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!

Create Venue Dinner 2013

Welcome to the virtual tour of 
create's 2013 Venue Dinner!

Set up is underway at Banqueting House, here's a sneak peek...

create are taking inspiration from the fascinating history of Banqueting House and the origins of a party at the prestigious venue. Our team of food and party designers have devised an evening based on a journey through typical hospitality of the Stuart era; farm and field peasant life, an opulent banquet with a “royal roast” and finishing with (create's homemade) damson gin cocktails in James I’s original drinking den.

The Undercroft Market Stalls
Once you have bustled passed Adam's Byatt's seafood station and picked up some delicious crab mayonnaise on baby gem leaves and tasted the freshly shucked oysters, make sure you get involved in James I pie and pint station from Alan Lucas and the create chefs and warm up with a little pint of beef consommé with horseradish foam. Why not ask the chef to carve you a slice of quails egg gala pie or wild boar and apple amongst others?

Now quickly get to the bar and have a mini tankard of warm spiced apple cider and grab a quail and pineapple lollipop, you can regale to your friend that pineapples symbolise hospitality and in the ol be hired by the hour to show off to your guests!

Next, the glorious canapés...

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.

On the last day of create christmas

Richard Groves made for me...Christmas Mince Pies

Orange pastry:
500g plain flour
175g icing or caster sugar (I use icing)
375g butter
Finely grated rind and juice of one large orange

Sift the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces, stir these into the flour and rub gently with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the grated rind. Then, using a knife, stir in the orange juice until the dough just begins to stick together, add more fresh orange juice if the orange was not juicy enough!

Gather up the dough, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes.
This quantity will make about 24 mince pies.

Mincemeat:

If you use bought in mincemeat the addition of a little grated orange rind, chopped apple and brandy will improve its flavour.

Roll out the pastry and use a 7.5cm fluted pastry cutter, grease your pie moulds and pop the bottoms in. Fill with mincemeat and put a 5cm top on after moistening the edge of the bottom. Brush the top with milk and bake in a preheated oven (gas mark 7/220c/425f) for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Deluxe version: Cream 250g full fat cream cheese and 50g caster sugar until smooth. Put a teaspoon of the cheese mixture on top of the mincemeat in each pastry bottom and top with a smaller round top.

Serve warm if possible and dust with icing sugar.

If you are being a complete show off, put a pinch of cinnamon powder in the icing sugar before dusting the mincies and serve with soft brandy butter to complete the hedonistic mince pie ritual.

on the 11th day of create christmas

The kitchen reduced  for me... spiced Christmas gravy

Every morning in the create kitchen huge stock pots bubble away, with all of the trimmings from the onions, vegetables and herbs thrown in too. When it comes to Christmas we pop in some cinnamon sticks and star anise as well for some festive spice. We guess that you probably don't have 100 litre stock pots at home so use the biggest pan you can find.

Ingredients
25g butter
Turkey giblets (neck, heart and liver) 
3 celery sticks, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 fresh bay leaves
8 star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
8 black peppercorns
3 tbsp plain flour
150ml red wine
a dash of Worcestershire sauce

1) melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat, add the giblets and vegetables and fry for 8 minutes, until golden.
2) add the bay leaves and spices and 1.5 litres water, gently bring to the boil and simmer for 1 hour.
3) strain the stock into a jug – you should have around 600ml. Set aside to cool slightly, then discard the fat from the surface.
4) once your turkey has roasted remove it from the pan and place the turkey’s roasting tin on the hob over a medium-high heat, add the flour and stir for 1 minute. Gradually stir in the wine, bring to the boil and reduce by half, then add the stock and any of the turkey’s cooking juices and bring back to the boil, allow to simmer for 15 minutes, to thicken. Discard any film from the surface, then season with the Worcestershire sauce.

on the 10th day of create christmas

Turkey Finder found for me... the best free range turkey

I have become a little obsessed recently with the concept of PYOT (or pick your own turkey in case you didn't already know). What could nicer than going to the farm and choosing your own bird and then getting it delivered to your door. Agreed it might not be up everyone's pear tree but if you want to know you are eating a turkey which is truly free range then give it a go, just enter your postcode into the search box and call up the friendly if not slight stressed farmer to arrange a viewing!

Click here for UK Turkeys

There have been many theories over the last few years on how to avoid dry tasteless turkey, from Nigella and her rather strange soaking your turkey overnight in a spice bath to wrapping and roasting your turkey in a buttered muslin cloak. If you start with the best quality free range turkey you can find then you are already half way there.

We find that wrapping the turkey breast in lots and lots of bacon and putting a herbed or spiced butter under the skin always works well. Breast side down may deform your turkey a little but you will have deliciously moist and flavoursome meat!

on the 9th day of create christmas

the pastry kitchen made for me... boozy brandy butter

Possibly the simplest Christmas recipe but definitely the most un-healthy! 3 ingredients never tasted so good especially when eaten with a warm mince pie or Christmas pudd...

Ingredients:

125g unsalted softened butter
125g icing sugar
2 tbsp boiling water
3 tbsp brandy

1) whip the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy
2) gently beat in the boiling water and brandy
3) refrigerate and repeat the process as brandy butter never lasts long if left un-attended.