A few recipes I like, one day I will cook them for you, in our house, together. I included them here because they are cool and my top choices.
Buttermilk chicken pakoras
Method
1
Put the chicken in a pan with the buttermilk, cloves, cinnamon, bay
leaves, fennel seeds, cardamom pods and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Bring to
the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 20
minutes until the chicken is cooked and tender. To check, take out one
piece of chicken and cut it in half to ensure it is no longer pink in
the middle
2 1/4 lb of boneless chicken thighs, skinless and diced to 2.5cm cubes
1 1/16 pint of buttermilk
2 cloves
2 bay leaves
3 tsp fennel seeds
3 cardamom pods
1 tsp salt
2
Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and spread out on a plate. Strain
the liquid and keep aside; discard the spices
3
Put the rice flour in a bowl, add the cumin, chilli powder and the
remaining salt and whisk in 200ml of the strained buttermilk, followed
by the yoghurt, until evenly combined
5 1/3 oz of rice flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp chilli powder
4 1/4 fl oz of Greek natural yoghurt, (full fat)
4
Heat the oil in a deep pan over a high heat. Drop a little of the batter
into the oil to test if it is ready – it should immediately start to
sizzle and darken. If the oil is not hot enough, heat it for a bit
longer and test again. Using a slotted spoon, remove the trial batter
and lower the heat to medium. Do not fry pakoras over a high heat as the
outside will burn and the inside of the batter will remain raw
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
5
Dip the chicken pieces in the batter, ensuring they are totally covered,
and then fry the pakoras in the hot oil in small batches. Do not
overfill the pan as that will reduce the temperature of the oil and the
pakoras will not get crisp. Drain on kitchen paper as you take each
batch out of the oil. Serve hot
Steak au poivre
Method
1
Crush the peppercorns together using a pestle and mortar or a coffee
grinder. Tip the pepper into a sieve set over a bowl and shake well to
remove all the powdered pepper. In this recipe you want to use the
cracked pepper left in the sieve; save the powdered pepper for seasoning
other dishes
2 tbsp of black peppercorns
2 tbsp of green peppercorns
2
Press the cracked peppercorns onto both sides of each steak. Put a
baking tray or large plate in the oven and turn it to a very low setting
ready to keep the cooked steaks warm later
4 fillet steaks, each weighing 175g
3
Heat the oil in a thick-bottomed frying pan over a medium heat. Season
Once it is hot, season the steaks with salt and place in the pan until a
golden crust is formed. Turn the steaks and cook for a further 2
minutes. If you require your meat cooked further, turn the steaks and
continue cooking but resist turning them too often
3 tbsp of sunflower oil
salt
4
Remove the steaks to the warm baking tray or plate and place in the oven
5
Add two-thirds of the butter to the frying pan and allow it to melt and
turn nut brown in colour. Add the brandy, being careful in case it
ignites. Bring to the boil and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up
any bits from the bottom. Add the cream, plus the stock and bring to the
boil
1 3/4 oz of unsalted butter
2 fl oz of brandy
1 tbsp of double cream
8 tbsp of stock
Caramelised onion and Gruyère tarte fine, salad of crispy duck and
watercress
Method
1
Marinade the duck with all the confit ingredients apart from the duck
fat for 24 hours
2 duck legs, large
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 sprig of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
1 tsp white peppercorns
1 pinch of rock salt
2
The next day, preheat the oven to 130°C/gas mark 1
3
Lightly wipe the marinade off the duck and place the legs in an oven
tray
4
Cover the legs with the duck fat. Cover the tray with tin foil and cook
for 3-4 hours. You can tell when the duck is cooked as the bones will
slip out of the meat with no resistance at all
1 2/3 pints of duck fat
5
While the duck cooks, melt the butter in a pan and add the onions
2 2/3 oz of butter
4 onions, thinly sliced
6
Cook the onions over a low heat until they brown and caramelise - this
can take up to 45 minutes
7
Once the onions have caramelised, season them with salt and add the
chopped sage
salt
6 sage leaves, chopped
8
Cook for 10 minutes more, and then allow to cool
9
Leave the cooked duck to cool in its fat for 1 hour. Then, remove all
the bones, skin and cartilage. Pick the meat into large chunks, but do
not shred it finely
10
Cool the meat in fridge
11
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4
12
Cut the puff pastry bases into four 10cm circles using the pastry
cutter, and brush with the egg yolk
2 sheets of all butter puff pastry
1 egg yolk, beaten
13
Place the pastry circles on a heavy oven tray, lined with a silicone
mat. Then, place a second silicone mat on top of the pastry
14
Bake for 7 minutes, then rotate the tray 180 degrees and cook for 7
minutes more
15
Remove the pastry from the oven, but don't turn the oven off. Leave the
pastry and silicone mats as they are until the pastry cools
16
While the pastry cools, heat a heavy frying pan over a high heat, and
add a splash of vegetable oil
vegetable oil
17
Once the oil is smoking hot, add the cooled chunks of duck meat. Pan fry
for 2 minutes, or until a little crispy and golden brown
18
Drain off any excess oil, return the pan with the duck to the heat and
add the balsamic vinegar
1 fl oz of balsamic vinegar
19
Cook until the vinegar has completely evaporated, and the meat is
glazed. Take off the heat
20
Spoon some onions into the middle of each cooled tart base. Place a 90mm
cutter onto the tart and push the onion mix to the edges of the cutter.
This should give you an even 5mm thick layer of onions on the pastry,
and a 1cm gap around the edge
21
Place a slice of Gruyère cheese on each tart, and place in the oven for
2 minutes to warm through the tarts and melt the cheese
4 slices of Gruyère, 8cmx8cm, plus extra for grating
22
Place each tart into the centre of a plate. Arrange the pieces of duck
evenly onto the four tarts
23
Dress the watercress and spring onions with olive oil and Maldon salt
and pile onto the centre of each tart
1 bunch of watercress
4 spring onions, cut into rounds
extra virgin olive oil
Maldon salt
24
To finish, microplane over a good amount of Gruyère onto the watercress
and serve