French onion soup WEEKEND KITCHEN RECIPE SHEET 10th January 2016 One of the world s finest soups if you ask me! Sweet, filling and delicious. The key is to cook the onions very slowly. The addition of the sherry gives the soup a lovely depth. 6 large white onions, sliced 150ml sherry 100g butter 1litre beef stock Salt & pepper Chopped parsley to finish 100g emmental cheese Slices white bread cut into rings Splash olive oil On a low heat, put a drop of oil and the butter in a pan and melt. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper and cook, occasionally stirring, until they are very deep brown and caramelised (about 30mins). Don t rush this part! When ready, add the sherry and deglaze the pan, scraping any bits up off the base. Reduce the sherry a little, add the beef stock and simmer for 45 minutes. Cut nice round rings from the bread, add olive oil and place them in the oven until light brown. Add grated emmenthal cheese and re-bake until cheese is melted. Pour the soup into bowls, place the crouton on top and finish with a little chopped parsley Herb crusted Tenderloin fillet of pork with coarse grain mash, glazed carrots and sultana sauce Tender pork, perfectly flavoured with herbs, served in a slightly sweet sultana sauce. 2 tenderloin fillets, halved (4portions) Zest of 1 lemon Chopped rosemary, thyme and parsley 3 carrots Butter, sugar, salt 4 medium potatoes (plus cream for the mash) Coarse grain mustard Page 1
Dijon mustard 100g sultanas, soaked in water 100ml double cream 2 spoons gravy granules or 150ml ready red wine jus First peel and quarter the potatoes and boil them. When they are nice and soft, drain them and leave them to steam and dry out in the colander. Mash them until smooth, stir in some cream and butter and, finally, add a really good dollop of the coarse grain mustard. While the potatoes are cooking, pick and chop the herbs, zest the lemon and combine them together. Season the tenderloin portions with salt and pepper, seal them in a hot pan with a little oil then remove them and brush them with Dijon mustard. Finally, roll them in the herb mix. Place the pork in the oven at 170C/ Gas Mark 3-4 for 15 minutes. Take them out and leave them rest on a chopping board. While the pork is in the oven, make the carrots and the gravy too. For the carrots, chop them up and pop them in a pan with a teaspoon of sugar, 50g butter, salt and half cover with water. Place a lid on the pan and simmer until the carrots are cooked. Remove the lid and gently brown the carrots in the pan using the nearly caramel sauce. Place the sultanas in a pan, add the jus or make 150ml gravy with the granules and simmer for 6-7 minutes. Add the double cream. Simmer until the sauce becomes thick like gravy again and add a pinch of salt. Serve the pork fillets on the mash, with the carrots alongside and a big drizzle of sultana gravy. Chicken, Chorizo and Sun Blushed Tomato Pie A great lunchtime treat this. Reece is a pastry master and, having shared his sweet shortcrust pastry recipe with us last time, this is his traditional hot water pie pastry. And it is a thing of considerable beauty! Hot Water Pie Pastry: 500g Strong Flour 250g Vegetable Suet 300ml Water (boiling) 8g Salt Filling: 2Medium skinless chicken breasts 200g Chorizo sausage Page 2
150g Sun blushed tomatoes 1 Garlic clove Pinch of paprika 1 Lemon Zest Makes around 6 small rings (use a 7cm cheesecake ring). Pre-heat the oven to 200C/ Gas Mark 5 Mix the flour, suet and a pinch of salt together and set to one side. Bring the water to the boil and add to the flour. Mix with a wooden spoon to bring to a dough and then, using your hands, knead to a smooth elastic dough. Continue kneading the dough until it cools to room temperature. At this point, wrap it in cling film and leave to rest for 5 minutes on the side. Make the filling by dicing the chicken breast and chorizo to roughly 1 cm cubes. Add the garlic, paprika, and lemon zest. Slice the sun blushed tomato and mix through. Roll out the pastry dough to around 3-4mm in thickness. Cut out the bases using the cheesecake rings. Then cut long strips whose width is the height of the ring. Place these strips inside the rings and shape them to form the side of each pie. The dough is elastic so you can manipulate it as you go. Don t worry if it breaks and tears, think of it as an exercise in building something with plasticine! You rings are now lined. Fill the lined pie ¾ full with the filling. Roll the lid out. Brush the edges with water and stick to the pie. Crimp the edges and brush with egg wash. Bake in the oven for15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 160C/ Gas Mark 3 for a further 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool at room temperature. Crème Catalana A tasty Barcelona inspired alternative (improvement even!) to a crème brulée, flavoured with cinnamon, orange and vanilla. 900ml whole milk Zest of 2 oranges Zest of 1 lemon 1 cinnamon sticks 1 vanilla pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract) 180g sugar Page 3
240g large egg yolks (that could be up to 12 yolks) 20g cornflour 100g caster sugar for garnish Makes approx 6 x medium sized ramekins Bring the milk, orange zest, lemon zest, cinnamon and vanilla to the boil and leave to infuse for 5 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks, caster sugar and corn flour together to a light pale colour. Strain the milk and pour half the mixture on to the eggs, stirring. Return the other half of the milk to a pan and bring back to the boil. Slowly add the egg mixture to the remaining milk which has just boiled and whisk continuously until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Decant the mixture immediately into ramekins and place in the fridge for 2 hours until fully cooled. When ready to serve, sprinkle the sugar on top and caramelise with a blow torch. Alternatively, you can do this under the grill but the results are less pleasing. Alternatively you can make a direct caramel with just sugar, heated in a pan until it goes a dark golden colour. Pour it onto grease proof paper and leave to set. Blitz in a food processor and sprinkle on top of your catalana. Lovely! Millefeuille (or Custard Slice) This is the kind of dish which pastry chefs love to master. It s not as simple as some baking but, at the same time, it is not the most complex either. It s layers of puff pastry, filled with a delightful patisserie custard. A real treat for friends and family 750g store bought puff pastry 1 litre milk 10 large egg yolks 175g caster sugar 200g strong flour 1 vanilla pod, deseeded, or 1 tsp vanilla extract 150g apricot jam 200g fondant icing 100g chocolate, melted Page 4
Makes 1 millefeuille measuring approximately 30cm by 12cm. Pre-heat your oven to 200C/ Gas Mark 5 You want three sheets of puff pastry, rolled to 3mm in thickness. The sheets need to be around 30cm x 12cm. Prick each sheet with a fork and sandwich each one between two heavy baking trays. Place them in the oven for 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden in colour. Remove the top tray after 15 minutes and cook for a further 5 minutes until evenly golden all over. You make need to do this in two or three batches. Make the pastry cream by boiling the milk with the vanilla seeds or extract and leaving to infuse for 5 minutes off the heat. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until just combined, then add the sieved flour to create a smooth paste. Add half the milk mixture to the eggs and sugar and whisk to a smooth batter. Return the other half of the milk to the heat and bring to the boil. Pour the mixture onto the boiling milk (the milk must be boiling) and continue to whisk vigorously until the mixture becomes thick. Cool in the fridge fully. Bring the apricot jam to the boil and brush each layer of puff pastry with a thin even amount. Pipe your pastry cream on top of the jam and then place your next layer on top of your pastry cream. Repeat the process until you have 3 layers of puff pastry and 2 layers of pastry cream. Warm your fondant in the microwave slightly and add 50ml of warm water. Using a palette knife spread the fondant over evenly. Pipe thin lines of chocolate over the fondant icing, and using a skewer, feather the icing dragging the skewer back and fourth in opposite directions. This creates a swirl effect. Leave the millefeuille or custard slice in the fridge for 1 hour before carefully cutting into required size portions using a good quality serrated knife. Page 5
Southern Fried spicy chicken strips To say these are good is an under statement. They are amazing! Totally moreish too. The beauty of them is they make the chicken go a very long way. Two good sized breasts will feed a hungry family and more. Marinade 500g chicken breast 30g chopped onion 1 chopped clove of garlic ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper 3 large eggs 500ml milk Coating 500g flour 3 tbsp cracked pepper 1 tbsp salt 1 tbsp dried mixed herbs 1 tbsp smoked paprika 1 ½ tsp cayenne pepper Cut the chicken into small strips. Marinade it with the chopped onion, garlic, salt and pepper in a covered container for at least 20 minutes. Mix all coating ingredients in a bowl. Drain the liquid from the marinade into another bowl. Dredge chicken in the coating first, then into the marinade. Repeat the process. Carefully place the chicken pieces into the fryer with your oil at 190C. Do not overfill the fryer or else the chicken will not crisp up. Fry for 5 minutes and remove from the heat. Now repeat the coating process and fry for a second time until golden brown. Serve with garlic mayonnaise and mixed salad leaves. Page 6
Chocolate Guinness Cake The dark stout adds to both the colour and texture of this cake. A very easy recipe to cheer even the glummest of January days. 250ml Guinness 250g butter 75g coco powder 400g caster sugar 142ml sour cream 2 eggs 1 tbsp vanilla extract 275g plain flour 2 1/2 tsp bicarb of soda 300g cream cheese 150g icing sugar 125ml double cream Heat the Guinness and butter in a pan until the butter has melted. Whisk in the cocoa powder and sugar followed by the sour cream, eggs and vanilla Fold in the flour and bicarb of soda Butter and dust with coco powder a 12 inch round cake tin (with a removable base) and bake for 45 minutes at 180C/ Gas Mark 4. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin. Whisk the cream cheese, cream and icing sugar to a spreadable consistency. Transfer the cake from tin to a suitable plate and spread the top of cake with the topping mixture. Serve. Sweet chilli beef This is a genius way of using up leftovers of your roast beef. Crisp them up and serve them with home made chilli sauce - just like in the Chinese restaurant! 300g sliced roast beef (can be replaced with lamb) 2 tbsp cornflour 2 tbsp chilli flakes (or fresh chilli) 500g caster sugar 200ml white wine vinegar Make the sweet chilli sauce. Put the chilli flakes, vinegar and sugar into a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Page 7
Slice and then cut your roast beef into pieces roughly the thickness of a match stick. (thicker if you prefer). Toss the beef in the cornflour until coated. Tap off excess cornflour and deep fry at 190C for 5 minutes or until crispy. Heat 3 tbsp of chilli sauce in a large saucepan then add the crispy beef and toss until coated. Serve with extra chilli sauce on the side, salad leaves and a wedge of lemon. Page 8