Dean’s Blog from Lord Kitchener Psematismenos

by Chef Dean Simmons - 29/07/2011...Hello all from Lord Kitcheners,
First of all important news from Lord Kitcheners, we are off on a road trip around the island of Sicily for the next couple of weeks. The restaurant is open the following days:

Week commencing 1st August and week commencing 7th August:
Tuesday
Wednesday
Friday
Saturday
Back to normal on Monday 16th

So what’s happening in the life of Lord Kitchener, well very busy! The tourists is here in force am sure there are more tourists than last year, maybe due to the problems elsewhere in the Med so restaurants out there let’s get it right!!!

Customers who come into the restaurant ask me where do I get my ideas for dishes, well first I look at what’s in season , believe or not I don’t know what’s going on the menu until I have been to the markets and see what is on offer. Also I love buying cookery books. As someone who cooks professionally, I really treat cookbooks like textbooks. The first thing I do is skip through to the back. The introductions are often hackneyed and full of trite old saws like "everything but the squeal" (yeah, really). The recipes themselves will prove themselves out eventually, as you try them. What you find when you turn to the last few pages of a cookbook are the things your author deems necessary for reference as you work. This information tells you a lot about the attitude and spirit of a cookbook.

I have two favourite chefs that I love to watch and read their cookery books; James Martin and the one and only Marco Pierre White. Two totally different chefs, James is a great home chef, his food is honest clean and simple ( my mum fancies the pants off him) where the true Marco is a complete nutter a serious don’t mess with me chef  his food is amazing. He was the youngest chef to receive 3 Michelin stars wow!

The next blog will be in 3 weeks

Question of the Week
There are over 17 cuts of beef from the hind quarter alone, Can you name 10 of them.
 Send Answers to dean@lordkitchener.eu all correct answer will go into a hat and first out wins  a meal from 2 on a Monday pasta night.

Offers of the week
Book on line and receive a 10% discount off your food bill .Book at bookings@lordkitchener.eu  offer runs from Tuesday until Friday

This week’s Recipe 
It’s a James Martin Special Classic fish and chips:
Ingredients
•    beef dripping or oil, for deep frying (beef dripping is used in the traditional method and gives a far better flavour, but sunflower or vegetable oil will work just as well)
For the fish
•    4x175g/6oz thick cod or haddock fillets, taken from the head end rather than the tail end of the fish
•    225g/8oz self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
•    salt and freshly ground black pepper
•    300ml/10fl oz fridge-cold lager
For the chips
•    6-8 large floury potatoes, such as maris piper, king edward, desiree (depending on how hungry you are)
Preparation method
1.    Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2 and preheat the dripping or oil to 120C/250F.
2.    For the chips, peel the potatoes and cut into whatever size you prefer. Wash well in cold water, drain and pat dry with a clean tea towel. Put the potatoes into the fryer and allow them to fry gently for about 8-10 minutes, until they are soft but still pale. Check they're cooked by piercing with a small, sharp knife. Lift out of the pan and leave to cool slightly on greaseproof paper.
3.    Increase the heat of the fryer to 180C/350F.
4.    Season the fish and dust lightly with flour; this enables the batter to stick to the fish.
5.    To make the batter, sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a large bowl and whisk in the lager to give a thick batter, adding a little extra beer if it seems over-thick. It should be the consistency of very thick double cream and should coat the back of a wooden spoon. Season with salt and thickly coat 2 of the fillets with the batter. Carefully place in the hot fat and cook for 8-10 minutes until golden and crispy. Remove from the pan, drain and sit on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper, then keep warm in the oven while you cook the remaining 2 fillets in the same way.
6.    Once the fish is cooked, return the chips to the fryer and cook for 2-3 minutes or until golden and crispy. Shake off any excess fat and season with salt before serving with the crispy fish. If liked, you can serve with tinned mushy peas and bread and butter, for the authentic experience!