Spring Courgette & Flowers Quiche

As I guess Spring is finally here, this is the time of the year when I start to take confidence in my nascent baking/pastry making skills. I love a good homemade Quiche, and I don't mean one of those heavy bacon and cheese Lorraine jobbies - I think Quiche can be light, crumbly on the outside and still-warm and deliciously eggy in the middle.

I know it's still early in the season to be bantering on about courgette flowers (ok, I admit, this photo was taken last summer - and yes, the courgettes, their flowers, the Spring onions and mint were all pulled fresh from the garden) but for me they are the essence of Spring, when it comes to flavours.

I can't really remember the pastry bit of the recipe (but I did freeze the butter and grated it into the flour) but it made all the difference to the crumbliness of the pastry base. Once blind baked, I sauteed in a little butter the courgettes, Spring onions, and followed with mint, chives and the flowers and seasoning. I left the mixture to cool off and then whisked free range eggs with a good dollop of Creme Fraiche (which was courtesy of the very lovely Rachel's Organic), poured this over the sauteed courgettes and baked it until set.

I served it warm, with a salad of baby beetroot leaves and chive flowers drizzled with a lemon oil vinaigrette.

Chargrilled Cuttlefish with Chilli and Blood Orange Aioli

This weekend's sunshine had me craving one thing in particular - squid. For me, warm weekends are all about the smell of crustaceans and squid on a barbeque, the sweet flesh and smoky, ozonic smell of charred shells gets me crazy. I was a bit disorganised with my fish purchasing, so ended up snaffling the last cuttlefish at Shellseekers - as one of Jamie's Fifteen chefs had just bagged the last of the squid and crabs for the restaurant. I have to admit, I haven't cooked cuttlefish that many times (squid seems so much more manageable for some reason), and like squid, you either cook it in a flash on a very hot griddle, or long, low and slow in a braising pot. I had the cuttlefish cleaned (a very messy job - and can ruin your distressed antique french oak surfaces with its ink), and then set to work slicing it and scoring the flesh finely in a criss-cross pattern. I then decided to marinate it with a wild combination of ingredients I had purchased earlier at the market; mint, fresh garlic and blood orange seemed like a good trinity, and a nice combination of flavours for the cuttlefish to play with.

Once marinated for a few hours, the cuttlefish was cooked on a searingly hot cast iron griddle pan, until the ends charred and the flesh soft and creamy.

I served this with a simple aioli; two egg yolks and a squeeze of lemon juice beaten until pale. I then drizzled in a sunflower oil (Rapeseed works really well too), until I had a thick, viscous mayonnaise. I flavoured it with finely chopped red chilli, blood orange juice and zest, and seasoning. This is a great dish with a well chilled bottle of Prosecco or Cava.

Courgette Flowers with Smoked Anchovy Vinaigrette, Red Onion, Tarragon and Lemon Salad

I really adore courgette flowers. It probably has a lot to do with their lightness of flavour, that delicate courgette green-ness, and their saffron coloured petals that make me think they are food of the gods. I often will cook these as a tempura, doused in flour and then into a batter and deep fried until crisp and golden. I have also stuffed them with mint and Goat's cheese, and also with beaten egg whites and brown shrimps. This time I decided to cook these nude in a little olive oil, until al dente and the petals just caramelised. I finished these with a smoked anchovy and blood orange (my ingredient of the week it seems) vinaigrette, and a fresh, pungent salad of red onion, tarragon and lemon.

Ingredients

Courgette Flowers

Smoked Anchovies

Juice and zest of half a Blood Orange

Olive Oil

Capers

Pinch of Sugar

Red Onion

Tarragon

Lemon zest and juice

Salad of Cabrales Blue Cheese, Chicory, Radish & Sourdough Croutons

Of the 'tapas' dishes I created, this was very simple and constructed around a beautiful piece of Cabrales Cheese bought at Brindisa in Borough Market. Cabrales is a rich blue cheese from Northern Spain, that is matured in limestone caves for 2 to 5 months. To balance the intensity of the cheese, I paired it with bitter chicory, slices of radish, salty capers and pan toasted sourdough croutons. It was finished with a drizzle of Dauro Extra Virgin Olive Oil and chervil leaves.

Ingredients

250g Cabrales Cheese

1 head of Chicory

1 Tablespoon of salted Capers

1 bunch of Radishes

A few slices of Sourdough Bread

Chervil

Dauro Olive Oil to finish

Alubias Blancas con Chorizo, White Beans with Chorizo

Of the five dishes that I created last weekend, the White Beans with Chorizo is in essence a typically Spanish dish, full of robust flavours of spicy Chorizo, a background smokiness of Paprika and teamed in a stew with tomatoes and creamy white beans. The addition of Wild Mountain Oregano adds a herbal edge to this dish. This can be cooked in advance and improves wonderfully, given a day or two to allow the flavours to develop.

Ingredients:

1 White Onion

1 Chorizo

1 bulb wet Garlic

1 Red Pepper (chargrilled on an open flame and deseeded)

1 Tin of Italian Cherry Tomatoes

1 Tin large White Beans

1 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika

Fresh Thyme

Dried Wild Oregano

- Caramelise in olive oil the Onion and fresh Garlic. Add the sliced Chorizo and fresh Thyme leaves. Cook until the Chorizo renders some of its oils.

- Add the tin of Cherry Tomatoes and the chopped, chargrilled Red Pepper, and Smoked Paprika. Cover and simmer until a sauce starts to materialise within the pot, yet the tomatoes still hold some of their shape. Add the beans and warm through on a low heat for a further 15 to 20 minutes. Finish with dried Oregano.

Champagne Rhubarb & Blood Orange Syllabub with Black Pepper Honeycomb

The posting order is a bit back to front, but this dish is the culmination of what had been a wonderful cooking day at my friend's apartment in Southwark. Having spotted these exquisite Champagne Rhubarb stems at Tony Booth's, I had the idea of pairing it with Blood Orange, to create a tangy and luscious pudding. Not being one for fancy desserts, I figured a low maintenance syllabub would do the trick. I added whipped double cream and Greek yoghurt to the cooked fruit, and topped with an easy and fun to make honeycomb.

Ingredients (serves 4 approx)

4 Stems of Champagne Rhubarb

1 Blood Orange

200ml Double Cream

100 ml Greek Yoghurt

50g Caster Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Paste or Essence

75g Caster Sugar

50ml Honey

1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda

- Slice Rhubarb stem into pieces, place into a glass baking dish, add 50g Caster Sugar, the zest and juice of half a blood orange. Cover with kartouche of greaseproof paper and bake in a medium oven for 30 mins until the Rhubarb is cooked. Allow to cool.

- Whip the double cream into soft peaks, add the Greek yoghurt, flavour with vanilla paste. Fold through the warm Rhubarb compote and serve into glasses. Allow to chill.

- To make the honeycomb, melt Caster sugar and honey until the grains have dissolved and bubbles well. Add the Bicarbonate, mix and allow to foam up. Empty onto a non stick surface and allow to chill. Grind Black Pepper over the hot honeycomb. Crunch the cooled honeycomb over the syllabub.

Gazetteer : Wright Brothers, Borough Market, London SE1

Having found myself at Borough Market this weekend, amongst the crowds and Spring sunshine, I happened to bump into a good friend, who duly treated us to Malden oysters, fried whitebait and a delicious pint of prawns from Wright Brothers, as we caught up.

This is the perfect place to perch, nestled away from the market crowds, where you can drink good wine and devour deliciously fresh Native and Rock oysters.

Wright Brothers

11 Stoney Street, London SE1 9AD.

I AM LOVE

I saw this at the weekend, and just needed to write about it.

This film is utterly beautiful, erudite and seductive. Perhaps one the best films I have seen in years, the story gravitates around the film's central character, Emma who is played by Tilda Swinton. I can still 'taste' some of the food references from the film, as well as smell the air of the locations, and be dazzled by the Raf Simons for Jil Sander costumes.

I am love is an incredible piece of cinematic art, that is so well conceived and executed, I was left thinking how on earth could something be created that is so sublime. An inspirational film.

Dim Sum at Joy King Lau

I don't think there is a food experience for me that is more satisfying than to sit at a table with wonderful friends and enjoy the performance art that is Dim Sum. I found myself grounded in London this weekend by the cloud of volcanic ash courtesy of an Icelandic volcano with a name can neither spell nor pronounce. The perfect antidote to my disappointment of not being able to travel took shape as an impromptu plan to have Dim Sum with one of my very best friends, Kamlan. We were reminiscing over the fact that our friendship is now 20 years old, when we were both a similar age and embarking on foundation courses at different art colleges. Kamlan and her family introduced me to Dim Sum, a ritual of family and friends coming together over a table to enjoy plate after plate of delicious morsels.

I love the randomness of each dish; the different flavours, textures, some steamed, others fried, the excitement of lifting the lid on a bamboo steamer to reveal jewel-like, glistening and juicy dumplings, that end up dunked in soy or chilli oil and popped whole into the mouth. I also love the fact that sweet, juicy prawns and scallops lend themselves so well to steamed dim sum, especially when teamed with chives - which I have to confess is a herb I cannot live without. I also love the crunchiness of prawn dumplings served with salad cream, squid cake, grilled chive cake and a soft, luscious turnip cake. Chueng Fun is another favourite, the glutinous rice pasta enveloping sweet prawns or scallop, and doused with a sweet, rich soy dressing. This of course is all washed down with cups of Jasmine tea. I could rattle on about more their Dim Sum, but I can only really say you should go and try it for yourself.

So, if you crave authentic Dim Sum (I love the Royal China in Bayswater and Yauatcha), the Joy King Lau is unbeatable for the excellent quality and value.

Joy King Lau,

3 Leicester Street, London

WC2H 7BL

Where I am now...

Firstly I just want to say a huge congratulations to the 2010 Masterchef winner - well done Dhruv, you are an incredible cook! Secondly, I thought this would be a good opportunity to discuss some of the great projects I've been involved in, since winning Masterchef back in 2007. A great deal of the experience I have gained and the projects I have worked on don't get publicised, as many of them have been works in progress, or subject to confidentiality. As I was omitted from the opening credits on last night's Masterchef show, I thought this would be an opportune time to talk about some of the great work I have accomplished over the past three years.
Following my win in 2007, I was offered an estage at the prestigious 3 Michelin starred Restaurant Pierre Gagnaire in Paris. There I was taught focus, attention to detail, timing, patience and the art of flavour pairing. I had my eyes opened to a level of creativity I had not thought possible by food alone, and learnt how to balance sublime flavours, colours and textures within a dish. I was also very fortunate to have worked with some very talented chefs, and learnt how to work with some of the most exquisite ingredients I have ever seen pass through a kitchen's doors.
On my return to London, I was asked to be a Sous Chef on BBC's Great British Menu - and worked with many chefs with whose cooking I hold in very high esteem. These include Angela Hartnett, Tom Kitchin, and Sat Bains. Working with Angela was incredible; it was great to witness her speed, tenacity and effortless elegance that oozed from every dish she created. Being Tom's Sous when he created his English Breakfast starter was an experience I'll never forget - that dish was pure genius, and I learnt that you can create a silk purse from a pig's ear. Sat Bains I will remember for introducing me to the joys of the water bath, a missing bit of suckling piglet and chicken popcorn. Need I say more.
Post that hubris, I approached Shaun Hill who had just opened the Walnut Tree, and worked with him at his restaurant in Abergavenny. I love how Shaun cooks, and conceives such remarkable dishes, always with savoir faire. Shaun still is a mentor to me, and having met him recently at Fortnum and Mason, begged me never to stop cooking.
Other projects have included consulting to Sainsbury's on food trends, created menus for Jumeirah Hotels in Knightsbridge, been a brand ambassador for The Cooperative (and spent a summer on the road, cooking at 10 county shows across the UK out of a juggernaut-cum-demo kitchen), and developed recipes for Abel & Cole and Rachel's Organic. I have also been working with Slow Food London and the Southbank Centre, demonstrating and promoting fair and slow food ethics. I am also looking to collaborate with the Southbank this summer with a food and art project, celebrating Brazilian culture.
I spent the best part of last year traveling through Central America, gathering ideas and inspiration for food and life. This year I have started by focusing on my consultancy skills and am working as a as a flavour consultant - establishing savoury flavour trends for a global flavours and fragrance agency. I also partner with two holiday companies, providing gastronomy workshops, tours and holidays. These are www.frui.co.uk (chocolate workshops, tours to Borough and Billingsgate Market and forthcoming food trips to Barcelona and Brussels), and Tell Tale Holidays, www.telltaletravel.co.uk, where I will be the guide and escort on their forthcoming Tamarind and Spice tour across Thailand in November. I can't get enough of traveling it seems.
Most recently, I have been approached to work with the homeless charity Shelter, where I hope that my humble cooking can help raise awareness to the plight of London's homeless population. My final bit of news is that I have just been signed up as a consultant creative strategist at FutureBrand, where I work with a wonderful team of people who let me unleash my creativity to co-create products and ideas for some of the world's biggest brands. www.futurebrand.com
So, I haven't exactly fulfilled the Masterchef dream of opening a restaurant, but I have certainly made mine come true. I have had the pleasure of working with some incredible people over the past three years. I have no plans to open a restaurant at the moment, but I know I would like to at some point in the future, once I have got the traveling bug out of my system and have decided in which country I decide to settle.
So thank you Masterchef for all the incredible opportunities that you've opened up to me, and to all my wonderful friends, followers and supporters who have loved me no matter what.

Steven

Steven Wallis teams up with Tell Tale Travel, on their Tamarind and Spice Tour across Thailand, 20th November - 4th December 2010

For all of you adventurous foodies out there, come and join me on Tell Tale Travel's Tamarind & Spice Tour across Thailand in November and December. Tell Tale Travel specialise in offering truly authentic holidays, that focus on real inside experiences that offer the opportunity to access the peoples and culture of each of their destinations. I am very excited to be acting as the escort on this 15 day trip, guiding and participating with the group (no bigger than 10) as we take in the culinary and sensory delights of Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Chang Mai and Krabi.
You'll be taught by local cookery experts who will share their personal recipes and techniques, and of course I'll be on hand throughout the entire trip as we explore food markets, street food vendors and take in the incredible cultural richness of four contrasting regions of Thailand.

Tamarind & Spice Itinerary as follows:

Day 1: Direct flight from London Heathrow to Bangkok with Thai Airways or Eva Air. (If you are from the United States, email us about your flight options)

Day 2: Pick up Bangkok airport and transfer in air-conditioned private minibus to centrally-located boutique inn. Time to relax then a stroll through the local area for a welcome dinner.

Day 3: Morning lie-in/brunch. Afternoon cookery lesson at the Blue Elephant Cookery School. Evening trip to Suan Lum night market and Sky Bar.

Day 4: Morning, boat trip along the Chao Phraya Rivera and visit the magnificent Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha with an expert guide. After lunch, 1-1.5 hour drive to a sleepy village in the Central Plains. Settle in and followed by sunset boat trip. Dinner, lesson on Thai desserts and overnight stay at the village headman's elegant but simple teak house.

Day 5: Early morning at the local market with the headman's wife followed by a cookery lesson and lunch. Optional bike ride around the paddy fields and along the canal in the afternoon, transfer to nearby Ayutthaya, relaxing evening.

Day 6: Bike ride with guide (with minibus support) around the spectacular remains of Ayutthaya, one-time capital of Thailand, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Time to shower and change before overnight sleeper train north to Chiang Mai.

Day 7: Early morning arrival in Chiang Mai and minibus transfer to luxury private home. Welcome breakfast, settle in, then enjoy the swimming pool. In the afternoon, a guided walk around the village is followed by more relaxation and Thai massage. Minibus will drive to Chiang Mai for dinner and browsing the night market.

Day 8: Pick your own at an organic farm to pick ingredients for a northern Thai cookery lesson.

Day 9: A day's sightseeing in Chiang Mai with a local guide. Time to relax before dinner at a local restaurant.

Day 10: Cookery lesson in the jungle for some essential cookery survival tips. Learn how to make a makeshift kitchen of bamboo and banana leaves and cook over an open fire.

Day 11: Vegetarian cookery demonstration and lunch. Then fly to Krabi (via a quick change in Bangkok). Short transfer to mini-resort. Evening tour and dinner at Krabi night market.

Day 12: Morning at leisure by the pool. Afternoon at cookery school to learn sizzling Southern-style dishes.

Day 13: Island hopping around the Hong archipelago; a series of uninhabited islands with pristine white beaches and hidden lagoons that are considered to be the most beautiful in the region. Snorkelling amid tropical fish on the coral reef and picnic lunch.

Evening back on shore, with a visit to a local village and dinner with the Deputy Headman's family. Then a lesson in making Thai desserts.

Day 14: Free day, but optional minibus tour stops at a local village with good handicrafts, spectacular waterfalls and Tubkaak beach. Farewell dinner.

Day 15: End of your cookery holiday! Transfer to Krabi airport for a short internal flight to Bangkok, connecting with international flight home. Arrive at London Heathrow approximately 7pm UK time (same day).

Tell Tale Travel are offering a £50 discount to anyone who books the trip and quotes 'The Urban Foodie', if you are interested in joining us for a magical 15 days of gastronomic food heaven, get in touch with Tell Tale on tel. 0800 011 2571
Opening hours: 9am-9pm, 7 days, First Floor, 25a Kensington Church Street, London, W8 4LL United Kingdom, or at www.telltaletravel.co.uk or leave a comment and I'll forward any enquiries.

Steven

Wishing you a very happy Christmas!

Well I thought I'd break my blogging sabbatical with a post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! It's been a tough year all round, and I have taken this year to think quite hard about my future and what I do going forward. I took four months off this year to travel through Central America, which was the best decision of the year, as well as being the perfect way to recharge my creative spirit. So, I will endeavour to restart blogging with a vengeance next year (I no longer have my Leica camera that helped me take such great photos for my blog - so hoping to replace it and get shooting great photos again), and get back into blogging and photographing food and my love of cooking.
So, for those of you who have been loyally following the sporadic prose of 'theurbanfoodie', posting such awesome posts on here and firing my imagination further, I wish you a wonderful holiday and much merriment and festive feasting.
Merry Christmas!
Steven X

Colours and flavours of the rainbow

A shameful practice - the plundering of Marine Turtle eggs

Towards the end my market excursion, I was horrified to spot these turtle eggs on sale, covered with a grubby piece of sackcloth and paraded shamelessly by a so-called 'fishmonger'. This despicable trade only pushes marine turtles of various species even closer to extinction, and further upsets the fragile marine ecosystems with which they co-exist. Riled by what I saw, my initial reaction was to protest and question the vendor, but as I was alone at the time, it felt safer and perhaps more appropriate to write about and spread awareness, however futile that may seem, or faint the message.
Turtle eggs are considered a delicacy in Central America, and particularly by men who have for many years consumed them raw as an aphrodisiac. ( I have included an advertising campaign commissioned by the Mexican government aimed at the men who eat the eggs, a message intended to dissuade turtle egg consumption by a beautiful young woman who decrees that the men in her life don't really need them). I'm not sure if this ad's rampant sexism and sexual objectification will solve this problem, but at some level I have to conclude that it is better than nothing. Witnessing the sale of such things saddens me to the core, as I feel that young turtles have a hard enough time surviving the oceans and marauding prey, to then have their chances of survival cut even further by pillaging human opportunists. Even adult turtles who can survive well into their seventies aren't safe from the nets of industrial trawlers that themselves damage marine ecosystems beyond comprehension.
Like any country or place you fall in love with, there are always dark sides that disturb us and make us want to ignore the fact of their very existence, things we prefer to turn a blind eye to. I feel this is something the Environmental Office of the Guatemalan Government should be policing, and harshly to stop this senseless trade - and I feel should perhaps wake up somewhat to the beauty and fragility of their awesome natural resources, as these riches are neither infinite nor expendable. The marine turtles native to Guatemala including the Olive Ridley Turtle that is now on The World Conservation Union's Endangered species list need all the help they can get, and deserve to be left well alone. There is a link to this post to the World Wildlife's webpage on turtles, should you wish to read more. I don't climb up onto my soapbox often enough, but I will be emailing a local office of the WWF to see if they have any influence in helping to stop this very damaging and foolish practice.

http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/marineturtles/marineturtles.html

Market curiosities

Two weeks have passed since I was last at the market in Guatemala City, so I decided to pay another visit to nose around and perhaps spot things I might have missed on my first outing. My enthusiasm was curbed this time by a minor bout of sickness, which made me sensitive to the crowds and smells, which were at times pretty unforgiving.
So despite the assault on my senses, I still found some gems amongst the market glistening like jewels in the morning sun. First up were tomatoes the size of pearls, so decorative and pretty, pretty enough even to grace the slate platters of the world's three Michelen starred restaurants so perfect they were in form and flavour. Next were a type of Chilli Pepper, similar to the Scotch Bonnet and equally as fiery. Then I saw Tamarillo, which you seldom find in the UK - but something I have acquired a taste for. Lastly were Sapote, something again I have never seen before and native to Guatemala, and as luck would have it, my bravery for trying out these new delicacies was significantly diminished, so notes on flavours to be published later.

The colourific Maya

Wheels of colour in Antigua