Canape Recipes

Serving canapes as your guests arrive is always a sure way of impressing them, and you can make amazing looking and tasting canapes with very little effort. Here is a quick and easy canape recipe

Smoked Salmon and Mange Tout with teriyaki sauce

1 packet of good quality smoked salmon

100g Mange Tout

50ml of teriyaki sauce

Wooden skewers

Method:

Blanch the mange tout in boiling water for approximately 4 minutes, then drain the hot water and place the mange tout into a bowl of ice water to refresh them. Once they have completely cool, finely chop them from top to tail, so you get nice long pieces 

Open the salmon, and slice each piece to roughly 5cm long and 3cm wide, take some of the finely chopped mange tout and place it on one end of the salmon, then roll the salmon so the mange tout is wrapped up in the salmon. 

Drizzle some teriyaki sauce over the salmon, and skewer the salmon and mange tout together with your skewers. Now serve and enjoy

 

Gooseberry Fool with Elderflower

Celebrating spring ingredients, here is a quick and easy to prepare dessert that is packed full of flavors. We love desserts in our house, and this dish is one of the reasons why

For the Compote

500g gooseberries

40g caster sugar

15ml elderflower cordial

Place all ingredients in a pan and cook gently until the gooseberries begin to break down.  Cool the compote in the fridge and then blend to a coarse puree.

For the Fool

300g Gooseberry Compote

250ml Semi whipped double cream

30ml Elderflower cordial

5ml Lemon juice

35g Caster sugar

Half whip the cream and then add the sugar, cordial, lemon juice and the compote and carefully fold together. Taste and correct sweetness if necessary, place the complete mix into clear glasses and garnish with fresh mint and summer berries. Now all that’s left to do it tuck in and enjoy. 

La Chandeleur-Crêpe Day in France

So yesterday was La Chandeleur-Crêpe Day in France, and we took full advantage, who wouldn't? We made a variety of different fillings like wild mushrooms with baby spinach, and a blue cheese sauce, really mature manchego cheese, freshly whipped Chantilly cream and lets not leave out the ol faithful nutella, obviously not eaten all together.


So I thought I would share a great Crêpe recipe with you today so you can try and make yourselves some mouth watering food for dinner tonight

Ingredients

125g flour

2 eggs
120ml milk
120ml water
2g salt
30g melted butter

Method

Put the flour and salt into a large bowl. In the microwave melt the butter and add it to the milk and water, in a separate bowl beat the eggs and add it to the water and milk. Slowly add this to the flour mixture an whisk until the batter is smooth and has no lumps


Heat up a large non stick frying pan, lightly grease it with a little butter. Using a ladle, when the pan is hot, pour in some of the Crêpe mixture, lift the pan and turn it from side to side to let the mixture spread across the pan, and fry the Crêpe until it is golden, then flip the Crêpe and fry it on the other side until it is slightly golden. Repeat the process until you have finished all the batter.


Now as I said we filled our Crêpes with wild mushrooms and spinach, I also made a blue cheese sauce making a basil white sauce and adding in blue cheese. For our sweet Crêpes we had whipped cream and nutella, who doesn't like nutella


I guess all that's left to say is happy eating

How To Smoke Duck Breasts At Home

You have eaten smoked duck and you love it, now you want to try your hand at making some at home? Here's a simple recipe to get you started, although you will need a few bits of kitchen gear to get you going. 

To smoke your duck, or any meat for that matter at home you will need a deep wok, heavy duty foil and a circular wire rack that fits into the wok where you will put the duck on

Ingredients

2  Duck breast with the skin on
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or medium-dry Sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
2 1/2 teaspoons Maldon salt
1/3 cup loose black tea leaves
1/3 cup rice
3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
1 Cinnamon stick, broken into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil

Method

Pat duck breasts dry. Score the skin about 1/2 inch apart through the fat (do not cut into meat) in a cross cross pattern with a sharp knife.

Combine the rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger in a plastic bag that you can seal. Add the duck, skin side up, and press out as much air as possible before sealing. Marinate duck (skin side up), chilled, at least 2 hours or overnight. Transfer duck breasts to a plate and pat dry, discarding the marinade.

Toast the peppercorns and salt in a dry small heavy skillet over moderately low heat, stirring and shaking the skillet occasionally, until the peppercorns are fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Coarsely grind mixture in grinder or a mortal and mortar and pestle. Rub mixture all over duck, then let stand, uncovered, at room temperature, 1 hour.

Meanwhile, line bottom of wok and inside of lid with a double layer of heavy-duty foil, leaving a 3-inch overhang along edges. Stir together tea leaves, rice, brown sugar, and cinnamon pieces in a small bowl, then spread in an even layer (1/4 inch thick) on bottom of wok. Invert rack and set in wok. (It will rest 1 1/2 to 2 inches from bottom of wok.)

Heat a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then swirl in vegetable oil. Add duck breasts, skin sides down, and sear, without turning, until skin is deep golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes.

Using tongs, transfer duck breasts, skin sides up, to center of rack in wok, arranging them 1 inch apart. Heat wok, uncovered, over high heat, until steady wisps of smoke begin to appear, 5 to 10 minutes. Reduce heat to moderate, then cover wok and, using oven mitts, fold overhang from wok and lid together, crimping to seal tightly (foil will be very hot). Smoke duck breasts, covered, 8 minutes, then remove wok from heat and let stand, covered, 10 minutes for medium-rare to medium. Carefully unwrap foil (smoke and steam will billow out) and transfer duck to a cutting board. Let stand, loosely covered with foil, 10 minutes. Cut each duck breast across the grain into thin slices. Serve duck warm or at room temperature.

Cooking Whelks

Have you ever wondered how to cook a Whelk? These little ocean beauties are pretty easy to prepare and they make for a great dish if they are prepared correctly

 Ingredients

1kg fresh whelks

1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 stick of celery, roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

1 bay leaf

A few sprigs of thyme

10 white peppercorns

½ tsp fennel seeds

½ a lemon

15ml white wine vinegar

Method 

Sprinkle a good handful of salt on the whelks and leave in a bowl for about an hour. Then wash the whelks under cold running water or leave them to soak in fresh water for about 40 minutes. Meanwhile put the rest of the ingredients into a pan with about 1 ½ litres of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the whelks and simmer gently for 30 minutes for small ones or 50 minutes for large ones. Leave them in the cooking liquor to cool.

Happy Eating



Chocolate and Orange Truffles

Ingredients

250ml cream

150ml milk

500g dark chocolate buttons (63%)

500g butter, room temperature

100ml Cointreau

100ml orange juice

Zest of 8 oranges

Method

Bring the cream and milk to the boil slowly with the orange zest, and then pour onto the finely chopped chocolate. Stir well until the chocolate has melted.  Whisk in the butter and then add the Cointreau and orange juice.  Leave to set in a tray covered with cling film until you can pipe the mixture.  Pipe the mixture onto silicone trays using a no.7 nozzle, and then roll the balls first in dark chocolate and then bitter cocoa powder.

Food Trends for 2014

It's only January 2014 and the food trends have already been set for the year, how exciting. According to Forbes the following food trends will dominate the food, restaurant and dining experiences for 2014. So here they are...

Locally sourced and organic foods has been a major trend recently but this year it will be something huge, with more consumers than ever wanting local and organic products. I don't know about you, but it is the highlight of my week to head off to a local market and pottering about looking at all the mouth watering foods farmers have brought in each week to tantalize our taste buds. Cheeses, wines, jams, preserves, organic meat, vegetables, the list is endless

The next hot number on the chart is the vegetarian and vegan movement that is sweeping the world by storm. More and more people are becoming  educated about the foods they are eating, and rightly so. Considering everything we put in our bodies has an affect on not only our body but our mind and soul, it is little wonder that those beautiful things called vegetables, with their vibrant colors, pure nutrition and exceptional taste will be making an even bigger appearance on the food stage this year 

This bring us to our next food topic which is close to the hearts of parents all over the world. Healthier kids meals. I am sure if you think back to your childhood there is a memory tucked away somewhere about your mom or dad not letting you leave the table until you finished your dinner, or the threats of no dessert until you finished your plate of food. But times have changed and food isn't boring anymore, in fact it is easier than ever to make a kids meal healthy yet exciting. Jamie Oliver has for the past few years trying to make school dinners across the UK healthier and packed with nutrition. This year is all about that, and finding ways to make food for our little ones healthy yet exciting.

Enter Gluten free products and foods. According to the Forbes report, gluten free dining ranked within the top 5 of food trends for 2014 with at least with at least 3 quarter of chef recognizing this as a niche they want to get into. Just the other day we did a function for a client who is gluten free making her chocolaty delights for dessert using gluten free flour. Did it change the taste of the hot chocolate fondant? No? Maybe there was a slight texture change, but that's about it. So lets see how much more attention Gluten Free will get this year

Who doesn't like eating warm toasted walnuts, or salted cashews? OK everyone who doesn't have a nut allergy. Nuts are a high sourced of natural protein and they are fast becoming the healthy snack alternative to people who are dieting or just trying to be healthy. In fact a lot of people are starting to add both nuts and seeds to their diets and some people add them to all three meals. So lets see how nuts will feature in the restaurant industry this year?

Pizza, where do I start? The melted cheese that's like string when you bite into it, the toppings that make your mouth water, the thin crusts that make for the perfect bases (I am making myself hungry here). I am sure you have figured out that pizzas will be taking the center stage this year, but hold on, they aren't just any kind of pizzas, from here on out the time of cheap pizza is over, enter pizzas made with quality ingredients, organic foods and a lot of love and cheese. This one for me is especially exciting and I am hoping to see loads of new era pizza places opening soon around London. 

You've had a rubbish day and the weather outside makes your mood fall even lower, you head home with the other millions of people after being crammed in a tube. Enter comfort food, but there is a new era of comfort food. Classic comfort food dishes are set to change as we know them. Take the classic Mac and Cheese for instance, now think about how lovely and comforting it would be to add some smoked lardons or some wild mushrooms, topped with a mature Parmesan cheese and baked to absolute pleasure (OK making myself hungry again) Suddenly your crap day turns into an evening with rainbows and sunshine. Bring on that upscale comfort food

Last but certainly not least, please welcome the new way of poaching and smoking foods. Exit stocks and enter beers, wines, teas and other loveliness which will be replacing the stocks that were formally used to poach or braise foods. How lovely to slow cook a piece of pork belly in some apple cider with spices, or a shoulder of lamb in a bottle of red wine. Then there is the smoking effect, which used to be left to the professionals. Not anymore. Getting your hands on a smoking gun or a homemade mini smoking tray is now easier than ever, and the variety of smoking chips on the market makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Whisky, hickory, cherry, pecan, Guinness and the list goes on and on. 

All in all I think this year the food industry is set to see some amazing foods and dishes being served around the world, and that makes me so incredibly happy. The mash up of local and organic foods being cooked and prepared with love and then served to us as customers makes me one very happy diner, and an even more excited chef. So happy eating