Turning A Kitchen Disaster Into A Specials Board Success

 I have realised that my mind constantly churns for several hours each day about new, and enticing, dishes for The Nook.
As well as scouring the internet for recipes I always try to think outside the box for new ideas.
This week my mind is filled with pate flavours!! 
 The various vegetable pates I often have, on the ever changing menu, are always popular so I thought I'd attempt a tomato based one for our new, Italian themed menu.
I think I knew straight away it wasn't going to work but I persevered to see what happened.
I used the same method as my other recipes and sweated off chopped red onion and garlic in tons of butter! Then I added chopped tomato, basil and tomato puree.




Caprese Style Sauce Ingredients in Pan

At this point I maybe should have reduced the moisture in the mixture more but I rushed the process and added chopped Buffalo Mozzarella to the pan only for the mixture to go stringy and start sticking to the pan. 
Sometimes I kick myself for not having any patience but I still carried on with the mixture and whizzed it in the processor with a little cream cheese, salt and pepper.
It all went into the fridge then, and I prayed for a miracle!!

Unfortunately the miracle of setting into a pate when cold didn't happen and I was left with a semi solid sauce that tasted gorgeous!
My mind went into overdrive thinking in what way I could use the sauce and then I had eureka moment based on a dish I served many months ago.

Into the oven went 2 Portobello mushrooms with Italian Taleggio cheese tucked in the top while I toasted some sourdough, which I then topped with some of the warm sauce. When the Taleggio was melted I put the mushrooms on top of the sourdough.

The waitresses' mouths were watering so I let then taste the trial dish and asked for their verdict.





 

 

 

 

Bloody amazing apparently!!!!!

Great praise indeed!

Straight away onto the specials board and what a hit today is was!!

 

Amazing how something can go wrong but turn out soooo right!

 

 

Linking up this week at:
Foodie Friday and Everything Else
Simple and Sweet Fridays

The Alternative Caprese Sandwich

Enter into any eating establishment and ask for a sandwich and you would expect to receive your chosen filling in between two slices of bread, and rightly so.
This week we had on the cafe menu mozzarella, basil, tomato and pesto on warm ciabatta as our sandwich of the day, as shown below.



Mozzarella, Basil, Tomato and Pesto on warm Ciabatta

One customer's order I received this week had the strange request of the sandwich but with the filling on the side. It's always hard when customers request changes as a chef serves any dish their own way and it's not always easy to interpret exactly what the customer is asking for, if that makes sense.

Charging the same as the sandwich on the board I also had to ensure I didn't get carried away putting more ingredients on the plate. Good for the customer but not good for the business profits. As one of my previous managers always stated "we are a business not a charity".

So, using the same amount of ingredients but spreading them out to fill the plate, I placed the mozzarella and tomatoes in layers on a small bed of rocket with basil leaves tucked in between, and the pesto in a small dish on the side. The oven warmed ciabatta was sliced and placed on the side.
 

Mozzarella, Tomato, Basil and Pesto with Ciabatta

The result looked lovely and the customer was happy that her request had been executed to how she wanted it.
For me I thought what a novel and alternative way to serve a sandwich this way in a cafe. I do love doing things differently, and with a twist.

The Alternative Caprese Sandwich

I wonder if all customers would be happy with this alternative way of  serving the cafe sandwich.

Mozzarella, Tomato, Basil, and Pesto with Warm Ciabatta.
The Alternative Caprese Sandwich

Courgette, Parmesan & Basil Loaf - Bread Challenge No. 5

"Pick a recipe" I shouted to Toby, my partner in crime in the kitchen of The Old Red Lion. Toby scoured the 100 recipe bread book and made several suggestions and I decided that this would be a nice combination flavoured loaf for the customers in the restaurant tonight. Unfortunately, due to the mad, snowy March weather we are experiencing, not many customers got to taste this rustic loaf tonight. Not my favourite flavour so far, I have to admit, but was a nice change to create a loaf without using yeast.

So here goes with the recipe.
Ingredients:
225g/8oz self raising white flour
225g/8oz self raising wholemeal flour
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Pepper
1 1/2 Tsp Mustard Powder
55g/2oz butter,diced.
225g Courgettes, coarsly grated, and patted dry
140g/5oz Parmesan cheese, finely grated
2 Tbsp Basil
2 eggs, beaten
About 175ml/6oz semi skimmed milk

Method:
Pre heat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5
Put the flours,salt,pepper,mustard powder in a bowl then lightly rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the courgettes,parmesan and basil then mix in the eggs and milk to form a soft dough.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface a knead lightly before shaping into an 8ins round shape (mine you will see was more oval shaped!)

Place on a greased baking sheet and cut 3 slits in the top with a sharp knife. Bake in the oven for 40-50mins or until well risen and deep golden brown.Transfer to a wire rack and cool.

Serve warm or cold in slices.