New menu fun/Shepherds Pie recipe

Almost from the moment we implemented the current menu in the restaurant we began discussions around ideas for the next one. There are few things more exciting than talking about food, planning dishes, coming up with ingredients and combinations, thinking about how logistics in service or prep will work, considering crockery, working out how to get the maximum flavour out of any one component (possibly just me...) and we have spent a fair bit of our quieter times in the kitchen doing just that over the past few months.

Talking is fun. Doing is way more fun. This week we have begun to put into practice the ideas and theories, putting physical form to them, figuring out the recipes and playing with presentation. We have now begun putting on some of the new dishes as weekend specials to give them a test drive.

First up in the batting order is a trio of lamb that was one of the very first concepts that we discussed. The idea behind making this a trio is pretty much fuelled by greed, we love lamb in all its forms so why settle for cooking it in just one way when we can do three!? This particular version includes a roasted rump served medium rare, a slow braised shoulder croquette, a mini shepherd’s pie, mint jelly, celeriac puree and spinach. A variety of textures, tastes and techniques combined to make a dish greater than the sum of its parts.

It’s not all about the ideas and the recipes though. As a busy restaurant serving anything up to 150 covers in a night it is equally important that we are able to replicate the dish time and time again regardless of how busy we are. This is why the opportunity of a test run is so useful. Any change to routine or procedure can cause a hold up, as can taking time to figure out how exactly to do something. In this particular case we had a pretty good idea of how we would cook the rump, shoulder and garnish but we ended up experimenting with three different ways of heating up the shepherd’s pie (including a particularly explosive, ill-advised foray into the microwave) before deciding on the best method. This is relatively easy with just one new dish, we are pretty well dialled in on the rest of the menu as it has been on for a few months now, an entire new menu in one go is a pretty big push though.

We are in an exciting period right now and I’m looking forward to next weekend and another new dish or two to play with

Shepherd’s Pie

This is our take on a classic. While we use it as part of a taster plate of lamb but it could easily be a meal in itself. The basic recipe has been around since Victorian times and is traditionally a quick an easy way of using up leftovers from the Sunday Roast. This version though is one to take your time over and the pie is a worthy goal in its own right.

If you’re not a fan of offal then don’t be put off by the kidney and liver, they melt in at the beginning and add richness and depth to the whole dish without being discernable in the finished pie.

For the Lamb Stock

-          5kg lamb bones

-          4 large onions

-          6 carrots

-          1 head celery

-          2 leeks

-          750ml red wine

For the mash

-          Potatoes

-          Double cream

For the filling

-          2kg lamb mince

-          2 lamb’s kidney

-          1 lamb’s liver

-          3 carrots

-          2 sticks celery

-          2 onions

-          4 cloves garlic

-          2 tbsps Tomato puree

-          500 ml red wine

-          Bouquet Garni consisting of rosemary, thyme, bay

·         Make the lamb stock the day before – roast the lamb bones at 160C for about 40mins. Also roast the veg off for about 20 mins. Reduce the red wine by 1/3 then put all together in a pot and cover with water. Bring up to just under a simmer (ie. a trembling rather than bubbling surface) and leave on overnight.

·         Pass the lamb stock through a fine sieve and then reduce by about a ½

·         For the pie, first blanch the mince by covering in cold water and bringing up to the boil then taking off and draining. This will render off some of the fat and make the end result less greasy (we omitted this stage first time around and ended up warming the mix and hanging it in a muslin bag to drain off excess fat).

·         Sear the mince in a hot pan large enough to hold all of the filling in batches and remove to hold until later, lower the temperature on the pan.

·         Dice all of the veg (it’s worth taking some time over this, particularly with the carrots as they will show in the final result) and sweat them off.

·         Trim the liver and kidney and chop in a food processor. Add this to the vegetables with the tomato puree and cook off.

·         Add back in the seared mince and the red wine, reduce until nearly all absorbed then add half of the stock and the bouquet garni.

·         Cook slowly over several hours until sauce has reduced to almost nothing. Season with salt, pepper and a dash of balsamic vinegar.

·         While the filling is cooking reduce the rest of the stock to about half again.

·         Bake the potatoes on a baking tray with lots of salt until cooked through. Push through a drum sieve (or use a potato ricer) and beat in cream and seasoning until taste and consistency is correct.

·         To construct the pie – stir in some of the reduced stock to the hot pie mix to loosen it up and put into the pie dish. Top with hot mashed potato and place under a grill until browned.

Tricks of the Trade No. 1: In Praise of the Pastry Knife

Having entered the restaurant kitchen relatively late in life, my perspective is a little different from one who has led their whole professional and home cooking lives in tandem. Ten years as a keen (read obsessive and fairly geeky) home cook, reading, experimenting, watching TV, buying gadgets and playing around in my kitchen taught me a lot and left me well equipped (in some ways) for life in the cheffing world. It has been really interesting though, over the past couple of years to learn various tricks and tools that are well known ‘on the inside’ but a revelation to my home cooking self.

Deciding what equipment to buy in the early stages of my career was always going to be a key decision. Most chefs have big bags or boxes full of kit mostly centered around knives designed do various different jobs collected over the lifetime of their career when needed or available.

Knives are expensive.

There was never going to be any way that I could afford a full set straight away, so where to start?

There is one knife that pretty much every chef I have met owns. Pretty much no home cook I know has one. I bought one within days of starting out and have since used mine to chop stock veg, finely dice shallots, cut steaks, joint chicken, make sandwiches, carve roasts, slice tomatoes, dice pancetta, prep fish and countless other tasks.*

It is the Pastry Knife.

I have not used it to cut pastry.

Yet.

It is also cheap.

It is a little unwieldy the first time you use it. They are quite large and it seems strange initially to be using a serrated blade. It is, though, as sharp as hell and the curve to the blade makes it easy to get the rocking motion required for quick, smooth chopping. Serrations mean it doesn’t slip on smooth surfaces but surprisingly cuts cleanly. When eventually it gets ground down through use and sharpening (through home use we’re probably talking decades) then it still works well as a straight edged carver and it’s only about £20 to get a replacement.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against expensive knives. In fact I would really like some expensive knives. If anyone reading this feels an urge to buy me gifts then here would be a good place to start. Actually just chuck me a few thousand pounds; I shouldn’t have too much trouble spending it.

Most people though don’t have endless bundles of cash to spend on equipment but, even if I did, then the Pastry Knife would still be in my kit box. It seems unbelievable to me that every home doesn’t own one (mine certainly does now) but for some reason it remains the preserve of the professional, little known outside the stainless steel and striplight world and was a revelation to me that I would like to share with you.

Amazon has a fewone here if I have managed to convince you.

*I have also cut myself with it a few times  ;o)

Blog, blog, blogging

Blog, blog, blogging we have been talking for a very long time about starting this blog and now it is time to engage our culinary brains and put fingers to the keyboard to share and impart some of this knowledge (interesting or not) to anyone who is willing to read our humble blog !

We share a passion for all things culinary and foodie whether it be ingredients, dishes, stories or just the randomness of our life within food and we are lucky enough to be able to translate all of this to our work.

One of us has been a professional chef for many years and has been lucky enough to travel around the world (at least a couple of times) to ply our trade in several different countries, picking up invaluable food knowledge and stories, I cannot always promised they will be interesting but I hope to share what I can

The other part of this dynamic duo has been an avid foodie and curious cook for many years but has only just recently taken the plunge and completely changed career paths (and salaries) only to find that his destiny lay within the professional kitchen. He turned up one day at the back door of a local hotel where I happened to be the executive chef and asked to be given a chance (I felt sorry for the little urchin) and he has never looked back he even followed me to another hotel - what a glutton for punishment.......

We hope this blog will give you an interesting insight into our little foodie world, it could be dishes we are developing at work, ingredients that are in season, random food related issues that are important to us and the food that we cook a home and share with our families. I am sure at some point that my two boys, Giles and Sebastian, will make an appearance as they seem to enjoy eating the spoils and maybe even a couple of friendly chickens along the way........