Now It Begins

For a while I've been getting keener and keener on cooking and trying to raise my game from a good home cook to a chef. Much of my inspiration must go to my beautiful wife for her encouragement and praise which has given me the confidence to try more things. So now it begins...

I did put an entry into MasterChef and even had a phone call from the programme about six weeks ago now. Since then I've really been trying to raise my game, just in case. I doubt I'll get on, but nothing ventured....

I've even started to take a few pictures of me creations and thought this blog would be a good way to keep a record. I've never been much of a pudding person, probably because I want to watch my weight but also I'd rather get some good healthy meat down my gob first. Anyway, I've been trying to get to grips with puddings, and in doing so I've been starting to get rather fond of them.

Lavender and Lemon Iinfused Floating Islands With a Summer Fruit Confit,Passion fruit,Strawberries,Blackberries and a Touilet Biscuit
I was quite proud of the below one that was my own creation and the combination blew me away. I had recently grown some lavender in my garden and as I'd never used it in cooking before, I decided it was about time I did. But what goes with lavender? It can be very over-powering, strong, flowery and could easily ruin a dish. However, get it just right and it could make a dish. I just began to imagine different taste combinations in my mind and mixed them together. Some worked in my mind others didn't. One that just felt right was lavender and passion fruit. I could imagine it, taste it, even smell it. So I tried it, and it was just as I had felt, smelt and tasted. I'd never seen this combination in a recipe (I am sure there are probably loads but I had never read about it) so for me it was a discovery, and a good one.

I managed to make the lavender subtle enough to make it compliment the passion-fruit but without being over powering. I very finely chopped about 3 fronds of lavender (per floating island) and also used about six in the milk to help infuse the flavour in the island whilst cooking. The floweriness was balanced by the sweetness of the confit and the fruit with the sharpness of the lemon, it was just perfect.

The odd thing is, I could go to the same local shop and buy the same fruit, but next week, it might be a different, the fruit might not quite be the same, not as sweet, slightly bitter and the whole dish would change.

Biscuit Tuiles are easy, quick and delicious, you can mound them into shapes when just out the oven and they can really add something to a desert.

50grams butter at room temperature, 50g icing sugar, 1 egg white, 30g plain flour (sifted). Preheat oven to 200C/Gas 6, mix all ingredients with a wooden spoon until smooth, drop onto a baking sheet and spread into desired shape, then into the oven for 10 mins. When I brought this one out I curled it up inside a baking ring to give it a curled shape.

Venison with Beetroot Jus and Capers with Potato and Sweet Potato Mash

I'd never cooked venison before and would have to say it was a little over-cooked, no excuses really. I'm not much of a beetroot fan in general but the earthiness did go well with the sweet potato.

Poached Chicken breasts stuffed with onion, garlic basil and rosemary with a baby spinach and saffron infused valoute with sweet potato and a peppered spinach herb oil dressing

Poaching chicken is a simple way to ensure succulent breasts and can give your dish an extra special look to it.
For poaching, bash out your chicken breasts thinly between two pieces of cling film, season, fill with whatever you with, then roll up as tightly as you can.

Wrap in cling film very tightly, the wrap the cling film in tin foil. Pop in boiling water for ten minutes, then rest for ten in a warm place( as there will be lots of juices to come from it). Make sure you use good quality cling film, the sort that is microwave proof. Then slice and serve.

Here is another poached chicken dish, this one was stuffed with sage and caramelised onions and came with a mustard mash and a balsamic vinegar and sun dried tomato chutney.

I cheated as I didn't make the chutney myself, I just found it at the back of the fridge. The sage was a little too strong so I wasn't that happy with the dish but the onions went really well.

Monkfish en Papilotte with a Fennel stock cooked with Leeks, Ginger, Chirozo and a Mustard mash.

En Papilotte is cooking the fish, stock and vegetables it in the oven in two tightly wrapped sheets of tin foil, if you manage to get it air tight it blows up into a pillow shape.

Fillet Steak with a celeriac purée, pee purée and cubed roasted potatoes with garlic and rosemary and a red wine reduction.

Presentation not the best, but if you are only having one course, you might want to dump a little more on the plate to fill yourself up.

I'm really into my celeriac purée just now. It's not something that I did until recently and now I just can get enough of it. Best way is to peel and chop it into small 2cm cubes, season then sweat in butter for 4 mins. Then cover with single cream or half whipping cream and half milk. Add a squeeze of lemon and then cook until soft (30-35 mins). Once cooked, blend it very well to form a smooth paste. You can do this before hand and then warm up before serving.

Prawns in Garlic With a Lemongrass and Chilli Veloute with a Mint Garnish

And finally, I'd better finish with a quick starter. I've also discovered veloute sauces and the magic things you can do with them. My research shows that there are two different ways of making a veloutes or at least two methods of creating something that people refer to as veloutes. The classic French veloute (or blond sauce) is basically a bechamel (or white sauce) made with stock instead of milk. A veloute sauce is one of the five 'mother' sauces of classic French cuisine.

The other way to make a veloute is more of a cheat, but then again it is described this way in the book 'Gordon Ramsay Three Star Chef' and I'm not going to argue with his expertise. His doesn't use any flour but instead he reduces onions, garlic and herbs and a dry vermouth down to a syrupy glaze, before adding the stock then reducing by half, then adding cream and reducing until it reaches the desired consistency. Put through a fine sieve and season as desired.

You can add what herbs you want to compliment the dish and similarly with the stock. I added lemon grass, chilli bay leaf and naturally I used fish stock to compliment the prawns.

I suppose in writing this, I have just realised my passion for it and perhaps this is what I really should focus on?