Bistro Eurogourmet

[bkkjames]

John, i just had some wild pacific coho smoked salmon from British Columbia (friend brought it with him), no comparison to that norwegian atlantic stuff.

Anywhere to get this in Thailand that you know of?

Hi James,

give me a coupple of days to check with my suppliers ... I thinkone of them may be able to supply it .... am currently looking into importing flash frozen North Atlantik salmon, smoked, wild Canadian Salmon and Nuts from California with a US based friend for next year

Well, have checked with all my suppliers, afraid its currently not available - scotish yes even wild but not this particular one,

sorry,

John

Thanks for taking the time to check.

[JohnBKKK]

no problem James,

Had a few questions via pm in the last coupple of day's about our deep fried Turkey and stuffing, sauce ... decided its easier to put the answers here since we are very busy today and all of next week and.... until New Years ...

Hi,

as of Saturday we will include dark meat in our Turkey sandwiches upon popular request.

Our stuffing is very traditional with sage as the main herb, chestnuts and breadcrumbs. I add some shitake mushrooms and and Port to deepen the flavor and I use our Apple & Leek sausage meat as a base - can't get any more traditional than that

For the gravy I make a turkey stock reduction (concentrate) since the deepfried version does not generate any juices - think about this for a moment, getting the juices during roasting means that they are generated by removing them from the Turkey and in the process removing flavor and moisture, which does not happen with the deep fried version.

This means that with our deep fried Turkey you get the best of both worlds, the juices stay in the Turkey, but you still get a great sauce made with Turkey stock, port and red wine. If you are having Children takingpart at the dnner/ lunch let us know and we supply 1/2 of the Gravy without the wine and port additions - there will be no alcohol left in the sauce which evaporates during cooking, but past experience has shown that kiddies are not too keen on the flavor.

The Turkey itself not only keeps its own juices where they belong, but has additional moisture and flavor added through our own herb butter injection.

John

p.s. if Turkey is not your thing, check out our "Roast Beef" and "Beef Wellington" - roasted Potato's ........ at our online shop under "retail" or at chefsxp

Edited December 5, 2008 by JohnBKKK

[t.s]

john,

tried the "ultimate" turkey sandwich tonight after reading this thread last night.

i like what you are trying to do but must honestly state i found the sandwich very dry and hard to eat though it was better once i removed the top layer of walnut bread.

there could have been a significantly larger amount of tomatoes as well.

no need to reply. just my opinion

[JohnBKKK]

john,

tried the "ultimate" turkey sandwich tonight after reading this thread last night.

i like what you are trying to do but must honestly state i found the sandwich very dry and hard to eat though it was better once i removed the top layer of walnut bread.

there could have been a significantly larger amount of tomatoes as well.

no need to reply. just my opinion

HI,

have looked into this already. At the Bistro we serve it already as an open Sandwich - will change this for tomorrow for chefsxp as well - the problem there was having it arrive in order without having disintegrated during transport.

After tests this morning, I decided we still send it out with the top cover of Walnut bread and leave it up to the customer to take it off or not and use it for a sandwich by adding butter and may be some cheese - goes excellent with Camombert - for the Walnut-Bread we got a lot of compliments as well

Thanks for your comment,

John

By the way, for THB 300.00 + VAT, this sandwich is an absolut Bargain with this amount of Turkey ( an 8 KG Turkey makes only 10 Sandwiches) and the expensive to make Walnut Bread and Jellee - there is in reality no profit in it for us but I decided to make it, to introduce Customers to our Turkey - adding anything more is therefore impossible - the customer can of course add him/herself more Tomato's ...

We will keep it on the menu aftyer the day's but in a smaller Version!

Edited December 7, 2008 by JohnBKKK

[Onyxia]

john,

tried the "ultimate" turkey sandwich tonight after reading this thread last night.

i like what you are trying to do but must honestly state i found the sandwich very dry and hard to eat though it was better once i removed the top layer of walnut bread.

there could have been a significantly larger amount of tomatoes as well.

no need to reply. just my opinion

I had the same experience with the sandwich. I microwaved the second half of the sandwich, made it more moist and brought out the turkey flavor more. I enjoyed all the parts of the sandwich, just was better to eat them separately. Great value though, will try again when the dark meat is added. I think with more turkey, and warming it up it will be good.

Look forward to trying the bagels this week when i get back. Oh if you like scotch eggs, would definitely recommend having them with there potato salad. By far the best ive had in thailand.

Edited December 7, 2008 by Onyxia

[JohnBKKK]

As usual, the solution was simple - have now reduced the size of the bread but wit the same amount of filling i.E. Turkey Jellee etc.... and its slightly warmed before sending it out.

[JohnBKKK]

Hi,

anyone interested in some real scottish short bread, I had a few KG over from a wholesale production which we shipped yesterday and have some for sale at the Bistro today. Those are made according to the traditional 1-2-3 recipe and absolutely delicious - had to seal the bags so the staff wouldn't be tempted 250G - 120 Baht in a nice gift bag

John

p.s. those cookies a VERY rich

Edited December 10, 2008 by JohnBKKK

[Sarge]

..... check out our "Roast Beef" and "Beef Wellington" - roasted Potato's ........ at our online shop under "retail" or at chefsxp

mmhh interesting, you sell that already pre-cooked - is that also available uncooked, prepared and ready to go in the oven?

This a grand old dish which the English like to think as their own, the origin of it is still disputed to this day. Same as Vindaloo, which appears in the same section. but hey, I enjoy reading through your ethnic food section. I'm not keen either on turkey meat, dry and bland in flavour. This kind of poultry needs all the help you can give (stuffing's, heavy doses of sauces etc...) to make it palatable, wouldn't never eat it on its own, unlike beef or pork. Here, some basic chef tricks' with meats:

1. quickly sear the meat both sides to prevent too much release of internal juices

2. add salt only after the meat has been seared

3. after cooking, let it rest in a warm environment, for a few minutes

4. this is because meats will contract & stiffen during cooking, this resting period allows the meat to relax a bit and internal juices to moisten, tenderise the meat back, close to the original state.

This LINK takes you to a site showing how to make a Beef Wellington, step-by-step. Note this is a consumers' video, designed for the men & women in the street who have little or no cooking skills. Also no mention of pâté de foie gras, as it's quite expensive to purchase and many people wouldn't even know where to find it.

[JohnBKKK]

Dear Sarge,

yes I know how to make a beef Wellington and I add my own duck liver pate to it. The reason why I offer it as pre-cooked (only for the on time delivery) is that they don't want the hassle of baking it and it will arrive ready to eat.

In history you will find that a lot of French and British aristocracy used to mingle and inter merry to keep the blue blood line going - this dish is a British/French ... well lets call it the first fusion dish in History.

If someone wants it uncooked, I will sear the meat and prepare it completely but not bake it and supply it that way for the customer to bake it themselves, with instructions how long and at what temperature - which of course depends on the weight of the meat but is different due to the puff-pastry crust.

My fear is though that someone will try to do this in a table-top oven and it will be a disaster.

The reason to rest any meat after frying or roasting is that most meats are a muscle and contract during heating - if you cut it straight after all your juices will run out and you will end up with meat that is bluish raw in the centre and grey/dry on the outside - due to the capillary effect, when the muscle relaxes during resting/cooling the juices are sucked back into the meat and are evenly distributed, resulting in a pink center and moisture throughout the cut.

Vindaloo -hmmm this is not an English dish at all, nor does it originate from India .. even though its a sought after late night after 10 pints snack .. it originates in Portugal and basically means Vinegar or meat in Vinegar ... the Portuguese introduced Vindaloo to India where the locals liked it but changed the formula more to their taste by spicing it up to become the now known version which according to some people you enjoy twice .. when you eat it and ....... i leave the rest to the imagination.. even though most people couldn't eat it when sober because a real Vindaloo is extremely hot. A customer has ordered a large quantity of Vindaloo and wants it REALLY hot - I'm waiting for a shipment of "Ghost Chilies" right now since I do not want to dissappoint him on the scale 1.1 Million - compared to the hottest Thai Chilly at 400K and the hottest Mexican Habenero at 700K - that will be a Vindaloo to remember but he wants it so for his party. Dread having to taste it while makingit though probably need a few pints before

As far as Turkey is concerned, the deep fried version is much better than the roasted one especially since I inject it with a herb butter directly into the flash before frying. The logic is simple, a Goose or Duck are perfect for roasting with their high fat contend - a Turkey is probably the worse meat for roasting since it has very little fat . Whoever came up with the tradition of roasting Turkey's lacked common sense,

John

p.s. will make another hot sauce with the Ghost Chillies for heat mixed with Jalepeno and ....... for flavor plus its gonna be slightly smoked as well and will be seriously hot, making Dave's Insanity seem pale but have great flavor .... for those of you like my Californien Saturday regulars who eat Daves Insanity like Ketchup

Edited December 10, 2008 by JohnBKKK

[Sarge]

Dear Sarge,

yes I know how to make a beef Wellington

yeah, I'm sure you do just added a video link to whet people appetite and reveal what's behind a Beef Wellington

In history you will find that a lot of French and British aristocracy used to mingle and inter merry to keep the blue blood line going - this dish is a British/French ... well lets call it the first fusion dish in History.

that's what I said in my post, the origin is still disputed but the English like to claim as their own contribution to world's cuisine

If someone wants it uncooked, I will sear the meat and prepare it completely but not bake it and supply it that way for the customer to bake it themselves, with instructions how long and at what temperature - which of course depends on the weight of the meat but is different due to the puff-pastry crust.

My fear is though that someone will try to do this in a table-top oven and it will be a disaster.

you quite right here, plus I'm not sure how many expats in BKK have a proper convection oven in their dwellings, more likely just cooking hobs.

The reason to rest any meat after frying or roasting is that most meats are a muscle and contract during heating - if you cut it straight after all your juices will run out and you will end up with meat that is bluish raw in the centre and grey/dry on the outside - due to the capillary effect, when the muscle relaxes during resting/cooling the juices are sucked back into the meat and are evenly distributed, resulting in a pink center and moisture throughout the cut.

in other words, you repeated (with slightly more details) what I said to the benefits of others

Vindaloo -hmmm this is not an English dish at all .. even though its a sought after late night after 10 pints snack .. it originates in Portugal and basically means Vinegar or meat in Vinegar ... the Portuguese introduced Vindaloo to India where the locals liked it but changed the formula more to their taste by spicing it up to become the now known version which according to some people you enjoy twice .. when you eat it and ....... i leave the rest to the imagination.. even though most people couldn't eat it when sober because a real Vindaloo is extremely hot,

that's where it gets interesting ..... and this is why I said I enjoy your ethnic food section as Vindaloo has been slotted in to the United Kingdom (sic) section. In fact I'd say that the dish is unknown to India as well (bar for a localised spot). Same story with (Chicken) Tikka Masala a spin off of a popular Indian recipe, concocted by immigrants-cum-restaurateurs in Blighty. Do you know that the number 1 dish (most eaten) in UK is Chicken Tikka Masala? I kid you not

[JohnBKKK]

Vindaloo is well know in southern India which used to be a Portugese collony - I have added it to my UK section since so far I have only customers of UK origin buying the product and I know how popular it's in the UK - its origin is however undaubtedly Portugal. The vinegar preserves the meal by lowering the ph level and someone must have found out that when compared to the same dish but without vinigar goes bad a lot quicker... and the Indians than added the Chily to make it last even longer without going off... remember those were the day's without refrigeraton -

Try to order Chicken Tika Masala in India and the waiter will not have a clue what you are talking about (unless he has been living in the UK before) its a palatable dish but not Indian. Having spend time down in Goa, I don't mind Indian food ... once in a while even now .. lamb tandori being my favorite .. make it using shoulder with the original spices and cook very slow in my wood fired oven, 3/4 of the time sealed in foil - ain't got no tandor .. had one but it broke - the wood fired oven gives imho a may be even better result

Edited December 10, 2008 by JohnBKKK

[JohnBKKK]

Have to make 10KG of baked Ham for an order and have decided to make 14 KG - 4 KG for the Bistro for a Xmas day special for lunch/dinner..

The Ham has been given a strong rubbing with herbs and spices and now gone into a red wine marinade in our cooler until next week Friday when the ones for the order will be baked. the Ham for the Bistro will bathe a little longer until Xmas day morning when they will be baked - the Hams will be studded with cloves and of course honey glazed - making a Cumberland sauce with the Marinade and will serve the Ham with potato croquettes (our own of course) as well as some mixed Veggies -

German Stollen - Apple Pies - Xmas cake - bread & butter pudding and Scotish short bread will be the available choice for desert.

During the day I'll be in the main kitchen making Turkeys etc... - anybody wanting a deep fried Turkey should order soon, have already 6 orders in, ( 5 deepfried and 1 roasted) surprisingly all for xmas lunch ... looking forward to Xmas day evening at the Bistro .... gonna be quite busy ....

Edited December 12, 2008 by JohnBKKK

[JohnBKKK]

finished the ham today and tasted it - the Thai staff picked off any pieces that came off while packaging and ate them .. as of tomorrow available at the Bistro with mashed potato and as off Wednesday with Brussles sprouts (love them) and potato croquettes as Xmas lunch/dinner - also available Turkey of course but you will have to pre-book for this either at the Bistro or here by pm or reply - available for the 24th to 25th December

John

Edited December 19, 2008 by JohnBKKK

[JohnBKKK]

also available on Xmas eve for a light dinner - fried franks & great Potato Salad - a traditional German thing before the big Xmas day meals

[Sarge]

hallo kann John ich bitten?

I've noticed that you offer a selection of pasta sauces online, I understand they come either in 120g / 140g jars. It says that they're pasteurised, I'm in doubt if they're actually shelf stable or fresh with a few days shelf life. Pasteurisation sometimes is given different interpretation by different manufacturers. Can you expand on these sauces and validate if they are indeed fresh sauces. I'm quite intrigued on your Chef Own special: Smoked Salmon & Basil with pickled Lemon, I like the sound of it. Dill is commonly associated with Salmon, what type of Basil you use there? Thai Basil? Italian Basil?

Gourmet Sauces

[JohnBKKK]

hallo kann John ich bitten?

I've noticed that you offer a selection of pasta sauces online, I understand they come either in 120g / 140g jars. It says that they're pasteurised, I'm in doubt if they're actually shelf stable or fresh with a few days shelf life. Pasteurisation sometimes is given different interpretation by different manufacturers. Can you expand on these sauces and validate if they are indeed fresh sauces. I'm quite intrigued on your Chef Own special: Smoked Salmon & Basil with pickled Lemon, I like the sound of it. Dill is commonly associated with Salmon, what type of Basil you use there? Thai Basil? Italian Basil?

Gourmet Sauces

To start with I like to point out that we are selling sauces only wholesle and not retail. I happily leave that to our friend chefheat. Our sauces come in 2 versions, fresh in a film tube - the film is made by a german company called Kalle and about 30K for a role since its a high quality food-grade film. This is offered in portion sizes or in 1KG sizes and those are freshly made to order and not pasturized but ment to be either used within 2 weeks or to be frozen.

The second option is pasturized sauces in jars in portions of 4 or 8oz. Those are pasturized and I give them a shelf life of 6 month's even though in reality I have batch samples that are near 2 years old and are still fine. We have a 160 GL pasturizer - electric - to make those which is really nothing but a large preassure cooker .. well a very large one.

There is really no possible different way of pasturizing.

Standard pasturizing does not alter the flavor but UHT does, so I do not use this method which uses a temperature of 160C and allowes for a far extended shelflife but causes the contents to taste like crap.

All that pasturizing does is to elliminate most of any bacteria and when the jars come out from the pasturizer they develop a vacuum as they cool which is visible by a slight indention of the lid downwards. I wouldn't bore you with the technical facts of ph levels etc.

Here a tip, when buying any jar and if you want to be sure its ok, turn it upside down onto a flat surface, if it rocks don't buy it - if it sits flat on the surface its fine.

Now to my special sauce - when I have time I enjoy experimenting with different ingredients to create something new. I came across the pickled lemons in Marokko a long time ago and love them. Their mellow flavor combines verry well with fresh, imported Italian basil and makes a perfect marriage with salmon, fresh and even smoked. Call it fusion if you want, but it works very well. It's basically a basil and pickled lemon flavored Hollandaise which can be used hot or cold.

As I said, you won't find our sauces in retail, we only supply Hotels and Restaurants!

John

Edited December 23, 2008 by JohnBKKK

[JohnBKKK]

Hi,

just got back from making Turkey's all day since early morning and wellingtons and and and .... anyone who is still without a bird or who has just realized that its christmas and wants one, I need the order tonight with complete address through our shop - we may be able to do one or two more orders but that depends on where you are in Bangkok

For those who want a Turkey meal, we are offering this at the Bistro tomorrow Turkey with gravy - mash - sprouts - stuffing - for 450.00 - portion as usual pretty big

John

Would like to wish everyone here a merry Christmas

Edited December 24, 2008 by JohnBKKK

[JohnBKKK]

Well, with the Turkey race being over and myself being absolutely nackerd I guess its off to the New Year's race. All deliveries went very well with one exeption where the driver decided to take on another job to make some extra cash which caused a substantial delay - he now knows not to come anywhere near me unless he wants to see Allah (he is muslim) a lot earlier than he has probably planned...

Anyone planning a party and wanting a cold buffet with pate's, terrines. finger food salads etc.. at B 500.00 - 900.00 per head (depends on what you want and a min. of 5) delivered will have to let me know by Monday evening before 6pm at the latest.

Planing a New Year Eve menu at the Bistro at B 750.00 per Head consisting of a selection of different pate's and terrines as starter

Wild Boar Terrine - Duck Terrine - Mushroom Terrine - Chicken Liver Pate with Grand Marnier - Foi Gras - served with Onion Marmalade, Melba Toast - Rocket - (all out of our 5 star Hotel production for their Buffet's) followed by an individual Beef Wellington with vegetables and roast potato or french fries - baked Apple with a whiskey custard sauce for desert

Dinner will be served from 6:30 pm until 9:00 pm

Pre booking is required for this as well by Monday evening the 28th of December

John

First response from a customer by e-mail and in German

Es war alles sehr gut. Ich war besonders froh ueber die exzellente Verpackung. Es lag ueber eine Stunde dort drin und war noch heiss danach. Danke nochmal. Ich werde Euch weiterempfehlen. Ich wuensche einen guten Rutsch

The Food was exelent and apparently his guests got stuck in traffic and were an hour late but our packaging was so good that even than the Turkey was still really hot ....

Edited December 26, 2008 by JohnBKKK

[sorensen]

Well, with the Turkey race being over and myself being absolutely nackerd I guess its off to the New Year's race. All deliveries went very well with one exeption where the driver decided to take on another job to make some extra cash which caused a substantial delay - he now knows not to come anywhere near me unless he wants to see Allah (he is muslim) a lot earlier than he has probably planned...

Anyone planning a party and wanting a cold buffet with pate's, terrines. finger food salads etc.. at B 500.00 - 900.00 per head (depends on what you want and a min. of 5) delivered will have to let me know by Monday evening before 6pm at the latest.

Planing a New Year Eve menu at the Bistro at B 750.00 per Head consisting of a selection of different pate's and terrines as starter

Wild Boar Terrine - Duck Terrine - Mushroom Terrine - Chicken Liver Pate with Grand Marnier - Foi Gras - served with Onion Marmalade, Melba Toast - Rocket - (all out of our 5 star Hotel production for their Buffet's) followed by an individual Beef Wellington with vegetables and roast potato or french fries - baked Apple with a whiskey custard sauce for desert

Dinner will be served from 6:30 pm until 9:00 pm

Pre booking is required for this as well by Monday evening the 28th of December

John

First response from a customer by e-mail and in German

Es war alles sehr gut. Ich war besonders froh ueber die exzellente Verpackung. Es lag ueber eine Stunde dort drin und war noch heiss danach. Danke nochmal. Ich werde Euch weiterempfehlen. Ich wuensche einen guten Rutsch

The Food was exelent and apparently his guests got stuck in traffic and were an hour late but our packaging was so good that even than the Turkey was still really hot ....

Hmmm, reading about all this good food just before lunch makes me really really hungry. Wish I was not stuch in the office on a Sunday!

Robert

[ColinChapman]

Planing a New Year Eve menu at the Bistro at B 750.00 per Head consisting of a selection of different pate's and terrines as starter

Wild Boar Terrine - Duck Terrine - Mushroom Terrine - Chicken Liver Pate with Grand Marnier - Foi Gras - served with Onion Marmalade, Melba Toast - Rocket - (all out of our 5 star Hotel production for their Buffet's) followed by an individual Beef Wellington with vegetables and roast potato or french fries - baked Apple with a whiskey custard sauce for desert

Dinner will be served from 6:30 pm until 9:00 pm

Pre booking is required for this as well by Monday evening the 28th of December

John

Hi John,

Can I book the New Year's Eve menu for three people at 8:00p.m. on New Year's Eve?

Thanks.

[JohnBKKK]

Planing a New Year Eve menu at the Bistro at B 750.00 per Head consisting of a selection of different pate's and terrines as starter

Wild Boar Terrine - Duck Terrine - Mushroom Terrine - Chicken Liver Pate with Grand Marnier - Foi Gras - served with Onion Marmalade, Melba Toast - Rocket - (all out of our 5 star Hotel production for their Buffet's) followed by an individual Beef Wellington with vegetables and roast potato or french fries - baked Apple with a whiskey custard sauce for desert

Dinner will be served from 6:30 pm until 9:00 pm

Pre booking is required for this as well by Monday evening the 28th of December

John

Hi John,

Can I book the New Year's Eve menu for three people at 8:00p.m. on New Year's Eve?

Thanks.

Hi Colin,

sure, consider it booked,

thanks

here, what you will be enjoing:

A selection of fine Pate's and Terrines served with Melba Toast and Onion Marmalade - Beef Wellington with red Wine sauce, large fries and Spinach - Almond and Nut encrusted baked Apple with a Whiskey Custard sauce

Edited December 28, 2008 by JohnBKKK

[JohnBKKK]

Tomorrow morning I'm off to get all the ingredients for Wednesday's, New Years Eve Dinner and the deadline for booking is tonight!

I will not be able to accomodate any late commers because I have to make lots of things tomorrow for Hotels and their New Year Eve parties.

Wish you all a very happy New Year 2009

Edited December 29, 2008 by JohnBKKK

[JohnBKKK]

Will work over the extended weekend on an update of our menu on chefsxp. It would help if I could get a few suggestions as well.

I will extend the Sandwich section with a "Pastrami / Cheese sandwich on Rye Bread" and a "Chicken Jalopeno Sandwich on Baguette"

There will be a soup section as well with the current soups + a split pea soup which I make with ham hog pieces in the soup

I will also introduce a coupple new chicken based main courses -

1) Chicken cordon blue - Emmental Cheese and Ham sandwiched between 2 slices of chicken breast - breaded and fried til crispy served with FF and cole slaw

2) Chicken in a creamy garlic & amazon pepper sauce with Gnochi

and a few more new items including a weekly changing "recession busting Lunch" at a very special price

happy new year

John

Edited December 30, 2008 by JohnBKKK

[dotcom]

Would you be able to offer Wellington in individual portion size? Maybe with gravy & roast potato (for chefsXP)?

[JohnBKKK]

Would you be able to offer Wellington in individual portion size? Maybe with gravy & roast potato (for chefsXP)?

Hi dotcom,

we are about to come out with a brand new menu at the Bistro and Chefsxp including a number of new dishes and sandwiches based on requests by customers. The Problem with Beef Wellington is simply the cost. It takes time to prepare so you have to prepare it in advance and it has only a short shelf life unless you freeze it which I would hate to do with high quality Beef. This means its not an ideal candidate for chefsxp if you want to provide it in perfect quality.

You can however pre-order it to eat at the Bistro - lets say with 2 working day's notice - for B 650.00 (250G Beef) with red wine gravy and roasted Potato's as we did for New years Eve, which was a great success. We had some Thai customers who had booked the special (Wellington) and I made it medium (slightly pink) for them - no complaint and not a morsel left on the plate I refuse to make it well done anyway.

I see some tuff time ahead with the worldwide recession and the catastrofic season 2008/2009 which is the reason why I have decided to introduce the "economy" lunch. A low cost lunch of - Meatloaf with gravy and peas or Chicken Ragout with rice - changing twice monthly which will enable customers who wish to be more economic during this time to still enjoy a "home cooked" lunch with great flavor at low cost. A far better and certainly healthier alternative than eating fast food.

If you want to make Beef Wellington yourself, here is howto, for one portion:

250G of prime fillet (imported - at Villa or Emporium) - 1 pack of good Puff Pastry (Villa or Foodland) - 1 onion very finely chopped - 1 cup of Shitake mushrooms sliced- about 8 rashers of good, thinly sliced streaky bacon - 1 Egg

Day 1 - rub the fillet with coursly ground black pepper and than sear the meat in a pan with very hot oil briefly - place on a rack to cool

place cling-film onto a flat surface and place the bacon rashers onto the film, slightly overlapping - making a "bed" for the meat

in a pan saute' the onions and the mushrooms in some butter - seasonj with salt and pepper - let cool

now spread the cooled mushrooms with onion mixture on top of the bacon

place the seared fillet on top and with the cling-film wrap the bacon and mushrooms tightly around the fillet

place into refrigerator over night

Day 2- roll out the puff pastry to about 3mm thickness and brush with egg wash

remove the film from the fillet and place on to the puff pastry which you than fold tightly around the meat making a parcel - avoid any empty spaces and shape the whole into a block

make sure the pastry is not pierced and tightly seals in the meat/bacon/mushroom parcel

add some decorations if desired

place into a 220C oven for 10 minutes for the pastry to crisp up - than remove and let cool

at this point you can keep it in the refrigerator for a coupple of day's wrapped in film

when finishing, remove from the fridge and place into 220C oven for 15 minutes for medium or 10 minutes for medium rare - if the puff pastry goes a bit too dark cover with foil

Edited January 6, 2009 by JohnBKKK

[dotcom]

That sounds fine. Will call 2 days ahead & THANKS!!!!!

[JohnBKKK]

Hi,

as of next week we are going to have a new, updated Menu on chefsxp as well as at the Bistro with some interesting dishes added like a Chicken Basked with French Fries and Aioli - Mushroom Monjet ......

John

[JohnBKKK]

Finished our new Snack Menu and had my arm twisted by the local British residents .... anyone living near or being close by, come on in and enjoy - here are some British favorites and others available as of tomorrow at the Bistro: This is the Snack menu and not our main menu!

109) Scotch Egg B 80.00

110) Sausage Roll B 80.00

111) Egg Salad Sandwich B 50.00

112) Egg Salad & Ham Sandwich B 55.00

114) Cheese & Tomato Sandwich B 55.00

115) Bacon Butty B 55.00

116) Chip Butty B 40.00

Yea I know its not haute cuisine especially 115 and 116 but .........

also available in our new snack menu:

Toasty's- Made with 2 slices of white or whole-wheat toast and the following fillings :

100) Ham & Cheese B 60.00

101) Cheese & Tomato B 55.00

102) Cheese, Ham & Jalepeno B 70.00

103) Tuna melt (Tuna with Cheese) B 85.00

Monjet's- Puff Pastry’s filled with the following::

104) Mushroom B 75.00

105) Cheese & Ham B 75.00

Toasty's ---------------------------------------------------------Monjet's

and here it is, the culinary high, the Chip Butty

Edited January 8, 2009 by JohnBKKK

[JohnBKKK]

From today on, we are offering our special "Economy" Lunch:

Meatloaf with Mash & Pease at the Bistro - soon on chefsxp, once they have set up our new Menu

John

[bkkjames]

Finished our new Snack Menu and had my arm twisted by the local British residents .... anyone living near or being close by, come on in and enjoy - here are some British favorites and others available as of tomorrow at the Bistro: This is the Snack menu and not our main menu!

109) Scotch Egg B 80.00

110) Sausage Roll B 80.00

111) Egg Salad Sandwich B 50.00

112) Egg Salad & Ham Sandwich B 55.00

114) Cheese & Tomato Sandwich B 55.00

115) Bacon Butty B 55.00

116) Chip Butty B 40.00

Yea I know its not haute cuisine especially 115 and 116 but .........

also available in our new snack menu:

Toasty's- Made with 2 slices of white or whole-wheat toast and the following fillings :

100) Ham & Cheese B 60.00

101) Cheese & Tomato B 55.00

102) Cheese, Ham & Jalepeno B 70.00

103) Tuna melt (Tuna with Cheese) B 85.00

Monjet's- Puff Pastry’s filled with the following::

104) Mushroom B 75.00

105) Cheese & Ham B 75.00

Toasty's ---------------------------------------------------------Monjet's

and here it is, the culinary high, the Chip Butty

french fries inside of bread, what's next, rice inside of pasta?