Following up our blog about ‘what is blogging‘ last week we came across the website Blog Action Day. Today is the day we and hundred of other bloggers blog about the topic ‘food’. There is so much to say about food.
Food is one of lifes pleasures especially if you, a friend, family member or partner can cook well, or you dine at some of the best restaurants. I personally love cooking and eating out or even ordering in. Depending on the mood either cooking a romantic meal for my girlfriend and I, or a big family meal either cooked by my mother or myself, they are always a good event where we can catch up and have a few slurps of the Vino. Every Saturday I wake up to a coffee, and a croissant while relaxing to Saturday Kitchen on BBC One. I enjoy watching James Martin present the show, with his celebrity guest and celebrity chefs as well as the classic episodes form Keith Floyd, Rick Stein, Master Chef, Jamie Oliver, Nigella, Antonio Colucci and many more varying throughout the year.
Keith Floyd on BBC Saturday Kitchen
Saturday Kitchen is where I fell in love watching Keith Floyd cooking meals in various locations from on the top of a mountain to cooking freshly caught fish on a boat in the middle of the see, from various locations in the world such as France, Italy, Spain, India, China, USA, Australia and many more, all the time having a slurp of the local red stuff and if that was not available then a glass of the local alcoholic beverage. Keith Floyds autobiography is a good insight to his personal life and how he started out forming his empire to losing it all.
Keith Floyd had three restaurants in Bristol by 1971, Floyd’s Restaurant in Alma Vale Road, Floyd’s Chop House in Chandos Road, and Floyd’s Bistro in Princess Victoria Street, Clifton. All three of the restaurants Floyd had opened had financial difficulties so he sold them and the rights to use the name “Floyd’s Restaurant” and decided to move to the South of France selling Wine to restaurants in Bristol and opening a restaurant L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in the Vaucluse. Again due to financial problems he moved back to England, managing to get his friends to give him loans he opened another restaurant in Chandos Road, as he had sold the rights to use his own name he simply called it “Restaurant”.
The new restaurant was popular with local actors and many people working at BBC bristol. Late one night when a waitress came into the kitchen and said to Floyd ‘There’s a Gentlemen on table five who wants to have a quick word with you.” changed his life forever as this was David Pritchard, who explained a programme he was making for BBC Bristol called RPM, a sort of arty-crafty programmed which was broadcasted early evenings. This led to Floyd being offered his first BBC TV series in 1984 ‘Floyd on Fish’, which was the begining of his rapid rise to his popularity. Floyd would never describe himself as a chef as he was self-trained and had not been to a chef school.
Keith Floyd had and still has a following of millions of viewers worldwide.
During the late 1980s he purchased and ran the Maltsters Arms in Tucknhay, Devon. He was know for spending more time at the bar than in the kitchen. This led to his bankruptcy in 1996, after he accepted a £36,000 cheque for a drinks order which bounced.
In 2008 he set up a restaurant at the Burasari Resort on the popular Thai island of Phuket. This was his first Asain restaurant and the fist celebrity restaurant to be opened in Phuket, where Keith Floyds followers would pay him a visit, right up untill Keith Floyds death in 2009 he was actively involved in running his restraunt ‘Floyds Brasserie’.
On 29th July 2009, Keith Floyd was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer. He had a total of five operations which removed 90% of the cancer, despite his illness and constant drinking, he was told by the doctor his liver was working at 100% and was like a non-drinkers. Sadly on 14th September 2009 he died of a heart attack aged 65. But still lives on most Saturday mornings, in his cookery books and on DVD.
Keith Floyd Recipes
To celebrate the life of Keith Floyd and for Blog Action Day here are a couple of my favourite recipes by Keith Floyd:
Tomatoes Stuffed A La Nicoise
Ingredients:
Fatty pork mince
Veal mince
Finely chopped parsley
Finely chopped shallots
Finely chopped garlic
Egg
Vine tomatoes – deseeded and de-topped
Method:
In a large bowl mix together the pork mince and the veal mince
Add the finely chopped parsley, shallots and garlic
To this mixture add the egg and mix well
Stuff the deseeded and de-topped vine tomatoes with the mixture
Top with garlic butter
Roast in the oven for 20 minutes
Italian Risotto With Wild Mushrooms
Ingredients:
Finely chopped shallots
Finely chopped garlic
White wine
Butter
Risotto rice
Wild mushrooms
Olive oil
Method:
In a large pan add a generous amount of olive oil and allow the finely chopped garlic and
shallots to sweat until see through
Add the risotto rice
Cover the ingredients with the remaining oil and add 1/2 a bottle of white wine
Over the heat allow the mixture to ‘cook out’
In another pan sweat the wild mushrooms in some olive oil
Add the butter to the mushrooms
Finish the risotto by adding small amounts of water to the pan and allowing this to cook
through
Add the wild mushrooms
Allow to cook out
Season to taste and serve with a little double cream
Chicken Tagine With Couscous
Ingredients:
Diced chicken
Bay leaf
Cinnamon sticks
Honey
Ground cumin
Cumin seeds
Ground coriander
Olive oil
Chicken stock
Dry sherry
Diced garlic
Diced shallots Fresh coriander
Method:
Add the olive oil into a large roasting pot
Colour the chicken all over in the oil
Add the diced garlic and shallots and allow to sweat down
Add the cinnamon sticks, cumin seeds and ground cumin
Allow to cook out for 10 minutes
Add the dry sherry, honey, bay leaf and cover with the chicken stock
Bring to the boil
Cover the pot and roast in the oven for 30-35 minutes
@ 200 degrees Celsius
Serve with fresh coriander
Recipes are Copyright Linthwaite House Hotel & Keith Floyd © 2007 – www.floydonline.co.uk
