The Highland Kitchen

15/06/2024

This weekend we were invited to cook for a wedding of


supreme of chicken
Vegetable parcel
15 hour crispy potato
Chicken jus

11/06/2024

Simple sausage and apple chutney sausage rolls

10/06/2024

Event weddings

The Highland Kitchen asked to cater for Fasque House this long weekend for 88 guests sit down 3, course dinner.



Sent from the

03/06/2024

Seatrout 'top' for dinner, and last thing yesterday afternoon the 4 year old on her second 2nd cast, catches a monster 6 1b trout from the estate Loch (bottom row)

So I gutted and let it rest, filleted, pinboned and portioned into 16 portions serving the Seatrout skin side up and loch trout flesh side up.

Served with

Tempura asparagus, dill hollindaise, new potato's, leek & Nori Mosaic

03/06/2024

Investment day

Like any single self employed person, my tools for the job are the most expensive upkeep for my service I offer. Mine being the 4x4 and the Chiller.

Today I bought a new trailer base for the refrigeratored trailer box to sit on to. This will allow me to continue my work safely while driving and travelling near, far and remote parts of Scotland and UK.
Often my journey times can be 4 hours just in one direction, boarding multiple ferries.

02/06/2024

I started out 10 years ago after deciding to leave full time employment and take a leap into the self employed.

The road hasn't been easy going that's for sure, but with persistence, hard work and the support of my dearest Wife Alexandria, we have loved every year of it.

I have reinvested much of my earnings into equipment from vechicals, trailers and catering equipment that is not found in the houses I work. In my work; I try to offer a better service with time and to always offer something a little different each year for the returning clients, looking at trending ideas, welcoming client/guest requests and adapting to the ever varying diets.

With the humble hospitality nature in me, I chat to many other private chefs across the UK, we network and always do our best to pass another name on if we are booked all ready for that time frame that the client requires.

I hope the next ten years with some stronger investment, I can maintain the standard of service I offer and evolve into more specialist areas like :

Very Remote Lodges (over an hour to the nearest shop, or that may require helicopter or boat access only)

On site large number events;
'Scratch' cooking from the clients personnal kitchen where they would like to use their private home and grounds rather than having to book a premises 'off site'. THIS in turn allowing them the more personal touch and privacy.
With some 'out the box thinking' to create and keep their celebration or hosting of a business event private and behind closed doors.

Travelling chef: Journeying with the client whether multiple household or super yacht or business retreat.

With a lifetime of hospitality skills from myself and through that of colleagues, I hope The Highland Kitchen / private chef service can evolve with the times and continue to allow others to have a night, week, month or year off from cooking for themselves and use that time for their own pleasure or hosting 💖

To the future...

Greig Wilding ; 2nd June 2024

31/05/2024

Lover of Oats..... Porridge bread

400g strong white bread flour

5g salt

5g yeast

200g cold porridge

250g water

Olive oil

1 tbsp oats

I didn't exactly follow the method, I went the way of the chef, but here is the way to make the bread care of

Put the flour, salt, yeast and porridge in a mixing bowl.

Add the water. (Cold water is fine – the prove doesn’t need to be jumpstarted with warm water, and a slower prove makes for better bread.)
Give the ingredients a good mix with a metal spoon. The dough will feel wet. It should do.

Cover the dough with a clean, damp tea towel and leave to rest on the worktop for an hour or more, until it has roughly doubled in size.

Turn the dough out on to a lightly oiled surface and knock it back, pushing, folding and turning it back in on itself for a minute or so.

Shape the loaf by tucking and folding the seams of the dough and sitting it at the bottom of a 900g loaf tin lined with greaseproof paper. Cover with the damp tea towel and rest for a further 30-45 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark seven.

After resting, the dough should have not quite doubled in size again – just rising above the lip of the tin is good. You want the dough to still have a bit of unexpended energy from the yeast, so when it hits the heat of the very hot oven, the loaf will give a final burst upwards.

Using a serrated knife, make a cut along the surface of the loaf about 1cm deep and add the oats.

Cook the loaf 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 190C/375F/gas mark five and continue to cook for 30 minutes.

Turn out on to a wire rack and rest the loaf before cutting.

ight

31/05/2024

The end of the bottle 😔

This last few months I have been using for my on my travels cooking for the far and wide

30/05/2024

Wow!
my reel last month did well,
I'm not sure if I will ever understand how instagram works!

#😂 #👌 #🏍

Thanks



#

25/05/2024

Home cured with dill, salt, sugar

25/05/2024

Shoulder of Ardtornish Estate Venison, marinated in red wine, sherry vinegar, cloves and hard fresh herbs.

Seared and water bathed, served carpaccio style with Tomato tuscany vegan stew, cranberry and port jus

24/05/2024

Ardtornish bay Hand dived scallops
Leek mosaic
Tarragon Hollandaise
15 hour potato
Pea Tendrils

24/05/2024

Electrical equipment testing (EET) ensures that your electrical equipment works as it should.



I use www.gts.uk.com

23/05/2024

Beetroot bread always sounds and looks good, but often with the high heat comes loss of colour once baked.

Do any bread baker geeks out there.... have a trick to holding on to the colour ?

Maybe next time I will try it as a flat bread for minium heat exposure?

22/05/2024

Cranachan creme brulee

22/05/2024

I have passed this giant stone so many times in the past cutting the corner off to drive to the West coast from the A9, without ever stopping to read what it says.

Turns out it marks the centre of scotland !



(close to it)

22/05/2024

I work in quite a few large houses that I have to access the back via a tunnel, here is an example of one amazing big house to rent on the west coast of Scotland.

21/05/2024

21/05/2024

Cooking for 2024

15/05/2024

A few buffet style dishes I served at Alladale.
Showcasing some Scottish produce from local suppliers.

14/05/2024

24 carat gold sticky toffee pudding




Thankyou

14/05/2024

As a private chef, I normally put as much effort in to each day as physically possible to ensure the client enjoys their often "celebrational' vacation to the maxium, this goes beyond hiding away in the kitchen and will include making time to chat with guests, introducing the meals or simply making them a cup of tea, let's face it, we all love a comfort cup of tea made by another!

Last week, I worked.... representing Alladale Estate, Scotland, to come in and cater for an American family who chose to get married on/in the Wilderness Reserve.

With many dietaries and some severe food intolances of a full A4 spread bless her, I manage to rack my brain, keeping them included into the menu and group without them being singled-out and doing my best to keep away from every day style home cooked meals. Thinking outside the box, I listened to requests and even on the last night incorporated my own version of Taco Bell ino the bbq night, after a drunken request 'you know what I really fancy.... A

The testimonial speaks for its self, the intense dedication to others, often maxium 6 hours sleep and a relentless groundhog day of prep, cooking and cleaning, makes the job worth while, knowing that the family will talk in their stories around the campfire / table back in the States for the rest of their life's. Most importantly the Bride and Groom got their Dream Wedding.

Of course it "goes without mentioning ' that I also dedicate a big thanks to the professional front of house ladies and the all important kitchen porter (often forgotten) to come together and work as one team.

Lastly thankyou to for his background support in producing his Artisian breads and especially on this occasion for figuring out how to make 100% natural sourdough bread for the special Diet.

13/05/2024

Smoked haddock Kedgeree

12/05/2024

Arriving home late, the village is sleeping, I have no reversing cameras and need to guide the trailer in to the drive between the car and the tow bars of other trailers with half a meter clearance each side.

Better to jump out and check ten times than to hit something.

Saw a tulip my wife planted a few years back, reminds me of her and that I'm safely home.

11/05/2024

viewpoint

07/05/2024

Poached eggs on homemade toasted bread, beetroot infused cold smoked salmon

04/05/2024

Apple crumble with white vanilla custard, almond and cinnamon sorbet

29/04/2024

Tonight's main course for the

29/04/2024

My Morning Breakfast


and

26/04/2024

Catering for
Working with this long weekend in the heart of