Celebrity chef Ed Baines certainly likes to use alcohol to bring out the flavour of his cooking. Snifter has just been browsing through his latest book, Entertain, which has been released to accompany his new television series: Ed Baines Entertains. Among the vast arsenal of drinks that Baines uses are: white wine, red wine, Amaretto, Grand Marnier, Madeira, whiskey, brandy, light rum, cider, Pernod, Pimm's, etc, etc, etc. One dessert recipe, for eight servings, calls for six, yes six, bottles of Champagne. Oddly, Snifter couldn't find a single reference to beer. Odd because last November, Baines was singing the praises of beer with food, after agreeing to be a consultant for Greene King and helping the Suffolk brewer with its "Beer to dine for" campaign. We all know that some celebrity chiefs can be fickle, but Snifter would have thought that he could have included at least one recipe containing beer or made suggestions about what beers accompany which food. Snifter just happened to be chewing on a turkey sandwich containing the magnificent tasting Old Speckled Hen chutney when browsing through Baines' book and was drawn to the chef's chutney recipes and the drinks he used. There was fig and Madiera chutney, pear and apple chutney (made with cider), and peach and Champagne chutney. Sorry, but give me Old Speckled Hen chutney every time.
