the dishes full of colour, the photography is fantastic, Francesco Tonelli is a true artist with the camera.

I definitely need to book flights to New York to eat here, since this book was written it has jumped from a 1* to a 3* so I can't even imagine what they are producing now, I'm salivating at the thought of it

Just a few pics of a truly amazing city

2013-01-08T08:44:00.001-08:00

Kolkovna

2013-01-03T07:24:00.001-08:00

Marinated cheese, smoked lamb sausages and beer cooked sausage

Prague

2013-01-03T07:11:00.001-08:00

I'm currently in Prague, turns out its a beautiful city full of little lanes full of small boutique shops, cafes and restaurants.

The square has an Xmas market at the moment with stalls cooking chestnuts and delicious hams over an open flame, being served with potato and pickled cabbage...lovely.

I'll be posting pics soon

St.Johns 1*, London

2012-11-15T11:58:00.000-08:00

St.Johns is one of, if not the most famous restaurants in not just England but the world drawing plaudits from fellow chefs and celebrities alike, with TV chef and author Anthony Bourdain proclaiming it as his favourite restaurant of all time.

Whats the reason for this? Chef Fergus Henderson and partner Trevor Gulliver opened the restaurant in the old smoke house in late 1994 and pioneered the philosophy of 'nose to tail' eating, a philosophy that they have stuck with ever since and others have joined to varying degrees of success.

What is nose to tail? Fergus describes it as "meaning it would be disingenuous to the animal not to make the most of the whole beast; there is a set of delights, textural and flavoursome, which lie beyond the fillet".

Ever since I started a career in cooking and heard of this place I was in love and placed it at the top of an ever growing list of places I wanted to eat at, so when some guys at work mentioned they also wanted to go we booked it for the next day!

So with high hopes and empty bellies off to Spitalfields we trekked for lunch. We arrived at the old smoke house which looks like it hasn't been touched since! we were greeted by the friendly bar staff and given a complimentary drink of negroni (with a st.John twist) It was far too bitter and really not pleasant to drink.

We were then taken through to the restaurant and seated at a table dressed with a paper tablecloth..as all the tables were, all part of the unique experience. As we were seated we were plied with more alcohol, this time rose champagne. As were were perusing the menu the waiter came and told us that they were out of two of the main courses...which as luck would have it were the only two that sounded interesting to me, so I opted for replacement dish of braised veal neck and shoulder, but more on that later.

I had already decided on my starter before I had even booked the table, the world famous roast bone marrow with a parsley salad and it didn't disappoint! the bone marrow was so rich and creamy and the parsley and caper salad beautifully cut through the richness, I couldn't have asked for a better start to the meal.

And then to the main, the replacement braised veal paired with aioli, I ordered a side of new potatoes to go with it as the main didn't sound that much on its own.

The dish arrived with a big healthy portion of braised meat with the carrots from the braise full of flavour and a huge dollop of home made aioli. It looked good, it smelt good, then I had a mouthful of the beautifully tender meat with a good smear of aioli...it was then that it hit me and i recalled a previous warning of avoid their aioli! Oh my god, it tasted like a raw garlic puree and it burnt the back of my throat and stung my nostrils!! such a basic condiment ruined, I can still taste it now!

This coupled with the barely cooked/bordering raw grouse served to my colleague and the fact that two main dishes had run out by 1.30 put a real dampener on the main course.

So to dessert, we were sent a pre-dessert of strawberry granita with a shot of vodka. It was a nice gesture but it was October so not entirely sure where the strawberries came from but the granita was definatley not made with fresh strawberries but a pre-packed strawberry puree! Not something I was expecting from this temple of all things cooking.

My main dessert was a large eccles cake served with a generous wedge of Lancashire cheese, the cheese was delicious but the cake was a touch on the dry side, the meal had really spiraled down hill.

So a day that began with such high hopes and dreams, with visions of eating the best meal of my life to date, that started so well with a starter that both met and surpassed all expectations, for the meal to be tarnished by a distinct lack of choice in the mains and a dish that I could so easily have produced myself.

The restaurant was great and I loved the decor and the no frills, no fuss that went with it, but the food (starter aside) was disappointing which really was a shame.

The Square, London 2*

2012-09-10T09:50:00.002-07:00

Last Monday myself and a colleague from work booked a table at Phil Howards 2star The Square in Mayfair after the strong recommendation of the restaurant manager at work who booked us the table, having previously worked there.

When we arrived chef Phil Howard was outside having a photo shoot and was greeting the guests as they arrived.

We were seated and presented with the menu, there was the option of the reasonably priced set menu of the more pricey a la carte menu...we both opted to go for the a la carte!!

We placed our order and were looking forward to the meal, the sommelier came over and and talked to us about our food choices and what he thought would be the outstanding matches to go with theses dishes, I'm not much of a wine conisure so went with his choices...this proved to be a good decision.

Anyway to the food. As the restaurant we both work in has strong times to this we were treated extremely well, you could say even spoilt! We were both given a pre starter of langoustine tails with Parmesan gnocci and truffle, this is considered one of the best dishes in London along with two others also at the square! we were in for a treat!

The only thing that can be said for this is outstanding, a truly amazing dish I could eat this all day!

Now it was time for our starters I went for the famous Dorset crab lasagna with a cappuccino foam of shellfish and champagne! The Lasagna was layers of beautiful meaty crab and soft pasta. the cappuccino was rich and full of flavour...delicious.

My colleague ordered the winning dish from Great British Menu which was a tasting of mackerel with oysters and caviar. the smoked mackerel was served under a glass dish the billowed smoke when removed...a real show, and the dish was pretty good too!

Crab Lasagna with shellfish and champagne foam

Tasting of Mackerel with oysters and caviar

We next received a fish course of cod with a cauliflower pure, cobnut and truffle pesto and grilled potato. This was a simple dish that was executed perfectly with the components of the dish left to talk for themselves. It was so light and perfect for the rare baking hot day we were enduring.

For our main course we had both ordered the saddle of Lamb with a herb crust, olive gnocci and tomatoes. The lamb was perfectly pink and tender, the gnocci beautifully plump...delicious.

We had a pre-dessert served in a shot glass of poached white peaches and yogurt sorbet. This was served with a complimentary glass of sweet wine.

For dessert we went for the Brillat-Savarin cheese cake with a red current glaze and raspberry ripple ice cream which is a traditional Square dessert always featuring on the menu with the fruit of the season.

Dinner was finished with beautiful home made nougat as petit fours, we got two helpings, much to my delight!!!

The Square is by far the best restaurant I've ever had the pleasure of eating in and well worth the hit to the pocket. I would highly recommend everyone to go, the atmosphere is relaxed, the service friendly and extremely knowledgeable and the food impeccable.

Visit the website and see for yourslef at http://www.squarerestaurant.com/Home.aspx

Christian Etienne, Avignon

2012-09-06T11:32:00.002-07:00

Christian Etienne is situated next door to the Palais des Papes and was built in 1180! We were seated in the outside seating area under a glass rough with a view of the square. The glass covered dining area was decorated with hundreds of plants which at closer inspection turned out to be all the herbs and vegetables used on the menu with aubergines, chilli and bell peppers amongst them.

Owner Christian Etienne pays homage to his native Provence's abundance and offers an array of high-quality dishes that change with the seasons. The fixed-price menus change seasonally and focus on different themes, including one devoted entirely to lobster. In summer, the "tomato" menu is also on offer, while in winter you might find the "truffle" menu, which features the region's black diamond, truffles. There is an extensive wine list, which contains many Côtes du Rhône wines.


Watermelon with Dried olive and cucumber gazpacho


Tomato and olive bread with a basil and anchovy butter

We opted for different menus as I eat more because I'm a bit of a fatty.

Laura had the lunch menu with Squid with a chilli jelly..her favourite course of the meal.

My starter was a delicious but quite random with a foie gras and absinthe terrine with a cold creamed courgette soup, courgette ribbons and a courgette chutney.

My second course was a fillet of John Dory with sage, artichoke, tomato confit, spring onion and pine nuts.

This was a delicious course the fish was perfectly cooked and the sauce so rich and creamy, I really enjoyed this, probably the course of the meal.

The mains arrived and Laura had duck breast with a courgette tart, there was no sauce which was strange and a mistake as it was dry and rather bland the tart was however nice.

My main course was braised bull with fennel and a red wine sauce, I also found my main a touch bland but the shaved fennel was nice and fresh.

My main was followed by the cheese board I had a selection of goats cheeses with honey which were nice and the recommended honey was a perfect match.

The Cheeseboard

Pre-Dessert was a delicious blueberry tart with blueberry sorbet, almond tuille with a blueberry rice pudding. This was surprisingly pretty amazing, I'm not normally a fan of either rice pudding or fruit tarts but this was gooood!!

My main dessert was a trio of chocolate with milk chocolate sorbet, dark chocolate mouse and white chocolate meringue. This was delicious, the mouse was so rich and light, it was delicious.

Laura was served a fruit salad with mango sorbet, the fruit salad was nice but nothing exceptional as you would expect from a 1* but the sorbet was delicious and the Swiss roll a nice touch.

Petite fours were however really nice with a pistachio and raspberry macaroon which was immense and mini Madeline.

In all I really enjoyed my meal at christian Etienne, and liked the fact that the man himself came out and talked to all the tables, our conversation was short due to his lack of English and our lack of French but still a nice gesture.

The food was awesome and the ingredient and flavour combinations regional. Highly recommended.

Keisuke Matsushima, Nice

2012-09-06T10:15:00.001-07:00

Recently went to France for the first time (other than Disney land!) and I have to say the food was incredible! Everything ranging from the supermarket to the markets and restaurants. Its clear that food remains an integral part in peoples lives with people buying their bread fresh everyday from the small local bakers and their fruit and veg in the supermarkets which are huge and full of things your local ASDA wouldn't even have heard of let alone stock!

When dining out its a real experience and something that's not rushed, you eat out to enjoy the atmosphere, the food, the wine and the company your with, its a pleasure!

Laura and I went to Paris, then to Nice and then to Avignon for two weeks.

In Nice we went to the 1* Keisuke Matsushima and had the special lunch menu which was unbelievable value at 33euros per person for 3 courses, a glass of wine and a coffee.

Anyway to the food, when we arrived we were seated and immediately presented with our amuse bouches of a cherry tomato with a sugar shell which provided an interesting texture with the crunchy sweet outside to the slightly bitter soft centre of the tomato.

For starter I went for a crunchy vegetable salad with an olive tapenade dressing, It was nice but nothing really spectacular although the dressing was good, nice strong garlic taste.

Laura had a nice grilled sardine and cous cous which she loved.

Due to the french menu we we a tad unsure on the option we opted for the one dish we understood (much to Lauras disgust) which was Rabbit with soft polenta. I can honestly say it was the best main course of the holiday, the rabbit was so moist and perfectly cooked and the polenta smooth and full of flavour...Laura felt dirty but she says this is her fave restaurant of the holiday! high praise from someone who used to keep guinea pigs!

The desert options were slightly disappointing with only a fruit salad being offered or a cheese board so with both of us being fans of cheese that's what we opted for.

The cheeses were really nice and and the breads were really fresh and on constant offer ( I think we ate 5 each :s) i Particularly liked the anchovy roll whilst Lau liked the foccacia twist.

Laura being the coffee expert said it was one of the best of the holiday...they like it too strong over there!!!

In all the meal was really nice, the staff friendly and the restaurant small and quiet. The Rabbit was a real high point and for the price a real bargain.

Viajante

2012-05-30T05:38:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago I went for lunch with a couple of guys from work to try the acclaimed Viajante (traveller) in Bethnal Green for what would be my first dining experience at a Michelin restaurant even though I have worked in a few!

The three of us had heard so much about the restaurant and the type of food we would encounter with viajante being compared to both the fat duck and El Bulli ( both winners of the worlds best restaurant) our expectations were high.

The head chef is Portuguese Nuno Mendes, however his cuisine, like the name of the restaurant is travelled, there is no real way to pigeonhole it under a certain bracket., He took two years off before opening Viajante to travel and get inspiration and this is evident in his cooking with dishes being influenced from his native Portugal but also Thailand, Japan and South America.

Anyway back to the restaurant, we opted for the 9 course tasting menu. I would like to write a detailed piece about all the dishes but the 9 course quickly became 16 after a flurry of amuse bouches so this would soon become a very very long blog which nobody would read so I'll just show a few pictures of some of the highs..and lows of the experience.

First up was the famous Thai explosion 2 which was a great opener.

This was a confit chicken sandwich with Thai flavours giving it a Thai green curry taste, the 'bread' of the sandwich was on one side a coconut tuille and on the other chicken skin crackling. This was truly delicious.

Next was an amaranth grain and sorrel dish, the sorrel pure was the best part of this amuse.

this was followed by a delicious squid and pear amuse but then came this...

it was a young baked potato with yeast and olive..

For me the worst dish of the lunch. The yeast puree was baffling it just tasted like raw bread really not pleasant.

However Nuno redeemed himself with the fantastic bread and butter

The bread on the right was unreal it was a bacon and raisin sough dough with hay smoked butter. incredible.

The next 6 courses showed Nuno's clear love of all things sea! with all of the containing seafood. The flavour combinations were interesting but worked, for example the scallop with liquorish was divine!
The crab and langoustine with egg yolk and rhubarb didn't however!


Left: Pea custard with morels and onions	Right: the not so delicious crab and egg yolk

Next up were two great fish dishes of bream with dill chicory and fennel caramel and turbot with spring vegetables.

As I said seafood appears in many forms throughout the menu but one dish really divided the table, this was the cod tripe with onion and crispy potato. The slightly sticky texture of the tripe really put off one of the party but when coupled with the crisp potato the dish became a joy to eat.

The following dish was pigs tail with pecan mole and sweet cornbread served by Nuno himself.

This dish had great flavor combinations with the delicious sweetness of the corn bread and the bay leaf yoghurt being the perfect combination to the crackling and tender meat of the tail, I'm getting hungry just writing it now!

The last main was Dehesa Lamb with goats curd and black quinoa, the lamb and the curd were both beautiful but for me the quinoa spoiled it, just not my thing I guess.

The palate cleanser was a really refreshing dish in the form of pickled and raw cucumber with a reduced milk sorbet, I absolutely loved this the sweetness of the pickled cucumber and the crunch of the raw cucumber and the sorbet was lovely not too sweet balancing the sweetness and acidity of the rest of the dish.

Dessert was a Jerusalem artichoke and rosemary ice cream with candied artichokes and chocolate soil. An odd combination for a dessert and the candied artichokes were so hard and the rosemary too overpowering. This dish was an unnecessary experiment and not the best end to an otherwise lovely lunch.

I would recommend Viajante as we loved the meal although maybe next time 9 courses would be too many, I think I rolled all the way home.

Definatley worth a visit.

Im back

2012-04-24T06:42:00.001-07:00

So its been a month since my last post, Ive missed blogging but work has been so hectic recently with all sorts of dramas meaning extra hours and extra stress, add to this the new deal on top table and it makes for a very busy month in the kitchen.

In my last few posts I mentioned seasonality alot and this has been a huge focus for the restaurant since it opened, this is part of the reason the restaurant has been so successful, getting great seasonal produce in and cooking it properly but simply to ensure these ingredients reach their potential.

At the moment fresh peas and wild garlic and wet garlic are featuring heavily on the menu, asparagus are also starting to make an appearance but it will be a few weeks before the best of british asparagus make a ful introduction to the menu.

Something I have learnt alot about recently though are mushrooms, something I have previously had no interest in due to my hatred of them! however being a chef means you have to try everything, and as Heston says it can tke as few as 21 tastes of something you don't like for it to become something you do! Any way getting back on topic wild mushrooms are in season for a short period of time every year, april/may see's the growth of morels which are extremely expensive (we paid £70 for 1kilo) and are seen as a delicacy, I've had the pleasure of trying a few over the last week and I must admit they are delicious! If these are out of your price range (Which they are for nearly everyone) then dried morels can be brought and soaked, change the water regularly lifting the mushrooms out leaving the grit in the water.

If you can get your hands on either o these you can use theme to make an amazing mushroom risotto or make a creamy morel sauce to go with a grilled chicken breast.

New Season, New Menu

2012-03-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

Its been an extremely busy week, especially because of mothers day on Sunday which made the weekend all the busier. We got through it with not too much stress and very few raised voices :)

Went in to work yesterday to be greeted with a whole host of new seasonal ingredients and a new menu to start at lunch...time to push on then I guess.

We have new season lamb sweetbreads with lambs tongue, wild garlic, jersey royals and baby onions.
North African spiced Mackerel and baked aubergine and a slightly out there dish which I love, Parsley soup with snail tortellini and sauteed snails in garlic butter and a red wine jus.

Think of the flavours!

The north African mackerel is a take on a traditional dish called Imam baylidi, which translates as the priest feinted, this is reportedly because he feinted when he ate it because it was so good, another variation was because of the price of the ingredients and the amount of oil in it...it is a spiced onion, tomato and aubergine dish traditionally braised in olive oil and served cold as a meze. Definitely worth a try, I got to have a nibble last night and it was delicious, it could easily be altered to contain meat, like minced beef or another mullet??

Anyway I'm going to have to take some more pics of the dishes we are producing at the moment and post them on here for your perusal.

Steamed Sea Bass with a Soy Ginger and Chilli Broth

2012-03-12T10:33:00.001-07:00

So in keeping with my seasonality post earlier I thought I'd post this dish as we are approaching spring, and sea bass, probably my favourite fish is in season.

Ingredients:
1 Fillet of sea bass cut in half with skin on per person
2 Spring onions sliced diagonally
90ml Mirin Sweet Wine
125ml Rice Vinegar
500ml Soy Sauce
1250ml water
Sesame Oil
1/2 Garlic head peeled and thinly sliced on mandolin
4 Red Chilli's (more if you like it hotter) half de-seed and julienne width ways
2 Thumbs Ginger slice on mandolin and julienne.
1 Litre fish stock
1 Pak Choi per person
1 Cucumber
100ml White Wine Vinegar
100ml Water
100g Sugar
Chervil - Picked
Shiso Cress

To make the broth:
Sweat off the garlic, chilli's and ginger in a splash of sesame oil, be careful not to colour any of the ingredients.
Add the Mirin, Rice Vinegar, Soy Sauce and water and bring to the boil.
Remove from the heat. The broth won't need seasoning as the soy sauce is extremely salty already you may need to adjust the broth by adding more water if it is still too salty.

For the Cucumber:
Mix the 100ml water, sugar and white wine vinegar in a pan and heat until combined, leave to cool.
Peel the cucumber cut into 3 and half length ways and cut into battons. Remove the seeds they are just water and will take away the pickled effect. add the cucumber to the pickling liquor and leave to pickle.

To cook the Sea Bass:
Place the Sea bass and Pak Choi into a steamer and place the steamer over the boiling fish stock.
Leave to cook for 6-7mins until just cooked.

To serve place the Pak Choi into a bowl and carefully place the bass on top. pile 4 battons of cucumber on top of the bass and spoon over the hot soy dressing, sprinkle over some of the chopped spring onion and top off with shisho cress and the picked chervil.

The resulting flavours should be a delicately cooked fish, with a flavour full broth with a spice to it. The cucumber adds a crunchy texture and an acidity to cut through the saltiness of the broth.

Seasonality

2012-03-12T05:12:00.000-07:00

This wasn't something I had ever thought about until about 2years ago when I started working in top kitchens and the dishes changed monthly, weekly and more recently even daily! I was fascinated at the different seasons and the glorious food that appeared during that time, I soon found myself trying different fruit and veg that I had previously not liked purely because it was a different time of year, take asparagus for example, I couldn't stand it, and knew it made you smell funny after!! now however having tried English asparagus at the time its meant to be eaten around April I cant get enough!

I urge everyone to find out what is in season and to try something new or even something old just at a different time and I can assure you, you may find a new favourite just like I did.

Here is a simple chart that I was given at college that could really get you on the path to finding something new.

Salted Caramel and White Chocolate Fondant

2012-03-06T07:16:00.002-08:00

I've noticed a distinct lack of sweet dishes on here so thought I'd post this recipe, that we used at a hotel that I used to work at, we served it as a petit four but the size could easily be increased to be served as a main dessert.

You will need:
352g Butter
325g Caster Sugar
350g Eggs
225g T55 Flour
15g Salt
1 1/2 Vanilla pods
360g White chocolate

Make a dry caramel with 175g of the sugar take the caramel really dark, verging on burnt to 216degrees.
Whilst this is cooking make a sabayon by whisking the remaining 150g Sugar with the eggs. Melt the butter and Vanilla in a pan.
Use the melted butter to deglaze the caramel, be careful this may splash and is extremely hot!! Add the salt and chocolate and whisk until the chocolate is fully incorporated in the caramel butter mixture.
Add the hot mixture to the sabayon and whisk well.
Finally whisk in the flour.

Pipe the mixture into moulds, or tart cases and cook in the oven at 185degrees. Cook until the mixture becomes just sponge like on top and serve immediately, this should take 10-15mins for a 70g portion, the result should be a delicious oozing centre.

Like I said we served this as a petit four but I think it would be delicious served as a main dessert, maybe with a white chocolate Ice-cream, and some caramel popcorn.

Braised Shoulder of Lamb

2012-03-05T05:04:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the lack of activity, work has been unbelievably busy, who says there's a recession?!

On a rare day off I decided to cook at home for the family, and opted for braised lamb shoulder, so off to the butchers I trotted and got a beautiful on the bone, huge shoulder of lamb, 2.2kg for just £13.

I paired it with a garlic puree, spinach, roasted garlic butter crouton and Roosevelt potatoes.

Pre-heat the oven to 160degrees.

For the lamb brown off 20 shallots and 20 garlic cloves in a roasting dish big enough to fit the shoulder in place a bundle of aromatic herbs (rosemary and thyme) on to the shallots and place the shoulder on top of that season the lamb liberally as it is a huge piece of meat so will take a lot of seasoning. Cover the lamb with 1/2 bottle of wine and a litre of chicken stock. Cover with foil and place in the oven for 3hrs 30 check regularly turning the meet occasionally. Its cooked when the meat is falling off the bone.

For the croutons slice the white bread into batons about 1inch wide and the length of the slice with no crusts. fry until golden brown in duck fat.

For the roast garlic butter peel two heads of garlic and place in tin foil with butter, a sprig of thyme, salt and pepper and roast in the oven until the garlic softens and browns, mash the garlic and butter with a fork and mix through chopped parsley.

The garlic puree is really easy and delicious. cover a pan with peeled garlic and cover with water bring to the boil and drain. whilst the garlic is boiling sweat off 1/2 an onion in butter and salt and add the drained garlic, sweat until soft on a low heat add a splash of cream and blitz until smooth.

The spinach is simple and delicious, it takes about 40seconds, melt a knob of butter in a frying pan and add the spinach, it may look like too much for the pan but it soon wilts to about half the size so fill the pan full, season with salt and pepper and serve immediately with the boiled new potatoes, the warm crouton with melted butter, plenty of the moreish garlic puree and the meat that should be so tender it can be cut with a spoon.

Give it a try and let me know your results.

Christopher's Grill

2012-02-20T08:04:00.000-08:00

I thought I would post my first review on a restaurant that I have very fond memories of as it is where I started my career in the kitchen, head chef Francis Agyepong and Sous Chef Barry Crawford taught me a hell of a lot!

I took my girlfriend there just before I started this blog but felt that I should put a review up, why not document past food memories?!

For those that don't know, Christopher's is in Covent Garden in a great Victorian grade II listed building with amazing views over Waterloo bridge and the strand. Its a large restaurant with a beautiful candle lit spiral staircase that takes you from the reception up to the restaurant. With an nouvaux American menu sitting alongside modern European and Asian dishes.

We arrived slightly earlier than our booking so were taken to the martini bar which was extremely busy, but not so much that you couldn't move or drink without getting some down your chin(you all know what I mean). We decided to have a couple of their champagne cocktails, I had a Bellini, whilst Laura went for a passion fruit cocktail, which although was very nice it did come with the hazard of getting seeds stuck in your teeth!

We were soon shown up the grand staircase to our table, this was the first time I'd been in the restaurant before so was a new experience for me being on the other side but the memory of the dishes was still fresh.

Our waiter came with a selection of breads and surprise drinks from the chef.

Now to the food, I had a Confit of duck salad with crisp lettuce, Charleston slaw & tamarind sauce

The salad was crisp adding a crunch to the perfect confit duck leg and the pickled cucumber was fresh and cut through the richness of the duck.

Laura had seared scallops with chervil root puree, balsamic glaze and chervil crisps, 3 scallops seared and seated on a bed of chervil root puree which was well seasoned and very smooth. The balsamic glaze added a sweet touch to the dish.

For our mains I went for a Christopher's speciality, surf 'n' Turf Steak, this is a 1/2 lobster grilled in a herb butter served with buttered spinach, a 10oz rib eye steak and a choice of sauce, I went for Bearnaise...I love the stuff! The steak was treated simply with the natural flavour of the extremely tender meat shining through, I had mine medium-rare and it was cooked perfectly.

Laura had a Lobster thermidor which was accompanied with creamy mash potato and a cobb salad, She loved every mouthful...not sharing much either it was so good. The meat was perfectly cooked and pulled away from the shell with ease and the creamy mustard filling mixed with the natural juice of the lobster made the dish extremely aromatic and delicious.

After two lovely courses and various champagne cocktails we were getting full so opted to share a dessert the desserts at Christopher's are an all American show with baked New York cheesecake, Brownie, Pecan Tart and peanut butter pudding being the dishes that stood out the most. Both being chocolate fiends we finally decided on the warm chocolate fudge brownie with vanilla ice cream, shaved chocolate, chocolate sauce and almond praline, it was huge and every rich chocolaty mouthful was well worth it!

Sitting there soaking up the atmosphere completely satisfied sipping our cocktails was the perfect end to a long week. Am I being bias?? maybe but everyone I've introduced to Christopher's has rushed back before and I shall be doing the same, so next time your in the west-end catching a show pop in and give it a try I guarantee you will be joining us in becoming frequent visitors.

Don't believe me? then check out for yourself here

Wild Salmon with Cucumber Spaghetti

2012-02-15T03:08:00.003-08:00

Lovely simple dish, if you can get hold of wild salmon I urge you to do so because it truly is something you need to taste, farmed salmon just doesn't compare!

Cut the salmon at an angle to get nice long thin slices to make cooking even simpler and extremely quick.

First off to make the spaghetti, take 1 cucumber and peel it, the use a Japanese mandolin to slice it into spaghetti, ensuring not to use the watery centre as this won't cook very well. If you don't have a mandolin then cut the outsides of the cucumber into ribbons and then julienne them to form spaghetti.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and blanch the cucumber in the water for 30seconds, remove and refresh the cucumber in ice water, this brings out the colour intensifying the green of the cucumber.

To make the sauce whisk together 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1tablespoon of Dijon mustard, whisk in 1/4cup of olive oil slowly to emulsify the citronette, season with salt and black pepper, add 2 tablespoons of finely chopped chives and 2 tablespoons of warm water of stock to serve warm.

To cook the salmon season the fish with salt, pepper and olive oil and grill the Salmon on both sides until the inside is translucent (still rare, us English cook everything to death...don't salmon should be served translucent!!) this will probably only take about 1min on each side but this depends on how thick you have cut your portions.

Sautee the blanched cucumber in a drizzle of oil at a high heat.

Serve this immediately place the salmon in the middle of the plate and spoon the spaghetti onto and drizzle your warm citronette on to the fish and plate.

This is an extremely simple and delicious dish, hope you enjoy.

15967-071f

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Veal Stock

2012-02-15T02:37:00.000-08:00

So I've been gone a few days now been working hard, been extremely busy at work learning a new section in the kitchen so its all go at the moment!

Last time I posted I said I would post a veal stock recipe so here it is.

This makes 1 litre of stock/gravy which ever you would rather call it, the technique applies for most gravies and the bones could be swapped for beef or lamb to match whichever meat it is you're serving up.

2.5kg Veal bones
2 Bay Leaves
2 Sprigs Rosemary
2 Sprigs Thyme
Parsley Stalks
150g Carrots (1/2 length ways)
100g Onions 1/2
50g Tomato Puree
500g Chopped Tomato
7.5litre Water
400g Calves Feet (split)
225ml Red Wine

Split the calves feet and chop the veg. Blacken the veg in a frying pan with minimal oil.
Roast the bones in the oven until they are golden brown.

Place the bones, veg, aromatic herbs, tomato puree, chopped tomatoes and water into a large pot and cover with the water and bring the pan up to the boil, once the stock comes up turn the temperature down and simmer until it is reduced by 1/3. Skim the stock regularly to ensure the fat doesn't boil back into the stock.

Pass the stock through a chinoise into a new pan, add the calves feet, and simmer until the stock reduces to a nice sauce consistency, this will take a couple of hours but needs to reduce by a further 1/2.

Reduce the red wine by half in a separate pan.

Once the desired consistency is reached pass the stock through a muslin cloth. Add to the reduced wine and correct seasoning.

This can be used immediately or could be cooled and refrigerated for another time.

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Calves Liver with Cheddar Mash and a Parmesan Crisp

2012-02-06T13:05:00.000-08:00

This is a great simple dish that I used to do at my old restaurant, very popular and easy to do at home too!

First off make your mashed potato, boil up your potatoes in salted water until thoroughly cooked, if you have one pass the potatoes through a ricer twice (to make sure its smooth) with diced butter to ensure its nice and rich. finish in a pan with grated cheddar and milk to make it lighter.

To make the parmesan crisp get a sheet of parchment paper and sprinkle some grated cheese thinly into a triangular shape (or however you fancy) and bake in the oven for 2-3mins until golden and bubbling. leave on the side to cool and it will crisp up. Serve cold.

Line 2 slices of pancetta per person on a parchment paper and cover with another sheet of parchment and a tray ontop to keep them flat. Bake in the oven for 5mins until cooked and leave to cool.

Next place some basamic vinegar and a pinch of sugar in a pan and reduce to a thick glaze ( you can buy this already made from your supermarket) the sugar ensures the balsamic vinegar retains its sweetness.

The best sauce for this dish is a nice veal stock, again this can be brought for the supermarket but its best home made but a bit expensive. I'll give you the recipe separatley as it is fairly long winded. Stir the newly reduced balsamic glaze into the veal stock to taste. This should result in a nice sweet but rich sauce. Keep warm.

Season your liver portions with sea salt, black pepper and some chopped sage. Heat a frying pan with a splash of oil and get very hot, place your liver in the pan and sear on each side for about 2mins, depending on the thickness of the liver. Liver is best served pink.

Serve on a clean white plate with a quenelle of mash, a crisp, pancetta slices and your pan-fried liver. Lightly cover with the balsamic sauce and a drizzl of olive oil.

'Best Ever' Chicken Tikka Masala

2012-02-02T13:23:00.000-08:00

So I was cleaning out the other night and came across a lost cookbook full of Indian superfood recipes its a book by Gurpareet Bains who specialises in healthy food.

Any way I was having a browse and came across a dish labelled the best ever chicken tikka masala...I was obviously curious because like the majority of the rest of England I love a chicken tikka, so I made it tonight!

I served it up for dinner for the family and it went down very well. Its billed as being a super healthy version without cream and replaced with coconut milk instead and providing you with 235%+ RDA of antioxidants which is impressive.

If you fancy ago too you'll need:

1 teaspoon cloves
15 green cardamon pods slightly crushed
1 onion thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves finely chopped
2 teaspoons ground ginger
3 tablespoons tandoori masala powder
5 tablespoons tomato puree
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons peeled ginger grated.
2-4 green chillies chopped
500g chicken breast chopped
800ml coconut milk.

heat the oil and cloves and cardamon together until aromatic on a low-medium heat then add the onions and cook until brown for about 5mins. Add the garlic and cook until light brown.

Sprinkle in the ground ginger and tandoori masala powder and cook for 20secs. Then add the tomato puree, sugar, fresh ginger and chillies, mix well and cook until the puree is heated through, 1-2mins.

Add the diced chicken, mix well and cook until sealed all over. Pour in the coconut milk and mix well. Simmer uncovered for 25mins stir occasionally.

Season to taste and garnish with some chopped coriander.

Hope you can find the time to give this recipe a try its very simple and healthy!

Seasoning

2012-01-31T07:37:00.000-08:00

I have mentioned on numerous occasions already the term season to taste, but what does this mean?
These word feature in every cookbook or recipe you ever read but does anyone truly understand what this actually means?

Seasoning is about tasting and tweaking, or fine tuning to bring out the best in the food and each individual ingredient.

At work we are constantly told to taste and season everything we make, after adding very ingredient we taste and season, seasoning enhances the dish or sauce and brings out the taste of all the ingredients in the dish, if you don't season then you won't taste all the ingredients and whats the point of using the ingredient if you cant taste it??

Seasoning commonly refers to salt and pepper, but having read the devil in the kitchen by Marco Pierre White I soon realised that this is not the case. Seasoning can involve lemon juice, butter, herbs or spices.

However Marco states that these are not seasoning at all and I'm of a similar belief he writes "When people talk about seasoning they usually mean adding salt and pepper. Seasoning to me is adding salt. Salt enhances the flavour of the ingredients, pepper changes the flavour. I very rarely season a sauce with pepper"

I to believe this to be the case and only use salt to season my sauces.

The two most important times to season are at the beginning (base seasoning) and at the end. Base seasoning is important because it allows the salt to spread throughout the whole dish. Seasoning at the end is the final tweaking of the dish but bear in mind at what temperature you will be serving the sauce/puree as seasoning changes depending on how hot or cold it is so season at the temperature you intend to serve it at!

I hope that helps everyone out there who likes to cook, don't just add a pinch of salt and hope for the best, always always taste after seasoning. don't be afraid to season and experiment, I assure you it will improve your meals

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Winter Warmer Soup

2012-01-31T03:16:00.000-08:00

This is my girlfriends favourite soup at the moment, we cook it weekly and its so easy!

Don't be put off by the amount of butter needed, you can always reduce it, but if you fancy a real treat and a richer fuller soup the I would recommend using the full amount and full fat milk!!

You will need:
1 Butternut squash
200g Butter
3 Onions peeled and finely sliced
400g Milk
600g Water
1 Red pepper, de-seeded roasted, peeled and diced into 1cm squares
Salt
Creme Fraiche

Pre heat the oven to 180degrees.
Peel the squash and de-seed. Finely slice 1/2 with a mandolin if accessible if not a knife will work just fine. Dice the other half and season with a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil and roast for approx. 30mins or until soft.

Melt the butter on a low heat and add the onions and the sliced squash and sweat for about 10mins until the onions are translucent, try not to colour them.

Then add the milk and 600g tap water and the roasted pimpkin and simmer for 10mins until the sliced squash is completely cooked. Season to taste.

Blitz the soup until very smooth and pass through a chinois or fine sieve.

Serve the soup in wam bowls with a dollop of creme fraiche and the roasted pepper ontop with some cracked black pepper ontop to add a nice speckled effect.

This soup is perfect for lunch or dinner and can be kept in the fridge for upto 3days after making so if you make too much you can always use it again another day!

Butternut is so diverse and this recipe is such a simple one but the cooking of the squash two ways layers the flavours and if seasoned correctly will allow you to taste both the fresh and roasted squash in every spoonful.

I f you want to try changing the recipe you can always add some diced chilli to the onions at the beginning and sprinkle some brunoise chilli ontop instead of the pepper.

Or if your feeling really adventurous you could garnish the soup with some nut brown butter and pine nuts and some golden brown crutons as we do at work.

The recipe works equally well with pumpkin if you can't get hold of any squash.

Great starter, Scallops with apple puree and crisp pancetta

2012-01-30T04:26:00.000-08:00

You'll need: 3 scallops per person
8 Granny smith apples - 7 peeled and thinly sliced
100g Butter
1/2 Vanilla pod scrapped
Pinch sugar
Thinly sliced pancetta
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Ok start off by melting the butter and vanilla pod slowly, when this is done add the sugar and the 7 thinly sliced apples and cook on a medium to low heat until the apples resemble a mush. blitz them in a blender and pass through a fine chinois and season with salt to taste.

Whilst this is cooking take the top off the remaining apple and slice the apple wafer thin and soak in stock syrup (50%water 50%sugar boiled) and place on a baking tray and dry in an oven at 50degrees until crisp.

Line your pancetta on a baking tray with parchment paper on then cover again with another sheet of parchment and another tray to ensure the pancetta stays completely flat. cook this in the oven at 180degrees for approx 5mins until it is crispy.

When all the components are ready and your friends/family/colleagues have arrived season your scallops and get a pan on to a high heat with olive oil, add your scallops to the hot pan and cook the scallops until they are golden on one side, this should take about 1min. turn the scallops and lower the heat and cook the scallops through so they are still soft but firm to the touch. Finish with a touch of butter and a drop of lemon juice. Heat the apple puree.

Get the number of plates you require and put 3 spoons of puree in a line through the centre of the plate, and place 3 slices of the crisp pancetta ontop of the puree with the scallops spooned ontop of that. Finish the dish with a drizzle of olive oil and some cracked black pepper and 2 apple crisps between the scallops. Serve immediately.

Roast potatoes

2012-01-29T11:32:00.000-08:00

I felt that roast pots deserved their own post, because you just can't beat a good roast potato!

I tend to peel my potatos and cut them into quarters roucghly so that there are plenty of edges, these are important because these are what crisp up to give you the lovely crunchy outside to your fluffy centre.

Preheat your oven to 180degrees(gas mark 4) with a roasting tray of oil inside.

Place your potatoes into a pan of salted water and boil to within a inch of their lives and start to crack. Drain the water and return to the hob with a lid and steam dry giving the pan a shake so that the crack open of and the oiutside of the potato starts to flake.

Add the fluffy cracking potatoes to the now hot oil in the oven with a whole bulb of garlic halved and roast in the oven for about 1hr10mins until golden brown and crisp on the outside.

these should be the last think to leave the oven...for me they are the most important part (with the exception of the meat obviously) of the meal. Everything else should be timed around them!

Enjoy