Alternative Christmas

With Christmas around the corner I did some turkey alternatives on the menu to mix things up a bit.

BEEF
Sirloin. I stripped back the fat and cleaned up the meat, cut in half and seasoned. Protein glued the fat back on, rolled in cling film and chilled for 24 hours. Then we portioned, vac-packed and sous-vide at 64 degrees for 15 minuntes, pan seared to finish.

PRESSED POTATOES-
Like Boulangere the potatoes are thinly sliced with layers of caramelised onion, picked oxtail and stock, tastes a bit like stovies.

BRAISED RIB-
Jacobs ladder slow cooked, bone removed and pressed.

PHEASANT
I got the protein glue out again with this one. I removed the Pheasant breasts and skin, glued them together, wrapped them in blanched chard leaves and rolled them in cling film to set for 24 hours. The legs are split, the thighs confit, the drumstick and bones I used to make the sauce.

FONDANT POTATO-
Scott makes them with butter, thyme, garlic and sugar first then stock. They are amazing.
Simply finished with roast root vegetables and a squash puree.

Textures of pear with parsnip and vanilla

The combination of pear and parsnip works really well together in savoury dishes like pork or pheasant, also works well in desserts like I did on Best Dish.

I'm really in to maximizing and emphasising the taste and textures of a single ingredient at the moment and with the pear I did fluid gel, poached, compressed, crisp, sorbet and the forgotten jelly.

The jelly was a thin sheet that I had cut in rounds and piped in fluid gel and parsnip puree and folded the jelly like a half moon, ravioli almost.

The microwave cake was amazing. I had read a few things on the internet a while back about this method. I found that the consistency of the mix was very important before you put it in the isi whipper. The result was great and I think there are so many other things that could be done with it.

I also made a vanilla dressing using chardonnay vinegar, stock syrup, vanilla and olive oil to give it a bit of a fresh zing.

This is the dish:

Here's a link to the recipe & episode.

http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=289232

http://www.itv.com/food/recipes/textures-english-pears-parsnip-and-vanilla

Second rosette

 My team and me here at Due South are very happy with getting our second rosette!

Check out the plate, looks good. 

All Stars at 'The Pass'

A little while back I got an invite from Matt Gillan to cook one course at his special 3 day event All stars 9 courses 9 different chefs, each chef got an ingredient to focus on, mine was lemon.

The Menu

Jerusalem artichoke by Elizabeth Allen

One of my favourite vegetables, there was a broth, dumplings, brunoise, mock truffle (Jerusalem artichoke rolled in ash and thin sliced) smart, apple and foam.

Scallop by Simon Hulstone

Pan seared scallop with a cabbage & lemon risotto and a foam.

Beef by James Knappett

Tongue and tendon with about 12 other components- what a dish.

Crab by Steve Bennett

Picked crab, 2nd season asparagus, chargrilled baby gem, asparagus juice.

Venison by Daniel Clifford

Potato "cannelloni" filled with braised venison blue cheese foam, pine nut, cabbage, venison loin, chocolate sauce.

Cheese by Matt Gillan

Two different types of cheese with an apple crisps, sweetcorn, popcorn and mustard leaf.

Lemon by Michael Bremner (me)

Take on a lemon meringue pie, lemon tart, sweet paste crumb, iced tea, marshmallow, wild honey butterscotch butter, a goat curd sorbet, lemon balm and dehydrated lemon curd.

Pear by Hanna Payne

Pear parfait bomb rolled in brioche crumbs, pear compote, pear jelly.

Chocolate by Ben Goldsmith

Different textures of chocolate in the shape of a jigsaw, liquid, brownie, ice cream, shortbread and milk jelly.

The whole experience was amazing. It is in my top 5 favourite nights I have worked. I came home buzzing. Nerve racking getting there though. Some big named chefs there, also the fact that Matt and his team have just won a Michelin star so there was no pressure.

If I had to pick my favourites there were all great but I think the beef by James and the pear from Hanna were amazing, but Daniel Clifford's venison was stunning too.

I really enjoyed working with Matt and his team Hanna, Richard and Adam, thanks guys.

The Pass: http://www.southlodgehotel.co.uk/EXCLUSIVE_HOTELS/eating_and_drinking/the_pass.aspx

Some pictures from the night: http://www.caterersearch.com/tabletalk/media/allstars/default.aspx

Here is my lemon dish.

Agar

Agar is a vegetarian setting agent obtained from several species of red algea, and is very interesting to use.

There are a few things I use agar for in the kitchen from clarifying consomme to setting jelly and serving warm.

For the clarification use 1.2g of agar to every 1lt liquid, bring to the boil, chill, freeze and defrost in muslin at room temperature. The agar does not melt at room temperature using the jelly as a filtration.

On this day we were making jelly spaghetti from escabeche marinating liquid which has a fresh sweet and sour taste.

First the liquid, bring white wine, white wine vinegar and sugar to the boil with fennel, star anise, coriander and saffron, take off the heat and infuse for 20 min and pass through a sieve.

Then we take 200ml of the liquid and mix with 1.2g agar and inject into thin tubes and place in an ice bath til set which takes seconds.

You need the attachment to the isi whipper to get them out.

Cook carrots, garlic and shallot in some olive oil gently so they still have a crunch, add to the pickle liquid to marinade.

We got some red mullet off one of the local boats which is a great fish at the best of times but works really well with this.

You have to cook the fish on the skin side, a good tip is to stop your fish from sticking put some parchment paper in the pan it works very well.

And this is the finished dish, because agar melts around 85 degrees it could be served at room temperature.

Honey gone wild

Honey is one ingredients that needs very little done to it. It can be used on starters, mains and desserts. It is fantastic but when you get it on the comb in a pure state it goes up a level to amazing.

I am lucky enough to work with some great local producers that are interested in what we do with the things they supply me with and also go out of there way to help you source unusual things.

Caroline from Staplefields organics is one of them who helped me with the wild nights that I have done at the restaurant and most recently this honeycomb that she lets go a little wild, it is something special.

The honey itself looks really dark but when it is out of the comb it is light in colour, it gives you the impression of a strong honey but it isn't. It is still sweet but very moreish not like your normal honey that can be too sweet and have an almost fake smell. 

How do you eat the comb? Just put it in your mouth and chew until you are left with the wax, or get involved with the fingers.

This is a dish I have put on the menu last week-

Brookland white duck- roast breast, confit leg, neck cannelloni, pan seared liver, spinach, sauteed potatoes and wild honey

This dish I think is what Due South is all about, we are using the whole beast in the elements of the dish all the way down to the neck and gizzards in the cannelloni, it is rustic but smart at the same time.  With game just around the corner this dish is the stepping stone to what is to come, my favourite season for cooking.

Meat glue

Activa EB is the name of this crazy stuff, basically this glue can bond any meat or fish together but so much cooler than just that!

I have been playing around with this stuff for a while now and it is mad what it does. I believe some big name pre made food producers use it to make things, then chefs started using it in kitchens.


A friend of mine in Scotland introduced it to me one night,  he was doing a pressed pork belly and langoustine dish where he had the tails going through the belly it sounded amazing, I had to get some in.

When I checked it out on the internet there was loads of things out there going on like scallops stuffed with bacon where they made a bacon puree, chopped the scallops then reformed the scallop in a ring with the bacon in the middle and let it set for a few hours and use it the same way you would a scallop.

There is also a restaurant in New York called WD 50 and the chef there purees shrimp with activa and then pipes it into a water bath to make a shrimp noodle, that is pretty cool.


For the same reason as the last blog I wanted to increase the popularity of whiting by stuffing it with lobster, as far as I can gather salt helps the bond so I seasoned the whiting then brushed it with a mix of 10g glue to 100ml filtered water put it all back together with the lobster going through it, leave it for min of 6 hours or overnight came out great, this is a simple way of using the glue just think how far you could go.

If you use too much glue it can change the texture of the meat and you need to keep the powder in a sealed bag airtight in the freezer other than that it is great.

Sustainable fish

Using local and sustainable fish is important and a big focus at the restaurant

It can be a bit hard sometimes to get people to eat the lesser known fish, everyone loves the high rollers like bass, turbot, sole even john dory.

Why are the lower end fish not so popular? Is it because the celebrity chefs don't use them as much? When Mr Ramsey used pollock at one restaurant in Brighton everyone started using it and the price jumped from £4-5 pounds per kg to around £9,50 per kg and pollock is now as popular as mackerel.

I went to a food show in London with the family a few months ago and there was two lads cooking with gurnard, horse mackerel and wrasse.

Gurnard I think is the more well known of the three, it is a nice fish and we have used it for a while at the restaurant.

Horse mackerel was a new one for me until a few months before, one of the chefs was talking about it so I asked my supplier who said they mostly use it for bait. It is nothing like mackerel but still a good fish, a little bony though.

And then there was wrasse I had never used before and I loved, looks like a snapper and the flesh is a bit like red mullet. 

Pan roast wrasse with lobster, wild pea, saffron potatoes 

Cure

Home curing is something I am really getting in to at the moment, lots of experimenting going on, here are a few things we are working on right now

Duck ham - One of my chefs Sam is a master with this, he makes a great take on "ham, egg and chips"

Salt the breasts with liquorice and star anis cure for five days then rinse with cold water, pat dry, brush with duck fat and dust with ground white pepper. Wrap in muslin and hang for five weeks or so.



Pollock pastrami - Pollock is a great meaty fish to use and its local and sustainable

Cure the fish with salt and sugar for a few days then rinse, pat dry and sprinkle with a mixture of crushed coriander seeds, mustard seeds and a little coarse black pepper.

You could also finish the pollock after the cure with a gravadlax style dressing mustard, sugar, pinch white pepper, chopped dill and olive oil.



Dry cured ham - This one takes much longer at least eight months and up to a few years I believe.

This one is still in the making we cured it for four days for every 500 grams which worked out about 28 days. We still have a few months left to hang this puppy but I will keep you posted.



Bresaola - We got half a cow in the other day and butchered it in house, we were trying to come up with some other ideas other than the main cuts and mince

Again this one has just started, now you can read a lot of different ways to do this but I thought i would keep it simple - salt, rosemary, thyme, garlic and red wine.

I love the idea of having a whole carcase meat or fish spending a bit of time salting/curing and then having something at the end of it all that tastes amazing. That is what it is all about.



If anyone wants to know the recipes I used send me an email.

Photography by Carla Grassy

Edible flowers and wild mushrooms

I am a massive fan of edible flowers and wild mushrooms. They are right up there in my top five.

Right now I am getting loads of flowers in from my suppliers and I have been thinking of things to do with the ones that look great but lack a little in the taste department. Mainly things like marigold, pansies and daylilies. 

One of my chef friends told me about a restaurant where they pickle rose petals, which I thought was a great idea or there is dehydrating the petals and using them like a floral confetti, but then you loose the summer fresh look.

 

Borage is one of the flowers that I really love. Some people say it tastes like a mild cucumber but I think it tastes more like an oyster and it looks stunning on the plate. 

Lavender is another great one probably a more common one that most people would know. I have a lavender panacotta and honey jelly on the menu at the moment that is popular.

A new one for me is the wild poppy. 

The bulb part has small holes in the top that can act like a natural pepper shaker effect that we finish a summer squash risotto with.

Back when I worked in Scotland I did some foraging with my sous chef for chanterelle mushrooms. If I had more time in my life I would love to get more involved in the foraging side of things. I love it. 

There are a few of these fellas around at the moment the yellow ones are chanterelle or girolle as some people call them and the dark caped one is a boletus. Very tasty served with a cote de boeuf, you could die right there and you would die happy my friend.

Photography by Carla Grassy

Wild Night Number 3

 The plan was an interesting dinner where the menu had a cocktail theme all done without  sex on the beach. Sadly.

The Menu

Mojito- frozen apple mojito, elderflower mojito powder, edible paper

Bloody Mary- beef tomato tartar (blushed beef tomato petals marinated in horseradish vodka with tartar style dressing) yellow tomato and celery "yolk"

Dirty Martini- blow torched vermouth cured mackerel, char-grilled gin compressed cucumber, olive oil powder, martini sorbet

Blood and Sand- sous vide duck breast, duck neck cannelloni, cherry's done 3 ways, fluid gel, compote and confit, fondant potato and baby carrots

Margarita- bell pepper spaghetti (using agar) bell pepper confetti, margarita foam, salt and borage

Port cobbler- tunworth cheese reverse spherification, port and cracker powder

Amalfi- wild fennel limoncello, cupcake with curd filling and a meringue icing, sparkling cello pipette, shot

This was such a good night to work on and plan. The interpretation that someone can have of something that can be turned into food is amazing, some of the conversations we had in the kitchen about this night were mad and lots of fun.

Can't wait for the next one - earth, wind and fire. More info coming soon. 

Photography by Carla Grassy

Compressed cucumber

Cucumbers can be a bit like that friend that everyone knows who doesn't offend, little bit boring, always hanging around the salad bar.

I have been working on compressing things for a while now. To compress something you vacuum seal it to draw out the oxygen. That intensifies the flavour of whatever it is you are using in this case cucumber but we also use tomato petals.

                      I started working on this dish and it is going to be on the specials next week-

         Home cured duck ham, Hendricks compressed cucumber, summer fruit and nitro sorbet.

Whilst doing this dish I started thinking about how to incorporate cucumber in a hot dish. I have heard about butter poacher cucumber some say it tastes like banana (not sure about that one),but tried chargrilling it and it tasted fantastic. So I might bring that to the table on the next wild night.

I also had a moment of madness during all this and made sparkling tomatoes using CO2 but that needs a bit more work, it had mixed reviews from the staff, it's a hard one to get your head around.

Photography by Carla Grassy

Beetroot

Such a striking vegetable with an amazing taste that can be used in so many different ways, including desserts. 

So we all know the good old common beetroot, pickled and served with stovie's (Scottish dish a real winner) or in a risotto.

All very nice but the vegetable can be used for so much more than just that, you can do a carpaccio, jelly, cure fish in it, make ice cream. It goes well with meat, fish, and chocolate. On the hotter days we serve it with mackerel and oysters, when it gets cooler, whipped goat cheese, ginger bread and walnut dressing.

There is also more interesting types out there, at the restaurant we use golden, chioggia also known as candy, Cheltenham and baby beetroot.

Beetroot is right in season at the moment so its a good chance to play around with it. I will keep you posted.

Souffle

Souffle's can be a nightmare if you get them wrong. I would know.

Working in kitchens you start at the bottom and work your way up the ranks , and I went down the pastry road. I soon learned that souffles were not easy, it's that point when you have the head pastry chef screaming at you, you open the oven door, your heart sinks, you really want to die, the other desserts are ready and you f***ed the souffle. I went through a bad patch with souffle's- they were my enemy.

Now I am a bit older and wiser some say confident, I really enjoy doing them. There is just a few rules to souffle's that I wish I had learned sooner.

1- Always have your moulds well buttered and sugared.
2- Whites at room temperature are best.
3- Don't over whisk the whites (they will get that separated look) throw them out and start again.
4-Work fast and clean (sounds obvious but you will be amazed to how much of a pickle you can get in)
5- Test one before service (the most important one)

I still get that fear and panic feeling when I have a big job on though, 20+ souffles in the oven the first glance to see how they are getting on, gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.

The recipe I use now is different from the old school creme pat style made to order. This one can be made before service and last all the way through.

The recipe holds so well that you can do a double souffle like blackberry and apple, one half deep purple and the other half white looks very cool and tastes great

Souffle recipe 

(makes 12 large ramekins)

Base:

2kg fruit puree

500g sugar

9 tbsp cornflour mixed with a splash of water

 Mix the puree and sugar together, bring to the boil, add cornflour liquid and cook till very thick like a jam, allow to cool.

 Souffle:

   600g base

300g egg white (about 10)

100g sugar

Whisk egg whites and sugar to peaks, take 1/4 of the egg white and beat it into the base, next fold in the rest of the egg white gently. Fill ramekins, tap them on the work surface to ensure you get rid of all gaps, then run over them with a palette knife to make sure they are completely flat, go around the edges with thumb, store til needed and then bake at 200 Degrees for 8 minutes to see how it is doing, they should take about 12 minutes but that is just a guideline. 

ENJOY!!

Photography by Carla Grassy

Cocktails and Dreams

Not only the name of the bar in 'Cocktail', but also the next feckin 'Wild Night', sure to be wild!

The wild nights have been a great success at Due South. On this evening we will be focusing on cocktails but not in the drink form, in food.

For example a Bloody Mary could be -"beef" tomato tartar ( marinated in horseradish vodka), yellow tomato and celery "yolk". Uri's mackerel martini, vermouth cured mackerel, Hendricks Gin compressed cucumber and dill olive oil

I have been looking in to unusual cocktails and combinations, also flavoring spirits - all very exiting.

It's going to be a seven course dinner, you can be sure to see some interesting things, liquid gels, compression, edible paper, powders dry and frozen all tasting like cocktails.

It's going to be the sort of night not to be missed, it is on the evening of the 14th July, spaces are limited, see you there.

Cocoa Loco Chocolate

Something I enjoy doing is adding different textures of the same ingredient to a dish.

For example the tomato dish I have on the menu at the moment, it is basically a marinated tomato and basil salad. I have introduced different textures to each of the different tomatoes, semi-dried, chilled consomme, jelly, marinated and dressing. It really works for this dish but I do find myself holding back a little, it could be very easy to get carried away.

One dish we are constantly working on is the texture of chocolate, hot and cold. It is amazing to see how this dish has moved on with the team, it started as a chocolate fondant, ice cream, tuile and powder.

And this is the beast now, organic cocoa loco dark and white chocolate, pave, parfait, brownie, soil, powder, oil, ice cream, milkshake which can change to hot chocolate depending on the weather.

Inspiration

This is me at home working on some things I have been thinking of.

Savoury tea, smoked bacon scone and a bone marrow butter, possibly bringing back the seashore with an iced coriander mojito, general raw ideas and working on the next wild night.

Local Beer

We have some great local Beers here at Due South, which I like to use on the menu now and again. 

Hepworth brewery is what we use at Due South. They have a great selection Blonde, Iron horse, Sussex and Prospect are but a few that we have here.

There is a pork belly dish that I wanted to do some work on, so this was a good  place to start. First I thought about things that go with pork, apples and cider too easy, sage too strong I think, langoustine too much bad things could happen with that one.. So raisins- soaked i liked that one, elderflower is in season at the moment. Maybe an infusion to lighten the dish make it a bit summery, carrots are great right now so there in, starch wise my new favourite potato is a purple potato called "Vitelotte".
 
So I am going with carrot as my main focus beer braised in Sussex, some pureed and some candied, Blonde soaked raisins that we smoke, that give a real nice caramel taste. Apples cooked in elderflower, Blonde and vanilla. The Vitelotte are cooked and cooled in a liquid of garlic and thyme, the pork itself was slow roast with a bottle of Prospect.

LIQUID NITROGEN (LN2)

Everyone has heard of liquid nitrogen ice cream but does it taste any different? I think it's more about the texture. Ice cream with this stuff is like... well if Mr Whippy had a wife this would be her- the sexy Mrs Whippy. 

Liquid nitrogen is so much fun in the kitchen, sure you have to be careful because it is a very dangerous thing to work with, but I could also say that about a few chefs I have had in my kitchen. It might be safer getting a paco jet but where's the fun in that?!

Strawberries have just arrived in season so I wanted to do something simple, clean and in people's comfort zone. No vodka and green tea pallet cleanser with that smoke affect coming out of your nose yet, baby steps at the moment I think.

So I did marinated strawberries, liquid nitrogen vanilla ice cream, pepper, juice, foam and shortbread.

Tried to do some research the other night about what can be done with this stuff- frozen powders, nitro shucking, and so on I will be experimenting over the next while and see what I come up with.

Photographs by Carla Grassy

LIQUID RAVIOLI

Bubbles, liquid ravioli, spherification are all words to describe this amazing technique that I have just got comfortable with but it still blows my mind.

It simply is a reaction that happens between two liquids, algin and calcium chloride creating a jelly with a soft center.

Modern cooking, forward thinking styles that are going on right now. It could be one of the most interesting things I have studied, it is like learning to cook all over again, you can also make it very simple.

One I did here is of pea, now it looks like a pea and tastes like a pea but it's a liquid, whats the point? You have that chance to make people say how did they do that and you could add flavours like mint or bacon.

I also read in a magazine the other day that you can inject the spherification with oil while it is still in the calcium chloride bath so it reseals it, creating a dressing of sorts.

Here are some recipes I am working with right now.

Broad bean liquid ravioli    

500ml broad bean water

2.4g algin 

                                                                                                

 Tomato bubble 

400ml tomato consomme

1.5g citras

1.8g algin

            Calcium chloride bath        

                                                     1lt bottled water                                                    

                                              6.2g calcium chloride                                         

The supplier I use is 'Infusions for chefs' - they are very helpful and have a starter pack enjoy!

Below inspired by the oyster with pearl we had at 'Tickets' in Barcelona. A little tip of the cap.

You can also make what they call caviar. Bet you can't wait for the reverse spherification section.

Photographs by Carla Grassy