Monday 7 June 2010

Friday's Parlour Evening and the Great British Menu

Great British Menu is a BBC television series in which top British chefs compete for the chance to cook one course of a four course banquet. This year marks the fifth series of the show, with the prize being a chance to cook at a banquet hosted by the Prince of Wales for outstanding local food suppliers. The show began on the 6th of April, and finished last Friday, with the final show showcasing the actual banquet.
Oliver Peyton, Prue Leith and Matthew Fort are the lucky judges tasked with picking the winning dishes during each of the eight regional finals. This year's winning main course was cooked by Michelin starred chef Tom Kerridge, owner of the Hands and Flowers in Marlow.
Tom Kerridge
The winning dishes were only announced on Thursday, however I had decided to put Tom's dish on our menu a week earlier, after seeing it in the London and South East regional final. So onto Friday and our Fellow's Parlour Evening.

We began Fridays meal with quail skewers in Asian spices. This lovely dish is from Maze by Jason Atherton.
For the fish course, we served another recipe from Maze, Herb-crusted Cod with Sauteed Wild Mushrooms and herb dressing.
Serving the fish course in the main kitchen
Next up was the main course, and time to serve Tom's wonderful Slow-cooked duck with duck fat chips and gravy (although we served a rosti instead of the chips). The duck breast is cooked sous vide, the skin is then crisped and tossed in honey and butter. The ramekin contains confit of duck leg, crispy duck skin, peas, mint, broad beans and baby gem lettuce. The dish is finished with a lovely gravy made from duck and chicken stock.
Yum!
Perfection!
To finish a great meal, we served marinated peaches with basil sorbet and strawberry jelly.
Bon Appetite!

1 comment:

  1. I had this menu at the Dean's dinner party in the Outer Parlour on the same evening, and we all thought it was splendid - especially the pudding, which was fabulous!

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