Simple Wholemeal Loaf

 

I've been making my own bread for several years, my family now insist that I make it at least three times a week as many of their friends have started to 'borrow' a slice or three.

This recipe makes a two large 500g loaf tins or three if you want them a little smaller. The key is in the kneading. I cannot stress how important it is in the process, even when using a dough hook on a machine, the final part should be kneading by hand. This gives you the feel for when there is enough gluten (stretch and bounce) in the dough, which you can't get with a machine alone.

I do use a machine on the slowest setting for the first five minutes only, and with another 5 minutes of kneading usually gives the right amount of gluten.

One of the other tricks is to maintain the moisture as much as possible, so when kneading try not to add more flour, just enough to give a very light covering to your hands and the surface.

Ingredients:

• 700g string white bread flour
• 300g of strong Wholemeal flour
• 20g of dried yeast (40g of fresh)
• 30g of salt
• 2 tbs Olive oil

Directions:

• Put the flours in a mixing bowl with the yeast and mix, or on a clean surface if kneading by hand
• Make a well in the centre to hold the water
• In a jug add the salt then 200ml of boiling water.
• Add another 450 of cold tap water and the oil
• If using mixer, turn onto slowest setting and slowly add all the water mix
• If mixing by hand, slowly add water to the well in the centre and draw in the flour from the sides with your free hand and mix until all the water and flour are incorporated.
• Knead until the dough give a good stretch and when pressing your thumb into it the dough bounces back quickly.
• Leave in an oiled covered bowl until the dough double in size, about an hour.
• Knock back and divide into two or three loaf tins. Turn on oven to highest temp.
• Allow to rise uncovered for twenty five minutes then dust with a little flour
• Cook on the highest temp for twenty minutes then reduce to gas 4/180c fan for another twenty minutes.
• Check by banking on the bottom of the loaf to make sure it sounds hollow, if not pop back in the over for another 5 minutes.

If the bread smells like its burning, turn down the heat after fifteen minutes, bite still the overall time should be 40 minutes. Always allow the bread to cool before eating! Alright, but leave it at least 30 minutes!

 

Enjoy wit fresh butter.

 

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Three bean vegetable Chilli

This is dish hat can be used as a side to some Macho Nachos( toasted nachos with cheese, jalapeño peppers, salsa and ground beef chilli), but it also makes a great vegetarian dish.

The trick with this is to use dried beans, most supermarkets sell them and the choice of beans is entirely down to personal taste. However, I have found that a combination of Kidney beans, Aduki beans and black eyed beans. I have found that soaking these for 24 hours in a good rich vegetable stock improves the taste and the sweetness, but make sure the stock is cold or the beans go a slushy, unnatural texture.

Ingredients

• I cup each of Kidney, Aduki and Black eyed beans. If using tinned make sure you drain well.
• 1 red onion finely chopped
• 2 sticks of celery finely chopped
• 2 red chilli, finely chopped leave seed in for extra warmth
• 2 cloves of garlic crushed
• 2 small carrots finely chopped
• 2 tins of plum tomatoes
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce( optional)
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 50ml tomato purée
• 1tsp each of cumin, ground coriander and ginger
• 50g dark brown sugar.
• Juice of 1 lime

Method

1. Soak the beans for 24 hours in a good vegetable stock ( low or no salt stock) and throw away any beans that float. remove, rinse under running cold tap and drain.
2. Fry off the beans with a tablespoon of groundnut or rapeseed oil on high heat until they start to caramelise. Add in the onions, celery, garlic and carrot on a lower heat until the onions are soft and translucent. Then add the cumin, coriander and ginger
3. Add tinned tomatoes, chilli, tomato pure, oyster sauce ( if using )and paprika and bring to boil.
4. Simmer for 60 minutes and adjust flavour with salt and pepper. Add sugar and lime juice.
5. If not thick enough the follow steps 6.
6. Mix the cornflour with a couple of tablespoons of cold water then add to chilli mix.
7. Bring back to boil for a clue of minutes to cook off the cornflour and thicken.
8. Serve with rice or toasted tortillas, sour cream and salsa.

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Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb in Hay

This is a regular Sunday roast, sometimes with lamb shoulder and sometimes with a whole leg of lamb. The results are very similar, a succulent, sweet roast with a background flavour of fresh hay, mint and rosemary.

It may seem like a long process, but it's not a complex one, ensuring the hay is fresh and clean is the most important part though. Many pet shops sell hay but it's been treated with chemicals, so either spend a lot of time washing it or get your hay direct from source. It still needs a good clean, it's been growing outside!

The second important part is ensuring an airtight seal around the lamb, using a deep roasting pan with a lid is the easier option, but covering with tin foil also works well.

I tied down the lid and used tin foil to seal in the vapour. The lamb cooks on a low, gas mark 2, heat for a good 7 hours. You can do this overnight, but the smells will keep you awake all night.

Once the lamb is tender, almost falling off the bone, take it out of the oven and leave to settle for 30 minutes. Then carefully, and you really do need to be careful as the meat will just fall off, remove the hay from the top. Place the lamb in a fresh roasting pan, carefully removing all traces of hay, this takes a little patience (oooh, Take That).

Place the lamb in a very hot oven to crisp up the outside of the lamb, if using lamb shoulder you could just pull all the meat off and serve in a nice lamb gravy.

Let the lamb rest for a good 30 minutes and serve with some nice seasonal veg. Yum.

1. Lay a bed of hay on a nest made of an onion, carrot, garlic and celery
2. After the first layer of hay, lay a bed of herbs, rosemary, sage, tarragon, parsley
3. Season the meat with salt and black pepper
4. Place some anchovy fillets on top of the lamb before more herbs and the rest of the hay

Easy as 1,2,3 and 4

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Slow Braised Ox Cheek Suet pudding

Steak and kidney suet pudding, Oxtail suet pudding and a few others gave me this idea. A slow braised Ox cheek served in a suet pudding, but please don't have too much it's extremely rich, but oh so good!

The best thing about this is the richness of the sauce and the way in which the meat just flakes apart and melts in your mouth.

Ingredients for Ox Cheeks

• 2 Ox cheeks, membrane removed, fat removed and diced to 1 inch pieces
• 1 carrot
• 1 white onion
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 bouquet garni
• 250 ml red wine
• 300 ml beef stock
• 300 ml stout
• 1 star anise
• Salt and pepper
• 3 tbs plain flour
• 2 tbs olive oil

Directions

1. Make some seasoned flour to coat the Ox Cheeks
2. Heat oil in a stock pot or pressure cooker
3. Coat the Ox cheeks in flour and quickly fry to seal the juices
4. After removing the cheeks fry off the diced onions, diced carrot and diced celery
5. Add the wine and stout and boil to remove alcohol
6. Turn down to a simmer and add stock and the cheeks. Top up with water to ensure the pot is at least half full.
7. Add star anise and bouquet garni
8. If using pressure cooker, put on lid and bring to pressure before reducing heat, cook for further 150 minutes
9. If using stock pot, put on lowest heat and simmer for 6-7 hours until the meat becomes flaky but still holding its body
10. Once cooked separate the meat, I use a strainer, save the sauce and reduce to thick consistency.
11. Make the puddings, add the meat and some of the thick sauce.
12. Cover the pudding and steam for two hours.
13. Serve with more of the thickened sauce, new potatoes and fresh green beans

 

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Asparagus and Caramelised onion tart with Cornish Yarg

I've seen a few recipes for this over the past few years, and when in Dublin over the weekend I had a version that was cold in the middle, warm on the outside and burnt on the top! So when I got back to the UK I thought it was about time to make my own and see if I could do better, and yes I can.

There are three stages to making this, the caramelised onion was made the day before and the Asparagus was cooled before using.

 

I also cheated on the pasty, I used shop bought puff pasty but it's a cheat that's worth doing as I've never managed to make a great puff pastry.

 

 

 

Caramelised Onion

There is not trick to this, just good slow cooking and patience. This can be done the day before.

Ingredients

• 3 medium sized white onions
• 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup of water

Directions

1. Peal and cut the onions into half circles about a cm in thickness
2. Put pan onto a low heat, enough to make the water simmer but not boil
3. Add the onions and cook until the onions are a golden brown, keep adjusting the heat to ensure the onions don't burn
4. After the water has evaporated cover the pan with a lid, and continue to cook until the onions go a golden brown colour. Many people cheat here by adding sugar. If you leave the onions to slowly cook they will release their own sugars.
5. When the onions are almost done, add the balsamic vinegar ad set aside to cool.

Tart

Directions

1. Trim and boil the asparagus for about 10 minutes, just enough to make them retain their crunch
2. Allow the asparagus to cool and roll out the pastry to a couple of mm thickness, or buy the pre rolled puff pastry. About a 4 inch square
3. score a square inside the rolled out pastry and place a thin layer of the caramelised onion inside, not too thick as it will overpower the tart
4. Lay out the asparagus on top and place slices of Cornish Yarg cheese on top
5. Sprinkle some salt and pepper then cook on gas 5 for about 20 minutes

 

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Coriander soup (sopa de cilantro)

This is a delicious refreshing soup with a spicy kick that's great as a lunchtime dish or as a small starter.

I first had sopa de cilantro in Tybee Island, Georgia in 1990, and it wasn't until now until I decided to try and replicate this and I'm very glad I did. I like it very spicy so I added a couple of extra birds eye chillies for a nice kick, but this can be a little overwhelming for many people.

And it's very green!

 

Ingredients

• 100g of Coriander, finely chopped
• 1 white onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, grated
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 pint good vegetable stock
• 2 medium sized green chillies
• 200 ml double cream
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional, birds eye green chillies

Direction

1. Put the oil, onion, celery, garlic and the finely grated Coriander roots in a saucepan and start to soften on a medium heat, do not allow to brown or overcook.
2. Once the onion and clearly are softened add the stock and bring to a boil.
3. Add the rest of the coriander and finely chopped chillies, then turn down to a simmer.
4. After 15 minutes blend to a fine mixture and add the cream.
5. Return to the heat and bring to a simmer for a further ten minutes, adjusting the seasoning towards the end of the cooking.
6. Serve with a few coriander leaves, fresh taco's and a sprinkle of a good strong cheddar cheese.

Roasted Sweet red pepper soup

What a great lunchtime simple recipe. Full of flavour and easy to make, especially nice with some fresh home made bread and butter, with a big dollop of mascarpone. Yum!

I've spent a few months working on the flavour balance for this recipe, and this is the final result.

I used all organic ingredients in the soup and think this does improve the flavour.

The main trick is roasting the Peppers to help remove the skin, but also adds a depth of flavour which improves the soup.

Ingredients 2 Sweet red peppers 4 red bell peppers 1 medium sized white onion 2 sticks of celery 1 carrot 3 cloves of garlic, ground 1 inch of root ginger, ground 1 medium hot chilli, seeds removed 1 small starchy potato(king Edward or Maris piper) 1 pint of good vegetable stock Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cut the onion, carrots and celery into small chunks
   
2. Roast the peppers over a flame or under a hot grill then place in a covered container to allow to sweat, this helps to release the thought skin
   
3. Allow to cool and remove the skin and seeds, cut into inch sized pieces
4. In a large saucepan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and cook off the onion, celery, carrot, garlic and ginger.
5. When the onions etc. are soft and translucent, add the peppers stock and the very finely diced red chilli pepper and the potato
6. Bring to the boil, topping up with hot water so all the peppers are covered. Continue to cook for 15 minutes.
7. Remove from the heat and blend, being careful with the hot soup mix. The longer you blend the finer the soup will be. I like the soup with a little texture.
8. Adjust the seasoning by adding some salt and black pepper, be careful adding the black pepper as you have already added chilli.
9. Serve with a nice dollop of mascarpone or sour cream and fresh bread.

Enjoy!

Simple white loaf

Just had family around for Sunday lunch and we got talking about baking, as you do when you have a Mary Berry baking book on the table. Ended up talking about how easy it is to make a simple white loaf, or three as it turned out to be, of bread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredient

1. 1kg of strong white flour, OO flour is the best. I used Allinsons but have used McDougals in the past.
   
2. 15g quick dried yeast
3. 1 tbs sugar
4. 300ml water
5. 350ml full fat or semi-skinned(low fat) milk
6. 20 g salt
7. 3 tbs Olive oil

Direction

 

1. Put 200ml of boiling water in a large jug
2. Add 100 ml of cold water
3. Add the milk and sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved
4. Stir in the yeast the top off with the olive oil
5. Allow to stand for 5 minutes
6. Sieve the flour and slat together

Using a mixer

1. Turn the mixer on the low setting then slowly add the yeast mixture. Only add it all if it needs it, the mixture should not be too wet.
2. Keep mixing for a good ten minutes to allow the gluten to stretch

Mix by hand

1. Make a well in the centre of the flour and our in a little of the yeast mixture and using your fingers slowly blend into the flour.
2. Keep doing this until all the flour is incorporated then knead the dough for a good fifteen minutes, make sure you keep the surface well floured to stop the dough from sticking.

Continue

1. Kneed the dough for a further five minutes
2. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with cling film
3. Ace bowl in a warm ace for an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Second rise

1. When the dough has doubled in size, take out and divide as required.
2. Knock out the large air bubbles by kneading the dough for a couple of minutes
3. Place onto a floured surface to allow to rise a second time, or in loaf tins, this should be about 20 -25 minutes.

Cooking

1. Heat the oven to the highest setting
2. Pace a cooking tray full of hot water in the bottom of the oven
3. cook the bread on the highest setting for 15-20 minutes, until there is a nice brown crust
4. turn down to fan 160/ 180 or gas 4 for 20 minutes
5. Test to see if cooked by tapping the bread to see if it sounds hollow
6. Leave to cool on wire rack

 

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Honey glazed bacon wrapped chicken breast.

Got home from work and though what to cook. I wanted something slightly sweet but with a nice kick. I had some chicken breast spare from cutting down some chickens for stock, some bacon and a cupboard stocked with odds n sods.

This was a bit of safe experimentation as I've made honey glazed chicken a few times and wrapping it in bacon isn't that much of a leap. The special bit was the sticky sweet sauce made from the cooking juices, some Marsala and a little bit of red wine. The results, when added to some boils new potatoes and vegetables was a very tasty and quick tea.

Ingredients

• 1 Chicken breast
• 3 rashers of unsalted back bacon
• 2 tbsp of Marsala for the cooking
• 3 tbsp of Marsala for the sauce
• 1 tsp chilli flakes, don't add too much the heat isn't the point
• 3 tsp clear runny honey
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• good knob of butter

Directions

1. lay the rashers of bacon so they are just overlapping
2. sprinkle most of the chilli flakes over the bacon, leaving a little for the chicken
3. drizzle on some honey, about half
4. place the chicken breast on the bacon and wrap the bacon around it. don't worry if it doesn't go all the way around as it allows the edges to crisp up
5. find a small baking dish and put the vinegar and Marsala in the bottom
6. place the chicken on top and sprinkle on the remainder of the flakes
7. drizzle the remainder of the honey over this
8. add a knob of butter on the top
9. Place in the over, 180 for 25 minutes
10. The potatoes need to go on almost the same time but don't cook the veg too much
11. When the chicken is cooked, feels firm to touch when squeezed with a slight spring or bounce, take out and let rest.
12. in the baking dish add in the wine and more Marsala then heat and reduce to a think sauce, keep stirring all the time

enjoy

 

Thai Green Chicken Curry

The base of this uses a green curry paste, I use the Mai Ploy which is the one most thai places use. However, if you want to make your own you with need:

Fish Paste, Shallots, Garlic, Green Chilli, Galangal, Coriander Roots, fish sauce, palm sugar, Lemongrass, Kaffir Lime Leaves, Lime Juice.

You will need to vary the amounts of each of these to suit your taste, but put them all in a blender until smooth. Use the Fish Sauce to add a little liquid to help the process. Don’t add too much as this is meant to be a thick paste.



Ingredients

•

• 2 Tbsp Oil (Groundnut or Rapeseed)
  
• 2-3 Tbsp Mai Ploy green curry paste
• 2 Tbsp Fish Sauce
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 2 Kaffir Lime Leaves (Optional)
• 5 Thai Basil Leaves (Optional)
• 1 x Tin of Coconut Milk
• 3 Tbsp Palm Sugar or Honey
• Bamboo Shoots (optional)
• Bean Sprouts (optional)
• Green Beans (optional)
• 300g Chicken or Fish or Tofu
• 300ml Chicken of Veg stock
• 2-3 Fresh Sliced chillies (optional)
• Coriander for garnish

Directions

1. Place the oil in heated pan
2. Add the Curry paste and cook off until it starts to brown and dry
3. Add half the coconut milk and bring to boil
4. Add the chicken and cook for ten minutes before adding the vegetables.
5. If using fish or tofu, add about five minutes after the veg so not to overcook
6. As the sauce begins to thicken add more coconut milk and stock as required to keep to sauce light.
7. Allow a couple of minutes to cool before serving and garnish with some Chilli and coriander

 

Massaman Beef Curry and Coconut Jasmine rice

I hadn't made this for a while and had some spare shin of beef left in the fridge. So with some decent Mao Ploy Massaman curry paste, red chillies etc, thought I could use up some of the cupboard stock ingredients near their use by date.

The best trick I've learned with Jasmine rice is to give it a good long soak before using it, it really makes a big difference. The other is when using meat give it a good covering of the Mao Ploy a good hour before cooking.

ingredients for Four

• 3 Tbsp of Mao Ploy Massaman or red curry paste
• 2 good sized potatoes cut into bite size pieces
• 1 Large White Onion cut into small chunks
• fresh Fruit, pineapple, figs, apricots, apples or a mixture of all three about half the size of the meat chunks
• 500g of good quality beef, or better still slow cook some shin of beef or beef cheeks and add later. Cut into bite size chunks.
• 2 x 400ml Tin of coconut Milk
• 2 tsp Tamarind paste, or tamarind water from the soaked pulp
• 2 tbsp of Fish Sauce
• Palm sugar to taste
• 1 Sweet pepper for garnish
• Handful of Unsalted Peanuts
• 400ml Good quality stock
• 1 Stick of lemon grass
• Jasmine Rice for 4

Direction

1. soak the rice overnight in cold water then rinse off before adding the crushed lemongrass and 1 tin of coconut milk for another 2 hours.
2. Cut all the ingredients into bite size pieces
3. In a hot pan, add a small amount of oil and the Mao ploy paste and cook of for a few seconds, this releases the oils in the paste
4. add a code of tablespoons of coconut milk and continue to cook off the paste
5. Add the meat, reducing the heat so as not to burn the ingredients and cook for a few minutes, until the meat is cooked on the outside. If using fish add it towards the end of the cooking so as not to overcooked.
6. add the rest of the milk and the stock and bring to a boil
7. add all the other ingredients and cook until the potatoes are soft, reducing the heat to a nice simmer.
8. Add the garnish just before serving
9. Take the curry off the meat and allow to rest for ten minutes
10. cook the rice in a pan, adding a little water if the rice is uncooked but no liquor remains, use some good quality stock to add extra flavour.
11. serve with some crackers and a nice chilled beer.

Beef and Pork meatballs with rich Tomato sauce Ragu

I've been making meatballs for years, similar initial recipe to my burgers but with a half and half mixture of pork and beef.

There are several tricks to getting the meatballs to be light, flavoursome and maintaining their shape without using binding agents. This is also a dish that tastes much better after resting for a good twelve hours. This recipe made 22 meatballs and half a stock pot of Ragu.

Meatballs

Ingredients

• 500g of good quality minced beef, or mince down a mixture of skirt and rump
• 500 g or good quality pork mince, I prefer to use the belly with a lot a fat trimmed. Don't use loin or something with little fat as you need this for the flavour and to help the meatball to keep its share
• 3 Banana shallots, I prefer their sweatier taste, but still has a kick
• 3 cloves of minced garlic
• Tyme, sage salt and pepper
• 125 g of good quality bread crumbs.

Direction

1. In a large bowl mix together the minced pork and beef
2. add 25g of salt, this is a lot but helps to break down the proteins in the meat
3. Mix in the salt with a wooden spoon making sure that it's well combined
4. put in the fridge for 2 hours to settle
5. in a frying pan, add some rapeseed oil and add the finely diced shallots and minced garlic.
6. Cook until soft on a medium heat, do not allow to burn or brown.
7. add in about 2 tsp of Tyme and sage in the last couple of minutes
8. set aside and allow to cool
9. take the meat out of the fridge and allow to come to room temp, about 30 minutes
10. Mix in the breadcrumbs, cooled shallot mix and pepper to taste.
11. shape into small balls about the size of a golf ball.
12. in a frying pan, heat some rapeseed oil to a fairly hot temp. Brown the outside of the meatballs, a few at a time.
13. remove from frying pan when the outside has some nice colour and place on a baking tray
14. cook in the oven, 180 20-25 minutes

Ragu

Ingredients

• 2ltr of good passata, or 4kg of tomatoes sieved
• Couple of handful. of green olives
• 6 anchovy fillets
• 1sweet pepper
• 1 handful of sundries tomatoes
• Handful of basil and Tyme
• 2 stalks of clearly
• 1 Bulb of Garlic
• 3 Red onions
• 2 red chillies
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook off the finely diced clearly, dice onions and garlic with some olive oil
2. when softened add the anchovy fillets, olives, sundries tomatoes, diced sweet pepper and chillies
3. cook for about ten minutes and then add the passata and herbs
4. bring to a boil then simmer on low heat for 1 hour
5. take off the heat the blend out to a smooth sauce

Set aside both the meatballs and sauce the combine when ready to reheat, this should take about 30 minutes. Serve with a nice spaghetti or even better in a bowl with some bread

 

Marco's Duck Egg Pasta ravioli with Parma Ham and Mushrooms

So imagine, I'm sat at work thinking up recipes and Marco pops in to ask a question. So I ask one back, what would be a good filling for Duck Egg Pasta Ravioli. Originally I explained that I intended to do a Duck leg confit with a clear broth. And although this sounded good to him as a resident of Monza he felt that that would be too heavy a filling.

Together we played around with filling flavours and finally settle on this recipe, and it was fab. However, I cannot stress the importance of a good pasta. You don't have to make your own, but it's worth the extra effort.

 

 

I made two types of pasta, both duck egg based. This is simple and I used the basis of the Masterchef IPad app. I tweaked it a little as I was using duck eggs. same weight of Zero Zero flour to egg ratio as a starter, adding a little flour at a time if too wet. It didn't take much more. For the green pasta I substituted one egg with blender baby spinach.

Before you start, clear your are and layout the ingredients. This recipe moves quickly and you don't want to go searching around for items.

 

Ingredients 2 tbsp olive oil 1 banana shallot finely cut, makes about 2 tablespoons 5 cloves garlic, chopped 3 thick slices or Parma Ham 2 cups mixed mushrooms thinly sliced. I used Chestnut, Oyster and chanterelle. Salt and pepper 1-1/2 cups grated Pecorino cheese (or Parmesan)

Directions Prepare all ingredient before hand. Pasta should be chilling in the fridge. Put the olive oil in a shallow pan and heat, add the shallots and cook until soft, about 2 minutes - Don't let it burn. Add the mushroom and garlic and cook for another two minutes, finally adding the parma ham and cooking for a further minute. Take off the heat and put into a bowl, to prevent further cooking, stir in the Pecorino then leave to chill.

To make the Ravioli, roll out to thin sheets and cut the desired shape. I used a round cutter and use this as a way of placing the filling in the center. Place a further pasta disc on top then sealing with water, making sure all the air is removed.

Cooking time in boiling salted water only takes minutes, as soon as they float then remove from the water and serve with a nice sage butter with a little nutmeg.

Yum

 

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Chicken, Ham and Leek Pie

You've made loads of chicken dishes, or you've cooked a large Sunday roaster and you have leftover chicken. In the fridge, some Ham almost ready for the bin. This recipe is quick, easy and reduces the waste, in fact it's also cheap.

 

Ingredients

• Left over chicken
  
• left over ham joint
• 2 baby or 1 large leek, finely chopped
• Chicken Stock, or the sieved left over juices from the Sunday roast
• 250ml Thick cream
• Plain flour to help thicken to sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• 25g butter
• Shortcrust pastry( home made or shop bought)

Directions

• Put the butter into a deep pan and fry the leeks on a medium heat until they soften. Add a crushed clove of garlic at this stage to enhance the flavour, but this isn't essential.
• chop the chicken and ham into similar size pieces and add to the softened leeks
• add two to three tablespoons of flour, this will turn everything into a big floor of goo, don't worry we are going to thin it a little in the next step. Allow this to cook for a few minutes.
• Add enough stock to cover the mix(adding a little water if required), bring to the boil and then reduce the heat.
• Allow the sauce to re-thicken, adding the cream a little at a time to maintain the consistency of a very thick soup.
• Once all the cream has been incorporated, allow to simmer for ten minutes before allowing to cool
• once cooled, spoon mixture into pie tins lined with shortcrust pastry adding a lid.
• either freeze, or cook
• Cook for 30-40 minutes from frozen, 20 minutes from defrosted, covering the top with a little beaten egg before cooking
• Serve with a nice baked potato and some cauliflower and broccoli cheese.

 

 

Cheesy Hammy Eggy

This is a classic cheese and ham on toast with an egg. There are many variations of this, Welsh Rarebit being the most famous.

This is my very tweaked version, filling, tasty and always looks a complete mess on a plate. But then I'm not presenting it for any awards, this one is for eating pleasure only.



Making this is always quick, and I always make too much. This recipe is based on two people sitting in front of the TV on a winters afternoon.



Ingredients

• 200g Strong cheddar cheese
• 50g Plain Flour
• 50g unsalted butter
• 200ml Full Fat Milk
• 50ml Irish Stout
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 eggs for poaching
• two thick slices of a good ham
• 2tsp Mustard Powder
• dash or Worchestshire sauce (Lee & Perrins)

Directions

• place the butter in a saucepan, on a medium heat so not to burn, and melt the butter, adding the flour slowly blending in with a whisk or wooden spoon.
• Add the milk slowly blending this into the flour, don't be tempted to add it all in at once as it will go lumpy.
• Once all the milk has been blended in to form a basic white roux, add all the grated cheese, the mustard powder, Lea and Perrins and egg yolks. Continue stirring
• once the cheese has melted
• stir in the stout
• If the sauce is a little thin, needs to be a thick buttery spread with a similar consitency to soft butter, it can be thickend with a little corn four mix(2 tsp corn four in water)
• Take of the heat
• Cut two thick slices of a good bread, I use my own whole meal seed bread, toast both sides then place on one slice of ham on each piece.
• pour over the thick spreadable sauce until its completely covered the bread
• place under the grill, away from the top rung so not to burn or cook to slowly
• start to cook your poached eggs
• server with a good helping do Brown sauce

Sit back and relax for the rest of the afternoon

Traditional Style Hot and Sour Soup

Inspired by Ching He Huang, this is a simple recipe that can be tweaked in many ways.

The base of the soup is the stock, and a good stock is key. Do yourself a favour and spend out for a decent stock from your local butcher, or even better make it yourself.

Traditional style hot and sour soup

Ingredients

Base

1 litre of Vegatable of chicken stock

1 tbsp ginger

3 medium red chillies( bird eye for the heat leave the seeds in)

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp Fish Sauce

3 tbsp Chinkiang black-rice or balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp chilli oil, or chilli sauce if no oil

pinches of ground white pepper

1 tsp Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

220g bamboo shoots

Extras

10 g dried chinese mushrooms

1 cooked chicken breast


50g cooked small prawn or langosines(Dublin bay prawns)

100 g fresh firm tofu (bean curd)

50 g Sichuan preserved vegetables, or cornicons

To Finish

1 egg

1 tbsp cornflour

1 large spring onion( scallion)

freshly chopped coriander (optional)

Directions



This is just a simple process of brining the stock to boil then adding most of the ingredients. near the end of the cooking process, about 10 minutes, add the cornflour (or rice flour mixed with a little cold water), this will thicken the soup a little. About a heaped teaspoon of cornflour or rice flour should do, it's not meant to be a thick soup.



One trick is mixing the egg with a pinch of salt and a little seame seed. oil, just a dash, mix it with a fork. Take the soup off the heat and slowly dribble in the egg, moving the egg through the soup with a fork to make small strands..



The great thing about this soup is that get the basic of the stock, Tom yam paste, fish sauce and rice vinegar right, then play with the rest.

Slow Braised Asian style Pork Ribs

This is a simple recipe, put it in a pot, stick it in the oven and leave. It also improves if you leave it to cool and reheat the next day.

The sauce is very rich so you don't need a lot, and it may be worth serving wit a nice green salad. I first cooked this in Tybee Island, Georgia and not changed the recipe much since then - however, I did use Beef Short ribs (lower rib of beef or brisket).

Ingredients

• 1 Kg Sliced pork ribs
• 2 Sticks of Lemon Grass
• 1 Lime
• 1 Cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 Cup Light Soy Sauce
• 4 Tbsp Fish Sauce
• 4 Tbsp Cooking Sheery or Shaoxing rice wine
• 2 Tbsp Crushed Chill
• 2 Tbsp Corriander seeds
• 1/2 Cup Palm Sugar
• 1 Cup Water

Directions

1. turn on the oven, 150c
2. In a deep casserole dish. place the ribs and start covering with all the liquid ingredients
3. put in oven for 30 minutes to warm through with lid on the dish
4. Bruise the lemon grass stalks and set aside
5. remove ribs from oven and add the lemon grass, Coriander seeds, chilli flakes, palm sugar and the juice from the lime.
6. Place a lid back on the dish and put back in the oven for two hours
7. After two hours, remove the lid and stir. Put back in the oven, increasing the heat to 180c with the lid removed. This helps to thicken the sauce.
8. Remove from the oven after a further 30 minute and separate the sauce from the ribs
9. Put the sauce in a pan and reduce further to make it very sticky
10. Serve with Jasmine rice using the thickened sauce as a covering to the ribs. This is a very rich sauce so you won't need a lot.

 

Braised Beef and Stout

I've just moved into my new apartment in Dublin, really nice to have a kitchen whilst working way. My wife has just flown back to the UK and I wanted to make a bit of comfort food during this unseasonal weather.

This is a recipe that I've tweaked on many occasions, depending on who's eating it. I like it with a kick so use a lot more black pepper. I have also used the base of this for my beef stews, with proper suet dumplings.

The key to the flavour with this is not necessarily the Stout, I believe that it's the Oyster sauce that adds a richness that takes it to another level. Beef and Oyster, a very classic combination.

Ingredients 1 Kg Chuck steak 1 White Onion 2 Large Carrots 2 celery stalks 1 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce 1 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce 2 Tbsp Oyster Sauce 25 ml Beef Stock 1 Pint Irish Stout 2 Tbsp unslated butter 4 Tbsp Rapeseed Oil salt and pepper to taste 4 Tbsp plain flour bouquet garni

Directions finely dice all the vegatables dice the steak into 1cm cubes heat a deep frying pan or wok with butter and 1 Tbs oil. Add the vegetables and cook until soft Pour the cooked vegetables into a bowl and set aside to add later. in a small freezer bag, add the flour some salt and cracked black pepper. Add the diced beef and toss until all the beef is coated with the flour. Heat the wok or frying pan until smoking, make sure it is dry as you need to get it to a very high temperature. Once the pan is starting to smoke add a Tbsp of oil and a small amount of the beef cubes. allow the meat to brown ( caramelise ) on all sides before removing and placing into a separate dish. Continue to brown all the beef in batches, don't be tempted to put all the beef in the wok in one go, as this will boil the meat instead of caramelising it. once all the beef is cooked, add the rest of the beef, including any juices that have come out, into the pan and bring it back to temperature on a high heat. add the stout and bring to the boil. Add the Light and Dark soy, followed by the Oyster sauce. Once this mixture has been stirred in add the stock and bring to a rolling boil for ten minutes. turn of the hob and add the vegetable that were perviously set aside. you can add more pepper at this stage, do not add it later as it will be to harsh. I like mine with a bit of a kick, so a couple of teaspoons for me. Put Beef mixture into a large pot, cover with a lid or tin foil and place in the oven at 140 and cook for 3 hours. remove from the oven and adjust seasoning as required. If the sauce is too thick, use cornflour to thicken. Be careful if this isn't cooked out on a hob with the Beef and stout it will change the flavour. You could just place on a hob on a high heat with the lid off and reduce the sauce, takes longer, but much better results.

 

Lemon and Ricotta baked cheescake

Yep, still in Kwik Fit. But this is a recipe that I borrowed from the BBC Good Food website somewhere in my past, lost the link and then tweaked. The trick with this is to make a really sharpe raspberry sauce to go with it.

I have also made these individually in muffin cases, the time to cook needs to be adjusted though, I cooked them for twenty minutes and allowed them to finish in the oven with the door ajar and off. that took another hour.


Ingredients

Base
• 1/2 packet Digestive Buscuits
• 100 g ground almonds
• 5 Small amarreto buscuits
• 120 g clarified butter (unsalted)
Filling
• 4 Large Eggs(seperated)
• 250 g cream cheese
• 250 g Ricotta
• 250 ml double creme
• 2 Large Unwaked Lemons
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or seeds from vanilla pod
• 200 g caster sugar

Directions

1. What you need
2. Pre-heat oven, 130 or gas 4
3. 2 large mixing bowls
4. 1 large round baking tin with loose bottom
5. baking sheet
6. pastry brush

Making the base

1. melt the butter and remove all solids to clarify, do not overheat
2. crumble the Digestives and amaretto into a mixing bow, to breadcrumbs mixture.
3. Add ground almonds and mix together
4. pour in butter, about half to start with, and mix together. Do not allow the mix to get to wet or greasy. Keep adding butter until you have all the ingredients mixed.
5. Line the base of a baking tin with the baking sheet, and use melted butt on the sides of the tim to stop the mixture sticking
6. Once all ingredients are mixed, place in the tin and press down with spoon, the thickness is a matter of taste.
7. place in over for 10 Minutes to help form a nice golden crust to hold the cheesecake mixture.

Filling

1. In a large mixing bowl, put the cream cheese, ricotta, caster sugar, vanilla, juice from 1 and half lemons and the grated rind from 1 lemon. Mix together and add the four egg yolks. Continue to mix until the ingredients have formed a good constant mixture.
2. in second bowl, mix the egg whites to a White peak consistency
3. slowly add the egg whites to the mixture and blend in, trying not to loose too many small air bubble, the larger bubble can go. make sure all the whites are mixed.
4. Pour in the wet mixture into the baking tin and place in the middle of the oven. bake for 40 minutes then turn the heat off.
5. Leave in the oven for 1 hour before removing and placing in fridge for further 2 hours
6. Cheesecake should now be removed from tin and served with fresh fruit and creme

 

Char Sui Pork

At this present moment in time, I'm sat in Kwik Fit without Wifi Access and an hour wait for two new tyres. So what to do? Another one of mine, and my kids, favourite recipes.

I first had Char Sui pork about 30 years ago, and it was a revelation in flavour and texture. Up to that point I thought that all pork required a very sharp knife and very strong choppers(teeth). This pork had bags of flavour, was sweet, tender, moist with a spicy bite. Since then I've been trying to make it and thanks to about twenty different recipes on the net found some common methods and spice combinations.

But huge thanks to Ching He Huang for this one, because it wasn't until I bought her book, then went to her website that the method and flavours finally clicked.


Ingredients

Marinade
• 2 Tbsp dark soy
• 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp seasame seed oil
• 2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
• 2 Tbsp yellow bean sauce
other
• 600 g pork loin
• 2 Cups jasmine rice
• 1 Pint chicken stock

Directions

1. For the Marinade
2. Mix together all the Marinade ingredients and pour into a freezer bag or into a deep dish and cover with cling film
3. place the pork loin in the bag or dish to marinade for at least 4 hours. I used to leave it overnight, but found that the pork started to toughen up and almost pre-cook in the marinade.
4. warm the oven to 180c
5. place the pork on a wire mess above. water bath, which helps to prevent the pork drying out.
6. use quarter of the marinade to cover the pork, then place in the oven
7. take out and turn the pork loin every 15 minutes, using more marinade each time, warm up the marinade to prevent it from cooling the pork. Found that adding the cold marinade shocked the pork and made the outside a bit tough.
8. depending on the thickness of the pork loin, it should be well cooked after 40 minutes.
9. The rice take 20 minutes so start the rice just afar the first time you turn the pork.
10. add the rice to a large saucepan, adding the stock and brining to a boil.
11. simmer the rice until the stock has almost gone, absorbed into the rice or evaporated. This makes the rice starchy and sticky if not rinsed well before you start to cook it.
12. serve slices of the pork with rice and coriander or parsley for garnish, but I also like to add some finely sliced ginger and carrot mixed with a little sesame oil.

 

Hot and Sour soup recipe 1

I like soups, or have I already mention that. When I was working in Guernsey in 2010 I made my first video of me cooking, I was bored! I stuck it on YouTube and never looked back. Since then I've done a lot more blogging, tweeting, Facebook messaging and writing about my food experiences. For a short time I had a blog where I wrote about all the places I ate, but I realised I liked cooking a lot more than I enjoyed eating at a lot of places.

I digress, Hot and sour soup was a dish I ate many years ago, and decided to investigate more, and just a quick search on you tube showed a lot of results and different recipes. After a bit of experimenting I made a short film on how to make a quick Hot and Sour soup, and it takes less than ten minutes. I used a little bit of Ken Hom's and Ching He Huang recipes. both on their own taste good, but I prefer mine - well I would say that wouldn't I.

 

ingredients

1. 500 ml of good chicken stock, use a decent chickens stock cube if you have no save chiken stock.
   
2. Tom Yam Paste, you can get this in many Asian supermarkets, but now much easier to find in most local markets too.
3. small red chilli, depending on how hot you like it
4. bamboo shoots, ads a bit of bite
5. Bean sprouts
6. Lemon grass, essential,in most Asin cooking
7. some cooked chiken and pork pieces
8. Kaffir Lime leaves, frozen or dried if you have them
9. juice of two limes
10. 2 tbs of fish sauce
11. 2 tbs rice vinegar ( clear)
12. mushrooms
13. carrots for crunch
14. egg, whisked
15. corn four, or rice flour

This is just a simple process of brining the stock to boil then adding most of the ingredients. near the end of the cooking process, about 10 minutes, add the cornflour (or rice flour mixed with a little cold water), this will thicken the soup a little. About a heaped teaspoon of cornflour or rice flour should do, it's not meant to be a thick soup.

 

One trick is mixing the egg with a pinch of salt and a little seame seed. oil, just a dash, mix it with a fork. Take the soup off the heat and slowly dribble in the egg, moving the egg through the soup with a fork to make small strands..

 

The great thing about this soup is that get the basic of the stock, Tom yam paste, fish sauce and rice vinegar right, then play with the rest.

Liver and Bacon Hot Pot

As Greg Wallace of Masterchef UK puts it "you present it like a navvy, but you cook like an angel".  This recipe has taken me about 15 years to perfect.  However, the last thing on my mind when I was working on this wasn't what it was going to look like in front of the MasterChef judges Greg and John, but if it tasted good.

My rule of thumb when seeing if my stews and hotpots taste good is, if I go back to the pot after I've finished with a dry piece of bread and dunk it into the last bits of the gravy.

If you want to see the video on youtube of me cooking this on MasterChef UK Live event in 2011 the here is the link

Here's the recipe

Ingredients

• 100 g White flour
• 100 g Panchetta
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• 1 tsp marmite
• 2 Large shalotts
• 200 g Carrots (Chopped)
• 1 Kg potatoes for mash
• 400 g lambs liver
• 50 g parma ham
• 1 Pint Beef Stock
• 1 tim chopped tomatoes
• 3 Olive Oil
• Butter
• tyme
• parsley
• 1 free range egg
• 100 g bacon lardons (unsmoked)

Directions

1. heat heavy based frying pan to high temperature, adding 1 tbs oil once at temp. This will prevent the lardons burning. Add the lardons and turn the heat down so the lardons are still sizzling, but not burning, this helps to release the fats.
2. Once the lardons are nicely caramelised and much of the fat has been released, add the diced shallots and diced carrots. The carrots should be small enough to cook in the time but not too small to lose their bits, about a cm cube should be about right. Cook until translucent.
3. Whilst the shallots and carrots are cooking, add the tinned tomatoes, stock, 1 tsp marmite and bay leaf to a saucepan. Heat this to a simmer, not a rolling boil.
4. Once the shallots have caramelised add the contents of the frying pan, including the oil and fat from the lardons.
5. add more oil to the pan, this will spit a bit as it starts to heat, but to cook the liver we need to ensure it is cooked at a nigh temp.
6. If the liver is already sliced skip this step, place the liver on a board and slice the liver into 2 cm thick slices - my local butcher showed me the best way to do this.
7. Select the best cuts and set aside, these will be used later. The smaller pieces and off cuts should not be wasted and can be used to help flavour the sauce. However, avoid using any small pieces that will be difficult to remove at a later stage.
8. place plain flour, salt and pepper in a bowl read to coat the liver. Using the off cuts, coat these in the flour and add to the hot oil, shake of excess flour. cook for about 2 minutes on each side at a high temp.
9. Add the cooked liver to the saucepan with the sauce, and take a little of the sauce to deglaze the frying pan. Ad this back into the saucepan. if you use too much oil to cook the Liver this can end up in the sauce, make sure there is only enough oil to cook.
10. Allow this sauce to simmer for 20 minutes, watching it doesn't reduce too much. if it does, add boiling water, not cold.
11. when the sauce is ready remove all the liver and set aside to settle, this will allow the oil and fat to come to the surface. Remove as much oils and fat as you can, it's now done its job and will only make the final sauce greasy
12. While the sauce is settling, fry off the save liver pieces using the same flour method as before. Once this is cooked ( about 2-3 minutes each side), set aside and add the depressed sauce to the frying pan to reduce on high heat, if a little thin add some of the flour mix that coated the liver.
13. When the sauce is ready, add back the saved liver for 30 seconds before serving.
14. Server with a nice creamy mash and freshly made bread

Leek and Potato soup Recipe

In my last blog i gave the recipe for a simple Spicy Tomato and sweet pepper soup.  This recipie is one that my wife loves, and I must admit its also one of my favourite with a sprinkle of cracked black pepper on top or some smoke paprika.

Ingredients

• 2 Large Baking Potatoes
• 2 Large Leeks
• 1/4 Pint Double Cream
• 1 Pint Chicken or Vegatable stock
• salt and pepper to tast

Directions

1. cut the leeks into 1 inch chunks
2. peel and cut the potatoes to the same size as the leeks
3. add leeks, potatoes and stock into a large pan, make sure the leeks and potatoes are covered by the stock. Add water to bring up the level
4. bring to boil, then simmer until potatoes and leeks are soft
5. take off the heat and blend to a smooth constancy.
6. slowly stir in the double cream until the mixture is a smooth consistent base
7. add salt and pepper to taste
8. serve while still hot with nice warm bread and olive oil. Sprinkle some paprika on the top of the soup for effect and spicy enhancement to the soup.

Spicy Tomato and sweet pepper soup

I like soup, as do a lot of people, but there are things about soups which wind me up. Tomato soup with seeds and skin still in it. Leek and potato soup that tastes of water. oxtail soup that has the flavour of old slippers, I tried eating one once as a joke, so I do know.

Anyway, today I made myself some tomato soup, some spicy tomato and sweet pepper soup to be more exact. I make soups a lot, so it's something I like to play with.


Spicy tomato and sweet pepper soup


Ingredients
4 Kg plum tomatoes
2 celery stalks
2 Large salad onions
4 sweet peppers
1 red chilli pepper
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp rapeseed oil
salt and pepper to taste
Tyme
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 L vegetable or chicken stock
250 ml of Creme Fresh


Directions

1. Pd de-seed all the tomatoes (score and place tomatoes in bowl of boiling water until skin starts to loosen)
2. Remove skin from peppers(blacken over flame and place in plastic bag, remove skin after a few minutes)
3. Put oil and butter in large pan and heat
4. Finely dice the celery, onion and garlic and add to hot pan
5. Add thyme and stir until the celery, onions and garlic are cooked.
6. Add chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, finely chopped chill( remove seeds if you don't want it too spicy) and chopped sweet pepper add stock, bring to simmer, for 30 minutes. tasting and adjusting with salt and pepper as along the way.
7. If too spicy, add 1 tablespoon of sugar.
8. Take off heat,
9. Blend and add creme fresh.
10. Serve with freshly baked soda bread

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