I hope you all had a lovely February, were spoiled rotten on Valentines Day and stuffed your face with pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. My personal favourite topping is bacon, banana and maple syrup – a definite must for you to try next year. I had a very busy February, ending with an amazing day at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Raymond Blanc’s hotel & restaurant.
Friends had bought a seven course tasting lunch for myself and Mr Supper Table as a wedding gift. We had wonderful food and felt thoroughly pampered. The lunch kicked off with a raspberry cocktail and gorgeous little canapés in the lounge, before moving to the restaurant. Highlights included salmon confit, braised Jacobs ladder and a millionaire shortbread dessert. And the best wine I’ve ever tasted! However, I was rather pleased when Mr Supper Table declared that my shellfish bisque was better than Monsieur Blanc’s! (I made good use of lobster shells a couple of weeks ago – see below…). You might also be interested to know that I use the same fishmonger as Le Manoir – only the best for my guests!
Anyway, I have now finalised the menu for March’s supper club and here it is.
March 21st Menu
As always, the evening starts at 7.30 with a complementary aperitif and nibbles, then everyone sits down together around 8 o’clock. We serve a three-course meal followed by coffee and petits fours, all for £27.50. Come alone or with a group of friends, everyone is welcome.
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Cauliflower soup with stilton profiteroles & watercress oil
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Roasted veal fillet, wild mushroom sauce, sautéed spinach, potato rösti, roast salsify
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Cardamom treacle tart, ginger icecream & poached rhubarb
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Coffee or tea with petits fours
Valentines day
I had a fun time last month cooking a special Valentines meal for two. I prepared everything in advance, then handed it over with simple cooking instructions to the customer so he could serve it to his lucky lady. I did my best to make it as ‘heartwarming’ as possible!
As it was Valentines day, only the best would do, obviously. Starter was scallops & lobster, followed by beef wellington and chocolate brandy torte. If you’re at all squeamish, please don’t read the next paragraph!
I did need a bit of help from Mr Supper Table with killing the lobster. Gone are the days where dropping it straight in a pot of boiling water seems acceptable, but neither can I afford the more humane, but expensive £1000+ ‘Crustastun’. We used this machine at Ashburton Chef School which renders the crustacean unconscious with an electric shock (much like farm animals at the abattoir before slaughter), and scientific research has shown this to be the most humane killing method. We had to choose an intermediate option – one hour in the freezer to make Mr Lobster sleepy, then cutting his head in half to kill the nervous system before promptly dropping him in the boiling water. Thankfully, no wriggling!
Upcoming Dates
- March 21st
- April 11th
- May 8th
Hope to see you all at supper club soon!
Best wishes,
Clare
I hope you had a lovely Christmas and a happy New Year. I wonder if you have made any healthy-eating resolutions for 2015? Mr Supper Table and I resolved to eat wholegrain and whole foods only, but have already made the odd slip with Coca Cola, chocolate and Chinese – oops! Just because I’m a chef doesn’t mean I can resist the allure of a Friday night takeaway occasionally, more’s the pity. Anyway, I’m (evilly) hoping that February’s menu will entice you to make an exception to your diet. At least I can promise that everything is fresh and homemade by me from scratch, no nasty additives or unrecognisable ingredients.
February 21st Menu
As always, the evening starts at 7.30 with a complementary aperitif and nibbles, then everyone sits down together around 8 o’clock. We serve a three-course meal followed by coffee and petits fours, all for £27.50. Come alone or with a group of friends, everyone is welcome.
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Mussels in a coconut, chilli & lemongrass broth, with crusty brown bread
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Slow-roast pork belly, balsamic carrots, potato rösti, apple purée, cider jus
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Lemon parfait, sable biscuit & butterscotch sauce
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Coffee or tea with petits fours
Added extras and Valentines day
I have been busy making my award-winning* whisky marmalade and blueberry jam. For those of you who come to supper club, you might want to bring a few pound coins for purchasing a £3 jar.
*in my old, ‘proper’ office job, we had a jam competition one year and my marmalade won! Ok, so it’s not quite Masterchef Professional, but the marmalade was a big hit.
It’s also coming up to Valentines Day. I will be making boxes of truffles for presents, so please let me know if you would like to order one. It will be a box of 6, for £5, and will include G&T truffles, chocolate salted caramels and chocolate ginger truffles.
March menu and the ethics of veal
If you are interested in more information, please see the following links, but the main thing is to check that you are eating British rose veal, as this has much higher welfare standards than traditional veal.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/may/27/rose-veal-jimmy-doherty
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/10770703/Why-its-time-to-welcome-back-veal.html
Upcoming Dates
- February 21st
- March 21st
- April 11th
Hope to see you all at supper club soon!
Best wishes,
Clare
Well, I’ve had a great month of private bookings with my new private chef company The Supper Table, and I’ll finish off a busy four weeks with a supper club on Saturday. In amongst all this cooking, I’ve also finalised the menu for the December supper club, on the 6th December. It’s a little bit festive, to get you in the mood for Christmas, but I’ve kept well away from turkey, sprouts, etc as I’m sure you will all be eating enough of those in December!
Menu
– mulled cider & nibbles
– scallops, lime & ginger butter, mango salsa
(V – sweetcorn fritters)
– duck breast, juniper red cabbage, winter greens, roasties and orange & cranberry sauce
(V – chestnut & shallot tarte tatin)
– cherry & chocolate tart, Christmas pudding ice-cream, cherry compote
– coffee & petit fours
The evening costs £27.50. Please email me to book your place. When booking, do let me know if you would prefer the vegetarian option. Please let me know of any dietary requirements, as I am very happy to provide an alternative so you can enjoy the meal as much as everyone else. And don’t forget to bring a bottle!
To whet your appetite, here are a few of the things I’ve been cooking for private parties recently….
Smoked salmon roulade Wild mushroom tortellini
Now I’m sure some of you are very organised and already thinking about Christmas presents. What about buying someone a voucher for supper club? You can choose the amount you want to spend, and I will send out a voucher.
I’m also making batches of cranberry, fig & date chutney which will be available to buy at the December supper club.
If you want to plan as far as next year, I am taking bookings for forthcoming dates, as follows
- Saturday 17th January
- Saturday 21st February
Hope to see you all soon at supper club!
Best wishes,
Clare
However, life carries on for the rest of us, and we did manage to enjoy a wonderful wedding, then honeymoon in Italy, eating lots of fantastic seafood pasta in small trattorie by the sea. I am now feeling refreshed and raring to go with Supper Club. I also could not resist being involved food-wise in the wedding. After faithfully promising my family not to do the catering, I did manage to make the cake and favours. As I’m known as somewhat of a chocaholic, the choice of cake was inevitable, although there was a token fruit layer – here is the three-tiered cake of a) sticky date & ginger b) chocolate truffle torte and c) chocolate orange.
Anyway, enough about weddings. The next supper club will be held on Saturday 15th November, and I’ve spent the morning having a great time planning the menu:
- Aperitif & nibbles
- Pheasant tortellini, chestnut & tarragon sauce, kale pesto
(Butternut squash tortellini, chestnut & tarragon sauce, kale pesto – V)
- Pan-fried seabass, pancetta, sweet potato mash, asian greens
(Mixed grain pilaf, fennel & sweet potato, asian greens – V)
- Pear parfait, liquorice jelly, spiced poached pears
- Coffee & petit fours
Please let me know of any dietary requirements, as I am very happy to provide an alternative so you can enjoy the meal as much as everyone else. I only use top quality local butchers and sustainable fishmongers, so you know the animals have had a good life. Wherever possible, the fruit and vegetables are bought in season.
I am already taking bookings for forthcoming dates, as follows:
- Saturday 6th December
- Saturday 17th January
- Saturday 21st February
Hope to see you all soon at supper club!
I am now planning the next supper club on Saturday 23rd August, and here is the menu. Some spaces have already gone, so please contact me soon to reserve your seat.
- Roasted red onion, Taleggio & thyme ravioli with pine nuts and balsamic pearls
- Pesto-stuffed plaice, beetroot rösti, green beans, marinated courgette, white grape & basil sauce
- Elderflower & brambleberry pavlova with raspberry coulis
I seem to have gone rather Italian with the starter and main – inspired by my forthcoming honeymoon to Italy I think. Less than two months to go until we can stuff ourselves silly with pizza and pasta on the Amalfi coast. My mum bought me a pasta maker for my birthday this year, so I will be making homemade ravioli for its first supper club outing.
The evening costs £27.50 per person, and we will finish off with coffee and homemade petit fours. Don’t forget to bring a bottle!
Hope to see you all soon at supper club!
I finished my course in Devon two weeks ago, and Malvern Supper Club is back, even yummier than before!
Supper Club
The obvious place to start is to cook you some of my favourite dishes inspired by the course, so here is the menu for July 19th…
- Salmon gravadlax, marinated cucumber, honey & mustard dressing
- Olive crusted loin of lamb, confit lamb shoulder, new potatoes, fennel purée, roasted cherry tomatoes & a red wine jus
- Chocolate orange teardrop, orange confit ice-cream, hazelnut praline
Please let me know of any dietary requirements, as I am very happy to provide an alternative so you can enjoy the meal as much as everyone else. I only use top quality local butchers and sustainable fishmongers, so you know the animals have had a good life. Wherever possible, the fruit and vegetables are bought in season.
Forthcoming dates are as follows:
- Saturday 23rd August
- Saturday 13th September
- Saturday 11th October
Ashburton Chef Academy – Term 3
One of the highlights was the vegetarian week. Our chef tutor Tom absolutely rose to the challenge of making vegetarian dishes delicious, exciting, and a meal in their own right, rather than something stuck on the menu as an afterthought. The whole week I kept thinking, my vegetarian regulars are going to love this. (You know who you are…)
You can see just some of the offerings above – veggie burger with the most amazing smoked mayonnaise; butternut squash tortelloni; assiette of summer vegetables with goats cheese chantilly; blue cheese soufflé; pannacotta and gingerbread.
The following week was a total change of scene, and we learnt some authentic Indian and Thai recipes. After weeks of precision cooking and being scolded for not dicing our onions finely enough, we suddenly found ourselves roughly chopping everything and bunging it in a pot! But what a delicious pot it was! Highlights included garlic naan, smoked aubergine, Pad Thai, galangal soup and tiger prawn firecrackers.
Grownup ice-cream – rosewater kulfi with basil sugar, toasted coconut & candied chilli
Olive crusted loin of lamb, confit lamb shoulder, crushed potatoes, aubergine purée, roasted cherry tomatoes & a red wine jus
Then after weeks of exams, assessments and written assignments, the course was suddenly over. We made our own canapés and truffles for the graduation ceremony, but our final treat was lunch at Gidleigh Park Hotel, where the restaurant is run by two-Michelin-starred chef Michael Caines (no, not THAT Michael Caine). A superb end to a superb course.
Hope to see you all soon at supper club!
Best wishes,
Clare
Amazing how time flies, I am now into my third and final term at Ashburton Chef Academy.
I am very excited about my cooking future, but equally I will be very
sad to leave this wonderful learning environment and all my lovely new
foodie friends. Here is an update as to how I’m getting on…
Last term was full of great field trips, and our first involved a very
early start in order to get to Brixham fish market during trading. We
had a fascinating tour of the premises and watched the early morning
auction for the previous evening’s haul. I also had a close encounter
with a crab as you can see below (note the ever so stylish hat).
I was far too busy posing for a photograph to notice that the crab was
grabbing my thumb in a vice like grip. Thankfully, the sturdy fisherman
and burly chef tutor were able to fend him off. I got my own back the
following day – all I can say is “Delicious”!
where we were given a tour of the estate, and very begrudgingly tasted
all their cheese and wines. We were ably led by the lovely Rebecca Mitchell
who gave us a very thorough introduction to wine tasting, and food and
wine matching. The food and wine matching was particularly interesting,
and I may well be suggesting suitable wines to go with forthcoming
supper club menus.
expanding our butchery skills. One of our exam tasks was to debone a
quail. (Look away now if you are of a squeamish nature). I feel quite
sorry for the poor little thing, but I’m rather proud of it and it was
an excellent way to show off my new knife skills.
One week was all about cooking with game,
including venison, rabbit and pheasant. The venison dish with chocolate
jus will definitely be appearing on the supper club menu at some point.
It only has a sprinkle of chocolate added, but it tastes absolutely
delicious. Our chef tutor Joe also made an excellent job of using up an
entire saddle of venison, real “nose to tail” cooking in action, and you
can read all about it on his blog.
learning some impressive desserts. I am a big fan of chocolate, so I
have to say this is one of my favourites. Quite a lot of work goes into
the teardrop shaped case and the caramel sugar springs, but I think the
end result looks and tastes fantastic.
pastry, which has been incredibly interesting. It is one of those things
that chefs, even those in high-end restaurants, tend to buy in as it
involves a rather time-consuming process and is difficult to achieve a
consistent result. However, I think it is rather good to be able to say
you can make your own! Here are some classic French desserts for you to
dribble over.
Supper club will be back in early July, held monthly, and I can’t wait
to show off some of my new culinary skills. The plan is also to open a
catering company from July onwards, so if you have any special
celebrations coming up, and just can’t face doing the cooking, why not
let me do the hard work, cooking up something wonderful in your own
kitchen while you relax and enjoy spending time with your guests.
Best wishes,
Clare
On Wednesday night, a few of us from
Ashburton Chef Academy treated ourselves to an evening at my
favourite restaurant – Riverford Field Kitchen in Buckfastleigh,
near Totnes. This is run by the Watson family, who started the
Riverford organic vegetable box scheme. As we learnt from Guy Watson
himself, he started delivering just 30 boxes of vegetables a week,
now up to 40,000 boxes across the country – quite a feat. They also
have a couple of excellent shops, and I am a frequent visitor to
their farm shop just down the road from the field kitchen. I’m going
to miss it when I return to Worcestershire in June!
quite like your average restaurant, but this is part of its wonderful
charm. In fact, it’s almost like a supper club! Long wooden tables
fill the spacious and airy barn, and everyone, strangers and friends,
all sit together. On arrival you are offered a drink, perhaps a
local cider to go with your meal, and in the summer there is a pretty
terrace to sit and enjoy your aperitif before dinner ( I can
recommend the Prosecco…). There is a very relaxed feel to the
place which I love, definitely no starched tablecloths, strict dress
codes or stuffy waiters.
courses, with a strong emphasis on fresh and seasonable vegetables.
In fact, the meat served often feels like an accompaniment to all the
delicious veg offered – quite the reverse of typical restaurant
menus. But for those carnivores among you, please don’t be put off,
the vegetable dishes are quite capable of standing up on their own
two feet! Mr Supper Club is a simple meat and two veg man, with the
meat usually being the star of the show, but Riverford Field Kitchen
is his favourite place to eat.
Photo courtesy of Charlie Hoare (friend and fellow chef) |
also had the founder himself, Guy Watson, entertaining us between
courses with a bit of history about how he and his family started the
Riverford business. The diners were also encouraged to ask questions
(anonymously, if you were feeling shy) which added a lovely personal
feel to the evening. As a result we learnt Guy’s views on all sorts
of weird and wonderful topics – from whether storing apples for 6
months before eating was acceptable (yes, no problem) to discovering that if torrential rain and floods are going to happen at all, the first two months of the year are actually the best in terms of growing crops. It turns out that Guy’s favourite vegetable, the Jerusalem artichoke, can sometimes be inexplicably unpopular – perhaps something to do with the flatulence effects? He also doesn’t have much time for “trendy” vegetables, and thinks we should all just eat good healthy veg, and not religiously follow fads for the latest “superfood”. He’s a very engaging speaker, both informative and funny.
Photo courtesy of Charlie Hoare |
wondering, what did we actually eat? Starter consisted of a
tempting selection of salads – roast parsnips & crispy kale;
shaved fennel, blue cheese & red onion; grilled asparagus with a
buttery dressing – served with homemade bread and a yummy beetroot
dip. Main course was roast chicken, beautifully aromatic red
cabbage, potato & mushroom gratin, roast carrots, chargrilled
leeks, surprisingly delicious braised chard, the list goes on! Eveything is incredibly tasty, yet so
simple. I had to stop myself from eating too much, so I could save a
little bit of room for pudding. Once the tables have been cleared,
each table is called up to the kitchen in turn to choose dessert.
There were several options including sticky date pudding, baked
chocolate mousse, lemon cheesecake and apple & cinnamon cake. I opted for a very enjoyable slice of
poached pear pavlova .
Photo courtesy of Charlie Hoare |
Feeling very full at the end of a lovely evening, we waddled out past the chefs putting sourdough into baskets to prove for the next day. By happy coincidence, it turned out that one of them was a graduate of Ashburton Chef Academy, and asked us to pass on his regards to our tutors. Maybe we need a restaurant like this in Worcestershire? Otherwise, if you find yourself in Devon for a holiday, I thoroughly recommend a meal at Riverford.
Ashburton Chefs Academy – Part 1
I am now a third of the way through my time at Ashburton Chefs Academy, so I thought I would let you know how I’m getting on – and what delights you could be tasting at Supper Club in the summer!
I’m having a fabulous time here in Devon. The first term was all about
mastering the key skills required by a top chef. I’m now a dab hand at
filleting fish, butchering chickens and making soups, stocks and jus.
I’m also really enjoying the pastry side of things – the highlights were
making our own croissants and Danish pastries. Anyone interested in
coming to a Supper Club brunch?
The school is also very keen on food provenance, one of the reasons I
chose this particular course, and we have already been on several school
outings (not in crocodile formation, I hasten to add). Our first trip
was to a small local farm that supplies poultry to the school,
surrounding restaurants and the general public, and takes animal welfare
very seriously. Here is a photo of me with a two-day old duckling – it
will be ready for slaughter in an unbelievable 8 weeks’ time – who knew
ducks grew so fast!
We have also been to a local butcher, who showed us how they divide up a
hindquarter and forequarter of beef. After a tip from one of our chef
tutors on this trip, I am now glued to the River Cottage Meat Book,
which has only reinforced my desire to buy good quality, free range meat
where the animal has been treated kindly, and to use butchers who know
all about the farms their meat comes from.
The last week of term was five days of practical exams, involving
anything from preparing and cooking seafood to baking and presenting
little French orange tarts. You will be pleased to hear I passed all my
exams, with distinctions in pastry and fish. Yippee!
I have just returned to school for the second term from a week’s
holiday. You would think I might have wanted a break from cooking, but
it’s just encouraged me to try more things! So instead of putting my
feet up, I’ve been working on my written assignments, making salmon
gravadlax, ginger marshmallows and oxtail stew.
Now we’ve mastered the core chef skills, I suspect things are about to
get significantly more challenging this term. I’m not sure yet what the
tutors have in store for us, but this week’s highlight will be a trip
to Brixham fish market. It will be fascinating to see the market in
action, although I’m not so keen on the 4.30am wakeup call!
If you want to see more of the food I’ve been cooking, please take a look at my facebook page, or follow me on Twitter for the latest pics.
Supper club will be back in early summer, held monthly, and I can’t wait
to show off some of my new culinary skills. The plan is also to open a
catering company from June onwards, so if you have any special
celebrations coming up, and just can’t face doing the cooking, why not
let me do the hard work, cooking up something wonderful in your own
kitchen while you relax and ejoy spending time with your guests.
Best wishes,
Clare
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you all, and I wish you an excellent 2014. Mine is
looking good so far. As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, I am now
in Devon for the next five months, training at the Ashburton Chefs Academy & Cookery School. Unfortunately, that means that Supper Club
is on hold for a few months, but I will be back in July – hopefully
impressing you with my amazing new skills!
The Ashburton Chef’s Academy is very well regarded, and previous
students have gone onto work in Michelin star restaurants around the
country, so you should be expecting high things of me! The school also
places strong emphasis on food provenance – knowing where your food has
come from, how it was grown, respecting the seasons – so the course
includes day trips to a chicken farmer, butcher and Brixham fish markets
among other things. I’m only on day two, studying food hygiene and I
can’t wait to get started in the kitchen next week, learning all there
is to know about cooking.
The last Supper Club of 2013
This was held in November, with a record number of guests, both
newcomers and faithful regulars. I also received an excellent and
unusual gift – freshly laid eggs from a guest’s farm! We all had a
fantastic evening, so great I forgot to take any pictures on the night!
However, I did take these in advance…
Preparing mini meringues for petit-fours
Scumptious poached pears
To keep me occupied before starting the great culinary adventure,
I’ve also been making batches of Strawberry & Pimms jam (the secret
is to soak the fruit beforehand, so I’ve been told) and Whisky Marmalade
– I think people rather like this as a Christmas present.
Future Plans
I’m keeping an open mind about the future, who knows what the chef
course will bring, but my current plan is to continue the Supper Clubs
when I return in June, and also open a small catering business. There’s a
free dinner going for anyone who comes up with a new name for my
business! I have already done a few private dinner parties, as a result
of Supper Club, and hope to extend this side of things further. I was
asked to cater for a group at Christmas, and this was the dessert..
Caramelised clementine & pomegranate pavlova
I will keep you all posted about the course, my future plans, and when the next Supper Club will be.
Best wishes,
Clare