WEEKEND KITCHEN RECIPE SHEET 28th February 2016 French Onion Soup with Stout and Lincolnshire Poacher Rich, deep, sweet and extremely frugal, this is one of the kings of soup! 50g unsalted butter 6 onions, halved and finely sliced 1 tbsp soft brown sugar 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 250ml Stout 1.25l roasted beef stock, boiling 3 tbsp sherry vinegar 10 stalks fresh tyme, leaves stripped and chopped Salt and pepper for seasoning 150g grated Lincolnshire poacher (or strong cheese like cheddar) Optional French baguette croutons Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onions and fry until they start to caramelise. You want to cook them low and slow so as not to burn them. Once they have gone a nice colour, add sugar to the pan and continue cooking until the onions are dark golden in colour and fully caramelised. Add the garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes. followed by the stout, which you will reduce by two thirds. Add boiling stock and reduce by a further half. Season with sherry vinegar, thyme leaves and salt and pepper. Serve topped with grilled baguette croutons and melted cheese (or simply with grated cheese without the bread). Page 1
Chargrilled Pork Rump with Alfonso mango, spring onion, toasted peanuts and a sesame dressing Pork rump is a brilliantly cheap cut available in butchers and supermarkets alike. If you cannot find it, use loin or similar. The key here is chargrilling the pork for flavour, then cooking the veg in the same pan. Top it all off with the superb dressing, full of sweet Asian flavours. An absolutely cracking plate of food. 4 pork rump steaks, approximately 200g each 1 alfonso mango (very ripe), finely diced 1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped 1 small bunch coriander, roughly chopped 200g tenderstem broccoli ½ cucumber, deseeded and cut into thin strips 1 boc choi, bottoms cut off 100g dark soy 100g sesame oil 100g maple syrup 2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted 1 green chili, deseeded and finely chopped 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped 100g salted peanuts, roughly chopped Salt and pepper for seasoning Pre heat an oiled griddle pan. You want it to be hot, hot hot! Season pork rumps and cook on the griddle pan, turning every two minutes until medium well (approximately 10 minutes) and then leave to rest. Throw all the green vegetables into the griddle pan and fry for 2 minutes. Then remove from heat and pop them in a mixing bowl, keeping them warm. You want the veg to remain quite crunchy and al dente. Mix soy, sesame oil and maple syrup in a bowl with the toasted sesame seeds, ginger and chilli. Add the mango, coriander and peanuts to the warm vegetable mix resting in the bowl. Thinly slice the rested pork rump and place it on serving plates. Arrange the vegetable mix over the rump and dress with the soy dressing. Page 2
Dark Chocolate Blood Orange Mousse with Pine Nut Brittle Fantastic dessert this. Lightly orange chocolate mousse, served with a very versatile and moreish nut brittle, which you can use on all manner of desserts. 150g good quality dark chocolate, chopped 1 pinch sea salt 3 free range eggs 45g caster sugar 140ml double cream 1 double shot blood orange liqueur (or similar) 1 tbsp cocoa powder 100g caster sugar 50g pine nuts, toasted in a hot dry pan until golden (you can really use ANY nuts here) 2 blood oranges, segmented Put a pan of water on to gently simmer. Place the chocolate with a pinch of salt in a heatproof bowl set over the simmering water, stirring slowly until the chocolate has melted. Separate the eggs, add the sugar to the yolks and beat until the sugar has dissolved. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form soft peaks. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream until thickened and airy. Add the blood orange liqueur and cocoa powder to the yolks and mix then add the cream and mix again. Gently fold in the chocolate mix followed by the egg white mix. Spoon into glasses and leave to set in the fridge. Whilst the mousse is setting, melt the sugar in a saucepan until it turns into a golden caramel. Add the toasted pine nuts to the caramel mix and then pour them onto greaseproof paper. Leave to set until hardened. Roughly chop the brittle. Garnish the mousse with blood orange segments and pine nut brittle Page 3
Mussels in tomato and garlic sauce We don t do mussels enough on this programme. They are so easy to cook and relatively cheap too. A kilo of mussels go a long way. And this is a superb way of serving them. 2 lbs fresh mussels For the sauce 2 tbsp of olive oil 3-4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped Large handful chopped basil or parsley if preferred 500g of passata 200g concentrated tomato puree 2 tins of chopped tomatoes Salt Pepper Dash of chilli (optional) Serves 2 Sort through the mussels, tapping any that are open lightly on a surface to see if they close shut. Discard the ones that remain open, or any that are damaged (they have perished and are not safe to eat). Pull off the beard, and scrape any barnacles off using the back of a knife then rinse. If you are not going to cook the mussels the same day, store mussels in a bowl, covered with a damp cloth, in the bottom of the fridge. Apart from when cleaning, don't store or submerge the mussels in water or you'll drown them! Add the mussels to a saucepan (no oil or water), cover the pan with a lid and cook the mussels for about 3-4 minutes, giving the pan a shake from time to time. The mussels are cooked when they've opened up. Be sure to discard any that don't open. The mussels will have released a watery juice as they cooked. Gently sieve this juice into a small bowl, leaving behind any grit which may have been released with the juice when cooking the mussels. In a large saucepan or deep skillet, heat the olive oil and gently fry the garlic over a gentle heat (make sure not to burn the garlic). Add the chilli at this point if using. Once the garlic is golden in colour add the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes and passata and 1½ cups of water. Allow the sauce to cook for at least 45 minutes. Keep adding ½ cups of water if the sauce is reducing too quickly. Page 4
After about 45 minutes, add the chopped basil, the cooked mussels and the juice they released whilst cooking. Simmer gently for a further 5-10 minutes, giving the pan a shake from time to time. Serve in a deep individual bowls with lots of sauce and some nice crusty bread to mop everything up. You can also serve this dish with spaghetti, or even polenta. Bacon and liver Okay, you either love or hate liver. For those who love it, it s a very very cheap ingredient with a fantastically gamey flavour. Served here in a tomato and bacon sauce, this is rustic Italian cooking at its finest. 500g Lamb s liver 3 large onions (thinly sliced) 250 g smoked bacon (cut into strips) 2 tbsp of tomato puree/paste ½ glass of dry wine 1 glass of water/stock 2 tbsp of oil Mushrooms (optional) Salt Pepper In a deep frying pan or skillet, heat the oil and the add the sliced onions. Fry until soft. Add the chopped smoked bacon. Fry until slightly crispy. Add the wine and, when bubbling add the tomato paste. Mix in well. Add some water or stock and allow to cook for 30 minutes. Keep adding more water as the sauce reduces. Cut the lamb s liver in to long slices and add to the sauce followed by the cut mushrooms(optional). Cook for a further 5-8 minutes. Add salt and pepper just before plating up. Serve as is in a deep individual plates with lots of sauce and some nice crusty bread to mop everything up. Page 5
You can also serve this dish with spaghetti but cut the liver in to smaller slices. Finally, you can blitz it all up and create a lovely paté Home-made gnocchi with roasted aubergine, pesto and chilli These gnocchi are so different (and better) than ready-made, store-bought gnocchi. They are lighter and tastier. The sauce works perfectly with them and would also go well with any pastas. For the dough 1kg good mashing potatoes 250g trong white flour (type 00) 2 eggs Salt to taste For the sauce: 2 large aubergines 2 cloves garlic 3 tbsp good quality pesto sauce 1 or 2 fresh chopped chillies Olive oil Salt and pepper A little water from when you cook the gnocchi 50 salted butter 2tbsp parmesan cheese Preheat your oven and bake the aubergines whole until the pulp is soft in the middle - around 30-40 minutes. Bake or boil the potatoes until soft (the potatoes will work better if dry so I am baking them for this recipe.) If you want to boil them then make sure you dry the potatoes out before making the dough. Making the dough: remove the skin from the potatoes whilst they are still hot and pass through a ricer or mash with a potato masher. Place the mash on a work surface and add the flour. Make a well in the centre and add the eggs and salt. Combine the mixture together until you form a non-sticky dough similar to bread dough. Try not to over work the dough as this will release too much starch and may result in a chewy gnocchi! Page 6
Flatten out the mixture to around 1cm thick and cut it into long strips of approximately 2cm in thickness. Roll out the strips to make long cylinder shapes then cut along the strip at 2cm intervals to make your gnocchi. Press the teeth of a fork on one side of the gnocchi and roll it slightly (this will allow the sauce to stick to the gnocchi better when serving). Dust the gnocchi lightly with flour and set aside. For the sauce Remove the skin from the baked aubergines while still warm. Place the pulp in a bowl and mash with a fork. Return the flesh part back to the oven to crisp up (this can then be sprinkled over the dish to add texture and colour). Cook the gnocchi in plenty of boiling salted water. The gnocchi will be done when they all rise to the top. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and add the garlic and chilli. Fry lightly and add the pesto sauce and butter. Continue to cook tor around 5 minutes, adding the water from the boiled gnocchi to loosen the sauce. Toss the sauce into the gnocchi and add plenty of parmesan cheese. Top with the crispy sliced aubergine skins and serve. Affogato with amaretto liqueur This dish is so easy you can make it with your eyes closed as long as you have ice cream, coffee and a liqueur. It is one of life s ridiculously simple ideas, which comes together to create something amazing. Cold ice cream, hot strong coffee and alcohol. One of Nick s favourite recipes! Oh, as for the recipe, well it s not much of a recipe! For each person, put some liqueur at the bottom of a coffee cup. Prepare a good strong coffee, preferably an espresso. Pop a big scoop of good quality vanilla ice cream on top of the liqueur then, just before serving, pour coffee over the scoop. Serve immediately, topped with crushed biscuits (amaretti biscuits work really well here) or even use the nut brittle from the chocolate mousse recipe! Page 7
Panzanella rustica This is traditionally a Tuscan salad, using up all your salad left overs and bulked up with stale re-hydrated bread. There are similar versions used in Southern Italy but the idea is NO LEFTOVERS! I am using crispy bacon in this dish simply because I have some left over! 4-5 thick slices of stale Italian Bread, ideally Panella Toscana or a few days old focaccia will do 1 large cucumber, de-seeded & diced 4/5 ripened tomatoes or vine cherry tomatoes coarsely chopped Bunch of fresh basil 2 red onions, finely sliced Roasted red pepper, sliced 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped Good quality extra virgin olive oil Salt & ground pepper to taste Tsp chopped capers (optional) Anchovies (optional) Smoked bacon, chopped Pre-soak the onion slices in warm water with a drop of vinegar for about 1 hour then drain them. This will sweeten the onion and take away any acidity the raw onion will have. Soak your bread in a little warm water too, making sure not to drench it. The bread should feel just a little damp. To add more texture, you can bake the bread in the oven first to crisp up a little. Tear the bread slices into large pieces and place them in a salad bowl. Combine the remaining ingredients and season well with salt and pepper. Add this to the soaked bread and drizzle with plenty of olive oil and oregano. Toss well and place in the fridge for around 1 hour to allow the flavours to penetrate. Allow to stand for a while at room temperature before serving. Page 8