Food & Drink
With chain restaurants and corporate coffee shops proliferating, everyone who strikes out on their own should be celebrated, writes Stuart Ralston of Aizle, Edinburgh
Recipes from Aizle’s Stuart Ralston, plus Rose Murray Brown chooses Crete’s best wines
Since opening Aizle in 2014 it’s been amazing to finally be running my own restaurant. I love what we do and how we do it. There are so many challenges involved, but I think it’s important to share positive stories, to encourage more would-be restaurateurs, whether they’re chefs like me, or front-of-house staff and managers who aspire to having their own hospitality kingdom.
It’s all too easy for those of us in the industry to moan about the hard hours, low pay and recruitment issues. And certainly we do need to change and update policies to keep things fair. The industry is far from perfect, but I see it as my duty to inspire others to take the leap. Like me, young chefs can save up and open on their own with an original idea.
We are the lifeblood of the industry which is all too quickly being overtaken by chain restaurants, corporate coffee shops and faceless bakeries, so the more the merrier in my opinion.
Ever since I started cooking I wanted to own my own place. I worked a lot of jobs, always with Aizle at the back of my mind, dreaming of its potential. Somewhere I could work the hours I want to work, in the style I want to, with the food producers I chose, setting my own rules and standards. I employ like-minded people, empower them and reward them. There’s nothing more rewarding for me than seeing the things that are important to me flourish. n
@Aizle_edinburgh Carrot salad with Scottish crab and chicken salt
I love carrots, and I think of new carrot dishes every year. This one is essentially a salad, made from pickled carrots and creamy North Sea crab which I get fresh from Stevie Fish of Fish Brothers. The seasoning is inspired by living in the Caribbean, where chicken salt was a store-cupboard seasoning. I tried to recreate it using roasted chicken skin.
Serves four
12 multi-coloured young carrots 250ml carrot juice 2 sprigs of thyme 1 tsp sugar 100ml water 100ml apple cider vinegar 1 sprig of dill 2 tbsp picked white crab meat ½ tbsp mayonnaise juice of one lemon, plus extra to squeeze onto the crab 2 chicken skins, removed from chicken legs 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle on the chicken skins 150ml Skyr yogurt, or any yogurt you like salt watercress to garnish
1 Place 6 carrots in a pan with the carrot juice, a sprig of thyme, half a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt. Braise gently, until tender.
2 Pickle the remaining carrots by bringing then to the boil in a pan with the water, the vinegar, the remaining sugar and a sprig of dill. Cook until tender.
3 Mix the crab meat with the mayonnaise and a pinch of salt. Add lemon juice to taste.
4 To make the chicken salt, season the chicken skin with a sprig of thyme, a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil then bake in the oven at 180C/gas Mark 4 until golden and crispy. Leave to cool, then chop into small granules to resemble coarse salt.
5 Make a dressing by whisking together the yogurt, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
6 To assemble, arrange the carrots on plates then spoon around the crab salad. Finish with the dressing and garnish with a few watercress leaves.
Gartmorn Farm duck, tamarind, chicory, Szechuan pepper
We buy our ducks from Roger and Susan at Gartmorn Farm near Alloa. For me it’s the best duck in Scotland. We tend to use it with Asian flavours like this dish with tamarind and Szechuan pepper. I like the tingling sensation a good quality Szechuan pepper gives your tongue and the sour tamarind adds a great acidity to the fatty crisp duck.
Serves four
2 Gartmorn Farm duck breasts 2 tbsp heather honey 1 tsp fresh lavender ½ tsp crushed Szechuan pepper 1 tbsp vegetable oil 225g tamarind 5 tsp palm sugar 1 tsp caster sugar – for the chutney 2 tsp garam masala 2 yellow chicory 100ml orange juice ½ tbsp caster sugar – for the chicory 2 sprigs of thyme a splash of olive oil salt and pepper to taste
1 Score 8-10 small slashes in the skin of each duck breast with a sharp knife and season with salt. This will help it to cook evenly. Pour the oil into an oven-proof pan and bring to a medium heat. Place the duck in skinside down and render the fat until the duck is crisp, constantly pouring out the excess duck fat. Reserve this for your roast tatties on Sunday.
2 Once the skin is crisp and golden turn the duck over onto the breast side and pop into oven at 180C/gas Mark 4 for approximately 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes.
3 To make a tamarind chutney, boil the tamarind pulp for 20 minutes. Then add the palm sugar, caster sugar and garam masala and salt to taste and cook for a further 5 minutes. Transfer the chutney to a bowl and chill. It will be served cold.
4 Cut the chicory in half. Heat a pan to a medium heat and add a splash of olive oil. Place the chicory in the pan and start to caramelise the chicory cut-side down. Once you have a nice roasted colour, add the orange juice, sugar and thyme and braise until the chicory is tender. Remove the chicory from pan and reduce the orange juice until you obtain a syrupy glaze consistency. Brush onto the chicory to finish.
5 To serve, cut each breast in half and place onto plates, pouring over any pan juices. Arrange the chichory around the duck and garnish with cold tamarind chutney.
Poached rhubarb, vanilla custard and oatmeal
Poaching rhubarb in hibiscus tea brightens up the colour and also gives a nice balance of sweet and acidic. Rhubarb and custard dishes never fail to please.
Serves four
500g rhubarb, peeled and cut into 2cm dice
370g caster sugar 500g hibiscus tea, made by infusing 35g dried hibiscus flowers in 500ml hot water juice of 1 lemon 25ml grenadine 5 egg yolks 284ml milk 142ml cream scraped seeds of 1 vanilla pod 75g plain flour 75g unsalted butter, cubed and room temperature 80g Scottish oats a pinch of salt sweet cicely to garnish
1 Place 250ml sugar, 500ml hibiscus tea, the lemon juice and grenadine in a pan to a boil. Once boiling, add the rhubarb and simmer until just soft. I prefer it to retain a little crunch. Remove from the heat, place everything and bowl and place in the fridge to chill. The rhubarb will soak up the flavours of the tea.
2 Next, make a vanilla custard. Heat the milk, cream and vanilla in a pan until scalding hot, then turn down the heat. In a bowl, mix the egg yolks with 60g of sugar and add to the hot milk mixture and bring the pan slowly back to heat and cook until thick. Pour into a bowl and allow it to chill and infuse in the fridge.
3 To make the oatmeal biscuit topping, toast the oats in a medium hot pan until golden brown. While warm, mix in a bowl with the butter, flour, salt and 60g sugar. Work until it forms a dough, then place in the fridge to chill. Once cool, break the dough up into rough small chunks and bake at 180C/gas Mark 4 for 12 minutes or until golden and crunchy.
4 To assemble, arrange the rhubarb pieces on plates and crumble the oatmeal biscuit onto each plate. Spoon or pipe two or three servings of custard per plate and garnish with sweet cicely (optional).