insideKENT Magazine Issue 22 - January 2014 | Page 62

FOOD+DRINK A YEAR OF KENT GOURMET FOLLOW CHAPTER ONE’S CHEF PATRON, ANDY McLEISH, ON A YEAR LONG JOURNEY TO DISCOVER THE FABULOUS FOOD KENT HAS TO OFFER. Last year, I took part in a charity event to raise money for a special cause: Galvin’s Chance. The event brought together a number of chefs and hospitality professionals to fight one another in a boxing match. I’m sure you have all guessed over the year I’ve been writing this column that firstly, I’m not much of a fighter and secondly, I’m not in the best shape to survive five threeminute rounds. I had to work hard to get fit. I had a strict regime, waking up at 5am five days a week to exercise for two hours, plus spar in a boxing gym once a week. I trained like this for four months. Around the time of my fight, I had lost over three stone. On the day of the event, I was physically and mentally prepared and somehow I won. The whole experience was so exhilarating that I vowed to train as hard, maintain my new weight, continue eating well and even take up boxing as hobby… A year later, I can confirm that none of the above has taken place. This reminds me of New Year’s resolutions. We often make big promises to ourselves and others that we’ll make drastic changes to improve our lives and wellbeing, and a month or two later, it’s all forgotten. Without question, I’m all for self-improvement, but why do New Year’s resolutions rarely work? I believe we have a better chance if we make small changes regularly than commit to a big alteration in our lives that can be daunting. One of the most common New Year’s resolutions we hear people make is wanting to take better care of their health by losing weight, joining the gym, drinking less alcohol, and giving up smoking. I’m no expert in giving advice on decreasing your alcohol intake or throwing away your cigarettes, but I can help with creating healthy and delicious recipes for you to make at home. flavour. The mushroom consommé needs to be prepared the day or night before but trust me, it will be worth it. This is proof that eating well needn’t be boring. I will be serving this in my restaurant Chapter One throughout this month. We use a fantastic local Kentish supplier, Chapmans. Most of the fish they supply to the restaurant is caught locally and is also caught on day boats. This means the fish comes back to port on the day it is caught rather than trawler fishing when the boats can be out at sea for more than a week at a time. Myself and Chapmans pride ourselves on the quality of fish we serve. Good luck all in keeping your New Year’s resolutions whatever they may be! This month’s recipe is my poached south coast cod with an Asian broth. This is definitely a luxurious healthy recipe that’s packed full of Poached South Coast Cod with an Asian broth Serves 4 • 4 120g pieces of cod • 500g baby spinach picked and blanched • 200g Samphire (picked and blanched) • 20g coriander cress • 1 packet Shimeji mushrooms • 50g Shitaki mushrooms (sliced) • 50g tomato concasse • 1 Kaffir lime For the Mushroom consommé • 2 onions • 200g Muscavado sugar • 1/2 bottle of white wine • 2 kg button mushrooms • 6 pints chicken stock • 1 bunch coriander stalks • Raft 3 sticks lemongrass • 20g ginger • 200g button mushrooms • 250g egg white Slice and roast the onions in a pan and caramelise with the sugar. Then deglaze with white wine. In a separate pan panfry the sliced button mushrooms with a little colour then drain off the excess liquid. Next, combine the onions and mushrooms together and add the chicken stock and simmer for two hours. Strain off and cool in a fridge overnight. To make the raft and finish the broth blend the lemongrass, mushrooms and ginger in a blender then add the egg white. Remove the mushroom stock from the fridge and remove any fat on top. Pour the stock into a pan and whisk the raft into the stock. On a gentle heat bring the stock and raft up to a gentle simmer and cook very slowly for one hour. Remove from the heat gently and strain the clear stock using a ladle and muslin. Season with a little soy sauce and fish sauce. samphire in a little butter and season. Separately bring the Asian broth to the boil and add the Shitaki mushrooms, Shimeji mushrooms and the tomato concasse. Neatly place the spinach and samphire on a plate with the mushrooms and half the broth around. Finally remove the cod from the bags peel off the skin and season with sea salt and microplane the zest of the kaffir lime over the top. Place the cod onto the spinach and pour the remaining broth over the dish. To serve Place each piece of cod into a vacuum packed bag and add a drop of olive oil and seal each bag removing all of the air. Cook in a water bath at 56 degrees for 15mins. Sauté the spinach and Follow Andy on Twitter: @andy23471 Chapter One, Farnborough Common, Locksbottom, Kent, BR6 8NF To Book Call: 01689 854848 or visit www.chaptersrestaurants.com 62