My focaccia

This is a big dinner party hit and great with a glass of fizz as guests arrive, it's also fool proof and infinitely variable.  The picture's of a puttanesca version (shamelessly stolen from Gino D'Acampo) but salt and rosemary's the classic, olives / capers sundried tomatoes also all work well.

Ingredients

500g strong white bread flour
7g sachet dried yeast
Olive oil
Warm water
A piece of old dough / spoonful of sourdough starter if you have either to hand
Toppings of your choice (anchovies, passata, olives, oregano, chilli flakes for above version)

Directions

1) Mix together the flour, yeast and olive oil with a good tsp of salt and enough warm water to form a dough slightly loser than normal bread dough, knead for 5 minutes and then form into a ball, oil place back into the bowl and cover, allow to rise until doubled in size (around 1 hour).

2) Knock back the dough and place on a well olive oiled baking tray, push into the corners so that it forms a thin sheet, push dimples into the top, cover and allow to prove for 30 minutes.

3) Preheat your oven to 250C, add your chosen topping to your focaccia adding more oil if it appears dry.

4) Cook at 250C for 10 minutes until puffed and risen and then give a further 10-20 minutes at 200C until golden brown.

5) Remove from the oven and turn out onto a wire cooling rack, serve whilst still warm (although it will keep well for a few days).

Toad in t'hole

This is a simple family midweek tea...  Nothing fancy but truly delicious and very comforting (very much the kind of food that I was raised on).

Lots of people seem to get freaked out by making yorkshire pudding but so long as the oil and the oven are really, really hot then you can't fail...

Ingredients (serves 4);

1lb (1/2kg) of good quality butcher's sausage
200g plain flour
2 eggs
250ml milk (any will do, but if you're using full fat add 150ml and 100ml water)
2 tblsp vegetable or groundnut oil

Directions;

1) Put the oven on and set to 250C, pour oil into a large roasting tin and place in the oven to heat.

2) To make the batter combine the eggs, milk and flour and whisk, it should form a smooth mix of double cream consistency, add milk or flour if the batter appears too thick or too thin.  Season well.

3) When the oven reaches around 150C add the sausages and allow to colour as the oven continues to heat to 250C.

4) When the oven's up to temperature quickly turn the sausages and pour the batter into the roasting tray (speed is everything here, you do not want the oil to cool), be very careful of splashes.

5) After 10-15 minutes, once the yorkshire pudding's risen and started to crisp, turn the oven down to 180C and allow to cook for a further 20 minutes until the sausages and batter are cooked through.

It's as simple as that!

I serve this with onion gravy (sweat down 1 small onion per portion in butter until they're sweet, add a tablespoon of flour and then stock, stir until thickened) and green veg.  This dish isn't cheffy or pretty, but it's bloody tasty and I'd urge you to try it and make it your own, add onions to the sausages, herbs in the batter, try different sausages etc etc...

Gnocchi with a sage butter

Yet another left over dish...  I used the left over sage butter from the roast chicken dish and baked some potatoes in the oven as it roasted, this is then a lovely quick supper dish.  I sauteed the reserved chicken liver and topped my gnocchi with it but have left it out of the recipe here as I know that liver can be divisive (and I promised a vegetarian post!).

Ingredients (for two)

3-4 large floury potatoes depending on size

1 egg

Approx 250g '00' pasta flour

Large knob of butter

Small bunch of sage

Salt and pepper

1 clove of garlic finely sliced (think "The Godfather" and razorblades again)

Nutmeg 

Parmesan to serve

Directions

1) Bake your potatoes in the oven and allow to cool completely.

2) Scoop out the cooked potato and add mash thoroughly with a fork or potato masher.

3) Add an equal amount of pasta flour to the potato along with an egg, season with pepper and nutmeg, mix and knead until you have a firm dough adding more flour if required, you do not have to work as much as you would a bread or pasta dough.

4) Roll the dough into thin sausages and cut into gnocchi sized pillows, rolling along a fork to add grooves.

5) Put a large saucepan of very well salted water on to boil and place a large frying / saute pan over a medium heat.

6) Add the butter, sage (leaves whole) and garlic to the saute pan and allow to infuse, cook and the butter to just start to brown (a pale 'noisette' if you like to be cheffy), at the same time add the gnocchi to the pan of boiling water.

7) As soon as the gnocchi rise to the surface of the water they are cooked, drain and add to the saute pan.

8) Serve with a good grating of parmesan and enjoy!

This dish looks impressive but is really quick and easy.  Don't ever buy pre-packed gnocchi, they're nothing like the real thing...  Try this, enjoy and please share it!

Roast chicken with a sage butter, bread sauce

Rule number 1, buy the best chicken that you can afford.  Sorry to labour the point, but this dish is only ever going to be as good as the chicken that you start out with, buy a good one use all of it.  That means  giblets for gravy, bones for stock and liver for a tasty morcel of a treat (more of that in a later post).

I used a sage butter with this chicken but initially intended to use wild garlic (unfortunately my secret foraging spot drew a blank), thyme, parsley and tarragon all work very, very well too.

Ingredients (to feed 4 hungry adults);

1 good quality chicken, ideally with giblets
1 onion
1 or 2 carrots
A few sticks of celery
A bunch of sage
125g softened butter
Salt and pepper
Veg for roasting
Plain flour (if you like a thick gravy)

And for the bread sauce;
1 onion
250ml milk (full fat ideally but you can use whatever's in the 'fridge!)
3 cloves
1 bay leaf
4 slices of bread

Directions

1) Take your chicken out of the 'fridge at least 1 hour before you want to cook it and untruss.

2) Pick the sage (or other herb) leaves and mix with the softened butter and a good grind of salt of pepper.

3) Prepare some vegetables to go under the bird.  Cut the onion and carrots in half, there's no need to skin them.  Mix with the celery and giblets (reserving the liver) and place the bird on top.

4) Prepare other vegetables for roasting (if required) and place around the bird with a little seasoning and some oil.  I'm using par boiled potatoes and raw swede here.

5) Pre heat the oven to 250C and smear the herb butter onto the breasts of the bird under the skin and across onto the tops of the thighs.

6) Roast at 250C for 20 minutes and then turn down to 140C, covering the chicken with foil if browning too quickly, turn the veg when you check after 20 minutes.  Roast for a total of 1- 1.5 hours depending on the size of your chicken.  Check by moving the chicken's legs if they feel "loose" it's ready, the juices should also run clear.

7) Make your bread sauce. Peel the onion and stud with the cloves, add to the milk with salt, pepper and a bay leaf.  Put on a low heat and bring to the simmer for around 30 minutes.  Remove the cloves and bay leaf, chop the onion and return to the milk.  Tear the bread into small pieces and add to the milk, leave on a low heat and stir.  Allow the bread to absorb all of the milk (adjust with a little more bread or milk as required) and then turn off the heat.  Taste and adjust seasoning.

8) Take the chicken out of the roasting tray along with the roast veg, cover with foil and allow to rest (you can put the veg back in the oven on another tray if they need to "crisp").

9) Place the roasting tin onto the hob over a medium / high heat and add a tablespoon of flour, scrape the tray well combining the flour with any fat and roasting juices.  Add 500ml of boiling water to the tin and stir continuously until simmering.

10) Allow the gravy to simmer and reduce for a least 15 minutes squashing the veg as you stir to extract every ounce of flavour. You should now have a thin, dark brown gravy, taste for seasoning and adjust.

11) Strain your gravy, carve the bird and serve with vegetables (buttered cabbage in addition to the roasties here) and bread sauce.

It seems a little long winded written down like this, but all pretty straight forward...  For me this is how all roast dinners should be, real gravy made just with meat juices and the proper accompaniments.  Bread sauce is also a traditional accompaniment for partridge and grouse.  Keep watching the blog to discover what I did with the chicken carcass and liver!

Left over roast beef pho

Remember my pan roast rib of beef?  Well this is a follow up with the left overs, totally different and absolutely delicious.

First of all, a word of warning, pho's pretty much the national dish of Vietnam and people get very, very passionate about it!  This is my version using beef left overs, it's loosely based around a traditional pho recipe but is in no way authentic or definitive, it's just a lovely aromatic beef noodle soup.

Once again amenable to tweaks, add some vegetables if you like, mix in some mint or thai basil with the coriander, add more or less chilli and lime etc etc.

Ingredients (to serve 4)

Left over roast beef bones (you may supplement with other left over bones as I have with a smoked ham bone in the picture)
2 onions
10cm piece of ginger
3 star anise
4 cloves
1/2  cinammon stick
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
Large bunch of coriander
1 pack of wide flat rice noodles
A few slices per portion of left over rare roast beef
2 red chillies
1 bunch of spring onions
1 lime

Directions

1) Under a grill or over a naked flame blacken the onions and ginger whilst still in their skins.

 2) After around 10 minutes when the skins are charred and the ginger and onions are soft, scrape away the blackened skins and add the now soft aromatics to a large stock pan with the bones, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, sugar and fish sauce.  Top up with 3 litres of water.

3) Bring the stock pan to the boil and simmer very gently for at least 90 minutes and up to 6 hours, skim any scum that forms on the surface.  

4) Taste your broth and adjust the seasoning adding fish sauce, salt or sugar as required, it should taste a little over seasoned as you're relying on this broth seasoning all of the other ingredients.

5) Cook your noodles as per packet instructions (usually soak in cold water for a few minutes and then boil for a few more)

6) Add noodles to each bowl, and top with coriander, chopped spring onions, chilli and very thin slices of rare beef.

7) Strain your broth and ladle over the assembled other ingredients it should just cover them all, serve with a wedge of lime.

The assembly of each bowl can be done entirely to taste, as can the seasoning etc.  This is a firm favourite in our house and really does feel like a lovely warm hug in a bowl.

Enjoy!

Pan roast rib of beef with thyme roasted vegetables.

This dish is pretty much the epitome of my kind of cooking.  Everything here relies on quality ingredients cooked simply with respect.

This dish will only ever be as good as the beef that you source, this isn't a cheap cut but it'll serve 4 adults with some left for cold and a bone leftover to make stock with, if you have limited funds invest in the beef!  For me, quality meat means going to a good butcher and indeed you won't find this cut in the supermarket so this recipe really does start at your local butchers.

Once again the recipe's totally adaptable, you can substitute the root veg for others (or even steamed greens in a mustard dressing) add some honey before you roast etc etc.  All delicious.  You could experiment with other cuts of beef but this is by far my favourite, it has a wonderful flavour when treated this way.

Ingredients (to feed 4);

1 rib of beef on the bone weighing 1.5-2kg, go for the best that you can afford
2 cloves of garlic
Olive oil
4 large carrots
4 small beets
4 onions
Large sprig of thyme
1 kg floury potatoes

Directions

1) If you remember, take the beef out of any wrapping and rub well with olive oil lots of black pepper and the garlic (finely chopped) about 24 hours prior to cooking. Do not salt at this stage or the beef will start to cure and you'll have the start of a pastrami!

2) This step's non negotiable, take the beef out of the 'fridge and leave uncovered at room temperature for at least 2 hours prior to cooking to allow it to come to temperature, if not already peppered / garlicked do that at this stage. If you ignore this stage you'll have the familiar barbecue "burnt sashimi effect". Pre heat oven to 140C

3) Take the beets and carrots, top, tail and scrub clean, there's no need to peel them. Peel your onions.  Rub all of these with salt, pepper, thyme and a little olive oil, place in the oven, we want these to soften slowly over around 2 hours.

4) Peel and halve your potatoes if large, place in a pan of salted water bring to the boil and simmer for 4 minutes until the edges are just soft.  Drain well and allow to steam dry before seasoning with salt and pepper, add a tablespoon of olive oil and shake in the pan to rough the edges up. You may add the garlic that's been on the outside of the beef at this stage if you so desire.

5) After the vegetables have been in for around 90 minutes increase your oven temperature to 250C, move the vegetables to the bottom and place a tray with 2 tblsp of olive oil on the top shelf, once up to heat add potatoes to the hot oil (carefully).

6) Heat a dry ovensafe griddle pan or heavy frying pan to smoking point on the hob, salt the beef thoroughly, rub with a little oil if dry and sear very thoroughly on all sides.  You need a well browned flavourful crust, that's what this dish is all about.

7)  Once seared, transfer the beef to the top of the oven (still at 250C) and move the potatoes down, checking and turning if necessary, not forgetting to check on the veg in the tray below.  If things are browning too quickly turn the oven down a little, but not below 220C.

8) Check the beef after about 10 minutes, feeling the firmness as a guide to how well done it is (or cheat and use a meat thermometer) it should take 12-15 minutes for medium rare depending on the thickness. Obviously cook to your preference.

9) Remove the beef and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes on a trivet with a plate underneath to catch the juices.

10) Check on your veg / potatoes you can use these 15 minutes to crisp your potatoes, your veg should be soft but not too brown.

11) Pour the resting juices back over the beef, carve and serve on a large platter.

This dish may not be rocket science but is a huge treat and really never fails!!

Enjoy, share and let me know how you get on...

Orecchiette with broccoli

This is an adaptation / bastardisation of a Puglian classic using very adaptable store cupboard ingredients, it's a tasty, healthy favourite in our household.  In Puglia cime di rapa (sprouted turnip tops) would be used in place of the broccoli but they're difficult to find in the UK.  Other simple variations are in the salty element, anchovies are commonly used, pancetta or smoked bacon are good too.  Obviously the final variation is in the amount of heat / sourness you enjoy with the lemons and chillies!

This also a great pasta to start with, you don't need a machine and it's great fun making the shapes (my 4 year old loves it), the flavour and texture are quite different from standard pasta using eggs.

For the orecchiete;

Ingredients (feeds 4 as a main)

'00' pasta flour - around 250g
Semolina flour  - around 250g

Directions

This could not be simpler, mix together the semolina and pasta flours in equal quantities and add just enough water to form a firm strong dough.  Knead for 5 minutes and then cover in clingfilm and allow to rest in the 'fridge for 1 hour or so.

Take the pasta dough from the 'fridge and roll into long sausages and then cut into discs approximately the size of £1 coins.  Squash the discs flat using your thumb to form the shape of little ears (orecchiette) on a board.

You can cook the orecchiette whilst making the sauce, bring a large pan of well salted water to the boil and then add the pasta and return to the boil as quickly as possible.  The pasta should take 3-4 minutes to cook but test it early and remove it swiftly to keep it nice and al dente.

For the sauce;

Ingredients (to feed 4 as a main)

3 heads of broccoli
4 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red chilli (deseeded and chopped) or 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
A handful of pancetta / ham or bacon cut into lardons
1 lemon

Directions

1) Ensure that the pan's on for your pasta! (see above)

2) Divide your broccoli into florets and cook in boiling salted water, in reality I usually shortcut and do this in with the pasta.  I like the broccoli to be a little over cooked so it's still very green but breaks up a little in the sauce.

3) Add the olive oil to a large pan over a moderate heat and add the bacon / pancetta.

4) After a couple of minutes once starting to brown add the chilli and thinly sliced garlic (try to channel the guy with the razor blade in The Godfather), allow the garlic to brown slightly but do not burn. (your nose is your best tool for this, as soon as the garlic smells a little nutty remove to from the heat, burnt garlic is not good)

5) Add the drained broccoli to the pan.

6) Add the juice of the lemon to the pan and remove from the heat.  If you squeeze the lemon directly into the pan you get some of the oil from the zest, enhancing the flavour.

Bringing it together;

Drain the pasta and add to the sauce, mix throughly.  Taste before seasoning with salt, there are many salty ingredients here!  Season with black pepper if desired.

I never serve cheese with this pasta, I just serve this simply with a lemon wedge on the side.