Bream Team cook for The Point People

 A week after our first Bream Team dining extravaganza, one of our brilliant dinner guests, Cassie Robinson approached us to cook and host a working dinner for the Point People, a group of intelligent, creative people working for various organisations and projects, and interested in the grey spaces of collaboration. We were chuffed to bits that not was someone asking for us to cook for them, but that they were actually willing to hire us for the job! Last thursday, we hosted said dinner at the Deptford Project, an amazing place whose centre point is an old rail car-turned-cafe. Compared to our rather extravagant first dinner, this time around we created a paired down, picnic-inspired menu in the hopes of rustling up some summer spirit as rain and wind pelted the windows of the converted rail car that was our dining room.

To get the Point People's working dinner off on the right foot, we served up a 2x4 of hors d'oeuvres - melon wrapped in prosciutto with agave nectar and black pepper, and sauteed halloumi with fresh sage and warm apple, finished with a squirt of lime for them to nibble as they got down to business.

Compared to our last dinner, which consisted of five courses in which nearly everything needed to be prepared moments before serving, we made our job a lot more manageable for a weekday meal by creating a mainly cold main, which was mostly prepared before we arrived (this turned out to be a good call, as it actually freed us up to sit and chat with our diners, instead of roasting away in the kitchen). 

Tom working the double sautee

Flower pot bread

So after a bit of oven time for our last bits of the main course, we were ready to plate up -

teacups of gazpacho

a duck, pork, and pistachio terrine with pistachio pesto, apple, and caperberries

watercress salad with lemon mustard vinaigrette

honey roasted ham

a spinach and smoked salmon tartlet

malted flower pot bread loaves

and for the vegetarian and wheat-free of the group, a summer vegetable gratin.

As we hurried the remnants of the main course away, we prepared for our extra special dessert. Why extra special? Well, Tom is currently working on a project called Meet Market - a project aimed to help train young people in the art of entrepreneurship through creating and running their own market stalls. One of the young people currently working with them is an especially talented young woman named Rav, who is in the midst of setting up her own cupcake business. We asked her to supply the main part of our dessert, and boy did she deliver (I highly recommend her to anyone looking for cupcakes in East London)! 

Aren't these stunning!?

To go along with Rav's beautiful and delectable cakes (of course we had to test a couple earlier in the day...), we made homemade peach and lavender ice cream and rose salt meringues, all of which went down a treat. 

It was a tremendous first venture into some type of catering, and the response we got was pretty overwhelming. A huge thanks to Cassie for giving us a chance. 

The more of this I do, the bigger a buzz I feel from each one, not to mention the bubbling anticipation to plan the next one. 

Speaking of next ones, what are you doing the last weekend in July?.... 

Nice Vol 2.: Eating Out

So while a fair amount of cooking and eating was done in our airy, modern apartment, one can't go to Provence without testing the local food fair. I must say that in general, the food didn't blow me away quite as much as I'd anticipated, but still, with fresh, beautiful ingredients that come so naturally to the area, even the mid range meals weren't too shabby.

Moules Marinière

Canard w/ honey 

Nougat Glacée - quickly to become my new dessert of choice

Lots of gelato consumed (and an ecstatic brother...)

Salade niçoise - bien sure!

Monaco Ice Cream (before I lost my fortune at the casino...)

True seafood, and my first oyster

Beautiful salmon tartare

More gelato...

Medaillon de boeuf aux champignons

MORE nougat glacée... (I also happen to be eating nougat right now.)

By far the best meal of the trip!
Poached monkfish with a coconut lemongrass sauce,
vanilla fondant potatoes and almost melting vegetables
From Papayou - highly recommend!!

Mango and pineapple crumble

So there's a whirlwind of food! It would be a bit tedious to go through them all in detail, but needless to say, we ate well.

Nice Vol. 1 - Eating In

I went on holiday to Nice, France the other week with my family - the first time since Christmas that we were all on the same continent, and we descended upon the South of France all very much in need of a respite from our respective bustling lives.

The view from our micro balcony, not too shabby

My goals for the week were simple:
- Enjoy being with my family
- Successfully read a whole book
- Lounge on the beach

and of course,

- Indulge in as much southern French cuisine as I could handle in a 7 day trip

I'm delighted to say all were accomplished (finishing not one, but TWO books during the week), but particular esteem must be given to the final goal - we ate, drank, slurped, devoured and gorged ourselves on everything in our midst.

I should also mention that for our last two holidays, my family and I have come to an arrangement - on meals in, I do the cooking, and they do the cleaning. It's a pretty brilliant situation in my opinion, as I get to play with local ingredients and talk my time and enjoy the slow, lilting rhythm that is vacation cooking. The kind of cooking where time is not matter, vegetables are chopped in time with the chirping (ok squawking in our case) of birds, and creativity with your limited holiday rental kitchen supplies makes for interesting cooking methods.

Because this was France in the spring time, I nearly melted when I spotted the local produce - varieties of heirloom tomatoes I haven't seen since working on an organic farm in uni and in quantities I'd never seem before, delicate courgettes with the flowers still attached and blooming (more on that later) - peaches and strawberries that make my mouth water just thinking about their supple flesh. Right, getting carried away, needless to say, with ingredients like these, there was little need for complexity with the week's meals. Between the market, our butcher just downstairs (who also had some of the best goat's cheese I have ever tasted), a little wine merchant down the street, and a boulangerie around the corner, we were set for the week.

Rather than drag on with over-indulgent memories of each individual meal, I'll just show you the summary -

Real tomatoes

Warm green bean and shallot salad, lots of cheese and
saucisson, and my brother reading in the background 

Steak, roasted sweet potato wedges, and green beans w/ red wine jus

Peach and blueberry tart

Shit load of roasted vegetables

Saucisson and some of the best damn goats cheese you'll find

A resurrection of a Bream Team classic with a twist -
peach and almond tart w/ apricot glaze

German and tiger striped in one bowl, heavenly

Remember those courgette flowers? I fried them.

Baby courgette and shallot quiche
(my first quiche as well!)

Leftovers on the last day

These ingredients, prepared simply (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, s&p and thyme was the contents of my cupboard), and accompanied by bread, cheese, meat and wine created by local craftsmen who do what they do best made for meals that required little input from me to keep the family happy and clearing their plates. Its amazing what a difference real, quality ingredients make, and how difficult they are to find, even in a foodie metropolis like London.

I'll be dreaming of those German striped tomatoes for months to come...

(Stayed tuned to Vol. 2 - Eating Out shortly for what we dined on outside the flat...)