On my mark.


Unleash Hell.

And so it was, the war for total domination had lasted for over half a century.

It was now 5076 A.D, and I was stranded in the dark realms of the Minmatar Republic.

I was just one final battle away from total and complete victory, poised to rule over the entire solar system for all eternity, with billions of subjects, an all powerful, omnipresent super power. 

The Leviathan Titan ship I was commanding was in charge of a fleet of over 17000 spaceships, all waiting for my battle cry .

My ship was 18 kilometers of pure, raw power, ready to blast the last remaining subordinates to their total and complete destruction.

So, I did.

And, as supreme leader,  I closed the curtains, turned the volume up to maximum, and then realised Sophie was going to be home soon, and I hadn't even started dinner.

So, I made a tactical decision, and grew up, and pushed on for a couple of hours!

Ruling the solar system could wait for another day, and I was a bit peckish.

And all I had to start dinner was the wrong cut of lamb, and a bag of pasta 00 flour.

And, even as the superpower that I now was, I was going to struggle to knock up some linguini without a pasta machine.

So, sod that, I'll make some bread and gnocchi instead.

First, I needed a biga.

What?

A BIGA!


It's just pasta flour, some yeast and water, mixed up, and left to ferment for a couple of hours, and even though we now have a nice shiny red Kitchen Aid to use I wanted to make some simple focaccia, using just my hands, showing how easy it is to knock up some amazing fresh bread.

The biga is the base of the bread, and the longer the ferment, the better the flavour.

I suppose its a bit like an Italian sourdough starter, only much quicker.

And, its best to use pasta flour for this, as it results in a nice, open texture, perfect for mopping all those garlicky lamb juices up!

So, as I was going all Italian, I would use the rest of the flour to make some gnocchi, but I'll come back to that later.

After a couple of hours, the biga is getting, well, bigger!

So, its now mixed with more pasta flour, olive oil, salt and warm water, as we want to keep the proving process going.

I might have also added a small dice of cured pork  fat to the mix, just for some added flavour!

Now, a lot of recipes tell you to knead the hell out of it, but I prefer to stretch and pull the dough ever twenty minutes or so.

So, looking like an extra in "Bugsy Malone", I covered my hands in olive oil, and gently caressed the bread, and after a couple of hours it was beginning to look alright.

So, while all this was going on, I has to start pushing on with my little potato and Parmesan dumplings.

We were using them at East Lodge , and I though with all that spare pasta flour they would be a good way to start Sunday's dinner.

So, bread resting, I boiled a few spuds. pushed them through the ricer, and that was it.

Well, sort of.

I wanted these babies to be as light as an angels fart, so all we needed was a couple of egg yolks, grated Parmesan cheese and the left over pasta flour.

As its a finer flour you will end up, hopefully, with lighter gnocchi.



                                                                               


And, again, just lightly mixing everything up, all I had to do was shape them, poach them for a couple of minutes, drain and refresh them, ready to be sauteed later for dinner.

Some people, like their bread, spend ages kneading their gnocchi but I prefer the lighter approach, as it's doesn't get the gluten working, and so they will be easier to digest









And as we had a massive shoulder of lamb to get through as well, I thought this can only be a good thing!


So, all mixed up, rolled into a thin log sort of shape, and blanched, refreshed, they were done.

A great thing to do with these as well is mix in other bits and bobs, as a little flavour changer.

Black truffles are, of course, superb, so are chopped black olives, herbs, different cheeses and bits of bacon.

But, tonight, because, quite frankly, I was massively in it, they were left plain.

So, as it stands, the bread is on it's way, the gnocchi is taking shape, all I has to do was sort out the lamb.


And, I was still trying to take pictures of all this, have a glass of wine and amuse Agnes, and rule the universe, I was multi tasking to the max!


So, the lamb.

Hello Simon, what can I do for you today?

Hello David, I'd like the usual please, a knuckle end of your finest Suffolk Down Peak District lamb shoulder please.

No problem Simon.

Thanks David.

Blade.

Knuckle.

Not very difficult is it?

Knuckle!

Not the blade!

So, anyway, he gives me the blade end.

And as I was not paying any attention to what was going on, didn't even bother to check!


Next time he does it I'll blast him out of the universe!

So, I ended up with blade.

Although, I wasn't too eggy as all David's lamb is out of this world, I knew dinner was not going to be ruined, well not by the lamb anyway.

And, as lady luck was shining down on me, the neck fillet was still attached to the shoulder, so all I did was whip it off, and I planned to just pan fry that and serve it will the gnocchi, while the blade end was slowly roasting in the oven.

Right, back to the bread, and by slowly caressing it, it was beginning to get nice and smooth and elastic, not too far from being shaped, ready for it's final proving.

So, as is normal, I stretched the dough, pushed some rosemary into it, sprinkled with salt and some water, and left it for another forty minutes, or so, until risen and ready to go into a red hot oven.

So the lamb was out, and resting, but as you can see, I was getting a bit wobbly!

Time was running out, pasta flour was everywhere, I had a fleet of spaceships to command, and on top of all that, try to take pictures with a steady hand!

I was feeling the pressure!


So I managed to get my hands on some Italian black cabbage, so I planned to quickly blanch it in boiling salted water, and then toss it in some reduced lamb juices, crushed garlic and the pan fried neck fillet.

If you can get your hands on some good stuff its really worth trying, just make sure you cook it pink, and leave to rest for a while.

So now the lamb was out of the oven, I increased the temperature to "solar hot", and chucked in the bread.

Now, remember I'm used to using my incredible Rational ovens at East Lodge, so quite frankly, I wasn't expecting my domestic one to deliver, but as you can see it was alright actually.


So, just as planning complete control of the universe takes some doing, so does any Sunday dinner at my house!


Right, the lamb neck is cooked and the the slowly roasted blade end is out, resting, ready to be carved.






All I needed to was caramelise the gnocchi, add some herbs, black pepper, the shredded cavolo nero, or black cabbage and that's the first course sorted.

So, you can see all it took was a little bit of mash, grated cheese, meat and a couple of other bits and bobs and it's a nice easy starter sorted.





With the sliced lamb on top I think it worked a treat, and all because I don't have a pasta machine!








As our main course all I had to do was carve the lamb, which was by the way, superb, as is always the case with our amazing Derbyshire lamb, cut up some freshly baked bread, cook some sliced runner beans and reduce the leftover lamb juices.

So, all that gentle kneading has paid off and the focaccia has a nice open texture, salty crust and a delicate rosemary scent, perfect for mopping up nice sweet fatty lamb juice.






I'll tell you what, I've got absolutely no idea why my blood pressure never seems to go down, or my trousers never seem to be just a little bit looser!




Still, it's a nice little Sunday lunch though, eh?

Derbyshire lamb, some flour, a couple of potatoes, oh and some superpowers, and Sunday dinner need never be a problem again!



Right that's it.

My name is Gladiator.

Strength and honor.


Next time I'll tell you how this years pheasant dish was inspired by some wig wearing anarchists from four hundred years ago, how cold rice pudding is a thing of beauty, and how my local corner shop appears to have gone completely mad!

And how I might swap my spaceship for a little red car, and whizz around avoiding banana skins and exploding cabbages!


Music for tonight, the one and only "Dreamlover" (Def Club Mix Edit) by Mariah Carey.


Right, where is that suncream!

Well, I saw it, and I thought it was AMAZING!

So I asked Ben if he saw it, and yes, he had, and he thought it was AMAZING too.

So he asked Tom if he had seen it, and yes, Tom replied, he had seen it, and he also thought it was AMAZING.

So he asked Matt if he had seen it, and yes, Matt replied, he had seen it, and so another one who thought it was AMAZING.

So far we all thought it was AMAZING.

So then I asked Ching , and he just made a silly noise.

So, AMAZING!

Apart from the closing ceremony, which was, in fact, a little bit rubbish.

So, there we are,  all amazed at a pretty mental summer.

And, why, because of it also being the busiest August ever at East Lodge, why this ones going to AMAZING!

Although it wasn't all work.

I've been plastered in Park Lane.

Smashed in Somercotes.

Sloshed in Shottle.

Wobbly in Wokingham.

Rowdy in Rowsley.

And I'm about to get mashed up in Mexico!

But, enough of this gay banter, I'm going to talk about togetherness, and love, and how its important to keep things together, well sometimes anyway!

See, that's all that dish up there is, just some summer vegetables, prepared in various ways, and served at different temperatures, a couple of herbs and flowers thrown in, and away we go.

We prepared some baby globe artichokes, but cooked them in two different ways, one cooked in light stock, with thyme, garlic and olive oil. The rest were sauteed from raw, so the same vegetable, but with quite different end results, one rich and caramelised, the other light and delicate.

Courgettes were also used, some being cut into balls, blanched, and marinated with tomato water and basil leaves, others were thinly sliced and deep fried in a light, light, light tempura style batter.

An aubergine found it's way onto this simple summer salad. 

We baked some into crisp rounds and cut thick slices and grilled them on the plancha, giving them a nice smoky, charred flavour, bit like a barbecue I suppose.

The tomato petals that were left after making the tomato water were rubbed with olive oil, sugar and salt and left to dry in the warm kitchen, to semi dry and maximise the tomato taste.

A couple of small pearl onions were cooked along with the artichokes, so they were added as well, all it needs is some nice soft Italian style bread (more of that next time) and it's a great light summer lunch.

But this one was actually a course on our tasting menu a couple of months ago, and although it's a long time ago now, it's a good way to show how by just using a few different cooking methods, well about ten actually, we can make a nice little simple salad!

Which brings me nicely onto August.

The glorious 12th to be precise.

Hasn't been a great year for Grouse, all that rain buggered things up a bit, but still I managed to get my hands on some. 

I also wanted to get some cured and smoked ready for our Christmas menus, you see.

So, as part of my "spread love project 2012" I thought I would demonstrate this dish at the Chatsworth Country Fair this year. 

Derbyshire sushi!

Simple really.

So, as a wrapper, I made some grouse ham.

Using a wet cure, we salted some breasts for a couple of hours, left them to dry overnight, and then cold smoked them.

As I always burn things when I'm doing a live show, I try not to actually cook too much!

Just lots of chopping and talking going on instead, trust me, I can't do much more then two things at once!

So we got some celeriac, and made a classic remoulade.

Easy really, just julienne some celeriac, put it in a bowl, sprinkle on some lemon juice, not too much though, just to keep it white and some salt.

It will start to soften the celeriac, and then we just mix it with some mayonnaise. Normally grain mustard is added, but I just put a good grinding of white pepper in mine, as I wanted to grouse to be the main flavour.

It's a great dish to have in your repertoire, and we also do a version with parsnips as well, to go with a warm game salad.

So all I was going to do was make a tartare with a couple of grouse breasts, which I'm sure you all know what it is by now, raw diced grouse, mixed with salt and pepper, a little olive oil, some aged red wine vinegar and reduced Port.

This, along with the celeriac is the filling of the "sushi", although I also added some whole chives.

The smoked grouse was thinly sliced, and in place of sushi rice the remoulade, chives and grouse tartare were rolled up inside it.

Using a sharp carving knife all I had to do was slice it.

So I did.

A smooth liver was made with the livers, a couple of slices of Cox's apple were added, and that 's it.

One grouse, a bit a celery, a bit of chopping, easy.

And all I was trying to do was use as much of the grouse, in as many ways as possible, a bit like the carrots in the next one.

See I'm in autumn now, and a few weeks ago Partridge starting arriving at the back door at East Lodge.

Well, they had been shot, and hand delivered, they didn't just wander over.

No matter I still had big plans for them!

One of our weddings this year asked for some carrot ribbons to be served on the main course, to make it nice and colourful!

So we did it.

And it got me thinking, could I do a nice colourful carrot salad this autumn?

Well, yes, obviously.

But I wanted to make it a little more interesting, and by using it in three different ways, a humble carrot can be turned into a sexy little starter.

So, as the "Bath Chap's" are a richer starter I wanted this partridge dish to be a little lighter.

Last year, on our Christmas menus I did a pear and ginger garnish to go with the partridge, partridge and pears - you know like "in a pear tree", and it was alright actually, and the ginger could also go well with some sort of carrot, add a bit of coriander, and we're almost there.

Inspired by the Punjab, who are great game hunters, and who love eating small game birds, this would make sense putting these different flavours on the same plate.

And they are quite delicate spices, no garlic  or chillies are used, the heat comes from ginger juice, mixed with lemon juice, white wine vinegar, turmeric infused oil and roasted onion seeds.

So, with the carrots, we julienne some, blanched quickly and mixed with some chopped coriander and a little of the Indian dressing, the trimmings are sealed and steamed, and then pureed until smooth, and we shave very thin slices , to be rolled into rounds.

The julienne carrot is placed into baked bric pastry rounds, because I wanted it to all look nice and neat on the plate. It's the middle ring, at the bottom of the plate.

So, we've used the carrots up, all I'm going to do is add some compressed cucumber balls, finely chopped shallots and chives to the dressing.

Yoghurt that has been left in a fine sieve overnight, this will thicken the yoghurt, has been mixed with mint sauce and a pinch of garam masala, this will add that unique Indian taste, but keep it nice and mild.

Spring onions are blanched, to take away their rawness, and these will be blackened on the plancha, along with the partridge breasts, they have been cooked in the bath at 56 oc for 12 minutes, so they stay nice and rosy.

Ok, nearly there.

See that square cake in the middle?

Well, thats a dhokla.

An Indian street snack, it's made with chick pea flour, yoghurt, water and seasoning.

But it's steamed so it's a nice moist sponge.






We keep it mild, as I want it to absorb the other flavours but at home I like with a bit of a kick, so when it comes out of the oven I heat up ghee, toss in some curry leaves, chillies, coriander and mustard seeds.

Poured over the warm sponge, with a mint yoghurt dip, it's a great pre dinner snack, and assists in the consumption of chilled white wine!

So, a lovely, light, healthy, colourful, seasonal carrot and partridge salad.

With a cake!

So we've done carrots and courgettes, how about celery.

Celery.
Celery.
If she doesn't come, I'll tickle her bum with a lump of celery.

As sung by Chelsea fans every Saturday, down at Stamford Bridge, I have no idea why they sing it, but they do.

Perhaps they enjoy eating wild sea bass with pickled celery at home.

The celery is peeled, cut into thin batons and cooked in water seasoned with salt and lemon juice.

This will keep the celery white.

In another pan a pickling liquor is made with sugar, white wine vinegar, water and creamed horseradish.

The hot cooked celery will be placed in the hot pickling liquid, covered, and left to cool down.

The reason it's cooked is because I don't like celery that is too crisp, not with some superb fillets of sea bass anyway.

As you can see it's a beautiful piece, cooked on it's skin, so it's nice and crunchy.

The left over celery leaves are deep fried and left to drain on some kitchen paper, adding another celery taste, celery hearts are also braised in a light chicken stock with some rosemary, until very soft, and they are blended with some butter for a final celery flavoured delight.

Some baby, peeled, brown shrimps are mixed with the now cool pickled celery.

That's why I put horseradish in the mix, as it will give a nice gentle kick to the celery and shrimps.

Little gem lettuce leafs are quickly wilted in a bit of olive oil and butter and seasoned correctly with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice, and a few finely sliced radishes are tossed in.

The celery braising juices are reduced and water vinaigrette is stirred in, just to lighten the stock.

So, a swoosh of creamed celery, some little gem leaves, the pickled celery and brown shrimp salad, salad, salad, I make the salad, fried celery leaves and a the chicken juice.

All topped of with a spanking piece of sea bass.

And, again, its just using two main ingredients.






And, now, finally, two of my favourite things in the whole world.

Steak and chips.

But not on the same plate!

I'll get shot.

I'm getting some beef hung, by David, up at Highfield House Farm, for six weeks.

Minimum.

We'll take off the fillet before this though as it will just dry up, but the sirloin will be amazing.

So intense and full flavoured, I wanted to serve the beef on it's own, with nothing to mask the beef itself.

There is a restaurant in Japan that just serves Kobe beef, in lots of different ways, over many courses and although I'm working on a beef tasting menu at East Lodge, in the meantime I thought I could try this one out.

So, steak and chips.

Bradley style.

It's just everything you would expect to be served with a nice, big, fat, juicy, charred steak.

But without the steak!

Sauce bearnaise.

Onion rings.

Mushrooms.

Creamed spinach.

Bone marrow.

In America fried eggs are also popular, with a New York strip, so I'd thought I would add a deep fried, soft boiled quails egg as well.

And a slice of beef fillet "ham" we made earlier this year.

Oh, a nice nugget of roasted veal sweetbread, just so there is a little bit of protein on the plate.

A fried parsley leaf and a spoonful and reduced beef juices complete the dish.

Tom and myself tried the dish, and if you close your eyes you can really think you're eating a fantastic steak!

Crisp onion rings with meaty portobello mushrooms, the tarragon from the bearnaise, rich, fatty bone marrow, crunchy egg, beef juices and creamy sweetbreads.

It was spot on!

But what about this then?

It's the fillet, water bathed at 54 oc, seared in a red hot pan, sliced and served.

We steamed some potato balls, and then deep fried them in beef dripping, another slice of bone marrow is warmed and placed on top of the beef, a reduction of beef juice is spooned over and finally a fried parsley leaf is added.

Just steak and chips.

Perfect!

So the full Monty, only served over two courses, necessitating at least two bottles of very good claret!

Right, that's it.

What a great summer.

Next time I'll tell you how getting lost in space can ruin Sunday lunch.

And how another Baslow boy realised he wasn't good enough to roll with the DE4 crew.

Tonights music choice.

The incredible "Let's have a kiki",  explicit mix, by the Scissor Sisters.

The chef's just can't stop dancing to it!

Amazing, aren't they?

Years of training, all for one competition every four years.

All of their hard work, focus, commitment and dedication,  it reminded me of when I was in training, back in Hunstrete, enjoying rugby every weekend.

The drive and ambition to be the best!

Normally starting down at the Crown, it involved a couple of pints, a couple of cigarettes and a packet of pork scratchings.

So, set up for the afternoon, all I had to do was wander over the road, and watch the mighty Keynsham First XV beat whoever came in their path, or sometimes not!

And, obviously, after eighty minutes of shouting our support for the players, we were more than ready for some well earned liquid refreshment.

Bitter to start, and then anyones guess, but there was normally cider somewhere in the proceedings.

Quite a lot, actually.

A couple of games of Cardinal Puff, a bracing rendition of the Woodpecker song, and we were off!

Purple Nasties all round then.

A superb mix of cider, blackcurrant and Pernod, it really got the rugby club going on a Saturday evening.








And, believe it, or not, that is how this dish came about.

Well, sort of!

Bath, home of the greatest rugby team in the world.

And "Bath Chaps"

Named after the West Country pre game ritual of going around the changing room, and slapping the other players across the cheeks, whilst shouting "Come on chaps!', it roused the players, ready for the battlefield, and victory would be assured.

I'm not totally convinced that's factually right, but what I do know is that I wanted those chaps on my new summer menu at East Lodge.

They are actually the whole jowl of a pigs head. Some choose to brine a whole head, cook it and then remove the cheek, and in Bath its rolled in breadcrumbs, and eaten cold, but some chef's are now frying it and serving it hot and crispy. Sounds pretty good to me!

What we do is still brine them in a pickling liquor scented with fennel seeds, peppercorns on onions.

Then sealed in a vacuum bag and steamed at 82 degrees for twelve hours.

So, what you have now is ham.

Ham?

Yes, Ham.

Nice, fatty, ham.


So, all we do is slice it on a gravity slicer, and lay it on one of our rather sexy plates.

Which is, truth be told, the main reason of this blog, showing off our new tableware!

Dressed with some water vinaigrette, which is just an infused olive oil and white wine vinegar dressing, lightened with water.

And it splits out as well which I think looks pretty cool.

And we poached some ham hocks, stripped the flesh from the bones, seasoned it, reduced some of the poaching stock, and pressed it.

I roasted some pork skin and then grated it, a dark caramel was made and the grated crackling and a good pinch of Maldon sea salt was added.

Then it was all blended in the thermomix to produce salted crackling praline.

A new Derbyshire invention I think, and remember it was inspired by my Saturday lunchtime snacks at the Crown!

And of course it adds a nice crunchy texture, some sweetness and another layer of porky flavour.

Next up is some pickled fennel and red onions.

These are very finely sliced, blanched and put into a sweet and sour pickling liquid, then for service all we need to do is drain them off, toss them with some peppery radishes, and place them onto the chaps.

Chopped chives are sprinkled over the plate as well, so you can now see the aniseed part of the dish.

A couple of baby silver skin onions are browned on the plancha, and placed on the cubes of ham hock, so it's going to taste a bit like a half time hot dog!

A reduction of sherry vinegar and brown sugar is spooned around the dish.

This will add to the richness of the dish, while cutting through the pork nicely.

So, all I need now is the purple bit.

Blackberries, mixed with stock syrup, set with gelatine, its cut into little rounds and placed onto the dish.

And, as, often a Saturday night would end up in Kingsmead Square in Bath, tucking in to a kebab, I wanted to have one here as well!

Some pork fillet is minced with smoked streaky bacon, lardo, black peppercorns, red onions and smoked chilli powder.

This is then steamed at 62 degrees and pressed overnight, to firm up it's texture.

For service it is then caramelised and brushed with the vinegar reduction.

So, it all hot and cold, sweet and sour, smooth and crunchy.

In fact, its exactly what I'm looking for in a summery starter.

Oh, and a couple of wild meadow flowers complete the dish, one that started life, a few years ago, down the pub, on a Saturday lunchtime!

Right, from purple nasties we leap over to the "Noble Rot".

Sauternes is made this way. It happens when the grapes are infected by a fungus, then partly dried, they then produce a very concentrated sweet wine.

And one that I love.

It must have been my lucky day, as Mr H let me have a case that was in the cellars over at Callow Hall.

Now, I'm sure we've all heard about how good Sauternes is with foie gras and Roquefort cheese.

And it is, but I wanted to use it in a dessert.

A couple of weeks ago I made some apricot Garibaldi biscuits, to serve to the Rowsley school children who come to learn about food and drink at East Lodge each year.

And they were lovely!

I think Tom and myself, along with a couple of the school kids polished most of them off!

But I also thought they would be a nice garnish to a Sauternes pudding.

And the are, although I didn't put any apricots in this time, the biscuits are just made plain, baked, and then crushed.  And as the recipe has an awfully large amount of butter in it, it has such a light texture, that I thought would go well with some summer apricots and raspberries.

Pistachios are another ingredient that marry well with Sauternes, so all we had to do is make some pistachio ice cream and little cakes.

These are interesting as they have hazelnut butter and apricot jam in the mix.

Hazelnut butter is just unsalted butter heated until it starts to smell like hazelnuts!

Easy, and its great poured, foaming, over some pan fried fish, mixed with parsley, baby capers and lemon juice.

And the apricot jam keeps the sponge really moist.

A meringue is made in the classical manor, but cooked in the steam oven, its then hollowed out and filled with apricot curd. Apricot sorbet is also made, and finally a super smooth, rich creme Anglaise is cooked and chilled, ready for the plating.









And, then, the easy bit.

Just mixing a good glug of Sauternes with the chilled custard.

The warm pistachio sponges are dusted with icing sugar, biscuit crumbs are arranged, fresh, juicy raspberries are dotted around, small balls of apricot sorbet are added, a larger scoop of pistachio ice cream is also placed on one of our new plates, the curd filled meringue is also on, and then, at last, the luscious, sweet, intense Sauternes Anglaise is poured, generously, flooding the base of the dish.

Such an easy pud to come up with as all the flavours work so well together, and of course, its finally summer!!  So everything is bang in season.

So, there we are, a couple of new dishes, on the menu at East Lodge this month.

And, just to show we are using strawberries as well, another new one.

Its just a white chocolate and vanilla parfait, filled with strawberry sorbet, dusted with dried orange powder, and garnished with strawberry fluid gel, and strawberries and orange segments that have been marinated in Grand Marnier.

Easy, really!






Right that's it, I'm off to make a very spicy chicken and green chilli curry.

Tonights music, the amazing "Strobe Light", by the B52's.

Trust me, it will improve your life.

And, finally, it's on.

I know I'm  going to get all emotional, but it's going to be amazing!!

Isn't Britain Great!

Right, that took two glasses of wine.

Two glasses of chilled, crisp, buttery, white, Californian Chardonnay.

That's how much I managed to get through whilst podding my first batch of small, sweet, juicy English peas.

And all I ended up with was enough for a little risotto to start last nights dinner with.

So, knowing I had to maximise the pea flavour, I used the pods to make a stock, along with a couple of rashers of bacon and a chicken stock cube.

What, you didn't think I'd do a vegetarian dish did you!

So, made with Carnaroli rice (which, by the way, is the best rice to use for risotto, as it keeps its shape and bite better than Arborio), a couple of onions, a couple of cloves of garlic, I started getting more hopeful about last nights dinner.

Using the hot pea broth, and stirring every so often, it was looking alright.

All I did was chuck in a load of butter, a good handful of Parmesan, the raw podded peas and a slice of shredded Parma ham, and we were done.

They only take a minute to cook, and I'll tell you what.

It was spot on!

So, there you are, the English asparagus has just finished, and these lovely fresh, sweet, peas come along.

Isn't that perfect timing!

We are using them as a puree in a couple of dishes over at East Lodge at the moment.

Along the same lines of my risotto, we are using ham with the peas as well, with some summer truffles, baked crisp chicken skin, a light foamy cream sauce and some reduced caramelised chicken stock.

I was trying to serve roasted chicken, but in a lighter, more seasonal way.

Now I think a perfectly roasted chicken is a real thing of joy, and at the Ritz, in Paris, they used to serve a poulet de Bresse, whole, for two people.

We made a stuffing of belly pork, veal and truffles. The bird was stuffed and trussed, and roasted "en cocotte". That means in a covered, heavy cast iron pot.

It was browned all over, and then, the best bit, a whole block of finest Normandy butter was used, diced up all around. It was basted every ten minutes, for an hour or so.

Removed, and left to rest upside-down, this was so the juices would soak back into the breasts, which are normally the drier parts.

I mean, can you imagine, the smells of a truffled chicken wafting around the kitchen.

God, it was good.

The juices were skimmed of fat, more truffle juice was added, and served with some pommes purees, it really was a sensational dish.

Oh, and by the way, if you ever are in France, and happen to order a Bresse chicken, for two people, the feet should always be left on, with the middle claw still on, so you can see it is actually a proper chicken from Bresse, because it will have a metal ring around it's little scaly ankle!

We poach our chicken at East Lodge at the moment, in the water bath.

It allows us to always make sure the breast is perfectly moist, as cooking it at a lower temperature means its less likely to dry out, in fact in won't at all.

So, there you are, two ways to cook a chicken, both using truffles, and both superb!

We're also using peas on our tasting menu, both as a puree and "double podded".

Along with our world famous lamb "roly poly", which as you all know, is all the best bits of a lamb, rolled in suet pastry, and steamed for eight hours in the Rational.





It's a great way to use lamb on the tasting menu,
as everyone loves lamb,
but there is no problem with different cooking times,
as it's all the same!

So with some wilted little gem lettuce, a couple of steamed Jersey Royals, and mint sauce, its just my way of getting Sunday lunch onto the menu!

The mint sauce is actually mint jelly, set with agar and then diced.


So it won't melt, as you can see.

Spot on, that one!

Right, that's enough of peas, lets talk about summer fruit now, raspberries in particular.

Just because Noah might have been in his element, thinking how to get away from this typical British weather, not me, I'm pushing on.

With summer, come rain or shine!

So, after a wedding at Callow Hall last week, I was left with some venison saddle, and as I didn't want to put it on the menu as a main course, I used it last Sunday.

As a starter.

With some pickled raspberries!

So, whist every other chef in Derbyshire seems to be poncing around with a big green egg, I was getting eggy with this little summery number.

Those raspberries were lovely. Ben made a sweet and sour pickling liquid, and we finished it off with some thyme flowers and olive oil, and they made a fruity foil to the rich venison.

It was minced and mixed with some cured Italian back fat, and then topped with a smooth duck liver and Port parfait, and finally a layer of bacon and breadcrumb crumble.

Oh, and a bit of Port fluid gel.

So a good way to try out a new dish at East Lodge.






And, although the raspberries worked well, I think I'm going to change the dish to one with rabbit, and a dressing of compressed white peaches with a tarragon and cracked peppercorn caramel.

And it will leave me to use the raspberries in our summer pudding.


I like this one.

We dried out bread, and made fine breadcrumbs with it, and then mixed it with a dark caramel, to make a sort of bread "praline".

Brioche was also made, just to add another bread dimension, and just was soaked in ice cold vanilla cream.

So, the "praline" was ground to a fine powder and baked into thin tuiles, while some was baked into a coarser crunchy delight.

Sliced bloomer bread is layered with poached summer fruits, and pressed.

That's the easy bit.

We made some clotted cream ice cream to serve with it, along with some floppy whipped double cream.

The bread crisps were broken and served on top of the pudding, for another texture, and the bread crumble was used as a base for the ice cream.




All that was needed then was to "mince" it all up a bit, and then, that's it.

It's Summer Time!!


So, there you are, all you need is a smiling face, a thumping base, for a loving race.

Oh, and talking of races, as you all know it's London 2012.

And I'm in training.

I can't just turn up there, you know.

It's going to be a huge challenge.

So, that's why I'm eating deep fried red chillies.

Mexico 2012.

November.

Two weeks.

Hot sauce, three times a day.

Maybe four.

And, if I'm going to be doing the salsa with Sophie, every day before lunch, I'm going to need all the help I can get.

Although in fairness, so is she!!

















Right, that's it.

I'll tell you all about my "Bath Chaps" next time.

No, it's not you Jack!!!

And if these new Pirelli tyres are any good. It says they have shorter stopping distances, so does that mean I can go faster?

Well, I'll soon find out!

Todays soundtrack, the superb

God Made Me Funky (Original Mix), Ministry of Sound, C J Mackintosh, Sessions 4.