[Cicero]

Hey Guys,

I know a few of you watch this series..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0071y6r

Thought I might start a thread for contributions/ thoughts throughout...I know it's a number of episodes in but might be interesting (mods permitting)

Tonight there was a salmon infussed with beet root dish ... Looked wonderful...on a side note, one of the chefs walked off at the end due to a 2/10 rating (I won't spoil it for you if you have it recorded)

Recipes from the series here....must try some of the winning dishes and post...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/programmes/b01h9442

[mike65]

Toad in the Hole

2 tablespoons olive oil
8 sausages

For the batter

150g plain flour
2 whole eggs
2 egg whites
200 ml full fat milk

Salt and black pepper

Prepare the batter by whisking the eggs, egg whites and milk, adding the flour until you have a smooth batter. Set aside the batter to rest for at least half an hour.

Heat the oven to 150C . Pour the oil into a metal oven dish about 20cm by 25cm and put in oven at 150c for 10 mins. Fry sausages in pan, give the batter another quick whisk then quickly, while the fat is still spitting-hot, pour the batter into the tin and sausages Return at once to the oven, and bake for a further 15 minutes, or until puffed up and golden brown. Serve with steamed greens, mash and gravy

[Cicero]

Originally Posted by mike65

Toad in the Hole

2 tablespoons olive oil
8 sausages

For the batter

150g plain flour
2 whole eggs
2 egg whites
200 ml full fat milk

Salt and black pepper

Prepare the batter by whisking the eggs, egg whites and milk, adding the flour until you have a smooth batter. Set aside the batter to rest for at least half an hour.

Heat the oven to 150C . Pour the oil into a metal oven dish about 20cm by 25cm and put in oven at 150c for 10 mins. Fry sausages in pan, give the batter another quick whisk then quickly, while the fat is still spitting-hot, pour the batter into the tin and sausages Return at once to the oven, and bake for a further 15 minutes, or until puffed up and golden brown. Serve with steamed greens, mash and gravy

[Minder]

I watched it tonight. Marcus Wareing does it again. Remember the celebrity Masterchef with Andy Peters and Liz McClarnon? Wareing got under Mark Moraghan's skin so much, he threw in the towel and walked out of Petrus leaving a table of foodie greats in danger of getting no dinner. He clearly hasn't lost his touch.

Aiden Byrne salmon and razor clam was a winner - lovely looking dish. No sign of it yet on the website. I have noticed that some of the recipes are coming up very short when copied to the website. There was an Alan Murchison recipe from the first week - Grilled mackerel, beetroot and horseradish ice cream. Where is the rest of the recipe? No meringues? None of the molecular gastronomy parts? What's the point of show casing all these new and innovative techniques to then dumb it all down for the published recipe?

I know that some of the equipment is not going to appear in every home kitchen. A Gastrovac is a touch expensive for example, but the chemicals for spherification, foams, airs, gels etc are available in small quantities - why not post the full recipes?

[Cicero]

I thought 2\10 was a real insult to any chef on a TV programme... He put 3 digs in, the score, the fact that he considered a lower score and saying that real Olympians don't give up... It was all about ego and not about the cooking...the dish had good ideas ...obviously the finished product wasn't up to standard but this is TV and fundamentally entertainment ...I don't blame him for walking off ..

Yea..I find a lot of recipes from TV shows only give limited guidance....it's a shame .. Kindof takes the fun out of it...no doubt they're waiting on the Christmas book market ..

[mike65]

You wanted a great British meal?

[Pigwidgeon]

Pretty sure they were talking about the TV programme...

I've completely fallen behind in this series, I've barely seen any episodes

[Faith]

Originally Posted by mike65

You wanted a great British meal?

Did you read the opening post?

[Cicero]

Originally Posted by mike65

You wanted a great British meal?

Naw..talking about a programme on BBC2 ..chefs competing for cooking for Olympic winners this Summer...called Great British menu...thanks for recipe though..

Originally Posted by Pigwidgeon

I've completely fallen behind in this series, I've barely seen any episodes

It's dragging out a bit but should get exciting over the coming weeks as the final approaches

[mike65]

Consider it a freebie, maybe the programme will do a Toad in the Hole at some point

[oldrnwisr]

Originally Posted by Cicero

I thought 2\10 was a real insult to any chef on a TV programme... He put 3 digs in, the score, the fact that he considered a lower score and saying that real Olympians don't give up... It was all about ego and not about the cooking...the dish had good ideas ...obviously the finished product wasn't up to standard but this is TV and fundamentally entertainment ...I don't blame him for walking off ..

I completely disagree. Johnnie Mountain seems to have gone for an "all flash and no photo" approach with his menu this year after having his ass handed to him in the previous two series. He was bordering on culinary wankery with his starter and then crossed the border with a really awful attempt to recreate Sounds of the Sea from The Fat Duck. He rightly got called out on it and for serving a fish course with no fish. Marcus Wareing can admittedly be a bit abrasive but Mountain serving up that dish and then throwing his toys out of the pram when he got 2/10 just shows the kind of chef he is. In any case, I don't see that Aiden Byrne has any serious competition in the NW this year, particularly without the return of Lisa Allen.

[Cicero]

Well Johninne came back to critique but not to cook. Thought it was all a bit scripted tonight. I take ure point oldrnwisr about toys thrown etc but if he gotten a 4 instead of 2 at least he could have saved face a bit.
I didn't think he should have been allowed back to critique tonight- it just felt odd

[jharr100]

Originally Posted by Cicero

Well Johninne came back to critique but not to cook. Thought it was all a bit scripted tonight. I take ure point oldrnwisr about toys thrown etc but if he gotten a 4 instead of 2 at least he could have saved face a bit.
I didn't think he should have been allowed back to critique tonight- it just felt odd

I Think when Marcus gave him a 2 it effectively meant he was out anyway, too much of a gap , he shouldn't have been allowed to critique his fellow contestants though. He had walked after all.

[ben.schlomo]

How awkward when he came back in and said he wanted to finish the competition with them as he respected them and said sorry to them while pretty much never looking at Wareing.

When i first saw him talk about the fish course i said wheres the fish? As said above he was just up to food wankery, first course and all that Greek god stuff was just plain odd.

[Cicero]

Jason Atherton is certainly more respectful of the chefs this week. Graham Garrett is trailing so looks like it might be between Phil and Marcus.

Looking forward to the mains this evening