Ocado & Great British Chefs Mealtime Masterclass

We were delighted to be involved in a UK first on Wednesday 20th June 2012, as along with  Ocado we broadcast the first UK virtual cook-a-long through Google+ Hangouts and live streamed via YouTube. The Ocado Mealtime Masterclass involved three Michelin starred chefs, a camera crew, live webstreaming on YouTube AND Matthew Fort as host - was it a case of too many cooks in the kitchen? Read on to find out

Blog post for Great British Chefs by Mecca Ibrahim

The capacity for things to go wrong on live TV is quite high.  Add some new technology to the mix, with three Michelin starred chefs, Galton Blackiston, Simon Hulstone & Josh Eggleton,  demoing their showcase summer time dishes in front of thousands of people.  Get some of those people to cook the dishes at home, with their kitchens also appearing in the Google+ Hangout & YouTube live stream and the capacity for things to go wrong grows somewhat. 

Our day got off to a slightly unnerving start when we learnt that Matthew Fort our host was stuck on a train and unlikely to arrive in time for the live streaming with Galton Blackiston as he made Scotch Eggs.  Fortunately our CEO & Founder Ollie stepped in to take Matthew’s place

Rather than being left to the comfort of my desk to Tweet, Google+ & Facebook the proceedings, I found myself at a shiny cookery workstation at the Open Kitchen with some ingredients laid out in front of me & asked to cook-a-long too.  Didn’t I say that I’d never made Scotch Eggs before?  My cries that I wasn’t the greatest at deep frying also fell on deaf ears. 

Fortunately Galton’s calm instructions and cookery style meant that I soon forgot that my computer was live-streaming my handiwork along with other cooks on Ocado’s YouTube channel.  The calm moment ended when I realised two Michelin starred chefs were standing behind me. “I think your oil’s a bit too hot now” said Simon Hulstone. “I think we might need to call in the fire brigade”, Josh added helpfully.  ”Err I’m being streamed live here” I muttered and they wandered off assuming that I’d be serving burnt offerings in a few minutes.

After I took the pan off the heat, let the oil cool down which meant I was behind everyone else on the screen, the Scotch Eggs actually cooked to a perfect golden brown.  The insides weren’t as runny as Galton’s but I was pleased with my first attempt.  

Particularly as by now Matthew Fort had arrived and was the first to try them.  I stood in front of the Great British Menu judge with baited breath.  ”They’re actually jolly good”, he said, and proceeded to eat the other half! 

Simon Hulstone was up next making Curried Chicken Kiev with Sag Aloo. This recipe had a lot of steps and some of the other people cooking in the kitchen asked for some help, so I was able to spend time acting as “sous chef”, chopping vegetables and stirring sauces. 

Simon’s dish naturally turned out perfectly.  I was also very pleased to see that some of the people cooking in their kitchens at home had created some great looking versions too.

Rosana McPhee has a tiny kitchen, so is always extremely organised with all of her herbs and spices laid out well.  Her version of Simon’s dish looked scrumptious. 

Rosana McPhee’s version of Simon Hulstone’s Chicken Kiev

Finally it was time for dessert with Josh Eggleton who would be preparing a beautiful dish - Pimms Jelly with Cucumber Sorbet. Just seeing the ingredients alone and we knew we were in for a treat.

Soon the kitchen was full of fresh summery smells. Clean cucumber, fragrant mint & basil, and the distinct scent of strawberries, enhanced by a gentle poaching in a sugar syrup.

Everyone got into the spirit of this recipe (and I don’t mean drinking the Pimms and Hendricks Gin).  The sun was shining and we were now all fully relaxed about being live streamed to the world on YouTube and Google+.

With the help of some Magimix ice-cream makers Josh’s fresh cucumber sorbet churned quietly in the background as he set about putting the finishing touches to his Pimms Jelly.  

An extra cheffy trick was the addition of powdered orange peel which had Matthew Fort literally swooning.  Those of us not cooking couldn’t wait to dive into Josh’s plate as soon as the filming had finished.

Afterwards, we were also pleased to see that our cooks at home had also produced delightful dishes of Pimms Jelly which seemed to represent summer on a plate.

Rosana McPhee’s version of Josh Eggleton’s Pimms Jelly

The wonders of streaming the Google+ hangouts on YouTube too, means that you can now watch the videos yourself

Galton Blackiston’s Masterclass is here.  Simon Hulstone’s here and Josh Eggleton’s is here.  

Look out for the little screens at the bottom of the main picture where you’ll be able to see people cooking alongside the chefs in their own kitchens.

The whole experience was ultimately great fun and we’d like to thank James & Simon at Google+ and their film crew for working hard to get the technology all running smoothly.  Plus a big thanks to Galton, Simon and Josh for their great masterclasses and sharing tricks of the trade in the demos.  Huge thanks must also go to Matthew Fort for his eloquent & jovial hosting.  To Magimix for supplying the ice cream makers and to Open Kitchen for the use of their wonderful facilities.  

Last but certainly not least to Ocado for the wonderful ingredients and for all of their amazing help in publicising event.  All of us at Great British Chefs had a brilliant time and we look forward to co-hosting more events like this in the future.

If you’d like to make the recipes at home you’ll find them in our Mealtime Masterclass Collection.  Let us know over on our Facebook Page, if you ever tried cooking along with TV chefs or with online videos or DVDs at home.  We’d love to see how your experience compares with our live cook-a-long. 

Making Josh Eggleton’s Venison Burgers

With a long Bank Holiday and summer on the horizon, our thoughts turn to barbecues. With so many good home made burger recipes around, why should we buy them ready made from the shops?  Great British Chefs blogger Chris Osburn tried his hand at making put Josh Eggleton from The Pony & Trap’s tasty venison burgers.  Let’s see how he got on ….  

Blog post & photography by Chris Osburn 

Aside from the joy of eating something yummy that I actually cooked from scratch myself, there were a couple of aspects about Josh Eggleton’s homemade venison burger recipe that I really liked. 

One, the recipe showed how quick and easy it is to make my own pickled cucumbers. I always reckoned it was a pretty basic process but also assumed it would be time consuming and that I’d have to wait aeons before getting to eat my ‘tanged’ up cucumbers. Well, yes there certainly are those types of pickling recipes out there. But the essentially two-step pickling instructions Josh lays out for his burger take hardly any time at all and can be done very easily while going about completing the rest of this simple recipe.

I was pleased with the results of my having a go at the pickles alone and continued nibbling on them for quite awhile after frying up the burgers. I’m all about DIY pickles now and hope to find a chance soon to ferment all sorts of other things. I’ll probably even try one of those ‘wait aeons’ recipes. Yay.

The other thing I thought was so cool about making these burgers was that they had a robust and intriguing flavour. The minced bacon, the cumin, lots of coriander and parsley made for a bit of an exotic blend and gave the meat patties some flair without masking what makes venison so tasty.

I’d recommend trying these burgers or your own variant of them at your next barbecue. But don’t tell anybody they’re venison. I think it would be fun to see what people think they’re eating and if anyone could guess it was venison upon first bite. I’m sure all would agree these are a lot more interesting than the everyday ordinary beef burgers we’ve all become accustomed to.

As simple and delicious as these burgers are to make, there are a few things to consider before deciding to serve them. Obviously, venison isn’t something you can easily find to the same extent as beef. Make sure you know where to get yours well ahead of time. I had to scramble to find venison when what I thought was a reliable source fell through.

Also, the recipe calls for four slices of streaky bacon, minced. Unless you’ve got your own mincer this might prove difficult to come up with. I simply diced my bacon into tiny chunks and was more than pleased with the texture and flavour it added to the burgers.

One hundred grams of parsley and another hundred of coriander seemed like a lot to add to the recipe’s 720 grams of meat. It ended up tasting absolutely wonderful, but I found it a little challenging to form the sort of patties I’d hoped for without much green sticking out of them. Practice makes perfect I suppose … and this means more opportunities to eat these gorgeous burgers.

Will I make these bad boys again? Oh yes. And I’m definitely taking my own advice and doing up some patties next time there’s a barbecue to attend. 

Blog post & photography by Chris Osburn

Have you made your own burgers?  What are some of your favourite ingredients and seasonings to add to them? Let us know over on Great British Chefs Facebook page.

Eat Drink Bristol Fashion - Two Week Pop Up Tipi Restaurant

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.

Gluten Free Festive Meal by Great British Chefs’ Josh Eggleton

Worried about what to serve guests with food allergies this festive season?  More and more people have food allergies now.  Having a wheat intolerance or allegeries to gluten means people miss out on Christmas goodies like mince pies, Christmas Pudding or even sides like bread sauce or having vegetables or meats that have been coated in breadcrumbs to add crispiness.

At Great British Chefs we have a number of staff with food allergies, so we’re always aware to try to cater for them where we can or at least offer a gluten free alternative.

Josh Eggleton’s glazed ham hock with all the trimming & a gluten-free bread sauce is a great example of this.  It looks beautiful on the festive table, and can delight after Christmas too with all the delicious recipes you can make with the leftovers.

Leaving the hock bone in the ham gives it a “wow factor” for a big celebration.

The great thing here is  gluten free bread sauce, an amazing alternative to the traditional sauce and perfect for those guests who are gluten intolerant. Serve with delicious seasonal vegetables and parsley sauce

Find out more about Josh Eggleton on Great British Chefs’ website & he’s also just published a book for his award winning countryside pub - The Pony & Trap in Chew Magna.

Packed with stunning photography, recipes and the story of how Josh became a Michelin starred chef at the age of 27 at his pub The Pony & Trap, it would make an great gift for food lovers & anyone training to be a chef & looking for a motivating story of how both a pub & someone under 30 can achieve success.

Do you have anyone with a food allergy that you’re catering for this Christmas?  How have you adapted dishes to make sure they have a fantastic meal?  We’re discussing this over on Great British Chefs Facebook page

Tasting Menu at The Pony & Trap – Chew Magna – Bristol

We sent new Great British Chefs guest blogger, Essex Eating, along to Josh Eggleton’s Award winning pub, The Pony & Trap, in the countryside 10 miles south of Bristol to try the “Tasting Menu”.  Discover how he and his “Pescetarian” partner got on.

Photography by  Essex Eating 

Eating out quite often, as I do, it’s a rare and rather wonderful thing to eat somewhere and be completely taken by surprise by the whole experience. In this case, to be honest, I was less surprised and more absolutely blown away. Last weekend, a meal at The Pony & Trap in Chew Magna, just outside Bristol, massively exceeded any expectation I had and has left me gagging to go back and eat there again.

I first heard of The Pony & Trap pub when it was awarded a Michelin star just over a year ago (Michelin may have it’s faults, but they definitely play a role in bringing some new quality restaurants to the public’s attention). I’ve been wanting to give it a try ever since, but it’s countryside location, around 10 miles south of the city always seemed a bit of a pain in the arse to get to, especially when, like me, you don’t have a car. I was pleasantly surprised to find however, after phoning around taxi firms for a quote, that the cab fare each way from central Bristol was a not entirely ruinous £20 making a visit entirely doable.

Queue headlights briefly illuminating a tree lined, pitch-black country lane, the slow crunch and pop of tires on gravel and the warm friendly glow emanating from within the pub, spilling out of the windows into the car park. The brief murmur of voices and then the sudden quiet, cold, still night air as twin red brake lights silently disappear into the darkness of the lane. ‘E’ and I had arrived.

The Pony & Trap despite its Michelin Star is still a proper old country pub; it’s retained the rustic, low ceilinged, timber framed look and it’s all the more impressive for it. It actually feels like you can walk in, and drink a beer at the small bar and wouldn’t feel uncomfortable doing so, despite the fact the vast majority of the pub is undoubtedly laid out for dining.

We’d come to review the pub for the Great British Chefs blog and had decided to try the six course tasting menu. Reading through, it looked superb, full of interesting local ingredients and feeling distinctly British in theme. We ordered a drink, sat down and settled in. It’s not long before an amuse arrived, Cornish Crab, Roast Garlic and Saffron Mayonnaise. A fantastic mouthful of fresh tasting, subtly flavoured white crabmeat, beautifully simple but with a delicious taste which set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Another amuse arrived in a small verrine glass containing a hot Crab Bisque with olive oil. It was beautiful. Silky smooth and incredibly rich. ‘E’ and I glanced at each other and silently rolled our eyes in a well-rehearsed look that all at once said ‘this is bloody good’ and ‘we’re in for a treat’.

A canapé followed; Pickled Beetroot & Ewe’s curd. Topped with a thin slice of shallot, I counted only three ingredients, so very simple yet absolutely phenomenal as I ate the lot and let the flavours play across my tongue. The curd coating the mouth and then the pickled beetroot and shallot cutting through the creaminess with a tangy sweetness. I recognised the Ewe’s curd as locally made by Tim & Angela Homewood.

Some bread followed, olive foccacia with a choice of homemade butters, anchovy or regular salted. The anchovy butter in particular was lovely, quite subtle and very savoury.

At this point, our first courses arrived. A somewhat unusual take on a Full English Breakfast for me, consisting of soft poached hen’s yolk, hodge-podge (homemade black pudding) fried potato, roasted mushroom jelly, slow roast tomato, tomato compote, pancetta and truffle cream. Got that? Bloody hell, absolute genius. I loved it, the classic English breakfast taken to the extreme with all of the composite flavours intensified. I liked the sheer fun and playfulness of it, using something very British, very familiar and taking a different slant on it. Really impressive and even more so because it tasted amazing.

‘E’ being the pesky pescetarian had an alternative first course of a Blue Cheese Panacotta with Smoked Pear Puree, Celery, Walnuts and Black Fig. Presumably this was equally impressive as she began quietly chanting the mantra ‘Oh my God, I don’t even like blue cheese and figs normally’ repeatedly. Lost in my own pseudo breakfast revelry, it took me a little while to realise she’d repeated the same sentence about 5 times and needed a slight nudge to break her out of the broken record loop. She loved it.

How does Grilled Bone Marrow, Brown Shrimp Butter with Capers, Garlic & Lime and Celeriac Puree (with toast to smear it all on) sound to you? To me it sounded like absolute frigging heaven. I’m pleased to say I wasn’t disappointed. In a genius new take on surf n’turf I gorged myself on the sticky marrow coated prawns muckily smeared all over the accompanying toast and had to restrain a strong urge to tongue the bone. Absolutely filthy, in a good way.

Meanwhile, studiously ignoring my bone tonguing antics across the table, pescetarian ‘E’ ate more or less the same dish minus bone, on toast and was equally impressed.

A small piece of Roasted Hake, atop a bed of chicken stock cream sauce, diced ham, chestnut mushrooms, girolles and tarragon followed. The fish and meaty sauce worked surprisingly well together, a good interesting dish but to be honest, the previous two courses were a hard act to follow and amazingly for me I was starting to get a bit full up.

‘E’ had the same roasted Hake atop a Clam, Saffron and Potato Broth and ploughed through it, declaring it delicious and that she was also starting to get slightly full now.

The waiter had recommended a particular wine to go with this dish, and I make note of it here because it was absolutely spot on, and something I could happily drink all day long ‘Grüner Veltliner, Soellner Fumburg 2008’.

Rabbit made an appearance next, stuffed with poached venison and wrapped with Parma ham. Served with carrot puree, char-grilled purple sprouting broccoli, rabbit liver, heart and a red wine sauce. Bit of a classic this one, very good, nicely cooked. Nice to see the liver and heart on the plate, they have a fantastic flavour. I really was stuffed silly by this point.

Pan Fried Fillet of Cornish Bass with a Haddock Fish Finger and the same carrot puree and char grilled purple sprouting broccoli for ‘E’. She was also nearing ‘full’ on the tank, but still managed to put it all away and once again declare it superb.

Over the brow and racing downhill to dessert, a lovely little light and refreshing bowl of apple sorbet with some granola for texture followed. I liked the cheap plastic seaside style ice cream spoons.

Dessert proper, a Peanut Butter Mousse and Dark Chocolate layered Chocolate Cake with Gingerbread, Gingerbread Ice-Cream and a Sesame Tuille. Very rich, maybe a little too rich as an end to such an epic meal. I particularly liked the gingerbread ice-cream which had an amazing viscous texture.

Finally, coffee served with some chocolate flapjacks and rather delicious beetroot pastilles petit four.

So, a bloody incredible tasting menu with some amazing and inventive cooking, by the extremely talented Michelin starred chef, Josh Eggleton. We met him briefly afterwards and he struck me as very genuine and down to earth. A very nice guy who seems mildly surprised that he’s received a Michelin Star. Based on what we ate, he undoubtedly deserves it. This was up there as one of the best meals I’ve eaten all year, and is without a doubt the best meal I’ve eaten anywhere in Bristol. I can’t recommend it enough. Massively impressed. If I had any criticism of the tasting menu at all, and this is hardly a criticism, it’d be too much food! ‘E’ and myself are gluttons of some renown and we struggled near the end. Maybe ditch the bread next time?

A quick mention of the service, obviously in this case they knew I was coming, so it was bound to be attentive. But, nevertheless our rather tall waiter was very impressive. He knew both the wine list and all the dishes on the menu inside out, including the ingredients, suppliers and how they were prepared and struck the perfect pitch between friendly and professional. It’s surprisingly hard to get right and he was bloody good. Bravo.

So bearing all that in mind, how much do you think you’d pay for a tasting menu like that, excluding service and booze? What if I told you it was £45 each. That’s right, £45! I think anyone would agree that this is an absolutely ridiculous bargain of the highest order. I also had a quick look through the a la carte menu and the prices are equally bargainous.

All I can say is go, and go quick before they come to their senses and put the prices up.

The Pony & Trap, Chew Magna, Bristol BS40 8TQ Telephone: 01275 332627 www.theponyandtrap.co.uk

Review of The Pony & Trap for Great British Chefs by  Essex Eating  

What’s your favourite countryside pub for food?   What’s the one dish you’d always go back for?  We’re discussing this over on Great British Chefs Facebook Page. 

What Austerity or “Wartime” Foods have you eaten?

Photo of Bryan Webb’s  Pigs’ Trotters with beetroot chutney & salad leaves from Great British Chefs

As Remembrance Day and Veterans’ Day events take place this weekend, we wanted to look back to times when food wasn’t in such great supply.

This case shows the weekly food ration for one person in 1940 - Imperial War Museum.

In wartime in the UK, food was being rationed & people ate cheap cuts of food. There’s now a move back to “austerity” cooking, as we discover inventive ways to make offal or little used cuts of meat really tasty. We love Bryan Webb’s version of Pigs’ Trotters 

Slow cooking helps to turn cheaper cuts of meat into things of beauty.  Pork Belly is on the menu at most gourmet restaurants now, but there was a time when pork belly was considered a “rough meat” and it was featured in The Imperial War Museum’s “Ministry of Food” exhibition.

Robert Thompson’s slow cooked Island pork belly is cheap enough for you to blow out on the lobster it’s served with.

Our, CEO, Ollie is a big fan of cooking odd cuts of meat. At Great British Chefs our stomachs collectively churned when he excitedly put a message on Facebook saying that he’d bought a load of pigs’ ears and was going to cook them the next day. They were enormous but only 50p an ear! Following Pascal Aussignac’s recipe he boiled them in salted water & then cut them into strips.

On Facebook our fans were incredulous and said “you’re not seriously going to eat these”.  But once they were deep fried in batches, they were absolutely delicious and tasted like crackling!  Opinions from fans on Facebook were divided but the general opinion was “don’t knock it until you’ve tried it”.

Spam was popular in wartime and even today, spam fritters make a tasty supper.

From a 1940’s Woman’s Day magazine by Wandering Magpie

Best bit about this photo isn’t the banana/spam combination (anyone tried it?) but the fact that the Spam in the picture on the tin is blue! Nice. Imperial War Museum

Moving on from savoury dishes, don’t forget that even yummy treats like carrot cakes originated from when fruit was in low supply.

Dishes such as Lardy Cake (great post & recipe below from our strategic advisor & guest blogger Matthew Fort), Bread Pudding, Gingerbread, Suet Pudding and Treacle Tart all came about when butter, sugar and eggs were in short supply.

Lardy cake

2 oz lard; 2 oz currants; 12 oz white bread dough, risen; 2 oz caster sugar; pinch of nutmeg; drizzle of honey

Roll out the dough to an oblong. Spread on lard and sprinkle with sugar, nutmeg and currants. Roll up like a swiss roll and place in a greased shallow baking tin. Cover and leave to rise for about 15 minutes. Brush lightly with honey and bake at gas mark five, 190C (375F) for 35 to 40 minutes. Serve hot with butter.

Matthew added: “Just warm a piece of lardy cake (yes, even in the microwave) and load it with a compote of blackberries and a dollop of clotted cream, and tell me you don’t feel nearer to heaven than with a spoonful of pannacotta or tiramisu”.

Shaun Rankin’s - Treacle Tart from Great British Chefs

Josh Eggleton’s - Caramel Panna cotta with homemade Gingerbread - from Great British Chefs

We hope this look at austerity cooking has given you some ideas for inexpensive but delicious meals to try.  What “wartime” dishes have you eaten or cooked? We’re discussing this over on the Great British Chefs Facebook page.

Cakes, Scones, Breads, Tarts, Pies, Baps, Turnovers, Pasties, Pastries, Macaroons, Flapjacks, Buns

It’s the week when the nation celebrates the art (or perhaps science) of baking with National Baking Week.  Great British Chefs Guest blogger Matthew Fort wonders why we are so obsessed with baking in Britain.

Milk Chocolate Flapjacks with Hazelnuts by Josh Eggleton

What’s it to be then? Bath Seed Cake or Dundee Cake? Yorkshire Parkin or Welsh Bara Brith? Chelsea Bun or Devonshire Split? Kentish Huffkin or Grasmere Ginger Bread? Something restrained and refined or something sweet and squelchy? Something soft and soothing or something crisp and spicy?

Yes, it’s National Baking Week, time to mix and stir and pop in the oven and fill your kitchen with the heady perfumes of cakes and biscuits, scones and tarts.

Baking has had a renaissance in Britain over the last few years. Bakeries have become fashion icons. Cupcakes have invaded the higher reaches of society. Columns on baking colonise even the most respectable of newspapers, and baking competitions have become a staple of television schedules.

And why not? Baking has always been central to the British eating experience. We have a national sweet tooth, a taste for that divine combination of flour and fat and sugar and elbow grease, for anything that will carry a reasonable load of icing and jam with just a clump of cream to help it along. We’re the nation that gave the world tea as a meal, for heaven’s sake (Think of tea as a kind of afternoon tapas).

I remember talking to the finest baker I ever knew, the late and deeply lamented Winnie Swarbrick. I was complementing on her skills as I peered out across a sea of Eccles cakes, Goosnagh Cakes, ginger cobs, a scone loaf as light as thistledown and a sponge cake of etherial airiness with a thick layer of whipped cream bursting out of its middle on her kitchen table. “How often do you bake?” I asked her. “Twice or three times a week”, she said. “But my mother”, she said, “now she really was baker. She baked every day”.

Every day may seem a but much these days, for even the most fanatical home baker. But there’s no reason not to celebrate now. Think of that great panoply of British baked masterpieces - cakes, scones, breads, tarts, pies, baps, turnovers, pasties, pastries, macaroons, flapjacks, buns, made with finest British butter, flour and sugar and cream. Think of the comfort, cheer and pleasure you can give just by baking someone something. And if you’re stuck for a bit of inspiration, just look around the Great British Chefs App

Blog post for Great British Chefs by Matthew Fort

How often do you bake each week? Are you baking more because of shows like the BBC’s The Great British Bake Off? Join the discussion on Facebook we’d love to hear your thoughts.

Milk Chocolate & Hazelnut Flapjacks from Josh Eggleton

With our celebration of Chocolate Week, we uploaded a picture onto Foodspotting of Josh Eggleton’s wonderful flapjacks from his Michelin starred pub The Pony & Trap.  You got very excited about them on Facebook and demanded the recipe faster than we can actually get it onto our site at Great British Chefs (we have BIG changes approaching on how you can access our chefs’ recipes and we are nearly there!)

However, Josh is an avid blogger and reads our Facebook page too, so he was kind enough to send in the recipe for us to share with you all.  It’s super easy and quick to make.

For 60 portions

Oven Temperature: 180 C

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

455g Butter

455g Brown Sugar

680g Oats

142.5ml Golden Syrup

125g Chopped Hazelnuts

250g Milk Chocolate

Method:

-Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a bowl.

-Add the oats, chocolate and hazelnuts and mix well

-Put into tins and cook, chill, slice, serve

Thanks Josh for responding to our Facebook fans and sending this in so quickly. 

We hope you will all try the recipe and let us know how it turned out.  

Sneaky peek at Josh Eggleton on upcoming Great British Chefs site

So many of you have asked us when’s the new Great British Chefs site coming? We keep saying …… “Watch this space”.  ”Soon”.  ”Sign up for the newsletter and you’ll be first to know”.  However, because it’s Friday and we’re feeling generous, here’s a sneaky peek at a little bit of Josh Eggleton’s area on the new site:

Josh is one of the new chefs joining our site and will be sharing recipes from The Pony & Trap, his Michelin starred pub in Chew Valley, Bristol.

That’s all you’re getting for now, but if you want to see more from Josh, don’t forget the amazing De-Constructed Apple Crumble recipe he kindly provided for Apple Week.

Plus there’s always Josh’s fantastic blog where he enthusiatically blogs about what it’s like for a pub to have a Michelin Star and the first year of having a Michelin star at the grand old age of 27.

Have a great Friday.

De-constructed Apple Crumble with Spiced Brulée from Michelin Starred Josh Eggleton

In the spirit of the Great British Chefs ‘Apple Week’, here is Michelin starred Josh Eggleton’s recipe for a de-constructed Apple Crumble.

“This is a dish that we have been serving at the Pony and Trap throughout the summer. The recipe gives a bit of a twist on the traditional British crumble and is an interesting dessert to serve if you’ve got a bit of time spare. We basically pick apart the dessert and isolate four different components to give varying textures and tastes. We serve it simply with the apple compote, apple sorbet, granola and a spiced brulée being arranged individually on a slate. However, you can be a bit creative with your presentation here if you like.

As the recipe is for four individual parts, I shall present it as four individual recipes for ease!

Apple Compote

Serves: Lots!

Cooking Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

5 Granny smith apples

100g Sugar

1 Vanilla pod

2 tbsp water

200ml Apple Juice

Juice 1 Lemon

100g sugar

2 Granny Smith Apples

Method:

Peel and core five apples. Place in a pan with the vanilla seeds, water and sugar. Cook with no colour until soft, then blend to a puree and chill.

Next boil the apple juice, lemon juice and sugar for 2 minutes and chill.

Dice the two apples with skin on into brunoise. Pour the chilled apple sugar stock over the diced apple

To assemble use a very small kilner, place the apple puree at the bottom. Top it with diced apple and the homemade granola (see recipe)

Spiced Brulée

Serves: Lots!

Oven Temp: 110

Cooking Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

2lt Double Cream

30 Egg Yolks

2x Cinnamon Sticks

Star Anise

7 Cardamom Pods

1 tsp Coriander Seeds

300g Caster Sugar

Method: 

Put the cream and all the spices in a heavy based sauce pan. Slowly bring to the boil to infuse.

Cream the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl. Once the cream is boiling, next pour over the yolks and sugar, whisking continually.

Leave to infuse for one hour and then strain out the spices. Put the mix into crème brulée dishes until set, then cover in sugar and caramelise with a blowtorch.

Homemade Granola

Serves: Lots!

Cooking Time: 35 mins

Oven Temp: 150

Ingredients:

2tsp vegetable oil                   

2tbsp honey

1tsp vanilla extract

300g rolled oats

50g sunflower seeds

4tbs sesame seeds

50g pumpkin seeds

100g flaked almond

125ml maple syrup            

100g chopped walnuts

Method 

Mix the oil, maple syrup honey and vanilla in a large bowl. Tip in all the other ingredients and mix well.

Tip onto a large baking sheet and spread out evenly. Cook and toast in the oven for 25-30m

Stir once and toast for 5-10 mins more.

Apple Sorbet

Serves: 30 Scoops

Ingredients:

600ml Water

300g Sugar

Juices of 1 Lemon

100g Glucose

Juice 10 Granny Smith Apples

5.5g Tartaric acid

2 Egg Whites or Sorbet Stabiliser

Method

Boil the water, sugar, lemon and glucose and chill. Juice the apples and add to the chilled sugar stock.

Add the tartaric acid and egg whites. If you are using stabiliser follow guide lines.

Finally, blend with hand blender and churn in an ice cream churner.

Note: Once the apples have been juiced you have to be quick or they will lose their colour