Pork Pies - Dan Lepard

I have always wanted to try my hand at making pork pies from scratch.
Being my first attempt i did not want to make a huge cake sized pie so i opted to follow a recipe from one of my favourite cook books - Short and Sweet by Dan Lepard.
Another plus to this recipe is that it uses a stock cube and gelatine sheets to make the jelly so you don't have to make it your self from pork bones and worry about it setting - maybe i'll try that next time!

The recipe details as well as in the cook book are available on the Guardian website here 

They take quite a while to make, you really need to get the ingredients ready 3 days before you actually want to eat the pie but the processes involved are very simple and even achievable on a hung over Sunday afternoon.

I chopped the meat ingredients up and mixed them with the spice on Saturday.

On Sunday afternoon i made the pastry, because this type of pastry is made with hot water you need to allow an hour or so for it to cool down before you can actually use it. Don't put it in the fridge though as it would get too cold and become difficult to work.
I found shaping the pastry round the jar the most fiddly stage of the process, it took a while to get used to how much you can mess around with the fatty dough, i am used to shortcrust pastry which you handle as little as possible. Once I had squashed all the folds that formed, from draping it over the jar the pastry looked like it was going to be quite tall but i found the pie shells relaxed a lot once i removed them from the jar and made a wider shallower pie.

Once filled and the lids added the pies need to chill for a while in the fridge before they are baked in the oven.
While the pies bake the meat shrinks in size leaving a gap between the filling and pastry, this is where the jelly comes in.
After cooling for half an hour the hot jelly mixture is poured into the pies through a hole in the top, the pies then need to be returned to the fridge and so won't be ready for sampling until the following day.

This recipe makes 2 generous sized pies which will take you a while to get through, they last up to 2 weeks in the fridge though.




Best enjoyed with a picnic on Primrose Hill after playing rounders!

Rachael x

Read More

I Heart Italia: Sausages & Broccoli

I Heart Italia: Sausages & Broccoli

Italians do it better. Well, sometimes at least. If you like sausages and broccoli this is the dish for you. It goes very well with a smooth, creamy mash and takes sausage and mash to new heights. I dream about this dish.

850g Italian sausages - the ones from East Dulwich Deli are simply the best!

600g broccoli, cut into florets

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 French shallots, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1/4 red chilli, finely chopped

125ml chicken stock

1 tablespoon lemon juice

6 pitted black olives

Serves 4

Place the sausages in a single layer in a deep non-stick frying pan and add cold water - 1.5cm deep. Bring to the boil, reduce and simmer for 20 minutes.

Turn the sausages from time to time and when they are cooked all the water should have evaporated, leaving just a little sausage fat in the pan.

Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the broccoli with a teaspoon of salt and simmer for 4-5 minutes, until the florets are barely tender. Drain and set aside.

Add the oil to the pan and brown the sausages. Push them to one side and add the shallots, garlic and chilli.

Cook on a low heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Add the stock and lemon juice, turn up the heat and cook until reduced by half.
Add the broccoli and olives, spoon the sauce over and serve when it has heated through.

Read More

Jubilee Week Roundup

Pizza Oven - the beginnings - a delightful dome - reminds me of something in Florence...

Devonshire cream tea in Torbay - with ginger scones and all mind!

Marcus Wareing's banana bread - made in a jelly mould. Crinkle cut.

100% Forest of Dean wild boar salami. Satisfying.

The Silver Spoon chicken with pomegranate (and Italian dried mushrooms). Che libro!

Brustengo - another Italian dish, also known as bubble and squeak! It goes very nicely with HP sauce (sshhh!)

Read More

Lamb & Cannellini Beans

I Heart Italia: Lamb & Cannellini Bean Spezzatino

I love lamb. It has always been my favourite roast. Over the last month I've been waiting for the right opportunity to make lamb and cannellini bean stew, a staple in the Italian kitchen. I got some lamb, got some beans, found some cousins and a sister to invite for dinner, got some more lamb and beans to ensure sufficient quantities and got to work.

I checked with Jacob Kennedy in the Bocca book to see if he had anything to say about this dish and found a rather lovely lamb and broad bean stew which made for the basis of my recipe.

Other key ingredients that I wanted to make an appearance were rosemary, as I have lots in the garden, white wine because the weather has been so hot and garlic, to hit the meat with some extra flavour. The result was a delicious spezzatino - a stew with an bold sauce, one that cannot be left behind and requires bread to swipe every last bit from the bowl.

Here's what I used: [serves 6]

500g leg meat, cut into pieces

Lamb ribs - I currently have an obsession with ribs - great inexpensive cut of meat

Flour

Olive oil

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 bunch spring onions

Pinch dried chilli flakes

1 teaspoon anchovy paste

6 rosemary sprigs

1 bottle white wine

2 cans cannellini beans

2 tomatoes, diced

Chard, finely sliced - this is optional, I fancied something green

First you need to toss you meat in seasoned flour. Then heat 2-3 tablespoons olive oil in a pan and lightly brown your meat.

Add the spring onion, crushed garlic, chilli flakes and anchovy paste to the meat and cook for a few minutes.

Add the rosemary and white wine and simmer for an hour and a half with the lid on. The meat will be lovely and tender by this point.

After an hour add your diced tomatoes and a cup of water if it needs more liquid.

Taste and season the sauce ten minutes before cooking time is up and then add your cannellini beans and chard if you're using.

Serve hot with some fantastic bread.

Read More

South East London Salami

The Salami Cupboard...

by Charlotte

The idea of having a little house in the garden where the salami live seemed like a good idea.

Several things pushed me to embark on the salami project. Firstly, I went to see Jacob Kennedy (head chef at Bocca di Lupo, an Italian restaurant in Soho) talk about his cookbook. I left the evening with a copy of the book and page 80 (Finocchiona - Tuscan fennel salame) cemented in my mind. Fennel always reminds me of Italy as this is where I discovered the joys of cooking with the fennel seed and first ate the thick bulb raw with an olive oil dressing.

After these initial thoughts about salami I chatted to a friend from the Forest of Dean about the culling of the wild boar population there, due to increasing high numbers since their reintroduction. We discussed the idea of getting our hands on some boar meat to experiment with...

Finally, I read a piece by a journalist who made his own salami and hung them outdoors (in the UK) to cure. This made everything much more feasible as the Tuscan recipe is very specific and requires temperatures and humidity levels that I could not keep constant at home. So, after an email exchange with Jacob from Bocca I was confident that I could make the salami at home and hang them outside.

Pork shoulder and back fat from Kent - trial run before working with boar meat.

! worked with a kilo of meat and fat in total: 800g meat to 200g fat.

(The high fat content in salami helps to repel water and stop the meat being attacked by bacteria).

The meat is flavoured with fennel seeds, garlic and black pepper.

The meat, fat, spices, salami culture and curing salts (28g per kilo of meat) are mixed really well - you knead the meat on the work surface for ten minutes. It is not dissimilar to working a piece of dough and is great for the arms.

The meat goes in the fridge for a couple of hours. I prep the casing - a cows intestine which is very long and has a slightly unpleasant odour. A jam funnel was the perfect size and this helped me to stuff the casings by hand.

I tied the salami with twine as they are pretty large. Make a loop in the twine at one end.

Weigh and date the salami and hang indoors for a couple of days to kick start start the process.

Then transfer outdoors. The meat will gradually darken and you should expect the salami to decrease in weight by around 30%. If mould appears you can remove it with a weak vinegar water solution.

Expect to see an increase in local cats and foxes who stop by for a sniff.

One month to go until the salami party...

In that time I may experiment more as I have over twenty meters of intestine in my fridge.

Read More

Best Steak Lettuce Wrap

Best Steak Lettuce Wrap by Charlotte

Thanks to friends Phil and Sonya I have discovered the best steak lettuce wrap. This is food that is very pleasing to the eye and mouth. It can be made in three shakes of a lambs tail and will be sure to give you that red meat fix.

The ten steps to steak wrapping:

1) Go to your butcher and get a tasty piece of rump steak (to cook whole)

2) Marinade the meat in lemon juice, chilli (fresh or dried) and fresh ginger

3) Grate carrot for salad

4) Make a dressing - I used lemon juice, sesame oil, fish sauce, fresh red chilli, ginger, salt and pepper

5) Mix the dressing with the carrot

6) Use a good sturdy leaf like Romaine as your wrap

7) Griddle or bbq your meat - a few minutes on each side will leave it pretty and pink

8) Slice the steak and put it in the lettuce with the dressed carrot

9) Get kitchen roll ready as the wrap may leak!

10) Enjoy

Read More

Barbeque the Italian way

by Charlotte

I recently gave these two recipes to our local magazine, Living South. Having spent some time thinking about a particular bbq in the hills of Bologna 7 years ago. On this occasion we got scooted into the hillside on the backs of mopeds vaguely knowing to keep an eye out for a patch of sunlight woodland. We found it and all the guys started to make the barbeque, lay a table, cook the meat and make all the salads – pretty impressive to us girls. It was all about the food, everything had to be perfectly chopped, dressed, marinated and presented. It was a delicious feast that I’ll never forget. Here are two Italian recipes that are good for sharing with friends.

Spiedini di miale (pork kebabs) - this makes six seriously meaty, authentic Italian kebabs.

12 x 1 inch cubes of pork (I use pork fillet)

6 Italian sausages – Cumberland are a perfect substitute

6 slices streaky bacon, cut in half

18 sage leaves

2 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 lemon, zested and halved

Extra virgin olive oil

6 skewers, soaked if wooden

Firstly marinate the meat. Twist the sausages into three so they balloon, cut them and put them in a bowl with the pork and the halved bacon. Add 12 of the sage leaves to the bowl. Using a pestle and mortar crush the garlic, remaining sage leaves and lemon zest to a pulp and then add four tablespoons of olive oil and the juice of half the lemon. Pour over the meat, mix and leave to marinade for 1-3hours.

Skewer the kebabs; I roll the bacon (two rolls per skewer), fold the sage leaves in half and alternate with three pieces of sausage and two pieces of pork per kebab. Put on the barbeque. If you fancy, throw some rosemary sprigs onto the coals before you put the meat on so that the leaves flavour the kebabs while cooking. When the meat is golden and cooked through serve the kebabs with the remaining lemon juiced squeezed over them.

Radicchio - the round purple lettuce from the Veneto with a bitter taste.

1 large radicchio, halved lengthways

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Season the halved radicchio on the cut side with salt and pepper, and rub with olive oil. Barbeque cut side down for a few minutes until hot through – the closed leaves will actually keep in the steam and help the lettuce cook. Turn it over and grill for 3-4 minutes more. Splash with balsamic vinegar and serve as a super side dish.

Enjoy.

Read More

Pork Pies & Potted Things...

Pork Pies & Potted Things by Charlotte

The al fresco dining afternoon/soiree was planned for a beautiful mid July afternoon. Everything was going well, a little too well. To spice things up the rain arrived, I cancelled the borrowing of the bbq and announced grilled food with kitchen/lounge party as the order of the day.

In keeping with my Mark Hix obsession I had two recipes from British Regional Food planned, plus some salads, Matt's homemade burgers with Fergus Henderson ketchup, plus bits and pieces that others were turning up with, such as chilli halloumi, a large Tuscan sausage, Brasilian potato salad, homemade scones and raspberry coulis and Borough red wine. Treats, so many treats.

So, my chosen Mark Hix recipes were Pork Pies and Potted Shrimp. Two absolute classic dishes that Greg Wallace would be thrilled to get his little hands on.

The pies are very simple and tasty, requiring fatty pork shoulder and pastry made with hot water and lard; intriguing, warm and as Rachael will agree, the lard is key!

Here's what Mark says about his Pork Pies -

Makes 6-8

Homemade pork pies are nothing like the ones you buy in the shops. The pastry is easy to make and if you haven't got a mincer at home on your mixing machine, you can just chop the meat up very finely by hand. A helpful butcher might mince the filling for you. All you do is take a large disc of pastry and shape it round the filling into a bulgy-sided pie, then join it to a smaller circle of pastry at the top by pinching round the edge. You could use this recipe to make two big pies, or even one very large one.

I prefer to eat the pies warm rather than cold, as that brings out the flavour and the pastry tends to be crisper. You can also add other seasonings such as anchovy essence, mace or allspice and a bit of sage to suit your taste - it's entirely up to you.

For the filling

1kg boned shoulder of pork, including 20-30 per cent fat

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the hot-water crust pastry

500g plain flour

1tsp salt

175g lard

1 egg, beaten

First prepare the filling: chop some of the best bits of pork into rough 1cm dice and mince or finely chop the rest. Season it well and mix in the diced meat. Take a small teaspoonful of the mixture and fry it to check the seasoning, then adjust it if necessary. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/gas 6.

Then make the pastry: mix the flour and the salt in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Bring 200ml water and the lard to the boil, then stir it into the flour with a wooden spoon to form a smooth dough. Leave the dough covered for about 15 minutes or so, until it can be handled.

Divide the dough into 6-8 equal pieces. Take one of the balls of dough and divide it into two balls, one twice the size of the other. Roll the larger piece on a lightly floured table to about 12-14cm in diameter. Use the smaller piece to make another circle about f half the size for the top. Put some of the filling in the centre of the larger circle, lay the smaller circle on top and raise the sides of the larger one up, then pinch the lid and the top of the sides together with your fingers. If it looks a bit of a mess, you can reshape it, as the pastry is quite pliable. Repeat with the rest of the pastry and filling.

Brush the pies all over with the beaten egg and cook them for 35-40 minutes. If they are colouring too much, cover them with foil and turn the oven down.

Serve them warm or cold, preferably with homemade piccalilli.

Next up Potted Shrimp...

Potting things is of interest to me. Its simple but exciting, several small filled ramekins giving off different aromas gets most peoples attention.

Mr. Hix, of course, did not disappoint - I came across his recipe for potted shrimp with tales of the shrimpers of the Sefton coast. I went to the fishmonger to check out the brown shrimp on offer and found them to be rather pricey. We had a chat and started talking about potting crab, which got me all excited and I ended up leaving with both shrimp and crab.

I potted them both in the same way according to the recipe and actually would have to say I enjoyed the crab rather a lot. The shrimp were good too but do have a slight maggoty look about them which most people managed to point out at some point.

Recipe as follows -

180g unsalted butter

Juice of a lemon

A good pinch of ground mace or nutmeg

Pinch of cayenne pepper

1 small bay leaf

1tsp anchovy essence or paste

210g peeled brown shrimps (or crab meat – I used a mix of brown and white)

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Melt the butter in a pan, add the lemon juice, mace, cayenne pepper, bay leaf and anchovy essence and simmer on a low heat for 2 minutes to infuse the spices. Remove from the heat and cool the mixture until it is just warm.

Add the shrimps and stir well, then season with salt and freshly ground white pepper. Put the mixture into the fridge and stir every so often. When the butter starts to set, fill 4 ramekins with the mixture or spoon it on to plates. If you aren't serving them that day, return the ramekins to the fridge and cover with clingfilm. Don't serve the shrimps straight from the fridge, as the butter will be too hard to spread nicely on to the toast, and won't taste as good. Serve with hot buttered toast and lemon halves.

Read More

Entertaining

Duncan Ackery chats food at the V&A

Lindsay (honorary Keston Kid) and I recently went to hear Duncan Ackery, chef and restauranteur, chat at the V&A Reading Rooms. They mentioned that space would be tight, and it was. There was just enough room for approximately twenty girls plus one token man cram in and listen to Duncan talk about cooking and entertaining. Not only was he talking but he was cutting things up, mixing ingredients, salting vegetables and handing them round for us to taste. Yes we were in for a good night.

Duncan had been to Borough Market that morning to pick up some seasonal items to discuss with us, the whole preface being that when entertaining, it is not just about the food but about having fun with your friends, so choose recipes well, get amazing fresh ingredients, make some stuff ahead and have a good time. In a fairly brief fashion here are some great things to make in spring:

• Mackerel pate served with rhubarb and blood orange compote on top (cook the rhubarb for 3-4 minutes so that it holds its form)
• Mackerel (raw) marinated in honey and mustard - this is good
• Really good mozzarella torn up and served with olive oil, lemon zest and sea salt (fleur de sel is a great garnish salt)
• Goats cheese and beetroot
• Radishes halved and salted
• Roasted fennel - roasted in a pan
• Mussels cooked with smoked french garlic, leeks (pre blanched to take away a little of the strong flavour) and white wine
• Asparagus - blanched for 2 minutes in just water, served with clarified butter (gently warmed butter which separates into two layers - use the top layer only) and salt
• Radicchio salad - you need a fairly strong dressing, like blue cheese or something lemony

Chinese Pork Belly - recipe in full. Duncan is passionate about Asian food, this recipe in particular, and so was everyone else by the time he'd finished speaking:

- Take a piece of pork belly and take off the skin (leave the fat)

- Chop the pork into thumb size pieces

- Boil the pork in water for 3 minutes and drain

- Heat some nut oil in a wok until is is really hot (I used sesame oil)

- Add in a dessert spoon of sugar, let it caramelise (turn to liquid) and then add the pork

- Add about 3 cups of Shaohsing rice wine, soy sauce, 3-4 broken up star anise and a couple of cinnamon sticks

- If you want some liquid then add stock at this point

Serve with rice and seasonal veg - like purple sprouting, cooked separately in a wok with nut oil and garlic. Add a tiny bit of stock and cover to allow the greens to steam briefly.

This is easy and quick and really fresh tasting. I got all the ingredients from my local oriental supermarket, including fortune cookies!

Tips:

• Always have potted shrimp in the freezer - I've never used it so can't say much more. Needless to say I will buy some soon and give it a whirl...
• Chicken thigh fillet is SO much better than breast - it has tons more flavour and is great for frying
• Make use of good local beer, which is great for cooking - Fuller's Honey Dew was recommended

Read More

Leg of Lamb stuffed with Feta, Olives and Herbs

I was lucky enough to receive a very generous birthday present last year of a days cookery course at Leiths School of Food and Wine in West London. The course I choose was knife skills and butchery. We learnt how to prepare 3 joints of meat for the oven and the best bit was being able to bring them home afterwards! The first piece of meat we tackled was tunnel boning a leg of lamb, this is something you could easily ask your butcher to do for you.
If you want to do it yourself, there isn't really a secret, it is just a matter of following the bones with you knife and working round the joints. Make sure you have a sharp knife, hold the joint with one had and the knife with your other, always cut away from the hand holding the meat. Starting at one end of the leg, scrape and cut the flesh away from the bone and then work from the other end. Cut the skin as little as possible at the shank end. Make sure you get the knee cap out as well as the leg bones, also remove any glands from the meat which are translucent grey nodules about the size of a hazel nut. While you are there you can also remove any excess fat from the outside and inside of the cavity.
Tunnel boning, rather than cutting the leg open means that you can stuff the leg and it needs minimal effort to secure everything before roasting.

So on Sunday I decided it was time I cooked the leg of lamb that I have had prepared and stored in the freezer since November! I had a look online and choose a Gordon Ramsay recipe I found on the times website. His recipe for the stuffing has tonnes of ingredients and the juices that poured out of the joint while it cooked made a very strong tasting but totally delicious gravy. I served the lamb with simple Boulangere potatoes and broccoli so as to avoid adding any more big flavours to the meal. The lamb made a very well received January Sunday roast for 6 and the leftovers, a couple of excellent Monday lunch box sandwiches.
Stuffed leg of lamb is definitely a recipe I would make again, Jamie Oliver's recipe involves olives, anchovies and pine nuts so maybe I'll try that one next time!

Ingredients (serves 6-8):
2-2.5kg boned leg of lamb
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
200g Feta cheese, chopped into 1cm cubes
Zest of 1 lemon
4 semi-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped (I used about 50g)
50g pitted kalamata olives, chopped
Big handful of spinach leaves, chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 large handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 large handful of mint leaves, chopped
4 slices of pancetta (I used a few more than that)
Olive oil, to drizzle
Generous splash of red wine

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 220C.
Place the lamb on a chopping board and lightly score the fat in a criss cross pattern. Rub salt and pepper all over and inside the cavity.
Mix together the feta, lemon zest, tomatoes, olives, spinach, garlic and herbs. Spoon the mixture into the cavity of the lamb and press with the back of a spoon to pack as much in as possible.
Wrap both open ends of the lamb with pancetta to secure the filling, then tie with kitchen string at intervals (I put string in both directions, length ways over the pancetta to keep it in place and then a couple more pieces around the joint).
Roast in the oven for 20 minutes and then reduce the heat to 190C and roast for 20 minutes per 500g for medium cooked meat (mine took 1 hour 40 minutes).
Half an hour before the lamb is done, pour a generous splash of wine into the pan and continue roasting. Check the lamb 15 minutes before it is ready by piercing the centre with a metal skewer, hold it there for a few seconds and then it should feel warm against your hand when removed.
Take the lamb out of the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving. Serve with the juices from the pan (the juices were delicious but a bit lumpy so I put the pan on the hob, added more wine and reduced it, I added some flour mixed with water to help thicken and it was a lot more uniform in texture and gravy like).

For the Boulangere Potatoes (serves 6):
2 Onions, thinly sliced
A few sprigs of thyme
2 tbsp olive oil
1.5kg floury potatoes (I used Maris Piper), thinly sliced
425ml veg stock (i made this from Marigold Bouillon)

Method:
Heat the oven to 200C.
Fry the onions and thyme sprigs in the oil until softened and lightly coloured (about 5 mins).
Spread a layer of the sliced potatoes over the base of a 1.5 litre oiled gratin dish.
Sprinkle over some of the onions and continue layering, finishing with a layer of potatoes. Pour over the stock and bake for 50-60 minutes until the top is golden and crisp.

Best eaten with appreciative housemates and served with a glass of red wine.

Rachael x

Read More

Pretty in PINK

Pink Stew by Charlotte x

A glamorous pink stew is what’s in order during this cold spell, which makes my nose feel like it’s going to drop off my face every time I leave the house. Tonight I have a dinner date with Jules, the lucky receiver of the pink stew…

I have carefully chosen pink or at least pinkish ingredients; the key vegetable is of course the beetroot, almost regal in colour. I love beetroot. I love everything about it; the way you stain your hands pink when peeling it and cutting it, the amazing sweet flavours it gives a stew or winter salad, the fact that it turns everything PINK, and, the immense delight I get from it when pickled! Pickled beetroot at Christmas is a must.

So, if you're in the mood for pink food, here’s what you need to do.

Ingredients:

1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced thinly

Small bunch of spring onions or an onion, sliced thinly

400g braising beef, cut into chunks and coated in flour

2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunky pieces

4 beetroot, peeled and cut into chunky pieces

2 carrots, sliced into thick rounds

Red wine, a large glassful

300ml stock, I use Swiss Vegetable Bouillon

8 juniper berries, crushed with the side of a knife

2 teaspoons thyme leaves

Redcurrant jelly, about a tablespoon

Salt and pepper

Flour to thicken

Heat some olive oil and butter in a large casserole pan on the hob and throw in the onion and garlic. Sautee for a few minutes and then add the beef. Brown all over and add the red wine. Throw in the beetroot, sweet potato and carrot and cover with the stock.

Add the juniper berries, thyme, redcurrant jelly and season with salt and pepper. Put a lid on the pan and cook for about 35-40 minutes, stirring and tasting intermittently. With about 15 minutes to go mix 2 tablespoons of flour with COLD water and stir in to the stew, as it bubbles it should thicken.

Serve piping hot with crusty bread and you’ll be in for a treat!

Read More