Purnell's: The Book

...Cracking Yolks & Pig Tales

Naturally I couldn't leave the establishment without my signed copy!

A cursory glance tells me that it's not just a book of recipes but Mr. P's story from the beginning – it's funny and interesting too.

The recipes from the lunch are all in there – others have caught my attention so I think I'll be trying one or two on your behalf.

I'll leave you with a collage from the day and hope you've enjoyed it too.

Thank you Kareem for your kind invitation.

Purnell's: Desserts

I've never been served a pre-dessert before – clearly I need to get out more.  All I can say is it was worth the wait and then some.

I mentioned in the Bucket List post that Mr. P. won the dessert category in the Great British Menu with ….”burnt English cream surprise”. Well here it is served alongside a winter Rhubarb Trifle – the only difference now is that its complete title adds 10/10/10 – that's the score it was given – a perfect one.

Finally two large bowls were placed on the table – they were decorated with dried foliage – not really clear what sort at this stage.  I ought to have made the connection – the final dessert course was Mint choccy chip – mint – aerated chocolate.  I'm sure you've guessed what happened next, but here's a photo.  The dried foliage was of course dried mint and the smell was wonderful.

If it's possible to choose a favourite then for me it has to be ...”10/10/10” - out of this world – I could have eaten a bucket full and I don't do desserts.

Wow!

Purnell's: Bring on the mains!

The Roast Balmoral venison was a popular choice – once again when the dish was served it was so beautiful it was almost a shame to spoil it by eating it!

The waiter had stated that all the venison would be served medium rare.  Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow.  I know that two of our party would never order meat cooked medium rare – indeed one of the party had never eaten venison either.  Verdict – converted – on both counts.  The moral of this story is embrace the experience – take a leap into the unknown - you never know what might happen!

Now for my main.  I was asked when the booking was made and again on the day about dietary requirements and allergies in respect of my vegetarian main.

This is what I was served :

The dish is Carrots cooked in vadouvan, pickled & raw carrots, coriander & coconut emulsion, sweet carrot purée and dried coconut  and was served with puy lentils.  I also tasted the Indian red lentils served with the Monkfish masala – delish.

I said in the penultimate paragraph of A tick off the Bucket List! Mr. Purnell was in the kitchen, in charge of the lunch service.  Now it's not very often that I am lost for words, but was most definitely when I realised that the person dressing my main course was the man himself – a perfect day.  There was no circus, no fuss – he was pitching in, helping to serve and I just got lucky. It's probably as well that I couldn't speak – far less embarrassing than burbling rubbish.

By the way – for those who'd like to know, vadouvan is a blend of spices - a French “take” on a masala with added shallots and garlic.

Purnell's: The Beginning

The ambience is lovely and the staff are too – really friendly and welcoming.

After being seated in the private dining room, your attention is drawn to two bowls, each containing what look like four extra strong mints. You are warned that these lozenges are not to be eaten – watch this space.

Having chosen our particular lunch menu ahead, the final order takes no time at all – the only outstanding choice is mine – the vegetarian main – which was to be decided upon, on the day – all will be revealed!

It's difficult to know where to look for fear of missing something.

Appetisers are brought in – a board with Pain de Campagne (a perfect combination of the lightest bread texture with a crust to die for) and whipped salted butter – rock salt in a tiny pyramid for those who indulge – the simplest things in life are the best. Then there are bowls which have hot pebbles in the base, keeping the potato ball and a savoury, seeded tuile warm.

The “mint” mystery is about to be solved – hot water is poured into the bowls and magically four tiny white pillars rise and turn into hot gauze hand towels – genius – there's nothing like a spot of theatre to get your attention.

The majority of our party chose the beetroot mousse with horseradish crumble and salted beetroot – you've probably heard the expression, “a thing of beauty is a joy forever” (John Keats) - entirely fitting in this instance it was almost a shame to spoil it by eating it – almost!

It gets better ...

A tick off the Bucket List!

Most of us who have an interest in food – whether it's cooking it or just eating it - have a favourite Celebrity Chef. There are so many to choose from these days – some with Michelin stars, some not. For me, top of my list is Glynn Purnell. His restaurant Purnell's, is at 55 Cornwall Street, Birmingham B3 2DH – www.purnellsrestaurant.com.

I think he first came to my notice on the Great British Menu when in Series 3 in 2008 he won the dessert category with Strawberries with tarragon & black pepper honeycomb with burnt English cream suprise.

This week I was fortunate enough to be invited to Purnell's for lunch. Ahead of the game you're provided with menus – here's one example :

Starter

Beetroot mousse with horseradish crumble – salted beetroot

OR

Carpaccio of beef – red wine octopus – home cured beef

salt beef sour cream – sweet & sour onions

Main course

Monkfish masala – Indian red lentils – pickled carrots

cocounut – coriander

OR

Roast Balmoral venison – bordelaise – pomme dauphine – black truffle

Dessert

Pre-dessert

Burnt English custard egg surprise 10/10/10 -

winter “Rhubarb Trifle”

Followed by

Mint choccy chip – mint – aerated chocolate

I think you'll agree that some Celebrity Chefs reputations aren't particularly attractive – unapproachable and may be a little too big for their boots. Absolutely not the case here – what you see is what you get – a really nice guy.

Similarly with a lot of Michelin starred restaurants these days, the chance of you actually seeing the Chef is rare. Imagine the excitement when, watching the screen from the Private Dining Room into the kitchen – there he was – cooking!

I suppose what follows is my review of Purnell's and I hope you're sufficiently hooked to look forward to the next instalment.

A side and a soup

Next ten minutes ...

The side is Honey Roasted Beetroot using vac packed beetroot. You'll see from the recipe given below that it probably takes less than 10 minutes. Use another foil tray and bake it when your pie is in the oven.

Honey Roasted Beetroot

Balsamic vinegar – 2 tsp

Olive oil – 2 tbsp

Clear honey – 2 tbsp

Cooked beetroot – 500g

Salt and black pepper

Chopped fresh thyme – 2tsp or a sprinkle

of dried if you can't get fresh

You can use the vac packs of cooked beetroot available in the supermarket for speed - as an indicator I chose beetroot that is approximately the same size – a 300g vac pack gives you 8 small to medium beets, which I will then cut in half.

(If fresh beetroot is in season, choose beets of a similar size and roast in foil - @ 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for an hour and the test, leave to cool and then peel – this obviously does not apply to a “10 minute bite of time”).

Pre-heat your oven to 220c/200fan/425f/Gas7.

Mix together the thyme, vinegar, olive oil and honey in a bowl until well combined.

Cut the beetroot in half and place into the bowl with the honey mixture and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper.

Place the beetroot into your foil tray and roast in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the beetroot is sticky and glazed.

Here's another photo of the beetroot with the pie.

Next ten minutes …

Sweat a finely chopped onion in a glug of rapeseed oil (and an optional knob of butter) (with a leek if you have one lying around doing nothing – or a stick of celery will do) for 2/3 minutes.

Next ten minutes ...

Add the stock from slow cooking the gammon to the onions and leeks – you'll need 1 litre and you should have it – if not then add water. Add 150g of frozen peas and simmer for 5 minutes. Whilst this is simmering chop the remaining gammon into small chunks and add to your simmering liquid.

Add 250g of risoni and cook uncovered, for 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir occasionally. Adjust your seasoning, add a large dollop of double cream (from the tub you've leftover from making your Sauce Supreme) and sprinkle with chopped flat leaf parsley.

For those who aren't sure what risoni is, it's tiny pieces of pasta shaped like large grains of rice - also known as orzo.

So, by my reckoning from the chicken and the gammon you've got four ordinary or six smaller portions of Gammon, Chicken and Leek pie – whatever isn't eaten can be frozen in individual portions for another day.

Plus a hearty soup.

Final Next ten minutes ...

The bonus - remember the remaining stripped chicken. You should have at least 200ml of double cream left from the large tub you bought to enable you to make an Alfredo sauce (see Faff free Friday) perfect with the chicken and penne pasta.

10 minutes here, 10 minutes there - Part 2

Part 2 – The bites of time!

Your first ten minutes is taken up with slow cooking your whole chicken as described in Monday Chuck.

Next ten minutes …

When the chicken is cooked and cooled take off the two breasts, wrap and set aside. Put the stock into a jug, cover and “fridge”. Strip the remains of the chicken i.e. leg/thigh/wings, bag and fridge.

Next ten minutes …

Seal a gammon joint (smoked or unsmoked to suit your taste) and slow cook in vegetable stock (or chicken if you prefer).

Next ten minutes …

Remove the gammon joint and cool, wrap and fridge – reserve the stock in a jug, cover and fridge.

Next ten minutes …

Make your Velouté sauce and then your Sauce Supreme (Monday Chuck) using your stock from the slow cooked chicken – cool, cover and fridge. At the same time you can multi-task and sweat 2 leeks, sliced, in a glug of rapeseed oil and an optional knob of unsalted butter – this will take 2/3 minutes on a low heat. Cool, box and fridge. A note for your shopping list – buy a large carton of double cream i.e. 600ml – you'll use it.

Next ten minutes …

Assemble all your elements to create your pie. In a large mixing bowl place the two chicken breasts broken into chunks, add half the gammon joint, also broken into chunks. Add the leeks, fold in the sauce. Tip your pie filling into a foil tray – 24x24 cms (still 3 x £1 at Wilkos). Add black pepper. Top with sliced cooked jacket potatoes and sprinkle with grated cheese. (You shouldn't need any salt, you've already seasoned the Sauce Supreme and there's salt in the smoked gammon, the stock and in the cheese topping).

Bake in a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for 30 minutes until your cheese is golden. Freeze two portions individually, for another day.

If you were wondering what the finished pie looks like, here it is!