There is something truly wonderful about a mouthful of good burger. Crusty, soft, juicy, fresh, caramelized, salty, sweet, tangy... Every taste sensation bursts into life at the same moment. And, if you add a sauce made with red wine too, it’s paradise.
Serves 1
½ carrot
a little juice from a jar of pickles
2 medium shallots
salt and pepper
oil
3 glasses of red wine
a pinch of sugar
1 beef stock [bouillon] cube, crumbled
1 tsp butter
1 tsp plain [all-purpose] flour
125g [4½oz] minced [ground] steak, shaped into a burger
1 rasher [slice] of bacon
3 button mushrooms
a drizzle of vinegar
1 burger bun, split in half
1 Tbsp mayonnaise mixed with a pinch of chilli flakes
1 lettuce leaf
Using a speed [swivel] peeler, peel the carrot and shave into thin slices. Put the slices in a small bowl and spoon over a little juice from your jar of pickles in your refrigerator. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the recipe.
Peel and slice the shallots into thin rounds. Set one or two rounds aside. Season the rest and add to a saucepan with a little oil. Fry for a few minutes over a medium heat. Add the wine, sugar and stock cube and season with pepper. Leave to reduce over a medium-low heat for 30 minutes, stirring from time to time. Thicken the sauce by mashing the butter and flour together until smooth and whisking this into the sauce. Bring to a gentle boil, taste and season with salt, if necessary. Cool and chill until needed.
Season the burger and brush on both sides with oil. Cook in a frying pan [skillet] over a high heat for 2–4 minutes on each side (depending on how thick it is). Remove from the pan and set to one side covered. Fry the bacon and mushrooms in the pan for a few minutes, remove, finely chop the mushrooms and set to one side. Add a drizzle of vinegar to the pan, stir to incorporate the juices sticking to the bottom of it and add this liquid to the wine sauce.
Quickly toast the burger bun and spread lightly with the spiced mayonnaise. Place the base of the bun on a plate or board and layer ingredients on top in the following order: lettuce leaf, burger, raw shallot slices, chopped mushrooms, 1 tablespoon of red wine sauce, bacon and pickled carrot slices. And more spiced mayonnaise if you like. Top with the lid of the bun.
Pulled pork hachis Parmentier
The purpose of this dish is to transform mashed potato and barbecue leftovers into something special. In fact, knowing how to make the most of leftover food is essential for anyone wanting to budget efficiently and, above all, not to waste any of the fresh produce they’ve chosen with such care.
Serves 4
400g [14oz] pulled pork or any another slow-cooked meat
2 red onions
2 garlic cloves
2 Tbsp oil
2 tomatoes, diced
1 Tbsp plain [all-purpose] flour
salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten
melted butter, for greasing
800g [1lb 12oz] mashed potatoes
100g [3½oz] tortilla [corn] chips, crushed into crumbs
50g [½ cup] grated cheese, e.g. Cheddar, Parmesan
Preheat the oven to 220ºC/200ºC fan/425ºF/Gas 7.
Chop the meat into very small pieces. Peel the onions and garlic cloves and chop those as well.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat and fry the onions and garlic for a few minutes. Add the diced tomatoes and the chopped meat.
Sprinkle over the flour and season with salt and pepper, if necessary (salt might not be needed if the meat has already been well seasoned). Stir to mix in the flour, turn down the heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the beaten egg.
Brush an ovenproof dish with butter, spoon the meat mixture into it and cover with the mashed potatoes. Sprinkle the crushed tortilla chips and the grated cheese on the top. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
Just so you know...
‘Hachis’ is the French word for meat that has been minced or finely chopped and ‘Parmentier’ is the name of the guy who imported the first potato into France.
Meatballs done right
So, you think you can make a good meatball with only minced beef? Well, think again. It’s all about getting the mix exactly right as you need to add pork, veal, bread, cheese... anything to make the meatballs juicy and melt-in-the-mouth. If you don’t, not only will your meatballs be the same size as golf balls, they’ll have the same texture as well and you don’t want that, do you?
Makes about 20 meatballs
4–6 slices of white bread
milk
oil for frying
1 onion, very finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
400g [14oz] minced [ground] beef
150g [5½oz] minced [ground] pork
1 egg, beaten
50g [½ cup] finely grated cheese (pecorino or Parmesan)
flour for dusting
Serving suggestion
baguette
tomato sauce
fresh basil leaves
Dice the slices of bread, place in a bowl and pour over enough cold milk to cover. Soak until the bread is saturated and then squeeze out the excess milk. Heat a little oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the onion and garlic and fry until they are starting to brown.
Transfer the onion and garlic to a large bowl. Add the beef and pork, the bread, beaten egg and cheese. Knead well with your hands (if you don’t fancy doing this, wear rubber gloves) – it is important to obtain a good, sufficiently damp, texture otherwise the meatballs won’t work.
Shape the mixture into golf ball-size balls and dust them with flour. Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the meatballs in small batches over a medium-low heat. Allow about 20 minutes for this but, to double check the meatballs are done, cut one in half. It must be firm and cooked all the way through.
If you like, fill a small baguette with some of the meatballs, tomato sauce and basil, and tuck in.
Perfectionist or control freak?
Made this way the meatballs will flatten a little when you fry them but, for the perfectionists among you, if it’s going to keep you awake at night I feel your pain, you can ensure they remain perfectly round by poaching them first for a few minutes in a pan of simmering water.
Middle-kingdom roast chicken
This recipe pays tribute to Jamie Oliver’s Empire Roast Chicken, which itself is a celebration of multicultural Britain. Hats off to you, Jamie!
Serves 4
For the five-spice powder
(Any leftover powder you make can be stored for several months in an airtight container away from light and heat. Also, I shouldn’t say this but feel free to use a ready-made five-spice mix if you need to: better one that’s done rather than none at all.)
1 Tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
5 whole star anise
1 tsp whole cloves
1–2 cinnamon sticks, depending on size
1 Tbsp fennel seeds
For the wet rub
4 spring onions [scallions], white and green parts separated
3 Tbsp neutral flavoured oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2.5-cm [1-in] piece of root ginger, grated
3 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1.5kg [3lb 5oz] higher welfare chicken
1 tsp cornflour [cornstarch]
350ml [1½ cups] chicken stock
salt and pepper
For the five-spice powder, roast the whole spices in a dry pan over a high heat until they smell fragrant. Bash them to a powder with a pestle and mortar.
For the wet rub, finely chop the white parts of the spring onions and the green parts of two of the onions. Heat the oil in a pan over a mediu
m-high heat and fry the chopped onions until golden. Strain, reserving the aromatic oil, and set the fried onions on kitchen paper [paper towels]. Mix the strained oil with the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and 2 tablespoons of the five-spice powder to make a paste.
Cut deep slashes in the chicken legs and rub all over with three-quarters of the spice paste. If you wear rubber gloves to do this it’s less messy but also less fun. (Oh, these sassy French.) Put the chicken on a plate, cover with clingfilm [plastic wrap] and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking.
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/400ºF/Gas 6. Sit the chicken on a grill rack in a roasting pan, pour a glass of water into the bottom of the pan and roast for about 1 hour 30 minutes. While the chicken is roasting, put the remaining spice paste in a pan over a low heat. Mix the cornflour with the chicken stock and add to the pan. Bring to the boil, stirring, then simmer over a low heat until the mixture reduces to a syrupy sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Take the chicken out of the oven and push a knife into the flesh between the legs and the breast – the juice that runs out must be clear, not pink. If it is clear, the chicken is cooked! Cover it with foil and several tea towels [dish cloths] and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Serve the chicken with a flourish at the table, accompanied by the sauce. Finely slice the remaining green parts of the onions and sprinkle over the chicken with the fried onions.
Street lamb shish kebab
A kebab, bought and eaten in the street, conjures up extreme emotions. If it’s well made, the combination of spices and grilled, juicy meat, will transport you to seventh heaven. If it’s badly made, it will be an urgent invitation to the nearest loo. You can’t get much more extreme than that.
Makes 6 kebabs
300g [10½oz] lean lamb, ideally from the leg
1 brown onion
215g [1 cup] natural full-fat yogurt
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chilli powder
1 large tomato
1 green [bell] pepper
1 red onion
Serving suggestion
flat breads
yogurt
sliced chillies
Cut the lamb into flattened cubes (it’s a brand new geometric shape, surely you know that?), about 2 × 2 × 1cm [¾ × ¾ × ½in]. Chop the onion and blitz with the yogurt, lemon juice, salt, pepper and spices in a blender until you have a smooth paste.
Spoon the lamb pieces and yogurt paste into a ziplock bag, seal the bag and mix and knead the two together. Leave to marinate in the fridge overnight or, failing that, for at least 2 hours, in which case knead the contents of the bag frequently (this makes up for the shorter marinating time).
Cut the tomato, green pepper and red onion into chunks the same size as the meat.
Thread the meat, tomato, pepper and onion alternately onto skewers and cook the kebabs on a griddle pan over a medium-high heat or, better still, grill them on a barbecue – 5–8 minutes should do it – turning them over from time to time.
Serve the kebabs with flat breads, yogurt and chillies. My mouth’s watering just thinking about it.
Mussels marinière without the mussels
‘Moules marinières’, mussels cooked in a white wine and shallot sauce, is a classic French dish. It’s tasty, cheap, cooks in less than 10 minutes and is totally sustainable – so let’s do it. Except, let’s not. Don’t be square, that technique works fantastically well with any other small shellfish, like clams, for example!
Serves 2
5 shallots
2 garlic cloves
small bunch of fresh parsley
1 stick of celery
2–3 bay leaves
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
1kg [2lb 4oz] fresh clams in their shells
1 Tbsp butter
about ½ bottle of acidic dry white wine, e.g. Muscadet, Sauvignon Blanc (or use a light beer or apple cider. If you don’t want to use alcohol, add vegetable stock with a drizzle of vinegar instead – your dish will still be amazing)
salt and pepper
3–4 Tbsp double [heavy] cream
Finely slice the shallots and crush the garlic cloves. Remove the leaves from the parsley and celery stick, chop them and set aside separately.
Tie the parsley stalks, the celery stick (cut into shorter lengths), bay leaves, thyme and rosemary together in a bundle with cook’s string. Scrub the clams with a small brush in plenty of cold water to remove any dirt or sand, discarding any that have broken shells or that are open and do not close when lightly squeezed.
Heat the butter in a very large saucepan and when it has melted, add the herb bundle first and fry for a minute or so to infuse it with the butter, and then add the shallots and garlic – the fresh herbs pimp and pump up the flavours of the dried ones. Fry until the shallots have softened, then add the wine (or whatever liquid you’re using) and bubble so the wine reduces a bit. Season with salt and pepper.
Tip in the clams and celery leaves. Put a lid on the pan and cook until all the clam shells have opened, stirring once or twice. Discard any that remain tightly closed. The cooking time for the clams will depend on their size. Small ones (which taste so good) will open in 3–4 minutes; larger ones can take longer. Stir a couple of times while they cook to ensure those at the bottom don’t open before the ones on top. When the clams are ready, I like to add a dash of cream. It’s not classic, I know, but, honestly, I couldn’t care less. Haha.
Remove and discard the herb bundle and then sprinkle in the chopped parsley. Pile the clams into serving dishes and ladle over the sauce. The flavours of the dish will be intense with the clams, shallots, butter and cream adding richness and the herbs freshness. Serve the clams on their own or with French fries on the side. And the rest of the bottle of wine.
Scallop carpaccio
I came across this scallop recipe while travelling through Northern Ireland and loved its simplicity, its rich and nutty taste and the fact that it used rapeseed rather than olive oil. Today, lots of people use olive oil in everything. It’s certainly very good but I think: (1) its distinctive flavour doesn’t work in EVERY dish and (2) there are lots of different and delicious oils out there just waiting to be discovered!
Serves 4
6 large sushi-grade scallops, corals removed
salt and pepper
1 lemon
3 Tbsp rapeseed [canola] oil
3 Tbsp chopped toasted hazelnuts
finely chopped fresh parsley sprigs
Cut the scallops horizontally into very thin slices, about 3mm [in] thick. Season and divide the slices between 4 serving plates, overlapping them so they look nice.
Finely grate over a bit of lemon zest, but not too much, and squeeze over a little of the juice. Drizzle with the oil and scatter the hazelnuts and chopped parsley on top.
Serve at once.
Salmon, avocado and pickled beetroot rice bowl
This recipe is the ideal excuse for learning how to cook rice for sushi. It’s also super–easy and looks great. So, what’s not to like?
Serves 2
For the rice and seasoning
190g [1 cup] short grain rice
300ml [1¼ cups] cold water
75ml [1/3 cup] rice vinegar
50g [¼ cup] sugar
1 tsp salt
For the toppings
200g [7oz] sushi-grade salmon fillet, skinned
1 small pickled beetroot [beet]
1 avocado, peeled and pitted
¼ bunch of watercress
2 Tbsp salmon roe
a sprinkle of black and white sesame seeds
Put the rice in a fine-mesh strainer or colander and run cold water through it until the water runs clear. Transfer the rice to a rice cooker, add the measured water and cook the ri
ce according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If you like rice but you don’t have a rice cooker (a bit hard to believe), go and buy one now.
Place a saucepan over a low heat, add the vinegar, sugar and salt and heat, stirring regularly, until the sugar and salt have dissolved.
When the rice is cooked, spread it out carefully in a large, deep dish so it will cool quickly, and spoon the vinegar mixture evenly over it. Mix the rice gently with a spatula so you don’t crush or break the grains. As soon as the rice has cooled, it’s time to prepare the dish.
The rest is all about making it look good! Fill 2 serving bowls with the rice. Prepare the toppings by cutting the salmon, beetroot and avocado into thin slices. Divide the watercress into small sprigs, removing and discarding any yellow leaves and tough stalks. Arrange the salmon, beetroot, avocado and watercress sprigs over the rice and top each bowl with a tablespoon of salmon roe. Sprinkle with black and white sesame seeds. If you’re rubbish at making things look pretty, go to Pinterest and check out ‘Chirashi Bowl’.
For the recipe below, turn the page.
Fish fillet and tender vegetables in a rice wrapper
Cooking fish ‘en papillote’ (in a foil or paper parcel) conserves and even enhances all the flavours. The fish cooks slowly in the sealed parcel and the vegetables and herbs infuse its flesh. So far, so good, but the foil or paper wrapped around the fish is then thrown away. In my recipe, you can eat the wrapper as well. How come...?
Serves 1
3 rice wrappers
2 Tbsp grated white cabbage
2–3 mushrooms (depending on size), cut into thin strips
2 Tbsp bamboo shoots
175g [6oz] salmon or trout fillet, skinned
salt and pepper
a few sprigs of fresh coriander [cilantro]
1 tsp finely chopped root ginger
Just a French Guy Cooking Page 9
