Upcoming & past excitements

Firstly, hi, how are you? Awesome. 

Secondly a quick plug for our event this weekend, Mr Penfold and Cult Events presenting an art and food collaboration, basically Mr Penfold's first London exhibition, and a supperclub inspired by his works:

Mr Penfold Supperclub Menu

Stuffed radish with hollandaise

Pigs cheek with tarragon and beets

Chicken skin with purees

Wasabi Avocado smear with chicory and ceviche

Radish & beetroot salad, beetroot and orange puree, horseradish foam

Peas, beans and greens, herbs, leaves and strawberry

Roasted tomatoes and onions with garlic and almonds

Deconstructed burger with brioche cream, charred lettuce, pickled apples

Watermelon sorbet, churned to serve

Carrot cake, taken apart and put back together again

Lemon foam raspberry financier

The supperclub is £35 per person and includes a cocktail on arrival, please book through this link: http://billetto.co.uk/aneveningwithmrpenfold

I'm also running a sourdough masterclass on the Sunday 18th August with MadeInHackney, a local charity who are all about making food and learning accessible to all. These classes help subsidise those who are less fortunate, get involved!

http://madeinhackney.org/ai1ec_event/sourdough-masterclass/?instance_id=232

In no particular order, infact, in an extremely random order, here are some snippets of whats been going on these last few weeks. 

I was helping with a forging walk in Abney Park, all donations went to support the local nature reserve (awesome) and we all learnt a lot about the spaces around us. Check out our garlic mustard find, aka jack(ed) by the hedge, a delicious leaf that tastes like its rather descriptive name!!

This one however is called blackwhorehound, which is very bitter and part of the mint family, not sure how it got its name but certainly raised some eyebrows!! We found lemon balm as well and loads of information about all sorts of things green and wonderful. I loved just nibbling on anything above dog height, the stems of so many things are sweet and citrussy, am I about to rene it up and cover the plate with foraged bits? I already do when I take a shine to something new!

Pickle champagne, a happy mistake but decided more than one sip was too much, just in case, posh picklebacks perhaps?

These two (clearly iphone) pictures are from the latest supperclub which was a cheeky little number, ie every course had a cheek element. There was ox tongue stuffed with ox cheek (get it?) roasted apple cheeks with "BlackHand" ham, KFC (Kentucky Fried Cheeks), Cod cheek ceviche with avocado, radish and lemon cheeks, peach cheeks with strawberry puree and zabaglione, Ox cheeks with pommes puree (though I wasnt 100%happy with this as tried varying temps with the waterbath....) Onsen egg with pig cheek and pig cheek broth

It was also a certain someone's bday too so lucky me got to take her out for lunch, I chose newcomer Restaurant Story (Tom Sellers) after a recommendation from a friend. I've already shown so many people all 17 courses we had (10 course plus snacks) and I never get bored, however I have resisted here as I want people to go and enjoy for themselves. There is however a picture of a recently cleaned plate and the infamous three bear porridge!

Its also worth noting that during this meal it was pointed out to me that I no longer know how to eat with both a knife and fork; I was opting for the fork and thumb technique, much more masterful and controlled, especially as my face was poised inched above the plate as I examined and enjoyed. Turns out that I need to remedy this before I have children for fear of teaching them bad manners. I intend to get them on the dishes straight away and get them owning their sections before they hit nursery, molecular gastronomy kits for kids?

If you can make it Somerset House for the Ferran Adria expo, check it out, very interesting stuff, especially about creativity and the history of El Bulli, below is an excerpt about technique and creation an idea that inspired the team to produce so many new techniques and inspire a generation of cooks/chefs. Nice work!

And lastly this is a quick snap from the Red Bull Headquarters where we held a tasting yesterday. All went really well (of course!!) and now looking forward to Notting Hill Carnival where we will be looking after the Red Bull Parties cocktail bars and BBQ food outlets, boom ting indeed!!

Until next time, ix

thoughts on a new place near us

We went to a new Palestinian restaurant in Stoke Newington, just by Church st, worth noting I thought as the lady who runs it has an amazing heart, very kind natured and its the soft launch at mo. so small menu but pillowy soft pitta bread freshly baked to order, boom!

Its also worth noting how massively that whole area has changed, I was looking at a site for a cafe bar there over a year ago and now the area is buzzing with places (not all well conceived but hey?)

Hope alls tasty where you are x