So, here's the idea. I wanted to create a burger using Goats Cheese. One of my favourite cheeses. One spiral down the wormhole of creation, I stumbled across some Beetroot Brioche buns. The plan was hatched.

Sourcing some Local rare breed beef (500g) from my butcher. He minced this for me and I just added a little salt and pepper and formed the pattie.

When using quality beef from a butcher, I find a rarely need to add anything to bind the burger. However, if you are using supermarket mince, I'd recommend 8% fat as a minimum. Add a handful of breadcrumbs and an egg. 
There is something about supermarket mince which always seems to make dry, grainy burgers. So adding the egg and breadcrumbs helps it retain its moisture.
The brioche bun, however, is from a supermarket. But I will add my homemade Brioche recipe at a later date.

1x Beetroot Brioche Bun
1x Handful wild rocket
1x Spoonful of Dijon mustard mixed with 1 spoonful of Mayonnaise
1x  Red Onion cut into wedges and fried with olive oil, glazed with balsamic vinegar
1x 6oz Beef Burger
1x Slice of goats cheese

I'm not going to tell you how to cook a burger. This recipe is more of an idea suggestion. This can be served with a red cabbage coleslaw and sweet potato fries. 

​A picture will follow soon.

​ This is a summer classic. At home, I’d served Barbecued Chicken with my risotto option. In my kitchen at work, I like to use my smoker to intensify the taste experience.
Smoked chicken can be purchased from a lot of good delicatessens. Slices can be reheated in a pan with some red onions, garlic, parsley and Cherry plum tomatoes and served on top of this risotto.
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I often use Mascarpone to finish my risotto. It helps balance out the flavours and textures. Not much is needed. 

Start with a teaspoon of olive oil and a knob of butter in the pan. Add the garlic and then the shallots over a low manageable heat.
Once these start to cook without colour add the rice.
Keep stirring until the rice starts to appear a little translucent.  Then add the white wine
Once the wine has reduced by half, add half of the stock.
Keep stirring over the love heat and add the sprig of thyme.

This is the point where you need to assess how it's doing.  Adding more stock a little at a time, while constantly checking the rice. 
When you are happy with the texture of the rice. Add some lemon zest and desired amount of Mascarpone. Remember to keep tasting if you are unsure of the amounts.

Serve as soon as ready. This is a very flexible and adaptable recipe. If you want to serve with fish. Naturally, you can use fish stock.

​Enjoy.

Camembert, rosemary and heritage tomato Pissaladiere

This is a variation of a dish which was served in my early days when training in France. Although nearly almost always a staff meal. It’s a dish I see rarely in the UK. Pissaladiere is a more rustic and French version of the much more popular Pizza. Even in France the great author Elizebeth David found it referred to as Pizza Provençal
For this version, I gently pressed out a sourdough base, before topping with slices of red onion, heritage tomatoes, Camembert and finish with a sprig of rosemary. 

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As with a homemade pizzas, the topping is entirely up to you. A Pissaladiere is NOT supposed to look like a Dominoes Pizza. Let the toppings do the talking. 
Bake in an oven on its hottest setting around 300c if it'll go. 
My professional tip would be to cook this directly on an upturned shelf in the oven.
Takes around 10 minutes.
Enjoy. 

Inspired by a rare visit to a Michelin Starred restaurant. The flavour combinations of Blue Cheese, Pear, nuts and celeriac are a classic. Consistently popular when it appears on the menu in various combinations. Usually popular as a first course, but equally delicious as a main meal.

• 1 Conference Pear
• Dolcelatte cheese
• 1 chicory (Red or White)
• Toasted Cashews
• 1 Small celeriac
• Peashoots, wild rockert and baby watercress mix (Mixed leaves available from most supermarkets)
• Premium extra virgin olive oil
• salt/ black pepper

The only real preparation involved in this salad is to cut the celeriac into thin match sticks. Then season them and dress with a little olive oil. 
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1x Thick cut Cod Loin fillet approx. 
Butter, Salt, Pepper, squeeze of lemon

For the Veloute:
250g peas (Frozen peas work better)
250ml Fish stock (Chicken or vegetable could be used)
50g finely chopped shallot
3 cloves sliced garlic
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
100g cooked and peeled potatoes
Handful of baby leaf spinach
White wine
Diced Butter 50g

Process:
Prepare and trim the Cod Loin to desired portion. Pat dry and then fry in pan, skin side down in a generous amount of butter. Once a golden, buttery crust has formed, remove cod from pan and set aside, ready to finish through a hot oven (200c) when ready to serve.
To make the sauce. Start by sweating the Shallots, fennel seeds and garlic in a medium pan. Add and reduce the white by half. Then add the stock and simmer for a few minutes.
Add the cooked potatoes and once the sauce starts to simmer again, then add the peas and the spinach.
Pour the mix into a food processor and blend while adding the diced butter. The sauce should be silky and smooth. Depending on how smooth you want the sauce and your timings, you could put the sauce through a sieve prior to serving.
Correct the seasoning with a little salt.

The idea of this dish is for it to be served with large amount of the veloute. It's almost a main course soup dish!

Enjoy
 
 Pea shoots to garnish
Serve with New potatoes, Samphire or vegetables of your choice.

Braised Shanks of Lamb.

This dish was inspired by a visit to Westfield shopping centre in Stratford. As a family we often like to raid the food court their and dive into some cultural appropriation. I can’t remember which food vendor it was, but I ordered a Pho. I have tried my best to recreate the flavours from memory. A bit cheeky, I know.
This dish would never have stood up next to some real Vietnamese cooking, but this was more of a tribute act than a genuine attempt at recreating a dish. I’ll leave that to the foodie bloggers and genuine Vietnamese chefs and cooks.
For this version I used diced pork, celery, carrots, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, garlic, some Thai red paste (don’t judge me) some Chinese 5 spice.
The stew was cooked in a light chicken stock and finished with some thinly sliced peppers, bean sprouts, shredded Pak Choi, some chopped coriander and some whole mint leaves.
I’ll get you a more precise recipe when I have time to make this dish again.
The crispy noodles. I deep fried the raw rice noodles in very hot oil. Be careful.

This has to be one of my all time favourite salads.  I can't remember where I saw it first. I want to say it was a Jamie Oliver dish originally, but I wouldn't swear to it. 
What I love about this salad, apart from the flavours, it that you can't mess up the presentation. You can quite literally rip up all the ingredients by hand an drop them on to a plate. You may need to cut the peach, depending on how ripe it is.
Serve on top of some mixed salad leaves, which includes some peppery rocket and some croutons. If you don't have croutons then try to get some real nice ciabatta bread. Finish the whole thing with a light drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive oil.
I sometimes like to add toasted pine nuts to this salad too. 
Give this a try. It is very adaptable too. Switch up the ham for a different cured meat, if you wanna. 

What do you think?

This is currently available on the special salad menu at The Greyhound 27th July 2018