Category Archives: Recipes

Roast Chicken and Ratatouille

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Ratatouille and Roast Chicken

The problem with writing about food, particularly recipes, on a website such as this is that according to the nifty stats page, it has been viewed by a fair number of countries across the world now. That’s actually great, a testament to the power of the internet, but it creates a problem for me in that I write about dishes FROM across the world. What I mean is, for example, I recently had a hit on my Stir fried Indian recipe FROM India. What did they think of it?

Did they find it interesting, or did they wet themselves laughing at my attempt to create something from their wonderfully rich cuisine. Similarly, I had a hit from China on my Beef Chow Mein post. I hope they didn’t spray their  cup of tea all over the screen as they read it (although I think that one was pretty hard to get wrong…).

And so, I often find myself wrapped up in ‘authenticity’.  I think it’s a worthy cause and a tribute from the host country who spent years lovingly honing it. However, food IS for enjoying, right? If you prefer cream in your Carbonara, why not put it in? Or Chorizo in your Cesar Salad? I know they are not technically correct but is that the main consideration?

A lot of question marks there then but I think the answer is authentic is often the best as it’s been made that way for a reason. The flavours are well balanced for most people’s tastes.

Today, being short sunny respite in the otherwise shower of ‘number 2s’ that is the British summer of recent years, I felt like something a bit lighter and realised I had all the ingredients of Ratatouille. So, I dutifully took out the the Holy tome that is La Gastronomique which suggested simply tomatoes, courgette, aubergine (Zucchini and Egg Plant my American friends,  why do we have such different names for these?) and peppers, sauted in olive oil and unspecified ‘herbs’. The wider internet suggested all sorts of extras and omissions. I was going to write about this but as usual, The Guardian has covered it already…

Roast chicken is a perfect partner for this super-healthy dish and I immediately set about making it less healthy with the addition of Chorizo. I didn’t actually intend to, but it was worth it. I gather this is pretty authentic, but either way, it was pretty tasty…

Ratatouille Ingredients

Serves 2-3

  • 4 tomatoes, halved
  • 1 courgette
  • 1 aubergine
  • 1 onion
  • 1 red and 1 green pepper
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 3 tbsp light olive oil
  • A little extra virgin olive oil to serve.
  • Thyme and parlsey (chopped – about a tbsp)
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 2 (or 3) chicken ‘supremes’ on the bone.
  • 8 (or 12) slices Chorizo sausage.
  • A little oil
  • Salt and pepper

Start with the chicken: In an oven proof pan, season then fry the chicken, skin side down, under well browned. Flip over and add the Chorizo. Put in a low oven for about 25 minutes.

Slice the onion thinly and finely chop the garlic. Fry in the olive oil in a heavy pan (with a lid) until soft. Chop the vegetables into large chunks and stir into the pan gently. Add the herbs and a little salt and pepper. Put the lid on and gently simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Stir gently occasionally and add a little water to get things going if needed.

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Use a temperature probe to check the chicken is just cooked in the middle (65OC/150OF should do it) without overdoing it. Leave to rest in the pan.

Season the ratatouille if needed and serve it immediately with the chicken and Chorizo with a nice Sauvignon Blanc in the garden. Nice.

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Porcini Risotto, Parmesan Crisps and Poor Man’s Caviar.

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Porcini Risotto

There’s a global recession on people! Well, except in the US, Canada, and the BRIC countries. They’re just experiencing moderate growth.

But in Europe, there’s a recession on everyone! The UK is showing weak growth but….oh forget it.

Whatever the situation, ‘austerity’ is the current buzz word and to be honest, prior to a few  years ago I wasn’t really aware of the concept, other than as an adjective for the sort of person I generally tried to avoid at parties.

For some this is an inevitable consequence of genuine hardship, for others (and maybe I’m being a little cynical here) the latest trend, dare I say. But either way I think it’s having a cooling effect and in terms of food it’s opened up new avenues. And this is a food website after all.

People are baking again, cheaper cuts of meat – the best cuts in my opinion – are popular once more and in this country I think concepts of provenance and ‘proper’ cooking are now desirable. May I also refer you to my previous rant on chips. Good.

So tonight, ladies and gentlemen it’s caviar, only it’s the far more austere lumpfish caviar. Retailing at the more sensible price of around £40/kilo, it’s less than half the price of salmon caviar, and some 100 times less than the dangerously scarce Beluga caviar (which I have sampled and I can confirm is delicious). Still pricy of course, but then a little goes a long way.

As you may have guessed by the title I made it to accompany a porcini mushroom risotto and because, I like the texture, some parmesan crisps. It all worked nicely with a little scoop of ricotta that I had in the fridge.

If each serving was more than a £1.50, I’d be surprised. I’m keeping the belt tightened over here….

Serves two:

  • 160g good risotto rice
  • 100g dried porcini mushrooms
  • 3 shallots, finely sliced
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 small celery sticks, diced
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 glass white vermouth
  • 700ml vegetable stock
  • 100g parmesan (with extra to serve)
  • Dried oregano
  • 2 heaped tsp lumpfish caviar
  • 2 tbsp ricotto cheese
  • Salt and pepper
  • Chives to serve

Start by soaking the mushrooms in the hot stock for 30 mins prior to cooking. Once ready, remove them and squeeze some of the liquid out with a sieve. Set aside until later.

In a heavy pan, fry off the shallots, celery and garlic until soft. Stir in the rice and butter and coat well. Add the vermouth and stir well (some of the rice starch will start to come out – this is good). Heat the stock back up in a small pan and leave on a low heat to keep hot.

Using a ladle, add a little stock and stir well until it’s nearly gone, then add another. Keeping ladling and stirring until all the rice is cooked but retains a bit of a ‘bite’. Soggy risotto is bad risotto. Towards the end add the parmesan and mushrooms. Taste and season. There should be a creamy sauce in the risotto, it shouldn’t be dry. Add a little water and a bit more seasoning if it is.

Risotto cooking

Meanwhile, make the parmesan crisps my forming mounds of grated grated parmesan with the oregano and black pepper. Grill until browned and flat. Remove from the heat and cool thoroughly. They should be nice and crisp.

Parmesan crisps

Serve the risotto in bowls with the crisps, chopped chives. Spoon on a tbsp of ricotta and a heaped tsp lumpfish caviar per person. Dust with a little more cheese and black pepper.

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Italian Style Chickpea Cakes

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Chickpea cake

When, I explain I like to cook to people, a common reply is “I would, but I don’t have time”, which is nonsense of course. I have no quibble with anyone whatsoever for not enjoying cooking, or even turning to convenience food, each to their own and all that. But, I believe that if you have the time to heat a packet or jar of something, you’ll have time to make a meal.

Take, for example, some fresh pasta, prawns, frozen peas, garlic and a little chilli and I’ll bet you could have a great pasta dish in ten minutes. A frozen pizza takes longer.

Tonight was a little like this, I was a little late in, but having been out for dinner on Wednesday and Thursday, we couldn’t make it a hat trick. Could we? No, no we couldn’t…

And so the cogs clunked and whirred. I didn’t want anything too unhealthy and I’m trying to keep the meat content down for a while. For me personally, there is nothing better for going meat free than Italian food.

This was kind of inspired by falafel, but with Italian flavours in the form of ricotta, sun dried tomatoes and basil oil. With it, some spinach and simple sautéed mushrooms. Simple and on the table in about 15 minutes.

My only reservation? The chickpea cake was a bit soft, but otherwise, the flavour was good. I think chickpeas cooked from dried work better and have a better texture.

  • 400g cooked chickpeas – canned for speed, dried are better.
  • 3 tbsp ricotta
  • 6 sun dried tomatoes, drained and dried of oil
  • 1 red chilli
  • 1 tbsp grated pecorino cheese (or parmesan)
  • A lug of basil oil (or olive oil and some torn basil leaves)
  • A little lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper
  • A little polenta for dusting
  • Button mushrooms
  • 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
  • A couple of parsley sprigs
  • Butter (optional as ever..)
  • Spinach
  • Vegetable stock
  • Oil for frying

Blitz the chickpeas, cheeses, sun dried tomatoes, oil and seasoning in a processor (or just mash it with a fork).

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Shape into two burger shapes and dust in the polenta.

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Bring a small pan of vegetable stock (about 400ml) to the boil and put the spinach in. Turn off the heat and put the lid on. Meanwhile, in a heavy pan, fry the onions in the oil, and add the garlic. Fry for a few minutes more and stir in the butter and parsley. Turn the heat off, remove and keep warm.

Reheat the pan and add some more oil, fry the chickpea cakes for a few minutes on each side until the polenta crisps. Be careful not to break them – use a spatula!

Chickpea cakes frying

And relax…..its the weekend 😉

Hake, Brown Shrimp ‘salad’ and Jerseys

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Hake Brown Shrimp Egg Salad

I’ve had a great week with my family who were up for an extended stay, with the additional bonus of giving me the opportunity to cater for more than just Helen and I (I’m aware that outside of the realms of likeminded bloggers people will think I’m weird).

Being a bit of a holiday, I’ve been through a repertoire of Full English breakfasts, BBQ, handmade pizza (a big hit with the kids) and easy to create ‘al forno’ pasta.

And so as the waist line inches toward what can only be described as ‘maximum’ it’s time to ditch the dairy and retire the red meat for a little while I think. Or cut down at least.

After dropping everyone off at the train station for the trip back down to the Midlands, I headed over to my local fishmongers. I’d received a tweet that they had just landed crab, langoustines, monkfish and hake. Now THIS is how social media should be used.

I did my usual trick of ordering far too much for the two of us and then gulping at the price when it’s read out from the assistant at the scales. Of course, most people would say “sorry that’s too much, can you put some back” but not me. Like someone who does that little jog after tripping on the pavement, I act casual. “That’s great” I replied.

I’m probably embellishing this a bit, but I gave half to my in-laws so all’s well…

I actually got some really good hake fillets. These are thick and cod-like but, for me, with a subtle, sea bass like flavour. I served it with some brown shrimps – lovely salty little suckers that add an (albeit far subtler) anchovy style kick, made into a sort of egg salad with wild garlic and capers and home made salad cream.

Hake Brown Shrimp

Jersey royals are bang in season too at the moment, so I’m filling my boots whilst I can….

  • 2 hake fillets
  • 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 100g brown shrimps (they’re normally sold cooked)
  • 1 egg, boiled and chopped
  • 2 tbsp whole capers then chopped
  • 2 small shallots, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 4 or 5 wild garlic leaves, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp chives + a little extra for presentation.
  • 2 – 3 heaped tbsp homemade salad cream – I used this recipe from the BBC, but substituted single cream.
  • 4 or 5 Jersey Royals (or other new potato) each

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400°F.

Bring a pan of water to a boil and cook the egg. Once done (4 minutes), remove and add the potatoes for around 15 minutes.

In an ovenproof frying pan, heat the oil until smoking hot. Rinse and thoroughly dry the fish on kitchen paper, season and carefully lay into the pan, and rub it around so it doesn’t ‘catch’. Hold it down for a few seconds to stop it curling up if necessary.

Pan fried Hake

Turn the heat down a bit and allow to cook on the skin side, until the sides start to turn opaque. Transfer to an oven for about 10 minutes to cook through

In a small pan, fry the shallots and brown shrimps in the olive oil with a pinch of salt. Add the wild garlic leaves, capers and egg to warm through. Leave to cool slightly and stir through the salad cream. It should be warm but not hot.

Plate up the fish, crispy skin side up, with the shrimp/egg salad and the Jersey Royals. Sprinkle over some more chives and black pepper. They would have benefitted from butter, but not this week for me!

Hake Brown Shrimp Egg Salad

BBQ Grilled Rib of Beef and Butter Beans

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Rib of beef & butter beans

I think it’s fair to say that for meat lovers, there’s very little more rewarding that a decent piece of steak on the BBQ. It’s just the perfect paring, as is a nice beer, which I’m also very partial to.

I was in town a couple of weekends back and came across the Northumberland Sausage Company in the Fenwicks store, a good local company. They do all sorts but I couldn’t resist the rib of beef and so ordered  a piece one rib thick from the neck end. Enough for two, just, I figured 😉

Wouldn’t you know it but the sun shone the next day. Crazy, I know. Immediately then, the population were out en-mass soaking up the rays. If anyone has read my ‘About‘ page they will see that I don’t shy away from a BBQ opportunity and so in the blink of an eye the cover was off and the neighbours were scrambling to get their washing in as the smoke poured out. Sorry guys.

Nothing complicated here – I simply rubbed the meat with salt, black pepper, some chilli flakes and a little oil to get things going.

Rib of beef

To accompany it, I made a quick medley of butter beans, finely chopped onion, courgette/zucchini and peppers with creme fraiche. I’m quite into beans and pulses at the moment. I’m sure there’s a French term for this kind of thing, but it eluded a Google search…

Lastly, and because I like it, I made a quick rocket and parmesan salad for a bit of peppery bite.

Serves 2, I guess…

  • 1 850g/30oz peice of beef rib, bone in.
  • Chili flakes, sea salt, ground black pepper and oil
  • 400g/14oz butter beans cooked (see below)
  • 1 small courgette or zucchini, depending on which side of the Atlantic you live on.
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • about 4 tbsp creme fraiche
  • English mustard and salt to taste.
  • Some chopped dill – would have been great, but I didn’t have any. Sigh.

For the rocket salad:

  • 4 handfuls rocket
  • Parmesan shavings
  • Good drizzle of decent olive oil
  • Black pepper & salt.
  • Balsamic vinegar (if you want)

The butter beans can be from a can, but I had dried ones, which I’d soaked over night and boiled for about 30 minutes. Just don’t salt the pan, they’ll turn to bullets as I found out in the past…

Rub the meat with the seasonings on both sides. Get the grill on with the lid down and once the smoke starts billowing out, put the rib of beef on.

Close the lid and open a beer.

Go back in and in a heavy pan, fry the onions and garlic gently until soft and caramelised. About ten minutes.

In between, pop out to the garden and turn the beef. Have a swig of beer.

Add and fry the vegetables for a couple more minutes and stir in the beans. Combine, then add the creme fraiche – heat through. Add English mustard (about a tsp) and salt to taste. Leave in the pan whilst you finish the beef, if it’s a good heavy pan, it’ll stay warm

Butter beans and creme fraiche

The beef should be done in about twenty minutes with plenty of turning if you like it rare. This is with the BBQ internal temperature at about 160°C. I used a probe though to ensure the middle of the meat was at 55ºC/130ºF. Perfect. Get it up to nearer 60ºC/140ºF if you prefer medium rare. Leave to rest in a warm oven (or on the grill with the gas turned off)IMG_9080-impIMG_9094-imp

Make up the rocket salad. Slice the beef and serve it up with a decent glass of red. Or another beer….

 

Indian Stir Fry

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Necessity is the mother of invention it’s often been said, but for me it’s when it’s just me for dinner.

I often use it as an excuse to try out something different, safe in the knowledge that if it turns out like pig-swill, it’s only my dinner I’ve ruined. And, let me say, I’ve ruined many a dinner.

But undeterred, I was a bit stuck the other evening. After a long day in the office I think my brain was sick of making decisions and so I stood staring into the fridge like a comatosed zombie.

Chinese or Indian, I pondered….Chinese or Ind……wait a minute – CHINDIAN food!  *fanfare plays*

A stir fried Indian dish? Why not. I’ve always got a cupboard full of spices, and normally, some fresh coriander, rapidly threatening to spoil.

This was simplicity itself really, and is a great opportunity to use up some of the aging veg in the fridge. Cauliflower, broccoli, chickpeas – all would have worked well.

The result was pretty good with this version though, for which I used onion and peppers. Bags of flavour.

Serves 1 sad & lonely husband

  • 1 chicken breast, thinly sliced.
  • 3 tbsp oil
  • 1/2 a red and green onion, finely sliced
  • 1/2 and onion, thinly slices
  • 1 tsp chopped garlic
  • 2 tsp chopped ginger
  • 1 tsp chopped chili
  • 1 tbsp mustard seed
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 10 small curry leaves
  • Salt

To serve

  • 1 handful chopped coriander
  • 1 handful sliced almonds
  • Sprinkle of garam masala.

50g basmati cooked with turmeric, cloves, bay leaves and salt.

Start the rice. Boil a kettle and add the rice to a shallow pan with the spices and salt (about 1tsp). Pour over enough water to cover the rice and the same amount again. Bring to a boil then put a lid on and turn down to the lowest setting to slowly absorb the water.

Once the rice is done, in a deep frying pan (I used a skillet) or wok, heat the oil and add the mustard seeds  until they begin to pop. Add the curry leaves, chilli, garlic and ginger and stir for a few seconds. Tip in the chicken and stir briskly until coloured, being careful not to burn the garlic.

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Next add the onions and peppers and fry until softened, adding a little water if it starts to ‘catch’ on the pan. Stir in some of the coriander leaf right at the end.

Season to taste. Serve with a sprinkling of a little more coriander leaf, almonds and garam masala, and the rice. I thank you.

Indian stir fried chicken and peppers

Asparagus, Parmesan Custard and Anchovy Croutons

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Asparagus Parmesan Custard Anchovy Croutons

And so once again it’s asparagus season. That’s very much a good thing as far as I’m concerned, being a Worcestershire lad. For a few fleeting months, we can get these quality shoots before we’re back to the pencil thick imports from God knows where. I try and avoid these.

They’re brilliantly adaptable, whether steamed, grilled, roasted, thinly sliced in a salad etc etc. Best of all it’s very good for you, being packed with antioxidants and vitamins B & K apparently.

*closes wikipedia*

The only downside of course, and I know I putting myself out there, but I’m one of those people with the apparent genetic predisposition to notice the, err, after-affects. I’ll say no more it’s a food blog after all 😉

Of course asparagus is classically paired with egg and/or hollandaise, and this recipe isn’t a million miles away in terms of ingredients.

The Parmesan custard, though prepared differently, is based on a starter I used to like in an Italian recipe. That was thick like crème pâtissière, but this has been prepared thinner, more like a crème anglaise. Or custard as we call it here. I finished it off with some anchovy infused croutons.

The asparagus was prepared my favourite way – chargrilled. But then I prefer most things chargrilled.

Massive umami flavours result of course and although this would make a nice lunch or starter by itself, I added some roast chicken and a little side salad to make it a bit more substantial for dinner.

Serves 2

For the asparagus

  • 8 lovely large, fresh asparagus spears!
  • 1 lug of garlic oil
  • Salt and pepper

For the parmesan custard

  • 350ml whole milk – cold or room temperature (if you have time – infused with 1 tbsp black peppers and 1 bay leaf  – cooled)
  • 4 tbsp grated Parmesan
  • 2 egg yolks (room temp)
  • Salt to taste

For the anchovy croutons

  • 1 large or 2 small slices of stale bread – cubed
  • 3-4 anchovy filets
  • 3 tbsp olive oil

You don’t have to do this , skip to the end if you prefer! Start with the milk. Heat it in a pan to a simmer with the bay leaf and peppercorns to infuse the flavour. Take off the heat, strain and leave to cool in a bowl.

For the asparagus: drizzle and roll in the garlic oil. Season well with salt and pepper.

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Get an iron griddle screaming hot and char them all over until cooked. Press them and they’ll give a little when done, but not overdone.

Remove and keep warm.

At the same time, heat the oil in a smallish pan and fry the anchovy fillet until they dissolve into the oil. Fry the bread in the delicious oil until brown and crispy. Take off the heat and keep warm

Finally, do the parmesan custard – it needs your attention so do it last. Pour the milk (infused or not) into the a cold milk pan and add the egg yolks and Parmesan. Whisk thoroughly.  On your smallest hob, heat gently stirring continuously until it’s thickened. When stirring, make sure you get into the edges of the pan or it’ll curdle the egg – I use a silicon spatular. Reduce until it becomes a nice thick sauce. Taste and season.

Serve the Parmesan custard over the asparagus with the croutons on top and with the roasted chicken/side salad if you like.

Asparagus Parmesan Custard

Pork Cheeks, Spinach and Champ

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Pork Cheek, Spinach and Champ

Helen and I have a shared calendar which appears on both our phones. It makes for amusing moments when I get an alert that I have a hair appointment on Friday evening or that I have drinks with ‘the girls’ on Wednesday night…

Even with our synchronised diaries (although I should point out it’s mostly me trying to keep up with her more sociable lifestyle) I constantly get surprised.

And so, I lovingly made this dish last week, starting the cooking the night before only for my phone calendar to remind me she was having dinner with a friend that night. Worse, the venue was the sort of place with more microwaves than hob rings. Humph.

Undeterred I made this anyway and I’m glad I did, as was Helen when she returned having only eaten half her nuked dinner 😉

Pork cheeks are another one of those slow cooked, cheap-as-chips cuts that deliver massively on flavour. I really should have learned from Conor’s advice about publicising this sort of thing for economic reasons though.

I braised the cheeks in cider and stock in a casserole pot on a low heat the previous evening and warmed them back through the day I served them. Most of the cooking liquor had concentrated up nicely and they were naturally melt-in-the-mouth tender.

Champ is an Irish recipe for mashed potato, using butter, milk and spring onions. Strangely, I’d only recently come across it and I’m glad I did. I did a little research and cobbled this together from a few sources. I hope it’s fairly authentic…

Serves 2

  • 500g pork cheeks, trimmed and sinews removed
  • 1 bottle (500ml) good dry cider
  • 250ml chicken stock
  • A medium carrot, 1 stick of celery (snap in two)  and half an onion
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • Pepper
  • A little oil
  • 4 large handfuls of spinach

For the Champ:

  • 2 large floury potatoes, peeled
  • 3 spring onions/scallions finely chopped
  • About 50ml whole milk, warmed
  • 1-2 tbsp butter
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Spring Onions

Start by frying the pork cheeks in an ovenproof pan or casserole pot until well coloured. Deglaze with a little cider and add the vegetables. Add the rest of the cider and stock and place in an oven at about 140°C/275ºF for 5 hours at least. Leave to rest overnight.

Pork Cheeks

The next day, reheat the pork cheeks on the hob. Reduce the liquor down if needed with the lid off, until the flavours concentrate – taste as you do. Strain and reserve the cooking liquid as a nice gravy and keep warm. A knob of butter stirred in at this stage is a delicious, if unhealthy addition 😉

Quarter and boil the potatoes (15min). Then, drain and mash, using a potato ricer if possible, melt in the butter and then the warmed milk, until smooth but not too ‘wet’. Finally, stir in the spring onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm.

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Lastly, wilt the spinach in a large shallow pan with a little boiling water for a couple of minutes. Remove and squeeze the excess water out using a sieve and the back of a large spoon (or in your hands).

Serve it all up and enjoy.

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Lamb Kebabs with Greek Style Brown Rice Salad

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Lamb kebabs and brown rice salad

Firstly, an apology! I’ve recently realised that email subscribers get a full copy of my posts as they are published. The problem is, time being tight as it often is, I usually publish first and make any corrections later so as it doesn’t go out too late at night. This means some rather ‘rushed’ copy goes out there initially. I’m not a very accurate typist, so I’ll bear this in mind in future *slaps wrist*.

So anyway – food. The sun’s out and the cover is off the barbecue. Happy days!

Instinctively then, I started thinking of Mediterranean type dishes of late and I was also inspired by a local sandwich shop/takeaway.

I pass this place most days coming back from work and stopped there the other afternoon as I was in the area. I got chatting to the owner who’s keen to make his menu as healthy as possible, being based around wholewheat wraps, brown rice and salad. It tasted good too and whilst I’m sure there are plenty of these places in the trendier parts of London, it is a bit unique round my way – I hope he does well.

And so having some minced lamb in the fridge, I made these kebabs with a brown rice Greek style salad and a quick Tzatziki.

The smell was great on the grill outside….

Makes 4 kebabs:

  • 500g minced lamb, no too lean or it’ll be dry
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped, or 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp cumin powder
  • 2 tbsp chopped coriander
  • 1 tbsp chopped mint
  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 1 red chilli, finely chopped
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 2 shallots, finely diced
  • Salt about a pinch per person (so – 4)

Just a quick tip, but I tend to mix everything, going easy on the ingredients, and fry a small bit first to taste.

For the Greek style brown rice (serves 4)

  • 200g brown rice
  • 1 small onion, thinly sliced. Red onion would have been better.
  • 1/2 a red pepper, diced
  • A handful of chopped coriander
  • 100g of goats cheese (Feta works well)
  • Juice of the other 1/2 of lemon
  • Green and/or black olives.
  • 4 good tomatoes, quartered.
  • Extra virgin olive oil

For the Tzatsiki – I used this recipe at the BBC. Nice.

Cook the brown rice first, it takes a little while longer than white rice.

Meanwhile, mix the kebab ingredients. By hand works better. Roll into sausage shapes and thread onto some wooden skewers. If using a charcoal BBQ, probably best to soak the skewers first.

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Cook until done and keep warm – they don’t take long with the lid on. 10 minutes or so.

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Finally, tip the cooked rice into a bowl and mix in all the ingredient for the salad. Serve it up with the kebabs on top, a big side of Tzatsiki and a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil. Summer on a plate!

 

 

Lemon Sole and Triple Cooked Chips

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Lemon Sole and Triple Cooked Chips

Hello.

My name is Phil and I’ve had a problem for about 8 years now (no, it’s not that).  It’s that I’m English (no, not that either) and I hate chips.

Actually… that’s not entirely true, I like chips a lot. What I mean is normally, if I’m out in a restaurant I avoid them, mainly because they’re invariably bad, but also because there’s so much more choice now out there in terms sides dishes. I feel like I’m copping-out.

Since Heston Blumenthal made his way onto our screens though, dry-icing cream, morphing meat and triple cooking his chips, I’ve noticed a bit of a renaissance. In fact ‘proper’ or ‘hand-cut’ chips are increasingly being highlighted as selling points on the typical gastro-pub menu. That’s good then I suppose but also, it isn’t, as making chips from scratch is hardly a Michelin starred pursuit in the first place. How low had we gone in culinary terms that we had to, and still do, buy them pre-made and frozen?

Of course I’m not talking about the good old British Fish ‘n’ Chip shop, keep up the good work fellas…

And so, I thought I’d give Heston’s triple cooked chips a go in pursuit of bettering my culinary knowledge. This is a shortened version as to be honest, his recipe calls for a process taking around 3 hours all in all. I don’t like chips that much….

The result was actually very good I’m pleased to say – they had a nice crunch

For this Helen managed to get hold of some freshly caught lemon sole (one of my favourites) and  I did very little to this as it doesn’t need it. To counter the oil – a nice bean salad, same as I did for the mackerel. I had a lot left….

Lemon Sole

Serves 2

  • 2 lemon sole fillets
  • flour for dusting
  • 3 or 4 Maris Piper potatoes.
  • Oil – enough for deep frying
  • Salt and Pepper
  • A side salad of your choice

Start by making the chips. Peel the potatoes and slice into 3/4 inch or 2cm square batons. Try to trim the potatoes into nice square shapes first to keep them all even sized (you can cook the off cuts – I hate waste too!) Rinse very well to remove the excess starch.

Place in a pan of cold water and bring to a boil for about 15 minutes (Heston says 20-30, but I’m not that brave). They should be soft, almost breaking, but keeping their shape.

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Drain and leave to cool completely by an open window on a plate in a single layer.

Make up the side salad and pour some flour onto a plate for dusting the fish later – season well.

Heat the oil to 130°C/270°F and add the cold chips. Fry gently for about 5-10 minutes, until just about cooked on the outside. Remove and again, leave to cool by the window, same as before.

Finally heat the oil to 180°C/360°F and finish the chips off until nice and golden.

Just as they go back in, dust the fish in seasoned flour and fry in a little oil, mostly on the skin side, until just done. Take out the pan and keep warm. Serve them all together, with a little extra salt and vinegar. Lovely.

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