Honey Mustard Glazed Ham

Each year we cater at the most exclusive Christmas Parties so you can rest assured that we knows a thing or two about indulgent winter recipes. Here is one of our most popular recipes, honey mustard glazed ham. It's the perfect dish for your next dinner party.

Give it a go and let us know what you think at @Createfood We'd love to see what you make!

Ingredients

100g honey

100g of wholegrain mustard

20 cloves

2 tbsp of olive oil

6 peppercorns

2 halved onions

2 bay leaves

1 carrot

1 stick of celery

1 bulb of garlic, cut in half

Method

For the honey mustard glazed ham, soak the gammon in a large bucket or pan of cold water overnight, this will help to reduce the salt content. The next day remove the gammon and discard the soaking water

Place the gammon in a large pan and cover with fresh water, then bring to the boil. Once the water is boiling drain and then refill the pan with cold water

Add the peeled and halved onions, whole peeled carrot, celery, halved garlic bulb, peppercorns and the bay leaves to the water. Bring to a slow simmer and leave simmering for 2.5 hours

Top up with boiling water if needed. Skim any scum off the top during the cooking process

Leave to cool for an hour in the liquid

Place the ham in a roasting tray. Remove the skin, ensuring you leave a thin layer of fat, then score in a criss-cross pattern. Stud with cloves in each square. Set the oven to 180ºC

To make the glaze – mix the oil, honey and mustard in a mixing bowl. With a spoon smear some of the glaze over the ham and bake in the oven for 10 minutes

After 10 minutes baste with more of the glaze and juices that have dripped off the ham. Repeat the basting process again every 10 minutes for the next 30 minutes (total cooking time in oven is 40 minutes)

Ensure the ham is golden all over. 

Once golden rest for 10 minutes and then its ready to carve!

Parsley Sauce

425ml milk

20g plain flour

40g butter

4 heaped tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

1 tbsp single cream

1 tsp lemon juice

salt and black pepper

Method

Place the butter into a small pan and melt slowly over a medium heat.

Add the flour and using a wooden spoon stir the two together to form a paste

Turn the heat down and allow the flour to cook out (this is called a ‘Roux’) – the mixture will become lighter in colour

In small measures, add the cold milk to the Roux and using a balloon whisk stir vigorously. Don’t add any further milk until the original amount has been incorporated. Continue to whisk until the mixture is thick and glossy.

Add the chopped parsley and season

Turn the heat down to its lowest setting and let the sauce cook gently for a couple of minutes, stirring from time to time.

Add the cream and lemon juice and serve in a warm jug.

Summer of Street Food

A while back we predicted that "street food" would be the talk of the town, the crumbs on everyone's lips and the most requested "theme" for the urban BBQ of Summer 2013 - and low and behold we were right. Our chefs have been busy all summer stirring paella in Bedford Square, carving kebabs at the Tower of London and BBQ'ing beer can chickens everywhere.

Over the summer we have...

Graffiteed 215 square metres of bespoke pop ups using 40 cans of spray paint...

Cleaned and steamed 80kg of mussels, chopped 10kg of shallots, 2kg of garlic, 12 bunches of parsley and opened 15 litres of white wine for moules mariniere...

BBQ'd 60 chickens sitting on beer cans...

made 350 posh fish fingers...

 And finally stirred a lot of tasty paella...

Not bad for 5 weeks work!

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

What you have all been waiting for...dessert!

“The Masque”

Beetroot, Apples & Pears

candied baby beetroot, beetroot crisps and sweet beetroot crumble, apple blancmange “scotch egg”, spiced apple cake & free form apple sponge

& pear chantilly and honey cress.

Words don't really do this beautifully designed dessert enough justice, so here are some photos....

180 edible white chocolate red velvet sprayed cloches...

'The Masque'

Now it's time to head downstairs to the transformed Undercroft; James I's original drinking den. Enjoy a damson gin martini, grab a scoop of baked somerset brie studded with garlic and rosemary, a slice of vintage farm house cheddar, blue cheese and some marzipan fruits from the petit four station.



Dinner for our 180 guests is served...

Quick look up at the ceiling whilst you have the chance, in a few minutes time you will not want to look away from your plate. Painted by Reubens and installed onto the ceiling in 1636 it is the last remaining in-situ ceiling painting. It depicts The Union of the Crowns, The Apotheosis of James I and The Peaceful Reign of James I.

 Have you seen the waitresses and waiters in their masks? This is our nod to the Masque's, a type of play written as court entertainment and often performed at Banqueting House. What's in front of you though, what's in the little kilner jar, it looks exciting? Un-hinge the lid and breath in deeply..... can you smell and see the smoke? This is your amuse of smoked salmon tartare. Smoking has been a common method of preserving meat and fish for centuries, this salmon has smoked over oak wood chips.

It must be time for the main course, those trumpets can only mean one thing. 

How Regal, a three bird roast of goose, duck and chicken encapsulating pistachio and winter herb force meat stuffing. Make sure you get a glimpse of Adam Byatt and our chefs carving in front of the throne. It's not all about the meat though, don't those vegetables look amazing parsley mash, confit thyme roasted sand carrots and braised red cabbage with apples and pears. Dig in and help yourselves there is plenty to go around. Just save room for dessert, trust us, it is seriously worth waiting for.

Adam Byatt and Alan Lucas, Executive Chef

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!

Who says Valentines Day has to be all about chocolates and flowers

To the create kitchen, Valentine's Day is all about cooking the food we love for people who love our food; although chocolates and flowers are obviously appreciated too!

Rather than big pink cupcakes, lollies, marshmallow hearts and strawberries dipped in chocolate, try adding touches of pink to your dishes like pink rhubarb, sour cherries or perfectly pink lamb. We think this year we're all about avoiding the Valentines overkill (although we won't deny, we do still like the big pink cupcakes, marshmallow hearts and strawberries dipped in chocolate!) 

Here's what has been coming out of our tasting room love nest recently...

dark chocolate and salted caramel verrine

poached scottish salmon 

with lightly pickled ribbons of cucumber and pink rhubarb

wasabi pea crusted rack of lack

chargrilled quail with pickled rapsberries and pear

juniper seared duck with sour cherries and rosemary

Happy Valentines Day to all!

February 'Create the Seasons'

We admit this time of year is pretty gloomy, so why not cook yourself into a good mood, as there are an abundance of seasonal fruit, vegetables and other British produce to perk you up.

Seville Oranges
Marmalade was invented in Scotland in the late 18th Century by a savvy shopkeeper who unknowingly bought a cargo of bitter oranges. In a desperate plea to get his money's worth his wife turned it into jam; it seems that behind every successful man there is a quick thinking woman! This weekend, venture to your local market and buy yourself some Seville or blood oranges and cook up a batch of marmalade. A pretty sticky affair but definitely worth the effort.

Yorkshire Rhubarb

Yorkshire rhubarb or forced rhubarb is at it's pinkest at this time of year. The rhubarb is grown in pitch black sheds in a 9 square mile triangle in West Yorkshire, deprived of natural light and picked by candle light to keep it sweet and pink. Rhubarb is technically a vegetable, however you decide to eat it, it is delicious especially with homemade custard!

create's humble pink rhubarb and elderflower custard tart

with ginger bread cream, poached rhubarb and rhubarb curd

Mussels

The general rule with shellfish is to only eat them in months that include the letter "R", but at this time of year they are at their best. Mussels are not the most beautiful shellfish, but are packed with the flavour of the sea, and the shells make the most perfect natural canapé spoon.

create's sustainably rope grown mussels 
with parsley and shallot salsa

Quintessentially Create

Last night create teamed up with one of our brand new venues,
29 Portland Place, Quintessentialy Events and Tom Parker-Bowles
for a Burns Night bonanza.

Tom kindly donated some of his delicious canapé recipes to go alongside create's tailor made menu, full of handpicked Scottish produce and some Scottish classics re-invented for the occasion.

The evening kicked off with some tasty canapés...

little cups of cullen skink

whisky cured salmon with a mustard sauce served on oatcakes

scotch rarebit

create's (now infamous) pint of scottish prawns

Followed swiftly by a traditional haggis with neeps and tatties

A magnificent main course of...

rare roasted fillet of buccleuch beef

with potato topped scotch pie filled with confit beef cheek, wilted spinach, scottish girolles mushrooms and mcewans ale reduction

Finished off with...

tipsy laird

free form vanilla sponge, scottish raspberry jelly, heather honey macaroons and a drambuie chantilly cream

Adam Byatt on Saturday Kitchen

There's not a single person at create food and party design who won't be attempting Adam Byatt's 'Coq au vin with parsley mash' as seen on Saturday Kitchen this weekend. Deliciously hearty, packed full of seasonal ingredients and a certain winter warmer in this cold weather spell. Give it a go too, with the recipe below...

 

Click here for Adam Byatt's recipe

Adam Byatt is exclusively available to create's clients at tastings and events. Click here for further details.

Raymond Blanc at Adam Byatt's Trinity Restaurant

A legend of the culinary world, Raymond Blanc, visited create's Consultant Chef's Trinity Restaurant recently, regarding his experience there as "exceptional" on his blog. Here at create, we have long been fans of Trinity and indeed Adam Byatt and are delighted to be in partnership with him, offering our corporate and private clients the opportunity to enjoy Adam Byatt's exclusively designed British menus and presence at tastings and events.

We agree with Raymond in his blog post below, if you haven't been to Trinity, you must go!

Raymond said, "Yesterday I was treated to lunch by my good friend James Steen. He took me to Trinity, a restaurant in Clapham, London, to which I hadn't been before. What an exceptional lunch, full of seasonal ingredients, beautifully cooked and beautifully presented in a lovely and comfortable environment.

Here is a young British chef, Adam Byatt, cooking with great verve and flair. It is wonderful to see young and talented chefs observing the guidelines of sustainability, the best ingredients and offering great value too. Trinity is a lovely restaurant with very much its own style. I loved the way the food was presented, at one with its surroundings: hare and partridge served on a beautiful amber-coloured piece of burnished wood. A truffle from Perigord - the very essence of the season - allowed to speak (I should say to sing!) for itself. 

I will post the whole menu later, but for now I must say thank you to James for a wonderful lunch and to Adam and his team! I can only urge you all to go yourselves."

If you would like a 'create with Adam Byatt' menu at your event, perhaps the celebrated Chef himself at your tasting or awards dinner, call our sales team on 020 8944 4900 to discuss create's exciting new partnership.

Read Raymond's full blog post here

New Year, New Food, New Trends

The create kitchen predicts what's hot 
and what's not for 2013 

(and a few trends we are going to push this year!)

Street Food
Back in October when we ate our way through the launch of KERB, the new street food market sensation at Kings Cross Boulevard, it got us thinking...so expect big things from the create 'streat' movement this Summer!

Recipe resurrections making the classics cool
History has given us some amazing recipes which have long been forgotten and we think it's about time people remembered them; our menus are going be crammed full of sippets, flummeries and heritage varieties of vegetables.

Making sweet savoury
Just like fashion, food follows trends. Some are good and some are terrible and some are just plain strange, but if you are clever and can combine the good and the strange we think, you have an excellent recipe for success. 

Our star dish of Autumn/Winter 2012 was a sirloin of beef with cashel blue and chard bread and butter pudding, and looking forward, we are thinking duck and hot cherry and beetroot summer pudding is a must. 

A few more to look out for:
Trash food - the gourmet junk food.
Gourmet grilling - spit roast cow and vertical bbqs both a spectacle in their own right and here at create, we are masters at both.
Sharing platters - the new tapas!
Eating your greens- foraged herbs and baby cress have made greens cool again.

Create's Exciting Partnership with Adam Byatt

As Chef Patron of Trinity and Bistro Union restaurants in Clapham, Adam Byatt has won over the likes of London's most ruthless critics. Giles Coren of The Times regarded his experience at Trinity as, 'As close to an absolutely perfect experience of eating out as it is possible to have.' Trinity was named 'London Restaurant of the Year' at the AA Hospitality Awards in 2008.

Adam has joined forces with create in an exciting new relationship. Adam is exclusively available to create, designing a range of seasonal menus whilst offering his culinary expertise and presence at a selection of tastings and events. Caroline Gardiner, Managing Director of create said "This exciting partnership adds a new dimension to create, with a celebrated consultant chef on board whose love of food design and sourcing of great British suppliers has a close synergy with create's food ethos. We are delighted to be working with Adam". 
 
Adam's first book How to Eat In was published by Random House in April 2010 and is full of enduring recipes that take classic heritage cooking techniques into the modern era. As one of Britain's leading chefs and culinary experts, Adam's skills can also be seen on top-rated BBC 1 programme Saturday Kitchen, on which he regularly features as a guest presenter.

"As someone who is passionate about locally sourced food & using the best in British produce, I look forward to working with create, whose approach to delicious food is based on sound traditional kitchen practices & is totally in line with my way of thinking. The way create offer apprenticeships to local people really appeals to me too, they are a fantastic company to be associated with & I look forward to getting started!"
Adam Byatt

November: create the seasons

Call it an early Christmas present from create's kitchen; we are going to compile monthly 'eat the season' blog entries, which help keep you in the know of what's hot and what's not when it comes to seasonal ingredients.

What better month to start than in November, with the nights drawing in and the opportunity to roast chestnuts on an open fire! This winter, create are braising, roasting, creating rich stocks, sourcing feathered and furred game and now the frost has come, promoting the magnificent brussel sprout! 

Here is what is hanging out in the create larder this month:

Celeriac

Not the most appealing of vegetables, but once you have peeled away the knobbly exterior, they are really very delicious. Roast in the oven with lots of garlic and thyme, add to some buttery mashed potato or try a celeriac and apple remoulade (we like it accompanying delicious cold meats).

Brussel Sprouts

A firm create favourite. Whether it's the sprout tops tossed in salted butter with a grate of fresh nutmeg or the buds sauteed with crispy bacon and chopped chestnuts, we love them. Staff lunch is made all the better with leftover sprout bubble and squeak.

(Oh and if it helps... we don't believe in putting crosses in the bottom of them, which is good if you are delivering a three course dinner for 1500 guests) 

Game  (pheasant, pigeon and partridge)

create's open game pie

with smoked apple purée, mulled brambles and sloe gin syrup

This dish has become a firm tasting kitchen favourite. Game provides an excellent carrier for all of the winter flavours, and it's an excellent way to promote the very best of British. 

Late Season Apples

With over 3000 varieties of apples native to the UK, we are spoilt for choice. Roast them, bake them, purée them or (our favourite), eat them with guinea fowl and black pudding...

create's seared breast of guinea fowl

with butter roasted potato, savoy cabbage, black pudding bon bons, baby apples and herb cream sauce

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.