Whats the Chef cooking this week?

This weeks recipe is a very much tried and tested Parmesan Chicken Breasts with Crispy Posh Ham. I have cooked this dish on a number of occasions in Bristol for my family and friends.

Being in the Catering recruitment business it is important that I keep myself in the chef industry. Having worked with various levels of catering staff in North Somerset and the Cotswolds I am always interested in seeing how different caterers prepare their food to high volume. So here is a great recipe that can be easily made for Wedding parties, Birthday celebrations or outside Catering events.

Ingredients
30g Parmesan cheese
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 skinless chicken breasts, preferably free-range or organic
freshly ground black pepper
I lemon
6 slices of prosciutto
olive oil

To prepare your chicken
• Grate your Parmesan
• Pick the thyme leaves off the stalks
• Carefully score the underside of the chicken breasts in a criss-cross fashion with a small knife
• Season with a little pepper (you don’t need: salt as the prosciutto is quite salty)
• Lay your breasts next to each other and sprinkle over most of the thyme leaves
• Grate a little lemon zest over them, then sprinkle with the Parmesan
• Lay 3 prosciutto slices on each chicken breast, overlapping them slightly
• Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining thyme leaves
• Put a square of cling film over each breast and give them a few really good bashes with the bottom of a pan until they're about I cm thick

To cook your chicken
• Put a frying pan over a medium heat
• Remove the cling film and carefully transfer the chicken breasts, prosciutto side down, into the pan
• Drizzle over some olive oil
• Cook for 3 minutes on each side. Turning halfway through, giving the ham side an extra 30 seconds to crisp up

To serve your chicken
• Either serve the chicken breasts whole or cut them into thick slices and pile them on a plate
• Serve with some lemon wedges for squeezing over, and a good drizzle of olive oil
• Lovely with mash and green veg or a crunchy salad!

Foot Note: I like to serve this with sweet potato mash and a mustard sauce. This is a really easy dish to make and it wows your friends making them think you have some really good catering skills.

Chef Agency makes a new recipe

As a Catering recruitment agency it is important to have a good knowledge of Chef skills and Chef work. In Bristol I have worked as a Chef de Partie in a few different restaurants and in Bath I had the Sous Chef job in a Hotel.

With various Chef work and Chef Jobs in North Somerset and South Wales I am still keeping on with my new year Catering recruitment blog and have cooked a Minced Beef Wellington.

Ingredients
1 Medium Onion
1 Carrot
1 Stick of celery
1 Potato
2 Cloves of garlic
2 Large Portobello mushrooms
olive oil
4 Sprigs of fresh rosemary
A Big handful of frozen peas
1 large egg,
500g good-quality minced beef
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Plain flour, for dusting
500g Puff pastry, chilled

To prepare your mince
• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4
• Peel and chop the onion, carrot, celery and potato into I cm sized dice
• Finely grate the garlic
• Clean and roughly chop the mushrooms so they're about the same size as your other veg
• Place all the veg into a large frying pan on a medium low heat with 2 lugs of olive oil
• Pick the rosemary leaves off the woody stalks, finely chop them and add to the pan
• Fry and stir for around 8 minutes or until the veg soften and colour lightly
• Add the frozen peas and cook for another minute
• Put the vegetable mixture into a large bowl to cool completely (approx 20 mins)
• Crack the egg into a cup and beat it up
• Add the minced beef to the bowl with a good pinch of salt and pepper and half the beaten egg
• With clean hands, scrunch and mix up well

To roll and fill your pastry
• Lightly dust your clean work surface and rolling pin with flour and roll out the puff pastry so it is roughly the size and shape of a small tea towel
• Dust with flour as you go
• Turn your pastry so you have a long edge in front of you and place the mince mixture along this edge
• Mould it into an even, long, sausage shape
• Brush the edges of the pastry with a little of the beaten egg
• Roll the mince up in the pastry until it's covered completely
• Squeeze the ends together - it will look like a big Christmas cracker!
• Dust a baking tray with flour and place your Wellington on top
• Brush all over with the rest of the beaten egg
• Bake in the preheated oven for an hour until golden

To serve your Wellington
• Slice the Wellington up into portions at the table
• Lovely served with some lightly boiled or steamed greens, cabbage tossed in a little butter or mashed potato

Final Verdict: This dish went really well with steamed spinach with garlic. Next time I will add more vegetables to the recipe. I also think that this would taste good as a spicy meat wellington with chilli and kidney beans.

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.

Foot Note: Catering staff Bristol, Catering staff Bath, Chef, Chef hire, Chef agency, Waiting staff, wedding staff, bar staff, bar hire, permanent chef, contract catering, cocktail bar staff. South Wales, Cotswolds, North Somerset

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.

Another 2 Private party's catered for at the weekend

We supplied to a private wedding in Gloucester this Saturday and Sophie the bride was over the moon with the Bar Staff that we provided.

In Bristol we sent a group of waiting staff at an Indian 60th Birthday Party. All of the guests danced and were really happy with the service they received.

We are currently running a promotion on all private bookings being taken before the end of January. If you are looking for Bar Staff, Waiting Staff, Private Chefs or Cocktail makers we are offering a 10% discount.

To receive this 10% voucher just quote blog on your quote form before the 31st January. All payment needs to be received prior to the end of January to claim the discount.

We can supply catering staff of all levels in Bristol, Bath, North Somerset, South Wales and the Cotswolds.

So if you are planning to run your own Wedding, Birthday, Christening, Party or Celebration call today.

Christmas Catering Jobs

At Back-2-Front we are looking for skilled waiting and bar staff to join our team.

We currently have a number of catering positions available within Hotels, Restaurants and Sporting grounds.

If you have had experience within a busy restaurant or a top end hotel and are used to serving customers at a high calibre then we have work for you.

We have jobs in Bristol, Bath, Taunton, North Somerset, Chepstow, South Wales and in and around the Cotswolds.

To apply for a job within our catering agency visit our website and register through our online registration form.

Chef Jobs for Christmas

Back-2-Front are in the Christmas spirit and are currently looking for Chefs, Cooks and Kitchen Staff to join our ever expanding team.

If you have worked in Hotels, Restaurants or events and are either a Head Chef, Sous Chef, CDP or a component Cook we would like to talk to you.

We are currently looking for Chefs in Bristol, Bath, The Cotswolds and North Somerset.

To join our agency please visit our website and register online.