The foodie blog...

Food-wise, the week’s actually gone pretty well. Considering I was out here to replace a chef and therefore guest expectations were extremely high, it really could have been a lot worse. Freed from the tyranny of a set menu and with flagrant disregard for the budget, it's been quite a lot of fun to experiment again and push out all the stops.

As I arrived in resort a few days ahead of my guests, it was helpful to spend the first few evenings as a sous-chef with a couple of the 5* chalet chefs, getting inspiration and derusting myself generally. Once again, I was back in regulation polo shirt and appointed to Ski Armadillo’s flagship chalet, Le Marais-Rouge, ostensibly to help chef Jake McWilliams prepare dinner - although I'm sure the help that was required was only to humour me.

As it was Chinese New Year’s Eve, Jake had decided to welcome in the Year of the Tiger with an eight course tasting menu, starting with a delicate celeriac soup with a hint of truffle oil, moving onto a smoked trout and fennel salad, with poached quails' eggs and hollandaise sauce. Next came creamy scallops with asparagus and a pea foam, followed by the 'main' course, flash fried sea bream with new potatoes. Finally, it all came to a close with a massive fruit platter, a traditional Chinese New Year dish to bring good luck and prosperity.

The following day I was with chef Helena at Chalet Katarina (a chalet I can't help having a sneaking fondness for, having written an article about it), where Helena, despite suffering from a busted shoulder, produced an array of canapes, including cool gazpacho shots, sizzling chilli prawns and piping hot spoons of revueltos (spicy Spanish-style scrambled eggs), followed by perfectly cooked steak with rosti potatoes, and tarte aux citron.

So, the following night, having added a dash of cheffy inspiration to add to my own collection of tried and tested recipes, reacquantined myself with what you can (and can’t) get in the local Coop, ordered the meat from the butcher and stowed the provisions away in my new kitchen in Plein Cie, I was ready to face my guests.

With six adults (one of whom was a veggie) and six kids to cater for, as well as a couple of pretty impromptu cocktail parties thrown in for good measure, there's been a lot to do. However, probably the most challenging bit was writing the shopping list  - how many eggs do 12 people go through in a week again? I'm sure I used to know these kinds of things, but I've no idea off the top of my head now!

Catering for kids in the chalet is usually pretty easy – lots of nursery favourites, but made that little bit more interesting. As well as the perennial favourites of cottage pie and my crispy chicken nuggets (bite-sized pieces of chicken breast coated in crunched-up ready-salted crisps and then oven baked), I gave them fish goujons with a spiced flour coating and'tatoe wedges, chicken and veggie kebabs and easy-peasy homemade pizzas.