Eat Voila, Beaconsfield

I only have great things to say about Eat Voila, Beaconsfield. The class is ran by Vanessa Adonis who is just great. She has a wonderful way with food and the menu is innovative but doesn't require ingredients that you need to travel to then end of the earth to source. 
I opted for a Fine Dining module. For starters, we whipped up poached pears, with pan-friend smoked haddock and hazelnut oil. For mains it was sticky, zesty chicken dish and hazelnut infused rice. And, for desert it was classic pear clafoutis. I liked how the key flavours ran through the menu, but different cooking techniques balanced out any repetitiveness. When you cooking to entertain, especially anything other than a 10-man lasagne, the key to success is in the preparation. To prepare for both the starter and the desert, we learnt how to poach pears. A poached pear is a very versatile addition to any fine dining menu (or so I have learnt.) 

Recipe:

500ml of water

250ml good quality white wine

150g caster sugar

Measurements apply to up to 8 pears (pealed, halved and cored)

For the starter, wait until the pears have cooled, thinly slice the pear halves lengthwise almost to stem end, leaving the stem end intact. Press gently down on the pear once plated to create a snazzy fan shape. This, served with pan-friend smoked haddock and a dressing of finely chopped fresh mint, parsley, lemon juice, honey, olive oil and hazelnut oil, makes for a fabulous starter 

The Isle of Wight

Ah, the seaside. There are times when I want to throw it all in, pack my bags and live the humble life of a fisher-women on a house boat. This is a genuine, naive dream I've had for many years. Fresh air for breakfast and fresh fish for dinner. Wouldn't it be nice? This weekend, I was in the Isle of Wight with my family who have a house in Bembridge. We went for lunch at The Beach Hut a fabulous little spot which overlooks Forelands beach and Culver Downs. Started by Emma and Jon Guy in 2012, it has built itself a great reputation amongst locals and foodies alike serving delicious seafood with a Mediterranean twist. What's great about it is that stumbling down the steps and coming across a cafe in such an idyllic location you think even if you get a paper plate with  a cheese toastie you know you've lucked out, location alone. However, Emma Guy, winner of the 2011 Isle of Wight, Masterchef dishes out culinary delights, all simple and relying heavily on good quality, fresh fish. I had a classic crab sandwich and it was delicious. Juicy crab  meat squished between two slices of soft, seedy granary bread. A squeeze of lemon and simple green salad with balsamic glaze and that was it. The beach Hut classic. It was delicious but it was also £8.95.  

Soup-er Man

Of all the soups in all of the lands, no soup is more soup-er than French onion soup, especially when you have to break your way through  a bubbling gruyere crust to get to it. Finding an authentic French onion soup, complete with sizzling, cheesy gratin was high on my list of priorities when I arrived in France. On Saturday it was my anniversary and Henry, who of course knew the way to my heart is food so took me out for dinner on Ile St Louis; the lovely islet tucked away behind the Notre Dame. It's such a magical place at night. 

Prix Fixe menus let you explore French Cuisine on a budget, it's a 'the more you eat, the less you pay,' policy. In England we call it Pizza Hut buffet. In this part of Paris you can tell all the food will be of be an equal standard, with restaurants catering to please tourists like myself in search of everything from onion soup to snails, so its fair to judge a book by its cover and choose the restaurant with the best table cloth! 

I started with a terrine of French onion soup. It was rich and sweet and the blanket of chewy, crispy croutons smothered in molten gruyere, was just what I had been searching for! Henry had baked camembert with a balsamic glaze and salad. For my mains I had roast duck with a sweet, smokey glaze served with a fluffy hybrid of mashed potato and a rosti.

Next weekend I'm going to perfect my recipe for French onion soup and gruyere gratin so keep your onions peeled. 

Paris

The waft of crepes, check. The hum of a saxophonist, check. Flimsy metro tickets that you've lost within minutes, check. Je suis arrivé à paris. So here I am, three days of feasting in the cheese and wine capital ahead of me, life is good now lets tuck in. 

Lotus Caramelised Biscuit Spread

While I'm on the topic of condiments, I must do a shout out to my favourite of all the spreadable joys on the market. Lotus' caramelised biscuit spread is a game changer. It turns a civilised person into a serial finger-dipper. Whoever though of turning a crisp, crunchy caramelised biscuit into a smooth, creamy spread you can justify at breakfast smothered on toast, is honestly, my best friend. 

Dollops of Chutney with Soul

Rubies in the Rubble celebrates everything I love about food. Since trying a sample of Spiced Banana chutney on a oat cake at Borough Market last week I’ve been having sweet, sweet chilli dreams. It is defiantly a first class product with luxury branding and prices steering it away from similar projects that address food wastage in the UK that tend to be associated with the second rate, charity focused products. Rubies in the Rubble suggests it is quality cooking and a quality recipe that produce a quality product, not polished fruit and veg in pristine rows. After all, giraffe bananas make for the best banana bread and apples that have got into  a few punch ups in the fruit bowl are perfect for crumbles. This logic applies even more so in the instance of chutney because the process of preservation eliminates the issue of shelf life. Hats off to Jenny Dawson and her delicious chutneys.

India has arrived!

My copy of Rick Stein’s India has arrived and taken its place on the bookshelf. Nestled next to Jamie, Delia and the small minority of chefs I regularly turn to. The pages are bright and vibrant and it’s a great one to flick through just for the pictures. Although the recipes don’t scream ‘Yep, I’ve already got all those ingredients in the cupboard,’ you’ll notice a lot of the key ingredients are repeated in most the recipes. All they require is one trip to an Indian food market for bulk packs of cumin, Kashmir chilies and frozen coconut. I decided to cook a roast with a twist on Sunday. I served up spiced whole leg of lamb from Lucknow, which was tender and juicy and coated in a creamy, nutty crusty. For sides I cooked Ricks spiced roast potatoes and onions and Kachumber salad. The recipes for both sides are on my Recipe page. All your usual British roast trimmings would have equally complimented the leg of lamb!

The Rivier Boat Restaurant in Richmond

The weather has only gone and done a complete u-turn from the bitterly cold winds and occasional hail storm of last week. The sun was beaming through the curtains when I woke up this morning, after one too many glasses of Pinot Grigio last night. Me and Henry picked Richmond as our brunch hot-spot (with Southwark and Putney acting as close contenders.) We walked along the river and decided on the Boat Restaurant, a little gem anchored by Richmond Bridge, where we discovered last summer. It’s the perfect place to go for brunch on a sunny day on the River Thames, you couldn’t ask for a better location, the menu is simple and delicious and the staff are lovely. I had a spicy Bloody Mary and Eggs Florentine; a toasted muffin with wilted spinach and poached eggs smothered in Hollandaise sauce and parmesan cheese. C’est parfait!

The Waterfront, Sydney

My wonderful big sister Charlotte treated me and Alexa to dinner at The Waterfront restaurant as a belated birthday present. She organised the best seats in the house and we were wined and dined under the stars. We shared a seafood platter, but not just any old seafood platter, Paremsan crusted scallops, callamari with a creamy lemon mayonaise, muscles marinated in a spicy tomato relish and prawns the size of my fist. I kept it classic with a chicken tandoori pizza, served with a big dollop of tatziki and a sprinkling of roast cashews. The panna cotta served with sweet peaches, raspberry coulis and crumbled biscotti sealed the deal on a very enjoyable night!