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WEEKEND KITCHEN RECIPE SHEET 23rd October 2016 Moules marinière with thick triple cooked chips Mussels are really good value and so easy to cook right. Serve them with these great triple cooked chunky chips. 2kg mussels 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 4 shallots, finely chopped 30g butter Pinch of chopped parsley, thyme and bay leaves 200ml dry white wine 220ml double cream This can be a very high risk product. Make sure all shells are open. Wash the mussels under plenty of cold, running water. Discard any open ones that won't close when lightly squeezed. Pull out the tough, fibrous beards protruding from between the tightly closed shells and then knock off any barnacles with a large knife. Give the mussels another quick rinse to remove any little pieces of shell. Soften the garlic and shallots in the butter in a large pan big enough to take all the mussels. You want the pan to be only half full really. Add the mussels and wine, turn up the heat, then cover and steam them open in their own juices for 3-4 minutes. Give the pan a good shake every now and then. Pour in the cream and chopped herbs and remove from the heat. Spoon into four large warmed bowls and serve with lots of crusty bread and a lemon wedge and parsley for garnish. Make sure you have finger bowls to discard the empty mussel shells! Triple cooked chips 500g chipping potatoes (non floury varieties), peeled Salt and pepper. Page 2
Square off the potatoes so they are cube shaped. Cut in to 3 pieces lengthways, then cut lengthways again into 4 pieces to replicate a chip. Blanche in boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain. Season with salt and pepper, making sure no chips are broken. After this, bake them in the oven at 180C/Gas Mark 4 for 8 minutes, then deep fry drain and season again. Serve. French onion soup with cheese croute One of life s simplest and loveliest soups, given an extra sweet twist here by adding in some leeks too 1 good knob butter Olive oil 6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed 5 red onions, peeled and sliced 3 large white onions, peeled and sliced 3 banana shallots, peeled and sliced 300g leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced sea salt freshly ground black pepper A glug of sherry 2 litres organic beef, vegetable or chicken stock, hot 8 slices good-quality stale bread, 2cm thick 200g Cheddar cheese, freshly grated Worcestershire sauce 200g sugar Gently heat the oil and butter then thrown in the garlic. Add the onions, shallots and leeks. Season with salt and pepper. Place a lid on the pan, leaving it slightly ajar, and cook nice and slowly for 50 minutes, without colouring the vegetables too much. Remove the lid for the last 20 minutes your onions will become soft and golden. Stir occasionally so that nothing catches on the bottom. Having the patience to cook the onions slowly gives you an incredible sweetness and flavour, so don t be tempted to speed this bit up. When your onions and leeks are lovely and silky, drizzle in a couple of tablespoons of sherry and allow it be fully absorbed into the vegetables. Then add the stock. Bring to the Page 3
boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. You can skim any fat off the surface if you like, but I prefer to leave it because it adds good flavour. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Toast your bread then tear it into chunks. Pour the soup into heat proof bowls and covert the top with the torn up bread, creating a lid. Pop the grated cheese on top. For extra decoration, you can dress some sage leaves with olive oil and pop some on the top of each bowl. Put the bowls on a baking tray and grill the cheese toppings until golden and melted. Serve. Alternatively, you can grill the toasts separately and just put them on top of the bowls of soup. Lemon citron tart chocolate soil and lemon candy Go for it - make the cheffy bit here! They are actually really easy to do and make the dish look so pretty! For the pastry (makes double) 500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting 140g icing sugar 250g unsalted butter, cubed 4 egg yolk For the filling 5 eggs 140g caster sugar 150ml double cream Juice of 2-3 lemons (about 100ml/3½ fl oz) and 2 tbsp lemon zest To make the pastry, mix the flour and icing sugar in a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until crumbly. Mix in the egg yolks. If the pastry is still too dry, add 1-2 tbsp water until it comes together. Roll into a ball and divide in half (freeze one half for another recipe). Flatten out the pastry with your hands, wrap the dough in cling film, then chill for at least 30 mins. While the pastry is chilling, make the filling. Beat all the ingredients, except for the zest, together. Sieve the mixture, then stir in the zest. Page 4
Roll out the pastry onto a lightly floured surface to about the thickness of a 1 coin, then lift it into a 23cm tart tin. Press down gently on the bottom and sides, then trim off any excess pastry. Stab a few holes in the bottom with a fork and put back in the fridge for 30 minutes. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Line the tart with foil and fill with rice or dried beans. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the tart tin from the oven, discard the foil, and bake for another 20 mins until biscuity. When the pastry is ready, remove it from the oven, pour in the lemon mixture and bake again for 30-35 mins until just set. Leave to cool, then remove the tart from the tin and serve at room temperature or chilled. Chocolate soil 500ml water 400g sugar 400g dark chocolate Boil the sugar and water together to dissolve the sugar properly. Just before caramel stage, add the chocolate and whisk vigorously until a soil texture is achieved. You do have to move fast with this as the chocolate may burn. Lemon candy 3 lemons 50g sugar 75ml water 15g spare sugar for coating Peel the lemons and remove any pith from the skin. Finley slice the skin. Make a stock syrup with the sugar and water and bring to the boil. Poach the zested lemon skins for 5 minutes in the stock syrup. Do not boil! Strain the skin from the stock and leave on kitchen towel to remove any excess water. When most of the moisture has been removed roll, in the spare sugar and leave to dehydrate in a warm place or on a low low heat in the oven. Page 5
Fesenjan Persian Duck Duck with a pomegrate and walnut sauce. Incredible middle eastern flavours perfectly complementing the rich, gamey duck. 4 duck breasts 1 tsp of sunflower oil 100g walnuts, lightly toasted and finely ground 1 large white onion, finely sliced ½ tsp cinnamon ½ tsp ground cardamom ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper ½ tsp salt Juice of ½ a lemon 1 tsp turmeric 1 tbsp tomato puree 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses 1 tbsp runny honey 300ml chicken stock Pomegranate seeds and fresh parsley or dill to garnish. Serves 4 Pre-heat the oven to 180C/ Gas Mark 4 Score the duck breast lightly, so as not to pierce the flesh. Dry with kitchen towel and lightly season with salt and pepper. Heat a frying pan to a medium/hot heat with the sunflower oil, press the duck breast skin side down only and let the fat render down and the skin the crisp up. This will take approximately 8 minutes. Keep the duck fat! Transfer the duck breast to a non-stick baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes (depending on the size of your breasts. This will have them just pink. Leave them to rest. While the duck is in the oven, sautee the onion in the duck fat (adding a little oil or butter if you have to). Then add the spices and liquid ingredients. Let this mixture simmer for 8-10 minutes to infuse the flavours. Stir in the ground walnuts and stir thoroughly and cook for another 5 minutes The walnuts will thicken the sauce. Serve the duck sliced, on plain rice, with lots of the lovely sauce. Page 6
Teriyaki Mushroom Noodles A delicious Umami way to treat mushrooms. The secret (non Asian) ingredient is butter, making this a fusion of east and west! So easy and versatile, this is a lovely dish. 1 tbsp sunflower oil 1 tsp toasted sesame oil 500g chestnut mushrooms, sliced (or a variety of other wild mushrooms - shitake are good) 400g egg noodles, cooked and tossed in a little oil 8 spring onions, finely sliced into thin strips (save two for garnish) 60g butter ½ freshly ground black pepper 2 tbsp teriyaki sauce 2 cloves of garlic, crushed 1 tbsp of sesame seeds, lighty toasted (optional) Small bunch of fresh coriander, torn into small sprigs, not chopped Serves 4 Heat both the oils in a large frying pan on a medium to high heat, add the mushrooms and cook for 10-15 minutes until tinged brown and fully cooked. Add the garlic, spring onions, and, the terkyaki sauce and the butter, and continue cooking until well combined. No need to add salt and the sauce is salty enough! Add the noodles to the pan and coat in the thick sauce. Garnish with spring onion, coriander and sesame seeds. Spudge Cake (spiced chocolate cake!) A lightly spiced chocolate cake with a fudgey caramel centre. Quite possibly excellent at breakfast! 110g plain good quality dark chocolate 3 large eggs, separated 100g caster sugar 50g softened butter 50 ground almonds ½ teaspoon crushed cardamom seeds ¼ freshly grated nutmeg 35g plain flour Page 7
½ tsp baking powder 80g cream cheese 2 tbsp Dulce de Leche Caramel You ll need an 8inch round tin, greased and lined. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/ Gas Mark 4. Slowly melt the chocolate over a gentle bain marie (a glass bowl sitting atop simmering water). Allow the chocolate to cool slightly. You can also melt it in the microwave. Whisk the egg whites to form stiff peaks. Stir in the egg yolks to the (still slightly warm) chocolate - it will thicken slightly. Mix together the dry ingredients and the spices, then fold into the chocolate and egg mix. Now gently fold in the egg whites, in 3-4 batches. Transfer to your prepared cake tin and bake for approximately 30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool. Slice the cake in half lengthways and sandwich with the cream cheese and caramel. Dust with icing sugar to serve. Twice Baked Almond, Orange & Rose Croissant Oh we love this! An excellent way to re-invent a stale croissant. Baking it in the syrup turns it golden brown, heavy and moreish. A perfect treat to take out with you for an afternoon walking in the countryside. 4 stale croissants (almond ones work well here 200g Caster Sugar 200g Orange Juice 10g Rose Water Mix the caster sugar and orange juice in a pan and heat until simmering and the sugar has dissolved. Simmer for 8-10 minutes to reduce slightly, then leave to cool. When cool, add the rose water and mix in. Page 8
Add the croissants to the syrup and leave to soak for 20 minutes, then turn them over and leave to soak for a further 20 minutes. When removing the croissants, squeeze them gently to remove any excess syrup. Bake the croissants for 20 minutes on a non-stick baking tray at 200C/ Gas Mark 5, then for a further 10 minutes at 180C/ Gas Mark 4. The base should be caramelised and the croissant slightly crunchy. Leave to cool, dust with icing sugar and serve. Lamb, butternut squash and coconut curry The flavours here are beautiful and unique. An almost sour touch with the lime, you get a rich, deep, beautiful mix which is so lovely with the melting soft lamb. A definite winner. 4 whole red chillies 8 cloves garlic 60g fresh ginger root 15g fresh rosemary leaves 2 limes, zested and juiced Bunch coriander, roots included 1.2kg boned leg of lamb, cut into cubes 3 tbsp sunflower oil 4 medium onions, finely sliced 800ml coconut milk 400g butternut squash, peeled & cubed 3 tablespoons Thai fish sauce Blitz the first 6 ingredients to create a paste. Mix that into the lamb and marinate for 1-2 hours. Brown the onions in the oil in a medium hot pan until soft and caramelised. Take time over this. The longer and slower you do it, the better the curry will be. Add in the meat (and perhaps a little more oil) and seal the cubes. Pour in the coconut milk, top up with water if necessary to just cover the meat and simmer with the lid on for 90 minutes. Add the butternut squash and fish sauce then simmer until soft ( 20 minutes) Serve with rice or flatbreads. Page 9