Vacherin, Tomato Chutney, Port

We splashed out on some Vacherin, and it was worth every penny. We picked it up at Waddesdon Manor, where they have a good selection of Rothschild wines and some cheeses to accompany them.
Our friends gave us some green tomato chutney, brilliantly fruity and sharp, and we dug out some port :) Altogether a rare and indulgent supper. Roll on Christmas. 

Bagels

Another Bertinet recipe - and a winner.
I made these bagels almost a year ago (! ) and was more successful this time round (see previous bagel attempt).
Instead of dipping the bagels into seeds when they just came out of the boiling water, i scattered the seeds on top of the bagels - this gave better coverage.
Also my oven seemed to be hotter this time round and the bagels came out lovely and golden.
I struggled to keep the hole in the middle - despite feeding a rolling pin through the dough balls as instructed - so that when cut some looked like rolls :) not very bagel-like. But the texture was good and chewy, with a nice crispness on the outside. Good result.

Brioche

Lovely brioche loaf made from a Bertinet recipe. My oven is running quite hot at the moment, which means it was a little overdone. The hot spot in the bottom right corner is getting more vociferous.
Brioche was good - tho' it really found its forte in a bread and butter pudding I put together with some marmalade. For the custard I improvised with three eggs, a pint of whole milk and some cream. Was delicious!

Looking back

Since working in a proper kitchen,I have become like all other chefs i know, and rarely cook at home. There is not enough time off to gather ingredients, use ingredients effeciently, and literally have time to cook things.
On double shift days I rarely eat, and there's usually at least 3 of those a week.
"That's catering."

I look back through my blog and see so many things I've made, so much energy and enthusiasm. That energy is moving out of home cooking and into professional kitchens. Its a big shift. And I miss the variety, creativity and freedom of home cooking. It is such a joy to create.

Roast chicken with garlic, parsley yoghurt and toasted almonds

Woke up this morning and wanted yoghurt. Fresh, soothing. Realised that combined with some herbs and roast chicken would be great.
Found chicken, roasted it very simply with oil, seasoning, lemon. Made yoghurt with chopped parsley and garlic. Toasted almonds. Grabbed some salad leaves and voila.
wSuperb summer dish. Fresh, light, satisfying. Must be generously seasoned with crunchy salt.

Ciabatta

This is a bread I've been wanting to try for a long time but hadn't had time to schedule in making the ferment (or 'biga') before making the bread, and I wanted to do it using bricks in the oven, to give good lift on such a wet dough.

But I had a couple of days where this was going to  be possible, and so set off for homebase and bagged some paving bricks (flat on top) for 79p each, and then lined the oven floor with them.

Unfortunately they were millimetres out from being able to cover the oven floor - which then led to some interesting mis-shapings as I tried to get the bread in to a small area. And some bread slightly fell over the edges of the bricks, giving some interesting 'hooks' :)
So comedy ciabatta. Which tasted great :)

Vanilla ice-cream, Tarte tatin

Vanilla ice-cream was made using the Roux Brother's Patisserie book - I thought it was slightly sweet before icing it down, but afterwards, it was very good. Although I still think I'd take a bit of the sugar out.
Tarte tatin was good - tho' not great. I need to make my puff pastry thinner and lighter - I didn't judge it well enough.
It was meant to go with the blood orange prosecco, roast chicken, hoummus and pitta breads yesterday - but I was ordered not to cook any more. The guests were happy - and we tucked into lemon drizzle cake with tea instead ;)