Chef Wise

Now I know lot of different ways of cooking this like so many dishes it has many different versions and this is just one. I also make it with red wine and no cream just good honest stock, just as good. 1 chicken breast A handful of dried mushrooms   1 shallot 1 garlic clove Some butter Some flour ½ glass white wine A shot of cognac Double cream Salt and pepper A sprig of fresh thyme Now the first thing to do is soaked  the mushroom to let them re-hydrate and then drain of the water but keep the soaking juices. Now take some flour and season with salt and pepper then cut the chicken breast into strips and dust the pieces of chicken breast cut into strips with seasoned flour. Now in a frying pan sauté the chicken for about 5 minute in butter until it is nice and brown. Now take the chicken out of the pan and place to one side keeping it warm. Now place the pan back on the stove and add the shallot finely diced, thyme and garli...

A simple salad that is a real nice almost satisfy thing, as the egg yolk mixes in to the dressing and over the croutons. It is refreshing and comforting at the same time, if a dish can be. You will need 2tbsp Dijon mustard 1tbsp white wine vinegar 3tbsp extra virgin rapeseed oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Half a shallot, ¼ clove garlic, finely diced 100g/3oz smoked bacon 2 thick slices of white bread Fresh salad leaves like frissee, lambs , endive or escarole, prepared and washed Some chives Some chervil 1 egg A dash of white wine vinegar First take a pan and fill it with water and bring it to the boil. Now cut your bacon into too nice chunky lardoons. Plunge them into the water for about 10 to 20 seconds then out and let them cool.  Now cut the bread up in to nice big croutons. Drizzle a little oil over them toss them in the oil and put that in an oven set at 170c/350f. Now in a bowl add the 2tbsp Dijon mustard, 1tbsp...

For some reason I only see crème caramel in Chinese restaurants these days, I do not know why. It seems to be not of those deserts that has fallen from grace and is just not done any more. Fallen fowl of the cool more sociably excitable dessert, that parade in the more salubrious restaurants.  Well I’m still thinking of you even if no one else is. To make a Crème Caramel you will need 160g/6oz sugar A little unsalted butter 4 eggs 1tsp vanilla extract 25g/1oz caster sugar 600ml/1 pint full-fat milk All depending on your ramekins this will make about 6 caramels altogether. You need to start by making your caramel, now when working with sugar be careful it really burns and you do not want that. Take the 160g/6oz of caster sugar and add that to a pan with about 5 or 6 tablespoons of water. On a low heat dissolve the sugar until all the granules have gone then bring to a boil until the sugar turns a dark caramel colour. Then take it off the heat immediate...

The Croque Monsieur , or as I like to call them posh cheese and ham toasty but that is only to annoy the French , is about as good as sandwich can get. And that is why I call it a cheese and ham toasty because it is French and about as good as a sandwich can get . To make a good one you need good ham, good cheese and good bread. So do not make this with a mass produced sliced white bread, make it with some real white bread from the bakers.  Use a slice of good roasted ham and reel gruyere cheese. The only thing that I use that I suppose is not French is the farm house cheddar but that is down to personal taste. For my version of Croque Monsieur you will need 4 slices white bread 2tsp Dijon mustard 40g/1½oz grated Gruyere cheese 40g/1½oz grated farm house cheddar cheese 2 slices ham 30g/1½oz unsalted butter Take the bread and spread half a teaspoon of mustard over each slice. Then take your cheese and mix them together. Now on two of the slices place half ...

I was looking at some lovely fresh figs and thinking about what I could do with them my first thought was just get some good air dried ham and have them with that , then it came to me fig tart.   You will need 500g/1lb sweet short crust pastry or puff pastry For the filling 150g/5oz sweet apple 150g/50z caster sugar 300g/10oz semi-dried figs, stalks removed and puréed in a food processor 12 fresh figs crème fraîche Now first you will need to roll and blind bake the pastry in your tart tin. Once you have done this set it to one side and then you need to make your fig filling. Now first take your apple and dice it as fine as you can, you want to make it as small as possible as this will break down in the cooking. Then take your sugar and apple and add then to a pan and put on a low heat. Now while that is cooking take half your dry figs and quarter then. Then add them to the pan with the sugar and the apple. Now add a little water and just let it al...

I do not know why but it came up in conversation the other day about skate wings and the kids in the room were saying what a strange fish it look as someone cooked it on the television.  And I was saying it tastes really nice but on one believed me , apart for one person who had had skate wing before. Well the first time I had it was the classic French way and that is what this recipe is You will need   2 skate wings 50g/2oz plain flour 25g/1oz butter 1tbsp olive oil 175g/6oz butter The juice of half a lemon 3tbsp capers A small handful of chopped flat leaf parsley Salt and fresh ground black pepper. First take your skate wings and dredge them in well-seasoned flour. Then take a large heavy frying pan and heat it to a high heat on the stove top.  Once hot add the 25g/1oz butter and the olive oil and let that start to foam. Then place your skate wing in to the pan and cook for about 3 or 4 minutes on each side.  Once completely cooked ...

This is the sort of thing that reminds me of a Saturday night and you was s doing the evening reception for the wedding. Bread crumbing up loads of goujons of sole and deep frying them for the buffet. But with this I have taken a little liberty with it and just moved it up a notch to make sure that you have that extra special finish to the dish. You will need 2 lemon sole fillets 70g/2½oz corn flour Salt and freshly ground black pepper 100g/3½oz Japanese panko breadcrumbs 2 eggs Groundnut or grape seed oil to deep fry in 200g/7¼oz mayonnaise Small handful fresh dill The juice of half a lemon Salt and freshly ground black pepper Now take your sole fillets and make sure that you have skinned them then cut them in half lengthways. Now slice each half into about four or five long strips on the diagonal. All depending on the size of the fillets you will have about eight or ten goujons per fillet. Now instead of just using plain second flour and bread c...

I do not know why but there is something so satisfying about an egg custard. Just cream and egg set in a dish that you eat and the king of them must be the Crème brûlée. If done properly, topped with a crisp crust of caramelised sugar that you have to break through with your spoon. That satisfying crunch before you get to the rich cream custard underneath. As you can image I quite like them. You will need 450ml/16floz double cream 50ml/2floz whole milk 1 vanilla pod 5 egg yolks 75g/2½oz caster sugar 40g/1½oz caster sugar or more, for the topping Now the classic way to make this dish I have always been told is to use a shallow dish, not a deep sided ramekin. Now this is not always possible but do the best you can. Also it makes it very difficult to place the dish in a bain-marie when you place them in the oven. First separate your egg and get the egg yolks in a bowl then add the 75g/2½oz of caster sugar to the yolks. Now in a pan add the double cream and m...

Salon and watercress is a classic combination and this recipe is good for picnics and party’s n or just a main meal. Also the fact that you do not need to use really good cuts of salmon for it, use tail ends that are so much cheaper than fillets Ingredients For the pastry case 500g/18oz 400g/14oz salmon A little olive oil Salt and black pepper 2 large handfuls watercress 4 free-range eggs 400ml/14floz double cream 1 onion finely dice 1garlic clove crushed A good pinch of salt, fresh ground black pepper and nutmeg to taste Now this should be mad in a 10inch lose bottomed pastry tart case, that is why this is a tart and not a quiche. Roll out the pastry and line the tart case then blind bake the pastry in an oven that is set at about 200c/400f 20 minutes then remove the baking beans and bake for another 5 minutes until the pastry is cooked. Now while your oven is still nice and hot season and oil your salmon and pop that in the oven to cook it a...

Now if you want to make this properly then you need to cook it for about a day over a slow heat or in the oven, But this a quick and easy version of what is one of my favourite French dishes. Now that is easy for me to say as there are so many of them but this is in the top ten. Casseroles that is, leaving plenty of other categories to clarify and fill. You will need 250g/9oz smoked streaky bacon 4 Toulouse sausages 4 garlic cloves 1 large onion 1 x 400g/14oz can flageolet beans 1 x 400g/14oz can tomatoes 2 sprigs fresh thyme 2 chicken legs 250ml/9floz white wine Salt and freshly ground black pepper A handful flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped 50g/2oz white breadcrumbs Take a large sauce pan and heat it on the stove top so it is nice and hot. Then take your bacon and pop it in so it cooks realising all the fats and oils and becomes nice and brown. Then add you chopped onions to the pot and let them cook down a little along with the crushed ...

If you want a classic simple and tasty desert, then you cannot go wrong with poached pears.   Now I like to do them in red wine and that is the classical norm but you can do them in white wine if you like or is you want to really impress do some in red some in white and then present a half and half mix of red and white poached pears. Now this recipe can do both just change the red wine for a sweet white wine and you are there. You will need 6-12 ripe Conference pears The juice and zest of 1 orange 400ml/14floz sweet red wine 750ml/1¼ pints water 55g/2oz honey 200g/7oz sugar The juice of 2 lemons 1 vanilla pod, split 1 cinnamon stick, broken into short lengths 4 cloves Now it all depends on how big your pears are to how many you will need so for this you will get 6 to 12 done all depending on the size. Starting at the top leaving the stalk on peel the skin of the pear as thin as you can get it. Then from the bottom remove the core and make t...

This is the one region that I do not like for all the wrong reasons. I do not like the region because of one actual wine that is above all other wines I fell responsible for more snobbery and turning people away from exploring more about wine. This wine I remember once was so much sort after and desired that it was also I thing one of the reason why new world wines took such a strong hold in the market. The wine I hold responsible is no other than Chablis. It might be a hangover from the late 1980 when I was just a mere boy who was learning his trade and this particular wine seemed to rule the world. It might be just me and the number of bad experiences I had with this wine, not drinking it but serving it to customer who seemed to have more money than taste and just wanted to pay over the odds for a premier cru over chilled so you can hardly taste the wine and then add some sparkling mineral water to it, to make a spritzer.   It is perhaps these images that I have that just ma...

Now you seem to be seeing a lot of tart like this in the shops, or are they slices, any way they sell for about two to three pounds and they are not worth it. I mean they taste nice and you can have them looking great but are the really worth the money, I am not sue. So you do not need a lot of skill just arrange thing in a nice patterned and you have what I call a very nice slice or tart, you decide what you want to call it. For this one you will need the following ingredients 110g/4oz puff pastry 1 beef tomato, cut into slices A good handful of fresh basil leave 5 or 6 tined anchovies 2 or 3 cloves of garlic 10 to 15 black olives A little olive oil 55-85g/2-3oz gruyere cheese Freshly ground black pepper 1 egg yolk Now you need to make your base first so start by chopping up the anchovy’s together then with the flat edge of a knife make them in to a paste. Take most of the basil and chop that as fine as you can. Then do the same with the black ...

It has become a bit of a tradition over the past few years that I have to make a lemon tart on Christmas day as not one, apart from me likes Christmas pudding. The thing is I always associate lemon tart with the summer and weddings, that and profiteroles. Not because I have been to a lot of weddings but I always seem to remember making lemon tarts and profiteroles but the hundreds every Friday for the weddings on Saturday   at every hotel I have every worked at . Any way this is a good recipe that you do not have to worry about separating eggs for the fill and the pastry is made in a food processor so even that is easy to make. you will need, 225g/8oz plain flour 150g/5oz butter 25g/1oz icing sugar 1 egg 2 tbsp water 9 eggs 300ml/½ pint double cream 350g/12oz caster sugar The zest and juice of 6 large lemons   So start by making your pastry in the food processor, add the flour, butter and icing sugar into a food processor. Then plus it so i...

Well, all depending what you think and how you feel the big question is why do we think of France as the place in the world that has given more to the world of food than nay other.   Why is French “cuisine”, a French word that has become to mean the embodiment of all that is fine in food, got such a good reputation? Why has the knoledge of French cooking contributed so much to Western cuisines and is so widly taught all over the world. Well I think you have to look back at the history of the country and how it used to conduct itself on the world stage. Food obviously play a big part in the country and to the people but it was one person who I know of that really use food as a statement of power and opulence. He was king Louis XIV, The Sun King.   It was he and his Chef François Massialot who wrote Le Cuisinier roïal et bourgeois, you could say the first real cook book ever. It was at this time that France was such a powerful country and everyone who came to the co...

Now if we ever get the weather for going off for a picnic then this is the kind of thing that you want to take with you. It is I think a classic French onion tart that is so often made just an egg custard when what you really want to be doing is use an egg yolk to help set it but apart from that you make a Béchamel sauce, not an egg custard. Mind you having said that I am sure that there are lots of recipes that do use egg custards but this is not one of them. You will need 1 small onion 1clove 450ml/16floz milk 2garlic clove 1 bay leaf 2 sprig thyme A pinch grated nutmeg 55g/2floz butter 55g/2floz plain flour 350g/12¼oz shortcrust pastry 60ml/2¼oz olive oil 3 large onions 60ml/2¼fl oz dry white wine 2 sprigs parsley 1 egg yolk Salt and freshly ground black pepper 90g/3¼oz gruyère cheese To make the Béchamel take the small onion, clove, one garlic clove whole, bay leaf, some of the thyme, a pinch grated nutmeg and heat the...

Now this is another one of my favourite salads, it is a hot and cold mix once more this time of chicken livers, bacon good crunchy croutons. You can beat this sort of thing not matter if it is summer or winter all you need is a frying pan and some good salad leaves and you are ready to go . You will need 150ml/ ¼ olive oil 110g/4oz smoked bacon 4 slices of white bread 225g/8oz chicken livers 5 spring onions 1 small red onion 1 small frisee lettuce 1 bunch of water cress 1 small radicchio Bunch of chervil Dash of red wine vinegar Salt and ground black pepper to taste Now you have to make your croutons first so get your bread cut the crusts off and cut them in to 1cm or ½ inch cubes.   Now get them in a bowl and season with salt and pepper than drizzle in the oil so all the bread gets a good covering.   Now fry them on a high heat so that the bread goes all brown and crunchy. Or you can do them in the oven if you wish. While you ...

When I think of something like this I wonder just what it was that whoever first made it was actually thinking of. After all brioche is a cross between cake and bread, was it a mistake or did they plan to make it. Was it a splash of inspiration or did they think why not try to mix things up. I remember I think I was Billy Clonally asking   just was the person thinking   when he saw a chicken lay an egg. I know I will boil it and dip some bread in it. Truth be told that they probably saw other animals eat them and that was that but with this bread was it inspired or a glorious accident.   I know that if it was me and it all was a mistake then I would have said that is why I did it. I guess we will never know. You will need 15g/ ½oz   fresh yeast 2tbsp warm milk 375g/13oz strong flour 2tbsp sugar 2 good pinches of salt 175g/6oz unsalted butter 5 eggs Crumble the yeast in to a bowl with the warm milk, not to hot just body temperature. ...

This is a very special desert that need a little time to work on and get just right but the way I make it will cause some to throw up their hands and shout you do not make it like that. And they will be right but this is not for how to make it properly but how to make it and know that it has worked. In fact this is a cheats method but the end result will give you, I hope, a good if not perfect result. Ingredients you will need are 12 dessert apples 3 tbsp water 100g/3½oz caster sugar 100g/3½oz cold unsalted butter 300g/11oz all-butter puff pastry Now all depending on how you are going to be making this you will need to start by rolling your pastry slightly larger than the diameter of the tarte tin. Then prick it with a fork and put it in the freezer, this will give the best result when baking the pastry Now peel and core your apples so you end up with 24 apple halves. Now you want to set out the tin or tins that you are going to make the tarte in and then...

Having done a few classic dishes the past few days I have now decide to post this.  Chicken chasseur seems to have been over looked in the revival of old classic dishes, I do not know why.  It is after all a chicken dish that just lends it self to being done when you get in from home , only taking a few moment of your time and getting some thing at the end that you will really enjoy. Also it is as good in the summer with a salad or in the winter with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Now to make this you really need a pan that you can take from the stove top and put in the oven, solid cast iron if you have it. You will need 1.5kg/3lb 5oz chicken pieces 50g/2oz plain flour 2 tbsp olive oil 110g/4oz butter 175g/6oz button mushrooms 150g/5oz shallots 175ml/6fl oz white wine 350ml/12fl oz chicken stock 3 tbsp tomato purée A few sprigs fresh tarragon 2 tomatoes 2 tbsp fresh parsley Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Now you can ge...