Falling behind

Hey,

So we've moved house. It's been chaotic, and half my kitchen equipment is still in boxes. On top of that I may (I did) have factory reset my phone and lost all my logins etc...

So it's been quite some time since I have put any content - anywhere!

I am still not sure how best to do a video in the new kitchen (I have only produced one since the move - only using photos) as the layout makes it tricky.

I will find a way around this and put something up over the holiday season!

In the meantime my Dad's birthday is coming up and I am making dinner for him. I am in the planning stage at the moment - it's proving difficult as I won't e cooking at home, so I don't know what equipment will be available...eurgh!

This is where I am up to now:

Amuse

Espresso cup with a 'cappuccino' soup (soup with some froth on the top) either:

• Pea and Mint
• Asparagus
• Leek and Potato.

Starter

Going to do a Scallop starter, currently torn between:

• Scallops with pea puree, spiced foam, and pea shoots (unless pea soup used in which case this gets ditched)
• Scallops with Watercress puree, butternut squash puree, watercress, and pancetta
• Scallops with Celeriac puree crumbled black pudding, truffle oil, and watercress

...a bit of a puree theme.

Main

• Pork belly with sweet potato dauphinoise, purple kale, and red wine sauce
• Pork belly with sweet potato dauphinoise, pork scratching, roast garlic sauce, and Rocket
• Pork belly with sweet potato dauphinoise, pak choi, and 5 spice sauce

(The pork would be seasoned based on what it is served with)

Dessert

• Sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce and clotted cream
• Creme brulee
• Tarte fine with ice cream
• Tart tatin with ice cream

Oh...I'm doing this in two days.

Oh...I'll have 6 hours to do it.

Oh...I'm relying on someone to get the ingredients I want.

Oh...shit!

I'll let you know how I get on - hopefully get some pictures for you all!

Take care,

Rob

Blackberry Crumble

Hey,


Welcome/Welcome back.


Without a recording space to do a new video I have put together a recipe and photo montage for Blackberry and Rhubarb Crumble (still got the summer feeling despite the rain here in Cheshire!).


Crumble is a classic pud, and a personal favourite of mine - as the sweetness is tempered by the sourness of the fruit. And its good with basically all of the dairy sides; Custard, clotted cream, double cream, and ice cream!


And you can use so many different fruits and fruit combinations - its ridiculously flexible!


Hope you enjoy (recipe below the video).

Take Care
Rob






Recipe


Crumble

100g Flour

50g Butter

50g Sugar



Fruit Mix

450g Blackberries

3 Sticks Rhubarb

50g Sugar

1/2 tsp Ground Ginger

1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

How to Peel an Avocado

Hey 😊,

I put together a short video on how to peel an avocado.

This only came about because I was having lunch at my sisters and I saw her peeling an avocado using a paring knife small piece by piece.

Obviously I waited until she finished before I offered to show her an easier (and cleaner!!) method - we are siblings after all 😇.

Please see below for what I think is the easiest way to peel an avocado.

Take Care
Rob

Moving and Mess

Hey,

So I (we) have moved house - and have mostly unpacked - unfortunately some of my Chef toys have had to stay in a box as there is no space for them in the new kitchen :(

We have a real project on our hands with the new house - and we are really looking forward to getting stuck into it. In the short term we are just stripping out the old dusty carpets (and have been really lucky to find Oak floors underneath!) and slapping some white paint on the walls.

Long-term...we have to many ideas to have a plan as of yet - but we are excited about the possibilities...even if we are short on funds!

As for the videos there has been a little delay on shooting anything new as I have nowhere to set up the cameras in the new Kitchen (bloody pain!).

So I have put together a Montage (montaaage) which will be released tomorrow. And I had thrown together a quick video on how to peel an Avocado just before the move - which I will add on the next blog.

Take care,
Rob

Getting Rosti with it

Chicken, Chinese leaf, and beansprout salad

Hey,

So my partner came home from a day out raving about a salad she had.

When she described it to me it sounded simple enough to throw together...so I did!

And it was gooooood, simple food, clean flavours  - give it a try!

Recipe for 2:

2 chicken breasts
1 red pepper
4 large leaves Chinese leaf
200g beansprouts
1 lime
2 teaspoon almond oil
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of rapeseed oik
Handful of coriander

Season and grill both sides of the chicken breast and place in an oven at 180°c for 17 minutes (until cooked).

Sear beansprouts in a very hot pan, heat as quickly as possible (only cook a handful at a time) and then spread in an oven tray to cool.

Slice red pepper and Chinese leaf, add into bowl with cooled beansprouts.

Combine oils, lime juice, and coriander to make dressing.

Use most of the dressing to coat leaves, keep some back to glaze the cooked chicken.

That's it. Easy! 😊

Take care.

Chicken and prosciutto tortellini

Hey,

On Sunday the family were over for tea (dinner, depending on geography) and I made a roast chicken.

No picture sorry.

As my partner isn't a fan of soup or stews...but likes broth...go figure! And I didn't want the rest of the bird to be wasted I had to get a little creative.

So yesterday I cooked the what was left of the bird in a slow cooker on high for 4 hours.

I then strained the liquor into a clean pan and picked the meat off the bones.

I chopped up the meat, combined it with diced prosciutto and some creme fraiche to bind.

I used that to fill bitesize tortellini which I served with the reduced liquor and a few drops of truffle oil.

The pasta take a little while to put together but it was all pretty quick and easy....and cheap!

Would you do something with your roast carcass? Or does it all go in the bin?

Take care.

Pasta. Beautiful Pasta

Hey,

I was spending sometime falling through youtube this afternoon and I was pleasently surprised to find an amazing video on pasta, rather than...the dark side.

For any keen cook this video by Bon Appétit is a great watch!

It doesn't teach you how to make pasta dough. (This is really simple - I may do a video on a quick how to sometime in the future).

What this video does is show you how to roll, stretch, and shape your dough into one of the ridiculous number of pasta shapes which exist.

Seriously. If you like pasta, you need to check out the link below.

PASTA!

Prawn Linguine, with Garlic and chilli

Hey,

So my third video is finally complete - I have been so busy that finding the time to edit (a term used loosely to mean cut chunks of footage out involving me standing around aimlessley!) has meant that that the raw footage has been sat on a shelf since the 2nd of Feb.

I feel like I got a little more to grips with the filming side of things this time. Although my partner was away whilst a filmed - taking the good camera, so apologies for some of the lower res parts of the footage.

I really like this plate of food. We actually always have a bag of frozen prawns in the freezer for when we want a quick and easy dinner - not as nice as using fresh king prawns - but still tasty!

Well I hope you enjoy the video - and I really hope that you make this dish and get to enjoy it with friends - rather than on the kitchen top while clearing away equipment! ;p

Take Care.

Rob

It was all about the sprout...

Hey,

My second attempt was all about Brussels Sprouts. Those underloved and overhated little cabbages.

Having made so many errors in my first attempt I decided the only logical next step was to try and do 7 dishes at the same time.

Not my smartest move.

Again there were issues. Trying to balance filming and cooking - I guess at some point it will click and get easier....

....I cooked all the dishes at the same time. As ex-Chef me knows that putting 7 dishes together at once isn't a problem. The same me hadn't considered that I was not in a professional kitchen - or that I also had to negotiate the cameras...those pesky cameras!

You may notice a little char...

But I somehow managed to stumble through and patch something resembling a video together...

First Video!

Hey and Welcome.

This is a bit of an experiment and I will see where it leads me over the next 12 or so months.

This was my first attempt at creating a video.

It was chaotic!

I hadn't worked out how to use the camera - so the video would stop every 10 minutes. I had not thought about how I would shoot the video; balancing cooking times vs. camera set ups. I didn't take any pictures for a thumbnail. And I was nervous as f**k!

Oh. And I forgot the Garlic!

All in all I surprised I managed to produce anything.

So below is my first ever video. Moules Mariniere - sans garlic (shakes head).

Enjoy/Good luck!