Halloween Night

Ok so not quite halloween yet but with it happening during half term we had ours early.

On the menu

Hellfire chicken wings ( we are quite close to the caves )

Nightmare noodles ( with samphire garnish )

Devils chocolate cake ( chocolate and chilli )

As usual the food was amazing!

We also like a bit of a show so I didn't just want to use candles in our pumpkins, so what better theatrics than a bit of dry ice chucked into the mix!

I don't know if some of the ideas I have are either insane or genius! What other school would you find dry ice in the kitchen?

Either way the students and teachers loved it with comments like "best night ever!" and "Oh My God, thats amazing" I must be doing something right!

Just want to say a big thanks to boss for letting me use -70c ice around the boys and my staff for putting in extra effort!

Bonfire Night next!!!

Back to the Food!!!

So im guessing you are probably bored of hearing about awards and nights out, so heres todays lunch.

Slow Roasted Belly Pork

Ok so I took 12 kilos of boned belly pork and slapped it in the oven on 150c for a good 4 hrs.

Because the belly is fatty it needs time to render out the fat making the meat more tender.

After it was cooked I squashed it flat with another tin and a very large can of beans and let it cool. We have a blast chill so its cold in less than 90 mins. This makes the belly more even.

I then cut it up to about 85 decent portions. 45 mins before service I smacked the oven up to 200c to crisp up the skin and heat up the meat. It only takes about 30 mins but I wanted 15 mins resting time.

All that was left to do was slice potatoes and onions and cook off some veggies.

Job done and less than £1 a plate

Enjoy!!

Eucatering Excellence Awards

So the company I work for was shortlisted for an Educatering Excellence Award at The Royal Garden Hotel on Monday Night.

I was gutted when I found out I couldnt attend but my luck soon turned when my boss called to say she couldn't go!!! After a while and a bit of talking to the powers that be i was finally given the go ahead to get my tux ready again!!!

Needless to say it was another amazing night. Fantastic food, fine wine and great company!

We all enjoyed the final of Schools Got Talent and loved the Twitter Wall, made some good contacts and hopefully new friends.

Our company didnt pick up an award but the night was so good it didnt really matter.

Massive thanks to everyone invloved in making the night so great and a big welldone to all the winners and everyone shortlisted.

I look forward to the next event!!!

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!!!