our first featured item

A Tale of Two Demos

His soufflés from the Baby Belling in Canterbury came out looking equally as perfect as those from the Wolf in Kingston.

James says the secret is “bought in custard” - personally I think the secret is more likely to be huge talent and years of experience.

Dishes were the same at both venues, with minor variations.  Not surprising as they were chosen to showcase his range of Wahl mixers and electrical equipment.  A range which has grown over the past five years, the latest addition being a digital steamer.

“It’s been genetically modified”, he joked, as he held up a de-boned poussin by its wings, jiggling it about for maximum comic effect!  “And this one’s on special offer from Bernard Matthews”, a reference which, at that particular time, was enough to ‘bring the house down’.

James has a sense of humour which the fans adore and he combines it to great effect with his immense cooking skills.  His demos are always a master-class and his teaching is made much more effective by being delivered with a sense of fun.

The dish that the little birds were destined for was Chicken with a Muscat and Grape Risotto, a recipe developed for one of his new books.  And the secret of a good risotto? …… according to James it’s proper rice, plenty of stock and mascarpone added just before the end.

~*~

Aylesbury Civic centre had probably never seen anything like it before and James seemed genuinely surprised that the venue was packed with all tickets sold weeks before the event. His audience was delighted by his new recipes and the front row got quite used to being showered in crushed garlic each time he whacked a clove with a heavy pan. 

~*~

After the poussin came the scallops.  “Hand dived”, insists James, because they are cleaner!  “Dredging”, he says, not only “damages the sea-bed” but also “frightens the scallops”.  “They see the nets coming, go Jesus Christ what’s that, start flappin about and get full of grit!”  His impression of a scallop flapping about was so life-like, that he just had to have been practising.  

The scallops, each in its single shell, were topped with a mixture of white crab meat, crème fraiche and spices.  A puff pastry circle pressed on to the shell made the dish into a little tartlet.  Before popping them into an oven James asked his home economist to give them an egg wash, she seemed rather unprepared for this and did a quick ‘exit stage left’, coming back with some liquid in a small bowl.  After standing over her, watching for a little while James asked, “what’s that”.  “Milk”, she replied.  “So my egg wash is more of a milk wash then”, he teased, smiling!

But James can take the mickey out of himself as well as his assistants.  Half way through the cooking he noticed some pancetta still on the tray and as he served the Scallop and Crab tartlets on a bed of salad he said, “of course what you could have added, and what’s in the recipe, is some pancetta”!

~*~

Fans never tire of watching James with his sugar-work, but they were so engrossed you could have ‘heard a pin drop’ when he demonstrated his technique for testing if his boiling sugar had reached its ‘soft ball’ stage.  Take a bowl of iced water, dip your fingers in, steel yourself, - “if you’re gonna do this you gotta be quite quick”, he said with a cheeky grin, - pop your fingers in the boiling sugar, pick up a tiny amount and drop it back into the iced water.  You should be able to mould the syrup into a soft ball!

He needed the sugar for marshmallows, made even more delectable by adding raspberries and serving with a rich chocolate fondue.  Vanilla and Ginger Cheesecake, developed for the new ‘Desserts’ TV series, featured dried and crumbed gingerbread placed on top of the filling, not at the base.  This dainty dish was topped with strawberries and served with more strawberries warmed in balsamic vinegar.

Seasoned with Humour

a report from a demo in Aylesbury

Supplementing the familiar format of recipes and anecdotes is a welcome ‘basics’ section covering everything from tuiles, through chocolate and sugar work, to dried and glace fruits.  Detailed photos of himself, in a series of white shirts, help to de-mystify some of the techniques used to prepare the delicious desserts featured in this book.

 

Avid followers of the James Martin style of cooking will recognise perfected versions of recipes first seen on TV and there are a few duplicates from earlier books, his signature dish and the infamous strawberry gateau amongst them.  Some old favourites have been given a new twist, like the summer pud with clotted cream inside!

~~~

Whilst I suspect many readers will be drawn instinctively to Hot Puddings like chocolate fondant with mint froth, the chapter on Cold Puddings and the one on Tarts and Flans hold some real treats.  From the simple cheesecake and syllabub, through grown-up jellies to the delice and the classic lemon tart.

 

In his introduction to the book James regrets the decline in the traditional baking day but his Cakes and Bakes chapter gives more than enough incentive to revive it, from cookies, brownies, scones and muffins to a carrot cake impressively decorated with tuiles and pulled sugar.

~~~

As always, the little stories that go with each recipe bring a smile or a memory, his mention of his mum’s rabbit mould for jellies sent me scurrying to the back of the pantry in search of the one I inherited from my gran and his advice to cover the pets in newspaper, if you’re going to try spun sugar, gave visions of JB wrapping up the goats, the kittens, the dogs …….

 

Fans have been asking for this book for years and James has certainly done justice to his subject.  It is bigger and fatter than any of his previous books and I fear many of us will be bigger and fatter after trying the wide selection of desserts.  It’s good to see so many classic and regional recipes revived and given a slight twist and it’s good to see real old fashioned fruits like crab apples and quince being used.

~~~

Now I have to buy a bigger ice-cream machine, my little one is just not going to cope with all the new recipes he has devised for ices and sorbets.  I’ll be trying the apple one first I think! 

James Martin Desserts

The one he’d been waiting 10 years to write!

The Great British Village Show Cookbook

With chapters on “Puddings & Pastries”, “Cakes & Biscuits”, “Savoury Breads & Pickles” and “Chutneys Jams & Jellies”, this book has taken its inspiration from the “Village Show” series.

There are references throughout to the fruits and vegetables which were on show and in competition at the events, with many of the recipes reflecting the kind of baking and preserving that village shows are traditionally all about, some coming from stall holders or the contestants themselves.

Main courses, starters and light meals are wider ranging and take in recipes from “Digs Deep” and some of his other TV shows.  A version of his poached salmon and nasturtium salad is here as are escalopes of salmon with sorrel and the pan-fried halibut with glazed carrots that he cooked for Charlie Dimmock. 

A welcome inclusion among the new recipes is the poussin dish from Aylesbury.

As with some of his other cookbooks there are duplications of recipes from his previous books, but I suppose that is almost inevitable given that this is his seventh offering!

There are some really delicious, summery recipes here, created from his love of fresh, seasonal ingredients, and as with his previous book, it will foster a love of passionate, farmhouse baking. 

However, there has to be a danger that, after “Desserts”, it may come as something of an anti-climax, which would be a shame as it was first due to be published in February and has been held back to fit in with TV schedules.

At the back of the book a comprehensive Resources Directory will be very useful, not just for tracking down ingredients such as Lincolnshire Poacher cheese and Arbroath Smokies, but also for gardening supplies and cooking equipment.

Listing Recommended Varieties of fruit and veg is another good idea for those hoping to grow their own.  I can’t say I agree with all the choices, the Strawberry section includes Aromel, which has some of the most tasteless fruits ever developed, but it also lists Royal Sovereign which has superbly flavoured berries.

Throughout the book there are some lovely photos of James tending his garden and in his kitchen, together with small pieces on each of the shows and the judging for each of the classes. 

For links to more formal pics go to archive in Chef’s Pantry.

It is, of course, a superb cookbook, but there was an opportunity for it to have been so much more!

Never-the-less fans who took their produce to any of the heats will be disappointed that there are not more photos from these events.

Pics from Dyffryn Gardens

JAMES  MARTIN  NEWS-SHEET

While The Forum Is Closed We Shall Be Open

Digging Deeper

The Collection

All his favourite recipes in one volume.

So you’re one of the growing army of James Martin fans who, since his SCD days, have searched out and bought all his older cook-books.  Why would you shell out for this one, when there are no new recipes in it?

Well several reasons, really!

Firstly the lay-out.  The book is divided into a couple of dozen sections with titles such as ‘roasts’, ‘grills & fry-ups’, ‘pies & tarts’ ……. who could resist? 

This approach does make finding what you’re looking for, easier than in some of his earliest books.

As with all his publications, the recipes are accompanied by stunning photography.  Some of this is new, some is not.

Some of the photos which are new give another reason for buying the book, whether they are of the ‘truly new’ variety or whether they are previously unused material from earlier photo-shoots.

 

Fans who are completely new to James’s books will find this a good one to start with, his down-to-earth and accessible style of writing, with little anecdotes for each recipe has been kept and he has written new material for the introduction.

Favourite dishes from his first five books are packed in to this 400 page volume, from soups to sweets, salads to sauces, shellfish to stews.  Recipes easy to prepare, and utterly delicious to eat, for breakfast to bedtime.  There is even a section for vegetarians!!

What there isn’t, is material from ‘Desserts’ or ‘GBVS’, both of these were with different publishers.

 

Despite already having James Martin’s ‘complete works’ on my kitchen bookshelf, as separate volumes, I spent a very happy few hours leafing through my copy of ‘The Collection’ when it arrived.  As a reminder of dishes you may not have made for a while, or ones you were going to make and never got round to, it serves very well.  So well, in fact, that you may find yourself referring to this one more often than some of the original ones!