GOURMET LOVERS BRUNCH CLUB: APRIL 22 2012

Oh happy brunch clubbers -  weren't you lucky this Sunday. I for one was wishing I could sit down and eat this with the rest of you. We were very privileged and honoured to have been joined by our friend Douglas Santi in our little kitchen. 

A talented chef originally hailing from Bergamo in Northern Italy, Douglas has worked with some of the most esteemed names in cuisine including working as a sous chef for a particular fellow called Alain Ducasse at the renowned Louise XV in Monaco. 

Whilst Douglas' cooking is Italian to the core he has lived and worked in kitchens around the world including France, Brazil, the U.S and the U.K and you can really see all of those global influences come through in his food. A recent convert to supper clubs Douglas offered to come along and help out and bring some magic to proceedings. 

As well as that we had such a great bunch of people joining us from all over the place from as far afield as Sweden, Italy, New Zealand and Australia as well as Britons of course. These lucky sixteen enjoyed what I believe to be one of our most amazing brunches yet. 

Our menu included: 

Brazilian Bread with Chive Butter

Potato Rosti with Mushroom and Sausage

Pork Belly Croque Madame

Lobster Royale with Scrambled Egg Mousse

 Fruit Sticks in Donut Batter

Yoghurt Panacotta with Berries and Museli Dantelle

A couple of my favourite new tips -  cooking 16 fried quails eggs at the same time. Douglas took a muffin tray, greased with oil and cracked a quails egg in to each mould cooking them over the gas stove, turning out perfectly round quails eggs to top the croque madame. The croque, filled with a pork belly so succulent it melt in your mouth, it was the best pork belly I'd ever tasted. 10 hours of slow cooking was all it took to produce that! Sliced thinly and served on soft white bread, slightly warm, its bliss. Watch out arteries!

Another of the standout dishes would have been the Lobster Royale with Scrambled Egg Mousse. How was the mousse so perfect??  Douglas made a type of a savoury sabayon whisking the eggs over a bain-marie and then with the addition of herbs and whipped cream turned it into a silky smooth mousse to adorn the lobster. Accompanied by a little salad with just the right amount of olive oil and salt and pepper to give it a bite and some freshness over all. Its the little things like this that really separate the amateurs from the pros and why we enjoy so much having someone to learn from.

Douglas lived in Brazil for many years and said bread fried in butter accompanied with milky coffee is a traditional breakfast in Brazil. His dough was made a day in advance and left in the fridge over night to proove. In the morning he sliced down the middle of the dough and inserted a generous few dollops of butter which melted through as the bread cooked and made this a delicious moist and creamy bread. Served with a little salted butter and scattered of chives. Perfect with coffee. There's nothing like freshly baked bread. The smell permeates!

I think I was in food heaven with the first sweet course, the fruit stick in yeasted donut batter. Strawberry, pineapple and banana, dipped in a fermented batter and deep fried. Parcels of cinnamon sprinkled dough filled with a juicy sweetness. They were exceptional, only topped by the Panacotta, made with yoghurt to cut the sweetness and give it a tang that was so moreish one brunch clubber didn't want to finish hers as it would then be all gone! The museli dantelle, a bistcuity batter smeared across grease proof paper, topped with museli and cooked to a thin and crispy biscuit to serve along side the yoghurt pannacotta. The perfect accompaniment.

I want you to watch this space carefully people, in consultation with Douglas we're going to be collaborating on some exciting brunch and supper events over the summer in secret locations across the capital. Think 4 courses of Gourmet Lovers Gastronomique with a little music to dance the night away.

Some exciting times a ahead for Gourmet Lovers and for those who choose to get involved. Thanks  for the support!

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GOURMET LOVERS BRUNCH CLUB: HIP HOP BRUNCH 2

Sunday marked our 2nd Hip Hop brunch  -  by popular demand we created a new pun-tastic menu with the help of ever amazing guest chef Mel, of Asian fusion brunch fame. We started with some ridiculous names and from there created a menu of rather varied, world cuisine along with a playlist featuring ironically cool 90s hip hop. For a taste check out the You Tube playlist we made. It seemed to be a combination people were intrigued with and we sold out within a couple of days of announcing the theme!

With the help on an online random generator we gave everyone their Hip Hop name, Fanta-C - Mahogany,Venus cherry and MC Killer Nutz attended amongst others.
 

Thanks to our brunch guest Sian for our awesome Hip Hop bunting as well -  AMAZING!

It was a beautiful sunny Spring day and was lovely starting with all our guests enjoying a Summer berry gin and juice in the garden. Nicks earlier protesting that Gin was not good choice of  brunch beverage was swiftly proven wrong as the 16 guests polished off a large bottle of Bombay Sapphire. We served the Gin with tropical, mango, orange and passion fruit juice and frozen summer berries. It was deceptively refreshing.

Once thirsts were suitably quenched and everyone was relaxed we ventured inside to enjoy the playlist and the 6 courses of our Hip Hop brunch. Thanks to Mel for some brilliant new puns!

Hip Hop Brunch Club 2

The Yeastie Boys

Choux pastry with cheddar and parmesan cheese sauce & Marmite

Return of the suMac Eggs
Fried Burford Brown eggs with lemon, sumac & fattoush salad

Muffin but a G Thang w The Chronic
Cheese, zucchini & chorizo muffins with burnt butter sage

Ludacrispy Bacon 
w Sweet Corn Fritters & Avocado Salsa

Lil Kim Chi Tacos
8 hour pork with pickled cucumber, capsicum, kim chi, rocket & home made BBQ sauce

Fresh Quince of Bel air
Quince and cinnamon ice cream with elderflower cream and pistachio crumble

After everyone was stuffed with hip hop goodness we went out in to the sunshine and enjoyed the Sunday afternoon. As always I had been lucky to meet some lovely people, it always surprises me how people are happy to come and try our brunch and meet new people. We'll keep doing it if you're all still interested in coming. 

Over some ciders in the park we started thinking of some new musically influenced themes and dishes for future brunch clubs. "When a Ham loves a woman", "Pie will always love you" just a couple of suggestions. So watch this space!

The next brunch club takes place on April 22  -  we can't keep up with the demand and its already sold out! But you can register for the waiting list on event brite and be emailed if any tickets are returned.

That will be all for April as we also have a couple of catering jobs filling up the remaining weekends.
Come May we have a private brunch club early on so keep an eye our Facebook page where we will release details of any new brunch club dates as we decide them for May and June.

We have been noticeable slack at posting recipes recently, there has been no time! Hopefully in coming weeks we'll add some of our brunch recipes as well as a few we have been meaning to for ages. Its hard to fit everything in around work and brunch and baking a million cakes it seems.
Thanks for all the love as its keeping us on our toes!

xx
Bex & Nick
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REILLY ROCKET: GOURMET LOVERS CAKES AND SQUARE MILE COFFEE

Everyone knows how much I love coffee and cakes and if you've been following my coffee tasting mission with The London Coffee Map you would have seen I have reviewed one of Dalston's coolest and  best additions to the new wave coffee scene, Reilly Rocket Motorcycle cafe.  You know that Suzuki motorcycle shop on the corner of Kingsland Rd and Tottenham Rd, its always been there! Can't find it, check the map. In the last year the back room has opened up in to a cosy and quirky little cafe serving Square Mile Red Brick espresso along side quesadillas and bagels from its tiny 'kitchen' which is made up of a grill under the counter.  Without the use of the oven they have been unable to bake on site and after we were put in touch by a mutual friend last year I started baking for them sporadically. 

I had already reviewed it for The London Coffee map prior to them getting in contact with me and loved their coffee and friendly attitude.

I'm super happy to be baking for them weekly now! Those lucky Saturday morning people requiring a caffeine pick me up and and a sugary start to your day make sure you check it out from 9am Saturdays when I'll delivery 2 cakes home made by me to the cafe. 

The East is fast becoming the coffee mecca of London, with many places popping up all over the place quicker than you can eat a slice of this delicious two layer blueberry velvet cake covered in cream cheese, marscapone and double cream icing.....

The baristas are very good and very experienced having worked for some of the best in London, like Flat White and Fred and Fran so you can be sure your Flat White will be as per your high standards. 

But hey why not try a piece of delicious cake as well, recent cakes made have included the ever popular Blue Velvet as well as Peanut Butter Cheesecake, Chocolate and Guinness, Banana and Blueberry and Carrot and pineapple.

  

If you're a local to Dalston check out Reilly Rocket and if you've got any suggestions for cakes you'd like to try leave me a comment below.

On another note, I've also been busy with other private cake orders. I'm happy to bake for you if you need something yummy for a birthday, wedding, office party or if you just want to eat cake for no reason at all. Email me bex@gourmetlovers.co.uk Remember I don't bake daily so I will need at least 48 hours notice.

Enjoy your cake!

x
bex

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GOURMET LOVERS BRUNCH CLUB : MIDDLE EAST LONDON

Sunday 11th March was our latest brunch club featuring as always a brand new menu, this one entitled 'Middle East London'.  Brought about by a suggestion from our latest guest chef James (recently returned from Abu Dhabi) with a plethora of fresh new ideas and loads of enthusiasm we conjured up a menu of exotic flavours and spices from United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Morocco. The great thing about starting with a theme means it gives us a great base for which to create a menu whether that be a play on words like our Hip Hop Brunch or inspired around a specific region.

Sundays brunch was a meeting of friends old and new, the beautiful sunny day created a general feeling of positivity in the group of people who came to eat of whom I think all but three were Australians! Further proving to myself that the lack of good brunch locations in London is leading people to investigate further and seek out the underground brunch spots of London. We are more than happy to oblige.  

For the first time in a long while we had help in the kitchen and it reminded me how nice it is to not only have an extra pair of hands when cooking and serving but of how a fresh perspective can inspire and rejuvenate the dishes we prepare. James is the only person who's ever come to a pre brunch club brainstorming session with a couple of drawings of the dishes he had been inspired to cook after his trip. Impressive and smart. I will admit to thinking fennel sorbet and candied fennel was a strange idea ( proven wrong after eating it of course and after I saw it made last week on MasterChef ) I have a slight aversion to anything with aniseed flavours as it reminds me of Sambuca (shudder) but the flavour coming from the fennel in this dish was fruity and sweet. Its unexpected and exciting with real depth to it. We'll be posting a recipe soon. 

Our Menu was as follows  

'Middle East London Brunch'

Harissa Grilled Aubergine with Yoghurt and Pomegranate 

Spiced Crab Stack w Pickled Radish & Fennel Sorbet w Candied Fennel

OR the vegetarian alternative

Pearl barley, New Potato, Fennel Stack w Pickled Radish & Fennel Sorbet w Candied Fennel

Shakshuka Eggs with Turkish toast

Moroccan Mint Salad w Grapefruit, Carrot & Pistachio

Grilled Poisson marinated in Pomegranate Molasses

 w Roasted Vegetable Cous Cous

(See our BBQ Grilled Quail recipe)

OR the vegetarian alternative

Grilled Spiced Pumpkin w Pomegranate Molasses

 & Roasted Vegetable Cous Cous

Bits of Baklava w Honeycomb Ice Cream

There was an ample supply of rose and mint tea available to compliment our brunch menu although the abundance of Antipodeans meant we drank none of that and got through about 10 pots of Square Mile Red Brick coffee. We always notice the coffee or tea consumption swings hugely depending on number of Brits of Antipodeans. 

After brunch, with that feeling that warmer weather is just around the corner we got a taste of the famous post brunch club kick on that comes in Summer by taking a few ciders down to Clissold Park. Not long until we can do that in our garden!

We are getting a lot of enquiries as to when our next brunch club will be and I can announce the next two dates will take place Sundays April 1st and April 22nd. The event brite widget is now updated and you can book for yourself and your friends now.  May sees us hosting a couple of private brunch clubs so get in quick for April as we may be un able to take many bookings in May.

The April 1st theme will be Hip Hop brunch 2 as we've had a lot of interest in that menu since our last one and a lot of suggestions for new dishes, or names of dishes which are inspiring another eclectic and exciting brunch menu. 

Some recipe posts coming soon! Once he gets a spare moment Nick will finish off his duck confit recipe from Christmas (I know, its been way to busy!) as well as add a new delicious recipe for Chicken tom yum pie and my deconstructed baklava and honeycomb ice cream.

Hope to see you soon

Bex & Nick

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GOURMET LOVERS BRUNCH CLUB : SPANISH & SOUTH AMERICAN STYLES

Hola amores, ayer hemos tenido una gran brunch club con una menú un poco Español y Sur Americano. Con el sol brillando a través del ventana y una grupo de gente muy lindo quien llegaron a probar nuestra brunch, nosotros disfrutado nuestra día mucho!


Right thats it for my Spanish efforts today and apologies for the mistakes, of which I'm sure there are plenty if you can't understand that at all what I'm trying to to say we had another wonderful brunch club yesterday with once again a little Spanish influence which I can't help but go back to. It's no secret I've had a hard time trying to go back to normal life in London ever since I came back from Barcelona last October,  I dream about it constantly. Whilst most people tell me I'm looking at that experience through rose tinted glasses ( It was Summer, I had no job, I had some money to spend ) and of course I was happy there.  But I am a person who craves the sun, I do think I suffer from seasonal affective disorder, I love to look outside and see colours everywhere and I want quality of life that removes the insistent pressure of having to succeed that seems to come when living in London, maybe Spain really is the place for me?


So I continue to grasp at the hope that something exciting awaits me in the not too distant future involving Spanish summer and swimming in the ocean and drinking an Estrella on the street at middnight when its still 25 degrees, sitting in a plaza eating jamon y queso and it being the simplest of things but so magically delicious that you need nothing else. Sometimes simple pleasures really are all you need.


Wouldn't it be grand for brunch club to pop up in Barcelona? I found a couple of brunch spots there and I think its a meal perfectly suited to the late to bed, late to rise life style.


Maybe they would like something like this....

Virgin Mary gazpacho
A cold tomato a vegetable soup of fresh tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, capsicum & garlic with tomato juice and the addition of worcester sauce, tabasco and limes.

Huevos al Nido con tomate 

Eggs in a nest -  we posted a recipe for these a while back. This time we made them with a fresh tomato sauce centre and a little pan fried bacon. We used Clarence Court Cotswold Legbar duck eggs. Clarence court eggs are lovely when you want the egg to be the star of the dish. I don't use them for everyday baking but for any egg main dish certainly they are quality eggs. The duck eggs are a little richer and I prefer the deeper orange colour ascetically. Nick made the soft bread rolls of course.

Pinchos de queso de cabra y cebolla

I love the simple tapas in Spain, with their naturally flavoursome ingredients they taste spectacular. Something as simple as cheese and bread can either be boring and tasteless or melt in your mouth delightful depending on quality of ingredients. I chose to deep fry the goats cheese  (because deep frying stuff taste good!!) with a little basil in the centre for a refreshing bite. The slowly sweated red onion base gave it a sweetness that balances the strong goats cheese.

Calamares fritos con sal y pimienta
We marinated the calamari in chilli and lemon, same as we did for our Hip Hop Brunch and grilled it on our charcoal BBQ for 60 secs. For some reason we weren't as happy with how this batch turned out and we aren't sure why. Nick is of course a perfectionist and thought this calamari was just not as melt in the mouth as previously, the only difference being the much larger size of this particular squid. We follow the 60 seconds only cooking rule and got it plated up and served along side  my whole egg aioli asap. 

Tortilla mexicana con chorizo, guacamole y frijols negros
This was basically Huevos Rancheros without an egg once we finished it off but whats not to love about that. Avocado salsa which we make with our corn fritters with black beans rehydrated and slowly reduced in a stock with capsicum and onion for an entire day to get the most flavour out of them.  The star of the show was the chorizo, you cannot beat Brindisa chorizo to really make a dish sing.  Its flavour really stands out as rich and sweet and is balanced along side the cooling citrus from the guacamole and the spice coming from the beans.  

Churros y chocolate caliente picante

So quick & easy to make, its essentially choux pastry piped it in to sizzling oil to shallow fry for a couple of minutes. Adding a little cayenne pepper to the ganache made a chocolate sauce with a kick. A sweet but light end to a big meal.

We weren't particularly good at documenting this brunch pictorially, which we aplogise for, we need to sort that out! But many of these dishes we've made before and I've linked to those. This was mostly as we were on a tight schedule with Nick needing to rush off for work as the last churros bubbled away as well as not wanting to delay service by taking a million photos of the dishes, next time will be different as we will have help! Yes, we haven't done this in a while but we've got an exciting new 'guest chef' for our March 11th brunch club, a foodie friend with fresh ideas and exciting influences gained from his recent trip to Abu Dhabi. I for one am looking forward to a burst of fresh new ideas and another new and exciting brunch unfortunately as I break this exciting news the brunch has already SOLD OUT, but we will post some new dates on event brite soon for March and April.  Give us a shout if you have any special requests :)


We're still the only 6 course brunch in London as far as I'm aware, we will continue to push the brunch boundries as long as you let us!! Also we were so pleased to be featured as 'The Foodies' in Company Magazines March issue looking at couples who blog together.


So get in touch if you'd like to talk brunch!!  We do! 


Until next time


Bex (  & Nick )


x

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GOURMET LOVERS BRUNCH CLUB: FEBRUARY 5TH 2012

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That was our motto for Sundays brunch club which saw us going back to our tried and tested brunch favourites as a sure fire way to win over the hearts, or stomachs rather of our gang of brunch loving foodies. 13 of you braved snowmageddon and made it to Gourmet Lovers HQ for our second brunch of the year. Yes the snow however beautiful ( and about time really ) caused a few casualties to the rsvp list but those of you who made it, well done!

Taking it back to basics does three things, it reaffirms what we're all about, quality, fresh, modern fusion style brunch dishes like our old favourite the Bill Granger style sweet corn fritters with avocado salsa. It also guarantees you a tasty brunch which is above all what we want to achieve and finally it means we are a slick operation totally planned, prepped and organised in the kitchen. Sometimes its nice for us to know something is going to work and go well, other times we like to fly by the seat of of our pants and make things up as a we go along. This was for us our classic brunch.

We'd love to bring more brunches to you but alas there are only so many weekends available, so we are aiming two a month in our house at the moment. There is of course the other option, we can come to you or you can book us for a private brunch, they've been known to happen. Say you have a birthday or any celebration for that matter we'd be happy to discuss a date where you can brunch at our place on a Saturday or Sunday.  Give us a shout!

I'd be really happy if all I ever had to do was brunch club, unfortunately thats not really reality as I have too many things to do and places I need to go so it's time to get back to work and if that means 9-5 then so be it. Summer beckons and I must be involved in the Spanish sunshine again. So its time to start sending off that CV and if this blog doesn't help with that I don't know what to do anymore.

For your viewing pleasure the delectable dishes of brunch club from Sunday February 5th 2012.

Saffron infused yoghurt with pomegranate and pistachio

Lemon curd cheese blintz with blueberry coulis and sour cream

Spiced roast beetroot, goats cheese, cherry tomato and puy lentil salad

Baby Benedict: quails egg, honey roasted ham and home made hollandaise

Sweet corn fritter with spinach, crispy bacon, oven dried tomatoes and avocado salsa. OHH YESS!

Avocado helado, with a chocolate dipped mint leaf and the gooiest chocolate brownie

There you have our 6 course brunch classics menu, topped off with the ever popular bloody mary and some Square Mile Red Brick blend and you have a perfect Sunday brunch. I wish I could come and eat!!!

Now if you want to come along and chill out in our sunny toasty lounge room, read the papers and enjoy some tunes as well as make new friends then get involved by using our new event brite widget on the right side column of our home page. We have announced dates for Sunday February 26 and March 11 and with only 16 spots available we're filling up fast. If you find there aren't enough spots remaining send me an email bex@gourmetlovers.co.uk and let me know how many you'd like, I can pop you on the waiting list in case of cancellations. 

New dates will continue to be added and we'll post on facebook and twitter as soon as this happens. 

Hope to meet more of you soon

xx

bex

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GOURMET LOVERS BRUNCH CLUB: HIP HOP BRUNCH

Hello to all our brunch loving friends.

We had such a great time yesterday bringing you our Hip Hop brunch! Why hip hop? Well I think Nick came up with 'Busta Limes' at the pub and thought it sounded funny and so we created a menu around how many 90's hip hop artists we could make in to brunchy sounding dishes.

Our menu came first then the food, but what it essentially turned in to was a menu of classic antipodean style, fusion food. I got to make my own home made puff pastry and vol au vents for the first time. Nick made fresh focaccia. I wish I'd made two grape fruit tarts because we always want more pudding no matter how full we are.

Accompanied by a sweet as playlist I had collated last week after spending a few hours on you tube, we went forth serving a menu which was as follows, beginning with an ever popular ice breakingly good Bloody Mary J Blige........

Puff daddy

Home made puff vol au vents w chorizo & tomato sauce

Busta Limes  

Avocado, edamame & radish salad with lime yoghurt dressing

Salt n Pepa

Salt and pepper calamari two ways w home made aioli

The Notorious B.L.T

Bacon (or mushroom), lettuce & tomato w home made focaccia and mayo

Grandmaster Hash

Beetroot, feta and mint hash with poached egg

Wu Tang Flan

Grape fruit and citrus tart with yoghurt

So after a few bloody marys and a lot of food we bid farewell to our 17 lovely guests, it was a great start to Brunch Club for 2012. Thanks so much for all the love, its wonderful meeting new people who love food as much as us. We appreciate your support as we go about trying to bring you the best brunch in London. 

Next brunch club takes place on Sunday 5th February and we'll be dreaming up a theme this week, we are all booked for the 5th but feel free to email if your interested as we'll be announcing some more dates this week. As always our aim is just to have fun and make yummy food.

Lots of love!!

Bex & Nick

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