30 June 2011

FRUIT CARVINGS



I love to carve fruit and thought I'd create a page just for photos of some of the carvings I have done. They usually catch someone's eye and I have found that they are a great centre piece for buffet tables or in the middle of the table when hosting a dinner party.




Melon basket and apple bird.

Red apple Swan
Melon swan
Watermelon swan
Melon swan
Water melon feature
Lemon boat

Tomato rose and tulip, cucumber leaf, carrot flower.
Tomato rose and tulip, cucumber leaf, carrot flower

Melon swan
 lemon palm tree
 Orange basket
Melon swan
Water melon carving 
Watermelon swan from Andy and Issy's Wedding

28 June 2011

PAN SEARED PORK LOIN MEDALLIONS

Served on garlic and Stilton mashed potatoes, Stroganoff sauce and buttered green beans. 


I love pork and always enjoy it with a good bit of crackling. I removed the rind before cooking and rubbed it with fragrant sea salt before cooking between two sheets of parchment paper to keep it nice and straight. I cooked it slowly for about an hour and a half and added it to my finished dish.




ChefGary's Private dinner parties
ChefGary@Home
ChefGary

26 June 2011

CHEFGARY BUFFETS

ChefGary's fruit carvings

I have catered for many occasions which have opted for buffet style menus. Buffet menus can be very versatile, designed to be served hot or cold. Cold buffets are a great choice if you would like food to be available throughout your function and can be a very relaxed style of service. Hot buffets can be great for larger numbers to take the pressure off plated service, while still offering a great variety of hot dishes. If you browse through my menus, I offer a variety of of dishes, designed specifically because they keep well through service under temperature. I can help you decide which type of menu is best for for you and can tailor any menu to suit your function.




Curry buffet


Buffet function

Canapes

Canapes


Desserts


Buffets at The Pavillion, Romsey.
ChefGary Dinner Parties
ChefGary BBQS
ChefGary Buffet Menus
ChefGary

23 June 2011

COTTAGE PIE, STILTON AND GARLIC MASH

I had my Mum and my younger Brother over for dinner tonight and I made a big dish of cottage pie. I mixed in some grated Stilton and crushed garlic into the mash which gave the topping a great added flavour. I served it with saute green beans with sliced onions and roasted chantaney carrots. For dessert we had vanilla sponge with butterscotch sauce and ChefGary's freshly made custard.

Cottage pie, Stilton and garlic mash
Saute green beans, onions and garlic

Roasted chantaney carrots

Vanilla sponge, butterscotch sauce and custard.
CHEFGARY @ HOME
ChefGary

20 June 2011

FATHERS DAY BBQ

We had a family get together for Fathers day and I was in charge of doing the cooking. I had a fab time preparing everything from great quality fresh ingredients and it was another great day with ChefGary's BBQ food .


Fathers Day BBQ Menu

Peppered British rump steak
x x x
Tikka marinated chicken breast, coconut yoghurt
x x x
Chinese 5 spice marinated chicken breast, sweet chilli sauce
x x x
Chiili and basil burgers
x x x
British pork and leek sausages
x x x
Pork belly chops, smokey BBQ sauce
x x x
Char-grilled red, yellow and green peppers
x x x
Mixed tossed salad,  French bread, tortilla wraps
x x x
Blushed tomato hummus, Guacamole, ChefGary's special BBQ sauce.

ChefGary

Stage one

Cooking away

5-spice chicken, 

Peppered British rump steak

Tikka marinated chicken

ChefGary at work

Dad, Paul and little Ben

ChefGary, Bethany and Ben

Brothers: Robbie, ChefGary, Paul, Dad and Ben
Mum, ChefGary, Robbie, Paul.


18 June 2011

WEDDING FOR ANDY AND ISSY FELTHAM

NorthBrook Park
Andy and Issy are great friends that I have known for a few years whom I met through my wife. They are a lovely couple and their engagement was imminent, their wedding date following shortly after. They chose a lovely setting for their wedding at Northbrook Park in Alton. With beautiful buildings, magnificent gardens and grounds, plenty of greenery and trees, it is a perfect setting for any Wedding. Northbrook Park will organise most of your day, but will forward all your catering requirements to a third party. This is where I was able to offer my services for Andy's and Issy's Wedding day.
I worked very closely with Andy and Issy to plan a fantastic menu, incorporating plenty of tasting sessions so that we could create the perfect menu to suit such a grand occasion. As well as building a menu, I also organised  the hiring of equipment that would be needed to produce the chosen menu. I recruited all the Chefs which I have worked closely with during my restaurant years and I sourced the waiting staff through Platinum recruitment. Their staff were very professional, polite and hard working and I will definitely use their services again. I also organised the hiring of laundry through Hampshire linen and helped out where I could to make their day all the more special. Their Wedding day took a lot of planning from their side and it is too easy to take for granted all the effort it takes to organise a wedding. There was great source of help through a lot of close family members, making their wedding ceremony a great celebration of their day.
The photographers were Julian and Sue Porter, whom we had at our own Wedding nearly four years ago. They helped make Andy and Issy's day really special as they did for us back then. We have an amazing album that we are really proud of and Andy and Issy still have the pleasure to come of building a great album together from all the amazing photos that Julian and Sue took on the day. Julian and Sue are a great couple that we have stayed friends with and they were kind enough to take some amazing photos of the food on the day which have far exceeded my expectations and really do my food the justice it deserves!


Wedding banquet room
Watermelon swan (More fruit carvings)
Apple bird
Table decoration
Wedding breakfast menu for Andy and Issy Feltham
Canapes
x x x
Crayfish tails, spiced cocktail sauce, wholemeal crouton,
Bruschetta, tomato, onion and basil salsa,
Chicken liver parfait, granary toast, caramelized red onion chutney,
Crispy duck and vegetarian spring rolls, sticky sweet chilli dipping sauce,

Starter
x x x
Parma ham, rocket leaves, shaved parmesan,
Chorizo, thinly sliced red chilli and spring onion,
Home cured bresaola, red wine, sea salt and spices,
Mozzarella, blush tomatoes, olive oil and cracked black pepper,
Tiger loaf, Spring onion, cheese and tomato bread,
Lime and coriander hummus, tomato salsa,
Olive oil and balsamic, butter.

Main-course
x x x
Organic chicken  breast,
 Stuffed with blush tomato, fresh basil and mozzarella, wrapped in Parma ham and puff pastry,
or
Mediterranean cous cous,
Wrapped in puff pastry, roasted cherry tomato sauce,
Served with new season potatoes in fresh herbed olive oil,
Panache of spring green vegetables and carrots.

Trio of Desserts
x x x
Strawberry and white chocolate cheesecake,
Vanilla brulee, honeycomb topping,
Chocolate orange brownie with fresh raspberries.

Coffee and petit fours
x x x 
Mini Baileys and chocolate bar,
Caramel and chocolate shortbread,
Fudge squares, 
Mini raspberry doughnuts.


Evening buffet,
x x x
Crispy smoked bacon rashers, served in baguettes, ciabatta bread and granary baps.
ChefGary's hand cut chips.

Food photo gallery
Crayfish and prawn cocoktail
Chicken liver parfait, caramelized red onion chutney
Crispy duck spring rolls, sweet chilli sauce
Bruschetta, tomato, onion and fresh basil
Platter of cured meats
Chorizo, sliced red chilli and spring onion
Parma ham. parmesan shavings and rocket salad
Stuffed chicken breast in puff pastry
Stuffed chicken breast in puff pastry

Trio of desserts (More desserts)
ChefGary @ work!


All photography by Julian and Sue Porter
Weddings
Julian's blog
ChefGary

13 June 2011

BAKED WHOLE MACKEREL

Filleted and stuffed with chilli, garlic, ginger and onion.

Mackerel is a great fish to cook with and is definitely one of my favourites. It is a naturally oily fish so is full of omega 3 fatty acids which are great for helping maintain your cholesterol levels. It has great flavour so can take on lots of spice and other added ingredients when cooking and is also great value for money. I filleted two fish for tea as my wife isn't too keen on the bones and I placed the whole fillets back together with a chilli, ginger and garlic butter stuffed inside. I cooked up some potato rostis which are another favourite of mine, along with some crispy chorizo slices and a fresh rocket, watercress and tomato salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Baked mackerel, chilli, garlic and chilli butter. crispy potato rosti and chorizo slices. 

Rocket, watercress, cherry tomato and onion salad, olive oil and balsamic