I must admit I have not posted here for days because my blog (sob) does not seem well read (gasp.

I would love some feedback from readers about this blog and its content. Perhaps I need to find a more suitable location to blog?

In the meantime if anyone would like to read more of WannabeTVchef material then go to

http://journals.aol.co.uk/macfanonapc/CanofWorms

I will check back for comments..soon

There are plenty of articles on food in the media these days, but I have rarely seen anything written about knives even though it's a subject most cooks would appreciate more information on.

I can’t over emphasize the importance of good quality knives; it's far better to have 5-6 quality knives than a kitchen drawer full of mediocre blunt knives. Don’t be bamboozled by slick-talking sales people who want to sell you a knife that can cut through a tin can. These types of knives tear food rather like a saw tears through wood. A good knife can last you 20 or more years so don’t buy on the spur of the moment when you see a sale price unless you're already familiar with that make and know its normal retail price.

Here is my essential list of knives your kitchen should have.

A 21-24 cm Cook’s Knife for chopping
A small paring knife 8-10 cm (veg knife)
A good quality speed peeler
Sharpening steel or Ceramic Stone
Fish filleting knife
Bread knife
Carving knife

Cook’s Knife Is probably the knife you will use for most jobs, chopping, slicing or dicing, so try to choose one that feels comfortable and well balanced (the weight of the handle should be approximately the same as the blade). Heavy does not always mean quality.

Paring Knife Usually has an 8-10 cm blade and is often called a vegetable knife. This knife is great for segmenting citrus fruits, peeling potatoes or apples if you don’t like using peelers and is also good for slicing small items such as button mushrooms.

Speed peeler Believe me when you're peeling 15 kg of carrots you come to appreciate the qualities of a sturdy, sharp peeler. Either a traditional design or the more modern Y or U shaped ones sometimes called Swiss peelers. Don’t buy one for £1 that will last for a week or two; remember good equipment can making doing a dinner party a lot less stressful. You can even buy left-handed peelers these days.

Sharpening Steel Can be a coarse (butcher's steel) or fine grain but more important is the length. You're less likely to cut yourself if the steel’s overall length is 30 cm or more. It’s also a good idea to buy one with a guard on (a handle that is wider at the top) to help protect your hands. You should hold the knife at approximately a 15-degree angle when sharpening it.

Ceramic Stone If you can afford one a ceramic stone is the best type of sharpening stone you can buy. They are used dry instead of wet or with oil. These days you can buy stainless steel guide rails that clip onto a knife, which helps ensure the correct angle when sharpening.

Fish Filleting Knife If you're a confident cook and like filleting your own fish then a fish-filleting knife is a must. It usually has a
15-18 cm flexible pointed blade, which makes it easier to keep the knife pressed against the bone to ensure a clean looking fillet.

Bread Knife Since more & more people are baking their own bread a good quality bread knife is very important. It should be serrated, not too heavy in weight or it may tend to squash the bread rather than cut it. Sharpening a serrated knife is difficult, but just like any other knife a sharp one will make the job quicker and easier.

Carving Knife These come in many shapes & sizes but for home use I usually recommend a 26 cm pointed non-serrated carving knife. Being non-serrated it will be easier to keep sharp and a 26 cm blade should be long enough for most jobs.

Knives & Small Utensils

How often you sharpen your knives really depends on how often they are used. You can pay to have them sharpened at some old fashioned ironmongers, but try to learn how to sharpen them yourself because a blunt knife is really more dangerous than a sharp one.

For most people a meat cleaver isn’t necessary, but if you have and use one I would suggest you use
a thicker wooden cutting board. I prefer wooden cutting boards over plastic, but when using a plastic cutting board put a damp tea towel or wet paper towel underneath it to help stop it sliding around on your worktop.

One good place to shop for knives can be at food shows like the BBC’s Good Food Show where the sales people are often more knowledgeable. There are also usually one or two companies demonstrating knife sharpening at the show. I don’t normally recommend a particular brand of knives because there are many good brands. But late last year while cooking at BBC’s Good Food Show I bought a Japanese Cook’s Knife made by Kin, which is not very well known in this country yet.
They use an ancient samurai sword technique of folding the molten steel, which creates harder steel thus a better edge. Now I love my Kin knife and guard it jealously!

Besides knives if you cook often you will find it useful to have a few small gadgets, but some people go a bit overboard. In my kitchen I have

Melon baller Also called a Parisienne spoon. The one I use has two different sizes, which can be useful.

Zester Can be quicker than grating the peel of a lemon, for example.

Measuring spoons I prefer metal ones, though I’m not sure why! The set consists of 1/4 teaspoon,1/2 teaspoon,1 teaspoon, 1 dessertspoon & 1 tablespoon.

Box grater Try to find a stainless steel grater with 3or 4 different sizes on it. A box grater might take a little more room when it comes to storage but at least you a stand it on the worktop and grate the food against it rather than holding the grater in the air. Only a minor point but it becomes more important when you are grating large quantities.

Metal Skewers Usually 15-20 cm in length will be fine for most uses. Can be used of course for kebabs, but also for checking if the food is cooked or hold the wrapping (such as bacon) on a chicken leg when you're out of butcher's twine.

So you see I don’t bother with a garlic press, or a grapefruit knife or even a tomato knife...save your money for something else.

Cutting Boards
The subject of cutting boards these days is quite controversial and contradictory.
20 years ago chefs were told by health departments that wooden cutting boards were unhygienic and that we must all now use plastic ones. Recent University studies found that bacteria grows quicker on a plastic board than a wooden one. Scientists suspect that wood has a natural antibacterial quality to it!
Properly scrubbed and cleaned, I believe wooden boards to be more hygienic, and that is the key whatever type of cutting board you own. Cutting boards need to be scubbed not just washed through the dishwasher. Equally important is for the clean cutting board to be propped up on its edge to air dry, rather than dried with a tea towel. In my kitchen the cutting boards are also stored in this manner. You should always change your cutting board after cutting raw meat or fish & wash or change your knife too. In my home kitchen I have 4 cutting boards so I always have a clean one at hand.

Pair of tongs For many reasons a good pair of tongs has a multitude of functions when you think about it but so many of the domestic versions are poorly designed. Besides being used to turn food over in a pan, on a tray or even on a barbecue, they have many other uses such as serving long types of pasta (they're great for curling the pasta into an attractive "nest" on the pasta bowl. Whenever you are transfering a lamb shank or a braised steak to the plate, don't let it roll around on a slotted spoon that often can't take the weight, use tongs. Look for a pair that in effect is an extension of your hand, in other words lightweight yet sturdy, made of stainless steel and between 18-24 cm long.If they are too long or too heavy, they will sit in the drawer rather than be used. Even for a barbecue they don't need to be long just easy to use, thus making it quick and easy to turn the food over. Commercially you can buy tongs for £2-3, so shop around on the web.

Rolling pins come in all shapes and sizes from the expensive wooden ones with ball bearings inside the cylinder to milk bottles, yes milk bottles! When I was a young lad my mum would wash a milk bottle and use that as a make shift rolling pin and it did the job! Recently I have grown to like the hollow plastic rolling pin my sister uses; you fill it full of cold water and screw on the cap. It's hygienic and easy to clean, the cold water inside helps to keep the pastry cool and at 38 cm in approximate total length it's long enough for most jobs.

Plastic scraper/bowl scraper You don't tend to see domestic versions of these handy little scrapers. It is basically a rectangular piece of plastic with curved edges at two of its four corners. They usually measure about 14 cm in length and about 10 cm in height. As the name suggests they are very handy for scraping out bowls but also useful for scraping down a work surface after rolling out pastry, and being plastic you can scrap the worktop down without scratching it.

Food Processors When shopping around for a new food processor, I look for models that have the sturdiest bowl; usually the clear plastic bowls break before anything else so try to find one with as few fussy bits that can break off as possible.
Look for a decent bowl size capacity of say 2kg dry weight and a large powerful motor of not less than 600 watts. I prefer to have a separate wand type hand blender rather than a blender that is part of the food processor. Keeping the blender separate give you maximum flexibility to move the blender to the pot of hot soup or various sizes of mixing bowls.

Electric hand mixers These days you can buy even well known make for under £15. At that kind of price if they last for 3-4 years you've had your money's worth, as my mum would say.
The downside though is you can't leave them mixing whilst you get on with another part of preparation, which you can do with a tabletop version.

Tabletop mixers The quality of domestic mixers has greatly improved in the last 5-10 years. A brand called Kitchen Aid led the way with a model that was a miny version of commercial mixers. These mixers are so well made they are often now seen in small professional kitchens. The only problem is the price which is around £250-£400. This has caused a rethink by other domestic mixer makers and you can now buy a pretty good model for around £100. If you can afford it, look for mixers with a 4 plus litre bowl capacity, a stainless steel bowl is a plus when whipping cream and staying cold; or you can also use it over boiling water. Again I would look for a powerful motor, but also compare the quality of the whisks, dough hooks & beater blades.

Here's a menu from one of the 3-4 times I cooked for President George Bush, during my time in Washinton DC. I think the dad made a better President than his son, at least in my opinion.

Chocolate & Raspberry Tart (serves 8) © Kevin Ashton 2004

Being a self confessed chocoholic I have shown great restraint in only writing 2-3 chocolate based recipes since beginning this column.

The combination of chocolate and raspberries is a classic one and yet I can't think of any recent dessert that I have tasted that underlines so well why these two ingredients are a perfect match.

The dark richness of the chocolate is off set by the tartness of the raspberries. When deciding what to serve with it, my sister, whose opinion on food I respect, suggested creme fraiche, when I was leaning towards sauce anglaise. After tasting it I realized that she was right though!...

Pastry
120 grams softened butter
1 medium egg
90 grams caster sugar
200 grams plain flour
50 grams cocoa powder

Filling
2 teaspoons of seedless raspberry jam
450 grams fresh (or frozen) raspberries
150 grams good quality plain chocolate
60 grams softened butter
100 grams caster sugar
3 large eggs

1. Rub the flour, cocoa power, caster sugar and butter together until it is a fine crumb consistency.
2. Break the egg into a separate bowl, beat briefly then add, gently working the pastry together. Cover the pastry with cling film and let the pastry rest for about 15 minutes before rolling out. In the mean time lightly butter a 10 inch quiche dish (use a ceramic one if possible).
3. Roll the pastry out gently and line the quiche dish, trimming off any excess.
4. Chill the pastry shell down in the fridge for 30 minutes, then gently brush the seedless jam onto the base.
5. Gently lay the fresh raspberries on top of the jam then refrigerate again.
6. Preheat the oven to 180 C gas mark 4.
7. Separate the eggs placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another.
8. Add the castor sugar to the yolks and beat until they are pale and fluffy.
9. Melt the chocolate over a medium heat in a double boiler, adding the butter when the chocolate is fully melted, then remove from the heat.
10. Whisk up the egg whites until they are stiff.
11. First fold in the egg yolk mix into the chocolate, then carefully fold in the stiff egg
whites.
12. Pour the mix over the raspberries evenly and spread if needed.
13. Bake on the middle shelf for 40 minutes, moving the tart to the lower shelf if needed.
14. Let the tart cool for 1 hour before slicing to allow the raspberry juices to be absorbed. Dust with icing sugar and serve it with creme fraiche.
Chefs Tip
Since first writing this recipe I found it works with both fresh & frozen raspberries which makes it truly a year round recipe. If you do use frozen instead of fresh raspberries allow them to thaw in a colander first before using.

(This was originally posted on my other blog
January 30th, 2006)

If I had a pound coin for every time someone in TV production short-listed me or promised me something. Then there are catch 22 situations….. you have a good idea for a new cooking show so you find a producer to pitch it to only to discover some weeks later that they too just by coincidence come up with a very similar idea for a new series. Not only that but they cleverly got me to email my idea to them rather than by mail…. which makes it a lot easier to cover their tracks and deny that I ever sent them my outline idea. Which made it doubly satisfying that I had the good sense to copyright the outline and mail a copy to my TV hating solicitor!…hee hee

Bolts On’s

Another strange thing about Producers is they all want to produce the next Hell’s Kitchen or find the next Jamie Oliver but they are also mostly too afraid to try a new idea with a new face fronting it. So what they do is take a successful idea and then bolt a few extras on it to make it look new when it isn’t. As one producer said to me. the concept of the show is a melange of Masterchef, Faking It and Big Brother….really.

Coming Up
On a more serious note my American friend Jeff is urging me to make a trip back to the states this year to make a pilot cooking program. It was his good advice of document everything when dealing with shady types like TV producers (he should know he is one of them). So we are in the brain storming process to come up with a good idea and also make sure its not already out there….so keep your fingers crossed and if you have an idea worth stealing send me a message.

Butternut Squash & Butterbean Soup serves 4 © Kevin Ashton 2006

These cold, damp.... some times foggy winter days are definitely good days for soup. Making soup reminded me of the even colder winters I spent working in Amsterdam.

A picturesque scene of snowy days, children happily skating on frozen canals, huge icicles hanging from the mooring ropes of the canal barges, and the hearty soups we’d eat when coming indoors. I’ve roasted the butternut squash to give this subtle soup a wonderful taste and the bright yellow colour brings a little sunshine back into the day.

1 kg butternut squash, peeled

1 (300g) tin of organic butterbeans

1Tbsp olive oil

150 g finely diced onion

40 g butter

1 Heaped tbsp fresh chopped coriander

1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock

1 pinch of saffron (optional)

Crème fraiche

If your using saffron, put the strands in a teacup and barely cover with boiling water and leave to soak.
Cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove and keep the seeds. Dive the squash into chunky pieces and place in a roasting tray.
Rub theolive oil into the squash, season with salt & pepper then roast in a medium hot 190 C (gas mark 5) until lightly brown and very tender.
Wash the fibre from the saved seeds and drain on paper towel.
Season the seeds lightly and roast in the oven until lightly browned and crispy then allow to cool.
Melt the butter in a large heavy bottomed saucepan and cook the onions on medium heat until they are tender, stirring occasionally.
Add the stock to the cooked onions, the (saffron & water) and allow to simmer on a low heat.
Drain the butter beans saving the juice, and then pour all of the juice and ¾ of the beans into the stock.
Add the roasted squash to the stock and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
Puree the soup well in a food processor and then push it through a sturdy strainer to make the texture velvety smooth.
Check the seasoning, then return to a low heat and add the coriander.
To Serve
Warm the remaining beans and divide them between 4 warm soup bowls.

Ladle in the hot soup, then sprinkle on the roasted seeds and finish with a dollop of crème fraiche.

Chef’s Tips The roasted butternut squash seeds taste very similar to sunflower or pumpkin seeds,adding a great crunchy topping to the soup. Try adding crispy smoked bacon pieces and toasting some garlic bread to make this dish a great inexpensive lunch time meal.

(This entry was originaly written Wednesday January 18th,2006 for my other blog

I write a weekly recipe column for the Birmingham Sunday Mercury and on Wednesday, where ever I am 12noon is deadline............

so here is a email I sent about 4pm

===================================================
Dear Zoe

This day is begining to feel like ground-hog day

I finished my recipe then promptly lost it by accidently deleting instead of saving.

So I made a cup of coffee and rewrote the recipe trying to remember my cute preamble, word for word. Then I promptly got my foot caught in the loose computer cables and accidently lost the recipe before saving again............

So I wrote this third version of the recipe saving every 10 seconds or so..............

then low and behold I could not get on line (I've just bought myself a PC laptop and am having problems with my AOL connection. Recently we upgraded to Broadband............but boy I've lost the connection (and nearly the will to live...lol) about a million times.

Finally in retelling my sorry tale whilst on the online hotmail server...I lost this email...just after I asked the question..is this still Friday the 13th?

welll.is it........????

===================================================

I'm presuming you used the Cod recipe for this sunday?

regards

kevin