All posts filed under: Recipes

Beef Wellington

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This hugely popular celebratory dish which can appear intimidating at first, but is actually quite reliable once you get the hang of it. It is however a dish that takes care and time to do properly because it works best if you let it chill after each stage of preparation. Follow the steps below and you are in for a treat. Ingredients: (Serves 4 – one 2 inch slice per person) 3-500g fillet beef in a single piece Half a chicken breast 250g shop bought puff pastry, preferably pre-rolled 3-400g chestnut mushrooms Handful of spinach Desert spoon of AP flour Oat milk (or normal milk if you prefer) 2 eggs Creme fraiche Beef stock (home made or very low salt shop bought) Madiera Dijon mustard Method: 1.  Trim the fillet so that its of an even thickness across the entire piece. Now wrap tightly into a cylinder in cling film and put in the fridge for an hour to set the shape. 2.  Put the mushrooms into a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. …

Pork belly and caviar

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This dish is a version of surf and turf which turned out extremely delicious and nicely balanced; it has fatty, juicy meat with a very crisp skin, smokiness from the fish, acid from the white currant, ozoney salinity from the caviar and earthiness from the potato. The herbs bring some freshness and zing. To get the perfect glass-like crispy skin I use a method adapted from Peking duck. Ingredients: (Serves 2) 500g pork belly with skin Caviar – as much as you can afford. This is baeri caviar which is very good but won’t require you to remortgage your house. Ratte potatoes – handful Smoked fish – this is smoked trout but mackerel would also work very well Mint – bunch Pea shoots – bunch Cream- dash White currants – punnet Olive oil Lemon balm oil (optional) See previous posts about how to make herb oils Equiptment : Sous vide / Blender/ Sieve Method: 1.  Prepare the pork belly. Having experimented quite a lot to get the perfect combination of crispy skin and juicy flesh with …

Braised shortrib with Roquefort

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This is an unrepentantly indulgent comfort food dish which balances melt-in-the-mouth beef with creamy, cheesy, potato and lightly sautéed mushrooms. The natural astringency in the reduction sauce from the braise plus the light vinaigrette on the mushrooms really lifts the dish and stops it being way too heavy. Roquefort loves beef but also brings a satisfying acidity which also helps balance the whole thing out. Ingredients: (Serves 2) 500g beef short ribs Marsala, a splash Onion, bay leaf for the braise Sherry, a dash 2 baking potatoes 100g Roquefort Double cream, to taste Mushrooms Herb oil (optional) Method: 1.  Get your braise on. The longer you cook this the more unctuous and delicious the end result. And because it’s a very low oven you can let it cook on its own all day whilst you do something else. In a heavy le creuset-style casserole dish/Dutch oven heat a tablespoon of oil until it’s smoking then add the ribs. Brown on all sides very well. Now throw in a chopped onion and bay leaf, and let …

Pizza

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During the past year I’ve been working on a recipe that pretty closely replicates what you can get out of a proper pizza place, but which can be made with ingredients you can find at your local supermarket, and can be cooked at home in a normal domestic oven.

Lamb en croute

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This started as just an idea… can you even make lamb en croute? First there was confidence, then concern, then a strange conversation with myself. ‘If it doesn’t work first time who cares? Erm.. I care. Well then, why don’t you also cook it sous vide and then if it over or under cooks you can serve that instead and then eat the pastry one yourself later!’…. In the end both ended up on the plate (?!) Ingredients: (Serves 2) one rack of lamb a handful of frozen peas chanterelles one leak pate de foie gras (or any smooth pate) two leaves of savoy cabbage one egg for egg wash pre-rolled puff pastry parsley oil optional Method: 1.  Get your butcher to french trim the lamb rack. Life is too short to be doing this at home. Its also far to short to make puff pastry so just buy that! Cut the rack in half and remove the bones from one portion. Place the one still with the bones attached, well seasoned, in a sous …

Turbot with red wine

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This is a pretty easy dish which plays on combinations which might sound a little odd to some but that actually have a long history together: Turbot, red wine, and mushrooms. It was also one of the very rare occasions in which I managed to make a restaurant quality dish at home. Give it a shot and please be careful with frying the kale – read the full recipe first! Ingredients: (Serves 2) Turbot, about 200g a portion Bottle of red wine – here I used an OK Rioja Kale – one stalk Spinach leaves – bag of Chanterelles – handful Butter Method: 1.  Portion the fish and reserve the bones and skin for the sauce 2.  In a large saucepan, place the bones and a dash of oil on a high heat. Get some caramelisation on them – it makes the sauce much tastier later. When there is some good browning, add an entire bottle of wine and cook down until syrupy. Season and pass through a muslin cloth. Add a knob of butter …

Lucky Dip Challenge

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This was a dish made from ingredients selected from a whole range of random items suggested by people on Instagram. It was a lot of fun and turned out really great in the end. The smokiness of the paprika in particular was very delicious with the duck and nicely interacted with the smoked water mellon sauce which though quite sweet was also nicely balanced by the acidity from the pickles and balsamic. Ingredients: (Serves 2) Some of the best followers on Instagram ever 2 Duck breasts 2 asparagus spears Handful of Green peppercorns Splash of Balsamic vinegar A water mellon Half a small Cauliflower Hand full of Samphire Hand full of Polenta Hand full of Parmesan Sweet Paprika Splash of ruby port Method: 1.  Season the duck heavily with salt, paprika and green pepper. But in a sous vide for at least 2 hours at 54c. 2.  Make the polenta. Pour the grain into a pan and cover in water. Season with parmesan and salt and cook until smooth. Then pour into a sheet pan …

Pork Fest

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Pork is such an amazingly versatile meat and one from which many of my favourite things are derived. Black pudding, jamon, brawn, and pork chops! You can literally use every thing on this noble beast from head to tail, and after all if you are going to kill an animal to eat it, the least you can do is to make use of every single last bit.

80s mackerel

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Around the time I was growing up in London dishes a little like this were all the rage at the poshest restaurants. I know because I spent a large part of that childhood studying a book my parents had on their bookcase, the first Roux brothers cookbook. This is not a Roux brothers dish – I made this one up – but it is well within that 80s nouvelle cuisine style.