Month: November 2016

Dad makes best, Recipe

Croutons

If you have left over bread, then preserve it by turning it into croutons. It’s like pickling bread. You will need croutons for Caesar salad.

A handful of croutons added to a bowl of tinned cream of chicken soup works really well.

You can use any kind of bread, but an open textured bread makes the best croutons. Adjust the quantities of salt and garlic to taste.

Ingredients

Bread

2 tbsp Olive Oil

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

Maldon Sea Salt

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Equipment

A roasting tin, lined with tin foil

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Method

Pre-heat the oven to 160ºC

1. Cut the bread into crouton sized pieces

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2. In the tin, mix the garlic with the oil and salt

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3. Add the bread and mix so it soaks up the oil and the gralic and salt stick to the croutons

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4. Bake in the oven until golden and crunchy. Be careful – they are easy to burn and nobody wants burnt croutons

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Dad makes best

Pan-Fried Steak

This method results in steak that is well done on the outside but still pink on the inside. Of course timing is everything, but how long you give the steak depends on how thick it is, the pan you use and how hot the pan is.

As a guide for a 2cm thick rib eye steak, with the pan on high heat and the oil smoking, I give oit 2 minutes on the first side followed by 1 minute on the second side which produces a crusty exterior and a rare interior.

Ingredients

Steak, seasoned well with salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

Butter

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Equipment

A heavy bottom frying pan

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Method

1. Heat the oil and butter in the pan on a high heat.

2. Put the steak in the hot pan and cook. Do not disturb the steak as it cooks.

3. Turn the steak over and again leave to cook.

4. Remove from the pan and eat it while it is hot. Good with Casear Salad.

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Dad makes best, Recipe

Toad in the hole

A British classic. You can use any suasages, but nothing works quite as well as a top quality Cumberland ring. Serve with peas and gravy in a dish.

Ingredients

1 egg

75g of flour

125ml of semi-skimmed milk

1 Cumberland sausage ring

2 tbsp of  oil

Salt and pepper

Equipment

A roasting tin

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC and the grill on a high heat.

1. First make the batter – mix the flour, egg and milk together with a little salt and pepper. Either use a belnder or an electric whisk to make a smooth, even batter.

2. Put the sausage under the grill.

3. Add the oil to the roasting tin and place in the oven

4. As soon as the sausage starts to colour, turn it over and cook until it starts to colour.

5. You need to do the next  steps very quickly. Take the roasitng tin out. The oil should be smoking hot.

6. Add the suasage to the roasting tin.

7. Pour the batter over the sausage and return quickly to the oven.

8. Do not open the oven door during cooking.

9. Its ready when it looks right – you will know when this is. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

 

 

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Slow Grilled Sirloin Steak

Steak grilled slowly has a very different taste and texture to steak cooked quickly with a high heat. This method also works really well if the meat is is still frozen; it just takes longer. You can use any cut of steak, not just sirloin.

Ingredients

Sirloin Steak

Salt

Pepper

Equipment

A grill

Method

1. Set the grill to a low setting.

2. Season the steak well on both sides.

3. Cook the steak under the grill, turning as necessary

4. Serve immediately. Good with Grandad Salad.

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Grandad Salad

Grandad’s traditional salad has no dressing but is well seasoned. Works best with Maldon sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper.

Ingredients

1 medium onion

4 tomatoes

1 iceberg lettuce

salt and pepper

Equipment

Just a bowl to serve it in

Method

1. Chop the onion and add to the bowl

2. Chop the tomatoes and add to the sald bowl

3. Season well with salt and pepper, then mix the tomatoes and onions

4. Chop the lettuce, and add to the salad bowl

5. Just before you are ready to eat mix, the lettuce into the onion and tomato.

 

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Poached Egg

Tricky to get exactly perfect – needs practice.

Ingredients & Equipment

1 Egg

1 tsp of white vinegar

A small pan

A table spoon

A slotted spoon

A piece of Kitchen Roll

Method

1. Fill the pan with water and bring to the boil.

2. Add the white vinegar.

3. Stir the water to create a whirlpool.

4. Crack the egg into the middle of the whirlpool.

5. Adjust the heat so the water is simmering.

6. As the egg cooks, gently lift it off the bottom of the pan so it floats in the water. Don’t try to do this too soon – make sure the egg has set sufficiently to be moved without breaking up.

7. Check the egg is ready by lifting it out with the slotted spoon and shaking it. If it doesn’t wobbly it means the white has set and the egg is ready.

8. Place the egg on a piece of kitchen roll to absorb any reamining water.

9. Serve immediately.

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How to fry an egg

There are lots of ways to cook a fried egg, but this is the best.

Ingredients

1 egg

1 tbsp groundnut oil for frying

Equipment

Small non-stick frying pan

Tablespoon

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Method

1. Heat the oil in the frying pan on a medium heat.

2. Crack the egg into the hot oil.

3. As the egg cooks, baste the yolk with the hot oil. This cooks the white on and around the top of the yolk.

4. Continue until the white of the egg is cooked through.

5. Remove from the pan draining any excess oil and serve immediately.

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Curry, Dad makes best, Recipe

Corriander Chicken Curry

The origin of this recipe was a small booklet of recipes attached to a bottle of white wine; the recipes were intended to showcase dishes that would complement the wine. This is the only one we ever made but it is good, and its really, really green. The original recipe is shown below.

 

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Ingredients

1 large shallot or small onion

4 cm piece of ginger

1 clove of garlic

1 green chilli

bunch of corriander

250ml of coconut milk

5 cardamons

5 cloves

4 chicken thighs or 2 breasts

juice from 1/2 lemon

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 green pepper (optional)

1 tbsp of ground corriander

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Equipment

Heavey bottomed pan

Blender

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Method

1. Strip the corriander leaves from the stalks stalks, peel and chop the garlic and ginger.

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2. Add corrainder, garlic, ginger, lemon juice and coconut milk to the blender and blender to create a smooth vivid green liquid.

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3. Finely chop the shallot and chilli

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4. Heat the oil in the pan with the cardamons and cloves, and then fry the shallot, chilli until browned

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5. Add the chicken cook for two minutes

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6. Add the corrinader and ground fennel seeds, fry until the chicken is golden.

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7. Add the green pepper, if using, fry for two minutes

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8. Then add the blended coconut milk mixture and stir well, brining to a simmer. Cook until the chicken is cooked through.

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9. Serve immediately with rice.  Tomato and onion salad also goes well with this.

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Mum makes best, Recipe

Maria’s roasted tomato sauce

This recipe makes a big batch of roasted tomato sauce and you’ll need to buy a box of vine tomatoes. You will also need containers to portion it into and a freezer to keep them in. You could make less of it from scratch when you need it, but that misses the point. Its about convnience; having it in the freezer means you make tasty pasts dishes in the time it takes the pasta to cook. The sauce can then be used as base for all sorts of pasta dishes. See for example Daddy Pasta Surprise.

Use vine tomatoes to get the best flavour. This is best made when they are in season: big, ripe and cheap.

Equipment

  • Roasting Tin(s)
  • Food processor or blender

Ingredients

  • Garlic cloves, sliced. You will need 1 slice for each tomato
  • Olive Oil
  • A box of vine tomatoes (the one in the picture has two layers, so about 48 tomatoes)

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Wash the tomatoes and dry.
  3. Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange them cut side up in a roasting tin, in a single layer.
  4. Peel the garlic cloves and cut into slices.
  5. Insert one slice of garlic into the flesh of each tomato.
  6. Drizzle the the tomatoes wth olive oil and grind over black pepper.
  7. Put the tomatoes into the oven and roast for 30 minutes.
  8. Remove the tomatoes and trasfer contents of the roating tin into the food processor.
  9. Blend the tomatoes until smooth. Leave to cool.
  10. Divide into containers and freeze.

Method with Pictures

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Wash the tomatoes and dry.
  3. Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange them cut side up in a roasting tin, in a single layer.
  4. Peel the garlic cloves and cut into slices.
  5. Insert one slice of garlic into the flesh of each tomato.

        

  6. Drizzle the the tomatoes wth olive oil and grind over black pepper.

  7. Put the tomatoes into the oven and roast for 30 minutes.

     

  8. Remove the tomatoes and trasfer contents of the roating tin into the food processor.
  9. Blend the tomatoes until smooth. Leave to cool.
  10. Divide into containers and freeze.