Ashburton Cookery School - More Intermediate Cookery: Day Three

So, Day Three commenced, as usual in the briefing room. We had a change of Chef on this day, Rob Dawe was off doing other things at the School and we had Alan Stannard, who was to be with us for the rest of the week. Today the menu was as follows:

I was really excited by this menu, as for many years I have been quite intrigued by Seafood Bisque, as they look so luxury and complex too.
It was beautiful dish, served with the delicate Spring Rolls and a Crab Mayonnaise dip, served in an Oyster Shell. I placed an Oyster in the bowl first and then poured the hot bisque on top, which gently poaches the Oyster. This made the dish so luxurious, it was divine!

The main was of particular interest too, similar to a Beef Wellington really, though this time done with lamb. Quite a complex dish to prepare. You begin with a rack of lamb, but are only interested in the Cannon, so after some intricate butchery in removing the bones, fat and sinew - this leaves you with only with the lamb flesh.

You may think, like I did, that the lamb may have been greasy in this dish, but as you remove every trace of fat, this eliminates this potential problem. A delicious dish!





Finally, finishing the menu with a Lemon Dessert, which was really lovely and fresh.










I had never made sorbet before, so really enjoyed experimenting with this. A real palate cleanser! I have since made a Strawberry version at home, which was lovely and had a real intense depth of flavour. I will be doing an Ice Cream and Sorbets blog post sometime in the future, so look out for that one...

Ashburton Cookery School - More Intermediate Cookery: Day Two

After a very tiring first day at Ashburton Cookery School, I felt that by the second day we had all settled into the routine a bit more and were beginning to get to know each other better as a kitchen team.

On the first day we were asked to work with the person sitting opposite us at the table in the briefing room, for me this was Daniel on day one, Daniel and I worked well together. On the second day we were asked to team up with someone new in the group, I worked with James who lived in America and was over on holiday, we quickly got into a working rhythm and I enjoy working with James too.

The menu of the day consisted of the following:

Crabbed Stuffed Lemon Sole with a Red Pepper and Hollandaise Sauces

One of the things I was keen to do during my week at Ashburton this year, was to improve my presentation skills, so each day I carefully listened to the Chef - which was still Rob Dawe on day two. In order to help me, I also photographed their finished dishes too, so that I could compare mine with theirs at home.

Here is Rob's version of the above:

As you can see Rob chose to add more vegetables on his finished plate, whereas I served them seperately. Geoff preferred Rob's presentation - let me know which you prefer, by commenting below?

For the main course it was;

Slow Cooked Belly Pork with Fricassee of vegetables

This was a delicious dish, perfect for those who don't usually like the fatty texture of Pork, as the slow cooking makes it much more palatable. This has been slow poached in stock and cider - it took around 3 hours (we'd prepared this on day one). This was then weighted down overnight in the fridge, then cut into squares and popped in the oven with the cracklng to crisp up, for 10 minutes or so, today.

Here is Rob's presentation of the same dish;

Very similar this time around.

Finally to complete this menu for day two we made;

Chocolate Fondants with Amaretto Ice Cream and Praline Crunch

The top tip here was using the praline crunch as a bed to sit the ice cream on, to stop it moving around the plate, as it melts.
Of course a good Chocolate Fondant, should have a gooey centre and so just prove that mine did, I took a photo of the inside too;

At the end of day two, Rob created a little belated birthday plate for me, as he'd missed my birthday the day before:

For some reason I hadn't photographed Chef Rob's Chocolate Fondant, probably because I just wanted to get on and eat mine!

So that completes day two and we were all eager to come back for day three tomorrow - watch out for next blog post covering the menu for day three soon!

Ashburton Cookery School - More Intermediate Cookery

This time last year, I was lucky to have been bought a week-long course at Ashburton Cookery School based here in Devon, by my husband Geoff. I had an amazing 5 day course there and really loved it, so you can imagine my delight when Geoff said he would buy me another week long course this year for my birthday. This time the ‘More Intermediate Cookery Course’. My birthday was on the 16th July (last Monday), and my course also commenced on this day too, so it seemed that this was meant just for me!

Although I won't be sharing the recipes via my blog (these are copyrighted to Ashburton Cookery School), I thought it would be fun to write a post for each of the 5 days that I was at the course, commencing here with day one:

Day One

On day one I arrived at the School and was introduced to everyone on the course, there were 8 of us, all doing the course for leisure purposes. Often this course is done by individuals wishing to make cooking a new career for them, for example chefing on yachts or setting up a new business from home for example.

My fellow members had come from a wide range of background, for example the armed forces, banking and publishing. One member lived in New York and was completing the course whilst in the UK on holiday. For me, I was there just for my own pleasure, and ultimately that of my friends and family!

Straight away, we all got along, with cooking our common interest, and commenced the course with an introduction from our Chef for Monday and Tuesday, Rob Dawe. Rob ran through health and safety and some techniques we would be using during the day, and then showed us through to the kitchen where we donned our aprons and got cracking.

I had met Rob earlier this year, at Exeter Festival of South West Food and Drink, where I asked him to sign my Ashburton Cookery School apron, you may remember from an earlier post, that Geoff had won this for me.

Our first dish on day one was a Red Mullet with Nicoise Salad. Gorgeous locally caught Red Mullet, with a salad of leaves and green beans, served with boiled quails eggs, potatoes with capers and anchovies and 'posh' tomatoes.

This dish was every bit as clean and fresh tasting as it looks here.

Next we created Chicken Ballotine with Cabbage Parcels and Potato Rosti. A technical dish, as we boned out the Chicken Leg and stuffed it with a Goats Cheese and walnut stuffing. I have done a fair bit of jointing meats, but this deboning was new for me and a great success.

Finally for dessert, a delicious Berry Mille-feuille - this beautiful dessert made from handmade shortcake biscuits, sandwiched with a vanilla cream and dressed with seasonal berries.

The berries I used were blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, garnished with a sprinkling of icing sugar and a sprig of mint to compliment the beautiful colours of this dish.

Making Jams and Preserves Part 1

In order to stretch my culinary skills further each year, I try to set myself an annual target. Last year was the year of developing my skills making sauces, Geoff called it the Saucy Year, though not sure that he was referring to food! Throughout the year I included savoury sauces such as Beurre Blanc and sweet sauces such as Creme Anglaise. That was a great success, as I am now able to make a wide variety of sauces to compliment homemade dishes and feel confident making stocks to compliment these too.


This year I set out to conquer the art of making Jams and Preserves, the topic of this Blog. I have already made a few chutneys and marmalades. Today I have just made Rhubarb with Vanilla Conserve, so as this particular one is fresh in my mind, this the topic for this blog.


I had been lucky enough to have been given 10 stalks of lovely home grown rhubarb from a friends garden (thanks Maureen!) and so proceeded to chop up each stalk into 1 inch chunks, discarding the leaves of the rhubarb as this is poisonous. I placed all of this into a large pan with a 2lb bag of caster sugar that had been previously warmed, for 15 minutes or so, left in it's bag, in the oven. The oven was off, though quite warm as I was also proving my bread dough in there at the same time (as described in another issue of my Blog here).
Next I added the seeds, scraped out of their vanilla pods and the pods themselves in with the sugar and heated the contents until the sugar dissolved. Because I had heated the sugar, this assisted in this process. At this stage I placed a saucer in the freezer, as I would need this later for testing the setting point of the conserve.


I then added the juice of 1 lemon, because lemons are high in pectin needed to help the jam to set. Jam, jelly and marmalade set because of pectin. Pectin occurs naturally in fruit and, when cooked with sugar and the naturally occurring acid in the fruit, thickens and sets the preserve. Citrus fruit, blackberries, apples and redcurrants have high pectin levels. If fruits are low in pectin then fruits with a higher level need to be added, such as the lemon juice.
Rhubarb is not naturally high in pectin, so the juice here is essential. You can buy special Preserving sugar, which includes the pectin, however juice does the same job.


The mixture now needs to boil rapidly for around 20 minutes. During this time I sterilised the jars and lids in a warm oven, the jars had been dishwashed directly prior to this.


Next I needed to test for the setting point of the conserve by spooning a little of the liquid onto my chilled saucer. I left it  minute or two and then pushed my finger through the conserve, looking for wrinkles on the surface. At this point the conserve was a little too liquid. I returned the saucer to the freezer and came back to try again a few minutes later, this time it was fine. If you have a reliable jam thermometer instead, then you can skip this fiddly process and test for the conserve reaching 105ºC).


I skimmed off the scum that had formed over the top of the conserve during the cooking process, if you do this throughout the cooking you can get a lot of waste, it's best to wait until this stage to do this, it is an important step in order to achieve a clear set.
Then, using a jam funnel, I poured the conserve carefully into the awaiting jars. I left all of the jars of conserve to go completely cold and then placed waxed discs on the top of each conserve and tightly screwed down the lids.


The conserve needs to be stored in a cool dark place, I usually keep my preserves in the integral garage, until opened. When opened, store in the fridge and use within 4-6 weeks.


This conserve can be used in recipes too, I have since made some delicious Rhubarb Crumble Muffins, which tasted really yummy, warm from the oven served with homemade vanilla ice cream.


I plan my next preserve making to include Strawberry Jam, so watch this space for more details on this.

Making Flaky Pastry

It is often stated that professional chefs don’t bother to make their own Flaky pastry, as the quality and convenience of the shop bought is excellent. I have always done the same, until now. Today I have decided to give making it myself a go, starting with an easy recipe.

I started by putting 4oz butter in the freezer for about an hour before I was ready to begin making my pastry. I weighed out 6oz of Plain flour, sieving this high over the bowl to add air to the flour. Next I removed my butter from the freezer and coarsely grated this into the flour. Using a palette knife (avoiding touching the cool pastry with your warm hands as much as possible), I began to combine the butter with the flour, when well combined and resembling chunky breadcrumbs (left), I added 1 tablespoon of chilled water.

Again I went in with my palette knife and began to combine the mix again.  In my case I needed to add a bit more water and then finished off using my fingertips to combine into a soft dough (right).

As with all pastry doughs, I rested this dough in a food bag in the fridge (left), in my case for a couple of hours, until I needed the dough.

Next I used my pastry to make a Field Mushroom Tarte Tatin. I have never made a savoury Tarte Tatin, only apple ones. Not sure if this is a common alternative, but with venison for dinner today, I thought it would go well together. First I placed a few dots of butter, seasoning and some thyme leaves followed by a field mushroom, presentation side down, in the base of an individual tart tin.  Next a teaspoon of homemade Red Onion Chutney, a little more seasoning, a layer of spinach leaves, followed by a sheet of pastry, carefully tucking this around the mushroom, to seal everything in (right).

I baked this in the oven for around 20 minutes, until cooked through and golden. To serve I inverted the tin onto my board, carefully turned the tart upside down and placed on the plate to reveal the field mushroom (below). It looks very attractive and I served it with Venison Loin with Celeriac Puree and a Port Sauce. It was delicious and not too time consuming for those who, unlike me, don’t enjoy spending all afternoon cooking!

Bread Making

Many years ago I attempted to make a loaf of bread from Delia’s ‘How to Cook’. I’ve always loved the idea of making my own bread and so thought I’d have a go! I tried a simple wholemeal loaf in a 1lb bread tin, as this didn’t seem to adventurous.

I followed the instructions carefully, proving the dough in my airing cupboard. I’m not entirely sure what I had done wrong, but the bread turned out heavy, doughy and not very nice. In hindsight probably one of two things went wrong here, I either didn’t kneed it for long enough or I didn’t allow it to double in size at the proving stage. I never tried again for years, in fact the next attempt was at Ashburton Cookery School last year on my Intermediate week long course. This time we made individual white bread rolls and they were a great success – as the photo on the right demonstrates.

I was keen to try these at home to make sure that they were achievable outside the cookery school kitchen, pictured below.

Again I had success, yippee I could make bread and you could enjoy eating it too!

Since this success many friends and family have asked me for a good bread recipe, so I thought I’d blog about it to share with others too.

So here is the recipe that I tend to follow:

450g Strong Bread Flour (I use Shipton Mills, which is local)

1 teaspoon salt (I use Cornish Sea Salt)

2 tablespoon Olive Oil (or I use local Rapeseed Oil instead)

300ml Warm Water (blood temp.)

15g fresh yeast or 7g dried yeast

½ teaspoon sugar

Sieve the flour and salt together into a bowl. Make a well into the centre and pour in the olive oil start to combine this.

Add the tepid water to the yeast and sugar and whisk to combine..

Gradually add the water and yeast mix to the flour, you may not need all of the liquid, so go careful towards the end.

You are looking for a nice sticky (but not wet) dough at this stage. Knead for 10 minutes, until dough feels soft and elastic (don’t skimp on this stage, I usually start my mine off in my Kenwood Chef, and finish by hand, as you can get a better feel for the finished dough that way).

Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and place a damp tea towel over the top. Allow to prove for 1 hour – or until double the size. I don’t put mine in the airing cupboard though, I put it into the oven, that I previously preheated to about 80°C and then switched off, before commencing with the bread making. This provides a nice warm, place to prove the dough. The airing cupboard isn’t always warm enough, especially in the summer time.

When the dough is twice the size, sometimes this can take longer than 1 hour, remove from the bowl then knock back the dough for a few minutes.

You can now choose if you want a large loaf, 2 smaller loaves (divide dough into 2 pieces) or make individual rolls. You don’t need any special tins, bread works fine on a flat baking sheet or similar, in loaf tins or shaped into rolls.

If you are making a loaf make the shape you would like the finished loaf to be, or place into a tin if using one, slash the top with a serrated knife if you wish, flour and leave to prove for a further 30 minutes in a warm place.

Preheat your oven to 200°C now.

If you are making rolls, shaped as you wish and then brush with egg wash (1 whole egg beaten with a splash of milk) and again leave to prove for 30 minutes. At this stage you could add nuts, seeds or dried chilli flakes to the top of your rolls, I quite like sea salt, black pepper or both. There are no rules here, just whatever you fancy really.

Bake the rolls in the preheated oven for around 25 minutes, or until golden brown and they make a hollow sound when you tap the base. The loaf takes about 35 minutes.

To get a crispier finish to your bread, spray the oven occasionally during cooking with cold water. The steam helps to crisp the bread.

This afternoon I’ve made baguettes. Following the recipe above, but when shaping the dough, divide into 2 and stretch each half into a rectangle. Next roll the rectangle into a long sausage, twist and sprinkle with flour. Again, allow to prove for the 30 minutes as above, then into the preheated oven and using the water spray technique, back for around 30 minutes.

Store the bread in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in an airtight container in the freezer. Straight from the fridge reheat in the oven for 5 minutes, or straight from the freezer reheat in the oven for 10 minutes (longer for loaves). This is a great success and I always make up a batch or two and use the rolls over the following week, reheated.


Here are the finished baguettes; 

...and served here with Skate Wing, crispy ham, new potatoes, salad and a caper and chilli butter.


I hope you have success in trying this recipe. As always feel free to ask any questions using the comment section below.

Smoked Duck

This weekend I decided to have a go at smoking meat at home. I had previously eaten smoked meats, which was so over powering that it had always put me off.  So I thought I would have a go at smoking some myself, to ensure that I could get the smoked flavour just how I liked it.

When shopping at Riverford Farm Shop a few weeks ago, there was a wood turner there selling arts and crafts items. The wood turner was busy crafting with some wood and all of the shavings were piled high on the floor around his table. Geoff said ‘why don’t you ask them if you can take some shavings for smoking food with?’  So I asked the chap there and he was happy to let me help myself.

So, after spending some time researching smoking food, I was ready to have a go. Firstly I set up my utensils, I used a wok lined in tin foil, where I placed my wood shavings, orange blossom tea and a tablespoon of sugar.. I placed the wok on the hob to heat the shavings until they smoked. Next I placed a grill over the top of this and the placed a half duck on this, finally covering this with foil, as tightly as I could get it to provide a seal, left it all on the hob for a few minutes and then turned it off, leaving it all sealed up for 12 minutes to smoke. I was very concerned that I would over smoke it and it would taste like that duck I had previously tried.

After 12 minutes I removed the duck and put it in a baking tray and in the oven for 30 minutes, until the duck is just pink and still succulent.

I served the duck with basmati and wild rice with petis pois, a honey, soy and chilli glaze (basting the duck with this mixture throughout the cooking too). A pot of plum sauce on the side completed the dish.

The duck finished up nice and pink and moist, however it could have had a more smoky flavor, I was a bit too cautious on my first attempt. Next time I will try 18 minutes smoking instead of 12. Overall a success, but with a few tweaks to be made in search of perfection!