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Patisserie Demonstration

Posted in Cookery School, Events, Food, l'ortolan, Recipe, tagged , , , , on March 13, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

L'ortolan Macaroons

Yesterday our demo studio came to life with an afternoon tea inspired Patisserie Demonstration from L’ortolan Pastry Chef Samantha Rain. Our demonstration guests arrived to a beautifully sunny L’ortolan and introductions were made over tea and coffee in the bar. Afterwards the guests took their seats in the studio to learn how to produce a stunning selection of pastries both appealing to the eye and delicious – the perfect accompaniment for afternoon tea!

Macaroonier Sam demonstrated her perfect Liquorice Macaroons; a small light biscuit, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, made with ground almonds, sugar and egg whites. Macaroons are one of our favourite current sweet crazes so we asked our very own L’ortolan Pastry Chef for a lesson in baking the popular French confection.

Liquorice Macaroons

Ingredients:

300g Icing Sugar
300g Ground Almonds
10g Liquorice Powder
115g Egg Whites
80g Water
300g Sugar

Method:

1. Blitz together 300g icing sugar, 300g ground almonds and 10g liquorice powder and pass
2. Whisk 115 egg whites to stiff peaks
3. Boil 300g sugar and 80g water to 118°c and pour onto egg whites
4. Whisk egg whites until fluffy and add to dry mix
5. Once the Italian Meringue is cold, combine all the elements into a smooth paste
6. Pipe the mixture and leave to form a skin
7. Bake at 150°c for 6-8 minutes

Liquorice Pastry Cream Filling

Ingredients:

250g Milk
1 Vanilla Pod
60g Sugar
4 Egg Yolks
22g Cornflour

Method:

1. Boil 250g milk, 30g sugar and vanilla
2. Pour milk onto egg yolks and whisk, then place mixture back into the pan and cook out
3. Combine 30g sugar and 22g cornflour
4. Add Liquorice compound to taste

Liquorice Macaroons_______________________________________________________________

L’ortolan Cookery Demonstration Programme

9th April – 3 Course Dinner Party – Bring a little Michelin star flair to your dinner party at home with some ideas and inspiration from the L’ortolan kitchen.

23rd April – Chocolate Heaven – The perfect indulgent treat for serious chocoholics. During this masterclass you will be introduced to a variety of different chocolates including some of the world’s finest single estate chocolate.

14th May – Shellfish Masterclass – Delicious ways to prepare and cook shellfish – include a selection from lobster, oysters, clams, mussels, crab and razor clams depending on availability.

11th June – 3 Course Fish Supper – How to select and prepare the ‘catch of the day’ and cook your fish to perfection.

18th June – Summer Barbecue with the Big Green Egg – The Big Green Egg can be used to smoke, bake and slow cook as well as a barbecue. Join chef on the terrace and discover some new techniques and recipes.

To book your L’ortolan demonstration please call 01189 888 500 or email info@lortolan.com

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The Art of Artisan Cheese

Posted in Food, Suppliers, tagged , , , , , on February 21, 2013 | 1 Comment »

Brock Hall Farm Goats

Brock Hall Farm in Shropshire is one of L’ortolan’s most prolific British artisan goats cheese suppliers, so we invited guest blogger Sarah Hampton to delve into the world of Pure Saanen Goats, life on the farm and the art of Artisan Cheese.

Forget the groomed, high-maintenance look. Forget immaculate nails and wearing make-up every day. Getting muddy, wearing boiler suits or hairnets and white wellies are really where it’s at. Why pay for exercise by joining a gym or booking a personal trainer when you could be up and it every morning, in the clean Shropshire air or hefting around trays of cheeses in a sweet-smelling cheese dairy?

I think you’re maybe half-convinced…

Why Goats?
I’ll never forget seeing my first Pure Saanen goats at an agricultural show in Wales 12 years ago. They were so brilliantly white, so clear of eye, so sleek and just so calm and friendly. I knew there and then that these were the animals I wanted and this was the exact breed for me. I loved the fact that they this breed originated in Holland and Switzerland and that some far-sighted, tenacious goatkeepers in the 1920s organised an import from these countries in an effort to improve the qualities of British dairy goats.

So I managed to find a young pair of these special Pure Saanen goats from a lady in Norfolk and took them round the country to shows and country fairs. I gained prizes and rosettes and made a lot of goaty friends – for goatkeepers, like me, are a down-to-earth and quirky lot. There’s nothing they believe they can’t fix with a bit of ingenuity and baler twine. And there’s very little that phases them; when you work on a farm or keep livestock, believe me, we’ve seen it all!

These two beautiful young goats (‘goatlings’ is the correct term) soon became milkers; I found a great male in North Yorkshire and drove our two a few (hundreds of!) miles up there for the romantic liaison and bobs your uncle… the kids ‘slipped out’ about 150 days later.

Being such well-bred pedigree animals, my two original goats didn’t give just a few pints of milk a day but litres and litres of the stuff. I milk-recorded my favourite one, Pallas, and in the summer she gave on average of 7.5 litres a day, from two milkings. In the course of a year, she produced nearly 1700 litres! Well, I never had any great ambition to be a modern-day Cleopatra and bathe in goats milk 24-7 so I started making cheese.

I made a fresh, lactic cheese, very much like the Fresco Angelico I make today, a Greek-type, salty salad cheese whose name we’re not supposed to mention, a kind of Cheddar, a crumbly and even a blue cheese. The experimenting was always fun and always successful. I don’t know what it is about goats milk; I just enjoy working with it. It’s like a form of appreciation of and justification for our beautiful goats.

The problem with goats, though, is that they multiply. With all that milk flowing and goats to look after, kids to feed and so on, the goat-showing had to take a back seat. I had a licence from Environmental Health to make and sell cheese, a real yearning to make the best cheese possible and what’s more, an order book that I couldn’t keep up with. The decision was: sell the goats and become a ‘normal’ wife and mother (what?) or make a go of the business.

I’d been a very successful editor, journalist and PR director so why not choose something so closely connected?

Not.

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An Evening with Alan & Gerard

Posted in Alan Murchison, Events, Wine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 9, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Alan and Gerard L'ortolan

It’s a rare occasion indeed when Alan Murchison and Gerard Basset combine talents to deliver an evening of spectacular food, astonishing wines and conviviality.  Both masters in their respective fields, Alan and Gerard will be sharing their knowledge of food and wine and regaling guests with anecdotes from their years in the trade.

About our hosts…

Michelin Starred Chef, Alan Murchison, has held a Michelin star at L’ortolan for 11 years and is the inspiration behind the 10in8 Fine Dining group of restaurants. Prior to taking up his position as Executive Chef at L’ortolan, Alan trained with Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons.  Alan has appeared several times on BBC2’s Great British Menu as both competitor and mentor and his recipes are regularly featured in the national media.

Gerard Basset is arguably one of the greatest wine professionals of his generation, the reigning World Champion Sommelier and the only person ever to simultaneously hold the Master of Wine, Master Sommelier and MBA Wine honours. Gerard co-founded the hugely successful Hotel du Vin Group and latterly the award winning, New Forest boutique wine hotel, Hotel TerraVina.

Alan and Gerard are business partners and have been friends for more than 10 years.

L'ortolan Prestige Menu

About the evening …

Alan and Gerard invite you to join them for a very exclusive evening at L’ortolan.  Aperitifs and canapés precede a sensational seven course menu devised by Alan with wines selected by Gerard.  Of course, during dinner Alan will comment on the food and Gerard the wines, but more than that, they will talk about their careers with some behind the scenes stories.  There will be plenty of opportunity to ask them both questions during this relaxed and informal evening.

For further details please visit our website or call 01189 888 500 

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L’ortolan Festive Cocktail

Posted in l'ortolan, Wine, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 7, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

L'ortolan festive cocktail

A couple of years ago we blogged about the history of the L’ortolan festive cocktail; a sparkling favourite during the festive season.  We thought we would share this great blog with you all again and give you an update on all the flavours that have gone into making the 2012 festive cocktail so scrumptious.
To sample the 2012 festive cocktail book a place on the L’ortolan Festive Lunch.

L'ortolan Sparkling Festive CocktailThe sparkling wine cocktail with a specially blended syrup dates back to December 2005, and each year the syrup is developed by adding new flavours and spices. In 2011 a mulled wine reduction was infused with flavours of blackcurrant, strawberry, blueberry, fig, peach, pear, chestnut, herbs and spices & tot of Scotch. Using the syrup left over from last year as a base, L’ortolan Sommelier Craig Steven has blended raspberry, blueberry and cream fruit liqueurs of blackcurrant, blackberry, peach and wild strawberry. Earlier in the a year syrup was made from the poaching liqueur from cooking Mirabelle’s that were foraged from the local area for the use in some of the chef’s dishes. The Mirabelle syrup has also been added to the blend for this year’s festive syrup.

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Great British Cheese Board

Posted in Food, Suppliers, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 9, 2012 | 2 Comments »

L'ortolan Cheese TrolleyFrom today the L’ortolan cheese trolley gets a British makeover. It’s out with the French cheeses and in with the British. The L’ortolan cheese trolley will now contain a variety of 14 different English cheeses and a Scottish blue cheese.

Head Chef Nick Chappell explains that as L’ortolan moves forward with contemporary tasting menus it is important we support British artisan suppliers. British artisan cheese producers produce great quality cheese, as good if not better than French suppliers.

A couple of cheese suppliers can be found on L’ortolan’s doorstep in neighbouring Berkshire towns; Village Maid in Riseley produce two of the cheese trolley’s classic soft cheeses, Wigmore and the French farmhouse style Waterloo. The Barkham Blue produced by Two Hoots Cheese is another local favourite with its rich blue taste, smooth buttery texture with a melt in the mouth flavour.

Other suppliers are sourced from all over the country, from North Yorkshire and Linconshire to the southernmost counties  including The Isle of Wight Cheese Co. with their award winning IOW Blue.

L'ortolan Goat's CheeseBrock Hall Farm in Shropshire is one of L’ortolan’s most prolific British artisan goats cheese suppliers. Sarah and her goat’s supply three wonderful cheeses; Capra Nouvea, Dutch Mistress and Pablo Cabrito. Capra Nouvea was a winner of 3 Gold Stars at Great Taste Awards 2012 and named as a Top 50 Food in Great Britain 2012. This is one the Chef’s favorites and can often be found on the menu in dishes such as; Scorched Brock Hall goat’s cheese, beetroots, beetroot sorbet, soy nuts & seeds.

Foraging at L'ortolanDiners can enjoy a selection of L’ortolan’s British cheeses as an additional course with any of the menus. The cheeses are plated with a variety of different condiments such as a truffle honey with the goat’s cheese, quince paste jelly with the blue chesse, a pear and fig chutney with the soft cheese, and a rosehip jelly with the hard cheese.

L’ortolan Sous Chef Mark Apsey is a keen forager and when the ingredients are in season you’ll often see him around the grounds of the building and in the local area foraging for the fruit to make the chutneys and jellies to accompany the cheese.

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A Shellfish Masterclass

Posted in Cookery School, Food, Recipe, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

L'ortolan Shellfish MasterclassWednesday saw the demo studio come to life once again with an entertaining Shellfish Masterclass from L’ortolan Chef Ian Swainson. Due to the bank holiday weekend the demo was rescheduled for the following day, so we breathed a sigh of relief in the morning when the freshly caught shellfish arrived.

Our demonstration guests arrived early and introductions were made over tea and coffee in the bar. Afterwards the guests took their seats in the studio to learn how to prepare dressed crab, cooked lobster, clams mariniere and oysters with pickled shallot & chilli.

Here is one of the recipes that Ian demonstrated:

How to make Clams Mariniere

Ingredients

1kg – Clams (washed)
200ml – White Wine
1 – Banana Shallot (diced)
1 – Clove Garlic (pureed)
100ml – Double Cream
Parsley (chopped)
25ml – Riesling

Method

  1. Take a large saucepan and heat until very hot.
  2. Add the clams and pour in the white wine, cover with a lid. The clams will steam in the wine very quickly.
  3. Add the shallots and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes.
  4. Finish with the cream, followed by parsley and Riesling.

Following the demonstration Ian showed the guests around the L’ortolan kitchen and introduced them to the rest of the culinary team. Once the party were seated in the main restaurant for their lunch, Ian took a couple of minutes to demonstrate how to remove the tail meat from the lobster that was cooked earlier. Take a look at the video.

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L’ortolan Cookery Demonstration Programme

11th September – Shellfish Masterclass – If you love shellfish but like many find preparing and cooking it a daunting task, then our Shellfish Masterclass will teach you how to transform it into some wonderful and tasty dishes.

9th October – Game Cookery – As we embrace the game season the L’ortolan Chef’s will be revealing secrets behind some of our favourite signature dishes

30th October – Food and Wine Matching - Basics

27th November – Food and Wine Matching - Advanced

18th December - Turkey Masterclass - taking the strain out of Christmas

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Surprise Dinner Party Guests with a ‘Fried Egg’

Posted in Food, Recipe, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 3, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Impress your dinner party guests with a surprise course – our Mango with Coconut Espuma.

Our ‘fried egg’ pre-dessert is often a talking point amongst diners at L’ortolan, as it adds an element of playfulness and amusement to our guests’ experience. It’s a delicious, simple dish to make and the mango even flows onto the espuma in a ‘yolk’-like fashion.

L'ortolan Mango & Coconut Espuma


How to make the Mango with Coconut Espuma

(approximately 20 servings)

Ingredients

  1. 250g – mango purée
    35g – sugar
    2-5g – ultra-tex (a starch based powder that thickens liquids and sauces). Alternatively xanthan gum may be used as a substitute (Available from many health food stores).
  2. 10g – vege gel
    250ml – water
  3. 250g – coconut purée
    25g – sugar
    ¼ – lime juice

Method

  1. To make the mango yolk blend the first step of the ingredients together (mango puree, sugar and ultra-tex) and freeze in half sphere moulds.
  2. Once frozen dip into the water and vege gel.
  3. To make the coconut espuma blend the third step of the ingredients together (coconut purée, sugar & lime juice) and pipe using a cream whipper.
  4. Garnish with black pepper and coriander.

As you can imagine, this popular pre-dessert receives countless feedback comments from our guests. Here is what a few of them say;

‘My younger son is still taking about the ‘fried egg’ of coconut and mango, his favourite part of the meal.’
- Guest January 2012

‘The “fried egg lookalike” pre-dessert was really good fun.’
- Guest January 2012

‘The food was of a very high standard and had a few outstanding surprises (e.g. the mango and foam “fried egg”)’
- Guest November 2011

‘What at first glance resembled a fried egg, turned out to be a supreme coconut espuma with a delicious mango purée centre.’
- Food and Drink Guide

‘Visual jokes add levity to the occasion, as when a pre-dessert of coconut espuma with mango purée in it is fashioned to look like a fried egg.’
- AA

Read more recipe blogs from L’ortolan

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Wines from Across the Pond

Posted in l'ortolan, Wine, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 12, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

L'ortolan Amercian Wine TastingIn September we will be looking to The America’s, North and South for our monthly wine tasting dinner.  Sommelier Stephen Nisbet gives us an introduction to these wine producing regions. 

It is generally well known that both continents have regions capable of producing wine, but we find again the sheer extent of range in style is largely unknown.

It is believed here have been grapes for winemaking of the same breed as Europe in South America since the 16th century.  Winemakers have visited France particularly and exported vines and ideas since the 18th century so there is no doubt in anybody’s mind about the heritage and potential of this massive area.

We have generally come to believe that this is the ‘go to’ area for good value, recognisable wines that are easy to find and even easier to drink. These producers have been able to combine lower costs with vast vineyards and a more flexible approach than in Europe, say, to adapt to the market and essentially produce wine styles to order.

There are of course many estates striving for much higher quality and individuality and it’s no accident that many top names in France have launched projects there. The resulting wines are often superb but more expensive and until quite recently were difficult to sell, such was the strength of belief that countries like Chile only made wine for the supermarkets.

The picture is quite different in North America, with many areas outside of California producing wine such as Oregon, Washington State and Virginia producing excellent wines that are rarely seen on the market because so little is known even of their existence.

North America has, and still uses, it’s own breeds of grapes for winemaking but it is generally accepted that the introduced European variety makes the best quality of all. It was this very trade that nearly wiped out wine in Europe, an insect called phylloxera that American vines are immune to that came across in vine cuttings and destroyed huge swathes of vineyards.

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Summer BBQ with Alan and the Big Green Egg

Posted in Alan Murchison, Cookery School, Events, Food, l'ortolan, Suppliers, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 28, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Big Green Egg Lortolan Demo
On Tuesday seven enthusiastic guests joined us for the Summer BBQ demonstration with Alan Murchison and Head Chef Nick Chappell. With the welcome arrival of the British summer sun, the terrace made a very pleasant setting for the event, creating a true BBQ atmosphere.

After the initial welcome, Alan introduced the guests to the Big Green Egg, a barbecue that has quickly shot to fame on our screens in recent cooking shows and has become very desirable in the finest restaurants in the UK and Europe.

The Big Green Egg is a charcoal based ceramic cooker that offers a wide range of precise cooking modes never seen before on a barbecue. It can grill, roast, smoke or bake pizzas in temperatures ranging from 80 – 400C.

Alan Murchison and his team began using a combination of large and small Eggs in the kitchen about a year ago, and were quickly won over by its diversity of cooking techniques; smoking, baking, slow cooking for a range of different dishes.

“This is the Formula 1 of barbecues. Every now and again a product comes along which redefines everything. The Big Green Egg is it.” Alan Murchison

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Another Successful Burns Night

Posted in Alan Murchison, Events, Food, l'ortolan, Marketing, Whisky, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 1, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Last week we welcomed a full house for our Burns Night Supper with whisky tasting.  The night is always a favourite for Scottish Executive Chef Alan Murchison and it was a huge success enjoyed by all!

We kicked off the celebrations with an afternoon of Tutored Whisky Tasting hosted by Stephen Nisbet. Stephen introduced guests to six whiskies during the afternoon accompanied by perfectly matched canapés.

Whisky Tasting Burns Night L'ortolan

Our afternoon guests enjoyed a few drams of whisky

The evening saw a selection of whisky transformed into cocktails and four course dinner with whisky paired to each course. Alan Murchison and his team served traditional favourites like the sirloin of beef, watercress, tortellini of haggis and oxtail and foie gras.  You can follow more of Alan’s tweets from the kitchen @AlanMurchison

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