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...