Glasgows Best Burger at Ad Lib

"There's too many burger restaurants in Glasgow, but may the best one win."

All eye's were on Buddy's to maintain their number one slot at this years Ad Lob burger competition. There were 19 contenders all fighting it out to win what has become the Burger chef's holy grail in Glasgow and say that they are the number one burger joint in town. The atmosphere was tense but the crowd were electric, with the beer flowing and the judging panel ready to fill their faces the night started off with a brief chit chat about the rules and regulations and the chefs popped into the kitchen to make their magic happen. At this point I grabbed a quick chat with a few of the judges to find out what their predictions maybe from what they've seen before.  James, Jennie and Rab were all hoping Bread meats bread would step up to the plate "I think they're going to choke tho with the pressure, It's tense in there..." was the line muttered by Rab.

First up was El Perro Negro, tipped to win it by the crowd with their rare breed burger with bacon, bone marrow and roquefort butter, caramelised onions, black truffle mayo and a brioche bun. An instant hit with the judges, the guys weren't best pleased with the end product but it looked the part. The contestants started to flow out every 4 minutes, up next was Guy Bradshaw from The Drake with his creation Jerky Goodness made with herb crusted jerk chicken, house relish, mayo, gem & plum tomato's in a homemade sweet potato & poppyseed bun. Next was NY Grill then Robert Singleton representing Ad Lib with their classic Ad Lib burger, smoked bacon, swiss cheese & chunky 1000 island sauce. This burger is what made Ad Lib what it is today, with such a high standard of patty, you can never go wrong.
Up next was meat bar followed by Bread Meats Bread with their "Wolf of St Vincent street" burger. I had a quick chat with their Exec Chef Ylli Dushi. "Our product is a secret 3 way cut with excellent marbling to give natural flavoured fat without having to add white fat to the meat". In his eye's, a burger that 80% of the other competitors couldn't produce. You can tell this guy loves what he does, you can see it in his eyes.  Before I realised, Steak, Cattle & Roll were up at the judges shortly followed by Burger meats bun. They'd both presented good looking burgers especially BMB, it was rammed full with Double beef patty & brisket, double cheese, tom rasheria & fourme d'ambert, double sauce of smoked garlic mayo, honey & thyme ketchup, pickled & crispy onions, smoked brisket, smoked mayo, fresh tomato & tomato ketchup... An absolute beast of a burger. All the guys at BMB obviously worked their back sides off to produce a real blokes burger, the way they should be.

Buddy's up next, followed by BRGR then MEATHAMMER with their special ingredient... Peanut & bacon jam, this was a total masterpiece. Then Roastit bubbly jocks, Blacksparrow, Slouch, Blue Chair, Inn Deep, Libertine, Cocktail burger and finally HHBC.

The judges took 10 minutes or so to go through their scores and they were tallied up and check. In 3rd Place was Burger Meats Bun. 2nd place was split between 3 awesome burgers from Roastit Bubbly Jocks, Bread Meats Bread & the mad ones "El Perro Negro". 1st Place went to MEATHAMMER.

I grabbed them for a quick chat at the end to find out how they were feeling. "It was brilliant, amazing competition from so many great burgers like Bread meats bread and Burger meats bun but I'm pleased to beat them all".
"It's all down to the chuck steak, short rib & bone marrow patty" known as the "Beefy sex". This was definitely a laugh out loud moment which was continued by the judges when I caught up with them.

Quote of the night goes to Jennie Cook "the Meathammer burger was outstanding, the peanut & bacon jam was mind blowing, I could die on the toilet like Elvis tonight". I'll leave you with this one tho from Rab Florence "i'd like to think I get a free burger everytime in go into Sleazys from now on, I'm going to get a MeatHammer tattoo on my arse!"

Outstanding night, full of laughs, beer & burger brought to us by one of Glasgow's finest, Ad Lib.

Honeycomb

Honeycomb aka Yellowman

My memory if this is eating it down the beach in Largs as a kid, back when I didn't need to worry about my teeth. A little sweet treat that can be used in so many ways.

400g Sugar
100ml Honey
2 tbl Glucose
1 1/2 tsp Bicarb

Heat the sugar, honey & glucose to 160*c, take off the heat and whisk in the bicarb. Pour straight into a lined tray and let it cool naturally. Smash it up and your ready to go.

Simple!

Mackintosh Fire Fund Pop Up @ HFAL

Mackintosh Fire Fund.

In 2013 I had the pleasure if cooking for the elite of Glasgow School of Art in the Library, a beautiful room but sadly it was destroyed in the fire and it is only fitting that I attempt to raise money to go towards the fire fund while doing The Chefs Larder Pop Up in Glasgow's House for an Art Lover, another Mackintosh building. We'll be holding the evening in the fine setting of the Music Room providing a 7 course tasting menu with matching wines for £65pp with 20% of ticket sales going towards the Fire Fund.

The menu consists of very simplistic food made with some local and foraged produce as well as some great produce for far afield. Mashing French technique with a modern scottish flair, we'll hopefully provide you with a night to remember for a long time.

Tickets can be booked from the House for an Art Lover website for the evening of Wednesday 22nd October

The Menu:

A sorrel Gimlet (Scottish Celtic Caorunn gin & lime)

Fresh Oysters from Scrabster with apple granita.

 Velouté of sweetcorn with crayfish & argyle girolles.

Orkney crab with Avocado.

Rump of Scottish Lamb, grelot onion, shallot puree, cavalo nero, pomme souffle &  Lamb Jus.

Epoisse cheese, country oatcake & onion chutney

Poached Perthshire pear, pear cremaux, caramel granita & lemon curd.

White chocolate Fudge & wild bramble pate de fruit.

Scottish Sea Trout Gravalax

Scottish sea trout gravalax

Gravad lax or gravalax as we Scot's call it, is salmon or sea trout cured with dill, salt, sugar and a little alcohol.  I got this recipe from a Norwegian work mate at the start of the year, and it's a great recipe. Personally, Sea trout is my favourite, its best by itself or with a little bread and butter but it is very versatile & has been used it in so many ways. Seeing as the season for sea trout is nearly over I'll give you the recipe and you can try and get your hands on some before it's all gone. Try MacCallums of Troon, they're pretty good at getting their hands on it.

500g Sea trout fillet
1 tbl Maldon salt
1 tbl Sugar
1/2 tbl ground onion seeds
1/2 tbl ground caraway seeds
50g chopped dill
30ml whiskey

Mix everything into a paste and cure for 3 days, I do this in a vac pac bag which makes it easier to control but you can just cover the fish in the paste, wrap it in cling film, place in a tub and leave it in the fridge. Once its had 72 hours then wash off the cure and pat dry.

Topping:
1 tbl dijon mustard
1 tbl honey
50g dill

Mix the mustard and honey together and brush it onto the fish, top with chopped dill and that the fish complete. It's best to slice it  when you need it as it can dry out quick if its not stored properly. Keep it wrapped up and it'll last for a good few days in the fridge.

And remember, keep this one a secret.

Foie gras, plum & gingerbread.

Foie gras, plum & gingerbread.

Now I know I'm taking a HUGE risk posting this but this is for the real foodies out there, this is a little treat that will get your taste buds well and truly going.

We'll be curing the fresh foie gras and then lightly warming it then chilling it so that its barely cooked, this is probably the best way to showcase such and awesome product. Served with a little gingerbread puree, some red wine & plum.

Foie Gras:

100ml port
100ml Madeira
25g pink salt
1kg foie gras.

Salt foie then marinade over night.
Drain and roll in cling in a cloth, tie it up then vac pac it.
Water bath for 25mins at 65c, then ice bath.

Red wine plum sauce:

500g plums
200ml Madeira
400ml red wine
1 vanilla pod
100g sugar
25g corn flour
1 star anise

Simmer everything for 30 mins then pass, heat back up and thicken with corn flour then chill.

Gingerbread puree:

Part 1
100g butter
100ml black treacle
100g golden syrup
110g soft brown sugar

Part 2
300g s.r flour
2 tbl ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp mixed spice

Part 3
2 eggs
125ml buttermilk

Melt part 1 together than cool down.
Add all part 2 together and add part 1 and mix together.
Mix part 3 altogether and add to the rest of the mix.

 Pit in a greased loaf tin and bake at 170*c for 30 minutes. Once ready, cool it down and blend it in the thermomix with 600ml of cold water, Check for seasoning and place into a piping bag.

To garnish
Fresh plum
Cress

Blackberry cremeux, chocolate sorbet & creme fraiche.

Blackberry cremeux with chocolate sorbet & creme fraiche.

Blackberry cremeux:

360g blackberry puree
100g egg yolk
130g egg
90g sugar
3 gelatine
135g butter

Heat the puree, whisk the egg & sugar together. Bloom the gelatine until soft. Whisk a little of the heated puree into the egg mix then add back into the puree, bring to 82*c then add the gelatine. Take off the heat and whisk in the butter. Set in a tray and cut when needed.

Blackberry creme:

350g blackberries
150g sugar
250ml cream
250ml milk
7.2g Agar
1g Xantham gum

Puree berries and pass, combine all ingredients and bring to the boil. Cool to fridge temp and blend to a smooth gel. I

Chocolate sorbet:

800ml Water
200ml Milk
300g Sugar
80g Glucose
200g Chocolate
60g Cocoa powder

Heat everything and pour over chocolate, whisk together freeze. Churn in a pacojet when needed.


Hazelnut crumb:

325g chopped hazelnuts
325g soft brown sugar
335g butter
175g plain flour
1tbl honey

Mix altogether and bake in a tray at 200*c for 20 mins. Cool and pulse in a blender to make crumble.

To garnish:

Creme fraiche
Blackberries
Sorrel

Elderberries

Anyone remember my post on Elderflower cordail  & Vodka cocktails? Well this is part two, Elderberries....


The Elder tree is everywhere to be seen in the Southside of Glasgow, in the spring you can smell the flowers for miles and in the Autumn you can see the berries everywhere hanging down like tiny little grapes from a huge bush. The berries are great for making a great boozy drink, I prefer to use vodka and let it infuse right up to christmas and pull it out after dinner for a wee treat. I'll be making this batch today and storing it in the cupboard for the next 4 months before straining it out and chilling it in the fridge.

Elderberry Vodka

1 bottle of vodka
1lb Elderberries (no stem)
100g Sugar
1 Lemon Peel (no white pith)

Firstly you need to split the ripe berries from the unripe ones, place them in a bowl and fill the bowl with water, the unripe ones float. Skim them off the top and strain the rest of using in the recipe.

Its so simple, mix it all together without bursting the berries and leave in the cupboard until christmas.

If you want to be a little cheeky then throw, throw it into the freezer a day before serving and it'll be amazing.