February 2012
29 posts
3 tags
National Marmalade Week: Escape the Ordinary
National Marmalade Week (25th February – 3rd March 2012) begins this weekend, and whether you’ve got a forgotten jar of orange marmalade in the fridge, or have made some of your own with the season’s Seville oranges, now is a fine time to celebrate one of our most beloved preserves. Great British Chefs blogger Monica Shaw looks at what to do with marmalade, in addition to spreading it on...
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Introducing National Marmalade Week 2012
The first ever National Marmalade Week takes place from 25th February – 3rd March 2012 giving people all over the world a chance to celebrate this sunny preserve. Great British Chefs blogger, Rosana McPhee from Hot & Chilli shares her recipe for Dark Chunky Marmalade & also a delicious Marmalade Pouring sauce which you can use on breakfast pancakes.
Photography & blog post by Rosana...
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Great British Chefs Food Photography Workshop...
On Wednesday 15th February 2012 at Great British Chefs we ran a free hands-on workshop for 30 bloggers who wanted to improve their food photography. It was part of Social Media Week London with theme of Empowering Change Through Collaboration. The idea came from conversations we’d had with the organisers of Social Media Week and with one of our great food photographers David Griffen.
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Add some Mighty Spice to your cooking
How spicy do you like your food? Great British Chefs’ guest blogger Urvashi Roe aka @BotanicalBaker, is a bit of an expert when it comes to spices. So when we came across a book called The Mighty Spice Cook Book, she seemed the perfect person to review it.
Blog post & photos by Urvashi Roe
John Gregory-Smith, the author of this wonderful book, sounds a lot like me. He grew up...
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Third Time's a Charm with Shaun Rankin's...
It’s Chip Week. The chance to chat about the nation’s favourite potato dish. So how do you cook the perfect chip? A number of chefs & potato experts believe the only way is to triple cook them. It may sound excessive and a lot of effort, but are the results worth it? Great British Chefs‘ blogger Chris Osburn put Shaun Rankin’s recipe to the test .
Shaun Rankin’s...
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Can Scotch Eggs Make One Difference?
Great British Chefs guest blogger Food Urchin aka Danny Kingston was invited to cook along with Simon Rimmer from Something for the Weekend. It was all about Scotch eggs and ethical food. Intrigued? Discover what happened & why Bono wasn’t involved.
by Food Urchin aka Danny Kingston - photos by Getty Images
Should Duncan Goose, founder of the pioneering One Brand range of everyday...
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Would you eat a lab grown burger?
Cheeseburger from Marcus Wareing- definitely NOT made from modified meat
There’s many of you thinking that burgers sold in some of the larger fast food outlets are made from synthetic meat. Although many taste like it, they’re not. However, Great British Chefs discovered that Heston Blumenthal has been asked to cook the world’s first hamburger made with a synthetic meat...
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Free Chips, Best Chips & More Chips for Chip Week
Next week is Chip Week. Crass marketing ploy or thoughtful celebration of a much loved British traditional? You decide. But no matter how you slice it, the week presents a chance to chat about one of the world’s favourite comfort foods, ye olde humble chip. Great British Chefs‘ blogger Chris Osburn put in his contenders for the perfect chip in London.
Chips at Marcus...
Win Lunch or Dinner at Le Manoir
Fancy a trip for lunch or dinner at one of the world’s most incredible restaurants - Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat-Saisons? Of course you do, see this page for more details on how to enter.
Raymond Blanc’s flagship restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat-Saisons has held its two Michelin stars for over 25 years, serving truly remarkable dishes which complement the lusciousness of the Oxfordshire...
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Savoury Pancakes for Pancake Day or any day!
Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Day is on 21st February. It’s a day for eating, tossing and racing with pancakes. But pancakes aren’t only for breakfast or on Pancake Day. Last weekend Great British Chefs blogger Monica Shaw went on a mission to discover some amazing savoury pancakes that are well-suited for lunch or supper, be it on Pancake Day, or any day of the week.
Photography &...
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Dinner at Valentine's for Everyone Pop Up
At Great British Chefs we make sure we try to give all staff a challenge in terms of eating out. When we saw the very creative menu at the Valentine’s for Everyone pop up event (including squirrel stew) we simply had to send our Business Development Director, Tim along.
Chocolate & Beetroot Cake by Tom Hunt
Blog post by Tim Rosenberg at Great British Chefs
On one of the coldest nights...
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Visit Britain's Top 10 Restaurants to Visit in...
Congratulations to all of the restaurants and staff featured in this listing from our friends over at Visit Britain, but particular congratulations to Gary Jones & Martin Wishart, chefs on Great British Chefs site for their restaurants making it into the Top 10 Restaurants to Visit in Britain
Grilled fillets of sea bass with herb risotto, roasted cherry tomatoes and pesto by Martin Wishart...
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Smellvertising McCain Launch Jacket Potato...
At Great British Chefs we often wonder what would happen if people could smell the food on our site. Although there’s no technology for this right now, you are able to smell food ads on bus stops.
McCain Foods spent three months working with a scent laboratory to create a baked-potato “perfume”, and then worked with ad agencies to produce 10 London bus shelters with 2 feet...
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Morgan M? Mmmmmm!
If you want to splash out for Valentine’s Day but your budget doesn’t stretch to full Michelin star dining, why not try the next best thing and go to a bistro run by a Michelin starred chef? Many award winning chefs on Great British Chefs are opening up bistro style diners to bring their food to a wider market. We sent Chris Osburn along to Morgan Meunier’s new “affordable...
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Unusual Pizza Toppings That Work by Rosana McPhee
Only two more days of National Pizza Week left and more pizza baking from our Great British Chefs bloggers. Rosana McPhee from Hot & Chilli has a lovely pizza dough recipe and shares some of her favourite, slightly unusual, toppings. And yes, we’re starting with one for those who think sweet pizza is wrong!
Grilled pineapple and ricotta drizzled with honey
Photography by Rosana...
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Enter our Food Bloggers' Dinner Party / Supper...
For the whole of Social Media Week at Great British Chefs we’re delighted to be hosting a competition where anyone can make a meal for Action Against Hunger’s Love Food Give Food Campaign from 13th – 19th February 2012.
Shay Cooper’s Amedei Chocolate Tart - Great British Chefs Valentine’s Day Collection
It’s Valentine’s Day during that week & we have a whole collection...
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My Bramley Apple Masterpiece! by Urvashi Roe
It’s Bramley Apple Week. At Great British Chefs it was great to see our bloggers getting so enthusiastic about the prospects of cooking with apples. Our guest blogger Urvashi Roe aka @BotanicalBaker, volunteered to do some apple picking a few weeks back and got some Bramley Apples for her efforts. She wanted to then try use them in a recipe from our site. See how her work turned into the...
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Pizza, My Saviour (Or Not, As The Case May Be) by...
Great British Chefs guest blogger Food Urchin aka Danny Kingston decided to make the most of a snowy weekend and entertain his twins by making pizza for National Pizza Week. Was this a wise idea? Let’s see how he got on.
Photography by Food Urchin aka Danny Kingston
It’s funny how a simple proposal can turn heads and make people stop immediately in their tracks. Especially when you make a...
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Valentine's Beetroot and chocolate cake by Tom...
Over Valentine’s weekend (that’s Friday 10th, Saturday 11th, Sunday 12th and on Valentine’s Day itself - February 14th), food charity FareShare are collaborating with Forgotten Feast and their eco-chef Tom Hunt to produce a unique 3 course banqueting experience – Valentines for Everyone. For £40 you can expect a magnificent 3-course menu of delicious but unwanted foods that...
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Dinner at The Terrace at The Montagu Arms Hotel
You may not expect to find an acclaimed restaurant nestled in the heart of the New Forest. Happily our Marketing Assistant & Copywriter at Great British Chefs, Isaac, was visiting the area last week and decided to go for dinner. Let’s see what he thought.
Dark Cherry Soufflé with clotted cream ice cream by Matthew Tomkinson from Great British Chefs
A scenic 90 minute train ride from the...
Win one of FIVE Wine Tastings for Valentines at...
“In Wine there is truth.” - Old Proverb
If you’re going to be alone on Valentine’s Day, don’t mope at home like Bridget Jones crying into your Chardonnay, as you now have the chance to go on a fun wine tasting. At Great British Chefs we’ve teamed up with Renaissance Pubs so you can do just that.
On Monday 13th February 2012, The Avalon in Clapham, South West...
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Sweet Pizzas for dessert for National Pizza Week
There was some debate over sweet pizzas when introduced our post on National Pizza Week. But surely no one can question the beauty of Tom Gozney’s Nutella, banana & fresh mixed berry pizza. One of Great British Chefs Facebook fans Lindsay Freeman also very kindly sent in her recipe for a Sweet Pizza which you can use with various toppings.
Tom Gozney’s Nutella, banana &...
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Celebrating National Pizza Week - 6th - 12th...
It’s National Pizza Week, an event put together by UK food association PAPA - the Pizza, Pasta & Italian Food Association. Everyone has their favourite pizza, but what’s pizza in the UK really like? Does it stand up to the taste test of countries better known for producing pizza. At Great British Chefs we’re lucky enough to have food blogger Monica Shaw a native Chicagoan...
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Bramley Apple Week, the Brazilian way with Rosana...
It’s Bramley Apple Week from 5th - 12th February 2012. At Great British Chefs we love the world’s most famous cooking apple and a number of our chefs love them too. Look out for recipes from them highlighted throughout the week. But in the meantime our blogger Rosana McPhee from Hot & Chilli has two delicious recipes using the famous apples.
Photography by Rosana McPhee
The...
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Roast, Conch and Enjoy at Hotel Chocolat's New...
Luxury British chocolatier and cocoa grower, Hotel Chocolat, has introduced a new “everything under one roof” concept shop in London. Great British Chefs sent Chris Osburn along to find out more. It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it.
All photography by Chris Osburn
Hotel Chocolat’s New Roast + Conch Shop ain’t No Willy Wonka Fantasy
Hotel Chocolat’s...
When Great British Chefs Met Tom Hunt - Eco-Chef
At Great British Chefs we were intrigued by a food project last year called Feeding the 5,000 a mass free lunch in Trafalgar Square made from ingredients that may have otherwise been wasted. It aimed to highlight how much food is wasted & what we & the food industry can do to stop this. Tom Hunt was the chef who designed the menu & we learnt that apart from working with Hugh Fearnley...
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10 Foodie ways to celebrate Waitangi Day
New Zealand’s Waitangi Day is coming up soon (6th February 2012) and Kiwis from around the world will be celebrating. If you’re in London there’s a number of things to do starting this weekend. Our friends over at Silver Fern Farms have provided a great list of 21 Things to do to celebrate Waitangi Day. At Great British Chefs we’ve picked out our food & drink related...
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Win your Valentine's Escape at The Montagu Arms...
How would you like a chance to really impress your loved one? The Montagu Arms Hotel in the New Forest are offering visitors to Great British Chefs the opportunity to win a fantastic weekend break at their hotel, home to the highest rated restaurant in the New Forest, The Terrace.
Lemon meringue pie with poached oranges and basil by Matthew Tomkinson on Great British Chefs
You’ll impress...
January 2012
24 posts
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Italian Dining from Ramsbottom by Foodographic
Sourcing great ingredients is at the heart of every good chef’s philosophy. Great British Chefs were delighted when Deanna Thomas from Foodographic went to Ramsons award winning restaurant in Ramsbottom on the outskirts of Lancashire. How does a restaurant take local ingredients to transport you to the romantic back-streets of a fine Italian trattoria ? Let’s find out
Photography...
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A plateful of good fortune for Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year celebrations continued over the weekend for the Year of the Dragon. Indeed at Great British Chefs we were delighted to discover we can carry on celebrating until 6th February. Our guest blogger Urvashi Roe aka @BotanicalBaker, went along to London’s Chinatown for the celebrations & also made some oysters for lunch. Let’s see if the oysters lived up to her...
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Curried Vegetable Pie with Chapati Lid by Mix it...
Looking for a wintery vegetarian dish? You’re in luck as here’s another one of our Great British Chefs’ visitors’ great displays of baking and cookery. We ask our site’s visitors to share what they have made & upload photos to our Great British Chefs Flickr group so we can share our favourites with you all.
We simply loved the creativity of this curried vegetable...
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Super Lemony Drizzle Cake with White Chocolate...
Another one of our Great British Chefs’ Facebook Fans great displays of baking and cookery. We asked our fans to share what they have made & upload photos to our Great British Chefs Flickr group so we can share our favourites with you all.
Beth Wilmshurst’s Super Lemony Drizzle Cake with white chocolate, was a big hit and a number of people asked for her recipe. She very kindly...
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Enjoy a Valentine's Day Feast & Help Others -...
How are you feeling about Valentine’s Day? If you’re all loved up it’s fantastic, a day to gaze into your loved ones eyes and enjoy a romantic meal out or a romantic meal in. If you’re married or in a long term relationship, you might be thinking - “not again, all the restaurants are going to be booked up, what can I buy that’s different from last...
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Dining with Food Allergies - Guide to enjoy...
What’s for dinner? Where should we go for lunch? These should be easy and enjoyable questions to ask and to answer. Unfortunately, it’s not so simple if you have a food allergy. It’s Food Allergy & Intolerance Awareness Week (23rd - 29th January 2012) and Great British Chefs blogger Rosana McPhee from Hot & Chilli has produced a quick & helpful guide to cooking &...
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Kung Fu Kick Your Way into Chinese New Year
Today’s the start of Chinese New Year & many of our bloggers at Great British Chefs started early celebrations. Monica Shaw kicked off with a great post about a Vegetarian Chinese New Year Celebration & cookery course. Next our CEO, Ollie Lloyd, went along to a supper club, where it looked as if food was being thrown into the air. Let’s see what happened.
Photo credits:...
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Farmhouse Breakfast Week 22nd - 28th January 2012
It’s Farmhouse Breakfast Week! Now in its 13th year the campaign is all about promoting awareness of the benefits of a healthy breakfast. With the rushed lifestyles many lead, we tend to only have long breakfasts at the weekend or have “Deskfast” in the office. But Great British Chefs blogger Monica Shaw, shows how with a little planning ahead, we can have healthy breakfasts...
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A Vegetarian Chinese New Year Celebration
Spicy Aubergine Salad by Martin Wishart part of Great British Chefs Chinese New Year Recipe Collection
Blog post by Monica Shaw
The Chinese New Year begins on Monday, 23rd January, a celebration that lasts from the new moon to the Lantern Festival 15 days later. Food plays a major part in the festivities, and on the 13th day of the New Year, people will traditionally eat all vegetarian food to...
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Riesling, the ultimate food-friendly wine
With Chinese New Year around the corner, many of you will may be eating out in Chinese restaurants or planning Chinese dinner parties. Many people find themselves poring over wine lists particularly in Chinese or Indian restaurants thinking “What shall I choose, what’s going to go well with something that’s full of spices” and then probably going for a lager or beer...
Haggis, Whisky, Wine & Raspberries - Burns Night...
Macbeth’s Award Winning Haggis
25th of January, the night when normally sane people decide it would be a fantastic idea to eat some minced offal with lots of herbs and spices cooked in a sheep’s stomach & wash it down with some whisky. Yes, Burns Night is upon us very, very soon. The day we celebrate the birth of Scottish poet Robert Burns who it has to be said was fond of a...
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Matthew Fort on Bruno Loubet - The Traveller...
Food writer Matthew Fort & Great British Chefs blogger, visited Bruno Loubet’s restaurant at the Zetter Hotel recently and had the opportunity to chat to Bruno to discover what it was like returning to England after many years away rejuvenating a number of Australian restaurants. Does he miss the days of sun & surf? Find out here:
Hot Chocolate Soufflé by Bruno Loubet on Great...
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Vegetarian Haggis for Burns Night? What would...
It’s a week before Burns Night & next week around the country people will be celebrating the great Scottish writer Robert Burns by eating haggis - a dish made of offal and cooked in a sheep’s stomach. This might turn the stomachs of most people but would make most vegetarians shudder. However, there is such a thing as a vegetarian haggis! Strangely our vegetarian Great British Chefs,...
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Win one of FIVE Whisky Tastings for Burns Night at...
Time for a wee dram at The Avalon
“O thou, my Muse! guid auld Scotch drink!…… Inspire me, till I lisp an’ wink, to sing thy name!” Robert Burns, An Ode to Scotch Drink.
How would you like to learn more about “The Scotch Drink” on Burns Night? At Great British Chefs we’ve teamed up with Renaissance Pubs so you can do just that. In celebration of Burns Night,...
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What influenced Tom Aikens? His Mum's Apple Pie
Tom Aikens (left) and his twin brother Robert
At Great British Chefs we loved hearing about Tom Aikens early influences on becoming a chef and also couldn’t resist this super cute photo of Tom and his twin brother Robert (also a chef) at the dinner table as kids.
Tom, whose flagship restaurant in Chelsea has re-opened after a great refurbishment, told his story to The Daily Telegraph -...
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Shepherd's Pie Named Top Winter Comfort Food
Lightly Curried Shepherd’s Pie by Galton Blackiston on Great British Chefs site
Shepherd’s pie has been named as the most popular comfort food to see people through the cold winter months, according to a survey by YouGov.
60% of those asked plumped for the traditional meat pie with mashed potato topping as their favourite winter dish.
In second place was Italian classic, lasagne,...
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Artist to Make Downing Street Door from over 5,000...
Artist Brendan Jamieson has found found fame with a different type of cubism. He’s made a scale model of the Tate Modern building in London, using exactly 71,908 sugar cubes.
It was commissioned by Native Land and Grosvenor for the 2010 London Festival of Architecture. However, he’s now been chosen for an exhibition inside 10 Downing Street. Presidents and prime ministers from...
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Great Tasting Cheeseburgers? It's Emmental My Dear...
Great British Chefs’ blogger Chris Osburn was looking for an affordable, easy and tasty recipe to make from our site. He found himself with an hour or so to spare at the weekend and thought he’d try making Marcus Wareing’s cheeseburgers with caramelised onions.
All photography by Chris Osburn
Vegetarian girlfriend out of the flat for a few hours? Check. Full pot of coffee...
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A seat at TV Chef Simon Rimmer's Restaurant by...
TV chefs have been in the news a lot recently. We see their faces all the time, but how often do we get to eat their food? Great British Chefs were delighted when Deanna Thomas from Foodographic went to Earle restaurant run by Simon Rimmer (from BBC2’s weekly show Something for the Weekend). Can a chef who admits to having no formal training, yet is watched by millions every week,...
WatchYou may have read in the news today about how an engineer built a 3ft salad “wall” to get around the “one bowl, one visit” rule for buffet salads.
At www.greatbritishchefs.com we know that in times of austerity these kind of skills can be useful! But in this case, it became so popular that Pizza Hut scrapped all its salad bars in China.
How often do you go to restaurants with a buffet style of...