Between Seasons Chilli

Is it winter, is it summer? No one knows! So to compensate I made this chilli which is not quite as stodgy but it still packs that heated chilli punch to warm your toes and burn your arse. I’m not a big fan of mince (due to scarring childhood mince memories) and I would sooner make a chilli using whole cuts but in the interest of speed and cost cutting I have used mince.  Now with that sterling introduction click “view recipe” and make it.

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  What you need:

  
  

  • 250 g beef mince
  • 250 g pork mince
  • Leftover cured sausage, chopped – roughly 50 g
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 celery stick
  • Handful of mushrooms
  • Black eyed peas – 150 g dried, soaked in hot water for 1 hour min. 
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 kg fresh tomatoes
  • 1 litre chicken stock
  • 1 chilli, sliced
  • 1 heaped tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 heaped tsp ground cumin
  • 1 heaped tsp ground coriander
  • ½ heaped tsp chilli powder
  • Fresh coriander
  • Fresh rosemary
  • Fresh thyme

  
  

  
  

  How to make it:

  
  

  1. Heat a large casserole pan on the hob until hot, and throw in the roughly chopped cured meat. Pour in a tablespoon of olive oil and fry until it starts to release its oils and crisps. Add in all of the mince and fry until browned. Remove from the pan and reduce the heat. Roughly chop the onion, carrot and celery, banging them in the same pan to fry, with a pinch of seasoning. This should take about 20 minutes – ensure the veg doesn’t brown too quickly or you will burn it. Remove from the pan.
  2. Slice the mushrooms and fry until golden – add more oil to the pan as required. Add in the finely chopped garlic and fry for 3 minutes. Pile all of the cooked veg and meat back into the pan. Add all of the dried spices and sliced chilli, stirring into the chilli. Cook for a further minute and then add the chicken stock, fresh rosemary and thyme.
  3. Whilst this simmers, prep your tomatoes. Score the bottom of each tomato with a cross and place into a pan of boiling water for 15 seconds. Take out and plunge into ice cold water. Once cool you can easily peel the skin off of the tomato. Repeat this process for all of the tomatoes. Dice the peeled tomatoes, removing the seeds and core. Add to the rest of the chilli. Of course you can just add a tin of chopped tomatoes.
  4. Let the chilli simmer for 1 hour, adding water if it becomes too dry at any point. Add in the dried peas at this point, discarding the water in which they were soaked. Cook for a further hour or until the peas are tender but not mushy. 
  5. The chilli should be thick in texture but not dry – if it is too thin continue reducing the liquid to get the desired consistency. Taste the chilli for seasoning and adjust accordingly. 
  6. Serve with rice and garnish with fresh chilli, coriander and a dollop of sour cream.

  
  

Pizza

Everyone loves pizza; this is a global undisputable fact. Toppings can be tailored to your own personal liking but using your own favourite cured meat will always be a winner. Placing your dough in the fridge will allow for slow fermentation which will lead to dough that’s easier to roll out and has a tastier crust. A word on crust - don’t be tight with topping, put the sauce to the edges, there is nothing worse than a 3 inch deep circumference of just bread. But there is a fine line between being generous with topping and overloading a pizza. Too much topping will lead to soggy pizza, raw dough and no crisp base.

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  What you need:
  

  • ½ batch of The hangry Cook bread dough (click "bread dough" to go to the recipe) 
  • 2 tins of chopped tomatoes 
  • Fresh rosemary sprigs
  • Fresh thyme sprigs
  • 2 mozzarella balls
  • Mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 80g charcuterie meat, sliced – the best quality you can afford. I used a chilli and black pepper salami made locally in Leeds.

  • Several baking trays or a pizza stone
  • Semolina

  
  

  How to make it:
  

  1. Firstly mix your bread dough and leave to prove for an hour. Alternatively you can make the dough up to 2 days in advance and leave it in the fridge before using it – this will make the dough easier to roll out and more importantly even tastier.
  2. Put the chopped tomatoes into a saucepan with the rosemary and thyme. Simmer for about 20 minutes until the sauce thickens. If the tomatoes are a little bitter tasting add a splash balsamic vinegar.  Leave to cool.
  3. Turn the oven on to 220 ˚C.
  4. Taking 100g of dough, flour your work surface and the top of the dough. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough, turning it every quarter to ensure you end up with a circle. Of course adapt this method to suit the shape of your baking tray if necessary. Once the dough is thin (about 12-14inches in diameter) sprinkle your baking tray or pizza stone with semolina, to stop the pizza sticking, and place your dough onto it.
  5. Spread a very thin layer of the tomato sauce onto the dough – remember it is a very thin base and can’t hold too much topping so less is more. Then scatter some slices of mozzarella, mushrooms and the cured meat on top of the sauce. Again don’t overload the pizza with toppings as more toppings equal more water and ultimately a soggy pizza base - you want a cooked, crisp base.
  6.  Bake for 8 minutes in the hot oven, turning half way through if necessary.
  7. Slide onto a large board, cut into slices and stuff your face.

  
  

Spiced Battered Fish

This dish is primarily a result of visiting the fishmongers later in the day and the only thing available was cod and turbot. With me not being so flash with cash I chose the cod.  I was thinking about doing regular fried fish and chips but I thought, in the heat wave we have being experiencing, adding some spice would make it feel less greasy and sickly. I’m glad to say it worked and all it needs is some mushy peas and thickly buttered bread. That’s right I made a fish butty and mushy peas.

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  What you need:

  
  

  • 4 small cod fillets – get your fishmonger to fillet them for you if buying whole
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp ground ginger
  • Fresh chilli, finely chopped
  • Fresh coriander, finely chopped
  • 1 lime
  • 100g plain flour
  • Sparkling water

  
  

  How to make it:

  
  

  1. Firstly, make sure that there are no stray bones left in your cod fillets, using a clean pair of tweezers to remove any stragglers. 
  2. Measure out all of the spices into a ramekin and sprinkle over both sides of the fillets. Squeeze over the juice of a lime. Leave these to marinade whilst making the batter. Same some spice for you batter.
  3. I chose to make a tempura style batter – mix the plain flour with salt and pepper, chopped fresh chilli coriander, a pinch of your spice mix and enough of the sparkling water to make a batter with a consistency similar to a Yorkshire pudding mix. The sparkling water will make the batter lighter but using normal water will work just fine.
  4. Fill a heavy based pan half way with vegetable oil (or use a deep fat fryer if you have one- unfortunately I don’t have the space for one currently) and put on a moderate to high heat. To check that the oil is hot enough drop a small amount of the batter in – it should immediately start intensely bubbling in the oil.
  5. Put some extra seasoned plain flour onto a plate and coat both sides of the cod fillets in the flour. This will ensure that the batter clings to the fish allowing the fish to steam within its crispy coating. Take each floured fillet and dip into the batter ensuring it is fully coated. Carefully, holding the thin end of the fillet, lower the fish into the oil and move it along the surface of the oil – this will ensure that the batter starts to cook and doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. If you are using a deep fat fryer use this same technique – DO NOT place the fish in the basket and lower it into the oil as you will end up with a battered basket and some greasy cod. I cooked the fish in two batches to ensure the temperature of the oil didn’t drop. Fry for approximately 3 minutes until the batter is golden brown. Then carefully flip the fish and again fry for roughly 3 minutes until golden. Remove from the oil allowing the oil to drain off back into the pan and place on some kitchen roll to absorb any excess oil. 
  6. Serve up with the aforementioned buttered bread and homemade mushy peas. 

  
  

  
  

Goat Curry

While it is super-hot in the UK at the moment it is no excuse not to have spicy food. You can make this with shin of beef but goat gives this dish an earthy authentic taste. While this dish does have scotch bonnets in, I leave them whole so you don’t blow your head off! I suggest using the yellow chillies because you can find them after cooking - avoiding a deadly burn. Make the effort to get the goat I picked mine up from Leeds farmers market and I’m pretty sure that you can pick it up at farmer shops and you know meat places.

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  What you need:
  
  

  • 500g goat meat
  • 2 onions
  • Chicken stock
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 4 curry leaves
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 scotch bonnets
  • Creamed coconut 
  • Black eyed peas
  • Spring onion
  • 1 Lime
  • Chopped coriander
  • 3 tbsp natural yoghurt

  
  

  How to make it:
  
  

  1. Toast the whole spices (coriander, cumin and mustard seeds) together in a dry pan over a moderate heat until you can smell the aroma of them. Put them in a pestle and mortar to finely grind them and add the rest of the spices minus the curry leaves. 
  2. Mix with the yogurt to create a marinade for the goat meat leave at least for a few hours but preferably overnight if you have time.
  3. Brown off the marinated meat in a hot pan with some vegetable oil, in small batches to ensure the temperature of the pan does not drop, which would prevent browning. Set aside the fried meat.
  4. Chop the onions into thin slices and add to the pan with a pinch of salt. Cook over a low temperature until they soften and start to darken, taking on a jammy texture. 
  5. Return the meat to the pan. Pierce the scotch bonnets and add these to the pan to be removed later. They will act like a spice teabag, providing a less intense heat so infamous with these chillies. Add enough chicken stock to cover all of the meat, cover with a lid and gently simmer until the meat is tender. This may take around 2 hours.
  6. If you are using dried peas like me, you can add them to the pan earlier to cook them in the curry. If you have opted for the tinned variety add them about 10 minutes before the curry is ready to warm them through and make sure they don’t turn to mush.
  7. Remove the scotch bonnets – so no one gets a nasty surprise in their portion – and stir in some fresh chopped coriander, lime juice and seasoning to taste. Sprinkle with spring onion and serve alongside rice. 

  
  

  
  

Baked Crab

A cracking crustacean loaded with some extra tidbits of flavour. It is a real no hassle dish if you get a dressed crab.  Have it on its own as a generous starter or a main with the addition of some salad and you have yourself a nice summer treat, that’s quicker than lighting a BBQ.

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  What you need:
  
  

  • 2 Crabs – a crab per person
  • Half an onion 
  • 2 chillies
  • ½ a bulb of fennel
  • Spring onions 
  • A bunch of coriander
  • Lemon or a lime 
  • Butter 
  • Spring onions
  • Breadcrumbs

  
  How to make it:
  
  

  1. Melt the butter in a frying pan and add in the finely diced onion, fennel and 1 chilli, leaving out the spring onions. The vegetables should be soft but don’t over colour - use a moderate heat to do this.
  2. Meanwhile if you have whole crabs dress them, reserving the shells. Get a hammer out for easy removal of meat from the claws.
  3. Once the crab meat has been removed place it into a bowl. To the bowl add in the diced cooked veg, zest of a lemon, coriander, chopped spring onion, seasoning and a handful of breadcrumbs. Taste the mix; you might want to add in some lemon juice or if you like it spicy add in some more chilli or some chilli sauce. 
  4.  Mix everything together and pack the mixture back into the crab shell. Scatter over some more breadcrumbs and cubes of butter – this will give you a crispy coating once cooked.
  5. Place the crab on a baking sheet and put in a 180°C oven for 10 -20 minutes. The cooking time will be based upon the size of your crabs. You do not need to cook the meat you just want it warmed through. Check the internal crab temperature by using a metal skewer.
  6. Finally put the crab under a very hot grill for 1 minute to crisp the top. 

  
  

  
  

Beef Burrito

I cannot say Mexican is high on my list of favourite cuisines but I wanted to try and move beyond my fear of the (let’s face it) quite beige coloured food. I think the fear stems from my student lifestyle where people thought they were being adventurous by adding bell peppers and poor quality chicken breast to the infamous DIY fajita kits. Challenged with preparing a Mexican meal I chose burritos, which could have ended in disaster only knowing that they consisted of rice and a wrap. However I am happy to report I loved them and ate them all week long. But I will say there are some ingredients in this that a Mexican aficionado might not agree with.

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  What you need to make 6:

  • 500 g good quality minced beef 
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 chilli
  • 1 red onion
  • 2 stick of celery 
  • Some form of tortillas 
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • Coriander
  • 1 tbsp of soy sauce
  • 1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tomatos
  • 1 lime
  • Sour cream
  • Your favourite hard cheese
  • 1 tsp of ground coriander
  • 1 tsp of ground cumin
  • 1 tsp of paprika
  • Half a mug of rice
  • Annnnnd some pickled jalapenos

  
  

  How to make it:

  1. Get your rice cooking but keep it warm for when your assembling the burrito.  
  2. Brown off the beef in a very hot frying pan by adding in some veg oil then the beef. You want some good colour on it - brown not beige. Once the beef is cooled add in the soy and Wostershire sauces, keep stirring until the liquid has boiled off and set aside in a bowl.
  3. In the same pan on a medium heat  fry off diced onion, carrot, fresh chilli and celery – you may need to add a little extra oil. Don’t rush the cooking of the veg. Cook low and slow so you don’t burn the goods.  
  4. Once the veg is soft and has taken on some colour add back in the beef, along with the ground spices. Mix well and cook for another 1 -2 minutes.
  5. With the rice is cooked and the meat / veg is ready it’s time to assemble. Start by warming up the wrap in the pan the veg was cooked in and place it on some tin foil. Pile up 2 tbsp of rice on the wrap and the same of beef filling. Keep building the flavour mountain by placing on slices of tomato, grated cheese, chopped coriander, a few slices of jalapenos, top with some sour cream and a quick squeeze of lime.
  6. Wrap that bad boy up in the tortilla then roll it up in the foil. Place the burrito in a warm-ish oven ( ~70 degrees C) while you make the others.
     
     

  Serve with the Hangry Cook Guacamole

Pork Kebabs with a Sweet Potato and Harissa Mash

With this recipe I faced my enemy… the sweet potato. Yeah it’s meant to be a “healthier” potato and it is meant to be the original potato, but I just don’t like its smug attitude.  It behaves in a manner in which it lords itself above the regular humble potato because the health nuts hold it in such high esteem.  Well this recipe tones down the sweet self-righteousness of the potato with the use of some fiery harissa. The microwave is your friend saving you loads of time here, as we’re not interested in crispy skin but a mash so we can fully cook the spud in there. Speaking of the cooking the pork is best when it has started to crisp at the edges in contrast to the soft mash. When the pork and mash is combined in a pitta or a wrap with some cooling yoghurt / a cucumber raita and a salad, you have the perfect kebab combination. 

*I might have to do some further research on the sweet potato as some facts displayed in this intro may be wrong.

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  What you need for two:
  
  

  • Half a pork loin / fillet (it’s the same thing)
  • 1 tsp of fennel seeds
  • ½ tsp of chilli flakes
  • ½ tsp of smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp of cumin
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 – 2 tsp of harissa paste
  • 2 sweet potatoes 
  • A few sprigs of thyme
  • A small bunch of coriander 

  
  

  How to make it:

  
  

  1. Job one: slice the pork fillet into thin strips and marinade it in the juice of half a lemon and its zest, fennel seeds, chilli flakes, olive oil, paprika, thyme leaves, thinly sliced / crushed garlic and ground cumin. I marinated it for a short 30 minutes due to the fillet slices being so thin. Increasing the surface area (thinner slices) leads to faster marinating.
  2. After the marinating you need to put the meat on the skewers. But before putting the meat under a screaming hot grill put the potatoes in a microwavable bowl - don’t bother pealing however do remove any scabby bits with a knife and stab them all over with a fork, and place in a couple of sprigs of thyme. Cover your bowl with a couple of layers of cling film and microwave on full power for two x 6 minute sessions; this should be enough to cook the spuds. 
  3. While the microwave is busy saving you time put the meat under the heat, remembering to rotate the kebabs every now and again so the meat is cooked through and golden brown all over. 
  4. Once cooked, rest the meat. At this stage start making your mash. Coarsely chop the potatoes (removing the thyme stalks first) with your knife with the harissa and coriander and seasoning. Chopping should combine everything making a “rustic” mash.

   

  Serve your kebabs with warmed pittas, salad and a yoghurt dip.

Sausage and Lentil Stew / not sure it is a stew

By strict definition this dish seems to be a stew “a meal of meat and vegetables cooked slowly in liquid in a closed dish or pan” but the cooking time is relatively short for a stew. While the images are a little below par the recipe is not. On a cold winters day, like the ones we have been having, this is the perfect warming and filling dish to make you appreciate the cold. With a piece of toast smothered in plenty of butter and an extra drop of crème fraîche on the lentils, you will want to forget all about summer - but only if it’s full fat crème fraiche. If John S is reading this I finally got round to the beetroot challenge. If you have any ingredient suggestions I am more than happy to try and rise to the challenge, just write it in the comments but try keep it seasonal.

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  What you need:
  
  

  • Some good quality thick sausages, one per person (spicy sausages would work nicely)
  • 1 red onion 
  • 1 carrot 
  • 2 sticks of celery
  • A hand full of dry lentils per person 
  • A clove of garlic
  • 2 / 3 beetroots
  • 3 sage leaves
  • Thyme stalks 
  • 6 shallots 
  • Butter
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 
  • 500 ml chicken stock
  • A tub of crème fraîche

  
  How to make it:
  
  

  1. Peel and quarter the beetroots – do this on a plastic chopping board, otherwise you may find your beautiful wooden chopping board stained with pinkie purple marks. Throw the beetroot into a roasting tin along with some seasoning, a little olive oil and thyme stalks. Toss the ingredients together and place in a 180 oC oven. This should cause the veg to roast, drying it out and concentrating the flavour whilst adding new “caramelisation” flavour notes. Cook for 40 minutes.
  2. Fry the sausages in a little veg oil; they don’t have to be perfectly golden over their surface due to the sausages getting fully cooked later but more browning now means more flavour later.
  3. Once brown take the sausages out of the pan and over a low heat fry diced onion, carrot and celery until soft for 20 minutes. Then add in chopped garlic and fry for another 5 minutes.
  4. While the vegetables cook, peel and half the shallots. Melt some butter in a small frying pan over a low heat and place the shallots cut side down into the bubbling butter. Cook the shallots for 20 minutes like this -over this time they should soften and go a deep brown underneath. 
  5. Back to the stew - to the vegetables add in thyme leaves and chopped sage leaves. Next add in your lentils along with the sausages and mix everything together. Now you want to pour in enough chicken stock to cover the lentils. Season, cover with a lid and cook over a low heat for 20 minutes. You will know it’s cooked when the lentils are soft.    
  6. Shallots – now that they are golden underneath pour over the balsamic vinegar, season, and then pour over some water and cover with a lid, steaming / boiling the shallots to completion. However check the water level from time to time to check that the pan hasn’t gone dry.
  7. While all this is going on the beetroot should be done. The beetroot chunks are going to be little flavour bombs that just need adding to the stew 5 minutes before the lentils are cooked.
  8. So now the lentils are about cooked with the beetroot added and the shallots are done. Take the lid off of the lentils and add in a couple of tablespoons of the crème fraiche, mix well and plate up, placing the shallots on top. 

Rib Ragù / Ragoût (it means the same thing)

Why not start this year with this low cost delicious treat? You can feed a whole family off one rack of ribs which are roughly £2.50. I think using my version the whole meal comes in at £1 per person based on 5 people eating. Ribs are the perfect stewing meat; the high intermuscular fat means that once cooked the meat remains tender and juicy as the fat renders. Once the meat is cooked comes the hardest bit of the recipe - picking the bones out. What you could do to pimp this dish out is to add a fresh chilli and a big old glass of wine (red or white) when you add in the tomatoes. Oh and a must for this dish is the fennel seeds so go buy some if you don’t have any! Annnnnd any left overs are perfect for dinner the next day with some couscous.

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  What you need:

  • A rack of ribs
  • 1 onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 2 celery sticks
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • A splash of apple cider vinegar
  • 300 ml of chicken stock
  • 1 tsp of fennel seeds 
  • 1 tsp of chilli flakes 
  • ½ a tsp of paprika 
  • Pasta
    
    

  How to make it:
  
  

  1. Finely dice the onion, carrot, and celery then fry in some oil over a low heat for 30 minutes. In the last 5 minutes chop the garlic and fry that off with the rest of the vegetables. 
  2. While the veg is frying take the membrane off the ribs, this is a must! You can get this peeled off by the butcher but it’s fairly easy to do yourself. Use a knife to detach the membrane at a corner then get some kitchen roll to grab the membrane (giving you grip) and pull!
  3. Add in your seeds and chilli and paprika to the pan and fry on a medium heat for 1 minute. Scrape all the veg to the side of the pan and whack up the heat. Coat the rack of ribs with a little oil and fry until you get a bit of a brown crust, flip and repeat.
  4. Now pour in your vinegar, tomatoes, wine (if you’re using some) and stock. Season and cover with a lid. Cook over a low heat for 2 hours.  Check the liquid level every now and again and top up with water if needed. 
  5. Once the meat is soft and tender the bones will fall out – remove these from the pan. Reduce the sauce until it gets thick, season if necessary and toss through some cooked pasta and chopped parsley. 

Beef and Ale Pie

Well last week I told you to prepare for the impending doom that is winter by getting some short crust pastry made. This week I’m using it to finish off a beef and ale stew / casserole.  Now the trick with any stew is to use a meat that is high in intramuscular fat – the fat that is within a muscle not the fat around it.  Think of a rump steak - rump has a large fat rind and this is intermuscular fat, but within the red meat white seams of fat should be present this is often called marbling. Without good marbling the meat will be dry in the mouth and very unpleasant. Marbled meat gives a softer less dense mouth feel which in turn makes us think the meat is juicy.   However marbling is only half the story, for stews we use cuts of meat that are high in fat and that do plenty of work, i.e bits of cow that support the animal and move it about. These cuts therefore are also high in collagen which gives the muscle tissue strength so it doesn’t break /tear so easily. However collagen takes either a very high temperature to cook or a very long time; this is why stews are left for a few hours simmering away before the meat is tender. I will talk about meat tenderness in more depth another time ‘coz it’s time to make some pie*.

*I am aware I only put a pastry top on and this probably doesn’t count as a “real” pie of any true pie aficionado, but I don’t like being overwhelmed with pastry when I have a very creamy mash as a side.

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  What you need for a big deep pie (4-6 people):

  0.8 - 1 kg of diced shin of beef 

  2 medium onions 

  A big handful of field / chestnut mushrooms

  A large carrot

  Two sticks of celery 

  Half a tin of chopped tomatoes (200 g)

  3-4 big fat cloves of garlic 

  A nice beer / stout  (preferably something dark)

  A handful of parsley with stalks

  3 tbsp of honey

  ¼ pint of beef stock

  How to make it:

  1. Coarsely chop the onions into slices. Snap the celery and peel the chewy fibres off (image III). Now coarsely chop the celery, onion and garlic and put in a large frying pan along with some chopped mushrooms. Fry until to the onions begin to brown (20 minutes) on a moderate heat.
  2. While the veg is sweating down prep the meat. Start by trimming off any excess fat hanging off of the meat. Then toss the meat in seasoned flour and in a separate frying pan fry off the beef so it becomes golden in colour. To ensure that the colour is golden fry at a very hot temperature and fry the meat in stages - do not overcrowd the pan, as frying too much meat at once lowers the temperature of the pan and the meat doesn’t fry it just sweats drawing out water. 
  3. Once fried add in a ¼ of your beer to the pan you fried the beef off in scrapping the bottom of the pan to get off all the residual meat off - this is important for a decent tasting stew. Add the meat infused beer to the onion and veg mix along with the fried of pieces of beef. Mix everything thoroughly with the beef stock. -If the beer you’re using is particularly bitter you could always add some honey to the story to sweeten things up. 
  4. Cover with a lid and simmer on the stove for 2-3 hours, keeping an eye on the water level in the stew – if it becomes too dry then add some stock / water. 
  5. You want to cook the meat until it is tender and you should be able to pull the meat apart with relative ease as shown within image X
  6. Once cooked allow the stew to cool and transfer it to a pie dish. Coarsely chop up the parsley (including the stalks) and mix into the stew. 
  7. Now it’s the time to roll out you pastry so it will fit your pie dish and place it on top. You can trim up the pastry so it’s pretty looking but I’m not too fussed - using the off cuts of short crust I made some leaves. Egg / milk wash the pastry - this gives the pie a golden colour once cooked. Pierce a hole in the centre to allow steam to exit the pie when hot. Throw it in the oven at 180 ^oC for 30-40 minutes until the crust is golden and the pie is piping hot. 

  
  

Cubanos

Cubanos - The healthiest sandwich you will ever eat, I promise. It’s that time of the month where food is scarce and pockets are empty, that’s right it’s the week before pay day. So I had a rummage through the cupboards and found some chorizo and bread and we had some left over spatchcocked chicken from the weekend. I don’t know if I was proud of my left over chicken creation, but what I do know is that it hit the spot in a way only a filthy sandwich could. 

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  What you need for two sandwiches:

  
  

  • 1/3 of a leftover chicken (or more if you’re hangry)
  • Chorizo 50 g
  • Mushrooms (as many as you need to bulk out this butty)
  • Butter
  • 50 g of a good melting cheese – I used manchego 
  • A couple of garlic cloves
  • Some decent bread        
  • Parsley

  
  

  How to make it:

  
  

  1. Chop up the chorizo sausage and get that frying in a dry pan on a medium high heat. While that’s on the go chop up the mushrooms and garlic. 
  2. Throw in the mushrooms once the chorizo has started to crisp up. You shouldn’t need to add any oil as the chorizo should have released enough to fry the mushrooms. When the mushrooms begin to go a nice brown throw in the garlic and fry that off for another 2-3 minutes. Finally add to the pan the shredded left over chicken and coarsely chopped parsley. Toss everything together and take the pan off the heat. Don’t season your filling too much as the cheese is pretty salty and so is the chorizo, but get some black pepper in there.
  3. Slice some good bread and butter one side of it. In a dry frying pan add the bread butter side down; over a medium-high heat you should get a nice golden colour on the bread. Repeat for all 4 slices.
  4. Once all the bread is fried on one side butter the plain side of the bread. To the already crusty fried side add your cheese and to this add your filling and then top with more cheese. Grab another slice of bread and place this fried side down leaving the new buttered side facing up. Repeat to build your second sandwich. Get the dry pan back on the heat and place a sandwich butter side down once again. Squash the sandwich a bit with a spatula; you want that cheese to melt and glue everything together. Once the bottom of the Cubano is golden flip it over and make that top layer of cheese melt and the bread go golden - then you’re done. While you’re making the next one put your Cubano in a warm oven ~100 ^oC ensuring the cheese says molten.
     
     -if you want a purely filth sandwich get some cheese slices in there, as long as the chicken is free range and the pork is of good quality there is no shame!

Spanish Roast Chicken

This dish is meant for a cheeky minimum fuss mid-week roast. In this recipe we go one stage further than spatchcocking the chicken – we cleave it in half. By chopping the chicken in half you cut the cooking time in half, so instead of the lengthy 1-2 hour cook it takes 40 minutes to an hour. Adding olives to the roast was a bit of experimental genius, salty sweet and crisp, 100% necessary in this recipe.  Oh and I am aware “Spanish Chicken” is a load of rubbish jargon for describing the use of paprika and olives, so sorry in advance.

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  What you need:

  • 1 free range whole chicken
  • A lemon
  • Sprigs of fresh thyme
  • Black olives
  • Cress
  • A good salad bag 
  • 1-2 tbsp of a nice sweet paprika 
  • 1 tbsp of chilli flakes 
  • A few cloves of garlic

  
  

  How to make it:
  

  1. As discussed we need to start by jointing the bird, hopefully pictures speak a thousand words and my pictures will guide you through this stage. If the pictures are no help I will summarise here what to do, and with any luck it will be in less than 1000 words. Put your biggest heaviest knife in the cavity of the bird to the right / left of the spine, put your weight on the knife and cut through the bone.  Repeat the process on the other side of the spine to remove it. Flip the bird over (so it’s skin side up) and spread it out on the board, push down on the breast down to break it (at this point we have spatchcocked the chicken). Flip the bird back over take your knife and cut down the centre of the bird, cutting it in half.
  2. Put the chicken in a high sided roasting tin, throw in garlic cloves which you have squashed using the back of your knife, a handful or two of de-stoned olives, a few sprigs of thyme, half a lemon which you have quartered up, sprinkle over the paprika with some seasoning and olive oil. Mix all the ingredients together in the roasting tin, but make sure the chicken halves are skin side up, with the breast being at the bottom. Placing the chicken in the tray like this ensures the breasts stay moist as all the juices run down to the breasts from the legs,  the legs are in the more direct heat which makes sure the breasts and thighs are all cooked at the same time. 
  3. Place the chicken in a pre-heated 180 ^oC oven for 40 minutes to 1 hour depending on the size of your bird. To check whether the chicken is cooked pierce the thickest part of the meat and see if the juices run clear, if they do it’s ready. Rest the meat for 15-20 minutes: this is so important as this prevents the meat from becoming dry when carved and also prevents it crumbling up when carved.
  4. Portion up the chicken and chop the cress into your salad.  Pour some of the resting juices over the salad and give it a squeeze of leftover fresh lemon juice and season to create your salad dressing.
     - serve with some rustic bread to mop up the leftover salad dressing-

Whisky BBQ Ribs

I got some Jura whisky as a present from a friend so I started looking online for recipes that used scotch. Upsettingly there seems to be a large deficit of recipes calling for scotch, while the market for recipes using bourbon is flooded. I am partial to a bourbon and cola but I wouldn't drink bourbon on its own. Scotch on the other hand needs no such support, being best served on its own. With this logic the superior taste of the scotch will enhance any dish in place of bourbon, so it’s time to ditch the bourbon and rejoice in the fact we are in the UK and enjoy our own whiskies. 

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  What you need:

  • A rack of ribs
  • A chilli
  • A big ol’ piece of ginger (4 cm in length)
  • 150 ml of a decent BBQ sauce
  • 1.5 tbsp of honey
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 star anise
  • A big measure of scotch – 60 ml
    
    

  How to cook:

  
  

  1. The membrane needs removing from the back of the ribs; you can either ask your butcher to remove this or you can do it yourself by using a bit of dry kitchen roll. Take your knife and cut a bit of the membrane off the meat, then pull the membrane off by using kitchen paper to help you grip it.
  2. To make the marinade; finely chop the chilli and garlic then finely grate the ginger. Mix your chopped veg and roots with the BBQ sauce, honey and whisky. Rub the sauce all over the meat and marinade for 2 hours minimum.
  3. After this time, add to the marinade 100 ml of water and place the ribs and marinade into a high sided roasting tray, ensuring the ribs are meat down in the tray. – By using a high sided tray the meat doesn't colour or dry out too quickly. Adding the water to the marinade prevents the meat from drying out, and placing the ribs meat side down ensures that continuous contact with the marinade is made, further preventing the ribs from drying out.
  4. Cook the ribs for 2 hours at 180 ^OC and check the ribs every 15 minutes after the first hour. Cooking time varies depending on the size of your ribs.  To check for “doneness” stick a tooth pick / BBQ skewer into the meat; if it’s got a buttery texture the meat is cooked. Alternately you can twist a bone and if you can feel the meat coming away from the bone the meat is definitely cooked.
  5. Now it’s time to get the BBQ glaze on the ribs; take a brush and coat your now thick BBQ marinade from the bottom of your roasting tray onto the meat. Cook for a further 10 minutes to darken your BBQ glaze. Then rest for 5 minutes before slicing up and serving. 

Satay Chicken with Salad and Noodles

The title makes this dish sound like a load stuff, that doesn’t go together, has been shoved together but trust me it does -  just think of it as a Thai salad.  Contrasting flavours and textures is what this dish is all about with some tasty chicken thrown into the mix. Now sit back, buckle in, then unbuckle, stand up and put some pans on the hob.

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  What you need for two:

  
  

  A couple of chicken thighs
  

  • A salad bag
  • Asparagus
  • A carrot
  • Peanuts
  • 2 tbsp of crunchy peanut butter
  • A thumb size piece of ginger 
  • A cucumber 
  • A portion of rice noodles 
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 2 tbsp of light soy source
  • 2 tbsp of chilli sauce
  • 2 tbsp of sesame oil
  • A lime
  • 2 fat garlic cloves
  • A couple of spring onions
  • Parsley/coriander

   

  How to make it:

  
  

  1. Start with the chicken marinade; pour into a bowl the honey, peanut butter and 1 tbsp of the chilli sauce, sesame oil and light soy. To this liquidish stuff grate in peeled ginger, zest of a lime and crushed garlic. Cut up the chicken into strips and throw them in your marinade.
  2. While the chicken is marinating make the salad dressing by pouring in 1 tbsp of chilli sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce and a big old squeeze of lime to taste.
  3. Turn on the grill and skewer the chicken using two skewers per kebab - the two skewers enable you to turn the meat when cooking to ensure an even grilling. Cook the meat until golden all over. You can further check that their cooked by cutting into the chicken pieces - they should be white and opaque in colour.
  4. While the chicken is grilling, cook your noodles according to the packet instructions.
  5. Season your asparagus and griddle it until it starts to pick up some colour. Toast off some peanuts and crush them. Finish by skinning a carrot and speed peel it.  
  6. Assemble your salad with salad leaves, asparagus, diced cumber and carrot. Pour over some dressing, setting the rest aside for the noodles, toss the salad, and finish with the crushed peanuts. On a nice board assemble the dish; drained noodles in one corner, salad in the middle and the satay chicken kebab placed on top.

Crab Linguine

Well they say good (or is it bad) things come in threes and this recipe will finish a hat trick of crab recipes off, I did say I have an obsession with crab lately.  While the other dishes have their roots firmly within the orient this dish has come from somewhere closer to home (for me), Italy. This is an easy dish to make and really quick, liberating you from been a slave to the stove allowing you to get on with sitting out in the sun; or if you are me extra time to clean the windows. On a more serious note buying crab is a little easier than you thought, you can go to your local fishmonger where in Leeds there is a quite a good selection to pick from. Alternatively some restaurants offer you the chance to buy direct from them but if you don’t ask you don’t get!

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  What you need:

  • 1 Dressed crab / a crab you dressed yourself
  • Linguine pasta
  • 2/3 Shallots
  • 1 Chilli
  • 1 Medium carrot
  • 1 Stick of celery
  • A hand full of bread crumbs
  • Parsley
  • 2 Garlic cloves
  • 50 g / 1 very big tbsp of mascarpone 
  • A lemon

  
  

  How to make it:

  
  

  1. Get a big pan of boing water on a high heat along with a small frying pan and a large frying pan.
  2. Chop up all your veg (shallot, carrot, chilli, celery and garlic) in 0.5 cm dice, it’s important that the cubes of veg are all roughly the same size; this ensures that all the vegetables cook at the same rate.
  3. Get your pasta in the boiling water with plenty of salt. No salt no flavour. The amount of pasta should be based off how big your crab is and cooked according to the packet instructions, but test it during cooking you still want the pasta to be pasta al dente (have some bite). –Keeping behind a cup of pasta water once the pasta is cooked-
  4. Add olive oil to the large frying pan and throw in the vegetables with some seasoning. Fry for 5 minutes you want the veg to begin to go golden.
  5. While frying off the veg add some butter into the smaller frying pan and toast off some breadcrumbs, they will be done once golden then set aside. The breadcrumbs will give a nice crunchy contrast to the end dish.
  6. To the vegetables add the mascarpone along with a ladle full of pasta water; this will create a thick sauce to coat your pasta. Once the mascarpone has made a sauce add in your crab meat followed by your drained pasta.  Toss the sauce, crab and pasta together with coarsely chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice. Check the sauce for seasoning, and then serve with the small croutons sprinkled on top with a little extra parsley.
     
     -Optionally you could add a splash of a nice white wine to the vegetables after they have gone golden. Remember you want to reduce the wine right down in volume before adding the mascarpone; otherwise the alcohol will ruin the taste of the sauce. -

Garlic Stuffed Roast Shoulder of Lamb

Just because it’s summer that doesn’t mean I don’t want my Sunday roast dinner! Lamb is an amazing meat to roast and it would be a shame for it to be left out due to its season of availability. In light of this I’m going to simply roast a shoulder, for not very long, and serve it with roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and “proper” gravy!  

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  What you need:

  • A shoulder / half a shoulder of lamb, bone in
  • A bulb of garlic
  • As many potatoes as you want to eat – I used 4 medium maris piper for the 2 of us.
  • 2 eggs 
  • 55 g of flour 
  • 1 apple
  • 1 onion
  • 300 ml of chicken stock
  • 100 ml of milk

  
  

  How to cook it:

  
  

  1. Start by taking a sharp knife and cutting a hole into the meat. Stuff a peeled garlic clove into this hole, repeating the process until you run out of garlic. (Try to make the garlic cloves evenly spaced across the meat preventing garlic overload for one person).  Chop your apple and onion into large chunks and use this as a trivet for your lamb. Finally add 150 ml of water into the tray; this prevents the apple and onion burning.    
  2. Place you meat in a 220 ^oC pre heated oven and then turn the temperature down to 140 ^oC. The cooking time is going to be dependent upon the size of the shoulder and which half you have. I used the arm section of the shoulder and this took 1.5 hours to cook. After an hour check the meat and keep checking every 15 minutes. You will know when it is cooked because the bone will be coming out of the meat, it will have a nice brown colour, and finally the meat will pull away easily. Do not overcook the lamb you still want a pink colour inside. Don’t be scared to keep poking and prodding!
  3. While the meat is in the oven prep your potatoes. Don’t bother pealing them this is just a boring relentless task! Quarter medium sized potatoes - the more rustically the better - and put them into a pan of salted boiling water. Boil the spuds until you can put a blunt-ish knife into them easily, and once cooked drain. Allow all the water to evaporate off the potato; this will allow them to become crispier when roasted. When cooled put the potatoes into a roasting tray which has been pre heated in the oven with 1 cm depth of flavourless oil i.e. vegetable or sunflower. Ideally you want to take the lamb out of the oven and allow it to rest, before roasting the spuds at the higher temperature of 200 ^oC for 45 - 60 minutes (don’t forget you have to toss them once in a while - they are done when completely golden)
  4. For the Yorkshire puddings whisk together the eggs, flour salt and milk. Add the milk gradually (you may not need it all) until you achieve a single cream consistency. Let the batter sit for half an hour and don’t worry about too many lumps. In your Yorkshire pudding tins put 1tsp of your flavourless oil per well and pre heat in your hot oven. Take out your hot tray and fill the well until half full, (the raw batter should start to bubble). Repeat with all your pudding wells and place back in the oven and cook at 200 -220 ^oC for 15 -20 minutes. During cooking minimise the amount of times you open the oven door. Opening the door often leads to a diminished rise, which is bad!
  5. Finally and almost most importantly the gravy: take the resting juices of the meat and pour that into the apple and onion mush. Once you pour off any excess fat add your chicken stock and bring to the simmer. Sieve the gravy and pour it back in the pan and put it back on a moderate heat. Use 30 ml of your Yorkshire pudding batter to thicken the gravy stirring constantly. If the gravy gets too thick add a bit of water to loosen it off again.
     Done.

Singapore Chilli Crab

I saw a recipe for chilli crab the other week and I really wanted to do my own version of the dish. I loved the idea of combining heat, sweet and saltiness to a “tear and share” dish. The crab makes this dish ideal to share with friends if you have more than one crab, however I would avoid it if you’re on a first date it doesn’t make for pretty eating! But that might be just a comment on my eating elegance. As a side note I try support local ingredients and products as much as I can; with this in mind I made the dish using Yorkshire Tomato Ketchup, which I genuinely love and think is better than the 57 varieties option. If you are interested I picked it up at the farmers market held on the Briggate in Leeds City Centre. Anyway…

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  What you need:

  • 1 whole pre-cooked crab
  • 2 tbsp of tomato ketchup 
  • 2 tbsp of oyster sauce
  • A stem of lemon grass
  • A bunch coriander 
  • 3 spring onions 
  • 2 inch of ginger
  • A splash of dark soy sauce 
  • A lime 
  • 3 red chillies 

  
  

  How to make it:
  

  1. Start by making the sauce; get a large frying pan on a medium heat, add 2 tbsp of veg/sunflower oil. Throw in 2 sliced up chillies, lemon grass, spring onions and batons of ginger. Fry for 2 mins.
  2. Add in the sauces (tomato, oyster and soy; the soy dictates the overall saltiness of the dish so add to your own taste) and the juice of half a lime.  The sauce will be very thick so thin it down with 150 ml of water from the tap. Simmer the sauce while preparing the crab.
  3. The crab is already cooked so we just want to warm it through by steaming it. To do that take a large sauce pan and place a heat proof bowl in the bottom of it. On this bowl balance a small plate for the crab to sit on. Now the kit is set up it’s time to start cooking. To the pan add water, enough to get ½ way up the bowl and place on a high heat - you want the water to boil. Once boiling place your crab on the plate and put a lid on your sauce pan. Steam for 5-10 minutes, depending on the size of your crab.
  4. -Meanwhile if your sauce thickens add more water. You want the consistency of cream-
  5. Once your crab is warmed through pull off the claws and legs and crack the shell using the back of a large knife; this allows you to get at the white meat (don’t use your best knife in case you damage it). With the main body of the crab pull the top away from the bottom and remove the dead man’s fingers; these are the crab’s lungs and are not poisonous as some people suggest online, however they do not make for good eating (I have inserted a pic of the lungs, reference at the bottom).
  6. Using your large knife break the main body (top and bottom) of the crab in half to get at the brown meat.
  7. Finally scoop up all your crab (minus the dead man’s fingers and shards of shell) and throw it into your sauce. Toss the crab through the sauce to get an even coating and serve on a large platter / plate. Over the top scatter another sliced chilli, coriander and a couple of finely sliced spring onions.

  

  Dead man's fingers

  -serve with rice / noodles. To flavour you noodles these could be pre-cooked and tossed through the sauce as well-
  
  

  Reference
  http://feedetgastro.wordpress.com/ (this is an amazing food blog by a true foodie!)

Pan Fried Spicy Halloumi Cheese and Couscous Salad

Again, I am coming to the end of another rather expensive month! And to compensate I’m making do with bits of things we have left from the weekly shop and whatever was reduced in the supermarket. This dish makes me think of my undergraduate days, when I would often eat this to increase my vegetable intake, while decreasing my financial outgoings. Usually salad is not regarded as a main meal in a Yorkshire household (especially mine) but I think the halloumi offers something substantial to the dish, making it worthy to be called a filling main!

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  What you need:

  • A block of halloumi cheese
  • Two handfuls of couscous
  • ½ a pack of fresh mushrooms (I’ve used chestnut)
  • ½ an aubergine
  • A head of broccoli
  • Rocket leaves of any salad leaves you have available (watercress would be nice) 
  • Cayenne pepper
  • A lemon 
  • Small tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp of honey 
  • A good knob of butter
  • 2 tbsp of plain flour
  • -optional parsley-

  
  

  How to make it:
  
  

  1. Start by prepping your aubergine by dicing it into small cubes, placing them into a sieve and sprinkling over a very big pinch of salt and leave them over a bowl for half an hour. -The salt will draw out the water from the aubergine; this is necessary to break down the plant cells in the aubergine by drawing water across the cell’s membrane. Salting this speeds up the frying process later.
  2. Meanwhile quarter your mushrooms and fry until golden using some butter. While the mushrooms are in the pan season them.
  3. Cut your florets of broccoli lightly, oil and season. Now griddle the broccoli, squeezing over lemon juice once it’s starting to take on colour. Once the broccoli stem has softened (your still want some bite though) take it off the heat and set aside.
  4. Slice the cheese into 0.5 -1 cm slices (2-3 per person).
  5. Pour out the couscous into a bowl and season, then add in a big knob of butter. To cook the couscous pour over enough boing water to cover the couscous 1cm in depth, put a large plate over your bowl of couscous once the water is added and set aside for at least 5 minutes.
  6. Quickly rinse the salt off your aubergine and in a small amount of oil fry it until golden. – If you hadn't salted the aubergine previously lots of water would have to be driven off preventing fast colourisation- Once golden take off the heat and set aside.
  7. Finally, back to the cheese, mix the cayenne with the flour on a plate; now roll the cheese slices in it. Pat off the excess flour and fry in some olive oil until golden on both sides (2-3 mins each side in a hot pan). Take a teaspoon and drizzle a small amount of honey over each cheese, and fry for a further 30 seconds then take off the heat.
  8. Time to combine your bits and bats, in a large bowl pour in your cooked couscous (fluffing it up with a fork), mushroom, aubergine, broccoli, some chopped parsley and salad leaves.  Season and squeeze over lemon juice to your own taste. Combine everything together using your hands plate up then place your hot cheeses on top.

  
  

  -By flouring the cheese you create a crisp coating when fried, giving you a textual difference to the gooey cheese. Meanwhile the honey gives you a nice contrast to the salty-ness of the cheese and lemon in the rest of the salad.-

Southern Fried Chicken Burger

I love fried chicken, on the bone off the bone; I love it all but I can no longer get it from the infamous KFC or local establishments because of the low quality of chicken used.  Instead I use organic free range chicken; providing me with the dirty fried chicken satisfaction that I crave, as well as the satisfaction of knowing that the bird was free, making the burger much tastier (well it may be physiologically tastier). Also in contrast to the humble risotto of last week you can tell I got paid so I went food shopping and treated myself!

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  What you need:

  
  

  For the Chicken

  
  

  • 2 free range organic chicken breasts
  • 2 burger buns 
  • A small tub of butter milk
  • Taleggio cheese
  • 1 ½  handful of plain flour
  • 1 tsp of sweet paprika
  • 1 tsp of cayenne pepper
  • ½ tsp of mustard powder
  • 1 tsp of onion powder
  • 1 tsp of garlic powder
  • ½ tsp of celery salt 
  • A grinding of black pepper
  • Pomegranate molasses
  • A tomato
  • Salad leaves

  For the Cajun Mayonnaise
  

  • 2 tbsp of shop bought mayo
  • ½ tsp of sweet paprika
  • ½ tsp of cayenne pepper
  • ½  tsp of onion powder
  • ½  tsp of garlic powder
  • ½ tsp of celery salt

  How to cook it:

  1. This one is super easy!  Start by butterflying the chicken breasts - by this I mean cut through the thick bit on the side of the breast, and cut ¾ of the way through it and open it up. If you’re unsure what I mean, take your chicken breast and bash it with a rolling pin until it’s the same thickness throughout (don’t bash it too thin though).
  2. Put your chicken in about 150 ml of butter milk and leave it for at a couple of hours or preferably overnight. The butter milk helps tenderise the meat - therefore the longer you leave it the more tender it will be.
  3. Put all the dry spices and ground black pepper in the flour and mix it together. Now take your chicken, removing some of the butter milk and roll it in the spiced flour. Shallow fry the chicken in 1 cm depth of vegetable or sunflower oil. To know whether the oil is hot enough throw in a small piece of bread, if it starts to fry the pan is up to temperature.  The length of time required to cook your chicken is going to be dependant of the thickness and size of your chicken breasts. For my smaller chicken breasts it took 5 minutes a side. If in doubt fry until golden on both sides, and cut into the thickest part of the breast to see if it’s done- 
  4. Right at the end place a generous slice of cheese on the fried chicken and take it out of the pan to rest and let the cheese melt. I used taleggio because I got paid but mozzarella would be just as good
  5. Finally make up a Cajun spiced mayonnaise - take the 2 tbsp of shop bought mayo and throw in all the mayo spices, if you want it hotter add some more cayenne pepper.
  6. Finish the dish with your bread bun smeared with some pomegranate molasses and spiced mayo. Put in the chicken and serve with a slice of tomato and green leafy salad.