Another picnic favourite – a bowl of quail eggs. Pick one out and dip lightly in celery salt – it doesn’t get much better. All shelled and ready to be packed in our huge hamper. We had to try a few of course – and they are fantastic
Quail eggs in a bowl of water cress – a great picnic favourite.
The client wanted lots of fun food as well – as this will be an outdoor picnic. They especially wanted home made sausage Rolls. We made a super yummy sausage base out of finely minced pork and beef along with lots of sage, oregano, pepper, onion, lardon and lots of grated cheddar. Your right this is not the diet version, but wow it tastes great.
Puff Pastry ring rolled out into a very long thin piece.
Filling pastry with beef and pork sausage mix
Egging the pastry join
cutting of excess pastry
The Final Roll
Cut up and ready for the oven
cooked sausage rolls cooling down and ready for packing for tomorrows point to point picnic at Penshurst
An old client has hired us to make a posh picnic for their visit to the “Penshurst Point to Point” meeting tomorrow in Kent. Today we started the laborious task of boning out a selection of birds to create a classic old fashioned French dish called a Galantine.
The Final Result – Guinea Fowl out of the oven and glazed with a mixture of highly reduced meat jus and apricot preserve.
Photo2: We boned out a Guinea Fowl and two small poussin and after discarding the carcasse we reformed the birds into their original shape with the help of a forcemeat stuffing made up of lean pork meat, chicken breast, mushroom and duck breast strips. The forcemeat is traditionally herbed with tarragon and chicken stock and Brandy.
PHOTO 2. The boned out bird looks a bit odd without any of it’s bones, but it means it can be stuffed with wonderful forcemeat.
The start quality of this dish is that at the table the bird looks normal but it can be carved without concern for bones. This dish isn’t produced much these days because of the boning out process which takes time and skill. When the bird is finally boned out the skin cannot have any puncture marks in it, or it will leak forcemeat and look terrible. So the art is in the boning and for a bird as small as a poussin – this amounts to very careful micro surgery.
This is a close up of the cross section of strips of Duck Breast and very fine forcemeat that forms the centre of this bird. This runs right through the centre of the bird from front to back.
Even though this dish does get a mention around the time of the French revolution in the 1790’s – this dish was at its apogee during the 1890’s to the 1930’s, when it was seen on the plates of European plutocrats and aristocracy. In those days the forcemeat was usually a very finely minced lean veal, which was whipped over a bowl of ice to bind the proteins, with as much cream added as the minced veal could absorb when super cold – which was a lot. It was then herbed usually with tarragon and the forcemeat typically would have been formed around a block of Foie Gras before it was inserted into the bird. This is just way way to rich for todays modern palettes. Our lighter forcemeat is held together by the addition of a very reduced stock made up of all the discarded carcasses. This produces a very rich jelly which helps binds the meats together. I also use this rich savoury jelly, mixed with apricot preserve to glaze the top of the birds.
Guinea Fowl ready to be stitched up for baking
Guinea Fowl stuffed and trussed sitting on a bed of onion ready for the oven
The guinea fowl beside its much smaller Poussin. All glazed being chilled for tomorrows picnic at Penhurst.
Making one of signature American style pies. This one is a Key Lime pie with the lovely freshness of lime and the sweetness of piled high meringue. All real winner on the Deli Truck and it usually sells out in minutes.
After making a butter and biscuit base, then we make a loose custard of lime juice, lime zest, eggs yolks, condensed milk is poured into the biscuit case. And then the piping begins
Still piping
Finished and ready for a short oven bake at around 180 degrees for 35 minutes
Our famous meat ball sub. This is juicy, cheesy and meaty all in one
Looking forward to our next month of parties and corporate events. But once again thanks to all our friends and clients who made our day at BMW last Saturday such a success. The next open day at BMW will be help on the 26th of April. This time though I would love you all to give me some feed-back on the menu. Any ideas welcome. At this stage we are thinking of doing a Deli Classic a “Meat Ball Sub”. Our prime beef will be mixed with ricotta cheese, oregano and minced onion to make the balls light and fluffy and full of flavour. We then drown them in our home made tomato sauce – very thick – tomatoes reduced down with basil, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. The tomato-y balls are then squeezed into a baguette and topped with Italian cheese. (at this stage provolone) This is a sticky yummy classic. And of course our hugely popular Salt Beef will return.
Big preparation day for special food event at BMW Tunbridge Wells tomorrow. Started prep on pulled pork, Salt Beef, hamburgers and our very special Easter brownies. The Pork shoulder has been encased in our special rub for three days and has just hot the smoker for 8 hours. Our salt beef has come out it’s brine after 8 days and is now simmering in a special selection of spices and herbs to make the perfect salt beef sandwich. And our very large 8oz burgers have just been made and we snuck a little taste for lunch – fabo fabo.
Our free range Pork Shoulder from Batchelors the Butcher – covered in its Rub. It will sit on this rub for three days before cooking
The smoker below is ready for business – The fire box on the right is filled with charcoal and then topped with the wetted apple and oakwood. The wood chunks are beside the meat. The darker wood on the left is the Oak which adds real depth of flavour but has to be used sparingly and the lighter wood is apple which gives a sweetness to the pork that is unrivalled. In 8 hours this will be finally cooked and be ready for pulling.
The smoker about to start work for the next 8 hours of so.
Below our burger meat is taking shape. Our very large 8oz burgers being formed. We make them round for easier transportation, and then flatten them on the grill when we cook them. Like all our burgers these will served with two different cheeses and two rashers of bacon with salad and our home made Russian dressing.
Hamburgers being made. This meat is a mixture of various meats including skirt, re-eye and brisket. We find this gives the best flavour. Being formed into 8 ounce balls
Below is the Brisket (for salt beef) after 8 days in a brine curing mix. This is about to go into a pan of fresh water with a selection of classic spices for the final 4 hour simmering. Spices which really give the brisket it’s final instantly recognisable flavour are onion, carrots, bay leaf, all-spice berries, bouquet garnis, black peppercorns and a few other wonder spices.
After around 8 days of curing, the Brisket is rinsed off and simmered for 4 hours in a broth made up essentially of pickling spices, like bay and all spice berry. This gives it its final distinctive flavour.
Deli Truck at BMW
Yesterday was a huge success, thanks to all our twitter and blog followers – and BMW and their clients for all their kind words and support. And an special thanks to Steve Franklyn the manager of BMW motorcycles who supported us from the beginning. The Dealer Principal of Coopers BMW Tunbridge Wells (a youngish connected dude) made our day by saying we had served him the best Salt Beef Sandwich he had ever had and he will no longer be going back to Selfridges for his Salt Beef hit. We will be back same place, same time on Saturday the 26th of April.
Deli truck at BMW
Our prime rib eye beef after being trimmed of connective tissue and fat ready for either our famous steak sandwiches or as a component in our hamburger mince.
Started preparation for our show day at BMW tunbridge wells next Saturday the 29th. Stripping a Rib Eye of any connective tissue as it will be (extravagantly) going into our burger mince. Many of you have asked about my burger mix. I use 30 percent rib-eye (its expensive), 40 percent short rib and 30 percent flank or brisket. This mix of Scottish beef makes a very tasty tender mince. Photo below shows the rib-eye after cleaning up of connective tissue. In the background is our jar of homemade BBQ sauce. This takes ages to make as you have to dry fry many different spices before cooking begins – but its spicy hot and awesome. You can taste all of this next Saturday at BMW Tunbridge wells Cooper. your all welcome to come between 1100 and 1600. See ya’ there.
Camden Market has for many years been a destination venue for tourists and and locals alike. With acres of street fashion, street food and a groovy street attitude. The people from Camden Lock Market were pleased to invite us in as a Pre-christmas introduction to Gourmet Street Food for their customers. We did the usual suspects our 8 inch high double everything burger, our legendary 10 hour smoked pulled pork and of course our signature Salt Beef sandwich. Business was a bit slow, but it gave us time to catch up with the other food vendors around our pitch. And I have to say it’s the people who serve quality food in the market who made it for us. There were generous, willing to help and give great advice. And all of them must have been under the age 30. Great people passionate about their food
At Camden Market. The weather was cool but the welcome was warm.
Deli Truck at Camden Market in London
”We hired the Deli Truck for my husband’s 40th birthday party, it made the night. The food was absolutely stunning and the truck was the talk of the evening! Dennis and his wife Miri are great to work with, coming up with suggestions and ideas for the night. We also hired them to cater for a private 6 course dinner for 10 the evening before which was amazing too. Just looking to plan another party so we can use them again! “ Liz Harwood-Bridgen, Brasted, Kent
Black Tie party for 80 people in Brasted, Kent
Black Tie party for 80 in a Brasted Garden, Kent
BLack TIe party in Brasted, Kent. Check out those burgers
The Deli Truck 