Greasy Truckers Party Food

Crispy Black Pudding Wontons

2009-10-01T20:45:00.003Z

Thanks to Jimmy at that fine Motörhead blog Moving Like A Parelellogram for this recipe.

Ingredients...

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped

450 g /1 lb. black pudding skinned and chopped

1 bunch spring onions, about 8 trimmed and finely chopped

140 g / 5 oz chicken breast boned and skinned

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

25 g / 1 oz butter, at room temperature

2 eggs

150 ml /1/4 pt whipping cream

A little freshly grated nutmeg

A few leaves fresh basil chopped

1 x 350 g/ 12 oz packet won-ton skins

Vegetable oil for deep frying

Method...

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and sauté the onion, garlic and ginger. When they have softened, add the black pudding and cook for about a minute. Add the spring onions and remove the pan from the heat so that they remain crunchy.
Put it to one side to cool.

Take the chicken breast and blend it in a food processor with a teaspoon of salt. Add the butter and blend again. Now add an egg and continue to blend while you pour in the cream. Stop the motor from time to time and scrape the inside of the bowl with a rubber spatula so that everything is evenly combined.

Stir the chicken mousse into the black pudding mixture and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Finally, add the basil.

4. Lay out 6 -9 won ton skins on a clean work surface and place a spoonful of the black pudding mixture in the centre of each. Beat the remaining egg and use it to brush the edges of the won-ton skins. Fold each in half to form a triangle and press the edges firmly together. Repeat until all the mixture has been used.

Heat a deep pan of oil to 180 oc / 350 F. Fry about 6 won-tons at a time until they are golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.
Drain and turn them out on to kitchen paper.

Serve hot.

It's enough to make Snaggletooth drool...

La Fleur en Papier Dore (31 of 80)

2009-09-20T13:57:00.000Z

After the house of puppets I felt an uncontrolable urge to sample the Lambic delights of La Fleur en Papier Dore. Almost as though my limbs were pulled by hidden strings. I also had a sense of déjà vous, a fact born out by the barkeeps walking over and saying "I know you. Last time you were in here you were wearing a Motorhead teashirt.". Memories of playing cards here came flooding back, Sylvain with some extra ones tucked up his sleave. The ace of spades, the ace of spades....

The beer this time was Oud Beersel. Flat, slightly sour and a perfect accompaniment to the blood sausage roll sitting on my plate.

The Gold Plated Flower was originally part of a 19th century nunnery. I can hear the penguins now, berating the drunken cavorting that now ensues within.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Poechenellekelder Master Of Puppets (56 of 80)

2009-09-20T12:47:00.000Z

Sitting opposite the Manequin Pis, Poechenellekelder is a fine place to enjoy a Sunday afternoon beer while watching the tourists flock around the wee pisser. In this case the beer is the reccomended Jambe-de-Bois tripple from the Brasserie de la Seine brewery. Nice.

Brasseurs de la Grande-Place (17 of 80)

2009-09-19T13:00:00.002Z

Grande Place has it's fair share of bars that do food, but what distinguishes Brasseurs de la Grande-Place is that it is only one of three working breweries in the city. Taking Around Brussels In 80 Beers reccomendation of Brasseurs Tripple, I sat down to enjoy some slightly over salted Carbonnades. The tripple was refreshing and had slight citrus overtones. All in all a nice, refreshing beer in a bar reminiscent of Nottingham's Fellows Morton And Clayton Brewhouse, all gleaming pipes and woodwork. A worthy stoppoff if you're in the city centre.

Keith Floyd

2009-09-15T14:48:00.002Z

Time to raise a glass, if you will, to Keith Floyd, who died yesterday.

His TV style has been imitated but rarely, if ever, bettered. Very casual and with the trade mark glass of wine always to hand, he made cooking look easy. His infectious enthusiasm certainly played its part in growing my own interest in cooking and, no doubt, that of many others.

A Trip To The Circus (12 of 80)

2009-08-25T18:52:00.002Z

With the possibility of being called in a distinct possibility, I decided to fortify myself with some food and drink first.

And so it was on to the circus, Le Bier Circus that is. Not a trapeezi in site, but a lot of high flying beers. On entering I was greeted by two other voyagers holding a copy of Around Brussels In 80 Beers. They'd spent the day exploring the outlying bars and were on their way in to the center to finish off.

A bottle of Cantillon Cuvee du 89 lambic washed down chicken supreme a la raspberry beer. The call came in, my remaining meal was bolted down and I departed into the evening.

I'll be back.

The Postman Calls (59 of 80)

2009-08-24T18:17:00.007Z

Les Postiers is situated near the main Post Office and means, the postmen. The wood paneling and mirrors give it a nice 30's feel. Another useful aspect of its proximity is the rank of bus stops directly opposite, including the ubiquitous 66. Most handy.

Taking a leaf out of Elizabeth David's book, I kept it simple with an omelette and a glass of beer. The beer in question was the recommended Tripel Karmeliet and damn fine it was too.

The observant amongst you, will have noticed the girl in my beer in the above photo. "Waiter there's a girl in my beer", I cried. "Not so loud sir" came the response. "they'll all want one.".

Postiers, stamps my card. For beer, cheap food and friendly service, it can't be licked. If you're in the neighborhood go there post haste.

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In The Belly Of The Raven (26 of 80)

2009-08-23T19:12:00.002Z

Saturday afternoon in Brussels, with a newly aquired copy of Around Brussels in 80 Beers in hand, I made my way to #26, Corbeau, The Raven.

An excellent ham and cheese omellette washed down with a superb Queue De Charrue bruin beer, in a wood panelled bar oozing class in spades. Queue de Charrune is aged in oak and has a complex taste, redolant of fruit with subtle liqourice overtones. Tart, yet sweet at the same time, it's well worth checking out.

Good food and good beer, a winning combination and a great start to the guide.

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Footnote: A return visit to the bar later in the evening was equally as ggod. Of special note, the coconut beer, Mongozo, and the excellent roquefort sauce that accompanied the damned fine steak that constituted tonights dinner.

Here Comes The Soleil (66 of 80)

2009-08-23T16:13:00.002Z

A hop, skip and a jump from
Nüetnigenough and past the Classic Rock Bar, is the church Notre Dame de Bon Secours. Lying oposite it's hallowed walls sits a temple to the god of beer, Au Soleil. Taking the advice of the holy book, Around Brussels in 80 Beers, I gave the XX a go. Hoppy, smooth and tasty, like an IPA on steroids. Nice bar, nice beer.

I got my kicks, in bar 66.

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Nüetnigenough (52 of 80)

2009-08-23T15:12:00.005Z

Lazin' on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the heart of Brussels, I decided to give Nüetnigenough a try. Johnny Cash playing in the background, walls adorned with art nouveau and wood panelling that wouldn't look out of place in a church, well it is Sunday. Let us pray.

My prayers were answered in the form of a superb Bons Bravo. Voeux Lambic and a steaming plate of Chicken Kashmir (cue Jimmy Page on guitar...). Oh the things I have to do to check out bars for Truckers ...

I finished with a Mellon sorbet, an 11 out of 10 Spinal Tap of a dessert layering sorbet and omellon and marrying them to a wee pot of fruit conserve, and a draught Chimay Bleu, a rarity on draught. My Sunday afternoon was complete.

The strains of Johnny Cash faid like a distant dream as I leave happy and contented into the late afternoon sun.

Nüetnigenough means perfectionist and on the strength of the food and drink sampled today is as much a mission statement as a name for the place. Bravo.

When the man comes around to this little beauty of a bar he won't be disappointed.

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Note that this post was made courtesy of the free wi-fi service available to customers.

Finger Lickin' Good

2009-07-22T18:39:00.003Z

Like the protaganist in a Dan Brown novel, finance manager and KFC fanatic Ron Douglas has cracked the code. Not the Da Vinci code, nooo far more important than that, the KFC code. Yessiree bob the Colonels secret list of herbs and spices is a secret no more. Employing techniques from the James Bond school of culinary journalism, our intrepid financier managed to wheedle out the dirty dozen components of finger lickin' goodliness.

So here they are folks, before the colonel has them erased from Mr Douglas's blog, and sends a hit squad to erase him from the pages of history

1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons Accent

Do you expect me to talk, Sanders? The Colonel: No Mr. Douglas, I want you to fry.

Best Bars In Brussels

2009-03-26T00:15:00.005Z

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Continuing the Belgian theme here's a list of some of the best bars in Brussels.

Archiduc
Belga Queen
Chelsea
De Ultime Hallucinatie
Greenwich
Havana
Java
Kafka
Khnopff
Kolya
L'Ultime Atome
Le Roi des Belges
Mappa Mundo
PP Café
Radio Bar
Skievelat
The Fuse
Zebra Bar
La Becasse
Bizon
Monk
Walvis
Het Spinnekopke
La Fleur à papier doré
Le Stoemelings
Le Corbeau
Au Bon Vieux Temps
Chez Moeder Lambic
Cirio
Miladiou
Le Cerceuil
Le Bier Circus
Peochenellekelder
Toone
La Porte Noire
La Morte Subite
Estaminet Toone
La Brocante
A l'Imaige Nostre-Dame
Poechenellekelder
Le Corbeau
In't Spinnekopke
Au Bon Vieux Temps
A la Becasse

Thanks to Keri for providing the original list.

Note that this post is a work in progress and will be refined and added to as time goes by.

Flemish-style beef stew with beer

2009-03-22T09:19:00.008Z

Working in Brussels for so long, I though it was about time I tried cooking a bit of the local cuisine. And what better place to start than with Flemish-style beef stew with beer.

A visit to Amazon and a copy of The Food and Cooking of Belgium by Suzanne Vandyck later and it was off to the kitchen, bottles of Belgian Brown Beer in hand.

Ingredients

500g / 1/4 lb of Braising Steak cubed
Plain Flour
Butter
Olive Oil
1 Large Onion Diced
2 Garlic Cloves pealed and chopped. Whack them with the flat of your hand or a knife blade (careful) prior to pealing.
1 or 2 330 ml/11 1/2 fl oz bottles of Dark Belgian Beer such as Chimay (I used Chimay Bruin), plus a few more bottles for drinking.
A bouquet garni lashed together of 3 sprigs of thyme, 6 of parsley and 2 bay leaves
2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
2 tbsp Brown Sugar
2 or 3 slices of rustic bread
2 tbsp (ish) of Dijon Mustard
A fistful of fresh parsley chopped
Salt and Freshly Ground black pepper

Preparation

First add a couple of pinches of salt (if possible Maldon Sea Salt) and 6 or so turns of a pepper mill to a food bag containing a couple of tablespoons of flour.

Add the meat in batches to the flour, shaking the bag, in a closed state to coat. Shake off any excess flour and put to one side. If you run out of seasoned flour before the end, hey it's not the end of the world as we know it, add some more.

Heat a good knob of butter and add a tbsp or two of olive oil to a large flame proof caserole dish, preferably cast iron, over a medium to high heat.

When sizzling add the meat and brown in batches. As with the flour, add a tad more oil if it runs out. Put the browned meat to one side on a plate.

Add the onion and cook on a low heat for about 6 to 8 minutes till soft, then add the garlic and give it another 3 minutes. In this time stir, shake and otherwise agitate your veggies to stop them burning.

Return your browned meat to the pan and combine with the onions.

Add enough beer to just cover the meat. If like me you used one and a half bottles, hurrah, celebrate by drinking the remainder.

Bring the mixture to just below boiling point, then add the herbs vinegar and sugar. The sourness of the vinegar should be offset by the sweetness of the sugar. Have a taste, as with Thai cooking, if too sour add more sugar, if too sweet, add more vinegar. If just right, fantastic!

Cover and cook over the lowest heat your hob can muster, stirring every now and then. If your herbs went in loose, try to keep the together, it makes removal easier.

After an hour and a half, or when the meat is tender, remove the herbs (hey I did warn you).

Slice your bread, if unsliced, carving off enough to cover the surface of your stew in a single layer. Spread with a generous amount of the Dijon mustard and lay mustard side down on the surface of the stew. Spoon over some of the liquid, cover the pot and leave to cook for a further 20-30 minutes.

The bread should by now have absorbed some of the juices and dissolved to thicken the stew. If needs be help the dissolving along with the aid of a spatula.

Taste and if needs be add some more salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with fries, mashed potato or breads, sprinkling the chopped parsley over the stew for garnish.

For drinks to serve with it, I'd reccomend more of the beer you used in it's cooking.

If you've got them, also serve with Belgian pickles, or a suitably rustic local equivalent.

This stew was wonderful and thoroughly recommended. If you do it some time, make the effort to get a good quality Belgium Brown beer to use in it. It makes all the difference. It also warrants a damn fine piece of braising steak, in my case I paid a visit to Edinburgh farmers market to get some quality coo.

I'd also strongly recommend that you get yourself a copy of The Food and Cooking of Belgium. This is a marvelous cookery book, doing full justice to what has to be one of the most underrated cuisines on Earth. Beautifully illustrated it delves into the history, culture and traditions of Belgian food, before launching into 60 mouth watering recipes. The author, Suzanne Vandyck, was born in Belgium and runs a cookery school, Worldchefs, specialising in world cooking. Check out their website at www.worldchefs.net, there a few recipes there for you to try (after giving the beef stew a go that is).

Stay tuned for my next foray into the wonderful world of Belgian cooking. Coming to a table near me soon.

Eet Smakelijk!

Trucking at Novacon 38

2008-11-16T16:08:00.002Z

When shall we three meet again? How about on Friday night at the launch of Ian R Macleod's new book,Song Of Time?

Messrs Wright,Ternent and Stocks take time out from culinary pursuits to avail themselves of free nibbles and wine at the book launch on the opening night of Novacon 38. The wine was a Calafornian merlot that would have been the ideal companion to a chip supper. Poured on the chips in lieu of vinegar that is...

A Crooked Little Lamb Recipe

2008-10-29T19:14:00.009Z

I recently read a copy of Warren Ellis's most excellent novel Crooked Little Vein. After it finished Warren listed a number of recipes, including this one for Lamb with a garlic, wine and rosemary sauce. Warren also suggests a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds over the top at the end. Not something I personally think is necessary. This dish meets my criteria for most excellent food, simple to prepare, a classic combination of ingredients and a tasty end product.

Ingredients
A joint of Lamb
A bulb of garlic (that wee plump thing composed of lots of cloves), cut in half across the middle.
A sprig of rosemary
A glass of White Wine (don't use a wine you wouldn't be happy to drink on its own)
Tinfoil (do not eat)

Preparation

Pre-heat the oven to 190C

Rip of about 3 feet of tin foil and fold in half. Repeat with a second strip and lay at right angles across the first. Like a modern day Robert Harbin, give it the old Origami Kung Fu and make a (hopefully) leak proof pocket of the foil.

Add the bisected bulb of garlic, the glass of wine and rosemary.

Time to dust off the abacus, the next two items need a wee bit of math to work out what hits the oven first and when the second item goes in. Aim to have the sauce cooked at the same time your lamb has finished resting.

Seal the pocket and whack into the oven for at least 1 1/2 hours.
Roast the lamb for 30 minutes a lb (450g) and rest for 30 minutes (the Lamb that is not yourself).

Slice the lamb and strain the sauce over the top.

Eat swilled down with the remainder of the wine (hic), then dig out an issue of Transmetropolitan to read.

Bon Apetite.

Ana's Dumplings

2008-10-29T18:07:00.007Z

Hailing from the land of Dan Marino, this Southern belle provided me with this delightful recipe for Bread Dumplings. The perfect accompaniment to thanksgiving turkey or your Chrimbo dinner if you're from the other side of the pond. Just make sure you don't fumble when taking them out of the oven, or they may end up incomplete. I'm sure when you get the first down, you'll want ten.

Ingredients for 6-8 Dumplings

6 Hard Rolls ( I use the Chicago hard rolls, that are a day old)
1/8th Liter of hot milk
1 small onion
30 grams of butter
2 Tbl spoons of parsley (the straighter. leafy version)
2 eggs
Pepper
Salt
A little flour

Preparation

Tear apart the rolls in small pieces or cut it in small pieces, pour the hot milk over it. Cut up the onions in tiny pieces and heat them up in a pan with the butter until they turn all glassy, throw in the parsley and let that heat up with the onions.

Then put the onions and parsley mixture and the eggs into the bowl with your bread, mix it and let it sit for a few minutes. Put in the salt and pepper. Dust the mass with a little bit of flour, not too much otherwise they’ll get hard as rocks. Moisten your hands with water, grab a handful of the mixture and form a ball. Dust with a little flour and put aside.

Fill a big pot with water, a little salt. Bring it to a gentle boil, turn the heat down, put in the dumplings and let them cook for approximately 20 minutes, don’t boil them and don’t cover the pot. When they float to the top and stay there, then they are ready.

These are great with roasts and gravies.

Touchdown !!!

For the curious amongst you, the picture of Ana shown above was taken at a John Mayall concert at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. Go Rock Chick go, go,go !!

RED by Trev 11/1/89

2008-08-30T19:47:00.006Z

The following recipe is an approximation. The thing about RED is that you can improvise.

One large batch: -

3lb course minced beef

3 large onions

Large tin plumb tomatoes

Half a tube tomato puree

6 heaped tablespoons chilli powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon tumeric

1 fistfull dried red chillis

Lots of fresh ground black pepper

quite a bit of salt to taste

1 heaped tablespoon paprika

1/4 litre approx. good oil

1/3 large size fresh double cream optional

2 lb mushrooms optional

1/2 bottle dry red wine optional

4 teaspoons garam masala

6 green cardomons

3 tablespoons oregano

The following is instructions for EXECUTIVE RED.

Big Pan
Oil in - turn on heat
Chop onions (various ways) and add to pan as done. Cook till some just start to brown.
Add all spices and seasonings except for garam amsala (+herbs).
Add tomato puree.
Cook stirring till oily red brown vicious looking mess.
Add meat and stir in till all meat covered with spices.
Add wine and cook for 5 mins.
Add chillis (broken).
Cook (simmer) for 1 1/2 to 2 hrs.
Add garam masala & stir in.
Add cream.
Cook for approx 10 mins.
Allow to cool before reheating and serving.

If you want to add mushrooms, add with the meat.
If you don't want EXECUTIVE, omit the wine & cream.

Carbonara Sauce

2008-07-27T18:57:00.005Z

Carbonara is my favorite Italian sauce. Encapsulating my ethos of a simple dish using the finest ingredients prepared in a straightforward fashion to produce a stunning result.

It literally translates charcoal maker, so this is a charcoal makers sauce. One Italian food historian
claims that at the end of World War II, American soldiers befriended the locals and brough them fresh bacon and eggs. When asked to prepare a pasta sauce with this fare, carbonara was the end result. Perhaps the locals in question were in the business of making charcoal.

The key to success with this dish is to use the best ingredients you can find. A quality pancetta from your local Itailan deli (or better still Puddledubs if you live in Fife), free range eggs and a good quality pasta. Follow this rule and you'll make a dish fit for the Gods (Bachus would love it!).

Ingredients for 3 people

125g Pancetta or bacon pieces
2 cloves of garlic lightly mashed just breaking the skin which you discard.
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp dry white wine (optional)
4 egg yolks
2 tbsp freshly grated Romano cheese
25 / 1 oz freshly grated Parmia Regiano Cheese
freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp double cream (optional)
1 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley
Fresh Pasta (the usual pasta for this is spaghetti, but I always prefer a tagliatelle)

Preparation

In a bowl beat the yolks of the eggs together. Some recipes use the white too but I think the yolks on there own make a richer sauce.

Mix in the cheeses, the parsley, a pinch of salt, the pepper and if used the cream.

Cook the pasta as per the instructions with a pinch of salt and 1 tbsp of olive oil.

While it is cooking, heat the oil in a pan and fry the garlic until it is golden, when you should discard it.

Add the pancetta or bacon and fry until crisp

If using, add the wine and cook for a couple of minutes till it evaporates. Take off the heat.

Drain the pasta and tip into the pan with the bacon, stirring it together.

Mix in the cheese and egg mix. The residual heat will be enough to cook the eggs.

Serve with some garlic bread and eat with a big grin on your face.

Yakitori Sauce

2008-07-15T17:38:00.004Z

As basting sauces go, Yakitori belongs with the best of them. Tasty, sweet and imbued with conentrated essence of chicken. During cooking skewers of grilled chicken are dipped into the basting sauce, tare. This means that as time goes by its favor will improve. There are Yakitori restaurants in Japan that claim to have been using the same Tare base for a decade.

The following recipe doesn't require this sort of devotion to the sacred art of Tare making,but still achieves a wonderful result.

Ingredients

8 chicken wings
150 ml (3/4 cup) sake
260 ml (1 1/3 cups) mirin
3 tbsp sugar
260 ml (1 1/3 cups) shoyu (soy sauce)

Preparation

Cook the chicken wings until they are browned over about half their surfaces.

Pour the sake and mirin into a saucepan and bring to the boil.

Turn down the heat to low and add the sugar, stirring until it has disolved.

Add the shoyu (soy sauce) and browned chicken wings, bringing it to the boil.

Cook over a low heat for 30 minutes.

Strain the sauce through a sieve lined with a kitchen towel, reserving the chicken wings.

Let the sauce cool to room temperature, before storing in the fridge.

The tare will keep in the fridge for up to a month although with it tasting as good as it does it is unlikely to last that long.

Don't forget those chicken wings, they make an excellent snack washed down with a glass of beer.

Enjoy.

Quick and Easy Pasta Sauce

2008-06-11T12:40:00.013Z

Ingredients
Basic sauce

Olive oil
1 tin of tomatoes (chopped for preference)
2 cloves of garlic
salt and black pepper
Pasta of your choice

Variations

8oz mushrooms, sliced
1 packet of sliced salami
Pitted black olives
Fresh basil

I thought it was about time the more southerly Greasy Trucker put in an appearance, so here I am. This dish is particularly quick and easy; an ideal one to try if you're new to the world of cooking or if your cupboard is getting empty. Follow it with Marinated Miniature Figs and Mascarpone for an effortless but wonderful meal.

Tinned tomatoes are fine for this dish, but I'd be inclined to steer clear of the very cheapest ones. Similarly, if you need an excuse to find out why certain brands of pasta cost twice as much as others, you won't go far wrong here.

Preparation
Basic sauce
Peel and cut each clove of garlic into 4-5 pieces. Fry it in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil until it begins to go golden. Don't overdo this as it will go bitter if you do. Add the tomatoes, break them up if they're not already chopped, and cook until the sauce thickens. This should take about 10 minutes, during which time you can cook the pasta. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve on top of the pasta.

This sauce more than repays the tiny amount of effort needed to make it.

Variations
Add some sliced mushrooms to the basic tomato sauce at the start of the cooking time, and some supermarket salami cut into inch squares, a dozen or so pitted black olives and a handful of fresh basil (tear it, don't cut it) at the end for a tasty variation.

Pasta
Cooking pasta always seems to involve more water than you think you'll need. Use a big pan to give the pasta plenty of room to cook in. I don't time pasta - I keep trying it until it's done the way I like it; slightly softer than 'al-dente', but not boiled limp. This usually takes about 8-10 minutes. Now drain it, put a small splash of olive oil in the bottom of the now-empty pan you used to cook the pasta in. Return the drained pasta to the pan and add some freshly ground black pepper and a splash more olive oil. Give the pasta a quick stir and serve. I haven't given quantities here, but I suggest about 4oz dried pasta per person as a rough guide.

Pasta is generally made by forcing dough through a nozzle. The nozzle has a critical part to play in the process, not only does it govern the shape of the pasta, it affects the surface. Teflon nozzles give a smooth surface and allow fast production. Bronze nozzles give a slightly rough surface to the pasta and slow down production (and, inevitably, push up the cost). The rough surface of bronze-nozzle pasta allows it to pick up more sauce than teflon-nozzle pasta. Bronze-nozzle pasta is much more readily available than it was - at least here in the UK - your supermarket will probably stock it.

The basic tomato and garlic sauce is adapted from Pizza and Pasta by Susan Conte, which is a book worth adding to your shelf. Used copies seem to be available from Amazon.

Smoked Haddock with Black Pudding and Bacon

2008-03-26T18:48:00.002Z

In the Tao of Truckers the best dishes are made with quality ingredients, simple, easy to cook and bloody tasty. This recipe from Sue Lawrence's - A Cook's Tour of Scotland fulfills all of these criteria, with extra bloody tastiness coming from the inclusion of black pudding. Now, prior to cooking it I wouldn't have thought that black pudding and fish would work together. I was wrong.

Ingredients (enough for 2 people)

2 pieces of skinned undyed smoked haddock fillets (approx 200g / 7oz in weight)
2 thin slices of black pudding (cut very cold to stop it crumbling)
4 rashers of traditionally cured unsmoked back bacon
Olive oil for drizzling

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 230C (450F)
Put the fish on some greaseproof paper on a baking tray
Arrange the black pudding slices on the fish
Wrap the bacon around the fish and black pudding
Drizzle with Olive Oil
Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the fish is cooked
Serve with some good quality bread and a side salad. Pour over the magical juices from the pan.

I told you it was simple. I added some cherry tomatoes to the baking tray prior to cooking and added these to the salad. Most excellent.

Guinness Marmite, Irish Sausage and Onion Buttie

2008-03-23T10:21:00.004Z

Thanks to Jimmy for this recipe, originally posted on the Me Myself & Motörhead blog on St Patrick's day.

Guinness Marmite, irish sausage and onion buttie, adapted from a Gary Rhodes recipe idea on the Marmite website:

Ingredients

4 good quality farm assured British or Irish butcher's sausages- pork, or as an alternative vegetarian sausage
1 large onion (note that the quantity used in my variant was 2)
olive oil
large bread rolls, baps or Scottish fired morning rolls
Butter for spreading (currently using Lurpak organic here in Victory Mansions)
Salt & pepper for seasoning
Guinness marmite or original marmite - quantity to taste - half a tbl spoon

Preparation

Grill the sausages under a medium heat, turning occasionally until browned.

While doing so fry up the sliced onions in the olive oil; heat up the pan with oil first and then add the onions.

Once the onions are softened in the heat add in a healthy dollop of guinness marmite turning up the heat so as to caramelise the onions/marmite mix and it is nice and sticky.

Open up the rolls, add to butter to perference.

Add the sausages complete or sliced along the length to the rolls on one side then spread on the marmite-onion mix on the other roll side and combine.

To compliment add in some sliced cherry/sweet tomatoes to the sticky onion mix. Serve with a nice hot mug of tea if breakfast or up the ante at lunch with a bottle or two of stout.

Variations by the Truckers

Sausages - For the sausages I went for some good quality Scottish sausages, courtesy of the greatest purveyor of pork on the planet, Puddledubs. Personally I think our home produced sausages are better than the Irish versions, which can be over high in fat content. Of course Scotland is named after a Celtic tribe from Ireland, who came over in the 5AD or 6AD. By the 11th century they ruled the roost. Scottish Gaelic is therefore an Irish dialect, so by extension, Scottish Sausages are actually Irish. I started by browning the sausages of in a wok, with a splash of olive oil. I then transferred them to a dish in the oven at 200 C.

Onions - The onions were then added to the pan with a knob of butter, and slow cooked, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden. Cooking the onions in the sausage pan added the sausages wonderful flavour to the onions. At this stage I had a slight problem, as Calvin is not a fan of Marmite and even if he was, I had none of the legendary Guinness variety to hand. To circumvent this problematic state of affairs I added about half a cup of beef stock and a third of a bottle of Guiness. To this I crumbled in some Maldon Sea Salt, added some freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of brown sugar. After halving some cherry tomatoes, as per the original recipe, I cooked this mix over a low heat until reduced to a nice gloopy mass. Tea was brewed, bread rolls halved and buttered and the butties assembled. A bit late for St Paddies day, but a nice Easter Sunday morning breakfast.

Nice one Jimmy.

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Good Food Guide Winners 2008

2008-03-08T09:06:00.004Z

The Japanese restaurant Sake No Hana in Mayfair sounds interesting. Voted the best new London restaurant by The Good Food Guide London it is certainly the most commented. One comment described it as "pure and unadulterated joy for people who understand Japanese Food" while another punter described it as a "temple of cool". It does sound pricey though, with their cheapest glass of wine clocking in at around £30 a glass. So anyone with a few anime DVDs on their shelf and a wallet the size of Manhattan should give it a try.

The other Good Food Guide Winners this year were : -

Best value for money: Tom Ilic, Battersea

Best budget Restaurant: Viet Grill, Shoredich

Best gastropub: Carpenter's Arms, Hammersmith

Best set menu: Wild Honey, Mayfair

Best vegetarian: Mana, Primrose Hill

Best for breakfast: Roast, London Bridge

Best wine list: The Square, Mayfair

Best fish restaurant: One-O-One, Knitsbridge

Best up-and-coming: Tristan Mason, formerly of Orrery, Marylebone

Medium Curry Gravy

2008-02-15T01:58:00.010Z

Pat Chapman's currys work like lego, where you build and store complex building blocks that you can quickly combine to make a tasty curry on the fly. Not a technique for someone who does the occasional Tikka Masala, once in a blue moon, but more of a way of life. Restaurants use similar principles, but on a much larger scale.

So putting a few bricks together brings us to this recipe for Medium Curry Gravy. A veritable Princes Leia in your Lego Star Wars set. "Help me Obi-Wan Pat Chapman, you're my only hope".

Ingredients (makes enough for a meal for about 4 people)

2 tbsp Curry Powder (use either Pat's Curry Masala or the ground spice version, curry powder, the last time I made this, I used the former).
2 tbsp Ghee
50g (2 oz) Garlic Cloves chopped
250 g Spannish Onions, chopped
4 Canned Plum Tomatoes, drained
200 ml (7 floz) Water
2 tbsp Green Pepper, finely chopped
Aromatic Salt to taste (you could just use normal salt instead, but as the aromatic version is so easy to make, you'd be barking mad to do so)

Preparation

Add some water to the curry powder to make a paste.
Heat the ghee in a wok or large frying pan till hot.
Add the paste and fry for a minute or two.
Add the garlic and stir fry for a minute or until golden brown.
Add the Onions, mix in and fry until caramelised.
Add the tomatoes and Water.
Take off the heat and puree to a consistency in a blender.
Return to the pan.
Add the green pepper.
Cook on a low heat for another 10 minutes. The gravy should turn to the dark side, and thicken.
Add the aromatic salt to taste.

Now you've put those pieces together, it's on to building that Death Star. Stay tuned. You can't stop the signal.

This gravy can be frozen, in a conventional freezer should Carbonite not be available. I'd recommend making enough for 2 or 3 meals at once (apply a suitable multiplier to the ingredients) and always keeping some available on standby for future Bantha Fodder, or when you're eating solo.

Curry Masala

2008-02-15T01:35:00.003Z

A mix of pre-ground spices courtesy of Pat Chapman's The New Curry Bible: The Ultimate Modern Curry House Recipe Book (Curry Club)

Masala means, mix of spices, so curry Masala is a mix of spices used to make a curry.

An alternative blend to the home roast spice method I got from another bible, Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible, this one is a useful one if you are in a hurry or don't want the grind of the other.

Ingredients

60g Ground Coriander
30g Cumin
20g Fenugreek
25g Gram Flour (besan)
25g Garlic Powder
20g Paprika
20g Tumeric
20g Garam Masala
5g Bay Leaf
5g Asofetida
5g Ginger
5g Chilli Powder
5g English Mustard Powder
5g Black Pepper
5g Cinnamon

Preparation

Mix well and store in an airtight container in a cool dark place.

Wow, that's some array of spices, but a tasty one.

Aromatic Salt

2008-02-15T01:26:00.000Z

Years ago, I used to make a Chinese Spiced salt mix, that made for some tasty dishes. This is an Indian equivalent that enhances any curry, when used instead of ordinary salt. What's more, it's easy to make.

Ingredients

100g (3 1/2 oz) Maldon Sea Salt
1 tsp freshly ground allspice
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preparation (easy peasy, lemon squeezy)

Grind in small batches with a mortar and pestle.
Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.

Garam Masala

2008-02-03T12:31:00.001Z

The spice blend Garam Masala means 'warm spice' and is used in both Indian and Pakistani cooking. Other variants can be found in countries such as Trinidad and Guyana, where local spices have been added to the blend. As the name implies only spices that heat the body, black cardamon, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin and green cardamon should be used to make it. As these are expensive, however, this can be cut with cheaper spices, such as coriander.

Shop bought Garam Masala doesn't keep as well as home made and is less potent. In view of this additional potency you should therefore use less of the home ground variety than it's mass produced weaker cousin.

Garam Masala is often added to a dish at the end of the cooking process, when the full aroma isn't lost and it can add a wonderful fragrance to your dish.

Ingredients

1 tbsp Cardamom Seeds
1 tsp Black Peppercorns
1 tsp Whole Cloves
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1/3 a nutmeg
2-3 inch (5 - 7 1/2 cm) piece of Cinnamon Stick

Preparation

Grind the spices in batches as finely as possible. The Cinnamon stick is a beast to grind so I'd recommend using a heavy cleaver to chop it finely before you attempt to grind it. This is especially true if you are using a mortar and pestle. For the other spices you can also use the cleaver to take out some of the grunt work. First crush them under the flat of the blade, then rock the blade back and forth over the spices to roughly chop them.

Store in an airtight jar, in a cool dark place. A badger sett would be ideal, but watch out for the badger!

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Egg Fried Rice

2008-01-31T18:27:00.001Z

I first read this method of cooking egg fried rice in Yan Kit's Classic Chinese Cookbook in the early 1980s. I've been using it ever since and it's a success every time. It's also a good way of using up any boiled rice from a previous meal in a very easy, tasty way.

Ingredients

400g (14oz) boiled rice left for 3-4 hours to dry out. Spreading it out flat after cooking will improve this process.
2 tbsp peanut (groundnut) oil
1 large egg beaten with 1/4 tsp of salt
2 spring onions cut into small rounds with the white and green separated
2 tsp Thick Soy Sauce

Preparation

Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan.

Add the white part of the spring onion and stir a couple of times.

Add the beaten egg and fry for 10 seconds.

Add the rice and stir so that the egg adheres to it.

Heat until the rice is warmed through and piping hot.

Add the green part of the spring onion.

Add the Soy Sauce and mix into the rice.

For variation try using duck eggs instead of hen. Duck eggs are much richer tasting and this intense flavor suits fried rice well. Another thing you can do is to fry some chopped bacon or pancetta and add it to the oil first. Fry until crisp and then add the white of the spring onion and continue the recipe from there. Adding bacon flavors the oil and ultimately the rice. Bacon and egg are a classic combo, so I'd recommend cooking it this way.

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Trinidadian Beef Curry

2008-01-30T13:01:00.001Z

Living in Nottingham in the 80's I had the advantage of a perpetually open West Indian take away on my doorstep. Dishes such as Goat Curry when you got the munchies at two in the morning were much appreciated. The following curry recipe is for beef not goat but is still no less righteous. You can also use chicken, lamb or even goat instead of beef if you like. If using chicken or lamb then use water or chicken stock instead of beef. The beef stock would be a bit too intense for it. Thanks to Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible for bringing back memories of early morning Caribbean feasting

Ingredients

Marinade

1 kg of beef (strewing / braising steak) cut into 1 inch pieces
One medium sized onion finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic peeled & chopped
The white part of 4 Spring Onions sliced into rings
4 tbsp finely chopped parsley
5 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1/2 a very hot chili (Appropriately for a dish cooked in Scotland I used a Scotch Bonnet.) Handle with care and wash your hands several times afterwards.
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper

For the cooking

5 tbsp oil such as peanut
5 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp salt
2 pints of beef stock
1 tsp of ground roasted cumin seeds
2 tsp amchar masala

Preparation

Blend the marinade ingredients, with the exception of the beef to make a smooth paste.

Marinade the beef in this paste covered in the fridge for at least 1/2 an hour and for a maximum of 3 hours.

Heat the oil in a wok or large lidded non-stick pan over a medium high heat.

Add the garlic and cook for a few seconds until it sizzles.

Add the curry powder and stir for 10 seconds.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the meat and its marinade stir frying for a minute.

Cover, reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the stock, cumin and amchar masala.

Stir and bring to a simmer.

Reduce the heat to low and braise for around an hour and a half until the meat is tender.

Increase the heat to medium high and reduce, stirring constantly, to a thick sauce.

Stick some Peter Tosh on the ghetto blaster and eat with some boiled rice (the curry that is, not the ghetto blaster).

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Amchar Masala

2008-01-27T23:11:00.001Z

This mix is from Trinidad and uses many of the spices that are used for pickling in India. First they are lightly roasted releasing a heavenly aroma and giving them an intense flavor, then they are ground ready for the jar. Like Garam Masala in Indian food, Amchar Masala is often added to a dish at the end of cooking. So put some Bob Marley on the CD player and grind it like a Lion in Zion.

Ingredients for around 8 tbsp

4 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds

Preparation

Put the spaces in a heavy dry saucepan.
Stir over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes to lightly roast. The spices will darken slightly.
Leave to cool.
Grind in a mortar & pestle or clean coffee grinder.
Store in an airtight container and keep in a dark place.

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Shortbread

2008-01-25T13:49:00.001Z

There is nothing more quintessentially Scottish than a nice piece of Shortbread.

Ingredients
200g plain white flour
A pinch of fine salt
40g of ground rice
75g Caster Sugar (plus some more for dusting)
175g unsalted butter, from a chilled 250g pack

Preparation

Sieve the flower and salt into a large bowl.

Stir in the ground rice and sugar.

Grate in the butter. The secret of shortbread is to minimise contact with the ingredients when mixing. By grating the butter we reduce the time taken to mix and thus make a better biscuit.

Quickly work the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Press the mix into a 20cm square baking tin, levelling off the top.

Refrigerate for an hour

Heat the oven for 140C for a fan oven, 160C for a non-fan oven

Bake for 40 minutes until a light gold colour

Prick all over with a fork & mark into 20 pieces, cutting through to the tin, but not through the tin.

Dust with plenty of caster sugar and leave to cool in the tin.

Remove and store in an airtight container.

Dust

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Cranachan

2008-01-25T13:48:00.001Z

Cranachan is a traditional Scottish desert made using local produce. It used to be eaten at harvest time when raspberries were plentiful. Today it is a popular ending to a burns supper on Burns Night on the 25th of January.

Cranachan is also sometimes called Crowdie Cream, as it used to be made with a soft Scottish Cheese known as a Crowdie, instead of the modern variant that uses cream.

In one variant, the Ale-Crowdie, ale, treacle and whisky were served with the oats. This used to be served at weddings with a ring added to the mix. Whoever got the ring either choked to death, or was fated to be the next to marry.

The traditional way of serving Cranachan was to bring each individual ingredient to the table separately, the guests could then assemble it themselves to their own taste.

Ingredients (serves 2)

300g (10 1/2 oz) Raspberries or Strawberries
280 ml (10 fl oz) Thick Double Cream
2 tbsp Good Quality Honey such as a Scottish Heather or Blossom honey
2 tbsp Single Malt Whisky or Drambuie (Note that for an alcohol free version you can add a few drops of Vanilla Essence instead)
2-3 tbsp Oatmeal

Preparation

Place the Oatmeal in a cool pan and heat over a medium heat, stirring occasionally until golden. This should take from 10 to 20 minutes.

When toasted leave to cool in the pan and sieve to sift out any dust.

Put the cream in a bowl and whisk until thick.

Add the honey and Whisky / Drambuie / Vanilla Essence (delete as appropriate) and fold into the cream.

Put 3 or 4 raspberries in the bottom of each serving dish.

Keeping a couple on one side, gently stir the remainder in to the cream mix, breaking some up to slightly colour the cream.

Spoon the cream into the serving dishes.

Sprinkle on the cooled oatmeal mixed with two tablespoons of sugar.

Top each with a raspberry.

Put in the fridge to chill for at least half an hour or overnight.

Do you want wafers with it?
For another variation, cover a baking tray with baking paper and pre-heat the oven to 160C. Mix 3 tbsp honey and with 6 tbsp of oatmeal together and form into 10 thin round shapes. Place on the baking tray and bake for 10 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool. Break two of these wafers up and add to the cream mix from the previous recipe. Use the remaining wafers to decorate the finished dish.

Best eaten on Burns Night or watching the Wicker Man on TV (the original not the naff remake). Summer is a comin' in....

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Haggis, Neeps and Tatties

2008-01-25T12:30:00.000Z

A Shaggy Haggis Story

A Haggis is a creature found in the Scottish Highlands that lives on the sides of mountains. An unusual aspect of the Haggis is that the legs on one half of the body are longer than they are on the other. This makes them perfectly adapted to run around and round the steep sides of the mountain in either a clockwise, or anti-clockwise direction depending on which side are longer. Unfortunately this Darwinistic edge proves also to be their downfall. To catch the Haggis chase it round a mountain in the opposite direction. It's disproportionate legs will now cause it to fall over and it can be easily netted.

The Reality. Or is it...
Some say that the haggis is made from a sheep's pluck (heart, liver & lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, & salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the beast's stomach. This is in fact 'mock haggis' the real version runs around the hill tops.

Buying you can either make your own haggis, which any self respecting foodie should try at least once in their life (when I do I'll blog it), or buy one. If you buy a haggis go for the best brand you can find. If your outside of Scotland, MacSween haggis is widely available and very good. They also do a vegetarian haggis for any vegies out there. My own personal favourite is from Findlay's of Portobello, which used to be my local butcher when I lived there a few years back. One year they had the audacity of taking the title of best haggis in Scotland which upset MacSweens a bit. Crombie's of Edinburgh also make a fine Haggis and a damn fine sausage too. For details of other quality Haggis check out the Scottish Association of Meat Traders website.

Serving
Haggis is the National dish of Scotland and is traditionally served with neeps and tatties. Tatties are potatoes. Neeps are a purple coloured, orange fleshed type of turnip that South of the border are called Swedes. The reason for this disparity in names, is that this variety of turnip was originally imported into Scotland from Sweden. The slang name for it was therefore the Swede.

Ingredients (serves 3)
1 or more haggis around 500g (or is that haggi?) More if you are particularly greedy, which I generally am on Burns Night.
2 large turnips
3 large potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edwards is recommended)
Unsalted Butter
Full Cream Milk or cream
Salt and Pepper
Sugar
Freshly Grated Nutmeg
Ground Ginger

Cooking

The Haggis

Method 1 Boiling

First wrap the haggis in tin foil. The skin may burst during cooking so this acts as a backup in that event.
Put in a large pan of warm water and bring to the boil
Lower the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes. Note that a shop bought haggis is already cooked so we're just warming it through.

Method 2 - Steaming

When I bought my Haggis today from Findlay's of Portobello, the butcher asked me how I normally cooked my haggis. When I told him the method outlined above he said that a much better method is to gently steam it. The problem with boiling is that quite often the Haggis splits. Although the foil does somewhat lessen the effect, it still somewhat ruins the dish. By using this alternate method of steaming you eliminate this possibility and thus are guaranteed a quality end product every time.

Preheat the oven to 180C
Lay the Haggis in a similar sized roasting or baking tray and pour in about half an inch of water.
Cover in tin foil making a seal
Cook in the oven for 1 to 2 hours, until the Haggis is cooked through,

The Neeps

Peel and quarter the Swedes
Put in a saucepan filled with cold water
Bring to the boil and simmer for a further half an hour
Drain and mash
Mix in some butter
Add salt, ginger and sugar to taste You could also try adding a pinch of curry powder)

The Tatties

Peel and quarter the potatoes and put in a pan of cold water
Bring to the boil and boil for a further 20 minutes
Drain and put back on a very low heat for a couple of minutes
Mash well
Add the butter and stir in
Heat the milk / cream first and stir it into the tatties a bit at a time until smooth but not sloppy.
Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Grate on the nutmeg.

On Burns Night
To serve put a portion of neeps and tatties on everyone's plate and put on the table. Bring in the haggis and get someone to read Burns's "To a Haggis". At the end toast the haggis with a dram of whisky with the host raising his glass in the air and shouting "The Haggis". Then with a large knife slit it open. Serve, eat, enjoy.

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Who ate all the pies? I don't know, but they were last seen on the streets of Buckhaven.

2008-01-23T22:36:00.001Z

I just found a news story detailing the winners of the 2008 World Scotch Pie Championships. Interestingly the overall winner and the winner of the best Bridie both come from Buckhaven in Fife. I'll have to drive out there and check them out some time.

The overall winner was Amos Smith, of WF Stark butchers in Buckhaven. Amos won the competition at his first attempt. The previous years winner, Keith Stuart, also from Buckhaven, took home the Best Bridie prize. Best savory was won by Thomas Auld and Son for a Turkey and Cranberry Pie.

My favorite Edinburgh butchers,Crombie's won the awards for best specialty pie with their Beef & Burgundy Steak Pie. We would have had one for New Year, but they were only selling the large version. The medium sized standard steak pie we had instead was excellent though. I must remember to get one of the award winners to take down south this Easter.

Roasted Tomato Soup

2008-01-23T14:42:00.001Z

Batman and Robin, Bacon and eggs, Strawberries and Cream. Some things were just made for each other. This soup contains another classic culinary combo, Tomatoes and Worcester sauce.

Aiding the dynamic duo on this occasion is that other kitchen stalwart balsamic vinegar. Together they add a certain Kapow to this dish which comes from Marcus Wareing's How to Cook the Perfect....

Ingredients

150 ml Olive Oil
1/2 a small Onion Chopped
3 Cloves of Garlic Chopped
1kg Ripe On the Vine Tomatoes
150g sun dried tomatoes in Oil
3 Sprigs of Basil
3 Sprigs Of Coriander
2tbsp Tomato Puree
Worcester Sauce
Balsamic Vinegar
500ml Chicken Stock
Maldon Salt and Freshly Milled Black Pepper

Preparation

Heat the oven to 220C for a fan oven 240C for anything else.

Heat a roasting tin big enough to hold the tomatoes for 3-4 mins.

Add the Olive Oil, onion, garlic and the tomatoes.

Season then roast for 15 minutes.

Add the herbs, sun dried tomatoes and their oil.

Roast for another 10 minutes.

Stir in the tomato puree.

Roast for a final 5 minutes.

Tip the contents of the dish into a large bowl and add 2 tbsp of Worcester Sauce and 2tbsp of Balsamic Vinegar. Note- My wife thought it could have done with a tad less Balsamic so you may want to reduce the amount of vinegar slightly. On the other hand, I though it was fine with this amount.

Cover with cling film and leave to marinade for half an hour.

Puree in a liquidiser in batches till smooth.

Pour through a sieve into a pan, which will get rid of the tomato skins. This is where the hard work is done in this recipe, which is one of the reasons I didn't do it (it's what a wife and son is for).

Heat to simmering point and add the stock.

Add up to 4tbsp more Worcester sauce and up to 3 tbsp more balsamic to taste.

Season to taste.

Serve hot with some crusty bread and a piece of cheese.

After eating this you'll feel like 'Souperman'. Up, up and puree...

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New York Cheesecake

2008-01-18T23:59:00.001Z

This cheesecake floats into your mouth like a New York ferry into a New Jersey dock.

Ingredients

90g Unsalted butter, melted and cooled
200g plain digestive biscuits crushed (Put them in a plastic food bag and hit them. Rolling pin, hammer fist strike, whatever it takes.)
500g full-fat soft cheese, at room temperature (As an experiment try Philadelphia. Your cheesecake may go backwards in time though.)
200g of caster sugar
5 tbsp of double cream
30g of cornflour
4 large free range eggs, beaten

Preparation

Heat the oven to 100C for a fan oven or 120 otherwise.

Mix the crushed biscuits with the butter and press into the base of a 20cm by 5cm cake tin.

Put the cheese in a bowl and using a spatula mix in the sugar, cream and cornflour.

Pour in the eggs a bit at a time. Beating them in. Unless your name is Clark Kent I would recommend using an electric mixer set to high for the desired consistency.

Pour the mix over the biscuit base, shaking the tin to flatten it out.

Using your finger, or other suitable appendage, remove any air bubbles that formed. This will prevent the cake rising unevenly.

Bake on the middle shelf for 1 1/2 hours. It should be just set at this point with a slight wobble in the middle.

Allow to cool to room temperature before removing from the tin.

Don't store it in the fridge as it will go hard. You want it firm but not hard.

Try to resist the temptation of eating it all at once, that means you Stuart, although, with it tasting so good and being so light and airy, it would be very easy to do so.

Eat with a damn fine cup of coffee, while reading one of F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack novels.

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Marinated Miniature Figs and Mascarpone

2008-01-15T23:48:00.000Z

This one's easy. Apart from finding the marinated figs, which I've done for you. You get them here: Merchant Gourmet - Marinated Miniature Figs. A jar looks as though it should serve eight, but I'd get a couple of jars because you'll want to serve this again. It's on the menu at Pizza Express (and at my brother's house) and is served with an espresso or cappuccino. Go and do thou likewise.

Ingredients
marinated miniature figs
mascarpone

Preparation
Place a good dollop of mascarpone in the centre of a plate and surround it with eight or so miniature figs. Dribble some of the juice from the jar over the whole assembly. Serve with a nice zippy coffee. Wonderful!

Leek and Potato Soup

2008-01-15T13:13:00.001Z

I was contemplating committing the heinous crime of going to my local Asda to pick up some tins of soup for lunch (they've go a deal on with Heinz Soup at the moment), when I remembered the copy of 400 Best-Ever Soups I picked up for £4.99 from WH Smith in the January sales. I also remembered the leeks and potatoes I had stashed in our conservatory, which doubles as a fridge this time of the year. Hmmmm... Half an hour later the following leek and potato apparition emerged from my kitchen and was laid to rest in my stomach.

Ah well, when in Scotland, cook leek and potato soup.

Ingredients

3 Leeks, trimmed, washed thoroughly and diced
1 Small Onion, peeled and chopped
4 large potatoes (about 350g) peeled and chopped
1 1/2 pints of chicken stock
50 g of butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Heat half the butter over a medium heat in a large pan until it's foaming.

Add the leeks and onions and cook gently for about 7 minutes until softened.

Add the potatoes and cook for another 3 minutes.

Add the stock and bring to the boil.

Cover and simmer on a low heat for 30-35 minutes until the potatoes are cooked.

Season to taste with the salt and pepper and take the pan off the heat.

Chop and stir in the remaining butter.

For a smoother soup, liquidise all or part of the soup in a blender

Serve with hot crusty bread

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Potatato and Pea Curry

2008-01-12T19:36:00.001Z

Necessity was the mother, father and midwife of invention in the case of this dish. I'd chopped an onion and 3 cloves of garlic in preparation for the shepherds pie I planned to make. Pulling the lamb mince from the fridge however, I found that It had passed it's use by date by about a week. Damn. I then decided to use what I had available to make a meal on-the-fly. The following recipe is the fruit of my labors and as it tasted pretty good I thought I might as well blog it.

Ingredients

2 tbsp Groundnut Oil
3 Garlic Cloves, peeled and chopped
1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 hot Red Chili, seeded and finely chopped
3 Sticks of Celery
4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced into 2mm slices
Salt and Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp Curry Powder
1 tbsp Garam Masala
1 1/2 pints of Beef Stock
1 can of Peas (or equivalent of the frozen variety)

Preparation

Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan
Add the garlic and ginger and stir fry for a few seconds to infuse the oil
Add the Onion, Celery and Chili and fry on a medium-high heat until golden brown
Add the Potatoes and fry until browned
Shake in the curry powder and stir for 1 minute
Season with salt and pepper
Add the stock, stir and cook over a low heat for around 40 minutes until the potatoes are cooked
Crush about half the potatoes with a spatula
Add the peas and cook until warmed through
Add the Garam Masala
Serve

I served this up with some Tracklements Fig Relish and Indian Mango Chutney and it was excellent.

Shame about the lack of shepherds though. A little Bo Peep moment.

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Chicken Tikka Kebabs

2008-01-08T19:16:00.001Z

These kebabs can either be served on their own as a starter, when they'll serve 8 people, or with a sauce to make Chicken Tikka Masala, when they'll serve 4. For greedy hungry people change those numbers to 6 and 3.

Ideally these should be marinated overnight, so marinade them up the day before you are going to eat them.

Ingredients

675g (1 1/2 lb) boned & skinned chicken breasts cut into 2.5cm (1 inch) pieces
1 1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic peeled and pulped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 - 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
6 tbsp whipping cream
1/2 tsp garam masala
3 tbsp peanut oil

Marinading

Put the chicken in a bowl and rub in the salt and lemon juice.

Prod the pieces lightly with a knife and rub in again.

Set aside for 20 minutes.

Add the: -

ginger;
garlic;
cumin;
paprika;
cayenne;
garam masala;
cream.

Mix well, cover and put in the fridge for 6 - 8 hours, or preferably overnight.

Cooking

Preheat the grill just before serving (If like me your grill is rubbish, you can cook the chicken on a griddle pan).

Thread the meat onto 2 - 4 long metal skewers.

Brush with oil and balance on rim of a small shallow baking tray.

Place about 13cm (5 inches) from the heat source and grill for about 6 minutes a side until lightly browned and cooked through.

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Chicken Tikka Masala

2008-01-08T18:39:00.001Z

I guess at some point I had to include the nations favourite food. Apart from being very popular, this is also very good.

Please note that the Chicken Tikka Kebabs in this recipe need 6-8 hours to marinade (or preferably overnight), so marinade them before starting in on the masala sauce.

Ingredients

4 tbsp oil peanut or olive
140g (5 oz) onions sliced finely into half rings
1 tbsp ginger, peeled and finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic pulped
1 tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tbsp ground tumeric
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp paprika (I'd recommend Pimenton de la vera if you can get hold of it)
4 tbsp full fat natural yoghurt such as greek (don't use a low fat yoghurt)
3 medium tomatoes peeled, seeded and finely chopped
350 ml (12 fl oz) chicken stock
1/4 tsp garam masala
4 tbsp fresh coriander leaves chopped
1 batch of freshly made Chicken Tikka Kebabs

Preparation

Heat the oil in a wok or large non-stick saucepan over a medium-high heat.
When it is hot add the onions and stir fry for about 6-7 minutes until they turn light brown.
Add the ginger and garlic and fry for another minute.
Add the coriander, tumeric, cayenne and paprika.
Stir for around ten seconds
Add a tablespoon of the yoghurt.
Stir until absorbed.
Repeat steps 6 -7 until all the yoghurt has been used.
Add the tomatoes and fry them for 3-4 minutes, pressing them with a spatula or wooden spoon to turn them into a pulp.
Add the stock and season with salt to taste.
Reduce to a low heat, cover and continue to simmer gently for 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave it until the kebabs are cooked.
When the kebabs are cooked reheat the sauce.
Stir in the garam masala and coriander leaves and add more salt to taste.
Fold in the kebabs and serve.

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Duck and Wild Mushrooms in a Thai Red Curry

2008-01-07T21:45:00.001Z

I first cooked this dish in Brussels when I was planning on cooking the chicken and bamboo shoot recipe in Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible from memory. Popping in to my local Carfour supermarket however, I found some superb duck breasts and wild mushrooms on sale. Hence this variation was born. Feel free to revert to using chicken if you can't get any decent duck breasts though.

Ingredients

1 x 400ml (14 fl oz) can of full fat coconut milk left untouched for at least 3 hours. This will cause the cream to float to the top.
2 tbsp peanut (a.k.a. groundnut) oil
5 tbsp Red Curry Paste (if you don't make your own buy a good quality Thai brand)
450g duck (or chicken) breasts cut into thin slices.
1 250-300g pack of wild mushrooms (if you can't get wild use normal field mushrooms)
2 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
1 tsp lemon juice (Use fresh lemons to get the juice. Do not use that abomination you can find in a bottle or plastic lemon thingy.)
1 tsp of palm sugar (or if you can't get it, use any granulated sugar)
4 fresh Kafir Lime Leaves or 1 tsp julienned lemon rind (if you use the rind, remember to buy unwaxed lemons)
15-20 fresh basil leaves chopped after removing the central stalk.

Preparation

Very carefully open the tin of coconut milk, trying not to disturb the cream which will have formed on top.
Take out 4 tbsp of the cream and store in a bowl, stir the rest of the milk and put to one side.
Heat the oil over a medium heat in a wok or wide non-stick pan.
When hot add the coconut cream and curry paste and stir fry for about 4 minutes or until the oil starts to separate and the paste is lightly browned.
Reduce the heat to low and add the duck (or chicken) fish sauce, lemon juice, sugar and the reserved milk.
Stir and bring to a simmer.
Cook over a low heat for around 15 minutes.
Add the Mushrooms.
Optional steps, if you're in a flat in Brussels.

Realise you've forgotten the Basil and head off to get some from the supermarket.
Then discover that the second key to the flat has been left in the door and that you're thus locked out as your key will now not open the door.
Find someone who speaks French and call a locksmith telling them that the flat will burn to the ground if they can't get around quickly enough.
Suffer their sarcastic comments and glances, on seeing the contents of your wok is barely bubbling and unlikely in the extreme to come to the boil, let alone burn the house down.
Pay the locksmith 80 Euros and bid him au revoir.
By this time the duck will be cooked to perfection.

Continue to cook until the chicken / duck is cooked through.
Add the Basil and serve.

Cooks Tip: Thai food is a marriage of hot, sweet, and sour flavors. Here the curry paste adds the heat, the sugar the sweet and the lemon the sour. Before serving, taste the food and adjust to balance these elements. If it's too sour add some more sugar, if it's too sweet add some more lemon juice.

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Butternut Squash Soup

2008-01-02T15:58:00.000Z

Here's an easy soup that's always popular whenever I serve it. I don't know its origins, but it works a treat.

Ingredients
1 medium onion
1 oz butter
1 butternut squash
2 pints of vegetable stock
6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
salt and pepper
chili powder

Preparation
Chop the onion and sweat it in 1 oz butter for ten to fifteen minutes. Shred the bacon finely and add to the butter and onion. Peel the butternut squash—a job that will bring strength to your wrists and orange to your fingertips. Scoop out the seeds and chop into inch cubes.

Add the butternut squash pieces to the pan containing the onions and continue to sweat them all for a few minutes. Add half a teaspoon of chili powder (the curry powder given below works very nicely, too, although you may need a bit more of it than the chili powder), a pinch of salt and a twist or two of black pepper.

Now add the stock. You could use either chicken or vegetable stock, but it helps to use a reasonable one. In the absence of any home-made stock—I have a job, a daughter to get to school, and a conspicuous absence of kitchen staff—like George I cheat and use a shop-bought concentrate. The Greasy Truckers' current favourite is the Knorr 'Touch of Taste' liquid concentrate range. Three tablespoons of it will make a couple of pints of stock. The beef one works well in the French Onion Soup recipe below.

Simmer gently until the butternut squash is cooked. This should take around twenty minutes or so. Liquidize it until it's smooth—I use a stick blender, but a liquidizer or food processor would do. Season to taste and serve.

Japanese Style Curry

2008-01-02T10:16:00.001Z

It is said that the Japanese love curry and from my experiences of the Toyota canteen in Brussels I wouldn't argue with that. Coincidentally I also love curry. Result.

The following recipe is from Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible. It follows two of my favorite philosophies in cooking, one, it's easy to do and two it's extremely tasty.

I think I'm turning Japanese.

Ingredients

Marinade for the Beef

450g / 1lb of beef (use a good quality cut like fillet if you can, this recipes is good enough to deserve it!) cut at a slight angle into 1/4 inch (3 mm) slices
5 tbsp tamari - tamari is a brand of Japanese Soy Sauce and has a very distinctive mild taste. Although you can substitute a light soy here, I'd recommend you get hold of the real deal as it does make a big difference to the taste. If you're in London this can be bought from the Japan Centre at Picadily Circus (this also has a useful on-line shop), if not check out your local Asian shops.
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp sake
1 tbsp hot curry powder
2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp con, peanut or olive oil
2 peeled, crushed garlic cloves
1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated, or, as I prefer, hacked to bits with my trusty cleaver
1 large Onion, peeled and finely chopped
3-4 Carrots peeled and cut into 3 cm pieces

Sauce

2 tsp cornflour
6 fl oz (175 ml( beef stock) I cheat and use the bottled liquid stock that's readily available these days.
2 tsp tamari
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sake
4 tbsp whipping cream

For final Cooking
3 tbsp corn, peanut or olive oil
1 medium Onion cut into thin half rings
2 medium carrots roll cut into 3 mm (1/4 inch) slices

Taking Care Of Business

Start by marinading the beef. In a bowl mix all the marinade ingredients and add the beef mixing well. Leave to marinade in the fridge for up to 2 hrs.

Mix the sauce ingredients and set aside. I tend to leave out the cream and add this in at the last minute of cooking. Then set aside.

When the beef has marinated heat the oil over a medium heat in a large non-stick pan

Stir fry the Onions and Carrots for around 4 minutes until the Onions are slightly translucent.

Add the beef with its marinade and fry, stirring all the time, for a minute.

Lower the temperature to medium, cover and cook for a further 5 minutes. Lif the lid and stir periodically in this time.

Take the pan off the heat and pour in the sauce.

Stir and cook on a medium low heat for another minute. This will heat the sauce and thicken it a bit, courtesy of the cornflour.

If you've not included the cream in your sauce, add it now. The last time I did this I forgot to add the cream and it still tasted exceptional. Good news if you're on a diet other than see food.

Stir once more and serve immediately. The Japanese would serve this with rice and Japanese pickles called fukujinzuke (sounds like a word that Ricky Gervais would use in When the Whistle Blows), I found it also works pretty well with some Jalapeños on the side.

Enjoy !!!

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Curry Powder

2008-01-02T01:30:00.002Z

It might be a bit of a grind, but there is no substitute for using freshly made curry powder in your cooking. Whether it's a parsnip soup a-la Elizabeth David, or, believe it or not, a curry, home made is the real deal.

Ingredients

2 tbsp whole coriander seeds
1tbsp whole cumin seeds
2 tsp whole peppercorns
1 1/2 tsp whole brown mustard seeds
5-6 whole cloves
3 dried, crumbled, hot red chillies
1 tsp whole fenugreek seeds
1 tsp ground tumeric

Preparation

Heat a small hard bottomed frying pan over a medium heat.

When hot add the: -

coriander;
cumin;
peppercorns;
mustard seeds;
cloves;
chillies.

Stir until spices emit a light roasted aroma. Some of the spices will darken slightly. Take care to roast very lightly or the mix will turn bitter.

Add the:-

fenugreek;
tumeric.

Stir for 10 seconds.

Empty on to a clean plate to cool.

Grind as finely as possible in a clean coffee or spice grinder or mortar and pestle.

Store in a clean jar keeping away from heat or sunlight.

Note: To make a spicier blend add from 1/2 to 2 tsp of good quality chilli powder to the mix.

If you can't take the grind, try the pre-grounhd mix I posted, Curry Powder 2 that I took from Pat Chapman's The New Curry Bible: The Ultimate Modern Curry House Recipe Book (Curry Club)

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Bread Sauce

2007-12-29T13:08:00.000Z

There's never enough bread sauce, and I think Delia's recipe is one of the best. It reheats well and I think it suits cold meats of all sorts. I've modified it a bit, though, both to make better use of the onions and to ensure you have enough for the turkey (or goose or whatever) on the day, and for a couple of days afterwards.

Ingredients
2 large onions
lots of cloves - try 8–10 per onion half
2 bay leaves
black peppercorns
2 pints of full cream milk (although semi-skimmed will work)
4 oz butter
8 oz of breadcrumbs (some bread whizzed up in your food-processor is ideal)
4 tablespoons of double cream

Preparation
Start this the day before you need the sauce. Put the milk in a pan and add the bay leaves and peppercorns. Cut the onions in half and stud the round surface with cloves and put them in the milk. The onion will float flat side up so the cloves need to be on the underside. Warm the milk until it's about to boil and then remove from the heat, cover and leave it overnight.

The following day, remove the onions and bay leaves and keep them handy—chasing around after the peppercorns is a bit fiddly so I leave them in. Add the breadcrumbs to the infused milk and stir over a low heat for fifteen minutes or so.

Pick the cloves out of the onions and throw the cloves away. Carefully chop the onions; they'll be soggy with milk and very slippery and fry them gently in half the butter until they're as cooked as you like them, adding a twist or two of black pepper. Add them to the milk and breadcrumbs.

Beat in the remainder of the butter and the cream and season if necessary.

Pete Wright
Portsmouth

Turkey Soup

2007-12-25T20:00:00.000Z

The highlight of the Christmas Turkey for me is the Turkey Soup you make with the carcass. Distilling the very essence of the bird down into a golden nectar that is fit for the very gods themselves.

The Stock

Ingredients

Turkey Carcass Including any bits of stuffing still hanging about. Try to keep some meat on the bird when stripping it. The more meat, the more flavor.
1 Carrot split in half length ways
2 sticks of celery
2 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
12 black peppercorns
salt

Preparation

Break the carcass up and put them in a stock pot or other large pan fit for the job.
Add the rest of the ingredients
Cover with water & bring to a simmer
Skim off any scum that floats to the top and simmer for two hours
Using a sieve lined with a piece of paper kitchen towel strain the stock, replacing the towel periodically
Discard the debris.

The Soup

Ingredients

1 lb (450g) of vegetables per pint of stock - (a mix of carrots, leeks, swede, celery & onions) chopped
1 heaped tsp of Turkey Dripping or butter per lb (450g) of vegetables
Salt & freshly milled black pepper

Preparation

Melt the dripping or butter in a large pan and sweat the chopped vegetables, with the lid on, on a low heat for 10 minutes.
Add the stock and leave to simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours
Liquidise the soup in batches
Season to taste

1 pint will serve about 4 people. If eating over several days, keep in a cool place and bring to the boil for around 5 minutes every day, to stop it turning.

Optionally add chopped cooked turkey meat to the soup before serving and a spot of cream.

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Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta and Marsla Wine

2007-12-25T10:57:00.001Z

I caught this recipe on Nigella Lawson's TV show last year. Even sprout haters will love this one.

Ingredients

2 1/4 pounds Brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
9 ounces pancetta, rind removed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons butter
About 8 to 9 ounces vacuum-packed chestnuts
2 fluid ounces Marsala wine
1 large handful fresh parsley, chopped, divided
Freshly ground black pepper

Cooking

Parboil the Brussels sprouts for 5 minutes

Take pan off the heat and drain the excess water

Heat oil in a largepan. Add the pancetta and cook until crisp and golden, but not cooked to the point of having dried out.

Add butter and chestnuts and use a wooden spoon or spatula, press down on them, breaking them into pieces.

Once the chestnuts have warmed through, increase the heat up and add the Marsala.

Cook until reduced and thickened slightly.

Add the sprouts and half the parsley to the saucepan and mix well. Season the Brussels sprouts with freshly ground black pepper.

To serve, place the Brussels sprouts onto a warmed serving plate and sprinkle the remaining chopped parsley over the top.

Traditional Roast Turkey

2007-12-25T09:17:00.001Z

To some, the traditional Christmas dinner is a daunting proposition, with a myriad things to juggle to get that fat bird on the table. However, with a little organisation, and a copy of Delia Smith's Christmas, cooking the perfect bird every time is a doddle.

On the night before Christmas Eve make up a batch of Cranberry Sauce ready for the big day. That'll be one less thing to do on Christmas morning.

Liking a leisurely Christmas, we eat Christmas Dinner at around 3 o'clock as such the timings that follow are geared around hitting that mark. For an earlier, or even later fare, adjust them accordingly.

Ingredients

1 x 6.5 kg (14lb) turkey, oven ready (I'd recomend getting a Bronze turkey if possible)
175g (6oz) softened butter
225g (8 oz) verys fat streaky bacon
Salt (preferably Maldon) and freshly milled black pepper
Stuffing
Extra wide Turkey Foil

Timetable

8:45 a.m

Pre-heat the oven to 220C (gas mark 7, 425F)

Stuff the bird, packing the neck end then putting the rest in the body cavity. N.b. if you use the body cavity then please ensure that both turkey and stuffing are defrosted properly. Failure to do so can be dangerous. If in doubt, just stuff the neck.

Arrange two sheets of foil across the roasting tin, one widthwise and one length wise. Allow for enough to make a nice tent for the bird.

Lay the turkey on it's back in the centre then rub all over with your softened butter. Pay special attention to the thigh bones.

Season the bird all over with salt and pepper.

Lay the bacon in overlapping rows over the breast.

Wrap the turkey loosely in the foil. Sealed firmly but allowing for an airspace around most of the upper part of the bird.

9:15 a.m.

Place the turkey in the pre-heated oven. It will cook at this high temperature for 40 minutes.

While it is cooking peel the potatoes and cover in cold water ready for roasting, and prepare the bread sauce.

9:55 a.m.

Drop the oven temperature to 170C (325F, gas mark 3)

Relax. All is now well in the Christmas world for the next couple of hours. So drink a glass of wine, eat some breakfast and unwrap those presents!

12:30 p.m.

If you're having chipolatas and / or bacon rolls, then now is the time to roll with it and get them prepared.

Brush a shallow baking sheet with oil and arrange the sausages in rows.

Stretch the bacon rashers, rind removed, out as far as possible, roll them very tightly before threading them on long flat skewers. Place them next to the chipolatas ready to go into the oven later.

13:30 p.m.

Increase the oven temperature to 200C

Take the turkey out of the oven

Remove the foil from the top and sides

Take off the bacon pieces, put them on a tray and return them to the oven

Give the bird a damn good basting

return it to the oven for a further 30-45 minutes to finish browning basting as frequently as possible

13:45 p.m.

Parboil the potatoes for 10 minutes then drain.

Put the lid back on the saucepan and shake vigorously, giving the spuds a fluffy edgde to them.

Take a solid roasting tin and add some lard, or, as we prefer, some goose fat.

Place on a direct heat till it sizzles.

Add the potatoes and baste them with the hot fat.

Put the tin in the oven with the turkey.

14:00 p.m.

Take a 2nd roasting tin and add 3 tbsp of oil and 1tbsp of butter

Place over a direct heat

When hot add and baste the parsnips

14:15 p.m.

Remove the Turkey from the oven and increase the temperature to 230C (450F, gas mark 8).

Transfer the turkey to a warm serving plate to let it relax for up to 50 minutes covered in foil to keep it warm.

Place the parsnips on the middle shelf of the oven, and the chipolatas / bacon rolls at the bottom.

Pour the wonderful turkey fat into a ceramic heat proof container. Don't waste it.

14:30 p.m.

Turn the sausages, chipolatas, bacon rolls over

14:45 p.m.

Par boil the sprouts for 5 to 6 minutes. Either serve them al-dente or cook them as per the recipe for Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta and Marsla Wine (a much better idea).

Carve the turkey and serve up.

15:00 p.m.

Bone apetite !!!

Cranberry Sauce

2007-12-25T08:34:00.000Z

There's nothing better with your Christmas turkey than home made cranberry sauce.

Ingredients

225g (8oz) Cranberries

100g (4oz) Demerara (or other brown) Sugar

grated rind and juice of 1 orange. Alternatively you can also use a fresh good quality orange juice here. Just add a glass full and reduce a bit more if the sauce is too thick. This year I used Tropicana Cranberry Blend, and the result was superb.

glass of port (85-120 ml / 3-4 fl oz)

Preparation

Put the cranberries, sugar orange rind, orange juice and port in a pan.
Stir it over a gentle heat until the sugar disolves.
Simmer for 5-8 minutes untill the cranberries are soft and the sauce has thickened.
Allow to cool, then poor into a rigid container.

This sauce keeps up to a week in the fridge or for up to 2 months in the freezer.

When quality cranberry sauce is so easy to make, there's no reason to use the shop bought variety, other than a lack of cranberries that is.

Drinkies

2007-12-01T01:09:00.000Z

Here are some off-beat Christmas wine suggestions.

The Times is running a '100 Winter Wines' series at the moment and rather than try to kill my liver matching that before Christmas, I thought I'd point you in the direction of some of my current favourites. A 'favourite' may, of course, be enjoyed no matter what the season. Or it wouldn't qualify as being a favourite now, would it?

First there are three kinds of wine without details of maker or vintage; go with what you can find. Then I've listed two specific wines that I'll be opening this Christmas. Here we go:

Tokaji Azsú - Hungary - White

Tokaji comes from Hungary and has a long and distinguished history. It's a sweet, golden wine, refreshingly sharp, too, made with Hárslevelu and Furmint grapes some of which been affected by noble rot, caused by a fungus called botryitis cinerea. This reduces the water content of the grape and concentrates its flavour. It also means that it takes considerably more grapes to make a given quantity of wine. The measure of sweetness is given as a number of 'puttonyos'; which will be between 3 and 6. The larger the number, the sweeter the wine. There is a category beyond 6 puttonyos called Aszú-Eszencia, but that's rare stuff indeed.

It is usually sold in 50cl bottles rather than 75cl ones. Expect to pay between ten and twenty quid (or more) per bottle. It's really good with nice cheese, but do put it in the fridge for a couple of hours before you serve it.

Madeira - Portugal - Brown

Hailing from the island of Madeira, surprise, surprise. Almost always a blend of different vintages (vintage Madeira is very unusual and somewhat costly). Originally used as tradeable ships ballast, madeira was transported around the world in the hot holds of ships in days gone by. This caused it to oxidize as completely as a wine can, which is why it is the way it is. These days the same effect is reproduced by storing the wine in heated cellars to mature. A bottle of Blandy's 10 year old Malmsey has always been a popular tipple here at Chateau Wright. We also once had a bottle of Henriques' Malmsey which was pretty good, too.

Drier madeira may be labelled 'Sercial' or 'Verdelho' and the sweeter ones 'Bual' or 'Malmsey'—the classic four varieties of madeira.

Recioto della Valpolicella - Italy - Red

Once upon a time, if you suggested to your friends that a bottle with the word 'Valpolicella' on the label was worth coughing up more than a fiver for, you'd be taken away for a well-earned rest somewhere. Let's get this straight. This is not the same beast at all. It's a rich red wine made from partially dried grapes, so the flavour is quite concentrated. This is not something you're ever likely to find in the bargain bucket - expect to pay around twenty quid or so for a good one.

Masi make a good one (try Oddbins - it'll be around £22 for a 75cl bottle), but the best one I tasted was from a 50cl bottle (at a fairly stiff seventeen quid from a now-defunct wine shop in Lechlade, if I recall correctly) and tasted like liquid blackberries. Gorgeous, and well worth the asking price. I think it was "Recioto della Valpolicella 'Le Arele'" from producer Giuseppe Lonardi - the label, description, bottle size and price are hauntingly familiar on the winedrop.co.uk site, but I'm not 100% sure - it was a few years ago and, like an idiot, I didn't make a note. If they would be so kind as to send me a free bottle - or, preferably, a free case, just to be sure, I'd be delighted to confirm it.

Cune Rioja Reserva 2001 - Red - Spain

I'd been itching to try this. Anne (my wife) worked for a short while in Spain a few years ago and Cune was one of the vineyards we had seen on our travels. I've always wanted to try this one because it has a good reputation, and I finally got the chance to do so last week in Majestic's in Salisbury. I did try an approximately equivalent claret but because I was driving, I couldn't go overboard with the comparisons. The Cune wine beat that particular claret hands down. Eleven quid a bottle and six quid off the pair if you buy two.

At Majestic you buy your wines by the case, i.e. 12 or more bottles at a time. Don't be shy - it's perfectly OK to go in with or without an idea of wines you like, and if the range of the wines gets your head buzzing, then get the chaps there to help you make up a case. It's quite fun from time to time to ask a wine merchant to make up a case for you. You can end up trying and liking wines you had no idea existed.

Villa Maria Reserve, Wairau Valley, Sauvignon Blanc 2006 - White - New Zealand

Anne and I took a friend out to dinner in the truly excellent Green Island Restaurant in Jersey - the most southerly restaurant in the British Isles. The meal was wonderful and we drank this. This is the only time I've ever ordered another bottle of the same wine during a meal. My tastes usually run to big red wines redolent of prunes and toadskin, but this is a gorgeous floral and very tasty white. Chill it well, like the Tokay I mentioned above. For goodness sake don't use it to wash your curry down!

Again, eleven quid a bottle from Majestic, and they drop the price to £8.79 for two or more. I bought four bottles this time because I know I like it a lot and it's a damned sight cheaper than restaurant prices! There are other Villa Maria wines available at Tesco, and they're worth a go. But, if you can run to it, the Wairau Valley is particularly good.

In Conclusion

None of these wine are cheap, but in my opinion they're pretty good and worth your attention. Enjoy, and do let me know what you think.

One thing I've learned over the years is not to combine good port (which I haven't covered this time) and good stilton. I think it's a waste of both. I love both port and stilton, but not at the same time. They're both highly aromatic and very tasty, and I think each destroys the other's strengths.

Perhaps I'll have a crack at some good wines under six quid soon. I can think of a couple that need to be tested again...

Have a good Christmas!

Pete Wright
Portsmouth

Oriental Pork

2007-10-17T14:39:00.000Z

Feeds two. My mum has been cooking this for almost as long as I can remember. There has never been any left over.

Don't go overboard getting rid of the fat - the acidic marinade likes to have something to work on. And yes, the marinade should smell as though it could dissolve the mixing bowl, teaspoon, your nostril hairs and anything else it comes into contact with. It's worth experimenting with different mustards, vinegars, sugars and quantities of chili powder and pepper to get the pungency and heat level you like.

Ingredients
500g shoulder or spare rib pork chops, excess fat removed and cut into 1” chunks ('Value' diced pork is ideal for this recipe)
2 level tsp mustard powder
1 level tsp soft brown sugar
1 tbsp white vinegar (or balsamic etc.)
1 level tsp salt
half a level tsp ground black pepper
half a level tsp ground ginger
quarter level tsp chili powder
3 tablespoons Worcester or soy sauce

Preparation
Put pork into shallow ovenproof dish in one layer. In a small bowl, blend mustard and ginger with the water then stir in the sugar, vinegar, salt, pepper, ground ginger, cayenne pepper and soy or Worcester sauce. Pour the sauce over the pork, making sure the meat is well coated, cover and leave in a cool place overnight.

Next day remove cover and bake in the centre of a fairly hot oven, 400ºF or gas mark 6, for twenty minutes, then lower the heat to 350ºF or gas mark 4 for about one hour.

If you increase the quantity of meat, double the amount of marinade. You might want to do this anyway to give a little more sauce.

Pete Wright
Portsmouth

Chicken with Tomatoes and Fresh Basil

2007-10-17T14:19:00.001Z

Here's my reinvention of this particular wheel.

Ingredients

2-3 tbsp olive oil
5 shallots coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp demerara sugar
6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
1 tin of tomatoes
3 generous heaped tbsp fresh basil
3 chicken breasts
5 tbsp plain flour
salt
black pepper

Preparation
Chop the shallots and the garlic, heat the olive oil and fry in a saute pan until translucent. Stir in the demerara sugar, salt and black pepper and continue to fry gently for five minutes or so. Add the tin of tomatoes and keep the mixture simmering gently.

Shred three of the six rashers of bacon fairly finely and fry them in a large pan with a lid until you have nearly-crispy bacon bits. Remove from the heat and move the bacon bits to one side of the pan, tilt it and allow the oil to drain off to the other side of the pan. After a couple of minutes, remove the drained bacon bits and add them all to the saute pan with the shallots and tomatoes.

Mix 5 tbsp plain flour, 1 tsp salt and a good twist or three of black pepper together and coat the chicken breasts with it. Fry them until golden brown in the large pan with the now bacon-flavoured olive oil. This may take ten to fifteen minutes.

Once the chicken breasts are nicely browned, lay a rasher of bacon on each one, transfer the sauce from the saute pan to the large pan and cover the chicken breasts with it. Put the lid on the pan.

After twenty minutes or so, shred the basil (tear it, don't cut it - I have no idea why) and add it to the pan for the final ten minutes of cooking. Serve and enjoy. It goes pretty well with peas and a spot of plain basmati rice.

Pete Wright
Portsmouth

French Onion Soup

2007-09-06T17:02:00.000Z

After my last unhealthy cooking recipe, here's one to balance the cosmic scales, French Onions Soup. I mean, Onions are a member of the same family as garlic, and garlic is brimful of goodness. And it keeps vampires away too.

Once again I've delved into Lloyd Grossman's The 125 Best Recipes Ever this time a contribution from Patience Gray and Primrose Boyd's cookery book Plats Du Jour.

Ingredients

About 50g/2oz butter or beef dripping

450g/1lb sliced Spanish Onions

1 small Bay Leaf

1 clove

Salt, Pepper and Brown Sugar

2 Pints of Beef Stock (I tend to use shop bought boullion for convenience)

Some dried slices of Bread

Grated cheese (if possible Gruyere)

Preparation

Melt most of the butter with a little oil in a pan and fry gently until golden

Add the bay leaf, salt pepper and brown sugar then crumble in the knob of the clove.

Heat the Beef Stock and add it to the onions. Simmer for at least half an hour and enjoy the oniony smell wafting through your house.

About 10 minutes before you plan to eat, fry the dry bread slices in another pan. When golden sprinkle the grated cheese on top and put in the bottom of your soup bowls. Pour in the soup and serve more grated chees on the side (there goes the healthy part of the dish). Alternatively, float your bread bits on the soup while still in the pan, sprinkle on the cheese and let it bubble. The heat will slowly melt the cheese. When it has melted, remove carefully to your bowls and again ladle over the soup.

The steriotypical frenchman, as seen on Alo Alo, is normally portrayed with a string of onions around there neck. Having eaten this soup I can understand why.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2007-09-05T10:17:00.000Z

Arguably two of the finest contributions to the art of the sweet snack from America are the Cookie and the Brownie. The best brownie recipe I've come across is in a Sue Lawrence cookbook and I'll blog that later. The finest chocolate chip cookie recipe I've come across is in Lloyd Grossman's The 125 Best Recipes Ever, which in turn is taken from The Wolfgang Puck Cookbook by, surprisingly enough, Wolfgang Puck.

Ingredients

100g (4oz) Unsalted Butter

75g/3 oz Sugar

75g/3 oz Brown Sugar

1 tsp good quality Vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

275g/100 oz Plain Flour sifted

1/4 tsp baking soda disolved in 2 tsp of warm water

100g/4 oz Chopped Nuts - Optional - being a purist I tend to leave out the nuts.

175g/6oz Chocolate chips - I think if you leave out the nuts you are honour bound to increase this to 200g. Better still buy 200g of good quality chocolate and chop it into largeish chunks.

Use dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocoalte or a mixture.

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.

First off bring the butter to room temperature in a mixing bowl. Then cream it with a mixture until light. With the mixer on a low setting slowly add the sugars, vanilla, salt, egg, flour and disolved baking soda. Mix until just blended. Stir in the chocolate and, if used, the nuts.

If the dough is too soft put it in the fridge till it stiffens a bit (something I've never needed to do).

Divide the dough up into equally sized portions. The original recipe says that the above quantities make about 36 cookies, but being a big cookie fan I tend to make between 9 and 12.

Form the portions into balls with your hands and place on a baking sheet leaving roughly 2 inches between each (the cookies grow considerably during cooking so need th space).

Bake in the oven for 15 to 17 minutes. Let them cool in the pan then transfer to a rack. The optimum time for eating is 15 minutes after they came out of the oven when they are still a little warm. Lacking preservatives the cookies wont last more than a couple of days, but hey I don't think that's going to be a problem, you'll be lucky if they last longer than a couple of minutes. Store in an airtight container.

Freshly baked Puck cookies a warm September evening with a glass of cold milk. Mmmm could be a midsummer nights dream....

Itihaas Birmingham

2007-08-18T23:59:00.000Z

Itihaas won the award for Best Restaurant in the Midlands and the top award of Best in the UK in the 2007 Good Curry Guide. The visit of the Red Dwarf and family to the UK was therefore a good excuse to give it a try. Dosas, Indian Lamb Chops and Carrot Cake were all excellent as was the smoked aubergine veggy option.

Service was a little slow but the Indian music piped through the sound system was very good for once.

Curry Fever Leicester

2007-08-17T23:00:00.000Z

Another visit to Leicester, another trip to Curry Fever.

As usual the Fever's signature dishes of Jeera Chicken, Pili Pili Chicken Masala and Kenyan chicken waranted their normal 11 out of 10 ratings on the taste front. Unfortunately though the Flute Cafe is now sourced from a dfferent supplier in Italy and is now a pale shadow of its former glory. Still an excellent meal though, in the best Indian restaurant in Leicester and one of the finest in the Midlands.

Roast Chicken

2007-07-20T10:30:00.000Z

There is nothing better in the world of food than a simple dish cooked simply with the best quality ingredients. A good Carbonarra made with the best Pancetta and free range eggs. or a homely roast chicken. Last night I got a craving for roast chicken and so turned to Simon Hopkinson and Lindsay Bareham's excellent cookery book Roast Chicken and Other Stories. The title dish of this book is of the best ways of roasting a chicken I've come across. Simple to cook, but tasty in the extreme

Ingredients

1.8kg (4lb) free range chicken
110g/4oz butter at room temperature
Salt (preferably Maldon Sea Salt) & Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 lemon
A couple of sprigs of thyme, tarrogon or a mixture of the two
1 crushed clove of Garlic

Cooking

Preheat the oven to 230 degrees C (450 F, Gas Mark 8)

Cover the bird with butter and put it in a genrous sized roasting tin

Season with the salt and pepper

Halve the lemon and squeeze juice over the bird

Stuff the bird with the herbs, garlic and lemon halves

Roast the chicken initially for 15 minutes at the high temperature

Baste then reduce the temperature to 190 degress C (375 F, Gas Mark 5) and roast for about another 45 minutes, basting occaisionally. N.B. To ensure that the bird is cooked, insert a skewer or knife and press on the flesh. If the juices released are clear it is cooked, if they are red or pinkish in colour then continue cooking.

Rest the roast bird for at least 15 minutes prior to carving to let the juices settle.

As it cooks your house will slowly fill with the fragrence of lemon and herbs which should get the mouth watering. The juices left in the pan, infused with the taste of lemon, garlic and the herbs, will make an excellent gravy for your bird. A variation popular in Italy is to 'wet roast' the bird by adding a little wine, chicken stock or water to the tin before roasting. This sauce can be further suplemented with the adition of mushrooms (porcini would be great), tomatoes, additional herbs, diced bacon, cream, spices (both saffron and ginger go well) or anything else you can think of.

If Sherlock Holmes was asked by his sidekick, why this dish tastes so good, he'd probably say "A lemon entry my dear Watson".

Teriyaki Sauce

2007-07-18T10:19:00.001Z

Teriyaki no Tare

Teriyak is the name of a grilling technique. Teri means glossy and yaki translates to grilling. The original version of teriyake no tare yaki no tare (teriyaki basting sauce) contained only shoyu (soy sauce), mirin (sweet cooking wine) and sometimes sugar.

Why use the sickly substance that passes for teriyaki sauce on supermarket shelves, when it is so easy to make the real McCoy yourself.

To make it you will need: -

Ingredients
200ml (1 cup) Mirin (sweet cooking wine)
100ml (1/2 cup) Shoyu (Soy Sauce)
1 1/2 - 2 tbsp Caster Sugar

Preperation

Add the mirin to a pan and heat over a low heat for 1-2 minutes.

Add the soy and sugar and simmer for another couple of minutes.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Variations

For variation you can add other seasoning to your sauce. Honey, grated ginger, grated garlic , chopped scallions, fruit juice, fresh or dried chilli or chilli bean sauce (toban jiang). Experiment to make your own signature teriyaki sauces.

Here's another varient that also includes sake (rice wine).

Ingredients

100ml (1/2 cup) Mirin (sweet cooking wine)
50ml (1/4 cup) Sake (Rice Wine)
50ml (1/4 cup) Shoyu (Soy Sauce)
2 tbsp Sugar

Preparation

Heat the Mirin & Sake in a small saucepan over a medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add the Shoyu & Sugar, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

Simmer over a low heat for 25 minutes.

Let the sauce cool.It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

So go ahead and make your teriyake. And remember, the baste is yet to come.

Japanese Store Cupboard

2007-07-18T09:10:00.000Z

The following is a list of basic Japanese cooking ingredients that you should have in your store cupboard if you intend to any Japanese Cooking. If you don't have a local Japanese foodstore (highly likely in the UK unless you live in London) you can obtain some from Asia shops. Failing that see the list of websites at the end of this post.

Fish Sauce (nam pla) - Nam Pla is a condiment made from fermented fish.

Hoisin Sauce - Also known as Chinese Barbeque Sauce this is made from fermented soybeans, garlic, vinegar, and chilli peppers.

Mirin - Mirin is a kind of rice wine similar to sake, but with less alcohol. It has a slightly sweet taste.

Miso - Miso is made by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the mold kojikin (usually miso is made with soy). It is generally a thick paste and when combined with Dashi stock forms the basis of Miso Soup.

There are many different varieties of miso, ranging in flavour from salty, sweet, earthy, fruity, and savoury. Common varieties include: -

Red (akamiso)
White (shiromiso)
Medium (awase miso)
Sweet (saikyo miso)

Rice Vinegar - Rice vinegar is made from fermented rice or rice wine. Other than in Japan it is also made in China and Korea.

Sake - Sake is a Japanese rice wine

Soy Sauce - Soya sauce is a fermented sauce made from soya beans, roasted grain, water and salt. Two varieties are normally sold, light and the stronger dark. With the Chinese varieties the light is often called Superior Soy and the dark Soy Superior.

Shichimi - Shichimi, a.k.a. Seven-Spice Powder, a Japanese spice mixture made of a magnificent seven (or is that seven samurai?) ingredients.

round red chili pepper
Mandarin orange peel
Sesame Seed
Poppy Seed
Hemp Seed
Nori or Aonori
Ground Sansho (related to Sichuan pepper)

Shichimi is also known as nanami togarashi outside of Japan.

Tamari - Tamari is, like soy sauce, a dark sauce made from the soybean, but is thicker. It has a mild flavor and is normally used as a table condiment, as a dip, or for basting.

Wasabi - Wasabi is a, blow your head off, condiment made from Horse Radish. Use sparingly with caution.

A Taste of Imli

2007-07-10T23:50:00.001Z

As Indian restaurants go Imli is a bit different. Specialising in Indian Tapas, Imli has a clean cut modern design with a buzz reminicent of Birmingham's Balti land (Or a very large bee). Imli won the best Indian award in the 2007 Good Curry Guide. See my post on the awards for details of the other winners.

For my meal I opted for A Taste of Imli, an ever changing selection of 4 dishes chosen by the chef that give you a taster of what the restaurant has to offer.

First off two starters, a spicy fish dish, amsitsari fish (batter fried tilapia) served with a mint dip and spiced potato cakes with ginger chilli and tamarind (as an aside Imli in Hindi means Tamarind and the owners also run a Michelin starred restaurant of that name) sauce. Both were excellent, so far so good.

Next a chicken dish, Chicken Dungar (didn't he used to play for Brazil?) with rice. Again very good although the paratha I had on the side could have been a tad crisper.

Finally my palate was cleansed with a superb mango and basil sorbet washed down with some damn fine coffee.

Total damage....£16.

Overall verdict, great food, great price, great restaurant. Will I return? Oh hell yeagh. See you tomorrow night Chris.

:-)

Imli Restaurant
167 Wardour Street, W1
tel: 020 7287 4243
website: www.imli.co.uk

Good Curry Guide 2007

2007-07-09T23:47:00.001Z

Finally, after more delays than this years Wimbledon, the 2007 edition of Pat Chapman's the Good Curry Guide is out. Hurrah!!!

There's a good deal on it at Amazon.co.uk at the moment, so get it while it's hot.

This years award winners are:-

British Regions
Best in the North Best Indian
Indian Ocean, 83 Stamford Street, E Ashton 0161 343 3343

Best in Midlands
Itihaas, 18 Fleet Street, Birmingham, B3 0121 212 3383 Website: http://www.itihaas.co.uk/

Best in Scotland
Ashoka at the Mill
10 Clydeholme Rd, Glasgow G14 0141 576 5123

Best in the South and West
Tamasha
131 Widmore Rd, Bromley, Kent (Gtr London) 020 8460 3240

Best in London
Mint Leaf
Suffolk Place, SW1 020 7839 6673

Best in Wales
Misbah
9 Priory St, Monmouth, NP25 3BR 01600 714940

National Cuisines
Best Bangladeshi
Kutis
37 Oxford Street, Southampton, 023 8022 1585

Best Indian
Imli
167 Wardour Street, W1 020 7287 4243 Website: http://www.imli.co.uk/

Best Nepalese
Monty's
224 South Ealing Rd, W5 020 8560 2619 Website: http://www.montys-restaurant.co.uk/

Best Pakastani
Kinara at Pitt's Cottage, Highstreet, Limpfield Rd, Westerfield, Kent
01959 562125

Best Sri Lankan
Elephant Walk, 98 West End Lane, NW6 020 7328 3308

Miscellaneous
Best Vegetarian
Chai Pani
64 Seymour St, W1 020 8560 2619

Chef of the Year
Stephen Gomes
Cafe Naz Group
E1 Cambridge and Cardiff

Most Welcome Newcomer (Joint Winners)
Moti Mahal
45 Great Queen St, WC2 020 7240 9329
Victoria's India, The Manse, Church St, Longridge, Lancs 01727 785111

Best Oriental Asian UK Restaurant
Orchid Lounge Thai at Jaipur, 1st Floor, 599 Grafton Gate E, Milton
Keynes, Bucks, 01908 669 811

Best European Restaurant
Tandoor Palace
Charanjit Singh, ul. Marszalkowska, 21 Warsaw, 00-825+48228252375

Special Awards
UK Lifetime Achievement Award
Kewal Anand, Brilliant Restaurant
72 Western Rd, Southall, 020 8574 1928

International Lifetime Achievement Award
Satish Arora, Chef Culinaire, Taj Hotels Group
Chef Director, Chef Director of Food Roduction

Best UK Restaurant
Itihaas, 18 Fleet Street, Birmingham, B3 0121 212 3383 Website: http://www.itihaas.co.uk/

I'll post reviews on the ones I get to try out and link to them from this post.

If anyone's eaten in any of them then feel free to leave your comments here.

Beef In Oyster Sauce

2007-05-02T12:22:00.000Z

There's a school of thought that at its peak Chinese cookery is the best cuisine on the planet. There's also a theory that the best Chinese chefs work out of Hong Kong. In the book Chinese Cookery Masterclass, Willy Mark got the greatest masters for each region of Chinese cooking to part with their secrets and some of their best recipes.

This recipe for Beef with Oyster Sauce, hails from the Southern school (Cantonese) of Chinese cooking. As Beef in Oyster Sauce is my wifes favorite Chinese meal, and this is arguably the best recipe for it in the world, it's guaranteed to get a result with her.

Ingredients

11 oz Beef Steak (300g)
1 oz (25g) Root Ginger
3 oz (75g) white part of spring onion
450 ml (16 floz / 2 cups) peanut oil for frying the beef
1 tbsp chopped garlic
2 tsp Rice Wine

Marinade
1 1/2 tsp ginger juice (the first time I prepared this dish I squeezed the juice from a piece of ginger by hand. A process taking considerable time and effort. An easier alternative is to peel and dice some ginger, then press the result using a garlic press.)
1 1/2 tsp Rice Wine
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 egg white
1/2 tsp meat tenderizer (optional)
1 tbsp peanut (groundnut) oil
1 tbsp cornflour

Sauce
1 1/2 tbsp good quality oyster sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
3 tbsp stock or water
1 tsp cornflour

Preparation
Cut the beef into thin slices across the grain. Peel and slice the ginger and cut the white of the spring onions into 2 inch (4-5 cm) pieces. Mix the marinade ingredients, add the beef, cover and marinate for 1 hour in the fridge.

Heat a wok over a high heat and add the oil. Reduce to a low heat when the oil is hot. Cook the beef in the oil for 30 seconds before removing with a perforated spoon and alowing it to drain. This technique is called running through the oil (or velveting) and seals the meat trapping any flavors inside. It also imparts it with a velvety texture.

Remove the oil then heat the pan a second time over a high heat adding 2 tbsp oil. Fry the garlic, ginger and spring onion for 15 seconds then add the beef and add the rice wine, splashing it round the outside till the sizzling stops.

Mix the sauce ingredients and add to the pan stif frying over a high heat for about 30 seconds.

Serve hot and fresh from the pan.

I just cooked this recipe using some Puddledub Aberdeen Angus fillet steak and it was totally awesome. It definitely makes my top ten dishes of all time.

Roast Chicken Breast wrapped in pancetta with leeks and thyme

2007-04-25T17:40:00.000Z

I got this recipe from Jamie Oliver's Cook with Jamie cookery book. This is my kind of food, quick and easy to do and damn fine to eat.

Ingredients

1 chicken breast per person
Pancetta or streaky bacon
A leek washed and sliced into 1/4 inch (0.5 cm pieces)
A few sprigs of fresh thyme
Olive Oil
A nob of Butter
Maldon Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
White Wine

Cooking

Preheat Oven to 200 degrees

Put the chicken, leek, the leaves from 3 or 4 of your thyme sprigs, butter, salt & pepper and a glug, or two, or three, of your wine, into a bowl. Give it a good mix.

Take out your Chicken and wrap in the Pancetta
Put the remaining mix in the bottom of a tray and lay the wrapped chicken on top with a few full sprigs of thyme on top
Cook on a middle shelf of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes

Lamb With Spinach

2007-04-18T23:39:00.000Z

In a recent conversation with my good friend Corby, the subject of Indian food came up. Somewhere down the line he mentioned that he was looking for a good recipe for Lamb with Spinach. Turning to one of the finest Indian cookery books in the world, Camellia Panjabi's 50 Great Curries Of India, I found the following recipe, and blogged it for him.

Serves 4

Ingredients

700g (1 1/2lb) Lamb cubed
2cm x 5mm (3/4 * 1/4 inch) fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves
1-2 green chillies
1/2 cup of yoghurt
1/4 tsp cumin
200g (7oz) spinach leaves
1/4 cup of oil
1 Bay Leaf
1 Black Cardomon
2 cloves
225g (8oz) Onions Chopped
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin
2 medium tomatoes chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp salt
nutmeg
a knob of butter

Preparation

Soak the lamb in warm water for 15 mins

Puree Ginger, Chilli & Garlic and add the yoghurt + 1/4 tsp cumin powder

Marinate the lamb in the mix for at least 1 hour

Blanch spinach in boliing salted water for 10 seconds and puree

Heat oil in a pan with bay leaf, cardomon & cloves. When hot add the onions & cook for 15 minutes over a moderate heat.

Add coriander powder and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Addthe 1/2 tsp cumin and after 10 secs a little water. Allow to cook.

Add meat + marinade, stir and cook on moderate heat for 10 minutes until yoghurt is absorbed. Saute for 3 mins stirring constantly. Add tomatoes & tomato puree and cook for a few more minutes. Add 1 1/4 cups of hot water and 3/4 tsp salt. Turn down low and leave to simmer. When meat is almost done add the spinach season to taste and mix well. Cook for 5 minutes uncovered.

When ready to serve prinkle with grated nutmeg and knob of butter.

Roasting Meat

2007-04-18T23:33:00.000Z

Last Sunday we had an awesome shoulder joint of Puddledub's Organic Pork (probably the finest pork in the world) and I need to yet again delve into my dog eared copy of Delia's "How To Cook Book Two" for the timings. To save time in the future and give me access to them on the road I've decided to blog them.

Beef

Pre-heat the oven to 230 C (gas mark 8, 450F)

Season beef, preferably sirloin or Wing Rib with salt and pepper with a dusting of flour and dry mustard

Roast for 20 minutes then drop the temperature to 190C (gas mark 5, 375F)

Continue to Roast at this temperature for 15 minutes a pound (450g) for rare, add 15 minutes for medium and another 30 for well done. Baste at least 3 times during this period.

Rest 20-30 minutes before carving (the meat not you, you should already have been sitting back with a glass of wine in your hand during the cooking time).

Pork (with crackling)

Pre-heat the oven to 230 C (gas mark 8, 450F)

Making sure the surface skin is dry rub with sea salt (preferably Maldon) and Roast for 25 minutes then drop the temperature to 190C (gas mark 5, 375F)

Roast at the lower temperature allowing 35 minutes a pound (450g). Don't baste or you won't have crisp crackling.

Rest 20-30 minutes before carving.

Lamb

Pre-heat the oven to 190C (gas mark 5, 375F)

After seasoning the meat with salt and pepper sit in a roasting dish on a bed of sliced onion and roast for 30 minutes a pound (450g) basting about 3 times during cooking.

Rest for at least 30 minutes.

Shrewsbury Sauce to accompany the lamb

2 tbsp plain flour
1 heaped tsp mustard powder
1 pint (570 ml) Beaujolais or other light wine
5 rounded tbsp quality redcurrant jelly
3tbsp Worcester Sauce
Juice of a lemon
Salt and freshly milled black pepper

Take 2 tbsp of the fat from your cooked joint and heat in a pan on low stirring in the flour and mustard powder.

Gradually add the wine to the resulting paste, a splosh at a time, stirring initially with a wooden spoon then switching top a whisk half way through.

Add the redcurrant jelly, lemon juice and seasoning whisking again until the Jelly has been dissolved. With the heat as low as it will go, and preferably with a heat diffuser sitting under the pan, let the sauce reduce for about 15 minutes. Your sauce can then be poured over your cooked lamb. Yum.