Salad Bar Latest Addition!

Ok so our salad bar runs along side lunch and dinner but I thought if they dont want the main then there should be another few protein choices available. I always cook my own gammon joint for sliced cold meet chicken drums eggs and cheeses (mature cheddar and brie). Not enough for me so I tried them with smoked salmon, which they loved. So in an attempt to make it even more restaurant style and to try and satisfy my needs ( I always want to go a step further ) I made my own cream cheese and chucked some chives in, lined a mould with smoked salmon put the filling in and turned them out. Couldnt make them fast enough!

Tomorrows Menu

OK so here's the run down for Tuesday 13th November

Breakfast

 The usual suspects! 7 different cereals including my own home made.

Toast and the normal jams and spreads.

And sausages with poached or fried egg.

 Morning Break

Home Made Calzone Pizza.

Lunch

Pasta Carbonara with home made tagliatelle and hand made garlic bread.

Mini Gateaux.

Afternoon Break 

Cookies.

Dinner

Soup to start.

Chicken and Mushroom Pie.

Sticky Date and Walnut Pudding with Custard.

Cheeky Chicken Chasseur

OK so tomorrows lunch is chicken chasseur a bit of a classic and not exactly my normal menu choice but thought it would be a good idea to see what I can do with it. So the idea is to get whole chicken legs and half them so we have a drum and thigh each, I just think it looks nicer on the plate. I'm going to slow roast them on about 100c with sliced mushrooms diced banana shallots tarragon and white wine. I'm not expecting the chicken to colour much so I'm going to drain the juice and use that for the sauce. Once drained whack the heat to full and crisp the chicken, stick some chopped tomatoes in the juice kept from the chicken and reduce on the hob. Heap some rice in a bowl arrange the chicken drum and thigh on the rice then pour some sauce over. Lovely

Chinese Beef Noodles

One of my favourite foods is Chinese. It took me ages to figure out how to execute it properly but now I've mastered the key ingredients its all good. The thing to remember is its all about the balance. So, the main ingredients are

Chinese 5 spice
Garlic
Ginger
Chilli
Honey
Sugar
Stock
Onion
Soy

Today we had beef noodles. I use stir fry beef strips. First fry your onion chopped garlic chilli and ginger. Its all about how much you like it, its not set in stone so use as much or as little as you like. Then throw in your meat. If im using chicken I always use technique called velveting, mix egg white and cornflour and coat your raw chicken this will keep the meat moist and completely change the texture. Fry it till its cooked and check for seasoning. At this point its time to add your 5 spice stock sugar and honey. You need the honey to make a glaze for your dish. Remember balance so add a little at a time and keep tasting!! Chuck in your cooked noodles or rice test for seasoning again then add your soy. Job done. You will notice no salt went in, this is because soy is salty anyway. Obviously you can add vegetables but what you use again depends on your own taste, its your dish your way. Enjoy!!

Chocolate Cake

OK so everyone loves chocolate cake right? The trouble is that when you add cocoa powder it can become dry. Here is my recipe and method.

So

500g butter/Marge
500g sugar
500g self raising flour
8 eggs
75g cocoa powder
100ml oil

 Beat the life out of the butter sugar eggs and cocoa powder for a good 5 mins, gently old in the flour, if you mix it too hard it will ruin the gluten and the cake won't work. Chuck in your oil, pour your mix into your chosen cake tin or muffin cases and cook on 150c for 30 mins, depending on how deep your cake is. Check it by poking a skewer in the middle if it comes out clean its done. I top mine with a ganache. Basically melt chocolate in a bowl over hot water then lob in some cream until it gets to a sauce, when it cools it thickens. This is also great for making chocolate truffles just roll the cooled mix into balls and coat with anything you fancy. I use vermicelli cocoa powder and coconut.

Home Made Cereal

Ive been making this cereal for a while now and to be honest its a lot tastier and healthier than most of the others available. It takes 15 minutes to make and lasts a good 2 weeks in an air tight container. So the basic mix is half honey to porridge oats. For small quantities its easier to use cups. So 2 cups oats 1 cup honey I use just sultanas in mine due to certain allergies but you can use any dried fruit and nut combo you want. In a pan put all your ingredients over a low heat and mix until they are coated and start to clump together. Transfer to a baking tray and cook in the oven for 10 mins on 160c. Take out and leave to cool completely, this will crisp up the cereal. Decant into an air tight container and job done. Perfect winter fuel, try it!

Back to School

So here we are again another half term over!!!! coming up next week we have a Bonfire Bangers and Mash Bonanza, Winter Warmers and a few other fantastic recipes and pictures of what we are doing thrown in as well!! Hope you all had a good break.