My Inspirations – Cook Books

Inspiration can come in many forms, especially in cooking.  You could be watching a TV show and see a recipe that you absolutely have to try.  You could be in a diner, a restaurant or even a fine dining establishment (if you’re that good/wealthy/being spoiled!) and taste something in a dish that you’d never previously thought of or you could even be in the market and see an ingredient that you’d all but forgotten about and decide that you’re going to buy it and test out just what you can do with it.

For me, cook books provide a large degree of inspiration.  I’m not talking about your typical Jamie Oliver/Gordon Ramsay piles of incoherent nonsense about preparing a meal in 30 minutes, for under a fiver, using only organic ingredients, while being a successful stealth restauranteur from your box bedroom and having a TV show.  All of this using superfoods that are guaranteed to lose you weight, tone you up, stop you getting cancer/heart disease/having a stroke, while making you supremely attractive to the opposite sex (or same sex, depending on what you’re looking for).  Not those books.  That being said, I do own them (I own a ridiculous number of cook books) and I sometimes find them useful for the base of a recipe.   I also operate under no illusion that they write their own recipes for the books.

This post is also intended to provide a little inspiration, whilst running through some of the inspirational tomes that I use on a regular basis for my food.  I’d also be happy to hear any of your stories of inspiration and the books that provide them.  I’m always looking to add to my reading list.

Tom Aikens

I actually think it’s a mixed blessing that programmes like The Great British Menu came along because it dragged genuinely talented chefs into the media limelight.  It certainly raised their awareness within the public eye, and rightly brought their talents to the public attention.  It has, however enticed them with the trappings of fame and the opportunity to “cash in” on that fame.  Fortunately, Tom Aikens doesn’t seem to have done that too much, and his books have some excellent recipes in.  One of my particular favourites is his Cooking book, as it runs through a whole series of techniques, ethics and philosophies on the ingredients used and the way dishes are constructed.  Also, combining 2 or 3 recipes per page on occasion, things are kept simple, although he does sometimes assume at least a mid-range ability in the kitchen.

Michel Roux Jr

I admit it, I have a severe man-crush on Michel Roux Jr.  Not only is he a seriously, seriously good chef from the single most prestigious family line in culinary history, but in every show I have seen him in, he almost shuns everything but the food, and he talks with great passion and is never afraid to illustrate technique.  I also class Raymond Blanc in this category.  I once watched a programme where he spent the whole 45 minutes talking about the differences in apples and methods of cooking them.  Genius.

Anyway, back to Michel Roux Jr.  The book in the picture is brilliant because it combines an autobiography with a recipe book and gives great insight into his own passions and inspirations.  His section on composing a menu (page 160) is something that I have done time and time again as done properly it allows you to host and entertain, as well as make food to make people say wow.

A lot of the dishes in the book are high end, and if I am really looking to do something impressive, this is my first port of call.  That being said, it is more along the lines of techniques in cooking and high quality ingredients. The Lobster and Mango salad is a prime example of this (page 259).  It looks beautiful, but is wonderfully simple to prepare and plate.  It also has a definite wow factor too.

Foreign Influences

I’ve been lucky in my work to have traveled fairly extensively, and with family connections abroad as well, I have been influenced and inspired by local cuisines.  There is nothing I like more than going to a new city, new country or even a new continent and trying the local food in the local restaurants that the locals go to.  It’s all about local right?  The two books in the pictures below are just two of a wide range of books that I have the pleasure of owning.

Vefa’s kitchen is a new addition, but from the minute I opened it (at random to a recipe for Baked Shrimp Casserole) I fell in love with it.  It is a full encyclopaedic reference guide to all things Greek (Apparently it’s more than Pastichio, Moussaka, Souvalaki and Taramasalata – who knew?) and how they are used in traditional Greek cooking.  It’s a somewhat weighty tome, but manages to lay things out in a great way to follow through and grab the right ingredients.  There is also a lovely section at the start about the different areas of Greece and their own styles of cooking.  I’m going to be lucky enough to be spending time in Skiathos in July, so will undoubtedly be blogging from there about a wonderful series of local restaurants and dishes.

Evelin Ilves is an Estonian Chef, Traveller and All-Round Celebrity who has put together some of her favourite dishes from around the Mediterranean.  I am also lucky to have been given the book by my father, who received it from Evelin herself and has been kind enough to sign it to him.  The book itself is slightly confusing, since the first version of the recipe is in Estonian, and I can tell you that as a language, it’s ludicrously difficult to learn and understand.  Fortunately, the translation is good and the recipes are easy to follow in English, plus there are some extra bonuses in the form of unusual recipes from Finland and Estonia itself, which I am fairly sure you just wouldn’t find in any other recipe book.  This book is perfect if you’re looking for something to keep the most inquisitive of diners guessing!

And Finally

3 books that I couldn’t really categorise, but I love dearly.  Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall’s meat book is a great resource for understanding exactly where your meat comes from and how it should and can be prepared.  Whilst I am not his biggest fan (I think it’s utter pretentiousness that makes him believe that you can survive on foraged food and growing your own without a serious bank roll behind you (he used to be a City trader, so is hardly going to be short of a bob or two), and a lot of his recipes seem to be made more for the frugality of the dish, rather than the taste, the books he fronts on basic resources are very well written.

Two Fat Ladies are personal heroes of mine.  They hark back to an era of unashamed indulgence and luxury and they have the wonderfully upper class attitudes that can only come with old money.  I urge you to find as many TV episodes from their shows and watch them.  Their recipes are fantastically rich and perfect for a special Sunday dinner, but you definitely don’t want to have them if you’re even remotely watching your weight.  With one of their chocolate cake recipes, I think you may get diabetes just from reading it.

The Readers Digest is a lovely compendium of all of the techniques that you could ever wish to learn and master, although the book is somewhat 80’s in it’s style.  I think that it’s in need of an update, but I am sure that they are working on that!

It’d be lovely to hear from you all as to your inspirational cookery guides and books – and yes, Sarah Beddow – I’m looking at you!

Forced Puddings – Layered Pear And Rhubarb Crumble

Don’t worry.  I wasn’t forced to cook this.  It’s not like someone is holding a gun to my head threatening me to use up the fruit that is being delivered every couple of weeks by Abel & Cole.  Wait…A…Minute…

One of the things I love about Abel & Cole is the fact that they often put some slightly unusual foods in their boxes and coming up with recipes for them before they go off is sometimes a bit of a challenge.  This weeks unusual fruit was some fairly early season pears.  Not your usual floury Conference Pear which is ripe for all of 30 seconds before turning to complete mush (Eddie Izzard did a great sketch about this), but some crisper, Green Anjou Pears.

So why Crumble.  It’s Summer right?  Well, at least it’s been hot and dry for the last few days, so why cook a winter dessert?  The simple answer is that I am British and I crave disappointment (Bill Bailey Sketch) so when the weather turned cold and windy again I decided that this may be a nice way to do a Spring crumble.  Something a bit lighter than your normal Wintery, heavily flavoured, stodgy, filling crumble.  Here’s the recipe

Ingredients

Rhubarb Layer

• 3 Rhubarb Sticks
• 4 Capfuls of Black Rum (I like black rum for the spices and flavours, and that it is softer than normal spiced rums)
• 1 Teaspoon Powdered Ginger
• 3 Tablespoons Demerara Sugar
• 2/3 Cup Water

Pear Layer

• 4 Pears – I use the crisp, Green Anjou variety
• 2 Tablespoons Demerara Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
• 3 Cloves
• 3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
• 2 Cups Water

Crumble Topping

• 200g Flour
• 110g Butter
• Sprinkled Ground Cinnamon
• 1 Apple

Method

Chop the Rhubarb into inch long chunks and put in a saucepan with the rest of the ingredients and heat on a low heat until rhubarb is soft and breaking apart and the entire mixture is nicely thickened (If you need to use some cornflour for this, then that’s fine, some rhubarb has more water than others).

Chop the Pears into quarters and slice out the core before chopping into inch square chunks and adding to a different pan with the Pear ingredients.  Heat gently until the pears soften, but retain their structure.  Drain the pears through a sieve, keeping the cooking liquid.  Put the cooking liquid on a high heat until it has thickened to a syrupy consistency and reduced by at least half.

Meanwhile, mix the butter, flour and cinnamon together in a bowl with your hands until it resembles small gravel or coarse breadcrumbs and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.  This will harden the butter back up a bit and give the crumble topping more crunch when it’s cooked.  It’s a difference in texture that you are looking for when you put the dish together.

So, what’s the Apple for?  I like to use this to separate the layers in the crumble and also provide a slight crunch as you bite through.  Run the Apple through a mandolin to get lovely uniform thin slices and set aside for when you build the crumble.  Make sure not to do this too early, otherwise the Apple may brown as the sugars start to oxidise.

Building The Crumble

Put the pears on the bottom of an ovenproof dish, making sure that it is deep enough to house your entire crumble and pour the reduced cooking liquor over them, making sure that the level is not above that of the pears.  This is because the pears will break down a little more when you cook them in the oven.  Layer the slices of apple over the top, trying to make as much of a seal as you can.  This can often be a couple of layers thick, depending on the dimensions of your ovenproof dish.

Once this is done, pour the rhubarb mixture over the top of the apple and smooth to as flat a surface as the dish will allow.  Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top, lightly to ensure that it doesn’t sink and that you get an even coating of crumble over the entire dish.

Cooking & Serving

Put the whole ensemble into a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 40-45 minutes, or until your crumble topping has gone golden and crispy.  Leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving with vanilla ice-cream, custard (cold naturally!) or whipped cream…  Let me know how it comes out for you all.
Enjoy!

Cuerden Valley Beer Festival – Chorley’s “Finest” On Display

Friday night was the 3rd annual Cuerden Valley Beer Festival, held in the grounds of Cuerden Valley Hall, just outside Chorley.  It was also my first beer festival in a long time and things seem to have changed…

Begin Rant…

Seriously Chorley… Do you have nothing better to wear than bright yellow hotpants and a vest top to a beer festival.  That’d be absolutely fine if you were a slim size 10, or an underwear model, but at size 14-16 it’s probably a little much.  Yes, I know you have probably been drinking since 1pm when the festival opened, and yes, I know you’ve probably been sick at least 3 times because you’re simply that cool… But this is a beer festival, not a cheap subsidised piss up to allow you to escape for a little while from the car crash that is your failed education (at least judging by your extensive vocabulary, hideous crone-like cackle and the sheer specimen of mighty manhood that is your boyfriend, skinny and resplendent in his muscle top and tracksuit bottoms) and the mindless boredom that comes with waiting until Thursday every week for the dole cheque that gives rise to these episodes of drunken idiocy.

Not only this, but special mention has to be made of the elite band of Chorley’s finest that brought their small children along to a beer festival.  That’s right kids!  It’s a lovely way to spend an entire afternoon…. Watching mummy and daddy (well, he *might* be your daddy, mummy can’t remember, but he’s useful.  He steals mummy whatever she wants) get absolutely shit-faced on beer while you run around tripping over people, spilling their drinks, screaming and howling.

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely don’t have a problem with people enjoying themselves and even the odd proper drinking session.  I know beer festivals are always going to be drunken affairs and I’m not expecting everyone to sit round with long beards, sleeveless photography jackets, purchased purely for the number of “useful” pockets on them in some kind of green material with a tatty checked shirt underneath, and possibly even a Panama/Trilby/Fedora hat, muttering about how no-one appreciate real ale any more and it’s all mass produced brewery lager piss and commenting on the Hoppy Nature or the badger shit that they use in the brewing process to make it taste unique, but when you’re supposed to be in charge of children and money is likely to be tight (you know, after the government pay your rent, your bills, your childcare and for you not to have a job), or at least that’s what you claim every other day of the week… are you sure a beer festival is the right place for you to be?

End Rant…

Sorry, where was I…  The beer festival, right.  It wasn’t bad at all, especially for one so young.  It was held in the walled victorian gardens next to the hall and was a pleasant place to sit and enjoy the live band doing the standard pub band covers, the late evening sunshine and the company of our friends from Bootcamp.

There were definitely some interesting beers on tap – with my particular highlights being Backyard Blonde which lived up to it’s crisp and hoppy description, with some citrus-y notes coming through.  At 3.7% as well, it’s definitely a good session ale, meaning that you can drink it all afternoon and not feel too bad by the end of it.

The American Pale Ale was a great APA, and having extensively tested these in America, I can confirm that it would most definitely not be out of place on any Taphouse line-up.  Deeply Hoppy as you would hope, but still with a good crisp taste.  None of the floury nonsense that can come with a poorly done IPA.

The only disappointing aspect of the drinks on tap were the noticeable lack of ciders… 3 of them in total, but the Raspberry Twist from Westons was more than acceptable, but growing up in the South West, I have definitely had much better ciders from local pressers.

The festival itself could potentially have been a little better laid out, although according to one of the organisers, they weren’t expecting quite so many people…  Perhaps separating out the beer tent into smaller tents for each different type would have worked slightly better to reduce the crush around the bar and made things a little more efficient, rather than the one long bar in a marquee.  Either way, a hugely enjoyable event and one that sure to see a return next year!

Differences In The Common BBQ Cuts – Part 1 – The Cow

It’s like Google translate, but for BBQ.  I’m going to do a 2-parter on how butchery in America and England differs in reference to BBQ meat cuts.  Hopefully this will provide a simple reference guide for when you are trying to replicate an American recipe in the UK, and even vice versa.

This first part covers the common cow, in most of its bovine glory.

Beef forms a large part of any BBQ arsenal, with Ribs, Steaks and Brisket forming the largest sections that you can cook.  Within those sections you have things like short ribs, flank steak, sirloin steak, ribeye, rolled brisket, top brisket as well as a series of lesser used parts of the animal.

Done right, Beef can be fall apart tender, wonderfully flavoured and used in a number of different ways, but those are all posts for a different day.

The diagrams below are good examples of the differences between the cuts.  The first thing that you’ll notice is that the British diagram (on the left) has far more cuts than the American diagram (on the right).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The first area that I would like to focus on is the Brisket, which is at the top of the foreleg on both diagrams, but is shorter and more squared off on the American cut.  This leads to the first difference I found in the UK, where there is a “Top Brisket” cut, which is much thinner and also impacted by the removal of the beef shin (great in casseroles by the way!)  I found this in a conversation with my local butcher and consequently have tailored my request for the wider, back cut brisket.  This is to give a more uniform cooking experience when on the BBQ.

The second area is a major difference and comes from the ribs.  I have often wondered why my American friends look a little confused when I talk about the differences in the size of beef ribs.  In the UK, we have a Thick and Thin rib.  Both are great on the BBQ, but it is important to realise that the thin ribs are going to be more like a spare rib which you are used to and a thick rib is a proper hunk of meat that needs to be treated almost like a bone in beef joint, like the American “Prime Rib”

Another huge difference, and rather more complicated to translate is the Sirloin/Flank area of the cow.  In the US, this is an area of huge complexity that steak aficionado’s (or the ones that I know anyway!) are rather proper about.  Goodness help you if you call a New York Strip a Sirloin or anything else!  One thing that comes from this is the prevalence of Flank Steaks in the UK, often called Minute Steaks or Sandwich steak.  It’s designed to be done very quickly on the BBQ/Grill and thin enough to get into a baguette.  It’s a surprisingly difficult steak to cook properly and not make it as tough as boot leather as it is so thin.  It takes marinades well however and is great as an appetiser while bringing the grill up to speed.

I like to use the following garlic and herb marinade on minute steak for a few hours before cooking.

3 Glugs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic – Chopped finely
1/2 Handful Parsley – Chopped finely
3 Pinches Chervil
3 Pinches Hissop Leaves
1 Pinch Thyme
1 Short Dash of Soy Sauce
Black Pepper to taste

Combine the ingredients and mix well before smothering the steaks and covering with clingfilm in the fridge for a few hours.  Throw the steaks on a hot grill for 1 minute a side after bringing them up to room temperature and you’ve got the makings of a great steak baguette.  Any longer than than and you’ll end up with well done steak, and as one of my culinary heroes, Albert Roux, says “Well done steak is absolutely fine for dinner… As long as I am not there” delivered with his impeccable French disdain.

And finally, if you are making your own burgers in Britain, I like to get Neck, Chuck and Rump minced together to give a lovely combination of good marbled meat for flavour and leaner meat for the primary filling.  In the US, it is largely Chuck (it covers most of the same areas) and can be bought in a variety of percentages.  These are commonly 80/20 – Meat to Fat Content and are said to produce the best burgers…

Adventures In Pork Butt

I’ll start this off by saying “I love BBQ” and by love, I mean, LOVE, BBQ.  Whenever I am in the US, the first thing that I do is find the nearest BBQ shack and head down to see how things are done in that town.  There’s an awful lot of variety in American BBQ, from the Carolina’s and their vinegar based Q (My personal favourite) to Tennessee and their dry rub, Kentucky and their thick, rich sauces to Texas and it’s spicier flavours.  I’ve sampled all of them.

In the UK it’s a rather sad affair.  We get an insipid, mass produced, artificially flavoured bucket of gloop served, smothered or ladled over our ribs or our hunters chicken, or as a dipping sauce for our onion rings or chicken nuggets.  In London there are some great BBQ places; Bodean’s, Pit Cue, Red Dog Saloon to name a few of my favourites, but outside of our nation’s capital, it’s a much sparser story with only Southern Eleven in Manchester providing anything close to an actual BBQ place in the North West. But all of that’s an aside.

You’ll find that I tend to wander off a bit to have a rant about something from time to time.  The real subject of this post is my own first adventure with making my own Pork Butt from scratch.  I’ve always wanted to get more into making my own BBQ Food and with the purchase of my very own Man-Grill last year (A Weber Spirit e310) I now have the chance.

There was no real occasion for this BBQ, but hell, who needs one.  The family are descending, it’s a bank holiday and the weather looked mildly acceptable.  Wanting to steer away from your traditional charred sausages and burgers and maybe even the odd chicken breast if we’re being adventurous, I went full on into PitMaster mode.

The dishes on this weekends BBQ menu were (If anyone wants the other recipes, drop me a comment and I’ll put them up)

BBQ Pork Butt
Cajun & Mango Marinaded Chicken Breasts
Tomato and Herb Flatbread
Tangy Apple Coleslaw
Assorted Salads & Bread Rolls

The process of preparing the pork butt (Pork Shoulder – but it wasn’t as funny as a title) was fairly laborious, but here we go…

Sticky Garlic Marinade

I did this on the Friday night before the cooking starting on the Saturday and used the following ingredients

1 Small, Finely Chopped Onion
6 Cloves Garlic
1 Glug Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Glugs Worcestershire Sauce
1 Glug Dark Soy Sauce
Black Pepper

Simply blitz the ingredients together with a blender and don’t be put off by either the colour or the texture and store in the fridge for a couple of hours to thicken it up slightly.

Dry Rub

I’ve got several friends who are most definitely into their own dry rubs and making them at home.  This is a version of a dry rub that I am working on at the moment to give a deep, warm and smoky flavour.

1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar – The darker the better as the colour and the caramelisation is much more intense
1/4 Cup Smoked Paprika – I have a Turkish variety kindly brought back by my parents from a holiday there
1/4 Cup Dried Mustard Powder
1/8 Cup Cumin
1/8 Cup Ground Coriander
1/8 Cup Black Pepper
1/16 Cup Cayenne Pepper
1/16 Cup Garlic Salt

My simple trick is put the ingredients into an airtight tupperware container and shake vigorously!  It definitely saves on the washing up and means that if you are making a batch it’s already in its storage container.

Basting Liquor

This is to keep your pork butt nice and moist, and also impart and reinforce some of the flavours so basting it every 30 minutes, once it’s been on the grill for 4 hours.

1 Cup Apple Juice – I like the natural, cloudy apple juice for this as for my mind it gives a better flavour
1 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

The Meat Method

The Friday night saw the Pork Butt go from this:

I’ve pre-trimmed the pork fat off the top of the joint as there is plenty of fat in the meat already and it’ll give it a greasy flavour otherwise.

Another neat trick is to lay the clingfilm on the board underneath, it definitely saves on the mess.

First you spread the marinade over both sides of the pork.  I recommend a silicone brush as it’s somewhat messy and make sure that you don’t forget the ends of the pork either.  Pile on the dry rub, don’t worry that there is a wet layer underneath, it helps it to stick to the meat and there is enough of the dry rub to make sure that you are going to get a good crust.

Wrap the Pork Butt tightly in the clingfilm and deposit it back in the fridge overnight to force the marinade through the meat.  You can optionally brine it using a meat syringe and a brine recipe to ensure that it is extra juicy on the inside.  I’m not doing it for this one, due to the lack of a

meat syringe, but I will be taking extra measures when it comes to mopping it and also keeping the inside of the BBQ slightly steamy to prevent it drying out.  I think that dry pork butt could be the most depressing thing in the world.

When it comes to the grill, my Weber with one of the 3 rings lit, gets up to the requisite 225°F according to the gauge, so place a drip tray directly under the pork butt and a tray of equal parts apple juice and water on the opposite side of the grill.  This is to keep the middle of the BBQ steamy so that the pork doesn’t dry out.  I also put my smoking tin under the grill plate with some apple juice soaked applewood chips in to give it a smoky flavour as it cooks for an extra dimension.  The grill should just about be hot enough for the wood chips to release their smoke slowly, but you will need to replace the steaming liquid once just before you start the basting process.

Being slightly paranoid about my first Pork Butt working properly, I was checking on it every hour or so, amongst making the rest of the dishes.

After 3 hours, the pork butt looked like this.

Following a series of basting efforts, and topping up the steam tray the final result came off the BBQ after a good 7 hours, was carved and put into buns with the homemade coleslaw.  All in all it was deemed a success by those present, but I definitely think that injecting the pork with brine would have kept the meat juicier, with that succulence that you see on the American food shows.  But, for a first effort, definitely not a bad go… It even managed to gain some interest from Stump, our cat.  Have you ever tried this recipe?  How’d it go?

Tatton Park Foodie Festival – Pink Gin and Antelopes

This weekend saw the Foodie Festival grace the parkland of Tatton Hall in Cheshire for a long weekend of outdoor cooking, (celebrity) chefs and local and niche suppliers demonstrating their wares in the overcast melancholy that the North West so often brings.

I managed to get a Groupon deal for a pair of VIP tickets, which included a welcome goodie bag containing a cookbook, some information and a cunningly disguised Prune.  We also got a free glass of champagne and a ticket for a meal from one of 4 pop-up restaurants just inside the entrance.  I opted for a very pleasantly done Souvlaki from Stolen Lamb, a Greek restaurant in Wilmslow.

One of the best things about this festival is that it was actually about food.  So often you go to a food festival and find a few desultory stands offering pre-packaged jars, spices and the odd French produce seller, and the rest is made up of knick knacks (mainly lavender scented), charities looking for people to pay them a monthly fee in return for a couple of half-arsed newsletters and a greasy burger van and ice cream vendor.  This one was all about the food and the produce.  I’m not going to list them all, but my own personal highlights included

Pinkster Gin – A small batch gin producer (I chatted with the owner and he had literally distilled his first thousand bottles for the series of Foodie Events) which he had flavoured with raspberry and was selling for £4 a glass with tonic and mint, and was very refreshing.  The gin was everything you’d hope for, refreshing, sharp and it definitely gave a hint of raspberry it promised.  The branding was good too.

The Great British Sausage Company – Not only were the sausages full of meat, but the hot rolls that they were selling were spot on.  And their logo made for a cool photo as well.

Tuckers Exotic Food Shack – This was a star turn for me, as I love all things unusual when it comes to food, and am very much a carnivore.  So to see the following menu had me eager to try the food

I managed to get hold of a Springbok burger and an Ostrich burger… Both were lean and flavoursome and more to the point, another couple of animals on this Earth that I can tick off the list of having eaten.  You’re able to hire the food van to cater at events, and I would definitely recommend it for someone looking for something a little bit different at a corporate BBQ.

And finally, one of my favourite photo’s of the day and one of my favourite drinks; Fiery ginger cordial.  I love this stuff, particularly with black rum and lemonade for the perfect dark and stormy.  I’ll leave you with that, and urge you to check out the rest of the Foodie Festivals during the year.  Information can be found here.

Are there any other Food Festivals that are really worth seeing?  Let me know!