Seasonal Ingredients

1.
Ingredient availability changes as the year goes on. This means things that were easy to get during the summer wont be so readily available in the autumn or winter months. The kinds of ingredients that are easily available or "in season" now is :-

Wild mushrooms- these are found in wooded areas but some are poisonous so you have to be sure you pick the safe to eat ones.

Duck- more specifically wild duck. The seasons are changing and wild ducks will start to migrate south so the availabilty of them won't last for long.

Cabbage- this is a good tasty vegetable which can be used in a variety of dishes.

Potatoes- these are a staple for most households in britain as they are fairly cheap and can be used in so many dishes.

Venison- this meat has risen in popularity due to its increase in availabilty and its rich gamey flavour.


2.
A 2 course meal using these ingrients would be :-

Starter- Pan fried duck breast with wild mushrooms risotto(sounds like a lot but the portion size would be small to accomodate the dish being a starter)

Main course- Venison casserole


3.
The local availability of these ingredients is pretty good if you are willing to travel a short distance.
http://www.farmshop.uk.com/local-area/scotland/renfrewshire/inverclyde/

here are a few links to websites of local suppliers :-
http://www.visitscotland.com/info/food-drink/greenock-farmers-market-p301761
http://www.auchengree.co.uk/
http://www.edenmill.co.uk/farm-shop

Top Tools

5 items i would consider a must have within the kitchen would be :

- decent set of sharp knifes - good knifes will make cutting, filleting and peeling alot easier

- weighing scales - needed to weigh ingredients accurately


- measuring jug - needed to measure out fluid quantities accurately



- colour coded chopping boards - needed to help minimise the possibility of cross contamination


- wooden spoon - needed to stir sauces and mix ingredients

Celeb chef

If i was a celebrity chef and had my own TV show it would be called Scott's pots. The show would mostly consist of me cooking several different dishes to show how it's done and how I would personalise it. There would also be a section near the end where I cook a dish that an audience member chose. Ocasionally I would have a guest chef with me as a treat for viewers. The guest chef would most likely be another top chef and we would both do the same dish and would show how we would each cook and present the dish. The audience would have the oppertunity to ask questions throughout the show. The show would have an hour long time slot.

Cook the Books

Rick Stein

So far he has written over 20 cookery books, most of them are centred around seafood with a few of them being more general e.g. Rick Stein's spain which is also a TV show.

One of his best recipes (chosen by him) is kuala lumpur chicken and prawn curry laksa

http://rickstein.com/



Valentine Warner

He has written two best selling books which tie in with his TV show "what to eat now". he also has a tv show called "coast to coast" which focuses heavily on regional seafood within britain.

One of his best recipes is barbequed sirloin with chimichurri sauce.

http://www.valentinewarner.com/



James Martin

James Martin has so far written roughly 15 books on a wide range of cooking. He has also had several TV shows and is now the host of Saturday kitchen, a Saturday mornign cooking show on BBC1.

A top recipe of his is wild boar pie with roasted parsnips.

http://www.jamesmartinchef.co.uk/pcc.asp?xpath=&xpathid=&lang=eng

 

My Ultimate Dinner Party

For my dinner party I have to choose 3 courses to prepare. For the first course I would serve salmon with a parmesan and parsley crust. This would be followed with chicken stuffed with haggis served with new potatoes, glazed baby carrots, baby sweetcorn and a whisky cream sauce. For the final dish I would serve sticky toffee apple pudding with caramel sauce and custard on the side.

The reason I chose these dishes is because they are things I enjoy to eat myself and they are fairly simple to prepare. For the starter I would only have a few simple things to do. First I would cut my salmon into portion sized pieces and then I would mix Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs and parsley in a bowl with one egg to help bind them together. Then I would put the crust mix on the salmon pieces and bake them in an oven for 12-15 minutes until the salmon was cooked and the crust was nice and golden.
 For the main course I would get my chicken breast and cut a pocket in each and fill it with the haggis and then I would skewer or tie the pocket shut and then either roast or poach the chicken. The potatoes would be simply boiled, the carrots would be cooked in a mixture of water and brown sugar to create the glaze and the baby sweetcorn would be boiled and then sauteed in butter to add flavour.
 For the dessert I would first make an apple puree by melting butter in a pan and adding peeled, chopped and cored apples with some sugar and water. this would cook for roughly 5 minutes. While that was happening I would make up a simple sponge mix. When the apple puree was done I would remove any lumps and mix well to ensure it was the correct consistency. I would then add this to the cake mix and steam for an hour. To make the caramel sauce I would add butter and sugar to a pan and when it was melted and well combined I would add cream .

The venue for my dinner party would be the Burj Khalifa in Dubai because it is the tallest man made structure in the world

The guests for my dinner party and the reasons for choosing them would be :-
. Will Smith - he is a top actor and is very funny
. Robert Downey jr - hes iron man and sherlock holmes
. Al Pacino - hes one of my favourite actors of all time
. Ryan Giggs - he has been a top footballer for near 20 years and is a great example to youngsters on the rewards of following your dream
. Michael McIntyre - hes hilarious and would lighten the whole mood
. Rick Stein - he's one of my favourite chefs and could give me tips on how to improve myself