Memories of Gascony

Pierre Koffman is a hugely important figure in british food. He worked at Le Gavroche, The Waterside Inn and opened La Tante Claire. With an impressive CV, the next generation of chefs trained and three michelin stars under his belt he retired from the restaurant business.

Until recently when his pop-up restaurant at Selfridges was an instant sell-out and shortly after he opened ‘Koffman’s at the Berkley’ serving french classics which combine rustic influences with luxury ingredients. His love of food and cooking style is heavily influenced by his youth – chronicled in ‘Memories of Gascony’.

20130204-211049.jpg

Growing up he spent long school holidays on his grandparent’s farm – surrounded by food and a fiercely independent local cuisine. The book itself is really beautiful, first published in 1990 it has been out of print for a while. It contains a lovely selection of recipes and stories covering a year on the farm, the various harvests and crops each being showcased. Last weekend I cooked a couple of recipes to see how they stack up. You can also read about his famous trotter recipe here.

Wild Pigeons with Armangac

20130204-141558.jpg

Designed with a rustic french kitchen in mind this whole recipe requires just one pot. As is common in Gascony, he uses duck fat as his oil of choice. When used to seal the pigeon it adds a lovely richness and fragrance. Armangac is another Gascon speciality and works beautifully with the rich gamey meat. A great dish and very easy to make – I served it with some simple steamed vegetables and aligot as a main, but it would work equally well as a starter.

Pistachio Soufflé

I adore soufflés. They have a distinct ‘wow factor’ and are surprisingly quick to make. Koffman’s recipe is very easy and, if followed carefully, should be very reliable. On the first batch I got so much lift that the tops hit the roof of the oven! Pistachio paste can be hard to find (Whole Foods let your grind your own) but provided you have a good food processor you can simply blend the unsalted nuts yourself. I served it with a vanilla ice cream and some grated chocolate.

20130204-141604.jpg

The flavour is gorgeous – nutty, savoury and with just the right hint of sweetness. The contrast between the bready, slightly chocolatey outside and the soft gooey centre is really nice. Delicious.

Conclusion
‘Memories of Gascony’ is a great book, as Jay Rayner notes “If you don’t own a copy… your cookbook collection is not complete”. The recipes range from the simple and hearty to the complex and refined. Like all my favourite books there are dishes which even the most tentative of cooks can manage while there are also ones which would make keen chefs sweat. Units are sensible and ingredients are relatively common – the odd wildcard (fresh blood, unusual game) can easily be substituted using a bit of creativity.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading it – make room on your bookshelf, get some great ingredients and transport yourself to a Gascon farmhouse for an evening.

‘Memories of Gascony’ by Pierre Koffman, RRP £30 is published by Mitchell Beazley and available now in all good bookstores.

A. Wong Tasting Menu

I don’t normally make two posts about the same restaurant in quick succession – but when I made a second visit to A. Wong with my sister, their tasting menu definitely deserved a mention. You can read my original article here.

Eight Course Tasting Menu – £40

Dim Sum Platter
They had some different versions this visit – the foam added a really delicious seafood/citrus hit to the bite. All the dim sum were really juicy and well seasoned. I’m definitely making a trip for lunch at some point (when they have a much wider dim sum selection).

20130204-152453.jpg

20130204-152506.jpg

Bean Curd Soup and Prawn Cracker
This is easily the biggest prawn crack i’ve ever seen – it’s a monster. I’ve no diea how they managed to fry it! The soup was rich, savoury and full of flavour.

20130204-152519.jpg

Fried Vegetables with Shrimp Butter
This was a delicious mix of pak choi, choi sum and some other veg – they’d cooked it just right so there was still some crunch and a lovely contrast of textures. The shrimp butter is inspired.

20130204-152529.jpg

Razor Clams
These can be a chefs worst nightmare – a fraction too long and it’s like chewing on an inner tube. These were beautifully cooked and went really well with the chinese sausage.

20130204-152536.jpg

Szechuan Chicken
The region is known for it’s peppercorns and the chef really went to town with them. For me it was the perfect balance, hot enough to warm your mouth but without too much numbing – others may find it a bit challenging! The chicken was incredibly moist and stood up to the spice well. It was served with a side of aubergine – similarly spiced and just as delicious. This was probably my favourite course!

20130204-152544.jpg

Steak and Yunnan Truffles
Just like their European counterparts – these truffles add a lovely nutty element to the dish and went really well with the rich beef and sauce. Well cooked and very tender. Bliss.

20130204-152554.jpg

Beef Noodles
Served with the steak – I’ve had these noodles before and they’re just as good – they manage to get the amount of soy just right, not too sweet, not too bland.

20130204-152602.jpg

Pineapple and Yoghurt
Apparently available everywhere in Beijing this yoghurt is very loosely set with a decidedly salty tang – when combined with the chili pineapple, it really comes alive. Yum.

20130204-152609.jpg

Poached Meringue with Lychee Granita
A lovely finish to the meal – crisp refreshing and with lots of interesting textures – the lychees really stood out.

20130204-152616.jpg

The dishes are varied, fun, complex and most importantly tasty. It’s a great little restaurant that definitely deserves support as it starts up – I look forward to many more happy meals!

Burns Night

Burns Night is a great excuse to enjoy my (somewhat dubious) Scottish heritage. Last week I cooked a couple of times, from a very simple rendition, to a more complicated one.

20130127-114822.jpg

Haggis is a wonderful ingredient and can be either the main event or a supporting player. It’s already starting to appear on more menus and I’m sure it’ll feature in plenty if dishes this year!

20130127-114916.jpg

Neeps (or Turnips/swedes) are not high up my list of favoured vegetables – there’s a reason we don’t eat them the rest of the year! I choose to interpret them as roasted parsnips which add a welcome crunch and the sweetness is great with the spicy haggis. Mashed potato is an obvious staple – but you can leave it out if you’re doing more courses as the haggis is quite heavy.

My favourite rendition is this – Scottish Venison, served pink, on haggis and spinach, roasted parsnips and figs, with a whisky cream sauce.

20130127-114955.jpg

The flavours work really well together – I love the spicy sweet combo of the haggis and figs. The spinach adds some freshness and the delicate note of the whisky in the creamy sauce ties it all together (flame off the sauce carefully!)

For dessert people often serve cranachan, I like doing another Scottish staple – marmalade. This recipe is one of my favourites and the result is a light and fluffy sponge with a lovely whisky orange sauce. I added some fresh ginger ice cream and a bit of crumbled flapjack for texture. The very cold weather meant that I could chill my ice cream mix to almost freezing on the balcony before churning it, making it very smooth and silky!

20130127-115031.jpg

Slàinte!

A. Wong

Pimlico is where I live, it’s a lovely little area, tucked behind Victoria, north of the river, east of Chelsea, west of Westminster. There are little family-run shops, great cafes and gorgeous houses – but it also does an excellent line in restaurants. One of the newest is ‘A. Wong’. Opened in December it sits on the site of a rather dingy old chinese, but in a somewhat phoenix-like transformation it’s now a swanky, modern restaurant with a spotless open kitchen and lovely decor.

20130117-214842.jpg

On a freezing Thursday night it was a welcome respite from weather, the staff were welcoming and attentive and the restaurant reassuringly busy. The menu is pretty extensive and takes in a range of chinese styles, but using quality british ingredients. £40 gets you an eight course tasting menu which will have to wait for another time, we plumped for their £13 two course set menu (including a glass of very drinkable wine), brilliant value!

20130117-214932.jpg

The starter was a lovely dim sum platter, the pork dumpling was an absolute star, generously filled and carefully seasoned.

20130117-215021.jpg

The main was a great beef and noodle dish – rich, savoury and filling.

20130117-215104.jpg

While the service was a little slow, the quality of the food more than made up for it – i’ll definitely be back for more! It’s a welcome addition to the neighbourhood and I can’t wait to sample the rest of the menu!

A. Wong on Urbanspoon

Christmas Time

Christmas is obviously about far more than just food, but its also a great excuse to really go for it in a culinary sense. I spent a healthy chunk of the holidays in the kitchen and this is what I got up to.

Fudge
I made Christmas hampers for lots of my family – over the course of the year I’ve saved some jam and other preserves and packaged them up with a bottle of my beer. I wanted to add something fresh to it so I whipped up a batch of fudge. Fudge can mean everything from crumbly and hard to soft and chewy. I went down the softer end of the spectrum with a lovely American recipe.
20130101-162936.jpg

20130107-215853.jpg

Mince Tart
I made a couple of batches of mincemeat, it’s very easy and tastes much nicer than shop bought. This was a large lattice pie that I threw together one afternoon for dessert.
20130101-163103.jpg

Filo Pies
Christmas can be quite heavy – this is a much lighter alternative which has about an eighth of the fat of a normal pie.
20130101-163204.jpg

Shortcrust Pies
I’ve tried a couple of pastry recipes this year – including one where you sous vide the egg yolks. This version, by Paul Hollywood, is by far my favourite – crunchy, crisp and rich. It uses scary quantities of butter though…
20130101-163421.jpg

Christmas Dinner
I love Christmas dinner. The combination of turkey, stuffing, fluffy roast potatoes, pigs in blanket, proper thick gravy, veg. It’s magic.
20130101-163502.jpg

Over the years we’ve tried a few different methods of cooking the turkey, this one (tented upside down, browned right side up just at the end) seems to work great.
20130101-163531.jpg
For the gravy I used a double-stock base. This is simply using chicken stock as the liquid for the turkey stock and it works really well. You get a much more intense flavour which really suits the meat.
20130101-163616.jpg

Crayfish and Mango Salad
Recently we’ve taken to doing starters, given what follows on it needs to be something very simple and refreshing. This is a lovely light citrusy dish I’ve done before, even better when served with some nice bubbly!
20130101-163707.jpg

Mulled Wine
You can put lots of things inside mulled wine, but I think a combination of port, brandy and ginger wine adds the most. Using a sugar syrup base also allows you to get everything out of the spices before adding most of the liquid – preserving its flavour.
20130101-163747.jpg

Christmas Cake
While a mainstay of Christmas, the cake can be heavy and dry. I usesd Peggy Porschens recipe luxury fruit cake recipe – it gives a very moist, light result.

20130101-163910.jpg

Cheese Board
Cheese is one of the best bits of Christmas. I picked up my selection from Neal’s Yard the week before Christmas (top tip: order in advance so you don’t have to queue and they’ll pick cheeses which will be ripe whenever you need them.

20130101-163825.jpg
I went for:
Montgomery Cheddar – You have to have cheddar and this is one of the best.
Stichelton – Stilton is another staple and this is a gorgeous example, while not from the right area it has a delicious moistness similar to a Roquefort.
Dorstone – A goats cheese is a must and this ash coated beauty is just perfect. Rich, creamy, acidic, smokey. Heaven.
Tunworth – Camembert is a great cheese, how can you make it better? Make it British. Top quality British milk results in a superb soft cows cheese.
Stinking Bishop – My favourite cheese. It’s name is well deserved, the perry washed rind is
incredibly strong. The entire fridge will smell for weeks. But the flavour is amazing: smooth, creamy and rich.

All served with some delicious homemade onion marmalade. Yum!

Pitt Cue Co. and More

Pitt Cue Co.

Barbecue as a concept means vastly different things depending on your background. It can be as simple as a sausage grilled outside to a complex multi-stage smoking of an entire carcass. Regardless of it’s definition it’s certainly delicious and a fantastic way of enjoying some of the more unusual cuts of meat.

Pitt Cue Co. has taken the blogging scene by storm – the queues outside are testatment to their ‘cue prowess. You can’t book, the menu is simple and unpretentious, and the restaurant tiny. Turning up on a weekend afternoon, I was very unsure we’d get in but after a short wait we were shown to our table.

20121217-213700.jpg

The food is incredible. Generous portions of tender flaky meat slathered in rich smokey sauces. The sides are magnificent too – I went for bone marrow mash and brussel tops but the grilled leeks are stunning too.

20121217-214030.jpg
My pulled pork was just perfect – piggy, soft and with just the right amount of seasoning. It was served with a lovely sour slaw, which helped cut through the richness and a very nice home made pickle. I also plumped for some rib tips – the odds and ends left over from tidying the racks slow cooked and slathered in hot sauce – magic.

20121217-213738.jpg

If you can get a table, and you’re longing for something meaty, uncomplicated and fun – I can’t think of a better place to go!

The Black Swan
Situated just outside Ockham in Surrey, The Black Swan is everything you could want in a country gastro-pub. I went for their starter platter which is incredible for two to share. Welsh rarebit, rabbit sausage rolls, potted venison, potted trout, scotch quails eggs, devils on horseback, pickled walnuts, onion chutney, piccalilli, Norbury blue (a delightful soft blue local cheese) and salad. It’s quite a meal.

20121217-213921.jpg
Chinese Cooking
Making some more recipes from ‘Every Grain of Rice’ I whipped up some slow cooked beef with bamboo tofu, stir-fried cabbage and dried shrimp and a tiger salad. Exotic, yummy and dangerously good.

20121217-213824.jpg

20121217-213837.jpg

20121217-213844.jpg

Pitt Cue Co on Urbanspoon

Michel Roux: The Collection

Michel Roux, alongside his brother Albert, have perhaps done more for British restaurant cuisine than anyone. Dragging it kicking and screaming from the mid-seventies horrors of ‘chicken in a basket’, Le Gavroche and The Waterside Inn are landmarks in england’s culinary landscape. Their kitchens have transformed our view of classical french cuisine and have nurtured the careers of numerous future stars, not least Gordon Ramsay; and their sons, Michel Jr. and Alain.

20121202-152802.jpg

In his latest book, Michel draws together a selection of his recipes from a variety of areas, including everything from quick breakfasts to desserts. He covers basic culinary staples like stocks and pastry making as well as more classical dishes, like Coquille St Jacques and Bouillabaisse.

The book is beautifully laid out – with lovely photography and detailed explanations of complicated techniques. Measurements are sensibly chosen and ingredients shouldn’t be too difficult to find. I wanted to pick something simple but fun, so I went with croissants.

Recipe – Croissants
Reproduced by kind permission of Quadrille Publishing

Makes 12-14 small croissants (1.1kg dough)

Ingredients
25g Fresh yeast (available from any bakers)
250ml Tepid milk
275g Butter (cold but not too hard)
12g Fine salt
50g Sugar
500g Plain flour
Egg wash (1 yolk mixed with 1tbsp milk)

20121202-152918.jpg

Method

Making the Dough

Dissolve the yeast in the milk in a bowl. Put the flour, salt and sugar in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and mix at low speed, gradually adding the yeast mixture. Stop working the dough as soon as it comes away from the sides of the bowl, the texture must not become too elastic.

20121202-153155.jpg

Cover the bowl with cling film and leave the dough to rise in a warm place (at about 24°C) until doubled in volume; this should take 45 minutes to 1 hour. Knock back the dough by flipping it over with your hand to release the carbon gas, but do not overwork it. Cover the bowl again with cling film and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours, but not more than 8 hours. Knock back the dough in the bowl again, then transfer it to a lightly floured work surface.

Shape the dough into a ball and cut a 5cm deep cross in the centre. Roll out the 4 sides to make flaps. Bash the butter into a rectangle with the rolling pin and place it in the centre. Fold the flaps over the butter to envelope it completely.

First turn – Lightly flouring the surface as necessary, roll the dough out to an 80cm x 30cm rectangle. Fold the rectangle into three. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.

Second Turn – Give the chilled dough a quarter-turn, roll out to a rectangle, fold again, wrap and chill as above.

Third and final turn – Roll the dough out in the opposite direction from the previous turn to a rectangle and fold as before. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes (no more than 1 hour).

Shaping and Baking Croissants

You will need a triangular cardboard template, measuring 9cm across the base and 19cm high. Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the dough (after its final turn) to a 65cm x 40 cm rectangle, 3mm thick. Lift it slightly off the work surface and flap to aerate it and prevent it from shrinking. Trim the four sides of the dough with a chef’s knife, then cut it in half lengthways to make two even sized bands. Using the template as a guide, cut the dough into triangles.

Lay a dough triangle on the work surface with the base towards you. Use the knife to make a 2cm deep incision in the middle of the base, pull the 2 points of the bas slightly, then pull the point of the triangle.

Roll up the triangle starting from the base and continue until you reach the point. (For a savoury croissant, lay a slice of ham at the base before starting to roll). Turn the points inwards to form a crescent. Repeat to make the other croissants as quickly as possible.

20121202-153245.jpg

Place the croissants on a baking sheet, spacing them apart and lightly brush with egg wash, starting on the inside and working outwards so that the dough doesn’t stick together and prevent the croissants from rising properly.

Put the baking sheets in a warm, preferably slightly humid place (at 25-30°C) and leave the croissants to rise for 1 hour until they have almost doubled in size. When they are nearly ready, preheat the oven to 160°C (Gas 3). Lightly brush the croissant with egg-wash again and bake for 12-14 minutes.

The Verdict
The croissants were gorgeous – light, fluffy and very moist. Next time out I’ll be a little more generous with the egg wash, but I’m really pleased with the result!

20121202-153256.jpg

The recipe was easy to follow, the ingredients should be in any cupboard (apart from the fresh yeast, which is available directly from the bakers of any large supermarket) and none of the techniques should cause any trouble to even the most timid chef. I do have one top tip for whenever you are doing ‘multiple folds’ for things like puff pastry: make a small dot mark with a finger to show which ‘turn’ you’re on (e.g. two dots for the second turn). It’s very easy to forget when you take it out the fridge!

The book is really lovely and i’m looking forward to trying out a number of other dishes which i’m sure will make an appearance on here over the coming months. If you’re looking for a comprehensive introduction to french cooking – look no further. It’s a miniature Escoffier for the modern age.

Michel Roux: The Collection, RRP £25, is published by Quadrille and is available from all good bookshops.

Two Book Dinner

Quiet weekends are few and far between, but when they happen I normally find myself flicking through a cookbook from my (very modest) collection. I’ve recently got two wonderful new ones so I picked a recipe from each and went shopping!

Every Grain of Rice – Pak Choi and Shiitake Mushrooms

20121201-203133.jpg
This was a leaving present from my last assignment – thank you Yin! Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop is a lovely collection of simple, easy to cook chinese food. Based firmly around the kind of thing that’s cooked every day in China, it covers lots of vegetarian, fish and meat dishes. Clearly written with sensible measurements (and drool inducing photography) it has everything I look for in a cookbook. She makes a real effort to choose from a sensible range of ingredients, and though you might need to pop to an asian supermarket, you won’t need to search hard or make more than one trip.

20121201-203911.jpg

I chose to make the Pak Choi and Shiitake Mushrooms. You quickly blanch the vegetables before stir-frying them in oil with ginger and garlic, then gently coating them in sugar, potato flour and water to create a sticky glaze. They were beautifully fresh and full of flavour – cooking them like this preserves a lot of the natural texture and was a perfect side dish. End to end it can’t have taken more than ten minutes – I can’t wait to try out some more of the recipes!

Modernist Cuisine at Home – Pork Belly Adobo
I’m currently writing a much longer post about this cookbook, which has become the pride of my collection almost overnight, but in the meantime here’s a quick sneak peak!

20121201-204004.jpg

Pork Adobo is found throughout the Spanish-colonised world – but this particular version is considered a national dish in the Philippines. You cook generous chunks of pork belly in a rich, sticky, savoury sauce that goes great with rice and some asian vegetables. Using a pressure cooker dramatically reduces the cooking time and increases the caramelisation, lending a lovely sweetness to the dish. It tastes divine and requires very little effort – I ploughed through a generous portion in seconds!

20121201-204039.jpg

A Weekend in Edinburgh

Despite having Scottish heritage I’ve never been north of the border, so with the promise of good food, free accommodation and an enthusiastic guide I hopped on a plane to Edinburgh.
Scottish food has had some terrible press over the years – most people would struggle to get past haggis and deep fried mars bars. But this is a little unfair – Scotland has a wealth of fantastic ingredients: grouse, partridge, wild salmon, fresh shellfish and incredible beef. Top chefs like Tom Kitchin and Martin Wishart are reclaiming Scottish heritage and producing food that presents a local twist on Nouvelle Cuisine. Yum.
My goal over the weekend was to try a little of everything and I think I certainly managed it!

The Arcade
Located on Cockburn street (comically near to Fleshmarket Close) this very affordable little café/bistro is pretty representative of a nice tourist dive. Friendly staff serve hearty food washed down with reasonably priced whisky and wine. What’s not to like?

Starter – Smoked Salmon

20121127-095023.jpg
The salmon was obviously wild (just look how lean it is!) and richly flavoured. Deeply smoked with lovely fruit and spice notes I practically inhaled it. Fennel, salmon and balsamic is an interesting combination, but it certainly worked!

Main – Haggis, Neeps and Tatties

20121127-095114.jpg
I know it’s cliché, but it had to be done at least once. Haggis is gaining massively in popularity and is popping up on lots of menus – I’ve eaten it in Henley and even served it myself at a dinner party. Here’s it’s served in a neat stack with the traditional swede and potatoes. I prefer to interpret the ‘neeps’ as roast parnsips – to add a bit of textural contrast – but this rendition is lovely and the whisky cream sauce is a keeper!

Arcade on Urbanspoon

The Witchery

20121127-095154.jpg

This was a bit of a treat – The Witchery is one of the nicest restaurants in Edinburgh and has a great reputation. Situated off a little alleyway, just beside the castle it serves fantastic food in a wonderfully quirky ‘secret garden’ dining room – it’s very popular with celebrities. It serves a very reasonable lunch menu £30 for three courses and is well worth a visit.

Starter – Roast Partridge with ‘Scotch’ quails egg and black pudding.

20121127-103146.jpg
The partridge was lovely and the miniature black pudding delicious, but the real start was the quails egg. I like my yolks runny – but the sausage meat around the outside was incredible. Laden with mace and cinnamon it worked beautifully with the game.

Main – Ayrshire beef cheek on a spelt risotto with a burnt onion mayonnaise and kale.

20121127-095317.jpg
The beef cheek was fall apart tender and the spelt risotto perfectly cooked (I am definitely borrowing this for a dinner party). The kale was tasty – though I’d happily swap if for spinach. A lovely dish and perfect for a brisk November lunch.

Dessert – Marmalade Brulee

20121127-095346.jpg
A perfectly cooked vanilla brulee with a lovely layer of marmalade on the base – it’s a great combo and I’d love to try it myself. Some orange liqueur would help cut some of the richness too.

The Witchery By the Castle on Urbanspoon

Maxies
Saturday night is busy in Edinburgh. As we discovered – if you haven’t booked you’re out of luck. After traipsing round the streets for a while we headed for this cosy little place just off Grassmarket. Blessedly quiet it serves simple Scottish food and a great selection of wines.

Starter – Oysters

20121127-095423.jpg
Scottish seafood is excellent and these oysters were no different. I think my favourites still come from California, but these rank among the best I’ve had in the UK.

Main – Ribeye and Crevettes

20121127-095458.jpg
I like steak – and Scotland is certainly known for its Aberdeen Angus (which is completely meaningless is North America). This was perfectly cooked in a lovely whisky cream sauce with two enormous prawns all nestled majestically upon a bed of garlic mash.

Dessert – Apple Pie

20121127-095717.jpg
I also have a real thing for Apple pies – this frankly intimidating slab was delicious. Good pastry, nice filling and plenty of cream.

Maxies Bistro on Urbanspoon

Breakfast – World’s End Pub
In need of something substantial – this is a traditional fry-up with the addition of Haggis – a definite plus in the morning.

20121127-095749.jpg

Lunch – The Stand

20121127-100025.jpg
Now I’ll be honest – The Stand is a comedy club. The improv I saw was fantastic but the show was almost stolen by the nachos. Bought as a quick snack they were utterly phenomenal – the chilli wasn’t made with mince, but big tender chunks of beef in a rich, savoury sauce. We polished off a plate and immediately ordered a second. Beefy heaven!

One Busy Weekend

Dinner parties are a great chance to show off – to use great ingredients and really push yourself as a cook. I love the challenge of getting several dishes to follow one another in a tiny kitchen. With plenty for me and my friends to celebrate last weekend, I set to!

French Rolls
I needed a little something to keep my guests going while I prepped the first courses, this is what I came up with: a simple white roll with a chunk of camembert baked inside. It’s great with cranberry sauce. I shamelessly stole the idea from my flatmates fiancée who did a wonderful version with a whole loaf of bread.

20121119-161225.jpg

Caprese Salad
A classical tomato/mozzarella/basil salad with an exciting twist – the mozzarella explodes. This is my first foray into the wonderful world of ‘molecular’ ingredients. I used Sodium Alginate to gel liquid mozzarella into little spheres that burst in your mouth. I’m still getting the hang of the process – but they turned out pretty neat in the end. It’s a great effect, but it needs a much stronger flavour than cheese. I’d love to try it with a dessert – cherry spheres would taste great.

20121119-161307.jpg

Carrot Soup
The caramelised carrot soup was one of the most popular dishes in the original Modernist Cuisine – this simplified version is from their new book – Modernist Cuisine at Home – is a little easier. You pressure cook the carrots to caramelise them quickly then blend them with some carrot infused butter. The result is a fresh, intense flavour. I’d really like to try this recipe with different ingredients – it could make a stunning onion soup.

20121119-161355.jpg

Venison, Haggis, and Roasted Figs
This is a dish I’ve borrowed from The Crooked Billet – haggis works really well with the venison. I cooked it sous vide to keep it tender without it appearing too pink. Figs add a lovely sweetness which helps cut through the rich meat.

20121119-161426.jpg

Champagne Grapes
This quick little dish gave me time to plate the dessert. Simply pop some fruit into a soda siphon/cream dispenser and charge it with CO2, give it a few hours in the fridge and they become carbonated!

Chocolate Fondant
I’ve cooked chocolate fondants before and the trick is in ensuring a nice gooey centre while still having a properly cooked sponge around it. This particular recipe is a Heston Blumenthal – you make a water ganache, freeze it and then pour a chocolate sponge on top ensuring a soft liquid middle when its baked. I served it with a pistachio ice cream, salted caramel and some pink pralines. It went down really well!

20121119-161804.jpg