Food Service Cateys

So when I found out I was nominated for a Caterer and Hotelkeeper Food Service Catey for chef manager of the year award I was chuffed to bits!!!! Just to be nominated is something, but to actually be selected for the shortlist is amazing!

So off we trotted to The Park Plaza Hotel in Westminster for a champagne reception with the cream of the crop from the catering world. Did I feel out of place at all?? Just a bit!!

After our superb 3 course meal with several glasses of fine wine the awards began, and soon enough the chef manager of the year award (now i'm a bit nervous!!). Sadly though the award wasn't mine to be had this time.

Massive congratulations though to everyone that did pick up an award and a big thanks to Mark Lewis and everyone involved in making the night so special.

As for me? One of the top 3 in the country!!!

I'll take that!!!!

Exciting times in The School Kitchen

Well it's been an exciting few weeks both at work and home! Firstly shortlisted for chef manager of the year award caterer and hotelkeeper food service catey, the company I work for got nominated for educatering innovations award then met up with the lovely Morag Lyall from educatering magazine for an interview on the food we knock out!! To be honest I was a bit nervous as i've never been interviewed for a magazine before and didnt want her to think I was serving up something I wouldnt normally do!

Follow me on twitter for more details on all thats going on and how to read the interview!!

Cardamom and Mango Cake

Right then, if you have read any of my other posts you can probably tell I like to be a bit adventurous when it comes to flavour combinations! So ive got Bangra Burgers on for lunch and wanted to carry on the indian inspired theme, what do you chuck on for dessert? Rice pudding? A traditional indian dessert like kulfi or gulab jamun? Not me! Cardamom and Mango Cake! Very tasty! Heres how I did it.

Made a normal sponge ( see previous recipe )

In a pan on the hob heat equal water to sugar and lob in 5 or 6 cardamom pods. I used green ones.

Bring it to the boil and reduce to a syrup.

Set aside to cool.

Turn out your sponge and make little holes with a cocktail stick all over.

Tip over you syrup.

Arrange on your desired plate and garnish with mango coulis.

At the school its all about getting the students to try new things and flavours. Always handy if you csn make it work in a cake!!

Enjoy!

Back to School!!

Well after the six week break we are finally back into the swing of things! We officially started last thursday but the way it works we only had ten for lunch and dinner! With that in mind and the fact that they are new boys, what better lunch than macaroni cheese with side salad and home made garlic bread! Always a winner with staff and students alike. Last year was a bit of a journey for us all, with the introduction of the vac pack chamber and the more restaurant style plates of food who knows what will happen this year!! Ive got loads of new special days coming up and different techniques for excecuting the dishes we are going to do, so watch this space!!!

Easy Tempura

You'd think that being a chef in a school has massive holiday benefits right?? On the whole this is true but in my case I get to go to some of our other lovely kitchens and cook with them for a while. To be honest I quite like moving about, it gives me chance to see what other chefs are doing and how I can change it to make it work in my kitchen.

With that in mind I was mucking about with tempura batter today and came up with this!

1 egg
1 cup plain flour
1 cup ice water
Very hot oil

I used this batter for vegetables but works well on anything so give it a go!

It's Roasting!!!

Ok so its been the hottest day so far and what did I put in the menu last week for today??? Roast chicken!! Luckily im allowed to change the menu so I turned it into a roasted chicken salad. Topped with carrot and courgette spaghetti, vacuumed cucumber ribbons and a dressing I made using balsamic vinegar, olive oil, stock from the chicken and xantham gum! Not really a product you will find in a normal school kitchen but hey!! I'll be doing more with this as time goes on i'll show you the results and recipes.

Enjoy

That Sucks!!!!

Ok so I recently acquired a vacuum chamber and, after all the paperwork and health & safety I finally had the chance to give it a go! Heres our first offering, Watermelon! I heard that if you vac pack it the the flavour is enhanced. Not only that but also the colour is so much more vibrant and the structure changes too!! Ill be using it on other things obviously and post about those too! And its not just about flavours, I have been advised by our local E.H.O that vacuum packed products have a chilled storage life of 10 days rather than the 3 we normally allow. So remember that bit of roast turkey you had??? Whack it in a bag and vac it!!! Im not gonna lie professional versions ain't cheap but worth every penny! Check out Mike Bass and his gear!! Heres some pics. See if you can guess which ones are not under vacuum?