Recipe: My speciality, Chili Con Carne

I was once asked as an interview for a place in a shared house what my signature dish was, I was quick to answer that my Chili was second to none, this is mainly because me (and a couple of my friends) have spent the last 7 years trying to make this better.

Amongst my friends I think that this is a favourite recipe, mainly because many of them played a part in making it, it is very good to cook for larger groups of people (I made it at new years this year to feed 20 people) mainly because you can make it well before a party then leave it to simmer while you get everything else ready, the only down side is that it can be a bit messy to eat standing up!

Here is what you will need for 6 people (mix of boys and girls)

700 grams of minced beef (Lean or extra lean is best)
2 medium onions (1 and a half big un's)
1 clove garlic
4 medium strength chili peppers (you can also use a birds eye and a couple of bigger chillies if you prefer)
1 Can Red Kidney beans
1 Can mixed beans (These are usually red kidney beans, pinto beans, cannellini beans, borlotti beans and black-eyed beans, make sure you get the ones in water)
3 cans of chopped plum tomatoes
tomato puree
tomato ketchup
Worcestershire sauce
soy sauce
paprika
cayenne pepper

ground cumin
black pepper
2 beef OXO cubes

Serve with
Doritoes (lightly salted)
Sour cream
Guacamole
Salsa
Cheese

or jacket potatoes
or rice

or in wraps with salad

How to

Chop the onions into fine pieces, crush and very finely chop the chili peppers and the garlic.
Drain and rinse the beans
Fry the mince, garlic, chili and beans in a together in a pan with a teaspoon of oil and a splash of soy sauce on a high heat until the mince is starting to turn brown. Make sure that everything mixes properly together (this should take between 8 and 12 minutes to cook) and that the mince has started to dry out as I think this helps it to absorbs the flavours of the sauce.

You then need to add the tomatoes, a dash of puree, a squeeze of ketchup, a drop of the Worcestershire sauce and half a teaspoon of cumin and paprika. sprinkle with a small amount of cayenne pepper.

Crumble the OXO cubes, grind over some black pepper and turn the heat down to be about 2 (on a scale of 1-6) leave for as long as possible... but you could serve after about 10 minutes (if you bubble it vigorously and stir it regularly).

As I said this is good for parties or for cold winter nights.

Restaurant Review: The Fat Duck - pure theatre and a wonderful eating experience

For Christmas this year my partner and myself bought each other a trip to one the food Mecca's in the world, Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck in Bray.

There are only 4 restaurants in Britain with the top Michelin rating of 3 stars and this is the one which I really wanted to go to, and what better way to start the year off than with a 13 course extravaganza? Personally I can't think of one.

I was expecting something a bit special, as you would hope for somewhere where the set menu is 180 quid, but I didn't bank on the thought and preparation which had gone into all of the courses. I should also say that rather than order a bottle or two of wine, which was an option, we chose to splash out on the matching wine selection (mainly because this is likely to be a once in a lifetime thing and I think that I would forever kick myself had we not done so). Now my Mum always used to tell me off for playing with my food, but thankfully Heston appears never to have been constrained in this way, and the culinary world is a lot better place for that.

To clear the palette you get a choice of nitrogen forged "meringues" which were egg whites mixed with either, Gin and Tonic (Which I had), Vodka and Lime (which my partner tried) and Campari and Soda. The idea of these was not just to break down any fat on your tongue but also to use the citrus element to start you salivating. They were bloody cold but definitely very tasty and as with many of the courses the serving was part of the spectacle, with liquid nitrogen spilling out of the bowl as each of the egg whites was poached, right by the table.

Our first wine was a 2009 Fumé blanc from Turkey, which was to accompany the first two courses, When tried on its own after the appetiser it was a touch sharp with citrus notes, but after we started the red cabbage gazpacho and mustard ice cream it became very clear why it had been chosen, the taste was stunning and complimented the crisp freshness of the dish perfectly. The second dish it was eaten with was another that used liquid nitrogen (see the picture on the right) this time to bring out the smell of the forest (the nitrogen was poured into a moss to bring out the smell of damp earth) the idea being that it would enhance the flavour of the truffle toast but smelling like it's natural habitat. This was served with a Chicken liver parfait, crayfish cream, Quail jelly and pea puree. As you can imagine, this was quite rich but luckily the wine cut through this perfectly, complimenting the richness perfectly.

Next was one of the signature dishes, and if I am honest the one that I had feared that I may not like, Snail Porridge. The first thing I should mention was that this porridge was accompanied by my girlfriends favourite wine of the experience, a 2009 Costers Del Segre from Spain which is an 80% chardonnay blended with some of the local grapes. It is lightly oaked and has a rich buttery taste.

The porridge itself was that good I meant to try a little but ate half before I realised that I had forgotten to take a picture!!! It was rich and tasty with the fennel providing a nice counter point to the snails. I am still undecided on where the green colour on the porridge came from although the more I think about it the more I believe that this was from peas.

Following snail porridge is always going to be a tough job, but the Roast Foie Gras that was served next was very much up to the task. Adorned with exquisite crab biscuits, which were sweet and crunchy, and a barberry sauce, which was slightly savoury it was heaven. Last year we had all sorts of accompaniments to Foie Gras, ranging from sticky dessert wines to Champagne, the pairing in this case was a Pinot Gris from the Alsace which was light and fruity and was a pretty good accompaniment for something which sommelier's at various restaurant we have been to recently seems to have been struggling with.

The Foie Gras was followed by a mock turtle soup, which was another spectacular dish to look at, a steamed beef dumpling and some kind of egg served with a gold pocket watch which dissolved into fish stock when dipped into water.The whole dish has a very Japanese feel and was incredibly tasty.

Finally before moving onto the main courses we had a course called "the sound of the sea" which was as much about looks and your other senses as it was about taste. It was primarily a fish course but was served with a sea shell with headphones, which you put on while you were eating it and which had the sound of the ocean playing in them.

The dish itself looked like very much like you were sitting at the seaside with several different sorts of fish sitting under the spray like foam. From a taste point of view this was probably my least favourite of all of the dishes, although from a concept point of view it was amazing with the sand on the left of the picture and the sea and flotsam on the right. This was served with Saki which, for some tastes (my girlfriends included) was a little bit harsh, but I quite enjoyed the sensation, especially with the fish the foam concealed.

This lead us nicely onto the fish course, which was Salmon poached in a liquorice gel, served with trout roe, artichokes and a vanilla mayonnaise. This, unusually for a fish course was served with a red wine, a 1997 Rosso Del Veronese from Veneto, which was quite similar in taste an depth to a pinot noire. I struggled to pick up much of the taste of liquorice, although my girlfriend claim that it was pretty strong, obviously it looked beautiful, although it wasn't as hot as I would have liked it when it was served.

Finally we got onto the main course, a saddle of Venison, which as you would expect was beautifully cooked and incredibly tasty. This  was served with a rich risotto of spelt (wheat) and Umbles (Offal, the origin of Humble pie if some people are to be believed). The had a side of Beetroot Soubise to break up some of the richness from the fayre. Obviously the taste was stunning and it was complimented by a very nice 2009 VdP de l'Hérault from the languedoc in france, whose richness and deep flavour was the perfect compliment to the gamey taste of venison.

The segue between main course and dessert was something which was described as "Hot and cold Tea" a drink that was both frozen lemony tea in some kind of gel and a hot tea in the same glass, the sensation when drinking this was a little bit magical (and left us wondering, like all good magic, how it had been done),

The first dessert course was a Tafferty Tart, a beautiful looking apple and rose petal dish which was a nice light prelude to the main dessert, not too rich but very fruity, this was served with a very nice 2009 Passito Di Pantelleria, a quite sweet and lemony Muscat like dessert wine which fitted very nicely with the apple and fennel flavours in the dessert.

Which brings us to the final real dessert, I had a beautifully rich and chocolaty black forest gateau, which was very much cherrys and dark chocolate, it was very rich and was complimented nicely by a 2009 Alella from Spain whose cherry undertones really enhanced the dessert and made sure that it didn't get too rich.

The final two courses were sweets, the first was a set of whiskey gums (think win gums) which dissolved on your tongue to give the taste of different single malt scotches (and Jack Daniels) and finally there was a visually impressive sweet shop course, which included a queen of hearts playing card made out of white chocolate and filled with raspberry jam sponge and a beautiful Mandarin flavoured chocolate.

In summary I have to say that I really wasn't sure about spending this much on one meal before hand, however I think that having tried it I would recommend this to anyone who is thinking about it. I was asked if it was more worth while than the weekend trip to Venice I did last week (a restaurant review to follow this week) and I have to say that it definitely was, as a once in a life time thing, and one of the most interesting food experiences I have ever encountered. I think the most interesting thing that I took out of it was how much your other senses influence your enjoyment of a meal, this definitely played to them all in a way that no other restaurant I have been to does. You may think that it sounds a bit gimmicky, but coupled with the quality of all of the dishes and the wine matching I think that it was anything but. I suppose I am going to have to start saving up so that I can go back again!

Restaurant Review: Lunch at L'Atelier by Joel Robuchon

I know I haven't written anything for a while, Christmas was a blur of good booze, better food and relaxation, the main problem with this is that I have failed to write up a fantastic trip to l'Atelier we went on in the run up to Christmas. 

My girlfriend (who you have probably spotted by now, does most of the booking) found a great deal for a set lunch with a view of the chiefs preparing dinner in the Japanese/French fusion section downstairs. I think part of this was an attempt to get me to go Christmas shopping with her (although if lunch at a 2 star michelin restaurant is the bribe then I am there). I checked and they are still offering a set lunch menu which is 28 

The Restaurant itself is on a side street near Covent garden, on the same street as the Ivy, although it is very much about substance over style, when you walk in the decor is very modern, although it does seem a little bit dark at first you soon become accustomed to the light. 

The bar around the chef's where we were seated is interesting, you do get a pretty good view, but for a romantic meal for two you will be sitting side by side with the person you went with, to be honest I found watching the chefs pretty much made up for that.

The menu was limited but it did include some of the signature dished as well as an optional wine accompaniment which were mainly wines from the Loire region of France.

For starter I had an excellent chicory, apple and stilton salad, which was exactly the right blend of crunchy, creamy and tart, my other half had l'ouef coque sans coque (or an egg coquette with a mushroom sauce) which must have been good, mainly because I got nowhere near trying any of it.

The mains were also exceptional, I went for the pollock which was beautifully cooked and incredibly tasty, my partner went for the lamb, which I am reliably informed was excellent, which again was borne out by the fact there wasn't any of it for me to try.

Obviously we followed this up with dessert, I went for a selection of chocolate puddings which were all very different and exceptionally tasty. My girlfriend went for a selection of french cheeses, mainly because for some reason she doesn't like chocolate, these were a little limited in type, but still very tasty.

I would have to recommend the whole experience to anyone, according to the website the lunchtime menu is available for 28 pounds (for 2 courses) or 37 if you want the matching wine (which I would recommend), definitely one of the best eating experiences of what I have to be honest, was a pretty good year for food.

Cafe du marche:restaurant review

I recently started a new job so have been trying out restaurants near my new offices in Farringdon. As part of this I took my girlfriend out for a nice romantic meal at a French place that came highly recommended (the person who told us about it was sworn to secrecy by a guy who took her there on a date, it turns out she likes us more than him!)

The restaurant is hidden down a side street just off a quaint square halfway between barbican and farringdon station.

It definitely feels like you have made a special discovery when you walk through the door into the brick lined walls, there is a piano in the centre which was being played by someone when we arrived giving the whole place a warm and friendly feel.

Whenever I go to a new restaurant I am alway nosey and look at what the other guest have ordered, just so I can get an idea of size and also to maybe give me a hint about what I may have order myself, looking quickly from table to table I couldn't see a single thing I wouldn't want to eat, beautiful cuts of meat, fresh poultry and salads where pretty much everywhere accompanied by some very nice looking wine.

Once we were seated (right next to the aforementioned piano) we got to peruse the excellent menu, which offers 2 course for 28.50 or 3 courses for around 35 we also got told about some really very interesting specials, including quail and partridge. For started I went for the gratin of black pudding, which tasted sensational while my girlfirend chose the mushroom tartine. These were both generous in size and passed the clean plate test (there was nothing left of the tartine for me to try again, although I am told it was really good).

For mains we both went for specials, I chose to pay a supplement and had partridge, which was suuculent, tender and very tasty, servered with some chips and a salad while my girlfriend went for the quail, I did manage to get a mouthful of the quail (as I have never tried it before) and I have to say it was even better than my partridge, with a really nice flavour and texture.

I would highly recommend the Cafe du Marche as a great place for a date, it is everything you would expect from a quaint little french restaurant in the side streets of Paris, but stuck in the middle of London.

Foxtrot Oscar: restaurant review

What better way to follow an Evening with John Torode than with a spot of Sunday lunch with Gordon Ramsey at his Foxtrot Oscar restaurant (obviously we saw neither of them, but you know what I mean)

Foxtrot Oscar is set in the heart of Chelsea, right next door to Ramsey's head office and I think it could be considered a perfect location for Sunday lunch after a leisurely stroll through Battersea Park and along Chelsea Embankment. I have to say I have been before and I really like the small intimate feel, it is more gastro pub than fine dining, but I really do enjoy the experience.

Currently you can get some really good deals on the Sunday lunch menu, we managed to get a deal for on 3 courses for 25 quid. The selection is slightly limited, but if it isn't for you you can always go for the very reasonable a la carte menu (which comes in at about 8 pounds for a starter and 15 for a main).

The starter I chose was a very tasty French onion soup, my only issue with it was I would have preferred a bit more soup. My girlfriend and the friend who came with us chose to have the roasted marrowbone, although my girlfriend didn't particularly like hers, I think this was mainly because she hadn't tried it before and was surprised by how fatty it was (our guest was rather more glowing about it, pointing out, quit rightly, that the best bits for flavour are in the fat)

The main course options were roast sirloin, roast pork belly, a cheese burger or an aubergine pasta dish. Being the carnivores we are we ordered the first 3 options, I went for the burger as having had a big slab of pork the night before I fancied a lighter option, I was given a chance to choose how I wanted it cooked (pink or well done) which was a nice touch and also a good sign of the quality of the meat (I chose pink and it certainly didn't let me down).  Our guest was also given the option on how cooked he wanted his sirloin to be, which, like any one of taste would chose, was as rare as the chef recommended. He was treated to an excellent piece of beef, slightly bloody in the middle, but with crispy fat around the outside. The port belly my girlfriend was served up also looked amazing (again a good sign is that I can't comment on the taste because despite its generous size she finished the lot!)

This bought us onto the desserts, where accompanied by a really quite excellent Hungarian Tokaji we had a cheesecake and sticky toffee pudding. My vanilla cheesecake really was tasty (although by this time I was starting to feel slightly full) and again I am assured that the sticky toffee pudding was also good (I could have tried this but I have to be honest, I ran out of space to fit it in!).

So in summary I would highly recommend a trip to Foxtrot Oscar as good value and with its calm laid back and comfortable decor one of the best locations for Sunday lunch I have found in London

SOS: restaurant review

Smiths on Smithfield was the venue for a friends party on saturday night and as we were there I thought it would be a good idea to try John Torode's eating establishment for a spot of dinner first.

SOS is an interesting place, split into four levels with restaurants and food for different occasions on each floor. The ground floor is a nice bar with some good snack food, the first floor has an impressive stocked wine room where they serve pizza and more simple fayre. There is also a private dining room on the first floor that caters for parties.

The top floor is the fine dining room, with views of St Paul's and most of the city of London, but sadly we were a little short of time for a full tasting menu so we had settled on the second floor which specialises in grilled meats.

I started with chicken liver parfait which was served on a toasted brioche
with a homemade pickle, the whole ensemble worked well together, with the pickle cutting through the richness of the parfait. My girlfriend was less impressed with her choice of French onion soup, although it was solid it was a little acidic.

For main course I settled on the pork belly and mashed potato, while my girlfriend went for a classic steak frites. The pork was well cooked and the meat was tender and juicy, although some of my crackling had failed to crackle properly (which always a bit of a disappointment) it was served with an interesting parsley garnish which really complimented the fattyness of the meat.

My girlfriends mild disappointment continued with her sirloin steak, although it was cooked exactly to order she said it was the meat was good, not great.

The wine list was also pretty darn good, and in reality it would have been nice to have a red wine with the meal but as we were there for a night out afterwards we ended up going for a very nice 2008 Izadi white Rioja.

To sum up I personally thought that the food was good, and the general decor was really cool as was the night out later, I would recommend it as a solution to a number of eating and night out conundrums. I am definitely keen to go back and try the top floor soon.

Simple stir fry sauce

My girlfriend is a big fan of stir frys and slowly I am being converted to her way of thinking, after all they don't take much time to cook, are healthy quick and relatively easy, in fact most of the skill is making sure that the vegetables are the right sort of crunchy.

To try to make it a bit more complicated I decided I was going to create my own stir fry sauce. This is not particularly difficult or inventive, infact I basically looked at the ingredients which a couple of those in the supermarket used and went from there.


You will need
a lemon,
a lime,
White wine vinegar
Mirin
vegetable stock cube
ginger
chilli
black pepper
honey
soy sauce
worcester sauce or fish sauce

Finely dice some fresh chilli, peel the ginger and garlic chopping finely. Fry these in some olive oil for 2 or 3 minutes before turning the heat down and adding the juice if the lemon and lime along with a couple of tablespoons of white wine vinegar, a tablespoon of the mirin.

Crush the stock cube into the sauce and add a tablespoon of honey, a few drops of soy sauce and a couple of drops of the fish or Worcester sauce.

Sprinkle in some black pepper and leave this to simmer for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally, this should be enough time to chop up the veg for the stir fry.