April 'Create the Seasons'

April marks the culinary gateway to Spring, and without being too ambitious, Summer, which should be just around the corner (perhaps with a few April showers in-between to be expected).

Cold hands we can handle, but when the recent weather has been threatening to affect the English asparagus season, enough is enough! With the weather a little warmer now, English asparagus is slowly making it's way into our kitchen, we just need a few more warm days to really get the ultimate spring treat in abundance. In the meantime, how about enjoying a day out at the market to get your hands on a few other bits and pieces April has to offer...

Spring Lamb: not just for Easter!  

Lamb is such a forgiving meat, it works well paired up with robust spices, anchovies and classic provencal herbs. 

However, to show off it's true colours, try it with some best of British flavours like a wild garlic and hazelnut stuffing or a heather honey and lavender crust.

 

Wild Pickings: there is such thing as a free meal! 

Follow your nose and go foraging for wild garlic, battle the elements and scour the cliff tops for sea beet, or rummage through the undergrowth for wild mushrooms. Spring means juicy little shoots; some of which are on your doorstep. Just make sure you know what you are picking and who you are picking it from! 

Coastline Crab: get cracking

Our crab comes from the fishing town of Salcombe in Devon, famous for it's crustational catch. The fisherman swear by a secret "sweet spot" which produces some of the most delicious meat. Although it is a closely guarded secret in the crabbing community, it is the location of the catch which makes all the difference in the meat. The fishermen avoid "crabbing" along the coastline and head out to deeper waters, where the undercurrant encourages the crab to grow strong muscles, making the meat even more delicious!

Sadly the majority of British crab ends up on the European markets, so get cracking (sorry bad pun again) and buy British crab.

Are you ready for Spring Summer 13? We certainly are

After weeks of tastings, plating and cooking we have launched our new Spring Summer 2013 menus. In an attempt to encourage the summer sun we have scoured the UK coastlines, farms and fields for the finest seasonal produce that our fair isle has to offer.

The menus this summer have a strong theme of "re-invention", whether it is taking a cult classic like a summer pudding, jamming it full of delicious cherries and beetroot and serving it with a perfectly pink duck breast or pressing a classic club sandwich and serving it along side a marinated breast of spring chicken, this is 'meat and two veg' with a difference. 

Our desserts are always a talking point, beautifully presented, scented and tasting - this summer is no exception. We have retro chocolate mud pie with summer berries and chocolate popped rice and an amazing peach and miso arctic roll. They are the perfect talking point for any dinner, assuming people will want to talk rather than just indulge in our desserts.

A small taster...
english pea pannacotta (v)

with chargrilled pea pods, whipped cornish yarg, red mustard frills and poppy seed white toast wafers

salcombe bay crab

with honeydew and watermelon tartare, pineapple vinaigrette, pineapple crisps and baby coriander

breast of chicken rolled in tomato flakes and thyme

with pressed club sandwich, sautéed sugar snaps, baby beetroot and herb cream sauce

chocolate mud pie

with tarragon and fresh honeycomb ice cream, strawberry pesto and freeze dried strawberry and popped rice

pink rhubarb sherbet

with homemade custard creams, marshmallow with pink peppercorn and orange gel

Canapés in The Undercroft, Banqueting House

No, no, your eyes and taste buds are not deceiving you, that was meat fruit, the clever create kitchen have been practicing for weeks on this historical delicacy, but don't eat too many there's more to come...

Did you like the cauliflower blancmange with crispy sage? They were originally made in James I's era to show off the skills of the chefs. We think, in 2013 that our little rounds of black pudding with fried quails egg show of our creative chef skills. How about those corn fallow deer with damson cheese, whipped curd and baby cress canapés?

Now back to the bar again to grab a glass of champagne as all this food is making you thirsty! Apparently there is a tray of sustainable rope grown mussels with crispy english pancetta, parsley breadcrumbs and parsnip puree served in the shells and gilded quails eggs with celery salt being passed around in that direction, who doesn't love edible silver?

Did you get distracted by the beautiful looking smoked eel with horseradish curd, beetroot caviar and rock chives and the london gin cured salmon on toasted sippets with whipped caviar sour cream and borage cress. Who knew eel was so tasty!

It must be nearly time for dinner but not before you try the scotch woodcock of creamy scrambled egg served in little egg shell with anchovy soldiers, what fun presentation! Oh and there goes a tray of olde sussex rarebit trencher.

Did you hear the trumpet? It must be time for dinner; get ready to dine like a King at the opulent banquet. Enjoy the speeches!

A lunch to remember on the 5th of November

Monday's promotional lunch at Plaisterers' Hall couldn't have fallen on a better date; we love all things toasted, caramelised and topped with crackle candy, so writing a menu for bonfire night appealed to all of our senses.

Here is a sneak peak at some of the bonfire beauties.

canapés

smoked salmon galette

with horseradish pannacotta and toasted dill seeds

worcestershire parma ham and brioche soldiers

with hollandaise dip

beetroot millefeuille

with rosemary scented goats cheese

main course

fillet of british beef

with chard and cashel blue bread and butter pudding, buttered spinach, glazed baby beetroot and carrots and a roasted garlic cream

and (the very tweeted) dessert

bonfire sundae

with baked apple ice cream, beetroot chocolate brownie, pumpkin marshmallow, caramelised nuts, cinder toffee sauce and fondant flames

The afternoon was finished off with our bonfire pick & mix to take-away; hot toddy jellies, sweet potato and maple pecan marshmallow lollipops, spiced orange brownies and treacle toffee.

Look what we found……

We always get excited when we find a new supplier whether it be for canapé kit, tableware or food.

Here are a few of our kitchen and design team favourites which are exploring the create 2012 trend of “literal British food”.

My new best friends

THE AMAZING CANON AND CANON

cannonandcannon.com

Specialists in the most delicious selection of British chorizo’s, parma hams and even air dried alpaca sourced from all over the UK, go and visit their stall at Borough Market. The spicy beer sticks are well worth the queue.

air dried mutton

from dorset with red cabbage remoulade, pear puree and redcurrants

Hopefully some new friends

NURTURED IN NORFOLK

nurturedinnorfolk.co.uk

Personalised cress creators. for anyone that knows create we have a love of all things cress and baby leaf related and this company funnily enough based in norfolk can grow your own bespoke mixes of cress.

rainbow trout rillete

with baby beetroot, micro sorrel, red mustard cress,  black pepper toasts and herb emulsion

TREGOTHAN TEA

tregothnan.co.uk 

The only producers of tea grown in deepest rural Cornwall ………winner.
 

Who needs friends when you have these?

Just when we thought we had seen it all the brilliant ASA have come up with these...

Yes they are exactly what you think they are…… glow in the dark pepper grinders.

Might not have any friends left, I spend so much time on these websites…..

 Once translated into English this website has become our go too page to cure our obsessions for all things that verge on the impossible, candyfloss pasties being one of them and anything miniature and made out of plastic, we love that it is almost unbreakable, even the most heavy handed chef can’t break it.

http://www.100x100chef.com/online/index.php/en

Beautiful ingredients especially the Himalayan salt plates

http://www.souschef.co.uk/

Full of some very cool kit, currently obsessing over mini sardine tins, mini pint glasses for our “pint of prawns canapé”  and plastic egg shells for our “ham and brioche soldiers with hollandaise dip”

http://www.infusions4chefs.co.uk