Chef Wise

Today's British foodies thrive on a diet of 24/7 bite-sized chunks of food related programming and entertainment. To celebrate this insatiable appetite for deliciousness, Heinz [Seriously] Good Mayonnaise is launching a nationwide search for the best tasting recipes. The new mayo is inviting foodie influencers and bloggers across the country to create one seriously good spoonful in its pursuit of the most mouth-watering mouthful. Judging the tantalising treats is a panel of foodie professionals, comprising renowned food critic William Sitwell and food stylist and blogger Nico Ghirlando. The carefully selected panel has been enlisted to provide a broad array of expertise, from critiquing the nation's top chefs and TV talent to growing an army of foodie followers with inventive presentation and food styling techniques, providing a full spectrum of essential foodie attributes. Writer, editor, TV presenter and food critic William Sitwell comments: “People are se...

The evenings are getting longer and warmer, and this simple salad is quick to prepare, which means less time in the kitchen and more time in the garden. Pour a glass of red wine, and enjoy! Cucumber Salad Ring     Serves 4 Level of difficulty: Easy Preparation time: 15 minutes Ingredients 1 cucumber 400g broccoli, cut into small florets 1 head of lettuce (or combine two varieties of lettuce) 1 pepper 8 cherry tomatoes 50g pistachios (or try walnuts, sunflower seeds, pine nuts ...) 100g of Iberico ham For the vinaigrette: 6 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp sherry vinegar 1tsp smooth mustard 1 tsp runny honey 1 clove garlic, crushed Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Preparation -           Cut the cucumber into thin slices using a peeler. Line the inside of four presentation rings with the cucumber slices. Place each on a plate and fill t...

The highly respected speciality food supplier Plough to Plate has been bought by Westcountry Fruit Sales, the South West's leading distributor of top-quality produce to the catering and retail trade. As well as creating new and wider markets for Cornwall and Devon's many artisan food producers ambitious growth plans are in place, with all Plough to Plate staff members being integrated into the thriving Westcountry team and a new sales' manager already recruited. Plough to Plate was started in 2001 by Nigel and Sherry Boocock to help their many and varied speciality food producers find sustainable markets. As they look to "pastures new" the couple have been working closely with the Falmouth-based Westcountry team to ensure a smooth transition. "Plough to Plate is a perfect fit with our existing businesses," says Westcountry Managing Director Sean Williams. "This is a hugely exciting deal for us and for the speciality food trade in...

Below are a couple of festive recipes from Steve's Leaves which may be of interest for people wanting to be good in the run up to the party season. Please do let me know if you'd like samples or further info. Honey Glazed Ham with Pea Shoots and Baby Leaves Serves 2 2 - 3 Thick slices ham 1tbsp Honey 1 Bag Pea Shoots & Baby Leaves 6-8 Cherry Tomatoes ¼ Cucumber 4-5 Radishes ½ Lemon Salt and Pepper Place the salad on to plates. Halve the cherry tomatoes and add to the plates. Slice the cucumber and radishes then add to the salad. Place a frying pan on a medium heat and add the honey until its warm. Cut the ham into generous chunks then add to the pan. Turn up the heat and allow the ham to warm through in the pan for 2 -3 mins. Keep turning the ham so it is fully coated in honey. Drizzle the dressing over the salad. Then squeeze the lemon juice over too and season with salt and pepper. Finally add the ham on top of the dre...

Steve's Leaves has responded to figures released today by Tesco that 68 per cent of salad bags are thrown out - 35 per cent of it by customers - by reiterating its commitment to producing salads in smaller bags ranging from 50g to 60g, which can all be used in one serving. Before its launch in 2010, a huge amount of research into the leafy salads industry about portion size was carried out by Steve's Leaves to ensure waste was kept to a minimum. Says Dr Steve Rothwell, founder of Steves Leaves: "Food waste is a major problem for the leafy salads industry but as a brand we are committed to reducing food wastage by making sure that our salad bags are suited to our customers' lifestyles and are used in one serving, rather than languishing open in the fridge for days before being thrown in the bin." Steve's Leaves is a branded range of washed and ready-to-eat bagged leafy salads including a Stupidly Tasty Mix of Pea Shoots & Baby Leaves a...

The secret to cooking in a heat wave as we are in at the moment ios to do as little cooking as possible and get out in the garden and enjoy the sunshine. This next recipe is an easy salad that you can have warm you will need, 300g/10½oz penne pasta 3-4tbsp of olive oil Fresh ground salt and pepper to taste. 2 x 185g/6½oz tins of tuna 1 lemon, juice and zest Packet of rocket leaves Packet of baby spinach About 20 cappers. 1 lemon First get a pan of water on the stove to cook the pasta , a nice big one with plenty of water in it so the pasta can move freely when it cooks.  Once the water is boiling add the pasta and let it cook. Once ready drain and add to a large bowl. Now while the pasta is cooking open the tins of tuna let it drain and break up into bite-sized pieces. Then when the pasta is cooked add the olive oil and season well. Grate the zest of the lemon and add the juice of the lemon and toss this all together. Finally just before...

    This Italian-inspired salad is colourful, refreshing and delicious, perfect for a side dish or light lunch. To make the dressing, simply toast cumin seeds and stir in clementine juice.  Then, add olive oil, honey, white wine vinegar and cool.  When ready to serve, sprinkle pomegranate and pumpkin seeds, pistachios and lemon thyme over rocket leaves.  Drizzle over the homemade dressing and finish with Parmigiano Reggiano shavings.  Parmigiano Reggiano in Numbers 12 months is the minimum ageing process 16 litres of milk makes 1 kg of cheese 20-24 months is the average ageing of the wheels 39 kg is the weight of a wheel 600 litres of milk to make one wheel Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, known as 'Parmesan', is one of the world's oldest and richest cheeses - still produced today as it was nine centuries ago.  Totally natural - it's the only cheese that has such an extensive maturation which improves the nutrition, aroma and taste....

The team at Steve's Leaves in Hampshire has been inundated with comments from men across the country commenting about how good bags of Steve's Leaves Wasabi Rocket and little leaves are. Known as the 'man leaf' at Steve's Leaves HQ, fiery Wasabi Rocket has taken some men by surprise and instead of turning their nose up at a bowlful of the green stuff, they've enjoyed it so much that they've felt compelled to write and let Steve and the team know. Available from Ocado and Wholefoods, this hot little leaf has been mixed with other fab baby leaves like red spinach and mizuna. Steve, the Steve from Steve's Leaves comments: "Wasabi rocket is a fantastically fiery fellow. It's not for the faint-hearted so that might be why it is proving popular with lots of men. The mix is naturally rich in vitamin A and folic acid and tasty enough to eat on its own or next to a grilled sirloin steak with a drop of balsamic. Delicious!" Wasab...

Now if you are going to do some Thai style food then you also want a few side dished as well so here are three to do. First the Sticky rice. You will need 150g/5½oz Thai sticky rice 2-3tbsp palm sugar 600ml/20floz coconut milk First you have to soak your rice in water for as much as 4 to 8 hours then drain it off and get rid of the water. Now just heat the rice up in a pan with the palm sugar and coconut milk on a medium heat until it boils. You will have to stir occasionally or it will stick. Then cover the surface of the liquid with a circle of greaseproof paper cut to fit the pan and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and just let it steam in the pan for another 20 minutes. Do not remove the greaseproof paper this way you keep the steam in and cook the rice. Second your  Thai herb salad 110g/4oz Chinese cabbage 2 lime leaves 3 red chillies 25g/1oz pea shoots 50g/2oz mizuna leaves A small handful mint leaves 1 spring onion...

Now I am not saying that this is what everyone will want to eat but I will say that everyone should try this salad. It has everything that you would want from a salad and I could think of nothing better than nice fresh asparagus, good dry cured bacon , hard boiled eggs and one of those sort of sweet and sour dressing that seem to typify a German salad You will need. 450g/1lb Asparagus 4 slices bacon 75g/2½oz red onion 8 hard-boiled eggs 250g/8oz baby spinach leaves 10 cherry tomatoes 115g onion, diced very fine 115ml/4floz cider vinegar 115ml/4floz water 100g/3½oz sugar Salt and Pepper to taste Firstly cook your asparagus so it is slightly crunchy. Then your boiled eggs so that you still have that nice dark just cooked yellow in the yolk. Half the cherry tomatoes  pick your spinach and sliced the  red onion as thin as you can. Now heat the water and bring that to the boil add the sugar and let that just dissolve in to the water.  T...

Now the thing is so far there has been a lot of well what you could call very hearty food so far in this month. And that is the thing every one, or is it just me thinks of solid food, filling. Well there are a number of classic German salads as well that you can make. Most of them have a very clean and sharp taste to them, very refreshing. Now I think this is to do with all the picking and types of vegetables around at the time but I like them. Any way here are there simple side salads that you can do. Kohisalat or Gestamphe salat , German Cole Slaw The main thing is you do not use mayonnaise, so with the sweet and sour dressing it really cuts threw and cleanses the plate , great at barbeques. 1 white cabbage or ½ white and half red 1 teaspoon salt 1 onion 1 red pepper 30ml/2floz cider vinegar 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 small bunch Dill weed A good pinch of celery seeds Ground black pepper to taste 1 teaspoon sugar Now to make this you have to sl...

This is a salad that really goes well with cold roast beef I think, or just make it and use it in a roast beef sandwich. The thought of a whole load of radishes might seem too much but with the dressing it balances out very nicely. Now if you are asking me I would use the heart of the celery and the leaves as well. This will give you a full on salad experience. You will need 8 sticks of celery   2 bunches radishes 2 tablespoon chopped parsley 1/2 medium red onion 2tsp Dijon mustard 2tsp sherry vinegar Salt fresh ground pepper to taste 6tbsp extra virgin olive oil 6tbsp vegetable oil The art of this salad is to chop or shred the veg as small as you can then combine all the elements together, normally formed in a mould and set on a bed of salad leaves. Start by topping and tailing your radishes then what you need to do is shred then as fine as you can in a food processor or with a mandolin or uses a greater. Now chop you celery as fine as you can ...

Now this is my kind of salad full of real flavour that you know is going to satisfy. Mind you if you do not like big flavours then this is not for you, but I know I like it. And if you do not like the idea of a sandwich then you can just make the blue cheese dressing and have that on a salad instead. You will need 50g/1¾oz blue cheese 2tbsp cider vinegar 3tbsp walnut oil 3tbsp sunflower oil A dash of lemon juice Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Some ice burg lettuce Some endive lettuce 2 or 3 chicken thighs A little thyme I slice of white bread A few walnuts Slices of apple So to make your dressing you will need a food processor or some kind of hand blender. Now as to the cheese that you use it is up to you.  Personally I like a good strong flavour so any strong soft blue cheese is good if you ask me. Also I have used cider vinegar as I think it just gives it that right flavour but you could use white wine vinegar or any other t...

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...

This is a fast tasty and rather refreshing dish that you can make in a matter of minutes if you like. The thing is to have everything at hand when you make it and you will be fine. You want your beef hot and your salad as fresh as it can be so preparation is the key. You will need 2 x 150g/5oz fillet tails Vegetable oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper ¼ head Chinese leaf 2 ripe tomatoes 2 banana shallots ½ cucumbers 3 spring onions Handful fresh basil leaves Handful fresh coriander 2 tsp palm sugar, from a 'cake' of sugar or golden caster sugar 1½-2 limes, juice only 90ml/3floz fish sauce 2 red bird's-eye chillies Lime wedges First in a big bowl make the dressing, take the palm sugar, lime juice and fish sauce and mix into bowl. You might want to great or crush the palm sugar if it from a cake as it needs to dissolve in the dressing. Once you have mixed that together then take the bird's-eye chillies and split them in ha...

Now the thing I like about couscous is that it is great at carrying a lot of flavour. That is to say on its own it is very bland but if you use lots of flavouring agents then it really become something very special. It is light to eat and goes with so many things not or cold. I know I am calling this a salad but make it hot and use lamb that you just have cooked and it is just as good. But what is nice is that if you want to use up some left over roast from the day before then this is also a good dish to make. You will need. 1tbsp tomato purée 1tsp ginger purée 1tsp garlic purée 1tsp red chilli purée Salt and freshly ground black pepper Olive oil The juice of 1 lemon 3 tomatoes Small bunch of fresh coriander Small bunch of fresh chervil Small bunch of fresh chives 1 red onion 110g/4oz couscous 220ml/8foz boiling water to cook couscous 175g/6oz cooked lamb Start by cooking your couscous, the best way I know is just add twice as mu...

I do not know if it is the fashion right now or the fact that it is summer and we have had only winter weather for most of it, but every menu I look at has a warm salad on it. Now one of my favourite ones is a chicken liver salad and I like to make my salad in a set way, whereas most of the time you get the hot things on top and the salad at the bottom I like the whole thing mixed together. Now to do this you need the right sort of lettuce.   You need something robust that will take the heat of the cooked livers like frisée , chard , baby leaf spinach or   watercress .Whatever leaf you use   you need a mix of flavour and robustness to give the salad what it need to be a really good salad. For my salad you will need 4 thick slices white bread 3tbsp olive oil Fresh thyme 450g/1lb fresh chicken livers 3 rashers of smoked streaky bacon 100g/4oz mixed salad leaves 1tsp white wine vinegar 1tsp Dijon mustard 1tbsp sunflower oil 1 tbsp walnut oil Salt and freshl...

There is something about roasted red peppers, they haves a real flavour impact in anything you put them in. This salad is one that you make and can keep in the fridge for a couple of days and it actually improves with keeping. You will need. 6 red peppers 2 red onions 2 cloves of garlic 3tbsp of olive oil 4 to 6 anchovy fillets Fresh ground black pepper to taste Fresh chopped oregano A handful of black pitted olives. So start by taking your pepper and garlic and placing them on a try in the oven and roast them until the skins are nice and black. You do not have to worry about taking the garlic out of the skin, once you have roasted it just squeeze it out and you have roasted garlic puree. Once the peppers and garlic have cooked take them and put them in a bowl. Then cover the bowl with cling film and just let the pepper sit in the bowl and cool. Once you can handle them remove the skin, stalks and seeds but save as much of the liquid that you can. It i...

Now as we have all of this veg right now that is in season why not try and make this salad with it. All you have to do is cook the veg refresh it and then mix it together, that and cook the bacon and chop the herbs, well you know what I mean and it is worth it in the end. You will need 750g/1lb 10oz broad beans, podded 750g/1lb 10oz fresh peas, podded 50g/1ld 10oz Green beans 200g/7oz mangetout 3tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1tbsp cider vinegar 4 or 6 spring onions 1 small bunch flat leaf parsley A small sprig or two of fresh mint 180g/6oz cooked crispy smoked bacon Salt and freshly ground black pepper   Now all you have to do really is be careful as to how you cook your vegetables. For me you need to have two large saucepans and lots of cold iced water. First bring one of the large pans of water to the boil. The other leave on the side with a colander over it. Now what you do is add the broad beans to the water and cook for two minutes. The...

This is a nice light and rather filling salad that is perfect for a sunny day, when you go for a long walk and want to stop for something to eat. Also take away the pasta and you have a really good dressing for a salad that goes really well with roasted beef. You will need. 170g/6oz pack of smoked salmon 170g/6oz fresh or dried pasta 3tbl spoons of extra virgin olive oil 1tsp whole grain mustard 1tsp horseradish cream Small bunch of chives Small bunch of fennel or dill Small bunch of flat leaf parsley 3tsp lemon juice. Salt and ground black pepper to taste. First get a pan of water on ready to cook the pasta. Once the pasta is cooked get it of the heat and into some cold water to refresh it as soon as you can. As to what pasta you want to use it is up to you. Personally any shell shaped pasta is best as it holds on to the dressing better. Now add your oil to a blow along with the lemon juice, mustard and horseradish. This salad dressing goes we...