kutsu

I just made them blumenthal burgers. Fuck me, nicest burger I've had in ages. If I hadn't used the last of the tommy K (er, I mean Tomato Compote) I'd have another. 3. give or take. Now, do I make the cheese slices or should I stick to Asda economy brand?

I think it was, yet again, the best piece of food-tv on our screens. Just waiting for my spice grinder to come before I try it - the othe recepies i've tried have worked brilliantly.

Anyone seen old Gordo's new book? It's pretty fucking awesome, absolute food porn at its best. Same size etc as French Laundry, but fantastic pictures.

I have seen various bits and pieces on the internet, about braising or potroasting meat in containers sealed with a basic flour and water dough. The advantage is of course, that when introduced to heat, the dough hardens and forms an air-tight seal. Would this not be better than messing around with turkey bags etc? just find a stock pot with a lid, make the dough and seal the top, then bung it in the oven for 24 hours?

Well, I live with me better half and daughter (own a house, not renting unfortunately) but I'm happy to work away during the working week (whatever days that may be) - it's the modern way of life! Plus, her in doors would get to watch Eastenders a bit more often, so she ain't complaining!

Evenin' all, a what a fine and pleasent evening this is too* Well, a CV hath been drafted, and emailed to a couple of 1 star Mich places, on account of me ringing to speak to the kitchens and simply being pointed in the direction of emailing the reservations line. I think I'm going to put some in the actual post, maybe they will get through a bit better. I'm still on the search for a couple of days/weeks here and there to break myself in as it were (oooerr missus) so any pointers in the right direction are appreciated. Still desperately want to do this, I've applied to a couple of dodgy local pubs (there's no other type in Stoke on trent) to get some weekend experiance to stick on the CV; maybe that would make me more desirable. Time to keep on trying! *I'm lying, it's pissing it down.

Thanks for all the replies guys and gals, sorry I haven't responded back, busy at work So, there's nothing wrong, per se, with just rining a kitchen to ask for a few days work? In terms of going from commis to line chef, is it down to experiance purely? Lastly, what equipment would I need to bring for a week's work - knives, whites, apron?

Wow, thanks for all the replies, guys (poet and I didn' know it!) Sorry I haven't responded, I've been stuck in view-only mode at work. Firstly, the information in here (both positive things about the trade and the negative) is brilliant info, I am all for being bollocked when things are going wrong, and I'm not work shy at all. I appreciate that 15+ hour days are possible, but if it is something I love, I'd do that over 8 hours of literal boredom each day. What's the standard route into a kitchen, does it have to be NVQ? I appreciate folks have said "ring a kitchen and ask" but surely I cant do that without foundations or certain qualifications? Thanks for all the help Cheers John

So, long and short of it: I'm 23, have no qualifications outside of GCSEs, currently in a souless job, but it pays well (circa 30k for 35 hours) I'd give anything to learn to cook professionally and to go off and work in a michelin-starred restaurant. It's all I dream about (well, that and Girls Aloud). I cant justify giving up work as the mortgage people wouldn't take too kindly to it, but could take a dip in wages. If my end gold was working in a 1 michelin star place, permanently: a) am I too old to start from scratch to get to that level? b) what is the best way of getting the skills needed to get there c) am I crazy? help!

I for one wish you good luck and I cant wait to read the thread!

I think I'm going to start cooking from Simon Hopkinson's Roast Chicken and Other stories tonight. I'm pretty sure it's available from somewhere in the US, but here in England, it was voted "the best cookbook in the world". The advantage of this book (besides being a damn good cookbook) is that there are something like 149 recipes, but a maximum of about 5 with one type of ingrediant. There isn't 48 recipes with broccoli or anchovies or anthying, so the variety is a big boon to my attempt.

I've just had an idea to refresh my cooking skills (going through a lull at the moment) - take a book I know to be good, and try and cook all the recipies out of it. Now, I'm not sure how long this would actually take (it's Roast Chicken & Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson) given it has over 200 of them, but it's certainly something to do and I think it would be refreshing to force myself to cook things I would normally overlook. Has anyone attempted something similar before?

I've done this recipie, it's great. Don't braise the fillet whatever you do, it doesn't have enough flavour. Make the sauce seperately beforehand using the same ingrediants, and use it to deglaze the pan after frying your fillet steak. It wont make as much of an "intense" taste as the braised beef, the resault of it being a much leaner cut, but it will be very nice still. Let us know how you get it, it's a great dish!

Not overly impressed with the Marcus Wareing book as it's at a very low "Gordon Ramsay Makes it Easy" level, rather than an "early-Gordon Ramsay" level. Sorry to use GR as the benchmark, but the books are pretty close.

Excellent write up!

They looked burned as well, hardly fantastic cooking.

I've had Fuschia's book for about 6 months now, it's excellent and very very authentic. Tasty, too!

"It appears as if somebody has vomited on your plate, Sir."

Question to you fine folks. When I reduce a home made beefstock down, it never gets to that stage of really thickening through gelatin. Having googled a way to add some gelatin to the stock, it seems a pig foot or veal foot is the way to do it. However, thanks to the wonderful butchers around here (..ahem) neither are available to me to use. Could I use something like a fresh ham hock in place of pig trotter to add body to the stock?

Greetings all. I'm looking for some suggestions on fast food for myself, partner and our 6 year old daughter. Due to certain circumstances, my average time of being able to cook at night, post-work, has gone from around 1 hour 15 minutes, to 30 minutes max, with "prepare-ahead" food the most ideal. I'm looking for suggestions on either 30 minutes or less food, or prepare ahead food that I can freeze and batch cook at weekends. I really feel as if I'm losing my food mojo, but I think it's a combination of the atrocious weather, pressure at work and now, this timelimit. Help me out guys! I'm a decent cook, and a basic red-sauce pasta, pasta carbonara, ragu sauce etc are all batched up. I try and make a soup at least once a week. Other than that, suggestions would be very very much appreciated. To give an example of what I'm going to be having (assuming everything goes to plan this week) Monday - Leek and garlic risotto Tuesday - chicken breasts with pesto and mozzarella, potato fries Wednesday - home-made chilli Thursday - winter bean-minestrone Friday - pasta with tuna, capers, tomato and basil. All of these are either make-ahead or very quick to put together.

Sounds fantastic Oli!

Anyone have a metric version of the original recipe?

On a tangent, anyone been to Palmiro? Just received a Bib G from Michelin, menu looks nice, authentic Italian.

Fantastic to see Manchester get a Bib! Off to book a table now!

For Sunday dinner I made: Orecchiette alle cime di rapa e peperoncino Paillard di pollo con spinaci and the Sable biscuits, all from the book. All fantastic, but the sable biscuit dough was very dry, so I added a splash of milk that seemed to work!