Food 'n' Drink |

There is still tiem to enter the Home Baker of the Year compeition. The first 100 recipes will receive a pair of tickets to the Ideal Home Show and the chance to attend a champagne reception on March 25th at the Ideal Home Show.

Furthermore, the best 5 recipes will be decided by our panel of expert judges, and go into a LIVE BAKE OFF FINAL, at the Ideal Home Show, on 30th March.

The winner of the bake-off challenge will also receive a chance to be published in the Ideal Home Show’s official recipe book to be launched at the show in 2011, as well as a cake decorating course with Baketique chef Mychelle in her London based kitchen, a VIP nights stay for two at Hotel Rafayel, London, including dinner for two and a spa treatment in the hotels beauty spa.

Deadline for entry is 10th March 2010.

For further information visit http://www.idealhomeshow.co.uk/home_baker/

Or email your entries to: homebakeroftheyear@stuart-higgins.com

Action Duchenne, the Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy charity launches second cook book after success of ‘Caledonian Kitchen’ with all proceeds to support research.

Action Duchenne has launched its newly published cook book, “Looks Good, Tastes Great – Jewish Culinary Favourites” this month. The cook book features recipes from celebrities and well known personalities in the Jewish community, including Nigella Lawson, Michael Grade, Maureen Lipman, Ed Miliband, Michael Winner and David Pleat. All proceeds from the book will raise money for the charity, which has an introduction by Denise Phillips, professional chef and cookery writer and foreword written by Helena Bonham Carter, patron of the charity.

According to Hollywood actor and Patron of Action Duchenne, Helena Bonham Carter: “So many celebrities from within the Jewish Community have donated recipes for Looks Good, Tastes Great, but the book will appeal to anyone with a love of cooking. Jewish and British cooking are closely linked and a dish celebrating its 150th anniversary this year – fish and chips – is known to have been a Jewish invention from the East End of London. So forget the calories and enjoy the recipes! At the same time, you’ll be supporting Action Duchenne and its vital work in bringing forward treatments for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.”

The official launch of the book is to be held at Let’s Meat restaurant in Boreham Wood on Tuesday 16th February 2010, when guests will enjoy a three course meal with a cookery demonstration by Denise Phillips. They will have the opportunity to have their own copy signed by Denise, who trained with renowned restauranteur Prue Leith and who has written four books, including Modern Jewish cooking with Style and Jewish Mamas Kitchen.

Nick Catlin, CEO of Action Duchenne said; “It is fantastic to see such a worthwhile project come to fruition with this book launch. Not only does the book feature genuinely desirable recipes, it is a great way to raise more funds for our charity. Our previously launched cook book Caledonian Kitchen sold over 8000 copies, which was a tremendous boost to our fund raising efforts. From the funds raised we have been able to support scientific and clinical studies that have a strong chance of therapeutic treatments being developed. We extend thanks to all of those who have helped achieve the successes that we have seen so far in our aim to help improve the quality of life for patients living with Duchenne.”

Copies of the Looks Good, Tastes Great – Jewish Culinary Favourites will be available to order from the Action Duchenne on 020 8556 9955
or emailing mark@actionduchenne.org

The Southbank’s Chocolate Festival returns this Easter with even more attractions and special activities, running from Friday 26 until Sunday 28 March. Included in the event will be an afternoon (Friday 26 March from 2-7pm) of demonstrations by top pastry chefs from some of the best five star hotels and renowned restaurants in the capital using Valrhona products in their chocolate infused recipes.

The chefs will include Valrhona’s own pastry chef Andrew Gravett, Abel Vieilleville from Skylon restaurant, Tal Hausen head pastry chef at The Lanesborough, Johannes Bonin executive pastry chef Connaught Hotel and Mourad Khiat The Berkeley’s head pastry chef. BBC Master Chef winner Steven Wallis will also be using Valrhona chocolate for his demonstration of courgette flower tempura & duck salad with dark chocolate vinegrate on Saturday 27 March at 1pm. All demonstrations will take place in the main marquee.

Pastry chefs will also join master chocolatiers to create a beautiful display of sculptures made entirley from chocolate. Visitors can see this at Festival Riverside Level 1 entrance in the Royal Festival Hall. It will be open for the public on the days of the festival, from 10am – 11pm.

The Festival will also feature dozens of stalls, all individually focused on one area of the delicious world of chocolate as well as a range of workshops, tasting talks, demonstrations and book signings. Exhibitors include Best British Chocolatier William Curley, Damian Allsop and Paul Wayne Gregory, as well as chocolate companies like Rococo and Hotel Chocolat.

Jamie Oliver and Chef Adam Perry-Lang from NYC are set to collaborate on a new restaurant due to open in the One New Change development in London.

The restaurant does not have a name currently, although it does have a launch date in October of 2010 near St. Paul’s Cathedral.  It will join eight other restaurants and cafes plus around 70 shops in the development area.

Although there is not an official theme for the restaurant yet it is likely that the menu will be similar to Daisy May’s BBQ USA at Perry-Lang’s New York restaurant.  It also will be managed by the managing director for International Restaurants for Jamie Oliver, Kevin Bacon.

The deal was brokered by the Land Securities retail manager David Atcherley who stated that the new collaboration would be perfect for the development and likely draw in around 7m visitors each year.

Symes stated that the restaurant helps set the tone for the One New Change development, and that it will help combine the great location with great food to enhance the dining experience of the area’s visitors.

The One New Change development was designed by Jean Nouvel and is set to open in the autumn of 2010.

It’s a new year and a new start, so we’re all looking for a fresh take on our favourite dessert – but that doesn’t always mean we know how to make it! Luckily, help is at hand with this simple step-by-step pudcast by Carnation and celebrity chef Phil Vickery. Bake alongside it, and say with pride “I Made It, just like Phil.”

Each month, Phil steps into the kitchen to create a new dessert, and this month’s Carrot Cake recipe is a must-have for anyone’s baking repertoire… try Phil’s moist, lightly spiced version, which has a luscious creamy frosting.

Phil’s Tip: Try making icing or marzipan ‘carrots’ coloured with food colouring to decorate your cake for a special occasion. You can also make muffin size carrot cakes – simply spoon the mixture into 12 muffin cases in a muffin tin and bake for approximately 25 minutes.

Log on to www.carnation.co.uk where you can find a whole host of Phil’s tasty recipes.

New figures show that Gordon Ramsay’s effort to win the French market in Paris failed in a big way after it was reported that he lost close to £1.8m in a little less than eight months.

The new reports disclose the amount of difficulties that Ramsay encountered as he tried to open his Parisian restaurant, in the account books for Gordon Ramsay Holdings International, which is the subdivision of his empire.

Monday the August 2008 accounts were filed at the Companies House, a mere six months after Ramsay handed over the accounts for his British based company and stated that at one point he almost went bankrupt.

The Parisian restaurant, Versailles at the Trianon Palace Hotel, saw losses of about £1.78m over the span between January 2008 and August 2008.

This could be the result of his gloating before opening the restaurant with statements that he had had enough of the French telling the British how poor their cooking is, just because French food names are more posh sounding.

It seems bad karma came back to Ramsay as his restaurant in Paris opened to harsh reviews with the famed Le Figaro food critic Francois Simon, stating that the restaurant was overpriced, pompous, and boring.  In fact Simon stated that he would rather eat a bistro than eat at Versailles again.

Currently Versailles is managed by a third party after Ramsay decided to let it go, along with his Prague business which also saw large losses.

Although Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsey may be known for mastering the noughties, a new chef from Marlow may be the next dominate ruler of the restaurant world in the coming decade.

Adam Simmonds, the current Oak Room at Danesfield House hotel head chef has been picked as one of the top ten contenders to challenge the current order of top chefs.

Simmonds, age 38, stated that the selection was a complete surprise that he found out about when the BBC called his home to set up an interview.  He continued to say that to be placed up against some of the top chefs in the UK is an honour.

The new contender trained under numerous chefs including Raymond Blanc and has cooked at the Oak Room for the last three years.  Previously he worked for a restaurant close to Aberystwyth that was given a Michelin star.

Simmonds may not swear half as much as Gordon Ramsay, but the cook stated that he is not always the nicest person, and that at times he can lose his rag because you need to crack down on people and that his staff is aware of the fact.

Apparently the Oak Room has already realized the talent it houses, as next month the name will be changed to ‘Adam Simmonds at Danesfield House.’

The cook stated that he is pleased with the name change and that in the future he would like to do some cooking on television due to the exposure it would give the restaurant and himself.