Chef Wise

This noodle salad has a bit of a kick to it but you can alter the spices on it if you find that the dressing is to strong for your taste. As for the rest of it once you have every thing mixed together in a large bow it look very attractive and goes well with any kind of meat of fish. You will need 85g/3oz of egg noodles 56g/2oz rice noodles 2 Pack Choy 1 carrot 1 red pepper 1 yellow pepper 1 green pepper 1 under ripe hard mango Six or seven fine spring onions One red onion Small bunch of coriander 1tsp crushed garlic 1tsp crushed ginger 1tsp sesame oil 1tbsp soy sauce 2tbsp vegetable oil 1tsp brown sugar 2tsp lime juice 1tsp rice vinegar 1 red chilli ½tsp fish sauce First you need to get your dressing made. Now if you have never made any thing like this before then you mix this to see if you like it. If it is to hot or spices you can away add more oil vinegar lime juice to take away the heat. Also if you do not like it to hot then make sure that you do not use all the chilli and that n...

The sort of thing you should not do in a restaurant and should do depends on the restaurant. You could say that it is not expectable to eat with your fingers. But that is not always the case in some case you are positively encouraged to use your finger as it would be the most sensible option. And now you have a number of things that you can not do in a public space such a smoking. Once this would have been acceptable and now is legislated against so you can not. So to start with let’s just cover the basics. A restaurant is a public place but you do not want to be too loud or invasive. Not to say you can not enjoy your self and have a good time but not every one in the whole restaurant will want to know what you are talking about. Remain seated and do not wander about with out a good reason. And be polite to the staff and other dinners. Do as you would be done by, as in life as in the restaurant. When you are ordering your food and drinks do not all talk at once. Take it in turns to or...

This is a little baked chocolate cheese cake that is a treat to eat. If you are going to make it, as with most chocolate dishes, use the best chocolate that you can afford. 70% coco solids if you can get it and also a good cream cheese and ricotta as well. You will need. 125g/4½oz biscuits 65g/2½oz butter, melted 100g/3½oz good-quality dark chocolate 200g/7oz full-fat cream cheese 400g/14oz ricotta 75g/2½oz golden caster sugar 3 eggs 40g/1½oz cocoa powder Fist you need to make your base . Now here in the United Kingdom we generally use digestive biscuits or sweet meal biscuits. But you can use almost any thing that you like. Once I had a base that was made from crushed bran flakes and golden syrup. As long as the base remains crunchy after it has been made it does not really matter. Crush the biscuits up to a fine crumb and mix with the melted butter. Then press in to a spring loaded cake tin and chill. Now place th4e chocolate in a heat proof bowl and heat over a sauce pan of simmerin...

There are many grate cocktails in the world, house hold names that you have heard even if you have never been in a bar, the Bloody Mary, Heavy Wall Banger and Moscow Mule to mane a few. And the best are them most simple and refreshing like the Screwdriver. Two parts vodka 4 parts orange juice over ice in a glass with a slice of orange. This simple drink is refreshing and is drunk all over the world. It has a history as well. The story goes that an oil worker in America used to make the drink and then as he was hard at work drilling for oil stirred his drink with a screwdriver. The reason for this is that it was the best tool for the job as he did not have a swizzle stick on the rig. Also for me a cocktail must hark back to the bygone age of the roaring twenty and thirties. An age when ever thing seemed possible and probably was. So for me the cocktail that sum up all of that and more is The Dry Martini. Now this drink can bring that bar in to a heated debate from the moment you mention...

Rosemary and olive bread is a grate and tasty thing to eat. The flavours of the olives and rosemary punctuating threw out the crisp crust and soft centre. This recipe you can make as one big loaf or just as individual loaves. And the great thing is that it is not to difficult to make. You will need the following ingredients to make this version of the bread. 15g/½ oz fresh compressed yeast 240ml/8floz warm water 325g/12oz strong or bread flour 1 tsp sugar 2tsp salt 3 to 4 tbsp olive oil 110g/4oz black olives A good bunch of rosemary Now if you can make this one of two ways. Both are as good as each other. One you make the dough and then decorate the bread with the rosemary and the olives before you bake it. Normally you make it in a large flat loaf, making indentations in to the top of the bread. With your finger poke a hole in the dough and them spiking in the olives and rosemary. Alternate between olive and rosemary and you get a very effective looking loaf of bread. My preferred way...

24 June 2011 Following the debate on Radio Five Live yesterday morning (June 23) with Jeremy Paxman in his capacity as Chairman of CleanupUK, Neill Whitall, Chairman of the Foodservice Packaging Association, comments: “The FPA works with all parties to address the issues of littering. Jeremy Paxman rightly points out that some people in our society today just don’t understand the consequences of littering. This highlights the need, that we have actively supported for some time, to re-educate the public about littering. However we feel strongly ALL bodies must work together for the greater good. We support Cleanup UK’s campaign and welcome the debate they have started. We also support the Tidy Britain Group’s ‘Love Where You Live’ campaign, and other initiatives such as the ‘Save a Cup’ campaign and the charity Children’s Scrapstore. We actively encourage members (manufacturers and distributors) to work with their customers (the operators) to tackle to issues. Rather than confro...

23 June 2011 The Llanerch Vineyard Cookery School has been frantically busy since its opening and is expecting even more visitors when the Vineyard opens this month. Angela will then launch her Saturday Morning Kitchen, which is completely free. Come along and get some great recipe ideas for entertaining family and friends on your family holiday in Wales, and then visit the new Vineyard café to enjoy two of her dishes in the wonderful surroundings at Llanerch, in Hensol, Vale of Glamorgan. Come early to get your seat as this event will be free of charge and is sure to be very popular. Also available this summer are our Cookstart lessons for teenagers. If you have a budding junior chef at home or your off-spring is about to fly the nest and can't boil an egg, send them to the Llanerch Vineyard Cookery School where they will gain confidence and become inspired by Angela. They will learn important culinary skills that will last a lifetime, including all about nutrition and seasonality...

The importance of food safety is some thing that you probably do not think about much. In fact unless you have been struck down with food poisoning and by that I mean more that a little bit of an up set tummy, you probably are wondering what all the fuss is about. It is very hard to say why it is but the fact remains that food poisoning is rising and the events that lead to it are normally always the same. But I will come back to them a little latter if I can. Food poisoning is on the rise for two reason one; we do not cook our own food. Now we eat more and more ready meals and les and less fresh prepared food. And second we are slowly becoming more and more less immune to the bacteria that brings us the food poisoning. The fact that we go out shopping and perches more processed food then store it in our fridges at home means that we are trusting in the people who make them to make them safely. No as I work in the food industry at a manufacturing site you would think that I would think...

Sweet potato can be very plain or very flavour full all depending on what you do with them. The best way to cook them is to try and capture all the sweet flavour and form that is roasting them. So for this mash you will need 450g/1ld sweet potato 1 small onion 3 garlic cloves 1tsp ginger root 1tsp of lime juice 240ml/8foz cream coconut ½ small red chilli Slat and fresh ground black pepper to taste First you take your sweet potato and garlic and place them all in a baking fry in there skins. Then peal the onion and place that in the baking tray. Now cover this all with tin foil and then place in to the oven and bake till ever thing is soft and completely cooked threw. This way then you get the steam as it cook and the dry heat of the roast that cook and soften every thing as it cooks. You have to remove the skin of the onion other wise every thing gets a little bitter note in the taste. Once every thing is cooked let it cool on the side for a moment then you can start to mash every thi...

22 June 2011 22 June 2011 - To celebrate its new Domino’s Stuffed Crust(TM), the pizza delivery expert has announced two social platform initiatives to spread the word – a location-based offer integrated with Facebook® Deals and internet-based treasure hunt, Domino’s Stuffed Crust Quest. The Facebook Deals promotion starts on Thursday [June 23, 2011] and offers a free garlic pizza bread when Facebook users check in to any UK Domino’s store and order a Domino’s Stuffed Crust. To claim, customers simply need to present the check in screen on their mobile to the order taker. By checking in with their Facebook account, pizza lovers can also publish it back to Facebook and share it with friends. For budding treasure hunters, Domino’s Stuffed Crust Quest will launch later this week. The interactive quest will challenge Domino’s fans to follow clues around the internet during a limited time period to collect a series of letters. The letters will spell out a secret code that can be redeemed fo...

22 June 2011 New system, launched by Sir Steve Redgrave and MP for South Derbyshire Heather Wheeler, provides essential real-time information to fully manage H&S compliance 22 June 2011 – Environmental Scientifics Group (ESG), the UK’s leading provider of testing, inspection and compliance services is pleased to launch ESG Online – a complete management solution for Environmental Health & Safety Compliance. The system was officially introduced to key clients by Sir Steve Redgrave and MP for South Derbyshire, Heather Wheeler at an event at the House of Commons on 21 June 2011. ESG Online is a powerful, comprehensive yet easy to use management system providing a complete and independent solution for Environmental Health & Safety compliance. Businesses can be confident that they are aware of their legal obligations and best practice requirements in real time enabling them to reduce risk, maintain business continuity and drive change to continuously improve. This innovative an...

If any one is thinking what can I watch on the television at the moment then I recommend the restaurant inspector on Channel 5. I have yet to see this week as I have it ready to watch but if it is any think like the past two then well worth a watch. Fernado Peire is I think a honest and straight talking kind of guy who after all might know what he is talking about , after all you do not get to run The Ivy by not knowing what you are doing. And most of what he says is not rocket science, well of course its not it’s about restaurants. Also, go on the web site and see his five tips about being a good customer as well. I do find my self wondering how much is put on for the cameras but all the same it is rather good. Also it is good to see that the front of house is taking the lead and not some chef. Follow the link below to the show web site. http://www.channel5.com/shows/the-restaurant-inspector

In the world that we live a simple and covenant food that can be made in just a few minuets is a good thing. I have made this for the whole family served and on the table in about twenty minuets. A microwave meat takes about the same from defrost to full cook so this is a lot better. And you only use just the one pan so you can not say that it creates lots of washing up. You will need 15g/½oz butter 1 onion finely chopped 1 potato pealed and finely diced or 3 or 4 table spoons of dried potato 340g/12oz frozen peas 1lt/2pts of water 1 chick stock cube. The first step get your water and add the stock cube to it and get it on the heat warming up. The second stage is the most difficult as you have to get your onion and potato and peal and dice them as fine as you can. The smaller the pieces the faster they will cook. But do not worry too much for as long as the potato is cooked and you can blend it you will be alright. But if you are looking for an even faster way, Just use two or three ...

If your are holding any party of any kind the thing you want to do is sit down and think of two things . One what kinds of party or event are you trying to have and second how much do you want to spend. This might sound a little simple but I can assure you from years of working in the hospitality industry, people always know what they would like. But they never know how much it might cost. And when you are doing the planning and the catering you would be surprised how things can go spiralling out of control in just a few simple unplanned additions to the list. Now to know how much it might cost you must know how many people are coming. More importantly who is coming. Now normally between my wife and me that is an easy thing to sort out as I have virtually no close friends, she invites who she wants and I go along with it. As Bev has a pretty good taste in friends then it is normally a good crowed. And by the time people start to arrive I have started to get in to the party mood with th...

21 June 2011 Foraging expert predicts bumper year for wild fruit and berries; Wild Jam Maker app Jam-makers are licking their lips in anticipation after an expert predicted what could be the best ever year for wild fruit and berry harvests in the UK. Leading foraging expert Chris Bax said the warmest spring on record has filled the nation's trees and bushes with blossom, which points to a bumper fruit harvest. Wild raspberries and strawberries are already starting to show and there are good signs of a fantastic blackthorn crop; meanwhile, commercially grown strawberries are already 150 per cent up and grape harvests are expected to set new records. All of which is music to the ears of the nation’s jam-makers. Once considered the preserve of older generations, it is enjoying a renaissance thanks to celebrity jam-makers such as Kate Moss and Zoe Ball who have helped jam jars sales double in the last 12 months. Mr Bax, who runs Taste The Wild and is an advisor to British cooker manuf...

Shepherds pie is a very tradition British dish that used the left over roast lamb from the Sunday dinner the day before. Also packed with vegetables and topped with mashed potato it was what was known as a wash day dinner. Normally the washing that did take all day to do was done on a Monday and you could make this up and pop it in the oven and bake it as you got on with some thing more important. To make my version you will need the following. 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 onion, peeled, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary and thyme 2 carrots, peeled, chopped ½ swede, peeled, chopped 1 large parsnip, peeled, chopped 20g/¼oz tomatoes puree 1 litre/1¾ pints meat stock 320g/11½ oz of minced lamb Salt and ground black pepper 150g/5oz peas Plane flour 3-4 floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper or King Edward 1-2 tbsp butter dash milk Take your lamb and place it in to bowl break it up with your finger if it is very solid. Then dust with some flour and ...

20 June 2011 As the UK becomes more vigilant about washing and preparing vegetables in light of the recent E.Coli outbreak, many of us are turning towards our favourite kitchen gadgets to make light work of everyday cooking tasks. OXO’s universally-designed salad spinner will wash and dry leaves in next to no time. Whether a full head of romaine lettuce, pre-prepared bag or a juicy tomato, it pays to be extra careful. Simply wash your leaves in the removable plastic basket, which doubles as a colander, and add to the salad spinner to dry. OXO’s innovative pop-up handle allows you to spin with just one hand, while the non-slip base ensures that the spinner stays put on your work surface. A push button break mechanism brings the spinning to a quick halt. For those who like to snack on cucumbers or create a refreshing salad but have become slightly wary given the recent health scare, OXO’s Y peeler is ideal for removing a wafer thin layer of skin. With its trademark, soft-grip handle, OXO...

20 June 2011 Did you know about 27,000 kilos of strawberries are eaten during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships1 every year? The Wimbledon Tennis Grand Slam Tournament has become almost as well known for the strawberries as for the tennis. Here at Good Natured we’ve been busy, preparing our pesticide residue free Succulent Strawberries grown just as Mother Nature intended using an environmentally friendly production system to keep the produce healthy and free of naughty bugs, like greenfly and aphids, which spoil the fruit (and the fun). Our Succulent Strawberries taste delicious whether you’re on centre court or in your kitchen. Strawberries feature in some of Britain’s favourite summer dishes from Eton Mess, Trifle, and Pimm’s to, of course, strawberries and cream. Tempted? Our strawberries are available nationwide in selected ASDA and Morrisons stores, and in Tescos in Scotland, and are available in fully recyclable, biodegradable and compostable punnets. If you’re after hints an...

20 June 2011 Time was when a muddy tent, a pair of Doc Martens and a bottle of Asti Spumante was all a girl needed to have a good time at a summer festival. But a new survey by Alpro soya to mark the start of its Breakfest summer festival sampling campaign – which kicks off this week to coincide with the start of Glastonbury – shows how times have changed. Posh accommodation such as glamping is on the rise, with almost one third (30%) of festival-going ladies who were surveyed ahead of this year’s season of outdoor concerts, insisting they definitely won’t be camping in the conventional way at their favourite festival this summer. While half will be packing a mirror, one out of 10 will be taking their curling tongs, hair straighteners and/or a hair dryer, and one in 20 will even be taking scented candles for some home-from-home relaxation in posh alternative accommodation. The nationwide survey of more than 1,000 women predominantly under the age of 44, all of whom will all be attendin...

The first thing that you must remember when tasting wine is that it is not a test. What you taste will be total unique to you and to no one else. It will be your own experience and no one else so no matter what you might here or be told this is your tasting and you are in control of it. You might have heard people say that it smell of cabbage and taste of plumb with a lot of oak but do not worry about that. The wine will taste how it tastes unique in most way from any other wine. And there for you as a person will taste it and that will be unique to you. There are a number of terms that are often used in wine tasting and things that you can look for but if you are doing this for the first time then lest start at the beginning. Start by looking at the wine. Hold it up to the light and hold it at an angel so that you can get as thin a layer of wine on the side of the glass. Look at the light and how it looks in the wine. If it is a white wine how deep is the colure of the wine and does t...

An easy guide to the perfect roast potato. The perfect roast potato should be crispy on the out side and soft and fluffy in the inside. To achieve this you need to do a number of things but to start with you must get the right kind of potato. For the best roast potatoes you would be best using King Edwards, Maris Piper, Pentlands Dell, Romano, Cara or Desiree. Out of all of them I would ether use Desiree or Cara as they seem to have a good all-round use as well so if you are going to buy potatoes you want to be able to use them for more than just roasting. The Desiree has a more waxy texture when cooked that you do have to make sure they are fully cooked to get the real roast potato. Also if you look in the shop these are the two most common produced potatoes that you can get so it makes them very cost effective as well. So first get you potatoes and wash and peal them then cut them all in to similar sized pieces. The reason for this is that you want your potatoes to all cook at the sa...

You can make a chicken salad a hundred ways and they all would be great. Especially if you use a roasted or smoked chicken. But if I was going to make one I would do it like this. 60g/2½oz Chicken meat (From a roasted or smoked chicken beat to have a mix of leg and breast meat is best.) 400g/14ozSalad leaves 25g/1oz Fresh chives 25g/1oz fresh parsley 2 sprigs fresh thyme 3 rashers of Streaky bacon 60g/2½oz Boiled salad potatoes 50ml/4tdsp extra virgin olive oil 10ml/2tsp Lemmon juice 10ml/2tsp Runny honey 15g/3tsp Whole grain mustard Salt and pepper to taste First you get you chicken and then cut it in to strips. Unless the skin is very crispy I normally take it off as cold chicken skin is not as nice as hot chicken skin. Then place it in to a nice big bowl. Then add the salad leaves to the bowl and a goo amount of fresh herbs. If you can pick you salad leaves I would go for the more robust ones that will take a little heat as you will see why latter. As for the herbs I like to use ch...

Easy to do, good to eat and great for a party . My chilli con carne recipe is just one of many that I have gathered along the way and this is more of a concoction of all the best elements rolled in to one. I hope if you do make it you like it. And if you find a better way of making it then do so. For that is the grate thing about a good Chilli con carne you can make it your won by doing it your way. You will need the following 2 tbsp olive oil 1kg/2lb 2oz beef mince 6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon 2 onions, diced 2 cloves garlic, diced 1 stick celery, diced 2 chillies, diced 1 bay leaf 1 tbsp ground coriander 1 tbsp dried oregano 1 tbsp paprika 2 tsp cayenne 1 tsp ground black pepper 1 tbsp tomato purée 400g/14oz tinned tomatoes 250ml/9fl oz beef stock 400g/14oz tinned red kidney beans, rinsed and drained small bunch coriander leaves, roughly chopped Dash of bourbon (optional) Now for the best result I think is make it and chill it down then reheat and eat the next day or two latter....

Taste of London 16-19 June 2011 Regent’s Park, London Savour the flavours of summer at Taste of London, the world's greatest restaurant festival. You'll spend the day with 40 of the city's best restaurants, chefs' demonstrations, a boutique food and drinks market and wine, chocolate and cheese tastings - it's an alfresco celebration of all that's great about dining out. Advance tickets range from £22 - £95 http://www.tastefestivals.com/london/

BBC Good Food Shows Summer - Wednesday 15th - Sunday 19th June 2011, NEC Birmingham Scotland - Friday 21st- Sunday 23rd October 2011, SECC, Scotland Winter -Wednesday 23rd- Sunday 27th November 2011, NEC Birmingham BBC Good Food Shows, one of the big food shows and it in on now,If it not there it’s probably not worth seeing. See the link below to find out more . www.bbcgoodfoodshow.com

I was just a young lad when my brother cam home on leave from the army. We lived in a small village in Lincolnshire in England. And we went in to town, Lincoln City and for the first time I had a Big Mac. Mac Donald’s was not as well known then as it is now, something that you would se only in London. And it was a special, a treat to savour some thing that we could see at the moves or on the television. It was a treat and a pleasure. And I think that that is the point with fast food, to much is not good. But a little every now and then is alright. In fact more than alright but very liberating in a way. I know that I like to take my kids of a burger and then a film or just grab a bite to eat when out shopping. The problem with that is that now you are made to feel that you are some kind of bad parent pushing them to a damned to life of obesity and bad diets. It is slowly becoming politically incorrect to have fast food. Especially if it is from one of the big global organisation. The co...

Mussels with white wine and garlic is a slight deviation from the classic Moules A La Mariniere. Only by the addition of garlic and that is not strictly true. How ever for my version of the dish you will need. 25g/1oz butter 500g/1lb 2oz mussels 1 shallot or small onion finely diced 1 or 2 garlic cloves, more if you like. 125ml/9floz dry white wine 125ml/9floz double cream Fresh chopped parsley. Salt and pepper to taste. Now before you start you want to make sure that your mussels are alright to use. Do not collect your mussels from the wild unless you are certain the water is not polluted. And if you do collect them your self never do it in the summer. Try and cook the mussels on the day of purchase. If you have to keep them of a day or so then keep them chilled and best of all in some salted water. Fresh water will kill them. If they look muddy and you have collected them you can put them in a bucket of water with 1tdsp of flour and about 50g/1¾oz salt. Keep them over night and this ...

Like many drinks today it is often not what you think it might be. A classic black Russian is vodka and Tia Maria. Now it seems to have some kind of cola in it as well but the classic is just vodka and Tia Maria. Getting its name from the Russian vodka and the blackness of the Tia Maria. Allegedly made by a barman From the Hotel Metropole in Brussels. It was in honour of Perle Skirvin Mesta an America ambassador to Luxemburg. She was known as the “hostess with the mostes”. So to make the classic black Russian you need two parts vodka to one part Tia Maria. Measure the spirits in to a large tumbler over ice and give a good stir then drink. And it is a very adult drink that will have an effect very quickly. Now having said that there is a school of thought that you can use Kahlúa instead of Tia Maria. That is down to taste. Tia Maria is from Jamaica originally and is a little sweeter than Kahlúa. Kahlúa is also slightly thicker than Tia Maria. As well as that Kahlúa has a slightly more...

Meringue is not as easy as people thing but also when you look at it what could go wrong, its egg whites and sugar right. Well basically that is correct but there are three things that I would say. First is make sure that the equipment that you use id as clean as it can be. Second make sure that you have nothing but egg white in your egg white, no yolk or shell. Third use eggs that are at room temperature and not chilled. I do not know how true this is or if there are any facts to back this up but I was told that if you have any impurities in the mix it makes it harder to work with and the egg white does not set properly. And if you use chilled eggs you do not get the full volume of air in the egg. Now I have never put this to the test as far as I know but it seems to make good sense to me and the pastry chef that told me that had been making meringues before I was born so I kind of believed him. The second is deciding what kind of meringues that you want to make. French Meringue. 115g...

Making bread is one of the most satisfying things that you can do. It takes time and effort but the end product is well worth waiting for. And the more you make the better you get and the better you get the more you want to make. So start with the very basic bread recipe, a milk loaf. You will need. 450g/1ld strong plane flour 1 tsp salt 290ml/½ pint milk 15g/½oz butter 15g/½oz fresh yeast 1 tsp sugar Take your milk and heat this with the butter on the stove once it is warm and the butter has melted then remove it from the heat. You want the milk to be at about 25° to 30°. Once the milk has cool down take a little of it and add that to the yeast. Just crumble the yeast pour the milk and pour the milk over it. Then add the sugar to that, the yeast will feed of the sugar and in a little while you will see it frothing up. Now sift your flour and salt in to a large mixing bowl. If you have a food mixer then use that with the dough hook on it. Crack the egg in the rest of the milk and whisk...

16 June 2011 HiPP Organic, the original organic baby food company, is delighted to announce the arrival of its brand new range of organic Fruit Pouches, specially developed for babies from four months onwards. Placing their consumers at the heart of everything they do, HiPP Organic understood that mums were seeking their well renowned tasty, nutritious products in a more convenient format. They also discovered, that whilst adults are aware of what constitutes their ‘five a day’, the same portion size does not apply to little ones. HiPP Organic has therefore cleverly placed up to two individual portions of pureed fruit within each pouch, helping parents provide their baby with some of their five a day in a simple and convenient way. To further educate mums readily seeking the importance of 'five a day', HiPP Organic has also developed a comprehensive resource on their website to indicate the recommended portion size for a widespread number of fruit and vegetables. Made from the ...