New Years Resolutions!!! honestly who keeps them??

Hey all,

Been a little while yes i know. But the blog is at last back. I hope everyone had a good festive period and that you're all doing well with your new resolutions.
I have achieved mine so far. I thought id set achievable ones for once this year,

Firstly was a boring one. I thought it was time to stop being done by daylight robbery from who used to hold my previous website. I was paying far to much and a change had to be made, After seeing that 1 and 1 website that is everywhere on tv recently i decided to transfer the website there but the only problem was that the old provider would not free my domain url. So had to launch a whole new website.

www.stratfords-catering.co.uk

The feedback so far has been very positive about the professionalism of the new page which is always great to hear.


Secondly is a more challenging resoloution.

Since i moved in with my partner back in October i have always said that i would like to teach her all i know. And 2012. I will achieve this goal

It has started well. So far have taught her how to make basic dishes such as Beef Chilli, Last night i taught her a dish which she loved, here is the recipe for Teriyaki Salmon with Lime, Ginger and Coriander noodles

Ingredients(Serves 2)

2 Salmon Fillets

Squeeze of Honey

50ml Soy Sauce

1 limes(juice and zest)

1 Red Chilli(finely chopped)

1 Garlic Clove (finely chopped)

1 Ginger(Finely Grated)

2 Sheets of Egg Noodles

1 Bunch of Coriander(finely chopped)

50g Butter

1/2  a Red onion

1. Lay your salmon in a dish and mix together the soy sauce, half the butter, the garlic and half the ginger and honey and cover the salmon for at least half hour in the fridge

2. Get some Salted water on the boil for the noodles.

3. Add the noodles and simmer for 5 minutes until soft then put under running cold water to cool down

4. Add the rest of the butter to a pan and sweat off the red onion, chilli and ginger together

5. Heat a frying pan and add a little oil. Pan fry the salmon. Skin side down first to crisp the skin

6. Cook for a 2-3 minutes on each side and then finish off in the oven for 5 minutes

7. For the noodles. Put your chilled noodles in the pan with the onion mix and add the lime juice and coriander warm through and then serve with the Salmon placed on top with a squeeze of lime drizzled over the top

Trust me try this dish you will love it. As you can see from previous recipes i have put on here i do love the thai influence. This dish is perfect though for a light dinner. Especially if you are one of the millions who have their new years resolution to watch what they eat. This meal proves you can eat healthy whilst having a lovely dinner

To all you who have made resolutions of your own Good luck with them

Trying to share the knowledge

In a couple of weeks my niece is celebrating her first birthday, And my sister wants to make it special by making a cake from scratch for her. Me being a great brother offered to make her one for nothing, But no, my stubborn sibling is determined to to do it herself. Now i ask what is the point in me having the knowledge if i can not share it with my nearest and dearest. 

Same as my girlfriend who i am in the process of moving in with. I have designed her a recipe book of all my favourite recipes i have cooked throughtout my years as a chef. I wrote the recipes as simply as possible and last week she produced the soup that i blogged about a few weeks ago, the roasted butternut, coconut and chilli soup. With great success i must say too. So it will be nice when we move that i can put my feet up after a hot day in the kitchen and be catered for ;) 

But back to the cake debacle. So i walk into the kitchen yesterday to offer my assistance to my sister as she is there getting in a right battle against the icing sugar. Icing sugar everywhere. Trying to give tips, every time i open my mouth i am told to be quiet. But do manage to get a few hints on the sly. 

I leave her to it and half hour later a cake is brought upto me and i must admit for her first ever cake, not a bad effort and i am sure Roxi will love it :) 

Time for a freshen up

Been very busy the last couple of weeks, Work is going well and its all non stop along with moving house my life seems to be one big rush at the moment and i cannot wait till November when i get to get away for a bit.
This week i have found a little time though. And in that time i have spent it creating a new website. But boy is it fun when trying to transfer it.
I currently run my website through one particular web provider but am looking at changing it over as the web designer offers a lot more of a professional look to their finished product. However it seems that the original web provider who i am currently with do not want to let me go easily. Constantly ignoring my emails. Transferring me on a wild goose chase when i try ring their customer services on the phone. What  to do???

Well like i say the website is all created and waiting to go live however if you want you can view it here 

Have a look at be honest with me and tell me what you think of it? Do you prefer the new modern look or do you believe i should have stuck with the original style?


Out with the old

In with the new

Warming healthy salad

Well i was roped into cooking once more last after i finished work. Was given strict orders.

"Please can you pick up my dry cleaning whilst in town"

"I really fancy something healthy how about a salad."

So there was my mission. a healthy salad. But knowin me i couldnt just do a plain salad so decided to come up with somethin that would be just right for the time of year.

In the end i decided to go for a lemon, thyme and garlic chicken salad. And i must say its a definate one for the masses. So easy. Yet so tasty.

Ingredients (for four people):

4 chicken breasts
1 lemon
Few sprigs of thyme
1 clove of garlic
Black olives
1 red onion
Cracked black pepper
3 baby gem lettuce

1. Get your chicken and slice into 2cm chunks
2. Zest and juice the lemon
3. Add few sprigs of thyme to a bowl along with the lemon zest. Add the chicken and pepper and coat the chicken in the thyme and lemon
4. Fry the chicken in a little oil for about 8 minutes
5. Whilst the chicken is frying chop your garlic and cut your olives in half
6. Slice your onion and seperate the washed leaves of the baby gem.
7. In a nice salad bowl lay out the leaves and sprinkle the onion over the top
8. After 8 minutes of the chicken cooking add the onion and garlic and cook for a further minute.
9. Remove pan from heat and the ingredients from the pan and then add oil and lemon to make a warm dressing
10. Evenly spread the chicken mix over the salad
11. Pour the dressing over the salad and serve with fresh bread

Nice relaxing night off ??!!!?

So last night i had a well earned night off work. Yes, no cooking I thought, Maybe go out for a meal or get a takeaway with a nice glass of wine and enjoy the Indian summer evening we were having.

But no. The girlfriend had other ideas and really wanted me to cook us a nice dinner. So eventually I was persuaded and made the trip to town to get the ingredients. I had decided to go fish as it was such a nice evening.

Unfortunately I had arrived a little to late and the Fish monger in the market had just cleared up. So had to make the walk to the supermarket. I was undecided at this point what I was going to cook. But when I got to the fish counter there was all your normal supermarket mass produced fish. You know the type. The unsustainable types. Your Cods, Seabass and Salmon. But i noticed out of the corner of my eye some reduced fish, now being a chef im always on the lookout for a bargain.

They were selling Red Tilapia for just £2 a fillet, Bargain!! This fish is quite often on offer as a lot of people do not know what to do with it when it comes to cooking however it is a very simple fish to cook as ill explain later. I honestly feel more people should use these uncommon types of fish a lot more rather than always plumping for the Seabass and Cod type of fish

I rang the girlfriend and asked her if that was ok, Unfortunately she had never heard of Red Tilapia. So i ran the risk and got them anyway, Now for anyone that doesn't know Tilapia is a white meaty fish somewhere between the taste of Cod and Seabass and goes well with a variety of flavours. So I went down to the salad section i had Decided to serve it with Wilted spinach and a fresh, vibrant, rustic tomato and white wine sauce and a lemon and paprika dressing.

I got all the ingredients home along with a lovely bottle of Sauvignon and put everything in the fridge until she returned home from work

Below is the recipe i used and it is guaranteed to be a success, I give you my word.

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 Fillet of Tilapia per portion

200g tin chopped tomatoes

12 Cherry tomatoes

1 Clove of Garlic

1/2 red onion

glass white wine

500g  spinach

Juice of 1 lemon

Pinch of Paprika

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Make sure your fish is at room temperature
2. To make the dressing. Get your juice of one lemon and put into a bowl add the paprika and oil and oil and mix to form the dressing
3. To make the Sauce Thinly dice your red onion and garlic and add to a hot pan with a little oil. Slice your tomatoes in half and add to the mix. 
4. After a 5 minutes add your Tin of Chopped tomatoes and bring to a boil stirring every so often
5. Now add the glass of white wine and reduce down for ten minutes.
6. Get a roasting tray and add your spinach (It will look like a lot but will wilt down) Add a little butter and Salt and Pepper and Roast on a low heat of about 180 for upto ten minutes or until the spinach has wilted.
7. Get a frying pan on the stove and add another butter to coat the base of the pan add a little oil to stop the butter burning Season the fish and prepare to add to the pan
8. Once the pan is upto temperature add the fillets press gently down to stop curling at the edges and cook for 5 minutes  until the fish is 3/4 cooked. 
9. Now turn the fish and do the same on the other side for a couple of minutes after it has been turned over drizzle a little of the dressing over the fish so it can soak through whilst cooking
10. Once the fish is cooked Get your Spinach and tomato sauce and put on a plate and place the fish on top with a drizzle of the lemon and paprika dressing over the top.

The perfect profiterole

Below is my recipe for the perfect Chocolate profiterole, The orange in the cream really helps finish it off. I have tried to write it out as simple as i can any comments positive or negative then please let me know

Chocolate and Orange Profiteroles

Ingredients:

·         85g unsalted butter

·         200ml cold water

·         4 teaspoons caster sugar

·         115g plain flour

·         pinch of salt

·         3 medium eggs beaten

For the Cream Filling

·         600ml double Cream

·         zest of 3 oranges

For the Sauce

·         50g caster sugar

·         175g plain chocolate

1.     Preheat the oven to 200 degrees

2.     Lightly oil a baking tray

3.     To make the pastry, place the butter and sugar into a large pan with 200ml cold water

4.     Place over a low heat to melt the butter. Now increase the heat

5.     Add the flour and the salt

6.     Remove from the heat

7.     Quickly beat the mixture vigorously till a smooth paste is formed

8.     Once smooth add back to the heat

9.     Stir for one minute then once again remove it

10.  Add the eggs bit by bit mixing well

11.  Continue beating the mix until the paste is smooth and glossy

12.  It should have a dropping consistency

13.  Dip a teaspoon into some warm water and lift out a spoonful of the mixture and place on baking trap rubbing the end to make a smooth round ball

14.  Place in the oven

15.  Bake for 10 – 20 mins until golden brown

16.  Remove from the oven and prick the base of each profiterole

17.  Place back on the baking tray with the hole facing up and cook for a further 5 minutes to dry the inside of the profiterole so they aren’t soggy

18.  Take out and put on a cooling rack and leave to cool

19.  To make the cream. Lightly whip the cream with the orange zest until soft peaks are formed

20.  Don’t overwhip

21.  Once the profiteroles are cold. Fill with the cream

22.  To make the sauce. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Put the sugar into a small pan with 100ml of water and bring to the boil.

23.  Stir the Melted chocolate and add the water and sugar mix into the chocolate and stir until smooth and shiny

24.  Dip the profiteroles top end first into the chocolate sauce then put in fridge to set

A great thai inspired soup

Sorry people i know i havent blogged a lot recently i have had a lot of personal things to sort out.

On twitter I was talking to a fellow tweeter and telling them about an amazing soup i have made on many occasions. Below is the recipe for;

Roasted Butternut, Coconut and Chilli Soup
A great thai inspired warming soup lovely for hot summer days or cold wintry days


Ingredients (serves 6)       
750 ml Veg stock              
2 Butternut Squash              
15g Coriander                      
1 Knob of Ginger Grated       
2 Red Chillis                         
2 Cloves Garlic                      
250 ml Coconut milk         
4 Shallots                             
2 Lemon Grass                    

1. Top and tail the Butternut Squash, cut down the middle, scoop out the seeds and dice the butternut
2. Roast the Butternut with a 1/4 of the Chilli, half the coriander and salt and pepper with olive oil for about 20-30 minutes until the butternut becomes soft
3. Fry the thinly diced shallots in a sauce pan, add the garlic and the rest of the chilli and ginger
4. Add the stock and lemon grass and then cook for about ten minutes 
5. Add the roasted buttenut and coconut milk and simmer for 10 minutes 
6. Season, Puree and serve