Great British Chefs' - Blog

We’ve just seen a genius cookbook at Great British Chefs.  Sometimes you can look at a cookery book and think, “Wow I could eat that right off the page”.  Well thanks to German design agency Korefe you can.  The Real Cookbook is billed as the “first and only Cookbook you can actually read, cook and eat”.

The beautifully packaged book is made with  100% fresh pasta.  Each “page” is a pasta sheet with the method embossed onto it, you simply fill each page with the ingredients and then cook.

You’re then left with a beautiful dish of lasagne that was fun to make.

The Cookbook was designed as a special project for a large publishing house and won the Golden Award of Montreux.

Hat tip to Doreen of Tasty Fever for discovering this on It’s Nice That.

What do you think of this idea? And what are some of your favourite ingredients for lasagne? We’re discussing this over on Great British Chefs Facebook page.

The London Coffee Festival was held at the Truman Brewery on Brick Lane this weekend – a whole three days dedicated to all things coffee.  Great British Chefs blogger Urvashi Roe aka @BotanicalBaker  is fascinated by this amazing botanical so despite the awful, wet and blustery weather, she headed into town to see what it was all about.

Photography and blog post by Urvashi Roe 

There was a great warm welcome with free coffee and chocolate samples from the smiling staff.  A brilliant start

With over ten different areas offering coffee tastings, demonstrations, artisan stalls, music stages, street food and talks from the many coffee experts, there was a lot to do.

I walked through the True Artisan area where I discovered these wonderful coffee pouches from Grower’s Cup.  You simply open the pouch, pour the hot water in and voila! Great tasting fresh coffee! 

I also discovered coffee cola,

tinned coffee,

coffee beer,

unusual coffee carriers,

and coffee that wasn’t really coffee!

There were all sorts of weird and wonderful coffee makers.  My favourite was this retro and highly sophisticated machine from Victoria Arduino.

I also loved this Chemex from the Make Decent Coffee guys who also taught me how to brew properly using an Aeropress and a Cafetiere.

It was quite an inspiring day and I picked up The London Coffee Guide to continue my coffee adventures around London now that I was full of knowledge (or maybe I was just buzzing from all the free coffee tastings!).

I came home enthused and armed with a freshly roasted takeaway from Union Coffee – the perfect ingredient for these little Coffee and Nut Semolina Squares from Great British Chefs’ Vineet Bhatia.  Simple and quick to make and just the thing to accompany an after dinner coffee!

Blog post for Great British Chefs by Urvashi Roe aka @BotanicalBaker

What are your favourite brands of coffee?  What are some of your favourite things to serve with after dinner coffee?  We’re discussing this over on Great British Chefs Facebook page.

Week Four of the seventh series of The Great British Menu and it’s the turn of Northern Ireland. Over eight weeks, twenty four of the finest chefs in Great Britain including many chefs from Great British Chefs site are competing in regional heats for the opportunity to create a four course menu at an Olympic banquet, hosted by sporting legend Sir Steve Redgrave with a guest list of British sporting greats.  This week (starting 30th April 2012) it’s the turn of Northern Ireland.

Chris Fearon, Chris Bell,  Richard Corrigan and Niall McKenna - BBC2 Great British Menu Northern Irish Contestants

On Monday they’ll be presenting their starters, Chris Bell is making tea and biscuits, with added rabbit, rhubarb salad and black pudding. Niall will be hoping to impress veteran judge Richard Corrigan with pig sweetbreads, black truffle & baked onion.  Chris Fearon is hoping his “clay pigeon shoot” (pigeon served in a clay pigeon on a tray made of shotgun cartridges) will hit the right target.

On Tuesday, they move onto a fish course, on Wednesday main course and on Thursday it’s the turn of desserts.  For each of those days they will have to impress veteran judge Richard Corrigan (who recently joined Great British Chefs site) before going through to Friday’s final.

Renowned as both a chef and restaurateur, Richard Corrigan is undoubtedly one of the most distinguished figures on the British culinary scene. He has cooked for 10 Downing Street, released cookery books and been a winner on Great British Menu himself in 2006.

Richard understands the ‘farm to fork philosophy’ – now practised by most fine eateries across the land - better than most, having been brought up as one of seven children on a 25 acre farm in County Meath, Ireland.

He left Ireland aged 17 and spent four years cooking in the Netherlands before progressing to become Head Chef of Mulligan’s in Mayfair. His first Michelin star was awarded when he was Head Chef of Stephen Bull’s Fulham Road, London restaurant in 1994.  His flagship fine dining restaurant, though, is Corrigan’s Mayfair, which opened its doors in October 2009 to wide acclaim.

Corrigan’s Mayfair one of  Richard Corrigan’s restaurants 

Over recent years, the success of his restaurants and the accessibility of his cooking has allowed Richard Corrigan to enjoy a healthy media profile. He has made appearances on everything from Saturday Kitchen to Something for the Weekend and also hosted his own show on Irish television station RTE – Corrigan Knows Food.

On Friday the two chefs who received the most points from Richard for the week will cook their dishes again for restaurateur and cookery writer, Prue Leith, fellow restaurateur and businessman, Oliver Peyton, and food journalist and author, Matthew Fort.  Matthew is Great British Chefs strategic advisor who also blogs for us and writes the introductions for a number of our ingredient collections.  The winner will go into the finals (joining Alan Murchison who won the Scottish round,  Daniel Clifford who won the Central round and Colin McCurran who won the North East round).

You can see the full line up of chefs and judges for the Great British Menu 2012 here. Also catch up on last week’s North East Heat Final Great British Menu judging on our blog.

Great British Menu will be on BBC2 this week at the earlier time of 6.30pm.

Voted one of the top UK Restaurants in The Good Food Guide 2012, Great British Chefs’ Adam Simmonds’ Restaurant at the Danesfield House Hotel is a revered gourmet destination in Marlow. Serving modern European cuisine, you can dine in style, overlooking the Thames, either watching the Henley rowing clubs or the ducks on the riverside. You can even while away some time in the Spa, to work up an appetite.

Enter now for the chance to win a two night stay at the stunnning Danesfield House Hotel & Spa indulging in gourmet food prepared by one of the country’s great chefs and experience Michelin starred cuisine for yourself at its absolute best. Using seasonal ingredients, Adam has a real talent for pairing unusual combinations as well as presenting them with a touch of real finesse. As part of the prize, you’ll also be able to spend time chatting with Adam over a coffee, enjoy a complimentary spa treatment and we’ll even throw in £1000 to spend on Designer clothes.

The prize includes:

· 2 Nights & Full English Breakfast for 2 at the Danesfield House & Spa Hotel

· Tasting Menu + Wine

· Coffee with Chef Adam Simmonds

· 3 course dinner in The Orangery

· Afternoon Tea

· Spa Treatment

Spend just a few minutes entering, and you just might end up spending a luxury filled weekend at Danesfield House Hotel and Spa with the addition of enjoying a new £1000 wardrobe of designer clothes…

To enter simply visit our friends over at SheerLuxe by clicking here.

Week 3 of Great British Menu culminated on Friday 27th April 2012.  During the week  we saw chefs from the North East region competing to impress veteran judge Nigel Haworth who recently joined Great British Chefs. The winner would go on to compete in the finals at the end of the series. Monica Shaw guest blogger at Great British Chefs watched the finals. Newcomers Colin McCurran & Charlie Lakin made it through to the final, but who would take the North East title? 

Blog post by Monica Shaw

On Thursday we saw a very disappointed Stephanie Moon take her leave, leaving Colin and Charlie to prepare their four-course menus for judging panel Oliver Peyton, Prue Leith and Matthew Fort.

From start to finish, Charlie was on a roll in the fighting-talk department, playing super defence in an attempt to win the psychological battle against Colin. But in this game, only gastronomy counts, and here the judges didn’t pull any punches.

Quails in the Woods by Colin McCurran - from BBC’s Great British Menu 

Colin kicked off with his starter of ‘Quails in the woods’, a theatrical dish with a woodland presentation involving dry ice, coated quail’s eggs and chicken liver parfait. The judges agreed with Nigel, who gave the dish a mere 4/10 during the heats. Having extracted the actual food from the wilderness of their plating, Prue was not impressed with the paltry offerings: “When you get rid of the wonderful décor, this is what you’ve got, and I don’t think it amounts to gastronomy.” It didn’t help that the meat was undercooked, noted Oliver: “I’m a man who likes my meat walking but that breast is raw.”

Charlie Lakin’s Wild rabbit with Douglas Fir Pine Needles - from BBC’s Great British Menu 

So maybe Charlie had a chance here, both psychologically and gastronomically. His starter of wild rabbit with carrot and Douglas fir pine needles was next, but it didn’t do much better than Colin’s, with over-smoked loin and a confusing amalgamation of flavours. 

“Here’s a chef who’s trying very, very hard but he doesn’t know when to stop,” said Matthew. “He’s entered for the pentathlon when he should have entered the shotputting.”

This left Colin and Charlie neck and neck for the fish course.

Mullet on the sea bed by Colin McCurran - from BBC’s Great British Menu   

Colin’s mullet on a ‘sea bed’, in which he recreated a seascape with purple potato, pomegranate, seaweed and a shimmering water made from set seaweed stock, left the judges drooling over their puns. “This is Olympic class cooking,” said Prue. “It’s gastronomic, it breaks all the boundaries, it leaps all the hurdles.”

 

Charlie Lakin’s Fish cooked in a waterbath - from BBC’s Great British Menu 

After Colin’s sea bed, Charlie’s fish cooked in a waterbath was a major disappointment of foamy proportions. “The worst thing is spoonage and massive amounts of foam,” said Prue, “and foam over beetroot is particularly dumb.”

“I don’t know if I can be bothered,” said Oliver, “if he hasn’t bothered, why should I?”

 

Oh well, better luck with the main course, Charlie. And better luck he had, with his Dexter beef, Littlebourne snails, marrow bone and wild garlic inspiring audible gasps of delight from the judges as the meat melted away from the bone. “Is that sexy or is that sexy?” said Prue. Matthew Fort was the only judge to complain it was boring: “the gastronomic equivalent of a really good accountant.”

Hay Smoked Pig’s Head with mock apple & textures of onion by Colin McCurran - from BBC’s Great British Menu

Likewise, Colin’s main dish – hay-smoked pig’s head with mock apple and textures of onion – received mixed reviews. All agreed that the portions were too small, but the black pudding was, according to Oliver, “the first use of smearage in an effective manner”.

 

Charlie Lakin’s Earl Grey & Strawberry Soufflé  - from BBC’s Great British Menu

For the puddings, Charlie’s Earl Grey and strawberry soufflé with gorse flower ice cream was enjoyable, but “if I’m talking about Olympian heights of gastronomy,” said Prue, “it doesn’t crack it.”

 

Chocolate, rhubarb & Custard by Colin McCurran - from BBC’s Great British Menu

Colin’s white chocolate, rhubarb and custard didn’t do much better. He changed his dish from the dark chocolate one cooked on Thursday (pictured at the start of this post). Once again presenting an unpracticed dish, his sorbet “torch” failed to catch fire. But flame or not, the dish itself was not well received.” Prue called the custard “truly horrible”, and Matthew said, “this is a classic example of a pudding that was meant to be admired, but not eaten.”

Both Colin and Charlie had their share of wins and losses this round, with neither producing menus with consistently good dishes in the eyes of the judges. But there had to be a winner, and on Friday the judges unanimously agreed on Colin. I reckon it had something to do with that pig’s head.

Well done, Colin, for winning the North East heat! If you’re in the UK you can watch this episode on BBC’s iPlayer for the next few days.

Next week, chefs from Northern Ireland compete. Returning contenders Chris Fearon, Chris Bell and Niall McKenna will battle to win the favour of Richard Corrigan, a recent addition to Great British Chefs site, who will decide who goes through to Friday’s final. You can see the full line up of chefs and judges for the Great British Menu 2012 here.

What did you think of the results of the North East finals? We’ll be discussing this over on Great British Chefs Facebook Page. 

Last week, Doreen from Great British Chefs attended a preview event for Citroën’s pop-up restaurant with Tim Anderson, who won BBC’s MasterChef last year. The pop-up, called Delicious by DS5, will be taking place in a secret location in London’s Shoreditch.  Let’s see what Tim has up his sleeve

Blog post & photography by Doreen of Tasty Fever

Delicious by DS5, will be taking place in an as-yet-undisclosed location in London’s Shoreditch. Proceeds for the event will be benefitting FareShare, a wonderful charity that works to provide quality food to communities experiencing food poverty, while fighting food waste by redistributing tonnes of food every year to those who need it. 

Tim prepared two dishes to illustrate what to expect at next month’s pop-up: a beef course and an interesting pudding involving jelly, foam and a smoking gun! 

The beef dish Tim Anderson demonstrated was focused around the flavour of umami, that savoury taste found in foods like mushrooms, Parmesan, soy sauce and many meats and seafood. Beef is a wonderful source of umami flavour, and the beef prepared by Tim Anderson and his team was cooked in a water bath, resulting in a tender meat that was quickly seared on a hot pan after it was marinated by a major source of umami here in Britain:

Yes, the beef was coated in a Marmite marinade.

The pudding was a fantastic multilayered explosion of “whaa…” that was inspired by the aromas and flavours of Syrah, a red wine known for it’s rich, full-bodied flavour that’s sweet, earthy, dark and complex, with characters ranging from chocolate and espresso flavours, black pepper, smoke and berries.

We all had a hand in making elements of the dessert. I had volunteered to work with the chocolate ganache, which chef Sujan Sarkar carefully guided me through. The chocolate ganache had flavours of coffee in addition to the dark chocolate, thanks to a fresh Peruvian brew mixed in from a cafetiere. Other attendants of this preview were on hand to help assemble the grape jelly made with agar-agar, peel the grapes and help create other components of the finished product, which looked like this:

Yes, that is smoke inside the jar. Tim and Sujan fired up the smoking gun—a piece of equipment I now covet—and used oak chips to add a puff of wood smoke to the pudding in the jar, which was then carefully sealed.

These remarkable dishes are a preview of what Tim Anderson has up his sleeve for the five course tasting menu he has planned at Delicious by DS5. To find out more and to sign up to attend the charity pop-up, visit Citroën’s Delicious by DS5 Facebook Page. If you don’t happen to secure a £5 seat at the pop-up from the drawing, fear not: FareShare will also have two tables for six people which they will auction off, so keep an eye on their Facebook and Twitter pages for further details. 

Blog post & photography by Doreen of Tasty Fever

Have you ever tried using any gourmet chef techniques like those used on MasterChef or Great British Menu?  Maybe you’ve used a water bath or a smoking gun?  We’re discussing which specialist techniques you’ve tried or would like to master over on Great British Chefs Facebook Page. 

 We’re big fans of cheese at Great British Chefs and were delighted to hear that London’s Southbank Centre will once again play host to The Cheese & Wine Festival this weekend.

They promise “No wine snobbery. No gobbledygook. Just exciting new tastes to explore.   Fascinating facts to discover. Passionate foodie people to meet. And dare we say it… fun.”. 

Over 35 stalls will be providing you the opportunity to taste artisan cheese and dairy, shop for foodie gifts, and hopefully find their ideal wines, from as far afield as Italy, Australia and South America.

 

In the Cheese & Wine Cookery Theatre, Chef Valentina Harris will be co-ordinating a series of demonstrations, talks and cheese recipe demonstrations, while Master of Wine Tim Atkin, will be in charge of the tutored cheese & wine tastings.  If you’re worried about the rain all tutored tastings and demos take place in a covered marquee.

The Cheese & Wine Festival will be open from 10-8pm, Friday and Saturday, and 10-6pm Sunday. 

Admission is generally free, but some tastings will be ticketed and require pre-booking and payment. For a full programme see their website

For some lovely cheese recipes visit out Cheese Collection on Great British Chefs

Smoked Fish Pie with Cheddar Mash Topping by Nathan Outlaw

What are some of your favourite cheeses to cook with?  We’re discussing this over on Great British Chefs Facebook Page.

The ultimate for people who simply don’t have time for lunch.  At Great British Chefs  we were amazed to see this product for the super busy person who not only has lunch at their desk, but is too busy to stop working while they are eating.  Enter the Hands-free Sandwich Holder

Here’s the description: “If you live in the fast track (and who doesn’t these days), you’ll appreciate the multi-taskability built into this invention. Instead of bringing your life to a screeching halt every time you have a ham sandwich, this adjustable neck mounted, mouth-ready device allows you to keep right on texting, e-mailing or channel surfing while you eat a handy sandwich”. 

The mind boggles.

What do you think?  Is it a bonkers invention? You may have noticed at Great British Chefs we cook each day (here’s a collection of our Great British Chefs Team Lunches).  It’s great to take a break to eat the food our colleagues have prepared.  

How often do you eat lunch at your desk?  Do you carry on working while you’re eating? How important is it to take a break for lunch and get out of the office? We’re discussing this over on Great British Chefs Facebook page.

Eat Drink Bristol Fashion review for Great British Chefs by Tom Burnford

Whether it was luck, fate or divine providence that originally steered me to call in at the unprepossessing Pony and Trap on a country lane just outside Bristol remains unclear, but whichever the cause, it was a decision that has led to me visiting again as regularly as I can ever since.

While then it was simply a convenient stop with a nice view on the run to the airport from Bath, having sussed immediately that this was no ordinary pub kitchen I have now made it one of my favourite local destinations for excellent food.

And I’m not the only one. Three years and one Michelin star later and I am sitting in the unpretentious snug at the front of the pub with head chef Josh Eggleton and his business partner Nick Roberts who are taking time to talk with me after another full-house shift. While he brings out course after course of spectacularly crafted locally sourced dishes we muse about how and why the Bristol region has evolved so quickly into a quality food destination and they tell me about their new pop up restaurant that opens today in the heart of Bristol’s docklands.

“My friend Luke Hasell is a beef farmer across the road, and he also happens to run an event Tipi business.” says Josh, “Last year we decided it would be fun to try out a pop up restaurant serving Sunday lunch on the shores of the nearby lake. It was so successful, we thought we’d push it one step further and try it out in central Bristol.”

So, drafting in Nick with his background in marketing, the three of them pushed through their idea and are now opening their pop up in Bristol for the next two weeks, drawing on burgeoning local talent in the area to showcase their talent and cooking creativity.

The fact that their tipi restaurant now sits slap bang in the middle of Europe’s largest Georgian Square perhaps symbolises the scale of their ambition and vision. It will be open every day between 10am and Midnight (1am weekends) to the walk-in public, with a champagne bar and tapas dishes and a light lunch menu designed by Josh served throughout. During the evening, local star chefs from other restaurants such as Michelin starred Casa Mia, and the highly acclaimed Bell’s Diner will be taking over the kitchen for reservation-only meals. They are already almost completely sold out.

Last night Josh went through his practice run before opening, and Great British Chefs snuck in to sample what’s in store for the next couple of weeks. Sitting at one of the candle-lit communal tables inside the tent we were served up four of the tapas dishes to try: pig twigs, a beef and salt beef slider, scallop pops wrapped in smoky bacon and Somerset fried rabbit.

Attention to presentation has not been spared with the scallops served up on sticks resembling kids’ lollies. The bacon wrapping had been so finely sliced that it created just enough smoky, salty flavour to season the shellfish whose delicate flavour came through just after the initial bite. The somerset fried rabbit was presented in a take-away style bento box which, beyond being a fun visual twist, had the practical purpose of creating a medium to douse them all in lots of fresh lemon juice. These had been fried in breadcrumbs so you could then eat them off the bone.

The slider was a mini burger with an interesting spicy relish and sweet sesame bun, generously sized, with that wonderful crumbly texture only hand crafted burgers have. We finished off with pig twigs; a shear indulgence, long strips of crackling with a dipping apple sauce in an enamel dish. These had been served up at that point everyone’s looking for where the crunchy outer layer and melting inner layer of the crackling had been balanced perfectly.

Bristol’s location perhaps explains why it is so ripe for development into a quality food hub and why there has been such a heady climb in numbers of quality eating establishments in and around the city. The fulcrum of England’s verdant West Country, the economy of which still has a solid base in agriculture, and less then 10 miles from the open sea it is possible to get locally sourced fish, meat and vegetables straight from producer to table with ease.

As the growth in popularity of Bristol’s medieval St Nicholas’ Market has shown, there is a groundswell in this area, with producers clamouring to get in on a scene where a new, young, wealthy inner city clientele has increased demand for quality ingredients and talented, creative menus.

Having just moved down this way I for one have been bowled over by choice in this area and can see I’ll have no trouble satisfying the craving for excellent well sourced food. And for the next two weeks at the least, I know where I’ll be going to get a good overview of what’s on offer.

Eat Drink Bristol Fashion review for Great British Chefs by Tom Burnford

Eat Drink Bristol Fashion is open from 25th April to 7th May 2012 in Queen Square BS1. All menus, events and ticket details can be found at www.eatdrinkbristolfashion.co.uk

Where are some of your favourite places for outdoor eating? Have you been to any interesting pop-up restaurants recently? Let us know over on Great British Chefs Facebook page.

Cha cha cha! A couple of choco-rific events led Great British Chefs guest blogger  Chris Osburn to the upscale streets of Chelsea recently. Both happenings focused on what’s great about British chocolate these days and confirmed that London (and maybe even Kent) just might be the most exciting place in the world of chocolate at the moment. Don’t believe him? Well, keep reading. He promises you he’s not completely nuts!

Photography & blog post by Chris Osburn 

British nuts for chocolate

I might not be completely nuts, but I am utterly adamant that you should try Demarquette Fine Chocolates’ new cobnut pebbles. What’s a cobnut? An English hazelnut essentially – just a little more robust and (dare I say it?) nuttier than you might be accustomed. So, it’s not a substitute but a different thing all together, and a lot of people (including me) would say the cobnut is much more flavoursome too. 

And a pebble? It’s just a little chocolate covered bite-sized morsel with a cobnut or whatever inside. And don’t, if you find you still prefer hazelnuts to cobnuts, Demarquette still has hazelnut pebbles for sale as well.

Demarquette (located on the Fulham Road and just a couple minutes amble from Great British Chefs’s own Tom’s Kitchen), sources its cobnuts from HurstwoodFarms, an award winning cobnut supplier in Kent. Along with the pebbles, Demarquette does a right tasty Kentish cobnut chocolate diamond praline created especially for the Diamond Jubilee.  Visit this link for more photos of my visit to Demarquette Fine Chocolates.

Like water with chocolate (and nothing else)

Up the Kentish road from Hurstwood, British chocolatier Damian Allsop does his “cH2Ocolate” magic in Tunbridge Wells. His claim to fame: removing the cream and butter and instead using spring water to “unlock the true flavour” of chocolate. These days, it’s not too terribly uncommon to come across water-based ganache or whatnot for chocolaty treats. But Damian did it first (and arguably still does it best). 

As lovely as Kent can be, you don’t have to trek out their to try his vegan and non-lacto chocolates. He has recently launched a collection of “Eat London” chocolate bars. The bars celebrate London’s rich and diverse cultural mix and have been created to suggest the possible flavour profiles of some of its most iconic settings. For example, if Brixton Hill or Edgware Road were chocolate bars, what might it taste like? Damian has a few yummy ideas. The Eat London collection is available via damianallsop.com as well as at Liberty, Tavalo, Mount Street Deli and other quality shops.

The Eat London bars can also be found at the Wyndham Grand London Chelsea Harbour hotel. This makes a lot of sense as Damian and the Wyndham have recently teamed up to offer some chocolate experiences for the hotel’s guests, including an afternoon tea based around his Eat London collection and a chocolate masterclass.  There’s more photos from my visit to Damian Allsop’s workshop here.

Further exploring the concept of London as chocolate, the Eat London afternoon tea is particularly worthy of mention. The tea will be served in the hotel’s glass-fronted lounge overlooking Chelsea Harbour and will include a South Kensington Petit Pot au Chocolat, a Brick Lane Mango Lassie Chocolate, lemongrass brownies and more. Don’t hate me too much, but I got to sample the Eat London tea. It’s awesome and features some kicking pistachio ice cream, which in true Allsop fashion contains no actual cream.

Priced at £28 per person, the Wyndham’s Eat London afternoon tea will be available only this June. Yep, more Diamond Jubilee-ing. 

Photography & blog post by Chris Osburn

What are your favourite non big brand chocolates?  Do you have a favourite place where you buy chocolate for special occasions.  Let us know over on Great British Chefs Facebook page.

Curry is one of the nation’s  favourite dishes thanks to the British Army, who brought ingredients back to Britain between 18th and 19th centuries from the Indian sub continent.  The Lord Mayor’s Diamond Jubilee Big Curry Lunch, will be on Thursday 26th April 2012 at London’s Guildhall. It’s part of a day of events where people can host a one off Curry themed event to raise funds for ABF The Soldiers Charity. Great British Chefs blogger Rosana McPhee decided to make a Shaun Rankin’s curried scallops with coconut & coriander dahl for the occasion.

Blog post  & Photography by Rosana McPhee 

To celebrate the Big Curry Lunch I cooked a special main by Shaun Rankin featured on Great British Chefs site. Many curry recipes have been reinterpreted and developed for the Anglo palate. This dish has delicious, delicate flavours and textures to make a wonderful celebration lunch. 

Curried scallops

• 12 scallops, cleaned and coral removed
• 4 tsp of curry powder
• 2 tsp of salt
• 2 tbsp of olive oil

Dahl

• 150g of red lentils, soaked overnight and drained
• 240ml of chicken stock
• 2 tsp of ground turmeric
• 50g of unsalted butter
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 2 tsp of cumin seeds
• 100ml of coconut milk
• 50g of baby spinach
• 1 bunch of coriander, chopped
• salt

To plate

• 1 apple, peeled and cored
• 1 tomato, skin removed and diced

. In a large saucepan, heat the chicken stock over a medium heat. Add the turmeric, season with salt and add the lentils

. Bring to the boil then simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Strain the lentils and discard the cooking juices

. Melt the butter in a pan and sauté the onion with the cumin seeds until browned. Add the lentils, coconut milk, baby spinach and three quarters of the coriander and cook on a medium heat until heated through. Keep warm

. To cook the scallops, mix the curry powder and salt in a bowl. Dip the scallops one by one into the curry salt (one side only)

Curried Scallops with coconut & coriander dahl and apple salad by Shaun Rankin

Cooking scallops tip:

The best way to tell if a scallop is cooked is to poke it. There should be a bit of bounce and resistance to it. If the scallop is mushy, it isn’t fully cooked

. Knock off the excess powder by holding the scallop in one hand while tapping your wrist with the other. Place the scallops on a plate with the curry-salt-side facing up

. Add the olive oil to a hot frying pan. Place the scallops in the pan, curry-salt-side down. Cook for 1 minute each side, until golden brown

. Cut the apples into 5mm batons. Spoon the warm dahl onto four plates and arrange the scallops on top. Place the apple on top of the scallops and garnish with the remaining chopped coriander and the diced tomato. 

For other delicious curry recipes for your own Big Curry Lunch visit Great British Chefs site for recipes by two of the UK’s finest Indian chefs Alfred Prasad and Vineet Bhatia.

Blog post for Great British Chefs by  Rosana McPhee from Hot & Chilli

Have you ever made dahl?  What are your secrets for success? What do you like to serve it with?  Share your tips over on Great British Chefs Facebook Page.

Masala Dosa’s, Bhel Puri, Masala Chai, Roti & Curry galore, if only this blog could facilitate ‘smell-o-vision’, then you would be able to appreciate Taste of India (part of the Real Food Festival) on London’s SouthBank, it certainly awakened Dharini’s  olfactory senses.  Discover what happened when she visited the event over the weekend for Great British Chefs and met Alfred Prasad.

Blog post by Dini - Dolce Dini

Question: Wonder what an Indian, Michelin starred chef does to relax?

Answer: Plays Carrom (of course!)  Thankfully, the sun shone and the rain didn’t stop play…

It’s great to see this 17th century Indian board game still in action in the 21st century, and with wide appeal that it drew in young and mature players.

Onto business of cooking, Alfred created an adapted version of a recipe on his current Spring menu, at Tamarind, a ‘Lamb and potato pepper fry’. He was extremely personable and taking questions from the audience, Alfred created the Anglo-Indian dish from his Mother’s collection in 30 minutes, perhaps an idea for a cookbook there?

Taking tenderised lamb escalopes and sliced potatoes, Alfred marinated them in: ginger, garlic, salt, Kashmiri chilli powder, ground cumin, ground coriander and malt vinegar.

After searing the meat, Alfred placed the potatoes in the pan to soften up. When both had cooked, sliced, tomatoes were added and a generous helping of ground pepper. It was at this point that there was a gasp from the audience, including me. We couldn’t believe how liberal Alfred was being with the seasoning. He reassured us that the pepper would cook off and the flavours would be balanced.

The finished dish was delicious, how could we have doubted it so? The lamb had an underlying, fiery kick from the black pepper, but balanced with the mellowing tomatoes.

For the tasty dish, Alfred’s Demo and the weather, I’m going to give it a …

To peruse some of the Indian food highlights take a look here and there’s also a slide show of the photos I took below.

If you like the sound of Alfred’s Lamb dish then take a look at more of his recipes on Great British Chefs’ site.  I was keen to make Alfred’s Bharwan Paneer for Great British Chefs team lunch and Alfred very kindly gave me some extra tips and a slightly adapted recipe for making it.

Bharwan Paneer by Alfred Prasad

Here’s how my version turned out when served at Great British Chefs HQ for lunch.

You can see more pictures of our lunch here - we had pilau rice, chicken and potato curry and a tomato & cucumber salad too.

Which are your favourite curries to serve at lunch?  We’re discussing this over on Great British Chefs Facebook Page.

It’s Week Three of the seventh series of The Great British Menu. Not surprisingly this year’s theme is an Olympic one.  Twenty four of the finest chefs in the country including many chefs from Great British Chefs site are competing in eight regional heats for the opportunity to create a four course menu at a prestigious event, hosted by sporting legend Sir Steve Redgrave with a guest list of British sporting greats.  This week (starting 23rd April 2012) it’s the turn of the North East region.

Charlie Lakin, Colin McGurran, Nigel Haworth and Stephanie Moon - BBC2 Great British Menu North East Contestants

North East chefs battling it out for a place in the final are returning contender Stephanie Moon and new faces to the contest, Colin McGurran and Charlie Lakin. 

On Monday they’ll be presenting their starters. Stephanie is making ‘get set’ goat’s cheese, Charlie is cooking wild rabbit with carrot and Douglas fir needles, and  Colin an intriguing ‘quail in the woods’.

On Tuesday, they move onto a fish course, on Wednesday main course and on Thursday it’s the turn of  desserts.  For each of those days they will have to impress veteran judge Nigel Haworth who recently joined Great British Chefs site before going through to Friday’s final.

Chef and restauranteur Nigel Haworth is best known for his Michelin starred restaurant Northcote Manor where he was offered the position of Head Chef in 1984.  (Lisa Allen, a previous Great British Menu competitor is currently Head Chef there). Ten years on and Nigel was celebrating an Egon Ronay Chef of the Year Award, one year later a Michelin star followed - which has been retained ever since. 

In recent years, Nigel Haworth has appeared regularly on television shows such as Saturday Kitchen and Market Kitchen, also making a winning appearance himself on Great British Menu in 2009. In addition to Nigel Haworth also co-owns a catering company, Northcote Offsite, who supply local clients (such as his beloved Blackburn Rovers) with immaculate dishes.

Lonk Lamb Lancashire Hotpot by Nigel Haworth

The dish pictured above was cooked by Nigel Haworth on Great British Menu, winning him a spot in the final banquet menu in 2009.  Nigel uses Lonk lamb when making this hotpot but if you can’t get hold of the prized Lonk lamb, use the lamb from your best local butcher. 

On Friday the two chefs who received the most points from Nigel for the week will cook their dishes again for restaurateur and businessman, Oliver Peyton, fellow restaurateur and cookery writer, Prue Leith and food journalist and author, Matthew Fort.  Matthew is Great British Chefs strategic advisor who also blogs for us and writes the introductions for a number of our ingredient collections.  The winner will go into the finals (joining Alan Murchison who won the Scottish round and Daniel Clifford who won the Central round).

You can see the full line up of chefs and judges for the Great British Menu 2012 here. Also catch up on last week’s Central Heat Final Great British Menu judging on our blog.

We love seeing photos of your cookery and baking at Great British Chefs.  Each weekend we ask you to upload photos into our Flickr group and we feature our favourites on our Facebook page. Last week Kate Mew’s picture of a yummy Chocolate & Raspberry Dessert Cake, she made for a charity bake was really popular. So many people asked for the recipe that Kate kindly shared it for our blog.  See the recipe here ….

Photography & recipe by Kate Mew

I like my cakes to be big so I use 2 lots of the mixture below and fill a 9inch sandwich tin with each quantity of mix.

I mixed each half separately and fill a sandwich tin and then quickly mix the other half and fill the other tin. Both tins then go in the oven together.

Chocolate Cake
200g Caster Sugar
200g Butter
3 eggs – lightly beaten
200g Self raising flour – sifted 
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp Cocoa Powder & 4 tbsp hot boiling water

Mix the cocoa powder and water together to form a paste – leaving to cool slightly

Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy

Add the eggs, cocoa paste and sifted flour and baking powder and mix in well

Pour the mix into a lined 9inch sandwich tin.

Repeat for the second tin

When both tins are ready place in a preheated oven at approx 180C for around 20 -25 minutes or until springy to touch and a skewer comes out clean

Filling

I use either Chocolate Butter Cream or Fresh Whipped Double Cream (this one has cream in)

When the cakes are cool, sandwich together with filling.

Chocolate Sauce Topping

100g Butter
100g Icing sugar
100g Dark chocolate
3 tbsp milk

Place all the ingredients in a bowl, on a pan of simmering water and melt together.
Once all the ingredients are melted together stir to give a thick glossy shine and allow to cool before you pour over the cake.

While the topping is still setting I add milk chocolate Cigarello’s all around the edge of the cake and layer raspberries on top. The centre is flaked milk chocolate.

Thanks so much Kate for sharing that recipe with us at Great British Chefs.  

If Kate’s cake has got you in the mood for something similar check out William Drabble’s recipe for Chocolate mousse cake with raspberries. Plus there’s a collection of recipes to satisfy the needs of most Chocoholics on our site.  Also if you would like to join our Flickr Group, please visit the following link, follow the instructions to join & we’ll add you within 24 hours.

What are some of your favourite chocolate desserts?  We’re discussing this over on Great British Chefs Facebook page. 

It’s the weekend of the London Marathon and tens of thousands of people will be pounding the streets of central London.  Many will be fundraising for charities and at Great British Chefs we were delighted to see that Tom Aikens and Paul Heathcote are both running the London Marathon for charity.  Find out more about who they’re supporting and what food to prepare for your friends & family who may also be running

Spaghetti Piemontesi by Paul Heathcote

As most seasoned marathon runners knows, eating the right food prior to the big race is as important as a thorough training programme. Many runners will be stocking up on carbohydrates before the big day to make sure they perform at their best. 

Paul Heathcote’s delicious pasta dish would be a great source of energy both before and after the race.  Paul is running the London Marathon for ChildLine  - see how his fundraising is going & feel free to donate.

Paul’s Cous cous would also make an excellent marathon party dish.  Along with being a good source of slow release energy, couscous is also low in fat.

Cous cous by Paul Heathcote

His dish is also quick and easy to prepare and you can use your favourite dried fruits & nuts to add more low fat energy to the meal.

For dessert try Paul’s Hot Banana Souffle

Hot Banana Souffle by Paul Heathcote

Bananas are another good source of slow release carbs and as this delicious soufflé is relatively fat-free with only egg whites used as a raising agent and lighter cornflour rather than self raising flour.  

Poached Salmon with watercress salad by Tom Aikens

Tom Aikens’s dish is perfect pre and post marathon food. Just one egg satisfies about 10% of your daily protein needs, and the amino acids in eggs will help with muscle repair and recovery.  Salmon is also an excellent source of protein and also one of the best food sources of omega-3 fats, essential for brain development and function.  Perfect for the gritty determination to finish those 26.2 miles. Salmon also has vitamins A, B and D as well as a range of minerals vital to a balanced and healthy diet.

It’s appropriate then, that Tom is supporting WWF’s More Fish Campaign and running the London Marathon to fundraise for WWF’s work.  He said “I am committed to working with WWF to help steer Europe’s broken fisheries policy toward a secure future for fishing, seafood and marine life.”  To make a donation please visit Tom’s online fundraising page. 

We were delighted to hear that Tom has also  been chosen to carry the Olympic torch through Kensington and Chelsea on 26th July 2012. Tom’s Kitchen will be celebrating with a special Olympic menu, featuring delicious, healthy dishes, including fabulous salads and breakfasts to get any champion moving!

Look out for more details on Tom’s Kitchen soon.

We wish Tom, Paul and all London Marathon the best of luck with the race and their fundraising efforts.  

Which dishes would you serve to help marathon runners either before or after a race?  We’re discussing this over on Great British Chefs Facebook page.

Friday 21st April 2012 saw the finals of the Central heat of Great British Menu where Great British Chefs’ Daniel Clifford and contest newcomer Paul Foster  cooked their Olympic Menus for judges Prue Leith, Matthew Fort and Oliver Peyton. The winner would go on to compete in the finals at the end of the series. Monica Shaw guest blogger at Great British Chefs watched the finals. Could Daniel complete his excellent scores of the week & take the Central title?

 

Blog post by Monica Shaw

This week was the turn of the Central region of Great British Menu, in which contenders Aktar Islam, Great British Chefs’ Daniel Clifford and contest newcomer Paul Foster faced off under the discriminating eye of judge Glyn Purnell. Last night we said goodbye to Aktar, leaving Daniel and Paul to prepare their four-course menus for judging panel.

Going into the match, things were looking up for Daniel, whose dishes received high praises from Glyn Purnell, including a perfect 10 on his main course. But different judges equal different tastes, leaving the winning menu open to anyone. “Each dish should have us gasping in admiration” said Matthew Fort. Gasp they did, though it wasn’t always with admiration.

 

Daniel Clifford’s Veal tartare, caramelised sweetbread and burnt onions from BBC’s Great British Menu

Daniel kicked off with his starter of veal tartare, caramelised sweetbread and burnt onion, a dish that scored 9 out of 10 during the heats, but it “lacked that sense of going for gold,” said Matthew Fort. Oliver Peyton too was “expecting something far more rock & roll” and said “It’s a beautiful dish but the imagination is completely lacking”.

Paul didn’t improve matters with his pork neck carpacchio, ribwort plantains and pork scratchings. Paul’s use of wild plantain may be new, but as Matthew Fort said, ribwort plantains are “not often used for very good reasons.”

“You’d be ashamed to put that in front of top athletes – it just isn’t world class,” said Prue. Ouch.

Daniel Clifford’s - Stuffed red mullet, Roast artichoke and Parmesan Puree from BBC’s Great British Menu

But as Matthew said, “Things can only get better.” And they did – slightly – with Daniel’s fish course of stuffed red mullet, roast artichoke and parmesan puree. Another dish that scored 9 during the heats, and which Prue loved, but Oliver felt it was “clumsy”: “there’s so much going on here it’s a headache.”

The prescription? Paul’s poached ray wing, crispy chicken skin and foraged sea vegetables. “Happiness is here,” said Oliver, “This is in a completely different league…this is the first dish of the competition to me.” And Prue agreed that the dish was “near Olympian food because it’s strange, unusual, looks wonderful and tastes delicious.”

But could Paul follow through with his main dish of Goosenargh duck breast and hearts, potatoes cooked in pine and broccoli. Although Oliver admitted that the duck was one of the finest he’d ever tasted, Prue pointed out that this was essential “meat and two veg.” “It’s too boring for words,” concluded Matthew.

That’s too bad, because Daniel’s money shot was up next: his slow poached chicken, sweetcorn egg and chicken spray scored a perfect 10 during the heats. The judges agreed the sweetcorn egg was proclaimed by Matthew as a “jolly nice mouthful”. Prue was equally impressed: “this guy is incredibly skilled…this could end up at the banquet”. On Daniel’s intriguing crispy chicken skin with popcorn Matthew said  “it’s worth having this plate just for that alone”.

In the critical final stage – dessert – Paul took another stumble with his whipped sea buckthorn, meringue, rhubarb and crispy rice. Prue echoed my own impressions of the puffed rice: “this has got little maggots crawling all over it.” Oliver was more direct: “It’s absolutely awful, it’s a tragedy…these dishes are supposed to surprise us; the surprise is how horrible it is.”

 

Daniel Clifford’s Raspberry and tarragon, cookie dough and tarragon oil from BBC’s Great British Menu

But was Daniel’s raspberry and tarragon roulade, cookie dough and tarragon oil any better? It just wasn’t Oliver’s day for puddings: “the roulade thing is really quite horrible…completely style over content.”

Fortunately for Daniel, his other dishes made up for the roulade: the judges voted his Olympic menu the winner over Paul’s, quite an accomplishment given Daniel’s heavy use of chicken, an ingredient that isn’t usually associated with innovation or novelty.

Well done, Daniel, for winning the Central heat! You can find more of Daniel Clifford’s recipes (including his stuffed red mullet dish) on Great British Chefs website.  If you’re in the UK you can watch this episode on BBC’s iPlayer for the next few days.

Next week, it’s the battle of the North East chefs with contenders Stephanie Moon, Colin McGurran and Charlie Lakin. During the week they will be judged by Nigel Haworth.  You can see the full line up of chefs and judges for the Great British Menu 2012 here.

What did you think of the results of the Central finals? We’ll be discussing this over on Great British Chefs Facebook Page. 

This weekend (20th-22nd April 2012) is your last chance to experience Taste of India at the Southbank Centre.  The Southbank Centre Square in London will be transformed into a bustling Indian market offering a variety of food, fashion, jewellery and crafts. There will also be cookery demonstrations and on Saturday at Great British Chefs we were delighted to see that Alfred Prasad will be in the demonstration theatre from 2pm.  Find out what else is taking place & learn more about Alfred here ….

Grilled spicy jumbo tiger prawns - Kalonji Jhinga by Alfred Prasad

Alfred Prasad, who at 29, was the youngest Indian chef to receive a Michelin star. Tamarind was the first Indian restaurant in Europe to be recognised with a star and remains one of only six on the continent to hold one.

Alfred’s rise to the position of Executive Chef - a year after he joined as sous chef - marks the more recent section of a career which has crossed continents. Born in the south of India, Alfred trained in Madras and then at the ITC Maurya Sheraton in Delhi. Building on his South Indian upbringing and affinity with the ingredients, he nurtured a love of seafood.

His menus at Tamarind offer imaginative adaptations of the rich cuisine of the North such as delicately spiced, succulent kebabs and aromatic curries. Also featured are expansive flavours of the South including coconut based curries and seafood typical of its coastline. You might even find your lamb Biryani served with a pastry lid, flavoured with mint, rose water and saffron.

Prasad contributed a highly memorable menu for the Feastive Great British Chefs app - his chocolate mint leaves being a particular favourite.

Also at Taste of India, you’ll find the best expressions of traditional street food from North West Indian Dosas, Pani Puri and Bhel Puri to Mauritian Du Pan Frier, a delicious crispy chickpea bread and Roti Chaud curry wraps.

You have the opportunity to  experience restaurant quality dining using the very best British produce to create the very best Indian food and get a taste of the dazzling array of cuisines from Bangalore to  Bombay. The strong regional characters and identities make South Asia one of the most enticing, exciting and satisfying regions of the world to discover through your senses.

So seek some refuge from this rather wet April and treat yourself to a warming Madras curry and hot masala chai, and let yourself be transported from the banks of the River Thames to the beachside of Mumbai.

To see which other fine chefs will be joining Alfred Prasad, check out this weekend’s chef demo timetable. For more of Alfred’s recipes visit Great British Chefs.

What are some of your favourite Indian starters and street food dishes?  Let us know over on Great British Chefs Facebook page.

Many of us having our morning cup of coffee in a cafe rarely give a second thought to how the beans are roasted. UK Coffee Week runs from 23rd - 29th April 2012 & in addition to celebrating the industry, helps to raise funds for clean water projects in African coffee producing countries.  Last week, at Great British Chefs, Doreen was fortunate to get a behind-the-scenes tour at Climpson & Sons Coffee Roasters, a busy roastery off Broadway Market in East London. Discover what goes on behind the scenes to create the latte you see here:

Blog post & photography by Doreen of Tasty Fever

The roastery was originally set up in 2008 to supply the Climpson & Sons café with coffee beans freshly roasted around the corner. The coffee roasted out of the small roastery became so popular, Climpson & Sons now supply coffee to a number of independent cafés and restaurants throughout London and beyond in addition to their café on Broadway Market.  

Given the number of coffee shops I’ve seen serving Climpson’s coffee, I was surprised to arrive at the roastery to find that it was only a bit larger than the living room in my house!

Matt, my guide for the day, told me that they roast coffee six days a week to keep up with the high demand. A new space for the roastery is in the works near London Fields, however, and they will be relocating there later this spring or in early summer.

On my tour, I was shown the process of how coffee beans go from green to being roasted. Climpson & Sons works with their coffee importer to source their arabica coffee beans which are ethically and sustainably produced from places such as Brazil, Kenya, Peru and Guatemala. These different beans go on to make up the array of single estate coffees and blends Climpson & Sons offer their customers.

The beans are roasted according to their provenance and for what sort of flavours Climpson & Sons are looking to produce from the coffee. The roasting process is a relatively process for beans as they are poured into the roaster and are tumbled around in the very hot horizontal drum so that they roast evenly—kind of like how a tumble dryer works for your clothes. A roaster checks the temperature constantly while the beans roast, and at Climpson & Sons, they log the temperature minute by minute as the moment for the drop approaches.

Once the beans have finished roasting, they drop from the roasting drum to be quickly cooled below. Once the beans have cooled, they are put in a container to be blended and packaged, and the whole process starts again.

After seeing the process of roasting, Matt and I walked around the corner to Climpson & Sons café, the destination for some of their beans. Not only does the café make fantastic coffee, but they also have many beans for sale, as well as other coffee accoutrements to make lovely coffee at home.

If you’re not heading into London Fields any time soon, you can purchase Climpson & Sons coffee online. But if you are in the area, the wonderful folks at the roastery are happy to give tours if you contact them in advance. It was a great experience to see a side of coffee I’d never seen before, even after working as a barista, and since my local coffee guy gets his beans from Climpson & Sons, it makes me appreciate my morning cup all the more.

Blog post & photography by Doreen of Tasty Fever for Great British Chefs

Look out for a number of coffee events taking place in the coming weeks, not only for UK Coffee Week but also The London Coffee Festival (27th - 29th April 2012).

Lisa Faulkner’s, first cookbook: “Recipes from my Mother for my Daughter” has hit the Spring book shelves. Lisa, was better known for appearing in TV dramas such as Brookside, Holby City & Murder in Suburbia, until her Celebrity MasterChef win in 2010 catapulted her into the cookery limelight.  As the weather has plummeted into April showers, Great British Chefs took advantage of her book to make three ‘comfort food’ recipes.  Discover what we cooked up…

With over a hundred seasonal recipes,  “Recipes from my Mother for my Daughter”  guides you through Lisa’s food journey, from growing up, cooking with her Mother and Nanna, to creating dishes as a Mum herself and of course as MasterChef contestant. Her love for food hasn’t diminished; she is still takes guest cooking spots at various national Food Shows and does services at leading London restaurants.

The book’s recipes vary, from easy to medium in complexity and cater to all year round cooking, with Spring dishes such as Roasted Leg of Lamb to Christmas Cake. Now that the weather has plummeted into April showers, the Great British Chefs HQ lunch choices gravitated toward three ‘comfort food’ recipes, here’s what we cooked up…

Mummy’s Toad in the Hole

This recipe involved creating sausage-meat patties, combined with grated apple and seasonings to then drop into the batter. The batter had a really good rise on it, but like a soufflé, the drop will be within a few minutes. We used a Cumberland sausage for the meat, as it balanced the flavour, in contrast to the sweet apple. A tip for the Chef, is to save the crisp bits on the side, where the patties have caramelised, as they are the tastiest bits.

Macaroni Cheese

Everyone claims to have their own version of this great classic, from Mrs. Beeton to S’MAC , a New York single speciality restaurant, that allows you to customise your own. It’s quite a simple recipe, so there’s no excuse to resort to it out of a tin. For texture, the recipe uses: leek, pancetta and a lovely gratinated breadcrumb topping. We had some leftover stale sourdough, so blitzed this to give the topping an extra crunch. The cheese sauce was especially oozy, with both parmesan and cheddar added to the mix.

Chicken with Katsu Sauce

A Japanese curry dish, the name ‘Katsu’, short in form from ‘Katsuretsu’, meaning cutlet. Cutlets can be either chicken or pork; we took Lisa’s option of chicken. To keep costs down, instead of using breast, I deboned some chicken thighs and then tenderised to form the cutlets.  

This version is quite a sweet one, using apples and ketchup. I’ve tended to create this dish using the same ingredients, bolstering with carrots for that great orange colour. I’d also suggest using panko (whole loaf, crust-less Japanese breadcrumbs) for coating the chicken, to get a really crisp finish.

Lisa’s recipes were easy to follow and beautifully photographed, with Lisa taking a starring role. It’s always handy to have a finished dish picture to compare against and tempt you into trying them. There’s plenty more for us to try out as we move into the summer months, the barbeque dishes maybe hitting our terrace, when the sun comes out to play.

Thanks to Lisa’s publishers Simon and Schuster for Great British Chefs signed copy. We’ll definitely be making more use of the copy for our daily lunches.  If you’d like to buy a copy of Lisa’s book, then click here.

However if you’d like to win one of three signed copies of Lisa’s book just tell us what’s your favourite TV cook’s recipe book and why?  Leave a comment on our blog by 11.59pm Sunday 29th April and we’ll select our three favourites & let the winners know by May 3rd (We can only send books to UK addresses).  

We’re really looking forward to seeing your entries & discovering your favourite TV chefs cookery books.  Good luck.

Spring is definitely in the air. In the UK we’ve had reasonably mild weather & now lots of rain (along with a hosepipe ban), but there’s a lot of pretty blossom on the trees.  Great British Chefs blogger Urvashi Roe aka @BotanicalBaker decided to follow the Japanese custom of Hanami & throw her own picnic in the park to celebrate the arrival of trees coming into flower.  

Photography and blog post by Urvashi Roe

With the weather being unusually warm this winter, trees started blossoming as early as February. Spring blossoms almost pass us by without a second thought. This would never happen in Japan. Over there, it is customary to celebrate trees coming into flower and there is even a special word – Hanami. It literally means flower viewing and between March and mid-May, millions of Sakura (cherry blossom) and Ume (plum blossom) can be seen all over the country. 

It is also customary to party and celebrate under the beautiful blooms!  There are ‘Sakura Zensen’ weather forecasts to help people to plan their Hanami parties far in advance.  The parks are packed with revellers who picnic, drink, karaoke and dance.

If you’ve been invited to a Hanami party, it’s customary to take a gift. These vary from delicate individually set cherries in jelly to bread buns with sweet cherry flavoured bean paste centres.

This year there were no Hanami parties near me so as the weather was so sunny and lovely, we decided to have our own Hanami party on the local green.  There is a lovely line of pink flowers in bloom.  I baked this decadent Girotte Clafoutis from Pascal Aussignac to take along.

Urvashi’s version of Griotte cherry clafoutis by Pascal Aussignac

It’s a wonderfully rich cake – almost cheesecake like in texture.  I couldn’t get any fresh Girotte (Morello) cherries so simply substituted with a good quality tinned variety.  I used the juice they were preserved in to make a little syrup to drizzle over.  It was the perfect Hanami cake!

If you fancy having your own Hanami party while the blossoms are still out, try these recipes for an oriental themed picnic:

Oriental Coleslaw Salad by Martin Wishart

Crab Cakes by Martin Wishart

Oriental Chicken by Galton Blackiston

Aubergine Salad by Martin Wishart

Blog post for Great British Chefs by Urvashi Roe aka @BotanicalBaker

What are your favourite treats & dishes to take along to picnics?   We’re discussing this over on Great British Chefs Facebook page.