I was really excited,  when after spending far too much at Majestic wine, I popped into M and S, next door, just to get some witches toes.

It was halloween, by the way.

Anyway, I was soon distracted by their dine in
for a tenner offer.

I'm sure you all know the score, main course, side, pudding and a bottle of wine.

All for ten English pounds.

So, what do think, good eh!

Well I didn't. It was just all a bit average, and there wasn't enough either.

So yesterday I popped up to Highfield House Farm, and for a lot less money I got this little beauty.

So, feeling rather creative, I got home, raided my larder, and ended up making a meal that could have fed six people, easy!

The thing about getting a whole plump chicken is that you get all the other bits and bobs.

So, first thing, after opening a bottle of wine, was to joint the bird.
I took off the legs, skinned and boned them, and then marinated them in a mixture of rice wine, soy sauce and sesame oil. They will be stir fried, in beef dripping, at the last minute. Mixed with peanuts and greens, and with a corn flour thickened sauce,  made with garlic, ginger and red chili paste, it will be one of the five dishes I made out of one chicken.

The breasts were removed, but left on the bone, and poached with some ginger, spring onions and peppercorns. The broth will be served at the end of the banquet, as a palate cleanser.  One of the breasts will be taken off the bone, shredded and served with a cold rice noodle salad, cucumber and mange tout. Dressed with a spicy "bang bang" sauce, made with sesame and peanut paste, Jazzed up with spring onions, red chillies and black vinegar, it makes a nice light start to my celebration of chicken!

The other breast will be chopped up, still on the bone, and be eaten will steamed rice and a tangy salty dipping sauce.

So, I've still got a couple of wings , waiting to be cooked with something. As you can see, an aubergine is sliced, along with a couple of white onions. Stir fried together and with a spoonful of fermented black bean sauce and some garlic, it makes a nice rich satisfying side dish.

Ok, nearly there. I finally managed to get my hands on some tofu. Morrison's didn't have any, so Waitrose was the answer. It will be braised with dried shitake mushrooms and some sliced Chinese sausages.

Right, thats it.

One chicken, five dishes, no problem!

And plenty left over for when I get home from work tomorrow.

Oh, and there was a bit for Agness as well, so everyone was happy.

And, see it you can guess what I got with the money I saved.

Look good don't they! Fried up for my lunch, and with a fantastic loaf of sourdough, some butter and brown sauce, its all I need for my midday snack!

So, you see, we can all dine in for a tenner, it just takes a little bit of chopping, cooking and drinking.

French history lesson next time, so au revoir!  I'm off to tuck into some unpasteurized brie now, spread onto the crusts of that delicious bread.

So, its here then.

At last!

Charlie and Ben brought me this beauty last week, so I carved it into this hideous halloween horror for our guests dining on the chef's table on Monday evening.

And I mean autumn, by the way.

Summer took much longer to finish than usual, which was nice.

But as a cook, I was really looking forward to getting my hands on some lovely, fat, heavy pumpkins, to turn into all sorts of warming, golden dishes to enjoy, now that the nights are getting a little chillier!

So, anyway, I wanted to use them in a couple of dishes on the new dinner menu, and wondered what to do with them.

A few years ago, one of the most popular ways of using butternut squash and pumpkins was in a risotto with Gorgonzola, sage and chestnuts. And, when done well, it's a fantastic dish.

But, I wanted to use my plump pumpkins as a garnish for a main course. The squash will take centre stage, as a dessert, as you will see later.

So, we start with putting the halved pumpkins in a hot oven, with rosemary, garlic and olive oil. Roasted until just charred around the edges, these could be eaten as they are, with some Parmesan grated over, some good sour dough and smoked bacon.

I, of course, have to ponce around a bit more, and so we puree the pumpkins with some butter and grated Parmesan. This adds a salty tang, which I think will marry perfectly with the sweet pigs cheek, rich meaty turbot, slightly bitter, earthy black cabbage, and some fat juicy ceps. Rolled in garlic butter!

Look, its autumn on a plate!

You see, thats why I love autumn, all those colours, and rich flavors, on the same plate, just crying out for a piece of char grilled, garlic rubbed, bread to mop up all the juices. So thats all I'm doing you see, putting together things that are in season at the same time, and turning them into a proper Derbyshire main course!

Just like this one.

Thanksgiving.

As our friends, across the pond,  celebrate Thanksgiving in November, each year, by eating pumpkin pie, I'm pretty sure I can use butternut squash, as a pudding.

So I did!

Poaching the squash in a thyme scented stock syrup, and then compressing, at maximum pressure, we can create a squash fondant.

Going back to the tried and trusted gourd and cheese combination, we add some fromage blanc cream. baked diced beetroot, glazed with an orange and thyme caramel are the other garnishes. Buttery shortbread is placed under the compressed squash, as, remember, it is based on a pumpkin pie!

All it needs then is a swoosh of sweetened beetroot puree and a spoonful of that other great autumn flavor - blackberry. Served as a sorbet, it all comes together as a really original pudding.

Tastes alright too!

And, so finally, the colors of autumn.

The new apple dessert.

See what I mean, its just what I see every day, on my drive to work along the A6.

All those golds, reds, and browns.

And I'm just putting them together on a plate again.

With a big fat slice of caramelised brioche pudding, as a garnish.

And some rum and vanilla syrup.

I'll tell you about the importance of brioche next time,  but I'm off to India now.

Those "Spicentice" curry kits again  - rogan josh and jalfrezi tonight.

Good job I didn't eat too many roast potatoes today at East Lodge!

Right that's it! Another trip around the culinary world, all going on in my little mind!

So I'm now going to tell you all about my "Victorian" garnish for the tasting menu tomorrow night, and how Lardy cake has been turned into lollypops!

But before that, I'm going to waffle on about how this dish came about.

It all started at the Cow public house in Westbourne Grove.

On Saturday lunchtimes, after popping into Books for Cooks, it seemed only correct for me to be tempted into the Cow, for a couple of pints of Guinness and a dozen oysters.

Or that might have been a couple of oysters and a dozen pints!


Such a great combination, the Irish are lucky to have such a perfect marriage.

And, knowing I needed to change the East Lodge smoked salmon starter for something a bit more autumnal, I thought this would be a good starting point.

Although, being East Lodge, I had to come up with something a bit more modern.

So, thinking cap firmly on, I wondered what else would go with oysters and smoked salmon.

Champagne, of course!

And bread.

And cucumber.

And horseradish.

And potatoes.

And watercress.

And caviar.

Now, these are classical garnishes for oysters and smoked salmon.

All I've done is East Lodge them up a bit!

The only other thing I've added is a dice of sugar cured tuna. I wanted to do thinly sliced fillets of mackerel,  as I love the combination of oysters and cured mackerel, but they ended up being a bit too strong for the other garnishes, so I got my hands on a nice tuna belly. And, anyway tuna is related to the mackerel so it all sort of fits!

So, ready?

Cold oak smoked salmon, (we use the trimmings to make a tarama with milk soaked bread and oil, clever eh!), our now world famous potato "pasta", rolled with a chive dressing and topped with caviar, home made Guinness bread wafers, belly of tuna, cured in sugar and air dried, pickled cucumber, chilled watercress puree, horseradish cream, and finally the two original players in the dish.


We make a black velvet jelly, by mixing equal parts of Guinness and Champagne and setting it and we shuck oysters and deep fry them in a light tempura style batter.

Right, thats it.

All I've done is put some things that really love being together on the same plate, and hey presto, a new East Lodge autumn dinner dish.

And now for my next magic trick, turning lardy cake into lollypops!

Before I was old enough to go to the pub on a Saturday lunchtime, I'd go shopping with dad.

And, like father, like son, we both loved a slice of freshly baked, warm, sweet, lardy cake.

So now I knew animal fats could be used in a pudding, but I wanted to use some duck fat in a savory lollypop.

I'm already serving honeycomb as a garnish for our duck terrine, but I wanted to do a main course, using as many bits of duck as I could.

So we make some duck scratchings, mix them with picked thyme, orange zest, cured duck and cracked peppercorns, and make these little lollypops!

These will be served tomorrow night, to Mr H, with those duck hearts you saw last time, on our uber cool chef's table. If you look closely, you can see it behind the lollypop.

They will add an interesting texture to the multi course tasting menu, and hopefully, keep everyone excited, about what's to come.

Right, I'm not sure how I'm going to get away with this one.

"Victorian" garnish!

Everyone knows steak and kidney pie, right?

Well, before kidneys were used, oysters, as they were so abundant, were.

So, a Victorian "surf and turf'!

By using some beef trimmings, marrow and caviar we can introduce a 2011 thought to a common Victorian dish.

I'm going to garnish a beautiful line caught sea bass with some beef juices, a small dice of bone marrow and caviar.

Steamed at 65 oc it will be so moist and sweet, and with the salty caviar, and rich beef sauce, all it needs is a few thin slices of marinated crunchy turnip to bring it all together.

Right. thats it.

Oh, just quickly, its a picture of Agness, and even though I love her, writing this does take a bit longer now!

So, this ones going out to all my Loughborough home girls, and how its not their fault.

Its all about Sunday lunch you see, and how something as simple as a few eggs, milk and flour can ruin a whole day!

All you need to do is whisk them together, let the batter rest,  pop them into the oven, and hey presto, they are done!

Just like that!

Well, sort of. The thing is you see, no matter how hard you try, no matter how many different recipes you try, if they are coming out like thick, deflated, sad little Yorkshire puddings, then blame the oven!

As you can see, every Sunday at East Lodge I make lots of lovely, light, crispy Yorkies, and they are all perfection itself!

And so can the rest of the brigade, proving any idiot can do it, providing they have the right oven, so there! I know, as I've tried at home, using the same recipe, and its been a disaster, because of the oven.

So, if you want a perfect Sunday lunch, for all your family, and if your husband loves you, he will buy the family a nice new shiny oven, just for perfect Sunday lunches!

Oh, and I will, of course, accept any lunch invitations that come along my way!

As a thank you, for all this wise advice.

And just one more thing, why has Yorkshire claimed these for their own?

Similar to a French sweet pudding, I have heard that it used to be served as a pudding, with jam and cream. Sounds pretty good to me, but the way I love eating them, is red hot, dipped in all the delicious, salty, fatty beef juices, just before a busy Sunday lunch service!

So, anyway, Yorkshire have their pudding, up in Derbyshire we have our Bakewell pudding, and our soon to be world famous Rowsley pie, and the Italians have their carbonara.

Made for coal miners or charcoal workers, in America it became known as "coal miners spaghetti".

Which, is I think interesting, as we, over at East Lodge, have been fooling around with our own version of this, but using potato.

And as we first got our potatoes from America, I think we can somehow link all these dishes together, don't you!

And there used to be a few coal mines around here as well.

By using very fine ribbons of potato, blanching them, just like pasta, and rolling them in Parmesan oil, an egg yolk puree on top and a piece of crisp bacon, we can do a Derbyshire version of an Italian classic, which I think is pretty cool!

So, this then got me thinking about potatoes, which in turn got me thinking about Guinness, and then about oysters.
Actually, do I really think that much?
No wonder I've got a headache most of the time.

Anyway, so after all that , I've now got a new smoked salmon dish on the menu at East Lodge, and its pretty global, and I'll tell you about it next time.

And, yes, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you all about my new steak dishes, but I will, but in the meantime have a look at these little ducky delights!

Finally got some, and they will be part of an Autumn salad on our Sunday lunch menu, so if the sight of our amazing Yorkshire puddings doesn't get you all up the drive on a Sunday, then perhaps the sight of these will!

Sam tried one and said they were Otterly delicious and I'm pretty sure when Lisa comes round for dinner she will love them too!

Right, that's it, I'm off to France now.

Well sort of, pommes boulangeres for dinner tonight, but I'm going to put some very thin slices of smoked air dried ham in mine.

I think it will go well with my plump pork bangers!

See, there I go thinking again.

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!

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!

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.