Summer Update

Sorry for not posting recently, things have been pretty busy this summer. We’ve opened a new pop-up restaurant in Les Gets, called ‘Quatre Saisons’, which has been keeping me busy this summer.

Things have been going really well and we’ve been seeing an increasing number of guests coming through the door. Click the links to read some our guests reviews: TripAdvisor and Linternaute.

We’ve been having a fantastic summer weather-wise in Les Gets, with a bare minimum of rain, which hopefully means it will all come down in winter as heavy snowfall. I’ve managed to squeeze a couple of rounds of golf in recently and it really hit home how steep a golf course on a mountain side is!

As for inter-season, I’ve got plans to go to Portugal on a golfing holiday with a friend from Les Gets.

We’ve pretty much got our team for next year recruited and everyone’s looking forward to what hopefully will be another fantastic season.

Season End

So, the season’s finally over. It was the busiest season we’ve had at Ferme de Montagne, especially in the kitchen as we had our highest number of external bookings to date. With such good snow conditions everyone flocked to the Alps, and the people in the know came to Ferme de Montagne!

I had a great team with me in the kitchen this year which helped me produce some of my best dishes to date. Gareth has now moved on to working on Luxury Yachts and is currently cruising the Mediterranean working as a Sous Chef. Izzy has gone back to her native Scotland and is working as a Sous Chef at Jamies’ Italian in Edingburgh. I wish them both the best of luck in their careers as chefs.

As for me, I went back to Raymond Blancs 2* Le Manoir Aux Quat Saisons for another opportunity to see the master at work which was a fantastic experience again. I hope to bring some elements of what I learnt there into the kitchen here at Ferme de Montagne to keep the dishes on my menu fresh and in line with the top Michelin restaurants.

Bookings for next season are already picking up here at Ferme de Montagne with New Year and February Half Term already full and other weeks nearly booked out so if you don’t want to miss out it’s probably best to send a quick email and find out what dates we have to suit you.

Anyway, that’s all from me. The sun is back out again after 2 days of torrential rain so I’m going for a walk.

Alan

Creamed Semolina & Oat Bran Porridge with Cinnamon Tea Poached Prunes

I thought I would share with you another of the Ferme de Montagne breakfast favourites. Porridge is a hearty meal to start the day, perfect for a long day on the pistes. This simple recipe can easily be re-created at home.

Creamed Semolina & Oat Bran Porridge - serves 4/5
2 whole vanilla beans
1 litre full fat milk
2 strips lemon zest
100 grams instant polenta
100 grams oat-bran
8 tbsp caster sugar
250ml cream

Cinnamon Tea Poached Prunes
60 whole pitted prunes
3 whole cinnamon sticks
6 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp honey
2 whole earl grey teabags

Creamed Semolina & Oat Bran Porridge
1. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla into a large pan along with the beans and milk, lemon zest and 500ml of water, bring almost to the boil over a medium to high heat, reduce to a simmer, gradually add the polenta and oat bran, stirring constantly, continue to stir on the heat for 10-15 minutes, or until thick and creamy.
2. Add the sugar and cream and cook for a further 5 minutes, or until the sugar has dissolved.

Cinnamon Tea Poached Prunes
1. Put the prunes, cinnamon sticks, tea bags, sugar and honey into a large sauce pan with 900ml of water, stir over a medium to high heat until the sugar has dissolved then bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, or until the prunes are very soft but falling apart. Remove the prunes, cook the liquid over a high heat until you have a syrup, pour the syrup over the prunes, cool then serve on top of the porridge. You can keep the remaining prunes in a sealed container in the fridge.

Spelt Bread Recipe

375g white spelt flour.
375g wholemeal spelt flour.
12g sugar.
28g fresh yeast.
18g salt.
430g water cold.
30g olive oil.

1. Place the flours, sugar, salt and olive oil into a mixing bowl of a free standing mixer with the dough hook attached, turn the machine on a medium speed, whisk the water and yeast together in a bowl until dissolved, pour the yeast water into the mixer in one go, mix for 6-7 until a smooth dough has formed, turn into an oiled bowl, cover with cling film and then a dry clean cloth, leave in a warm place around 22*C for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

2. Fold the dough by lightly turning it from the outside in, do not beat the living daylights out of it or you will have heavy bread.

3. Cut the dough into 3 equal pieces, roll into whatever shape you like, place onto oiled baking paper, cover with a damp cloth and prove for around 45 minutes or until the dough springs back when lightly pressed.

4. When the dough is proving place 2 heavy trays in a pre-heated oven at 200*C, when ready to cook the bread, dust the loaves with white flour, slash the bread on a 30 degree angle with a razor blade, remove the heated trays from the oven closing the oven door to retain the temperature, slide the bread onto the heated trays and cook in the oven for 30 minutes, before closing the oven doors, pour a small cup of water into the bottom of the oven to help create a thick crust, cool before slicing.

We use sharpham park spelt flour but any organic spelt flour will do.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all. I’ve been really busy since the doors opened for the season and haven’t found the time to blog. Whilst I had a minute I thought I would share with you some simple recipes for you to try at home. Both are made using the Spelt flour that we use in the kitchen here at Ferme de Montagne but you can improvise and use Spelt flour readily available in most supermarkets.

Scotch Morning Rolls

Ingredients

790g   White Spelt Flour

  20g   Salt

  30g   Caster sugar

100g   Soft butter, diced at room temperature

250ml  Water

250ml  Milk

  18g   Fresh yeast, crumbled

    1g   Dough improver 

Methods/steps

1.   Whisk the yeast, milk and water together until the yeast is dissolved.

2.   Add everything else to the mixer with the hook attached, start the machine on a low speed and add the milk mixture and mix for 5 minutes.  Scrape down the bowl and mix for a further 3 minutes on a medium speed.

3.   Scrape the dough into an oiled metal bowl and turn until smooth, around 3 - 4 minutes

4.   Shape the dough into 80g rolls or 4 small loaves, prove for 2 hours and then cook on a pre-heated iron trays for 18 minutes for the rolls and 25 minutes for loaves at 210*C

Additional Tips

For a traditional Scottish look, bake the 80g rolls in a frame 17cm x 17cm x 4cms high.

This will give the 'batch' look you get in Scotland

Lemon Spelt Water

Ingredients

Makes 1 litre

225g Pearled Spelt

2 whole lemons, zest finely grated and juiced

350g Acacia honey

1350ml of water

Methods/steps

1.  Place the pearled spelt in a sieve and rinse under cold water until water runs clear.

2.  Add the pearled spelt to a saucepan with grated lemon zest and all of the water.

3.  Bring to the boil over medium heat.  Once boiling, simmer for 10 minutes then strain mixture into a heat-proof bowl. Discard the spelt.

4.  Add the honey to the bowl and stir to dissolve. Stir in lemon juice and then let mixture cool to room temperature.

5.  Pour into bottles and refrigerate until chilled.

An introduction to me and this years' team

IN THE BEGINNING:-

Unlike most chefs I started cooking at a late age without giving away my age that was 13 years ago! Cooking was a way in which I could express myself, it also appealed to me because I hoped it would take me to places I had never been before. The first turning point was being appointed Head Chef at Edinburgh Castle, forcing me to discipline myself and cooking style, where before I was a fling it in and see what happens chef.

I arrived here at the Ferme in November 2008 looking to change my direction from mass catering to Michelin Standard food, with the ongoing support from Suzanne & Henry I have had the privilege of working in some of Britain’s best Michelin starred restaurants, from Andrew Fairlies at Gleneagles to The Square & Ledbury in London to most recently at Raymond Blancs Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons.

Working along side these chefs and seeing the discipline and dedication it took to work in these kitchens has made me see food and cooking in a new light, Cooking was no longer a list of tasks, it became a passion driving me to become a better chef day after day. 

MY COOKING:-

People often ask me “what is your style of cooking?” And I find this a very difficult question to answer; cooking is about evolving, but staying true to classic techniques with a modern slant.

When people visit our restaurant we work hard to create an experience that they find unique with lasting memories of a fantastic time here at Ferme de Montagne.

When creating new dishes, we consider many aspects, obviously seasonality combined with taste, textures and balance of each dish but no matter what cooking method we use, the food should, above all, taste great, I hope that when you taste our food the passion which the team and I produce excites you, and most importantly the passion transfers to the plate and palate.  

EVOLUTION & THE FUTURE:-

Cooking is all about trial & error, trusting your palate we change our recipes every year, we are constantly striving changing and pushing for better results.

The amazing thing about having a restaurant in the Alps is that no matter how much you plan, organise and research, there are always unknowns and variables, sometimes the journey is exciting and intense that it seems the Ferme has been the one thing driving everyone and we are merely been passengers on the ride.

This year we have brought all the best pieces of the past four years together with my experiences of working in some fantastic restaurants and we feel this year will be the most intense but the most rewarding for both chefs and guests.

THE KITCHEN TEAM:-  

This year looks to be our best most dedicated team yet, Gareth Alder, our Sous Chef, comes from a Michelin Star background, and is very dedicated to produce food of the highest standards and hopes to work in London at some point, Gareth is joined by Isobel Kerr, our Junior Sous Chef from my Home town, Falkirk, who like myself is from a mass catering background and is looking to change her direction as a chef to help her gain a position in a fine dining restaurant, but we hope they will stick around for a while here at the Ferme.

GARETH:-

I started out as a kitchen porter in my hometown of Eastbourne, whilst doing my A levels at college. Initially I had no ambitions of becoming a chef, when I finished college I had no idea of what kind of career I wanted and had not applied for university. When I was offered the chance to train as a chef, in the same kitchen where I was a kitchen porter I jumped at it, training on the job meant attending college one day per week, the kitchen was a good place to work, and my head chef was very supportive of me and taught me a lot during my time there.

After a couple of years in this kitchen I had moved into a senior chef role and was really enjoying my time there and hungry to learn more about fine dine cooking.

This led me to similar positions in a small fine dining restaurants in Eastbourne and Cranbrook.

I settled in Cranbrook, with a fantastic chef who has worked in numerous Michelin starred kitchens, this was a massive learning curve for me and I considered myself lucky to find myself working with such a great chef. Working here gave me a great understanding of classic techniques.

My cooking style is simple, working with great ingredients getting the best flavour from them and not over complicating techniques. My future plans are to own my own restaurant, but for now I just want to work in the best kitchens and learn as much as I can.

IZZY:-

My name is Isobel Kerr but most people call me Izzy, I am 29 years old and just like Alan I come from Falkirk in Scotland.               

I started working in the service industry when I was 15 years old as a waitress in a restaurant, I was approached and asked if I wanted to work in the kitchen, ever since then I have been hooked and never looked back.

Most of my time as a chef has been in larger volume style restaurants and doing functions, the biggest challenge was when I was Head Chef at Falkirk Football Stadium being in this position pushed & challenged me into the management and business side of kitchens.

I worked with Alan before in a small fine dining restaurant called Bruntonside, near Falkirk, I am looking forward to working at the Ferme and learning new techniques and furthering my career in the fine dining side of restaurants.

My future plans will be to return to Scotland using this experience couple with my experience of running large kitchens to gain a role within a fine dining kitchen and continue to learn.  

Here are a selection of pictures from our staff tasting lunch last week.

My New Blog

Well today I finally setup this blog! After many months of saying I will I finally have. I will share with you my travels and experiences this summer, my preparations for the coming winter season and a few recipes for you all to try at home.

Well that's enough for today. I'll be back soon

Alan