Catering agency makes gingerbread.

This week I decided to turn my Chef skills to baking a cake. I looked through several cooking books and spotted a yummy Classic Sticky Gingerbread.

I jotted down the ingredients and headed down to the Bristol catering supply shop. Once I got home I washed my mitts and cracked on with the cake.

Classic sticky gingerbread

225g/8oz butter, plus extra for greasing
225g/8oz light muscovado sugar
225g/8oz golden syrup
225g/8oz black treacle
225g/8oz self-raising flour
225g/8oz wholemeal self-raising flour
4 level tsp ground ginger
2 large eggs
300ml milk

1 Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.Cut a rectangle of non-stick baking parchment to fit the base and sides of a tray bake or roasting tin (30 x 23 x 4cm/ 12 x 9xI1/2in). Lightly grease the tin, then line it with the paper, pushing it neatly into the corners.

2 Measure the butter, sugar, golden syrup and treacle into a medium pan and heat gently until the mixture has melted, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool slightly.

3 Put the flours and ground ginger into a large mixing bowl and stir together lightly. Beat the eggs into the milk. Pour cooled butter and syrup mixture into the flour with the egg and milk mixture and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and tilt gently to level the surface.

4 Bake for about 50 mins, until well risen, golden and springy to the touch. Allow the gingerbread to cool a little in the tin, and then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Cut into squares.

Final verdict is: The consistency of the cake was very sticky and has kept for a week in a sealed container. I think that next time I will substitute half the treacle for syrup as the cake had a liquorice taste that I was not too keen on. I will also add crystallized ginger to the mix to add that little bit more spice.

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New Year, New Catering Blog

After the Christmas season has past and we have filled all of our waiting staff positions I sat down with a glass of cider and started to write my new year’s resolutions.

So what could I achieve this year that would make me feel better about myself and grow into a better person?

Well apart from the usual give up tobacco, eat healthy and exercise more I started to think a little bit into how I could make the Back-2-Front blog more interesting?

Rather than writing the usual Catering Staff, Bar Staff, Chefs and catering jobs in Bristol I decided that I would write a journal about another of my resolutions.

I am planning to cook a new dish every week this year and thought I would share the recipes with you.

So what delight am I going to start the New Year with?? Well I was given a Indian cook book for Christmas so let’s cook a Ruby :o)

This week I cooked a very tasty dish called Menthi Aloo.

The scented aroma and distinctive flavour of methi (fresh fenugreek) transforms any dish. Methi Aloo can be served with most Indian main meals. Methi can be bought from shops that specialize in Indian foods. I bought it from Asda

1 small onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2.5 cm (1 in) piece of ginger, roughly chopped
80 ml (3 fl oz/Vs cup) oil
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
600 g (1 Ib 5 oz) potatoes, cut into cubes
2 green chillies, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
3 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 bunches of methi (about 140 g/5 oz of methi leaves),
roughly chopped unsalted butter (optional)

Put the onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor and chop together, but not to a paste, or chop with a knife and mix together.

Heat the oil in a karhai or heavy-based frying pan over medium heat and fry the onion mixture until softened.

Stir in the turmeric. Add the potato and chilli and fry for 5 minutes. Add the chilli, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper and stir for 1 minute.

Add 2 tablespoons water to the pan, cover, reduce the heat and simmer. As the potato cooks, it might start sticking to the pan, so after 10 minutes, add 2 more tablespoons of water if necessary. At no stage should the potato be allowed to brown.

After 10 minutes, stir in the methi and cook over low heat for 15 minutes, or until the potato is soft. Season with salt, to taste. Serve with a knob of unsalted butter melted on top if you like.

Final verdict is: I loved this dish. So much I actually cooked it again 2 days later. I will be adding this to my recipe book and will be cooking it when I next have guests around.

So here is the foot note which is all about Chefs in Bath, Cotswolds, North Somerset and Bristol. Full time Chef positions are rolling in so get your CV to us via our website.