Author: jamesclay

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Pancakes

Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday Pancake Day and time to get your Pancake Pan out.

Pancake

The Guardian has a nice article on how to get the best out of your pancakes.

Supermarket shelves have sprouted plastic lemons and extra bags of flour in preparation for pancake day tomorrow. Enthusiasm for Lent fasting might have waned, but our love of Shrove Tuesday is still going strong. No wonder. What other food is such fun to cook, is made from such cheap ingredients, and has so many delicious toppings? We asked four top chefs to suggest clever ways to get out of your lemon-and-sugar rut.

Read more.

Photo source.

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Roast Pork

Today we had a lovely piece of roast pork. It was quite a large leg joint roasted on a bed of vegetables (and apple).  It was lovely and tender and covered in crispy crackling.

My secret to lovely crisp crackling is as follows. Ensure that the surface of the skin is dry, if it is wet then you will get soggy crackling. Now some cookbooks tell you to rub some salt into the skin. This is not only not necessary, it also makes the cracking too salty! All it needs to be is dry.  I also score the skin, this allows heat to get in and crisp up the crackling as well. Makes it easier to carve as well. My cooking technique is relatively simple, set oven to the highest temperature. Place the pork on some root vegetables (this time I used carrot and parsnip). I do add some olive oil onto the skin of the pork. Once I have put the pork in the oven, I turn the temperature down to about 160℃.

This will ensure you have nice and crispy crackling.

Cook for about an hour per kilogramme, I  baste the pork about every 40-50 minutes and add more chopped vegetables and chopped apple to the pan when there is about an hour to go; the veg can be  onion, carrots, mushrooms and parsnips. Put it in too early it will burn.

When the pork is cooked, allow to sit for a while to rest.

I served the pork with roast potatoes, roasted  parsnips and some steamed vegetables.

I made a delicious gravy using the cooking juices and beef stock.

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Gü Chocolate Trifle

Generally I don’t like shop made trifles, as in the main there is an articial taste to them, particularly chocolate trifles. The cream always has a tang to it that I really don’t like.

Generally I don’t have the time and patience to make my own (and also I am the only person in the house who likes trifle, so making a big one is not on the cards either).

Now and again I buy individual trifles, notably Tesco Finest and Morrisons The Best individual sherry trifles which are not that bad for shop bought trifles.

Recently I have bough a three pack of Gü Chocolate Trifles.

Gü Chocolate Trifle

Their website says about their trifles and why you should buy them…

1. The intensity of the 53% cocoa chocolate ganache.

2. The softness of the chocolate sponge.

3. The decadence of the lightly whipped cream.

4. The silky-smoothness of the chocolatey mousse.

I did enjoy them and you can tell that as I bought them again. They are by no way perfect, but when you want a quick chocolatey snack and want to avoid the artificial twang that you find with many chocolate desserts from the fridge, then chocolate trifles from Gü are just the job.

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Lentils with Chicken

Chicken with Lentils

This was a dish I recently served up.

The lentils were cooked in my usual way which is outlined in this blog article.

I poached the chicken, I take a pan of water, add some herbs, some onion, a carrot and if I had other veg I add that.

I bone the chicken and place in the pan and simmer for ten minutes.

Remove allow to dry for a while.

I then sliced and placed on a very hot griddle to add some colour.

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Pork and Shellfish

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in the Guardian has some wonderful recipes involving pork and shellfish.

I can clearly remember the first time I was struck by the genius of combining shellfish with pork. It was in a little Portuguese restaurant in west London, which is sadly no longer there. I had porco à alentejana – clams with salt pork, or thereabouts. It’s one of those culinary revelations when you think, “Yes! This really works. It will therefore be a recurring pleasure from now until the end of my days.”

Initially I thought, um…. then I remembered that I have cooked scallops with pancetta before.

Going to have to give these a try.

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Pancakes and Maple Syrup

Having got a really nice pancake pan for Christmas and though I have been using it for other stuff, I have also been using it for making pancakes.

I make a simple batter of flour, eggs and milk and then cook using a hot pan.

If I am making scotch pancakes, I will use self-raising flour and make a thicker batter, if I am making crepe style pancakes then I will have a thin batter which I can cover the whole pan with.

I serve them with proper maple syrup. Personally I can’t stand the maple flavoured syrups you can buy, and will only buy the proper stuff. Yes it is expensive, but I would rather have the good stuff now and again rather than the horrible stuff all the time.

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Pasta with steak and mushrooms

Though I eat pasta a fair bit, I do like to try different things, though more often then not it is a variation on a theme as is the case with this dish.

I cooked the steak in a hot pan, generally in the same way I cook any steak. Hot pan, no oil in the pan, but oil the steak with a good olive oil and season with black pepper (but no salt, as the pancetta used later has more than enough salt to season the dish).

I cook the steak and leave to rest.

While the steak is cooking, cook the pasta of your choice, I used a specialty air dried pasta from the Taste the Difference range from Sainsburys.

After removing the steak from the pan, add some diced onion and pancetta. When the onion has softened and the pancetta cooked, add some button mushrooms. When the mushrooms have cooked add some freshly chopped parsley, a few spoonfuls of creme frache and the steak which should be sliced.

Place the pasta on the plate and spoon the steak and sauce onto the top of the pasta.

Serve.

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Roast Outdoor Reared Pork

Yesterday we had a lovely piece of roast pork. It was a outdoor reared pork roasted on a bed of vegetables (and apple).  It was lovely and tender and covered in crispy crackling.

My technique is relatively simple, set oven to the highest temperature. Place the pork on some root vegetables (this time I used carrot and parsnip). I do add some olive oil onto the skin of the pork. Once I have put the pork in the oven, I turn the temperature down to about 160℃.

Cook for about an hour, I then baste the pork and add more chopped vegetables to the pan, onion, carrots, mushrooms and parsnips. Place back in the oven.

When the pork is cooked, allow to sit for a while to rest.

I served the pork with roast potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted parsnips and some steamed green vegetables.

I made a delicious gravy using the cooking juices and beef stock.