Croquembouche

Croquembouche - sure! I'll try that. 3 generations celebrating how many 4 or 5 birthdays? Granny had asked for croquembouche. Whatever Granny wants Granny gets!

Oh - you can't see the spun sugar on the iphone photo. Had fun making it though!

Assistant chef Brad spinning sugar around the croquembouche

Pan Asian theme meal near Shipston on Stour

These Pan Asian meals are quickly turning into my favourite events to do - it's the flavours!

Pan de sal bread rolls - turned out better than last time's. You roll them in breadcrumbs on the sides which gives an interesting texture.

Spring rolls with beef and duck

Asian chicken and lettuce wraps (pictured here just before rolling them up. Flavours!

Sesame prawn toast - staple

Main courses

Volcano chicken - pictured here before cooking. so called because the marinade turns it rather dark, then you pour whisky over and flame it as it goes to the table. Pretty impressive - they all sang happy birthday as we took it in. Quite an amusing dish - you sit it on an empty drinks can half filled with stock which steam-cooks it from the inside. While picturing this I must have smudged the lens - hence the rest of the pics, but the view finder's broken so there was no way of knowing till later..... c'est la vie (le sigh)

Salt and pepper squid with szechuan pepper - amazing! The simple things are often the best. 

Blackened cod - with spiralized carrots - vegetable spiralizer gives endless fun!

Crispy shredded beef from this recipe - wow tasted so good. The whole lot went - they loved it.  After frying it  you toss it in a dressing of rice wine vinegar, chilli sauce and soy.

Dessert

Coconut cheesecake adapted from this recipe with mango sorbet - use Nice biscuits for the  base to keep the coconut flavours going. 

Pomegranate cake and last minute gluten free buffet lunch

I forget which recipe I used now - but there's pomegranate in the middle, pom juice in the icing and more pomegranate sprinkled on top. This would work well as individual cakes too.......

Pomegranate seeds in the mix which burst as the cake cooks!

All day breakfast puff pastry slice - with tomato, pancetta, sausage and mushroom and quail egg

Last minute gluten free lunch. Always helpful when you say you are gluten free before we turn up with your delivery. No worries though, rushed back to the unit and put this gluten free version together in 4 minutes and rushed it back. Always go that extra mile!

"To infinity.... and beyond!" - Catering for a four year old's birthday party

The most fun JJ had had in ages. Me too. He was was in full Buzz Lightyear regalia while I had the more conventional chef jacket.... one day.....

Scary watermelon - this was dessert.... more about that later. 

"You're my favourite deputy!" JJ's mum supplied the plates - aren't they great! Chicken goujons & chips - where can you go wrong? "What do you want to go with them?" she had asked him "carrots and cucumber" he said. So that's just what we did!

So what do you do between 2:30 and 5:30 on a Saturday morning? Me I like to sit and carve shapes out of cucumbers. Well I did that morning anyway (after the watermelons from midnight). There's no such thing as a quick job - all those bits had to be cut out by hand with a craft knife and for the eyes I found one of my olive stoners was just the right size. Then you have to fix them with piped cream cheese and putting on the face pieces with the craft knife. Time consuming to say the least - but worth it!

Suprised face - these were slightly larger so seemed to stick on by themselves. Wasn't looking forward to transporting them to the venue though.

 Another of JJ's likes is watermelon. I've tried a few watermelon shapes before - now it time for a few different ones. Such fun to make! I thought these would make ideal holders for the fruit skewers to dip in chocolate fondue.

Had to fix the ship up a bit before serving - transportation and all that.......

Chocolate fondue

You can see the fin on the back of this one.  

Hey quit making those peppercorn eyes at me! The skewers with beads on are great for a kids party.

Jaws

In the seventeen years I've been doing events this has to be the fastest one I've ever done - very soon it was time for us to be off again on our mission to save the galaxy from the evil emperor Zurg.

Trio of fish starter for the annual dinner for the Royal Naval Association Tewkesbury branch

This is becoming  a bit of a fixture - the 3rd we have done for them - can't be bad! Nice venue - only thing missing is a kitchen. All we have is a room and some tables. Luckily I live almost across the road so I could use the kitchen at my house plus chafing dishes in our wannabe-kitchen. The other folk who were supping pints in the bar thought I was cooking it all outside in the van..... well there's an idea!

Trio of fish starter - tiger prawns in garlic butter, salmon rillette wrapped in smoked salmon and shot glass of smoked haddock chowder.

So I came up with this trio of fish starters - always trying a different variation. The smoked haddock chowder in a shot glass had gone down so well at an event we did just before Christmas we had guests coming in to the kitchen begging for more. And garlic prawns - well everyone loves those. We had those frying in a wok on a camping gas ring - the aroma filling the bar making everyone hungry.

The pork tenderloin en croute went out so fast no photo. There is a dessert pic on the way - once my handy assistant has his iphone repaired......

Tapas delivery near Stratford on Avon

"Oh that's at the door!"
"It's either that woman or your tapas delivery"
"It's not a woman!"

Broad Marston Manor was like one of those winter scenes you see on the front of Christmas cards. The last few miles had been dicey with the snow filled roads frozen to an ice rink. Like a bit of adventure though.
With a week full of events everything had to be made fresh on the day so it was rush-rush, hence not many new photos :(

Pan rustico - halfway to sourdough using this recipe  - so good I am going to have to make it again and try some this time. Also made corn bread like this one.

Paella - similar to this one from last year

Spicy beef empanadas

Asparagus wrapped in smoked salmon (like the ones seen above from a previous event).

Spanish style mussels in a fennel bread bowl - see how to make the bread bowls here

Brie and spinach croquettes + GLUTEN FREE version
Sides

Insalata mixta

Patatas bravas

Gluten free brazo gitano - as there were a few gluten free guests I made the whole thing gluten free. Amazingly light. - the end pieces were amazing! Filled with whipped chantilly cream and strawberries.

Whole vanilla roasted pineapple just after cooking. 

Rice pudding tarts with blood oranges + some gluten free tart cases 

(As it was a delivery the rice pudding made with half evaporated milk, tart cases and blood orange segments were delivered separately so they could simply be put together just before serving to be at their best). Definitely one to do again!

Pan Asian theme meal

"Had a good Christmas?" Everyone asks when they get back to work in January. Makes you laugh - do they not think that in the hospitality world things carry on as normal during Christmas and New Year, just much busier? The guests I served on Christmas Day actually had to remind me that it was Christmas Day - one day was blending into another.

Served this Pan Asian meal the day before New Years eve. Of all the theme meals I have done I think this one was the most involved - so much preparation - but so worth it.

Homemade pan de sal

From this recipe - you roll it into a rope, roll that in breadcrumbs and then cut with a blunt pastry scraper so you get a rustic top.

 XXX

Starters served on platters on the table for guests to serve themselves

Black sesame salmon balls

From this recipe - so delicious! Steamed them over boiling water in batches. Found the black sesame seeds in East and West - a great find of a shop in Cheltenham.

 Red bean paste sesame balls (v) - made the same way as the salmon version above but with red beans.

Vegetable tempura (v) (never got a photo of that - in the rush it almost flew from the fryer to the table)

Tuna tataki with ponzu

 Tilapia larb - based on this recipe. More usually larb is made with ground pork - it is possibly one of the best tasting things - this was a fish verison and equally as good! I topped it with toased rice - an interesting texture & flavour. "Ooh - I've never seen that" said one of the guests as I was preparing things.

 Avocado and vegetable rice paper wraps with peanut dipping sauce(v)

 Main course

Blackened cod

Red thai seabass baked in banana leaf
Had to wait in the rain outside the Rannee supermarket in Cheltenham to pick up these leaves. Love this place - if you need to go out for a few minutes you just close up the shop: a refreshing change. 

Sesame crusted tofu with broccoli and shiitake mushrooms

Indonesian (vegetarian) fried rice - with some of the red curry paste from the seabass

Stir fried bok choi, sprouts, snow peas and onion

Soy bean and sesame noodle salad

XXX

Trio of desserts

Mini coconut pancakes - used this recipe. Also sprinkled with a dusting of mango powder

Lychee and pomegranate panna cotta - used this recipe

Shotglass of mango sorbet - a variation on the orange sorbet recipe

Coconut pancakes must have been good - one of the guests said they didn'tnormally do desserts. But then she came back for another of the coconut pancakes.... and then another!

XXX

Coffee, tea and homemade pistachio barfi (was I really peeling pistachio nuts at 1am or was it my imagination?)

Dear James

Thank you so much for the wonderful evening you created for us all at Oak House and Stables on Sunday 30 December.  We had a really memorable evening and your food was delicious.

We are looking forward to more trips to the Cotswolds and will definitely ask you to cater for us again.

With best wishes for good health and happiness in 2013.

MS

1001 Kitchen Tips #70 - How to make self raising flour

What? You've run out of self raising flour and you've got 10,000 sticky toffee puddings to make (slight exageration - it was only 9,999). Save the food miles - no need to pop to the local shop, make it instead!

450g Plain flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda in US)
Pinch salt

Wasn't that easy now?

Fish sharing platter starter and whole rib of beef main course for business away day/ Christmas celebration

"....basically, we are all out at restaurants all the time, every day on the expense account with clients, so what we are after is something much more simple, like home cooking, something we can serve family style at the table....."
The boss of this company talked so fast and so passionately about food. Always a bonus!

Didn't do so well getting food photos - so hectic getting everything done and out.......

Beer battered mussells - served in the cleaned shells (my personal favourite of the night - simple is good!)

Home-smoked mackerel with elderflower and gooseberry compote - a platter sized version of the starter above - smoked over hickory chips and lady grey tea. 

Mini size version of the trout en papillote - above (again pic taken from a previous event)

Smoked trout risotto balls with courgette ribbon salad

 Mini fillet of hake with parsley coulis and celariac chips. Hake - such an underated fish sadly - it's so nice!

Crab and apple salad in filo basket - never got a pic of this one in the end.

Phew - totally epic starter!

Then for a main course came these babies:

Huge ribs of beef which the group carved themselves at the table - great fun! We served these with dauphinoise potatoes, glazed Chantenay carrots, steamed kale with chestnuts and a raw vegetable, basil and lambs lettuce  salad.

Then for dessert - large sticky toffee pudding,

large tarte tatin 

and large lemon meringue pie 

... which again all the guests passed round the table family style - if they could steal themselves away from the cocktails being served in the hall way. The same cocktail makers that we recognised from the October wedding near Redditch - small world round here!

Time for those embarrassing office party photos complete with dressing  up kit courtesy of the cocktail guys.