The Best Restaurant in the World!

Well its been a long time since my last post but I’m back and I have some exciting news! At the end of April I will be dining at The Fat Duck in the village of Bray, Berkshire. For those of you who dont know this is Heston Blumenthal’s flagship restaurant. It has before now been voted the best restaurant in the world!  To be honest I didnt think that I would be able to book a table such is the demand but it only took an hour of ringing to get through!

Diners experience a four hour tasting menu full of weird and wonderful delights at the 3 star Michelin restaurant. At £160 per head its not cheap but for something that is most probably a once in a life experience its certainly worth it.

Once I’ve been I will post a little report and hopefully some pictures of the courses…..

……. well its been almost three years since Ive even looked at this blog, Id almost forgotten Id had it!

Here are some pictures of the meal at The Fat Duck..

Chili Con Carne

I love a good Chili and at home there are two recipes that I use, one with kidney beans and a quicker simpler one with baked beans. The recipe below is the one with kidney beans.

Ingredients

500g mince meat
400g tin of kidney beans
400g tin plum tomatoes
1 onion
1 clove of garlic chopped
2 peppers
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp hot chili powder
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp vegetable oil

In a large non stick frying pan brown the mince. While the mince is browning chop the onion and gently fry in a saucepan with the vegetable oil. Drain any excess fat from the meat and put the mince in the saucepan with the onion. Mix well. Deseed the peppers and chop in to small pieces, add to the saucepan. Simmer for 5 mins.

Stir in the tomato puree and add the tin of tomatoes. Add the spices and garlic. Drain and rinse the kidney beans and then add to the mince. Add the bay leave. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary.

Cover and gently simmer for 1 hour stirring occasionally. Serve with rice or jacket potato as desired.

Tuna Pasta Bake.

I mentioned before that you can often cook a meal from scratch just as easily as using a jar of cooking sauce with better results. So here is my recipe for tuna past bake.

Ingredients

400g penne pasta
400g tuna in brine
100g of Mozzarella/Cheddar cut in to cubes
4 tbsp red tomato Pesto
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp of basil

Turn the oven on to 180 degrees. Put the pasta in a large saucepan and boil for 10 minutes. Whilst this is cooking heat the oil in a large frying and gently fry the crushed garlic for 3 minutes. Then add the pesto, tomatoes and basil and simmer for 10 mins.

When the pasta is cooked drain and put back in the saucepan. Mix in the sauce to the pasta. Empty in to an oven proof dish. Drain the brine, flake on the tuna and then put on the cheese. Put in the oven for 30 mins.

Seasoning and Good Service.

Why is that some people automatically reach for the salt and pepper before they’ve even tasted their food? Seems like a bit of insult to me! Thats why when you go to top restaurants they do not have it on the table. Their food is brought to you at such a high standard already that there is no need to add to it once it’s in front of you.

Talking of top restaurants I had lunch in Aubergine once. This used to be owned by the infamous Gordon Ramsey. The food was sublime and so was the service. I asked where the toilet was and not only was I taken to the door but when I returned my serviette had been refolded and put back next to my plate.

A Meal in a Jar!

Now im guilty as the next person of being lazy when it comes to cooking a meal but theres no excuse really. I do try and cook as much of my meals from scratch. Alot of the time the same meal can be cooked just as easily as the cook in sauce equivilant!

Theres no recipe today but I will show you soon that you can cook Tuna Pasta Bake very easily from scratch and it will taste a lot nicer than it coming from a jar!!

So keep visiting and I’ll be back again tomorrow with more marvellous insight!

Left overs – Roast Chicken

What can be better than making another meal out of left overs and not wasting food. Whenever I have roast chicken I take any left over meat and make Chicken and Lentil broth. Its very easy to make and tastes lovely. I shall be making it tomorrow so will post a couple of pics but until then heres how to make it.

Imgredients:

40z left over roast chicken
1 onion – chopped
1 carrot – thinly sliced
40z red lentils
2 rashers of streaky bacon or a pack of lardons
1 litre of vegetable stock
Salt and Pepper
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

Gently heat the oil in a medium to large saucepan and add the chopped onion. Cut the bacon in to small pieces and add to the saucepan. Thinly slice the carrot and add this too. Simmer for 5 mins. Add 1 litre of vegetable stock. Rinse the lentils in a sieve and add to saucepan. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring to the boil then turn heat down and simmer gently for 40 mins. Serve.

Cottage Pie

I had this for dinner tonight. Heres my recipe.

Ingredients:

1lb (500g) Beef Mince Meat
2 1/2 lb Potatoes for the mash
1 onion
1 carrot
1/2 pint of beef gravy
A few good shakes of Worcester Sauce
half a teaspoon of cinamon
Salt and Pepper to season
Mature Cheddar cheese for topping.

Turn the oven on to gas mark 6 (200 degrees c). In a large none stick frying pan brown the mince meat. As the mince is browning peel the spuds and cut them in half, put them in a saucepan and fill with water so that it just covers them, add salt to season. Put on to boil for 20 mins.

Tip out any excess fat from the frying pan. Chop the onion and mix in to the mince. Peel and thinly slice the carrot and mix in to the frying pan also. After 5 minutes or so make up 1/2 pint of gravy and mix in well to the frying pan. Add more if you feel its too dry. Add the cinamon and season with salt and pepper.

Simmer for ten minutes. Tip out in to a suitable dish, a pyrex cassarole dish will do.

Stick a sharp knife in to the potatoes and if they are soft drain and put back in to the saucepan with the lid on for 5 minutes. Doing this dries the potatoes slightly to make it easier for them to absorb the butter when you mash.

Spread the potatoes on top of your mince mixture and then grate some cheddar cheese on top to cover.

Cook in the oven for 35 minutes or until the mince is bubbling and the cheddar is golden.

Hello food and drink lovers.

Hello food and drink lovers. This is my first posting on this new blog about everything to do with food and drink. Whether thats eating out in a restaurant, cooking a banquet or simply making a sandwich.

I hope to give you my thoughts and views on what I like, what Ive eaten and what I’d like to eat. Of course not forgetting what I like to drink also.

I am lucky in that I have been brought up on different styles of food which include, English, French, African, Italian and Maltese to name but a few.

Im never afraid to try new things and I was always told to try something first before saying that I didn’t like it.

I wouldn’t say Im an expert but I am passionate about it and can definitely say that Im a food snob!

I will be sharing you with you some of my recipes and hopefully posting some pics.

Feel free to post comments and thoughts you have on the subject and of course your favourite recipes.