Blog Forman and Field

Foodie mistress of the midlands, our Nigella-devotee Jo is always looking to expand her culinary repertoire, frequently embarking on cookery courses, recipe testing and Masterchef challenges alike. She enjoys putting together invitingly scrummy homely dishes, and came up with a homemade anchovy focaccia, seared Royal Fillet of Smoked Salmon with Kirkham’s Lancashire Dauphinoise, topped off with some delectable Regent’s Park honey biscuits to accompany our brandied cherries. Didn’t she do well?

Twitter: @jos_kitchen

Soundtrack: Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen

Fighting talk: I will the win the cook off because I believe in simple home cooking and showing already fantastic ingredients at their best. It’s my Kitchen. It’s my Rules! Capisce?

Read the entry in full here: http://joskitchen.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/forman-and-fields-valentines-cook-off/

It took a few days of thinking but I managed to come up with a Valentine’s menu that I thought was simple to do and showed the amazing produce off at its best. To be completely and utterly truthful, I dislike anchovies with a passion, however I was determined to use everything that came in the box, so I thought that as the anchovies had garlic in them, I would make a foccacia as it is easy and a bit more upmarket then a pizza, where you usually find anchovies.

For my main, I simply griddled the salmon as it was too good to do anything else with, and served it with dauphinoise potatoes, with a generous grating of Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese on top and green beans, with both the tarragon jelly and horseradish on the side. For pudding, I made a chocolate pot with brandied cherries and honey biscuits. The pictures of my dishes and full recipes are below.

Stuart and I really enjoyed the meal. The Royal Fillet was the best salmon I have ever tasted and the honey was delicious. I am now addicted to brandied cherries as well. My big jar will not last very long! One minor downside is that the foccacia did not really work. It was simply too fishy and overpowering. I have included the recipe here so that someone who likes anchovies can have a go and see if they can make it better than I did.

All Serve Two

Anchovy and Garlic Foccacia
Ingredients
•    200g strong white bread flour, and more for dusting
•    1 packet of dried yeast
•    2 tablespoons of olive oil
•    1 teaspoon salt
•    125ml warmish water
•    6 anchovy fillets, chopped up into small bits and some oil out the container they were in

Method
1.    Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the olive oil and water and mix with your hand until its forms a sticky ball of dough.
2.    Put some flour on your work surface, and knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth and springy. Put in a oiled bowl, covered with a tea towel, cling film or even in a bin bag and leave in a warm place for an hour.
3.    After an hour has passed, knock back the dough and place in an oiled tin or tray and spread the dough out until it covers the bottom. leave it covered for another half an hour in a warm place.
4.    After half an hour, uncover it and spread out the chopped up anchovies and oil all over the top of the foccacia. Put in a preheated oven (180 degrees C) and let it cook for 20 minutes or until lightly golden. Serve with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and enjoy.

Griddled Salmon with Dauphinoise Potatoes and Green Beans
Ingredients
•    1 Royal Fillet of Smoked Salmon, chopped up into two portions
•    3 large or 6 small Maris Piper Potatoes, peeled and finely sliced
•    100ml double cream
•    300ml whole milk
•    1/2 onion, peeled
•    2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
•    Salt and white pepper
•    Generous handful of Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese, grated
•    1 packet of green beans, cooked according to the packet instructions
•   Horseradish sauce and tarragon jelly, to serve

Method
1.    In a saucepan, put the potatoes, cream, milk, 1/2 an onion, salt and pepper and allow simmer gently until the potatoes are nearly cooked through.
2.    Remove the onion from the potatoes and place everything else in a lasagne type dish and put the grated cheese on top. Put in an preheated oven (180 degrees C) and allow to cook until slightly golden and bubbling.
3.    Meanwhile, preheat up a griddle pan and cook the salmon on both sides, until slightly charred and warmed through.
4.    Serve the salmon with the Dauphinoise Potatoes and green beans, with a spoonful each of horseradish and tarragon jelly on the side. Enjoy

Chocolate Pots with Honey Biscuits and Brandied Cherries

Ingredients for Chocolate Pots
•    100g 70% dark chocolate, chopped up
•    140ml double cream
•    35g caster sugar
•    1 egg yolk
•    1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
•    6 pitted brandied cherries and 4 whole, for the top

Ingredients for Honey Biscuits (Makes 12-14)
•    2 heaped table spoons Regents Park Honey
•    2 table spoons whole milk
•    1 teaspoon of Bicarbonate of Soda
•    175g plain flour
•    75g caster sugar
•    100g unsalted butter

Method
1.    (For the Chocolate Pots) Gently warm the cream and sugar in a saucepan until the sugar the melted.
2.    In a bowl, put the chocolate, 1 egg yolk and vanilla extract. Pour over the cream and sugar mixture and stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
3.    Pop 3 pitted cherries into the bottom of each ramekin and pour the chocolate mixture on top. Allow to set in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
4.    (For the Honey Biscuits) Put the honey and milk in a saucepan and allow to warm through. Add in the Bicarbonate of Soda and stir until frothy. Set aside and allow to cool.
5.    Cream the butter and sugar together. Add in the flour and frothy mixture and mix until combined.
6.    Roll and shape a knob of the biscuit mixture and flatten onto a baking tray lined with parchment. Do not make them too big as they will spread during cooking.
7.    Bake in a preheated 2o0 degrees C oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before serving with the chocolate pots and brandied cherries.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, MiMi (that’s two capital M’s) is definitely one of the wackier stalwarts of the London food-blogging scene. Known for taunting all things Masterchef and her fabulous Burmese feasts, MiMi constructed a beautiful Bento box for her sweetheart followed by an indulgent and impressively technical cheesecake.

Twitter: @Meemalee

Fighting talk: “Meemalee’ s Kitchen is going to win your hearts – you’ll melt when you see what I magick up”.

Kitchen cook-off sound track: Mondo Cane by Mike Patton of Faith No More fame (his interpretation of Italian love songs from the Sixties).

Read the full entry here: http://www.meemalee.com/2011/01/lancashire-cheese-cake-salmon-bento.html

Salmon, Anchovy and Horseradish Korokke

* 100g Royal Fillet of smoked salmon

* 4 garlic marinated anchovies

* 1 egg

* 200g panko breadcrumbs

* 1 tsp horseradish sauce

* 1 tsp furikake seasoning

* Enough oil for deep-frying

Mince the salmon and the anchovies and then mix thoroughly with half the panko and all of the rest of the ingredients.

Form into 2 inch long croquette shapes and roll each croquette in the remaining panko.

Deep-fry no more than four croquettes at a time for a couple of minutes and then drain on kitchen paper.

My finished bento for my husband – smoked salmon stars, sugar snap peas, heart shaped onigiri, salmon korokke, heart shaped egg, cherry tomatoes, all on a bed of sushi rice sprinkled with black sesame seeds.

Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheesecake and Honey Sundaes

I’m not really one for desserts, but my husband has a sweet tooth and the way to a man’s heart is well known, so I’m determined to come up with something special as a Valentine’s bonus.

I figure the Lancashire cheese is surprisingly delicate, so as soon as I finish popping the brandied cherries in my mouth, I decide to make my beloved a spin on a traditional cheesecake.

The tarragon jelly is sweet with a hint of aniseed so I work this into the biscuit base. The herbiness complements the lime zest in the cheesecake topping.

For the base

* 8 digestive biscuits

* 1 tbsp melted butter

* 1 tbsp Regent’s Park honey

* 1 tbsp tarragon jelly

For the topping

* 25 brandied cherries

* 2 tbsp lovage cordial (optional)

* 150 ml double cream

* 25g Kirham’s Lancashire Cheese, finely grated

* 1 tbsp agar flakes or 1 gelatin sheet

* 3 tbsp Regent’s Park honey

* 1 tbsp caster sugar

* 1 tsp vanilla extract

* Zest of 1 lime

Crush the biscuits, add all the other base ingredients and mix thoroughly. Press into the base of two large wine glasses and chill.

Reserving two of the cherries, stone and destalk the rest and blend these with 2 tbsp honey, the lovage cordial if using, and a little of the cherry brandy until it turns into a sort of compote.

Dissolve the gelatine/agar in a little hot water. Whip the cream till stiff, then beat in the grated cheese, gelatine, sugar, lime zest and vanilla extract.

Layer half the cream mixture into the glasses. Then split the cherry compote between them.

Finish with the rest of the “cream cheese” and top with the reserved cherries.

Finally, warm the last tablespoon of honey and drizzle all over the cheesecake sundaes.

So that’s what I did using all the ingredients in my mystery box from Forman & Field for the Forman’s Love Cook Off.

Meemalee’s Valentine’s Day Menu

First course (for work)

a Bento of Salmon Sashimi Stars, and Salmon, Anchovy and Horseradish croquettes so the seduction starts while we’re apart (heh) … actually I’ve had all the bento paraphernalia for a while but not got round to using it, so this was well overdue.

Second course (for play)

He comes home to a light but luscious Lancashire Cheesecake and Honey Sundae with cherry compote on a tarragon biscuit base.

Feisty Latino lady of the group, what Carla lacks in enthusiasm for Valentine’s day itself she more than makes up for in her love of good grub. Playing fast and loose with the ingredients, Carla controversially sneaked some piggy pork belly into her main course, but made less contentious and equally beautiful dishes of Royal Fillet of smoked salmon crostata and honeyed ricotta with brandied cherries either side.

Twitter: @bribedwithfood

Fighting talk: “Because I’m a Jedi that handles a chef’s knife better than a light saber and knows more about Food than Force.”

Kitchen cook-off sound track: AC/DC “Back in black”

Read the full entry here: http://www.canbebribedwithfood.com/2011/01/formans-love-cook-off-indulgent-menu.html

I like cooking for friends and family too, but the meals I cook for myself always seem to taste better. An indulgence that I’m realising more and more people are taking up.

And so my “Love Meal” is not a V-Day one and I haven’t cooked it for another half.

It’s a Love Meal from me to me, because, you know, I deserve one.

I really enjoy nibbling and having a glass of wine whilst I cook so the marinated anchovies with garlic I found in my mystery box where just the thing I needed – Plump, flavoursome and fresh.

Aperitivo bliss at its best.

I then swiftly moved on to a savoury “crostata” of tarragon jelly topped with slices of the most amazingly delicate Royal fillet smoked salmon I have ever tried.

The pastry was a savoury adaptation of Italian “pasta frolla” – All lemony and peppery.

To give it a little colour I added a baby spinach salad to the side with Dijon and shallots dressing.

Ooooh, yeah!

My main was made of slow roasted pork belly with a white wine and horseradish gravy unceremoniously plonked over a bed of “risi e bisi” that enjoyed the addition of shredded little gem lettuce because I like green and, well, lettuce made my risotto look greener and more fun.

And last, but not lease dessert: ricotta whipped with Regent’s Park honey and cream, topped with warm brandied cherries and a balsamic reduction.

Not too shabby for a “I love me meal”, eh?!

Contrary to the title of his blog, budding bloggers wouldn’t go far wrong looking to him for inspiration. Experience in restaurant management as well as a few years in the pro-kitchen make Paul a worthy adversary to his fellow competitors, and by the looks of his recipes one to look out for. Eager beaver of the group, Paul was first to present his dishes; utilising our Royal Fillet of smoked salmon in his starter, a novel take on the humble fish finger sandwich, and a delectably unusual finish.

Twitter: @nonsensepipe

Fighting talk: My humble 30 years on this planet have just been preparation for this monstrous task… May the best cook win!

Kitchen cook-off soundtrack: Metronomy “Radio Ladio”

Read the full entry here: http://www.hownottodoafoodblog.com/2011/01/forman-and-fields-love-cook-off.html

Smoked Salmon with a Salmon and Prawn Mousse and Cherry, Brandy and Balsamic Vinegar

The smoked salmon was such a fantastic raw ingredient I wanted to do as little as possible to it.  So I prepared a simple dish of Smoked Salmon with a Salmon and Prawn Mousse and Cherry, Brandy and Balsamic Vinegar dressing to cut through the creamy richness of the mousse and salmon.

For this quite simple dish slice the Smoked Salmon and use four pieces per portion.  For the mousse use 100g of the Smoked Salmon, 100g of Prawns, a squeeze of Lemon, a dash of double cream and 1 egg (White only).  Use a blender to pulse all the ingredients except the egg white to combine them.  You don’t want to obliterate the textures but you want an almost smooth and workable paste at this point.

Separately whisk your egg white until it is light and firm and fold them together to create a light and airy mousse.  Please note this contains RAW egg white so is probably not suitable for some people with issues.  The dressing was easy; stone the cherries, place in a small blender with some of the marinating brandy and a dash of balsamic to give you that sweet and sour edge.  Arrange the Smoked Salmon and the Mousse on a round of toast and eat!

Anchovy Soldiers and definitely not Fish Fingers…

For the mains I looked to my youth for inspiration (this is actually a lie, I hated fish fingers as a child) and I’d wanted to use a technique I’d seen on the Great British Menu for quite some time so I went for an adult take on a childhood (I just can’t help myself) favourite.  Anchovies Soldiers (Fish Fingers) Horseradish and Pommes Puree (Mash) and Pea Shoots (Peas Obvs)!

You can all work out how to make Pommes Puree right and stick some Horseradish in it?  Good I’ll tell you how to make the Anchovy Soldiers then.  This is incredibly simple; get some white sliced bread on a chopping board, remove the crusts and roll it out flat until it’s about 3mm thick.  Arrange a suitable finger of Anchovies, roll and seal with some egg wash made from the yolk you saved earlier.

Pan fry till golden on all sides and arrange on the plate with the Horseradish Pommes Puree and the Pea Shoots.  This might sounds strange but it was deeply satisfying.  The now crunchy coated, salty white anchovies work well with the creamy puree and both combine well with the fresh green hit of the pea shoots.

Making the Cheese and Honey Parcel!

The eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted that I have three ingredients left!  What to do with Lancashire Cheese, Apple and Tarragon Jelly and Regents Park Honey.  I’m a bit of a food pervert at times, I love sweet and savoury; Marmite and Strawberry jam on toast being a prime example.  With that in mind I wanted to make a dessert with the cheese but do something a little different as well!

Honey goes with cheese wonderfully so I decided to combine the two.  It’s wasn’t long before the idea was formed.  I had to make a Cheese and Honey Parcel and serve it with some of the warmed Apple and Tarragon jelly.  I couldn’t think of anything else to do so this was either a moment of genius or frustrated pragmatism, I haven’t decided yet…

You can make your own puff pastry but I haven’t as it’s so much easier to simply buy the stuff.  Roll the pastry out nice and thin and cut into rounds, place a tea spoon of honey in each and add a chunk of the cheese as well.  Seal and egg wash then bake in a hot oven for approx 10/15 minutes or until golden.  Whilst these are cooking simply pour your jar of Apple and Tarragon Jelly into a pan and melt it… Instant sauce!  Serve with a splash of double cream.

It might sound odd but the warm, sweet and savoury combination worked extremely well.  The slightly salty cheese perfectly offset by the sweet floral punch of the delicious Regents Park Honey.  I’d like to think this was a good way to use the raw ingredients as any but let me know what your thoughts are!

Give or take a few minutes roasting time this is a foolproof recipe for pretty much any game bird, although you might struggle to find a frying pan big enough for a turkey. Feel free to add apples or pears to the vegetables, swap the wine for cider or ale.

Ingredients
• 2 Grouse, oven ready and well seasoned
• 4 slices of Streaky Bacon
• Oil for frying
• 1 Onion, 1 stick of Celery, 1 Carrot – all diced
• 1 clove of Garlic, chopped
• 1 small bunch of fresh Thyme
• 150ml Red Wine and 150ml of Beef, Chicken or Game Stock
• Butter, salt and pepper to taste
• Serves 2

Preparation
• Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 F / gas mark 4.

• Wrap the bacon around the breasts of the grouse (if you buy from Forman & Field we do this for you in advance), get the oil quite hot in a heavy based frying pan and sear the birds all over so they have a good rich colour, just a couple of minutes each side.

• Take out the birds and set aside, reduce the heat to medium and soften the onion, celery and carrot and fry gently for another few minutes. Then add the garlic and give it another minute.

• Pour in the wine and stock and warm through.

• If your pan is oven friendly – if not, transfer to a casserole – pop the birds on top of the veg and liquid, loosely cover with foil and put them in the oven.

• Roast for 20 minutes, take out and give the breasts a squeeze. If they feel firmish on the outside but with a bit of give inside that should mean they are just cooked through but nice and pink and juicey. Reduce the roasting time by a five minutes if you prefer them rare, or add five minutes for well done.

• Once cooked take out the birds and set aside to rest for at least 5 minutes. Return the pan to the hob and bubble whilst vigourously scraping all that good stuff off the bottom until it is thickened to your liking – you can add more wine/stock if it’s already gone very syrupy whilst roasting. Strain, taste and season and whisk in a knob of butter if you fancy it.

• Serve the birds with the sauce, Creamed Potato with Black Truffle Shavings is an ideal side dish.

Our friends at the Handpicked Collection just gave us a timely reminder of the joys of our gluten free, luxury chocolate brownies. If you call us today you’re still just in time to place a Valentine’s Day gift order for delivery on Saturday…

… or perhaps you might just like to bake your lucky someone a tray of Chef Lloyd’s amazing brownies by following Chef Lloyd’s recipe – Luxury Chocolate Brownies Recipe

You can see quirky and wonderful gifts selected by a panel of experts from the Handpicked Collection here: http://www.handpickedcollection.com/