Ben Tish and Simon Mullins taste-tested dishes on family and friends prior to the big opening of their new grill restaurant, where the ethos will be natural flavours cooked simply
• Why not invite us to your next get-together
*What was the occasion?*
*Ben:* Simon and I are opening a new restaurant in London called Ember Yard. We already have three places: Salt Yard, Dehesa and Opera Tavern, all of which focus on small plates with Spanish and Italian flavours, using British ingredients. But the new menu is going to be a departure from that – we're using grills over charcoal and wood, so it's all about big flavours, cooked simply. We decided to invite a few family and friends over to Simon's to see what they thought of the dishes that will be on the menu.
*Simon*: It's chaotic at the moment as we get closer to opening; it always amazes me how a space can turn from a building site to an elegant restaurant in just a few weeks. Fingers crossed everything will be ready on time.
*What was on the menu?*
*Ben*: We had a free-range chicken in a fig glaze; I served that with some purple sprouting broccoli and grilled black figs. Next we had grilled mackerel with samphire, lemon and barbecued clams, tossed with lemon and chilli. I also made a lemon pickle – it's really simple, you just blend a whole lemon with sugar, olive oil and marjoram. For dessert, there was a slow-cooked flourless chocolate cake with mascarpone and caramelised, grilled plums. We asked for feedback and pushed everyone to be critical, but I think it's hard to do that if someone is giving you free food and booze! They had a few comments, but in general everything seemed to go down well.
*Simon*: It was really fun to get a chance to try out the recipes, and our friend's girlfriend is a sommelier, so she brought some great wines to have with lunch. I'm a bit of a barbecue fanatic; we went on quite a few grill cooking research trips to Spain and Italy, and for the past couple of years I've been using the grill in the garden 2-3 days a week. Even so, opening a new restaurant with a different style is a bit like breaking in a new pair of shoes – you have to test the menu so carefully beforehand to make sure everything fits properly, which is where long-suffering friends come in!
*What did you talk about?*
*Ben*: We talked a lot about Ember Yard, and all the concerns with opening a new restaurant. We just hope we'll be busy for the first few weeks. Cooking in a more natural, back-to-basics way will be a really exciting variation. We're going to be careering round the corner on two wheels at times, but we like a challenge and really hope it pays off.
*Simon*: We talked about the design of the restaurant, and the bespoke grill we've had made for the kitchen – it's open plan, so the diners will be able to see all the action. We're also putting in a lovely, cosy bar that overlooks the wine cellar. The cocktail list has lots of different smoke-infused drinks, so the focus really will run right through.
*Barbecue free-range chicken, fig glaze and sprouting broccoli*
Serves 8 as part of a barbecue
*2 whole free-range or organic chickens, legs and breasts removed, bones discarded*
*3 litres 10 per cent brine (water and salt) infused with thyme*
*16 fresh, ripe figs*
*350g caster sugar*
*300ml moscatel vinegar*
*400ml chicken stock*
*1.2kg purple sprouting broccoli, woody ends trimmed*
*Salt and pepper*
*Olive oil, for cooking*
*1 *Place the chicken breasts and thighs in the brine and leave for 2 hours, then remove and pat dry. Score the legs through the skin several times.
*2 *Cut eight of the figs in half and reserve. Cut the rest into small pieces and place in a saucepan with the sugar. Cook the figs for about an hour slowly to create a jammy consistency. Add the vinegar and the stock and continue to cook down for a further 30 minutes until you have a thickish jammy, red sauce. Transfer this into a blender and blitz until smooth. Reserve.
*3 *Heat a barbecue until the coals are ashen and the heat is even. Warm through the fig glaze and brush the chicken pieces all over. Grill them skin side down and raise the grill so the skin doesn't burn with the glaze. Continue basting and turning the chicken until cooked through and caramelised. The legs will take about 30 minutes and the breasts about 15 minutes. Ensure you check that the juices run clear.
*4 *Steam the broccoli until tender.
*5 *Grill the remaining fig halves, cut side down until lightly charred, turn over and cook for 2 more minutes. Serve the broccoli tossed with some seasoning, olive oil, a little of the remaining glaze, the grilled figs and the chicken pieces.
*Flourless bitter chocolate cake with honey grilled plums*
Serves 8-10
*300g quality bitter chocolate (70% cocoa solids), cut into pieces*
*225g salted butter, diced*
*7 free-range eggs*
*225g caster sugar*
*175ml boiling water*
*8 plums, cut in half and stone removed, drizzled with runny honey*
*250g mascarpone*
*1 *Heat your oven to 140C/275F/gas mark 1. Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water. Incorporate the two and keep warm.
*2 *Crack the eggs into a bowl and, using an electric whisk, whizz on high speed to aerate the eggs.
*3 *Place the sugar and water in a pan and boil for 2 minutes to create a syrup. Cool slightly and then pour very slowly into the eggs whilst whisking.
*4 *After the syrup is incorporated and the eggs fluffy and light, gradually fold into the chocolate until fully mixed.
*5 *Pour the mix into a 20cm cake tin and place in the oven. Cook for 40 minutes until the cake is set around the edges and has a slight wobble in the middle.
*6 *Remove from the oven, cool and then chill for at least 2 hours, before removing the tin and slicing (a hot knife is best).
*7 *Grill the plums on both sides for 2-3 minutes to caramelise and soften them.
*8 *Serve slices of the cake with the plums and dollops of mascarpone.
emberyard.co.uk
*Invite us to your get-together...*
Would you like to feature on this page? Just email cook@theguardian.com with "get-togethers" in the subject line and tell us what you've got planned.
For each get-together we feature, the host will receive a selection of delicious Hotel Chocolat chocolates. Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.
• Why not invite us to your next get-together
*What was the occasion?*
*Ben:* Simon and I are opening a new restaurant in London called Ember Yard. We already have three places: Salt Yard, Dehesa and Opera Tavern, all of which focus on small plates with Spanish and Italian flavours, using British ingredients. But the new menu is going to be a departure from that – we're using grills over charcoal and wood, so it's all about big flavours, cooked simply. We decided to invite a few family and friends over to Simon's to see what they thought of the dishes that will be on the menu.
*Simon*: It's chaotic at the moment as we get closer to opening; it always amazes me how a space can turn from a building site to an elegant restaurant in just a few weeks. Fingers crossed everything will be ready on time.
*What was on the menu?*
*Ben*: We had a free-range chicken in a fig glaze; I served that with some purple sprouting broccoli and grilled black figs. Next we had grilled mackerel with samphire, lemon and barbecued clams, tossed with lemon and chilli. I also made a lemon pickle – it's really simple, you just blend a whole lemon with sugar, olive oil and marjoram. For dessert, there was a slow-cooked flourless chocolate cake with mascarpone and caramelised, grilled plums. We asked for feedback and pushed everyone to be critical, but I think it's hard to do that if someone is giving you free food and booze! They had a few comments, but in general everything seemed to go down well.
*Simon*: It was really fun to get a chance to try out the recipes, and our friend's girlfriend is a sommelier, so she brought some great wines to have with lunch. I'm a bit of a barbecue fanatic; we went on quite a few grill cooking research trips to Spain and Italy, and for the past couple of years I've been using the grill in the garden 2-3 days a week. Even so, opening a new restaurant with a different style is a bit like breaking in a new pair of shoes – you have to test the menu so carefully beforehand to make sure everything fits properly, which is where long-suffering friends come in!
*What did you talk about?*
*Ben*: We talked a lot about Ember Yard, and all the concerns with opening a new restaurant. We just hope we'll be busy for the first few weeks. Cooking in a more natural, back-to-basics way will be a really exciting variation. We're going to be careering round the corner on two wheels at times, but we like a challenge and really hope it pays off.
*Simon*: We talked about the design of the restaurant, and the bespoke grill we've had made for the kitchen – it's open plan, so the diners will be able to see all the action. We're also putting in a lovely, cosy bar that overlooks the wine cellar. The cocktail list has lots of different smoke-infused drinks, so the focus really will run right through.
*Barbecue free-range chicken, fig glaze and sprouting broccoli*
Serves 8 as part of a barbecue
*2 whole free-range or organic chickens, legs and breasts removed, bones discarded*
*3 litres 10 per cent brine (water and salt) infused with thyme*
*16 fresh, ripe figs*
*350g caster sugar*
*300ml moscatel vinegar*
*400ml chicken stock*
*1.2kg purple sprouting broccoli, woody ends trimmed*
*Salt and pepper*
*Olive oil, for cooking*
*1 *Place the chicken breasts and thighs in the brine and leave for 2 hours, then remove and pat dry. Score the legs through the skin several times.
*2 *Cut eight of the figs in half and reserve. Cut the rest into small pieces and place in a saucepan with the sugar. Cook the figs for about an hour slowly to create a jammy consistency. Add the vinegar and the stock and continue to cook down for a further 30 minutes until you have a thickish jammy, red sauce. Transfer this into a blender and blitz until smooth. Reserve.
*3 *Heat a barbecue until the coals are ashen and the heat is even. Warm through the fig glaze and brush the chicken pieces all over. Grill them skin side down and raise the grill so the skin doesn't burn with the glaze. Continue basting and turning the chicken until cooked through and caramelised. The legs will take about 30 minutes and the breasts about 15 minutes. Ensure you check that the juices run clear.
*4 *Steam the broccoli until tender.
*5 *Grill the remaining fig halves, cut side down until lightly charred, turn over and cook for 2 more minutes. Serve the broccoli tossed with some seasoning, olive oil, a little of the remaining glaze, the grilled figs and the chicken pieces.
*Flourless bitter chocolate cake with honey grilled plums*
Serves 8-10
*300g quality bitter chocolate (70% cocoa solids), cut into pieces*
*225g salted butter, diced*
*7 free-range eggs*
*225g caster sugar*
*175ml boiling water*
*8 plums, cut in half and stone removed, drizzled with runny honey*
*250g mascarpone*
*1 *Heat your oven to 140C/275F/gas mark 1. Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water. Incorporate the two and keep warm.
*2 *Crack the eggs into a bowl and, using an electric whisk, whizz on high speed to aerate the eggs.
*3 *Place the sugar and water in a pan and boil for 2 minutes to create a syrup. Cool slightly and then pour very slowly into the eggs whilst whisking.
*4 *After the syrup is incorporated and the eggs fluffy and light, gradually fold into the chocolate until fully mixed.
*5 *Pour the mix into a 20cm cake tin and place in the oven. Cook for 40 minutes until the cake is set around the edges and has a slight wobble in the middle.
*6 *Remove from the oven, cool and then chill for at least 2 hours, before removing the tin and slicing (a hot knife is best).
*7 *Grill the plums on both sides for 2-3 minutes to caramelise and soften them.
*8 *Serve slices of the cake with the plums and dollops of mascarpone.
emberyard.co.uk
*Invite us to your get-together...*
Would you like to feature on this page? Just email cook@theguardian.com with "get-togethers" in the subject line and tell us what you've got planned.
For each get-together we feature, the host will receive a selection of delicious Hotel Chocolat chocolates. Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.