Yesterday I was tweeted by a Lucy who owns a farm opening up as a B& B soon. She had taken the time to read my blog and you can't imagine my surprise as tweeted me to say she'd added my book to her Amazon wish list! Surly she'd got it wrong.. I'm still developing the final recipes this week! I searched on Amazon to discover to my simultaneous delight and fright that yes my book Prepped! is indeed there to pre order! I called Alastair from upstairs who was putting the children to bed. All three children and Al came and stared at the screen. There is is. It took a good few minutes to explain to my 8 year old that she couldn't buy it right now and she really did have to go back to bed! I spoke to my publisher today who said that my BLAD is ready and they have announced the book to the trade. Blimey - I'd better finish it !!
So today I spent the afternoon developing the duck recipes. The first is a Roast Duck Breast with chinese five spice and Plum Brandy served with Noodles. Whilst roasting the duck for the noodles I prepped for the Chinese Duck tarts in filo pastry. They were seriously delicious. What has made my life so much easier is using the cool lights my husband bought me for my birthday present . and yes I know he also took me to Le Manoir .. but I am a princess after all !
There was one other really amazing things that happened today. I was called by a lady called Rebecca who works for Raymond Blanc. She had done a search for Sophie Grigson and found the photo I took of her in August and wondered if she could use it for Raymond's Blog post. I have to say that, like me, Sophie is never very keen on her photo being taken .. but his one is a stunning picture of her. I was of course delighted to agree and I was ticked pink to find Raymond had added my post about my meal at Le Manoir to his blog.
It's been a good day, despite the snow I've now got just 9 recipes to go until the book is complete. ( there is is still editing and testing to be done .. but in essence it is just a week away from the first stage being finished!)
To Pre order your copy Click here whilst I REALLY must finish writing the rest of the recipes up now!
I’m not a girl who is easily impressed.I’ve eaten some seriously good food, especially in the Dordogne. I have spent years eating in some of the top French restaurants.So when my friend Gill told me about the Menu Decouvert at Le Manoir it sounded to me a little like how I imagine heaven will be like - 9 courses ! I called four weeks in advance in August to book in good time for or 10 year wedding anniversary and to look for inspiration for flavours in Prepped. Where else to find inspiration than at the table of a master?I was gently told by the receptionist that the soonest I could reserve a table for was November. As it was we went to Le brassiere Blanc instead where we were lucky enough to meet Raymond Blanc… but that is another story! I booked for November 27th – My birthday weekend as it happened.
Finally the big day arrived.
We arrived at 12.30pm.It was freezing cold.My first view of Le Manoir immediately made me want to go inside, whether we had a reservation or not! The honey colored stone and the path draw you in to an atmosphere that felt like coming home.Huge Log fires crackled in the grates and easy relaxed staff had us sipping champagne in warm comfortable surroundings within minutes.The canapés were just the start of what was to follow.Each created as a morsel of perfection.I’m not going to break down the meal mouthful by mouthful. Not because it doesn’t deserve it … but because it is enough for me to say that I have never eaten a meal like it. Every crumb was perfection. Each mouthful was a delight and I have never been so captivated by balance in texture and flavour before.The whole meal was extraordinary.I could not find a single fault.Trust me I was looking! Not a smudge on a glass, not a grain of seasoning out, nothing, and I mean nothing whatsoever, was not prefect.
At the end of the meal I was lucky enough to be invited to take a tour of the kitchens where Gary Jones, the executive head chef introduced me to his team of chefs and talked both my husband and I through the most fabulously organised and well deigned kitchen I have ever seen.There was order.The calm professional operation of the front of house extended all the way to the engine.The kitchen purred like a well-tuned engine.It was the end of service and the staff were getting ready for the evening shift, but you could see that when the pressure mounted the kitchen would simple change gear but it would remain smooth.This is a chef lead restaurant.There was order calmness and perfection throughout.
If the truth is that there are many fine dinning restaurants you can choose from, but it wasn’t the food that made this meal one of the best dining experienced I’ve ever had - it was the whole that was in harmony.The building, the food and the people were balanced.The people were much part of the taste of Le Manoir as the dishes themselves, and it is this team of people that will have me returning time and time again - I can’t recommend it highly enough. It is, in every detail, faultless.
As we brace ourselves for the cold snap I have spent the day developing mince pies, eccles cakes and brandy butter. Any idea's of calorie restriction today have gone straight out of the window. The house smells of christmas and my youngest daughter has been my kitchen assistant for the day. I have just 19 more recipes to develop and my publisher will be coming on the 13th of December to pick the photo's and take the final book back to Oxford with them. - they have given me January to keep testing whilst the book is being edited.. so that is a relief - in the mean time I must write up the eccles cakes recipe before the school run!
Here's a recipe from the book . I thought I'd share it with Christmas is coming up time is getting shorter and shorter. For a time short foodie like me I absolutely want to make my own. But seeing as Christmas week I seem to rush about like my hair os on fire I often realise too late that I haven't made mince meat. This recipe is so quick and simple to make - it's happiness a pot as fa as I am concerned. Packed full of orange, spices and fruit - it tastes fantastic and what's more a jar in the fridge makes a super emergency gift - and you know you need that peace of mind of having one stashed - just in case!
Makes 2 x 440ml Jars
Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking 20 minutes
170 ml Brandy
200g soft brown sugar
170g dried cherries/ blueberries or mixture
300g Fresh Cranberries
200g of currents and raisins
30g peeled very finely grated fresh ginger
2 tsp mixed spice
juice and zest of 2 medium oranges
1 Vanilla pod cut into 4 pieces
1 Add the sugar and brandy into a large pan and warm gently.Add the fresh cranberries and cook gently for about 3 minutes.Stir well.
2 Tip the Dried fruit, ginger, mixed spice, orange juice and zest and vanilla and stir well.Cover and simmer very gently for about 15 minutes, stirring and checking occasionally.
3 Spoon into clean jars and store in the fridge.This keeps happily for up to 2 weeks.
Yesterday’s photo shoot was not in my kitchen.Aside from a houseful of children and the usual chaos of a family on a Saturday I wanted a photo of me taking cookies out of the oven.Well my oven is a low oven and despite taking several photo’s of me bending over to take cookies out of the oven I just seemed to be twice a big bent over and not at all lovely.Luckily my friend Emma does have an oven set into right height as well as a beautiful cavernous kitchen set in a fabulous Gothic Victoria house.It’s a stunner of a kitchen, she when she offered to lend me her kitchen I jumped at the chance!
It’s hard being photographed, but my photographer Tony does such a great job, and typically like most photographers he is happiest when behind the camera .. so I was lucky to get a couple of snaps of him to share!
As I finished the photo shoot I headed home and then out again to eat with friends.Tara is a raven hair gorgeous Irish girl, who, like me she has three children. She and her fabulous husband David decided to cook Alastair and I a meal by testing two of my recipes.It was such a treat, and despite being nervous about how the food was going to turn out I had looked forward to the meal all day. - and I needn’t have been nervous, because the meal was absolutely delicious, although it was rather surreal eating food that tasted exactly like mine .. but cooked by someone else.
Yesterday was just pure fun. And right now I've hardly got a minutes to write this post as I'm getting ready for the final photo shoot of the book! Mmm delicious - Orange and Clove. I got my copy in for my column in the Chronicle and Echo in the nick of time yesterday morning and then.cooked slow roast pork with orange and clove from Smiths Farm shop and then Lemon and Caraway Chicken Patties for the John Griff show I'm on after4 minutes- you can listen here for the next 6 days. Well it was Children in Need day so the radio Station was buzzing. Right .... I'm off to make myself look beautiful for the photo's. Oh this is Glam!
Once a month a restaurant pop’s up in the village of Pitsford. We turn the village hall into a restaurant and It’s all put together by the ladies of Pitsford village as a social gathering for the over 75’s.Anyone with out transport we taxi - pick them up and take home.We all share the cooking taking it in turns to cook either the main course or the pudding.For the past 3 years my friend and neighbor Lee has organized it and it is the highlight of many of our local residents social calendar.I’ve been involved and I have to admit I love cooking for it.
Today I wasn’t Happy with the Crème Brule it didn’t set as it should have done. But I was rushing to get it there on time.Really I should have made it yesterday but things are a little crazy at the moment with just over 3 weeks to get the manuscript in to the publishers.
So as I apologized to one of the ladiesdining about the consistency she smiled and said
You know what my love. You do need to make this again to get it right.It’s all about practice.So we’ll see you here the same time next week and we’ll tell you if you’ve improved any. .. well I have a month until the next one.. so we shall see!
As I write my own book I can’t help noticing the other books on the market.What is increasing obvious is that to stand out, a book has to have something extra.It is not enough just to be delicious these days.The recipe book consumer wants more. James Winter and James Bulmer have written Yes Chef.It is about 20 great British Chefs and has 100 recipes from them. It is fair to consider some of these top chefs as artists and whist this wonderful book certainly does give you a full display of food art, it was the superb introductions to each chef that caught my eye. This is certainly different enough to make me to want to introduce you to it.
Yes Chef gives a selection of recipes. Yes - they are all delicious. But what makes it work is a sense of personality behind each chef.The introductions give a sense of history, personality and influence in a way that makes you not only want to try the recipes .. but also reading about them made me want to head straight to the phone to book a table in the chef’s restaurant.
For instance Chef Matt Tebbutt learnt to Fly with the Air Squadron at Oxford Brooks University. The idea of a chef that can fly strangely made me want to try out his spiced poached pear with Gorgonzola honey so much more. Or Jason Atherton, who left home with out telling his mum what he was up to, as he headed to London to end up as one of tour leading chefs.Now doesn’t that bit of stubborn determined personality doesn’t make you want to try his Roast Rack of Lamb with Shepherds pie?
In this way the book is unique.There are plenty of delicious recipe books on the market but this book. Yes Chef, has a far tastier extra. This book has captured the flavor of the chef as a person, which makes it for me, a must read.
This is a post especially for Edd. I heard you are not well and seeing as you are one of my twiiter friends who help me along with my recipes and writing day so I thought I'd make this for you to make you feel better. It is interesting to read that according to www.ayurvediccure.com,(2009), cinnamon can be used with lots of different ingredients such as honey or sugar or water to intensify the defense system in the body to fight against bacteria, virus and fungi. Also www.Herbwisdom.com(2009), describes cinnamon as a very strong anti bacterial which suppresses most infections and also it is only second to “Clove” when comparing its anti bacterial quality.
So this toddy is the perfect solution for a rotten cold or flu.
1/2 pint water
1 stick of cinnamon
Juice of an orange
Juice of a Lemon
2 teaspoons of either honey or Sugar
Place all the ingredients into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and allow to cool for 10 minutes to seep the ingredients in . you can refill this with more hot waster and repeat . but it will need longer to infuse.
a tot of cinnamon & orange Brandy * just use ordinary brandy of you have none.
To make Cinnamon and Orange Brandy pour out a large Glass leaving about 750ml in the bottle.
Drop 1 /2 curls of Cinnamon in a bottle of brandy about half the rind of an Orange and refill the bottle with sugar.
Add a couple of cloves in and agitate each day for a week or so until the sugar dissolves.
The past week has been dotted with conversations, How is the book going and how many do you think you will sell?
The truth is the book will finish in much the same way as I do the school run. I will arrive just before the bell goes tyres not quite screeching .. but all the same I will feel relived to have got there in the nick of time.
How many will the book sell?
Well that is down to a few factors and one of which is dependent on getting on television. it would seem from talking to various people in the know as it were - that if I do get on TV with the book and the concept that will make it. Big. I'd be happy with medium just to ensure the book would be a seller … and if I don't it's possible the book royalties alone will not be enough to pay the bills. That really terrifies me. The idea of this amazing concept going unnoticed.
How exactly do you get on TV ?
Aside from being on the local Northamptonshire TV for an instant - I have to get noticed .. but where to start ? - Well I signed up for www.findaTVexpert.com - I will let you know if I get any results from this paid for service. It certainly promises to get the attention of producers with a unique concept. I also discovered that there are two main talent agents for cookery writers, so I've called both and sent in details about the book and myself, and now I shall have to do what I do worst.. sit and wait .. well actually sit and write up more recipes whilst waiting!
So I’ve put all my eggs in one basket.This is the risk .. and I am back to the photo that got me started. I have just one year to write not just a cookery book.. but not just write a book .. I must write a successful cookery book.
My eyes are being opened to the reality of how a book gets from inside your head to on the shelf, and more importantly onto your bookshelf. There is no big advertising drive, to prime time TV, full display, or indeed any above the line advertising.(above the line is paid for space. ) This is entirely below the line.
As far as I can work out a good book sells - a bad book doesn’t - and it’s all down to one person to make the dots connect- your PR manager – they are the ones who get your book talked about by the people that matter. (No pressure Katie !)
Big publishers have Press teams. They are people dedicated to getting your book talked about in newspapers, on websites, on the radio and on TV. Of course it helps if you are as a writer happy to push your idea and you are happy to be interviewed, photographed and heavens above even criticised.It’s putting yourself out here. It’s nerve wracking I can tell you .. but the thought that no one will be interested creeps into my brain on the very odd occasion and fills me with dread, so I am more than happy to chat to anyone who is remotely interested.
So today I spent with Katie Read from Orange Square. She's amazing. You can hear all about how it works in the Audioboo below.
Down the village. I'm going down the village. For as long as I can remember this is what we say when we are going to Brixworth. Funny thing though .. we have to go up hill to get there. Throughout writing this book, and indeed through out my whole cooking life there has been a constant. Whilst boyfriends have come and gone and I grew up from charging about the village on my bike, to being here right now my local green grocers Troop and Son have been there. To be honest I couldn't live without them. Both Stephen and Ken and the staff that work there are always on hand with the freshest, most local seasonal produce. Through out writing this book they have gone above and beyond to get me the most beautiful fruits and vegetables to use and so today I took a few snap shots and thought I'd share my thoughts. Whatever you are cooking you can't beat having a local green grocer. Along with the local butcher they are a foodies very best friend.
Now heres a dilema for you. Well me actually. Which recipe? Vanilla and Peanut Blondies or vanilla and pecan Blondies ? They are both equally delicious but in different ways.The pecan is more sophisticated and goes well with coffee, where as the peanut one goes fabulously with a steaming hot cup of tea.I've been debating this all morning, and I suppose this is the exact same dilemma when I go shopping and fall in love with a pair of shoes. I've decided to use the same reasoning with this recipe, and have both.. which goes a long way to explaining why I have a large collection of shoes and an ever expanding waist line.. I just can't chose !
You can't ignore Nigella especially if you are like me often compared to her! I get rather mad when the papers announce the New Nigella has been found. Why try and replace the old one? She's amazing. Well I am wondering this time if perhaps the journalists and the writers feel she's somewhat become a product herself now. But If there is one food writer that delights me always - it's Nigella. But even I a complete die hard Nigella fan have to admit these days things seem to have changed.Where as once I watched Nigella as the driving force of herself.I now feel there is a team that team drive her for themselves.I miss the original. Although I'm glad she recently admitted to having team cupcake (because let me tell you producing a recipe book is really hard work) and to produce the kind of book Kitchen that Nigella’s team puts out is seriously allot of work. Indeed, the work that has gone into producing Kitchen is tremendous. With almost 500 pages the recipes are very Nigellsish.. but the truth is I don’t feel her.I don’t feel her truly.It’s hard to explain.. but it’s as though there is a Nigella clone who is almost her. For years now she has been my turn to.If I want to make anything I literally headed straight to my bookshelf and would turn to her books; I’m not sure I will turn to this one it feels somehow weirdly void of her original soul captured in her other books.
Perhaps I am being overly sensitive? Am I searching for the initial impact she once had on me?
I still hold her up as the domestic goddess and I can’t just abandon my heroine. So I pushed myself to have a go.. to see if I find the real Nigella in her book I decided to make her sweet and salty crunch nut bars.So today with the rainy blustery winter weather I wanted maximum comfort.Something gluttonous. Utterly food sluttery. Something I couldn't resist that are a synch to make. These bars looked like they fitted the bill. They taste like a cross between a mars and a marathon and the only real change I made was that I used whole nut chocolate.. I ran out of ordinary and I cut the bars into small bite size pieces, was Nigella really in this recipe ? Yes I found more of her in this particular recipe .. but the truth is despite being a superb book I’ve had to accept that the Nigella I once fell in love with has been commercialized, and it feels to me like she is going through the motions, I wonder if that will happen to me one day.I really hope not. Passion is the secret ingredient in the Kitchen.. and this is no exception.. . and I can't find the real honest gutsy passion in the book, no matter how hard I want to find it.
It's been a great day and I've learnt so much in Waterstones in Milton Keynes. I was warmly greeted by with Lisa the manager and Annette the floor manager, who came over to the till saying she’d spotted me the cake lady on the CCTV and came straight downstairs to see me.I loved meeting them both. What Annette doesn’t know about recipe books isn’t worth knowing- after 8 years she knows a thing or two, and she was kind enough to chat to me on the Audioboo.
Coming from a Marketing background is a real plus in life. The thing about writing any book is that you have to know who is going to buy it.Target market sweetie. The biggest disasters I’ve made in life are when I’ve rushed into things without checking the market, and doing proper research. Writing a book is no different. As we (the publishers and the book designer and my PR manager) are refining the book cover and the blurb and the final exacting detail that will attract the readers it is essential to get it right. Putting together a public relations campaign to get people interested in the book means everything has to be right. The colour, the tone, the words, the photos and the message has to be sending the same message. What is the message? well for me it has to say .. pick me up! As an unknown Author this book is going to be sitting on the shelves next to the big boys ( and girls ) of the cookery world. The hairy bikers, the Jamie oliver offering, the Delia's latest and of course being a K in the alphabet I may well get to snuggle up to an L on the shelf ... Nigella's an L .. I can think of worse people to be cosy with!
So I had to check the detail. The choice of colour (It’s eye catching!) and the words on the bi line. So I spent today speaking to anyone and everyone that stepped foot in the recipe section.
The results .. well I had a few surprises .. and some seriously super findings. I have to collate the information and I’m doing a few more questionnaires to round up the numbers.. but can I tell you now .. we are definitely on the right track.
As soon as the results are collated I’ll be back to the blog to share all !
Yesterday’s photo shoot was not in my kitchen.
