Friday 16 September 2011

So I've just finished picking some fresh thyme into my suet pastry, ready for baking around some beautiful braised beef.

It's for dinner tonight! Inspired by the lamb pies I made for a lunch party at East Lodge yesterday.

And, yes, I know all about the blood pressure, thank you!

But, sometimes, only suet pastry will do. You see, pies, being pies, demand suitable pastry, as its such a important part of the pie.

I'm going to bake tonight's pie. Why bake?
Because the filling is pre cooked, and the pastry will go nice and crisp.
If we cook the filling, from raw, inside the pastry, as in our world famous lamb "roly poly", then I would steam it, for 5 or 6 hours.
And, I think, that then it becomes a pudding, not a pie!

Pies.
As much as I love them, and I do, there's not much I can do to make them a bit more modern.

But thats Ok, as I can play silly buggers with lots of other dishes!

How about coq au vin?

A brilliant dish, from France, where else, involving a cock, some wine and lots of time.

The reason its such a well known dish is because it works, on every level, so well.

Great for dinner parties, as it can, in fact should, be made in advance.

It involves killing your cockerel, saving it's blood ( yes really), and all it's other bits and bobs.
Joint the bird, marinade in good red Burgundy, and then brown and braise, with the usual suspects of smoked bacon, mushrooms, button onions and often carrots are added.
Then the fun bit.
Get a young English chef, yes me, to spend ages rubbing the cockscomb with salt to remove all the skin, and then add to the braise, along with the kidneys and testicles.
 Finally thicken the sauce with the reserved blood.

What a waste of bloody time that was, I'm telling you, cockscombs are pretty bogus!

Although the dish was magnificent, rich dark sauce, full flavored bird, served with buttered pasta and garlic croutons, you can see why it has lasted so well as a lovely autumn dish.

Nowadays its normally made with a good free range chicken, but I thought I could do something a little bit 2011 with it and now its going to make an appearance on the East Lodge dinner menu.

Right then, are you ready?

We bone out the legs and marinate them in reduced red wine for 24 hours. A chicken mousse is made in the usual manor. After browning the marinated legs, they are braised with a mirepoix, left to cook down and the meat is flaked. Mixed with the mousse it is rolled and cooked again, this time in the water bath, to set the mousse. This allows the leg to be sliced and glazed when required.
We also brine chicken thighs, and then confit them in duck fat. Again mixing with a garlic scented chicken mousse but this time cooked in the oven on a low steam setting. Pressed, this is then coated in parsley breadcrumbs and warmed up.
I also placed a piece of roasted chicken breast on the plate as well, but I'm going to change this to a couple of boned, crisp fried chicken wings. I think it will make the dish more rustic and interesting.

A garnish of smoked bacon lardons, baby onions and mushrooms are served, but these are not cooked in the sauce but sauteed and added later. I've also made a silky smooth cauliflower puree, only because I think its goes so well with the rich chicken. Oh yes, a very good red wine chicken sauce is also served, but along side, after all this is not supposed to be a wet dish.

Remember, I'm trying to keep the flavors the same, but present the dish in a modern way. Some steamed potatoes, rolled in garlic and parsley butter are also served on the side. I think a soft green lettuce salad would also be a perfect side dish.

So, there you are, "coq au vin" and it doesn't take some poor guy hours, rubbing bits of a cocks head in salt, to make it appealing!

Right thats it, I'm off to finish off my dinner over here at the East Lodge development kitchen (Shottle Branch) so I'll let you know how it turns out, but so far its looking alright!

See, I can do the simple stuff as well!

Meg, this picture is just for you!

So, I'll tell you about our two new steak dishes next time, perfect for all this Argentine Malbec I appear to have aqquired!

Who knows, I'll be tangoing before long as well!


And, I'm really sorry about this, but I just couldn't resist one more shot of my chicken dish!

Have fun!

Wednesday 14 September 2011

So, we've had bats and blood, and now we move onto beetroot!

DE4 2EF.

This is the name of one of the desserts on the tasting menu at East Lodge.
It's East Lodge's post code, you see, and as the beetroot and damsons are grown here, by Mr H, I thought it would be a rather witty way to name our pre dessert after it.
See, and it's pretty local as well.
And, being honest, I was really trying to sneak beetroot onto the dessert menu without anyone noticing.
A couple of weeks ago, John Pemrose, the Conservative minister for Tourism, stayed at East Lodge, whilst doing a tour of the Peak District.
Sensible chap!
So, we cooked a "taste of the Peaks" menu for him and his guests.
The bouche was warm terrine of ham hocks and braised trotters.

A great start to the menu, its made by pressing braised pig's trotters and ham hocks, brushing with mustard and sprinkling with grated pork crackling.

Sort of a picnic I suppose! Garnished with a Bakewell Bitter jelly, some pickled vegetables and a mustard seed dressing, you could almost imagine eating it in one of the fine fields of Derbyshire!

Onto the fish course next, and not a problem for me!

We've been smoking our own salmon, trout and haddock for a few years now, and I think, finally got the cure right.

It's now dry cured with sugar, salt and pepper, left to dry for 24 hours and then cold smoked over oak.  We used trout and salmon for this dish, garnished with a salad of leeks and marinated potatoes, croutons and chives.
Those of you who know about French cuisine will work out its just a chilled Vichyssoise, I just couldn't be bothered to blend it, thats all!

So, you all know about our Derbyshire grouse and we also served some amazing Suffolk Down lamb, reared by Matt and David up at Highfield House Farm.

And, so, finally to the beetroot.
And damsons.
And goats cheese.
First we boil our damsons, strain and mix with an equal quantity of sugar. Boiled like a jam, until thick and setting, its left to firm up. It can be then cut like cheese. Great served with cold cuts and cheese, but I thought it would be nice in a pudding. We also made a sorbet with some of the puree, however being quite tart we added more sugar resulting in a softer setting sorbet, but with great flavor.

Fresh goats curd is whipped with double cream and sugar, to lighten the texture.

The beetroot is sliced wafer thin, and poached in a red wine vinegar, Port and sugar syrup, and left to infuse overnight.

A thyme and orange zest croquant give the dessert texture, while a garnish of fresh blackberries, orange segments and lemon verbena give a feeling of freshness.

Presented with the damson sorbet and paste, I think it makes a really interesting dish, and pretty local as well!

And it looks pretty dramatic, just like the Peak District.

Oh, and the other dessert?

The "Bakewell"!

Right, thats it, I'm going to talk about my modern classics next time, and how to present them!

Monday 12 September 2011

So it all started on a dark, windy Friday night at Shottle Hall Cottages.

A blood curdling scream rang out from the bedroom, and when I finally made it up there, Sophie was cowering under the duvet!

A mammoth bat had made its way into the house, and it was down to yours truly to sort it out.

So, by opening the window and after a bit of shouting it returned to the depths of hell, where it belonged!

Anyway it got me thinking. I'm all for using local food, and as a bat was flying around my house, it made it pretty local, and therefore fair game!
So after looking for some inspiration all I could manage to come up with was a bat curry!
Not very exciting and not something I could try to sneak onto the East Lodge dinner menu, well not this year anyway.
Bats.
And blood.
It got me thinking about a duck dish we used to do at the Hotel Ritz in Paris, and made famous at
La Tour d'Argent restaurant, also in Paris.

Prepared using Rouen duckling, which have been killed but not bled, allowing the chef to use the blood to thicken the sauce.

I'll tell you how.

The ducks are trussed and roasted, and left to rest. At this stage the breasts and legs are very rare.
The bird is presented to the guests, and the legs are removed, to be finished in the kitchen. These are served as a second course with a curly endive salad.
The breast are removed, and kept warm.  The duck carcass is placed into a very ornate silver duck press and then compacted to extract every last bit of juice and blood. This is then whisked into a duck consomme, along with foie gras and Madeira. Served with pommes souffles, it really is one of the great classical French haute cuisine dishes.
I had dinner there a few years ago with mum and dad, and you can see my duck was number 965730.
And it was superb!
So, now I've got bats, blood, ducks and finally Derbyshire grouse.
And how this seasons dish was inspired by a bat!
The grouse are delivered weekly by our neighbours  over in Rowsley.

We remove the breasts, ready to be cooked in the water bath for 12 minutes at 58 oc.

The thighs are skinned and boned, marinated and braised in red wine and root vegetables, until tender and beautifully glazed. These will be served with some wild mushrooms, button onions, and streaky bacon lardons, as a sort of mini casserole.

We will also smoke some of the breasts, to serve with a little apple and frissee salad, as a palate cleanser.
The breasts are presented with traditional garnishes of fried bread crumbs, smooth bread sauce, grilled bacon and a smooth liver pate on a crouton.

Although we present the dish in a more modern manner.

So, there you are, a bat inspired Derbyshire grouse dish, with a bit of French history thrown in as well!

Oh, and by the way, its our most popular main course at the moment!

You know it really is one of the last seasonal foods and its something I always look forward to, and by using some lateral thinking we can somehow link this 2011 grouse dish to a very classic French duck dish.

Wait until you see my "coq au vin", Fanny and Elizabeth would be turning in their graves!

But, that's the thing you see, we have to keep looking forward, and as long as you know how to do the classics, which I do, we can bring them up to date!

Right, thats it.

I'll tell you about our damson cheese next time.