Exeter SW Festival of Food & Drink

Every now and again, I am tempted to up sticks and move to the South West. There's so much to love about the area's coast and countryside, it's a picture perfect contrast to Manchester's urban clutter. And then there's the amazing produce. The warmer climate means more variety with heady hints of the continent, especially with such astounding, albeit expensive, seafood.

Last year I worked (as a trader) at Exeter SW Festival, and I barely saw beyond a 20 metre radius from Barbarella. Aside from hiking two miles back and forth to the garage to try and fix, what now appears to be, an unfixable tow car. I learnt loads from the experience, that's for sure.

The truth of the matter is me and James (Nathan) got slammed last year. Our menus were too complicated, we underestimated our prep and we were left shorthanded due to vehicle disasters and slightly drunk missing staff. Obviously that put me in a great mood ;0) The weekend ended with me getting my head stuck in a small cupboard at the back of Barbarella! My sister thought I was laughing, when I was in fact crying. At this point I thought I might quit.  But I didn't (obviously) and I moved onwards and upwards, and since learning that some of my toughest experiences are the best learning I've ever done.

When I was invited back to Exeter this year, I was a little tempted to take part as a trader. Not least because I wanted to see how far I'd come. But now Barbarella is sitting pretty in the garden at the Beech Inn, I decided I would take a day or two off from the kitchen and go and enjoy one of my favourite food and drink festivals, in one of my favourite parts of the country.

My highlights have to include catching up with Michael Caines, who has been such a tremendous mentor to me during the last year. We had a little laugh about my comparative naievty last year, how much I've learned and what a difference a year makes.  

Spiced cauliflower & lentil pie from Tom's pies

Lee and I had some great food including a perfectly delicious (and seasonal) leek and spring green risotto with Devon blue from Antonia's kitchen, and I finally got to sample Tom's pies after missing out last year.  Some salted fudge from Roly's also went down rather well, and I was starting to enjoy an elderflower mojito, when I remembered I had a demo in the later afternoon.

Great times catching up with old friends and making some new ones was just lovely.  Had a really fun time with Anton Piotrowski and his gorgeous funny wife and friends.  The After Dark action at the festival started for me with a cook off against Anton, last years joint winner of MasterChef Professionals (no pressure then :0/).  All for fun of course, and I don't mind admitting he whooped me big time with lots of fancy chef-fy stuff.  I really must look up whether a compressed fruit is really simply just pressed!

Salsify your soul!

I made a trio of Thai tasters, with a little fine dining twist on three classic street food dishes.  I got a little over spicy with the tom yum shot, but the salsify fritters went down well.


I couldn't get salsify 'oop north' but Total Produce came to the rescue thanks to Gregg's old veg pal, Charlie Hicks, who hooked me up for a supply. I also had to 'borrow' some ingredients from the hotel kitchen after having my liquids confiscated at the airport. Apparently the container has to actually state it's 100ml, so my 50ml ones, unlabelled, were not acceptable!

James Nathan and Dhruv Baker ended the cookery theatre day with their cook off - not sure who won as think I had my nose in a wine glass by then but we all went on to have a great night fuelled by excellent music, dancing and Pizza Dragon pizzas, and culminating with cocktails at Abode.  

Had to be up at a reasonable time, as I was first in the cookery theatre with Rob Andrew, head chef from Riverford Farm.  I toned down the heat in the tom yum and upped the fragrancy with a seaweed broth.  Rob made some amazing food with the best of the seasons vegetables from the farm, but this time I pipped it.  Although maybe Michael was being kind after me losing to Anton.  Anyway it's all in good fun.

Tom Yum broth with tofu, Pad Thai in crispy noodle basket & salsify coconut fritters

After the dem, had a lovely food chat with Rob and we even helped a lady plan the vegan elements for her mother's 80th birthday menu for a dinner for 200 people. I spent the rest of the day eating (and maybe the odd drink) and picking up non liquid treats to take home.  Rob kindly gave me some delicious Cornish blue and Lee was rather chuffed with his Dartmoor Farm's special edition chilli sauce 'Ring of Fire' (in a bottle labelled 100ml of course).

I also had a quick hello with Matt Follas and was rather inspired to explore the use of candy floss after watching his demo. Chilli candy floss? Er yes please!

A little update from the garden...

My word, it's been quite some weeks since my last blog post.  A good reflection of just how busy I've been with getting things off the ground at The Beech Inn.  There has been so much to get sorted and organised, from waste management and refining the menus, to staff training (time consuming) and getting my head around payroll (and what a joy that was!).

I've had the opportunity to put everything I've learned over the last year into practice.  In some ways, I'm grateful for all I endured (and believe me, it really was an endurance test at times) because I can see now what it taught me. I'm still learning and making mistakes, but it finally feels like I've found where I'm meant to be. We've had some great reviews and feedback too, which is ace.

As some of you know, I have a new chef.  I can barely describe extent to which this has lifted the pressure.  It was a tough learning curve for us both. I broke my thumb at the same time and she got thrown in at the deep end.  But things are working out well, and it's great to have someone to share the load with me.

Thai BBQ tofu puff skewers

Barbarella is looking mighty fine in the garden at The Beech Inn, and we're now open from 4pm on Thursdays and Fridays, and from 12pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

When the sun is shining in the garden, it's like a little festival of food.  Obviously the rain and snow has not been our friend over the last few weeks but I'm hopeful for some brighter days ahead.

It's the Farmer's Market on Chorlton Green next Saturday, 27th April, so we may have to get the BBQ out, Bangkok roadside stylie :) Sticky BBQ satay skewers anyone?

Thai BBQ free range chicken skewers

Street food comes to Chorlton!

The last few weeks have seen some big turning points with everything.  I have been thinking that my luck had to change soon.  And it feels like it has.  As beautiful as Barbarella is, the biggest challenge over the last year has been the logistics of moving her big silver booty up and down the country! The sad result of this was that it felt like it stopped being about the food, and became about everything else (welcome to the world of running your own business I hear people say).  My dining club has been a relief, to return to a world of cooking where my focus is back on making great food, and not about yet another breakdown.

Well all that is about to change.  I am moving Barbarella into the garden of The Beech Inn, a fine cask ale pub on Chorlton's beloved Beech Rd.  I'll be serving up my Asian street food inspired menu, starting next Friday 15th February from 4pm, then Saturday and Sunday from 12pm until late.  I plan to be there every week from Friday to Sunday, with the odd exception.  We may even expand the trading times if that's what people want.  

I hope to be able to offer a bigger menu again, rather than being limited by logistics to 3 or 4 dishes.  I'm so excited as it feels like my street food cafe dream could be realised.  So we've got big plans for launch night.  Service starts at 4pm on 15th Feb, and we'll be offering free tasters so everyone can sample some of the different food on offer. 

The plan for the launch night menu is to bring together some of the favourite dishes from last year.  So here's the plan... and as they're mostly old favourites from last year's menu, we have photos too :)

Paneer Shashlik Roti Wrap, spicy marinated fresh paneer with cachumba salad w/ coriander chutney & raita (V)

Sloppy Joe Rendang, grass fed Cheshire beef with coconut & lemongrass, in turmeric roll, served with Asian 'slaw

Kimchi noodle soup, traditional Korean red pepper broth & fermented cabbage with local pak choi, shitake mushrooms & rice noodles (Vg, wheat free)

Nasi Goreng, Indonesian egg fried rice with free range eggs & veg (V), served with 5 spice pork belly

Dal Masala, yellow butter dal with aubergine masala, served with cauliflower stuffed paratha (V)









Thai style fritters, served with Asian 'slaw
 - with sweetcorn & spring onion (Vg)
- with MSC prawns & spring onion

Thali Night, banana leaf cafe style

Our much loved Thali Night is back! Inspired by banana leaf cafes in Asia and thali style dining, we'll be serving up an Indian feast on Friday 8th Feb.  Last year was a great success and guests had a lot of fun dining together.  Nobody seemed to mind the bench seating or the mismatching glasses, and most even ate with their hands!

So here's a draft of the menu for what's in store...

Punjabi style samosas with spicy potato & green mango

Paneer & cashew koftas with green chilli & tomato masala
Beetroot pakoda kadai, seasonal dumplings in yoghurt curry

Kali daal (creamy black lentils)

Tarka dal (yellow butter tor dal)
Baigan ka bharta (roasted aubergine masala)

Pappu dosaki (dudhi gourd with channa)

Served on a banana leaf, with basmati rice, salad, raita & pickles

The cost is £20 per person. To book a place, email thehungrygecko@gmail.com

New year & a new menu for dining club

I've finally settled on the menu for January's dining club dates.  I'm a big fan of Korean food (no surprise there) and have been playing around with kimchi for a few months now.  I wasn't sure how well noodle soup would sit as a main course.  Soup always makes me think starter.  But it's too substantial for a starter, especially served with the tofu and seawood cakes.

I'm excited about making panipuri.  I love this Indian snack, and for me it's the perfect amuse bouche.  It sings on sweet and sour and spicy notes with lots of soft and crispy textures.  What could be more perfect?

The dessert was inspired by a restaurant in Kathmandu called Fire & Ice.  They served hot brownies with ice cream, which after ten days in the mountains and living on dal bhat (the simple Nepali dinner set of soupy lentil dal and steamed rice, with fresh green chillies and salt on the side) it seemed like food from the gods.

There are still some places available for the upcoming dining club dates.  There are just 3 spaces left for Saturday 12th January, and there are places available for Thursday 17th and Friday 18th January.  The Hungry Gecko dining club is £29 per person for five courses.  To book a place, email us at thehungrygecko@gmail.com

     

January Menu

Panipuri

Classic Indian street food snack

with tamarind, chilli & chaat masala

Kedgeree

Spiced rice in panko croquette

Served with a poached quail egg

Kimchi noodle soup

Korean style red pepper broth with traditional fermented cabbage

Served with tofu seaweed cakes & egg noodles

Raspberry lassi sorbet

Fire & Ice Brownie

Hot sticky brownie with hint of chilli,

served with star anise & vanilla ice cream

  

Love your leftovers!

When you like to cook, it can sometimes seem like the fridge is permanently full of leftovers.  Come christmas, and everyone is in the same boat.  I have a few favourite leftover recipes, and after facing the fridge still half full of leftovers this morning, I decided to share some on my blog. I've included easy recipes for nasi goreng, Cornish style pasties with leftovers, leftover Christmas cheese pie and biryani rice with leftover curry.

First up, it has to be nasi goreng (or maybe mee goreng if you're more noodle inclined).  I love this dish for lots of reasons.  It's the first street food dish in Indonesia I fell in love with.  I think it takes the universally popular egg fried rice and gives it kick and substance, turning it into a proper supper.  It can be served with egg scrambled through the rice, or an omelette (you can make fancy strips and layer them on the top), but the favourite in our house (and most traditional) is a perfectly cooked gooey fried egg.  You can pretty much use any leftovers, veg or otherwise, just chop them up into bite sized pieces.  The key to great nasi is left over rice that has been cooked and fully cooled, preferably after a night in the fridge

One of my favourite Christmas leftover recipes is leftover cheese pie.  We always have excessive amounts of cheese over the festive season, and we end up with odds and ends of all kinds of cheese from different places.  One year I made a pie from the leftovers, and so the tradition was born, leftover cheese pie.  This year, inspired by Cornish blue and yarg from my new Cornish brother in law, I also made some Cornish style pasties.  The recipe below uses a traditional dough recipe for Cornish pasties, with the requisite knob of butter and black pepper seasoning.  But the rest of the filling is a hotch potch of what was kicking around the fridge.  I made them with leek & potato dauphinoise (WINNER!), rocket mash & stilton (kind of ended up a bit hollow, but scored big on the taste board), and leftover xmas veg with carrot & swede mash, roast potatoes, red cabbage and veggie roast (which was really yummy with cranberry compote).  I'm making the leftover cheese pie for NYE, so recipe below reflects this years particular cheese fest, but you could use pretty much any cheese I reckon.

The last recipe is just a few tips on making biryani rice from leftover curry.  Again, this is totally adaptable to whatever curry you've been cooking and have leftover, whether vegetable, meat, seafood or chickpeas (I make this with Sunil's dal and it's delicious).  You could also use any leftover vegetables or whatever you have, and knock up a masala sauce to layer with the leftovers and rice.

Nasi Goreng

Ingredients - serves 2-3
2 cups of basmati (or long grain) rice, steamed or boiled, al dente

4 free range eggs

Leftover veg, such as carrots, peas, onions, green beans, I've even used roast potatoes before

2 tbsp garlic paste
3 tbsp finely chopped onions or shallots
1 large red chilli
1-2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp of chilli sambal (I use sriracha)

1 tbsp of fish free worcester sauce (or fish sauce)

1 tbsp soy sauce

sesame oil for frying
sliced spring onions, fresh coriander and few red chilli slices to garnish (all optional)

1. If making omelette, beat eggs together with little salt, and ¼ of the mixture in small pan to make thin omelette. Repeat until have 4.  Them roll up together and slices into long strips. Set aside.
2. If having fried eggs, start cooking them at step 5.

3. Mix together sugar, soy, chilli sauce and set aside.

4. Heat sesame oil in wok, add onions and soften, then add garlic and vegetables. Cook for 2 mins then add chilli and cook for further minute.

5. Add cooked rice, mix well and cook until fully heated.

6. Turn off heat and add sauce mixture.  Mix well.  Mix through half egg strips, if using.

7. Serve portions with remaining egg strips or fried eggs over top of rice, and scatter with fresh spring onions, coriander and fresh chillies (if using).

 Cornish Style Pasties with Leftovers

Ingredients - makes 4 large or 6 medium sized pasties
Dough: 500g strong plain flour

120g vegetable suet

25g butter or margarine

1/2 tsp salt

175ml cold water

Fillings:

Leftovers 

Butter & black pepper for seasoning

Free range egg & 1 tsp salt, for glazing
Veg oil for frying

1. Mix all dough ingredients together, except water, to make a breadcrumb texture.  Then add water and knead well until dough is soft and pliable. Leave to rest in fridge for at least an hour.
2. Chop any leftovers into 1-2cm pieces.
3. Divide dough into 4 or 6 equal sized pieces, on floured surface roll out into circle. Egg wash edges.

4. Fill half of the circle with filling, add a knob of butter & pinch of black pepper over top, then fold over dough. Then crimp edges (you can check out the technique here, step 11. It takes a bit of practice).
5. Brush generously with salted egg wash.
6. Bake at 170 for 30-40 mins until golden brown.

Leftover Christmas Cheese Pie

Ingredients - serves 6
Pastry:
225g plain flour
100g butter
salt
1 free range egg
80g pecans, crushed (optional)

Filling:
400g assorted cheese ( I'll be using odds & sods of cornish blue, stilton, red leicester, mature cheddar, wensleydale, lancashire & brie)
400g potatoes, cut into slices and boiled until just soft
1 red onion, chopped
salt & black pepper
1 free range egg, beaten, for glazing

1. Heat oven to 190C
2. Place all ingredients for pastry in food processor, pulse until combined. Wrap in cling film and chill in fridge for at least an hour.
3. Roughly chop up the leftover cheeses, and mix together with red onion.
4. Grease pie dish with butter, and layer with sliced potatoes and cheese mixture, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go.  Pour a little milk or cream over top of filling to ensure it stays moist, especially if not using any soft cheeses in the mixture.
5. Roll out pastry on floured surface, to cover top of pie dish with nice thick pastry top.
6. Brush pastry top with egg wash & bake pie in oven for 30-40 mins until pastry is golden brown and crisp.
7. Serve with fresh green salad leaves and a heap of cranberry compote of pickles.

Biryani Rice with Leftover Curry

Ingredients - serves 4
3 cups leftover curry
3-4 cups of cooked basmati rice (al dente)
1 large onions sliced
Fresh coriander & saffron (optional)
Toasted cashews, chopped

1. Grease the bottom of deep ovenproof dish, preferably with a lid, but you could use foil.
2. Place a good pinch of saffron in jug of hot water. Leave to soak for 5 mins.
3. Fry onion with a little salt and butter, until well caramelised and brown (not burnt). Set aside.
4. Cover bottom of dish with layer of leftover curry (or masala sauce and leftovers). then cover with approx 4-5cm of cooked rice. Scatter 1/3 onion mixture across top and drizzle with saffron water.  Repeat at least one more time. Finish with layer of rice, onions and remaining saffron.
5. Cover dish and bake at 190 for 40-50 mins.
6. Scatter with fresh coriander and chopped cashews before serving.

What's on the menu for dining club?

You may well have noticed we've had to postpone the pop up at Home Sweet Home.  These things happen sometimes.

The good news is that I have been able to add some new dates for my dining club. To book a place you need to get in touch via email thehungrygecko@gmail.com



There are just a couple of places left for Friday 16th November, and I have posted an additional date for Thursday 15th.  Spaces are very limited, so be sure to book early to avoid disappointment.  

Here's the menu for next week.

Amuse bouche

Onigiri – griddled & marinated sushi with nori wrap

Served with pickles including wild samphire, black radish & ginger

First course

Steamed buns stuffed with wild mushroom & hoi sin

Second course

Thali tasting plate – paneer shashlik, matterwali tikki with tomato & green chilli masala, aubergine mash, kali dal & channa pilaf

Served with daniya chutney, cachumba salad & chapati

Pre-dessert

Wild raspberry & curd cheese sorbet

Dessert

Coconut pannacotta with macaroons,

served with kaffir lime jelly & pomegranate sauce

Masala spiced tea (chai), jasmine green tea or coffee