Eating Out at Bistro Live this Christmas

Whether you’re hosting your Christmas party at Leicester, Nottingham or Milton Keynes this year. You can be sure you’ll be served up a treat!

I love the Christmas season, for us foodies it’s an excuse to really indulge ourselves in copious amounts of good food and drink. (Not like we need an excuse!) And this Christmas will be no exception, we’ve just finished fine-tuning this year’s Xmas menu and we have spared no expense.

Our aim was to really push the boundaries of quality, those of you that partied with us last year may notice a few changes to the menu. I’m a big dessert fan and the standout dish for me this time around is the luxuriously rich mincemeat and cranberry tartlet with cointreau cream, sugared and baked to perfection. All homemade of course right here, go on indulge your sweet tooth!

You can see our whole Christmas menu by clicking here.

 

Making someone’s day!!!

Many people feel that having an allergy or intolerance to foods; can be a daunting and difficult experience when visiting restaurants. From personal experience, I know how frustrating it can be when asking waiters about certain foods and they ‘shrug’ their shoulders or give you that puzzled look.

Which is why we at Bistro L!VE are different! We build our menus in a fashion that allows us to provide a good quality dining experience for people who have allergies and intolerances. We train ALL our staff in dietary information and the dishes that can suit. It is often we will make a dish slightly different just to accommodate a certain requirement. We provide this as standard for all our customers; all we ask is a bit of notice to allow this to be possible. And if our customers are still unable to have something off the menu or perhaps even do not fancy anything on the menu, then we will create a meal which the customers would prefer. Chefs are also available to talk to customers before, during and after the evening if you feel you need to. You can even pre-order your meal with us.




We make sure you can feel comfortable whilst out with your friends and family, no one need know that you have something different. For example, we have sourced and served ‘fake turkey’ for some Christmas customers before so YES people can still enjoy the joys of the festival season without feeling different. Below is an example of what we do and the impact it has both front of house AND back! Well done Rachel!!!

Spencer Ollington

Development Head Chef

Bistro L!VE

In the Christmas of last year, after a long day at work, a customer sent a note into the Bistro L!VE Nottingham kitchen:

‘To the kitchen team, thank you so much for a delicious gluten and dairy free meal, I have never had such a tasty and satisfying meal at a function like this. It has also been years since I have enjoyed real stuffing with turkey. Thank you for making what can so often be a very difficult occasion into a relaxing meal out with friends’

21/12/10 Angela Lucking

Now I don’t know about you but this made my day, it’s a note that I still keep in the drawer of my desk. Whilst Christmas can be a busy (and sometimes stressful) time for us, it is nice to know that what we do makes a difference!

Rachel Bartlam

Sous Chef

Bistro L!VE Nottingham

A Training Day with a Difference...........

Well as most of you know, training days can be a bit of a bore, but here at Bistro Live, we like to make things fun....

As you may know we have a new menu starting this week and what better way to learn the delicious menu, than to invite all the staff along to a training session where they learn about all the new dishes they will be serving to all of our guests, whilst getting the chance to eat them and give us their feedback on what they like and are not quite for them. So I gathered the Bistro L!VE Nottingham kitchen team together and we went through the complete menu. We then worked as a team to create all the tasty dishes.

My personal opinion is - I think this menu is amazing, it’s got such a vibrant nature, and it’s creatively made using fine quality ingredients and with love and flair. It’s the perfect menu for this time of year with in the run up to Christmas.

The feedback we gained from our Bistro family was invaluable. I think the Sticky Pork will always be a firm favourite, however it will gain direct competition from our fun and quirky Mini Fish ‘n’ Chips and also from the elegant and vibrant Butternut Squash & Wild Mushroom Risotto.

Also there was a very good response from The Fish Dish and the Chicken, Gammon & Mascarpone; many said the Lamb Rojan Josh was perfect, not too spicy, well cooked and perfect for a night out.

And the desserts, well - everyone loved them!! The Banoffee Cheesecake got such an amazing response - the way it looks and its taste; it will definitely be a firm favourite among many.

The Apple & Raspberry Crumble was perfect, not too much custard and the perfect balance of sweetness and crunch. The Profiteroles well they just win every time. Its that simple – who could turn down a pile of homemade choux buns filled with a sweet vanilla cream and topped with a warm luxurious dark chocolate sauce?!

I hope you enjoy the menu as much as we enjoy preparing it for you.

John

Head Chef

Bistro L!VE Nottingham

Leicester's New Autumn Menu!

Hi, my name is Gary, I am the Head Chef at Bistro L!VE Leicester.

Did you know.... That from next week we are launching our new Autumn menu. The kitchen team at our Leicester branch are really looking forward to it as there are lots of great new dishes like, the ‘Butternut Squash and Wild Mushroom Risotto’ and the ‘Banoffee Cheesecake’ mmmm !!!!!.

That's just a sample of our new dishes on offer, If your not already tempted you soon will be when you see the rest of the menu . So round up the gang and get yourself booked in to taste these superb dishes. All of the food is made fresh on the premises by our team of talented chefs.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me on 0845 33 11 500, I look forward to seeing you soon.

Gary

Head Chef

Bistro L!VE Leicester

Home from home………………..

Well last week, we had an experimental cook off at Bistro L!VE Leicester. We produced different ideas that we may or may not use on future menus. This gives us at Bistro Live a chance to meet up, and do what we do best - create fun, interesting and delicious dishes. I suppose it is like our ‘play time’, but with a serious objective.

Now I don’t know about the rest of you, but going somewhere new is kind of daunting! Having recently been made into the new second chef in my kitchen, I was looking forward to this day but also nervous, not because I didn’t know any other chefs but it was going to be foreign to me. My head chef took me and our third chef along. We all had dishes to create and present. These took a bit of research into different ways and techniques, which is fun to me, as I like learning new ways of doing different things. We were able to make some of the dishes healthier and suitable for different dietary requirements, such as gluten free, which is always good.

We made:

......

.........Sweet corn and Chilli.............................Soup Vegetarian Hot Pot

...................Fish Pie ...............................................Mini Fish and Chips

..Cauliflower Bhaji with Curry Oil ...............Onion Bhaji with Aubergine Raita

These dishes were fantastic, and very yummy, with all three sites we made around 24 different dishes so we all learned something new. And we had fun and worked as a team. I am looking forward to having more opportunities such as this in the future. I hope that some of make it on to some future menu’s.

Rachel

Sous Chef

Bistro L!VE Nottingham

Mark Corpe Professional Overview

Mark Corpe is currently the creative young sous chef at Bistro L!VE in Leicester. Since taking over as sous chef in 2006 he, alongside Head Chef Gary Brickles has helped to push the standards of food here to an extremely high level, with a fresh, modern take on European cuisine.

At Bistro L!VE Mark is responsible for helping to create and implement new seasonal menus, training and overseeing a kitchen brigade of over seven staff, whilst handling food purchases and stock for the entire operation at Leicester. With a broad experience base of over 8 years in the hospitality and catering sectors, including A la carte, banqueting and private events, Mark is an intricate member of the team here at Leicester.

Smoked Salmon Roulade and Chive Buerre Blanc

I love this dish, It's so simple to make and there's no cooking time involved! The roulades are great for summer and for a starter at dinner parties, it's fresh, classical, looks great and it's very very easy. It can be made in advance as well. Remember to roll them nice and tight!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Long cut Scottish smoked salmon x 1 side

Soft cheese x 250g

Lemon juice x 1 lemon

Chives x 1 small bunch

Butter x 150g (cut into 1cm cubes)

White onion x 1 small (finely diced)

White wine vinegar x 4 tblsp

White wine x 100ml

Cracked black pepper x pinch

Recipe:

For the Roulade

In a small mixing bowl combine the soft cheese, half the chives finely chopped, the juice and zest of half the lemon and a pinch of cracked black pepper.

On a sheet of cling film lay out the side of smoked salmon and spread the cheese mix evenly, covering the salmon all the way to the edges.

Here's the tricky part, start to roll the salmon from bottom to top (not head to tail) this is important as rolling it the other way would result in a rather lumpy roulade that you will struggle to fit on your plate! Once rolled wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

For the Buerre Blanc

In a small pan add the chopped onions, white wine vinegar and white wine and reduce over a low heat until syrup like. while still over the heat add a couple tablespoons of water and stir in a cube of butter at a time, waiting for each one to fully dissolve before adding the next. Chop the rest of the chives remembering to save a few nice sticks for garnish and add to the sauce, squeeze in the rest of the lemon and season to taste. At this point remember to keep the sauce warm or the butter will set. So think about preparing this sauce at the last minute!

To Plate Up

When portioning the roulade make sure it is nice and cold this will make it easier to cut. Trim off the ends and slice into about 1inch long pieces, this should be enough for three a portion. Arrange in the centre of the plate, maybe lay one on it's side? Drizzle the buerre blanc around and garnish with a couple of chive sticks.

Enjoy...

Cook Bistro LIVE’s Mothers Day Special

Would you like to do something nice your mum this Mothers Day? Then follow our easy to prepare 3 course Mothers Day lunch below.

You will be preparing a mouth watering starter of prawns with sweet chilli and little gem lettuce.
The main event will be our delicious roasted leg of lamb with rosemary and garlic, served with roasted root vegetables and homemade gravy. All finished off with a luxurious raspberry flavoured cream and crunchy white chocolate and macadamia cookies.

What better gift could your mum ask for this spring than this enticing 3 course lunch. Interested? Then give the following recipe a go………

Menu (Serves 8 and can be prepared and cooked in approx 2 hrs)

• Prawn & Chilli Leaf
• Roasted leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary with roasted root vegetables & homemade redcurrant gravy
• Raspberry delight with white chocolate and macadamia nut cookie

Ingredients

500gr cooked and peeled prawns 8 raw tiger prawns shell off

50 ml Olive oil

1 red chilli

1 Lime

Bottle of sweet chilli sauce

1 Red pepper

1 bunch Spring onions

2/3 Baby gem lettuces

A few chive sticks

2kg leg of Lamb

50gr fresh rosemary

1 garlic clove
Port or red wine (optional)
1 jar redcurrant jelly
Corn flour

500ml lamb stock (water will suffice)

500gr red onions

3 courgettes

500gr whole carrots

Kg roasting potatoes

500gr swede or parsnip (optional)

100ml Olive oil

50gr brown sugar

600ml whipping cream

500gr frozen raspberries (defrosted in advance)
Icing sugar to taste
1 packet white chocolate drops
50gr macadamia nuts

250gr butter

125gr caster sugar

300gr plain flour

  

Prepare the lamb: Heat oven to 190C/170 fan/gas 5. Cut small pockets into the lamb by piercing it with a small knife. Stuff garlic cloves and the rosemary springs into each one. Put into a roasting tin, season well with rock salt and cracked black pepper. Put straight into the oven to cook. This will take approx 1hr 45 mins to cook.

Prepare the vegetables: cut into the shapes you require and drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with brown sugar and place into the bottom of the oven below the lamb. These will take approx 45-60mins to cook.





Prepare the starter quickly: Put the raw prawns into a bowl and add the red chilli, olive oil and some seasoning – put to one side. Drain the cooked prawns and coat with some of the sweet chilli sauce, chop the spring onions and red pepper into small pieces and add to the prawns. Wash the lettuce, pick out the best leaves for your vessel and finely shred the rest. 



Dessert time now: Cream the butter and sugar together and sift in the flour. Add the white choc chips and crushed macadamia nuts. Roll out into your desired shapes and put them onto a tray with baking paper on. Whip the cream and icing sugar until forming soft peaks. Drain the raspberries and add to the mix. Reserve the juice till later. Put aside.

Plate the starters: Drizzle some sweet chilli sauce around the plate and add a little of the shredded lettuce in the middle. Place the whole leaf on top and add the remaining lettuce and cooked prawns. Cook the tiger prawns and put on top. Garnish as the picture.




Make the gravy: Once the lamb is cooked get it out of the oven and allow it to rest. Check the vegetables are ok and keep warm once they are cooked. Take the lamb out of the tray and put the tray over the heat, add the port or wine if using and then add the stock and the redcurrant jelly. Bring to the boil and thicken with corn flour. Season and taste. Keep all the food warm until you are ready to serve the main course.

Eat starters: Enjoy five minutes rest!

Bake the cookies: Cook the cookies for approx 12 mins until they are light golden brown. Get out and allow to cool.

Serve main course: Slice the lamb and portion onto warm plates. Put all the vegetables onto the table for everyone to help themselves. Pour some of the gravy over the lamb and the rest into a gravy boat.

Get desserts ready: Pipe or spoon the raspberry cream into glasses and pour any raspberry juice you have left over it. Serve with the warm and chewy cookies

Job done! Relax and let someone else tidy up – BUT NOT YOUR MOTHER!!

New Second Chef at Bistro LIVE Nottingham

Hi :)

My name is John – I am the Head Chef of Bistro L!VE Nottingham and welcome to our blog. As the Head Chef of Bistro L!VE Nottingham for the last god knows how many years, it has been a pleasure to have worked along side some amazing characters and amazing teams to deliver what we do.

I am about to introduce a very important player in the kitchen team to you - Rachel…

I have had the honour of training Rachel since day one. She has impressed me SO much over the past few years and I have decided to make her my new Second Chef, before some other lucky kitchen got their hands on her. With her many talents and bags of potential, we are truly blessed at Bistro LIVE to have her.

Rachel will be keeping you up to date every week with the goings on with-in our kitchen and on our training progress. Over to you Rachel……….

John
Head Chef
Bistro L!VE Nottingham

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Well, I made it! I am now the new Second Chef at Bistro L!VE Nottingham!

Its taken me some time, but since starting with the company in September 2007 as a Commis Chef, I found Bistro L!VE perfect for my course, as they use all fresh ingredients and make ALL their own stocks and sauces. Surprisingly many people who I worked with on my course didn’t have this kind of opportunity as there was not that many restaurants around that provide what Bistro L!VE do…

I enjoyed my learning experience as my Head Chef was hands on and would help me as much as he could, and now my Head Chef and I are currently training two of our newer members of staff in the same way, and have another one starting the course soon. The cycle continues…..

My work at college over the past 3 years has paid off and in January of this year I graduated with my Professional Cookery Diploma. I am pleased to say that I have earned my place within the Patisserie Diploma course starting in September and I am very excited to have this chance!
I absolutely love the creative side of my job and I always look forward to helping create fantastic new dishes for our menus.

I am excited at the challenges that I face with my new job role, my new course and the training of our future chefs. I will be keeping you updated on all of our progress as it happens.

Until then….

Rachel
Second Chef
Bistro L!VE Nottingham

Bistro L!VE through to Final

Bistro L!VE through to final of Inaugural Annual Chamber Chef Competition 2011 The Milton keynes & North Bucks Chamber of Commerce, in association with the Extra Care Charity are celebrating the quality, diversity and choice of our dining culinary establishments and have bought the 'Chefs Challenge' to Milton keynes and its surrounding area's. This gives all the highly skilled chefs across the region the opportunity to go head to head and see who comes out on top. It also provides the vehicle to showcase the extreme talents of the most significant employees within the catering sector - The Chef! The idea is that three Chefs from Hotels, Traditional & Gourmet Pubs, Restaurants, Conference and Specialist Venues respectively will go head to head on the night at an independant neutral venue. The Chefs are supported by the local college and De Veer Young Chef Academy. Each Chef would, on the night cook their own chosen signiture menu for their seated guests based on a set theme for the evenig and a maximum budget spend. The judging will be done on a scoring system by the diners and the chef with the highest score will go through to the final. Bistro L!VE entered and competed in the second heat on Thursday 3rd March - the theme being 'Energising Foods'. We prepared a acai berry, ginseng and superfruit tower, followed by a Loch Duart Thai Salmon Fillet, finishing with the most divine Lemon Tart around. Out scoring everyone on the night we were put through to the final on 14th April to go head to head with the best Chefs around. The energising theme was a tricky yet enjoyable challenge. With a healthy outlook mixed with all the colours of the rainbow, we wowed the diners and staff and was voted the best on the night and given our place in the final. The theme for the final is 'Fine Glamour' therefore the gloves are off and its time to give everyone a taste of 'Fine Dining Bistro L!VE Style'!!! To book tickets to the event please go onto the MK & North Bucks Chamber website where you will find them for £25 per person plus VAT or alternatively contact myself at spencero@bistrolive.com Keep a look out for more updates and on how we get on

Bistro L!VE - Head Chef Blog update...

Gary - our head chef at
Bistro L!VE Leicester

Welcome to the Bistro L!VE Head Chef Blog where you will find a fresh and different approach to food blogging in 2011...

Our aim this year is simply to serve you – the customer! Anything you should need, want or of interest to you will hopefully be covered at some point on this food page. Whether it is a quick recipe that can easily be reproduced, some useful tips and hints, or just some good honest feedback, your search is over – you will find it all here!

Spencer - head chef at
Bistro L!VE Milton Keynes

We would like to create a community of ‘foodies’ along the way. This will hopefully enable us all to communicate our thoughts and views on everything food related. It could be your comments on your food experiences at Bistro L!VE or some thoughts on how you got on using one of our recipes or even just some suggestions of your own. Everything goes – the forum will be open!

This food page will be updated weekly for you and it is our goal for you to be looking forward to these updates and for them to be of use and of interest to you. We aim to keep the information fresh, exciting and current. We also aim to be as interactive as possible, from enticing and vibrant photography to informative video footage of actual cooking. We will give it all a go.

Look out for our up and coming Mothers day Special. We will give you the opportunity to cook something nice for the most important woman in your life with our easy to prepare 3 course Mothers day lunch.

Or if you may want to do something with the kids this Easter – then how about making homemade hot cross buns…