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SERVES: 4 | PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: 25 MINUTES
12 large or 16 medium bunched carrots, washed, tops removed (a few tops reserved)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 star anise
120g pine nuts
2 tbsp picked tarragon leaves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE PICKLING LIQUOR
100ml white wine vinegar
2 tbsp honey
FOR THE VINAIGRETTE
100ml carrot juice (fresh or shop-bought)
3 coriander seeds
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
50ml olive oil
Preheat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan/gas 7.
Cut half of the carrots in half, lengthways. Thinly slice the remaining carrots and put half aside to pickle.
To make the pickling liquor, place the vinegar and honey in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Put half the sliced carrots in a heatproof bowl, pour the hot pickling liquor over the carrots and set aside.
Coat the halved carrots with the vegetable oil and season well with salt, pepper and half of the star anise, grated over the carrots using a Microplane or other fine grater. Place in a roasting tray and roast in the oven for 20–25 minutes until golden, tossing them once halfway through the cooking time.
Place the pine nuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 8–10 minutes until a deep golden colour, shaking them halfway through. Remove from the oven and set aside 20g for sprinkling over the finished dish and place the rest in a small blender. Season with salt, add 2–4 tablespoons of water and blitz to form a purée – it should have a slightly looser texture than peanut butter. Set aside.
To make the vinaigrette, put the carrot juice in a medium saucepan with the coriander seeds and remaining half of the star anise and bring to the boil. Simmer rapidly for a few minutes, until the liquid has reduced to around 25ml, then remove from the heat and strain into a small bowl. Mix in the rice wine vinegar and olive oil, and season with salt.
To assemble the dish, place the remaining sliced carrots in a bowl and dress them with the carrot vinaigrette. Spoon the pine nut purée onto 4 plates. Top with the warm roasted carrots, pickled carrots and dressed carrots. Finish with the remaining toasted pine nuts, some reserved carrot tops and the tarragon leaves.
Parsnip, Rosemary and Horseradish Gratin
This can be a side or a main dish. Gratins are one of the best comfort foods around, and a handy thing to cook given all the preparation can be done in advance of when you need to serve it. You can even bake it a couple of days ahead, then reheat to serve. I like to serve this with roast chicken or braised meat on a cold winter’s night.
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SERVES: 4 | PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: 1¼ HOURS, PLUS 30 MINUTES INFUSING
225ml single cream
525ml milk
½ onion, thinly sliced
½ nutmeg, finely grated
2 bay leaves
½ bunch of rosemary, leaves stripped
1 tsp table salt
4 tbsp fresh grated horseradish or 4 tbsp horseradish sauce
6 large parsnips, peeled and cut into 5mm-thick slices
Put the cream, milk, onion, nutmeg, bay leaves, rosemary leaves and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 15 minutes then remove from the heat and blend using a stick blender until the herbs have broken down. Cover the surface of the mixture with clingfilm and leave to infuse for 30 minutes, then pass it through a fine sieve and retain the liquid. Stir through the grated horseradish or horseradish sauce.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.
Place a layer of parsnip slices on the bottom of a 20 × 20cm baking dish, then cover with a little of the milk mixture. Repeat, ensuring the parsnips are fully submerged in the liquid. Cover the entire dish with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 20–25 minutes until a knife inserted into the gratin meets no resistance.
Remove from the oven and serve.
MARCUS’ TIP:
I prefer a roast dinner with one side done really well, rather than three or four different vegetables on the plate – one great dish like this one that has a bit more effort put into it makes it much more interesting. Nothing wrong with that.
Celeriac, Ham Hock and Barley Hot Pot
As far as winter warmers go, this one ticks all the boxes. Celeriac is such a versatile ingredient, to serve both raw and cooked. It is a winter staple for me and it pairs well with the salty, rich ham hock in this recipe. Just add some fresh bread and you have a great winter’s lunch or supper. Always remember to bring ham hocks to the boil in a pan of water then drain them before cooking, otherwise they will be too salty.
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SERVES: 4–6 | PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: ABOUT 3¾ HOURS
1 smoked ham hock (about 1kg)
½ bunch of thyme, tied with string
200g pearl barley, rinsed
100g yellow split peas, rinsed
1 celeriac, peeled and roughly chopped
4 onions, roughly chopped
4 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 leek, rinsed and roughly chopped
½ bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped
freshly ground black pepper
Place the ham hock in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, then drain and rinse the ham under cold running water. Place the ham back in the pan, cover with fresh cold water and add the thyme and a generous grind of black pepper. Place over medium heat, bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 2½ hours, topping up the water to ensure the ham is always submerged.
Add the pearl barley and split peas and cook for a further 30 minutes.
Check to see if the hock is cooked by putting the handle of a spoon into the flesh: if the handle meets no resistance, the meat is cooked. If the meat doesn’t yet yield to the spoon handle, continue to cook it, checking every 15 minutes. Remove the hock, add the remaining ingredients, apart from the parsley, and simmer for a further 30 minutes.
Using two forks, remove the skin from the hock, discard it and shred the meat. Return the meat to the pot and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Remove the bunch of thyme.
Finish with the parsley and serve.
Poached Rhubarb and Rhubarb Jelly with Bay Leaf Cream and Shortbread
Rhubarb, jelly and cream. So simple, yet so delicious. The bay leaf infusion in the cream adds a savoury element to the dish which balances the sweetness of the rhubarb and shortbread. During rhubarb season I generally always have some poached in the fridge – it is great to have with cereal for breakfast, to use in baking and also as a simple pudding. Who doesn’t like rhubarb and jelly?
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SERVES: 6 | PREP TIME: 25 MINUTES, PLUS SETTING AND INFUSING | COOKING TIME: ABOUT 15 MINUTES
200g caster sugar
2 tbsp grenadine
400g rhubarb stalks, trimmed and cut into 4cm lengths
3 gelatine leaves
FOR THE BAY LEAF CREAM
100ml milk
2 bay leaves
300ml double cream
FOR THE SHORTBREAD
70g plain flour
50g cornflour
40g icing sugar, sifted
pinch of sea salt
90g cold diced butter
To cook the rhubarb, put the caster sugar and grenadine in a large saucepan. Top up with 500ml water and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Place the rhubarb pieces in the hot liquid and simmer for 5 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and allow the rhubarb to continue to cook in the liquid for 10 minutes, as it cools down. Carefully transfer the rhubarb from the liquid into a bowl using a slotted spoon and place in the fridge to cool. Measure out 400ml of the cooking liquor, place it in a medium saucepan and set aside.
To make the jelly, soak the 3 gela
tine leaves in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes. Heat the 400ml of rhubarb cooking liquor until it just reaches the boil, then remove the pan from the heat. Squeeze the excess water from the gelatine leaves and stir them into the hot liquid until completely dissolved. Strain the liquid into a clean container lined with baking parchment (around 15cm square), which gives the jelly at least 1cm height, and chill until set. Remove from the container and cut into squares.
For the bay leaf cream, heat the milk in a small saucepan. Break up the bay leaves and add them to the milk. Remove from the heat as soon as it reaches the boil. Cover the surface of the milk with clingfilm and set aside to infuse for 20 minutes. Using a stick blender, blitz the milk to disperse the leaves, strain and place in the fridge to cool. Once cool, mix in the double cream.
To make the shortbread, preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6 and line a baking tray with baking parchment.
Put all of the dry ingredients in a food processor and blitz to combine. Add the butter and pulse in short bursts until you have a dough that clumps together in little bits. It may take some time to incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients. Tip onto a clean surface and work together. Place on the lined baking tray and shape into a rectangle about 6mm thick. Bake in the oven for 10–12 minutes until a pale golden colour. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, then break up into pieces.
To serve, divide the the cream and rhubarb pieces among 6 bowls. Top with the jelly and shortbread pieces.
MARCUS’ TIP:
Make a double batch of shortbread and freeze half of the dough, ready to bake another day.
Strawberry and Mint Eton Mess
Eton mess, said to have originated from Eton when a tray of meringues was dropped on the floor, is a great summer pudding. This is more of a ‘make your own mess’ pudding – the presentation is neat and tidy then you create your own mess by smashing it. All the fun’s inside but you can’t initially see it. The mint gives the dish a freshness which helps cut through the sweetness of the meringue.
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SERVES 4 | PREP TIME: 25 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: 1 HOUR
350g strawberries, hulled
25ml vodka
2 tbsp strawberry jam
200g double cream, lightly whipped
12 mint leaves, finely sliced
FOR THE MERINGUE
1 lemon wedge
4 egg whites, at room temperature
110g caster sugar
110g icing sugar, sifted
Preheat the oven to 120°C/100°C fan/gas ½ and line a large baking sheet with non-stick baking parchment. Draw 4 × 10cm circles on the paper.
To make the meringue, rub the lemon wedge around the inside of a clean mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the egg whites and whisk on high speed until they form stiff peaks. Decrease the mixing speed to medium and gradually add the sugar, whisking continuously. Increase to high speed and whisk for 5–10 minutes until you have a stiff meringue and all grains of sugar have dissolved. Add the icing sugar and whisk until well combined.
Place the meringue into a piping bag, and pipe into the centre of each circle on the parchment-lined baking sheet to form a dome. Create 3 more domes.
Bake in the oven for 40–50 minutes until crisp on the outside, but still soft in the centre. Turn off the oven and leave the door ajar until the meringues are cool to touch. Very gently, scoop out the soft meringue with a spoon, leaving the shell intact. Set the soft meringue aside.
Take 200g of the strawberries and blend together with the vodka. Pass through a fine sieve. Chop the remaining 150g of strawberries and add to the soft meringue. Fold in the strawberry jam, whipped cream and finely sliced mint.
Divide the strawberry sauce between 4 bowls then carefully fill the meringue shells with the cream mix. Gently place a meringue in each bowl, on top of the sauce. Allow your guests to then make their own mess by smashing the meringue shell with their spoons!
Gooseberry and Basil Fool
When my dad was a young boy, gooseberries were one of his favourite fruits. Gooseberries tend to grow like weeds, and are a great fruit to just pick and pop in the freezer, whole, to save for a rainy and not so warm day. You can use frozen or tinned berries in this recipe, or try them in a crumble. The addition of basil in this recipe brings a slightly savoury note to the fool and creates an even richer floral aroma. You can make these fools up to a day ahead, if you wish.
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SERVES: 4 | PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: 30 MINUTES, PLUS SETTING
150g caster sugar
400g gooseberries, topped and tailed
200ml double cream
FOR THE CUSTARD
160ml milk
16 large basil leaves
2 egg yolks
1 tsp custard powder
30g demerara sugar
Put the caster sugar in a large saucepan. Add 200ml of warm water and bring to a simmer. Add the gooseberries and simmer gently for 5 minutes, then remove a fifth of the berries and set them aside. Keep cooking the remaining berries for about another 10 minutes until soft. Transfer to a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth.
To make the custard, put the milk and half of the basil leaves in a small saucepan and bring just to the boil, stirring frequently.
Put the egg yolks, custard powder and sugar in a heatproof bowl and whisk until well combined. Slowly pour in the hot milk mixture, whisking continuously. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes or until the custard coats the back of a wooden spoon (take care not to boil the custard as the egg yolks will scramble). Strain through a fine sieve into a clean container, cover the surface of the custard with clingfilm (to avoid a skin forming) and chill in the fridge.
Lightly whip the double cream.
Once the custard is cold, whisk it well then fold it into the lightly whipped cream. Fold in the gooseberry purée. Thinly slice the remaining basil leaves and fold them through the mix.
Divide the fool among 4 glasses. Halve the gooseberries you cooked and set aside, and arrange them on top of the fools. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour, until set.
Caramelised Honey-roasted Pears with Mascarpone and Filo
One of the wonderful discoveries of Melfort Farm was the honey I inherited. The floral taste is quite remarkable and I found myself wanting to use it in a lot of my cooking. This discovery coincided with the pears ripening too, so it was a no-brainer to combine the two.
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SERVES: 4 | PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: ABOUT 30 MINUTES
8 tbsp runny honey
4 ripe (but not too soft) pears, peeled, quartered and cored
6 sprigs of thyme
20g butter, melted
pinch of sea salt
7 sheets of filo pastry
200g mascarpone
100ml double cream
25ml brandy
Preheat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan/gas 7.
Place the honey in a roasting tray just large enough to fit the pear quarters in a single layer (about 20 × 20cm). Put the dish in the oven for 5 minutes to warm the honey, then add the pear quarters and thyme and return to the oven for 15–20 minutes, until the pears are golden and cooked through. Remove from the oven, carefully lift out the pears and set them aside. Scrape the honey into a bowl, removing the thyme sprigs and set it aside, too.
Add 2 tablespoons of the baked honey to the melted butter in a bowl, along with the salt, and mix well.
Take one sheet of filo pastry and brush it with the honey butter. Repeat with the remaining sheets and lay them on top of each other. Cut the large rectangle into 8 equal squares and gently scrunch up the edges of each layered piece. Place them on a baking tray and bake for 8–10 minutes until golden and crisp.
In a large bowl, whisk the mascarpone until smooth. Add the double cream, brandy and 2 tablespoons of the baked honey and whisk together until stiff.
To serve, place 2 pastry p
ieces on each plate then add the baked pear quarters. Dollop with the mascarpone and drizzle over the remaining baked honey.
MARCUS’ TIP:
Filo pastry is a great ingredient to have on hand in the freezer. You can use it for a speedy pie in winter, or for a summer quiche.
Harvest Preservation
When you have an abundance of fruit or vegetables from the garden it is sometimes hard to know what to do with it all if it is too much to get through in your daily meals. Preserving is something we chefs do quite a lot. It’s wonderful coming across a little jar of wonder a month or two down the line when the fresh ingredient is no longer available. And preserved foods tend to just get better and better the longer you keep them. They look great on the kitchen shelves, too – just like a good cookbook. The methods of preservation below detail ways to ensure you can maximise the use, and enjoyment, of seasonal produce. It also means a lot less waste, and plenty to look forward to throughout the year.
For any form of preservation, you will need clean, sterilised glass jars, with clean lids. I find the best way to do this is place the clean jars in an oven, at 140°C/120°C fan/gas 1 for 10 minutes. Clean any non-ovenproof lids and rubber seals separately in hot soapy water, then rinse and dry. Remove the jars from the oven and allow to cool slightly before filling and sealing.
Marcus Everyday Page 3
