If you are still looking for a last minute Christmas idea?

Our cookery school gift vouchers are still available and can be dispatched prior to Christmas, the vouchers are valid for 9 months from the date of purchase, and a personalised gift letter can be provided. Or alternatively you can book a specific course from our schedule

Click through for a copy of our 2013 course schedule

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to give us a call o 01604 621640 or email info@shirescookeryschool.com

After much anticipation and a great deal of excitement, the winners of the twelve categories in the Carlsberg UK Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards 2012/13 are finally celebrating being named the best of the county’s best!

The results were announced at a glittering Awards Dinner (Weds 14^th Nov) sponsored by Electrolux and staged at The Wing, Silverstone courtesy of Silverstone Circuits Ltd. Those were (in order of presentation):

Northamptonshire Jubilee Breakfast: (results announced in June)
Winner: The Church Restaurant, Northampton
Runner-up: Oundle Mill, Oundle

Artisan Local Product/Drink of the Year:
Winner: Home Cured Bacon – Sauls of Spratton, Spratton
Runner-up: Fire Bellied Toad – Frog Island Brewery, Northampton 

New Local Product of the Year:
Winner: The Hot Runner – The Pickled Village, Bulwick
Runner-up: Fruity Apple and Plum Chutney – The Village Orchard, Flore

New Local Drink of the Year:
Winner: Golden Russet Apple Juice – The Village Orchard, Flore
Runners-up: Hart No. 1 (4.1%) – Hart Family Brewers, Wellingborough and Hop Trotter – Potbelly Brewery, Kettering

Local Food Hero of the Year:
Winner: Gerald Bailey of Newlands Farm, Hannington
Runners-up: Pudding Pie Cookery School, Middleton Cheney and Seven Wells Butchers, Oundle

Spice Chef of the Year:
Winner: Bodrul Islam – Saffron, Northampton
Runner-up: Hao Dang – Dang’s, Northampton

Young Chef of the Year:
Winner: William Mountain – The Saracen’s Head, Little Brington
Runner-up: Viktorija Bernataviciute – The Wig and Pen, Northampton

Booker Chef of the Year:
Winner: James Ingram – Mercedes Benz AMG, Brixworth
Runner-up: Liam Goodwill – Rushton Hall, Rushton

Restaurant of the Year:
Winner: The Exeter Arms, Easton on the Hill
Runners-up: Oundle Mill, Oundle and The Seafood Café, Northampton

Pub or Bar Restaurant of the Year:
Winner: The Saracen’s Head, Little Brington
Runner-up: The Royal Oak @ Eydon, Eydon

Community Pub of the Year – Town:
Winner: The Swan and Helmet, Northampton
Runner-up: The Lamplighter, Northampton

Community Pub of the Year – Rural:
Winner: The George, Tiffield
Runner-up: The Stag’s Head, Great Doddington

In addition, three chefs were also ‘Commended’ in their category – those being:
Ondine Hartgroves of Dîner Privé Par Ondine, Northampton in the Spice Chef category
Ollie Jaycock of The Red Lion, Culworth in the Young Chef category
Oli Butel of Frank’s Steakhouse, Northampton in the Booker Chef category.

So the night brought double celebrations for Duncan and Sarah Evans of The Saracen’s Head in Little Brington who not only watched their head chef, William Mountain, pick up the ‘Young Chef of the Year’ award but also took the ‘Pub or Bar Restaurant of the Year’ title. “We were already so delighted that Will had won earlier in the evening, but then to hear the venue’s name called out as well was just the icing on the cake,” explained Sarah after the results were announced by Jeff Whitaker of category sponsors Whitco, the specialist catering equipment firm based in Thrapston. “The whole team put their heart and soul into everything that they do and this is real recognition of their wonderful efforts. We are all just chuffed to bits!”

Meanwhile Jonathan Chaplin of The Village Orchard in Flore also came away with two accolades after his Fruity Apple and Plum Chutney was named runner-up in the ‘New Local Product of the Year’ category, only for his Golden Russet Apple Juice to go one better in the ‘New Local Drink of the Year’ category. “We are always so wonderfully surprised and of course thrilled to pick up any award so to come away with a second and a first is fantastic!” enthused Jonathan after hearing the results from David Brown of Beckworth Emporium, the category sponsor. “It’s all the more pleasing that these are two of our newer products and we’ll be displaying our certificates and our winner’s trophy with great pride!”

Those trophies – beautifully handcrafted in polished stainless steel by Sandwell UK, the shot peening and metal coating specialists based in Towcester – were presented by a selection of this year’s Award judges, including editor and food writer William Sitwell, TV chef Sophie Grigson  and the co-founder of ‘Ready Steady Cook’, Steven Saunders from Aspire Hospitality.

It was his Executive Chef, Lee Scott, who prepared a wonderful three course menu for the 350 guests including entrants, judges, sponsors, media partners and supporters. They were treated to a starter of potted Pitsford trout, a trio of pork from Spinney Barns in Irchester served with apples from New Creation Farm in Nether Heyford which had been caramelized in honey provided by the Northamptonshire Beekeepers’ Association, followed by treacle tart using bread from the Northampton bakery FF Tee and served with dairy vanilla ice cream from Rossi’s Ice Cream in Kettering.

Guests were welcomed to the event by the competition’s co-ordinator, Rachel Mallows of The Mallows Company and later in the evening, NEP’s Chairman Paul Southworth thanked them for their support. “As the organisation behind these awards we are delighted that this competition is playing such a valuable role in this increasingly successful sector for the county.

“Last year, that was worth £1.5 billion to our local economy and Northamptonshire should quite rightly feel mightily proud of its many nationally-recognised producers, venues and chefs being celebrated tonight,” he added.

For more details about the Awards and to see photographs from the event, please visit www.letyourselfgrow.com/foodanddrinkawards

We still have places available on our Pasta Pronto course taking place tomorrow evening (17th Oct) If you are interesting in learning how to make your own pasta, and create delicious authentic Italian sauces, then come along and join this three hour class. We start at 6pm through to 9pm, you can eat your dishes with your fellow students or take your food home. Cost is £55 per student. Call (01604) 770223 to secure your place

Warm Chocolate Doughnuts with a Damson Fool

Chocolate Doughnuts

Ingredients:
250ml Milk
450g Flour
50g Cocoa powder
7g Fresh yeast
1 Pinch of salt
50g Caster sugar
1 Egg
100g Unsalted butter
Method:

• Warm the milk and mix in the yeast.
• Mix all the dried ingredients together and place on a mixing machine.
• While the machine is mixing on a low speed, add the butter in small pieces until it is fully incorporated.
• Beat the egg and pour into the mix, then finally the milk.
• Mix for about 10 minutes until it becomes elasticised dough.
• Place the dough in a bowl, cling film and put in a warm place.
• Let the dough prove for about 25 minutes until it has doubled in size.
• Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the dough to a 1cm thickness.
• Cut the dough with a cutter into the desired size and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
• Deep fry the doughnuts at 175°C and then roll in sugar and serve.

Damson Fool

450g Damson Puree (see recipe below)
250ml Apple juice – Reduce to 100ml
3 egg yolks
20g sugar
3 Leaves gelatine
200ml whipping cream
100g Italienne meringue (see recipe below)

Damson Puree

1kg Damsons
100g Sugar
250ML Apple juice

Method:

• Place all ingredients in a thick-bottomed saucepan.
• Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes.
• Liquidise and pass through a fine sieve

Italienne Meringue

3 Egg whites
40ml Water
180g Caster sugar
15g Glucose syrup

Method:

• Whisk the egg whites to a soft peak stage.
• Boil the water, sugar and glucose until it reaches the temperature of 118ºC
• Pour the boiling sugar mix onto the egg whites and continue whisking until it forms stiff, shiny peaks

Method:

• Whisk together the yolks and sugar, along with the reduced apple juice
• Place the mix in a saucepan and cook gently on the stove until the mixture coats the back of a spoon or it reaches 81 c.
• Take off the heat and add the pre-soaked gelatine leaves and pass through a fine sieve.
• Mix into the damson puree, the Italienne meringue (see recipe below) and whipped cream.
• Place in the desired serving dishes and set in the fridge for 20 minutes.
• Serve with the warm chocolate doughnuts.

With the saucepans bubbling and the frying pans sizzling, some of the county’s finest chefs have been battling it out to win one of three prestigious titles in this year’s Carlsberg UK Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards.

The competition, devised by Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership (NEP), is now in its fourth year and is again aimed at celebrating all that is great about local produce and drink, recognising excellence within the county’s dining venues and rewarding those who work so hard within the culinary sector.

The first of the tasty trio of cook-offs was that of ‘Spice Chef of the Year’ and the finalists (all from Northampton) were (in alphabetical order):

Hao Dang of Dang’s
Ondine Hartgroves of Diner Privé Par Ondine
Bodrul Islam of Saffron
R.U. Islam of Saffron
Lalit Rawat of Red Hot World Buffet & Bar

The five were invited to the impressive kitchens of Northampton College to prepare the two-course meal that they had submitted with their entry, including chicken hariyo khursani, aromatic prawn curry, moroccan couscous and a cardamom panna cotta.

Among the judges charged with the task of choosing a winner were Ian James of category sponsor British Pepper & Spice, former European ‘Curry Chef of the Year’ Raj Mandal from Bedford College and TV Chef Sophie Grigson. For Sophie, whose most recent book is appropriately entitled ‘Spice’, the selection proved a particularly tough, albeit enjoyable, challenge. “I’ve taken part in a number of similar events over the years and while you always hear the judges say that it was a difficult decision, this one truly was! I was very impressed with all the finalists and they should each be very proud of their amazing dishes, as Northamptonshire should be of their spicy talents!”

The second cook-off, also at Northampton College, was the bid for the title of ‘Booker Chef of the Year’ and for this, the quartet were (in alphabetical order):

Jon Burns of Tollemache Arms, Harrington
Oli Butel of Frank’s Steakhouse, Northampton
Liam Goodwill of Rushton Hall, Rushton
James Ingram of Mercedes Benz AMG, Brixworth (private works restaurant)

This time, the chefs were set a ‘Ready Steady Cook’ style challenge, each being provided with a selection of store cupboard products provided by category sponsor Booker as well as their key Northamptonshire ingredients of pork from Arnold Farming, Gayton and raspberries and redcurrants picked just hours earlier from Wakefield Pick Your Own near Towcester.

The judges, which included Booker’s Regional Director Barry Richardson, BBC Radio Northampton’s News Editor Laura Cook and Steven Saunders, a Fellow Master Chef of Great Britain, watched and scored the chefs in action before tucking into the created dishes of five spice pork, slow cooked pork with basil mash, summer pudding with cherry cream and raspberry panna cotta with chocolate sorbet.

For Steven, choosing a winner proved an equally difficult decision. “The standard of the chefs, their skills and their creative abilities really stood out and it’s all the more impressive when you think that they were being watched and scrutinized with every flick of a knife or turn of a wooden spoon! It was an outstanding competition and really shows the talent that Northamptonshire has to offer.”

And the final cook-off, this time staged at Northampton College at Daventry, saw three of the finest up and coming chefs from across the county battle it out to be named ‘Young Chef of the Year’ – a category for those aged 18-25. The trio were (in alphabetical order):

Viktorija Bernataviciute of The Wig and Pen, Northampton
Ollie Jaycock of The Red Lion, Culworth
William Mountain of The Saracen’s Head, Lt. Brington

Like their senior counterparts, they too were provided with a basket of standard kitchen ingredients by sponsors Booker, with their key Northamptonshire ingredients being trout freshly caught from Ravensthorpe, local honey and again, Wakefield Pick Your Own raspberries

The trio managed to put a variety of their cooking talents to the test by serving up a wonderful array of dishes for the judges, including pan fried trout on smashed new potatoes served with beetroot and dill puree and a mushroom and lemon cappuccino, almond soufflé pudding with caramelized plums and a lime panna cotta served with a shortbread biscuit.

Those served with the tricky task of assessing their efforts were Peter Saunders from Booker, the co-founder of the Woodford-Halse based global food trends firm, thefoodpeople, Charles Banks, the reigning ‘Booker Chef of the Year’, Lee Gaskins from The Terrace Restaurant at Highgate House, Creaton and multi medal-winning international gymnast from Corby, Dan Keatings, who clearly had great admiration for the skills on display. “When you’re trying to get to the top of the tree, it doesn’t matter whether it’s sport, as it is for me, or food, it’s all about commitment and dedication.

“As a Young Northamptonshire Ambassador myself I was really impressed to see both of those qualities and many more on display in the kitchen today. It makes me very proud of my home county!” he added.

The finalists now have until 14th November to discover their fate when the winners and runners-up in all 12 categories of this year’s Awards (other than that of the ‘Northamptonshire Jubilee Breakfast’ category, already revealed as having been won by The Church Restaurant in Northampton) will be announced at the Awards Dinner taking place at The Wing Silverstone. Tickets priced at £80.00 (plus VAT) are available by calling Rachel Mallows on 01933 664437 or emailing rachel@rachelmallows.com

There is also an opportunity to sample the finalists in the ‘Artisan Local Product/Drink of the Year’ category by visiting the Northamptonshire Food Show @ Holdenby which is taking place on 26/27th August at Holdenby House. For more details on this, and the finalists in the ‘New Local Product of the Year’ and ‘New Local Drink of the Year’ categories, please visit the Awards’ website – www.letyourselfgrow.com/foodanddrinkawards

We still have places available on our Curry in Hurry course taking place this Wednesday (27th), commencing at 6pm through to 9pm. Cost is £55 per person, this includes all your ingredients.

Click through to book your place

 Looking for a Fathers Day gift?

We still have places available on our Steak & Chips course taking place this Sunday morning.

Only £55 per person, includes all your ingredients. Book your place

If you are looking seeking inspiration for the bank holiday weekend, then why not try this mouthwatering recipe idea from Adam Gray

Grilled Guinea Fowl Breast with Roasted Vine Tomatoes and Crispy Ham

The Guinea Fowl breasts could alternatively be cooked on the barbecue, if you prefer a free range or organic skin – a chicken breast would also make a great alternative. Try to use British vine ripened tomatoes when they are at their best in during the months of June and July.

Ingredients:
4 x Guinea fowl breasts
400g English cherry vine tomatoes
4 Slices Cumbria air-dried ham
100 Ml Farrington’s Mellow Yellow rapeseed oil
2 Bulbs of fennel
1 Lime
Salt
White pepper

Method:

• Place the cherry vine tomatoes on a sheet of foil and season with the salt and pepper. Drizzle the rapeseed oil over the tomatoes and wrap the foil up into a sealed parcel ensuring there are no holes.
• Place the foil parcel into a pre heated oven at 180 c for 12 – 15 minutes, until the tomatoes are just tender, then remove from the oven and leave in the foil parcel.
• Place a griddle pan on the stove and heat to a medium heat.
• Season the guinea fowl breasts with salt and pepper and rub a little of the remaining rapeseed oil on to the breasts.
• Place the guinea fowl breasts skin side down onto the heated griddle pan and cook gently, turning over to get an even cooking.
• Finely slice the fennel with a sharp knife or on a mandolin into a bowl.
• Grate the zest of the lime onto the sliced fennel and mix with a little of the lime juice and some rapeseed oil.
• Once the guinea fowl breasts are cooked, remove them from the griddle pan and place them on a tray to rest.
• Heat a non stick frying pan to a medium heat and fry the air dried ham with no oil until crispy.

To Serve:

• Put a pile of the fennel salad in the centre of the serving bowl and place the guinea fowl breast on top.
• Place the roasted tomatoes to one side of the guinea fowl breast and pour over some of the tomato cooking juices.
• Place a piece of crispy ham on top.

If you are already a keen bread baker, or have attended our level 1 & 2 classes, then this day will expand your knowledge further.

Your expert chef tutor will take you through the preparation and baking of Danish pastries – Pain aux raisins, delicious Croissants and mouth watering Brioche.

The day commences at 9.30am, the cost is £125 per person, this includes all your ingredients, lunch and a recipe pack.

Click to book your place

We have places available on our Vietnamese cookery class taking place on Sunday 27th May. Hosted by Hao Dang, the inspirational proprietor of Dangs Restaurant, this full day hands on course commences at 9.30am. Your menu for the day includes Spicy beef stew and Chili salt king prawns and Vietnamese Spring rolls.

Cost is £95 per person, this includes your ingredients and lunch, click to book your place