Let’s just agree and accept that you choosing to use our recipes means you take full responsibility for your and your guests’/ family’s welfare. Any arising injury or negligent use or carelessness is on you.  Watch out for cross contamination from tools/equipment/surfaces/produce, food contamination from unsafe to use or impacted with foreign contaminants, and allergens especially! Too many allergens about lately….so make sure you are aware of the requirements for who you are cooking for! Seriously…these allergens are not worth the stink they kick up, so just be safe, be double safe, and if in doubt, there is no doubt! Be safe!!

We are professionals and work with due care and attention, to a higher level like you would not imagine. Stressful! It also means we are all always aware of each other and the risks involved, therefore the food service establishments have the appropriate insurance in place. It’s a spicy world we live in; got to cover your backside, especially as others always seek to make money off your hardship!!

 

 

 

Strawberry, Almond and Cinnamon Tart 8-9 portions small tarts/five regular size tartlets

Or 1 large 12 inch tart

In a regular size tartlet case, this would be a massive portion.

We do split this into individual tarts for the simple reason they hold better, are more manageable and are easier to cost and work.

In a large tart you need to pack it in tight with lots of hulled strawberries... in an individual tart you are looking at five good strawberries hulled and halved.

The Almond is crucial to this recipe as it gives a crunch and taste dimension that is phenomenal.

The pastry recipe is so very easy to manage, literally everything in a blender and whizz it up, mix well, and set in fridge in a cylinder shape wrapped in clingfilm.

We once tried replacing the almond flour with coconut flour as you do in macaroons for macarons, and did not work as good! Blitzed porridge oats worked well for nut allergy reasons. We are looking to give ground chickpea a go…or even rice flour…keep you posted!

175g ground almonds

175g butter

175g demerara

175g SR flour

1 tsp cinnamon

Vanilla

1 egg

1 egg yolk

450g strawberries for a large tart!

So, the pastry has cooled. Shave off fine slices that would make for a sensible tart case lining, and line the non-stick mould that has been sprayed with non-stick grease(!), all around with a slight overhang, then slice in the strawberries. You can top it off with a slight spooning of strawberry jam. Now shave off another sensible slice and top off the tart. Remember the overhang…. use it to seal and crimp.

Bake at 180 deg C for thirty minutes. Give or take another ten minutes. Takes unusually long to cook! Easily thirty to fourty minutes…sometimes more if your oven is on the gentler side.

The smell….ooohhhh my word!!! Messes up with your senses big time! Just be prepared...

When cooked, mamacita!!!!! Glory to the Heavens above!

Let cool for ten minutes, then trim off any over hangs…let sit for a further five minutes, then gently prise out. You can use two plates…good luck!

Clotted cream is our go to accompaniment! Clean, simple, sophisticated, and just sooooo right!!!!! Sour cream with a hint of icing sugar works well too…

 

Warm chocolate mousse (8 portions)

Of course, we know it sounds crazy….but it does work. It is light, it is sumptuous, devilishly wicked, and right on every level!

This recipe I credit Michelle Hansen, an Australian lady that was more chef than any ten blokes put together. She had it all and more….tough! She did not take any **** off any one. No matter who you were. I met her in the  middle nineties….to say this recipe is a classic!

For those crazy days when the weather was a bit on the down…rainy and blustery, the coats blown all over the place, the umbrella would have turned itself inside out leaving you cursing unto eternity, this was our way of imbuing some calm into your life, and in so doing, find some cheer in our life too. Admittedly we may have laughed as we watched you struggle with the umbrella, so maybe a peace offering?  What can I say, chefs live insular and not all together with it up there…so we would add in diced, spiced apricot compote, broken up meringue, bits of macarons, some broken shards of shortbread, chocolate calletes….all dusted with cocoa powder before adding into the mix…for a bit of crunch and bite. If we were looking for something cozy and mellow, soft strawberries or raspberries or blackberries mixed with white chocolate and some meringue….

Here goes…

300g dark chocolate

200g butter

 

 

 

Cook at 170 deg for seven minutes. It has to be seven minutes.

Let cool on the side and then refrigerate within 20 minutes.

 

Get in touch for the rest of it…

 

 

Liver Parfait….Chix or Duck!!!

In the old days, we cooked the parfait pink, natural, going on the freshness of the livers.

Then salmonella came along, then chickens that hatched and became chickens in a week, ready to lay eggs and all too!!! That put paid to cooking the parfait to a core temperature that would just about set it, and now we have to cook it to a dark brown colour as we hit 75 deg C, and it tastes like, well, you cannot imagine the difference! Sad to say, it is the way of things now and it pains like you would never understand; you have to know there is a marked difference! Imagine the difference kissing a troll or a beauty that’s had your heart on edge for months!

Most chefs will use pink salt generously …and heavens above…that stuff will kill you!

The first recipe from one of my all time heroes, will cook for about 100 minutes and will require a day to set in the fridge.  Another two days down the line and the flavours will have come together and melded beautifully into a wondrous, tingling sensation.

1 lb chicken livers, trimmed and cleaned of sinew and gall(that green sack-it is bitter as hell!!)

90 gms of  butter…

Worcester sauce

Salt, pepper, tabasco, cumin, thyme…

Reduction of ½ pint of redwine and sherry combined with two shallots and 3 cloves of garlic.

 

………..more to come if you DM me…

 

The second recipe is more functional! Make it in the morning , cook it at 200 deg C , for about 30 minutes, core temp 75 deg, cool it, set in the fridge, and is ready for use by the late afternoon.  This beautiful chef that looked like Adonis always served it with onion marmalade…white and red! Delicious!

750gms cleaned livers

750 gms clarified butter

3 shallots sliced

4 garlic

½ pt redwine and brandy combo

2 Eggs

Seasoning….salt, pepper, sugar, thyme

 

Dm me for the rest

 

Now, to get over legislation, circumventing the hassle of straight-jacketed approach to the art, we would prepare a parfait mix to one side, and chicken mousse on the other side following each individual recipe. Now bring the two together, 1:1…oooohhhh sweet mama!!! And fill into  dariole mould, cook at 160 deg C in a bain marie in the oven for 10-15 minutes…use your probe to get it to 75 deg C….do not let it souffle…that’s bad news!!! If feeling anxious, bring the temp down to 150 deg…persevere! When these little babies come out, let them cool in the water for ten minutes, then serve them…still warm! Or chill in fridge for service later. When reheated(in a bain marie in the oven!) make sure you hit 75 deg…You have never tasted anything so deliciously savoury and rich and good and bad for you all at the same time! Your taste buds will be jumping up and down, zinging and buzzing full of excitement. Brings tears of joy to your eyes…

Again, a nice warm-not hot!- onion marmalade. If not, truffle jus. Or jus infused with foie gras. Jus with lentils. Or a spring onion salsa…There’s a Hungarian pepper stew, just diced peppers and onion, garlic and tomato, cooked down sweet… normally with the addition of chopped boiled eggs…leave out the eggs, don’t forget to peel the peppers-the skin is bad for your guts, same as tomato skin!!…My word!  If bravery is your thing, just a little dash of orange marmalade on the side…or good old Cumberland.

 

 

 

Crème Brulee…

 

We have worked with many brulee recipes in the past with many great chefs all offering their thing. Point is many ways to skin a cat! We sre going to give you a chef perspective, thinking and working it like we would. In all truth some recipes work best in certain situations, like for example, we do a brulee that can be turned out, caramelised, loaded up with pretty, pretty, things and it is sensual in its light delivery. That recipe is curdle proof, and can be deep in flavour. It is a favourite and demands extreme due care and attention.  In due course, as things pan out, we may find to share it with you, including pictures, videos, presentation and the various levels of flavours that can work.

Some days we whipped in butter into a brulee mix.  Or crème fraiche, or even cream cheese!!

For now, let’s work with a sublime baby that is simple and yet light, decadent, almost magical in its rounded deliciousness. You have to be generous, so that every mouthful sends you into that spiral of gorgeous yumminess, so load up on the portion sizes. We  always do believe make more space for puddings, and eat less mains and starters, volume-wise!

 

Brulee…8-10 portions

500lts cream

250milli-litre milk  Take a ladle of the cold liquid and add it to the eggs to stop the sugar burning

Vanilla                         the eggs-called sugar spots! Bring the remaining milk/cream to the boil.

125 g egg yolks

150 g caster                 Mix, stage in the boiled cream , then fully incorporate-75 deg…Do not boil!

½ egg

 

Pass through sieve, let cool, and then into dishes, place the dishesin bain marie tray. Place the tray in oven, temperature 120-130 deg C, medium to low fan; fill the tray with warm to hot water to just below the neck of the dishes. Close oven and gently bake, 30-45 minutes, depending on the efficiency of your oven. Ten minutes either way is not the end of the world. For doneness you are looking for a gentle and solid wobble. Like a wave just underneath the surface of the calm, tight sea! Relax; it’s gonna be good!!! When cooked remove the tray carefully from the oven and let sit in the hot water for another ten minutes on the side. Remove the dishes from the hot water thence and on to a tray to cool on the side for another ten minutes. Then straight to the fridge to cool and set firm.  

Sometimes we have served the brulee warm, as in just came from the oven half an hour ago! The heart races!

If it overcooks it will look like bubbly scrambled egg in the dish; but that’s underneath the surface. Sometimes when the top is coloured …that’s a sure sign! Do not fret, do not bin it; at home we would whip up some cream Chantilly, and layer it in a different glass like a fool with the set brulee, with fruit puree, cubes of madeira sponge and fruit…DO NOT DO THIS IN A PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT!!! Your colleagues will fry you alive!

Remember to be safe in your handling of hot water baths. Seek help if you do need it. No point scalding yourself out of some need to be a hero. Goodness…cooking is risky business!!!

I have seen chefs blow torch the bubbles from the top of the mix before placing in oven, and for the life of me, *******!!!!!!  These will not affect the quality of the brulee…in any case you have to caramelise the tops…fuffing(pfaffing!) in the wind!

So, do you use white sugar or demerara for the caramelised top? 

I once saw a chef pour on caramel straight from the pan onto the brulee tops.  Another chef some other place was adamant they had a new way of doing brulee, so they overcooked the custard to scrambled, then blitzed the mix in the robo-coupe till it was smooth. This mix was decanted into the brulee cups, and the most smooth brulee was served. And it was gritty and dense as heck! They managed to convince a few others that it was a possibility as well, like a well versed con-man! You know as well as I do, it’s not the same thing! Goodness…me!

Sometimes, a liquidy brulee just on the cusp of doneness is not bad, but not recommended because you have to meet the cooking temperature guidelines that ensure the custard is cooked. You must hit 75 deg C core temp for a minimum five minutes! otherwise health and safety and food safety fellas will be on your case!

I would always serve the brulee with clotted cream. Some strawberries. Or raspberries. If you really want to stun your clients or date, get some crispy tuille biscuit happening…and flavour it robustly complimentary.  I have one such tuille mix, learned when I was sixteen. The best! I say it beats all other tuille mixes hands down, eyes closed, for simplicity, dexterity, flexibility and ease of prep! I swear, only 3 basic ingredients, and of course, vanilla… The tuille would be shaped around a glass jar or rolling pin, then…load it up!

A brulee (8-10 portions) recipe that is especially good for flavours because it carries it well is

1 pt cream

1 pt milk

2 eggs

Egg yolks

100 gms of white chocolate.

Vanilla

We used chocolate to remove the sugar element. In the top recipe if you like you can reduce the sugar to a level that is not so high. We all know and accept that sugar does feed the cancer cells. Minimising sugar is denying or starving the cancer cells. Figure it out!

 

Now, the brulee of course can be flavoured. Coffee…be gentle…just a dash of espresso, or if you like, a spoonful of coffee powder to taste in between mixing.  Just do not be in a hurry to get it right, as what might taste just right before cooking, can be harsh and overpowering when cold and set. Go for subtle flavours.

Chocolate….dark…milk…white. Once when spirited and driven mad by a need to surpass expectation, we worked a double layered brulee…milk and white! That was sexy…

Fruit…replace some of the milk with fruit puree-mango, raspberry, passionfruit, apple. But do not boil the fruit puree, add it in with the egg yolks and egg mix.  Do not use pineapple/kiwi puree as it will obviously curdle.  Curiously, squeezing a little lemon or the pulp of satsumas into the hot mix does not curdle the mix.

How about Xmas flavours brulee….the spices or blitzed gingerbread…

Mulled wine brulee is an acquired taste…

Baileys brulee is astonishing…be generous…to taste!!

Mince pie brulee is stunning…

Christmas pudding brulee is always a winner!

Once, many eaons ago we caramelised the sugar to amber, dropped in some candied ginger to cook out, then added in the cream and boiled it, set it aside to infuse, then reheated it again to make ready for the mixing process… tremendously robust! He was a good chef, Mr Suter!

 

What are your thoughts on foie gras brulee?? Or even goats cheese…Surprise yourself…keep talking to us…

 

The all important allergens.

We all know we live in times where the additives to food, the dubious production methods, micro-plastics, the weird fertiliser content, the insane stuff added to food to prolong shelf life have an impact on our digestive tract and immune systems. Tell you what, when I was a kid, cow pat was exactly that! Two days later when it was all dry, we picked it up aka frisbee and they were flying UFOs to all parts of the farm. Days when cows fed on grass and grass alone as they roamed the field. They gave back to nature. Now you see cow dropping and you wonder what the hell is going on in the cow’s stomach! For sure the cow looks back at you and says, ‘please, help me. I don’t know what’s going on either.’  You stare at each other, pondering a lot in all of a moment!

 

Cupcakes

Plain…..24

 

Sunday afternoons and you are struggling what to do for afternoon tea? Simple…right here!

Or the kids’ friends are over and you don’t want to come across as…you know….we’ve all been there!!!

This is all stuff you have in the kitchen…scale it up or down, works great!!

14 oz Baking marg

14 oz caster sugar

14 oz self raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

7 eggs….

Vanilla…

 

Do it the old fashioned and perfectly correct way of marg and sugar, then the eggs in one by one, and finally the flour and baking powder! Longer mixing, better aeration and fluffier…

Or…

Just drop everything into a mixer and say a prayer. But mixes for a shorter time period. Not so fluffy, but still good. Horses for courses…

 

Fill into cupcake cones…the larger ones…

 

Are you feeling courageous?

Blueberry…toss the blueberries in the flour and fold in…inject some jam in the centre of the cup cakes

Same for raspberries…

Same for cherries….

Or…..

You can drop in some white chocolate callets in the flour….or add it to the above fillings to make life that little bit more exciting for the team! We hear cups of tea calling…

How about bits of fudge….toffee…we are am losing it for you…

You get the gist…..