Recipe: How To Throw A Supper 'Lip' Club for Movember

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab for Movember

All donations of £10 or more to ferdiesfoodlab Mo Space  are entered in our the prize draw! (unless anonymous of course!)

 PRIZE: 2 SEATS at the head of the ferdiesfoodlab banquet, any available date! (worth £100)

To donate check out the ferdiesfoodlab Mo Space 

Current entrants: 0     Chance of winning: 100%

 

Even if you only pledge a fiver via the ferdiesfoodlab Mo Space it will really help, every pledge counts!! 

If you want to throw a supper club - a supper fun way to fundraise -  First of all sign up for your own Mo Space here, and click register. This will allow you to collect donations!


Throwing a supper club is simple if you get all your Mo Bros & Mo Sistas involved! Here's the basics

skinning the fish for the Ceviche

ingredients (serves as many as you want!)
for the supper
some drinks,
some people, 
a menu idea (recipes in Movember book - see here)
some food
a fat chunk of NASA ('nice and safe attitude' or 'naise an saif ackitude' as Joy would say!!)
and somewhere to eat together

for the garnish
couple more drinks
some righteous tunes, aye!
a little conversation!!

When I were a lad . . . . . . all we had was a  ZX spectrun with 48Kb of RAM

 

apparatus / equipment
spatula for keeping naughty Mo Bros & Mo Sistas in check, spank!
wooden spoon with cake mix on (carrot is often better than a spatula)

Table's ready - guests are all pitching in!!

method 
Get all your Mo Bros & Mo Sistas to come early and help you with the prep and the cooking (good for social bonding innit).
Make sure everyone has a drink and a job and the tunes are flowing.
It doesn't have to be 6 courses, rack and mac and a sticky toffee pudding will do (maybe add a green starter).

Rack and Mac . . . . sings with delight, lush!

thinking ahead 
Don't forget to have a camera, to catch the fun.
Make sure the shopping is done and the drinks are in before the Mo Bros & Mo Sistas arrive! (doesn't hurt if they bring a few drinks of course!)
Sounds easy right? But you won't be laughing when you've run out of gin and tonic, and you realise you don't have any pork shoulder! Someone's going to have to go for replacements and necessaries!!! (never happened at the foodlab! ahem cough!)

Nice Mo Bro!

what could go wrong? (notes)
* You forget to tell everyone it's for Movember and give them a link to your MO SPACE so they can donate.

* You're completely battered before you've done all the required prep, could get messy! Get all your chopping done early!
 
* Somehow I didn't raise any Mo!! Make sure everyone knows it's for Movember

Don't forget to have a little fun along the way - it's for a good cause - MOVEMBER

to serve 
Make sure your plates are warm and everyone has something to eat that agrees with them!! ENJOY and remember to give!

techniques used 
A little bit of love . . . always : ) 
Some camaraderie. 
A little showboating - where appropriate!
A little lubrication - right from the start (very shortly after the love), fix the Mo Bros & Mo Sistas a wee dram as they arrive!
 

Thanks for coming Mo Bros & Mo Sistas Big smiles, CHEERS!!!!!

links 
Please donate here!
Create your own Mo Space HERE!

~ menu ~ 

Sustainable White Fish Ceviche Edamame

Arroz al Horno w/ con Verduaras (Asparragos y Judías) y Salsa Picante

Dessert Cointreau Sorbet

~

(recipes in the book)

~

Here's what we did last week!

SOME SUGGESTIONS (some with recipe links)



Perfectly formed Baps (use 90g for pictured)

 

Will You Marry Me - Slow Roast Lamb and Roasties

Nothing like a fresh loaf of Homemade Bread - use 700g of this dough in a loaf tin for a lovely bit of bread!

Pan Fried Duck Breast w/ Vegetable Green Curry & Noodles - use your imagination for the green curry!!

It's the little touches that can make a dish, we use Micro Shrimps fried in clarified butter to garnish our Vietnamese pancake sushi. Crispy little fellas went down quite well! 
 

Two tone Mac and Cheese - Tomato on the bottom and a gorgeous Cheese Sauce on the Top!! (post coming) There was a lot of complaining when I cooked this for an unsuspecting person who shall remain nameless - needless to say plate was clean on return!!! : )

Smoked River Cobbler, Plaice & Salsa Picante w/ Coriander Black Rice and Wonton Crisp Salad










 

Rack of Lamb - Classic, simple, tasty!

Rub with a little oil and salt, sear in a heavy based roasting tin, until golden (pic) roast for 15-20min @ 200C

No mate! On the front of your face!! Your Mo's gone east!

Supper lip Club for Movember @ferdiesfoodlab

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

~ menu ~

 

Salmon Parfait Forrest

served w/
Rosemary Bread

 

 

Morcilla & Apple Tart w/ Green Leaves Dressed w/ Champaign & Vanilla

 

Yum Salaad . . . (Cambodiam Inspired Chorizo & Celeriac Salad)

Slow Roast Crispy Pork Belly w/ Cockscomb Wontons & Lychee / Braeburn Slice  

served w/

Pan Asian Sushi: Shitake Mushroom Maki, Ho Fun Rolls w/ Nem Chua , Shrimp & Crab Roll, Viet Pancake Bites

Millionaire Cake w/ Bitter Thyme Orange & Salted Caramel

Roast Almonds and Salted Lemon Fudge

Of course ferdiesfoodlab would be nothing without our guests! : )

was a really nice night!

deep in conversation

 As usual, super guests make super vibe and tonight was no exception!!! Thank you so much everyone!! XX

~

At the end of each supper club we leave comment cards for feedback - helps us improve the evening, all feed back is helpful. Here's what folk said:

Loved the salmon and the tart (first time eating black pudding - mmmm)

Very good. Maybe main course not in a bowl, but 9/10 for everything else.

Execellent night thank you!! Loved the pastry course - THANKS

Fantastic!  (less pork next time)

I have do confess was quite a porky menu!! I'll change that for the next one!! - ferdie

The food was fantastic, morcilla was amazing. I enjoyed the relaxed nature of the evening, and did I say the food was amazing!

Very Impressed. I'm a big fan of black pudding so loved the morcilla + atmosphere was very relaxed. All in all a hugely enjoyable night wilt great food Thank You. 

The Location - Adgate East - Underground!!!

 

Video Recipe: Roasting a Ribeye Joint of Beef to Perfection

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

This is a beautiful cut of beef, personally I think a good ribeye steak is pretty hard to beat!! (Wistfully dreams of all the different cuts of beef and ways of preparing it hmmmmm, post on roasting fore rib, bone in cooing soon!)

Here's my video of how to roast a ribeye joint (by the way 3kg will easily feed 12 people):

Roasting a Ribeye Rare - Video

How To Cook A Rib Eye Roast Rare

And the moral of the story is??? Never do a video shoot the day after a stag do . . . . . . bad idea!!

Anyhoo here are a few more details that aren't explained in the video:

At ferdiesfoodlab we actually rest it from 15 minutes to 30 minutes while it's sat on top of the oven to keep the joint up to temperature. The purpose of resting the meat is two fold, to give an even distribution of moisture (juices) and an even distribution of temperature. That is to say the juice from the centre of the joint travels to the outer more roasted less moist part of the joint, making it juicier, and the heat travels to the cooler centre giving a more even temperature throughout the joint.

ingredients (serves 10 - 12)

"The best roast beef I've EVER eaten" - James (Camera man)

for the beef
3kg joint of ribeye beef
olive oil
salt

apparatus / equipment
Temperature probe.

beef (180C / 40m-55m)
This has to be the simplest recipe I've ever posted. Good quality ingredients are key, we use a 28 matured ribeye.

Coat the beef in oil and salt and, using a hot frying pan, (or in the roasting dish - even better) brown the outside of the beef.
Place into a preheated oven for 40 - 55 minutes. I always probe the joint after 40minutes. Variation in the size of the joint means that they all cook at different speeds. At ferdiesfoodlab we aim for medium rare, 45C at the centre. Don't forget it will continue to cook a little once you've taken it out. 45C = Rare, 55C = Medium, 65C = Sacrilege. I mean well done ; )


what could go wrong?
Overcooked it!! Arse! Keep an eye on the core temperature of the joint with a thermometer, the smaller the joint the faster it will cook so check it after 20 minutes if using a 1.5kg joint for example.

The probe said 65C but when I carved the joint it wasn't cooked in the middle?? When probing for temperature make sure the tip of your probe is in the centre of the beef and that it hasn't gone all the way through to the other side where the meat will be a higher temperature giving you the impression that the joint is more cooked than it is!!

to serve
Make sure your plates are hot, plate roasties or chips then veg, then the beef and jus/sauce.
We serve this with Liquorice Salt and White Tomato Emulsion to accompany the beef and roast potatoes with ginger carrots. It's a real crowd pleaser!

 
variations
A friend of mine Ramirez, does a nice variation. He likes to add about 4 cloves of garlic into the roasting tray and with a 10g of thyme and about half a bottle of red wine. He also coats the beef with anchovy fillets, which gives it a nice salty crust! When the beef is finished cooking put it to one side to rest. Just before you serve, add a touch more wine to the baking tray and bring it to the boil scraping all the crusty bits off the side to make a tasty sauce, pass it through a sieve, then back to the tray. Take 50g of butter cut into cubes and stir it in to give you a sumptuous sauce to pour over the beef. Result!

links
One of the great things about roast beef is leftovers!! You can use the leftovers for the obvious beef sandwich, or for any number of recipes, maybe one of these if you fancy:

Cambodian beef salad and chips




                                     Herefordian beef pho

Ski Series - Recipe: Banana Tatin w/ Banana Creme and Passion Fruit Sorbet

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab 

Banana Tatin w/ Passion Fruit Sorbet & White Chock Whisky Sauce - Verbier version

I cobbled this recipe together one evening, sat on the balcony listening to the chatter from the balcony above, and looking over the resort, it was the first week and I hadn't really got a complete menu together, and was stressing out a bit. I've kinda constructed it out of all the desserts I'd made before, and a leftover sauce (whiskey and white choc) I had from the previous night! The flavours go well together, and I developed it a little further for the foodlab menu.

Banana Tatin w/ Passion Fruit Sorbet & White Chock Whisky Sauce - ferdiesfoodlab version

apparatus
swiss roll tin,
ice cream machine / food processor / alpine mountainside

for the banana tatin - (Bake 10-15m @ 200C / G6) 
4 bananas (cut into rounds 2.5 cm long) see tip on ripeness (6 pieces per banana serves 8 @ 3pp)
300g puff pastry cut into 5x5cm squares (35x23)
100g sugar
100g butter
2 tbsp water (optional)

for the banana crème
400ml crème anglaise (custard)
75ml whiskey
125ml white chocolate (broken into small pieces or grated)
banana offcuts from the banana tatins
 
for the passion fruit sorbet 
200ml orange juice
150g sugar
4 star anise
50ml glucose
1 1/2 gelatine leaves
500ml passion fruit juice

banana tatins
Peel the bananas and cut off 3cm from each end. Keep the offcuts for the banana creme, then cut the remaining bananas into six pieces each; each piece should be 2.5cm / 1inch approx.

Pre-heat the oven and put the swiss roll tin in. TIP - This is so it's hot when the caramel hits the tin and the caramel remains liquid.

Lay the banana rounds out flat and cover each with a square of pastry. If you like, trim them so they're neat and round. Personally I like them a little scruffy, and I love a bit of extra pastry ; ) Put them into the fridge until required.

Next make the caramel, put the sugar into a pan, spread evenly and take to a light brown caramel, don't stir it, simply shimmy the pan a little to move it around if required. Remove swiss roll tin from the oven and pour the caramel into it, then add in the tatins banana side down.

If you want to do then sliced lengthways do them at 180C/G4/20-25m.


banana crème
Warm the custard to 80C, then turn off the heat and add the white chocolate, stirring until smooth, then add the whisky.
To make the banana creme, blend the ends of the banana with a dash of milk or cream and then add into the white chocolate and whisky custard blend until smooth. Job done.
 
passion fruit and star anise sorbet
Mix the orange juice, sugar, star anise & glucose in a pan and bring to boil, then simmer for 5mins.
While the juices simmer, soak the gelatine in water, until soft. Remove, and squeeze out the excess water.
Take the mix off the heat and stir in the gelatine until completely dissolved.
Add passion fruit juice, and cool.
Chuck it in an ice cream machine until it's at the desired consistency, or if you happen to be in the Alps, pop the lid on and put it in a drift outside, stirring frequently until set! Then move to the freezer.
Put in fridge for 10 mins before serving so that it softens!!

to serve
Spoon the banana creme onto a plate and spread it in a smooth line, dot with passion fruit. Place a banana tatin at one end and a quenelle of passion fruit sorbet at the other. Serve immediately.

tip: At the start of making the caramel, adding a couple of tablespoons of water helps.  You can add more if you want, it will evaporate off during the process. Spread the caramel mix out evenly to start, don't stir the caramel after that, crystals on the spoon can cause the mix to crystallise.

tip:  If cutting the banana lengthways, a less ripe banana will hold together much better, and complement the  caramel. This is less important if you're cutting it into rounds since they don't present any "falling apart problems" when serving and the sharpness of the mango balances the dessert.

Technique / Recipe: How to cut a steak for a sandwich! (this cut will even chop up a tin can! Look!)

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

(read in a cheesy, shopping channel presenter voice - you **will** buy this fantastic product!)
(Please note this is NOT an advertisement, there is nothing for sale here!!)

Steak sandwich. Nice bread, nice steak, a touch of butter, maybe a little mayo and some fresh ripe sliced tomatoes! Total and utter bliss! Specially on a summer's day in the garden with a cold beer, when you're hungry, having spent the day getting the party ready. Am I right?

Sit down, cold beer beside you, paper plate wobbling on your knee with some potato salad, tortilla chips, corn on the cob, maybe a piece of quiche and a little salad and a burnt sausage (rude not to). But what's on the plate is of no interest in comparison to the prize - the steak sandwich!! : )

Maybe if you're lucky you'll get that first bite out, chew away on that succulent meaty sandwich, you might even get that second bite of pleasure, little dribble of mayonnaise on your chin there, juices making the bread a little sticky? Of course they are what makes a really good steak sandwich.

But you know that sooner or later that steak sandwich is going to betray you: you'll take a bite and it wont come clean off, and you'll end up with a tomato sandwich in your hands, and a big chunk of beef dangling awkwardly from your chops! Quickly looking over your exposed steak eagle-eyeing the garden make sure nobody's witnessed the clumsiness, and a quick re-assembly job!!

Well, never again! With ferdie's tried and tested special sandwich steak cut, you'll be able to enjoy every bite of you sandwich with out fear!

It's a new, revolutionary method that works every time to give you guaranteed results, over and over again. Never again will you feel the embarrassment of pulling your steak out of your sandwich and almost dropping your quiche, never again will you have to suffer those knowing looks at your own BBQ, because with ferdie's special cut your steak will give it up to you every time go in for a bite!

Practise it in the comfort of your own home while no-one else is looking in the winter months, now half price!

We'll even throw in a duck cut, a meat readiness test - the thumb technique! and this proven meat hammering technique for free!

ingredients (make 2 sarnies)
2 tbsp mayo (mayo recipe)
2 ripe buffalo tomatoes (cut into slices)
4 slices of thick cut fresh loaf
2 2cm thick (at least) slices of your favourite cut of steak (ribeye for me!)
    (or could be 1 sirloin 1 ribeye or 1 rump 1 sirloin, etc, etc)

apparatus
1 sharp knife

method

Slice the bread ready for sandwiches, butter one side lightly, and put mayo on the other.

Lay the tomatoes onto the side with the mayo and place the other butter side slice awaiting steak!!

This is the circular part of a rib-eye steak, perfect for a BBQ / "burger"

Cut into the steak in parallel lines about 1cm apart cutting just over half way through the steak.

Slice the steak one way then flip it. And turn through 90 degrees, you can see where the cuts meet.

Turn the steak over, turning it through 90 degrees and do the same again, the cuts should be perpendicular to previous cuts.
 

I've flipped it over so you can see the cuts are only in one direction on each side! But are at 90 degrees to each other.

Be careful not to cut too far or it'll fall apart before it gets to the BBQ let alone your mouth!!

Season the steak, oil it and place on the BBQ or a hot, heavy based pan, turning once.
Place steak on the buttered slice of bread, let it melt the butter, then close the two sides together and serve!

Repeat for each sandwich : ) very happy days!

a couple of tips:
Note the steak will cook A LOT FASTER than an uncut steak which you can check using finger technique!
If you're using a pan, deglaze it with a touch of white wine and pour the juice over the steak before closing!
Because of the way the steak is sliced, it will take up a marinade a lot better. I like to leave mine over night covered in blended red pepper. The red pepper can be removed before cooking and fried with a little cream in the pan to make a great sauce!!
Use any marinade you like! Red pepper is my favourite! Simple, tasty!

Take a whole red pepper, rough dice and blend with 50ml of extra virgin olive oil

Dip steak into it.

Dip it in ALL the way!!

Leave it in the fridge for at least 2 hours to marinate. Then take it out and bring it to room temperature, and throw it on to a BBQ or a smoking heavy based pan! It will cook very quickly because of the cut, don't dwell!

If you're using a pan, deglaze it with a little white wine and add the remaining pepper marinade and a little cream to make a simple veloute! SAUCE!!

Serve with a little salad and devour, no problems!!!