Summer has been and gone, a much needed holiday in Cornwall was very welcome from the whole family and now we are back, re-charged and rearing to go.
Kind of...... sandy beaches........great surf.........
Sorry, sorry & thrice sorry. Body has returned, but the brain is taking a little longer.
Apologies for lack of posts, something which we will be addressing as our season warms up, lots of new ideas, thoughts and projects happening over the next few months so should become a more interesting read.
Now for the central piece of this posts heading, I have had a number of comments about the blog through the blog and also on Twitter regarding the food, and none negative, I thank you. however reading between the lines of a few comments probably the best I have had for the written word is 'interesting' and here I feel the need to explain a little about myself.
I left school not the most academic pupil, social life had taken a complete hold on me and the only thing that mattered was Friday and Saturday nights, consequently my grading was unclassified in English language, a well deserved mark for my efforts (or lack thereof). this I am sure is reflected in what I do on here. I have very little writing experience, but am quite well read and have a vague eloquence with the language of my birth. However I am open to constructive suggestion for improvements, after all I am writing this from my experiences and it is for you the reader, If I am not fulfilling the culinary aspect then you will depart, so help me fulfil the written role, should I not be clear on something, or digress too far then tell me, so as I can improve, so will your experience here, and perhaps you will all spend a little more time here. Thank you.
Finally and the reason you clicked your way here in the first place is a dish I conceived a few weeks ago, I wanted to do a simple lamb and carrot dish for a while, but had no clue where I wanted to go with it. The first port of call is usually to look at the main ingredient and see how many different ways it can be cooked and presented, then I had a though to do this with the main garnish.
so whilst the lamb, is a lovely sample of the animal from (ironically(ish)) Cornwall
the carrots are broken down into:
Carrot puffs
Carrot puree
Clear carrot jelly
Warm 'old school' carrot terrine
And a carrot 'anything' fondant
The puffs are pure juice, whipped with methyl cellulose and finished in a dehydrator, similar to a profiterole and could be filled if required
The puree is a traditional one, cooked in clarified butter, as the carotene does not appear to be soluble in the fat so the puree is a purer flavour, with a more vibrant colour.
The carrot jelly is a seasoned juice, agar filtered and set.
For the terrine, I cooked a selection of naturally coloured carrots (not the modified Dutch thingies we all know as carrot), these I set with standard carrot juice with a little agar-agar and gelatin
Finally the anything fondant, a recipe I am still not quite ready to give away.
The dish ate beautifully and with the small addition of a little (totally out of season) asparagus for a break in colour and a simple lamb jus, finished the plate off well I feel, and it seems my guests agreed as it sold very well for it's short 2 week lifespan on our menu.
Ah well that post turned out to be much, much longer than I anticipated, sorry about that. I will stop apologising now and get on with working on the new dishes. See you soon
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