“You eat out a LOT!” Claire Hutchings Popup @ Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham

Admittedly, the only Masterchef series I can bring myself to watch from beginning to end these days is the Masterchef: The Professionals series. It’s not so much that I don’t like John Tarode (I prefer him to Gregg Wallace), but I *much* prefer Michel Roux Jr to all of them. Actually, another reason I like MC:The Professionals is the introduction of Monica Galetti to our TV world, I just *love* how severe she is with people and plenty has already been mentioned about her various facial expressions as she watches a hopeful hopelessly messing up the skills test like hacking a fish to pieces whilst trying to fillet it. Seriously, I could just watch an hour of her skills tests. This year’s series was no exception, there’s a fine line between self-belief and arrogance and too many young chefs are sadly on the side of arrogance as when given a chance to shine in a series like Masterchef, in which they fail to prove themselves, they still insist they’re the best and are beyond a competition like MC (in which case why bother entering?). But still, a highlight of this year’s competition was to finally see some good young, local talent in Claire Hutchings do well. She did so well that she was a finalist (the title eventually went to Ash Mair), but she applied herself impressively throughout the competition and her food genuinely looked exciting, and it must have tasted pretty good too as she got to the final! When you consider that this was all happening around the same time she was going through her final exams at University College, Birmingham, you realise that not only was she creating and cooking brilliant and delicious food in the various tasks she was set on MC: TP, but all this was on top of the added pressure of Finals. Yet, she kept her head and soldiered on with both which is a testament to her dedication and bodes well for her future.

I thought I had missed the opportunity to try her food as her initial couple of nights scheduled at the Kitchen Garden Cafe in King’s Heath, Birmingham sold out very quickly and I missed the announcement of extra dates (It was around the time we were organising the Mothership’s funeral so checking my Twitter wasn’t really something I did that often). Luckily, I caught Lap’s tweet that he may have a couple of tickets spare so I jumped at the chance. Graciously, I was given first refusal as he needed to check if someone else wanted the tickets, but once I was tweeted that the tickets were mine, there was no going back! Claire’s cooking was genuinely exciting with interesting flavour combinations, and after rooting for the local girl throughout the series, this may have been the only time it’s impressed me enough to want to try their cooking.

Purposely, I avoided any write-ups or talk about her pop-up until the day I was going: I wanted to be surprised by the menu on the night. However, I did know that the menu was going to feature the Bitter Chocolate Sorbet which so impressed Michel Roux Jr that he asked for the recipe – Would it live up to the hype? Well, the day of the meal rapidly approached and we were about to find out for ourselves.

The Kitchen Garden Cafe is a nice little cafe just off the High St in the King’s Heath part of Birmingham, it’s certainly quite warm and cosy so it was nice to see this venue was chosen for the pop up rather than some more established restaurant which probably had a better equipped kitchen but possibly charged a lot more to use the venue. As we entered, we tried not to knock over anything in the garden centre and were seated straight away. It looked like a sell-out which was heartening to see so many people supporting Claire. Drinks were ordered and the girl herself stepped out from the kitchen briefly to say hello to everyone and hope that they all had a good time. And with that, she went back into the kitchen and we all waiting for the magic to begin:

The menu was quite simple, a 4 course meal with some petits fours and cupcakes to finish. First up was a Leek and Potato Velouté with cucumber and caviar which saw some finely diced cucumber underneath some deep fried juilienned potatoes and a small dollop of caviar on the side in soup bowls, only for the velouté to be poured at the table. It was a very good start, the consistency of the velouté was perfect – not too thick or watery, the contrast of the slight crunch of the potatoes and the cucumber was welcome and neither overpowered the other. The caviar added a touch of luxury to a velouté which already packed a punch with flavour – A terrific start.

Next was the cured mackerel with avocado, coriander, soy jelly, lime and sesame which was one of the favourite dishes of the night; There were echoes of the Flame Grill Mackerel dish at The Ledbury and of the stunning Flame Grilled mackerel dish I had at Hedone, but this dish held its own against the other 2 heavyweights – The fish was perfectly cured and cooked so that the flesh was still creamy to eat, contrast that with the sweet sesame brittle, the tang of the lime and pickled mouli, the savoury hit of the soy jelly.. My only gripe was that it was a small portion, then again, I think we all could have eaten this dish non-stop. Sensational.

The meat dish was a braised Ox cheek, with Truffle mash, pickled celeriac, chestnut mushroom, braised onion and kale. Visually, I liked the deep green of the kale contrasted with the deep mahogany of the braised ox cheek and I thought it was brave of her to put on the menu something like Ox cheeks which is a cut of meat most people are not accustomed to eating, but this dish was no less enjoyable than all those preceding it. If I were to be ULTRA critical, the ox cheek was the teeniest bit dry and wasn’t as soft and tender as I hoped it would be, but it still came apart easily when I took a knife and fork and well, I finished the whole lot so it wasn’t like I was *that* unhappy about it! YKL thought the sauce was a bit heavy on the seasoning but mines was fine and we all lapped up the whole lot.

Dessert was a lime and vanilla cheesecake with lime gel, basil and the famed bitter chocolate sorbet (which I later overheard Claire saying that she *had* to get it on the menu somehow as that’s the one thing everyone was asking her about). The cheesecake was light, yet packed full of flavour, helped by the lime gel and all in contrast to a basil oil which was drizzled over the cheesecake at the table. The bitter chocolate sorbet was every bit as good as we all hoped: smooth and rich without being too moreish but completely delicious – I see why Michel Roux Jr wanted the recipe!

To finish, we were treated to some coconut and chocolate bonbons and vanilla cupcakes. Actually, they were homemade Bounty bars and mini cupcakes topped with a very intensely flavoured raspberry. Seriously, it was only a quarter of a raspberry on top of a mini sponge, but it was intensely raspberry-flavoured. A lovely light end to go with our teas and coffees and rounded off a very good meal. Graciously, Claire came out at the end of the meal and stopped by even table to chat to everyone. Her immediate plans were to go travelling for a bit but was hoping to get some work in a Michelin-Starred kitchen for some more work experience before she thinks about setting up her own place. We told her that she needs to come back to Birmingham and open a really good restaurant as there are only a handful at the moment. It was clear early on when she was chatting to us that we’ve all eaten in some great restaurants and when Lap commented on how the mackerel dish reminded him of the mackerel dish at The Ledbury (which he loves), I was greatly amused by Claire’s comment: “Oh! you eat out a LOT!” Well, I guess you could say that we recognise high quality cooking when we eat it..

It was so refreshing to see such a level head on someone so young (she’s only just graduated, remember?) and she obviously recognises that whilst making the final of Masterchef: The Professionals has given her a bit of exposure to the public, she still wants to work her way through the kitchens so that when she’s finally ready to open her own place, she’ll have earned it through hard work, dedication and graft rather than because she was on the TV. I must say that based on this one meal, Claire Hutchings has an exceedingly bright future ahead of her and if she carries on with what she has been doing so far, she deserves every success, accolade and plaudits that’s heading her way. Don’t stay away too long Claire – Especially from Birmingham – More people need to be able to taste your cooking!

You can find out more about Claire Hutchings at her web site

Chamberlains, Birmingham

Fish & Chips, our great nation’s favourite dish. There’s still something within our psyche (here in the UK) which holds a special place in our hearts for the humble fish & chips meal. I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t actually like fish & chips in some form (veggies can leave out the fish), so I’m constantly looking for good places as a result. Fortunately, I live very locally to Bedders so go there as often as possible for great fish & chips. It was a sad day when Great British Eatery fried their last chips for good, so it was with great interest and pride that I learned of Chamberlains Restaurant winning Best Newcomer in the National Restaurant Awards. No small feat so given it’s within Birmingham, I made plans to head over and sample their wares.

Situated at a busy crossroads on the Wolverhampton Road, you could be forgiven for missing Chamberlains given it’s surrounded by bigger buildings from multinational chains with bright, colourful logos and signs (Yunno, the golden arches for example..). Actually, if memory serves correct, the buildings previous occupants were a Chinese buffet – Which would explain the pseudo-Chinese architecture on the outside, but given it looks quite small from the outside, the restaurant inside is quite spacious. The seats are comfy and the whole place is clean. There was a large party in the night we visited by given it was quite late when we got there, the restaurant wasn’t rushed off their feet but service was still attentive enough. The cutlery could have been polished so there wasn’t such a tide-mark on the knives, but that’s nothing a wipe with one of the napkins couldn’t have resolved.

Food-wise, well we *had* to have fish & chips. I did toy with the idea of getting their fish platter for two, just to see what it was like, but for a first visit, it had to be fish and chips really.. Actually, we decided to go for the Chamberlains Cod and also the Chamberlains Haddock meals purely because for an extra £1 compared to just the fish & chips on their own, you also got to choose a side of choice along with some bread and butter and a pot of tea or coffee. It was pretty much a no-brainer given we both wanted mushy peas to go with our fish & chips anyway. As YKL and I are ruled by our greed more so than our common sense, we also got an extra piece of plaice on the side – Plaice is one of my favourite fishes for fish & chips and I always order it wherever possible, so I wanted to try it here too. Oh, and for starters, we opted to try their Mackerel and Cod Scotch Egg – All in the spirit of trying as much of the menu, you understand…

First up, the Scotch Egg. They’re quite fashionable these days so it was refreshing to see it on the menu replacing the traditional sausage meat with cod and mackerel. The egg yolk was still runny (just about), the fish surrounding it well seasoned and the breadcrumb outing was crisp. Minor gripe was that they sprinkled on same cracked black pepper which accentuated the colours, in particular the deep orange of the yolk contrasted to the white fish enveloping it, but it didn’t need the extra seasoning really.

The table then rapidly filled up with the bread and butter and pots of tea (with 2 teabags in each teapot to give it more oomph), which were then quickly followed by the bowls of mushy peas, the fish & chips and the extra plaice. All the food looked spectacular – large pieces of battered fish alongside a heap of fat chips with a small dollop of tartare sauce and a lemon wedge, we couldn’t wait to tuck in. The peas were nice – nothing too special and even with YKL adding extra mint sauce to her peas, they didn’t detract too much from the main event. Both the cod and the haddock were beautifully fresh – Pearly white flesh which glistened once exposed.

The plaice was, like the cod and haddock, beautifully fresh and certainly looked the business.

Sadly, the batter on all the fish wasn’t as crisp as it could (and should) have been, and none of the fish was particularly seasoned. The batter certainly looked crisp but when we took our knives to it, there wasn’t the expected crunch as you cut through the batter. The chips were nice but I have an idea in my head that any fish & chips cooked in beef dripping (as they are at Chamberlains) taste just that bit better than your standard fare cooked in vegetable oil. That said, the chips were light and crisp and given the amount of food we had on the table, we struggled to finish everything. I only wish that the batter on the fish was as crisp as the chips were. Also, the tartare sauce was delicious; the right level of piquancy with the creamy mayonnaise added a very welcome contrast and flavour to the fish.

So, the fish is certainly fresh and of high quality and the chips were good, but it was all let down by the batter not being particularly crisp. Service was friendly and pleasant, but if they nailed the batter on the fish, it would have been a superb meal. However, I left thinking I had some very good quality fish but the overall feeling was that it could have been better. Perhaps it was just a one-off because we got there so late, but Chamberlains is certainly somewhere you should try – I’ll probably go back to see if the batter is crisp next time. But for now, Bedders still has that extra special place in my heart when it comes to fish & chips.

You can view all my pics from my meal at my Flickr page

Makin’ Whoopie (Pies)..

No, stop being rude. Another Valentine’s Day and still not managed to be in a relationship on this day, so whilst I spent Valentine’s Day last year with a slab of belly pork to make Dong Po Pork, I decided to make something to mark Valentine’s Day this year. I also haven’t baked anything for the office in recent months because of all that’s gone on so to slowly get my baking mojo back, I thought it would be ironic for a single woman to make Whoopie Pies on Valentine’s Night to be eaten by the office.

Deciding what sort of whoopie pie to make was pretty easy once I saw this recipe, but in all honesty, the recipe looked a bit faffy but I loved the idea of the salted peanut cream cheese filling so whilst I would use that recipe for the filling, I used this recipe from the ol’ trusty BBC website for the whoopie pies themselves. I was actually intrigued by the idea of melting marshmallows as the filling and in my head, had the idea of something akin to the marshmallow whippy fluffy stuff you can buy sandwiched between what looks like 2 ice cream wafers, and tasting like the marshmallow in a Tunnock’s Teacake.

So, I made the filling first as it needed to chill in the fridge a bit before being piped as a filling. Not wanting to blitz everything in a food processor as they suggest in the recipe, I went old school and crushed the peanuts in my trusty pestle and mortar before whisking the cream cheese and icing sugar together, then added the crushed peanuts and softened butter and whisked everything together again. The mixture was then put into a piping bag and left in the fridge to set slightly whilst I got on with making the Whoopie Pies.

Looking at the recipe for the Whoopie Pies, you basically melt the chocolate with the butter in a bowl (recipe suggests over a pan of boiling water, but I nuked it in the microwave as I do when making brownies). In a separate bowl the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract are whisked together until fluffy and well combined, before the chocolate mixture is added and everything combined together. In a separate bowl, the flour, cocoa and baking powder are combined together and then gently folded into the wet mixture. Spoonfuls of the mixture are then placed onto a baking sheet and baked in the oven for about 8 minutes, the idea is to get something a bit like a soft cookie so whilst there is a hard shell, the inside of each pie should be soft and yielding.

The marshmallow filling was simple; turn over half of the cookies, place 2 or 3 marshmallows on the flat side and back in the over for 2-3 mins to melt the marshmallows so that when you take them out and top with the other cookie to make the Whoopie Pie, the marshmallow is soft and sticky enough to glue the 2 cookies together. Well, that was the idea… What actually happened was that because the outer surface of the cookies were uneven, any marshmallows placed on the flat underside would tip the balance over and thus when I brought out the cookies from the oven after a couple of minutes, what I saw was a pool of melted marshmallow cascading from each lopsided cookie. Furthermore, the marshmallow was a bit too soft so when I did sandwich the 2 cookies together to make the Whoopie Pie, it continued to leach out of the sides, rather like an ice cream in them oyster cones you can get. Any attempts to either scoop up the molten marshmallow from the baking sheet or whatever leached out ended up in a very sticky mess with stands of marshmallow looking wild over each Whoopie Pie as if some spider had a deranged fit and started spouting strands of marshmallow as if it were spinning a web, not to mention the damage it can cause to hands when trying to handle molten sugar.. The resulting marshmallow Whoopie Pies didn’t look too appetising as a result and I didn’t really want to take them into the office, but mindful of not wasting any food, I took them in as although they didn’t look too great, they still tasted good. Besides, you should never be ashamed of failures.

The salted butter cream cheese filling was much more of a success – Mainly because the filling had been given time to chill and harden in the fridge by the time it was needed. So even though I applied the filling a bit too soon which meant the filling would melt (and so another patchwork job was required), it was solid enough anyone so it didn’t lose too much of its shape. This filling was much nicer to handle and actually made the Whoopie Pies look half decent (!) and I was quite proud of these ones!

Given that they were wolfed down by the office, I’m guessing they were quite popular. However, I will try to be a bit more dainty next time (I said try), otherwise you’ve not only got a massive size from 2 cookies, but I also was a bit heavy on the filling too so it was a substantial effort to take in the whole thing and bit into it. There’s all sorts of talk about how Whoopie Pies are the new cupcakes and I can certainly see why – They’re light and fun and appeal to men a bit more as they don’t appear to be as girlie as a cupcake. Personally speaking, they’re just as easy to make (well, if you avoid melting whole marshmallows like I tried to) and the results are just as much appreciated by the office as anything else!