Salt and pepper Squid

 I love seafood in all of its guises, you name it i'll eat it. It's funny I could probably live my life happily as a vegetarian, but seafood would be the chink in my armour, I know a lot of vegetarians who have fallen off the wagon purely from the smell of cooking bacon, well seafood cooking for me is like my bacon, I cannot resist it.
 Squid is one of those funny things that people are absolutely petrified of, they do not know how to deal with it, granted it is probably not the most approachable or aesthetically pleasing, however it is a very easy thing to prepare and even easier if you have a fabulous fish monger who will do it for you. I think that for a lot of people squid is probably associated with terrible european all inclusive holidays, where calamari probably serves a greater 
purpose as a hair bobble than an appetising dish. Squid is so underrated and is so delicious when cooked properly, it either has to be cooked very quickly on a very high heat or cooked low and slow for a long time. Salt and pepper squid is one of those fabulous dishes that unfortunately has somehow gotten lost in translation, we have managed to westernise a dish that is pure perfection in its own right, much like carbonara, pizza, korma, you name it, us brits have somehow managed to destroy the integrity and origins of the dish. I happen to think that salt and pepper squid when cooked in this wonderful way could even sway the most squeamish of folk. It is so very simple to do and unbelievably delicious, if my husband can make this recipe anyone can, I urge you to try......

You will need:
400g of cleaned squid, the tubes scored and beaks removed from the tentacles 
1 1/2 tbsp of shaoxing rice wine
3 eggs beaten
12 tbsp of corn or potato flour
12 tbsp of plain flour
1/2 tsp of sichuan pepper corns
1 tsp of black pepper corns
2 1/2 tsp of maldon sea salt
600ml of vegetable oil to fry
4 tbsp of chopped garlic
4 tbsp chopped spring onions, both white and green parts
2 large chopped red chillies
2 large chopped green chillies

 The first thing to do is to clean and prepare your squid, score the tubes in a diamond fashion but do not cut through the squid, but each tube into three, remove all beaks from the tentacles, if you have a great fishmonger they will do it for you. Once the squid is prepared place it into a bowl and allow it to marinate in the rice wine for 15 minutes. Meanwhile prepare the crispy coating for the squid, place the plain flour on one plate, in a bowl whisk the eggs until fully mixed, lastly place the corn or potato flour onto another plate but add the salt and both types of ground peppercorns (please freshly grind them, even better if they are toasted first), mix the seasoning into the flour thoroughly.

 Heat up the oil, then dry the squid onto kitchen paper. Firstly dip  each piece of squid into the plain flour, then the egg followed by the seasoned corn flour, then straight into the hot oil, it should take only a minute to fry the squid but try not to overcrowd the pan as it will reduce the heat in the oil. Place the cooked pieces of squid onto a kitchen paper until they are all cooked. Drain away all of the oil from the pan apart from 2 tablespoons and then fry the aromatics, garlic, spring onion and the chillies until they a softened and smell delicious, quickly toss in the squid and coat with the aromatics. Turn of the heat and serve immediately.

Wild Garlic and pea Risotto

 I have to apologise profusely to my followers and regular readers, I have temporarily been on hiatus from blogging for a while, it's nothing personal, I have just been gathering a plethora of fool proof recipes before blogging, whilst running a kitchen at work and also becoming food ambassador for my area for the Jamie Oliver's foundation, so you could say that officially all my balls are in the air (excuse my lewdness)! At the start of the year I decided to spend the first month being dedicated to vegetarianism, it was a kind of cleanse after christmas, Christmas is usually a carnivores delight and I tend to become fed up of meat by january, this definitely changed my outlook on food and made me appreciate the fact that meat should be a treat and treat with respect, since then I have eaten mostly vegetarian food. Am I a vegetarian? No, absolutely not but I do feel that if we are willing to kill an animal for our consumption the very least we can do it give the animal a great life before D day. 

 The best part about our vegetarian challenge is that it automatically requires you to think outside of the box, it is all too easy to concoct a meal consisting of meat and two veg, after all we are a meat and two veg nation, a vegetarian meal require a little more thinking. 

 Currently wild garlic is in abundance in the UK and it is one of those things that most people have never tasted which I think is a real shame, in the UK we have some of the most amazing produce growing wild right on our doorstep, but due to lack of knowledge or enthusiasm we do not feel comfortable picking or foraging our own food unless it comes in a uniform plastic package!! Food never tastes better than when it is free and when you have personally picked it yourself. Wild garlic is one of those things that actually tastes even better than you imagine, the flavour is totally addictive, and works so well in my wild garlic and pea risotto.

 Please note that risotto is not a flipping side dish, it is the main dish. I believe it was Rick Stein who visited Italy and asked a local cook what was in the risotto and she replied "really good stock". That sums it up for me, great food is uncomplicated, it is about the stock and the stunning wild garlic. 

 I want to dedicate this recipe to Daniella Patrizi, our friend from afar, who inspires my love for Italian food on a daily basis, and is an avid follower of my wonderfully talented Husband Mark, this ones for you Dani.

2 large echalion shallots finely chopped
1 sticks of celery finely chopped
1  large garlic clove finely chopped
1 litre of chicken stock, if it is mild add two tsp of maldon sea-salt
50g butter to fry
1 tbsp olive oil
200g carnaroli rice
170 ml very dry white wine
75g of good parmesan
10 wild garlic leaves finely sliced
1/2 cup of frozen or fresh peas 
50g extra butter to finish
2 tsp cracked black  pepper

 Finely chop the shallots, celery and garlic and cook in 50g of butter and the olive oil until translucent.  
 Place the stock in a pan and keep in on a simmer, you should never add cold stock to the risotto. 
 Once cooked add the rice and cook the rice smells aromatic but not golden, immediately add the wine ad stir constantly until the wine evaporates.
 Add the stock a ladle at a time on a medium heat ensuring that each ladle has being absorbed before adding the next ladle of stock.
 Keep stirring with a wooden spoon, when all of the stock is absorbed add the remaining 50g of butter, the parmesan, peas and wild garlic.
 Immediately turn of the heat and continue to stir, add a little cracked black pepper and serve immediately, the texture should be a soft oozy plate of rice and NEVER a firm ball of rice.

The Cornish Pasty

 

When I told my Husband that I wanted to blog about the infamous Cornish pasty his response of "oh you're brave" was only to be expected, this is because a. I'm not Cornish, b. I'm not even fully British, c. I have a tendency to play about with recipes and make them my own. 

 As a cook it is all too easy to recreate something to suit your own palate, but with a dish like the Cornish pasty that is sheer simplicity itself why would you bother, sometimes the simplest recipes are the hardest to accomplish because there is not a myriad of flavours to hide behind, every element has to be perfect because each imperfection is very apparent, and why on earth would a tamper with a recipe that dates back as early as the 13th century? I'd have to be mad!

 There are three things I love about food, obviously I love the process of cooking, and of course I love to taste food, but one of my most enjoyable aspects of food is the history of it, I love knowing that I am cooking a recipe that has not only been made for hundreds of years, but I love the history of why it was created. 

The shape of the infamous pasty has been directly influenced by the people who consumed it, it was a popular snack for miners, the shape and size made it suitable to carry whilst the pastry insulated it's contents and made it durable enough to survive, but the crimped edge would be used as a handle, it meant that a mining worker could hold the pasty and dispose of the edge due to the high levels of arsenic in many of the tin mines.

 I know that my crimping technique leaves a lot to be desired but I hope that I have done the integrity of the pasty justice, and that I will not receive a huge back lash from the Cornish pasty aficionados. Sometimes the simple things in life are the best, this is most definitely the case of the Cornish pasty.

You will need:

(for the pastry)

75g of butter

75g of lard

375g of bread flour (this allows the pastry to be more durable because of the gluten in the flour)

1/4 tsp of sea salt

150ml of ice cold water

Firstly start by rubbing the fats and the flour between your fingers and thumb, mix together in a large bowl, when the mixture resembles coarse sand add the salt and ice cold water, mix until it begins to adhere into a dough, place to one side for later.

For the filling:

400g of skirt beef

150g of peeled and thinly sliced potato

100g of peeled and thinly sliced turnip

75g of peeled and thinly sliced white onion

generous seasoning of salt and pepper SEE NOTE

1 egg for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees c

Split the dough into three separate balls and roll each ball into a round roughly 3mm thick and 20cm in diameter.

 On one side of the circle start by place a few slices of onion, potato, generous seasoning of salt and pepper, turnip, then a third of the beef, season again, then onion, potato, seasoning, then turnip, brush egg wash on all around the edges, and on the half of pastry without the filling, fold the pastry circle in half and either crimp by twisting the edge over itself to create a rope effect, or if your are a novice you can use a fork to seal the edges by pressing it down to nip the pastry together. 

 Place each pasty onto a baking tray line with greaseproof paper. Cut a small line in the top of the pasty to allow the steam to escape and brush liberally with egg wash. Cook on the middle shelf of the oven for an hour. Controversially I like my Cornish pasty served with sauteed cabbage, Sorry but I do!

NOTE: BE OVER THE TOP WITH THE SEASONING OTHERWISE IT WILL BE BLAND!

N'duja Chicken

 

           I often compare my love affair with food to a happy relationship, you love it you have nothing to complain about but sometimes you can find yourself in a bit of a routine. 
I sometimes find myself using the same ingredients and cooking the same meals from week to week, this is when food stops being enjoyable and becomes a chore. When I feel like I am stuck in a rut, the best thing to do is break out, buy a completely new ingredient to you and experiment, if it doesn't work out WHO CARES, at least you have had a go. I have spoken before about shopping blind, this means forgetting the dreaded shopping lists, don't even look for what is necessary but go to your local market, greengrocers or supermarket and see what is good, let the produce speak for itself, the beauty of shopping seasonally is that usually the produce usually compliment each other.

 My objective was to try a new product, something that can enhance the flavours of wonderfully ripe tomatoes, peppers, basil and then I saw it, N'duja, I had to have it.
 So here is the deal with this lovely salami/sausage, N'duja is an Italian spicy spreadable sausage from the southern Italian region of Calabria, laced with chilli peppers it packs a real piquant punch, just like cinderella's fairy god mother it can transform the mediocre to the sublime with ease. 
 Armed with my ingredients and feeling pretty optimistic about my culinary goodies I set to work, I have to say that I regularly try out new products that fill me with hope and deflate me quicker than a popped balloon, but this one my friends is worth talking about, hell if they made N'duja soap i'd wash with it, it is that fantastic. 
This is for a meal for two and should only be made when grovelling is required or your have seen a new bag that is completely out of your price range, this dish will break any man, cooks honour!

You will need:(for the chicken)
2 Large Chicken breasts with the skin on (you can either stuff the n'duja under the skin like I have or you can make a small pocket in the breast)
90g pack of Nduja (available at        good delis or waitrose)
2 teaspoons of olive oil
Maldon seasalt
Cracked black pepper

For the chunky pepper sauce:
1 very Large white onion sliced finely
1 red pepper sliced finely
1 yellow pepper sliced finely
1 orange pepper sliced finely
1 large red chilli sliced finely
3 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 tsp of smoked paprika piquante
4 tbsp of chopped garlic (not from a jar)
2 tbsp of freshly chopped oregano
3 tsp of maldon sea salt
2 tsp of sherry vinegar
8 cherry tomatoes (the sweeter the better)
1 tbsp of caster sugar
14 stoned black olives
a small bunch of basil

Firstly preheat the oven to 180 degrees c. 
 Stuff each chicken breast with a slice of the n'duja under the skin of the chicken (as shown in the image), drizzle with a teaspoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. If you have decided to stuff the cavity of the chicken with the sausage meat instead of the skin I suggest that you wrap the chicken in one piece of parma ham to stop the chicken from drying out. 
 Heat a cast iron grill pan or pan and seal the chicken on both sides until it is lightly browned, then transfer the chicken into the oven for 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the fillets, if you do not have a pan that can go into the oven then transfer the fillets onto a baking tray, just make sure you reserve the pan juices for later. 
Whilst the chicken is cooking you can prepare the sauce, begin by sweating the onion, peppers and chilli in the olive oil in a large saucepan, once the onions and peppers begin to soften and I mean really soften (this should take around fifteen minutes) then add the smoked paprika, oregano, garlic, sugar and salt. By this point your chicken should be cooked through, remove it from the oven and allow to rest on the baking tray.

 Add the sherry vinegar and tomatoes to the peppers and the cooking juices from the chicken, when the tomatoes have broken down into a mush then remove the sauce from the heat and add the olives and the basil.

Serve this chicken with a rocket salad or roasted new potatoes for a hearty side.

Thai Red Duck Curry (Gaeng Pet Phed Yang)

My very best friend Hayley just so happens to be Australian, before you ask NO she does not live in England she lives in Sydney, we have had what you may call a long distance friendship, thank goodness for whatsapp and viber.
 What is unusual about our meeting is that we did not meet in Australia or England, we actually met in Koh Tao Thailand and have continued to visit each other back and forth over the years.    I'm sure that my husband will back me up that when we get together we act like a couple of idiots, and we do think that we are the funniest pair on the planet much to the dismay of people in close proximity to us. Hayley recently came to visit and met the new addition to our little family and also to get up to a little mischief in the process. One of our favourite past times is cooking, I cook, she gets out her notepad and asks a million and one questions, as a regular reader of my blog she did point out my tendency to sometimes over complicate recipes by using ingredients that have to be sourced (guilty), she pointed out that not everyone has the time or energy to go to specialist stores, sometimes it is easier to buy it all under one roof, I could not agree more.

 On our very last day of mischief we decided to channel our inner goddesses by having  fantastic thai Massage (a memory of our first meeting) followed by a wonderful lunch, Red Duck Curry, an absolute classic and a much celebrated thai dish, one that I ate in abundance throughout Thailand, so it was only obvious this would be a recipe that I would recreate. 
 I have kept my promise, this recipe delivers on flavour whilst being super fast and easy to prepare and also you can get all of the ingredients at any supermarket, RESULT, this ones for you H.P!!

(All the measurements are in cups for ease)

You will need:
1 cup of Pineapple cut into large chunks (you can use tinned)
1/2 cup of french beans cut into batons
1/2 cup of red pepper cut into large chunks
1 sliced red chilli (use birds eye if you like it hot)
1/4 cup of halved cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup good quality red curry paste (easily available now)
1 bruised lemon grass
3 finely chopped fresh kaffir lime leaves or zest of two limes
20ml of lime juice
1 tbsp of fish sauce
1/4 cup palm sugar or 1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup of thai sweet basil (substitute with 2 tbsp of tarragon and 1/4 cup of normal basil)SEE NOTES
400ml of coconut milk (a can)
1 tbsp of coconut oil
2 tbsp of caster sugar
1/2 tsp of maldon sea salt
2 Cooked duck breasts (this can be cooked up to a day ahead)

Start by preparing all of your vegetables and place it on your board or a plate ready to use.
In a medium saucepan cook the curry paste in the oil until it begins to soften, Curry paste is a raw product, therefore needs to be cooked out to mellow the harsh flavours of the garlic and chilli etc. Use the back of a wooden spoon to mash the paste to soften it, at this point I usually add 100ml of the coconut milk to soften the paste even more.
 Add the lemon grass, lime leaves or zest, peppers and the remaining coconut milk, once the milk is starting to boil add the sugars, fish sauce, pineapple, salt, chilli and french beans, allow this to cook together for five minutes and remove from the heat and add the lime juice and herbs. Slice the ready cooked Duck and either serve this on top of the curry sauce or you can re-heat it in the curry sauce.
Serve with microwaveable thai rice for true ease!

NOTE:Sweet Thai basil is a very difficult herb to locate, some chefs would say to use normal basil but normal basil does not have an aniseed flavour like Sweet basil, my suggestion is to use tarragon and basil to mimic the flavour effectively.