Interview: Rosemary Shrager

Last week I was invited to the Good HouseKeeping Institute by Californian Prunes to interview one of my favourite chefs Rosemary Shrager. After stuffing my face with lots of delicious food she had prepared (recipes to come) I settled down and started the interview:



What convinced you to become an ambassador for Californian Prunes?
It was a no brainer really because I love prunes. I have been working with prunes all my life, throughout all of my career. I am a huge fan of them, so to work as an ambassador for California Prunes was a real honour.

What is your favourite prune recipe?
The prune and walnut tart and also the salted caramel cream prune tart (recipe to come!).

Apart from in tagines, how would you incorporate prunes into every-day savoury dishes?
There is honestly so much that you can do with them. The list is endless. I use them in terrines, in salads – they are especially good in bean salads. You can put them with more or less anything

What other store cupboard essentials would you suggest people stock up on?
Good question. Ginger is one of my favourites – it’s a great flavour. Ginger syrup, stem ginger, crystallised ginger – all types of ginger. Chilli is also a good one to have as it can liven up your dishes. I think it’s really important to have a good selection of spices and store cupboard staples so you can put something together at the last minute. But be careful with nuts – they can go off and become rancid.

Tell us about your cookery school in Kent - we see you host weekend courses, that must be a lot of fun!
I’ve been teaching cookery for 18 years, and we set the cookery school up two years ago. The school is something that I love as it’s a great chance to get back to my roots as a cookery teacher. It’s still a start-up but things are going well and hoping to build up. We do all sorts of corporate events and day courses and it’s always great fun. We do a lot of bespoke cookery days and team building events. It’s a great fun and I highly recommend it – come down!

You're last book was released three years ago - any plans to write another?
Actually my last book was released last year, my Cake and Bake book. I do have lots of plans to write more books but I’m waiting for a while as I’ve got so much on my plate at the moment – lots of TV, shows and my cookery school - so taking a bit of a rest from writing.

What was your biggest mistake as a newly trained chef?
I’m a self-taught chef, so probably not going to college and learning all of the basic culinary skills. I’m a completely self-taught chef, but earlier on in my career my lack of training meant that I lacked confidence. I always felt that I had to work a lot harder because of my lack of confidence.

What was your worst kitchen disaster? 

I can’t think of anything specific really. Probably something being overcooked because once it’s overcooked there’s not much else you can do with it. Things always go wrong in the kitchen because that’s just life. Sometimes it is just a matter of trial and error. However, it’s important to always learn from your mistakes and to be experimental – that’s part of the fun of cooking!

What would you say is your best masterpiece in the kitchen? 

It has to be my Chicken and potato pie. It is the simplest thing to make but it’s my masterpiece as people love it and always ask for it. Also, I once made a vacherine out of 60 egg whites, which created a huge crown for the centrepiece on the table. It takes about three days to make but it was a pleasure. It looked magnificent with a huge white swan on the top

Do you do the cooking at home?

Yes always. I never stop cooking!

Any tips for our readers? (there must be a kitchen faux-pas you see frequently?) 

One of my dislikes is omelets and scrambled eggs at breakfast. I stay in a lot a lot of hotels and they are always wrong rubbery or too sloppy and wet. The trick is to make them creamy, using butter and cream. This gives them a delicious taste and really helps the texture to be just right. 

Home-made Kimchi Recipe

I have to admit, the first time I tried this fermented cabbage concoction, I wasn't too keen. 

Kimchi, also spelled kimchee or gimchi, is a traditional fermented Korean side dish made of vegetables. 

Koreans eat so much of this super-spicy condiment (40 pounds of it per person each year) that natives say “kimchi” instead of “cheese” when getting their pictures taken.

It is made by lacto-fermentation, the same process that creates sauerkraut and traditional dill pickles.

 In the first stage, the cabbage is soaked in a salty brine that kills off harmful bacteria. In the second stage, the remaining Lactobacillus bacteria (the good guys!) convert sugars into lactic acid, which preserves the vegetables and gives them that wonderful, tangy flavor.

Originally developed in 7th Century Korea as a means of storing vegetables during cold winters, the dish has been steadily — if slowly — gaining recognition beyond the boundaries of its native country.

After tying Kimchi in Ramen and dumplings, I've soon become addicted. 

Wanting to brew a jar myself, I ordered a kit off of Sous Chef which included everything I needed to get started. 

The kit came complete with a quick and simple recipe – far more delicious than any ready made kimchi I've found. 

The kimchi changes flavour over time as it continues to ferment, even when it is kept in the refrigerator. When you eat it completely depends on personal taste – have a spoonful every few days, then decide.

Tuck in the moment the Kimchi is made, and the red pepper and ginger are the strongest flavours. After a couple of days there will be a slight fizz but the pepper kick remains and after a week it is a little fizzer, but the flavours seem more balanced. Two to three weeks and it starts to deserve its nickname ‘stinky kimchi’. It can be kept in the freezer to stop the fermentation.

Once you get into it, you can add other vegetables: grated carrot, daikon radish, and even replace the cabbage with pak choi or cucumber. However, try to keep the same ratio of anchovy sauce as it the salt preserves the vegetables.

Sous Chef's Kimchi Recipe

Makes 2 x 500g jars

1 head of Chinese leaf or Napa cabbage (roughly 600g)

1 tbsp fine salt

25g Korean red pepper powder

50g Korean anchovy sauce

50ml water

1 tbsp ginger, grated

1 tbsp garlic, grated

4 spring onions, finely sliced

Slice the Chinese leaf into 1cm rounds, and separate the leaves. Toss with the salt until evenly covered, and leave to sit at room temperature for four hours. The cabbage will release water and soften.

Rinse the cabbage with tap water to wash away the salt, and drain well.

Mix the red pepper powder with the water and anchovy sauce, to make a runny bright-red paste. Pour over the cabbage.

Add the ginger, garlic and spring onions to the cabbage and red pepper paste. Mix well using your hands. The paste should coat all the cabbage.

Divide the mixture into glass jars, leaving a couple of centimetres of space at the top.

To remove all the air bubbles, press down well with your fingers. Some liquid will rise to the top. If you press down well, and there still isn’t enough liquid to cover the cabbage mixture, add another 1-2 tbsp of water directly on top.

Screw the lids on tightly, and leave at room temperature for a day, and then move to the refrigerator.

Gregg Wallace Interview

 

After a year and a half of nagging, I finally got an interview with Gregg Wallace at The Ideal Home Show.

I interviewed Gregg the day before the announcement of his divorce and although he wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, seemed happy enough as he ate a plate full of roast potatoes, beef and gravy to cure his hang over following the Ideal Home Show opening party.

In this interview he reveals all about how he met his wife Heidi, his latest career ventures, Masterchef and his passion for dining in local Harvesters. 

Gregg, you are currently running The Gregg Wallace Carvery at The Ideal Home Show; you've described before that your favourite cuisine is Italian; yet a carvery is British, so why did you choose it? 

Well I chose a carvery and as it happens to be British, I wanted to manage people’s expectations by serving something we could deliver in both quality and quantity. We must have fed 1,500 people in 2 days and I've only had 2 complaints.

What were the complaints about? 

It just so happens that one guy ended up with fatty cuts of meat, so we just gave him another dinner. Another lady said her food was cold by the time she got her dinner to her table - but I think that’s because she walked slow.

I’ve heard that you’ve been trying to slim down, yet you eat out 4-5 times a week; do you not find it difficult to order healthy food due to all the hidden calories?

 It is very hard to eat well in restaurants because chefs use butter, so, soo much better, so when you order vegetables you think that you’re eating healthily, but you’re not! – It’s much easier when you cook your own food. I have toned up. I’m nowhere near as big and I make healthy options whenever I can. 

You started your career as a greengrocer and proclaim you love fruit and veg; have you ever contemplated opening up a vegetarian restaurant? 

No. 

-Why not? 

I’m a very enthusiastic carnivore. I love fruit and veg but I couldn’t live without meat. Coming off a cold rugby pitch during the winter and smelling lamb roasting with rosemary and garlic is heavenly - I’d walk across hot coal for a leg of lamb! 

You’ve recently opened Greggs Table in Bermondsey which contains a 70’s themed menu; do you not think it’s a bit risky to recreate 70’s food as it comes along with memories of smash and TV dinners?

Well I grew up in the 70’s, and the more I talked to people about old classic dishes, the more I realised people loved them. I was saying to people, what about spam fritters, what about Knickerbocker glory, what about banana splits; and everyone loved ‘em so I thought right, I’m gonna do it!

How often are you at your restaurants?

I’m at Greggs Table 3 times a week and about once a week at Wallace & Co as its 2 years and well established; I have a flat near there so I’ll pop in now and then for a glass of red and a pasty.

You’ve tweeted that you eat out at the Harvester regularly and received a fair few comments knocking you for this; why do you love Harvester so much?

When people slagged me off, I couldn’t understand why - I think it’s because poor people eat in there. They’ve got a brilliantly fresh salad bar, unlimited diet cokes, they do burgers and grilled chicken. They’ve also got a calorie count of every dish, they even label the calories at the salad bar on each vinaigrette dressing and they offer healthier options on everything they do. They have butter and low calorie spread; they really do try and promote healthy eating… what’s the problem?! Because there’s loads of working class families in there, people slag it off; well have a look at it, they’re grilling chicken the same as anywhere else - a Michelin star chef can grill a chicken, these guys are grilling a chicken: it’s chicken and chips, what’s the issue? 

On the topic of tweeting I heard you met your wife on twitter…

I met Heidi on Twitter yeah.

I’m sure all your lady fans would love to know how that came about... 

She tweeted me as a fan and I started chatting to her. First of all, she was funny, then I realised how clever she was, and then I looked at her picture and thought ‘oh my word’, whaaaaoooo baby!!

I sent her a direct message and asked her if she was ever in London, she told me she had friends here so I asked her out for lunch. I ended up buying her dinner instead at Scott’s fish restaurant then walked round the corner for dessert at the Gavroche.

I love Michel Roux Junior’s restaurant Le Gavroche in Mayfair: the foods so good if you don't want to eat it you can take it home and snog it.

On the subject of food, it’s been reported that you and co-host John Torode try up to 2000 dishes throughout Masterchef; do you ever get sick of food?

Me and John sometimes taste fish, followed by rhubarb, followed by beef, followed by strawberries: but how can you ever get sick of food?! You’d die!! However someone did once cook us a roast quail on top of a chocolate cake… 

Are the dishes not cold by the time you get to taste them?

All the dishes are cold (room temperature) as we need to go in to get the close ups of them so you at home can see what the contestants have cooked. But you gotta remember that we’re not eating our dinner, we’re testing the dishes, the look, taste and texture, which is all the same hot or cold. 

Do you miss John when you’re not filming with him?

Funnily enough I do. Me and John are big, big muckers. 2 years ago a rumour went round that me and John don’t get on and it was laughable! Anyone that has been near Masterchef knows that me and John are close, we probably text each other once every 2 days and when we’re not filming we meet up every 3-4 weeks for dinner - we’re both very busy men. 

You and John don’t always see eye to eye during the competition, who gets the final say?
John does. He’s more stubborn than me. 

Shalina won Masterchef and was consistent throughout, but do you not think she over did it on the mangoes a little bit?!  

No! No-no-no-no, not one little bit! I love a mango! I love Shalina’s plump mangoes! They’re fantastic. As soon as that girl got a mango out of a box I knew I was in for a treat. 

Who would you choose as a mentor on Masterchef?
 
If I was a contestant I’d want to be mentored by John out of everyone as he’s a great chef and understands what it takes to win Masterchef. 

Not Michel Roux Jnr?

Michele Roux Jnr is a world class chef. You don’t need to cook at that level to win Masterchef. 


And finally, I’m sure you’ve seen your buttery biscuit base video on Youtube; what do you think of it? 

I love it. I absolutely love it. When I first saw it I laughed and laughed and laughed until I cried; absolute genius!

Chorizo Scotch Eggs with Pepper Chutney

Still runny in the middle: yum!

Last month I attended a fantastic event run by The One Foundation, which included a three course cookery lesson with celebrity Chef Simon Rimmer. 

Simon has kindly created these recipes especially for The One Foundation, using One produce such as One Good Eggs and One Clever Loaf, and the results were truly delicious. 

Here is the recipe for my favourite meal of the day, which is extremely simple to recreate at home. 

Me and other Bloggers cooking at the event.

CHORIZO SCOTCH EGGS WITH PEPPER CHUTNEY

Ingredients

6 hard boiled One Good Eggs – cooked 6 mins max

175g sausage meat

75g finely diced/blended chorizo

tbs chopped parsley

tbs finely chopped chives

Plenty of salt and white pepper

75g breadcrumbs

75g polenta

 Vegetable oil to deep fry

Pepper chutney – 1 red onion, sliced

4 red peppers, finely sliced

Clove sliced garlic

8 gherkins, chopped

tbs capers

100g demarera

100ml red wine vinegar

1 finely chopped birds eye chilli

Method

1. Mix the sausage meat, chorizo, herbs, chives and plenty of seasoning in a bowl. Sausage meat seems to be rather tricky to get hold of now, so I simply bought sausages and removed the meat. I advise using good quality sausage meat, as the cheaper kinds tend to be rather sticky. 

Use scissors to extract the meat.

Sausage meat in order of quality. 

2. Divide into 16, press flat, then flour each egg. Egg wash and then wrap the sausage meat mixture around each egg in even ball -try not to make this layer too thick as it will not cook through, but make sure that no egg is exposed. 

3. Deep fry at 180c for 4 mins, turning regularly. 

4. For the chutney: fry onion, garlic and chilli for 3-4 mins to soften. Add the peppers and cook for an additional 2 mins. 

5. Add the sugar and vinegar and bring to the boil for 10 mins. Take off heat, add chopped capers and gherkins, season and cool. 

6. Serve the chutney with the scotch eggs and a little pretty salad garnish.

My finished Scotch Egg.