Hospitality’s Big Friendly Giant Chefs Inspire My Cooking

A first for me after invited guests struggled to find child-minders. So we decamped to their house and produced the meal from their kitchen.

I had already planned and shared the menu below with them so the only surprise would be whether I managed to get everything right on the night with unfamiliar equipment. All I’ll say is that I wasn’t disappointed with my efforts - and everyone was most convincing with their endeavours to be complimentary.

BFG Chefs (others are available!)
Helen Everitt-Matthias included as the doyenne of British restaurants’ front of house.

“Standing on the shoulders of giants” is a nice, if full-blown, concept but the elements of this menu relied, as ever, on the skills and wisdom of some of cooking’s finest exponents.

Here are the ‘giants’ who were referenced for the meal which I planned - with links to some of the recipes which you might be tempted to try out in your kitchen.

Nigella Lawson - ‘Bar Nuts’

Thomas Keller - ‘Bacon and Eggs’

David Everitt-Matthias - ‘Bar Nuts’ (the outtakes!), Ras-el-hanout mix, Prune pre-dessert (Recipe in chef’s ‘dessert’ - BUY IT!), Dessert (Recipe in chef’s first cookbook, ‘essence’ - another must-buy!), Petits fours - Salted caramel and peanut truffles, White chocolate and preserved lemon fudge, Mulled wine pastilles

Richard Bainbridge - Fish course

Catherine Fulvio - Main

Yotam Ottolenghi - his recipe for Olive Oil Crackers* was adapted for my ras-el-hanout cracker
* the recipe is more or less here - but discard the sesame seeds and the author’s ignorance of Ottolenghi’s first book, ‘Ottolenghi, The Cookbook’ from 2008 in which the recipe appears!

George Blogg - No recipe used BUT the booklet from his ‘Chef’s Masterclass’ given when Gravetye Manor was closed for the new restaurant build is the starting point and inspiration for planning many of my own more developed menus.

Coffee as always is ordered from HASBEAN

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Union Square Cafe's Bar Nuts, Bacon and egg, Pain d'épices with smoked mackerel and horseradish

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Spicy parsnip soup, ras-el-hanout cracker

Our fish starter is tried and trusted. Please don’t @ me over the appearance of that haddock. This photo was taken in my kitchen hours before the meal with a ’cushion’ of raw fish. Eat your heart out food stylists!

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Poached haddock with stewed leeks, soy-cured egg yolk and curry dressing

A lovely, celebratory dish for our main. Prep pics plus the only photograph taken on the night itself.

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Pheasant breast with wild mushrooms and parmesan polenta

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Chocolate and cardamom yoghurt, Armagnac prune purée and grue de cacao

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Millas cake with liquorice bramble compôte and lemon verbena ice cream

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White chocolate and preserved lemon fudge, Salted caramel and peanut truffles, Mulled wine pastilles

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Sensible menu.
Added nonsense with no extra charge.

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Recipes, menus, matching food to wine, catering for larger groups… preparation and inspiration to become a better cook

Dinner For Four - Coming Soon

No appetite whetting pictures with this one I’m afraid. Not of the meal itself at any rate. This is a menu agreed with Mrs Cheoff which will be served in a week’s time here at Poverty Hall. There are elements which we have cooked before and some which have been waiting in the wings to appear at an appropriate time. It’s the sort of developed menu which we only offer a few times through the year. And this is one of those occasional posts which outline some of the planning which goes on before we present such a meal.

Blood oranges were squeezed today ready for the jelly.

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Blood oranges? Jelly? I really should share the menu, eh.

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Courgette velouté arrived as an amuse for our most recent meal at Gravetye Manor. Plenty of recipes are available. I just need to decide how creamy rich the final version should be. Don’t want to challenge everyone too much from the first mouthful.

The starter is one I’ve wanted to make since Richard Bainbridge and the Great British Chefs website shared it last year. It will have to be squished down from the main course size of the recipe which you can link to below.
Poached haddock with stewed leeks, soy-cured egg yolk and curry dressing

We cooked the main over Christmas 2019 for vegetarian guests. No need to send this away to an assay office. It already has all the hallmarks of satisfyingly simple/simply satisfying food. That satisfaction certainly comes from flavour but also from the mouthfeel if some vegetables are allowed to keep their crunch. A link to this recipe follows.
Italian bean casserole
This will certainly provide an uncomplicated rustic moment. I like that. Relief all round from being constantly distracted by ‘fancy’ dishes - and an easy one to prepare ahead.

Pre-dessert and dessert are still under review - but they are likely suspects which sound decent enough at present.

Petits fours supplies took a bit of a bashing during recent festivities but there is still a good enough selection to choose from without spending time to make more. I’ll pick from these.

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Wines are decided upon as well. The Château Bouscaut was delicious at Christmas and I’m really looking forward to what will be my first experience of a Valpolicella of extra finesse. That Sauternes was bought half price at a local Co-op almost two decades ago. Time to finally stop examining, fondling and re-racking it. Time to see if it is eager to please us after too many years alone.

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Mrs Cheoff still avoids the stuff but the coffee which will end the meal for three quarters of us is an old friend. I’ve ordered more of this bean than any other. After a painful absence from the Hasbean coffee collection it made a welcome return this month. My order has already arrived and is ready to be ground and shared. I continue to give thanks to Steve Leighton and his team for their coffee excellence.

That will do for now. Maybe you’ll take a few ideas from those on show here. Pinch one recipe for a supper dish or go full steam ahead with a multi-course effort. It’s only food. But cooking it will be fun - and sharing it doubles the pleasure.

No Turkey In This Year's Ice Cream

As usual, the tried and trusted Diana Henry continues to delight. Before her bumper bundle of crowd-feeders appeared recently in the printed and online Stella Magazine I thought I'd planned more or less all for this year's menus. As I got to the last of the recipes I'd determined to store most for future use but I really fancied some of that 'Turkish coffee ice cream' as soon as ever was possible. Its simplicity was over-powering. 

Just one problem. I have not had instant coffee in the house for six years or more. Coffee snob, eh? In my defence I do have a bottle of 'Camp' chicory and coffee essence for baking. Four teaspoons of that replaced the coffee powder ingredient. I discarded Diana's geography suggestion and took things away from the Turkish connection with a freshly pulled triple shot of hazelnut espresso (also kept for baking duties).  The cardamom seeds were steeped in that until cooled. Noting the information that this ice cream is likely to set a little hard, I added 20 grams of liquid glucose to compensate in a small way. 

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The bowlful above shows the mix after being churned in the almost frozen bucket used by our ice cream maker. This had seen plenty of recent action with six custard-based mixes and a couple of sorbets already boxed and stored. The gel in the bucket seems to like three days of freezing to be efficient and the coffee mix responded slowly in an impatiently used one and a half day old frosty environment. 

The texture was still convincing but after freezing it does appear firm. I reckon it will be fine with that recommended fifteen (or more) minutes out of the freezer before serving. 

Having had several sneaky spoon licks, the taste which comes through is a fully-fledged bolt-on first prize candidate. If scooping proves tricky I can guarantee that letting it melt to be drunk as an indulgent iced coffee is worth considering. Although carving off a thin slice straight from the freezer and eating it between two thin biscuits would deliver the flavour delight immediately.

Make it. This one is not just for Christmas.
 

Has Bean - A Grown Up Selection Box

Not just for grown ups. Immediate apologies to anyone with children who already like coffee but I reckon the majority of youngsters were perfectly happy with much stickier, sweeter stuff than this.

It was an early gift, given on the day before Christmas Eve. Having gathered two sons and one of their partners safely in from Nottingham for five days of festivities I was (rather needlessly and reluctantly... oh, go on then) thanked for my driving duties by the appearance of this coffee treat.

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A few days before, my Christmas top-up order had already been dispatched. Then I saw that excited tweet from Mr Has Bean, Stephen Leighton. A last-minute additional order beckoned but I managed to fend off temptation by completing a batch of peanut butter caramel truffles with a dusting of cocoa instead!

No wonder Steve was pleased with his creation. The presentation is just delightful and is a perfect tribute to an iconic Christmas tradition flipped into coffee form.

And I got my very own after all. Each product is packed a little smaller than the online order options but the most expensive of them weighs in generously at double any of the others. My favourite bean from Brazil is there, along with three which are new to me. The only problem with such a perfect gift was deciding how long to soak up those lovely, thoughtful design and presentation choices before ripping into the quality contents.

Here are links to what was on offer in this selection:

COSTA RICA SANTA TERESA 2000 LA MONTANA WHITE HONEY ETHIOPIA X GEISHA

COFFEE FLOWERS (not beans but worth trying for an interesting infusion... as is their Cascara)

NICARAGUA FINCA LA ESCONDIDA PULPED NATURAL LAURINA

 BRAZIL FAZENDA CACHOEIRA DA GRAMA PULPED NATURAL YELLOW BOURBON

NICARAGUA FINCA LIMONCILLO NATURAL ETHIOSAR

EL SALVADOR FINCA ARGENTINA ESTATE WASHED BOURBON

There are always great subscription offers along with the feast of single estate beans and blends to delight in at the Has Bean website. Bear in mind that the list varies as availability changes. Post-Christmas, all links to this selection box now draw blanks. I'm pretty certain it was a terrific innovation only added last December. If it was as well received elsewhere as it was here at 'Cheoff Towers' (son, James, added one for himself!) then it'll hopefully reappear at the end of this year. It might not have quite the surprise impact of 2016 but I'd still love to see a new version. Nostalgia, perfect presentation and great coffees... Excellent!

Must sign off now and email young Stephen to plea for the same in 2017 and ask him why he only has one bean from Brazil available at the moment. Ooh... and I'll pull a shot from my unexpected but very welcome extra espresso supply while I'm at it!

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Of course Santa could be a redhead. Wanna make something of it?... cut out the bottom of the box and you can!