If you are looking to buy a new cookbook for Xmas – gift, treat yourself or to try out new recipes – look no further than the books by Stephane Reynaud.

M Reynaud runs a restaurant in Montreuil , 11 Km from Paris. It has two knives and forks in the 2009 Michelin Guide. I have never eaten there! Its my ambition to one day visit him.

His cooking style can only be describe as rustic – similar to Fergus Henderson of St John in St John St, London EC1 - I have had several meals there. 

I have all the cook books published by him – so far:

Pork & Sons – divided into several sections: black pudding recipes, sausage recipes, ham receipes, pate and terrines, grannie pig (stews and comfort food) BBQ pork and A Piggie Party. This is a specialist book on eating various parts of the Pig. Some very good recipies for “cheap” cuts.

Ripallies – charcuterie, tripallie, oeufs, legumes, meat and deserts. This is his “all round” book. I like his legumes section which has a few interesting dishes that can be used as a main course or side dish. Most of his legume recipes are not pure vegetarian.

Terrine – all about spreads and terrines. Great for lunch, picnic and a help yourself party. All you need to add is bread.

Rotis – all about roasts. 7 sections from game to fish incl beef, chicken etc. This will impress who ever you invite to dinner – try the seafood roasts.

His cook books are easy to follow. I have tried several recipes from each book and they all work. Most of the dishes are for a dinner party - these are not  bed sit cookbooks for one.

Ok, if you are a vegetarian, I recommed the Alice Waters book on vegetables – Chez Panisse Vegetables. She is one of the “great” female chef in the USA (Berkeley, California). She is also on my list to visit.

Eddie

16.11.09

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Location: 10 Castle St, Reading Rg1 7RD

Telephone number: 0118 586466

Website: N/A

Date of visit: 15 November 2009

Approximate cost per head: From £5

Comments on wine list/beer: They carry a range of  beer, cider and wine. The beer is the basic Adnams and Wadsworth 6x. There is also Peroni on tap.

Summary:
This establishment is famous for its pies and have been trading since 1978. It’s owned by the Hayward family that also runs Vicars (butcher) and one of the largest game wholesalers in the SE.

The range of pies here is phenomenal – e.g. there are 4 steak varieties – steak, steak and oyster, steak & mushroom and steak & kidney. On most days there are at least 20 varieties on sale. The basic pie is just over £1.20 in the retail outlet at the front and £5.20 in the restaurant with a salad trimming.  Extras such as potatoes and vegetables are available from £2. Chips are only available during lunch time.

The most interesting pies are the various games – hare, venison, country (rabbit) etc. They are done with internal gravy so it’s not the dryish hot water pastry pies that you get with most game pies.

The retail outlet sells cooked ham (no added water), scotch eggs, pasties, sausages rolls and filled rolls as well as the pies.

Opening hours are normal pub hours – they are closed on Sundays and bank holidays.

The best way to describe this place is that the cooking is basic, honest and nice. This is the place for a cheap meal in the centre of Reading although I have heard good reports about The Horn – round the corner.

I have been a regular customer since they opened.

Eddie

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For the past 30 years, I have always served smoked salmon around Xmas. So who provides the best smoked salmon?

Based on my historical  experience, the best smoke salmon are from “jewish” establishmentsin the UK. Their fish tends to be “raw” like sashimi and its always very oily. However, most salmon smoked are now farmed – fatty but not as oily and therefore not as good a source of omega 3 – and they taste different. American “lox” is not the same as they tend to be fish from Norway and not Scotland.

Hot smoked salmon is a different animal and is more like smoked mackeral in texture.

The best smoked salmon I had eaten came from Smidt and a deli which was housed in Leadenhall Market – sadly both have long gone. Smidt was a restaurant owned by German Jews in Charlotte St. I shall have to visit Golders Green and see if my theory is still true.

One of the best smoked salmon around are from Forman and Field (see online shopping) http://www.formanandfield.com/. They still supply “wild salmon”. Please note that wild salmon is not the same as organic salmon. Organic salmon is usually farmed and its just the feed that’s organic – the fish does not have to battle the current and swim up river so its fatter but its not more omera 3!

The best cheap smoked salmon around is Waitrose’s own brand – they always do a special offer around Xmas.

Please do not freeze smoke salmon if you have had enough. Freezing extracts the “juice” . Try scrambling you “extra” or leftover bits with eggs. Use double cream and do not add salt as the fish is salty.

Eddie

November 2009

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Location:  20, Station Parade, Uxbridge Rd, London, W5 3LD

Summary:

I was looking for “Japan Town” in Acton and I failed. all I can find was 2 Japanese restaurants, a Japanese hairdresser and a grocer opposite Ealing Common Station.

To be honest, Natural Natural is not bad. I was impressed with the fresh food – various types of fish roe (not sturgen), lotus roots, daikon, mushroom, seaweed etc. Like all Japanese food shop, ther is also an array of  “pot” noodles and sauces. This is not a cheap place but then this really is little Japan and you would only get very slightly lower prices at the Japan Centre.

Also available were Japanese newspaper and a lot of videos – ok, I have to stick to food!

The only area that was on the poor side was Japanese biscuits – I am addicted to Japanese biscuits.

I would definitely shop here as you can park nearby.

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Location :  1-3 Britannia Way, Coronation Rd, London, NW10 7PW

Telephone number: 020 8838 3388

Date of visit: 12 November 2009

This is a popular chinese supermarket on the “north” bound side of the North Circular just between the A40 and Wembley.

They sell the complete range of Chinese frozen dim sums, bottled sauces, rice, noodles etc. What is interesting is the “fresh” counter. They have several “live” fish tanks including soles, lobsters, crabs and carps. The fresh vegetables and fresh meats are also well represented. But beware, with meat, you have to buy the whole joint!

Upstairs, they have a chinese cafe that serves dim sum during lunch time and there is also on display a wide range of chinese cooking apparatus and “china”. Whilst I was there, I tried to buy a 3 litre electric kettle. They only had the display model and could not find the connecting lead.

Like all Chinese supermarkets, its relatively cheap when you buy “chinese” products.

Ample parking outside.

Eddie

 

P.s. They also sell chinese furniture – tables, chairs and sofa - made from chinese rosewood. I bought a set of side tables for £130.

They also have the most enormous electric rice cookers, steam boats etc.

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Location: 1 Station Parade, Uxbridge Rd, Ealing W5 3LD

Telephone number: 0208 896 3175

Website: N/A

Date of visit: 12 November 2009

Approximate cost per head:  From £10

 

Comments on wine list/beer: Sake and beer – very reasonable prices

 

Summary:

 

Ok, let’s get the spin out of the way – this is where Heston Blumenthal (Hine Head, The Fat Duck) and Billy Leung (China Palace, Furama, Imperial China) eats sushi. Who is Billy – you might ask. He is the proprietor of 3 Chinese restaurants and I trust his palate re food but not wine.

 

Let’s also get the negatives out of the way – they only take cash, the place is very spartan and could only do around 20 covers; the opening times are 11.00 – 13.30 and 16.30 – 21.00; they have only one toilet and its unisex.

 

This said, this is one of the place to eat sushi and sashimi in the UK. The fish is in tip top condition and it’s cheap. I had the mixed sushi B which had 8 pieces of proper fish on rice and came to a grand total of £12. My kirin beer was less than £3. On the day I went, the place was empty but half the tables were booked. They also did a roaring trade in take away (made to order) whilst I was there.

 

The menu is highly limited and is totally confined to the traditional sushi dishes. You can get miso soup and green tea but that’s about it – no tempura, no ramen ……….

 

The restaurant is sited opposite Ealing Common station. If you want to park, you can do so round the corner in front of  the Ramada Hotel.

Eddie

 

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Web site: within review

Telephone number: Cafe Monde (01962 877 177), The Cornerhouse (01962 827 779), Hotel du Vin(01962 841 414)

Date of visit: November 2009

Approx. cost per head: within review

Comments on wine list/beer: N/A

Review:

Winchester breakfasts
We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and also the most literally named. The first food that our body welcomes upon return from the land of nod does indeed break the fast of the night before.
All too often these days breakfast is a hastily conjured affair, a bowl of salt and sugar-laden cereal with suspect milk or perhaps a guilty purchase on the station platform. In my opinion however there remains no finer alternative than a brilliantly prepared and properly savoured Full English Breakfast, particularly now that the nights are drawing in and our bodies need that extra morning fuel to get us through the day.
Happily, Winchester is blessed with a wide, if variable variety of places that serve a Full English, at last count more than twenty different establishments. Apart from being a soul-warming start to the day, (and, if prepared from good quality ingredients thoughtfully cooked, not nearly as unhealthy an option as we are led to believe), a leisurely breakfast can also be an excellent platform for a business meeting, or mentally preparing oneself for an important day ahead.
So where to go? Over thirteen years of extensive research I have come to frequent three places which are attractive for different reasons but which each offer an interpretation of the FEB that are well worth experiencing.
Cafe Monde
Walking along Winchester High Street you will come across the Buttercross, a large ornate sandstone monument which fell from the sky in the early 18th century narrowly missing the beautiful half-timbered buildings nearby. Walk through the archway nearby and Cafe Monde is on your left.
Monde is probably a modern trendy sort of a place with ferny wallpaper and lime green bits, service is provided by attractive student types dressed in black, they are always polite and friendly and reasonably quick. You can sit either outside or in one of three cosy indoor areas. There are complimentary newspapers and some unobtrusive piped music.
The full English at Monde is a play-off between generosity of portion and quality of ingredients and cooking; the quality can be variable compared to the reviews to follow, but it is rare to see a plate return to the kitchen unfinished. The bacon is decent back bacon, by which I mean there is more meat than fat, although this has been cooked in bulk rather than individually. Sausages are of average quality pork which has been cooked and then finished on the griddle; satisfactory if not inspired, but the scrambled egg, tomato and toast are all first rate and very fresh. Mushrooms are not a strength at Monde, and they are often of the overcooked boiled variety, beans arrive as part of the package but are generally well positioned on the plate. Order a large cappuccino and some extra toast and you have a great start to the day that will leave you feeling full until well into the afternoon without the need for that 2pm pretend to stare at your monitor snooze that so often follows a heavy lunch. The food at Monde is well cooked and never greasy, so on the coronary stakes this only starts to really score points if you use both packets of butter on your toast. Which is needless to say highly recommended as nothing tastes better than a mouthful of scrambled egg on buttered toast at 8am on a Friday after a heavy Thursday night.
So visit Cafe Monde for a reliable, entry level sort of a breakfast, you won’t be disappointed but you also might not be tempted to write a review about it, erm.
£8-£10 including coffee

The Cornerhouse, corner of Parchment Street & North Walls
The second venue I have chosen is also the most recent arrival on the scene. The Cornerhouse breakfast is like a Cheryl Cole debut single, coming straight in at the top of the charts. Whether the Cornerhouse is married to a dodgy footballer I can’t comment, but I’m certain that this restaurant would stand its ground against Simon Cowell just like our Cheryl. The venue is great, it’s like a modern version of your favourite barmy aunts living room with big plants, standard lamps, rugs and comfy cushions. The breakfast menu is superb with a wide variety of things involving salmon and poached eggs that I’m sure are great if you aren’t a die-hard traditionalist like myself. The full English here takes a little longer to arrive than at Monde, but this is because the cook in the kitchen is taking fresh cold sausages and bacon from the fridge and cooking these to order, you can tell, the local produced pork is a taste sensation and accompanied by properly seasoned mushrooms, excellent scrambled eggs, beans and black pudding. I always think one measure of the quality of the ingredients of an FEB is how much brown sauce you see people using… at Cornerhouse the HP bottles will last a long time. The only negative here would be that toast is extra, but that’s a minor niggle, there are papers galore and from a wide spectrum of political persuasions, and the coffee is freshly ground and brewed. Booking is highly recommended especially at weekends when Cornerhouse is rammed with disciples of the sausage.
Breakfast & toast & coffee £10-13
Hotel du Vin
Now please don’t think I’m cheating, yes the Hotel du Vin is a hotel, but it is also a popular bar and restaurant and anyone is free to turn up to eat. In my experience it has always been possible to get a table at the spare of the moment for breakfast, but if too many of you start doing the same then this will of course change, so book anyway.
The simplest way to explain a breakfast at du Vin is that if the sausages at Monde are pre-cooked and then griddled, the sausages at Cornerhouse are proper bangers cooked well to order, then the sausages at du Vin have to fill in an application form, audition and be interviewed to be allowed in the building. These are seriously tasty bangers which you won’t want to offend with brown sauce, although this is available on request (and kept out of sight of the chef). Quite simply the breakfast here is flawless, two rashers of smoked back butchers bacon properly grilled, Bury black pudding, a confit tomato, a whole field mushroom seasoned and fried, and scrambled eggs which are finished with cream. You can have as much toast as you like, and the service is of course impeccable in the comfortable and peaceful surroundings of the bistro. This breakfast is a well kept secret and, at £14 all-in including freshly brewed coffee the ultimate start to a weekend or working day. Think of it as going to worship at the church de la petit dejeuner. Breakfast du vin £14 Southgate street.

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Location: Station Road, Bransford WR6 5JH

Telephone number: 018886 833399

Website: www.bear.uk.com

Date of visit: 8 November 2009

Approximate cost per head: around £20

Comments on wine list/beer: Very good wine list for a pub and not a very good range of beer

Summary:
Went there with a few friends for lunch.

The first thing that struck me was that the pub was devided into two halves with a restaurant on one side and the “pub” side on the other – bar is in between. This is the first pub that I came across with “pristine white table clothes” in the restaurant.

The bar was serving only 2 types of real ales – as far as I can see – with about 4 other lagers and gassy beers. The real ales were London Pride and a“blonde” ale from Hobson. I had the “blond” ale –  from a hand pump and NOT a bottle. It tasted like a “summer” ale.

The food menu was extensive and although it was a Monday, it had a whole blackboard devoted to fish – sole, salmon, sea bass etc. I had the non-gluten fish and chips with mushy peas. Again, it’s the first time that I had a batter that had no gluten.

The batter was very crisp and the whole dish was priced at £10.75.

My friends has sea bass and the sole. I was pleased to see that it came with a large side dish full of vegetables and potatoes.

On the whole a nice experience but is this really a pub?

Eddie

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Location |: Great Knollys St, Reading RG1 

Date visited: 7 November 2009

The Thames Valley Farmers Market comes to Reading on the “first” and third” saturday of every month. Its open from 8.30 to 12.30. Go early as by 11am, the stocks are getting low.

The stalls are sited in the old abatoir complex near Reading Station.

On the wholse, its a smallish market with around 20 stalls, selling organic meat, organic vegetables, cheese & butter, eggs, cakes, jams, pies, bread, beer, apple juice and fresh water fish (mainly trout) both fresh and smoked.

The vegetables come from Ogg Valley Organic Farm. They sell the main type of vegetables in season. For more exortic vegetables (especially foreign ethnic ones, try Reading Market in the Butts (behind West St Mall, tue-sat).

Meat comes from Dews Meadow Farm, Flexmore Farm etc. You can get faggots and mutton as well as cuts of pork and beef. There are also various types of award winning sausages and bacons However, all the meats are “pre-packed” and its on the small side e.g. half a shoulder – unless you pre-ordered, you can’t buy half a sheep.

The breads come from the Old Farmhouse Bakery – various types of exortic breads that you can’t get in the supermarket as well as the basic bloomer etc.

I personally like the pie shop and the smoke trouts (Brookleas Fish Farm). Smoke trout are around £2.50 plus for a whole small fish. The cheese is also very good (strong) but is confined to cheddar and blue with one or two mix (e.g. cheddar and chilli) cheese.

Ascot Ales usually have a stand selling various types of beers at less than £2 per pint. I like the 5 litre tins. You can taste before you buy.

Eddie

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Date posted: 6 November 2009

Knives are the most under rated eqipment in most people’s kitchen.

I have been invited to a lot of lunches and dinners where I was asked to carve. It is rarely that I ended up with a sharp knive even if the kitchen is full of expensive kit such as Dualit and Kitchen Aid. In most cases, people do have good knives but they have gone blunt.

The effect of a blunt knive is shown clearly when you try to slice a “ripe” tomato – it can’t be done, it just squashes it.

There are many makes of knives on the market, the ones that are harden remains sharp for a lot longer but when they get blunt, its nearly impossible to give it back a proper edge.

In the old day, its always Sabatier, Henckels or Wusthof but increasingly, the ones that are on sale are made of stainless steel rather than carbon steel and when they go blunt – god help you. They will probably lose their edge after 10 washes in the dish washer.

For a few years now, I have been using Japanese knives – not Global! Global is great when you have it new – its like a razor – but is difficult to sharpen.

The new fad is Nirey(Manufacturer) or I.O. Shen (Brand) (http://www.nirey.com.tw/). They were introduced to me by Mike Robinson of Pot Kiln (http://www.potkiln.org/). I was on one of his cookery course and we used I.O.Shen knives.

Mike sells these knives through his cookery school. These knives are also recommended by a few other well known chefs such as Jamie Oliver……

If you want to look at them, Go to Denny’s in Dean St (off Shaftesbury ave) -http://www.dennys.co.uk/index.asp. They have a whole rang of knives include I.O.Shen. Most of them are chef’s grade. Whilst you are there, ask the manager about knive sharpeners – they also have a fantastic range.

If you are feeling rich, go to Harrods in Knightsbridge. They carry all the Japanese “folded steel” knives – made in the same principle as samuri swords. They will set you back around £250 – its what the Sushi chefs (properly trained ones) not the ones on work experience that work in conveyer belt sushi restaurants.

See also  http://www.japaneseknifecompany.com/HOME/tabid/36/Default.aspx.

Please remember – when you give knives as a present, you will  need to be paid a tolken amout so as not to”Cut the Friendship”.

Eddie

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