Mackerel with beetroot and capers – Grilled serrano ham and mozzarella

Polipo in Umido (Italian octopus stew)

Octopus stew – Cured salmon with celeriac remoulad and pickled cucumber

FT

Chicken and leek terrine, brioche, apple and calvados chutney

Rolled sirloin of beef, onion marmalade, rosti (prior to saucing) 

Me and Dean

Until next time…

FT x

So, some snapshots of some of the food we’ve been cooking. 

Salad of wild mushrooms, endive, crispy poached egg and white balsamic

Assiette of starters – Glazed pork belly, wild mushrooms on truffled brioche, chicken and leek terrine, beetroot gravadlax with beetroot chutney, marinated foie gras with apple.

Roast duck, colcannon, port jus, cherry chutney

FT x

I’ve been working as sous chef at The Royal Oak in the quaint rural village of Eydon, Northamptonshire for over two months now. Some might call The Royal Oak a gastropub. I refer to it as a village inn that serves food, food that people will happily travel from miles around to eat. We’re busy and have been all summer, consistently fully booked from Thursday to Saturday.

• Crispy poached egg on a salad of wild mushrooms, endive and white balsamic 
• Chicken and leek terrine with apple and calvados chutney  
• Pan fried fillet of Turbot with a cassoulet of broad beans, pancetta, peas and baby gem 
• Seared Gressingham duck breast, colcannon, port jus and cherry chutney 
• Summer pudding 
• Armagnac and prune parfait

The menu is extravagant without being over fussy. It works for the locals so it works for us.

I spent the first couple of weeks getting used to the kitchen, learning the menu and working on the larder (starters). This seemed to be going well so Dean (head chef and good friend) felt comfortable to let me onto sauce (the stove, cooking all the mains) on his regular Tuesday off. Initially FEAR, PANIC but it was ok. A little frantic but food was leaving the pass on time and there were no complaints.

This small nugget of responsibility led onto menu planning, ordering and more regular shifts on sauce. A huge leap from fumbling around with salads in Cornwall. Thanks Dean.

I’ve only got a month left here, two weeks of this will be spent heading the kitchen as Dean is on holiday. Daunting? Yes, terrified? Yes, excited? A little bit.

What’s next? The adventure is nearly over. I’m coming home to London to feed YOU. Watch this space…

Plan A was to up my cooking game over the winter in the chalet world then spend the summer taking shit in the restaurant world in exchange for some knowledge. Plan A therefore required me to get a job in the UK from 1850 meters up a mountain. Hmmmm.

Thankfully I had a week off so ordered a copy of the AA Restaurant Guide 2010. I got down to contacting, via email and by region, all the 2 & 3 Rosette establishments that I liked the look of. First up, The West Country. 

Out of over 50 applications I received 5 responses. One in particular from the owner of The Old Quay House in Cornwall. They were looking for a Commis for the summer so following a telephone interview with the head chef I got the job.

http://www.theoldquayhouse.com/restaurant.html

I arrived in Fowey on 12th May, just a few weeks after returning from France. It’s in a beautiful setting on the Fowey Estuary on the Cornish south coast.

The crowd – smug silver-haired yacht types with too much money – the kind of people who live in Cornwall but don’t come from Cornwall. 

On first impressions the restaurant was just what I was looking for. I felt that I had landed. The food, a modern, fresh take on classic French technique with a natural emphasis on seafood was inspiring to the level of being pornographic.

A little snippet from the menu….

Starters

Rabbit Rillettes, Brioche, Banyuls Raisins

Crab and Crayfish Tian, Fennel,  Red Pepper Caramel

Terrine of Foie Gras ‘Sandwich’ with Fig Puree

Mains…..

Lobster Ravioli, Tomato Butter

Silver Mullet, Braised Fennel, Saffron Potatoes, Bouillabaisse Sauce

Confit Duck Leg, Sauce Gribiche

Desserts….

Peanut Chocolate Brownie, Malted Milk Ice Cream

Lemon Tart, Meringue, Raspberry Sorbet

When I wasn’t transfixed on the food on being plated on the pass I was responsible for all cold starters desserts and baking (all breads were baked on the premises). Aside from a few hits and misses with the baking I felt that I was nailing it from the start.

In terms of the food everything was going smoothly although there was one major obstacle. A big angry Sous Chef that made my life in the kitchen consistently unbearable.

After four weeks I felt that I had taken all I could from my experience. My little black recipe book was full and I didn’t fancy my chances against the big man.

Following a few conversations with a contact and friend I made in France I was offered a position as Sous Chef somewhere nearer to home.

So, goodbye Cornwall….

Wake up at about 7am and get ready for breakfast. Offer a choice of full english, pancakes, every type of eggs, porridge and pastries and get a cake or something sweet on for afternoon tea. Clean down breakfast, set up afternoon tea for when the guests arrive back from skiing and perhaps get some prep done for dinner. It should be about 11am now. Go Skiing….

Come back from skiing about 4pm, pass out until 5pm then get up and crack on with dinner. Hot and cold canapes, starters, mains, sides, dessert, cheese board and petit fours taking into account that this week Barry is lactose intolerant and Cynthia is a vegetarian (that eats chicken and fish). It should be about 9.30 now. Have a shower. Go to the pub. Repeat this 6 days a week for 5 months and there’s a ski season. 

Chalet Eboulis – Courchevel 1850 – Sleeps 10

There were some great times and lots of amazing French produce so for a taster I’ll give you my most popular menu from the season and my favourite recipe from it…

Treacle cured Salmon with Celeriac and Apple Remoulade

Roast Guinea Fowl – Savoy Cabbage, Bacon, Chestnut and Tarragon ‘Casserole’ – Bread Sauce

Chocolate and Orange Tart  with Ginger and Honeycomb Creme Fraiche

Treacle Cured Salmon with Celeriac and Apple Remoulade

Serves 6.

The Salmon

1 kg side of salmon, skin on

2 tsp fennel seeds

zest 1 lemon

50g sea salt

1 tbsp english mustard

80g black treacle

2 tsp ground black pepper

Combine the salt, pepper, lemon zest and fennel in a mixing bowl or pestle and mortar and grind to release the flavours. Warm the treacle very gently with the mustard in a pan to get a looser consistency and add to the spice mixture.

Lay a large sheet of cling film on a work surface and lay the salmon, skin side down onto it. Spread the treacle mixture over the flesh of the salmon then tightly wrap in cling film, transfer to a tray and leave to cure in the fridge for 48-36 hours.

To serve the salmon unwrap the fish, scrape off the marinade and slice at a 45 degree angle

Celeriac and Apple Remoulade

1/2 celeriac

2 granny smith apples

3 tbsp mayonnaise – preferably homemade

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tbsp grain mustard

squeeze of lemon

salt and pepper

Peel and then shred the celeriac and apple with a mandolin or coarse grater and transfer to a bowl. Add the lemon juice then all other ingredients and check for seasoning. You can add more mustard, lemon and salt and pepper to your taste. Some juice will escape from the celeriac and apple so be careful not to use too much mayonnaise as your mixture will become too wet.

It’s nice serve the fish carved but whole on a wooden board in the centre of the table while giving each guest a plate  with a quinelle of the remoulade, some sourdough bread and a watercress garnish.

Sorry for the total lack of posts since I set off to the mountains last November, I’ve simply not found the time to write but I’m finally in a place where I feel ready to.

I’ll start the ‘relaunch’ with a post summarising my time cooking in the French Alps then move onto what I experienced at my first professional placement as Commis Chef at The Old Key House in Fowey, Cornwall.

This will lead onto my current position as Sous Chef at The Royal Oak in Eydon, Northamptonshire. From here I will share my time over the summer with you. They’ll be recipes, stories, photos and the usual banter.

Good to be back…

FT

Peas x

I’m fairly up on my Cantonese and Sichuan but the northern cuisine from Beijing was a new one for me. There’s a bit of a trend towards regional Chinese cuisine at the moment and it’s only going to gain momentum as the country gets more and more powerful. Lucky, lucky us.

Chive Dumpling  - £2

I asked the waitress what was in with the chives and she told me ‘Everything. Everything that is good’. I smiled sweetly at her and guessed egg. The pastry was light and crisp and the filling was pungent with chive. Not earth moving but this is a street snack and beats our equivalent of a mystery meat hotdog hands down.

Zha Jiang Mian – £6

Thick wheat noodles with minced pork in a fermented soybean sauce. Served here with carrots, cucumber and bean sprouts.

Rich and dense to the point of being unpleasant. When no one was watching I diluted it with my Jasmin tea. Much better; the noodles were thick and had a good bite and the sauce was deeply meaty, salty and savoury. The raw veg took the edge off.

The waitress must have seen me snapping away so while I was paying she eagerly showed me through the rest of the menu and dropped in they open from 7am-4am. I’d definitely come back here late doors after a few soho beers not sure about breakfast.

Funthyme

Some of the most satisfying suppers come from making something from nothing. Leftovers, or whatever ‘s hanging about in the bottom of the fridge can usually be rustled up into something at least edible, if not delicious.

Bubble and Squeak

Traditionally made from a leftover sunday roast and served with the cold meat and some Branston. There’s no need for a recipe but you obviously need some potatoes.

Get your leftover spuds and veg, mash them all together and season. Throw some butter in a big frying pan, whack in your bubble and keep it moving it about until there are plenty of crusty bits. I find the longer you fry it the better.

My bubble had some leftover cabbage, carrots and leeks. I was lucky enough to have some mushrooms, spinach and an egg in the fridge too so on it went.

It’s nice with some thick cut ham, corned beef, roasted tomatoes or pretty much anything you have lurking about in your fridge.

Use it up. Save the world.

Funthyme