On a particular day (actually, due to volume constraints it was completed over two or three days) back in February 2005, I again blessed the Italians.
A simple peaty mash that was passed through twice (“double…”) and hit with some toasty oak. The result was surprisingly good!
The menu for a wine matching dinner with fellow wine geeks (February 2006) comprised:
White truffle custard with mushroom ragout
Based on the French Laundry’s, but with a mushroom ragout instead of their black truffle ragout. I like it this way because (i) mushroom and truffle is a natural combo for me that works well, (ii) it’s ovo-lacto vegetarian friendly, and (iii) mushrooms are cheaper than black tuffles but still taste great.
Pan seared scallops with a creamy soy-Madeira sauce, nori rice and spicy glazed vegetables
Caesar salad with creamy mustard dressing
I like to see Cos, crispy British bacon and well browned croutons.
Braised shin of beef on roast parsnip mash with melted leeks and Brandy beef-reduction
Brandy works so well in a reduction of shin of beef braising liquid.
Braised shin of beef on roast parsnip mash with melted leeks and Brandy beef-reduction
Roast pheasant with a beetroot-mulled wine reduction, chestnut sauce and braised cabbage
The pheasant was barded and stuffed (largely with sausage meat, which can be seen in the photo below). It’s so important to keep it moist while roasting. The chestnut sauce is basically sauted mire poix with Sherry and roast chestnuts added, then slightly thickened.
Roast pheasant with a beetroot-mulled wine reduction, chestnut sauce and braised cabbage
Chocolate tranche of Earl grey cream over bitter-sweet rich chocolate-orange Marquise over chocolate sponge with hard-caramel date
Assorted cheeses
Since this was a wine matching dinner and there were (going to be) a few dessert wine options, I wanted to offer a variety of desserts for diners to experiment with: fruit and toffee, creamy fruity mousses and rich dark chocolate.
Spiced poached apple and pear with toffee sauce
Marbled white chocolate and raspberry mousse with black pepper tuile
This has dried lemon and raspberry powders on top which add a nice piquancy. Black pepper provides an interesting combo with raspberry.
Chocolate tranche of Earl grey cream over bitter-sweet rich chocolate-orange Marquise over chocolate sponge with hard-caramel date
Dessert
Dessert
I love how versatile scallops can be with flavour pairings. I went through a bit of a scallop experimentation fad (“session working with scallops”) some years ago.
The first essentially became a “signature dish” of mine, except below it looks a little red…
Scallops with a soy-Madiera sauce and cayenne-honey veg
and the most recent version throws chopped nori through the rice:
Scallops with a soy-Madiera sauce and cayenne-honey veg
The sauce comprises soy sauce, Madeira, thyme and a little garlic. I like to use capsicum (bell pepper), zucchini (corgette) and carrot as the vegetables; they’re sauted in honey and cayenne.
I played around with “white” ingredients one winter:
"White colour theme"
Simply: seared scallops, salsify (cream poached method) and lychee.
Rob Feenie’s dish doesn’t look as good as it could here, but the flavours are a fantastic combo.
Rob Feenie's scallops with wilted spinach and a vanilla-saffron cream
It started in Vancouver.
I’d always been interested in food and cooking, but in 2004 I embraced haute cuisine, in the sense of food conceived as an aesthetic form of art. Focus on ingredient selection, interesting flavour/texture combinations, complex multi-component dishes, multi-course (six to ten) dinners for friends… though that’s not to say all my cooking was (or is) orientated that way.
Returning from life in Vancouver, a city with a justified reputation for high quality value-for-money top-end fine dining and an accompanying wine focus, I felt inspired to hone some new creations. Captivated by the philosophies of fusion cooking, nouvelle cuisine, seasonality, and high class presentation, I began to develop complete multi-course menus.
The overall aim was to create food which was refined and attractive, as well as being innovative and challenging.
With the significant North American influence, I was initially inspired by chefs as Rob Feenie (Lumière) and Thomas Keller(surely no reference required 
) but soon after broadened dish concepts to utilise local British ingredients and became influenced by Heston Blumenthal, Pierre Gagnard, Hervé This and David Everitt-Matthias. Blogs like Ideas In Food and Studio Kitchen provided great inspiration too.
Development was driven by a passion for cooking (which sounds silly now, but only because it’s become a cliché in today’s ridiculous celebrity chef pop-cooking-culture), crafting/artistry, anal retention to perfectionism (within the confines of limited equipment etc), and (perhaps most importantly) cooking for friends.
Some time ago the original blog that resided here was hacked and deleted (yes, I had been lazy on the management front and not backed up the entries).
This blog will document my ongoing culinary experimentation, as well as loosely report on some of the concepts and creations that were reported in the old blog.
