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.