Helping with the right choices

The biggest part of being at a boarding school isn't just the level of education its making it a home for the students that go there and a big part of that is the food. Sounds a bit silly but you get out what you put in. If the students aren't happy with the food provided it can have an affect on how they perform in lessons so we try to get them involved as much as possible, we hold a food council every term to try and fathom out what they really like and what's not a winner! It also gives us a chance to explain that even though I'd love to give them deep fried chips every day and chocolate its not what's best for them. With that in mind we hold a dish of the week competition where one of the boys gets to pick a meal of his choice for the entire boarding house admittedly it normally involves fries but it gives us as chefs chance to take that bacon cheese burger to a new level. And since we changed the standards from school canteen to restaurant and the way we take pride in how we plate the food I'm seeing more and more ask for chicken Caesar salad and duck chow mein. I'd much rather give seconds or thirds on a quality salad than frozen burger and chips and when you get some of the younger ones coming up and saying it was amazing you know you've done a good job. I wonder how many of them would have even entertained the idea of a healthy lunch before the improvements we have made??

Lemon Mousse

Everyone loves a good desert and this one turned out to be a real winner! Here's how I did it. So I had a bit of vanilla sponge wasn't enough to ice with lemon and really wanted a lemon desert. So I smashed it up so it was like bread crumbs and squeezed in the juice of 4 lemons then crammed it into 2 baking trays about half a cm thick and baked it in the oven 150c for 5 mins to set the base. Then I got some of my homemade yoghurt chucked in some more lemon juice and zest and whipped the life out of it. All that I had to do now was plate it so cut small disks piped on the mousse mix and dusted with cadburys chocolate powder. Its not what you have got its what you do with it. A little effort goes a long way!

Thai Style Beef Salad

So today's lunch was Thai style beef salad, sometimes the simple ingredients make the best dishes. All we have to do is think about how they get on the plate. For this I used beef strips lemon grass ginger chilli and garlic, a touch of soy and a bit of beef stock plus the salad. Cherry tomatoes red and yellow for colour bean sprouts beet shoots and the cucumber I sliced into ribbons just for a bit of difference. Not hard but looked very chefy and went down really well. Try it!!!

Chicken Biryani

Today's lunch was chicken biryani with home made naan and mango raita. Not bad eh!! Here's how I did it.

For the biryani

Sliced onion
Chilli
Garlic
Chicken ( I use diced leg and thigh, better flavour and breast can be dry )
Chicken stock
Salt and black pepper
Water
Curry powder
Dry rice

In a pan fry your onion chilli and garlic, get them nice and brown chuck in your chicken, when its nearly cooked give it a good whack of curry powder ( I know its cheating and I do use proper spices but its Monday and I've got £4 a day! ) its really important at this point to cook your spice for a good 5-10 mins this is called cooking out, basically it won't taste powdery. Now lob your rice in and if your using stock powder now's the time for that too. Stir it until its all coated then add your water/stock like your making risotto, a little at a time until the rice is cooked and you get the consistency you want. Done, I roasted some peppers and threw them on top last minute for a bit of decoration.

Naan bread my way

So I used my bread recipe and added some caraway seeds.

500g flour
7g yeast
300ml warm water
100ml oil ( sounds a lot but really helps the naan )
Pinch salt
Pinch sugar
25g caraway seeds

Mix the dry ingredients and slowly add the water and oil knead until  its a nice firm dough, leave to prove until double the size. Squash it back then shape into small balls, flatten them with a rolling pin into a naan shape. Lightly oil a frying pan ( I use a pastry brush ) and throw in your dough, brown on both sides brush with butter and eat with your amazing biryani!! Enjoy!

What We Make

OK so I was thinking its probably time I told you also the things we make in house.

It all started when I thought it might be a nice idea to make our own bread rolls for the table at dinner, then I thought well they like yoghurt so I'll make that as well and so we progress. Heres the full list

Bread rolls and most bread products ( pizza bases garlic bread, I'm working on croissants )

Cereal ( granola )

Greek yoghurt

Pasta

Cream cheese

All of our cakes and biscuits

All our cold meat for the salad bar is cooked then sliced in house

By making these small changes we have complete control over quality and saves loads of money!!

Now we can afford to have things like smoked salmon on the salad bar and sirloin steak as a treat for dinner, I think that people tend to forget or just don't care what we feed our future. School shouldn't just be about educating the brain its the palate too.

My Team

Right then its probably about time I said something about my team! I won't name them but I'll give you the low down on what they do. So there's me chef manager I do the early shift ( breakfast through to lunch ) and I've got a couple of food service assistants, one in at 7:30 am she helps serve the breakfast mid morning break and lunch then I have another FSA in at 9:30 am she helps wash up and throws together the salad bar and to be fair one of my most creative employees. Then we have the evening chef who does the afternoon snack and 3 course evening meal he also has 2 FSA's to help clean and wash up. I've also got a stand alone weekend chef. So not a massive team but all very adaptable and without their hard work and full support none of the changes I've made or my crazy ideas would come to life. So thanks guys I really appreciate it!!

Todays Lunch

I know its been done before but it has now become a favourite so once again wild mushroom risotto! But this time with the addition of a mature cheddar cheese chard and as always Thai Basil Micro Basil Micro Mizuna and beet shoots with their choice of bread.