Weddings: The Farmers Daughter June 10th 2012

We’ve just received a lovely thank you letter form the Mother of a recent Bride. We did the Marquee wedding with Best Intent just outside of Melrose on the family’s farm, overlooked by the picturesque Eildon Hills. I thought I would just paraphrase some of the Mother of the Brides kind words, it’s thanks like this make our job so rewarding! We’re very lucky to be part of such intimate and special family occasions:

…just a wee note to say how outstanding your service was on the day of Judith & Andrew’s wedding. A guest form Kent is still drooling over the beef you cooked!! … Again my thanks, all the best for the remainder of the Summer.

We provided a champagne and canapé reception on the lawn which was serenaded by the St Boswells Concert Band. The location was fantastic as this little bit of video will show (please excuse my amateurish shaky filming!)

http://www.facebook.com/v/10150634239110291

The table settings were quite traditional and combined with the champagne bar, cocktail bar and the exquisite floristry  the marquee interior was just the right mix of celebratory exuberance and formal style.

Copyright J.Orde

Copyright J.Orde

Copyright J.Orde

We served a choice of two starters, Fresh Italian Figs, Parma Ham & Rocket with Parmesan Shavings or alternatively, Seared Scallops on Black Pudding with Greek Cress Frills and a Sour Cream & Chive dressing.

Copyright J.Orde

Copyright J.Orde

Copyright J.Orde

The main course was Roast Sirloin of Beef Carved at the table with all the trimmings – a big favorite with the men and ladies alike! For pudding we served delicious Fresh Berries set in a Prosecco Jelly with a Creamed Meringue on the side. The Wedding Cake looked amazing too. We used the bottom and middle tier to serve with coffee & peppermint tea. Later we set up a buffet of Cheeses and Sweets – a “Munchie Table” if you will – it helps soak up all the drink and keep the dancers energised!

Copyright J.Orde

Copyright J.Orde

As the night continued and the guests partied into the wee small hours the Cocktail bar was inundated serving an unending flow of Mojitos, Martinis, Juleps, Daiquiris along with lagers, beers and regular spirits.

The menu and services we were asked to provide are typical of the food, drink, dressing and special touches we can supply.

If you would prefer to have your wedding at a venue why not check out our list of exclusive and exquisite Country Houses and Castles here in the Scottish Borders!

Seared Scallops on Black Pudding with Greek Cress Frills and Sour Cream & Chive Dressing

The Royal Wedding: What’s on the Menu?

What's on William & Kate's Wedding Menu?

You just know, as a caterer, now that the ceremony is drawing to a close that the kitchens will be maniacally preparing a whole manner of canapés for the guest’s consumption. Champagne will be on ice and flutes or coupes will be ready to be filled. You can begin to build a picture of their potential preparations by looking through our menu’s on our website or viewing some of the photo’s from our Facebook feed.

It’s good to see a number of the canapes were trusty favorites we serve our guests. Reportedly the list consisted of:

- Cornish crab salad on lemon blini
- Pressed duck terrine with fruit chutney
- Roulade of goats’ cheese with caramelised walnuts
- Assortment of palmiers and cheese straws (As featured on our Dinner Party Menus)
- Scottish smoked salmon rose on beetroot blini (Our Buckwheat blinis are not a bad alternative)
- Miniature watercress and asparagus tart
- Poached asparagus spears with Hollandaise sauce (Or try them wrapped in Parma Ham from us)
- Quails eggs with celery salt (An absolute classic)
- Scottish langoustines with lemon mayonnaise pressed confit of pork belly with crayfish and crackling
- Wild mushroom and celeriac chausson
- Bubble and squeak with confit shoulder of lamb
- Grain mustard and honey-glazed chipolatas (We buy ours from Lees the Butchers in Kelso by the thousands!)

 - Smoked haddock fishcake with pea guacamole

- Miniature Yorkshire pudding with roast fillet of beef and horseradish mousse

- Gateau opera
- Blood orange pate de fruit
- Raspberry financier
- Rhubarb creme brulee tartlet
- Passionfruit praline
- White chocolate ganache truffle
- Milk chocolate praline with nuts
- Dark chocolate ganache truffle  (mmm all these petit fours sound awesome!)

Food Hero: A Diversified Palette!

I’ve just watched this amazing short documentary via a link from a very talented designer & associate of mine, Jaco Justice . Before or after you check the video have a peek at the Go Reborn Collective Jaco is part of, they do good things!

On to the video, please just watch it – John Nese is the Willy Wonka of Soda Pop:

Visit his stores website here:

www.SodaPopStop.com

Weddings: Fine Occasions and right Royal Days

That was the Winter of our discontent…. no, no, no, that will never do. That was the Winter of our disconnect… still fraught with cliche, it’s not going to work. THAT WAS THE WINTER OF OUR DISCOTHEQUES? Sod it, I have to start some where and so here I will start. Amid a super cold, powder heavy winter we continued to assist revellers in their partying aided by our 4×4 catering van, some expert driving and a steely determination to keep the wheels turning on the hypothetical catering wagon. As we began planning for our first big Marquee Wedding of the year the continued onslaught of Snow seemed to have even the most stoical of Event Planners perturbed. Though January was harsh February seemed to beckon in a milder more considerate climate for the outside caterer. Over the course of two events, a cocktail party and a wedding reception we catered for almost 600 guests suppling some wonderful canapes, venison, wines and more through out.

Carpaccio Cipriani of Hardiesmill Smoked Aberdeen Angus

It hasn’t been all work, work, work, though in the start of 2011. We managed to get along to the belated St Andrew’s Day Dinner (Now held just before Burns Night due to the bad weather in November). It was a great Industry night for local producers and suppliers in the Scottish Borders where some great Local Chefs were recognised for the wonderful food they have been producing  with goods sourced through the Scottish Borders Food Network.

We have been particularly busy dealing with an increase in enquiries for Weddings in 2011 and 2012. I’m not saying that it’s specifically down to this years Royal Wedding or that the long nights at home over Winter produced an especially romantic frisson but perhaps these things and a little bit of our own hard work have inspired more Brides and Grooms than usual to contact us about their own Special Day. Our wedding brochure has been whizzing around the place and gaining a lot of interest. You can download it here and have a look for yourselves:  2011 Wedding Brochure

We’ve launched a fantastic wedding package in conjunction with Mellerstain House for 2012 and we think the menus and excellent value for money make it the perfect marriage of historical atmosphere, fine food and wine. Your very own fairytale wedding of sorts. We also have exclusive rights to Makerstoun House just outside Kelso where we will be developing a number of Marquee wedding packages to allow couples to make the most of the Parish Church on the Estate, the wonderful Tweed-side setting and the seclusion and privacy of that this location brings.

Next up on the Horizon are Potato Day at the Borders Union Show Ground and the Buccleuch Hunt Point to Point meeting where we will be supplying the hospitality in the Lycetts Tent.  We are kept busy with requests for private chefs, dinner parties and  Canape receptions amongst all this. I’d like a holiday, maybe then I could post some more food up on this blog and tell you more about The Scottish Borders Brewery, Tempest Brewery, Citrus Braised Lamb with Shallots, Celeriac Gratin, Apple Malva, Home Made Biltong and much much more. Our Guest blogger Jenny Rhodes will be returning immanently and to the roster I hope to made some new additions.  Over and out.

Guest Blog: Jenny Rhodes on London Food Markets

January 2011

The 17th century author Samuel Johnson once said “When a man is tired of London he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” I like to think the majority of Londoners or ‘temporary’ Londoners such as myself relate to this quote in someway or another. Whatever your vice; clubbing, the theatre, shopping, or in my case food, London offers it all in abundance. And what better way to celebrate a vice but to indulge it.

A Mountain of Calories inside Borough Market (image courtesy of WhatsJamesDoing.com)

If your vice, like myself, is food, then there are many ways to scratch the itch in London, my favourite being food markets. There are many dotted over the city, from the larger, more well known to the smaller & slightly obscure. The perfect morning out with the chance to have a wander, a nice lunch & to stock up on delicacies, more & more city dwellers are turning to weekend markets. Organic, fair trade, royal appointed or your cockney run back street stall, markets in London are the staple of many a cook- professional or aspiring.

The most well known is certainly Borough Market, and for good reason. A caldron of sights, sounds & smells, it offers something for every palate. Pork pies, jams, organic vegetables, game, pastries, olive oils, bottled beers, delicious cheeses…the gluttonous list is endless. Produce from around the world nestles comfortably with British home grown, and the stall owners are all exceptionally helpful & informative, if a little rushed off their feet… Being such a popular market, it’s best to get there early, as by midday it’s crammed with people browsing for Saturday night treats. Running every Friday 12am-6pm & Saturdays 9am–6pm it does mean it’s an incredibly popular Saturday morning haunt. Look out for favourites like ‘Artisan du Chocolat’, selling beautiful chocolates, salted caramels & their signature ‘Os’ – wafer thin chocolate discs with flavours such as pecan and cinnamon or lychee and rose. The Ginger Pig Butcher is another quality purveyor not to be missed, proffering an assortment of traditional cuts along with over 20 different varieties sausages, scotch eggs, pies & pates. There is nothing that these boys don’t about meat. They also offer superb butchery courses, which by all accounts are incredibly popular.

Image courtesy of SeriousEats.Com

As well as a good turn over of temporary stalls, there are also a number of permanent stalls & shops dotted around Borough, which are well worth visiting. One such is Neals Yard on Park Street, which offers an array of over 70 cheeses from cheesemakers across the UK & Ireland. The Montgomery’s Chedder & Stinking Bishop are definitely my two favourite choices from this fantastic supplier, although I would warn anyone, Stinking Bishop is not for the faint hearted!

There are also plenty of less well know markets dotted across London and, while they may not rival Borough in size, they certainly do in quality & selection. In East London you can find the Sunday UpMarket, located just off Brick Lane. Every Sunday from 10am –5pm, it’s a small but interesting selection of stalls. More geared to buying & eating on the spot, rather than take home fare, there are trestle tables lined up where you can sit down & tuck in. Look out for the Mayjay Tout stall, which serves up traditional home style Caribbean food. Delicious chicken curries & spicy soups, they also offer roti-the Caribbean version of a tortilla, delicious when filled with goat curry. For the tea snobs out there, there is Yumchaa, stockists of loose tea, with every flavour you could want, from traditional builders tea to fruity summer mixes. Take a sprinkling of Japanese, Turkish, & Ethiopian cuisine to name but a few, along with a healthy dose of cupcakes, pastries & brownies & a whole host up & coming designers, vintage clothing stands & accessories makes for an eclectic and not to be missed mix.

Photo: Lonely Planet

While you are ‘out East’ its worth spending some time on Brick Lane itself. Nicknamed ‘Banglatown’ it’s the heart of the city’s Bangladeshi-Sylheti community & where you will find the best curries in London. As you wander up the lane, waiters stand outside their restaurants beckoning you in with the promise of free starters, half price naan bread or two for one drinks. Every curry house seems to have won some sort of title & are all exceptionally proud of their establishments. Take time to look around before you take your pick-but as a rule of thumb, go for busy places filled with locals.

An hour West of the city you will find Barnes Farmers market. Running every Saturday, from 10am-2pm it’s a small but well thought out selection of producers & suppliers. Located at Essex House Surgery opposite the duck pond in the heart of Barnes, it’s not difficult to see why it’s such a firm favourite with the locals. Offering everything from vegetables grown by Coleshill Organics, fresh handmade pasta from the inventive La Tua Pasta Ltd & a good range of fish & shellfish from the Portland Scallop Company, it really is packed full of choice. You can find delicious produce from Flour Power City Bakers, a London based team offering a wonderful range of artisan breads, pastries & cakes, look out for treats such as their traditional wholemeal bloomers & walnut & apricot loaf. Lastly don’t miss Outsider Tarts who produce a dizzying array of biscuits & tarts-the perfect way to refuel after a morning of tramping around.

About Jenny:

A lass from the  Scottish Borders who grew up in a house run by a culinary obsessed mother, food & cooking have always been close to her heart.

While studying Textiles at Gray’s school of Art in Aberdeen I spent a month in the heart of Somerset completing a cookery course, which then inspired me to spend my summers working as a cook for hunting lodges across the Highlands & Islands.  Looking for adventure I headed off to Switzerland & ran a ski chalet for 6 months where I learnt the art of making a full cooked breakfast for 16 people in under 20 mins. Once reality kicked I moved back  & ended up in London town where I became a handbag designer for a quirky but sadly defunct label named Birdy Num Num.  Now living in South West London & currently working for a custom install AV company, I spend most of my spare time cooking, baking, roasting & serving up lots of homemade goodies to friends & family.

You can following her musings at http://loveinatimeofgluttony.blogspot.com

You can find out more about private chefs or apply to join our team by contacting us via email or through any of our social media links.

If music be the food of Love: Mr Scruff – Jazz Potato

Daaaammmmmn! It’s been a minute since I put some info up here. We’ve been super busy down here in the Borders catering for all manner of events, not to mention preparing our wedding brochure for 2011. We’ve also been rejigging our wine lists and sending our chefs out to all manner of private functions catering for some well heeled visitors to our lovely corner of the World.

I thought I’d get back into the swing of blogging by posting up a food related tune from the Tea loving DJ genius of Mr Scruff. Like us he brings plenty of flavour and is a purveyor of fine taste, and aural epicure… if you will allow me yet another bombast flourish.

If you are free later on in the month of October come and visit us at the Borders Wedding Show.

Later on in November I’ll be holding a wine tasting event at our Catering Unit so get in touch if that’s something your interested in. There will be the chance to buy some very fine Wine and Malt Whiskey and even a few Craft Ales! Watch this space.

Shooter’s Sandwich: A Tex-Mex Odyssey

 

Shooter's Sandwich: Tex-Mex Style

I’ve been meaning to make this sandwich for some time, the constituent ingredient combinations and flavours ruminating in my mind. You see, I love the things that go into this recipe in their own right: Rib-Eye Steak (my favorite cut), Sauteed Mushrooms and good quality artisanal bread – none of these things should be trifled with in my book… ominously, for me, trifling, though in a savoury vein is, after a fashion, what one must do to create a Shooter’s Sandwich.

I had recently seen a nice Cayenne Pepper Rub & Lime Butter recipe for Ribeye’s on another website, tried it and enjoyed. The idea for the direction of my Shooter’s Sandwich was formulating. Once I had finally gotten myself organised to cook the dish up I found I was missing the Shallots (as recommended in the recipe linked earlier in the post). The decision was made, onions and garlic would replace the shallots and I would make a spicy BBQ Tex-Mex rub for the steaks.

 

Cayenne, Kaffir Lime Leaves, Olive Oil, Garlic, Beef Stock, Garlic, Tomato Puree, HP Sauce, Angostura & Worcestershire Sauce

So, in the picture above you can see almost all the ingredients I placed in a pestle and mortar to bash into my spicy, smokey Rib-Eye rub. They are all listed though the quantities will remain a secret… you can email me for the details. Before applying the rub I bashed my steaks out to about a 3/4 inch/1.5 cm thickness so that they would fill the loaf. Once the rub was applied I left the steak for about a half hour, drank some coffee, diced the rest of the produce and set about warming my griddle pan.

 

Slice, Dice & Spice

Drizzle & Sizzle

With the griddle pan deglazed with some red wine I set about sautéing my mushrooms, onions, garlic with chopped rosemary and thyme and some butter,  olive oil and the pan juices. Once cooked down to a satisfyingly tasty haché of tender mushrooms and sweet almost caramelised onions I layered up the bread with steak sandwiching mushrooms and a liberal slather of Mrs Balls Chutney on the lid of the loaf before wrapping it all with parchment and trussing it with string.

You’ll  need to sate your appetite somehow without eating this sandwich straight away. Like purchasing a handgun this shooter sandwich has a cool off period, the meaty extravaganza needs to be compressed for 24 hours under some weigh and left in a cool place… like a fridge or pantry, not a night club or fashion show. I used a couple of casserole pots to provide the “flavourising pressurifaction” but you could use whatever was to hand. This gestation period allows the bread to compact around the meat and mushrooms in a diamond like forming of tremendous taste.

Once this period of abstinence is over and the shakes of anticipation have subsided enough to for you to cut yourself a well deserved slice, I suggest you grab a nice cold beer or two and make sure you have some mates around to finish off this heroic snack in a oner –  waste not want not and all that.

TV Chefs: Anthony Bourdain

With his explosive and inciteful entré to cookery writing, Kitchen Confidential, in 2000, Anthony Bourdain laid bare the journeyman career of a kitchen hoodlum inspiring readers to get stuck in and cook like they’re in ‘Nam. It was a memoir that in part romantiscised the nitty gritty of the kitchen and stole away the Mummsy preserve of food writing from the Martha Stewart/Delia Smith generation that had preceded it. His writing is enthralling, “honest” and vital, though probably to the point of bravado but who could deny a chef the cinematic machismo that a fast paced, sweaty, oft near perilous workplace might encourage? His follow up A Cooks Tour was a “Boys Own” compendium of daring foods and exotic locations and his Les Halles Cookbook , a “go on I dare you” collection of classic French cuisine of the sort his now famous former restaurant supplies.  There in no denying, among the numerous books and TV shows Chef Bourdain has produced, there is a whirling, at first centrifugal, now gravitational, if not magnetic pull giving density and mass to his ego. He is engaging but has his latest serving pushed the boat out a little too far? Christine Muhlke of the New York Times discusses the man’s career and new collection of essays titled, Medium Raw.

“Medium Raw” follows his 2006 sausage-maker, “The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones.” This “bloody valentine” contains pointed critiques, astute asides and semi-reported stories that tend to circle back to himself — the real reason, he presumes, you’re buying this book.

It’s a great review and the extract barely hints at it’s insightfulness. Click on the link above and read it in full.

In the mean time here’s Bourdain doing his thing:

Kiwi Chutney and the importance of spreading yourself thickly!

Kiwi Chutney - Mildly spicy and deliciously tangy

So it’s been a hot minute since I last posted on this blog  - my apologies if you have checked back and not found anything new to get your mouth watering. We’ve been a busy bunch with our Outside Catering and Cafes with new sites being considered and wonderful wedding upon wedding to help celebrate . We had a successful Border Union Show where the food-hall was buzzing. I have some lovely Chorizo Iberico to cook something up with and I’ve already scoffed the Boerewors I get from Peelham Farm each year.  There was lots of fantastic produce on show and our own wee stand got quite a few visitors. Old and regular customers popped by for wee complimentary shortbread punnets wrapped with Tartan ribbon. Many new faces enquired after our services and we were only too happy to show them our menus and food images. We had a stall packed with lovely Border Tarts, Meringues and Cakes all freshly prepared by our bakers Maryna and Kate. It was a sell out show! Here’s a pic our our wee corner:

Border Union Show Food-Hall Stand

I digress, I have a kiwi chutney recipe to share and I shouldn’t keep you from it any longer.  For this recipe you will need:

500g of  cooking apples, peeled, cored and diced
230ml of cider vinegar
110g of  dark brown sugar (you can use light brown sugar for a more delicate taste)
100g of sultanas
2 tablespoons of lime juice and the zest of 1 lime
½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon of ground ginger
½ teaspoon of cumin
¼ teaspoon of ground cloves
¼ teaspoon of allspice
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 clove garlic, minced

6 large, ripe kiwifruit, peeled and diced.

Method:

In a large pot bring all ingredients except the kiwifruit to a boil.

Boil gently for 18-22 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the kiwis and boil gently for another 20 minutes or until chutney is thickened, stirring frequently.

Ladle the chutney into hot sterilized canning jars, filling to within 5 mm of top.

Seal and process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Remove jars from bath and cool away from drafts.

Store sealed jars in a cool place until ready to use.

All that is then left to do is to enjoy your chutney with some nice spicy boerewors or some tangy mature cheddar. You can also serve it, as I did, alongside some lightly spiced prawns or any other curry dish… but you know that.

Deep Fried Prawns in Spiced Cashew Batter & the Po’boys of Kerala

Mustard Seeds & Hot Chilli Powder

I’ve been thinking about this dish for a while. I’ve been concious that I’d not posted any recipes or food for a while so I wanted to make a bit of an effort. We have the Borders Union Show on this weekend and I will be holed up in the food hall on our stall for the duration, so getting anything new up will be a challenge. On the Plus side I will be able to go around the stalls of some of my favorite producers and get some great ingredients for next weeks entries.

Garam Masala & Fenugreek

The accompanying pictures are of the constituent parts of the marinade I created for the Prawns I cooked. I’ve used roughly a heaped tea spoon of each spice, though I was a little light on the chilli powder adding only a half  tsp. All of the spices I’m using are going into a pestel and mortar – I’m doing things the old fashioned way… or trying to.

Turmeric & Ground Black Pepper added

I probably should have used ground white pepper but there was none to hand – I was kind of winging it. I had a stash of cashew butter base left over in the fridge from last week and I’d thought it would be nice to use them with some prawns after having read about Po’boys on another blog, the dish in that case was a personal take on the original Po’boy dish as described on Cooking The Books Blog. So in not really knowing how to get to my end culinary destination and feeling the need to use some of the goods I had previously produced I set about cannibalising a recipe I had found with the vague hope of creating an Indian Influenced Po’boy and maybe a starter dish I could serve at a function.

Add a couple of cloves of Garlic and about a cubic inch of Ginger

I decided to deep fry the prawns rather than cook them Tandoori style as the original recipe suggests and further more my batter would be much more of a batter and less of a crust… or croute if we’re getting fancy. Anyway, back to the marinade. I added a glug of sunflower oil to the mix and the juice of 1 lime. I swiftly set about beating the hell out of the mixture and crushing all the mustard seeds. I did it all in a very Steven Seagal in Under Siege kind of a way and felt pretty good about it. I thought to myself, “Be like Steve”… “Be Zen, Serene… at one with the the marinade but ready to kill at a moments notice.” This sort of tempered urgency whilst preparing food is what I’d like to think of as called being “in the Zone” but in reality it’s probably more borderline psychotic… here’s a picture of the lime I squeezed with ninja precision:

It didn't even hear me coming. Whoooosh. Slice.

Once I had the marinade prepared I took half of it and used it to flavour the prawns. I put them in a bowl and let them absorb the flavours in the fridge for about an hour.

The Batter:

I took a couple ot table spoons of my preprepared basic cashew butter and started bashing it in the pestle and mortar to make a fine paste. I had begun to feel tired as I do not actually have the strength and stamina of Steven Seagal in Under Siege so I turned to my Food Processor to finish the job. Into the processor I placed the butter, the remaining marinade, two eggs, a tbl spn of creme fraiche and a tbl spn of plain flour. I then blitzed the be’jesus out of it until it had all come together – I tasted it… no dice. A whole, fresh mild chilli was de-seeded and added. Blitz again. Result. The batter was then decanted into a bowl and placed into the fridge. Just before I battered the prawns I added 150ml of tonic water and whisked it in to make a light velvety consistency. Batter up, you could say.

I heated 500ml of Sunflower oil to 190°C in a wok and got ready to deep fry.

The prawns were taken from the marinade, dusted and tossed in plain flour then dipped and allowed to drain of any excess batter. One by one the spicy coated prawns fell to the bubbling oil, I counted them all in and I counted them all out – golden, crispy and ready for assembly.

Deep Fried Prawns with Cashew Batter on a bed of Kiwi with Sour Kiwi Chutney

Like a true Scotsman - I can not resist deep fried food

I had made some Kiwi chutney earlier in the week so I put that on the side as a condiment for the dish. It’s a pretty standard chutney recipe and I’ll post it up in my next blog entry for you – today is about the prawns but here’s peek at the chutney anyways:

It made a nice accompaniment  and it was also dolloped into my Kerla Po’boy as you’ll shortly see.  I have no idea if anyone from Kerala would recognise my dish or if anyone in New Orleans would make the connection with their own famed Po’boys. Here you are though, my attempt, of someone else’s attempt, at some else’s attempt at making a Po’boy. Let’s call it the Inception Po’boy – the chilli in the batter could be the kick. (You’ve seen the film Inception, right? You Get what I’m saying… this isn’t just the ramblings of a chef intrigued by social and cultural memes?)

Kerala Po'Boy under construction

I topped the prawns with a Raita I threw together and some salad leaves and the chutney. The  components were laid on a warmed Chapatti and rolled to form a tube of Sub-Continental Po’Boy awesomeness. This was then scoffed by me.

No too much poor about this Po'Boy in the end.