A masterclass with Russell Brown at Great British Chefs

By : Vaishali Sengupta | 17 Comments | On : July 27, 2015 | Category : Events

Wednesday last week, found me once again at the Cookery School, this time trying out my hand at making some homemade Ricotta Cheese, Agnolotti (a cheese stuffed fresh pasta) and a dainty dessert with Chef Russell Brown.

This was the fourth in a series of masterclasses organised by Great British Chefs as a part of their #GBCCookschool initiative.

Russell Brown, a self-trained chef, grew up in Cornwall, where his parents ran a Farm Shop. It was there, at a very young age, that he got his first taste of cooking for a business.

He started off with a small fishing tackle business, but then went on to train as a commis chef for Truro’s Alverton Manor Hotel. After spending some time as Head chef at Yalbury Cottage, a small hotel in Dorset, he worked with Peter Gorton at The Horn of Plenty in Devon and then later went on to open Sienna, in the lovely town of Dorchester.

Seating just 15 diners, the tiny eatery was awarded two AA Rosettes seven months after opening, and received the third one in 2007.

In January 2010, Sienna was awarded the Michelin Star, making it then Dorset’s only Michelin-starred eatery.

The Chef himself is calm, unassuming and really passionate about cooking simple food in the most uncomplicated, yet flavourful way.

Our evening that Wednesday started off with some lovely cheese, wine and nibbles and a nice long conversation with the Chef.

The cooking session started off with a demonstration of Brown’s easy technique for making homemade Ricotta Cheese. We then tried our hand at it ourselves.

The process is quite similar to how we make Paneer, but has salt added in it, and made with distilled vinegar over a really really low heat, which was very interesting.

Chef then demonstrated his technique of making Agnolotti Pasta, with a deliciously creamy filling using the Ricotta Cheese we made earlier, combined with some Parmesan Cheese..

It was good fun making the Agnolotti. It was the first time I tried my hand at making filled pasta.

The pasta was then served up with some Spring Vegatables and a lovely fresh sauce.

Then Chef went on to make the most wonderful dessert, Raspberry and Mascarpone mille feuille, a dessert that he says is easily served at his restaurant because most of the components can be made ahead and then it is just a matter of assembling.

The mascarpone cheese was simply superb. The oat tuilles had been made ahead and looked and tasted simply out of the world. I really look forward to making these recipes at home. Watch this space!

The lease on Brown’s Michelin-starred restaurant ran out after 12 years, and Sienna closed in April 2015. Now, Chef Brown is now focussing on his consultancy- Creative About Cuisine. He develops recipes, blogs, gives cooking demos and thus shares his love for simple, uncomplicated yet stunning food with the world.

I wish Chef Russell much luck with his future mission and heartily thank him for an outstanding Masterclass.

A very big Thank You to Great British Chefs and Rosalind from Cookery School for organising yet another fabulous evening with loads and loads of tips and tricks.. Look forward to many more in future.