Paul's cooking .......

Sichuan smoked duck - zhang cha ya

 

Although Peking duck is perhaps the most famous of the Chinese duck dishes, most connoisseurs prefer the Sichuan style of smoking before frying it. Most authentically this would be served with dumplings, but rice and vegetables would be great too.

A delicious combination of smoky, crispy skin and moist tender duck!

Ingredients:

8 Duck legs

Salt

Powdered sichuan peppercorns

3 spring onions coarsely chopped

8 cm ginger sliced

100ml Chinese rice wine

10 tablespoons black tea leaves

6 tablespoons sugar

4 bay leaves

4 star anise

2 8cm cinnamon sticks

4 spring onions, white part only, shredded

for the sauce:

  100 ml hoisin sauce

1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn grounded finely

1 teaspoon sesame oil

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon veg oil

 

Take the duck legs and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with the salt and Sichuan pepper and massage well into the skins. Add the coarsely chopped spring onions and the ginger to the bowl and pour in the Chinese rice wine. Leave to marinade for 1 hour.

After 1 hour remove the duck legs and in a bowl. Now take a pan of boiling water, and using a ladle scoop the water over the duck. Blanch for 1 minute before draining. Remove the duck legs and leave to dry.

 Now prepare the smoking ingredients.

Mix the tea leaves, sugar, bay leaves and star anise in a bowl, then place in a wok with the cinnamon sticks. Heat over a moderate flame, stirring for 2 – 3 minutes until smoking. Place a rack over the smoking ingredients, reduce the heat to a low flame and place the duck legs on the rack. Cover the wok with foil and leave to smoke for 1 hour.

Meanwhile stir together the sauce ingredients and place in a dipping bowl.

 When the duck has been smoked, remove from the wok and discard the smoking ingredients.

Heat some vegetable oil for deep frying and fry the smoked duck over a high heat, 4 to 6 minutes,turning to ensure even cooking until golden brown.

Drain and serve immediately with the sauce, and spring onions. Serve as part of a chinese banquet or simply with some stir fried greens and plain boiled rice.

Delicious and infinitely better than a takeaway!

Osso Bucco "in bianco"

 

I'm going to follow the advice of Marcella Hazan, perhaps the greatest authority on Italian cuisine, with this osso bucco recipe. This recipe is unlike the classic Milanese recipe as the veal shins are cooked without vegetables or indeed tomatoes, in other words in bianco. Furthermore it is not cooked in the oven, but cooked entirely on top of the stove on a low heat.

Ideally it is served with a wet polenta or perhaps mashed potatoes. It is simple to prepare but produces a wonderful rich, intense dish which has the veal and in particular the marrow as it's main flavour. 

Unlike most braised dishes, this does not improve with age and is best consumed within hours of cooking.

Ingredients

1.25 -1.5 kg veal shins, preferably cut into smaller pieces, a minimum of 8

75 g unsalted butter

olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 

a little flour

1 bottle decent dry white wine - good enough to drink, not just cooking wine!

juice of 1 lemon

2 sprigs of majoram

To cook this dish we need a wide and deep pan, sufficiently large to hold the pieces of veal shin in a single layer.

Start with seasoning the flour with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Dip the veal pieces in the flour lightly and shake off any excess.

In the pan, heat the oil and butter until the butter starts frothing. Place the veal shin pieces (in batches if necessary) in the pan and fry on both sides until golden brown and slightly crusted. If browning in batches remove in turn. When the pieces are all browned nicely place all in the pan in a single layer and pour in about 200ml of wine. Allow the wine to reach boiling temperature and lower the heat right down. Importantly the liquid should simmer as gently as possible, barely trembling. Cover and allow to cook very gently for 30 minutes.

Now remove lid, and turn the meat over gently. Add another 200 ml of wine, the lemon juice and the 2 sprigs of marjoram. Cover and continue to braise very gently for another 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, check to see the liquid has not evaporated too much, if it has add a little more, but not too much as we are after a fairly thick, syrupy sauce at the end of cooking. Cook for a further 30 minutes, by which time the dish should be complete, the sauce syrupy and the meat tender enough to be cut with a fork.

Classically this dish is served with gremolada. Simply mix together 2 tablespoons of lemon zest with 1 clove of garlic, very finely chopped and 4 tbsp flat-leaf parsley,again very finely chopped, season with a touch of salt and black pepper and sprinkle over the osso bucco.

Enjoy this classic meal, rightfully considered one of the finest dishes in the world. As with most of the food I enjoy cooking and eating, the reward/effort ratio is very high, and non-cooks will remain in awe of your culinary skills !

Deep-fried soft shell crab

Ingredients

8 soft shell crabs, halved

batter

150g plain flour
150g cornflour
150ml iced soda water

 

dressing

2 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons lime juice

3 or 4 small red chillies, finely chopped

coriander sprigs for garnish

 

It is very difficult to find fresh soft-shell crab in the UK, almost all is frozen. However don't despair as they still taste delicious and in frozen form readily available in asian supermarkets.

Firstly make the dressing. Simply place all the ingredients in a bowl and stir well to combine. 

Before making the batter start to heat the oil in the wok (or deep fat fryer) to 160 C. Now make the batter by sieving both the plain flour and the cornflour into a bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the ice-cold soda water. Mix with a fork very lightly. Leave it lumpy as this will lighten the batter during the frying.

Dip each crab into the batter and lower into the heated oil. Cook in batches depending on size of wok/deep fat fryer to prevent the temperature of the oil dropping. Cook 2-3 minutes or until crispy; remove and drain on absorbent paper. Repeat with the remaining crabs and batter.

Serve immediately with the dressing garnished with a little coriander and enjoy the wonderful south-east asian shell fish flavours - a great way to lift a gloomy wet day!

 

Classic Beef Wellington

 

In my opinion this is one of the great British dishes, and this version, whilst lengthy in its' preparation produces the most fantastic dish suitable for a really special occasion - New Year's Day lunch perhaps or a special family gathering. 

The combination of beef, puff pastry and the delicious coating of mushrooms and foie gras parfait is magical, a real joy!

Ingredients

1 beef filet – 30cm long about 2kg

For the pancakes

110g flour

sea salt 

2 medium eggs

300ml wholefat milk

a little chopped parsley

vegetable oil

For the duxelles

60g unsalted butter

70g finely diced shallots 

750g finely chopped mixed mushrooms

Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the parfait

250g trimmed chicken livers

50g unsalted butter,

50g foie gras trimmings

200g softened unsalted butter

Cognac or Madeira to taste

100ml double cream

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 750g shop bought puff pastry 

 

Let us begin by making the pancakes. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and add the beaten eggs and milk to form a smooth batter. Now stir in the parsley and rest the mix for 30 minutes.

Heat a little oil in a 30cm pan. Pour in a ladle of batter, just enough for a thin crepe style pancake, fry and turn the pancake. Repeat and make a total of six pancakes.

Now we can turn our attention to the lovely beef filet! It is important for the meat to cook uniformly so we must only use the middle cut of the fillet.  Ideally your butcher can prepare the frilet for you, however if you wish to do it yourself, here’s how:

Cut off the châteaubriand end and the filet mignon end and reserve for a treat on another day. Trim the silverskin lying over the middle-cut and any fat. The result should be a piece of lean fillet 30cm long, weighing just over 1kg. Tie up the fillet at intervals with kitchen string, so that it has a consistent shape along its length.

Take a heavy bottomed pan and heat the oil until it smokes - it must be very hot. Sear the meat on all sides, so that it colours quickly but does not cook. Don't forget to do the ends, too. When seared season with a little sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Now set aside, rest, cool, cut and discard the string. Stand on kitchen towel to dry the surface.

Now for the duxelles. Melt the butter in a large pan and sweat the shallots in butter until softened, but not coloured over a medium heat. Add the finely chopped mushrooms and fry over a high flame for two or three minutes.  Reduce the heat right down, season the mushrooms and cook until most of the moisture has evaporated. This should take approximately 20 minutes. The mixture should look "dry" and lightly browned. Set aside.

Now take the trimmed chicken livers and sweat on a low heat in 50g butter. Add 50g foie gras and take off the heat. Remove from the pan and puree in a blender and pass through a sieve. Now take the softened butter, add a little cognac or madeira and blend with the chicken livers and foie gras. Season lightly and add the double cream which has been whisked until it holds its shape. Mix with the duxelles and then place in fridge till firm.

I’m not the greatest at puff pastry so always buy the best quality pre-prepared pastry. Roll out out the pastry on a floured, cool surface to about 3mm thick, in a rectangular shape approximately 60cm long by 40cm wide. Trim the edges.

Now is the construction time!

Lay the pancakes overlapping on a work surface so that they cover an area large enough to wrap up the fillet. Spread enough duxelles over one side of the fillet to cover it generously and lay the covered surface on the pancake.

Now carefully spread more duxelles over the fillet to cover it completely. You'll need at least 350g for a 30cm fillet. Now wrap the pancakes over the fillet, including the ends. The pancakes will prevent the meat from making the pastry soggy whilst baking.

Lay the wrapped fillet in the middle of the sheet of rolled pastry. Make two cuts at each of the long ends to help envelop the meat. Brush the pastry edges with beaten egg. Fold the ends over the meat, then the sides, and seal the pastry edges well. Try to ensure there are no air holes, or gaps between the pastry and the covered fillet. Turn the beef Wellington on to an oiled baking sheet so that the join is hidden underneath.

Brush the pastry with an egg glaze. Scratch the surface of the pastry with a fork both for presentation but also to help it absorb the glaze. Brush with a second coat of glaze.

Make three holes in the top of the wellington to allow the steam to escape. The holes should cut through the pancake and duxelles layers. After all that hard work, set aside and rest yourself and the Wellington for 15 minutes to allow (you and) the pastry to relax.

If you are serving later the Wellington can now be stored in the fridge.

When ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 220 C. Now bake for around 25 minutes, by which time the pastry should be cooked through, and most importantly the meat between rare and medium. Much longer and there is a risk that the meat will shrink, steam and be overdone.

After baking, allow the meat to settle for 5 minutes before serving. Slice off the pastry at one end and bring to the table for your guest or family to admire.

After receiving generous praise carve slices of the wellington 4cm-5cm thick. Serve with sauteed potatoes and green vegetables of choice. Perhaps a little horseradish sauce also!

Enjoy and savour this great, classic, rich dish!

 

Caramel ice cream with chocolate sauce

Home-made ice cream made from simple fresh ingredients far surpass anything found in stores. The advent of the home ice-dream maker ensures that delicious ice cream is a relatively simple process, yet provides a fantastic dessert. Here's one of my favourites with a fabulous chocolate sauce:

 Ingredients:

185 g caster sugar plus 2 tablespoons

2 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

240 ml double cream

4 large egg yolks

pinch of salt

375 ml wholefat milk

1 tablespoon vanilla essence, or 1 vanilla pod

Firstly we will make the caramel. Use a heavy 2L saucepan and combine the caster sugar (185 g) with 2 tablespoons of water and the lemon juice. Heat over a medium high flame, stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar dissolves. Stop stirring at this point and continue cooking until the syrup turns an amber colour. Just a note of caution, the sugar caramelises between 160 -180 C, so exercise extreme caution, it can cause serious burns. 

Remove the pan from the heat, and very carefully pour 180ml of the double cream into the hot syrup, ensuring it does not splash. With a long-handled wooden spoon stir until smooth. Place back onto a medium heat and cook further until bubbles appear around the edges of the pan - no more than 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Now combine in a bowl the egg yolks, salt, the 2 tablespoons of sugar and the remaining 60 ml of double cream. Whisk until smooth and then pour in the milk and if using, the vanilla pod .

Add the above to the warm caramel and cook over a medium/low heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. This should take 4 - 6 minutes. Strain the custard through a sieve into a large bowl. If using vanilla essence, add now.

Cool in a larger bowl or perhaps the sink filled with cold water and ice cubes, if available, stirring occasionally until cool. Now take some cling film and cover with the cling film touching the surface of the custard to prevent a skin forming. Refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours and up to 24 hours. Incidentally the flavour develops over a period of time, so a better ice cream is created if the custard is left overnight.

Pour the chilled custard into your ice-cream maker, and following manufacturers instructions make your ice cream. Alternatively place into a container, into the freezer and fork the mixture regularly to break up the ice crystals to create a smooth ice cream.

This ice-cream goes wonderfully with a chocolate sauce, recipe below:

Chocolate sauce

Ingredients:

185 g unsalted butter

60 g bitter, high quality chocolate

20 g unsweetened cocoa powder

250 g caster sugar

pinch of salt

250 ml double cream

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Using a double-boiler slowly let the chocolate and butter melt to a liquid consistency. Whilst the chocolate and butter are melting, mix the unsweetened cocoa, sugar and salt. When the chocolate and butter have melted, stir and add the sugar/cocoa mix and stir to combine well. Now add the double cream and bring the bowl to the boil in the double boiler. (ie turn the heat up high under the double boiler, until the water is boiling hard)

Once the sauce is at the boil, remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes before stirring in the vanilla.

Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature before spooning over the delicious caramel ice cream. Any left over sauce will keep in the fridge for 3 days.

This is a great treat, and will thrill the most sophisticated of adult palettes whilst clearly being super popular with children.

Enjoy and make time and time again!

Steak and kidney pudding

 

In the very distant days that I was at school we were allowed out at lunch-time to buy our own lunches. One of our favourite haunts was a fish and chip shop that sold "Hollands" steak and kidney puddings. Lunch therefore was often steak and kidney pudding, chips peas and gravy, all for the princely sum of 75p !

I've never quite been able to replicate the taste of those puddings, but here's my best attempt! Each time I make it, it takes me back to those happy days!

Ingredients:

For the suet pastry:

400 g self-raising flour

200 g shredded beef suet

a little cold water

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the filling:

600 g braising steak, cut into chunks

300 g  ox kidney

2 tablespoons seasoned flour

2 shallots finely sliced

a splash of worcestershire sauce

glass of red wine

cold water to fill pudding

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Let's start with the pastry. In a large bowl, firstly sift the flour and salt and give a good grind of black pepper. Now add the beef suet and mix into the flour using the blade of a knife. When well mixed add a few drops of cold water and continue to mix with the knife. Add further water as necessary, a few drops at a time and using your hands bring the mixture together until there is a smooth, elastic dough which easily comes away from the bowl sides.

Remove the pastry and cut 1/4 of the dough and put to one side to make the lid of the pudding later. With the remaining pastry, roll out on a well-floured surface. We're looking for a quite thick, evenly rolled circle of dough approximately 35 cm in diameter.

Line the bowl with the pastry, pushing down into the corners, ensuring no air bubbles! Set aside.

Take the ox kidneys, slice in half and using scissors snip out the cores. Chop the kidneys into similar sized (bite sized) chunks as the stewing beef, and toss in the seasoned flour. Chop the shallots and add to the kidney, beef mix.

Add the filling mix into the pastry lined bowl, ensuring the mix is evenly distributed. Add the glass of red wine, the splash of worcestershire sauce and top up to just below the top of the bowl with cold water. Season well with sea salt and black pepper.

Roll out the remaining pastry and dampen the edges. Now place on the top of the pudding and seal the pudding well. Now take a large sheet of baking foil, double it over and place over the pudding, leaving a pleat in the centre to allow for expansion. Secure the foil with  cooking string. Don't forget to make a string handle for lifting out after cooking.

Place the pudding into a large steamer and steam for a minimum of 5 hours.

When cooked remove from the steamer, take off the foil lid and place a large serving plate upside down over the pudding. Turn the pudding out and serve immediately to your appreciative family or guests.

I serve this simply with green vegetables and perhaps some mashed potatoes.

The smell will be amazing as you cut into the soft suet pastry and the delicious filling and wonderful gravy spills out!

Enjoy a taste of the past!

Lancashire hot pot

 

I was brought up in a city that was formerly in the County of Lancashire, and one of my favourite, most evocative dishes that reminds me of my grandmother is her lancashire hot-pot made with the most fantastic stock from a stock pot that seemed to be constantly ticking over on the lowest possible heat on the back burner! I don’t remember ever seeing the stove without the stock-pot!

I’ve modified her dish slightly, she never used red wine and I don’t recall too many sprigs of fresh rosemary nor thyme, however I’m sure she’ll forgive me for these additions!

I’ve also suggested best end of neck lamb chops but please don’t over-trim them; leave a little fat on for flavour.

Ingredients

8 best end of neck lamb chops, about 1kg

a little olive oil

3-4 lamb kidneys

2 large onions, quartered and sliced

Leaves from sprig fresh rosemary

1 sprig fresh thyme

Small glass red wine, optional 

500ml lamb stock

2 large King Edward potatoes, about 350g each, peeled

About 50g butter, melted

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Firstly take the lamb chops and trim a little of the excess fat, but not too much. Now gently sauté the chops on each side in a little olive oil in a frying pan until lightly brown. Whilst the chops are browning, halve the kidneys, snip out the cores with scissors and then cut in half again. When light brown remove the chops and place in the bottom of a deep oven proof dish.

 Add the chopped kidneys to the pan and again sauté until browned, stirring once or twice. Remove from the pan and place into the oven proof dish, distributing evenly. 

 Add a little more oil to the pan, if needed, and stir in the onions. Sauté them for about 5 minutes until softened and their colour is just beginning to turn. Chop the rosemary leaves quite finely and toss into the pan along with the thyme.

Immediately stir in the wine and allow to reduce down until quite syrupy. Pour in the stock and season with sea salt and black pepper. Bring to just below the boil and pour carefully over the chops and kidneys.

Peel the potatoes and slice into rounds about 2mm thick (the thickness of a £1 coin). As we want the potatoes to hold their shape do not slice too thinly. Ideally use a mandolin for even slices.

Now the fun bit, layer the sliced potatoes carefully on top of the stew and finish with a final layer  with no gaps and a pleasing regular pattern to the potatoes. Brush all over with the melted butter and finish with a further grind of black pepper and a little more sea salt.

Heat the oven to 170C, and bake, uncovered, for up to 1½ hours or until the potato is golden-brown and lightly crisp on top. The meat will be wonderfully tender underneath!

 Remove and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Ideally serve with some pickled red cabbage.

I can’t think of a better autumn dish, the crisp potatoes and the wonderful lamb with a fabulous gravy!

Heaven !