I have mentioned on numerous occasions already the term season to taste, but what does this mean?
These word feature in every cookbook or recipe you ever read but does anyone truly understand what this actually means?
Seasoning is about tasting and tweaking, or fine tuning to bring out the best in the food and each individual ingredient.
At work we are constantly told to taste and season everything we make, after adding very ingredient we taste and season, seasoning enhances the dish or sauce and brings out the taste of all the ingredients in the dish, if you don't season then you won't taste all the ingredients and whats the point of using the ingredient if you cant taste it??
Seasoning commonly refers to salt and pepper, but having read the devil in the kitchen by Marco Pierre White I soon realised that this is not the case. Seasoning can involve lemon juice, butter, herbs or spices.
However Marco states that these are not seasoning at all and I'm of a similar belief he writes "When people talk about seasoning they usually mean adding salt and pepper. Seasoning to me is adding salt. Salt enhances the flavour of the ingredients, pepper changes the flavour. I very rarely season a sauce with pepper"
I to believe this to be the case and only use salt to season my sauces.
The two most important times to season are at the beginning (base seasoning) and at the end. Base seasoning is important because it allows the salt to spread throughout the whole dish. Seasoning at the end is the final tweaking of the dish but bear in mind at what temperature you will be serving the sauce/puree as seasoning changes depending on how hot or cold it is so season at the temperature you intend to serve it at!
I hope that helps everyone out there who likes to cook, don't just add a pinch of salt and hope for the best, always always taste after seasoning. don't be afraid to season and experiment, I assure you it will improve your meals
C8MF6JNEQUBM
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Winter Warmer Soup
This is my girlfriends favourite soup at the moment, we cook it weekly and its so easy!
Don't be put off by the amount of butter needed, you can always reduce it, but if you fancy a real treat and a richer fuller soup the I would recommend using the full amount and full fat milk!!
You will need:
1 Butternut squash
200g Butter
3 Onions peeled and finely sliced
400g Milk
600g Water
1 Red pepper, de-seeded roasted, peeled and diced into 1cm squares
Salt
Creme Fraiche
Pre heat the oven to 180degrees.
Peel the squash and de-seed. Finely slice 1/2 with a mandolin if accessible if not a knife will work just fine. Dice the other half and season with a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil and roast for approx. 30mins or until soft.
Melt the butter on a low heat and add the onions and the sliced squash and sweat for about 10mins until the onions are translucent, try not to colour them.
Then add the milk and 600g tap water and the roasted pimpkin and simmer for 10mins until the sliced squash is completely cooked. Season to taste.
Blitz the soup until very smooth and pass through a chinois or fine sieve.
Serve the soup in wam bowls with a dollop of creme fraiche and the roasted pepper ontop with some cracked black pepper ontop to add a nice speckled effect.
This soup is perfect for lunch or dinner and can be kept in the fridge for upto 3days after making so if you make too much you can always use it again another day!
Butternut is so diverse and this recipe is such a simple one but the cooking of the squash two ways layers the flavours and if seasoned correctly will allow you to taste both the fresh and roasted squash in every spoonful.
I f you want to try changing the recipe you can always add some diced chilli to the onions at the beginning and sprinkle some brunoise chilli ontop instead of the pepper.
Or if your feeling really adventurous you could garnish the soup with some nut brown butter and pine nuts and some golden brown crutons as we do at work.
The recipe works equally well with pumpkin if you can't get hold of any squash.
Don't be put off by the amount of butter needed, you can always reduce it, but if you fancy a real treat and a richer fuller soup the I would recommend using the full amount and full fat milk!!
You will need:
1 Butternut squash
200g Butter
3 Onions peeled and finely sliced
400g Milk
600g Water
1 Red pepper, de-seeded roasted, peeled and diced into 1cm squares
Salt
Creme Fraiche
Pre heat the oven to 180degrees.
Peel the squash and de-seed. Finely slice 1/2 with a mandolin if accessible if not a knife will work just fine. Dice the other half and season with a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil and roast for approx. 30mins or until soft.
Melt the butter on a low heat and add the onions and the sliced squash and sweat for about 10mins until the onions are translucent, try not to colour them.
Then add the milk and 600g tap water and the roasted pimpkin and simmer for 10mins until the sliced squash is completely cooked. Season to taste.
Blitz the soup until very smooth and pass through a chinois or fine sieve.
Serve the soup in wam bowls with a dollop of creme fraiche and the roasted pepper ontop with some cracked black pepper ontop to add a nice speckled effect.
This soup is perfect for lunch or dinner and can be kept in the fridge for upto 3days after making so if you make too much you can always use it again another day!
Butternut is so diverse and this recipe is such a simple one but the cooking of the squash two ways layers the flavours and if seasoned correctly will allow you to taste both the fresh and roasted squash in every spoonful.
I f you want to try changing the recipe you can always add some diced chilli to the onions at the beginning and sprinkle some brunoise chilli ontop instead of the pepper.
Or if your feeling really adventurous you could garnish the soup with some nut brown butter and pine nuts and some golden brown crutons as we do at work.
The recipe works equally well with pumpkin if you can't get hold of any squash.
Monday, 30 January 2012
Great starter, Scallops with apple puree and crisp pancetta
You'll need: 3 scallops per person
8 Granny smith apples - 7 peeled and thinly sliced
100g Butter
1/2 Vanilla pod scrapped
Pinch sugar
Thinly sliced pancetta
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Ok start off by melting the butter and vanilla pod slowly, when this is done add the sugar and the 7 thinly sliced apples and cook on a medium to low heat until the apples resemble a mush. blitz them in a blender and pass through a fine chinois and season with salt to taste.
Whilst this is cooking take the top off the remaining apple and slice the apple wafer thin and soak in stock syrup (50%water 50%sugar boiled) and place on a baking tray and dry in an oven at 50degrees until crisp.
Line your pancetta on a baking tray with parchment paper on then cover again with another sheet of parchment and another tray to ensure the pancetta stays completely flat. cook this in the oven at 180degrees for approx 5mins until it is crispy.
When all the components are ready and your friends/family/colleagues have arrived season your scallops and get a pan on to a high heat with olive oil, add your scallops to the hot pan and cook the scallops until they are golden on one side, this should take about 1min. turn the scallops and lower the heat and cook the scallops through so they are still soft but firm to the touch. Finish with a touch of butter and a drop of lemon juice. Heat the apple puree.
Get the number of plates you require and put 3 spoons of puree in a line through the centre of the plate, and place 3 slices of the crisp pancetta ontop of the puree with the scallops spooned ontop of that. Finish the dish with a drizzle of olive oil and some cracked black pepper and 2 apple crisps between the scallops. Serve immediately.
8 Granny smith apples - 7 peeled and thinly sliced
100g Butter
1/2 Vanilla pod scrapped
Pinch sugar
Thinly sliced pancetta
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Ok start off by melting the butter and vanilla pod slowly, when this is done add the sugar and the 7 thinly sliced apples and cook on a medium to low heat until the apples resemble a mush. blitz them in a blender and pass through a fine chinois and season with salt to taste.
Whilst this is cooking take the top off the remaining apple and slice the apple wafer thin and soak in stock syrup (50%water 50%sugar boiled) and place on a baking tray and dry in an oven at 50degrees until crisp.
Line your pancetta on a baking tray with parchment paper on then cover again with another sheet of parchment and another tray to ensure the pancetta stays completely flat. cook this in the oven at 180degrees for approx 5mins until it is crispy.
When all the components are ready and your friends/family/colleagues have arrived season your scallops and get a pan on to a high heat with olive oil, add your scallops to the hot pan and cook the scallops until they are golden on one side, this should take about 1min. turn the scallops and lower the heat and cook the scallops through so they are still soft but firm to the touch. Finish with a touch of butter and a drop of lemon juice. Heat the apple puree.
Get the number of plates you require and put 3 spoons of puree in a line through the centre of the plate, and place 3 slices of the crisp pancetta ontop of the puree with the scallops spooned ontop of that. Finish the dish with a drizzle of olive oil and some cracked black pepper and 2 apple crisps between the scallops. Serve immediately.
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Roast potatoes
I felt that roast pots deserved their own post, because you just can't beat a good roast potato!
I tend to peel my potatos and cut them into quarters roucghly so that there are plenty of edges, these are important because these are what crisp up to give you the lovely crunchy outside to your fluffy centre.
Preheat your oven to 180degrees(gas mark 4) with a roasting tray of oil inside.
Place your potatoes into a pan of salted water and boil to within a inch of their lives and start to crack. Drain the water and return to the hob with a lid and steam dry giving the pan a shake so that the crack open of and the oiutside of the potato starts to flake.
Add the fluffy cracking potatoes to the now hot oil in the oven with a whole bulb of garlic halved and roast in the oven for about 1hr10mins until golden brown and crisp on the outside.
these should be the last think to leave the oven...for me they are the most important part (with the exception of the meat obviously) of the meal. Everything else should be timed around them!
Enjoy
I tend to peel my potatos and cut them into quarters roucghly so that there are plenty of edges, these are important because these are what crisp up to give you the lovely crunchy outside to your fluffy centre.
Preheat your oven to 180degrees(gas mark 4) with a roasting tray of oil inside.
Place your potatoes into a pan of salted water and boil to within a inch of their lives and start to crack. Drain the water and return to the hob with a lid and steam dry giving the pan a shake so that the crack open of and the oiutside of the potato starts to flake.
Add the fluffy cracking potatoes to the now hot oil in the oven with a whole bulb of garlic halved and roast in the oven for about 1hr10mins until golden brown and crisp on the outside.
these should be the last think to leave the oven...for me they are the most important part (with the exception of the meat obviously) of the meal. Everything else should be timed around them!
Enjoy
Sunday Roast
So..just finished my dinner and i'm full and sleepy now! All in all I think it went down well, even my brother managed to have two sittings of veg, a feat previously unheard of!
I had to change the dish that I had planned on doing as the local butchers didnt have a shoulder large enough to feed the growing number round the table. S o I opted to roast a 6lb leg of lamb.
Firstly I preheated the oven to 220degrees(gas mark 7) whilst this was waming I took my leg and made 15 incisions into the fleshy side of the meat about 5cm deep, I stuffed these with slices of garlic, and a small sprig of rosemary and thyme pushing them all the way in with my finger. I then rubbed a thick layer of butter all over the top of the leg and seasoned it heavily with salt and black pepper. I also browned off five shallots peeled and quartered in oil and placed these in the roasting dish, placing the meat ontop. I then poured 3/4 of a bottle of white wine into the dish and added a few sprigs of the rosemary and thyme and placed it in the oven for 20mins.
After 20mins turn the oven down to 180degrees(gas mark 4) and roast for 1hr50mins, this should give you a perfect pink lamb. remove the lamb and leave for 15mins allowing it to rest before carving and serving.
The flavours in the lamb were a classic combination and can't really go wrong was delicious.
I served this with roughly chopped honey glazed carrots, heat a spoon of honey (supplied by the naked beekeper) and boil, add a small knob of butter and emulsify, add the carrots and allow to cook until they become a nice dark colour on the tops. finish them in the oven for 30mins so they still have some crunch.
Also served lovely roast tatties and minted french beans. blanch these in salted boiling water for 5mins until al dente and refresh with cold waer. sautee these in butter and some fresh chopped mint whilst your meat is resting.
The lovely sweet carrots went brilliantly with the rich lamb.
Hope you can give it a try one weekend.
I had to change the dish that I had planned on doing as the local butchers didnt have a shoulder large enough to feed the growing number round the table. S o I opted to roast a 6lb leg of lamb.
Firstly I preheated the oven to 220degrees(gas mark 7) whilst this was waming I took my leg and made 15 incisions into the fleshy side of the meat about 5cm deep, I stuffed these with slices of garlic, and a small sprig of rosemary and thyme pushing them all the way in with my finger. I then rubbed a thick layer of butter all over the top of the leg and seasoned it heavily with salt and black pepper. I also browned off five shallots peeled and quartered in oil and placed these in the roasting dish, placing the meat ontop. I then poured 3/4 of a bottle of white wine into the dish and added a few sprigs of the rosemary and thyme and placed it in the oven for 20mins.
After 20mins turn the oven down to 180degrees(gas mark 4) and roast for 1hr50mins, this should give you a perfect pink lamb. remove the lamb and leave for 15mins allowing it to rest before carving and serving.
The flavours in the lamb were a classic combination and can't really go wrong was delicious.
I served this with roughly chopped honey glazed carrots, heat a spoon of honey (supplied by the naked beekeper) and boil, add a small knob of butter and emulsify, add the carrots and allow to cook until they become a nice dark colour on the tops. finish them in the oven for 30mins so they still have some crunch.
Also served lovely roast tatties and minted french beans. blanch these in salted boiling water for 5mins until al dente and refresh with cold waer. sautee these in butter and some fresh chopped mint whilst your meat is resting.
The lovely sweet carrots went brilliantly with the rich lamb.
Hope you can give it a try one weekend.
Friday, 27 January 2012
So Sunday is fast approaching and in my household during these dark winter months this means only one thing...a sunday roast! this week however I am not working so I am going to cook.
For christmas I was given nose to tail eating by the head chef of St. John, Fergus Henderson. Now this is a great book with the philosophy that it would be disingenuous to the animal not to make the most of the whole beast and make the most of all the flavours and textures that lie beyond the fillet!
Ive decided to take a recipe from this book for sunday and am going to get in a nice shoulder of lamb in on the bone and braise it with white wine and a home made chicken stock. Il probably serve it with traditional roastie tatties jus like mum does...because lets face it mums roast potatoes are always the best!
I'll let you know how it turns out with pictures and a recipe on sunday fingers crossed!
For christmas I was given nose to tail eating by the head chef of St. John, Fergus Henderson. Now this is a great book with the philosophy that it would be disingenuous to the animal not to make the most of the whole beast and make the most of all the flavours and textures that lie beyond the fillet!
Ive decided to take a recipe from this book for sunday and am going to get in a nice shoulder of lamb in on the bone and braise it with white wine and a home made chicken stock. Il probably serve it with traditional roastie tatties jus like mum does...because lets face it mums roast potatoes are always the best!
I'll let you know how it turns out with pictures and a recipe on sunday fingers crossed!
Hi
Hi and welcome to blueapronchef,
I've started this blog because I love food, always have, always will do! I work in a successful restaurant in london, but I would like to bring some of these great ideas and my love for food to a wider audience so everyone can enjoy great food wherever they are.
I want to share with everyone any amazing recipes I come across or any great little restaurants I find.
I'm new at this so bear with me and I hope you find something you enjoy and hope to hear your comments.
I've started this blog because I love food, always have, always will do! I work in a successful restaurant in london, but I would like to bring some of these great ideas and my love for food to a wider audience so everyone can enjoy great food wherever they are.
I want to share with everyone any amazing recipes I come across or any great little restaurants I find.
I'm new at this so bear with me and I hope you find something you enjoy and hope to hear your comments.
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