Marmite Butter Today’s simple recipe is Marmite butter, a delicious accompaniment to steak or grilled fish that’s easy to make – though you’ll either love it or hate it! What you need 1 dessert spoon of Marmite 125g butter What you do Mix the Marmite into the butter till smooth. Shape into rounds and refrigerate to cool. Put a round …
Poaching the perfect egg. Ask five different chefs and you’ll get five different answers. I think the golden rule is not to put salt into your water as it will break down the egg. Adding vinegar is certainly important. Then there are a number of different techniques. Personally, I like swirling the water into a whirlpool whilst it is boiling …
Do you often cook some meat, fish or potato in a pan and it sticks? You then spend the next five minutes chiselling it away, only to end up with scraps not fit for the dog. The answer is really simple. If you find the food sticking, lift the pan away from the heat, leave for 3 or 4 minutes, …
Cooking for a large numbers often sends many into a panic; pans of vegetables boiling away, broccoli heads dissolving, greens going brown, potatoes overcooked. This would be natural in any good professional kitchen as well, so we don’t cook every vegetable when somebody orders it. A professional kitchen would prepare and trim what is required, drop it all into pots …
Why the customer is always right. I have always answered 99 per cent of our customer feedback, whether they are letters of compliment or of complaint, and recently we had a couple of adverse comments regarding our Heathcotes burger in the Olive Press. I found it difficult to understand as it seemed that we were doing all that we had …
Many are fascinated by how menus are compiled; what we sell, how we cook and prepare enough for each day – hopefully without running out. Well, I can tell you – it’s no secret – we occasionally do run out of certain dishes. But after a while, you build up an understanding of what sells and what is slow or …
I remember my first few years at catering college back when I was 17. The restaurant business looked very different back then. English cooking had a very poor reputation; all-day breakfast was the highlight. In those days, to try and think of any British chef would stretch most diners’ imagination. How things have changed. These days, if the general public …
European Sommelier of the Year in 1996, World Sommelier in 2010, Decanter Man of the Year 2013. Our evening with Gerard Basset, a man undoubtedly at the very top of his profession, was a real highlight for me at Heathcotes Brasserie last night. Gerard is a humble man with a knowledge second to nobody when it comes to wine. Gerard …
March has already been a busy month. Today I am judging UCLAN’s great bake-off. I often work with the university since I’ve been an honorary fellow since 1994. I will give a lecture in the evening. I have just finished writing the menu for the visit for my friend Gerard Basset OBE, who will be with us on the 3rd …
What a great night last night at Heathcotes Brasserie with Sean Wilson. Many of you with a memory and an interest in Coronation Street would recognise Sean as Martin Platt, the other half of Gail. However, I know both fondly and by their real life names as they very kindly opened Heathcotes Brasserie back in 1995. Both were good customers …