Blog Forman and Field

In honour of the Queen’s diamond jubilee we’re running a competition to create the most fantastic dessert possible using a mystery box of ingredients. We asked some of our favourite food bloggers to take part – see here for more details.

All the boxes have arrived, pinnies are being starched and rolling pins sharpened. Here’s the list of ingredients supplied, what would you make?

ORIGINAL BEANS CRU VIRUNGA 70% DARK CHOCOLATE A new chocolate producer that is rapidly becoming the choice of top Chefs, chocolatiers and restaurants including Marcus Wareing, The Fat Duck, Galvin at Windows and Damian Allsop to namedrop but a few. See enclosed notes for more detail. The original beans website is well worth a visit for chocolate inspiration - http://www.originalbeans.com/

DOVE’S FARM FLOUR This general purpose white flour is milled from English wheat grown by organic farmers to Ethical Trade standards which involve a fair price for the farmer and fair treatment of workers, as well as involvement with local communities. This is great for baking pastry, cakes and biscuits.

LONGMAN’S UNSALTED FARM BUTTER Proper butter from a family run Dairy farm in Somerset.

FORMAN & FIELD LEMON CURD Our own handmade lemon curd from the Forman & Field kitchens. Tarter than most with a good hit of lemon zest so it’s makes for a mighty fine baking ingredient.

CRÈME ANGLAISE More homemade goodness from our kitchens. We make this daily to order with lots of fresh Bourbon vanilla.

ELDERFLOWER LIQUEUR This heavenly elixir is made in small batches with hand-picked elderflowers by Bramley & Gage down in South Devon. They’re a family business with son Michael recently having taken over from his old man Edward. And if you can’t think of a good recipe to bake with it…

MULLED PEARS The final contribution from the F&F kitchens, pears poached in a mulled red wine syrup.

Floor 1 and Formans Restaurant

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Floor 2 & Forman’s Smokehouse Gallery

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Floor 2 Roof Terrace

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Remember our ‘Formans Love Cook Off‘? Well today is a big day for baking!

It’s the launch of our inaugural (diamond jubilees don’t come around every day after all) Forman’s Jubilee Bake Off. We picked 9 of our favourite blogging bakers and sent them a mystery box of the finest ingredients we could lay our hands on. Their task is to use them to create a fabulous, magical, celebratory and most importantly delicious cake or sweet treat in honour of Her Maj’s Jubilee. Bloggers will photograph their entries post recipes online. Then they will be thoroughly tested and judged by Chef here at Forman & Field.

The prize for the winning entry will be a pair of tickets to our incredible Olympic dining experience, plus a guest post on the blog. The runner up will receive a Diamond Jubilee hamper.

It’s a dream team of masterful bakers, just take a look at their form here:

 http://athomewithmrsm.blogspot.co.uk

http://iheartkatiecakes.blogspot.co.uk/

www.renbehan.com

http://joskitchen.wordpress.com/

http://www.lavenderandlovage.com

http://www.frugaliciousfood.com/

www.Cupcakesbysarah.co.uk

http://www.workinglondonmummy.com

http://whatkatebaked.blogspot.co.uk/

The final boxes are arriving today and tomorrow, we can’t wait to see what they come up with!

We all love a list but there probably won’t be too many familiar names to most British diners on this year’s Restaurant Magazine run-down of the top 50 eateries in the world.

Whatever happened to Gordon and Marco? Michel and Michel, Albert and Alain? Fergus and Shaun? The UK peaked at 14 entries in the top 50 way back in the glory days of 2005. This year a gristly 3, worse even than last year’s practically indigestible 4.

At least we still have our Heston not only hanging in there with the Fat Duck at #13 but also crashing the party with a second entry in the shape of Dinner at #9, the highest new entry on the list indeed.

Is the UK really a poorer place to eat out than it was in 2005?

Here’s the list in full:

1. Noma – Copenhagen, Denmark
2. El Celler de Can Roca – Girona, Spain
3. Mugaritz – San Sebastian, Spain
4. D.O.M. – Sao Paulo, Brazil
5. Osteria Francescana – Modena, Italy
6. Per Se – New York, USA
7. Alinea – Chicago, USA
8. Arzak – San Sebastian, Spain
9. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal – London, U.K.
10. Eleven Madison Park – New York, USA
11. Steirereck – Vienna, Austria
12. L’Atelier Saint-Germain de Joel Robuchon – Paris, France
13. The Fat Duck – Bray, U.K.
14. The Ledbury – London, U.K.
15. Le Chateaubriand – Paris, France
16. L’Arpege – Paris, France
17. Pierre Gagnaire – Paris, France
18. L’Astrance – Paris, France
19. Le Bernardin – New York, USA
20. Frantzen/Lindeberg – Stockholm, Sweden
21. Oud Sluis – Sluis, Netherlands
22. Aqua – Wolfsburg, German
23. Vendome – Bergisch Gladbach
24. Mirazur – Menton, France
25. Daniel – New York, USA
26. Iggy’s – Singapore
27. Narisawa – Tokyo, Japan
28. Nihonryori RyuGin – Tokyo, Japan
29. Quay – Sydney, Australia
30. Schloss Schauenstein – Fuerstenau, Switzerland
31. Asador Etxebarri – Atxondo, Spain
32. Le Calandre – Padua, Italy
33. De Librije – Zwolle, Netherlands
34. Faeviken – Jaerpen, Sweden
35. Astrid y Gaston – Lima, Peru
36. Pujol – Mexico City, Mexico
37. Momofuku Ssam Bar – New York, USA
38. Biko – Mexico City, Mexico
39. Waku Ghin – Singapore
40. Quique Dacosta – Denia, Spain
41. Mathias Dahlgren – Stockholm, Sweden
42. Hof Van Cleve – Kruishoutem, Belgium
43. The French Laundry – Yountville, USA
44. Amber – Hong Kong, China
45. Vila Joya – Albufeira, Portugal
46. Il Canto – Siena, Italy
47. Bras – Laguiole, France
48. Manresa – Los Gatos, USA
49. Geranium – Copenhagen, Denmark
50. Nahm – Bangkok, Thailand

There’s a very comprehensive story on Forman’s and in particular our relocation to make way for the London 2012 Olympics Stadium on our local East London Advertiser website today. It’s a tale of floods and fires, flight from oppression and a political battle, fine smoked salmon and a VIP parties. Mr Forman talks of writing a book about it some day, he certainly won’t be short of plot.

Click the image below to read the article…

We’re delighted to be featured on Simon Hulstone’s new menu for BA 1st and Club class flights. Our smoked salmon is included in a tartare with pickled radishes and cucumber and an elderflower dressing.

Watch video of the popup restaurant launch of the new menu here:

And for more detail on the fabulous food turn to top blogger Eat Like a Girl for her review:

Great piece in today’s Financial Times including Lance talking about our relocation and putting the troubles of the relocation battle behind us.  If you’d like your own piece of Forman’s Riviera we still have a few suites left available for the summer Olympics period  - see here for details

Like everyone else we know, we love cupcakes. They’re a treat for the eyes as well as the tummy – and, above all, they’re really cute.

We’re always on the lookout for new foodie treats to offer our customers and with our new cupcakes in jars we think we can start a movement of jar people. If cupcakes are like sweet little babies, cupcakes in jars are like sweet little babies in prams with the rain cover on to keep them safe and snug.

The beauty of a cake in a jar lies in its presentation, long life, novelty value and portability. A modern twist on the age-old tradition of preserving food in jars, our delightful individual jar cakes can be used as wedding favours, Easter gifts, corporate gifts, birthday treats or as a present for any occasion, no matter how near or far away your loved one may be.

Cakes when stored in jars can stay fresh for as long as six months – although it’s rare indeed that these tempting morsels are left on the shelf for that long! Perfectly preserved, the cakes stay fantastically fresh and marvellously moist, and their protective glass shell means they travel extremely well so are ideal for picnic hampers or as gift ideas for posting to families and friends who live further afield.

If you don’t fancy seeking out a moist cupcake recipe yourself, you can buy handmade gifts of prettily presented cupcakes in jars from Forman & Field. The cupcake recipes on offer include the decadent Chocolate Nutter, the intensely zesty Lemon Passion, the dignified elegance of Simply Vanilla and the classic Victoria Sponge.

If it’s an Easter gift you’re looking for, then forget the chocolate this year and try something different – Easter cupcakes in jars that are cuter than a bunny in a tutu and ballet shoes. If you’re hosting a street party for the UK Diamond Jubilee celebrations, how about trying out our patriotic cupcake ideas? Emblazoned with red, white and blue Union Jacks, these individual cupcakes will liven up any flagging celebration.

The possibilities of cakes in jars are endless and limited only by your imagination. If you fancy having a go, why not try baking some moist cupcakes and icing them with loving messages? Individual cupcake wedding cakes allow guests to take a little reminder home with them of your special day – and the cake travels so much better than when wrapped in a serviette!

Cake jar gifts don’t even have to be baked. A ‘cookie mix in a jar’ allows the recipient to enjoy not only the taste of your favourite recipe, but also the aromas of freshly baked cookie dough in their own home.

A cake in a jar helps you to preserve the moment and give a gift that stays as fresh as the moment it emerged from the heat of the oven. With no additives and recyclable packaging, what could make a more modern, or cuter, food gift?

Available online now – two selections of beef from 4 of Britain’s best producers, perfectly matched with accompaniments from the Forman & Field menu and delivered to your door. Throw a grill party to see who you think is best, compare Jay Rayner’s favourite supplier with Marcus Wareing’s, Longhorn vs Aberdeen Angus, Wales vs Cumbria… A carnivore’s dream come true!

THE PRODUCERS

28 day aged Longhorn beef, beloved of picky food critics and the only beef you’ll find on the menu at London’s renowned Hawksmoor restaurants. Meat from The Ginger Pig takes some beating. ‘Flawless. The best steak you’ll find anywhere‘ – Giles Coren on a Ginger Pig steak served at The Hawksmoor.

Lake District Farmers are a supplier with an address book that reads like a who’s who of the best Chefs in the country. You’ll find their dry aged, native breed beef on Marcus Wareing’s menu to name but one. Their rump steaks are hung for up to 6 weeks so they rival fillets for tenderness whilst retaining all the flavour that makes rump the steak eater’s choice.

Lord Newborough’s Aberdeen Angus cattle are grown slowly to full maturity on The Rhug Estate’s organic pasture, any supplementary feed used in addition to grazing is grown on the estate and even the water is drawn from their own bore hole. The results of such control are proven in the eating quality.

Just up the road in Denbigh, North Wales you will find a traditional small town butcher at John Williams & Co. Proprietor Glynn rears Welsh Black cattle on his home farm, processes them at his own abattoir, expertly matures the meat and butchers to order. The result is rich and complex with a good marbling of fat, the essential source of all that flavour.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS AND TO ORDER

GREATEST BRITISH BEEF STEAK TASTING BOX
LAKE DISTRICT FARMERS RUMP STEAKS, 2 x 225g
GINGER PIG SIRLOIN STEAKS, 2 x 225g
JOHN WILLIAMS FILLET STEAKS, 2 X 170G
RHUG ESTATE RIB EYE STEAKS, 2 x 230g
~Accompaniments~
BLACK TRUFFLE BUTTER, 125g
RED WINE JUS WITH FIELD MUSHROOM, 220ml
£66.95

GREATEST BRITISH BEEF MIXED BOX
LAKE DISTRICT FARMERS RUMP STEAKS, 2 x 225G
GINGER PIG BEST BRAISING STEAK, 500G
GINGER PIG COTE DE BOEUF, 1KG
JOHN WILLIAMS RIB EYE STEAKS, 2 X 170G
JOHN WILLIAMS SIRLOIN STEAKS, 2 X 225G
RHUG ESTATE TOPSIDE JOINT, 800G
RHUG ESTATE MINCED BEEF, 500G
~Accompaniments~
BLACK TRUFFLE BUTTER, 125g
RED WINE JUS WITH FIELD MUSHROOM, 220ml
CREAMED POTATO WITH BLACK TRUFFLE, 500G
HORSERADISH SAUCE, 170G
BOLNEY ESTATE LYCHGATE RED 2009, 70CL
£119.95